All I want for Christmas is.....

a computer virus????? Seriously?! Who has so much time on their hands that they get their jollies out of trashing people's PCs?!

I'm close to having my computer straightened out, and then I will have to play catch-up on this blog. :)

~MM

Merry Christmas from the Mullenix's

Too much going on around here to even think about, much less post :)

Here's a little Christmas "joy" to tide you over.....




Hope you all have a Blessed Christmas!
~MM

Playing Catch-up....

What have we been up to?

Some playing:


A little shopping (Sweet Memories Facebook Fan sale):


Throw in some creative cooking here and there:


And a WHOLE lot of walking! The good news is......I have lost 14 pounds in 3 weeks! To say that I am excited is an understatement!

Hope you have a great turkey day! Don't forget to count your blessings.
~MM

SNL - Saturday Night Layouts

Any local scrapbooking readers - I would love for you to join me at Sweet Memories this Saturday night. Feeling swamped and behind, we are going to knock out 3 single page and 1 double page layouts in a matter of 2 hours!

I wish I had sneaks, but I took the pages to the store without taking photos. Hopefully there will be sneaks up on the store blog soon.

~MM

It's on.......

like Donkey Kong!

So I love The Biggest Loser - it is such an inspiring show. I just stand in awe of all of the contestants. If you didn't catch this week's show, you really should watch it on hulu.com or nbc.com. It was really cool how Crazy Tracie went back and finished the mile run that she had to be life-flighted from the first time. And, she is now training for a marathon - how cool is that?!

This Monday, the challenge was issued - the Corporate Accounting Dept threw down the gauntlet and started a six week contest to see who could be the biggest loser. There are 25 of us participating ranging in all shapes and sizes, men and women.

Each person put in $15 and winner takes it all. It's not about the money, though. It's about the motivation to behave during the holidays and all of the yummy treats to eat. It's about picking today to start doing something better.

I may not be the biggest loser, but I am going to have a fun time trying! :)

"If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done." Dave Ramsey

Have a GREAT weekend!
~MM

Mostly "tricks" for us

Hope you all had a great Halloween. It has never really been my holiday, but this year was going to be different. This year, my baby girl was going to actually go trick-or-treating. Every other year, we have either hosted a trunk at our church trunk-a-treat, or stayed home and given out candy. She loves those, but this year I was going to take her to a super-fabulous neighborhood that goes all out.

And then the rain came. It was cold and soggy and miserable. Well, we can at least hit a few houses and the local church trunk-a-treat on the way home.....

And then in a snap, that all change........a snap of Bobby's tendon in his right elbow.

So he and I spent our time in the ER, and we sent J with the in-laws. Everyone was super nice; lot's of people walking around with masks because they had flu-like symptoms (YIKES!); and the Gators/Dawgs game.

Fortunately, I have some great pictures of our little darling........





She reminds me of Tweety Bird's owner, what do you think? Can't you just see her beating Sylvester with that cane?!

Eh, there's always next year :)
~MM

Happy Hallo-weenie!

Just me and the world's most adorable dog, Deuce Mullenix, popping in to wish you the most ghoulish Halloween filled with treats galore!

We have another pumpkin and a pattern to make one like Kya Mullenix. However, I am certain that instead of posing quietly beside it, she will eat it. The girl is a cross breed mix between a German Shepherd and a billy goat!

Take care,
~MM

I-Spy: Scrapbook edition

Can you find 2 pink threads, 2 black and white gingham ribbons, 3 trees, a ruler, a paper piercer, a staz-on ink pad, a piece of florist wire and "JOY"?




Sadly this is not a staged photo of my work space. It is the aftermath of a super- cute Christmas banner :) I'll share soon.

Have a wonderful week!
~MM

Just another day with an 8 1/2 year old drama queen

And there is NEVER a dull moment! HA!






Have a GREAT weekend!
~MM

A more beautiful you....

So sometimes you just have to step away from all of your commitments and do something for yourself. It makes you a better able to fulfill your commitments - or at least that is my excuse! That is exactly what I have done this week, as far as my design team stuff for Sweet Memories goes. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE doing work for the GREATEST scrapbook store on earth because it keeps me in the trenches and getting stuff done. However, lately I haven't really gotten anything done for me.

