Please Pray!

Please pray for a young woman that I have know through work for years. Her 4-year old son was hit by a truck and killed at a beach in FL yesterday. They are devistated. Also, if you live in FL, please, please contact your local congressman and insist on getting vehicles off of beaches period. No full sized vehicle should be driving on a crowded beach!

Shopping & Photography

So what do these things have in common?  They just happen to be two of my passions.  I love to find good deals on great clothes.  And I love to just take my trusty camera out for the day and take great pictures.  Both of these past times are always good ways to calm my nerves and de-stress me.  So which of these did I do today?  I went shopping, I mean with the temperature hovering around 100, being outside is not very appealing.  And I'm so glad that I went to the Gap.  That seems to be one of my favorite places lately.  So what did I buy you ask......well this adorable white sheath dress for $18, yep I said $18!!!  All the sale stuff is an extra 40% off.  Now that is a great deal and I could have stayed there  longer but, I would definately be broke.  

So now I'll leave you with my other passion...

Hair - CRAZY Hair!

Does any one else out there have a hair fetish. What I mean by that is, do you keep trying to obtain (what may be the impossible) your perfect hair. Mine happens to be a hair color fetish. I've been just about every color except for black (which doesn't appeal to me for whatever reason). Right now my hair is red, kind of a darkish coppery color. I've been on a kick as of the last year or so, to find my "perfect" red and as of today, don't really think that I've found it. I come home with a slightly different shade of red every 4-6 weeks or so. I mean, who is that obsessed!?!?!? Me I suppose. Maybe one day. But of course, by that time, I'll probably be ready to be blond again, so who knows! But until that day, I'll keep surprizing J with a different shade to ponder (and just to answer, he said that he likes this one, but I'm still not so sure), so we'll wait another 4 weeks and try again!

Happy Monday (Glad it's over!)
Magnolia

Just a little bit.....

About me. Over the last several years, I have really become an neverending fountain of worthless knowledge. Example, a co-worker of mine just got back from a vacation in NYC and she said that they had gone to Dillon's Candy Store and of course me being full of worthless knowledge say "Oh, isn't that the candy store owned by Ralph Lauren's daugher", I mean know knows that kind of stuff. Obviously I do. Is there anyone else that just reads for the sake of reading. I do. Example #2, having coffee with some friends Sunday night and we got to talking about Joran Van der Sloot, and the hostess made the comment about how his father had really saved his butt the first go around and I said that he'd have a harder time now since his dad was now deceased. Yet again, who knows that kind of stuff. Just another tidbit about me. Maybe I should go on Jeapardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire of something. Problem is, I only read about things that just happen to catch my eye at the time. I know, weird right. But I know that there's got to be another person out there like this right?!?!?!?

Blessings on a CRAZY MONDAY,

Magnolia

Style Tip Sunday

Great Find #1

I love this dress from the Gap. It's long enough for us women who aren't in our 20s and structured enough to keep things together also. It's made nicely and looks great without having to iron it. I paired it with a structured denim jacket and pair of chunky heels today for church. It's cool and comfy and appropriate of work also. I may have to go back and get the navy one.

If this heat in the south keeps up, my wanting the dress may just turn into a need! Ha!

And talking about the Gap, they have their tanks for $10 if you buy 2 or more, which is a good deal. They have some of the best out there right now.

And here's a style trick for you. I've seen rolled up denim capri type pants for sale in just about all the stores. Well save yourself some money and take a pair of straight leg or skinny legged jeans and just roll them up. It doesn't work so well with bell bottoms but the other two are really cute rolled up. Pair them with a tank and sweater set or just a t-shirt and scarf for a fun age appropriate look. And throw on some chunky heals (can you tell they're my favorite) to look super cool!

Blessings,

Magnolie

Memorial Day

So what does Memorial Day mean to me.  Knowing that my granddad, dad & husband served this country gives me a great sense of duty to pay tribute today to those who have given of their time and lives for this country.  So to all of those who have served and are still serving and especially those who lost their life preserving our way of life, know that I for one am grateful.  

Also, know that I am saying a special prayer for those of you that have lost loved ones in the wars past & present.

Magnolia

Style Sunday!

I know that I'm supposed to do this on Friday, but what's a day (or two) between friends right?!? So here goes...

If you live near a Banana Republic and your man needs new khakis, they got them on sale for $19.99! These are great pants, J loves them and if you know my hubby, that's say'in something!

Now enough of men's fashions....
Most department stores are having good sales on shoes, like these that I bought yesterday...

They are actually toooooooo cute on. They remind me of butterflies! And I love Lucky shoes. They're comfortable and made really well. Yes, they are a bit pricey sometimes but if you can find them on sale it's a great investment.

