An honest confession

For the past several years now, my Mom, followed by my aunt, have hounded me to join BSF. Well, this year, I finally did.

I'm not quite sure if I'm glad or not yet. They told me it would be life changing. They are right. And those changes happened almost immediately.

Not to mention that the study for BSF this year is on Isaiah. For the past month, I've been living under the conviction of what a Holy God our God truly is. I always knew God is holy, but after studying Isaiah, I'm just beginning to barely grasp what holy actually is.

Last week's lesson was particularly convicting to me. We were reading Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah has his vision and is commissioned by God. God tells Isaiah that despite all his warnings, the people of Judah's hearts will be so hardened they they will not change their ways.

Matthew 12:34b says, "for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."

Here comes a really honest confession; I am quick to anger. Yes, even over the little things. Especially over the little things. Like when I spill a cup of milk all over myself and my clean kitchen. Even though I might not speak them out loud, the first words that pop into my head are not holy words.

My prayer this week is that my heart is not already hardened this way. I don't want my heart to be full of anger. I don't want to be like Isaiah's people, who are already so far gone that these warnings will fall on deaf ears. And, especially, I don't want to teach my children to become easily frustrated and angry. They watch my reactions and I need to be careful to show calm, patience, and understanding to them.

PSF and Muscles

It's no secret that Jack's greatest desire is to be a superhero.
Preferably Batman.



I have to admit, I've used this to my advantage at every possible opportunity once or twice.

I can't help it. It's just so easy. All I have to do is tell him that I used kryptonite as an ingredient and he will happily scarf down anything on his plate.

Yesterday as he was inhaling peas kryptonite balls the following conversation took place. "Mom," he said excitedly, "I feel these lumps in my chest! I think I'm finally starting to get muscles like Batman!"

"Great." I responded.

"It's because I'm eating all these kryptonite balls!" he said. "Pretty soon I'm going to have muscles just as big as Batman's."

(silence for a few seconds)

"Mom? Why doesn't Daddy have any muscles like Batman?"

It was hard not to giggle at that one.

Oh, and the lumps? His ribs.


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Ok, I know what I said in my last post. I've been trying to think about what I want to post about these past few days. I do want to get more open and honest about things really going on, but it's hard. After all my mom reads this blog. Just kidding, Mom. I've realized that I'm just not a real emotional person. Or not good at sharing my emotions. I know that people who know me IRL are probably laughing but I'd just like to point out that acting emotional and sharing (verbalizing) emotions aren't the same thing. Ahem.
Anyway, stick with me. I'll get there. After all, this kind of counts,right? I mean, I opened up about how I'm not good at opening up.

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

Melody, Charlie and I took a little zoo excursion today with our friends, Lindsey and Grayson.

Elephants were a big hit...

but definitely not as cool as the giraffes. Or ba-jraff, as Melody calls them.
She's in the ba-jraff class at preschool and anything with a long-neck is super cool to her.

Charlie liked the ba-jraffs as well but really liked the zebras.

While nothing can top a ba-jraff to Melody, the goats at the petting zoo came close. She proclaimed them, "So cuuuute!" and following them around, giving hugs and pats to each and every one

wanting them all to feel loved and appreciated.
See?



Charlie, on the other hand, takes after me. We prefer to view animals from the other side of the fence. However, I did finally convince him to pet a goat. He was moderating happy for about 10 seconds and then started looking for the exit again.

On another note, in the past I've tried to keep my blog relatively light and just focused on thing fun things my kids are doing and the hilarious things they say. While I will still be blogging about those things, I'm going to blog a little more about deeper issues such as my faith and things happening in my family and marriage.

Look-a-likes!

I often hear people call Melody my "mini-me". I've never really thought there was that strong of a resemblance, aside from the blonde hair and blue eyes,



until my mother-in-law took these pictures

And then I finally saw it.

Maybe I do have a mini-me!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

WW - Me and an Elk

PSF and bat-attack!

Anyone who knows our family knows Jack loves adores is insanely obsessed with Batman.

But he's not the only one.
We seem to be a family of Bat-people.

(all photos courtesy of the incredibly talented Pam Powell)

Along with Batman, we have Bat-girl (or Bat-grr-al as Melody pronounces it).

And the Bat-xcutioner.

And sometimes I even join in the fun and become Bat-mommy.
(After all, why should the kids have all the fun!?)

I'm not sure what possessed me to put this totally embarrassing picture up. So, enjoy it now...when I come to my senses I'm sure I'll take it down!

PSF and cribs

A while ago, Alex and I had decided to swap Melody and Charlie's bedrooms.

Melody's room was right next to Jack's and we thought it would be best for the boys to be next to each other. Plus, Charlie's bedroom was bigger and Melody deserves the bigger bedroom...let's be honest, she does have to put up with two brothers.

Alex took the kids to Grandmother's house for the weekend, while I stayed home for some R&R to be here for the painters. (I know, my husband does rock!)

Since my painters work fast, I had plenty of time to rearrange the rooms and swap the furniture. It was all pretty easy (since they actually barely have any furniture) until I came to disassembling and reassembling the crib. As you all know, a crib will not fit through a doorway so it has to be taken down to be moved. I was on a roll and (anyone who knows me will attest to this) had no intention of stopping until their rooms were situated. Plus, I had seen my husband set up the crib numerous times in the past 6 years and it never looked all that difficult.

Looking back, thinking that was probably my first mistake.

