I Want What She's Got

Several days ago Julie mentioned Susan Boyle on her blog. I had written this post in early April and for whatever reason, I had never posted it. Thought I might share it today.

Yep! It's that time again. Time to pull out the ol' swimsuit and wrangle myself into it. I have only one word for this...U-G-L-Y! Pasty white, excessive flesh being wrestled into submission...ugly. Losing the battle to cover abundant wads of dimpled skin with a few strips of cloth...also ugly. Leaves me wishing like heck I had passed on all that cake. And I am now on a mission to find the perfect streak-free sunless tanning product 'cause we all know tanned fat is waaayyy better than un-tanned fat! DUH! Dear, oh dear, it's that time of year!!!

Last year I was lucky enough to skip swimsuit season! Don't know how I did it, but it was quite nice. However, that mini vacation from this hellish ordeal has left me in a much worse state than before. Donning the bikini usually serves as a wake up call. A slap in the face, or a kick in the enlarged fanny, telling me to sew my mouth shut for a few weeks and shed my winter pudge. Without that little warning bell last year, I am now burdened with the task of dumping the results of 2 years of excessive eating. It's either that or I need to go in search of a flattering muu-muu! All of this has left me with a recent bout of crabbiness...swimsuits make most women crabby, don't ya think? But this little battle of the bulge vs. bikini bliss lead to a revelation. Another notch on my lovin'-myself belt. Have you ever noticed how some people carry themselves with confidence? No matter their physical state of being, they are just freakin' confident. No worries, no fears of what others think. They are just happy!

Of course, this caused me to stop and really think about the differences in me and those other folk. A perfect example of "the other folk" would be Susan Boyle. Right now, most all the world knows of Susan Boyle. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock lately and missed it, she is the break out celebrity with the phenominal voice on Britian's Got Talent.



Not your typical celebrity, Susan is what most would describe as homely. Not a beauty in the traditional sense. But this girl has got it goin' on! When I first watched her audition, I was taken aback by her confidence. She had a swagger. A fierceness within her. An unspoken voice that is stronger than even her amazing singing talent that screams...I LOVE MYSELF! No matter the snickers from the audience, no matter the patronizing glares and comments from the judges, she knew she was special. And oh was she special! That beauty of a soul opened her mouth and out came the voice of an angel!



Chills ran down my spine and I was in awe. As was each and every person who heard her! After she completed her song, to a standing ovation, she waved a thank you and turned to leave the stage. She didn't wait for the judging. And while I'm sure that was just a mistake...a bit of nerves...I found it to be utterly symbolic. She did not need the judges' comments or approval. She KNEW she had done well. She had accomplished her mission of wowing the crowd and she needed nothing else. What an incredible thing to witness!

So how does this tie into my recent woeful swimsuit episode? For all the worrying and fretting over how I look in my swimsuit, why on earth should I really care? Is it really all that important that I need approving glances from others? I am certain Susan Boyle has her demons. We all do. It is part of being human. But she has found that inner peace that, at least to the rest of the world, keeps the demons in their tiny little cage. And all that shows is the beauty of her strength of self. Her ability to focus on her strong points and forget the rest. Today I want to be like Susan Boyle. I want to hold my head high and walk with an air of inner peace. And when the time comes, I want to be able to wear my bikini and be glad of the fact that I have wonderful friends and family with which to share the sunshine. And to heck with the rest of it!

To see a vidoe of Susan's performance, click HERE.

Howard Hilton Getaway In Pictures

Thought I would share a few photos from this weekend.

The Howard Hilton (My version of roughing it):



The view from my penthouse suite:



The Village In Gatlinburg:





Keith's favorite Hot Spots:

Favorite early morning stop (or any time of day for that matter). The Pancake Pantry...right next door to the Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen:



Favorite place to shop. The Harley Shop:



One of my favorite stops. The coffe shop:



A new discovery:



This might look innocent enough, but it is lethal to a diet!



And finally...I really scored! Take a look at these:





And my MOST favorite:



Shhhh! Don't tell Keith, but I think I came out waaayyyy ahead. He traded the handbags for an extra donut!

Hello Again!

