Reflections…

This is how I spent ringing in the new year…..

Yes....the empty chair is mine!! Temps in the 70's and lots of relaxing
with some shopping, good seafood, and fireworks over the ocean!!

The warm beaches of Panama City in sunny Florida were a welcome treat as the year lingered for the last time. As one door closes new ones will open….and I look forward with anticipation..........

2011 came to a close like the slamming of a door.  It started out good….really escalated to being on the top of the world…. and then came crashing down all at once.  Life is good when we are constantly walking on the top of the mountain….however; God wants us to rely on Him in every moment.  Those moments when we are struggling deep in the valley of darkness, we are not alone.  I walked in this deep valley from August 30 until the end of the year.  I honestly do not know how people can pick themselves up and move on without the unselfish help and love of our Heavenly Father.  

He has now shut that door and I am glad to put it all behind me…not forgetting and not without learning, but moving ahead and excited about what He has in store for our family in 2012.  I have missed blogging and so appreciate those of you who “checked in” on me throughout this time.  I know without any doubt that things could have been worse and others experienced far greater tragedies than we did; so I must remember how truly blessed we are and to take this valley journey and see it as a bridge between the mountains.  While crossing this swinging dark path, I learned that there are not always answers to our questions…so we have to rely on FAITH and TRUST.  Sometimes that is easier said than done….but the sun will again rise over the hills and a new day is always there. That new door will open wide and welcome us in…..

I have busied myself with crafting and painting. Door hangers (speaking of doors)  seem to be all the craze at the moment …so I tried my hand at it, first making a couple for Holly….and then boom….everyone wanted some!! I’m not complaining, mind you, it’s good money for a hobby I love!  Here are a few I’ve done:

Aubie from Auburn University

This one is reversible!!

Not a door hanger...but still some of my work!
Gooble Gooble!!

These are all designed, cut, sanded, primed, painted,
sealed, and ready to hang.... all by me!!
Yes I use power tools....don't mess with me!! :)

So…. my reflections on the past are for making me stronger, they are for putting a few things into a new perspective, and for making me grow in the Lord and trust Him more each new day. When I look in the mirror this year and see that reflection I hope I will be smiling most of the time....and with God's help I will.

As many bloggers have done in the past by picking a "word for the year"…so shall I this year too.  My word for last year was "HOPE" and I carried it throughout each day until the year ended; but it did not end without "hope"; it was still always there….  This year my word will be

 ….too find "joy" again in everyday experiences and regain some "joy" that was lost somewhere toward the end.  So I’m looking forward to the new year with hope and joy.  I hope you too will have a joyous new year with lots to make you happy!

In The Heat of Summer

 I am back from a lengthy visit with my daughter Holly and hubby Richard.   We spent days elbow deep in paint….I’ll have pictures later of her freshly painted formal dining room.  We also did a little shopping and eating…a pregnant girl gets hungry quite often…haha…not me, Holly, who is going on 20 weeks!  My 13 year old niece made the trip with me and we all enjoyed the beach at St. Augustine and a wild water park on another day.  I’m getting too old for that kind of stuff and the sun is just out of my league now.  I actually got quite a bit of sun on the beach with 30 and 50 SPF sunscreens, while sitting under an umbrella!  Gosh what would have I looked like if I had not done that?  I fear a visit to the ER would have been in order!  And the spot on my left leg where I failed to get any sunscreen…well you can only imagine what it looked like…it stayed swelled for about a week!! No kidding! It is starting to peel today!

Holly picked the fabric for the new cover I will be making for their baby’s high chair…It is neither boy or girl related but will match her kitchen!  Aqua, white, and red!  

This willl be the ruffle trim around the cover!

These items of fabric were purchased from sewdeerlyloved Etsy shop!

 It is too cute…wish me luck in sewing this project!  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

My veggie garden is on a slowdown…just too HOT this time of year!  But we have enjoyed fresh white peas, tomatoes, plenty of okra which is still making, bell peppers, onions, English peas, cucumbers like crazy, and potatoes. We are planning to plant a fall crop *wow crop sounds BIG* of more English peas, rutabagas, and collards.  A little something all year to keep us fed!  I’m on my second batch of homemade pickles right now…it’s a week long process! I was also able to obtain some fresh figs from my SIL with which I eat a pile of and the rest I made into preserves!  Now this is a common thing here in the southern part of the south!  A homemade buttermilk biscuit, buttered while hot, with a fig preserve is divine!  Yep…wish I could share with you all!

