it's my twilight ponderings.... and a contest!!

with a new (old) home to clean & remodel, an amazing Man, three babes in my posse and never enough hours in the day to feel like i've even made a dent in my ever-mounting projects for home & kid's school, i have no right to take on some time-consuming obsession...

...but that doesn't matter because i am over-the-top hooked on a saga of books: twilight!

now don't judge me!! yes, i believe that the author wrote these books with young adults in the starring roles meant to appeal to teens and young(er) adults, well in my opinion most precisely written for women... however, after reading the first two books (twilight and new moon, just so you know) i know that this series was designed with the adult woman in mind.

okay, okay, you may not agree, but here's my thoughts:

my teenage son wants to read these books, but i am saying "no" for now because the love and passion that bella and edward express (not sexually at all, in case you were wondering) for each other is so deep and emotional, and the author did a phenomenal job of conveying the desire and engulfing love these two souls have for one another, there is no way in the world that my teenage son or daughter could even begin to process or understand that kind of love. i wonder how many adults could fathom love to strong that it consumes all of your heart, that so selfless that you couldn't imagine living without the other half of your heart...

it could have been subconscious, maybe not, but it is of course the cry of most woman's hearts to have a man that is so completely out-of-this-world obsessively in love with all of you and the author has created this guy, edward, that is so totally amazing in his protective nature and the intensity with which he loves her, bella. it is the propensity of the female heart to yearn for a man to love her with such infatuation and the early to mid-thirties woman is a prime candidate in today's society, in my humble opinion.

every girl wants those moments that makes her heart beat faster, butterflies in her stomach, to be pursued, to be protected, to be rescued, to experience passion, a love affair that is exciting....

i have stumbled with these feelings and thoughts for the last three weeks, my hunger and fascination with the storyline, you know a great book will consume your thoughts, i love that about reading... anyway, so i have this astounding marriage, not bragging and it's not without work, i can't boast about something that is all the plan and blessing and grace of God :) but even with a strong, wise, warm, sheltering and might i add insanely handsome Man, that doesn't mean that i'm not intrigued and romanced by a storyline in which the girl is shadowed by a man whose love is so overwhelming.... a woman wants to be overwhelmed, ya know? and when you're home with kiddos all day, working and juggling babes, trying to get everything checked off the to-do list, the same day in and day out routine, all the heart-pounding drama has settled into monotony....

is it wrong to say that i miss being purused? while i would never, ever, ever trade my life, this beautiful blessing.... but i love this story because it reminds me of the first time i saw my husband, i remember our first kiss, what it felt like when he took my hand for the first time, how i used to get butterflies when i saw him across the room, how much i missed him when we were apart, when i realized that i would never be able to live without him....

i think this story, the movie, lots of other stories and movies too, place false expectations and desires into the hearts and minds of girls and woman, expectations and fantasies that the majority of relationships can't ever live up to.... that's why it's a story, but i am still drawn to it for the simple fact that i can't resist an amazing love story that highlights the good and bad in people, how when we truly give ourselves to someone how much power we are giving them to edify our soul or break it....

i could keep going, i do truly love twilight.... you know you wanna love it too :)

this story, these characters are appealing to me, so very appealing.... but i don't think i'm the only thirty-something wife & mama. so i refuse to tolerate you're giggling that i'm completely ravenousness with these books, take the step pick it up the next time you're grocery shopping, seriously your can buy these books anywhere.

hhhmmm... if you haven't ever read the books then i have a contest.... now this is totally off the top of my head.... tell me (reader's digest version, please) your love story, good or bad. i'll pick my favorite and i'll send you your very own copy of the first book in the series, twilight!!!

alright, can't wait to read your stories.... let's say this contest is on until monday morning, okay?

be blessed!!

oh, by the way, i'm team edward!!

running to and fro...

okay so besides my obvious addiction to all things twilight, and by the way i have an entire post about my thoughts on twilight and if you don't care i do understand but you are totally missing out!! ahem...... anyway, we have been busy, busy, busy here in fly over country, USA.

my big kids go back to school in only 2 weeks!! i can't believe it's flown by so quickly! so last week we took our annual trip out and about to buy school clothes and shoes and hang out...

one of the many places we shopped was the mall....aaagggrrrhhh....i despise, loathe, dread the mall. something about taking three kids of varying ages, different opinions and wants, having to go into more stores than i want just to say "no" to most things, attempting to avoid all the candy, cookie and pretzel vendors, ugh! however, they were all mostly good, okay 'P' and Girlie were, of course, good....

