I REALLY WANT TO DO THIS

Rocket Planned for Space Tourism



I read this story today about a California aerospace company that plans to make a rocket capable of suborbital flights going 37 miles ABOVE the earth!! 4-1/2 minutes of weightlessness to float before returning to earth. Can you imagine the view from 37 miles up. I have until 2010 to save $200,000 for the ride! That's two years - plenty of time to save that much money!! :o) SpaceShip Two will be flown by two pilots and can carry up to six passengers (at $200,000 a piece) - anybody want to join me??

SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!!

Home as in my 'original' home! My Illinois home! After the worst experience I've ever had at LAX (or any airport for that matter) early Tuesday morning, a very bumpy flight due to bad weather, a rough few hour drive from St. Louis to my parents' home in Southern Illinois, again, due to bad weather....I finally made it home!!! So happy!! We did stop at Cracker Barrel after we got out of St. Louis and on the Illinois side of the Mississippi - chicken and dumplins, fried okra, sweet glazed corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, and sweet tea!! HEAVEN!!!

Tuesday night was spent inside because of the heavy duty downpours of rain and toronados flying around. It's been a long time since I've sat around the TV watching the weather and preparing for a toronado. It's flooding like crazy around here. Loving every minute of it! That is one of the things I miss most about the midwest, the change of seasons, so I like the cold rains and even though I'm terrified of high winds, I like the thunderstorms!

I got to go to school and pick up one of my nieces and one of my nephews. That is one of my favorite things to do when I'm home. When they saw me in the car they ran and smiled all the way to me....I'm loved by Olivia and Bryce. Seriously, these two are really good at loving their Aunt Debbie!! They are both 13, just a few days apart...Bryce belongs to my sister and Olivia belongs to my brother. We had so much fun hanging out. Then my two older nieces made time for me too...which is huge considering they are 16 and have quite the social lives. My sister came over for dinner with us and the kids, always great to catch up with her. That's me, Bryce, and Oliva from earlier today at the top!

Tomorrow is mom/dad/debbie day. We are heading to the mall to do some shopping, lunch out, basically bumming around. Then tomorrow night I'm heading to Benton, about 20 miles away, to spend the evening with my BFF Margaret. She was my BFF all through high school and college. We both were each other's maids of honor - so I can't wait to see her, her husband and boys.

Poor Darren called me and said, "did you already forget about me?" How cute is that?! I get so busy when I'm home that I don't check in - only at night before I head to bed!! It's good that he misses me!! :o)

Speaking of...probably should head to bed! Even though it's 11:30 here, for my body it's only 9:30, but my crazy aggravating dad likes to 'check' the fire alarm every morning about 6:00am!!! Read my previous post about my prankster father and you'll get it!

Donna G - my dad asked about you....wanted to know "how's my friend Donna doing?" I told him you were still the same Donna we know and love!!

SWEETHEART DANCE 2008!

I don't have kids to post like so many of you do, but I love all my nieces and nephews as if they were my own....so here's one of my girls!! This is Sophie. She's 14 or maybe 15 - it's hard to keep count after they hit 13. She's off to the Sweetheart Dance at school. She had a date, but I didn't ask if I could post the guy's pic too, so I'm playing it safe and just showing her off.

Sweetheart back home is actually a Sadie Hawkins dance..the girls ask the boys. Of course we had our girlfriends ask first - "Debbie is thinking of asking you, would you go if she did!" How guys do that on a regular basis I don't know! I remember one particular dance, I think it was my junior year and I was with my BFF Margaret. I went with a guy named Neal and she went with John. We tended to collect every momento and we were both eyeing the table number in the center of the table. Now mind you, it was probably a piece of colored heavy paper folded in half with a number in fancy writing - but darn it, we wanted that for our bulletin boards and scrap books. We ended up tearing it in half. I bet if I look hard enough at my parents house, I'd find that table number. It's fun looking back!




Don't let her beauty fool you - she's quite the ornery one!!

A NEW WAY TO WEIGH YOURSELF....GUARANTEED WEIGHT LOSS!!

My good friend Kim Short sent this to me and I thought it was pretty funny!! I'm thinking I like this new way!

