Moving The Slider ...

so ... the phone rang at 3am this morning ... it was Mom ... we expected her home about that time, but we didn't know she would actually call and say she was home! However, Nate cleaned out the garage "enough" that the van now fits in just so-so ... and the van was in it's new spot when she arrived home this morning from Florida and she was a bit distraught thinking we weren't at home at 3am! Thus the phone call ...

anyhoo ... I couldn't go back to sleep ... so ... my mind started going a million crazy miles a minute and I started thinking about end of the year/beginning of the new year, etc. ... and what my "goals" (don't do resolutions) might be for this new year ...

I have to say that I am most creative and come up with my best work late at night ... and good thing, since I'm "okay" with being a night owl from time to time ... however, not too keen on being "thoughtful" when woke up at 3am!

anyhoo ... this started my "thought process" for the day ...

We were having lunch with friends last weekend ... and "New Years" and "Goals for the new year" were mentioned ... one of the kids commented that December 31st and January 1st were just "another day" to them ... no big deal ... I started thinking about this ... I "used" to think along the same line ... just "another day" ... but as I've gotten older, with more responsibility, and a bit of age on me ... I see things a bit differently ... it IS a big deal to me - going from the 31st of December to January 1st ... to me ... it's the "end" of a calendar year ... a REAL calendar in my little mind that I view throughout the year ... and this last week and especially the last day or so, causes me to REALLY reflect and ponder what I've done this year! Did I meet my goals I set last January? Did I make the difference I vowed to make? Did I follow through on all those projects I projected for myself?

some ... and some not ...

and ... a day like today causes me to sit down (which I did) and put things in perspective ... I created a list of "goals" and things that I want to accomplish this year ... personal goals, spiritual goals, goals, goals, goals ... can be overwhelming ... however ... I came up with a few things that I REALLY want to do just for me this year ... and with the help of friends and this blog ... I'm holding myself accountable to a few things ... I will discuss those in a post tomorrow ...

I view my life today (the 31st) as a giant Magna Doodle ... where, for one whole year, I've added to my Magna Doodle, some good choices, some bad choices, sketches here and there ... and what is SO amazing to me ... is that tomorrow (January 1st) I get to move the slider from left to right a few times (always do that - I'm weird ... like once is not enough to erase it) and like magic, I have a brand new screen!

I know this sounds stupid ... but that's how I look at it ... as crazy as it sounds ... I love the first day of a new year ... when I actually feel, inside, like it's a fresh, brand new start!

Where, it's okay to have new goals, even though old ones were not met ... it just feels like "another chance" (as Nate preached about last Sunday evening) ...

So ... excited about moving my slider tonight ... and having a fresh, blank screen tomorrow to start anew ... I've already got my plan written out ... and I'll share more tomorrow ...

I guess I feel if I post it here, I will be "more" accountable to my goals than if I just put them on a piece of paper and tucked it away ...

anyhoo ... I'm in hopes that you will be inspired to do some goal setting of your own and maybe we can all be accountable to each other ... to have a GREAT 2009!

We have church this evening ... that's how we will be ringing in the New Year ...

Happy New Years Eve ... tammy

Holi-Daze ...

Hello my friends ... it has taken me until today to feel caught up enough to blog ...

my oh my ... it has been a whirlwind of Christmas activity blur around here!

From noon on Christmas eve (Wednesday) until Friday evening - we had eight different functions ...

whew ... just a WEE bit tired ... however ... we had a great time enjoying making more Christmas memories with our family and friends ...

Christmas Eve we went to Nate's family in Clarksville for lunch ...

Best Cousins ...David and Jackson ...

some of the grandkids with Papa ...


LeAnna posing for a picture in the middle of all the fun ...

very cool gift from Aunt Connie ... I'll take a money ring all day long ... her Dad makes these ... and before he passes, she's going to give him some $100 bills to make some rings so she'll always have them ... like I said ... my kind of ring!

it's Christmas Eve and all through the house ... not a creature was stirring, not even a LeAnna, Princess or Daisy ...

just a Mommy and a Daddy putting together this ...

Christmas morning ... LeAnna surprised us ... the day before, she had made a small scavenger hunt that began in our Stocking ... and to our surprise we found a very special gift that she had made for us all by herself ...

made me cry ... she took one of Nate's socks and made me a puppet ...

and Nate's ...

a home-made raft ...

very sweet and another point to prove that our little girl is quickly growing up ... developing her own personality and unique ways ...

barbie doll clothes to go with the barbies and Doll House she received from Sylvia, Margaret and Marshall ...

look of surprise upon seeing the new rug (which she found way before Christmas) and the new table and chairs ... Granny and Papaw gave her a new "wall" handcrafted by Papaw, of chalkboards, dry/erase boards, and push pin boards to contribute to her playroom's "new look" ... (just haven't taken the time to do pictures of it yet ... soon!)