Also, Coldwater Creek has everything in the store 50% off. I buy skirts from there and have never been disappointed.

Well, there's your shopping report for now.

Happy Shopping,

Magnolia

Maia

Please pray for this sweet family who lost there baby girl Maia yesterday. She had a congenital heart defect, HLHS. You can get to their blog from the list on the side. Read their story (have some tissue handy). And thank you in advance for your prayers.

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

For those of you that don't know Angie Smith, you need to read her story from start to finish, it'll make you cry, but you'll realize God's plan for your life is not always fair or easy and that trust in God will make all the difference in your life.
That said, Angie gave birth to her new baby last night, on her birthday, and baby Charlotte is doing great, and by the smile on Angie's face, she's doing better than great. So happy birthday Charlotte and Angie! May God bless you for all the years of your life.

Magnolia

PS Angie's blog is on the right "Bring the Rain"

Yard Work

For those of you that know me, know that I am allergic to just about all yard work. Rakes especially cause me to break out into hives. Well this weekend, J and I got out in the yard and worked on our flower beds for about 6 hours. These were the same beds that we have redone every year since we decided to put them in. The beds look wonderful after all that work. Of course, we have 3 more to do!!! Hopefully I can get a picture, that is if it stops raining long enough for me to get outside to take it.
Other than yard work, the weekend was about normal. So how was your weekend?!?!?

Love,
Magnolia

Mother's Day!

I would like to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the Mom's out there. One in particular, my Mom! I love that CRAZY OLE LADY!

Magnolia

Weekend Ramblings

How was my weekend you ask. CRAZY! Seems like every weekend is nuts here lately. The weekend started at noon on Friday. I got off work early so that I could be dressed etc for J's military ball that night. But of course I had to make a stop at the mall first. I call it mental health time. Bought two new pairs of shoes and some intimates (the ones you wear on your bottom). Then I finally started home to find the face, fix the hair and get dressed up. At about 5:30pm, J and I (looking quite dapper might I just say) made our way to the hotel. We had the whole receiving line, pictures, dinner and speech. After that the DJ started up and at that time we left to go get coffee and headed home. Saturday was lunch with J since he had to work and some more "looking" around at Target, Old Navy and Bed Bath & Beyond. Sunday was church, lunch & laundry. And then today was back to the grind. And after all of that, all I have to say is....
Where'd my weekend go???

Magnolia

WORDless Sunday!

What a Weekend!

Oh, what a weekend I had. Saturday morning J and I were up and on the go. We met my sister, brother-in-law and youngest niece in Charlotte at Southpart Mall. Can I just tell you. When you shop with someone else (other than your spouse) you really don't get to shop for yourself. And can I just tell you that we covered that mall several times and tried on almost every shoe in Nordstroms. Just a few of the shoes that we saw .....

My sister actually bought these (after long deliberation of course). They do look better on than in the picture. And for my two cents, they look better in white.

And if you have a couple hundred dollars to drop, these Michael Kors wedges are to die for! (of course I don't have a couple hundred). If I did have that kind of extra cash I would have bought these.......

They're made by Frye (you know the boot company) and the leather was just delicious! I'm drooling over them now!

So after my big purchase of lipstick at the MAC counter, we ate dinner with my family and headed home (only about an hour drive, thank goodness). We had a wonderful time, but I feel as if I need a vacation day to recoup. And who said that shopping wasn't a workout! They need to shop with my sister and both my nieces and see if they don't break a sweat.

Love to you all,

Magnolia

Show Us Your Life - How I Met J

Taking a page from Kelly's Korner, I'll show you my life and share how I met J....

During the spring of 1999 a friend of mine's husband, who was in the Airforce at the time, was sent overseas for a 3 month duty, so of course she was lonely. And well me being the good friend I am, went out with her to a "club" on Saturday night since she was lonely and didn't want to be in her apartment for another night. While at this "club" this tan handsome fella came up to me and said "If I followed you home, would you keep me?". Well of course my response was "Maybe?!?!?". That was the start of our relationship. From that warm June night until now (and further), we've only had eyes for each other. Not necessarily teh conventional meeting but it worked for me. And to this day, he still says it to me every so often and my response is still "Maybe"!!

And I will be posting the Friday style on Saturday. J and I are going up to Charlotte (Southpark Mall) tomorrow, so I'll be sharing all I saw in the stores with you tomorrow. Have a great night!

