Crazy 8's

Okay, so I've been reading this book from my very dear friend Joe called "How to live your best life now" by Joel Osteen (?). I decided to read it because for the last few months I haven't exactly been feeling 100% like myself. Okay well if  you haven't heard of Joel Osteen, he's a pastor at some huge church in TX. Anyways.....when Joe first gave it to me I thought it was going to be something that I didn't really care for, but I LOVE it. Why? Because it reincorporates positive thinking for me, which I always think I need to be reminded of, BUT it also tells you about how God wants you to have the best things in life, or basically God wants you to be happy. I like it because it's not pushy.......it's just positive. Anyways, I wanted to share something relating to what I read last night.

"When you think positive, excellent thoughts, you will be propelled towards greatness"

Okay my example that I'm about to give you is going to make me sound like a crazy lady. Okay today I was at the bank drive though and I looked around my car and thought of how embarrassed I was at how it's ALWAYS dirty! And worse the bank guy can see every single thing!!! Horrible. So I thought to myself, "When I get a new car, I'll take better care of it". Well it make me think of some of the issues that my book talks about. I will only get better things out of my life if I change my thinking NOW,  not when things get "better". Why? Because they won't get better unless I think better of them (or myself or situation). So I decided I was thankful for even having a car and that I would appreciate and cherish it and treat it like it was brand new. So today when I get off work I plan on cleaning it all out and giving it a bath, even if it does rain!

Okay moving on (sorry if that was just completely random, it happens!) Habitat for Humanity finally called back and I get to volunteer with them in March! Very exciting! Also I finally got ALL the bachelorette party invitations mailed out, signed up for my absolute last class, and finally made it to Wal-Mart to buy more candles for the house. Whoa, such impressive things, I know. :)

Now I'm going to steal my school friend Caroline's post and post my list of 8's (*side note: I love Caroline, she's a "school" friend, meaning I we had classes together and such. She was always so nice to me and we always shared a laugh or two!) Check out Caroline's blog....she's absolutely beautiful and one of the nicest persons I've ever met!

 

My list of 8's:

8 TV shows I watch:

1. Grey Anatomy, (but I'm with Caroline and the rest of the world....it needs to get better SOON or I'm out)
2. Private Practice (it's like my new Grey's)
3. Top Chef (it's over as of last night and I really want Stefan to win)
4. Jon and Kate plus 8 (I seriously can't get enough of them. Those kids are adorable!)
5. The Office (Jake and I record this so we can watch them together, I heart Jim and Pam, but it's Dwight that keeps me coming back!)
6. The Biggest Loser (I know....I blame Michelle, she got me hooked)
7. Hm........I'm running out of shows. Oh! Geez, I'm super ashamed and embarrassed to say. Toddlers and Tiaras. I orignally watched it to see how crazy the moms were, but now I can't stop!!!!!! It's horrible, I know. 
8. And I guess anything on HGTV.

Favorite Restaurants (random order):

1. Whoa....this is already hard and it's the first one. Okay The Flying Saucer. We eat there sometimes when we have some good beer!
2. HOME! I've been trying to eat at home as much as possible! Save money and it's better for you!
3. Papa Pablono's (good ole Mena!!)
4. Cruizzer's (spelling? Also Mena!)
5. Suree's (long gone, but lucky for me it was my mom's restaurant so I can still eat some of its goodness)
6. The Italian Couple (Little Rock)
7. FuLin's (that's also one of Jake's favorite places!!)
8. Anywhere with good sushi!

Things that happened to me today:

1. Almost got slammed into by a car that had way too much crap in thier backseat and therefore couldn't see me!
2. Found Megan's check for the beach house.
3. My sister just called me complaining about the color of her new phone (yes, amazingly we're related).
4. Picked up poop on my lunch break (yeah I know, sounds like fun)
5. Went home and make a turkey sandwich and played with puppies
6. Mailed invitation out for bachelorette weekend.
7. Avoided the majority of work I needed to do today........AND
8. Created a Britney Spears station on pandora!!!!

Things I look forward to:

1. 4:45 pm (when I get off work)
2. Getting a big sponsory for the Our House Dinner on the Grounds event! (I believe if I keep at it, it will happen)
3. Rachel's wedding
4. My very first nephew!!!!!!
5. Jamie's wedding
6. Andrea's very first baby! 
7. ALWAYS I look forward to Christmas! ALWAYS!
8. My own eventual wedding to my very best friend, Anthony Jacob Phillips! (this could be in like 10 years.)
I could honestly go on with this category for a long time!!

