Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Power of Words

I always hate the term.. "it's only words".
Or in school hearing.. "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me."
Wrong Wrong and Wrong!!!

Anyways I saw this pic on one of the blogs I go to and it really struck me... something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Words and the powerful affect they can have on people for good and for bad.




"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

While we don't think about that too often, it's so true.

There's nothing else that can make my day brighter than to hear "I Love You". Love is such a powerful thing... I feel it so often but don't say it enough. So for someone to take that strong of an emotion and verbalize it to me, it's pretty darn special. Kind and gentle words can go such a long way.

And in the same breath, words can hurt to the depths of my core. I have been the giver and receiver of ugly words and nothing good can come out of it. What some people feel as "just being honest", can also be the stone that gives the final blow. We just never know.

Anyways without going on and on and on about this, we should always strive to choose our words wisely. Say kind words freely and often and be careful with those that could potentially cause pain when it's really not our place to do so. Sure- a lot of times they can't be avoided but I have to wonder how many friendships and other relationships can be saved if we just think before we say. And how many can be stronger by opening up with the good words we feel.

I am so guilty of this which is why I'm writing this. Well and because it's my blog so I can!!!



Happy Memorial Day everyone!! We're off to our much anticipated vacation! Pics to follow... since it's my blog, I plan to brag all I can!!!

Much love to all my readers!!


Monday, May 24, 2010

Yes.. my hubby rocks!!!

He bought me a ticket to
this!!!

Nashville Rising!!!

June 22nd.. stay tuned for pics!

A whole evening with:
Jason Aldean
Brooks & Dunn
Luke Bryan
Miley Cyrus
Montgomery Gentry
Amy Grant
Faith Hill
Miranda Lambert
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Martina McBride
Tim McGraw
LeAnn Rhimes
Taylor Swift
Michael W Smith
Carrie Underwood
AND
ZZ Top!!!!!


Sunday, May 23, 2010

temple trip

Yesterday was such a great day. Starting out with a trip to the Nashville temple. I went with my friend who had her own prayers to ask as did I so for both of us, this was a much needed and planned trip.

This may come as a shock to a lot of you...
and make sure you're sitting down when you read this...
BUT...

My friends- I have issues!!!

I struggle with the fact that Jon can receive answers to his prayers when I don't.
I struggle with the fact that our good to bad ratio lately has been 5:1.
I struggle with the fact that darn it.. I'm not perfect and I can't change people nor can I change the world!
I struggle with the fact that sometimes I just don't like who I am.
And my list of struggles and insecurities go on and on.

So my prayer for yesterday was to know that my feelings and concerns and stresses are valid and understood by my Heavenly Father.
Admitting fault is not an easy task for me. But this trip to the temple was such a comfort to me... that I am not alone. And that one of the covenants I made was to listen and support and respect Jon and his relationship with our Savior. And that it's okay that I don't get the answers like he does.. that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. But he has a responsibility to our Heavenly Father to receive revelation and instruction for our family. Who am I to argue this?

I am grateful for this opportunity that I have to leave my problems and the problems of the world outside for a few hrs and to take a few steps closer to heaven. And I'm so grateful that I have friends who I can share these experiences with and who can receive guidance for their own struggles and questions.

And I'm blessed to be married to a man who can go with me.. not just to the temple but into eternity. A temple marriage is truely the greatest blessing!!! And I will always strive to be worthy of that and of him.

I truely feel that the temple is the place where earth and heaven meet.

In the eternal sense... my struggles are so trivial and all in all:
LIFE IS GOOD!

PS: online traffic school is soooooooo boring!!!!!


ksl.com - President Monson dedicates Gila Valley Ariz. LDS temple

ksl.com - President Monson dedicates Gila Valley Ariz. LDS temple





Video Courtesy of KSL.com





We have been blessed!

Even though I don't physically live there anymore, this is where I became ME and where a part of my heart is and I am so grateful we now have a little piece of heaven right there to enjoy!!!!

I can't wait to get back there someday and be able to go through and enjoy this blessing we have been given.

