Lent Time

So, its that time of the year again. When I try and decide what I am going to give up for Lent. Every year I try something and never seem to succeed. This year I want to try and remember when I have those cravings what it was like for Jesus when He suffered on the Cross for ME. I am going to give up CAFFEINE and TAKE up walking in the mornings before work and spending that time with God. Not only will this make me feel better about myself, but it will bring me closer to God. So tell me, what are you giving up or taking up? I am interested to see what everyone is going to be doing!!

On another note, Jon and I are doing some MAJOR redecorating at our house. We had toyed with the idea of buying our own home, but after talking with my dad he thinks we are just best to stay where we are for a while. Our house is cute, it just needs some major work! While obviously we can't do it all at once, it will happen! I've got to learn to be patient! This weekend we are starting out by painting our den. We are painting it Olive Green. We have so many brown accents in our den I thought it would look great for our den. I will post pictures as soon as it gets done!

Ok, time for the Real Housewives Reunion special! :)

Have a great week!

All about MR. Cullen!

So I saw this on a friends blog and decided to steal it!
Let's focus on someone else-our husbands! Here is a list of 25 random facts about my husband, Jon...(this wasn't as easy as it seems either!)

1) He is a closet Bama fan! RTR!
2) He could play Xbox into the wee hours of the night if he had the chance..which he does every now and then!
3) He wears a either an AKL or Auburn T-Shirt almost every single day!
4) He has to get a hair cut every 2 weeks because his hair grows like a weed!
5) He HATES pickles! He only ate one for me one time because I said "If you love me you will eat this pickle!" and he did! HAHA
6)He would eat anything I put in front of him..as long as it doesn't have pickles!
7) He's an Apple Geek!
8) He is one of the biggest smart asses I've ever met, but he keeps me on my toes!
9) I don't think there is anyone that SNORES as loud as he does!
10) He sings the song "You are so beautiful" to me EVERY single day..thats why we chose it for our first dance!
11) He is a software engineer and does all that computer programming stuff I don't know how to do!
12) His favorite kinds of candy are: M&Ms and Hershey Kisses!
13) He is EXTREMELY cheap and it sometimes gets on my nerves!
14) He has the nastiest,smelliest, most disgusting feet EVER!
15) He is about to be converted into a Methodist! (Now just to get him to be a Bama Fan and Republican..haha!)
16) He loves Crosswords and Word Searches
17) He once stole a slinky from the Toys for Tots bin and didn't have a Christmas that year!
18) He ALMOST always has a smile on his face!
19) He goes on a man weekend every few months with his original roomies from college.
20) He loves to watch the Bachleor with me on Monday nights!
21) He loves James Bond movies!
22) He has the ability to make me smile NO matter what.
23) He says he knew he loved me on our first date! :)
24) He spent many summers at Camp Mac.
25) He has incredible faith and I am so happy we share the same beliefs!

Here are some pictures Jons aunt posted on his birthday! Wasn't he a cute TOT?

Here is Jon at Disney on our wonderful Honeymoon!

So there you have it folks. Theres my hubby in 25 random facts! :) He is seriously, the BEST husband I could have ever asked for. I feel extremely blessed to have him in my life. I think it is so funny that we met on a blind date my senior year of high school and ended up hubby and wife 5 1/2 years later. These past 6 years with him have been the best of my life. I can't wait until we have a family of our own because I know he will be the best daddy. (Besides mine of course!)
Ok, enough of the sappiness!
Blessings and Peace,

the flu..

So after I updated last night I got even worse! I went to bed around 9:30 and woken up at like 10:30 by feeling incredibly nauseated. I took some meds, drank some water, and went back to bed. At 2:30 am I began getting the chills really bad. I had 5 blankets, a heated blanket (ON HIGH), and the comforter all on me and STILL couldn't get warm. :( One word for that: MISERABLE.
After a long time of tossing and turning I was finally able to go back to sleep. I had pretty much decided then that there was NO way I should be going to work. I got up when my alarm went off this morning and began aching and having a horrible head ache. I decided to go take a HOT bath. It got me warm, but as soon as I got out I was having the chills again! :(
I was lucky enough to be online when my boss was, so I just told her then that I wouldn't be coming into work. She told me her daughter also had it. It definitely going around Auburn right now!
I think now I may go and take a nap. I am starting to feel achy and tired. :( Thank goodness for the heated blanket mom gave me for Christmas! If I didn't have this I would be up the creek.

Anyway, have a great weekend. And watch out for the flu....

