~ wedding of a friend ~

So, I helped a friend with her wedding this past weekend, did a little decorating, a little photographing, and just a little friend time ...













It was a sweet wedding, for a sweet couple, a sweet beginning ... ahhh love ... isn't it grand!

~ In case any of you were wondering where I stood on this ... ~

My favorite ...



Thankfully, I do not have this problem ...

Love this one!

arghh ....

All courtesy of an email I received today!

~ I like lists ~

(borrowed from another blog ... )

Feel free to play along!

I am…. goofing off at work
I think…. I stressed my fish by changing its bowl today
I should…. try to get all of my ironing done tonight
I dream…. of going on a tropical vacation ... soon
I want…. to go spend a long weekend with my friend Pam soon
I know…. who my Redeemer is ...
I don’t like…. nosey annoying people
I smell…. nothing. nope *sniff* *sniff* nothing. whats up with that!
I hear…. the radio
I fear…. for someone dear to me with problems to overcome
I usually…. chat with my Mom everyday
I search…. for the good in people
I miss…. my Father
I always…. sit in the same spot on the couch
I regret…. hmmmm what shall I choose, what shall I choose ...
not finishing college. There.
I wonder…. how much my dogs understand when I talk to them
I crave…. originality in my art oh, and other areas too I guess.
I remember…. a fun day in the past.
I need…. a pedicure - really bad!
I forget…. to take my Nexium daily
I feel…. blessed
I can…. love even when disappointed
I can’t…. seem to build up my IRA
I am happy…. most of the time
I lose…. my voice easier than before my last surgery
I sing…. not as good as I used to
I listen…. to books on tape more than the radio
I shop…. too much. There I admitted it.
I eat…. out too much
I love…. my husband, my children, my family, my friends, my animals, my Lord,
and the list goes on ...
I wish…. I could magically lose the weight I need to without trying real hard!

~ No time ~

I have things wondering through my head all the time that I might like to blog about; even form the words to say, but I never seem to have the time when I have the thoughts to blog, and I never seem to have the thoughts, when I am the time to blog .... Y'all have really missed out!!! (~.~)

So, anyway, here is a question for Going Goofy ... see the photo below; I was playing with my photos the other day and was wanting to attempt to do a photo collage with different exposures or color .... any suggestions? Really should have limited it to four also ... There is a famous photograph or photographer who did or does this isn't there ?????

Help.

This breaks my heart ...

... and we haven't even seen the worst yet


Breitbart.tv » Lots of sharks, lots of oil seen off Alabama Coast

~ Butterfly Sitter Needed ~

I have a friend who is going out of town for a few days. We were emailing each other about trip planning, etc., and she added, other than having to board her dog, she is trying to find a butterfly sitter because she has 3 monarchs which will be "hatching" (my term - not hers, and I am sure that is the wrong terminology for this ... ) while she is gone and someone will need to be there to release them ... She has a butterfly garden and several butterfly houses. If she didn't live so far away, I think I could handle that job. A butterfly sitter! It even sounds fun.

~ I missed my vacation ! ~

We were supposed to go to Seagrove Beach from May 28 through June 6 and we missed it. We actually had to cancel. My doctor was going out of town for 3 weeks and wanted to see me before he left ... the week I was supposed to be on vacation ... and even had me scheduled for surgery - just in case - which Praise the Lord I didn't need! BUT since it was unknown at the time and I knew I couldn't take vacation for a week and then be out due to surgery for the next week consecutively without my employer going ballistic .... sooooo we cancelled our vacation :( And now we probably will not be able to reschedule until September because of other summer commitments; and by then the oil will have most likely taken over the beaches of Sea Grove - BP is really on my hit list!

My whole summer feels off now - we always take Mem week for vacation and now I have the whole long summer staring me in the face - its kind of depressing missing your vacation. Blah!

~ Stuff ~

Memories from last weekend ... went to Lake Mitchell with my husband to his brother-in-law's family lake house ... see the turtles lined up on the fallen log, they were everywhere ... cute!


Oh, and last week, went painting ... here it is! Geraniums - I love them.

~ Journaling ~

A few of my friends and I have started a journaling swap group. (We keep a journal for a few weeks and then meet for dinner and swap - way to get to know each other better ... ) Thank you M or was it S? OR both? Anyway, I have been in a really negative mood here lately and haven't journaled much because I figured my negativity would make its way onto my pages and who wants to read that kind of stuff! I came across this link on my Facebook:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/thehiddenworldofgirls/

it was from a NPR link of open journaling for girls... or something like that .... here it is:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127238417&sc=fb&cc=fp+


Anyway, it gave me a whole new outlook on this journaling thing - maybe I will starting carrying my water color pencils around with me to do my journaling from now on!

