It's always a good time for some Bible study

These are the notes from our Bible study at church last week. It was on the different types of prayer. One of my lovely friends from church had already typed up her notes and posted it on Facebook, which made my life a lot easier. I planned on going into it last night and inserting the Bible verses. Unfortunately, our internet didn't work last night and I am not about to be doing all that this morning. So here is a nice little breakdown of different types of prayer as presented in the Bible. This lesson was taught by Elder Gr.eg Vin.son and transcribed by Mich.elle Vin.son (neither of whom I want to find my blog, but I do want to give them their credit)

 

·          Prayer of Perseverance
Matthew 7:7 – keep on praying, keep on believing, keep on asking, knocking, seeking
Luke 18:1 – men pray always, don't faint, don't quit – apply a continual coming mindset "and shall God not avenge His own elect"
Sometimes when an answer to prayer is delayed remember God wants us to grow in character and patience so just keep seeking him in prayer until you get an answer [think of Daniel and Michael the angel] – trust God

·         Prayer of Agreement
 When two or three agree, God is in the midst
If you are single – agree with GOD and his WORD
If you are married - agree with GOD and his WORD and YOUR SPOUSE – remember agreement/harmony produces God's will on earth
Reference Matthew 18:19

·          Prayer of Specifics
Philippians 4:6 – make a definitive request

You must be succinct and direct in your prayer requests to God (He is not impressed by your fanciness)

·         Prayer of Faith
Mark 11:24-25
 John 14:12-14
James 5:16
The prayer of faith shall save the sick.  Prayer is like the "jaws of life" – if we call on God believing He will show us mighty things,  He will

·          Prayer of Binding and Loosing
Matthew 12:29

 Matthew 16:19
We are blessed and we have what we say, if we confess it bound, it is bound, if we confess life it will live

·         Prayer of confession
 Romans 4:17
 Romans 10:9
Call those things that be not as though they are! Please don't get that confused with calling those things that are as though they weren't. Saying, "ohhh my leg isn't broken," when clearly it is, will not unbreak your leg. Call yourself healed instead and watch God move on your behalf.

·          Prayer of intercession
 Romans 8:26-27
Pray for you neighbor
If there is someone with a problem similar to yours pray earnestly for their deliverance
Remember the law of reciprocity for every action, there is a reaction

·          Prayer of supplication
 Psalms 116:1

1 Timothy 2:1
Jeremiah 33:3
Hebrews 5:7
Seek God with your whole heart, remember wisdom and promotion comes from God, since true success comes from God we must hear from Him to stay on the right path

What did you think?

Last night was one of those nights where you laugh to keep from crying. Why? bet aw.ards. Lawd, Lawd, my people. I was on twitter, messaging my sister on facebook, and talking to TheCount while watching the awards and the jokes kept on coming. Seriously, I could have put together a better MJ tribute than they did and I didn't even grow up listening to MJ! How do you have all these talented black artists in one place and can't manage to put together something better than you did? I'm just saying, it's their job to put together shows, and sing, and dance, I don't care how short notice it is, you should be good enough at your job to work it out! If any of us had an emergency at work and we put out a product like they did, we'd be fired. Also, last night they confirmed every thing I say about old people. Never give them a mic live. Pre-record and edit. Thank you. One more thing...was I the only person that noticed that quite a few men on that stage last night had been accused of dom.estic vio.lence before but we let them continue on with their careers without any outcry. Not condoning it, just wondering why some get harsher treatment than others. Cuz we saw pictures? Probably.

 

 

Anyway, moving on. Those nice recipes I promised for Aidan and Kelly... ehhhhh they weren't that good. I wanted them to be, come on, pizza balls topped with butter, garlic, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning...sound's excellent, right? I saw where she was going with the recipe, but it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. I guess I'll try again this week with some new recipes. Last week was just a mediocre week in my kitchen. Nothing to write home about. I still had better execution than the bet aw.ards though...

God is Good

Seems like everybody could use a bit of good news. Well here ya go. My review went very well. I got a raise :) I got free lunch :) :) Thanks for all your prayers.

 

I lost somebody in my personal life this week as well so it's been a pretty rough week for everybody. Never forget that God is in control! Have a great weekend everybody.

