LOST IS BACK!

PEOPLE!!! Listen UP.
LOST premeires TONIGHT!
I'm so excited I just can't stand it.
Last night they had a great recap from last season.
It was as if they were catching up all the people who have gotten SO confused over the last few seasons. The story line is SO thick that trying to catch someone up on what they have missed is SO hard. It was a great teaser last night and SO I'm pumped for the premeire tonight. Don't call me from 8-11pm tonight because Mr. D and I will not be answering our phone. Miss D is going to have to start hittting her sack at 7:45 on thursday nights.
I'm working on my painting. By the way... my painter helpers (Mrs. C and Mrs. A)... I've about got it all fixed. I figured out a way to slightly water down the paint and then ever SO carefully I fan out the edges to blend in so you REALLY would need to be looking hard to see. Although I did have to completely redo a wall in the entry way because the sunlight was just so and I could pick out the touchup spot like it was in 3D.

Talk about ANNOYING!

Mr. D and I have been working on some various projects around the house. One of them has been sheet rock touch up and touch up painting. I took my paper that had all the paint colors and base colors on it into the local paint store. Where we got the paint initially. I only needed a bit so he used a gallon of paint base to make me a few quarts of a few different colors. A little back ground info first. When Mr. D painted our interior walls while the house was being built he used a sprayer. Which mixes just the slightest bit of water into the paint. We know now that changes the paint sheen ever so slightly. Well back to the story. I had taken a few months picking out paint colors for the house. It was a hard task because I knew that the walls would NEVER be repainted. Mr. D and I HATE painting. I love the result of painting... BUT HATE the job of painting. So I chose a paint color called Tabu for the laundry room and for the guest full bath. I had chose a different color... I don't remember the name now for the den, dining and the bonus room. It was suppose to be a light pale yellow. I came up to the house after a day at work and Mr. D had been working on painting the house. I was SO excited to see the paint on the walls. He had done the laundry room and the bath. LOVED IT. Then he had done the den, dining and bonus room. HATED IT! It was like neon green. Why Mr. D didn't stop painting the horrendous color I'll never know. When I put the paint sample up to the wall it was wrong. I called the paint store and they said they would make me a new batch. I wasn't about to try that color again, so I just had them make me a new batch of Tabu so we could use that color in the den, dining and bonus. I knew that I loved the sagey green color... so there would be no surprises. Unknown to me they used a different base for the second batch. That means that the 2 Tabu colored rooms are just so slightly different. So that means that I have to have two different cans to touch up those rooms. And remember that they were all initially painted with a sprayer. I just took to digging out the list so that I knew which Tabu went where. I started my touch up and I can see all of them! Talk about just about going loopy. I just got done repainting a wall and the ceiling in the bath upstairs because it was so noticeable. The sheen is just a little different that you can see where I touched up! I touched and then retouched with the other base of Tabu to make sure that neither of the paints would cover correctly. Uggggh! How annoying. I'm nervous about touching up the main wall color because I think that it is going to be the same story. Different sheen.... just enough to see the touch ups. I can see the touch up in our master bath also. It is a different color. The crazy thing is that sometime I can see it and in other places it doesn't look so bad. I think I'm going to have to repaint all the areas that need to be touched up. That really doesn't sound like FUN AT ALL!!!!

Miss D Turns 2!!

Miss D Turns TWO!

