Top 2 Tuesday

I wanted to get this posted so much earlier. I've been hoping that the telephone company would show up today, so I didn't get online any in case they called. They didn't show up today, but our road is still a little icy from the snow, so maybe tomorrow. I definitely can't wait to have high speed, and all you lovely bloggers will be the first to know when I have it!


I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, and it's hard to believe that 2011 is coming right up!
Taylor's Top 2 Tuesday topic is resolutions for the big 2011, so head on over and join on in if you haven't already! {Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some others' posts tonight, or tomorrow! Man, I certainly won't be missing this dial up!}






1. Be More Open/Overcome

This one runs into so many parts of my life. There are times I feel as though people can't get to know me because I won't let them know me. I tend to struggle with anxiety, and I absolutely hate it. Nine times out of ten I won't start a conversation with someone, I hardly ever say hello even to those that I do know well, and just going to Wal-Mart can be a struggle for me at times. I was up for hours a few nights ago just pouring my heart out to the Lord about this. It may sound crazy to some, but I honestly feel I can overcome it so simply. The Lord has put this drive in me to just be who I am in all areas of my life. Even testifying in church can be difficult at times, and let's not even go into the few times that I actually sing a special. I get griped on (in a good way) about not singing except for about once a year, but I just can't sometimes. Even on mid week prayer meeting it's hard for me to even give a prayer request. It's like there is this crazy other person in my mind going through all the things that could go wrong with me just saying one word. Honestly, it all stinks, but I'm determined to get over this in my life this year.
With God all things are possible

...for with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27b

Is anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14a



2. Grow Closer to the Lord

I feel as though I'm so far from the Lord. The first few years after I was saved I longed to go to church, spend time in His word, and spend time in prayer with Him. Now I feel as though I've just fallen into a routine. I absolutely hate it. This year I want to grow closer to the Lord. That desire is there, and the desire is also there to do it all for Him. Not for me and my glory, but all for the one who saved me by His grace. To put Him first in all areas of my life, and to give Him my all this year and every single year after that is my heart's main desire.

Oh, and not much of a resolution but, I plan on owning all the Doctor Who dvds finally.. haha

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Merry -white- Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!
I hope everyone is having a blessed one full of smiles and laughter.
I'm going to try and keep this post as short as possible! :D


We actually opened gifts here last night because the little kid was coming out in me! haha... I'm not an owner of a Brother sewing machine {& the Michael Jackson Expierence Wii game haha}. It may take me awhile, but hopefully I'll be sewing before I know it!


Oh!, when I woke up this morning the Bing came out in me when I saw that we indeed are having a White Christmas!




I took my nephews and niece to see a few Christmas lights the other night. Hopefully this will be a Christmas tradition for us. One place I took them is a place I always loved growing up. They put little scenes in boxes, and it's just one of the neatest things ever. Almost everything in the boxes move, and there is always Christmas music playing. The kids loved it, and I'm pretty sure I was just as excited as them! We probably sat and looked at them for about 20 minutes or more!






I imagine I'll be spending the day watching the Doctor Who marathon, eating, and possibly trying out that sewing machine {or at least reading the book to figure everything out!}


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I hope everyone has a blessed time day even if you don't celebrate Christmas. Please don't forget about the One who came so He could one day willingly give His life for us, so that we might be saved.

¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.-Luke 2:1-20

Top 2 Tuesday -Christmas Memories-

1: The Singing Christmas Light Night
One Christmas about eleven or twelve years ago we had one of the tiniest trees ever, and to make it a bit fancy we added Christmas lights that played music. Of course I was amazed by them. Anyways, my sister hadn't married yet and was still here at home. (I'm thinking it was her last Christmas before she married.) It was probably one or two Christmas morning and I could here my sister laughing like crazy and those silly lights. Her and my mom were bringing presents out from their hiding spot and placing them near the tree. You would think I would have been super excited, but no, instead I curled back up on the couch ready to go back to sleep. Eventually they got me up and there we all sat in the middle of the floor at two in the morning surrounded by Christmas paper, new goodies, a lot of oohs and aahs, plenty of laughter, and those singing Christmas lights playing one of the most annoying versions of Jingle Bells ever created.




