She's HERE!

I got up early this morning and went to pick up Delilah!  Kennedy was awake before I left and asked me where I was going - I told her I would be RIGHT back!  Luckily, the family that had the dogs lived close by!

This was Kennedy's reaction!  Daddy was holding the puppy.  Yes, that is a trash can lid on the floor and a pile of laundry on the recliner - isn't that what you all have in your living room?

Cameron actually had the best reaction!  He was in the playroom (hence all the toys on the floor) and we actually had to TAKE the dog in there.  He wouldn't get off the computer!  He was so excited ~ the sweetest part was when he said "Do we get to keep her?"
2 VERY happy kids and a tired puppy
We went to visit McKenzie and Abereese.  This is their beautiful dog, Deja' -- she is soooo sweet.  She reminds me of the Shepherd we had growing up.  They look a LOT alike and are smart like people.  Seriously, Deja' can open a door.  I will have to video it and put it on here sometime.  It's the craziest thing I have ever seen and I make her do it everytime I'm over there.  She LOVED the puppy -- was so sweet with her.
Here they are meeting each other -- we are looking forward to them playing together!! I'm sure Reese appreciates me putting this pic on here - she is still not feeling well and we thought a little puppy love would make her feel better.

PRECIOUS!!

Yep ~ I think some puppy breath, feet, lovin' was JUST what the doctor ordered!
More pics to come soon!

Early Surprise

This little sweetie is joining our family on Saturday - a whole week
before Kennedy thinks she's coming! I'll be picking her up on Sat
morning and surprising my sweet little girl!

TEST

Just checking to see if this works!  I am emailing this blog post directly to my blog and it is SUPPOSED to post!  

Let your light shine!

My house continues to be a work in progress - I am ALWAYS doing something, but I believe I've finally 'finished' the kitchen.  We hung this light when we first moved in.  It was a $10 ebay  find.  I have matching pendent lights over the island as well.

I had this new chandelier in the garage - sitting there for the past 2 yrs.  I didn't know what to do with it b/c it was silver.  We don't have anything silver in our house.  WELL, since I started blogging and reading all kinds of design blogs, I discovered a $3 can of black satin spray paint would transform this joker!  
I love it so much better over the table and it really adds a lot of light in the room - considering this is where we spend a TON of time!  My friend found the shades at Stein Mart on clearance w/add'l 40% so I paid about $3/each.  They are olive green with a black damask print on them.  I think I'm going to add some olive green eyelash trim to the shades as well.  I also added the "Bon Appetite" sign above the window and I moved the apothecary jars there when we had a party - to get them out of the way - but I think I may leave them there.  Just mix things up a bit!

The chandelier was a $30 find on ebay ~ I saw it in Lowe's for over $100 ... so I think I did pretty good!

Friend Makin' Monday

Kasey over at ALL THAT IS GOOD is hosting "Friend Makin' Monday" today! Our task is to list 10 things we love!  Now, this is in NO PARTICULAR order! 

1.  Family -- this one is a no brainer!  

My twin sister and me on my last visit to Atlanta.  Yes, we have both invested in bras that you can not see when a flash goes off.  We were totally thinking the nude thing would work - obviously we were WRONG!

My crazy, perfect little family!  Although I am disturbed by my daughter's pose in this one!  Could she have gotten ahold of some old photos from my days of working at Hooters (yes girls, I worked at Hooters -- DO NOT JUDGE ME!!  I made good money and quit as soon as my divorce debt was paid off -- I was one of those 'put an ex-husband through medical school and he leaves you for a nurse' girls - but mine left me for a fellow student! Now they are divorced - once a cheater, always a cheater!  Oh geez,  I think I just choked on a bitter pill .. gulp!)  I have lots of funnnny stories from my days as a Hooters girl - maybe one day I will share!  I know hubby will be proud! HA!

2.  Singing ... I love to sing, whether it be karaoke, in my car, with our church worship team .. it doesn't matter, I am ALWAYS singing.

3.  Old Navy .. love their stuff and they have really NAILED the Spring Season.....very affordable and SUPER cute!

4.  My I-Mac --- once you go Mac, you never go back.  PERIOD!
5.  Chick-fil-A ... an illness of mine - I could eat there 3x/day and NEVER get tired of it.

