I'm Back!

I think I'm back girls.

Just with some different rules for myself.

I love blogging.  I love my bloggy friends.  I love reading blogs.  BUT with all of that, came the......

Guilt.

Yes, guilt.

I felt a lot of pressure, put upon myself by me, to reply to every single comment.  Sometimes at night, that was all I was doing.  I also felt like I had to visit every single blog of all the people that were reading mine.

It was just to much.

So I am back but just on my own terms.  I love all of you who stop by and read my little ole blog.  I love all of you who comment and I love all of you who lurk.  I appreciate all the comments that you leave but I will not be replying to all of them each and every time.  Know that I read and appreciate all of them.

I will also blog whenever I want and about whatever I want.  I don't want to set a schedule up (in my head) and stick to it because it stresses me out.  I can't try to link up to all the parties each week and I can't worry about blogging just about the house each time.  I know that with a new house I should have a lot to blog about (and I do) but I don't always remember to take pictures.  And sometimes I just want to blog about whatever is on my mind.  Blogging needs to be fun again for me and I think that doing it on my own terms will make it just that.

While I have been away, I have done absolutely NOTHING!  :)  I have been reading, eating, and watching TV.

I didn't do one thing that I said I was going to do while I was on my break.  I mostly closed up my laptop and completely stepped away.

It has been nice.  I haven't done a thing to the house either.  That SAD (seasonal affective disorder) thing was in play this winter for me.  That and the two moves just about did me in but I am trying to put one foot in front of the other. (literally and figuratively)

I started walking on the treadmill again yesterday and I am praying that we will see some warmer weather soon.  It's been a rough winter and a rough 8 months but I am hoping that I am on the other side of it.

Thanks to all my blog friends for the support during the last year.  I have missed y'all and hope to visit y'all very soon.

We just made a quick trip to Florida on Sunday and went to eat with some friends.  I'll leave you with a lovely picture of the Florida palm trees and my date for the evening.  And just so you know, I am a Florida girl at heart.  I love the sunshine, palm trees, and flip flops;-)

Melanie

Monday Musings.

Good Monday morning!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  We enjoyed watching the playoffs and just lounging around.
Right now:

It is overcast outside.  I am in desperate need for sunshine and some warm weather.

I am enjoying a fire in the fireplace with a good cup of coffee.

I have to go to the courthouse and get our SC tags today.  That and some car insurance.  I can't find our insurance policy since we moved.  I am thinking that we didn't receive our renewal papers in the mail while we were in between houses.

I think that I have narrowed down a comforter for the master bedroom.  Hoping I will like it when I receive it in the mail.

I have to go to Lowe's and order some blinds for the house.  The only one the has curtains right now is Caden.

I am starting a 'no sugar' faze today.  Let's pray that I can last.  Coming off sugar is so hard to do.

And with that, I want to say THANK YOU to all my blog friends that stop by and take time out of your busy lives to read my blog and leave a comment.  I can't tell you how much it means to me.  But for now, I am stepping away from the computer.  I am in a slump and I just don't feel like blogging.  I don't feel like reading blogs, and for the most part, I don't feel like being on the computer.  I have a lot of things to do to the house and they are not getting done because I spend way to much time looking at other peoples houses;-)  I really want to work on my bedroom, laundry room, and finish up the dining room.  I want to learn my IPhoto and Photoshop so that it doesn't take me so long to edit my photos to put on the blog.  I want to walk on the treadmill and maybe take a yoga class.

I just want a break.  I will be back but I don't know when.  I might post something if the mood strikes me or I might not.  I hope that y'all will still be around whenever I decide to come back.  But for now, I am on an extended blogging break.

                                                 Yosemite 2010

Take care and have a great week.

Melanie

Happy New Year on 1/1/11

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a good night last night.

We watched Florida State beat South Carolina. It sure will make living here a little easier until next year:) Today we will be watching football again. This is always a fun weekend for us because of the bowl games that are on TV all day long.

