Thursday, October 23, 2008
loving on my man....
This day in 1999, Jimmy and I started dating! That marks 9 years for us and we can't wait for the next nine.... and the next nine! I love you babe!! ♥
Monday, October 20, 2008
2 posts in one day.... I know! But, I HAD to add this!
My friends Michelle and Jessica both posted this blog and I found it hilarious so I tried it out myself! Go to "Google" and search your name followed by "needs". Here's what I came up with...
1. Rachel needs guidance and normal supervision... seriously, I'm not that bad!
2. Rachel needs your help.... again, not that bad!
3. Rachel REALLY needs some organization and better flow... understatement of the century!!
4. Rachel needs some good thoughts.... PLEASE!
5. Rachel needs more caffeine.... should say Rachel needs to stay away from caffeine!
6. Rachel needs to focus.... AMEN!
7. Rachel needs a new roommate.... the irony of this blows my mind!
8. Rachel needs a squeeze... please be more specific!
1. Rachel needs guidance and normal supervision... seriously, I'm not that bad!
2. Rachel needs your help.... again, not that bad!
3. Rachel REALLY needs some organization and better flow... understatement of the century!!
4. Rachel needs some good thoughts.... PLEASE!
5. Rachel needs more caffeine.... should say Rachel needs to stay away from caffeine!
6. Rachel needs to focus.... AMEN!
7. Rachel needs a new roommate.... the irony of this blows my mind!
8. Rachel needs a squeeze... please be more specific!
fun weekend!!
On Saturday, Jimmy and I were privileged to join my boss, representing our company at the 20th Annual International House Gala at the Hilton Center City.... 
We were well out of our league with the others at the event, but we still had a great time with the "big wigs"....
We were well out of our league with the others at the event, but we still had a great time with the "big wigs"....Sunday, we joined the Springs' family at the Homecoming for Mulberry Presbyterian Church... 120 years and counting! Jimmy's grandfather Earl has been a member for 50+ years and he was so emotional to see us all join him in celebrating this day!!
Later in the afternoon Jimmy and I decided that we would go to the pumpkin patch down the street from our neighborhood....
We ended the day with Bax playing us a little tune on the piano...
and then crashing.... on my rear end!
Monday, October 13, 2008
just a little advertisement....
Back in the summer I was asked by a good freind of mine to be a model in my wedding dress for some advertising shots.... I was a little worried about fitting into my dress but here are a few shots...
The name of the company is Studio 74 Productions... Contact Timm Young or Patrick Wolfe at http://www.studio74productions.com/ where you can also see the video that Timm did the same day as the shots above!
The name of the company is Studio 74 Productions... Contact Timm Young or Patrick Wolfe at http://www.studio74productions.com/ where you can also see the video that Timm did the same day as the shots above!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Baxter!!
Jimmy has been asking me for quite sometime to give him a picture of me that he can put on his desk at work. Yesterday, I finally just decided to call and make an appointment to get our pictures done professionally. We haven't had them done since our engagement pictures other than a few from when we got married. As most of you know, we didn't have the traditional wedding so we didn't have the traditional photographs. Anyway, that's beside the point. I called Jimmy to let him know that I have made the appointment for Oct 29th. He immediatley says, "Awesome, that gives us time to get a puppy that can be in the picture with us!" Jimmy has also been hounding me for a while to get a miniature schnauzer puppy like Jack, his dad's dog. I have been very reluctant to get another pet but something inside me decided to go on the internet and search breeders in the Charlotte area. I emailed a list to Jimmy and called to let him know. When he answered the phone and I told him I'd been searching, he started laughing! Apparently, Jimmy and Amy had been on the phone with the breeder that she got Jack from already asking her about her most current litter!
Needless to say, we all (Britt, Amy, Me & Jimmy) loaded up in the truck last night and drove to right outside of Albemarle, NC to look at the puppies. Jimmy is very aware of my weekness for animals. therefore was not in the least bit suprised when I said, "When can we take him home?" I'd like to introduce you to the newest Springs family member....
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
apologies in advance for my taboo statement....
Like most everyone else, I keep my political views to myself most of the time. I have two good friends that don't agree with me at all and that doesn't make them any less my friends. I am first to say that everyone is entitled to their own opinions. That being said, I am 100% against the thought of having Barack Obama as the future president and front man of our country.
