My Happy List

I missed last weeks HAPPY List.

I am sorry about that but I was HAPPY to see that the people who usually link up their lists STILL made their HAPPY Lists.

That. Is. Awesome.

VIVA the HAPPY List movement!

Jump on board, it is a great way to START or END the week; on a HAPPY List note!

Before I REALLY get into it I have to tell you about this AWESOME website City Deals GO. Sign up now. There are tons of gift cards to fantastic places for REALLY fantastic deals. We are big on purchasing gift cards. We always have a few on hand for a last minute gift (or super cool giveaway on here on Dandelion Wishes) so getting MORE for our money is pretty much awesome and a GREAT deal makes me very HAPPY...

I got TWO surprise packages in the mail recently.

I BIG red puffy heart L-O-V-E Good Mail. I love sending it (I send it A Lot)! But I also love being on the receiving end of it, which doesn't happen very often.

Mary from My Family...My World sent me this DARLING little sign. Seriously I must talk about my love for a BIG delicious, Diet Pepsi, from a fountain over ice balls in a cup with a lid and a straw A LOT. She said she saw this and thought of me and decided i HAD to have it. She is right. I am going to add a little ribbon to it and hang it byt the garage door, so that Big Daddy sees it EVERY TIME he leaves the house. Tee hee...cuz really, it tastes better when he delivers it.
Thanks Mary...I love it, what a fun surprise!!

Then the other day I got this surprise package from the UK. Kate from Two men, a cat and me! Look at all that loot...a darling notebook, a saucy novel, a body mask and 2 facial masks, some CUTE earrings, a 4 Non Blondes CD, some really interesting candy (J was sooo excited about candy from the UK), and one more thing...do you see it? Are you shocked?

J saw the BODY jewelry and said, "Uh, please don't tell me you have your belly button pierced!"

I almost died laughing. That would be a resounding NO...we thought the body jewelry was random and awesome. I kind of like thinking Katie thinks I am cool enough for such things.

I guess I do come off as a real bad ass huh?

No?

OK whatever.

ANYWAY...Thanks Kate and Mary, Good Mail makes me HAPPY!

Big Daddy shampooed our carpets this weekend. Clean carpets make me VERY HAPPY!!

Our puppy Coco is finally potty trained...woo hoo!! No poop or pee on the carpet makes me HAPPY too!

We saw RED last weekend...have you seen it yet? Sooooo GOOD!! It makes me HAPPY going to a movie that I know Big Daddy is enjoying too. He is always so good about going to whatever movie I choose, knowing that he REALLY is enjoying it is awesome.

I am HAPPY to report that J loves High School!! I mean really loves it. This makes US all very Happy. She is doing well socially and had a small group of friends that she hangs out with and they all seem to be good girls. She loved Homecoming week and is just so excited about the whole HS experience. Her grades have been really pretty good; mostly As and Bs with a few Cs. She is HAPPY, we are THRILLED.

I am super HAPPY we are headed over the hill to Hollister for Halloween. There will be trunk or treat at the church on Saturday. I love time with family.

So what's on YOUR Happy List this week?

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Now a little bloggy business....

We have HAPPILY featured 4 Queens on Dandelion Wishes. I have almost 30 Queens waiting for their crowning day. I would be happier about this weekly feature if more people (like the waiting Queens) came by the blog more and commented, especially on the Queen for the Day posts. In my heart of hearts the whole reason for the Queen for the Day feature on my blog is to connect people, to celebrate amazing women, and to broaden your bloggy horizon. So I would really appreciate the support. If you have turned in a Queen for the Day form please know that you will be featured according to your activity on this blog (especially on the QFTD posts)...it is the only thing that seems fair to me. Also Queen for the Day is now moving to Thursdays, starting next week.

Friday Confessional

My big confession this week...

I MIGHT be addicted to adding speech bubbles and text to pictures of Big Daddy.

Purely for my own amusement. Well, and for YOUR amusement too...of course.

He really is a good sport about it. He even has a Facebook album dedicated to all of the "comic strips" I have created.

Cuz he is super awesome like that.

And he is SEXY...see?

One day he came home with this HUGE burrito.

I said, "Whoa, that is like the size of the puppy!"

He disagreed.

Then he held Coco in one hand and his massive burrito in the other.

They weighed the same.

Big Daddy takes our nephews to the skate park a lot each Summer. He thinks because he WATCHES them skate and do tricks that he can do them too.

Hmm...what do you think?!


Want to see more Confessions? Maybe make a few of your own and link up? Click the button below!!

