Just in case you haven't heard.........Close to my Heart is running an amazing special for new consultants this month! Consultants who join in April will receive, in addition to the amazing new consultant kit, the Close to my Heart Cricut cartridge of their choice! All this for only 99.00!

Don't forget you all get to choose one of the amazing Cricut cartridges which are a 99.00 value alone! With each Cricut cartridge you also get three coordinating stamp sets AND chipboard embellishments! What a great deal!  You get a total of 400.00 worth of Close to my Heart products for only 99.00. 

Visit my Close to my Heart webpage to join! Ready to be a Close to my Heart Consultant?

Urban Decay

I am in love with Urban Decay makeup products.  It's probably more than a love affair and closer to an addiction. I just received my newest fix in the mail today, the Urban Decay Shattered Face Case.  It is beautiful! It includes five eye shadows, two blushes and a highlighter, an eye liner pencil, and a lip color.  The case is beautiful as is the packaging for most UD products.  It is very sturdy and includes a nice sized mirror in the lid.  It has just about everything you need and is perfect for your purse or to pack for traveling.  The best part....it was on sale! This usually sells for about 44.00 but I got it for only 24.00 with free shipping on the Urban Decay website.

Resolutions?

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions.  I think you should examine your life frequently and set goals throughout the year.  Having said that, I have some ideas about some things I want to do and change in 2014. 

 

• Another thing I don't believe in is diets. I do however think that healthy food choices made more routinely can lead to a healthier lifestyle as well as weight loss.  I have been buying lunch at school a lot more than usual this year and I have definitely noticed a weight gain that has gone along with that.  It really isn't that hard to pack a healthy lunch in the mornings.  I really need to start doing this again. 
• I have a TERRIBLE habit of stopping in the mornings for coffee or a Coke. The amount of money I waste on this is ridiculous.  I want to start making my coffee at home in the mornings and I'm hoping my awesome new Keurig will motivate me to do that.
• I have been having major problems with my back and in 2013 it finally got to the point that I went to the doctor about it.  For those of you who know me well, you know want a big deal that is because I HATE going to the doctor. One result of this is that I basically quit exercising.  I need to get back into the routine of working out again.  
•  Since moving my spending has been ridiculous.  Now a lot of it has been for things I needed for the new house BUT along with that there have been tons of impulse buys that happen just because I'm in a store.  I am determined to create a manageable budget and stick with it this year. 
• Along with a workable budget, I want to grow my savings which is basically nonexistent right  now....who am I kidding it is completely nonexistent!
• One more thing I want to do this year. I want to read more.  I have been so busy with school over the last two years that reading for pleasure just never happens.  When I have had a few spare minutes the last thing I wanted to do was read since there have been so many things I HAD to read for school.  I miss the feeling of reading and developing a relationship with the characters in the books I love. 
• I have a BAD habit of procrastinating. I'm basically doing it right now! The internet and things like Candy Crush are MAJOR times drains.  I avoid things I don't want to do by getting caught up in FB, Pinterest, or Candy Crush.  Now I'm not saying I'm going to cold-turkey cut these things out of my life. That would be CRAZY! : ) I do, however, need to restrict myself to a certain amount of time each day or reward myself with it when I've completed something that needs doing.  Funny, because that is exactly what I would tell a parent at school to do with their child.  

 



Goodbye 2013! Hello 2014

2013 was a very busy year. I was teaching, of course. I also completed my gifted endorsement and my Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction.  At one point in time the two programs overlapped for about 5 months.  That was tough! While I was busy doing all this life went on around me.  My son, Sam, and his beautiful wife, Vanessa, welcomed a beautiful baby girl into this world.  I was very blessed to be able to fly to Virginia and spend the first week of this little princess's life with them.  Olivia was a total baby hog and rarely let us get out hands on her! I also gained a brand new son-in-law in 2013.  I had some scary health concerns this year also. Spent a lot of time in the cardiologist office where they looked at my heart every possible way you could imagine.  Add to that some major back problems and I feel like I've spent enough in medical bills for each Dr. to buy a new Mercedes. Weddings, babies, classes, and oh let's not forget the two adorable puppies we adopted and added to the family.  My goodness I almost forgot the biggest event for me this year........I moved! I've been wanting to live closer to my parents for several years now and it finally happened.  I spent many hours painting, packing, cleaning, and unpacking.  I am NEVER moving again! Good thing I really, really LOVE my new house.

Dragoncon 2012

I haven't posted in a long time. I was busy with work and school. Kind of ironic that my work is school.  I thought it would be a Dragoncon would be a good starting point to get uodated!

Olivia's expression as she looked at some of the costumes coming down Peachtree.

 Stan Lee and Spiderman!

 Dean Cain!

 

 Love the box costumes.

 

 

 Batmobile!

 

 Loved the stepsister!

 

Puss in Boots!

 Dumbledore!

 



The Hulk!

 Duff Beer Guy!

 

 We had a "The WAlking Dead" section this year!

Love Zombies!

 

 Gotta love the Steampunk stuff.

 

 Steampunk Batman!

 

 Go Speedracer Go!

 

 Planet of the Apes

 

Loved the Star Wars cars!

I am officially a Navy mom!

Yes you heard it here first! I am now, as of today, officially the mother of a brand new United States Navy sailor.  I have been waiting for that call from my boy all day telling me he passed his final hurdle and is now a sailor! I have never been more proud of him. 

