About Me

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I live on 6 deeply wooded acres in the boonies of Middleville, MI. I'm married to an amazing man, Brian. He's pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm a big animal lover. I have 5 cats; Bella (6), Cognac (3), Georgia (3), Maggie (2), & Auggie (8-9mos.) We recently lost our kittens, Aesop & Amelia, to a battle with Feline Leukemia. I feel the need to mention them. They were amazing beings that showed unconditional love like no other cats I've had. I also have Cheech (9) that I'm fostering. We have two puppies; Charlie & Henry. Having a blast! I'm a dabbler in photography, photo shop, & crafts. I'm kind of a bookworm/nerd/geek. Yes, I have read the Twilight Series. No, I'm not obsessed. I love Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum - among others, obviously.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

It's been a while since I posted a blog. I know, I know... I'm horrible.

Well, my Goddaughter's baptism was on April 19th. I must say that I had never participated in a Catholic baptism before. It was quite a nice ceremony. And it was definitely awesome to see a lot of family there. We were saddened by a last minute change; Brian is not Natilee's Godfather. It's saddening. But, I guess that's a rule. One of the Godparents must participate in the Catholic faith. So, alas, my Uncle Tom is Natilee's Godfather. It wasn't what Sara, Natilee's mother, originally wanted. She was unaware of the rule. The baptism was nice, overall. And Natilee was just beaming up there. I was very impressed that she didn't cry when the water was being poured on her head. As a matter of fact, she didn't cry until about 10 minutes after all of the pictures with family were taken.

I'm still very humbled with this opportunity. I was almost in tears when Sara originally asked me. And I can't wait until I can spend more time with Natilee.

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This is my little cousin Ryan (the ring bearer at the wedding) trying to give Natilee hugs and kisses. If you think this is cute, you should have heard him saying Natilee's name. It would have melted your heart.

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Left to Right: My beautiful self, my cousin Sara with Natilee, Ryan, and my Uncle Tom. (Myself and Tom are Natilee's Godparents.)


Tuesday we had an all staff meeting at HPS. My friend, Sarah, decided to help HPS out by answering the phones while we were meeting. She brought her very handsome son, Ike, along with her. It was pretty fun hanging around with her and catching up... And of course, playing with Ike. Ike loved the junk cool trinkets on my desk. Especially my slinky jr.

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Yesterday, Brian and myself met with a gentleman named John. He'll be performing (hopefully... if he decides we're fit for marriage) our ceremony at our wedding. He's a long loooooooong lost cousin of mine, as well. So, it was pretty awesome getting to talk with him and share stories of yesteryear. We'll be meeting again at the The Cracked Pepper next month for a more extensive Q and A.

On a sad note, my Great Aunt Jeanetta (on my Mother's side) past away this past week. As well as my Great Uncle Royce (on my Father's side).

I did not know my Great Aunt Jeneatta very well. I think I have only been in her presence about 15 times in my entire life. Her daughter, Sheila Marie, has been a second mother to me. I'm deeply saddened at her loss and the pain that she's going through with losing a mother. And Brian and I will be there at Aunt Jeanetta's funeral to show our support for her.

And now, I'll leave you with a few humoring pictures to lift the mood from my last paragraph...

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Georgia with a lady bug hat.

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And here's Georgia with her celebrity crush, Batman!

Friday, April 17, 2009

I Like Flowers

So, I have a big weekend coming up. Tomorrow, I'll be out and about all day in Grand Rapids with my boys... AKA Brian and Robert. We need to update our weddin' registries and I need to make a quick stop at David's Bridal.

Then, on Sunday Brian and I will be Godparents, officially. I'm very excited about that. The baptism is at 12:30 p.m. I'll definitely be bringing my camera. So, I'll be posting those pictures asap.

Brian and I had a date night tonight. For the last three days we haven't gotten to speak much because he's been taking classes all day long. And tonight when I got in my car there was a bouquet of flowers. How sweet of him! And it was even wrapped with a green ribbon around it. (Green is my favorite color.)

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Stupid hard water spots...

And now... A picture of moi.

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter & More

Well, Easter 2009 was amazing. Brian and I went to church at TVC. That was absolutely wonderful. I was quite impressed at what all they fit into the sermon. And I was amazed at the turn out, as well.

Next on the agenda was to head to Battle Creek. We met up with Brian's family at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. And then headed to his parents house. Where they shared quite a few heartfelt memories. Brian's Mom brought out a big box of Brian and Colleen's crafts, school reports, etc... Some dated back to before 1989. That was pretty amazing. And kudos to Brian's Mom for being able to keep it all in good condition. I was amazed by that.

After a couple hours of socializing Brian and I thought that we should get back to Barry County. We got back to Hastings at around 6:30 p.m. and decided to get some dinner at one of the only places opened for dinner in Hastings; Dynasty Buffet. I was surprised to see that they had sushi there, too. The woman running it said they'd been serving it for about 2 weeks.

