Island Time...

The DH and I took a trip to Fort George yesterday and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!

Our friend, Lisa, took us out on her boat, Island Time, and it definitely felt as if we were on an island...a gorgeous boat, sunny skies, cool waters, and FUN with friends!

Here is a pic of Lisa...thanks Lisa, we had a GREAT time!

Lisa, me and Connie....headed down to Fort George!

The DH and I floating in the water!

Our friend Shawn brought his dog along for the trip...he is definitely a water dog. Check these pics out...

Shawn and Taz

Chris taking Taz on a jet ski ride...

Taz climbing the boat ladder...


Here is a shot of all of us tied up enjoying the day.

Over all the entire day was a BLAST!!!

I am just loving the Sunshine State as well as our Island Time!!

Summer Giveaway!!!

I purchased a few Japanese Lanterns to use this summer in our yard when we have pool parties. I just love how cute they are...simple, yet fun!

I chose to buy white and green lanterns to coordinate with these adorable Restoration Hardware pillows in our backyard.

Here are the Japanese Lanterns that I purchased...

I was nervous about putting them all out at our party this past weekend because I didn't want them to get wet in case it rained. So I ended up putting out just these two on our porch.

Aren't they adorable???

Well, I thought it would be fun to giveaway two of the GREEN lanterns for our next IVF Chip-in/Giveaway!!! They are about 1 foot wide and 2 feet tall. You can even be creative and put a battery operated light inside so you can enjoy them at night too.

So, here's how to play....

1. Donate at least $1 to our IVF Chip-in for an entry to win. If you'd like more entries, donate MORE! Each dollar is worth an entry. Just click on the Chip-in button below.

2. If you'd like to get an extra entry, leave me a comment letting me know where you would hang these lanterns.

3. To DOUBLE your entries, post about this giveaway on your blog (or you could tweet about it or post about it on your facebook page). Just make sure you let me know where you post about it in your comment and share your blog address, twitter name, or facebook name.

Your last day to enter will be Friday, June 5th!!! So get BUSY!!! I hope the winner will enjoy these lanterns as much as I do :)

Sexy at Sixty...

We celebrated my Mother-in-Love's 60th birthday this past weekend. We had close to 30 people at our house to help us celebrate. The weather was nice...especially after having FOUR straight days of rain...so the kids were able to get in the pool--although it was still a bit too cold for the adults. Here are a few pics of Cathy's special day...

I put these little garden signs in a few of the plants around the backyard and printed out "Happy Birthday Cathy" on labels. I thought they turned out cute :)

Here is Cathy opening up one of her gifts....a bathing suit cover-up and a few other goodies :)

She received a TON of cute little items...and quite a few gag gifts as well :)

I wasn't kidding when I said we had a house-full!! This is just ONE side of the living room!!

And of course I couldn't resist throwing in a pic of my sweet little nephew...he is getting SO big!

Here is Grammy enjoying the party.

This is a pic of Grammy's "naughty" face. The kids grabbed my camera and were taking pictures like crazy. They came up to Grammy and said..."Grammy show us your naughty look." And this is what she did :) TOO FUNNY!

And finally, the Birthday Girl's cake....YUMMY!

Overall it was a GREAT party....a lot of food, family, friends and FUN!!

Happy Birthday Cathy...you're still Sexy at Sixty!!

FYI...check out Cathy's blog if you want to see a few more pics!

And the Winner is...

Congratulations Lori!!!! You are the winner of the Cambridge Backsack!!!

Here are your random numbers:149
Timestamp: 2009-05-24 14:04:47 UTC

Lori's story was so cute and I am SO glad she is the lucky winner. She recently purchased a similar bag and took it to Disney. After only being able to use it for THREE days, someone stole her bag. God has a way of opening doors when another one closes, doesn't He?

Again, congratulations Lori...send me pics of you using the bag and I'll post about it!!!

Last Chance!!!

Today is your LAST CHANCE to enter the Vera Bradley GIVEAWAY!!!! You could be the lucky winner of this adorable Cambridge Backsack....

Please visit this link and get entered TODAY!!!!

All you need is $1 to enter!!!

I'm in LOVE!!!

I'm in LOVE with this...

Yes!!! Our new BOX FAN!!!

I have always had issues with sleeping...either I am thinking TOO much and can't fall asleep, or I wake up a million times throughout the night, or I wake up at the crack of dawn!

