Moving....

So I'm moving - over to wordpress. Blogger hasn't wanted to post my posts for a while now and it's quite annoying. One cool thing is that I am able to transfer all my blogger posts and comments over to my new wordpress blog.

I'm still setting everything up, but I won't be posting anything new on this blog.

Head over to http://djw209.wordpress.com

test

test to see if the blog will publish anything!

Bake Me a Wish

Emilie over at Baby Loving Mama is giving away one of the singular sensations from Bake Me a Wish. What's awesome about Bake Me a Wish (other than their fantastic prices and shipping costs) 5% of any cake order goes to Bake Me A Wish!’s Operation: Birthday Cake!!!

Together with their partner Soldiers’ Angels donates birthday cakes each month to soldiers overseas who are having a birthday. See more on this cause here. What a fabulous way to build our troops morale!

Go here to enter this giveaway - ends July 19.

Penny Pinchers Club book

Check out this great book giveaway over at I Am A Money Magnet



This novel sounds AWESOME!! I hope I win 1 of the 2 books she's giving away!!!

Off PowerPad Lamp

Mosquitos love me, I hate them. When I started dating Danny, we did a lot of camping, eating outside, and just being outside. And this became a problem for me because I would spend most of my time smacking the mosquitos off my arms, legs, face, whatever. And then I had bites all over and it just didn't look good professionaly. And they didn't feel good personally (duh). So, along came OFF!'s invention of the PowerPad Lamp - my lifesaver.

So when I saw that Felicia over at gograhamgo was giving away one of these lamps, I had to enter. I use these daily in the summer...honestly I do. At my wedding wedding reception we didn't have candles on the tables, we used these lamps so I didn't have to wear bug repellent.

Go here and enter this giveaway!!

cupcake!

I just love everything over at Tristine's etsy shop, Stay Home Cupcake, especially the keychains!!
Take a look at her crocheted mini dessert set for kids!! I LOVE this idea - no sharp edges to hurt kids when playing and they are just so adorable! So if you want to win one of Tristine's cupcake pincuchions then go to Brandy's blog and enter her giveaway!!!

Brownie Fun by Wilton giveaway

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls has a giveaway for a book, Brownie Fun by Wilton.

Click HERE for details.

Ends July 17 - go enter!!!

BluFrog BluGamer Giveaway!!

BluFrog Energy drink is giving you the chance to win one of 5 a wonderful experiences. For those who don't know, BluFrog Energy Drink gives you an extra boost. Plus, compared to other energy drinks BluFrog Healthy Drink has only 68 calories and 17 grams of sugar compared with other energy drinks that have up to 140 calories and up to 31 grams of sugar.

If you haven't entered the BluFrog contest go do so now. Contest ends July 17th so go now and enter and don't miss out!! These are the experiences you can win:

Happy Blu-Year: Win a New Years Eve trip to NY
You and a friend will be flown to New York City to ring in the New Year!!

Blullapalooza: Win a trip to Lollapalloza in Chicago
Go to the Windy City and attend the world's most famous music festival, Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago.

BluStreak: Win a Richard Petty Racing Experience
Like speed? The you want to win this trip to try the Richard Petty Driving Experience. If you like to drive fast, this one is for you.

BluGamer: The Ultimate Gaming Package
Not much of a traveler and more of a gamer? Then enter to win an Xbox 360 Elite Gaming System with a Rock Band 2 bundle to boot? SWEET!

XtremeBLU: Win a trip to the Winter X Games in Aspen
Get extreme and got to the 14th Winter X Games from ESPN. It might be cold but it'll be fun!

I entered and want to win the Ultimate Gaming Paackage because it comess with Rock Band 2. I got to play Rock Band last year at a conference in Boston for work and I had a blast. Danny and I just recently bought a Wii and we are having so much fun each night bowling...last night I tried out the baseball game on Wii Sports and I kicked butt! So I know that Danny and I will REALLY REALLY enjoy jammin together!

It's easy to enter. Just go on their blog and tell them which prize you want to win. Send a tweet. Or write a blog post. Three chances to win one of the AWESOME giveaways!! So what are you waiting for? Ends July 17th. Go visit the site and enter for yourself. Plus, look around BluFrog because they have all this other cool stuff there.

Psalms 13-17

I am heading to PA tonight and not returning to the office until Tuesday July 7. One of the things that we'll be doing is celebrating my Grandfather's 80th birthday on Friday!! I'll also get to see my Grandmother in her new apartment!