MINISTER TO COUPLES: SEX EVERYDAY!!!

I saw this article and it really struck me as funny.....
(Rhonda - do you think Bruce might preach on this any time soon??!!)

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

MINISTER TO COUPLES: SEX EVERYDAY!!

YBOR CITY, Florida (AP) -- A southwest Florida church issued a challenge for its married members: Hanky panky every day.

Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth issued the 30-day sex challenge to take on high divorce rates.

"And that's no different for people who attend church," Wirth said Sunday. "Sometimes life gets in the way. Our jobs get in the way."

The challenge doesn't extend to unwed congregants, however.

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

I'm glad to see that they didn't offer this to the ENTIRE congregation - only wedded congregants!

Do I dare ask if any of you are up to the challenge??!! :o)

ICE ICE BABY

My family's currently buried under two inches of ice. Illinois got hit pretty hard in the last few days. I love ice storms - they are so pretty, talk about glistening. Of course they are pretty dangerous, which is why the whole town pretty much shuts down!

When that happens it's warm brownie, hot chocolate, and yahtzee time. That's what we used to do ALL day when we were home from school during ice storms. And pray that the electric lines don't break and we lose electricity!! Brrrrrrr.

It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures, but the trees and streets are covered in a thick layer of ice.

THE 'HOW TO' FOR TODAY.....

Google is our home page when we log on and everyday there are a couple "How To's" - how to bake the perfect cherry pie...how to sew this and that....all sorts of how to's. The How To for today was "How To Get Pregnant." Infertility issues have been our problem for the 12+ years we've been married, but I thought, hey, maybe I'll learn something new.......

So I click........

"How To Get Pregnant"
STOP ALL CONTRACEPTION

Oh man.............so THAT'S our problem!!!!!!!!! :o) So I wasn't supposed to take a birth control pill the same time I was taking a fertility pill??

I couldn't help but crack up. I just think that's hysterical!!

PRETTY PICTURE OF HOME!!

It snowed last week in my little town of DuQuoin, Illinois. Mom and dad always send me pictures of it knowing how much I miss the midwestern winters. We have lots of pictures throughout the years of us standing in the yard, sometimes the snow was only at our ankles, sometimes to our knees and higher!!! We didn't always know how many inches fell, because our gauge was how we looked when we stood in it. My weirdo dad actually offered to pose naked in the front yard for a picture once the snow stopped falling to see how much they got - I passed on that one thank you very much!! (you should thank me too!!!!)

My parents live across the street from the Illiois State Fairgrounds, which is acres and acres of beauty. Here is a picture of a cute little bridge at the fairgrounds. We've taken many pictures there. When we had snow days from school we all headed to the fairgrounds for an entire day of sledding!! So many memories - so much fun!!

WHAT'S UP YOU ASK....NOT MUCH!!

First, a fun pic! Simon has decided he likes my office chair. He will circle it until I get up, just as soon as I stand up he jumpes up in it and gets comfortable. So because he's so spoiled and I respond to his every request as cat owners do - I push the chair back away from the desk. If I push too fast or accidentally spin it he let's me know by lifting his head and meowing. Jeez - talk about living like a king!! So here he is relaxing!



Now I must sit back down and transcribe from a dining room chair! Which actually I prefer! Because of the straight back, lack of arms, and harder seat I have better typing posture. Of course it drives Darren crazy that I do this, so we only do it when he's not at home!!! :o) Darren never checks my blog, so shhhhhhhhhh. But it's kind of fun having my cat for company during the day. I've asked for his help on medical terms, but so far he just raises one eyelid and closes it back up, much too busy to help me.



I'M TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH GROCERIES!!! Christy Platt posted on her blog a while back about The Grocery Game. So I went to the link and now I've become obsessed, possessed, you name it. From that site I've found links to other helpful sites, sites with coupons, how to's, etc. We looked over our spending last year and boy did we waste a lot of money. I found myself going to the grocery store about every other day spending $40 here, $50 there and then major shopping too, trips to Target - not good. So one of the things I wanted to focus on regarding our finances this year was how I handle the grocery shopping. I wanted to be a better steward with that. It takes time, but I don't mind. I actually feel like I'm doing something productive for my household. I'm actually going today after 1pm to Albertsons because they are having an eight hour sale that starts then and I have coupons for some of the products - I'm pumped to find out how much I've saved!! Here's a few pics of my coupon binder.



