New pics of my niece and nephew!!

I have a new nephew!

Little Kade Everett Matthews was born yesterday (April 6th)!! I am so excited but wish I was in Montana with my sister to see him. I bet he is just the sweetest thing! I guess my sister is coming down with him in May... I can't wait!! Anyway, it's been really busy around here so I haven't had much of a chance to write anything, but things are going well. I am trying to get my new website up and ready... I will then move my blog there. Until next time!

The Best (early) Birthday ever!

Today was such a wonderful day! I woke up pretty early, sat next to the window in our bedroom and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise. Then I took a shower, got dressed and picked up my mom... we drove to church where we had the great opportunity to meet and hug sweet Mary Ellen Edmunds... an author from our church. She was a special guest at our meeting and gave the most wonderful talk. I bought two of her books, which she lovingly signed for me, personally. The two books I bought were "You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don't Need" and "Love is a Verb". I'm so excited to read them and see what I can learn from them. The Relief Society from our church, which is an organization for women, put on this special event, and it was so beautifully done. Each table was set beautifully with a vase of fresh flowers. Our brunch consisted of quiche, fruit salad, and baby spinach salad. Mary Ellen Edmunds is quite the speaker. I think she said she was in her 50's, and she is so incredibly funny! Yet I walked away today feeling so refreshed and alive and ready to conquer the world!

My mom and I spent a few more hours together catching up and then I headed home, because we were supposed to go to my in-laws to celebrate my niece Melanie's birthday (which is a day after mine on the 20th.) When I got home I went into the bedroom to find a dozen fire and ice roses in a beautiful vase sitting on my dresser. (they are my favorite roses) Laying next to it was a card from my husband. I got a little emotional as I read the card and thanked Adam for the beautiful flowers. Nothing brings a smile to my face more than a vase full of beautiful flowers form my husband. I guess he decided to let the moment soak in before bringing on the next surprise...

As I have said before, I have a little business that I want to start (I can't reveal just yet what it is all about because it's a surprise!). I had been talking for a while about wanting to set up a webpage, and I often bring it up to Adam. Well, after I had soaked in the beautiful flowers, he said... "I wonder if your name missnoeitall has been taken?" (meaning the domain name) I said I didn't know so he suggested we should look. I just figured it may have been an afterthought of something he could do for my birthday, but when I went there, this is what I found...

www.missnoeitall.com

Nothing else needs too be said... just click on the link to see my best birthday gift ever!

A few odds and ends...

I found a great website today... and I love this teddy bear from Pamela Barsky. She has an online shop with a bunch of cute stuff! She also has a blog. I also love these earrings that I found at Nabi Designs. They have little elephants!

Davistudio

Davistudio is another place that had beautiful ceramics. My favorite part about it? You can choose the colors and patterns! They have everything you can imagine from cups to plates, but I loved these nesting bowls. For example... you could choose a confetti outside and a baby blue inside. Isn't it great? A little pricey, but I would be willing to spend the dough!

Pearl River

I LOVE Japanese stuff! We have a few local Japanese stores here in Lexington that I love to visit... I love the candy and snacks, and rice curry, but most of all I love the Japanese stationery and ceramics!! When I came accross pearlriver.com, I was delighted. They carry a lot of Japanese items. I especially loved the rice bowls they had! The brown ones are my absolute favorite. All these things bring back good memories of when I lived in Japan. They have such a wondeful culture!

Soleberry

I absolutely love these boxed card sets at soleberry.com! Have I ever said how much I am addicted to stationery??

A few finds...

I was surfin' the net this morning and came accoss LOTS of stuff that I love. I thought it was very interesting how you can start at one place (in my case it was the Real Simple website) and find MANY new neat places. In some cases, it kind of gets on my nerves because it is so addicting and I have all these links I like to visit all the time! Anyway, I'll post a few of my favorites.

lazy rainy Saturday morning

Yup. It's raining today and I feel like crawling back into bed. I even suggested to Adam this morning that I make some pancakes. I want to be lazy all day and watch TV and cuddle on the couch. Last night we got some movies at BLockbuster. Maybe we'll watch them today since I fell asleep last night before we could even get them in the DVD player!