I love the whole process of starting w/ photos or a title or even just a design and choosing what paper (out of the 1000s of sheets that I have) to use, digging thru the bins of embellishments (not caring how old they are), and just playing until you get it right or you are completely over it and chunk it - no worries, no deadlines, just play. That is exactly what I did with this layout.




From the first time that I heard Johnny Diaz's "A More Beautiful You" several months ago, I knew I wanted to use it for a page. It has a wonderful message to it - don't be trying to change things about yourself or let other people dictate how you feel about yourself because God made you (and only you) to serve a specific purpose. Because of that, fulfilling His wish makes you more beautiful than anything else. Most of my pages for my daughter are very silly and light-hearted, but I do want to show her some of the more serious life's lessons along the way. I hope she will grow up knowing that a kind heart is more beautiful than any model on a magazine.

So, I now that I have that out of my system, I am ready to go back to the straight and narrow and work on my assignments again ;)See it worked because I picked up this very fun Sassafrasslass paper yesterday, and created this layout with it last night.
(Excuse the fingertips - I meant to take photos of it before I left this morning, and forgot. Thanks to J for helping me out.)




Have an awesome weekend. I am so excited because the weather here is screaming fall!
~MM

Dolly & Me Party

So my mother saw an ad for this party at Bead Happy, and thought it would be fun for J as an early birthday present. She was a little under the weather (just allergies), and I worried that she wouldn't enjoy herself. Boy was I wrong. That little girl had a BLAST!

She had tried with all of her might to round up a cohort, but none of her friends understood what it was going to be and were unable to convince their mothers into signing them up. They are not happy campers after getting the rave reviews from J! :) (I am just glad that she is finally liking dolls b/c I was beginning to think she was a strange one - lol.)

I thought this a wonderful deal for J and myself. She got 2 hours of fun, games, crafting, & refreshments, and I got 2 hours of no drama shopping! It was amazing how efficient I can be w/o dragging an uninterested 8 1/2 year old around. In just 2 hours I ran by Sweet Memories, Publix, and then to Food Lion to hit the triple coupons one more time.

The best part was, unlike most birthday presents from the grandparents, the bracelet and necklace she made take up no room and do nothing to add to the clutter in the house!





I am going to the grand opening of Sweet Memories Studio tomorrow to scrap the day away w/ my girlies (will miss you Janell!). I have set the bar high on what I want to get done b/c I need to catch up on some assignments.

Hope you all have an AWESOME fall weekend!
~MM

Boo!

I guess you are surprised to see me, huh?!

It is not that I am a lazy blogger...okay maybe a little. Moreso, life is just in auto pilot right now. Things are cruising along, but not really exciting.

I don't think you really want me to give you a run down of my grocery shopping adventures, the mounds of laundry I have been doing, how excited Deuce Mullenix is over this new food I found for him, or the fact that I was called out in front of everyone in church Sunday night - yes, I was called out for being a Dave Ramsey nerd (I suppose that was better than being called a drunk or a harlet LOL!).

Or I could talk about sopping up water from the basement, cleaning the black gunk off of my car, how wonderful the new cafeteria at work is, or the fact that I am furious that someone opened their car door on my car some time this week and gashed my paint up {grrrrr}!

So instead of torturing you with the boring details of my week, I will just share a little goodie I made for Sweet Memories over the weekend when I found a little "me" time in my sanctuary:





Maybe I will buy a Mad Libs book, so I can come up with a fictiously, exciting life....do they still make those?

~MM

Only The Good Die Young.....

I have always loved this circa late 70s Billy Joel song. It has a fun upbeat tempo, and the lyrics are fun. It's cliche, but on this day 2 years ago one of the best died way too young.

None of us could have ever dreamed how September 22nd, 2007 would rock our world. How could a seemingly healthy 31 year old be fine one minute and then gone in the next? Adrian Lanning had waited all of his life to finally get to this place. He was happily married with a 6 month old baby boy. I seriously have never heard of anyone who did not like him. (I wish I could say the same for myself.) He was a wonderful, considerate man who was mature way beyond his years in his demeanor and compassion for others. He was also prankster, and didn't seem to get bent out of shape when the joke was on him. He was a man of even temperament - I don't think in all of the 15-16years I knew him, that I ever once saw him mad. He was someone that you could count on - his word meant everything to him. If he said he would do something, you could take it to the bank. He also put friends and family above everything else. If you had a need, you could be sure he would do everything in his power to meet it. He made all of our lives richer for knowing him.

