Woo Hoo!! Finally Done!!!

I want to extend my sincere THANKS to Jennisa for my wonderful blog design! It has been a long wait, but well worth it! Jennisa, its perfect!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I can't believe that Monday will be here again tomorrow....okay, well maybe I can. That old saying that "the older you get the faster time flies" is hitting home more and more each day. Its been the usual busy "stuff" this weekend, but Erik and I have gotten to spend most of it together. Starting with Thursday, my friend Amanda and I made our way to Charlene's that afternoon, and I was lucky enough to go again on Friday with Mom. Although it is still September, the site of all of those fall and Christmas decorations did excite me a little. I managed to get my mantle decorated for fall (well kind of) and have begun to think about if any changes will be done to our tree this year. I am NOT ready for Christmas yet, but guess what folks...its a comin'.

On Friday night we watched the debate, which made me even more sure of my presidential candidate decision, and on Saturday we attended Heritage Day on the square. If you didn't get to see all of the princesses and superheroes in the children's parade, you missed out. Erik did find a few friends to walk around with while I was busy in the JA tent with kids, pumpkins, spiders, paint, and glitter, and when I say paint and glitter, I mean paint and glitter!! I am sure that all of those wonderful parents out there are really loving us right now..hehe!!! It was a blast though. I mean, isn't that what kids are supposed to do? Make a mess and have fun while doing it, right? And I can only say this because for now, we don't have any kids! I am sure that when the time comes, I will be the first avoiding the paint and glitter tent!

We did watch the game on Saturday afternoon, but we won't talk about it, because it just frustrates the life out of me. Enough said! No more discussion, but go Vols anyway.

Now Sunday is here and so far so good. It is a beautiful day, so I am going to wrap this post up quickly, so that maybe I can go out and enjoy the weather. We had a wonderful service this morning and a wonderful Sunday school lesson. I thank God everyday for our wonderful church friends and Sunday school class, not to mention our wonderful teacher, Mr. Paul. Today was one of those "God is talking to me" days. I love those!!! hehe! I hope everyone has a great week. Our blog is under a little bit of construction now, so if you've noticed a few changes, our "new blog" should be finished in a few days. So far its looking great and I look forward to the change!
God Bless,
Amy

Seriously Disturbed Joey!

We have been in our house for 2 years now, but every once in a while, Joey will notice something that he's never seen before. For instance, the smoke detectors, the chime box to the door bell, the vase arrangement on top of our bathroom linen closet, and so on. I received a beautiful cross at our Sunday school Christmas party last year and right after I hung it on the wall, he immediately noticed it. He gets seriously upset when he finds something new, even if its been there awhile.
Tonight as Erik and I were getting ready to head out for dinner, we were in the closet gathering a few clothes and Joey began to look up toward the ceiling and whine. We couldn't figure out what he was barking at, but soon realized that it was the closet door latches. He is such a crazy dog! Soon after we moved into our house, which is brick with slurry covering it, we noticed that a golf ball had hit right above our back porch door, resulting in a small chip. It isn't that big of a spot, so we haven't done anything about it yet, needless to say, Joey discovered it last week and was barking mad!
*Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to my playlist to turn the music off..if you choose!

Quick Book Review

For the past week I have been reading a few new books, but I just wanted to comment on one of them that I have really enjoyed reading. Every day it seems like there are not enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks that are set in front of me. If you feel like you are constantly running out of control and can't seem to get everything together, the book "Simplify Your Time..stop running and start living " by Marcia Ramsland is pretty awesome. In this book, Marcia tells us how to take charge of our time instead of letting our time take charge of us. She emphasizes daily habits to help us make our lives more enjoyable. "So little time, so much to do," is a quote that I have stated over and over. Sometimes my to-do list drives me crazy! hehe. I give this book two thumbs up!

Fall Family Mini Sessions with emily peyton cook...

Help support Covington-Tipton County Junior Auxiliary!

Those Born 1930-1979

I recieved this today by email and thought I would share it. It was too funny, but true?!

Those Born 1930-1979
READ TO THE BOTTOM
FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH
BY JAY LENO.
IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they
will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:'

With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Coming Soon...

When I started blogging in June, It took me a while to figure out what I was going to name our blog. I thought and thought some more. Finally coming up with a name and a layout design that I wasn't "crazy" about, I decided to go ahead and get my name on a waiting list for a blog design. I love catchy little titles and cute little backgrounds...yes, I am hard to please! Sorry! Haha. So after 2 months of waiting, my time has come. So, in the next 2 weeks, don't be surprised when you visit our blog and see a new name and new design. It's still us! Aaaahhhh, the wait is over!

Ramblings

It has been a busy week here at the Beasley house! I am so glad that the weekend is finally here. On Monday when I woke up, all I could think about was Thursday; my last work day of the week. Sad isn't it? I feel like I haven't seen my house or husband in ages. With things on my schedule EVERY night from Sunday-Thursday, hopefully I can get some rest before Monday arrives again.

