Sunday Funnies

Now it's time to link up with Kara for the Sunday Funnies.  This is my first time doing this link-up so I'm a little excited ;) 

Source: someecards.com via Jackie on Pinterest

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Source: Uploaded by user via Jackie on Pinterest

Sunday Social - Week 3

Linking up with Neely and Ashley again for week 3 of the Sunday Social.  I look forward to filling these out each week :) 

1.  What is your all-time favorite song?

Just like with movies, this is a hard choice for me to make.  There are some great songs out there.  A couple of my current faves are "Uprising" by Muse and "Grenade" by Bruno Mars.

2.  Who is your favorite singer/band?

Again, I have so many favorites.  My top favorites are Muse, James Durbin, Phil Phillips (can't wait for his album to come out!), Lifehouse, Paramore



3.  What is your theme song/song that best describes your life? 

I think Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" is pretty appropriate. 





4.  What songs put you in a good mood?

These are always sure to put a smile on my face and get me dancing. 





5.  What is your favorite road trip music? 

I usually just go through the radio stations until we find a catchy song or listen to whatever CD's we have in the car at the time.



6.  What song are you embarrassed to admit you love?

Friday's Letters



Dear birthday, thank you for being wonderful this year and not absolutely sucking like you did last year.  Much appreciated! 

Dear Abby and Joanne, thank you for celebrating my birthday with me.  Couldn't have asked for better company.

Dear Chris and Logan, thank you for being sooo excited about my birthday, singing to me, and being super excited about eating my cake ;) 

Dear bills, you suck!  Go away. 

Dear summer heat, can't you back off just a little bit?  It's a little too much too soon, don't you think?  :P






Have a great weekend everyone!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Two blogs in one day?  I'm on a roll. 


*  I'm loving that tomorrow is my birthday!  Last year was hands down the WORST birthday I've ever had in my life, so I'm really hoping that this one is better ;) 

*  I'm loving that tomorrow night I am having dinner with a group of my friends to celebrate my birthday.  It's always great to have a girls night!  Chilis, here we come!

*  I'm loving that I am getting better about writing in my blog.  I would go months at a time without writing but these past few weeks I've really kicked it into gear. 

*  I'm loving finding new blogs to read.  Like I need anything else to keep me on the computer ;) 

*  I'm loving that Monday night we took the boys to a magic show at our local library.  They absolutely loved it and the guy was AWESOME.  At the end of the show he made a balloon for every child.  There was easily around 100 or more kids there but he was so fast at making them it still didn't take very long in line.  The guy also does birthday parties so I'm considering using him for Chris' birthday in October. 

*  I'm loving that tonight I am going to a cook-out at one of my best friend's houses.  A small group of us are getting together to celebrate the husband's for Father's Day.  Sadly, mine won't be able to make it since he has to work tonight, but I'll help celebrate everyone elses :)   Plus, it'll be fun to get together with the girls and let the kids play. 

Oh, How Pinteresting

Today I'm linking up for Oh, How Pinteresting.  It's my first time so I'm a little excited ;)

Source: 9gag.com via Jackie on Pinterest

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Source: Uploaded by user via Jackie on Pinterest

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Seven Years

(back row from L-R:  Eric's grandmother Faye, his mother Debi, his sister Amanda, me, Eric, his father Larry, and his sister-in-law Christi)

(front row from L-R:  his nephew Chad, niece Hayley, and nephew Gabriel)

June 18, 2005

Yesterday was mine and Eric's 7 year anniversary.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that it is a miracle that we've lasted this long.  We have struggled with one issue or another pretty much since day one. 

Anyway, "in honor"of our anniversary I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you all who don't know me (or do know me IRL and just don't know the story) about our wedding day (and the days leading up to it). 

Eric's family made it clear from the start that they weren't going to help pay for anything for the wedding.  My parents were struggling financially and were not able to help, so Eric and I ended up having to pay for it ourselves.  I went to a used dress store and bought my wedding dress and veil.  I went to Wal-Mart and bought light blue and white (the colors I wanted) wedding decorations and a fake flower bouquet for myself and my maid-of-honor.  I went out and bought a new pair of shoes that would go with my dress.  That was the extent of my wedding shopping.  Why?  Because I was between jobs and Eric was low-level management at McDonald's, so that's all we could afford. 

