Pumpkin Carving

I had great plans to carve pumpkins with my niece this year, but between her schedule and mine that just didn't happen.  So, I did it by myself, which let me tell you wasn't a whole lot of fun.  So, I spent an oh so exciting Friday evening carving my pumpkin.

My least favorite part is cleaning this nastiness out of the pumpkin.

My pumpkins ALWAYS have a happy face - I don't like scary or creepy pumpkins.

I was given a pumpkin carving kit and this was inside - I thought it was too cute!

Sorry the picture is sideways - it is right side up on my computer, but won't upload to blogger any other way but sideways!  In the kit were stencils that you could use to carve out cool designs - my problem is that the pumpkin I bought was way too small for any of the templates!

Oh well!  This way I got to design a one-of-a-kind pumpkin.  It's kinda a cute if I do say so myself!

Happy Halloween!!

Black-eyed Peas in A Pod

We had a costume contest at work today.

The four of us make up our "pod."

That is what we call them at work - pods.  There are 6 desks to a pod.  We always have one empty desk in ours - good place to keep on the munchies on food day!  Right now there are only 4 of us.  (Anyone want to join?)  We decided to dress up as a group.  We were black-eyed peas in a pod - ha!!  I made these shirts and the girls brought makeup to make us look like we had black eyes.  I had black, red, and purple makeup on my left eye and it looked fabulous, but then I put my glasses on and you couldn't hardly see it!  So, I put solid black make up on my right eye....someone I was the only one with 2 black eyes!

We didn't win anything, but we had fun - that is all that matters!

I love these ladies - I have to right?  I spend 8 hours a day with them in a "pod!"

No, really, I do love these ladies and I am thankful to spend 8 hours a day 5 days a

week with such great people!  Thanks for a great day, ladies!!

Happy

I haven't written the last couple of days - I have been busy!

Busy spending time with my favorite kiddos!

They come before things in life like blogging.

I am happy because of the time I have been

able to spend with them!!

&

I got this in the mail today!!

I know this is pretty trendy right now, but I wanted one!  This will go perfect above my couch.  Now, I just need to get a frame for it, but I am cheap!  I will be thrift store shopping for a frame.  I am also impatient so, if I don't find a thrift store frame soon I will have to print off a Hobby Lobby coupon. 

I have been doing lots of redecorating lately.  Sort of freshening things up!  I have lived here for almost 3 years now and have had the same decorations on the walls - it's time for a change!! 

I bought some new stuff for the walls in my bathroom, but I cannot decide on a new shower curtain - I found a sample at the store, but guess what?  They were out of stock!  UGH!  Guess I will just have to keep looking!

Well, I have to go finish the Halloween costumes for work tomorrow - sorry I will share those with you another time!



60 days until Christmas!!

Did I just freak you out?
Sorry about that!

I do not shop until December.
Until this year!
I don't know what happened to me, but I bought my first gift in September!
I have continued to buy stuff since then.
I am over half way done - with the shopping at least!
I still have crafts to finish start!
Okay - I guess I have some to finish as well.

I am looking forward to black Friday shopping with Marissa!!
It is always such a good time!
We will eat Carlos O' Kellys - yum!
And talk and shop and shop and talk!

I also look forward to:
decorating
spending time with family & friends
baking
wrapping
giving
Christmas carols
all those Christmas cards/letters & pics!!

What are you looking forward to?  Have you started your shopping?

Can single people be happy?

First of all let me say a big Y-E-S!!!  You may wonder why I decided to write about this - it's because I have been asked that question a couple of times lately so, I decided to share my thoughts on the subject - well, and because I mentioned whether or not marriage was for me in a previous post and I told you all I would talk about that some day. 

One day at work the topic of marriage came up and how long people had been married and each one was saying "I have been married ____ years and I am happy!"  I joined in and said "I am not married and I am happy!"  One of my coworkers turned around and asked me if I was serious, if I was really happy? 

This kind of threw me off a bit and I asked her if she seriously doubted my happiness because I wasn't married - and yes, she seriously doubted the fact that I could be single and happy!

Then one of my facebook friends updated her status asking if people could actually really love being single.  And again I say YES! 

Now, trust me - I am not at all anti-marriage.  I have have always thought I would be married someday and yes, I often want to be married, BUT as often as I want to be married - I don't want to be married too.  People accuse me of saying this because I am single - not true!  If the right person would come along someday I would consider being married.  One of the reasons I don't want to be married is because I am scared.  Scared of truly opening myself up to another human being and scared of losing myself in the process.  It absolutely drives me crazy when I see someone change themselves because they are married.  I know that you have to change to a certain degree when you do get married, but not to the degree to which I have seen some people change. 

