Christmas is almost here and to celebrate the best in classic holiday movies I present one of my absolute favorites.  Yes I've already watched it once this season but I can never get enough.  The Holiday Inn is by far one of my favorite holiday movies.  How can you get any better than romance, sabotage, friendship, and of course a little dancing. 











It's a silly little story. But it's perfect for a 1940's film.  Lovely, lovely movie. 

As we are coming into the new year I'm beginning to look back on this past year of my life.  Have I really lived up to my potential? Have I lived my life to honor God? It's so easy for us to fall back into our routines and forget to make time to remember to honor God in our daily lives.  I know I'm the worst in this area.  I find myself in prayer before bed when I know it should be at the beginning of my day everyday.  I have to make a change.

I have to admit I'm a bit biased about any book written by Max Lucado.  When I received my copy of  Outlive your Life I couldn't wait to dig in.  However, life happens.  The book was laid down for a bit. Now normally I can read through a book in a day or so.  I usually read at bedtime because it relaxes me and shuts everything else out temporarily.  I love that. However, life happens.

When I reopened this book to begin reading it again it was as if an awakening in my spirit occurred.  I suppose God does have a right time for his plans.  It's as if finally I could soak it all in bit by bit.  As he always has a talent to do, Max once again speaks to me.  I love his language.  The tone he sets.  Kinda makes you think outside the box.  One of my favorite verses from the book is:
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

See now this is how we spend our black fridays. We did our shopping early and braved the sales at Toys R Us then hit Walmart at 2am and then came back at 5am then hit Game Stop! Ha! Came home and slept a few hours and went to the early bird showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Amazing movie!!!! I'm a huge fan of the books. I'm usually the one in the theatre saying how much I dislike the new Dumbledore. I really miss Richard Harris. Or how they screw up the storyline and leave important parts out. Yep that'd be me. But this movie was perfect. Well except for the Harry and Hermoine kissing scene. Seriously don't remember that in the book. But all in all a really great movie. Yep I was crying from the beginning. There will never be another series that can stand up to these books. I found it kinda fun that everyone in the theatre were adults. I love that. If you've not seen this movie please do. You will enjoy it immensely. If you've never read the books...shame on you. They are amazing and will have you hooked for life. Out of all the frenzy of black friday this movie made it all worth it.

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Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama  and GameStop  are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


For all of my out of town family to get to come home for the holidays. 


My dad always cooks a huge breakfast for the whole family.  It always reminds me of my childhood when I would wake up to the smell of biscuits and gravy coming from the kitchen. 

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Paper Issues: Fall Brag Book: "This amazing Brag Book was linked up by Lynne. The colors are so beautiful and the embellishments are fabulous! The leaves! The lace! The pe..."

Rainy days are lazy days. Makes you want to watch movies, eat yummy food and do absolutely nothing.

Please be patient as my blog undergoes some much needed revamping.  My ever fabulous friend is helping me completely redo my poor little blog.  I can't wait to share with you all the new changes coming soon.  Please visit Melanie's blog if you would like to update your blog or just want to add a few things.  She has some fabulous free christmas designs available right now.

I've had a recent obsession with Cathe's Blog.  She's always shares her inventive talent with all her readers.  I just thought I would share one of her recent posts for some amazing clip art just in time for Mother's Day.  Check out her blog I assure you that you will love it just as much as I do.  Especially if you are crafty or just love labels.

JSIM Mother's Day clip art

Just have to tell you about an amazing giveaway on Carol Anne's blog.  Her blog is simply amazing!  She's always so inspiring and creative.  Anywho, go check out the giveaway but I secretly hope I win!  Good luck.

Okay so it's been a while...now you can see why. My sister and her family live almost 11 hours away! How could I possibly stay away from my favorite little man? I can't. How could I stay away from this little laugh? He's just the cutest little man I know. I know I've been a bad blogger but just look at him. You would be a bad blogger too if you had to choose between playing with him and blogging. Anywho, I'm back home now so let the blogging commence. Hope everyone had an amazing Easter holiday. I know I certainly enjoyed it.

- simply me

Wow amazing camera bag giveaway on Donna's blog...go check it out!

Your Site Name - HOME - EPIPHANIE GIVE-AWAY! :)

Check out this amazing giveaway! A Canon 5D or free money to Southwest Airlines. Woo hoo! Watch out though I really want these!

