Courtesy of Wedding Window

Saturday, November 30, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - My Journey

Day 30:  I'm thankful for this journey.

30 Days ago, I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump on the 30 Days of Thanks bandwagon. I'm not really a bandwagon kind of gal... I usually avoid them like the plague. But this time, I decided I was up for the challenge.

What a 30 days it has been! From my kids, to my parents, to friends, to the internet, each day I looked inside to see what I felt thankful for that day. Of course, I am always thankful for the things that mean the most... family and friends. 

This has been good for me. So many times, I get burdened down with the cares of life, and I forget. I forget to be thankful for the things that really matter. So today, Day 30, I'm thankful for this challenge... this journey, because it has made me THINK.

Also, I just happened to look at the stats page of this blog (I didn't even know it had a stats page!) and I have had over 3000 views on my blog in the last 2 months. What?! That is just crazy. I love every one of you that have "checked me out". 

And finally, today, I am once again thankful for my kids. They helped me put up Christmas lights and decorations outside. Trust me, I really am thankful for their help. That is too big of a job to do alone, and last year it just did not get done. Those things make me happy when I pull in the drive at night. Here is a little preview of outside... obviously, since it is daytime, there aren't any pics of the house lights, but I promise, Wade put them up and I appreciate it a bunch.

Wreath on the front door 


 Trio of friends on the porch


 Paul the Polar Bear


 Pete the Penguin (The wind was not our friend today)


And Santa himself... in his little hidey hole 


Even Sophie got into the action... in the tree on the porch!

So, at the end of my 30 days, I want to say THANKS, to each and every one of you too! Now let's get this holiday season rolling!


Friday, November 29, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - Black Friday





Day 29: Today, I am thankful that Black Friday is over... and was a success! 



We had a good day yesterday... although my Dad\"s presence was really missed. Thanksgiving will never be the same, but life goes on, and new traditions can be made. 



I know there are many people that were opposed to the stores starting Black Friday on Thanksgiving. But, as one that did not have much going on yesterday, I have to admit... I loved it!



After everyone was gone, Mom and I were just sitting there, looking at the ads.  We decided to run to Walmart and just see how crazy it was.  Well, it was CRAZY. But we had a blast!  In fact, we enjoyed it so much, that we went home for a couple of hours, and then went back for round 2. 



This morning, we slept in until 9:00 (first time ever on Black Friday), got up and hit the mall... and many, many stores later, we are pretty much finished with Christmas shopping. 



WOW! I am exhausted. And my feet hurt. And I am broke. But, hopefully, I walked off all the noodles and pie I ate yesterday!



Now, I\"m going to sit back and enjoy the holidays!






Thursday, November 28, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Day 28:  Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Today, is a day of thanks. We, as Americans, are celebrating the feast of friendship between the Pilgrims and the Indians. Who knew, all those many years ago, that we would still to this day be reaping the benefits of that dinner?

I am thankful that we are. I'm thankful that this day has been set aside to "remind" us of all our blessings.

Whether today is spent with loved ones, good friends, or even by yourself, I pray that everyone will have a blessed day of Thanksgiving, and feel loved and appreciated by someone.

I will be missing my Dad today like crazy. This is the first Thanksgiving without him here. Although he is gone, he is never forgotten. And I still feel him here with me. I know he has gotten me through some hard times this past year. I know he's helped my son this past year. And I know he was there with my daughter last night as she stood in the face of danger. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a wonderful day!











Wednesday, November 27, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - Memories


Day 27:  Memories...

Today, as always, I am thankful for memories.
I woke up with a song running through my head. Now, I know this sounds ridiculous, but the song was joke between me and my Daddy. Every Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, we would sing, "Oh Lord, It's Hard To Be Humble"... loudly. We would see who could sing the loudest. I know my Mom must have hated it. It was so fun, and now, it is one of my most favorite memories of him.


When I was a little girl, we would go to Schulter to see my grandparents. They had the coolest grape arbor that grew up over their garage porch area. Those were beautiful grapes. 

The funny thing is, I can't remember if they tasted good or not. The taste I remember the most is the ice cold 7up that came out of their ancient fridge in the garage. YUM! 7up today doesn't taste the same.


I remember this old van my Dad bought from AT&T. It was empty in the back (no seats), and for some reason, he had all these huge pieces of foam in there. Well, me and my friends would play in there all the time, making furniture and such out of that foam. It was so fun, just like a little club house. I'm sure that wasn't what he bought it for, but we sure loved it.