This was one of my favorites (there is one that shows their travels that was very cool, but I couldn't get it to copy ... ) :

Check them out, they were all pretty cool! It may give us all some journaling prompts - something I always need ...

~ A hard day at the office ~

A friend of my boss' is getting married and he is in charge of decorating the car; which means, I am in charge of decorating the car .... finally a job I can enjoy!!! Of course, it is going to be a totally girly decorated car!!! Look at this awesome "just married" sign we made! I found it on-line and thought hmmmm I can make this and it turned out great! It's to hang on the back window of his SUV.

We also made streams of pink, green and silver ribbon with jingle bells and flowers attached to them to hang off the back of the car; and found some "just married" removable stick ons for the windows .... fun!

Sadly, that only took up a small portion of my day and then it was back to the legal world ... ugh!

~ A painting for Stephanie ~

I started this over a year ago for a friend of mine ... and then before I finished it, I just stopped ... don't know why, just wasn't in the mood to finish it and when I had the mood, I didn't have the time ... anyway, its done, its not original, I used someone's elses art as inspiration, but I'm not selling it and not claiming it as my original art ... so no harm done, PLUS ... my lady's right hand has an extra finger (ha!) sorry Steph! Started to redo it, but decided that is what would make my painting unique!

~ Auctions & Yardsales ~

Went to a couple of yard sales this morning and founds some cool books and the two below wooden folding chairs ($2 each) - I love them - I am trying to decide what I want to do with them, clean them and leave them as they are, which I kind of like - they are worn in looking. Or, should I sand them and paint them with crazy colors, like each wooden slat a different color, or what ... leave me a comment and let me know. I kind of like them as they are, but painting them would be fun too.




And last night Gary and I went to an auction and I bought the below quilt. I like the butterflies .. kind of old fashioned looking. It was hand stitched, etc. The edges were frayed, but I couldn't see that from where I was sitting, I paid $14 - did I pay too much? I washed it with clorox and Gain in hot water, then washed it again in just Gain and put it in our camper. I also bought a whole box of sewing mishmash, which I will probably need some of to stitch up the frayed edges of the quilt :)

~ Camping ~

Our first camping trip of the year ... Mothers Day Weekend ... Gary gave me a new little travel camera ... these were my first photos ... (We were at Oak Mountain State Park)


This is our campsite. The two trees (same tree just two different photos) with the scrapes ... we made with our camper, trying to pull into the first site we wanted .... :) no worries, no bad damage... poor tree!




We were just a short hike from the water. There was a "swimming hole" full of laughing kids, in the photo below - top right photo - if you look real hard, you can see the kids in the water - they sounded like they were having a blast.


We went looking for a flea market on Saturday and wound up at Tannahill State Park and we rode the train ...



enjoyed a little Civil War history ...




we also ate some really good barbeque here.



Just have to throw this photo in (below) ... they were camped beside us - it's our dream camper, everything automatic, just push a button and your RV levels itself, push another button and the extender slides just automatically slide out, same for the awning * sigh * we better win the lottery soon huh!



I bought this little "forrest lady" at Tannahill, her name is Michelle - this photo does not do her justice - I just love her! (ah hem ... once a month they have a huge arts/craft weekend at Tannahill ... every 3rd weekend ... just thought I'd throw that out there ...)



And we did find a flea marker. In Bessemer - it was okay, but I probably would not go again.

It was an awesome weekend. I have a wonderful husband. He made this weekend great for me.

~ medical update ~

I still don't have my "normal" voice back from my March 2 surgery, but I can breath so much better - yay! I went to doc this past Friday and was told my vocal chords are not closing all the way and they should. This is causing my raspy voice. He says I have a "tight" chord - probably damaged a little from the extremely harsh post surgery coughing and/or during laser surgery - he gave me some vocal exercises to do (Gary says I sound like I am trying to call a whale) and I have to go back again on 6/4. He scheduled me for surgery on 6/7 if not better. He will pump some collagen into one side of my chords so they will close properly; he will also again look at my airway and make sure every thing is healing properly and not regrowing another ledge ... BUT - if better by 6/4 - no surgery. Which is what I am hoping for! and praying for! Y'all too ... right? :)

~ camping again ~

Why is it packing to go camping is sooo much work!? I am too pooped to go camping! Nah, I guess I'll still go, but it sure is alot of work getting the camper ready to go sometimes ... We are going for a long weekend ... Oak Mountain State Park.