I have made categories - non-perishables, dairy, frozen foods, produce, etc. SO COOL!! I guess I've become a grocery geek!! This is way easier than fumbling through an envelop full of coupons. Then as I put things in my basket, I pull from the sleeve and put it in the pocket up front. I'll have my list on a post it on the inside. Can you tell I'm very impressed with myself!! :o)



My island is coming in very handy for this. I can totally spread out and make a plan!! Darren mistakingly threw out this weeks ads and messed up my organized piles - well, let's say he'll never do that again!!! :o)



Back to work for a bit and then off the grocery store!!

UPDATE: Grocery total: $142.87 minus club savings of $89.07 minus coupons $19.85 equals $33.95. Plus I earned a coupon for free 12 pack of soda and a free loaf of fresh french bread from the bakery!! I ROCK!!! :o)

BUSY WEEKEND....

Friday night started with a sleep over for nine teenagers!! Janae and Wendy asked if they could have a sleep over at the house and I ALWAYS say yes...as long as I get to hang with them then they can come!! We talked first kisses - I was the youngest to get my first kiss! Scarey! Painted toe nails getting ready for the winter formal that was the following day! Ate pizza, brownies, cookies, candy, chips and dip, tortilla chips and yummy melted cheese, hostess snacks....then about 10:00pm ordered more pizza because they were still hungry!! We talked guys, of course, purses, clothes, hair, and yes, we did talk a bit about other people - but we were nice!! I think that's why I love having those girls over - we had such a great time just hanging out, listening to music and eating!! We didn't talk bills, lack of money to pay our bills, we didn't talk weight or how much fat that twinkie had in it! We didn't talk husbands and how they drive us crazy. We didn't talk work or about the stresses of it all. So, I'm going to have an adult sleep over and we are going to talk boys, hair, purses, do nails, etc. No grown up talk!! Anybody want to come?? Here are a few picks of our lazy night!





Saturday I spent doing errands, running around, had to be up at church for a skit rehearsal we did on Sunday night - which was really fun!! Wish I had pics to post. Then Sunday we attended church with our friends David and Keri Simmons who some of you might remember used to attend Life Center. They now attend a great little church down town Long Beach that is an Angelican church. It's certainly quite different than what we are used to, but I did enjoy it. I love the church and its feel. There was something that was just really comforting about that little church. Iain got baptized Sunday morning and we were asked to be his god parents. We met with their pastor before the service and he explained to us all of our responsibilities as a god parent and wow - pretty heavy stuff!! That is not something we practice in our faith, but I wish we did. It was such an honor to stand up on that platform with him and be with David and Keri that day and know that they invited us - US - into their lives the way they did. We spent the day at their house having a celebration in honor of Iain.


Saturday afternoon I went by Kimberly Deojay's to see how pretty she looked in her winter formal dress - look how tall her boyfriend is!! Mark, her dad, asked me to stay as they prayed a blessing over the couple before they headed out, which I gladly did. Isn't she so pretty and so grown up - when did that happen?!


So I had a great weekend - what felt like a family filled weekend!! Hung out with my girls from church, got to pray with parents for my teenage friend Kim, and then stood up as godparents for Iain - I had a GREAT weekend!! I love being a part of my surrogate families out here!

HELLO AGAIN - I HAVE RETURNED TO THE WORLD OF BLOGGING!!

I'm sure some of you have probably stopped checking my blog since I haven't posted in like three years! I have been keeping up on my reading of the blogs, just not very good at posting on mine. Just some highlights below!!

Of course the pictures aren't in order and when I try to rearrange I lose them, or they get turned upside down, etc. So I gave up...you'll just have to see things out of order!! I didn't bother asking people if I can post their picture, so if you see yourself here, hey, do you mind??!!

