Here's a tease..

This is roxie.... And she is a dancer! And a little later I'll let u
know why she is standing in front of mirrors talking sternly to people!

Patriotic

Doesn't he look it? Seersucker pants and all that red white and
blue. Cullen was thrilled for me to stop his morning routine to snap
this picture! When he sees this he'll be mad because he doesn't have his belt on yet, so he is rockin loops. Sorry honey! Also, please excuse the laundry that needs to be take upstairs in the background.

An Afternoon with Connie

This afternoon was a great ending to a bad day. My friend Connie called and I went to Tupelo to hang out with her. I got to see her new embroidery machine, which by the way is AWESOME! We exchanged some designs, ate some sweets, and talked about anything and everything. Connie is about the greatest girl I know. She is my creative inspiration, she also cooks, sews, bakes, and has the brute strength of any man I know. Thanks Con Con for a great afternoon, can't wait to come back and hang out again.

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Promised Post

I said I would post why I began my day being emotional. Here it is. To add to my emotional day of the staircase situation, I began my day with my dad. I have never before posted about my dad, but here is his current situation. He has cirrohsis of the liver. It is an extremely painful disease, google it and you can read about the symptoms. This past week he went to the doctor and had seven liters of fluid drawn off his stomach. Yesterday his graduating class held a class reunion just for him, so I've been told. Just knowing that I didn't get to be there and not knowing about it sent me over the emotional edge this morning. So with texts, emails, and calls this morning I cried through it today. Why was I upset? I have no idea. I guess I just felt like I should have been there. Poor Cullen, I bet he can't wait to come home from work today... :D

Start Prayin'

Okay friends, I need a favor...please please start praying for our stair situation. As of today this has not been an issue that I have truly given over to God, thinking I would just take it on my own and "fix it." Does anybody out there do that? So anyway today being a girl that perseveres, I decided to go and ask exactly when they would be taking steps to bring the staircase down. I was met with a whirlwind of opposition. I would not hasten to say it got UGLY, but I can say it wasn't pretty. I stood my ground. They are SUPER unhappy that I am not looking at options to work with them. Cullen and I just haven't seen where it has been a situation that needed options. It is our land, we don't want a staircase on it. They see it as we should lease, sell, or give them the land. So after a 20 minute stand off it was decided that it will be most likely be an issue to be settled in court. Please pray that this will be a quick process. I know Cullen thought I had burned the house down today when I called him crying. Today was not a good day. I'll explain in another post later...what went on before, but anyway just go ahead and add us to the prayer list. Why oh why do we not start off telling our problems how big our God is, instead of telling our God how big our problems are....when will I learn?

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This is what you need:

1 cup oil

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (sugar free/fat free will work, too)

4 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/4 cup water

1 box butter flavored cake mix

1 (8 oz.) sour cream (fat free okay, too)

1 (6oz.) pack of semi-sweet chocolate chips

This is what you do:

Mix all ingredients well and cook in greased bundt pan or tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Put on rack to cool, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn out and enjoy! This cake is great with coffee or served with ice cream.

This is what it looks like:

I made two of these cakes last week and sent them to work with Cullen since they are working longer hours. The first day it was gone within two hours. The next day I added a pan of brownies, and a batch of Oreo Truffles to the tray and it took a little longer for them to finish it off. I believe the original recipe came from Gaye Howard, a teacher friend of mine.

