Another Amazing Mill Weekend

After the craziness of the holidays came to a close, my BF had a personal tragedy. 

His brother actually passed away (suicide) two days into the New Year. It was very devastating news and shook his entire family on some many levels!

He lived in Indiana with his family and the majority of the rest of the family (including my BF) all live in PA. So everyone began making their travel and hotel plans to spend time with his brothers grieving family and attend the services. I had plan to go to a Conference that weekend and I was ready to simply not go. My BF kept insisting that I go and I got sick of fighting about it so I elected to dog sit for the week and attend my Conference on the weekend. The BF left mid-week to help with arrangements, etc. and I got to keep an eye on his precious fur children! Here they are....

They are two of the sweetest dogs ever! Both are rescues and both have 3 legs (each had one leg amputated). They get along amazingly and are such sweet, cute dogs! I think we all had a great week except for missing their Daddy!

On Friday morning I left with one of my best buddies, Laura, for the Conference. This is the most rejuvenating weekend of my year! We do these conferences three times a year and they are awesome! It is at Jackson's Mill and I leave every time when it is over with a tremendous amount of serenity and peace! It really is God's country there! I was so happy that Laura ended up coming - she was very sick and still trying to fight it and came anyway!

Just a bunch of my buddies...

Our main speaker!!! Clancy I.!!! He did a great job - albeit not so humble...which confused me a little. I have never seen a speaker at this weekend event sign autographs but I guess to each his own. The me, he is not a celebrity, he is just a person sharing his story of recovery and how he found God.

Some of my very favorite people on the planet!!! This picture of me is awful but I had to post it because everyone else looks happy and adorable!

What an amazing weekend of being grateful, thankful and hanging out with some great people! The fellowship this weekend was beautiful, the Steelers won their first playoff game and, as always, I left on cloud nine! 

RIP MM

 

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TGIF!

Yippee it's Friday!!! I am so happy!! This has been one long, hard week back in the office! Bring on 5:00PM!

I and joining all my favorite ladies today for all of the fun Friday link-ups!

Today I am going to give you my favorites that come to mind as I am sitting here at work getting ready to start the day.

1.  This is my new screensaver at work in honor of Valentines Day! If you love cats then you will get it. My BF is a dog lover and he has no idea what this means - LOL!

2. Thank goodness for my pretend beach and palm tree! With the freezing weather we have had this week in Pittsburgh, I need to pretend to escape!  I know it's about time (actually really late for the cold weather we normally have) but I am just not used to it yet!

3. I recently found these and they are my new work snack! I eat them right out of the bag!! They are soooo yummy! Where have you been all my life snap peas?!?!??!

4. My favorite caffeine in winter or summer. This tea is awesomely yummy! It is perfect for those stressful days at work!

5. Finally, my re-awakened love of coloring! When I am on a stressful conference call - this is perfect! Calms me right down and I can feel my heart rate and blood pressure go down immediately!  Seriously, its fantastic!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend full of everything that makes you smile!

Anyone else rooting for the Steelers on Sunday?!?!?! WHOOP!

It's New Years 2016 in Kentucky

Hi everyone! Welcome to another catch-up post! This si a goodie though! I always have boring and dull New Years. Last year I was actually blown off on New Years eve morning by the guy I was dating - pretty bad right? My sisters family saved the day when they allowed me to come to Columbus and spend New Years with them! Last year ended up being amazing but I did not want to chance it this year!

So...I took matters in my own hands! When I heard my one and only favorite singer was having a New Years Party and concert - I knew I had to be there! I got two tickets and figured if the BF did not want to go, I would find someone that did - LOL!

So, New Years Eve Day off we went to Kentucky to see Kidrock in concert and ring in the new year with him and 30,000 other people! It was a five hour drive from Pittsburgh and we had beautiful weather! Stopped a few times for potty breaks and arrived with time to spare! We went to dinner at Waffle House (my first time trying one and I was not impressed...I like pancakes) and then got ready to head to the KFC Yum Center.

Waiting in line to get into the KFC Yum! Center!

One of the first couples there!!! I could hardly stand the excitement!

A picture with my sweetie and our lovely hats!!!!

The one and only Kidrock - he is the one in the white suit! LOL




Another picture when the flag dropped for Born Free!

And the countdown started.....at 11:59 he came back on the stage and started the countdown. At midnight everyone kissed, etc. (not your neighbor...just the one you were with...HA) and then he sang Happy New Year!!! His version that is; which is hilarious and one of my favorites!

Throughout the concert I got text messages from this cutie wishing me a Happy New Year! That was great too!

And my phone sent me this reminder from last year's New Years Eve which is hilarious if you know the back story!! That's another blog post though! LOL!

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year in 2016! Let's all be happy, helpful and supportive of each other in the new year!

Thanks for following and reading! I really am grateful for all of you that stop by and I love that so many of you want to be my blogging friends! 

I truly wish you all a blessed, full and beautiful life!!!!!

 Anyone else do something different for New Years? Do you prefer to go out or stay home? Anyone else not know that the Waffle House does not make Pancakes?

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Ogelbay Festival of Lights

More Christmas updates! So late I am ... ! LOL

For the first time EVER I got to see the lights at Ogelbay Resort Park. I am from Pittsburgh and around the holidays ALL you hear are ads to go see the amazing lights. It is a resort park and you drive through in your car and look at all the lights sent up all over the grounds. In all my 47 years I had never been to see them.

