Happy HaOWloween :) :) :)

First, i have to tell you this great joke my momma told me:

(and if you know my momma it will make you laugh when you hear it!!!)

Q: WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU GOOSE A GHOST?!?!

???

A: a handful of SHEET! 

bahahahahaha :D

I finally talked Silas into carving pumpkins with me :)

 (aka: i snuck out and bought them and he joined in because i was doing it!) 

 ...and do you know what?!? THAT TURD HAD FUN (DUH :P)

Carving!

Carving Buddies :D

Silas' AWESOME Halo pumpkin :)

Our Pumpkins <3

me and my owl :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
...hope it's a HOOT ;D

Day 12

Something you never get compliments on.

Singing.

That is probably because i am no good :P

(Really. This is not me being modest, promise.)

And, with the exception of riding in my car, and listening to me sing with the radio blasting, not many people hear me.

And, trust me, you want it that way :)

Day 11

Something people seem to compliment you the most on.

Being Creative/"Artsy" :)   

Which, i have to say, usually makes me laugh!  It's not that i'm not creative, or that i don't think the stuff i make is cute (i love being crafty!)... It's just that usually when i get this comment it's out of the blue in reference to something totally simple.

ie: bulletin boards at chruch, grant it, mine were cute, but how much artistic talent do they really take?!? lol

It is a huuuuge compliment though :) i've always enjoyed artsy things, and i love the thought that people may actually like the things that i make :) :) :)

What do you usually get compliments on?  Comment below, i love to hear about you!

xoxo.

Speak Now :)

Last week, Silas and i were in Wal Mart and i pointed at a Taylor Swift poster advertising her new CD and let out a squeal.  I started telling him how i couldn't wait for it to come out! I had heard a few songs off of it on you tube, and it was gonna be sooooo goood!  He just gave me the we don't have the money speech and we both rolled our eyes.  END OF CONVO.  riiiiiiight?!!?

Apparently not :)

Tonight while we were wandering aimlessly in Wal Mart (once again! ...it's a very hip spot ;D lol)  Silas said, "Oh! i remember what i wanted!!!" and turned away and ran off.  I just let him go and kept browsing.  When i caught up with him again he was hiding something under our large bag of candy (heyyy! no judging, it's Halloween :D).  Then he handed me the bag and inside was the new CD.  I thanked him a million times and he just kept saying, "I love you."  -swoon-

Right now I'm posting and listening :) This is Taylor's best by far!  Her voice has definitely grown up and her lyrics still reach out and grab my heart <3 That's what i love the most about her music: it's real.  I feel like she sat down with me and my friends, took the material, and wrote us songs :)

I love reading the insert in the CD.  In her intro, Taylor writes, "There is a time for silence.  There is a time for waiting your turn.  But if you know how you feel, and you clearly know what you need to say,  you'll know it.  I don't think you should wait.  I think you should speak know."  Wow, she said it perfectly :)

This is my first time listening all the way through the CD. So far, my favorites are Mine, Speak Now, and Mean.  I totally have "Mean" dedicated ;) lol

Okay, lovelies! You should definitely check it out! Let me know if you love it as much as i do :)

Day 10

  Sheesh! These last few days have been gloomy questions. 

i'm seriously considering going to the next one a day early :P

lol.

Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.

Honestly, no one springs to mind!  There have been people in the past that i felt this way about, but currently... i'm good :)

Although, i do wish the inventor of pantie hose had never existed!

...does that count?!?

lol.

Thankful Thursday :) 10.28

I know, I know. Technically, it's not Thursday anymore. 
BUT it's the weeee hours of Friday, i'm having trouble falling asleep... and then i remember: THANKFUL THURSDAY!

This is us, in kitty form ;D lol

Dear Hubs McGee,

Thanks for being so cuddly :) I love you, snuggle buddy!

ps.  You talk in your sleep, and it makes me laugh :D

XoXo.

Wifey.

Drifting :( Day 9

Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.

Okay, wierd fact about me: When i am friends with someone we stay friends... 
for life :)

I would say 60% of my friends have been my friends for 10 years or longer (and i'm only twenty, so that's preettty long, ya know? lol) And 90% have been my friend for 5 years or longer.  I don't do the "drift apart" thing well.  I still talk to friends from High School and three of my best friends, i met in elementary/junior high.

I can count on one hand the number of people i considered a close friend that i cannot still say that about. Most of those are because they were a "toxic friend" and the relationship was not healthy.