Jons new toy

Because of one thing or another and this or that, we decided it was time to get rid of our POS Sonata and get Jon a new to us car.. he decided however he wanted a truck!
After a few weeks of research, he found one in Lebanon, TN that seems to be what he wanted.
So we went last night, and needless to say after a few hrs and only $400 for a tradein, we came home with this!





Happy Birthday, Anniversary, Fathers Day for the next 60months baby!!!


Thursday, May 20, 2010

My New Blog

So I started a blog to help me with my training for this marathon. Just a little somethin somethin so I can see how far forward (or backwards) I've gone each week.

www.runphattyrun.blogspot.com

Good times!


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A little Twilight chuckle...

Actually we were cracking up...Enjoy!




Thursday, May 13, 2010

Not celebrating yet but.....

We get to move out of here!!!!!!!!!!

We plan to anyways. We haven't signed a lease yet but the guy said everything looks good and they're willing to hold it until July 1st. We are busting at the seams here literally. And we just aren't cut out for apartment living. Too many weird people and my kids need space and we need space and to not be woken up at 3am with banging above us (we don't want to know.. hopefully he's just doing jumping jacks. Please dear Lord-- just jumping jacks!).

Anywho...... it's 4bedrooms, each in kitchen, formalish dining room, 2 car garage... and basically its NOT an apartment. The backyard doesn't thrill me much but it's a culdesac so I'll take it. We get to stay in our ward so it's still in Antioch but we like it here. Nice and cozy and I think Antioch is just given a bad wrap because of the area that we live in now.. aka GHETTO!

Here's a pic of the front... you know in case you're driving through nashville and just happen to see it and want to stop by :)




**update** now we can celebrate!!! deposit paid, lease signed and as soon as we get from our vacation, we can start packing! This is ALMOST as exciting as our trip to the Bahamas... almost;)


Name that tune...

Did you win? Check HERE

My New Do...

Thank you GROUPON!!! (click on the link to see deals in your area!)

I was able to get $80 worth of hair done for $35! So I went to Salon Bouge (which is cute and quaint and they're good!) and had a cut and full color for $90... so I walked out paying just another $10 plus tip.

And I haven't been a one color girl for a long time so this is totally new!!

What do you think?!?!?



First you got to get past my cheesy fake grin and chunky cheeks.. although my teeth are getting whiter thanks to Crest Whitening Strips.






Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Comfort...

This picture captures my feelings as a mother in many different ways... But when I look at it tonight, I truely feel peace. At times, I don't feel worthy enough to hold this most sacred calling "mother".

But the Lord did.

And this is what I need. Because I need them.

So...

Goodnight my sweet babies


I'll see you in the morning




VICTORY for the non runner in me!

for the "chubby" girls everywhere!!

For the 2nd time in my whole entire life, I jogged a full mile. Took me 14.15 minutes but still... I did it! Who would've thought huh?

While I felt like this:



I probably sounded more like this (substitute library for gym):

Adam Sandler - Fatty McGee .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine


But it's a start!!!!!!!




Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Isn't it ironic?



So we joined the Y today. I figured we have an extra $90 a month since we're not paying on that blasted storage unit so we should join a gym. One that actually has a/c and more than 2 treadmills and has other equipment that WORKS! And I did. I was so excited that I went to the Goodwill outlet to celebrate (oh the simple things in life). Thats when I got the call that we aren't getting anything from the insurance on the storage unit.


Isn't it ironic? Doncha think?

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures


Yes Alanis.. who would've thought?

It certainly does figure...

I apparently need a better butt more than my kids need new mattresses. HUH...

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right

But yay! We once again have a gym membership! I can finally get my ZUMBA back on! Mama was a freak in that class and ready to rock it again.... anyone wanna join me?

And we did find a house we liked today. Fingers crossed!!! And they're willing to hold it for 45 days which is 5 days shy from PERFECT! But we know nothing about perfect so we'll take as close as we can get.

Which ties us into finding a new real estate agent tonight who will help us on our quest to be un-homeowned.

