Marshmallow Artwork

When I was printing out a picture for a gift for a 4 month anniversary...yep, I came across some pictures I'd forgotten to share.

For Kennedy's 11th birthday party we made marshmallow skewers as thank yous. I'd seen the idea on The Decorated Cookie and purchased the markers she'd suggested.

I did the artwork and Kennedy did the wording. We had a blast.

I've done these for lunches a few times with rave reviews.

Okay, so who's going to buy the markers and make these?

I can't wait to see your creations!

What's In Your Freezer

Doesn't everyone have a hard drive in theirs??

Follow Up!

I got an anonymous comment on my Twitter/Boss post today.

I'm sure that your boss, who obviously sounds intelligent, will gain control of her issues and use this social media tool to take her business to the next level, just like the expert told her it would.

Hmmm, I wonder who could have written that??

Just another reason I love her!

Crazy Beautiful

I did it.

I bought my business name.

I've started the paperwork to get my tax ID number.

I found a printing company.

I've been practicing.

I've had some great people to shoot.

Yep, I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up.

A sharp shooter/sniper.

Kidding!!

I'm going to be a photographer!

I've been interested for quite a while. You can see that here.

So I found some willing victims friends that wanted their pictures taken.

And here's what I got:o)

The beautiful Ashleigh. I grew up with her mom Angie. In 5th grade we had to write a report on all the presidents. Angie and I teamed up and used my encyclopedias until we got to where mine were outdated. We then started going to Angie's house and walking over to the neighbors house that had the most current set of encyclopedias. Life before the internet! Does anyone else remember it? That is also the moment when I fell in love with all things presidential.

Ashleigh was up to anything. She did kid with me a few times, like when I told her to climb up into the window or change clothes in the elevator, but she was willing. And her pictures show her inner and outer beauty.I then had the pleasure of a 12 hour round trip car ride to and from Lubbock to take Ashley's pictures. She's our beautiful bonus daughter. Taking pictures in an unfamiliar town was challenging, but we found some wonderful places.And since we were staying with my uncle and aunt, I got to take some pictures of their daughter Amelia. McKinley usually helps me pose but she was too busy using Carrie's camera to take pictures of Amelia:o)And of course, I got a picture or two of McKinley. That girl. Never a normal smile.I promise I'm not going to make this a photography blog. Where would I whine, or tell stories about my children, or share funny pictures? I plan on starting a different website in the future.

But now that I feel like I've found my passion, my calling...expect it to creep in from time to time:o)

Perfect Coloring

As I was leaving Wal-Mart last night I had to stop and take some pictures.I pulled over again exactly 7 minutes later to take this. God did an amazing job of coloring the sky in...didn't He?

Why I Love My Boss

My boss sent me this message on Facebook tonight. It seems she's having problems with our company Twitter account.

Let me lament my problems:

1.) My picture is still an egg. It won't let me change. Seriously.

2.)Everytime I login, I have to change my password. Every. Time.

3.) While Facebook knows me and loves me, Twitter, is a cold, dark place.

4.)I stumbled upon the OKCMAR site and managed to follow about 18 people, but unlike Facebook where I've met them in real life, I only have a virtual relationship. Am I stalking?! And if so, is that OK?

5.)I am reminded of the scene out of "My Best Friend's Wedding" where Julia Roberts is chasing after her best friend, who is chasing after his bride and Julia's friend says, "Who is chasing her?" She replies, "He is." "And who is chasing him?" She replies, "I am." "And who is chasing you?!" She replies, "No one."

That is me! I'm the girl as the end of the line in Twitter.

Do you see why I love her??? She cracks me up all the time. My cheeks hurt after spending time with her.

The upper ones:c)

Okay, So We Have A Mouse

I live in an old house. Not a hundred years or anything, but 66 years. I love it. It's been a part of my life for 34 years now. I haven't always lived in it, but it's been with me. When we moved back to my home town and started searching for somewhere to live, this house was for rent. Shawn called and left a message for the owners. When the idiot (some day when I get over it, I might explain why that's his name) called he started to tell me about the house. I stopped him and said, "Let me tell you about the house." I gave him a brief history of my life with it and he wasn't impressed. Then he asked me to tell him something about the house that no one else would know. I had this. I told him that since the closet in the downstairs bedrooms has a door in each room there was a chain lock on the inside of the east closet door. He had to go look! When he found the lock he'd never known was there he told me we had the house. We bought the house from another idiot a little over a year later.

