Leaves, leaves and more leaves!

So, this past weekend we worked in the yard a bit--not one of my favorite things. Mark, Mary (mother-in-law) and I raked all the several thousands of leaves that have fallen from our ONE, yes one, tree in our front yard. While Lyla was taking her nap we worked as hard as we could to get as much done before she woke. Well, as we were working on our last 3 huge piles of leaves, Mark thought I should wake her to let her play in the leaves before we raked the rest of them up. Great idea!!!! She had a blast and, I have to admit, so did we. Take a look for yourself...
"WOW"

"Where daddy go", says Lyla!






We really had so much fun together...and that's wshat it's all about, folks!! Mark and I have realized, over the last year, how precious our time with Lyla truly is. How, in the blink of an eye she will be grown and on her own raising her own children (Lord willing). We have also realized what is most important in this short time on earth--and that is NOT money, big houses or fancy cars--but the ability to find joy in the saddest and darkest of times. God is so good and am thankful He has blessed me with an amazing husband, child and life! I deserve nothing...to God be the glory!!
Thanks for reading!

Just a little eye candy!!

HELLO, there! Oh, how I've missed updating my blog...wonder if anyone else has missed me?!
Anyway, there has been a ton happening with the Ramsey's in the last couple months: I got a new job at IUSM Dean's office as the Executive Assistant for the Dean of Educational Affiars, my mom and step-dad where in a horrific car accicent (both doing well now), Markie and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and little Miss Lyla is talking up a storm...really talking!! I guess that brings you up to speed, kind of!
I know it has been a while, but I am just going to post a few cute pics for now. Let's face it, though, that's all you want to see anyway, right? :)

My little, big girl!!

"CHEEEESE"



"Here mommy...nack"


I hope to be back sooner, rather than later. Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday: CHEESE!!!

S-S-S-Studious!!

Too cute, I just had to share with the whole class!!



Now, according to my sister I am looking at a future librarian! Perhaps? Hey, I'm just happy she had the glasses on the correct way and not upside-down like she usually prefers them. lol

Top 2 Tuesday...Things I want to purchase!!

Things I want to purchase!

So this this has the potential to be verrry long, but I will spare you and only put my top 2 (hence, T2T)!

So, first and foremost, I would love to purchase this Ironman Road Trainer Heart Rate monitor! Why you ask? Well, I go to the gym 3 (sometimes 4) days a week and I do everything from lifting weights, lunges, running on the treadmill and a plethora of other things and after a good workout, it's inevitable, I always wonder how many calories I have burned and if my HR got up high enough to burn more calories. And, yes, I know that the treadmill will give you a pretty good indication of how many cals you burned, but it's not accurate! Ugh. Not to mention, I need to know my HR while I run outside! So a friend of mine at work introduce me to this watch! This thing does it all! It will tell me my exact HR and my calorie burn! I love it and I want it...bad!



Second, I would LOVE a new wardrobe...one that actually fits the new me! To date, I have lost a total of 33lbs and over 10" all over my body - which is fantastic, but as you can imagine, the majority of my clothes don't fit me anymore! And while that is great and I need to get smaller sizes, that isn't always in the budget. Arg! So as I walk around feeling much better about myself, I feel like I have parachute pants on! Ha!
Anyway, off my soapbox. If I could go anywhere and shop for new clothes I would go to these few places...
Express pants fit me to a "T" I'm not kidding, they are the perfect length and they are not super low rise but they hit me just below the belly button - which is perfect!

I have recently started loving AT Loft. I love the fabrics they use and the colors! They just have a good variety of everything!

And Kohls...Kohls is just amazing! They have everything you need at very reasonable prices, I think! I buy their tops most of the time...as well as venture into the kids section occasionally ;) They are excellent quality and wash up very nice!


So, you're turn...tell my your top 2 things you would love to purchase right now!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, I just came off a fantastic weekend...my Birthday weekend. It was very fun-filled and relaxing!

Of course, I had Friday off so I was able to watch my niece for the day while my sister went to work. Ruby, Lyla and I had quite the adventure that day. Ruby got there and we had to leave to make it to Lyla's hearing screen at Riley on time. Luckily I had a friend helping me out, as I am not ready to tackle to "mother of 2 out in public thing" just yet. So, we make it to the appointment where Lyla screams her head off the entire time, because she hates be poked in prodded by people in white coats. We make it through 75% of the test, then I decide she has had enough! We reschedule the last portion of the hearing screen for 2 months from now. Thank goodness! Once we left Lyla was fine (not scarred) and we grabbed a bite to eat to give us some strength for our next venture for the day.

After dropping Liv off (the friend that helped me), we went home and packed Lyla up for her big weekend with Mamaw and Papaw at the camper! Boy, was she an excited little peanut! I met Mary around noon and Lyla could not get rid of me quick enough. I mean honestly, she didn't shed one tear or tell me she would miss me. I guess she has officially hit "big girl'" status. What?! I kissed her little cheekies like a billion times and asked if she would miss me, when she quickly replied, very excitedly, "bye-bye momma!" Don't get me wrong, I am glad we have raised her to be a little independent but I want her to at least show me a little whine or whimper. Is that too much to ask?! Oh well, I am glad she was excited!

