Happy Anniversary to Me :)

Ok, maybe I should say "Happy Anniversary, Justin!"  It's a happy day for both of us.  Another year down, a million more to go.  I love you, Justin...more today than I did yesterday...and less than I will tomorrow.  Here's to a many more!

Peace, Love and Wood xo

I Celebrate the Day!

Ho, ho, ho...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day! Actually, I should say "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" and "Happy 1/2 Birthday, Alana!" My child is blessed to have what I call 'the perfect birthday'...it is exactly 6 months from Christmas. For anyone whose birthday is near Christmas, you know what I mean! We have had an amazing Christmas this year! Yesterday we hung around the house and Lawson (aka the other half of The Conspiracy Of) came over. We played more Wii...we ate breakfast for dinner (a new tradition Justin and I decided to start)...and Justin and I watched "The Nativity Story". Very cool movie if you haven't seen it :) We told Alana she could open ONE present last night if she was good all day...Yes, we unashamedly bribed her and here she is opening her gift.

Our Christmas tree last night

Alana's "Santa" gift and stocking

Crumbs!

Yay! My Barbie Peek-a-Boo Palace!!

Alana's gift to Daddy...Football cards!
(This was her idea and he was proud)

Wall-E

"Just Walk Across the Room"

Alana's Barbie My Home

Justin modeling his mom's gifts to him...
In a tank top and shorts :)

Brrr...Thanks, Uncle Noah!

My princess dress and purse!

Justin left around noon to head down to FL to see his family and friends there. Alana and I went to see the movie "Bedtime Stories"...It is a great movie, I highly recommend it :) Then we came home and put together her Barbie My Home thing...It said 50 pieces, but it was more like 500 when you factor in all the stickers and stuff that had to be strategically placed. It is keeping her occupied so I could post this blog, so I guess it was worth it! I hope that everyone has a safe and happy day!

I'll leave you with the Portas Family Christmas picture of the year...

Peace, Love and Fa-la-la-la-las

Mer-Wii Christmas!

Last night, we had the pleasure of having Marc over for dinner :) Considering his family is across the country right now and he lives on his ship, I have been trying to give him an "out" for a while now! Besides that we rather like him! We ate dinner and then we decided to have an all out Wii tournament. In case you don't know, we got a special Christmas delivery last week from my dad and Nancy...a Wii!!! Ever since I played theirs in Florida, I've been wanting to play again. I admit, I opened it early. As a result I injured myself, too...but we won't go into all that! Here's a few pictures from our night...

Yeah, we got a Wii.

Alana and Marc (pronounced "mock" by her)

The best gift ever :)

Marc is so fun!!!

Not to be outdone by Alana haha!

After the tournament and when Alana went to bed, we watched the movie Eagle Eye...I stopped watching before it was over and went to bed. I'm lame :) It was a really fun night, though. I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas eve!

Peace, Love and Wii-diculousness

CrackBerry Anonymous

Help me find my way :) I am the proud new owner of a BlackBerry...I never thought I'd end up getting one, but after months of aggravation from my other phone I decided it was time for a new one...It was echoing so bad that no one wanted to call me because they lost their train of thought, hearing every word back as soon as they said it! My dad twisted my arm and convinced me that I should get the BlackBerry. Who am I kidding, he didn't have to twist my arm. We both searched for one on eBay, because let's face it I can't afford to pay for one from Sprint, even with my rebate. I found one for a reasonable price, and got it in the mail on Thursday. I have been excited and overwhelmed all in one! While trying to get it activated, I was asked to dial ##5...something another, and I frantically called Justin in the room because I couldn't even figure out how to dial the # on it. Haha. Luckily, my dad has the same phone and he was able to give me a nice tutorial that night. I am loving it! It's going to be really nice to be able to get my email instantly while Justin is out to sea. Sometimes I feel like I am a slave to my computer, so it will be my freedom. And I also found out that my friend Melissa, who moved across the country and abandoned me, also has a BlackBerry now...so we exchanged pins and can chat via BB Messenger, free of charge :) Gotta love technology. All this to say, I got a new phone...and it's rad. Now I'm off to church!

