Friday Fill-Ins!

And...here we go!

1. Staying active keeps you feeling young.
2. Going on a vacation well, that would be nice!
3. The very thought of going on a vacation makes me want to go to the beach.
4. The beach is so beautiful.
5. I grew up in the 60's  and 70's.
6. I don't have any idea what was my most memorable meal.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading as usual, tomorrow my plans include attending Kique's second birthday party and Sunday, I want to worship & rest!

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. For the first time I shopped in a new area of San Antonio yesterday!
2. The morning I went swimming with Lori & Kique is one of my best memories of the summer so far.
3. My recipe for chocolate ice cream is one of my favorites because it is so delicious and it's an old recipe handed down to me from my mom that she got from one of my aunts.
4. I plan to be a scrapbooker for years to come.
5. It starts with a thought.
6.Central Park Praline is a fragrance I enjoy most in a candle.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include possibly a trip to the grocery store if I don't get there today and reading is always in my plans and Sunday, I want to worship, rest, read!

July Update

Well here I am with my monthly update, seems I can't get myself motivated to post more often.

June was a pretty busy month. I only got 3 12x12 layouts scrapped, I have already scrapped 4 in this first week of July so I am pretty happy about that, I am going to try to do a lot more scrapping this month if at all possible, I have so much I want to accomplish! Of course with scrapbooking you never are finished!

Also in June I did lots of reading. I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, I gave it 3 stars because I did like it, but it was very long and some parts of it seemed to drag along but then other parts I really liked.
I read Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg, I have always wanted to read that book because I love the movie, I am glad I read it because it explains quite a bit that the movie leaves to the imagination. I gave it 4 stars.
I read The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg, I gave it 4 stars. Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors and this book didn't disapoint.
I read Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate, I gave it 2 stars as it was o.k., not a book I want to read again but it was an easy read and entertaining.
This past week and the first week of July I read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, I also gave it 4 stars. It is a story narrated by a dog, tells his life story about the family he lives with, it was very thought provoking as a dog owner, makes me wonder just how much dogs really do know and what they really do think about.
I just started a new book last night The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin, I got this one as a freebie on my Nook, it has 4 books in the series and I have all 4 of them FREE from www.thevesselproject.com.

The bathroom is finally ALMOST finished, we are using it and all that needs done now is just a little more painting of the trim, the door and caulking around the sink. It turned out really nice and we are enjoying it.

I made a couple of new recipes that I got from Pinterest. I made crockpot enchiladas & sopapilla cheesecake, both very yummy!
I made them when Rick's brother and his gal came to visit, both were a big hit! I'm always glad to add new recipes to my menu.

The grandkids are all just growing like weeds, I can't believe how much little Owen has already changed. It drives me crazy that I can't see Randy's kids more often but thank the Lord for pictures!!!

Aren't they just precious?

Lori & Gabriel came over to celebrate Father's Day and look what Rick & Gabriel got!

A little Father's Day surprise!

Rick & I stayed home on July 4th and we celebrated with our usual grilling out and I made chocolate ice cream, it was all very yummy, we made lots and are still enjoying it.
I can't believe it's July already. Hopefully we will get some much needed rain this month and hopefully I will get lots more scrapping done.

Friday Fill-ins on Saturday

I tried to post this last night but it was running too slow so I will go ahead and do it today.

And...here we go!

1. I am happy to have my scrappy mojo back!
2. Watermelon, canteloupe, squash, tomatoes & okra are my favorite summertime fruits and vegetables.
3. To help me you will have to be organized.
4. Stay cool is the one thing I want to do this summer more than anything!
5. Just the other day I was saying I need to lose at least 10 pounds.
6.  I keep watching the Walton's over and over again.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing up the book I've been reading this week, tomorrow my plans include scrapbooking and Sunday, I want to go to church and relax and/or do some reading & scrapping in the afternoon!

Friday Fill-Ins!

And...here we go!

1. I knew it was love when...I heard those first little cries!
2. My heart can be broken but you always know how to make me feel better.
3. A dog is unconditional love.
4. My how you have done a great job on the bathroom remodel.
5. Can you see all the changes?
6. And the job is almost done.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include maybe scrapbooking but I'm not sure as I don't have any real plans yet and Sunday, I want to hopefully go to Lori's and let her cut & color my hair.

June Updates

Owen Randall Lucas

Well, as you can see our 5th grandchild has arrived and it's a boy! 

