Wrapping up the Birth Month

September has been wonderful, y'all! Loved the many blessings and celebrations - it's been one thing after another that I'll claim as a birthday celebration.

      My family, minus Roger and Aliah

Gifts on my doorstep night after night, beautiful star-filled evenings to greet me as I got home late, visits with friends and babies, it's just been so wonderful! 

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of it :) Truly thanks for making September and year 41 so special!

Nobody gets as excited about birthdays as much as this girl! Well, except for maybe me! 

It's been difficult and confusing, too. I live just South of Charlotte so seeing that situation play out on the local news... It's so hard to understand how totally destroying a city can be perceived as the answer. Hurting other innocent people cannot improve the situation. I hope and PRAY tonight is better and calmer. Thanks to all who have worked to bring peace to the city, to those who have prayed for peace. 

And work kicked into overdrive already, which is exhausting. For all of us. Therefore, sometimes those frustrations, stressors, and such are taken out on other coworkers. Pray for that, too. Because when it happens, cool heads are often difficult to maintain. 

I've been in a pillow making mood. These two are for mom - the Christmas pillow came first, the second is an autumn pillow. I love creating and trying new patterns. Glad I got these done before work became too chaotic. 

....and I've been sitting on this for who knows how long. :). That's what happens when you work in an elections office and it's a Presidential year. Sorry y'all. 

Adios 2013...

Holy cow, Batman, where did 2013 go?? It's just crazy to think the entire year is G.O.N.E. I mentioned before, I'm not sad to see 2013 go, but there have been some really wonderful moments that I wanted to remember. 

January: Pinned It/Did it - Love canvas.  This was made for my sister from the kids for Valentine's Day.  The baby's feet and the preteen's hands.  :)  I thought it was cute! 

February: I am going to toot my own horn about the racing scrapbook I made for my friend, Paulene.  It was an honor to be part of her racing memories! :)  

March: 500th post!!!   And it just happened on a Muffin Monday. :) 

April:  Friday's Letters in April.  What can I say, I was boring in April.  But here is Sweet Niece and she's adorable. :) 

May:  I blogged roughly "Every Day in May."  - my Favorites and my Struggles. 

June:  Sweet Niece #2 turned ONE and I lost my sidekick - Muffin. :(

July:  The annual Family Beach Trip! WOOP WOOP!  And lots of scrappin'. 

August:  A Monday Muse on a Wednesday with lots of pics pics pics (and one picnic). 

September:  It's My Birthday!! Thanks to everyone who contributed to the USO! 

October:  The NOTEBOOK: It's not what you think, it's better! 

November: Friday's Letters - just a snippet of my life. Love it. 

December:  My column for YC Magazine.  

So there you go! :) A review of 2013!!! Thanks for reading, for being my "imaginary friends," for commenting and caring (because I know some of you do!).  Happy 2014!!! 

Sweet Niece #2 turns One!

This weekend my Sweet Niece #2 turned ONE!  We had festivities to celebrate this important milestone in her life, with lots of icing (of course!)

We had family and friends - especially the Prayer Peeps - here to celebrate Macy's birthday.  Mom and I, with much help from Dad, Aliah and Katie, set up a canopy in the yard and decorated in lots of pink and green!  Tissue balls, balloons, streamers, and cute bunnies! Loved it.

We found tin tubs at the dollar store and wrote each kids name on it as their goodie bag.  Inside we had bunny bags from the clearance bin after Easter with a Bible board book (dollar store - 2 for a buck), bubbles (left over from wedding), stickers (dollar store, 6 packs for a buck), and a washcloth that will expand full-sized in water (dollar store).  The older girls got extras like flower erasers, hangman notepads and colored pens. 

My sister made the smash cake from cutouts from a sheet cake and stacked it up for height.  Then she added tons of icing to make sure it was extra messy!

Pinned it, Did it! We used small plastic cups to hold the "rabbit food," carrots and celery sticks with ranch dressing in the bottom.  No more ranch on the cookies and watermelon! It's all contained and neat. Yum! Mom made these delicious cookies. The veggie sandwiches were cut in hearts and flowers with wheat on one side and white on the other.  

