Bucket List

Anyone like contests?

I'm not a super competitive person but when a vacation's involved...

just maybe. (Who couldn't use an all expense paid vacation?! For real.)

This one's over at Todays Mama.

Feel free to share 15 things from your bucket list and enter to win!

The Grand Prizes are:

*The Family vacation of a lifetime to Universal Orlando Resort

*A Las Olas Surf Camp Safari

*Ski lessons and a stay at Park City Mountain Resort

Here are 15 items off my bucket list: (there are many more)

Learn to play guitar...for real this time

Watch Manes graduate University in Haiti

Live on a farm with a white house and red barn

Graduate with a useful degree

Travel Europe

Meet Stevie Wonder

Have lots of babies

Take my husband back to Haiti with me

Cook a Thanksgiving meal for my family

Go on a mission trip to central Africa

Ride horses on the beach

Write a book

Learn to sew

Be completely debt free

Celebrate at least 50 years with my husband

Now, what's one thing on your bucket list??

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

too early for a christmas card?

I made up my parents' Christmas card that they'll be sending out today and I thought I would share. (Maybe this will get y'all motivated to do your own.)

 

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.



Shutterfly has great design options and an easy to use website! I will share my own card soon!

Don't let your little girls....

Dress like tramps. Especially this Halloween. It's not cute.

Fortunately, I will never have to worry about any possible future daughter of mine dressing inappropriately before she's old enough to drive herself to the mall and purchase clothes with her own money. My husband is what some would call "old fashion". He got quite preturbed over a certain sailor girl costume I wore one Halloween. It was a little short, yes. But in my defense, I wore bicycle shorts underneath the skirt! Read this article, it sheds a little light on the matter.



afternoon coffee

Now, I realize morning is actually over, but my house is freezing, I refuse to turn on the heat on the 6th of September, and I am still drinking my morning coffee. Wrapped in a blanket. In front of the computer. I promise to get up and be productive when the temps rise at least 10 degrees.

It is the day after Labor Day. The unofficial end to summer. Time to start a routine and be a better blogger. Cheers!



Calling all prayer warriors--

My heart breaks for orphans. For the children who are denied love and a family because of circumstances, because of the region they live in, or because of disabilities. Please pray for this sweet couple and the precious little boy they are desperately trying to adopt from Russia. The judge recently denied their request to adopt Kirill simply because he has Down Syndrome and "would be better off in an institution than with a family." They are in the process of appealing the decision and they need a lot of PRAYERS. Their story kills me...

Read their blog and story HERE

 

I had to share....

What do I love more than a newborn baby?

Two newborn babies.

Trina of A Country Farmhouse recently gave birth to her twins, weighing in over 7 lbs each! Healthy babies.

I couldn't think of anything more precious to share on this Monday.

neglect

I've been neglecting my blog for a few reasons. The first reason being, our computer went kaput. It's infested with some serious hacker-style virus. Lisbeth Salander is on my trail. (If you haven't read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo books, you have no idea what I'm talking about.) So, needless to say we need to take it in somewhere and have it completely cleaned out.

The second reason is although I'm able to get online at work, I do not want to fill up my employer's computer with all of my pictures. And who really wants to read a blog without ANY pictures? Not me.

The third reason is we have been battling some serious winds and it's screwing everything up. I came home to an empty house Tuesday night, to find we had absolutely no power. Jake and Layla were out of town for the night, and I was supposed to sit there and attempt to read by candlelight or something? I would have been bored to tears. So, I headed to my friend Sara's and stayed with her. It was good to catch up and we slept in the same bed for the first time since the eve of my wedding. That's what happens when you get married, you don't have as many sleepovers:)

Hopefully everything will be up and running soon, I am going to have a lot of photos to share!

not normal

"Jesus' work in a person's life has always begun with a call to leave behind the goals, purposes and distractions of this world and to say yes to a whole new life, a new way of thinking. "Follow me" is what he told the disciples as he recruited them. And they did, abandoning their fishing nets, their tax collector's money bags, their permanent homes, their everyday duties and pleasures. And they never went back. Sure, they still did a little fishing from time to time! But once they made the choice to follow Jesus, their lives were forever changed. They never returned to "normal." -Sally Clarkson

I read this over at Amanda's blog today and it immediately encouraged me. Often times I might say or do something that I just know is right, and I receive a lot of questions and maybe even a little flack for it. Because it's not normal. Following God and earnestly trying to do His will is NOT normal. Let's face it, people, we live in a fallen world. So, the next time someone rolls their eyes at one of my crazy ideas, or accuses me of seeing the world in black and white, I guess I'll just embrace it. As long as I'm not getting lost in the crowd, I must be doing something right.