Weekend Recap

Many people would say that a teacher in the summertime is as close to worthless as you can get. I beg to differ with anyone that thinks that thought. Friday I was up bright and early so that I could begin making a birthday cake. After handing the cake off I was headed to the pool. Friday night Cullen and I went to eat then home to watch t.v. That is a standard night for Cullen and me. Saturday I began the day in my sewing room. I had full intentions of checking off a few items on my to do list and then head to a wedding. Cullen spent his morning on the golf course. He too had full intentions of going to a wedding. Leslie called and wanted to spend time by the pool so I was swayed as was Cullen. He headed to the driving range for the afternoon while I tanned. We met back at the house and went to eat at Kyoto. This is where the story gets good. As Cullen and I sat at the Hibachi Grill other people sat down. Across from us was a family of four. The father sat across from Cullen, the small child next to him and then the mother. At this time let me tell you that as they were sitting down the mother was putting on her baby sling. I thought aww the mom wants to keep the baby close. Well, let me just tell you that was NOT the point of the baby sling, it was so that the mom could raise her shirt, bare herself and feed her child. YIKES I know it is supposed to be so natural. Well I was naturally disgusted. There was no tent so that we couldn't see what she was doing, no cover, no discretion.....I saw the natural process and was horrified that through the flames of the hibachi I had to witness that. Why oh why would she not go to the bathroom, stay in the car, or cover it up. I really felt sorry for the teenage boy sitting next to the mom, he looked equally disgusted. I would have been fine had they been in a booth, not at a mixed company dining table. Just in case you were wondering this made me NOT want to have children. I just keep adding to the list. I don't want to lose my modesty. After dinner we went to see a movie. Today we had our patriotic service at Church, it happens to be one of my top five favorite services at church. I love to see the men stand during the recognition for their branches of service. This afternoon Cullen is headed to the golf course and I went to a funeral. I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Birthday Mallorie

Friday was my friend Mallorie Biffle's Birthday. Friday marked her last day in training, so I know she was super excited for that, too. She is a great friend and has made me more conscious of my jewelry, my use of pink, and how I think about vampire books. I stole these pics off her facebook.

The Stair Situation

I know many of you may have forgotten about our little stair situation. Guess What! It is alive and still a little bit of a situation. Yesterday, after prodding from my mom, I got back on the case. I called our realtor and asked if we had surveyed our land when we bought the house, being a city lot she said no. She however pointed me to city hall and the city inspector. I called city hall and got the scoop on where exactly I needed to begin measuring to measure out my the lot adjoining mine. Guess what....the stairs on MINE. you heard it here first the landing from the building to the stairs, they possibly belong to the people but the actual stairs are mine. I next called the building inspector who let me know that NO the peeps didn't have a permit, because it is not required for just a staircase....but guess what.... our building code in town says that all structures must be at least one foot off the property line. If the Mossy Oak Company assumed our fence was the property line....which they did....they would have to build the structure one foot from the fence. They didn't so now the staircase wasn't built to code. Two Strikes against Mossy Oak Properties. I can not say that I was excited to present them with my information. I don't like confrontation like that, but I can say that I did stand my ground and loved every minute when the faces of the two I talked with dropped when I used words like- not up to code, city inspector, encroachment, attorney, liability, property value.... It is not over, it probably isn't close to over. It might possibly get expensive, but I stood my ground today, and have now very politely passed it off to Cullen to deal with from here on out. As I left they continued to say we will talk about this, and let us think about it....I told them it is non negotiable.... To Be Continued

Summer Book 10

Yay, another one finished!

Family Vacation

Here is a brief history of the evolution of Family Vacay.

The May before Cullen and I got married in June we sat at the McCarty Annual Crawfish Boil talking with friends. Tyler Young, Megan Daniel, and myself began talking about future vacations we should go on as families. During this time Tyler was newly engaged to Mollie Hederman. Megan and Cole had been dating a little less than a year and were in no rush to the chapel. So as we talked about future vacations we stated that all families involved would have to be married, no engagements. The only rule was you must be married to be considered a family. So for 8 months Cullen and I were the lone family. The next February Mollie and Tyler joined us as a family. We had to wait another year before Cole and Megan joined us as a family. So now that the three couples had become a family we began planning Family Vacay 2009. Props to Mollie and Tyler for taking it upon themselves to find us a fantastic condo. It was decided we would head to the beach.

