i want a perfect body, i want a perfect soul

so i guess that the last song is a wee bit difficult. most anyone who listened to alternative music during the 90's should know the song. the opening line of the song is "it must be your skin i'm sinkin in."

some good news for those who have been keeping up with my good friends' situation. the boys are home, and the adjustment period has begun. things on the home front are good too. the chicks now look like chickens. the WW thing is going very well. my starting weight on friday 4/18 was 229 lbs. i weighed myself yesterday and i weigh in at 222 lbs. a big woo hoo to me. according to the IMB i need to have a "healthy" bmi of between 20 and 25. i currently have a 36. in order to get to this "healthy" bmi i will need to weigh between 124 lbs and 155 pounds. let me take you back to high school. my senior year i was a wee bit on the skinny side. i weighed in at 135 lbs. according to bmi that is healthy for me. let me tell you what i looked like. when i stood up straight you could see all of my ribs, even the weird little one at the bottom. i had a 28 inch waist and 21 to 22 inch thighs. solid muscle, but still not proportional. i am hoping to be able to get my weight down to about 145. that will be roughly 100 lbs. lost since last february.

from time to time princess mindy does thankful list and allows questions to be asked that she answers on her blog. in her honor here we go:


i am thankful for:
friends, both being one and having them
children, both the good and the bad. the bad help me realize how much i love mine.
my husband, we have been married 9 1/2 years and he still thinks i'm sexy.
my laundry room, i have an awesome washer and dryer.
my sight and hearing, so often i forget the simple things that bring me joy.
the sound of laughter
nap time
blogs, it is really my only daily connection to the adult world.

any questions you have i will try answer in one of my next blogs. i don't when that will be because we are digging out our basement and that is quite time consuming.

edited to say wednesday song was guessed by vanilla frog. the song is glycerine.

i'll never forget where you're at

my friend rachel's mom correctly named yesterday's lyrics. they are from "the pot can't call the kettle black" by jerry jeff walker. i'm a big fan of jerry jeff. friday's lyrics still haven't been named, today is the last day then i will reveal 'the rest of the story'. most of you know that my family went to Kenya in May of 2005 for a mission trip. my father in law goes every summer and builds churches in kenya. we wanted to wait until monkey would be old enough to remember the trip, so we went the summer before she started kindergarten. let me see if i can set the scene. i graduated from college, finally, on saturday, and we boarded the plane on tuesday. it was a very busy weekend. i was still technically under doctor's care when we left. two weeks before the kenya trip i was 12 weeks pregnant. the next thing i knew i was having a miscarriage and a DNC. i was in emotional turmoil at best, but i thought hey what better way to get my mind off it than to do God's work. we had an amazing time. we put a roof on a church called Upendo, it means love. we did 2 medical missions. one was in the slums of Nairobi. we traveled to Tsavo game park and down to the coast at Mombasa. the ocean was a color of blue that i can't even describe. i fell in love with the people and the land. there has been some serious discussion about going back on a more permanent trip, but the Lord hasn't opened that door yet. we still have college debt to pay off before we are in any shape to go across the big pond. the last day we were in kenya we went to church services in the slum where we were doing the medical mission. during prayer time a woman in the back stood up and asked for prayer. she had been pregnant with twins and had lost one. at the exact same moment my husband and my father in law both turned to look and see if i was alright. she told us that her husband was away working and she wasn't a Christian. the preacher talked to her about Christ and she accepted the Lord. we then went to her house to pray with her. i felt moved to pray with her, if you know me at all you know that i DO NOT like to pray in front of people. i told her that i too have suffered a miscarriage and that i would continue to pray for her health and her unborn child's health. suddenly a peace came over me, and i knew that God indeed had a purpose. we came home with a ton of pictures and souvenirs. one of them was delivered in february of the next year. it was an amazing trip never have i felt more at home than i did there. we're hoping to go again for a summer mission in 2010, but we'll see where the Lord leads. i hope that you can see God moving in your life today. this post was kind of emotional, but i felt a need to post it. below are some pics from our trip


this is the church we roofed. finch preached the sermon that morning. the people pictured with us are the fundi, which is a builder, and his family.
this is at the twigga farm outside of Nairobi. monkey got to feed betty the twigga, giraffe.
below are some elephants that were walking in front of our matatu, bus, while we were touring Tsavo. what you don't see is the rest of the heard, they were on the sides of the vehicle.


the happy preacher got friday's song. it is meet virginia.


edited to say vanilla frog got the lyrics. they are from glycerine by bush.

lace your shoes with country blues, ramble down that dusty old road

well, since no one new guessed friday's song it is open season, this won't count against you for the week. so far so good on the WW front. i weighed in last night at my first meeting, and since thursday night/friday morning, i have lost 1.2 pounds. not bad considering that this is the week of the month that i usually retain about 2 pounds. i finished two little bags for gifties. they are a little different than the ones i made a while back, and i think i may like the new ones better. sorry this is short, but i have lots to do today. good luck with the lyrics.



edited to say:mz terry got tuesday's lyrics correct. friday's are still open.

