Scentsy & a Giveaway!!

Has anyone tried Scentsy?!? They are amazing & your house will smell incredible! They have many different kinds of Scentsy warmers, scents, plug ins, travel tins, items for a baby nursery, & all kinds of fun items! I have 2 favorite scents - Coconut Palm & Watermelon Patch & they are both actually discontinued, but sometimes they will bring back scents they have discontinued & I hope they will do this with my 2 fav's this summer!

*Image taken from http://scentsy.net/scentsy-products.aspx

If you go over to a blog I follow, In This Wonderful Life, her Scentsy sponsor is giving away to one of her readers a Plug in Warmer and the Scentsy Bar called My Wish!! If you would like to enter, the details are on her blog!

I heart Scentsy & you will too if you give it a try!

Emma Layne

My niece...Emma Layne...she is a pecious angel. Majority of my posts here have been about her & that isn't going to change anytime soon because she is a lot of my world. I get to see her at least three to four times a week and she is the most amazing almost 22 month old little girl I know. I am sure I am a bit bias, but so what?!? We all are when it comes to our loved ones, right?!? She is so smart and it amazes me how I can love something so much...imagine when I have my own child one day! Just need to find the right man for me! Ha...easier said than done!

Emma has been a busy little girl lately with lots of goings on with friends, family & Church & "school" :) She attends a Mother's Morning Out (MMO) program 3 times a week for a few hours a day at our local Methodist Church & she really seems to enjoy that & learns a lot from the program. The rest of the time, my Mom takes care of her, with some help from my Dad as well! Tough job, for sure, not sure how my Mom keeps up with a toddler all day long & my 96 year old Grandmother!! Sheesh - but my Mom is an amazing woman & if anyone can do it...well, she does it! And we will not discount Emma's "Paw Paw" because when he is not at work, he is a huge help to everyone & Emma just adores him. It is really a beautiful thing that our family is so close & how we all help to raise such an amazing little girl.

I do think we could call TLC Network to get a reality show going because it is my Mom, Dad, sister, brother-in-law, Emma (my niece), my 96 year old Grandmother, & 2 Shih-Tzu's & 1 Yorkie living under one roof...it is sometimes a zoo & quite entertaining all the time! Then, I stop in & out a lot, which makes it even crazier :) However, the Trice-Stringer-Spotts family knows how to laugh & have a wonderful time just being together...it is our craziness & we love it & wouldn't have it any other way!

Emma & me at Kate Jackson Park - beautiful Spring afternoon! Emma & her Mommy - my beautiful sister :) Emma & her Daddy - so precious!!! Emma ready for night night after reading her books in bed with Mommy & Daddy :)Having fun at the Church Easter egg hunt!She was being shy on Easter Sunday with all of the company we had at the house - but she warmed up pretty quickly!Emma with her Aunt Tori (Jeff's sister)!Adorable with her pig tails! She is growing up so fast!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your loved ones...cannot believe tomorrow is Monday already! Have a great week!

Happy Easter...and I hate when I do that...

Happy Easter everyone! It has been long enough since I have posted, so I thought Easter was as good a time if any to put a little something out here on my very bare blog! Easter was a nice day, but did not go as we had planned. We planned to get up this morning and go to Church and after my niece was going to hunt Easter eggs at Church, but she woke up this morning with a 102 fever and got sick, so we could not go :-( Instead I was able to get some things done that I needed to do and then we had dinner at my parent's with family and friends! Even though we could not do what we planned, we were all together and that is what is important! I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter with loved ones as well!

As for the second part of the blog title...I hate when I do that...I mean having to put my foot in my mouth. I have had to do that lately in some situations, but it has mainly been with guys and that disturbs me. What am I doing?!? I am saying all the wrong things!!! WHY is this happening?!? I clearly need to approach certain situations differently with men...maybe then I will be more effective in friendships and relationships. Worth a shot!

I have been thinking a lot lately...too much actually and that may be part of it...I am over thinking situations and the circumstances and that is probably been my downfall in a lot of situations. I think I have ruined some things that if I had left alone and let it ride, it all would've worked out the way it was supposed to. That is just it...the way things are supposed to work out. I do not know how things are supposed to work out, but He does and I need to trust in Him. I need to pray more, study the word, and go to Church more often to get closer to God and strenghten my relationship with Him. I need to trust in the Lord and what He is doing for me.

I need to trust that I am where I am supposed to be in my career and life and just take it one day at a time and not worry so much about things I cannot control. I need to make the most of this journey I am on!!!! And...stop saying things get me in trouble :)

God Bless everyone & have a great week!

Thankful.