While this year we had a short Family Vacation Weekend it was a lot of fun. I always love to see our husbands come together and act like they are the same boys they were in highschool. I had a blast and can't wait for our next get together.

Vacation 2009

I love to go on vacation. Of all vacations I love going to the beach the most. I've been on adventure vacations where you actually walk around, ride rides, and feel like you need a vacation when you get home, but I think that going to the beach is the most relaxing vacation. Ask Cullen, I could sit and read a book on the beach all day, everyday for a week. This past week I was able to do just that sit with friends, read, and soak up the sun.

Our vacation started early Wednesday. Cullen was schooled in the way that my friend, Leslie, and I do the beach. Leslie and I enjoy optimizing our tan time. To do this we have to leave for the shore at 4:00 in the morning. We made one gas stop on the way and made it poolside by 10:30. We made it to the condo before that but had a short trip to the grocery store. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent poolside with night time trips to eat. Friday Cullen and I headed to Blue Mountain Beach to meet up with Cole and Megan and Tyler and Mollie our "Family Vacay" friends.

Summer Reading Books 7,8,& 9

While on vacation I was able to add two more books to my Summer Reading list. I finished book 7 before we left for vacation. Leslie had led me borrow a book about eating well so I read it. While at the beach I broke down and read Twilight. I would not recommend this book for a young audience. I think parents should read it before they allow a child to read it, but yes, just like everyone I have talked to that read I loved it. I was engrossed in the world of vampires and such. Summer book 8 was finished in two days poolside. That left Friday of my vacation reading a what seemed to be boring book after the fast paced Twilight. I still haven't finished said boring book. Saturday after sitting on the beach with boring book, I decided I had to get the next book in the Twilight series. I caught myself standing in line at Barnes and Nobel reading chapter two waiting to check out. I was able to knock out the first 400 pages of the book on the car ride home yesterday and caught myself reading in spurts today trying to prolong finishing the book. New Moon is darker and more adult than Twilight. Summer reading book 9 finished poolside today. I hope to finish my boring book by tomorrow so I can start the next book in the Twilight series.

Ready to Go

At our condo in Florida, ready to go out!

Beach day 3

Cullen

Oh yeah he really is enjoying vacation... Can't u tell? My lillie
white husband is slowly getting a tan... He has paced his tanning with
frequent trips indoors! This pic was taken when I asked him to take
yet another picture! Can u believe a member of my family doesn't
love taking pictures? We might decide to be beach bums instead of
being productive members of society.

Beach Day 2

Stocked with cold drinks we are ready for day 2 vacation.

Have u Ever?

Look at this shrimp! I would never eat fish, but Les and Cullen both
said this was the biggest shrimp either has ever seen!

High Maintenance

I think not! I'm writing this to give props to Leslie. Leslie
normally takes a good two hours to get ready and tonight she made
record time. Drum roll please... Today Les got ready from the beach
to go out to dinner in 1 hour. Amazing!

Vacay Update

Poolside on vacation. Life is good!

Just got tobthe beach!

Yay we are here!

Uncle Cullen

Yesterday after Ellie's baptism, Cullen worked up the nerve to hold Miss Ellie while she was awake. This was a big step for Cullen, since before he wanted her to be handed to him, after we had made sure she was good an asleep. Now she is more stable sitting up and has more and more personality.

Ellie B's Baptism

This weekend Cullen and I were in Jackson for the baptism of our niece. She was so sweet during the service. Brett and Kathy asked Cullen and me to be God parents. What an honor. She was precious through the service and didn't make a peep. It was a perfectly sweet day and Cullen and I were so excited to be a part of the festivities. Here are some snapshots.

Here are Brett and Kathy with Ellie, today was their 6 year wedding anniversary.

Sadie, Ellie, and Aunt Felicia

Kathy's parents and Baby Girl

Of course we had to do some posing.

