A Change Of Scenery

      

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day and it was decided that we needed a much deserving break from the house!  I packed a lunch of ham sandwiches, granola bars, some Pringles and ice tea in mason jars.  Threw all of that into a cooler and grabbed a couple of quilts and we headed put to parts we have never seen before.

First stop was Foster Falls.  BEAUTIFUL! 

         

After Foster Falls we jumped back into the Jeep for our next destination, Stone Door.

   

The wind was horrendous!!  We stepped out onto this cliff for an amazing view but never really could get to close to the edge because we I was so fearful that we would be blown off.  I have never been so scared and aww-struck at the same time!  Looking out at God’s amazing handiwork with the wind whipping around us was well worth the trek up!

 

I carefully inched my way to the cliff edge to snap this picture.  The first picture was with my camera, then I snapped the second one with my phone. 

When we were getting off the ledge, my hubby had to point out that where we were just standing seconds ago, was a little cliff all by itself…can you see the mountains in the distance through the crack?  In the second picture, at the bottom of the picture can you see the rock I was standing on??

   

Right in the middle of this picture is a rock that is jammed in between the two that we walked across…yikes!  Just a little scary to think of it!

The next few pictures is the real reason we came to this area, Stone Door, the above pictures was the cherry on top of the hike!

The Stone Door was used for centuries by the Indians as a passage way from the top of the escarpment into the gorge below.  It’s about 10 feet wide and 100 feet deep.

   

When you are at the bottom, the very old curved tree makes it look like a door handle, so the name Stone Door was born.

Today we all feel the burn from our great adventures yesterday.  We were bummed because there was more that we wanted to hike to, but the late start and quickly approaching end of the day determined our exit of our adventure, so we had to call it quits.  Can’t wait to go back!

QR Code

I found this on another blog today and thought it was pretty neat!  For all of y’all that have fancy smancy smart phones, lookie here…

I made a QR code for my ETSY site!!  How cool is that??

For those that do not have a fancy smancy smart phone, you can also click here to check out  my site and look at some Christmas cards that I made!!!

I think QR codes are so neat and they are popping up all over the place, I saw one the other day plastered on a gas pump to a restaurant and if you scanned it it gave for a coupon for a meal!  How cool is that?

If you want to make a code for your site, check out this website!!

A Letter To My Mother-In-Law

Today I am thankful for my mother-in-law! 

The best way to tell you why I am so thankful for her, is in a letter to her…

Dear Mom,

Many years ago you gave birth to a wonderful little bundle of joy, you named him Jeremy.  I can imagine when you first held him in your arms the overflowing of emotions that you had looking down at a beautiful little life that was just born.  I know that feeling.

You raised this little boy up in love, in a family that he shared with a brother and two sisters and two loving parents.  I can only imagine the energy that flowed through your house raising four kids!!  Have I ever told you I think you are super woman for raising four kids??  If I have not told you, well I am telling you now, you are super woman!  HA! 

I wanted to tell you thank you.  Thank you for a being the kind of mom that her children still run to when they need too.  You are there for you babies (now grown adults) when they are sick, for celebrations or even when there is no need at all, they just want you there. 

Thank you for showing me love.  There were times when you have shown me more love than I deserve.  You have been there to keep me calm in some not calm moments!   You run to my aid when my procrastination gets the best of me and help me pack crazy amounts of women ministry bags  (in crazy amounts of suit cases not big enough) for my mission trips in the wee hours before leaving!!  Thank you for being there for me to take care of my boys and your son when I leave the country for said mission trips.  I always get so nervous to leave, but when you show up, I feel the biggest relief knowing that they will be well taken care of!

There is no way I can ever thank you enough for your son.  You raised him to love me with all that he has, because he is loved with unconditional love from a wonderful mother.

Thanks mom!  I love you!

Sunday Morning Ramblings

This Sunday morning it is very quite in my kitchen.  The hubby has to work today so he left early just as the dark outside was showing a little bit of light.  I am sitting here at my kitchen table drinking coffee and looking out the window at all the bare trees.  Just a few weeks ago they were bursting with color and this morning as the sun is beginning to light the day, only a few brown leaves hold on for dear life.

This seems to be a hard time of the year for me and the past week I have struggled with many different things.  As this week progresses it will only get harder for me and I ask for your prayers to get me through.  I usually start perking up after Thanksgiving is over, but getting there and past that day is the hardest.  It’s also very hard not being able to be with Jeremy’s family this year.  They are stinking awesome and love me as their own.  When I was no longer important enough for my family, my in-laws, lost the laws, and became my complete family.  With what I not longer have, I gained sisters, brother and parents, which I always had, just did not realize it.  Thanks guys!  I just hate not being together this year.  Oh well, I guess I need to pull those big girl panties up high, and move on!  Funny side note on that…I found this saying on Pintrest the other day…

Anyhoos….enough of that depressing garbage!  It is November and I have taken part of  this:

which I have fallen behind on.  I plan today when I get home from church to add my thankful list to my sidebar to fill in for the days I did not post.  Despite my glooming days as of late, my life is full of things I am so blessed with!

