Dearest Friend,
OH HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!!! It has been much too long since I've last posted--but have no fear..I have MUCH to tell, and will have many, many new adventures to share over the next couple of weeks! :)
First of all, the week of Memorial Day was CRAZY because I had to get a lot of things straightened out for my month-long adventure in Nashville! I had the pleasure of babysitting my girls for two days, and I just have a quick two stories to share about our adventures together...
On Tuesday, June 1st, I watched the girls through the morning until mid-afternoon, and we had a blast as we usually do! I have a question to ask you, Friend. What do you do when you plan to swim, and it's too cloudy/stormy looking to do so???? I'll tell you the answer...you go to Hawaii!!! :) We "went to Hawaii" in the living room. Haha! A blue blanket was our "water", we made lemonade, put on our bathing suits and laid around the living room pretending to sun bathe! :)
On Wednesday when I watched the girls, we got into the pool after we watched Ariel's Beginning (which, by the way, I teared up in...which is ridiculous. But moving on! lol)! I had to kill several bees because a vine near the pool was attracting bees by the hundreds it seemed! We had a blast eating frozen ice pops and playing in the water. It never ceases to amaze me how much fun the girls are! We always have such a great time...they are such a pleasure to be around! I love you girls! :)
On Thursday, Angie dyed and cut my mom's hair, and can I just say, "Hot Mama"?!?! Ang gave her the greatest haircut she's ever had! It was so beautiful, I couldn't stop touching it! Oh how I wish I had straight hair!! :) And I packed and got ready to leave for Gainesville!
Friday morning, I finished packing...I packed wayyy too much. I had one large suitcase just for shorts, jeans, skirts, pajamas. One large suit case with just tops, and then four duffel bags filled with swimsuits, undies, jackets, shoes, etc. ...and Moose! :) Then I had a backpack with my books, computer, snacks, and tech stuff packed away! I also had an ice chest filled with roast beef, meatloaf, baked ziti, key lime pie, and gravy LOL.
Christy and I packed up the car, and I had the seat bent forward so I could fill up the backseat. When I went inside to grab more bags, Honey Bear sneaked outside and stood in the back and had the saddest face on that said, "Where is my spot, Mom?"..it broke my heart. I nearly broke down in a pool of tears when I told her bye...she dropped her head really low--it was just pitiful it was so stinkin sad!!
So Christy and I got on the road for Gainesvegas and we arrived around 2:30. We ran some errands, and then Kevin came over and conversed with us, entertained us, and came up with an impromptu poem for us!!! It was awesome!!! Then we met up with Mana and Andrea from our girls college Bible study group. Then Andrea came over to Jess's apt with us, and Joanetta stopped by so we could see her. Then Kevin brought his lovely mom, Carol by. Carol and Kevin are such a hoot to be around! LOL..they had us crackin up! Carol has some awesome stories, and Kevin serenaded and entertained us, and we soaked it up blissfully! They are the best!!! So much fun!!! So many laughs and smiles are shared when you have the pleasure of being in their company!!! :)
On Saturday we ran some errands, and I dropped a letter over to my old SFC professor. It was nice to visit SFC and see the school...I still miss going to school there. We had a dinner with our beloved small group that evening. We got to see baby Erin Grace who is now over one year old!!! She is walking, eating real food, saying a few words, and continues to be such a blessing and a sweet, sweet little girl! It was so great to spend time with our Gainesville family....they are truly some of the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. After dinner Christy and I stayed up until 3am going through all of my luggage and downsizing it...we got it down to 2 large suitcases and a few hang-up clothes!!! Christy is AMAZING!!!! :)
Sunday morning, June 4th, we had the opportunity to sing with the 1st Pres. choir!!! It was soooooooooooooooooo great to sing with the choir again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss it sooooo much!!!!!! Everyone is so nice, and so hard to be away from!!! They are some of the most welcoming, sincere, sweet people I've ever met! After church Kaitlin, Christy, Carol, Kevin, and I enjoyed a great lunch at McAlisters and Carol provided an endless amount of great stories, and Kevin provided the beautiful music and dancing as our entertainment. Kevin did scare me before we ordered our food. I knew he was coming in the door to the restaurant sometime soon, but I wasn't expecting him to come in so soon, and my back was turned to the door, and he came up behind me and grabbed me, and I screamed sooooo loud--the restaurant got dead quiet and everyone turned and stared at me...it was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life--but thankfully too much adrenaline was pumping through my body for me to really care what anyone thought! haha!
