I'm Changing Things Around At My House

This is my new project. This is my youngest son's bedroom. Pitiful is the only word I can come up with to describe it. But I have big plans to revive it. The awlful green paint is already history and there is furniture and pictures, new organization ideas...just wait. It's going to be totally awesome when I get through! Hurry back soon to check out the new room.

Today is special to me. It is a new beginning. God has reminded me today that I am loved. He calls me to be calm and rest in knowing that He loves me and He is here with me. I am living, breathing and moving by His might, not mine. I am weak without His power surging through me. I need not worry about past regrets or what the future might bring. Today is all I need. It is His gift to me. Yesterday is past, the troubles I have endured are behind me now. And while I wait patiently for tomorrow, I will not carry any expectations about what it might bring. God gives me this abundance to enjoy today.

San Francisco, Here I Come!

I'm counting down the days till I leave in that big jet airplane headed west to San Francisco! My catering partner and I have planned this trip since early summer. It's been years since I have been to California and I have always said I wanted to stand at Fisherman's Wharf and watch the sun go down, melting like butter in the ocean. I guess this is the beginning of my "bucket list". There are so many wonderful things to do and see that I am not sure how I will fit it all in to four days...but I'm sure going to do my best.
One thing on my list, is of course, to ride on the infamous Cable Street Cars. It's like that old commericial for Rice-A-Roni...."It's The San Francisco Treat!"
Another sight I must behold, according to my mother, is Lombard Street! I can't believe people ready live in such a magical spot.
Then there's Alcatraz! This is got to be one of the scariest place in the world...atleast to this country girl. I can't imagine what it would be like to be jailed there...it would be enough for me to want to not commit crimes. Yet so many were housed there. And to think they actually tried to swim the waters! Just give me my tin cup and I'd just stay right there!
Oh, and Chinatown. My friend and I are going to devote a whole day here. I want to smell, taste and feel the energy here.

Have any of you been to San Francisco? I would appreciate any insiderer tips you may have that I need to know of before I leave in November.
I'm putting pennies in the jar, saving up my "allowances" and saying a prayer that I will have the experience of a lifetime. Wish me luck!

First Day of Autumn

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, obliviously, but I've been a little busy. First thing, my youngest moved into an apartment on campus this quarter and if any of you have experienced this right-of-passage then you know what a chore this is. To compound things, he's nearly two hours away. All I can say is I hope he has everything and if he doesn't, then there's Dollar General.
Today is officially the first day of autumn and while it doesn't feel much like it, I hope for cooler days soon. We've had two weeks of rain and I'm not going to complain because our neighbors out in Georgia are really suffering today. My prayers are will all of you who may be affected by the flooding. Our God has not turned His head and He will make provisions. Trust Him with your very lives and He will not disappoint you. These are difficult times and we will all be tested.
The sun will shine again and you will be stronger.

I haven't relayed this piece of information about myself...but I am part owner of a catering business called Two Friends Catering. My partner and I started this little business for the fun of it. And FUN is exactly what I'm having. We do alot of baking, mostly due to the devastating loss of our bakery in town. I am a self-taught decorator and far from being a professional. But I like to experiment with the different mediums of cake decorating. For years I worked at a job that was very demanding and after 60 plus hours per week, I didn't have alot of time to do these things. Finally, I'm able to relax and have fun.

Maybe I'll take up skydiving next!!

RUSHING FALL!!!

I can't seem to help myself. I want to rush the Fall Season so bad. The cool nights are teasing me even though the days have warmed up a little. I don't care, it still seems like the trees are beginning to display their brillant colors and I have the strongest desire to start the trek to the mountains to take it all in.

These pictures were taken last year when JJ and I took a day trip up the Natchez Trace. When I think about what a beautiful trip that was, it makes me long for a sweater, a picnic basket and my camera!

Bring on the fall season!

The last couple of days here in N.E. Louisiana have been absolutely gorgeous! The humidity, which in this area can choke a elephant, has been very low and the sky is blue. I love this time of the year more than any other. The fields are being harvested of their bounty and folks are pulling out the firepits and shopping for sweaters. Kids are back at school, and next week our youngest is off to college at Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Our house is about a mile and a half from the high school and last Friday I listened from my front porch the firing of the cannon, which is our way of celebrating a victorious score over our opponent.

