my boys

Alex put his Sunglasses on, looked at Little Adam and said, "you might have to fight the girls off of me."

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He blessed me with Jewelry and so much more.

As some of you know I am an Independent Distributor for Premier Designs Jewelry. I just started my 6th year as a Jeweler. I do Premier part time. I love the flexibility and the fact that I make great money for fun work. I get to take my Jewelry and share if with a hostess and her friends and family and I make 50%. You can't beat that. Well it does get better, my hostesses earn on average $200-$300 in free Jewelry. I came across this post on a blog and had to post it on my blog. It sums up what Premier is all about. Premier has really been a blessing. It has given me the opportunity to make extra money, meet some amazing women, and I have grown spiritually as well. Premier has helped me come out of my shell. It all started with a few pieces of Jewelry.

Premier Designs - A Different Kind of Company

y'all

I say y'all all the time and Adam hates it. He says, "babe it's you all, not y'all." I got an email and had to post this line just for him.

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

Love it.

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I need girl time!

I am surrounded by men! I have nothing but guys at home (laila doesn't count she won't let me paint her nails). And I work around all guys. Today at lunch we were on a discussion about how men and woman communicate. There is little ol' me, with 6 guys. I was out numbered. When they say Men are from Mars and Women are form Venus, I totally agree.

why did God invent bugs?

My niece, Adrianna, asked my sister why God invented bugs because they serve no purpose? Jacqueline told her she didn't know, and that she would have to ask God. So Adrianna is bound to get to the bottom of it, so she asked for God's phone number. So Jacqueline tells her that you can't call God on the phone, you just talk to him outloud. So Adrianna looks up to toward the sky, and asks God why he invented bugs. She is in kindergarten. Had to share it, it made me laugh.

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Mom

I had lunch with my mom on Saturday and even though it was a simple lunch, it sparked something in me and I needed to Blog about it.

I know that my mom is an amazing women. I know that the relationship we have is special. However I think sometimes we still catch ourselves taking that for granted. I have had a few of my friends lately tell me that what I have with my family is special, and to cherish every minute of it. I thank them for that, because at times I know I take it for granted. Not that I take advantage of it, but that it is simply normal to us, and I think sometimes I think it is always going to be there. In reality, it will not. I look at my husband, and how he lives everyday without the living influence of his mother. She is always in his heart, but she died when he was 17, and that has greatly affected his life. Some of my friends and family do not have a close relationship with there mothers, and some do not have there mothers in there lives. I can't imagine what that would be like, and my heart goes out to them. They remind me to value the wonderful mother that God has placed in my life, and I thank them for that. I rely on my mother so much. She is my rock. I don't tell her nearly enough, and I don't think anything I can ever tell her or do for her would ever make up for what she means to me.


Mom,
I don't tell you enough what you mean to me, so I will say it here for you and everyone to see. Mom, I love you. And I don't thank you enough for everything you do and for what you are to me. Your heart is the kindest I have ever known. You have the strongest shoulder to carry every ones burdens, and yet they are soft enough when a shoulder is just what we need to lean on. You are there no matter what we need, not just in the good times, but in all the times. Thank you for not giving up on me when I disappointed you. Thank you for holding my hand threw the worry, crying with me during the sadness, laughing with me, and celebrating in the good times. You seem to know when I need advice, and when I just need to talk, you seem to know exactly what I need. Thank you for accepting me and what I believe. You are the best grandmother for my boys, and I hope that they know how blessed they are to have you in there lives. We are the most loved people because of your love. You are not only these things to us, but to our friends as well. You are not only a mother, but also a friend. I know that I can talk to you about everything. Thank you for being there when I was sick, for doing what ever it was that I needed and what ever you could to make me feel better. Thank you for the little things. Thank you for coming to the boys games, and school performances. Thank you for picking the boys up from school when we need you too. Thank you for meeting me at the hospital when Adam was in his car accident. Thank you for helping me with my school work during college. Thank you for all the birthday dinners, and cakes. Thank you for being stricked on us growing up when we needed it, and for giving us room to be us when that was what we needed also. Thank you for being who you are, and for helping us learn who we are as well. I love you mom.

Your loving daughter,
Angela

Saturday was a simple lunch between a mother and daughter, but I know that Adam would do anything just to have a simple lunch with his mother, and I have to cherish those moments with her.