Blessings and Peace,

Meh...

So, its been a pretty boring week around here. Nothing exciting has happened! Work has been crazy. The kids are a little restless because it has rained so we have not been able to go outside. I don't blame them, I go crazy being in the same room all day too!

I haven't been feeling well since tuesday. I was doing SO good not to have gotten sick in a while! Its all because MOM had just been saying the same thing last week. BLAH! THANKS MOM! Just kidding!! It started with a cough at night then moved into a runny nose. Tonight when I got home from work I began to feel nauseated and achy. (AND NO IM NOT PREGGERS EITHER! So don't even go there-HAHAHA!) I hope and PRAY that I don't have the starting symptoms of the flu. Its the last thing that I need! :( At least the weekend is almost here and I can REST all weekend. Jon was so sweet tonight. He went to Kroger and got me "oyster" crackers and a coke. The only thing that sounded good to me. Jon is the sweetest thing when it comes to making sure I'm well. He's amazing and I thank God that I was blessed with such an amazing hubby. (Thank you, Jon for all you do for me!)

Oh a lighter note my mom has started a shop on Etsy. She is making cards and tags. You've got to check out her store. Her first day on she sold 6 items! I am so proud of her and didn't except anything less! Here is the link to her store: (Be sure and check it out!)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6934651&ga_search_query=sweetsouthernbelle&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Well, I guess that's it. Its been a little boring around here lately!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings and Peace,

Cornerstone 101

Today was an amazing day. It started off with Jon and I going to church at Cornerstone. If you haven't heard, I am in love with this church. I love the feeling of wanting to go to church. The music today was amazing. It was such a worshipful service and I left feeling fed. I don't think there's ever been a time I've left Cornerstone not feeling that way. But, today was just something special.
After church Jon and I went and ate at Subway for lunch. I don't think it was a considence that the Co-Pastor and his family were eating there as well. :)
We went home for a few hours and then it was time to go back to Cornerstone for Cornerstone 101 where we learned all about the church. It is a class that you take before you join the church. It was really neat to hear the Pastors stories and all about how Cornerstone came about. They started off meeting in a SKATING RINK for 5 years before moving into the building they are in now. On their first sunday they had over 200 Visitors! UNREAL! (Now attendance is between 750-1100 for 2 services)
When we got to the class I was a little intimated. There were a LOT of people there and I felt a little lost. I am use to Riverchase where I know a lot of people! After warming up a bit I met a bunch of great people. One girl and her husband I recongized from RUMC! (SMALL WORLD!) It was nice to see a fimilar face!
After learning about the church they told us about some opprotunites they had going on. One of which is Small Groups. If you are a dedicated reader, then you know one of my New Years Resoultions was to join a Small Group. I looked over the Small Group list and found a few that looked intresting to me. I really wanted to do a couples one with Jon so that we could get to know some new people! He agreed! We talked to a girl afterwards and are going to start one next week!
I left tonight almost in tears. Tears of joy. It felt SO right. Everything just fell into place. I couldn't be happier right now. I think Jon is pretty excited about everything as well! :)
I have to thank our dear friends Chris and Becca for introducing us to Cornerstone. I don't think it was a fluke that we just went with them one sunday. I know that God has us there for a reason.
SO, THANKS CHRIS AND BECCA! :)

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a BLESSED week.

Blessings and Love,

Happy Birthday, Jon!!

So, yesterday was Jon's 25th Birthday! :) I took off half a day at work so that I could get a few last things for his birthday and to make sure I could have dinner pretty much ready for when he got off work! :)

I made Jon's most favorite meal ever...CHICKEN PARMIGIANA! I cheated and went to Olive Garden and got the Salad, Bread Sticks, and Tiramisu!
I figured that instead of getting Jon a birthday cake he would rather have the tiramisu! I also made some chocolate dipped strawberries and they were yummy!
We had a nice candlelight dinner. Talked about the night we met which was 6 years ago yesterday! It's hard to believe that I met my hubby on a blind date to a silly high school dance!
After dinner he got to open up his gifts! Jon is the HARDEST person in the world to buy a gift for. I was STUMPED on what I should get him!
Mom MADE him the coolest thing ever. (see pics below!)
She got 3 jars that had money in them. On each jar there was a different die cut. 1 was a house, 1 was a heart with cross, and 1 was a crown. The idea behind the jars is for us to save money for 1 whole year and NOT touch the money (except the heart with cross jar!) and see how much we have saved over a year. The heart with cross is obviously for our tithing jar. We are suppose to save and when we feel led we are suppose to tithe that money. The one with the house is for our house fund. We want to buy a house in 2 years (our goal at least) and we want to have a nice down payment. This way we will have a good down payment! And the one with the Crown is for him to buy himself something he wants! I thought this idea was GREAT. I guess the hard part will be not touching the money for a whole year! Thanks, Mom! :)

Mom also gave Jon a new auburn hat! His was SO gross! He was excited to get a new one!
(picture is kinda blurry!)

