Things that make me smile....

When little kids call me Miss Wynette

Chocolate chip cookies

Hearing that my 6-year-old niece reads before bed

Buying school supplies

My niece Madeline calling me Aunt Nenny

Time with girlfriends

When an Eagle story causes change that helps others

When miracles happen

Owning a Mac laptop

Petting a sweet dog

Getting a pedicure

Wonderings....

Does anyone else ever have God say to you "Some day" when you wonder if certain things will happen in your life? I often wonder when that day is, or if it's just me saying that to myself to make myself feel better. Any thoughts?

Back from hiatus

Wow, it's been a few years since I've posted. Guess I got sucked into facebook land and lost interest in blogging about my life. Friends used to tease me about how I always blogged about food in the past. Well, two of my loves are food and children (especially my nieces). Oh yeah, God is on that list of loves too. :-) I figure there are plenty of specialty blogs out there, so why don't I join the crowd. I can share thoughts on my passions and maybe make connections with people who share the same interests.

Today I wanted to talk about "Extreme Couponing." Admittedly, I'm fascinated by the show even though it seems like the same thing every week: Couponers talk about how much time they spend cutting, researching and organizing; go dumpster diving with their kids; brag about their stockpile; get nervous at the bill they're amassing and then rejoice when it gets down to their predicted amount. It's rather predictable. The products I see the most are: cereal, japanese noodle meals, sports drinks and beauty products. Hmmm...wouldn't ya love to survive on that year round? :-) I commend these people for their dedication to saving money, but I wonder how it's affecting the rest of us who maybe save $10 on our outings. While I rejoice at my $10 savings, it's like chump change compared to what these extremers save. And how is their popularity affecting the coupons we receive in our paper? This article addresses these questions.

http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113020-10125-1-how-to-get-the-most-from-coupons?ywaad=ad0035&nc

Fun times on the slide

I always have to get a funny face pic with my niece. On Monday we hung out and had such fun. The morning was spent out on the swingset. She wanted me to sit at the end of the slide so she could come down and "bonk" me. We kicked around the ball for a little while, then I tried convincing her she had put ENOUGH water in her pool. Blowing up that thing was a challenge. I think her favorite activity was chasing me around the kitchen and living room. I came home with sore muscles from all the running. We watched some Olympics (she likes the swimmers) and swam some more, and played with the cat, and ran some more. It was the most active we've ever been. I came home with a ton of mosquito and chigger bites. I think they were growing in her pool water!

Some of the funny things she said:

Mommy, I see a guy on his bike with a big belly like you're going to have. (My sister is eight weeks prego :-} )

We're going to do that for sure!

Oscar, you're disgusting. (the cat had just pooped)

Oscar, don't you be mean to my baby.

I love Oscar, and he loves me.

Some day I'm going to be good like that. (talking about the gymnasts)
She then demonstrated her rollover, which she also used to imitate the swimmers.

No aunt netty, cuz then the tag will be in the front! (when I thought she had her shorts on backwards)

Me: The Olympics are in China.
Abby: No, I live in Kansas City.

Ughhh.....

It's hard needing to be creative every day. I feel like my brain is blocked, and I can't come up with any new ideas. It's draining...

quest for inspiration...

I've been in a creative rut lately, so I went to Barnes & Noble for some inspiration. Every once in a while, I go there to flip through the art and design books and peruse the magazines. Most of the design books are expensive, so I don't buy them. However, today I bought a standard book for $25. I couldn't pass up the super cool journals they had. In my college magazine design class, we had to keep a journal of ideas we liked. Maybe doing that will inspire me to jump out of the box. 

Memories

A year ago yesterday, I was at the Indianapolis Zoo with my friends in Indiana. The past few years, we have always done something together on the 4th, be it BBQing for lunch or going to Lake Michigan. I was kind of missing them, but it wasn't a big deal. Before I went to the store this wall of sadness hit me like a brick. July 4th was one of the last times I hung out with my friend Nathan. I wish I had better memories of that time with him, but they are a bit blurry. It makes me feel guilty, like I didn't treasure those times enough. Thankfully, all of my friends take tons of pictures, so I can remember the good times we had at the fireworks show. The small town we went to always had a great show. This year I watched fireworks from the windows at work. They were okay. It just wasn't the same as I'm used to. I'm posting some of the pics I took last year.