I’ve had several comments about my Ten on Tuesday posts [THANK YOU] and how I live a fun life, etc. – but the truth is – I’m just like everyone else – there’s ups and downs [and way downs] all the time. I think what these [ten on tuesday] posts have done is helped me focus on the fun [every day kind of] things that makes our world go ‘round. – But I know I’m just a little crazy dontcha think, I mean who else would grow brown cotton just for the fun of it?

[how funny is it that I took this photo outside and

a FLY landed on it just as I snapped? LOL]

Thanks for the comments on the Corrie Ten Boon quotes and photos – I’m trying to put seasonal photos up that I’ve taken – the sunset was actually from the back parking lot of a Hobby Lobby run – lol. And the zinnias were at the boat ramp – LOVE that I inadvertently caught some bokah on it!! [ I DO NOT have a fancy camera-]

Linda – I think it would be hilarious to watch pigs race for oreos – that would make a trip to the fair COMPLETE! And I’m enjoying the Scrapping Sisters [yahoo] site – but haven’t been as active as I’d like to be - Jessica – I wish you could get out one afternoon during the fair when it’s not so crowded – it really was fun to see it all again! And Marianne, a fried pie is basically biscuit dough cut in a circle, filled with fruit, folded to a half moon [crimped] and deep fried. They can be delish – I prefer the ones available at The Farmer’s Market in Montgomery [I think they’re made in Prattville.]

Loved what you shared about your dad and Proverbs 31, I think some men were raised to not be very open emotionally – so I know that’s a great memory for you! Thanks Jennybean for your comment on the happiness quote – I really love it too – and think many people look in so many different places to find happiness

And I agree, Crafty mom that it’s so fun sharing with people in different parts of the state [or country] and seeing how similar and different things are – growing seasons for one… I’ve loved the Top Ten from Charlie Brown as well. When we visited the Peanuts statues at a park in St. Paul I looked up quotes and loved them all – I may have to share those next year…

Ahh - Gloria L. it’s craziness in Auburn when there’s a game. We try to go to at least one a year and used to could walk from the boys’ apartment so didn’t have to worry about parking. Are you signed up for the Teresa Collins classes in Georgia [March at EMI]? Jenni Bowlin? I may do Teresa’s, but Jenni’s is a little steep for me this time of year. I’m sure they’ll both be fun though!

Becky – thanks for the encouragement about the devil woman thing – I find if I fuel my body better then everything is better [for everyone – ha!] – but that’s hard to do when I’m feeling grumpy already!

Rosalee – it’s all about the circle of life around here – what’s funny is to be outside and watch the squirrels throw nuts at the cats – they try to get their revenge anyway! And you know I’m thrilled that the cats eat the chipmunks. They’re nasty little critters.

Hey Debra – I still have that sifter if you have hoosier cabinet without one –lol!!

Kathy – I have my photos organized via Stacy Julian’s method from her book, The Big Picture – the funny thing is, I’d already started dividing my photos this way before I bought the book – it makes it sooo easy to find photos when you want them! I meant to ask to see some of your Colorado photos last weekend – hope you post some on your blog or FB! Sounds like y’all had a wonderful time!

Pam – welcome to my blog – so neat meeting you!! I loved all the things you were working on Saturday – wasn’t that just the best time?!? I hope to go in April - do you?

Thanks to all for the good wishes on being published – it is kind of fun – but it’s something the Lord and I have been talking about [a lot] lately – there may be a blog post coming about that in the future – and Marianne – I do feel like I *know* many of my friends from on-line [so fun!] Your comments about my layouts were SO SWEET - seriously – for MOST of my layouts I use Stacy Julian’s ‘finish line’ method [can you tell I’m a HUGE fan of hers? LOL] – I just group a bunch of photos together in the center or to one side, add stuff around it, journal it and call it a day. [Supplies? Kits are the way to go!] I do try to have balance and a triangle of color and even spacing, but I usually spend very little time on most layouts…I share that as encouragement that anyone can make a great layout - "just stick it down" [as Stacy would say - lol] - thanks for the compliments.

And Kelly – the [fall] tree garland was made from scraps from my card stuff – I actually copied a tree rub-on and blew it up about 200% and used it as my pattern. Polka-dot trunks and patterned paper tops with little punched leaves make them cute. I’ve loved getting [back] into Halloween décor this year! More to come on that too!