(I would love to insert a picture of it here for you, but can you believe it? No pictures on google of an old, ugly gold & white striped 70s van!)

When my kids were little, I always thought that I should write down all of the funny, cute things that they said or did. I didn't think I had time to back then. I was too busy being a mom, wife, friend, etc.  Now I sure wish I would have, because that is the good stuff.

Wade just loved music. He would dance and sing all the time. His favorite group was the McKameys (a southern gospel group. LOL). He loved that the grandma in the group would laugh while she'd sing. And he would do the same thing, and just crack us up.



Sheridan loved stuffed animals and kitty cats. Oh my. We were overrun with both! I'd tell her to choose 3 stuffed friends to sleep with, and when I went back in there during the night, I'd find about 20. She'd say, "I just can't choose. They all love me!" How could I get mad at that logic?



We used to go camping every year with a big group of church friends. Our kids would run and play, and we would sit around the campfire, eat, and play volleyball. Then, on Sunday, we'd have church out there, surrounded by God and nature. Yes, that is the good stuff.



Times come and go. People change. Lives change. But, I am thankful for memories. And I want to keep on making those memories... because, really, that's the good stuff. 



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - Modern Technology



Day 26: Today, I am thankful for modern technology!



Wow! What a blessing to be able to live in this generation of technology. When I was a kid, computers had just stepped into the consumer market. We had one of the old 386s. Talk about a dinosaur!







This is pretty much what it looked like, although this one here is much better than what I had... it is a 486. And it doesn\"t have the slot for the huge floppy disk. This one has the slot for the much better, smaller, harder disk. Haha! It totally cracks me up. I remember Mom and I spending hours on this thing, playing "Oregon Trail". I can still remember the feeling of accomplishment when she won the whole game! 





I know it has been a blessing for me to grow up in this ever-changing technological world. We went from that ^^^ to this:







 I love my Dell Laptop!







And yes, I love my iPhone 4s... although I\"m anxious to upgrade to the 5c..5s... whatever is out by then.





And along with those came printers, faxes, scanners, great gaming systems, HD television, high speed internet, and wi-fi (along with lots of other cool things). There are way too many aspects of technology for me to touch on all of them here. There is no way. So for now, I\"ll just say that my favorite is the World Wide Web.





The internet. I just love the internet! You can literally do/find anything on there. 













My job at school revolves around an internet program (student information, gradebook, email). My entertainment revolves around the internet (Facebook, Pinterest, iTunes, Pandora). My "at-home functionality" (how to repair things, grow things, cook things, bake things, clean things) revolves around the internet. My social life is made better by the internet (restaurant reviews, movies playing, concert tickets). My good grammar and spelling are kept in check by Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. I shop the internet on a regular basis, often finding things that are impossible to find in a regular store. I can find you any phone number, any time by using WhitePages.com. Even this little blog revolves around the www. 





I know there are people who are still "unplugged". They don\"t have smart phones. They don\"t have laptops. They don\"t search the internet. And that is okay. But, as for me? I\"ll keep on surfing, and enjoying every minute of it!





Monday, November 25, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - Christmas





Day 25:  I\"m thankful that Christmas is in the air! One month from today will be Christmas morning. Yippee! 



Christmas is my very favorite holiday. First of all, I am thankful for what Christmas really is. The birthday of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He\"s really all that matters. My favorite Christmas song isn\"t an oldie, but man, it sure is a goody. (Click on it to listen to it)



Unto You This Night by Garth Brooks



Second, I\"m thankful for the JOY that fills the air during this season. People are happy. When you shop, you see excited, chattering little children. Inside the stores, you hear Christmas carols playing. And the decorations... oh, the decorations!



Today, I am cleaning my house up from the weekend. Tomorrow, I am decorating for Christmas. I can\"t wait! I\"m excited just thinking about it.



Here are some samples of things to come:



The Snowmen Tree







The Peacock Tree









 Sher even gets into the spirit with her "Dr. Pepper" Snowman.







Of course, I will have lots more pictures to post soon from this year. I have a couple of fun things planned for us to make.



Hot Cocoa Cupcakes





YUM! You can click on the name above the picture for the recipe.



And how about these adorable

Sock Snowmen??





I\"m thinking these are a must. You can click the name above the picture for the directions to make them.



I\"ve been saving my Pringles cans to use as cookie and candy holders for gifts, like this:

Pringles Tube for cookies  You could do this for other occasions as well.