But NOT ANY LONGER!!! The noise of our box fan at night is SO soothing and for some reason it helps me fall asleep, it helps me sleep soundly, and it helps me sleep LATE!

WOW...I never knew a $15 box fan would be my NEW LOVE!

Exactly How I Imagined...

This weekend my DH and I had the privilege of meeting one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE bloggers, Amy from Chapters! Amy and DW were in Florida visiting some friends and we made arrangements to meet up for breakfast and actually meet in person.

Here we are at the Metro Diner in downtown San Marco!

PLEASE ignore the coloring of this photo...the flash made us all look like GHOSTS!

We had such a great time that I didn't want our visit to end. Amy is EXACTLY how I imagined...adorable, sweet, genuine, and DEFINITELY someone that I would hang out with on a regular basis. We literally knew so much about one another from our blogs, emailing, and sending messages through Facebook and Twitter, that the conversation was just like you would have with any of your closest friends. And it was even BETTER knowing that the boys, DW and DH, really enjoyed meeting one another too...they hit it off so well that you would think THEY are the bloggers instead of the girls :)

My mother-in-love was able to join us too and we took this pic of the three girls before we left.

I can NOT wait until the Walkers come back to Jax...or for that matter, it might be our turn to visit Georgia!!

Another Vera Bradley GIVEAWAY...

I received this adorable Vera Bradley bag from my friend Hollye and couldn't resist hosting another GIVEAWAY!!!

Check out what is up for grabs...

Isn't this pattern so SUMMER????

This is the Vera Bradley Cambridge Backsack...retail value $55!!!

This is how you can be entered to win this adorable bag:

1. Donate $1 to our IVF Chip-in Fund. For every dollar that you donate, you'll be given an entry. Just click on the Chip-In button below.

2. To earn an additional entry, leave me a comment on this post and tell me how you plan to use this bag if you are the lucky winner.

3. To DOUBLE your entries, post about my giveaway on your blog.

The last day to enter the Vera Bradley Giveaway is Friday, May 22, 2009. Good luck!!!

Mother's Day Pictures...

Here are some pictures from my Mother's Day weekend with my family in Houston. We had such a great time with my mom.

My sister and I started off the morning with a picture in mom's garden before we left.

We took her to Baba Yega's for Sunday Brunch and gave her our Mother's Day gifts to her. My sister and my best friend and I gave her Rememberance Rings from James Avery...one with each of our birthstones. Mom LOVED them :)

Then we ventured to the garden area of the restaurant and went PICTURE CRAZY!!! We just love all the flowers and the pretty pond...so we took advantage of the scenery and took tons of pics.

I'm so glad I had the chance to spend this holiday with my mom...there is no place I would have rather been!

Hope you had a great day mom...love you!

Not So Big News...

Well, I was hoping to share some EXCITING news with all of you today. Those that read my last post were left in suspense with my BIG NEWS. Well, I hate to disappoint...but I thought I was going to get to bring this sweet little baby home with me...

My mom breeds Imperial Shih Tzu (check out her site) and this little guy is the only one left from her first litter. He was born with a small defect...he was unable to use his back legs the way he should be able to. But with a little brace and some practice he is walking MUCH better now. He has the sweetest personality, loves to cuddle, and just STOLE my heart. Can't you tell how sweet he is?

Well, after a TON of begging to my DH he finally agreed to let me bring him home with me. So mom and I got all his stuff together and she was giving me details on what he eats when I thought it would be a good idea to contact Southwest Airlines to make sure I didn't need to do anything special before I arrived at the airport. Well, it nearly broke my heart to find out that Southwest is NOT pet friendly. WHAT ??? Can you believe that? They do not allow pets on board their planes or in the cargo area. I was in SHOCK!

So this little baby will just have to wait until my parents visit on Memorial Day weekend. I am hoping the DH doesn't change his mind :)

MIA and Random...

Sorry I have been Missing In Action for a while :( I took a quick weekend get-away to Houston to visit my mom for Mother's Day. We had such a great time...and of course, I ate WAY TOO MUCH!!! But to be honest...I enjoyed every single minute of it!!!

Now I'm back to the grind of getting back on track...with eating AND exercising. The DH has been riding his bike EVERY single day with our neighbor...sometimes as much as 20 miles. So you know I can't just sit around and do NOTHING....my competitive spirit is ready to GO!