After lunch, Kaitlin and I packed up her truck and hit the road for Georgia! Aannnnnddd that is where I am ending this blog so I can write a separate blog for the road trippin adventures! :)
Well, Friend, I hope the past week has brought you joy, and you have been able to enjoy the company of some special people in your life as well!
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Dear Friend,
Once again, I have a day filled with adventures and fun to share with you! I was so tired from my fun day yesterday that I couldn't write last night!
So, yesterday was Memorial Day, and I would just like to thank all the service men and women all around our great country and all over the world who protect our country and her people. I would like to thank all of those whom have given their lives for their countrymen and for the sake of freedom, justice, and liberty. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate everything you do, and I don't take it for granted at all.
Yesterday, we did the throw-back birthday party in honor of Christy's 25th birthday. We had to post-pone the throw-back party from the 8th to yesterday because I was sick during her actual birthday. So yesterday was the throw-back party. When she turned 9 or 11 or something (hey--I was little--I don't remember the exact age she turned!) we had a Hawaiian themed party--my dad made a tiki hut from palm fronds, we had hula skirts, a pool party and what not. So this time around, we had mini tiki torches on the patio table, a sweet pinata, water balloons, the circle of fun (tiki torches in a circle around a charcoal grill that we used to roast our marshmallows for our s'mores!), and we went swimming for a few hours and my dad just got a basketball hoop thing for the pool--SCORE!!!
It was soooo much fun!!! We were so tired by the time we finished the s'mores we ended up not having birthday cake--which we aren't even having. We are a little caked out so we are having key lime pie!!! YUM!!! My mom did make a few cupcakes but the key lime pie is really the "cake".
We had sooo much fun, I made margaritas and they were delicious--for some reason I make them really well when I really don't even know anything about making them!
We were going to throw Honey Bear into the pool, but we concluded that it would traumatize her too bad. She barked so much while we were in the pool that she became hoarse and could hardly bark!! It was crazy--I've never heard a dog get hoarse before--she's fine today though, thank God! :)
I really enjoy running and jumping into the pool. I have to say that's my new fav thing to do. I did hit the water really hard/weird a couple of times. I think my left calf is gonna bruise--I can't stand to touch it it hurts so bad, and then I did a cannon ball and my rear end hit the water so hard my whole back side was bright red! It hurt really bad! LOL (Top Picture: I'm "soaring"!)
So after such an eventful day--I was EXHAUSTED..we all were! I hope you had a wonderful memorial day and remembered to pray for our service men and women! God Bless the USA! :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Dear Friend,
After spending a long afternoon shopping in Wal-Mart, what would you want to do when you got home?
...I prefer to shuck corn.
I got home and shucked 20 ears of corn like a pro, and then prepped them to be cooked on Memorial Day. They were beautiful and I have to say--I love shucking corn! I was doing it and my sister told me I belong on a farm, and I have to agree with her. It's strange because I belong on a farm, but I also should be a Native American. Every time I shuck corn, I secretly pretend I'm Pocahontas. I sing all the songs in my head (okay..sometimes out loud--who am I kidding, when do I ever sing in my head if singing out loud is an option?!!?). I have to say, prepping corn is seriously awesome and...I need to grow my own corn. On another note--Wal-Mart was selling corn for 19 cents a piece...that's a pretty darn good deal! So if you're a college student--enjoy some fresh corn on the cob from Wal-Mart! :)..I bet if you sing Pocahontas songs while you prepare it and eat it you will enjoy it 100x more!..it's just a suggestion! :)
So there I am shucking the corn--this picture is me showing you my skills and also--it's a scene from Pocahontas (when she shows John Smith her version of "gold").
