Project: Simplify

Starting this Monday, March 7th, I am going to be taking part in Project: Simplify, hosted by Simple Mom. I have been really meaning to totally declutter and reorganize my house and now I have the perfect motivation! The project will take place over 5 weeks, ending on April 8th. Each Monday of the five weeks Simple Mom will announce that week's "hot spot" project. Over the week, the decluttering, cleaning and organizing will take place - but AFTER you take a "before" picture of that area. On Friday, we will unveil our "before" and "after" pictures! And for even more incentive, she is doing a weekly giveaway for the best before/after. What a great way to begin the Spring Cleaning! Won't you join me??

A Prayerful Thursday

I have always been one of those silent blog readers, lovingly admiring other blogs and their ease with posts. I never could understand how to make things flow so effortlessly and then it hit me today, I have to just report my day, my thoughts, whatever....that there really isn't a certain "way" to maintain a blog. So I will still finish the 30 Day challenge questions but I may not do them in sequential order. Today has been a day of reminders for prayers.

This morning my mother informed my husband and I that my aunt, who has worked for JcPenney's for 34 years, was laid off yesterday. We both couldn't believe it. My aunt has worked there since she was in high school. My uncle works 3 jobs - as a paramedic, a firefighter and on the line at a factory - to help make ends meet. They have one daughter finishing college and another just beginning so prayers are definitely needed for them. That was my first reminder for prayer today....

One of our co-workers fell and broke her right ankle the weekend of February 4th, when Dallas had the massive snow/ice storm. She ended up shattering both bones in her leg, just above her ankle joint. She underwent surgery to have a metal plate and a screw placed. She was at home for this past week to recover as her post-op before her first follow-up appt. Her first follow-up appt was yesterday with the orthopedist and he put a metal boot around her ankle/foot but she is still to have no weight on it at all. That means no driving, no nothing, just resting....for another 4-6 weeks. She has missed the entire month of February from work and now he pretty much told her that she will miss March as well. Second reminder for prayer today....

My mother is the office manager at our office and she is involved in depositions for a legal case right now. She begins the second half of her deposition tomorrow at 9 am. She is very stressed over the situation and really needs calmness and peace - not to mention still dealing with the situation of my Grandmother being placed in a nursing home just over a week ago. Third reminder for prayer today.....

Last reminder of prayer is for myself and for my husband. We are desperately trying for a child and so far, nothing has happened. We are trying to be positive and patient about it. Well I finally called my doctor yesterday because it has been 50 days since my last cycle but both pregnancy tests we have taken say negative. We are hoping and praying that nothing is wrong. My sister was diagnosed with PCOS this last fall so with all of this, we called and consulted with my doctor. She did not seem too worried at this point. She told us to wait it out for another month and to let her know. So we are hoping and praying for God's guidance and peace during this time.....

After all this, you can now see what I mean about a "prayerful" Thursday! I hope each of you had a blessed day and if I can pray for any of you and your family, please let me know!

30 Day Challenge: Day 7

Your Zodiac Sign and Does It Fit Your Personality?

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I am an Aries baby. Aries is the first astrological sign of the Zodiac, is ruled by the planet Mars and its symbol is the Ram. Don't you just LOVE the baby picture above? Too cute!! Well, let me give you some characteristics of an Aries and then I will disclose if it fits my personality.

Characteristics of an Aries:
- Adventurous
- Ambitious
- Impulsive
- Full of Energy
- Courageous leaders
- Championing causes
- Likes Challenges
- Naive

Dislikes of an Aries:
- Waiting Around
- Admitting Failure
- Tyranny

I agree with some of the charactersistics and I agree with the dislikes so I guess you could say that I agree with my astrological sign. I can be impulsive, I tend to want to take charge of things, help out as much as I can and make sure things get done. I tend to be very naive when it comes to certain things. I truly do tend to see the good side of everyone until I am proven wrong and when that happens, watch out! I will remember! On the dislikes I listed above, I agree with all 3 of them - I hate waiting for things (as key to something I am going through right now), I HATE to admit failure and refuse to admit it until the last possible second and I cannot stand any form of tyranny from certain rules at work to how people act or project themselves on others. So all in all, I say I am definitely an Aries!

30 Day Challenge: Day 5 and 6

A Time You Thought About Ending Your Own Life

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I can honestly say I have never had a time where I thought about ending my own life. I know everyone has bad days and there are times that some people can become depressed but I have never struggled with anything past that. I am blessed to have a wonderful family, both on my side and on Hubby's side...not to mention a key close friends and a wonderful Hubby. I am trying to think of all the good things, all the blessings I have in my life instead of all the drama or not-so-good things. I do know that there are some out there who do not have the support around them like I do or the life and encouragement and they do think about ending their life. I will continue to pray for all those out there suffering with this decision to be comforted and to know they are loved and they do have a purpose.

