Dear Ms. Rosemary,

Hi Ms. Rosemary! It has taken me a long time to write this note to you... I just wish I would have written it a lot sooner. I know so many people miss you dearly and think about you everyday, I am no different. As the days pass I am reminded in many ways how you made an impact on my life. I told the story to Danielle about how you were the first person I can remember that would wear gloves when you washed dishes. I thought it was so classy and now I can't even imagine not wearing them. I know it's simple, but it is the simple, everyday things that make me think of you. You were always so supportive of things I would get into just like when I started posting pictures on Facebook of my cake pops. I remember you posted, "I think you got something here!" Thank you for the encouragement. Thank you for being one my mama's good friends. Thank you for being a wonderful mother to my best friend Danielle. And thank you for always reminding me to "smile". I am blessed that you were a part of my life and the countless memories. I can go on and on about so many things, but I just wanted to say thank you, I miss you and I love you!

Shannon

I am having an affair...

Yes, it is time for me to confess, I cannot keep this a secret any longer. I am deeply and utterly involved with...PINTEREST! Ya'll can I just tell you this is what I have been looking for my entire crafter's life and I didn't even know it. My inner "Martha Stewart" is bubbling over. Pinterest satisfies the crafter, baker, cook, organizer, and teacher being I have inside of me. Not a day goes by that I don't seek, pin, and try. When I was pinning one time I actually saw where someone created a "Pinned it, tried it" board. I thought that is it. YES! So I have a board called, "Pinned it, Made it" board too. I have tried to keep up with everything I have tried on Pinterest, but I think I need to go back and update my board. I usually have a status update on Facebook of things that I have tried, but I was thinking, maybe I should just share this information right here on my blog!

If you are interested in "following me on Pinterest" I have added the button to my page. If you start to follow me, check out my "Pinned it, Made it" board. But I will start to post my pinterest attempts as well.

Won't you come and pin with me?

40 before FORTY!

I am 36 years old. There, I said it. As much as I would like to think I am cool about gracefully getting older, I am not. Just trying to be authentic (as Marsha would say...). But it was when I was taking a road trip (in April) with the Cheerios and my childhood friend Kimmie to see another childhood friend and bestie, Danielle, that I realized I need to live! I may have mentioned in a previous post (or maybe not), that the end of 2011 was devastating. So many loved ones lost and I really started to look at my life. Then, there was this episode of "The Middle". I LOVE this show! Anyway, this episode was about the family attending a "different" church. It was an African-American church (still funny!). The wife, Frankie, was so enthusiastic about what was going on at the church. The singing, the worship, and the story the pastor told. He told this story about how one of his members was on their death bed and the pastor asked him, "Did you get your business done?" That became the theme of the episode, Frankie trying to figure out how to get her business done! I guess this could be interpreted many ways, but when I saw the episode I took as, I need to live and don't look back! So, on the road trip to Tampa I said it out loud to Kimmie, "...I want to ... before 40. Yeah, I want to have this list. Forty things I do before I turn 40 years old". At that moment it started and I haven't looked back. When we got to Tampa we mentioned it to Dani and it became something. Dani a couple of weeks later mentioned it to Lisa and they have started a list. So there it is. I am not the first, nor will I be the last to have "a list", I am so excited to even have one. And I must say anything in writing is POWERFUL! Which is why it was important to me to get these things out of my head and written down.

40 before FORTY!

1.       Go to the Hamptons and/ or Martha’s Vineyard

2.       Run a half marathon

3.       Drive across from coast to coast in a RV (or maybe just anywhere in a RV)

4.       Brazilian wax

5.       Go to Paris

6.       Lose 60 lbs per Dr.’s orders. (not kidding about this one!)

7.       Go ziplining

8.       Visit the Statue of Liberty, go to the top and sing the theme song from the movie, “Working Girl”. “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon

9.       Meet Martha Stewart

10.   Blog for 365 days ( hopefully consecutively)

11.   Set up website for Izzy Pops, Custom Cake Pops

12.   Organize my home as if it was being featured in somebody’s magazine

13.   Go to Seattle, WA

14.   Make beef wellington

15.   Go to Hawaii (trip planned for 2012, yay!)

16.   Plant and grow tomatoes

17.   Visit and stay at a Bed and Breakfast

18.   Participate in a flash mob

19.   Finish my first “Project Life” scrapbook. (started in 2010!)

20.   Go back to Mirival Resort and Spa

21.   Take a tour of the White House

22.   Visit the Musee du Louvre

23.   Be a contestant on Jeopardy

24.   Go to “The View”

25.   Read a classic novel (like the ones they used to make you read in high school English class)

26.   Write a memoir

27.   Learn how to roller skate (AGAIN!)

28.   Go to the Kentucky Derby (well, maybe just a party so I can wear a big hat!)

29.   Have a Pinterest party

30.   Make and sew an outfit for the Cheerios

31.   Learn how to knit

32.   Make cake pops and send them to someone famous

33.   Find a job (full time) which I can do from home (and let’s hope I enjoy it!)

34.   Do an exercise routine for 21 consecutive days ( I learned that if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit)

