Okay...let me explain about my new blog...."the Crayon Profiler"....I was talking with a friend, discussing a new look for my blog and this is what I came up with....I was telling her a story of when I was a little girl and my favorite thing on earth was crayons....I loved every color, and being a lover of crayons, I loved the color RED....but it was such a dominate color and all the kids wanted to use it because they wanted to stand out....and so I felt sorry for the color PINK....it wasn't used as much ....so I chose to use the color PINK (the underdog color of crayons)....and what do I do today, I try to help the underdog's (those less fortunate than I am....I am not calling them dogs)....so I was telling my friend KIM, I bet I can tell a lot about a person by the color of crayons they used as a kid...thus "The Crayon Profiler"....the only thing I can't figure out yet is why I like black....I think it represents my strange sense of humor that is a little weird, according to some people

Please visit my ministry blog Click Here and my ministry web-site Click Here.


10.24.2008

My little pumpkin

We recently went to a pumpkin patch to take our little grandbaby Alli, with about 4 outfits that she changed into....she was a little witch, a pumkin, and two other outfits. Alli had a time at the patch running around and us grandparents and parents barely able to keep up with her to get pictures. Here are just a few of the pictures that we took. I hope you enjoy them.




















10.18.2008

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Recently, well tonight which by the time you read this will probably be tomorrow which will be on Sunday.....we had a party with our Sunday School class; a Pumpkin Carving Contest....about 5 minutes before we left for the party, it dawned on me, I wanted to win this contest, because if you know me well, I am very competitive...and I didn't have a clue about what I wanted to carve....I have had 4 pumpkins in the back of my car trunk for over a week waiting for the time that I could make my masterpiece....I couldn't wait and was so excited, but forgot to even think about what I wanted to carve. So I, like half of America, googled pumpkin carvings via the Internet so that I could download a template. I wanted it to be the best carving ever....something that would really stand out and be very impressive to those that were there.....I wanted it to be secretive and so Chris and I slipped into a corner of the backyard where no one else was carving....it seemed that everyone tried to be just as secretive as we did, wanting their carvings to be a surprise too.
***
Chris and I got to work on our masterpieces and then something happened that I didn't expect, it got dark and we couldn't see our lines anymore....what was I going to do.....then after about 15 minutes, someone finally turned on a light so that we could barely see the lines, at least it was better than not seeing the lines at all....what did they think, that I was going to just draw and cut it free handed by Braille, I don't think so. I am way too competitive for that.
***
This was mine and Chris's masterpieces down below, we are the two faces, can you guess who they are? you probably would be able to guess, except for the fact that we did part of it in the dark and my little pumpkin saw got more of the nose than I wanted to get....I was bummed, I didn't want to start over.....well, if you guessed Sarah Palin and John McCain, you guessed right, I should give you a prize for even trying to guess, but unfortunately, I can't....Chris and I didn't win....what, I don't understand, clearly this is an election year and I thought it would be awesome and that we were destined to win...I don't know what happened until I investigated a little further. the judge was a Democrat, and can you believe it, they were in my Sunday School class.....oh well, you win some, you lose some. I will NOT hold any harsh feelings because I can work with others who aren't in my party.
***
Some of the pictures of these pumpkins were taken with a flash on my camera and some were not, some you can see better with the glow and some you can see better with the flash....they separated the adult pumpkins from the kids pumpkins....there were some awesome pumpkin carvings and there were people there that had obviously thought about their carvings since last year....the good thing is that I have a whole year now to think about what I want to do for the next carving contest...and I will carve mine before I get there in the light and with good pumpkin saws. I had so much fun, that I may buy more pumpkins just to carve for FUN and then give them away for Thanksgiving to all my friends and may try and sell them on ebay or something. Who knows, at least right now, I can do that in America, achieve my dreams of being a professional pumpkin carver. If anyone wants me to carve a pumpkin or two for you, I am available to start practicing.
***
Sarah is on the left and John is on the right....Chris did Sarah's carving and I did John's carving with the huge nose.
This was a neat one, skull with crossbones done by an adult of course.
These were the kids carvings, they were cute.