Its review time again…yep another Gooseberry Patch cookbook review of what’s cooking!  I will be sharing at least 3 recipes I have hand-picked from one of their latest new books.  You will also get the chance to pre-order this book at a discount before it hits the store shelves.  There will also be a give-away in my review for one lucky winner!  So stay tuned and look for this review coming up soon!  I have one more recipe to make and then I will be ready!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer, hot as it is…I have missed being here and sharing with you…but as you know life has a way of taking us away from our hobbies and past time pleasures.  Life gives us more of the things we need at certain times, more challenges, more opportunities, more experiences, and more excitement. We must take those times and live, learn, laugh, and of course LOVE it, making memories all the while!

Where O Where…

…have I been? Around the world and back it seems like. After spending 9 days in New Orleans helping Holly and Richard pack up all their belongings, then back home for a few days, then meeting them in Jacksonville, FL to help them unpack for 5 days……We are tired and beat!!! And now this week is dedicated to Bible School by helping out in the craft room with LOTS of kids!! Thank the Lord I’m able!   I do feel so behind in visiting with you all and missing out on your posts. My inbox was flooded and people were beginning to wonder what was going on! Thank goodness for Facebook as I tried to keep family and friends updated when I was able to get to a computer.

Our children are so proud to leave New Orleans in their past…it’s a nice place to visit, but they did not like living there. With their backs to Louisiana they headed out with smiles on their faces and Holly’s Murano loaded down, to include their three kitties and her new puppy as she followed a huge Penske pulling a small U-Haul trailer driven by Richard and his dog. What a site!!!  They made it as far as Tallahassee FL, stopping there for the night. Old friends of Richard’s family took them out for a steak dinner that night before they headed out again the next morning for Jacksonville. We rose really early that same morning to meet them in Orange Park (outside of Jax) to help unload. There are still boxes to be unloaded as I type this because of the cleaning we had to do inside and out of the house and Holly wants all the walls painted before hanging any pictures. You can only imagine their excitement going from a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment to a BIG  house of over 2,000 sq ft.!! Talk about room to breathe!

Now for the reveal of the surprise that I painted for their new house... This initial “H” for their last name is now hanging on their front door.

Now you know the old saying "It’s a small world after all"…well it’s so true! From my postings on Facebook, a high school friend of mine had read about Holly and Richard’s move. Long story short…she lives in Orange Park also!! She came looking for the moving van on the street I had mentioned and found us! We had not seen each other in 30+ years. She welcomed the newcomers to the area by bringing us supper that night…fried chicken with all the trimmings down to dessert, sweet tea, paper plates and plastic forks!! She also provided Holly with addresses and phones of places she would frequently visit. How awesome is that? It also turns out a friend that Holly grew up with lives in the area too. They had not seen each other since Holly's wedding shower almost 4 years ago.  We all went out to dinner on Friday night and enjoyed some good steaks on Jackie’s wallet!! Awesome again!! Orange Park/Jacksonville has some wonderful friendly people living there!!

I also made this group of four 8x10 canvases for their Florida room which will have a beach theme when completed. They will hang inside of a large shabby frame over a vintage bookcase on one wall. These are decoupaged vintage photos from magazines and scrapbook papers, along with sticker letters. The paper flowers and large buttons give it some dimension and the brown ink gives it that grungy look.

 And here are Holly and Richard standing outside their new home…for the next four years anyway. Richard is stationed at Cecil Field with the US Coast Guard where he is a boat engineer. He will also be doing tactical training for helicopters pilots who will be chasing boats on water. He will be driving the boats running from the choppers! Note the yellow ribbon tied to the tree on the left. Richard’s sister is still in Afghanistan, due to leave and return home to the states mid June. Gosh it’s almost mid June now!!!!

This is Holly and her new baby…Willow... a Malti~Poo, which is a mix of a Maltese and a miniature Poodle. She is so cute and smart and Holly adores her….she treats her like a baby!! This pix was taken after a long day of working and unpacking so please excuse the looks….we were tired and Willow looks a little dirty from playing outside. She really liked the little pink plastic flamingo that I bought and put in Holly’s back flower bed near the bird bath. She thought it made an excellent teether for her baby teeth. Pink flamingo you ask? Well it’s a Florida thing…everyone has to have a least one! Haha…..

