Happy Birthday, Donna

Just a quick post to wish my sister, Donna a very Happy 49th Birthday. One more year to go to the big 5-0 :) Here she is with her son on the day he got married......yep, he's that tall!

As far as things here at home, it's been busy, busy, BUSY & that's why I haven't had a chance to even update my blog in a while. The packing is going very slowly because I just can't get motivated right now. Wednesday, our son & his friend are coming over to help us move the boxes & smaller furniture, then on Friday, the movers are coming to move the big things (dressers, big screen tv, living room furniture, my Ikea Expedit (which I hope doesn't need to be taken apart to move), washer & dryer, etc.). I also started to loose my voice on Saturday during the class I was teaching at the Zone & now I can hardly talk, which may be a good thing if you ask my husband ;)

That's it for now.....back to packing!

Benita

Back from the Brickyard

We couldn't have picked a more beautiful weekend to go to a Nascar race. The weather was gorgeous all weekend long, which made for a very nice drive to Indiana & back.

We got to Indianapolis around 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, checked into the hotel, went out for a bite to eat & then went to visit Jim's sister Dana & her family. She has 3 of the most adorable kids! 2 of them have had some serious medical problems, but they are just as sweet as can be. It was so good to meet all of them & now I can't wait to see them again! It feels good to have a sister-in-law :)

Since our hotel wasn't very far from the track, we decided to sleep in a little & left the hotel around 10:30a.m. to head to the track. The race wasn't scheduled to start until 2:20, so that gave us plenty of time to walk around & do a little souvenior shopping beforehand.

We made it to our seats in time for the driver introductions & this is the closest I was able to get to Kasey Kahne :) Isn't he cute?!

After all the introductions, the track released a gazillion balloons into the air (okay, maybe not a gazillion, but it sure looked like that many!).
Our seats weren't the best, unfortunately, but at least they were in the shade (covered by the seats above us) & right in front of Ryan Newman's pit. Sadly, we only got to see him pit once, though as he ended up in a crash :(
And not too far behind was Kasey, also involved in another crash :( Darn it! After losing my 2 favorite drivers in wrecks, I was ready to leave! LOL But Jim wouldn't even consider it since his driver, Kevin Harvick, was doing good. Ah well.....it was worth a try :)

After the race, we went back to Dana's to visit some more. Then on Monday, before we got back on the road, we stopped by to see her again & she took us up to see their Mom's grave. Dana was only 11 years old when their Mom passed away in 1986. She was only 45 years old when she died & that gave me a little bit of a scare considering I'll be 45 myself next month!

We got on the road around 3:30 in the afternoon & arrived back home in Michigan around 8:30. It was a long weekend, but definitely what I needed.....it was what we BOTH needed!

Happy travels,

Benita

Off To Indy!

Tomorrow morning, Jim & I leave bright & early (okay, so maybe not too early) for Indianapolis. We'll only be there until Monday as we had to cut the trip short due to finances, but it should still be a blast! We sent his sister & brother-in-law the tickets to go see qualifying tomorrow morning since we won't be there in time & she was really excited about going to that.

I'm looking forward to finally meeting his sister & Jim's really looking forward to seeing her after over 18 years. Distance separated them for too long & the fact that they didn't even know where the other one lived. I'm actually the one that found his sister a few years ago. We knew her previous married name, so I called all of the ones that were in the phone directory & came across her ex-husband & he gave me her phone number. Jim came home from work that day & I just dialed the phone & handed it to him.....he had NO clue who was on the other end. He was ever so grateful for what I did, too :)

Sunday is the Brickyard race & it'll be my first time there. Jim's been there before for Indy car races, but never for a Nascar one. Then we come home on Monday, but we're going to take the scenic route because Jim knows how much I want to go to the Pages In Time store in northern Indiana. I just hope I can find it! I probably won't buy much.....okay, maybe I will ;) But after seeing the pictures of the store on 2 Peas, how can you not spend money in there?

This morning, I have a doctor's appointment to get the results of my colonoscopy, so I'm a little nervous about that. I guess I better jump in the shower & get moving as I have to be there in an hour.

