New plate holders

My mother-in-law just surprised me with these beautiful brass plate holders. I'm not sure if i'll leave them brass or paint them the heirloom white I keep seeing all over blogland, but I had to share them with you! Aren't they just gorgeous? Now, to find the perfect plates to put in them...guess I'll have to go shopping!

Tootsie

GeoTagged, [N36.17551, E87.34447]

Hello all. I hope you're having a great week.

The new moma cracked me up today and I just HAD to blog it. Ever since my cat had her kittens, it seems like she can't get enough to eat. We just bought a new bag of dog food. My hubby poured it in their (my cat will only eat puppy chow) food container and walked away to throw out the bag. He turned around and this was what we saw...

Kittens!

My sweet Tootsie had kittens...4 of them to be exact! She is a very good mommy, this was one of the rare occasions when she left their bed. Aren't baby animals just the cutest?

Have a great Monday!!

iPhone fun

Well I have finally joined the iPhone world! I don't think I will ever be able to go back to the regular cell phone world now that I have experienced how cool this phone really us. The funny thing about it is that I actually got the phone for my hubby. Unfortunately AT&T wouldn't let me put the phone on his line so I decided to try it out instead of sending the phone back...glad I did!!!

The attached pic is one I took of my daughter. Using the ColorSplash app I kept only parts of her face in color and turned the rest black and white. Doesn't she look pretty?

I'm writing this blog using the BlogIt app. Too cool!!

Anyway, I hope you are all having a great weekend. I'm going to get back to sewing my daughter's pageant dress.

TTFN (ha, I haven't used that since high school)

Failed???

I just found this on Womans World Magazine. So I had to share it with you!

I find myself in need of a little inspiration these days. I have a couple new ventures I am thinking about, but I just don't have the guts to go with it. I keep making excuses as to why they won't work or that it would just cost "too much money" and what if I didn't make anything out of it. Yet here we are spending all this time and money on our daughter's dream, all the time telling her that if nothing ever comes of it at least she had the experience. Funny how we tell our kids to live the dream and that they can be whatever they want to be and yet when it comes to us, we always make excuses. What am I teaching my daughter?

In a couple months I turned 29 and though I've joked and said I'll never turn 30, (I'm going to be 20-10 next year!) that harsh reality is facing me. I know 30 is young, that's not my point. I just wanted to be something by the time I was 30. I wanted to make a difference in this world...outside of my hometown. At 30 years old, my mother had already survived open heart surgery and almost dying in labor with her first child. She went through countless other surgeries before dying 11 days after my 10th birthday. At 30 my father had already survived the 2nd world war. (He was 65 when I was born and 86 when he died the day before my 21st birthday.) At 30, what will I say I've done?

What have you done?

I have not fallen off the planet

I feel like 99% of my post include something to the effect that I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately or that I promise to do better in the future. I want to do better, I keep telling myself that I will, but with a budding actress/singer/model on my hands...it's a little difficult. I thought I'd share a couple of our trips with you. Just click on the link and you'll see my pics on Facebook. Don't worry, you don't have to have a Facebook profile to see them. However, if you'd like to be my "friend," add me and tell me you follow my blog.

The first link is to my pics from the Actors, Models & Talent Competition in Orlando, FL, from June 28th through July 6th.
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1497287525&k=Z3F6XZR2T65EUCCHWCX5TWQ

The next one is to our New York City Trip, from July 12th through July 20th.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026342&id=1497287525&l=f6a2377acc

My hubby actually had to take Crimson back up to NYC this Sunday, the 2nd, I'll post some pics from that trip soon.

I would say I'll be back to my DIYing and my taking Trash to Treasures, but my next adventure is making Crimson's pageant dress. She fell in love with this cocktail dress we saw in NYC, I'm going to have to be really creative to make this one! Maybe, I can post some pics of previous dresses...but I'm not promising. LOL!

I hope you're having a fantasic "Hump" day!
A.Rose

Going to New York City!!!

Hello all my bloggy friends! We're back from Orlando, Florida. But...not for long. Sunday morning, probably around 5 am, we will be on the road again. This time to New York City! Crimson will be signing with Product Model Management, Inc!!!! We are insanely excited about this. We haven't even got there yet and she already has casting calls, aka auditions!

You will have to forgive me for this lopsided photo. It's not Blogger's fault. I am tired and about to go to bed, but I wanted to tell you the great news...and post a couple pics. So, here is my beautiful princess Crimson as Cinderella! (BTW...I handmade the dress she is wearing. It was actually a pageant dress from a couple years ago. I tweaked it a little so she could wear it to the Grand Awards Banquet at AMTC. I named this blog "Designs By A Rose" and this is the first design of mine I've shown. Too funny!)
...and here is my family on the red carpet. Too bad you can't actually see the carpet. Ha! Ha! (Okay, so I need a little powder in this pic...guess I should had the pic taken before the banquet...LOL!)

