Christmas Time is Here

Well... it has been a loooooooooooooong time since I last blogged.

Since August I have gotten married and moved into my new home...But that's a whole other blog!

It has been a wonderful time! I absolutely love being married!!! Anyhow, I wanted to share pictures of my FIRST CHRISTMAS tree in my FIRST HOUSE.

I saw MY house!!!

On Saturday I got a chance to walk through my house. It is beautiful. These are some pictures...

The RING

So... THIS is RING #3!!! Isn't she a beauty?

I'm sure there are lots of dying children harvesting diamonds for rings like this... BUT I LOVE MY RING!!!!

A Quarter of a Century

On August 6, 2007 (Monday) I will turn 25 years old. That is a quarter of a century! YUCK!

August 6th is the 218th day of the year, leaving 147 days to the end of the year.

August 6th is the day Jamaica celebrates its Independence day.

On my Birthday in:

1787 - Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States were delivered to the Constitutional Convention.

1926 - Harry Houdini performed his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.

1945- World War II: Hiroshima is devastated when an atomic bomb, "Little Boy", is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 90,000 people were killed instantly.

1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.

1984 - Pop star Prince releases Purple Rain, the album which would launch him to superstardom.

2001 - White House briefing entitled Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S. delivered to George W. Bush. This document foreshadowed the September 11, 2001 attacks.

These people share my Birthday:

1911 - Lucille Ball, American actress (d. 1989)

1925- Barbara Bates, American actress (d. 1969)

1926- Clem Labine, American baseball player (d. 2007)

1970- M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-born American film director

I am BLESSED! & Grass!

So Jimmy and I went shopping today and on the way home we fantasized about driving to "our home." So we decided to detour from our usually route to his parents' house and went by our "soon-to-be" home. To our surprise we FINALLY have some landscaping. There are some bushes and some grass and even a few trees! This is really exciting because now it looks even more like a home.

I was thinking today...I am so blessed to have the opportunity for my first home to be completely new. Not only that, but GOD has shown himself true in so many ways throughout this whole process. It is in times like this that I become overwhelmed by how much GOD loves me. No matter how many times I fail, whether by screwing up rather royally, or just failing to listen to His call, He continues to love me just the same. I question sometimes; how is it that I am worthy of this love? And then I remember this: I am created in God's image and though I have fallen, God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for all my shortcomings. This tells me something about my worth (and I have a tendency to question God and I often remind myself of this). When God says that He proved His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, He is expressing what we are worth to Him. He created us in His perfect image. He "owns" us so to speak. And in the shedding of Christ's blood, He bestowed upon us the greatest gift that He could give. God could have secured our salvation for a much lower price if He chose. He could have made things to turn out differently. But He chose the to offer the HIGHEST price for our salvation. And God tells us over and over how much we are worth to Him. He calls us sons, dearly loved children, and he tells us that He will give us good gifts and discipline. In other words, He will treat us the way loving father should treat his children. What are our own sons worth to us? They are priceless. There is no amount of money that could convince us to sell them. If that is so for sinful parents, how much more is it so for God? Will He ever give us up? Can anything ever separate us from His love?

So anyhow... I am VERY thankful to GOD for all He has done for me lately. I pray that He continues to bless Jimmy and I in our life together. I hope that you will pray the same for us as well.

Mission Accomplished: Wedding Invitations

The Wedding Invitations are finished! I stayed up until 3am last night and then got up at 9am and worked on them until 1:30pm. They turned out nice! I still need to do wedding annoucements, but Jimmy and I need to have photos taken for those. I am going to mail those out to everyone we know. It will be fun!

Vidalia, Georgia

This weekend Jimmy and I are with his parents in Vidalia, Georgia. There is not much here other than fields and lots of ONIONS. It is the "Home of the Vidalia Sweet Onion." It is pretty though.

We are here for his Granddaddy's 80th Birthday party. He is a pretty cool guy to be 80 years old! The party is tomorrow and we will go home Sunday... We'll see how that goes!

Bye, Bye Buick!

So today I said goodbye to my faithful car...the BUICK Rendezvous...

Jimmy has been crunching numbers to be sure we will be financially stable once in our new home. He felt I needed a new(er) vehicle. So he had his dad make some calls. They found a 2007 FORD Escape Limited.

I bought it today. It is fully loaded with all the toys (leather seats, sun-roof etc...).It is not EXACTLY what I wanted (what I want is a REALLY EXPENSIVE GMC Acadia), but this is a great deal we could not pass up. I enjoy the toys and such my previous cars have not had.

Jimmy is afraid I don't like it. The truth is, I wanted a Mazda Tribute not long ago and it is the same car as the FORD Escape. However, I have been spoiled in a BUICK, the ultimate "luxury" type vehicle for the past like 3 years... I came to love it. Jimmy should understand that in time I will love this car just as much! But I will never love my car as much as I love him.

I am so thankful to have him. He is keeping me grounded in the craziness of our lives changing and becoming one [I thought that the "oneness" is what happened on your wedding night... but apparently it is a long drawn out process... Who knew that "oneness" had many meanings?].

