Sprinkle Me Happy

Ice cream, my best Florida girlfriends, and laughing, can there be a better way to spend an evening ? I think not. We had an unmentionable shower for Mr. Gillian's bride last night and it was every bit the fun I hoped it would be . Take a look at all the happy faces.....

Here is Laura and I smiling...you think that it is because we're posing for a picture, but really it's b/c we know that we get to have a sundae with hot fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, and walnuts in syrup...mmm, mmm, mmmLaura and Heather after sundae glee!! Yipee

Abigal Dattilo: the picture of post ice cream bliss,
laughing at one of the unmentionables I suspect

It would be unlady- like for me to tell you what Melanie and Laura are laughing at, but I can tell you that it was worth a hardy chuckle and maybe even worth blushing a little!

Lovely, just lovely!

Van Gus...Leonardo da Gus...Michelanglgus?????

You know those days, when you have one specific thing in mind that you want to do but to many other things come up and you just can't DO IT....that is today, that is yesterday, and that is all the days previously! I just want to finish my book! Me and Harry that's not too much to ask. I just want to know what happens...but if you know don't tell! I want to find out for myself!

A specific example of life not letting me do what I wanted occured just this morning. Our morning routine normally involves Kev waking up first, getting ready, feeding Gus, waking me up, then out the door for work, leaving poor Gus barking in agony b/c his best mate Kev has left him for the day. I then drag myself from bed, get ready and go out to living room, normally to find a belly full Gus in a precarious position, sound asleep by the front door digesting his breakfast in the best way possible. I take him outside, eat my breakfast, and leave for work...that's our morning in a nut shell! Not this morning...As I exited the bedroom expecting to find puppy dreaming away, I found a scene like this: Please reference blog titled "In Case You Were Worried" b/c it talks about the fabulous water color pens that I wanted so badly, that I found this morning scattered across my living room...and just to make it extra special, Gus made sure that he broke open the black pen right by the entrance way and painted me a lovely picture(not sure of what). It didn't end there b/c he not only finished off the black, he desecrated the special purple that Laura bought for me and he must have really like the orange b/c instead of painting the carpet, he painted himself, his beard and paw.
Like owner, like dog....I always have more paint on me then I should. I suppose it is a hazard of my job! Anywho, I didn't have the forsight to snap a picture of the carpet before I scrubbed it violently with Oxi-Clean, but here are a couple of the painted puppy.

He's not bleeding...I promise, it's orange paint

I post this one just b/c it's so darn cute

And this one b/c it look like he is thinking, "enough already Mom!"

Oh Dear....The Weekly Work Of Art

I have to confess, I have not been doing very well updating my art work...although, despite every spare moment being devoted to Harry and every other spare moment being devoted to a fun summer project for my sis, I did have inspiration last week and finished him off today.



One of my favorite reasons for living in Florida is the interesting array of wild life that God has designated to this part of the world. The most frequently seen by my eyes are the exotic birds-(just a side note on that, my bff Laura hates birds, but I love them, she also hates stickers, but that is another day and another blog!)

Anywho, some of most favorite birds that soar our skies are Swallowed Tailed Kites and Pelicans. Swallowed Tailed Kites are birds of prey. Kites are steel grey, but have beautiful white bellies, their tails are spilt, hence the name kite. Watching them is amazing to me and I have found myself staring at the sky dumbly or swerving off the road hoping to catch one more glimpse of these smooth moving birds. My other favorite bird is a Pelican, they are majestic and generous! I love to watch them glide along in formation with their friends, and then climb high above the water then swoop down and gulp a delicious Gulf of Mexico treat.

Sorry for building your hopes like that, but my newest artwork is not of either of those birds...No, it is actually of one of my least favorites b/c it's so very common. When I went out to my car the other morning I saw a black bird, sitting on the fence. Something about him caught my attention and I knew that I needed to draw him...I get these little "I'm suppose to draw you" thoughts all the time (there is a leaf in my front yard that I want to draw so badly and I have, but it's not quite right yet). To make a long (very long) story short, here is Mr. Black Bird, I like him...I think.

The Haunting

Last week some time I heard someone say this little phrase (which I am bound to mess up trying to repeat, but here it goes anyway) "early to bed, early to rise, you'll have time to exercise"?!?##$#? I don't how it relates to this blog, but Kev and I were not early to bed last night.

Let me clarify, we were in bed, just not early to sleep.

