The Fulton Four

Two Months

2011-07-22T12:21:00.002-05:00

Well, this is a catchup post! She is really getting ready to be 3 months! I know that I will probably say this every time Milena reaches another month in life, but I really can't believe how quickly she is growing. We just adore our sweet girl. Life is for sure different and in some was a lot more complicated, but with the smiles this girl can give all of that fades away. She is such a sweet baby. She absolutely loves to cuddle. I know I said I wouldn't let her sleep in our bed, but oh how I love waking up with her all cuddled next to me. It is the prettiest site, even though my elbow is killing me because I have had it bent all night so her little head can lay right next to me, well on me! =) At about two and a half weeks she decided she LOVES her swing. She still enjoys her bouncer. Her nana and papa have been spoiling her by bringing home two bounces from garage sales. They are both different, but I think she loves them both.

When she smiles, her whole body smiles. I LOVE IT! It will melt your heart. One of our friends getting ready to have their first baby (after trying for almost 3 years) asked what one of the best things about being parents was and Stephen and I both answered, that her smiles were our favorites. It brings tears to our eyes!

I put her in her bumbo seat for the first time about 2 wks ago and got her stuck! Her thighs are a little chunky! She has been wearing size 2 diapers for about two weeks. She is still wearing 3-6 month clothing. Some things are getting a little snug. Stephen weighed her yesterday and said she weighs 14lbs. She has started grabbing a hold of hair, her burp cloths or her blankies. She is a drooling queen. Poor baby drools so much she chokes on her slobber. She is great at blowing bubbles and making sound effects. She still has blue eyes. We are still wondering if they will change. She loves to stand when you hold her. She doesn't have a very good base because she stands on her own feet. She would make a very good cheerleader when she grows up!

This past week she has gotten startled very easily and it breaks her little heart. She pouts her bottom lip up really well. It is so pitiful! We took her on her first road trip (5 hours) so Stephen's mamaw could meet her. She did really well. I would pump and Stephen would then give her the bottle so we only had to stop once! It might be that the 5 hour there and back is what made her hate the car seat now! Last night I put her in her pack-n-play to sleep and she made it 3 hours and then woke up and I put her in bed with us. It is a good start. Although, I will miss having her sleep with me.

Back to Work

2011-06-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Oh how I dreaded the weekend before I went back to work! I was so emotional that weekend. I just tried so hard to take in every moment and store her tiny features and actions in my brain forever! I just don't want to forget these short moments. I started on June 6th and only worked half a day, so it made it a little easier. I picked up Milena before I left and just started to cry. Oh why must we need money and health insurance! Luckily I was able to leave her with Stephen so it made it a little easier. My next day of work was Wednesday, and it was a full day! Stephen took her to my mom and he had some separation anxiety. He sent me a text right after he left her and said, "I just left her sleeping. =(" It was sweet. I love it because it gave him a good feel of what I felt on Monday. It was kind of nice to get out with adults again and feel like myself. But I did miss her terribly! My parent's had such a good time playing dress up with her when she was awake. They put her in my old dresses and even in her great great grandmother's dress. I love that we have family close by so they can help us watch her. Work has been great so far to allow me to work part time. So I am only there Monday afternoons and Wednesday all day and some days Friday. So that is a huge blessing.

Finally some Photos

2011-05-31T11:37:00.001-05:00

One Month

2011-05-31T11:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Milena is already a month old. Well, actually a little over a month old since I am just now getting a chance to write this. We have had such a busy month! We have been busy getting to know each other, busy with laundry, busy celebrating Easter, laundry, Mother's Day, Daddy's birthday, laundry, Gram's birthday, meeting great Aunts and Uncles, laundry, and Memorial Day (5th week).

I love Milena so much! She loves to cuddle, which has made it difficult for our sleeping arrangements. We were those parents, who said, our baby would not sleep with us. She proved us wrong the first night at home when she would not sleep in her pack and play. Mommy and daddy were exhausted, so daddy said just put her in bed with us. Oops!

Milena absolutely adores taking showers! She is not such a fan of taking baths in her tub by herself. So the shower it is! She would prefer to sleep on her tummy, but I'm so paranoid of SIDS that I will not allow her on her tummy at night.

She wakes up every 2-3 hours on the dot. Hopefully this will change soon as this momma will be going back to work next week (I think) so I need some better sleep. She loves her bouncer and was not a big fan of her swing. But I have gotten her to swing in it for about 30 minutes, so hopefully she will begin to love it.

We have been to see her pediatrician twice. The first visit was when she was 5 days old, she weighed 7lbs 3oz. and the 2 week visit she weighed 8lbs 12oz on May 13.

She is very active and likes to lift her head up when she is up on your shoulder. Her favorite position to be held. She likes her feet tucked up and a good pat on the back. She immediately took to nursing when she was first born and we haven't really had any problems other than soaking the bed at night during our sleepy feedings!

She is a pampers baby. For some reason, maybe because of her tiny hiny she inherited from her daddy, she leaks in huggies. We moved up to size 1 diapers on her 4th week. She isn't a huge fan of riding in the car. When she gets really mad she takes both hands and scratches her pretty face.

I let Stephen give her a bottle for the first time on Sunday the 21st. She took it really well-she likes to eat! Mommy didn't take it well-she cried! She went to church for the first time on Saturday the 20th. She woke up right after daddy finished leading worship. So daddy took her out and walked her for a while until it was his time to go back up to close the service. I took her to the nursery to eat.

I guess that's a good enough update for now. Little stink bug is trying to wake up so I better go get some laundry done before it's too late! Blogger still won't let me upload any pictures.

Bathroom Sniper

2011-05-05T18:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, so when Stephen and I first discussed who would be in the delivery room, we decided it would be just the two of us. But then I started thinking of how I wanted pictures and video and couldn't figure out how to get all of that and allowing Stephen to be in the pictures and focused on me and Milena not on taking photos. So I told him, that I would like to have both our mothers and that they could video and take pics. Well, that was sort of up in the air, but was an option. Ideally, I wanted to let our sisters come in as well, but I really kind of thought that may be too many people considering he has 3 and I have 2. During the labor process, I really didn't have a preference. I just knew that I wanted pics/video. Well, my nurse told them that she didn't think my doctor would be okay with that many people, so maybe 4 total. Well, we felt bad for kicking some out and letting some stay in. So my bold sister, Suzette said oh let them stand in the bathroom with me while I record from this angle. So she went and got them and they (Stephen's sisters) all piled into the shower area with Suzette at the door way of the bathroom with the video camera on the tripod.

When the doctor came in, he put his mask on and then turned toward the bathroom to look in the mirror (since the door was opened) and he immediately ducked! And then started laughing. He said he had been down in the doctor's lounge watching a movie the snipers in it, and my sis and camera/tripod scared him. It was a very comical moment...I even laughed!

I don't have a picture of Suzette, it must be on my parent's camera.

Our First Outing

2011-05-05T18:22:00.000-05:00

This stuff isn't too exciting, but I want to be sure to write it down so I don't forget!

Oh my goodness, we had our first doctor's appointment for Milena on Thursday, April 28th. Our appointment was at 10:10. So I got up and started getting ready at 8. I knew it was going to be a little tricky trying to get myself ready and Milena fed and ready. So I tried really hard to do things quickly. Stephen helped me as soon as he got up and showered. I fed her and then got myself ready. We were ready to leave when all of a sudden Milena filled her diaper. So I had Stephen change her diaper, and get her outfit on. Well, I pulled the first outfit from her drawer. It was in my neatly organized 0-3 month section. Well, little did I know that someone tried to help me put up clothes didn't realize they were in sections. Anyway, I was brushing my teeth when Stephen told me the outfit was too big. I said just roll up her pants and make it work. Well, I only said this because a lot of our outfits are a little too big right now. So he did what I told him. We were 10 minutes late for our appointment. The sweet nurse just told us everything was fine and she always knows to allow for her new parents to be a little late. I jokingly said well when you see her outfit you will clearly see that we are new parents. She said okay well strip her down to her diaper and we will get her weight. So I went to take her outfit off and realized that she was wearing a 6 month outfit! I died laughing! I can't believe daddy didn't tell me it was really tooooooo big! =) Oh well, luckily I had thrown in another outfit that was the right size so she wore it. Her appointment went really well, she weighed 7lbs 14.5 oz when she was born, in the hospital before we left on Monday, she weighed 7 lbs 6 oz. and then at our appointment she weighed 7lbs 3 oz. Her doctor wanted us to give her some vitamins and he warned us that they taste awful. He wasn't lying. She spits it out every time we try to give it to her!

We headed to Target after that and she fussed the entire time she was in her car seat. Then we headed to Hobby Lobby and had to leave shortly after being in there, but I just sat in the car and fed her. Then we went back in and got the items we needed. And finally came home! That was a big day!

April 23, 2011

2011-05-03T14:22:00.000-05:00

Milena Rose Fulton made her grand appearance into this world at 3:25pm. I was in complete shock and knew that there was no way I was really in labor. Here are the details beginning Friday, April 22, 2011. I had my weekly appointment on Friday the 22nd. My appointment was with the nurse practitioner in this clinic. I absolutely love her. Anyway, after checking my weight, blood pressure and giving my urine specimen, the nurse took me to my room, listened to Milena's heartbeat and then said, Laurie-the NP would be in. I looked at Stephen and said, I'm I not supposed to be checked on this appointment. Well, when Laurie came in and we talked a little bit we asked her and she said, yes of course she needed to check me since I was 38 weeks. So she asked me if I had any contractions up to this point, and I told her no, none. Stephen then jumped in and said, I don't know if she knows what they actually feel like. So when she checked me, she "gave" me a contraction...Okay, no, I hadn't had any contractions! That was my first. We left the clinic learning that I was dilated 1 and effaced 30-40%. Laurie said she expected to see me at my next weekly appointment. Well, as soon as I got to the parking lot I had another contraction. They were very quick, but they were contractions! We then went to Walgreens and I had another one.

Friday night, our church was having a very neat Good Friday event that Stephen had worked really hard on all week. So I went with him and waited on his turn to tour the events with me. Well, before we were even able to go in, they had to shut it down due to the tornadoes in the area. Our last night out to eat with out a baby and we spent it at Chili's with our good friends Jenni and Jeremy and Stephen sister Abby and her husband and his brother Caleb!

Stephen had stressed the importance of us getting a good nights sleep Friday night because he wanted to be well prepared for his Easter service on Saturday night. So when I started having more contractions at 2:30am I just dealt with them by myself. They were coming every 10-20 minutes. Well, at 5:30 am I went to the bathroom and found that I had lost my mucus plug and then yelled for Stephen. He came immediately and then we started timing them together. They were now 5-6 minutes apart. I told him I wanted to wait it out as long as I could so we were for sure in labor and wouldn't get sent home. I waited till 6:30am and told Stephen maybe I should call. I talked to the Dr. on call and he told me it was reasonable to come in and get checked. So Stephen showered and I laid in bed and contracted more.

Let me just add that during this entire time, all I could think of was how we were not ready! We still had shower gifts in our living room, the nursery was about 70 % done. I really needed one more week. =) But I was very ready to meet my baby girl.

We got some stuff together, just in case we stayed. We just didn't have anything for the baby or for me to wear home. Okay, so back to the delivery.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:45 am. It was pouring down rain at the time and made it tricky to get into the hospital. They had me give them a urinalysis and then change into a gown. As soon as I went to take my pants off and lifted one leg, my water broke. Praise the Lord! I didn't want them to break my water. So at this point I knew we were staying! At this point, I was dilated 2 and effaced 90%. They expected me to deliver around 6:30pm. This totally messed up things for Stephen and his Easter service. He called and let our parents know what was going on, his parents had just gone out of town and were 4.5 hours away. So they started heading back at this point, and my parent's were going to wait till a little closer to time. Then my mom called me not long after and said she just couldn't wait. Which was fine with me because they had the video camera and Stephen was on the phone trying to work out the details for his replacement. I progressed quicker than we thought I would. I labored on the big exercise ball several times for about 15-20mins at a time-I loved that thing. I couldn't believe that I was still pain med free! Around 3:00pm I was ready to push! Oh my goodness, that hurt so so bad! At that point, I kept saying I made a mistake and should have gotten an epidural. I finally pushed her head out and then remember two nurses hopping on my belly and pushing on it because they had problems getting her shoulder out. She had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck once. She came out with some trouble breathing and they passed her by me real quickly and then took her to the nursery. At that point it was okay with me that they took her to the nursery because it was now time to deliver the placenta and stitch me up! That was also very painful and I cried during the suturing part! Then they brought my baby back and had me do kangaroo care and had me wait to pass her around or feed her. In the delivery room were, Stephen, both our mother's, and my 2 sister's and Stephen's 3 sisters. There is a funny story that goes with the sister's being in the room, I'll share it in another post. So at 3:25pm, Milena Rose Fulton was born weighing 7 lbs 14.5 oz and 21 in. long. After a little breathing scare, she is healthy and beautiful with long fingers and toes and a head full of dark golden hair! Blogger isn't allowing me to add photos right now, so I may just add a post with pictures!

31 Weeks

2011-03-08T10:48:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe I am so close to meeting Milena! I haven't done a very good job of taking pics or writing little updates to keep these moments etched in my mind. Milena got her first (love pat) spanking! At our last appointment, she is still head down. While I was at work, I was sitting in the front office and all of a sudden she scrunched her booty up right under my ribs. It hurt a little and I gave her a few little pats! =) It is such a crazy thing to feel her move at this point. It feels like she is a log just rolling over! So neat!

I am getting more and more uncomfortable. I am having a really hard time breathing through my nose, which is making it difficult to sleep, eat, talk! I feel like I am suffocating! And since I am on my feet most of the day at work, my heels and legs are killing me!!!

Yesterday I worked from 8:45-6:15 and then went to the Rhea Lana sale and didn't get home until about 9:00. I was pooped! Then I had to cook dinner. Needless to say it was the most painful night of foot/leg pain!

I have to give a great big shout out to my sis! Because I was stuck at work and I had our mom-to-be passes, I wasn't able to line up with Stephen (who might I add needs a good shout out) who was 1st in line at 4:55! I called Suzette in a panic and said, Stephen is in line, but he can't get in if I can't get there before 6! So Suzette came to my rescue and used her pass to get him in. They were able to get me a travel system and swing! Yay! Thanks to you both!

I am excited though, because we were able to get some great goodies for our little girl. I will have to put up 31 week pics later...after I have Stephen take them!

28 Weeks

2011-02-16T21:27:00.001-06:00

26 Week Pictures

28 Week Pictures

I can't believe I am already 28 weeks! It seems like it has flown by, but then it also seems like so long ago when I start thinking back to the start of it all. I am getting so excited about meeting our little angel (my youngest nephew Rhett wants to call her that for short).

We had our 28 week appointment today and from now on we will be going in every two weeks until the last month! My doctor said I am measuring at 29 weeks and everything is looking good. Her heart beat is in the 150's. I have gained a total of 27 pounds which I was worried was a little much but he said it was great. I do have orders to start walking 3 days a week for 30 mins a day to get me ready for labor! Ahh.

Our baby girls is busy moving around and for some reason has positioned herself on my right side and her head is still down. She is pinching something on my right side and I have to push her over to get some relief.

Stephen and I have really been trying to decorate the nursery. We are just having a difficult time. Hopefully soon we can figure something out.

Funny hubby quote of the week: I told Stephen I was feeling fat in everything thing I put on, and he without hesitation said, "I don't know how you couldn't"! I just about hit the floor laughing. I said, "that could have been really hurtful, but it was also so honest that I can't quit laughing". He followed with, "well, if I had gained 25 lbs, I would too"! Needless to say, we went shopping for some maternity clothes that day...I got two new shirts and two new pairs of pants! I actually feel a little better now!

Nala

2011-01-20T14:13:00.000-06:00

I just updated my blog the other day. I couldn't come up with a great name for our blog, but I decided that Stephen's suggestion of, "The Fulton Five" worked fine. Well, that was until Sunday night. Nala, our oldest cat ended up getting really sick. We had taken her to the vet the week before because she was acting right, and it was decided that she had vestibular syndrome. Well, we treated her for it, and she got better. Well, she had a turn for the worst over the weekend and we noticed that this time she was seriously sick. Monday morning we knew we had to take her back to the vet. So Monday morning, I took her to work with me and Stephen's mom and sister came and picked her up and took her in for us. They diagnosed her with severe renal failure! They told us it didn't look good, but they would keep running fluids over night and see if her kidneys could bounce back. Well, at some point in the night our sweet Nala passed away. She was such a sweet, playful and beautiful cat. We miss her dearly. Stephen had her for almost 8 years! We hope to add another Abyssinian cat to our family soon. Bala our other abyssinian misses her playmate.

