I realize I haven't blogged anything in awhile. Sorry about that. Girls you only thought me having a digital camera would change that. bwaa ha ha. I was going to blog tonight but its getting late and I need to go to bed before 12:00. I am tired. Keep checking back. I hope to have something up very soon. I have a lot of blogging to catch up on.

Well, I did something today that I said I'd never do. I got a new toy today. It's a digital camera. I can't say I am a proud owner yet but I'm sure I'll get there. For those of you that don't know, I am not a huge fan of digital photography although I do appreciate what can be done with it. I am more of the 35mm type but I'm going with the times.

Amber and Alicia you should be proud. Here is what I got and what it came with.

Canon S3 IS Powershot Camera USA
2x AF Super Telephoto Lens
0.5x Wide Angle Lens
Multi Coated Video 3Pc Filter Kit
Lens Adapter f/Canon Powershot S2 IS
1 GB SD Secure Digital Card
Digital Camera Battery Charger with 4 AA Batteries
Secure Digital Reader USB
Digital Camera Carrying Case
Lens Cleaning Kit
Mini Table Tripod

Happy Birthday Emma Grace. It seems like just yesterday we were holding you in our arms for the first time. Now lots of laughs, tears, hugs and kisses later you are two. How time flies. I love you Emma and Happy Birthday!!!

Love,
Aunt Nana

So Tammie had the great idea that we would crochet the kids a santa hat for their pictures the next day. She said she knew how to make them. This is how they turned out. Does it look like something familiar? The good news is that it didn't look so bad on the kids.

Before






After

I was in Dallas last week for business and I was able to go see my cousin Tammie and her family. While I was there I took their first family portraits. It was a lot of fun. This is the Norris family, Kirk, Tammie, Blake, Ben and Kirra.

So I finally have all my pictures from the cruise posted. I had 14 rolls total so it took me awhile to sort through them and get them online.

I had a really good time on my cruise. It was a 7 day Western Caribbean adventure with stops in Key West, Florida, Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel. I had a great time with my good friends Amber in Jennifer. They were the only young ones in the group that we were with.

The ship itself had a great crowd on it. Everyone was out to have a good time. We even had a famous alternative group (The Killers) on the ship and they dined two tables down from mine every night. I also had a stalker that I gained on the first night. It seems like there is always someone running and hiding from a new friend that was made on the boat, from Christian Bale to the cocktail waiter! Some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Enjoy the pictures and leave me a COMMENT or two. I love them and they make my day. You do NOT have to have an account to leave a comment. Let me know if you want to hear about any part of the trip. I would be more than happy to share.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Here are some random people pictures. It's a little bit of everything from the cruise. Enjoy!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Our first stop was in Key West, Florida. This was probably one of my favorite days. We didn't dock until about 3:00 pm, We got off the boat and Amber and I decided to take a sunset cruise on a catamaran. This was a lot of fun. The sunset was beautiful and we had a great time. I wish the colors in the pictures accurately reflected what we saw. It was so relaxing and just what I needed.

Those that went into town were in for a surprise. It was Mardi Gra in Key West. They got to see nude painted bodies and people with virtually no clothing on. No pictures of that. Sorry if that disappoints you.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

This is Grand Cayman. I loved this island. It was so pretty. I was orginally going to go swim with the sting rays but no one else seemed interested so I talked myself out of it. That is probably the only regret that I have on the entire trip. I should have gone with or without anyone. Jennifer, Amber and I went into Grand Caymen together. We did some shopping and headed to the beach. Unfortunatley, due to a mistake in time we thought we only had about 20 min on the beach when really we could have had about and hour and a half. But that's ok. There's always next time.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Here are some of the sunset pictures from Key West and Cozumel.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Cozumel, Mexico was our last port of call. I decided to spend my day with my mom, dad and Lisa. Once we got off the boat we found a snorkeling excursion that sounded like fun. The boat was a glass bottom boat which was great because my mom and Lisa weren't sure if snorkeling was for them. They took us to two places to snorkel. We had a blast. In case your wondering, mommie picked up on snorkeling and Lisa decided that it wasn't for her.

