I'm Back!!!

Hey blogger friends! I was on the computer until late Sunday night and everything with my computer was fine. I woke Monday morning and my computer was not working! I was so upset. My computer had to go to the shop and I did not get it back until Friday night. I have really missed my computer and have been lost without it.

It affects all aspects of my life. I found myself wanting to look things up, but couldn't, since the computer has been in the shop. I send out and also read lots of emails each day and was not able to do that. Not to mention, I couldn't read any of your wonderful blogs and leave comments. It will take me a long time to go back and read past blogs to see what I have missed.

Hopefully I am back up and running and can do some more posting soon. I am keeping 2 precious little girls this weekend while their parents are in the Caribbean. The grandparents will take over late on Sunday afternoon. My youngest is finishing up school projects and exams and will be home on May 2nd.
My oldest is with friends in Charleston this weekend. I have been babysitting her little dog, Chi Chi.

Have a wonderful weekend. I hope all of you are having beautiful weather, like we are having here in NC!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Chris Tomlin Concert!!!!

On Thursday, April 9th, my daughter met us on her way home from college for Easter vacation and we went to see Chris Tomlin in concert. It was an amazing start to the Easter season. What an awesome night of praise and worship to our precious LORD and His SON JESUS CHRIST!!!

Hey everybody, I finally got all my concert pictures together and I have them loaded in a weird order. Just overlook me again. LOL! I like to keep you on your toes when reading my blog. I have learned how to put more than 5 pictures on a post at one time, but I got them out of order. I need to move on with my day, so this is how they will stay. This first picture is of Christy Nockels of Watermark. She was amazing! Her voice is so beautiful and she sang a brand new song that she had written.

Here is a picture of the stage with the group singing together during the finale. Israel Houghton and New Breed opened up the concert and they were amazing too. I wasn't familiar with Israel, but all the songs he sang are ones that you sing in your churches that have praise and worship music. Israel was wonderful and his testimony brought chill bumps to your arms. His mother chose not to abort him and he became such a wonderful man of God! What a plan God had for his life.

Here is my dear friend Marilyn. We had one extra ticket for the concert and when we asked Adelaide who she wanted to take to the concert with us, she immediately said Marilyn. Marilyn is a special friend to me, as well as to my daughter, Adelaide. She was so blessed to be able to go with us to the concert. Marilyn loves the Lord and has been such a great prayer warrior to our family in times of need. Marilyn was so thrilled to get to meet Chris. Marilyn is a new grandmother!!

This is the cover of Chris' new CD and the name of the tour. If you have not gotten the CD, by all means, you need to get it. It is AWESOME. I love the songs on it. I especially love JESUS MESSIAH and I WILL RISE!!! The song LOVE is good too and it was sung with the Watoto African Children's Choir.
Here is my sweet Adelaide with Chris. We had actually meet Chris 4 years ago, but it was equally as exciting meeting him again. He is so adorable in person and so kind and friendly. He makes you feel so welcome when he greets you. Thanks Chris for a very memorable evening!!!
Here is my dear friend Sherian with Chris. Chris got started singing praise and worship music many years ago in the church where Sherian's brother-in-law works as a youth minister in Texas. Chris has remained friends with their families and he provided us with our tickets and the meet and greet passes. Thanks again Chris for your generosity!! We had such a wonderful time praising God with you!
Here is Chris seeing Sherian for the first time. He was so excited to see her and they talked just like old friends. Isn't Chris the cutest thing? He has such a sweet smile and he so loves the Lord!!

When we met Chris 4 years ago, I was so busy taking pictures of everybody else that I did not get a picture of me with Chris. This time, I said I was going to get a picture for sure. Well, the person taking our picture with my camera hit the wrong button on the camera, so I never got a picture with my camera this time either. Instead we have a video of us standing with Chris and we are talking back and forth to the person trying to take the picture. It is so funny, but I will spare you that right now. LOL!!! This picture was taken with Adelaide's camera and she had to forward it to me, but somehow I figured out how to load it and get it posted. Isn't that amazing?? I'm not so challenged after all.