6.  PUPPIES!!  Could this picture just not make you sick!??!  OH MY GOODNESS, how adorable!  Ours arrives on Saturday ... Ms. Delilah (yes, she is a Golden .. can't WAIT!)

7.  My iPhone ... I tease Chad that if my phone were a man, I would leave him for it. I am undeniably obsessed.
8.  Boots -- in particular, THESE boots.  So sassy and so ME .....
9.  My church ... it has changed my life.

10.  FINALLY -- FOUNTAIN Coca-Cola.  I would drink my own urine before I drank Diet Coke or Pepsi ... seriously.  I was raised in Atlanta, so there really is no other alternative --- EXCEPT Sugar Tea.  Yes, that's what we call it.

This is a small part of what my week consisted of last week ... a LOT of this!

We rescued a yorkie/cairn terrier mix named Star.  She is a sweet girl, but spent the first 3 yrs living with an elderly woman and her yorkie/cairn terrier mix sister.  We adopted both of them, but had to take the sister back b/c she wouldn't come out from underneath the bed.   I don't blame her - sometimes I wish I could hide out underneath the bed as well ..... but I digress.

Star has been a good girl.  She loves men.  She loves to snuggle UNDER the blankets and sleeps with whomever is laying on the couch.  She is low maintenance.

Enter Buddy - 5 mth old Austrailian Cattlehound/mix/mutt whatever -- he is my sister's puppy and he came along when they decided to make the trip down for a week.

I don't think Star likes him.  

Yes, that is me in the background you hear talking - am I the only one who wonders what bloggers sound like?

PSA ~ Swiffer Dust and Shine

Girls --- this is the BEST. STUFF. EVER. HANDS DOWN ....

I am what you would call a cleaning product ho -- I have them all. If it's on sale, has a coupon, or whatever, I will try it. This has resulted in an accumulation of cleaning products that I do not use. It's quite embarrassing b/c I am NOT a good housekeeper -- just ask Shawn -- no wait, don't, b/c she'll tell you

ANYWAY

I sent Chad out to buy some furniture cleaner b/c we were having a party and that's the only time I really DEEP clean -- had a coupon -- he comes back with the Swiffer Dust and Shine.

GLORIOUS!

Plus it smells good!

AND NO, I'm not getting paid or any free product for mentioning this on my blog ... I probably only have 10 people reading this, so what good would it do me anyway.

Just thought I'd share b/c who doesn't love a tip for a product (I've discovered lots of things I wouldn't know about thanks to blogs that recommend products just b/c they love them) -- it cleans everything ... and shines stainless steel BEAUTIFULLY!!

Just don't let it get on your tile floors (if you have them) -- would be disastrous -- don't ask me how I know - I just do.

Happy Sunday!!

Can't think of a title ....

I have been so busy this week! My sis is in town from Atlanta and I have been an entertaining FOOL!

I will post pictures and a recap this weekend -- we have really had a wonderful time so far!

I have a severe case of writer's block ....

Friend Making Monday ... or as I like to say "Friend Makin' Monday"

Kasey over at All That is Good is hosting "Friend Making Monday" ~ and I thought I would play along!

Here is my list!

This or That is the topic for this week.

1. jog or walk: walk
2. coffee or tea: Publix sweet tea
3. pepsi or coca cola: I am from Georgia, there is no such thing as Pepsi - PERIOD - I am a fountain Coke drinker
4. flats or heels: Heels ~ I LIVE in heels .... 5'8" and I feel weird in flats (unless they are flip flops_
5. fries or onion rings: fries and SPECIFICALLY HOT, Chick-fil-A fries
6. cats or dogs: I have one dog and 2 cats -- BUT I think I am more of a dog person
7. skim or whole: 2% --- I can not drink "dirty water"
8. small purses or large: whatever will hold the MOST JUNK!! HA ~ see previous post
9. van or suv: SUV!
10. winter or summer: summer --- allllll the way!
11. 1 piece bathing suit or 2: 2 pc -- love the Victoria's Secret suits (on sale of course!)
12. sit down restaurant or fast food: hmmmm, don't get out much, LOOOVE Chick-fil-A
13. McDonalds or Burger King: Booger Sling??! I don't think so -- MCDONALD'S!!
14. White Gold or Yellow: White
15. Fish or Chicken: Chicken .... if I were dying and could only eat fish, I would just die
16. Edward or Jacob: Good LAWDY - EDWARS
17. Pizza or Burger: Papa John's cheese pizza ..... but a bacon cheeseburger from Hooter's is really good too
18. apple or orange: orange
19. Spend or save: Save .... but I don't mind an occasional splurge and I tend to do it all at once
20. 1 story or 2 story house: 1 story

