ROLLED OVER NOTRE DAME FOR ANOTHER NATIONAL TITLE!

SOUTHERN PRIDE is high tonight in Tuscaloosa, and in our HOUSE!  The Crimson Tide from University of Alabama won their third BCS National Championship (within the last four years) by defeating Notre Dame

42-14.

SKOOTS’ ROOM MATE is in Miami at the game with the rest of the Million Dollar Band’s Color Guard and we’re sure they’re having a wonderful celebration tonight…and probably can’t talk by this time.
















THIS TEAM HAS FOUGHT HARD…EVER SINCE LAST YEAR’S TITLE. AND WE ARE ESPECIALLY PROUD OF...

their working so hard in helping re-build Tuscaloosa after Skoot’s freshman-year F5 tornado that tore the town apart in physically and mentally…they have been there for the people of Tuscaloosa.

 

CONGRATULATIONS COACH SABAN, ALL THE SUPPORTING COACHES, TRAINERS, BAND AND COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION…












GREAT EXPERIENCE TO BE ABLE TO BE A PART OF…CHEER FOR…CRY OVER…PRAY FOR AND SUPPORT!  MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOUR SCHOOL AND CHARACTER-BUILDING PROGRAMS.

FOREVER GRATEFUL

Feeling very grateful for being alive to see the beautiful colors of this Fall Season...


I remember a time:


Age= 40, no symptoms

Co-worker=pushing three times, "Get a baseline physical, you look tired!"  

Backstory:  coworker = recent breast-cancer survivor
Nudgings = from 'one who knows'

My physical = numbers looked great...except 'fecal hemoccult'   
Follow-up Colon test = cancerous polyp/surgery/13" less colon
Repeat: 40 years old

Early-detection/MESSY test = 'cure'
Me = still alive, 12 years later  :)

IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD A BASELINE PHYSICAL, or if ANYONE in YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY HAS HAD COLON CANCER, CONSIDER YOURSELF nudged...Go get a physical with a hemoccult/colonoscopy...It might save YOUR LIFE, too.

Blessings,

ELMO'ish AM I...ben's favorite

At the end of this clip, Elmo looks like I do after a night of 'struggling' to sleep, hahahah!
Love the chemistry between these two.
LOVE me some ELMO...

I used to 'talk' Elmo to my little Ben when I kept him...
he would giggle so loudly any time I did Elmo's voice or laugh
...sweet memories. 

He was almost 1yo in this shot...

'My little Ben' is now 5 and getting ready to start kindergarten--time has flown, hasn't it?!  
Congratulations, big boy; I'm so proud of you (and your li'l sis who you take very good care of)...


Jer. 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." 
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."

PROJECT 365…week 23

Please leave your comments…I like to come visit those who visit me…really, I do.
Joining Sara and group again as we share some of this past week’s happenings.

5/30/2011:  I had half a tomato leftover as well as avocados I needed to use…

5/31/2011:  Going thru older photos for ‘graduation’ remembrances for friends…my girl @ 3, Mom’s 36 in this shot

I kept hearing something tapping on my front door…my original video was longer but I couldn't get it to upload correctly.

5/30/2011….Here’s how their labor paid off…their soon-to-be-home…

5/30/2011: another graduation of close friends…


6/1/2011:  Took a large load to Goodwill; many books, vacuum, clothing, wall art…don’t think I need this pregnancy book any longer!


6/4/2011:  my lunch was leftover twice-baked potato w/ bacon, avocado & tomato


What fun things do you want to share with us?  Leave me a note or a link…

FLASHBACK FRIDAY...patriotically

JOINING MOCHA W/ LINDA...PATRIOTICALLY! &

Friday Finding Beauty with Claudia and crowd...celebrating beauty given to us in MEMORIES!

When you were growing up, did your family do anything special to celebrate Independence Day or other patriotic occasions?