I feel like the song Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson today:

Can't you see that it's just rainin'
There ain't no need to go outside

But baby, you hardly even notice
When I try to show you
this song It's meant to keep you
From doin' what you're supposed to
Like wakin' up too early
Maybe we could sleep in
I'll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just rainin'
There ain't no need to go outside

But just maybe, hala ka ukulele
Mama made a baby
I really don't mind the practice
Because you're my little lady
Lady, lady love me

Because I love to lay here lazy
We could close the curtains

Pretend like there's no world outside
And we could pretend that all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
There ain't no need to go outside

Ain't no need, ain't no need
Can't you see, can't you see

Rain all day and I don't mind

The telephone is singing, ringing, it's too early
Don't pick it up
We don't need to
We got everything we need right here
And everything we need is enough
It's just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms

Do we really need to pay attention to the alarm
Wake up slow, wake up slow

But baby, you hardly even notice
When I try to show you this song
It's meant to keep you
From doin' what your supposed to
Like wakin' up too early
Maybe we could sleep in

I'll make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now
And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just rainin'
There ain't no need to go outside

Ain't no need, ain't no need
Rain all day and I really, really, really don't mind
Can't you see, can't you see

We've got to wake up slow

A few of my favorite things

Port 2 Port asked some questions about favorites. Here are mine...

1. favorite color to work creatively with... blue. I think it can express so much emotion depending on how it is used. I also love the effect it has on me, and how it looks on me. I love the way it looks in our apartment... it's the perfect color. Can't go wrong with it.
   
2. favorite music to work by... it all depends on what I am working on. When I am trying to concentrate I need something calm... like classical music, soft rock, or something Jazzy. But when I am cleaning or working around the house I need something upbeat.
3. favorite breakfast food that keeps you happy all morning... oatmeal and rice milk topped off with a little brown sugar and some fruit on the side... especially strawberries. (but not the instant stuff... it's just not the same)
   
4. favorite way to start your saturday after the long week... unlike most people, I love to get up as early as possible and go work out at the gym. It always starts my day off right and I have a lot of time during the day to relax and do what I need to do. I can't sleep in past 8:00am!!!
   

Sock Elephant

Have I mentioned how much I love elephants? Ever since I went to Thailand I am in love with them. It all started when Adam bought me a stuffed Elephant for Valentine's day while I was in Thailand. I had been in Thailand about 3 months at that time and was missing him bad. He went to one of those places where you make your own stuffed animals and put a little heart in it and stuff it according to your heart's desire. When I received it I was so overjoyed. I slept with it almost every single night. And ever since then I love anything with elephants... I have throw pillows with elephants on them, wall hangings, picture frames, etc. One day I will take pictures of all the elephant things I've collected. But when I saw this cute little sock elephant on someone's blog, I just about died. How cute is it??? VERY!!! I want to find a way to make one for myself.

Shiny Hair

I tried something a few weeks ago that I found in the Real Simple magazine last month about the best way to wash your hair! I also applied some tricks I learned from my hair stylist and the combination has brought amazing results!! Here is the process:

1. Wet hair with cool to luke-warm water
2. Apply shampoo to roots only and lather... let the suds flow to the ends and that's enough suds for them!
3. Rinse shampoo with cool to luke-warm water (the cool water is key here!) completely
   
4. TOWEL DRY your hair so that your hair will be able to soak up all the conditioner
5. Apply conditioner and leave in up to 5 minutes... there is no need to wait any longer than that
6. Rinse with cold-cool water (depending on what you can handle) to lock in shine. (this is the best step that works miracles)

I have VERY thick hair that is naturally wavy and a little frizzy and this makes my hair super soft and manageable. I still use a straightener to get best results though and apply a little bit of Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Serum. I've never been happier with my hair!!

Getting to know me

Yesterday my friend sent me these "getting to know you" questions, and these are my answers! Since this blog is like an online journal for me where I keep my thoughts etc, I thought I would post my answers.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES? Blue... I love my plates! The rim is darker than the middle

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Memoirs of a Geisha... actually I just finished it. It was SUCH a good book!

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have a mouse pad at work or at home because I have an optical mouse.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Scrabble... a family favorite.