Christmas and Gender Reveal

2011-01-05T19:36:00.002-06:00

So we had our ultra sound on December 17th. We chose to wait until Christmas Eve to learn the gender of our baby. I really wasn't sure that we would be able to wait 7 days, especially having the results sitting in our living room!!! We made it though! We woke up, took pictures and then opened our stockings, and then opened our gifts! I was so pumped with my gifts! My husband really outdid himself this year! Usually we don't do big gifts and just have fun getting stocking stuffers and things that are just "big" stocking stuffers! My big gift for Stephen was tickets to the Sugar Bowl. I knew he would love a last guy trip before daddy duty kicks in! And my big gift from him, my parents and his parents was the new Canon 60D, lens and camera cards! I was pumped! We had been talking about buying a video camera for the baby, but my Canon rebel was giving me a difficult time so he decided it was best to get 2 in 1! I absolutely love it! He wrapped them in a very funny order. I had to open one large box with these 3 items wrapped inside. Then he had them numbered! I opened the first and it was the lens. I thought, "oh wow, you got me a new lens for my dying camera." Then next, was the camera card, which was the size of my Kodak cards, not my rebel compact flash card. So I was confused thinking, you bought me another camera card to go to my kodak camera-when I have at least 30...random! Lastly, I opened the camera, looked down at my belly and said to baby, "oh my goodness, aren't you so excited! We have a new camera and I can take all kinds of pictures of you!" Yay yay yay!!!

Okay, okay, on to the reveal. We set up my new camera so we could video our response. I think we were both kind of expecting a boy so we were quite shocked when we read, "It's a Girl!" But we are so very excited. I had Suzette make us two cards, one for a boy and one for a girl and had our ultrasound tech place the correct one in an envelope with the ultrasound gender pictures.

For our families, I really wanted a way that everyone could find out the gender at the same time. So I thought, I want to use a jack-in-the-box so the baby can have it as a keepsake and it's kind of a fun way to surprise everyone because a jack-in-the-box is always fun!

So the night before Christmas Eve I worked on the accessories to the jack-in-the-box. I had planned on making a penant and attaching it to the rabbit's hand. So that when he/she jumped out the arms would open and hold out the penant. Well, when I practiced the first time, the flag shot out in the air and then came flying down in my tea glass. Oops! So I made another and tried again. This time is just shot up in the air. Okay, I have to get it secure. Well, I finally got it to stay in it's hand. But then it's arms were getting weak and it quit holding it's arms open like I wanted. So we had to go with something else. We ended up making a pink bow for a girl and a blue blanket for a boy. Needless to say at this point, we ended up with a pink bow. This is when I realized I was going to have to start working on my bow making skills! =)

We drove out to the Fulton's house on Christmas Eve, but didn't share the news until Christmas day. We waited until everyone opened their gifts. We had Stephen's parent's hold the jack-in-the-box so everyone could see it and then she opened it. It was so neat! We got it on video and I just know our baby girl will love watching it on video!

We did it the exact same way at my parent's house. It was tough because we had to wait until after church and gifts to let them find out. It was such a special time to share with our families. I was amazed that my niece and nephews all picked girl! My dad always chooses the wrong sex, but this time he nailed it! My mom had just told me that morning that I was indeed having a boy because I looked pregant from behind! I was flabbergasted! She was wrong and insulting =)!!! It's all for a good cause!

Sorry for the long post, just trying to get it all in. I will be 23 weeks this Friday! Boy has time flown by!

I just realized tonight that I am going to have to make sure and get my parent's and sister's pictures since I was videoing with my camera I don't have any snapshots of them!

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible

2010-12-20T21:30:00.000-06:00

Can I just tell you how much I love Booksneeze.com. They are a website that hosts books published by Thomas Nelson in return for your review! It is such a great trade! I have received such good books from this site, including my newest, "The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible." I have skimmed through it and it is an amazing study Bible. Here are some of my favorite things about this Bible:

~New King James Version
~How to Study the Bible Guide
~Topical Index to Full Page Studies-To name a few: Adopted, Confession, Heaven, Old Wounds, Prayer, Second Chances.
~Devotionals Index- Where it gives you verses for certain topics: Angels, Attitude, Creation, Godly Living, ect.
~Two Year Devotional Reading Plan for the Bible
~Life Lessons through out the scripture
~A section called:
More Help For Your Spiritual Growth consisting of:
He Did This Just for You Verses (He Takes Your Worries, He Values You, etc.)
Spiritual Growth Verses (Daily Walk, Forgiveness, Helping Others, Prayer, etc.)
30 Studies For New Believers: I think this is my favorite section! It has sections for strengthening the faith of new believers. It gives some questions, scripture, a short devotion, and then space for personal application where you can write out answers to some questions and then more verses for a deeper study, and then quotes by Max Lucado.
The Big Picture: A 30-Day Overview to the New Testament
"Where to Turn When" Index (Topics include:Where to turn when you are tempted, When You are Grieving, When You Want Revenge, etc.)

The only thing lacking in this Bible that others I have owned have, would be maps. Other than that I LOVE this Bible. I especially love it because of the friendliness to new believers and the ease to find verses when you need a quick reference. I also love the life lessons through out the scripture on the side bar. I give this Bible 5 stars and would highly recommend!

Ultrasound Day

2010-12-17T22:53:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness, can I just say how incredibly nervous I was about 2 hours before our appointment! I was incredibly nervous that something would be wrong with the baby, that we wouldn't be strong and keep to our plan to wait until Christmas eve to find out the gender, that the ultrasound tech. wouldn't be patient and work with us on our big secret and take the time to help us out, I was nervous that the baby wouldn't participate and show the tech. the "goods." I think the list could go on, but we made it! The only thing I could have asked for was a video of the ultrasound. Apparently they are not capable of doing recordings at this hospital. Our tech. was really good and printed a ton of pics! Our little baby was measured to weigh 13 oz, the heart beat was 150, and she figured our due date was May 5 (the original date we were given was May 8th) so the measurements are pretty close! The baby was very cooperative during the first part where she was measuring all of the stuff for the doctor and then when she started pointing out stuff to us he/she was all over the place! It was hard to stay still because I really felt the baby moving! At one point he/she had arms crossed, a little later the legs were crossed at the ankles and then when she turned the monitor to look for the "goods" she had some trouble catching the perfect photo because he/she was moving all over the place. And then at the end of the ultrasound he/she moved it's legs into a pretzel shape! Oh how I love this baby so much already! I can't wait for Christmas eve.

Suzette, my little sis made me two cards. One for a boy and one for a girl. We haven't seen the cards. I just had Suz stick them in an envelope and then took them to the tech. She took both cards and an envelope and placed the appropriate card in the appropriate envelope with the "goods" photos and handed us the envelopes back. So now we are just waiting on Christmas eve to find out the gender of our little baby! Part of me is really wondering if it's a girl, becuase she had to switch to a different "scanner head" if you will to get better frequency. But this could have been just because the baby was all over the place. We shall see!!!

We have a neat little reveal for how we will tell our families. We will tell the Fulton side on Christmas day and then we will tell my side the day after Christmas when we get together with them! Oh I can't wait!

Daddy was able to feel you move tonight. As soon as he put his hand on my belly you punched or kicked him! We were at the movies and had just set down. I felt you move for the first time on December 6. You are usually rowdy at night, but lately you have been active during the day too! I love feeling you move!

Hormones

2010-12-07T12:16:00.000-06:00

My poor husband has really had to put up with a lot these 18 weeks of pregnancy! I'm not sure he will ever let me have another baby after this one! =) Only kidding, he said I have to do it at least once more! He has been so great. It has been a fun and CRAZY journey thus far.

This past Friday (Dec. 3) we went to Gordman's to do a little Christmas shopping. I found some maternity shirts that were on sale and decided I could use a few more. So Stephen helped me pick out a few and then I went and tried them on. I came out showed Stephen to get his opinion and then had a moment where I caught myself in the mirror and thought oh wow, I'm so big and then went on. I came out of the dressing room, and we went back to the maternity section. On our way there I told Stephen that I didn't want to buy those shirts just because they were on sale, and that I really wanted to look good in them. His reply, "I think they looked good, it's just hard because I haven't really had to decide what looks good on you with a belly." I totally understood what he was trying to say, but WHAM-the hormones just hit me...I had a break down in the maternity section of Gordman's and cried a lot! While I was crying I just kept telling myself, "this is stupid, STOP crying." Needless to say Stephen was probably very confused as to how react, needless to say very embarrassed! Haha!

Later that night, I had another spell while we were in bed. I broke down into tears-another surge of hormones. Bless Stephen's heart-he said, "I don't know what to do, do I cry too or do I laugh." The only response I can give him through my bawling is, "no, please just laugh becuase this is so stupid." So he laughs and I cry...even though in my mind I really want to laugh.

Great memories we are making through out this pregnancy!

Pregnancy Update

2010-11-30T19:00:00.000-06:00

I am really going to have to get on the ball with these updates. I know I will regret not doing a better job. Here is a highlight of my pregnancy at 16 weeks and a little before.

I'm 16 weeks! (Well, I'm really 17 but this is a good spot to play catch up.

Size: Baby Fulton is the size of an avacado.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 11lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: All pants. I can still wear some of my regular shirts. Scrubs are getting a litte snug-not much room left on the string.

Gender: Find out on December 17! It's coming right up-a little nervous and very excited at the same time! Still trying to decide if we should wait to announce until Christmas!

Movement: Not yet, well, not that I am sure is the baby.

Best moments thus far: Our ultrasound at 8 weeks, and hearing the heart beat.

Sleep: I have slept pretty well. I have had some pretty rough dreams though.

What I miss: Sleeping without worrying about being on my back, eating shrimp more often, and wearing my regualar jeans.

Cravings: Pickles! =) Shrimp.

Best Moment this week: Thanksging with our families! Seeing both my brother and Stephen's brother since being pregnant.

And my favorite husband quotes (taken from Tales of the Trees) throughout the pregnancy so far:

Right after I tell him we are pregnant (5 weeks)..."I was wondering what was up with your tummy!"

"Wow, your getting fat!"-In the most loving way. At 8 weeks preggo we had just left chick-fil-a.

"You look like a college party girl in that shirt."-LOL =) October 29 a sweet shirt he bought for my birthday. Too cute to take back.

After a dead stare and I ask what he is looking at his repsonse, "Your belly is getting bigger than your butt."

"Big Red" Holy Bible - Contemporary 3-D Art

2010-10-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I saw this Bible on Booksneeze as an option to review. I knew it would be the perfect Bible for my 6 year old nephew. This translation of the Bible is very easy to understand. The words used are simple and age appropriate for young children. I love the bold, colorful pictures and so does my nephew.

My only complaint about the Bible I received was that it was a little damaged on the front cover. I did receive it for free, so I can't complain too much! Hopefully they are better received in the stores.

Telling our Families

2010-10-28T14:45:00.000-05:00

I had really thought a lot about how I wanted to share the news with our families. I went through lots of different ideas and just ended up doing it the most simple way- but to the point.

So lets start with the Fulton side. It was Abby's (Stephen's sis) birthday on September 21. We celebrated with a family party on September 26th. Since I had been trying to figure out a fun way to announce the big news without giving it away with something random we decided that we could just offer to make the birthday cake! So I took Pioneer Woman's sheet cake recipe and made the cake. I decorated it to say, Happy Birthday Aunt Abby. We put the cake is a rubber maid tub so no one could see it before it was "time". So we made the 45 minute drive out to West Fork and then up and down the rocky rough road to their house. When we got there Stephen looked in the tub and said oh gosh, it's messed up. It looked like a mud slide. All of the yummy chocolate icing slid with all of the writing and filled the bottom of the tub with icing. So we had to rush to fix it before we ruined the surprise. Susan my mil, wanted so badly to come and help. Stephen just kept telling her it was important to me to keep it a surprise. So we were able to fix the writing.

We had lunch(roast and mashed potatoes and gravy-my favorite) and then I had Stephen get the cake from outside and to light the candles. He brought the cake it holding it up to the ceiling. It was pretty funny. When he sat the cake on the table, Abby immediately knew what it said (plus she said she dreamed the night before that I was pregnant) and then Susan saw it and it kind of took a second and then she gasped. Gary my fil, was sitting right at the table with the cake in front of him and he said, "what, what does it say?" Susan said, "READ IT" and then it was out! Stephen's brother Andrew and sister Liz, were not able to be there so Gary suggested we just send them a picture text of the cake that said, Robin made the cake, I immediately said, "Stephen helped". It was a very fun way to share the news. My only other option was to share it with fortune cookies with a little message that read, "in a little less than 9 months your title will change" since Stephen proposed to me with fortune cookies he made with help from his mom and youngest sister. But I thought that may be a little random to show up with fortune cookies. So here are some pics from the cake (baby) reveal.

Telling my side of the family! This was a little more tricky to do since we weren't celebrating anyone's birthday. Plus we were not going to tell one side of the family without telling the other side if we couldn't do it all in one day.

I had planned on telling Suzette (my little sis) when I took their family pictures. But she ruined the surprise and asked me over the phone! I immediately went over to her house and we went through her maternity clothes, books and she even decorated a cake for me. She had to keep it a secret for a few days!

So I had her try to work out the details with my mom so it wouldn't seem so obvious coming from me. We just told her that we were going to come over that Sunday evening and take their family pics so we would see them when they got back from small group. Well, mom kept insisting that we wait until the next weekend so they could be there longer. Well, we insisted and went on and took a couple of family pics for them and our way to surprise my parents. We sat my mom and dad (well he didn't sit) down and showed them a slide show of the pics we took that day of Kyah.

My older sister and her kids had come up to my parent's house to get one of the kids homework. I told him to get his mom to come in real quick. She came in and I told her and my nephew. She said she was going to get my other two nephews and let them be in on the surprise too. The only kicker was my little nephew was sick with mono. Luckily, I had already had mono when I was younger so I was okay. So we were able to let them in on the surprise too!

The only person left in my immediate family to tell was my brother and his wife. I knew it was going to get out before I could tell them. So we shut down comments on our facebook page and one night at almost midnight after small group we went and put signs on their vehicles that said, "Lucky you, you're getting another niece or nephew! Guess Who?" It was super ghetto because I couldn't find my poster board so I ended up writing it on printer paper and a large piece of cardboard! Misty was a little confused with which one of us it was and texted me and Suzette that morning. It was neat! So that was the big reveal!

Funny Day

2010-10-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today I hung out with my sister and Kyah. We ran some errands, visited with my grandparent's while my Mema was in the hospital, ate lunch with my parents and then went back to hang out at Suz's. She had picked up a pair of maternity pants for me at the Rhea Lana sale for my "future" pregnancy since they were only $2! So I try on some clothes and then tell her I'm not sure what I going to do because I am having a difficult time fitting into any of my jeans. She says, "oh, I might have a pair that you can wear that I have had for a long time and I can't wear. So I go to try them on, making sure to suck in my bump so she doesn't notice, and I say, "there is no way these are going to fit," she tells me to squeeze a little harder because they are just so cute" LOL...they were cute but there was no way there were going to fit. I loved having this "little" secret, but was I was bursting at the seams to tell her! =) Almost literally! I was so excited becuase I asked Stephen to bring me home some of the peach custard from Andy's. He walked in and said I have bad news, I knew they probaby weren't serving it anymore but was craving it. But he did bring me a pint of strawberry cheesecake! Yummy! Come on Thursday!

Written on 9/14/10

Emotional Day

2010-10-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

Wow, so when Stephen and I discovered that we were pregnant, we had decided that we weren't going to share with anyone about our pregnancy until we had our first doctor's appointment. I must admit it is killing me! I am soooooo ready for Thursday for our appointment! I have been sick almost everyday with morning sickness and for a few days was sick with a cold. So it has made it hard to venture through these first trials by myself. I need my mom and sister's to talk to! So yesterday I had been dealing with morning sickness and was sitting on the couch getting ready to dry my hair. This may be TMI, but I have been having extremely tender breasts! So before I started drying my hair I was brushing it and then all of a sudden "brushed" that oh so tender area. I said, ouch! Stephen immediately checks on me asking, "are you okay," all of a sudden I just break down crying and say, "I just don't know what I am"! Wow! So really and truly I am ready to share this news with my family for the excitement of a baby, but I really just need to have someone to talk to that knows what I am dealing with! So come on Thursday!

Written on 9/13/10

News

2010-10-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!

I have run out of steam to update this post much, but I wrote it just a couple days after I found out that I was pregnant. So I want to just go ahead and post it like it was written, but add to it so it makes a little more sense. I had a horrible night of sleep on September 1 and just couldn't sleep and had a lot of nausea. I got up after only a couple of hours of sleep that night and ate a little snack and got on facebook. I really wanted to get some sleep so I went back to bed to try again. I laid there for 4 hours trying to get comfortable. So needless to say, I had a lot of time to think. I started thinking of all the symptoms I had, the increase of smell and breast tenderness I had and all of a sudden thought to myself, I must be pregnant. So I get up, crawl out of bed with my phone as my light, and go to our hallway closet where my pregnancy test was stored. I got the test out(trying to be completey quiet so I didn't wake Stephen up)and went to the bathroom to take the test. I realized that this was the cheap dollar store test and i was going to need a cup. Well, I didn't want to use one of my drinking glasses so I decide to find an empty water bottle. I have to cut the bottle so it is usable. I do my business and then look at the test. I wash my hands, and then standing in front of the mirror look at the test. I look back in the mirror and say, "oh my gosh, I'm pregnant" and then I duck down-not so sure as to why I duck down, I guess just making sure I am really talking to myself in the mirror! Then I get back up and look in the mirror again and say it one more time-like it will help it sink in better! Ha! I can't even think about going back to bed, so I decide to sit down and write a letter to my sweet little baby.