See y'all soon!


And, uh no that is not our camper ... its just for looks :)

~ Art Project ~

Hanging out with my friends, sharing an awesome meal, getting a little crafty and having a great time. Thank you Brenda for a great night! Sherry, Laurie and Mechelle too! Also, will be waiting for that recipe for the delicious dessert ... chocolate ice cream roll up cake with strawberries ... Love my friends!

~ A Mouse's place in society ~

So, yesterday I was on my way home and as I was stopped for pedestrian traffic in front of the courthouse, a young girl in the 19-23 age group came walking by wearing the cutest little ruffled peasant off the shoulder dress when I noticed movement around her neck and hairline. A mouse flitted out from under her hair ran across her shoulder and then poked its head back under her hair leaving it's hind quarter and long pink tail dangling and swinging down her shoulder and arm. Ick. Gross. And double Ick. Are mice potty trained?

~ Men Praising God ~

I really like seeing men get happy in church; see them getting happy in the Lord, almost jumping happy, bouncing on the balls of their feet happy; or getting so filled with the feeling that the Holy Spirit is so, just SO that they reach their arms out as if to try to touch the very physical presence of Him as The Spirit soars all around - I don't know if I put that into words as well as I could, but there is just something that touches my heart to see a man get happy in the Lord. My Dad got happy in the Lord, loved to be in the presence of other men and share that happiness with them. I loved that about him. Maybe that is why it touches me to see Gods love shine through other men. I bet it's awesome to be in the midst of a men's Christian conference when they just let loose and really praise the Lord. I've seen glimpses of this in a few of the men in our church. It made me happy.

So, if you ever see me in church with a big goofy smile on my face for no obvious apparent reason, its probably because God has allowed me to glimpse the happiness of Him being showered on someone in my presence. .... Or it could be that I just got my own shower of Love and am still feeling the splashes of It all dance around my feet, who knows.

~ My past weekend ~

Wasn't last weekend an awesome weekend!? It was like a beautiful breath of fresh air for me. My husband and I went riding together, the first time in months and months - for me. We rode through at least 100 mud holes; climbed hills; had a picnic by a bubbling brook (sounds like that came right out of a book .. the bubbling brook part - huh!? probably did, I read alot), but it was a fun fun day! Those are my boots, I was showing off my mud!








What wasn't so fun was this, see that trigger in the photo below? That is my gas button, my right thumb has to push that button to go, for 15 rocky, bumpy, arm jarring miles, my thumb has to push that button with my right thumb. About two hours, of rocky, bumpy, arm jarring miles. I had to sleep with a heating pad on that thumb that night! It throbbed like crazy! But it was a fun day.



Sunday was nap day. In a hammock. In my back yard. The book was just for looks, I didn't read until after a nice 1 1/2 hour nap. In my hammock. In my back yard. Nice. My husband even put a small fire in the fire pit so the bugs wouldn't bother me. And they didn't. I love Sunday afternoon naps.




And, my wisteria is blooming over my swing. isn't it pretty!


Have a great week y'all!

~ For Today ~

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... I am writing this Sunday evening and there is darkness outside my window; but earlier we enjoyed a beautiful sunny Easter Sunday - very nice.

I am thinking... about my day today; enjoyed a good meal, a nice nap and time with my family.

I am thankful for... family, love, Jesus, a wonderful husband, sweet dogs, and good friends, not necessarily in that order - of course!

From the learning rooms... every day is a learning day, something new all the time and sometimes just relearning old lessons.

From the kitchen... I made the best Parmesan chicken - not the kind with red pasta sauce and noodles; but chicken tenders coated in crushed pecans and shredded Parmesan cheese and browned in olive oil. Very very good.

I am wearing... yoga pants; sleeveless top with a hoodie jacket; I decided my husband has seen enough of me in sloppy oversized pjs for my evening loungewear - so I went out and bought alot of "yoga style" clothing for lounging, so at least if someone comes to the house unexpected, I don't have to run to the bedroom to change, plus these clothes are really comfy.

