Meet Molly...

...the adorable flower girl.

It's so sweet to see much my cousin Molly loves Erika. She constantly talks about her and has begun making her all sort of gifts: necklaces made from ponytail holders, earrings from construction paper, and piles of colored pictures. I'm sure she'll have some made-with-love gifts to give Erika at the bridal shower on Saturday!*
You can imagine how excited she is now that she's been asked to be a real flower girl in a real wedding! She's been asking so many questions about what she'll be wearing, what flowers she'll have and if she gets to "help Erika get married".

She loves the idea that her and I are both in the same wedding because "we're both Erika's friends". I love that idea too! ♥

* If I don't make another apperance for a few days,its because I am so extrodinarily busy getting ready for the shower. We have taken the term "bridal shower" to a whole new level!! Lots of pictures will be coming! :)

In Which I Give Unsolicited Product Reviews

Our Internet Router

Lately I have been extremely unimpressed with our router. It refused to cooperate for almost a week and still has lingering bits of rebellion in it. I am counting my blessings however as it is working at the moment(the key word which explains why I gave it two hearts).
Review rating ♥♥

Horton Hears a Who



This is absolutely one of the very best "childrens" movies out there right now. I love it. I especially love it when the movie theater plays it for free. :) Its stays close to the book(unlike other Dr Seuss movies out right now)and I think Dr Seuss himself would approve. Horton is so very cute and the hats he can make with his ears are so creative! Even if you don't have children, I suggest that you get yourself a nice big bowl of ice cream and watch it with your favorite person.
Review rating ♥♥♥♥♥

Wet Seal necklaceWhen I was at the Dollar Store last week I found this really cute necklace,in multiple colors, for(you guessed it) $1 each. Upon further investigation(which wasn't very hard considering all I had to do was turn the tag over)I discovered that these necklaces were selling at Wet Seal for $10.50! So I bought four; three I gave to my friend for her birthday and I kept the other. Considering that I payed $4 for four necklaces that would usually cost $42, I think I did pretty well! :)
Review rating ♥♥♥♥

Starbucks Ice Coffee

I know I'm stepping out onto some pretty rocky ground here, but I have to say that I had my very first Starbucks coffee this week and it wasn't very good. At all. I've always thought Starbucks is way overpriced and all you're really buying is the name brand, but as it was the only coffee option at the moment I bought one anyways. I realize that maybe it wasn't so great because I bought it from the art museum cafeteria so I basically "made" it my unStarbucks-professional myself, but it really wasn't worth the $2.83. However, if you'd like to take me out to Starbucks someday and buy me something really tasty then feel free. :)
Review rating: ♥(it really should be half a heart but I can't make those.)


Beverly Lewis books

Because I've always thought the Amish and their lifestyle interesting, Beverly Lewis' books have really caught my attention. I finally started reading them this summer and they are so much better then I imagined. I'm only going through the second series now, but in almost every book she adds twists that have been so far beyond what I expected to happen. At first I did wonder how she could write so many books because I thought 'how could she have that many Amish story lines'? But after reading them, it made me see so clearly that although they may seem to be so calm and (for lack of a better phrase)"cookie-cutter" from the outside, their lives can be just as changeable and emotional as ours. I don't mean to sound at all like I thought they weren't human, but its so neat for me to see their lives in a different way.
Review rating ♥♥♥♥♥

Disclaimer: I am not getting payed to endorse any of these companies. Hopefully I will not be getting sued by any either.

Technical Difficulties

Unfortunately, our phone and internet decided to completely stop working on Monday so I am only now letting you all know where I've been: The Land of the Dead Phone and Stopped Internet. Its not a very lovely place. Right now I'm using the computer at Lauren's house to catch up on a few things but hopefully soon I'll be coming to you from All is Well in the Land of Technology.
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However, I do have this cute little award to share with you:

Ashli gave me my very first blog award! Thank you so much Ashli! :)

A few adorable blogs I'd love to share this with are(drum roll please):
Amanda at Amanda Beth Online
Keri at Quaint and Quirky(how could a blog with a name like that not be adorable?!)
Lisa at ElleBows and More

I Have Been Summoned...

...and that makes me oh-so-happy.