I remember the days when we couldn't wait to own a home. We dreamed about it! And now, we are willing to do anything to not be anymore.


Life has a funny funny way....


Again.. isn't it ironic???

Just... Keep... Breathing...

I am totally going out on a limb here and sharing something very personal with my 3 readers... and the rest of the world.

First of all, welcome to yet again another one of my pity parties. I worry that I burden friends and family with my constant whining and complaining so I guess writing out my feelings is the best way to get things off my chest and try to pick up the pieces and move on. Eventually anyways.

The last 2 weeks have been pretty rough. I think had the first incident not have happened, the rest would be more tolerable to deal with. But it did. And I didn't really have time to deal with it before everything else happened.

You see... this is where the hard personal stuff comes in. As you 3 know, we have had fertility issues for several yrs. Well 2wks ago, I saw 2 pink lines. And they were beautiful. Especially after never thinking I will ever see them again. And yet there they were.. faint but there. Another test... 2 more pink lines and even darker! And of course I told Jon and we were so shocked and so happy...so happy. And at that moment, our lives were being planned around baby #3. A baby we have wished and hoped for for so so long.
Well.. anal me, I decided to take another test later on. That one said negative. What?!?!?!?! Maybe I just peed out all my hormones or something. So I went to the dr the next day to have a blood test done. That night the clotting started. And I knew right then what was happening. After the clotting, shortly later I started bleeding. And our hopes dissapeared. And of course the day after, the dr confirmed what we already knew. The little bean didn't stick. So it was early enough without much pain and passed pretty easily but it was very heart breaking. It IS heartbreaking.

Then the flood came. You all know about that.

Then the storage unit damage which you know about as well.

So after all this hitting all at once, I had just about enough I could take. I have become a nasty cranky moody mean person. And I don't want to be! But I worry this is who I have become and who I am.


And then we get a call that on a normal day, maybe a normal person could handle. But I'm not normal anymore. And I couldn't handle it. It was our insurance about the storage unit. Come to find out, our policy includes water damage caused by a leak or a broken pipe or something. But NOT floods. I know.. it was all just stuff, blah blah blah. But now it's stuff that we are going to have to come up with a way to replace. We registered for FEMA but really.. a storage unit isn't even a priority compared to how much others lost! So I lost it.
I went off on the storage unit people.. I guess I just needed someone to blame and she was the one that answered the phone. But at the end of the day, she won't even remember who I am and that's a good thing. But I'll remember what was lost.

And to add to everything else, our house isn't selling. It's sitting there. We're throwing money at it basically every month. A lot of money. And nothing is happening. And our contract w/our realtor ends today. So we have to make some decisions and soon because we're at the point where we want .. no we NEED to have a bigger place to live. We have to get our of this apartment. My kids need space. I need space. Jons car won't last much longer and we'll have to replace that too. And now we will have to replace a lot of furniture and misc stuff that we lost.

So needless to say my friends, I am empty. I was full of stress, of anger at God and whoever else crossed my path and full of just saddness. And now I'm afraid I'm just empty. I need to somehow try to pick myself up and try to see the good in all this but that just seems impossible right now. I need to stop yelling at my kids and at Jon and stop being this person that I don't even know anymore. But I don't know how and I don't know if I'm ready to learn right now.

So like I said, if I already didn't have such heartache and saddness over the loss of something that was never really mine.. just dangled in front of us.. I wouldn't have allowed all this other trivial stuff to add on to it.

But I did.




Don't forget your free razors

If you have a Target close by, this is a good deal for you!!!

You may want to grab a couple papers from this Sunday to make it work.. ask your friends for their coupons:)

In the smartsource for 5/9, there's a $5 off Schick 3 something or other razor. Clip 2 of those and also print 2 coupons at www.target.com for the $1 off schick razors.