2: Blue Christmas
When I was in elementary school we always made a big deal out of the Christmas plays. (It isn't even the same anymore. They have their plays during school hours, and usually they just let the kids sing a song.) Normally we would start practicing weeks before. We always had the best costumes and props we could possibly get, the plays were at night, packed, and tons of fun. When I was in 1st grade there were a few classes that did a big thing together, (I was an elf), there was singing with people doing sign language(we always had sign language in our plays. I wasn't too fond of learning it then, but now when I look back on it I love that we did it!) and Elvis was there. Yes, Elvis. One of the students in the upper grades did Blue Christmas, which had to have been the greatest thing ever. He was complete with the hair, the sparkly jumpsuit, and the screaming girls. Every time I see that fella (who is now grown and married) Blue Christmas starts running through my head, and I see him in his jumpsuit!


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Guess who is finally moving into the 21st century? Yep, we are finally getting high speed! Dude, you have no idea how much I'm not going to miss dial-up. It drives me buggy. My super amazing mom decided to get it for me as a Christmas gift. (She gets to use high speed all the time at work, so she does all her computer tasks there. I guess she started feeling guilty! haha) The people may be able to make it here before Christmas, but it not then it will be next week. Now I will have no excuse to not read and comment on blogs!

I hope everyone is having an amazing week!

It's Christmas Time Again...

Almost 5 days until Christmas. Ca-ra-zy! I do have to say I'm ready for it. The shopping is finished, the wrapping is finished, and I have my tree! It's Christmas!
I have to tell the story of my tree. I just gotta.

There is a man who is a member of the same church as I,
and he is also the husband of my best friend, and he also has a nursery.
I'm a real tree kinda gal. I don't like fake ones. Never have, never will.
(Another story inside of a story. The first year I was saved,
or maybe it was the second, I don't know for sure.. Anyways, I got off the school bus(wow, that seems like a lifetime ago!) walked up the forever long driveway, and found a Christmas tree sitting against my porch. How sweet right? I just love remembering that. That family is a blessing to me I tell ya!)
Ok, now back to the 2010 tree.
I haven't been able to tell this guy that I would like a tree this year.
They have been busy, I have been busy, you get it.
Then the other day I was bummed about I have no idea what, probably the
fact that I had been trapped in the house for days during the snow, and I just said,
"I don't want a tree anymore. It's way too late anyways".
I have no idea where that came from, but I said it.
Friday night before my mom come home from work I was laying on the
couch just doing nothing since the house was finally clean
when I heard her coming up the steps.
When she walked through the door she had me a tree.
Not just any tree, but a fake one.
Yes, one of those that I will never like.
I didn't think I would be as enthusiastic about it as I was when I saw her walk through with it.
So enthusiastic that I burned part of dinner because I was tearing into the box.
I was in love with that cardboard box.

I had to swallow those words of mine when it came to dissing a fake tree.
It's almost real though. There were "pine" needles everywhere after I put it together,
there was "sap" all over my hands(I'm going to guess it was some type of glue.), and it still injured me while I was touching it. I didn't miss out those gems with this tree.

Now here is a photo of the lovely standing proudly in the living room...

{I wish I would have taken a photo of my zebra tree skirt before I put all the presents under it!}


In case I don't post again before Christmas, I hope everyone has a super blessed one!!

Snow Days & Puppies

I hope everyone had a blessed weekend. Our Christmas party went well, and everyone seemed to love the cookie jars. The lovely ladies I work with gifted me with some super cute things. Oh, and I won a $20 gift card! That's always a plus.

The rain was coming down pretty hard on the way there and home, and the temperature started dropping like crazy. When I woke up yesterday morning to start getting ready for church it had snowed a little. Just a dusting, but the road was covered. I didn't want to chance it since the roads were so wet the night before I had no idea if ice was under that snow or not. I sure am glad I didn't try to go because the snow started coming down. Big time. It hasn't stopped snowing since 8 AM Sunday morning. It has slacked off from time to time, but it has kept right on snowing. This morning when I looked out the door, this is what I saw...







