Just Checking in.

 Hello my wonderful bloggy friends. Just wanted to check in and update you all on the goings on in my life and tell you thank you, thank you, thank you for all your wonderful comments on my posts.  As you can tell by these pictures, I am still dreaming of and wishing for warmer weather. Our lovely weather people around here are all calling for ice, rain, and snow over the next couple days. I am really hoping we get none of it but looks like it's gonna hit us hard. So just when the roads are getting better, we get even nastier stuff. Oh the above pic is one of my lovely peonies that grows beside my house during spring. They are dark pink in the middle, then yellow, then light pink on the oustide. I think they are called sorbet.

 I have been busy today. I absolutely had to go get my tag stickers for my cars today. This is not one of my favorite tasks as the DMV is always crowded and it usually takes FOREVER to make it through the line to the desk to get service. Luckily this morning there were only 3 people in line in front of me and 3 people being helped at the desk AND the line moved very quickly. Of course, I hate how much those little stickers cost as well. It is the law and I guess I must deal with it :) (Oh how I miss the green leaves on the trees)

 My teeth and I are finally getting along great. I finally got them adjusted to where I have no more sore spots. I can eat nearly anything I want, I can sleep in them if I choose to do so. I can do whatever. They are pretty much a part of me. I still say certain sounds with a lisp but I am doing well. I even ventured out to a Pampered Chef party (that was being held just down my road at a friends house). No one knew they were dentures. Everyone, however, thought I had a beautiful smile. (a beautiful Japanese maple is adorning the above pic)

 The above picture is fitting as tomorrow is my 31st birthday and my zodiac sign is Aquarius. I certainly miss the puffy white clouds on a beautiful blue sky and spending days by the lake. I know those days will be here soon enough but you know what, these pictures keep me sane in these cold, dark, grey days.

I think that is all for now my friends. I have lasagna baking away in my oven as I type. I have cupcakes to make just because. I am enjoying life so much more now that I can smile, eat, drink, and live pain free. I am just living and enjoying it. (I even miss the dandelions. There is something magical about the seeds floating through the air. Oh and blowing them so they would land in my ex neighbor's yard. He hated them with a passion...lol...devious aren't I)

Yarny goodness.

Hello my fabulous bloggy friends. It is still super duper cold here in Ohio. I am so ready for spring and leaves on trees, green grass, flowers, even bees. I am so tired of the cold and snow!!! But I have lots to keep me busy.

In my last post I mentioned I needed to pick up more yarn for my son's granny stripe blanket and some of you showed interest in a yarny blog. SOOO...I decided I would take some snapshots of the newest yarn I have. I honestly didn't realize I had gotten so much new yarn. Between needing it to finish up projects, my sister-in-law from Florida mailing it to me and my husband suprising me with it well my stash is building up nicely. So without further adieux....Yarny goodness.

 The above picture is the yarn I needed to finish up my son's granny stripe. I had plenty of skeins of the light and darker blue but I needed to buy more (l to r) Red Heart Super Saver 0312 black,  0365 Coffee, 0312 Aran, and 0336 Warm Brown.

 This yarn is from Lion Brand. I just recently misplaced the sleeves so I can't tell you exactly what it is but the color is this nice deep blue. It is kind of like velvet. I am currently making a hooded scarf from this Lion Brand pattern out of this super soft and bulky yarn.

 Here is an upclose picture of this yarn. It looks black here but it does have blue hints in it. Oh and this batch came from my sister-in-law.

 Next is some yarn my hubby recently bought me. It is in my favorite colorways. I love blue. This is Lion Brand Homespun yarn in the color 406 Ocean. It is a bulky yarn and it is so super squishy and so super soft. I have no idea what I will make out of it and I am definately open to suggestions.

 These four are also some my darling hubby brought home to me. They are Caron Simply Soft. It is a nice softer yarn and it has this lovely sheen to it. It is a worsted weight yarn but it is thinner than most worsted weight yarn. Oh and the sheen makes it a little slippery so your ends don't want to stay woven in. The colors I have from top to bottom are: Sunshine 9755, Limelight 9607, Autumn Red 9730, and Country Blue 9710.

 Can you tell Red Heart is readily available close to where I live. It is also pretty cheap at $2.99 for a 7oz/198g/364yd/333m of yarn. My hubby brought these home to me not too long ago. I think these will end up going into my youngest daughter's giant granny rectangle blanket. The color is candy print color 0786.