Pulls her hair back as she screams, "i don't really want to be the queen"

a prize will be sent out to princess mindy for winning the song challenge, please email your address at your convenience. a new rule, you can only win one a week sorry, unless no one else has gotten it by the next day. now for the rest of the story on yesterday's song. when i was in high school i had a friend who out of the blue one day said "you remind me of a song, but you probably won't know it". i love music, just about any genre of music. when i asked what song she told me "she's always a woman" by billy joel. i love me some billy joel and always have, and i thought it could have been much worse. her reasoning was the line that says "she'll carelessly cut you, and laugh while you're bleeding." some would have been insulted, but come on it was mostly true. in 8th grade history we were discussing someone and the teacher said that the person was a sociopath. when one of the students asked what that was the teacher pointed at me. his description went something like this "someone who will cut you simply to watch you bleed to death." later when i was getting ready to change high schools i had a friend come up and tell me "you know ten years from now we're going to find out that you really are the anti-christ." yeah, i was real popular. sorry, i went kind of sideways on that one. on a different note i walked the yard today and noticed there are buds on all my rose bushes. i'm thrilled because i have wanted to make rose petal jam for several years now, and this year i may have enough roses to actually do it. woo hoo. i also notice several buds on my peonies. i adore peonies, they remind me of my granny and grandpa. they had the most beautiful peonies in their front yard. the day before my grandpa, who i shared a birthday with, passed away he asked if the peonies were blooming. we told him that they hadn't bloomed yet, but they were covered in buds. the day of the funeral the first one opened. monkey insisted that we put it in the casket, so that he could give it to Jesus when he got to heaven. i bought my peonies that year, and this is the first time they will have bloomed. it's been 4 years. while walking the yard i noticed that my century tulips were blooming. all the berries have new growth. it must be spring everything is green and new life is all around. i hope that this time of year brings new growth into your life and brings joy to your heart. i hope someone guesses the song because i making little bags for the prize.

edited to say happy preacher got the lyrics. the song is meet virginia.

she only reveals what she wants you to see

big uns/baby gator won yesterday's lyric quest. as her prize i'm going to give her a little something that i've made. i sincerely want to thank you all for the advice. usually i try to craft while the sweetness rests, but we haven't been home in the evenings lately to do catch up work. in other words i'm way behind. i've tried to do the give her something similar to what i have, but she wants what i have or to help me. i love that she is a helper, but sewing machines can damage little fingers. this fall we may put her back in MDO she really enjoyed it, and she is a very social child, not sure where she got it from. i wanted to share a few things that are on my mind. first i'm in several swaps this spring that i am way excited about. the first is a sassy apron swap over at byrd house. the next is over at princess mindy's it is an initial swap, and last is the summer fun apron swap over at feathered nest. i've never made aprons before, so i'm a little nervous about those swaps. also over at princess mindy's i found this neat post, and i will be taking part in the no complaining challenge as well. i have been struggling with my weight for about 9 years or so now. i've tried losing it on my own, but ultimately i decide to eat 1/2 a pan of brownies. i decided to join weight watchers today, so i want you guys to ask how i'm doing. good luck with today's lyrics. no hints today sorry.

edited to say princess mindy knew the song, but tune in later for "the rest of the story"

for one time only make an exception

i think i may start seeing if people can guess what song the lyric is from. what do you think? this is going to be a relatively short post because i am overly busy. i need some advice. those of you who know me, know that i HATE to ask for help. seriously does anyone remember my twisted ankle in 7th grade? anywho. i desperately want to start doing my crafty things again, but my time is a bit consumed at the moment. the question/plea for help is: how do you find time to do the things you want to do, when all of your time is spent doing things you need to do? any advice would be overly helpful, and i'll give you a hint on the song: the lead singer's name is adam and the song is off their first album (although this song was never on the radio). hey the first one to get it right will get a surprise. there you go. thanks again.


edited to say: the winner is baby gator. the song is anna begins by the counting crows. this one was easy, next time it will not be so easy

this is my Father's world

this is what i see when i walk out my front door. nestled between my two old fashioned roses is my black and red flower garden. the iris that are blooming are called black even though they are really just dark purple, but i love the contrast of the two colors.
























next to the black iris are queen of the night tulips. they are the black tulips.



