No, it's not a blizzard like they are having in other areas, but this is TN. We haven't had a blizzard since '93. We do good to get a good snow every other year. This one has shut down quite a bit. I'd say we have at least 8 inches. It may be foot. I have no desire to trek out there and find out. The wind is intense! Our porch looks like our yard! Normally we don't get snow on our porch! haha... I've heard one four wheeler go up the mountain, which is rare, so it must be pretty bad down the road. All I know is I have to say thank you Lord for heat!

My nephews' and niece's puppies are a month old! They are all over the place, and oh so cute! My youngest nephew, Izyck, has named his puppy Ultimator Terminator, and my niece, Graycee, has named her puppy Sweet Cheeks. hehe... No telling what the names of the other two will be! Now onto those pictures!

{This one here is Sweet Cheeks; the small fry of the bunch!}

Christmas Party Friday-Music & Movies

I had to join in on this! So fun!

Top 5 Movies

-National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
*How could I not have this one on my list?*

-Elf
*Never have I laughed so hard during a movie, even after I've watched it days in a row. This one just never gets old, and I love it anytime of the year!*

-Home Alone
*It just doesn't seem like Christmas until I watch this one.*


-How the Grinch Stole Christmas
*I love this movie! I've always loved the cartoon, but the movie is just hilarious! Jim Carey did such an amazing job!*

-Holiday Inn
*What would Christmas be without White Christmas? *


Top 5 Songs

-O Come All Ye Faithful



-The First Noel



-Mary Did You Know?



-O Holy Night



-Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem
I love, love, love this song!

& since the title "Christmas Party" made me think of our work Christmas party tomorrow, I thought I would share my cookie jars!

This was certainly some work, but I loved it! The people at CVS, who probably already think I'm crazy anyways since I'm in there almost everyday, must really think I love M&M's!! I'm looking forward to our party. They are always full of laughs, and the food is great!
Tonight my nephews and niece are coming over, and yay, we are having some Pizza Hut! haha
If you can't tell, I'm looking forward to it!
I hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

Oh I Wish...

No, not that I were a wiener, but I've been seeing tons of wishlist posts lately, and yes, I've been reading them because I always find it interesting. Maybe I shoulda been an elf. Which reminds me, I need to get my "Embrace Your Inner Elf" shirt down for Saturday! I love that shirt! Ok, enough with the useless ramblings of myself.

Being the follower I am at times I thought "hey, maybe I should let everyone see into my wishlist". So that's what I'm going to do. More than likely these items aren't going to be under my tree (well one of them may be), but that is why it is called a wishlist. Most of these are things that are on my "After Christmas I May Buy" list.

So here we go...


*My Wishlist*
-In no particular order*

1}A Nikon DS3000
Yeah, I KNOW this one won't be under the tree, but I've been looking at them as a gift to myself after tax returns.


2}TMNT Glass Tumblers
Michelangelo was my hero. Nough' said.


3}Sewing Machine
I've been eyeing a good sewing machine for some time now, but I've never taken the plunge. Can I sew? No, but I've been wanting to learn for years. (I can sew by hand, but I hurt myself pretty bad one night and almost passed out. Since then I've laid off the hand sewing.) Oh, and I also have a guess that I may have one of these under the tree. I may be wrong, but that's the fun in Christmas gifts.


4}Love Comes Softly DVD Collection
I've loved these movies since the first one, and again, this is another item I've looked at for a long time.


5}Ducktales on DVD
I love Ducktales. Always have, always will. I've been singing the theme song for days.


6}New Jean Skirts
I sold a ton of mine at a yardsale, but they were too big, so I don't care. I need some new ones that I can just wear for everyday. Right now at Maurices.com there is a BOGO 1/2 Off on all Casual wear, so hopefully it will still be around after this weekend. {When all my Christmas shopping *should* be complete.}






Also, I am SUPER excited about my gift giving this year! I'm not going to post anything just in case, but just so you know I'm excited about it!

My Go to Store

All you lovely bloggers know about CSN Stores by now. If not then you must be knew to this whole "blog" thing. Just in case you are knew to this whole thing let me tell you about them...
Well, they have everything. No really, they pretty much have everything. Are you looking for bakeware? No? Then how about some sling backpacks for the holiday travel? Maybe a new pair of shoes? Whatever you're looking for, it may well just be there. I've never been disappointed in CSN Stores, and I highly doubt there will come a time when I will be.

