Hey.....

I'm still writing Thank You notes....in the mean time check out who has a blog now....
My Girl......

MAXINE

Enjoy....

Our Wedding....

Well, we're back...and very very happy! Everything was beautiful. I do have to tell you a little story. The day, weather-wise, was warm but rainy and cloudy so we were dodging raindrops most of the day. The church we were married in has beautiful large windows, so the night before, knowing the weather was going to be dreary, I said a prayer that maybe just for a little bit, around 7 pm, the sun could shine through those windows as it is so beautiful. As the wedding drew near, I sorta forgot about it and said it really wasn't that important anyway as I was just so happy nothing could dampen this day. Well, I was in a room with curtains on the window getting ready and then when it was time, I was to step out into and down the hall to the sanctuary. Well, as soon as I stepped into the hall and looked into the lobby area.....the sun broke through all those clouds and shined for about one half hour like you would not believe! Well, needless to say that is when the tears started to flow.....my breath was taken away! God had truly blessed our marriage! Sweetie Man said the God was letting in our parents and my brother and his wife from Heaven to watch us get married....either way, it was absolutely amazing!!! The rest of the night it poured and hailed, but we were inside having the time of our lives. The honeymoon was incredible but I'll let you digest pictures of the wedding first and then I blog some honeymoon. Thank you for all your wonderful good wishes for us both...you are all awesome cyber-friends!
With that said, enjoy the pictures below. Be sure to press both the arrow in the middle and when the music begins, press the play button on the bottom. Let me know if you have trouble viewing and I'll set up another link also. Enjoy yinz guys.......

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Well TODAY is the DAY....

It's finally here...the day I become Mrs. Sweetie Man! We've waited eight years for this day and believe me we are ready!!! Everything is pretty much in order and ready to go. I want to thank you all for your good wishes and congratulations during the past couple of weeks as I rambled on about this day. You guys are the best! I wish I could webcast it for you but we are hoping to upload a video on the blog in a week or so after the honeymoon. Keep us in your prayers for a safe journey for all the travelers including us (I'm not crazy about planes) and for an awesome wedding this evening! Thanks, Yinz Guys....talk to ya in a week or so!!!!

To all you Animal Lovers...

Sweetie man made this at Bitstrips! I didn't realize he did this thinking, how cool that he found a cartoon that really happened to us! Then I realized he made it at Bitstrips. Check it out and make your own cartoon strip with people that look just like YOU!
Till next time, yinz crazy cartoons.....

4 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!!

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger? You really won't believe it - but it is, as it says, Amazing.

There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese.

Thumb represents your Parents
Second (Index) fin ger represents your Siblings
Middle finger represents your-Self
Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner
&the Last (Little) finger represents your children

Firstly, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back

Secondly, open and hold the remaining three fingers an d the thumb - tip to tip
(As shown in the figure below):

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)..., they will open, because your parent s are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.

Please rejoin your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings), they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.

Now rejoin the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children), they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, rejoin your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse).

You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT, because Husband &Wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!!

How cool is that??? Till next time, yinz crazy guys.....

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING....

I MOST CERTAINLY DO!!!!!

Maxine Says....

Who I REALLY am!

Saw this on Kari's blog.....I've always told Sweetie Man that he brought out the ME who I thought I was (scraped away the years of crap heaped on me)...he brought out who I remember being when I was young.....The description below is about as close as you're gonna get to who I am...for real! (this is weird---except for the last sentence as I will be HAPPILY settling down!)

What Lucy Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

It's CRUNCH time!!!