Then Brian and I headed to Walmart to check out the DVD section. I'd been wanting to get the Mickey and the Beanstalk DVD. I loved watching it as a child. They'd always play my all time favorite Mickey Cartoon right alongside it; Thru The Mirror. Here's a video...

And since I've gotten a new camera because Brian is fully awesome... I will leave you with several and I mean several pictures. Enjoy. :)

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Cognac curled up all cute 'n' stuff. :)

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Cognac looking at me, disapprovingly.

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Georgia should just go ahead and be a feline runway model...

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Georgia, again.

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So innocent-like....

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Brian in my car mirror. (We're on our way to HPS to make wedding crafts... Don't worry, we work there...)

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This is from a tree in my future back yard.

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Georgia is so silly!

And these next ones are pictures that I took of my engagement ring and the promise ring that I bought for Brian.

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I kind of have a thing for picture takin' photography.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

A Busy and Productive Day

Well, we had a very productive day.

First off Robert, Brian and I went to Grand Rapids. We had a quick lunch. Then we went to Hobby Lobby. I bought several things there for the wedding. And I also got some pretty cool ideas for bridesmaids gifts.

Then we walked around the entire Woodland Mall. Brian had bought me a nice Canon camera as a wedding gift. And we went to the mall to see if there were any camera bags that I could use for it. It's by far the nicest camera I've ever had. So, thank you, Brian. :)

We then went into several stores where we didn't even buy anything at all.

We dined at Denny's for dinner. Belgian waffle = Yummo.

We got back to Brian's house. Robert left after a while. And Brian and I packed up all of my scrapbooking/craft stuff and headed to HPS where we could have some room while we worked on some wedding stuff....

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These are the unfinished flower girl baskets.

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These are some of the pinwheels that Brian made. (We'll be adding a red accent to their centers, though...) Good job, B!

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These are the finished flower girl baskets. I'm very proud of them.

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This is a close up of one of them.

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And here they are storing some of the other pinwheels that Brian made.

Needless to say, I am TIRED.

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Brian and I. (I'm not used to holding this big camera up for a self taken picture...)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Trying To Think Spring

Hello readers.
This is going to be a short post since I am pretty pooped.

BIG NEWS: Brian and I have a pastor for the wedding. WHOO HOO! It's actually my distant cousin, John. He goes through the Living Waters Church, I believe.

Also, Brian and I booked our honeymoon yesterday. I'm slightly nervous about the plane ride. Everyone's telling me I'll love it... But... C'mon... There's no telling until after I do it...

I started tanning for the wedding yesterday. Started at 7 minutes... It's... different. And surprisingly relaxing.

And today there were a couple birthdays around the office... And I was able to take a few pictures of some beautiful, fragrant, and humbling gifts they received...

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Sunday, April 5, 2009

Yay For Crafts

One night I was searching for vintage/handmade wedding goods on Etsy.com And I stumbled upon an awesome idea... Wait for it...... keep waiting.... Pinwheels! There was a woman on Etsy that made her own pinwheels for her wedding. She actually has a pinwheel business. Her pinwheels, although they are beautiful, are a little too much for me to purchase. To me, the pinwheels remind me of fireworks... Which go hand in hand with July 4th, obviously. So, I've decided to make my own! At first I started at work just making a little one here and there out of post it notes. They're very simple to make. So, I compiled a list of things that I needed for making more of them... for the wedding. So, last Monday night I checked at Hastings' beloved Wal-Mart. And I bought quite a few items. And then a book of double sided scrapbooking paper in some crazy colors.To practice... And then I bought a book of one sided scrapbooking paper in mainly black and white colors.

After making two or three, it's pretty simple.

Here is one of my first ones...

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Well, this Saturday I spent most of the day with my "brudder" Robert. Saturday morning, apart from Brian :(, I had to get to the post office before they closed to get my passport request sent out in the mail. I was never told that I needed my birth certificate for my passport, either. I know, I know... I should have known... After a little extra time trying to find my birth certificate around my house, I finally got my passport request out in the mail. So, in 4-6 weeks I should have it! Yay!

Robert and I dined out for lunch. And then we went to Walmart. We mainly just walked around. I then got my picture taken with the Easter Bunny! :)

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Then we hung out at Brian's house and watched the new Jim Gaffigan DVD. I love, love, love Jim Gaffigan!

On Sunday Brian, Robert, and I headed up to Grand Rapids. I wanted to check out the Michael's and Hobby Lobby to see what they had for scrapbooking paper and if I could use anything for the pinwheels. Sadly, Hobby Lobby is closed on Sundays. So most of the time we spent in GR was at Michael's, Home Depot (new shelves for my future bathroom!), and Target.

And we finished with dinner at TGIFridays.

And now I'll leave you with several pictures that I took recently...

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This would be Cognac. He stares at me frequently.

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Brian and myself. :)

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Me and my long hair...

And these next few are of my engagement ring on Brian's 1968 El Camino...

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