Since posting my last post, I wanted everyone to know that the flower company I had previously written about has won my favor back. Not completely because I am still upset about the issue, but without question they have responded exactly as I asked of them and their customer service has handled my issue superbly. Now I feel a little bad about posting their name in my previous post so I'm making some edits so you'll just have to guess which flower company I used! (Unless you're quick readers and already read who I'm talking about!!) There goes my cool previous title that took me 4 minutes to come up with! (kidding..)
Consider this issue dropped now.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day!! It has been a wonderful day today, although, most days are wonderful to me anyway. What an honor it is to actually be a mother! I'm so thankful to be a 'mama' and I'm so thankful to have great Mom's of my own. How fun to have a day to celebrate that!! I'm all about cooking delicious meals and making yummy treats for the sake of "celebrating"! And by "cooking delicious meals", I mean, eating the delicious meals Matt cooks!
Maybe you're curious about my title regarding Amazing Flower Company... Unfortunately, "Amazing" fell off their name when I used them for Mother's Day this year. We've used them a lot in the past and Matt tends to prefer them over other companies. I placed the order a week ago and ordered the "Lilies for Mom" arrangement because both of our mom's love lilies and when in bloom, they're beautiful. Below is a picture of what my Mom received and a picture of what I thought I was ordering...
No joke. My sister said maybe next year I should ask them to just mail Mom some seeds and she can plant them herself. And for your reference, there are supposed to be at least 12-16 FLOWERS.
Maybe you're curious about my title regarding Amazing Flower Company... Unfortunately, "Amazing" fell off their name when I used them for Mother's Day this year. We've used them a lot in the past and Matt tends to prefer them over other companies. I placed the order a week ago and ordered the "Lilies for Mom" arrangement because both of our mom's love lilies and when in bloom, they're beautiful. Below is a picture of what my Mom received and a picture of what I thought I was ordering...
No joke. My sister said maybe next year I should ask them to just mail Mom some seeds and she can plant them herself. And for your reference, there are supposed to be at least 12-16 FLOWERS.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Kathryn Story...
I wanted to post this yesterday but ran out of time. I have two cute Kathryn stories for you... The first one, yesterday morning I was cleaning upstairs and Kathryn was "helping me". She found a pair of black dress shoes that were hers but a few sizes too big so I was holding on to them for this Fall for her to wear. Since she found them she was anxious to test these cute shoes out so I put them on her and she goes tromping around the house so proud of her dressy black shoes. After about twenty minutes, I told her we needed to take the shoes off and put them up because we were going downstairs. I took the shoes off her and told her to put them up and I finished whatever I was working on. She came back to me empty handed so I figured she put them back in her room where she'd found them. Later that afternoon while she was napping, I finished cleaning upstairs and was in our master closet and saw that Kathryn had put her dressy black shoes on the rack with all my dress shoes!! There was a tiny little space on the rack that was empty and she put them there - TOO CUTE! Here's a picture but I promise this won't give justice to my delight when I came across this realization...
Second story...Same day. So Kathryn wakes up from her nap and I can hear her in her room just talking to herself and playing with her little "Ellie" (pink little elephant that she sleeps with). Side note: Kathryn the past few days has learned what a "dirty" diaper is. Not just a wet diaper, she knows DIRTY. And she can say dirty now too - (she says derrrdy). So now back to the story... I open the door to go pick her up out the crib and as soon as the door opens, the room is filled with a very stinky smell..... At the exact moment I smell the stink bomb, Kathryn is standing up and pointing down to her diaper and smiling really big saying "DERRRRRRDDY!" If you know the look of a proud child, she had that look.
I am sure she will probably kill me when she's older knowing that I've just told this story but with her sense of humor, I think I'll be fine..
Second story...Same day. So Kathryn wakes up from her nap and I can hear her in her room just talking to herself and playing with her little "Ellie" (pink little elephant that she sleeps with). Side note: Kathryn the past few days has learned what a "dirty" diaper is. Not just a wet diaper, she knows DIRTY. And she can say dirty now too - (she says derrrdy). So now back to the story... I open the door to go pick her up out the crib and as soon as the door opens, the room is filled with a very stinky smell..... At the exact moment I smell the stink bomb, Kathryn is standing up and pointing down to her diaper and smiling really big saying "DERRRRRRDDY!" If you know the look of a proud child, she had that look.
I am sure she will probably kill me when she's older knowing that I've just told this story but with her sense of humor, I think I'll be fine..
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Today - Project CARE: Mission Possible
Wow. What a day. I'm actually having a little difficulty figuring out where and how to start this.