Again – thanks to all who visit here – I read each and every comment and LOVE sharing with you all!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. The great snow storm of 0-11 kept me out of work until Thursday morning – and I somehow need that time in my office to pull my life together into some semblance of organization. So I’m a little late with this post today [ha - it actually posted on Wednesday night-] – and it’s very random…
2. I was finally able to get down the hill to see my doctor on Wednesday a.m. – thank goodness he was able to open – I was relapsing FAST. But with a few more prescriptions, I’m back on the mend again. I’m afraid the time to look seriously at [nasal] polyp removal may indeed be sooner than later – I know! TMI!
3. We ate breakfast at Waffle House while waiting on my meds to be filled.
4. I haven’t lived with snow on the ground for this long since I was in Utah – but the rain TODAY is finally washing the rest of it away [9 days y’all!]
5. It was beautiful though. [Our house from the road on Thursday.]
6. There’ll be changes happening on the blog this year – some things will stay the same like these Ten on Tuesday posts and others are new [Favorite Photo Friday], but I’m also changing how I respond to comments [in the comments themselves] and draw for the Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway [randomly from ALL comments within the last month.]
7. I’ve also been pulled into some home décor blogs lately and I hope those will inspire me to be a little more creative with my projects around the house – and on those rare occasions when that happens, I’ll be sure to share that with you as well; and I’ll continue to share my faith – because, really, that’s what keeps me going each day.
8. I’ve started a little Soul Restoration class [see Brave Girls Club link to the right] – and I love it. I love that they give you LOTS of tools to work with to create art-inspired reflection. I love that while the creators have definite religious beliefs they leave it open for each person to define their own relationship with God. I love that they give you lots of video to encourage creativity. And I love that I’ve given myself permission to just play with it all – I’ve even committed to using scissors only throughout this class! [No paper trimmer to assure perfectly straight lines.] Ha.
9. My hair has finally grown enough that I can tuck the front behind my ears again – man, it must have been SHORT. What was I thinking?!?
10. Okay - one last snow photo – I promise! [Well, we’ll see – since our forecast is calling for another flurry this weekend.] This is our house on Monday – before the rain came in – one week after the snow fell – in THE SOUTH – gotta love it.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Mission accomplished. After what? A thousand miles of driving? Matt has a new [to him] car. [We drove to Nashville on Tuesday to pick it up-] As always, Craig did an exceptional job finding a great deal and Matt’s ride was upgraded by about ten years. Having his car totaled Right. In. His. Driveway. -was a blessing in disguise.
2. I cooked our traditional thanksgiving meal on Thursday – green bean and veg-all casseroles, scalloped potatoes, rolls, [Aunt Betty’s] sausage dressing [so – so good,] and we had the turkey from Honey Baked that was bought for Mama’s house, but didn’t quite make it there.
3. This week I also made a tres leches cake [that looked pitiful, but was eaten anyway] and a dump cake too – at least that one had fruit in it. Ha. [Oh, and I only used half the butter called for-]
4. We enjoyed a little ‘game time’ with our boys too – just being together and visiting – precious moments, for sure.
5. The evening before, we were able to pull off another [somewhat] surprise birthday dinner for Craig. At the food court in the mall with family friends we've hung out with for the last 20 years, I think there’s 19 or so when we’re all together– we love that Japanese Stir-Fry. Yummilicious. [I think the boys enjoyed getting it all together too.]
6. I watched the first and last ten minutes of The Game. I’m just such a football watcher – ha. [Pretty good ending for our household, though.] Hoping we still have it recorded so we can send it to a friend in Japan - [edited: nada.]
7. But mostly, I did a little Christmas crafting on Friday – first was a little fall plaque that I picked up on sale for a dollar, covered the middle with old book pages, distressed with a little mustard colored paint, and put a vinyl [window] cling on with spray adhesive [‘Believe” to us means – we believe in Jesus.] I used a couple of the other vinyl cling words [Peace and Joy – all on the same sheet for only a $1] with the same technique – but put the book paper in frames [I had already] and the clings on the glass. And one of my favorites – using a flocked wall art cling [$3] in the shape of a Christmas tree on the glass of framed textured wall-paper [left from when we wall-papered our kitchen ceiling – yes, we did. It looks like those old tin tiles.] So fun. I’ll share another photo of them ‘in place’ in just a few days.
8. We enjoyed seeing Craig’s parents on Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Please say a little prayer for his sister who was unable to attend due to illness.
9. And on Sunday we ‘took a day off’ when we heard the ‘Hot Donuts Now’ sign calling our name, ran a couple of errands, did a little garden clean up [planted the Thanksgiving mums too,] then tackled the leaves in our yard – this year the plan is to crunch them up with the lawn mower [I’m not sure we’re winning, but with the amount of leaves we have, we hardly ever do.] Then I sat out by the fire-pit, reading, and enjoying the last [lingering] days of fall while Craig went fishing with a buddy.
10. Oh, and I walked THREE times this week. After eating like a pig all week long, I thought it was time. Will YOU join me? [And YOU know who you are – lol.]

