Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

One year ago today, this is what I was doing:

One boy, one girl,

Two hearts beating wildly,

To put it mildly, it was love at first sight.

He smiled, she smiled, and they knew right away

This was the day they'd been waiting for all their lives.

For a moment the whole world

Revolved around one boy, and one girl

Happy Anniversay C!!!  I love you very much and can't wait to celebrate many more years together!

You also have the right to remain silent.....

Just a warning to you readers today, I am getting on my soapbox for a minute.  This won't happen often on here I promise but this has been on my heart all day.

If you have watched the news this week, you know that the Supreme Court is hearing the case of the people who protest at soldiers funerals.  It turned my stomach this morning to see some of the signs those people are holding at a hero's funeral. 

"Thank God a Soldiers Dead"

"God Hates the USA"

"Thank God for 9/11"

Everyone a little nauseous now?  I am.  It breaks my heart for the families who are honoring their son/daughter, grandson/granddaughter, husband/wife, or father/mother have to see that as they are going to say goodbye.  Sadly, the funeral is probably the first time they have seen their loved one in 18 months.  And they are greeted with such horror as they walk in or leave to do graveside?

The protesters are from Westboro Baptist Church.  Really?  This is what you feel God has led you to do?  Not feed the hunger or reach out to those who are lost?  You have to hold a sign that says "Semper Fi Fags" at a Marine's funeral instead?

I am disgusted. 

I am outraged.

I am heartsick for these families and all of our soldiers still far from home that have to hear about this.  Can you imagine if you were a soldier that hasn't seen your family in a year or more watching this on a news program patched to you on a base thousands of miles from home.  That the very people you are fighting for are greeting your fallen brothers and sisters this way.  How are they supposed to keep their morale up and continue to give it their best?  To concentrate on getting their jobs done to protect the rights of these poor excuses for Americans?

Just because you have the right of freedom of speech doesn't mean you should use it. 

What happened to the Country that banded together so tightly just 9 years ago?  Where there was no color, religion or any other differences.  We were all just Americans. 

We need to rally behind the men and women who are brave enough to do what most of us can't.  We need to support their families while their loved ones are away fighting so that we can enjoy the freedoms most other countries don't have. 

If you don't like the way things are here, maybe do something positive to change it.  Or leave.  Go somewhere else.  Go to an impoverished country riddled with hate and crime and see how "bad" it really is here.  Or better yet, go to the places these soldiers are dying and hold your sign up there.  Bet you won't feel so self-righteous then. 

After all, what we fear and hate in others, is often what we fear and hate in ourselves. 

Spilly McDroppy

So as some of you know, I have become notorious for dropping things.  I have cracked the screen on two iPhones and scratched C Oakley's by dropping in the last four months.  Anyone want me to hold their baby yet?

Today at lunch, I was eating some yogurt.  No big deal.  People do it all the time.  Well, I finished the yogurt and Kerri and I were chatting and I went to cross my arms.  When I did, my arm became all goopy with yogurt.

What in the world.  Apparently I dropped yogurt all over myself while eating it.  I don't know when it happened.  I must have been trying to wolf it down to quickly to notice. 

Anyhow, it was all over my shirt and necklace I was wearing.  I had to take the necklace off and wipe it with a napkin it was so bad.  I then ended up having to button my sweater because a big crusty yogurt stain is not professional. 

We laughed until we couldn't breathe.  Not sure why it was so funny but sometimes things hit just the right way to be absolutely hilarious.

I'm taking something not so messy for lunch tomorrow since I apparently just learned how to eat. 

Hope everyone had a great, spill free Monday!!

There are no snakes in New Zealand

I'm thinking of relocating. 

Yesterday afternoon, I was going to be a good wifey and help C cut grass.  I push the lawn mower to the back yard, open the gate, crank it up and begin my first row.  I notice some movement in front of the mower.  What do my eyes see?  A snake.  A snake.  A snake.

I let go of the lawn mower and begin a mixture of skipping, running, and hopping to go get C.  I'm sure I looked like a fool.  I was the kind of scared where when you open your mouth no sound comes out.  C is edging the front yard with headphones in so I begin tapping him on the shoulder.  I don't want to scare him since he needs all of his wits for battle. 

He looks up and asks "What?", like a concerned husband.  I calmly say, "There's a snake".  I guess it might have come out as "Ohmygoshthere'sasnake.  There'sasnake".

He asks where.  Can we pause for a minute and think about this question?  Where?  Hmm.  Maybe in the back yard where I was cutting grass? (Love ya C)

He grabs the shovel and we dart back to the backyard.  Now, by this time the snake was probably in Alabama but we (C) looked anyhow.  No trace of the snake. 

Behind our backyard is a nice natural area with a pond.  A lovely resort for snakes really.  I make C walk the entire backyard to ensure that Mr. Snake is gone.  He then asks if I'm ok.  Um no.  I'm not ok.