So, after I wrote my letter to my new baby, I went back to bed to try and sleep. I tried sneaking into bed so I didn't wake Stephen. No luck! He opens his eyes and asks what I'm doing. I said sorry, and that I hadn't slept all night. He said why not, and then I said, I have been sick and that I had been in the restroom. He then immediately asked if I took the test. I just smiled, kind of with my hand over my mouth and shook my hand. He said, and it's positive isn't it. Again, I nod and giggle. He says, no you are lying. I shake my head no, and then show him the test. Then we lay there and talk about what we need to do to prepare for this new change in our lives.

We get up and go eat, because I am starving. And shortly after I fall asleep on the couch for a couple of hours. Then I wake up and we go and buy prenatal vitamins, sea bands and another test, just to be sure. But we don't get the test because dollar general has them cheaper. Well, when we get to dollar general, of course they were out of the dollar test. So we wait, we are pretty sure anyway. Stephen ate tuna that day and just about knocked me out with that terrible smell! He got a big kick out of it, I went back to the bedroom until he finished!

We went out to Stephen's parents on Saturday to watch football and celebrate labor day. We ate grilled chicken for lunch and wings for dinner. We played washers and then watched the Razorback game-they won!

On Sunday we went to church and Stephen told me that he was pretty sure that his brother (who stayed the night with us) saw the pregnancy test wrapper in the trash. Oops! So we made the announcement to Caleb, that afternoon. But warned him that he couldn't tell. We were waiting to go to the doctor before we told the rest of our families!

We believe I am about 5-6 weeks. I have felt very queasy, and I have had a little back pain. And then Sunday I didn't feel well at all, I think I have already caught a cold. Stephen went and picked up egg drop soup for me today! Hopefully, I'll be all better tomorrow. I am going to try to go to the doctor this week. I'm a little nervous.

Okay, well that is all for now. Oh, I haven't gained any weight yet, but I do have a good little pudge belly. It's quite large right after I have eaten! I don't think I will fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes for very long! I have been trying to come up with the ultimate plan to share the news with our families. And I think I have it, if I am able to pull it off without it being to obvious of what I am doing!

Originally written on September 6, 2010

Love and Respect

2010-09-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

I just got this book in the mail today, from Thomas Nelson and just had to start reading it. It is called, "Love and Respect: For a Lifetime" by Dr.Emerson Eggerichs. It is a wonderful gift book for husbands and wives. It only took me an hour to read because some of the pages highlight one message in a short phrase, or a Bible verse and others just have a few paragraphs. I think this book is perfect for a quick and easy read, and acts as a reminder as to what women and men need.

Frequently the book mentions that women need LOVE and men need RESPECT. The book is sprinkled with stories as to how women show they need LOVE by acting DISREPECTFUL to their husbands and in return, men showing they need RESPECT by witholding LOVE during arguments and misunderstandings. Dr. Eggerichs does a wonderful job of adding verses from the Bible to drive home his points. Dr. Eggerichs also talks about how God created man in His image. He gives a cute illustration of God created Blue (man) and Pink (woman) and how when you mix the two you get Purple-royalty color(God). He talks about how men and women look out of different colored lenses and hear with different colored (pink or blue) hearing aids. He gives practical ways to understand the different lenses/aids and how to tweek our actions/words by putting on the different color of shades/hearing aids. I think this is a wonderful book that can change a negative attitude or behavior quickly by just reading a few pages. I think it's perfect to add with a wedding gift or is very practical to have lying around so others can pick it up for a quick read and change of heart! I think marriages can be saved by even getting a glimpse of this book and putting his ideas into practice. I give this book a big thumbs up! It's not something that is very difficult to grasps but something that others don't necessarily think about when giving the LOVE and RESPECT each spouse needs! Go out and get your copy! Or better yet, go to booksneeze.com and sign up to give a review on your blog and a review on a retail website for a free copy!

Out Live Your Life

2010-09-10T23:48:00.000-05:00

I have to say this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The book is called, Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado. I don't think there was a single chapter that went by that didn't leave tears in my eyes. It was a wonderful book on what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. It is not only encouraging but also challenging to the concept of what we in the western world have come to know as a church. If we truly want to out live our lives, we are going to have to start living selfless lives of sacrifice: just as our ultimate example, Jesus Christ, lived when he came to this earth.

I also loved how Lucado made the chapters relatively short, which to me is always a positive thing. I don't always have time to read for hours, but when I can read a couple of chapters in thirty minutes or so, it always keeps me coming back for more. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is longing to have a life that truly makes a difference: not only during your lifetime, but also for generations to come.

Two Years and Counting...

2010-08-09T10:46:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe how fast two years have gone by. I have been given the great honor of being Stephen's wife! I love him so very much. I am very blessed. We have had quite the adventure these past two years! I just want to recap, so we can look back and remember what our first two years were like!

-May 16, 2008 Engagement day

-End of May, June and July-We were in Mexico for a Mission Trip (Planning our wedding via email and short/quick phone calls)

-Returned from Mexico on August 1st

-Bridal Portraits August 4th

-We were married on August 9, 2008

-We honeymooned in Branson, MO (I forgot my suitcase in my car at the church, so we had to go buy the main necessities until my dad brought me my suitcase the next day...yes, a little embarrassed to see my dad on my honeymoon, but was thrilled to have clothes) We stayed through a Tuesday Aug. 12th, I believe, and then made our way back to our parent's house.

-We each went and packed up our belongings in two days and started the journey to California

-We arrived in California on August 15th, homeless and jobless! So we stayed in a hotel in Irvine for 4 days, until we decided on an apartment.

-Our first home, a one bedroom, one bathroom upstairs apartment in La Habra, CA Rent $1225/mo! Yikes! Didn't even have a dishwasher or washer and dryer!

-We attended many churches, looking for the perfect fit, somewhere we could serve. Didn't find that perfect fit until we started attending "One At A Time" a homeless church, in downtown Los Angeles. We quickly fell in love with this church. It was the perfect place for us to minister and be ministered to.

-We were able to come home for Christmas, and were able to attend both of Stephen's sister's weddings. I unfortunately missed the birth of my sweet niece by a day. But I was able to come back home to meet her when she was 3 months old.

-We had visits from our good friends Aaron and Beth for Thanksgiving of 2008, my sister and her husband came out for their babymoon in March and I was able to take some Maternity pics for her. My BIL also came for his visit.

-Stephen graduated from Seminary and was also given a job offer for Grace Point Church in Bentonville, Ar. so we were able to make the move back home!!!

-Both of our parent's made the trip out to help us move and celebrate Stephen's graduation from Seminary and his birthday!

-We left our over-priced tiny apartment in La Habra, CA and made the long journey back to Arkansas with my dad on May 18th.

-Now we currently live in Rogers, Arkansas and Stephen is working for Tyson and Grace Point Church. We have been blessed with a 3 bedroom house, a dishwasher and a washer and dryer!!!

Hopefully, by our next anniversary I will be able to say we are Pregnant! We will see what God has in store!

Oh and I really need to update our blog!

Plan B by Pete Wilson

2010-08-01T17:52:00.000-05:00

Plan B by Pete Wilson, is a book that was released at a perfect time for our nation. Many people I know are seeing their "Plan A's" going out the window. People are losing their jobs, not able to have a baby when they plan, etc and in return asking where God is during this stressful and sometimes length period of life. In Pete's book, he gives hope to his readers. He talks about how our Plan B's may have always been God's Plan A. He also talks about how God will take these situations in our lives where we have pain and struggle, and will never fail to show us his love through our difficult times.

I love the stories that Pete includes in the book and how he also shares that he himself is walking through his own Plan B many times. I recommend this book to anyone. I think this book is a must read for those looking for encouragement and a positive outlook on their feelings of a negative Plan B experience.

23 yrs. old, 6'4 and blond

2010-07-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, I am so tickled by Kelly's Korner-Show Us Your Life! I have to participate, even if I do get into trouble. I can always use the excuse that he is out of the country so I couldn't ask first! =)

Okay, so my brother-in-law, Caleb is so stinkin' cute and SINGLE! He is 23, 6'4, blond (sometimes curly-depending on length) hair. He is the 4th of 6 children. His parents were missionaries in Guatemala for 7 years before moving here 10 years ago. He graduated from William's Baptist College and is currently looking for a coaching/teaching job-while waiting he is working at a hospital. He is fluent in Spanish and loves sports. He is also the head coach of his former home school senior high boys basketball team. He loves kids, loves the Lord and loves his family. Oh and I almost forgot to add, expect to be treated like a lady as you will have doors opened and your momma will fall in love with his manners-yep, he is one guy that still says yes and no ma'am!

Caleb and his brothers, Caleb is on the left:

Here he is with his sisters and parents.

I have high standards for any girl he dates! I have always been pretty protective over him. So our requirements are: You must be an active Christian, easy going, love sports, and kids and of course, like me because I could be your sis-n-law! =) He and his brother (my hubby) are very close!

In this photo, Caleb had just helped his sister's boyfriend at the time, set up his proposal.

This is Your Brain on Joy

2010-07-01T18:56:00.000-05:00

When I first read the title of this book I was immediately interested. I have to admit right now, that I never finished this book. I made it about half way through and really lost interests in the book. I think a big reason as to why I lost interests was because Dr. Nelson uses lots of "names" for each center of the brain as well as the technical name. This gets a little overwhelming and can be a little distracting.

I did enjoy reading of behaviors and activities that Dr. Nelson encourages his readers to partake in to have the most joy possible. I love that he couples this with what activities, behaviors, and foods we should evaluate in our own selves and how they may affect our moods. I was surprised how much he concentrated on over the counter medications and scans he recommended through out the book.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those struggling with certain mental issues, but would caution them that it can be a little like reading a textbook.

One Year and Nine Months

2010-05-01T15:40:00.000-05:00

Yep, that is the amount of time we have lived here in the beautiful state of California! I have to admit I wasn't a very big fan of living here for the first 6 months and wanted to move home so badly. Well, I adjusted to the driving (or the lack thereof), started making friends and fell in love with our church. I absolutely adore the weather, love that the beach is just 20-30 miles away, love Bucca di Beppo, and Jack in the Box. So Cali, began to feel a little more like home. But Stephen graduates in just 13 days and we will be moving back home to Arkansas. It is such a bitter sweet move but I am pumped to be close to my family. When one of my nephews have a game, Rah Rah can be there. When Suzette needs a babysitter, Rah Rah can be there. My nieces and nephews have such a special place in my heart. I love them like there were my own kids-probably a big reason I don't have any of my own. But I do plan on taking advantage of Allegiant's cheap flights and making my way back to visit! Someday, we will hopefully move back out here!

I am excited that Stephen's parent's and his little sister will be flying out on May 10 and will be here for graduation, and will fly back on the 17. My parent's and my little sister and my niece will be driving out to help us move back. My mom/sis/kyah will fly back on the same flight as Stephen's parents. My dad will be pulling the trailer with all of our stuff. So we plan on having one big week of playing in Cali before we leave! I am so excited and thankful that my dad is going to help us with moving!

Tutus and more!

2010-04-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I think these are some of the cutest tutus I have ever seen! Fairy Wonderful has some great stuff! Go here to enter the giveaway at Crazy House for a $25 gift card to their etsy shop!

Another Giveaway by Crazy House!

2010-04-08T22:21:00.000-05:00

Check out this Solano 3700 Moda Hair Dryer valued at $220 giveaway! by Crazy House! She says it dries her hair in half of the time that the other takes! Click here to enter!

Big Giveaway

2010-03-31T23:44:00.000-05:00

So Jenna, over at The Jackson Five is hosting a big giveaway right now! It is the cutest Pink Hana 1" Professional Flat Iron valued at $119.00. Be sure to check out her blog so you can enter for a chance to win!

A 24 hour Drive Surprise!

2010-03-27T18:57:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest Men I know is my 88 year old Pepa (Grandfather). He has such a heart for the Lord, treasures his family and is just the kind of person I strive to be. He and my Mema, have been married for 62 years (I think). My mom told me that the doctor told them that his heart is in critical to fatal condition. So he has been told that he doesn't need to do anything and take very good care of himself-which is driving him nuts because he still wants to work out in his garden and take care of the lawn. Well a few weeks after they learned this news my mom called me on a Sunday morning really early and told me that he wasn't doing well at all. So I told Stephen how much I want to be able to see him one more time before he dies but I wasn't sure that I would be able to. So Stephen suggested that we hop in the car after church and go surprise them. So after 24 hours of driving and delayed by a snow storm we arrived at my parent's house just in time for my second nephew's birthday party! I called Suzette (my sister) to let her know that I was about 30 minutes away from her. She was confused for a second and sqeeling with excitement. I felt bad because we messed up her plans, but I was pumped that she was so excited to see us! So we worked up a plan for how to surprise the rest of the family. She suggested we hide in her trunk and she would tell them that she had Braydo's birthday present in the trunk. =) Well, we did just that. They guessed that her husband was in the car, that she had gotten them a snake, a cat. She said, "oh no, it's cheap!" Haha! We are cheap! Anyway, once they opened the trunk, and we could breathe again, we were immediately tackled! My mom, as Stephen likes to say, "was jumping up and down like a little school girl!" It was too funny! My dad had just sent me a picture of everyone saying how they wished we were there!!! Little did they know! So since we didn't arrive when we had planned to we went ahead and stayed at my parent's that night and then surprised my grandparents the next morning.

When we got to my grandparents house, Stephen and I were standing on both sides of the door. My poor grandmother couldn't really place Stephen without me and she saw him first. I then peeked around and she saw me and just started crying, and then my Pepa walked to the door and started crying too! We all went to lunch together and then Stephen went to surprise his family while my mom, my sister, my grandparent's and Kyah visited where my grandparent's both grew up! It absolutely was the best medicine for them both. They just lit up! It was really neat to see where they lived 80 years ago. I am truly blessed with a great family!

Surprising Chandler!

This picture just makes me smile. Mema was in the kitchen cooking, and Pepa was in his chair watching basketball when he came in to give Mema a kiss. Well, Suzette missed the actual kiss and had to ask them to do it again so we could capture it! Well they didn't mind one bit!

She loves her Pepa!

Mema telling Suzette about her house!

Cutie!

Collecting rocks from our great grandfather's rock fence!

Digging up our great grandmother's flowers!

Digging with a license plate until the nice guy that owns the land provided us with the shovel.

Beautiful view!

My Hubby

2010-02-20T19:33:00.001-06:00

I just love my husband! Last Saturday I was watching America's Next Top Model and he came in and said, I don't get it..."Easy, Greasy, Beautiful Cover Girl"? Haha!

It's been a long time

2010-01-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

Just as my title says, it has been a long time since a real post! I have been super busy since Christmas. So I have a lot of catching up to do. We had a wonderful time being at home for 10 days. We were welcomed with snow right after we landed on Christmas eve. My sweet sis and her husband and little Kyah came to pick us up. We made it to Fayetteville and met up with Stephen's brother and sister. We then went out to their house for Christmas eve and Christmas day morning/early afternoon. I received some great gifts from all of my in-laws. Gift cards and knives (that are wonderful) some jade earrings from Guatemala (that I love) and a very cool olive oil bottle and little matching dishes with some mixes for bread. We had steak for Christmas eve, sausage pinwheels and gravy for breakfast-which is a family tradition and for Christmas day lunch we had another family tradition-cornish hens with all of the fixings! I never can eat a whole one-but they are good.

We then packed up and headed over to my parent's house. On the way there we decided we should call one of our friends (Frank) from the homeless church to wish him a Merry Christmas. He was so shocked that we would call him. He said that he hadn't heard from anyone all day long =(. I am so glad we called.

When we arrived to my parent's house we were greeted with flying nerf bullets from at least 4 guns. Maybe that is the way people should shower the bride and groom when they leave the wedding! Ha! At my house we eat our traditional meal of turkey and Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, dressing,green beans, corn, and so much more I can't even remember. It was super yummy, especially since we missed Thanksgiving. We opened gifts and there were so many we were very blessed. I made both my nieces and my 3 nephews, my mom and my grandmother and my MIL and Stephen's grandmother photo albums. For Stephen's grandmother, and both of our mom's I made books with photos from our wedding. For my grandmother I decided that she had enough wedding photos so I would make her a brag book with photos of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. For the kids I made each of them their own personal photo book with pics from their lives. It was so neat because at our house with Christmas their are so many kids that they are all excited and just ripping presents open that when they opened my photobooks they all just stopped and got totally silent and took in each picture. Some of these photos they probably hadn't ever seen or would have remembered. It was really special. I was so relieved because I was really nervous about giving kids photo books and not toys!

Stephen and I were not sure what to do as gifts for our families. It is getting harder each year as both our families are huge and just keep growing. So I thought that a combined family recipe book would be fun. So we included recipes from each side and tried to get our grandparents and great grandparents recipes in the book. We really realized after being away from our mothers that we just don't know how to cook some things. And like I told Stephen's mom when we were asking her to help us come up with recipes, I said, "we can find lots of recipes for rolls on the internet, but they just won't be Stephen's moms recipes." So we wanted to get them down on paper so our families won't loose these precious recipes that represent such sweet child and family holiday recipes. We included photos of our great grandparents, our grandparents and our families. I hope everyone liked it as much as we do.