Bag Tag ...I'm IT!

I was tagged twice for this, the ever cute, Jill and then since Shawn called me out .....I'm REALLY going to do it and I hope both my readers still read my blog once I get done! HA!

Ok, here goes:

Here are the rules for the tag:

1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying today - not last weekend when you and your hubby went out to that fabulous restaurant. No cheating!!!

2. Tell us how much it cost. This is a no-judgment zone -- there will be no ridiculing or eye rolling here. And, if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I'd love to hear it.

3. Now tag some fellow bloggers and link back to this post so people know why you are posting pictures of your bag.

This is my current "bag" -- I have a lot of bags and need to start switching them out, BUT that's going to mean a 'character change' and I'm not sure I can do that.  I am known as the girl that has everything in their purse -- seriously, I carried a paint brush and screw driver around for the longest, as well as a stapler.  Whatever ..... if it provides comic relief for my girlfriends, then it's worth it.  BUT here she is:  I got her for Mother's Day last year from Chad and the kids. It's the standard monogram Coach bag, but it's medium size. I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't TOO bad.  I do know Chad was on the phone with Shawn when he bought it b/c he was asking her which one to get. Our Coach store had just opened in our mall, and he was stopping into the Apple store, saw it and went in. Simple as that.

NOW: if you think this purse can't hold a lot of stuff ... .you are DEAD WRONG!!  

Let's begin:


To make it easier, I put it in categories!!  We have:

• 5 pins and a button from my daughter's Vacation Bible School (from last summer)
  
• a crap load of receipts from 3mths ago up until TODAY
• 2 programs from church + a prayer list from January 11
• my Vera Bradley zipper wallet that holds my 'all the time use cards'
• my Coach wallet that doesn't hold anything but junk
• some hair clips (I bought these yesterday on my way to church)
• a stack of credit cards (some expired), rewards cards, gift cards
• a stack of business cards
• 10 (!!!!) lipsticks/lipglosses
• lipliner x 2
• makeup sponge
• eyeshadow primer (been lookin' for that)
• a bunch of change that was at the bottom of my purse
• girly 'stuff'
• CVS card
• my Life Journal from church (awesome, awesome, awesome -- just got it)
• a receipt from my bank deposit on Friday
• hand sanitizer
• 3 lotions
• star rewards coupons for Macy's
• a thank you note I need to send my aunt + some stamps
• 4 packs of Tums Quik Dissolve -- bought these a couple weeks ago when I thought I was dying of a heart attack 
• ticket from when I took Kennedy and a friend to see 'Tale of Despereaux'
• ticket from movie night with my girls on Friday
• headband + ponytail holder
• checkbook for my treasury position in one of my Leads Groups
• earrings, bracelet and ring
• Kennedy's bracelet and HER ring
• a post-it note pad
• AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!

THERE YOU HAVE IT!!  Please don't judge -- that's just me and you know what, you would be thankful if you were my friend and you needed various lipglosses or .83 .. b/c I would TOTALLY have it!

Slow ride .... take it eassssyyy

BIG weekend at Casa de Brock --- one 6 1/2 yr old had training wheels on her bike -- yeah, I know - a wee bit ridiculous, but she would NOT let us take them off.  They were all weebly, wobbly on the bike, not even hitting the ground, but they were her security ....