For now, at this point in my life I value my singleness and my independence.  I love the fact that I have to figure out how to do things on my own. I love that I get to make my own decisions on how I spend my time and money.  It has made me who I am, it has made me learn new things, and has made me much stronger in the process.

Being single does have it's cons too, but for me at this stage in my life the pros are outweighing the cons.

So, for those of you who have questioned - I do LOVE being single and I am very HAPPY!!  For those who have felt sorry for me because I am not married, please stop.  For those who tell me that the right one is out there for me, please stop...you don't know that and neither do I...nor do any of us know the plans that the Lord has prepared for us. 

For those of you who are happily married - CONGRATS!!  For those of who are single and loving it - CONGRATS to you as well!!

Have a great week!

Orange Leaf Lunch

I got invited to go eat frozen yogurt for lunch.  I did have a few moments of questioning whether or not it was a good idea....then I said "what the heck? YES!!"  I don't do it everyday so, what is one day?

We went to Orange Leaf   It was oh so good.  I had never been there before.  You get a bowl and then you choose from about 10 different frozen yogurt flavors and then you get to choose your toppings.  Not good if you have a hard time making decisions - they have like 30 different toppings.

I got  Pumpkin yogurt and added white chocolate chips and a brownie.

yummy!!

Not sure if it is a good thing that the spoons resemble miniature shovels!?!

But aren't they cute?  I took mine home!

Check out the fabulous furniture! 

I loved the color scheme - orange, white, and lime green!

I think next time I HAVE to try the peanut butter yogurt!!

What a good way to spend your lunch hour - eating frozen yogurt, sitting in fabulous furniture and talking with a great friend!  Oh and we did have to go eat a taco on our way back to the office - we thought maybe we shouldn't try to ride the sugar high all afternoon!

If you haven't tried Orange Leaf you should!!

Have you tried anything new lately?

Today...

I let a stupid piece of machinery irritate me into almost leaving work and going back to bed.
I let people irritate me.
I listened to a customer call me a 5 letter word that starts with B and rhymes with witch.
I listened to that same customer tell me he knew who I was and where I was and that I would
wish that I had never heard his name while he dropped the F-Bomb several times.
Then I listened to him tell me that I was a mental case and a maniac - hmmmm....I am the maniac??
(Thanks - I knew you didn't think I was a maniac or a B!)
I started crying over it all on the way home from work - yes, my dad always told me not to cry while
I was driving - sometimes it just can't be helped! (stupid hormones!)
I ate a great meal prepared by my Sunday School class.
I went to singing at church with my niece and nephew.
I told my nephew he was naughty because he wouldn't listen and ran around and screamed during singing time - I felt bad - he's only 2 - it is so hard to sit still when you are 2!
I then sent him home with his mom because I couldn't deal.
I had some interesting conversations with members of my Sunday School class.
I came home and cleaned my bathroom because I was still ticked off about my day and Friday night is book club. 
I folded all of my laundry.
I read a chapter for my book club.
I ate some cookies-n-cream ice cream! 
I feel better now!

Hope you had a good day!

Pumpkin Patch

This past Sunday family got together and went to the Pumpkin Patch!

We had never done that as a family and I decided that it was about time!

We all met at my house and piled into 2 vehicles and headed out of town.

Korrine decided that she should ride with Aunt Barb, Tennessee and I.

Of course she wasn't excited about riding with her Aunts, but rather her new cousin!

It was great hearing her talk to Tennessee and she was great at binky watching!

On the way home it was Tennessee doing the talking to Korrine - those moments are priceless!

We took a few cousin pictures before heading out -

good thing we didn't wait until after - the kiddos were so tired!

I love John's face - he was saying "cheese" so big - he forgot to keep his eyes open!

I was so excited to capture her smile!

The kids loved, loved, loved this slide!!  They tried to go together - it worked until about half way down!

Korrine told us all she would be going head first - good thing she slowed down before hitting the hay bales!

John loved it!!

I think she is having fun!

John is very excited about his pumpkin!

This was near the end - the girls were getting tired - not John - he kept

going and going and going!

It was a great day!!  I love spending time with my family!!

A weekend on the go!

This weekend was GREAT!

I got to spend time with my best friend who I don't get to
see nearly often enough!  The thing that I love most about
our friendship is that even though we don't see each other
often we can pick up just where we left off.  I love those
kinds of friendships and have been completely blessed by
you, Marissa - thank you!!  I can't wait until we go shopping
after Thanksgiving!!

I also got to relax at lake with my family!
I love being outside - I love the peace and quiet - I love that
I can slow down and life isn't so go - go - go!

Today we went to the pumpkin patch - it was a beautiful day - even a little hot
for October, but I am not complaining - I am glad it was a nice day!