Sadly, in this case that is not so... we truly just drifted apart.

Meet Amber (in orange, far left) and Mandy (third from left).  That is my sixteen year old self standing between them :) 

...which was my permanent place from seven years old until about seventeen.

Growing up, we were inseparable.  Amber and Mandy were sisters, only 11 months apart, and i fit in as a third sister.  Together, we invented "cookie-cakes" (against the advice of Jo, Amber and Mandy's mom, we used cake batter to make cookies.  They were disgusting, but pride made us eat the whooole batch with a smile!), made numerous trips to silver dollar city, kept each other awake at sleep overs, and even attended the same church and school.

We never had to worry about being left out, we had each other :)

As we got older our dreams changed from starting a Christian band together to starting a family and marrying our princes. It never mattered near as much who the man in the tux was as long as we were standing together during that special moment.  We even promised to get pregnant at the same time! lol

Then, my junior year of high school (the girls’ senior), things started to change.  They were busy getting ready for college, and we started seeing less of each other.  And the summer after they graduated, they had jobs that kept us from our SDC trips, Camp, and even shopping. 

I didn’t realize how much we’d drifted until Mandy showed up in my driveway to tell me Amber was engaged… I didn’t even know she had gotten that serious with her boyfriend. 

I was saddened to know we weren’t friends like we used to be, I felt a huge loss.

Through the years we drifted even more...

  I still see them occasionally, at church, when we visit home, and sometimes we exchange in some small talk. 

But, we’ve changed and I don’t really even know them anymore.

It makes me so sad to think of the awesome friendship and the fun times we had together, but I know that the loss is no one’s fault.  

It’s part of growing up.

…And at least I can say I know what it is to have had such a great friendship :) 

He thinks I am BEAUTIFUL :)

I just watched the Veggie Tales Movie, Sweet Pea Beauty.

(if you have a little girl you must watch this with them)

This song speaks to my heart <3

"I want a heart that’s captivating. I wanna hear my Father say, 'Has anybody told you you’re beautiful? You might agree if you could see what I see. Oh, ‘Cuz everything about you is incredible! You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me'."

Day 8:: Terd Fergusons & Karma :)

Someone who has made your life Hell

...or treated you like Crap.

Hmmmm... currently no one is being mean to me.

  But believe me, i have had my share of Terd Fergusons in my life :P

In Kindergarten, it was Megan Hartsil.  Yick!  She told me she couldn't be my friend because i was FAT.

MEAN >:O

sheesh!

In second through fourth grade, Rochelle Wright made my life hell.  She was blonde, popular (well, among the elementary folk!), had perfect hand writing, cute clothes, and she loved to remind me (EVERYDAY) that i had exactly...

ZERO. 

of those things :P

Through Junior High and High School it was one of my closest friends. 

She had been my friend since we were seven, and the older we got the more harsh her "compliments" got.  She used to inform me that my hips were "child bearing" hips, remind me i couldn't shop at the same store as her, and convince me i was lucky "because no one would date me just for my looks"!

Then, when i started loosing weight, she said I had a "skeleton face".

Needless to say, we don't keep in touch ;D

There have been many people trying to hurt me and make me miserable, but they can't if i don't let them :)

So, it's up to me to stop those terd-o ferg-os :P

lol.

ps. you may be happy to know the last "friend" that used to make mean compliments about my hips, is now FAT! 

HA! KARMA, BABY :) :) :)

Look at what i made :) :) :)

I made this way adorable scarf from an old night gown.  

It was super super super easy... and i think it's so cute!

I got the idea and instructions from Lauren.

TAG! ...you're it :)

I joined this game of blog tag, i was tagged by Brooke. I think it's gonna be funsies :)  

1. What is your theme song?

Hell on the Heart by Eric Church

"Yeah, she's good when she's bad

She's cute when she's mad

And she does all the wrong things right"

:)

2. Where is it you are dying to visit?

The Beach

{any beach}

3. If you were a cupcake what flavor would you be?

VANILLA.

 with cream cheese filling.

4. If you had an arch nemesis, what would his/her name be?

Laundry.

HA. :P

5. If you could live as any fictional character,  which would it be?

Eloise.

...and why?

She's sassy
She lives in a plaza!
She has the cutest clothes :)

&

She's always having an adventure!

TAAAG!

...you're it!

...Now it's your turn :)  If you join the game comment & leave a link to your post! ...i can't wait to read your answers :)

xoxo.