On Christmas eve (we had to do it on Christmas day this year) my family plays cards/games and compete for prizes from the "prize" table. My mom collects fun little goodies and we get to pick a prize if we win the hand. Usually we play Nerts! One of my favorite games! I made chocolate chip cookies with my nephew. Watched another nephew play in a basketball game, played with Kyah and so much more. While there the weather got to me and I was sick most of the time but it was well worth it to be home. We also spent New Year's Eve with my family and had a blast. My older sis brought fun little hats, and sunglasses, my dad went overboard with food and we had a blast playing games. We played lots of wii fitness and Suz and I rediscovered our childhood love of Super Mario. Oh my goodness, how much fun it was!

When it was time to come home it snowed once again. It was neat to see some snow since all we really have seen out here were 70 + degree days. Although, just last week we experienced lots of rain and thought we were going to get washed away. It's all nice and pretty again. Okay, well I have talked enough for this post!

This deer was so hungry he was willing to get close to Liz.

These next two photos were from one of the funniest games I have ever played. Quelf. Have you played it?

Yes, Caleb is single ladies! Ha!

Big Giveaway!

2010-01-27T19:58:00.001-06:00

Check our my friend Jenn's blog for a great giveaway!

Make your kids celebrities!

2009-12-06T20:11:00.000-06:00

I just found this freebie thanks to Coupon Geek and had to share with you all. I made some for my oldest sister's kids and just love how they turned out. ESPN is giving away free posters that you can purchase or print out at home with your kids picture and name on a magazine cover! Go here for yours! You can also have them make a video as well. They are super cute, a little pricey but so cute and such a keepsake!

You can see my final products to the right...AUNT SISSY, this is a secret it's part of their Christmas present, so SHHH!

Black Friday-A Gift from God?

2009-11-27T19:32:00.000-06:00

Stephen and I went to Wal-Mart last night after much deliberation. I really didn't want to go, but he wanted to because he didn't want to deal with the people during the weekend! So after many hours of putting it off we finally went. Well, they were all set up with the pallets for black friday and there were people lining up at 10:30 pm ready to redeem their highly demanded items. We were there just to get a couple of things. Well, all of a sudden I spotted money on the ground! I looked to see if I noticed anyone had dropped it or not. The only person I saw walking near me was the guy who walked right passed it without noticing. Well as I got closer to the money this is what I saw I immediately stepped on it and pulled it to the side and told Stephen! We were both like, maybe this is a gift from God! But then we both thought, we have to find the owner. But then we also thought how many people were going to claim they lost the money! Well, we stood in that same spot for 15 or 20 minutes looking to see if we could spot the frantic owner! During this time I looked at the money I was holding and unfolded it to find this ! At this point I am hoping the owner won't show up and really didn't need that money! =) But she finally did and I am very glad she did. A young frantic girl checking her pockets, asking the store associates and then running to the front of the store asking the associates there, and then running to the restroom before we could catch up with her to tell her the good news and return her money! When she came out we handed her the money and she immediately greeted us with hugs and blessings! It was so much more fun to return that money to the rightful owner than keeping it for ourselves-even though God knows we could use it =)! She was so grateful and told us that it was for her father's Christmas present! He must be one great dad!

Time for a Walker?

2009-11-08T20:22:00.001-06:00

One year older and one year closer to needing a walker. The other day I went to take the trash out to the dumpster and on my way back I hit a crack in the asphalt of the parking lot. I was carrying my laptop in my left hand and when I hit the crack my ankle turned and caused me to lose my balance. Well having the computer in my hand made it quite difficult to gain my balance! It took quite a few steps to finally catch myself before face planting it! I was a little sore but laughing incredibly hard. I don't think there were any witnesses, but had there been they had quite a show! Ha!

I had a great birthday, my sweet husband made me brownies from scratch! Here is a pic of what they looked like before he baked them...

Yeah, he didn't really think about the white chocolate chips melting down into the brownie so he was really glad he captured his complete design with a picture. He is so sweet!

And then I received a sweet card in the mail from this little beauty...

This picture just took my breath away! Isn't my niece just gorgeous!!!

And another sweet birthday surprise is that Stephen and I will be going home for Christmas this year! I am so excited. I was okay with missing it, but I am so excited we get to be there. I think when Christmas day actually rolled around I would have been really sad to have missed my first Christmas with my family EVER! I am very blessed that my in-laws only live 15 mins. from my parent's house. So we won't miss Christmas with either side!

I have entered my sweet Ballah Jane-(her nickmiddlename)into Petmeds cutest pet contest. So go vote here if you think she is the cutest, even if you don't! =) We could win some money! PetMeds World Games Pet Photo Contest will award each contest winner $1000.

Chicken Wave and Toilet Spray

2009-10-22T20:07:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Stephen and I went to Chick-fil-a to redeem our free chicken sandwich from the chicken wave. I just love that place for so many reasons-great food and great service. We are very lucky because we have a Chick-fil-a right by our apartment. Well, I know you are probably wondering where the "toilet spray" comes in...well, I went to the bathroom, and felt a little scrunched because the stall was so small, while we were there and I did my business and was getting ready to get up when the automatic flush occurred. I love how you don't have to flush those toilets but I hate when they are in a hurry! So when we got home I told Stephen of the occurrence and how I couldn't stand small stalls and early flushes, and then he started reminiscing on his childhood days of using the restroom. We had a good laugh remembering how once upon a time we had to be careful not to fall in. =) Isn't it funny the things you remember!

Dear Suzette

2009-10-20T00:05:00.001-05:00

I thought I should just go ahead and title this post to my sister (since you seem to be the only one who reads my blog, you are at least the only one to comment anymore).=) Anyway, I thought you might like to see a couple of more videos from OAT. "C" and Bro. Bob are leading worship for us! "C" looked much better this week. Continue to pray he stays this way. No sign of Joe this week. I am still praying he shows up next week. Okay, here are a couple. One of my favorite songs, one that I end up singing through out the week is a song that "C" learned and taught to us. "My Mind Stayed on Jesus" Enjoy! Click here and here to watch. Oh and Stephen reminded me to hold the camera the right way this time, so no need to tilt your head or your computer. =)

Happy Birthday

2009-10-15T19:21:00.001-05:00

Check this out...

OAT Requests

2009-10-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

This is "P" and the pastor's wife. He was visiting with her about what it means to be a Christian! I love him too. He is such a talented pianist!

We have had a blast the last two weeks down at One at a Time on Skid Row. We have also had some new changes. Last week, Stephen sang one of his songs during the service and led a hymn with the band. Like I said on my last OAT post, I was anxious to see what the "Skid Row Band" would do while he played his song. Well, they couldn't help themselves and they joined in. It was great! I wish I would have had my camera to record it. Other changes we have had are going to require lots of prayer and support. I am asking for you all to help. I want to give you a little background on "C". "C" led the music for the skid row band. He has had a difficult life. I don't know all that he has been through, but I know he was in jail for five years and was recently released and was living in a rehab facility on skid row. Well, "C" missed the last two weeks due to a lock down the facility had due to someone escaping and the second week due to something "C" had done wrong. Well, we just found out Sunday that he left the rehab facility and is back on the streets and is into drinking. This breaks my heart. "C" has three grown boys and he loves them to death, but he can't seem to get his life straightened out. And as a result a lot of people have been affected. His family and Pastor Ken and his wife Marian. They care for these people so much and it really hurts them to see someone make such progress and then totally back track. Pastor Ken asked "C" not to lead the worship this morning. He did however have him come to the front of the church and he explained to the church what is going on in his life and my favorite part, Pastor Ken had him face the cross and sing "Jesus Loves ME" and told him to sing it to himself not to us. I pray that really hit him, that Jesus does love him. I am asking that you will please pray for him. He really needs our prayers right now. He has some problems with anger, so we are nervous that drinking mixed with an anger outbursts could put him away for life.

My second requests if for Joe. Joe is the guy from Arkansas. We really love Joe, plus we felt close to him since one of Stephen's friends knows his family. We were able to send pictures and updates about Joe. Well, Joe was not at church again this week. He has been missing for two weeks now! We drove around last week and this past Sunday to try and find Joe. We didn't have any luck. So please pray that Joe is safe and that he will show up to church next week.

And lastly, Skid Row is getting ready to undergo some renovations and will be relocating those housed in the hotels and our church, since we meet in the Ford Hotel. We are praying and looking into this old methodist church.

Isn't it beautiful! Can you imagine what it is being used for now? I was shocked! It is being used for filming pornography. Pastor Ken has been in contact with the realtor about the possibility of purchasing this property. It looks like it is huge and has so much opportunity for ministry. It is going to have to be God's will. And the funding will have to come from God because it has a huge price tag(And you can imagine the offering of a homeless church-although they do give every service). I know if it is in His will for us to have this church he will provide the funding. I am sorry that this has become a novel but I feel that these requests are very important.

Here is a video I uploaded to youtube of "C" and Stephen and the band doing a song together. Poor Stephen gets drowned out, but it's just a real version of what we get to experience every Sunday and I thought you might like to see. Click here if you would like to watch. Oh and I am sorry that I was turning the camera, I don't know how to rotate it now. If you have a laptop you can just turn it, like I do! Ha! Enjoy.

The Big 25!

2009-10-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

It's my little sister's birthday today! Happy Birthday Suzette! I hope you are having a wonderful day! I wish I could be there to help you celebrate! Love you!

What is Your Leading Role?

2009-10-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever found yourself wondering why you are in the career field that you are in, or unhappy with the one you don't have. I had the opportunity to read Marcus Buckingham's new book, Find Your Strongest Life. He taps into, what the most successful and happy women do differently. Throughout the book Buckingham tells us stories of a few women and parallels their lives and what it was that placed one as successful and the other dreaming to reach their success. The book is powerful and encourages women to focus on their strengths and NOT their weaknesses. He suggests many tips for recalling moments where you found yourself confident, successful, and happy as well as those times that we weren't.

I love the example he gives of his child when he was in first grade. He and his wife are going to his classroom to learn of all the work the children have been working on. Buckingham realizes that this is going to be the first time that he has seen his child's school work in comparison to his classmates. I imagine it is a pretty scary feeling for parents. He says that the first thing they see is a wall of art. And he describes a few pieces as just being great, and then he spots one that is just in pencil and not very good and notices his son's name on the bottom. He shares his thoughts of embarrassment and suggest to his wife that they get him a tutor. When the teacher comes up to them and tells them he wants to show them something. The teacher takes them to another part of the room and shows them their child's math work. They were to have a math equation and then draw a picture. Well, while most children were picking such things as 2+2=4 and had wonderful pictures, his son was picking equations such as 15-8=7 and had a not so great picture. Buckingham immediately notices his son's strengths and is ashamed that he hadn't focused on those in the beginning. Although, I am not a parent, this story reminds me of how often we are trying to fix the areas we aren't as good at, rather than emphasizing on those that we are good at and making ourselves better.

One of the other things I love about the book is that Buckingham has included a test and the results. He gives you a site to take the test and then throughout the book allows you to really see what you are good at, and what careers might be a good fit for you. My lead role is: Teacher and my supporting role is Influencer. I will stop now because I know you are dying to go and take the test to find out your roles and getting this fabulous book. You can find a link to the Strong Life Test on my sidebar to the right.

One at a Time

2009-10-02T21:55:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of Bro.Bob(filling in for Chuck) and Frank, part of the "Skid Row Band"

Can I just tell you how much I look forward to Sundays! It is the highlight of my week. I have never felt more loved than I do when I walk into the church down on skid row. I wish everyone could experience it! Last week Robert aka:Brother Bob told me that he loves it and it is the highlight of his week and I told him I agreed. I was a little sad because Chuck, the music leader was on restriction in his rehab center and wasn't able to be there. Not sure why he was on restriction, but I know he was sad to miss it. We had some new people show up that we hadn't seen before. One that really caught my attention was a pregnant lady probably my age if not a little younger. She came in to go to the bathroom after the service had started, sat down for a little while during the service and then left before it was over. I so wanted a chance to meet her. Maybe she will be there this Sunday. I was sitting next to Bro. Bob during the service, he is such a great artist. He was taking notes during the service and then would sketch the objects painted on the wall.

So Stephen and I were talking on the way home and thought it would be fun to get him a sketch pad so he doesn't fill up his Bible with his art. I can't wait to give it to him.

Above is Joe

I am so excited that Joe (Native of Arkansas) has attended every time since we have been there. I have come to love this man very much. He is so kind. I have a hard time because I just want to "fix" him. I wish I could just snap my fingers and he would quit using. Say a prayer for him, Stephen and I would love to bring him back to Arkansas with us and get him off the streets. He told us two weeks ago that he was planning on getting a tent and a bicycle from his sister, which has yet to happen. The homeless are allowed to set up a tent on skid row from 9pm-6am and then they must pack up. I asked Joe what he was sleeping on and he said the sidewalk. I asked him if he had a pillow and he said no, he just used a bag of clothes usually. He had a bag of personal items and his reading glasses and they were stolen last week. So he was having a hard time reading his Bible. Oh how this breaks my heart. Stephen and I would love to provide him with a tent, a bicycle, and glasses, but we are having a difficult time financially ourselves. I am just waiting on God to give us the opportunity to provide him with these things. One of the sweetest things that happened on Sunday when I was talking to Joe about the weather and he was telling me that it was getting chilly enough that he needed another blanket. Well, Jesse who lives in the Ford hotel heard him say this and disappeared for a bit, and a little later showed up with a new blanket (that Jesse had for 3 years) decided that Joe needed it more than he did.

Jesse who is in charge of the clothing closet

It was so sweet. He handed Joe the blanket during worship and Joe immediately thanked the Lord and kissed the blanket. He even made sure to hold it in this picture with Stephen. I can't wait for Sunday.

Joe with his new blanket

The greetings we have received while being at that church have really impacted me, and I received an email from someone who attended a church for the first time back in Arkansas and said that it was quite some time before anyone greeted them. So I want to challenge you "church goers" this Sunday if you don't mind. Find someone new or someone you normally don't say hello to and greet them this Sunday. It will totally make there day!

This last picture is of Joe and his "home on wheels" as he likes to call it. I will get some more this Sunday. Oh and my lovely husband will be singing this Sunday! I am curious to see how it goes. I am sure the band will want to join in! Ha! They just can't contain themselves! It is so stinkin' cute!

Have you seen this?

2009-09-29T20:20:00.000-05:00

I just love how Dr. Oz is helping America get healthy! I just added him as a friend on Facebook, and was going through his pictures when I found a few I just had to share!

About 5 years ago I decided I wanted to give up drinking pop. Sprite and Dr.Pepper were my drinks of choice! I decided that I would first give up Sprite. And then shortly after I gave up my Dr.Pepper. I have been Pop free ever since. Well, I do have the occassional sprite in my drinks from Sonic, but that is it and probably once every 6 months. Anyway, I know that Pop is one of those things that alot of people drink and don't think of the consequences of consuming them. Here is an ad that Dr. Oz said has been appearing in N.Y.

And this is well pretty evident what it is! =) Dr. Oz said type 4 is ideal. What's yours? Okay, you really don't have to answer that!

And then he said if you are greater than 2, you need more water!

Just thought I'd share! Give up your pop and get some water!

You've Got Mail

2009-09-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I told Stephen that I had seen Nature Valley Nut Clusters while in Sam's and how I wish they would have been sampling them instead of some of the other samples going on. To my surprise I received this in the mail today...

General Mills must have known I needed a little pick me up today! Now I just hope they taste as good as they look.=)

I also got my new book from Thomas Nelson today! I am so pumped about reading this book. It is called, "Find Your Strongest Life" written by, Marcus Buckingham.

So So Good

2009-09-17T21:23:00.000-05:00

I entered for a giveaway over at my friend Jenn's blog at "First Comes Love Then Comes Marriage Reviews" . She is in love with Old Bay Seasoning. So when they found out how much she liked it, they sent her a gift bag filled with goodies and also told her they would give her one to give away to her readers! I am so pumped that I won! I had no idea their seasoning was sooo good. Needless to say we love it. We ate it twice in a week before I went home for a week to Arkansas. Stephen even told me that he put it on his salmon with some brown sugar while I was gone. I am not a big fan of fish. But he told me I had to try it. So I agreed and well, now I like to eat salmon-well with my Old Bay seasoning of course. If you haven't tried it, you must! We really like it on our shrimp! Yummy! Thanks Jenn and Old Bay!

Embarrasing Moment

2009-09-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

I had to pick my husband up from his seminary after work today. I decided that I would pull into the parking lot, text him and see about what time he thought his class would get out. So I just think to myself, I will just pull into this spot under the shade. So I back into the parking spot. I totally know that I am not parked correctly and that I am taking up to spots, but I know that I probably won't stay parked long, no one is parked that far out and I just want to get in the shade! Well, right as I put the car in park I get a phone call from my dad. So I stay parked a little longer than expected. The conversation then progressed to talking to my niece. Well, my dear husband comes out a little early (no return text). So he goes to the passenger side to get in the car and says "babe, you need to get out of the car and come and look at this" So I hop out and go to look at what it is he wants me to see...I somehow pulled up on the curb and was parked in the grass! It was hilarious! He said did you not know you did this...Ooops! I told him I felt something like a pot hole but I didn't know I jumped the curve! No wonder the old lady who also wanted to park in the shade looked at me so weird as she got out of her car! I was just pleasantly smiling and talking to my family! Ha! Sometimes I wonder about myself!