Pictures from the pumpkin patch will come another day!

Random thoughts for the week...

This week was really sort of BLAH
I am really quite pleased that it is over

We seem to have a revolving door at my office these days.
It stresses me out - just when it seems like things are going
well and that we have a great team together someone else
decides it is time to move on and well, we start over
And then there is the fact that everyone seems to be really
grumpy - ugh!  I try to stay positive, but sometimes the
negativity gets to me. 

Don't get me wrong there were some good points to this week:

I got to spend an evening with Korrine and John and well, there were some
funny conversations -

Korrine - "Auntie Margo, I can't wait to get big like you!"
Me - "Why do you want to be old like me?"
Korrine - "So that I can have a pretty tattoo on my back just like you!"
**That was definitely not the answer that I was expecting, but I am
glad she like my tattoo.

John - "Go-Go, What is that?" (pointing to the guitar the music leader was playing)
Me - "It's a guitar"
singing ensues
John - "Go-Go, What is that?"
Me - "It's a guitar"
singing ensues

John - "Go-Go, What is that?"
Me - "It's a guitar"
singing ensues

John - "Go-Go, What is that?"
Me - "It's a guitar"

This is the short version - in the 20 minutes of singing we did - I think that I answered that same question about 20 times - this was an exact repeat of the previous Wednesday night during singing at church. 

I got a new cell phone - I heart technology
I spent Friday night at the lake visiting with my parents

Tomorrow I get to see my BFF and other college friends and
Sunday I am going to the pumpkin patch with my family!

Oh how this weekend is going to be so much sweeter than me week -
Too bad the weekends always go so fast!!!

10-10-10

In honor of 10-10-10 I was going to share 10 pics from my day, but most of it has been spent in front of the computer screen trying to fix issues, sleeping or watching my Cowboys lose! :(   So, instead of boring you with pictures of my computer monitor I thought I would share lists of 10's with you.

10 things that make me happy

1.  spending time with family
2.  spending time with friends
3.  chocolate
4.  Diet Coke with cherry and vanilla from Sonic
5.  a beautiful rainbow
6.  being at the lake
7.  pictures
8.  being Aunt Go-Go
9.  ice cream
10.  a beautiful sunset

10 things that irritate me

1.  computer issues
2.  car repairs
3.  wasting time
4.  mean people
5.  people who don't listen to instructions
6.  not being able to go on vacation
7.  when I run out of everything at once
8.  my neighbor's loud music
9.  that I didn't spend as much time with loved ones as I could have while they were here on earth
10.  that I can't decide what to do with my living room wall decorations

10 things I still have to do on my 40 before 40 list

1.  go on a cruise
2.  go on a road trip with friends
3.  sew a quilt
4.  create a recipe from scratch
5.  write a children's book
6.  get NASCAR pit passes
7.  go to California
8.  watch the sunrise on the beach
9.  go on a spa day
10.  explore my family tree

Busy Week

This week has been busy, frustrating and sprinkled with happy moments.

BUSY....

I have had something going on everyday this week except for Monday evening.

Tuesday I got to see...Tennessee!!  

Who couldn't love that face!?!

Wednesday was church.

Thursday night Taste of Newton - if you haven't been - there are 3 blocks of food vendors and you can't find just about anything you want - I eat the same thing every year - smoked chicken prepared by some really good friends.  You walk, eat, and talk to everyone in town!

We ate homemade ice cream while listening to the jazz band from the high school.  My nephew John danced his little heart out - he should sleep well tonight!!

I got to spend my Taste of Newton evening with ....

Oh and my parents and sister were there too - I would have pics from it, if I hadn't walked out of the house without my camera.

In between all of this I have managed to get some cleaning done, grocery shopping, laundry and working 40 hours. I should have done more reading as tomorrow night is book club and I still have one chapter to read. Then there is Saturday where I will work all day - (yes, I work 6 days a week!) and then I will get together with some of my friends from college! And I will look forward to seeing even more of them the following Saturday!!

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Frustrating....

I took my vehicle in for a simple oil change and they call me and tell me that I need almost $1,000.00 worth of repairs - no thanks!  I asked to just complete the oil change and I would decide on the other stuff.  I consider myself a pretty car savvy woman - you see my father is very car savvy and well, poor man, was blessed with little girls instead of little boys.  I guess that is actually better for me because whatever he would have taught a boy he taught me - okay well, he taught me a lot - I am sure if he had a son that he would have paid more attention and learned more than I did.  Anyway....I consulted him and we both decided there was at least one of the thing that should be done, but I took it somewhere else for the work - guess what?  They did the work I asked and didn't have a  long list of unnecessary repairs!  I was so ticked at the other place for trying to scam me just because I am a woman - ugh!!
******************************************************************************

Moments of happiness...

