Forever and a Day

Max On Life: Answers and Inspiration for Today's Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 21:26:00 +0000

Max Lucado is one of those authors that I want to gobble up all of the words he writes and store them in my brain. The way he writes I find so easy to understand and retain. At the time that I received Max On Life I was in a place that I had a lot of questions about God, prayer, the Bible, religion, etc. It was a perfect God send for me. I read the book front to back in just a couple of days and then have gone back with specific questions time and again since I first received it.

In Max on Life he answers some of the common questions that he receives from his readers. Questions on topics such as prayer, suffering, finances, parenting, and on and on. Some of the topics discussed are more of the lighter hearted questions and others are on a deeper spiritual level such as: Is God really listening?

I really found this to be an interesting book and a useful book in my life. This book would also make a great gift for someone that is a new Christian.

This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.

God's Promises for the American Patriot

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 21:14:00 +0000

God’s Promises for the American Patriot is not your typical front to back, one story, kind of book. Rather it’s a collections of scriptures, pieces of speeches, quotes, and pieces of history all gathered together and shown in a way that we can see the relationship between what God has promised and what has occurred in America. It is a look back on history and where this country started and how it was founded on Godly principles.

The book is divided up by topic so that you could actually start anywhere in the book rather than just starting at the front. I found the book interesting and very informational. I think this would be a great gift for someone that is/was in the military or is just a proud citizen of this great nation.

This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 21:01:00 +0000

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

I read The Final Summit a while back and honestly forgot all about it. It just wasn’t a book that was memorable nor engaging for me.

This is a fiction book about a guy named David Ponder. Apparently there is a companion book before this one but it didn’t seem like this couldn’t stand alone. David has been visited by Gabriel and told that God wants him to go to this meeting place and try to answer the question that will save mankind. The answer is only two words and they get five chances to guess. The cast of characters are somewhat interesting when you get to “talk” with Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, etc. The overall back and forth conversation just didn’t hold my attention.

I also just couldn’t wrap my brain around a situation where God would hinge the fate of the world on a situation like this. The premises just didn’t make sense to me and therefore I think that kept me from having the open mind that I really needed for this book. Maybe I will come back to it one day and have a different opinion.

This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.

Off Season – TV Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 19:55:00 +0000

I never really have a whole lot of TV shows that I watch in the “off season”. Most of my favorites are the traditional ones like Grey’s Anatomy. However, there are a lot of shows right now that are REALLY good. I’ve never been much of a reality tv fan but most of my favorites are of that genre at the moment. Maybe I’m getting sucked in like everyone else. ;)

Here are a list of my current favorites. What are you watching right now?

This is one of our absolute favorites right now. We just added HBO because of this show. We had seen the first episode (Dish Network loves to put random things on our DVR) and we were hooked instantly. Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) is the host of a news program called News Night. It’s your typical run of the mill type of nightly world news until his ex is hired as the EP and the show is overhauled. The news then becomes focused on what American Voters should know about the goings on in America to make informed voting decisions. Will doesn’t hold back the tough questions for his guests and never lets someone dodge a question. I wish our news could really be like that!

There is of course more than just the news going on in this show. Will and McKenzie (his ex and new EP) of course have a strained love/hate relationship that you just know any minute is going to work out. Then my FAVORITE characters Maggie and Jim …. will they FINALLY get together this season?!

If you have HBO set you DVR to record all episodes and get caught up because season 2 just started!

I’m going to call Siberia my guilty pleasure. Basically 16 people are left in the wilds of Siberia and are told to survive until the end of Winter. No voting people off. Whoever is left at the end splits the money. I was thinking THIS IS MY KIND OF REALITY SHOW! No back stabbing or alliances. Just people working together to survive. Then I found out that every single person on this show is an actor and it’s all fake. Boo :(

I’m still addicted to it though. Supposedly it’s not scripted. Different people are given different scenarios and prompts and the others have to act on improv. There are tigers roaming around in the jungle along with some kind of tiger killing monster. There is a creepy girl that seems to know way too much about the forest and people find her in random places. This show is kind of like Lost meets Survivor … but a little cheesier. I love it!

Whodunnit is a show very similar to the movie and game Clue. Thirteen people live together in a mansion with a creepy butler named Giles. One of the thirteen is a murderer and goes around killing the other guests. After each death it’s up to the survivors to figure out how they died and name who they suspect as the killer. The killer then decides who will be spared and who should be scared of impending death for the next episode.

I love trying to figure out all the clues along with the survivors! I had two people picked out from the beginning as the killer and one of them just died so my bets are still on Melanie.

Adam and I really love the show Survivorman with Less Stroud. When this show started up on NBC with Bear Grylls and 20 contestants I knew that this was something I would like. Each show they have some type of extreme journey over mountains or through rivers that test the contestants and show them what they are really made out of. They have to work together and rely on each other to be able to survive. At the end of each episode Bear sends home a team (of 2) that he knows wouldn’t ever Make It Out Alive.

I love that this show promotes working together and survival. There isn’t a bunch of drama or backstabbing on this show and that’s what I love about it. I’m not a fan of some of the really gross things he has them eat and drink but I just close my eyes on those parts. :)

This show starts when an average American town called Chester's Mill is sudden and violently separated from the rest of the world by an invisible barrier. The soon learn that they are under a dome and cannot access the outside world in any way. The towns people start to find out who they are really living next to. A few outsiders have been trapped in town as well and everyone is suspicious of one guy in particular named Barbie.

This show seems like it would be pretty straight forward but then you remember that it was written by Stephen King. Every episode something creepy or weird happens that just keeps me coming back for answers. I can’t say this is one of my favorite shows but there are several plot points that I want to see how they are resolved. I honestly can’t see this show lasting too long but I’m enjoying it while it’s on.

So have you seen any of these shows? What were your thoughts?

Back on the Skinny Train

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 21:13:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July!! Ours was pretty spectacular. We ate too much, got too much sun in the pool, had a few too many Jell-O shots, and watched an amazing firework show by Adam. It was great! :)

I had to work Friday but we ended up cutting the day short at 3:00 because it was just so dead. Why work when we could be doing fun stuff?

