Weekend Recap - Really Thursday Night - LOL!!!

This weekend was awesome guys!

My sister came into town to help me with my flooring and also to invite me to attend a Steelers game with her and my parents!!

Yippee!

Thursday night the Steelers were scheduled to play the Carolina Panthers in a night football game to be televised!! Maybe some of you saw it?!?

Everyone met at my house and we headed downtown for the game! We parked the car and walked over to our new favorite place to eat before a game called Local Brewhouse! Here is the obligatory selfie...my sister, Dad, Mom and myself in the front... 

Then we walked back to the stadium. This booth was set up outside the stadium. It was the Thursday Night football announcers discussing pregame-the back view - LOL!!

And here are the announcers from Sirius radio doing their pregame chatter...

We ran into Steely McBeam on the way in so we got a quick selfie with him!!!

It was Support the Troops night so we did a sign for my Uncle Ed!! He is our veteran!!!

And last but not least...for the fifth time this season....the Steelers had a sack in the second quarter!!! WHOOP!!! What this means to Pitts-burghers is...

A local restaurant Eat n Park gives everyone with a game ticket a free super burger the next day if we sack the opposing team's quarterback in the second quarter!! We were so excited since this is my sisters favorite restaurant and she was staying Friday to help me with my floors!!!! YIPPEEE - free lunches  tomorrow!!!

I will post tomorrow with rest of the activity-filled weekend!!!!!!!

I hope you all had an awesome weekend!!!

Anyone else love free stuff?!?!?! What did you do this weekend?

5 on Friday, Friday Favorites, etc.

My newest thing is printing off quotes and hangin them aorund my desk at work, and kitchen and bedroom at home.

Just little reminders that help life go a little smoother...

Here are 5 of my favorites right now...

ONE:  I love this saying. We talk a lot about things go in recovery. It is really hard to stay sober and clean if you dwell on the past and past mistakes. So we really stress living in today, being the best person you can be today and moving forward with your life! Let it go!!!

TWO: I don't think I ever updated you guys on the man situation so I will now since it applies to this quote. I like this quote because it is so true. I honestly thought that after a life changing experience (double stroke to be exact); my ex-boyfriend would change his ways and actually see it as a second chance to change his life. Needless to say, he did not. He is continuing to act in the destructive ways he always has and on top of that, continuing to be a miserable and nasty human at times. I got rid of that from my life once and now I remember why. I am not shutting him from my life; just putting him in the category of friendship only so he has chosen to stay away because of that. We all get to make choices...I am good either way...

THREE: And this...which explains why the ex BF does not qualify!!  I would be SHOCKED if anyone came along at this point that did...but miracles happen when we least expect them ;-)  (Although, all of you married folks that read my blog got the last of the good ones!!)

FOUR:  I am consistently amazed at what I can accomplish when I quit second guessing myself and believe in myself! I do this all the time! I have horrible and negative internal dialogue "I am not good enough" I can't do that!" "I am not able to do that" "I will not be able to handle that" - but once I allow myself to try...I SUCCEED!!

FIVE:  And finally...I believe we create exactly what we think we are capable of. We scare ourselves into not trying at all and then we create the outcome we most feared!
 

Whatever you are afraid of or worried about - tackle it now and get it over with - YOU CAN DEFINITELY handle it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am hoping to finish my flooring this weekend so fingers crossed - I will be completely done when I check back in on Monday!!! WHOOP!!!

Any plans for the weekend? Anything you are procrastinating with because of fear? Any other happily single ladies or men out there? Anyone else let someone from the past back in only to find out nothing had changed?

 

Thankful Thursday - Nieces and Nephews

It's Thursday guys - we are almost there!!!

Yippee!!!

Today I am joining Rebecca Jo at Knit by God's Hands for Thankful Thursday.

Today I am thankful for my nieces and nephews. They constantly remind me how important I am to them and how much they enjoy me being in their lives. I love that they want to spend time with me and I enjoy that I am the crazy aunt! I would not want to have it any other way!

I want them to always know they can come to me with anything at all!!!! I will never judge them! I love each and every one of them more than myself and would do ANYTHING for them.

Here are the adorable little (and not so little anymore) munchkins.  PS - I think that is how you realize you are getting old...when those adorable little babies (I used to change your diapers) are now grown up with real jobs and houses of their own!!! HA HA

Here are all eight of them are in age order...

Jordan was my very first born niece! Today she is a grown woman who happens to be a nurse and own her own home!!! She is also mommy to a sweet kitten named Penelope!

 

Jess was second! She is now a grown woman and a third grade teacher!!!! Sooo proud!! She is also Mommy to a fur baby kitten named Max!

Third in the line up but first nephew!!! Love my Matthew to pieces. He is a sophomore in college!!! He played basketball his freshman year but has quit to focus on enjoying his college years (You only get to do college once!)