Ten on Tuesday

albeit, a little late ---

1. Well, Hello Summer! – I was hoping for a few more weeks of Spring, but when it’s 82* at 10 a.m. you gotta give up that thought…
2. It was a long week with my sweetie on his annual fishing retreat with guys that have been getting together for over 30 years!
3. My phone died this week [the bottom half of the screen was flashing and going black.] So not good when I’m right in the middle of a good book… they’ve sent the replacement and all is well again [well almost, I’m still getting the Kindle account set up…]
4. Had the “opportunity” to sit in on a court hearing for an adult protective placement one morning this week. Wow – it’s been over ten years since I’ve done this. Very interesting [and involved case – the reason I was there.] It all turned out well.
5. You know I love thrift store shopping! So, I have to share that I stopped in at a HUGE one and found another summer dress and a couple of cute purses for less than $10 - TOTAL. Yippee. This purse is so fun & in my new favorite color.
6. I also took a car load of stuff to Goodwill… it’s all about giving up the stuff we don’t use to bring in stuff we will…
7. I transplanted day lilies this week – tiger lilies, really, that came from my Mom’s ‘old home place’ [not my grandmother’s house.] Which reminds me – I have a few rose plantings from [our] Mama’s house if anyone wants them.
8. I’ve started the ‘She Art’ Class with Christy Tomlinson. So fun and kind of pushing me out of my comfort zone to achieve the look we want. Her videos are SO GREAT and easy to follow. I encourage you to give her classes a try if you want to do more with mixed media.
9. I also painted a poppy at My Spirited Art [dotcom] with my friend Rita. It’s much like Sip N Strokes, if there’s one near you – where a bunch of people get together and paint the same thing – SO FUN. There were over 50 people in our class and I love how everyone put their own spin on it – I actually took some old hymn pages and gesso’d them on before we got started. You can’t see it in the photo but it shows through nicely under the poppy and on parts of the edges…
10. And lastly, this Ten on Tuesday was posted late because I worked out of town this week and completely forgot to take my trusty purple laptop along with me. It was weird, but at least I was still ‘somewhat’ connected with my phone…

Ten on Tuesday

Note: I really meant for this to go up late Tuesday night [and will still post it to show on Tuesday, even though it's more than a few days later] but life happens. Please keep my mom in your prayers - she had a little mini stroke this week and is working through some things [a tiny bit of aphasia, and a lot of knowing it could happen again at any time...]

1. First let me say that I'm more than a little sad that I now have to moderate comments, but I've had some crazy ones showing up with links to not so nice places -- Be patient with me as I remind myself to check them each day.
2. As a result I'll probably be commenting on comments in the comment section. Does that work for ya'll?It will probably be more timely this way ---
3. I finished up the Christmas decor - and switched things up a bit, love that most everything coordinates enough to move from room to room. This little snowman nativity is usually in the bathroom - the one awaiting the re-do - so I put it on the table in the dining / living area with a pedestal of ornaments and the jingle bell wreath above. Love that I can combine a little whimsy with the True Reason for the Season.
4. Note - the basket holds past December albums and other mini albums, the giant glass apple is a favorite of mine that moves around the house, the copper kettle is from my mom's house - they'd save their silver in it and rotate giving it to the gr-sons when it was full - it's Matt's now, and if you look closely you can see our big nativity set on the table opposite this one - my cousin made it for me YEARS ago - still love it. I'll do a little post later on and show all my simple Christmas decor -
   
5. Saturday I cropped with friends and we enjoyed a yummy meal together [the green bean casserole in the crockpot WORKS] and then did our tag swap - such beautiful tags! Thanks to everyone who participated!! And we played Dirty Santa - love the crafty stuff I came home with!
6. That evening Craig and I attended the "Keep Christmas Alive" concert - we've gone a couple of years in the past - and it's just THE BEST way to start the Christmas season -
   
7. And an added bonus was that they had Larnelle Harris as the featured entertainer. WONDERFUL. You might remember that THIS is one of my all-time favorite Larnelle songs - not so Christmas-y, so he didn't sing it - but he was great all 'round!
8. I finally decided to bite the bullet and JUST. DO. IT. -- Knit a Christmas stocking, that is - I know it's far from perfect but I've enjoyed it [LOVE TO KNIT -SO RELAXING] so I'll work on some things and the next one will be better [and hopefully the next next one will be even better - lol.] But I have to remind myself that not everyone cherishes a heirloom stocking - as seen in a recent Goodwill excursion - kind of sad, isn't it?
   
