happy birthday cotton!

our sweet cotton is 5 today.  she has officially passed us in age as she is now 35 in human years.  not that you could tell, though.  she's still spunky and sassy and as smart as ever.  she has lots of energy but knows when to calm it all down.  she still loves to "kiss" everyone and thinks she is the boss of the house.  i am so thankful we picked her out of the litter.  we love you cotton!

the day we picked out our sweet, chubby puppy

such an itty bitty baby

she loves the water...

and she loves the snow...

and she loves playing outside.

and if you really know cotton, you know she loves laying like this.

love this.

love all of the art from this etsy site.  check it out if you love it, too.  the wheatfield

"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."

that is a quote from truvy in "steel magnolias."  love that movie.

we've been crying and laughing this week here.  jay's father, larry, died today from a heart attack.  he had the attack on saturday.  he was driving.  people saw him veer into a ditch and got him out of the car, called 911, and started cpr.  the ems workers had a heart rhythm by the time he got to the hospital.  they treated him with a new hypothermia protocol.  but as they re-warmed him and began the tests that determine brain function.  but his responses were negative.

larry was a giving man.  he was always willing to give of his time and talents to help others.  even to the extent of being an organ donor.  those tests were being performed today and we will know soon if he is a candidate for donation and what, if anything, that they can harvest.  how great would it be for him to save more lives just by making a simple decision at the dmv?

so we've been reminiscing with family.  he wouldn't want us to be sad and mopey.  that wasn't larry.  he lived his life to the fullest.  he travelled often and lived a life most people dream of (well, if they love to travel).  he has a family who loves him and so many friends it is overwhelming.

we will truly truly miss him.  he was 56 years old.  much too young to call this life over.  but what a great life it was.

birthday princess.

my mom sent some pictures of my niece's birthday "party" with my family.  she turned 4 on january 30th.  i cannot believe how big she is getting.  i hope to see her this spring whenever we get to visit back in nashville.  anyway, here are some pictures of my sweet little niece.

 playing with legos with her mimi (my mom)

 her cute flower cake and the satisfaction of blowing out her candles

 showing off her new (Easter) dress from her (great) "Grandma" (who is behind my brother)

 she got a new leapfrog

sweet creations.

well, it's pictures of the same hat, but i think it's adorable.  if i say so myself.

weight watchers- weeks 1 & 2

no, i didn't mean to skip either of these.  i have been afflicted with the worst stomach virus ever.  okay.  probably not really, but it's been pretty horrific.  oh, and jay's had it too.  happy valentine's day, honey.  we get to disinfect our house together.  lovely.

anyway...

i have lost a total of 5.2 lbs in two weeks.  yeah!  now, most of what i lost the last week was not by any plans of mine.  and at the end of week one i sprained/strained one of my knees.  nice.  so i actually expect to gain weight next week.  maybe.  it wouldn't be a bad thing.  i am definitely going to have to eat what i can tolerate for the next few days.

anyway...

that's where we stand on the weight loss.  i hope it can continue and that it isn't by the same means as this last week.

for the love of dave

february 6th marked dave's 10th "adoption" birthday.  it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  dave has lived in  4 apartments, 1 condo, and now a house.  he's seen 2 other cats come and go and 1 dog come and go and well, he's stuck with these last two.  (he loves cotton and barley- as evidenced by two of the pics below.)  he's lost a tiny tiny bit of his spunk, but for the most part, he still has lots of energy.  he still loves lounging in the sun and meowing when the water bowl is getting empty.  (he won't drink from a small one.  he has to drink from the 7.5 qt bowl the dogs drink out of.)  he's still sweet and loving and an all around frisky little furball.

 (yes, in the two pics with the dogs, he had been recently shaved.)