In the still and quiet of night on Haitian Drive there was a strange howling that started in our bathroom. To attempt to recreated the noise in this blog would not do it justice, but it appeared that an angry something or other had taken residence inside our toilet. Every couple of minutes our ghost would pipe up make it's angry noise then stop. It started very slowly and quietly, like running water (the sort of noise one would expect from a toilet), but then it would grow to a bewitching howl, that had I'd not known was coming from our commode I would have been shaken to say the least. This went on for about an hour, until Mr. Jones angrily and begrudgingly got up did some thing violent to the spirit-inhabited toilet, then got back in bed!
However, no sooner had he curled up next to me after heroically attacking our toilet, a new noise started! Our banshee, spirit, poltergeist, (what ever it was) apparently moved on to our puppy, who began to bark...LOUDLY(please reference blog "Gustopher Jones," big dog, loud bark). I am not sure exactly how long this lasted, but I know that a very grumpy Mr. Jones got out of bed twice to try and sooth him. Then in effort to stop my husband from potentially loosing his mind, I got up with my pillow to sleep on the couch and let Gus out of his crate to sleep close to me. I was sure that just my presence would calm the little guy down, seeing that I am the motherly figure in his life! Not so much. He brought me everyone of his toys, chewed on things he was not supposed to(including my leg), drug Mr. Jones' beloved camera bag onto the floor, among other things! I realized that sleep was not going to take place on the couch anymore than it was not taking place in our bed! So I slathered a bone with peanut butter, put it in his crate, and in he went...not another peep. Who knew that peanut butter was a cure for poltergeist!

3:00 am

Sleep!

MIA

Missing In Action

In case you have been thinking, wow Carly really hasn't been blogging lately and when she does it's really boring...it is b/c I am reading the long awaited 7th addition of the Harry Potter series. Me and the rest of the world, that is.
If you are reading it with me or you have already finished it, please don't tell me what happens b/c I would really like to be surprised!

See you after page 759!

Gustopher Jones

When we got Gus he looked liked this,

And he looked like this next to our cat Trouble...

Now he looks like this,
Sidney says he looks like a wild animal in this picture!

But he's really quite sweet!

Almost angelic.

His head is bigger than mine, but I still pretend that he is a lap dog.

The End.

Old Flames and Left Turns

Because it's hot and I really don't want to have to go to bed, I'll write a bit more.

Last night before I drifted off to sleep I told Kev that he was my favorite...he said he was my only!

We have an interesting advantage living in a time where communication is so easily accessible. I bring this up b/c just this summer between myspace and email I have been contacted by 3 boys that had been old flames of mine...two flames, one brilliant spark, who was a great friend! I exchanged hello's, how are you doing's, and nice to hear from you's with each of them and nothing more. Life's road has obviously taken us very directions, but it made me start to think...had I made any other turns, if there had been any other diversions, I would be different...my life would look different and I would not be here in "happily ever after".

I'm glad that he's "my only."

It is currently 9:15 and 89 degrees in our home. Air conditioning is broke. It is hot where we live. Sweat! Panting dog! Grumpy Mr. and Mrs. Jones!
I prayed that God would send a storm to cool things off...He did. He's a good God.
Now I am praying that the ac will not have to be replaced until the hottest part of the summer passes.
I would welcome fall now! Just kidding I still love the summer!

Friends.

My friend Leah came to visit last weekend. It was a fantastic time of good, old fashion, girly, fun. Movies till after midnight, all day shopping, lounging at the beach...and of course there was ice cream!

Pictures are better then words.

In case you're thinking of coming to visit us, this beautiful location is just minutes away...you know like 30 mins!

That's Leah and I fishing at Marco Island at dusk, I'm the shorter one! (I might be stretching the truth a litlle bit!)

In case you were wondering we were able to pick up satellite imagery with my earrings!

My favorite thing to do is to act ridiculous during pictures!

Mr. and Mrs. Jones happy as ever....just like the day they met.

To Do List

1. Clean house so that when people stop by not embarrassd
2. Organize cabinets to be more like Erin H.
3. Clean out car, purse, closet, etc, etc, etc...
4. Update blog...I am trying
5. Do more art...haven't tried enough
6. Get hair cut, it's very long
7. Email people who are not reading blog and ask them to do so

Do They Know We Live In Florida?

Today is July something or other...

I've been shopping some this week.

I feel annoyed.

I went in Joanne's fabric(normally my favorite store) and I was greated with a display of wooden pumpkins that said "Happy Fall" and "Welcome Autumn." Later that week upon entering Target they not only had fall colored clothing displayed but they had out sweaters. Really? Do they know that we can wear tank tops and flip flops all year, excluding (if we are lucky) the one week a year that we can all wear our sweaters. So why on earth would they sell sweaters in July? Do they know that we live only hours from the southern most place in the country...


apparently not.

Last one today....this is for Laura, I figured out how to do a bullfrog!

It Must Have Broke Her Heart

I was reading about Eve a few weeks ago in John MacArthur's book 12 Extraordinary Woman and what her role in the fall of man was, and how she must felt about it all. I felt led to do this illustration(sorry the picture is blurry, my hand is not steady). Then today Laura and I were talking about creation and if cavemen were different than Adam...in my opinion of course they were not, Adam and Eve were probably cave dwellers themselves once they found themselves on this side of Eden. The Geico car insurance type of caveman that we picture today is probably a fabrication of someone's imagination. My imagination can easily stretch far enough to picture Adam and Eve romping happily around with dinosaurs, wrapping them on the head with clubs when they needed a sturdy meal, and meticulous designing a wooden or rock wheel to hull things, once they realized the toil that their life had become in separation from God.
Anywho...all that said, just to show you this picture...I kinda like it. Especially since I used my special pens.

