Oh the Cuteness ...

Look what showed up in my mailbox last week ...

I mean.  Can you get any cuter?  And even better I'm friends with the creator of these darling items!  Amanda at Tiny Bit More is a friend of mine from Baylor and has started this "little" (I put it in quotes because she has SO many customers at this point, this girl is amazing!) side business while being a stay at home mommy to two adorable boys.  If you have babies or toddlers you MUST go check her out, her stuff is to DIE for!  Happy shopping!!!



What is the Internet??

I don't even like to think about the days before the internet. Having to actually talk to people face-to-face, having to use a real map for directions, having to sit outside someone's house peeking in the window if you want to stalk them. *Shiver*

Please enjoy this video of the Today Show from January, 1994. That little mark, that looks like an "A" but with a ring around it? So confusing!

Well Don't I Feel SCHPECIAL!

First of all, I'm SO sorry I totally slackeroo'ed on doing TT yesterday.  WROOPS!  And, well I have no good excuse.  Besides being busy with an adorable 12 week old that may or may not have peed himself in the face yesterday.  But that's neither here nor there.  SO if you played and had nowhere to link up I'm SOWWY!  Really.  BUT I am super excited because my blog designer and friend, Fabulous K, gave me The Stylish Blogger Award!  Thank you miss K I feel so very schpecial!

When receiving this award the rules are to:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award to 10 great bloggers
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

So here, are the 7 things about myself.  For the record I hope there are more than just 7 things about myself.

1.  I. LOVE. DISNEY.  In quite possibly an unhealthy way.  I cry at the sound of "When You Wish Upon A Star" and literally would've taken our honeymoon there if the Mister would've let me an hadn't thrown out Bora Bora.

{That's me.  In front of the castle at Disney Land.}

2.  I love the color teal.  If you've followed my blog very long you will notice that every time I have a blog make over teal is always incorporated.  I love it so much that I've passed the obsession on to my 11 year old sister.  She gets teal shoes, sweat shirts, backpacks, etc.  It's pretty stinkin' cute.

{One of the billions of pictures of me, in teal.}

3.  I love Paris.  My dad's childhood best friend lived there for 6 months with her husband and stepkids and when I was a sophmore in high school, offered to take me when they were going back to visit for a week.  I became obsessed and decorated my room with everything I could find Paris-themed.  It was definately overkill but hey, I was in high school.  Overkill is kind of expected.

{I don't have any pictures of when I went to Paris.  It was pre-digital camera age (at least for me).  That makes me feel OLD.}

4.  Friends is my all time favorite show.  The Mister and I own all 10 seasons on DVD.  We are both finatics and can quote them, quite accurately, on demand.

5.  I love to draw.  I used to draw every chance I got when I was a kid.  I took art every year in high school and even contemplated going to school to do animation for Disney.  Then I realized I couldn't handle being that far from home and landed at Baylor instead.  Lucky for me because that's where I met the Mister.

6.  I have been through every "phase" in the book.  In junior high I went from "banger" (do people still use that word?  "In my day" - I can't believe I just said that - it meant someone that listened to alternative music, wore flannel shirts over tshirts, baggy jeans and Doc Martens and buzzed their hair in the back where it showed when you put it in a pony tail) to rapper (yes, I'm serious.  I still love me some rap but I thankfully no longer dress like Eminem) to SUPER preppy (HELLO collared shirts).

{I DEFINATELY dont have a picture of any of these phases.  Thank GOODNESS digital cameras hadn't been invented.  Oh.  I feel it again.  So. old.}

7.  I had my first kiss at age 18 and my first sip of alcohol at age 21.  No I'm not lying because my parents read this.

{Yes that's me with a bunch of girls in my high school youth group dressed as angels for the Christmas production our gimongous church used to put on every year.  I thought this picture was appropriate for the above comment.  Now you get to guess which one is me.  I'll give you a hint, I'm on the top row and I JUST MIGHT not be a natural blonde ... shocker I know.}

NOWWWW, it's my turn to pick 10 of YOU to award this funtastic award to!  So, I choose ...

Erin (my Silly, i.e. sis in law who just started a blog!), Hil, Gin, Elizabeth, Jen, Neely, Aly, Lindsay (PS - GO VOTE FOR HARPER!), JPO, Jenn, B & LR.  I know.  I chose 12.  I couldn't help it. 

That's it.  I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend!  We have a sitter Saturday night so the Mister and I are HITTIN' the town (i.e. seeing a movie and being home in bed by 9:30)  WOO HOO!

     

Ba-Ba-Ba-Butterface

I've been doing some thinking about Butterfaces. If you've been hiding under a rock a Butterface is a girl who has a slamming body... but when you pan up the face leaves a little to be desired. You know... Everything's hot... BUT TER FACE.

Here are some amazing examples for those who learn better through pictures:

And I came across this: Top Ten Celebrity Butterfaces.