Also like most, I have been listening with one ear open to all of the debates that have been on TV over the last few weeks. Personally, I think Sarah Palin hit a home run in her debate against Joe Biden. I think she was witty and personable as well as intelligent behind the pretty face. Last night Jimmy and I sat down together to watch the debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. Thirty minutes into the debate, Jimmy looks over at me and says, "I hate to say this, but Obama has this debate in the bag"... clearly his oral charisma had taken hold of my husband. The man that every time he hears the voice of Barack Obama on the radio or TV changes the channel or station, this can't be right. It's not that either one of us has not listened to his views and ideas before shunning him as a possibility, but on the contrary have just not been impressed until last night.
The below article was on "Yahoo News" today reassuring me that the dazzling front that Obama puts on to this nation is not just something in my own head... please see that I have given credit to the author of this article, I am merely sharing this piece with you all... in bold I have set apart a statement that I hold true in my mind...
The Obama DelusionBy Robert Samuelson
WASHINGTON -- It's hard not to be dazzled by Barack Obama. At the 2004 Democratic convention, he visited with Newsweek reporters and editors, including me. I came away deeply impressed by his intelligence, his forceful language and his apparent willingness to take positions that seemed to rise above narrow partisanship. Obama has become the Democratic presidential front-runner, precisely because countless millions have formed a similar opinion. It is, I now think, mistaken.
As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.
The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative -- to become the first African-American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery -- can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient good will, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal.
But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills. It requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.
By Obama's own moral standards, Obama fails. Americans "are tired of hearing promises made and 10-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change," he recently said. Shortly thereafter, he outlined an economic plan of at least 12 points that, among other things, would:
-- Provide a $1,000 tax cut for most two-earner families ($500 for singles).
-- Create a $4,000 refundable tuition tax credit for every year of college.
-- Expand the child care tax credit for people earning less than $50,000 and "double spending on quality after-school programs."
-- Enact an "energy plan" that would invest $150 billion in 10 years to create a "green energy sector."
Whatever one thinks of these ideas, they're standard goodie-bag politics: something for everyone. They're so similar to many Clinton proposals that her campaign put out a news release accusing him of plagiarizing. With existing budget deficits and the costs of Obama's "universal health plan," the odds of enacting his full package are slim.
A favorite Obama line is that he will tell "the American people not just what they want to hear, but what we need to know." Well, he hasn't so far.
Consider the retiring baby boomers. A truth-telling Obama might say: "Spending for retirees -- mainly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- is already nearly half the federal budget. Unless we curb these rising costs, we will crush our children with higher taxes. Reflecting longer life expectancies, we should gradually raise the eligibility ages for these programs and trim benefits for wealthier retirees. Both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for inaction. Waiting longer will only worsen the problem."
Instead, Obama pledges not to raise the retirement age and to "protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries." This isn't "change"; it's sanctification of the status quo. He would also exempt all retirees making less than $50,000 annually from income tax. By his math, that would provide average tax relief of $1,400 to 7 million retirees -- shifting more of the tax burden onto younger workers. Obama's main proposal for Social Security is to raise the payroll tax beyond the present $102,000 ceiling.
Political candidates routinely indulge in exaggeration, pandering, inconsistency and self-serving obscurity. Clinton and McCain do. The reason for holding Obama to a higher standard is that it's his standard and also his campaign's central theme. He has run on the vague promise of "change," but on issue after issue -- immigration, the economy, global warming -- he has offered boilerplate policies that evade the underlying causes of the stalemates. These issues remain contentious because they involve real conflicts or differences of opinion.
The contrast between his broad rhetoric and his narrow agenda is stark, and yet the press corps -- preoccupied with the political "horse race" -- has treated his invocation of "change" as a serious idea rather than a shallow campaign slogan. He seems to have hypnotized much of the media and the public with his eloquence and the symbolism of his life story. The result is a mass delusion that Obama is forthrightly engaging the nation's major problems when, so far, he isn't.
Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group
Also like most, I have been listening with one ear open to all of the debates that have been on TV over the last few weeks. Personally, I think Sarah Palin hit a home run in her debate against Joe Biden. I think she was witty and personable as well as intelligent behind the pretty face. Last night Jimmy and I sat down together to watch the debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. Thirty minutes into the debate, Jimmy looks over at me and says, "I hate to say this, but Obama has this debate in the bag"... clearly his oral charisma had taken hold of my husband. The man that every time he hears the voice of Barack Obama on the radio or TV changes the channel or station, this can't be right. It's not that either one of us has not listened to his views and ideas before shunning him as a possibility, but on the contrary have just not been impressed until last night.
The below article was on "Yahoo News" today reassuring me that the dazzling front that Obama puts on to this nation is not just something in my own head... please see that I have given credit to the author of this article, I am merely sharing this piece with you all... in bold I have set apart a statement that I hold true in my mind...
The Obama DelusionBy Robert Samuelson
WASHINGTON -- It's hard not to be dazzled by Barack Obama. At the 2004 Democratic convention, he visited with Newsweek reporters and editors, including me. I came away deeply impressed by his intelligence, his forceful language and his apparent willingness to take positions that seemed to rise above narrow partisanship. Obama has become the Democratic presidential front-runner, precisely because countless millions have formed a similar opinion. It is, I now think, mistaken.
As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.
The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative -- to become the first African-American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery -- can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient good will, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal.
But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills. It requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.
By Obama's own moral standards, Obama fails. Americans "are tired of hearing promises made and 10-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change," he recently said. Shortly thereafter, he outlined an economic plan of at least 12 points that, among other things, would:
-- Provide a $1,000 tax cut for most two-earner families ($500 for singles).
-- Create a $4,000 refundable tuition tax credit for every year of college.
-- Expand the child care tax credit for people earning less than $50,000 and "double spending on quality after-school programs."
-- Enact an "energy plan" that would invest $150 billion in 10 years to create a "green energy sector."
Whatever one thinks of these ideas, they're standard goodie-bag politics: something for everyone. They're so similar to many Clinton proposals that her campaign put out a news release accusing him of plagiarizing. With existing budget deficits and the costs of Obama's "universal health plan," the odds of enacting his full package are slim.
A favorite Obama line is that he will tell "the American people not just what they want to hear, but what we need to know." Well, he hasn't so far.
Consider the retiring baby boomers. A truth-telling Obama might say: "Spending for retirees -- mainly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- is already nearly half the federal budget. Unless we curb these rising costs, we will crush our children with higher taxes. Reflecting longer life expectancies, we should gradually raise the eligibility ages for these programs and trim benefits for wealthier retirees. Both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for inaction. Waiting longer will only worsen the problem."
Instead, Obama pledges not to raise the retirement age and to "protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries." This isn't "change"; it's sanctification of the status quo. He would also exempt all retirees making less than $50,000 annually from income tax. By his math, that would provide average tax relief of $1,400 to 7 million retirees -- shifting more of the tax burden onto younger workers. Obama's main proposal for Social Security is to raise the payroll tax beyond the present $102,000 ceiling.
Political candidates routinely indulge in exaggeration, pandering, inconsistency and self-serving obscurity. Clinton and McCain do. The reason for holding Obama to a higher standard is that it's his standard and also his campaign's central theme. He has run on the vague promise of "change," but on issue after issue -- immigration, the economy, global warming -- he has offered boilerplate policies that evade the underlying causes of the stalemates. These issues remain contentious because they involve real conflicts or differences of opinion.
The contrast between his broad rhetoric and his narrow agenda is stark, and yet the press corps -- preoccupied with the political "horse race" -- has treated his invocation of "change" as a serious idea rather than a shallow campaign slogan. He seems to have hypnotized much of the media and the public with his eloquence and the symbolism of his life story. The result is a mass delusion that Obama is forthrightly engaging the nation's major problems when, so far, he isn't.
Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group
Thursday, October 2, 2008
reminicing on my yesterdays and cherishing my todays...
People say that time flies, that is a gross understatement. It seems like yesterday that I was 12 years old riding my bike after school longing for the days when I would be a teenager and go to high school. Those days quickly came and then I remember longing to be 16 to get my driver's license and then 18 to be legal and finally graduate from that hell they call high school! It's funny how life runs it's course isn't it? Well, 16, 18 and then 21 came very quickly and passed. I married young to the love of my life, moved out of my parents house and so it began, I am a full blown adult. Skipping to an explanation period....