Those are the moments spent with my family.

Hope your week wasn't as crazy as mine.

Craft Sunday

I saw this great idea idea here to make a clothesline photo display.  I did mine a little bit different.  I had some bulletin boards that I bought at the ETC shop for 50 cents.  I decided to spray paint them dark brown.

I then hot glued string to it and hot glued buttons over the ends to cover up my mess.

I had small clothespins that I had picked up a couple of years ago and never did anything with.  I made a large display for my hall upstairs and a small one for my bedroom. 

I finally decided what to do with that brown and blue floral fabric I bought.  I picked up some embroidery hoops at the ETC shop for about 25 cents each and I put the fabric in 3 hoops that were different sizes.

I then hung my smaller clothesline photo display next to them.

Now for the last project of the day...this is what my front door has looked liked since the day I moved in - boring and not inviting! 

Remember that fabric I told you that I didn't know what to do with?

Well, I have seen buntings all over the other blogs I read so, I decided to use some of that fabric and the wooden letters I have and make a bunting for the front door. 

Ah - so much more fun and inviting.  I had all of the pieces upside down so that I could glue each fabric piece to the string ... I turned it around so that I could admire it and realized that I had glued the fabric in the wrong order!  Yikes - instead of spelling W-E-L-C-O-M-E I spelled E-M-O-C-L-E-W!  I was so frustrated!  Thank goodness the fabric was forgiving and the glue game off easy so I didn't have to completely start over!  Next time I will glue the letters on after I put the fabric on the string!

Dreams...

Ever have a dream and you wake up in the middle and you try to go back to sleep really quick because it was such a great dream that you don't want it to end?  You try and try, but no luck - interrupted - dream over! 

This morning I was having one of those dreams, but when I hit the snooze it didn't end - it kept going.  I really sorta wish that it hadn't.  It was a good very real dream.  The emotions, the physical feelings, and the people were all real.  Now don't get me wrong it had some not so real parts too!

Some of you will know this about me and others won't but I want to be a mom.  I am 35 years old and like most unmarried women at my age - I thought that I would have been married long ago and have my 2.5 children by now.  While I haven't given up on being married, I am impartial to it - some days I think it would be great - other days I like my complete independence, but that it a topic for another post.

In this dream I was 9 months pregnant and was very close to having the baby.  I wasn't married in the dream as far as I know - no clue who the father was.  I know that I was surrounded by my friends from church and that I was going to let my cousin deliver the baby at my house and without any pain killers.  Now that my friends, is the not so real part!  No offense, Stephanie, but I don't want you delivering my baby at my house and I don't want to try to be a hero and do it without an epidural!! 

The very real part of this dream is that I felt pregnant - I could feel the contractions (or what I think contractions would feel like).  I felt the emotion and excitement of the new life that was about to be born and I felt the love and support from my friends.  I woke up with my arms around my stomach.  I woke up to the realization that it was all just a dream.  I woke up to reality and I must admit that it made me sad - I have tears as I type this.  I am not sure how, but I was emotionally invested in this dream.  Am I crazy!?!

I used to think that children should be born into home with a mother and a father.  As I grow older my thoughts and my feelings have changed on this.  I have considered finding a sperm donor and going through invitro or other methods of getting pregnant.  I have done research over the years and know more about getting pregnant the unconventional way than I ever thought I would.  I most definitely thought this is something that I would do and I came up with a budgeting plan to make this happen - it is NOT cheap!  Then my thoughts changed.  I started thinking this wasn't right - it wasn't the way that I wanted to bring a child into this world.  So, I stopped thinking about it and haven't thought about it for quite awhile now.  That is - until today.  I still don't know that it is the way that I want to become a mom and to be honest I still don't know that I am meant to be a mom or that I could be one. 

I sometimes wonder if that is why God gave me the nieces and nephew that He did.  I have such amazing relationships with them - maybe I am meant to be their cool aunt who gets to spoil them rotten!  Who knows?  All I know is that I am a little sad that it was only a dream...

Today I feel...

tired  exhausted
annoyed
alone
like I have been PMS'ing for a week!
glad it is Friday
that I really should be cleaning my house
that I should not have eaten so many chips and salsa
like I need a "take a number" machine for my desk at work
glad that it's fall
happy that I will be seeing college friends in 2 weeks : >)
like getting my hair cut
listening to my Nicholas Sparks audio books
happy that I found my MP3 player so that I can listen to audio books!
like college doesn't always prepare you for the things you have to deal with in your career
like I need to be more organized
that I need to take more time to enjoy life
that is it time to end this list and go take a bubble bath .......