Now, the reason I got to thinking about this is Mike "The Sitation." Mike is a classic butterface. The pic on the right were you can only see his abs is far superior to the left one.

I wondered if you can call a guy a Butterface. I mean, the direct translation would be "Buthisface" and it just doesn't have the same ring to it. I decided to do some searching.

The first thing I can across were some famous male Butterfaces. They include Jessie "Steroid Free?" from Big Brother,

and Michael "I look better when a swimming cap holds my ears down" Phelps.

Finally I came across a post on a bodybuilding forum about if girls use the term Butterface for guys.

Apparently girls are less cruel and tend to stick with "He's sooo nice though," or "He has a GREAT personality!"

Finally I saw the light: "Brown Baggers." Yes, the appropriate end to my not-so-appropriate search. All is well again in the world!

The Monster Ball

I had the wonderful luck in August to win tickets to Lady Gaga's Monster Ball... and just like the last show I'd seen of hers, it was amazing. When I'd seen Gaga previously it was at the Queen Elizabeth Theater, which was a smaller, more intimate venue, and this time it was at GM Place (or was it already Roger's Arena by then?) so the shows were completely different. If last time I got a glimpse into Gaga's soul, this time it was into her imagination.

I decided that I didn't want to dress up in any crazy costumes, but I definitely wanted to do a hair bow. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to use ALL my hair, because my attempt fell a little flat. Take a look:

I decided to use it to my advantage though and go for a Jackie-O type look. Yes, that is my mom's shirt that I used as a dress. Good eye!

I met up with my friend down town and grabbed some food across from the arena to avoid paying 30-some-odd bucks for a hot dog dinner. I had a falafel from the place right next to the Stadium Skytrain station and it was fantastic!

The whole idea of the Monster Ball is following Lady Gaga and her friends on a crazy night out, through twists and turns, ending up at the "Monster's Ball." First they started taking the subway:

There were some spectactular costumes, including what looked like a giant snowflake:

And something that looked like a white, furry ottoman:

She even ended up playing a piano with a flaming tornado at one point!

At the end we'd finally arrived at the Monster Ball... and monster it was all right, one of those crazy fish from the depth of the ocean that lures other fish with a glowing ball... but with big tentacles too!

What actually really stuck with me from the show wasn't the costumes or songs... it was her attitude. She wanted her show to be a place where everyone can hang out and really be themselves, whoever that was. White, black, straight, gay... all were welcome. She made you feel like you were important, and you matter. She even shares a bit about herself, how she had to deal with the alcoholism of her father and other friends, but came out a better song writer for it. She also talked about how she holds her Canadian fans near and dear, because "Just Dance" went number one here before she was popular in the states at all. You leave the concert feeling like she really loves her fans, and that you are who you are, and you're all right.

My Cup Runneth Over ...

So the other night I am listening to the Mister rocking and singing along to praise and worship music to C upstairs in the nursery and smiling.  Smiling at what God has blessed me with.  As I was thanking the Lord for how blessed I am I suddenly no longer hear the singing or the rocking of the glider.  When I went upstairs to investigate, this is what I found ...

Like I said, my cup runneth over.

Standing Firm

I have been torn over the past couple of days trying to figure out what I would write about. I kept coming up with the same topic: consistency. I have learned that consistency= dependable. If I can't count on you being at A, B, or C at the time you say that I can't depend or trust you. The Lord has been dealing with me about this particular topic as I have been on my Daniel's Fast this month. Consistency starts with your mind. If you can't be consistent in your thought; than you will be all over the place in everything you actually do. James 1:8 states "....Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." (NIV). If you want to be used of God and grow into a deeper relationship; you have to start with your mind. Make sure your actions mirror your words and thoughts. We are supposed to ask God to renew our mind daily and think on those things that will please Him. Once you do that, it will be easier to do it. But if you're back and forth, God can't bless you or use you. You have to make sure your "no" is "no" and your "yes" is "yes". Perfect example: you're either a vegan or not. Being a vegan requires maintaining a strict regimen. So you're a vegan or not. It also applies to being a child of God. You are or your not. It doesn't work if you're a Christian Sundays but Monday-Saturday you're somebody else. Either your for God or not. Pick a side and stick to it.



My prayer during my fast has been a simple one (I'm not a fan of elaborate meaningless prayers): "Lord, I love You; and I really want to please You. I ask God that You strengthen me and work in me. Renew my mind and create a clean heart in me; a heart that desires You and seeks to please You. I ask God, that You reveal to me the areas that I need to stand firm in You. I ask God that I be consistent; that I stand for You always unashamed. I want to please You and make You happy. I ask that You have total and complete control in my life and that I will not interrupt. I ask all these things in Jesus name I pray. Amen."



I hope that this helps someone like it is helping me. Be blessed.

HAPPY BIRFDAY GINNY!!!

Gin, I wish I knew how to say that in Chinese because I knew would make your day, but alas, I don't.