I honestly don't think Crimson can take a bad pic. I have no idea where she got those genes...I take more bad pics than I do good ones!

Like I said...we'll be leaving out Sunday morning. Please keep us in your prayers. We will be driving to save money and the longest that I've ever driven is about 3 hours. This is a 13 to 14 hour trip! We'll be staying for a week to begin with, possibly 2 weeks. After that, we'll have to decide what to do. So far, I've given it to God and he has shown us the way. I'm just going to keep praying and keep trusting. I know that he will bring us through!

Love to you all,

A.Rose

At AMTC this week

Crimson says hello from the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando/Kissimmee, Florida! We wanted to show you a few photos from this beautiful place.
This is the entrance to the convention center part of the hotel. AMTC is taking this place by storm! Crimson's agency is taking AMTC by storm too!
I had to show you the alligators...they have an indoor "pond/lake" with alligators and turtles. It's called "Gator Springs."




In case you haven't read any of my previous posts about her competition...this sign pretty much explains it...
One area looks like a castle from medieval times.
I'll post more pics as I have time. She has already competed in "theatre monologue," "singing," "tv commercial," and "spokesmodel." We're about to head back over to the convention center for her "cold read" competition, seminars, and meetings. She will have 4 more to compete in after that. If she gets called back from the singing competition, then she will go on to the talent showcase/competition. Wish her luck!

By the way, if you ever get to stay at a Gaylord Resort. I would recommend it. We've been to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. We didn't stay the night, but the "atrium" there is beautiful and the hospitality is unbelievable. This place, by far, is the most amazing hotel I've ever been to. They treat everyone like they are celebrities. That makes you feel wonderful. For example...we were walking down the hallway and one of the cleaning people was vacuuming. He turned off the vacuum, moved over to the side, and then after we walked by turned it back on. Of course I thanked him. He didn't have to do that and I wouldn't have thought anything if he didn't, but now that he did...I'm going to expect that same courtesy from hotels in the future!

I hope you are having a fantastic week! Talk to you again soon...

Our trip to Pigeon Forge and an update

Our trip to Pigeon Forge/Dollywood was SO much fun! It was one of those last minute, lets get away decisions. My brother, sister-in-law, and their kids were going and my S-I-L managed to talk me into it. Not that we didn't want to go, but with the upcoming AMTC trip, we didn't want to spend anymore money than we had to. In the end, it was worth it. We all had a blast!

Here is my hubby and daughter waiting in line for the AMAZINGLY yummy food at Dollywood.

Hubby and me waiting in line for the Tennessee Tornado! (Awesome roller coaster!)

After spending all day Saturday at Dollywood, we decided to go into Gatlinburg on Sunday. We rode the Ober Gatlinburg Tram up the mountain. Here is a shot from the tram. Isn't it beautiful?

They have a ice-skating ring there. It was definitely not as easy as when I was a teenager. No, I didn't fall. (almost did a couple times though) Crimson picked it up pretty quickly. It was her first time.

They also have a wildlife area in Ober Gatlinburg. There were 5 black bears, a couple otters, snakes, frogs, etc. The bears were so much fun to watch...and HUGE, up close!

Like I said, it was a blast! The last time we went was about 5 or 6 years ago. Crimson wasn't big enough to ride most of the rides then. This time she could and did ride pretty much everything.

We only have 6 days til we leave for Florida. Crimson's competition starts on the 30th, but we're driving down on the 28th. Please keep us in your prayers, especially Crimson. She will be competing in 9 different competitions...that's a lot for a 10 year old! I am mostly nervous for the singing competition. She has to sing a solo, on a stage, in front of thousands of people! She has sang in front of a crowd before, but not like this.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

EDIT: I forgot the update....the "positive" test I was waiting on...never happened. Guess we'll have to try again next month. Keep those fingers crossed though!

Aphorisms

We just got back from Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. My family had a wonderful time at Dollywood. I will have pictures up soon.

I had this in an email when I got in. They are funny, yet very poignant. Hope you enjoy...

1. The nicest thing about the future is, that it always starts tomorrow.
2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.
4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.
6. How come it takes so little time for a child who isafraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
9. Scratch a cat and you will have a permanent job.
10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.
11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.
12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. - It could be a right number.
13. No one ever says 'It's only a game" when their team is winning.
14. I've reached the age where "Happy Hour" is a nap.
15. Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it.
16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
17. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.

Have a wonderful day!
A.Rose