Since it's a really snowy day here, I thought I would provide you with some fun music that's playing in my house today.  I always have music going on in when I'm scrapbooking.  While going through my collection to see what sounded good I came across this little gem that made me wish for the old days when I used to go dancing with the girls.  Haven't done that in a while.  Enjoy and stop what you are doing and get up and dance.  You know you want to.

Do you ever wake up and just know that the rest of the day will be amazing? That was my day yesterday. Well, let me back up a bit. While watching the lovely superbowl on Sunday, we happened upon the hilarious Denny's commercial for a free Grand Slam breakfast. Now we are a rather spontaneous couple. We enjoy just driving around and finding new places to go. It's so funny how we are like that. When this commercial came on we just kind of looked at each other and grinned that crazy little grin we have when we are usually thinking the same thing. Road Trip. We jumped online to find the closest Denny's which just happened to be in Pigeon Forge...aka about an hour away. Pigeon Forge is probably one of our favorite places to go. We were married near there in Gatlinburg around 8 years ago, it's where we went on our first date (Go kart racing), where we lived for about a month when Jimmy got a good job there...plus they have this amazing scrapbook superstore that makes me jump up and down in happiness. We love Pigeon Forge. So we woke up early and had our little adventure.

I'm a bit of a people watcher at times. Especially old couples. They are the funniest sort of people. While waiting in line at the overcrowded Denny's, we observed these couples. The old men were so happy that they didn't have to spend any money. The sweet little old ladies were just happy to be out of the house. Then you find the sweet old couple where hand holding is still commonplace and opening doors is an act of love. Those are the couples that I hope we become someday.

Nothing in the world makes me happier than a huge cup of coffee with a big stack of hot pancakes. This whole free breakfast thing is simply fabulous. The grand slam consists of two eggs, two sausage links, two strips of crispy bacon, two huge pancakes with butter and hot syrup. Let me tell you this is a serious good deal. We received our food really fast and it was really hot. Plus we were given more coupons for more free food w/ purchase. I'm a happy girl. I love free food!


Considering that we drove an hour to get free food and probably used more in gas to get here than what the meal would've cost, we didn't waste the day. Even in crazy TN weather we still manage to have fun. I kind of love that about us. Hope everyone has a fabulous day.

Don't you just love to stumble across great new music.  Music is so amazing!  Makes you feel so many different emotions.  While reading LA's blog, I happened upon this great little video.  I promise you will just love this cute little group.  Fabulous.

Here is the video.  Sorry for some reason it didn't have a post link.

Ok so I'm a Jane Austen fanantic so I am soooooo excited that PBS is now beginning a miniseries on Emma.  If you haven't watched it you can catch up here.  So happy!

My creative system when I go to craft is usually turning on the radio, turn on the foot massager, and craft away.  Pretty simple.  I find that there are certain tunes that make me feel inspired to create something outside of the box.  I once did a mini about dreams that was inspired by this video.  I always have crazy dreams.  Probably where I play too many video games and still read fantasy novels.  I feel that we all could use a little imagination now and then. 

Today feels like a perfect day to watch great old classic movies. I love the greats like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Roman Holiday, oh so many greats. Can you imagine the movie era back in those days. These people were stars. Back whenever the movies took center stage not the dress they were wearing or if they spoke to E!. I especially miss these old musicals. While reading B's blog today I watched this wonderful clip from one of my absolute favorites movies High Society. Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra *swoon*, and Louis Armstrong star. It's simply one of those flicks that will make you remember how great hollywood used to be. What are your favorite old flicks?

Someday I hope to travel to CHA in California if only to see all the great demos and new products. This is one of those great demos for a product that I would use pretty much daily. I love mini albums! They are so much fun to make. They are perfect for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, holidays...wow the possibilities are endless. What is your favorite mini album?

Today has been a great day for crafting. You see I live in this small little town in East TN so naturally it being winter we received about 8 inches of snow last night. Snow makes me so happy! The snow continued to fall pretty much all day today so I have felt super crafty. I really don't know what it is about being snowed in that makes me want to go into my craft room and craft. Hopefully this will last for a few days so I can catch up on my scrapbook layouts. So off I go to jam away to my favorite music and scrap away the rest of the night. I'll just leave you with some wonderful snow pics to hopefully inspire you too.