Hope you have a great weekend.....I know I will :)

Benita

Challenge Catch Up

It's been a while since I've done any of the challenges on 2 Peas, so I thought since I was sitting here a little bored while listening to Cassie & Emma laughing as they're watching tv in her room, I'd play catch up. Feel free to use any of the challenges on your own blog.

Challenge posted by Sophia on 2 Peas (my responses are in pink):

1. Your entire family has gone away for the weekend. The house is all yours. What are the first three things you do? Scrapbook, Scrapbook & Scrapbook! LOL
2. Your bankbook is looking healthy, you have a four-day weekend ahead. What sounds good? Drive to Niagara Falls, Canada, get a nice hotel room & just relax.
3. What do you do while waiting in the doctors office? Usually read some magazines, if they have any good ones.
4. Would you rather spend an afternoon alone in a book store, a mall, napping in the hammock? Hmmm, well if I had a hammock, that would probably be my answer. But since I don't, I'd have to say the mall.
5. You have an unexpected 48 hour stay in the hospital. You're coherent and not in pain. How do you spend the time? Reading? Channel Surfing? Laptop surfing? Calling your friends to come visit? Ringing for a nurse every five minutes? Sleeping? Can I pick all of the above? :)
6. You have a nine hour trans-continental flight. Get excited about finishing a hot novel? Watch the in-flight movies? Become best friends with the stranger seated next to you? Take three valium and sleep the time away? I'd probably watch the in-flight movies, depending upon what was showing.
7. You have a seven hour layover in Chicago O'Hare Airport. Do you wear down your cellphone battery calling friends? Read a book? People watch? Shop every store in the airport? Take a taxi and see the city? How about shop every store in the city? :)
8. What do you do when your bored stiff? Either surf the net or scrapbook.
9. Work first, play later? OR Play while you can, the work will still be there when you get home? At work, work first. At home, play first :)
10. List three times that you are easily bored. When there's absolutely nothing to do at work, on the drive to work (almost an hour one way) & right now, which is why I'm doing this MeMe :)

Daily blog question posted on 2 Peas:

If you could take a drive to anywhere, where would you go??? Probably to either Las Vegas or California, something my dh & I are hoping to do one day, but it's now been put on the back burner for awhile due to finances :(

I also noticed that I was tagged by Sue recently & although I've done one like this before, what the heck.....here it is again :)

These are the rules…. each player starts with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog 7 facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of their blog list 7 people you are tagging. Let them know that they are tagged by leaving them a comment.

1. Before this year, I swore that I would NEVER wear Capri/Crop pants. Now you can't get me out of them! I don't even wear shorts now that I've started wearing Capris!
2. I can't drink white milk, at all! It has to be chocolate or I won't drink it.
3. When I find something that I love, I'll buy it in every color I can (ie. Crocs, shirts, Primas :) , etc.).
4. I'm a hoarder.....just look at my Prima collection, for instance. I have too much stuff & I know I'll never possibly use all of it, but I also have a hard time parting with a lot of it. I'm hoping that will change once we move.
5. I love listening to Disco/Dance music while I'm driving my car, but my dh hates it! I have 3 stations set on my Sirius radio that are all disco music & yep, you can catch me moving/singing to them, too :)
6. I have a 'fetish' for Pizza.....I could eat it every single day & never get tired of it!
7. If I ever changed my name, I would be a Sheila. I've just always loved that name for some reason.

Okay, now I'm tagging: Stacy, Stacey, Lorrie, Jewls, Jennifer, Kip & Emily, even though Sue already tagged her :)

Now onto the news: Let's see.....the doctor did find a polyp when I had my colonoscopy done, so I go back to see him on the 27th of this month to get the results of the biopsy he took & to discuss my 'problems' with him. Cassie & Emma leave again on Saturday to go back to Traverse City for 2 weeks as Jim & I are going to Indianapolis the following weekend for the Brickyard (I bought Jim the tickets for Christmas). We actually shortened our stay down there & now we're only going for 2 nights/3 days because of finances, but it should still be fun. Jim's super excited about seeing his sister as he hasn't seen her in over 18 years.

I think I'm going to head to bed now.....I had to work today, so I'm pooped & can hardly keep my eyes open. Have a great Friday!

Benita

Happy Birthday, Cassie!