Heavenly Hype Man

Bible study last night was good! It was on prayer. Either tomorrow or next week I'll do a post on it, I left my notes at home. I need to stop being lazy and complete our family vision/prayer board. I already have a corner in our bedroom set up with quotes, bible verses, and a list of people that I'm praying for. If you've ever emailed me a prayer request, you're on there. Keep me updated so I can know what to pray for.

 

I knew that church was going to be good because the people behind me came in and smelled like feet, sweat, lotion, and bad breath. Whenever somebody really distracting/annoying sits near me, church is pure awesomeness, LOL. Our church's resident hype woman was in rare form last night. I was cracking up because she kept on cosigning on everything "that's true, that's true" (must be read in a heavy Caribbean accent-deep voice-way to loud for the small crowd present). Seriously, he's reading from the Bible, this is a church that believes in the Bible, I'm pretty sure we can agree that what he is saying is true. If you don't agree, you ain't in the right place.

 

Tomorrow I have my review at work :) The person conducting my review already met with my boss (I'm a contractor) and now I get to learn what was discussed. I've never had one of these before. Thank God it's on the phone so she doesn't have to see my face. So blogland at 11:00 am tomorrow I'm gonna need you to send up some prayers for me. If you include the words, raise and favor, I'd be eternally grateful :) 

 

I have some new recipes I'm trying out that hopefully Aidan will like (he was not a fan of last week's General Tsao's/Tso's chicken). Seriously, if this kid doesn't like pizza style things, or cheesy noodle things I'm going to have to bring him up here and force feed him some non-southern style cooking until he likes it. One of the recipes T and Bird can put together so Kelly doesn't have to do anything except maybe put it in and out of the oven (at T's age I had my oven privileges taken away. Geez, you fall asleep a few times while cooking and everybody makes such a big deal of it).

Pretty...Amazing in every way...Stunning...Beautiful...The Greatest thing since cheese

At 23, I don't think the word I want to describe me is "adorable." Not even 5 minutes ago somebody said that to me. Dangit, my high waisted pants, 3 inch platform heels, and fabulous eye makeup give off an "adorable" vibe? Well, I guess it's better than hot tranny mess.

I have wonderful news to report. My hanger filled with "almost but not quite" pants is now empty! I put on the last pair this morning and they fit beautifully! TheCount came running over and was like "mmmmm I like these pants." Sweet success! You can't tell me I don't look good, well you can try and tell me, but I don't think I'd believe you (just like I'm not fully convinced I can't sing, I think the recording was off, I'm going to try again).

On that same note, why do people who don't contribute to my life think they can voice their opinion? If you don't sign my paycheck or my timesheet, your opinion does not matter. If your name is not on my bank account and your check is not going in it, your opinion does not matter. If you did not directly contribute to my creation 23 years ago, your opinion does not matter. {For those of y'all that didn't follow that would be da boss, TheCount, momma, daddy, and God} Everybody else in life is on a don't ask, don't tell policy. If I didn't ask for your opinion, don't give it! Last week somebody said something smart about my hair. Not family, not friend, not even acquaintance really. Just random dude at work. Ughhhhhh, no! I will cut you man. Well today I got 3 compliments already on my hair, so I'll see if he feels the need to comment again. I need some better comebacks. My comeback last week was lameeeeeeeeeee. Let me go write out some witty comebacks so I can be ready!

Awkwarrrrrrd

My whole weekend can be summed up as awkward. From people not knowing what to say to me, to me not knowing what to say to people, I was just at a loss.

 

On Saturday I met my ma at my parent's house so that we could go to my friends baby shower. On the way there we were talking and she told me she saw my ex-boyfriend's (the one right before TheCount) mom and spoke to her earlier that day. He is currently going through a divorce because his wife was getting extremely jealous of his daughter because she kept miscarrying their child (and she was pregnant at the same time as the other girl). His baby's mom sued him for child support which he, thankfully, got reduced from $1,200 to $600 a month. Annnnddddd he lost his job. It's a rough time in life for him right now. Anyway knowing all this information, guess who walks in the baby shower? His momma! She has always loved me, so I knew she was gonna come over and talk, but I didn't know what to say. Should I sit and talk about how things are going well? Downplay it and barely talk? I was so uncomfortable as she talked about how her kids avoid her and don't want to hang right after I finished giving my momma a la.p dance and asking were we still going shopping after the shower. She seemed genuinely happy for me that I'm doing well, but I hope this doesn't spark the ex trying to pop back up (which he does every time he finds out I'm happy and doing well [dude it's been 6 years, let it go]).