Another Pinned it, Did it! The cupcake liner wreath and handmade bunny ornaments for the adults. The goodie bags helped decorate with the cupcakes and smash cake.

The Birthday Banner.  Scrapbook paper glued to cardstock backers and I simply stapled the ribbon to the front. I was out of energy at that point - and you know what, no one noticed. The letters came from a banner from Party City that was on clearance.  We didn't use the banner, just the stickers.

The canopy was six-sided and green (I know it looks black) and we found these green tissue balls at Hobby Lobby - three for $7 or so.  The colored honeycomb balls came in a large package of decor items from Party City for a one-year-old birthday and they were about 70% off!! We used a metal wreath form tied from the top to connect all the streamers in the center.  A cluster of balloons were on each leg.  It was very cute and girlie. :)

The most popular place was the ball pit we made.  Sweet Niece's parents gave her a sandbox for her birthday and we put balls in it from Toys R Us.  The baby jail held the quilt down to keep things clean and contained the balls from rolling all over the yard.

Time to open presents!! She was interested for a while, then was done with that.  

Sweet Niece and my brother and sister-in-law.  Isn't this a great photo?? They are a cute couple. :)

Sweet Niece #1 popping out of the box.  We wrapped large boxes for the kids to climb through like tunnels - a hit! One was a cave (only one end was open) and the other a tunnel. They were so proud of themselves when they crawled all the way through!

PawPaw and his grandbabies

Aunt Donna and the birthday baby!

One exhausted birthday girl at the end of her party.  

And one more cake picture because she was loving it!

This party was so special to our family.  My sister had a difficult pregnancy with several issues and so many people were praying her through it.  Then when Sweet Niece made her appearance several weeks early, there were still issues and our family and friends were there, praying both of them through it.  These people are so wonderful and dedicated to prayer and support. Thanks so much to everyone who went through it with us all! :)  We love you!  

Muffin Monday!

This weekend I worked on scrapbooks for Pressed Clovers, which means I stayed home instead of being gone most of the day. As you can see, Muffin was loving that...sarcasm. She put up with me but she wasn't too happy about it. ;)

I don't know about you, but after a high school band/chorus performance, a local dance performance of the Nutcracker, shopping, and our local Tour of Homes, I'm getting in the holiday spirit! Yes, it's been in the 70s, but that will be changing and I'll have to find some long pants to wear...even with the warm weather it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Friday's Letter

It's a Whitman's Sampler box, turned tacky. :)

Dear pen pals, I'm glad you are ok with me attempting to be creative... even when it turns out pretty darn tacky. But it's the thought that counts, right? RIGHT?! Look at how cute these are at Creative Breathing... but understand it's the THOUGHT THAT COUNTS.  ;)

Dear friends, I have had two of you share with me how much you appreciate my support and encouragement in the past.  While I'm slightly baffled - I don't feel like I did anything special or out-of-the-ordinary - I can't explain how wonderful it felt to hear such high praise from people I care about. I'm all about telling people what they mean to you and really appreciate you sharing with me! IT MADE MY DAY WEEK.

Do you see how large this is? Check out the person on the left... it's big.

Dear High School Christmas Show, I'm really glad we randomly chose you to see last night! It brought back all kinds of high school band nerd memories... But even cooler was the HUGE gumball art of horses running in the hallway. Seriously awesome.

Dear Week, you've been busy!  Work Christmas gathering, babysitting Macy, visiting with an old high school friend, visiting with Sara, ... this weekend promises to be packed, too, but it's ok. I'm happy to have people who want to spend time with me. :)  Just let me get a little sleep, please.

Store front and street in Downtown

Left: bedroom pencil tree   right: tabletop living room tree

Dear Christmas lights, I love you. I adore you. I light up like a little kid when I see your flickering and twinkling - you seem to just explode with joy and happiness. *sigh* I love it. I also loved getting my trees up in the house and adding to the festive feeling at home. It's all warm and cozy. 

Dear Christmas Cards - I'm so thankful you have been mailed already. Now I can sit back and enjoy seeing cards come to me!  My fridge is enjoying the decoration. :) 

Dear Macy, because no posting is truly complete without your adorable little face, here is a post from my babysitting date.  You are all drool-y and smile-ly and slobber-y. It's kinda nasty and sweet at the same time.  :) 

Dear Pressed Clovers - another sale this week! Holy cow, Batman, it feels so good! :) Thank you for believing in me and my work!