5. LEAST FAVORITE SMELL? Any food gone bad

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING?
It changes every morning! I'm either thinking about my plan for the day, what I'm going to wear, or about the dream I had during the night.

7. FAVORITE COLOR? I don't have one! I love all colors! Right now though our whole house is pretty much done in blue. (our bedroom, bathroom and kitchen) My philosophy is neautral colors with colorful accents. SO our living room is mostly neautral colors, although I have blue throw pillows! Right now I love the combination of the colors red and pink. They look lovely together.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? Any color can be beautiful! (if used in the right way)

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? Well, all I have is a cell phone and there are no rings to count.... just a ring tone... I answer it though as soon as I can get to it, unless it's a phone call I don't want to take... in that case I just let the answering machine get it.

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Girls: Jocelyn Love Noe, Summer Bella Noe,
Boys: Landon Joseph Noe, Preston, there was another one but I forgot it.... I hope I remember it because I really liked it!!

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate... but on special occasions!

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? Yes... although not TOO fast. I am kind of an impatient driver and hate to get stuck behind slow people driving in the fast lane!!! (I mean, they have the fast lane for people who want to pass the slow people, not vice versa)

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Now that I have my husband, no. But when I was away from him in Thailand (at the time he was my boyfriend) he sent me a stuffed Elephant and I slept with it every night.

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDER STORMS? I used to be scared kind of.... I don't like to be outside still, but am STARTING to like them a little bit better.

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? Well, I have never ever had my own car... when I married Adam I inherited the priviledge to drive his vehicle around... he drives his Jeep and lets me drive the 2005 Four-door Toyota Tacoma

16. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? It's actually my favorite part!! When I make Broccoli, I give my husband all the florets and I eat the stems.

17. IF U COULD HAVE ANY JOB, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Interior Designer and Photographer... both of which I am striving to be at the moment

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Well, this is hard... I've always wanted to change the color of my hair but everyone has convinced me not to. I do like my hair, but it would be nice for a change.... maybe a lighter brunette with subtle high lights.

19. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL, OR HALF EMPTY? Half full

20. FAVORITE MOVIE: Shawshank Redemption, Uptown Girls, A Walk in the Clouds, It's a Beautiful Life, Disney Tarzan, Tommy Boy....

21. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? Yes

22. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Carpet... and some of my husband's shoes.

23. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 3... no explanation. I just think it's a nice number...

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? basketball and football in the fall is the best!!

25. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN? You know I have been blessed to not have a lot of physical pain in my life... but the biggest pain I've always had is seeing someone I love experiencing pain.

26. PERSON MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Amy knows how much I love these! (she said I would be most likely to respond) I am going to say Sierra!!! Don't let me down now!

27. PERSON LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL? I really can't say... I don't feel like even sending this to someone who WON'T respond!

28. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD? Can I say both? They make the best combination!

29. BURGER OR HOT DOGS? Burger

30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? They are all my favorite. 1. Spring because of the weather and beautiful flowering trees here in KY 2. Summer because of the green, sunshine, playing outside and putting the top down on Adam's Jeep 3. Fall because of Thanksgiving, the cooler weather, wearing sweaters, the falling leaves and the scents 4. Winter because of the snow, Christmas, everyone's cheerful attitudes, and the feelings. See? How could I possibly pick a favorite?

31. THE BEST PLACES THAT YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? Thailand: I loved the people there.... they were so kind and beautiful. I loved the culture there and elephants!!!
France: I had my first kiss here and had a blast with my friend Barbara! WE traveled all around and it's one of those unforgettable memories.

32. SCREENSAVERS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? Bouncy Balls!! (from a Sony commercial that I love)

33. FAVORITE FAST FOOD? Subway! (the turkey bacon wrap to be exact)

Too many things that I want....

I was browsing online at Anthropologie... I just love their stuff!!! The closest one we have is over an hour away so I never get to go there, but there so SO MUCH that I want!!!

My thoughts exactly

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will get better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he / she handles three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as "making a life."