I am hoping to share an awesome little secret with you guys....when I actually get back into Florida. My flight leaves at 2:00p.m. today and I should be back around 5:00p.m. (eastern time). But, I'm waiting to hear back from the DH on whether not my secret can actually HAPPEN!!! So stay tuned for more details on that...

Tomorrow promises pictures from my weekend....

Happy Monday!

Why I Should Live Stress FREE!!

Do I live stress FREE???

NO!!!

Should I live stress FREE???

YES!!!

I made a promise to myself this morning to STOP stressing over EVERYTHING! This is going to be a huge task for me because I worry over every single thing. I looked up a few statistics about stress and a few words from the Bible about stress and realized that I am only hurting MYSELF.

So how am I going to live stress FREE???

Trust in the Word!

The Bible has many verses declaring that we should trust in the Lord and that He will take those burdens away. Here are just a few examples:

"So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing?" Matthew 6:25

"See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."~Isaiah 12:2

" Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6

Sit down and RELAX!

This will probably be the hardest part for me...just relaxing! I am going to do my best to just leave those dishes in the sink, let the dust accumulate on the nightstands, and leave my DH's shoes by the backdoor. Each of those items will ALL be there tomorrow...and besides, I can spend MORE quality time with my DH, with my family, and with my dog, if I would just let those things be and RELAX!

Concentrate on how stress effects Infertility!!

Although the jury is still out on exactly how and if stress plays a role in infertility. I truly believe there is definitely a connection. According to this website, doctors compared pregnancy rates in couples that reported being stressed and those who were not.
What did they find????

Pregnancy was much more likely to occur during months when couples reported feeling good, happy, and relaxed. Pregnancy was less likely to occur during the months the couples reported feeling tense, anxious or stressed.

This website also stated that some couples can dramatically increase their chances of conceiving simply by learning how to cope with stress.

Soooo...I have a tough task ahead of me, but I think I can do it. Why don't you join me and start living a stress FREE life???

Calling all PRAYER WARRIORS!!!

My friend Laura made this post today and shared it with me. Please take a minute to visit her blog and say a special prayer for this senior at her school. He was in a tragic car accident and can use a little help from all of you PRAYER WARRIORS!

In the Eye of the Beholder...

On my last visit to Houston, my Mother (remember this is what I call my grandmother) gave me a few cacti to take back with me. If you are a regular to Be Thou a Knight, you might remember this post about my Cactus Garden.

You may be thinking "Cactus Garden? How ugly!"

Well, I have news for you....

This pretty little flower opened it's beautiful petals today!!! I was so excited to see how pretty a cactus can actually be.

I am SO looking forward to seeing what else my Cactus Garden has instore for me...

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!

Perfect Package Winners!!!

Here are the lucky winners for the Perfect Package GIVEAWAY:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:71 65 28 52
Timestamp: 2009-05-04 20:38:11 UTC

The winner of Package A...with lucky number 71 is Nicole Rehmert!!

The winner of Package B...with lucky number 65 is Michelle Rosborough!!

The winner of Package C...with lucky number 28 is Jill Ponder!!

The winner of Package D...with lucky number 52 is Jennifer Scott!!

Congratulations to all the winners AND for all that donated to our IVF Fund. This giveaway generated $290!!! Every little bit helps and we appreciate it MORE than we could ever express :)

A Book of Hope...

Brent Riggs with Serious.Life Magazine is getting ready to publish his FIRST book!! And unbelievably....it's FREE!!! Yes, you heard me correctly, FREE!!

Here is a little excerpt from the book...

Terrorist to Evangelist: The True Story of Kenneth McClinton by Brent Riggs

Born into poverty, an abusive alcoholic father, state-run homes, violence, prison, political turmoil... Ken McClinton was born to lose. But all alone in a prison cell, he found the God who never gives up, and was born again. From childhood to terrorism to murder to prison to salvation, this is the real story of a real terrorist rescued by a real Savior.

Please, tell your friends and family about this absolutely FREE story of hope.

http://www.terroristtoevangelist.com/

Read the first chapter, and I DARE you to try and stop reading...

I am so looking forward to reading MORE!!!

Don't Be Left OUT!!

Tomorrow is the FINAL day to enter the Perfect Package GIVEAWAY!!!!!

For more details on how to enter, please visit this post!

And don't be disturbed by my new Chip-in...I accidentally let the old one expire and had to start up another one. For those of you who have not been keeping up with our total..we are up to

$4020!!!!!!

Don't be left OUT!!!! Secure your entry NOW!!!!