Pray Pray Pray!

My dad is still at MD Anderson in Houston. We thought they would be home by Friday or Saturday, however he is having some complications. He is having serious kidney problems. Please pray for healing. Pray for the doctors. Pray for my mother. I believe in the power of prayer and I'm asking you all to pray for him. I know so many of you are prayer warriors and I thank you for your love and friendship. I'll be in touch when I know more.

A few things. . .

A few things I need to say.

First - We serve a mighty God! I give all the praise and glory for today to Jesus Christ. I am so glad that He will continue to use my dad for His work. I am also so grateful that He gifted some amazing doctors and nurses who have chosen to use their talents for His glory.

Second - I have to give a SHOUT OUT to the people here at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. They have got their act together. The doctors are brilliant and caring. The Nurses Rock! Even the parking attendants are kind and ridiculously helpful. All of these people made a very hard day much better.

Third - Update on Dad. He is doing well. They got all the cancer. It was small and contained. It doesn't look like it had spread. They are testing the cells in the area to be sure. He is in an overnight recovery area where my mom could stay with him tonight. He stood up for a short spell. He is doing pretty well at keeping down clear liquids. They think he will move to a regular room tomorrow. Things are looking great. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words.

Fourth - Thanks to all of you who took the time to say a prayer on our behalf today. I believe in the power of prayer and I really appreciate you praying for us. Also thanks to Aunt Beth, Uncle Jerry and Phil Croft who came to sit with us during the LONG surgery. Mom and I really appreciate it.

Fifth - 10 years ago on May 27th Daddy Red went home to be with the Lord. I was so blessed to have such a wonderful and caring grandfather. I miss him all the time. I have so many great memories of him. I often think about how he would take us grand kids out to the Airport Road to get sand for the sandbox. I have great memories of swimming in Red and Thelma's backyard. I loved sitting on the front lawn of the Methodist Church with him, watching the Dogwood parade pass by. Most of all I loved to hear him read the Christmas story form the Bible on Christmas Eve. His life was such a wonderful Christian example for me and all of his family. I'm still in Houston and on my laptop, so I don't have any pictures of him that I can post - but I wish I did. I hope all of you have a "Daddy Red" in your life.

I head back to Dallas Tomorrow - Just a few more days and school is out!

Please Pray!

Please keep my dad and our family in your prayers. He is having surgery at MD Anderson in Houston Wed. Morning. I am with them in Houston tonight. We check in at 5 am. The surgery should start around 7am and last around 5 hours. I'll try to post an update sometime tomorrow, Steffi may have an update on her blog before I do. Please remember to lift up my dad, mom and the team on doctors.

Summer TV!

I'm excited about the Summer reality shows. I've really enjoyed Food Network and HGTV's competition shows, The Next Food Network Star and Design Star.

The Next Food Network Star premieres Sunday June 6th on Food Network. Design Star premieres Sunday June 13th on HGTV.

I can hardly wait!

I love that these networks are trying to bring something new for viewers during the summer months seeing as everything else goes into re-runs:(

In other news: School is almost out! I'm planning a trip to New Orleans with Amy and Christa.

I've been taking an art class for the past month. The last class meets Monday night. I'll post about the class soon and maybe include some pics of my art work.

If you follow my blog, PLEASE become a registered follower. When I get 50 followers - I'll host my first Giveaway! As of now, I only have 6 registered followers but according to my Live Traffic Feed I know there are more than 6 of you that follow me - So become a follower!

Friday Favorites!

It's been a while since I posted a "Friday Favorite", so here it is.

Vera Bradley has been around a long time - 1982 to be exact, but I've recently fallen in love with their patterns all over again. This is my new favorite VB pattern. It's called Symphony in Hue. I really like all the brights on the black background.

I have two items in this pattern. The Let's do Lunch Tote and the Wristlet. I'm looking to expand my collection soon.

The Store in Lake Highlands carries a wide variety of Vera Bradley among other things. I've gotten lots of cute stuff there. They also carry Yellowbox flip flops - which might have to be my posting for next week's Friday Favorite:)

Have a great weekend.

Rainbow Cake!

I saw this cake on a blog that I read a couple of months ago and thought it was cool. I noticed it was on Martha Stewart this week. There is even a link to an instructional video on http://www.marthastewart.com/ - check it out.



Martha's cake.





Homestyle cake from the Whatever blog. She explains how she does it here.



This would be a really cool Birthday Cake come August. (That's a hint for S or C&C who are the only people I know who would actually try to make this cake.)

Coupon Queen!

In the fall of 2009 I decided to start clipping coupons to help save a little cash. I've recently had a couple of people ask me where I get some of my coupons so I thought I'd post about it.

I try to get the Sunday paper which of course always has a lot of coupons. Some times I skip the paper and just go online. Here are some of my favorite online saving spots. Most of these sites allow you to browse through a wide variety of coupons and click on the ones you want. Once you've scrolled over maybe 20 pages of coupons, then you hit print and it only prints the ones you selected. Most of these sites also require that you join or become a member. This basically involves registering your email and is free. I also had to download something that sends the coupons to my printer. I'm completely computer illiterate and if I could figure it out I imagine anyone can.

Note: Some of the coupon sites say you should print them in color, but I always print in black and white and I've never had a problem with them being accepted at the store.

http://www.coupons.com/

http://www.couponsurfer.com/

http://www.redplum.com/

Next I always check out the weekly coupons available from Target. There is not really a link to this one. I just google, "this week's target coupons" and it usually comes right up. Again, you check the ones you want and then print. Some are target only coupons, others are manufacturer's.

Here are some Savings Blogs I read daily. Many offer links to a daily deal or printable coupons.

http://www.coupondad.net/

http://www.southernsavingsanddeals.blogspot.com/

Southern Savings and Deals along with along with my Alabama blog buddy Leslie from http://www.lambertslately.com/ often post about their shopping trips to Publix , a popular southern supermarket, which apparently offers the mother load of savings. I will often find on both of these sites a picture of the dining table filled with 20 items or more and a note that it was all purchased at Publix with the quadruple coupon for $2.10 or something completely absurd like that. Seriously, It makes me wish we had a Publix, but they are not in Texas. I used to shop at one in Savannah. If I had only known.

http://www.southernsavers.com/

All of these sites offer coupons for groceries, household items, toiletries, pet care and some even offer deals on travel and discounts at department stores. I typically save around $10-20 a week from these sites.

Happy Savings to you!