On my mind this Friday

I am totally obsessed with being debt free. If you know me you're probably rolling your eyes, shaking your head, or thinking this is another one of my emotional-drop-of-the-hat-ideas. (I've been known to make decisions based on emotions--tisk, tisk.)

Lately I've been devouring the blog "Money Saving Mom". She has some fabulously frugal ideas--including The Grocery Shrink, and access to thousands of coupons, etc.

But when I read THIS story, I became passionate about living debt free. Read the story and watch the video for yourself, but I'll give you a quick little synopsis.

Trevor and Michelle Thomas married twelve and a half years ago with $25,000 in debt. They immediately committed to getting out of debt and STAYING that way. In 13 short months they were living completely debt free, and have been EVER since. They started building their home in February of 2000 and paid cash as they went along. It took them about 3 years and they lived in the finished basement for a while till the upstairs was completed, but look at what a beautiful WHITE home they have now...and the best part? It's paid for!

This blog is all about memories and inspiration for me- Their story is definitely inspiring.

Show Us Your Single Boys!

So, I hope he doesn't kill me for this, but I am "submitting" my friend, Roarke, in this weeks' "Show Us Your Life" over at Kelly's Korner!

In my opinion, he's such a great catch!

And ladies....

He's SINGLE.

Roarke Joseph O'Brien (don't be mad that I gave away your middle name!)

Age: 28

Business: Advertising

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Hometown: Gaylord, MI

Activities: Traveling, Snowboarding, Water Sports, Hanging with friends, family, etc.

I have been friends with Roarke for about 10 years or so. We started hanging out when I had a slightly ridiculous crush on one of his best friends. We became fast friends and he eventually was thought of as part of the family. Everyone loves him; My dad even used to say "Roarke, why don't you and Karlee just get married??" To which we would all laugh. It was a ludacris idea--Roarke's basically another big brother!

(Me, visiting Roarke in AZ in 2006. Always a great time!)

He's funny, energetic, driven, motivated, adventurous, genuine, and kind. Not to mention, he has hair most women would kill for. Be it an 80 year old woman or a 2 day old baby, he's a lover. Snatch him up, ladies--After I approve, of course:)

oops

For some reason my Beautiful House Wednesday post that I put up today actually posted for Sunday the 2nd. Which is totally weird, and if I was a computer whiz, I would try and figure it out, but I'm not, nor do I have the time.

Click HERE

Happy 100

It's friday! Woo hoo for one of the longest weeks of my life being OVER!

And if that wasn't exciting enough...

this is my 100th post!

 Not that anyone out there has actually read all one hundred posts, but it's like a little journal, diary, blog of possibilities, inspiration folder for me. And I enjoy it.

Everyone have a fabulous weekend! Be back next week.

emotional.

I find more and more how emotional I am. I can cry at the drop of a hat. It really freaks my husband out. Like, a good commercial can bring tears to my eyes in seconds. I cry when I hear a sad story about a complete stranger; Someone was mistreated, someone was abused, someone didn't feel loved...it all brings a storm of sad emotions. But then there are the happy ones- the story of the couple who tried getting pregnant for years, were almost finished with the adoption process, AND found out they were pregnant. You might as well hand over an entire box of kleenex because I'm going to need it.

But I've also found that I get great ideas, or make some decisions based on emotions. Like the fact that I'm totally obsessed with living on a farm in a big white house. I probably saw a beautiful white farmhouse one day and the idea took off from there. Next thing you know, I'm wanting to raise chickens! I can read a book about the way poultry is raised in the U.S., or how many hormones are injected into the meats we eat, and decide I want to be a vegetarian. It all depends on the day:)

Or I can see this picture and decide I want twin boys..badly.

(and pray I look that good afterward.)

Are other women like this, or is it just me?

If you're in the mood for an incredibly poignant read, go to Kelle Hampton's blog and read her daughter, Nella's birthstory. It is amazing, and I cried for 2 days:)