"out of body" experience -

Have you ever had one of those 'out of body' experiences? Well this little guy did. This morning as I was moving from one room to the next I glanced down to see what I thought was a dead hermit crab. I found Ronnie and he agreed that the hermit crab had actually 'kicked the bucket'. As sad as it was, it appeared his shell may have gotten lodged between a couple of the rocks. Ronnie decided to take a stick and push the shell away only to discover that a whole new hermit crab was in the shell! Oh my! I was completely freaked out and just couldn't imagine. Thank goodness for "google" because it had all the answers. Our hermit crab actually molted. We read all about how it comes out of it's shell, sheds it's skeleton and moves on. We have brought many hermit crabs home from the beach, caged them up with a wet sponge and even purchased bigger shells for them to move into but not once did we ever find a whole skeleton in their cage. Wow, isn't it amazing? Have you ever wanted to just shed your body and start anew?! and now a whole new look.

Club Day -

Tomorrow is "picture day" for the Clubs at Wildwood Middle School. This year Cierra is a member of the HOPE club. Their club raises money to support Breast Cancer awareness and the Susan G. Komen foundation 'hoping' one day to find a cure. Every club counts, don't you agree?

Hot Chocolate...Yum

As I am going through some of the pictures I took during the holiday season, I stumbled upon this one. December was colder than normal and we had more snow that we typically have which meant more time inside (shew that's alot of mores). Everyone in our house loves hot chocolate, so many cups were enjoyed throughout the month. It is so easy to make with the Mr. Coffee Cocomotion machine. My sister got me hooked on this a few years ago and we liked it so much we bought a second one for our motorhome just in case we have any 'cold' nights while we're away. I love being able to buy the LARGE can of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix at Walmart. I haven't found a better cup yet, ha!

2010 Journal effort -

I AM A LIST PERSON. Period. I have several notebooks going at one time which show my "running" Walmart list, recipes I want to try, thoughts about my blogging and even ideas from magazines. While blog reading I came across a blog that I LOVE! As I have been reading recent updates she shared one of her New Year endeavors which includes journaling. Not blogging, but journaling in her own hand writing. I really liked the idea and have several journals myself (that I have been unsuccessful in maintaining) so decided to make an conscientious effort in 2010 even though I don't like my handwriting. I think it will be really neat for my family to look back at years of journals that I kept and see my thoughts, to-do list and things that make me happy. What a great way to be remembered AND even in my own handwriting, ha!

So, off to work I go sharing the idea with Mendie ! Of course she was ready to run out to Barnes and Noble to pick up our journals at lunch but my schedule didn't work out. However, after work I was able to stop by and pick up our journals (I won't share her info). I was so excited to find one that was really fitting for her and one that worked well for me. I have already started making my update and am confident it will be fairly easy since I am already used to keeping lists. Just think, everything in one place...how can that not be easier?!

I can dream we're there.....

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, Ronnie has been working on restoring our salt water tank. Everything is set-up now we are just waiting for it to cycle. It is beautiful! Yesterday he picked up three hermit crabs that have worked hard all day. The pictures came for the back and they have been installed! Now we can look at the tank and dream we're on St. John swimming and snorkeling in those exact waters! Hopefully tomorrow we can add a "nemo" then grow from there.

It's Monday morning -

It's the first Monday of 2010....what does this mean? Well, it means back to work for Ronnie and me. Back to school for Chase and Cierra. It is working on that list of phone calls to make now that most businesses are back open after a holiday season. Let's see, calling to see if an estimate has even been completed on my car? What about that refund we haven't yet received on the two sets of mattresses we ordered from Mattress Warehouse? Is it a 'go' or 'no go' to Daytona based on Chase's school work? What about those Resource Packs for our Sunday School classes?

Ronnie and I were fortunate to be off work starting on Christmas eve all the way through the 3rd. I did have some work to do but luckily it could be completed from home. It will definitely be an adjustment not being able to sleep in, pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast, lazy mornings drinking coffee, watching the news and catching up on e:mails, hearing the pitter patter of feet just before noon (they always stayed up really late) and watching the fish for what seemed like hours. But you gotta work to play, right? So it's off to work we go, leaving the quiet house behind, nose to the grind, ready to make the first week of the new year productive and be thankful that we both have jobs!

Happy Monday to all of you!

Getting to Know You Sunday!

Ok, so I jumped on-board the train with Mendie. Keely is hosting "Getting to Know You Sunday". I had not yet found her blog but thought this was kinda cute.... So, here it goes....

