BACK IN THE DAY becomes TODAY!

BACK IN THE DAY...
















as a youth counselor we had wonderful large gatherings of youth in
our home....
(just to clarify:  I couldn't see into the future--the timestamp on the camera was WAY off)

BACK IN THE DAY...

life was changing and transitioning as I left youth leadership with many tears in my eyes, a drape over my heart but my season was over for participating in that way.

(I had no clue at that point just how difficult my next couple of years would be...and that's a good thing)

BACK IN THE DAY...
I was new to blogging...and jumping around participating in 'memes' for the first time.  Leaving comments and receiving comments from many people I did not know at that time.  One of the first 'new friends' came into my world through SECOND CUP OF COFFEE's "I See What You're Saying" meme.  In response to my post that September day,

Kim said...So nice to "meet" you. My quiet place was the recliner in the living room at the parsonage. Then we began the pilgrimage that brought us here and I'm thinking my new quiet place will also be in the living room, but in my new Poang chair from IKEA since I couldn't bring the recliner.

Like you (and so many of the other commenters) say, blogging is such a huge blessing. Not only a way to keep in touch with loved ones far, far away, but a way to make new friends.
Hi new friend! I'll be back to your blog.

9/30/08

Instead of 'Back-in-the-day', THIS PAST WEEKEND, life changed in an 'oh so sweet' way.  "Be Still and Know" & I had the pleasure of getting to meet, hug, laugh, sing, praise, worship and reminisce with JUST A SOUTHERN GIRL's Kim.

There just wasn't enough time ya'll.  What fun we all had meeting, catching up and planning for our next visit (probably in 2016). 

 

God blesses in so many unexpected ways, and we are thankful.

 

John 8:31   "If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,

117th HODGE

1. Do you play games of luck/chance for money? rarely
Have you ever played bingo for money? nope

...Visited a casino? yep, in las Vegas but didn’t bet…and on our honeymoon cruise…I lost $5 at the nickel slots 

...Placed a bet on a horse? nope

...Bought a lottery ticket? I put scratch-off lottery tickets in hub’s stocking @ Christmas

2. Will you be preparing and/or dining on the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal this St. Patrick's Day?  no, hubs can’t eat corned beef..I’ll probably make pork something

Mashed-baked-hash browned-French fried...your favorite way to have potatoes? waffle house scattered, smothered, covered, diced & capped hash browns

3. What's the last thing you felt 'green with envy' over?
2-acre lake lot with four-bedroom/four-bath ranch home in the north Georgia blue ridge mountains

4. What's at the end of your rainbow? walking/talking with my family and Jesus in his garden

5. March 12th ma: anniversary of the death of Anne Frank ). Anne's diary details her time spent hiding from the Nazi's ranks as one of the best selling books of all time.
Besides your blog, do you keep any sort of diary or journal? no
6. What's an item in your home or closet containing every color of the rainbow? an old clown wig we used at Halloween, birthday parties and dress-up play dates

7. Write a limerick with you as the subject.

YOUNG SWEETIE, OLD HOTTIE

As a mom, young life was so sweet

God’s love made her life so complete

Doctors saved her one day

"Hysterectomied" baby-making parts away

So, she "fans" seeking cure from the HEAT!

8. Insert your own random thought here. we celebrated one of my prayer sister’s birthday last night with s surprise party…

she liked her new garden knee pads…

come on over to Joyce’s

GOLD-MEDAL BLOGGING

JOINING JANE AND GROUP...

I LOVE THE IDEA of inspiring us to BETTER blogging.

As Jane, noted with her Latin mantra from the Olympics motto:

CITIUS,  ALTIUS , FORTIUS

(FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER)

 

When I ponder how to incorporate these thoughts to blogging, here are my thoughts: 

1. short, concise info is GOOD (wordiness bores) 
2. spelling and usage counts  (effort shows)
3. bloggers LOVE big, clear pictures (focus matters)
4. give credit for others' work/images
5. announce 'time off'  (retains readers/commenters)

 

WHAT TIPS do you have to share with us?

 

John 8:31  "If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,
Skoots1Mom

16yrs ago FAST PHOTO-PAST
(DisneyWorld w/ a 4yo)

WK 30 HODGE PODGE

JOINING JOYCE AND GROUP, PUTTING MY TWO CENTS ANSWERING HER QUESTIONS:

1. The Summer Olympics officially begin this Friday night...AND I'LL BE WATCHING...WILL YOU? I'D LOVE TO SEE THE GYMNASTICS EVENTS IN PERSON

2.  Lazy days make ME FEEL RESTED, WONDERING WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING

3. July 25th is 'officially' Threading the Needle Day...I CAN SEW SOME...NOTHING TOO DIFFICULT. 

I ONCE MADE A CIVIL WAR CONFEDERATE UNIFORM FOR COLLEGEGIRL TO WEAR IN A 4TH GRADE CHORUS SHOW...