Peace, Love and Curvalicious

Merry CHRISTmas!

*Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet during the

holidays a

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is 'The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!

A few people emailed this to me...I thought it was blog-worthy, mainly because I am tired of feeling like people are trying to forget the birth of Christ. I went somewhere last week (won't say where because that would totally give away Christmas gifts), but the lady working there started to say "Merry Christmas" and stopped herself, almost in an apologetic way, and said "Happy Holidays" instead. I smiled and said, "Merry Christmas" back to her. Angie and I were talking about the fact that jobs have been threatened, saying that if employees say "Merry Christmas" they will be fired. I find this to be not only sad, but just altogether ridiculous. I mean, what happened to free speech and living in a country where we have the freedom of religion? I went to a store called C28 (a Christian clothing store at the mall), and as I was leaving the guy said "MERRY CHRISTMAS". I stopped dead in my tracks, turned and said "Thank you for saying that..." He said, "We are real here...and Christ is what Christmas is really all about, right?" Now, I'm not one of those people who gets my panties in a wad when people write, type, or text "x-mas"...I understand it's a shortcut and in most cases, not a way to take Christ out of it...but right now the whole country is taking Christ out of it...and in fact, they are just taking out Christmas as a whole. Christmas has become a season of trampling people to their death for the latest greatest gifts, not about the birth of our Lord. Last year at our church, they handed out buttons that say "It's ok to wish me a Merry Christmas!" as a way to open doors for sharing...I think I'll find mine and wear it for the rest of this season, for those who don't have the true meaning at heart :)

Peace, Love and Baby Jesus

Happy Birthday, Jalen!!!

Today is Jalen's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday, buddy! We were invited to his party on Sunday, and it was fun as always. We love us some McKinneys :) Here's the highlights of the day!

I told Alana to smile and hold up Jalen's presents...

Waiting for the party to get started!

Quite possibly the first time Jalen's ever looked at the camera for me...
and Justin made this face :)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

The best part, the cake!

He agrees!

Ok, maybe THIS is the best part!

Jalen got this motorcycle, but he was too scared to ride it...He wanted Alana to try it out first!
Of course, she was more than willing...(Nice jacket, Jalen!)

Yay! He did it!!!

Here's to many more birthday parties...many more fun times with our friends...

Peace, Love and Black icing on a kid's birthday cake :)

Mosaic

It's weird that I'm home right now...Normally we'd be in church. The church we've been going to since we moved to Virginia, finally got a "home". For those of you who didn't know, we've been meeting in the Regal Cinema movie theater in Newport News every Sunday. There's been lots of building possibilities, but they all fell through for one reason or another. Then came Mosaic. I'm not exactly sure of the story behind this place, but it's a 'campus' used by 5 different churches throughout the week. We got Saturday night! We went to the service last night with the McKinneys, and the sanctuary was so pretty! They had it all decorated with lots of Christmas trees and wreaths...the whole atmosphere is very cool. It was also going to be a big night for us, because Alana's class was supposed to sing "Jingle Bells" during the service. This turned into a monstrosity. Alana was SO super excited about getting to go on the big stage and sing. She practiced ALL day long...They lined them up, gave her an instrument and sent her up there...and then pulled her down! Apparently there weren't enough kids (just her and one little boy for the younger class) so they decided to scrap the whole thing. I was upset, mainly because Alana was heartbroken. She cried for like 20 minutes after...I had to take her out in the lobby to calm her down. Hopefully there will be other opportunities for her to get up there and shine :) I had hoped to post a video today...that obviously won't happen! We had a reception afterward with lots of food...it was funny, Alana was just grabbing food off the line and I was having to put everything she touched on our plate. Jeremy thought it was funny, but I was about to have to tie her hands behind her back haha. Jalen ate about 100 olives, and then it was time to go home :) I think that this whole Mosaic thing is going to be great for The City Life Church! It's going on 2 years that I've been going there, so this is an exciting move! We're getting ready to go to Jalen's 2nd birthday party in a few! Yay for cool churches and birthdays :)

Peace, Love and Rearranged Weekends

Hugging my Child Today...