 

****

 

Later as I was sitting down talking, my mom's friend Sandy (who is crazy anyway) came up to me and was like tell me about  married life, how is it going. I gave my standard bottled answer and then this chick hit me with this:

 

"Stand up, let me see if you've gained any weight. You know that's what marriage does to you." Y'all I sat there staring at her in horror as she grabbed my hand to pull me out the seat. My mom ran over and snatched her hand and was like, "what's wrong with you? You don't ask no woman about her weight. Get off of her." I was still sitting there dumbfounded. Who does that!?

 

****

Sunday I wanted to kill SisterCount and TheCount. Let's just say outdoor track meets, church clothes, and 3 inch platform heels should not be combined. I was so mad at them both for so many things it was crazy. So yeah, NieceCount may not be having support from AuntieTM for the rest of her track season ( or life-we'll see how SisterCount acts next time, lol).

 

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We took my dad out for Father's day to a Japanese Steak house. That whole situation was uncomfortable too because we were at the table with another family but my dad was sitting next to the wife her kids were next to her, then her husband. My mom was just not feeling the wife and actually got smart with her a time or 2. It was funny. That wife should learn to mind her business a bit though. How she gonna tell my momma she can't make my daddy share Coldstone's with her on Father's day. Chick please. Talk to your own husband, don't think we haven't noticed that you haven't said one word to him this entire time. 

 

 

What about you? Any awkward moments to share from the weekend?

Sooooo no American Idol for me?

I wonder if I can convince TheCount to walk with me to Borders and Baja Fresh tonight? It's only about 3 miles round trip. If I successfully convince him, I'm going to document our trip with photos- it will be epic!

 

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I get away with a LOT in life. I think it's because I'm reallllllyyyyyy nice that people don't realize my other issues or things I do. It's not a false sincerity to get my way, I really like to smile and laugh all the time. I hear people talking about me all the time (good things) and it makes me happy that they see the good and not the faults. I think it would be cool to be remembered as "very sweet" cuz that's what they always say.

 

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Conversation at our house this week:

Me: Babe! I recorded myself singing today in the car.

Count: Really? Why did you do that?

Me: I wanted to hear myself singing.

Count: Oh, you were trying to see if I was being a hater or not?

Me: Yeah man cuz you always telling me to be quiet.

Count: Well what did you determine?

Me: I can't sing! (I was seriously shocked)

Count: And this surprises you?

Me: Yeah! All these years I really thought I could sing, it was quite depressing, I may be tone deaf that's how bad it was

Count: Tell me about it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

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You know those people that know everything about everything but don't really know anything? Yeah my sisnlaw is one of those people. I want to do a post on it, but I feel bad talking about her but some of the things she says/does makes me want to kick her. I just sit and nod my head or giggle. But if she says one more thing about my eating habits- all bets are off. I gave her a little preview of me coming back at her haughtiness when we went to North Carolina. How is it my fault that I'm allergic to peaches, watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, and coconut? Serously leave me alone. It's like she has to appear better than everybody else. Me no like that about her.

 

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I am putting myself on a new budget. PJD did a budget thing for the month of June but it was hard for me to do because I can't dictate to TheCount what he can and cannot buy (well I could, but I'm much worse than him, so I don't throw stones from my glass house). Starting next week we will each get $25 cash per week. We can use it on whatever we please (gas, haircuts, or groceries don't count). So if we don't pack a lunch, it must come from that $25. If I want that pretty nail polish, it has to come out of my $25. That shirt at Target (cuz that's the only place I go now since I have no self control) will come out of my $25. I think this will work out well. We will do this until the time we go on our cruise mid-August. It goes without saying that my birthday present will not come out of that $25.

 

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Can we all join hands and pray that I get a raise as a result of my review? Bow your heads and close your eyes...

