Now for a little levity!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

Thirty-Five years ago yesterday, February 1, 1974, this handsome little guy made his big entrance into this world. He was welcomed by his parents and his very excited sister. For 19 years he was a delight to all of us. He was a wonderful little brother!
Happy Birthday little brother! I sure miss you. I know your in a much better place. But my heart still aches at your absence.

It seemed unfair when you were taken from us so young. You were just becoming an adult, you had so much ahead of you. You would be thirty-five now. I don't know why that drunk driver had to be on highway 10 that night, at that time, in that curve. I don't know why it seems like the innocent suffer and the guilty go on to live out their sorry lives...hurting more people and spreading evil...I don't know why you died that March night on the side of that road, and the careless, thoughtless, selfish person who wasn't concerned about anything but having a good time, getting drunk and partying, survived.

It seems so unfair! But I know that God was there that night, He was in control, and although it grieved His heart to see someone throwing their life away like Garry Fox was doing, He cared enough for you. You were His child, someone that loved Him and lived for Him, someone who was a light to all that knew him. God was there to bring you home to live eternally with Him.

He was merciful in the taking; you didn't suffer, your body was left in almost perfect condition, you looked so handsome...just as though you had just gone to sleep, and stepped into glory!

In my mind, I imagine all of our family that has gone on before, waiting there to welcome you home. As I imagine you doing for the ones who have come after you. I know Mawmaw was so happy to join you there. She grieved so much for you!

Daren, I miss you so very much, even more as the years go by...

You were such a sweet brother...I wish I could have just five minutes with you, to tell you just how much I love you, how wonderful it was to have you as a brother. I know I wasn't always the best sister to you. The teen years were crazy ones and I didn't always see that the most important people were my family, and not my friends or the "cool" crowd. I know that later you understood that in your own life.

You were such a blessing to all of us who had the opportunity to know you, and so many people have told us since you've been gone, just what a blessing you were to them. We all still miss you. In a few weeks it will be sixteen years without you. In a few years, you will have been gone, longer than you were here. But the impact you made will live on and on...

I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday and tell you just how much I love and miss you!
Although in heaven, you don't have to worry about birthday's or getting older, but each year that passes we will always mark with joy, the day you came into our lives and will always remember with great sadness the day you left...

Re-Visiting 2008

I was going back through some old post on this blog and ran across this one from Feb 2008. I begin to think again about this post and remembered the passion I felt at that time. I looked back over the year and wondered where that passion went. I still feel that way, but I haven't been as passionate about doing the things necessary to follow through with everything I had laid out.

I have done some downsizing, de-cluttering, and organizing. We did rid ourselves of one storage shed and have cleaned out the garage. We did park the jeep in there for a while, but Andrew bought a new top for it and he is driving it more so he now parks it outside. So we can actually get around and find things that are in the garage.

We did pay off our vehicles! That was a huge thing last year that we did accomplish. Thank God for His provision.

Affordable, efficient housing is something we are still working on. We have been reluctant to buy here, because of the economy. So we are still renting the same place and spending the $1000.00 a month, plus utilities. Thank God that we didn't since we are now moving. We are going to go in March to find a place in North Carolina to live. Hopefully we can find something that will be more efficient than here. But knowing that it is only a 3-4 year job at the most, we won't buy unless the housing situation changes in this country and the economy picks up considerably. We don't want to get stuck with a house that we couldn't sell later. However, I would like to buy some land somewhere that we could have, to look toward the future, maybe build a small cabin or something that we could use as a base later in our life.

I will have to downsize and de-clutter and organize more as we face the move. Things we just can't part with but don't want to take with us will go to our storage shed behind my parents house. I made a vow that we would not take anything with us to North Carolina that we don't really love!

Quotes of the Day

Ideas without action are worthless

~Harvey MacKay~

The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually.

~Greg Anderson~

focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.

~Greg Anderson~

Food Obsessions!

I think I have talked about this here before, but sometimes I get obsessed by certain foods. Usually it only lasts a few days, with the exception of Sushi, that took a while. Anyway, I will eat something and it will trigger this obession for that food and I have to have it. Of course, I tend to get stuck in a track and eat the same thing over and over again. I suppose that would be mindless eating or maybe just laziness. I don't want to work hard to figure out what I want to eat, so I just eat the same things. Anyway, Sunday Andrew cooked some chicken, like chicken pieces and he spiced them and marinated them. Then he put them in the oven covered in foil to steam in their own juices. Then he takes the foil off after they are done and lets the skins crisp up a little, and they are so good.

Sunday night I came in from church a little hungry but not wanting to put much on my stomach before going to bed, I decided to heat up the wings that were left from the day. I have to say, those wings must have been the most delicious things I have ever tasted, or my body was needing something in them desperately. Since then I have been obsessed with chicken wings...

Those little nibblets of goodness. Wow! Anyway, yesterday Andrew came home and decided to order pizza for supper. I didn't want pizza, so I got an order of hot wings...

