Sometimes an iPhone 3 is Better Than a New iPhone

Suck: You scroll through all the text messages on your phone and at the very bottom are the last messages you ever got from someone you'll never get to see or talk to again.

Rock: Nothing, not even death, can take away those memories from you.

Ten Things I Love Right Now

1. Library books with the crinkly cover.

2. Snuggles with the dog.

3. Amazing lightening shows in big storms.

4. Hearing all about someone's vacation as soon as they get home.

5. Frying my own corn tortillas. Nothing tastes better.

6. Family dinners.

7. "Fairy Dust" nail polish. (It's from China Glaze)

8.  Homemade ice cream.

9. Looking at something you transformed with paint and loving it more each time.

10. Hope.

*the bonus old photo has nothing to do with the content of this post at all. It's my aunt, a cousin, and my mom a long time ago. It made me smile this morning.

Take A Look At This Tree

 I was noting the beauty of the day.

Now I notice the tree:

From Smithville, Ohio. Spring 2011.

Overheard This Week

By my newly graduated son:  "Mom, I already know everything."

*Well, it looks like my work here is done!

Take a Deep Breath

     Name one thing most people take for granted: Breathing.

     Isn't it simple? I mean, we aren't all breathing manually, are we? There's a girl named Shelly and she can't take breathing for granted. I saw her Saturday, sitting on the steps, putting all her effort into obtaining oxygen. 

     So I am asking you a favor. And it's so simple. Make a donation, any donation, even a dollar, but more is great. Give something to help Shelly breathe easy. I promise you, she will not take it for granted. If you've never had a very sick child, give some out of gratitude for your good fortune. If you have had a sick child, give some because you know how it feels. 

    When you go to the Shelly's Page at the National Foundation for Transplants you can even use your credit card to give online. 

     We would also accept gift and gift card donations to use at the next fundraising event for raffle or auction prizes. 

     Please share this on facebook/twitter/your blog/anywhere. 

Please put Shelly on your prayer list at church. 

     

Overheard This Week:

While at the mall, shopping for a dress to wear to graduation, Allison brings me a dress I find hideous. 

Me: No.

Allison: Why not?

Me: I don't like it.

Allison: It's good!

Me: No.

Allison: Grunts then asks: What's wrong with it?

Me: It looks like I lost at paintball in it.

Allison: You don't even know what paintball is!

Great Giveaway for Northeast Ohio from Chevy!

Have you ever wanted to win a trip? This is your chance!

     All you have to do is enter the Chevy video contest and you could win a trip for two to Miami Beach, Florida. It's this simple:

        

     Upload a 30 second video of you showing off your favorite Chevy! It can be yours, a friend’s, or a brand new one at your local Chevy dealer. Keep it creative, enthusiastic and fun!

Here is what you'll win:

• Airline tickets
• three nights / four days hotel accommodations for the winner and one guest at the downtown Marriott, Wyndham, Hilton, or Hyatt in South Miami Beach, Florida,  
•  A $200 debit card.

     Full official rules 


You must be an Ohio resident, at least 18 years of age to enter. Contest ends June 8, 2011 at 5:00 PM

         30 seconds! It does not have to be your Chevy! Go Win!

Ways We Change - Scanning

     Sometimes things happen and they change us forever. Not in ways we wished to be changed or tried to change. In ways we never expected. Ever since Victoria had her accident I change when I hear the guys ripping into the fire station. I know that when they roar in the situation is really bad. Tonight after the storm I heard them roaring in. They kept coming. I did the thing I do now. I turned on the scanner. And I began to listen. I am still listening right now.

     I learned the site of the accident, which happens to be right near the house of my son's girlfriend. Multiple vehicles. Three life flights. I don't even know how many ambulances. I listened to command, pilots, and whoever else was on the radio. I heard them send people out to several different nearby hospitals. I just heard another ambulance arrive at a hospital. This is the change in me.

     The first accident I listened to like this was a couple of months after Victoria's accident. I listened to everything going on for an accident not too far from the high school.  I heard when they said they were going to go to the high school and get the principal. I heard them order two life flights and then cancel one. The kids lost two more classmates that day.

     I'm a changed person. Now I worry over all the calls they go on from the fire station. I pray for them all. I guess at this point in my life it may not be such a good idea to live right next to the fire station, huh? 

     Right at this very moment some of the rescue vehicles are coming back in to the station. God bless 'em.

A Look At Some Other Things

     I don't want you to miss this stuff, so here:

Vinyl for Cricut and Silhouette and other craft cutting machines.

My dictionary dresser.

