Summers are always one of the best times of the year. There are so many things that I think of when I think of summer. Beach vacations, Vacation Bible School at church, watermelons, swimming pools, family cookouts, pop-ice, homemade peach ice cream, suntans, the smell of suntan lotion, bright colors, fireworks, sweet tea, flower gardens and so many more things.

What comes to mind when you think of the summer??
It is wedding anniversary weekend!! Monday will be two years that I have been married to my best friend. David and I started dating back in high school and of course we had our rough patches, but we always made it back to each other. I love David so much, and he shows me each day how much he loves me. We always kid with each other, if something happens to one of us, it better be him because we know he will not be able to survive without me. Not being conceited, but it is true. He is such a wonderful husband and I am so blessed.

Here are some pictures from our wedding!!


David and the bridesmaids


Palace Mates <3


Love


First Dance


The Cake-isn't it just wonderful


Save the Last Dance for ME


Mr. and Mrs. Paulo
I love paining my nails. I love going and getting a manicure and pedicure, but which girl doesn’t? I just think a lady is not fully dressed without her fingernails and toenails painted.

I have been trying to look for new nail polish colors because I feel I always wear the same pinks or the same reds. I came across this article, what do y’all think?
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It's true—we get a bit fanatical about nail polish. And now that the sun is finally shining and everyone's donning their warm-weather attire, what better way to channel our need for a summer manicure fix than by showcasing the season's freshest lacquers? We've got you covered with an awesome color wheel full of more than 30 totally transformative shades. So, instead of opting for your usual hues, get ready to kick up your digit decoration with a broad spectrum of brights (think true reds, eye-popping yellows, orange-infused corals, and sea-inspired turquoise blues), try on a gritty green, or go beyond the pale with an earthy neutral. Also included in our nail polish wheel of fortune: The top coat du jour—cracks in every color. Because when it comes to nails, nothing is really off-limits, so give it a whirl!

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What color do y'all like??

Yo Momma

Everyone has to remember, when they were a little kid and someone said something mean to you, you would immediately break out a “Yo Momma” joke. This is my all time favorite Yo Momma joke…Yo Momma so fat, she left the house in high heels and came back in flip-flops. You got to love those jokes. And then probably about 5 years ago, MTV came out with a show, where people would face off telling “Yo Momma” jokes. I came across an email with Yo Momma jokes and I had to share some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy!!


•Yo momma so fat when her beeper goes off, people thought she was backing up

•Yo momma so fat she went to the movies and sat next to everyone

•Yo momma so fat she goes to a resturant, looks at the menu and says "okay!"

•Yo momma so fat she got to iron her pants on the driveway

•Yo momma so fat she's got more Chins than a Hong Kong phone book!

•Yo momma so fat she has a wooden leg with a kickstand!

•Yo momma so stupid when she saw the NC-17 (under 17 not admitted) sign, she went home and got 16 friends

•Yo momma so stupid when your dad said it was chilly outside, she ran outside with a spoon

•Yo momma so stupid she could trip over a cordless phone!

•Yo momma so stupid she sold her car for gasoline money!

•Yo momma so stupid that she thought Boyz II Men was a day care center.

•Yo momma so old her social security number is 1!

•Yo momma so old that when she was in school there was no history class.

•Yo momma so old her birth certificate says expired on it.
To add to my last post about the snakes. We have killed three more since then. Wherever they are coming from, they need to go back and find a new home.
I am deathly afraid of snakes. I cannot stand how they look or how they move or anything about them. If I go to the zoo and everyone wants to go look at the snakes, I either stand in the middle of the room with my eyes shut and David leads me around. Or David takes me to the fish aquarium and sits me down and then goes back and looks at the snakes.

I do not understand people’s fascination with snakes. I mean, what is it about them that is so cool. I used to babysit for a family and their son had a pet snake. The two summers I babysat them, I never once went into the boy’s room. Even though it was in a tank, I could not even go in the room. And he had to keep his door shut because I didn’t want to walk by the room and happen to see it.

For the past three years I have lived out in the country with a pond in my yard and I have been lucky because I have not seen any snakes, until the other day.

David and I built a house across the pond from my parents. The other day I was at my mom’s house and I was walking back to my house and my 15 year old dog was behind me and I turned my head to tell her to come on and when I turned back, what was 2 inches from my feet. A long, I mean long, black snake. Let me tell you, I took OFF. I did not turn around to make sure Brandi (my dog) was behind me, I didn’t make sure the snake wasn’t chasing me. All I cared about was running and getting up on my porch. Once I ran up the stairs I turned and luckily both my dogs, Brandi and Desi were behind me and no snake.

Of course after that I am freaking out and I call David (which is still at work) and tell him I almost stepped on a snake and he tells me, well we really need to kill. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I was the only person home, did he really think I was going to walk back to the snake and kill it? My response was, well you better hope it is still there when you get home, because that is the only way it would get killed.

