Construction has begun....

Praise God that they are working on the house !! I'm so happy that we are finally moving forward on getting the house fixed. We aren't out of the red yet but we pray that everything goes smoothly and we don't hit any snags on getting our contractors paid by the mortgage company and the insurance will cooperate on the supplements. We are praying hard and asking for your prayers as well. When I got home yesterday there was a wall of plastic across the kitchen and living room. I made my way through the plastic and it was SO bright. Our sky light now looks like the retractable roof at Reliant Stadium. I'm guessing they will get that area fixed and then move on to the living room. I've taken quite a few pictures, but it could be a few days before I can download them since the house is out of commission. When I left for church last night the guys were still working on the house. I guess I didn't know what to expect when I got home because I walked in feeling confident about staying at home, and the plastic started billowing in the wind. It was a little eerie to walk in that area and look up and see the night sky. Kind of gave me the heebies. So, we went to mom's. On a more fun note, I'm very excited that tomorrow is Halloween. I'll be taking off early to go to Emma's class party and tomorrow night is our Fall Festival at the church. It's always such a great time and such a safe alternative to trick or treating on the streets. Saturday is my job's annual family picnic. Its at the Buckhorn Ranch and the kids love it. Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening bible study.......I have a busy weekend and will be snapping a lot of pictures, so be on the look out for our Halloween pictures. I can't wait to get Emma in her costume, and you will NOT want to miss James in his costume !!!

G.entlemen O.nly L.adies F.orbidden

Ladies forbidden ?? Says who !!! James and I love going to the driving range and I find it to be a huge stress reliever. We haven't been since before the storm, so we were way over due. I've never actually played a round of golf, so I guess its kind of silly for me to even go to the range. I pride myself in swinging with all my might only to look down and see the ball still on the tee ! That takes a lot of skill and a lot of practice, I can assure you ! I didn't get to lighten the pictures before I posted them, but I appear to be concentrating very hard in this first picture.

Then there's the swing....I never realized how much of a goon I look when I swing! Which only makes missing the ball that much more entertaining. In all honesty though, I wish I was athletic. I want to be able to play sports so bad, but I strive for perfection. So, if I'm not good at it, I won't do it all. Probably not the best way to be and its probably why I've never actually played a for real game of golf. I like to win.....

Zoo Boo

Saturday at the zoo was so beautiful. I just love that place and have spent many years going. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay very long, but we made a promise to Emma that we'd come back in a few weeks. In all the years I've been going to the zoo I can't remember a time I went for Zoo Boo. The place was crawling with kids in costume and it was so fun seeing all the creativity. Emma wore her costume from last year. We are saving her new one for Halloween night. Here are a few shots from Saturday......

Me sporting my new "do"........

I love the fall so much. The colors are beautiful and I think pumpkins are just wonderful !

I know I'm a little partial, but Emma is just too cute !!! I can't wait till we get to go back to the zoo in a few weeks. I always feel relaxed for some reason. This is the perfect time of the year for the zoo too. The animals love the cool weather and it always seems somewhat peaceful to me strolling around listening to the birds. I hope you enjoyed the photos !

Failing to follow through...

I had big plans for making some blog entries with photos this weekend, but you see how well that worked out. Saturday we had a beautiful day at the zoo, Saturday evening was our annual ladies dinner at the church, and yesterday James and I went to the driving range. Hopefully tonight I'll get to do a post or two, BUT tonight we are going to mom's to carve pumpkins. That will be loads of fun. I've been feeling very over whelmed, especially in the last week. I'm sure that the most of it stems from the house not being fixed. We thought the contractor was going to be able to start today, but we have yet to received the money from the insurance company, so it makes it kind of hard to get going ! I'm very frustrated with the whole thing. Not only do we need the house fixed, the insurance company has actually not given us enough money, thanks to our adjusters lack of doing what she says she will do. Somewhere along the way, we will have to go back to the insurance company for the third time for more money. Yippee, can't wait(sarcastically). I just keep praying for strength through all of this. I never expected it to be such a big deal, but its slowly becoming that way. I promise my next few posts will be happy and joyous !!!

Sometimes I just need to stop and pray silently and do nothing else.................

Ugh ! The agony !

Why do I do this to myself ?? What, you ask ? Why do I sit here singing goofy songs over and over in my head ! I realize I'm a big MAGOO and that's why this consistently happens, but geez ! There's no rhyme or reason as to which songs pop into my head either. Today it's "Rain drops keep falling on my head".... then I busted into "The Hustle" ! That song frequently comes to mind and I generally like to whistle it. Beyond the goofy songs, I find myself singing jingles or radio call letters ! I'll be singing along, and stop and say "what were you thinking" !!! Sheer craziness and a little bit of boredom, I guess.....

By the way...

Viviana is also the talent behind my profile picture for this blog and the beautiful header...Just wanted to add that !!!

My 15 minutes....