Write 30 Interesting Facts About Yourself

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1. My favorite color is pink - which amuses my mother since I hated the color as a child.

2. I am a bookworm. I will read a couple of books a week - when I get started, I read at every chance I get until I am done. I am keeping a "Books Read" list this year to see just how many I read in a year.

3. I love movies! I not only collect them but I am known as a master movie quoter. Everything can spin me into a quote from one of my favorites! I currently put together a list of all the movies I own for a friend of mine and Hubby and I currently have 360 movies (not including Disney or childrens ones).

4. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Radiologic Sciences...meaning I was the technician who took your x-ray in the hospital, ER, or surgery area. I worked in a hospital for 2 years before getting married and moving.

5. I am learning to become a bargain shopper. I grew up not having to watch for great sales when shopping and while that was a very nice blessing, it didn't really help me when Hubby and I got married and I was the only one working while Hubby was in law school. We had an adjustment period but I am getting much better!

6. I am a total dog lover! I grew up with a dog at my house and my parents' dog, Jake, is our adopted dog. He is part lab/part Greyhound, very cute! I have a very special place in my heart for pugs as our neighbors growing up had one named Mac and he always loved to play with me.

7. I am the first person in my immediate family to be born in a state other than Illinois. My whole family - mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins - were all born in southern Illinois. The only 2 people not born in Illinois, besides me, are my paternal grandmother and my great uncle who were born in Virginia.

8. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school and I loved it. I would gladly do it again. It was totally my decision and truth be told, my father wasn't too keen on the idea when I made it.

9. I am a confessed Starbucks addict. I finally said it! I love a Grande, no whip, White Chocolate Mocha in the morning....but I know they can get expensive so my close second favorite is my Keurig coffee at home with International Delights Caramel Macchiato creamer.

10. Outside of my Starbucks, I pretty much only drink water and Sprite. I might have an unsweetened iced tea here and there but I try not to. We learned not too long ago that caffeine irritates my acid reflux. So I have to have coffee, cokes, and chocolate in moderation or sparingly.

11. I still have a hard time believing that I will be 29 next month - almost 30! Seriously, this weekend when my sister and I checked into our hotel for our fun weekend, the lady at the main desk asked if we were both over 21 in order to get the mini fridge key and I had to think before I answered!

12. My father is a hunter so I grew up around guns and hunting. I used to go hunting with him when I was younger and before I went away to college. None of that stuff bothers me - never has, never will.

13. I am becoming more and more of a sports fan, thanks to Hubby. I am a big time Dallas Mavericks fan (NBA)...I would rather watch or attend a NBA game than football even though football is a close second. I mean I am from the ULTIMATE football state of Texas!

14. I am deathly afraid of snakes. I cannot stand them! To see them on TV or at the zoo is okay but underneath I still squirm. No thank you!

15. I am an aunt to 2 nieces and 1 nephew...I would like to see them more but they all live in other areas of Texas so holidays is basically the only time we get together.

16. I work at the same office as my Hubby. We carpool to work every day, our cubicles are only one aisle apart, we go to lunch together everyday and we drive home together....and we love it!!!

17. I have seen Celine Dion twice in concert - once in Las Vegas and once in Dallas - and I am going to see Josh Groban for the second time in concert this May!

18. I do love reading or watching movies about the romantic side of vampires/werewolves. I don't mean just Twilight either - I love the Underworld movies with Kate Beckinsale, I own the original Dracula movie with Gary Oldman and Keanu Reeves and some of my favorite authors write romance stories in the genre, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, etc.

19. I have never been one to have lots of friends...I have a very few close friends and that is it. I was the same way in high school and college but thanks to Facebook, my few close friends now aren't the same ones I had 5 years ago.

20. I could eat at Panera Bread Company every day and be totally in heaven! I love their baked potato soup!

21. I have never broken a bone in my body. Fingers crossed that I never do!

22. I have seen the musical Wicked twice - once last May and the second time just this weekend. It is one of my top two all time favorite musicals - Phantom of the Opera is the other one.

23. My favorite TV shows are Mike and Molly, Hawaii 5-0, and Big Bang Theory. I watch a couple of others but these 3 are my favorites, never miss an episode.

24. My Hubby and I met on a blind date and almost 7 years later, still going strong!

25. Hubby and I are currently trying to get pregnant with our first child. We are praying for our first miracle sometime this year.

26. I have cereal for dinner at least once a week.

27. If Hubby and I could go on vacation anywhere, we would happily go back to Kauai, Hawaii - same place where we honeymooned!