AND A TEA COZY FOR A GIRLFRIEND. 

I'M PROBABLY SOMEWHERE AROUND A 5 ON THE 1-10 SCALE.

4. 'Threading the Needle' can also mean to walk a fine line between two things or issues (think awkward social situation). The last time you had to 'thread the needle' ...WHILE PUTTING OUT THE GARBAGE LAST NIGHT AROUND 9PM, MY HEART ALMOST JUMPED OUT OF MY CHEST AFTER A LARGE, BLACK DOG CHARGED ME FROM OUR DARKEST SIDEYARD! 

I KEEP A VERY LARGE WALKING STICK IN MY GARAGE, SO I GRABBED IT IN CASE HE CAME WITHIN HITTING DISTANCE. 

CARRYING THE STICK WITH ME, I CONTINUED TO ROLL THE CANS TO THE STREET.

HE BACKED OFF...MEANWHILE, HIS OWNER CAME OUT OF THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET WHILE YELLING FOR HIM TO RETURN TO THEIR FENCED BACKYARD.


EVERY PART OF ME WANTED TO ANNOUNCE TO MY NEIGHBOR THAT MY NERVES HAD JUST BEEN SHATTERED
BUT I DECIDED TO 'SPEAK TO MYSELF'...
MUMBLING: "IF I HAD BEEN PACKING, HE WOULD HAVE 'BEEN NO MORE!"

SO GLAD I DIDN'T BLURT OUT MY GUT REACTION
HIS SCARING ME TO DEATH
AND MY UNHAPPINESS OF THEIR NOT FOLLOWING OUR LOCAL LEASH LAWS. 
BUT IF THERE IS A NEXT TIME, WE WILL BE HAVING A NEIGHBORLY DISCUSSION.

5. Kidney, pinto, black, or navy...BEING FROM THE SOUTH WHERE MANY BEANS ARE IN SEASON, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO CHOOSE A FAVORITE. 
I WOULD HAVE TO SAY IT IS A TIE BETWEEN GREAT NORTHERNS AND FRESH LIMA BEANS
(WITH SOME PORK FOR SEASONING, OF COURSE)!

6. Have you ever hosted a garage sale?  THROUGHOUT MY YEARS OF HOME OWNERSHIP, I HAVE HOSTED TWO GARAGE SALES...
ONCE WHEN I WAS RENTING MY SISTER'S OLD HOUSE ...
I MADE OVER $500 IN ONE DAY, MY BEST SELLER: OLD STEREO ALBUMS, OLD POTS/DISHES. 

THE SECOND SALE WAS AFTER MY DAUGHTER STARTED SCHOOL,
AND I SOLD A LOT OF HER BABY THINGS. 
THAT SALE WAS NOT AS SUCCESSFUL ONLY $300,
GETTING RID OF LOTS OF MATERNITY CLOTHES, BABY TOYS AND UNWANTED FURNITURE.

7. MY EYES BEGIN TO ROLL IN MY HEAD:  WHEN I GET TO HEAR MY HUBBY MAKE COMMENT ABOUT HOW MUCH STUFF I HAVE IN THE BASEMENT...
THAT DIDN'T SELL AT THE GARAGE SALES, HAHAHAH!

8. MY RANDOM THOUGHT:   TODAY I BOUGHT A BOAT-LOAD OF VEGGIES AT A LOCAL SIDE-OF-THE-ROAD MARKET ...
purple hulled peas, corn, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, sweet potatoes, zipper peas, pink-eyed purple hulled peas, crowder peas, lettuce, a pint of strawberries and two cantaloupes. 
I LOVE SUMMER-TIME VEGGIES! 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VEGGIE TO 'OVER-INDULGE IN' THIS TIME OF YEAR?

John 8:31  "If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,

29TH PROJECT 365

Week 29 with Sara and group...
7/15...SUNDAY, Driving home from NC, I pondered the daily lives of these two beautiful women (hubby's aunt on the left and his mom on right)
who find themselves in the category of 'lonely' these days, yet thankful they are in good health...at 95 and 86 years old, they look wonderful!

7/17: TUESDAY, With the BIG heat we've been experiencing, my portulaca has bloomed, and our grass needs cutting...AGAIN! ;)


This planter was given to us by my mother-in-law the year we moved into our home, 22 years ago now.







Below are the various bird houses I've bought at local thrift shops...can you find them all? I'll have to make another picture when the sun is in a different location...this is kind of hard to see. I believe there are five in this shot you should be able to see.