The first picture is from New Year's Eve - I actually cropped myself out of this one, but it didn't stick....anyway, these are some of my favorite peeps! Wendy, Leah and Greg!! We went to the Kennedys for a non party New Year's Eve party!!



We had our first California Christmas this year. Darren's parents came out for the holidays instead of us going home. This is Barry and Chris, aka Mom and Dad Williams at the beach in Santa Monica on Christmas morning. While I stayed home and cooked Christmas dinner, Darren took his parents all over Los Angeles to see the sites on Christmas morning/day. It was great because nobody was on the road, they actually got around the city and saw lots of things!! More than they would have seen had it been a regular day. I missed being home with my family - that was tough as it was the first year EVER being away from them during Christmas. But since we stayed home to be with Darren's family this year, next year we are just staying in DuQuoin - my little home town in Illinois. Trying to trade off - so next year my parents get us all to themselves!! Although after a few days my dad may tell me to go visit the in-laws!!! :o)


This is Darren carving our Christmas turkey - isn't it just so pretty. It was so big it barely fit on my platter - there wasn't even any room on it to decorate it with parlsey pieces or any kinds of pretties!!! I wanted that Norman Rockwell painting look of us sitting around the table while the turkey is being carved...didn't quite make it. Plus, it was later in the evening on Christmas night, we were all in our comfy clothes, not exaclty picture perfect!!


Here's Mom and Dad Williams again at the Getty Villa in Malibu. We spent part of the day down there and then went to Gladstones on the beach in Malibu for some fish. It was a really gorgeous day and the Villa is just beautiful. I love going there. We are sitting outside the restaurant for dinner and as we were watching the sunset it got REALLY cold. We kind of rushed through dinner because they were too cold to sit outside. Me, well I was in direct setting of the sun, so it was right on me and I was actually warm. I wanted to stay for some coffee and watch the sun go down completely...wimps!! :o)


We took his parents to see The Glory of Christmas....Darren couldn't refuse a picture. He got caught and was told to put his camera away!! Here's one illegal shot.


This is our youth pastor, Pastor Matt and his now wife Danielle. They got married on January 5th and even though the weather caused them to move the wedding inside, it was still a very sweet wedding and fun reception. They are honeymooning in Hawaii. Kyle, his best man, gave a great toast, it was so neat to see two men and how close their friendship is. Kyle couldn't make it through his speech without tears and Matt was trying to hold it together as well. Me, well of course I was crying right along with them!!



Donna posted a picture of Lenny on her blog of him dancing like crazy. We have those pics too, but ours are fuzzy. I guess he was just boogying down too fast!! Here is an adorable picture of these two at our table.



This is Matt at his bachelor party - He's putting on a show of some sort. Of course, I can't get the picture to turn back the right way, so tilt your head and you can see it better!! :o) Darren had a great time with these guys. I actually wanted to go too - but I wasn't allowed!!


Back to New Year's Eve - we first went to the Platts for a Pajama Party. This is Darren, Jenny, Dylan and Emma - aren't they just the cutest family ever!! Emma fits right in - you can tell she is her mother and father. The girl was held by everybody, but she just played along and didn't get irritated at all. She's quite the social butterfly!


This is Michele and Jenny singing to a game - looked like fun. I've played it with my nieces and I kept laughing too hard to score anything!!



So that's pretty much been it for the past month, we had company after Christmas. Darren's cousin and his wife from Champaign Illinois came out for the Rose Bowl. They are both Illini alumni. They stayed a week with us. I'm just now taking down my tree - today!!

Um...what else?? I'm no longer working with my friend Dave at his Remax office. I am back at home doing medical transcription. Real estate wasn't my thing, so I'm back doing what I do and know best!!!

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

WHO EXACTLY IS DEBBIE WILLIAMS???

I was bored this evening and was checking out MySpace pages and blogs of some friends, googling, etc. So I decided to google Debbie Williams. Who is she you ask??

