ROAD TRIP!!!

Last Saturday, my family and I traveled 18 hours to Tarpon Springs, FL to visit my hubby's grandparents.  I packed some sandwiches, brownies, chips and drinks, which filled my lil Volvo, and we were off! I thought of bringing a DVD player for my lil cupcake, but with all the hustle and bustle I completely forgot! She was so well behaved, that I am actually considering more road trips in the future. The week has flown by and we will be leaving here shortly, but the time we were able to spend with the family was invaluable!  Yesterday, we decided to take our lil cupcake to our old stomping grounds, The World Famous Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks.  It's a strip of stores, restaurants, and bakeries, and of course fabulous Greek culture.   

Located on the Sponge Docks is a great aquarium called the Tarpon Springs Aquarium, where we took cupcake to yesterday.  She had such a wonderful time watching the divers feed the sharks and eels, and pet the live stingrays (stingers removed of course), that she actually cried her eyes out to go back inside after we left.  Of course, her daddy (baba) took her back for a second time around.

Happy Fathers Day!

Today we are celebrating my DH's first official fathers day! We started the day by going to church and then we ventured out into the mall to get our lil cupcakes 10 month pictures done! What an adventure that was! Not because the mall was packed, because actually it was quite dead, but because every 2 months since my daughter was born, I take her to get her pics taken.  She is honestly a pro, posing and smiling for the camera every time! Well today was quite different! I literally almost had to stand on my head to get even a smirk out of her! I was sweating and feeling quite bad for Tiffany, the girl who was making Abby Cadabby stand on her head! We did get a few good shots, but normally I purchase at least 10 sheets, well today just 6! (I know even that is too many but how could you say no to the any pictures you worked so hard to get??)  So now we are lounging around my parents house, where my cupcake went swimming and is now sleeping peacefully! This weeks schedule is pretty hectic, I may even take a sweet little nap to begin preparing for it! Happy Fathers Day to all the great dads out there! Hope it was a good one!

I'M BACK!!

Hello my readers! Sorry that I have been gone for so long but my life since then has been full of excitement, changes and definitely blessings!! My husband and I were blessed with a beautiful little girl last August and we are now getting ready for her first birthday!

By the way this is the first dress and bow that I made :o)

Where does time go?! Every time I think about it I want to cry!  She is honestly my life and I could not remember what it was like before she was here.  During my pregnancy I was put on bed rest at 18 weeks, so you could imagine the boredom I felt.  Despite this, my pregnancy flew by, praise God! Now if only time could sslllllooowww down and just pause for a moment so that I could breath. :o) Between story time, and my play date schedule ( I literally have on my fridge), I am busy getting ready to launch my new children's clothing line called Coleen's Closet.  Once the website is up and running I will notify everyone!  A boutique here in town called Just Kidding, bought into my line so now it can be tried on and viewed during their business hours! They are located on 224 in Boardman, Ohio, next to the IHOP restaurant! I'm so excited and I know great things are in store!!!

Handbag Planet

You have to go over to Handbag Planet and check out their purse giveaway! They have so many cute purses that you have a chance to win! Here is the link!

HANDBAGPLANET

Make your Own Mini Kitchen Guide+ 2 Giveaways!

So how many of you have been over to the new Blissfully Domestic site? My sister (she's one of their editors so I figured she was bias) :) kept ranting and raving about how awesome it is and how they have articles on everything a woman could possibly be interested in. So I finally went over to check it out. Man! It is awesome! I love to craft and so I spent quite a bit of time in the Creative Bliss column-where amongst lots of cool crafts I found this.

A handy-dandy-make-it-yourself kitchen guide! How many of you run around the kitchen, digging in drawers and cabinets and shelves looking through oodles of cookboooks for that little bit of info you need right now.

Well this idea will fix that problem-quite prettily at that. Monique (one of their contributors) gave this idea to create this really cute kitchen guide. She even gave the links where you can download the layout she used along with several others. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Also check out the current giveaways over at A Tad Bit Prudish. She's giving away TWO awesome magnetic scrapbook tins so be sure to enter! Add yourself to her followers and she'll enter you twice! Also check out the giveaway for her acorn necklaces here!! Today's the last day to enter so hurry over!

Happy Winning!!

Americans Get the FACTS

Okay, not to offend anyone by this next post but come on Americans, WAKE UP!!!!

