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I Need a Bag Makeover
I see you've been here before, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! I'm in a contest to win a Bag Makeover. I really need this since Chocolate melted in my bag and I haven't been able to replace it. Please vote for me!!! It only takes a second!
As many of you know, my husband was in the hospital twice right after we were married. During the first trip my purse was left in the car, with chocolate in it!
Well when the chocolate melted, it ended up seeping through the seams! YUCK!!!
Pretty much, the thing is ruined! But I do have a chance at redemption!!!
I entered the Bag Makeover Contest by Lill Studios. They are giving away a set of bags, which I could totally rock! So what I’m asking for, is for you to vote for me.
Vote Here
It only takes a second to vote, and you can vote daily. We have a couple weeks to get to the top and then its in the judges hands.
I really appreciate your vote, and yeah I’ll be reminding you!
My First Not Me
I’ve thought about joining Not Me Monday for well over a year now, but Menu Plan Monday always got in the way. Now that I’m posting my menu over at Family Foodies, I can write Not Me Monday! Yippee! This is way more fun anyways…well maybe! lol
I’m going to give you 3 short stories or scenarios, pick which one you think really happened.
1. I didn’t pull my step son’s way too big hand me down shorts way up on his chest this weekend, tie a towel around his neck as a cape and coach him into pretending that he was a super hero (running around with his hand in the air like he was flying.) And no, that step kid did not enjoy it even if he is 9 years old and way too young for capes!
2. After being mad at my husband for several days, I never would have slapped him in the face, only to miss the mosquito that was devouring him.
3. There was no way in the world that I played dress up with the girls on Saturday, put makeup on them and myself so as to look like baby dolls. I would never do that sort of thing, because pink hair is so not me!
So now, tell me what’s true or rather what’s not me!
This and That
Are you ever a grouch, for no apparent reason? I just had one of those moments. I make a small amount of money on this blog, and I had a specific purpose for that money in my account from the last month. Well, the breaks on the Tahoe are going out, and well…we saved about 66% buy ordering the part and using PayPal. Guess what…most over half of my money is gone.
I’m happy that we had the money there, but it was my personal money going toward something that I didn’t want, but something we had to have. Is that lame or what? I was more upset about me not being happy to get my ‘cool purchase’ in the mail, than for my family to be safe. Where are my priorities?! God quickly reminded me.
Today its raining for the first time in a couple weeks, that’s not normal here. It’s feeder bands off of the tropical storm out in the Gulf of Mexico. I will be inspecting for oil on everything when this is all over.
I’m nervous. I think that it will be Wednesday before I find out the answer to a BIG question in the back of my mind. I’m nervous for a lot of reasons. If the answer is yes, I’ll be sharing what the question is all about.
Shall I continue to do Menu Plan Monday? There are a lot of good reasons for me to share my menus, but if I don’t link to Organizing Junkie almost as soon as the post is up, my link is lost and therefore I don’t get nearly as many readers as normal. The problem…its the summer and we sleep in almost daily. Monday morning at 8am is pretty early for someone not used to those hours of operation anymore.
Modesty + Style + Plus Size Fashion
I’ve been thinking a lot about modesty lately. I’m not a really stylish kinda girl, but I’d love to be. The problem with putting the whole outfit together and it being all three things is pretty hard for me. For something to fit and be modest, style doesn’t really shine through for me, or its modest and cute, but it doesn’t fit…you get the picture. Hot, steamy Alabama requires things to be pretty breathable and layers really aren’t a good thing here.
photo credit: Avoir Chaud
As a plus size mama of 3 +2 kids, I know that I’ll never be a skinny girl. I’ve got to find my way to embrace this, and let my true colors shine through. Being curvy has its advantages, especially that my wonderful husband embraces my every curve! 
Now to find a way for me to do the same thing.
Have I rambled enough yet?! ok ok, leave me some comments with your ramblings or thoughts about my ramblings. This and That. you know what I’m talking about!
Please Help!
This weekend my step daughter was in a bit of trouble. She had tattled! I know, its that terrible thing that all kids do when they are young. Tattling is a no-no in our home. It always has been a rule, always will be.
Her dad was pretty angry, and had her sit down at the table with pencil and paper and told her to write “I will not tell on anybody for any reason ever again, so help me God.”
In her defense, it was only said once, and she didn’t have time to write it all down. She asked me to help, and we called her dad back. He got tickled because no one could remember the whole thing, but we finally got it and decided that she had learned her lesson…for today.
An hour later, we sat down to eat, and my husband hands me the paper while he’s giggling like one of our girls.
You may need to open this in a new window and zoom in to read the line she wrote.