Lately I’ve been in a cleaning mood and my house is looking pretty great. Probably because I have been so tired and not feeling good for the past month it just feels great to have some energy. Also I started the Zeal diet again which has really helped with energy. I had started it in May but then found out I was pregnant the very next week! If you haven’t heard of it you can check it out HERE.

Basically you have 2 meal replacement shakes a day, a vitamin shake in the morning, snacks, eat a healthy dinner, and take fat burners and cleanse pills. My favorite part about it is the actual zeal shake that is your vitamins and energy. It makes me feel great all day long and I take it first thing in the morning when I get up. I really liked it the week I did it before … although I was starving most of the time. That was due to the fact that I was needing to feed more than myself though. The past few days that I’ve been doing it this time have been good. I haven’t been hungry at all and I’m feeling really great. My goal is to lose 40lbs in 3 months. It’s a big goal but I really want to get a lot of weight off before we try again for kids. My limited plus size maternity shopping experience wasn’t pleasant at all.

Movie Review – The Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:25:00 +0000

Yesterday Adam was able to pick up the part to my car! Yay!! I’m not sure if it had anything to do with me calling the Ford headquarters and talking with the Regional Manager over our area. I’m thinking that it did since we were told by the dealership that it could be weeks at the earliest. After he got the part it took him 15 minutes to install it and it’s working just great. Unfortunately I don’t get to drive my car until Friday!

Because I live so far from my office it’s hard to coordinate a ride and tomorrow is the earliest someone can pick me up from my office. Then I’m off work on Thursday for the 4th. So today I’m still driving my borrowed car because my boss is having new tires put on it today.

I can’t WAIT to get back in my car and get back to my satellite radio!! You don’t realize how many commercials there are until you aren’t used to listening to them!

This weekend Adam and I saw The Heat.

Let me just say that if you plan on seeing it in the theater and you are expecting to be doubled over in laughter you will be disappointed. It is funny. How could it not be with Sandra Bullock & Melissa McCarthy? However it was a bit dumb. Also I wish there was a count on how many times the F word is said in this movie. I think it’s more than The Hangover series combined.

In my opinion Melissa McCarthy seems to play the same character in all of her movies. Sure there are differences to fit the particular role but I don’t feel that I lose aspects of her previous roles when I see her in a new character. I loved Identity Thief and I’ve loved all the small roles that she has had in various movies but I just want something new rather than the same old thing. I don’t see how she can be successful in the long term without broadening her range.

Overall The Heat is funny, corny, and a very predictable. It’s worth watching as a rental but not really worth the expensive theater ticket price.

Side Note – Because life has been a bit crazy lately I didn’t blog about Man Of Steel. Let me just say it is awesome and worth every penny to see Henry Cavill as the super hunky Superman on the big screen. Fingers crossed that he is cast as Christian Grey! (Not a creditable rumor … just my own wishful thinking.) ;)

Car Troubles and This Crazy World

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Thank you so much to everyone that has left me a comment or sent me an email with your thoughts and prayers. I can’t begin to tell you how much everyone’s support has helped. Every day does get a little bit better.

I’m currently still without my car. The part that I need is on a national back order with Ford. It could be a week or a month before I have it. I’m praying HARD that it’s sooner rather than later. I drive 45 miles every day just to get to and from work so it’s not like I can even get a ride with someone. I’m currently borrowing a car from someone on a temporary basis for now. Hopefully I will be able to use it until the part comes in.

I contacted Ford headquarters to see why there was such a big issue with this one part. A guy at the dealership told Adam that there were 8,000 of these parts made and 9,500 people were currently on a waiting list. Why the heck has there not been a recall yet on this? That is a HUGE number of people waiting on the same exact part!! I’m waiting on a Regional Manager with Ford to call me back and give me some kind of explanation. A rental car would be great too! Having a car that is only 3 years old dead in my driveway is not cool!!

I haven’t been watching the news lately but I do try to stay up on my celebrity gossip. Apparently I have fallen behind because I’m so confused about this Paula Dean situation. Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on. Apparently she used a racial slur 30 years ago and has now been fired from pretty much every company she has had dealings with? Surely there is more to this that I’m not seeing right? How can someone be so heavily penalized for this one mistake that happened so far in the past? I’m not a “fan” of Paula Deans really. I can’t say that I like her or don’t like her because I just generally don’t care for cooking shows so I don’t watch them. I do feel bad for her because I’m sure her world has been turned upside down and the thing that she loves to do, cook, has been taken from her.

I think it’s a sad thing that we live in a world that has celebrities, tv shows, and movies that freely use foul language, racial slurs, and sexual appeal to attract people for bigger ratings and profits with no penalty what so ever. Yet this one person made a mistake in her past (way back in the past) and her career and reputation are now on the line. Doesn’t make sense to me.

Happiness … Loss

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:33:00 +0000

Over the past month I have been keeping a secret. I was so excited to share it with you but wanted to wait a little while until the time was right.

On May 21st much to my surprise I found out that I was pregnant. I told Adam and called the Dr to see what my next step was. I had been having intense cramps but thought it was because I was expecting my period. Turns out it was just the beginnings of the pregnancy. The dr had us come in that afternoon and he confirmed that yes indeed we would be expecting a little bundle of joy in January of 2014. I was in shock but pretty excited that this dream of mine was coming true. Adam was pretty much just in shock for a couple of weeks. ;)

Over the next few weeks I started to experience all the not so great parts of the first trimester. My boobs felt like they were going to fall off and the smell of movie theater popcorn made me want to hurl. My appetite was nonexistent!

Adam started getting used to the idea of a baby and I think secretly enjoyed his Father’s Day cards from me and his family.

The only thing I was stressing about was the fact that our health insurance had ended on June 14th. Adam is starting his own business so now wasn’t exactly the best time in the world but God’s timing is always the best timing no matter what, in my opinion. I had been talking with Medicaid and after initially being approved I was rejected because of our income being a little bit too high. So I had coverage until the end of June and after that we were on our own. Adam had started applying for jobs that included benefits so that we could get back on regular insurance coverage.

