Girls weekend was WONDERFUL!!!!!!

Ok, So it's not the greatest picture, but this was taken at City Tavern. We got together for a few drinks and of course some great laughs! WE HAD THE BEST TIME!!!!!!!! I think that Kim fell down 3 times, and I fell once with a flip involved. Needless to say, but we were feeling PRETTY GOOD, ecxept for poor Kellie. She needed some cafeeine, so she drank Mtn Dews all night long. I'm sure that everyone at the club had a pretty good comedy show watching all of us!!!!! I swear that I have not laughed that much in an extremelly long time. It felt so good. We all needed this time with the girls!!!!!

Girls thank you for making Friday night so much fun. We need to start doing this more often!!! It was GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!!!!!

Weekend....what weekend?

My goodness, every week seems to fly by faster and faster. Before we know it Christmas will be here! October has been an extremely busy month around the Cody house. I have something going on almost every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this month through December. Whoo.....it makes me tired just thinking about it. =)
This weekend was just the start of all of it. Britt had to work this weekend, so Ashlyn and I went to homecoming at Bandy's Friday night with my parents. We had a great time. It was a little cold, but it was nice to go and watch my old home school play football. It brought back so many memories from back when I was in high school. I just love going to high school football games. And Ashlyn LOVED it too! She was dancing around to the music that the band was playing. I think that she had a ball.
On Saturday Kellie and I went to Rockbarn for a day at the spa. Britt had given me a gift certificate on Valentine's Day, and I just now used it. Can you believe that? I got an hour long massage. It was SOOOO NICE! My neck feels so much better today. After our massages Kellie and I had lunch out by the pool. We just sat for a couple of hours and chatted. We really need to do that more often. Maybe we could do a girl's day there one day for a Christmas get together. That would be nice.
Saturday night I went with my friend Renee to her sister's 40th birthday party. The party was held at Mia Famiglia in Cornelius. This is a new restaurant in the new shopping centers by the Peninsula, so it was very nice! All of our meals were paid for before hand. Our drinks were the only things that we had to pay for. And the food was delicious! It's so funny because Renee and her family are from New York. They all live in NC now. I was officially adopted into their family on Saturday night, so I am their "country daughter". I just love all of them. They are so much fun to be around. They really are like a second family to me. After dinner we had more drinks and listened to a piano player at the bar. He played all kinds of songs that you could sing and dance to. It was a fantastic party!
Sunday Ashlyn and I went to church. For lunch the church held a luncheon to raise money for the mission trip to Costa Rica that is in January of 2007. Mom is going to be one of the lucky members of the mission team this upcoming year. She is really excited about it. After lunch we went home and took a nap. Then we went back to church at 6:00 for Ashlyn to begin children's church which is every Sunday evening from 6:00-7:30. At first she wasn't sure about the idea of being left alone, but after she ate her corndog and fries she went right back to her room with all of the other kids and had a blast. When I picked her up she was grinning from ear to ear. She had painted a picture for me, which is now proudly hung on my refrigerator door. She got in her carseat last night and told me "I had FUN tonight mommy!" It was great to hear those cheerful words come out of her mouth. I was so worried about leaving her there, but she was FINE! She is looking forward to going back next week.
Now my weekend has ended, and I'm back at work. YUCK!! =) Oh well. Hopefully this week will fly by and Friday will be here in the blink of an eye. I can't wait for FRIDAY! Girls night out here I come.

The finished product

The floor looks AWESOME in the basement!

