HAPPY BIRTHDAY....

Today (well, yesterday in Australia) is Evan's 21st birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN!!!

Huh? What?

Chandler just walked into the room wearing an old Halloween costume...

Halloween 2006
3 Years Old

C: "Mom? Does this dress make me look skinny?"
J: "Yep. It sure does Chan."
C: "Yeah. I thought so. That's why you shouldn't give it to me"
J: "What? Why?"
C: "Because it makes me look skinny."
J: "Oh. Well what's wrong with that?"
C: "MOM!" (said like I had just totally offended her!)
J: "What? What's wrong with it? Do you think I'm skinny?"
C: "Uh... No."
J: "Well what am I then?" (cringing and waiting for her response...)
C: "You are... nice... and smooth."

HUH? WHAT?

Then she ran off to change into another costume.

Strange child!

oh i can't WAIT for your responses...

so back in april i got my nose pierced...

well this weekend...

i got a tattoo. :)

yes. it's large. i know.

Trish and I took a trip back to Nashville to hear the band, Josh Garrett and the Bottomline.
While we were there we decided to get tattoos... it was totally a spur of the moment thing. I have been talking about possibly getting one for a while and I already had a few ideas of what I wanted. I showed Jay (my tattoo artist) a picture of what I had found online and he said, "can I draw you something better?"
:)

so, he did...

on my back...

with a marker...

lol

me excited... thinking "getting a tattoo isn't so bad"

the finished drawing

me gripping that chair for dear life

it hurt! i'm not gonna lie to you!
thinking, "wow... maybe it's not as easy as i thought it would be!"

it hurt so much that i cried!

AND i told Jay it was worse than child birth. lol

ok, looking back on it... just based on the pain factor... it rivals child birth because you can't get an epidural for a tattoo! :)

(it's not red like that anymore...)

no. i am not crazy. no. i have not lost my mind.

i wanted a tattoo. the opportunity presented itself. i did it. :)

and...

I LOVE IT!

Live Blogging...

These words are currently coming out of Riley's mouth as she sits in front on Annie on the floor at my feet...

"Mommy. Annie Cute!"

"Mommy. Annie have eyes!"

"Mommy. Annie tail."

"Tail Mommy"

"Tail Mommy"

"Mommy see? Annie Tail"

"Hey Annie"

"Mommy. Annie ears."

"Awwww... mommy! Annie toes." (that one cracked me up!)

"Annie? See toys?"

"Annie? Play?"

"Annie? Sweepy?"

"Annie? Go poop?"

"Annie Outside?"

"Wywee sneaky puppy"

"I sneaky puppy"

"Annie. Hey!" (while squeezing Annie's face)

"Ouch Annie" (after Annie clawed at Riley to get away... lol)

Did I mention she was screaming periodically? Good Grief!!

Looking for a job?

Times are hard. The economy is "dodgy". People are "fortunate" if they have a job right now... not a job they love... just a job.

So, I have an offer for you...

I STINK at puppy training! I'm seriously toying with the idea of hiring someone to train my puppy NOT to poop or pee in my house!

Anyone need a job? :)

**Oh! If you can potty train Riley in the process I would be eternally grateful!

Meet Annie

Here is the newest member of our family...

Annie is 8 weeks old.
She is a Black Lab mix (possibly some Chow)

I picked her up yesterday before I got Chandler from school.
Riley loved her right away!

She likes to nip quite a bit, but we're working on that.

We decided to go to a park at the University last night for a picnic dinner.
Annie went along for the ride...

She travels in the car VERY well.

When the girls crashed between 9:30 and 10 last night... so did Annie.
She claimed a spot on the bathroom floor and passed out!

Riley's favorite new thing is to come into the room and say, "where annie?"
or "there annie! she sweeping" (sleeping... no, i haven't trained her to sweep the kitchen... YET!)
or "NO NO Annie! NO NO!"
or "Mama! Annie!"

Basically anything to do with Annie...