I'm going to start from the beginning (sort of) so you understand what I'm talking about. About 10 of us have been planning and organizing the projects and details for our Project CARE: Mission Possible since January. Our goal was to get at least 60% of the Sunday morning congregation involved which equated to about 500 people. Two weeks ago, we had 254 people signed up. At the end of the day today, we had a total of 571 volunteers. The plan was for everyone working on some type of project to come to the church this morning at 8:00am for a praise and worship service and then we'd all disperse to our projects. Projects included: making care packages for transitional families in need, serving brunch to a family homeless shelter, serving at the crisis women's pregnancy center, collecting canned foods, a habitat for humanity project, various yard work projects for people in need, school beautification projects, home cleaning for older or disabled individuals, cooking and delivering casseroles to various agencies, a car wash to raise money for various ministries, etc... the list goes on and on.
I fell asleep last night to lightening and hearing the rain pounding on our window, knowing that many of our projects today would be outside.
I woke up to one of the most beautiful days we have had yet this year. It couldn't have been more beautiful. On the way to the church, I was already overcome with total awe and just humility for knowing what was about to happen today that the drop of a hat would have brought me to tears. My own private, personal "theme song" so to speak during this whole planning process for Project CARE was Casting Crowns' "Lifesong". It's funny how you can hear a song so many times and it's just a song and then all of a sudden it totally applies to something huge in your life. The words are perfect:
I'm going to start from the beginning (sort of) so you understand what I'm talking about. About 10 of us have been planning and organizing the projects and details for our Project CARE: Mission Possible since January. Our goal was to get at least 60% of the Sunday morning congregation involved which equated to about 500 people. Two weeks ago, we had 254 people signed up. At the end of the day today, we had a total of 571 volunteers. The plan was for everyone working on some type of project to come to the church this morning at 8:00am for a praise and worship service and then we'd all disperse to our projects. Projects included: making care packages for transitional families in need, serving brunch to a family homeless shelter, serving at the crisis women's pregnancy center, collecting canned foods, a habitat for humanity project, various yard work projects for people in need, school beautification projects, home cleaning for older or disabled individuals, cooking and delivering casseroles to various agencies, a car wash to raise money for various ministries, etc... the list goes on and on.
I fell asleep last night to lightening and hearing the rain pounding on our window, knowing that many of our projects today would be outside.
I woke up to one of the most beautiful days we have had yet this year. It couldn't have been more beautiful. On the way to the church, I was already overcome with total awe and just humility for knowing what was about to happen today that the drop of a hat would have brought me to tears. My own private, personal "theme song" so to speak during this whole planning process for Project CARE was Casting Crowns' "Lifesong". It's funny how you can hear a song so many times and it's just a song and then all of a sudden it totally applies to something huge in your life. The words are perfect:
Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You
Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet
So yes, yours truly, got a little teary-eyed on the drive to the kick-off service listening to my song. The service was fantastic. If you can imagine a gym filled with men, women, and children in "Mission Possible" tshirts all ready to serve. It was short and sweet, pumped us all up before we left for each of our projects, and ended with a round of applause to the One orchestrating it all.
I oversaw a few projects that were being held at the church but I was able to deliver packed lunches with one of my girlfriends to two projects near by while they were taking place. One of the projects we were able to go to was at a grocery store in which a few of our volunteers were asking the patrons as they were entering the store if they'd like to buy an extra canned item to donate to the local food pantry. TRUST me when I tell you, this is NOT a project I would have signed up to do. I would not feel comfortable in the slightest doing that and truth be told, I even walk in the opposite entrance when I see Girl Scouts selling cookies at the grocery store I go to if I already have all the cookies I need for the year just to avoid them! But I got to witness this take place and meet Diane (on one entrance) who was representing our church. We arrived at noon with their lunches and they already had a human size BARREL FULL of food. While she was telling us about her day and how gracious and giving people had been, she said she asked one boy who was about 17 or 18 years old and she said when he came out, he handed her a whole grocery bag full of food. Just hearing that made me want to cry again and while she's still talking to us, a man walks out and hands her a bag FULL of mac&cheese boxes. That brought some tears. That was just the icing on the cake for me. I saw her story in action. I'm not a sissy. I just am brought to my knees with how gracious and compassionate people are when our economy is such a mess and so many people are without jobs right now.
At 2pm I had an appointment to pick up three HUGE trays of Baked Ziti at a small local restaurant in town called Prosciuttos. The owner, Joel, donated these casseroles to us which were to be used for a dinner this evening at a homeless shelter in Charlotte. When I pulled up, their staff was so kind to me. I was not able to meet Joel to thank him in person but his staff just repeatedly thanked ME and loaded the steaming hot casseroles in my car. It was enough food to feed SIXTY-FIVE of the 100 people our team was serving tonight! If you live in the area, go to Proschiuttos at Shops on the Green!!
When I arrived back at the church to transfer the casseroles, I was informed that $840 was donated during the car wash. Can you believe that!?
