Mr Postman.....

Ohhhh
Leannnnnnaaaaaaa......

Your Fun Martini glass from Ashley's Martini Swap is on it's way!!!!!! I had it shipped directly to you from the store as to cut out the extra time to send it to me first!!!

I hope you enjoy it, and that it brightens your day!!!
XoXo

The Time Has Come....

This weekend I'm tackling the Spring Clean. I think this may be one of the last weekends that I don't have too much studying to do, so in a few short days I'm tackling the disaster. From Blinds to Baseboards and Ceiling Fans to Floors....the weather is "supposed" to be nice and that calls for the windows thrown open and the old dingy cleaning clothes thrown on.

So I figured I would list some of the cleaning products that I can't do without while cleaning, and HOPE that you ladies can offer up some more suggestions!!!!

First, Rob and I have Absolute Black Granite Countertops in our kitchen. Gorgeous....absolutely. PITA to keep clean and streak free???? You betcha. I have found 2 cleaners that I enjoy using on my black granite countertops to keep them clean and streak free. One is the Method Granite Spray that you can get from Target. That is the 2nd runner up. The top choice is 409 Natural Stone Cleaner. This stuff is the BEST. Have anyone else tried it???

FYI-- I have pretty much determine the only place I can consistently find this cleaner is at Kroger!

Second, I LOVE me some Mr Clean Magic Erasers. Seriously, these things can tackle the nastiest of scums and grimiest of greases!!!


And for our Stainless Steel Appliances I have had one HECK of a time finding something to clean them, and truly CLEAN them, remove fingerprints, but not streak!!! Pledge makes Stainless Steel Wipes and they are HANDS DOWN the best thing for Stainless Steel Appliances, Trashcans, Door Knobs, etc. They are sometimes difficult to find as well, so when I do come across them, I always grab a couple of packs!


So here is where I need yalls help, PLEASE. What are some of the cleaning products that YOU love??? What do you use on a tile shower with glass doors? I want to TACKLE the soap scum big time. What about the baseboards? What have you found to work best?? And for those of you with Hardwood floors...what do you mop with??? I have Bruce Hardwood cleaner, and that stuff works great but I'm looking for another alternative!!! Can yall help?!?!

Tell me what your Cleaning Cabinet can't live without!!!!!!

Breaking News.....

I Love Him. Truly, Madly, Deeply, - It knows no end, Love Him.

And Love Conquers All.

Small Break...

....I'm going to take a small blogging break throughout today and the weekend...I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and will talk to yall on Monday :)

Betcha Can't Pick Just One....

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

To those of you who watch American Idol, did yall get as many chills as I did last night??? Holy Goodness. I don't usually tear up this early in the season at the performances, but 2 of the men had tears brimming my eyes, I won't lie.

Kris Allen

This guy is just awesome. Tender, Sweet, Amazing voice...just all around greatness. He truly doesn't realize how good he really is (I agree with the judges here) and totally hope he goes really really far in the competition.

Adam Lambert

He.blew.me.away.last.night. Seriously. This guy has unheard of talent. He has taken every single song he has chosen, and has made the most amazing arrangement. And last night, if you did not just LOVE the song, then seriously...we need to talk about your taste in music. It was soft and sexy and sincere and ....mannnnn. Rob even agreed. He is AWESOME. I can't wait for next week :) And who knew he could clean up and get out of those wretched skinny jeans?!?

So I hope it's Kris and Adam in the finale. I'm going to throw that out there now. Such greatness, such amazing voices.

Tell me Talkers...what did yall think about last night?!?

Kreativ Kritter...????

(PS- Abby, I can't stand spelling "Kreativ" that way either) *wink*


So Miss Babbling Abby has presented me with this Kreativ Blogger Award, even though we all know I'm not Kreativ (ok, not creative either) but since she and I have had fun reading each others posts, she was so kind to "award" me =)

Rules???? Post 7 Things that I Love, and tag some others....

1) Sweet Things. Candy, Cupcakes, Pastries..you catch my drift, while I catch the pounds.

2) Diet Coke. Enough Said.

3) I love my mornings and evenings with my husband and 2 dogs. Just hanging out, being silly...makes me smile.

4) I love when I think it's Sunday, but it's really only Saturday!!! YAHOOO!!!

5) I love doing "home improvement" projects with my husband. Seriously, I'm not even kidding.

6) I love all 4 seasons. I love Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Love bundling up for the cold, love seeing the leaves change color, love the newness of spring and the lightness of summer!

7) I love when Rob kisses me on the forehead :)

Alright...Taggy Time...(im just tagging 3)

Wendy!!!!: My newest BFF (blog friend forever) Heheh. Seriously. Her daughter is adorable, and her stories hilarious.

