Back to work blues

Tonight is the end of my 4 day weekend. This was a super busy weekend but it was really fun too. We hit the black friday sales as we do every year. Cousin Ryan spent the night Thanksgiving night so that he would already be here Friday morning when he got up since Uncle JoeDel was babysitting. We had a ball with him. He is so fun and cute. He kept saying how much fun he had at the "turkey party" :)

Saturday was all about Marla!!!!! We celebrated her engagement with a shower and night out on the town. It was really fun and I'm so glad she was home but I miss her already. I am so excited for her though...she's waited a long time for this!!!

Today I basically did nothing. I need to finish painting but didn't have the motivation. Maybe tomorrow ;)

Goodnight.

I'm not exactly a biblical scholar...

So the picture below was pretty cute, but it was WRONG. That verse is not found in Psalm 110, rather Psalm 119. Good thing I double checked. Jenny, I'm reworking it for you as I type (i can do two things at once, whooo hooo!)

Simple Reminders

As I was editing Jenny's pictures, God used this one in particular to remind me of one of my favorite Bible verses...

Weekend Review

I have had a request for photos of the new paint job, so I will try and get to that tonight. It's not too crazy (and its for sure not done) but I love it so far!

JoeDel killed a deer on Friday night. They finally found it Saturday morning!!! We had to make a trek out to Uncle Freddy Geier's shop so that Avery could see the deer. She was not too fond of it, but later that night when JoeDel brought the truck and trailer home she sure was anxious to go looking for the deer on the trailer. I think she was bummed when she realized he didn't bring it home with him.



Also yesterday I met up with Jenny and her family. I am still trying to figure out my camera so this was a chance to have some different subjects to photograph (besides just Avery). I haven't really had a chance to work on them yet - here's the only one so far. It was a dreary day and I gotta figure out how to make it look not so dreary.

this is a long story

but I will make it kind of short.

JoeDel went out deer tracking tonight and I felt the need to do something different - I went to Ace Hardware and bought PAINT and came home and started painting my house. Am I weird or what? It looks awesome though, if I must say so myself. No more white walls here! Watch out world, I am getting a little crazy.

Wordless Wednesday

Congrats my friend!

Last Wed. was the CMA awards which, for the first time in ages, I MISSED! ARGHHHHHH! I was on the road that night and missed the show.

I have been waiting to post this blog until I could find the clip on youtube, and I finally found it. My mom was the one to tell me that Kenny won Entertainer of the Year (again) but this time thanked his long time personal assisant, Cheryl. For those of you who don't know, Cheryl Bevis is one of the sweetest and most "real" people in the music industry. She has not only been with Kenny since he was a nobody, but she has been my friend for awhile too. In fact, she's the main reason that I moved to Nashville. I had a far-fetched dream of doing my college internship in the music industry but had no where in the world to start. She pointed me in the right direction, gave me tons and tons of tips, and even hung out with me from time to time when I lived in Nashville. She helped me find babysitting jobs to pay the bills and we still keep in touch from time to time today. I didn't know since she was a national celebrity now if she would respond to me when I wrote to congratulate her, but sure enough she did - right away.

Here's the clip...


Congrats again Cheryl! I truly believe Kenny wouldn't be where he is today without the support and HARD WORK of such a wonderful lady.

Here's a picture of them from that night :)



And here's a link to another article that gives her some special recognition...http://www.theboot.com/2008/11/13/kenny-chesneys-assistant-gets-special-shout-out/

A better person today...

That is kind of what I feel like after yesterday. I feel like I have the ability to be a better person today than i was yesterday.

I went with my boss and another coworker to the "Get Motivated" seminar in KC. I felt like I was totally doped into going to this and was really not that excited at all. I thought it would be totally boring and we would be in the nosebleed seats. Afterall, we paid $19 for 6 tickets (only 3 were used of course, since on one else would go)...

Anyway, it was actually a great day. The MC was Tamara Lowe and she is actually an amazing person. Here we were, all 20,000 of us, packed into the Spring Center at a BUSINESS Motivational Conference and she is giving her testimony and sharing with everyone how to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts. I thought it was cool. She has a book coming out "Get Motivated") and I think everyone should pre-order it. With a pre-order you get 2 free tickets to an upcoming seminar anywhere in the country. Totally worth it.

My favorite speakers were General Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani. They weren't the most "motivating" of all speakers, but what they shared was REAL. These were both huge people in our recent history and to be hearing their first hand experiences out of their mouths while they were around 100 feet from me was quite awesome. Bill Self, head coach of the Jayhawks, was actually a pretty bad speaker but he also was great to hear and he was pretty funny.

I'm glad I went. It was a great experience for me and I would encourage anyone to go when this seminar is in your area.

Christmas Bows

Now through Friday only...buy 2, get 1 half off!