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am borderline obsessed with watching Nancy Grace...it started with Trenton Duckett, a little boy from Lake County that was reportedly missing. I got really into the story, especially when the boy's mom committed suicide (obviously pointing to her guilt or involvement)...So back in July when Nancy Grace started plastering this adorable little girl's face on the screen each night, I was hooked again. For those of you who don't know the story (you must've been living under a rock), the little girl was reported missing, but not until 31 days after the mom claims she went missing. The mom, Casey, has told a web of lies over the past 5 months about where Caylee is and who had her last. The bottom line is that all of the evidence pointed to the fact that Caylee was no longer alive and that her mom was at fault. They even arrested Casey, but after countless searches done by thousands of people they never turned up the remains of this child...Until today! My dad texted me this morning to let me know they had found a child's skull 3/10 of a mile from the Anthony's house. The only thing about this that made me smile, was the fact that a meter reader found the bag containing a skull, while "relieving himself"...The sheriff's office (off the record) proclaimed, "We've got her." While my heart sank for the loss of little Caylee's life...I felt a sort of relief for the closure this might bring the grandparents. Now it hasn't been confirmed 100% that the remains found belong to Caylee Anthony, but ALL facts are pointing that it is her. As I sat glued to my computer screen this morning, watching the live feeds from WFTV in Orlando, I asked myself how anyone could do this to a child. I am not the judge here...there's only One who can truly judge...I do, however, hope she gets the punishment that she deserves for this. I could never in a million years understand how one could take a life full of such innocence...Alana has seen Caylee's face on the tv and magazines for months now, and at times she has even asked to pray for her at bedtime...praying that she will come home safely and then come play at our house :) I tried to explain to her without scaring her, that Caylee was lost and that her family was looking for her. I have done everything I can do today to keep her from seeing or hearing the news. Not that she would understand (although I wouldn't put it past her), but I wouldn't even begin to know how to explain such horrific news to a 4 year-old when I don't even understand it myself! I finally turned off the computer...I had to step away from it all...As I got up, Alana ran in the kitchen and hugged me. It was random, and yet at the same time it wasn't. I think I hugged her a little harder today, for a little longer...

Rest in Peace little Caylee...

Peace, Love and Heaven's Angels.

Gymini Crickets

Yesterday was Alana's last gymnastics class of the session. This was (in my opinion) the most instructional class she has had yet! The teachers, especially Ms. Sarah, were very thorough and hands-on. Then again, her first gymnastics class was taught by high school girls who were more concerned with talking to each other than teaching the kids. :) That, again, is my opinion haha. So before we left I told Alana that I wanted to take a picture of her in front of the Christmas tree...

This is how she posed...

Then this...

Alana loves gymnastics...she also loves ballet. She has been seeing Miss Tracey, her dance teacher, every week when we go to gymnastics--and now she wants to go back to her class. So I think that this next go-round we might be doing ballet again...maybe both? We'll see! I didn't take pictures in her class this time, because the last ones turned out so dark and blurry. I did video...and I was going to edit it and put it to music, but then I decided I had more important things to deal with right now :) So watch and enjoy in the raw form. (By the way, the kids were extra giggly and distracted because the parents are not usually in the gym at all) ALSO, the vault is pretty impossible to see, with all the beams in my way. I would have stood on one of the folding chairs, had I not thought it would break and I would come crashing down on the fellow parents in utter embarrassment...I know it's long and kinda boring, but I know a few grandparents that will watch :)



Peace, Love and Show-n-tell

Dinner at the Portas House

I probably don't even need to add anything to this. I have no idea why they are wearing hats...at the dinner table or in general. I imagine it was part of their "treasure hunt" they had been on minutes before we ate. What can I say? I love them :) Today Alana and I went to put some finishing touches on our Christmas shopping. I am so tired, it's not even funny! We are getting ready to watch the Wonder Pets save the Nutcracker. Trust me, we've been waiting for like a week for this moment. Tomorrow is a busy day with gymnastics show-n-tell and then a secret project Alana and I have planned. Trust that there will be more about that at a future date and time. Justin has duty tomorrow (every 4 days right now grrr), so he will miss out on the festivities. Oh, and expect the gymnastics to be here tomorrow! Gotta go pop the popcorn!

