I won a Blogger "award"!

My friend & fellow blogger, BEM, was sweet enough to present me with the "Stylish Blogger Award". Sadly, I don't have speech prepared :-). So I'll just tell her, "THANK YOU" and get on with it...

This is a pay-it-forward style award. Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.
2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered (or not so recently)
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

Alrighty, here goes nothin....

1. I don't like to swallow when I'm in the shower! Weird huh? Not sure when this started or even why. But it just feels so strange to me to swallow while I'm taking a shower. It almost feels as if I'm drowning or something. So I try VERY hard not to do it.
   
2. Dr. Pepper is my most favorite drink on the planet!  However, I love it SO MUCH that I don't even keep it in my house. I don't buy it by the 6-pack, by the 2-liter or by the case. It is one of my guilty pleasures and I only buy them...one at a time...on occasion when I go to the store or to a restaurant (fast food or otherwise). I have even been known to go to another fast food restaurant or store to buy a Dr. Pepper if the place I'm eating at doesn't offer it on their menu. And when Dr. Pepper is not available at a "sit down" restaurant, I order sweet tea with no lemon! Oh, and I have such great friends though, that for my birthday or Christmas, they buy me a case :-).
   
3. I would LOVE to be nominated to be on the TLC show, What Not To Wear (WNTW)! I really would. Since becoming a SAHM...ok, even before that, I have NEVER had a sense of style. In fact, I'm just shy of having the "I don't care!" state of mind. I like to keep it simple. I get up in the morning, throw on something that's clean (enough) and I'm out the door! My daily "uniform" consists of either jeans or sweatpants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt. I have NO one to impress...so why should I care? Going on that show would do wonders for me. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend $5000 on CLOTHES for themselves? In New York, even! I will say that I don't think I'd be too good of candidate when it came to getting my hair done though. I LOVE my grey streaked hair. And I like the length of my hair. Those 2 hair stylist on there like to cut hair...and I'm not down with that!
4. Piggy backing off of #3, the other thing about me is, I don't like to shop. Ok, let me clear this up a little; I don't like to shop for MYSELF! I have had issues with my weight for as long as I can remember. I've definitely weighed less than what I weigh now. But I've never weighed more than what I weigh now. However, even though I've not weighed more than my current weight, I still have a hard time finding clothes that fit me like I would want them to. Until about 2 years ago, the last time I purchased a pair of jeans for myself was the month before I found out that I was pregnant with Jayla. And THEN could only wear them for a few months. Prior to that, the last time I purchased jeans was in high school I think. Now shoes? That's another story! I CAN buy shoes for myself :-).  When I'm able to shop, I'm in the store 10 minutes and I'm almost in tears because I get so frustrated with the selection of  "plus sized" clothes. Then even more so with how things look on me. I'm over it!
5. I LOVE doing crafts! Almost any type of crafts make me happy. Several months after Markell left, Mister M. told me that I could turn the now empty room into a scrapbooking room. Which I did! Although scrapbooking is my "first love", I do enjoy doing other crafts. So my scrapbooking room is now simply a craft room. Not only do I scrapbook, I also make jewelry, sew, Duct Tape crafts and general crafts. LOVE to create!!!
6. Checking the mail is one of my favorite things to do everyday. I love hearing the mail truck driving up our street. Although my MIL gets most of the mail, I enjoy checking it. Honestly, it's one of the highlights of my day :-).  
7. I was VERY hesitant about becoming a SAHM. I'd always thought that I'd be that person to retire from 50 years at a job. I never saw myself as the type of person to "stay at home". I'd hear other moms talk about volunteering at their kids' school. Shoot, not ME!!! Now, if I'm not running my MIL somewhere or running other errands, I'm at the school...volunteering. And ya know what? I LOVE it!!
8. Along with my fear of becoming a SAHM, I was also fearful of becoming a mini-van driving soccer mom. WELL...we all know how this story went! Lol I AM a soccer mom. I am also a soccer coaches wife. I drive around 8 months out of the year with folding outdoor chairs, cleats, shin guards, soccer balls and water bottles in my van. And not just any van, mind you...a mini van with THREE soccer ball magnets and a little soccer family on it!! THAT'S RIGHT!!!