Until my FD, McKenzie, decided she was going to take them off and my kid said "SURE!" -- now, Kinz did call and tell me what she was doing and asked if that was ok ... I told her "OF COURSE -- just take pictures!" ... now before you all slay me over what I'm about to say -- I have the patience of a flea .... which means I never pushed Kennedy to learn to ride her bike with no training wheels.  I figured she would do it when she was ready and I was right.   And YES, I know her headband does not match, but doesn't she look CUTE??!!  Oh, and this was just after a bad freeze -- my VERY EXPENSIVE palm tree is under that one sheet and another topiary that we JUST got is under the other one.  BOTH SURVIVED!!  Course, it was like 80 the next day - gotta love Florida -- and that's Crazy Cameron in the background trying to take his training wheels off ..... he did not succeed.

Here she is just going to town -- there are a ton of pictures of Kennedy riding.  My guess is she rode in the grass first before she ventured on to the pavement.  There are a lot of her riding in circles in the grass ... 

See??  Heading towards the grass ..

There are quite of few of her falling too -- she looks so cute though.  I am SO proud of her persistence!!

This is right after I got home from a Celebrity Golf Tournament I was working at -- I drove by and she was just going in circles in our driveway.  I pulled into our neighbor's drive and parked and she FELL!!  I went over to hug her and tell her how proud I was of her -- Cameron had the camera and he took this picture!  HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE IT?!!!

Now if I could just get McKenzie back to teach Cameron .... 

***  EDITED TO ADD:  MY KID DOES HAVE A HELMET!!  The strap broke on it the day before and I did not know she was going to be trying to ride the next day.  She tried to wear her brother's and it was too small ...... safety first is our motto, here at the Brock House ***

This post brought to you by the letter "L"

Shawn tagged me with this and assigned me the letter "L" and so HERE I GO:

Ten things that I love that begin with the letter "L":

1. My Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ ~ I was one of 'those girls' that lived a lifestyle that was not healthy. I partied like a rock star, and would regret myself the next morning.  It lasted long enough to where I realized I was going to end up dead, raped (sorry, just keeping it real) or lost, so I made the decision to go on the straight and narrow.  For the record, I never, ever did one drop of drugs -- it was mainly drinking and I was 5'8", 115 lbs at the time, so it didn't take much.  I accepted Christ when I was 13 at a church camp, and got sideways.  I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I'm not shy about it and would love to tell my story one day.  I have been a PRACTICING Christian for the past 4 yrs -- it has been the BEST thing EVER!!!  I highly recommend it. 
This is the bible I use -- it is a dual translation -- NIV on one side and The Message on the other. 

2.  Laughter -- I LOVE LAUGHING!!  I have the best group of girlfriends and when we get together, it is a SURE THING!  These girls bring out the best in me and I couldn't imagine life without them!

Dawn, Nat, Shawn, Pam, and Alisa (celebrating Shawn's birthday)

Amber (my best friend of 23 yrs) and me

Our crew of girls that go to The Ritz every year -- we made a pyramid and it fell.  There is GUARANTEED LAUGHTER on this trip!!  EVERY YEAR!

3. Lip Gloss -- enough said. Don't go anywhere without it.  MAC lipglass is my favorite.


4. Lexus ...... it's my current vehicle and I LOVE it. I bought a used one with 12K miles on it .... 1/2 the price of a brand new one and it does everything I need it to do, except keep itself clean, but that's a post for another day!


5. Lounging ..... Sunday afternoons are my favorite!


Yeah, that's a picture of a slanket -- I want one. Shut up, you know you want one too!! NOT THE CHEAP SNUGGIE, a SLANKET!

6. The Limited ..... a friend and I walked into this store once and she said 'OH MY GOODNESS, I feel like I just walked into your closet!' -- yeah, I shop there a lot. I love it. They have good pants for tall girls that like to wear heels!


7. Long jeans ..... typically found at Buckle and the ONLY thing I will spend decent money on.


Favorite brand is Miss Me

8. Love -- I love my LOVE! Even though he makes me completely INSANE sometimes, he's mine.

** Miss Me jeans, by the way, HOLLA! **

9. My Little Ones .... my whole LIFE!!

Kennedy

Crazy Cameron

10.  Finally, my LIFE! I couldn't ask for a better one (well, maybe to be have a debt free life, but we're working on it).  I love living in Tampa, I have the most INCREDIBLE family and friends, and I live 20 minutes from the beach!!  HELLO!!  Who's coming to visit NOW!??!  

me and my LIFE LONG best friend, my twin, Jenn

There are some CRAZY people up in here!