I am creating... nothing. absolutely nothing. okay, now I feel like I need to go work on a painting or my scrapbook projects - guilt ...

I am going... no where tonight. I am in for the night YAY!

I am reading... too many books started, but I did finally finish one of them today - Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella. Cute book - easy read, don't know why I took so long finishing it.

I am hoping... my doc can call me in some different antibiotics as I am currently broke out in a rash from the Bactrin which he prescribed me Thursday.

I am hearing... my dog Maggie snore - she is laying next me.

Around the house... it's almost time for me to go flower and fern shopping ... almost.

One of my favorite things... Sunday afternoon naps.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Monday @ moms, Thursday, I have a hot stone massage scheduled, but I also have an engagement girls outing to go on, one will have to be cancelled.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing... my sister's newest family addition - Pepe' - he was Mom's but she decided he was too much work for her, so now he belongs to Mary. He is a toy poodle. Cute huh! He came to visit today; my boxer Maggie, thought Mary had brought her a snack treat!

~ Is it spring yet ~

Today was beautiful! I'm still not ready to work in my yard, but I did decide to take a look to see if I could see some true signs of spring ...

Here is what I found ....

My yellow bells are blooming and my jasmine is budding and about the burst into bloom.








My hosta has broken through the dirt and dried dead leaves and shining their twisted and furled stems up toward the sun.






And, I found what I think is a stray tulip which will look really sad all by it's lonesome, but I didn't have the heart to dig it up; if its stubborn enough to find a way to come up out of the dirt where it was, then well, I'll give it at least one season where it lays ... I tried to see if my Lantana was showing any signs of rebirth, not yet, but I have faith, its down under the tangle of dead looking stems, leaves and dirt, not asleep anymore but just rolling around in its cover of dirt and trying to put its pillow over its head, but like an alarm clock, the spring season is coming and its going to have wake up and put on its finery soon, so it may as well quit hitting the snooze button, its time to get up!






Happy Spring y'all, whats blooming or trying to in your yards?

~ Celebrating Dad ~

Today would have been my Dad's 82 birthday and I so badly miss him. When I start getting sad about him not being with us; I have become an expert and pushing the thought from my mind or replacing it with how happy I am that he is with Jesus and not in pain anymore - which I am, but I miss him.

My dad was not a perfect man, he had his faults just like we all do, but he was an awesome Dad to me and someone that I looked up to and respected more than I could even try to put into words. He loved all of us so much and wow did he love my mom. He wasn't a mushy mushy gushy man with his love (although he did have some of that to share with us too), he showed his love in all that he did; he told us too, but he was a man of actions and that is where his love shone for all of us. If he could fix something for us, grow a huge garden to share, or share his knowledge in any way possible - that made him happy. I think that is why getting sick and weak and unable to "do" like he wanted got him down so much. He NEEDED to DO; that was who he was. He gave us a beautiful home to grow up in; but it was his and Mom's love that made it that home, not the brick, wood and mortar; just their love first for God which they showed us in their lives without having to even say it; their love for each other and their love for us kids; that is what made it home for me. I knew no matter where I moved; where my life took me, even when I stumbled in my walk with God and disappointed them; no matter how old I got; and, not even when they moved from the "home" I grew up in to three different houses, home was with them - love was with them. Their door was always open, just like their hearts and arms.

I miss my Dad. I just wanted to share something to honor him today. After all it's his birthday and I want to celebrate with him and since I can't do that, I will just share a little something to celebrate him. Happy Birthday Dad; I love you. I miss you. I know one day we will be sharing another "home" together.

~ Photos ~

Not been blogging lately, don't know why ...

Anyway, I offered to take some photos of our runner that she might could use as grad casual photos - some of them turned out pretty good.

I took more, but here is a sample ... pretty girl!

~ Friendly Neighbor ~

I am getting tired of being off from work.

Now, those words just don't sound right. I guess I wish - if I was off work - I was doing something fun and not recuperating from another airway surgery.

I am very thankful that my surgery has gone well; I am thankful for praying friends and family; I am thankful my surgeon was in town; and the list goes on ... Mostly just thank you Jesus for it all. Oh and I am thankful for insurance too - very thankful - YAY insurance! I have taken it for granted in the past, but never again.