Today, I am thankful for these folks…

This is a picture of my FIL and SIL’s.  I have searched my computer over my a picture of my MIL and I could not find one of her easily, so I guess she will get a post all of her own!!  ;o)

Listed in order, this is a picture of Amy, Arthur and Jenny!  Amy is Jeremy younger sister and Jenny is the baby of the family…I love my sisters!!  Arthur, or as he is commonly referred to around these parts as Pap, is cheesin it up with his baby girls!!  This picture always makes me laugh…looks like the girls are trying hard not to throw up a couple of bunny ears!!

Jeremy is so blessed with a loving family and I am equally blessed to call them my own as well! 

Blah…

I woke up this morning in the wee hours to the pounding of rain outside.  I really love these kind of days, but today, not much is making me happy.  Maybe I am overly tired from a busy day yesterday or just plain bummed out and can not seem to locate the joy in the simple things.  I have been struggling and this time I am not seeing the end in sight.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that because my life is such a blessing and I have those in my life that really love and support me, but it is the ones that do not that make days like this hard.  Shame on me.

I need to focus on the happy and the small things that make me smile.  For example, my son shot the first deer of the season, so yesterday we spent the day cutting it up and getting it into the freezer.  One of the most favorite parts of deer season is the making of deer jerky.  This morning not only were we awoken to the pounding rain, but to the smell of dehydrating jerky!  We are like kids that keep getting our hands caught in the candy jar, because each time one of us walks into the kitchen we are sneaking some…and it is quite yummy! 

So today I am thankful for the deer that my son shot.  For the time we spent together getting it ready for the freezer and for the silly giggles of sneaking jerky and getting caught.  These are the things that make the blah’s bearable.

Banquet Of The Tables

Each year our church hold a women's banquet where 57 tables are decorated in different themes.  Each and every year, this event is sold out…so it is kind of a big deal!  I have decorated a table each year and I have so much fun!!  This year I wanted to go with a “Sophisticated Redneck” theme, but everyone said that it was more woodland country….nah, I’ll stick with sophisticated redneck!  HA!

Here is a picture of my table….

     

I got alot of inspiration from Pintrest for my table and also used many things I had around the house!  I cut up Levi jeans to hold the silverware and used bandanas for napkins.  I also used mason jars that I glued to glass candle sticks for fancy smancy drink ware!!  But I think my favorite things of the table were my barn mice, the reclaimed barn wood used for chargers and the floral moss!  I think it really made my table!! 

I was very pleased with how it turned out and the ladies at my table seemed to love it as well!

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Our speaker this year was Tammie Head and she was A-mazing!  If you have not had the opportunity to hear her speak or do her Bible study, I would encourage you to do so!

Here are a few of the many beautiful tables decorated this year…

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I am very thankful for my church and this wonderful ministry that they do each and every year!  It takes many, very talented women to pull this off and I am thankful for the hard work and many hours that make this event so special!

Running Behind

After the last post, things got a little crazy.  Carol went home to be with Jesus.  The family has done so well through the hard decision making that had to be made and Carol entered the Kingdom of Heaven with her family surrounding her, singing Amazing Grace.  I tell you, I could not imagine any other way I would want to leave earth!  Today she is walking the streets of  Heaven with Jesus!

Just wanted to do a quick update on my blog to let everyone know that I am still around!  I’ll be back tomorrow with a few thankfuls and some pictures of our church’s annual Banquet of the Tables!  Until then, have a blessed evening!

Surreal

Tonight I am sitting in a trauma waiting room with my cousin.  Her MIL was in a car accident on Saturday and has not been doing very well.   I came up to visit on Wednesday and again today.  I hate hospitals and the unknowns that come along with a tragic accident and felt that someone needed to be with my ‘cuz  during the evening hours so she would not have to be by herself in case anything happened. 

It’s a sad place to be.  I have never seen the inside workings of a trauma area…the machines, the patients and the sounds can be overwhelming.   I think the most unsettling thing to wrap my brain around is the unknown.  This place makes it so surreal how fragile life is….how temporary our time on earth can be.   I take life for granted.

I need to start living for the day, the moment.  Life can throw curve balls and over the past months and even longer I have not been handing those curve balls to well.  I have been letting situations get to me and actually get the better of me and have way to much control over my life.  I sit here typing this telling myself that I am going to not let situations control my life and I laugh, because I know I will let them get the better of me.  Then I look around at loved ones sitting in a waiting room holding vigil over loved ones who life hang in balance.  They are not sitting here worrying about silly situations in their day to day life.  They are sitting here praying for their loved ones to come through the ordeal that has brought them to this waiting room. 