Holly and Richard live about 5 hours from us here in Alabama now, which is closer that NOLA and it’s a much easier drive, so we look forward to many visits back and forth!

Thank you for all the anniversary wishes…I hope we make 31 more years!

It's good to be home and settled down for a while.

Welcome to summer!!

Days of Blur

On my 23rd day of gratitude I was thankful for the busyness with my family. Boy am I tired! Now 5 days later and I am behind on my posting for each day…where does the time go…?
Day 24-27 I was busy counting my blessings and trying to shove a ton of things into a few hours. Did I fail at doing the 30 days of gratitude…?  No,  I just got caught up in life…with my family…so important too.

So to recap the last few days…it went something like this:

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving~ we had my parents and niece over for a Low Country Shrimp Boil. For those of you who do not know what this is…It is awesome and involves some yummy shrimp! We had a sort-of Cajun Thanksgiving feast… outside on a beautiful day.

It’s a really simple shrimp boil with all the trimmings cooked in the same pot. Holly brought the shrimp fresh, straight from the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. Cooked along with the shrimp, were potatoes, sausage, corn on the cob, mushrooms, garlic, onions, lemons, spices and we even added raw peanuts. Once done we spread this whole concoction down the center of my picnic table…no plates, no forks…just lots of napkins. Yum~YuM~YumO! Clean up is easy and no dishes to wash….well almost. We also cooked some Portobello Mushroom Fries, hush puppies, and fried okra! That we had to clean up! Psst…the mushroom fries were to die for; thanks to the Neely’s recipe.
If you would like to try a Low Country Boil, visit Skip To My Lou for the step-by-step instructions.
Now do you believe we actually had dessert after that feast…yes we did! Let’s not even go there!

Richard and Holly

Thursday Thanksgiving Day~ the big bird was prepped Wednesday night, ready for the Big Easy* Thursday morning! Other items were readied to take to Nannie’s~ my husband’s mother. Most all of Jackie’s family was there, plus a lot of food! And yet again we pigged out and were stuffed…with more desserts too! The guys went hunting after a while and Holly and I made it home later that evening for a rest before hitting the shopping! Black Friday began at 12:01 am Friday! We set out at 11:30 pm Thursday…starting with Wal-Mart and Old Navy with only one purchase. We then waited for Kohl’s to open at 3:00am. Now this is where I found some good deals plus we had an additional percentage off the total purchase coupon! Love it! After the sun managed to come up through the light rain…we ate some breakfast at IHOP and boy was it hopping! I have never had to wait for a table at IHOP! Haha…so funny! After more shopping we finally made it back home at 10:30 Friday morning…no sleep since Wednesday night! Man-O-man! Can you say nap-time!!?? I don’t remember much after that………………except a big blur………

Friday-Black Friday~ see above, as these 2 days run together. More napping, Christmas movies, Oh and the much awaited famous football game between Alabama and Auburn, our state's two rivals, with undefeated Auburn taking the win 28-27! War Eagle and Roll Tide! I support them both.

Saturday~ we rose early for a trip to Panama City Florida to take Holly and Richard to the airport for their flight to Las Vegas to have an early Christmas with his sister and their whole family. Richard’s sister is in the Air Force and is being deployed the first part of December for Afghanistan with a medical team. We left home in time for them to be at the airport a good hour before flight time…only to arrive at the airport and it was closed down…yes closed-shut completely down. It looked like a ghost town! Not a soul in sight. It was the old airport…unbeknown to us, they had built another one on the other side of Panama City Beach… Have you ever done 80 mph in a 45 zone? Not a good idea! A reckless driving ticket kept coming to mind as we maneuvered through the traffic with Holly on the phone with her FIL as he tracked us all the way to the airport…mile by mile, road by road. We literally threw them out at the terminal door with their luggage and quick hugs with only 20 minutes until flight time… We left, but we did not go far. We pulled over on the exit and waited for the phone call and watched the plane taxi down the runway and take off with our children high in the sky! They made it! But their luggage was considered checked in late and they were told they may not get it until the next day! They connected in Houston TX and flew on to Las Vegas with no problems…luggage and all! Thank you Lord for being the pilot and using angel wings.

Jackie and I went for a ride to the beach, just a short distance down the road. It was a beautiful crisp cool day. We parked and took a walk on the beach…funny; I had never worn tennis shoes on the beach before!