This is a picture of my corn before I cleaned up the ends and bagged them. They were so beautiful!!!
So...my secret hope is that you will now desire to watch Pocahontas! If you do decide to watch it--I would LOVE to watch it with you!!!! And Honey Bear would appreciate an invite too because that's her favorite movie (seriously, she'll lay in front of the tv and watch it--it's her fav!) :)
I hope you had a pleasant Sunday, and found something just as enjoyable as shucking corn to do! :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Today in Photos: (Top) Me with the Milk Bones--I'll do anything for my pup--even go to Publix in my pajamas; (Middle) Me lovin a good deal--Cap'n Crunch = yum!; (Bottom) if you've seen Bedtime Stories--you will understand. I saw the Wheat Germ and started laughing! :)
Dear Friend,
Tonight's post is going to be short because I am in a weakened state--but have no fear, I'm hoping to be recovered tomorrow!
This morning started great with Honey Bear snuggled up against my legs! Then I got up and my poor pup was so sad because we ran out of her "cookies" the other day, and it's messing up her daily routine not having them. She gets a cookie every morning after she comes in from going potty outside. She was just standing and staring at the empty box on the floor in the garage--then she sat down and stared at the empty box, and then she laid down and looked at the empty box with longing eyes. I couldn't handle it--so Christy and I decided that she must get a cookie without delay!!...So we went to Publix in our pajamas. Christy's pajamas didn't look as pajamas-ish as my pajama shorts...I was wearing a normal shirt, but my shorts were ridiculous. I loved it! My mom ended up giving us this list of stuff to get, and then I kept seeing the lovely "Buy 1, Get 1" signs--those always get my attention and I got two boxes of Captain Crunch today for the price of one--I felt like a conqueror (see photo).
So the trip to Publix was an event to say the least. Then I came home and chopped up onions, celery, and bell peppers for my mom who was making spaghetti and jambalaya! Then I ironed clothes for a while. I took a break from ironing, and checked facebook and then realized I wasn't feeling very good.
I thought I needed to eat something so I ate two bowls of jambalaya but just kept feeling worse. Soon I felt like i couldn't move, my sis, bro, and mom helped me get to my mom's bed and then they just watched for a while, I finally was able to get up and noticed the tingling in my hands wasn't getting better--but worse. Within a few short minutes I was in a full blown seizure. I am very tired from the experience, but with the help of my family--they were able to help me get through it. Seizures are scary experiences and I hate them so much because I feel trapped in my own body. I'm glad they don't happen often because I can't stand them...and they are extremely exhausting. My whole body is utterly exhausted and sore. So on that note..
Friend, I hope you have a pleasant night and sweet dreams, and you are experiencing good health!! :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Dear Friend,
I hope you had a pleasant Friday! I had an amazing day...allow me to share.. :)
So, I started packing--I basically took 3/4 of all my hang-up clothes and draped/hung them around our room (Christy and I share a room). I still have to get my folded clothes out, but that can wait til Sunday. I have a list of items I need to buy--not much so that's good! I don't even know how I'm going to pack all these clothes--I know I will end up shipping some clothes home before I get back at the end of June!
I painted my toe nails a fuchsia pink that I love! I figured it's best to give my spunky-ness room to breath because I'll have to paint them a reasonable/professional pink color when I start working.