Then last Sunday (the 16th) I had a little bit of bleeding. Nothing major just a tiny bit. I knew that this could be normal in the first trimester so I didn’t panic. I went ahead and called my dr and moved my appt up a week just in case. We had planned on taking pregnancy announcement photos that next weekend and I didn’t want to look back on those if something was indeed going on.

Adam went to the dr with me on Wednesday and we fully expected to hear a heartbeat and get some good news. Unfortunately that was not the case. The dr very gently told me that I was actually in the process of having a miscarriage. I had not had any more bleeding and no cramping at all which kind of concerned him. We scheduled a follow up ultra sound for Friday and then a D&C immediately after if I felt that I wanted to proceed with that course of action. I cried pretty much all day Wednesday. I had felt so strongly that this was our chance at a family. I was so sure that miscarriage wasn’t even an option for me. I was devastated.

Thursday I decided to go to work and get things caught up so that I could be off a few days. On my way to work my car decided to break and leave me stranded for about an hour until Adam could come get me and bring me a car to borrow for the day. That is still an ongoing issue but more on that later.

Friday we got to the dr first thing and went straight in for the ultra sound. The dr was able to show me for sure that I was beginning to bleed and that I was definitely in the middle of a miscarriage. He was still a bit concerned that I didn’t show external signs of bleeding and no cramping. He told me that I could wait it out and see if my body would take care of things on its own or I could proceed with the D&C that was scheduled. I decided to go ahead with the D&C so that it gave me a bit of control over the situation. Also with my insurance coverage ending at the end of the month I wanted to make sure if there were any complications I wouldn’t be leaving myself with huge medical bills.

We headed over to the hospital and met up with our families that were there for support. I wasn’t very nervous about the actual procedure because I had had a D&C done a few years ago for uterine pollups so I knew the basics of what to expect. The emotional part of it was the worst. Everyone kept me pretty busy and talking so that helped keep my mind going. Adam was mostly concerned about me and making sure I was OK. I could tell that he was sad though.

Pretty soon I was in recovery and then heading home to hang out on the couch for the rest of the day. I took it easy during the weekend but tried to stay around people as much as possible. If I caught myself alone or with nothing to occupy my mind I would end up in tears. Adam was always there at the exact moment I needed him with a kind word and encouraging me that things would be ok and that we would try again.

I can’t even begin to describe how much my love for my husband has grown over this past month. He has been the most patient, understanding, loving person and I would be so lost without him. It was hard to come back to work today after having him there for me every minute for the past 4 days.

I feel like I’m kind of getting back to normal but I also feel like there is a part of me that won’t be exactly the same. For 8 weeks I was a mom. I experienced more love within myself and from other people than I have ever experienced before. Of course I would love to still be pregnant and looking forward to a baby in the next few months but I know that we went through this experience for a reason. Sometimes it’s still hard and I still get emotional but I know that it will pass and things will be sunny again soon. :)

Me … A - Z

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

A. Attached or Single? Married to the best guy in the world!

B. Best Friend? Janette
C. Cake or pie? Cake … ALWAYS CAKE … and make it Red Velvet please :)
D. Day of choice? Saturday
E. Essential Item? Cell! I can’t live without it (and Candy Crush)
F. Favorite color? Pink
G. Gummy bears or worms? Gummy Bears please
H. Hometown? Tyler, TX … same as where I live now
I. Favorite Indulgence? Anything cheesy!
J. January or July? January! I hate the heat!
K. Kids? Hopefully soon
L. Life isn’t complete without? My husband and my sweet Lexi

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 brother, 1 sister, 2 sister-in-laws, 3 brother-in-laws
O. Oranges or Apples. Neither … But I am loving some Orange Juice right now
P. Phobias? Ticks … You would think growing up in the country this wouldn’t bother me but they gross me out SO bad!
Q. Quotes? “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over … he turned in to a butterfly”
R. Reasons to smile? Lots of things. Life is just great!
S. Season of choice? Fall. I love when the leaves start changing and the holidays are just around the corner.
T. Tag People. Janette & Sarah
U. Unknown fact about me? Hmmm not sure about this one. I don’t have too many secrets.
V. Vegetable? Potatoes … any way you can make em
W. Worst habit? I hate washing my face at night!
X. Xray or Ultrasound? Which do I prefer? I don’t know … neither I suppose because that’s means I’m injured!
Y. Your favorite food? Cheese, Potatoes, anything bad for me pretty much.
Z. Zodiac sign? Pisces

May Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:02:00 +0000

So I come back to blog land, post two posts, and disappear again. What can I say? Life is crazy! :)

Eventually I will get some posts up recapping the goings on in May but let’s stick with the random for now.

We saw a bunch of great movies in May. Some of my favorites of the year actually!

Iron Man 3 – The BEST Iron Man movie!! I loved this movie so much. The first one was my favorite and the second one was alright, but the third is by far the best. It’s a MUST see!

The Great Gatsby – If you read the book in school or saw the original movie and liked either then you will like this movie. I like it because Leonardo Dicaprio was in it but overall it’s kind of underwhelming. It’s a good Rebox ($1) rental or a good one to watch at home.

Star Trek Into Darkness – This is my favorite movie of the year so far!! I had not seen the first one until the day before we saw this one. I tried to talk Adam in to going to see the first in theaters back in 2009 but he had no interest. I was a huge Star Trek (TV show) fan back when I was a kid and I was sad we didn’t get to see the first in theaters. Then it just went under my radar and I never saw. Now Adam loves this series. He didn’t realize it was a JJ Abrams movie otherwise he would have seen it way earlier. I sorta have a crush on Spock! :)

Hangover Part 3 – If you saw the first two and loved them you must see the conclusion to this trilogy. It was funny like the first two. Thankfully it did have a bit of a different theme. My only issue with all 3 of these movies is why does the skinny white guy always get to sit out of all the shenanigans? Weird. Melissa McCarthy is in this one and I just love her.

These are the movies we have lined up for June …

Baby Buggy Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:45:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago my boss asked me to make the cake for a party she was having to show off her new grandbabies. In January her son welcomed twins and this was the first time they were in town to meet all of their family and friends.

She sent me this picture as inspiration for what she wanted to do. I had no instructions other than this photo.

After studying it I felt like I wouldn’t have any problems with it because it’s all things I learned in my cake classes a few years ago.