I will also be starting my new eating plan! Plenty of water, no snacking, smaller portions, and walking. I plan on losing the 8 pounds that found me over the last year.

I have some goals this year and that is not something that I normally do. I am going to do Project Life which is taking a photo a day and journaling about it. I haven't ordered the book yet but I will start taking my photos today and have them ready for when the book arrives.

I also want to read every single day. That means something other than the computer;-)

There are things that I want to do to the house too. I am doing some of that now during my self imposed break. While I've been away (some), I enjoyed a visit to Florida and spent some time with these ladies.

My sweet aunts and my mom.

I bought some rugs for the kitchen but am still undecided about them. Thoughts?

I started spray painting this ottoman that I bought at Pier One last year but I ran out of paint.

I started reading this.

I have also worked on this room. Yes, the black dining room:)

So as you see, I have been enjoying not blogging so much. The few times that I did, it was just a quick post and one that didn't require remembering to take photos etc. I am still not ready to come back. I don't know when I will be. I have to find a balance between blogging and living my life. I am thinking about only reading my blog list in the mornings while I am drinking my coffee and then blogging at night while I watch TV or maybe getting some post ready on the weekends.

I have to do other things. Walk on the treadmill, relearn my photography class, cook some delicious low cal meals......just step away from the computer some.

On a final note, my One Little Word this year is Present.

Present

1. being, existing, occurring at this time or now

2. at hand, immediate

3. being actually here

That is what I am going to be working on this year. We have been living far to long in the future. Always waiting for that phone call from the railroad to tell us to move. That has been our life for the last year and a half.

I want to live each day IN that day. I am profoundly aware that our day to day time with Caden is quickly coming to an end. I want to take that all in. Time goes by so quickly and I feel like we lost the last year and half with all of our moves. I think having this word as my One Little Word will remind me to live IN the moment.

So, I will be back. I have a lot to show you and I miss you all when I am away. But it will just be on a limited basis for a while. I will find that balance that I need.

Ha! Maybe that should have been my word!

Mel

Merry Christmas and a winner.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope your day has been wonderful and that you received everything that you wished for. We had a quiet Christmas here in our new home, just the three of us. Having a teenager makes for a quiet day. Caden didn't even open presents until 12:30 since he didn't get up until 11:30.

Oh the joys of being a teen;-)

So on to the winner of the Little Brown Pen gift card. It's Staci @ A Life Less Ordinary! Email me your addy and your card will be in the mail.

I have been enjoying my little break from blogging. I have been reading a lot of magazines and deciding what I am going to work on next in the house. I am not sure when I will come back but I hope to feel like it after the New Year.

This morning I was catching up on some blog reading and ran across this horrible news. Edie @ A Life in Grace had her house burn down early Wednesday morning. They lost everything and I ask that you pray for her and her family. They have not been in their home that long and I just can't imagine what they are going through. They need a lot of love and support right now.

Hope everyone has a great New Year and I will see ya soon.

Mel

I have a sickness and a little break.

Girls, I have a sickness and it is called Keurig.

Keurig. As in the Keurig coffee machine.

Y'all know that I love to organize and that is why I have a coffee drawer. No matter that the bonus room was still a mess, I was happily standing in the kitchen organizing my K cups.

They have all kinds of flavors. Different brewed coffee so that if you like bold you can get bold. If you like french roast, you can get french roast. They also make teas and hot chocolates. Just recently Folger's started making K cups. So far, that one isn't my favorite. That would be the Green Mountains Nantucket Blend. That one is delicious.

I love the decaf too. I usually have a cup in the afternoon.

The cappuccino is pretty good but it isn't Starbucks caramel brulee, I tell ya:) I haven't tried the iced vanilla coffee yet but I will let you know how it is when I taste it.

In other news, Gary was on vacation last week and we got a lot of stuff done in the house. I have many things to show you but I think that it will be after the first of the year.

Yes, I am going to take a little bloggy break. I love blogging and I love my readers but I am tired.

I have gained 8 pounds.

