Black Friday

So as Thanksgiving day came to a close yesterday, I could not contain my excitement for today. Today is the busiest and most annoying shopping day of the year and I avoided it . I did not leave my house until lunch time, and that was to brave McDonald's so that CJ could blow off some steam. It was way to cold to play outside.

But it was definitely not too cold to play outside this evening (okay, really it was). CJ, Gary and I decided to watch them (I don't know who LOL) light up Centerra tonight. We counted down the lighting, then waited for about 40 minutes for a hayless hayride pulled by Clydesdale horses then went to the photo booth. Let's just say, we were frigid cold and could not wait until we got home to the warmth.

While waiting for the hayride, CJ kept Gary, myself and the crowd highly entertained. He pet everyone's dogs, took pictures with my camera and even posed in other people's pictures LOL He tasted, yes tasted, some painted flowers and ran laps around one of the various hearts of Loveland.

After we got home, we all ate Thanksgiving leftovers and then enjoyed relaxing on the couch. Overall, my black Friday was the best.

Enjoy the pictures!

CJ testing the taste of the painted flowers

Gary and I freezing while waiting for the hay ride...photo courtesy of CJ

Inside the warm area aka the photo booth

At home, warm at last.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Amber

It's Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It's a day when you can look back over the last year and remember the things that made you better, the things and people you are thankful for. I am very thankful for several things.
::I am thankful for my son. He has blessed my life in ways that I can't ever explain. He is truly my angel and I can't imagine my world without him in it.

::I am thankful for my family. Near and far, they have been there for me and even when my world was a mess they helped me mop it up.

::I am thankful for the CWPA, Colorado Wedding Planners Association. Patty and Gary have shown me that it's okay to be confident in myself and my abilities. They have helped me grow as a person.

::I am thankful for my friends. They rock, seriously. I have the best friends anyone can ask for. It's okay, be jealous :)

::I am thankful for my life. It is continually getting better, every minute.

This year has been huge for CJ and I. It has been full of growing, self discovery and difficult transitions that we have overcome. We're ready for the next year!

Cutest Christmas Gift Ideas

Hey guys,
So, Christmas. Only thirty days away. In the words of CJ "YIKES!". I have found some really great gift ideas for mom's, dad's, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I was over at Etsy (a great place by the way) and found these:


Click on the pictures to be taken to Muraldevotee's Etsy site. She's got some great stuff. I know what I'm asking for!

Not Me! Monday

I love free therapy. I love reading all the Not Me!'s posted over at MckMama's Blog. Read them. Laugh. You'll thank me for it!

:: I certainly did not go see a vampire movie at midnight on Friday morning. I was not beside myself with giddiness for almost 3 days before seeing the movie. I did not read the series a few times. I did not read the first book, Twilight, over a dozen times. All this reading did not create a slight disappointment in the movie. I did not wonder if maybe I had hyped it up. I did not talk about said movie for almost an hour. At least I had fantastic company!

:: I did not tell my son that we'd put a Christmas tree in his room. I did not tell him he could also have lights hanging in his room. I would not create such a fire hazard in my child's room just because I'm obsessed with Christmas.

::I did not have to wash the same load three times. I did not keep forgetting that there were clothes in there. Oh, and I have not forgotten that that same load is still in the dryer.

::I did not ask my mom to not cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I did not ask if we could "just order pizza or something". I also did not used the excuse "You just got home from your trip and don't want you to feel that you need to cook a big dinner". I did not not feel bad when my mom told me that I'm taking away tradition from my soon. Nope, not me!

::I did not stalk other people's blogs for pure entertainment. I would never do such a thing!

::I have not lost sleep for the last couple of weeks just so I could spend more time talking/texting with Gary "Manny". I would never do something like that.

I did not do quite a bit...what didn't you do?

Life's little turns

I got to sleep in today...til 10:30! Yes, you heard me right. I could still be sleeping now too, but there's only so much sleep one person can get. Unfortunately though, with the sleeping in came a sick little guy. CJ has been sleeping all day with the stomach flu. It's been at least a year, if not longer since he's had this. I hate seeing him like this. He's being a trooper though.

Well, Christmas is coming up. I need everyone's addresses :) Please send them my way. I hope you all have had a great weekend!

Love,
Amber

Not Me! Monday

Thanks to MckMama for this free therapy!

: I did not let CJ continue to sleep in my bed every night. Not me!! Cause what would that teach him about sleeping on his own?

: I did not about cry today when Adrienne posted that the birth mother is having second thoughts.

: I did not try to make brownies healthier by adding a cup of oatmeal then making them into cookies. Nope! Not me!

: I did not stay up late every night texting with a cute boy. No, I would never do that!

:I did not tell one of my friends that I have baby fever. Don't I need a husband first?

:I did not forget to mail my younger brothers birthday card out. Granted I still have a week or so, but I haven't been trying to remember.

:I did not start writing out Christmas lists LOL

What haven't you done?

Austin Scarlett

Okay, so I am sooo very excited. I am meeting one of the top wedding dress designers today: Austin Scarlett. He is one of the winners on Project Runway. He designs for Kenneth Pool. I am just so flabergasted that I'm about to explode. How often do people like me get to meet famous designers and mingle with them???

So now the real question is....what am I going to wear??

Not Me Monday

Thanks to MckMama for the fun and insanity that is a "Not Me" Monday!

I did not stalk people's blog looking for an update. Really, I was not that bored!