SUHWEEET!!

My friend Sami over at Symmetry in Motion has this SUPER fun contest each month you can read more about it HERE and HERE and you may decide you want to join in.

Basically Sami picks a different candy at the beginning of each month as inspiration for bloggers to create something and then make a post about what they created and link it up to win something awesome. Fun Right?!

This month's candy is CANDY CORN, of course.

I already WON Sami's awesome Quince Quote contest this month and I don't want to get greedy.

So I decided I would just let YOU all know about the contest (you have until midnight 10/31 to enter) AND feature some darling Candy Corn inspired creations I found while blog jogging.

You. Are. Welcome.

#1 Candy Corn Mini Trifles

from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

#2 Candy Corn Topiaries

from Crafty Sisters

#3 Candy Corn CUPCAKES

from Memoirs of the shoe obsessed

#4 Simple, Inexpensive and CUTE!

from Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM

#5 CANDY corn burlap frame

from Craft-O-Maniac

#6 Candy Corn Wreath

from The Heaps

#7 Candy Corn Bunting

from Tatertots and Jello

#8 Candy Corn Door Hanging

from Sew Totally Smitten

#9 Candy Corn Popsicles

from The Idea Room

#10 Candy Corn Bark

from My Baking Addiction

Total Candy Corn Cuteness right? If you were featured feel free to grab my button to brag about it!
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Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

{one} have you ever seen a ghost?

Yes. Last year when I was really sick i saw and felt Big Daddy's Dad. I never felt alone in the house and one day I was coming down the hallway and I saw him leaning up against an armoire smiling at our Christmas tree in the front window, then he was gone. When I told my mother in law about seeing him she smiled and laughed as she explained that they had the same disagreement every year about where the tree should be. He always wanted it in the big front window and she always wanted it in the back of the house where she could lay on the couch and see it. They decided o 2 trees. But i think he was smiling cuz I put the tree in the "right" spot.

{two} when was the last time you dressed up for Halloween?

It's been a loooong time. I think I was a witch the last time. It was an easy costume for me...i already had my broom. ;)

{three} what’s your favorite candy?

RED VINES...the only candy i can eat as much of as I want and it does not affect my blood sugar...stupid diabetes.

{four} did you have a favorite costume growing up?

I shared this pic a few weeks ago, but here it is again...try to see past all the gold and enjoy my Little Bo Peep costume. I know, it's adorable.

{five} did you carve pumpkins this year?

Nope, not this year...or last year. Just never got around to it.

{six} what’s your favorite scary movie?

I am not a big scary movie person but I liked all of the Saw movies because if the mental game involved.

{seven} haunted houses or corn mazes?

Haunted houses...it's been a while since I have been to a good one. My daddy use to do the one at our Elementary School every year and they were awesome...like seriously awesome.

{eight} are you superstitious?

Maybe just a little bit...like just enough to knock on wood and junk.

{nine} have you ever owned a black cat?

No. Our neighbors had one that attacked my baby sister Meg...i think she started calling it Boo Boo Kitty. Or was that the name of Shirley's cat?

{ten} what are you plans for this coming Halloween?

We are heading over the hill to Hollister to celebrate with the our niece and nephews, good times.

Queen for the Day...MiMi

Introducing Her Royal Highness...


MiMi is the author of the blog Living In France. She is one of my favorite bloggers because she makes me laugh. Making me laugh is kind of a prerequisite for some bloggy reading for me. Make me laugh and I will come back for more. She is also a mommy blogger and shares funny, darling and heartwarming stories about her adorable boys.

MiMi did a hilarious and sarcastic post about the URBAN DICTIONARY that will not only leave you laughing it will also have you looking up your own name in all of it's ghetto fabulousness.

She most def had me laughing AND thinking in this little post of THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM...really, why can't we smell our own breath?

In this post MiMi wants to know, do YOU have a HSBM? The comments are as awesome as the post. I love when a good post sparks "comment conversation", don't you?

I know you are all DYING to get over to Living In France and read more about Queen MiMi...but before you do, check out her answers to some of Mamarazzi's Questions.

How did your parents choose your name?
Actually, when my mom was pregnant with me, they didn't have ultrasounds. You know...back in the 70's and all. (shreek! shut it, young'uns.) So the Dr. told my parents that I was gonna be a boy. My name was going to be Christopher Lee. Sometime right before I was born my dad had a dream that I was a little girl with lots of brown hair and my name was Macey. NOT like the store. That had nothing to do with it at all. In his dream I talked a lot. Ha! When I was born I was, in fact, a girl (duh), and had lots of brown hair. Hence, my name. Macey Leigh.
Pretty freakin' adorable little story, huh?
I joined the family as the second born girl...my older sister was supposed to be a boy, also! Jeffrey became Jennifer. To top it off, my baby brother was supposed to be a girl...those Dr's were so smart! So Amanda became Joe.