9. This week I've watched outside my window [at work] as more than a hundred Christmas trees were put up in the park [I think there's close to 200, but am not sure-] and decorated throughout the week - I've seen them lit from afar, but almost think they're prettier in the daylight - I'll try and get some photos before the month is out.
10. Late in the week we had a last minute opportunity to sit in on a broadcast of The Rick and Bubba Show. I've listened to this radio show since the early 90s - just good, funny, God-loving guys. So it was fun to see how they pull it all together [and to know that Bubba and Craig played pingpong in-between "on-air" times. LOL - Yes, they have a pingpong table in the studio.] - Much thanks to Allison the Intern [so sorry I can't remember your "on-air" name] who is a good friend of my brother's and worked it all out for us to be there.

Ten on Tuesday

And so we start another year of Ten on Tuesday posts - love how these help us recognize the little things that add up to a happy life - Glad to share with you again throughout the year, but also want to encourage you to stop and look for the good things in your life -

1. Our Christmas celebrating with family continued throughout the week – first we had a great meal with Craig’s family and gift-giving around the tree. It was a little hard to hide the glider until we brought it into the room but we accomplished it and we think it turned out beautifully.
2. And then it was back to work for me as I traveled to Montgomery and back one day for some meetings - but it was a short work week so that was nice.
3. We had a two-stage “party” for New Year’s Eve with the youngsters [the 20 somethings] gathering for an early dinner of Craig’s delicious fried fish [before heading out to other things] and then our crowd and the teens coming a bit later for a shrimp boil – yum! They enjoyed fish too, of course. We spent the evening visiting and playing games together. Good times with good friends. – Celebrating with sparkly grape juice…[I didn't get a group shot - lol]
4. When I was getting sheets out of the downstairs hall closet for our overnight guest [Matt’s friend] I once again said a prayer of thanks for this house we live in – it’s just so nice to have ROOM for our stuff. [The house we lived in for 13 years had only bedroom closets – so I still, after 7 years, am so thankful for closets.]
5. I’ve read three books in as many weeks! So good to take the time to read for pleasure once again. And I’m loving the little Kindle ap that’s on my [new] phone. Books: Beatitude [talked about in a previous post]. Stuck in the Middle [Virginia Smith – a Christian fiction free kindle I found at www.faithcreativiyilife.blogspot.com ] and Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope [Mary Beth Chapman - $2.99 kindle – wife of Stephen Curtis Chapman tells the story of losing their 5 year old daughter.] I have a few others downloaded and ready to read whenever I have a free moment. Love it.
6. I’m loving this new phone that the oldest said was WAY too much phone for me – and I agree - it is since I was using one that had NO extras at all. Don’t’ faint, but I’m considering using the calendar on it as my daily “to-do” – but it is awfully hard for me to give up my color-coded system that I’ve used for the past 20 years!
7. Family time continued as we met a nephew and wife and precious little one for breakfast on the 1^st. So fun to finally meet the wife and just visit together over biscuits and bacon.
8. And we sure enjoyed our family-style meal at Maggiano’s with my side of the family [thanks Mom!] It’s such a beautiful place and we called the menu in ahead so the service was quick and just really – really nice. Of course the food was delicious! And there was plenty to divide up as leftovers.
9. Later we visited The Opryland Hotel [beautiful - I'm not sure we cold tell there'd been a flood at all] and then opened gifts with little MK and discussed our donations – the four people whose names we had were honored with a portion of four chickens and a goat through World Vision.
10. Sunday was a day of rest for us – I took naps and read most of the day. Craig and I ran a couple of errands and had Thai for a late lunch and just relaxed since we know this will be a long – no holiday – week. Praying for good test results for a loved one - and hoping you have a good week!

Ten on Tuesday

No Ten on Tuesday post this week –

Many of you know that Craig’s dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on January 7^th. He fought a good fight, but went on to be with our Lord last Wednesday [only five and half weeks after diagnosis.] He had a peace about his diagnosis from the beginning that we can only attribute to his relationship with Christ. Craig, his mother, and I spent Wednesday night looking through over sixty years of photos – reminiscing about a life well-lived [photos can be such a comfort to us, can’t they?] Through the weekend the family gathered to honor and remember him and while he will be missed we know he’s praising our Savior forever and ever –

I Can Only Imagine…

[click above to hear the song]

I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side...
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine.