Pictures of the MODEL home - Bayview

These are pictures of the MODEL of our home. Our Town Home is laid out EXACTLY like this. However, we will have white walls, and, obviously, different furniture.

This is the Kitchen view from the breakfast nook.

This is the breakfast nook. The door on the left is the "powder room" a.k.a 1/2 bath.

This is a view from the dining room into the family room. The sliding doors are 8 feet tall!

This is "The Loft" - Jimmy's playroom

We Set a Date!

I called yesterday and booked a beach for our wedding... Actually I reserved the arch and some tiki torches, but same difference. Beaches are public property! :)

Anyhow, Jimmy and I will be Married on September 8, 2007 @ 5:00pm.

I am VERY excited to FINALLY be approaching this day... However, I found an interesting cartoon... Is this REALLY what my life may become?

Potter...Again?

We went last night and watched HP5 for the second time with Jimmy's cousins, Eric (12) and Erin (9). It was interesting. We wanted to go see it in 3-D at the I-Max Theater at Pointe Orlando, but the only available showing was too late for the kids. So we went to the AMC at Universal Orlando City Walk. The movie was great...again. I feel like I got more out of it the 2nd time. What was entertaining was that Erin, who is only 9 has never watched a Potter movie. She sat most of the movie with her eyes covered. I think she asked to go to the bathroom 4 times while we were in there. Its a good thing I had already seen the movie before! Eric didn't say much. He is too quiet for my taste. And GRUMPY as all get out! Well... here is a picture of the both of them...

Cheap color/cut/style

I was feeling a bit adventurous today and I went to get my hair cut. Actually, I had them cut MANY hairs... LOL! I also has this wonderful hair stylist highlight my hair. It was quite the fiasco. She was ill (or maybe just hungry -> she kept eating crackers) and grumpy... I was so scared she would mess up. Anyhow, I was under the dryer [for what seemed like eternity] and my foils were getting blown around one blew off and I got "hair dye stuff" all over my hands trying to shield my eyes! A nice old lady was gracious enough to help me out and fold the foil back around my hair.

All in all it turned out nice! Or at least I think so...

Carpet Throughout House

This is My Carpet!!!! It's called "Traildust"

My kitchen countertops

This is the color of my Countertops! It is called Mystique Dawn....

We are registered!!!

Hello -
We just wanted to let you know that we've registered with Club Wedd at Target.com to get ready for our future together! You can take a look at our Registry online at http://www.target.com/clubwedd or visit the Registry kiosk at any Target store!

We still don't know our exact wedding date. That depends on when our house will be ready!

Best Wishes,

Jimmy Jones and Amanda Burrows

Pictures of our house!!!

Well... I took some pictures with my cell phone today... This is our house... Not yet finished... A work in progress!

wedding announcement wording

http://www.partypop.com/Forums/Weddings/m23455.htm

Read any good books lately?

Ok so it is summer and I love to read in my spare time. I am not working until August 13th, I am having lots of free time right now.

I am hoping a few good people will reply with a few good reads for me. So... tell me... what book should I read next?

How women see themselves

Age 8 Looks at herself and sees:Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty.

Age 15 Looks at herself and sees:Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty/Cheerleader or if she is PMS'ing, sees: Pimples/UGLY ("Mom, I can't go to school looking like this!")

Age 20 Looks at herself and sees:"Too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she's going out anyway.

Age 30 Looks at herself and sees:"Too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she doesn't have time to fix it so she's going out anyway.

Age 40 Looks at herself and sees:"Too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but says, "At least, I'm clean" and goes out anyway.

Age 50 Looks at herself and sees:"I am" and goes wherever she wants to.

Age 60 Looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore and goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70 Looks at herself and sees:wisdom, laughter and ability and goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80 Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a red hat and goes out to participate in the world.

Age 90 Can't see and doesn't worry about it!

Cool Home Design Website...

http://designtalk.homevisions.com/

Colors I'd like for my Living room... Chocolate and Blue...

Here are my inspirations for the colors in my [future] living room...Jimmy and I will have chocolate/espresso colored couches. I would like to make my own throw pillows. I am hoping my [favorite] cousin will help me do up a canvas for wall art using these colors. I am sure they are available in the bohemian themed scrapbook stuff. :)

We're Buying a Townhome!

So it looks like jimmy and I are buying a townhome. I am very excited! This is a process we are both totally unfamilar with... So I will have to keep everyone updated on the happenings... :)

Below is the link to our floor plan...
Pulte Homes - Bayview (end unit) Floor Plan

Inclusion: How do YOU feel?

Inclusion of all children with disabilities in regular classrooms seems to be the law of the land. But is it the right thing for all kids? And how are parents, teachers and regular education peers handling it?

What is INCLUSION? -- the idea that all children, including those with disabilities, should and can learn in a regular classroom.



In order to discuss the concept of inclusion, it is first necessary to have a common vocabulary. Research Bulletin Number 11, 1993, from Phi Delta Kappa's Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research provides a useful set of definitions.



