Happy 51st Birthday Dad!

Self Portrait Tuesday

Fourth Grade.

Beth's getting married!

Beth Brown just called me this morning with great news! She is getting married June 10! I'm soo happy for her.
This is a pic of us on my 21st birthday. Memoreeeez, memoreeeez!

100 Things About Me!

1. I am the oldest of 3 children.
2. Most of the time I have more compassion for animals than I do humans.
3. I am happily married to a wonderful man!
4. Alot of the time I don't feel that I deserve him or the comfortable life that I have.
5. My dog and cat are my babies.
6. I really want to have children.
7. I went to college for 5 years but never graduated.
8. I still haven't forgiven people who hurt me when I was growing up.
9. I love foreign cars.
10. I was born in 1977.
11. I prayed to God every night when I was a child that he would make me black.
12. I wish that I lived in a more multi-cultural area.
13. I saw Britney Spears in concert and loved it!
14. I can be very intolerant.
15. I wish that everyone always said please and thankyou.
16. The only drug I ever tried was marijuana.
17. Sometimes I kind of liked it.
18. Sometimes I didn't like it.
19. I used to smoke (cigarettes) for 5 years.
20. I quit 6 years ago.
21. I love to drink water.
22. I love to wear black.
23. I wear size 10 shoes.
24. I think that Kelsey Grammar and John Malkovich are hot.
25. I have been told that I look like Daisy Fuentes and Uncle Jesse's wife Becky on Full House.
26. I wish that I was more organized.
27. I LOVE my job!
28. I wish that I would finish everything that I start.
29. My mom and dad are really great parents.
30. I don't like being called names, even if someone is joking around.
31. No matter what my size is, I will ALWAYS be a fat girl inside.
32. I have gained 100lbs since I met my husband.
33. I feel like I tricked him.
34. I don't really like poetry.
35. I have never cheated on anyone.
36. I used to be REALLY shy.
37. I'm definitely not anymore!
38. I tend to tell people too much about myself.
39. I always said that if I had a boyfriend that hit me I would leave him.
40. I WAS hit once and I DID stay.
41. My neck gets splotchy when I drink alcohol.
42. Food is my drug of choice.
43. I love mascara.
44. I love scars.
45. I love freckles.
46. I used to work with the developmentally disabled.
47. I miss them soo much.
48. I had a magical childhood.
49. My parents gave us boundaries and I'm thankful for that.
50. I believe in God.
51. I don't believe that everyone who ISN'T a Christian is going to go to hell.
52. My husband teaches me alot.
53. My family will often say WWJD? (What Would John Do?)
54. He really is THAT good of a human being.
55. I love Ovaltine!
56. I'm on a cereal kick right now.
57. I used to play Rugby in college.
58. I have gaps in my top front teeth and I love them!
59. I was a music minor in college and I wanted to be a church organist.
60. I have played the piano since I was 6.
61. I wish that I was a contortionist.
62. I'm soo addicted to food that whenever I get hungry anymore I get shaky and nauseous.
63. Autumn makes me happy. :)
64. Even though my sister is 8 years younger than me, I REALLY admire her.
65. I am very proud of my brother who is a former Ford and Abercrombie & Fitch model.
66. I am easily disappointed because my expectations are usually too high.
67. I love singing/harmonizing with friends (Melissa!) We used to tear UP some Indigo Girls!
68. I always have to be wearing perfume.
69. I can't stand being barefoot.
70. I often think too highly and lowly of myself.
71. I love celebrity gossip.
72. I don't trust people who don't like animals.
73. I despise being hot. (as in temperature!) lol
74. I don't think that mean people are funny.
75. I hope to look back on my life someday and feel that I was a good person.
76. I love to sleep.
77. I have had some VERY psychic moments in my life.
78. I believe in ghosts and also believe that I have been visited by them.
79. I'm thankful to my family for supporting me EACH and EVERY TIME I say that I'm starting another diet.
80. My weight is obviously one of my biggest struggles in life.
81. In college I skipped a week of school to go to Florida. I had $5 in my pocket and came back with $$ left over!
82. I've only been fired from 1 job in my life.
83. That's actually pretty impressive since I've had OVER 20 jobs. :)
84. I love being tan.
85. I love my naturally curly hair.
86. I love Daron Malakian from System of a Down and I think that my husband kind of looks like him.
87. I don't like it when people are only nice to me because of who I'm married to.
88. I believe that manners are SOO important!
89. I don't like it when little kids use the words hate and shutup.
90. I used to be REALLY into piercings. I have had 20 in my lifetime.
91. I don't have any tattoos.
92. I am a member of PETA, The Humane Society, ASPCA, and some others I think. I can't keep track.
93. My feelings get hurt very easily.
94. Kindness is truly contagious.
95. Speaking of contagious, I once had scabies.
96. I have had my wisdom teeth and tonsils removed as an adult.
97. I think that it's healthy to cry once a week.
98. I used to run 3 miles a day.
99. I am a people person.
100. My life is soo much better than I ever thought that it would be.