I can't wait for church tomorrow to hear all the other stories that took place today. It was an amazing day and I really hope I use all that I've learned the past few months and today not for next year's Project CARE: Mission Possible but throughout the year. It's not just a one day message.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. What better way to end this day than with the words from my theme song, "I want to sign Your name to the end of this day..."
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You
Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet
So yes, yours truly, got a little teary-eyed on the drive to the kick-off service listening to my song. The service was fantastic. If you can imagine a gym filled with men, women, and children in "Mission Possible" tshirts all ready to serve. It was short and sweet, pumped us all up before we left for each of our projects, and ended with a round of applause to the One orchestrating it all.
I oversaw a few projects that were being held at the church but I was able to deliver packed lunches with one of my girlfriends to two projects near by while they were taking place. One of the projects we were able to go to was at a grocery store in which a few of our volunteers were asking the patrons as they were entering the store if they'd like to buy an extra canned item to donate to the local food pantry. TRUST me when I tell you, this is NOT a project I would have signed up to do. I would not feel comfortable in the slightest doing that and truth be told, I even walk in the opposite entrance when I see Girl Scouts selling cookies at the grocery store I go to if I already have all the cookies I need for the year just to avoid them! But I got to witness this take place and meet Diane (on one entrance) who was representing our church. We arrived at noon with their lunches and they already had a human size BARREL FULL of food. While she was telling us about her day and how gracious and giving people had been, she said she asked one boy who was about 17 or 18 years old and she said when he came out, he handed her a whole grocery bag full of food. Just hearing that made me want to cry again and while she's still talking to us, a man walks out and hands her a bag FULL of mac&cheese boxes. That brought some tears. That was just the icing on the cake for me. I saw her story in action. I'm not a sissy. I just am brought to my knees with how gracious and compassionate people are when our economy is such a mess and so many people are without jobs right now.
At 2pm I had an appointment to pick up three HUGE trays of Baked Ziti at a small local restaurant in town called Prosciuttos. The owner, Joel, donated these casseroles to us which were to be used for a dinner this evening at a homeless shelter in Charlotte. When I pulled up, their staff was so kind to me. I was not able to meet Joel to thank him in person but his staff just repeatedly thanked ME and loaded the steaming hot casseroles in my car. It was enough food to feed SIXTY-FIVE of the 100 people our team was serving tonight! If you live in the area, go to Proschiuttos at Shops on the Green!!
When I arrived back at the church to transfer the casseroles, I was informed that $840 was donated during the car wash. Can you believe that!?
I can't wait for church tomorrow to hear all the other stories that took place today. It was an amazing day and I really hope I use all that I've learned the past few months and today not for next year's Project CARE: Mission Possible but throughout the year. It's not just a one day message.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. What better way to end this day than with the words from my theme song, "I want to sign Your name to the end of this day..."
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Couldn't resist...she's too cute!
First there were two....
Wanting nothing more than to be outside...
And then there was only one...
Who wanted nothing more than to help her Dada stain the deck...
And she was so jealous because the neighbor boy Braden got to help her Dada and she was stuck inside. (see him in the picture!?) She really would not leave the window or the door. She had to see what all was going on with her Dada.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Fresh Air
I needed to take a quick break from the busyness of life so I'm checking out of the real world and visiting the blog world for a moment to give my brain a rest. Our Project CARE: Mission Possible event is this Saturday so this has been a CRAZY week so far trying to get the many last details in place. We now have over 400 people signed up for various projects and more numbers are still trickling in. I really can't wait to see how Saturday goes!!
This is random but I'm pretty certain that I have a fetish with notebooks. The other night I ask Matt to hand me my notebook and he goes, "which one?" I said the one on the counter and he goes, "there's two up there." So I started to take a look around the room and apparently, this is what my world has come to:
1 notebook for Project CARE: Mission Possible
1 notebook for Meals/Menu for the week
1 notebook as my planner
1 notebook just because it was cute when I saw it at Target
1 notebook for "Random" stuff
Oh, and no joke, today I walked through the office section at Target again and wanted to get ANOTHER notebook to try to start a prayer journal. You'll be happy to hear I didn't buy anything because the voice in my head said YOU HAVE TOO MANY TO BEGIN WITH.
I do think it'd be cool to start a prayer journal though. Just not really sure how to go about it. I'll have to find someone who uses one and see how they have it set up.
My INBOX is overflowing with all your requests and responses for me to write more blog posts and how my writings have impacted your life... So to all of my fans: I'm sorry for not responding directly to your emails but more posts are coming!
Kidding. (About the Inbox overflowing, and getting so many requests and responses and having fans and impacting your life with my goofiness). Everything else was for real.