Boo-boo's

It's just a part of growing up. Ashlyn has already had a handful of skinned knees and elbows, bruises, and one busted lip in the past 2 years. Really she is lucky that she hasn't had more than that, but she is usually very cautious about everything that she does......until yesterday.
I picked her up at the babysitter's, and when I got out of the car she had this pitiful look on her face. Nancy told me that she had a little accident yesterday afternoon. Nancy was out back swinging Ashlyn when all of a sudden, kurplunk, Ashlyn fell face first out of the swing onto the ground. She had a busted nose and lip.
I picked her up and she hugged my neck so tight. I'm just thankful that she wasn't seriously injured. And poor Nancy......She felt TERRIBLE! I think that it may have scared her worse than it did Ashlyn.
When she woke up this morning her nose was extremely swollen and blue. I don't think that she broke it because it isn't crooked, but it looks really bad right now due to the swelling. I'm sure that it won't be the last time that something like this happens. I just hope that the swelling eventually goes down. It makes me hurt just thinking about it.

1 Year Anniversary!?!?!?!?......and tiling

We had a pretty good weekend. Friday night we started on our basememnt. We got the base coat down. Saturday morning we got ready and headed up the mountain. The leaves were beginning to change, so it was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I hate that I forgot my camera while we were up there. Can you believe that? no camera. We ate a Nakato's Japanese steak hous. It was very good! I only had 2 glasses of wine, but I hardly ever drink anymore. When we got home I ended up passing out. I was SOOOO tired.
Today, the actual anniversary day, We..........................................worked all afternoon on the downstairs. It's going to look really good, but we worked our butt's off today!
And Holly colored my hair for me. Thanks Holly! It looks so much better now.
Well that's basicall our weekend. FUN FUN!!! =0) Work work work. But it has to get done. I can't wait to see the finished product.
Have a good week ahead! =0)

I'm a mess....

I don't know if I had too much coffee this morning, or if my nerves are just shot, but I feel like a jittery fool right now. =0) I really don't know what my problem is. It's probably a combination of things, but I feel so anxious right now. I needed to use my blog for some therapy right now......to just write out everything that is running through my head at the moment.

So here I go........I know that no one can live forever. Everyone is going to live to some point and then we DIE. And I know that I shouldn't fear death, but I do. I don't fear death because of the pain that may be felt physically, but I am terribly afraid of the emotional pain that everyone has to suffer. I am afraid of death for not only myself, but for my friends and my family. Why can't we think like Moriah's son, and be happy for a loved one to go to heaven. I know that they are in a much better place, and it is selfish to think this way........but why can't keep this person around for just a little bit longer? Why do some people lose a baby or a child? I don't think that I could handle that, and I wish that I was stronger so that I knew I could cope with a major loss. I mean it's LIFE....we live, we die. We all know that's how it works, but yet death is such a hard concept for many of us to grasp.

My mom came in the door last night. Ashlyn and I were in the den playing; waiting on her to come home. We started talking about this and that......somehow the conversation led to my mom telling me that my Mammaw Drum wants me to bring my video camera over one day and let Pappaw video Mammaw and Ashlyn throughout the day.

Most of you know that my Mammaw has Pulmonary Fibrosis, which is hardening of the lungs. I found out about her diagnosis in the hospital after I had given birth to Ashlyn. Everyone knew how devastated I would be when I found out about the disease, so they waited until I delivered Ashlyn to tell me. When I found out, she had been diagnosed for a few months, and the doctors had given her a year to live. Well, she has well surpassed what they had told her. And I truly believe it was due to her special guardian angel.....Ashlyn. If you saw the bond between these two it would melt your heart. My Mammaw thinks the WORLD of Ashlyn, and Ashlyn thinks the WORLD of her Mammaw!

My heart just breaks into a million pieces thinking about this bond being broken. I too have always had a special bond with my Mammaw. I used to sit with her for hours and just talk about anything and everything. I could talk to her about anything, and she would never judge. She always makes me feel better when I am down and out. I just can't stand the thought of losing her. I know that she can't live forever, but I want to know that she will live long enough for Ashlyn to REMEMBER her, and to know how special she was to her Mammaw. If you ask her who's baby she is, she'll say "I'm Mammaw's pretty baby". I think that my Mammaw and Pappaw Drum are truly Ashlyn's two favorite people. They let her do ANYTHING that she wants, and they should. They are the GREAT grandparents. Great meaning the best EVER!!!!