Generally, I would never post pictures of me and only me, but my friend Viv took these and I wanted to share her talents. Recently she had an essay contest in which women were to submit a story about themselves and the winner would receive a photo shoot. To make it fair, an anonymous third party picked 3 finalists without knowing who the authors of the stories were, and beyond that the public voted. In the end, the three finalists were all treated to a shoot and I was lucky enough to be among the three. First, let me say that Viviana is truly one of the sweetest women I've ever met. As soon as you start talking to her, you can see her gracious spirit and you instantly make a friend. She's also very creative and has a knack for all things artsy, including photography. I love her style and I was so blessed to get to do this shoot. It was such a good time.....

We found ourselves at some local landmarks and I think it worked out nicely. Hubby agrees =)

This shot is one of my favorites. I really felt important doing these pictures. I felt famous, if for only 15 minutes....

I don't have to say much about these pictures really. Her talents shine through and I recommend her to anyone. Please visit her site and take a look at some of her other amazing work. You won't be disappointed. http://heartspunimagery.typepad.com/. Thanks Vivi !!!

Photoshopping

Ahhhh...the sounds of silence. Emma is asleep...James is playing ball....and I get to play with my new toy, finally ! We recently got a new camera, so I decided to get some editing software to go along with it. I have SO much to learn about this program and I really haven't done anything spectacular with it, but it's going to be fun. I hope there is a book out there called "Photoshop for dummies". I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of my beautiful daughter. Pictures are so special to us, but I like them to look "different". I'm not a huge fan of the old Olan Mills style photos. That doesnt mean we never take posed shots. They're just not my favorite. I like stuff you'd see in a magazine or hanging in a gallery somewhere. Neither of these shots are museum material, but they are perfect for my gallery =)

Sneak Peek

(sound the horns!) Emma's costume has arrived ! Some of you will figure it out for sure, but I was very surprised at how many people had no idea what it was. She was very excited to try it on and insisted on wearing it to town. I must be losing my mind because I let her ! So, here it is....can you guess what she'll be ?

Magnificent Makeup

For those of you who know me, and know me well, you know how crazy I am about makeup and fashion etc. etc. I'm most crazy about makeup though. Maybe this goes back to my musical theatre days and maybe this is partly why I love Halloween so much. You know, that chance to be somebody different ? Well, my favorite makeup is MAC. I love their products and I get emails every few weeks with their latest additions to their line. Every year I look forward to seeing their Halloween "looks" that they have come up with. I would love to get to play in makeup the way their artists do. What a job ! These are two of my favorites from this years collection.....

Midnight Bloom....

She's a Doll....

You can check out the rest of this season's greats at http://www.maccosmetics.com/

Snickerdoodelicious !!

Mmmm mmmm good ! Let me just say, I found a little piece of heaven last night at my local grocery store. I think desserts are great, but I've never been big on eating them (yes, I'm weird). I'm more of a tea and coffee lover. One of my favorite coffees is the Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks. Well, last night I had to make a quick trip to our local grocer, and on a whim, I decided to get some ice cream. Snickerdoodle cookies are my favorite, so I decided to try the new Snickerdoodle ice cream from Blue Bell. Emma got to pick some ice cream too and she went with the tried and trusted Cookies 'n' Cream. We made it home with our purchases and each of us scooped us up some ice cream into green cake cones. I took one bite of my Snickerdoodle ice cream and I almost melted. Not only was it wonderful, it tasted just like my favorite Starbucks coffee ! Its like a two-fer !! This is kind of a goofy post I know, but take my advice people, get you some Snickerdoodle ice cream !!! Go now!! It will probably be out for a limited time !!!

Family Date Night

My super cute husband and daughter
Friday night was awesome! We had a family date at the Third Day concert. We had such a great time and it was such a blessing to be worshipping in that way with my 2 favorite people. We also saw Switchfoot. They were amazing and so entertaining. The lead singer even came down into

the crowd and sang right by us. Emma thought that was so cool....ok, James and I were both dreaming too ! We wished it was us singing for that crowd. Third Day was flawless and did some favorites of ours early on. I was thankful because the show was in Cypress and we were all wiped out and ready for bed. So we cut out early and beat the crowd.Thank you God for this time I had with my family!

OCD

I admit ! I have this obsessive compulsive attitude when it comes to Halloween ! I can't help it. It's one of my very favorite holidays, plus its the "kick off" for the holidays to come. I hope there are more of you out there like me. I start thinking about what we will be for Halloween about 3 months early ! I just love planning for it. I know there are a lot of folks that think Halloween is demonic and such and if you want it be, then it will be. Just like anything in life, if you take something to a dark place, then it's going to be dark and ugly. I'm sorry, I just get sick of hearing people talking about how bad it is and they don't let their kids participate because its the "devils" work and blah, blah, blah.....Get real people. If you tell your child that something is evil then they will believe that, but if you don't say a word about it and you make it fun, then guess what, they'll think it's just a fun, bright holiday ! Sorry, I'll come off my soap box now. Back to the planning. For me, Halloween is the fun day for the year where you get to dress up and be someone different for a few hours. How can that not be a good time ? My parents made Halloween so much fun for my sister and I, so I want to do the same for my kids. BTW, Emma's costume is already on order and I'm very excited about it, but I won't spill the beans....Please, if there are any other Halloween crazies out there, let me know....