Happy Birthday Louis!

Happy 4th Birthday to the most wonderful little nephew in the whole wide world!

Oh yeah, Aunt Mandy hooked him up. :)

The birthday boy - who wasn't feeling pictures at the moment.

Blowing out the candles! Love that little face.

Amy and Josie (she turns the big ONE in March!)

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to all my loyal blog readers!!! What are you most thankful for today?

I have so much to be thankful for - a job I enjoy, a house to sleep in, good health, the love of family and friends, a husband that loves me at my worst, a God that loves me and forgives me - and for the two most wonderful people I help "create"....Olivia and Cooper!

Like every other Thanksgiving, we spent the day between our two families. We had a wonderful lunch at Nana and Poppy's house and loaded up on turkey and dressing! Later we headed over to Grandma and Papa Alton's and visited with Louis, Josie, Loren, Amy and Jay. It's been a wonderful, yet exhausting day! I think I could OD on some dressing and gravy right now. Ha! And I am looking forward to putting up the Christmas tree and all the decorations in the next few days too!

My two hearts. :)

Griggs Family - Thanksgiving 2010

Me and my two "thank yous!"

Hello 33!

I'm 33 years old today! :)

I've had a wonderful, great, joyous, happy - you name it - birthday today. The kids have been more excited about my birthday than I've been. Ha ha! O was absolutely beside herself all morning....and since Muffins for Mom was today at school, *everyone* at THA knew it was my big day before I left. :) I love my girl's enthusiasm.

I have so many goals for myself this year, it's not funny. I'm still going strong with my running program and I find myself enjoying running more and more. I am so proud of myself I can't stand it - and I've never been proud of MYSELF about anything before. The feeling of accomplishing something that I thought I would NEVER be able to do is unreal. I WILL run a 5k in 2011. 33 is going to be my year. I just know it! :)

Goodbye 32

Today is my last day as a 32 year old! And you know what? I'm totally cool with that.

I can't think of anything specific on why this past year has been great - unless you count the fact that God has provided me with good health, two happy kids, a man that loves me no matter how crazy I get, family that adores me, and friends that I could never dream of living without. Ok, that's specific enough isn't it?

I'm looking forward to another year - and I pray that God blesses me with all the same that he's given me. Because honestly, that's all I need and all I really want. So, bring it on 33! You don't scare me. After all, I'm still pretty hot! :)

Funny

A Diary Review: Moving to South Carolina, 2010

May 30, 2010:

Just moved to Columbia, South Carolina from Chicago, Illinois. Now, this is a city that knows how to live!Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a park while lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14, 2010:

Really heating up.Got to 100 degrees today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30, 2010:

Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. The yard is a breeze to maintain! No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love living in Columbia.

July 10, 2010:

The temperature hasn't been below 100 degrees all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least it's kind of windy, but getting used to the heat and humidity is taking longer that I expected.

July 15, 2010:

Fell asleep by the pool.(Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.) Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson, though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20, 2010:

Morgan (our cat) sneaked into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Morgan had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $2,000 leather upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and shits. I learned my lesson, though. No more pets in this heat.

July 25, 2010:

The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer! And it's hot as hell! The home air-conditioner is on the fritz, and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order the parts.

July 30, 2010:

Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. The monthly house payment is $1,500 and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

August 4, 2010:

It's 105 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today for a cost of $900. The temperature gets down to 78 degrees, but this freaking humidity makes the house feel like it's about 95 degrees. I hate this stupid city.

August 8, 2010:

If another wise ass person cracks, "Hot enough for ya today?" I'm going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!

August 9, 2010:

Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts and sat on the black leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my ass was on fire. I lost two layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

August 10, 2010:

The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do anything for two damn months, and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this damn desert? Water rationing will be next, so I might as well watch $1,700 worth of cactus just dry up and blow into the damn pool. Not even cactus can live in this damn heat.

August 14, 2010:

Welcome to HELL!!! The temperature got to 105 degrees today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for ya today?" My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail. Freaking South. What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?

LOL - Pretty funny because most of it is true right? :)

Already....

It's already the first week of November. And that week is almost over! Wow. Can this year go by ANY faster? I'm happy to report that we all survived Halloween - still have a *ton* of candy, but I plan on throwing some away little by little over the weekend. My goal is to be candy free by the end of the week. Wish me luck. :)

Nothing new to really report - I have started this "running" program with my friend Pam. We're 3 weeks in and it is STILL tough. Of course, neither of us are runners so I think we're doing awesome. Our goal is to run a 5k by April or May next year. I'm not quite at the place where I can say I enjoy running, but I definitely feel better after I do it. Basically we're building up the length of time we run - this program is designed to "teach" you to run if you've never ran before. Of course, my ultimate goal is to lose weight. :) I feel pretty awesome about myself for keeping this up though.

Oh, and I turn the big 33 in about 2 weeks. Yikes!