Key West

Ok, so Key West was awesome. I don't even know were to begin. First of all, I can't think of anyone else who I would have rather gone with, Stac, I had a blast with you, and the best part of the trip was going with you. I know I said the Para sailing was, but it was really going with you, lol. There is just something about going on a trip with a friend. This was a first for me, along with many other first on this trip.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast, and I would stay there again. It had that Key West feel. We went snorkeling (I had alittle anxiety), para sailing, kayaking, swam in the middle of the ocean (alot of anxiety on that one, just ask Stac), and did Jet ski's. That was our Ultimate Adventure, and it was awesome. Here are some pics, more to come. We spent one day at the beach, we did alot of walking, and shopping, and bike riding (the way to get around Key West), and laughing, and sunbathing. It was a blast. We also got tattoo's (yes, that is plural mom). I can't put it in words, it was just awesome. Enjoy the Pics.

Ashley is on a roll!

Me: "what day do you have tutoring at school."
Ashley: "I dont know, all I know is there is 5 days in a week, and I just hope the last one comes soon."

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randomness

Alex says..."I think I'm going to wait until I'm 10 to get advertised."
He meant baptized. LOL

Ashley says...
"Mom, will you take me to target to get some of my pictures printed off my digital camera?"
Mom: "Ashley, you have to plan things like that, you can't just run all the time."
Ashley: "but mom, I've been thinking about it in my head all day."
Mom: "that doesn't count as planning."

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It is FINALLY here

OK, it's here, and I know some of you are sick of hearing about it, but in less than 24 hours, I will be on a plane headed to Key West for Vacation. I am so excited. This is a first for me, and a vacation full of firsts. This is my first Vacation without Adam and the boys, I am sure I will miss them like crazy, but I am looking forward to the girl time with my Bestie. My vacation will be full of Sun, Sand, Water, Sunscreen, Wild Chickens (it's illegal to kill chickens in Key West), snorkeling, parasailing, shopping, and good food. I will be blogging about my trip while I am gone, so check back to see pictures and hear about my adventures.

Funny Randomness

So yesterday Little Adam asked me which anniversary I think will be our best. I said probably our 50th, because you guys can throw us a big fat anniversary party. Alex says, "yeah mom, cause you and dad will be real old, I mean real old!"


If you have a weak stomach, don't read this. I have boys, so this stuff doesn't bother me.
We had Moe's for dinner the other night. When we got home, Alex has to use the restroom. Adam and I are in our room, and Alex is narrating from the restroom, "here comes the taco"! LOL sorry, couldn't resist.

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Happy Anniversary

Today Adam and I celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary. 7 years ago on a rainy day in April, we pledged to love one another forever in front of our family and friends. This was a very emotional day because it was a long time coming. Adam and I meet in high school, and had our first son within a year of meeting. We were engaged twice. The first time, I think we got engaged because it was what was expected of us. We had been together since High School, we had a child, and it was the next step, in an out of order sequence of steps for us to take. We were so young and had alot of learning, and growing up to-do. We made our share of mistakes, and we did grow up, and we just so happened to do it together. We had one thing that held us together stronger than anything, and that was Little Adam. Adam was bound and determined to be there in his sons life. To be honest, I really didn't want to be one of those couples who got married because it was what we had to do, so that is why there were two engagements. The second one happened because it was right for us. We got married not because of a sequence of events that lead to it, but because we were ready to stand before our family, friends and God, and really mean the words that we spoke. The whole day itself was a bit of a blur. I have pictures that bring back the memories. I remember how cute Little Adam looked in his Tuxedo that was exactly the same as Adam's. I remember how much Adam embarrassed me when he did his little dance before the garter toss, it was priceless. I remember my cousin who was in the wedding, showing up with a black eye, again priceless, but that didn't matter to me, because he was there. I remember how it felt to have our two families separated my hundreds of miles, come together and celebrate with us. I remember dancing with my dad. I remember the blend of Hip Hop, Country and Latin music that entertained us at the reception. It was one day that represented us. There were 6 years of us before, and many years of us to come after, but that one day was about us. Happy Anniversary Babe.

Just some funny things my kids say...

OK, so last night me and the boys were coming home from dinner after Church. Adam was home in bed by this time, and we went to one of his favorite restaurant, so I wanted to take him home some rolls. Now don't think he was getting the wrong end of the deal, he loves the rolls. So we are walking to the car, and Alex was carrying the box. He drops it, the box opens and the rolls all land on the ground. As I was picking them up, Alex said, "since it's April fools can we put them in the box and daddy can still eat them?".

So on the way home Little Adam was telling me about his bet with his Dad. I guess it could be labeled as bribery, Yes, we bribe our kids! Last year Little Adam was known as 'Walkman' on his baseball team, because he has a great eye, and he always walks. So this year Adam tried to give him incentive to hit the ball. Adam told him if he has more than two hits that he will buy him the new Halo game. So Alex chimes in and says he is going to tell dad that if he gets more than 3 hits that we have to buy him an iPhone. Lol. Yeah. Alex is really working us to get him an iPhone. Little Adam bought one with his own money, and it is killing Alex that he is the only one in the family that doesn't have one. I told that wasn't going to happen. So he said, "Well, I will just have to use the puppy dog face on Dad." Little Adam said, "Alex, Dad is puppy dog face proof, it doesn't work on him like it does mom!"