Since blogger isn't letting me create posts now and have them posted over the weekend (it's a known bug and they are working on it, but it's frustrating to no end!!) here are the verses I'll be reading while in PA (July 3-7)!

Psalm 13

A David Psalm

^1-2 Long enough, God— you've ignored me long enough.
I've looked at the back of your head
long enough. Long enough
I've carried this ton of trouble,
lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
have looked down their noses at me.

^3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
or laugh when I fall on my face.

^5-6 I've thrown myself headlong into your arms—
I'm celebrating your rescue.
I'm singing at the top of my lungs,
I'm so full of answered prayers.

Psalm 14

A David Psalm

¹ Bilious and bloated, they gas, "God is gone."
Their words are poison gas,
fouling the air; they poison
Rivers and skies;
thistles are their cash crop.

² God sticks his head out of heaven.
He looks around.
He's looking for someone not stupid—
one man, even, God-expectant,
just one God-ready woman.

³ He comes up empty. A string
of zeros. Useless, unshepherded
Sheep, taking turns pretending
to be Shepherd.
The ninety and nine
follow their fellow.

⁴ Don't they know anything,
all these impostors?
Don't they know
they can't get away with this—
Treating people like a fast-food meal
over which they're too busy to pray?

^5-6 Night is coming for them, and nightmares,
for God takes the side of victims.
Do you think you can mess
with the dreams of the poor?
You can't, for God
makes their dreams come true.

⁷ Is there anyone around to save Israel?
Yes. God is around; God turns life around.
Turned-around Jacob skips rope,
turned-around Israel sings laughter.

Psalm 15

A David Psalm

¹ God, who gets invited to dinner at your place?
How do we get on your guest list?

² "Walk straight,
act right,
tell the truth.

^3-4 "Don't hurt your friend,
don't blame your neighbor;
despise the despicable.

⁵ "Keep your word even when it costs you,
make an honest living,
never take a bribe.

"You'll never get
blacklisted
if you live like this."

Psalm 16

A David Song

^1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you.
I say to God, "Be my Lord!"
Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—
what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god.
Gods are not for sale.
I swear I'll never treat god-names
like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
And now I find I'm your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake
is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I'll stick with God;
I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out,
and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path,
all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
I'm on the right way.

Psalm 17

A David Prayer

^1-2 Listen while I build my case, God, the most honest prayer you'll ever hear.
Show the world I'm innocent—
in your heart you know I am.

³ Go ahead, examine me from inside out,
surprise me in the middle of the night—
You'll find I'm just what I say I am.
My words don't run loose.

^4-5 I'm not trying to get my way
in the world's way.
I'm trying to get your way,
your Word's way.
I'm staying on your trail;
I'm putting one foot
In front of the other.
I'm not giving up.

^6-7 I call to you, God, because I'm sure of an answer.
So—answer! bend your ear! listen sharp!
Paint grace-graffiti on the fences;
take in your frightened children who
Are running from the neighborhood bullies
straight to you.

^8-9 Keep your eye on me;
hide me under your cool wing feathers
From the wicked who are out to get me,
from mortal enemies closing in.

^10-14 Their hearts are hard as nails,
their mouths blast hot air.
They are after me, nipping my heels,
determined to bring me down,
Lions ready to rip me apart,
young lions poised to pounce.
Up, God: beard them! break them!
By your sword, free me from their clutches;
Barehanded, God, break these mortals,
these flat-earth people who can't think beyond today.

I'd like to see their bellies
swollen with famine food,
The weeds they've sown
harvested and baked into famine bread,
With second helpings for their children
and crusts for their babies to chew on.

¹⁵ And me? I plan on looking
you full in the face. When I get up,
I'll see your full stature
and live heaven on earth.

Psalms 12

Psalm 12

A David Psalm

^1-2 Quick, God, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down,
All the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
Lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.

^3-4 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull
The braggart tongues from their mouths!
I'm tired of hearing, "We can talk anyone into anything!
Our lips manage the world."

⁵ Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
"I've had enough; I'm on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched."

^6-8 God's words are pure words,
Pure silver words refined seven times
In the fires of his word-kiln,
Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
God, keep us safe from their lies,
From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
From the wicked who collect honors
For their wonderful lies.

Shabbysheebus

So my blogging friend, Jess, over at Wrong Week is doing a give away in honor of her husband (whom I went to high school with) being in the Army for 10 years!!! What an awesome achievement! She has recently been posting pictures of her husband and her "non-husband" jumping out of a plane!!! AWESOME!