I've never lived in a new house and honestly hope I never do. I love history. I love owning something that had a life long before I came along. I love the stories, the memories, and the history. Most of our furniture is old. Almost everything is from someone else in my family or from good friends. I pick new pieces that look old. It's who I am.

But part of owning an old house is pests. I know that my cousin Robin lives in a newer home and has ants, (wonder how she'll feel about me sharing that...) so I don't feel bad about our ant problem. I hate to spray something because of Jackie 'O' so I went searching for a better option. I've tried a line of chalk and fresh mint leaves, but they haven't worked. I finally started using something my neighbor gave me to use around the pool. An orange liquid that kills them slowly enough so that they get back to their colony and infect everyone. The only problem, apparently living right outside my kitchen door, is about a bajillion colonies. I think since March I've spent half the time battling. I thought I had them beat just recently. After all, we'd had a cold snap of a full day at around 75 degrees. But I woke up to this.

Please don't judge me.

So now that you know that about me...I can tell you about the gnats. I'm so stinking tired of gnats. They're not the gnats I grew up with. These are in your face all up in your biz'ness gnats. Attack gnats. I have tried two different homemade traps and neither one is an overwhelming success. I'm about to stop buying fresh food. Anyone have an amazing tip to pass along??

Oh, and now to the title of this post. Sadly, yes, we have a mouse. Okay okay. Apparently we have a mom mouse and some baby mice. We don't live in squalor. I promise! We do live next door to someone who has large outdoor dogs with large outdoor dog dog food. He's told us before that he has mice because of that. Oh joy.

I don't do snappy traps. No way do I want to wake up to that. So we buy the glue traps. This is the third time in 12 years that we've had to do this. I've had to remove a used trap once. It took me 20 minutes to decide what to use. I finally decided on the longest pair of kitchen tongs I own. I hoped to never have to do that again.

So are you ready for this?? We've caught 5. 5 tiny little vermin. When Kennedy had a friend spend the night I couldn't decide what to do with my nightly glue trap. I didn't want her running home and telling her mom that we have mice. (So instead I'm blogging about it for the world to read.) I decided to wait until they were in bed and put it out. Then I'd simply hide it in the morning when I left for my long run. As I was trying to get everything together and get out of the door I almost forgot about it. Luckily it caught my eye as I went into the kitchen because it had been moved. Who in the stink would have moved it? I'd found the sweet spot to put it. I am the professional here. I assumed it was Shawn. I put my foot on it to pull it out from under it's hiding spot, the stove. Since my hands were full my foot was the only option. Heaven forbid I put everything down. It seemed like the trap was stuck on a rubber band. I could faintly see it as I'd pull the trap out and it would slide right back in. Finally as my Gatorade was slipping, it broke free of the rubber band and I was able to stow it away out of sight. All with my foot. I know I know, I am so talented. I didn't give another thought to it since I had 6 miles waiting for me.

When I got home I headed to the pantry to grab the first thing I could find to eat. I kind of feel a bit hungry after Saturday's long runs. My eye landed on the glue trap I'd hidden. It had something on it. Something...gray...and furry...yep, leftover mouse. It hadn't been a rubber band...it had been a mouse and that was his tail! I did a little heeby jeeby dance and went to wake up Shawn and tell him the story. Really, things like this should be shared. I've waited to tell you all so that you wouldn't judge me...but I think we know by now I can't keep my big yap shut.

So please tell me that someone out there has had a mouse. I need to feel like I'm not the only one. And while you're at it, if you could tell me that you also have ants and gnats, I'd love you forever.

Anyone??

I Think It Rained

Yep, it did!

What In The World

No worries. Just a teenager with a new cell phone:c)

Update!!

Well lookie here!

Maybe the rotten service will improve.
The drink I ordered today did come out right...but I had to correct my order twice.

Hope hiring goes well...

...and quickly.

Road Trip!

What do you do to fight boredom during a road trip??We learned one lesson this time...pack more pretzels.