It was quite a long *ahem, 2 hours, ahem* process and, in the spirit of educating others, I'd thought I'd share my new found knowledge with the blog world.

• When opening the drill case, make sure it's not upside down. If it is, the contents will spill everywhere.
• Drills have a lot of small parts. If you lose one, it will take forever and a day to find it.
• You don't actually need a drill to assemble a crib (at least not my crib.)
• Google is very informative. Without it I would not know what an allen wrench is.
• You do need an allen wrench to assemble a crib.
• Before starting this process, take a long, honest look in the mirror. If nothing about you screams handyman, it might be best to defer the responsibility to someone else.

Please take a moment to ohh and ahh over the assembled crib. I'll wait.

(Don't worry, a pictures of Melody's room are coming, but it will be another few weeks before we have her new furniture.)


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

True Story Tuesday and Do I Know You?

One of the best and worst things about a schedule C-section is knowing exactly when you'll have your baby.

While it's nice knowing and not having to wait around, I always experienced a lot of anxiety, especially in the hours preceding my delivery.

Getting the epidural was especially anxiety inducing. Would it hurt? What if I didn't get numb? My anxiety manifest itself in the form of crying. So, pretty much the whole time leading up to the delivery (Ok, and after too) I'm a basket case.

For those of you who experience childbirth the natural way, and are probably screaming in pain by the time your epidural is in place, I'll give you the scoop on how it works.

The anesthesiologist comes in, after I've signed my life away, and gives me the low-down. This is stuff along the lines of sit really still, this is what you'll feel, etc. Then s/he introduced me to the anesthesiologist nurse who basically acts as my personal assistant throughout the whole procedure.

Remember those gowns you have to wear? The ones that are pretty much designed so that all private areas are accessible at all times?

As I'm sitting there with my nine month pregnant self hanging out of this gown, the anesthesiologist instructs me to place my feet on Alex's knees while she inserts the epidural. The anesthesiologist nurse comes in at this point and introduces himself, as Ryan. I'm trying to be polite while I'm sniffling like an idiot holding back tears.

The epidural is in place and I'm waiting to get numbed enough for them to place the catheter in. (Yeah, fun times, I know.) Since my legs are going numb and I pretty much can't feel or move anything, I'm just having to lay there, my fashionable gown not covering anything, with Alex standing on one side of the bed and my personal assistant, Ryan, on the other.

It is at this point that Ryan says to Alex, "You look really familiar to me."

Alex responds with, "I was thinking the same thing? Did you wrestle for Vestavia? I think we wrestled together in high school."

"Yeah! That's it," says Ryan and a conversation ensues about their glory days of high school wrestling.

With me, lying on the bed between them, legs spread.

Let me tell you, that did A LOT to calm my nerves. Right.

All I have to say is that I've never pictured myself lying on a bed between two men. However, if I did, wrestling certainly would not be the topic of conversation and I would not be nine months pregnant.

Thankfully that's one experience I won't have to relive again!

Ask Me Anything: Part 3 All about me!

Welcome to the final part of Ask Me Anything!

The section is all about me. Because it really is all about me. Right? Right!?

Kelly and Missy asked if my husband and I attended Auburn and Liz wonders about my career aspirations.

Alex and I are both Auburn Alum. We graduated in 2001. I have a degree in Philosophy and Political Science.

When I was growing up, I knew I mostly wanted a family. That was always my first priority. I never had one consistent career goal (outside of motherhood). In college, I became interested in counseling and really felt called to do that in recent years. I'm planning on going back to school for a masters in professional counseling in the near future.

Jenny Mac wonders if I cry when Auburn loses.

No, but my husband does. And mopes for days afterward. It's been a depressing fall for him. He also will analyze every single second of each game. That's kind of depressing for me.

She also asks what's my favorite book.

I am a huge reader. When I was younger, I was frequently found with a book in my hand and that is often still true today. I just finished The Glass Castle and am currently reading Unaccustomed Earth.

It's really hard to pick a favorite. There are just so many wonderful books out there. I try to keep a good list going. Evey year, when Time Magazine and Newsweek publish their lists of top 100 fiction and non-fiction, I choose ten from each category to read. I also try to read several of the current Pulitzer Prize winners each year. (Yes, I am aware that I'm totally type A and a big dork.)

A few of my must-reads are: A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Twilight Series (Ok, fine. Anything vampire.), The Chronicles of Narnia (actually anything by CS Lewis), When A Crocodile Eats the Sun; A Memoir of Africa, Harry Potter, Band of Angels, Experiencing God, and Boundaries.

The book I have always considered my favorite when I'm forced to pick a favorite is Our Town by Thornton Wilder. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's very short but incredibly insightful.

And since we're talking about books I like I'm also going to mention a few I didn't like. The Shack: Bottom line, it's hard to respect a book based on the Christian religion that makes no mention of the Bible. Eat Pray Love: Bottom line, the author had a hard time purely because of the choices she made. Bad decisions = bad outcomes. And it was incredibly boring. Incredibly.

My children are book lovers as well which thrills me. I cannot wait until Melody is a little older and we can read The Little House books together!

Julie wants to know my favorite guilty pleasure.

Hm, I'm not really sure I want to admit this. Ok, I just I might as well just out myself. I have to have dessert every night. I try (really hard!) not to, but I have no self control in this area of my life. I'm pretty sure this love of dessert is a trait I inherited from my dad.

Krystyn wants to know my favorite Edward dream.