So her giveaway is a $25 giftcard to her etsy store, Shabbysheebus. Go check it out - she is soooo crafty!

I LOVE all her purses and bags!


If I had a little girl I'd buy out all her barrettes too! So Jess, keep making all these things so if and when I have a daughter I can do her hair up in your adorable barretts!


This is my favorite bag up on her site currently, the Wanda Clutch Paisley! It's the perfect size for going out to dinner and then drinks!

Psalms 12

Psalm 12

A David Psalm

^1-2 Quick, God, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down,
All the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
Lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.

^3-4 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull
The braggart tongues from their mouths!
I'm tired of hearing, "We can talk anyone into anything!
Our lips manage the world."

⁵ Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
"I've had enough; I'm on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched."

^6-8 God's words are pure words,
Pure silver words refined seven times
In the fires of his word-kiln,
Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
God, keep us safe from their lies,
From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
From the wicked who collect honors
For their wonderful lies.

Psalms 7-11

So Blogger isn't really that good at posting my posts. And I just realized that now.

Here are the Psalms daily readings from June 27 through today!

Psalm 7

A David Psalm

^1-2 God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild.
If they catch me, I'm finished:
ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
dragged into the forest and left
unlooked for, unremembered.

^3-5 God, if I've done what they say—
betrayed my friends,
ripped off my enemies—
If my hands are really that dirty,
let them get me, walk all over me,
leave me flat on my face in the dirt.

^6-8 Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
against my furious enemies.
Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
the courtroom; it's judgment time.
Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
throw out the false charges against me.
I'm ready, confident in your verdict:
"Innocent."

^9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
you probe for our soft spots,
you knock off our rough edges.
And I'm feeling so fit, so safe:
made right, kept right.
God in solemn honor does things right,
but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

^11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
God is already in action—
Sword honed on his whetstone,
bow strung, arrow on the string,
Lethal weapons in hand,
each arrow a flaming missile.

¹⁴ Look at that guy!
He had sex with sin,
he's pregnant with evil.
Oh, look! He's having
the baby—a Lie-Baby!

^15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
digging, then concealing, his man-trap
down that lonely stretch of road?
Go back and look again—you'll see him in it headfirst,
legs waving in the breeze.
That's what happens:
mischief backfires;
violence boomerangs.

¹⁷ I'm thanking God, who makes things right.
I'm singing the fame of heaven-high God.

Psalm 8

A David Psalm

¹ God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.

² Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.

^3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?

^5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden's dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.

⁹ God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.

Psalm 9

A David Psalm

^1-2 I'm thanking you, God, from a full heart, I'm writing the book on your wonders.
I'm whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;
I'm singing your song, High God.

^3-4 The day my enemies turned tail and ran,
they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.
You took over and set everything right;
when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.

^5-6 You blow the whistle on godless nations;
you throw dirty players out of the game,
wipe their names right off the roster.
Enemies disappear from the sidelines,
their reputation trashed,
their names erased from the halls of fame.

^7-8 God holds the high center,
he sees and sets the world's mess right.
He decides what is right for us earthlings,
gives people their just deserts.

^9-10 God's a safe-house for the battered,
a sanctuary during bad times.
The moment you arrive, you relax;
you're never sorry you knocked.

^11-12 Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God,
tell his stories to everyone you meet:
How he tracks down killers
yet keeps his eye on us,
registers every whimper and moan.

^13-14 Be kind to me, God;
I've been kicked around long enough.
Once you've pulled me back
from the gates of death,
I'll write the book on Hallelujahs;
on the corner of Main and First
I'll hold a street meeting;
I'll be the song leader; we'll fill the air
with salvation songs.

^15-16 They're trapped, those godless countries,
in the very snares they set,
Their feet all tangled
in the net they spread.
They have no excuse;
the way God works is well-known.
The cunning machinery made by the wicked
has maimed their own hands.

^17-20 The wicked bought a one-way
ticket to hell.
No longer will the poor be nameless—
no more humiliation for the humble.
Up, God! Aren't you fed up with their empty strutting?
Expose these grand pretensions!
Shake them up, God!
Show them how silly they look.

Psalm 10

^1-2 God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you?
Full of hot air, the wicked
are hot on the trail of the poor.
Trip them up, tangle them up
in their fine-tuned plots.

^3-4 The wicked are windbags,
the swindlers have foul breath.
The wicked snub God,
their noses stuck high in the air.
Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:
"Catch us if you can!" "God is dead."

^5-6 They care nothing for what you think;
if you get in their way, they blow you off.
They live (they think) a charmed life:
"We can't go wrong. This is our lucky year!"

