Emily Catherine Smith DiLisio, 35, died June 23, 2007, in Hattiesburg. She was born in Brookhaven on Nov. 23, 1971, to Philip E. Smith Sr. and Phyllis Bonfiglio Hobbs. In 1989 she graduated from Brookhaven High School and was named the Brookhaven Lions Club Water Carnival Queen. She attended Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. She was a 1991 graduate of Pensacola Junior College, with an associate degree in computer networking. She served in the United States Navy. She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hattiesburg.

Survivors are her father and stepmother, Philip E. Smith Sr. and Minda Smith, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates; her mother and stepfather, Phyllis Hobbs and Russell Hobbs, of Hattiesburg; her son, Noah Steven DiLisio, of Hattiesburg; her daughter, Ashleigh Faith DiLisio, of Hattiesburg; her brothers, Philip E. Smith Jr. and wife Michelle Smith, of Brookhaven, and Sean Philip Smith and Tomas Herman Smith, both of Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and her sister, Jennifer Leigh Davis Heffner and husband Mike Heffner, of Reston, Va.

You will be very, very missed little sister ......

Emily Catherine Smith DiLisio
11-23-71 to 06-23-2007

We all love you M&M - Watch out for all of us from above

Married and Moved...finally :)

Well...the wedding was very beautiful......of course. Many more pictures and stories to come. And we finally got my stuffed moved from Annandale to Reston. Yeah !!

Ok...back to unpacking....

Sorry ...been really, really busy

Sorry, I have not blogged in the past week and a half. It has been insanely busy with the wedding, graduation, house renovation, work and kids all going on at the same time. Good news though is that in the last month I have dropped 10 pounds for a total of 15 so far. Whee ! I have tons of photos to post that I will try and get too soon.

Only 5 days until the Wedding -- 1 day until Adam Graduation !

The house looks amazing...Mike has worked non-stop on it for the past two weeks. It is almost finished. The kitchen looks so wonderful now and I love the colors we picked out. I promise to post before and after pics soon -- just finishing up a few small things. :)

So much venting..too little time

First...I love my children very, very much but today I am so ready for them to go spend 6 weeks with Lance in Mississippi. I need a much needed break from the arguing, homework, taxi service -- all that entails being a Mom. Of course Lance gets it easy because not only does he not have to deal with homework or bedtimes but his parents are right their to be instant babysitters. :)

Second...I so hate Town and Country Realty -- you should see the list of stuff they want done before I move out. I kid you not -- there is more on this list than there was on home move-out list for Mike's condo. Basically they want it to look better than it did when I moved in.

All I can say is that I better get all my deposit back from these people. Beside me taking photos I am asking Bonnie, our realtor, to be there when the walk through is done at the end of the month.

Third....Packing, packing and more packing on top on getting Adam's gradution invites out THIS week.

On a good note -- The new house is coming along. Mike's dad came up and painted, painted and painted some more. :) The man is a genuis with paint. We could have never have gotten all of it done without him. Gracias ! In a week in a half the main floor on the house should look a lot different and better.

And I posted a bunch of stuff for free and for sale on craigs list -- An old gazebo I was giving away to whoever wanted to come take it apart -- I got like 50 emails. I guess the word Free ! inspired people. :)

Been a hell of a week.....

I am glad tomorrow starts Memorial Day Weekend...of course it will be busy.

If I had an Aladdin's Lamp I would wish for a tropical beach, a glass of nice red wine and a new book to read.

More than likely it will be a nutty weekend with lots to do and irritable people. Fun ! Fun ! :)

Don't worry...be happy

You know the T-shirts...I see people wearing them all the time...they say Life Is Good. The people wearing them are usually happy, go-lucky people that don't see the dark side ever time they look in the mirror. I secretly love those t-shirts. I would love to wear one and let the world know...you know what....Life is Good. Even when life has it bad days it is still pretty darn good. Of course..then I would have another friend telling me that I am such a "f---ing optimist". :) Like optimism is a bad thing. I guess it is those happy Irish genes that bring it out in me. So blame my genetics.

I saw a very good friend today and thought for a moment... when was the last time I saw him smile ? Was it a week ago, two weeks ? I hope to god I never go more than 24 hours without something to smile and be grateful about. It is depressing just thinking about being that unhappy and worried.

So ....for you pessimists out there....here are some "f----ing" optimistic quotes that might make you think about the happy side of life...and believe...even for a short time..that Life is Good. :)

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

“In the long run, the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.”

"If you observe a really happy man, you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his child, growing double dahlias or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that had rolled under the radiator, striving for it as a goal in itself. He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of each day."

Mike - I saw this on PostSecret tonight -- and thought of you............

What we doing in our spare time

Since Mike is living at the new house and I am still in Annandale, he is getting the fun task of taking down most of the wallpaper in the living room. It is a slow and tedius process but he is making good progress. I hope by Memorial Day Weekend we will have it close to being painted because I want to move my dining room furniture in before the graduation party.

On more renovation notes - I went out to Herclules Iron Works in Chantilly and worked with the most wonderful older man named Nick on a design for our stair rail upstairs that has to be replaced. He was great and the rail is going to look so nice and be much sturdy. The one we have not does not meet Fairfax code (it is 30 inches tall instead of 36) and someone could flip over it.

We have a handyman coming out next Thursday to install it and do general painting in the stairway...then new carpet upstairs after that.

I should hear back today an estimate on countertops and a few other kitchen things we want to do.

One month to go

Welll..one month to go until Mike and I get married. Lots to do between now and then and not a lot of time to do it. :) I am so ready for us to be in the same house together.

Everynight I am packing a little at a time for the move to our new house after the wedding. I am still trying to get some work done on the new house but it seems to take forever to get estimates out of contractors. So....we will see what gets done between now and then. :)