Teresa!!!!: Our "behind the house" neighbors, who have a precious 3-almost-4 month old daughter. We are blessed to have them as our neighbors!!!

Sweet Kara: who REALLY needs to catch a break =)

Back to Life....Back to Reality....

If my mission is accomplished, then This Soul II Soul Song has come to mind =)

This song was the theme of our adventures home on Monday. Rob and I spend a wonderful 5 days in Snowmass Village, Colorado with wonderful friends such as these:

And taking in the views such as:

Rob and I have friends (Jaime and Toby) who live in Louisiana and were in our wedding. Jaime has a cousin named Hannes and his wife is also named Jamie. Anyway, we met Jamie and Hannes a while back during one of our excursions to Louisiana and they also made it to our wedding. They have an Uncle who lives near Snowmass Village, Colorado. He so generously offered to book a cabin on the mountain, and invited all 6 of us up there for a weekend of skiing and fun!!! We skied, we ate, we laughed, we cried, we drank a litte, we ate a lot. We had Shrimp and Crawfish Gumbo one night, and shrimp fettuccine the next. We ate a lot of other stuff that's totally unhealthy inbetween meals. It was SO much fun and Rob and I are truly blessed with such fun and amazing friends. The weather was gorgeous, and we often found ourselves coming back at lunch to remove layers of clothing, which is a BLESSING when skiing! I came back injury fee, and my sweet husband came back with a messed up tailbone =) He took a good spill while snowboarding and attempting to pull a Shawn White in the terrain park =) I have a video, but that will have to be put up on facebook!!! Anyway, we had a wonderful getaway, and it was much needed for the both of us!!!!

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I apologize for not posting the winner of the giveaway sooner- but life got the best of me =) I hope I can be forgiven!!! Before I announce the winner I do want to say a big THANK YOU to all of those who participated!!! I had such a wonderful turnout, it made me smile! Lots of new followers for both me AND Allison!!! I also want to thank Allison for her generous giveaway idea!! Thank you so much for allowing me to host this for you!! I wish you nothing but the best in your business endeavors, Allison!!!!

Also- please come back often and visit, as I have another giveaway later this week!!! Yep...another!!!!!!

Ok...onto the stuff I know yall really care about.

Here are all of the entries all ready to go:

And All of my little fishies in the sea.....

And the WINNER OF:

This...



And THIS....



AND THIS....

IS....... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........

KELLY!!!!!!!!

Kelly is a sweet friend of mine, who is a member of the Wedding Forum that I am on. Wedding Announcer (dot com) is the site that I used to host our wedding website and there is also a forum connected to Wedding Announcer and I have met some wonderful ladies on there, and Kelly is one of them!!! Venture over to her blog and take a look at her precious Corgi puppy :) CONGRATS KELLY!!!!!!

(email me at amy(at)v-rod.net and we will get the giveaway to you!!!

Thank you ALL, again, for hanging around and reading and participating on my blog :) It really does make me smile. Like I said, I have another giveaway coming later on this week, so please keep checking back!!!

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On another note, as I close this long long entry, I do have a couple of favors.



1) I know many of you out there in the blogging world read MckMama's Blog -- and already know that her precious baby, Stellan, is in the hospital right now with some heart issues. I love reading her blog and if you have never read it before, please click on over and sit back and be prepared to be entertained for hours. If yall could just say a prayer for her family, and particularly little Stellan, I know she would be so grateful.



2) And secondly, if you would please please keep Rob in your thoughts and prayers. He is really facing some things right now that are just so tough for him. He is trying to determine the best possible avenue to take for himself and for the two of us at this point in time, regarding his profession. As many of you know, he was laid off over a month ago and is being tugged in a few different directions. If you could please pray for our patience, understanding, and for something to become clear to us- which way to go, we would really appreciate it. I know the world out there is tough right now, and there are many others in our position, so if you could just keep us and others in your thoughts, it would mean the world =)

I hope yall are having a WONDERFUL Tuesday!!!!!

(PS- answers to my "You Question, I Answer" coming soon!!!)

Stand By....

....winner of the GIVEAWAY coming soon!!!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane....

Rob and I (and 2 of our very good friends from Louisiana) are leaving tomorrow to spend the rest of my Spring Break on a much needed getaway.

I'm truly hoping for some great memories, fantastic food, wonderful company, great food and how can I forget YUMMY FOOD!!!!!! I'm pretty sure the previous stated items will be accomplished and much much more!!!

I will post a hint to our whereabouts on Saturday when I post the winner of the Giveaway!!!! Make sure you enter before Saturday, and I'll talk to yall soon!!!!!

