Photos Make Me Happy.

***What's a blog without some cool photos? I love seeing into other people's worlds through their blogs and pictures. Come to think about it...it is probably one of the reasons that I LOVE scrapbooking magazines so very, very much. It is a glimpse into lives of others through their pictures and journals all captured in layouts.

This is a photo that I took last weekend when we took the spontaneous trip up in the tower. There were little saying around the tower and this one kind of made me and Shawn say "Hmmmm"

Found this picture on my camera...along with 50 other self portraits. Bailey is really into the 'art' of photography. Some of her pictures reminded me of Elsie Flannigan. Just hip, free, funny kind of snapshots. Although in this particular picture Bai isn't smiling (the world shines when she smiles) she wanted to "capture her eyes". Someone told her that dark eye liner makes her eyes pop. I am not going for the dark eye liner....a little teenager-parent battle. (Stay tuned to see who will win this one, lol)

GRRRR (not a mad grrr, a tiger, look at my hot man and our cutie-patootie offspring kind of grrrr)! Shawn cut down a tree in our yard that had died (yes, Donna the 'drama tree') and of course a man needs to burn when he is destructing, right??? Anyway, I wanted to try and get some cool pictures for Wednesdays@3 and I soooo totally did....can't wait until Wednesday. In the process I captured my Shawn and his little Mini-Me. lol. So cute.
Now onto me....this taken by Bailey today and yes I have a shiny face (I like to call it a glow, but really it is just so stinkin' humid after the rain I am sweltering), and yes my scrap 'studio' is an absolute disaster ares, and yes those are really my man hands, and yes there is one of my happy mugs with ...you guessed it COFFEE! Hey, does ANYONE know how to help me reduce the glare off of my glasses? It is becoming such a pet peeve of mine. Maybe I should just break down and wear my contacts more, huh??

***OK, enough with my pictures. LOL. How about this....has everyone gotten their July/August Simple Scrapbook magazine? OMGoh!!! Just looking at the cover makes me happy and causes a little drool to pool at the corner of my mouth AND it screams SUMMER FUN!!! I can hardly wait to find inspiration through those pages. I am saving it though. Using it as a reward for getting crap done. Talk about self torture! {{{wink}}}

***Weighed in today at Weight Watchers. Down 1.4 more pounds. Yeah, that is good but .... it isn't so much the number for me it is my body. I want to feel good in my skin again, which means exercise. And I am tired of bitchin' about it. I am doing. For me and for Angie because she can't this week. Who's with me??? HECK YEAH WE WILL EXERCISE! chant it with me!! HEALTHY IS BEAUTIFUL. Donna-do, sweetie... I need an exercise-motivational diddy ;)

***One last thing and then I am going to go. Please don't assume things with or about me. I am completely open and if you ask I will tell you. I can be prone to knee-jerk kind of reactions but try not to....if something upsets you or bothers you let me know. If I can/want to I will fix it or clarify it. Don't just go off on a tangent because you have assumed something. K? :)

***Hope you all have a great Thursday! Tomorrow is a work day for me but I can still catch you through emails. HUGS and HAPPINESS. m

My Happy for today: To have found really incredible friends through a little website called scrapbook.com. You girls totally ROCK MY WORLD!! and I am seriously blessed to have found you.

A little of this, a little of that....

(going to go with a 'number list' today, LOL!)

1. Shawn and I were totally ripped off! There is something so totally icky about realizing that you have been screwed big time. And you know, maybe it is our naivety, or inexperience but I call it just plain ol' getting ripped off. Here it is.....Shawn bought me Chris Daughtry tickets to go see him sing in August. He made it a point to pay more for better tickets and spent way more than I would have (maybe....I really, really, did I say REALLY wanna see Chris in concert) so that we could have front row tickets. OK, so I am over the cost because (I may have mentioned this) I really wanted to see Chris D in concert and the tickets were already bought. So here I am totally bursting with happiness....and the tickets arrive.....and the price on the ticket is $27. I was like, "WHAT?" because we didn't pay $27,we payed.....ummmm....more than 27 flippin' dollars!!!!!!!! So Shawn calls the place were we bought the tickets from and they said (like it is a very common thing to do) "Oh, yeah we buy the tickets from ticket master and jack the price up for premium seats (I have 2nd row tickets)...it's called supply and demand." I am shocked. Really. So learn from my lesson if you buy tickets from ticketmart or http://www.ticketalley.com/ beware that there is a very good chance that you may be ripped off. And what I really would like to know is ... am I just flippin' dense and am the only one that didn't know people do this??? To me, this sounds like what I thought ticket scalping was and is illegal. GRRRRRRRR!
2. Last night before bed Mason taped signs that he made all over the house. The signs said "Lost robber worm if found plese return to Mason" and then he drew a picture of the little rubber worm. As he was going up the stairs he found the 'lost' worm in his pile of laundry he was taking up to his room....he said that he had put the worm on his clothes so that he wouldn't lose it. LOL! Where does this boy come up with this stuff? --- His dad, always blame the dad. ;)
3. Bai and Mase are out of school next week and I begin my summer semester. Doesn't that sound about right? Although it really doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot. Two of my classes are online and we will just be thankful for the freedom of summer.
4. Shawn wants to go on the boat this weekend and I think that the forecast calls for rain the rest of the week. He will be pouty.
5. Tomorrow is a weigh in day for me at Weight Watchers. Not feeling like I have moved much. That whole exercise thing is getting me. I need to REALLY get motivated with that. It is what my body craves.
6. Completely ready get our home together to sell. Thankfully I have found motivation for that!!!

