Thankful Thursday 7.5

It's link up time!

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This week I am thankful for:

♥ busy weeks. so I can appreciate the less busy weeks more.

♥ being able to afford the dental care that I need. My insurance didn't cover much of the work I needed yesterday, and while I had to walk out putting $1500 on a care credit card, I WILL get that paid off in the next 6 months, while it's interest free.

♥ hang out time with DaisyJo this week. We saw each other not once, but twice this week! Um, yes please! need more hang out time. I love this girl! :)

♥ my team settling on what to do to raise money at the actual Relay for Life event. We are going to have a photobooth. :)

♥ that I got to attend another WWE event with my Dad. I grew up Daddy's Girl and Daddy watched wrestling, so I did too. I will never forget a story my mom told me once. When I was two years old, she left my father. She had no where to stay, so she went to a half way house. Well, come Saturday morning, as people sat around a TV hanging out, my toddler self walked up to the TV, and changed the channels until wrestling came on.  I knew even then that Daddy and I watched wrestling together. In 2008 I attended Wrestlemania in Orlando with my Dad. THAT WAS AMAZING! I am not into wrestling anymore, as the stars I once idolized don't really wrestle much anymore. BUT, attending the event was still cool, and I know my Dad enjoyed it.

♥ Bake sale was a success at work. We raised a little over $50 for the Relay and SPCA.

♥ My husband. I don't say that often enough. I hope HE knows how thankful I am. I am currently munching on some Godiva Dark Chocolate that he surprised me with, because he knew I needed it :D

♥ that I can publish a blog post with just words and not feel shame or not good enough because I didn't dress it up with a ton of photo's. Don't get me wrong, photo's are good, I know you all like photo's, BUT, I am happy that sometimes I can just type my little heart out and that be it. Just written words. Like today's post! Well, besides my link up pic of course. Haha.

I am also linking up with some other thankful thursday friends this week. :)

Fontenot Four 

Kate Says Stuff

InspiredRD

What about you ladies and gents? What are YOU thankful for?

The Dentist Office

Something about going to the dentist is so scary. Is anyone else with me on this?

Here I am, almost 30 years old, and I still fear annual dental trips, let alone, going in for anything other than "routine".

Today was one of those extra scary days. The other than "routine" stuff.

My dentist has been telling me recently okay, more like a few years that I needed to get my two crowns replaced.

You see, I still had two crowns from my pediatric dentist A LONG time ago. 15+ years. Apparently they were never meant to last this long. Hey, how would I have known? I truly didn't have the slightest clue that they were temporary. Oops.

Anyways, my husband got some dental work taken care of first, and now that his care credit is all paid off, it's my turn. Yipee! SO, today, I put $1500 worth of dental work on a care credit card, that I have 6 months to pay off interest free. You can bet your bottom dollar I am going to do everything in my power to get that paid off in 6 months.

BUT, back to my original question. Does anyone else find the dentist office to be one of the more scarier appointments to go to? All the noises... drills, and the sort. Even when you are numbed up, it doesn't matter because you can still open your eyes and peak at the brightness above you, and the worst part? You can still hear....

Today, my dentist told me "be sure to close your eyes, I am drilling through metal here" Oh, okay. so reassuring. I am glad YOU have protective glasses on.

All the while, I am wondering, what would happen if I accidentally moved my tongue the wrong way? Would it get sliced? Oh, and you can't forget the awkward squirter thing that is constantly squirting fresh water in your mouth for the suction thing to suck back out. Yeah, there were a few times today that it wasn't there for me when I needed it, and let's just say, when I swallowed I wanted to gag. Oh, and leaving me tilted way far back for extended times? NOT GOOD. I get blood rushes to my head too easy. Hah!

I really had no clue going into this appointment what it would involve. I should have asked. They gave me numbing shots and I had to be at work 30 minutes after the appointment. No bueno. I also did not know that again, this was a temporary replacement, as I had to wait for the permanent ones to come in. SO, I go back in 3 weeks. AH! Lucky me.

Oh, and all the while, I felt like this:

                                                                        Source: weheartit.com via Momo on Pinterest

Here's to hoping this numbness goes away... quick! Join me tomorrow for Thankful Thursday.

One of those weeks...

Okay friends, this week is going to be one of those weeks. You know, we all have them. The weeks where we have so much that needs to get done, that we don't think it will get done? But, somehow it always does? Yes, those weeks.