Luck of the Irish!!!

I just wanted to pop on quick and wish everyone a VERY happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Of course I never need extra reason to celebrate any holiday, but I so have some Irish in me, so that gives me even more reason *wink*

It is going to be gorgeous here this entire week! In fact, after I got home yesterday, I informed Rob that we were hopping on the motorcycle and heading to Happy Hour. We enjoyed adult beverages on the patio of Gloria's on the most perfect of days! We had a great time. This afternoon involves lots of errands in a short amount of time, and a birthday celebration for a family friend!

Yall have a great day, and don't forget to enter the giveaway below!!!!

Manic Monday Giveaway!!!!!

Alright friends (and followers) here is Giveaway #2 on my blog!!!

This sweet friend of mine has just started up her own business. She is focusing on providing stationary needs, letterhead needs, and the like. She just started recently, but I think her designs are adorable well on their way to being a huge success!!!!

This sweet friend has asked if she could sponsor this giveaway on my blog and I of COURSE agreed!!!!!

So to answer my hints from Friday:

1) Whenever I need one of these, I have to go diggin'......

Item #1 in this set of 3 is an adorable pen!!! I swear, whenever I need a pen, there is never one around, and I have to dig to China the bottom of my purse to find one!!! This one is adorable!!!


2) I always need to leave myself reminders...

Item #2 in this set of 3 is a matching notepad to your pen!!!! I swear I need to have a notepad permanently attached to me. I have such a horrible short term memory and need to write down each and every single thing if I have any hopes of remembering it!!! No problem with this adorable 50 page notepad!!!!


3) I just wanted to say thanks....

Item #3 in this set of 3 are 10 precious polka dotted notecards!!!! I love love love to send and receive little random "thank you" or "how are ya" cards in the mail to and from ones I love. It's such a great feeling to randomly receive a little note from someone just telling you that they were thinking about you =)

So there you have it!!! The winner of this giveaway will be awarded these 3 Awesome Gifts!!!!!! How generous of Allison!!!!! Yall make sure to pop over and check out her other items, and since her business is just in the starting phases, please feel free to email her or leave a comment for a custom order!!!

So how do you get entries?!?!?

So glad you asked =)

**For 1 entry- leave a comment

**For a 2nd entry- become a follower (or comment and tell me you already are)

**anddddd....For a THIRD entry, hop on over to Allison's Blog and become a follower there, and leave a comment on my blog telling me you are her follower!!!

So you have a chance for a possible 3 entries!!!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!!! This contest will be open until FRIDAY, March 20th at 11:59 PM!!! Rob and I will be out of town that weekend, but I will find a creative fun way to post the winner, and give yall a hint to our whereabouts!!! So get to commenting!!!!!!!!!

Shhhh...It's a Secret!!!!

Coming to you on MONDAY.....will be a new Giveaway!!!!!!

"Well Amy, what is it????" you ask.

Well there are 3 PARTS to this giveaway, but I will tell you this:

For Part #1 - Whenever I need one of these, I have to go diggin.....

For Part #2 - I always need to leave myself reminders

For Part #3 - I just wanted to say thanks

Bloggy Blog Award

*Don't forget the You Question, I Answer post below!!!!*

Farm Girl from In Love with a Farm Boy presented me with the cutest of blog awards =) Thank you so so so much!!! Yay!!!!

The instructions are to post 10 Not-So-Cute things about myself, and to tag some others.

Alright....I can't promise these 10 things will be entertaining, but I promise they won't be cute!!!!

1. My 2nd toe is longer than my 1st toe. Drive me nuts, I can't stand it- and in fact that is a reason that I had close-toed shoes for the wedding, for fear that my toes would make it in pictures involving the garter- and well, that just can't happen!

2. I am NOT one of those girls who can just wake up and "re-do" their hair from the day before with a water bottle and a round brush and hair dryer. Nope, not me. It's either all or nothing. Shower or Hat.

3. Bad Bad habit of biting my nails. Always have...and probably always will. Oh how thankful I am for acrylic nails =)

4. Our Schnauzer has a pooping problem and has proceeded to poop about 8-10 times a day for the last 8 months. Yes, including having to get up 2-3 times a night and be let out. It has taken 3 different vets and plenty of $$ to determine her problem. It isn't 100% fixed yet, but I do believe there is hope on her current "regimen". And yes, I was the one that she would wake up to let her out in the middle of the night. If we wanted to get up every 2-3 hours all night long, we would have a Bitty Baby Spencer. (but we love the pooping Schnauzer anyway)---told ya these things aren't supposed to be cute!