Mammaw is starting to go downhill. She would never tell me that because she's afraid that if she says that she doesn't feel good, I won't bring Ashlyn over as much. I know better than to do that. Ashlyn is the best medicine that my grandma has ever had. That's what has kept her with us this long.

So in saying all of this..........please pray for my Mammaw. Pray for our family. Pray for the strength to get me through this rough time. And pray for Ashlyn. Even though she is young, I truly believe that it is going to be hard on her. She isn't going to understand why Mammaw's not around anymore. I do know that my Mammaw will be watching over all of us, especially Ashlyn, once she gets to heaven.

What happened???

Why is the world this crazy? I know that we've always had crime, but it hasn't always been this bad. I am just baffled by the amount of CRAZY people out there! Three school shootings in the past week!?!? And one of them an Amish school.........people who keep to their selves, and don't bother anyone.
I swear to you that a few days before yesterday's shooting I thought to myself.......maybe we should move to an Amish country. Of course I wasn't serious, but I just thought about how these people live, and I thought that no one would ever think of attacking an Amish school. And then it happened. Yesterday a man killed 5 Amish girls and himself.........for some kind of grudge that he had from 20 years ago.
First of all, why would you kill anyone.......but especially an innocent child. It makes me sooooo angry!!! How are you not supposed to live in a small amount of fear for your child when we have crazy people like these 3 men out and about?
My heart goes out to the families who have lost a loved one, the family of the killers, and all of the children who lived through these horrific acts.

My snuggle bug

It must just be her age, because this week Ashlyn has been the sweetest little girl I've ever seen. Tuesday night she wanted to lay in the bed with me for a few minutes, so of course I gave in. I told her that she could lay with me for a little while and then she had to go to sleep in her bed. We laid there. I rubbed her tummy and she was just looking at me with the cutest little grin on her face. Then she turned over to me, hugged my neck, and started rubbing my back. After laying there about 20 minutes, she quietly said "mommy, I'm ready to get in my bed now." It felt so good to have my sweet little girl back. I really think that she didn't feel good the week that she had those raging fits. She still threw some tantrums this week, but nothing like the past 2 weeks. I can't even describe the way that I feel snuggling up to her in the bed. I swear that she is the best thing that ever happened to me. The bond between us is unbelievable. I know that in a few years, when she's a teenager, she probably will not want to do anything with mom anymore. That just isn't cool. =) I'm trying to savor all of the warm hearted moments while I can. It's the best feeling in the entire world!!!!

PICTURES FROM THE REHEARSAL DINNER

REHEARSAL

MOMMY, DADDY, AND ASHLY AT THE REHEARSAL DINNER

REHEARSAL

GIRLS DAY GETTING MANIS AND PEDIS! FUN FUN!!

PICS FROM THE WEDDING

MOMMY AND ASHLYN

ASHLYN IN HER BEAUTIFUL FLOWERGIRL DRESS.

DOESN'T SHE LOOK LIKE A LITTLE PRINCESS???

WEDDING WEEKEND!!!!! =)

This was the BIG weekend for my friend Ginger!!!! She has been waiting for this day since I first met her.

On Friday morning we all went to get a manicure and pedicure. That was one of the gifts that she had given us. SO NICE!!!!! =) After our day of pampering, we all went off in seperate ways. Holly and I just shopped a little, and after that we went hom and took a much needed nap!

The rehearsal went well. Ashlyn actrually walked down the isle with the ring bearer. They were adorable. She stood beside if me for maybe 5 seconds, and then she decided that she would run up and down the isle, like 100 times. Besides that the rehearsal went well.

Now it was time to head off to the Black Angus for the dinner. This place was VERY NICE!!!
I had the chicken and Britt got the NY Strip. Both Entrees were off the chain! It was awesome!