Honestly, I'm not that bad but I do hope Sweetie Man understands IF I do happen to get a little irritable with only 16 days to go to the wedding. I work better under pressure but I do have a slight tendency to focus intensely on things and if anyone gets me off track....I could bite their head off! Nothing major tho!!
A few of you did ask how the plans are coming along. Very well actually. Got a trial run on my hair and ended up having it highlighted for the first time in my life. Got alot of compliments tho alot of people also thought I got new glasses (see my post on "What Women Notice")...go figure! I also lost 22 pounds total since January so that helped alot...especially in my face I think. Yesterday, got my nails done in what's called "pink and white"...I just love getting "fake" nails! That is such a treat for me...never had it done and my nails are naturally thinner than paper! I just feel so GIRLY...something I never had felt till I met the Sweetie Man! Tonight is the "final" dress fitting...I hope. The hem was wrong last time so hopefully I can take that "baby" home today!
People are waiting till the last minute to tell me if they will be attending....a little frustrating but I have to admit, I'm the same way with RSVP's. Maybe next time I'll be a little more prompt.
So, it's all coming together for the most part and it's not even that big of a wedding. But it is fun and exciting...and the best part is that in 16 short days I'll be MRS. SWEETIE MAN for the rest of my life!!!!!
Till next time, yinz crazy guys....(check out my book blog...managed to get a quick book review in ...enjoy!)

Happy Easter....Happy Spring!

Won't you wear a sweater?

In honor of what would have been Mr. Fred Rodgers' 80th Birthday, March 20, 2008 is "Won't you wear a sweater day?" What an awesome man he was....he touched so many lives. I have my sweater on today...do you? Happy Birthday, Mr. Rodgers!

Happy St. Pat's day, yinz mcguys!

I'll be honest with, yinz guys....I have nothing to blog about!!! I've been busy getting ready for the Sweetie Man to come home from his work trip (gone since Janaury) and also staying very busy with our Wedding preparations. Next week we'll be getting together with our caterer, Pastor, getting our Marriage License, sending out invites, etc.....and we're not even having a big wedding.
I was surprised recently though with Sweetie Man making reservations for a honeymoon to......

.....shhhh...can't tell you yet....but this is a real picture of it! Needless to say, my mind is just going crazy...it's really difficult to concentrate recently, so you understand the lack of blogging!
Anyway, off to daydream...again.....till next time, yinz crazy guys......

You lost HOW much weight?!

.....15 pounds and goin down, my sweet little great nephew! (don't ya just love this pic) And I have to say the power of prayer works....cause I've been praying this time that I can stay on this diet and I've even gone past the point that I usually get stuck on. Okay, I know I'm bragging but with the wedding coming up and now I found out a "real" honeymoon....well, needless to say, I'm happy.
But I do have to vent for a moment....please keep in mind that if you know anyone who is struggling with weight loss or on a diet....please DON'T SABATOGE THEM! Do not try to tempt them with foods they shouldn't or don't want to eat. I have a few good friends that are very respectful of my dieting and I love them for it. BUT...then there are those who are not so respectful. I knew in my heart that it was a classic case of jealousy cause they never even mentioned the fact that I looked thinner (15 pounds, come on...) and sorta critized my choice in food. I'm safely losing about a pound to a pound and half a week and it is to my doctors' orders. And I plan to maintain once I get to the point he feels is good for my height and health. (which will probably be at least another 15)...but come on people...you wouldn't blow smoke into the face of a person trying to quit cigarettes or push a drink on a recovering alcoholic....why then would you push food on a dieter?
I don't get it. A friend of mine invited me over for her birthday and had this huge ice cream cake....and you know what she said? She said, "I know you're on diet so I understand if you don't have a piece." I wanted to go up and hug her!!!! I actually was an inspiration to her to start on her diet..now THAT's a friend!!!
So, in conclusion.....please don't sabatoge us dieters....encourage us....congratulate us....this is very very difficult....it is an addiction like anything else and we need all the help we can get!!!
Okay...till next time, yinz crazy guys......

Hey there, Polly....

...that happens to be my future husband's head you're pecking on! And you wonder why I want to marry this Sweetie Man of mine!!!!!

Till next time..."Polly wants a cracker"....yinz crazy guys!!

Happy President's Day....