Owen Randall was born May 15th weighing in at 9.5lbs!

He's just a little doll as you can see. We were in Lubbock for 2 weeks, 

well I was there 2 weeks, we went the week before Owen was born 

thinking he'd be born any day but as the weekend neared Rick decided

to go see his mom in Oklahoma for Mother's Day and then he came home 

on Monday, then Owen made his arrival on Tuesday so Papa stayed home 

a few days and then came on the weekend to pick me up.

I enjoyed my whole 2 weeks getting to spend time with all the kids.

They are growing up so fast! Molly had her ballet recital on May 19th 

and I got to attend that, it was a treat and she did an awesome job with her part!

I did some cooking while I was there and Molly & Matthew helped me bake

a cinnamon roll cake one day, that was fun. 

Molly, Nene & Matthew working on the Cinnamon Roll Cake

 It was nice to get to spend Mother's Day there too.

And while we were there Callie celebrated her 3rd birthday, we celebrated

by going out to eat and they invited her best friend's family.

Callie eating some birthday cupcake

Matthew celebrated his 5th birthday on May 25th, wish

we could've stayed to celebrate with him but we really needed to get home.

Now for other updates...

I only got 1 layout scrapped in May but there just was too much other stuff

going on to have time for scrapping. 

I finished the Mockingjay book, I really enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy. 

I was able to finish the book while we were driving to Lubbock since it's an 8 hour 

drive for us. 

I read another book during the 2 weeks I was gone, it was Leaving Before It's Over by

Jean Reynolds Page. It was pretty good, a quick, entertaining read.

I am now reading a book that Randy gave me for Mother's Day - 

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, it is very long and I am 

halfway through. So far I'm liking it. Randy says it's his favorite book and

I can see why a guy would like it that well because it's a story by a man about the 

friendship between these 2 boys growing up as best friends. I will have to wait until

I finish to give my overall opinion of it.

Rick is back to working on the bathroom remodel, he still hasn't put the grout 

on the shower tiles but he's been working on repairing some places he messed up on

the wall when he installed the new bathtub, and he has to repaint some areas. I will be

SO glad when he's finished, this has been months in the works now. 

I made some yummy Chicken Fajita Pizza for my dinner last night, Rick prefers 

Tombstone frozen pizza - I can't even imagine that compared to a homemade pizza!

Today I am trying a new recipe in my crockpot, one I pinned from Six Sisters Stuff - 

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, I think it will be yummy too! It's so easy - just

4 chicken breasts ( I used 2 very large ones), a can of rotel or diced tomatoes, a small can

of green chilies, an 8oz. pkg. of cream cheese - put all that in and cook 6-8 hours on low,

then shred chicken and mix with the juices and cook until ready to put the quesadillas

together, then take a tortilla and put some of the mixture on one half, put cheese and fold

spread tortilla with some butter or olive oil and brown on both sides and serve with your

favorite toppings. I can't wait to try it!

Well, this is a really long entry so guess I better get up and moving, I really want

to spend some time in the scraproom today!

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. Hallelujah! It's the weekend!
2. Right here is where I wanna be!
3. When I was walking the dog this morning, I saw a handful of goose feathers in the road and I thought there must've been a coyote in the area.
4. The alarm clock was ringing and that's how I knew it was time to get out of bed.
5. What were once vices are still things I sometimes struggle to overcome.
6. Fruit & cereal is what I've been having for breakfast lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include more reading, posting an update here on the blog and if I'm in the mood some scrapbooking and Sunday, I want to go to morning worship and in the afternoon, maybe read, watch a movie or more scrapbooking!

A CONTEST!

No, not here but my friend Janelle is having a month long contest on her blog over at www.blueskybigdreams.blogspot.com
Please go check it out and you could win some free books for your kids/grandkids, but even better than that you will discover a really cool place where there's always something fun for the reader in you or your children/grandchildren!

Happy National Scrapbook Day & Cinco de Mayo!

Another week has flown by. We are still waiting on the grandbaby to be born. 

I decided to play around with the new blogger layout/templates and boy did I get this page in a mess last night! Still don't know how I got it straightened out. I sometimes don't know why all these entities have to change things but hopefully I will get used to it in time, I did like the way my previous blog page was set up and this one is similar, I should've left well enough alone I guess. 
The photo at the top was taken by my daughter in the fields surrounding her house, so beautiful!
 