Fast Forward to the day of the wedding. Ashlyn and I got to the church around 1:45. I had to get my hair done. Audrea started working on it. She did a GREAT job on me and Ashlyn!! I just wish that I could do things like that by myself, and Ginger hair and makeup , OH MY GOSH!!!!! It looked outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was finally time for all of us to line up. At first Ashlyn wanted to go with me, we kept telling her that if she was a good girl and held the little boy's hand going down the isle she would get some fruit snacks. I went down the isle, and no Ashlyn so that's a good thing. It was finally time for Ashlyn and the ringbearer to walk down. They both started walking, but at different times. Finally Ashlyn runs right past them over where the bridesmaids are. So all in all we are doing pretty good! She was throwing her petals over at Ginger. She was grabbing huge handfulls and throwing them everywhere. Once she had no more left to throw, she started picking all of them up, one, by one. I couldn't get her attention. That's just what she wanted to do, but then she grabbed the flower basket and looked like she was going to take off up and down the isles, so Britt snatched her up and had to carry her outside. She was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Headed to Rockbarn for the reception. It was fun we ate, drank, and danced all night long. Ashlyn was glued to the dancefloor the entire night. She would leave it to get a bit of food, and then she was right back out there shakin her booty. She was soooo cute.

Well, That's about it. I'm posted some pictres.

What is a mom to do?????

My daughter can be the sweetest, cutest, most precious little girl ever. However she also has another side. She throws these fits..........flailing, screaming, kicking, hitting, scratching. Now, she has done things like this in the past, but nothing compares to the past few days. She gets zoned out in her raging fits. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that will calm her down.

It's even gotten so bad that my Mom called me at work on Monday. Her nerves were shot! Ashlyn had thrown a terrible 1 hour long temper tantrum for Mom. It all started because Ashlyn didn't want to put her shoes on. My mom was so frustrated! She told me that she couldn't handle her acting like that. Nana and pappaw's are supposed to be the good guys. Mommy and daddy are supposed to be the mean ones. =) That's what mom told me on the phone.
I know that Ashlyn is just trying to see how far she can push her limits, and she's learning her independence, but heaven help me. The child needs to learn that she is not the boss, and that she can't always have it HER WAY! Moriah - HELP!!!! What do I do? I try to put her in time out, but she bows up and won't stay in place. I spank her and that just makes her madder. I totally believe in spankings, but she does not understand why it's ok for me to do that to her, but she can't hit me. What do I do? I don't want her to end up being "that child" that I would see out in public kicking and screaming. HELP!!!! =)

Pictures from the weekend.

My Weekend.....

Much better than my week. That's for sure!! Friday night Ashlyn and I just came home and rested. I watched the Notebook, which I love!!!! I believe that this movie could be the greatest love story ever!!!!
Then Saturday Ashlyn and I headed to Statesville for a Bridal Luncheon. It was held at the Maple House Cafe. This place was off the chain! The food was WONDERFUL, and the service was even better. It was great. Only a week left until her big day. I am so happy for her!
Saturday evening I wanted to go shopping, but Ashlyn was not going to go no matter what. I told her that she was not the boss, and that she was going shopping no matter what. Well..........I tried to put her in her car seat not once, but twice, and she was determined that she wasn't going. She bowed up and kicked and screamed for over an hour. I'm telling you she is STUBBORN!!! And she won't give up either! So needless to say we didn't go shopping and she ended up being the boss. UGGGHHHH!! Terrible two's are SOOO MUCH FUN!! =0 (Yeah right) So my friend Holly came over and we watched Failure to Launch, which is another favorite of mine since my "man on the side" is in it. Love it!!
Today we missed church because Ashlyn threw another one of her tantrums this morning. She pitched a fit for almost an hour. There was no way that we were going to make it to church with her attitude. She finally laid back down and after she woke up I took her out to play on her playset for a good bit of the afternoon. She LOVES it!!
Then Mom came over and we finally got to go shopping. I got Ashlyn a few fall clothes and shoes. I got myself a few things, but mostly everything was for Ashlyn. She's going to have a whole new wardrobe between mom and I. All in all it was a good weekend. I think Ashlyn is finally feeling better. I'm feeling better, so as long as Britt doesn't get sick we are great.