a close up of the red tulips
















a double daffodil that is just now blooming

















the tulip bed on the side of the house. a close up of the yellow tulips in the bed
















the pretty yellow tulips from the tulip bed

















some striped tulips












a really close up of the yellow tulips.

















here is the lilac bush that is just outside my bedroom window. it smells heavenly. the smell of lilac is the way spring has always smelled to me. growing up just about every house we lived in had a lilac.










on saturday we went to get finch a new pair of shoes because his had died. some of you may know that i love shoes, but hate to shoe shop. this stems from the fact that shoes that are cute in a size 6 are not cute in a size 10. monkey and her highness love shoes, so we let them look for some. her highness has very discriminate taste and could not find any to suit her style that came in her size. below are the ones that monkey picked out. finch got his standard brown work shoes. nothing exciting. monkey and i went for the glam.







aren't they beautiful. she liked the stones on them. i find her little feet amazing. she's in 2nd grade now and barely wears a child's 1. when i was in 2nd grade i wore a woman's size 5. i kid you not. the teacher wore the same size shoe i did.






below are the pictures of my $7 and $3.50 shoes. tell me what you think




the beads really made the sandals for me, and the fact they were only $7.










































i generally don't care for pink, but for $3.50 i'll make an exception. i just loved the gold around the edges of them.

it's been a while

some pictures for your viewing pleasure. below would be pattylicous and me. we were trying to get all of the birthday presents put together so the kids could play outside.

here is a picture of the birthday boy with his daddy. can't tell he likes his daddy can you?
oh the bubble machine, was sooooo much fun. i love the look on his face.
her highness thought she should try on my shoes, well they were a little big.
the final picture needs a bit more of an introduction. i'm still new to the whole camera phone thing. the hubby and i were walking around sutherland's getting everything we needed for buford. when we saw this lady walking around. she was an older lady wearing a hooters shirt. yes, hooters as in "i go there for the wings", not to look at the scantily clad waitresses. mind you i have never been to a hooters, but i didn't think this was there target audience. i just couldn't pull myself to walk up and ask for a pic, so this is the best i got.
things here are still in turmoil. there is still no resolution in my good friends' situation. i hope to be able to get some pics of my red tulips soon. hope all is well in your world.

round and round, round and round

trust me those are lyrics. her highness is in the process of learning several different songs. imagine if you can her sweet 2 year old voice combining: the wheels on the bus, jesus loves me, twinkle twinkle little star, and if you're happy and you know it. the song usually starts with "round and round, round and round. momma sing round and round." i apparently had my 100th post last week, but have been to crazy to care. just when things begin to look up "here comes the rain again". my friend can't seem to catch a break, she is currently on bed rest until wednesday. on the home front things have been busy. per my post on "my favorite things", my snow ice cream recipe goes something like this:

get big metal bowl (the same one i use for my famous homemade tortillas)
collect snow (make sure it is white snow please)
add roughly 1 splash of vanilla or almond extract (i prefer almond, but to each their own)
add roughly 1 kerplump of powdered sugar (it dissolves better than granulated)
add roughly 3 glubs of heavy whipping cream (yes, i do always have this and 1/2 & 1/2 in my fridge)
mix together and enjoy **some alterations to amounts of ingredients may be necessary for your personal preferences.


some of you may remember the post about my room. well, we found a camera in the giant mess and guess what the pics were of.

monkey looks so concerned about holding her highness just right. by the way monkey was the first visitor to see the sweet baby and to hold her.
i had forgotten how big she was until i saw this pic.

Lola, L-O-L-A, Lola

princess mindy put a video of the Kinks performing one of my all time favorite songs. i however thought that this slide show version was too funny, so i'm posting it. enjoy

every now and then i get a little bit lonely

i'm stealing this from my friend rachel. it really does make one feel better. here it is five things i love from each of my five senses:

things i love to see:
1. my family
2. sunrises/sunsets
3. thunderstorms
4. old couples holding hands
5. flowers blooming

things i love to hear:
1. rain on a tin roof (i know it sounds corny, but it's true)
2. my girls singing and laughing
3. the words "i love you" when they're really meant
4. birds singing
5. the national anthem sung by children

things i love to smell:
1. rain
2. fresh mowed grass
3. finch's truck
4. the girls after a bath
5. finch's neck

things i love to taste:
1. strawberries fresh from the patch
2. tamales
3. snow ice cream
4. maters fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun
5. mint sun tea, from my granny's mint

things i love to feel:
1. a hug from the girls and finch
2. soft wet grass on my bare feet
3. my micro fleece sheets
4. dough between my fingers
5. the sunshine on my face

i feel better already. i think i'll go sit in the solarium out of the wind and enjoy some sun tea.