Come Join us at NVMC this Easter

My 29th Birthday

This year for my birthday we didn't have much planned. My birthday was this past Saturday and I couldn't have asked for better weather, 80's in March. Last year on my Birthday we were snowed in with 8 inches of snow and ice. What can I say, we live in Kentucky, you never know what you are going to get. I had a hair appt scheduled for that morning so I went and got my hair done at my stylists new Salon. I have been going to Tracy for over 8 Years, and I was excited to see her new salon. It is amazing. Very contemporary, the salon is called Fierce, and fierce it is. After my hair appt, I headed home. Adam and the boys planned to take me to dinner because my mom wanted us over for cake at 8pm. So we headed downtown, our destination was a surprise to me. I love surprises, so I didn't ask. We pulled into the parking lot at Joe's Crab Shack, and I immediately remembered that they love to embarrass you on your birthday. In the past I have had to stand on a chair while people sang happy birthday, and when I graduated college, I had to ride around the restaurant on a stick pony and say I graduated while people sang happy graduation to me. So I started to get very nervous. As we walked to the restaurant, I saw some familiar faces at a distance. I realized that Adam had surprised me with my family and friends on my birthday. I was very surprised and excited. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. We had a great time, and in case you were wondering, I had to wear a hula skirt and a straw hat and do the hula dance while standing on a chair as people sang Happy Birthday. There is a video floating around somewhere.

So to all my family and friends who were there, thank you for taking the time to celebrate my Birthday with me. I love you all, and couldn't imagine not having you in my life. To Adam, thank you honey for surprising me on my Birthday even though you don't like doing stuff like that.

Call from School

So I get a call from school today. Considering all the sickness going around, I expected them to say Alex was sick. Instead they inform me that Alex took his cell phone to school and it rang in the middle of class. So they took it away, and me or Adam have to pick it up. Alex knows this is a no no. He just got a cool hand me down phone from his brother, so I'm sure he took it to show his buddies. We might have to rethink the cell phone for Alex.

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Uncle Bob

I just want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers these past two weeks. For those of you who didn't know, my Uncle Bob had a Massive Stroke Two weeks ago Sunday. He Passed away this past Tuesday.

The stoke left him paralyzed on his right side. When I went to see him, he opened his eyes, but it was so hard to not be able to hear what he was thinking. He was on a ventilator at the time. I kissed his forehead and told him that I loved him and that Adam and the boys loved him too. The next day Aunt Mae made the dicision to remove the Ventilator, the feeding tube and IV. We all knew that was what Uncle Bob wanted. I am sure it was the hardest decision she ever had to make. We continued to pray that he would get strong and make a full recovery. I know how big God is and what he is capable off. I also know that God has a plan, and that it could have been Uncle Bob's time to go. I started to pray for God's will. I prayed for peace for Aunt Mae and the family. Last Tuesday Uncle Bob passed. He was a man of God, and I know were he is today, Heaven.

Uncle Bob was my Great Uncle on my Dad's side. My dad grew up in a very close family. My Memaw and Aunt Mae were sisters. My Memaw, Pepaw, Aunt Mae and Uncle Bob were always together. Some of you have meet them at the boys birthday parties. They would drive from livermore because family meant everything to them. Uncle Bob and Aunt Mae had 4 kids, Angie, Berry, Tony and Vickie who died when she was a child. For my dad and his bother Darren, growing up with Angie, Berry, and Tony, they were all like siblings. I love to hear my dad tell stories of growing up in Livermore. So when they all grew up and had kids, us kids all grew up together. Holidays and weekends at Memaw and Pepaws meant fun with my cousins. Angie is an Aunt to me, and Berry and Tony are my uncles just like Uncle Darren is. We grew up as a very close family full of traditions, and just spending time together. Every thanksgiving and Christmas Day we spent at Memaw and Pepaws who lived right across the street from Uncle Bob and Aunt Mae. The whole family would pile in the two houses, and we would always eat dinner at Memaw and Pepaws, which used to be my Granny's house.

At the funeral they spoke of Faithfulness. My Uncle Bob was faithful to the Marine Corp. He retired as a Major from the U.S. Marine Corps after 23 years of service, serving two tours of duty in Vietnam. He was faithful to his church. He was a member of the Livermore United Methodist Church, the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and had also served as Mayor for the City of Livermore. He helped to establish the Veterans Memorial in Livermore. But most importantly, he was faithful to his family. He was faithful to his wife of 55 years. They said his greatest fear was not of dying, it was of Leaving Aunt Mae behind. They spoke of how he would be asked to go and help with something, and there were so many times he would, but most of the time he would say, "No, I think I will stay with Mae." He loved his family and we loved him. My cousin Shilah and I are very close, and even though Uncle Bob was her Pepaw, he was like another father to her. They had a bond like no other. Shilah's husband, Chris, wrote a song for Uncle Bob called Flowers, and it was played at the funeral. It is on my myspace, check it out, it's beautiful. The funeral was complete with Military Honors, and Uncle Bob would have been proud.