I can only imagine.

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!! Only imagine!!!
I can only imagine.

I can only imagine, when all I do is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine."

Ten [things in my life right now] on Tuesday

Well, here we go – shall I commit to posting ten random happenings of my life each week? I’ll admit the monthly choice quotes and bi-weekly Encyclopedia of My Ordinary Life posts in 2009 were ALL PRE-POSTED so I never had to think about them throughout the year. In this chaotic-crazy-blessed life that I live can I commit to setting aside time each week for Ten on Tuesday?

Well, I’m going to give it a go!
[I may need you to hold me accountable.] Randomly:

1. Celebrating New Year’s with friends is always fun – we’ve been hanging with most of this group on this day most every year since 1999 when we were all wondering if our lives would fall apart from the anticipated computer software crash…the photo below was taken with my very first digital [640x320] camera and I was loving this digital stuff - 12-31-1999 [Did we meet at Shoney's at the last minute to celebrate with hot fudge cake?]:
2. Kids – comfortable in our house – throughout the week [as many as thirty a night at times] – and even scouring every inch of things when looking for someone’s lost keys [found three days later inside our loveseat – after removing the six unmatched black socks that it had somehow eaten…] Glad I did some deep cleaning before Christmas – but I’m sure they saw the dust bunny family that scurries across our wood floors anyway…
3. Working. Every. Day. While most of the world was not – very sloooow and looong days.
4. Not enough time to ‘just be’ with my sweet hubby – as we transitioned from holiday mode [getting it all down and packed away] to vacation mode [packing things up to head out again!]
5. Family Time – always a great treat! This year we gathered with all of our immediate family [parents, siblings, nieces and nephews], as well as many of my 32 cousins on my mother’s side of the family. It’s so good to see that no matter our differences and choices in life we love each other anyway. There’s such age differences here – some of my cousins are my mother’s age and have kids my age… And so we may not all be best friends with each other – but we always – always want the best for each other. And we sure missed those who couldn’t join us!
6. Christmas cards mailed – finally. Oops, or are they?
7. I had a grouchy moment [or two-?] that I wish I could take back. Let’s be honest, this PMS that is accompanying my pre-menopausal stage of life is just NO FUN. I’ve never had PMS before. I know – TMI! [too much information]

8. I’m blessed to have a wonderful husband who has taken on the planning and execution of family travel these past few years. I used to be the hyper-organized one and lately we seem to have switched roles a bit. And, it’s nice. He prints me a spreadsheet [with double dots – ha!] so that I can still have a feeling of being in control even though we both know I’m not…
9. Cleaning the refrigerator of left-overs. Yay for me and yay for the cats and various wild-life [possums, fox, raccoons] that live in our yard. It went to a spot next to the compost pile…
10. And finally – more snow than the boys in my life have ever seen before!

Ten on Tuesday

Wow! A year of Ten on Tuesday posts – I’ve enjoyed how these posts help me look for the simple, good things in life; I plan to continue them into 2011 – For now, here’s some good things from this week -

1. Returning home from being out of town to find a [left] turn signal at the light three blocks from our house [yay!]
2. Finding sunglasses in the bottom of a Kleenex box sitting on my desk after being convinced for six months they’d accidentally been thrown away.
3. Snow.
4. Vick’s Salve + two shots in the rump + 4 prescription drugs = one good night’s sleep.
5. A husband who loves to shop.
6. Family.
7. More Snow.
8. Going to Hobby Lobby to buy ribbon from the two full isles that were there only a few weeks ago to find there were only SIX rolls left – I bought the last large bow.
9. Prime Rib [salt-crusted via Southern Living recipe] – yum. Not salty at all.
10. Celebrating our Savior’s birth and death and resurrection with fireworks synchronized to Joy to the World – awesome!
    