Right now at Target, buy 2 and you get a $5 Target gift card.
So it breaks down like this (at least at my store)

Buy 2 razors 6.99 each

Use 2 $5off mfg coupons from the paper
Stack with 2 $1off Target coupons

Total for both razors is $2 plus tax
PLUS you get a $5 gift card back


So because I had several of these coupons, I did it once, got my $5 gift card and went back and got 4 razors and my total came to 5.25. I used the first giftcard, gave them .25 and got back $10 in giftcards. So no matter how many times I do this now, I come out ahead with free razors and extra Target moolah!!!


SOOOO frustrating!!!


Did you know...

That I haven't lost a single pound in 2 months?

Granted we had a little midhap a few weeks ago that would be the reason why for a little while, I wasn't loosing weight.

BUT STILL!!!

2 months?!?!?!?

I'm training for this marathon 4+times a week which means jogging and fast walking so you'd think that would help a little.

NOPE!

Cruise is in 3 weeks... I was supposed to have at least lost 20-25lbs by then.

NOPE!

My feelings for this morning?

Bunch Of Crap!!!

and

DIE SCALE DIE

The End


Sunday, May 9, 2010

How I coupon...

So many people have asked me how I coupon and that's such a hard question to answer because there's no one right way to coupon. I'm not as organized as my friends by any means but thats my life basically so doesn't change anything for me.
I figured those that are interested and those that have asked, I'll give a quick run down on what I do to save money and you can take some and leave some as you please.

Each day, I check out the following websites religiously!
http://www.hit2save.com/
http://www.savingwithamy.com/
http://www.southernsavers.com/
http://www.iheartpublix.com/

They do all the work for me pretty much! Mind you, these websites are more for the southern states grocery stores like publix and kroger.

I get a paper or two each week and pull out the inserts. Normally it's the redplum and smartsource but occasionally you will also get a p&g as well as a general mills insert. I don't cut anything right away. I write the date and file them away. Thats where the above websites come in handy. They actually find all the deals for you and match them to the coupons using the dates of the insert. For example... today it would be SS (smartsourse) 5-9 and you would pull out that insert and cut the coupon you need. And then there's printable coupons that you will also find on those websites above. How you want to store, print or clip your coupons is really up to you but this is how I found to be the easiest way for me. The more inserts you have, obviously the better luck you have at getting more stuff.
I also buy coupons (yes you can BUY them!) on ebay as well as http://www.manufacturerscoupons.net/
(look for affiliate link on my blog)

Another thing people don't know is that most stores will stack a mfg (manufacturer) coupon with a store coupon for the same item. Target is really good about this and you can find Target coupons on their website. I think the best thing for me to do is tell you which stores I frequent and then what they do for me.

Publix:
this is my favorite store in the world BAR NON!!!! By looking at the regular prices, they seem quite expensive. I always thought that so I never ever went there until I moved to Tennessee. Time to take it apart now.
B1G1 (buy 1 get 1 free)- they have many items each week b1g1. You don't have to buy 2... basically they're half price. But the great thing about this is that you can use coupons for both items!
Doubles- Publix doubles coupons .50 and under but only mfg. They don't double store coupons.
Stacking- They will also stack mfg and store coupons for the same item.
Competitor coupons- Publix accepts competitor coupons for stores up to a certain mile radius. Each store is different but if you find a coupon to use, you can stack it with a mfg as well.
Coupon Limits- the majority of Publix stores now will only take 6 coupons for like items. So I may have 20 poptart coupons but I can only use 6 of them at a time.
Overage- you can have overage here! I love it!!! So my coupon is for 1.00 but the item is only.85. Yay..I just made .15 for my other groceries. These sure add up! It really comes in handy when it pays your taxes too!
I love Publix!

Target:
I like this place too. Especially for coupon stacking.

The differences and similarities in Publix and Target are-

They DO NOT accept competitor coupons
They DO NOT double coupons
They DO NOT have coupon limits (YAY!)
They DO NOT do overage (unless you find a good cashier who doesn't care)

They DO stack target coupons with mfg coupons

Kroger:
I don't find as many great deals as Publix but that doesn't keep me away
The difference and similaries in Publix and Kroger are-

They DO NOT accept competitor coupons
They DO NOT have coupon limites

They DO stack kroger coupons and mfg coupons
They DO double coupons .50 and under (and occasionally offer triple coupon events)

Something different Kroger has is you can upload coupons onto your Kroger plus card. That way you can use a coupon on your card, a mfg coupon and a Kroger coupon on all once. Although the plus card coupon is usually only a one use thing but hey- you still save money!