7/20: FRIDAY, Collegegirl and I pulled into the driveway AFTER visiting the salon for hair cuts, to see a box sitting next to the garage door...FLOWERS! They were from my sister-in-law.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 










7/21: We love looking at lake homes and dreaming of retirement: we drove all over northeast Alabama yesterday; focusing on Lake Weiss

first...the front looks small but it is much larger inside and has great bones...

three bedrooms and re-done bath upstairs, large master with his/her bathrooms on main floor, large sun room facing the lake...

the backyard was 'to die for'...large flower gardens with four japanese maples, multiple cedars, multiple dogwood trees, very large white oak trees and many azaleas...

outdoor kitchen, two out cabins, dock w/ slide, diving board, skidoo lift, pontoon deck, ski boat lift, are awesome!

Later, we drove over to the other side of the lake closer to the marina and saw this one:
Large two-car separate garage, side-yard vegetable garden, windows all across the back of the home...

2 guest rooms, a small office, large master w/ sitting room overlooking the lake
large screened-in back porch (length of the house with jacuzzi)

completely remodeled inside with hardwoods, new appliances…granite countertops throughout large-island kitchen and baths (with rustic-tiled showers)...
beautiful!

7/22: Due to unforeseen circumstances with my 'ever-changing' body these days, I woke up late and then hubs called me from church to go have lunch...I ate a turkey sandwich but he had ribs! Love those Spiced Right ribs!

Hope you've had a great week!







John 8:31 "If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

REVISITING the WEEKEND

My 1st time with this meme hosted by Gattina helping us remember what our weekends brought into our lives.

Saturday was a day of cooking, laundry, knitting and editing photos...

I can't seem to get a good moon shot with my camera for nothing. 

I've been trying all kinds of settings

will have to do more internet browsing on using my manual settings, for sure.

Sunday was a day of 'special' worship...
1) celebrating our 20th year of providing DISCIPLE Bible Study for our congregation and visitors

• grew with youth class
• grew to mentor other local churches
• grew to mentor Reynoso, Mexico community
• grew to provide facilitator training for other churches
  

  

  Lunch with 120 facilitators, administrators, classmates made for a great day of remembrance, thankfulness and eagerness for the next 20 years of God's blessings.

  
  

  

  Our first Disciple director...we call her Mama Disciple

Disciple History

In March 1986...eighteen gathered in Flower Mound, TX, ... a dream of developing a Bible study for training Christian Disciples... DISCIPLE: BECOMING DISCIPLES THROUGH BIBLE STUDY.

In July of 1989,..lives were being changed and churches renewed. A group gathered once again ... DISCIPLE: INTO THE WORD INTO THE WORLD with the challenge of going deeper into the Word and out into the world.

Another three years later...in December of 1992...Experience confirmed direction and congregations were ready to be confronted by the hard words of the prophets. The result - DISCIPLE: REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.

Finally, in 2001, the fourth and final study of the original DISCIPLE program was published. From Creation to the New Jerusalem – that was the promise and the vision. DISCIPLE: UNDER THE TREE OF LIFE was published and groups would study The Writings and Revelation. The journey was long and in-depth and would take congregations through the Bible twice.

2) celebrating those graduating from high school and/or college...several of these students were in small group my last year in youth counseling.  They've grown and I'm eager to see what their paths will be soon. 
Great memories...bright futures.

John 8:31

"If you continue in my word, then you are truly Disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Blessings,

FEBpHOTOaDAY then HODGE PODGE, wk 5

Joining in on TWO MEMES today
FEBRUARY PHOTO A DAY and
HODGE PODGE WEDNESDAY


First, trying to catch up on FEBRUARY PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE
Joining Chantalle, for a pic for each day in FEBROOARY (see, you CAN say it correctly, when it's spelled phonetically! ;)
7. button:
(the fun we can have with buttons...I missed out on purchasing this one...but Kim's work is so neat...you can see more of it here:  KIMTACULAR 

8. sun:  the last sunset I captured actually didn't highlight the sun...it was the clouds that captured my attention, the 'grey wispy' ones running perpindicular to the horizon, and then contrast of the 'higher', 'white' clouds behind those grey wisps.  One of the BEST shots I've ever gotten, I believe...
CLICK THE PIC FOR A LARGER VIEW.

NOW, to the HODGE PODGE:

1. What is something you are loving right now? watching and capturing pictures of my visiting birds as they avoid the prowling falcon and neighbor’s kittycat hunters in order to nibble on the sunflower seeds and birdbutter.


