Tuesday Ramblings

Well, looks like the Hilton is a no-go. The Event Director up there is NOT very accomodating, and basically is saying, "Hand us $xxxxx or we're not going to do this." WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES THIS? They're so greedy! So we're continuing to look around. We have 3 more places we're contacting today for more information.

-The Radisson Oceanfront
-The Tides Waterfront Resort
-The King Center [HUGE deal down here]

Fingers crossed!

So I finally broke down and bought a candle warmer today! I had my eye on them for a few months, but never saw one "in action" until I saw that my mom bought one recently. It did a really good job of making her house smell good, so I gave it a shot too!



I got a little holder thing to go around it to make it more "attractive" to the eye too. We'll see how it goes!

Today, I am grateful for...

Today I am grateful for: CHAYCE


Of course the day had to come when I was going to do this one! And I'm not going to give some long spill about how much I adore him, and how wonderful my child is. Because honestly, I could go on for years... Yet the words would never be enough to express my love. If your a mother, you know that feeling. You know that kind of love that will never replace the love you have for your child. It's THAT kind of love. I just can't help but sit in awe of him, and be in amazement that I was so lucky to have a healthy, wonderful, outgoing little boy. Being a mother truly is the best blessing!

Ceremony Music

I've had sooo many of you guys ask me what songs are being played at our ceremony. So, here you go.


PRELUDE
"Spring"..............Vivaldi
"Rondeau".............Mouret
"Eidelweiss"..........Rodgers

SEATING OF FAMILIES
"Jesu, Joy of man's Desiring"

ATTENDANTS PROCESSIONAL
"Canon in D"

BRIDE PROCESSIONAL
"Bridal Chorus"

SPECIAL CEREMONY SONGS (performed by Melissa Haught)
"Take My Breath Away"
"I wanna love you Forever" [Jessica Simpson]
---3rd song undecided---

SLIDESHOW
"This is the Night".......Clay Aiken

Link, if you don't know the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VmdlyHL7ek

I'm sure most of you know "Take my breath away". It's an older song. But for those who haven't heard "I wanna love you forever" by Jessica Simpson. It's a breathtaking song, and one of my alltime favorites. My ceremony won't be complete without it! Here you go... You WILL get chills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MA1rDxaq88

Back to Normal

Chayce is home, the girls I babysit are here... Back to normal today! I actually am feeling great today, since I went to bed before 9pm last night.

I just have to share these pictures of Chayce playing Guitar Hero with Jon, he cracks me up. He's our little rockstar!









I won't ramble much about the wedding ceremony today. But we have narrowed things down, and it will be (as i've mentioned) mostly by candlelight [with some dim lights as well I'm sure]... And our inspirations are these 2 ideas.





It will look MOSTLY like the first photo (God willing!) but the aisle decorations should be the little lanterns in the 2nd photo. We both fell in love with this idea!

I sure do love Sundays...

The Pack vs. TB @ 1pm

NYJ vs. ARZ @ 1pm

DAL vs. WASH @ 4pm

Chayce is home! He had fun at Grandpa/Grandma's house. They took him to the Space Center [for his first time!] and it's all he's been talking about since he's been home. He's not happy that Jon had to go to work today though, it's his first day back and Jon won't be able to spend time with him until 6pm tonight. It's OK though, he'll be content watching football this afternoon. The child LOVES football. It's in his blood, LOL.

Chayce decided he wants to be Spiderman for Halloween. Oh joy! Atleast it's a popular character and won't be hard to find a costume.

Our 3 year anniversary is on Thursday. We both nearly forgot with all the hype of NEXT year! No one ever seems to remember though. We eloped on 10.2.05, and I don't think we've ever recieved a "Happy Anniversary" card or anything from anyone. Except for his parents. His mom always remembers, which is very thoughtful! It's just kinda pathetic. I go out of my way to wish everyone happy birthday, anniversary, whatever... Yet Jon and I always kinda go un-noticed. But if I happen to miss something I get the guilt-trip phone call, "Oh, nice of you to wish me happy birthday." or some crap. It's whatever though. I'm just generally a thoughtful person, I keep close track of special occassions. So since we never get so much as a "Happy Anniversary", I always try to plan something big for us. This year, not so much because of next year of course! It'll be worth it.

I never thought Jon would be so involved in the planning of all this. He wants to see everything, and approve of it with me. Last night we went to a candy store here in our mall. I'm guessing it's new as I've only noticed it the past month or so. We decided to go with the favor boxes [colors still undecided!] and now it's a decision to WHAT we'll fill the boxes with. At the candy store they had these AMAZING Raspberry/Chocolate Truffles. We're guessing about 3 of them will fit in each box. The manager/owner said she would even seperate them, 3 at a time, and wrap them in 3's so I can put them in the favor boxes! She was giving us so many good ideas. Like Chocolate Covered Cherries. That's a possibility too. We just know we want something rich and delicate. I don't just want to stuff it with M&M's (Jon's idea). So we've been leaning toward Hershey's Kisses, but may do something like the truffles, or cherry cordials. Decisions, Decisions! But we sure didn't mind taste-testing, LOL!

Enough of my endless ramblings for today. Gotta keep up with the games!

Rings, Rings, RINGS

I'm SO not used to having my son around. It was nice that my in-laws are keeping him. They took him Wednesday evening and we'll bring him home tomorrow after church. That's a long freakin' time!

We've been so busy though, we wouldn't have been able to get alot of things done with Chayce around, so it's been nice that we can get some things for the wedding taken care of.

Today I went to a local bridal shop called "Meredith's". I found a dress that's exactly what I want, the only difference is that it has a train. I really don't want a train, but when I put this gown on, everyone in the boutique were complimenting me on how it fit my body so well. The dress wouldn't even need alterations! They said that for only $10 they could alter the straps into a halter-style for me. AND she cut me an unbelievable deal [if I choose to accept it and buy that gown]. I'm so nervous about making this big of a decision! I'm scared to say, "Yes! This is what I want." Because what if I change my mind or stumble across something even BETTER?! I'm over-reacting, but still too scared to say "yes".

Jon and I went to the mall tonight. We looked at a few jewelry stores for our new bands, and looked at a few places for tuxes. But our main focus was on rings.

THIS is my ring. The one Jon proposed with. It's 3 princess cut stones, with baguette cut stones on the sides.



So, naturally, I want a band with the same cut diamonds [princess/baguette]. Here are a few that I like:





Tough decisions to make! Jon is simplistic. He just wants a band with diagonal diamonds on it, similar to this:



How I wish I was as easily satisfied as my dear husband, LOL. I picked my engagement ring. I LOVE baguette and princess cut diamonds, so we need a band that will compliment my ring well. You girls know what I mean! :)

Once I send out the save-the-date cards, I'm DEFINATELY taking a small break from the wedding planning for a few weeks. My head is starting to hurt. There's SO much to do!

October 11th we meet with the florist. Anyday now we'll hear back from the Hilton event planner. The next things to do are:

-Take a photo to send out with the Save the Date cards.
-Reserve Reception Location
-Downpayment on my dress
-Narrow down choices on rings

No wonder women are called "Bridezillas"! This stuff IS alot of work, but we deserve this... and we want it done OUR way. I'm glad to see it starting to fall into place. And we still have 12 months to go!

It's Friday!

Well, our meeting at the Hilton went very well last night. The man we spoke with was very nice and very flexible with us. He's going to check with the Executive Chef at the Hilton to get pricing on the food for our reception and will be contacting us sometime soon! Very exciting.

Last night we saw "My Best Friend's Girl". Dane Cook and Kate Hudson were the stars of the movie. My opinion? Don't waste your money. It was a cute movie, I guess... But not worth paying to see in theatres. I've come to a conclusion. I ADORE Dane Cook. Very funny guy, but not a great actor. He's hilarious as a comedian, I love his work... But acting isn't really his forte.

Tonight we're going to the Palm Bay High School football game. My sister is a cheerleader, and we told her we'd go to a game sometime, so we're going [Chayce too!] to tonight's game. I'm sure Chayce will love it.

Today www.coffeeshopmoms.com/forums IS up and running, so register and join the board! If you're not a mom or attempting to become a mom, spread the word to anyone you know that IS. We accept members that are trying to conceive all the way up to moms of teenagers.

I REALLY need to catch up on my reading. I'm halfway through the 2nd book of the "Twilight" Series "New Moon". I've been too busy lately with the website and wedding to keep reading, but sometime this weekend (fingers crossed!) I'll get to finish "New Moon".

What can I say? Thank God it's Friday!

Thankful Thursday

Lots of things to talk about today! First and foremost I'd like to say:

Happy 6th Birthday
to my little nephew, Taylor!
Enjoy your special day!
[Laci, Jon and Chayce]



I'm so glad my board is coming together. I've put a lot of hard work and dedication into this board and I'm glad to see it looking like a potential success. I think all moms should have a place to escape to meet other moms and women who have things in common with them. And that's my goal with this board. To have a little escape. A breakaway from reality for a bit to sit back and have girl-time. Yet we can still discuss parenting, marriage, etc. Very exciting!

Tonight is our meeting at the Hilton. After that, Jon and I are going to see "My Best Friend's Girl". We are both HUGE fans of Dane Cook. And I love Kate Hudson, so I think it will be cute.

And now, on to "Thankful Thursday"

1. Cloth Shopping Bags: These things are great! I hate not knowing what to do with the HUNDREDS of plastic bags we get when we go grocery shopping. They accumulate and you can only use so many of them for other purposes, so we invested in these. At $1/ea their a great investment for the environment and for your home! Less garbage to deal with.



2. Microfleece Blankets: I bought like 4 of these a while back. We started out with 1 but Jon and I kept fighting over it, so we purchased enough for all of us. They're unbelievably soft and I've always got one near by!

3. Vbulletin: Without which my website wouldn't be complete.

4. Autumn! So glad it's here and can't wait to put up some fall decor.

5. Barnes & Noble: I resort to this place for EVERYTHING! And I love that they have a children's section, so I can grab the books/magazines I need then go sit in a section with Chayce and he can play quietly. And OF COURSE I can access Starbuck's there too!

INTRODUCING: Coffee Shop Moms

I am THRILLED to introduce, for the first time EVER, my website!




The launch date will be Friday September 26, 2008. You may register, but no one will be approved until Friday. Tell your friends!

http://www.coffeeshopmoms.com/forums

What a Wednesday!

What a day!!!

Jon had to go to the Doctor's office this morning. Keep him in your prayers, he's having a lot of pain. My In-Laws totally saved the day by offering to take Chayce for a few days! I've finally got the website just about done! Seriously, about 2 more things to adjust, and it'll be ready for launch. The site has been consuming my every waking moment today. I really hope you all (that join) enjoy it!

The site will launch on Friday!

I'm so excited. So much hard work has went into this, and I can't wait to see it up and running in action!

Tomorrow is our appointment at the Hilton with the event planner. So I'm really thankful my in-laws have Chayce! We can take care of our meeting without worrying about chasing a 3 year old around.

So what am I to do? 3 days without my child. An injured husband. *sigh* Off to do more wedding planning I guess.

Wedding Favors [again]

We just found this, which works out even better! Aren't they cute?!



We will incorporate red and/or white ribbon. We will fill the boxes with red and silver Hershey Kisses. Now the big questions is. What color combination do we use?! We don't want black and red together. It'll look too dark. So here are the options.

Box Color/Ribbon Color

White/Black
White/Red
Black/White
Red/White

I want any of your opinions on this. So please check out my POLL on the Right side of the screen.

It's Monday again.

After a weekend of wedding shopping/planning, being in the sun, and on the go, and watching my Pack get defeated by ROMO .... I'm just DRAINED today.

The website is in it's final stages. Thank God! I still need to:

-Work out the kinks in my E-mail account for the server. It won't validate! ACK!

-Get the site header adjusted to fit the board.

-Upgrade my control panel.

As soon as that's done, I do believe it'll be time to launch. Crossing my fingers for THIS FRIDAY!

Thursday we're meeting up with the event planner at the Hilton to discuss further plans.

We haven't been able to choose between candles and candy for the wedding favors. Until just this morning. I finally caved and agreed with Jon's idea of doing candy/chocolate as a gift instead of candles. I wanted candles to stick with the candlelight theme, BUT since the ceremony AND reception will be all by candlelight, I don't want to overkill it, so we'll do candy instead.

Are you ready?

...It's a Love/Hate kinda thing.

DAL vs. GB @ Lambeau
8pm EST

Ceremony Update

Well, we decided on Bridesmaids dresses! Here's a peek at them.


The flower-girl dress was purchased today:


And tonight we're going to look at the Melbourne Hilton Rialto for our reception AND possibly the ceremony! The grand ballroom there accomodates up to 500 people, and they can open up the rooms or collapse them as needed. I'm going to see if they can split it in half, so we can use half of it for the ceremony and the other half for the reception! Would save the guests worrying about transportation, and we can book our guests in the same hotel that are flying in for the ceremony. I hope it goes well! :) Here's the Hilton Rialto. It's beautiful!





And the Grand Ballroom that we can set up...

Thankful Thursday

Today has been the happiest day I've had in a few days now! My site us up and running! This is what I've been waiting for!!!

I will post the URL link on here probably Monday. I'm spending the next few days and this coming weekend to tweek the site to look exactly how I want it and to learn to administrate everything quicker. But it IS up and running. I can't wait to see it in action. It will be such a wonderful place for moms, and women trying to start families. I wanted to start a board like this a few years back, but never did. So I'm very thankful to have this!

That leads me to "Thankful Thursday". So, here we go!

1. My website!

2. Cool Whip in a Can: I posted this yesterday. I seriously LOVE this stuff!

3. Pancake Mix: Do you ever have nights where you just want breakfast for dinner? I've been like that alot lately. Most people know how much I LOVE cooking, but storebought pancake mix is the best thing EVER! And so inexpensive. I stumbled on a blueberry pancake mix now and I think I got us all addicted to it.

4. The Children's Place: Seriously, need I says more?! If you're a mom, I'm sure you feel the same way, LOL



5. Allrecipes.com: My cooking would SUCK. Royally. Without this site. So many of our staple family meals in my home were discovered on here.

6. After-Homecoming Formal Gown Sales: Thanks, Highschoolers, for building up the hype of Homecoming. Thanks to you all, people like me get to also take advantage of those gorgeous formal gowns that get marked down to nearly NOTHING. I found the PERFECT bridesmaids gowns yesterday for my bridesmaids! I'm in love...

-------------

Oh! I sat down yesterday and started writing out the wording for our vow-renewal invitations. Here's what I came up with. What do you think? I need constructive criticism.

"The honor of your presence is requested
at the re-affirmation of wedding vows between
Mrs. Laci Nicole
and
Mr. Jonathan David D________
on Friday, the second of October
two thousand and nine
at 6 o'clock in the evening
Praise Cathedral
Melbourne, Florida"

**Edited the wording so it says "Mrs" before my name, as we're already married!**

Mommy Venting

I just don't get it.

I'm SO nice to my son. He gets what he wants. I raise him to use his manners. But why does he seem to be so rebellious lately?! Just yesterday he shoved a little girl 3 times. He got in time out, got lectured.... Then did it AGAIN.

This morning he was in his "I want, I want" attitude. He demanded "I want more cereal." I made him re-phrase and ask nicely. Then he slammed his bowl of cereal on the floor, then threw his glass of water down too.

I've HAD ENOUGH!!!

He freaked as soon as I stormed in his direction. He KNEW I was pissed. I made him clean up the mess. And now, he's sitting in the corner in his room. I'm to the point where I just want to pull my hair out. Where did I go wrong as a MOTHER for him to act this way?! He's TOTALLY different around Jon. I'm more stern with him than Jon, yet he obeys Jon better. I've never spanked the child in his life, but it sure is starting to look tempting as a last resort! NOTHING IS WORKING. WHY IS HE ACTING LIKE THIS?!

I grounded him last week. Took away TV, action figures, etc. And it worked for a few days, but the past 2 days he's back to his cranky, bullying self.

WHAT FREAKING GIVES?!?!

Australia: Who are You?

Ok, so EVERYDAY. Multiple times a day most days, someone from Austraila is lurking my blog.

Come out, come out, whoever you are.

I don't know anyone from Australia, so who out there could be THIS interested in my life?

And it's pin-pointed on the same spot on the map.

Who the heck are you? Stop lurking and comment or something.

Today I am grateful for...

Today I am grateful for: ASHLEY


I met Ashley a few days after I moved to Florida, back in High School. So we've been friends 6 years now. Unfortunatly we both went our seperate ways; I started a family, and she's still in college, but we still do keep in touch. She's actually a bridesmaid in my vow-renewal. I have made many friends the past few years and since I've became a mother, but I keep those friends I've known longer even closer to my heart. Ashley is a kind-hearted person who has always been one to put others before her. Ashley is also one of the VERY FEW people that I know I can trust with my secrets, and I know she's always got my back. I think in my lifetime I've only had a handful of friends that I cherish like I do her.

Wednesday: Cool Whip & Weddings

Thank God it's Wednesday! Our A/C guy finally made it out yesterday. Everything seems to be running much better today. What a relief!

So, today I ran to the store to pick up some sugar so I could make homemade Mocha Frappuccinos, and realized I needed whipped cream. I've always preferred Cool Whip over the spray-can stuff, and I kept thinking how great it would be if Cool Whip came in a spray can. Then lo-and-behold when I arrived at the grocery store...



HOW IRONIC?! Its brand new too! And only a few cents more than the other stuff. It's the good ol' Cool Whip. Nice and thick. SOOOO good; this is the best new idea! Woo Hoo!

Anyways, I'm going to take advantage of this next month for the vow-renewal. It's Homecoming for High Schoolers, which means formal gowns will be SO inexpensive by mid to late October. Hopefully I can find 3 matching ones in all the right sizes.

We'll be sending out the Save the Date cards November 1st, I do believe. Still critiquing the list a bit, adding some people to it. And, of course, we still have NO CLUE where we'll be holding this. I'm about to just decide on our home church [Praise Cathedral]. We'll obviously hold the reception elsewhere. The only downfall to our church is the colors there are Teal & Pink [Yikes!]. The colors of our wedding will be black, white and red.

LUCKILY if we stick with our idea of a candlelight service, it will take our minds off the bright colors of the church's sanctuary and focus on the candles and lighting.

We are about to reach the big "1 year" mark. We'll have 12 months left to do all this. Exciting!

Oh, and a quick update on the site: It's coming together VERY well and should be launching very shortly! Sorry to keep everyone waiting. We hit a few bumps in the road, but it looks like it will be up and running in no time!

Such a busy bee.

My mind is running 1,000mph today. Already!

I'm trying SO hard to get my site up and running, like TODAY if possible. I waited on hold for EIGHTEEN MINUTES to talk to a rep with my domain host and then my call got dropped. ACK! Looks like this may take a while. Still gotta get vbulletin up and going on there, too. Not to mention getting the layout and settings all going. This is craziness!

Anyways, our landlord (who we've NEVER met in real life) is flying in either tomorrow or Thursday. It'll be nice to get to meet him. FINALLY.

Our air conditioner is STILL screwed up. The A/C repair man is coming today. Woo Hoo! It's so weird. It gets cold in here until around noon-ish, then it gets crazy hot. Yesterday my house reached 86 degrees. Miserable.

Yesterday I finally got to catch up on the book "Twilight".

It really IS as addicting as everyone told me. I sat down and read from Chapter 5 (where I left off 2 weeks ago) to Chapter 21. I should finish it within the next day or so, depending on how much spare time I'll get.

I *thought* I'd get to stop working in 2 weeks, but it looks like I'll have to continue working until about Halloween right now. We had some unsuspected things come up, so I'm going to work a bit longer for the extra income, then when I DO stop working we'll be prepared. SO anywhoo, that's how my day is today. Cramming my brain to catch up on some bills, trying to launch my website, trying to finish my book, working, and today is Grocery Shopping Day.

Ok. Seriously?

Do you ever have one of those days where you just think, "WHO did I piss off to deserve this?!"

It's been one of THOSE days.

Yesterday we ended up getting a flat tire. Jon got it on the way home from work. So he pulled over to replace it. SO, Saturday being my only day of the week to sleep in past 6am, I had to wake up at around 7-ish to take care of all that jazz.

The morning went pretty well. But when we were at a birthday party this afternoon, I dropped my camera and shattered it. Just great.

THEN right after that, I step into the backyard (barefoot. Which I NEVER am, but heels and a birthday party are a bad combo, so I sat barefoot in the backyard to watch chayce play in the water).... and step on a BEE. Nice huh?!

Then, we get home and I'm already exhausted. I walk into my house feeling like a dang sauna. Apparantly our A/C is jacked up.

WHAT THE HECK IS UP?! I'm so freaking irritated tonight. I have my a/c down to like 66 degrees and it's still like 80 in here. And Jon's stuck at work until 10pm.

The Whistles Go: Whoo Whoo!

The guy in the Raiders cap is HYSTERICAL! Sit back and have a giggle.

THE BIG NEWS

I am launching a website! And here's your sneak peek.




It's been in the works for a few months now. This will be a women's-only site for women (must be 18) who are mothers, pregnant, or are currently trying to become mothers.

I will post the URL and all that once the site is finalized. I already have the domain and all that jazz, I'm just getting the layout together right now.

It's going to be such a wonderful place, and I couldn't be happier about it. I've put so much time into this so far and can't wait to launch this for all the women out there.

Get ready. This will be amazing!

Thankful Thursday. Erm, Friday.

Well, I have completed the first week of this new blog!

2 days ago I broke down crying. Chayce had me at the end of my rope. Since his 3rd birthday he's had this HORRIBLE attitude problem come over him, and just won't shake it. I try positive discipline, and lately it's going NOWHERE. He's at his worst when he's around other adults. He shows off and tries to push me over the edge and see how far he can go before he gets in trouble. He got to where he was hitting other kids, using a mean tone of voice all the time... just being TERRIBLE. So, I woke up 2 mornings ago WITH VENGANCE. LOL

I went into his room and he didn't know WHAT was going on. I emptied out all of his toys in his room, all the toys in the living room and sorted through them. ANY toys that aren't educational were removed and put away. I unplugged the cable and removed his DVD's. Then, I wrote up a schedule.

He's only allowed 30 mins. of TV, twice a day. On Fridays he's allowed "Movie Night" and can watch a full length movie. Lucky for me, tonight is Girls' Night Out and I'll be in Orlando, so Jon and Chayce can enjoy movie night together. We have designated time for playtime, craft-time, storytime, etc. Just in 2 days this child's attitude is TOTALLY different! We already see some improvements! We have had issues with Chayce at night-time since his 2nd birthday. He WON'T sleep in a bed/his bed. Only on the floor. We got to where we just didn't know how to handle it anymore and let him sleep in his floor. Well guess what? 2 nights ago he slept IN HIS BED. Finally! For the first time in about a YEAR.

This morning I sat down with him and started teaching him to write his alphabet. Today we started with letter "A" of course. 3 pieces of paper later (LOL) We ended up with about 5 proper "A"'s, which is exciting for a 3 year old! So, already we're seeing positive changes!

Yesterday was Thursday, and I totally forgot to post "Thankful Thursday", so I'm going to do it today. So, here we go!

1. The Radio: Y'know, for obvious reasons.

2. Mechanical Pencils: I love these things! I can't stand regular pencils. I like being able to replace the lead and erasers on them. I've always preferred them. I have about 3 of them I cycle all the time. Wonderful idea, whoever came up with them.

3. Ben & Jerry's ice-cream: Who knew a pint of vanilla would be a great "treat" for Chayce's good behavior?! He gets a small scoop for behaving, and it's going over very well.

4. NFL Football: WOO HOO!!!!!!! It's back!

5. Chayce's Lunchbox: Since I babysit from my home, it's such a pain to prepare 5 lunches at the same time everyday. So a few weeks back I let Chayce pick out a lunchbox at Target. Now, every evening I pre-make his lunch for the next afternoon and at lunchtime he goes to the refrigerator and grabs his lunchbox. 1 less lunch to worry about!

6. My Pastor: It honestly is an issue as a Christian to find a church that has a pastor that you can completely relate to. Some pastors can seem 'boring' to you, others just don't preach as you see fit. Some of ya'll know what I mean. But I honestly am very grateful for my pastor. He's an amazing man of God. I can't begin to describe HOW he preaches and HOW he does what he does, but every Sunday I just am so blessed to have found such a great preacher of the Word.

Reflect Today

We all know what today is. We all know where we were 7 years ago this morning. I know I do.

7 years since the day our whole country changed. A matter of an hour or so changed this whole nation. Today, we need to sit back and relect. We need to remember those that lost their lives, and we need to remember all of the amazing men in uniform who became heroes to our country. And we need to honor anyone who has served, or IS serving in our forces.

It's people like this that give us our freedom. And people like this for who I, personally, am truly thankful for.

September 11, 2008. 7 Years. Yet it still feels like yesterday...

GET READY... BIG NEWS!

I was going to wait until Christmas or the New Year for this.

FRIDAY IS THE DAY! I'm about to make a huge announcement!

Today, I am grateful for...

I need to start putting one of my friends and/or family members in the spotlight here on my blog every once in a while, just to tell them how grateful I am to have them in my life. So, here's my first one!

Today I am grateful for: MONIE

Monie is a wonderful, dear friend of mine I met on a chat board back in 2006 and she has always been an inspiration to me. She is an amazing mother of 4 children and a woman of great Christian faith. She is one of those women that you can sit back and cry with, and then turn around and crack jokes with. She's so down-to-earth, and is just all-around a great person with such a great heart.

I thank God for blessing me with an amazing friend in my life.

Hypokalemia

Hypokalemia is a condition of below normal levels of potassium in the blood serum. Potassium, a necessary electrolyte, facilitates nerve impulse conduction and the contraction of skeletal and smooth muscles, including the heart. It also facilitates cell membrane function and proper enzyme activity. Levels must be kept in a proper (homeostatic) balance for the maintenance of health. The normal concentration of potassium in the serum is in the range of 3.5–5.0 mM. Hypokalemia means serum or plasma levels of potassium ions that fall below 3.5 mM. (Potassium concentrations are often expressed in units of milliequivalents per liter [mEq/L], rather than in units of millimolarity [mM], however, both units are identical and mean the same thing when applied to concentrations of potassium ions.)


Mine are at 3.3. I fall in the category of having: "Hypokalemia"

Follow-up with my doctor today.

**UPDATE: Had MORE bloodwork done. Got a perscription for a potassium supplement. Check-up in 4 weeks to see if the supplement is working.

I really don't like Mondays...

Then again, waking up at 5:45am isn't my cup of tea either. Luckily in about 4 weeks, I get to quit doing this and get to just be a MOMMY again.

Last night was exciting! I got to see my sister for the first time in about 5 years. Boy, has Taylor grown up! He will be 6 at the end of this month. Him and Chayce were little partners in crime, that's for sure.