5. I'm not afraid to go out to public places and restaurants wearing a hat and having on no makeup. It may not be cute, but I do it.

6. I used to wear a size 10 shoe which is NOT cute, but luckily my feet shrunk (somehow) and I can wear a 9 or 9.5 now!!! Not cute per say, but cutER than it was!

7. I used to dip my Chick-Fil-A fries and nuggets in mayonnaise. Cute, no. Truth, yes.

8. I don't mind getting messy. Paint, soaked from rain, dirt, mud...doesn't bother me much.

9. I'm not afraid to cry in front of anyone. I may know you for years, might have just met ya- but if I cry...don't take it personal :)

10. I use the space/pocket at the bottom of my driver side door for trash. Straw wrappers, receipts, other wrappers, etc- it gets put there until it's full and I empty it and repeat. Drives my husband nuts, but it's what I do =)

There ya have it. See, I'm just not so cute.

I'm going to take some others and hope they will share some NOT cute things with us!!!

Bethany : Sweet blogger and winner of my giveaway!!

Leanna : Sweet Newlywed as well as my partner for the Martini Swap!!!

Kara : this girl makes me laugh, laugh, laugh!!!

You Question - I Answer

So I totally have nothing good to blog about. My week has consisted of studying, some studying and some more studying. I had 3 tests this week, and today is my first day of not having a test. To say that I am so relieved today is an understatement!!!!

Anyway...I thought I'd give it a shot and see if you have any questions for me!!! So yall ask away, and in a few days I'll post the answers :)

Enjoy!

Spencer Cottontail

This really should have been posted in a Not Me Monday! MckMama Style but I somehow forgot about this story until last night. Brace yourself.....

This past weekend, I attended my Future-Sister-In-Law's Bachelorette Party. (I would leave details about what we did, but her fiance doesn't know..and part of it is a surprise...) so let me just say that my sister came over and did my make-up.

We had some problems with my allergies that morning, and my eyes decided they wanted to run non-stop forever. So my sister finishes, and I gathered my things, and kissed my husband goodbye.

I get in my car- and due to the ever-changing Texas weather, my A/C was on full blast and therefore it blew a nice 55 degree shot of air straight into my eyes. Insert eyes running again, here.

I was frantically trying to keep my makeup from running, driving with one hand while dabbing said eyes with the other, and keep my bags from falling on the floor as I had to make an abrupt stop at a yellow/red light.

I realize that I my fingertips are going to lose this battle. They are not absorbent enough. Do I have Kleenex in my car??? No. I am not a mother, nor am I 65 so I don't have kleenex in my car. I do have about 91208312 old smashed up receipts in the side of my door, but I might run the risk of the ink on the receipts running and having an even bigger problem. Do I have any Q-Tips??? Nope.

Eureka........I just remembered what I DO HAVE. I reach into my console.....

Oh yes, I did. Believe it or not, Oh YES I DID. I opened that pink and white wrapper right up, and popped out that cotton. I popped out that bad boy. And began to dab. And dab. And dab. And dab. I dabbed up my runny eyes, and drove down the road proudly using the cotton of the tampon with the string hanging down the backside.

Oh, and you'll REALLY be glad to know that the upper outer edges began to EXPAND and "flower" out because they were absorbing, LOLLLLLLL!!!!!

Proof is in the picture!!! (and yes, I was running out of gas)

No one can ever accuse me of not being resourceful!!!!!

Please tell me yall would have done the same thing in my situation??!?!

YOUR TURN!!!!!Please share some of your resourceful stories!!!!

Teeny Tiny Taker of the Giveaway!!!!

**I know I'm a few hours late on announcing this and I am soooo sorry! My weekend was crammed full, so I'm just now announcing the winner, I will get better at this I promise!!**

First I would like to thank EVERYONE that entered my giveaway!!!! I wasn't sure how it would take off, but I am so thrilled with the results for my very first one!!!! Due to the way the comments were left, it would have made random.org a tinnnny bit hard to use, so instead, I wrote everyone's name on a piece of paper. Those who commented and were followers got 2 entries!

I then crumpled up all of the entries

And Drumroll please.........the winner is.......

Sweet Bethany of Somethin' to talk about!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!!!

Bethany- please email me at amy@v-rod.net so we can chat and I can grab you info to mail you your goodies!!!!

Thanks again everyone!!!

Be Back Sunday!!!!

It's a pretty busy weekend for me!!! My FSIL, Kate, is having her Bachelorette Party this weekend so I'm going to be spending tonight preparing for that, and will be heading to her house bright and early tomorrow to let the fun begin!!! I will be home Sunday early afternoon, and will post the winner for the GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I hope y'all ALL have a great weekend!!!!