Vacation 2009

Isn't it funny how excited we get, even as adults, about taking a vacation. Well yours truly has managed to plan a vacation, and I am beyond pumped. I'm calling it "Cullen's Vacation". Catchy right? Well the truth is I sat here at this computer trying to think of something clever to come up with and all I could think of was how pumped I was about going on vacation. That's how excited I am. I've lost all ability to be clever. SHOCKER!!! Just to give you the rundown on what we are doing, it all starts Wednesday. Felicia, myself, and Leslie Johnstone are driving down to Orange Beach and spending two days. We plan on leaving at the crack of dawn so we can optimize our beach time. We will be camping out there until Friday and then Felicia and I are headed to the Destin area while Leslie heads off to Biloxi. We will be meeting two of our favorite couples Tyler and Molly, and Cole and Megan. I'm looking forward to a ridiculous amount of time spent just sitting in a chair on the beach doing absolutely nothing. I'm looking forward to spending time with my beautiful wife. By the way, a round of applause for the picture slide-show she created. I'm also looking forward to a few days away from the office. So if any one needs me next week, I guarantee it can wait till I get back so DO NOT CALL ME. I will not answer. Also if you can remember to say a little prayer that I don't get burnt to a crisp. I tan about as well as a two week old baby. They should make cute little outfits for adults like they make for babies that way pale adults like myself can enjoy the beach with out ever smelling aloe. I hate that smell. It is the smell of burnt flesh and pain!!! Anyway, this will be my last post for a few weeks. Hope you guys can take that sort of break from my cleverness. If you haven't noticed it has come back to me since I first started this post.

New Blog

So in an effort to move my sewing posts from this blog since that is really all me and not family related, I created a sewing blog. I think you can get to it from my profile, but just incase I am gonna try to put it in my sidebar today. Lime-A-Beans will just be a site where I put recent items I have sewn. I don't sew with children in mind most of the time I just sew becasue I feel like making something. Usually I can find a child to donate it to. Yesterday I made baby shoes, and finished two dresses. I am trying to sew my way through a book my mom bought me called Weekend Sewing. I will be giving my attempts away. Let me know if you wanna be a lucky recipent.

I love this Man!

Tomorrow Cullen and I celebrate our two year anniversary. Where has the time gone? I absolutely can say with out a doubt I love Cullen more and more everyday. He is a great husband, my friend Natalie will tell you that I could never find a better person than Cullen to deal with me and my day to day drama. He is precious and I hope you enjoy the pictures of us over the last couple of years.

The Weekend Run Down

Cullen and I had a super busy weekend. Friday he was in Oxford watching the Rebs while I went to Jackson to see Baby Girl with my mom. We got to Jackson just in time to give her a bath and her bottle and get her to sleep. Saturday Cullen was back at Oxford to watch the baseball game and then off to Memphis to have a guys night at Redbird Stadium. Kathy, my sister in law, and I went shopping around Jackson and then after giving Ellie her bath Mom and I came home. Today we went to church and over to Oxford to watch what is now the last 09 baseball game. Sad that the Rebels lost we are now enjoying a quite night at home. We may fix some dinner later or we may order pizza. I am excited about being out of my workshop and ready to start checking off my summer to do list. It is amazing how my list is getting longer and longer and my summer is shorter and shorter. I still have 14 books to read to make my goal of 20, lots of things to sew, begin and finish entry 4 for my national boards, and begin studying for and taking the GRE. We are so blessed to be able to have so many irons in the fire and be able to spend time together through all of it. I hope everyone has a great Monday!

These are my two pics that might move me to stalker/paparazzi status. You got it, I heard Eli and Abby were at the game yesterday and sitting in the TelSouth (spelling?) box. Cullen and I were on the other end and I spotted them. I found a new trimming feature on my trusty FunSaver (the name Leslie and I gave my camera in college, truthfully this is the FunSaver Jr. since cameras are getting so much smaller these days) and zoomed in to get this shot.