Day 7

CAUTION: TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WEAK STOMACHED WHEN IT COMES TO LOVE, THIS POST WILL BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

Someone who has made your life worth living :)

Back off, Barbie!!! This GI-Jo is mine :) :) :)

Silas. James. Keim.


Silas is my sunshine :) 
He fills my life with laughter and warmth.
He pushes me to be better, but loves me for who i am.
He is the reason i wake up in the morning.


When i was younger, i would lay in a sobbing pile on my floor and hope that someone would come along and make me feel more than worthless.
I was told day after day that i wasn't. That no one could love me.
i was damaged goods.
And i began to believe it.


Then, i started dating Silas.  He thought i was beautiful.  He laughed at my sarcasm.  He opened doors for me and listened when i cried.
He saw my worth and fell in love with me when i felt unlovable.
He has filled my life with his sunshine.


He makes my life worth living :)

Never Ever Ever! Day 6

Something you hope you'll never have to do.

{again}

*DISCLAIMER: i am aware that death is not funny, but all this death talk had me feelin blue.  i needed something to make me smile... :)

I never ever ever ever want someone anyone i love to die... again.  Death was introduced to me at a very young age.  When i was five years old, my big brother and best friend (i was a very chubby, very lonely little girl! lol), Timmy got hit by a drunk driver.  The moment i realized Timmy would never come back, it clicked.  Anyone could die, not just old people and bad guys on TV.  This sent me into a panic.  Could my mom die on the way to the grocery store?!?  I couldn't be apart from my family for too long before i would start to worry they might be dead.  I guess in a way this fear has followed me into my adult life.

I never ever ever ever! want to loose someone else i love.  I cannot stand the thought of loosing someone else.

  

GIMME... GIMME... GIMMEEEE!

Sleepless night + image searching = 

A list of things i love <3  

We <3 It is the best :)

I have decided i NEED a mustache shirt.  I partially blame Lauren for this, for posting pics of  her adorable homemade stache shirt:

I first heard of this awesome company, Dogeared, from Eday, in her latest GIVEAWAY! Head on over and ENTER :) :) :)
Card reads: from humble beginnings as a grain of sand, the pearl slowly grows into an object of beauty and simplicity. symbolic of honesty, integrity, prosperity, and wisdom. pearls represent the best within us. let your necklace be a daily reminder of the beauty that shines from a loving heart. enjoy and believe!
i love this because i see myself as a pearl :) it started out nitty gritty, no better than sand or dirt.  But with patience and time, my life will show the beauty inside :)

I want this... NOW! I love zebras! And i loooooooooooove hats :) This one is from Hot Topic. So so so cute <3

I will have to add some of this to my Christmas Wish list :)

I'm going to bed now... for real!

Day 5 :)

 Something you hope to do in your life. 

This is my "bucket list": a list of things i want to do before i kick the bucket :) i hope to keep adding to it and crossing things off as i do them.

ps. they're in no particular order!

♥ Get on a public bus, and get off at any random stop.
♥ Play hookie from work with the hubs :) 

♥ Kiss on a roller coaster, just as the camera takes our picture. 

♥ Pay for a stranger's meal at a drive through

♥ Take a strip dancing class ;D

♥ Sing Karaoke in a public place.

♥ Go skinny dipping :)

♥ Piercing (other than ears)

♥ Take a camping trip (for real, with a tent and everything! lol)

♥ "Adopt" a family and buy them Christmas gifts

♥ Learn to ride a bike

♥ Slow dance with my man to a romantic song (just like in the movies)
♥ the naked pumpkin run ;D

♥ Dance in the rain ♥ 

♥ Dye one strip of my hair hot pink

♥ Watch a drive-in movie

♥ Looooooong road trip with the bestie (Gail and Oprah style ;) )

♥ Get married to the man i love

♥Live in a loft apartment, and make each wall a canvas for my art :)
♥ Take a trip... on a train!

♥ Have at least one child with my husband <3

the truth about forgiveness day 4

Oops! i skipped yesterday : O 

i guess  i was too busy enjoying my weekend with Silas :)

So, i'll have to do two today!

Something you have to forgive someone else for.

I hate to say this, but i am a HORRIBLE forgiver.  I'm bad about holding grudges and when someone does me wrong it takes me a long time to get over it.  Especially if i've already had to forgive them for that same thing before...

Which is really really hypocritical because my Savior has forgiven me for every wrong, even the ones i do over and over again (1 John 1:9).