Nana opening a new picture of LeAnna ...

opening gifts at Granny and Papaw's on Christmas night ...






Papaw and Granny waiting for their big Christmas Present ... (no peeking Papaw)

the gift was a framed 16x20 of this ...

birthday cake for Jesus ...

a "cake wreck" of my own ... started with this cake and put the icing on too soon ... which made for sliding letters and icing ... and to top it off, didn't have room for "birthday" ... which made it read "Happy Jesus" ... ha! definitely a cake wreck! It wasn't served ... we chose the previous one to actually use ... =0) it's the thought that counts though, right?!

Princess - the "Reindog" ...

and Daisy - the "Reindog"

such a wonderful season to be thankful for many things ... family, friends, and most of all Jesus, whose birth is the best reason of all to Celebrate!

happy day ... tammy

I Got Icing On My Cake ...

Such a tizzy frazzle today ...

Thinking I had everything just about done ... LeAnna and I headed out today to finish up some shopping and do some last minute errands ...

We slept in this morning (good thing) because I'm thankful for that right about now!

Still up ... doing around here ... wrapping gifts, baking, cleaning, etc ... we start Christmas at noon tomorrow (Christmas Eve) with Nate's family ... so much to do before bed!

Anyhoo ... to make a VERY long story short ... this afternoon, I remember talking to Nathan on my cell phone, hanging up the phone ...but that's it ... I'm not sure where I put my phone ... but anyhoo ...

Arrive at Michael's Arts and Crafts store ... shop there for at least 45 minutes or so ... get up to the register ... and told the cashier to wait just a moment while I found my phone ... Renee had sent me an ad via email for 50% off ... so I was just going to show her my email with the coupon in it to see if that would work ... well ... couldn't find my phone ... told her that I must have left it in the car ... paid for my goods and headed to the car ... anxious to find my phone ...

Looked everywhere ... couldn't find it ... drove up to the front of the store, jumped out, ran in and asked if a phone had been turned in ... nope ... so ... I left my information and to PLEASE call me if it was turned in ...

meanwhile ... went to the post office to mail Christmas Cards (yep - late) and then home ... got home, emptied car and searched frantically ... also got the cordless home phone and dialed my cell phone ...

nothing ... AAHHHH ...

at this point ... realized that my phone must have been stolen out of my purse at Michael's ...

panicking ... decided to call Nate (whatever for I'll never know) ... I guess so we could both panic ... insurance is not offered on an i-Phone ... so once it's gone ... it's gone!

yep ... gone ...

so ... oh yeah, long story short ...

so ... after speaking with AT&T and Apple Care people ... found out two things (should this happen to you)

1. have your # suspended

2. call the police and get a police report ... give them your serial # on your phone ... this way ... if someone tries to pawn your phone ... they can't if the serial # has been reported on it AND they will contact the police and you can get your phone back (small minimal charge however)

Anyhoo ... Nate and I went back to Michael's together ... walked around the whole store calling my cell phone ... asked a couple of people if they had seen a pink cover i-Phone ...

nope ...

So ... after covering about the whole store ... an employee walks by us and Nate said he felt like he should ask her ... so he did ... she said, "yes" ... WHAT?!?!?!?

Yep ... they found my phone ... hanging out in the framing department ...

I can't tell you how this happened ... I'm just happy to say that it was found!

We went to the office to retrieve it and 3 other employees were standing around it and saying, "it keeps ringing" ... hahahahahah

Nate hugged the lady and said 'thank you' ... I checked my phone, there were 42 missed calls!

Yep ... tizzy frazzled today ... that was just the icing I needed for this cake of a day!

I am such a weirdo that I just attract this kind of junk I guess ...

oh well ... still a ton to do ...

happy holi-daze ... tammy

Just Hanging Out ...

This morning ... I was uploading pictures from my camera and had forgotten about these that I took last week during the "heat wave" ... it was in the 60's most of the day and got up to like 72 at one point late afternoon!

Kaitlyn was over playing with LeAnna and they were SO excited when they found out that it was actually warm enough to play outside for a while ... in the meantime, Nate came home from work and said, have you seen the girls, where's the camera?

They had climbed a tree and were sitting in it talking ... so cute!

