farewell bestie...

today was the last day of work for my bestie and i...she is now officially retired and a stay at home mom...i am sooooo happy for her!!! but i sure will miss her. we've been through a lot in the last 10 years together, some good and some bad. but no matter what it was we ALWAYS went through it together. i am sad that we wont dominate this place anymore but we are both starting new chapters in our lives.

here is a poem bec wrote years ago that sums us up perfectly:

Sisters in Sin
Sisters in Light
Sisters forever
Day and night.

Don’t matter if its wrong
Don’t matter if its right
We will stand together
With all our might.

Spirits are joined
Souls are one
We will work together
Until we are both done.

Smiles and tears
We will always share
Sisters forever
Always a pair

Our lives parallel
Our paths always cross
So it will be till the end
When our worries we toss.

When they look back at our lives
They will laugh and they will cry
True sisters they will say
With a tear and a sigh.

How lucky we are
How rare is must be
To have a sister in sin
How lucky are we.

out for now
~kisses

oh new month...

i hope you bring something awesome with you!!! i know you will bring a big ole' family vaca next week, which we are all SO looking forward to!! i'm hoping you bring some sunshine and warm weather and tons of great family time!!!

i also hope it bring with it a resolve to the states budget issue. i know it might not affect a lot of others but as for me, i don't get paid until the budget is passed. it could be months, the governor doesn't care. i'm sure he still gets his. but us further down the ladder are working without pay starting today. so if you could, please say a prayer for us. we might have some rough times ahead. i heard today this is the worst it's been since the 70's.

i'm so glad we have a long weekend coming up...then i work two days and am off for 6!!! how awesome is THAT! wednesday is jades 10th birthday (july 8th)...we are taking the kids to delgrosso for the day. that night we are packing our car up and heading to NY first thing thursday morning. we always have such fun up there! the kids informed me they ARE spending one night at papa alans house. and we have a birthday party for grandma seymour while we are there. such fun!!! and i have a little photoshoot planned with my new niece!

welp, out for now...
~kisses

weekend full of family...

we had SUCH a good time at the family reunion!!! i was there from 6:45 am until around 5:00 pm. the kids really enjoyed themselves. i know grandma had a great time, she had a smile on her face all day long. i took a ton of pics, of course. the food was amazing, as always. papa went with us and he had a great time too. the kids were so happy to have their papa their with them.

out for now

~kisses

woot woot...

this is my 500th post on my blog...awesome! this little bloggie has been through thick and thin with me...it's been my outlet...my soapbox...and i don't know what i would do without it...

i'm so excited for our reunion this saturday...to sit around and visit all day, to eat all that DELISH food, to see papa all weekend...but what i'm not excited for is how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut. please say a little prayer that i'm able to do this. you have no idea how hard it is for me since i'm so outspoken. and this "subject" is especially close to my heart and i'm very passionate about it...which makes it worse!

tonight the kids have church, which will give joe and i some "us" time...even if we just sit together and watch tv, at least we can spend time together. and this weekend we will even get to go on a real date!!!

out for now
~kisses

hello lovelies...

wow...i haven't blogged in FOREVER...welcome to summer!!! we are always so busy during summer it's hard for me to find time for extras...but i promise to make more of an effort!

we've been spending time at camp while my family is in...it is always SUCH a great time over there. i always loved it as a child and now my kids love it too. the sisters (my grandma, aunt vi and aunt faye) are always such a hoot. old ladies saying bad words is funny stuff!!! here are some pics i took at camp.

this weekend is our reunion AND papa alan is coming down...so we'll have a busy busy weekend full of fun family times. sunday papa is taking the kids out to dinner and to the movies so joe and i will get to have a date!!! love reconnecting with that man!!!

in other news...i've sadly stepped down from my DT positions at dreamgirls and gutter girlz...i just haven't scrapped for sooooo long and i don't feel it coming back anytime soon...i knew there were other girls who could do a better job than i had been. it was a sad, sad day but i had to know when it was time to move on.

out for now

~kisses

more pics...

from this past weekend...

ry and miranda...so sweet...
sis...can't BELIEVE my baby girl graduated this year! i'm so proud of her though, i know she will chase all her dreams and never let ANYONE (or any MAN) stand in her way!!!
this dog hates me...seriously...and has hated me forever. kelly didn't believe me when i told him that...he told me to just go ahead and pick her up...she growled and tried to bite me. SEE! she hates me...and all i want to do is snuffle her little ears and chew on her short little stubbie legs...but she will have NONE of that!!!
these baby birds were the sweetest EVER! although i do have to say baby birds (this young) are kinda ugly...just a bit...

if anyone wants or has a need for pictures (seniors, families, babies, kids) of any type just shoot me an email...

cutcutler1903@aol.com

out for now

~kisses

hey scrappers...

i've got a question for ya...what is WRONG with me? i just can't scrap...i have like NO desire to scrap either. if i sit down at my desk and try to force myself nothing happens...i've had this on again off again relationship with scrapping ever since january when i quit smoking. i have NO clue what quitting smoking has to do with scrapping but obviously somewhere in my subconsious the two tie together. ever since then scrapping has been a struggle for me. ya'all know how much i adore it!!! so tell me all you scrappers...have you ever had something like this happen to you? what did you do to fix it? i seriously MISS my scrapping time!!!!

out for now
~kisses

a day of love and candles...

i've been married to the most awesome man in the world for 13 years today...we've beat all the odds!!! when we got married we had only been dating for 3 months...we had actually only known each other for 3 months! i would be SO MAD if one of my kids told me they were getting married after only 3 months of dating, lol...and, of course, we had nearly everyone telling us we would NEVER make it! i believe it was joe's brother who said we would probably be divorced within a year. HA! we've had our rough spells, but who hasn't...the important part is we survived...and our love grew stronger with each trial thrown at us...i love you babe...FOREVER!