Adorable Christmas bows here...or view the rest of the line at www.bellalinaonline.com

Happy Birthday TEENAGER!

Today is a big day. Drake Carter is a TEENAGER. Seriously, how can this be?! What has happened to my chubby cheek sweetheart? He's grown up right before our eyes folks.


Happy Birthday, buddy! I am so thankful for your sweet spirit and your willingness to give this fat old "mom" a hug even around your buddies. You are very special to me and to my mom and to my little girl. I know as you continue to grow up, things will change and your "coolness" will outweigh...but just don't ever forget how very special you are to all of us. You are the original "Carter" and even though I don't see you or your sisters often enough, you are always so very special to us!

When I think about how crazy it is that Drake was born 13 years ago today, i think of how crazy it is that my dad died 12 years ago today. 12 years. It is unreal to think that Drake has grown up overnight, yet the last 12 years without my dad have drug on and on and on. It truly feels like forever since I heard his voice or saw his smile. I miss him a lot, and I regret not having the change to REALLY get to know him as a person instead of just "my dad" that I saw several times a year. It is especially hard this year as I think that my Grandpa is gone too. sigh.

It's Friday! WHOOOO HOOO!!!!

**Edited with a picture of the sweet baby girl!!!!**

Today is Friday and I am SO EXCITED.

Every morning I have been waking up thinking "surely its the weekend" and every morning when my brain kicks in I realize that I still have to go to work. blah.

Anyway, I am excited about this day mostly because there is a NEW BABY IN MY LIFE! Congrats to my BFF Audrey on the birth of Miss Madeline Audrey Graham today at 12:45 pm. Madeline was 6 lbs 15 ounces and 19 1/4 in long. I cannot WAIT to see her tomorrow morning.
*Update* Audrey's sister sent some pictures. Here's one of the beautiful baby girl checking out her mama.


Tomorrow night is "Girls Night In" in KC w/ the women in JoeDels family. Should be a blast! JoeDels cousin Amanda is hosting the shindig filled w/ mexican filled fiesta food and margaritas! There should be some pretty mean card playing going on. WHOOO HOOO!!!

Avery and her cousin Ryan are both spending the night with Grammy Sara. I think she'll have a ball with both of them. Hopefully anyway. :)

So the Bellalina Christmas line just got emailed to me. I will be posting soon, we've some adorable goods!

I had a dream!

Yes, I did have a dream last night - that my dog was out of her pen and I was chasing her all around the yard and a girl I know was getting married and wanted me to do the cake so she brought it all over and everything was "disney princess"

Great dream, huh?

We all know I can't run, not even to chase my dog, I dont make cakes and apparently "princess" is on the brain.

So Obama won the election. I am sad, but I know that my God is still in control. This was His plan all along and this isnt the first thing that He's done that I dont understand. Yes the economy is in trouble and I hope Obama can fix it but I am a little more concerned with the morals of this country. Are we forgetting what our nation was built upon and the truths told to us in the Bible? Apparently. God has punished people in the past for falling away from Him, maybe He's doing it again?

I was reading a friends blog this morning and laughed out loud when I read this line. She is so brutally honest and I love it! Jeanna, I think you are right when you say...

"For those of you who voted for him, I hope your morals are worth it, and I think you might want to start going to church."

Wake up America! We are all going to need God in our lives now more than ever. He is the Hope that gets us through each day, and in the end HE WINS....which means His followers win too....and that is ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to make it a point to pray for this nation every single day. I will probably fail at that, but I'm gonna try.

Election Day!

Avery and I went and voted before work. I wasn't sure how she would handle going in the little booth...but since this day will go down in the history books for sure, I wanted her to be a part of it (and I wanted to just get it over with bright and early!)

She did great and we were on our way in not long at all.

This was the best picture I could get of my little voter.

We've come a long way, baby girl!

I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast.

We have some big news at our house - Avery is learning to go potty! She has been doing so good. We just started in the last week or so and already she is telling us when she has to go. She hated it at first, though...can you tell?



She does much better now. She sits her little butt down and starts reading books and will yell out "pooped!!!!" whether she actually has "pooped" or just peed. She's so fun to watch though. I am thankful that she's learning but somewhat sad that this stage means she is for sure growing up.

Same goes with her new bed! I bought her a toddler bed at an auction last weekend.


She's been sleeping in it all last week in our room...and then I finally got the motivation yesterday to take down the crib. Now THAT was sad for mama. But, we got her bed in her room and everything rearranged and she slept in there all night last night like such a big girl. When I went into her room this morning, i turned on the light and said "Avery, you wanna get up" and she screamed "NO!" so I said "Avery, you wanna come lay with mama" again..."NO!" I guess she likes being a grownup...I'm just not so sure that I do.