She had such a fun filled day. The day began out by her sleeping in until 7:30am... a treat. Then We all got ready for family to come over. All were to arrive at 10am. Well the weather was throwing in a twist. There was ice covered streets and freeways... making for a delay in the festivities. All arrived safe and sound. We shared fruit, veggies and muffins. I made Lemon Supreme Cupcakes for Miss D and the other kiddos. I put sour patch kids on the top for a cute little detail. Miss D had 2 of course. She got doll house furniture, art suppiles, books and some clothes. She had a blast opening the gifts. There was tissue flying everywhere. She looked so pretty with her pigtails and her dress from last Easter. It was a little tight through the tummy after she was done eating. Everyone left and Miss D was down for a much needed nap. Mr. D and I cleaned and mopped the floors. It just feels good to get everything cleaned up right away so we didn't have to do it later. I didn't sleep very well the night before her birthday so I was tired after the party. But once the house was cleaned up I was able to rest. There really isn't anything like a tidy and cleaned up house. If you were to ask me if I cared about that before I was married... I would have said I didn't care. But being married to a person who appreciates that I have grown to appreciate it too. When we were selling the last house that we had it was for sale by owner. That was great training for keeping a tidy house. I never knew when someone would want to look at the condo. I was working during that time and I couldn't dash around and turbo clean.. So we were forced to pretend like someone would drop in any minute to see the condo. It taught me to keep a tidy house and now I just like it like that. Miss D and Mr. D are watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the background. It is cute to hear Miss D say scruptious. She has her 2 year old check up tomorrow. She hasn't been back to the doctor since her 18 month check up. Thanks to much prayer and faith in God's provision of salvation we have been well and haven't needed to go to the Doctor lately.

Morning GOD Encounter

I was finishing up my BSF Lesson this morning and during my prayer time and quiet time I got picture from God and then I quickly after received the word of knowledge. As I was praying for the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness.....

John 14:6 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Ephesians 6:13-15 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

I got a picture in my head that I was wrapped up in a dollar bill. I didn't see the amount... just that I was wrapped up tight in in. As one would snuggle up with a blanket. I prayed for understanding and the Holy Spirit revealed to me that Jesus paid for my sin and I can wrap myself in His payment. When God sees me He sees the payment of Jesus' shed blood and not my dirty rags.

I know that there are no sore throats in Heaven and Jesus said in the "Model Prayer" 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven in Matt 6:10.

Well I can take that truth and hold tight to it.

1 Corinthians 4:20 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
In the verse above "power" in the greek/hebrew mean dynamite.
The kingdom has the power of dynamite. Jesus is my access to the Kingdom.

Luke 17:21 21nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within[a] you."

The kingdom is also within me. Anyways.... back to the sore throat. I have about 3 times that I can remember stood firm knowing that if I use the name of Jesus and the authority attached with His name... whatever that is making my throat sore will have to obey the truth and the authority of Jesus. I ask in the Name of Jesus that whatever is making my throat sore to be gone. And my throat is better. Read the Book of Acts and you will see that Jesus gave His diciples the authority to go and heal the sick and cleanse the lepers. I'm a believer and so I have that authority too. The same Holy Spirit that indwelled Jesus... indwells me.
Here are a few more verses on healing to check out:
John 14:12
Mark 11:24
Exodus 15:26
Psalm 103:3
Exodus 23:25
John 5:19
Isaiah 53:5
1 Peter 2:24

Matt 12:43 43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

I have to tell the truth to you all. EVERYTIME that I have done this I immediately feel my throat shrink and be completely restored. I'm sitting here typing without a sore throat. When I woke up this morning it was sore again. I hope that this info and testimony finds you seeking and wanting more of the Kingdom of God and power of the Holy Spirit. God will meet you where you are and Jesus has showed throughout the New Testament that He is able to heal. All you have to do is ask. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide. He is the true teacher and the comforter. The secret things belong to the Lord and addressing the cause of the sore throat is the deeper issue.

Matt 7:7 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
One last thing.... A deep thought to ponder today from Bill Johnson's Book... When Heaven Invades Earth.
"Revelation that doesn't lead to a God encounter only serves to make me more religious. Unless Scripture leads me to Him, I only become more equipped to debate with those who disagree with my way of thinking." page 94.