Ten on Tuesday

Should this be a totally Disney Ten-on-Tuesday post? Weeeellll, let’s see…

1. We’ve spent 10 of the last 14 days in sunny Florida. Notice that I didn’t say WARM Florida, because there were a couple of days in there that were decidedly NOT WARM.
2. And we ‘kidnapped’ our boys and had them to ourselves the entire time. Well, not the entire time because we did leave them sleeping in the room a few days and they went their own way a few times too.
3. We love Disney; it’s just that simple – it’s a great place to “get away from it all.” Each time we go there’s a different park we tend to gravitate to, but we always [always] ultimately end our nights at Epcot.
4. We enjoyed celebrating the season with Steven Curtis Chapman reading The Christmas Story [Luke2] with area choirs singing carols to Christ during The Candle Light Processional. It’s so neat that Disney continues to have this celebration despite all the other changes in The World. [The music in Epcot was continuous Christmas Carols all over the park as well – not silly holiday songs, but carols to Christ – loved it.] It was [literally below] freezing that night, but worth it to set aside a little time for the true Reason for the Season.
5. We had the dining plan this go ‘round – and just as we suspected – it’s waaay too much food. We ended up getting sandwiches ‘to go’ for our trip home and using 12 + ‘snacks’ for goodies to eat these next few weeks. [Helps extend the Disney deliciousness, I guess.] Favorite meal for everyone [without question]: Le Cellier [Canada.] Even I, the non-steak-lover, enjoyed it. It was just Very. Nice. Close second [for me]: the quick service build-your-own salad [mandarin chicken] at our resort food court. Yum.
6. Loved our resort btw – Port Orleans – French Quarter [not Riverside which is HUGE.] Fun and festive, a boat ride from Downtown Disney, good food courts and restaurants and shops, and buses direct to each park. Another plus – we could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony. Fun. [We did NOT miss our camper – but did miss the friends we usually camp with.]
7. We also had ‘length of stay’ passes this time too – and it was good because we didn’t feel that frantic need to be in the parks from opening to closing [we usually only go in the parks 4-5 days with a day of rest in the middle] but not-so-good because we were in the parks for Seven. Days. Straight. Gotta admit, we were weary toward the end.
8. But it was so fun to go to all of our favorite places [rides, shops, shows, restaurants] in the parks and reminisce about visiting in the past and be surprised by changes in the last few years. Seeing new parades and old [The Electric Light Parade] added to the magic. We love Disney, what else can I say?
9. Oh, and we took a day trip over to Hogworts to visit the students who go to school with Harry Potter. It was a little smaller area than I was expecting – but very [very] realistic. I’m glad we went, and the Dr. Seuss characters [and comic book characters too] were an unexpected surprise [since I did no research on this park at all.]
10. All-in-all we figure we walked hundreds of miles last week [not really, duh – but certainly more than any of us except Matt-the-college-student has walked in quite a while.] Still, there was no weight loss [guess it was all those delicious meals that always included a scrumptious dessert.]
    

Ten on Tuesday

1. My internal thermometer has gone hAyWiRe – I’m so tired of waking up sweating like I’ve just run three miles [not that I would know, really] and then being so cold I have to get under four layers of covers…and my sinus infection has returned with a vengeance - but that’s small stuff…
2. 2011 is going to be a tough year for us. It’s not our story to tell – but please be in prayer for us and people we know as we walk a journey we had no idea we’d be on.
3. I hold on to this – GOD IS WITH US. A family member and I were talking at Thanksgiving about remembering when God has walked with us in the past and how this helps us hold fast to the belief that He will walk with us through current hard times…and I had no idea hard times would come this quickly. Even before we got this news, God was urging me to share a layout here on the blog that I created for a class last year – it’ll go up on Thursday. [This one is also a favorite of mine-]
4. This I know for sure – God knew before I was even born that we’d journey down this path – and He wants to walk with us if we will allow Him too. He wants us to lean on Him…and I know He can give us the strength we need. We cherish your prayers.
   
5. For now the house is quiet – youngest and all the college boys are gone. It was so good to have him home even if he did stay over at his brother’s a few nights…
6. Speaking of oldest, he went camping with friends in the cold COLD temps this weekend – but they came to their senses when they realized it was going to be 5* - so glad they came on home. [Motherhood never ends, ya know.]
7. I scrapbooked with friends for a few hours on Saturday – mostly sorted through the holiday photos; finished up my Daily December album. And I did a couple of pages too.
8. In case you haven’t heard – it snowed in the south, y’all! Seven lovely inches at our house. Of course we thought it was lovely before we realized the weight of it had CRUSHED our patio cover to smithereens and torn the gutters off our house as it slid off our metal roof…but other than that – quite nice.
9. And of course it shut down our city – no work on Monday or Tuesday – am not sure about the rest of the week.
10. So it was nice to know we didn’t have to get up and head into work after staying up late to watch the game – War Eagle. Hey.
    