Walmart- I don't go there. Blech! Personal opinion but they suck when it comes to coupons and I can beat their prices anywhere else so I don't bother. Maybe it's because I grew up in a small town that all there was was WalMart. Just not my thing.

So there's a synopsis (sp?) of my couponing. Feel free to ask any questions of course and I'll try to answer what I know in the comments. But remember- this is just MY way. Everyone is different and I would love to hear your coupon methods! Did I forget anything????

I seriously can go on and on and on about this but it's overwhelming and hard to cover everything at once. But hope this helped a little on how to get started at least:) I don't do the drugstore rewards yet so I can't help you on those but the websites I posted earlier can give you everything you need to know:)

Coupon Totals for last week

Been awhile since I actually held onto my receipt.. I'm doing this more for my benefit because I tend to overlook what I spend because I'm so excited about what i save.

Publix:
spent- 32.41
saved- 175.27

Target:
spent- 15.54
saved- 121.64

Kroger:
spent- 0.00
saved- 22.13

Rite Aid:
spent- 1.81
saved- 133.36


Totals:
spent- 49.76
saved- 452.40

total savings: approx 91% based on the total of what I would have spent which is 502.xx.

Mind you..... this wasn't all groceries. It was deoderants, body wash, lotions, meds, makeup, etc. I did stock up on poptarts and gogurts and mcormick maranaids to last us quite awhile. Since our tax is around 10%, if you think about it, I just paid taxes on everything:) Not bad for a weeks worth!


Friday, May 7, 2010

Could have been worse...

Waters have receded thank goodness. Our city has really pulled together to help each other and its amazing to see!

While the rain was coming down, we seemed to have forgotten that 2/3rds of our household items were put into storage when we moved here. We have pulled things out since then but still had a very full storage unit. It's located behind our building.... remember the picture a few posts back showing the back of our apartment complex? The storage is just beyond that. So can you guess what happened? Yup- flooded!!! Jon drove over Tuesday night and our unit was locked where we couldn't even get in to unlock our door. WTH?!?!? So I went Wed and still locked. After talking to the lady (who was nasty in every way), she said there was some dehumidifyer that she didn't want stolen so she refused to let me into my unit!! Again.. um WTH??? Later that day I got a call to check out our unit to check for flood damage. Nice!!!!!! So I was able to get in and.. not a pretty site. Needless to say, about 2/3rds of that stuff was not salvageable. I mean our huge sectional, desk, entertainment center, BBQ, mattresses, huge barbie house, boxes of books, music, Christmas stuff, pictures, ALL our food storage.... I can go on and on and on with the little things. What we kept fit into the back of a small pickup truck (thank you Tim and Berta) and was able to be put into our friends garage (thank you Susie!). And while I'm shouting out, thank you Tim, Berta, Susie, Kristy and Allison for coming out to help us. And all the others who offered and called and genuinly cared about helping us.



The hardest to see damaged was my dads journal :( Thats priceless to me! And the kids blessing outfits.. they got wet but Im determined to save those.



Yeah it could have been worse. Always can be. But darn it.. this sucked!!!!!!! Even though it's just stuff, it's OUR stuff and it means something to us. Or it did...




This is the side of our "pile" with our bigger furniture that we just had to throw out because of mold.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Not Me! (and pics of my innocent *ha ha* children)

Ever have one of these days... ???
I love my children so dearly but I don't love their friend "Not Me"...




Not Me

I have a child
who is so bad
He makes me yell.
He makes me mad.

I hear him running on the stairs,
But when I look, there’s no one there.
He scatters toys across the lawn.
He sets alarms to ring at dawn.

He skips and bounces down the hall.
He knocks the pictures off the wall.
He takes the cushions off the couch.
He spits chewed food out of his mouth.

