#40 & #51 of My 101 in 1001

#40 - Visit another state

I went to South Carolina on vacation.

#51 - Go to the beach

I spent 5 days in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with some of my wonderful family members.

Sarah, Kay, Nancy, Momma, & Me

TK & Mel

And, it was fabulous.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

I went swimming in the hotel pool and the ocean (the pool was warmer, but the ocean was great as well).  I went shopping, and I played mini-golf.  I got a sunburn.


I also ended up with three huge bruises, a pair of broke sunglasses, and a broke camera, which led to me getting some ibuprofen, a bottle of wine, two {2} new pair of sunglasses and a new camera.


With the sunburn and the three bruises {one on each elbow & one on my right knee}, I had to have some ibuprofen & a bottle of wine is always good.  Take ibuprofen during the day, and drink wine at night - sounded like a good prescription for pain relief!


As I am in Wal-Mart, my sunglasses fell off of my head, and at first, I thought that the lenses had just popped out, but after picking them up, I figured out they were no good anymore!  The frames had cracked, so when we went to Tanger Outlets, I found two cute & inexpensive pairs {one black & one brown - only $3.80 each} at Forever 21.


Now to the broken camera.  My camera was already broke {I had to tape the little door shut that hold the batteries and memory card in place}!  But, this time it was not fixable, no matter how much tape I had.  

My old camera had a timer on it {as most cameras do}, so that I could set the timer, and it would take the picture in 10 seconds {giving me just enough time to run back and get in the picture}!  I set the timer, placed the camera on a railing {first idiot mistake}, the pressed the shutter button so it would begin the 10 second countdown to when the picture would be taken {second idiot mistake}!  The railing was curved, so the camera was not very stable to begin with, and when I pressed the shutter button, the camera tipped and fell down to the concrete sidewalk.

Now the came lens won't even go in all the way!

Also, when I turn the camera on, all it will say is "System Error!"

My new camera!  Awesome!  It is just as good as my old camera, and I don't need tape! :)

So, my time at the beach was great.  Although there were some times that I just wanted to scream, I had a blast.  And, I ended up with a nice base tan, two new pair of sunglasses, a new camera, some new shirts and tanks, and a new pair of flip-flops!


And best of all, I got to spend some great quality time with my family!

Picture taken at Broadway at the Beach.

I'm back!

I'm officially back to my blog.

I cannot promise that I will write a new post everyday, or even every week, for that matter, but I am back, and I will start writing again!

I took a leave of absence from my blog back in September of 2011.  I did not want to leave my blog, but I knew it was the best thing for me to do at that time in my life.

I was in a very depressing state (which was made worse by some things that were said/done by others), and I did not know where I needed to go or what I needed to do with my life, but I am so much better now.  My faith in God has been affirmed, and I now have a much clearer picture of my life and the path I must take in it.

Many things have happened since September of 2011.  I celebrated my 25th birthday on October 6th, 2011.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's were a blast with my family.  I started working out again (I am determined to finish losing the weight I need to lose - while I have not saw much of a result on the scale, my clothes are fitting looser & I did have to buy smaller shirts and jeans when I went shopping)!  I am still taking online classes toward my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, and they are going great, as of right now!

And to finish this post, I would like to say thank you to all my followers/readers.  While I did not write a single blog post between the last one in September 2011 and today, I still had many readers each month.  I was amazed when I logged in and saw that I still had several people reading my posts, even though I had nothing new on my blog for several months.

Thank you all so very much for your continued support and for reading and commenting on my blog posts!

Happy Birthday James!

September 1, 1983

A beautiful baby boy was born!

He was perfect.

He still is perfect.

His name is James Bradley Yow!

He is my brother.

Today is his 28th birthday.

Or, it would be.

But, he is no longer living on Earth.

He is now living in Heaven.

Even though he is no longer with us on Earth,

I still wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday!

*I do not have a pic on my computer of my brother as of this moment, so I will be adding it later, or it will be added to the post on September 18, 2011 about the 15th anniversary of his death.  Or, both!*

I've been so bad....

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - I have been enjoying time with my niece :)

She took her first real steps by herself the other night - yay! - and we have been trying to get her to walk by herself since then

But, she is too smart for that, so she just plops down on her butt & laughs :)

Over the past couple of days, I have lost 3.8 lbs b/c of her (you know - playing, running around, nerves)

In addition, I have failed to complete any kind of homework assignment or anything else b/c everytime I get on my computer she wants to jump in my lap to play on it with me!