After our walk we rode the “strip” as it has always been referred to, recalling many memories from high schools days and trips to the beach. Oh my! The motel where we always stayed was no longer there, a victim of a hurricane. But the old Goofy Golf and its animal structures were still in tact. It was a wonderful trip down that path through our memories. We had some lunch at Sharky’s, a blackened grouper sandwich and a shark attack platter!
Then home…Nap time again while attempting to watch another Christmas movie…another blurrrr.

Sunday~Today…all is well. I now know why God rested on the seventh day from all his work. Today is a day for praising, worshipping, and also for resting! Thank you! Now I just wish my Christmas decorations and tree would jump out and put themselves up! I also have to figure out how to keep some kitties from climbing that tree…hummmmmmmmm.

So for today this 28th day of 30 days of gratitude I am thankful for rest!

I hope every one of you had a beautiful and blessed

Thanksgiving with all the trimmings including lots of love.

*A Big Easy is an oil-less cooker that roasts with inferred heat.

The Elements At Work

I admit it…it is getting harder and harder to find something to photograph and blog about for the 30 days of Gratitude. Not that I am not thankful for everything in my life and I have been truly blessed beyond measure... it’s just hard to think of something new without repetition, and having a photo that somewhat expresses my point. I’ve scanned though my archives of photos…in hopes that something will spring forth and spur a thought of gratitude.

I came across this photo from a visit to the beach back in the spring. Its beauty is awe inspiring and the peacefulness that you find there is unexplainable. Tranquil splendor. I was drawn to the sand drifts that are piled up against the fence. The results of the elements at work…the winds, the surf, the tides, the rains, and the storms...An illustration of our lives and how the elemental trials of life affect us. Sometimes we are carried by the winds, tossed about, straggled, and left dazed. The tides pull us in and out, forcing us under, taking our air…one direction then another, leaving us spinning around wandering which way it is back to the harbor. Then all of a sudden the gentle surf floats us to the surface allowing us to breathe again and the rains wash over us, cleansing us, washing away all the gunk. As the warm sun dries our soul we begin to see the beauty again…we are able to think, to cope, to go on. There is a balance, natures balance and God’s way of balancing. He balances our lives through His blessings, giving to us unselfishly, asking nothing in return except that we love Him. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ~ James 1:12. We should rejoice during our trials… not because of the trials themselves, but because of the end result of the trials.

12/30 Today I am grateful for the end result.

At the Ocean

Cool breezes remind you that all is well as the sun’s warmth runs through you and gives a sense of pleasure. You try to absorb all that you can see, smell, and even taste. A sweet tranquility is laid out for that small window of opportunity for you to grab and relax with it. You are at peace with the world and everything in it.

Life is good

Good friends

Good food

Good times

Good laughs

Good sites

Good fun

Good golly
________________________________

Laughing until we almost pee in our pants

Eating at a place with a funny name, where you can take a

marker and write on anything in the place…

table, benches, walls, blinds, lights…anywhere…really!

Up late, up early

Gulf shrimp, oysters, and crab claws at their finest

Walks on the beach until your shins ache with goodness

Snapping photo after photo after photo…

Watching Project Runway…Oh yeah

Eating a midnight snack of Bread Pudding with a whiskey sauce glaze

Feeding the sea gulls and hoping they do not poop on your head

People watching *smiling*

Shopping in the open air malls

A GPS we named Surely…Surely she would get us there

Eating caramel candy apples coated with pecans

Someone didn't paint their toes...tisk tisk  

The Bestie and her daughter

 

*YummY*

Margaritaville, Panama City Beach Florida

Lens.Us.Together. photo.  Theme~Green (Seafoam Green)

There is beauty that makes you stand in awe…you are mesmerized at the sheer miracle of it all...the combination of warm sunshine, white sands, sea foam green waters, and nature’s creatures. It makes the soul shine, it takes your breath away, and it leaves you feeling calm and complete…the ocean is a place everyone should see at least once in their life.

Places of interest:

Acme Oyster House inside the Village at Baytowne Wharf in the Sandestin Resort

Margaritaville for burgers with shrimp, crab and mushroom dip

Fudpuckers the place with the funny name

Henderson Beach beautiful southern beach
Silver Sands Outlet Malls for shopping

Destin Commons for more shopping
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Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. We had a wonderful time and I hope you did too with what ever you have been up to lately.

I missed reading your posts and will catch up as soon as I can…

 

                      

I am not afraid of tomorrow for I have seen

yesterday and I love today.