Moving on! After returning home Ruby took a nap and I was able to finish the laundry and the dishes before Mark got home. When my sis got there to pick up her child I proceeded to get ready for my big night out with the girls. I got all dolled up and met my girlfriends and we ate at my favorite restaurant, Kabuto! Yum-o! After some wonderful girl-time we parted ways and I met Mark at our friends house, where I stayed there way too late - into the wee hours of the morning!! What a wonderful way to start my birthday weekend, huh?!

Well Saturday was awesome! Not much on the agenda until the evening so I took it easy! Ahem, by easy I mean I got up took care of Toby took a 1.5 mile run/jog in the sweltering heat, went grocery shopping for dinner that night, put the groceries away and then deep cleaned my house and anticipated my besties coming over for dinner that evening! Ramsey, Gilli and Livie came over for dinner and, I must say, it was delish and my bestie baked me the most fantastic cake I have ever put in my mouth! Thanks, Gilli!! We had so much fun just visiting and getting our grub on!
My delish birthday cake my bestie made for me!!


Me and my man...he is amazing!!

Me and Gilli! She really is a good best friend to have!!! Love ya, girl!

Poor little Livie...sad that mommy and daddy had to get on her about something!


Well, Sunday was my actually birthday and Mark and I spent the entire day together...LOVED IT!!! We got up and wend to Church, then he took me to lunch at a fantastic NY style pizza place called Brozzini's where the pizza slices are as big at your head!! Loved it!!


After that we can home and relaxed. Then we got up and ran some errands to Target and to Toys-R-Us to get Lyla a Woody doll. She loves Toy Story and Woody, so since she had been gone all weekend we wanted to surprise her! So, we went to get Lyla at my in-laws and there Mary had gotten me some cupcakes and the kiddo's helped me blow out that candles!!



Well looking at this picture and that fact that my girl was gone for the entire weekend, I think she has grown a foot and officially looks like a little girl and not a baby! Not sure if I should be happy or sad about that. :(
I think it's safe to say she liked the Woody doll mommy and daddy surprised her with.


And there you have it, folks!! My birthday weekend comes to an end. Thanks for listening and being interested in our lives.

Holy Cucumber, Batman!

Well, we have done it, folks! We has successfully tilled the garden, planted the garden, watered the garden and managed the garden...and look what we have to show for it...

...WOWZER! This bad boy was just hanging out under a huge leaf - Mark and I didn't even see it when we went to water the garden.

Unfortunately, Mark was not even home to pull the first cucumber out of the garden - that has been taking care of for the last few months. :( Oh, well, I guess he will just have to wait until he gets home! It was really cute, though, when I txt him a picture of the little beauty, he txt me back and wrote, "I can't wait to eat it with Lyla!" He knows I like very few fruits and veggies, but apparently our daughter likes ALL of them (okay, maybe one or two exceptions).

I am very proud of Mark, he has really taken this garden and ran with it. He has even drawn up a sketch of how he wants to rearrange the garden for next year. He gets so excited when he sees his "work" paying off. :)

As more yummies grow into Mark's magnificent garden, I will post more pictures of them. Currently, we have 6-8 cucumbers coming in (which you can kind of see in the picture above), probably 6-8 tomato plants growing and 1 red pepper plant and 1 green pepper plant! I can't want to see the finished product!

Wordless Wednesday: YIKES - 80's Backtrack

T2T...Guilty Pleasures!

HHMM...guilty pleasures, huh?

Numero uno!
Well, my first guilty pleasure would have to be getting a mani/pedi...which I will be doing tonight! Okay, I can't explain for love for the mani/pedi combo, but oh my goodness...I LOVE THEM! I am so excited on my way to the salon and even after I leave with my cute piggies, but while getting the "dynamic duo", I feel so guilty and begin to rack up the price of this luxury in my head. Luckily, I don't do this all the time and my hubby is wonderful enough to let me go get them - when the budget allows - but I can't help but still feel guilty about it. I know, I know, I wouldn't do this if we didn't have the money, but I begin to think, "where else could this $45-$55 be spent?" or "how many necessities could I buy with this money?" Well, I guess this is why it's called a guilty pleasure, huh?

Numero dos!
Most definitely would have to be a Chocolate Chip Glacier from Ritter Frozen Custard...yumm-o!!! This is a big one because I have recently lost almost 30lbs, YES 30, so this little guilty pleasure could really get me in trouble if I'm not careful. Last week my mom, sister and I (with babies in tow, of course) went on about 1.5 mile walk and after that mom and Kate both decided that WE earned something sweet and that we should go to Ritter's (true bliss). I automatically thought, "well since it wasn't my idea to go, then the calories wouldn't count, right?" LOL WRONG! I opted to give up dinner in order to enjoy my Glacier...well worth it in my opinion. I didn't indulge that much, just enough to feel a little bit of guilt BUT some amazing satisfaction. Hey, you have splurge every now and again, huh?
I would say Lyla enjoyed her Chocolate waffle cone, wouldn't you. LOL Cutie!

