NEED A LAUGH? WELL HEAR YA GO

Lydia, here!

oh brother .. that seems to have been my motto for the past few weeks.
do you ever feel like giving up? like nothing ever goes your way? like as soon as things start to look up, you plummet into darkness again?
well, i might as well quote some good ol' hannah montana here, and say: everybody has those days.
or, in some cases, weeks, months, years, etc.
but you just have to remember that this is just one tiny part of your life. whatever might be going wrong right now, it will get better. take it from me. everything always gets better. it may take a while- a LONG while, sometimes- but it will get better. i promise, if you really try, things will eventually look up. while i'm having a "hannah montana quotes come to my mind all day" day........ life's a climb, but the view is great.
keep your head up high, and don't turn back. bye loves <3

PS.. i'm going to start posting on here more. i know it's been FOREVER, but you can expect to hear a lot more from this little girl :) ok... well... bye now... for real this time. promise. ok... bye.

Comfort

Apparently this is what my dress looks like in the back today. I bought a super cute, ruched dress at Target yesterday and have had a few people tell me it's hung up in my "panties". It's not but apparently looks like it.   First, I appreciate women who will tell you when this happens to you instead of taking a picture. Second, I learned I should try on my clothes before I buy them. I have been pulling it down obsessively all day anyway because I'm AFRAID this will happen, then to have people keep telling me it is is just making me a nervous wreck.

This is a quote I pulled from a video of Rich Mullins taken shortly before he died. He was talking about devotional books with commentary, and he said,

"One of things that continues to blow me away is how they say all the wrong things. Your Sunday School teachers aren’t gonna tell you what the scriptures mean because we want God to inspire confidence, and what God wants to inspire is fear. We want god to give us all kinds of assurances and what God wants to give us is faith. We want to become healthy and prosperous and unaffected by the world, and He wants us to experience the world in  a way that will eventually kill us.

So we ask for all the wrong things and we get all the wrong things. I think that’s why it’s so hard for a rich person to enter heaven, because they’ve been going the wrong way for so long it’s hard to turn around. You get awfully big when you have all that assurance and all that confidence and all that jazz. It’s just hard to give it up to get into where you want to go.

I Dropped the Ball

Proving yet again that I can be a moron, I completely breezed past the fact that my blog world friend Dusty listed my blog amongst her favorites for the Versatile Blogger award. Like an ingrate, I didn't link back to her blog, or list my 7 random facts, or pick my favorite blogs. Blame it on school. Blame it on being ADD. Blame it on my kid...whatever....but I'm setting things right. So, thank you Dusty, for the recognition and for your own entertaining blog.

I'm supposed to list 15 of my favorite blogs, but my microbiology book is calling my name so here's just a quick list.

• Tales of Me and the Husband - Bridget married a man who had lost his wife, and became the mother of his 4 children.
• This Birth Mommy's Story - Katie shares her feelings and experience as a birth mother in an open adoption.
• The Lee Family Happenings - Another Katie...sweet mom to one little boy with a baby girl on the way
• Soul Singing Liv - Nurse, Mama, all around interesting person with a new "ask-a-nurse" feature
• Girls Love Fried Pickles - Dusty....a fellow Tennessee girl, inventor of words, and just a tad sassy
• C. Lee - I want her wardrobe

Ok, now for 7 random facts about me.

1.) I once fell and ripped off a couple fingernails when I was little. You just cringed didn't you?

2.) I can't stand the sound of people chewing, even when they are being super polite and chewing with   their mouth shut.

3.) I am not a people person. I have to put a great deal of effort into social interaction. I LIKE people... I'm just scared to talk to anyone until I really know them. Unless you are family you are rarely going to get me on the phone.

4.) I am a pre-nursing student, but am also taking classes to become a CNA. If you are my patient and you throw up on me, I might just throw up on you too. I hope not though.

5.) I believe if you are persistent enough you can find solutions to almost anything.

6.) I adore my boyfriend Kevin. He is good to me in every way. He puts me first, treats my daughter like an important part of our lives, never raises his voice or acts angry. He calms me down, makes me laugh, respects our differences, and does an awesome Donald Duck impression that he blessed me with when I got us lost in Knoxville last weekend. I'm really happy with where our relationship is at. It's good.

7.) I am in moderate pain every day...in my joints...elbows, hips, knees, ankles. It feels like I have body aches from having the flu every day. For the most part I don't let it ruin my day or dictate what I do or don't do. Sometimes though I have to make adjustments....like taking time to rest throughout the day.

Happy Valentines Day, Friends. Thank you for reading my little blog. I hope you all feel loved today.

For when my parents are older:

For you if you feel alone today:

For the next time I get married:

For when you need pampered

For my daughter

K-LOVE - Francesca Battistelli Beautiful Beautiful LIVE

I was raised listening to nothing but Christian music and it's still my favorite thing to listen to....good Christian music...not everything. I don't listen to much Christian radio because I only like about 1 in 10 songs, but I do like the following:


and this one

and this one

Not crazy about how they take out the word "baby" on Christian radio.

Project FAILURE

I tried to re-create some tea towel curtains I saw in a magazine. Ew. What I ended up with is something akin to a gay pride parachute hanging from my kitchen windows. Until I can afford custom curtains or find something perfect at a thrift store I'm stuck with them. Maybe one of you can tell me how to make these look more presentable (and don't say by taking them down). I'm still thrilled to have the window covered instead of feeling like a zoo animal when the sun goes down. I probably should have done my dishes before taking these.

The Baby

Valentine Cupcakes

We made 12 of these today. Cupcakes and I have a sordid history. I ate them one year until I got downright f.a.t. There were a few other daliances with dinner rolls, cake balls, pizza, etc. but my first love was cupcakes. I'm proud of myself for only eating one this time. Really! Just one. I mean I know there are only 4 in the picture, and I told you I made 12, but these 4 were the only ones that didn't look like this:

Dierks Bentley "I'm Thinking of You" with daughter Evie at Ryman 'Home' ...

Cutest Thing Ever

Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown

I know most people have seen this video but it makes me smile so
I wanted to re-post.

Ice Chalet

Yesterday we got to visit my stepdaughter, Phoebe, from my former marriage. We went to one of our favorite haunts, the Ice Chalet.

Dear Zooey

I'm tired of it. Officially. Let's think of some new looks ok?