Bloggy Friend Meet-Up!

I had a really excited blog post ready about a meet up tomorrow with a bloggy friend! I am changing the post as I type here because of a possible change. I have been reading Nikowa's blog for.... I think ever since I started blogging actually! I feel like I already know her in real life and I can't believe it has taken us this long to meet up since she only lives a couple of hours away! Well...it's not like we're BUSY being moms and homeschool moms too! :) The sad thing is that unless the weather changes I may not get to go after all. The forecast calls for storms all day. I am very nervous driving in storms even close to home, so I will be very very nervous if I were to be driving in Atlanta in rain and storms! :(

I have only ever met one bloggy friend before, and it was the mutual friend of a real life friend, so really this is the FIRST actual "only know each other through blogland" friend meet-up I've ever had! I hope the weather waits or changes so we can go ahead with our meet! I would LOVE to meet her!

My New Header!

I decided to create a new header for the blog...and stick with it! It was getting hard to keep up with the seasons, and I didn't like that it changed all the time....I mean I kind of did and kind of didn't. I like having a general header.... not season specific...which meant I could also make a button for my sidebar! I added it to my other blogs, the baby blog, and my book blog, so I could re-direct back to here and do it cutely. ha ha.

Anyway, that's my new header. The plan is to keep it permanently. We'll see.

Saturday Share

I have two blogs I want to share today.

The first one is a posting from the Living Proof Ministries (Beth Moore) blog.
Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick shares her day in a "coffee shop hop"
and some really sweet things she saw throughout her day.
If you have lost confidence in people in general, it is a great read!
(click on the photos for the links)

The second one is from Stuff Christians Like.
It is a humor blog, all in good fun, a giant list of ...well..the name... such as this entry from yesterday...."Raising Dorks."
If you have kids, please read! It will encourage you!

Belated Blogiversary!

click to view larger

301st Post!

This is my 301st post.

I missed #300 because I already had a post written and didn't want to put it off...ha.

So, here ya go..in honor of post #300....a NEW layout! What do you think? It is very different from other themes I have done before...but I think I like it.

And....for your laugh of the day...some art by Katie. She drew this last night while laying in the bed "trying" to go to sleep:

She said it is a picture of her sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get a cookie.
I love the body language!

New Wishlist Item!

I was on facebook today and saw an ad for something that looked pretty interested. So, I looked it up and found a fascinating website that will take your blog and turn it into a softcover or hardcover book!

The site is called Blog2Print..you can click the name to go to the site.

AND you can choose to include all the comments from your posts or not. I decided to set mine up and it was really easy! You just enter your blog web address and it gets all the information from there. It took at few minutes, but it finally loaded ALL my posts along with an introduction of my choice and WOW it was SO NEAT to see all my blog posts in a neat little book. It even included any photos I uploaded to the posts...(not slideshows, just uploaded photos within a posting). So, here's the bad news! ha ha! For a softcover version of my blog as a book, it could cost $124!!!! WOW! The hardcover edition would be $10 more. BUT, that is for 330 pages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that might be worth it actually. But, I better think quickly because every time I post that price will go up! ha ha!

What do you think? Would it be worth that much to you to have a copy of something that is pretty much like a diary of the past 2 years with photos? I am wondering if anyone knows of a company that does something similar so easily? Blog friends, help?

Lurk No More!

I know you are out there.....you .......LURKERS!!!!
Those of you out there....reading this blog.... contemplating its many mysteries....laughing over the little stories I relate about the kids or life or just whatever is on my mind.

You come...and you read....and I have to install a map to trace your comings and goings....have to install a visit tracker...because if I had not done those things...for all I know Bethany, my mother in law...and every once in a blue moon another single person will comment and those would be all I know of regular readers :(

Ha ha....yeah. I am kidding....sort of.
No, really...why don't you regular readers leave me a comment today (and other days too, don't be shy)?
I wonder how many I can get. Just for my own reference...out of curiosity.