After hinting to the BF for a few days; we piled into his van and drove to Ogelbay for the Festival of Lights!!! Yippee!! The recommended donation is $25 per car or $35 if you want the CD so we went big and got the CD! LOL

Apparently I am not talented enough at my iPhone to take pictures out of the window of a slowly moving vehicle and have them NOT be blurry! You may also notice, no snow on the ground at all! We went two days before Christmas and it was a snow-less Christmas here in Pittsburgh this year!  Here are the few clear pictures I got..

LOVE!

So cute!

As clear a Santa gets...HA! It really was a lot of fun although I did not get a lot of pictures. The whole tour took about 1 hour and we opted out of stopping at the gift shop but I am sure they had a lot of cute souvenirs to purchase! We will be going back next year FOR SURE!

Then we returned to the BF's house to make our first fire of the season! YEA! There was no snow but it sure was cold that night! Snuggling and fires is what Winter is ALL about for me!!! In case anyone is interested; we re-decorated the fireplace at his house and got this awesome fire screen and fireplace tool-set from Crate and Barrel. It looks perfect with all the wood in the house - I loved it online and it is even better in person! PS-It's on sale now!

GO STEELERS!!!! WHOOP! WHOOP!
 

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!!

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Wednesday Hodgepodge

Today I am joining Joyce for her Wednesday Hodgepodge ! I cannot wait to see everyone that links up and make some new friends! This is my favorite linkup - I have met so many amazing people already! If you want to join in...copy the text below, change my answers to your answers and link up with Joyce! Also, thanks for hosting and doing all of this work to organize this linkup Joyce!!!! Now...onto the answers!

1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

Getting thank you letters. I just got a bunch of thank you letters from my nieces and nephews for their Christmas presents and it was like I hit the lottery! I love that they were taught to take time to do that (I send them to everyone also) and I love reading through their comments and thank yous! I save them all and will treasure them until the day I die!

2.  Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colorful places on earth are:

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, india~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.

Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or traveled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colorful?

I think I would like to see Morocco some day. I have heard many things and I think that is on my bucket list.
For the most colorful place I have been...that would definitely be Curacao! It was my honeymoon and I wish I could have stayed longer than a day.  Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island, is known for its beaches tucked into coves and its expansive coral reefs rich with marine life. The capital, Willemstad, has pastel-colored colonial architecture, floating Queen Emma Bridge and the sand-floored, 17th-century Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue. It’s also a gateway to western beaches like Blue Bay, where scuba divers can access a vertical coral wall from the shore. Seriously, the cutest place ever!!! It makes you happy just to be there it's so colorful!

 

3. "Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

I definitely agree with that. Everything I do or do not do it rooted in fear. It may be masked on the outside as anger or hurt but the reality is that everything in my life can be tied to the fear of losing something I have or not getting something I want! Sad truth! I am the happiest when I realize that I have no control of anything but me and carry on from there! HA

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

I would be praying for some chocolate - I NEED my chocolate! Even better...chocolate delivered by a hot man would be perfecto!

5.  What song almost always makes you cry?

Jesus Take The Wheel - Carrie Underwood! I love the song and can totally relate to everything it says! That is my life in a song! The version where she cries when she sings it, makes me sob!




6.  January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup, thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain.

I don't really think that any apply. I can say that I do LOVE a nice bowl of tomato soup to dip bread in in the winter though!!!

7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say.

Cherish love.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I am finally going the right direction on the scale, I am evaluating all the relationships in my life and getting rid of those that are negative or do not benefit me (I get used A LOT); I am making a promise to myself that 2016 is MY YEAR! I got this and I am not slacking off!



Happiest of  Wednesdays to you all! 

Christmas Card 2015

I know I am VERY late on this post!

I thought I had it scheduled to post on Christmas Day to you all. Apparently I need a lesson on posting with schedules because that never happened!

Needless to say...sorry it is so late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

I hope you all have a very blessed year in 2016! I also promise to learn how to post with scheduling! HA!

Christmas 2015 at Mom and Dad's

And so begins the after holiday updates! HA

I did not get around to posting over the holidays so now, for the next week, I will play catch up.  I so not feel like an official blogger if I do not record it for all times - hee!

I am blessed to have a very large and close family to spend the holidays with! We celebrated Christmas one week early this year so that all my siblings and their spouses and children could be there together. It was awesome!

The entire family made it together with the exception of my niece Jordan. She just graduated college and started working full-time as a nurse and we are all so proud of her! She was not able to get off work which was fine although she was VERY missed!!! Spent a lot of time with my favorite little people...

making lots of funny faces and laughing! I have eight nieces and nephews and 7 of them were able to be with us at Christmas! I am a very blessed Aunt and I treasure each and every one of them!
 

We conducted or annual house contest. This year they decided to go girls against boys...this is your girl team (minus Kyleigh)...

And this is your boy team (my nephew Matt graciously bowed out to watch football)...

Here is a group shot of the competition in full swing!

And...the finished products! We took a vote on Facebook and it was a tie...surprisingly it really was! LOL! Both teams did such an awesome job!

I got as many of these as I could wrangle in!!!! Nothing better than kisses!!!

Got this lovely present from my parents! I was the last person on the planet to have a big, box TV so they upgraded me - it's Smart too...now I just have to learn how to use it! LOL!

Came home to find this mess - LOL! Cats run wild! They seem to love unwrapping the toilet tissue these days - LOL!

Christmas summary complete - I am surprised that I do not have more pictures of everyone but I wanted to enjoy the time and I think I completely forgot about pictures - LOL!

I am still catching up but it appears that all of you had wonderful Holidays as well!

Lets make 2016 amazing!

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