Adults, and mine and Chris' pumpkins with the flash.
A side view in the dark of Sarah and John.
You can't see this as well in the light, but the back one is of three wolve growling at the moon....it was awesome and the winner.
I liked the polka dotted pumpkin too.Loved the polka dots without the flash....isn't it neat.
The winner of the night....isn't it pretty awesome....our friend that we call Mater did it. Three wolves howling at the moon, lots of detail and really meticulous.
Had to throw in another picure of Sarah and John, I thought they were awesome except for the nose on John.....that may have been the reason we lost.

10.09.2008

Take the quiz!!!!

This is what type of blogger I am according to the quiz that I took below...click on the link and find out what type you are.




You Are a Life Blogger!



Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary.

If it happens, you blog it. And you make it as entertaining as possible.

You may be guilty of over-sharing a bit on your blog, but you can't help it.

Your life is truly an open book. Or in this case, an open blog!

10.08.2008

CELEBRATION TIME....HUGE GIVEAWAY

You can all thank Karen on this one....she reminded me that I can just change the date and instead of copying and pasting as I was not wanting to do in the below post and bring the former post to the top, so now you don't have to scroll down....but you can still read the post below this one....to give you a little more information about the items that are being given away.
***
First of all, I would really like to thank my new friend Jen for creating my new blog....she has been putting a lot time into it....she also did my ministry blog as well, so check it out too.
I have been waiting for this big special day in celebration of my newly designed blog, the big give-away is valued at $50 and you can visit the web-site for yourself and pick from the many items that Carla has at Just Stick Um Up ...I first found out about this site from my friend Jaci's blog...it is one of her older posts and is beautiful and it is something that she put on her bedroom wall....so I called the lady through her web-site and she told me that she came to Canton on Trade Days once a month....she was precious and made it on the spot....I got it that day.
If you aren't interested in the give-away, then check out Carla's web-site anyway and see for yourself all the wonderful things that she has....also check out Jaci's site to see what she purchased.
Now for the RULES:
Copy and Paste the "Crayon Profiler with free give-away" into your blog and advertise for me, I want more blogging buddies, and visits to my blog as well as my ministry blog ...we all need as much support as we can get. Make a comment to enter letting me know that you want to win...the drawing for the give-away will be on October 12th....I will announce the winner on the 13th.
Here are the pictures of the purchase I made for my friend Kim's little girls room....I knew that when I saw it, I just had to get it for Vivi Jo's room....I know that you will love it....enjoy the pictures....and the hopes of winning this wonderful prize....this is not at all close to what Carla's web-site has....she has everything....this was so easy to put up, it comes in a variety of sayings, fonts and colors you want....you can choose....I loved the one on Jaci's wall...click on her name to see it.








Last week for sign up giveaway

Just a reminder that you have until the 12th of October to sign up for my big Crayon Profiler Caper give away, you will probably have to scroll down really far to see what it is....I am too lazy to cut and paste today, but just go ahead and scroll down, go ahead, just do it, it's okay, just scroll on down and look at the big giveaway valued at $50....once I have drawn the name, I will video tape it and somehow figure out how to put the video on here and let you know who the big winner is....I will then give you instructions on how to go to the web-site and order it....I am working out the details with the owner....she is working on giving me a receipt number....so you can look on her site, figure out what it is that you want, either order it online and have it shipped directly to you, or just go to Canton like I did and pick it up....or just give her a call, she is a very sweet lady....you will love doing business with her....they have so much and not just the saying that I bought....you can have your own saying, scripture or whatever it is that suits your fancy....she also has plaques, and various different ways that you can use her product by adding it to the front of photo albums for extra glamour and drama effect, use it on glass wear, picture frames, you can use it in so many different ways....but you can't win if you don't sign up....so go on ahead and sign up....I would love to have a lot of names in the pot to draw from....and when I am video taping the drawing, for October effects I might even wear my new ebay win for you, the blonde ugly wig that I wasted money on....that should make you want to sign up right now....I didn't mention either, I had bought it for Vivo Jo's room, but it is not a site just for little girls, it is for boys, women, men, families, gifts, anniversary, weddings, and just about anything you want to use it for you can.....so go on SCROLL down and look for yourself....Use your imagination on what you can do with it....makes great gifts and makes people really happy.....Kim cried!!!! Now that is the kind of reaction that you want after it is put up....before I put it up though, she was bossing me around trying to tell me exactly how to put it up....but afterwards, I got what I wanted....her crying....now that is good stuff!!!!

