Dear Maw

I miss you.  I think of you everyday and there's so much I wish I could tell you.

At Christmas Kaylen made your chocolate cake.  It was her best one to date.  She's got the frosting down pat.  I think it's as close to yours as anyone will ever get.

You suddenly popped into my mind a few weeks ago at work.  I was working with a little girl modeling t-shirts for us.  Her grandmother was there getting her dressed for each picture and in between shots she'd brush the little girl's long hair.  All I could see was you sitting on the couch in your living room brushing my hair just like that, so gently.  I couldn't think about much else the rest of the day.

Dad brought home a bunch of pictures from your house and I found a picture of me in my Hooters uniform that someone had printed off for you to see.  It reminded me of what you said when you found out I worked there.  They said you just laughed and said "well.. I still love her!"

You never judged anyone.

We were talking one night about baby names and we dove back into an ongoing battle over a name that I like that everyone else thinks is ridiculous.  Mom said "What do you think your Maw would say about Tallulah??"  I said that I knew exactly what you would say.  You would just smile and say "well...that's YOUR decision!".  Even if you hated it you'd never tell me! 

I wish mine could meet you.  I always pictured you getting to hold my babies for the first time.

 

At your service the preacher was talking about how serene and kind you were.  He said that he was sure you had a fault somewhere, he just didn't know what it was.  I sat there and thought to myself "...I know what it was".  Every once in a blue moon, if you got real annoyed you'd let a cuss word fly and then cover your mouth, blush and get all embarrassed.  I couldn't help but smile in the pew.  I know, sometimes there are just no other words that will do!

Kaylen and I still laugh about the time you told the guy that cut you off at McDonalds to "just kiss it". 

I got the Disney book I loved so much from your house.  I like to flip through the pages real fast and breathe them in because they still smell like your house.  Comforting.  It's sitting on our mantle in our new home.

I wish I had taken the time to ask you what your favorite song or color was or how long you and Poppie dated before you got married or how old you were when you were saved.

I wonder what you saw in your last moments.  Is there some divine light like everyone says?  Were there angels in the room we couldn't see?  How many earthly minutes passed between the time you left and when you first saw God's face?  It was the most amazing thing standing in your bedroom with you knowing that you weren't there, but in the presence of our King.  It's overwhelming to think of.

I prayed once for God to just tell you I said I love and miss you.  Not really sure if it works like that but figured it was worth a shot. 

Because I do miss you terribly.
I want so much to be like you.
I love you.

♥Alyssa

PS. It still bothers me that you hated cats.
 

8 Things To Do at a Pro Wrestling House Show

 

I mentioned in my Ten on Tuesday that I went to a Pro Wrestling house show (meaning not televised) in Birmingham with Chris Friday night.  Admittedly not my idea of fun.  (I was actually cursing the name of a friend who Chris bought the ticket for but was on vacation.  Thanks, Matt.)  This particular show was TNA Impact Wrestling.  It airs every Thursday night on Spike. 

 

You're probably like me and have never been to one of these shows before.  If you ever find yourself with free tickets and no idea what to expect, here's

8 Things To Do At A Pro Wrestling House Show:

 

1. Buy an overpriced T-shirt.

 

2. Take awkward photos at the "meet and greet".

 

3. Get called "baby" by Velvet Sky and get really giddy about it...Me not Chris.

4. Decide to renew your gym membership.

 

5. Cheer for your favorite wrestlers.

 

6. Heckle your not so favorites.

 

7. GET heckled by the referee.

 

8. Feel like a 13 year old boy again and so not be ashamed of it.

Smack me twice and call me Nancy, I actually had fun.
And the husband was walking on air the next two days. 
Totally worth it.
 

 Love and Body Slams,
 

Ten on Tuesday - I Got Nothing for This One

 1. Two days til Mr. Tyler Drew!

2. No exaggeration.

 3. Please, Lord, give me this kind of courage if I ever need it.

And the police lady said "unfortunately" she killed the suspect?  Screw that noise!

 4. Friday Night I accompanied Chris to a pro wrestling house show.  Yeah, I know.  I WILL be blogging about that later.  He says "it's not fake, it's staged".

5. I've gotten two scam texts in the past week from a "bank" telling me to call and give my info because my "account" has been frozen.  This makes me want to gut someone like a fish.

6. Yes, Mr. Williams.  You did.

 7. DWTS: THIS is why Zendaya shouldn't even be on the show.  She had to dance hip hop this week...and she's a hip hop dancer.  I'll be livid if anyone but Kelli wins.
And I dreamed last night that I was waltzing with Derek Hough.  Le sigh...
  
 8. Don't bring your chihuahua around me.

9. Been in the house almost four months now.  Still not a thing on the walls.

 10. Hahaha.  Oh, Chef Ramsey...

This Non-Mom Got a Mother's Day Gift

Friday I got a very unexpected gift delivered to me at work.