Rick got the shower tiles up and next he will have to apply the grout, then we can shower in there! It looks amazing so far, I just love it. I hope I can talk him into working on the guest bathroom in the near future. 

I have been plugging along on Mockingjay (Hunger Games book 3), I think I am liking the way it's going now, I'm not even half way through it though, it's been a busy week and I try to read at night and then I get sleepy and don't get very far!

I haven't done any scrapbooking this week, as I said it's been a busy week but I am going to go in a while and start working on some Mother's Day cards and maybe a layout. I mean it is National Scrapbook Day! I must do something scrappy!

For Cinco de Mayo I meant to make something Mexican in the crock pot today BUT the new recipe I meant to try has diced tomatoes or Rotel which I had planned to use but I have neither! I can't believe it! I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and could've picked some up. I must stock up on Rotel!

I am planning on baking something sweet today too. I found a recipe on Pinterest for Pumpkin Blondies and also Cinnamon Chex Mix, I plan to make both. I may make another recipe I found on Pinterest, I made it last week and the family really likes it, Rick ate several pieces and I took some to Lori and she liked it and has been feeding it to Kique for breakfast. I have just enough buttermilk to make another loaf so probably will do that too!

Tonight is a SUPERMOON so maybe that will trigger my dauther-in-law into labor! We shall see.:)

Friday Fill-Ins

And here we go...

1. After a while, I have to take a break and rest.
2. While I take a break I can read at least.
3. Well, anyway, life if full of ups and downs.
4.  My husband is so good to me.
5. I always crave ice cream in the afternoon.
6. My faith in God keeps me going.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and reading, tomorrow my plans include maybe some scrapbooking and cardmaking since it's NSD and Sunday, I want to RELAX!

April Update

This is a photo of my Freebies from the contest I won at www.scrapbook.com. I entered their Pin It to Win It Contest a few weeks ago and to my total surprise I was one of the winners, they gave 5 - $100.00 Gift Certificates. I'm one of those people who never seems to win anything but looks like I can't say that anymore! It was so much fun to open this box of goodies yesterday, I was stalking the UPS man because I'd been tracking this package and knew it was due so all day I kept a lookout for it!
I'm looking forward to some fun hours of using all these great products!
On another scrapping note - I completed another 8x8 album last weekend, a baby boy gift album.
Here's one of the pages:

What else have I been up to? Well, last week we babysat our 21 month old grandson while his mom & dad went to Las Vegas. We had an awesome time! And here's our little Kique enjoying some outside time at Papa & Nene's!

I've been reading too - The Hunger Games Series! I read the first book (The Hunger Games) in about 3 days, then started reading book #2 Caching Fire but it took me longer since I had to break for the babysitting, and now I'm on book #3 Mockingjay. I loved the first book, the second one wasn't quite as entertaining but I still liked it a lot and I'm looking forward to the rest of the story with this last one.

We are now anxiously awaiting the birth of our 5th grandchild, the baby was due a couple of days ago so it could be any minute now! Can't wait to meet the little one - not sure if it's a boy or girl since my son and his wife decided to let this one be a surprise.

One more thing - Rick has been working on our bathroom remodel, it's coming along nicely, he is almost ready to tile the shower surround and then it will be just some last minute/touch up things to be completed.

Well, that's it for my April update. :)

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. Ah, me...I really need to get up and get moving!
2. The coming arrival of our 5th grandchild who is officially past due is what's on my mind most lately.
3. When I talk to my best friend, she understands.
4. Drinking a lot of water is what's working for me lately.
5. I recently saw a hummingbird.
6. Spending time with my family fills me with joy!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading , tomorrow my plans include scrapbooking & reading and Sunday, I want to go to church and relax in the afternoon!

A few updates...

This is a photo of me at my scrapbook retreat last weekend. This was my 5th year to attend Southern Retreat. We play a game during the weekend where when we finish a layout or project we get to keep the crown and wear it until someone else finishes a layout or project and they take it from us, there's a timer going and when it goes off whoever has the crown wins a prize. I won twice, a set of acrylic stamps and 2 markers both from Close to My Heart.  My daughter Lori & my sister Ione attended the retreat also, it was so much fun as it always is.