Tasty Thursdays

This week in TM's kitchen we are taking a trip around the world! Mexican and Chinese cuisine are some of my favorites and I'm always trying to replicate the recipes. Today I have 2 of the most simple dishes you can make! I will say that you should probably prepare a side dish to go with them, but I don't specialize in side dishes. TheCount whines too much for me to ever get to making a side dish and the times that I'm not slapping his hand with the spoon, I simply forget that meals should consist of more than an entree. Here we go!


Baked Chicken Taquitos

Check out the inside, simple, yet yummy.

What they look like coming out of the oven.

Form the Big, Bold, Beautiful Food blog, this recipe (click the title for the link to the recipe) was simple, simple, simple! I don't like sour cream, guacamole, or salsa, but those would be lovely toppings for these taquitos. I did have some pinto beans that ate with them and it was delicious. These would be good as a snack for a crowd or for dinner on the go. They are ultra portable because they aren't open like tacos. You can wrap them up and put the kids in the car then pass them out. This dish cooks in less than 30 minutes.

General Tsao's Chicken

When I first put sauce in the pan, before I mixed it up.

We shared the plate (yeah we romantic like that).

This second recipe, from ShrinkingJeans.net, which I found from Fergie's blog, didn't taste like the General Tso's chicken I get from my carryout, but maybe General Tso and General Tsao are different people. I would rename it ginger glazed chicken- but it was still good and healthy! It took me 20 minutes start to finish. It takes that long to order Chinese food so you might as well just make it yourself! I have a recipe for fortune cookies too, but I was out of vanilla extract, maybe I'll make some next week.

The reason why I put both of these seemingly unrelated dishes in the same post is because you can cook up the chicken together and then separate it and use them for each dish. Time saving, no? Also, both of these recipes are totally kid friendly. I'm a picky eater and don't like a lot of ingredients or "things" in my food, but these pack the flavor!

You now have dinner for 2 nights of the week done in less than an hour. If you make them, let me know how you like it :)

How many ways can you skin a cat?

People do know that condoms exist right? Yesterday I was talking to this guy about him wanting to put his 14 year old on birth control. I was telling him that I couldn't stay on the pill because the side effects were too much for me. He was like "wow you guys don't use the pill and you don't have any kids? You are lucky!" I told him, no we're careful! People always act like the pill is the only method out there. It drives me crazy when people look at me strange when I say I will never use the pill again. Last week people at church were like y'all ain't pregnant yet? Ummmm last time I checked the rules of life there was no mandatory baby clause.

Now if I do pop up pregnant in the near future it will because of sabatoge not because we didn't take 2 seconds to be careful. There is a current list of people that are banned from setting foot in our bedroom because they have threatend to poke holes in our supply. Please tell me how me how us having a bunch of kids in our one bedroom apartment will make your life better?  Shoot if they volunteer to sponsor the kiddies I'll gladly have them now.

(Watch with all this trash I just talked I'm gonna be on here next month talking bout guess what guys, lol)

Lame Lazy Love

Lame

 

We haven't been able to get over half of our cable channels for over a week. I wasn't really tripping because I had HGTV, Food Network, and Nickelodeon and TheCount had the channels necessary to watch the games. I figured it would get fixed when it got fixed. What was the final straw that made me call Comcast over the weekend and demand they fix my tv? I wanted to watch Phineas and Ferb but the Disney channel was out. Man it comes on twice in a row on Fridays! Lame? Lame.

 

Lazy

 

TheCount and I both slept on the couch all weekend. Why? Because one of started the laundry and didn't finish. The other, in protest, piled it up on the bed refusing to put it away. There was no room for bodies because of the clothes so we just slept on the couch bunched up and uncomfortable. Do you know how many different ways we could have rectified that situation? Yeah, so do we. Lazy? Lazy!

 

Love

 

I found a townhouse that I am absolutely in love with. We aren't looking or really ready to buy a house right now, but miracles can happen, right?

 

We went car shopping over the weekend. TheCount and I have such different tastes that I don't know how we are going to be able to agree on a car. Miracles do happen, right?

 

We are so excited about life and each other and we really want to help and bless others because we have been so blessed. Our friends know, if they need somebody to pray with them or give them advice- call TheCount. If they need somebody to help them do something- call me, all day every day. We are all going to do some great things, I can just feel it today! Miracles will happen!!!!