today is also my dads 73rd birthday!!! he is the best, most caring, kind-hearted, biggest Christian, best husband i've ever met. and i am proud to have him as my father. he is more of a man than most can even dream of being. he is from the "old school" and still has manners, opens doors and pulls out chairs for women and waves to everyone that drives past...whether he knows you or not...lol...and i am proud that he is my father!!!

we got married on my dads 60th birthday and one week after my grandmas 80th birthday...that's how i remember everything, lol...13 years for us, dad is 73 and grandma is 93...

this is a pic i took of joey yesterday...i think it just captures him perfectly...he is growing into such a nice young man, i'm so proud of him!!!

this is jade with uncle lanny yesterday...she just adores him! he said "come over here and give me a hug" and she basically ran to him, lol...and she told him he makes the BEST jerky in the ENTIRE world, lol...

out for now

~kisses

i just can't...

i can't believe that my baby boy is graduating from elementary school tonight and moving into high school next year. it's just so hard for me to believe. it just doesn't even seem that long ago that i had him...rocked him to sleep...heard him say mama for the first time...it's sad. i know it's all part of life and eventually they all grow up...i just didn't think it would come this fast!

here are some pics of my little guy throughout the years...

awwww look at this one...they were so little. i.miss.those.days.

this is one of my all time favorite pics of them!
i totally remember taking this one...joey did NOT want to take a pic there...and he said to me "ya know mama, i'm not very thug"...i LOVED it!

this day was HOT HOT...like almost 100 degrees out...but the kids were still troopers and let me take pics of them while i hauled them all over...also notice joeys "fo-hawk"...he LOVED it!
this pic makes me sigh everytime i look at it...it's perfect, the lighting and everything...
and lastly, here he is...i took this one on sunday, on his birthday. he said "hey mom, i'm going to jump up here and look like a squirrel and you take a picture"...i was laughing so hard i didn't think i'd be able to take it...

so tonight i'll be bawling my eyes out at graduation...no seriously, i'm going to try to keep that under wraps. i don't want to horribly embarass him. but you KNOW i'll take tons of pics.

out for now

~kisses

paint + coffee = HAPPY me...

big pic heavy post ahead with tons of eye candy...how long has it been since i've given you that??

there is a new prompt up at guttergirlz...and it's a GREAT one, so go check it!!! here is my take on it...a little entry for my art journal...paint+coffee=happy amy
also there is a new prompt up at dreamgirls...a SKETCH and it flippin rocks...go check it!!! here is my take on it...a sweet little card...for my new niece, miss natalie marie...
these are some random shots i took of the kids this weekend, on joey's birthday...i am still learning with my new camera but HOLY CRAP i love it...like serious love!!! i love this first one of the kids, they just didn't have a single bit of "fighting with each other" in them right then...so sweet!
here is my baby boy...now 12...can't believe it! gosh, it is just soooo hard to get use to. i am so proud of the young man he is becoming.

here is a shot of mr ming ming china love...he's been with us for nearly a year...i've never EVER met a more stupid cat and one with more personality...he cracks us up daily...

and my baby boy...pepper poo...he loves him some MAMA!!! i said to him "now lay real still and mama will take your picture" and he did...and joe says we're freaks (eye roll)...

out for now

~kisses

happy monday!

we had a FAB weekend...it was joeys birthday weekend (i have pics to post later)...friday night chase staid over, the boys went with joe to go set up a campsite for the men from the church that were canoeing...saturday the boys decided they wanted to play video games all day (wwe) and that they did...i made them breakfast burritos mid-morning then they were straight back to the games...saturday evening we gave joey his birthday money and headed to altoona for shopping and outback...i SO love outback, so it was like a little present to me too...yesterday, joey's actual birthday, he decided he again wanted to play video games all day (something we normally don't allow)...his birthday was filled with video games, 4-wheeler rides, church and pizza...pretty perfect day huh?

tonight we are having a YUMMY dinner, i've made beef stew...homemade beef stew! it smelled SO delish when it was cooking...then we are heading to a friends house to help them put up a fence around their yard...i'm thinking of walking there, get a little exercise in!

out for now
~kisses

**updates and opinions**

it's been a long time since this post here...and i thought all my faithful followers deserved an update. and i wanted to give my take on the recent jon & kate situation.

tuesday night i watched the first episode of season 5 of jon and kate plus 8. i had heard so much about it. when i saw it was being shown again i had to watch it. it totally made me sad and broke my heart, for each of them and for their children. i've been in the exact spot they are right now and i totally know what it feels like. i've lived day to day wondering if my marriage was going to be over. when she said the family picture was important to her because she didn't know if it would be thier last...i understood that and i cried. i just wanted to step through the tv and talk to them...share my story with them...tell them about the book that literally saved my marriage...i wish them the absolute best not only for them but for their children...

now for our update...since joe returned to us in october of 2007 (after being gone for 3 months) our marriage has changed. we now have a marriage built on powerful love, faith and trust. it has almost felt like we were newlyweds again, even still!!! during those 3 months apart we both worked on ourselves and what WE needed to change...when we came back together we had something so powerful and great it still amazes me. we are at a good place right now and i can't imagine it ever changing.

i would never recommend a separation to fix a marriage...and i don't want it to seem like our separation was easy, it was NOT...it was basically the hardest thing i've ever done in my life. it took so much self control to not be angry about it and resent joe. i had to learn patience and perseverance quickly. and most importantly i had to have FAITH. i know that at that point in my life God gave me strength like i had never saw before. every day i would pray not for him to bring joe back BUT for patience and strength and for God to do his will in HIS time, not mine. i stood strong for 3 months and God brought joe back to us.

out for now
~kisses