I took a ton of pictures but I was pretty disappointed in the way they turned out. The camera didn't even get close to catching the vibrate colors of the fish and the water. I don't know the names of all the fish that we saw but I know that we saw lots of parrot fish and angel fish. There were many others I just can't think of the names of all the fish.

After snorkeling and lunch we headed off to the beach were my mom and I got henna with Alicia in mind. She lives in India and gets it frequently. On our way back to the boat I made friends with a bartender on our boat. We had quite the entertaining conversation. You learn a lot when talking to a drunk crew member.

So every night when we would go back to our rooms from dinner they would have our beds turned down with a chocolate on our pillows and a cute little towel animal. We had an elephant, dog, sting ray, swan, monkey, turtle and something else that I can't remember. We had fun taking pictures with them. Sometimes a little too much fun. For your viewing enjoyment, I've added other towel animals from other rooms.

The food was amazing. These pictures are of some of our dinners and of the midnight buffet. The pictures really don't do the food justice. One of my favorite things that I had was an appetizer on my first night. It was the tomato soup and was by far the best tomato soup I've ever had.

Hang in there. Pictures of the cruise are coming very soon. I just dropped off the film at HEB and overwhelmed them. I took approx. 14 rolls of film!! I should have something posted in the next day or two so keep checking the blog. I'll blog tonight and the pictures will follow soon after.

Keep the comments coming. I may be out of the country but I still want your input. Have a great week.

I'm leaving EARLY Sunday morning for a 7 day cruise to the western caribbean. I am so excited. We stop in Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. This is going to be a great opportunity for an endless amount of blogs. Here's where I need your help. What would you like me to blog about? What do you want to know about these spots we get to stop at? Do you have any suggestions for things I should be doing once we dock?

You don't have to stop at the cities we dock in, you can make suggestions for the whole trip. I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Don't worry, I'll have a drink for you. Now there's a blog idea... hmmmmm

My mom and I went to Dallas for a seminar last week. We decided to stay through the weekend to play with friends and family. We were pretty busy. I helped my new friend, Amber settle into her apartment and I got to see Julie and Josh and their familes. They are old friends from middle school and high school.

My mom and I spent Thursday-Saturday with my cousin Tammie. We had a family dinner with everyone on Friday. I took some pictures of the kids at the park and my time with them. I hope you enjoy them.

Sorry Amber and Alicia but I ran out of film to take pictures of Kiley. They got to the park after the film was gone. There are some on Tammie's camera . Ask her to send you some if you want to see her.

I had a great weekend. Nothing special happened really, actually, nothing happened at all which was probably why it was so wonderful. I haven't had any downtime in a LONG time and I was worn out.

The weekend got off to a great start with a girls night out at P.F.Changs on Friday night. We sat out side and it was so beautiful. There was good food, drinks and fellowship. Pictures soon to follow. I hope.

On Saturday afternoon, I woke up after close to twelve hours of sleep!! It was much needed. I headed over to my mom's house to relax in the sitting room and watch movies all day. I haven't seen any musicals in a long time and it was long overdue. For the next seven hours I watched The Sound of Music and all the extras. My parents had the 40th anniversary edition.

After that I wanted to watch Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonle but the movies are missing. I think I must have been missing my sisters this weekend because this is something that I would have normally done with them. So, I just continued on with the Julie Andrews theme and popped in Thoroughly Modern Millie. It's a quirkly little musical thats a lot of fun. Have you seen it?

On Sunday after church, to continue on with my need for some musicals
and Julie Andrews, I popped in Mary Poppins. After that I was going to move on with the Princess Diaries movies but decided to have a game night with the family. We played dominos and it was a lot of fun. I think my goal in life is to beat Lisa. She wins every time she plays. It's so frustrating!!

Amber and Alicia watching the musicals was fun but it wasn't the same without you.

Anyway, that was my weekend. How was yours?

I just download a new CD. It's John Mayer's new album Continuum and I LOVE it. He is my favorite musician and he put out another amazing album. If you have it I would like to hear what you think about it. I don't have a favorite song yet. What's yours?

So, everyone has dieted at one point or another. Jennifer and I started this list and I need your help adding on to it. I want your imput.

You know you're on a diet when...