 This yarn is so squishy and soft. It is Hometown USA yarn from Lion Brand. I love this yarn. It is super bulky weight and is soooo soft. I know I am going to make a Diagonal Afghan found here with this yarn. My sister-in-law also sent this yarn to me. I love the names of the colors as well. The three colors I have are 108 Washington Denim (blueish), 147 Minneapolis Purple, and 102 Honolulu Pink. The order you see here is the order the colors on the diagonal blanket. I think it is going to gorgeous and super warm.

 Here is thos colors a bit closer and stacked on top of eachother.

 Here is all the yarn just thrown all haphazardly about the floor. My daughter is a bit OCD like me and was trying to straighten up the yarn.

Ahhh....all the yarny, squishy, goodness. I love it. I hope you all have enjoyed this post. Please leave all your lovely comments below and if you have any suggestions on what should be made with some of these yarns, let me know and I will definately check it out!

Until next time all my friends, Be Blessed.

Baby it's freezing cold outside.

Ouch it is freezing cold here in Ohio. This morning when my darling hubby left for work it was -6 outside. Yes MINUS SIX! Now it is only 12 degrees. We are having a rare sunny day. A deceptively sunny day. You would think it is warm but your nose freezes within minutes of going outside. My poor furnace is running non-stop trying to keep our humble home warm. I hope the temps warm up soon.

We did get the snow they were calling for. The kiddos got out of school early. Their school was closed on Friday because the super cold temps has made the slush on the road turn to ice. Even my 4x4 has a hard time on it.

 Here is a picture I took during the storm on Thursday. At some points the snow was coming down 1.5 inches per hour. It was beautiful to look at but was hard to go out in. It blew around alot and as I was shoveling my sidewalk the snow kept going up my nose and in my eyes. lol

 Even my puppies didn't want to be in the snow. Here is a good action pic of my precious Tinkerbell. I had to take her out because she HAD to go....She was running to go back in the house. She wanted no part of the cold and blowing snow.

 Of course I just had to measure how much we got. A meager 4 inches is all. It sure seems like a lot more when you are trying to drive in it and keep the sidewalks clear. The bad thing about it all is that we are supposed to get some more flurries tonight and we have yet another winter storm on its way. The weatherman is showing snow on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They said we can get even more snow than we just got. I guess we will see.

 After going outside to potty this is where you can find my beautiful puppies. Laying in the doggy bed in front of the fireplace chewing on their bones. They are so cute together like this.

 Also, as I promised, a better pic of the red hair. I took this one yesterday. Please forgive me for not having makeup on. I look so pale and colorless. Kind of gross if you ask me but you have to show the real you sometimes. So this is the real me..lol

Finally I have a pic of our newest addition. I am pretty sure I posted about this little gal when we rabbit-sat it for a friend of ours. Well we took Salem back to her owner and Salem seemed to be kind of sad. Her owner works alot and decided she didn't have enough time to spend with Salem so she asked if we would like to keep her. Of course we just fell in love with her when she was here with us so we said, yes of course we will take her and she is here. She is the sweetest thing and loves to snuggle up to the puppies.

That is all for now my friends. I have to get some things done today. Oh and I get to go yarn shopping when my hubby gets home from work. I can finally get the yarn I need to finish up my first granny stripe and to start on my youngest son's blanket. I am very excited to get it.

I hope you all are doing well. Until we meet again. Be Blessed.

Ouch, dreaming, projects.

Hello my wonderful friends. It sure is a gray day here today. The trees are brown, the grass is brown, the sky is grey. Everything seems so dark, dull, and gloomy. There is a good reason though. We have ANOTHER snow storm on its way here. It is supposed to start snowing around 5am-ish tomorrow morning and snow hard all day long. One weather person says 4-6 inches another says 5-8 inches. Well I guess we will see.

I have been on the go so much lately I feel like I don't have time for anything else. I did manage to get some housework done last night. Lemme tell you it was way past due.

Also, I have been dealing with my new smile. My upper plate is awesome. I had a couple sore spots up under my nose where it was too long up there. Adjustments were done and they were perfect. I don't have to use an adhesive or anything but I do for my own self-assurance. My lower piece..oh my goodness I want to throw them away. They have been adjusted because they were too low in the bottom lip, because they were putting too much pressure on my gums. They were rubbing sore spots (oh terrible sore spots) on my gums on the inside in the back (That one is a little hard to explain). I am hoping they are a-ok now because shew I am tired of my mouth being sore.