I haven't walked on the treadmill in over a year and a half.

I haven't finished a book since July.

I want to read again.

I want to read the many many magazines that have piled up.

I want to finish decorating my house.

I want to cook some new recipes.

I want to get settled.

I want to rest.

I have felt so much support from all of you while I have been going through the move. (or moves:) Y'all will never know how much I appreciate it. Even my mom told me that y'all have been so great to me and it is true.

I don't want to feel guilty because I am not visiting all of you. I can't seem to keep caught up on emailing every one back when y'all comment. I feel guilty about that. I never want to leave anyone out and I never want y'all to think that I don't read every.single.comment! I have made so many true friendships through blogging and I will keep blogging. But for a while, I am going to disconnect from the computer and get back to what I use to do.

I will be back. I will visit y'all. I will miss y'all while I am away, but I have to do this for myself. I will pick a winner of the gift card on Christmas and post the winner that afternoon. Then I will take a break.

I have moved two times in 9 months and have had 4 addresses in a year. I think that I should be tired:) The break will do me some good and I will come back refreshed and ready to show you our new home and what we have done to it so far.

We will be having a quite Christmas this year with just the three of us. Caden and I went to Florida and enjoyed a visit with my parents and celebrated Christmas a little early. I hope that every one has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Y'all will never be far from my thoughts while I am away.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Mel

Blog Friends.

Since I discovered blogs about 4 years ago (I know, where have I been), I have met many wonderful people. Then I started blogging and some of those people started visiting me.

I have become very good friends with quite a few bloggers.

This past Saturday, I met Lisa from Pickles and Cheese. We have been email buddies for about a year now and since I moved to South Carolina, we decided to meet. She picked a place that was the halfway point for both of us and we met up in Pinehurst North Carolina. On a side note, I LOVE North Carolina. I always ask Gary if there is a job with the railroad there but he always says no. I would love to live there.

Anyhoo, we met up and went to the Village in Pine Hurst and enjoyed the arts and crafts festival that was going on there.

We had great weather and I really enjoyed meeting her. It was like we had always been friends. There was no ackward silence and the conversation just flowed. It wasn't forced and it didn't feel unnatural. I found out that she is as easy to get along with as I am. We both didn't care what we ate for lunch, which by the way, was delicious NC bbq. We just puttered along and looked at all kinds of crafts.

These are made out of dishes and ashtrays. I was snapping pictures from my waist so that I wouldn't upset the owner.

We then went to The Carolina Hotel. The hotel was beautiful and the grounds were so quiet and calming. You know that this southern hotel had rockers on the front porch to sit and relax.

I didn't buy a thing and Lisa bought a couple of small things but I was just really there to meet her and visit.

It was a great day. We plan to do it again soon.

And that is the main reason I blog. The friendships. They mean the world to me.

Happy Monday,

Melanie

Friday Thoughts.

Just a few thoughts running through my head.

1. I have shingles:( I knew that they would show up sooner rather than later.

2. I need to find an orthodontist to finish up Caden's braces but here in SC they are wanting $2500.00 and UP! I only owed $400.00 to the ortho in KY. The only thing that needs to be done is have the teeth line up with his nose. All the teeth are straight so there is NO work to be done. I am sick over them trying to stick a knife in me!

3. I love my bloggy friends.

4. I am so happy to be back in the south.

5. Caden and I have worn out the Chick Fil A since we moved here.

6. I am going to paint my dining room black!

7. Yes, you read number 6 right;-)

8. I am loving Parenthood & Modern Family this season and the new show Detroit 1-8-7. It reminds me of NYPD Blue.

9. I can't wait for The Housewives of Beverly Hills to start next week. It should be a good season.

10. Go Florida State! We need to beat Miami this weekend.

On a side note, do not buy this.

I don't even like ice cream but I went into Walmart to buy Caden some Ben & Jerry's and I saw this flavor. I bought it and it is good.

Hope y'all have a great weekend.

Go FSU!