...but 'K' on the other hand was having a rather difficult time following directions. however he and 'P' had an amazing time riding the escalator over and over and over.... and then as he bunkered himself under some shelves of jeans, his sweet sis sat next to him humming and chatting until, well see for yourself...

yep! it was way past naptime and i was totally fine with it, as least he wasn't running around pulling clothes off the rack :)

and by the way, jc penny was having an amazing sale, and no they didn't pay me to say it, but WOW! you should totally check it out...

i've also been creating several jewelry portraits for my sweet readers who won them plus a couple as gifts and i am developing a business plan and site to sell Flooded By Grace Designs... it is sure to be wonderful (i hope)...

i really liked this design with a delicate pink frame, the vintage pink roses in the background, sweet pearls with purple button accents from which to hang necklaces or rings...



and this one was a requested pink and brown palate....

and i have to say that i loved how the varying shades of pink paisley ribbon on the inside of the frame popped against the background & the frame, but i'm kinda of biased :) more importantly, what do you think? i'm really curious...

so as i prep our lives for a kid in junior high, one in third grade and lastly our little one for preschool, i am experiencing glorious anticipation about what the Lord is bringing to our lives and how He will use me... praying that He will equip me, make me worthy of the calling He has on my life.

seriously, i'm writing out my thoughts on twilight for debut tomorrow, so you won't want to miss this one....

love y'all! be blessed.....

i have a problem...

i was so excited about all i had to blog about last week!! more home videos, my thoughts about honesty, a yummy cookie recipe contest..... then i was finally introduced to the first twilight movie..

...so i had to read the first book...

...which led to devouring, in a very obsessive-conpulsive manner the second book (new moon, if you didn't know, because i didn't know 10 days ago)....

...and i'd love to write all sorts of really profound and inspiring words for you tonight....

...but i'm watching the movie, new moon, because i have all sorts of issues about how wonderful edward is...

...so we'll talk tomorrow, okay?

thanks for understanding :)

our new home part 1

so i have filmed this little snippet of video of our new house and how it is coming along... it's a slow process of bringing a dated home into the 21st century







so watch the short clip, leave your comments and lovely thoughts on the rooms i am wanting help with the design! let's get creative here, okay?!!

my random tuesday thoughts....

so you might have noticed that my blog background was all sorts of bijiggity, and just after i launched the redesign, geez!! but all is back to black, white and pink... just as the world is supposed to be!

i have been busy non-stop since last week's birth control & precious unborn babies post, but no comments...hhhmmm, just don't want to say something hateful or you didn't get a chance to read it yet? well, click here to read for the first time if you missed it

so i finally had the garage sale on saturday! praise the Lord!! i can't even begin to tell you how incredibly happy i am that it is over. i am not a garage saler, nor do i like having garage sales. we did pretty good on the money side of it, but mostly i got rid of a ton of stuff!! plus i have several bags of clothes left to go donate at the local woman & children's shelter, but most importantly my Man has his beloved garage back. you should have seen him! it was like a kid in a candy store putting all his tools and such away... so cute

my lil' Girlie came back from church camp on saturday afternoon too!! yay! i missed her and her sweet smile... she has given me a good topic to write about as well, and i'll share soon... don't miss it! (she was on the red team, so she's all painted up still! and her team won 1st place too!!)

what else?..... oh! i finally saw the movie The Blind Side this past weekend and it was wonderful!! love it, love it, love it!! my sister (in law) said that i channel the mom (played by sandra bullock) and i have to say, other that driving around in a mercedes, i'd have to agree :)

i've been putting the finishing touches on one of the 'jewelry portraits' for one of my blessed readers who won it.... it is pink and beautiful and i can't wait to ship it to her later this week.

you want to order one? fantastic!!! send me an email at floodedbygrace@gmail.com and i'll have it done and shipped in 7 business days and all for 18.00 (plus shipping)

and finally you'll get to see the new house!! yep! at 9p CST you'll get part 1 of the tour... there might be a giveaway involved but i'm not going to say for sure, so swing by...

love ya'll!!