Mother would usually make a special dessert to accompany our bbq pork roast that she would grill. We enjoyed watching the fireworks on television but rarely went to see them (because there were crowds). So thankful my Mother taught me how to do simple celebrations showing her love.

Did you hang a flag?

My Daddy always made sure our flag was flying on the pole hanging beside our garage...and he'd teach us the importance of never letting it touch the ground.

There was beauty in hearing about my Daddy's commitment to his country through his service in World War II...the FLAG represented all the friends he lost and then remembered each day he raised our flag.

What about neighborhood or town parades, picnics, neighborhood parties, etc.?

Our current neighborhood always holds a picnic at our pool then a parade with their bikes and tricycles...each house gets a flag in front of their mailbox, too!

Go, USA!

Did you attend fireworks displays?

For many years we've hosted a 'day of celebration' at our church, which is across the street from our city's justice center (where they shoot off MAJOR fireworks).

On our lawn, we give out free water, grilled hot dogs and invite them to come worship with us sometime.

Our praise band stands on the front steps and sings ALL the favorite patriotic songs throughout the day...

and our combined choirs give an 'indoor' concert to provide some rest and air conditioning for those who need a break from the heat and energetic crowd.

BEAUTY comes in the freedom of worship, the freedom of speech, too...May God ALWAYS hold our commitment to these.

Were personal fireworks permitted where you lived and, if so, did your family do them?

Fireworks were NOT permitted when I was little, so we got to have 'sparklers' only. Daddy always liked to take us to the 4th/July Braves game at the stadium and they ALWAYS have 'the works' after their game...and I loved hearing the 'boom' and seeing the colors bursting in the sky.

What fun memories...

I enjoy watching them from my 2nd-floor bedroom window...

which overlooks Stone Mountain, their fireworks shoot really high up over the Mountain!

BEAUTY of all the colors but NOT in the noise they make in my neighborhood, hahahaha! When watching them live, I love how the noise makes my heart jump.

THANKS GO TO ALL OUR HEROES...

AND TO OURS SPECIFICALLY...

OOOOOOOOO-RAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Beauty of remembering those who gave THE ULTIMATE and their families struggling with their absence...God bless THEM!

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."Blessings,

PROJECT 365

join US at Sara's, click her button...

The hummingbirds haven't made an appearance yet; however, the cardinals have been attempting to eat from the new feeder I put out a couple of weeks ago. Some days they are very successful and I get to watch a hub & wife team take turns.

But, there are others who have been visiting and STEALing the bird food....

They almost break their necks hanging over the edge, leaning into the feeding and every once in a while they go flying off the edge of the porch. (I'm still trying to get a picture of that occurring)

One of my best finds @ the thrift store last week for $.50, yes, 50cents...I just love them. They have a sign on the bottom saying they are from Peru. I'm eager to poach some eggs...and I found a great little place to display them!

I bought this little shelf at HobbLobb* ;) during one of their 70% sales...it was $4, I believe. It comes in handy for one of my 'note caddies' and is a GREAT place for my car keys (which I can't find if I don't ALWAYS put them in THEIR place...I've already shared the stories about finding things in the 'freezer' that don't 'belong in the freezer', hahaha!

Have a GREAT Sunday!

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Blessings,

PROJECT 365...someone's home from Italy

JOINING SARA...

My 365 week was basically NON-EXISTENT...but, DD's was very much a photo op...

Having spent 10 days in Italy, there are pictures GALORE.
Here are several of her memories...

Flying first into Florence, then on to Venice... gondola rides were a MUST...

Streets of water....

SORRENTO was one of her favorites...

beautiful sunsets were the norm!

Thank goodness they enjoyed WONDERFUL weather

No trip would be complete without 'holding up Vesuvius', hahahaha!

SNEAKING IN SOME SLEEP on the ferry

CAPRI was another favorite...just look at those views!

Got a little time in the water...

MORE amazing scenery...