Well, Debbie's a....
*Painter of portraits.
*Certified hypnotist.
*Teacher of belly dancing.
*Realtor in O'Fallon, MO.
*Author, speaker, and organizing strategist who offers tools to help put your life in order in Houston, TX.
*TV Reporter in Pensacola, FL.
*Accounts Payable Specialist at the University of New England.
*Vice-President of an advertising company in Macon, GA.
*Teacher of pottery/clay in Phildelphia, PA.
*Playwright in NY.
*School counselor in North Carolina.
*Principal at an elementary school in Texas.

She's also someone who is suing the state of Kentucky over flood zones.

She's married...
*Jeff.
*Brandon.
*Clark.
*Bob.
*Jim.
*Miles.
*and, oh yeah...Darren.

How fun would it be to be a different Debbie Williams every day?! Although belly dancer...I'm thinking a big fat NO!!! But I would like to be a TV reporter, an author, a public speaker, and paint. Maybe I could make that a reality show - switching lives with a person who has your name. Hmmmmm.................

THE LITTLE THINGS....

Darren is still out of town so today, Saturday, was spent me cleaning the house from top to bottom. I like Darren to come home to a clean house. Not just clean - but deep down clean and in order.

This morning I started cleaning our plantation shutters. We didn't close our windows for a day or two after the fires started and I didn't realize how much gunk had crept in the house and stuck to them. I couldn't just just do a dust over, I had to clean them with a degreaser type cleaner. They look beautiful again - white and clean, but boy was I cursing those fires this morning. I had to do more than dust, which slowed me down in my day. But then I got hit in the head and heart with a HUGE knock, that I'm sure came from the Lord. I immediately thought of all the people whose clean up is not dusting, but picking up the pieces of their lives. I had dust over my table that sits close to the windows where others no longer have a table to sit at, a dining room, or a window to bother cleaning. After my initial punch in the gut feeling, as I worked throughout the day around the house I couldn't get the fires and the people out of my head. I was really burdened for these people I did not know, so all day long I prayed for them.

Then as I was moving about my house things that I have looked at a thousand times I looked at as though it was the first time today and thanked the Lord for 'the little things.' Those little things that cannot be replaced. I went through a cookbook and found a soup recipe my mom had handwritten for me. I know the recipe by heart, and I even have it on a recipe card in my recipe box, but I will never throw that handwritten one away. I have a little bear that is about three inches tall that held a small charm Darren got me for Valentine's Day four years ago. That bear probably cost him $2, but it held my gold gift and I still display the little stuffed bear. I used one of my favorite spoons tonight while making dinner. I sat on the couch and read, covered in my favorite blue throw that a friend got us as a wedding gift 12 years ago this month. As I sit here at the desk, I'm looking at a softball that Darren got hit with a couple years ago while playing - fractured his left orbital rim; the guys on the team all signed it - Darrenn Platt signed it "Eye Nose you'll feel better soon." A painful, but good memory now. On the same shelf is our Academy Award that we won at the Platt's Oscar party last year. When I go to bed tonight I will be sleeping in sheets and under a comforter that Darren picked out for our newly remodeled bedroom. I just kept thinking, if I lost my home to fire, I could not replace those items, those memories.

So today I am very thankful that God let me see my house and my 'stuff' in a way that made me appreciate my life and my home even more. I didn't spend my day complaining any more about cleaning it...I was thankful for every room I walked in, every piece of clothing and towel I folded, every dish I washed.

I still feel heavy hearted and I will continue to pray for those people who were affected by the fire. Now, go walk through your house and look at all your 'little things,' for the first time...again!

MY HUBBY IS COLD!!!

Darren left very early yesterday morning for Detroit. I'm so jealous - it's getting down in the low 40's with rain...and it may even get down to the 30s. I love love love cold weather. We packed his long sleeve shirts - something he doesn't wear much out here. And he took his really great black leather jacket that he looks SOOOOOOOOOOOO good in - another item he rarely wears out here. I should totally be there - enjoying the cold weather and looking at my handsome hubby in his black jacket.....ahhhhhhh Heaven!! :o)

Although I must say I was feeling a little guilty leading up to his trip - I was actually looking forward to some down time alone. The past couple months have been so stinkin' busy that I was looking forward to not worrying about laundry, ironing his shirts, sleeping through a peaceful night (without the snoring and teeth grinding!), and being able to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner!!! I was talking to my friend Teena Sunday night at our church's fall festival and she said she understood what I was talking about and she too has had those same feelings - so I felt less guilty!!! It's so funny how we can love our spouses sooooooooooo much, but have those moments where we just want some peace and quiet!! But I do miss him and by Wednesday I will really miss him. He's not coming home until 10pm Sunday - the weekends are the worst - I will REALLY MISS HIM then. The Bee Movie opens Friday, anybody want to loan me their kids that night and I'll take them to the movies?!