What if I did like the public television station and once a quarter I interrupt all my regularly scheduled posts with begging and pleading for donations? Would that help? Well...instead of "donations" I will only humbly ask for a comment. How about that?

Would a prize help? I might could dig one up...let's go for it!

Everyone who comments will be entered to win. For your comment, give me your best excuse for not commenting more often :) If you do comment often, then good for you I am sure you will be able to think of your own comment obviously.

The prize? Intangible, but very special!
Intrigued? Leave a comment and take a chance! YOU COULD BE A WINNER!

Stop HIDING behind your COMPUTER!!!!

(if the thought of winning an intangible prize makes you nervous, please do not be scared. Leave a comment ...the more comments I get, the lower your chances are to win, so enter today :)

Adopted.....

I have three blogger friends who are currently pursuing the route of adopting a baby into their families. I don't know if they have found each other through my blogroll, but I just wanted to say that I am so excited for them in their journeys. I found THIS link that talks about the Biblical significance of adoption. It is a beautiful and wonderful thing that only special mothers are called to do I am sure of that. I hope you will pray for them as they complete their process. If you are reading this and have been through the process before, I hope you will stop by and leave them an encouraging word. They each have totally different backgrounds and reasons and routes they are taking to find their babies, so it is interesting to see all the different ways God has for building families.

Bethany (pursuing international adoption, has two boys now) a great friend of mine

Alicia (pursuing private or agency adoption, no children yet) a friend since 1st grade!

Nikowa (not too familiar with her route, but has two boys now) a very new blogger friend

I hope they will visit each other as well!!!

200th Post and 100 Things About Me....

You are reading my 200th post since starting this blog in 2007!!!!! I can't believe what a journey it has been to start a blog. I have found it to be therapeutic as well as a place to keep memories. I keep saying I am going to print out all my posts and put them in a book of some sort so I can browse the pages and see all those everyday moments I recorded. I have been able to keep up with some "real-life" friends and have also made many "online" friends and have found that to be so much fun and a great source of support!
Most people do something neat or fun to commemorate their milestone posts, and I had thought about having a giveaway since I have never done that...but I plan on doing a giveaway on our Disney blog right before we leave (stay tuned in for that!) So, here we go...100 things about me...(this started out as 200 things about me, but I really ran out of ideas and was starting to feel pretty boastful and/or self-condemning throughout, lol)