I was laying in my hospital bed - not feeling the best in the world - when my "roommate" came over to be friendly and neighborly - we had the same surgeon and we were sharing a "step down" room - not intensive care, but a nurse stayed in our room 24/7 - She wanted to know what kind of surgery I had and about my symptoms, etc., we were exchanging our "war" stories, so to speak. Anyway, she is probably about 34-38 and she has had 71 surgeries related to her airway. I was stunned - 71 airway surgeries - I am still stunned.

This was her second with my surgeon. She currently has a tracheotomy and has to push a button on her throat to talk. She was such a happy upbeat person and I was glad she shared my room.

That's all I got for now ... until later .....

~ From Start to Finish ~

I took my first portrait class; below are my results, it was a 6 week class and I photographed my progress and the end of each class.



This is my Dad. And after working on it for so many weeks, it looks just like my dad; but my mom and sister say it looks more like one of my uncles ... I could never get him to smile and every time I tried, it just didn't work, so I finally gave up. I decided after the class to put him aside and let him be for now, maybe I will pick it up again, at a later time. I want to take a class on eyes and mouths. Then maybe I'll have a go and fixing what I don't like.

I enjoyed the class and I really want to try more portrait work. Maybe if its someone I don't know I will do better. But I am not unhappy with the results.

~ A Melancholy Day ~

I am having a melancholy start to my day. My breathing is getting bad again. My airway feels more narrow every day. I tried to get an early appointment with my surgeon (my next followup is not until late April), but he is out of town - they told me to go to the emergency room. It just felt so unsympathetic to be turned away like that, not even an attempt to have one of his medical partners see me in his absence. He has a new nurse working with him and I have decided I don't like her very much after that conversation - she was very "cold". So I am going to try to see someone local and see what they say ... enough on that. Although, I think "that" is the root of my feelings today. I dislike having health issues, it depresses me, especially when its the same re-occurring thing.

Today, I would rather be here .... riding a double decker in Rome with one of my dearest friends, not worrying about my health, just excited to be where we were and experiencing an awesome time together.



Or here, watching my husband look for shells, this was a good day, we had a good time.

Or here, watching the sunset with my husband and enjoying a summer vacation.

Thank you Jesus for the memories in my life, that I can recall when I have days like this one.

~ Snow Day ~

Have you ever spent a whole weekend cleaning house and it still not be done come Monday? That's me. I cleaned all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday and come Monday morning, I still have clothes in washer, clothes in dryer, 2 rooms to vacuum and one bed that needs clean bed sheets ... but I swear I was cleaning house, honest. It just don't seem like it now! Next time, maybe I should turn the TV off ... Hallmark Movie Channel was playing some sweet romantic movies all weekend .... it was Valentines Day after all.

... oh yeah and it snowed, thus the title ... :)

- Stuff Be Gone -

I was cleaning my kitchen Friday night and was becoming frustrated at how much "stuff" I have on my counters ... so, I picked up something and threw it in the trash. It was a gift from a dear friend at least 5 or more years ago - rarely used but I loved it and had wanted it sooooo bad when she surprised me with it - only to quickly realize how un-needed and unuseful it really was, but out of loyalty of our friendship, I have kept it, moved here, moved it there, used it rarely, got little pleasure from it unfortunately; but Friday night, I got absolutely ecstatic with it, when I savored the pleasure it gave me to throw it into my trash can. I got giddy. I started looking for something else to throw away because I didn't want to lose this feeling - happiness, satisfaction, and a little bit of freedom from STUFF!

I managed not to completely fill my trashcan though.

But, I am still on the prowl.

And, I am sure my friend would have been very happy to see how much pleasure I got in throwing her gift in the trash, I did keep it for 5 or more years after all. :)

~ 25 Cent Book Sale ~

Attn: All Book Lovers and avid readers .... I got this email today from the "Friends of the Library" thought I would pass it along in case any of you are interested in a book sale.

The Friends Of the Main Library will be having their semi-annual 25-cent
book sale Saturday, February 6th. The sale is located in the Jane Roberts Auditorium
in the main library, Monroe St. downtown Huntsville, and will start at 9:00 Saturday morning,
February 6th and will end at 3:30 p.m. This sale will include all types of books, fiction
and non-fiction, paperbacks and hard backs. There will be several thousand
books on sale including history, psychology, religion, foreign language,
children's education, plus several tables of fiction. All books in the
auditorium will be 25 cents each.

This sale is open to the public so invite all your friends to come down and
browse through the thousands of books we will have on display.

Important:
This sale applies only to the books in the auditorium! The FOL Bookstore
will be open, but their prices will be as marked in each book.