For the past few weeks I've been looking for a certain item as a Christmas gift for my mom that she put at the top of my "To Give" list. Yes, she put it there. I've found a perfect deal on it at CSN Stores, and I can already tell you I will be reviewing this lovely for you guys very soon after Christmas because I know once you see it you will want one if you don't already own one.
Trust me.

SO WHAT Wednesday

SO WHAT if...



-I'm still sitting here in my flannel pjs and it's almost lunch time? It's really cold today, and I plan on staying in them a little longer.

-I set my alarm clock this morning, not to get up for work (which I didn't have today), but to watch the Psych episode Dual Spires because I missed it last week because I was eating chili at a friend's house? (By the way, this episode totally made it to my top Psych episode list, second to 65 Million Years Off. Also, just so you know, it's tough to pick a favorite from this show because it is full of delicious awesomeness.)

-When I bought some of my mom's Christmas gifts at Kohl's all I was worried about was buying myself a sweater?

-I'm hoping that my mom and I both get a gift card at the holiday work party this year? I know she will give her card to me. (They would be used towards another one of her gifts though.)

-What I look forward to the most during the holiday work party is the food?

-When I see Britsol Palin being dissed on tv, I feel the need to have an argument in my head with whoever may be dissing about how ridiculous they are in being so mean to this girl and how I know there are better celebrities to diss? (Ok, that ended up sounding bad.)

-I go to the Family Dollar about three times a week? (They have what I need when I need it. Which reminds me, I really need some tissue paper.)

-I was still asleep on Monday when my cousins were dropped off? I heard the car coming up the road, and was up and dressed before the car was in park.

-I'd rather my nephews and niece come over on Friday because bedtime will come sooner? Hey, they are some tough kids to entertain for over eight hours!

-I may or may not go change out of my jammies and may or may not play NES Mario for a little while after I hit Publish Post? (It's just me right now, the house is clean, and I have nothing on my list of things to do today. I think I deserve a day of doing whatever. I'll be going non stop until after Christmas, so yeah.)

Week(s) In Review

Wow. It's hard to believe I haven't posted in as long as I have. I do this from time to time. I don't have any excuse really other than I've just not had that much time to stop and blog lately. With these holidays upon us I've been frantically trying to get everything taken care of!

The week of Thanksgiving I had to work, and then the days I had off I watched two of my 2nd cousins while my uncle worked. One of those days, Wednesday, I went to church in Georgia for a Thanksgiving service since we have church on Thursday. It was changed to Wednesday with the church we visited. I sure am glad I went. It's amazing how the Lord stirred my heart over some things, and He hasn't stopped. Every service I've been in since has been along the same lines. These verses have been some of my favorite these past couple of weeks:

"Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God..."
-Deuteronomy 7:9a

"And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?"
-1 Chronicles 29:5b

"Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly. because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."
-1 Chronicles 29:9

Thanksgiving went well, except for the five hour power outage. Yes, five hour power outage. No worries though, the food was finished! My nephews and niece came over for a little while and that was that.

I didn't go shopping on Black Friday because I don't enjoy it. I never have. I did do some shopping online, and I crossed some people off my "To Gift" list. I did however go to a yard sale where I work on Saturday, and I may or may not have woke up at 5AM to get there. I ended up with some great jean skirts and other things. Also some more "To Gift" names crossed off. (Yes, they came from a yard sale, but this yard sale is different. WAY different. Hardly anything was used or wore.) Oh! I did find one of my absolute favorite movies there on DVD as well, Second Glance. (I may have posted about it once before a while ago, but I honestly don't know.) I recommend you watch this movie if you haven't. Seriously.


Hmmm.... I'm sure there is something exciting that I've done the last couple of weeks, but that's what happens when you don't blog after something exciting!

I have some things I hope to post on soon. I'm going to start working on a series of posts that I think could be a help or a blessing to some people, but I definitely won't be posting any of it until I'm sure it's ready. Lord willing I'll be doing a post on Christmas decor and gifts very soon. Possibly even tonight. Time will only tell!

I hope everyone is doing amazing and enjoying this most wonderful time of the year!!