Melanie

A Sweet Blog Reader.

Yesterday I flew to Cincinnati to meet the movers to pack the house up.

The first thing I did was get on the scale. I walked right in, put my bags down, and went upstairs and got on the scale. :) If you know me, you know that I weigh every.single.day!

I just do.

It helps me keep my weight in check. But since we went on vacation back in July, I haven't been weighing. I knew that I had gained since we moved up here but I topped it off with a few extra LB's since we moved to SC.

Anyhoo, where was I?

Oh yeah.

The second thing I did was get a bubble bath in MY bathtub. It was so nice. I just soaked all my troubles away. (that's what Gary tells me when I have had a bad day...go take a bath, you'll feel better) And I did:)

So after my weigh in and my bubble bath, I settled in to watch some TV and catch up on my emails. This is what I found when I turned on my computer.

Hi!

Just wanted to tell you THANK YOU for your great blog! I am so very addicted to it. I enjoy reading it everyday and I am truly inspired by your ideas! I used your idea in the laundry room and I am so happy with that extra shelf...YOU DONT EVEN KNOW!

Anyway, good luck on getting your new home, the move and I really look forward to seeing your new place on your blog.

Sincerely,

Kama Carranza

Along with this picture:

How sweet was that? It made my evening. You never know who is reading your blog and I always feel like other people inspire me so it was really a nice surprise to see that I have inspired someone else.

I just wanted to give a little blog love to Kama and tell her that she did a great job with her laundry room.

Now I am off to see how far the movers have gotten.

Melanie

Good Monday Morning.

Hello all my blogging friends. I have missed all of you so much. I have missed blogging, reading blogs, having internet service, having a 'normal' life.

But, right now our lives are not normal. We are moving again. Nine months after a really big move from the south to the north (and those of you up north, don't tell me that Cincinnati is not north;-) we are doing it all again.

I have a love/hate relationship with moving. It is stressful. It is hard. It is overwhelming.

I should be good at it by now but with each move brings a different set of issues. This move will make it the 8th move since 2000. That includes the moves to apartments and in with the in laws. Our move from Florida to Georgia was exciting. We had never lived anywhere else but Florida and we felt like it was an adventure. Turns out that Georgia is where we really felt at home. Caden made some great friends as did I and we were really happy there. The return to Florida was harder. We had to deal with Caden leaving all of his friends, leaving a school that he love, and us leaving a place that we loved. It was a rough few years but then we moved into our home in Florida. We knew for a couple of years that we would be transferred again, so we were prepared. What we weren't prepared for was the housing market. We lost a lot of money on a home that held my heart. It was tough. We left a home that we loved to go to a big house in the north.

We were not prepared. We thought we were but it turns out that it was a lot different up there than we were use to. Our new home was big, two stories with a finished basement, and it took about six months for it to feel like our home. I mourned our home in Florida. The boys didn't but I did. It also didn't help that two months after we moved there, we started hearing that Gary might get a promotion. It is hard to get settled when you know that you might move again so soon.

This move has had its own set of issues. Gary was called for the job on Friday, he worked the weekend, and left on Tuesday. We had to find Caden a school and fast. We got him enrolled in a private school because we didn't have time to research the area and they worked with us to get him set up. I had to get Caden down to SC within a week so that he could be there for the start of school. I stayed behind to get the house listed and meet with all the relocation people. This move has been stressful because well, it's another move. :-) We found a house within a few weeks of looking and bought it. Now we are waiting on our home in northern Kentucky to sell. I will be going back and forth from SC to OH until we sell our house or until the 90 days are up. That is when the relocation company takes the house over. We pray that it sells and I expect that it will. I just need it to sell NOW!

It's a busy time and that has kept me away from the computer. That, and no internet service. I have not had time or the energy to go to Starbucks and link up there. Blogging and reading blogs has taken a backseat to everything else. I do hope that I am back for good. I still won't have time to blog like I want to but when I do get back to my normal life, I have a lot to talk about.