                                                                                      Source: Uploaded by user via Tash on Pinterest

And it couldn't have came at a worse time, because I am PMSing (sorry for the TMI) so I am trying real hard not to bite anyone's head off. :(

Here is what I need to get done this week:

Sunday (yesterday) - I worked a little over 13 hours, AND hosted a bake sale while at work to benefit the Relay for Life and SPCA. If you'd like to donate to either cause click HERE for more info and the direct links.

Monday (today) - I had to get blood work for thyroid counts as I have a follow up appointment with the endocrinologist next week, and a dental appointment. It is time for my cleaning and to make an appointment to get some crowns replaced that I've needed to do for a few years now. Yes, finally doing that. Then, it's off to work for another busy night of overbookings, I am sure.

Tuesday -  I have a meeting at work that will require me to go in earlier than usual, and then, of course, work.

Wednesday - I head BACK to the dentist to get two crowns replaced. These are crowns that I've had for YEARS, pediatric type years. Hey, no one ever told me they weren't the permanent type, haha. Then it's off to work after the dentist.

Thursday - I finally get to get my roots taken care of as I am seeing someone new for color. Afterwards, it's off to work

Friday - The hubs and I need to head to Valrico to grab a trailer full of donations for a charity yardsale. Then I have a massage in the afternoon to help my back. I also need to come home and actually set up for the yardsale. My husband and I may go on a possible double date with friends Friday night.

Saturday - I hope to either have a yardsale or car wash to benefit the Relay for Life and SPCA.

and, back to work again on Sunday.

Okay, so some of the above aren't necessarily taxing things, who would be complaining about being able to get their hair done? or better yet a massage? I realize I am blessed. It just happens to be a busy week, with lots of appointments. And I stress easily on those weeks. I like to have free time, to take care of the other random going ons of the day.

Some of the above is tentative. I am not 100% about the supervisor meeting at work tomorrow. I'd like to host an event for the Relay/SPCA this Saturday, however, I don't know if it will be a car wash, or yard sale. Or, even if mother nature will play along with my plans.

Along with all of the above, I have a ton of stuff going on in my head that I need to get done. STILL in the process of unpacking the house, hence no really new house updates. I need to work with my cousin on getting thank you cards out to all the Kidney for Kristy donors, I also need to work on emailing and snail mailing solicitations for donations for the Relay & SPCA. The event is April 20th and 21st which is coming real quick. I really need to get to Spring Hill to visit my sweet friend Stephy and my adorable nephew Aidan as it's been almost a year since I've seen them. That is just UNACCEPTABLE. I have to make more 'me' time. Time to enjoy with loved ones. I've just been busy. Work has been busy. What used to be a 4 day work week for me, became a 5 day work week this year, and I am really missing that extra day off. I realize now just how much I was able to get done when I had 3 days off a week.

There are so many things I am craving right now. So many things I want to do. I just need to find the time....

this kind of leads me into my next part. I need some guest bloggers. Would you be interested? I need 6 people willing to guest blog on the topic of their choice. It will be a week of randomness. A week of guestbloggers, and a week that I will have just a bit more of me time to focus on some things I need to get done. :) if you are interested in guest blogging the week of April 1st - April 7th shoot me an email at browneyedbellblog at yahoo dot com.

Have a great week friends, I hope it's a little less busy than mine.... Unless you thrive on busy weeks, of course. :)

Oh, don't forget, you can enter the PW cookbook giveaway until through Saturday night. Winner will be announced on Sunday.

                                                                                     Source: downtownn.tumblr.com via Kimi on Pinterest

Sunday Reminders

Source: bubbyandbean.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: joannezsharpe.blogspot.ca via Audrey on Pinterest

Source: rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com via Wana on Pinterest

Source: chroniclebooks.com via Jessica on Pinterest

As you may, or may not know, I work in political research, so as you can imagine, with it being a presidential election year, we are busy.  Today is going to be one of those days. a long day. And I need all of the little reminders I can get. :) BUT, ultimately, as the last one says, Everything is going to be okay.