I got to babysit my girls last night. Okay, gear up---I'm about to go into full lovey-dovey/woman mode!!! I love these girls soooo much. They bring an endless amount of joy to my heart! Whenever I'm around them, I fully understand the saying "my cup overfloweth". They are the sweetest girls, they love Jesus so much, and they are so well behaved and just a joy to be around. We have such a good time together, and I'm like their big sister, and I LOVE IT!!! Last night we only had a couple of hours together, so we ate pizza, played "Dancing with the Stars"..I was the judge for Caroline and Abigail twice (they had to take turns being the boy for each other), and sweet little Sarabeth was the singer--she stood on the "stage" (their mini trampoline) and sang along with the High School Musical soundtrack. Then I had to be the boy for each girl, and when it was Sarabeth's turn to dance I dressed her up in a pretty Cinderella dress. She is quite the character already--we did a slow dance and I just held her the whole time and she rested her head on my chest and stole the show!! Then we ate popcicles and ice cream and watched 30 minutes of Ella Enchanted and then they had to get ready for bed. Abigail had to have 4 teeth pulled at the dentist so we had to get ready for the Tooth Fairy (she wrote the Tooth Fairy a thank-you note--I told you they were sweet girls!!). Then Caroline wanted me to tell her a bedtime story. Well I just watched the movie "Bedtime Stories" so I had a lot of good material in my head. I told a tale of a beautiful princess named Caroline and then when it was her turn she told a tale of a beautiful mermaid named Lindsey :) Then we all said prayers and I tucked them in.
I sat down to watch more Ella Enchanted when I saw a bright light outside and thought it was from their neighbor's house--turns out it was lightning--the crash of thunder even scared me it was so loud! Sarabeth woke up crying--so I ran in to comfort her and i laid down next to her and would watch the window and whenever I saw lightning, I would whisper to her not to be scared but some thunder was coming. It took her a really long time to fall asleep, I just kept running my fingers through her hair and rubbing her arm, then she fell asleep holding my hand :)
I just laid there because I didn't want her to wake up and then get scared again, so I have to say watching a child sleep is one of the most peaceful things in the whole world. She was so cute and warm and snuggly, I fell asleep after a little while. Angie woke me up :) That was probably one of the greatest moments of my life. I can't wait to have kids, they truly are God's greatest blessing!
Then I got home, and poor Honey Bear was sleeping by the front door, and she was crying and whining she was so happy to see me! I ended up sleeping in the bottom bunk so I got to sleep with Honey Bear, and before I had even gotten in the bed, she had jumped up and laid down--just waiting for me to join her. I got in the bed and she came and sat in my lap and laid her head on the crease of my arm and just licked my arm for like an hour! Those of you who don't know my dog--she's not the most affectionate dog..she only has affectionate moments and they are usually short lived. It was a sweet moment I will cherish while I am away from home.
Last night the Lord really blessed me with these treasures that some may think nothing of, but they mean more to me then silver or gold.
I hope you take the time to enjoy things and find God's blessings in your life, Friend, that have no monetary value whatsoever...because those are the things that truly matter. This is my "Friday" blog so I will be posting again later tonight for Saturday! :)
I hope you have a pleasant afternoon, filled with sunshine and bliss! :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Today in Photos: The American flag outside Chik-Fil-A with my purple toes; my hair--I felt like Belle because I was wearing a yellow shirt and I had my hair up like Belle! (I'm such a Disney princess!!!); the beautiful Moon behind a palm tree; and my yumm-o cheesecake! :)Dear Friend,
Today, like everyday, was filled with greatness!
I over-slept (yes, again), but made up for missing the most of the morning by doing lots of stuff!
Can I just say that if you ever need someone to go run an errand, or get you from Point A to Point B as fast as possible--I'm the person you should call! In my family, it's like everyone just knows this...yesterday my mom was running late leaving for church so she asked me to drive (because everyone knows we'll get there the fastest if I drive); today my dad asked me to go pick up some shipping tubes from FedEx--I asked him when he needed them...what was his response? "Now."....I was still in my PAJAMAS!!! He has his shipping tubes before he knew it!