I seem to be the person who doesn't mind doing or going to what most other people don't like. For example, two of the biggies are graduations and jury duty. I have been waiting my whole life (alt est the last 10 years of my life) for jury duty. I don't know when or where I got the idea that jury duty is "fun" but ever since I heard of it, I wanted it to be me that decided where how many years bank robbers got, and what happened to the big-time criminals.

I had a high romanticized version of what happens at our local courthouse.

So anyway, I have finally been called to do my civic duty and report for jury duty in November. We all know that I most likely won't be needed(how can they even think of being so heartless when I've waited all these years?)but who knows? Maybe I'll actually get to sit on a real jury and decide what happens the guy who scribbled all over a stop sign.

In the meantime, I'll be studying my Jurors Manual and finding out all the important details such as 'what should I wear?' and 'if there is an emergency, the judge will decide whether its real or not'.

That last statement is sure to make the judge alot of friends.

Bloghop- Favorite Photos

While our Letterboxing hike yesterday was unsuccesful and unfruitful, we found these beautiful flowers that were just begging to have their picture taken.

I just love Black-Eyed Susan's.(Am I the only one who's ever wondered just who Susan was?)

This is the home of a small but tight band of Who's from Whoville.They beg of you to remember that a person's a person, no matter how small.

Not Me Monday

* I am not so emotionally attached to my hair that I almost cried when someone(who will remain nameless, but nonetheless gave birth to me) ) did more then just "trim" it. It was not so close to a tragedy that Shakespeare would have been proud to write a played based on it.

* While sleeping over Erika's, I did not get out of bed at 1:46 am to get something out of my pocketbook, and decided that it was the perfect time to count all the change I had in my wallet. I did not pour all the coins out on the floor and count them then and there.

FYI, I had $5.37 in there, which may explain why my pocketbook was getting so heavy.

* I did not start going off about how Barack Obama is trying to change everything even where we put our stamps on envelopes when I pulled a letter out of the mailbox and saw the stamp was sitting there happy as a clam on the lower left-hand corner. That "stamp" did not end up being a sticker. I would never confuse the two. Never.

* I did not eat very possibly more then two doughnuts holes on Friday knowing full well that I'm allergic to wheat and I would most likely end up with a headache.

* I did not eat them because "everybody else was". I never use that excuse. Especially not twice in one month.

* I don't want to tell you about Jennisa's giveaway over here. You won't like it so don't even bother. ;)

ElleBlooms

A few weeks ago, Lisa from ElleBows had a contest to name her newest creation-adorable flower hair clips. I suggested the name ElleBlooms and she like it so much that she decided to use it! As a prize she sent me two ElleBlooms that I just got today. Aren't they so sweet?! It makes me want to hop over to her Etsy store and buy a ton more! I can't wait to put them on my own little girl someday, but in the meantime I think I might be wearing them, especially the one on the left, every so often!

Thank you so much, Lisa! I love them! ♥

Happy Birthday to You...

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♥ Happy Birthday Mom!!!! ♥

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Thank you so much for all you've done for us every single day of our lives.

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We couldn't ask for a better mom.

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I hope the year ahead brings many,many wonderful blessings.

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I love you!

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Blog Hop-Encouragement

I love this song. Some might say 'oh, this song is used so much now that there's barely any meaning left to it', but I just love it and find the words and music so uplifting. I think one of the most encouraging parts of the song is the line that says:

"There is no life-no life without its hunger

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly"

So many times we can feel like we're the only ones with problems. We look at others and think 'why is their life so perfect and mine isn't? How can they always have their ducks lined up perfectly?' . Even though it can sometime be so hard, if we look beyond ourselves, our self-pity, our desire to have it all, we realize that what we're going through can help others, sometimes even help those who's live are "so perfect". If you know the overwhelmed feeling that comes from having a mother suffering from cancer, don't you think you'll be able to help others in the same boat in a totally different way then someone who's never experienced it? Often times we can lift ourselves up by encouraging others.

I guess I could have just said that last sentence without the rest of the paragraph!

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encouragement in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins." Jim Stovall

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Of course, there are little things that can make us smile and encourage us by just seeing them. For me, some of these are bright and happy Gerber daisies, getting a letter in the mail from my bestest friend, seeing a laughing baby, getting a hug when I'm feeling down, and taking a walk on a sunny day.

What little things encourage and make you smile?