^7-8 They carry a mouthful of hexes,
their tongues spit venom like adders.
They hide behind ordinary people,
then pounce on their victims.

⁹ They mark the luckless,
then wait like a hunter in a blind;
When the poor wretch wanders too close,
they stab him in the back.

^10-11 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,
the unlucky victim is brutally axed.
He thinks God has dumped him,
he's sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

^12-13 Time to get up, God—get moving.
The luckless think they're Godforsaken.
They wonder why the wicked scorn God
and get away with it,
Why the wicked are so cocksure
they'll never come up for audit.

¹⁴ But you know all about it—
the contempt, the abuse.
I dare to believe that the luckless
will get lucky someday in you.
You won't let them down:
orphans won't be orphans forever.

^15-16 Break the wicked right arms,
break all the evil left arms.
Search and destroy
every sign of crime.
God's grace and order wins;
godlessness loses.

^17-18 The victim's faint pulse picks up;
the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood
as you put your ear to their lips.
Orphans get parents,
the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
the rule of the gang lords is ended.

Psalm 11

A David Psalm

^1-3I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of God.
So why would I run away now
when you say,

"Run to the mountains; the evil
bows are bent, the wicked arrows
Aimed to shoot under cover of darkness
at every heart open to God.
The bottom's dropped out of the country;
good people don't have a chance"?

^4-6 But God hasn't moved to the mountains;
his holy address hasn't changed.
He's in charge, as always, his eyes
taking everything in, his eyelids
Unblinking, examining Adam's unruly brood
inside and out, not missing a thing.
He tests the good and the bad alike;
if anyone cheats, God's outraged.
Fail the test and you're out,
out in a hail of firestones,
Drinking from a canteen
filled with hot desert wind.

⁷ God's business is putting things right;
he loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight. Once we're standing tall,
we can look him straight in the eye.

Princess Fiona

After enjoying the festivities for Memorial Day, we all headed to the church that I grew up in for some water and pie, a fundraiser put on by the Women of the Church.

And along comes this girl. She is so stinking cute. But I recognized her from somewhere.

I'm sure you will recognize this girl too even if you have never met her in your life.



Doesn't she look like Princess Fiona from Shrek? Maybe Shrek and Princess Fiona's child?



I'm not trying to be mean because she is the most adorable little girl you will ever meet, but I have never ever in my life met someone who looks almost identical to a cartoon character. Apparently she's stopped A LOT by professional photographers asking for her picture basically anywhere they go. She's stopped in airports, amusement parks, even walking along the side of the road.

She and my Mom were partners in a church play not too long ago and became fast buddies.



I just want to squeeze her checks!

Maypole Dance

The maypole Dance is a PA Dutch tradition where dancers dance in a circle each holding a colored ribbon attached to a pole; the ribbons are intertwined and plaited on to the pole itself.

It is tradition for this Dance to take place during the Memorial Day festivities in the birthplace of Memorial Day, Boalsburg, PA.

Getting the ribbon ready.


The dancers wore simple white dresses with a brightly colored sash.


Starting the MayPole Dance! It's danced to Polka music!




Here they are starting to wrap the poll with the ribbon - under, over, under, over


Now you can really see the dancers going under and over ribbon.


Happy Memorial Day!




Here's the pole wrapped up!

The Butterfly Garden

Part of the Hershey Gardens is the Butterfly Museum. It's simply amazing to see all these butterflies up close.

Entrance to the Children's Garden where the Butterfly Garden is located!






A Monarch Butterly in top of another






Appropriately named, Zebra Butterflies!






"Mom there's a butterfly inside a butterfly!" Oh I loved these little girls.

More flowers

While I was in PA over Memorial Day weekend, we spent some time walking through the Hershey Gardens. It was a typical hot and humid PA summer day - so we only walked through a small portion of the Hershey Gardens. I took a TON of pictures of the various species of roses.

I don't know what kind of roses they all are, so if you know any, please leave me a comment and I'll update the post with their names!

If you want copies of some of these pictures, then email me - I'll email you a better quality picture than the one I have posted on here (I reduced the quality of the image to it would be a smaller file, which makes it so much easier to post pictures online). Again, if you want to see a larger version of the picture, just click on the image! Enjoy!

**Edited - I've labeled the roses that I don't have names to, making it much easier for me to be able to label them later on!**

These are called Sunsprite Roses.

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These are called Mardi Gras Roses!


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Cool scuplture in the middle of the Rose Garden!


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