So the party was this past weekend and I have to say I was very pleased with the results!

I left out the baby in the buggy because I couldn’t get the flesh color just right but I still think they turned out very cute.

What do you think?

Back From a Break

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:35:00 +0000

Hi Friends! Remember me? I have been MIA from all social media lately. I would love to say that I was getting knocked up or something as exciting as that but the simple fact is that life has just been a bit crazy lately.

Adam’s work officially closed the doors mid-April so he is currently trying to get his upholstery business going and really just taking a much needed break. He’s been doing a lot of work around/in the house as well as working in his shop helping his dad. He is looking for something new but he’s at a point that he can pause and figure out a new path that he may want to take in life. I know God has big plans for him and us! **Deep breaths, lots of faith**

My work is going good. I have a lot more responsibility at work and I will be working to get more licenses in the near future. This is one of the big reasons I’ve been absent online. I’ve been doing a lot of training with people higher up in our company and will be doing even more in the next few months before I take my license test. My Thirty-One business has been on the back burner for the past couple of months but I hope I can get going on that again soon.

We have had a couple of band gigs lately. It’s always nice to go have fun, listen to great music, and get paid :). Adam and I DJ’d a wedding a couple of weeks ago. That was a new and overwhelming experience. I was so afraid our computer would malfunction while the bride was walking down the aisle. Thankfully everything went perfect!

I hope to get back in to blogging at least 2 or 3 times a week. I have a couple of ideas for regularly weekly posts and I look forward to doing some movie reviews again. So far recently we have seen The Host (LOVED IT!), Oblivion (Good), and The Company You Keep (Very good).

I have a lot of catching up to do in blog reading but I hope you haven’t forgotten me!! I’ve missed my blog friends!!

Olympus Has Fallen ~ Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:45:00 +0000

This weekend seemed to fly by. I think because we did a lot of running around. Saturday we decided to go to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. Sounds great until you realize the closest one is an hour and a half away. Boo! So we made the journey to Shreveport, ate, and walked around the boardwalk for about an hour. It was fun other than the fact that we had to drive in heavy rain all the way there and back.

Sunday I talked Adam into seeing the movie Olympus Has Fallen.

I’m really not sure why this movie didn’t appeal to him from the beginning. I think he sees Gerard Butler as a romantic comedy type of actor and so he thought this was going to be a bit corny. Well let me just tell ya that Mr McCoy thought this was an awesome movie. I of course knew it would be because to me Gerard Butler kicks ass and Morgan Freeman wouldn’t dare be in subpar movie.

IMDb synopsis:
”Disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, Banning works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.”

This movie scared the crap out of me. My heart was pounding from the very beginning and I think I may have burned off all of the calories from my popcorn. The way the movie creators designed this overthrow of the Whitehouse was so perfect that I hope the people in charge of this great nation have taken some notes. There was no part that I was like … Oh that would never happen. When the rebels threw the tattered remains of the American flag off of the Whitehouse roof I almost cried. It was scary to think that people could hide in plain site and overthrow all of our security measures so effortlessly and be 10 steps ahead of where we were.

Gerard Butler was at his best in this movie. He was funny when the mood needed it and he was dead serious when he needed to kick some major rebel ass. There is A LOT of violence in this movie, the real kind, not the fake bloody stuff. Duh you say … but I always feel the need to warn people.

Morgan Freeman is ever the cool and calm leader in the face of such tragedy as acting President. The rest of the cast including Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott were great too but Gerard Butler steals the show.

I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars because it was heart pounding from beginning to end. The movie is seamless in how it moves from scene to scene without a bunch of confusion and jumping around. It gets to the point quickly and takes everyone on a wild ride. Love the cast, love this movie!

A Great Book

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:32:00 +0000

I had a couple of great posts in the works for Friday and Monday but unfortunately I didn’t have them scheduled and I ended up sick. So much for planning ahead! Adam was sick the first part of the week and I woke up Thursday morning and knew that it had me too. We are pretty sure it was just allergies because EVERYTHING is coated in yellow from the billion pine trees around us. But allergies or not … fever is fever and a horrible runny nose is impossible to deal with sometimes. Neither one of us missed a day of work but I know my boss knew not to give me anything too difficult when all I really wanted to do is sleep. We are both on the mend now and I’m starting to be able to taste food again. How much I miss the taste of good food when I’m sick!

One thing I did get accomplished this weekend was finding a great new book to share with you. I was starting to feel better and I was desperate for something to read that would make me feel happy. So I went in search of free Nook Books. I love that I can shop for books from my couch for FREE. Best thing ever!

I came across this book … Discovering You by Melissa Kean.

It was exactly what I was looking for. A historical romance set in the 1800s. Oh but it’s so much more than that. This is now one of my favorites of favorites. It is like someone read all of my favorite books, topics, themes, and put them all together to make the sweetest love story.

It’s about a girl named Lucy that has been hired to refurbish the library of the very mysterious Nicholas Davenport. She is intrigued by his mystery and soon learns he is a troubled man with a troubled past and very dark secrets. He has put himself in exile for the past 5 years after his late wife’s death. When Lucy comes in to his life she brings a light that he just can’t resist. There are obstacles to overcome, villains to vanquish, a mystery to solve, and a love worth fighting for.

Their story is not rushed but rather well thought out and explored. I love the journey that this author went on with these two characters and I feel like I’m still living in their world of happiness. This wasn’t a trashy romance as I usually call them. Most books like this have sex on every other page. Not this one … not even once. It is super romantic and very sweet. Love it!

Oh did I mention it’s FREE? Even if you don’t own a Nook you can download Nook for PC (or ipad, iphone, whatever) so you can read this book. Worth it!

Meet Sheree

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Today I'm turning my blog over to Sheree from The Hartungs. She recently won my 30th Birthday giveaway and is now featured on my sidebar! I asked her if she would like to do a guest post to introduce herself to my great readers and she gladly agreed. Take a minute to visit her blog please and leave her some love!