28. My Hubby is the decorator in our household - I add a few items here and there but the big decisions and arranging comes from him.

29. I am branching out into different genres of music but my first love will always be country music.

30. I would live in pajamas or "comfy" clothes all day, every day if I could! I rarely get really dressed up.

30 Day Challenge: Day 4

My Views on Religion

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My views on religion....wow, what a loaded question/topic. Let me started by saying I was raised Roman Catholic. I went to Catholic private school from 2nd grade through high school. In fact, I went to one of the biggest all-girls Catholic high school programs in the US - Ursuline Academy. I have always known and accepted our beliefs and doctrine growing up but I do have to admit that as I get older, now I want to understand the reason behind those doctrines. There wasn't much explanation as to why we were supposed to do things this way or that way growing up. I do have to say that I am still a Catholic but I am not a die-hard Catholic...meaning I have not been to weekly Mass, faithfully, in years. My hubby and I did not get married in the Catholic Church and the only reason for that is that I did not feel comfortable making him have to take a class in order to accept Catholicism as his religion in order for us to get married in the Church.

Please do not misunderstand me, I still have a love and a connection to Roman Catholicism. I have always had a religious background and a knowledge of God but I can honestly say that I have not grown enough in my faith to fully understand and to fully have a true and honest relationship with God. I hope that over time with prayers and study I can develop a steadfast and true relationship with my faith, religion and God. I know this doesn't really answer the question as to my views on religion but I do not believe at this point, I cannot make a solid case for my views as I am still developing them. Hopefully in the near future, I can have a different answer to share with you.

30 Day Challenge: Day 3

My Views on Drugs and Alcohol

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My views on drugs and alcohol are pretty simple. No to both. I am proud to say I have never experimented with any drugs, including nicotine in cigarettes. I did try one glass of red wine and a beer or two over the years just to taste but I learned a long time ago, I just don't like alcohol. Never have, never will. I would rather have a big glass of iced tea (NO sugar) or some water before anything else. I do want to stress, however, that these are my personal views and I would never push them off onto others. What other people do is totally their call...my parents and several friends of mine drink and to that I say, that is fine as long as it doesn't endanger anyone else. I am boring, I know....I have always been a rule follower, ever since I was little and I haven't changed.

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In other news, I am so glad that tomorrow is my "Friday" at work. The last couple of weeks have been very busy and stressful for the beginning of our February was killed with snow, ice and freezing temperatures here in north Texas. That definitely threw a damper on things at work and to top it off, we have been short handed off and on due to several co-workers being sick and one even slipped and broke her leg on the ice! Needless to say I have been a busy bee at work this month but I am taking off Friday to head to Austin to pick my sister on our way to San Antonio.

We are heading to San Antonio because on Saturday at 2 pm we will be seeing........


WICKED the musical!! We cannot wait - this will be my second time to see it and my sister's first time. It truly is one of the best musicals and the story is unbelievable...truly goes so well with the Wizard of Oz. I will be sure to take some pics of our time this weekend to post on here. Do you have any fun plans for this weekend?

30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Where I Want to Be In 10 Years

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In ten years, I hope to be thinking of more dreams and watching them come true! It is hard to think that in 10 years, it will be 2021! I don't know if my mind will accept that year just yet....but I will try.

In ten years, I hope Hubby and I are surrounded by at least 2-3 children and living in our dream home. We love our home now but we would like to have a bigger home later in life, if possible. One of my dreams is to be a stay at home mom/homemaker even though right now it doesn't look like it is financially possible. I will keep praying and wishing for it and hopefully my dream coincides with God's plan for me.

I would love to have found a home church for us and our children. A church where we feel truly accepted and a true part of the community in which our family can build a strong relationship with God. We thought we had that church a year or so ago but alas, I was a little too put off by the "high school cliche" feel to it. They were very warm and accepting on Sunday morning at church but I just didn't get the same vibe when we were together in smaller groups.

I hope that Hubby will find a workplace he truly loves and feels like his contributions are respected and honored. Both Hubby and I work at the same office now and the work environment is very nice and we both are earning a good living but I just get the feeling that Hubby feels like something is missing. Maybe that "missing" piece will fit at this office but we will have to keep faithful and true until we know for certain.

I would love to say that we will be financially set and that we can afford to take our kids on Disney trips at least once or twice but those things aren't the important things. I want our children to know they are loved above all else, that work always comes second to them and their well-being. I want to encourage them and my Hubby to be the best they can, to support them no matter what and to pray for the best that God has in store for them. But if I do have to be a little materialistic, I would love to take Hubby overseas to experience these treasures in person....


Sistine Chapel, Vatican City


Trevi Fountain, Rome


Blarney Castle, Ireland


Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Oh to dream!! Keep dreaming!!