....Oh, what the heck....go out and buy a new "mattress"....(get it? President's Day sales...mattresses on sale...oh, never mind)

Till next time, yinz crazy guys......

Hey....

Look what my "future husband" put in the local newspaper for ME!!!! He used titles from songs to put it together....how AWESOME is that!!!! Happy Valentines Day, Sweetie Man.....time can't fly by quick enough to be your wife!!!!
and I can't forget all you bloggers out there...so from Maxine and Me......

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, YINZ GUYS!!!!!

I just can't keep a secret....

Okay...so I'm a blabber mouth....but I just can't help it when I am so deliriously happy right now and want to shout it from the roof tops!!!! Well, you know the pic of the guy above.....if you don't, then you haven't been reading my blog very long....it's the infamous SWEETIE MAN.
Well....in April of this year I will officially be MRS. SWEETIE MAN!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!
We've been together for 8 years now and kept putting it off for different reasons but now we decided to make it official! We are soooooo excited!!!!! So you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little bit goofy now (what do you mean,"what else is new")....I'm in love!!!! Can't wait to start signing my name "Mrs. Sweetie Man"!!!! Okay, that's it....now get your butts back to work....till next time, yinz crazy guys...... woo-hoo...happy dance..oh yeah....gettin' married to my Sweetie Man....

Crafty Accomplishment!

Okay....so this is my only crafty accomplishment for the year....(so far)


I was looking for a valentines wreath and I just couldn't find anything for my door. So I came up with this. It's a flat piece of round plywood sorta stuff that I got in the floral department of Michaels. I stuck these foam hearts that came in a kit all over it then added a bow...BINGO, instant decoration. Being as it isn't up that long anyway with St. Pat's Day and Easter right around the corner, I wasn't really concerned with it.
I have been working on something else too...but there are spying eyes around (you know who you are, Sweetie Man) and I can't show you quite yet. All in due time!
I'm reading alot too....got three and one half books done towards my 50 book goal for the year! One book I just finished was actually three individual books that were in one volume....but it's still three books, right?
The Sweetie Man has been away for work and before he left, he so kindly asked our Pastor to keep me busy while he was away so the time would go fast for me....little did Sweetie Man know that our Pastor took him seriously, I guess, and I have not stopped since. Between Youth Groups, Planning Meetings and Power Point presentations for our church service....I'm definately BUSY!!! (and I love it!) But that's okay too cause if you haven't already noticed (psst...side bar!) I've officially lost 11 pounds!!! OH YEAH...HAPPY DANCE!!!! Sweetie Man is an awesome cook and it's his hobby...I, on the other hand, hate to cook, so I've been lean cuisining it for the most part and doing a bit of exercise when I'm not busy with church things. It's really the only time I can easily diet...when Sweetie Man is away! The real trick will be to stay with it when he comes back home....just gotta stay focused....and busy!
Well, that's about it for now......Till next time, yinz crazy guys......

What women notice....

Not much to say this Monday morning but I thought this was rather curious......back in December I got my teeth fixed. Had this good size space on the right side of my front teeth for years that did kept me from smiling as much as I would have liked to. Always wanted to get it filled in and finally did.....NOBODY NOTICED! I love my smile now by the way!
Next, I lost 8 pounds but it looks like 10...I know that sounds strange but due to a little water weight gain that us women get each month (you know what I'm talkin' bout) the scales didn't show any loss this week but I finally got into a pair of jeans I haven't been able to zipper for quite a while......NOBODY NOTICED!
Next, I got my nails done with those acrylic things...nice pink shade...not real long...little design on two of the nails...not much, just something to cheer me on a cold winter's day...and you know what???? EVERYONE NOTICED!!!! "Oh, you got your nails done...where did you go?....nice color...what's that design....blah, blah, blah.....GO FIGURE!!!
So, my question to you is....WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THAT????
Okay, just wanted to say that....now I feel better....till next time, yinz crazy guys....enjoy your week!