Chandler is doing well with Annie.
She has taken her out to go potty a few times.
When she took her out this morning, Annie pooped. Here's our conversation...
C: "Mom. I need a napkin."
J: "Why Chan?"
C: "Annie pooped in the grass."
J: "That's ok. We are trying to teach her to go potty outside."
C: "But someone might step in it. I need to pick it up."
J: "Ummm... ok Chan. If you really want to."
C: "I do."

Uh... what? She WANTED to pick up dog poop!

She isn't my kid!! :)

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY ANNIE!

ho chee!

no, we're not moving to china or studying chinese! lol

that's riley's newest "catch phrase"... "ho chee!"

any idea what it means?

"HOLD ME!" or maybe "HOLD YOU!" since lots of kids say that when they want to be picked up!

it makes me laugh every time she says it! and she says it A LOT!

All About Riley

Wow! This kid cracks me up!

Here are a few pictures of Riley from the past few months...

February:

Riley and Me riding the carousel at Zoo Atlanta

NO FEAR!
Feeding the giraffes at Silver Springs

Licking Ranch Dressing out of a cup!

March:

Waiting for Chandler to get out of school

My "human scrapbook" as Denise called her!

April:

Sick day! :(

Salt on spaghetti-Os?

Apparently salt on spaghetti-Os is good.

Diva Riley

Date night at Chick-fil-A

Waiting to see the pediatrician!

New on the Twilight front...

Ok, you KNOW I've been in a bloggy-funk when I haven't posted ANYTHING Twilight related since January!!!

In case you aren't in on the Twilight craze... the movie based on the 2nd book in the series, New Moon, is currently being shot.

Because Jennifer loves me she sent me this link about New Moon the movie!

"The Wolf Pack"

Here are a few other sites for you to check out if you are interested in the upcoming movie... due to release in the U.S. November 20th of this year (Happy birthday Aunt Karen... guess what I'm giving you for your birthday? Can anyone say "movie tickets"?? lol)

Stephenie Meyer: New Moon Movie

IMDB.com New Moon Movie


In other Twilight news...
The "go ahead" for the 3rd book has been given and here's part of an article about the director for "Eclipse":


DAVID SLADE TO DIRECT SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT'S THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE

Los Angeles, CA April 22, 2009 — Summit Entertainment announced today that David Slade has been hired to direct THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE from a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, the third film in the studio's TWILIGHT film franchise based on the Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster book series, will be released theatrically in North America on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production.


Now, I for one, am a little confused about why they are choosing to go with yet another director when "New Moon" hasn't even finished shooting yet... but no one asked me my opinion when they were making this decision so I guess I'll just have to trust their judgement (whoever "they" are!).

The truth comes out...

This morning over breakfast, I was telling Brandon about my post last night (Chick Chatter).

Chandler chimed in with this little nugget of truth:

C: "Hey Mom. In a little while, when Riley is bigger (translation: in a few years), and I say 'Hey Riley. I'm going to the zoo!', she will say, 'HEY! NO FAIR!!', because she will want to go to and she can't!" (followed with a smug grin)

That's my girl! :)

Chick Chatter...

Conversation between Chandler and Riley on the way to school this morning:

C: "Hey Riley! Guess what!"
R: "Wha Channer?"
C: "I'm going to the zoo today."
R: "Oooo. Cool."
C: "Yeah. It will be so much fun."
R: "Ok Channer."
C: "A LOT of fun."
R: "Ok Channer."

Obviously Riley was either
A) unimpressed with Chandler's field trip to the zoo.
B) didn't understand that Chandler was going to the zoo.
C) Wanted to see if she could irritate "Channer".

:) I'm kinda putting my money on a combo of B and C!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you...

MY SISTER IS PREGNANT!!!

Yes, I will be an aunt again... and according to my sister, I'll be a "real-life blood related aunt". Are their additional perks to be a blood related aunt as opposed to a marriage related aunt? I don't know. :)

So, sometime in December (she goes to her 1st doctors appointment next week) I'll have a new niece or nephew.