OK, I just HAVE to do another quick list...inspired by Leah. She talked about things that she was addicted to in her blog and it got me thinking that ... um.... wowza I have a few addictions of my own. Here are SOME...lol

1. Coffee
2. Scrapbooking/Crafting/Creating
3. Magazines
4. Books (kind of close to the magazines...it is the whole 'reading' thing)
5. Blogs - totally becoming a blog stalker
6. Saying the words 'like' and 'totally'
7. Impulse shopping/buying
8. Email/Internet
9. Reality TV
10. Cub baseball

I am going to stop with 10. What are you addicted to?

See ya...I am off to work on some teacher gifts. Have rockin' HUMP DAY!!!

My Happy for today: It is early in the day, but I am going with Shawn going with me to field day at Mason's school. Totally makes me happy that my children have a father that will (if volunteered) participate in school things like that.

Real Quick

Just wanted to post real quick and say HEEEYY!

Working on a Mini-scrapbook of Bai @ 13. It totally makes me smile and sad at the same time. Dang she is growing into a little lady. I am not ready. :(

Here are a couple of pics from yesterday. Bai went with a friend on an over nighter and the rest of us Moore's went bowling and we found this tower park. We took a spontaneous trip up to the top (250 flippin feet!) and snapped a couple of pictures at the top. It was neat and a little scary. The older I get the more of an issue with heights that I have. Isn't that strange?

I love our kissy-kissy pictures. And I love that he puts up with the kissy-kissy pictures ;)

OK, I might out weight Mason by a few pounds but he got in a couple of good licks too. I thought it was funny that he wanted to bounce me off sooooo bad...hmmmm?! LOL.

That's about it for me tonight. Happiness to you all. m

My Happy for today: Angie coming through her surgery OK and doing well. (I have mentioned the whole 'friend' thing before and I have found a great friend in her!)

Randon List of Today

* It is late. I am sitting here watching the Cub game feeling peaceful. Well, let me tell you, I will REALLY feel peaceful if they can try and maybe, like...WIN a game. That would be nice! It is raining out right now and the air is cool and it smells like fresh spring rain...nice, very nice.

* I have finished a page in a circle journal that I am in. Donna look for that baby to be heading your way. Now I have the rest of the weekend to work on projects for me. And I have a VERY LOOOONG list of things I want to work on.

* Karen at HCC is the first person that actually gave a crap about me as a person and as a student. She touched me today with her incredible kindness. I hope that I will be able to pay that one forward. I am thankful for people like Karen who come into my world.

* Our family is a family of list makers. I have mentioned it before and I know that it will be mentioned again. Along with list making there is also the art of note leaving. For example there was a note left on the bathroom mirror by Bai with a dry erase marker that said "MASON FLUSH THE TOILET!!!" and the next morning underneath that note there was one that said "no!!!!" (we all like our exclamation marks in the Moore family, LOL). I bring this up because these notes crack me up. They are who we are. This is a note that I found this morning after breakfast....

and in case you can't read that very well, here is the paper towel note up close.....

Mason wanted to keep the drinkable yogurt container to make a bug catcher out of it. Still makes me smile.

*This afternoon the wind here was something fierce. Booda was in the window and his ears were flopping like a superman cape wafting in the wind. Those ears entertained Shawn and I. Suuuper-PUG!

*I am reading this book Nineteen Minutes by by Joci Picoult. Amazing and a little disturbing, real-life disturbing. I love her books. She can completely write in a way that grips you. Her words not only paint the picture for you but they leave you saying "YES!!, I know exactly what you mean!". If you have not read one of her books I highly recommend. I haven't read all of them but they are all on my list.

* OK, the Cubs won and I am off to finish my book. Hope you all have had a great day and here's to a Flippin' ROCKIN' FRIDAY! m

My Happy for today: I am going to go with the Cubs winning (yes I am a die hard Cub fan and when they win it totally makes me happy).

Some pictures from today.

Today Bai, Mase and I drove down to my moms to take some pictures for her. It didn't exactly turn out the way that she wanted it to...but then again it never really does. Through it all I did manage to get a couple of good ones.