Hand Me Down Monday

2009-09-14T22:11:00.000-05:00

Bridget, mommy and teacher to 5 beautiful children over at Don't Blink is sadly having to move and has come up with a wonderful twist to this sad situation. She was considering taking a lot of their stuff to the goodwill, but then thought that she would rather give her readers a chance to win these items. So she came up with, "Hand Me Down Monday." I think this is a brilliant idea! Her children are sooo cute and are always wearing the cutest things. So you must check her blog out! Even if you don't want any of the things she is passing down, you will have so much fun reading her blog. She is such a great beautiful mom!

http://blogginbridget.blogspot.com/2009/09/hand-me-down-monday.html

I love you 38 X

2009-09-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

Oh how I love this little guy! He is so dear to my heart. He is four years old and we share a birthday! He is the best birthday present I have ever received. He has to be one of the sweetest little boys I know. Before I went home he was telling everyone in my family that I was going to make him a lemon pie, cookies and snow cones because I made them the best (I'm not sure where the snow cones came from). Anyway, needless to say I made sure to make a lemon pie and two huge batches of cookie dough, so they could bake them as they pleased. Well, I received a text from him tonight (with the help of his mom) asking me to make him 38 cookies. I wrote him back and told him that I did and that his 38 + cookies were in his Nana's fridge. He wrote back and said, "good, I like your cookies and I like you 38 x, and you are the best cookie maker, ur cookies are so healthy" LOL...They are by no means healthy! I love how he is using numbers lastely though. He will throw out numbers and try to make them big so you know how much he loves you. We used to show how much we loved each other by how far you could stretch out your arms and now I guess it is more fun and educational to use numbers. I can't wait to get back home to these little guys before they grow up much more! I love you Ryan, Brayden, Chandler, Rhett and Kyah! I am the luckiest Aunt RahRah EVER!!!

"Fearless" by Max Lucado

2009-09-09T00:58:00.000-05:00

Once again, I was able to participate in the Thomas Nelson blogger book review. I love the book I was given to read this time, “Fearless” by Max Lucado. Obviously, any book written by Lucado is amazing. I thought “Fearless” was very relevant. He touches on topics that are affecting us in our everyday lives, fear of not raising our children the “right” way, fear of violence, fear of disappointing God and so on.

The biggest lesson I feel that Lucado is trying to get across throughout this book is how we should place our trust in God. I love how he includes scriptures and stories to encourage and give example of God’s faithfulness. I love the quote below.

"What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, when you could trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear?" - Max Lucado

What would the world look like, if we feared less and trusted more? I love how Lucado, also states in the book that:

“We cannot go where God is not. Look over your shoulder; that’s God following you. Look into the storm; that’s Christ coming toward you.

If you are looking for a fresh reminder of God’s love and an encouraging book filled with God’s scripture, you can find it here in Max Lucado’s book, “Fearless.” I give this book 5 stars out of 5! Run out and get your copy today, you won’t regret it!

Awesome Pottery Barn Giveaway

2009-08-26T19:06:00.000-05:00

Check out My Journey Toward:The Glamorous Life of a Housewife for an awesome giveaway! She is giving away four salad plates from Pottery Barn!

Beth's Story

2009-08-22T23:44:00.000-05:00

If you (like me) can't stand that the video is cut off a little to the right, you can view it here. This little video is so powerful. Be prepared to cry.

Tonight, Stephen and I watched the movie, "The Soloist" with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. It is a movie that very much portrays what Stephen and I witnessed on Skid Row last Sunday. If you haven't watched it you should. And when you do, make sure to watch the extra's on how the movie was filmed and where this story came from.

Giggles

2009-08-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

Are you a dreamer? Are you a sleepwalker? Are you a sleeptalker? Ha! Apparently, after being married this year, I have discovered that I am very much a dreamer (which I already knew) but I am also a very verbal dreamer and sometimes active. Does that make sense? I talk and sometimes even act out my dream while sleeping. Last night, Stephen was listening to something and had his ear phones on while I had been sleeping for a while already. Anyway, I was having a very pleasant dream. So much so, that I started giggling. Stephen said that it was a giggle, and then a longer, louder giggle that he could hear over his music. He woke me up and said, what is so funny. I couldn't help but giggle more when I realized I had been giggling in my sleep. I know now you are dying to figure out what I was giggling about...

Apparently, it was a puppy dog, dressed up with a bow tie standing on his back legs, with his eyes cut to the right with a very goofy face. I wish I was an artist and I would totally draw him to show you, that way you could giggle too! Ha! He was so cute.

I found some pictures that are close to the puppy I saw...

One At A Time

2009-08-18T23:44:00.001-05:00

My husband asked me if I told you the story about one of the men we met this past Sunday at One at a Time. I will refer to him as J (for privacy). Chuck the music leader, was the first person to greet us as we stepped out of the car. He actually helped us park the car! Anyway, we talked with him for a second and found out that he was from Arkansas. We then went inside the hotel, where the church service was being held, and met many others. We then met J. We continued to talk to Chuck, he was quite the talker, and he shared his past and present with us. Anyway, during the service he wanted to share his new guest. He said that he had gone to the store to get a couple of personal items, and while going there this guy was asking for a quarter. Chuck said, why don't you come to church with me. So he did. This was J's first time to One At A Time, just like ours. Then Chuck introduced us and told them we were from Arkansas. Well, I was sitting next to J, he immediately leaned over and told me that he was from Arkansas as well. We then asked him where he was from and he said, Trumann. This is the same area Stephen is from. At the end of the service they ended up talking about people from Trumann and he knew all of them! What a small world. We are really excited that the Lord brought him to OAAT, the same day we were there! I am praying that he will be there this coming Sunday as well. He told us that he plans to be.

Here is a link to OAAT, if you are interested in checking out some photos or donating. http://www.oaat.org/index.php

Life a year ago...

2009-08-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

A year ago this weekend, Stephen and I started our journey to California. We packed up our car with our two cats and whatever else we could fit. We left my poor parents with a household of boxes and our king size bed waiting on the movers to come and pick up our stuff. We had our estimate of what they were going to charge us and we were okay with the price. When they got to our parent's house they ended up saying there was too much stuff and they were going to charge us a ton more money. So we just told our parents to keep the bed and a few other boxes, because it wasn't worth paying that much money just to get a few more miscellaneous boxes and our bed.

We didn't have a place to live, we didn't even know what town we were going to live in! We just knew that Stephen was going to attend seminary in Brea, California. So we lived in a hotel for 3 or 4 days. We finally found a place to live, just 5 miles from his seminary. We had an air mattress and slept on it for the first 3 weeks we were married. We were very blessed by our friends and family and were given enough gift cards to get a few more things to furnish the apartment. And we eventually were able to find a bed frame and mattress off of craigslist. The moving company lost my pots and pans (I think someone stole them) and a few other things I had purchased over the years for this time in my life. I had held onto those things for years, just waiting to use them. All I can think is that hopefully some guy was able to surprise his wife and make her day when he brought her all kinds of goodies home. =)

Anyway, I say all of this to say that I am very blessed even though I don't have all that. I gave up a King size bed for a full size bed. I have a cheap set of pots and pans that my mother sent me to replace our nice set that I was eagerly waiting to use. We live in a one bedroom apartment, but at least we have a place to feel safe.

Today Stephen and I went to One at a Time Baptist Church in downtown LA on Skid Row. These people have nothing...well almost nothing. Some of them push their shopping carts with their cans, bottles, etc. but they have nothing. They don't have a king size bed either...but they also don't have a full size bed. I know many times it is easy to look at the homeless and think, wow it's their own fault why don't they just stop drinking/smoking/using drugs and get a job. If only it were that easy. I know without a doubt in my mind, if some of these people had the family support that we have, things might be different for them.

It was such a blessing to be in this service today. I have never felt more welcomed and safe than I did today. There were probably 20 people in the service. Chuck, the music leader (a man in rehab/parole, just released from prison 91 days ago or so) prayed for Stephen and I, he thanked the Lord that we were there, he asked the Lord to look after us as we drove on the freeway, and he also prayed that our car would not be broken into!!! Our CAR! This man has nothing and he is offering up prayers for our CAR! It almost brought me to tears!

They have a band made up of the homeless people that they call, "The Skid Row Band" and they were sooooo good. Some of the most talented people I have ever been in a room with. The band consisted of an electric guitarist, a drummer, two keyboardist and a vocalist-Chuck. It was so cute because they had a solo from a guy named Eddie, who wasn't part of the band(sounded just like Johnny Cash), anyway, he was playing an acoustic guitar and singing. The band members couldn't stand just sitting and watching. So one keyboardist gets up and is ready to put his touch of music into the solo, but the pastor waved him off to allow Eddie his solo. Then all of a sudden the electric guitarist and the other keyboardist get up to offer their part. It was amazing to watch how much they needed to play. It was like they were little kids. Oh how this made me so happy to watch these men who have nothing, eat up the moment to play music and offer up their offering to God.

We will definetly be going back next week. Hopefully I will be able to share some photos with you.

Lastly I would like to share with you the prayer request of a few men...

Jesse- A believer, who runs the clothing store for the church, asks for help with his attitude. He has a part-time job and lives in the Ford hotel. The hotel is just one of many where the homeless can live for $3-400 month and also where the church meets.

Robert aka: Brother Bob-Ask for prayer for his fiance Linda, dealing with breast cancer.

Frank-Electric guitarist is eaten up with cancer. He has skin, prostate, and mouth cancer. He says that he is not worried about whether or not he will be healed, because he knows that the Lord will handle that, but he is concerned about where he will live if he doesn't get money from a car wreck, because he won't be able to afford to live in the hotel anymore.

I ask that you will pray for the pastor and his wife, Ken and Marian. They run this by themselves each Sunday morning and Wednesday night. They have to make an hour and a half drive one way to provide this service and they bring refreshments each time. They are also the main support to keep this service open. And if you don't mind, will you please pray that the Lord will show Stephen and I exactly what role he would like for us to play in this ministry.

Just to think a year ago, we were living in a hotel, just until we were looking for an apartment. And now we have witnessed 10,000 + living on the streets, in card board boxes, some in tents, while we are crying about living in a tiny apartment.

Old Bay Giveaway

2009-08-13T18:41:00.000-05:00

My friend Jennifer has an awesome Old Bay Seasoning giveaway over at her new blog "First Comes Love Then Comes Marriage Reviews"! Click here to check it out!

Plus, she and her husband are taking another bunch of toys to St. Judes, you can get more information at her other blog here.

The King of Rock N' Roll

2009-08-12T22:37:00.000-05:00

I was quite confused when I saw two men at different times dressed like Elvis. I was very curious as to why they were dressed up like Elvis. So I cam home and looked it up. From Aug. 8-16 is Elvis Week. You can go here and discover it for yourself. Has anyone else seen Elvis this week? Maybe it's just a California thing! Who knows!

What a handsome man! I remember watching all of his movies with my next door neighbor when I was in 4-6th grade!

Here are some facts by Wikepidia...

Birth name Elvis Aaron Presley[1]

Also known as Elvis, The King, The King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis the Pelvis, The Hillbilly Cat[2]

Born January 8, 1935(1935-01-08)

Tupelo, Mississippi
United States

Died August 16, 1977 (aged 42)
Memphis, Tennessee
United States
Genre(s) Rock & roll, pop, rockabilly, blues, gospel, rhythm and blues
Occupation(s) Musician, Actor
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, piano
Voice type(s) Baritone (D2[3]-C♯5[3])
Years active 1954–1977
Label(s) Sun, RCA Victor
Website Elvis.com
Elvis Aaron Presley[1][4] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977; middle name sometimes spelled Aron)a was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King.

Presley began his career in 1954 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, made him popular—and controversial[5][6][7]—as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. Presley had a versatile voice[8] and he had unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame.

In the 1960s, Presley made the majority of his 31 movies, most of which were poorly reviewed but financially successful musicals.[9] In 1968, he returned to live performances in a television special,[10] which led to a string of successful tours across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas, for the remainder of his career. In 1973, Presley staged the first global live concert via satellite (Aloha from Hawaii), reaching at least one billion viewers live and an additional 500 million on delay.[11][12]

Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales.[13] He is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of music, selling over one billion records worldwide, and he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Among his many awards and accolades are 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36[14], and being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees.

Health problems, prescription drug dependence, and other factors led to his death at age 42.

Rollercoasters and God's Beauty

2009-08-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law Caleb graduated from college this past May. So for his graduation gift from his parent's he decided he wanted to come and visit California. We had a great time with him while he was here. Ballah(my cat) was thrilled because she had someone to sleep with! So we took him to our usual stops like the Hollywood sign, Leo Carrillo, the Santa Monica Pier to eat at Bubba Gumps, and to a Dodgers game. We added two new stops...

Caleb LOVES rollercoasters, so Stephen wanted to take him to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I however am never a fan of rollercoasters...well that is until I have ridden my first two or so. I get really sick-I know it's a mental thing. But I had a blast. They took me on one that had a huge drop first. Yep, after that one I was fighting back tears and trying to keep myself from hyperventilating. I was scared to death! But after that I was good for the rest. My favorite one was the X2. It was great because of the view! If I could have taken a picture for you all, you would have been amazed. It was gorgeous. The sun was setting and the mountains in the background with the bright pink sky and we were so high up. If only I had some goggles that were able to take pictures! Ha!

Our second new stop was a day at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. Caleb had a lot of fun trying to catch crabs, they covered the rocks. We walked the beach for a while and I took pics the entire time. Well, I wanted to change lenses. So I asked Stephen to help me get it out of my backpack. Just as we had finished switching it out, I looked up and saw a sea lion swimming right in front of us, very close to shore! So we were in the process of changing back to my bigger lens so I could get some close ups of him, when I noticed dolphins swimming in the opposite direction than the sea lion. If you know me, you know I am a dolphin lover. I have been all my life, well minus a few years! =) So we ditched the poor sea lion and tried to follow the dolphins! Those little guys were on a mission. They were swimming so fast, I didn't ever get a shot of them. =( But I loved the gift God gave us that day to admire His beauty.

It was a great trip with Caleb here. I know Stephen misses having him very much. Enjoy some of our pics! These next few pics are of Stephen and Caleb searching for Sea life and anenomes. Well the tide was up and they ended up almost loosing their flip flops, and getting drenched! It was pretty funny!

Ballah enjoying Caleb's visit...

Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

2009-08-08T02:33:00.000-05:00

So I am participating in Kelly's Show us your life-wedding reception and honeymoon.

I know I have said it a hundred times but since this is the last post on weddings I want to give my mom a huge shout out for all she did to make our wedding special. She made everything that had anything to do with flowers (except my bouquet), decorated candles, she even made the chair decor, the table cloth toppers. Which the chairs were a big surprise, I didn't know about until they came to set up, an ice sculpture and so much more that I know I am forgetting. For our guest favors, I wanted to give something that people could use, and while in Mexico I decided we should bring back vanilla. So that's what is in the little bottles. They were a big hit!

When dreaming about my wedding, I knew that I really didn't want to have to have a buffet style wedding. I have been to so many of those, where if you are in the back of the line, the good stuff is always gone, and their isn't usually a place to sit. I just didn't want my guest to stand in line. So I came up with the idea to have a sit down meal, with servers. Well, we wanted to keep it as cost effective as possible so we hired students from the youth group. They did a fabulous job!!! A really funny part about the reception, was I had jokingly told my mom while we were decorating the chairs that Stephen and I would sit in that said, Mr. Fulton and Mrs. Fulton, I told her I could see Stephen's parents stealing our seats! Well, yep they sure did. Right in front of my beautiful cake. So we ended up having to find a seat. It was pretty funny. I was sad that I didn't have pics of us eating in front of the cake, but that's okay.

While Stephen and I were in Mexico we designed our cake. I had so much fun designing it. My favorite part of the cake is the cross on the top layer. My cake was from Harp's and the lady that made it did an awesome job! My mother-in-law wanted to be in charge of Stephen's cake and had a friend of ours from church make a it into a guitar. Every bit of our cake was devoured!

After the reception was coming to an end, I changed into a purple dress I bought from Mexico. I joined Stephen to be greeted by all kinds of nastiness! Our car was impossible to get into, and the stuff they threw at us was like sticky granola! Pretty funny I must say. They got us good.

We finally got in and were headed to Branson, Mo. One of Stephen's friends, gave us their condo on a lake to use for our mini honeymoon. We knew we didn't need much of one since we were moving to Cali, that it would make a honeymoon of itself! Well, when we got all the way to Branson, just before we got to the condo, I realized I had forgotten to switch my suitcase into Stephen's car. I left everything! Contact case, lingerie, clothing! Everything! So on the next day my dad came and brought it to me! Oh how very sweet that was of my dad, and oh so akward on your honeymoon! Ha! So note to the Brides-to-be, DON'T FORGET YOUR HONEYMOON LUGGAGE! Anyway, we had a great time just chillin' before the big move...that we still had to go home and make sure was completely packed up! Ha! We so did things the hard way! Anyway, here we are one year later this Sunday.

Pray for Cooper

2009-08-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

My friend Danielle, is holding a fundraiser for little Cooper who was born July 17, 2009 with complications. You can visit her blog here with further details and ways to get Silpada jewelry and all profits going to Cooper's family to help with medical cost. The fundraiser will go last until August 12. Go here to view her online catalog.

Oh Happy Day!