My week in a nutshell....

Where do I start? Let's see, early Sunday morning I woke up so nauseous that I couldn't sleep. I just laid in bed hoping that it would pass. It felt like eternity. I finally just got up and hugged the toilet until I had nothing left inside. I HATE being sick on my stomach!!!! I would rather be sick with anything other than that. All I did Sunday was sleep.
We also found out some terrible news this past week. Britt's Grandma Cody has really started to go downhill. She had gone to the doctor, and her cancer is in the most progressive state. The doctor gave her 2 weeks to a month to live. Please say a prayer for her. She is the most thoughtful and caring person that you would ever meet. I just pray that she doesn't have to suffer.
Monday rolled around and I felt much better. Tuesday, Ashlyn was running a fever and didn't feel well. Wednesday, still running a fever. Her fever would break and then come back. She was pitiful. Britt stayed at home with her all day Wednesday. As for myself, I woke up Wednesday morning at 6:00, and I was in the bathroom sick from 6:00 on. I went on to work, but I felt SOOOO bad. Thank goodness mama Mary Ann, my boss, had some medicine for me to take. It took a while but if FINALLY started working and I felt much better.
Thursday everything went pretty well. It was a little crazy at work, and I had a migranine, but other than that I can't complain. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that when I picked Ashlyn up from the babysitter she had spots all over her face. Some sort of rash. I didn't think much of it at the time.
Now, let me tell you how today has started. If it's any indication of the day ahead I'm in BIG trouble! I woke up at 3:30 am sick again. I was in the bathroom for at least an hour. I took some medicine and finally went back to sleep. I got up a little after 7:00 to get ready for work. At 7:30 the phone rang. It was Britt's dad. Something was wrong with his grandma, and he needed Britt to go out to her house and help her sister ,who had stayed with her last night. So Britt headed over there. I was so worried that something bad had happened. Well, Britt was supposed to take Ashlyn to my Mom's house this morning. It was already 7:40 by this point, and I was going to be majorly late if I had to take Ashlyn all the way to Mom's and then to work. So I called mom and got her out of bed. We arranged for her to meet me at Western Steer to pick Ashlyn up. I got Ashlyn out of bed, and she had bumps ALL OVER HER BODY!!!! It looked like chicken pox, but I know that she's had the chicken pox vaccine, so I didn't know what in the world it was. Now mom not only had to meet me at the crack of dawn this morning, but she also had to take Ashlyn to the doctor.
Mom just called and told me that the doctor said that is was some sort of virus. Maybe like 5th's Disease. This is where you run a fever for a few days and then break out in a rash after the fever has gone away. Crazy huh? The doctor said that the rash means that she is actually getting better, so let's just keep our fingers crossed. She is in a wedding next weekend, so I don't want her having bumps all over her body while walking down the isle in her beautiful dress.
It's only 11:00 now, so I'll keep you posted on any other occurrences that may happen throughout the day.

SILLY GIRL!!!!

WORLD'S SHORTEST FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy, "Will you marry me?"

The guy said "No" and the girl lived happily ever after

and went shopping,drank martinis, always had a clean house,

never had to cook, stayed skinny,and was never farted on.

The End

Remembering 9/11

This day will forever be remembered. I remember exactly where I was the day that the World Trade Center came under attack; the day that America came under attack. While listening to the replay from 9/11/01 on Ace and TJ this morning tears began streaming down my face. My prayers continue to go out to everyone involved in that day's events.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Ginger's Lingerie Shower

Ginger's mom in a toilet paper wedding dress. =)

This is the cake that Britt's mom made for the shower. Isn't it awesome!?!?

Me, Ginger, and Danise