Chandler is rooting for a boy.
Joel (Erin's husband) is rooting for a boy.

I would kind of like a girl... I "know" girls.
But, a boy would kind of break up the "girlness" of family get togethers.
Plus, thanks to my cutie nephew, Colten, I'm learning about what boys like. :)
AND... Watching Jeremiah these past few months has been good practice!


And in other news... Chandler announced at dinner last night that she and Trevor said the Pledge of Allegance for the whole school!
I didn't know she even KNEW the pledge!

Alert the Presses....

SHE'S BACK!

Ok, Kristy made me feel guilty for such a long blogging break. But honestly people... I had NOTHING to blog about... well, nothing I could really share publicly! lol

But... now I do!

The weekend BEFORE Easter, we took a trip to Nashville (Me, Brandon, Brian and Trish) to see the comedian, Brian Regan. If you haven't heard of him, I suggest you look him up on YouTube... funny funny stuff. :)

While in Nashville, Brian spotted this sign... Trish and I HAD to have our picture made with it!

Makes you wonder if we participated, doesn't it? lol

Here's an update on my 30 Things to Do Before I'm 30:

#2: Plan a trip with my high school buds. IN PROGRESS!

#4: Visit Elementary School friends in Decatur, Ga. POSSIBLE TRIP IN THE WORKS!

#5: Stop biting my nails... AGAIN. CHECK!

#7: Run a 5k on March 28.
Sadly, this did not happen. Between the extremely cold weather, my crazy illnesses, and Brandon's work schedule, we just didn't get to train for it the way we needed to.

#14: Audition for a play. CHECK!
Our church had an Easter musical last weekend. I auditioned for an acting part. :)
I was Mary Magdalene. Yes, former "lady of the night". lol


#25: Wear a Cute Hat. CHECK!
I've worn this hat several times lately... everyone seems to like it.
Except my Aunt Karen. She says it reminds her of Barney Fife when he gets frustrated and pulls his hat down real hard! lol

#27: Remodel our bathroom. ABOUT TO BE IN PROGRESS! YAY!

In other news... Yesterday I got my nose pierced!

It hurt like crazy, but I love it and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Chandler took this picture. It's a little blurry and there's still blood around the piercing. I'll try to take another one soon.

So, what had everyone else been up to?? :)

sometimes looking back can be funny...

sometimes it brings up painful memories.

in high school i kept a few different journals.

i burned some of them... lol. for therapeutic reasons!

i still have a few of them.

occasionally, i'll go back and flip through them.

some entries in those journals always stick out to me, but sometimes "new" things stick out. i'm sure that has to do with where i am in life at the particular moment i'm reading them.

today i saw one of them sitting near my scrapbook table so i flipped it open to the first page and this is what i had written...

"when you REALLY love someone, you don't need space. when you REALLY love someone, the space and the distance hurts."

just after that, there was a note to flip to a particular entry dated a little while later. that entry had a highlighted section. it said...

"what does it mean with the space STOPS hurting?"

now, i know what that entry meant at the time that i wrote it (and who it was written about)... no, i'm going to tell you... :)

i also know what it means to me now... no i'm not telling you that either! lol

i did laugh when i read those two entries because it reminded me of how superficial "love" was at that time in my life.

it made me sad because i remember how much unnecessary hurt i exposed myself to... over and over and over again.

it made me glad that i'm not in high school again!

it made me worry that my girls may (and probably will) face that same kind of hurt.

it made me realize that those entries have helped make me who i am today.

not back... just yet...

i'm not really back to blogging just yet, but i had to share the conversation i just heard in the car:

Chandler needed a new school folder so she gave Riley her old school folder. While we were in teh carpool line, Riley thought it was funny to drop it and laugh then call for me to pick it up.

