I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very happy & safe Independence Day. Whether you're enjoying the holiday by having a cook-out with family & friends, going to see fireworks or to a parade, remember why today is so important & how lucky we are to celebrate our independence.Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy Independence Day
I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very happy & safe Independence Day. Whether you're enjoying the holiday by having a cook-out with family & friends, going to see fireworks or to a parade, remember why today is so important & how lucky we are to celebrate our independence.Monday, June 22, 2009
Yes, I DO Still Blog!
Even though it's been 20 days since my last blog post (but who's counting?), I do still blog.....honest. I've just had so much going on in between going to the Nascar race, going to a Tigers game, working, gardening & working out that I've badly neglected my blog.
The Nascar race was great.....the weather couldn't have been any better....perfect sunny skies & cool temps. When we found out that our neighbors were also going to the race, we decided to caravan down together. They had pit passes, so we figured we might as well go into the pits, too. And I'm so glad that I did as I was able to get 5 autographs on my shirt (the one I'm wearing above) from Kasey Kahne's pit crew :) Jim got it autographed by Kasey at work a year or so ago (on my booby, of all places, lol) so I knew I wanted to add his pit crew autographs to it.
Well, I gotta start getting ready for work. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Benita
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Another Birthday Baby
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Happy Birthday, Baby!
Today this beautiful granddaughter of mine turns 5 years old. Can you believe it? 5?!? Wow! Either I'm getting old.....or time is just going by way too fast! Or both! May 31, 2004 this beautiful girl was born. And she just keeps getting cuter every single day! Although I haven't seen her since Christmas :(
Which is when this picture above was taken. Shawn promised me that he's going to bring her to see me tomorrow......all I gotta say is he had better keep this promise, especially since I got someone to cover my shift at work. Once again, I didn't get invited to her birthday party today :( Seeing as she lives over an hour away, I guess Toni just had the party at her new boyfriend's house. I swear, it sucks not being able to see this little girl more often & give her hugs & kisses & take her picture 10,000 times! Which reminds me......I need to go charge my camera battery for tomorrow. So hopefully the next time I blog, I'll have some new pictures to post :)Off to watch the hockey game.....GOOO RED WINGS! GOOO PENQUINS! ;)
Benita
Friday, May 29, 2009
I've Been A Bad Girl!
I'm using one of them to store all of my pattern paper & cardstock.....I just hope it can take the weight! That paper is heavy! I weighed just one of my Cropper Hopper paper holders & it weighed 10 pounds! Yeowch! The other expedit I turned on it's side & I'm using it sorta like a sofa table in between the 2 windows in my scraproom......I really like it that way. And can you see what's on top of it....in the one corner? This:
Well, I better get to bed as I have to work my new shift tomorrow from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Next time I blog, I'll post some pics of my flower beds & gardening that we've been doing.
Have a great weekend!
Benita
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Nothing To Talk About
Both Jim & I have been struggling with our weightloss :( We're still exercising like crazy, but for some reason, the pounds just don't want to come off anymore. I've lost a few more, but then I'll gain a pound or two back & it just seems like I'm not getting anywhere. So frustrating! But I asked myself the other day if I would be happy with myself where I am now.....I'm still waiting for myself to answer me, lol. I mean, I'm down 67 pounds & 10 sizes, which is a huge accomplishment, but is that enough?? I just don't know what else to do. It seems like the closer I get to my goal, the harder it is......why is that? I also just started taking an herbal medication for my Osteoarthritis called Aquamin Sea Minerals as I've read that it's supposed to help, but now it's making me wonder if that may have something to do with this.....can it be causing me to be stuck? Probably not, but it makes me wonder. Plus I got a protein shake mix from a trainer at the gym called "Muscle Provider" that I've been drinking after my workouts, but it states right on the container "Use this product as a food supplement only. Do not use for weight reduction." So maybe it's this that's making me stuck.....or maybe I'm just battling against being peri-menopausal? ARGH!