Ten on Tuesday

1. Well, this has been One. Long Week. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Tuesday morning Drew calls on his way to work saying he thinks he’s having an appendicitis attack – but needs to work a few hours anyway…[Gotta love the work ethic; he lasted about two hours.] After many tests / scans, fast forward to 6:30 that evening and he’s being wheeled to a room after surgery… [He’s re-cooping well and actually went to work yesterday.] We have some photos – but I’ll refrain from sharing them here…I"m not even sure they will go on a scrapbook page...
2. After that long day we ran home to quickly pick up a few things for the overnight hospital stay [namely for Drew: some movies on his thumb drive to watch on his computer – yes, we love technology…]
3. And I was [sweetly] surprised to see a new [old] glider setting in the back yard – a real glider! LOVE IT. I walked up the hill to take a quick sit, but didn’t fully enjoy it until the weekend. [Plan to have it powder painted for luxurious smoothness.] Did I say I loved it? And my sweetie husband who found it for me?
4. While out and about in our yard the mosquitoes try to eat me alive – but never bother Craig – he did, however, have a HUGE horsefly on his back [at least two inches!!] I killed it [yes!] and was all smug thinking, “I’ll take the mosquitoes over THAT any day,” only to later realize IT DID BITE ME – TWICE.
5. And if you’ve ever had a horsefly bite you know exactly the kind of pain I was in [again, even though it was on Craig, he has no bite or resulting pain. Go figure.] Mine swelled to the size of ping pong balls [SERIOUSLY] and hurt like the devil. Thank goodness we hade some benadryl spray handy and after using it several times a day for several days - it’s over. The last time I had a horsefly bite it took A MONTH to go away…
6. Remember those muscadines we got in Georgia? I juiced them down one evening and made jelly [so easy with sure-jell] on a couple of other evenings. DONE – about three dozen pints. Yum. And so clear and pretty, if I might say so myself.
7. The weather has been in the mid 90*s with humidity below 90% and we all feel like it’s ‘fall’ when in reality THIS is what I think summer should feel like! It’s been a nice break from the 100*+ temps we’ve had for the last 60 days or so…
8. I still have tomatoes [& basil] in the garden and have enjoyed bacon and tomato sandwiches, bruschettta, and a caprese salad or two all week. Wonderful!
9. I also enjoyed an early morning drive to Montgomery on Friday. [I really do love driving early in the day – but the all day meetings, and then the drive back, leave me exhausted.]
10. And Matt is all settled in his new place at AU. Reports they pooled their money and bought a lawn mower. We know he’s going to have a great time living with guys he’s been good friends with since middle school.

Ten on Tuesday

1. My week started with a visit to my skin doctor, God love her, I think she takes some sort of pleasure in the pain caused by freezing off these pre-cancerous skin spots I have. I’m teasing of course, because she’s really very sweet about it all. Still it does hurt like heck for a couple of hours afterwards. And I've NEVER looked forward to going to see her -
2. Harvested my first tomatoes this week! Three DEElicious cherry tomatoes!
   
3. Had lunch with friends at one of my favorite spots – the BEST chicken salad in town. And of course catching up with friends is always fun too.
4. We’re settling into a routine here at home with everyone off to work in the mornings, albeit different times. It’s good to know “we’re” out and about – and earning “our” own spending money – ha.
5. One long work day with lots of travel [3 hours each way] to a part of the state I’ve never laid eyes on wiped me OUT. But what to do? There’s no motel there to spend the night [or one I would stay in anyway…] so being on the road at 5:45 a.m. was my solution since I didn’t want to make the drive twice to see two counties. Any guesses?
6. Lots of rain this week so I’ve not had to water the garden much. Always good because, again, I believe plants respond better to natural rain somehow…but I have declared war on those giant black ants that are all over the sunflowers and also on whatever is eating the squash. Seven-dust is my poison of choice -
7. We all lead such busy, ‘on-the-go’ lives that it’s very nice to gather for our traditional Mexican meal on Wednesday evenings – we must have started doing this ten years ago when the boys’ schedules were crazy with sports and school activities. And we're a cRaZy bunch -
8. Remember the umbrella fix? Well, umm - not so good, it seems it's hollow inside and even after STUFFING it with chopsticks we just happend to have laying around [yes, we did] and wrapping with a ton of tape it was still a little wobbly - but I was determined to use it. It'd been hanging on the back of the chair ready for use for days - One recent rainy day I forgot it [covered parking and all, ya know] but Craig was so sweet to surprise me by dropping it off in my car before I went to lunch. I called him from the car to tell him thanks and how sweet it was of him to do this and as I picked it up I realized it was a NEW one that he'd purchased off e-bay [they sold out quickly at Target, as I knew they would.] Isn't that just the sweetest thing? The thing is, both the boys and he have been waiting for me to discover it so they all had a good laugh - still, he's teaching them to cherish their sweeties and go the extra mile to show you care.
9. Bought a new canvas purse [$10 at Wal-Mart] that I did a little painting on a-la-Donna Downey and plan to for use for the summer. So fun!
10. Awesome worship with Anthony Evans at church on Sunday. Gooogle him if you need to – but if you’ve ever done a Bible Study by Priscilla Shirir you probably know who he is.] And we went back Sunday evening to hear him again - something we never do -- our Sunday nights are a repeat of the three services in the morning - and ya know God was leading because we met a couple of young men there who were very recognizable as being from anther religion. Gave them my email and said I'd be happy to answer any questions they might have. Say a little prayer for them, won't you?