Well, I think there are really too many to choose from and I'm pretty sure they are all too inappropriate to describe on my blog!

Angie wants to know what my favorite food is, where I like to go out to eat, and what's my favorite wine.

I'm not really sure I have one single favorite food. If I did, it would have to be chocolate. Or ice cream. Or cookie dough. I go through phases of what types of food I'm really into. Currently, I'm really loving sushi and anything with brie and/or cranberry. Pumpkin is one of my favorite fall flavors as well.

Atlanta is full of great restaurants. The Buckhead Diner used to be a favorite of mine and Alex's. We love Asian foods with Genki and Oriental Express being among our favorites. When we've got the kids with us, we love to go to Blue Moon Pizza and Atkins Park. I'm pretty sure we eat out too often!

You know, I love wine, but I'm really not too picky. I'm more of a white than a red drinker but I enjoy both. Thanks to Lauren, I've recently gotten into Rieslings.

Sandy wants to know what's the worst fashion trend I've ever followed.

Well, since I grew up in the 90s, unfortunately there's more than one. Remember the big, colorful parrot earrings? Yep. I wore those every day of 6th grade. I was also big into neon at one point. That included sporting a neon orange bikini during my high school years. Be thankful I'm not posting a picture. And remember those high hair sprayed bangs? Ok, I didn't have those. However, that's only because I have the finest, limpest hair ever. However, I tried my best to get them up there. It usually fell flat after about an hour and I'm pretty sure my big bang attempts drastically increased my carbon footprint.

Rachel wants to know what my favorite recipe is.

Well, I'm currently loving Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is actually not my recipe, but very similar. I also love these. One (of many) great things about these cookies is that the dough freezes really well, so you can bake just a few cookies at a time as opposed to making a whole batch. (Have y'all figured out I have a sweet tooth, yet!?)

On a healthier note (yes, I do have a healthy side!) I love butternut squash soup in the fall and winter. It's chalk full of vitamins and very tasty. Next time I make it, I'll share the recipe here. I also love squash casserole. The vast majority of my favorite recipes have all come from my mom or Aunt Karen's kitchens. They are both wonderful cooks.

There you go! That's not everything about me, but I'm sure it's more than you wanted to know.

Thanks for all your great questions and I encourage y'all to try this on your blogs. It was pretty fun!

You've got questions? I've got answers. Part 2: All about me and my guy!

Welcome to Part 2 of Ask me anything!

This part is about my relationship with my husband.

Jen, Hit 40 and Missy want to know how I met my husband. Kat takes it a step further and wants to know every detail about the early years of our relationship and asks

-How did you meet your hubby?
Alex and I meet at a party in Auburn on January 1, 2000. My little sister in my sorority (who also happened to be named Emily) was dating Alex's brofriend, Webb (who still tries to take full credit for introducing us). Emily and her roommates were having a party and Webb came along with a few of his fraternity brothers. About halfway through the night Emily was concerned that Webb's buddies were getting bored and asked me to go talk to one of them so they wouldn't leave. After scoping out all three of them, I decided on Alex. (No offense to the other guys.) We hit it off that night and much later on Alex drove me home. He called me the next day and asked if I wanted to go golfing with him and his friend and his friend's girlfriend. I accepted despite the fact that I had never even held a golf club in my life. Fortunately, we were given the job of cart-driving. He asked me out again to a party the following weekend. And here's just a funny story: He had a pledge drive him over to my sorority hall to pick me up. When he introduced me to the pledge he introduced me at Natalie, this girl he dated before me! Yep, I was pretty ticked off. But, he eventually earned my forgiveness.

-How long did you date?
We started dating in January 2000 and in April, Alex broke up with me. I went home to my parent's house (they were living in Philadelphia, PA at the time) for the summer. Alex and I talked some during that time. My parents told me that if it was meant to be it would work out. About halfway through the summer, Alex told me he had made a huge mistake, and that I was the most amazing person ever, and that he couldn't go on living if we didn't get back together. (OK, I cant' remember his exact words, but it was something really close to that.) We went got back to Auburn for our final year we started dating again.

Here are a few pictures from when we were dating.

Fall 2000 in front of Jordan-Hare Stadium

Auburn vs UGA 2000 (we're standing in front of Alex's fraternity house)
New Years 2001, at my parents' house in Philadelphia, PA

Spring 2001, right after we were engaged.

-Did he or you propose? How?
On March 17, 2001, Alex proposed. We had dinner together earlier that evening and then he blindfolded me and drove me all around and eventually stopped and made me wait in the car. A few minutes later he came back and led me (blindfold still on) to a bench and had me sit down. When I took the blindfold off, I was sitting in the Arboretum, there were candles all around (only about half of them were lit though...it was a really breezy night!) and Alex was down on one knee. He asked if I would marry him and I don't think I actually said yes. I think I just jumped up screaming! Another funny story: Alex had not told our families that he was going to propose. So when we called to tell them we were engaged, Alex apologized to my dad for not asking them first. And my dad actually said, "Well, we'll have lots of time to talk later." In his "firm voice"! Alex looked a little nervous then!
Alex had told some of our friends, my roommates, and sorority sisters that he was going to propose and had arranged for everyone to meet later on that evening to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful proposal and celebration. (I looked for pictures from the night we were engaged, but couldn't find any on my computer.)
Oh, and here's just another detail to the story. We got engaged on a Friday night and that following Monday, I was sitting in class. There were some guys in the back talking to their buddy about how they had a paintball game going on in the Arboretum and some guy came up and asked if they wouldn't mind stopping their game for a few minutes while he proposed to his girlfriend!