Okay, my rant is over. See, maybe now you're glad that I haven't been blogging so much :) Ah well.....I'm off to enjoy this absolutely, gorgeous day we're having as the temps are supposed to get into the low 80's today & tomorrow! YAY!
Until next time.....whenever that is,
Benita
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mommy's Day!
Happy Mommy's Day to all of my blogging friends out there! I hope you get spoiled on your special day!Saturday, May 02, 2009
Happy NSD
Today is National Scrapbook Day. YAY! Us scrapbookers now have a day made especially for us :) How cool is that!?! And since it's NSD, I decided to share a layout that I did a few weeks ago. This is for the album I'm doing for my dh of his parents wedding (click on image to enlarge). I'm using the new DCWV La Creme line for this album as well as lots of Primas, rhinestones & pearls. I have 2 more pages in progress that I'm hoping to finish up today & also start some more.....afterall, it's NSD so hopefully I'll have lots & lots of "mojo", as scrappers call it :)Saturday, April 25, 2009
1 Year Ago Today.....
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Picture Heavy Post
We left Michigan around 10:30am Friday morning & decided to go through Canada since we didn't want to deal with the road construction & closures on I-75 in Michigan. We drove non-stop to Niagara Falls until we got to the Duty Free store. From the parking lot, you could see the falls, so of course, I had to take a bunch of pictures :)
The falls always amaze me. I could literally stand there for hours, just looking at them & how beautiful they are! It's like they make you just forget about all of the troubles in the world....even if only for a minute or two!
The American Falls.
Here, you can see the rocks below the American Falls.
Me, with the falls in the background (although Jim didn't get them in the picture very good.....one of these days, I'm going to teach him how to take a picture! LOL).
Jim with the falls in the background. See, isn't this picture MUCH better? :)
When we arrived Friday evening in Pennsylvania around 7:00pm, we met my Dad at The Crippled Bear Inn for dinner. The first words out of his mouth were "Oh My God!" when he saw me! He knew that I had been working on losing weight, but he hasn't seen me since I started, so hearing those words meant so much to me! Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast with my Dad, his sister Jane (both pictured above) & my sister Donna.
After breakfast, we went out to see my Mom at the nursing home & along the way, we stopped at a flower stand to pick her up these gorgeous mums (I also got some for my Dad). They actually painted them these colors, so when the new ones bloom, they'll be white, but I thought the vibrant colors were so pretty! And they did what they were meant to do......
....they put a smile on her face :) My Mom was also very proud of me for the weight I've lost & she gave me encouragement to keep going!
On Easter Sunday, we went to my sister Barb's house for dinner. Donna (above) brought her dog Toby with her. Isn't he a cutie?
Here's the ham she made.....all 16+ pounds of it!
And here is Dad, being sneaky & snitching a piece of ham before everything else was done.
Barb & her son Kyle. I couldn't believe how tall he has gotten! Dang! He's 17 now & had one heck of a growth spurt since I saw him last!
Sunday night, we drove up to my Dads so I could see him one last time before we left to head back home. He's also lost some weight.....about 34 pounds & he looks great!
Monday morning, before hitting the road, I went to see my Mom again. She wasn't dressed yet & didn't want her picture taken in her gown, but I love this picture of us together! Right after Jim took this picture, I started crying. My Mom asked me why I was crying & I said because I miss you & hate seeing you in here! She assured me that she's okay & that they're taking good care of her. But still.....it's so hard! This is not the way she's supposed to live!
We saw this on the back of this van shortly after we got on the road in Pennsylvania (click on the picture to enlarge). Is that a sign or what???I dreaded getting on the scale this morning, but knew I had to & yep, just as I thought.....I gained 4 pounds back :( I only got to exercise once while we were there plus I ate WAY too much. But this proved to myself just how quickly you can put the weight back on if you're not careful! And those Middleswarth Bar-b-q Potato Chips didn't help, either! Ah well....I'll be busting my butt BIG TIME this week at the gym :)

