Ann Voskamp & Me

Today, I went to an event and met Blogger and Author, Ann Voskamp.  

I found her to be a very sweet and genuine person and greatly

encouraged me in my walk with Jesus Christ. 

One analogy that Ann spoke about was how a guitar makes music but the inside of

the guitar is in darkness.  Sometimes I feel like I am walking in darkness but yet

Christ is there making music out of my life, but yet I may not see it or

feel like its a very nice tune at that time.

I am going to have to get my own copy of Ann's book,

One Thousand Gifts.

Her blog is

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

So, have you ever met another blogger that you really just cliqued with

find their personal story inspiring?

 Happy Spring! Mandy Lyn

Spring has Sprung!



      Spring has Sprung here in the Lowcountry Of South Carolina!  Flowers are starting to bud and we have A LOT of pollen already, decorating our cars with a slight yellow glow.  So far, my allergies haven't been too bad.  Just a headache now and again and a stuffy nose, just hoping I don't get the runny/stuffed-up nose and itchy eyes.  Other that, I love spring.  Everything is new again and just beautiful!

It has been along time since I have blogged, so hoping to stay motivated and find the time to update my blog like I should.  This year I want to continue focusing on losing weight, sticking to a budget, dumping debt, and continue making cards and eventually open my own Etsy store. =)

So what are some of your favorite things to do in the Springtime?

Happy Spring!

Stamp Camp is alot of FUN!!!

Last night was my first time to Stamp Camp.  Let me tell you, it was soo much fun.  I really enjoy paper crafting and my new friend, Kimberly, has lots of great ideas in how to use Stampin Up! products.

Here are the things I made last night:

A bookmark....how cool is that? 



a cute card,

a Christmas card 

where you can put a gift card in,



a pretty Thanksgiving card,

and another Fall card.  I definitely enjoyed

getting in touch with my crafty side. LOL!

So, What did y'all do that was fun this weekend?



My two {Messy} House Guests

Have you ever had house guests that just love to sleep anywhere they choose?

I have two, and they are living quite the life.

Well, at least they do bathe themselves.

However,

I still have to clean up after them.

Meet PG and Scheggeli

PG decided to cooperate for a picture.

But...

Schenuggli (Swiss for Snuggles) would not cooperate.

or is just camera shy.

As we all know, life has its share of messy moments.

like kittys

 throwing things on the floor,

spilling kitty food all over the place

or

leaving their poop and kitty litter outside the box,

EWWWW!

Thankfully Clorox Bleach is there for those messy moments!

Silly kittys peaking around the corner while

I clean up their mess ~ Figures. LOL!

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

A New Do

Well for a while now, I have been growing my hair out after having it in about 4 different layers.

So it has finally grown out a bit and had something done with it.

So thank you to Groupon and my new hair stylist

I am now sporting a new do and a new color.

Please forgive the dorky picture and bad lighting, LOL!
but I now have a reddish tint to my hair.

I really like it and its a nice change! 

Scrapbooking and Friends

I love to scrapbook!  So this weekend I am taking part in Cropping for the Cure.

Raising money for the American Cancer Society but having fun too.

Here is what I have done so far:

One page of me & my friends little girl. Isn't she a cutie?



One Christmas card using the Iris Folding method. Its really easy.

and Frankenstein's head. Now I just need to find a Halloween

picture or two to make a scrapbook page with him as an accent.

You would think I would have gotten more done, however,

when you spend a lot of time talking and catching up with

other scrappers I have not seen in a long time

it becomes more of a social thing, but

hey as long as your having fun and

raising money for a good cause.

You know you live in Hurricane Alley when...

You see signs like this posted all over town...



All new homes must be built to hurricane specifications (ie. on stilts)

especially on barrier islands or places that are in flood zones

because this is what you might find after the storm

This is a picture of

Folly Beach in

1989.

Several of your local grocery stores are happy to

provide you with a free

"Hurricane Survival Guide"

and it gets better...

the local weatherman's picture is on each copy

we have THREE

Rob Fowler

Bill Walsh 

and Tom Crawford

so if your ever in Charleston during the month of  August or September 

make sure you stop by the local grocery store and 

you can take home a free souvenier 

aren't you so lucky?

Picture from

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/chs/events/hugo.shtml