Wow! This "being without the internet" way of life is NOT the life for me...lol! My oh my how I've missed you guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I had a great time with My Man...otherwise known as Keith...now known as The-Reason-For-All-My-Dietary-Problems! lol! Keith has yet to be convinced of the benefits of the 30 day wellness challenge and he did his best to convince me life is way more fun "his way". Bacon biscuits for breakfast, donuts and ice cream for lunch, hamburgers and fries for dinner with sugar laden snacks in between...sounds like fun...NOT!!! Look up sugar addict in the dictionary and the only thing you will find is a picture of My Man's handsome mug. Despite his urging, I stood strong the first day. Day two, Harriet the Hormone Hellion paid me a visit and I must confess, I succumbed to her wily ways. Every time she pays me a visit my world gets turned upside down. What is it about that monthly moment that takes hold of you and turns you into something you have no desire or inclination to be? It is THE ultimate out of body experience. Cravings and mood swings become larger than life. You sit back and helplessly watch as your will power cowers to the raging beast that is stirred to action. Anything and everything is fodder for your insatiable hunger. Over the years I've attempted to give Harriet the ol' heave ho but she is a stubborn ol' cuss. She barges in, firmly plants herself for a few days and then she's off to harass another poor unsuspecting soul, leaving me with a marred complexion and a 5 pound weight gain. I spend the remaining 23 days of a 28 day cycle un-doing the damage she's done...just in time for her to visit again. A vicious cycle. A vicious, vicious cycle. But such is the life of being female. ***sigh***

Now that I've TOTALLY digressed to the point of being POINTless, How ARE You GUYS? I'm almost giddy with anticipation of what I will find when I finish this post and finally get to visit you all! I'm hoping to hear stories of family time, BBQ's, outdoor adventures and maybe even a little craftiness. Most importantly, I'm sure to find words of tribute for the real reason we celebrate Memorial Day. One very touching, bring tears to your eyes, such tribute can be found on Stephanie Howell's blog. I'm sure most of you follow her blog, but just in case you missed it, I want to include the link HERE. Her story, her life, opens my eyes to what sacrifices are paid on a daily basis for the freedom I so often take for granted. This one will surely touch your heart.

Now for a few shout outs. Over the last couple of weeks I have received some "happy" mail. The first package I received was a total surprise from a super special friend, Amy. Have you ever happened upon those people who are just giving, caring, loving people and you know it the minute you meet them? Well, Amy is one of those people. She is always sharing her special finds with her blog friends, spreading love and sunshine with each gift. This is the contents of my envelope of happiness.



While the gift is thoughtful enough in and of itself, Amy personalized the gift even further. Notice the wish token in the photo? This is what Amy wrote about it in an email to me:

"I bought the wish token that said you are not alone because you often spoke of that in your posts.....Then read your blog post about your kids coming home and filling up the house again. Funny how things work out.....
The reason I got that actually has nothing to do with your children.... Even in our darkest hour when we feel like everything is so crazy and we feel so alone in the daily grind.....God is always there. To lift us up when we are down....You are never alone."

These words were a gift beyond measure. A reminder of how blessed I am to never be alone. What a wonderfully comforting thought. Take the time to visit Ms. Amy. You are sure to find her posts uplifting and inspirational. And her photography skills are INCREDIBLE! I soooo want to be her when I grow up.

As if that was not enough, I received more happy mail today. Mandy sent these fabulous treasures.



I'm not sure how I met Mandy. I found her? She found me? Either way, I'm so glad we met! Mandy has two blogs. One where she shares her day to day happenings as well as her fabulous crafty creations and the other focuses on the story of her son, Mav. This site, Mad4Mav, is an incredible tale of a heroic little boy and his mom. It is a documentary of the life of an autistic child and the trials and triumphs he and his mom go through. Please take some time to stop in, read their story and leave a comment of support. I know how much Mandy will appreciate it.

I have one more thing to share. Last week I also received this award from Joanie.



While I am more than honored to have received this award, I am actually more humbled by it. You see, Joanie is the type of person that inspires me. So I guess it would be far more fitting that the gifting of this award be in the reverse. In a recent post, Joanie describes herself as a "Personal Assistant" to Shayla. Shayla has a rare fatal disease called Mytocondrial and seizure disorder and Joanie's love for Shayla radiates in the pictures of them together. I am in awe of her! Not to mention she is oh so talented in the scrapping arena AND she is totally "full of bolognie"...the title of her blog. Pay her a visit...it will certainly put a smile on your face.

The rules of Joanie's award state that I must pass this to 6 other bloggers. Gosh, how I hate to narrow things down to only a select few. But this time I will play by the rules. Here are my 6:

1. Amy M..
2. Mandy
3. "Tornado" Terri
4. Kelli
5. Ellen
6. Lucy

That's it for tonight. I will be back in a couple of days to post some pics from this weekend. G'night.

P.S. I forgot to thank you for all the awesome links. I can't wait to check out all the kit clubs and challenge blogs! I knew you guys wouldn't steer me wrong! ***HUGS***

Beyond Frustrated!!!

