I got SPOILED for Christmas!

Christmas was a little bit tight this year. So my husband and I kept our focus on the kids and bought Rock Band 2 (Just the game, we have The Beatles Rock Band with the Rock Band 1 Set) and a few new songs. Nothing too exciting, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Needless to say this Christmas came with zero expectations. I hadn't asked for anything.

SO ... when I got totally spoiled by my friends and family I was in my own little Chateau Poppins World!!!

And I couldn't NOT share with you some of my favorite presents!!! Well all of my presents were my favorite, but I think you'll understand why a few of these REALLY appealed to me.

Starting to get an idea yet?

Well let's look at these items a little bit closer shall we!
(OMG I'm so excited just thinking about them!)

First up was my Biggest Surprise because it was on my door step when I got home Christmas Night? I didn't even know the post office delivered on Christmas!

Look at these cute little Stationary Cards I got!!!

Homemade for JUST ME by my Mindy!!!

So I pulled out the cards and just look at how cute they are!!!

From the desk of Marybeth Smith
(And she even spelled Marybeth as one word. I'm in love!)

So at our family party on Christmas Eve I got pulled aside. Earlier this year I had inspired my sister to paint something incredible (wait till you see!) and apparently she loves me so much she gave me the painting. BUT not without a box to put it in.


OMG How cute is THAT!

And when you open it up it has all these Gnomes and Gnome Facts!

But the best part I didn't notice till the next day...Look at the umbrellas. (Tears are glistening in my eyes right now guys.)

She even decorated the bottom of the box. My sister rocks

And so inside the box held the coolest painting EVER!!!

And I inspired it!

Oh but I couldn't leave this out...FLUFFY BLANKET!

And to top it ALL off, one of my BFF's sent me this...(Along with some super cute Twilight stuff!)

Aren't we Adorable!

AND on top of all that I got a bunch of other stuff ... Including a super cool dutch oven with all the fixins for Cherry Cobbler and Chili and Cornbread from my parents for camping this summer (Going back to those childhood memories! My parents rock.) A gorgeous necklace from the in-laws and all sorts of other stuff. I can't even think I'm so overwhelmed with all the #windinmyhhhaaaiiiirrrr!

So thank you to all my awesome friends and family and super awesome husband who apparently has something brewing in the background for me once the Holidays are over...sneaky husband!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

PS I hit 201 Followers which totally means Party Time! I'm shooting for the first of the new year, so you better watch out. We're going to ring in 2010 with a big bang!

Words to be Thankful For!

Whilst everyone else writes about their awesome families and wonderful friends, the roofs over their heads and the food on their tables ... I am going to write about what I'm thankful for.

My favorite words!

Because although I am thankful for all of the above, I am also thankful for the wonderful world of reading, writing and arithma ... um well just reading and writing.

So here is a list of words that I am ever so thankful for, and of course WHY!

Totally - this is Totally the best word ever. If there is a sentence that can NOT incorporate the word Totally, it has never been spoken by me! Observe........

Awesome - (and/or Awesomeness) - Everyone is Totally made up of little pieces of awesome, so why not tell the world about it.

Fantabulous - What? That's not a word? Oh well it Totally is now cuz it's freaking Awesome!

Actually - Actually this is my favorite adverb. If you could get a penny for every Actually I cut out of my manuscripts ... um ... well you'd Totally have over a dollar! That's for sure.

Phantasmagoric - Also not a real word, but just saying it aloud Totally gets me all excited!

Seriously! - Exclamation point is necessary with this word, although sometimes a question mark can Totally take it's place. Seriously! I'm not sure if it was Gray's Anatomy's fault, but I've Totally been addicted to this word or at least the last 5 years.

Son of a Monkey - This is more of a saying or group of words, but they flow from my mouth on a frequent basis, so I Totally couldn't leave them out!

Now I know some of you may be Totally confused by my age after becoming aware of my favorite words but I am indeed nearing 30. The problem is that I Totally grew up in the 90's ... and it stuck. Lucky for you my dear friends I am Totally not saying, NOT! or Cowabunga, or Tubular. So I Totally think it's all good.

Oh yeah ...

It's all good! - I Totally say that a ton too!

So I Totally hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving and don't forget to be thankful for all your Totally favorite words!

The Wisdom and Vocabulary I have Gained from Blogging

Blogging has opened me up to entirely new vocabulary. I feel a bit smarter now that I blog, now that I am a blogger in the great blogosphere. I can hold entirely new conversations with my friends and although my husband has no clue what I am talking about, I know it is only because he is not made up of all the little pieces of awesomeness like I am!

Before I began blogging I did not know there was such a thing as a puppy sized elephant or that Snuggies are really called WTF blankets on the black market. I had no idea that Cakes could be a Wreck or that there was actually a blog dedicated to the little Passive Aggressive Notes that people write.

Now when someone tells me they snarfed, I know it has nothing to do with vomiting. And last but not least I have learned to be snarkastic. I never knew there was so much snark in me. Why say wit or sarcasm or snide humor when you can say snarkasm!

Thank you dear Blogging Friends, or should I say Blogiends or maybe Frioggers, because you are the best source of wisdom and vocabulary out there! It is because of you that I feel so smart and KNOW I will one day be a super fantastic writer made up of so many pieces of awesomeness that I might possibly explode!