17 years ago today, at exactly 10:42 am, this little baby girl was born, weighing in at 9 lbs., 4 oz. & 21 inches long. Can you believe my baby is 17 already? I can't! Why does time pass by so quickly? Why do kids have to grow up?

My only regret is that I wasn't a scrapbooker back then so I didn't take as many pictures as I do now. I did, however, snap a lot of pictures of her very first birthday (see layout above). I remember it like it was yesterday. She was sitting in her high chair and as we put the cake on her tray, she reached out to grab the candle & burnt her fingers. The tears started flowing & I felt so bad! But once she got a piece of cake, she immediately forgot about the pain & made a huge mess, so afterwards, it was off to the bathtub to clean up :)

Happy Birthday, Cassie! I hope it's your best one yet!

Love always,

Mom

I Really AM Blessed!

Yesterday morning, Shawn called & asked me if we were going to be home all day. I said yes since we were busy cleaning the house as Cassie & her friend are coming home today. He then said that him & Toni had to go pick up their daughter at her Dad's house & they were going to stop by afterwards. After all the stress I've been going through, this was truly a blessing! I look like crap in the above photo because I didn't even have a shower yet, but I didn't care. Just holding & hugging this little girl is all I need to make me smile :)

Let me tell you though, seeing my granddaughter yesterday made me realize that life isn't so bad afterall. And money definitely doesn't buy happiness! Seeing this little girl smile is what makes it all worthwhile.

She wanted to go for a walk with her Daddy & Gamma, so we took her around the block & I just couldn't resist snapping this picture of her & her Daddy holding hands :) Like the little pink cowboy boots? I saw them at Target a few weeks ago & just knew I had to buy them for her.

When they were getting ready to leave, she didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay at Gammas :) So I had to break out the cookies to get her to stay in her carseat. I handed her one Oreo, but that wasn't enough.....she wanted the whole bag & who was I to say no to this adorable face ;)

I really AM blessed!

Have a great Sunday,
Benita

Finally Blogging!

Like my new car? ;) I wish it was mine! Right after I bought my TorRed Daytona, I found out that they were going to be making a Plum Crazy one & I was so mad that I didn't wait! So when I drove by a dealership down the road the other day & saw this one sitting in the lot, I just knew that I had to stop & take some pictures of it. A salesperson even came out & asked me if I was ready to trade the red one in on it, lol. As much as I LOVE purple, I'll admit that I just wasn't too impressed with it. The black just doesn't show up as well on the purple as it does my red one. Plus it didn't have a sunroof! What's up with that???

You may be wondering why I have all these pictures of clouds. Well, I just love the sky & all the awesome views it gives us, so whenever I see some really cool clouds, I start snapping pictures of them. The first two were taken a week ago when we dropped Cassie off to go to Traverse City. I actually took them through my sunroof :) If you look closely at the second one, you can see a bird flying.
This picture I took on my way home from work the other day. We were under a severe thunderstorm watch & while these clouds looked cool, they were actually pretty scary!
When the storm hit, it was extremely windy & tree branches were falling down everywhere. Jim & I had an appointment to go look at another home during the storm & on the way back home, I snapped this picture. I'm just glad that it wasn't a tornado!

Well, that's all for today. I promise I won't wait so long to update next time :)

Have a great Monday,
Benita

Sometimes AOL drives me NUTS!

Last night, I had an entire post all typed up & just as I was getting ready to publish it, BAM! AOL decides that it wanted to shut down on me! No warning, no notice, no goodbye, nothing! So, of course, I lost the entire post in the process & was too tired to retype it all. So now you're getting the condensed version as I have to get ready for work this morning & don't have much time.

It's been a week since I updated because I've just been really busy. I worked last Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, then went to pick up my paycheck on Friday & did some shopping with Jim & Cassie. Saturday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous & you would think I'd go out & enjoy it, right? Nope, not me. I stayed inside all day & had every window open & just enjoyed the nice breeze. I even got some much-needed cleaning done, including completely cleaning out our pantry.

Sunday, I had to work all day & we had a Crop Till You Drop weekend, so I was in charge of doing a Make & Take for the croppers. I'll admit, I was a little nervous at first, not knowing whether or not anyone would like my page. But surprisingly, everyone that did it LOVED it :) That really made my day! Here is the page I did:

Afterwords, I helped sell quite a few bottles of Stickles & a bunch of Dollar Zone Buttons ;)

Yesterday, Jim, Cassie & I went to see the movie Evan Almighty. Jim & Cassie said they liked the first one better, but I really enjoyed this one, too. It had some really cute parts to it & at times, really got you to think.