Mainstreaming - Generally, mainstreaming has been used to refer to placement of special education students in one or more "regular" education classes. Proponents of mainstreaming generally assume that a student must "earn" his or her opportunity to be placed in regular classes by demonstrating an ability to "keep up" with the work assigned by the regular classroom teacher. This concept is closely linked to traditional forms of special education service delivery.



Inclusion - Inclusion is a term which expresses commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend. It involves bringing the support services to the child (rather than moving the child to the services [in a separate class or school]) and requires only that the child will benefit from being in the class (rather than having to keep up with the other students). Proponents of inclusion generally favor newer forms of education service delivery.



Full Inclusion - Full inclusion means that all students, regardless of handicapping condition or severity, will be in a regular classroom/program full time. All services must be taken to the child in that setting.



In addition to problems related to definition, it also should be understood that there often is a philosophical or conceptual distinction made between mainstreaming and inclusion. Those who support the idea of mainstreaming believe that a child with disabilities first belongs in the special education environment and that the child must earn his/her way into the regular education environment.



In contrast, those who support inclusion believe that the child always should begin in the regular environment and be removed only when appropriate services cannot be provided in the regular classroom.

WHAT DOES RESEARCH TELL US ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF INCLUSION?

Although limited, the consistency with which existing studies indicate that inclusion does not harm non disabled children are encouraging.


The benefits of inclusion for all students require active mediation of the experience by teachers, as well as the transfer of resources from traditional special education programs to support children placed in regular class. - Staub, D. (1995) What are the outcomes for non-disabled students? Educational Leadership


Special needs students educated in regular classes do better academically and socially than comparable students in non inclusive environments. The effects of inclusion are positive and worthwhile, but they are not huge. To reduce the gap between special and regular students requires both inclusion of special needs students and effective educational methods for all students. - Baker, E., Wang, M, and Walberg, H. 1995 The effects of inclusion on learning: synthesis of research. Educational Leadership

Harley's Love Affair

"She kisses like a fish!"

"Mmmm... What's down there?"

"This guy's a HUNK"

"Aren't I a Cutie PaTootie?"

My IQ is 132

Things I Love about The Love of My Life, Jimmy...

In No Particular Order...

o He always buys me my favorite candy even when I don’t ask for it

o He always has crazy jokes and makes me laugh

o He always prays about our life and future together

o He always puts me first

o He always tells me how pretty I am

o He buys me awesome gifts that I don’t deserve; even when we’ve had a fight…that was most likely my fault…

o He has become a good listener when I just need to vent

o He is affectionate all the time

o He is always there for me and doesn’t try to tell me what to do

o He is gentle to me, but strong, forceful and kind when it is necessary

o He is trustworthy

o He is very gifted in many things - kind of a jack-of-all trades kind of man and I love that about him. He can do anything he sets his mind to do and do it well!!

o He is willing to do anything to make me happy even if it makes him miserable

o He knows himself and is simply content with who he is

o He knows how much I love my head rubbed and massaged and he will do it without complaint even when I know he would rather sit still and watch TV

o He likes to be with me, and misses me when he’s gone or I’m gone or one of us works late

o He listens and supports me and when I am at a loss for how to proceed with a situation he gives me his opinion… I value his opinion… He knows this and often insists I take his advice… I think that is kind of cute!

o He lives his life in reflection of his Heavenly Father and leads other to reflect that as well

o He loves my dog, Harley, as much as I do

o He puts up with my “redneck” family

o He shares my passion for ice cream and chocolate

o He smells so good all the time

o He worries about me when I am sad or sick or just not feeling normal

o His constant desire to please me unselfishly

o His devotion to God

o His honesty

o His huge giving heart

o His loyalty to me and our families

o How he can fix anything

o How he notices when I take extra effort with my clothes, hair or make-up, and compliments me

o That he will WILLINGLY go scrapbook shopping with me and help me plan the spreads at the store to make sure I get all I need

o The look on his face when he watches me “primping” in the mirror

o The sense of security and confidence I feel just having him around

o The way he can make me SOOO mad and then just laugh at me for letting him make me that angry and then we both laugh

o The way he makes me smile when I’ve had a TERRIBLE day

o When he kisses my forehead…The sweetest thing…

o When he surprises me by saying just what I was thinking– before I do (especially to somebody I shouldn’t have said it to, but he can get away with it)

Bored... House/Dog Sitting... Meet the Fam...

So... I am spending a week watching Katie and Cortney's dogs and cats... Fun Fun Fun!!! I thought I'd share with you all how cute they are...

Ty-Ty - Stealth Ninja Cat - He is so quick I couldn't get a photo of him...

Tigger - a Beautiful Cat - He is fun-loving and quiet... He likes chillin and eating tuna...

Tinker - the Elder - Keeps to herself... Lives by the motto, "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours..."

Mercedez - Psycho Puppy - Enjoys barking and eating random household items... She thinks shes the alpha dog.

I brought Harley with me. He and Mercedez have developed a love-hate relationship...