He jumps upon my just made beds.
He cuts the hair from toddlers’ heads.
He peels wallpaper from the walls.
He loses every. single. ball.

He picks the heads off all the flowers,
and turns the hose on them full power.
He leaves it running in the grass,
to make mud puddles in which to splash.

He tracks the dirt across the floors.
He paints with mud upon the doors.
He digs up flowers in the yard.
He bends his brother’s baseball cards.

He writes on walls with colored pens
And then he leaves the tops off them.
He pees on walls,
and floors and sinks.

It’s he who made the fart that stinks.

He tosses clothes around the room.
and mixes toys in with them too.
He fills his pockets up with sand,
and gum, and rocks, and rubberbands.

I find them later in the wash
sometimes stuck to clothes and socks

He is to blame for many wrongs,
not putting things where they belong:
The corner has a welcome mat,
a balled up towel, a coat, a hat,
some rocks, some sticks, a spoon, some glue,
a cup that has ants…
or at least it used to.

The soap he breaks in little bits.
And on the mirror, he always spits.
The expensive shampoo he likes to waste.
He paints the sink with blue toothpaste.

On all the jeans he rips the knees.
He pulls the branches off the trees.
Expensive tools he likes to borrow
He’ll return them… tomorrow

I confess sometimes I have to yell,
“Who DID this? Who? You must tell!”

I question children one by one,
“Did you do this?”
“I’m not the one.”

“Mommy, you must believe,
that’s not something done by me.”

“If not you, who could it be?”
The answer always is,

“Not Me.”

Not Me, Not Me, what a naughty child,
so destructive and so wild.
But I tell you, he is clever
I have never seen him. Never.

I might rethink my spanking stance,
And get him on the seat of his pants.
If I could catch him in the act,
I’d give his bottom several whacks.

But really I wish
That he’d just go.
And take his sidekick,
Ida Know.





Is that a rats nest???




Nope. Just Riellys hair after swimming... should be fun to detangle!! NOT!!!!!

Oh and check out my new shoes!! I got some running shoes for Mothers Day from my honey and after selling my Cricut (sad), I bought these bad boys! Thanks to ebay, I only paid $65 and that included shipping!






Calm after the storm

Looking out the window this morning, no one would have ever guessed what took place here over the last few days. The sun was shining and hardly any clouds in the sky. A little humid but definately not what I expected. It was a beautiful day. For us anyways. Downtown Nashville is a whole nother story! All the water was draining into the Cumberland Lake downtown causing it to rise and spill over. This is what our beautiful city looks like right now...















After all was said and down, over the weekend, Antioch had over 16inches of rain. A record.. an insane one at that!!

Here's an article of whats going on right now and the devistation this "event" (I hate it being called that) caused.

Thankfully, sunny skies prevailed Monday (May 3) in Nashville as the community attempted to bounce back from widespread flooding that has affected thousands of area residents, including several country music artists. Still, the high water will be creating problems for weeks to come for locals and visitors to Music City.

Overflow from the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville has heavily impacted Lower Broadway from the riverfront to Second Avenue and caused flooding in two major buildings -- the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Northeast of downtown Nashville, flooding of the river near Briley Parkway has hit the Grand Ole Opry House and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

A weekend storm system brought torrential rains and tornadoes that killed 21 people in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen says it will be days before the full damage can be determined, but he is expected to ask for the Nashville area to be designated a federal disaster.

In downtown Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was closed to visitors as officials evaluated whether to reopen on Tuesday (May 4) after experiencing a reported five feet of water in a mechanical room in a lower area of the building. Fortunately, none of the exhibits are at risk.

The situation was even more serious at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center after more than eight feet of water flowed into the building's basement. Although the main performance hall is not believed to be in any danger, a symphony spokesperson said it could be more than a month before any performances are presented there.

The historic Ryman Auditorium, located on a hill above Lower Broadway and the riverfront, has not experienced any flooding problems, although the Sunday (May 2) concert by the Goo Goo Dolls was canceled and rescheduled for Monday night.