Friday Randoms

I have been ridiculously late for work lately. When I walked in yesterday my workout partner and the receptionist were at the front desk and my workout buddy laughed and said, "so glad you chose to join us this afternoon." I replied, "man, don't judge me, you don't know my life!" She laughed cuz she knows good and well I wasn't doing anything but sleeping (it wasn't afternoon by the way). Next week I will be better! Shoot, now that I finally got a key to the building, I might even be early one day!

 

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Car shopping with TheCount is a funny funny thing. You do all the work, all the research, print out all the papers an he sits around and tells you why he doesn't like anything you picked. Funny, this is how our honeymoon research went, our apartment research went, and all our wedding plans. I'm noticing a trend. I hope he also notices that I always get my way. sHe who does the work, reaps the reward.

 

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I can't remember the last time I actually was in church service. Wednesday when I got to church I saw a parent leaving the nursery area- with their baby still. I thought dangit, nobody showed up again. It's been like this every time I've been at church for the past 3 weeks. I went back there and ended up staying  because there was only one person and you always have to have somebody else with you. We also had no juice, baby wipes, or gloves. We serve the under 2 crowd- they walk around pooping and chanting juice (no lie, it's the only thing they say). There would have been a riot if I didn't con my way into the supply closet to get a case of juices. Never trust a big butt and a smile (butt for the men, smile for the ladies). Yesterday I went to the store and got a case of 700 baby wipes and 100 gloves since it's actually my week to work next week. I love the kiddies!

 

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I got really testy with TheCount yesterday because of some drama with his best friend having no character which resulted in his August nuptials getting called off. Question: If your fiance broke up with you (after your bridal shower and everything) 2 months before your wedding because he was talking to another girl, would you take him back? Would you want him back? I really want to know, somebody answer.

 

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Whole grain oatmeal bread and green tea with lemon has been my breakfast all week. I'm really loving it :)

 

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My dad is on facebook. He just added pictures. Y'all remember the picture I posted a few weeks ago (or maybe it was months, idk) and I was like...look at my stomach! Uggghhhh I have to lose weight, I look terrible. Well, what picture do you think my dad posted of me? I demanded that he take it down or I would report him to facebook as a pedophile and have his profile deleted. My mom also looks horrible in that picture, she demanded he take it down as well. He is an evil man.

 

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Today is the last day of my boss being out of the office, gotta make the most of it! Have a great weekend :)

The Good Life!

Meet Marberry the turtle. Fellow blogger Yummy411, just got a turtle too which really made me laugh because I was looking at TheCount like "who the heck comes home from work with a dang turtle?" Shoot turtles must be hot in the streets right now!

TheCount has spent his week getting things set up for Marberry the turtle. Mind you, his vacation clothes are not yet put away, but Marberry is living in the lap of luxury! Take a look:

TheCount decided to customize the back of the tank by only partially scraping off the blue background, I guess we'll get to the other point another time. Fresh rocks, plants, a filter, a heat lamp, and a floating dock for Marberry to relax on. Sigh, what a life!

I love weddings!

My sisnlaw, cousins, and me and my huge forehead.


Bride and Groom



First Kiss!

Rose petals down the aisle, huge fire hazard candles lining the aisle, and crystals hanging from the thing on the stage.

I love TheCount's family, well his mother's side. That's who we were with last weekend down in North Carolina. They constantly hug and kiss you and say I love you. It's really nice because they are genuinely sweet people.

Pause

I'll recap my weekend tomorrow. I had a great time in North Carolina. For today, I have put the world on pause and will do nothing I don't feel like doing including unpacking and cooking dinner. We are going to walk to this new pizza restaurant by our house and then go get stuff for our tank. Did I tell y'all TheCount brought a turtle home last week? This fool is walking around talking 'bout, "yeah, our rescue turtle is doing alright." Fool, this is not an animal reserve, you just happened to be working in this lady's apartment running your big mouth trying to help her care for this pet she had no business buying and she gave it to you. For the record, 8 month olds don't need pets, especially pets that carry salmonella. Anyway, catch y'all tomorrow. How was your weekend?