As far as eating. Well I have been eating perty good because I haven't been able to wear them because of the sore spots. I had to let them heal. I was able to eat some Chicken salad with crackers, lettuce, tomato slices, hard boiled egg slices, and cottage cheese yesterday for lunch. It was wonderful to finally be able to chew. Today I am toothless letting the sore spots heal a bit. They developed pre-last adjustment.

Oh do you wanna see another snapshot of my smile?

 I am still trying to learn how to smile. I have always had kind of a crooked smile anyway so if I want to show any teeth I really have to stretch it out there. I love my smile now and I know once all the adjustments are done with and I get used to them, Everything will be wonderful again.

Oh and with new teeth come new self-confidence and new hair and makeup. So here ya go....

 Can you tell what I did? I died my hair a nice auburn red. My hubby actually picked out the color. I absolutely love it. I will have to take more pictures in better lighting with my camera. This is an old cell phone pic.

 All of this grey, cold weather has me dreaming of spring. I miss sitting on my front porch or in my gazebo, or on the back deck. I found this picture in my photos and decided to look at it and dream and wish and hope for spring and warmth and sunshine to please come back so I can go outside and play.

Do you see this hat? I forget where I saved the picture from but I want to make one so bad. I haven't gotten around to it yet because I have several projects waiting in the wings for me. I am still working on my blues and browns granny stripe blanket for my youngest son. I have ran out of some of the colors so I have to get to my LYS to get some. I also need to finish my hearts baby blanket, start a blanket using the color red for my oldest son (it will also be a granny stripe), start a blanket using pinks for my youngest daughter (it will be a big granny rectangle), and start a blanket using purples for my oldest daughter (also a granny rectangle). My sister-in-law wants me to make her a blanket as well. Honestly, it has been a little while since I picked up my hook. Been too busy and just kind of blah with all this horrible weather. At least my smile is bright right?

Well that is enough for today. I hope you all are well! Thank you for reading and as always, Be Blessed.

Such wonderful bloggy friends.

Hello my lovely bloggy friends. I am happy to announce that I have been awarded the Stylish blogger Award by not one but two people. I was so happy, shocked, just in awe that my lovely friends Teresa Kasner and Shanti have given me this award.

As with every award there are some rules you have to follow:

1. You must link back to the blogger who has given you the award.

 2. Share 7 things about yourself.    

3. Pay it forward to 15 discovered bloggers.

4. Tell these bloggers about their award.

So my 7 things about myself are:

1. My husband and I met in grade school but really didn't think much of eachother. When we met again in 9th grade I thought he was arrogant and didn't like him. Then as the high school years progressed we were in the same crowd and fell in love.

2. Ironically my husband's last name is Adkins. My maternal grandparents' last name is also Adkins. My husband and I traced our lineages and found out that our lined progressed from the same family and our link was a brother and sister in the 1700s.

3.  I love to cook but I hate to clean up afterwards and I don't have a dishwasher :( ..lol It has to be done though.

4.  My biggest fears are failure at anything and something happening to my hubby and kids.

5.  I love ink pens. My favorite colored ink pens are blue. I will buy pens for no reason but to try them. My husband even brings me pens because he know I like them so much. (weird huh)

6. I love to grow things. I have house plants, outside flower and veggie/fruit gardens. I even collect seeds from my plants at the end of the growing season so I can grow more next season.

7. I am a genius. My i.q. tested 2 points below Albert Einstein's. Which also is ironic because I am fascinated with the guy. (Not bragging I promise..i just find it interesting  because I am constantly learning and I make crazy mistakes on stuff sometimes)

Whew that was kind of hard. Now I need to nominate 15 people. I'm not sure I even follow 15 people. lol

1. Sue @ The Quince Tree

2. Kristi @ The One Stop Thought Shop

3. Nimble Fingers and Steady Eyebrows.

4. The Sunroom

5. Little Birdie Secrets

6.  Julie @ Julie's Stitchyknitter Journal

7. Charlotte @ Charlotte's Web

8. Laura Jane @ Needles, Pins, and Baking Tins

9.  Amanda @ Itchin Stitchin

10. Clicky Needles

11. Saskia @ Craft Valley

12. Urban Tortoise

13. Creative Haven

14.  Helen @ Helen's Colorful Crochet Blankets

15. Tickety Boo

Well there you have it! You all have been nominated! Congratulations!

Be Blessed.

                                                          

Yay A New Smile!