So ... just thinking of that "out of the norm" warm winter day on this VERY cold day that I've got to get out in and not looking foward to it ... BBBUUURRRRRRRRRR-cold!

Hoping to "wrap-up" (literally) the rest of my gifts today ... ha! Only have a few more ...

happy day - tammy

Rip Off ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... EVERYWHERE I go ...

traffic, busy shoppers (some nice, some rude), messy displays of products, frantic employees trying to straighten the messy displays and help customers ... long lines, questionable looks on faces - knowing they are indecisive with what to buy "uncle hurkamer" ... lots of colds, tissues, sneezing ... yep ... all of these things I've witnessed first hand in the last few days!

Christmas shopping is about over ... we knocked out a big chunk of it yesterday ... we shopped a while and then came home to rest a bit ... then back out last night ... well ... in the middle of shopping, we walked in DSW Shoes at Nashville West ... I guess to just take a break from "searching" for those last minute gifts ... and ... well ... I drifted over to the boot section ... really wanting some brown boots ... so I was browsing and came across these ...

so ... I thought I would try them on ... they were an extra 40% off the last marked price on the sticker ...

I put them on ... tried zipping them ... had to get Nate to help me zip them the rest of the way ...I get up ... walk around ... came back over to the seat to remove them ... and ... they wouldn't remove ... the zipper was stuck ... WHAT?! Ok ... so I sit ... try again ... nothing! So ... Nate tries ... he starts laughing ... my leg is in the air and he starts really pulling hard on the zipper ... unknown at the time, when he had zipped them up, he had gotten the zipper hung in my BRAND NEW pair of tights ... yep ... tights (not cheap ones) worn only this day ... yep ... hung! AND about to be ripped ... oh well ... it was either cut the boot off ... NOT! OR rip the tights to get the zipper unhung ... AAAHHHHH ... only me ... so by this time, we're both laughing so hard ... Nate said let's just hurry up and get this off and get out of here ... starting to cause a scene, he begins to unzip enough to where he can just pull the boot off ... along with that ... RRRIIIIPPPPPPP go my tights ... you would have to have been there to "get the whole moment" ... it was another "only me" moments ... and we left the store very quickly ... Nate acted embarrassed to be with me with this huge hole and tights dangling from my leg! He asked me twice to remove them ... YEP, remove them while walking down the sidewalk ... RRIIIGHHHTTTT ... whatever! I would rather have the embarrassment of the giant hole than for everyone to see me remove them ... they are not knee highs, they are TIGHTS!!!!

anyhoo ... a very comical moment in the shoe store in the middle of all the hustle and bustle!

Our Christmas program is this evening at church ... and we're doing last minute things to get ready for that ...

happy day ... tammy

Hustlin' and Bustlin' ...

Well ... Christmas is quickly approaching ... QUICKLY ... AND as of this moment ... I'm officially caught up with clients, (Christmas orders that is) other than actually picking up final orders on Christmas Cards and reorders and getting them to the clients ... I sent in my "final order" before Christmas just a few moments ago ... and that makes me ... so ... happy!

Monday evening was a dinner party at Ruth Chris Steakhouse for Nate's work .... very good ... my first experience there ... however, I still prefer Flemings for steak ...

Tuesday evening, was LeAnna's Christmas Program at school ... very cute ... very short and then on to Tequilas for dinner with friends ...

Wednesday was LeAnna's Christmas party at school ... SO glad that's over! In the middle of my "merry everything", I was picked to be in charge of the party ... and with that came LOTS of responsibility ... since it is the biggest party of the year ... I think next year, I'm going to decline and ask for "Valentine's" or ... better yet, "End of the Year" party! Anyhoo - went well ... just LOTS to coordinate ....

"happy birthday to Jesus cupcakes"

Ms. Green gave each child a monogrammed pillowcase filled with art stuff! Very cool!

we made Christmas scrapbooks ... a few of the pics in the book ...

then we played a game where 6 groups of 3 kids decorated a kid in their group like a snowman with toilet paper and accessories! funny!

It was a fun party ... and LeAnna is happy to be out of school for almost 3 weeks!

then .... we got home and she opened all her gifts from the kids in class ... all over the stairs of course!

This morning (Thursday) ... I heard little yelps at the side door ... this little furry creature wanted inside .... ahhh - no ... don't think so ... She LOVES to play in the mud and mulch and when it's raining outside - well ... that doesn't matter to her! Yikes!

This evening (Thursday) ... was the Christmas appreciation dinner for the Sunday School staff here at the house ... we had a great time ...