Here is another group shot with Israel Houghton on the left with the hat and guitar and Chris in the black t-shirt on the right. This was the last night of their concert tour, so they really pulled out all the stops and gave it their all. It was one of the best concerts and I felt so uplifted when I left that night. A beautiful way to start the season with Good Friday the next day and then Easter on that Sunday.

At the end of the concert, the band covered Chris with that canned string stuff, whatever you call it. It was funny!!!

Here is a close up of Chris singing. He had the audience on our feet most of the night, but he did ask us to sit down for a few of the songs.

Chris not only is a very talented singer, but he loves to speak to the audience and his stories and testimonies add such a richness to the concert. He certainly knows how to lead praise and worship!!!

Here is our little group in our seats after the concert was over. We weren't ready for it to end. Poor Don, he had to ride home by himself, because all of us ladies wanted to ride home with Adelaide and visit with her and have "Girl Time". My daughter is so blessed to have these wonderful ladies who are such an important part of her life and who love her so much. This was truly an evening that we will all remember forever. Thanks again Chris!!!!!

Great Giveaway for Summer!!!

My blogger friend Mrs. Newlywed is having a wonderful giveaway!!!! It is a beautiful monogrammed beach towel from another favorite blog site, MONOGRAM CHICK.
Monogram Chick has the most wonderful items for birthday, graduation, bridesmaid's gifts, etc. Please check out her site.

If you comment on the giveaway on Mrs. Newlywed's blog you get 1 chance to win, if you are a follower you get 2 chances and if you post about it on your blog you get 3 chances to win!
You have until midnight April 19th!

Check out both of these sites and register. You just might win! Have a blessed day!

Belated Birthday Pictures!!!

I am a month behind on posting my birthday pictures, but hey, who cares? These are my sweet parents and they are so special in my life! I see them almost every day as we live in the same town. My Mom will be 85 on April 29th and my Dad will be 88 on June 10th. They amaze me. They don't let their age keep them down. They love life and enjoy each and every day. We love doing things with them!

My girls showered me with all this beautiful Lilly stuff!!! Isn't it great? Blue is my favorite color, but I still love pink too, so I have some of both. I am having so much fun using my new Lilly products. Circle notes, mousepad, file folders, notebook, coffee mug, stickie notes, etc. If you have not seen the new line of Lilly stationery products, you are missing out. It is beautiful and great for gift-giving. I gave the girls Lilly stationery for Valentine's Day, but did not get any for myself, so they wanted to treat me for my birthday. Thanks girls, I love it and will think of you when I use it!!!

This is my sweet sister who came to visit me for the week of my birthday. She lives about 2 hours from me, but surprised me and came down to visit for my birthday. We had the most fun doing things with our Mom that week. We went out to eat, shopped till we dropped and had such a great time being together. It was a treat to have her visit me, because I usually go to her house. She lives in the mountains of North Carolina. My sister and I are 11 years apart in age, but now that we are older, it doesn't seem like there is such a distance in our ages. Thanks CC (Cecelia) for coming to visit and making my birthday so special.

This is my sweet friend, Sherian. She is so precious! We have shared many fun times together, as well as some very difficult times too. She never had any girls, so she has "adopted" my girls and they love her. We have so many things in common and love spending time with each other. Sherian had lunch with our family on my birthday. Thanks Sherian, you are a VERY DEAR friend!!!

These beads are part of my gift from my friend Sherian. She gave Adelaide a set of these beads for her birthday in January, but they were a different color. These beads are called Viva Beads and they are incredible!!! Whenever I wear them, people always comment on how beautiful they are. They are made out of polymer clay. I posted about Viva Beads after Adelaide's birthday, but if you are new to my blog, please check them out. The colors are AWESOME!! I could have a necklace in every color. They also have other items as well. You can just order from their website and they are not real expensive. The necklace is actually on a stretchy cord, so it is easy to get on and off.

Here is my birthday celebration at my pre-school. I love cranberries and one my Moms made cranberry bread for my birthday party with the children. I have a wax candle birthday cake that we light for the children (a pink one for girls and a blue one for boys), so I had that candle to blow out and the box shaped like a gift plays the song "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU". The children gave me a sweet card and some pretty flowers. My 3 year olds are always so excited to celebrate my birthday and to realize that the teacher actually has a birthday too. It is always funny to hear how old they think I am. That is a hoot sometimes!