For now I'm enjoying my down time. Last night I didn't turn on the TV, the radio - nothing. It was totally peaceful and wonderful! I cleaned out the pantry! Tonight after youth I'm cleaning out the magazine racks which is a huge job since I re-read all the mags and go through them!! For some reason I just can't pitch magazines!

Anyway, tonight I think I'll have a can of soup in a plastic bowl!! Easy to fix, easy to clean!! :o)

OUR DANCING LESSONS....

Darren and I are going to Mexico in a few weeks and thought that we would take some dance lessons. We videotapes ourselves to see what we need to do to improve. Let me know what you think. Are we ready for Mexico???


Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

MEOW AND MY SHADOW!!!

Okay, so not much to report right now - busy at work, been busy doing lots of work for Disney transcribing - but that's about it. But I figured I needed to update my blog so here I am! I was reading this newspaper from Britain on line and saw this article about babies that look like cats - so I thought I'd post some of the pics. How fun are these??!!

WANNA SEE MY NEW STUFF??

When we were on vacation last month we were shopping and I told Darren I wanted a little china tea pot and sugar/creamer set to put in my little curio. I don't have much in there now, so I just wanted a little something. As we were looking around he asked me how many people were in my bunko group. I tell him 12. The next thing I know he's up at the register asking the sales clerk if they have 12 saucer/dessert plates. They didn't, but they found them at other stores and shipped them to us. So my wonderful husband bought me not only the tea pot, sugar, and creamer, but 12 sets of dessert dishes. According to Royal Dutton, this pattern is THE most popular, so you may recognize it.

Last weekend it was my turn to host bunko, so instead of the usual three games, we played two games and then we had tea and dessert!! Here's a picture of the group enjoying my gift! It was really fun. This was the first bunko I hosted since our remodel, so the theme was kitchen. I had everybody bring a recipe and while we enjoyed tea and dessert we exchanged recipes. I can't wait to try them all!




Here's a close up - the plate is pretty small, not even big enough for a piece of pie, but I guess when you are drinking from a tea cup - holding up your pinky of course - you are to eat lemon scones in small bite sizes! You could go hungry being all proper!! :o)

Then last night Darren bought me a new car!! I didn't ask for it - in fact, it was tough giving up my Mazda. I loved my little blue Mazda. But Darren got a deal he just couldn't pass up. Now that he works for Polk, we don't have to only drive Nissan, Suzuki is a client of his, so that's what we got! Since they are a client, Polk employees get a discount on their vehicles on top of whatever sale they may be having. So we took advantage of it. It had 10 miles on it when we drove it out of the lot. And it has that yummy new car smell!! No McDonald's french fries in this baby!! It seats seven, so now I can tote lots of peeps around!



It has a sun/moon roof - I've never had that before, kind of fun! Let me know if you know where a drive in theater is - perfect for a drive-in!! It has a navigation system already built in and a year of free satellite radio. So now I can drive anywhere without getting lost - I have a horrible sense of direction. In St. Louis I always just looked up until I saw the arch, then I knew where I was. Unfortunately, L.A. has yet to build me a big monument to help guide me!! But now they don't have to!

Isn't it pretty?

Darren took it to work today. I have to drive over to Burbank this morning and I didn't want to drive it in traffic just yet. I'd like to have a better feel of it first. Plus, Darren is learning all the bells and whistles, where things are and I need an orientation before I start driving it!!

I love new stuff!! :o)

HOW CUTE ARE MY NIECES???