So, now you know where I have been, but I promise I will be back, soon!

*I am still completing items from my "101 in 1001" list.  I am having so much fun doing this list.  I am really excited about all of it, and I am reading one of the books on my list. So, I will have some detailed posts coming up, including a book review or two!*



Grandma's birthday dinner

So, today is my Gma's bday.  She is a great woman and grandmother.  I love her with all my heart.

We had a family dinner to celebrate her day.

Supersized Saturday

America is all about everything being supersized.

Well, here is my list of things I love/want SUPERSIZED!

(These are not listed in any kind of order whatsoever!)

1. Pillows - Who doesn't love huge, soft, and comfy pillows?  Oh, and not only do I want them supersized, but I want millions of them (well, maybe not millions, but at least 10).

2. Jewelry - Over the past year, I have fallen in love with huge jewelry.  Necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets - everything!

3. Heels - The taller the better!  Not really, but I do like them tall!

4. Time - With my family, especially my nieces & nephews (they grow up way to fast)!

What do you want SUPERSIZED?

girls just wanna have fun....

So, Saturday night was spent @ McPherson's Bar & Grill.

Krissy, Tammy, Renee, Sarah, Kay, Melissa, Linda, Kayla

A going away party for a dear friend, Renee, who is moving to Tennessee.

Renee

We sang karaoke, drink, and danced the night away.

We even adored our bartender and karaoke dj.

Taylor = Bartender = Hottie :)

karaoke dj

:) you could say we had a great time (:

Xbox 360 w/ Kinect

So, I am in love with the Xbox 360 w/ Kinect.  I have been wanting it or the Wii, and a couple of days ago, I finally decided to get one for myself as a graduation present to myself! :)  It has been a great investment already.

It came with the Kinect Adventures game, which is extremely fun.  My brother and I like to battle to see who can get a higher score on the different adventures and levels.  Well, after playing it the first night I got it, the next day both of our legs were extremely sore.  Then, I played it again.  After that, my legs and arms are extremely sore. 

I decided to step on the scale to see how this was paying off in weight loss, and I have lost 2 lbs in 2 days.  AMAZING!  I could not be happier about losing weight by playing games and enjoying time with my family.  It has been a great experience, so far, and I hope that it will continue to be tremendous.

I plan to play the games and do the exercise games at least 5 days a week, and hopefully, this will aid my weight loss.

Thankful Tuesday!

I missed out on the post last week, but that is okay.  I am always thankful and gracious for the blessings that I receive from our LORD and SAVIOR!

*I am thankful for the rain and the storms b/c they remind me how powerful our LORD is!

*I am thankful that I received confirmation that all is good with my Associate's Degree application, it has been processed, and I will have my degree in hand in a couple of weeks!

*I am thankful for the weight and inches that I have lost, and for the knowledge, strength, endurance, and health benefits that I have gained through this new journey in my life.

My struggle through relationships and love!

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to get married, settle down in my own home, and have children.  This was my dream as a little girl, and as I got older, it did not change, like others' dreams did.  I still want to find my soulmate, buy a house, and have the perfect little family.  Although, I know perfect is not possible, I believe with all my heart that the rest is.

I thought that by the time I was in my early 20's, I would be married, and already have at least one child.  Well, that has not happened so far.  I am 24, and I am not even in a relationship right now.  Sometimes I think, where did I go wrong?  What did I do to mess up my future and dream?

I have had many relationships, some long, some short.  My most recent relationship was almost 4.5 years long, and we lived together for the first 3.5 years.  It was never perfect, but I thought that we would be together forever, at first.  Then, it got crazy between us, and we were headed in completely different directions.  I wanted to settle down, and he, well he wanted other things.  Again, I wondered why this was happening, and what I had done wrong (even though I broke off our relationship)?

But, then I think about it, and I realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be in my life, right now.  I realize that my plan was not God's plan, and His plan is always the best plan for our lives.

After I broke up with my most recent boyfriend, I went back to college.  If I had not been single, I would not have been able to complete what I did through school because of the relationship.  In addition, I would not be as close to God as I am now, if I were still in a relationship.

I have learned so much through the past year of being single.  I now know that I can accomplish anything, as long as it is God's will, and I have Him on my side.  I know that I do not need a guy in my life for me to be happy and loved.  I know that I am a strong, independent woman, and I have learned to trust in God, ALWAYS, no matter what is happening in my life at the time.