There is our vacation that we took this past July, our old home, and our new home. I have a new town to discover and friends to make. I have 5 lbs. to lose and tv shows to talk about. My mind has a lot going on inside it and I want to get it all down.

I hope every one has been doing well and cooling off some. It has been a nice long hot summer and I don't want it to end but I feel fall in the air.

Right now I am enjoying my coffee before I take Caden to school, so I leave you with a picture. You know that no blog post for me is complete without a picture.

So here's to being back and raring to go!

Happy Monday!

Melanie

Getting To Know You.

I missed last Sunday’s GTKY because I don’t have the internet right now so I am at Barnes & Nobles drinking a Starbucks and using their WIFI:)

So here are this weeks questions.

1. If you accidently knick a car in a parking lot..Do you leave a note or do you get the heck out of there? I would definitely leave a note. Karma is a b****;-)

2. Love your body or plastic surgery? I try to love it but an eye lift would be great right about now!

3. What about your favorite blog(s) continues to drive you back? I just love the girls that blog. I have made some great friendships and that is what keeps me going back. Even if they don’t know that I exist, I still visit. I am missing all of my blog friends right now. I haven’t visited a blog in over a week.

4. What percent of your blog is BS just to make your life seem more interesting than it really is? Zero!

5. If you had to give up one type of meat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Liver. I hate it anyway and would never miss it.

6. How often do you eat out? We don’t eat out a lot but with the move, we have eaten out a lot. Not good for the waistline.

7. Skinny jeans or boot cut jeans? Both

8. If you caught your spouse cheating would you forgive, divorce, or plan your kill? Well, my first husband cheated and I am no longer married to him so I will let you guess the answer to that:)

Happy Sunday. Head over to Keely's and check out the other girl’s answers.

Melanie

Getting To Know You

I am a little behind in posting our GTKY this week. I didn’t get an email earlier in the week so I kinda forgot about it.

Here’s this weeks questions:

1. What kind of athlete has the hottest body? I love football players but tennis players also have a great body:)

2. Are you a planner or a procrastinator? Oh, planner all the way. I love to make list and check things off.

3. Diet or regular (soda)? Regular coke but I am trying to quit drinking them.

4.What's your one "must have" for Fall? I guess a great purse. I love purses but I don’t like to shop for clothes very much so I can’t think of anything.

5. What's your favorite fast food restaurant? Chick Fil A

6. What do you think is the sexiest profession for a guy? I kinda like my guy’s profession:) It lets me be a stay home wife and mother. (he works for the railroad)

7. Did you wear braces? No

8. Would you rather have a guy that's super sexy or kind? Kind for sure. Looks go away as time goes by and there is nothing like a gentleman.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday. I hope to be back this week with some post about our vacation.

Melanie

Getting To Know You.

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope y’all have stayed cool this weekend and enjoyed the AC. Here in Northern Kentucky they are all melting. They aren’t use to these warm temps;-)

It’s Sunday so that means it’s GTKY time. Be sure and stop by Keely's and see everyone’s answers.

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy? That depends on the guy.

2. What's the last concert you've been to? Michael Buble and it was fabulous!

3 What was your favorite 80's sitcom? I honestly don’t remember. I did love Dallas though.

4. Were you named after anyone? No

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing? Yes, most definitely!

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time? Read blogs, read all the books I have, along with all the magazines too.

7. What is your favorite department store? I like Kohl’s. I am not a big clothes shopper. My thing is gadgets. I love technology.

8. If you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it? When I start growing hair above my lip from menopause, I will be geting it there.

LOL! I don’t look forward to that day.

Melanie

Getting to Know You.

I can’t believe how quickly the weeks go by. Every time I turn around it is Sunday again and that means GTKY.

1. If you were to win an award today, what would it be for? Being a good wife & mother.

2. What is your shoe style? Flip Flops all the way!

3. Does your car reflect your personality? Yes, I think so. I drive a Toyota Highlander.

4. If you could take over someone's body for a day..whose would you choose? A food critic so I could eat at a lot of fancy restaurants.

