Where were you for "The Moment"?

Since this day is a day most people will always remember and a day that our kids and grandkids may ask us about for their school projects in years to come, I thought I'd ask. Where were you during this historic day? I picked my three year old son up early from pre-school to make sure he got to see the swearing in. Even though we couldn't be there, I wanted him to remember and understand the importance of this day. We came home, rushed in the door, turned on the TV and started to watch. You could even feel the excitement in our humble little home in Southwest Virginia. He was very excited during the ceremony, but when President Obama was sworn in, he stopped in his tracks, sat completely still and focused (as seen in the picture). When it was all done he said, "Barack Obama is President, he was inaugoorated!"

I hope he remembers this day. But if he doesn't, I've got pictures AND video of him participating in this historic day.

He was raising his hand mimicking the President.

If he ever becomes President, this picture will

be pretty cool to have :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Just a little something to make you smile!

What Makes Me Happy.....and What Drives Me NUTS!

A fellow blogger recently wrote about things that annoy her. I loved the post and thought I'd write one of my own, but with a little different twist. Here you will find a short list of things that make me happy AND things that make me crazy. My happy stuff is a little more serious and sappy, but the crazy things are more on the fun side, enjoy!


Five things that make me happy:


I would like to start this one off by saying first and foremost what makes me happy is God. He will always be the source of all things that make me happy and my strength when things make me crazy.


5. The beach. The sun, the sand, the ocean, the breeze. Just looking at a picture of a beach is instant stress relief for me. The sound of the ocean relaxes me, the breeze refreshes me, the sun warms me. I would absolutely lose my mind if I didn't get to the beach, at the very least, one week every year. It is something I look forward to all year long. Some of my happiest memories in life takes place at the ocean. Some of my biggest life lessons also took place by the sea.


4. Listening to people who were alive during WWII. Especially WWII Vets. I think this is fresh in my mind now because I just watched Flags of our Fathers (great movie - go rent it if you haven't seen it). I love to listen to their stories, their life experiences. To hear someone talk about how different times are, to listen to how much they have seen change is amazing to me. To hear WWII vets talk about what they experienced, the friends lost, the battles won - it really gives you a different perspective. I have so much respect for all of our veterans, not just WWII vets. To sit down and talk to someone who has seen first hand wars, recessions, the assassination of a President, a man on the moon, etc. is eye-opening. Always take the time to listen to our baby boomers and senior citizens, every time I talk to them, I learn something. They have been there, done that.


3. Snuggling in my nice warm bed on a really cold night. This hit me just the other night. The air in my bedroom was a little chilly, but I hopped in bed with my warm flannel sheets and my soft down feather pillow and felt so much happiness that I literally giggled with glee. If I've got a good book right beside the bed, even better! I love to read a great book while snuggled in my bed.


2. My family and friends. These two go together because for me, a lot of my friends are more like family and some of my family are also more like friends. My sister and I are more than just sisters and I love her to pieces. I can't imagine my life without her, we've been through so much together. My best friend Angelica, I consider her family. I don't know what I would have done without her on so many occasions. I know I can count on her, she is always by my side. My friend Holly is someone else I can always count on, she is one of the sweetest people I know. I could never forget Darien who is so fun and also someone I can depend on. There are so many other friends I have that I just love. I am one of the luckiest girls when it comes to my friends, I have the best and to think of them, as well as my family and all the fun times we've shared, always makes me happy.


1. My son. Okay, this was an obvious one. My son is the number one thing that makes me happy and the number one person I live for. Everyday with him is a blessing. Even when he's having a grumpy moment, he still makes me happier than anything on this planet. For me, to hear him laugh is the sweetest music that no composer could ever write, to see his beautiful face is to see a masterpiece that no artist could ever paint and to witness his heart is to feel love and happiness like no human could ever compare to.

Now for the things that drive me NUTS:

5. Getting urban legends in my email. If someone tells you your head will explode if your milk has a pink top instead of a blue one, it's probably an urban legend. Okay, I'm exaggerating on that one. But I've gotten some that are just as crazy that people send to me to warn me of my impending doom or of the gangsters that are going to bust a cap in me if I drive 57 mph instead of 55 and one of my headlights is out. If it sounds too frightening to be true, it probably is. Please check it out on one of the millions of urban legend web sites before forwarding it to everyone in your email address book. Everyone can fall prey to one of these once in a while, but seriously, I get these about once or twice a week and some that have been circulating since the advent of the internet.

4. When I am mid-sentence and completely lose my train of thought because I just forget what I'm saying or get distracted. I chalk this up to a combination of things, getting older and my thyroid disease. I HATE it when I'm talking to someone and telling them something really important and then "POOF" it's gone before I can finish getting it out of my mouth. I'm convinced I will have Alzheimer's by the time I'm.....oh look, I just got an email.

3. Women who stay young, fit and beautiful without having to do anything. How do you stay a size 6 without exercise? How do you have flawless skin just by washing with Dove soap? I practically starve myself to keep my 5' 9" frame in size 8 jeans (okay, starve is a strong word, but I really have to watch what I eat). I spend 20 minutes before bed washing, exfoliating and lathering up with moisturizer, just so my face and body doesn't look like a road map with all the lines and creases. Why do I waste my time? You can still see father time's footprints all over my entire body.