1. Where were you born?
Winchester, Virginia

2. Toilet paper..do you crinkle/crumple or fold it?
Crumple! Most definitely :)

3. What was the last movie you saw in the theater?
'New Moon' - I've never been one to go to the movies because I always get sleepy, LOL but no way with this one!

4. What room do you spend the most time in besides your bedroom?
This is a tough one....it's a toss between the kitchen and family room. They are really close in proximity which makes it easy.

5. Would you be grossed out if you found out your husband/boyfriend/significant other hadn't brushed their teeth for 4 days and you had been snogging (kissing) them?
Now this is funny - we are both anal about brushing our teeth so if for some reason this happened, I would be totally freaked out. YUCK!

6. Do you fold your underwear?
My drawer is over flowing....no such thing as folding.

7. What is one goal you would like to achieve this year?
You can check out my post but honestly, the main thing is to finish my NYIP course. It IS a must, especially when money is involved, ha!

8. What is your favorite month/least favorite month?
August! This is typically when baseball is over and our vacation takes place. It's also the month of our county fair which we all love! My least favorite is probably February or March...winter is looking pretty bad by then and it's just before the weather starts to turn the corner for Spring.

Wanna play along too? Click Keely's button at the top of this post to link up.

One Fish....Two Fish....Three Fish....Blue Fish

This past week has been a lot of trips to Walmart, PetsMart, Petco and Winchester Aquarium. Four years ago we set up a salt water aquarium however after a couple of years, a lot of hard work, many dead fish and frustration we decided to hang it up. It was one of my favorite things back then and we would spend hours just watching the fish. So...for Christmas I asked for it to be broken down and reassembled, this time reef free. Well, that one tank turned into let's see: Chase and Cierra each getting a tank, our bedroom tank being turned into salt water and another new one in my sewing room. And, the big one is just now under renovation :) and I'm actually ok with that. It has been a lot of fun getting everything needed for all the tanks. Chase and Cierra paid for all of their stuff with Christmas money and have done a good job taking care of their latest pets. Our bedroom tank has become my favorite with two yellow and two blue damsels, two hermit crabs, one peppermint shrimp, and one chocolate chip starfish. I love getting up each morning to them swimming around. Tonight was Kayden's first time seeing the fish and she loved them.

As we get finished, I'll be sure to share some pictures. I ordered poster size prints from Snapfish and we are using two of our St. John scenes for the background on our bigger tank. For now, I'll leave you with this...Isn't she just the best?!

New Year's Day Tradition

As far back as I can remember, cooked cabbage was always on the menu for New Year's Day. We never had to eat a lot, just a bite would help ensure we had money all year, ha! Through the years, I have actually come to like cabbage and our family can find it on the kitchen table from time to time. Mom and Dad aren't home to fix the cabbage this year so I decided make sure the rest of us here had cabbage available to eat.

My sister and brother-in-law joined the dinner which included cabbage, biscuits & tomatoes and ham. Yummy! Now I will tell you that cooked cabbage hasn't been known to bring me money over the years but I have certainly been blessed with good fortune. Regardless, the tradition lives on and we all enjoyed cooked cabbage today.



Any other 'food traditions' out there?

Happy New Year!

We're starting the new year off by sharing our New Year's Resolutions. Wanna play share your's? Click on Kelly's "show us your life" logo above and come along for some fun!



The question is.....do I have any New Year's Resolutions?!

The answer is...no. I always try to do better each year and focus on certain goals however I have never been one to make resolutions. I will share with you some things I would like to accomplish:

1. Celebrate Birthday's! Yay! Birthdays' tend to come and go for our family, especially when they fall during the week. I want to work on doing a better job at recognizing birthday's and making them extra special for whoever is celebrating!

2. Spend more time with Kayden! It seems like there's never enough time with her!

3. FINISH my photography course! Y.E.S. This is a must!

4. Catch up and organize my scrap booking. My room is finally organized and ready to roll. Now I need to dedicate time and energy in getting caught up.

5. Get my "Prayer Blog" up and running - so many people are in need of prayer...

6. finish the quilt I started for our bed two years ago! I have everything I need - it just seems like everyone else just moves to the top :)

7. Dedicate more time to my Sunday School position - nothing else to say there.

8. Continued effort to ensure our family gets together at least once a month for dinner. These times are the best!

9. Lose a few pounds....

10. More family time! Do we ever get enough of that anymore?

11. Appreciate the life we have. Life IS good!

There are tons of other things I really need to concentrate on but this is what came to mind when I took a few minutes to look forward to 2010. Wow - wasn't it just the millennium? So....HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you! May 2010 be all you want it to be!