Dear Lord, You are amazing. Thank you for holding my Dad in your hands, keeping him close to You during each cancer treatment. Thank you for the many people praying on his behalf all across the country.  Thank you for bringing baby Ryan through his surgery, too! (I've picked him out to be Macy's first boyfriend...).  You are good in all things and I thank You.

Join us over at Adventures of Newlyweds to link up your letter! 

Just a sprinkle will do

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 25, many of our family and friends joined us at our church to see Macy baptized.  What a blessing!

While baptizing doesn't actually save Macy, it is a symbol that she is one of God's children and her parents, and the church!, take a pledge to help raise the baby with Christian values. It's a very special day.

Sweet baby girl didn't even offer up a peep, not a whimper, no cries. She just kicked back and played up the crowd, knowing all eyes were on her.  She was so good the preacher didn't want to give her up. Finally the youth preacher said - Chip, you have to give her back.  After the preacher went back to the pulpit, he said - I'm done. I can go home now. :) hahaha. She really is a sweet baby girl.

We gathered the family and friends in the Fellowship Hall for some lunch after church.  Here is Macy and her honorary Aunt Donna.  So thankful Donna could make it. I think back to all the things we have been through together - our nieces are two good things! (Her niece is Ellie.)

Mr. David, one of our church members and family friend.  He and Katie always tease each other about their hair!! Looks like he has more hair than Macy - hee hee.

AH, Macy and my aunt Lucille.  Lucille has always been crazy for the babies. :) She and dad look so much alike - you can tell they are related.

AH, Roger, Katie and Macy - one happy family.  

MeMaw, PawPaw and Precious (which is what dad calls her!) 

What a blessing both of my nieces are - so thankful for them. :)  And so happy Macy's special day went so well.  I don't think I would change a thing unless it would be to have better pictures. It just went that great!

Muffin Monday

Muffin demonstrates the stages of a proper body curl.

Hope your weekend was a good one and that your upcoming week is even better.

On a serious note, my prayers are with the people of Colorado. May God give them strength, comfort, healing, and peace.

posted from Bloggeroid

Salute!

Today one of my coworkers and I attended a Family Readiness Event for a Army National Guard unit deploying from our hometown.  Working in the elections business, I feel so strongly about these folks having the opportunity to vote, should they want to, no matter where they may be station in this world.  After all, they are the ones putting their lives on the line to protect this freedom.

We didn't know what to expect, really, but let me just say, OUR MILITARY PEEPS ARE AWESOME. You couldn't ask for nicer guys and gals, all thanking us for taking our time to be there for them.  Here we are saying - No THANK YOU!  It was so humbling and made is so thankful we were able to attend.

It's so sad how many military personnel and their dependents didn't realize they could vote by email.  We were really encouraging people to sign up while we were there, however, if you know someone they can also sign up for absentee ballots at www.fvap.gov.  Really good website.

The Command Sergeant Major gave both of us one of his coins for attending. I am so excited!! I've never received a coin before so I'm tickled red, white and blue! :)  I'm not sure what all it means - I just take it as a sign of respect and honor, which blows me away. I know it's a big deal, let's put it that way.

It does make me sad that I'm not sharing this with my Air Force friend... tough decisions were made on my part... I feel they were the right decisions but so difficult, too.

Anyway, I'm exhausted and heading home to get some dindin. Hope you are having a great weekend!

Update on Meanie Usher Woman.

***** update to the update!!! I've received ANOTHER letter from the big dog in charge who is handling this issue!  This poor volunteer, she just doesn't know what's coming, does she? *****

I must give props to the company that meanie usher woman works for because they did what they could to make this right.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, visit the original post here. 

So, while I was still fired up, I typed up a letter and sent it to the parent company that owns the theater we were at when the incident happened. I went to their website and found the Operations Director, smacked a stamp on it and into the Postal System the letter went. 

After I sent it, I figured I might hear back, but I surely wasn't banking on it. Imagine my surprise to receive a phone call at about 6:30 p.m. the day the letter was received ... from the Operations Director herself!

