ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!!

OMG!  I can't believe it has been one full year since I have blogged!  I don't even know where the time has gone or where to start!  Life get's so busy and in the way of all the things I really want to do.  Needless to say, blogging was one of the things that was put on the back burner.  I'm not even sure anyone even reads my blogs, but it makes me feel good to have a place to chat, event if it is to myself! Ha!

It would probably take me another year just to go over what this past year has given me, so I'll try to sum it all up in a short paragraph.

Let's see, I'll start by beginning last September.  I became a grandmother on September 12, 2014, Mika is now a year old.  My daughter thats in the Army has moved from Colorado to Savannah, GA (I'm doing a happy dance as I type) and my oldest turned 30 this month, now I feel old. My beautiful awkward looking companion of 13 years, Carmella, went to doggie heaven.  We completed a major foundation project on our home that took 3 months, now we are in the process of completing our new garage which has taken us four months.  I continue to craft, repurpose and grow in my photography everyday while I work full time and help keep my grand baby.  I have to have my beauty sleep, so my day starts at 4:30 am every morning and I'm in bed by 9:30 pm, so it doesn't leave me with a lot of play time.  I hope to continue to blog and share my life experiences as I try to mange my messy little life.

I thought I would share Mika's One year old birthday pictures!!  You can also check out my photography Facebook page by clicking on the Photography link at the top of my page.

Blessings to All!

Baby & Booties

Miss me?  Guess where I have been!  Getting ready to be a grandparent!  My first grandchild is finally here!  This little angel was born September 12 at 1:26 pm.  She was a whopping 7.13 lbs, 21 inches a long!   It has been some kind of a experience!  I'm looking forward to all the joy this little person will bring us.  We couldn't feel more blessed right now.  

As for the booties, her daddy requested me to make her these little Mary Jane booties you see above. I worked hard at the last minute to get them done for her arrival! I followed the newborn pattern anticipating they would still be big on her, but to our surprise, her feet were to big for the booties! Guess I'll be working on making her another pair the next size up!! 

Blessings Always

Diaper Cake

Couldn't wait to show off my first attempt at a diaper cake!  I'm also working on some table banners to match.  I'm giving my son and his fiance a baby shower next week and decided to make all the decorations myself. I love having the chance to try something new. I didn't take pictures, but I think I can break down really quick the steps I took to make this cake.

I basically took new born diapers, rolled each one individually long ways and placed them standing up on a 10 inch cake cardboard cake plate.  Once I had enough rolled up to fill the plate, I cut my ribbon, used a straight pin to pin it in a diaper, then wrapped it around all of them right in the center to hide the rubber bands and joined the ribbon together tightly in the back with another straight pin.  Keep your ribbon tight so the diapers won't move.  I then took the pink ribbon and did the same think over the top part of the chevron ribbon.  Then took a piece of white stretch lace ribbon and put it around the bottom.  I then started rolling the diapers for the second tier.  I just made it a little smaller.  I then proceeded and did the same thing with the ribbon for the second and third tier.  I did not attach the tiers, they sit nicely on top of each other and should be able to be transported fine.  I then topped off the cake with the pink ribbon in a bow and I stuck three of the cupcake toppers in the top, so it would match the cupcakes I'm making! Viola!  Turned out pretty good for the first time!  The green you see is part of the diapers when I rolled that them up.  If you had all white diapers, there wouldn't be any color showing like mine.  I just used what we had already bought and they worked fine.  I think the green actually gives it a little pop of color!  I'll post more pics of the baby shower soon!

Blessings Always!

Mini Vacay to Savannah!

Savannah sunsets are the best!!!

I walk these streets for days!!

Seriously, could you imagine stepping into your backyard and seeing this every morning?  This is to die for!

I picked this one out as my dream retirement home!  Perfect size and a picket fence people!

Best pizza I have ever had!  Vinnie Van GoGo's!! 

We finally escaped for a mini vacay!  Boy did we ever need a few days away from our everyday rut! We have a lot going on in our lives right now and trying to escape for a few days almost seemed impossible, but we did it!  This is the third time we have visited Savannah!  I fell in love with the charm of Savannah on our first visit. The people in Savannah just make you feel right at home. The history is so fascinating that you feel like you go back in time.  I get lost in all the history, legends, and stories you come to know when you visit. The trolley ride of the city is fantastic and the ghost tours are a hoot too!  Did I say creepy! Not to mention they have the best pizza I have ever ate at Vinnie Van GoGo's!  If you visit you have to try it!  It is right on City Market where all the shopping happens and I guarantee if you like New York Style pizza, you will love it!  So schedule a few days and go back in time and visit this city of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen!  We came back so refreshed!  

Blessings always

Besties

My daughter on the left, her bestie on the right, 

and her bestie's daughter in the middle

These two girls have been best friends since the age of 5 years old.  What began as a friendship between two, has turned into a friendship between three.  I am so proud of the women and mother these two young ladies have become. Real friendships last a life time.  Keep your friends close and cherish each and every one of them.  I am 51 years old and have already lost two of my closest best friends.  I think of them everyday.  Life is short.  Take nothing for granted. Besties are the best!!

Blessings always

I't's a Homecoming!!!!

She's home!!!

Daddy gets the first hug!

Then mama! With my frozen mt dew on stand by! Ha!

Hugs for brothers,aunts and uncles

Grandma gets her hug

Grandpa snags his

Grandma #2 grabbing her hug

The whole welcoming home crew!

These are our kiddos, our pride and joy!

She's finally home!  After being in Afghanistan for a year, she is finally home!  I can say that there is no part of being a parent that is easy, but I think not being able to physically see one of your children for a long amount of time is one of the hardest challenges of parenthood.  I think we got to actually Skype two times during her deployment.  So to say the least, when we saw this precious face for the first time in a year, there was a whole lot of praise going up to our Lord!!  Amen!

We have 10 days to squeeze in as much as possible, then she is back to Ft. Carson in Colorado!  We got a whole lot of hugging and catching up to do!!!  

Blessings always

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Do you ever ask yourself, what IF tomorrow never comes?  Do you? Do you reflect back on your life and think, have I really been all that I can be? Have I really loved with all my heart?  Have I really followed through with all my big dreams? Yeah, well, I do and then I start to hyperventilate!

Seriously though, I think we all can say that we do think about it, at some point.  As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, co-worker, friend, the list goes on, I feel that I have tried to be my best in each of these roles!  I know there are things I could have done better, but overall, I think I did a pretty good job at fulfilling all these roles over the years!

The thing is, while we were busy trying to be out best in all these roles, did we do the best at following our own dreams?  If tomorrow never comes, would you fill like you chased after your biggest dreams?

I'm as guilty as they come.  I AM A BIG DREAMER!!!  It just takes me a while to chase those dreams.  I started reading blogs over 5 years ago!  I was so hooked and wanted to start my own blog, just as a journal, to have one for myself!  You know how long it took me to start this blog? About 4 years!  It took me one day to start this blog a year ago.  It took 4 years to get my courage up to start it!  The thing is, I know God wants us to succeed! He wants us to follow our dreams! He wants us to have faith over fear and accomplish all our hearts desires!  We are His children! He wants to bless us!  We have to be willing to take those risks!  If it doesn't work out, know that God will open another door!  I am not usually a risk taker, but I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and start taking risks!   If tomorrow never comes, I want to know that I did follow my dreams!  That I did take risks and put my faith over fear!  I get excited just thinking about it!  I have been praying for a long time that I can step out of my normal and start working on some of my biggest dreams!  Will you join me?  Let's do this!

Blessings always,