2009-08-04T20:19:00.000-05:00

I love Anaheim for two reasons! One because it is the home of Mickey Mouse and for reason number two, they also are the home of SONIC! I have missed Sonic so much since moving to California! I was glad to find one so close to where we live! I love it because the car hops actually wear roller blades! It is also beautiful because they have bright yellow umbrellas and the the view of the beautiful California sky! I for the first time tried their new Sonic Chillers-strawberry! It was yummy! Oh how I will long for happy hour everyday!!! Okay, okay, not everyday but what a new great treat!

This by the way, is our dear gps, Jenny! My father bought this for us for our wedding and gave it to us for our honeymoon. We used her when we were in Branson. There was a road called "Forest Drive." We just loved how she said Forest because it was just like Jenny's voice from "Forest Gump" this is why we call her Jenny. This is a lovely picture of her! I just love what she is wearing(Ha, the screen...Sonic)

The Love of My Husband

2009-08-03T18:39:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, I have been waiting to post this all day! When we got back from dinner and a movie last night, I yet again found a goodie in the dumpster area! I had my husband stop the car so I could check it out. It looked pretty good, I just wasn't sure where to put it, but I also remember how we made twenty dollars off of this changing table, so I thought it would be a beneficial thing to go ahead and haul it to the apartment. Well, I had my hands full with a couple of things, so my husband decides to carry it all by himself! Let me just add while doing this he is incredibly embarrassed! Check this picture out! Haha! I LOVE him! Oh and sorry that the pictures aren't great, I was laughing so hard!

My $20 Profit:

My other great junk freebie:

Familiar, Distant Smell

2009-08-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

My youngest nephew, Rhett is four-wow, just writing that he is four really hit me! He will be five in October. So that goes to say that it has been quite a long time since I have been around a really small baby. And with that little baby, it has been a long time since I have smelt a babies dirty diaper. Well, when I was in Wal-Mart the other day I had a brief smell pass me that reminded me of that smell. It's one of those smells that I have missed (I know, kind of weird) and didn't really know it. I am so excited because I (no, I'm not pregnant) will be going home to Arkansas in 27 days to meet my new baby niece! So I will probably be getting a few days worth of that smell! But oh how I will love it. You can tell she is excited!

Bridal Party and Ceremony

2009-07-31T00:07:00.000-05:00

Our wedding party was huge! We both have big families- Stephen has 5 siblings and I have 3 siblings, and at the time 3 nephews and a neice. My MOH was my little sister, Suzette. She helped me plan my wedding for me while we were in Mexico and did my make-up for my wedding. She picked out my wedding announcements and printed them for us. I didn't even know what they looked like until the week of the wedding. My other sister Heather was also my MOH, she was a life saver and did my hair and all but two of my bridesmaids hair. My sister's through me a bachelorette party the week of the wedding. We went to Noodles (which I miss dearly) and then to starbucks. We didn't have much time because it was such a busy week. But I enjoyed having all of my friends together. My bride's maids were all dear friends to me. My brother's wife and high school/basketball buddy, Misty, Laura a good friend from college, Stephen's three sisters, Liz, Abby, and Gabby and my junior bridesmaid my sweet little neice, Chandler. Stephen's groomsmen were his 2 brothers, and 4 good friends from childhood and college and my nephew Brayden. My adorable nephew, Rhett and a sweet friend's daughter, Kenzie were my ring bearer and flower girl! They were precious! And my brother Bobby, brother-in-law's Shawn and Dustin and nephew Ryan were all ushers. Like I said it was huge and I wouldn't have it any other way. We love them all very much!

My mom went well above my expectations for my wedding. She made all of the arrangements and the bridesmaid bouquets. I know she wasn't thrilled with the actual flowers that came from the floral shop, but she did an amazing job.

I used two shades of purple, which I am not sure I would do again. It was such a fast decision. I don't think they looked right in the photos. Anyway, the girls looked beautiful. As for Kenzie's dress, I wanted it to look as close to my dress as possible, but I wanted it to be affordable. Well, my mom saved the day again and picked out the perfect dress.

As far as the ceremony, we used some pretty traditional music. "Dreamy Summer" by Paterson, "Canon in D" by pachelbel, "Bridal Chorus"-Wagner, "When You Say You Love Me"-Hammond sung by Stephen's sister, Liz and "Wedding March"-Mendelssohn. One big suprise that wasn't in the program or to my knowledge was "Rescue"-Stephen Fulton....YES! My husband did write me a song and did sing it at our wedding, with out me having a clue. I am still sad to this day because by of our grandmother's were in the hospital and weren't able to attend the wedding. That was one of our main reasons for having a local wedding-but I am glad for all of the guest who were able to attend. Oh and we had a slide show that played after we finished lighting the unity candle that Stephen's family made for us.

Okay so I think I have written a novel, so I will stop for now. Here are some pics!

If you make this picture big, you can see my baby bonnet attached to my bouquet (I think I wore this home from the hospital) that my mom made into a hankerchief (sp?) and will make it back into a bonnet for my baby girl to wear home from the hospital.

Okay well that was a slew of words and photos! For the reception post I will try not to be so wordy! Whew!

Just to clarify...(by Stephen)

2009-07-27T13:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to clarify a little of what my wife has written here below lol...What I said had nothing to do with her being fat (which she most obviously is not). It had to do with the natural makeup of men and women. Instead of saying anything else here though, (trying not to say anything to get myself in trouble...lol), I am just going to put some quotes from women that I found...Just so everyone knows I wasn't being rude or making up what I said.

"Buoyancy in water can be due to a number of factors. The biggest one being the difference in physical makeup between men and women...Being the child bearers of the species, women tend to carry more fat around our pelvis and thigh area and because we have wider set hips we tend to float better." Wiki Answers

"The second area the researchers explored had to do with a shift in the center of buoyancy. If the gravitational force and the center of mass are off center, the swimmer’s feet tend to sink. Conversely, the closer together these are, the better one floats. Anecdotally many swimmers remark that their legs feel like they are floating in the suits with legs. For the men, who in general don’t float as well, TYR was the only suit that provided an advantageous shift in the center of buoyancy. Women usually float better than men. The only suit that showed a significant statistical advantage for the women was the Adidas." From a Sports Medicine conference

"Body fat is the main reason why humans tend to float -- I've read that all the other large primates cannot swim and have so little body fat that they would drown easily. In general, women have more body fat than men, and appear 'softer' and 'curvier' than men in consequence -- and they usually tend to float better than men, too." http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Better_20Metabolism

FAT?

2009-07-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

Stephen and I went swimming today! It was so nice! We got some sun and a little exercise. After I was worn out from swimming laps I decided to do some ab exercises using the side of the pool. Well when I was tired of doing those I decided to just float! Oh how I love floating on water. It is such a peaceful moment. The water fills your ears so you can't really hear, you can close your eyes and just soak up the moment. It is such a relaxing activity. Well I leaned up and told Stephen that it was one of my favorite things I learned as a child and that I loved floating. He then told me that he couldn't float very well. I asked him why and he said, well I guess I don't have as much FAT! I couldn't believe my dear husband just said that to me. We haven't even been married a year and now I am ready for a divorce! Haha! Just kidding, but I was shocked he said it. I just showed him that it wasn't fat, that it was all about clearing your mind and breathing! He thinks women can float better than men! (He has no butt) What do you think, can your man float?

Oh and this isn't a picture of me. I just like pics in my posts!

My Wedding Dress

2009-07-24T23:07:00.000-05:00

I am finally participating in Kelly's Korner-Show us where you live. Now that it is "Show us your life" I can participate. We just live in a dinky little apartment and can't paint, etc so there isn't much to see. But since I just got married almost a year ago (August 9, 2008) I can show you my wedding dress.

Stephen proposed to me on his birthday on May 16, 2008, I was clueless it was coming! Praying it would, but didn't expect it to happen quite like it did. He proposed, then I said yes, then he said okay well we will have to get married on August 9th because we will have to move to California for me to start seminary on the next weekend! Okay so that doesn't sound so bad. It's not so hard to pull a wedding off in 3 months! Ha! Try planning a wedding in 3 months while living in Mexico for all but three weeks of that time! Yes, we lived in Mexico for 2 months while my dear mom and sister were planning my wedding. We were able to email pics I liked and stuff like that and phone calls were very quick because they were like .50 a minute or something like that. Anyway, I think they did a lovely job.

So the day after his birthday we started the dress hunt. I tried on dresses at 4 different places locally because there just wasn't time to get in drive time as well as trying the dresses on. So it was a mad rush. But the dress I ended up with was one of the first I put on. I cried as soon as I put it on. I cried the second and third time I put it on. Even after I had tried on so many others. The only catch was I didn't have time to have them order me a dress so I had to take the one off of the rack. It was about a size bigger than I needed, but I thought we could fix it. I just didn't have time. Well by the time they calculated the cost of putting my 12 bustles in and taking it up in my waist I would have paid double for my dress. So I told my mom we could just buy it as it was and hopefully find someone else to alter it.

Well we did! But she didn't think that it needed to be taken up in the waist, plus she didn't want to cut into the decor of the dress. I wish it would have fit a little better, but I still love it. The same lady also made my veil! She is a crafty little lady! And so generous! We bought this dress in 4 days or so and then I was off to Mexico. We were back a week before the wedding and I still had to have my bridal portraits done. I wish I would have gotten a little more sun in Mexico! Oh well, I had a great time ministering to the families there and would not change it for the world. Here are some pics of my dress!

WOOHOO!

2009-07-09T23:27:00.001-05:00

I am going home to meet my niece!!! I am so excited! Aug. 28th!

Kyah Manen aka Mini Suzette

2009-06-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

These are pictures that my parents gave to me of Dustin, Suzette and Kyah. Enjoy!

Proud Beautiful Momma

Proud Daddy

Proud Nana

Pepa and Mema aka Great Grand Parents

Finally an Aunt Heather

Uncle Bobby

Proud Aunt Rah Rah and Uncle Stephen (Thanks to daddy holding the camera)I love that Dustin is making sure I get to see her!

Love this crying pouty face!

Cousin Love

I can't wait to see more pics. I just know her features are getting more defined each day and can't wait to see what she looks like now!

Busy Trip to Arkansas

2009-06-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

Just around the same time about 9 months ago we were informed that my SIL had just gotten engaged and then we found out that my sister was going to have a baby. Well the hard news was the wedding and due date were off by two weeks. So when we booked our flight we planned it to be there just before the wedding and to stay for as long as we could to see if we could meet Kyah before we had to return to California.

After a long day of delayed flights we arrived in Bentonville at 11:30pm. We headed out to the Fulton's house for the full filled weekend. We had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner Friday night. The dinner was so good. Abby's father-in-law is from El Salvardor and we had great El Salvadorian food! Pupusas, tamales, fried chicken and cheese quesidillas for dessert which they serve with coffee and is kind of like a coffee cake. The tamales were my favorite!

The bride and groom.

Stephen's Cousin, Me, my MIL, my SIL, his great aunt, and another family member at the rehearsal dinner.

My handsome BIL and myself practicing walking down the aisle! All you single ladies he is available!!!

Saturday was the big day! We had originally started having our hair done at the Fulton house so we could be more comfortable while waiting our turn and then we were running short on time so we headed over to the church. I had to run by my parent's house so I could pick up a couple of things for the wedding. This was the first time to see my family since we had been home. Let me tell you, I was very nervous about the kids seeing me! I am so afraid my youngest nephew is going to forget me. I was pleasantly surprised. I was riding with my SIL and we saw one of my nephew's on his bike, he didn't see me. Then I saw my other nephew, I waved really big so he would see me! He did. He grabbed his other brother and they came back to the house. They then got my youngest nephew out of the pool to come and see me. Rhett (4 yrs. old) came running in the house, soaking wet and yelling Rah Rah! He greeted me with a very big, wet hug! I loved it! I was sad because I couldn't stay since we still lacked getting our hair fixed. But I got to spend a lot of time with them the rest of the week.

Suzette and Kyah, Me and My Mom

Suzette and Kyah, and Me

Since I knew I was going to get my hair cut while I was home, I decided I wanted my hair to be curled and down for the wedding. My hair just keeps getting darker and having it curled the underneath was much darker. Well this was the first time to see Suzette while I was home...she was looking for me to walk down the aisle and didn't recognize me because of my hair being so dark. Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding. I love the tradition in El Salvador to drape the couple with a lasso to symbolize their new life together as one. After the wedding I was able to visit with my family at the reception for just a little while before they ran off to one of best friends from my childhood. Matt Lewis became my neighbor when we were in the third grade. He was actually my boyfriend =) for a short while. I so wish I would have been able to attend his wedding. After the wedding clean up, more pictures we went back to the Fulton house to spend some time with Stephen's extended family we had a blast hearing stories from his great aunt. She is 88 years old (I think) and is an absolute hoot! Her daughter was telling us a story about a time she got sick and they had to call for an ambulance. She said that she came out of her room to find her mom sweating and had all of the fans going on high throughout the house. She said she automatically thought she is in heart failure. So his great aunt tells her daughter that she wants to go outside to wait on the ambulance. Well, they get outside and near her car and she passes out. So her daughter has her pinned up against her SUV waving the ambulance down. Then they get her in the ambulance and Tammy follows behind them. She said that she can see through the window of the ambulance and notices that the paramedic is crawling onto of her mother straddling the gurney. Tammy begins to worry that they are now having to perform CPR. They get to the hospital, Tammy runs to the ambulance to see if she is still okay and ask if he was performing CPR and the paramedic then states that he got his boot stuck and couldn't get back off the gurney. His aunt tells her daughter well, you want me to die happy right! She said that poor paramedic was so embarrassed and kept apologizing the whole way to the hospital! Oh it was hilarious!

Anyway, we had a great time at home. My mom made sure to fix us all of the meals we have been missing-roast, homemade ice cream, steak. I worked on some projects for Kyah with Suzette, Suzette slept over and we stayed up talking til 3am just like the old days, and had a good night of playing nerts! My all time favorite game! Had a blast with my niece and nephews.

Playing Nerts!

We were sad to leave on Sunday, especially since Kyah hadn't made her big appearance. The little goober decided to come two days after! I know God had a good reason for delaying her birth. I am so thankful for the internet as Stephen and I were able to be "in the room" when our family was able to meet Kyah. It made it all a bit more easy on me since I was able to feel included. I would have died not knowing what was going on, and not being able to see my little niece after she was born! A big thanks to my dad for getting the camera and a big thanks to Dustin and Suzette for making sure I could be a part of Kyah's first moment of life. I know Suzette is very busy getting to know her sweet baby so I will upload a few of the pics I have that I got from my parents. Hopefully I will be able to post some recent pics soon.

Our See Ya Soon Pics

Kyah's Grand Appearance: Talking to Aunt Rah Rah on the phone and our faces on the computer via Skype...

I will put up a new post with more pictures of this beautiful girl!

Kyah Jacquelyn Manen

A Little Taste of the Rich and French

2009-05-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, we spent our Sunday afternoon and night here! It was so much fun. One of Stephen's seminary classmates asked us if we would like to help serve hors d'oeuvres for a private French School's Gala where her children attended. We agreed and I am so glad we did. It was so much fun. I was incredibly nervous before we started serving. I have never carried a tray on my hand like a waitress! I was so afraid I would trip and embarrass myself. This club is located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Very upscale! When we first got there before the guest started to arrive we were standing and waiting for instruction on what we were serving (names we had a difficult time pronouncing) and what we were to do the whole night. Well, they hadn't put the curtains down so we could be seen from where everyone was entering and where the photographer was taking pre-party photos. The photographer's assistant came up to me, a friend and Stephen and she said that they were trying to get some pictures, and as nervous as I was, I immediately said, "oh gosh do you need us to move out of the way" and she said that she actually wanted one of us to be in the picture. Woohoo! =) Ha, she said I wouldn't be in focus but she wanted a server to be in a picture (we were in white tops and black pants). So I had to walk back and forth in front of the fireplace for just the right shot! I felt like a movie star! Ha! They expected 350 guests and I would say they were probably all there. We served scallops and avacodo on a skewer, brie and grape quesidillas, lamb chops, and carp caviar in a little creme puff thing. Yeah, those are the technical terms but I never really got the official names down. Everyone loved the brie and grape quesidillas! The scallop and avacado skewers were really tasty as well. So the guests ate there hors d'oeuvres and drank there champagne for a while and mingled here in the garden...

It was so crowded, but I never dropped my tray!=) I actually enjoyed serving and wanted to take the trays out. Everyone was really nice! Lots of french going on and I couldn't really remember a thing from high school! My one chance to use it and I couldn't remember much of anything. Plus it never helps that I have learned some Spanish. I try to combine the two!

The guests could mingle in the garden or in the "manor library" which also had it's own bar. This place was amazing!

The library opened up into a 7500 sq. ft. room with three levels.

The next highlight of the night was when they asked me to help with the auction items. Oh my goodness, this was so not something I really like to do, but I loved it. I walked out a Miley Cyrus, autographed guitar out while people bidded on it! It was a lot of fun. I thought it was really interesting to watch what the people would bid on and how much they were willing to pay. I can't remember the chef's name, but he was a well-known french chef and he offered to prepare a meal for 8...it went for $2000. His wife was there and she offered his service again for a matching price...I wish I could get in on that meal! They auctioned trips to France, stays in French Chateaus, famous paintings, jewelry, americano gift baskets, french recitals/boat tips/birthday party performers (like tae-kwon-do) etc.