Things of Vast Proportion

Definition: vast
Pronunciation: \ˈvast\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin vastus; akin to Old High German wuosti empty, desolate, Old Irish fás
Date: 1585

: very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially in extent or range
synonyms see enormous

— vast·ly adverb

— vast·ness \ˈvas(t)-nəs\ noun

There is always the big great vast vessel!


Or a vast amount of time
(although I'm more likely to witness a vast vessel before that!)


A Vast Mountain



Vast Wilderness

I think at this point we can all agree that vast is a LARGE amount! Right?!?!

So when I had a Publishing House told me they were vastly interested in reading my work ... I about fell in love with them!

I'm off to make some last minute revisions. Wish me luck!!!

Dual Awesomeness!

As if I thought I didn't have enough time in the day before...

I've decided to make a leap dabble a bit in web design. I have to say, I thought I wouldn't find it very entertaining and had a feeling I wouldn't really enjoy it. I was SO wrong!

With my first website almost completed I can confidently say that I am loving it. The design part was a bit more difficult than I had imagined, but at the same time I am much better at it than I thought I would be. And shhhhhhhhhh don't tell my husband, but I find the coding aspect down right interesting. All these formulas and problem solving ... it's like little "I Spy" games ... just with words instead of pictures!

I feel like I have a super heads up in the competition however because I can also write. Writing copy alone can be made into a super successful career ... add web design/development into it. I'll be like a goddess in this world! I'm dually awesome! (ok well I'm WAY more awesome than that ... but we're just talking about in this aspect, no need to go getting all concerned!)

So the challenge is ... how do I balance this new found hobby with my old found love of writing! Well for answers to that question ... you'll have to visit my website!

ALSO!!! Help me celebrate...today is one year since the day I started my book!!!!
(Ok,not so sure I should be celebrating that it's taken me over a year to finish this, but hey ... it's a mile stone!)

My Brush with Justice

My morning was all planned out yesterday. I would take the husband to work, drop the kids off at a friends and head over to the Court House. *Gasp!* Poppins heading to the Court House? What's this!

I know what you are thinking, "It must be for Jury Duty. Poppins is way TOO perfect to be there for anything else."

At which I blush and say, "It was not Jury Duty. I did in fact do something wrong."

Wait wait please don't go! I'm still awesome I promise .. AND ... I can prove it!

Small Back story ...

Ok, so I got a ticket. The cop caught me on a bad day and unfortunately I bawled my eyes out. Actually I was crying before he pulled me over. (Long story...not important) I think he saw me and must have figured I was crying cuz he saw me and decided to get behind me and sure enough...my tags were expired. What an arrogant man, thinking I was crying because of him. Sigh....

So he gives me a ticket and begs me not to cry anymore and says to just bring it in with my new registration and he'll waive the whole thing.

Ok Here and Now story ...

I dropped of my husband and children and headed to the court house after a brief visit with Google Maps. Being a new citizen in this town makes getting around slightly difficult. But I think I know where I'm going from the street maps.

I get to the circle in the road that was on the map and look around for a parking ramp...where there was none to be found. So I have cash ... but no change! UGH

I scrounge through my purse and come up with about 5 nickles and a dime. Not nearly enough. Being me ... an incredibly embarrassingly blunt person ... I decide to ask the man walking past my car for a quarter. *Awesome Moment No. 1*

He obliges. Lovely man with quarter. My hero of the day. So I ask him exactly where I am going and he points me across the street on the corner a block away.

Did I mention that even though I left a half hour early I'm 4 minutes late for the appointment. *Awesome Moment No. 2*

So I start running ... not noticing that I am running in front of a car that comes to a complete stop. *Awesome Moment No. 3* and get to the building only to realize it's the wrong building and I need to be across the street.

I book it across the street and arrive in a lobby huffing and puffing. The security guard has me give him my purse and set down my keys to go through the medal detector and at the same time has to look through my purse. I cringe as he shuffles around Mini Edward and Mini Bella. *Awesome Moment No. 4* hoping he doesn't mention the two action figures at the top, and taking up most of my purse.

I ask him where I am going and he points to the elevator. I enter the elevators hit the button for floor 5 and up and away I go.

I get to floor five and there are doors and people seated outside the doors and I have no clue where I'm going. So I enter the first door and she rolls her eyes and points me down the hall to the first door on the right.

The cop is sitting in a chair waiting for me ... because I am now 7 minutes late ... and says, "Another 3 minutes and we were going to write you off." *Awesome Moment No. 5* (Can't he see I'm panting over here!!!)

They ask me to wait in the hall and I go stand against the wall and flip through my ticket and the post card with the court date and ... and ... AND *Awesome Moment No.6* I left my registration in the car!!!!

Tears begin to well up.

No no no ... do NOT cry in front of this cop again...don't do it!!!

He walks out and I say, "I forgot my registration in the car."

He looks at me like I HAVE to be joking.

I plead, "Can I please go get it!"

He asks where I'm parked and I tell him and beg by telling him I'll run. He tells me to wait a moment. Tears ... brimming on my eyelids ... fighting them with all my might.

He hands me a yellow slip of paper and tells me I'm all set. *SUPER Awesome Moment No. 7*

SEE!!!

I told you I am THAT awesome!

All I had to do was act like the biggest idiot ever and I completely got out of my ticket!

And then he says to me, "See, I told you it wasn't worth the tears."