Spiders

Olivia has recently decided that she is deathly afraid of spiders.  Yeah I agree they are pretty yucky BUT I have been designated the official spider killer.  Lucky me.  The girl is a spider magnet! She just found one in her room and came downstairs and said "Mommy come kill this spider! Spiders LIKE to die! It is their DESTINY!" 

Let me go help this spider fulfill it's destiny.............

The Wedding Cruise

Some of you may know that my oldest daughter got married recently.  The wedding took place on a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas.  Sounds great right? Not so much.  Although the wedding had been planned for almost a year in advance it was a comedy of errors from the beginning.  Carnival had apparently "overbooked" and did not have my daughter's wedding even scheduled to take place.  She was at one point told that they couldn't even do her wedding.  Things went downhill from there.  Her guest didn't receive the gifts she had arranged through Carnival, her wedding pictures were horribly out of focus and so on.  I'll just leave it at that and say because of the extremely poor customer service we experienced with Carnival, we will plan on cruising with other cruise lines in the future. 

Now on to the pictures that I managed to get of our trip and a few of the wedding. 

Our ship, the Carnival Sensation.  Not really so sensational............



 A pretty street in Nassau 

One of my beautiful daughters waiting for the wedding festivities to begin.



The prettiest beach in Nassau by far.  I could have looked at that view all day. 

 The most interesting part of our trip....annoying the Saudi Arabian royal family on their yacht which was docked next to us.  We didn't realize who it was at the time else we probably wouldn't have acted like such fools.

 Me and my girls on the beach.

 THE shoes!

And last but definitely not least the newly weds.

Happy New Year!

I love the idea of posting resolutions.  Mine, I will admit, will probably fall to the wayside within weeks of making them.  I do not have the strongest will power even as stubborn as I am!

1. Drink less soda.  Notice I said "drink less" and not "give up" soda.  I think I might actually be able to DO the drinking less but I KNOW that I'll fall off the wagon quickly if I try to give them up altogether. I HAVE switched from regular Coke to Coke Zero so that's something!
2. Lost a pound a week in 2011.  I really don't think this should be all that difficult.  I lost about 25-30 pounds in 2010 by just cutting out regular Cokes and NOT eating school lunches this school year.   School lunches are full of nothing but fats, sugars, and carbs.  Despite what you might like to believe they are not healthy. 
3. Quit caring what other people think.   Enough said. 
4. Develop a routine for chores and cleaning.  I know it will be easier to keep track of things if I have a routine as much as I HATE having a routine! Maybe a few list might help also. 
5. Spend more time with family and friends.  I tend to be a hermit and would happily stay at home most of the time.  I do enjoy my time with friends and family when I FORCE myself to go out and for those of you who know me best I really do force myself. 
6. Express my gratitude for something each and every day. 
7. Read more.  This should be pretty easy since I got my new Nook which I LOVE so much.  I would probably marry my Nook if I could!
8. Continue eating healthier.....started last year to be continued this year.  It really does become a habit after a while.  I also don't forbid myself from having anything.  I just try to make sure my healthy choices outweigh my less than healthy ones.
9. SAVE!! I need to save more...not that I have a ton left over at the end of the month but when I do I need to save it. 
10.  Go back to couponing.  I saved SO much money when I did....which could be applied to resolution number 9. 

December 2010

December is always a busy month for us.  We have so many big things going on I guess I'll start at the beginning which was the princess's performance in The Nutcracker.  As always she did an amazing job and I enjoyed every second of it! This year she was a party girl and actually had to dance with "GASP!" a BOY! Although she was a little concerned about him remembering the steps, I thought he was fabulous as was she. 

 Here she is after the show posing for her adoring fans.........AKA her brother and myself. 

 In costume..............finally after multiple wardrobe malfunctions and many tears. 

With her nutcracker collection.  She gets a new one each year. 

Another big event in December is parent observation at the princess's ballet school.  I only managed to get ONE picture because apparently since the last parent observation in October they have enacted a no photographs policy which I was NOT informed of.  I got yelled at...........yeah it was embarrassing but I'll live! I love going and watching her dance and seeing how much she has learned in such a short time.  I guess I'll have to get used to NOT having pictures of it.  Not easy for a scrapbooker!

Santa was VERY good to the princess this year.  Her favorite present was probably the Mousetrap Game that she said she had always wanted.  She also received a new Webkinz dragon, Littlest Pet Shop Blythe dolls, Clue and a lot more.  

 She was NOT thrilled with the new undies........not thrilled at all! It's not Christmas without new undies though!

 This is my favorite picture!  She looks deceptively sweet here...........she actually is very sweet....when she's not being Evilivia!

 THIS was the one thing she actually asked for and the ONE thing she didn't think she was going to get! She was thrilled to find this under the tree and spent several hours on Christmas watching the DVD and trying to master tricks. 

 Santa was VERY good to the princess this year.  He brought her the retired Elizabeth doll from American Girl! She was lucky enough to receive Felicity also from Gan Gan so she has both friends to play with. 

 Our first white Christmas in Georgia since the 1870's!! I will admit that when I saw the snow on Christmas I almost cried I was so excited! Almost........

The weirdo loved her monkey PJ's so much she wouldn't even get dressed to go play in the snow!

She hit me with this ginormous snowball moments later!

The culmination of our Christmas was a trip to see The Atlanta Ballet's performance of  The Nutcracker at the beautiful Fox theater.  Both the venue and the performance were amazing.  Olivia was even more thrilled to see that it was snowing AGAIN when we left the theater after the show.  I don't quite know how Santa is going to top this next year!