5. Love or be loved? Both:)

6. If you were on death row, what last meal would you choose? Steak, baked potato all the way, and a large sweet tea. Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.

7. Have you been on vacation this Summer, if so where? We just got back for San Francisco, Yosemite, and Lake Tahoe. I can’t wait to blog about it.

8. What is your favorite food related guilty pleasure? I love cookies. I also like drinks with sugar in them. Tea & coke are my favorite things to drink. I guess that is why I am 5 lbs. up right now:(

Head over to Keely's and see who else linked up and answered questions.

Happy Sunday,

Melanie

Playing catch up.

Hello blog friends. We made it home from California on Monday night at 8 pm and I haven’t stopped yet.

{you can see Alcatraz in the photo on the right}

This boy had mouth surgery on Wednesday so that has kept me busy too. Gary had to go right back to work on Tuesday morning and that has been hard. We are all on west coast time still so we are wanting to stay up late and sleep in.

There has been no sleeping in except for Caden;-) I went to the grocery store, picked Bit Bit up from the boarding place, got Caden’s prescriptions filled, and then headed home to start laundry. That was all on Tuesday.

Then Wednesday I took Caden to have his surgery. He had his first mouth surgery last June and it didn’t go so well. I will spare you the details but it was rough.

Here we are a year later and they needed to graft skin to grow some gum to keep a tooth in place. He has been in braces for over two years and he wants them off. We can’t do that until this tooth is stable.

So, I am playing catch up. I have finished up all the laundry, played nursemaid to Caden, and now I am trying to catch up on all my blog reading. I have missed all my blog friends but catching up with every one is proving to be a challenge. I thought that I could go and read EVERYTHING that has been written since I left, but that is not going to happen. I am having to just check in with every one and let that be my update.

Maybe I follow way to many blogs but I would miss each and every one of you if I didn’t stop by every day for a visit:)

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be caught up and raring to go next week. I have much to tell you about our vacation.

Happy weekend,

Melanie

Getting to know you!

Well, I might just be running out of time to get this post up but through the last 10 days, I have not been online…..or should I say that I haven’t been able to connect at any place that we stayed at.

Of course that would just have been MY computer and not Caden’s or Gary’s.

Anyhoo, I am back in the land of technology and I am going to be catching up with all of you next week. Caden is having mouth surgery on Wednesday so I will be busy with that but I am hoping to find the time at night to sit down and read all of your blogs.

So off I go with this weeks questions.

1. Thong or Granny Panties? No more thongs for me but no granny panties for me either;-)

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him? If I knew him, I think that I would.

3.Spanx or no Spanx? Spanx with certain dresses. UGH!

4. Do you sleep in your sheets? Yes

5. What is your favorite Disney character? Winnie the Pooh:)

6. Dream vacation spot? Hawaii although I just got back from a pretty fabulous trip that I will be telling you about shortly.

7. What is your dream job? What I do now….being a stay at home mom and wife and taking care of my family.

8. Who is your hero and why? My hubby because he is the most honest person I know, has the most integrity of anyone I know, takes a lot of pride in his job, and really knows how to treat a lady. I am adding smart to that list too:)

Thanks to everyone who commented on my parents 50th wedding anniversary and my other post. With my internet service being lousy, I tried to answer every one but I know that I missed a few people.

Now, just head over to Keely's and see what others had to say.

Melanie

Just some blog love.

(sorry, don’t remember where I found this pic)

I just wanted to tell every one that reads my blog that I appreciated all of you. To all those that comment, I have replied to each and every one of you but I just recently found out that some of the replies haven’t been going through. Just know that I read each and every comment and reply where there is an email.

I am going to be away from the computer for about 10 days or so. I will only have limited access so I will be reading your blogs and trying to comment when I can. Don’t forget about me while I am away. I will miss all of you but I do have some post set up to publish and I will be around, just not on a full time basis.

See you all soon and have a great weekend.

Melanie