This has been weighing heavily on my heart over the past few weeks as I watch the news, debates and stupid, stupid campaign commercials. I cannot wait for those to be over!!! But what really has been bothering me is how easily influenced we as Americans are! Instead of using our own minds and brains to figure out the facts we will listen to the TV anchors and reporters, most of them liberals, with exception to Fox news who in my opinion is the most fair, they actually show BOTH sides. Why can't we just accept facts as facts and lies as lies.

When the campaign began I honestly was going to vote for Mickey Mouse come November 4th. I was actually riding the fence and I am a DEVOUT Republican. I was so tired of what the Republicans and Democrats have been doing in Washington. Honestly, we as Americans do not have a voice anymore. Are we really living in a Representative Democracy of Government? I would say absolutely not!!!! For example, when the issue of the $700 billion dollar bail out came up, why did we not vote on it as Americans! It is our money they are using to bail out Wall Street and yet we have to rely on these corrupt men and women we have elected that are now paid off to vote whatever way is more suitable for these politicians pockets!

Anyways, I turned my vote towards McCain and Palin when I learned that the Republican party did not want McCain to run! If that is the case then my vote was definitely leaning towards McCain. We need someone in the White House who isn't afraid to stand up for US!!! Another thing, all the FACTS, that point Obama to the radicals such as Bill Ayers and Acorn group and Rev. Wright, are just being pushed aside! WHY????? WAKE UP! This is soooo important! They are shaking it off now, but what happens if Obama gets elected and these are the people who he associates himself with? My grandfather has a saying which I understood the more I grew up, "Let me look at your friends and who they are, and I will tell you who you are!" It's soo true. When you surround yourself with radicals and terrorist what are you eventually going to think or do or believe??? Bottom line, I vote mainly on moral issues since our society is so very low on those anyway, 1.) Am I a baby killer? NO! (republican vote) 2.) Do I believe that God created man to be with a woman and not another man or vice versa YES! (republican vote) 3.) If I ever open a business do I want the government to tell me that I HAVE to provide medical coverage for my employees? NO! (that should be my CHOICE, as an American, not forced by the government) (republican vote)

Bottom line, John McCain and Sarah Palin are the right choice for the white house. LOOK AT THE FACTS! We are Americans, lets use all the resources we have to find out the facts to better decide who we are putting in office!

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT

OHHHH MY GOODNESS!!! On Friday night I attended the NKOTB concert! Can I just say I was speechless, not really since I lost my voice that night, but I could not have expected anything better! The concert was the best I have ever been too. Between the old songs they sang that took you back to the past like, My Favorite Girl, Step by Step, The Right Stuff and Cover Girl, they also sang some of their newest hits as well!

My favorite part was when Donnie stood up in front of the Cleveland crowd and was speechless at the amount of people that showed up and how the fans reacted to their "coming out".  They were all so thankful to have such dedicated fans!  If they were doing a concert in a nearby city I would definietly go again!

Winners of my Giveaway!!!

Okay we have long awaited the winners of my September giveaway! Here they are!!

Tissue Holders:

ihchicky who said: I just checked out your store. You have a lot of great items. I especially like your coasters and women's shirts. Thanks for the chance

Marfa who said: My favorites are the coasters and the silverware holder....what great ideas and beautiful fabric!

Roll-Up:

::Sylvia:: who said: How cool! I love her products! What a terrific giveaway!

Everyone has 48 hours to get me your home address so I can send your goodies to you!! You can send it to zagorianosg@yahoo.com

September Giveaway!

SEPTEMBER GIVEAWAY!

The moment that you have been waiting for since August 31st lol....... a giveaway for you!!!!

This next giveaway are products that I had an opportunity to see hold play with and want, want, want!!!!

These items were graciously donated by Ponyup; an Etsy shop that is full of items that you will fall in love with. Some of her items include:

PASSPORT HOLDERS

Get ready to travel in style with this fabulous passport holder. Made from two coordinating reclaimed fabrics. Fits one to two passport, current standard size of 5" by 3.5" The holder fits snugly for added security. Snaps closed. This well-made beauty is sure to be a travel favorite!

RECYCLED JOTTERS

A set of three recycled notepads with a delightful label on the front of each for whatever your note-taking needs are. Each pad has about 20 pages that measure 2.75" by 4".

COASTERS

These coasters are double sided with two cotton fabrics. They measure 4" by 4".This can be gift wrapped at no additional cost. Just ask in the "message to seller" at check out.

SO NOW WHATS IN THE GIVEAWAY YOU ASK? FOUR EXCITING ITEMS!!

(2) TRENDY TISSUE HOLDERS

(1) BUSINESS CARD HOLDER

(1) ECO FRIENDLY FLATWARE ROLLUP SET

**TO ENTER PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT WITH A VALID EMAIL BY MIDNIGHT ON SEPTEMBER 30TH ...THATS IT!!!