Ohio Amish Country

Great Wolf Lodge, Mason Ohio

In Flux

     You know how sometimes you just want to freeze time? Yeah? I'd like to freeze time for a while right now. But I can't. So I'm about to see my baby go off to New York City for a choir trip tomorrow. And soon I will see him graduate. And possibly go off to work away from home for the summer, along with at least one of his siblings. The house may turn in to a very quiet place. It Sucks/Rocks. It sucks because they are wonderful to have around the house. Around me. It rocks because life is going forward for them in good ways. In the kinds of ways I want for them. But dang, I raised people who I really appreciate and enjoy. I will miss them while they are off in their own worlds full of new experiences.

     Giving them roots is easy. Giving them wings is so doggone hard. And sort of highly overrated.

April 3 in 30, Week 2

     Last week I announced my April goals. I'd been sorely slacking when I was going to get this room turned around in the past. This time, it will happen!

     For April I want to accomplish these things:

1. Get all the junk out of the spare room.

2. Get the right stuff from the basement into the newly appointed 'guest room.'

3. Get the furniture stored in the old van into the basement.

     I have to say: So far, so good. We really cleared out that spare room. There are still some things to be painted and moved out of the room. Other than that, it's good! Of course, things are never as simple as it seems. While the room is mostly empty I think it would be a good time to clean the carpets. This always happens to me. A task which sounds easy turns into a long list of things. 

     Things are moving along at a good rate. I give the first week of April two thumbs up!

Making The Cut

     I looked around today for a source for Cricut Vinyl and found a place which sells a lot of great stuff. I like the prices, too! They also carry Silhouette Vinyl in their store.

     They sell it in the sizes of your machine, so if you want to buy a 12"x6" piece you can - for only 99 cents! But if you want a lot of a certain color (10 yards!) you can buy it super cheap by the roll! This makes each 6"x12" sheet just under 40 cents!

     I can't help being excited about this since it costs more to get it at the craft store and the colors available at my craft store were white and black. Expressions Vinyl has nearly 40 colors! If you own any kind of cutting machine you owe it to yourself to go check out their site.

     They also have Printable Vinyl. I know! I can hardly believe it myself. I did not know you could print on vinyl. You smarty-pants types could figure out how to print on it AND cut it, I just know. Then someone can teach me. Pretty please?

 

*I was not compensated for this post. Mostly, this is just information provided by me to be helpful to you. I did sign up to be an affiliate with them so if people go through my links I can earn $50 when the total of orders reaches $1,000. When that happens I'll likely use it to buy more vinyl!

April 3 in 30 - Week One

     Here it is, a hurried little post. I want to get it before the linky closes. 

     For April I want to accomplish these things:

1. Get all the junk out of the spare room.

2. Get the right stuff from the basement into the new 'guest room.'

3. Get the furniture stored in the old van into the basement.

     This will allow me to be much more organized. It will also allow me to have things the way I think they should be. It will also allow me to get rid of the old van, which at this point merely takes up space in the driveway. 

     Sounds simple, doesn't it? Now if only I can get it done!

     You can join the 3 in 30 group any old time you'd like. Just click the 3 in 30 button on the sidebar.

P.S. Would you take just a moment to click on the Chevy banner on the side and 'like' them on facebook? They are donating to Harvest For Hunger for each like they get.

Around Amish Country In A Day

      Yesterday we made a trip to visit the Amish. Or rather, buy from people who sell in Amish territory. We like to pretend we think we are buying something from actual Amish people, which certainly did not happen yesterday. We came home with a lot of cheeses, bulk foods, and bloating. All in all, a great trip.

     Our first stop was The Oak Cupboard. It's one of  the shops at The Barn Restaurant in Smithville, Ohio. I go there for one thing. Ginger snaps. They haunt my dreams. I've never had any other ginger snap I liked as much. I need these to be happy. Because you think I'm fancy, I bet you think they are some amazing freshly made delicacy, but no. They are little hard rounds like you can buy at the grocery store. But they are way, way, better. I would send you some, but I can't because I am going to eat them all. Sorry!

     Our second stop was The Country Pantry. They have better prices than some of the other places, so it's always my first stop for bulk foods. They don't have a website, so here's some information: The Country Pantry, 8861 CR 201 Fredericksburg, OH 44627. (330)695-4102. They are open Mon-Sat 8-6.

     We were getting hungry after all that procrastinating, driving, and shopping, so we drove to The Chalet In The Valley for some lunch. This is one of our favorite places. You must partake of the golden nuggets. Just do it. You can thank me later. They just opened for the season on March 15th, and this year they have nice pretzel bread they bring to the table. I had to bring home a half dozen, and I wish I had brought more! Look at this crazy dessert they have called the Matterhorn:

      I just find this mesmerizing. 