I finished the book I mentioned in a previous post - Bring on the Blessings, it was pretty good, entertaining, I would like to read the rest of the books in that series.
I have since read another book - The Quickening by Michelle Hoover. It is one of the worst books I've ever read, I just bogged through it, I knew it was a dark read - set in the depression era but I was hoping it would be good and by the fact I have read Gap Creek by Robert Morgan I know a book can be well written set in that era but this one was very hard to get through. I am one that almost has to finish a book I start for a couple of reasons, one being sometimes the books get better toward the end and secondly in this case I'd paid for it, if I'd gotten it free I'm not sure I'd have trudged through it.
I am between books now but I'll start something else today or tomorrow.

I scrapbooked yesterday, finished up an 8x8 album I'd started last weekend at the retreat.
Today we are going to Lori & Gabriel's for our Easter celebration. I am looking forward to seeing Kique with his Easter goodies! We are having brisket, potato salad, beans, Hawaiian rolls & I'm going to take a cherry dump cake. Should be fun.
Tomorrow I am hoping to go to church and then have a lazy afternoon. Hopefully I'll get to talk to Randy and the kids and I am so excited because it's only a few more weeks until the new grandbaby arrives!

Well, I guess that completes my updates.

Friday Fill-Ins

 

HAPPY EASTER!

Here we go!

1. Eggs are best when they are chocolate.
2. Starbucks decaf coffee frappuccino is awesome!
3. When I look in the mirror, I almost always think I wish I could lose 10 or 15 pounds.
4. Brisket, potato salad, ranch beans, Hawaiian rolls & cheesecake these are the things I like for a special dinner!
5. Currently, I just finished reading a book and am looking for the next read.
6. I really want to read the Hunger games.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and maybe watching a movie with Rick, tomorrow my plans include making brownies to take to Lori's on Sunday and Sunday, I want to celebrate Easter by going to church and then spending time with Lori and her family in the afternoon!

Saturday thoughts...

Well I finished Water for Elephants and I did like the book although as I said I didn't like some of the content and language but I'm sure that made it be more true to life.
I am now reading a book that I got on the B&N Daily Deal - Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins. I haven't gotten very far into it yet to say if I will like it, so far it's o.k.. I really want to acquire The Hunger Games books and get started on them soon so then I can see the movie. I don't like to see a movie before I've read the book.

I didn't feel well yesterday so didn't get my Friday Fill-Ins posted and will probably skip them next week too because I am going to a Scrapbook retreat for the weekend - really looking forward to that!

I have to get moving and get some housework accomplished today although it is hard to do anything because Rick is working on our bathroom remodel and the house is pretty much covered with dust and strung out but I'll do what I can.

Reading

I am currently on book #13 for this year. I had set myself a goal of 15 but I realized pretty quickly that I was going to pass that fast so I reset my goal to 25 books for this year but it is only March and I'm almost half way to that goal so I may have to reset again! I haven't read this much in a year probably ever!
Right now I am reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, it's kind of raunchy so far, a good story but I don't care for some of the content, I prefer to read cleaner novels. I realize why it has to be like this though to keep it real - it is the circus and I guess the circus crowd is like that in reality. It is an interesting story overall so far. I'll update when I'm finished.

1. Welcome spring.
2. Having grandkids and getting to spend time with them makes me jump for joy.
3. There's a lot to be done to get our bathroom remodel finished!
4. Laughter is the thing I love most about spending time with friends.
5. Eyes are the window to the soul.
6. My scrapbook retreat in 2 weeks AND the birth of our next grandchild in about 6 more weeks is what I'm eagerly awaiting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and reading, tomorrow my plans include some cleaning, laundry and maybe watch the latest Netflix DVD in the evening and Sunday, I want to go to church and relax in the afternoon!

Friday Fill-Ins

 

1. When I heard my bff was moving closer to me I was ecstatic!
2. Living so far from my son and his famly  makes me want them to move closer to us.

 3. Get MOVING!
4. With my family is where I love to be.
5. Hands are a very necessary part of the body, I am thankful to have them!
6. I refuse to put anybody down.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading tomorrow my plans include not sure yet but probably some housework & laundry, reading and there's always a possibility of getting some scrapbooking done and Sunday, I want to do the usual - go to church, relax & read!

 

And...here we go!

1. I'm feeling too full.
2. I want to get control of my bad eating habits!
3. I need to get my house cleaned up.
4. I was thinking I've been so lazy lately.
5. I wish my granddaughter Molly wasn't sick today.
6. I'm reading The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include getting some housework done, work on taxes  and Sunday, I want to go to church, relax, read !