Almost every decision about the wedding was made by Eric's family, or more specifically, his mother.  She ruled over *everything*.  The few decisions Eric and I made were still influenced by her.  Looking back, I really wish things had been different.  Mine and Eric's relationship was still fairly new when we decided to get married.  I was very young and honestly a little intimidated by his family.  I had witnessed some of the "temper tantrums" that they threw when they didn't get their way with things so I let them boss me around just to avoid confrontation.  That should have been my first warning sign to just run away and never look back.  I held on though because I loved Eric so much.

It was decided that Eric's brother would be his best man.  No big deal.  That was fine with me.  But then it was decided that his sister would be my maid-of-honor.  Not my best friend.  Not any of my friends.  But my soon-to-be sister in law who had never really been all that nice to me.  Great. 

We had to get married at the church Eric's family was members of at the time.  We went through the required marriage counseling.  Then we chose a date and time for the wedding. 

Fast forward.

At the rehersal dinner the night before our wedding, Eric's mother was acting particularly "crazy".  She was seriously freaking out because the tables in the fellowship hall were not lined up the way that she thought they should be along with a bunch of other things.  She completely ruined the entire evening.  I never did get an apology. 

We invited a lot of people but not very many actually showed up.  It was Eric's family, his grandmother and cousin from Alabama, a couple people from the church, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, and two of my friends. 

After the wedding was over, we had to stay behind and clean up the fellowship hall because the church was having a Father's Day breakfast the next morning.  I don't mean "we" as in everybody, I mean "we" as in me and Eric.  Yeah.  No help from his family at all.  Thankfully my parents and friends stayed to help. 

You would think after that we'd get to leave for our honeymoon, right?  Wrong.  We had to stay because our honeymoon was going to be driving his grandmother and cousin back down to Alabama the next day.  Yep, you read it right.  It didn't matter that we barely had the money to pay for the few small things we had at our wedding.  We had to pay for gas to drive down to Alabama and back AGAIN.  Again, you ask?  Yes.  His grandmother and cousin didn't drive up here (we live in NC for those that don't know) for our wedding.  We drove down there to get them and bring them up here.  So once AGAIN we were paying for gas to go to Alabama and back.  Because a low-level manager at McDonald's with a wife that has no job has a ton of money, right?  Yeah. 

I'd like to say that things have gotten better over the years, but they haven't.  At least not by much.  We did finally end up cutting all ties with Eric's family.  The relationship with them was toxic at best and it was just time for it to end.  I had hoped things would get better after that.  I don't know if it's because so much damage had already been done by his family or what, but we're still fighting to put the pieces together.  We've been hit with stress from job situations, a separation (we separated for 2 months in 2009), trust issues and many, many other things. 

We're still trying though.  We haven't given up yet. 

Sunday Social, Week 2

1.  What is your favorite movie of all time?

It is a close tie between How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and While You Were Sleeping.  Actually, I'd also throw in My Best Friend's Wedding.  I love them all!  It's so hard to choose.  I think I'll move on to the next question now because as I'm typing I'm thinking of more movies that could be my "favorite".  :D

2.  Favorite Movie Quote

I love just about all of the lines from Mean Girls.  I especially like Damian's "I WANT MY PINK SHIRT BACK!" and Gretchen's "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me....but I can't help it that I'm popular."  :)

3.  Best movie to watch for a girl's night in? 

I'd say any of the Twilight movies, especially with my group of friends ;)  Anything with a cute lead guy in it wouldn't hurt either, right? 

4.  Best break-up movie?

The Break Up!

5.  Favorite celeb eye candy?

Oh goodness.  I have several I could list for this one.  My absolute top guy is Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy!!!!!).  Others include Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Quaid, Gerard Butler, Vince Vaughn. 

6.  Which movie star's closet would you want to raid?

Assuming I could ever fit into their clothes, Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Garner




PS.  Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there!

Friday's Letters

(link up with Ashley here)

Dear Weekend:  Woohoo!  I'm glad you're here.

Dear Abby, Erika, and Joanne:  My besties!  So glad we are going to get together with the kids today. Will it be chaotic?  Probably.  Will we want to pull our hair out by the time it's over?  Maybe.  Will we have lots of laughs?  You know it! 