Lambert's...oh how I love you

We started our last minute vacation/road trip by heading to pick up my in-laws. They live at one end of the turnpike. Why of why the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority feels the need to do 9 straight miles of road construction during summer break is beyond me. But to keep it fair they also do it during Fall Break, Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, and Spring Break. Basically anytime there's going to be twice as many cars as usual, they park a whole bunch of equipment, rip out several miles of road, make us merge to one lane, and drop us from 75 mph to 55. And believe me when I say this, in 17 years of regular turnpike travel, I have hardly seen any actual work being done. It gets finished obviously, but you hardly ever see actual work happening. Apparently they don't work before 9, after 3, on weekends, when there's bad weather, or on holidays. Sounds like a job I could do!

In one of the construction zones I was following this. Not a dog in a crate in the back of a truck, but a goat. I guess goats do have to be transported from time to time....but I must say, I thought this was a hunter taking his dog out for the day.

Maybe it's a hunting goat!Honestly, I just looked at the title of this post and wonder if you all think I'll ever get to the point.

I am now. Sorry for the wandering.

But wait! Just one more thing. Look at that sky! If the goat was a bad omen (come on, it could be viewed that way!), then the sky is a good omen.

Now I'm really back on track.

After we picked up Gogo and Grampa we set out for the final 4 hours. I don't mind the drive (even with more construction) because I know where I'm headed. Yes yes, Branson was our ultimate goal but Lambert's comes first.

If you've never been to Lambert's, you haven't lived. Food galore. Everything is all you can eat. I have never once in my life eaten all the food I've been served. My mother-in-law ordered the Chef Salad once and it took two people to bring it to our table. She ate and ate and it never looked like she took a bite. I have always gotten the vegetable sampler. That plus the pass arounds are plenty of food for me.

As soon as you're seated (and we've waited as long as an hour and a half) I grab a paper towel and start looking for the person with the pass around okra. As I was looking the roll guy came buy. Lambert's claim to fame is that it's the "Home of the Throwed Rolls". And they mean it. Rolls aren't brought to your table and placed in front of you, they're tossed across the restaurant. It's a good idea to stretch a bit first to prepare for your catch. And since they're hot it's a good thing I already had my paper towel out. I could have been fine with this food, okay, more of it, but there's more!After your order comes, which is about five minutes after your order is placed, you can get the other pass arounds. Black eyed peas, macaroni and tomatoes, and hello lover, fried potatoes. Add that to the mashed potatoes, creamed corn, green beans, and pineapple walnut salad I'd ordered for my meal. Sadly I didn't take any more food pictures because I was inhaling everything in sight.

As I sat back and wondered if I could unbutton my pants without anyone seeing, I took in the atmosphere. It's such a fun place. Almost every inch of wall space is covered with Norman Rockwell prints and old fashioned advertising signs. Flags from all 50 states hang from the ceiling. And there's the roll thrower.He's vying for my love. It's honestly between him and the okra girl.I'll have to go back and try to figure that out....I'll keep you posted:c)

Branson!

To squeeze in as much fun as we possibly could into the summer, we made a last minute trip to Branson, Missouri for shopping and Silver Dollar City. Shawn's parents have had season passes for years and are given free passes to share:) Mom always says that if we come pick her up and pay for gas she'll cover the hotel.

How can you say no to that?

We've gone with just them, and with the entire family more times than I can count. Since it's not a horribly long drive we have gone as many as four times a year. Since they have different festivals they have different decorations, shows, displays, demonstrations, and things to buy. It's almost like a new place every time you go! They even had new rides this time!

The Craftspeople Festival is my favorite. Demonstrations everywhere. There are certain craftspeople that are always there, but for the festival, there's extra.

Part of the festival this time was interesting facts. I loved walking around and reading them.

I did not know that.

We got in early and went to stand right by the chains so that we could head straight to the ride that all four of us wanted to do. (Shawn wasn't with us because his call schedule is made a month ahead.) When we saw this sign, we knew we were in the right place.Powder Keg. I have never been a ride rider....until Disney World. With an even number of people, I had to ride it all. I learned that I wouldn't get sick on rides like I always assumed I would. So as we were discussing who wanted to ride, Reagan said she did. That meant I was riding. I was willing, but if I didn't need to, I wasn't going to. We got into line and soon enough were standing in the bays. McKinley with Reagan, Kennedy with me. But as we waited Reagan started getting nervous. We all gave her pep talks. We reminded her of what she'd ridden in Florida. She decided she could do it. So we took off. Literally. It shoots you from 0-60 in about 3 seconds. After several drops and twists we slowed down to climb a hill. I had slightly heard Kennedy's screams over mine and grabbed her hand to thank her for letting me ride with her. She, who hadn't been nervous at all, looked me in the eye and screamed, "Let go of my hand so I can hold on to something!" Apparently she'd decided halfway through that she wasn't enjoying herself. Luckily we all survived.

