Do You Remember?

John, do you remember this time? This trip to Knoxville?

Where we ate high above the Tennessee River

and were treated like royalty?! We were with best friends,

and you won a picture at the silent auction.

We still have that picture, and I love the memory.

You were so handsome in your tux, and we danced.

And danced some more. And laughed.

We had so much fun on that trip.

But then, anytime we get near the Smokies,

it's as if there's no other place to be.

Tomorrow we celebrate 26 years together ~

We are not home for this anniversary,

but when we do get home, will you do me a favor?

Will you dance with me? In the kitchen?

Just like you have for all these years.

And John? The answer is yes,

I would marry you all over again.

Why Are Some Days ~

Jenny asked a thought provoking question today,

"why are some days so hard?" and she's gotten a few answers

from well meaning friends, and me, her mom. However,

the question kept coming back to me and I remembered

one of the daily devotionals I've read recently ~

My child, never fear when you walk through fiery circumstances.

An unexpected death, a wretched failure,

a business loss, an unexplained illness ~

they will come like unwelcome flames in the night.

Don't be terrified but look closely.

In the middle of that fiery furnace, you'll see a familiar face.

I'll walk through the flames with you.

~Rebecca B. Jordan~

It doesn't have to be catastrophic to be a difficult day.

Being almost seven months pregnant and having two little

boys under the age of six can be challenging in itself!

So, Jen, take heart ~ and when in doubt, faith it out.

Your mom loves you and prays for you. Call me,

when the going gets too tough ~ as a matter of fact,

I think I'll give you a call. Just to hear your voice ~

Do you have a Facebook page? I do, and at this moment

many of my friends do as well. Some even laughed at me

and joked when I would mention Facebook and ask them

when they were getting one. Now they don't laugh,

except when we get together and mention all the things we've learned

about others from our Facebook Home Page! John even has one.

I got tired of turning my laptop around in order to show him

the snapshots of our Mississippi grandbabies their mommy

posted to her Facebook page. So I made him his own page.

Now he's hooked. Hooked up to friends from his high school,

even some he hasn't heard from in years. It's been a good thing.

So, do you have a Facebook page? I have added a link

to my page down over on the right hand side. You'll see it

if you continue to scroll down. But I'm warning you,

if you get a page, it can be addicting. Just warning you.

See you on the book ~

This won't make sense to many of you,

and I'm a bit puzzled by why I have to do this ~

but I've registered our blog with Technorati

and they request that I post this code

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within a post on our blog, so here it is.

I'm about to go back and update the profile.

You can click on the logo to go to their homepage.

Have a "cool, green, and shady" kind of day ~

I have been trying for a week now to get a decent snapshot

of this, and I still haven't succeeded. Here it is regardless ~

I asked Paige to make me a large curly H for our mirror

and love what she did! Seeing it in person, though,

it looks much better than what I'm able to show.

For some reason, there are these ghost lines and we cannot

decide where they are coming from, other than the windows.

Maybe? Anyway, Paige has lots of fonts to choose from

and for this project I chose the silver, etched color.

I knew what I wanted on the kitchen bar, but

what I found for the master bedroom was a delight.

Vinyl is so easy to apply, lasts as long as you need,

and comes off very easily. Try it! Then,

share a picture with me to show what you did!

Girl Time With Jen ~

I was blessed to have some girl time with our youngest

today and it was such a nice time. We had a few errands,

some shopping, and a delicious chicken salad lunch at Zoe's.

Thank you for the laughter, Jen, but most of all

for making time today for me. For us. I adore you ~

Eastside Grill & Lunch!

We had to go into Montgomery this afternoon

and John decided to let me choose a spot for lunch~

If you haven't eaten here yet, you need to make plans.

They have outside tables and at night, there's a live band.

John chose the grilled chicken, garlic potatoes, and green beans~
I chose the blackened tilapia, garlic potatoes, and broccoli ~
although next time, I'll get the green beans. The broccoli
was a bit tough, but the tilapia was great!
I talked him into a snapshot before we left,

but a customer coming in caught my eye.

I am so ADD!

For those of you looking for dinner deals, O'Charley's is offering 2 meals for $14.99! Their entrees are not as extensive as Logan's but it makes for cheap dinner dates! However, it was O'Charley's where we had a problem Monday evening. When John and I got there we were told there wasn't a server for the table where the hostess wanted to place us, so we had to sit at the bar. WHAT?! There were empty tables all over the place! Jenny and Brandon got there about twenty minutes later, we had to ASK to be seated, and after another ten minutes noone had come to take drink orders or ask if they could help us. Now, understand, it was 5 pm and there were only TWO other couples that we could see and umpteen empty tables! We got up and left, crossed the road to Logan's where we were immediately seated and waited on. I told the hostess why we were leaving & she just shrugged. Guess they don't need the business ~

Pure Happiness ~

Jenny took this a few days back, and has a cute post

on her blog about this day of water and sun ~

But each time this shot comes up on my screen

I thank God for Ian Todd and the joy on his face.