~*~

Hey everyone! I'm Sheree from The Hartungs Blog. Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself :)

When and why did you start your blog? I started my blog last fall. I'm from BC, and my husband and I live in Alberta. With all of my friends and family back home in Vancouver, I started the blog as a way to keep in touch with them. I found that I'd forget to tell them small details about our lives and our marriage, so I wanted a place where I could write about the little details of our lives. I thought a lot about starting a blog last year, and I decided to jump right in in November! I never thought that it would become a hobby of mine. I write about the dates Cade and I go on, or evenings with friends, or new recipes I'm trying. I think that months/years from now, I'll be able to look back and remember the daily lives of our newlywed years.

Describe yourself in three words: organized, genuine, chocoholic (haha)

How long have you been married? Tell us a bit about your husband, Cade: My hubby and I have been married for two years this August. He is determined, hard-working, and sincerely kind-hearted. But my favorite thing about him is his sense of humour! More often than not, he has me doubled over with laughter. I can't believe how fast the past two years have gone! I'm stilling calling ourselves newlyweds...how long should a couple be considered newlyweds? Who knows!

What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time? What spare time, haha. My hubby and I are both full-time students, so we're always very busy! If I do have a moment to myself, you'll probably find me baking. I love trying new recipes and experimenting (like mini meatloaves, or mini mint chocolate fudge cheesecakes). But I don't like keeping my baking in my house - otherwise I'll eat it all! Haha. So my friends and family usually get yummy gifts :)

A big thank you to Jessica for letting me guest post! Hopefully you stop my blog and say hello :)

~*~

Thank you so much Sheree for guest posting today!!

Things I Want To Do & See in Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Today I am co-hosting this great link up!

This is a great Texas link up about all things Texas. I love reading all the Texas related posts each week and I’m glad that now I get to actually be a part of it! Thank you Crystal & Amanda for letting me join the party!

When I first agreed to be a co-host I didn’t have any idea what I would talk about. I haven’t been to many places and I don’t have any specialties that are related to TX. But there is so much I want to do and see in this great state that I thought I would share some of those things I hope to do. I also want to share a little bit about the town that I live in.

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One of these days I will visit the Alamo. Texas history was one of my favorite subjects in school. I loved learning about the Alamo and the people involved. It would be so amazing to stand where they stood and to be in the presence of so much history.

I want to party on 6th St in Austin! We went to Austin in 2006 but didn’t know anyone there or really know where to go so we didn’t even go down to 6th St. This is a must!

I have always wanted to visit the river walk in San Antonio. It seems so romantic to me.

We’ve been invited to float Guadalupe River before but we never could make it for whatever reason. This looks like so much fun!

Then there are things I want to SEE in Texas.

Big Bend has interested me and I wish it wasn’t so far away. I think it’s amazing how many different types of terrain we have in one state. Mountains have always fascinated me and one day I want to stand on top of one and look at a view like this,

or this …

Have you heard of Jacob’s well? This is one of the coolest things to me! It’s about 12ft in diameter and about 30ft deep before it branches in to various underground / underwater caverns. It seems like it would be very scary to swim across but I would at least peak over the edge.

This is something that I have actually done but I want to go again. This is a picture of Inner Space Caverns near Georgetown. Adam and I went on our honeymoon and it was so cool. I would love to explore more of these.

Isn’t this the most beautiful site? I want to lay in this field of bluebonnets and watch the clouds go by. So peaceful looking.

Something else that I want to see is the plains of TX. I imagine you feel very small when you are looking out at this vast expanse of sky and you know just how big this world is.

Now to share a little bit about where I live. I live in Tyler, TX … the rose capital of the world. We have the largest rose garden in America! We even have a Rose Queen.

As if roses weren’t enough we also have Azalea Trails. People travel from all over the country to see these amazing lawns and gardens on the trails during the spring. This particular one was feature in Southern Living magazine.

To me it’s a tad bit crazy that people love our flowers so much but I guess growing up here your whole life seeing roses for sale on every street corner just becomes a natural thing. There really is nothing like a beautiful Tyler roses though.

**All photos from Google Images unless otherwise noted above.

A Weekend of Downtime

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:10:00 +0000

The past 4 days or so I have taken a break from technology. I haven’t read any blogs, haven’t checked facebook (much), haven’t read one tweet. Last week I felt that things were getting a little out of balance and out of my control.

At work I found out that I had missed something that I normally wouldn’t have missed. Was facebook or blogging to blame? Who knows but I do know that sometimes I get so caught up in this world inside of my computer screen that things in the world I’m actually living in get a little bit crazy.

So Friday I got caught up on some things at work and didn’t even log in to blogger once and left facebook closed for most of the day. This weekend I left my phone on silent and in my purse. Saturday we had some YUMMY Denny’s for breakfast and ran errands early in the day. Then we came home and got caught up on the DVR. Adam has been working every evening for the past week until around 9pm on a seat he was upholstering, so it was nice to have some US time. Then we headed over to his parents (next door) to chat and play with our niece that they were babysitting for the evening. She is growing up SO fast!

Sunday was our wedding anniversary. I can’t believe that we have been married 7 years already! We’ve now been married half the time we have been together. Crazy! We didn’t have big plans other than continuing our weekend of just being together. We decided to go see the movie Oz and then had some TCBY. Oz was good. I’m not going to use a whole post for a review because it was pretty much what you expect it to be. No surprises for me really but very much worth seeing.

Adam started not feeling good about half way through the movie but we’re pretty sure it’s just allergies. I’ve been feeling bad for the past week and so far it hasn’t turned in to any kind of cold or flu so hopefully the same will go for him.

Overall we had a pretty laid back weekend and I just feel so much better having gotten to spend time with Adam. I feel so thankful to have the life that I do.

Today I’m jumping in to work with a coke zero (or three) to keep me awake because 4:30 sure felt like 3:30 this morning! I’m hoping to get caught up on blog reading and get a few posts scheduled too.

Happy Monday!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:02:00 +0000

One of my favorite things to have for dinner is Chicken Pot Pie. I just LOVE everything about it … especially the flaky pie crust. YUM! Well I haven’t made it in a long time because the recipe I had just got old and I was a bit intimidated by other recipes that I found. A couple of weekends ago I finally just decided to try out a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. They are my go to site when I’m trying to find something new.

Here is the original recipe for Chicken Pot Pie IX that I based mine off of.