Peace, Love and Goofballs

Polaroids and Postcards

What if you could reach the world one soul at a time, while living out your dreams? Would you do it? Of course you would! Justin has been writing since long before I knew him...but it wasn't until recently that it became a real ministry for him. I know that not everyone "gets" his music. A lot of people don't listen to hip-hop. Heck, even I'm a rock/pop kinda girl...sometimes I even like to throw a little country in there to shake things up :) But one thing's for certain--a lot of people do like hip-hop. While this genre typically puts out a negative message, the music that Justin writes is positive. He has been putting his heart and soul into this project, which was originally titled "Truth Serum" and now "Polaroids and Postcards"...He has been handing these cds out to people left and right. It is not about the money for him. What it is about is spreading the Word of God. You'd be amazed at the number of people he has been able to reach out to, especially on his ship...people that it would have been difficult to talk to about God without the music. He has a lot of life experience that people can relate to. I believe that this is part of the reason that God put him in the Navy. God works in mysterious ways. Justin said he would never join the military...and here he is, turning it into an outstanding, positive thing. People have been asking him for cds, and he has been faithfully burning them on his computer. I burned 30 copies in one day! He would like to have some cds made and packaged in a little more professional manner. I have seen him turn down money when giving these cds to people...but it takes money to make them. We have found an avenue that can make them for less than $1 per cd, and he hopes to be able to make them and take them on his deployment with him in 2009 to take this worldwide--literally. He trusts that God will bless this venture. I respect his ability to trust in the way that he does. Justin has not asked me to post this blog, nor does he know that I'm doing it. I would like to ask that if any of you are willing to make a donation (even if it's $1) to help see this out, that you pray about it and give as you feel God would have you to. I know that these are tough times with the economy the way it is, so I would not ask anyone to do anything that would put a further strain on their pockets. Think about it...There are close to 6000 people on his ship alone. Not to mention the people he could reach out to in all of the ports he hits over his 6 month journey. This is extremely important to Justin, so therefore it is important to me. This cd will be made, regardless of the amount of money coming from outside sources. If we have to pay for every penny of it, we will. Anyone who makes a donation will also be among the first to receive a finished copy of the cd. There is a button on the sidebar that says "Donate". If you feel led to do so, click it and follow the instructions! And thank you to those of you who have already contributed to this process.

Christmas is the season of giving...Our plan is to give people what they really need, and that is Jesus!

If you haven't heard his music and would like to visit his site here.

Peace, Love and Outreach xo

The Mac and the Joker

I'm happy to report that my computer is back and better than ever :) No sooner did I get home from the mall, did they call and tell me it was ready to be picked up. I said I'd come get it tomorrow and then changed my mind and went tonight haha. The 3 day wait turned into 3 hours. I like that kind of wait. It's so pretty and clean that I'm almost afraid to use it. The whole top case and keyboard was replaced, free of charge! Everyone I know may have had cracks in their laptops...but they also all have the opportunity to get them replaced!