I don't know what I'm doing...but I'm going to keep doing it

Let me tell y'all about my body. I was working out, calorie counting, being healthy while trying to lose that darn 15 pounds. I was on the pill for most of that time. I saw no results to my workouts. My clothes still didn't fit, my thighs looked like mountains and valleys and I generally felt like crap. For the last 2 months I've been off the pill. The first month, I noticed nothing different, but this past month? I'm like a brand new person. I freaking feel skinny. What does that feel like? I have no clue, but it's a much better feeling than how I've been feeling the past few months. Yesterday I was at home packing for the wedding this weekend. I put on skirts and wasn't scared somebody was going to see my thighs (not that my skirts are super short). Then I went to the back of my closet to my "I can almost fit these pants" hanger and pulled another pair off. Not only did they fit, they were comfortable! The last time I wore them I couldn't breathe (seriously, I went to the bathroom every 30 minutes just to unbutton them and relieve the pain)! The numbers on the scale aren't changing, but my body is, and I haven't even been exercising all that much. Sit ups and walking every day- that's it. I started drinking green tea with lemon every morning. I also started using Nivea My Silhouette. Don't people say those types of creams don't work? Well I'm not saying that's why I've been slimming down, but I will say, heyyyy you might want to try that out. It wasn't expensive. I got it at walmart and had a coupon to get a free full size Nivea body wash with it (which I really love). Has anybody else tried this or the Nivea cellulite cream? What did you think? Would you be willing to try some of the products from the line?

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...No

Does anybody else watch My Wife and Kids? You know how when Michael and J are responding to something really dumb that the kids ask they start to do a little dance and make a big production out of saying no? If you don't please go watch some episodes until you see it (it comes on 3 times a day) because it cracks me up. Matter of fact, go to You Tube right now and watch a clipI have decided I'm going to start doing that to people. Maybe just family at first, but it will stop people from saying dumbness to me.

 

TheCount and I are going down to North Carolina this weekend for his cousins wedding. This has been a series of "ehhhhhhh *do the running man, spin around, do a backflip* no" moments.

 

TheCount's car currently has no air conditioning (more on this funny story next week) yet he still felt the need to have this conversation with me:

 

TheCount: Ok, so when you wake up from your nap drive down to your parent's house so you can leave your car their and then I'll pick you up and we can go down.

Me: ehhhhhhh no! Are you seriously suggesting we take the car with no air conditioning on a 6 hour road trip further south. It's gonna be raining AND hot.

TheCount: Or we can just take your car

Me: Exactly, please have it cleaned out by then, it's a mess. Thanks!

 

Yesterday I was talking to my mom about going down there:

Ma: Have y'all considered renting a car?

Me: ehhh no! Who the heck is gonna pay for that?

Ma: HAHAHAHAHAHA! I KNEW you were going to say that. You so cheap, it's only $40.

Me: That's $40 that will be spent at Waffle House. Get real ma.

 

 

TheCount and I were discussing what we were wearing to the wedding:

TheCount: I'm going to wear those jeans I just got and my black blazer.

Me: The hell you are! (I shoulda gone with the ehhhh no here, clearly)

TheCount: TM! Why are you cussin?

Me: My bad, you are not wearing jeans to a wedding! Blasphemy of blasphemies!

TheCount: We wear jeans to church almost every Sunday.

Me: Jesus accepts you as you are, Brides don't!

 

I was so appalled that he thought he was going to wear jeans to their wedding. I don't know where all the rage came from. He was cracking up because I was taking it so seriously! My cousin strolled up to my reception (he didn't come to the wedding, and missed most of the reception) in jeans and I made an automatic stank face. I don't even know why, that's not like me at all. TheCount's family is really fancy when it comes to dressing up so why would he think he could wear jeans? I got so mad at him, I never got to decide what I'm going to wear. I hear white is all the rage at weddings ;)

Help me out!

I'm typing this post up at 3am on Saturday. I'm supposed to be cleaning but I take a break every 30 minutes because I have ADD and can't focus on one thing. Anyway, I'm watching HGTV and feeling inspired. A few weeks ago Nerd Girl posted pictures of the mini makeover she planned on doing in her house. Since, according to my plans, we'll be renewing our lease here, I want to do a bit more in the decorating department. There is a slight problem though, I am color challenged. My mom and TheCount call it tacky, I call it "hey I love blue, purple, AND pink, so why not put them all together?" If left to my own devices my entire house would be decorated in jewel tones and look like a Bollywood movie. I will now ask for help from you guys. Once I finish cleaning, I'm going to post pictures and ask for your opinions...