Dear Hickory City:  Whyyyyyyy must you be so difficult with your trash pick-up?  I mean, really?  Whenever Eric puts the trash down at the road on Thursday night when he gets home from work, you don't show up until late afternoon on Friday.  But every.single.time that he forgets and doesn't take it down until Friday morning, you decide to show up at 6am and we miss out on our trash being picked up.  Quit! 

Dear Eric:  I know you're probably going to have to work, but Happy Father's Day!  Oh, and our anniversary is on Monday.  Don't forget ;) 

Dear camera battery:  I hope you are fully charged by now because I plan on getting a lot of use out of you today :D 

What I'm Loving Wednesday

*  I'm loving that our summer is off to a great start.  We have stayed pretty busy so far and the fighting between Chris and Logan hasn't been *too* bad.  Maybe I'll actually keep my sanity this year? ;)  We'll see. 

*  I'm loving that Chris is officially a Cub Scout.  He had his first meeting last night at the Tiger Cub Camp Night.  We got him into a pack that meets really close to our house.  Chris got to shoot a BB gun (I got to do it too, which was pretty awesome), a bow & arrow, do an obstacle course and make a leather necklace.  He had a blast and can't wait until his pack starts up their regular weekly meetings this fall. 

*  I'm loving that my birthday is coming up soon.  One week from tomorrow I'll say hello to the big 2-7. 

*  I'm loving that I signed the boys up for the Summer Reading Program.  The library is going to be hosting a lot of fun events this summer and Chris will also get in a lot of reading practice so he doesn't lose any momentum. 

*  I'm loving spending more time with my friends. 

*  I'm loving trying to be more active with updating my blog and meeting new bloggers. 


*  I'm loving that last night I spent 7 hours sorting, organizing, and finally putting into albums 2 and a half years of pictures.  Woot!  Now I just need to print pics from last year and this year and I'll be caught up. 

Weekend Review

We have started off our summer break with a busy, fun-filled weekend.  Love it!  I hope our whole summer is like this. 

Saturday morning we took the boys to our local Lowe's Hardware for their Build & Grow clinic.  They were making Monkey Powered Airplanes, which Chris and Logan were pretty stoked about.  Eric and I always end up piecing the projects together but the boys love doing all of the hammering and putting the stickers on.  I had to help them a little more this time than I usually do so I wasn't able to snap any pictures.  Maybe next time ;)  They had a lot of fun though!  I think they enjoy the certificate and badge they receive for completing the project just as much as the project itself. 

That afternoon we went to a birthday party for my best friend's daughter.  She is turning 3 years old and had a super cute Bumblebee themed party.  Abby (her mom) had different stations with fun things for all of the kids to do.  I volunteered to help her out since she can't be in more than once place at a time ;)  I was in charge of the nail polish and temporary tattoo station.  I was a "busy bee" throughout the whole party.  At one point I even had a small line formed with kids either wanting their nails painted or a tattoo, and I even had a few that wanted both.  I didn't mind at all though.  I had a lot of fun.  I especially liked painting the girls' nails for them.  I don't get to do things like that since I have two boys.  My hubby was sweet enough to bring me some ice cream and a cupcake since I stayed so busy and wasn't able to leave my spot, haha. 

Today we took the boys bowling.  Our local bowling center is offering free bowling for kids this summer.  They get 2 free games per day.  That's pretty awesome!  I just wish the shoe rental wasn't so much.  Eric and I decided not to bowl and it was still $6.63 just for Chris and Logan's shoe rental.  We were thinking about just going to Dick's and buying them a pair of bowling shoes, especially if we're going to be taking them a lot this summer.  I'm sure the shoes would pay for themselves in no time. 

Chris and Logan used the "kid ramp" at first but then quickly got into the swing of things and pushed it to the side so they could bowl on their own.  I had a lot of fun watching them.  During the middle of the first game Chris got to where he would roll the ball, put his hands on his hips, and then turn and tilt his body in the direction he wanted his ball to go.  It was SO funny.  Everyone around us was laughing, too.  Chris got a strike toward the end of the first game and ended up winning.  Then Logan got a strike toward the middle of the second game and won that one :)