Things I wish for:

1. For me to get all my student loans paid off (I wish the same for all my friends!!!)
2. Happiness for the world (that's my Miss America pagnent answer)
3. A house, one of my very own!! (well I'd share it with Jake of course)
4. To be the best possible person I can be
5. To know what our future holds, meaning to know what's going to happen with Jake and work, are we moving are we not?
6. For healthy babies in 2009 (Andrea and my sister, and anyone else expecting)
7. A better sense of style!!!!!
8. To be in shape like I was when I was a Junior in HS....this will happen, so I guess I should have put it on my Looking forward too list!

Okay so what's your List of  8's. If you post one on your blog, let me know, I'd LOVE to check it out!

Lesson learned

Honesty has always been a very important value to me. Looking back there were times that I felt hurt by honesty but then realized that it actually turned out well. Yes there is the old saying that the truth hurts, well up until today I would have considered myself an honest person. Sure when I was younger of course there were times I lied, but to the people who really mean something to me, I've ALWAYS tried to be as honest as possibly, regardless of if it hurt. Well no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm calling it quits on honesty. Why? Because being honest doesn't really help everyone! I mean it may help me be able to sleep at night, but I'd much rather lose sleep and let the ones I love go about their lives in happiness.

Strange? I don't really think so.  I think that most people would agree that ignorance is bliss......but maybe not!!! Either way, I have decided as of 11:29 pm on February 18, 2009 that I will no longer be an honest person. At least not in all situations. I'm sure most of you need a good reason why I've made this decision. Well, the biggest and best reasons I can think of is that I don't want to hurt people AND when you are honest you rarely get rewarded or acknowledged for it! For example (a very trivial example) a boy tells a girl she has lip stick on her teeth, she probably won't say thank you, instead she'll be embarrassed.

Please share your wisdom..........don't you think that there are times you should keep it to yourself?

Changing the bad into good!

I'm sure many of you find yourself in a bad mood from time to time or really irritated with someone or something!!!!!!! Well when I get that way I find that the best way to get out of that bad mood or stop being irritated with that something or someone is to give. Yes, I love to give!!!! I love to give hugs, I love to give smiles and I especially love to give back! Now I don't always need a bad mood or irritation to make me want to give......actually giving back is a hobby of mine, more so a passion.

When I was 20 (so old I know) I felt like I was going through a really hard time! So I got out of my comfort zone and I did something I would normally would never do I decided to work at a summer camp where I didn't know a soul who would be working there!!!! And guess what it was the one of the best times of my life!!! I would do it every summer if I could. There were two things I realized when I returned from that adventure that I am very blessed and that because I am very blessed I want to make sure to return those blessings in some form or fashion.

Finally after having said all that.....I have been looking for my next volunteer project and today I was ready Arkansas Business Magazine and they had features of companies and executives, blah, blah, blah that won awards this year. Well one of the features nonprofit companies was the Arkansas Food Bank and I new what I wanted to do!!!!! So I am starting a food drive as well as volunteering at the actual bank! I'm so excited and I hope that I can get as much participation as possible!!!!!!!! I can't wait. I have many ideas stirring in my head!!!!!!! I look forward to getting to share the future events with you all.

So what makes you happy, how do you give back!? Everybody can give back in their own way, by just doing a kind deed occasionally or getting out of your comfort zone when you see someone in need of a smile or a door held for them. It can be anything! I know we are all in need....I mean I like to blame it on the economy (that's my joke), sorry I was late for work this morning.....the economy's got me down! :) But honestly I think about it and if I'm in need, then I know there are others out there in greater need and I'm blessed to have what I have! I have a great boyfriend, wonderful friends, a new nephew on the way, and some fun loving pups! I have a job, a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and food eat. I know there are others out there that can't say the same. So my way of saying thank you to everyone who has made my life as wonderful as it is to give back. I want to help people and I'm so excited about my new endeavors!

Okay enough of that. I'm almost finished planning a fun bachelorette weekend for my friends. We're going to Eureka Springs!!! I can't wait. We're going to the spa and shopping! I do need to decide on where we're going to eat out for dinner on the big night so if anyone has favorite place or even know of a good place in Eureka please share the wealth. I've had a lot of fun making invitations for this and I have been trying to take some pictures of them but I can't get a good one to save my life. I'll keep working on it though!

[caption id="attachment_147" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Here are a few"][/caption]

I hope you are all great, can't wait to hear from you!

And I haven't posted a Plato picture lately......this little man now weighs 23.8 lbs! Whoa!

 

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Our little boy"][/caption]

Some of you may think that we don't love our first child Harli, we do! But it's hard to get a good picture of her. My friend Rachel with Four Legs Photography took some great pictures of her. I'll find out if her album can still be accessed.

This is maybe

I am thinking of switching from wordpress to blogger, but wanted to try it out!!! So I set up an account and I am now messing around with it trying to decide what to do! Like most things or times I have to make a decision I'm indecisive so I thought a few test runs would help me decide!!!

Happy Birthday Rachel Starr!!!