GO RED!

today is national wear red day.  

why?

heart disease is the #1 killer of women- greater than all of the cancers combined.  

women are less likely to go to the doctor when experiencing chest pain.

women's symptoms of heart disease and heart attacks often manifest themselves differently than men's symptoms.

help spread the word and awareness.  change your clothes and wear RED today.  

a very merry birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY!

today is our niece's 4th birthday.  it seems hard to believe she's already 4.  we don't see her often and i hate that, but i am glad we get to keep up with her in pictures.

haley, courtney, and lindsey (haley and lindsey are sisters and my first cousins)

resolution revolution.

i really hate making new years resolutions.  i always end up breaking them at some point in some form or fashion over the winter months.  i find it hard to keep resolutions when it's so cold and dreary outside.  (well, except for today.  it's sunny and 60.  yes.  60 degrees!)  now, where was i?

oh, right.  resolutions.  i think sometimes we set ourselves up for failure.  even when trying to make the goal easily attainable it is sometimes still a bit unrealistic.  for example, "i will only eat healthy foods."  okay?  who doesn't love a piece of chocolate cake every now and then?  or a plateful of cheese enchiladas.  mmm... mouth-watering isn't it?  you can't deny yourself of all your cravings.  not all of the time, anyway.

i have again been watching The Biggest Loser on NBC.  i have again been saying to myself, "if these grossly obese people can work out and eat right then why can't i?" as i sit and snack on unhealthy foods and tell myself that i'll workout tomorrow.   and when i put on my favorite pants, which are usually my "fat pants" and they fit... well, it made me want to be on the biggest loser ranch with bob and jillian.  well, maybe for just a day.  and certainly to get a cooking lesson from curtis stone.  he's just as yummy as the food he makes.

my problem?  i love food.  i love my favorite foods- most anything mexican, pizza, macaroni and cheese... and you know what?  i don't have to give them up.  i just have to learn newer, healthier ways to make them.  

i am re-joining Weight Watchers.  actually, i rejoined yesterday.  jay has rejoined, too.  i am gathering friends on facebook, and in my town, who are also doing WW or just trying to get fit and we plan to form an "encouragement" group.  it's hard to lose weight alone.  my problem is maintaining my healthy weight once i've lost it.  

my new weight loss journey isn't just a resolution.  it's a revolution.  i plan to make healthy changes and stick with them.  not for a few months this time.  but for good.  and i know that isn't something i can accomplish in a month.  it's going to take awhile.  and i know i can't do it alone.  i want to know i have support from my friends who are also doing the same thing.  and  i want to support my friends in their journeys too.  my weekly weigh-in day is friday.  friday is the only day i have off every week.  so, every friday i will post my weigh-in results.  hopefully they will be all negatives, but we'll see.  i also measured my waist, arms, legs, hips, etc so i can also watch the changes in these as well.  i may post the changes every 2-4 weeks of those, too.  :)

are any of you out there doing the same?  feeling the same?  need some encouraging words?  don't be shy.  leave a comment!!!  

praying for joanne.

joanne heim is a 38-year-old wife, mother of 2 daughters, a writer, a friend.

on january 11th she had a stroke.  she was found by her school-age daughters.  unfortunately she has had serious complications.  she has suffered severe swelling in her brain.  she is ventilated and sedated to the point of having little to no brain activity.  this is how her doctors want it, though they are going to try to start waking her soon.

if you click the "button" (aka her picture on the right) it will take you to her blog and you can read updates her husband, toben, is writing.

(no, i do not know her.  in fact, i had not heard of her until i was reading another blog asking for prayers for her.  please join me in praying for joanne.)

♥ barley. ♥

it's that time of year again.  doggie birthdays!  

barley's comes around first. she was born on january 15th 2007.  she is now 4.  

the girls actually spent the weekend at At Play with Sparky.  they love "sparky's."  their ears perk up with the mention of the name.

today they are still thoroughly worn out.  and they are clean after having baths before coming home.  tired + clean dogs = a great combination.