I have always tried to rush the seasons, and I am not going to apologize for nothing. I drug out my ceramic pumpkins and I made a special trip to the corner market to purchase mums for my front walk. I can't wait for the real pumpkins to get here. I love all the varieties we have available to us now. The pale chalky ones and the jasper green ones are really cool. I even like the ones with "warts".

My oldest son, Paul, has three boys (God bless their mama) and he gets into carving pumpkins like you've never seen. He puts a table up outside and gets a wide array of "carving tools" and goes at it. The eyes of those kids nearly pop out watching him. He does one for each of the boys, and even one for Katie and him.

We do not celebrate Halloween, the gross stuff and all, but I love pumpkins and I carve pretty ivy designs and words on mine. I just love the glow that a lit pumpkin gives the outside walk.

It is time to gather some wood for the firepit. This weekend will be the first time we light ours and I plan on sittin' a spell and enjoying the starry sky.

I encourage you and yours to make a memory of your own this week. Children love it when the house is decorated for the season, even if it isn't anything but a mason jar of candy corn. So, have a good time with family and friends this week!

Picture This!

I can remember this like it was yesterday. Our youngest son, Michael, graduated in 2008. This was the scene I created for his high school homecoming the fall before. I collect old stuff...my husband calls "junk" but to me it is nostagia. The truck is not ours (darn it!) but everything else is. I love old picnic hampers and tins from the 40's & 50's. When I look at this picture, I can see girls in there poodle skirts and guys in leather jackets. And the fall flowers and pumpkins give me a feeling that fall is not far away. Hey!

525,600 minutes

How do you measure your life in a year? That's five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes to be exact. Sounds like alot, doesn't it? If I asked you what you have been doing for the last sixty minutes, what could you tell me? Watch some t.v. or read a book? Talk on the telephone, mostly talking about someone whose business is not your own?

What about the words you spoke in the past sixty minutes? We're they words of kindness, cheerfulness or forgiveness?

How many minutes did you spend telling someone that you loved them?

These are pretty hard questions, aren't they?

Our lives are a gift from God. He gave us the very breath we breathe. Each one of us are chosen for His pleasure. How do you think He measures our life?

Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes...how do you measure them?

We returned last night from a long weekend in Dallas, Texas and while it is always good to go away for a few days, it seems that when you get home there is so much to do, it makes you wonder if it was really worth it. Our son, the "brainchild", had the run of the place while we were a away, and let me just say, he didn't exactly keep things tidy! Between dishes and clothes, it will take me most of this day to get things in order. Besides this, I find it so hard to get back in the swing of things after having been "on holiday". But, once things are in order and I can sit back down and blog abit about our trip, I will be very happy to have the memories.

What My Home Means To Me

This is where I live. It's home to me, my husband Johnny and our youngest son, Michael. To anyone else, it seems plain, but to us, it is a remarkable piece of evidence showing the end product of perseverance and hope. Without hope, this might have never been our home. Without perseverance, it may have never existed as it is. I hoped and I strived for a home. What is home? It is where you can come and be comfortably at ease. You do not have to "be" anything but yourself. I love coming here after being away. Just knowing that this place is waiting for me gives me great peace. I am sheltered here. I am warm. It beacons me to come and take refuge from a world outside its doors that is often unbearable. The words spoken by those who dwell here bring me peace and happiness. I have lived in many places, some much grander than this , some not so much. But, walls and brick don't mean anything without the people within their boundaries. My family makes this place a real home.

This is the beginning of my personal blog. I have followed many, loved many, and gained a different perspective of how I can touch the lives of others. I am excited about where this new road will lead and I look forward to meeting new friends along the way while reconnecting with those in my past. First things first, I am not a writer. I just try to express myself the best I can. But I think that is the most wonderful part of being a "blogger". It's you in your rarest form. And I don't have to apologize for it. If someone doesn't like what I write, well then, click the button and escape. I don't say this to scare you, by no means at all. I just want to have some fun and share my hearts desires with snippetts of what it is to be me. My family is most important! Second, my love for children, old folks, those less fortunate than I, and the helpless. I so don't want to disappoint anyone, what I blog about may not be interesting to anyone but me. So, with all this said and done, here we go!