I did not send CJ's friend home early because of his crappy attitude. I love babysitting and having CJ's friends over, but please note that disrespectful kids are not cool!

I did not stay up all night thinking of things to write on my blog.

I certainly did not let CJ sleep in my bed for more than one night. I know it's not a great habit for him to be in but he sleeps better and longer! Plus, we're cuddly type of family...it works!

Nope, not me!

Our Journey of Love...the blog

Hey everyone,
Real quick I just wanted to tell you that the best blog I've read by far is Our Journey of Love, by Adrienne and sometimes Jim and Owen.
I've never met this family, but I almost feel as if I know them. They have a touching story and if you have the time you should read it from start to finish. It took me two days and I had a weekend full of two boys: CJ (4) and his friend, An'don (5).
So get over and read it already! The blog is listed in the list of blogs I follow.
Also, my best friend in the entire world, Gabe, is currently in Germany attending a Disciplship Training program then in January will leave for a photojournalist missions trip. He is currently accepting donations for his mission. Check out his blog here. If the link doesn't work, his blog is listed under blogs I read.

Love and God bless!
Amber

In honor of Twilight...

As some of you know (and those of you that don't, will now know) I have a slight obsession with The Twilight Saga. I've read through the series twice now. I've read the first book, Twilight, at least a dozen times. I'm trying to absorb every detail before I go to the midnight showing of it in TWO WEEKS!!! Yes, only two weeks left! I can't wait, I'm so excited. I'm so excited (or just really lame) that I even made this:I know, laugh all you want...I'm used to it LOL If you haven't read the book, I highly reccommend them. They are excellent. The first and fourth books are my favorite. Let's just say, I'm Team Edward LOL

So in honor of my obsession...enjoy the background...it's from Breaking Dawn, the fourth book!

Happy Twilighting!

Being a single mom

Okay, I need to vent. I am a single mom. I am a proud single mom and I love being a mom (although some days one might think otherwise LOL). To me, the definition of a single parent is a parent that does it on their own without the assistance of the child's other parent.

So why is it that the single parents with live in boyfriends/girlfriends and a heavily involved other parent are complaining? Seriously, when the other parent is involved, you get alone time. You have days where you get to shower un-interrupted, run errands alone, study for a test or sleep in! When you share custody with someone you get the "break". Even if you have a live in partner, you can ask them to be aware of the child for just a few minutes so that you can do a simple task. Listen up...those of you in this situation are not single parents! Stop complaining to me that the 3-4 days a week you have your child you don't get to do the things you want!

My son has a father. His father lives on the other side of the country and is currently deployed to Cuba. I have had my son every day--EVERY DAY!--since October 2006. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and yes sometimes I really would kill to have a "break" but in the long run, I know that my son is benefiting from having a happy, healthy home. I'm tired of people I know, or random people that say stuff in the store, complaining about having to take care of their child.

I complain at times too, but it's part of being a parent. Being a parent is tough enough when there's two of you...it's harder when you don't have that other person to lean on. All I ask is that you keep an eye on the words you say to other people!

Thanks for letting me vent...I needed it :)

Election Day!

As all of you know, it is election day. November 4th. I've never voted before so I didn't know what I was in for. I expected a small piece of paper that had Barack Obama and John McCain's names on them and you circle the name you want. Well, I was in for a surprise! Did you know there were like 12 names listed for President/VP candidates? Then all the supreme court judges-do we keep them in or not? There were also amendments to be voted on but the description was so long, wordy and some words I didn't understand...anyway, I think I voted well.

Speaking of election day, I was asked over the weekend by a five year old who I was voting for. I told him (CJ's friend An'don) that I didn't know and asked why he wanted to know. He looked at me like a grew I second head and said, "You shouldn't vote for Obama because he thinks it's okay to kill babies that are in their mommy's tummy." My face fell to the floor. Literally...he's five! What does he know?? LOL Apparently a lot more than I thought!

I'll have my "I Voted" picture up later. I can't seem to keep track of my cord for my camera. It's Samsung and heaven forbid they use a normal size USB cord!

On a different note, I revamped my website. I've noticed of couple of typos that I'm changing right after this but I thought I'd get your opinion. www.AmberWEvents.com

Hope you all voted and feel confident in your choice! Have a great day!

Amber

It's November

It's November. Mind you only November 2nd and guess what I saw walking around the mall yesterday??? Christmas! I'm not ready for Christmas...yet.

It's still in the 70's here and considering it hasn't snowed yet it makes me wonder how "un snowy" the winter is going to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm so not a snow person but occasionally it's nice.

Anyway, CJ did lots of trick or treating on Friday. He was a firefighter...not a fireman. He ran around the block making a siren noise and proceeded to tell people that he was in fact a fire truck. All in all we had a lot of fun trick or treating. Halloween is always fun around here.

And for myself, not a whole lot of updating. I am in the process of partnering up with The Body Shop to help raise money for a local charity called Crossroads Safe House. It's a place that battered women can come to rebuild their life. They offer places to live, legal help, job assistance...everything you can think of. I'll have more details on that soon.

I'm also volunteering time with String of Pearls (http://www.stringofpearlsonline.org/). String of Pearls was created to provide a nurturing and safe place for families as they navigate the path following a fatal prenatal diagnosis that will result in the death of their baby prior to, or shortly after birth.

I hope everyone is happy and healthy. Be safe and God bless!

Love,
Amber