I should be living as each day could be my last…

Tonight I was walking out of the house with my bag in hand, I called out to the boys and told them I loved them, I am thankful that I got to hear my kids tell me they loved me back.  My husband walked me out to the Jeep…I loved that tender moment when he kissed me goodbye, because you never know.   Sitting here I realize those moments are so precious and should not be taken for granted….ever.  Tonight I am thankful for life, and I am thankful for the reminder to love my hubby and boys like there is no tomorrow.

What Memories Are Made Of

The  event of the year…or at least in my teenagers eyes!  It was the midnight release of a new video game, Modern Warfare 3 and with pure excitement the line started early in the evening for the ones that preordered and prepaid for this new game!

Here is Game Stop where the game would be available at 12:01 am on 11/8/11.

Here are DJ & Joey waiting in line.  We were a couple of stores down from game stop waiting in front of the Dollar Tree!  Prime location!

The shopping center is set up in a L shape…after the Dollar Store there is a Laundry Mat and then it makes a turn.  There are a few other stores then two restaurants.  After that you have a little bit of an open area, a liquor store and then the road.  As the night wore on and closer to midnight we got, the line grew!  It’s hard to tell by this picture, but the line is nearing the liquor store by midnight….INSANE!

At Midnight cheers erupted and the line started moving!  I am thinking of calling GameStop to tell them they did a  great job, because the line moved so quickly that we had our game in hand by 5 minutes after midnight!!  I was laughing so hard because no one waited around…as soon as they had their game, they peeled out of the parking lot for a quick retreat home to start the all night battle!

This morning I was woken up by gun shots and explosions.  The battle started in our household around 12:30am last night and is still going strong.  They did take a quick break for some homemade bread I made this morning, but are back at it!!

Today, I am thankful for the little things in life, like a standing in line with your kids at midnight, waiting for one of the highly anticipated events in Xbox’s gaming world…MW3!

The Loves Of My Life

I have been up for most of the morning.  I got excited Saturday night when we had the honor of setting our clocks back one hour for that glorious extra hour of sleep!  That was until this morning…I am a creature of habit, so that means that I still get up at my body's time…I guess that will mean early mornings for me.

I don’t mind getting up early, especially now.  We have been a family of a second shift work schedule for nearly 12 years, so that is a hard thing to break.  My hubby’s shift was recently moved to a first shift schedule for the next six months, so it has been a hard couple of weeks adjusting to it.  At first we were excited about it, but then it started and both of us are really not sure if this is for us.  Oh well, 5 months and 1 more week to figure it out!  ha!

Today, I am listing three thankfuls…one for Saturday, Sunday and today since I slacked this weekend. So, since there are three things and I have three sons, might as well take this opportunity to talk about the loves of my live…My Boys!

I look at the above picture and I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT MY BABIES ARE SO GROWN!

When I look at my boys I still see them as this…

and this….

and this….

and this…

     

   and this…

     

The honor that I have of being their mother is beyond any words I could ever type here.  I thank God every day for allowing me to be a part of their lives.  When I first held DJ, our oldest I thought I could never love anything as much as him…ever!  When I was pregnant with out second son, I fretted if I could love him as much as our first and my fears were at rest when I held him, because my heart was so full of love.  Then the moment our third son arrived and our family was complete, I realized how moms could love their children so much and so equally!  Each one of our boys are so different, but my love for them is so special!!!

When I look at the first picture, I can only imagine that in a few years that picture will have additions of a wife, or even two….YIKES, maybe just one…I am not ready for my boys to be that grown up!! 

I am so thankful for my children, for the love my hearts holds for them today and tomorrow and always!

Washing Of The Clothes

There is a battle that brews at my house, it’s an epic battle.

The battle of the dirty laundry and who shall wash them.

This is what I feel should happen….

This is what my husband feels should happen…

In a perfect world, this is the ideal picture….

But in our world this is more what happens…

or more appropriate, the one with the last pair of clean underwear usually gets desperate enough and starts the laundry…or my husband guilt's me into doing it.

The reasons I think my husband should do the laundry….

• he does a superior job at it
• all laundry is done in a timely fashion
• it gets folded and put up while still warm from the dryer

The reasons he feels I should do the laundry are…

• I don’t work and it should be my job.  Even though I stink at doing it and it takes me days to finish what takes him a few hours and it never makes it in drawers or the closet….but it if does, it’s wrinkled because it sat in a basket or on the couch in our room for days on end…..and because I type run-on sentences.

I clearly think I have the better reasons.

Yes, I am a failure at laundry.  BUT, I today am doing it because I am an awesome wife and I am low on underwear.  So I thought I would share with you photos of my almost done laundry!!!!  About three loads left to do….until the boys bring down tons of it they accidently left upstairs…..grrr.

Also, since it’s November and I am thankful for lots in my life, today I am thankful for my washer and dryer!!  Because if I did not have this….

I could be washing clothes like this….