I can't say that there is one person that i need to forgive.  Every time i feel an old anger rising up i have to pray and forgive that person again.  For me it's not a one time deal, forgive, and i'm done.  I have to keep forgiving every time i think about it...

Glass slippers are SO last season... ;D

Last Night i went to my first Battalion Ball :)

A ball! With evening gowns and dancing? like Cinderella?

Well, sort of... ;)

It was... INTERESTING :)

When we got there we quickly pushed through the crowd until we found someone (anyone) that we knew.  Many guys thrust there hand in my direction introducing themselves (and occasionally a girlfriend/wife), and then shuffled past me, leaving me with no memory of the name they just tossed at me. 

Finally we found a guy in Silas' Squad, named Loy and his wife, Lindsey (who is only SEVENTEEN! but such a sweetie :) )

Me & Lindsey at our table :)

They quickly informed us that we were at their table, but the doors to the dining room would not open for another hour!  AWESOME.  I looked at silas and rolled my eyes.  And he quickly explained, "They said we had to be here by six."  "Didn't you tell me 5:30?" "Yes.  But i didn't want to be late..." DOUBLE AWESOME. lol

Finally when the doors were opened we had to go through a receiving line with the big shots (i have not idea exactly who they were) but they were all very nice :) which, made up for the fact that Silas and i were very first to go through!!!

Before dinner we had toasts (to just about everybody and their wife... lol).  And of course they had to do this whole ceremony with making an alcoholic suicide to toast with.  It had vodka, wine, rum, some guys socks, a horse shoe, and even a bullet in it by the end (each thing represented a platoon or army value).  Needless to say, we toasted with plain old water!!! lol

Dinner was pretty good :) and dessert was even better! Then we took some time to take pictures and catch up with our friends at other tables.

Ben & Silas :)

Some of the guys from 1st platoon

Jess, Me, & Janna Beth :)

The speaker was awesome! He was an older soldier, near retirement. He talked about the importance of familes to their soldiers.  As he talked it made me feel like i had such a great purpose.  I am so proud of my soldier, and i will do what it takes to make sure he has a reason to come home :)

After his speech, the guys all sang the infantry & army songs.  It gave me goose bumps to hear my man standing behind me singing loud and proud with conviction in his words :)

Soon after that they started up the music and we headed home to start the real party ;D

Day 3

Something you have to forgive yourself for.
FIRST, A DISCLAIMER:: I am blogging to help my self grow, not to supply you with gossip.  However, if you are reading this and feel the need to gossip about what you read, go ahead.  But please know that Karma will bite you in the tush :)

Okay, bare with me.  This may sound a tad bit jibberish... but hopefully i can get what i'm saying across.  
Let's start here:  I was abused when i was younger (that's all i can say for now.  My abuser no longer exists).
This where the disclaimer comes in. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not make me regret posting this.
Now, because i endured some horrible things, i had options.  I could go through life blaming my past (who couldn't do that, really?!?) or I could beat the odds and not continue the cycle :)
So, i chose.  I chose a husband who loves me and would never hurt me. And everyday my children are alive (once i have them that is...) i will choose to show them the love of my Heavenly Father, no matter how hard that choice is.
BUUUUUUTTTT...
Every time i visit the girls home (for troubled girls) that my sister in law works at, i leave with tremendous guilt.  Many of those girls witnessed the same things i have (and some worse...) and now they are reaping what someone else sewed for them.
Just looking at them makes my heart ache.  I just want to hug them.  There they are  in there '"hand-me-downs" wearing what someone told them they had to.  And there i am in adorable shoes holding the hand of my handsome husband.
It doesn't seem fair.  
Now, this is where my husband always reminds me that many of them chose to do awful things, and it was their choices that made them wind up there. 
And yes, i agree with that.  I didn't choose the wrong things, but that is only by the Grace of God.  There is nothing that says that i couldn't have ended up there.  Thank God He watched over me and kept me from those things.
I said all that to answer the question with this:: I still need to forgive myself for being okay,  for making it out with minmium scars, for being happy when inside i'm near worthless because of the abuse.

Thankful Thursday :) 10.21

Dear US Army,

I am so excited  for the Battalion Ball tonight :)  With all of the stupid ideas that you come up with, THANK YOU for having this fantastic one :)  mmmm... A night out with my man all dressed up <3  

I just might forgive you for deployment....???

NAH! :P 

...but it was a good try :D

xoxo.

Army Wife :)