And, I\"m thinking it would be so fun to do this:

Christmas in a Can





Again, click on the name for the link on how to make these. Can you imagine how great you would feel if you found one of these on your porch? 



Yes, this is my favorite season... I love it. I love the hustle and bustle. I love to bring smiles to others\" faces. That is my love language, and it will be in full force this holiday!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - My Closet





Day 24: Today, I\"m thankful for my repaired (and improved) closet. I know it is such a girl thing, but man, I do love me an organized closet! 



Here is the view from the door:









It looks a little small, but believe me, it isn\"t. It is awesome! You could easily put a twin sized air bed in the open floor space. And yes, I have thought about it when we\"ve had tons of company.





Here are my wonderful shoe shelves. Perfect size! I kind of have a sick shoe obsession...







There are 6 shelves, not including the top shelf that runs around the room. Let\"s not talk about how many pairs of shoes are on those shelves.



Here is one of my favorite parts: My flip flop rod. It is a basic closet rod that I had installed under the bottom shoe shelf. Those are kid-sized plastic hangers. They work perfectly!







Again, we are not going to talk about how many pairs of flip flops are on that rod.



Here is a look at my file storage. These magazine bins are great for storing all sorts of random things. They have everything from instruction manuals to party decorations in them. 








I may, or may not, have an issue with picking a color that I like. Lol.



This is the new part of my closet. I had some more shelves built in this spot to hold purses, wallets, belts, hats, etc. Don\"t you just love the chevron bins that I found at Walmart?? (Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a whole bunch more of them!)









That sick obsession obviously extends to my purses... there are a whole bunch of them on these shelves... just waiting for chevron bins to live in.



I also got this nifty scarf hanger at Walmart. It is fabulous! I think there are spots for 18 scarves on it. Of course, you can easily put more than 18 on there...












Love me some scarves... I may have another sick obsession going on here.





And finally, here is my most favorite part of my whole closet... my jewelry storage. I got the white hook rack at Walmart (do you see a pattern here?) and I made the earring holders myself. I am so proud of them! 





When I went looking for something to hold my earrings, I couldn\"t find anything I liked that was easy to use. Easy was the key. If it wasn\"t simple, I wouldn\"t put things back on there. Ever. So, after months of looking for just the right thing, I stopped in at a lumber yard. Those poor guys in there thought I was crazy, but one old man could see my vision. He took me out in the yard and showed me... J trim. It is a 12 foot piece of metal that, from the side, looks exactly like a J. I had them cut the trim into 3 foot sections. I brought them home, rubbed them down with vinegar (to remove the shine from the galvanized metal so the paint would stick), painted those suckers black, drilled some screw holes in them and screwed them into the wall. Perfect. And easy! 



As much as I love organizing, there is always something more that I want to do. My next goal is to get all matching bins and magazine holders, so that it looks even more beautiful.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - People That Make An Effort Towards Others





Day 23:  People that make an effort towards others.



That may sound like a pat answer, but let me tell you, it is such a big thing.

So many times, I have been just at the point of breaking, and someone, just one person, makes an effort towards me, or my kids, or a friend of mine, and it makes all the difference.



Take today for example... We had some friends in from out of town, and they were headed to a wedding in Tulsa. When asked if Sheridan and I were going to go, we immediately said, "no, we were tired. We had other things to do. Blah, blah, blah." But, our friends (Shelly, Taylor & Daulton R.) were like a dog with a bone. They would not let it go. Finally, we gave in and got ready and went to the wedding. And we had a good time. Instead of sitting home alone, watching tv and doing nothing, we saw some old friends, had a wonderful dinner out, got into some great conversations, went round and round with road construction in Tulsa (but it was fun, and Shelly has some mad direction-following skills), and are now relaxing back at our warm home, and Sher and Daulton are at the movies. A normal, boring, blah day, turned out really good, because someone went out of their way and made an effort towards us. And wouldn\"t take no for an answer. 



Thank you friends! I truly wish more people were like you. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

30 Days of Thankful - The Coming Week





Day 22:  Today, I am thankful for the week ahead! This includes, but definitely is not limited to:



CLEAN LAUNDRY (Thank you, Mom!!)



















A CLEAN HOUSE (Thank you, Taylor!!)
















HOT SOUP (Thank you, microwave!!)
















A WARM HOME (Thank you, God!!)
















THANKSGIVING DINNER (Thank you, family!!)










BLACK FRIDAY (Thank you, America!!)
























And last, but most certainly not least, A WEEK OFF OF WORK (Thank you, Ripley School!!)









I am super thankful... good times ahead!