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
Hmmm....this is a good one! I guess I would be on Little Bill. You know. The cartoon? Yeah. I don't know why, but for some reason I always thought it would be fun to be Little Bill.
Or! Maybe Roseanne. Before she got all weird. I'd be the neighbor who she was best friends with who was better at everything compared to Roseanne. And I'd be funny and usurp her from her position of Funniest Housewife Ever. <--- wow. sounds like i've put more thought into that than i meant to. i swear i just came up with it. **pinky swears** Let's see. Or I'd be on Vampire Diaries so that I could be cute. Everyone on that show is cute! 'Specially Damon....**sighs** That's it! I'd be on VD and I'd kick Elena's butt and run away with the hottie vamp!

What are your bloggy peeves?

Um...well, I have quite a few. Blogs that consistently put really long nonsensical posts out there. Bloggers who think they are the best writer ever and everyone should take them seriously and no jokes allowed...blogs that BLARE music, especially fight songs for their Alma Mater...um...bloggers who NEVER reply to comments. Gloggers who have "no reply comment blogger" or whatever that is so that you can't reply when they ask you a question in your comments. Wow. I probably alienated most of my readers, didn't I? Not that the do that stuff, but that I'm so judgy about it.

If you had to only eat three things for the rest of your life, day in and day out, what would they be?

Oh, this is easy. Pizza. Cold Stone. Donuts. What? Why yes, yes I am a 12 year old boy! And with that diet I'd probably not have a very long life to live!

What is your favorite children's book?

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!! Her books were full of fun stories that tought some sort of moral. Wait.

You can be Queen for the Day on Dandelion Wishes. Have your blog features and get the Royal recognition you deserve! Just fill out the Queen for the Day form found under my Contact Me tab....AND be sure to go and visit today's Queen and leave a thoughtful comment.

Hoo Are You? #4

Linking up with Leslie over at Night Owl Crafting for another Hoo Are You? Tuesday.

1. How many times a year do you get your hair cut?
Umm...well, if you have been reading this blog for any length of time you know my luck with hairstylists. Remember when I got the "Rachel" and it was NOT 1995, and I did NOT ask for it. And that was NOTHING compared to this HORRIBLE nightmare. They both made for good blog fodder, but really, I just wanted a good hair cut.

2. Where is the worst place to be stuck waiting?

DMV, hands down. There are so many gross people at the DMV it's like people who haven't showered for a week think, "Hmm I stink, I think I will go hang out at the DMV and gross people out." Ew!

3. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

I am not a HUGE pizza fan but there are times when I really want it. From Pizza Hut with deep dish buttery crust, light sauce, ham, pineapple and artichoke hearts. Mmm, now I want pizza.

4. What's your favorite thing about where you live?

My house and that my husband and kid live here with me. That's it. Well that and Barbour's, they have the BEST Diet Pepsi, from a fountain, over awesome ice balls, in a cup with a lid and a straw. Yeah, that's really it. If it weren't for Barbour's and my family, living here would really suck. As soon as J graduates from High School we are so outta here.

5. What's your favorite fruit? Veggie?

Fruits: I love me some red seedless grapes and watermelon...oh and apricots.

Veggies: asparagas and broccoli...mmm and I love a BIG salad with garbonzo and kidney beans, iceburg, spinach, carrots, celery...now I want a salad.

TWO food questions, that ain't right!

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On Counting Blessings...

Well the weekend came and went and I didn't make and post My Happy List...sorry about that, I know there are a few of you who link up and it wasn't my intention to bail on ya.

Fear not tho, I AM Happy..even if I don't have a list here proving it. Also, I will do my best not to be a flaky hostess again.

Did anyone catch today's Oprah? The Worst Day of Their Lives and the Miraculous Twist of Fate. Wow, what a tear jerker. And what a beautiful reminder that God is good, that life happens FAST and that everything can change in an instant.

If you missed it, try and catch it on line...then make sure you hug your kids a little tighter.

OH and if you complain about your kids on your Facebook "status updates", do me a favor and knock that crap off. If you feel the urge, STOP, then count your blessings instead.

OK?

Thanks.