No career worries, no bills, no adult fears ~

just the pure and happy emotion of being alive.

I love this picture.

Remember?

Oh, you must travel to Susie's Bienvenue

to see what she has done with this gem ~

the beautiful photographs will inspire you,

the written words will bring memories to your soul.

Thank you, dear friend, for bringing such delight to my day.

I truly, truly loved this post on an item I spent many hours

gathered around, waiting in anticipation of things to come.

Playing With Ian ~

So yesterday we met Jenny & Brandon for a Father's Day dinner.

I had found these bits and pieces of Legos at our home,

and knew Ian would love adding them to his huge collection ~

so they came with us. While waiting to get service,

Ian pulled out the Legos and set up the island mat!

Then he found a boat and body pieces! Then sweetly turning to me, he said,

"Nan, here. This is you. Pretend you have a whole body."And so I did. For about a nanosecond. Good 'ole Ian ~

TargetWare!

We ran to Target to get peanut butter, milk, and cereal.

(Yeah, the basics in this household!)

And while The Hood was gathering the goods,

I found some goods of my own!

They are not my colors, but oooh they are so pretty!

Look at the charger?! And it came in blue, too! Solid plates, with patterned salad plates! Patterned plates in blue and orange!

So many combinations are possible!

And there are bowls for cereal or fruit!And did you notice the prices?! $1.99 - $2.99! WhooHoo!

I also saw some black/brown/beige sets

and they had SQUARE salad plates ~

same prices, too!

Are You a Best Friend?!

When you are sad, I will jump on the person who made you sad

like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!

When you are blue, I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

When you smile, I will know you are plotting something

that I must be involved in.

When you're scared, we will high tail it out of there.

When you are worried, I will tell you horrible stories

about how much worse it could be

so you'll quit whining, ya big baby!

When you are confused, I will use little words.

When you are sick, stay away from me until you are well again.

I don't want whatever you have.

When you fall, I'll pick you up

and dust you off ~ after I laugh my rear off!!

I pledge all of this to the end.'Why?' you may ask;

because you're my FRIEND!

Just Another ~

Hope yours is a good one! Ours has been!

Happy Father's Day, John~

Twenty-six years ago you tucked my three year old daughter

under your arm and ever since, you have held her close to your heart.

You remain one of our heroes~

Today I want to wish you a Happy Father's Day,

and I pray that you have a beautiful one.

You are a very loved man.

The girls and I adore you,

the grandbabies love to laugh with you,

and I cannot imagine life without you~

I love you, sweetheart~

Change? Me?!

Okay, so I couldn't NOT say this ~ it's just.too.good.

MEMO FROM YOUR BOSS

"As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact

that Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes

and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate

for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%.

But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state

of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead.

This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here,

and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go.

So, this is what I did.

I walked through our parking lot and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers

on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go.

I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem.

They voted for change, I gave it to them.

I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic."

Show Us Your Place!

Kelly's Korner is hosting a 'Show Us Your Place'
and this Friday is the bonus/play/laundry rooms~
We don't have the first two, but we do have a laundry.
It is quite a bit different than any other we've had.
We downsized last year and sold our large family home.
This is our first apartment home and we're loving it!
It's small, cute, and cozy, and we don't even notice
that the laundry/pantry area has no doors. So far,
it hasn't bothered us at all. In fact, I rather like it.

This is looking into the kitchen area, with the laundry to the left.

We painted the walls a warm chocolate and although

I wasn't able to get the two appliances even, I'm happy ~ This is looking across the kitchen bar toward the laundry area ~

The door on the left is the pantry and there are tons of storage
above the washer and dryer, along with a nice deep pantry!
Love love love these drawers under the appliances!!!
Now, I'm going to go look at the other's on the list!
Thanks for stopping by!

Family Faces ~

Stacey's family recently enjoyed another week on the Gulf!

Here's a sweet snapshot of her and our grandaughter!

And yes, it's been way too long since I saw them!

Are you reading this, Hood?!Brett's whole family goes each summer and they have such fun. Stacey always takes great snapshots and sends them out once they get home!Here's our oldest one, Austin ~ getting ready to eat at Lulu's!
and here's Austin making funny faces at his mommy!
which made this little angel,
want to make her own funny face! Your nan misses you! Got home, and still making faces ~ I was with Jenny one day this week, and Ian had gotten a funny face from someone, somewhere and he loved wearing it! In the stores, in the car, during lunch ~ and he wanted his picture taken!
Mr. FunnyFace and this one? He wanted his picture taken

and this was his funny face (so he said).

Can you tell that I am in love with four little people?!

And that I look for any excuse to share pics with you!

I pray you are so blessed to have someone to love

and that loves you in return ~ and Hood?

Read this slowly, I.Want.To.Go.To.Mississippi. Pu-lease?!

Stop working long enough to take a break!

I even promise to do the driving for you. Oh wait!

The last time I drove I got a speeding ticket.

Okay, so maybe you need to drive. I'll sing and keep you awake ~