C: "Riley. Stop dropping that folder."
R: giggling "Mommy. Up"
C: "Riley. Stop it. I really mean it."
R: giggling "Mommy. Up"
C: "Riley. Look at my eyebrows! They are not happy!"
R: hysterical laughter!!!

I admit I started cracking up too!

J: "Chan? What did you just say?
C: "I said, 'look at my eyebrows. they are not happy!'"
J: "That's what I thought you said. You are a funny kid."
C: "I know!"

Yes. Horrible. I know.

I know. I've been a horrible blogger.

You know when you just get into that "funk". The kind where you think to yourself, "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO ANYONE TODAY! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

That's me... lately anyway. I'm sure I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel and then I'll be back to "normal"... or whatever that is for me! :)

I really do miss my bloggy friends. I've really tried hard to keep up with all of you... forgive me for not commenting on your posts... I'm horrible... I fully recognize that!

Quick and to the point...

It may be a few more days before I get back into the blogging routine...

I spent 2 days this week in bed with what I was guessing was a sinus infection. I took Nyquil and drank lots of water...

Last night about 10pm my right ear clogged up... it did the same thing last Friday right before I had to sing, but about 2 hours later it was fine...

Last night... NOT SO FINE.

At about 11pm, I was in so much pain I was crying! It felt like someone was stabbing a knife in my ear!

I couldn't lay down in bed... that made it worse.

I took my pillow and blanket to the sofa and propped myself up... no relief.

At 4am, I woke Brandon because I couldn't take the pain anymore. I was sobbing... I hate getting that worked up over anything! It was the UGLY CRY!

At 4:30am, I drove myself to the Emergency Room (I didn't want to get the girls out of bed!).

The prognosis was this...
*Sinus Infection (I KNEW IT!)
*Ear Infection (I was pretty sure of that)
*Eardrum Perforation (HAD NO CLUE!)
*Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (I don't even know what that is!!!)

So basically, I came home in just as much pain as when I left, but was given a prescription for Hydrocodone... my best friend from my surgery back in September! I had some left over so I popped one in and fell asleep about 6:30am.

Brandon took Chandler to school and picked up Jeremiah. He worked from home today and let me sleep till almost 10, when Jeremiah decided to wake up.

So as long as I stay on the hydrocodone or extra strength tylenol, I'm feeling ok... beside the fact that my ear is still clogged up!
I've got amoxicillin for the sinus infection and ear drops for the ear infection.

When I can sit up right and type without grabbing my face or ear in pain... I'll get back to blogging!

Hope everyone else is having a better week than I am!

Has it really been over 2 weeks?

Wow! I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks!

Life has just been CRAZY! Evan was here for 2 weeks and we've been trying to get back into our "regular" routine... if there is such a thing!

I just haven't felt like blogging...

and sadly, my Project 365 went down the tubes when my camera decided to stop working properly. It was just too hard to keep up with it using my camera on my phone. :(

But here's a picture I took a few minutes ago...

is it ok to bribe my kid with M&Ms to make her poop in the potty?

If it were working, I would say yes... so far, no such luck!

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that Riley turned 2 on March 2nd! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

And it only took 7 hours and 45 minutes...

I'm pretty sure that's a record.

It's normally an 8 hour drive from my home in Tennessee to my parents' home in Florida, but that's with Brandon driving... :)

Apparently I drive a tad bit quicker.

I have a picture to post, but I can't get to it from here... *sigh* I'm beginning to see a trend as of late.

So, almost 8 hours on the road after an already full morning... I'm exhausted and GOING TO BED!

Night!

Only in the south...

I was going to say only in Tennessee, but this could probably be found in Wal-mart stores all across the south...

49/365

Yes, that says, "bottle opener under the brim".

Yes, there was a bottle opener under the brim.

Yes, there was only 1 hat like this left in the store.

Yes, I'm sure there are women in Tennessee walking around wearing this hat AND actually using that bottle opener... probably at family reunions and tailgate parties.

Wow!