For those of you that don't know her, Ginny was my roommate at Baylor.  And when I say roommate, I should say "shoebox-mate".  Because that's what we lived in.  A room the size of a shoebox that we could barely walk past each other in but at the same time, had the MOST fun living in.  I don't think I could've done it with anyone besides Ginny.  Because I'm pretty sure Gin and I were cut from the same mold.  We pretty much were one person our sophmore year.  Aside from her being super smart and going to classes like Anatomy and Physiology and my going to classes like Underwater Basket Weaving, we literally had the exact same schedule every day.  We'd get up (one, being me, usually earlier than the other, being Gin - she's notsomuch a morning person) go to class, come home, get dressed to go workout, go workout for an insanely long time (oh college willpower), go to dinner somewhere, come home watch a little TV, go upstairs and sit at our computers side by side and IM each other and then go and make a giant pot of full-caf coffee and ... ahem ... "study".  Gin only studied with me if she didn't have much studying to do.  She was in REAL classes remember?  Then Gin went and left me to finish her 2nd half of nursing school in Dallas.  Dumb Baylor, what kind of plan is that?  And I will tell you when that happened I thought I was going to die.  Even contemplated following her to Dallas.  But thankfully I didn't because I would never had met and married the love of my life.  And besides, I knew Gin and I would be friends for life no matter where we lived.  Which is a good thing since she up and moved to Taiwan this past year.  Thank GOODNESS for facebook chat because I don't know what I would've done without her labor and delivery nursing expertise throughout my entire pregnancy/delivery experience.

So happy HAPPY birfday Gin!  I love you SO much and know that C does too even though he hasn't met you yet.  We'll celebrate whenever you come back to visit us from that far away land you're living in.  I hope it's a blessed day and WISH I could be there to give you this virtual birfday hug in person!

I LOVE YOU GIN!

Sidenote:  All of THESE pictures are ALSO huge motivation for my weight loss goals to be MET!

Side sidenote:  Gin, we need more recent pictures together, come home from Taiwan.

Awesome Dress #3: Monique L'Huillier

Mandy Moore has always been a favorite love of mine especially when she cut her hair off and wore it pixie style. I love her style; she always looks like a lady at events. You can never go wrong looking like a lady. ALSO, she's wearing Monique L'Huillier!!!!! I love her dresses.


image source: style.com

HAPPY (late) BIRFDAY MOH!!!

Saturday was my MOH and BFFE's birfday however I am notsomuch a weekend blogger so I thought I'd do her birfday post today.  Sooooo, HAPPY BIRFDAY MOH!  This is the year (most of) my friends are all turning 30.  So we're all hitting the dirty thirties together.  Friday night I set up a little girl's night to celebrate A's entrance into the next decade of her life.  We had a pretty fantastic little time.

{Sweet Tara was such a trooper, she's due to meet baby Annabelle February 7th!  We were all waiting for her water to break ...} 

{Erin, Alli, the birfday girl, Julianne, me and Tara (and Annabelle!)} 

{The birfday girl with her red velvet cupcake!  Mmmmm ...}

A and I have known each other for a LONG time.  It's crazy to me that we have been friends for 17 years!  We met when we were 13 at something called the "Barn Blowout" (yes I'm serious) with our church youth group.  We had known each other all of 4 minutes and I asked her if she wanted to come over (after the infamous "Barn Blowout") and spend the night.  "Hi.  My name's Creepy, what's yours?"  I mean WHO does that!?!  Invites someone over they've known for 4 (okay, let's be real it was probably closer to 2) minutes to spend the night at their house?!?!  Luckily enough for me, Andrea didn't seem to think there was a thing wrong with the idea and ended up spending the night,  We were connected at the hip from then on.  We then went to Baylor and roomed together our freshman year.  Let's just say those were not our finest moments.  We like to call them "our stupid phase" and just move on being that we stopped talking to each other right before Christmas break freshman year and didn't rekindle our friendship until later sophmore year.  But am I ever glad we did because we went on to live together in Dallas after we both graduated, saw each other through good and some notsogood times, experienced becoming mommies together (well, not TOGETHER ... you know what I mean) and NOW are experiencing entering our 30's together.  Since I have about 80 billion pictures of she and I, I'll just choose a choice few for A's happy birfday post.

HAPPY BIRFDAY MOH!  I love you the MOH-stest.  Haha.  Get it?

Sidenote:  These pictures are really good motivation to get back in shape.  I'll update y'all on that progress later.

Awesome Dress #2: Burberry

I love this dress. Classic and modern at the same time. Leighton is a daring fashionista; that's the best kind.

image source: style.com

Thoughtless Thursday!

I want this ...

... found here.  Don't you just love Etsy?

How's that for thoughtless for ya?  I do have a 30th (EEK!) birfday coming up.  Mister?  Mom?  Oprah?  Just kidding.  Don't I WISH Oprah would buy me presents!

Now it's YOUR turn!  Post your thoughtless pictures, ideas, etc. and my button and come back here and link up!