Well.... hell-o Summer!

It's hot as heck out there!

 I'm not complaining --- yet.

But I am thankful that I don't have a job 

that requires me to be out in it all day long...

 

Sooooo - I traveled a bit this week -

Back to The Capital City...

 

And was bitten by a spider in my hotel room

[a first for me.] 

- I'd just bragged about how this particular location had been refurbished 

and looked pretty nice....I hadn't stayed in this spot for several years, but it was near our training site, so I gave it go...

But won't be back - lol.

[We stay in a particular chain of hotels and they really are pretty nice for mid-priced hotels... I've rarely had a problem and feel safe there - even when traveling alone...

PLUS we get mega points that we use for vacay days...]

While there, I did a little test run on some 4th of July fun...

- Hotel Room Art -

In other news - 

we're loving our little patio area and view into the yard...

 I'm still doing the #expressyourselfy challenge...
[It ends on the 30th -]

And I FINALLY saw the elusive white squirrel!!!

[Craig's seen him off and on for YEARS.]

He's adorable.
We also attended the cute couple across the street's renewal of vows to 
celebrate their SIXTIETH wedding anniversary. 
How cool is that?
They're a hoot and have been good neighbors to us -

 Lastly, our little natural screen is beginning to grow 

-- and bloom even!

[I'll share more on this project in a few weeks.]
We had such a wonderful time with our boys and sweet daughter-in-law on Friday evening with Fresh Market's $20 meal [-- more on that in a week or so too!] We just enjoyed visiting out on the patio and being together with no real agenda.
Good times.

 We also had a good time being with my family for a quick meal together 

and a little splash pad time.
[We're a cRaZy bunch - ha.]

Happy Summertime to You! 

Stay cool!

Be Present Be Real

All quote from Pinterest -

Today would have been

our Mama’s 81st birthday…

Wow.

 I'm re-posting this post from last year --- 
Just to share and reminisce a bit....

Maybe some things you know, or didn’t know – or have forgotten…
Just for us - you can skip, if you want...

 Mama was #8 of ten girls

[bless her mama's and daddy’s hearts…]

She had a niece that is the same age as her…
thus, I have second cousins my age...

She was a junior high cheerleader, 
in the homecoming court,

and salutatorian of her Senior Class

[She was the only one of the girls to graduate from high school…]

She grew up in the country and picked cotton to earn spending money…

They would ride in the back of a truck to go the North Alabama Fair each year…

Mama worked as a telephone operator before meeting and marrying our father…

She was blessed to be home with us…
 She enjoyed creating beautifully wrapped gifts,
and loved setting a pretty table...

She also loved to talk on the phone...
[but I'm sure we ALL knew that - ]

 She canned everything from jelly, to tomatoes, to beans, 
apples, peaches, and peas
-- for us to eat all winter long… 

And she made the best biscuits and blackberry jam I’ve ever eaten.

She enjoyed gardening and cooking fresh veggies, 
Southern Style – fried or with lots of bacon. Yum.

She loved having flowers in her yard and in her home.

Mama miscarried a couple of years after I was born and

her life was complete when she finally had her baby boy 10 years later…
[This photo is not 'shopped' - it's soc 
with slide film from one of our dad's old cameras -]

 She was terrified of storms and we somehow [ha] always ended up
out at my gr-mother’s house [and in her storm cellar]

whenever a storm was brewing- lol.

She played softball at Robbins’ Field when we were kids –

And apparently wasn’t afraid to swing from the rafters on occasion – ha.

She loved to read and could easily devour a few 400 page books a week –

Some of my earliest memories are of our weekly trips to the library in Sheffield…
Tough Enough was one of my favorite series...

She also loved studying her Bible

and reading commentaries for theological insights

[I think she owned at least two different sets – of the BIG ONES – ha.]

She had the [spiritual] gift of teaching

and taught Sunday School most of her life –

She so enjoyed seeing her Sunday School members grow in the Lord…

She wasn’t perfect – but was perfectly forgiven, and

taught us that this forgiveness was available to all of us as well.

She loved butter pecan ice cream, or was it peach? 
Or strawberry? Ha.

She also loved visiting and taking little gifties to ‘her shut-ins’ [as she called them]

and I really believe that’s where my love for the elderly and disabled first started…

I can remember weekly visits to Ms. Gas’ house

and also to people in nursing homes when I was a kid…
She loved her grandsons --  

 Oh how she loved them -  

and was generous to the point of Lorna and I having to

tell them that they couldn’t give them money 
every time they walked in the door – lol.
She was an excellent seamstress too - 
and made us many, many beautiful outfits - 
and fun things like ET, bugs bunny, clowns,
and ninja turtle outfits for Halloween costumes...