Well, except the cat.After that we headed to Fire In The Hole. Until Disney World it was the only roller coaster I'd get on. There's one hill, and since it's indoor and in the dark, you don't even know. You also get shot with water when you least expect it so it's lots of fun. On a choir trip in high school I rode it with my teacher. (I absolutely loved her.) When we got off she sat down on the sidewalk and started leaving butt prints from her wet jeans. She yelled at the girls with me to join her and so we all did. Every time I get off that ride I have a huge smile on my face.

The ride is okay for Kennedy.

No matter what this picture shows.And in all my trips, I never knew this!The year round decorations are wonderful. The whole place is set in the late 1800's so most things go along with that. What I love most about it is if you're not a ride rider there are plenty of other things to do. Also the big rides aren't visible. To keep the 1800 look they build the big roller coasters behind trees. You can't even tell you're about to get on a roller coaster until you're about three people from getting on.

There's fun stuff all around. I think I see something new every time we visit.I don't do water rides. I don't like wet clothes. I don't like walking in wet clothes. Luckily Gogo is a water ride rider. But after being in line for a while the girls said they'd be fine and Gogo came to watch.And that's why I didn't get on.

See? 1800 decor.This, this cracked me up. My mother-in-law, she laughed as well.Can you read it? 'You can lose 150 lbs. Lose your mother-in-law.' I love the one right next to it. 'Are you spinning this silly wheel?'

This happens every time we visit. Poor things.The flowers and plants are astounding. No matter what season. I need a big black metal trunk. I need one. Really. Anyone want to give me one?This is a must. A tradition. I love looking at the old ones.We decided on a quick lunch and were so intrigued by Potato On A Stick. They were cute and delicious. But messy! I spent the rest of the day with an oil stain on my shorts.Seriously, why can't I get a normal picture of this child? Even my threats to put them all on Facebook doesn't help.Mom and I went to a cooking demonstration while Dad took the girls to the Grand Exposition area. When we met up with them Kennedy and McKinley begged to go on a ride that Reagan swore she'd never set foot on again. While they stood in line we played with our new friend. And saved him numerous times from strollers and toddlers.Just watching this ride made my stomach churn. The disc they're sitting on turned in a circle.But the thing the disc was on pulled it back and forth. From the top to the middle to the top on the other side.I think Reagan was smart not to do it again.

I got myself a man shortly after that. And hello humidity. My hair was perfectly straight when we got there that morning.As our time was coming to an end we started discussing the things we had to do before we left. McKinley checked the map to plan our attack.I had to have a swinging bridge picture. Isn't the setting beautiful? Just a few feet away is a roller coaster. You'd never know.The old water wheel is also a must. We always stay until we see two loads of water dump.Have I mentioned how much I love the plants and flowers?? My hostas never get that big. My sweet potato though? That I can grow.Forget the foliage for a minute. Holy skunk tail Batman! What is in that backpack??These girls...they never listen.By the time we stopped at the candy shop so I could get my traditional taffy they were done for the day. This was the last batch of peanut brittle. Luckily we got a really big sample taste:)We crossed the bridge to head to the exit and I had to take a picture of two of my favorite things.Oh, but the glass blower stopped us before we left. I love watching them! This guy was the youngest I've ever seen. He was great with the crowd and made two things I'd never seen before.

Can you imagine how hot he must be?? 2200 degrees!!Oh wait! I'm suddenly distracted by the lady with the ruffle tail!Okay, I'm back. Look at those beautiful globes they're using as a decoration. I could put those so many places in my house. Surely no one would notice if I took a few. I'm sure they were all looking at the tail anyway.Soon enough it was time to go. We'd done as much as we could. It had been another wonderful time.

But wait, one more tidbit.Well who knew?? Time to rent me some Beverly Hillbillies!

I love the place! The whole town is wonderful. From shows to outlet shopping to theme parks. And gorgeous scenery around every turn.

And my favorite part? The memories and the time spent with my wonderful in-laws. I love them!

Have you all been to Branson?