Wedding anniversary is almost here

Hey y'all, sorry I wasn't able to post yesterday.  I have a lot going on so its quite likely this will be the last post this week . Maybe. We'll see.  I cant believe its almost September in just a few days.  Something else is in just a few days and that's my one year wedding anniversary! Whoop Whoop!
Sunday is the actual day and we plan on celebrating it by eating dinner at the same nice restaurant he proposed to me at.  Have you ever been to a Three Forks?  Todd proposed first to me and then we ordered food.  I got so emotional that I had huge lump in my throat and then I had hot flash and was soooo crazy hot and sweaty (in December).  I totally lost my appetite and took  it home for leftovers.  My loving awesome fiancé at the time actually ate my leftover dinner for his lunch the next day and I was furious!!  I can honestly say that I have never eaten there - just had a glass of wine and got very emotional. haha!  I'm excited to have a "Do Over"  and enjoy it this time even more.  I had the scallops and they were ginormous.  I love good scallops!
This Saturday we have a baptism and a birthday party on same day for 2 different people. We will be really busy but i'm looking forward to seeing everyone. My stepsister Rachelle and my niece Paloma are flying in from California for the weekend and I love visiting with them every chance I get.
While thinking of our wedding anniversary, I have looked back at all the wedding pictures, engagement pictures and the day I picked out my wedding dress. So many wonderful memories while at the same time going through my Dad's transplant and his healing. 
I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the dresses that I tried on and were in the top running .

 

I think I tried on over 25 dresses total between the 3 places we had appointments at . What's funny is the one I chose was from the very first place we started.

 

Photos taken by the most awesome photographer ever: my cousin Lauren .

If I don't talk to yall sooner, have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!!

 

Today is National Dog Day

Yep, it's true- look it up on Google. With today being a day I can just load up on pictures of my sweet handsome furry black boy, I'm on it! 

Do you have fur babies that you're totally smitten with? 

Happy Tuesday y'all!! 

Crafty lazy Sunday

Happy Monday y'all! It's back to school for most all of the schools here in Dallas. What that means for me is tons of school zones to work and back. My step kids started today and they were both excited which is good. 

When I got home from church and lunch yesterday, Todd wasn't feeling so good so he hung out on the couch and watched football. I am actually starting to think about our annual HOLLIween party. Having a big back yard is so awesome and will be fun to decorate.  I had a few metal folding chairs so I painted them. I am so bad about Before pics.  Here is the after: 

After painting those, I tackled a little stool that I bought for 5$ at a thrift store. 

I really wish i had taken a Before pic when it still had the cushion on it. Someone had literally taken a throw pillow and then screwed it onto the stool. It was very high and dangerous and unsteady.  I took that off and threw in the trash.  It was a dark brown color and I have some Valspar red that I wanted to use. I sanded the legs a little bit to help the new paint stick to it. I used a little foam brush and it worked great. It was 102 degrees out so it was drying pretty quickly.  I didn't use a primer but the existing brown base was good to have. After it dried completely , in less than an hour- I cut up a piece of red oilcloth that I bought last year.  I actually used 2 shammy cloths as a cushion and stapled them to the stool.  I didn't want it bulky and they were not too thick put together. 

Then I stapled the oilcloth over the dustrags using the industrial staple gun and staples.  It's kinda hard to get the edges around the stool legs.  I need more practice on that for sure. It was fun to do though and waterproof if I want to leave outside.  It's good to have plenty of seating at parties! 

My next project is to make some signs to nail to my tree in the front yard for the party. I grabbed some pieces of wood that someone had put out on the curb. Score for free wood!! 

Have a great day y'all. 

MY ALS ice bucket challenge

Happy happy Friday y'all!!  I mentioned yesterday that I was challenged twice to do the challenge and you have 24 hrs to do it.   Todd had band practice at the church last night after work so I had to wait until he got home to video me.  The shock of the cold water and ice really does take your breath away.  I challenged  my cousin Lauren, my brother Jeremy and my bestie from high school Kimi.  Not sure if any of them will do it but we shall see.  I was kinda nervous once the video starts and I feel like I left some things out like where to donate. Oh well!

So do you have anything fun planned this weekend? Todd and I don't have any specific plans this time except have dinner with the kiddos tomorrow.  We are also wanting to prepare for our garage sale in a few weeks so I have tons to do.   It's going to be crazy hot so I will be in air conditioning no matter what.
Have a great weekend whatever you do. 

ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE VIDEOS

Happy Thursday Y'all!! So the videos just keep coming and they never get old.  Some people say what does pouring ice on your head have to do with ALS? Well, its bringing awareness and that's all that's necessary.  Up until now, several people didn't realize that ALS was also the same as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Lou was the famous baseball player that passed from the disease and gave it its first exposure.  We all know in October when we see pink ribbons everywhere that its for breast cancer. We all know in February when people wear red its for heart disease. Why then question if millions of people want to drop ice for ALS?
I posted the other the video with Charlie Sheen dropping 10 thousand dollars over his head instead of the ice.  There have been soooo many creative and cute videos since then.  I wanted to show you a few of my favorites.  President Bush and Laura are great sports.  The Foo Fighters does a spinoff of the classic movie Carrie. The New York City Rockettes, and  One of them is very serious and gives you true perspective of how scary this disease is.   There are just so many to choose from but all of them mean so much.
One more thing, my beautiful step-daughter Ally and my pastor from church Brian, both tagged me for the challenge. I will be videoing my own challenge this evening. I said I wasn't going to but I made the donation, why not join the fun after all? 

Have a great day!!! 

I want Candy!

When I was in the Rapid City, South Dakota airport on way home, I had a sweet tooth and stopped in the airport gift shop.  I came across a package of Twin Bing candy bars at the register.  I had never heard of them before and the cashier said they were really good and talked me into buying it.  Although it says candy bar, its actually 2 separate pieces like Reese's butter cups.   Twin Bings are made in Sioux City, Iowa and primarily sold around the Midwest states. Palmer Candy is the distributor.  They are chocolate and nuts all over but in the middle is a cherry nougat.  I wasn't sure I was going to like it but I loved it!!  I am so bummed that I cant get any here in Dallas.  People around here (Texas) have never heard of them.  Have you ever had one?
I think I can order some off Amazon so I may splurge next payday.

Do you have any candy that is primarily in your region?  We have pecan pralines all over our state and I know my mom loves me to send her some to Montana.  I love them too and there are chewy pralines and there are more harder crunchy pralines.  They are so delicious!

Happy Wednesday yall!!

Date nights and ALS ice bucket challenge

I had crazy sinus headache yesterday and I just didn't get around to posting on this ol blog. I worked from home in case I my headaches caused another big dizzy spells.  I'm back at the office today but still a little lingering headache is still there. Boo!  
I had a great weekend and while it was fun playing matchmaker with two of our friends, Todd and I had a wonderful date night ourselves.  We had dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants and then went to another one of my favorite places that is called The Balcony Club. Its really small and quaint and they have good bands every time i'm there.  The crowd is a much older mature crowd and I think that's what made it even more fun.  Almost everyone would get up and dance with no care in the world.  Todd and I danced and it just made my heart skip a beat.  I love to dance.  I think the last time we danced was at our wedding a year ago (minus 13 days).  The band played older songs from the 60's but great hits.   I told Todd how much that meant to me , to take me in his arms on the dance floor and it was very sexy!  He said that we would be doing a lot more of that.  Woohoo!! 
Date nights are so important for married couples.  We always go to dinner at least one night during the weekend but that's it. We rarely go out afterward to listen to a band or dance anymore.  It really re-charged me and i'm excited to that again.   If you're married- do you and your spouse have fun date nights? What do yall do to add spice?

Now if yall are on Facebook, Instagram, etc then you've all seen the thousands of people doing the ALS ice bucket challenge.  I cant even begin to say how I excited I am that ALS is getting this much exposure and donations through all this.   ALS took my most favorite person in the world and my hero- Poppy. I've mentioned him numerous times on my blog.  My Poppy was the most outgoing and spunky man I knew.  To see him trapped on the porch sitting in wheelchair while looking at his Harley brings tears to my face. I can barely type this now without flashing back to all the sadness and pain he and my family endured.  Your body deceives you and withers while your mind is still sharp as a tack.  Ok, I cant go on about this because I am crying at my desk.  Anyway, the challenge is to donate 10$ and pour ice bucket over your head or donate 100$.  I pray that everyone is truly donating and not just pouring the bucket.  Yesterday my brother texted me and told me to look up Charlie Sheen's challenge. I went to the internet and it came up immediately after typing his name.  Instead of pouring the ice water- he dumped a bucket of money over his head. He donated 10,000 dollars and then challenged a few more celebrities.  Charlie kinda went crazy in years past and has certainly had his share in the tabloids but man did he ever redeem himself in my book!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qat9gR5nrpM&feature=player_embedded

Hopefully this link works for yall!   I have made donations every year to ALS and receive several pamphlets in the mail from ALS organizations in the states. I wont be needing to dump ice water on myself. 

Have a great day!