And here is my recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
3 – 4 medium new potatoes
1 can of whole kernal corn
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 box Pillsbury pie crust (2 crusts)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cook your chicken in whatever method you like. I cook my chicken breast in EVOO in a large skillet until it’s done (seasoned with a little salt and pepper). Then shred into various bite size pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, cut up the new potatoes into bite size pieces and boil in water and salt in a medium sauce pan until they are just barely done. You want them to be a little firm so that they don’t get overcooked in the baking. Drain and set aside for now.

In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add in flour, stir, and let cook for a few minutes to make a roux, stirring continuously. Slowly add in milk and chicken broth. Stir continuously until roux is dissolved in the liquid. Add in salt, pepper, celery seed, and poultry seasoning. When this mixture is hot add in chicken, corn, peas, and stir to combine. Add the potatoes last so that they don’t get smashed. Move this mixture off of the heat.

Place bottom pie crust in a pie pan and spread out so that it’s even all the way around. Switch oven over to broil (same temp) and put pie crust in the oven to cook the bottom only. Keep a very close on eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. Once it’s starting to look flaky and golden remove from the oven.

Pour filling in to the pie crust. Cover with top crust and press around the edges to close the pie (BE SURE NOT TO BURN YOURSELF ON THE HOT PIE DISH!). Cut slits in the top crust to let steam escape. If you have a foil pie ring put that on your pot pie before baking to keep the edges from overbrowning. If you don’t have one use regular foil to wrap around the edges only. Or get you a pie ring! So worth it.

Remember to switch the back over to bake! Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and flaky. The insides is already cooked so you are just looking for the crust to be done.

Let cool after removing from the oven for about 10 minutes. This gives the insides time to meld together well. Then slice it up like a pie and enjoy!!

** My notes **

I increased my chicken broth a little bit from the original recipe (from 1 3/4 cup to 2 cups) because the reviews all said it was too dry. More chicken broth was a MUST. My pie turned out great but I think the next time I make it I will do a little more roux, chicken broth, and milk just to give it even more of a creamy texture. Too much chicken broth without increasing the roux (flour and butter) would possibly make it runny.

Our Weekend and a Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:11:00 +0000

Spring is in the air today and I’m so glad that it’s March. February was a FABULOUS month but I’m kind of glad all the birthday fuss is over and it’s just a normal day.

Adam had his first Upholstery job this weekend so he spent the majority of his time out the shop working. I honestly can’t remember what I really did Saturday, during the day, other than my normal house cleaning routines. Saturday evening we went to a friend of mines wedding at a place called the Villa De Felicita. It is so gorgeous and romantic. This picture is not the wedding we attended but rather one from the Villa’s website.

I didn’t take any photos myself and didn’t feel right stealing others off of facebook to post here. Isn’t this a gorgeous view though!?! The reception was just as beautiful in the ball room and the food was delicious.

One of these days I will remember to actually take photos of things!

Sunday I spent the day working on our taxes while Adam continued to work. Why did I put this off? It’s not any better than if I had just done it a month ago. I have vowed to keep monthly records for our businesses rather than going through this headache at the end of the year.

We did decide to go see a movie last night and decided to see Jack the Giant Slayer.

I’m sure you have seen the previews for this movie at least 100 times because it’s been on every other commercial. In case you haven’t seen it here is the quick summary. Jack is a lowly farm boy that comes across some magic beans. By accident one of them grows in to a giant beanstalk and he realizes that the legends of beanstalks and giants are true. He joins the mission to rescue the princess that he has fallen in love with from the giants and save the kingdom from destruction.

Was the movie good? Yes. Was it great? Eh. It was enjoyable and I loved the cast. The main issue I had was that it seemed like they tried too hard to make it witty and get a laugh. Like when someone is telling a joke that they think is hilarious and there is that awkward moment when nobody really laughs? That’s sort of how I felt. It’s not that the movie wasn’t cute or even funny it just seemed a bit forced to me.

Another issue I had is that the movie was so dark. By dark and mean literal darkness. I’m not sure if it was the 3D effects but even when the characters were in full sunshine the lighting was very muted. When there was a scene where the characters were in a darker room it was very hard to see the surroundings which was a distraction to me.

Maybe I’m being way to critical of it though. Adam enjoyed it even though he felt that it was a bit hokey and kiddy. For me it was an average movie. It didn’t wow me or make me excited. It’s not one that I would purchase but I also don’t feel cheated out of the $10 it cost to see it in 3D (I had a free movie ticket). There were a lot of kids in the theater and they seemed to really enjoy all of the bodily functions, booger picking, and eyeball poking, scenes. :)

(this is my 600th post!! Wow!)

Follow Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:45:00 +0000

It’s Friday!! Yay! Today I’m sharing some of the really great ladies that I have met recently! I’m so glad that these ladies are sponsoring my blog this month and that I was able to meet them and make new friends. Check out their blogs so that you can meet them too!

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Lindsey @ Country Roots City Living

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Hi my name is Lindsey but most everyone just calls me Lins. I am a midwestern girl turn southern belle. I am a stay at home mom of two boys, three fur babies, and a husband. My blog is a lifestyle blog and you will find recipes, DIY, adventures of raising two outgoing boys, and just our life in general as we get used to a new state away from our family and friends.

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Jennifer @ Busy Being Jennifer

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Shop

Hi Friends! I'm Jennifer, the Jennifer behind Busy Being Jennifer. I'm just a small town Texas blogger making my way in the world and having a lot of fun, and being a little blonde along the way :) I love coffee, my puppy, reading, chocolate, my Hubby, shopping and anything crafty! Oh, and I have a shop!

Homespun Happiness is the place where I send the things that I make and love and want to share! Through my shop I help support a small ministry in Romania that helps rescue women that have been forced into slavery. So when you purchase from Homespun Happiness you get a lovely, handmade something, and you help make a difference!

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Kenzie @ My Life and Lemons

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Hey, I'm Kenzie! I'm a part-time-stay-at-home mom, fitness instructor, and house cleaner. I love to ride horses, cook, do crafts, and go on adventures. I blog over at Life & Lemons about my random everyday life. I love participating in fun link ups and memes, as well as post a ton of fun pictures.