So there was a little bit of drama in my day. Of course, what would a day be without a little? I said I would take Alana to play on the playground at the mall while I waited on my computer...well, the playground was closed. It's closed for 2 weeks, actually...they are going to do away with the huge pieces of food and replace it with a Looney Toon Land. This is funny to me, because Alana has no clue who any of the Looney Toon characters are! It was hard to explain to her that the playground was not there...but I tried to change her mind and tell her that she would have much more fun reading books at the bookstore anyway. So we went. We barely started reading her books she picked out when the girl that does story time (the one with the drawn on painted swirly doo eyebrows--you have to see them to even understand) came and asked if Alana wanted to make a magic wand in honor of the new J K Rowling book that came out. She did, of course. It's pretty too--a stick with some glue and red glitter on the end haha. Then the guy dressed as an escape prisoner with a bird on his shoulder (don't ask, because I don't know), asked if she wanted her face painted. That should have been the first clue...I didn't think anything of it because he was using markers that clearly said "face painting" on them and 2 little boys had just finished getting theirs done. Alana obliged and asked him to make her look like a princess. I might post the pictures later...but right now I am still reeling over the fact that the make-up DOES NOT WASH OFF!!! I have tried soap and water, make-up remover, lotion...I'm about to try baby oil before she goes to bed, but the poor kid's face is sore. Justin came home and said she looked like the Joker. It's funny, but not. She kind of reminds me of pictures I've seen of myself after I had gotten into my mom's makeup. Needless to say, I called B&N and asked that they please stop painting faces with those pens and asked what the box said to use to remove it. They answered "Mild soap & water"...so apparently my fingertips and Alana's face are not normal. At least I took her Christmas picture yesterday!

I am going to go try round four of removing the makeup...I just had to try out my "new" computer!

Peace, Love and DC Villians

These are a Few...

of my favorite things right now. I thought I'd share them with you all...because I know you all cannot live without them :)

First of all, I bring you Emergen-C. Not just any Emergen-C, though...It's Emergen-C for KIDS!!! This makes me very happy. My dad and Nancy swear by this stuff. I'm all about vitamin C, but I prefer to take the easy route and chew the tablets...This, consequently, leaves me with a mouthful of canker sores :) When I was in FL this past time visiting, I started getting sick and my dad mixed me a cocktail of Emergen-C and orange juice...I lovingly referred to it as my "dose of gross"...but let me tell ya--I felt better in 24 hours! I have been wishing that there was a way for Alana to get her vitamins the same way...and Voila! I present the Strawberry fizzy drink for kiddos.


Next, I have the Egg Nog Coffeemate. Now I shrug, because I have yet to actually have tasted this. However, I have been wondering for a month now why they don't make it in Egg Nog flavor but they make Pumpkin Spice. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it's no Egg Nog Latte from Starbucks...but it's also much less sinful...and way cheaper. I will let you know more about the taste when I have experienced it first hand. I'm just thrilled to pieces that I found this!


Last, but certainly not least, I bring you the Glade Wisp Candles. These are not new, just new to me. Probably like the other two things on my list. I just bought one because I wanted to make the house smell Christmasey...and oh my goodness, it works so well that I bought 2 more. (They were on sale at Target for almost half the price!) They are also flameless so they won't burn the house down in the process of making it smell better...I will warn you, though...do not sniff the candle for a picture, for the chance that it might poof out some of the scented oil at the same time. I think I inhaled enough to smell Christmas til Easter.


So maybe there's nothing spectacular about any of these three things to you...but they are some of MY favorites :) I sit here in a yummy smelling house, my child chugs her vitamins while saying "yummy" and I look forward to the Egg Nog later. Andrea, you should try it. Angie, you too. Egg Nog is not of the devil. Trust me.

Off to take my computer to the Apple Store. Hope to bring her home soon!

Peace, Love and Little Pieces of Happiness...

Mac's Going to the Doctor

I am writing to say that it might be a few days before I can post again...Hopefully not, but you never know! I knew it was bound to happen, and it finally did--my MacBook cracked. Why did I know it would happen? Because it has happened to just about everyone I know that has this same computer! Luckily, Apple can fix it. Even luckier, they will fix it free of charge! I have an appointment with the geniuses over there to look at it tomorrow. I am hoping that they have the part and can fix it while I wait...or while Alana plays on the playground :) I admit that I would be lost without my computer...so let's hope that it's a quick fix!

Peace, Love and Boo Boos