The next evening I was cooking dinner and I happened to walk to the window and I saw my mom standing beside the pond, with a shovel and just jabbing it down in the water. I go outside and yell, what are you doing? Her response, “Oh, just playing.” Just playing my butt. I knew she was killing a snake. She said she saw it swimming across the pond and she waiting until it got to the edge and she jabbed the shovel in it. She stayed out there for about 20 minutes jabbing it with the shovel to make sure she got it. And then all the catfish enjoyed finishing him off.

The next week, I go up to my mom’s work to see her and she tells me that she found a snake in one of her flower beds. She said she was putting some flowers in there and her hand was a couple of inches from the snake. How she described the snake, I know it was the one I almost stepped on. She continues to tell me that she went and got a shovel to kill it and when she came down with the shovel to kill it, the snake started going crazy. She even held her hands up and showed me how crazy it was going. Thanks mom, I really needed that mental image of you killing a snake. Instead of her doing something with the snake, she puts in a bucket beside the garage door, which is the door that I went into that night when I went to her house. And it set there until that weekend, but thanks heavens I never paid attention to it.

THEN, Saturday, Mom and I went to get pedicures for Mother’s Day and we get back, David tells me, that my dad and he were riding the golf cart around the pond and they saw another snake. Thankfully they killed it before it went back in the pond.

So that is THREE snakes that they killed in 10 days. And then Sunday I’m going over to mom’s house and look in the pond and run into my mom’s house yelling, there is another snake. And here she comes running out with her shovel. Come to find out my dad thought it would be a good idea to throw the two snakes they killed in the pond so the catfish could eat them. Seriously Dad, did you really have to throw them in the pond so I could once again see them.

Needless to say, we are going to the pound this weekend to buy us a cat. Supposedly cats keep snakes away. So what does that mean…I’m getting me a cat!
You always hear people say, that kids say the darndest things. Well they really do. I could just sit and listen to my four year-old niece, Makaylee, talk all day, because the things that come out of her mouth are just hilarious.

Yesterday, I went to my church, which is where Makaylee goes to daycare and my mom is also the assistant director there. Mom and I were going to go to lunch together and we were going to take Makaylee. When I got there all the kids were in the cafeteria eating lunch. I walked in I saw Makaylee and she saw me and started yelling, Wawee Wawee Wawee (She started calling me Wawee when she was little and it just stuck). After I was there for a little bit, one of the girls in her class asks me if I’m her mommy. I said no I’m her Aunt Wawee. The little girl continues to tell me that she has two daddys. And I said oh ok. And then the girl beside her says I have two daddys too and one uncle. Well Makaylee speaks up real fast and tells that little girl that she has one mommy, one daddy, a nana, a grandpa AND she has a wawee and dave. The little girl looked at her with a sad face and said, “I don’t have a wawee” and Makaylee said “well I do”, with her smart-alec self. It was too cute and plus it made me feel good that she was bragging about me and Dave.

Then last night she came over to my house and she marches right in like she owns the place. She goes up to the T.V. stand, where I had some bunny figurines, and grabs them and says, “Wawee, you need to put these up, it’s not Easter anymore.” I just said, yes maim’ I will.

She does things everyday that just cracks me up. Like the time that Brittany was down staying the weekend with me and we went out to eat with my mom and Makaylee. We were outside of Chili’s waiting and Makaylee told Brit that she changed her name to Pippi (for Pippi Longstockings) and Brittany asked her, what should her name be? And without hesitation, Makaylee said, I’m going to call you Swan. HAHA. Of course Brit and I, immediately think of Billy Madison- Stop looking at me swan. And no lie, the other day I asked Makaylee what was my friend’s name that came and stayed with me and she said swan.

I just love that little girl.
I am in the process of changing up my blog. I really do want to blog a lot more. It might be a couple of days until the blog is completely updated. Please be patient!
Last Thursday was my birthday and I turned 26. As most of you know, I loovvee my birthday. It is the one day of the year that you can get spoiled and get away with it. I always look forward to my birthday.

On my birthday I woke up to my husband whispering in my ear, happy birthday my love and a kiss on the check. Then a phone call from my BF, Brittany. Brittany came down and stayed the weekend with me about 3 weeks ago and while she was here she hid my present in the room she always stays in, so while we were talking, she asked if I found it yet. Of course I had no clue what she was talking about, so after she told me where it was, I ran to get it! She got me a cover for my Kindle, a bracelet and the neatest coasters with Paulo on them. I also got a phone call from my mommy and niece, Makaylee. Then I walked into work and all the girls were waiting on me and yelled Happy Birthday. I go into my office and I have balloons, confetti, ribbons, streamers, happy birthday signs, flowers, cards and so much more. My mom came up here and decorated my office for me and brought a breakfast casserole for all of us. Then I opened my email and had lots of emails from friends and the ladies from the Camden branch wishing me happy birthday. Then the girls at work brought out a cake (which was pink and green, my favorite colors) and a card with a $25 gift card to by more books for my kindle.
My birthday continued with more emails, phone calls and balloons. That my family and I went to San Jose, my favorite, to eat. And here comes Manuel and all the guys there singing happy birthday.