So I'm getting stuff in order for my trip (I think I'll explain that tomorrow...too tired tonight, but I did just book my plane ticket! Exciting!)..I basically have a list of things I need to make lists for...it's so much work! Then I vacuumed the house for my mom and my dad calls. He's in Fort Pierce and needs someone to meet him in West Palm with keys to my grandparent's house. Sooooo....I'm the go-to person for things like this because--I LOVE IT!!! I get to drive (which, I love to drive--not on i-95 so much, but I'll take what I can get) aaannnnndddd--it's like a 2 hour JAM SESSION!!! I just found my iPod that had been lost for who knows how long so I'm rediscovering all my old great music! (My new computer isn't synced to my ipod b/c my ipod was synced with my last laptop that crashed...so...it doesn't have any new music on it)...but it's still filled with great things to jam to! So I went to the doc for my weekly B-12 shot and then jammed out to all sorts of things til I got to North Lake Blvd. Then I waited at a Chik-fil-a for my dad. I was sitting in the parking lot when I noticed how beautiful the flag looked blowing in the wind. I am really thankful to be living in America, and I know our country has issues, but I'm still a proud American, and I think I live in the most beautiful country! So I took a picture of the American flag (and my feet! The purple nail polish has got to come off soon...I'm sick of it.).
I get home and helped my mom shuck corn and make chicken rice, then while all that cooked, I took my beautiful puppy on a walk. Normally I wear my running shoes and we'll jog a little bit so she gets extra worn out. Today, I didn't even realize I was just in sandals--so of course something HAS to happen to my feet! A little boy was riding a skooter outside my neighborhood and, of course, Honey Bear has to act all tough like she wants to eat the poor child--when in fact she's just curious and...not that ferocious (at least I don't think so..?). So I brought her close to me and kept the leash tight and we walked in some yards to give the kid plenty of room on the sidewalk, and I smiled at him to try and make up for my ferocious beast on a leash! OF COURSE the yard I walk through for all of 15 seconds is basically JUST stickers!!!!! My poor feet were crying out in pain from the darn things!! So I get back on the sidewalk, grit my teeth and try to pull the lil stickers out--and they get stuck all over my fingers!! Now usually they don't hurt this bad, but just my luck--they were like thorns in my fingers and I was just COVERED. My fingers were actually BLEEDING from the darn things, I couldn't get them out!! I actually at one point thought I might cry they were so painful and I couldn't get rid of them, and Honey Bear was trying to scare a small child--it was a lot to handle at one time! I finally got them all out and Honey Bear and I finished our walk peacefully. I think my dog is too much of a city girl...there is a large strip of grass for like 1/4 of the area we walk, and i like to walk in the grass and feel it crunch under my feet--and my dog prefers the sidewalk...?!?! I really enjoy our walks though :) She has a new harness, and I love it! I'm gonna take a picture of it soon and post it on here! :)
After dinner my mom treated us to Cheesecake Factory cheesecake! I got the red velvet cake and cheesecake with white chocolate shavings on the side---Mmmm..soo good!!! We left to go pick up the cheesecakes and the moon was so beautiful I had to take a picture of it for you, Friend!
Goodnight dear Friend, I hope you have had a beautiful day, and enjoy peaceful, sweet sleep tonight! :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
Dear Friend,
Today was a grrrr-eat day! :) I slept in wayyy too late, but that's alright because I was as busy as a bee the rest of the day!