Before the auction ended some of the servers brought out desserts. Stephen and I were helping spot for the auction, so they brought us desserts as well. They served Chocolate covered strawberries, miniature ice cream(fancy flavored ice cream) cones served on a painters pallet, and miniature little pastry shells, with a filling of yogurt and a blueberry/cranberry on top. They were all delicious!

It was such a fun true Hollywood experience! Oh and I must admit these are not my pictures! I got them from Boulevard3's website. I didn't take my camera in, although I wish I would have. Stanley would have loved that part! =) If you would like to see more pictures or read about the history of this club (I think it is very interesting) you can click here.

A Year Ago Today(May 16)...

2009-05-17T00:38:00.000-05:00

It was a Friday. I didn't normally work at the hospital on Friday. But this time they asked me to work. They needed some extra help so I volunteered. I felt bad because it was also Stephen's birthday and we had a fishing trip planned! I thought it through and decided that I was only going to work until noon. I knew Stephen wouldn't be up and around so it wasn't a big deal. We could just go fishing a little later. One thing I had been worried about was his birthday present. The accessories I had ordered for his mac hadn't made it. I was bummed and knew that I had to come up with something to give him. So on my way home from work I drove by a health food store and thought it would be perfect to give him some pita chips and hummus! He loves it and it's food! So I made a special stop. Then it was off to get our fishing license. We picked up our license our bait and then we were off. We dropped my car off at his parent's house and then we headed out to Lee Creek. On our way there he gave me a bag of fortune cookies (that he and his mom and little sister had made) and told me to open them one at a time when he told me to. There were a total of 7.

We got our spots and fished for a while, I stopped and took pictures for a while, then I would fish for a while. I think I caught a fish and had some small perch stealing my bait. I told Stephen htat these little fish kept taking my bait and he said here switch me poles I will catch it. Ha, like I am doing something wrong...I think there mouth's were too small, but I let him try. I thought it was odd that he made me walk to where he was to get his pole instead of him meeting me in the middle. But I made it over to his pole after I being frustrated with the little fish who kept stealing my bait and making me cut up worms to re-bait. I was a little frustrated that Stephen kept making me bait my hook. But it was okay, I made it through.

Well, when I get his pole I asked him what I should do with his line since he was using fake bait. He said for me to just do what I wanted. Well, I like to casts, so I started reeling in his line when I noticed something was stuck on my line! My first response was, are you kidding me! I just got robbed from these little fish and now I am catching water bottles! Well, I tried to jerk my line to get the bottle off, no such luck. So I just reel in my line and notice what I thought was a water bottle is actually a glass corked bottle. I immediately think to myself, how sweet my boyfriend is that he has treated me so special and on his birthday. I see that there is a note in the bottle. So I open the bottle and find a note that says "MARRY ME" at this time I have turned around to find Stephen on his knee with a ring! I am shaking to death and very much in SHOCK! My answer...obviously YES! So we have our little photo op and then get in the car to go home and celebrate his birthday and our engagement with his family! When we get in the car he then proceeds to tell me that we have to get married on August 8th or 9th and then move to California! What! I am thinking that is crazy! We are getting ready to spend the next two months in Mexico on a mission trip and we would only be back a week before the wedding. Anyway, we were crazy and had our wedding on August 9th and moved out to California on August 14! So here we are now! One year later and one year older! Happy Engagement Day and Happy Birthday baby, I love you!

How Old Am I???

2009-05-14T23:40:00.000-05:00

So the other day after I got home from work, excited about going to the pool for a little "browning". I do have to wear a strapless black dress in a couple of weeks for my SIL's upcoming wedding, plus I do live in California now so going back to Arkansas "white" isn't acceptable. So I talked my lovely husband into going with me. I took my new "blogger book review" book with me, "This is Your Brain on Joy." Well, I decided that my lounge chair was laid back a little to far. So instead of getting up to adjust it, I thought oh I can just reach with my arm and let the back down that way...SIMPLE RIGHT? WRONG! So WRONG! As soon as I tried to adjust it, it didn't release like I thought it would. I suddenly felt this burning pain in the center of my chest that also felt like an elephant was pounding on this one spot! WOW! I am so out of shape! It is rediculous! I don't think I realized how little I use my muscles these days. I used to pick up my little nephew often, so I guess he was really good exercise for me. Needless to say, after my pain subsides I will have to start a new routine of exercise. I might just need to start with bottled water as my arm weights! Ha!

Am I the only person who always plans on exercising and never does? Occassionally I will start to think about the need to exercise and I will find myself randomly jogging in place while drying my hair, walking faster to the car from the parking lot, random leg lifts, etc. Aww! Why do I do this to myself! I should just get a good routine because I know these random little spurts aren't really doing me any good! I wish I loved to run! I just haven't ever given myself a chance to get past all of the stomach cramps and leg aches to enjoy it! I think I need an accountability partner other than my husband! He tries but we both always quit after a little while.

Our First Giveaway!

2009-05-12T18:31:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Contest is over!

******Since we didn't have an overwhelming response to this contest and because we appreciate the one's who did we are going to give you all cd! Woohoo! You are all winners! I will email you shortly for your mailing address.******

Do you like music? Would you like free music? In honor of my husband's Big 30th birthday, I am giving away his album, "Hero." Before we ever knew each other I heard his music at a 40 days of purpose study and I loved the song the leaders played. So I eventually bought his cd. I love it! I still find it funny that I paid for his cd and now I am his wife! Ha! Anyway, now I want to allow one of you the opportunity to win his cd. I had originally posted this giveaway with my post below, but decided that it deserved it's own entry. So if you have time I would love to know which song you like the most. You can do this by going to his myspace page or searching for Stephen Fulton in iTunes. iTunes will only allow you a 30 second preview. You can enter for this giveaway by just leaving me a comment. You can get a double entry by also leaving me a comment telling me which song you like. I have a hard time deciding which one I like the best, but I love "Hero" and "Two Become One"(This song is a popular wedding song). Get your entries in by Saturday, May 16 @ 7pm central-Stephen's Birthday.

Olvera Street, China Town, Dodgertown!

2009-05-09T19:06:00.000-05:00

In April, I started thinking about what I should do for my husbands Big 30th birthday. His birthday is May 16. I decided to take him to a major league baseball game. The only problem I had was deciding on which team to take him to, the L.A. Dodgers or the Anaheim Angels. I knew that we were a little closer to the Anaheim stadium than we were to the Dodgers stadium. So I called a friend and he told me that either would be great. I still wasn't satisfied. I remembered that one of Stephen's groomsmen in our wedding was a producer for a sports show on XM radio. So I contacted him and told him I wanted to make the best pick to make this day perfect. He told me that we should for sure go to the Dodger's game and that he could get us tickets. So as soon as I knew I bought crackerjack's, a dodger's pez and had a card mailed from Hallmark. I wanted the surprise to be big since it wasn't going to be on his birthday. So I decided that it would be best to tell him the night before the game. I would have blindfolded and taken him there and then let him find out what we were doing, but I just didn't feel comfortable driving through L.A. and trying to get to the game on time. I am so glad I didn't wait. It was very hectic and I am glad he was driving.

Stanley is sooo excited!

Leaving for L.A.

Safety First!

I wanted to make a full day out of celebrating, plus I needed to take Stanley to some places for my niece. So we visited Olvera Street and China town. Both were very neat. I have to say they both had some of the cutest kid outfits that I could picture little Miss. Kyah in, but they were a little expensive. I have to say that there was a little more to China Town. Their buildings were so pretty. We had a great time. Parking was a little expensive, but what parking in L.A. isn't, right!

Olvera Street

It cost $5 to take your picture with the burro (Donkey). We didn't notice that you needed to pay until we had already taken the picture.

China Town

Dodgertown

Your Opinion

2009-05-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

I am going home to Arkansas for my sister-in-laws wedding the end of May. And while I am home I am hoping (yes, that my sister delivers my sweet little niece, Kyah) to get my hair cut. So I am reaching out to the few readers I have, for opinions of what hair cut I should go for. I want something cute, but I want something that will actually work with my face! I have very thick and coarse hair, so the length is weighing it down right now! Okay, I look forward to hearing/seeing what you come up with!

A Man Named Michael

2009-04-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you about a man named Michael. On Monday while I was in Wal-Mart I met an older man named Michael. For some reason I get into the strangest conversations with people at Wal-Mart. I am not sure if I have "Listener" written on my forehead or what. But I was very honored and humbled to have had this conversation on Monday. It started out with the man asking me if I exercise! Ha! I thought this is such an odd question, but okay he is old, it's cool. I replied to him, that no I didn't exercise and that my husband and I talk about it all the time! He mentioned that I was small and so he thought I probably worked out. Ha! I just said, nope, I am just blessed with my mom's genes! Anyway, our conversation was very random. He then asked me if I had children. I told him no, not yet, and that we had just gotten married and moved to California in August. Then it lead to why we moved out here...

This is where it gets a little complicated. I responded that my husband is in seminary in Brea. He then proceeded to ask me why he was in seminary. I then told him that he is interested in church planting. Okay, well to cut this story short and not give all of the little details he basically told me that he did not have a "religion" and that he wasn't an atheist. He said that he believed in God and that God created him, but God doesn't know him!!!! Oh how this broke my heart. He said that he has searched all denominations and has asked God to come into his life, but God hasn't done anything for him. He doesn't feel like God knows him. He said you would have to mess with the synapsis in my brain to allow me to believe. He believes the Bible is written just like any other book. By men and men alone...maybe men who were smoking some sort of plant-getting high and that is why they thought they saw the burning bush! He said that he doesn't believe that it is any record of truth. I tried to explain that God spoke to those men and told them what to write. I also told him that these men also recorded their experience of following Jesus on earth. I told him that he could look at it like I was writing a story about him and what he did/bought while in Wal-Mart. So yes, I am human and I wrote of my experience with him. He kind of paused, taking what I had said into consideration.

While all of this conversation is occurring I am trying to figure out what exactly I should say to this man. A man who seemed so desperate to understand so that he too can believe. And he was so willing to listen. So I asked him if he had ever attended church. He told me that he felt the church was just a place to socialize. I explained to him why we go to "church." Since he had told me that people just like to preach at him I thought I should just ask him if he had ever experienced the love of Christ. He said no. So I began telling him of some experiences where Christ obviously worked in a situation. He thought that was neat. He said that he also believes that we are trying to get others to behave/to do "good" and by that he says we have made up Hell. I told him that I believed with all of my heart that Hell is real. Satan is real. And then said, well if Satan is real, why hasn't he tempted me to do wrong...Oh I said, you are of no threat to him. You should have seen the look on his face. What do you mean he asked. I said he doesn't want to waste his time on you! I said if you don't believe that you need a saviour then you are of no worry to him. Anyway, our conversation had to come to an end after about an hour conversation. I told him that I would love it if he would attend our church. And if he didn't come then I might meet him at the park he goes to every morning to walk. He was very happy with that but wasn't so keen on the idea of church. He is such a good, sweet old man. He ended our conversation with, well I know lots of people try to get their puzzles pieces to fit by hammering them down with their fists, but I want mine to fall into place. I don't think that will happen for me before I die! I responded with, well I sure hope they do! He then responded with, Robin, how can I say this without it coming out in the wrong way...you are elegant and delightful!

So needless to say, I can't wait until I can get to that park! Please say a prayer for this man! I am praying that his mind will be quiet, so that his heart can speak! I truly believe this man longs to know Christ and I just pray that he will soon realize that Christ already knows/loves him.

Have you shared your faith lately? Where is the strangest place you have had the opportunity to share Christ with someone?

The Noticer by Andy Andrews

2009-04-27T20:51:00.000-05:00

So I had the great pleasure of reading one of the best books I have EVER read! The Noticer by Andy Andrews is part auto-biographical, part fiction, and an all inspiring book I would recommend everyone reading! In fact I have already recommended this book to several people I know and a few strangers!

Orange Beach, Alabama is a town with people just like you and me. Each of these people are experiencing some kind of hardship-marriages on the path of divorce, young people giving up on life, business people in financial difficulties, etc. When times are hardest for these people, a mysterious man named "Jones" not "Mr.Jones" just Jones comes into their lives. One by one Jones notices things that other people don't. He is a simple man, but with words that speak so loudly! This simple man encourages me to notice others, to invest in their lives to give a "little perspective." I love this...

"It may look like barren sand to you, son, but nothing could be further from the truth. I say to you that, as you lay your head down tonight, you are sleeping on fertile ground. Think.Learn.Pray.Plan.Dream. For soon...you will become."

I love the challenges he makes to the individuals in this book. Another great part is...

"When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughs on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have-and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose...But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundace into a person's life."

There are so many more excerts out of the book I could give that I just love. As I think back on the book and the lives and situations portrayed, I am trying to decide upon my favorite "Jones/situation" moment. I am stumped though because I cannot just chose one. Therefore, that would require me to rewrite this book-and not doing it justice. So I will allow you to go out and get your own copy. Allow Andy the opportunity to give you a little perspective through the life of this old man and the lives he is able to touch. Allow it to open up your life to see and experience new things. Allow it to change your life so that you are capable of making a Positive difference in the lives of others! Get a little perspective! "Go and plant your own seeds"-you will get this quote if you read the book!

Now, I must go out and get the "The Traveler's Gift. Have you read it?

The official publication date is tomorrow, April 28. Go to facebook and join "The Noticer Project" or go to http://www.thenoticerproject.com/

A Little Bit Of Everything

2009-04-25T21:45:00.001-05:00

For the first time in 27 years I spent my first Easter away from my family! I know that Easter is not about the bunny and eggs but I so terribly missed being there watching my niece and nephews hunt their Easter eggs! We had a great but low key Easter! We went to church and had a great service. On our way home we decided that we needed to stop by the fruit stand. We had talked about stopping by many times before, but we just never had cash. After talking to my mom one day she was telling me about her experience eating a home grown California orange. She said it was so good-so sweet and juicy. So I thought lets make sure and go by the bank before we make our way home and get some oranges. So we bought this bag of oranges for $7.
They were very good. But I still wasn't sure if they were as good as the ones that mom had tried that actually came from someone's yard. Plus it is really hard to compare oranges to one's you have only heard about! =) Anyway, we were invited to attend a birthday party for a friend a week later or so. Well, one of the guys that came to the party brought a ton of oranges. I told Stephen that I wanted a couple just so we could compare the oranges. Well thank God my husband insisted that we get quite a few because these oranges are so good. I think they are similar to the one's that mom had enjoyed. Anyway, needless to say that I would love to have a balcony/yard where I could grow my own oranges!

This is our Easter Picture!

I love getting things other than bills in the mail! Ha, don't we all! But really I get so excited to open the mail box and find stuff! So I thought I would share with you some of the goodies I have been receiving. Lots of this stuff is from Wal-Mart. I love getting to try things before I buy them. Plus lots of the samples come with pretty good coupons! www.walmart.com/samples

The most excited thing I received in the mail this week was Flat Stanley! I am so excited that he is here to visit. My beautiful niece called me and let me know that she was going to send him to visit. I think her exact words were "RahRah, I am needing your help with a project. I am sending you a flat Stanley and I need you to take care of him and show him around and stuff." My favorite part..."So just keep that in mind" So cute. Anyway I am so excited about this project. I have been trying to think of all the places we can take him. I have a few spots in mind but I still want to come up with some more. I think she did a fantastic job with his wardrobe! Isn't he cute!

It was so hot for a couple of days around here! I was very sad because we ended up having to turn the air conditioner on! We held off for as long as we could but our poor cats couldn't even stand how hot it was. This is Ballah bathing in the window and then cooling off on the floor!

Thank God it cooled down! Now we are back to just having the windows open! I have now experienced my first, second, third, and fourth earthquake ever. The first one was a few months ago. Stephen and I were sitting on our futon when all of a sudden we both looked at each other and asked are you shaking your leg, and then we both realized we were experiencing an earthquake. It was two hours away. Well our next three we experienced were just the other day. I was home alone during the first one. It shook things in the apartment pretty well. Nothing fell or anything, but a few things shook. It's amazing how quick it happened. I had just enough time to think I was crazy and then realized that was an earthquake and then it's over. This time these three occurred in a town about 8 miles from us. The next two occurred later that evening. I was cooking in the kitchen and didn't feel it, but Stephen did while he was on the futon. Anyway, as long as there isn't any damage, it's kind of fun! Ha! Well, I guess this is enough randomness for this post. Hopefully I will have a post sharing Stanley's adventures with you!

Toys 'R Us

2009-04-24T14:55:00.000-05:00

This sounds like so much fun! A play date at Toys 'R Us! It makes me miss my niece and nephews soooo much!

Plasma Car

2009-04-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

Another giveaway from Frugal Mommy of 2 girls! It is a little car that works by turning the steering wheel! No pedals/gears/batteries! I have seen all of my nephews and niece trying to ride little cars/bikes when there legs weren't long enough to reach the pedals so turning a steering wheel solves that! Go here to check out this giveaway!

Pocket Size Purifier

2009-04-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

Another giveaway from Frugal Mommy of 2 girls! I am in love with this one! It is a pocket size purifier from Purely Products! Go here to check out this giveaway!

Juicer Giveaway

2009-04-24T13:38:00.000-05:00

Fugal Mommy of 2 girls is giving away a juicer to One lucky reader from 877MYJUICER.COM! Go and check this giveaway out by clicking here ! Also while you are there check out her blog about DealFriends!