Once again, it was a WONDERFUL birthday! I appreciate and love each and everyone that helped make my birthday such a great day!!

My Poppy

As most of you know, my Poppy has been in the hospital for the past 2 weeks. For those of you who do not know, my Poppy was up at the Kershaw Baptist Association building working on some electric work. When he was coming down off one of the storage buildings onto the ladder, he must have missed a step and he fell 6-7 feet straight back onto concrete. Luckily, the Kershaw Baptist Association Director, Jimmy, was out there with Poppy. Poppy got up and said he was fine so Jimmy drove him home. When my mom got to my meme and poppy’s house she said that they were going to go to the emergency room. After waiting four and half hours in the emergency room and the pain getting worse, they finally took Poppy back. They quickly realize how severe the head injury was and took him by helicopter to Palmetto Richland Hospital. Poppy had internal bleeding and had more then 10 fractures on his skull. Poppy spent a week in ICU and now he’s currently at Health South getting therapy.

The day he fell, I stopped by his house before mom, meme and him left to go to the emergency room and when I was there he acted fine, like there was nothing wrong. I remember walking out of the house and walking to my car and I just looked back for a second and said love you Pops, see you later and he said love you too baby. That night while I was laying in bed waiting for updates, my sister called to tell me that they were flying him over to another hospital, and his skull was fractured and he was bleeding internally. All I could think about was how that might have been the last time I ever would hear my Poppy tell me he loved me. I did not get to go up to the hospital that night because I had Makaylee, my four year old niece, spending the night at my house, but I sat up all night and just thought about how blessed I was to have a grandfather like him. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful grandfather and such a great Christian role-model.

Since that day I have made many trips up to the hospital and now Health South. He is a fighter. He is doing so good. Now he is speaking in complete sentences, eating good and ready to go home. My meme has not left his side since the accident. She was up at the hospital at 9 in the morning and did not leave until 9 that night (those were ICU visiting hours). And now that she can stay with him Health South, she has been there 24/7, sleeping in the bed beside him.

I recently wrote my Poppy a letter to express to him how much I love him and how thankful I am to him for being such a wonderful grandfather. I decided I was not going to let another day go by without letting him know exactly how much he means to me. I challenge everyone to tell those people that are truly special to you, how much they mean to you, because in an instant they can be gone.

My Poppy & Meme
Frank’ Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip
When I waitressed at Boykin Company Grille in high school, the only hot sauce we used was Frank’s Redhot and now I am hooked. You will never find another hot sauce in my refrigerator because nothing compares to Frank’s. When Maegen (one of my BFs) threw a wedding shower for me, she made the Buffalo dip. I got the recipe from her and now I make it at least twice a month, I crave it all the time. Usually I will make it on a Friday nights and eat it all weekend. Below is the recipe, y’all should try it. I have to say I have doctored the recipe a little. I usually put about half the chicken it calls for. And I always use ranch dressing and mozzarella cheese.

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
½ cup any flavor Frank’s Redhot sauce
½ cup of crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (12.5 oz. each) Swanson White Premium Chuck Chicken Breast in Water, drained

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.
Mix in salad dressing, Frank’s Redhot sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken
Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir, Garnish as desired. Service with crackers or vegetables.

My Kindle
Dave bought me a kindle for Christmas. I really love it. I like to pull it out if I’m sitting and waiting on an appointment, at lunch or at night when I’m laying on the couch. The first book I bought was Lauren Conrad’s, Spicy and Sweet. I just bought Ashley Judd’s memoir, All that is Bitter and Sweet. I’m so excited to start it. I’m still waiting for, Kardashian Kofindental, to become a kindle book.

Etsy
If you haven’t ever checked out the website Etsy, YOU HAVE TOO. It is such a great website. It is a website where people can sell their crafts. You can find jewelry, pocketbooks, bird feeders, clothes, monogram ideas and lots more. I got a couple of things off it for Christmas presents. When I’m bored I just go on the website to just look at things. It is such a neat website, with great gift ideas.

Castle
Now that I’m an old married lady, I tend to go to sleep a lot earlier. But I have to stay up until 11 on Monday night’s because I have to watch Castle. It is such a great show. Even though half of the time I fall asleep at 10:50 and totally miss out on who was the murdered, but it is still a great show. If you haven’t ever watched it, it is a must.

Shea Cashmere hand cream
Alison, I used to work with, had a bottle of this hand cream and I absolutely feel in love. It is from Bath and Body Works and it is just so wonderful. I have some on my desk at work and some on my night stand. It makes your hands feel so soft and I love the smell. You should go buy a tube, it is wonderful.