 

Some gorgeous tulips!...

 

...With this note attached.

I read the first line of the card and thought "CRAP I've got somebody else's flowers".  Needless to say, i was surprised!  After explaining my "mothers day" gift to everyone in the office, I ran outside and called Chris.

 

Me: Thank you for my flowers!

Chris: What flowers?

Me:  Ok.  The cats just picked up the phone and ordered from ProFlowers by themselves.

Chris: Gus said something about it but I didn't think he was really going to do it.

 

However they were ordered, it was super sweet and absolutely made my day.

 

But Happy Mother's Day to an actual mother.  Mine!

 

 

"...She is far more precious than jewels."

Proverbs 31:10

 

Pinterest Project for a Not-So-Crafty Girl

Hello, friends. 

Yesterday after work Lauren and I had a fun time doing a pinterest project together in my driveway.  We've been saying forever we're going to do this!

You've probably all seen this pin:

You take neat glass vases, pour some glass paint in, swish it around and BANG.  Awesome works of art.

Not quite that easy.  Clearly.

 A couple of weeks ago we went thrifting and I picked up a few cool looking, different sized vases.  I almost decided not to paint them because they looked so pretty sitting in my kitchen window with the sunlight coming through:

We gathered all of our supplies and headed out into the pretty day.

-Vases (duh.)

-LOTS of paper towels

-Martha Stewart glass paint in our favorite colors

-A measuring cup of water in case we needed to dilute it.

Lauren went first.  She squirted the paint into the vase...and nothing happened.  It just stuck there in blobs.  It's not as simple as just swishing it around.  You have to repeatedly hit the vase to get the paint to budge.  Lauren basically beat her vase to a violent, coral colored death.

Wondering what's going on in there.

 

 

After diluting the paint with some water and some more beating we started to see progress.

In the time it took me to do one, Lauren finished both of hers. 

It didn't go exactly as planned, but then again what does?  We still had fun and we're both pleased with how they turned out!

If you try your hand at this, dilute the paint with water in something like a dixie cup FIRST and mix it together.  That would have made it easier.  This is definitely something fun to do on a sunny Saturday.

 

Read Lauren's perspective on our pinterest project here.

Right now, I'm kind of glad Chris is colorblind so he doesn't see that the driveway is just a little bit brighter now.

Ten on Tuesday - Drunk Cats are the BEST Cats

 1. So Justin Bieber got "attacked" on stage in Dubai.  Seriously.  Look up the video.  The little girls in the audience lose their minds.

2. I am LIVING for this photo.

 

 3. I defy you to listen to Til We Grow Older by Imagine Dragons and not get stupid happy.

4. DWTS.  Oh Em Gee.  Kelli and Derek's dance was so amazing we watched it twice.  And my little Irishman looks dang good even in eyeliner. 

5. A week and two days til Tyler Drew makes his appearance into the world!

6. Drunk cats are the best cats.

 7. Painting vases tonight with Lauren!  This is either going to be really awesome or bitterly disappointing.

8. Speaking of bitterly disappointing, watched Silver Linings Playbook over the weekend and didn't care for it.  LOVED the book.  Didn't like the screen adaptation.  Anyone else feel this way?

9. I found myself crying like a fool (nothing weird there) over a Disney pin that some cold, heartless person put together: the saddest Disney moments ever.  Simba finding his dead father, the old lady dropping Todd off in the woods, Littlefoot's Mom dying...it was all there.  And I couldn't handle it.
 

10. I am now having actual dreams of going into a gas station and finding oreo cakesters.

How did YOU get here? - Link-up with Helene

Hello, all.

[Before we begin, I'd like to point out that I now have a navigation bar!  That's a first for me!  So check it out and let me know what you think.]
 

Today I'm linking up with Helene and picking my most random Google Keyword Searches.

Not your normal link-up!  I love it.

 

For those of you who don't know, Google Keyword Searches are basically what people search in Google that brings up your blog in the search results. 

 

To find this in blogger, go to your stats --> Traffic Sources and then scroll all the way down and you can see some of the search terms people use to find you!

 

Here we go:

 

"Cat Sweater": I know exactly where this comes from.  One of my most viewed posts EVER.  All because I posted a picture of this interesting...cat sweater.

I mean, I guess it is pretty awesome.

 

"Whores in Glasses" : Another 10 on Tuesday post featuring, you guessed it, whores in glasses.

 

"Johnny Depp black and white" : No doubt this post featuring celebrity photographs by late photographer Herb Ritts.  This photo of Johnny Depp in particular.

You're welcome.

 

"Ugly Babies" : At first I thought "what the heck".  I post no pictures of ugly babies.  Only pretty ones.  Then I remembered...I featured Kourtney K's little Penelope on a 10 on Tuesday post.

Link up with Helene and enjoy the randomness!

Rejoice!  Tomorrow is Friday!