But she was overcome with joy when little MK was born!

There hadn’t been a baby girl in our family since I was born…
So she was beyond thrilled -- 

And oh how she loved her sisters and many nieces and nephews

and she had the ability to make everyone who knew her feel special and loved.
[Is that Ruby or Lorna peeping out of the back bedroom?]

Each one of us believed that we were her ‘favorite’ –

And truly, we were –

because she could see something special and wonderful in each of us
and would encourage us in just the way we needed it.

Saudade…

Just a few pages to show

that I really do still scrapbook!

-- And since I tend to devote less time to it, I'm loving the little 'system' I have worked out to not double print or [worse!] make double pages.... 

I try to up load favorite photos once a month or so and when I print 

[usually at Walgreens!] 

I write on the package the page I want to complete...

 And, of course I mark through each one as it's complete --

I love a good list, don't you?

Even better - a COMPLETED list!

 

So... this past weekend when I had just a bit of time 

to visit with friends and crop [scrapbook lingo -] 

I only had to grab a couple of photo packets and a few kit packets 

[I still have PLENTY, believe me ---] 

and I was ready to go.

 This one was little hard to do --- 

Such fun memories with my friend Kim who passed away just six months later...

Life is precious people.

{{Be present. Be real. LIVE LIFE.}}

So... this is simple scrapbooking at ti's best for me -- 

photos + paper [and matching embellishments] + stories 

[sometimes told by the photos -]

AND -- I'm happy to report that the great scrapbook re-organization made great progress on Sunday afternoon -- I decided I had to JUST DO IT. And I'm happy to report that most of the loose pages that were on the tab;e have found a new home -- I still have a few stacks to go - but I'm going to LOVE being able to find all the beach photos in one album... or all the 'brother' pages, etc. 

Organization is a good thing... 

What are you scrappin' these days?

Or better yet, how are you keeping your memories?

Looking through some old photos ---

Love that my boys are always game for crazy photo ops!

[This one for a photo challenge I was participating in during the summer of 2010 -]

I've been pretty busy

these last few weeks...

And I've not had [or taken] the time to play with Art...

But here's a little bit from my art journal that I did last week... 

just showing real life, right now.

And, I think I've shown this to you before - 

I LOVE THIS.

She's big, maybe 16x20...

And while it is for sell... it will be hard to let her go...

[Inspired by Mindy Lacefield.]

 Also - I'm trying so hard to do a little artsy thing with my verse every couple of weeks for Beth Moore's Scripture Memory challenge. 

I'm hanging in there y'all! 

And I'll hop on the bandwagon and say that it's 

much harder to memorize ANYTHING as we get older!

But I'm enjoying the challenge!  

The stars have aligned!!!

[Scrapbook Extravaganza 2013 ]
I’m so excited to say that after [about] FIVE [+] years – my name has FINALLY popped up off the waiting list for the Teresa Collins Las Vegas Event – 
During the SAME week that Southwest was having a MEGA-SALE. {{yay}} 
I’m in y’all! 
It’ll be so fun to attend a real honest-to-goodness scrapbook event full of classes, a crop, 
AND GOODIES. 
Can’t wait to take classes with Teresa and all her glittery goodness –

and my main sparkler, Margie, is going to be there too!! 
It’s going to be great!!
[Photo - CKU Provo - 2009 -
I'm not sure WHY we didn't get a photo during the last SPARK event!!!]

Other than that, this has been a ‘regular’ week –

No travel out of town…

Catching up on things at work and around the house.

Hey y'all - the mosquitoes are BAD this year!

[As in – fester up like a fire ant bite, BAD]

And they surely got to me last week when we were working on the patio cover – 
so we headed to Wal-Mart and picked up this handy-dandy machine

[I’ve had one before, but accidentally left it out in the rain…duh.]

IT WORKS!

Now I can sit outside as long as I want and not worry about losing any blood. Ha.

I even took it to The Concert in the Park where we met friends for dinner and music.

[Always a fun thing to do at least A FEW times during the summer!]

And, you got it – NO BITES!

Wonderful.

In other news, I’ve read SEVEN books this week!