Now here are some kids that I BIG red puffy heart L-O-V-E...I count them as blessings in my life EVERYDAY!

And of course we count the blessings of the children who we hope to add to our family someday too!!

Master Bathroom Remodel...done, almost.

Remember over 2 months ago when we began our master bathroom remodel?

I TOTALLY forgot to take before pictures. So just pick any of these HIDEOUS bathrooms I found on Google Images (sorry if any of them are yours) and imagine it looked like that, only uglier.


The linoleum picture is pretty close to the actual linoleum that was in there...it was a 40 yr old bathroom with original fixtures and it was gross.

If you were following me on Facebook you know the whole contactor situation was a complete nightmare and a project that should have taken a week lasted over a month.

They actually didn't give us what we asked for so they had to come back and practically start over.

The final result still has a few things that I need to change. Needless to say we will NOT be using these guys again when we (hopefully) remodel the Kitchen next year.



Things I LOVE:
* The sink and shower fixtures...I adore the antique brown, so pretty!
* The white counter top with the double sinks...we had one looooong countertop that covered the toilet tank and one sink before.
* The dark espresso wood vanity...perfection.
* The tile...love the tiled shower walls to ceiling and I love that they used the tile as baseboards.
* The bigger shower...It is about a foot deeper than before and I love the extra space.
* The clear glass shower door...sure I need to clean it more often but I love looking in to see the tile, that I love.
* The creamy caramel paint color.

Things I am NOT loving:
* The messy paint job...seriously, how hard is it to paint?
* The crap job they did with some of the grouting, not sure how I am going to fix that, I guess scrape it.
* The dusty mess they left the vanity in...it was so gross, I have a hard time believing it wasn't a floor model somewhere.
* They installed the vanity BEFORE the tile, so there is cut outs around the legs of the vanity and it has an open bottom...so I can see it. Lazy.
* The toilet is closer to the wall than before...no one believes me. But I was never able to rest my elbow on the toilet paper roll while using the potty before soooo....it is also not flush with the floor so it wiggles and wobbles. Sexy.
* The fact that it took so long, was a couple thousand dollars more expensive than the bid and is still not perfect.

Things I STILL need to do:
* Decorate...we need new everything. Bathmats, towels, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, garbage can...etc.
* I would love a little set of shelves/cabinet to go between the toilet for TP, feminine junk and candles, etc.
* Touch up paint.
* Move either the toilet paper holder or the towel bar. They conflict in space...idiots.

Things that went wrong during the remodel:

* They installed WRONG shower...we asked for more space, in the shower by installing wall panels and a larger shower pan. They decided to "upgrade" us by installing a fiberglass prefab shower cutting the space by 2 inches all the way around...ummm NOT bigger. They agreed to come back and "fix" it by tiling the entire shower to create a bigger space. Costing $1800 more.

* An extra $400 when they "fixed" a corroded valve that ended up being faulty and we lost hot water in our shower. Their solution? "Just turn the water heater up". We called out a plumber who took one look at the valve, said it was a faulty stem and we relayed the info back to our contractor who fixed it, again. The plumber said $400 was a HUGE overcharge AND that telling us to "turn up our water heater" was very dangerous. Plumber's visit $75...we had him fix something in J's bathroom while he was out.

* Installing the vanity BEFORE the tile was laid...so stupid.

* They painted the ceilings the same color as the walls, it looked like a cave in there, so they had to repaint the celings white.

* The first shower door they installed SHATTERED while Big Daddy was taking a shower. He heard a loud pop and it broke from the middle out. We were willing to accept that it was some sort of faulty glass or whatever manufacture defect. "Boss Jimmy" played it off like Big Daddy was dancing around in the shower like a big ape and must have broke it. "But not to worry because with all the money they spend at Home Depot they were sure to get a refund." Like he has some special "juice card" with Home Depot and was doing us a HUGE favor...dumbass. I could have returned it without a receipt and Home Depot would have let me exchange it...cuz it's HOME DEPOT.

* A million excuses, making me feel like I was being ridiculous for asking what was being paid for.

* Getting an earful as I overheard the "Boss Jimmy" chewing out his "Worker Gary" for the many things that went wrong during the process and how he has had to "cover for him with the client" (aka...all the times he told me I was wrong and made me seem ridiculous) for all of his mistakes....including the whole hot water issue.

* Getting an earful from "Worker Gary" that "Boss Jimmy" "isn't the easiest guy to work with" and that "we aren't the first unhappy customers". Yep, it appears the guy has "priors".