My parents basically had two sets of children. Chris and I had most of our small childhood to ourselves with our parents. When we were well out of the small child phase and almost out of the elementary school phase, they decided to start again. Tyler and then Jayme were born with a 8 year gap between me and the next. By the time that Chris and I graduated and moved out, Jayme and Tyler were only 6 and 9. My parents will have raised children for over 30 years by the time that the younger brood is out of the house! My point in this is that even though they are my brothers, they are in a totally different generation that Chris and I were in. And back to the main topic....
Last week, Mom called me and asked if it would be possible if I could keep Jayme while they went to Oregon for a few days for my cousins wedding. Of course I said yes. My parents seem to think that this is a huge inconvenience for me, but what they don't understand is that it makes me so happy to spend some time with him! He arrived yesterday after school and we spent the night hanging out, going to Morris costumes for ideas for Halloween and just chatting. It is amazing to talk to him because he is not your average 14 year old boy. He is so incredibly smart, sometimes you forget his age. He got his wit and humor from my dad and therefor is an absolute entertainer at heart. He made me laugh to tears last night which doesn't happen very often. He brought up things that we had done like 7 or 8 years ago that just blew my mind that he remembered... like me taking him to Shoney's for breakfast before I took him to school. I don't remember that day all that well but to to hear him tell me about it, it was obvious that was a day that he holds dear to his heart. I started to think about it and realized that in just a year or so, he will be an only child. Tyler is 17 and headstrong and will be out of the house the day he turns 18, leaving Jayme to be the only baby bird left in the nest. This makes me sad for my mom. I just can't imagine being in her position, where you have spend the last three decades of your life, raising four children and in just a few short years, we will all be gone.
I said all that to say this, our days are precious. Each one of them is a gift from our God and the more time you spend longing for the future are days that you have missed in the present. It reminds me of the song by Trace Adkins, "you're gonna miss this". That and spend time with the one's you love. Make every moment count because you don't know what that moment is going to mean to someone else, even if it's just another day to you.
My parents basically had two sets of children. Chris and I had most of our small childhood to ourselves with our parents. When we were well out of the small child phase and almost out of the elementary school phase, they decided to start again. Tyler and then Jayme were born with a 8 year gap between me and the next. By the time that Chris and I graduated and moved out, Jayme and Tyler were only 6 and 9. My parents will have raised children for over 30 years by the time that the younger brood is out of the house! My point in this is that even though they are my brothers, they are in a totally different generation that Chris and I were in. And back to the main topic....
Last week, Mom called me and asked if it would be possible if I could keep Jayme while they went to Oregon for a few days for my cousins wedding. Of course I said yes. My parents seem to think that this is a huge inconvenience for me, but what they don't understand is that it makes me so happy to spend some time with him! He arrived yesterday after school and we spent the night hanging out, going to Morris costumes for ideas for Halloween and just chatting. It is amazing to talk to him because he is not your average 14 year old boy. He is so incredibly smart, sometimes you forget his age. He got his wit and humor from my dad and therefor is an absolute entertainer at heart. He made me laugh to tears last night which doesn't happen very often. He brought up things that we had done like 7 or 8 years ago that just blew my mind that he remembered... like me taking him to Shoney's for breakfast before I took him to school. I don't remember that day all that well but to to hear him tell me about it, it was obvious that was a day that he holds dear to his heart. I started to think about it and realized that in just a year or so, he will be an only child. Tyler is 17 and headstrong and will be out of the house the day he turns 18, leaving Jayme to be the only baby bird left in the nest. This makes me sad for my mom. I just can't imagine being in her position, where you have spend the last three decades of your life, raising four children and in just a few short years, we will all be gone.
I said all that to say this, our days are precious. Each one of them is a gift from our God and the more time you spend longing for the future are days that you have missed in the present. It reminds me of the song by Trace Adkins, "you're gonna miss this". That and spend time with the one's you love. Make every moment count because you don't know what that moment is going to mean to someone else, even if it's just another day to you.
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