Good times, Great friends!

One of the things from this past year that I am MOST THANKFUL for is being reunited with my old best friend Melissa. We have quite an extensive past of MANY A good times and it is soo wonderful having her back in my life. Mitna B....I LUV YA!

Self Portrait Tuesday

Third Grade.

Because I said...

Just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you should buy it.







Just because you CAN wear it, doesn't mean you should.













Just because you think it, doesn't mean you should say it.









Just because it's legal, doesn't make it right.










Just because it's illegal, doesn't make it bad.














Just because you don't understand/agree, doesn't give you the right to hate.

Self Portrait Tuesday (Saturday Night)

Self Portrait Tuesday's February challenge is "all of me" embrace your mistakes, love the ugly bits. While meandering through the different blogs I was very impressed by all of the people who were brave enough to put very real, unflattering and untouched photos of themselves out there. Why does it take the birth of a child, gaining weight, disfiguring accidents, all of these and other things that change our bodies for the worse, for us to realize that "Wow, I really DID have it going on! & Why couldn't I love and be appreciative of what I HAD?" We always think that we are too fat, too ugly, too this and too that. Of course there will always be someone who is "better off" however, there is also always someone out there who is "worse off." I know that there is ALWAYS room for self improvement but why can't we at least be happy with what the good Lord has given us? Somtimes when I am feeling "unlucky" or "ungrateful" with what I have, I think back to this story. It never fails to humble me. I took this picture of myself last night. No makeup or touchups, although I did change it to black & white.

Two scents that I LOVE!

You all know how that little dirty hippie in me is always trying to get out!

Please Stop It!!!!

Okay, does anyone besides Jeanie and myself get really annoyed with how Rachel Ray talks? EVOO, Delish, Fantabulous, Yummo, AGH! It's enough to drive me crazy! Now, I do think that she has some really great recipes, but her vocabulary drives me nuts!

I think that my last name messes these answers up.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (your first pet and street name)
TC KingArthur

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on mother's side first name, favorite candy)
Cynthia Dots

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
C Di M (I just can't NOT put the space between the i & M!!!!)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal, fave alcoholic beverage)
Owl 7&7

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, city where you were born)
Marie Decatur

6. YOUR OPPOSITE SEX NAME: (name of opposite sex parent, cell phone Company you use)
Michael Cingular

7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name)
Di Mwanrus

Gift from SP.

A sweet Valentine's Day card from my Secret Pal! :)

It doesn't get much cuter than this!

Happy 1st Birthday Raj!
This past weekend John and I went to Chicago to celebrate Raj's Golden Birthday. His birthday was (obviously) really the 1st of the month but it worked out best for his parents to have the party a little later. He is SOO freakin' cute! When Jeanie was pregnant with him I just KNEW that he would be adorable because she is Korean and Neeraj is Indian. What an awesome mix!
I'm sad because the next time I see this little guy all of his hair will be cut off. It is an Indian tradition to grow the hair out until the first birthday and then cut it. For Halloween I really wanted them to dress him up as a little sumo wrestler. They were thinking about dressing him like Elvis but ultimately decided that he should be a little devil. What a cutie!

Owie!

Well folks, my back officially gave out last night.
I went to the the worlds nicest chiropractor Dr. Windie McKay, and she told me that I have a bulging disc and a tilted sacrum.
I'm just falling apart. I can't wait to just feel normal again.

Self Portrait Tuesday and Happy Valentines Day!

2nd Grade.

Oh, goodie goodie!