Arghhh! I'm getting ready to do battle with Internet Explorer! Of course, it would help if I actually knew something about it. It's hard to create a plan of attack when you don't know the first thing about your enemy. Right now it is IE - one...me - zero! Seems IE doesn't want to let me play. And that makes me very unhappy. All work and no play makes Lisa one grumpy girl! The aggravating little browser is refusing to open my favorite blogs. It "aborts the operation"...direct quote! I've been trying to catch up on the happenings in your worlds and IE is not cooperating. Just wanted you to know I am reading your posts via google reader but cannot comment. If there is a way to comment, would someone please tell me how. Either way, just know I am visiting but not saying a thing...and you KNOW how hard that must be for me! lol! Hopefully the problem will be corrected soon.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday weekend. I'm spending the weekend and extra day off at the "Howard Hilton" in the Great Smoky Mountains with my man. OK, so it is really just a camper in Gatlinburg, but it is a mighty nice little "retreat" even if I do say so myself! lol! I'll be back Monday with pictures...I hope. IE has even been booting me off my own blog. Here's to a wonderful weekend with those we love. And to a holiday to pay tribute to the mighty men and women whose sacrifices allow us the freedom to celebrate as we choose!

{HUGS}

P.S. I am on a mission and I need your help. I'm currently looking for a new kit club and some wonderful challenge sites. If you have a fav, would you mind sharing your reasons it is your numero uno? Thanks in advance!!!

An Update and A Couple of Awards!

(Warning: This is a super long post! Sorry, but I had much to say! lol!)

The wellness challenge is under way! I've been so excited about this undertaking. And I've been trying to do it right, know what I mean? Taking stock of where I am and what I need to do to get where I want to be. I've even worked at discovering why I do some of the crazy things I do to myself. Over the weekend, I even "tried on" some of my new strategies...took them for a test drive. And it felt good. Monday morning, I was ready to kick some wellness butt!

But I'm having to work way harder than I anticipated. Isn't that how it usually goes? My workout partner was called out of town for work all week. There went my early morning get-my-butt-out-of-bed-because-someone-is-gonna-be-knocking-at-my-door wake up call. I'm having to dig a little deeper...OK, ALOT deeper...to roll out of bed each morning. And you should hear the conversations I'm having with myself at that early hour.

"Get your lazy butt out of the bed!

Just five more minutes.

Get up now. You know you will regret it if you don't.

Just five more minutes.

Get up now!

I can always work out tonight.

No you won't. GET UP NOW!!!!!!"

Get the idea? So far, I'm one for two. I worked out really hard yesterday...REALLY hard! And I was feeling good. Then today...I didn't make my play date with the treadmill. But I do have a really good reason for flaking out on him. I had to be at work extremely early today.

Which brings me to struggle number 2. Work has been ridiculously busy. We have been in the middle of a massive unexpected audit and it all falls on me. Guess that's what I get for the right to wear the title of "Accounting Manager". lol! Geez, I'm not even an accountant! I do have way more responsibility than a bookkeeper and even do alot of accounting work, but the title is a bit over the top! But hey, it sounds good when you get that occasional, "So what do you do for a living?" lol! The reason all this mumbo-jumbo about work is important is that with all my preliminary prep work, I've discovered I am a "stress" eater. Yeppers, I eat when I'm nervous and stressed. Of course, that is not the only time I eat...if so, I probably wouldn't have a problem. But it is the trigger for my mindless overeating of totally nutrient deficient grub. I go looking for comfort in a bag of chips, cookies, etc. So the never empty community candy dish on Cathy's desk and the vending machine have been calling my name on a regular basis.

The third tripper upper...having my babies home. Now that is something to confess to, huh? And yes, I guess I did just say/type that out loud. The problem is chaos has claimed my home, my sanctuary, my place where I recharge. We are all going in different directions, starting new jobs (Taylor), returning to old jobs (Keri), and trying to decide if we want to keep our jobs (me...just kidding). The fridge is empty and the pantry is not far from it. I guess I don't need to further explain why this is a problem.

BUT! And it is a big BUT! I feel good about where I'm at. No, I have not been perfect and circumstances have certainly not been ideal. BUT, it is OK. Because this is life. This is what it is all about. Learning to roll with it and do what I need to do. So I missed one workout, but I've only missed a handful of workouts in the past 7 months. And none of those misses caused me to lose my focus. They were for good reasons and I have to allow for that. And my diet hasn't even taken that big a hit. I've learned to love McD's salads. If you've gotta go for fast food, make it the best food you can. I've learned to give the vending machine the brush off and I'm taking baby carrots and raspberry vinaigrette dressing for a snack. YUM! My daughter introduced me to Clif bars. Great for a quick breakfast on the go. I've even befriended the candy dish. Made nice. I've realized a couple of mini tootsie rolls and I'm a happy girl. Not perfect, but I was never striving for perfect anyway.