Fourth in the line up but my very first God-daughter is Kyleigh. She is super sweet and adorable and in 6th grade this year and she loves volleyball and dance.

 

Ryan is next - although technically these next two are tied!!! Yes, they are twins! So he and his sister are tied and I can't remember who jumped out first so we will leave it at a tie! He is super funny and our comedian and magician - he loves hockey and soccer!!! He is in 5th grade already!

And Aly...the other twin - ha...she is also in 5th grade this year! She is the sweetest fifth grader I know!!  She loves gymnastics and dancing!

 

 Followed up by this sweet little 3rd grader Madeline! She is also the sweetest 3rd grader I know! These last five all live in the same town and spend a lot of time together! We love that they are close with their cousins! She is an ice skater and loves soccer too!

And finally the last one - or so I hear - Brody!! He is so sweet and always smiling!!! As you see here...he was scheduled for a surgery on his ears and was smiling the whole way through it! He is the happiest and most positive kid I have ever met! He is into playing hockey, flag football, soccer and ANY other sport on the planet!

I love each and every one of these sweet children with all my heart and I am sooo proud to be Aunt Annie!!! It truly is my greatest role in life to date!!

I hope everyone has a thankful and gratitude filled day!!!

What are you grateful or thankful for today?

 

Medley Time!!

It is Wednesday and that means it is Medley Day!

On Wednesday's I join Terri and answer the awesome questions she came up with for that week!! You can join in too! Just copy the questions, answer them and link up on Terri's post!!! Here we go!!

What is your claim to fame?  I was a member of the world famous Modernettes!  If you are a twirler you know who they are. We competed every year at Notre Dame University for Grand World Champion Twirling Corps and we won every year! We were unbeatable!! It was awesome! It really gave me a lot of opportunities throughout my school years! We twirled on a cruise ship once (got a free cruise to Bahamas) and sang on stage with Bobby Vinton!!!

What is something you like to do the old-fashioned way?  I have to go with Terri's answer here!!! I like a good old-fashioned Thanksgiving celebration with turkey and all the traditional trimmings - and all the time possible spent with my nieces, nephews, siblings, their spouses and my parents!!! No matter how chaotic - that is heaven for me!!!

What did you think you would grow out of but haven’t?  Eating candy! I love candy! I love any and all candy - I soooo wish I didn't!!! UGH!
What is the dumbest thing you’ve done that actually turned out pretty well?  Choosing to do my own flooring! My parents both said I should not try it myself and, with their help, it has actually turned out amazing! 

 

If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?  When I was in middle school I hated my name! It was so short and boring ...Ann.  So I changed it to Anne. Get it? I added a silent e?!?! HA! Crazy right?!?! Oh well, today I would not change it for the world...I love my name! Funny thing to note: if you look closely at the photo above from the Modernettes, my jacket has Anne (Ann with an e) on it!!! LOL!

What is something random you can tell us about this week?  It looks like I have the chance to be an ambassador for a weight loss program...I am really excited! I will give you all the details once I get them! Here's to hoping that this finally gets my weight going in the right direction!
Hugs to all! Thanks again to Terri for another week of awesome questions!!!

Have a great day!

Everyone...Let Your Voice Be Heard...Go Vote!!

Are you planning to vote today?

I did not vote the first time until I was 42. I am embarrassed to say that but it is true. Now, I cherish my right to vote. I never paid any attention to politics so I figured "Who am I to vote when I had no clue what the different candidates represented?"

Today I make sure to be informed and vote! Especially with today's political climate. I feel very passionate about getting out there and supporting MY BELIEFS and MY VALUES and that is exactly what I did today....so, in the long run...my voice will be heard. Whether or not I am in the majority we shall see but I put my two cents in and that is what is important!

Google is in on the action. If you go to Google's website today...the name has been changed from Google to Go Vote. Also, if you click on the the icon, it takes you to a link that will find where you go vote based on your address. So....if you are a first timer....this is your link!!!

HERE are some fun voting facts from history...like idiots are not allowed to vote in Ohio and all you need to vote in Texas is a gun license not a drivers license!!! REALLY!!

Please everyone get out there and VOTE!!! It truly is what makes America great!!! We all get a say!!!

Happy election day everyone - GO VOTE PLEASE!!!

When did you vote the first time? Do you have any voting day rituals? I started a new one...I get myself a donut after I vote now!! HA HA!!! Are you voting today?

Weekend Wrap-up

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

If you follow my blog then I am sure you can guess how my weekend was spent! LOL!

I spent a day moving furniture back into the completed guest bedroom. We finished the flooring in there and I slowly but surely got everything moved back in. I then started clearing out the furniture from my bedroom to clear it out for my parents arrival.