NEXT time we hire a contractor we will ask for a list of references...and we will call all of them.

I am super grateful to have a pretty, working bathroom and that the nightmare of working with these contractors is over.

And if you live in the central valley I would think twice before using Jimmy Hendricks Construction...just sayin'. I have a feeling they do a lot of "one time jobs" and not a whole lot of repeat clients.

Queen for the Day...Aubrey S.

Introducing her Royal Highness...

photo credit

Aubrey is the author of the blog High-Heeled Love and she is also a newlywed. Here she is with her husband who she calls "The Mister" on her blog. Adorable.

photo credit

Aubrey started her blog when she first became engaged, at the request of The Mister. He thought it would be a good place for them to document all of their wedding preparations. I know, it is practically unheard of to have your man actually suggest blogging. I wonder if The Mister ever regrets his suggestion?

Here Aubrey talks about her plans for a RING WARMING ceremony. Very sweet!

We all love a little AWARD LOVE and often doing the meme that comes along with the award can spark some great posts. Aubrey talks about where she was 10 years ago and where she wants to be 10 years from now. What a great intro to who this awesome girl is!

In addition to participating in Mamarazzi's Happy List link party each week she also participates in a GRATEFUL SATURDAY; a link party that encourages reflection and self improvement.

I know you are dying to get over to High-Heeled Love and leave some support in the way of comments. But check out Aubrey's answers to some of Mamarazzi's questions before you go.

How did your parents choose your name?
I was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread. Every other female Aubrey that I've met around my age was named for the same song, but Aubrey is actually a guy's name from the 1930s.

What are your bloggy peeves?
I cannot read blogs where the writer doesn't use paragraphs; a big block of text is too overwhelming to focus on. I also really don't like when some doesn't know the difference between there, their and they're or two, to and too. (Sorry, I was a journalism minor; it matters to me.)

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
It would be cool to be on One Tree Hill, especially if I could come home with a closet full of clothes designed by Brooke Davis. I'd love to be on Grey's Anatomy, but too many of the characters die--that would be too risky for me.

What is your favorite children's book?
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

You can be Queen for the Day on Dandelion Wishes. Have your blog features and get the Royal recognition you deserve! Just fill out the Queen for the Day form found under my Contact Me tab....AND be sure to go and visit today's Queen and leave a thoughtful comment.

My Happy List

Time for this week's Happy List...

There is so much going on around the blogsphere that I am pretty HAPPY about.

First of all I got a TON of email along with the comments about my Friday Confessional post. I had no idea that my sahring of embarassing stories would make my readers so HAPPY.

Good news, I will be participating in Friday Confessional every week. Sadly there is WAY more to share. Lucky YOU!

My good Friend Sami from Symmetry In Motion had a little bloggy design drama (I feel so bad about this) and she spent a few minutes talking about it before she decided to turn her frown upside down by hosting her AWESOME Quince Quote Contest.

I have tried win her Quince Quote Contest before but could never guess the movie quote right but THIS time I totally had it. I think you should go over and try and guess the movie and the quote too..but no cheating off of me since my answers are already there...and I want to WIN!

I am on a HAPPY whole wheat pasta kick right now. Have you tried the Eating Right Brand of whole grain pastas? SOOO good. AND lots of fiber...and fiber cancels out carbs...so it is totally a good healthy and delicious choice.

I have been having SO. Much. Fun. Playing on picnik.com creating spooooktacular creations out of some pictures. The creeeeeepy things you can do to your photos is AWESOME! That makes me HAPPY! Have you played on picnik.com before? Totally worth paying for the premium membership.

Look what I did here....oooooh skeeeeeeeery!

Big Daddy didn't even know what hit him...

My brother Scotty won these fake HOT PINK fangs at an arcade when we all got together last month in St. George for my Grandma's funeral. I added the rest of the goodness.

OH, I almost forgot....The Plentiful Pantry contacted me last week about trying out some of their products. The sent me this....Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, Pumpkin Cobbler and Chicken and Dumplings.

I ADORE the packaging. Something about it makes me very HAPPY. I am really looking forward to cooking with Jordan this weekend. I can't wait to tell you how they all turned out AND tell you what they are offering my readers...oh yeah. there is something in this for y'all too!

And speaking of things for my readers....I announced the winner of the Darling Etsy Halloween Headband over on that post! Giving away cute things on my blog makes me very HAPPY! A big thank you to Barri from the Esty shop Art By Barri for donating the cuteness.

So what's on YOUR Happy List this week?

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