Blessings,
Magnolia

The Cost of Alzheimer's

Just a few numbers for you to think about...

http://www.alzfdn.org/AboutAlzheimers/cost.html

Blessings,
Magnolia

Obesity & Alzheimer's

If this doesn't encourage me to loose some weight ---

http://www.ahaf.org/alzheimers/newsupdates/obesity-gene-carried-by-more.html

Blessings,
Magnolia

Weekend Overview

Every weekend here lately has been CRAZY! This weekend was no exception. J and I got up Saturday morning got dressed and went for Brunch, then started on our errands. We had to get a birthday present for our neighbor's little girl and some other little things. Then we had to be back for the party then back out we went to pick up some things J had ordered from a store across town. We finally got back and J decided to put in some speakers in his car. Now onto Sunday, we got up early got dressed went to church, ate lunch & came home, changed clothes and back out we went to Home Depot. I ended up getting some Japanese Pencil Hollys for the pots on my front stoop. We got home, J started on fixing his toilet and I got busy planting the hollys. I got one planted and J came out and wouldn't you know, he got the wrong thing and wanted me to go back with him. So, I planted the other holly and back in the car and back to Home Depot we went. After getting the right thing back to the house and I started planting Caladiums in the front beds (I LOVE Caladiums!). After all of that we changed clothes again, jumped in the car and off to a concert at church. Finally at about 9pm we arrived back home for the night! So how was your weekend?!?!?

Magnolia

Friday Style

Sorry I missed yesterday but you'll have to forgive me, it was actually my birthday. But I'm back today with the Friday style post. So here goes...

I bought this denim jacket about 2 weeks ago on sale. It's from the Gap. I would recommend that you don't by it online, it's actually cheaper in the store around $30. And it's actually more structured that it looks so you could wear it during the week to work with a white shirt and black pants. It also has tabs were you can roll up the sleeves so therefore you can wear in the summer. Great buy for the value.

I bought these great capri pants at Banana Republic last weekend for around $23. They look great with a pair of flip flops or wedges!

And last but not least...these great Nine West wedges. You can buy them at Marshalls for a whole lot less than online from the Nine West store. I bought the olive colored pair, but the black and tan ones are good looking too.

Well that's it for Friday. Have a great weekend!

Magnolia

WORDless Wednesday!

Minorities & Alzheimer's

The lastest news about Alzeimer's is that African-Americans and Hispanics are particularly vulnerable to the disease. Read the article here....

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-09-alzheimersstats09_ST_N.htm

Happy Tuesday!
Magnolia

Weekend Madness

You ever have thouse weekends that things just keep popping up. Well that was my weekend. In fact two things popped up, 2 retirement parties J mentioned to me at the last minute. The first was Saturday. At about 1:30 in the afternoon, he mentioned to me that his commander's roast was that night at 5:00. Well needless to say, I needed to wash the hair, dry it and flatiron it, then find my face and get dressed by 4:30. Doesn't sound bad right, well it takes about an hour to do just my hair. Happy news though, I got it all done with time to pick out J's clothes. The second was Sunday, J told me at about 9:30 that there was a going away lunch for one of his soldiers at 11:00. Well, at least I didn't have to do my hair since I done it the night before but still, I had to find my face and get dressed and across town. Thank goodness he called a little bit later and said they moved the lunch until 11:30. Well, that was the madness!

Now on to the really good stuff, I bought a great pair of capri pants at Banana Republic for $23! And I got a great spring/summer dress at the Gap for about $25. I love good deals! Right now you can find great deals on pieces that you could wear all year long (or at least in the south you can). Oh! And if you're wondering why I didn't shot my husband with all these last minute madness, well he did buy me a great Slane & Slane necklace for my birthday Saturday night so I guess I can't get too mad right?!?!? Not that I'm going to stay upset with him anyway.

So how was your weekend???

Blessings
Magnolia

Style Friday

I thought I throw out some of my favorite things on Friday, just for fun.

First, the satchel purse, I love these purses, of course I loose stuff in them since they are bigger.

I personally have the one of the right (Lucky Brand) and I love it since it's got two pockets on the outside, one for my cell phone and the other for my keys, so neither of them get lost in the bottomless pit I call my purse. Actually, I have that purse in two different colors (I got them both on sale, Yeah me!)

The other thing I want to share with y'all today is the stuff that keeps my hair shiny and frizz free......

It's Redken Glass, and you can buy it from just about anywhere you find Redken products. We southern women with big hair can use all the help we can get! Although, it recommends you can use it all day long, it will weigh your hair down, so I only use it in the morning after I flat iron my hair.

Hope this was fun and helpful.

Great Shopping,

Magnolia

WORDless Wednesday!

Alzheimer's on CBS!