Hello again my friends! I am happy to announce I DID make it to the dentist today and I DID get my new smile. Boy let me tell you...it took a long time to get there . Here is a picture to show you some of what I was up against ( I dunno why it is sideways..I couldn't get it fixed..sorry)

 Ok so sideways as I said. At this point it had only been snowing for 30 minutes. Yes I was up against a snow storm. The roads were horrible. It took forever to get there and I was in a 4wd car. The going was definately s l o w. People were slipping and sliding everywhere. It was horrible.

Good news is I did make it to the dentist and back in one piece. They took me straight back and put my teeth in my mouth first thing. The bite was off bad. Luckily they are able to trim and cut and stuff at the office and well got it perty right. Do you wanna see???

 Another stupid sideways picture but this one gives you an idea. This was taken as soon as I walked into my house. ( See the dog toys in the floor behind me..) They are nice and white and straight. I love them. I still think they look weird because even when I had my own teeth, they weren't straight. But I am happy. You want another pic?

Relaxing with my Tinkerbell (the black spot in front of me). I am glad the journey is mostly over. I have to go back tomorrow morning at 10am so they can fix any sore spots that may develop. I have a few concerns but nothing major. I am sure that after tomorrow I will be set to enjoy my new smile.

Now let me tell you...eating is not very fun... It is very different from your natural teeth. I feel like a baby trying to eat again. Most people I have spoken to tell me it took them a few days to a few months to learn to eat again. I can't wait until the teeth and I become one and I am able to eat without even thinking. It is going to be a glorious day.

I want to sincerely thank you all for encouraging me through this journey. Your support and a special website found here has really helped me through all this. So Thank you, Thank you, thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I love you all!

That is all for today! Be blessed everyone!

Oh I Sure Hope

Hello my lovely friends. I am so excited, nervous, worried, just all kinds of emotions right now. Tomorrow is my big dentist appointment. My teeth are there just waiting for me to come in and try them in and to see what they look like in the permanent form. A week and a half ago I went in to try in wax blocks that were made from my impressions. They fit nice and snug and only had to have one spot adjusted. Then since they guy who actually makes the dentures was at the office he set in my top 6 teeth that I picked out (size, shape, and color). This process is usually done somewhere else and the whole set of teeth is set in the wax for a wax try-in. The denture maker was so sure of the fit and bite he said he could set the top 6 and once they were right, he could go from there. Him doing this in office like that took an appointment off my visits.

The first try-in with these top six teeth...oh boy..I looked like Mr. Ed. They were too long and too far forward. The color and shape was perfect but the way they were set in the wax was horrible. The denture maker (dm) said hold on this is an easy fix. He took them back and set the teeth the way they should be. It looked wonderful! Of course, it looked weird to me because I have been without teeth for a couple months and I had some really bad broken front teeth before extractions so they looked good but strange to me.

Now, I am so nervous, worried, scared because I get to see the final product tomorrow. I am doubting if taking out that extra wax try-in appointment was a good idea, I am so scared I"m going to look foolish, have a bad over-bite, just something bad is going to happen. On top of all of that, there is a snow storm coming in tonight. We are supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow. My appointment is at 11 am. I have an hour or so drive to my dentists office (if they will even be open). I dunno if the kids are going to be in school or have a delay or what. If they have a delay, they will have to be in school by 11. I can't be in two places at once..UGH!!!

I know I worry about so much all the time. I know I need to calm down. I just want a beautiful smile. I want to feel better about myself. I want it all to be ok and fit properly.

This is the color chart you pick the color of your teeth off of..I chose b1!

That is all for today. Please pray that I can get there tomorrow and everything be ok! Thank you all for reading and until next time, Be Blessed.

Ouch

Ouch, ouch, ouch. It hurts to move! As I stated before, my hubby and I decided it was time to get our booties in gear and start eating right and exercising. The eating right is a breeze. I can still make many of the foods I made before only healthier. Without my family knowing, I have been switching our meals over to healthier choices over the past year so the rest of the switch isn't so bad. Less processed foods, more fresh fruits and veggies..yummy! Exercising, on the other hand, has been hard. I am always active cleaning, walking dogs, doing a workout here and there, chasing kids, dancing, I am the type of person who just cannot sit still. It is very hard for me to just sit. I am constantly multitasking. If I am forced to sit, I am constantly fidgiting. I shake my legs, moves my fingers, make faces..something..I just cannot sit still. Well, my hubby and I decided to check out the exercise videos at Walmart when we went grocery shopping. We chose to get Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video. We liked how the workouts were set up, we liked how the moves weren't complicated (I am so uncoordinated it isn't funny), and we liked that the workout is only 20 minutes long. WELL...lets just say that 20 minute level 1 workout kicked my booty. Yesterday I felt like crap! My legs, arms, chest, back all hurt. My muscles were so tired I felt tired. It was horrible. Of course, I think part of it was my insomnia as well. But let me tell you, it was horrible.