The streets of POMPEY were eery but intriguing...they had learned so much about this period in their Latin class...

lots of walking...

walking...

more walking

Culinary school in Rome...LOTS OF FUN learning to make pasta

Gladiator school proved a lot of fun, too! Their teacher has taught stars, like Russell Crowe, to be gladiators in movies!

All of the columns were SOOOO ornate...everywhere you looked.

GELATO was one of the BIGGEST hits of the trip...

Surely wish I could have been on this trip ;)

Jer. 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Blessings,

FLASHBACK FRIDAY...sibling stuff

click the button to see who all joined us today...

MY SIBLING BLESSING FROM GOD: an older, awesomely sweet sister! We shared a double bed in our tiny bedroom...saying our prayers nightly, ending with: 'GOOD NIGHT', 'SLEEP TIGHT', 'PLEASANT DREAMS', 'SAME TO YOU!'.

LATER--watching her graduate; attend local college...each caught m attention, helping me see goals as reachable. I wanted to successfully get through school and make my family proud.

NOT LONG AFTER COLLEGE GRADUATION, I cried myself to sleep every night after she married and moved to Charleston, which was 8 hours away from our hometown.

"What was she thinking?!" I mean, he was cute, and sweet, and in the Navy; but, HEY, He wasn't me!" WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT?! HAHAHAHA!

"OUR ROOM" then became 'my' room and it never seemed right (even after Mother let me be bold and redecorate in smiley faces with orange background).

SHE WAS, IS, QUIETER AND MORE STUDIOUS THAN ME. She studied hard, read a lot (She was a 3-year Latin student) and enjoyed basketball in front of the double oak trees with my Daddy in our back yard.

MY EARLY YEARS were spent hangin on monkey bars, ballerina dancing through the house, and flipping handsprings, walkovers and cartwheels, too many to count. She probably wondered "Where in the world did Mother get HER from?" I wasn't loud necessarily but I, for sure, didn't sit still for very long.

MANY DAYS I REMEMBER her busily helping Mother in the house with chores, cooking, and baby sitting for other families. She did all the cooking and housework when Mother had major back surgery that confined her to the bed for months. I remember my sister never complaining about having to pitch in with all of that work. I was so young and didn't have a clue...looking back on it, I feel guilty for not helping more (or at least I don't remember helping).

FIGHTING WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN TOLERATED BY OUR PARENTS...but, I must say, we never wanted to fight. (I'm sure she probably wanted to lock me in a closet whenever I flitted through the house, especially when her boyfriend was there.) But fight?? Nope.

REALLY.

AS AN ADULT LOOKING BACK, I'm sure this had more to do with my sister being an extremely patient person. She was busy giving in to me without my even knowing it. We had a wonderfully peaceful time together.

EVEN WHILE DATING, she and 'cuteness' were often including me on dates and playing games of the day: Operation, Scrabble, and Yahtzee! Remember those fun times still makes me smile.

ONE VERY VIVID MEMORY came after their honeymoon--jumping in the white camaro and "putt putting" until the sun went down on our little town. Surely she would have much preferred staying home and talking 'grown-up' talk with Mother, but my recollection was she wanted to be with me! ;)

BEING A YOUNGER SIBLING gave me a want to "be in on things" so I always wanted to get involved in many groups throughout HIGH SCHOOL. Each class or extra curricular activity challenged me to step up in different ways. Leaving all my friends after graduation caused a big hole in my life for a while...they had temporarily been replacing my 'SIBLING NEED' .

TODAY WE'RE ENJOYING SPENDING TIME TOGETHER WHEN WE CAN. We are especially loving her grand daughter, KATIE, who is growing up with a congenital heart defect. My sister is her primary care giver while my nephew and his wife work to handle their daughter's situation. We are so thankful for today's miracle-working doctors.

...LOOK HOW MUCH SHE'S GROWN!I AM SO GRATEFUL GOD BLESSED ME with 'the best' sister.

YA'LL lost out NOT having her ...nanner nanner...:P HAHAHAHAHA!