Friday Fill Ins

And...here we go!

1. Finally, I got a couple of scrapbook pages going this week.
2. Having Rick home all the time sure takes some getting used to!
3. Dad says: don't be talking on the cell phone while driving!
4. Mytzer is my favorite nick name for my dog Mytzi.
5. It took a long time, but I finally talked Rick into buying me new living room furniture last year.
6. I have SO MANY books I want to read though I wouldn't have it any other way.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading before I go to bed, tomorrow my plans include reading & finishing the layout I have started and Sunday, I want to go to church & be lazy in the afternoon!

Friday Again

Seems like I just posted and a week has already flown by!

I was going to post a Friday Fill In but they aren't up yet so maybe later?

Rick had surgery this week so I think that is why my week has gone by so fast. He had multiple skin cancers removed, all went well and now he's just trying to recover. We will get pathology reports next week as well as the stitches will come out.

I finished the books I was reading last account and have moved on to the next book in the Yada Yada series - Yada Yada Gets Tough.

I really want to scrapbook, I haven't done that in a couple of months but I feel like things keep getting in the way - if I would just step away from the computer for awhile I would have the time! Too much Pinterest and Facebook I think! Oh well!
 

And...here we go!

1. When I looked out the window this morning it was a bright, sunny day!
2. War doesn't make sense to me.
3. Remind me to make a list so I don't forget.
4. Reading is something I love to do!
5. TP is essential!
6. I cleaned the refrigerator recently and I found my salad had gone bad.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to babysitting my grandson tomorrow my plans include more fun with Kique and Sunday, I want to go to church, relax, read!

What I Am Reading

It's a new year and I want to try and read more books, I only read 10 books in 2011! I am currently reading 2 books which is something I've never done. Now that I have an ereader I have a book going on it and also I have a regular book going. On the NOOK I am reading The Chick Palace by Leslie Davis Guccione and my regular book is The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real by Neta Jackson. I know some people set goals to read 100 books or more but I would have to read every spare minute to be able to accomplish that kind of goal and I usually just read a couple of hours in the evenings. I like to do other things too! I set a goal of 15 books this year and I think I will be able to meet that goal pretty easily. We shall see!

And...here we go!

1. Discussions about politics make me nervous.
2. When I leave my kids & grandkids it's always hard to say goodbye.
3. I think it's time to go to bed, I am up way too late.
4. Thinking about the new grandbaby that is coming puts a smile on my face.
5. Maybe sometime I will take my dream vacation to the New England states in the Fall.
6. God gives me strength.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some sleep, tomorrow my plans include no big plans, maybe spend some time in my scraproom and Sunday, I want to go to church, have a relaxing afternoon and get some reading done!

Happy New Year!

Oh how time flies! I can't believe I haven't been on here for over a month! December is such a busy month though. We took a vacation to visit Randy and his family the first week of December, Lori, Gabriel & Kique went too. We got to see Molly in the Nutcracker, what a treat! She was awesome. It was our first time to see the Nutcracker EVER! We are hooked and will make a point to see the Nutcracker as an annual Christmas tradition from now on! Even if it's just on t.v.! Anyway, that was our Christmas present from Randy and his family, an awesome gift I tell you!
We celebrated Christmas with Lori & Gabriel on the 28th of December because they were with his family over the weekend. Rick & I had a quiet Christmas here at home with our Chi Mytzi. It was a wonderful Christmas overall and we enjoyed our time with the kids even if it wasn't on the 25th.:)

Now on to 2012. We went to MD Anderson in Sugarland yesterday to start with Rick's skin cancer treatment, they took some biopsies and now we are waiting for the results. I am hoping & praying he gets this all healed up and feeling better this year.
Yesterday was also our oldest granddaughter Molly's 7th birthday!  S E V E N! Yes, time does fly!

So many things to get done ahead of me but I am going to take it one day at a time. I have lots of new books to read on my NOOK that Rick gave me for my birthday/Christmas gift. I want to accomplish some scrapbooking this year too, I constantly feel behind in my scrapping goals.  Oh Well.
I don't make new year resolutions anymore but I do have some goals I am going to try to meet anyway - get healthier (in other words - lose some weight!LOL!), get scrappier, read more, get closer to God and allow Him to grow my spirit. Well, those are a few of my goals so we'll see what the year brings.
If you are reading this I wish you & yours a HAPPY 2012!:)