If you are desiring to know God deeper than you do now and actually have a living ongoing God encounter. The Holy Spirit will be your guide. I have been met with hard resistance regarding the subjects I have talked about above. I have measured everything above with scripture and it lines up. I continue everyday to receive more knowledge through the Bible and other books I read. Another book I'm reading is The Holy Spirit and You. By Dennis and Rita Bennett. Lots of great info on understanding the gifts of the Spirit. I'm half way through and can't wait to buy one of my own ( I'm borrowing this one from my MIL) and sit with my highlighter.

Tinkle Time

Guess who has been telling me "Potty Time".

I'll bet that it is a given and you won't say me or Mr. D.....................

We had some friends stay the night last Saturday and their little girl sat on the potty before their bath and so I put Miss D on there to see what would happen when I asked her to go potty. Next thing I know is I hear the jet stream of tinkle filling the potty chair. I don't know how she would have been able to hold that while in the bath because there was alot that came out. So I have been continuing to ask her if she need to go potty. And sometimes she says no and sometimes she will say yes. She was just downstairs after breakfast watching My Friends Tigger and Pooh and she called out to me... "Mommy Potty Time". I do have to say that it has created more work for me because I want to capitalize on this new trick that she has... so I can't delay when she calls out to me. I drop what I'm doing and take her to the potty chair. She does her buisness and I put her dry diaper back on. So I need advice on when to make the change to panties or do I go to pull-ups? Do I stay with diapers until she can stay dry? The commercial is coming to mind with the pull-ups that turn cold when they begin to get wet. All the advertisments for pull-ups... "you I'm a big kid now." She is turning 2 in a few days.... I mean she is still so little. Hmmmmm.....

Also the pic of here above is with the crown that I wore on my wedding day. It was my MIL's homecoming queen crown. It fit Miss D just perfectly. I need to get her all dressed up and put that on her for some pictures. Maybe when I take her for her 2 year old pics.....

Home and SO Sunny

Getting back to dial-up is SO painful. I was so spoiled on vacation to have high-speed. Uggg.....
The sunrise yesterday and today have been Glorious! I'm sitting here at my computer being blinded in one eye from the sun shining in. It is so nice to be home. Miss D was SO happy to see us. She was at the airport to greet us and when we walked around the corner after getting off the plane she came running and smiling. I picked her up and she gave me the longest hug ever. She was rubbing my arms and face smiling. She did the same thing to her daddy. It was just the best to see her and give her kisses. I feel like I have been smothering her with hugs and kisses lately... but I don't even care. She had a fit a few days ago before her nap so we took her out of her room and gave her a little more time before she had to go back to bed. It was a little early for her nap anyways... she is weaning down to one nap a day. But anyways... we brought her into bed to snuggle and just lay together. Next thing we knew she was asleep! So I fell asleep too and we slept for 3 hours! It was the best. She is really amazing me! She talks so well. She is 3-4 word together now and there really isn't anything that gets past her.
I used the oven cleaning button yesterday to see what it was all about. It took 3 hours and it charred everything in my oven into grey dust. All I had to do was wipe it up and my oven was good as new! I have never done that before. But boy did it stink up my house! I had to open up the window (30 degrees outside!) because it was so stinky!
Man it is nice to be home.... we had 5 loads of laundry to do from our trip... but we didn't have to wash any of Miss D's clothes because a laundry fairy washed everything so all I had to do was put it all away.
I tried to post some pics of the sunrise... but blogger is not cooperating!

Too Cute

Snow.... what?

