**determination**

this picture seems to have come to me at the right time. look how determined he is.

have a lovely weekend.


peace.

**heart warming**

you know, there are a lot of people out there that say there are way too many reality shows out there. and they are right. some of them are ridiculous and should never be allowed to be on the air. but sometimes....just sometimes they can make a world of difference to someone. and that just might be worth putting up with all the other crap.

this woman just makes me smile. even before she sang. her life was sad in my opinion. never been kissed at the age of 47?? bless her ever loving heart. and her attitude and personality is wonderful. i bet she is a joy to be around. and like one of the judges said...everyone in the room was against her. the judges themselves were giggling and rolling their eyes. but she made them eat crow. good for her. this is the good that is found sometimes. and this warms my heart immensely. (sorry about the link. they have disabled all the embedding on all the videos i could find)

Susan Boyle

and i feel the same way about this sweet man. he competed last season this same show. i think me might have won, too. he ended up sing for the Queen. people...he was selling cell phones. what a life changing event. even after having watched this video at least a dozen times the chills and tears still come.

Paul Potts

i guess i just wanted to share some inspiration. some consideration before judgement. and some chills and tears from something so unexpected and amazing. ♥♥♥


peace.

**anne tagged me*

apparently there is a tag out there to take a picture right at the moment you get the tag....no primping. so in all it's glory here is mine.


















reasons it's horrible:

1. cell phone picture
2. 6:00 am
3. yesterday's eye make-up
4. wife-beater tank
5. headband
6. self-portrait

and of course you will notice that anne's pic is right after she went out with a friend. hmmm.....make-up. whatever girlfriend!! let's see a post in the am when you get up. that takes guts!

i am supposed to tag others but i don't really think that works but here it is:

1. kambria
2. missy
3. kate
4. jessie
5. i won't do danea since she just had a baby.
6. sara

well, that's it for today. have a great wednesday!

peace.

**announcing**

baby BURLESON

peace.

**it's been awhile**

...since i saw you. how ya' been? i don't check in that often since there isn't much going on here at the ponce home. we tend to be a boring bunch. wrestling is over so cj is home a lot more which means we have more teenage boys around. that's always entertaining.

cj got a car. he will be taking his driving test in 2 months so he is driving his own car to practice on since that will be the one he will drive for the test. his car is a 2003 Dodge Neon. it's bottom basement for sure. manual windows and locks. i don't remember the last time i have been in a car where you had to 'roll' down the windows. it's very clean and no dent with pretty low mileage. i think all in all we got a good deal. he is thrilled so that is good.

bailey takes a "Health Occupations" class this semester. each student spends 2 days shadowing a medical professional at 3 different locations. she spent her first 2 days in the women's center where women give birth. the man she was following asked her if she had ever seen a live birth and she of course said no. she wasn't supposed to go into something like that but he pulled her into a room where a woman was just giving birth. she got to see the whole thing. what an amazing thing for her. when she got home and told me i asked her what she thought she said "i have a whole new level of respect for you". cracked me up. love that girl. her second 2 days were at a rehabilitation center and her last 2 at an urgent care center. i think it was a great experience for her.

we are getting her ready for her senior prom. she found an amazing dress and phenomenal shoes. they are half a size too small. boo. she is getting her hair done in an up-do by my friend Missy. her date, Derrick, is a really nice guy. he works a Safeway and we talk to him all of the time. i am anxious to see what he is wearing. i sure hope i get good pictures.

cj ended up having a rock concert to go to the same day as the prom. it was a struggle to find a way to get him there since there was no way i was going to miss getting her ready. plus, all of her friends are getting ready here as well. we worked out a ride for Cj and his friend Paul to get to Portland for the concert. whew.

as usual, i found some amazing pictures that i want to share with you. this man draws pictures of animals on his hands. they look amazing. what talent.













































i thought i would post this picture in tribute to my best friend Danea. she is going to have her second baby boy on monday, april 13th. i know she is very uncomfortable at this stage of her pregnancy but this picture shows how amazing this late in the game it can be.






















and since i love animals here are a few to make you smile.


















well, that's all i got for now. have a very blessed and happy easter.

















peace.

**this just makes me happy**

every year for the past 40 years Mr. & Mrs. Volke from East Germany have taken the time and effort to create and display this in their garden....

just because.

one of the blogs i have been reading lately is em*il*ie

she is a very talented scrapper, artist, and mother who is very funny and warm. i am really loving her blog. i have to share part of her post from a few days ago. with bailey graduating and cj about to get his driver's license it was nice to be reminded of what it was like some days when they were little kids. here is an excerpt from that post:

Holy Embarrassment, Batman!

So, we live on the third floor and we have a small balcony.

Once in a while I let my kids play out there when I can watch them.
But it came to my attention yesterday that clearly, I don't watch them as closely as I should.


I received a formal letter from our apartment manager saying that they had had complaints from a few tenants that our kids had thrown some items off of the edge of the balcony. She said she was holding my items in the office and I should come and pick them up.


I was kind of steamed. I was thinking, "C'mon people! So my kids threw a straw or a small toy off the balcony. Let it go!" So I head to the office to give a fake apology and pick up the items she mentioned. And, oh man...my fake apology turned real.


Here are the items my children tossed from three stories up...


- four mis-matched shoes
- one African maraca
- one Napolean Dynamite DVD
- one empty vhs case
- one Disney Princess pillow
- two pieces from our Play-Doh fun factory
- one Halloween board book
- one toddler plate shaped like a Hippo
- one LDS Temple shaped cookie cutter
- one spool white thread


And all of this added up to one embarrassed Mommy....me.

things here at home are just fine. we finally got wireless internet which makes bailey happy because she can use her laptop in her room, makes cj happy because his iTouch is way much cooler now, and makes me extremely happy because i am now rid of the unsightly black patch cable that was running from the modem in our office down the hall to cj's room for his xbox 360 live. funny how i got the least out of it but feel like i got the most if you know what i mean. ooops...my ocd is showing.

it's so nice to have some sunshine. i hope we start having more sunny days than raining, overcast days now. that does mean that i get to start the post-winter clean up. yay.

well, i have to go check my facebook. which explains my reason for such neglect here. i guess i don't multi-task very well.

peace.