Don't forget, you still have time to enter The Pioneer Woman Cookbook Giveaway. That cookbook could make any day better. :)

Friday's Letters

Dear Car, I am so tired of replacing tires on you. Seriously, stop finding nails to run over. I've bought more tires than most of my friends, combined. And yes, little Mazda 3, as much as I adore you, I do not love the fact that you require high profile tires. They are not cost friendly. Dear Aunt D, thank YOU for your phone call on Sunday that provided such a blessing to me. Because of you, I should be able to bring my sweet puppies home much sooner than I thought. Dear Ree, I can't believe you mentioned lil' ol' ME on YOUR blog. YOU ARE THE PIONEER WOMAN! You are amazing! And you totally made my day on Wednesday when you mentioned my blog. I admit, I was giddy and a bit star struck. Dear Hubby, I can't even find the words to tell you how much I appreciate you and how hard you work for our little family. Yes, we both work, but your job requires so much more labor than mine, and then, you come home and help me in any little way you can. Unloading the dish washer, putting away laundry, making the bed, these things you do, no matter how little, make a world of difference in my day. THANK YOU. Dear DaisyJo, I miss your pretty face. Can we hang out soon? Dear Sister, We are literally always learning new ways that we are alike. We were raised in two separate households, never knowing each other until our adult life, yet have so much in common. Our genes run deep. You never cease to amaze me. I love you. Dear Florida Spring Breakers, Thanks to everyone flying in this month, my friend was not able to fly in for my birthday weekend! She was set to fly stand by, but all flights were overbooked. Dear WWE, I am going to a live event tonight. YUP! I grew up watching wrestling with my Daddy, and we are having a father/daughter moment tomorrow. Dear Everyone Who Entered My PW Cookbook Giveaway, GOOD LUCK :) I wish I had more to giveaway. You have until the end of March to enter. Dear Ellen, a bunch of bloggers and friends of Ashley's tweeted you ALL day long on Wednesday trying to get your attention on The Shine Project. I hope it worked. What she is doing is amazing. Dear Weekend, Thank you for being you. I already know you will go entirely too fast, and before I know it, it will be Sunday and I will be at work again.

XOXO,

Heather

Thankful Thursday V7.4

Spring is here, friends!

                                                                                 Source: boston.com via Janet on Pinterest

And so are my allergies. :(

But, I still have tons to be thankful for.

This week I am thankful for:

♥ SPRING! Despite all the pollen, it's such a beautiful time of the year with baby animals everywhere. :)

                                                                 Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Tammy on Pinterest

♥ money raised from my birthday challenge. I raised close to $300 between last Wed-Sunday as I asked for donations in lieu of birthday gifts. I woke up to $315 raised for the SPCA on Thursday. That was a God moment for me as my birthday is 3/15

♥  a glorious 4 day weekend. I can't even express how wonderful it was to spend so much time with various loved ones over my birthday weekend.

♥ My rekindled friendship with my best friend from high school. We were inseparable in high school, and then life happened, and due to circumstances beyond my control, we were no longer able to 'hang out' anymore. Let's just say she ended up married to a very controlling man, whom she is no longer with.  Though we didn't hang out for close to 5 years, I made it very clear that I'd always be there for her. We've been in touch again for a little over a year now, and it's like we never lost touch. She was the last to leave my house on Sunday, we even watched our high school favorite "Romy & Michelle's high school reunion" after everyone else left, haha. We didn't make them suffer through our humor :)

♥ receiving my SHINE gear. I can't express how much I just adore Ashley and her blog/project. If you've never checked her out before, please do so today. She is changing the world for at risk students, what an amazing thing! I ordered a shine necklace, shirt, pass it forward cards, and wrist band. Happy to get my shine on. Not to mention the shirt has my favorite quote by Ghandi. YES!

♥  My Pancake & Pajama birthday party with my best girlfriends! I wont go into detail here since I just blogged about it a few days ago. I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I have been blessed with.

                                                                            Source: indulgy.com via Samantha on Pinterest

♥ A day with my furbabies. I am missing my doggies SO much as they haven't moved to the new house yet. Even though we are on 2 acres, it's NOT fenced, and it's going to cost a pretty penny to fence it. I don't think it's fair to bring the pups until it's fenced in, as they are accustomed to a fenced in year, and coming and going as they please. They are also used to having someone home with them most of the day, as my Dad usually is home. Thankfully, our new house is less than 5 minutes from my Dad's, so, I can drive by daily and get puppy time. Since I was off work on Sunday and being productive around the house, I brought Chico and Bullseye to hang out. They watched me hop in the pool, but would not join me.

♥ Sunday nights that have been spent watching The Walking Dead with my hubby. We need a new show until the fall.