Civil service was in Adrian's blood. I remember him counting the days down until he was 16. Not so much about be able to drive, but so he could be a junior firefighter at the local volunteer fire dept. He worked in the jail at the Sheriff's Dept, and was so excited with Burrell Langley gave him his big break, and sent him to mandate school for the city of Bowdon. He worked there for several years, and then he transferred back to the county. He joined his 2 brothers in serving and protecting Carroll County.

When God took him home 2 years ago, we all lost a part of ourselves that we will never get back. I'm sure I will go to the grave and never understand how this tragedy fits into the big picture. I can't comprehend why God would not let Adrian be a part of his little boy's life for no more than he was. But I know there is a purpose, and nothing happens by accident.

This one is for you, Adrian "Hotdog" Lanning. You will never, ever know how much you meant to me, and how blessed I am for knowing you! Only the good die young.....

Rain, rain - GO AWAY!

I was working on a blog post about how I am consumed w/ all of the "stuff" in my house and in my life, but that will have to be for another day - because today I am consumed w/ sadness, confusion, and blah from all of the rain that we have been getting. I've always felt compassion for those in other areas that deal w/ natural disasters, but it is much harder when it is people in your community, people you see in passing at the grocery store, people you work with, people that are your friends.

Yesterday morning, I dumped my rain gauge. We had 5 inches from Friday - Sunday. Last night around 8:00, I dumped another 1/2 inch or so. Then the flood gates opened, and it poured all night long. This morning at 5:00 - I dumped 5 1/2 inches, and there is already another 3 from just today. To say that we are water-logged would be an understatement!

I am so over this rain and all of the destruction that it has brought with it. Here in Carroll County, we have lost 3 toddlers to weather related incidents. It breaks my heart to know that these parents will not see their babies grow into sassy 8 1/2 year olds like mine. I know God is in control, but I really have to catch myself from asking why.

Bobby got called in @ 2:00 am this morning. They spent most of the morning rescuing people from their homes. Bobby was on a jet ski, and said it was no where near as fun as it is on a calm lake. Fortunately, they were able to get all of the ones they went after. Most were very gracious, except for one ornery old man who wanted to have a cup of coffee first!

Southwire was also hit - all of the Carrollton plants flooded and were w/o power for most of the day. The plant workers are already on short time, and now they have missed a couple of days. I hope it will all be over and cleaned up soon so those folks can get back to work.

All in all, we personally are good. A little bit of water in the basement, and a day off of school and work. J's out of school again tomorrow, but I will have to work.

Here's hoping for drier weather and happier days!
~MM

Growing up is tough!

I know, I know.....I have been neglectful to my blog again. Well, just go ahead and report me to DFCS. J would love that b/c according to her, I am a "mean momma". Little does she know that I take that as the highest compliment :)

I am big on personal responsibility, and I refuse to raise an "irresponsible, blame everyone else, and take no ownership of the circumstances" brat. J learned today that I meant business. She has left her book at school a couple of times. The first time, her teacher bailed her out, and let her in the room to get it in after care. Today she forgot it again. Her 1st grade teacher offered to let her in today, but I said "thanks, but no thanks". So for the first time ever, my child will not have her reading homework done tomorrow. I don't know what the punishment that carries b/c we have never been there, but.....I'm thinking for the long run and will take the consequences.

Here's where I got the designation of "mean". I made her write sentences. I know, old school, but I made her say them out loud as she wrote. Hopefully that will stick in her brain next time :)

I promised not to scrapbook this photo, but I didn't say anything about blogging! ;)

And speaking of growing up, someone in our family never will. But he is older! Bobby turned 40 on Labor Day. We had a BBQ, and his mom presented him w/ a old timers necessity kit. He said the sad thing was that he could use most of the stuff!


The craziest thing about the whole day was that the person who doesn't eat sweets ended up w/ 2 cakes! His mother made the one w/ the photo on it, and McGee's bakery here in town did the rockin' GT cake.