This is a word I have been thinking about and using a lot lately. There is so much sadness in the world. Poverty, hunger, disease, death, and the list goes on and on. I hate it all and I wish I could take it all away from people, especially my loved ones. Right now, at this very moment, there are 4 people in my immediate / extended family with some form of cancer. It is heart breaking for them and everyone that loves and cares for them. People face that everyday. I have some very close friends with their loved ones sick and dealing with some form of disease. It saddens me and my heart goes out to all of you who are dealing with some form of sadness.

I follow so many blogs of people I do not know that have children that are sick or babies born with hearts that are broken and need lots of repairing - if not a new heart all together. Some of their little bodies are not able to withstand the fight and go to be with our Lord, and it is so sad. It is so upsetting and makes me wonder why? The infamous question. I just wish we could all be saved from sadness. I know we cannot and it is part of life, but I still hope for a world without it. I do find comfort in knowing the Lord is there for those that need Him, including me and my loved ones.

I have been thinking so much lately about being thankful and how I have so many people and things in my life to be thankful for. I complain and moan and gripe just like anyone else does, but there are so many times lately that I reflect on what I am really complaining about...I always think of others out there that are dealing with much more difficult circumstances and it reminds me of how fortunate I am. If I wake up in the morning, I am thankful a new day has arrived and I am still here....I have a job...I have family and friends that love me...I have a roof over my head...and the list goes on of what I have to be thankful for.

Speaking of being thankful...I am especially thankful for my very special niece, Emma :)

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, our family changed forever. I became an Aunt. My sister became a Mother. My brother-in-law became a Father. My parents became Grandparents. My grandmother became a Great Grandmother. One year ago today, Emma Layne came into our lives and blessed my family. She was born at Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham, AL into a very loving family who could not wait to meet and love her with all our hearts. Ever since that day, that I remember like it was yesterday, we have all been in love.

Emma is amazing. I never realized how much love could fill ones heart, until she came along. I now often wonder what I did without my niece. I often wonder if I love her this much, how much will I love my own child, immeasurably. My sister and brother-in-law amaze me too. They are wonderful parents, in a world where it is not easy to be parents these days and it is really hard to just make it sometimes. Luckily things have fallen into place for my family. We are all so happy to be together as a family in Tampa, just together. We are realizing this is all we need in life – each other - and our love for one another, especially Emma Layne.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece who turns 1 today, you amaze me & Nanny loves you so much! Here is a slideshow of some of the good times we have had over the past year - enjoy everyone!

Emma - making a free slideshow

Silence for Cohen

Getting Settled

Ahhhhh, the joy of being home. Tampa is just perfect right now, it is the honeymoon phase I am sure, but all has been perfect since I arrived a few days ago. The weather could not be better, my family is so excited to have me back and my best friend is being the bestest bestie a girl could have! I have unpacked everything, painted rooms, cleaned...HAHAHA...yea right! I wish it was all done, but really today it is all beginning as I sit here procrastinating writing on my blog. But I thought you all needed an update now that I am here!

Things are all unloaded except some things still in my car, but painting my room is just starting today and then the next few days will be spent getting settled in my room. My Dad is coming to paint my room and a couple other rooms in the house. Hollie and I picked out some great paint colors this weekend and bought them at Home Depot (yes, we actually did get some things done this weekend), so we are ready to get things moving so I can be settled.

The weekend was so nice. I spent lots of time with my family and Hollie, of course. I got to hang out with my other besties too, Jen and Julie, and some other really good friends of ours. We popped champagne to celebrate me being home for good, watched movies and just hung out. It was so nice to see everyone. My parents got takeout for dinner last night from one of my favorite places, The Colonnade, and we had a nice time just being together. Usually my parents have going away dinners for me and now it was a welcome home dinner, which I think everyone enjoyed much better, especially Emma! When I arrived at my house Friday afternoon, my Mom had a sign on the house for me with Welcome Home! That is just the kind of cute and fun loving family we are...and frankly, I love that about us. I am just so excited about being able to spend more time with everyone here that I love, it is surreal that I am finally here.

I am not sure when I will be starting my new job because I actually was contacted by the company and they asked me to fill a different position for a little while because someone is leaving and then I will move into this other role over the next year or so. I will be working on the legal side of things at the company now and working with those types of accounts that have gone into bankruptcy or automobile accidents. This is nothing I have experience in, but we are confident with my skills I can learn anything, and I am really actually excited about getting to work with legal issues. I have kind of always thought I would be a good attorney...hmmmmm...haha. So, I will probably be starting work earlier than expected, as I need to train with the person leaving so they make sure I am adequately prepared to know how to perform my job. I cannot wait to start working, but I also was looking forward to some time off, so the company told me I can have a week off after I train with the person leaving to continue getting settled if I need to. Since they offered that up, I may just take them up on that!

I am definitely ready for all the new adventures coming my way!!! But, I must say I am really missing people back in ATL (you know who you are), so a shout out for everyone there and I cannot wait to see some of you soon! Lovees!!!