"What did it look like?", C asks. 

I then reply like a first grader, "It was black and yellow.  It could kill a fellow".  Seriously.  Thank you Mr. Snake Man.  That dollar in elementary school was well worth it.  I know a bad snake when I see one.

C then replies that it was probably just a corn snake.  I disagree.  We don't have any corn and it was black and yellow.  Fellows could be killed.  He was not sensing the urgency!!!

Nevertheless I cut the yard.  I was very proud of myself.  It was almost like desensitization therapy for a great fear.

Hopefully in the future we won't be bothered by snakes.  How is that possible you ask?  With this ingenious product:

I personally don't care if my backyard smells like old lady mothball clothes.  As long as the deadly snakes don't return.

Introducing for your entertainment....

FITTY TWO....

Today is my Mom's birthday.  She is my best friend, the giver of great advise, and the first phone call I make whenever I have something funny to say or a question.  I don't get to see her as much as I would like but talking to her everyday makes up for it a little. 


What is the woman who made me who I am today like, you ask?  She's a hoot!!  She made my Halloween costumes until the incident in third grade when I was Cinderella.  Why was there an incident?  "All little girls love Cinderella", you say.  That's true.  But I was Cinderella before she was a princess.  That's right folks.  I wore rags and she put soot on my face with eye shadow.  But to quote her, "It built CHARACTER".  My Mom is all about building character.:)


From the very beginning, we were BFFs.  We loved to play on Christmas morning.

Now, regardless of what she'll tell you, there were only two of us (not eighty-two).  And sure, we had almost the exact same haircut for a while...

but we also had fun.  We set up a tent in my grandparents living room and Mom crawled around it pretending to be a bear.  Sadly, my brother and I weren't very smart and sometimes thought it was a real bear.

I always had great birthday parties.  Especially the one where I totally won musical chairs but my mom gave my prize to someone else.  It's OK though.  I'm over it.  She did get me some in my stocking years later. (Please note that the package says for three and up and I got it when I was in my twenties.)

She is the youngest (by far :) ) of three.  She was always a tricky one.  When my aunt would go on a date, my grandfather had her trained.  She would say really loudly to my aunt in front of the date that "He's not the same boy who was here last night".

(There was some tape on this picture.)

She's seen me through a lot of tough times. 

I mean really.  What kind of outfit requires a hat and a rose?

She's also seen me through some great times. 

All in all, I'm sorry for all of you who are sad right now, because your thoughts are correct.  I have the BEST MOM in the world.  Happy Birthday Mom!!  I love you!

How many points is that?

So I couldn't decide if I was going to share this with the internets but it has become a part of my life so in the gesture of full disclosure, I am on Weight Watchers.  That's right.  It has been going pretty well and I am starting to see some results.  I've lost about 12 pounds which is way more than I have ever lost in the past.

I am very lucky to have a supportive husband who has been participating with me.  This is mainly because I am the buyer of the groceries, the preparer of the food and the packer of the lunches.  I have been keeping up with his points along with mine.  His program isn't as strict as mine because let's face it.  If he talks about maybe cutting down a coke a day he can lose 25 pounds. 

We women on the other hand have to work very hard to lose .3 pounds a month so it takes a little more commitment from us.  I have been back on the program for almost 5 weeks and I am really proud of how I'm doing so far.

Now I haven't been perfect.  I have "cheated" along the way.  Sometimes cheese dip is too good to pass up!!  I am also pretending to do Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred.  I say pretending because I did it consistently for a week and have since not put the DVD in.  She's mean.  And hateful.  But she has a rocking body so I will probs pick that back up come the weekend. 

Any recipes and/or helpful hints would be appreciated.

Fun facts of the day:  I have apparently lost just enough weight for my current size to be too big but I'm not completely in the smaller size yet so I was told the outfit I wore to work might come in handy when I become pregnant.  Thanks.  It's a compliment yes but I don't want to look pregnant just yet.  Maybe in 2 or so years (sorry Mom :) ). 

I'm super excited to continue to lose and see how I look.  It has been a sad amount of time since I've loved summer clothes :)  I have thought about starting a blog solely for weight loss but lets be honest here.  I can barely update this blog so another might be too much :)  I will continue to do updates for the two of you who might be interested. 

Stopping in to say hello

So it's been a long time.  I have definitely been slacking on the blog but in my defense it has been about 500 degrees here.  No exaggeration.  We have been busy with work and by the time I got home most nights I just cooked dinner and went to bed.  Exciting lives of grown ups. We've done some projects around the house and I will post pics as soon as my computer is in a better mood.  It seems to get angry whenever I want to do stuff like that :)

Our wedding proofs are up if you want to check those out.  You can use this linky to find them: http://gigglesnapsphoto.smugmug.com/Proofing/Wedding-Proofs/Ellie/10550862_FfmuR


Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!!