Today I had to go into work for a meeting and on the way home it started. That craving, that need for more hot wings...It was so strong, I looked around for somewhere to get some, but at 10:00 am, it is kind of hard to find hot wings. So I came home, tried to forget about it. I looked through the fridge, I rummaged the cabinets, but could find nothing that I wanted to eat. All I could think of was those hot wings...

So I waited until 11:00 and called in an order of hot wings at the Pizza Hut down the street. I got ten mild buffalo wings and I ate every little piece of eatable off of them. As shameful as it is, I actually sucked on the bones!! I haven't done that since I was a kid.

I know your probably thinking what a lame post this one was, but I just had to share . I can't help wondering if I am the only one who has such obsessions with certain foods. I am sure that in a day or two, I will get my fill of chicken wings, and will continue on my merry little way, until the next time some unsuspecting food reaches out and grabs hold of my imagination and my taste buds. Boy wouldn't it be great if that food was something healthy like salad or some fruit. Why can't I obsess over tofu and bean sprouts with carrot and broccoli souffle or yogurt and banana smoothie with wheat germ...

I thought I would leave you with a good visual of my latest food obsession...

Makes you hungry doesn't it? Go ahead, admit it! It's okay, were all friends here. You can admit that your mouth is watering just thinking of how those wings would taste!

John Updike

I don't know where I have been all day, but I just found out that John Updike died today! I didn't realize he was sick.

I went to hear him speak, oh it must have been 1996 or so. He came to Northwestern State University where I attended school. I was taking a Lit course that semester and my prof required that we go.

Later I said to a history prof that I had gone, and she was like:

"I can't believe you went to hear him, he is such a chauvinistic pig."

She couldn't stand his writing.

I was indifferent to it. Some of it was okay, other things didn't appeal to me, but I didn't take it personally like she seemed to do.

It is strange, when someone you don't really know, but you feel you know because of their work, dies it actually is sad. As though you lost something.

If you aren't familiar with Updike you can read more about him here.

The Singing Butler, Mt Rainer and Seattle

Some of you may have noticed the painting on my side bar of the couple dancing. It is called The Singing Butler and it is done by Jack Vettriano. I really love his paintings. They aren't anything complicated, just the simplicity of the subject matter and the simple lines and bold colors he uses is what attracts me.

From the first time I say one of his painting, I fell for his work. This summer when Andrew and I went to Seattle on our anniversary trip, we drove out to the Pacific ocean and stayed a night there. The room we stayed in had a print of The Singing Butler over the couch. I took this photo of it.

While Christmas shopping this year I ran across a framed print of this photo at Kirkland's. They had it on clearance and I couldn't pass it up! So I bought it and put it over our bed. Now when I walk into my bedroom and see the photo my mind always goes back to the wonderful time Andrew and I had on our trip to Seattle and it makes me want to go back.

Of course with the move coming soon, it may be a while before we get the chance to take a trip back to Seattle, but we do plan to go back.

Here is how it looks over my bed.

Here are a couple more photo's from our trip.

There was nothing more beautiful than looking out the airplane window and seeing this! It was incredible! Awe inspiring! But it still wasn't as awesome as the first glimpse I got of it from Seattle. For the first couple of days we were there it was cloudy and we couldn't see Mt Rainer. But one day, the clouds parted and there it was...wow! It was amazing! When I see a photo of Mt Rainer I gasp and remember that first time I saw it with my own eyes...it took my breath and my heart!
Here you can see it rising through the cloud line, but this doesn't capture the awe of it. It literally almost stopped my heart for a moment, I had to catch my breath and just stand there taking in the majesty of it. I know that sounds honky, but it is so true. People who can wake up and see this on a daily or weekly basis, they are lucky people. It reminds me of the majesty of God, that He spoke this into existence...WOW!

The decision has been made...

The decision that we were wrestling with has been made. After some time of prayer and considering all the options, we finally came to the decision today.

We are moving...

Not just up the street, around the corner, or across town...but 900 miles away.

We are moving to North Carolina!

Andrew accepted the offer of a job from the company he use to work for, and we are preparing to move.

There is one catch in this whole affair...

Lauren isn't going with us!!

I won't share all of the detail on this web page but if your interested in knowing more about that, you can email me and I will share.

My baby has grown up...I knew this day would come. Andrew is having a hard time with it, and I am sure when the time comes for me to drive off 900 miles away, I will probably have a big problem with it. But for now, I feel comfortable about the arrangements for her to stay.

I feel at peace about the decision, and am excited about the idea of the move. However, there is so much to do to get ready for the move.

We will have to make a trip there and find a house, which could take a little time. Then come back here, prepare for the movers. This means lots of going through things and getting rid of stuff. It is time to rid ourselves of the storage unit we rent. If it is something we absolutely can't part with, but don't want to move it with us, we have a storage shed behind my parents house. Which means a trip there to clean out that storage shed to prepare it for the new things that will be moved in there.

Hopefully we will find a new place that will accommodate our antique pieces we have stored in our storage shed in La. and we can bring those with us. We have been needing to downsize our junk and organize...

The time has come, the walrus said...

So many things to think about...

So many plans to make...