2. Paris, Venice, New York, and Rome are considered four of the most romantic cities in the world. Which one would you most like to visit? Venice…a city my daughter now speaks of as one of her favorites since she went there in 2010.  I’ve always imagined it differently than she found it, so I’d love to go there and be able to discuss my opinion with hers…and to take lots of pictures. 


3. Are you a romantic? being a right-brained, I always feel a need to create…a need to watch funny romance movies…a need to hear Him speak through His Words as He woos me with His Truth.
 
4. What's your favorite love story made for the Big Screen? So hard to choose…how can I choose…a big Streisand fan (Funny Girl)
…anything Gable (Gone with the Wind)

…too many Disneys to highlight (Aladdin)
5. Everyone loves Pooh bear and friends...which character are you most like and why? Click here for help in answering this question.  These days my mind is like Tigger…jumping from one thing to another, quicker than I can keep up with myself, yet getting caught on a subject and the next thing I know, an hour has passed…bouncy, bouncy!


6. What's the best chocolate something you've ever eaten?

probably the amazing chocolate dessert at
Elizabeth on 37th in Savannah, GA














7. Share a favorite quote about love. 
“Love does not dominate, it cultivates.” - Anonymous

8. Insert your own random thought here.  I saw a yellow finch today…he was so bright and colorful…here's the best shot...

FRIDAY FACES…what was on my face?

surprise blessing PLAYING ALONG WITH TWO MEMES TODAY...Joining Chantalle, for a pic for each day in FEBROOARY (see, you CAN say it correctly, when it's spelled phonetically!  ;)

this is a shot of my BabyGirl and her friends while they were playing card games at our house over the 'new year' weekend...representing 2012...

I miss having teens in my house on a regular basis...what wonderful energy and

 fun they bring!

************

SECONDLY, I'm hoping to start a meme to share in a different way:

 

FRIDAY FACES...

‘facing’ previous days

Blogging 3 emotions encountered earlier in the week
…in word or photos

FIRST: venting... 'sad’, ‘did not like', or an 'angry'

SECOND: ‘I don't care’, or ‘really?’…maybe a 'Why care?'

THIRD: 'smiley' moment, a fun fulfillment, or a surprise blessing'

1.  Why did the ‘court system’ tell me there was ‘parking in the rear of the courthouse on their automated answering system’…  but FAILED to mention ‘a card was needed’ to get into said parking??

2.  Yesterday was ‘Groundhog’s day’… I’ve never understood peoples’ intrigue with this idea…who, by the way, is supposedly only 40% accurate, hahaha.  Have you put any ‘belief’ in his predictions??

3.  A sweet friend agreed to ‘facilitate’ my Bible class for me this week, since I was sitting on my duff knitting my latest shawl and met a new friend who is learning to knit fulfilling my civic duty by serving at the county courthouse.  She eagerly stepped out of a comfort zone and handled everything for me in my absence…some classmates have already mentioned what a great job she did.  I’m so thankful for your willingness, Linda!

How have these 3 faces shown up in your week?…do tell.

DECEMBER 1...RED

JOINING susand @ THIS DAY...(JUST CLICK THE ABOVE TO JOIN WITH US)
Her challenge:

Quest for 25 photos even though the calendar is full

let's NOT miss photo opportunities

make sure you're in at least a few photos

may not get every single one; but, give it a try. The list is in the right sidebar:

So...here's my first crack at it.


DECEMBER 1...red t shirt, red nails..and another Harry Potter Christmas remembered.


She grew up reading the books, ALWAYS reading and noting the 'best lessons' Harry learned, ALWAYS coming out of each movie repeating the 'best-lesson' lines.

Some don't think Harry's story is good for kids...

I challenge them to give Harry a try...

enjoy the 'fantasy of it all', 

get INTO the 'enjoyment of reading' J. K. Rowling.

You might be inspired and CHANGE your outlook on literature and writing techniques (like my girl did), 

You can 'escape real world issues' and join us in flying, laughing, and crying with Harry, Hermione and Ron...and Neville.

You might be surprised at how many GOOD things you learn. :)

Blessings,

STRIPEMANIA...senior prom

 

Wanting something new to do today during my blogging time, I ran across the above meme over at Holly's decor8...

it involves posting a picture of yourself in stripes on your blog

then Holly and her friend, Igor, are putting together a 'pinterest' board of the pics from all the bloggers...it is beginning to make a pretty neat collage.

The FIRST pic I found of myself in a striped shirt was from senior PROM evening 2010...babygirl's last high school prom. 

She is standing beside me while I was using another girl's camera to catch a shot of her...the girl's mom held my camera for me and decided to get a shot of babygirl and me!  What a great time they had that night.

Come along with us...show us your stripes.

Genesis 30:37  "Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches."