~New Years Eve~

Can you all believe in just a few hours it will be 2009!?



May you all have a blessed New Years Eve and all the best in the upcoming year!

Wow! So Grateful...

Ok, so in April 2006 I paid over $1,500 for my Compaq Presario laptop. Shortly after the warranty expired, just to my luck, Chayce pulled the laptop off the arm of the couch. Every since then it hasn't worked properly. It would overheat after about 45 minutes and shut off randomly, the battery wouldn't hold charge. It was quite a mess. Then on Monday morning the screen blew out on me. So I had to chalk it up as a total loss.

I called Jon, quite hysterical, about it. I mean, I have a Blackberry so I can access the internet, but things I have to do to Admin my board, I can't access (to it's full capacity) on my BB.

Jon's brother happened to call him yesterday and Jon told him about our situation. His brother says, "Well. I have a laptop that I don't use if you guys want it."It's barely a year old. A Dell Inspiron laptop. The only problem with it is that the touchpad doesn't work. Not a problem, we went out and bought a mouse for it. So last night we drove to Orlando and Daniel gave us this laptop! I have to say that this is such a blessing!

It just goes to show that sometimes when you're going through a tough time, don't let it get to you. Something can always work out for you! Had to share our little story.That said, this laptop IS NOT leaving the "office" (spare bedroom). And NO children are allowed in this room for ANY reason again. I'm not risking anything, LOL!

Without further aideu...

More Photo Sharing

I have to share some photos I snapped yesterday of Chayce, and then a few of myself and Chayce... LOVING this camera. And I think I have to admit, I'm liking my Canon better than my Nikon. *GASP!* These are SOOC [no editing has been done, aside from resizing].

Yes, I'm loving the Sepia tone on this camera. Even more than Black & White!

Settings: Vivid Color/Daylight/ISO 200 (I think?)

Should've used a slower shutter speed to blur the background a bit...

Should've used higher ISO. WAY too dark here. Taken by my Mom! :)

And my favorites...

...Wish I had got his feet!

This one's for Bianca. Thanks for suggesting the Macro setting. I obviously need to play with my aperature settings and ISO a bit more, but there was a definite depth of field change!

.*Merry Christmas*.

Wishing all of you a blessed Christmas, from my family to yours.

TODAY'S THE DAY!

TIKI IS HOME!

The wait is over. The little Taquito is at the groomer as I'm typing this. Poor little guy was TERRIFIED of the groomer! I made a crucial mistake when going to get him and forgot the pet carrier, so he rode in my lap the whole way back. I was covered in fur, so came home to change clothes after I dropped him off. The groomer was crazy busy, so he won't be done until 1pm.

Tonight in order to hide the dog from Chayce, I'm spending the evening at my parents house with Tiki. Jon and Chayce are staying together, then we'll all get together tomorrow night for gift exchange and Chayce gets his puppy then!

How could I forget? I made the Mint Chocolate Brownies last night! For the first time in a LONG time, I managed to RUIN a batch. So it took 2 tries to get them, and I still have some things to learn to fix. I'm not good at making frostings/icings, and this recipe required TWO frostings. Perhaps this is where I fold in the towel, and just add flavors to store-bought frostings? :p Anywhoo, I'll try and snap some photos of those soon.

Now for the fun part. I DID manage to upload some pictures I took with the new camera yesterday! So without further adieu...

*We were at Barnes & Noble*

My favorite! Not even been edited, just played with the camera functions. WOW!

In case you were wondering what his tonsils look like... (LOL)

His contribution to helping make brownies...

The whisk is a multifunctional tool. It works as a microphone as well.

Hamming it up one last time.

I was just so pleased with out crisp the pictures are. It's amazing. The camera has a 12x Optical Zoom lens on it. I'll try and remember to get some pictures of the brownies, and I'll get many of Tiki today!

New Camera

Seems like it's turning into a Christmas tradition. By the end of the year I'm needing/wanting a new camera. Well today Jon bought me a little something EARLY so I'll have it (and know HOW to use it) by Christmas.

The Canon sx110is!

Yes, that means TONS of photos will be coming...

Shop, Shop, SHOP.

Must break the habit, or I'm gonna get myself into trouble, LOL! But the styles out this Winter are seriously beautiful. Very classy and elegant stuff I'm finding. I NEVER shop for myself, honestly. I'm always buying for things for the house or for Chayce. Well I bought my Christmas Dress the other night. I'm simply in LOVE with it!





Today I found this sweater that I just couldn't pass up.

I really wanted it in white/cream but they only had it in an XL. So I decided to grab the purple color. I NEVER wear purple, and don't think I've ever even owned anything this shade of purple, so we'll see how it goes! I'm going to pair it with some jeans and either black or silver heels.

Chayce and I spent about 3 1/2 hours at the mall today, YIKES. But I'm VERY proud I only made it out with that 1 sweater for myself. :) With it being the weekend before Christmas, almost every store had 50% off sales. Of course the ONE item in the mall I wanted WASN'T on sale, but I still got it for under $20. So, if you're willing to fight the crowds, you can catch some GREAT deals on clothes this weekend.

Rest Peacefully, Sweet Girl

It was just announced at 2pm, the skeletal remains found last week in Orlando, FL were positively identified as that of missing toddler Caylee Marie Anthony.

As a mother, there are just no words for this. I feel hate, sorrow, disbelief and disgust in all of this. I am going to go to the site in which her remains were found, and add something to her memorial.

Here is an article:
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=8110238&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

*Rest in Peace*

Caylee Marie Anthony
2005 ~ 2008

Mint + Chocolate

Seriously, the only flavor combo that even COMPARES in temptation to Peanut butter + Chocolate is MINT + chocolate. And this time of the year is SOOOOO tempting for all the Minty/Chocolate flavors.

I have a Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks almost daily.



The past week I've made 2 different kinds of cookies with Mint/Chocolate flavors.

1. Chocolate cookies with crushed peppermint topping
2. Sugar cookies with a peppermint patty in the center and chocolate drizzle topping.

And then, my last trip to Starbucks, I was tempted and tried their Chocolate/Mint BROWNIE.

TO DIE FOR!

I did some research and found a copycat recipe which you all KNOW I'll be trying. I'll probably whip some up for Christmas and take them to my family.

Tonight's Sunset...

Chayce and I took a stroll to the lake to feed the ducks. Well, there were no ducks today. So Chayce threw some bread in the water and fish started biting like crazy!!! So we ended up feeding an entire bag of rolls to the fish. It was cloudy and windy when we got there, then all of a sudden there was a break in the clouds right at sunset and it left a remarkable sight for us! And I took this on my Blackberry! :)

Almost done Christmas Shoppin'.

Last night I went out, on a mission, to complete my Christmas shopping. I'm down to shopping for Mom and Dad at this point. I can't decide weather to get them one gift that's for both of them, or get them seperate gifts. I know what I want, just can't decide! ACK!

Tomorrow Chayce and his friend, Leighton, are exchanging gifts. Leighton is quite the girly-girl and has TONS of typical girly pink stuff, so I made sure her gifts was NOT pink. :) We decided to get her a Furberry! [The Yellow one, since she claims yellow to be her favorite color] They're basically a modern day scented Popple. And I can't resist, as I was a HUGE fan of Popples as a kid. [Still am...]

This one is called "Pineapple Pup".


Jon and I got our friends Korin and Jim (Leighton's parents) this! They're quite the beer drinkers, so why not?! We agreed they'd like it and we know it's something they'll use on a regular basis.



Tonight I'm going shopping for a Christmas dress. I saw a cute sweater dress at the mall the other day and am curious to see if there's any left. BUT, with it expected to be 75 degrees on Sunday and a high of 65 on Christmas, I'm not sure if I want to be sweating in a sweater dress. THEN AGAIN we'll be in church on Sunday, which is an icebox mostly. Anywhoo, whatever I decide on, I'll post it on here. Anyone else ready for Christmas to get here already?! I'm exhausted from all the hussle and bustle!

PACK PICS [12.14.08]

Jon and Me at our seats pre-game.

Donald Driver practicing


Aaron Rodgers doing what he does best. Nothin'.

THE PACK!!!

Kickoff!

How can you not LOVE this sport?!
Packers Sideline
2nd Quarter

Get 'em, Packers!

Happy Holidays 2008

This isn't the same one we sent out. But the same photos I used. I took so many of Chayce it was tough to decide which ones to use for the card, but these are the 3 we decided on!

Check out Chayce's website for more photos took today.

www.babysites.com/sites/chayce

Happy Holidays!

Weekend Recap

We spent all day Saturday at Disney, and Chayce had such a great time. Saw so many new and exciting things, and got to meet Mickey Mouse, of course! It was a late night, then he spent all day Sunday with Grandad and Granny [my parents] while Jon and I went to Jacksonville for the Jax vs. GB game!

Yes, we lost. But I had the BEST time! It was so much fun! GB was ahead the whole game then inside the 2 minute warning (4th qtr of the game) we lost it. 20 to 16 JAX. And the game-winning interception was caught by Jacksonville's very own Reggie Nelson [who Jon and I both went to High School with!] It was bittersweet, we love to see a friend of ours do so well, but hate to see my Pack lose of course... Especially to the JAGS! Blahhh...

That made my 2nd trip to Altell Stadium in JAX. Next time I will either go to Miami's stadium or Tampa Bay's. But that'll have to wait until next season of course ;)

Overall it was a great weekend. I'm just SUPER exhausted and a bit sleep deprived. Definitely headed to bed early tonight!

A week from today I bring home little Taquito! And 8 days until we exchange gifts. Chayce just can't stop talking about Santa coming to bring him a puppy... It's all he's been asking for. So I know he'll be quite happy with his little *gift*.

Hotness

I seriously LOVE her moves on this song! So cute!

Beyonce: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g

At Last, At Last!

The week has come to a close. I swear it's been the longest week EVER.

Last night I got to see our new puppy (again). He's seriously the sweetest dog I've ever been around. He's timid around new people, but so friendly. We decided to take Chayce with us to see him (Chayce of course doesn't realize that Taquito/Tiki will be HIS puppy soon.) just to see how they interact. And it was unbelievable! They played together and everything. Unfortunately Taquito showed Chayce how to drink water from a puddle. EW! I see they'll be partners in crime in no time. Right now I'm looking at local groomers. Looks like I'll be bringing Taquito home between the 21st and 23rd and whatever day I get him, I want to have him professionally groomed and cleaned up. Get him all nice and pampered. Decisions, Decisions! He's just a little Chihuahua (about 6 lbs), and some of these places are RIDICULOUS and want over $75 to groom even the little dogs. WHY?! Can we say "greedy"?

We did some browsing up at the Avenue at Viera last night. And within 30 minutes we witnessed 3 crimes! CRAZY!

1. A drunk driver jumped a curb by Jon's work, and tried to toss his beer bottle out the window in the T-mobile parking lot, but of course the employees saw it all, so that guy got busted.

2. I was standing at the entry at Target, and 2 people with a cart LOADED with toys and games ran out the door. The alarms went off, they kept running. Jon chased them down but they had no tags on their car, so Jon went back inside (who knows if they had guns or something?!) they did run the security cameras and got one of the guys' faces on camera. Thank goodness! Hope they get busted!

3. (Minor) A van smashing into the back of a truck. The truck was fine. The van? Not so much. Soccer mom needs to pay attention when driving a big ol' thing like that Honda Odyssey.

Anywhoo... Tomorrow is our trip to Disney World and we JUST told Chayce about it last night. He's so excited to go to "Mickey's Castle" (as he calls it).

Chayce will be spending the day with Grandad and Granny (my parents) on Sunday when Jon and I are at the game. The weather is looking PERFECT. Mostly sunny with a high of 67. Can't ask for much better than that! His bags are packed, and my Packers jersey is waiting patiently in the closet for me to wear. Now it's just counting down the hours....

Breaking News: Caylee Anthony Case

I'm sad to report that the human remains of a young child were just found nearby the Anthony family home. They were found in a garbage bag, the skull was detatched, duct tape located nearby the garbage bag.

They're saying that area wasnt searched back in June when she was reported missing, because back in June we had TONS of rain and that area was flooded. Therefore it was kind of overlooked. If they'd have simply WENT BACK once the rain receeded this issue would've been resolved back in July or August. How heartbreaking.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=8051430&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

There is a link to Fox News: Orlando for more information.

Thankful Thursday

Ta-da! I remembered. LOL

It's that time of week, again. Thankful Thursday!

1. Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino. Their little christmas twist on the regular mocha frappuccino is even BETTER. And I found out from the local barista that I can get one year round, just request it! They just like to promote them during the holiday season. WOO HOO!

2. SUPER Target. Not just regular Target. The SUPER target. I went grocery shopping there this week and spent about $50 less than I normall do! *gasp* Guess I know where I'll be doing all my shopping from now on.

3. Old Time Pottery: I LOVE this store. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I get 90% of my home decor there.

4. Cinnamon Scented Pinecones

5. Today's rainy, gloomy weather. Guess living in the Sunshine State isn't the best choice for someone like myself. I'd love to live somewhere where it was rainy and gloomy all the time. I love this weather for some sick reason, LOL. I guess it's because it puts me in a calming mood.

6. Disney World: Can't wait to be there!

7. Stubhub.com I got such an AMAZING deal on our tickets for the JAX vs. GB game, and reccomend them to anyone looking for tickets of ANY kind! Check em' out!

I've converted.

After nearly 5 years with Washington Mutual, I opened an account with Bank of America yesterday.



WAMU has given me soooo many issues this past year, it's no wonder they're going under! So I'm taking my business elsewhere and banking with Bank of America. The people were so friendly. I just hope this experience is better than what I've went through with Washington Mutual lately! Yikes. Now, just need to find a way to get some nice checks for my checking account. I don't want those standard ones, and the options Bank of America had weren't anything that appealed to me. Hmm....

Simply Wonderful Monday

Today I begin working PART TIME instead of FULL TIME from home. I'm going from 55+ hours to a simple 25 hours. And still making about the same pay. So this was the best thing to happen to me in SO long. Doing the in-home childcare has taken a toll on me. Physically, emotionally.. I don't know how my husband tolerates me. I have no time for anything most days because I'm constantly chasing 4+ children through my home. So this is just wonderful for me. Will give me loads of extra time to spend with Chayce and preparing for the move to Orlando.

This Saturday we're going to Disney! We haven't told Chayce yet, because last time it was ALL he asked for and talked about for weeks. So we're waiting until later this week to mention it to him.



Then, of course, Saturday is the big game! I must say I'm very disappointed with my Packers this year. You put all your eggs in Aaron Rodgers' basket and all you get is an omlette full of bad cheese.

Thursday I'm meeting with Tiki's (our soon-to-be new puppy!) current owner to take Tiki to Petland and size him up to see what size clothes, collars, leashes I need. Very exciting to see him again. I may make a trip up to Orlando's animal shelter this week... Just cuz'. ;)