A Day In My Life

Today's prompt in the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge was to blog about a day in your life, including pictures.  I was excited about this one, as it gave me an excuse to take pictures of things I normally wouldn't...truly capturing the everyday.  I think I'll create a scrapbook layout of these picture as well!

Here is a glimpse into my life, with the first picture being taken around 5:30 this morning, and the last one around 10:30 at night:

Bogart is getting over being sick, thanks to the antibiotics we have been
giving him twice a day. 

About to go through the gate at work this morning.

Working on some inventory analysis reports.

It was a beautiful day, so lunch at the park was in order!
I took along my book to study for tonight's lesson.

My almost daily afternoon snack: an apple with a little bit of salt.
(Is putting salt on your apple a southern thing???)

Heading home and crossing the state line back into Mississippi.

I had to make a couple of stops on the way home from work: the bank 

to deposit Brandon's check, and then Piggly Wiggly for a few items like

cheese to go with our dinner.

Dinner in the living room and some mindless TV with
my furry kids piled on the couch with me before
getting ready for the meeting.

On our way to the meeting!

With my Aunt Mary after the meeting tonight

Late night treat: nachos & mango jalapeno margaritas!

And now, my friends, it's 11:45.  The alarm goes off early in the morning, and so it's off to bed for me!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

Today's prompt in the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge is to list ten things that make you happy.  Here are mine, in no particular order:

1. That first sip of coffee in the morning
2. A purring kitty
3. Spontaneous or kisses hugs from my hubby
4. Seattle
5. Dark chocolate
6. New scrapbook supplies
7. A great day in service
8. Conventions
9. Having so many awesome friends
10. Getting a card or letter in the mail

It's What I Do!

One of the prompts in the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge (although not technically today's prompt) was to tell what you DO, not counting your job.  I've been thinking on that for the past few days and decided it was one that I wanted to blog about.  I haven't been blogging every day, but I'm definitely trying to get back in the game, and I thought this one would be interesting.  So...here are some of the things that I "do."

One of the most important things that I feel I do is following the command that Jesus gave at Matthew 28:19-20 to go out and teach others truths from the Bible.  It's a privilege and a joy to find people who appreciate spiritual things and want to talk.  I don't get to go out as much as I would like to since I work full-time, but I try to go at least once a week and volunteer my time in this important worldwide activity.

Another thing I do is scrapbook.  I don't have a lot of spare time and so don't spend as much time on this hobby as I'd like, but I do it when I can.  It may take me 2-3 hours to complete a 2-page layout, but that's OK.  I enjoy the process almost as much as the end result!

I help homeless animals when at all possible.  Since we've been married, we've taken in two mommy cats & their babies (one of which actually had the babies in our guest room) and found them all homes, including sweet Sasha (read her story here) and her baby Winnie.  We fostered & later transported big, lovable Winston for Rockin' P Rescue, did a couple more transports, and most recently, I've volunteered at the local humane society's adoption event at Petsmart.  Even our crazy Boxer Bogart was homeless when we got him, and he has made an awesome addition to our family!  I wish there were homes for them all, but I do what I can.  Please spay & neuter your pets, folks!

And last, but certainly not least, I love my husband & best friend, Brandon.  He's stood by me for the past 16 years and counting.  We've been through so much together, and I feel that our bond is stronger now than it ever has been!  I'm blessed to have a husband that not only has similar interests as me, but also shares my values and goals!

Seeing Old Friends

The past two weekends we have been able to visit with some old friends who we don't get to see very often.  It's great to know that even though a few years may have passed, you can pick back up where you left off.  We have so many dear friends like that!

Last weekend, some of our friends from Georgia came up to visit their family here.  It was so nice to see everyone, especially Katie & her little family.  We hadn't seen Katie & Ryan since right before she got pregnant with Trystan. I can't believe he's already three!  He was being silly in this picture and wouldn't smile, but he's still a doll.  We definitely need to visit with them again before the next three years passes!

This weekend, some more good friends came to spend the weekend with us.  Among them was three-year-old Emilia.  She's the spitting image of her mom!  I couldn't wait to spend some time with her.  One of the things we did was cut out and decorate sugar cookies.  What fun!  Gina's sister Vanessa also came over for dinner since she was in town too.  We all grew up together, so it was really nice having them and their parents all together at our house.  We had a really nice weekend!

Cutting out the cookies

"CHEESE!"
Emilia loved using a bunch of sprinkles!

Em & Aunt Ness with their popsicles

Em wanted to sit with "Bwandon" before her bath.

Emilia & Gina after the meeting

Out to lunch with this silly girl on Sunday

The Story of my Life (in One Paragraph)

Shaina over at Shadylane Blog posted about a challenge she is doing for the month of May.  It is to blog every day day for the entire month.  She's following prompts from Story of My Life.  Since I've been out of the blogging loop for so long, I thought I'd play along, at least some of the days.  I might blog about other things too.  I just want to get back to writing and thought this might be fun.

Today's prompt is to tell the story of your life in 250 words or less.  Well, that's going to be kind of hard!  I'll see if I can condense down the important stuff to one paragraph.