IF YOU WANT THESE EXCITING AND TRENDY PRODUCTS PLEASE VISIT PONYUP AND MENTION THIS BLOG! YOU WILL RECEIVE A FREE GIFT IF YOU DO ;o)

And the Winner is........

The winner of my second August giveaway is mieke who said...
I'd love the Soft and Scrubby Wipes, in the block pattern or cupcake pattern. Thanks to Marfa for sending me this giveaway notice. Thanks, Geri!

You have 48 hours to send me your address at zagorianosg@yahoo.com to claim your prize!

September Good Deed

Can you believe it's that time again? September is here and so is the good deed that we have all been waiting for! First, I want to thank everyone again for making Abbie's Good Deed, an awesome turnout and experience!! Our first good deed went so well and I am hoping the next 11 will as well!

For our September Good Deed I was thinking and thinking, and searching and searching when I came across another great website and organization!

Since it is September and the season is changing and school is starting, I came across a website called ILoveSchools.com. What better way to start September off by having a good deed focused around school. I think many times we forget how important it is for every classroom to have the necessary supplies and equipment to make learning exciting, fun and also achievable for each student. Being a teacher, I know what it's like to be broke, frustrated and disappointed when all your efforts go into having a child succeed and perform to the best of their abilities when suddenly you realize you don't have colored pencils to do a project that you spent hours planning. Or, walking over to the supply cabinet and the stack of writing paper is completely empty.

I went through my receipts to see what I spent the beginning of last year, and my total was $377.34! That was just the beginning!

So for the month of Sept. I feel that we can come together as a group and donate items needed by teachers, whether in low income areas, or not, to help make their job a little easier. We all know that definitely do not get paid enough, so we can help! I randomly picked two states, New Mexico and Wisconsin, and I also included Ohio and picked 3 classrooms; an elementary classroom, middle and high classrooms that need our help! Below are the teachers and items needed by each class. As I receive the items I will take them off of the list so that we are donating as much as we can to each classroom.

Here are the lucky and BLESSED recipients:
1. Mrs. Mary Kovach
Marion Elementary School
Wish List :

Art Supplies:
tempera paint
scissors
paint brushes in various sizes
rubber cement

Books/Learning Materials:
Variety of books for classroom
library for grade 6

Science Equipment:
balance scale
batteries
microscopes
heating plate
plastic beakers
zip lock bags
Periodic Table

Office Equipment/Supplies:
shelves

Other:
Pens & Pencils
Binders 1 1/2 inch

Office Equipment/Supplies:
Ink Cartridges Epson Stylus C84
Highlighters
Post its
Notebooks wide line

2. Mrs. Sarah Domingus
West Carrollton Middle School
Wish List:
Photography Equipment/Supplies:
Digital Camera

Office Equipment/Supplies:
Sharpie Markers - Fine Tip
25 Composition Books

Computer Equipment/Software:
Document Camera

Books/Learning Materials:
30 copies of So B. It by Sarah Weeks

Office Equipment/Supplies:
20 Rubbermaid baskets -- approximately 9"wx12"lx4"h
highlighters
30 Personal Dry Erase Wipe Boards dry erase markers
pencils


3. Mrs. Patricia Spitz
Taos High School
Wish List:


Office Equipment/Supplies:
20 calculators -- Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS Solar Scientific Calculator

Art Supplies:
20 sets of colored pencils to draw graphs
3 Sets of 12 scissors each - 36 total -- which cut paper. Helps with geometry to show students angle measures, properties of polygons, etc.

Here is Patricia's Story:
Hi! My name is Patricia Spitz. I have been a teacher for the past 14 years, the past 4 with Taos High School. I have been teaching math, mostly Algebra, but this year I taught Geometry. I don't have enough of the tools of the trade to go around. Students in Taos many times are not very well off and can't afford to purchase materials so we supplement a lot during the school year with whatever we can find. We scrounge around and make do. If you can help me with a set of or any number of these calculators, it would be a godsend. Also, many of our activities require students to draw figures or cut paper to demonstrate properties in Geometry. A class set really would help a lot. Thank you ahead of time for considering a donation to my classes. I teach 3 classes of about 28-31 students each and one website class. I also teach one Algebra class. My math classes would share these items, so you would be helping about 100 students at Taos High School.