She was SO nice, so incredibly apologetic, asking if there was anything she could do to make the situation right.  I wanted to make a point:  I'm not doing this for freebies, I want to see rude volunteers removed or retrained, so I didn't ask for any kind of reimbursement or whatnot. We laughed a lot and she apologized again before saying she would take this letter to her training manager, who had classes coming up very soon. 

It changed my entire attitude towards the company. She is a gem - I hope they work to keep her. I wish I could have found a manager that night because I believe that would have changed my attitude, too. And probably have gotten the rude lady removed from standing behind us, but it wasn't meant to be. And that's ok, too, because hopefully it will draw attention to an area that needs attention. :) 

YAY! I'm very much happier now that this is over and I've said my piece. *sigh*

Meanie Usher Woman

I don't typically complain too much on this blog. I figure you hear enough about it in your everyday life. However, I will mention this issue here, mainly because I'm still fired up about it and I can.

Donna and I went to see "Bring It On" the musical. Loved it! So much energy - how on earth can these people sing while being flipped in the air is beyond me, but that's another story. 

Donna and I arrive early to the theater, hanging out int he lobby until the doors opened to the theater. We head in and find our seats - awesome balcony box seats with only six seats - and four of them weren't sold. SCORE! We have the box to ourselves. 

I pull out my phone, begin taking pictures, uploading them to Facebook, emailing my mom, typical "I'M-SO-EXCITED-AND-WANT-TO-TELL-EVERYONE" kind of stuff. We weren't being loud or disruptive. The lights were up and everyone was just milling about, finding their seats or doing like me. 

Someone grabs my shoulder from behind (volunteer usher) and says in my ear, "You ARE going to turn that phone off when the play begins, right?" I look over my shoulder and say - "Yes ma'am." "And you WILL NOT take pictures when the play begins, RIGHT?"  "No ma'am, of course not." 

Ok, I'm not sure what caused her to single me out for a schooling on proper theater etiquette, however, she didn't feel the need to teach this lesson to anyone else in the theater that night. Why am I getting lectured on what to do when it begins? We are stilling in a fully-lighted room waiting for it to begin. 

The more we thought about this, the madder we got. Oh. My. Gosh. I was pissed by the time the lights did go down. I won't mention the second lady who grabbed my shoulder in an effort to prepare me for the beginning of the show.  UM... THE SHOW HASN'T STARTED.  And get your dang hands off of me! I don't even know what I said to her through the red fury that was shooting from the top of my head. Which I do regret losing my temper. :(  OH well. 

I did try to find a manager, but he couldn't be found by another volunteer usher... so I sent my letter of frustration to the company today. I'll let you know if they contact me for more information. 

Here is the thing: what was it about me that made me set alarms off in her mind? Was it that I didn't have expensive clothes on? I don't wear make up? I have a Southern accent? I'm not polished?  I don't know but whatever it is, she quickly identified me as a problem student and she cast herself in the role of disciplinarian teacher.  She literally stood within touching distance of us anytime the lights were up. It was bizarre. 

But I'm still SOOOOO glad I got to go, see the theater, see BRING IT ON! And have an adventure with Donna. I miss Donna adventures. When you grow up, adventures seem to decrease. so truly, meanie usher can't make our adventure any less wonderfully special. :) 

++++++++  Read the update to this blog entry here!!! +++++++++++
http://whiskeytangohello.blogspot.com/2012/04/update-on-meanie-usher-woman.html

Bright lights and big adventure

I rarely go into large cities if I can help it. The traffic, the ability to get lost and the people will usually keep me away. So tonight was even more of a treat because it involved the big city of Charlotte.
It started with a text from Donna that "Bring It On" the musical was playing in Charlotte. When I got done teaching classes, we had tickets.

Dining in Gastonia is a story for another day.

The drive into Charlotte lets you see the city from a distance...leaving tonight it was beautiful.  We found parking and headed to the theater. It was beautiful! Our seats were balcony box seats that we had to ourselves. The musical was high energy and full of awesome dance moves.  I don't know how they did it, dancing, cheering, singing, all at once.

So excited to have gotten to go!  It was such a great time but now, bedtime!