This is a great piece on Alzmeimers for those who are and aren't familiar with the disease. Some of the statistics will shock you. Hope you enjoy. I did!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6089199n&tag=related;photovideo

Hugs,
Magnolia

PS. I think that either Buzz or Kate is going to get kicked off tonight on Dancing with the Stars.

New Year Starting Now!

I know kind of strange title, but I'm going to start fresh starting now with my blog. There have been so many things that I've wanted to say that it just gets all jumbled up sometimes. So, here's how it goes, Monday's will be a recap of the weekend (you know just in case something exciting happened). Tuesday and Thursday is going to be updates about Alzheimers, Wednesday is wordless Wednesday (of course unless something crazy happens that I just have to talk about) and Friday, I'm going to try and find out new styles to post.

So let's get started. My weekend started off on Thursday after work, thank goodness my boss believes in Good Friday. J and I went to the Maundy Thursday service at church, and can I just tell you that it was pretty powerful. I mean think about it when the paster says that you can come to the front of the church and nail a nail in a cross up there, because you were the ones that put them there in the first place, well, that sort of thing really makes you think hard about what sins you've committed. So after all the hard stuff to think about, Friday was pretty much, get pretty day, I got my nails done, and J and I headed to the mall. And yes of course I bought stuff, but I was really good, I only bought 2 pair of shoes from Marshalls! Saturday, I got a bug that I needed a new Easter dress, so I headed out and came back with what I thought was a cute dress, when I got home I tried it on for J and this is what he said "It makes you look like a lampshade", well at that point I resigned myself to wearing a dress I bought last year and promptly returned the dress today since all I need is to look like a lampshade. Sunday, we were up and at church 25 minutes before the service started, not really a bright idea since our church has 3 services and we go to the second one, and since we got there early, 1st service wasn't out yet and we had to park in West Egypt!!! The service was awesome to say the least. Our paster always gives you something to think about for the week. Lunch and home finished out our day. Needless to say with the extra day off, I really hated for that alarm to go off this morning. Thanks the good Lord for COFFEE!

Well, until tomorrow and some Alzheimer's news.

Blessings,
Magnolia

Easter

Easter brings so many great things, new things every year. I believe that it's a new start for everyone as well. Jesus died so that we could live and have a new life. I think about that alot, and I for one am so grateful for those promises. Because of what happened thousands of years ago and the sacrafice that was made, I get to see my Daddy again in heaven. There are no words to express my thanks for that alone, but the fact that I will live with him on high is the ultimate treasure! Remember these things this Easter season.

Grateful,
Magnolia

Happy Anniversary Babes!

8 Years today! Some days it seems like we've been married forever, some days it seems like yesterday! No one said that marriage was going to be easy but for the last 8 years I've had a partner that I can laugh with and love with. I am definately married to my best friend. To the man I love more and more every year --- I look forward to the many years to come with much laughter and love. And if I ever stop coloring my hair, I look forward to growing old and gray with you. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Always & Forever Yours,
Magnolia

Easter, Easter, Easter

Oh, wait did I tell you guys that I LOVE Easter! Love it so much that I bought my little next door neighbor a bunny! Ok, not a real one, her parents would kill me. But one she can hug and love and call it her own! I'm soooooo excited about the change in weather too, I love spring, so much so that I got married in the Spring. Yep, J and I got married in March! In fact, our 8 year anniversary is next week. Holy Mackrell Batman, 8 years! Seems like yesterday! And I know it sounds corny but I do love him more today that I did 8 years ago. Anyway, enough about my anniversary (more about that next week). Getting back to spring, the flowers have already started to bloom, and so you know what that means ---- photo opportunities for me! WOO HOO!

Blessings,
Magnolia

Layla Grace

Thank all of you for your prayers. As Layla's mother so wonderfully said. Layla went to play with the angels this morning. Please continue to prayer for the Marsh's family and for their transition to a life without little Layla on this Earth. I said a little prayer for her earlier and asked her to say "Hello" to my Dad. Thank you all again for your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Magnolia

Snowing Again!

Are you kidding me?!?!? It's snowing again! We go years and years with no snow and twice in 3 weeks it snows. Holy Mackerel Batman! I now have a hard time believe the whole global warming issue. Have I told you have much I adore watching snow fall and how peaceful it is for me??? Oh, yeah, I think I did a couple of posts ago.

Again, please pray for Layla Grace, she is such a fighter!

Blessings and More!
Magnolia

Please Remember

Please remember to pray for Layla Grace, I have added her Mom's twitter link to the blog. Also, you can connect to their blogsite and read her story from there. It is a heart wrenching story so before you start, grab some tissue (wish I had, ruined my mascara, thank goodness I was home at the time!). God bless her family for being so supportive and calm during this time and thanks be to God for giving them this support and calm.