10.06.2008

Home again, home again, giggidy gig

We finally made it home and I wanted to finish all my posting when I got home because it was so expensive to stay on the Internet....they charged 18 cents a minute.
As funny now when we were on our way to Italy, it was just as bad coming home....in fact, Chris and I as soon as we arrived couldn't stop thinking about the day that we would have to leave after the horrible experience getting there. So we decided to get an early start....we mapped out our course and walked it three times, timing it and making sure that we could get there in plenty of time to catch the train because our flight left at 6am in the morning....so the day after Rome, we had gotten in so late and we slept till late in the afternoon and then we were up for the count after 4pm, we did a little window shopping, went to eat gelatto as we did everyday and then more window shopping and off to eat supper and home to pack, we were both so homesick that we wanted an early start.
So the time came, we were all packed and believe me, I stuffed everything into two bags instead of having 4 of them, it was 1 o'clock in the morning when we set off, we didn't care how long we had to wait at the train station....as we were walking, a car stopped twice and just stared at us and Chris and I had prayed that God would protect us, we were in a high crime area....anyway, we didn't know what he wanted, he just stopped where we were and just stared but later moved on, Praise the Lord. Chris and I had to go down and up a tunnel that went under the train station, the one that we couldn't find the night we arrived....anyway, they had a middle section that was for rolling your luggage down it or bicycles, whatever, that is what I slipped on in my sandals and broke the other toe nail, I even took a picture of it along with the nail but you will be glad to know that I accidentally erased it.
Back to the story, we were almost up the end of the tunnel when we heard a gang coming through and they were loud, laughing at us and pointing, and we hauled butt up the stairs just in the nick of time before they came out practically in the midst of a crowd of people. We made it to the station and it was practically empty, very scary and creepy....we had several people come up to us and asking for money, saying things we clearly did not understand....we had to wait almost 2 hours before the next train....there were no trains coming in so the same people kept sticking around and it was really scary....Chris and I just kept praying that God would keep us safe....anyway, we set there and while we were there, lots of men and women were yelling and screaming at each other, I think when Italians fight, they get very loud....there were two couple that came up with about 10 garbage bags of clothes plus two huge suitcases....the lady saw us freezing and shaking and basically was asking us why we didn't have coats, we gathered this through the sign language, we couldn't communicate, we finally got that she was Romanian and her husband was so drunk, we weren't sure how he made it up the steps 50 times carrying up those bags of clothes, he looked like he was being abusive to his wife or we assumed that it was his wife, but that may be their custom, who knows.
Chris and I had two choices, to take the sleeper train that we knew we wouldn't have any room, or take the next one and push getting to the airport on time, we chose the first one....well, the train arrives and I am frantically stuffing my things in, Chris is next and goes to the left and I am thinking I will move my stuff as soon as he is in....all the Romanians (there were two couples) went ahead and didn't let me move but they frantically put all of their things straight in on mine, the door was blocked and I couldn't see or get to Chris, I was stuck in a corner with my luggage and had no room at all to move around and it would be a little over an hour ride and still cold because I am in the middle of the port where you get on before you walk into the sleeper doors....they didn't move anything and they set their things on top of mine as well as my feet....I tried to move it but they wouldn't let me, so I set on my suitcase and took out a book and tried to read, as they fought, yelled or maybe they were love talking, who knows....one of the men were trying to tell me that he was Romanian, I had gotten that part, but he was trying to tell me something about 3 and I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me and he was drunk and getting very upset at me....started praying again for God to protect me, somehow the two men made it past the door that barely opened and I prayed that God would protect Chris, I had no idea what was going on his side.
Finally a little peace and I could read my book without distractions and not having to read the same sentence over 20 times before it sank in....until the Romanian woman fell asleep and started snoring so loudly, I was surprised that it didn't stop the train.
We finally made it to the train station and got off, the next thing we did was get everything off by the grace of God and started trying to find a cab....many went by and wouldn't help us because we had too much stuff....after waiting and waiting and waiting, a precious cab driver drove up and we asked him if he could get it all in, he shrugged his shoulders and basically said he would try without saying a word, his English wasn't go good, and he stuffed it all in and we made it on time to the airport....we got through customs and baggage x-raying things without having to take our shoes off, and we were off to find our terminal....we waited and waited and waited again and then they announced that everyone had to remove the waiting area and that we would have to all stand in line again and show our passports again for some reason, we got up to the front and they handed us forms that we had to fill out saying that if our flight went down, we had to list contact people and put it all in a drop box, not a very comforting thing to fill out before we leave and to me, there were all kinds of suspicious people around....we finally get on the plane and we have great seats, no one is in front of us and we had plenty of leg room and can sleep soundly, problem is, we are so tired that we can't sleep....so I finally get to sleep and all of a sudden, we hear this man across from us that snored so loud that no one could sleep, at least he could.
We made it home and literally wanted to kiss the U.S.A. ground, made it home late last night and rested all day today....I won a pair of shoes on ebay and that is about all that I did....it was fun or rather okay and if I had another chance to go back to Italy, not so sure that I would go, for at least now, I wouldn't anyway.....maybe in a few years if I could take all of my kids and several friends with me....it is just not the same without family and friends and going to a foreign country, you really appreciate your friends and family and especially your country. So hopefully, I can catch up on all your blogs and comment as well....by the way, just made three blogs today about Florence and Rome....we took so many pictures it was hard to pick what to upload....I think all together we took over 1000+ (correction) pictures.
By the way, the next World Championship Duathlon's are in Charlotte North Carolina in the United States.....so it should be easier if Chris qualifies and I can meet a few blogging buddies while I am there. Glad to be home safe and sound and sleeping in my own bed again.