My parents came for a day over the weekend and helped me remove the carpeting and padding in my bedroom and we actually got the entire floor completed too! The next day I measured and cut all the molding and used this awesome little tool to put the molding around the room! This brad nailer made it so quick and easy - thanks Dad!

There is a close of of my new favorite tool and the flooring with the molding attached!This baby shoots the nails at top speed into the molding - it was soooo super fast!

 I was a little disappointed during the furniture moving....a few years ago I purchased this dresser from Levin Furniture. I had it delivered and installed. The delivery guys moved it into place and attached the HUGE mirror to the dresser. Well, when it came time to take it apart to get the carpet out; we realized they did a horrible job installing the mirror. No joke - the mirror weighs no less than 50 pounds and they screwed it right under the top of the dresser! There is a picture of the damage to the dresser below. I was so ticked off! You would never know until you lifted the mirror!!!

Here is the very heavy mirror from the back...

And here is where they screwed it into the back of the dresser!!! UGH!!!!

And the damage to the top of the dresser on both sides!!!

I took pictures because I plan to stop down and show them the damage even though it is a little late - hopefully I can stop someone else from getting the same done to their new dresser! I am a walking example of "If you want something done right; do it yourself".

 And, here is the completed room put back together!!!! I love it so much...now off to the hallway!!!

Thanks again Mom and Dad! You are awesome and amazing and helped me SOOOOO much!!!

I spent all day Sunday doing nothing! HA! I made a Target run for a few things (cat treats, fruit, etc.) and spent the rest of the day watching my Steelers win and catching up on all my shows I taped from the week!!! I am obsessed with A Million Little Things, Survivor, and This Is Us!!! And Mom, Sheldon, Big Bang...lol!!!!

PS - It's a long rant!!!!!  HA! HA!  I purchased that horrible GE dishwasher from Lowe's and put it on a Lowe's card to get free financing for 6 months. If you have not heard you can read about the horrible experience HERE.  After realizing last month that they did not record my payment I sent electronically;  I researched and got a copy of the payment and submitted it online to them. After a few weeks, they recorded the payment and removed all extra charges. Now, this month I looked at my statement and somehow from out of nowhere they added another $1.41 finance charge. I should not have any extra charges - I paid over the amount due and also early! I again called customer service to get it removed. After they removed it, I decided that it is not worth policing what I am charged on the statement each month so I decided to simply pay it off and grind the card! Again, I will NEVER do business with Lowe's again! I am frustrated beyond belief that the claim is still pending and that every month they screw up my billing. So ,my bad, take my money for the VERY last time LOWES...the card will be shredded when I get home today!!!! I am grateful I have the money available so I can just get this experience with Lowe's over with!

PSS- My flooring is from Home Depot and I am installing it myself for this very reason! LOL!

Rant over...sorry :-(

Have a great Monday y'all!!!!!

Ever attempt a home project that worked out better than you though? How about one that failed? How was your weekend? Have you ever struggled with a company's customer service over and over? What company please??

Thankful Thursday

I am very thankful (and grateful) that I have ENOUGH today.

I have my days where I do not feel like this but today is not one of them.

God has blessed me with a path to a job that provides enough that I am able to take care of myself.

That is HUGE for me! There was a time that I was not able to do that. I was struggling and I was calling my parents every week to ask to borrow money because I just could not make it from week to week. Now my job provides enough. Do I want a bigger and better house? Of course! Who does not? But I am content and happy with where I am in life right now. Do I want a man? Of course! But I am content and happy if the right one does not come along.

I feel so happy and content...yes I will strive for more always...improve myself and better my life but I am thankful that today I have ENOUGH!

Onto the flooring situation...

Last night I bought a miter box on the way home from work and started on the molding situation. After giving myself a crash course on how to use it, I think it went well!! I added the molding around the walls and the trim by the closet (my Dad needs to pop that into place...I did not have enough muscle...HA! I am saving it for him).

Here is the finished room with molding to cover the expansion gap!

Tonight I will move all the furniture that is currently in my bedroom into the guest bedroom (the floor that is finished) so I can start on my bedroom flooring. Here is a picture of my bedroom currently...

As you can see above it is a mess!!! For me, the hardest part of this has been everything is everywhere and I am very OCD. I hate having things out of place but I am definitely getting used to it during this project so maybe this is free immersion therapy!!! HA! Double bonus - new flooring and no more OCD!

My parents have offered to come help again! Yippee!!! They will be here for the weekend to help me tear out the old carpet and start laying the floor in my bedroom - I will not turn away help! My Mom and Dad rock!!!

I hope you all have a great day!

Anyone else have OCD tendencies? Does everything in your home have a place or are things strewn everywhere? Anyone else have purple (or odd accent) walls anywhere?