****All you have to do to commit to participating to this GOOD DEED is post a comment of what you are committing to send. As I get more and more committing people I will eliminate the items that are being donated off the list so we can see just how much we are impacting the lives of these children and teachers! If you need my address to send your items too please email me at zagorianosg@yahoo.com or just post it in your comment!


DEADLINE: ALL items need to be postmarked by September 25th, 2008!!!
GOAL: To eliminate everything off of each list!!!!!!!! HELP SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!!!

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped
Proverbs 11:25 (MSG) Thank you Charlotte for sharing that scripture!

A Tad Bit Prudish Blissfully Domestic Gift Extravaganza!

I just wanted to let everyone know about an incredible giveaway going on at my awesome sister Sylvia's blog A Tad Bit Prudish. Sylvia was just given the position of Associate Editor for the Creative Bliss channel over at Blissfully Domestic. On Labor Day BD will be relaunching it's site, so to celebrate Sylvia has some great designers and artists donating items to give away!

The giveaway starts on Monday and will run through all of September! Be sure to go check out the goods and enter! I know I'm going!

ONLY THREE DAYS TO ENTER!!!

HURRY! TIME IS RUNNING OUT! ENTER MY BLOG GIVEAWAY! IT'S FREE STUFF FOR YOU!!!!!!!

Top Ten Most Fashionable Schools in America

It's that time of year again: time to put away the beach bag and break out the blazers and books. Here is a list of the TOP TEN MOST FASHIONABLE SCHOOLS in America. Thank you so much to sparkleshelf.com for the information listed below:

1. NYU
2. Howard University-Washington D.C.
3. Southern Methodist University
4. University of Pennsylvania
5. Wesleyan University-Connecticut
6. University of Arkansas
7. Purchase University-The State College of NY
8. University of Mississippi
9. Yale University
10. University of California

So if you adventurous child is applying to one of these schools, hold on tight to your checkbooks!

My Hubby's Birthday!

On August 16th we celebrated my Phil's 29th birthday! I can't believe only one more year until he is 30! We started dating when he was only 18! Time sure flies! Well for his birthday celebration we went to Cedar Point. It's an awesome amusement park right here in Sandusky, Ohio. They have the best roller coasters in the world! (seriously, they do!)

I had a lot of fun on the rides we rode, but we were there for seven hours, spent 200 dollars and rode three rides, ate once, and played in the arcade! The lines were sooooo long! We spent 6 hours in line total and rode each ride an average of 60 seconds! I love, love, love, amusement parks but seriously, they have to do something about those lines!

Second August Giveaway!!

I know this giveaway is posted a little late, but there were circumstances that arose where I was not able to get to the computer long enough to make a posting!

So here it is!! A Giveaway hosted by:

Make sure to visit her shop at http://www.softandscrubby.etsy.com/

You will have a choice of:

6 Pack Soft and Scrubby Wipes (Use as baby wipes, washcloths, napkins, etc.)

3 Pair Nursing Pads

3 Diaper Inserts

10 Makeup Pads

YOUR CHOICE OF PATTERNS THAT SHE HAS AVALIABLE!!

RULES:

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG STATING WHAT ITEM YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN! THATS IT!!

**THIS CONTEST RUNS UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON AUGUST 31ST. WINNER WILL BE RANDOMLY DRAWN ON SEPT. 1ST AND POSTED NO LATER THAN SEPT 2ND. ALL APPLICANTS MUST HAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS

TODAY IS THE DAY!

Sorry I haven't been on my blog too much lately but we had a death in my husband's family and between having to work and being at the family's houses, I have not had any time to blog!!

But anyways, today is the day! Packages for Abbie should be sent out and postmarked today!! I have recieved a few already so lets get them out so they are included when I ship out on Sept. 1st! Thank you again!!!

And the winner of my first blog giveaway is.....

The winner of my 1st bloggy giveaway is................................................... judybrittle and she said...
They are the best ever because when my grandbabies get hurt it gives me the greatest pleasure to be able to stop their hurt. This would just do the trick either as an ice pack or for a heat pack.

Judy you have 48 hours to email me at zagorianosg@yahoo.com with your address where we could send your boo boo bags!!!

Congratulations!! And as a promised one more giveaway for the month of August!!!

ONLY 4 DAYS LEFT!!

Only 4 days left to enter my blog giveaway! Spread the word!!!

August Good Deed

I am proud to say that the packages for Abbie are slowly trickling in. I have received Martha's package and Yvonne's package! Thank you ladies. I will be posting pictures of what we are sending to Abbie once everything comes in. REMEMBER to send out your packages no later than August 25th so they are here on time to get to Abbie! Thank you again to everyone who has committed to this project!