-What is the most memorable moment from your wedding day?
Hm, there are so many wonderful things I remember about our wedding. I felt like my wedding was absolutely perfect. Well, except for the dress incident of course. I don't think I have a "most" memorable moment. But one moment I do really remember is when the preacher introduced us as Mr and Mrs Powell, I just couldn't stop smiling. I have this ridiculously huge smile on my face (and I'm totally aware that I look ridiculous but I simply cannot stop smiling) and we started walking the aisle all happy and excited and I completely forgot to grab my flowers. But we were married and that was all that I cared about! (Although I do also remember a distinct, but brief feeling like I had signed my life away and a "What have I done?!" moment right after that. But I quickly moved back on to insanely happy!)
I did laugh when we said our vows which kind of made Alex irritated and he actually whispered, "What's wrong with you?!" to me!

See? Goofy smile and no flowers.

Julie also wants to know: How did you know that your hubby was "the one."

Truly, it was when we broke up. I had dated people before and there had been all kind of break-ups: mutual, his decision, my decision, etc. But I was just upset when Alex and I broke up. Really upset. And I just had a feeling in my gut that it wasn't over.

Tina asks Do you and your hubby have "date nights" scheduled? If so, how often?

We don't really keep a set schedule although we do try and get babysitters and go out on a fairly regular basis. We kind of go in spurts though. Sometimes, it seems we have a lot of dates bunched together and then we'll go for a while without a chance to go out. We do feel that dates are important though and always look forward to a date!

Lastly, I wanted to let you know that I've updated Part 1 of Ask Me Anything. My mom and aunt felt that I wasn't very accurate in my story regarding Jack's birth and did not give the glory to God as I should have. I did not add all the details, but I will blog about that one day if people would be interested in reading it.

I added this on the end of that question: *Update* Truly, I had a lot of complications and problems during my labor and attempted delivery of Jack. For a while things were very scary and had God's hand not been guiding us all the way, there may have been a very different outcome. I am very grateful for all the people who were praying for me during that time and most of all for the wonderful blessing God gave me that day: a sweet, healthy baby named Jack.

You've got questions? I've got answers. Part 1

Welcome to part one of Ask Me Anything.

Since I'm totally OCD I've organized the questions I've received into categories. This part is all about my kids...

Erin asked
Are there any more kids in the Future? No! Three is enough, thankyouverymuch.

Whats your favorite personality trait about each of your children? Jack is a lot like me, and even though my mom's going to roll her eyes when she read this (and probably my husband too) I kind of like his bossiness!

Melody is so snuggly. She loves to hug everyone. Me, Alex, her friends, and even people at the airport! I like that.

Charlie's personality is still developing too much for me to pick a favorite trait.

Mimi asked:
What is your bedtime routine with the kids? Our routine is pretty simple. I try and have the kids bathed before Alex comes home from work. We pretty much let them each pick a book and then prayers and a few songs and then lights out. For a while our bedtime routine was getting long and drawn out. By the end of the day, I'm wiped so I try and keep it simple.

Where is your favorite place to vacation as a family? Hands down, the beach.

Summer wants to know:
What is your best memory (so far) with each child? :) This is a great question. But, honestly, I have too many good ones to pick. Now that I'm not nursing any more and all my children sleep through the night, I can say that I liked getting up with them at 2 a.m. and nursing them. They were so snuggly and quiet then and afterward they would just lay their heads on my shoulder and go back to sleep. I especially liked this for the boys...it was one of the rare moments they were actually still and would snuggle me! Those were always sweet moments.

Kelli asked:
I want to know what your day is like. How do you manage it all? I'm pretty routine. OK, I'm very routine. I'm a planner and like to stick to my plans. But honestly, our day is pretty simple. I take Jack to school in the mornings. Melody also has preschool two mornings a week. On those days Charlie and I play at home or run errands. Other days, we play with friends and sometimes have activities like Music Class. Pretty much every day, Melody and Charlie nap from about 12:30 or 1ish until 3:00 when we leave to pick up Jack. (I know, I know, please don't throw things!) After school, if the weather's nice we play at the park or just hang out. Wow. Now that I'm writing this I realize my life is incredibly boring. Sheesh. Now I feel like a dork.

Amy wants to know:
While you were pregnant with each of your adorable little ones, did you know whether boy/girl? (without help of ultasounds)...
Did you find out or leave any as a surprise? We found out each time. With Jack, I felt pretty certain he was a boy, but I knew for sure (before my U/S) that Melody was a girl and Charlie was a boy. I like to think I have very strong intuition! *giggle*.

When I was pregnant with Charlie, however, my dad (who's right 99.9% of the time) was convinced I was having a girl. I knew I was having a boy. So, we made a bet. The big rivalry in our family is the Auburn vs UGA game every November. The bet was, if Charlie was a girl, we had to wear UGA gear all game day. If Charlie was a boy, my mom and dad had to don Auburn gear. Thankgoodness this was the ONE time my dad was actually wrong. An for the record, he wimped out and didn't keep up his end of the bet even though he'll claim to have worn orange underwear or something!