2. People who are rude. This encompasses many things. For example, not RSVPing. I think if someone thought enough of you to invite you to something, you should be kind enough to at least let them know if you can or can not make it. Also, people who don't use their manners. I'm often shocked when my 3 year old son displays better manners than the adults around him. For example, we are at a restaurant and the waiter gives Nic his food. Nic says, "Thank you!" The rude waiter just walks away without saying, "Your welcome." This has happened MANY, MANY times.

1. People who are fake. This is so annoying. People who pretend to be someone that they truly aren't, just for the sake of appearances. Be yourself! People will start to catch on eventually anyway. There is a country song that has a lyric that goes something like, "I'm so much cooler online." These are the people that annoy me. The people that pretend to be the social butterfly, the hippest, coolest or smartest thing ever to walk the earth. Then you meet them and they still live at home with their parents and don't bother to change their clothes from the fashions of 1972. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If you want to dress like it's 1972, I say go for it! I'll still be your friend if you are a nice person, but don't pretend you are a fashionista if you aren't. I'm more likely to be friends with someone who is caught in a time warp if they are honest about it (I think it adds to their character) than if they pretend they are Mr. or Mrs. Hip and I found out later it was all for show. Just be yourself. Have enough faith in yourself that you are good enough and deserve to have friendship and happiness!

As I started writing this list, I realized there are many other things that drive me nuts, but I'll spare you. I'm sure there are many things I do that drive other people nuts too, it's all part of being human, but thanks for "listening" to my rant.

My First Two Blog Awards

I received my first two blog awards today! I'm thankful that people are really reading and enjoying my blog. I hope it proves helpful, informative and more importantly, just makes you smile! Thank you to http://www.notjustamomsite.com/ for presenting these awards to me. Make sure to check out her very cool site, too!



I would like to share the love and pass these awards on to a few of my favorite blogs:

Adventures of a Millennium Mom

Kitchen Chatter

Mommyhood Adventures

The Power of Housewife Word of Mouth

Welcome to the Nuthouse

Check out these blogs, they are great!

The Importance of a Logo and Effective Logo Design

I'm wearing my marketing hat again. I'm working on some new logos for clients and thinking about how important logos are to any business, no matter how big or small. I am posting the following blog on my business web site: www.cwimedia.com, but thought I'd also share it here:

------------

What does your logo say about you? Do you even have one? In order to effectively brand your business and stand out in the market, a logo is a must. A logo also gives your business credibility. People perceive the business or person with a logo to be more established than the business or person that doesn’t.

But not just any logo will do. Your logo needs to stand out and be memorable. When creating a logo, make sure it reflects your business. You want people to see your logo and have some idea as to what you do or what service you provide. For example, if you are a florist, having a boat incorporated into your logo simply because it’s your favorite type of boat, might not be the most effective design.

Make sure your logo is easy to read. If the fonts are too extravagant to read, people won’t. Also, don’t underestimate the effectiveness of a simple design. You don’t want your logo to be too busy. You want to attract the reader and keep them.

Another thing to keep in mind - be careful with color. Too many colors may be overwhelming and difficult to reproduce, so limit it to two, three max. Make sure your colors compliment each other, not compete with each other.

And finally, create a clever tag line to go with your logo. Tag lines should be three to seven words and let the reader know the benefit of working with you.

Effective logo design is best done by professionals who listen to your needs and message and work with you to create the optimum logo for your business. If you would like help creating a unique, effective logo design, contact Donna at donna@cwimedia.com.

My Willow Tree and I. It's a Love-Hate Thing.

I LOVE my willow tree, April through October. The rest of the year, not so much. My willow tree is HUGE and beautiful and has provided many lazy summer picnics under it's beautiful canopy. I really do love it. But, then November comes and all the leaves are gone. But not just the leaves, tons of branches come down too. My back yard is about a half acre and the ENTIRE thing is covered in willow leaves and branches. It doesn't loose all it's leaves until the end of October, sometimes early November, which is about a month behind when my other trees loose theirs. I find myself doing all my normal yard work in October, raking leaves, preparing for winter, just to find that a month later it looks like I've done nothing because that's when my willow sheds.

But by November I'm starting to get ready for the holiday season, the days are shorter and colder and raking leaves is not at the top of my priority list. So I usually end up not getting to rake up my willow leaves and branches until almost spring. I was lucky this year (well, if you can call it lucky). We had a beautiful 65 degree day in January, so I hauled my cookies outside for some hard labor. I figure it'll help me shed some of those holiday pounds. Several hours and huge piles of branches and leaves later, I still have a huge mess in the back yard. But, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and my willow tree is starting to grow on me again. I love playing with my son under the branches of that tree. It's big enough that we can play baseball in it's shade during the summer, instead of in the hot sun. When I was a little girl, I loved swinging on the branches of the willow tree in my grandfathers back yard. Inside the branches of a willow is almost like your own little fortress, a protective, beautiful bubble. It really is a gorgeous tree and I just have to remind myself that anything worth having is worth all this extra hard work. It really only takes me a couple of days to get everything cleaned up. But, because I usually can't get to it right away and it sits for months at a time, it seems worse than it is.

This morning I thought, "My next house will only have magnolia trees and evergreens!" But this evening, while thinking about all the beautiful memories the willow tree has brought me, I decided that no matter where I live, I have to plant a Willow.

A New Blog for the New Year

Happy New Year! I've taken down the "Christmas skin" and have replaced it with a new background, as well as updated some of my widgets, so I'm ready for the New Year. I also wanted to share a New Years smile, these 2009 glasses made the rounds:




I hope 2009 is the best year ever for you! God bless!