Have a good week!
~MM

Daily Dose of Inspiration

If you guys are not regularly going to Sweet Memories blog, now is the time to get your act together. Erin has implemented a new deal for year #2, and it involves daily updates to the blog that are chock full of great ideas.

There is something for every scrapbooker from the novice to the most detail oriented scrapper. Just think of it as a moment to do something just for yourself. And some days there will even be blog giveaways, and you would HATE to miss that. So bookmark the site and visit it daily. You'll love it - I promise!

Sweet Memories Scrapbooks

~MM

Ode to Chick-fil-A

The Mullenix girls LOVE Chick-fil-A! We hold it to be the standards of every fast food dining experience. (And sadly, most fail by a long shot.) Kids' nights on Tuesdays are always fun - we see some of the same people each week, there are fun activities for the kids, and no way could I cook for what we pay for the discounted kids meals. It is the perfect excuse not to cook, and yes - we ate there tonight ;)

We also enjoy every 3rd Thursday when CF hosts NPCA School Spirit Night. The Eagles descend on the store, and it is a brawl to the finish to see which class will win the coveted cow.

They also have the coolest special theme days.....Cow Appreciation Day (dress like a cow), Customer Appreciation Day (get your whole receipt free at next visit), and coming up on Labor Day - the Labor Day Giveaway for everyone wearing their team's colors and logos. Hope to see you at the Carrollton store, where we will be sporting our GT gear ;)

I think I'll close this one w/ a song that pretty much sums up how much I love Chick-fil-A.



~MM

Creating is good for the soul

Even though I have been battling the usual sinus infection, I did find some time to play w/ paper. And that, my friend, is better than any meds the doctor can give you!

First, I decided to give my "Taylor Grace" layout a little omph, and I added some lop-sided buttons:


Then I completed this layout for the next challenge on Sweet Memories blog. The theme is "Sweet Summertime", and I love this photo of Jordan, and I REALLY love this new Basic Grey Junebug paper ;)


And lastly, here are a few goodies for Halloween. These are super easy - nothing at all to them, but sometimes it is fun to get something a little special. I know it is early, but some folks need a head start!


So what do you enjoying doing that lifts your spirits?
~MM

The Art of the Deal

Okay, so I see blog posts where folks are posting their good shopping deals. Yes, they are fun, and I can appreciate them. However, I'm not so sure that everyone feels that what. I made a little trip to Rite Aid yesterday, and a male co-worker told me I needed to be tooting my own horn after the haul I got.

So w/o further ado:


For the record, this was over $110 retail value. My out of pocket yesterday was $53 (which is still impressive), but after I receive my rebates from Rite Aid in a few weeks - my net total for all of this stuff will be $11! 1 thing of the Zyrtec is normally $23! I am not going to pile stuff in my pantry and closets. My church is doing a missions project for Hondurous, and they are in desparate need of toiletries, so shampoo, toothpaste and Tylenol will be going in that box. I also plan to send later bargains to the local ladies shelter and girls' home.

And since I have been such a bad blogger lately, here are a couple of my latest scrapbook layouts :)

This one is for a stamping challenge that Jen and I hosted on Sweet Memories blog:


And this one is of my niece, Taylor. This is one of the photos that I took of the kids a couple of weeks ago at Shiloh Methodist Church in Burwell. I think she looks so sweet here:


Hope you have a blessed day,
~MM

Attn: GA Scrappers and Stampers

I was thrilled when I found out about Paper Crafters Corner blog - it is all things pretty paper in and around Georgia. How cool is that?! Now consider yourself always in the know :)




~MM

Birthday Bash

Yes, I realize that it has taken me 4 days to make this post. It has taken me this long to catch up on my rest! Where to even start, except to say that Sweet Memories throws the best events - evah!

Check out the decor:


And the Schwag:



Here's the "VIP" girls complete w/ attitude:


Wouldn't be a birthday w/ a cool cake:


And a cool faux cake:


On a positive note, I did manage to get 3 circle journal layouts done, 1/2 of Gretchen's album, a whole lot of shopping, and 1 layout for Sweet Memories store.


Thanks Erin and Carolyn - you guys threw a wonderful par-tay!

~MM