161. Hubby who doesn’t mind “cooking” dinner when I don’t feel like it (even if it was just frozen pizza)

162. Hubby who fixes me chocolate milk to have with previously mentioned pizza

163. Text messages from sisters just to say “I love you”

164. That my brother lives close enough that I get to attend and sing with him at church

165. Monthly Planners

166. Monthly planners that are gifted from a friend who shares my love for the “perfect” planner

167. Game Apps on my phone

168. Tylenol

169. Polish to paint my piggy’s

170. Cupcakes

171. Insurance

172. Space heaters

173. Email

174. CDs

175. Cars with CD players

176. Capri Pants that I can wear to work (even if it’s crazy that I’m wearing Capri’s on November 24)

143. Candles

144. Scented Spray

145. People who like their job

146. Milk

147. Showers … not just baths

148. Bubble Baths

149. Warm water

150. MEMORIES

151. Kemper Academy

152. East Mississippi Community College

153. Delta State University

154. Facebook

155. Scripture

156. Scripture that speaks to my heart

157. Magazines

158. Flowers

159. Butterflies

160. Blogspot

113. Full moons

114. Clear sky

115. Full moons and clear skies together

116. Full moons and clear skies together out in the country so you can really enjoy the twinkling stars

117. Highways

118. The radio

119. CDs

120. BGF

121. Puppys

122. Dinner dates

123. Thanksgiving

124. Christmas

125. Movie theaters

126. Good movies

127. Good movies shared with hubby and nieces

128. Church

129. Sunday

130. Worship

131. Freedom to worship

132. Chicken Pot Pie cooked by MIL

133. Anything cooked by MIL

134. Hugs from MIL (or any family, for that matter)

135. Congratulation wishes

136. Milk

137. Milk with Chocolate

138. Milk with cookies

139. The butterfly in my stomach when I see my hubby after being apart for a few days

140. Kisses from hubby

141. Hugs from hubby

142. New beginnings

Just Married ... Happily Ever After

98. a "Happily Ever After" ending
99. Disney's Photopass Program (because they took the below pictures)
100. Magic Kingdom

101. Animal Kingdom

102. Epcot

 103. Hollywood Studios

104. Honeymoons

105. Happy Honeymoons

106. Honeymoons that continue once home

107. Breakfast on dear hubby's day off (he gets up to cook breakfast even though its his day off!)

108. Eggs

109. Toast

110. Chocolate Milk (yep, those 3 things were breakfast this am...if you were wondering)

111. Lunches with dear hubby on his day off

112. days off (although they are few and far between for me)

82. candy corn

83. candy corn pumpkins

84. ice cream

85. post it notes

86. mail

87. transportation

88. KLOVE

89. space heaters

90. air freshener

91. air freshener that can drown out dead-rat smell

92. closets full of clothes in several sizes

93. zip drives

94. dress pants

95. the freedom that business women can wear dress pants

96. freedom

97. veterans

63. hearing excitement in a parent’s voice

64. knowing that a parent is proud

65. sisters who make you feel better

66. friends who know just what to say at just the right time

67. my healthy heart

68. people who are willing to donate organs

69. knowing that I am a person willing to donate organs

70. knowing that one day I might help someone because of my willingness to donate organs

71. seeing God provide for someone in need

72. seeing others give God glory for those provisions

73. the privilege of rejoicing when seeing God provide for someone in need

74. cell phones

75. positive reviews of my work

76. friends mama’s who love me like there own

77. exciting news

78. sharing exciting news

79. rejoicing in the blessing of the exciting news

80. God’s provisions

81. Hershey’s

26. vanilla creme cookies

27. vanilla creme cookies in my desk drawer

28. vanilla creme cookies in my desk drawer shared with a coworker during a break!

29. Crystal Light

30. knock-off Crystal Light

31. prayers from friends

32. shared excitement with friends

33. home

34. a paycheck

35. pictures of my goddaughter in my work office

36. any/all pictures

37. pictures from my honeymoon

38. pictures from my wedding

39. my butterfly coffee mug at work

40. reading a sister’s prayer for me

41. missed phone calls from a sister

42. zip lock bags

43. peppermints

44. coffee w/ vanilla creamer

45. phone call from my Texas friend

46. Mississippi State (just because it puts a smile on Jeremy’s face)

47. my BGF

48. the possibility that I might get to visit with my BGF in a few days

49. hugs

50. smiles

51. lunch with Jennifer

52. dinner time

53. Jeremy being off on Thursday (wonder how much of the honey-dos got done?!)

54. water bottles

55. fine tip good writing pens

56. KLOVE

57. Third Day

58. music

59. roadtrips (I need one!)

60. iphone

61. iphone apps

Pet Peeve

I have a pet peeve.

I know that surprises you, right?

Halloween décor and goods go up in mass market retailers sometime in August. Directly following October 31, Christmas décor replaces the aisles where goblins and ghouls and pumpkins once sat.

That makes my heart sad.

We completely skip Thanksgiving. It’s like a step child … one that is pushed to an end aisle display, unable to take center stage. Now, I know Thanksgiving isn’t as “big” of a holiday as Halloween or Christmas, but should it be?

So, that’s my pet peeve. I challenge you to not forget about Thanksgiving!

Be Thankful! It does a heart good!

I am thankful for: (wonder how many things I can document before Thanksgiving???)