There is snow outside! How crazy is that. Last night they were getting ready for the snow by putting down de-icer all over the streets. It was kinda comical to see everyone all up in arms about the snow. I'm just hoping that we can make our flight connection tomorrow. I'm excited to get home. It has been a nice and relaxing but busy trip. Our Marriot hotels have been so nice. The 1st one we were at had a dinner and breakfast for free. We never made it to the dinner...but the breakfast was great. The hotel that we are at today had a great breakfast too. We rolled out of bed and headed down to get some food before they closed. I put my hair up in a ponytail and Mr. D didn't even wear a hat. Apparantly that is a big no no here... he didn't fix his hair. Now his hair is short so it wan't all crazy or anything. But everyone gave him a gawky-eyed gaze. It was as if they were thinking "you are in public and you aren't totally ready for your day yet... what were you thinking?" It was kinda funny. Mr. D asked me if he had anything on his face or something because everyone was looking at him like he did.
Last night we had a hard time finding somewhere to eat. It was 10pm eastern time...but 7pm at home... we have been trying to not get to messed up with the time change. Nowhere was open... so we had ourselves some Taco Bell. We are going to hit the last raceshops today and then we head home tomorrow!

More Town Travels

Today we went to DEI and how lame of us to not take any pictures. As we were driving away we remembered that we didn't and thought duh.... oops. It was really cool for Mr. D to see the # 3 car and to see the uniforms from previous cup races and all that stuff. We even did the majorly touristy thing and defaced a penny and had Dale Sr.s name smashed on it. Tomorrow we are going out to the Smoky Mountains and we are going to more tourism stuff. We have had some really busy days. But we are having a great time. Then on our last day here we are going to go to the rest of the race shops around town.

We ate at the most amazing restaurant called Cracker Barrel. Today we both had the daily lunch special. Meat loaf and mashed potatoes with a side. I chose the carrots and Mr. D had the baked apples. We also had cornbread... which didn't even need butter because you could see the glistening of the butter that was baked into the cornbread somehow. We did however need to ask for honey. We didn't get any sweet tea today... but we have surely has our fair share of it. We are no stranger to the sweet tea... thanks to some special friends that always make it when we are at their house. It is the same here. You can get it at all of the restaurants here. Yumm-o. Everyone is so nice and they seem to really want to talk to us. Wondering where we are from and what we are doing here. Anywho... the time change is getting to us... just as it is time to come home. Here are a few pics of the downtown and of me... since Mr. D wasn't feeling to photogenic.

Miss my girl.

Ok... today was a fun day. Although tonight I've been in a bit of a funk. I'm missing my little baby girl. We have been gone for only a few days and I'm feeling pretty torn tonight. I KNOW that she is in the most cuddly special care, but that doesn't do anything for me right now.... other than give me piece of mind. I'm across the nation and not with her. We are watching COPS on TV mixed in with a little Titanic and Legally Blonde 2. I'm kinda finding myself wanting to gather my stuff up quickly and catch the next flight home. I just had 4 oreos and they did taste good... but I still miss my baby. Please tell me that I'm not a bad mom for going on a relaxing trip away with my husband. I'm feeling guilty right now. Ugggggg. What a funk.

Hmmmmm.

I just watched this video... with high-speed in our hotel room.
Great explaination...
Fact vs. Fiction

Hush Little Puppy get in my Tummy

We had lunch at a Nascar themed restaurant were the waitress had a very thick accent. We ordered and she said that she would be back out with our "Hush Puppies". I thought ok... we didn't order them but whatever. So she came back out and put them on our table. I had to ask.... "What are they?" She said "Hush Puppies" and said "Yes, but what are they?" She said "Deep fried cornmeal". Ok... she suggested dipping in BBQ or in catsup. So we proceeded with our "Hush Puppies". I have to say... they were good. Kinda like deep fried kinda plain corn bread bites. I think they would have been good with honey. But I didn't ask because I didn't want her to think... ok, crazy lady... I'll bring you some honey.

Lakeside Views

This is a few pics of the local Lake Norman. There is 500 miles of lakeside property. It was so pretty. We had a great day just driving around and site seeing. We have a few suggestions of some more places to check out.
Mt. Mitchell
Builtmore House
and some scenic road that I can't remember the name of. It is about a 2 hour drive from where we are staying. But he said that the "Smoky Mountains" are worth seeing. They aren't much of a comparison to the mountains at home but... hey we still got 6 days!