Kat, who wins for most questions, asked (among many other questions):
-Who was the most difficult labor? I had three C-sections, one unplanned and two planned. So Jack was my only and most difficult labor. But believe me, my labor with Jack was the equivalent to three labors and deliveries. I won't tell the whole long drawn out story, but to give you and idea, I went into labor on my due date, June 2. Jack was born, after much labor and pushing, at 8:42 pm on Friday June 4!
*Update* Truly, I had a lot of complications and problems during my labor and attempted delivery of Jack. For a while there things were very scary and had God's hand not been guiding us all the way, there may have been a very different outcome. I am very grateful for all the people who were praying for me during that time and most of all for the wonderful blessing God gave me that day: a sweet, healthy baby named Jack.

-Any funny labor stories? While I was certainly not laughing at the time I can kind of laugh about it now. Well, not really. But you might.

The day before my due date with Jack, I had a doctor's appointment. The midwife who checked me completely crushed my spirits by telling me that I had no action going going on down there, that there was no way I would be going into labor anytime soon and she scheduled me for induction the following Monday. I went home and cried about it all day and promptly went into labor the next day.

While I was about 36+ hours into labor, checked into the hospital and had already had several hours of pitocin bringing me moderately close to 10 centimeters, guess who was the midwife on call? Needless to say, after my appointment on Tuesday and the hormones and emotion surging through my body, that poor woman didn't have a prayer. I won't go into detail, but she quickly left the room!

Rachel wants to know?
I want to know how you decided on names for your kiddos.
I love answering this question!!

All of my kids have family names. When I was pregnant with Jack, I knew I wanted him to be named after my dad: Marc. Alex felt very strongly that if he was named after my dad, then his dad's name should be in there too. So, after much, much, much debate, we agreed on the name John Marc and decided to call him Jack for short.

Since Jack had such a strong family name, I wanted my other children to also have family names. So, when we our second child, and first (and only) girl came along we chose the name Melody after my mom's sister who passed away in early childhood. I wanted her middle name to be Rose, after Sleeping Beauty, (the most romantic movie of all time) but Alex wouldn't let me name our child after a Disney Princess. Ok, I really wanted the middle name Aurora but Alex totally went off the deep end when I suggested that! Since we each got to pick one name for Jack, it seemed fitting that we do the same for Melody, so Alex picked her middle name, Elizabeth, after his aunt.

Charlie was the hardest name to choose. We had it narrowed down to three names and were getting close to my due date and still hadn't chosen his name. (Yes, I like to have their names picked out wayyyy before they're born. I know I'm weird like that. It's a bonding thing for me.) Our options were Charles, after my paternal grandfather, Eli, after my maternal great-grandfather, and Mabry, which is Alex's middle name. Given our "you pick one, I pick one" agreement, Alex picked Mabry for the middle name. This left me with the option of either Charles or Eli for a first name. Finally, I decided that I loved both names and the men associated with them too much to pick so we decided on Charles Eli Mabry Powell!

What's funny about all this is that when I was growing up and even in my marriage before kids came along, I never thought I would be a big family name person. But when it actually came time to name my children, family names were really the only ones we ever considered. With the exception of Rose, which I'm still bummed I didn't get to use! I love the idea that all my children are named after special people and their names have significance and meaning to us in that way.

Ok, if you are still reading, you rock! I know this was long.

Stay tuned for Part 2 which will be all about me and my husband! And hopefully a little shorter too!

I want to tell you

A while ago, Rachel over at Once Upon a Miracle did a fun question and answer post.

Since our lives have consisted of eat, school, play, eat, sleep, repeat lately, leaving me with minimal blog material, I thought it might be fun to do one over here.

Do you want to know how I met my husband? Or maybe where I get my fabulous fashion sense? How about my theories on raising children? Health care? What's my favorite band?

So, leave me a comment asking whatever you want and I'll answer. And hopefully tell the truth! :P

And bonus points if you know where I got the title of this post from!

No one's forcing you to read my blog.

Alternately titled "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

Do y'all remember that phrase? Apparently some people's mothers dropped the ball and forgot to mention it to their children.

In the past several weeks, I've gotten several comments (anonymous, of course) that have not followed this mantra.

Now, I have actually deleted them because it ticks me off that I can't respond to the author herself. However, I'm going to post them here and respond to them.

Comment #1

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "a helpful letter to the management at Victoria's S...":

Ok....First of all I work in retail as well. So, just because they didn't kiss your ass doesn't mean they weren't nice or had poor customer quality skills. I don't think you have ever worked for retail, because if you have, then think of it in their perspective. They stand there for up to 8 or more hours a day, trying to re-stock their items and help people when they can. They are on a radio 24/7, and their job requires that if they have a day off and they need a shift covered and they call you, you have to go in. It's an "on call" job. (No I dont work for VS). On the other hand, customers are idiots. They just are. And heaven for bid someone didn't say hello to you, I bet you just exaggerated this whole thing because you were upset. And your kids? Well theres something called a babysiter, your husband, or simply go when you have free time. Shopping with children isn't a good idea anyway. So instead of giving them adivce, give yourself some. Stop being those bitchy customers that complain and deal with it. Not everyone is perfect and just because they don't say hello doesn't mean they don't have good customer service. You need to get a life. Posting blogs about this is really lame, and your a mother you should feel dumb. The only reason why I replied is because I'm constucting a report on them for a business class and stumbled upon this ridiculous site. And one more thing, if you know so much then why don't you go change how they are? Oh wait, you cant. :)

And here's the response I would have sent:
First of all, here’s a little tip for you; proofreading is a good idea. Perhaps you should also look into purchasing a grammar book.

Second of all, I hope you fail your project. And, if it’s full of grammatical errors like your comment was, you probably will.