1. God

2. Grace

3. Mercy

4. Love

5. My beloved

6. My sweet mom – Joyce

7-8. Jeremy’s sweet parents – James and Betty

9-18. Our brothers/sisters and their husband/wife: Carol & DW, Emily, Beth, John & Jennette, Mary & Haley, Karen & Jim

19-23. Jeremy’s nieces: Lexie, Lindsay, Mary-Hamel, Mackenzie, Jamie

24. Bible

25. Our precious pup – Leland

my beloved

I am my beloveds. My beloved is mine. Song of Solomon 6:3

Lost in this moment with you

I am completely consumed

My feelings so absolute there’s no doubt

Sealing our love with a kiss

Waited my whole life for this

Watching all my dreams come true

Lost in this moment with you

I have been reflecting today over what happened a month ago … today marks mine and Jeremy’s one month anniversary. We made it. 3 cheers! Now, a LIFETIME to go! That’s so exciting. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us.

Over the past month, these are some things I have been thankful for:  

·         Taking chances. Why? I took a chance and it paid high dividends. My hubby is the result.

·         Our families. Why? We are blessed. That’s all I need to say.

·         Disney. Why? We had the best time on our honeymoon.

·         Our jobs. Why? Because we were able to pay for Disney.

·         Airplanes. Why? I just couldn’t imagine having to drive home from Orlando.

·         Chocolate. Why? Always. Thankful. For. Chocolate.

·         My mama teaching me to cook. Why? My man likes to eat.

·         Macaroni and hotdogs. Why? While they might not be the healthiest thing for you, I know I can always cook macaroni and hotdogs, and Jeremy will have a smile on his face and in his belly.

·         A closet full of clothes and multiple uniforms. Why? Laundry?! Ugh!  

·         Blanket(s). Why? Jeremy likes it cold. He also hogs the cover.

·         A King Bed. Why? There’s enough room for us and Leland.

·         Snack-size ziplock bags. Why? One serving of cheese nips look like a lot in that little bag.

·         Friends. Why? Facebook messages, texts, and phone calls brighten my day. Pictures make me smile. Home-cooked meatballs make me smile. Support and prayers warm my heart.

And, of course, I am thankful for my beloved. Why? Because he kills spiders for me. Because he takes out the trash. Because he puts a smile on my face. Because he always hugs me when he or I arrive home. Because he lets me run inside when it’s raining and he carries in the groceries. Because he tells me I’m beautiful. Because he wants what is best for us. Because he has Christ in his heart. Because he is the man over my household. Because he prays. Because he loves me.

Yes … I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine. I kinda like it that way.

Character Meets

Did you know - positioned throughout the parks Disney has designated areas, events, and restaurants where you can meet characters??? This was my 3rd trip to the world. My first trip I didn't know this little tid-bit of information. I remember seeing a few characters at the front gate or entrance to the parks, but other than that I had no clue you could meet characters, unless of course you "happen" to run into them. My second trip, in 2006, I actually "ran into" a few characters, as described in the last sentence. I remember seeing Chip, Dale and Pluto at the entrance to Animal Kingdom one morning, we met Goofy on Mainstreet in Magic Kingdom, and I got to meet Piglet right underneath the hat at MGM (currently known as Hollywood Studios. I can’t find the picture of Piglet, but here are the others. That my sister with me and Goofy and my BGF with me and Pluto.

Back in 2008 when I was fortunate to venture to Disneyland, I made reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen (I think that’s what it’s called). It is a buffet meal where characters come around and greet you while you eat. Sadly, I also can’t find these pictures, but I’ll go on a hunt for them now and maybe I’ll find them.

So this trip, I was armed with this knowledge. I always had one eye open and searching. I didn’t want “meeting characters” to be a huge part of the trip, but I certainly wanted to take advantage of any opportunity possible. And, we also made a breakfast reservation for 1900 Park Fare so I could meet Mary Poppins!! (Little did I know I would also meet her with Mr. Penguin later in the trip.)

So, without further ado, here is the picture tour of all the characters we met while on our honeymoon … hope you enjoy!

At 1900 Park Fare we met Alice, the Mad Hatter, Pooh, Tigger, and Mary Poppins:

Did you notice how the pictures got blurry? Jeremy's are pretty clear, but the ones of me ... My dear hubby ... he's got mad photography skills. I started noticing the blurry, and told him he needed to figure out what the problem was before Mary Poppins got to our table! As it turns out what fixed it was for him to plant his elbows on the table while taking the picture. Thank you, dear hubby, for that good picture of me and Mary! :)

We met these 2 characters at the entrance to Epcot:

   

    

  
We happen to stumble upon this Princess near Germany in the World Showcase: 

On our last day in the parks we scored pics with all these characters in Hollywood Studios. I was there for the animation class that is taught. Jeremy was going to sit through it with me one more time – I had already done it twice. While we were waiting in the queue for the class, in walked Mr Incredible and Mr Freeze. Jeremy got excited and wanted to go meet them. There wasn’t a line, so off we went … By the way, they made us pose like that! lol!

Hehe. That one's funny ... we soon realized that characters were coming and going all around us. We finally asked a cast member and they told us that the characters rotate roughly every 30 minutes – so we had fun meeting characters for a little over an hour!

  

And, the best part was that Mickey rotated in while we were standing around, so we finally got to meet the mouse! I was worried we were going to miss him this trip! ;)  Here he is ... the one, the only, Mickey Mouse!