I Won!

2009-04-23T17:18:00.000-05:00

I am so excited! I won my first blog giveaway! The Frugal Muse gave me tickets to see the movie Coyote County Loser! So since it is being shown in Rogers, AR I am sending my parents! My mom is so excited! She has been wanting to see this movie! Thanks again Frugal Muse!

Jones Soda BOGO

2009-04-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Jones Soda Buy one Get one free

Make your earth day pledge and print your coupon!

Click here!

Have you seen this?

2009-04-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

Since it is Earth Day today Reynolds has a rebate for free foil from 100% recycled aluminum! You have to go to their site today and print the rebate(up to $3.99 value). Woohoo for freebies! TODAY ONLY!

Free Hallmark Card!!!

2009-03-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

Free Personalized Hallmark Card Mailed

I found this deal at Freebies 4 Mom. It is absolutely free, they even take care of the postage for you! I designed a paper folded 5x7 card and was able to personalize the text on the front and inside of the card. I choose to have it mailed directly to my recipient (but you could have it mailed to yourself instead). The total cost without the promotion card would have been $3.91. Your cost - FREE with using this promotional code: TRIAL (not case-sensitive). You do need to sign-in or create a free Hallmark account in order to order your card.

Tourists

2009-03-24T22:59:00.001-05:00

I haven't kept up with my post very well! I always seem to get too involved in reading everyone else's blog that by the time I am done reading I am to tired to write my own! So here is a little recap of our time in Vegas and time with my little sister and her husband when they came to Cali for a visit. I'm not sure if living here in California for 7 months now still allows us to be considered tourists but we still have so much to see! I know I have that look because I always have my camera with me!

We made our first visit to Vegas in February. And let me say that I am not sure I care if I ever go back. Okay, okay it wasn't that bad, but if I am going to make a 3/4 hr trip I will be making it to San Diego! Oh how I love that place. Anyway, back to Vegas! We went to a show and watched Ice. It was a pretty good performance from the Russian ice skaters. I was sad because I wasn't allowed to take pictures =(

Anyway, we played a few slot machines. We had a lot of fun going into different casinos trying to see whose club we could join and receive free slot play. One casino allowed us to spin there big slot machine to see how much money we would receive, well my card won $5 which I lost in no time and Stephen's card was awarded $10. So he played a little longer than I did and he actually won some money! =) UI think the greatest way to play in the casino's is to use there money and walk away with more of there money!

Anyway, I think my favorite part of Vegas was looking at all of the hotels and watching the Bellagio's water show. So cute! I think I smiled during the entire thing! I also loved going down to Freemont Street where things were happening back in the day!

We also headed out to Hoover Dam. It's amazing how big it is! Very cool! We loved taking pictures there!

Okay so now fast forward a month. My sister and her husband took their babymoon and traveled out to Vegas/The Grand Canyon/L.A./San Diego/Death Valley! Woo! What a trip, I was very excited for them to come and stay with us. This is the first family member on either side to come and see where we live! That is one thing I just can't stand is to not know where someone in my family lives. I don't know why but it makes me feel so lost if I don't know there surroundings! I like to picture where they are sitting, where they are shopping, etc. Does anyone else feel that way?

Anyway, they showed up late after their trip to see Jimmy Kimmel's show. I am sad that Guiermo is stuck up! At least that is what my sis told me. He was probably sad that I wasn't able to attend the show with her. Ha! I love that man! He is sooooo cute!

Anyway, we headed out to Beverly Hills and drove up Rodeo drive, and made a visit to the famous Hollywood sign!
I must say it was hilarious because Suzette was trying to think of famous people's houses that she wanted to try and find. Well some how the Playboy Mansion came to mind so she looked up the address and we were on our way. It was absolutely hilarious! I just kept thinking, I can' t believe that we are looking for Hue Heffner's house! It was the windiest road ever. I must admit it is a little dangerous for those trying to get a glimpse of the mansion! So we made about three trips back and forth making sure everyone got a good glimpse! Well, on one of our turn arounds in front of one fancy gate I was looking out my window and thinking, oh wow there is a camera, and then I see a body guard standing with his arms crossed, looking right at me! Ahhh! Hilariously nerve racking! I am so not a rebel and this made me nervous! But it was a blast! Very much a thriller! Ha! We were very disappointed that the gate near the road was not all pretty with bunnies-no not human bunnies! =)

The next day we headed out to one of my favorite places in California-Leo Carrillo's State Park in Malibu!

This is where I took some maternity pics for Suz. It was really cold and windy when we were up high on the rocks so our pictures didn't turn out so well there. Suz was freezing since she was in a dress and flip flops. So we headed down to the sand. The bluffs blocked the wind which made it much nicer. We had a lot of fun! Stephen and Dustin went off on their adventure while we took pictures! They ended up bringing us two star fish which was perfect timing because they made perfect accessories for Kyah's name in the sand!

After our time at Leo Carrillo's we headed over to Santa Monica to let them get a view of the famous Pier! And we just so happened to meet up with Stephen's friend and old co-worker's at Bubba Gump's and grabbed a bite to eat! My favorite dish there is the Cajun Shrimp! It is soooo good! It's always fun for Stephen to go back there and see some of his old co-workers(He used to work there when he lived here in Cali a few years ago).

The next day we headed out for San Diego! We ate at a little fish shack right off of a boat dock. We had great entertainment from a sea lion. He was so cute! He even chased after some birds! They were a little fast for him when they got close to the bank!

Then we made our way to Coronado Island! It is such a pretty place. We watched some pelicans diving into the water. It was amazing to watch them torpedo into the water!

It was a great trip. I know Suz and Dustin were exhausted after all of the driving! Anyway, I think that is enough for now!

Search Engine That Pays

2009-03-08T19:30:00.000-05:00

So I ran across someone's blog who was sharing this new search engine. Swagbucks will give you "swagbucks" for the occassional times you search with them. You can earn 1, 3, or 5 swagbucks on searches. After you accumulate so many you can view the prizes (Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Nobles, etc) and earn your reward! Sign up now and invite your friends from the site for more rewards!

Use this link to register and help me earn swagbucks!
http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=390209

So you know you are not in Arkansas anymore when...

2009-03-03T18:10:00.000-06:00

Your neighbors come out of their apartments when they hear ducks! What makes it even more awkward is when one man is walking to the pool with a hockey stick in his hand with a frisbee. Yes, this was the scene today. We were sitting on the couch when we heard our new little apartment mascots appear again today. Yes, they were making quite a bit of noise, but I love seeing them in our pool. So as soon as I heard them I grabbed my camera and headed outside. I was expecting to just shoot a fun video of them playing in the pool and then I see all of my neighbors outside. Well, yes, like I said above the guy was carrying a hockey stick. I turned around to tell Stephen and then started listening to the conversations going on. Yes, one guy said, well I went to break them up the other day when they were fighting, well that's what I thought they were doing and then realized they were actually a male and a female...So the girl who was out there told the guy with the hockey stick, "oh, they are just having sex" and then everyone went back into their apartments! Ha! I tried to get Stephen to educate these Cali folks, but no such luck!

Take That Papa John's!

2009-02-25T21:40:00.000-06:00

So tonight I made my first pizza!

Thanks to Money Saving Mom! It was a very quick easy meal and it was very tasty!!! You should give it a try. We ate ours with pepperonni and cheese! Another quick snack we have been making is french bread pizzas. We buy a 12 pack of small french bread loaves and then a big can of tomato paste, a block of cheese and voila, you have an easy lunch or snack when you need them. We just make them all up when we buy the bread and freeze them. It takes about 12-15 mins. @ 350 for them to bake from frozen.

Here is Money Saving Mom's Recipe:
Homemade Pizza in Less Than 30 Minutes

Pizza Crust:
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix.

Dump onto a floured surface .

Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so).

Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.

Add toppings. (Have fun and be creative with this! Our favorite variety is salsa or barbecue sauce, diced cooked chicken, and cheese.)

Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

A little late on posting...

2009-02-17T19:57:00.000-06:00

After receiving coasters from my wedding photographer (Norma Davis) and seeing Meredith's Christmas Coaster blog posting, I thought I want to give this coaster creating thing a try. So I followed Meredith's directions and Stephen and I went to work. I thought they turned out pretty cute! We ended up giving them to all of my siblings and all of Stephen's and both sets of parents. This set was for my brother and his wife. Two of the tiles are of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, two photos that I took while attending a Razorback game.

This set is for Stephen's brother Caleb...

My older sis's families coasters (even though she is alone in her love for the dallas cowboys)!

My mom has a great love for Coca Cola! If you know my parents and have been to their house then you know this as evidenced by what we call the "coke" room at thier house.

Stephen's brother and his wife's:

His parent's: (his mom also loves coca cola antiques:

Stephen's sister and her new hubby:

My little sister and her hubby's:

Stephen's sister Abby and her fiance:

Here is the group of coasters, oh and for Stephen's youngest sister we made a frame and a trivet for her...

This is a picture of our new stockings! I found them at von's for $3.75 a piece! And the little santa and snowman ornaments (total of 4) for $3.75! I love them! Anyway, since we are newly weds and the cost of living in "The O.C." we decided to only give each other stocking gifts! It was a lot of fun to really have to put some thought into every item we picked out. It was a great Christmas! The best part was going home to see our families!

Oh my goodness, as I am sitting here watching "Who wants to be a millionaire" this young guy (ha, I said young, probably 25) was talking about how he used to be homeless and met his girl friend (sitting in the audience) just proposed when the fill-in person for Meredith just asked if he was ready to play and he said he had a question to ask, and he turned to his gf and asked her to marry him!!! So sweet!

Six Months!

2009-02-09T00:36:00.000-06:00

So I cannot believe that 6 months have already flown by since...

I married my best friend in the entire world! On August 9, 2008. We have had such a great time getting to learn about one another on a totally different level. Lots of giggles, a few embarrassing moments and lots of how do you do it's and how did your mom do it! Marriage is definetly a lot of hard work, but oh how do I love not having to say goodnight, see ya tomorrow and going to our seperate homes. Now I get to wake up with his handsome face beside me!

I still love looking back at my photos from our wedding day! Oh how I owe my parents so much! It is exactly what I dreamed of and more...

Well, we are headed to Vegas that's why I have posted this a day early! Perfect timing for Valentine's Day and our 6 month anniversary tomorrow! I hope everyone has a great week!

My Little Angels

2009-02-07T18:19:00.000-06:00

I have no idea who really reads my blog, I assume not very many people, hence the lack of comments, but if you know me at all you know that once upon a time in my life I hated cats. I was not a cat person. I loved dogs! About 3 years ago I had the cutest Lab/irish setter mix, named Kote! He was the sweetest dog! I loved him to death! So happy and absolutely beautiful! Someone in our neighborhood was setting poison out and killing off the dogs in our neighborhood. They killed all 3 of my neighbors dogs and I watched them die in our front yard! Saddest thing ever! And when I was in California visiting Stephen Kote got out of the back yard and they poisoned him as well.

When I met Stephen his cat Nala had just given birth to 4 little kittens! I of course met them and fell in love. So I became the owner of this little bundle of joy! Her name is Ballah! Yes, odd name, but Stephen's younger brother and sister had named all of the cats before they sold the others and Ballah has this long crazy sounding name...so I thought well I will keep with their name but shorten it. So her name became Ballah for short. Anyway, she is the sweetest little thing. Here she is one day when she got out at my parents house and she could hear the neighbors dogs on the other side of this fence and she just froze scared to death and didn't know what to do. We came home and found her like this!
She does have an attitude when her daddy picks on her, but she loves to cuddle.
She also likes to play a game of chase, peak-a-boo, chew on plastic bags and do this stretchy, pouncy thing while standing on me. She is a lot of fun. I have to mention her dear mommy becuase I now am the owner of two cats since Stephen and I got married. She and her mommy love their new home and having a playmate!

Here they both are playing with their Christmas stocking that their Aunt Sissy got them! They are still loving these toys! Thanks Suz!

Anyway, these are our babies...

Coupons

2009-02-03T18:27:00.000-06:00

I had the opportunity to watch Oprah today which she had different guests on talking about saving money. So I thought, where are different sites that I can find more freebies/coupons and I thought of the actual company sites. So I thought I would share just in case you all could use these and hadn't run across them yet. The first one is Colgate-Palmolive. The second one is Nestle. If you like King's Hawaiian Bread (which is soooo good for a ham/turkey, and sprinkled with cheese and spread with a honey and mustard mixture sandwich baked in the oven until warm).
Pillsbury

Malt-O-Meal didn't have the coupons I wanted but it does have one you may want so here you go...

You can go to Atkinsand get a coupon, use their carb counter, meal planner, and search recipes.

Okay, well that's all I feel like searching for for now! =) I hope you can use some of these!

FOR THE TOUGH TIMES

2009-01-26T14:27:00.000-06:00

It seems like in the world today, everyone, everywhere is hurting in some form or fashion. Many are asking questions, wondering to themselves if there is a God why could He allow this to happen to my little baby, or why won't he help me with finding a job, etc. ect. Max Lucado's book, "For the tough times" does not have all of the answers, nor does he claim to. But he does fill this short little book with a vast amount of hope for getting through the tough times. He gives many examples from the Bible of which many suffered and because of their suffering and faith in God they received many blessings. I like how Lucado takes us back to the beginning of evil. He gives us the illustration of satan wanting to be more powerful than God. He shows us that no matter how hard satan tries to make us fall and wants us to be more like him and bigger than God, satan always makes the kingdom of God stronger. Lucado talks about how satan wants to question our faith and wants to test us to make us fail. I know many families who have had trial after trial and they continually praise God. This is just what satan cannot stand. I would suggest this book to anyone. I feel that the way it is written is a very easy read and it is very short. I think it is appropriate in it's length, because more than likely those going through a trial wouldn't want a long lengthy book. This book gives a quick dose of hope and encouragement. I hope you enjoy it if you get the chance to read it!

A Night of Firsts!

2008-12-16T23:22:00.000-06:00

So tonight Stephen watched Tom Hanks in the 1988 film, "Big" for the first time!

It was so much fun watching a movie that I watched for the first time when I was 7 years old. I am sure I have watched it since then but it has been a long time. Stephen really enjoyed it. What inspired our viewing of this movie...well, our trip to the Santa Monica pier with Aaron and Beth where Zoltar is located.

He really enjoyed the movie. I wish I had a picture of him watching it...he smiled the entire time. =) Oh to be a little kid again! We always want what is on the other side of the fence don't we! If it's cold out we want warmth, if it's warm we want cold, if we have curly hair we want straight, if its straight we want curly...you get the point. Oh if I could make a child understand how easy they really have it...

Anyway, on to our next first...we had our first Hot Chocolate of the season and our married life. Oh so yummy! Now all we need is a nice warm fire and snow outside! Ha! Only if we traveled to Big Bear. And some day hopefully that will be another first!

Speaking of hot chocolate! Four years ago this month First Baptist church of Farmington had a music/hot chocolate social on a Sunday night. While I was in the long line with my mother Stephen Fulton showed up with his brother Caleb and they appeared through the side doors wanting hot chocolate. They saw the line and I could see immediate dissapointment with how long it was. And of course the kind person I am I allowed him to cut in front of me...Okay, okay, yes, I was secretly in love with this man. Even though I only knew his family and only heard things about Stephen! But I truly knew he was something special. And that night was the start of "Us"! Thank God for hot chocolate and for people loving it so much that they make long lines so people want to be so generous to allow others to cut in line!

Christmas Ornaments

2008-12-12T22:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, I need your help! I am trying to find an ornament for "Our First Christmas" as a married couple! I am having a difficult time finding something that I really like. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hmm, Randomness

2008-12-12T18:03:00.000-06:00

Okay, so my little sis Suzette tagged me for this I don't know survey! So here are my answers!

Here are my answers:
Top Four Wishes:

1. To make it home to Arkansas safely for Christmas!

2. To be home for the birth of my new neice/nephew!

3. To win lots of money!

4. To get back into shape without having to do anything! Ha! =)

Four places I want to travel:

1. Arkansas...I know, I know...not many people say they want to travel to Arkansas, but I do!

2. Ireland

3. Italy

4. Africa

Four careers I want to be involved in:

1. Nursing

2. Mom

3. Non-profit company to help the homeless get back on their feet...They tug on my heart everytime I see one. Always have.

4. Hmm, I don't know...

Four things I would like God to say to me at the gates of Heaven:
1. Well done good and faithful servant.
2. I love you
3. This is your mansion!
4. Yeah, I'll go with Suzette on this one...Go enjoy all the food you want! You will never gain an ounce..

Now, for the rules:
1.Link to the person that tagged you.
2.Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
So..Here ya go..

6 Random Things About Me:

1. I will hum/sing/whistle songs that are so random you wouldn't know why my brain brought them up, sometimes I even make the songs up!

2. I like to sit with my feet up at all times...must be a family trait.

3. I started wearing contacts in the 5th grade!

4. I can lick my elbow! Yes, I blogged a separate post about how talented I am! :)

5. Hmm, I love dolphins!

6. I am not creative and I can't sing! Just not gifted in those areas!

I'm tagging...Beth, Miranda, Libby, Kerri, Jessica...oh my goodness my brain is not working!!! I wonder if it is against the rules to change all of the questions on this survey!