Thirdly, you’re a customer too, of some place. So, are you including yourself in that idiot comment?

Lastly, someone at Victoria’s Secret’s corporate office saw this and did not think it was lame. In fact, they contacted me and sent me a very generous gift card. Since I’m sure you’ll think I’m lying, here’s a photo for you.

Comment #2:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "a helpful letter to the management at Victoria's S...":

maybe you shouldnt have hauled around toddlers into vs. theres nothing more annoying than screaming children while your trying to relax and shop. plus you cant expect them to just revolve the entire store around you--there may be handicapped ppl who deserve those rooms. and plus who the hell goes shopping for bras with children? what kind of a freak are you?

And here's what I would have responded with:

If you want to shop and relax at the same time, perhaps you should open an adults only store. In case you aren’t aware, children are people too and have the same rights as you do.

2. I never said my children were screaming. When my children behave poorly in public, I leave. My children were behaving like any other active, happy children.

3. Most people with children go shopping for many items of clothing with their children. Next time you’re in a shopping area try opening your eyes and looking around.

4. I never expected the store to revolve around me. I simply expect to be treated like any other customer who's business is valued.

5. Since you seem to know little if anything about children, I’m assuming you have none. It’s probably because you’re too big a b#(%& to find someone who will marry you. Try being nicer.

And here's comment #3 (who I'm pretty sure is the same person who left comment #2)

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "you don't know what you got until it's gone":

That African tribal women comment was extremely racist and ignorant of you to mention. Oh, and your boobs don't even look like anything special so I wouldn't lament on the past.

And my response:

Ok, first of all, I think you might be ignorant. Ignorant is defined as being uninformed or unaware. I am informed and aware. Since you are apparently unaware of the meaning of the word ignorant, I can only conclude that you are the ignorant one.

Racist? Not so much. I’m not talking about the color of one’s skin. I’m talking about anyone who walks around without a bra on. What if he had said feminist hippies in the 60s and 70s who burned their bras instead of wearing them? It's a simple fact; if you never wear a bra, you're going to sag regardless of the color of your skin.

Believe me, even now my boobs are better than anything you have.

Ok, so there you go. I had my chance to respond. I've also decided to disabled anonymous comments on my blog. I enjoy getting comments, even comments that I disagree with, but I also like to have the opportunity to respond.

Bottom line, if you're going to leave a nasty comment, fine, but man up and own it!

and the award goes to...

Oh, thank you, thank you! You really do love me.

I'm sorry I'm so behind in graciously accepting my bloggy awards.

Now, in keeping with my flakey fashion of late, I'm not sure what I have to do to accept all these awards. I know that for one of them I'm supposed to list 5 things I'm obsessed with so I'm just going to make that the rule for all of them.

5 things I'm obsessed with:

1. Purses and shoes. What can I say? I just love love love them and cannot get enough.

2. My family. My kids are growing up so fast I just want to savor every little bit of sweetness that emulates from them. Those sweet kisses and hugs they give, their adorable voices singing songs, those little feet I hear pattering across the floor every day just warm my heart!

3. I'm obsessed with Facebook. I'm constantly updating my status and stalking other people's wall making witty comments on other peoples statuses (stati?). I love Facebook.

4. The return of fall TV. During the summer, I'm always thankful for a TV break as it allows me to catch up on reading which I love to do. But by the end of August I need a Smallville fix in a bad way.

5. This last one is something I need to be obsessed with. Exercise. I used to be obsessed and then August hit and it has been so freakin' hot and I've been so busy that I've fallen off the wagon. I need to hop back on and get my fanny in gear. Maybe now that I've admitted this on my blog, I'll actually do it!

And the award goes too....

I received this one from Viv @ The V Spot. If you don't already read her, you should. She's freakin' hilarious.


I award this to Heidi @ Sacred and Profane. Heidi is totally awesome and I look forward to reading her blog daily.

The equally hilarious Jenny Mac @ Let's Have a Cocktail bestowed this upon me. I love the sass and attitude that comes with this.


I'm bestowing is one to my bff and fellow blogger Lauren @ Sanity Sold Separately since she too has a lot of sass and attitude.

Lyryn @ Breaking Through has honored me with this award. Lyryn is so refreshing to read. She's open, honest, and always encouraging.


his I give to Missy @ Two Little Monkeys. Her little twin girls, Emma and Abby are fabulous and so is she!

As lastly Lauren @ Sanity Sold Separately has graced me with this award, well, obviously because I am the queen!


I'm passing this award to

Kmama @ The Daily Dribbles, Brandi @ My Three Bubs, and Kelli @ Random Thoughts of a Supermom.

These women have all boys and a husband, so you know they are the queen of the castle!

True Story Tuesday - the day the dress broke

Today I am celebrating 8 years of wedded bliss.

And in honor of this celebration, I'm going to share a true story that took place on my wedding day.

It's one of those totally-not-funny-at-the-time-but-hilarious-now stories.

Dress shopping was one of my favorite wedding preparation experiences. Who doesn't love dress shopping?! And wedding dress shopping? Even better. My dad actually went with me to pick out my wedding dress. He narrowed it down to two and I chose his second favorite.

Like all brides, the wedding gown fitting is an important part. Several times I drove from Auburn to Atlanta to try on my gown and have it adjusted. Let it out a little here, take it in a little there.

The last fitting I had was just the week of my wedding.