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Demi @ {Country} Life With a Front Porch View

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Google

My name is Demi. I'm a 29 year old stay at home mom, wife and avid blogger. I'm a southern "firecracker" who loves to have fun and enjoys helping others. I live in a small town in Western Tennessee with my husband, son, our basset hound Chloe and our 13 pound house cat Precious. I blog over at {Country} Life with a Front Porch View. My blog is about all the adventures in the life of a small town country mom. I love to post craft projects, good ole southern recipes and anything else that sparks my interest! I currently run two weekly linkups: Inspire Me! Thursdays and Southern Sundays. I hope y'all will stop by my front porch real soon for an afternoon visit -- feel free to bring your friends as well! I look forward to seeing everyone there! Have a great day from my front porch to yours!!

~*~

Gayle @ Grace for Gayle

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram

Hey, y'all, I'm Gayle, and I write over at Grace for Gayle. Contrary to some emails I've been getting, my name isn't Grace (seems worth mentioning). My day job is in Human Resources as a Compensation Analyst, so I ~~spend all day looking at salaries and trying not to laugh and/or cry~~ analyze compensation. I live in Dallas with my two dogs and two cats. I love peanut butter, animal memes, chips and salsa, scary movies, working out, borrowing people's kids, and I have an unusually difficult time describing myself without just listing stuff (no autobiography for me, unless a 500-page list counts). Jessica has awesome readers, so I hope y'all come visit me, too--I guarantee my blog content is more entertaining than this paragraph has been. While you're there, be sure to add yourself to my map, and sign up to receive some G-Mail!

Have a great weekend!!

Giveaway Hot Spot

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:47:00 +0000

Today I wanted to highlight all of the great giveaways that I’m either involved in or that my friends are involved in. This way you can have direct access from this one page without having to hunt all over the blog world for those great giveaways!

My Giveaways:

30th Birthday Giveaway $200+ in prizes! ~ Ends midnight on Feb 28th.

Lindsey is having a February Sponsor Giveaway for ad space and gift cards
~ Ends TONIGHT!

~*~

Other Giveaways you need to check out:

Janette is featuring 5 of her sorority sisters this week and their businesses. There will be a giveaway for over $200 worth of prizes at the end of the week to one lucky reader.

Kenzie is giving away some MAJOR Ad space for her February Sponsor Giveaway!

Gayle is participating in a $250 Visa Giveaway!

Beth from Living a Goddess Life is having a giveaway for 5 Kindle eBooks of The Grimm Chronicles Volume 1. Stephanie is giving away a beautiful Chunky Necklace! Marla with Saving U Green is giving away 3 Packages of Field Trip Jerky (3 flavors) on her blog. Today I’m also linking up with Seriously Shawn & Impulsive Addict for Talk To Us Tuesday! Best link party there is!

Oscars .. My Take

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:38:00 +0000

The Oscars have finally been awarded! I just loved this years show and that I predicted 10 our 23 correctly! Ok so that’s not saying much but the ones that I completely guessed on I knew I was probably going to get them wrong anyways. I got most of the big ones right!

Here are the winners and my original predictions from my post a few weeks ago:

BEST PICTURE ~ Argo
My Prediction – Lincoln

BEST ACTRESS ~ Jennifer Lawrence
My Prediction - Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTOR ~ Daniel Day-Lewis
My Prediction - Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ~ Anne Hathaway
My Prediction - Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ~ Christoph Waltz
My Prediction - Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

BEST DIRECTOR ~ Ang Lee for Life of Pi
My Prediction - Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ~ Argo
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ~ Django Unchained
My Prediction - Django Unchained

BEST ANIMATED FILM ~ Brave
My Prediction - Brave

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE ~ Amour
My Prediction - Amour

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS ~ Life of Pi
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ~ Life of Pi
My Prediction - Life Of Pi

BEST COSTUME DESIGN ~ Anna Karenina
My Prediction - Lincoln

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) ~ Searching for Sugar Man
My Prediction - The Gatekeepers

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT) ~ Inocente
My Prediction – Redemption

BEST FILM EDITING ~ Argo
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST MAKEUP ~ Les Mis
My Prediction - The Hobbit

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) ~ Mychael Danna for Life of Pi
My Prediction - Mychael Danna for Life of Pi

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) ~ Skyfall
My Prediction - Suddenly from Les Mis

BEST SOUND EDITING ~ Skyfall & Zero Dark Thirty (Has there ever been a tie before?)
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST SOUND MIXING ~ Les Mis
My Prediction - Les Mis

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) ~ Curfew
My Prediction - Death of a Shadow

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) ~ Paperman
My Prediction - Adam and Dog

Favorite Moments:
Jennifer Hudson’s performance! If you didn’t see it go HERE to see the video.

Jennifer Lawrence winning best actress and falling up the stairs. Thank you for making us clumsy people feel a lot better. I just love her! I also LOVED her dress and that necklace.

The cast of Les Mis singing. This brought tears to my eyes for some reason. It was so good. See that video HERE.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, and Seth McFarlane’s routine. Loved it!

Channing Tatum & Charlize Theron dancing.

The boobs song!

The gorgeous decor on stage.

Least Favorite Moments:
While I loved that Seth McFarlane was the host did he really need to laugh after EVERY single joke he did?

Kristen Chenoweth … period

Argo winning best picture … should have been Lincoln or Les Mis.

Overall it was a great show! My DVR cut off even though I had it set to record an extra hour so unfortunately I had to get caught up when I got to work to see all of the acceptances speeches.

What was your favorite part of the show? Least favorite?

Movie Review ~ Beautiful Creatures

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:19:00 +0000

I haven’t had much of an opportunity to blog this week so I feel a little out of touch. I have been trying to visit blogs and comment so hopefully I have made it to your little piece of the blog world at some point this week.

Don’t forget to enter my 30th Birthday Giveaway if you haven’t already!

I am so excited that the Oscars are this Sunday!! We finally get to see who wins all the big awards. To see my predictions check out THIS POST that I wrote last month. At that time I hadn’t seen Lincoln or Silver Linings Playbook but now I have and I’m completely standing by my original predictions. (To see my movie reviews of these two click the movie title)

This past weekend we saw Beautiful Creatures.