      We left the Chalet (with my hot pretzel bread in my coat, because it was freezing outside) and walked across the street to Guggisberg Cheese Factory. It's pretty cool to watch them make the cheese through the big windows in the store. I still had my bread in my coat, and they thought I was stealing cheese. I really need a bread bjorn to carry around my goods. Anyone sell those? We got a nice lady to take our picture.

   Excuse our outfits, it was casual Friday.

     We drove around a while, stopped at a post office, walked through a hardware store, and had a rip-roarin' good time! I love driving around with my husband. We should do it more often. 

     Our next planned stop was the Ashery Country Store. They have a lot more variety and they really know how to pack it all into a small space.

     I realize some of you poor fellas don't live near me, bless your hearts. Go to Discover Bulk Foods to find a place near you. I just used it and found one ten minutes from my house.

     We stopped somewhere else. Sadly, I paid no attention to the name so we'll never find it again. They had homemade ice cream. We ate some and brought some home. We're such dorks. We should have written down the name because the ice cream was phenomenal. 

     We finally got home, around 4:30 pm. We napped. Shopping and eating and driving is very tiring.

Dictionary Dresser

 

I got this dresser last Spring when I stopped at a yard sale. The lady had it shoved in her garage with a lot of stuff on top of it and I asked about it when she let me take a look around. There were rabbits hopping around in there, and lots of very interesting old stuff. All of it was treated pretty much like trash, but I loved the shape of this one. I brought it home and dry brushed it, mod podged some beachy looking paper on top of it, and put it in my bathroom. When it was in there my mother convinced me to  use blue paint on it. I did it and I hated it.  Then I decided I didn't want to leave it in there, so I used Mod Podge and an old dictionary to re-do the top and put it in our bedroom.

A few days ago I decided to change it up and paint the whole thing. I was going to paint the hardware as well, but once I saw it against the creamy paint I loved it. It's not perfect by any means, but it is perfect for me.

Have you done anything you love lately?

P.S. While I was at it I painted the birdcage, too. Much better!

I shared this at:

Birdseed Hurricanes

I made this last fall with an assortment of dollar tree  items. I had filled them with whole coffee beans, but as Winter wore on I got ready for something a little more light and Spring-like. So I poured the coffee beans into a gallon Ziploc and added birdseed. What do you think?

*please forgive the terrible photo quality, it was taken with my phone. 

I linked up this post to I Heart Naptime
Tatertots and Jello

I shared this at:

Why I Wont Give My Husband A Ride To The Airport Again

     Every time I give my husband a ride to the airport and come home alone the little dog gets kind of miffed with me. He wont hear me when I explain that it is not my fault. I feel so guilty when he looks around me to the porch and realizes I've done it again. I've taken away his precious daddy. Daddy is the spoiler. He gives copious amounts of treats while I, on the other hand, just ask him if he wants a chicken steak. It's like having little kids all over again. Mommy = drag. Daddy = Rockin'!

     Okay, so I'll still give him a ride. But somehow I need to figure out how to get the doggie to blame the mailman.

Chevy Ohio Daily Giveaways $25 Starbucks Gift Card

They'll be here all week, folks! Chevy Ohio is giving away a $25 Starbucks gift card every day this week.

**Update: $25 Starbucks card is Monday & Tuesday. Something new on Weds. Stay tuned.

All you have to do is go 'like' them on facebook and leave a comment on their page to enter.

Just click that big old Chevy Girls button over there ---->

Good luck!

**********Congratulations to Michele H. for winning one last week!**********

The Melting Pot Gives You The Cheesey 411! Free Fondue For Two!

Okay my little cheese loving piglets, here's the day we were all waiting for, but we didn't even know it. Cheese fondue for FREE from THE place to go for Cheese Fondue - The Melting Pot. You don't even have to buy anything else, that's how free it is!

As you know, we ate at The Melting Pot just last weekend.  It was so good, I am ready to go again. I could eat there once or twice a week.

Call today and make your reservation, you know you want it!

Chevy Giveaway Roll Call: Ohio, Houston, DFW, Oklahoma, Philly

If you're from Ohio I have great news for you! Every day this week Chevy Ohio is giving away a $50 American Express gift card. It's simple to win:

Click on the Chevy facebook banner over there in the sidebar. ----->
Click the like button
Leave a comment.

Leave a comment daily to be entered daily. Next week there will still be daily prizes, but you'll have to wait until next week to know what they are.

If you aren't from Ohio, there's still hope. Here are the other Chevy spots giving away loot this week:

• Gotta Love Chevy Houston
• Gotta Love Chevy DFW
• Gotta Love Chevy OK
• Philly Mom’s Time Out

Good luck!