I got him another big picture frame that has the writing on them. I am OBSESSED with those frames! I found my first one at Cotton Tails last year and have been obsessed with them ever since! (I actually got my parents one for a "thank you" gift for giving us an amazing wedding!) The one I got Jon says "If you love something, let it go. If it comes back it always yours. If it doesn't it was never yours to begin with!" It has kinda always been a saying of ours. So, when I saw the frame I knew I had to get it for his birthday!
I also got him a pair of Auburn shorts, a new pair of jeans, and new shirt!
(Picture is REALLY blurry! Ah well, you get the picture!)

I hope he had a Happy Birthday! I remember telling him last year "This time next year we will be MARRIED!" It seemed so FAR off then, but WOW the time certainly flew by!
We are going to a movie EARLY this afternoon! Jon is taking me to go see "Confessions of a Shopaholic!" I am excited. I have read the books and feel like I relate to her pretty well. HA. He is so sweet to take me to a GIRLY movie on Valentines. Valentines Day 6 years ago we went and saw Daredevil. I remember we found the last 2 seats together in that movie theater! It was crazy! So, I am glad to be going EARLY! Maybe we can beat the crowd! :)
I hope you all have a great Valentines Day! Every year since I can remember my daddy has given me a Valentine Card. I am anxiously awaiting for the mail to come so I can see if he sent me one! I told him that even though I was married I still wanted one from him! Something I always look forward to on Valentines! :)

Blessings and LOVE,

So its definitely been awhile since I've update! (Sorry Mrs.Konie!)
I am have SUPER busy at work. I am LOVING where I work. Its just a great place all the way around. (And it helps my kids are good!) It took me a couple of weeks to get use to things, but once I did, I really started enjoying work. :)

This week I have been taking "welcome to child care" classes and have really learned a lot. I learned all about safety, behaviors, and my favorite homemade toys! :) They had a LOT of great advice for us and I will definitely be taking it and using it! :)

Jon and I went to Birmingham for the weekend and it was so fun. I have been sleeping on Mrs.Konies mattress that was HERS in HIGH SCHOOL for about 12 years now! I have complained to my parents at least 1 time per week for the last 12 years about how AWFUL it is. Literally is dips in the middle and has a spring poking out of it! So, when we went back home for the holidays Jon confirmed to my dad that it was in fact time for a new mattress. SO, guess what?!?!?!?! Dad listened to Jon and went and baught us one last weekend!!!!!!! I laughed at the fact that all Jon had to say was it was bad and here I have complained for the last 12 or so years about how bad it was!! But, the new mattress is great and I am glad to have a new one for when we go back!

Jon is going on another "man weekend" this weekend! He is going to Pinhoti Trail in Talladega. He and his guy friends are going to try and do a monthly "man weekend!" I couldn't think of any thing worse that camping in 15 degree weather, no shower, and yucky food. YUCK. NOT me! :)
Jon is going to drop me off in Birmingham on his way to Talladega. Dads birthday is on friday, so it works out perfectly!

So, I am going to get on my soap box for a bit. FACEBOOK. I use to LOVE Facebook, but now I am to the point that I am almost OVER it. I use to love it because it reconnected me with friends from high school who I hadn't talked to in a few years. It was ORIGINALLY designed for college students. Which is why I loved it. But, now EVERYONE and ANYONE can get on it. No, I am not mad that my mom is on it! I actually love having her on it! I can't stand the fact that I have people who are almost "facebook stalkers" constantly reading what I write and analyze it and THINK I am talking about them. VERY annoying to me! Sorry theres my soap box for the day!

Jons birthday is on the 13th and I am TOTALLY out of ideas of what to get him! If you have any suggestions then PLEASE leave a comment and let me know! His birthday also marks the date of our "6 year anniverary" of dating. Its CRAZY that its been 6 years! It some ways it seems like JUST yesterday and in some ways I can't remember life without Jon in it!

Well, I guess I better run and throw some clothes in the wash!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings and Peace,