Everywhere...All At Once

Several weeks ago I posted a blog called "Do You Trust Me." You remember, it began with Alladin. Anyway, in great testimony, I am here to tell you that God has taken care of my husband and I, and kept the rest of the world knit together all at the same time. I have to tell you that even though my fingers typed TRUST, my heart still had doubt. But our Father is so faithful and he proves it every day! Not only by providing a new job for Kevin, when his old one abruptedly ended, (just a little side note about that...picture going in on a Thursday morning and your boss greeting you with "Good Morning Kevin, the company is closing down, your last day is tomorrow, sorry no severence...thanks for coming, bye-bye) but by showering us with his unfailing love!
Wow!
And we know Him, we know the One who can't be outsmarted, can't be undone, can't loose in battle, and can't ever fall of His throne. The beauty of that is that He knows us too...we are not mere pinheads floating on the sea of people in this world, He knows are faces, He knows our names "the Jones'", He knows our needs, He knows are fears, He knows it all...man it just blows me away. He can do all that for us and still take care of the tiniest things like bees and bugs.

Simply amazing.

Playing Games, All Sorts.

My friend Leah is coming to visit me this week...I can't wait. I called her the other day to finalize plans and she relayed to me that she had 4 little girls running around her house at that time. Her two daughters, Isabella who is nearly 5, Addison 2 years old and their two cousins who are also around 5. I was bit surprised b/c it sounded like all 4 were happily playing together and I thought it to be very kind that the older girls would allow the little girl to play in their game. Leah confirmed what I suspected, which was that although Addy was allowed to play she was forced to be the monster or the bad guy in every game that they played.
I remember this sad game all to well....I am the little sister also. Although I can't remember ever having to be the monster specifically, I do remember having to be the less then glamorous characters in our games. For example, if we were playing Star Wars my older sister, Amy, always got to be Princess Leah and I was always Chewbacca, the wookie...you would have thought that George Lucas could have thrown in at least one more girl character. Anywho... if we played The Dukes of Hazzards, Amy was Daisy and I always had to be Bo or Luke. On really degrading days for me, when any of our little boy friends were over to play the roles of Bo or Luke, they would try to make me be Uncle Jesse. Little did they know that in my imaginative little mind I was actually being Flash, Rosco P Coltrain's basset hound. Finally, when we played Scooby Doo, Amy was obviously Daphne and reluctant to be Velma, I always chose to be Scooby or Shaggy. On really great days I was able to be Scrappy.
This is how it is being the second child....less pictures of you throughout the family albums and never getting to be who really wanted during imaginative games. It explains a lot I think. :)

Mmmmm.....Blueberries

"Her" berries

"His" and "her" berries

Potato Berries

I love blueberries. Of the the different types of summertime berries the blue (in color not mood) are my favorite. On the 4th my dear friend Laura, my sweet husband Kevin, and I decided to head to the beach on a less than beach like day. While I changed into beach wear, Kevin and Laura had before beach snack of rotisserie chicken, potato salad, and blueberries. Somehow! somehow, Kevin's fork smeared with potato salad dipped into our container of blueberries...I'm not sure why he did this? Whatever the reason I didn't handle it the way a good wife should (really I'm still trying to learn to be "the good wife"). Anyway the end result was this picture...good tasty brand new "her" berries and throughly washed but still mixed with potato salad "his" berries.
I will work on my over reacting.

Blogging on Blogging

If you look at my blog strictly for the adorable pictures and outstanding artwork than this probably is not the entry to read...but I will carry on any how. This whole blogging thing is becoming an area of obsession or addiction, it's not good, but it is good. I am so intrigued by it, b/c there are dozens and dozens of very interesting people out there who should probably be writing self help books, or novels, or children's stories, but for one reason or another don't take the time to do so. However, they do take the time to record their every day occurrences by writing incredible short stories on these crazy little things called blogs. I for one am hooked, I love hearing how other people are living their lives...it is uplifting, it's educational, and as I said it's addicting.

Tears

I come from a family of highly emotional people. Don't get me wrong, I love this about my family. It's just that sometimes I wish that I could hold it together. For example, on my wedding day Kev claims that I didn't really say my vows b/c I was trying so desperately not to cry like a baby, that I barely got them out, when ever I see children singing in church I cry, when my sister disciplines her children and I hear them cry I cry, when Kev and I dropped Gus(our puppy) off at the vets to be boarded for a few nights...I cried! The list goes on and on, but it is really not that I am overly emotional person, it in my genes, I had proof of it today! I went to church with my parents for their "God and Country Day." "God and Country Day" is a musical service paying tribute for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon our country and to honor the people who serve our country. Well, no sooner had the program started, I started to cry, I looked at my mom and she was crying and I looked at my dad and he was crying. It was a moving program, lots of soldiers standing at attention, and lots of images of what people all over the world are going through right now... so it was geared to pull at your heart strings...it just made me feel good to know that I am not the only one...it's hereditary!