1. I am turning 28 this year.
2. I love to watch old movies.
3. I was in the band in high school (played the flute).
4. I have never flown in an airplane.
5. Having kids completely changed my life!
6. I just dyed my hair for the first time with the reason being to cover gray!
7. I love to read and re-read Anne of Green Gables.
8. I spell words over and over in my head sometimes. (yeah, I'm nuts)
9. I am a total slob and I fight everyday against my natural tendencies.
10. I drive a Chrysler 300 and it is my most favorite car I have ever owned!
11. I heart karaoke
12. I am a Cake Mania expert.
13. I have super smelling powers. (seriously, I can smell anything a mile away!)
14. I love grocery shopping.
15. I really do not enjoy doing laundry.
16. I do not like animals.
17. I love spaghetti.
18. My first favorite music star was Randy Travis (ugh!)
19. I have never been further north than washington, dc, or further west than louisiana.
20. I can't swim.
21. I am a super fast reader.
22. I can't visit my local library 11 months out of the year due to library fines.
23. I love Beth Moore studies.
24. I have more friends now than I did in high school or college.
25. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education.
26. 18 days from now I will be on my way to Disney World!
27. I am almost an expert in planning Disney vacations!
28. I just learned to love baking a couple of years ago.
29. I am the current reigning Cookie Queen at our church for 2008!
30. I won several creative writing awards in college for poetry and short stories.
31. I have been married for 7 1/2 years.
32. My husband and I got engaged after dating for 4 months.
33. I really miss the chocolate lasagna at Olive Garden.
34. My imagination runs wild and drives me crazy most days!
35. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Phil 4:13 (hey not being funny, it's true!)
36. My name is the only one in our little family that does not have the same number of letters in their full names.
37. I would not like to go on a cruise to Jamaica, the idea sounds very UNfun to me.
38. I heart game shows!
39. I feel sentimental toward Kelly Clarkson because I watched her on American Idol when I was pregnant with Katie.
40. I have never seen Goonies.
41. I have never seen the movie, Carrie, and people ask me that a lot.
42. I do not snap correctly.
43. Fruity Pebbles is my favorite cereal.
44. One time I went to The Varsity and ate a slaw dog, a burger, an order of fries, an order of onion rings, and a frosted orange. The next day we found out I was pregnant!
45. I don't like cashews.
46. I slide on our wood floors in my socks.
47. I am 5 feet 4 inches, 14 inches shorter than my husband.
48. I love Christian fiction books.
49. I lost 30 pounds last year, and found 7 of them!
50. I love traveling.
51. I don't snore.
52. I grind my teeth.
53. I love fall.
54. I planned our wedding in a week.
55. I can't imagine many things more boring than fishing or bird-watching.
56. I love "crooner" music.
57. I have been in two roll-over car accidents, came out with scratches both times.
58. I had a pet cat when I was younger, named "Taco."
59. One time, I ate an ENTIRE box of Lucky Charms in one night. (preggo)
60. I love blogging.
61. I love Sweet Tomatoes.
62. I would rather be really cold than sweat a drop.
63. I used to ride with my windows down and the air conditioner on.
64. I can't properly fold sheets.
65. I can write backwards.
66. I painted our kitchen all by myself and I was really proud!
67. I despise cigarette smoke and really despise when it is forced upon me.
68. I have never mowed grass.
69. I love Christmastime.
70. I love dancing...I wish I had trained in it.
71. I love playing online "time-waster" games like TextTwist.
72. I am a dedicated rule-reader and rule-follower when playing board games.
73. I have only had one traffic ticket in my life (camera at a red light got me)
74. I have never been to a jail or prison, not even in the parking lot.
74. I worked for two years as a first grade teacher.
75. I love to check the mail.
76. I wish that I was a coupon queen.
77. I hate to pay for drinks in a restaurant.
78. I LOVE breakfast food for dinner.
79. I have been stuck in an elevator twice.
80. I have been to New Orleans.
81. I can't stand to know that someone is mad at me.
82. I did the SAT with a basic function calculator because I left mine at home. Skimmed through the math :)
83. I take my own snacks into the movie theater.
84. I do not watch The Olympics when it is on.
85. I DO watch The Office...hilarious!
86. I am so happy in my life!
87. I have never had a grandparent die.
88. I broke my elbow a few years ago by falling down our front steps.
89. My knee pops every time I bend it.
90. I paid a $60 library fine last year, to avoid being arrested!
91. I love homeschooling!
92. I wear my sunglasses at night (sorry, this is getting hard!)
93. I throw things away and am not sentimental about most things.
94. I love hotel freebies (soaps and shampoo)
95. If I don't have a response to what you say, I don't say anything...sorry.
96. My new favorite game of all time is Quelf.
97. The first time I visited the Waffle House, I was 13 or 14. It is one of my kids' favorite places!
98. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been to the beach. (5 times)
99. I can't seem to figure out how to make good homemade biscuits.
100. I am proud of myself as a mother.

One Lovely Blog Award

Today I was given my first blog award thanks to my new online friend and "real life" twin:
Carrie, from "The Story of My World."


I humbly and graciously accept my first award with many thanks to her...
I am greatly flattered!