When my memaw died, and I broke down because I couldn't leave my pepaw, Uncle Bob reassured me that he would be OK. He would joke with me about my hair color of the month, and then he would always tell it to you like it was also. He called Little Adam his Little Marine. He gave Little Adam a pocket watch with a the Marine Logo on it alittle over a year ago, and Little Adam cherishes that watch. Little Adam has said for the past few years that he wants to be a Marine when he grows up. When we would visit, Little Adam and Uncle Bob would disappear and we knew they were somewhere together, and uncle bob was showing him some of his medals, or certificates, or pictures. I am so blessed that the boys will have those memories of Uncle Bob.

Everything I knew growing up is changing. The family I grew up with, leaned on, and looked up to is different than before. Change isn't always bad. It's sad to say goodbye, and miss those you love, but I know my Memaw and Uncle Bob are in a better place. They are no longer in pain. I know I will see them again one day.

Just like the Marine Corp hymn says, I'm sure he's guarding heaven's gates standing up straight and proud.

Sickness go away

So I have been sick for alittle over a week. It started as a Virus, and really had me down and out last week. But this weekend I have a full schedule, so I had to suck it up and get things done. Well, that made the sickness linger, and I had to go back to the Dr yesterday. I have Bronchial inflammation, and I am taking steroids. Well technically, I am not taking them yet. I dropped off the prescription last night, but didn't feel like going back out to get the meds. So this morning my mom sent me an email asking how I felt. I told her pretty much the same because I didn't pick my meds up. So she replied back with a whole lot of (*&%&%$%$#^%*&^)(*&)(*^&%$*&)()^(&^$^$#&!!! She got onto me for not taking care of my self, and not telling her because she would have gone and got them for me. I know she would have, but she has alot going on too, so I didn't want to bother her. I asked her if that was her cursing at me, and she said Yes! Lol. Don't mess with momma. lol. So she told me next time don't lay there and suffer. So nobody better mess with me, cause you don't want to make my momma mad. And Mom, I know you are reading this, so I will go get my meds as soon as I get off.

Come and See

Looking back, I see were God has brought me from, and I see how he was working in my life before I even acknowledged him. About 5 years ago I had a dream that I will never forget. I dreamt that Adam and me had died. We were standing there in front of God. God told me I got to go to heaven. I asked about Adam, I told him it didn’t matter to me were I went, I wanted to know that he got to go to heaven. I can still remember how I felt even though it was a dream. God told me that we both got to go to heaven. Then there was my mom and my aunt Susan with our son Little Adam. Adam and I had to say goodbye to him. I wondered how I could do that. There was no way. But we had too, he couldn’t go with us. I woke up in tears. I couldn’t control the tears or my anxiety. I wasn’t saved, I didn’t know if I died if I would go to heaven. I wanted my husband and my son, my family and friends to go to heaven too. The morning I woke from my dream I went to work, and as I was sitting in front of a dishwasher running a test, my co-worker walked over to me and handed me a bible. I started to cry. He had no idea about my dream, but I know that it was God. As scared as I was, I was also scared of church. I had been turned away from another church because we had our son while I was 16 and Adam was 17. We lived together before we were married. These are all things that I was told were bad in God’s eyes. I couldn’t look at my son and see anything bad, he was a blessing, so I was angry that anyone would suggest that having him was bad. I just wanted someone to accept me and teach me despite of my past, I wanted someone to see that I wanted to know God. I was scared of being rejected, something I would constantly struggle with. One year later another co-worker invited me to New Vision. She knew of my past and never judged me. She told me that the people at New Vision would welcome me with open arms. I saw the love, acceptance and forgiveness first hand, and I longed to be in that atmosphere. That is what got me to church, a sense of being accepted. Along the way I learned about God, his love for me, and his will for my life. I have been on fire for God ever sense. New Vision is a place that you can come with all your baggage, and there are people that will teach you how to lay it at his feet, and give your burdens to him. Knowing God will give you a freedom like no one or nothing else can give you. I invite you to come and check it out. This Sunday join me at NVMC.tv at 6907 Outerloop. Service times are 9am and 11am. I hope to see you there.

Im stuck!

I have so much in my mind, and heart but I just can't get it all down on paper! I feel clogged up, in a good way.