I've learned that life sometiems gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

-Maya Angelou

WOW

I know I've already posted a lot today, but I am in LOVE with these Sofas by Designer Hans Hopfer from Roche-Bobois. I saw an ad in my Elle Decor magazine and bookmarked the page. Today I went online to actually see a few other pieces of furniture. Don't these sofas look so comfy??? I would probably put some in a child's playroom or basement TV room. I could definitely get into a good book lounging on one of these!!! My favorite is the multi-colored one. It is called Mah-jong.

Look at the table we are going to get!! I am so excited! Right now we don't have a table. Our last apartment didn't even have a dining room area, only a bar, where we had two stools. But since we moved into this new apartment, we have a place to put a table so the other day we went to look for one and both Adam and I fell in LOVE with this table! So, we're gonna get it soon :^) And I'm excited!

Oh yeah... and I also posted a picture of me in Japan with my friend Emy when I was little, just because reading Memoirs of a Geisha made me sentimental. I want to go back to Japan now and wear kimonos again!

One of my biggest dreams is to travel all around the world. I love learning about different cultures and being a part of them. While I was reading Memoirs of a Geisha memories just kept on coming back of the smells of Japan, the sights, the rice fields, school, and wearing kimonos. And then that made me miss Thailand and all the people there. I just love the beautiful characteristics of each culture, and MAN! I want to travel!!! Hopefully one day we will be in the position to do a lot of that... and take our children...so they can ALSO appreciate the different cultures like I have.

Accomplishment!!!

One of the main reasons why I have neglected my blog this past week is because I have been reading NONSTOP! I am in a bookclub and the book this month was "Memoirs of a Geisha". (actually, we got to choose between two... Wicked or Memoirs of a Geisha) I chose Memoirs for a few reasons:

1. I gave the book to my sister, Chelsea, for Christmas. She is not a reader at all and yet finished it in 3 days. It had to have been a good book

2. I lived in Japan when I was younger for 4 years

3. There was a movie made from the book, and I thought it would be interesting to read the book and then watch the movie, because I had never done that before.

So, I started the book over the weekend and although I had to work a lot this week, I read every free chance I got. I could NOT put it down! It is such a beautifully written book. And then, last night, I finished it. That is the first time I read a novel all the way through since high school! And it felt so good. Of course, this was one of the reasons I joined the book club in the first place, was to broaden my horizons and try new things... along with some other projects I have started and other 'groups' I have joined. I definitely want to read more books now.

Of course we are going to watch the movie ASAP!!!

My candy heart...

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Sick :^(

So, I am at home sick today. All by myself. Sad. I will probably spend the day reading blogs that I love and my Real Simple magazines. Then I will probably sleep, and watch a sappy movie. I wish I wasn't sick because, well, we just got a new apartment and our tax return so I am itching to buy new things for our place... such as a dining room table which we lack at the moment. The weird thing is, I NEVER get sick. I have never called into work sick since I've worked where I work. But this time it got to me. It had been going around and I caught it. Might as well make the best of it!! I mean, this is the first time in a while that I have had the chance to write in my blog.

Valentine's day was the best in my life. Mine and Adam's first. We didn't have much money so we didn't get eachother anything. Valentine's day has become such a commercial holiday anyway, and people think they need to buy something to celebrate. We cooked dinner together (he grilled the stakes and I did everything else) and watched TV together. I was so proud of myself. I don't cook often, but I want to be a good cook. I tried some new things that day such as making my own mashed potatoes from new potatoes (like the ones they have at Applebees) and it was a success! And I didn't even follow a recipe! I just boiled the potatoes, drained the water, added some butter, evaporated milk, salt and oregano and voila! I must say it was DELICIOUS. I also made some cous cous, green beans and honey buiscuits. We had strawberry sparkling cider too! It was great. THEN... my surprise for Adam... I have a friend at work who is really moving up in the Country Music Industry (I really mean it when I say he will be famous someday... in fact he's been on Nashville Star). I arranged for him to come over and sing a song for Adam... God Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. The lyrics are sentimental to us. Adam had no idea I was going to do this and so he loved it. This guy has an AMAZING voice. Wow. Anyway, that went well. Then Adam gave me the sweeted card ever... I really am so blessed.

Lyrics to Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts:

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you