In honor of my sister doing such a fantastic job in her nursing program at Mercer, the list below are all the parts of the body that Kathryn can name/point to:
nose
hair
head
chin
ears
eyes
teeth -- she chomps down and says teeeeef
belly - she also knows when we refer to her 'budda belly'
knees
elbow - yesterday we were working on that. I can't even type what she was trying to call it....she was kind of close so that's why it's on the list!
This is random but I'm pretty certain that I have a fetish with notebooks. The other night I ask Matt to hand me my notebook and he goes, "which one?" I said the one on the counter and he goes, "there's two up there." So I started to take a look around the room and apparently, this is what my world has come to:
1 notebook for Project CARE: Mission Possible
1 notebook for Meals/Menu for the week
1 notebook as my planner
1 notebook just because it was cute when I saw it at Target
1 notebook for "Random" stuff
Oh, and no joke, today I walked through the office section at Target again and wanted to get ANOTHER notebook to try to start a prayer journal. You'll be happy to hear I didn't buy anything because the voice in my head said YOU HAVE TOO MANY TO BEGIN WITH.
I do think it'd be cool to start a prayer journal though. Just not really sure how to go about it. I'll have to find someone who uses one and see how they have it set up.
My INBOX is overflowing with all your requests and responses for me to write more blog posts and how my writings have impacted your life... So to all of my fans: I'm sorry for not responding directly to your emails but more posts are coming!
Kidding. (About the Inbox overflowing, and getting so many requests and responses and having fans and impacting your life with my goofiness). Everything else was for real.
In honor of my sister doing such a fantastic job in her nursing program at Mercer, the list below are all the parts of the body that Kathryn can name/point to:
nose
hair
head
chin
ears
eyes
teeth -- she chomps down and says teeeeef
belly - she also knows when we refer to her 'budda belly'
knees
elbow - yesterday we were working on that. I can't even type what she was trying to call it....she was kind of close so that's why it's on the list!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Our Sweet Girl
Yes, she put both her cups in her purse...
Pink Camo, Christmas PJ's and a Strawberry Shortcake necklace...
Could a girl ask for anything more?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Easter!
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!! It's so interesting to me how year after year you can celebrate the same holiday and each year the impact is always different from the last. This Easter was really special. This time of year is one of the few times you can actually follow along Christ's footsteps leading up to his resurrection. I remember from years past always hearing "The Easter Story" at church on Easter Sunday. I always loved it - and singing "He Lives" and "Up from the Grave He Arose". I actually made a bet with Matt that we'd sing those two songs at church...we sang "He Lives"!! Hmm...Hopefully God saw the humor of me betting on a Sunday! Easter was always a day of celebration but this year was a little different. For the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Matt and I read the Gospels of Jesus' last week. If you need something to bring you to your knees, read that! It's just a glimpse of what Jesus went through for us.Talk about a roller coaster week of emotions. By the time Sunday came around, I knew exactly want the world CELEBRATION meant. Thank you LORD!
Sunday afternoon Matt and I cooked a scrumptious meal together. The menu:
Sunday afternoon Matt and I cooked a scrumptious meal together. The menu:
Honey Baked Ham - Mom surprised us and got us one! Yummy!!
Deviled Eggs
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Homemade Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese icing for dessert
Deviled Eggs
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Homemade Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese icing for dessert
What a wonderful Easter!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Trash Day
For our neighborhood, 'Trash Day' is on Tuesdays. Every Monday afternoon, I drag the big fat nasty trash can around the side of the house to the street for the trash people to get the next morning. **Disclaimer: I've pretty much convinced myself that the reason I take the trash to the street is to help Matt out. He has no problem doing it but I figure it's one less thing for him to have to worry about on a Monday night.** And trust me, it's not a far walk at all and it usually takes me all of 40 seconds to do. Well today was another story. I went out like every other Monday to move the trash can and I could barely budge it. It was packed FULL and Matt had cut the grass this weekend and must have dumped all the grass clippings in it plus probably one or two couple hundred pound weights. (That's a rough estimate). So I stopped and thought a second. My first thought: Do I really want to help Matt out today? And then my second thought: Just because I have a 17 month old and haven't played soccer/really worked out consistently in 5+ years doesn't mean I can't handle this stupid trash can. And now hindsight thought: I am so stubborn! You guessed it. I went for it. I heaved. I grunted. I literally broke a sweat. And came very close to using a few foul choice words. While I would have said we have level terrain prior to moving the trash can, I could draw you the most precise topographical map of the 15 feet I walked. It is indeed NOT level. I'm finally about to make it to the sidewalk and wouldn't you know it, there was an older lady walking by who I am sure heard me the ENTIRE time. As soon as we made eye contact she said, "Are you alright?" I had just gotten my momentum going so I couldn't really stop to answer her question until I got the darn beast on the street. So there. Mission Accomplished. I told the lady there would be another free showing next Monday afternoon if my husband cuts the grass again.
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