And while, little miss Ruby Ray could not enjoy the goodness that is Ritters, she enjoyed the car ride to and fro. She is such a little doll baby.


So, there you have it...my two guilty pleasures.

Highlights from a busy weekend!

Lets see...where to begin!

Well, being that I have every Friday off, I get the joy of watching my beautiful niece, Ruby, every other Friday! I really enjoy this time. Not only do I get to experience the joy of being a mother of two temporarily (insert sarcasm), but I also get to see Lyla interact with her cousin and that is such sweet sight. I mean, Lyla goes to daycare and plays with the other kids and that is cute but seeing her play with Ruby and making her laugh, coo, and scream (in a good way), is really priceless! So, just gonna post some pics of our fun-filled Friday's together!!

This pic is really cute because Lyla was really wanting Ruby to lay on her so she could "hold her" and Ruby was having none of it. The face Ruby is making is the face she always makes when she is whining or is being forced to do something she doesn't want to do. It's like a grumble sound...seriously - take my work for it - it's cute! :)


Okay, moving on. Saturday! Well, when I go up and saw it had been raining cats and dogs and my dad and I were supposed to be doing a benefit ride (B.A.D. M.ama Jama), i got a little bummed. Needless to say, when we woke up it didn't look like it was gonna happen. So, while waiting on hearing if the ride was gonna be cancelled, mom and I went to a nearby community garage sale. Side note about me - I am not a huge garage saler, simply because I am not a big treasure hunter...reluctant, I went anyway. Boy am I glad I did. At the first few stops there was nothing but junk...shocker, I know. Anyway went on to the next few houses and there it was...the Medela Dual Breast pump that came with 8 bottles, a cooler and an ice pack. Just to give those of you who don't know what the heck I am talking about an idea - if you were to buy this in the store (for everything i just mentioned) you would pay $300...easily, probably more!! Anyway, the tag on it said $100 (which was way more then my garage sale budget allowed - haha). I asked the girl who was selling it how old it was and she said she bought it brand new 2 yrs ago and only used it for one child and it's been sitting in her child's room for over a year...she was basically ready to get rid of this thing. Bonus for me! Well, mom and I left and I called the hubby. Long story short, we went back and it was still there (thankfully), I asked the girl if there was any chance she would take $80 for because that is all I had on me and she said, "you know what, I will." So there I was - like a little girl on Christmas morning - walking to my car with my new dual breast pump in tow! I was all smiles from ear to ear.
Here is a picture of the new beauty...


Next, the clouds parted and Mr. Sunshine ended up showing its beautiful face for the entire duration of the benefit ride dad and I did. We had a blast and our friends ended up raising over $2,400 and were able to go to the funeral home that day and pay their beautiful daughters headstone off, IN CASH!! It was an amazing feeling knowing that I had a itty bitty part in that.
While I don't have any pics of dad and I on his new trike (which is way different then a regular bike, by the way), my friend Kesha took of pic of the both of use. She and her dad did the ride as well.


Moving on, after returning from the ride I had to rush around and get ready for the DAV State Convention dinner, where my Asst. Supervisor was being named his chapter's Commander. It was an enjoyable evening and Markie and I had a great time spending the night in the Holiday Inn on the North side.
Here is a picture of Mark and I at the dinner.


Well to top the whole weekend off, Mark and I got up this morning, went home to get ready for church, picked Lyla up at my sisters (where she spent the night), went to church, then after church went to Mark's G-ma and G-pa's 50th Wedding Anniversary party, then we came home so Markie could work on his sermon, as he was preaching the Sunday evening service. After that, we just went to my dads house for a bit, then came home and here I am...typing up the busyness that was my weekend. Shwew, I'm tired and now I'm going to bed.

Nighty, night.

Wordless Wednesday: Besties at Target (aka mommy's happy place)

Since I have slacked lately....Top 2 Tuesday

This week it's your top 2 favorite books...

1. My first favorite book is called, "The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers. I am not a huge reader, but if I find a book that catches my eye I will read it in like 2 days and then pass it on to a friend. The problem is, it's takes forever for me to start reading the book. haha. This is the first book I actually sat down and read cover-to-cover in one or two sittings...it is THAT good. I recommend this book to anyone.


2. My second favorite book would have to be my daily devotional, by Beth Moore. She is truly my inspiration and I love listening, learning and readings from her. This is the first year long devotional I have done of hers and I love it. It is not very lengthy, but it certainly reveals things to me on a daily basis and inevitably tells me things I need to hear. Truly, encouraging!! Check it out, it will change you outlook on things.


So there you have it - my top 2 favorite books! Read them, I promise you will love them! :)

So, I know I have been slacking on my posts lately...sorry for that! But for those of you who actually read my lowly blog, be excited, there is lots to fill you in on. Man, a lot can happen in 3 wks (NO, I am not pregnant), but I will fill you in soon. For you loyal readers, I see lots of pictures in your future - lets face it, that's what people what to see anyway!!