I guess my point is, despite the setbacks and the struggles, I'm making it. And the whole point was to focus on what I'm doing to move forward in a positive way. I could dwell on the slip ups and wallow in what I can't do right now...like cook nutritious dinners...but I choose not to. It is a choice. My choice. For now, it is the choice that works for me.

Now I must share two wonderful awards I received from Melissa. Please take the time to stop by and tell her hello. She is a genuine sweetheart with amazing scrapping talent. I only discovered her blog recently, but I feel like we have become fast friends. The first award is the Lemonade Stand Award. Here are the rules of this award:

Comment on this blog.
Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.
Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.
Link to your nominees within your blog post.
Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.
Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.




The second award she passed on is the Friendship Award. I have to admit, I felt very honored to get this one. I love what it stands for.



The Friends award is described as follows:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

This is the first time I've ever done this. I usually follow rules to the letter. But this time, I have to break a few rules. These awards symbolize something special, especially the Friendship Award. I can't bring myself to narrow it down to 5-10 bloggers. You guys are all so, so special to me. I feel a connection to each and every one of you. So if you will please forgive me breaking the rules, I would love to pass these awards on to anyone who leaves a comment on this post. Snag the award for your blog and forward it as you see fit. I love you guys! You are all WONDERFUL!

My People

A couple of weeks ago, Keith and I made a day trip to Pigeon Forge, TN for a car show. What kind of car show? I dunno! Cars aren't my thing. Ironically, I work at a super-high-end auto restoration shop. A shop where men spend as much as 10 times more on restoring one vehicle than I earn in an entire year. Yeah, that kind of "super-high-end". Keith, being the car buff that he is, drools every time he steps foot in the shop. I joke that he first decided he loved me when he discovered where I work...lol! Don't think that's necessarily true, but it sure didn't hurt. Back to my story. Pigeon Forge is only a reasonable 1-1/2 hours from my house, making it a perfect Saturday adventure. We loaded the car with snacks and two 10-year-old little girls and took off. After meandering through the mountains of Tennessee, battling major traffic and fighting for a parking space we did what we came to do...look at cars! Cars like this...





And this...



And trucks like this...



It's pretty easy to see why this was a guy's real-life fantasy...cars, cars and more cars.

However, I burned out after the first, oh say, 30 minutes. After that it all became a blur. Each car looked the same, well, except some were different colors. So I did what any good wanna-be photographer would do and I turned the camera on the people.

What I saw through my lens that day was entertaining as well as enlightening. To fully appreciate this statement, you must first understand the term "red-neck". You see, Tennessee is a mecca for the stereotypical red-neck. And the car show only serves as a beacon for red-necks far and wide to gather and drool...literally...over these beautimus hunks of metal.
If only I could capture the sounds of that day. Statements like, "D'ya git a load a that thar truck bed? Itz a nice un." (Spelled phonetically for your benefit!) "She-it, tha' uns a good 'un! Purty now ain't it!" "Ooo-eee! Ain't tha' a nice 'un!" "I'd shor' like t'uh git my hands on that 'un!" "How much d'ya think that 'un cost?" "Shor' nuf it'd be a pruty penny!" These phrases reverberated through the air over and over, mingled with the sound of tobacco juice being splattered on the pavement.
Of course, being the country girl that I am, this was nothing new to me. These are my people, people! And a lovely lot they are. While many a joke has been cracked at their expense, nowhere else on earth will you find more genuine, loving folks. They will welcome you with open arms and give you the shirt off their back. That is, if they happen to be wearing one. lol!

When I first began snapping photos, I was doing so with a bit of unintentional maliciousness. Honestly, I was snapping photos for a blog post entitled "Crimes of Fashion...What Not To Wear!"...a funny recounting of a multitude of fashion mishaps. But the sensitive, loyal-to-my-people side of me couldn't quite bring myself to poke fun. Laughter is just not medicine-for-the-soul when it comes at the expense of others. It's way too bitter going down.

The more I clicked away, the more guilty I felt. And then a thought entered my mind. I have a "friend" (quotations used for emphasis that this person wasn't really a friend) that always made a single snide comment about the people living in this area. She constantly asked this question, thinking someone would really answer. Her question was this:"Where are all the pretty people?" She would always ask this with an annoying air of arrogance. Those 6 words were vile to me. My blood would boil and my temper would flare each time she uttered them. But I always bit my tongue. I never said a word. I knew nothing I could say would get through to her. She was literally unable to see inner beauty.