Travling Today

I come to you my blogging fans from the city of Huntersville, NC. Mr. D and I are here for a little R&R. We will be touring the surrounding cities and having a great time. We had a great day of travels. Everything was so smooth. On the first leg of the flight to Minneapolis there was an empty seat next to me so we were able to stretch out and have some spare space. Mr. D enjoyed that since being cramped isn't his best fit. His legs are a bit long for the seat spacing. So I scooted over and we had the seat between us to just flow over into. We left Miss D with the 1st leg of her travels last night. Our flight left this morning very early and so we didn't want to wake her up. We dropped my car off at my parents house and were on our way. I was a little weirded out by knowing that Miss D was inside the house and that I just dropped off the car and took off. I really wanted to go in and give her a little kiss. That would have been selfish of me disturbing her at 5 am so I resisted. We were on to the airport and on our way to Charlotte. We made out connection in Minneapolis a half hour early. When I was booking the tickets I didn't think about the fact that Minneapolis could be a bit hairy in January. It was cold there, but not a drop of moisture and so therefore no delays. On the plane I was able to get into the Word. Proverbs and Psalms 10 today. Also, I read a bit of my BSF notes and began to read another book on the Holy Spirit. It was a fairly quick trip. It was nice to have the flights broken up in 2.5 hour increments. Our hotel is GREAT. We have a kitchenette and all the amenities. I come to you from FREE wireless internet. I even brought my usb cable to get some pictures off my memory card so that I don't have to worry about keeping my picture count low. So here is a few pics of our visit to the grocery store tonight. Please disregard my bloodshot eyes. A day of traveling on dry air-airplanes and no visine. Gross Spam like product. Milk that is in yellow plastic containers. Crazy expensive yogurt.

Tagged

EIGHT things that drive me crazy.

(disclaimer... I wouldn't say that I have anything that as Shan puts it "drives me crazy" but here are a few things that I don't like very much.)

I'm a pretty passive person. When I was posed with this question it did take me a minute to think in some things.

So here they are...

1. The little ear phones that go inside my ears. They came with my Ipod and they hurt my ears.

2. When I'm skiing or all bundled up for a play in the snow.... I have to have all my layers sleek and without any bunches (especially my socks and pants)

3. Dog slobber (pretty passionate about that one)

4. When others put themselves down. I wonder what I'm suppose to say to them in response? Are they looking for building up or just a listening ear?

5. The feel of squeaky clean dishes on my fingers. I have gotten use to it over the years. But I use to have to empty the dishwasher with damp hands.

6. Thinking about having any sort of blanket or cloth in my mouth. The thought of cotton touching my tongue... yuck! I can barely watch when Miss D puts her niney in her mouth.

7. The dust that daily accumulates on my Hardwood floor.

8. Cleaning out Miss D's poopoo chair.

Now who to tag? Steph and Linds

Brain Age 2

I bought Mr. D a Nintendo DS for Christmas this year. It was a joint present because I knew that I would get some use out of it too. I bought the game Brain Age 2. It begins with a test to determine the players brain age. There is a series of tests I had to go through...randomly chosen. Long story short my brain age was 80! That didn't make a girl feel very good. So... the point of the game is to improve brain function. The game is set up to give you certain exercises everyday to imporve brain function. I can retake the brainage test daily. I have taken the test again a few times. Only after a few days of training in between. A few of the tests are... Word Scramble (unscrambling words), Piano Player (using the stylus to play the tune of the song given), Memory Sprint (keeping track of a little runner as he goes ahead of people and falls behind and then at the end telling what place he came in) and a few more games. It unlocks more training modes the more daily stamps I get. My brain age began at 80 and went down to 70. Then it went to 52 then back up to 56. I took the brain test today and my brain age (I'm glad to say) is now 38!!! I have to say that I am actually getting better at doing math in my head. Not a skill that I have ever had. I have always been stuck counting the way that I learned in 1st grade. I will expain it to anyone who wants to know. But it has always been a stumbling block for me in learning to memorize the math ploblem and the answer. I feel like my brain is getting quicker and better at memorizing and counting. I really like the game. We also bought Super Mario Brothers... so if I'm feeling really good about myself, I will just go and play that game and realize that I have trouble beating a level without having the little mushroom that makes me super big and I can just slam through the level by mowing everything down that was in my way.