On Friday I was driving home from work. I needed to make a quick stop at JoAnn's. Here in Tampa we have a 'row' of shopping centers and there is a common road that is BEHIND all of these stores. I was coming into the shopping center from the back, less busy road and went to turn RIGHT into the shopping center (mind you, I was already really IN the shopping center, just maneuvering my way around the center). I had received a text message that a little girl we were praying for had passed away and it really caught me off guard - b/c of this, I rolled through a stop sign -- going about 2 miles per hour AT THE MOST.

I pulled in front of a lady.

I did not hit her nor did she hit me.

She didn't even have to tap her brakes (I saw her in my rearview mirror).

I then received a phone call from my husband. I answered it. I was driving through the parking lot, looking for a place to park and I noticed lady was following me. SO I kept going and so did she. I finally stopped and parked and noticed she parked about 7 cars down (when you are friends with police officers, you hear lots of crazy stories).

Said lady stopped at my car and waited. She tapped on my window. I rolled it down and she proceeded to scream at me for running the stop sign. This is what I said to her:

"Let me give you a piece of advice, ma'am. People are crazy. Do not walk up to people's cars and scream at them. YOU NEVER KNOW if someone has a gun in their car and you NEVER know what kind of day someone is having! I suggest you get over it and go on with your day. I am sure you have done the same thing before!"

She proceeded to scream at me and I rolled up my window and told her to have a nice day. Life is TOO short to be screamed at by someone I don't even know AND over something so STUPID. I do know of a lady, in our area, that recently pulled into a parking space that another woman was waiting on. It was innocent. The lady walked up to the other lady's car. She proceeded to scream at the lady. The lady that took the parking lot rolled her window down and the other lady PUNCHED HE IN THE FACE and gave her a black EYE!! The kicker??!! The punching lady had her kids in the car and they witnessed the WHOLE THING!!

Was I out of line?? As soon as I realized I rolled through the stop sign, I kind of panicked, but dang ....

M.I.A. and suffering from C.H.A.O.S

C.H.A.O.S. = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome

Oh LORDY!!  Where have I been!??!  Welll, I've been here and have been RECLAIMING my house! For those of you that know me personally, I have made it my MISSION to get organized and keep a CLEAN house. I need baby steps and I found this site while blog surfing one night. I love it and have recommended it to some other ladies that I love.

See, I am one of those people that really really HATES a cluttered house. I hate it - but I am a victim of it. I try SO incredibly hard to keep my house clean, but I just can't. I have a job that requires 32-38 hrs/week of me (some of which is working from home, and that to me is even harder b/c you get consumed in 'other' things), a daughter who's calendar is more packed then mine, a son who will change clothes 32x, drag out every.single.toy he owns, and just MESS UP, and a husband who helps, but mostly after a gentle nudge of 'Hey honey, can you ......' ... ALTHOUGH, he did cover our plants and trees last night without me having to ask him to do it - so major props to him for that. I do not come home to a clean house, I come home to a house that needs to be cleaned ....and resentment grows when I spend my weekends cleaning 6-7 hrs when I'd rather be relaxing and doing other things. SO I'm hoping and praying that the decluttering and cleaning and following of the rules on flylady can get me to that place where I don't feel embarrassed to have people over!! Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I love our home -- it's HOME and it FEELS like home, I just want it to be CLEAN and KEPT CLEAN!

We did clean out our garage and it has lasted a whole month - which is HUGE for us b/c we will normally just 'put it in the garage' and that turns into 7 mths of not being able to park our car in the garage b/c of all the junk in it!!

I am done with the playroom - just need to get my decorating done in there. I will post a winner for the giveaway tomorrow! I have to manually put in some people that called me with suggestions as they saw it on my blog, but couldn't post for whatever reason,

Have a great rest of the week -- is it Friday yet??

Stay tuned -- got a great little thing I did in Kennedy's room -- it's adorable!