It’s Party Time! Blis Giveaway (worth $125)
Thanks for coming, sit a spell and I’ll whip up one of my famous Chocolate Pound Cakes for y’all!
It’s that time again! I totally spaced last year, and missed UBP9. Well I didn’t space, I was working on a new blog and thought it wasn’t a good time to get traffic to one that was about to be obsolete, kwim? Now that I think of it, so much has happened in the last year. I fell in love, got married went from a family of 4 , 1 dog and 1 cat, to a family of 7 with 4 dogs and 1 cat. Warmer weather is coming up, and as long as there are no more injuries, sickies or who knows what else, we will be spending a lot of time at the lake and the river here soon.
You can read more about me under the About page at the top. I will soon have a monthly “column” at Sensational Divas Review and will be blogging a little more at Eat Sweat Lose.
For a few of my most popular articles you can read:
- Top 10 Simple Living Blogs
- Handmade Gift Ideas for Women
- Clutter Free Gift Ideas
- Inside Black Apple – Brownies
- The Summer Head Cold – Tomato Tea
It’s Giveaway Time!
Now on for the giveaway! I know that’s why you are here, that’s ok I still love you. Over the last couple months I’ve talked to the creators of Blis (Best life information system) about doing a review and giveaway. Life, specifically wedding, interrupted. So here we are with a fabulous offer!
I have been searching for an electronic Control Journal/Household Planner for years. Let me tell you, there’s just not anything out there that puts everything together on one page….until now! Blis has it all! I can access it from anywhere, it doesn’t need to be loaded to one computer…I can login from my phone! and there is a print version! How about that!
Just because I think you should know, here are some details:
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- Full Calendar with Day, Week + Month Views
- Email Reminders
- Create, Edit + Save To Do Lists
- Plan + Save Vacation Details
- Plan + Save Party Details
- Easily Link To Websites
- Menu Planning + Grocery Lists
- Electronic Recipe Box Storage
- Track Online Purchases
- List Gifts To Purchase
- Organize Household Contact Information
- List Emergency Information
- Record Home Inventory Room By Room
- Maintain Household Appliance Records
- Record Home Updates + Repair Information
- List Service Provider Information
- List Service Provider Information
- Track Warranty Expirations + Household Safety Checks
- Track Automobile Information + Records
- Organize Account Records
- Organize Medical Records For Each Family Member
- Track Medical Histories
- List Favorite Restaurants, Favorite Websites + Books To Read
- Child Care Worksheets
- Print Labels
- Upload Pertinent Documents, Pictures + Receipts
- Detailed Address Book
- Multi-User Friendly + Remote Access
- Multi-Home Record Keeping Ability
- Import Contacts from Outlook & iAddress Book
- Export Calendar events and contacts to Outlook & iCal
Can you believe that everything is packed into one place? I sure couldn’t, so yep I tried it out. Unlimited to-do lists would allow me to set up all of those holiday routines that I always have to dig up from the pit of despair. What I really love about this system, is that two sisters created it out of need. They are mom’s and needed a way to keep up with work, homes, kids and everything else that comes along with life. These ladies are the best, so professional, yet personable just like Blis.
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The ladies at Blis have offered us here at Polka Spot Farm a certificate for one of our readers to enjoy Blis for 1 whole year! That’s $125.00 value! To win this is what you need to do:
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Comment with your top reason of needing and electronic home planner (1 entry)
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For extra entries you can follow me (by mail, in your reader, Google Friend Connect, Facebook Fan page or Networked Blogs) each one earns 1 additional entry
Giveaway will be closed at Midnight CST on April 16th. I will announce the winner on April 17th.
Be sure to tell your family and friends about the great giveaway too! I hope that I see y’all soon!
**The opinions in this post are 100% my own, I was not paid in any way to write this post**
It snowed!
I learned a new Photoshop trick!
Before
This picture is something I took a couple years ago. I was reading through some photography stuff today and found a new to me trick! Its actions in photoshop! I quickly went and found some free ones to try out and eventually came up with this:
After
You have your resolutions then there’s a turn in the road
Some of us have resolutions, some have goals, some just have dreams. This time of year a lot of us are trying something new, or even something old for yet another time. You get a few days into things and the new has worn off, you get a phone call about a sick kid or you are sick yourself. How can you keep up your exercising when you can’t stop blowing your nose? Your kid needs you, right? No one else is helping with the organization you just finished, so why bother…
Maybe its time to reevaluate.
Just remember that YOU matter. You didn’t make these promises to yourself so that something can get in your way. you bought new running shoes, organized the pantry, planned out the next month for activities for your goal so that you can see a difference. YOU wanted this for you, your family, someone else? Has that changed? I really doubt it.