♥ Lay's Kettle Cooked Jalepeno Chips. I have no control when it comes to them. The best part? Yesterday I texted my sister this same pic and a "have you had these? I can't control myself with them" to which she replied "YES! And I just screeched so loud I woke the dog! OMG! I love them! I have made some meals with them too!" We are constantly finding more things we have in common, and it's such a cool thing. We are two years apart, and have only met in person 4 times, yet we are so close, and so alike. It's in the genes :)

♥  The new Pioneer Woman Cookbook. Ree is just amazing! If you've never checked her out, I definitely recommend. I laugh daily on her site. She also has a (true story) romance novel out and I adore it! Read it on my honeymoon. I am giving away her latest cookbook, click the GIVEAWAY button to the right. Giveaway open til March 31st. Good luck!

What about you all? What are YOU thankful for this week? Link up below and share!

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Pioneer Woman Cookbook Giveaway

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

I haven't done any giveaways this month, and I figure with the release of The Pioneer Woman's latest cookbook, Food from my Frontier, there is no time like the present.

Since I am a huge fan of food in general (haha) and especially all of Ree's recipes, I am giving away one copy of her new cookbook that was just released last week.

 .photo credit.

If you didn't snatch up Ree's last cookbook (which I also did a giveaway of last year) Recipes from an accidental country girl, you are missing out. Not only are the recipes amazingly delicious, but there is literally step by step directions with beautiful step by step photo's to ensure you don't go wrong. They are almost foul proof. I say almost, because I always find a way to mess something up, LOL.

You can enter the giveaway now through the end of the month with the winner being announced on April 1st.

OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY!

There are multiple ways to enter (the more the better, eh?).

mandatory entry: must be a follower of my blog

Additional Entries?

 Leave a comment with your favorite Pioneer Woman recipe

Blog or Tweet about this giveaway. If you tweet use the following: @HeatherLC02 is giving away a copy of The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. Check it out! http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/2012/03/pioneer-woman-cookbook-giveaway.html

Be a follower of my pet blog, 4Paws4Love

Follow me on twitter, @HeatherLC02

Like Brown Eyed Bell, 4Paws4Love, & / or Kidney for Kristy on facebook

That's 9 ways to enter!! Good Luck

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when you enter, please use a name because if I have 10 anonymous entries, and 1 wins, it will be hard to narrow the winner down if no email was provided.

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GIVEAWAY ENDS SATURDAY MARCH 31st @ MIDNIGHT!

Pancakes & Pajama Party

I was one busy birthday girl this past weekend.

As you may know, I celebrated a birthday last Thursday. And each day since, I celebrated with different loved ones in my life.

Thursday (my actual birthday) was spent with my hubby, Dad, uncle, and good friend David. *I* cooked up dinner (yes, the birthday girl cooked!) using a new recipe a friend of mine had found on pinterest. I quirked them a bit and also made some chicken spinach lasagna rolls. They were a hit with everyone except my hubby, but I knew that would be the case, he doesn't do spinach so we had back up food for him. We spent the evening watching the movie Courageous, which is a great family movie with an amazing message for Dads.

Friday my husband had a birthday surprise for me and we hopped on I4 Eastbound. I had no clue where we were going, until we got there. Our plans actually changed up a bit. His original plan was to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in City Walk as we celebrated an anniversary there one time and enjoyed it, BUT, once we got to city walk, we decided on Bubba Gumps Shrimp Company (yes, from Forrest Gump) as neither of us had ate there before. It was a yummy choice. Delicious. My favorite was their Hush Pups which were stuff with fried sea food goodness. Our plan afterwards was to see the movie The Vow however timing just was not working out, so we headed home and enjoyed our new flat screen that my hubby had surprised me with instead. He actually surprised me with the new TV a few weekends ago as he got an amazing deal on it. (cash too, we avoid credit whenever possible, and a new TV definitely would not be something to frivolously spend on credit if we didn't have the cash in the first place.) It was the perfect gift because I had been wondering how my birthday slumber party with the girls would work out if we were all squeezed around our former TV.