These are 5 of my close friends who have been with each other since we were all pregnant with our children many years ago. We originally all went to church together and were in Circle and Sunday School together, but now several of us go to different churches. We have shared cancer together, deaths, job loss, weddings, graduations, etc. These are the friends who are there for you no matter what. When one of our children gets married this group of ladies does the bridesmaid's luncheon. We will do that for every one of our children. Isn't that fun? This picture was actually taken on my birthday celebration, but it is in the beautiful restaurant where we have had all the bridesmaid's luncheons so far. When we get together, it is hard to get a word in edgewise, because in case you didn't guess, we ALL love to talk. Isn't that what friends are for? We call ourselves the WOW'S!! This stands for WILD OLD WOMEN!!! LOL!!! We can get pretty wild at times!

Here is my wonderful family!!! My husband, Tom, and my girls, Lauren and Adelaide. In case you haven't noticed, I now have a link on my sidebar for my girls' blogs. They are the ones that got me into blogging and if you don't follow their blogs, you might be interested. They are amazing young women and I am so proud of them!!! My youngest, Adelaide, is finishing up her sophomore year in college. My oldest daughter, Lauren, has been working as an intern at a large accounting firm, but was offered a job with them several weeks ago. We are so proud of her for all her accomplishments! As you can imagine, I adore both of these precious girls and they are the apple of my eye!!! They bring so much joy to my life. My husband and I have been together since we met in high school when we were 15 years old. It is hard to believe that we have been together for 40 years!! Where does the time get to? We will celebrate our 33 year wedding anniversary on May 15th of this year. I love my family. Thanks for making my birthday so special!! My sweet son-in-law was taking the picture, so he didn't get in with us. Sorry Thomas!

Here I am getting ready to blow out my candles and make my birthday wish. Everybody is singing to me. That is my Dad singing his heart out and my daughter, Lauren sitting beside me. I fixed dinner and everybody came over and we enjoyed being together on the night before my birthday. In case you can't tell, we love family time together. We went out on that Friday night and had a Mexican celebration, I cooked dinner for everybody on Saturday night and we went out to a restaurant on Sunday. Then on Monday night I had dinner with my girlfriends. Birthdays are for celebrating!!! Right?

Here is Adelaide and me at the Mexican celebration. The whole wait staff serenaded me!! They sang in Spanish and English. I had to wear the Mexican sombrero and they put whipped cream on my face. We love Mexican food, so it was fun to celebrate at the Mexican restaurant too.

Thanks to all of you for the birthday comments on my blog. I also got lots of wonderful birthday cards from friends and family that helped to make my birthday so amazing. Having had cancer five years ago, I am so thankful for each and every day of my life. I try my best to live each day to the fullest and to praise God for all the blessings in my life. I have always loved birthdays, but they are even more special to me now! Thanks for sharing in my special day, even if I was late getting the pictures posted!! I love all my blogger friends!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter to all my blogger friends. I hope you have a blessed day with family and friends!

May we all remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross!

Love & blessings to you all!

National Champions!!

Congratulations to the Carolina TarHeels for winning the NCAA Tournament!!! They are National Champions! I was watching the late news after the game and Franklin Street in Chapel Hill is WILD, to say the least!

(This game was for you, Daniel, just like the championship 4 years ago!!!)

Another Spring Giveaway!!!

Bacardi Mama introduced me to a great new blog and a wonderful giveaway! Becky at Looking Through the Eyes of Luv has this amazing giveaway to get us all ready for the spring/summer weather (if it ever decides to get here). Yesterday at my house it was in the 70's and it is colder than ever tonight. BRRR!!! I'll put on my coat and grill if I win!!!

Becky is a flight attendant, so it will be fun reading her blog. She had some great recipes too! Check it out and register while you are there. You just might win! I love those circular shishkabob holders. They are pretty awesome! Thanks Bacardi Mama for giving me the heads up on the giveaway.

Go TarHeels!!!

GO HEELS!!!