In Jackson with Ellie

Here's baby girl! This was right after she woke up this morning. She
is happy and was talking to all of us!

The Very First Item

This is the very first time my machine has been used to make my
monogram. I have had my machine a year and have never used it for
myself. I decided to branch out from childrens clothes and make a
tote. This is the pocket. Check back!

Ellie-gator

I just found these pictures on my sister in law's facebook page. Baby girl will be two months on the eighth. She is getting so big, and I haven't seen her in almost a month. This is CRAZY! This is her sleeping just like Sadie (my mom)

Summer Book 6

Thank the Lord I have "finished" my summer reading book 6) Know It All. I praise the Lord, because I thought I would never get through it. I tried to tell my friend Leslie why not to read the book, but in the end it served its purpose. The book is the retelling of one man's quest to become the smartest man in the world. He sets out to accomplish this by reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. Yeah, I know it sounds boring and at times it was but he is extremely sarcastic and thus has a fairly humorous outlook on most of the entries he sites in the book. This book is drastically different from most of the easy little beach reads I normally tackle. I can say that no, I don't believe I will start the Felicia's Book Club of Mississippi, and will never rival Oprah for all the books she reads, but I do like to know about good books. Let me know what you are reading. I love love love a good book. I have a LONG list to get through by August when school is back in session, but I could be swayed to put off my list for a great book suggestion. Next up I need to finish Knit Two, the sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club that I read last summer. I have also started a book about Skinny my friend Les has lent me, as well as a book my mom recommended The Wednesday Letters.

This weekend in Oxford

Email blog amazing

This is unreal that I can blog from so many mediums! Before I used my computer, then
texting now email the possibilities are absolutely endless!

Sent from my iPhone

I can't believe I'm blogging from my phone. This is wild!

Pumped about Mr. Pugh

Pontotoc City Schools has a new superintendent, Mr. Adam Pugh. I came home from boot camp yesterday checked my email, and found an announcement Adam Pugh is our new superintendent...YAY! From my excitement you may think I actually know Mr. Pugh, I really know of him. I met his family first when I worked at Montgomery Drugs in Pontotoc, when I was a senior and they were at South Pontotoc. Once I made the move to Ole Miss and began working at Chaney's I saw them once again...hmm... I know those faces, and they began working at Lafayette Schools. During my seven years at Chaney's I learned about our customers. I had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Kim and see their children. I would say that I know of them, and I am PUMPED he has been chosen for the job. Last night when I read my email I knew God had a hand in bringing him to our school district. I think he will be a great fit in Pontotoc. I had a blast working in Pontotoc last year and I know the years to come are going to be just as great.

Baseball, Boards, and Big Muscles

Here is our weekend update, Cullen and I made a weekend out of Ole Miss Baseball. He made it to all four games, I made my appearance to the Saturday and Sunday games. After last night I am super happy that Ole Miss will be hosting the SuperRegionals this weekend. I know those of you that are reading this think I was being sarcastic, but seriously-Hotty Toddy!
Yesterday I went to my first National Board Workshop. It will be an intense process, but it is doable. I look at some people that have passed and I realize I can do this. I am going to be like the Little Engine that Could, "I think I can, I think I can." The good thing about this process, is that I have my good friend Leslie to suffer through it with me. Also, I am hoping to take the GRE in July. If anyone has any words of wisdom for this I would love to hear them. I have begun reading the practice manual, but will take helpful hints if you want to give any. ( I sound like Cullen who has been soliciting golf donations)
Now on to the big Muscles portion of my post. Well, I only used that because I needed another 'b' sound for my alliteration...workout update....I made an effort yesterday to eat healthy, you know oatmeal, apple, chicken and rice, grapes, chicken...but here is my big accomplishment-I went to the gym twice. I did cardio in the morning and boot camp last night. I'm headed there again now, I don't have as much pep in my step, boot camp ruined that for the next couple of days but maybe by the weekend I won't be sore.