AND, as doth suit a blog award winner, I will pass this "One Lovely Blog Award" along to five of my most favorite blogging friends. I visit them all frequently and think they are just wonderfully dedicated bloggers with lovely thoughts to share with the world.
I am passing this award along to:

Bethany, from Living, Learning, Laughing, Loving

Amy, from The Sullins' Spot

Nikowa, from Knowledge House Academy

Marcy, from Marcy and Scott

and last but in no particular order:

Karen, from Hallelujah Anyhow!

Pass it on friends!

20 Things to Do in Your Twenties...

I found this list on my cousin's blog..she found it in a magazine or something...Anyway, here goes. I will be turning 28 this year, so I have a couple of years to pick up the slack!

1. Surround yourself with wise mentors:
I believe I have some pretty wise people to go to when I need it...
2. Become a lifelong learner
I don't think I have totally closed myself off to learning...you learn something new every day when you have kids!
3. Travel
I LOVE to travel, but I haven't been very far away. It would be nice to go somewhere really cool like Niagara Falls or something before I'm 30.
4. Learn to listen and handle criticism well
Oh...well....not so much, it depends on if I asked for your opinion or not ha ha!
5. Develop an active, healthy lifestyle
Yes, I try, try, and trying again!
6. Read a classic
Oh I have definitely done this! Should do it more often!
7. Go on an overseas missions trip
I have not done this. Not sure it will get done before I am 30 (terrified of flying!)
8. Create a monthly budget
We have done this before, we should do it again and STICK with it!
9. Start a Roth IRA
Have not.
10. Buy a used car
We currently have a used car.
11. Understand basic investment principles
I learned a lot in our Dave Ramsey class...not sure if it stuck but I know more than I did!
12.Go to a concert
I have not done this since I was in high school, so I think it is time to do it again before 30 hits!
13. Learn a foreign language
Probably not gonna happen, I am starting to get depressed about this list! I know ( a very little!) conversational spanish and can read it okay...
14. Start a blog
I think I got that one down!!!!! :)
15. Get your college degree
Done.
16. Pay off credit cards
Oh how we need to do this!!!
17. Stay in a hotel that costs over $200 a night
Yes...in Nashville for our 5th anniversary and recently on my free Disney trip. COMFY beds!!! Ah!
18. Read the Bible cover to cover
Probably have not...especially not in that order.
19. Explore your family of origin issues (positive and negative) and pursue growth
I have kind of done that. I know the things I don't want to continue as a family tradition! ha ha!
20. Figure out the type of person you want to marry ......
I better have done that one, since I have been married for 7 years I guess I did! ha!

Looking back over the list, I still have many things I "should" do in the next few years. We'll see! I just thought it was a fun list! What about you? Is 30 swiftly approaching? :) If it has passed, did you do everything on this list?

Blog Highlight!

I just discovered through my visitor tracking at the left, that a very old friend of mine has just joined blogland!!! I never realized that she was a reader of my blog...though I know I had sent her a link a while back!

Alicia and I met in the first grade and have off and on through the years kept in touch. She has just started a blog to keep their friends and family informed throughout the adoption process that they will be heading through in the coming days and months.

Please visit my friend and make her feel welcome to blogland, and leave her a comment! We bloggers all know how getting comments makes you feel great and I am sure a prayer for her and her husband while you visit would be much appreciated as well!!

http://growinginaliciasheart.blogspot.com/

Double Digit Countdown!

We are now in the double digit countdown for our Disney trip! I updated our vacation blog with more details:

www.thompsonsgotodisney.blogspot.com

My first blog!

Welcome to my blog! Woo hoo! I have a blog through a homeschooling website, but I thought maybe I would give the "outside world" a chance to read my wondersome and frightfully entertaining thoughts, ponderings, and musings. You will want to check back at LEAST every other day because your life will surely be enhanced by your visits to my blog! I guarantee that you will experience such delight and amusement upon each visit that I will refund your price of admission 4 fold each time you are dissapointed! You can't get an offer like that on anyone else's blog, for sure. I always have something I can say about pretty much anything, so comment away and let the fun begin! Check back soon for more greatness in blogging!