Today is a different story. It still hurts to sit down as my thigh muscles are still very sore but I did manage to do another of my favorite workouts today. It is only 20 minutes as well. It is by one of my favorite trainers, Cindy Whitmarsh. It is called Bikini Ready. All you need is handweights and some time. The workout video can be found here at exercisetv. This is the video I started doing 5 days a week way back in March 2010 when I first started exercising. I lost 12 inches off my body in a couple months of doing this workout and walking my dogs and doing house work.

I feel amazing after I finish working out. I feel like I have accomplished something. It is a very nice feeling. I also know it makes me feel closer to my goals. I want to go down a couple pant sizes and get down to 120-125 lbs. I am not far from that but I just want to be healthier.

So that is my post for today. For all of my crochet friends, I am still plugging away at my granny stripe. I want to finish it up for my youngest son, make another for my other son and do big rectangle granny square blankets for my daughters. So be on the look out for those pics. Be Blessed everyone.

Popping in

Hello my lovely bloggy friends. I just wanted to pop in! I have been so busy with errands, appointments, the house and kiddos. I have also started to exercise again. I feel so much better when I do a workout or two during the day (once the soreness wears off a bit). I notice my mood being better, my self-image being better, and I just feel better. I have also began eathing mostly healthy. I have cut out a lot of processed foods out of our diet. We rely on fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, good fats ect for our nutrition. Of course we do eat some of the other stuff but not as much as we were and I still eat my little bit of sweets at night, just not as much. It has been a little over a week since we decided to live a healthier lifestyle and I have to say it is worth it.

Also, I am excited to announce I got a wonderful phone call yesterday. My new smile has come in at the dentist office!!!! The down side, I have to wait until my appointment on Tuesday to go see my new teeth and to try them in for the first time. I hope it all goes really well and I won't need many adjustments. I am ready to get my smile on and flash some perty pearly whites all over Ohio.

That is all for now friends. I have a lot left to do today and I need to get on it or it will never get done! I hope you all are having a nice day and I hope to see you again soon. Be Blessed.

Happy New Year

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a save and happy New Year's Eve. We had a perty good time here at the Adkins house. We woke up yesterday morning and took the kids to Petland. They had asked us to go so we happily obliged. We looked at the birds, hampsters, spiders, well all of the creatures they had. My oldest daughter fell in love with one of the ferrets there. She begged for one but alas we didn't have the money. The ferret was $200. The cage it needed was $200. Then there is the smell good stuff, bedding, food, well..I don't have $600 dollars or so to spend on a ferret.

 I did find a creature I thought was funny. The above picture is sideways and isn't very good because I took it with my cell but these crazy lizards were sleeping and eating until we walked up. We watched them and they watched us. The one closest just stared at us right out the glass. The one behind stared at us as well. I started to feel like they do. Almost like we were the animals and they were the audience.

After getting the doggy nail clippers we needed, we headed across the street to Wal-mart to pick up all the things we needed to celebrate the new year. We bought pizzas, quesadillas, chicken wings, chicken fingers, fruit, sparkling grape juice. Well I guess you get the picture. We always put together a little buffet for things like this.

 As I was getting the food prepared, my wonderful hubby was getting our firepit going. I love that firepit. I also loved that yesterday it was nearly 60 degrees here. We sat by the fire with our kiddos and a neighbor and his daughter came to sit with us. There is just something about watching and listening to a fire.

I just absolutely love this picture. The embers look pink! It kind of reminds me of lava.  It was so peaceful by that fire.

Then as it got closer to midnight, my hubby, the kiddos, and I came inside and watched Dick Clark's Rockin New Years Eve. When we had 5 minutes until Midnight I poured each of us a glass of sparkling grape juice and prepared to count down until 2011.

Once the new year had arrived we all raised our glasses in a toast and my hubby and I shared a kiss (as is tradition). Then one by one, the kiddos went to bed. My hubby and I did the same. It was a long day and each of us fell to sleep quickly.

We all slept in this morning. (I was super happy about it too!) We watched the Rose parade and ate our lunch. Later we will be having a nice dinner.

I hope you all have a nice New Year. May your 2011 be 10 times better than your 2010.

Until next time, Be blessed.