Now its Friday, and so far, so good. Erik and I managed to get the house clean yesterday so that we wouldn't have to spend our weekend with chores. It is such a beautiful day outside; a great day for golf, but the wind is blowing so hard that I doubt I will attempt it. I can barely hit the ball straight on a calm day much less on a windy one, and its a little warm out. Will the fall ever get here? I'm hoping that this weather pattern is just that "Indian Summer" that we have every year, and that when Sept. 22 finally rolls around we will see cooler weather.

I have really been rushing autumn. I love it when the leaves change colors and start to fall, the crisp feeling in the air, and the smell of harvest. I love it when I can walk out and smell the cotton when it is being picked. I have been anxiously awaiting the day that I can go and get my mums and pumpkins for the porch. Erik keeps reminding me that its still too early, but yesterday as we were sweeping the front porch, I decided that I would switch my front door arrangement to a fall one. I am so tired of my spring/summer door piece! Any of you that have driven past our house in the past few months had to have seen it on the porch...not the door. It loves to jump off every 2 or 3 days and is looking rough. My old fall one is in bad shape too. Being in such a "fall mood" yesterday, I convinced Erik to let me run to The Rose Garden 30 minutes before they closed to see if I could find something. Ms. Ellen hooked me up!!! Now all we need is the cooler weather, but I guess we'll have to wait.

"Soap Box Talk"...the RIGHT way or the WRONG?

Today I was asked a question, which at first didn't seem to be an issue. I was asked "if my church held two services, a contemporary and traditional." Responding with, "No, my church holds one service combined with tradional hymns and praise music," this person told me that that he/she "doesn't believe in contemporary worship and believes it to be totally wrong." "I just don't believe in it," was what "he/she" said.

I understand that in todays world our "older generation" my be a little set in their ways. They were raised on traditional hymns and a more conservative order of service. While this is fine, I don't believe that it is the RIGHT way to worship and believe that there is no WRONG way either. Our world is changing by the second, and things in the church have evolved from stand up, sit down, and sing, to let's praise the Lord! I understand that not every church sings praise music, and thats fine. I enjoy traditional hymns and I enjoy praise music. I can feel led by both. If I am truly worshiping and being led by the Holy Spirit, why is this wrong? Different people are led in different ways. Whether singing "Blest Be the Tie That Binds" or "Shout to the Lord," aren't we singing praises to God?

The subject then led to a statement about K-LOVE. I am an avid listener to K-LOVE. I listen to it on a daily basis. It makes me feel good. The "topic starter" stated that "rock and roll Christian music isn't Christian!" Wow! Stunned, I didn't know what to say, but keeping my professionalism, I kept quiet through the whole conversation and thanked God after the fact for helping keep my mouth shut. I was deeply bothered and slightly offended, because I am a Christian. I feel closer to God when listening and singing to this type of music. Even though I am strong in my faith and am quick to get quickly wrapped up in "religious talk," a dental office isn't the place. I realize that in our Christian religion, which I don't consider to be a religion at all...it is a relationship with our Lord, Right?...you've got different denominations, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and so on. Each has a difference, or else we'd all be in one church on Sunday. Everyone has a different order of worship. Some are more charasmatic than others. Either way, I don't think there is a RIGHT way or WRONG way as long as you are truly worshiping the Lord and are filled with the Holy Spirit. No matter what "denomination" we are, as long as we have accepted the Lord into our heart and have been saved, we will live have eternal life with our savior. So, I will keep making my "Joyful Noise to the Lord." Psalm 100

Sometimes you just need a little change....

That's not what I was thinking when I woke up at 8:00 this morning and got ready to go get my hair cut and highlighted, but my best friend always has a way of talking me into ANYTHING. Stephanie is now working at Salon 64 in Cordova and thank goodness for that, because no one is allowed to touch my hair except her. For a while she had quit to start a job for the schools, but now that she's married and living in Cordova, she is working right up the street from her home. Very convenient I must say! She has such a talent for hair, and I'm glad to see that she didn't let it go to waste. I'm way too picky by far, but have learned that in the 10 years she has been cutting my hair, I have NEVER been disappointed. Now I just let her do whatever she wants...with my approval of course. Its always her idea. I just go with the flow.
Upon arriving for my hair appointment this morning, she already had something up her sleeve. She wanted to put "papaya" highlights in my hair along with the usual blonde. Papaya? Okay, let me just say orange instead. Anyone that knows me knows that I am straight-up, plain Jane, conservative, and boring when it comes to my hair. After showing me her co-worker's hair with the "papaya orange" highlights, I thought hmmmm...not too bad. Steph assured me that after my first wash they wouldn't be bright at all. And besides, she said, "Its the fall and a Tennessee fan, needs some orange highlights." After taking this leap of faith, the process began and I waited with anticipation for my end result. Not too bad! Kind of fun if you ask me. They turned out a little bit of an orange-copper color, but the color will fade with a daily shampoo.
After paying my tab, I immediately went to the fire station to show Erik. He thought it was cool and didn't look bad at all. So, going "out on a limb" wasn't too bad. Sometimes you just have to do something different for a change, and that's something that I need to practice more often. I'm glad I did it! HEHE!!