Beautiful Creatures is about a boy named Ethan that is living in a small town where everyone knows way to much about their neighbor’s business. He dreams of getting out of this town and never looking back. He keeps having mysterious dreams about a girl that he can’t see her face but he knows that he has to save her. One day his world is shaken up when Lena Duchannes moves to town. She is the niece of the town recluse and is immediately labeled an outsider. He is drawn to her and realizes that she is the girl from his dreams. Lena is dealing with her own problems. She is a Caster, aka a witch, and on her 16th birthday she will be claimed for either the light or the dark. Together Ethan and Lena try to discover a way that she can choose to be good and break the curse that has claimed generations of Duchannes women to a life they didn’t chose to live.

I had won a copy of this book from Beth @ Living A Goddess Life a while back in a giveaway that she did. I put off reading it because the last book in the series wasn’t out yet. There is nothing I hate more than starting a series without having all of the books, I’m way to impatient for that. So I got the rest of the series for Christmas and immediately dove right in. I loved the story but there was a lot of things about the book that just didn’t click with me. I had some issues with the writing and just how the characters moved through the story. So I was a little apprehensive about seeing the movie. I read several articles last week that said the screen writer and producers did not go strictly by the book when making this movie. In fact some of the actors had not even read the book when they played their parts. This excited me!

After seeing the movie I can say that this is the first time ever I have loved the movie more than the book. Like I said I really LOVE the story of Ethan and Lena. I love that she is a strong woman and he is just a normal boy. How often we see that reversed and it’s a weak girl and a strong man (example: Twilight … not saying I don’t love twilight). To me the movie brought out more of their passion for each other. It’s not about sex but more about that their lives were destined to intertwine and that they will in the end save each other. I just cannot WAIT for the next three movies to see exactly where this story is going to go even though I do know the ending.

For those that are SUPER fans of these books I think there will be some disappointments. There are characters that have been removed completely and other character roles that have been changed. The screenwriters were pretty heavy handed with their decisions. However give the movie a chance and see it as a movie ADAPTATION rather than just a carbon copy of the original story. It really is a fantastic movie!

Birthday Goodies

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:34:00 +0000

Hello to all of my new followers!!! I’m so excited that I have so many new readers and I really appreciate YOU! I hope that you will comment so that we can chat and get to know each other. :)

I had the BEST birthday yesterday! The best EVER!! Why was I ever hung up about turning 30. I learned yesterday that it’s called the Dirty Thirty. Hmm that makes 30 seem a whole lot more fun.

My day started with a gift from Adam. He got me a beautiful necklace that matches my BLOG and includes my monogram! How awesome is he?!

Then when I got to work I discovered that my boss and co-worker had conspired and gotten me balloons and my favorite cake, red velvet. YUM! Then my boss treated us to lunch at Olive Garden where I ate entirely too much and still had leftovers. My co-worker gave me a gift card to Cracker Barrel and my boss gave me a little bonus money that is truly appreciated.

Before lunch I got a surprise from FedEx in the form of a box FULL of gifts from Janette!! Thirty gifts each wrapped up for my 30th birthday! Don’t I have such an amazing friend?

After an unwrapping SPREE this is what all I got!!

Wall canvas, diamond cleaner, friendship sign, reese’s heart, a glass for work, 3 nail polishes, lotto ticket, 2 wine stoppers, cookie press, scarf, cell phone glass cleaner, chocolate, cute tissues, hand warmer, JcPenney gift card, a cute owl keychain, 2 head bands, 7 bracelts, and a paper weight and mouse pad in the design of my blog! Holy cow!

In the afternoon my friend Liz stopped by and gave me some fabulous wall art for my office!! Love it and can’t wait to get it hung up!

Then when I got home I got the best gift of all. Adam had come home from work around 9am, ripped up the carpet in our bathroom, put down new sub flooring, and started putting down tile! He said he had about 9 hours worth of work in to it when I got home and should be finished in a day or so. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I don’t have to have that ugly carpet in my bathroom anymore … It’s still in the bedroom though … hmm Christmas present? :)

I will take better photos once it’s done. I ran in and snapped this one last night before he got in the shower so it wasn’t the most planned thing.

I feel like I was Queen for a day and I’m so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. Thank you EVERYONE for the sweet birthday comments!!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway me and 11 other bloggers are having to celebrate my big day!!

My 30th Birthday Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica McCoy) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Today is the day!! The day that I leave my 20s behind and begin my journey in my 30s. To me being 30 means that you are officially an adult. I can’t really say that I FEEL like an adult most of the time though. Wasn’t I JUST 18? Being 30 is a little bit of a scary thing. In 10 years I will be 40!! Ok let’s not think about that … :)

I wanted to make my birthday a celebration and one of my favorite things to do is make other people happy. So I’m making one of my lucky readers very happy by joining up with some fabulous ladies and having a HUGE giveaway!!

I issued out a request for Sponsors for this giveaway and I have been so blessed to have had such a great response. I am so thankful for these ladies and that they wanted to celebrate with me!! I am also very thankful for each of YOU that read my blog, whether you are new follower or you have been around since the beginning I really appreciate you.

So let’s get to the GOOD STUFF! Please check out each of these lovely ladies’ blogs, show them some love, and help us spread the word about this giveaway.

Forever and a Day ~ 1 Month Large Ad Space & a Thirty-One Surprise

The Johanson Journey ~ $25 Etsy Gift Card

Grace For Gayle ~ $10 Starbucks Gift Card & Guest Post

Life and Lemons ~ 2 Months Large Ad Space

Insanity Rules ~ 2 Pieces of Subway Art

The Vintage Modern Wife ~ $10 Starbucks Gift Card

Happy Joyful Day ~ $30 Starbucks Gift Card

Football and Rainbows ~ 3 Months Large Ad Space & $10 Hobby Lobby Gift Card

Blended With Love ~ $20 Target Gift Card

Busy Being Jennifer ~ $20 Shop Credit to Homespun Happiness

Charm & Sass ~ 1 Month Premium Ad Space

Country Roots City Living ~ 1 Month Large Ad Space

I wish I could enter this myself because these are some GREAT prizes!!

GOOD LUCK!

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