In the Opryland area, some 1,500 guests and employees from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel were evacuated Sunday night and transported to an area high school after minor flooding of the parking lot and lower service areas of the complex. By Monday, some areas of the massive hotel were under 10 feet of water, causing hotel executives to express concern that it could be months before the complex is restored and reopened.

Although the extent of the damage to the Grand Ole Opry House has not been revealed, it was sufficient enough to move the Tuesday Night Opry to the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. This weekend's Opry performances will move to the Ryman Auditorium, and Thursday's Opry Country Classics show will remain at the Ryman as previously scheduled. The War Memorial Auditorium and the Ryman are former homes of the Opry.

While many country artists are dealing with flood damage to their homes, others are experiencing problems involving their transportation and equipment.

In a message sent via Twitter, Chuck Wicks reported, "So many of my friends have been hit with the floods..keep them in your thoughts. Just found out my Bus/Trailer is Under Water."

Monday afternoon, Brad Paisley issued two Twitter messages, the first stating, "On the positive side everyone is safe. On the negative... I think all my road guitar gear, amps, effects, are under 3 ft of river." In another message, he added, "Not complaining though. Very very thankful to have weathered this. Prayers go out to anyone in these dire situations."

Dierks Bentley returned to Nashville following Friday's (April 30) performance with the Travelin' McCourys at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, N.C., and planned to appear Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. Instead, he canceled the Knoxville show and Monday's concert in Charlottesville, Va., and spent his time trying to empty his flooded basement with a bucket. Eventually, he put together a makeshift pump to remove the water.

"Replaced bucket with hodge podge of leftover pieces from home depot," he wrote on Twitter. "It's been ransacked."






Free Makeup Time!!!



If you have a Rite Aid near you, read on...

Pull out those RedPlum coupon inserts, find the 4/11 one and clip out the covergirl buy 1 get 1 free coupon. Hopefully you're crazy like me and have multiple inserts for this day because I get the redplum every tuesday and then garbage pick the ones the other residents throw away (I'm not above digging for a good deal)...
Anywho, take those coupons to Rite Aid this week and snatch up some FREE Covergirl makeup! Yup.. FREE!!!!! They have a sale of b1g1 this week anyways so using that coupon makes the one you have to pay for free too! They both have to be the same price though so keep an eye on that!

So today, I got 14 items of makeup and 2 pks of gum for 1.70. I also used a $5 off $25 coupon I got for signing up on line for some wellness deal and that paid all my tax. My total before sale and coupon was over $125!!!! Basically the 1.70 was for my gum.

YEAH BABY!!!


Sunday, May 2, 2010

Awesome Night- Due West release party

I have been so blessed to have become friends with some amazing people since we have moved to TN. And because of these people, I feel like no matter what struggles we have to deal with to be here, Nashville is our home.
So last Thursday, I got the priviledge to attend the Due West cd release party with my friends Susie (whom I have been friends with for yrs and was reunited with after coming to Nashville) and Berta (who is the wife of Tim from Due West). These 2 ladies whether they know it or not, have made such a huge impact on my life these last 10 months. So I was very grateful to be able to share this night with Berta as she watched their dreams come true!
Due West is an amazing group. I'm not just saying that because I'm friends with the Gates and because Brad is from my home area. I became a DW fan a few months after meeting them after listening to a cd sampler. I was hooked! They are GOOD!!! So it was so fun to watch them rock it out on stage. Then to make is more exciting, they invited up Billy Dean and sang a song with him! Talk about a rush!!!
If you haven't checked out their new website or got their cd yet, I highly recommend it. www.duewest.com

OHHH and I got a free t-shirt. So what can I say?!?!?! :)

Enjoy some pics from the night.

The cake Berta made for the release party. Hey- does it count if I blow dryed that board it's sitting on??


Due West

Showing his roots!!!


Billy Dean!

Susie, Berta and myself


Im surprised my face isn't as red in this pic as it was right after I took it.

Billy Dean, Brad Hull, Jason Deere, Tim Gates, Matt Lopez