My home state team, the University of North Carolina, better known as the Tarheels, has advanced to the finals of the NCAA tournament against Michigan State. The game will be played in Detroit on Monday night. UNC is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Needless to say, I am pulling for UNC to win!! I didn't attend UNC, but you always have to root for your home state team. I have lots of friends who went there, as well as my children's friends who go there now. One of my daughter's good friends went up for the tournament. I talked to her Dad today and he said that she was so excited. That is a trip of a lifetime for a college student!

My brother-in-law is a die hard Carolina fan, so I know he is on cloud nine hoping for a VICTORY on Monday night. Their dogs will be glad when this tournament is over. The dogs get so upset with all the yelling going on during basketball season. Larry, I hope they pull this one out for you!!!

I forgot to say, my husband is a big Duke fan.

Daniel, I know that you will be watching the game tomorrow night. I hope they win for you too!!! You're the man!

New Spring/Summer Clothes!!!

Having 2 girls is such a plus when it comes to clothes, makeup and shopping. They always want me to look my best and not look like an "old lady". Thanks girls for helping me stay young. I found this sweater recently at Target and my youngest daughter told me to get it, because it looked like one that they had at J Crew for a lot less money. I wasn't sure of the gray color at first, but I have loved it! I wear it with a bright colored (turquoise or hot pink) tank top underneath and a beautiful necklace and it looks so cute with jeans for work. I teach pre-school, so my uniform of choice is a nice pair of blue jeans.



I love this white blouse that I found at our local Lilly store back in the winter. It is not Lilly, but I thought it was just so cute. The 3/4 length sleeves are so unusual and they have bows tied on the cuffs. You probably can't see in the picture, but there are tucks up around the neckline. This blouse was 75% off, so I got a real steal on it. Love those good bargains!!!

This is another beautiful silk top that I found at the Lilly store for 75% off. I love the sleeves too and the detail around the neck is so pretty. There are little flower rosettes and they have beads sewn on them for added detail. I thought this top would look great with white pants for summer and a cute pair of sandals!

My youngest daughter loves EBay and is always sending me links to look online for good buys. Don't you just love someone to do your shopping for you? Thanks Adelaide!! She found this skirt for me and I won it. $18!!! How about that for a good deal. It had been worn, but it looks brand new. I love a long, flowing skirt in the summer with a cute tee shirt and sandals.

Adelaide found this skirt for me on EBay and I didn't want to take the chance on losing it, so I just "bought it now". It is my favorite, because I love blue!! I love the striped detail on the hem and also on the front pockets. This skirt is shorter, but not too short. I don't want to look like a teenager. These bright colors are just so happy.

When my daughter was home on spring break, we went to a wonderful consignment store that we heard had lots of Lilly stuff. I bought these 2 pair of gently worn capris there. I loved the colors and the prints. The blue pair has monkeys on them. So cute!! Blue is my favorite color, but I also love pink. A girl has to have some pink in her wardrobe!!!

This was my bargain find at TJ Maxx. I found this gorgeous top in the rack of blouses and it was the only Lilly blouse that they had. It was $15 and the original price was $150. What a steal!! The colors are amazing and did not photograph that well. It is dark navy, hot pink and pretty shades of green. I wear pearls with it and it looks so pretty. Every time I wear it, I get a compliment on it. It really dresses up a pair of jeans.

I didn't take pictures of them, but Adelaide found me the cutest 3/4 sleeve cardigans back in the winter at the J Crew outlet. She got me one in hot pink and one in turquoise. They were really cheap. I think they were about $15 each. I have loved them this spring with a tank top underneath and a beautiful necklace. I love new clothes, but I am a thrifty shopper. That way I can have more for my money.

I have a pretty hot pink double breasted trench coat that I inherited from my daughter and it has been the hit of the spring season. Every time I wear it, somebody wants to know where I got it. I'm going to have to purchase some more "FUN" coats. I might have to check out Old Navy and see what they have. With the weather staying cool, I need a light coat during this time of year.

I can't wait for my daughter to be home for Easter break and hopefully we can hit Target and some of our other favorite shopping spots and look for some more good buys. Take care ladies. I hope you enjoyed looking at my new purchases. What have you all been purchasing for spring/summer?