I have been through struggles, I have had my ups and downs, but I now have faith in God, and I am happy where I am at the moment.  Although, I am still praying for my soulmate, but I am waiting on God's time, not mine!

Thankful Tuesday!

It's back!  I cannot believe it has been a week, it has gone by so fast.  I am super excited, though, to list more blessings that I have to be thankful for.  The Lord is always there for me, even when I am not there for myself.  So, I am still thankful for all the things that were listed in my last Thankful Tuesday post, which can be found here.  In addition to these blessings, I have many more this week, including:

* I have now lost a total of 12.4 lbs.  Thank you, Lord! (To read about my recent weight loss, click here.)

* I live in a country where I am free to be me, free to serve and worship the Lord, and free to go to church, say pretty much what I want, and free to live.

* I have recently finished (on Sunday) my last two classes for my Associate's Degree in Elementary Education.  I am just waiting on my final grades, so that I can apply for my degree.

These three items are the main blessings I am thankful for today, but there are many, many more, and I will probably update this post to include those as the day goes on!

Thank you Lord for all your blessings, even those I do not recognize at first!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the beautiful mothers, I want to say thank you and Happy Mother's Day!  Our service today at church was about six great women and mothers in the Bible, and it was amazing.  Mothers are made in the image of God, as is everyone, but Moms lead their children in God's path and will!

Thank you to my Mom for always being there for me, supporting me, and pushing me to do my best.  I love you!

National Day of Prayer 2011

Today, May 5th, is the National Day of Prayer.  It always occurs on the first Thursday in May, which happens to be Cinco de Mayo.  I thought about today and how so many people will be celebrating by going to bars and drinking, even if they are not of Hispanic origin or from Mexico.  Well, I just found out that today is National Day of Prayer, and this is a much better way to celebrate today.

The link to the website is under National Day of Prayer.  Through this website, you can learn the history behind the day, the mission, and how you can get involved.

Today, I will be praying for many items, including the nation, the government, the current education system, and many other personal requests that I know about.  Please join me today & PRAY!

Has my hard work paid off?

That is the ultimate question!  I sure hope so.  For the past six weeks, I have carefully documented every bite I have taken.  I have logged every food and drink that has entered my body.  Well, let's hope that it has worked, because for this week I am putting it to the test.  I am not going to record any of my food and drink intake this week into my spreadsheets.  I am still writing it down and acknowledging what I eat and drink, but I do not know how many calories I have taken in, and I will not know for this week, until Sunday night or Monday morning.

So, I believe I have done well so far.  I know which foods are healthiest and healthier for me, and I know about how much I need to eat on a daily basis to be within my calorie range.  I have lost around 10 lbs, although I do have fluctuations in my weight.  Normally, I get to the 10 lbs lost area, and I give up, but that will not happen this time.  I am so determined to have a better, happier, and healthier lifestyle, so I will not give up.  I will go through struggles, weight plateaus, cravings, and pain, but I will make it through!  I have an awesome support system with friends and family, and I have God on my side, and I know His will always prevails!

Wish me luck, and please pray that I have learned what I need to know to make it through without having to continuously document everything that I eat on a daily basis!

Easter Sunday! - Christ is risen from the dead!

Easter is of course about Jesus Christ rising from the grave, after dying to pay for our sins!  Well, Easter, to me, is also about family, friends, and love.  Since we spent Saturday with the girls, we went on and gave them their Easter baskets, filled with simple pleasures!

Cazzie & Shayna's Baskets

Stormi's Easter Basket

Momma & I after Easter services & lunch :)

Just me <3

Birthday Party for the Nieces!

Saturday was Cazzie's birthday, and Tuesday is Shayna's birthday, so they had their party together on Saturday.  They had a blast and got plenty of presents.  It was an overall fun day, filled with cake, ice cream, cupcakes, presents, and love!

 Shayna (left) & Cazzie (right)

Cazzie's Cake (Spongebob Square Pants)

Shayna's Cake (Princess Dora the Explorer)

 Although it was not Stormi's birthday, she got presents too, because on Friday, she turned 11 months old!  She is spoiled rotten, and she loved opening her presents.  I cannot wait until it is her birthday, so that I can see her rip into all her presents.

Cazzie & Shayna opening presents! 

I love her laugh & smile!