35.   Organize my junk drawer (starting small!)

36.   Have lunch with my girlfriends (near and far) at least once during a calendar year.

37.   Bake an apple pie completely from scratch. (This would include the pie crust as well.)

38.   Have a birthday party. (The last one I had is when I turned 21! It was amazing!)

39.   Win the lottery

40.   Make a quilt (or finish the one I started over 15 years ago!)

Now, these are the first 40 things that came to mind and I kept debating if I should delete and add to keep the number to 40, but I have allowed myself to add to this list anytime. Why should limit myself?! But I think this is a good starting place.

As I finish an item on the list I will post it here. Also, if I add to the list, I will post it here. I am looking forward to conquering this list and sharing my experiences with you. Hugs!

Leap Day! Not sure why I was excited about this day... but I was!

A couple of weeks ago when I realized that this was a leap year and February 29 was coming, the hamsters in my heads started turning. Not sure why? I think it all goes back to my goal this year of being "crafty". Like I always do I went to Google to see what was up. What could I get into? So many ideas and so many choices... so what did I do? Well, here is what happened...
Cheerio Izzy woke up at 4:00 AM. Not cool. Mama needs her sleep. Izzy could never get settled in our bed so I finally just got up and started doing some work on the computer while she read stories on the Nook. However, when I don't get good or just adequete sleep, I can't function... AT ALL. I am like a zombie... a brown sugah mama zombie! Cheerios didn't go to school, ballet class was skipped, oh, and Cheerio Izzy didn't go down for a nap until almost Noon! When the house was finally quiet and I began to gain something of myself I got on the computer and found this, Leap Day Time Capsule! Genius! This was it... this is what I was looking for. So I started taking pictures and jotting down notes of what I/ we did today. That means including what I posted on the blog today. *smile*
Here is a sampling:
 - Breakfast - We all had mixed fruit, yogurt and grilled cheese for breakfast.
 - Of course I jotted down what happened at 4am this morning.
 - How we played hookie from everything today.
 - Made cake pops... basketballs and cocktails. I took pics...
 - Lunch - Chicken Parmesean pizza... hated it! So we had old faithful... PB & J. ( I had left over "Taco   Nachos")
 - Received a fantastic "Thank you" card from my Auntie Irene for the cake pops I sent her.
 - Dinner - I didn't feel like cooking, so Chick-fil-A... - Shampoo and blow dry Cheerio Izzy's hair.
 - Saw a friend I used to work with on Modern Family.

So even though it didn't seem like when I woke up this morning I would "leap" into something adventurous, it was a day I got to spend time with the girls, make cake pops, and live to tell about it.... and save it all in my time capsule.

2012 is here...

Happy New Year Ya'll! LOL! I am so late, I know but so much has happened in the last couple of months. Even if I thought about blogging, I didn't know where to start. Any case, the last couple of months I was reminded that life is short and precious. People I love dearly had devasting losses in their lives. A mother, a child, a grandmother, and a childhood friend. My prayers continue to go out to my good, good friends for strength and peace.
As I look out and see 2012 on the horizon I am seeing good things... positive things. I know people go back and forth about doing New Years resolutions, but I look at them as goals and having goals are not bad. Like Marths says, "It's a good thing." Here are a couple of mine;

1. Get crafty again. - I think so far, so good. Cake pops are getting my creative juices flowing. If you are Facebook friends with me, you see that I am uploading pictures all the time. Yeah, I love those cake pops!

2. Lose the baby weight (4 years later!!!) - Yeah, this is on-going battle, but I am trying. I have good days and days I slip. But my goal is to eat healthy 21 days straight, then it becomes a habit!

3. Renew my faith.

4. Write on my blog!!!!

5. Give gratitude everyday.

Well, we will see how it goes. It always makes me feel good to share on this blog and I hope you continue to take this journey with me. Apple picks coming soon, I promise! Happy 2012! And Happy Valentine's Day!