[The Pride Series by Jill Sanders]

Just sweet little romance reads where there always seems to be some manic trying to kill someone – ha. There was the occasional language that I didn’t care for and a few ‘love scenes’ that were a little too detailed for me [personally,] but other than that, a good read [obviously – I’ve almost read them all – ha.] But it is a little sad to me how quickly they all seemed to take their relationship ‘to the next level’ – like the third date or so.. 
I’m so glad I’m not living single in this day and age…

 I’m also enjoying the ‘expressyourselfy’ challenge on Instagram –

I’m sure some of you have seen that –

just a little creativity to add to my day!
[LOVED making this daisy look so HUGE!]

And I’m loving my garden – these lilies are such a pretty color!

Love that they are blooming just as the primroses are dying out –

I’m hoping to eventually have a full and complete garden of perennials!

[OH! And we’ve picked two tomatoes from our vine too!]

Hope you're having a great summer!

And remember,

Be Present – Be Real – Live Life!

surrender

All One Little Word images are from pinterest -

Farmer's Market Meals! Who's in?

I do love fresh veggies!

But I have to be honest and say I've not been a regular down at my local farmer's market - 

I've been traveling a bit too much!

But I HAVE been able to stop in at my very favorite market when I'm in Montgomery

[photo cred: their facebook page, link above -]

- I love it in the spring because not only do they have fresh veggies 

[sometime washed, cut, and ready to cook!] 

- but they also have beautiful spring flowers for the porch / deck /flowerbed. 

So Pretty! 

But my favorite time to visit this market is in the fall 

when there are rows and rows of colorful pumpkins and squash to choose from - 

So beautiful!

But I digress... 

Here's a little meal that I cooked up this week from 

locally grown new potatoes and tomatoes 

[and basil from my own garden!]

I cooked the potatoes in the microwave then cut in half, scooped out the shell and combined it with a little cheese, onion [I usually use dehydrated - it's just easier that way -], and chopped bacon [again, we buy pre-cooked bacon - less trouble - ha] 

and maybe, a teaspoon of mayo [BLUE PLATE] 

then scooped it back in the shells and broiled until brown. Yum.

For the caprese' salad I loosely layered sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella 

and broiled until the cheese was melty - 

Then snipped fresh basil over the top and added salt and pepper. Double yum.

 

I also wanted to share a couple of other [relatively] healthy meals 

that I enjoy from time to time -  

This is the spinach shrimp salad from AppleBees 

[with French  Onion Soup - maybe not so very healthy -] 

We've actually made this salad at home - and it's pretty simple

 - spinach + almonds + bacon + grilled shrimp and and an Asian dressing. DELISH.

[Note - we leave out the onions - AppleBees serves it with tiny chopped up raw onions - ]

And then lastly, my all time favorite quick salad  -

The Southwest [grilled] salad from MickeyDs.

LOVE IT.

- It's easy to replicate at home too - 

Mixed greens + corn/ black bean/ pepper mixture 

+ just a few tortillas strips + grilled chicken and a little lime dressing.

Double Delish.

[That last photo is from a little instagram selfie challenge 

I'm participating it his month  - ha]

So, what are you doing to eat fresh this summer? 

I'd love to hear about some of your favorite summer meals!

This past week -- [or so]

I made this recipe twice

- once to go with ribs, baked beans, and potato salad...

and again to go with fish, fries, and hush puppies...

YUM.

Much thanks to my Aunt Gail 

for including it in the Family Cookbook back in 1987!

{THAT's a project I want to complete - scanning each page to make a digital copy -}

 

I also ate waaaay toooo many of these

[microwave s'mores -]

 And while we had  a bunch of kids, hmmm, young adults,  over

 we moved THIS out of the way

[The snow won this year - ]

And spent the week working on THIS whenever the weather cooperated.

... and the fish weren't biting - ha

We're very happy with the way it turned out - 

 I also had the privilege of  gathering with some prayer warriors 

to pray over a precious friend who is dealing with some health issues. 

Love these sweet friends.

And y'all know I believe in the power of prayer - 

And... I also gave this one a bath -  

She was stinky 

[AND it was time for her flea medication -]

I've enjoyed the tiger lilies 

and harvested a few blue berries! 

With more to come - we've put a net over them this year - 

take that birds!

I enjoyed being downtown a bit ...

and played with this app a little too much...

 

but it's fun, y'all!

And, yes, I ate my fair share of this... and BLT too!

I've got to give the basil some time to grow before eating it again!

Oh! And I also went [mostly] grey!

- I'm gathering some photos together to share with you 

that will [hopefully] show the contrast.

HAPPY JUNE!

[Can you believe we're half-way through 2015 already?!?!]