 We ended up parking in the Jurassic Park area which was Ironic because it's my husbands favorite movie :)

Saturday my husband and I went out to local furniture thrift stores (those are the best kind, yes?) on the hunt for a coffee table. We quickly realized that most shops didn't open until 10am so we decided to kill a bit of time. We ran into Goodwill where I found the most amazing pair of jeans that fit just perfect as well as an awesome bulletin board for our office/guest room. Afterwards, we still had 30 minutes to kill so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local hole in the wall hispanic restaurant. Nothing better than some scrambled eggs with chorizo mixed me. Mhm! We ended up finding a coffee table right across the street from where we ate (pics to come soon, with a general house update).

Saturday night was the night I celebrated with my best friends by hosting a Pancakes & Pajama slumber party. I really did not want to go out this year for my birthday, I was just craving time IN, with my best girlfriends while enjoying crafts, chick flicks, and wine. One of my best friends was planning to fly in from VA, but the flight didn't work out, so we were all a bit sad, and missing her. Another friend drove up from about 2 hours south, and she was first to arrive. When she got here, her, my hubby and I grabbed a quick bite for a late lunch and headed home. My husband then left, he spent the night at his parents (right down the street) as to avoid too much estrogen, LOL. Once a few more friends arrived, we decided to venture out to Hobby Lobby and see what we could find to craft for a reasonable price. We decided to decorate chip letters. Two friends would be coming later after they got off work, so we had to wing it with their supplies and just grab what we thought would fit their personality. When we got home, we whipped up breakfast for dinner, pancakes (regular, chocolate chip AND blueberry), turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, and biscuits, with sausage gravy. Talk about amazing. I love breakfast for dinner. And the best part was waking up and already having breakfast made from the leftovers. It's funny because we didn't watch one chick flick, we ended up watching scary movies, Paranormal 1 & 2. This is a bit ironic because back in February, on my friend S's birthday, we watched chick flicks, and she HATES chick flicks, she just sat through it to enjoy some time with us girls. And on my birthday, we watched scary movies. Now, I don't hate scary movies, but, my movie of choice is always romance or rom-com. Chick Flick girl all the way. And S's favorite type of movie is scary so it's like on HER birthday we watched MY favorite movies, and on MY birthday we watched HER favorite type of movies. Ah, true friendship. <3

First, let me show you what my Pajama & Pancake Party looked like in my head :)

                                                                           Source: hisugarplum.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

And below is what it actually turned out to be. I got way too busy to do any awesome decor or anything, though I did have some of the supplies needed. Sigh.

 we had so much fun making chip letter art, mine is the 2nd "H" shown, vintage floral.

On Sunday I enjoyed one last day off work ( I took Thursday AND Sunday off so I could have a 4 day weekend) and the day was spent at home, with my puppies, organizing and unpacking more boxes from the garage. I was exhausted! The night ended perfectly by watching the Walking Dead season finale with my husband. Now we have to wait until fall for it to come back! EEK!

That was my weekend, HOW WAS YOURS? :)

Linking up with A Pause On The Path for What's on your heart Tuesday?

Engagement Photo's :)

WARNING: TONS of photo's.

I was in the midst of typing up my original plan for today's post (Pancake & Pajama Party) when I got distracted by a post involving a link up of engagement photo's, and if you know me, you know I am photo obsessed! So, instead of today's original plans, I am linking up with Just A Touch of Gray 's The Ultimate Wedding Week link up. Today's subject is engagement photo's (and the link up is open for 12 days, so you should link up too!) :)

My husband and I had two separate engagement sessions, one was a picnic type theme and the other was in the Downtown district where we first met. We were so blessed to have a good friend, Brielle, be our photographer.  I told her that I'd love to do a photoshoot that involved hay stacks, and she got to work with finding some. We ended up doing our 1st photoshoot at a friend of hers house. This took place over 2 days as the sun went down too quick on the 1st day, so we came back the very next morning, hence my outfits are just a bit different. Here's a few quite a few of our favorite photo's from the 1st shoot. :)

A donkey came up to join our shoot. Perfect, because I LOVE donkeys!

A cat also wanted to say hello :)

And pose for a shot or two.

The story of a yellow butterfly. They remind me of my Mommy.

Ryan is very musical, so we had to play that in.

We are the Bell's :)

Um, yes, we went there. BOILED PEANUTS!

And here's a few (I will try to stick to a few) from our 2nd photo shoot. All of these were taken downtown, near the restaurant we met at. I had planned to wear a cute dress, until it decided to get into the 30's that weekend. It was a very "BRRRR" day in Florida!

I hope you've enjoyed my engagement photo's and maybe got an idea or two for a future photo shoot.