When I put the dress at the last fitting, I commented that it was a little tight around the bust line. (Those were the days of my fabulous bust line.) The seamstress and I discussed options and since there were only a few days before my wedding, it didn't seem too tight and I didn't want to let it out only to have to worry about tugging it up all day, I decided that I would just leave it the way it was and, you know, make sure not to eat a lot that week.

Fast forward to the morning of the wedding and my Granny fluttering all around reminding me to eat. She kept talking about how she once saw a groom pass out at a wedding because he hadn't eaten all day. She tell me this as I'm getting out of the shower, again as I'm headed out to get my hair done, and again as I'm getting ready to go to the church.

Of course, I'm thinking, "I can't eat! I have to fit into my dress!"

I go to the church, hair done, make-up applied, into the dress, suck in and button.

Ahhhh, perfect.

Out to take pictures and then back to the brides room to wait for the actual ceremony. Enter Granny. Still going on (and on) about eating. This time, though, she's armed with a tray of pastries. The temptation proves to be too much and I reach for one.

Apple danish. YUM!

I scarf it down and then bend over to grab a napkin...

All of a sudden I feel and hear a popping sound. Then suddenly I have a more freeing sensation around the top of my dress.

Yes, that top button had popped right off!

I immediately knew what happened, however, my lovely bridesmaids gather around me telling me that the button has just come undone. They are looking for a safely pin and then spend a lot of time attempting to safely pin it together. All the while, assuring me the button as merely become unfastened. In walks my mother-in-law and joins the hoopla trying to safety pin my dress as well. In walk my own mother and aunt. The take one look at all the commotion and just walk back out.

Can you believe someone (and I'm not sure who!) took pictures of this fiasco!?!



Now, I don't actually know how long the whole process took but it felt like an hour. It was definitely long enough for me to eat one more danish.

A nice shot of rum to calm me down and a little while later I was ready to walk down the aisle and sign my life away marry the man of my dreams.

Ironically enough, the dress actually fit perfectly after the button broke! I was able to dance the night away! And I am happy to say that was really the only snaffu we experienced. Mostly.

We had a gorgeous wedding and a fabulous 8 years and I can only imagine how wonderful the rest will be!

Happy anniversary, babe! I'm so glad I married you!

Answers, please

On August 10, Jack will be starting Kindergarten. Ever since we decided on a school and were accepted, questions kept popping into my mind. As we've gotten closer to the {cue scary music} first day of school I've become more stressed and frantic. Not just about Jack's school but life in general.

So, here are some of the things I've been wondering...

Do kindergartners have homework?

How can I find a carpool buddy?

How can I find a buddy?

Will Jack make a buddy?

Will being the youngest kid in the class be detrimental for Jack?

Do I have to get a specific brand of khaki pants for his uniform or will any khaki pants work?

Now that my hair has stopped falling out, how long until the little wispy pieces growing in are long enough so that I no longer look like an electrified Chia Pet?

If I take this picture and blow it up poster-size and tape it up over my bed, will my husband object?

a helpful letter to the management at Victoria's Secret

Dear Manager at Victoria's Secret,

I'm so sorry to see the that the recession has hit your store so hard. Apparently you can no longer provide any sort of customer service training for your employees.

Here are a few tips, free of charge, that might help you improve the very lacking customer service.

1. When a customer walks in the store, look at them and acknowledge presence with a "hello, how are you today." Or, at the very least, a head nod.

2. When said customer has an armful of bras and is pushing a double stroller, feel free to ask if they need help or would like their selected items to be placed in a dressing room.

3. In the event that said employee does not do that and the customer finally asks for a dressing room, note that she is pushing a double stroller and will need the largest dressing room. This is not to be confused with the smallest dressing room. If said customer is not accommodated, please note that two unruly children will be running and/or crawling around the store, one of whom is very fond of taking the panties out of the drawer and flinging them haphazardly. The other will merely be content to chew on the panties that have been flung.

4. When customer asks for a bra in a different size yet the same color and the store does not have that size/color combination in stock, do not stand there blankly staring at the wall. Lift your arm and gesture towards the slightly different but very similar style of bra a few racks over. Walking over there and looking to see if preferred bra size/color is available would be an even better option.

5. In the event that no one is at the register, yet an employee is standing near the register, direct said employee to either a) go to register to assist customer or b) use store-issued headset/walkie talkie to contact other employee in assisting customer.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Seriously ticked off,

Emily

*UPDATE* After I posted this, I was contacted by a manager at VS's corporate offices and they sent me a gift card in response to my poor experience.

you don't know what you got until it's gone

Warning!!!

This is a post about breasts. You know, boobs. My boobs in particular. So if you are of the male persuasion or simply don't want to read about breasts then this post is NOT for you.

Consider yourself warned and don't come crying to me if you read it anyway and are scarred for life.

Back in the day, you know, before kids, I had what I thought were decent breasts. Now that I've had kids, I've come to realize they were the best breasts ever.

My wedding day...notice the perfect cleavage peeking out the top?

Yet, I didn't appreciate them at the time. I can still remember standing in front of the mirror pointing out my breasts imperfections to my sorority sisters.

(*Note: Even though I didn't fully appreciate them, I did realize their power and went to extremes to take care of them. A friend of my mom's had told me to always wear a bra even at night to prevent sagging. I took that to heart. Seriously, I think the only night of my life I went braless was my wedding night, per my husband's request! And just in case you're wondering, that little tip turned out to be BS. Yep, all those nights of wearing a bra did nothing for me.)