Still haven't met Theresa's husband, Ryan, yet. Poor guy was so ill after that plane ride! And, of course, sweet little Gabbi. Such a well behaved baby!

We all went out for dinner together. The kids were barely keeping their eyes open by the time we left. I don't think I crawled into bed until well after midnight, and had to wake up at 5:45, so I'm a bit sluggish this morning.

Today's news: BIG THINGS are coming soon! (And it doesn't include a bun in the oven) It's gonna be hot, that's for sure! I realize that, for once, I've figured out what I can do to put a stop to things in my life and do them the way I want. A way for my friends to stick together and have fun and not worry about anything coming in between us. I'll leave it at that. A way to relax, have fun, and be happy. Take it as you will. But this will be big. And I'm sure you will want to be a part of it! Some of you already know it's in the works, and I'm VERY excited about it. More on that in the upcoming months.

Sunday Ramblings. *Yada, Yada, Yada*

**HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF THIS MORNING**

No need to elaborate. Parts of my life are finished, and I am grateful. Now I can start with a wonderful week!

Yesterday was MADNESS! 2 birthday parties for 3 children, and today is another!

Chayce had a blast. His friend, Jeremy, turned 5 and his friend Jaden (who is also Jeremy's cousin) turned 2. They had a great little get-together. Then we stopped by Chayce's friend, Nicky's, house for his birthday party as well.

Chayce and I got to do some typical Saturday shopping. Our usual routine of Starbucks, Target, the Mall... Y'know. All that fun jazz. I got the coolest thing, too! We used to have a PUR water filtration system in the old house. When we moved here, it wouldn't work with our faucet for some reason. So it just sits in our cabinet. When we DID have it, though, we realized we didn't ALWAYS need filtered water (for dishes and other kitchen tasks), and weren't using it as often as we thought. So when I saw this, I grabbed it! It's a filtered water pitcher! This way we always have some filtered drinking water, and don't have to keep buying it by the gallon.



Very neat, though. It has a blinking green light on the lid to indicate the filter is working, and it will blink yellow when it's time to replace the filter. Not bad for about $15. And it does make the water taste much... cleaner!

Anywhoo. Today we are going to spend some time with Jon's family. My little nephew, Elias (Eli) is turning ONE! So today they're having a little birthday party for him at my In-Laws' house. Chayce always loves a chance to see his cousin Eli. We found this for him and I'm sure he'll love it.



We are also passing down an activity table Chayce got for HIS 1st birthday to Elias. Anything Chayce has in his room is practically spotless. So it's in perfect condition. We have no use for it anymore, so why not give it to Eli?

My sister and her family are flying in! Their plane lands TODAY! I haven't seen her since Taylor was about 9 months old, so I finally get to meet her husband and baby Gabbi.



Oh, and seriously. Did New Orleans piss off the big man upstairs or something?! This is getting ridiculous. Stay safe, New Orleans!

Thanks, Mom!

I got these from my mom today.
I think they match my blog layout pretty well.

Florida: It's not ALWAYS Sunshine!

After enduring Tropical Storm Fay just weeks ago, this morning we woke up to Tropical Storm Hanna. And that's the good news!

Hurricane Ike is coming with vengance. Now we just wait to see WHERE it hits, and how HARD it hits. It's fluxuated from a Cat. 5 to a Cat. 3 the past 24 hours. Either way, it will be a strong one.


AND, Josephine isn't far behind. Fun, isn't it?!

It's just a blustery Friday. But hopefully tonight we can find SOMETHING to do around here. Maybe a venture out to... Target? ;)
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My sister will appreciate this.
I don't know if you've seen this Ventriloquist/Comedian: JEFF DUNHAM. He is seriously one of the funniest people. He has so many characters he can do, and they're all so unique, and hysterical! My favorite is Achmed: The dead terrorist. A guaranteed laugh. "Silence... I KILL YOU!"



You must Youtube Jeff Dunham and check out his other characters. SO funny!