1. you ask your husband to get a shake from Chick-fil-a so you can watch him eat it

2. you lick your plate for every last calorie you can get

3. you take your measuring spoons, spray dressing and spray butter into a restaurant with you

4. you take your left over broccoli from lunch back to work for snack time

5. you have an extra bowl of cereal and then realize you didn’t have any extra calories for a 2nd bowl and that put you over for the day. Then you wake up panicked and wonder if that really happend

6. you spend all day in the bathroom

7. things that you never liked before, you suddenly find yourself devouring

So, I am usually the first to laugh and poke fun at myself. For example, I posted a picture of the pullet on my blog for all to see. Well, this weekend it really wasn't funny. Maybe it was but I still am not finding the humor in it all.

Yesterday, I met up with my parents to go have lunch with them. Well, I went to get in their car and I forgot I had heals on (I don't normally wear them) and didn't compensate for the height getting into the car. Can you see it coming? I slammed the side of my head into the car with more force than is healthy. I literally think I heard my skull break. I'm sure if it was actually broken I would be having some serious issues right now. I don't think I have ever hit my head that hard.

I was crying it hurt so bad and my mother was in the front seat laughing. It was NOT funny. Then she wanted to know through her tears of laughter if she needed to kiss it to make it better. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. She said she restrained from laughing for awhile but I am not convinced.

I love how she thrives on my pain.

Everyone has pictures they never wish they had never taken. Well, here's one of mine. I don't even know why I ever went out in public with this hairstyle. This is what we call the pullet. It's a permed mullet. Can you relate to this picture? I'll be looking forward to your comments. I think my hair is bigger than my head. I hope you get a good laugh out of this. We sure have.

For all you techies out there who care...

The comments button on my blog has been frustrating several of you and ME lately and I found out why! I recently switched this blog to the upgrade form called beta blogger. So supposedly, the only way that you can log in (if you have a blogger account) and put a comment on my blog now is if also have upgraded to beta blogger. It no longer excepts the login id of people who have the earlier version. Somehow they aren't compatible.

Dumb...i know.

They said the solution for now is to just sign in as anonymous and your comment will go through. I think they are trying to fix it, but who knows.

Keep commenting. I have missed everyone comments. :) Thanks for your patience with blogger.

I have a new friend. Her name is Amber and she is visiting San Antonio from the Dallas area. She is a friend of my grandmothers but by the time she heads home she will be a good friend of mine. Today we got out. We went to the mall and went shopping then headed of to the theater to see a movie. We saw Talladaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

I have to say the highlight of the day was when we left the theater. We put the roof down on her Lexus sports car (so much fun) and took about a 2 1/2 hour drive around the San Antonio/Bulverde area. She got the car in January and hadn't really tested it to see what is was capable of. The weather was perfect. It was in the high 70's, beautiful, fresh, crisp air from the rain,the sun setting in the background and when it was dark a beatiful moon. We couldn't have had a better evening for driving around.

Thanks for the fun day out Amber!

I LOVE the rain. We are finally seeing some rain after 2 months of no rain and 100 degree weather. Today's forcast is rainy and 85. I wish I was curled up on the couch with a soft blanket, pillow and a movie. Can you smell the fresh rainy air? I can and its wonderful!

HELP!!

I'm putting together a slide show for my dad's 50th birthday party next weekend. I am totally blanking on songs to use for it. I would LOVE your input. So please leave me a comment with your suggestions.

Simple Joys

Amber & Alicia's roommate, Lindsey posted a blog on the the simple things that bring them joy. I thought that it was a great idea so, its my turn. I really like the idea of listing the things that bring a smile to my face and make me happy. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life that we often overlook the little things that bring a smile to our face.

1. family
2. friends
3. laughing
4. my iPod
5. cool fall nights
6. a good bargain on a very expensive item
7. babies
8. my nieces
9. my nephews
10. vacations
11. being at home when it rains with a good movie and a soft blanket
12. sweet tea
13. a good massage
14. being on a tropical beach
15. manicures & pedicure
16. dancing
17. hearing little kids pray
18. Christmas
19. Christmas music
20. painting
21. taking pictures
22. looking at pictures
23. going to see a play
24. going to the movies
25. having someone play with my hair
26. swinging
27. Friends (the TV show)
28. domino's
29. flowers
30. making people smile
31. comments on my blog
32. shopping
33. letters from Grandad (I've never gotten one but my sisters have and they are so
cute and I would LOVE to receive one).
34. cuddling under a soft blanket
35. a new outfit
36. getting my hair cut
37. Gardening
38. giving and receiving complements
39. playing in water
40. hugs
41. ksss kssssss
42. memories of Grandpa's smile

These are just some of my simple joys. What are yours?