PAUSE HERE

Alright, 13 hours later, I've got the house cleaned and pictures done. So here we go. As usual, all things that I expect an opinion on are bolded for your convenience :) NO excuses folks!

We have this rocking chair that we got from my moms friend. It doesn't fit in now, but I'm saving it for when we get our house because I want to put it on my front porch (I'm an old woman if y'all didn't know). It's in our living room now and the brown wood just doesn't fit in with our black black and tan furniture. Do you think it would be tacky if I painted it? At the very least that horrid floral display has got to go! Oh and I wanted to pot something in those planters next to the chair, but I sure am lazy and haven't bought anything for them.

This is TheCount's man chair. It has really high arms, do you think a toss pillow would look right on there or should I leave the toss pillows for the big couch? Since I have more blankets than any one living room should that's what is in the chair right now. My mom made it for all the girls in my wedding and it folds up into little pouch. A toss pillow would probably be the same size. What y'all think? Would a pillow look silly?

Close up of the couch. Ignore the magazines and the arts and crafts project I was working on. Oh yeah, and that's my new laptop. Much better than the old one huh? It looks little, but it's not a mini, the couch is just big.

Now for the big question what color should I decorate with? All the furniture is just like what you see next to the couch. The lion picture is the only artwork we have in the room. We don't have any rugs either because 1. I suck at color choices and 2. those thangs is expensive. Once somebody helps me pick some pillow colors, I'll get some matching ribbon and decorate our lampshades because they bore me to pieces. Ok opinions people! Colors, ideas, inspiration, store suggestions? Help me out!

don't make me have to get blog violent somebody better help me...

I'm going to do it!

Alright, last week I posted that I was considering going natural. I got some nice help for some of you lovely chicas that have already done it. Coincidentally, that same day, I was over at PJD's site and she did a vlog in which she discussed Miss Jessie's products that she got for her sister. I went over to Miss Jessie's site, cuz I'm a follower like that, and started looking around. My main concern was that if I went natural, I wouldn't ever be able to have pretty styles like the ladies on all the hair blogs. That I would be stuck with a boring bush and that's it. On Miss Jessie's site, they had before and after pictures of people in their salon. I was blown away! It gave me the courage to want to try it! I know of some really nice natural hair salons here in DC, and her (their?) salon is in New York, so if push comes to shove, I'll hop my butt on a bus and go up there and let them fix me up.

So there you have it, I'm going to transition to natural. Let's hope this goes better than when I tried to be a vegetarian in January...




...in case you weren't around back then. I lasted less than 2 months because I realized eating potatoes and pasta every day probably wasn't the best idea and all those fruits and veggies just made me hungry (and kept me in the bathroom).

If I Have My Way

I really like this goal setting at the beginning of the month. It gives me focus. The other day, I was talking to Jesus, I was telling him all about how I would like the next year and a half to go. Even though I often hear people say, "If you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans," I don't really agree. I always pray for God's will to be done, but I don't seriously think that God would give us visions and dreams just to say, "gotcha! Now go to a 3rd world country and do missions until you die of malaria and come home to meet me."

The Bible says that He will give us the desires of our hearts and it also says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think. So if I don't ask for or think anything what how the heck can I say "top this God!" Well I don't really get froggy with God like that, but you get the point. I do approach the throne with boldness (I am on a roll with all my Bible verses in this post, lol).

Let's get to it, this is how our next year and a half will go.

*This month we will be sending out TheCount's resume so he can get a new job. I'll get a raise :)
*In July, TheCount will be going on interviews for potential new jobs.
*At the beginning of August, TheCount will be offered a position making almost double what he makes now. He will put in his 2 weeks notice at his current job. Then we'll go on our cruise that we already have planned. When we return from our vacay, he'll start his new job.
*We'll buy our new truck before the end of the year.
*We'll pay off our school loans by the end of the year.
*In 2010, since we'll be debt free, we'll be able to aggressively save for our house.
* In September 2010 we will be moving into our first home!

Sounds good, huh? What about y'all? You have some goals set up, things you'd like to see? Come on, write it out so you can look back and say, wow God, you really did top that!