I was born and raised in rural Mississippi.  I still live in the same little county 35+ years later.  I have one sister who is 4 years younger than me.  I've always had a huge love for animals, cats in particular.  I met my husband in 1995 and married him in 1997 while attending a local community college for a degree in drafting.  I've worked in the engineering departments of three different companies since college, including where I work now.  Five years ago, I moved out of  engineering and into IT and now work as a materials management functional analyst, working primarily in SAP.  I love it.  I lost my mom to cancer in 1998 and still miss her terribly.  Brandon and I don't have children but have two crazy Boxers and a cat.  We are Jehovah's Witnesses, which is a huge part of who we are.  We love to travel, especially to the mountains, and we also love try different foods.  I love scrapbooking and reading, although I don't have as much time for either as I'd like.

Around Here

My last post was harder to write than I expected.  Let's lighten things up a bit, OK?  My friend Shaina at Shadylane Blog posted this list yesterday.  I'm going to play along!

What’s on my...

VANITY: We technically don't have a vanity, but the chest in our room has my cute necklace/bracelet organizer, my jewelry box, a few candles, and a picture frame with a picture from our wedding.

PERSONAL TO-DO LIST:  Spring cleaning/organizing, Rosetta Stone (we're learning Spanish!), get back to scrapbooking, blog regularly, and increase personal Bible study

FRIDGE SHELVES: Among other things, the latest batch of dough from our new Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, almond milk, lots of Greek yogurt, and a large frozen turkey that Brandon is smoking for company this weekend. 

ITINERARY:  Lots of stuff on our calendar for this spring & summer!  Some of the things I'm most looking forward to are our company this weekend, an upcoming construction project we're volunteering at, our annual convention, and a trip to Seattle later this summer.

FANTASY ITINERARY:  A tour of Europe that includes a train, lots of castles, and bed & breakfasts!

PLAYLIST: I haven't listened to much music lately.  My iPhone is full of an eclectic mix of old favorites though: Matchbox Twenty, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Judds, Adele, Def Leppard, and Collective Soul, just to name a few.

NIGHTSTAND:  A "Mrs. Murphy" mystery by Rita Mae Brown, book light, chapstick, lamp, and - when I actually go to bed - a glass of water

PHONE: Lots of pictures, videos & music, a few books & magazines, tons of apps...the most used being Facebook, MyFitnessPal, Instagram, Mind Snacks: Spanish, Any List, and most recently Candy Crush because my sister-in-law talked me into downloading it and got me hooked!


MIND:  All the things I want to accomplish at home before our company comes Friday

WALLS:  My stretch canvas travel collages, a collage of photos of my family, and most recently a painting I did at an Official Girls' Night Out class with some friends recently.  What fun! 

LIQUOR SHELF: The liquor shelf is pretty bare right now.  I think there's a little orange vodka, some marshmallow vodka (for hot chocolate!), and some triple sec, and that's about it.  We haven't bought in anything in quite a while, although I've been wanting a margarita, so tequila is on the shopping list!

LAST CREDIT CARD STATEMENT:  Plane tickets, Rosetta Stone installment, a new part & tire alignment for our car, and a few small items.  We don't usually charge much, but April was an exception!

SCREENSAVER:  At home, photos; no screensaver at work...the computer goes to sleep and locks - How boring!

TV EVERY NIGHT:  Every night is different.  We watch way too much TV!!  Some things we both enjoy are Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest, and almost anything on Food Network.

Lost a Piece of My Heart

I realize that I've been missing from my blog for quite a while now.  One of the things keeping me away has been knowing that I needed to acknowledge the fact that on October 1, 2012, we lost I lost our precious kitty, Sam, to cancer. (I wrote about discovering that here.)  I have had a really hard time with it and just haven't felt emotionally ready to write about it, but she was such a huge part of my life that I felt like I needed to do that before moving on with any more posts. 

Brandon gave Sam to me before we got married.  He showed up at my house with an adorable little 5-week-old ball of fur, and from that day on she held a special place in my heart.  I was blessed to have her in my life for the next 16+ years, and I miss her every single day!

Summer Fun & New Friends

This past Sunday afternoon, Brandon went out with Matt & Kayla on their boat.  It was odd just being the four of us, as we usually have six at  a time.  The other couple that was supposed to go had to cancel at the last minute though so it was just us.  We really missed them, but we had a great time going up and down the waterway.  I even got up the nerve to ride the knee board once.  It was so much fun!  Go me! 

We had some more friends meeting us at the boat ramp later in the evening, and since there were too many people for the boat, Brandon & I hung out in the parking lot and waited on them to come back.  The weather was absolutely perfect!  It's finally started to cool off a little around here, so being outside is actually bearable.  Bring on the fall!

After the boat was loaded up, we all headed back to our house.  Brandon fired up the grill and cooked hamburgers & hot dogs, and we all just enjoyed sitting around and talking.  Our semi-new friend, Brenda, had come down, along with one of her friends, Kelly.  We had never met Kelly before, although we had met her brother.  She is an absolute hoot.  Love them both and can't wait to visit with them again!!  We are really blessed to have such a huge "family" of friends!!