Rome and Vatican Tour

Okay, I love Tiramusu and everywhere I go, I have to try their version, and believe me, everyone has a different version....I had it all over Italy and it was all different....I have to say, this one looked the best out of all that I have eaten, but it was not that great....in fact, the BEST Tiramusu that I have ever eaten has been at the Olive Garden, no lie!!! That is the first picture I had to start out with.
Our last trip in Italy was to Rome and we had tickets for a tour of Rome....I had very mixed emotions and I can't tell you why, except that it was spiritually dead....full of gangs, graffiti, con-artists, pick pocketers and people would freely come and ask for money, it was so scary and way too busy for me....in fact, the day after we left, there was a marching protest due to racism, with 6 South Africans killed....it was so crazy busy and I was ready to leave at the end of the day....one day is not enough time to visit everything, but it was enough for me and Chris. Rome was an interesting place full of History....I added a link just so if you were interested, you could read about it rather than me telling you about it or just google it and there are a couple of sites where you can go on virtual tours. We toured the Vatican while we were there and I was amazed and a little mixed up about it....they said that there was so much to see inside that if you looked at everything for 60 seconds, it would take you 12 years of your life to see it all.....we were just on a three hour tour. They had so many things, things stolen from Egypt and so much more....I couldn't understand why.
They have an average of 33,000 people coming through the Vatican everyday to visit except on Holidays and special occasions and at $75 a person, that is a lot of money, they can afford to buy all of the things that were inside.


This is a bath that many women at once would use to take a bath in donkey's milk....I bet they had to milk a lot of donkey's....but I was wondering why it was in the Vatican, I thought it was all monks and men, no women....confusing to me.
St. Peter, the sculpture hat was created by Michelangelo...he was a genuis....we also toured the Sistine Chapel that he painted but weren't allowed to take photos....it is very small compared to what I was thinking in my head and is not where they worshiped at all....don't know what I was thinking.


Can't remember what this was in the Vatican courtyard....and my camera went to shooting everything, no matter what I thought it was....it could have some dead Pope in it or something, in fact, they had 3 Pope's inside the Vatican in glass caskets, weird.
The Pope's courtyard, but he has a more private one....there are 900 people that live there and I am sure they are the ones to use this instead of him.....he has his own.


Part of the Basillica, can't remember what side.







Part of the Coliseum