I have just participated in my first swap and it was really cool!
I came home from a REALLY rough day...(I'll explain in a sec)...and this was in the mail! Lilie, you totally made my day! Thank you soo very much! You gave me some really cool stuff! I can't wait to use it all!
The drama went like this. I arrived at work at 11am this morning (yeah I know, it's pretty rough) and I called my husband to ask him a "medical" question. So, I ask him "hypothetically speaking" what his first thought would be if a person had only one leg that was swollen. His response, a blood clot. Oh HELL no! I tell him that it is me and he tells me that I need to leave work right then and there to come see him. So, me being the dramatic person that I am starts to freak out. I'm a big ol' ball bag thinking that at any moment this "supposed" blood clot is going to travel upward or whatever they do and I'm gonna die! I end up needing to have an ultrasound done. My DARLING WONDERFUL CARING husband cancels all of his appointments for the rest of the afternoon to be by my side. Turns out that I have "beautiful" veins (according to the ultrasound tech) and there is definitely no blood clot. We have no idea why this is happening. The best way to describe the feeling in my leg is when you go for a walk and your hands get really swollen and it's hard to move your fingers....well that is how my right leg feels. I went back to work after all of this insanity and let the girls in on the terrific news that I'm hallelujah gonna live and Sarah (my boss/friend) says that maybe the swelling is from all of the sodium in the bad bad bad food that we have been eating this past week. It still doesn't make sense to me why one leg would be more swollen than the other. I think that I've had McDonalds everyday for lunch for the past week. Mmmm....how I LOVE that #1 McValue meal! So, as of right now that is what I'm saying it is from. I mean come on Cerella.....are you not fat enough already?! Sheesh! Get a grip!

Self Portrait Tuesday

Last Tuesday I posted my Kindgergarten picture. Then, I got to thinking that maybe I will post a school picture of myself every week in chronilogical order. I'm just gonna warn everyone now that it will start to get a little scary. I think that EVERYONE has those "awkward years" pics. You know...when your nose is too big for your face and the bad complexions (to put it nicely!)
1st Grade.

Check out my package! :)

Yeah! I received another package from my Secret Pal!!! She sent me these awesome stitch markers...I can't wait to use them!
Thanks soo much!

Cuteness!

I went shopping with my mom yesterday (3 1/2 hours at TJ MAXX Whoa Dang!) and found these adorable handmade/painted creamers! I think that I am going to display them in the guest bedroom when it is finished. Folks, the floors of our house are looking mighty fine. I can't wait to show some before and after pics.

Corner of my home

This is one of my favorite corners of our house. Notice all of the cat hair on the chair. Yuck!

Happy Groundhog Day & Happy Birthday Russell/Ferdeee!

Well, the groundhog saw his shadow this morning so that means there will be another 6 weeks of winter. Today was also Russell and Ferdeee's (yes, it is spelled with 3e's)1st birthday! My husband & I have Russell and my sister and her boyfriend have Ferdeee. We got them at a yard sale last May. They are our pride and joy. Obviously none of us have children. lol They weren't digging the party hats too much but loved the Greenies that we gave them. Russell is giving Ferdee some sweet, sweet loving in the first pic. They are patiently waiting for for the treats in the second one.

What I've been doing

We have been getting our hardwood floors ready to be refinished. So, we rip up the carpet and end up finding LINOLEUM!!! WTF! Are you kidding me!!!??? What a pain in the a#*!!! The floor refinishers are coming this Thursday and we have to have it done by then. We'll see....! I have also been redoing the guest bedroom. Once it is finished I'll post some pics.
I have a semi-funny story for ya. When the floor refinisher guy was over at the house giving us an estimate I was in the kitchen trying to plan what we would have for dinner. I'm looking thru the freezer and we had some lobster that needed to be cooked. So, I asked my husband (in front of the floor guy) if he would like lobster for dinner. He said sure. Now, fast forward to after the guy has left. My husband says "Boy Cerella, you sure are a terrible negotiator! Here we are trying to get a good price on the floor and you are announcing that we're having lobster for dinner! What would have made it better is if I would have said 'Only if we could have some of that Baluga Caviar to go with it. Oh, and by the way....did the Mercedes dealership call about my car being ready?' Jeez Cerella!" Yeah, well....anyway.
Another time my husband and I were traveling up to Canada and had to stop at a hotel on the way there. As we were unloading the car, I yelled over to him "Hey John, do you want to bring the laptop in?" He looks at me and says "Well, I DO NOW!" :) Oops!
Below, the 1st & 3rd pic are what we found after ripping up the carpet. The 2nd & 4th pic are what was underneath the linoleum. Nice.