These adorable children are Bailey (the beautiful 13 year old who didn't really want to pose but did for me because she is the sweetest thing that I know), Isabella Michelle (always have to throw in her middle name because it totally rocks), Mason (my little dandy man), Xavier (cutie patootie cousin), and Noah (have you seen a cuter towhead?)




This absolutely adorable boy is my nephew Cade. He joined us on the photo taking event although we couldn't really get him in on the circle of cousins. Don't you just want to gobble him up? ;)








These two lovely people are the reason for the picture-taking afternoon. This is my mom and my step dad. She wanted pictures of her and Jeff. I wish I knew how to photo shop....I have some pictures that turned out OK - but I know could turn into WOW with the right editing programs. No worries though, because I think my mom will like them. Hope so anyway. ;)

And the puppet master. OK, really and truly I am such a wanna-be. But I have fun with it, I enjoy trying (and trying and trying) to capture those moments that steal your breath or make you smile instantly. Ya know?...I wanna see some of you and your life. I DaaaARrrE you to post some pics that make you smile, pictures that capture your loved ones in the act of LIVING OUT LOUD. --- How about some plain ol' 'this is my life' kind of pictures? I'll be stalking ya..........LOL!

Hugs and happiness to you. m

My Happy for today: Fitting into capri's that I hadn't been able to, getting a few good pictures, making my mom happy, and making a friend laugh.

I hung on....

Yep, sometimes that is what it is about....just hanging on. Knowing that that the sun will shine. Knowing that as bad as it may seem, it almost ALWAYS gets better. I was able to address a very heavy issue in my marriage, own my part in the matter, forgive (still working on this part-I am not so good at this), learn from mistakes, grow together, work together on making it better, and move on.

I am sorry for the heavy blog yesterday....it was my vent. It was my record that there are days like that. I must remind myself that I am in charge of my life. I am the one who decides how I am going to live it. It is my choice to fix what is wrong in my life and to hold on to happy! Seriously, I CHOOSE to hold onto the happiness in my life. One of the circles of life is, you have to have the bad in order to know how sweet the good is.

I must take a second to say thank you for all of the words of encouragement. Something I must work harder at doing is supporting others because I am better for your support.

Donna...your little diddy's make me smile ear to flippin' ear! I want you to start a mini book for me with them in there. That way I can put it in my studio and refer to them on "those days".

My Happy(s) for today: Good support, open minds, Diet Vanilla Pepsi (THANK YOU MIKEY), sunshine, the internet, and for the circles of life.

Tripping on the 'unhappy' of life

It is one of those day. Kind of continued from an icky weekend. The kind of day in which you have to try REALLY hard to find anything happy. The kind of day that isn't really all that bad until you get 'that phone call', or stumble across a lie, or find unwanted information. The kind of day you want to curl up and say 'I give'. I am submersed, today, in the 'unhappy' of life. I feel alone. I feel broken. I want to yell and scream and cuss with full on f-bombs. I do not want to be a parent and I do not want to be responsible. I want to run away from life. But I know that I cannot. So I will go along with the day. I will look for something happy...there HAS got to be something, right?? I need the effen big fat red easy button!

We all have these kind of days or weeks. I know that it does get better but right now I feel icky. I needed to vent. I need to hold onto happy because it would be easy for me to trip and fall in to the unhappy.

My Happy for today: (A very tough one to find today, but when I did...it brought the smile to my face that I needed, however brief) At school today Mason made a picture for me that said "Love You MOM" and the picture was one of an ambulance...just for me. Sweet, sweet boy.

Tired Feet and Sore Rumps...

A short little blog tonight....because my feet hurt, I am tired and my rump is sore. I know you are asking "why is her rump sore and WHY would she blog about it??" LUNGES baby! Yesterday, in keeping with this 'getting healthy again' theme, I went for a power walk and threw in some lunges. YEOOOW! I must of had great form because ouch. But you know what? I have the motivation I had been lacking to get my body in shape. Let's just hope it lasts. {{WINK}}

My Happy for today: Shawn, Bailey, and Mason coming in to town to have lunch with me.

Brand Spanking New...again

So here I am. A brand spanking new blog. I have a blog at sb.com, but I am craving more. Before I started my little blog at sb.com I had tossed around the idea of doing a blog and had looked into it but was sidetracked with other things. But I am moving on and here I am...HOLDING ONTO HAPPY.

Some things to say to myself and to anyone who may read this blog....this is MY blog. I have the right to change my mind, to say how I may feel, to rage in anger, and to sing with happiness. My opinions are just that - MINE. I will not hold it against anyone if your opinion is different and I encourage you to make my world bigger with your take on life.

My Happy for today: (I have two that popped into my head) Finding a blog title that made me smile, and going for a walk with Bai and Mase on a GORGEOUS day.