Today is my great friend Rachel's birthday! Her and Jamie share the same birthday month, which is fun!!!! Rachel's future husband and my boyfriend also share the same birthday month. Rachel has a wedding coming up in May that I am fortunate enough to be a part of. I've said it before but I'll say it again. One of the hardest things in my life currently has been having to be away from some of my closest friends. Yes, I do have close friends in Little Rock, but that doesn't mean I don't miss the ones who live in Fayetteville. Also I have to mention how extremely talented Rachel is if you have furbabies and love him like they were children then you have to visit her website and see all her amazing pictures....yup Rachel specializes in pet photography and she is GREAT!!!! www.fourlegsphotograpy.com

I am blessed with wonderful people in my life from my family and friends to the people I work with. Rachel is one of those blessings and I want to wish her the BEST birthday EVER! I can't wait to get to be a part of all the wonderful things that are happening in your life.

So here's to you Rachel, to wedding planning, a new husband, and the rest of your life as Mrs. Rachel Sloan.

[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Rachel and Neill"][/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_110" align="alignnone" width="335" caption="My beautiful friend Rachel!!"][/caption]

Happy Birthday Jamie Gray!!!

One of the hardest things for me in my life right now is being away from some of my closest friends (you know who you are). Although I have some of my close friends here with me in Little Rock, I have to admit I enjoyed it more when we were all together in one town! But that's just a part of life.

So since I can't be with Jamie on her birthday I will make her a birthday blog. (I stole the idea to add a card to my blog from my very dear and creative friend Rachel at Four Legs Photography, you need to check out her site, she does wonderful work!)

Here's to you Jamie, and to lower car insurance, getting married, and enjoying being halfway to 50! Love you so much and I know you will have the best day EVER!!!

Click HERE to view the ecard I sent her. I would post it to the blog, but I can't figure it out! I swear I used to be more computer savvy. I guess I'm just not blog savvy!

[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="401" caption="My wonderful friend Jamie!"][/caption]

This is me

I read this blog by a fellow hometown gal. The Adventures of a SAHM. It's a wonderful blog, filled with humor. (WARNING, she is very opinionated and could care less if you like her or not, which is why I like her!!!) Anyways....she encouraged others to post some strange or unknown things about themselves after sharing her own strange and unknowns. So here it goes...some of it's not really that strange, but enjoy.

1. I do not, will not eat English peas!!!! They are gross to me and I absolutely hate them. As a child I would make my mom make me fried rice without peas......which annoyed her because that meant she had to make two different batches! (Thanks Mom)

2. My parents owned a small restaurant in Mena for almost 20 years. I miss it and in High School would sneak me and my friends in to drink and eat chicken strips! Until one day some idiot stuck their peeled off beer label on the frig.....parents not happy.

3. I am technically an only child even though I consider myself to have 3 sisters and 2 brothers. It's way to complicated to explain.

4. I also don't like bananas, which people find weird, because I will eat banana chips! I think it's the texture.

5. I once had bright blue highlights.

6. In high school I had to wash my face before playing every basketball game. I seriously did, it was part of my routine.

7. I am a horrible speller and also very bad at math.

8. I once won my 5th grade class spelling bee by spelling one word right (which makes #7 funny) because I was the lunch monitor the week of the spelling bee so when everyone else was participating I was in the cafeteria...so I only had one day to participate and I just so happen to get the word right! Sadly I didn't even make it through the first round of the school spelling bee. :) Good stuff.

9. I prefer my hair short!

10. I once had a 1991 Dodge Shadow convertible with a broken gas gauge and one window that didn't work......so cool to be sitting on the side of the road because you didn't know you were almost out of gas AND with the top down and one window up!

11. And lastly, even though my parents owned a restaurant, which I worked in for a long time, I can't cook Thai food. I know people are always disappointed. I guess I just wasn't paying any attention!

So have some fun today and share something we don't know about yourself! Have a great day!!!

My nephew

Most of you know that I am expecting my first every nephew! Needless to say I am very excited. I am also very excited because my very dear friend Andrea is expecting her first child also a month after my nephew should be here. I plan on making the two babies great friends. :)

I wanted to share some things about my future nephew. My sister was kind enough to email everyone pics of the baby so here he is. They haven't decided on a name yet and honestly even if they had, I doubt they would tell anyone. Keeping it fresh, that's their style.

 

[caption id="attachment_94" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My nephew!"][/caption]

And the theme for his room is going to be monkeys! Which I think is really cute! I'm sure his room will be adorable because my sister has great taste! Here are some of the monkeys he has already accumulated.

[caption id="attachment_95" align="alignnone" width="449" caption="Monkeys"][/caption]

I can't wait for all the babies to get here! This upcoming spring and summer are filled with so many exciting things that I will get to be a part of and I can't wait! It makes me so thankful for everything and everyone I have in my life! I hope the summer and spring bring you wonderful things as well.