Well, that's about it...mission accomplished!  Now, what fellow bloggers/friends should I tag???

1. Jacki - Cuz I miss her!
2. Susie Q - Cuz she's a SUPER sweet lady and I'd LOVE to meet her IRL one day!
3. Jude - Cuz she's so stinkin cute & hilarious! And because her son is my daughters pen pal! :-)
4. Lauren - Cuz she's just about the sweetest thing! And we were instant "friends". 
5. Lyn - Cuz she's amazing, has a beautiful smile and a beautiful story to tell.
6. Tanisha - Cuz she inspires me with her gift of scrapbooking creativity.
7. Cheryl - Cuz she's so sweet and shows her love of her family in her writings.
8. Tricia - Cuz she's SUPAH!!! :-)

Have fun!!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year...

...and all the other holidays or events that have come and gone since my last post :-).

I've been running around like a crazy woman lately. In addition to spending time with Mister M. while he was on vacation. He usually takes the last 3 weeks of the year off. So I TRY not to spend too much time on my computer when he's home.  Jayla was also home for 2 of those 3 weeks. So we were all just spending time together.

Anyway, what's been going on? Well, I'm sure you've all hear about all the crazy, snowy weather we've had here in Georgia? It was BEAUTIFUL!! But at the same time, it has now worn out it's welcome :-).

How bout a few pictures from our long week of snow? Oh, before I do that, Mister M. and I also celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary since my last post. Yay us!! :-)

CHRISTMAS

Jayla showing off her cute little Tweety Bird jacket
that Markell gave her.

The microphone she "always wanted!" :-)  It even has an
applause button on it for when mom & dad aren't around :-).

This is the Christmas Moose that Jayla gave me and daddy :-).

BIG hug for Grandma!
(Grandma gave her the boots she's "always wanted!" :-)

Trae playing with his Christmas gift :-).

Jayla's other favorite gift...the Hoola Hoop

Still trying to figure out how this thing works :-).
Gotta give it to her...she's persistent.

NOTE: If you're ever looking for a Hoola - Hoop as a Christmas gift, don't check at Target. When we asked the sales person where we could find them, we were told that the Hoola - Hoop is a "seasonal" item. Ok, I get it...MOST of the time, you see kids playing with them in the Summer months. BUT...don't kids ride bikes and roller skate in the summer too? How come those items are sold at Christmas time? Just askin... 

Side note: In case you're wondering, Jayla FINALLY got the hoola-hooping down to an art!  Now, there's no stopping her! :-)

For the first time in FOREVER, we had a White Christmas!

This is what we woke up to last Sunday (1/9)

And due to what we woke up to last Sunday...this is what we had and did ALL week....

Jayla's FIRST TIME on a sled. 

We found out that we have the perfect backyard for sledding.

"Alright mom, that's enough for one day...
I'm FREEZING!!"

 One day, my friend Stacey and her kids came to our yard for sledding. They had a BLAST!!! Our fence took a beating :-). But the kids had a great time.

Even me and Stacey got in on the sledding fun!

Ok...I've seen enough snow! I will admit though, we had a BLAST!!!

The kids were out of school for an entire week due to the weather. If you know anything about Georgia...you know that snow isn't our problem...it's the ice afterwards. So to err on the side of caution, the schools and several businesses were closed last week. The kids received an extra...unexpected week out of school. In fact, this past Saturday was the first time I left the house (outside of going to the mailbox) since LAST Saturday (1/8). I was starting to get a little cabin fever. But tomorrow...it's back to our normal routines!

There's still snow on the ground...I'm looking at some of my neighbors yards now as I type. But the roads are clear of snow & ice. I will say this one last thing about the weather we just experienced...it FORCED families to spend time together and enjoy eachother. I heard a radio announcer say that he's predicting that the maternity wards are gonna be PACKED in September/October! LOL

Enjoy your day...