  

yes, i still make the dogs wear a party hat every year.  they seem to be getting a bit used to it by this point.  i think barley partied too hard this weekend, though...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BARLEY!  

we ♥ you!

the post where i talk about more snow.

yes.  more snow.  although, i think a lot of you also had snow this time around.  and despite the warmer temperatures and sunshine over the weekend, we still have snow on the ground.

and i do hate the old wives' tale.  you know the one... "snow that remains on the ground is just waiting for the next snow."  have you ever heard it?  it seems, most unfortunately, to be true around here.  i am ready for more sunshine but it seems that may not happen until the weekend.  when i work.  so i will get to enjoy it through the windows.  sort of like the way i enjoyed the snow last monday.

 i pulled out the camera and cotton thought she needed her picture taken too.  we enjoyed the warm fire as we watched the snow fall.  all.  day.

(p.s.  barley says it's almost her birthday!)

we, of course, had to measure the snow.  jay tried to get an area that wasn't so vulnerable to the wind to measure the amount so he chose the grill.  we pulled out the handy "buy the foot" macy*s ruler from my high school days.  (we sold these to raise money for our trips to NYC when we were in the macy*s thanksgiving day parade.)

so at that point it measured about 6 inches.  we had about 7 inches by the end of the day.  yep.  we did take the dogs out to play but we didn't get any pictures of them playing.  hope you enjoyed your snow.  well, if you got any.  ☺

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

(*the caption is to quote my dad last night.  don't ask what i said in response!  or do.  i might tell you.)

all of those who wanted a white Christmas got their wish alright.  i think the snow may have finally stopped- for now.

i worked on Christmas (and Jay worked a few hours at his job, too) and was happy that the snow didn't start until after i drove in (Jay wasn't so lucky).  however, they activated our severe winter storm policy and those of us at work that were also scheduled today had to stay overnight.  those who weren't there yet and were scheduled to work today also had to come in last night if they didn't think they could make it this morning.  did you follow that?  but we did get paid to sleep overnight and we did get real beds to sleep in and a couple of free meals so the only complaint is that i/we didn't sleep well at all and it was Christmas.  and we didn't get to enjoy the snow except what it looked like through the windows (which i must admit is beautiful).  but we were able to send almost all of our Christmas Eve babies, and some a day or two older, home today and extra staff were allowed to leave too so after 34 hours i was able to come home.  just in time for sunset...

yes i took them from inside.  it's much too cold to stand outside for long!  and i didn't have any plans to go outside but the animals decided they needed to, ahem, "go" so we switched gears and went to the front of the house and they decided it was time to play so i quickly bundled up and snapped a few pictures of our blowing snow.  (yeah, who needs a snow blower when the winds are forecast to blow with gusts up to 50-60mph?)

 dashing

 through

the

snow

cotton decided she needed to eat some snow!

jay and i had our Christmas on Christmas Eve.  he totally had me fooled about my gift.  i have been wanting a pandora bracelet and he had me going that no one had them in town and all the jewelry stores were sold out and made me make a new list just a few days ago of things that i might like.  little did i know my present was hiding in the Christmas tree!  jay got some things on his list he wanted and some things that weren't on his list that he also liked just as well.  cotton, barley, and dave each got a new stuffed and squeaky (or chirping!) toy and are quite pleased.  i have pictures of the pets and toys but our internet is running quite slowly so they will have to wait for later.  (the snow pics took an hour to upload.)

we hope you and yours had a lovely and white Christmas.  you know, if you like snow and all.  

a Christmas story.

Luke 2:8-20 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

wordless wednesday.

evergreen.

it's a girl!

Maggie Danielle Stooksbury

Born December 4th @ 8:12pm

7 lbs 8.4 oz    18 inches

Proud Parents:  Mark and Rachel

Please keep them in your prayers.  Rachel was re-hospitalized with a uterine infection and just got back home yesterday (Wednesday) and Maggie is allergic to lactose and Rachel is having to cut all dairy out of her diet.  (Thanks for the prayers in advance.)  I can't wait to meet this little sweetie!