"They're too big!" I would whine, "I can't wear that type of bra with these boobs. I guess I'll just have to go braless. *sigh*"

If I only had that problem now! Now I'm saying, "I can't go braless...they'll poke out the hem of my shirt!"

My friend Lindsey at one point asked her now-husband Webb (aka Alex's boyfriend) if they were fake! Talk about a compliment! That's the best one I've ever received. Natural breasts so firm and perky that you can't tell if they're real or fake! That's boob perfection, my friends.

Then I had kids. Plural. Had I stopped after Jack they probably would have survived. They wouldn't have been the same but they were ok, like average, yk.
But Melody, my champion nurser, sucked. me. dry. She would probably still be nursing if I let her! They were pretty much a mere saggy memory of what had been after Melody got through with them. Charlie finished them off. Even the slightest hint of what they used to be is gone now.

Now instead of trying to find shirts that cover them appropriately, I am looking for clothing that will give the illusion of cleavage. I've become pretty good at faking it, thankyouverymuch.

As I've dealt with the emotional turmoil of the loss of what I once viewed as my greatest (physical) quality, my husband has been so supportive. When I asked him to be honest and tell me how they really look he told me he still loved them and they weren't that bad. His exact words were, "It's not like you look like some tribal woman in Africa."

Thanks, honey.

He also told me that he'd be happy to pay for a lift and/or implants.

That's sweet.

Thank goodness the three absolutely adorable children I have were more than worth the price I paid. Don't you agree?

the power of shoes

My mom is the greeting card queen; she's always on the lookout for funny, appropriate greeting cards. As a result of her greeting card obsession, every once in a while, I will get one in the mail. Now, I am not a greeting card person. I mean, I like them and all but they're just not something I'm super into.

A while ago though she sent me one that really just put life in perspective for me.

This picture is on the front along with these words: Once she was a lowly housemaid dressed in rags. Now she's got a fairy godmother, she's filthy rich, and she lives in a palace with her dreamboat husband.

(You may or may not know that I'm a Disney Princess fanatic. I even wanted to name Melody after Sleeping Beauty. Alex nixed that idea).

On the inside it says this (which is basically my person motto): It's further proof, my friend, that the right shoes CAN change your life!

True fact, my friends, true fact.

FMM - Vacations!

It's Friend Makin' Monday again and since Kasey is still on her awesome 30 day road trip, Jolanthe over at No Ordinary Moments is hosting today.

The two part topic is: vacations!

First tell us about your best or worst vacation and then list five places you want to go to on vacation at some point in your life.

Ok, you know I haven't really had a horrible vacation. At least not one I can really remember. Growing up, my family would vacation at the best place on Earth the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We always went with this one other family, got a huge house right on the beach and lived it up for a week or two. We always went the first two weeks of August, aka hurricane season. Most years we were lucky, but we did get evacuated by Hurricane Felix one year. I don't actually remember a lot, even though I was like 15 or something. (Guess that goes to show how self absorbed I was as a teenager! lol). I just really remember that we evacuated to this hotel in Greenville, NC and that I was in close quarters with my brothers (ugh!) and that there was literally nothing to do so we walked around Walmart (ugh again!). Fortunately, it was just for a night and then the next day Felix went on its way up the eastern seaboard and we went back to the Banks.

As far as best vacations go, realy some of my favorite vacation memories are from the Outer Banks; boogie-boarding in the great Atlantic waves, sitting the deck of the beach house watching the dolphins frolick in the waves, looking for shells, riding our bikes around Corolla Light. It was the kind of family vacation I hope to take my children on some day.

My other best vacation was our trip to Italy in 2006. My dad had been the highest bidder on this house

at an auction and off we (Alex, me, my brothers, and my parents) went to Perugia, Italy for a week! It was absolutely fabulous. The scenery was breath-taking and the culture amazing. One of the things I loved the most was multitude of artwork in the beautiful old churches that were everywhere! I loved going into those churches and knowing that painting in there were hundreds of years old! We went to Florence, Assisi, and many other small towns and had a great time.

Except for one small detail that really only affected me.

I was 10 weeks pregnant with Melody. And sick. as. a. dog. The whole time. I got sick on the plane when we landed in Rome and was pretty sick the whole time. And tired. So, I missed out on all the great food and wine since basically all I could stomach was bread. I'm planning on going back just so I can eat and drink there!

This was the view from mine and Alex's bedroom

Machiavelli's tomb in Florence
The cathedral in Assisi
Out of all the artwork we saw, this was my favorite painting. Sorry it's so dark, but flash wasn't allowed. It's Adam and Eve blaming the serpent when God confronts them in the Garden of Eden.
Alex in Florence. Yes, that's a Statue of David apron he's wearing. I laughed so hard when we saw the Statue of David (after waiting in line for over two hours, btw) beacuse my brother said, "Wow. David has the biggest hands ever and the smallest penis!"
My brothers and I walking up the road to Assisi.

Anyway, I really could go on and on for hours about how amazing Italy is. It's definitey a place I want to go back to.

Now for my list of where I want to go. It's so hard to narrow it down to just five places, but I'll try.
Ok, in no particular order:
1. Hawaii
2. London
3. Ireland
4. Greece
5. Alaska

Since we're already on the subject of vacations, whenever I need a vacation, I drink of of these;
In my family, our drink of choice, a gin and tonic, is known as a "Vacation" after my mom once said that "drinking a gin and tonic is like going on vacation!"