Now don't you all feel enlightened and want to go and buy a Nintendo DS.

Doe a deer... a female deer.

I wish that I could sing.
I'm sitting here loading my cd's on to iTunes and I just loaded the soundtrack to The Sound Of Music and I'm listening to it right now. I just love to sing along to this cd. But I would be so much better if I actually sounded better. I'm glad that Miss D could are less. Mr. D and I would really love to be able to just break out in song when ever we wanted to and not have to worry that what was coming out of our mouths would slightly repulse people. Anyone out there with me on this subject. Not counting those of you that can sing.... Melody and Stephanie. I look to you and think.... how lucky you are to be able to express yourself in song. I love to listen to music and sing along. I have such an array of music. Many of you may know that I have a large span of music to my collection. From the Shakespeare Sisters to Dean Martin.

Doe
Ray
Me
Far

When you know the notes to sing.
You can sing most anything.

Sew
La
Tea
That will bring us back to....
Doe

New and Improved

My blog readers... I come to you from my NEW computer. Let me tell you that my last one was pre marriage and very achient. But I am moving into 2008 at a nice quick speed. With dial-up still but with more ram and speed. I'm loving Windows Vista. I had heard mixed reports on the radio, but I think that they worked most of the bugs out and I like it just fine. We had a wonderful Christmas. We downloaded Itunes (3.5 hours) and I've been loading all my cd on there for my Ipod. Miss D is feeling much better. Her voice is back and so is her energy. Croup really got her sown but I surly enjoyed all her snuggle time. Now she just has a bit of a cruddy cough... but nothing to stress about. We made it through without even taking her to the doctor. I questioned myself a few times.. but my SIL who is a nurse practitioner reassured me and said that she would get worse before she got better and that was very true. It lasted a week and we are just coming out of it. So nice to have my girl back. Here are a few pics of my croupy little girl on Christmas eve and Christmas day.

We had a great New Years Day. Every year we spend it with Mr. D's family and we eat Abelskivers. It is a traditional Danish Dish and so very yummy. We stayed there all day... just like we do every year. We watched football and played games. Miss D got a nap and it was fum to just vegg out and snack all day. I was talking with Mr. D later that night over some tea and I shared with him how I don't like the feeling of being full all day. There is just something wrong with now feeling the hunger feeling. I wasn't feeling hungry but it was lunch time and so I thought... well I better eat lunch. I wasn't hungry though... but I still ate. I was full of junk. Today I'm back to 1200 cals and I'm on to lose the last "10". I bet that it is a few more after the last few weeks of trying to squeeze a workout here and there. Also eating all the holiday yumminess!

What should I do as a work out today... uggg such a habit to start again. A habit shouldn't be something to start and stop. I love the fact that my clothes fit and I'm determined to have made a life change.

Mr. D and I are taking a trip to North Carolina soon. I'm looking forward to getting away for a little while. We had planned to be gone for 5 days but somehow I booked the plane tickets wrong... or there was a mess up on someones part(maybe the airline)... anyways the tickets are for 8 days now! It was going to cost $850.00 to change the fare. We just decided to go with it and stay the whole time. Anybody out there have any suggestions for lodging? We have the 5 days we had planned on booked. But now we are going to be there for 3 more nights and we need somewhere to stay. We are thinking we might just wing it and decide once we are there. I need to get our car booked today. What about driving to South Carolina? Goergia? Virginia?

Those are all options.

I was going to post more pics but blogger is being picky.