Ten on Tuesday

1. I’ve had a really enjoyable week that started when I hopped out of bed at 4:30 Wednesday morning, drove to Nashville, and caught a plane to Utah –
2. You may have noticed those USA Today articles that tagged our little town as the most expensive in the US to fly in / out – so it’s worth the drive [and parking] to fly out of Nashville – although, we’ve been known to get a deal now and then down our way…
3. It was an adventure since it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve traveled so far alone. Craig was doing his own thing with some fishing buddies and would have been left on his own for HOURS if he’d gone with me, so it worked out okay – we’d plan things a little differently if we had it to do over… but we both had fun [I’ll share more on my reason for going in a few -]
4. LOVED seeing the first glimpse of mountains when we were about 160 miles out of Denver – whether I’m driving or flying – they always look like clouds on the horizon when I first see them… LOVED that they had snow on them already!
5. And I love Utah. Some may [or may not] know that I went to school out there my freshman and sophomore years – I can still sing most of the Cougar Fight Song [Rise and Shout! The Cougars are out and on their way to fame and glory…] so it will always be a special place to me. Would I want to live there? Maybe, -- probably not - but I do love being there on occasion!
   
6. My first stop was IKEA – and I wanted to BUY so many things but had to keep weight [for luggage] in mind… I did pick up some of those cute pedestal photo frames… but I was really there to look at the bathroom sinks again to make a final decision on what I want for our [ever] upcoming re-do. And while I took photos of three different bases I’m still undecided… the sink-top is for sure the Lilla’ngen because it’s only 16 inches deep --- love it. Which do y’all prefer? One - Two [different sink - but I love the base] - or Three -
7. I shopped a little on Thursday, but am so NOT a buyer that I only picked up a new purple scarf. [Oops – can’t say that – I *DID* pick up a few things at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store!] And I sure enjoyed driving up [& down] State Street from American Fork to Orem . I shouldn’t be surprised to see how whole communities have overtaken the farms and rural areas... I can remember getting a speeding ticket out on I-15 near Lehi [years ago] and having to go to someone’s HOUSE to pay for it – now Lehi is a little city of its own. Wow.
8. I stayed near what used to be the only Orem exit [near Utah Lake ] – now Orem ’s expanded northward so that there are 3 or 4 exits – lol. It was nice to be near University Mall and things that are still familiar – drove down the hill to Provo, out the canyon a bit, around by our church [and noticed that the Community Church that served us non-Mormons dinner on First Sunday evenings is still there,] and had lunch at In and Out – oh my! I’d forgotten how truly GOOD that place is!!
9. I was sad to see that the [really] old Provo Tabernacle looked like it was being torn down – I always thought that was such a beautiful building – and that each time I visit there are more modern buildings being built in the little downtown area, and I have to say that I’m still a little disturbed to see a HUGE empty field where our dorms were, but there is still SO MUCH that is the same around campus. And mostly, I just enjoyed being in the shadow of those wonderful mountains of Utah.
10. Starting Thursday evening the crazy – creative – artistic – extravaganza began. I was busy from early morning ‘til late at night soaking up all the goodness of Spark [3] – The Event. And then I was back on the road to the airport at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning to see my sweetie. [And I saw a shooting star come over the mountains -] It was One. Great. Trip. FULL of creative goodness – I’ll share more in a few days – after I catch up on some sleep – lol! But I’ll leave you with this - It's so FUN to attend artsy weekends where I can TRY new and different things –