As I mulled this over, I began to visualize a different blog post. The images I wanted to share were those that showed the enormous amount of beauty I witness on a daily basis. The beauty of people who are happy with the simple things. People who are joyous over being with those they love. Simple people, living simple lives, knowing the secret to having it all.

I present to you the pretty people.




The original post included a slide show of these beautiful people. However, the host site no longer exists. I will update with the images soon.

P.S. I had many a laugh that day. Everyone was so open to having their photo taken. But one couple tipped my giggle box. After posing for my photo, the husband turned to his wife and said, "Now I wunder which paper we're gonna be in! We jus' might be famous, huh?"

I thanked them for the photo, smiled a heart-felt smile, then walked away before I chuckled out loud! :)

Then...Now...And A New Beginning

NOW

I have lots to share today. To start things off, I want to share the layouts I completed for a few online challenges. So many of you have inspired me with your submissions to these challenge blogs. Scrapping the Music. One Little Word. Ad This. So Sketchy. These are a few that keep leaping out from your blog posts. Lately, a few have really spoken to me, Scrapping the Music in particular. I've visited the site often and printed the lyrics for my inspiration files to be used at a later date. But this past week's song lyrics to "Secret Valentine" grabbed me. I knew immediately what I wanted to create.

The words "When guilt fills your head, brush off, rise up..." spoke to me on every level. So often guilt has played a major role in my life. And I've worked hard over the years to box it up and put it in its place. I found it only fitting that I create a page using these words. While it is no masterpiece, it is a powerful reminder to me to continue to not let guilt get in the way of what I want to accomplish.

Another challenge that had significant meaning to me was the One Little Word challenge. They are celebrating their second birthday and have chosen the word "two" this time around. Again, I immediately had an idea come to mind. To be honest here, this is a new experience for me....this instant creative vision. At first, I found it a bit scary. Kind of like living in the dark all your life and suddenly being exposed to the light. lol! Picture a caricature of me with a light bulb going off over my head and you will know what I'm talking about.

The word/number "2" conjures up images of the early days with Keith...the days when it felt like just the two of us. But very early in our relationship life threw us a curve ball and the time-for-two became a rare commodity. I had to document my feelings for those special times when it can be "Just the 2 of us".

THEN

I have been tagged! Scrapping Supergirl, Jill, tagged me recently and requested a peek at my first layout. My, oh my, was this a blast from the past! I started scrapping over 10 years ago with Creative Memories. Can anyone say stickers, stickers and more stickers? I'm not sure this is THE first page, but it certainly one of the first. It is the left hand side of a two page spread.



I wanted to include a few more early pages as I couldn't help but notice a few of the "techniques" I used. This was my first attempt at breaking free from the CM style. I remember being so proud of these pages. Look at all the stitching on this one.



Not totally away from the CM era, but starting to see the dawning of a new day. lol!

Can you believe I was doodling borders waaaaayyy before it was all the rage! lol!



I had so much fun flipping through my old albums, vowing with each turn of the page to re-scrap these photos. But you know what, I don't think I will. I am certain I will re-do a few of my most favorite ones, but I think it is so important to look back and see how I've evolved.

A New Beginning

Time to discuss my 30 day wellness challenge. It is definitely time for a new beginning. Time to let go of some baggage and create a new way of living. This is not just a diet/fitness challenge. This is a brand-new life challenge. A way of spreading "wellness" to every area of my life. While a big part will focus on the physical changes I want to make, I plan to devote time to developing a healthy spiritual and emotional life. I've spent this week reflecting and planning, making mental notes of where I am currently. I've taken stock of what comprises my day...what I eat, when I eat it...why I eat it. I've also looked at how I spend my time. What do I accomplish with my time and is it useful...beneficial. Now that I've done this, I want to spend the next few days pinpointing a few changes I can make the first week. And come Monday morning, I will begin to incorporate those changes into my everyday life.

So how about it? Anyone what to join me? I think if we all work together, we can accomplish some great things! My first challenge to you is to spend the next few days thinking about what you want to change. Then I feel it is really important to look at what you are currently doing. Ask yourself what is keeping you from making those changes. It's like those maps on the large directories in the mall. The ones that denote "You Are Here" with a star. They have to show your starting point as a reference. If we don't know where we are starting, how can we know how to get where we are going? One more thing. Be sure to be realistic in the changes you want to make. I am soooo bad about setting grandiose goals only to be sorely disappointed when I fail to meet them. This time around, I'm throwing out the impossible and grabbing onto the possible.

Lastly, this next 30 days is about making positive changes...emphasis on positive. No more dwelling on the negative. I want to focus on the good stuff!