If you read nothing else today....

...read this post that MckMama posted. It rocked me to my core today. Said EXACTLY what I feel...and really hits home when you are married. Through the ups and downs, you have to love the one you're with. I promise you need to read this post. You will not be disappointed.

I'm Walking on Sunshine....

**don't forget to check out BOTH giveaways- each has a post below!**

There is just something about Spring. Well, besides my seasonal allergies. As many of you know, I watch a little 6 month old during the day, and attend class at night. She is napping right now and the windows are open as far as the glass allows. There is laundry tumbling in the dryer, and the ceiling fan is on high. The back door is open and the dogs are freely roaming in and out. Baby Food of Peaches and Carrots sit on the kitchen counter, awaiting the little sweet pea to wake from her nap. The birds are chirping and the wind chime is clinkity-clanking. Man- it's just simply gorgeous. Along with the trees, and flowers and grass who get a fresh start after the winter, I'm looking at this as a fresh start too. There are just too many things to embrace in life and too many things to experience in this journey, to let the bad things hover over me like a dark, grey cloud.

Here is to Spring. Here is to new and fresh. Here is to the best things are yet to come.

Fabulously Fun Giveaway!!!!

**don't forget to check out the Teeny Tiny Giveaway Below this Post!!**

I stalk browse this blog daily. This lady posts some AMAZING giveaways on her blog, and I'm determined to win one, one day!!! Even if I don't win- I still love this blog because there are so many cute, cute things and ideas. So for all you Photography Phanatics out there.....check it out :) Camera strap giveaway!!!!

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!!!!

Goooood Luck!!!!!

Teeny Tiny Giveaway!!!!

Welcome to my 1st (of many) Bloggy Blog Giveaways!!!!!!

Life just doesn't get much better than that of the birth of a child. So precious, so tiny, so sweet smelling, little noises, big cries =)

Since I have many readers, and many friends across the states (and Canada) who are expecting- I have put together a little gift that they might enjoy :)



Up for Grabs we have:
1) Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion
2) Munchkin Powdered Formula Dispenser
3) Aveeno Baby Fragrance Free Soothing Relief Moisture Cream
4) Desitin Creamy
5) Beech Nut Pacifier with Cover


So how do you enter???? Pretty easy.
1) Leave a Comment on this post for one entry!!
2) Become a follower of my blog and leave an additional comment letting me know, and you will have 2 entries!!!


The contest will remain open for entries through 11:59 PM on Saturday March 7th!! I will pick a winner on Sunday, and post Sunday evening!!!!

Good Luck!!!!

PS- Stay Tuned for some giveaways in the future that may or may not be baby related as well :)

Loser....Losing it...Lost it

HA!!!!

I'm actually not talking about idiot Jason from The Bachelor. I actually won't be dedicating a post to that show and/or him because a) he doesn't deserve it and b) everything I could say has already been said and I agree with it all. Dumb show...I don't know why I watch it- I can't STAND that mousy Jillian is going to be the next Bachelorette, and I'm sure I will watch that season as well.

However, my faithful blog followers- I am referring to a new iPhone App that I downloaded in regards to the title of this post.



There is an application called "Lose It!" that I read about for the iPhone. It's really nice because upon setting up your profile, you enter your age, current weight, goal weight and whether you want to lose .5, 1, 1.5 or 2 lbs per week. It will then take all of that into consideration and determine the amount of calories you can have each day to reach your goal. Oh- it also tells you, once you determine how much weight you want to lose, and the rate at which you hope to lose it- WHEN you should have the weight off!!! So we are shooting for June 10th in my neck of the woods :) Anyway- each day you can go into the app and pick what you ate for breakfast and how much (there is a large variety of food to select from or you can type in your own) and it calculates how many calories that was, and how many you have to go for the day! You can also input the exercise(s) that you do and how many calories you burned and it adjusts for that as well.

So you put in what you ate for each meal, you can put in how much you exercise, and it will ALSO tell you how much fat, how many carbs, cholesterol, etc!!!! Nice, isn't it?!?!

Anyway, I have heard on more than one occasion that writing down what you eat and counting calories visually is a huge key to weight loss success! And we all know during this day and age that chances of me having a pen/paper on me 24/7 is slim to none...but I'll have my phone darn it!!!!

So I'm going to give it a whirl. Today is my first day using it after downloading it last night...so here goes nothing! (I know it sounds like a confusing application, but seriously...it's easy as pie!!!....mmmmmm, pieeeee!!! yummy!!!!)

Have any of you guys heard reviews on this application or perhaps used it?? I'd love to hear your feedback!!!