Ok Amber & Alicia. I got this for the guest room. What do you think?

This is my mom's side of the family. We love spending time together at the lake in the summer.

There is one thing that my sister and I have in common and that is our birthday. On July 18, my third birthday, Alicia decided that she wanted to share a birthday with her older sister. It was not always so much fun growing up but now its kind of fun to share it with someone. These are pictures from our birthday this year. We also celbrated Amber's too. She was born on July 1. The day was fun and filled with lots of beef. That's right, beef. Living in India, Alicia doesn't get to eat a lot of meat. So she picked resturants.

If there is one thing that you know about me its that I love my family. Here is my dad's side of the family, the Divers and the McDougall's. We have a great time with each other.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

These pictures are from Hannah & Cameron's wedding in July. Hannah is one of Alicia's best friends and her college roomate. This was also the first time that I got to see Alicia since she moved to India.

In case you didn't know, I am currently working PT for a babysitting agency. Most of the time its great but it has its moments. I make good money in a short period of time and I set my own schedule.

Well, tonight I sat for a new client. I almost didn't take the job because I was still a little tired from the weekend but they were really good friends with one of our favorite clients. So, I thought how bad could it be. I was wrong. So wrong. It was bad almost from the beginning. I'll try to keep this as short and entertaining as possible.

I got there and immediately the kids were pulling on me and wanting me to play with them. Garrison is 9, Georgia is 7 and Richard is 3. So I went into the bedroom with them and we started playing dinosaurs. That was unfamiliar territory for me but I was doing my best. They started yelling at me because I wasn't playing with them even though I was. They were nagging me and pulling on me.

So, the parents finally left and we decided to play hide-n-seek. Let me go back a little. The kids were touching me and groping me and I was feeling uncomfortable. Richard did not want me to put him down. He was stroking my breasts and arms in a very uncomfortable way and burying himself in me. And Georgia kept grabbing my shirt and popping it. I kept telling them to stop touching me but they kept doing it anyway.

Back to the hide-n-seek. So the little boy will not let me put him down so I am forced to hide with him. Georgia was looking for us and when she found us he let me put him down and I noticed that I was wet. He PEED on ME!!! I was so upset and had to fight him to change his clothes. Almost immediately after Georgia found out that he did that she grabbed my shirt like she was going to pop it again and said please let me smell it. I asked her what her problem was and told her not to touch me any more.

After all this, I was ready to get away from them for a couple of min. So, I decided to get dinner ready. They followed me into the kitchen and would not leave me alone and would not stop touching, grabbing and nagging me. Next thing I know Richard is running around the corner and grabs my pants and they started to fall off. I then made it very clear that they needed to go play and leave me alone.

After dinner the older boy, Garrison went next door to play with the neighbors because his dad told him he could. Well, the two younger ones were not happy and it brought havoc on the rest of the evening. Temper tantrums and bad behavior was what followed for me to deal with.

While we were reading, Richard was supposed to be going to sleep but he couldn't because I wouldn't him grope me. And Georgia wouldn't go to sleep because she was waiting up for her mom. They all finally fell asleep about 5 min before mom got home. It was the night that would never end.

I'm walking out the door and I realized that I had forgotten to tell the parents about Richard peeing on me. So I told mom and she had the nerve to say "bless his heart." What about my heart. I was the one that had a wet shirt all night and kept rubbing my arm in it. Unbelievable!!!

Well, that was my night in a nutshell. I welcome your comments and would love to hear what you think about it. I have a couple more stories like it that I can blog about so if you want to hear them let me know.

I'm starting over on this blog. It had a bunch of old stuff on it and I am going to add some new. I'll try to keep it updated with life as I know it. Please be sure to comment. It might keep me more motivated to keep this thing up.