Gotta go jump in the shower & get ready for work. Have a great day!

Benita

Nascar & Scrapbooking

Jim & Shawn had a fabulous time at the Nascar race yesterday. But I'll admit, I was a little disappointed that I didn't go after seeing that Carl Edwards won. I would have loved to see him do his backflip in person! Although I'm not a huge fan of Carl's, he is a good driver (and cute! lol) & I was really glad that he won being that it was his 100th start & his very first start was at MIS. Cool, huh?

Jim did take some pretty cool pics for me. Above is him standing next to his favorite driver's souvenir trailer.

Here's Shawn standing next to a display car of his favorite driver (GAG ME! LOL). Sorry Shawn, but you know I'll NEVER like Gordon!
Jim next to a purple 1970 Dodge Challenger Convertible! Oh, how I would LOVE to own that car!!!

A Kasey Kahne stand-up. I asked Jim why he didn't bring it home with him ;)

A new "wall" at MIS displaying all the Champions that have won there over the years. Wish I could remove that guy in the picture. Why is it, that everytime you go to take a picture, someone has to walk in front of you???

Love this picture Jim took of all the teams lined up for the National Anthem.

And they're off!

Jim's favorite driver.

My favorite driver :) Yeah, he's having a very bad year this year, but I know he'll make a comeback!
Since I didn't go to the race, I decided to scrapbook & clean my scraproom. Above is a layout I did using the Zone's Design Team kit for this month. I gotta admit, I wasn't too thrilled with the papers I got this month by Luxe Designs, but I'm very happy with how this layout turned out :) (click on image to view larger) Supplies used: Bazzill, Luxe Designs PP, Pressed Petals Chip Chatter Fuzzy Chipboard Alphabet, AC Thickers, Deluxe Designs Plain Janes Chipboard Swirls, MM paints, Primas & rhinestones. I also started 3 other layouts, but I got stumped on them, so I set them aside & cleaned my room instead.

Time to get off this computer & see what Cassie wants to do today since school's officially out for the summer (her last day was last Thursday) & I'm off from work today, but then I have to work the next 3 days.

Have a great week, since I probably won't be able to update my blog again for a few days,

Benita

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to 2 of the best Dad's in the world......mine & my husband :) My Dad taught me through the years to be a strong person & how to be yourself. He taught me that money doesn't give you happiness.....family does! He taught me that no matter how rough things get in your life, that there's always going to be a positive side. Up until almost 3 years ago, my Dad & I didn't have the closest relationship in the world, but when we lost Karen & Jimmy, all of that changed! He told me after the funeral, that he lost one daughter, but hopes he gained another one back. I reassured him that he did. Love you, Dad!

Right now, my other favorite father (although he's not my father, lol) is at MIS enjoying the beautiful day with his son waiting for the Nascar race to start. I was supposed to go with him, but with the stomach problems I've been having, I just wasn't feeling good enough to be out in the heat all day. So yesterday, we called Shawn & asked him if he wanted to go to the race. He was so excited & this is exactly what Jim & Shawn need.....a whole day together.....something they haven't done in a very long time!

I was attempting to take some new pictures of Jim & I together the other night & just like usual, Jim was being silly again :) Yep, I love that man! Even with all his silliness. It's his wonderful sense of humor that gets me through each day. Happy Father's Day, Jim.....I hope you have a wonderful time at the race! You deserve it!

Update on me: I went in for a CAT Scan on Friday of my abdomen because they still haven't found out what's wrong.....the ultrasound didn't really show anything, so my doctor ordered the CAT Scan. He should have the results back on Monday. If that doesn't show anything, then it's time for another Colonoscopy.....fun, fun! I haven't had one of those done since 2000, but I guess the preparation for them is easier nowadays.....I could either take a laxative or pills. I think I'll opt for the pills :)

Happy Father's Day to all the father's in your life. And.......GOOOO KASEY! :) Just had to throw that in there since both my Dad & I are HUGE Kasey Kahne fans, although he's not doing very good this year :(

Benita