It was homecoming this past weekend in my little town of DuQuoin, Illinois. I used to love homecoming in high school. The week leading up to homecoming was filled with building our big floats, parties, cruising from the Dairy Queen to Food Park about 100 times, TP'ing, bon fires, and just hanging out with friends!! So fun! Back then teachers wouldn't give homework so we could enjoy Spirit Week and be out every night! I can't remember if it was my junior or senior year but my bestest friend Margaret and I sang "Oh Mickey You're So Fine," until we were practically hoarse!! I'm pretty sure we were obnoxious about it, but at the time we probably thought we were just so cool!!


This is my niece Kayla - she is 16 and my sister's daughter. She has a lot of my characteristics - poor girl! She has my laugh, my smart mouth, and sense of humor. My sister's always telling me things she says and does that are me! I think the dress is a bit short and a bit low cut, but she does look pretty.


This is my brother's second - the middle child!! Sophie is so quick witted that it's hard to keep up with her. Her and I just badger each other when we are together, but we have so much fun. Even with me and my dad together trying to out wit her - we just can't do it!! How cute is she?!


This is MacKenzie, my brother's oldest. She's also 16 and very much a girl's girl!! Her myspace is filled with lots of pictures of herself posing and being all cute!!


Here are the two sisters together!!

Sophie is a freshman and MacKenzie (and Kayla) is a junior. Man how time flies. I remember when each of them were born. It's amazing how fast they've grown up. It was strange the first time I had an 'adult' conversation with them. I can't wait to see them when I'm home next!!

LOVIN' THESE COOL EVENINGS AND NICE BREEZES IN THE DAY!!

HOPE IT RAINS AND GETS EVEN COLDER - I'M READY FOR A POT OF CHILI!!!

That's all...just that!!!

AIN'T WE FANCY??!!

Last weekend our friends, the Cherryholmes, hosted an engagement party at our house for their daughter Rhonda and her fiance Daniel. I love doing these kinds of things - in fact, if you took my 'get to know me quiz' you learned that as an adult I would love to be a chef and cater fancy parties for rich people (because they have the big houses and cool kitchens)!!! Unfortunately I can't cook like a chef and I don't have the creativity, but I like to try!! Pam let me get pretty involved in planning and I even convinced them to cater only part of the food and let met cook up the rest. Our friend Wendy helped, and Pam and me we outcooked the caterers! We got more compliments on our items!! Yes, it was fun going, "oh, that one was me!!" :o) How snotty am I?! Pretty snotty!!

Anyway, the pictures below are some highlights - they are out of order and I got frustrated trying to maneuver them around, so excuse the poor display!


Okay, so the picture is of Rhonda and Daniel, but we had a dessert spread laid out on our coffee table in the family room - check out the baby bundts. Pam and I searched the world over for baby bundt pans, because we wanted pretty little bundts! We could only do four or six at a time, then we decorated them, I shaved carrots to line the platter for the carrot cake ones, we decorated with raspberries and would you believe only about three or four were eaten. Cheesecake - everybody wanted cheesecake. We kept having to clean the platters, reload more cheesecake and decorate again and again (Greg Cherryholmes is quite the artist!!). It was fun, but darn it, I wanted someone to eat a bundt cake!!


Here is one of the pictures of our back yard. We hung white lights and it looked great with the Tiffany colored tableclothes and white roses!


This is the front food table. We put some of our appetizers on this one. I don't know if you can see the frames, but I put in the frames what meal Rhonda and Daniel shared on their first date and the night they got engaged. Kind of fun food facts about them!




The two above pictures were taken aftewards. That's me in the kitchen, I'm working on something there - or I'm crying from exhaustion!!! :o) The table with all the left over items - what belongs to who?! I was hoping one of the crystal vases would get 'accidentally' left behind, but no such luck!


Since the party wasn't really about me I should include a picture of the happy couple!! This is the end of the evening and they are opening up their gifts and cards. By the smile on their faces I'd say they liked the cash!!


Okay, this one is for fun! I know that Dave looks at my blog every once in a while and so do his girls, Lori and Michelle - but look at his plate - apparently the dessert/salad sized plates just weren't big enough!!!


Another view of outside - wish we had better pictures - it really was a romantic feeling evening!!