Quick recap from yesterday: Didn't get to post yesterday because I had a TERRIBLE migraine last night! So, I do have something to say about my day yesterday: I watched one of my FAVORITE movies: Fool's Gold! I could watch that movie all the time--I just LOVE it! Also, if you are looking for some good deals on Christmas stuff--summer is the time to buy! I bought a BEAUTIFUL tart burner and a couple of Christmas smelling tarts for only $10--what a deal! I always look for old holiday stuff after the holidays have past and then use it next year--why pay full price if you can just get it later!?!? So there's a shopping tip! I love a good deal! :)
My lil bro started his finals today so I picked him up from school and took him to go eat a healthy, well-rounded lunch at McDonalds. (See photos..the one of just me is how i eat fries sometimes: I drive with one hand and hold the fries and grab the fries with my mouth..it's classy.) ..We are all about eating healthy--lemme tell ya! ;)
So then I had to take a package to the post office. I jammed out to Taylor Swift's "Today was a Fairytale"...it always makes my smile a little wider! I'm standing in line, and the post man calls me up when it's my turn to come up to the counter, and there is a woman working in the station next to him (but she wasn't taking customers), and he is an older man and he keeps smiling at me. All of a sudden the lady exclaims "wow, young lady, your eyes are just so beautiful and so bright!!!!" and then the man smiles and says "Ah, I know!! I couldn't help but look into them! So beautiful indeed!!"...I'm pretty sure I blushed, but I thanked them for their kind remarks!! I think every girl should be complimented on something about themselves at least once a day--it's such a great feeling! So here's my challenge: If something about someone strikes you (in a good way,LOL)--you need to tell them!!! Don't feel awkward because I can promise you that 100% of the time you are going to totally make their whole day (or week, month, or year!!).
Then I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading photos. Can I just say that the thought of having to upload photos makes me want to have a temper-tantrum and throw myself on the ground and pound my feet and fists against the floor and whine!!! It is so boring and time consuming...I can name 10 things off the top of my head I would rather do (1. go outside 2. walk my dog 3. peel potatoes 4. paint my toe nails 5. wash dishes 6. dance around in a vacant room 7. climb a tree 8. wash my car 9. cross-stitch 10. eat/bake something--BOOM BABY!! That's ten things off the top of my head that I would rather do than upload photos!!!) Here's the protocol for uploading photos that drives me CrAzY--upload photos from camera to computer; go through all photos and take out red eye (I always get red-eye!!); then I have to upload all of those photos onto snapfish.com (I like to have my photos on snapfish to ensure that if my computer ever crashes--my photos are safe online!)...now you know why my photos RARELY make it to Facebook...that's double the time waiting for these photos to upload!! I'm determined though to get all my old photos done, clear out my photo card and then it will be a much quicker process..I think the fact that I wait until I have 400 pictures to do at a time is the reason I hate it so much,lol!!
Oh, Friend, I saved a butterfly today! For those of you who don't know every secret about me...here's one: I'm TERRIFIED of butterflies. It's ridiculous--I know--but guess what, what about me isn't ridiculous?! They get caught in our patio screening in the backyard, and I've saved like 4 butterflies, and I think I'm getting to place where I may be able to touch one to save it (I've been using the pool net). So I saved a butterfly today, but my mom had to help me--she ended up getting the butterfly out, but I helped! :)
After church tonight, I was pumping gas and Friend, if you are a guy--listen up, I have some advice for ya: If you want to make an "impression" on a girl--DO NOT drive slowly by and do the whole creepy stare thing. It's called "the whole creepy stare thing" because it's CREEPY!!! Creeps aren't appealing...they CREEP girls out!!! Don't be creepers!! A girl wants a guy who will sweep her off her feet--duh!! Okay so that's my advice.
Music Advice: Listen to Frank Sinatra....he's the man! I've been sharing his goodness with the whole family the last couple of days--let me tell ya: they are enjoying it! :)
I hope you, dearest Friend, have a pleasant night, sweet dreams, and a very very good night :)
Lotsa Love,
Linds
On Wednesday when I watched the girls, we got into the pool after we watched Ariel's Beginning (which, by the way, I teared up in...which is ridiculous. But moving on! lol)! I had to kill several bees because a vine near the pool was attracting bees by the hundreds it seemed! We had a blast eating frozen ice pops and playing in the water. It never ceases to amaze me how much fun the girls are! We always have such a great time...they are such a pleasure to be around! I love you girls! :)
Christy and I packed up the car, and I had the seat bent forward so I could fill up the backseat. When I went inside to grab more bags, Honey Bear sneaked outside and stood in the back and had the saddest face on that said, "Where is my spot, Mom?"..it broke my heart. I nearly broke down in a pool of tears when I told her bye...she dropped her head really low--it was just pitiful it was so stinkin sad!!