So get your big girl panties on and stick with it! You can do this!
Re-writing the tapes
We all have an inner monologue where we hear our own thoughts. Some of those thoughts are directed at others, some are general thoughts, but the ones that mean the most are the ones that we direct to ourselves.
When we tell ourselves that we are ugly, fat, unorganized, lazy, undeserving and the numerous other things that play on that tape through our head, we are hurting ourselves. I’ve been thinking about this for a while tonight. Over the years I’ve struggled with my self criticisms. I handled them in all of the wrong ways, and ended up fighting depression a lot longer than I ever should have because of a lot of those nasty things I’d say to myself. Even though I’ve come to terms with a few of those things, there are many things that I still struggle to get deleted from my personal repertoire.
I know that almost every thing on that list, I can change with God’s help. Some of those things make me uniquely me. I’ve committed myself to being a Princess, daughter of the King of Kings. That King designed me to be who I am today,and is shaping me into the woman that I will become tomorrow. Does he want me to call myself names? Why no! Of course he wouldn’t want that for his princess!
Why do we do this to ourselves?! I really can’t answer that in any words other than we are not truly loving ourselves how God wants us to love ourselves.
I challenge you to recognize those negative thoughts, write them down, erase them, then re-record your personal tape with loving thoughts. Will you join me? I have a list written down and will be burning it, then I will write a list of positives to read and re-read daily. Please join me on this activity, as I know that we can all benefit from this at one time or another.
13 Funny things
I need to lighten things up around here so I thought I’d share some really fun things that I’ve seen, heard or done lately. In no particular order here’s 13 funny things for this week:
- My dog Dottie has a new trick. Picture my middle son laying on the couch, shirtless with arms above head. Enter Stage Right: My daughter with a slice of ham and Dottie following, tongue wagging. Kayla tears the ham into small pieces and puts it on Austins bare armpit. With a little cajolling, Dottie gobbles up the ham and Austin is wiggling and squealing with delight. Kayla and myself, howling with laughter as Dottie begs for more! Video will be on YouTube just as soon as they can figure out how to do that.
- The new puppy’s favorite cuddly spot has been found. An old soft sided lunchbox/cooler. I must take pics of this to confirm, but its adorable!
- One of my favorite pick-me-ups would be the website People of Walmart. Yes I’d love to breastfeed my next baby, but isn’t this a little too much?
- I”m thinking of writing an alternate post for my About page like Amy does here on her blog Amy’s Musings. Maybe It will include the part about me talking to and Angel the other day.
- Oh yeah, I talked to a very cool man the other day that I can’t seem to go an hour without thinking about. He’s very “mystical” and could possibly be a hippie/Indian/angel. Um, angel for sure! Amazing guy to say the least.
- I tied my fiance up and tickled him until he wet his pants. Well at least that’s what I really wanted to do, but he’s not ticklish at all. Bummer.
- ElfYourself. Nuff Said. So you Like Hip Hop? Ok, that one was a little silly, how about the singing one instead. Maybe you’d rather see this from that Disco/John Travolta Movie what was that again? Ok if you are up for it, this one is pretty traditional, 40′s on 4 style.
- How we celebrate all of this cold weather down here in the South. Go hang out at the Beach, of course!
#8 The Southern Snowman
- We kinda decorated the inside of the Polka Spot Farm…do you dare check it out? ROFL! I warned you!
- The funniest, I’m gonna start the Couch to 5k Monday, yea! I need some cool running clothes and an over the shoulder bolder holder that will actually keep the boulders in the right place, anyone know where to look? Come Join us!
- I have all of these handmade ideas in my head, fabric bought for them and all and I haven’t even started! Who does that? I’m so crafty, I’ve gotten myself out of everything I planned this year! yay me!
- I’ve officially started my baking for the season. Wait, I keep having to change my recipes because I don’t have butter. What household goes through all kinds of butter without telling the residential chef? And who told the Pastor’s wife that 2 7 year old girls could help me make 6 dozen cookies this weekend? And how do I say no to said 7 year old girls because the Pastor’s wife said it would be ok? Hmm…
- I think my next trick is to paint Santa Scott’s nails in his sleep. I could do anything to him in his sleep and he’d never know it these days. It’s totally hilarious. This morning he told me that I’d made my first mistake, but not in so many words. He was pretending to be mad at me all day, and I pretended to be mad at him. It’s great to be able to yell at someone that you love and they laugh it off, cause they do the same thing to you. I’m burning so many calories laughing til I cry then crying til I laugh these days.
Happy Thursday 13!
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