Me ... however, am very tired and have pushed myself almost to the limit ... and I'm ready to chill a bit and "officially" begin my final shopping trips to finish up my gift buying.

Wishing you very safe "last minute" shopping adventures and a happy, memorable, next few days leading up to Christmas ...

Never to forget the "real" reason for all this hustle and bustle ... which in fact was not meant to be a hustle and bustle at all ...

Jesus' birth should have been the "best birth on earth" ... and that it was, but do we really take time to stop and think of it that way? I mean, I would be pretty upset if on my birthday, everyone celebrated but not really in my honor ... hmmm ... it's very easy to get caught up in the pagan part of it all ... and don't get me wrong ... I love Christmas as much as anyone ... but I also like to concentrate on the "true" reason of Christmas ... LeAnna and I will, again, make a birthday cake for Jesus and take some time out on "His day" to honor Him and celebrate His birth ...

What a shame to leave Him out on His special day ... yep ... I would be disappointed if I were forgotten on my day ... I'm sure most of you would too ...

Encouraging you to take some time to create a 'new tradition' (if you don't have one) of honoring Jesus in your own special way this Holiday Season ...

He "is" the reason for the season ... lest we forget ...

happy day ... tammy

Tis ...

... Tis the season ... rrriiiiggghhhhtttttt?

It is nothing but crazy busy around here!

You name it ... it's either happened, happening or going to happen! Whew! I'm exhausted!

Anyhoo ... I say it every year ... cut off time for pictures ... but I have issues in the "no" department ... oh well ... aim to please ...

... it really wouldn't be that bad, if it had not been for all the computer issues in the last two weeks ... which has put me tremendously behind!

so ... with NOT much sleep this week ... I'm progressing ... and by the time I go to bed this evening I should be caught up with client pictures (Christmas deadlines only though) ...

Yippy Skippy ...

So ... a big shout out to Renee Camacho ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Saturday the 13th ... You have arrived - WELCOME! to ... Middle Age! Yea! You've left your "youthfulness" and have crossed over ... ha! Hope your birthday was a happy one!

Last night we attended a Dinner Theatre at church ... LeAnna had a very small part (10 seconds to be exact) =0) She was an elf that led a family to a train ride ... she was SO excited about this ... Nana made her a costume to wear and all the way to church she kept saying, "ok, I need to practice my lines" ... which were "this way to Santa's train" ... bless her heart, you would have thought she had just been awarded a lottery check!

I was SO embarrassed to find out that she went to the director, Dessa, and asked if she could be in the play ... oh-my-goodness!!! Dessa was so sweet to write her in a small part ... thanks Dessa! Very sweet ... she's normally pretty shy about doing things like this ... I've been trying to get her to audition for different things at school and she just says "I'll be too nervous on stage" ... so I haven't pushed it ... so hopefully this will be the beginning of her wanting to venture out a bit ...

This week is another very busy week ... something to do every day and every night this week! Whew! Crazy busy ... AND I still have to finish Christmas shopping!!!!

tis the season to be ... hmmmm ... jolly? tammy

The Cookie Party ...

WOW ... extremely busy last week and this week so far! Not only have I had computer problems ... I've also had card reader problems, which means I haven't been able to upload all the pictures I've been taking for clients ... AAHHHHH ... not good in a time crunch such as now that I'm in ... oh well ... new card reader, new computer ... hopefully things will get better in that department!

Big Cookie Party last night ... it was the 6th annual Cookie Exchange ... it gets better every year and I think last night was the best yet so far ... I think it was the most in attendance as well ... everyone did such a nice job and went to great effort to make very nice presentations with their cookies.

Here's some pics ...

Alicia Becton, Karla Shoulders, me ...

The 6th annual group picture! (back row) Jennifer Batson, Alisa Mahoney, LaDessa Freeman, Alicia Becton, Connie Garcia, Karla Shoulders, Allison Barlar, Diana Cook, Renee Camacho, Dana George (front row) - me, Joy Young, Denise Williams, Karen Hord, Stacey Merriman

and ... the cookies! ...

The Winners! ...

Alica Becton - Most Original

Stacey Merriman - Best Presentation

Denise Williams - Best Tasting

Most Original - Hot Chocolate Cookies by Alicia Becton

Best Presentation - Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Pecan - by Stacey Merriman

Best Tasting - Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons - by Denise Williams

It was a wonderful, enjoyable evening spent with friends, new and old ... an evening of laughter and stolen moments away from the hustle and bustle of the holidays ... an evening to remember ...

happy day ... tammy