Thank you,
Magnolia

Easter & Curling

And what do these two things have in common. Well more that likely absolutely nothing! Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. And I really wanted to talk about both.

1st - Easter - As you can see I have changed my background to Easter already. Why you ask? Well to be completely honest with you....I LOVE EASTER! It's my favorite holiday. All of the hum bug from Christmas is replaced with WOO HOO at Easter. Not only do I love what it symbolizes for Christians (the whole world actually), but both my anniversary and birthday fall in this lovely season. I adore this season for so many reasons. Great cool crisp weather with wonderful blue skies, stunning flowers that come into bloom. And what does most of that equal, well simply - GREAT picture taking opportunities. I love to take pictures in the spring and around Easter. So you see there are lots of great reasons that I love this time of year.

2nd - Curling - Well during these Winter Olympics I have become addicted to curling. I blame J. for this. A little background here, J. lived most of his life in Minnesota, yep, this southern girl married a midwesterner (that's a whole other story), and he started curling when he was really young and loves it. So therefore, we have been watching all the matches on TV and have become really interested in this sport. Too bad that way down south we don't have a whole lot of ice rinks and definately no curling clubs that we could join. But we're looking, I thing J. found that the closest one is about 1 1/2 hours away. So we'll have to see what happens.

So there you go. Easter and Curling, one has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, the other may become one in the near future.

Blessings & Happy (early) Easter!
Magnolia

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  And just for you, here's another picture of our SNOW!

Are You Kidding? SNOW!?!?

Yep!  Snow!  And lots of it (or at least lots for us)!  The white stuff starting coming down right when I left work yesterday (and you'd just know it would start at the end of the day and not the beginning right).  As I drove home it was snowing pretty hard, but of course and thank goodness it wasn't sticking yet.  I got home and all I could do was sit and watch it fall.  There is just something really peaceful about snow falling.  I fixed myself a cup of coffee and sat under our carport and was just amazed.  Do you ever have moments when you really feel God's peace around you?  Well, it's when things were quiet and the snow was falling for me yesterday.  There was just a peace and serenity about everything.  It was awesome (Lack of a better word).  So what does peace and serenity look like to me........

Brush It Off

I have learned so very much and received so many words from God through our wonderful church and our outstanding paster. Today was no different. The sermon was about brushing off the hurt that others cause you. It was very interesting to me to hear that we should deal with the hurt first and then and if God guides us, deal with the person. It also had to do with being kindhearted and compassionate. (Eph 4:31 & 32 - and by the way Eph 4:32 was the verse Tim Tebow showed a couple of weeks ago.) Alot of the time, I get more upset at the person and spend too much time "fussing" about them, when I should be dealing with the hurt or frustration they caused and letting God deal with the person. For some reason I think that many people have this same problem. So I'm really going to try this week to deal with the feelings and not the person.
Now on to some other things. Just an FYI Coldwater Creek and Talbots are having good sales right now on their websites and stores so don't miss out. You know that I can't pass up a good deal, I mean heck I don't buy anything unless it's on sale. And one other thing, I've been searching for a place to get my hair cut for quite a while. I have the greatest colorist on the planet but I'm cheap and after I get through paying for the color, I don't want to spend an extra $75 bucks for a cut. So I decided to take a chance and go to the Paul Mitchell school here in town (they've got them all over the place just look on their website) and to my surprise, I got a really nice haircut for just $10! And don't freak out thinking students are just cutting on your hair, they do the cutting but are closely supervised by instructors. If you're like me and hate going a smig cut off the ends and don't want to pay an arm and let try them!

Love & Blessings
Magnolia

Into the New Year!

I'm home now from the very cold state of Indiana.  Us southerners can not deal with cold like that for very long and 10 days was way enough for me.  When the temperature is in the single digits it's too cold to even function.  And to top off every thing it snowed on my drive home, not just for a little while but for about half the trip.  I've seen enough snow for now.  Other than the weather, the trip was nice.  The city of Indianapolis was actually really pretty (the downtown traffic circle and surrounding monuments that is).  I saw where the Colts play and also got to see an old Army installation that has been made into a national park (Fort Benjamin Harrison).  One of the best parts of the trip was going down Hwy 25/70 from Asheville to Knoxville.  That is one of the prettiest pieces of highway I have ever driven and would recommend it to anyone (especially since I-40 is closed).  I am definitely going back in the spring and/or fall.  Just about the whole road is right along the French Broad River and it is one of God"s masterpieces for sure.  And the best part of all, I got to spend some great time with my hubby.  That was of course the reason for the trip.   

Blessings for 2010

Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park