Beautiful weather...

I'm linking up to Fantatic Friday at Jeremiah 29:11.

On Thursday, it got up in the mid-70's. I changed into my blue jean shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops and headed out back to explore. Here are some of the things I found...

My weeping willow "Prince Will" is starting to look very grand in his regal leaves draping down.

The Bradford pears in the neighborhood are really starting to fill out.

My neighbor planted this yellow bush last year and it is blooming beautifully. I always call this a switch bush because Mom had one and that is where she went to get her switched. She'd peel off the flowers and lay it on the end table and we knew to behave. I don't remember her using it, just the threat was enough to keep us in line. 



My little tea rose bush is starting to be very green. It should be a great year for my tea roses. 

I love the little wild violets that grow every spring. they make me know warm weather is around the corner. 



One of my favorite places to relax in the spring and summer. A good book, a lemonade and the shade of the willow. 

They are still letting water out of the lake so the river is still higher than normal. It goes up and down every day, but it has stayed high for over a week now. This is the view down river.

This is the view up river. 

Hope you enjoyed your spring walk with me. 

My little leprechaun...

Twelve years ago today, God blessed us with a our very first grandchild, Christian Garret. It has been such a joy watching this child grow. I have always been filled with wonder at his wit, his humor, his compassion, his intelligence. He is very precious to me and I love him with every beat of my heart. As he gets older, he stills loves to come to Mamaw's house. We get to talk about his plans; his dreams. Recently, I made the comment that I dreaded the day when he got to the point where he wouldn't want to stay all night with Mamaw any more. He said "Are you kidding me? I can't wait till I turn 16 and get my own car. I'm going to come over all the time." He's at that don't hug or kiss me in public stage, but when I tuck him in at night when he visits, I still get my kiss and hug before lights out. He has owned a piece of my heart from the moment I first held him and he will always own it. Happy birthday to my dear, sweet Garret.

The juggler....

When I was a little girl, I always wanted to learn to juggle. I would get my brothers plastic bowling pins and try to throw them up and catch them at different times and thought I was juggling. I never quite succeeded. I finally gave up my dream of becoming a professional juggler and getting on the Ed Sullivan show.

I was thinking yesterday, that I have finally accomplished my goal. I can finally say I am a World Class Juggler. I think all women fall into this category at one time or another in their lives. I was thinking yesterday about all the things I have to get done in any given day, whether it be business, pleasure or volunteer work. I used to be one of those people who would spend so much time stressing over what all they had to do that I never got anything done.

Now, I'm amazed at what I can accomplish in any given day and still be done most days by 6:30. My secret? Prayer. I have learned that if I truly give it to God to handle and put it out of my mind until such time as I need to do whatever is on my schedule, things run more smoothly. It's another one of those Faith things. He tells us He will not give us more than we can handle. He even tells us He will help us handle it. So, I took Him up on His offer and now I just leave it up to Him to get me through each day.

I noticed yesterday how much I had accomplished last week and how much I have accomplished so far this week. Have I become more regimented? No. Have I become more organized? Not really. I think I have just finally realized that giving it to God to handle is the best way to get the job done.

The me you never knew.....

I attended a VBS event last night and had a blast. Met a lot of new people; spent times with friends. I really enjoyed myself. On the way home, I was thinking about how adaptable I am when I meet new people. It amazes me considering I wasn't like that at all in school. I was an introvert. Not sociable at all. In fact, I was rather shy (yes, my dear friends, shy...hard to believe). I did not make friends easily. I was lacking in self-confidence. I was a wall flower. Somewhere along the line that changed. I am more outgoing. I never meet a stranger. My family laughs at me all the time because I apparently wear a sign that says "If you talk to me, I will listen AND talk back to you." because complete strangers strike up conversations with me wherever I go. I remember one day sitting on a bench outside the rest room at the mall. When my daughter came out, I looked at the lady beside me and said "Well, I'll see you later. Have fun at your daughter's recital. I hope she does good." My daughter asked me who it was and I said some lady I was talking to on the bench. She just shook her head. Happens all the time. I never seem to run out of things to say. This morning, I was thinking on this again and thought "That was a "me" that my now friends never knew." So I thought I would dig up some more "old" me photos and share them. They are always good for a laugh....

This one absolutely cracked me up. I was 16 and going through my half-top bell bottom stage. You've probably never seen me with hair that long. I used to pull it back and pin it up to my head with bobby pins at night to try to tame the wild curls. Didn't work very good, just gave me wild waves. Check out the ponytails...

Not sure how old I was here...I think about 19. Mom had made my Easter dress. It was lavender dotted Swiss. I loved that dress and my high heels. I always loved having my picture made with Daddy...

I was seventeen in this next one. This was my Senior Picture that was taken at the end of Junior year. White plastic hair clips? Seriously? What in the world was I thinking? They aren't even holding any hair back. Just clipped right on a few strands for what I apparently thought passed for style....NOT.

I was 18 in this. I loved this dress. It was when young girls wore maxi dresses. This was my favorite one. So out of date, but I loved it so much I'd probably still wear it if I had it and could fit in it...

My graduation day with Daddy. Thanks to good old B'ville High School, red is still my favorite color...

I was about 23 here and worn plum out from chasing my twins who were around 2 at the time. Can anyone say exhausted? I weighted 85 pounds and wore a size 0. Clothes were hard to find. I think I was trying to pull off the elegant lady look but ended up with the "Oh my gosh I need a nap" look.

This was around 1978. I call this our "flannel family Christmas." I remember that just about everybody in the family got new flannel shirts for Christmas. They were all the rage that year. Check out the huge glasses. I always said that 10 pounds of my weight when I was younger came from my glasses....

Hope these made you smile. Just another sign of how I have changed over the years. As little as 5 years ago, I would never ever have posted old pictures of myself. Guess I realized it is good to laugh at ourselves every once in awhile.

A sobering thought......

I love singing in the choir. I love those wonderful words written by so many different people so that we can enjoy learning of God's love through song. Every so often, we will sing a song that has a phrase or words in it that just open your eyes. Words that make you stop and think of all the love that God has for us. Words that touch you deep inside and bring tears to your eyes. I had one of those moments last night. As we were doing a first run through of our Easter songs for this year, we were singing along to some old songs and some new when it happened. The next line in the lyrics said....."He wore my crown."

Wow. He took my place. He went through what He went through for me. He let them torture Him, beat Him, pierce Him, mock Him, ridicule Him, hurt Him and finally crucify Him for ME. He knew one day I was arriving and that one day I would sin. He knew that He had to become the supreme sacrifice so that I could be saved from a life of ruin. He took my burdens, my strife, my troubles, and hung them on the cross. For me. Little ol', unimportant, nobody, unknown ME.

If that is not a sobering thought, I do not know what is. So I for one would like to thank Him for wearing my crown and saving my life.

Just Ask.....

Two simple words with such powerful meaning. If you have troubles and trials or needs in your life, don't forget the important instructions....Just Ask!

Saturday Sillies

I hope these make you smile and help lighten your load today.

And my all time favorite.....(this explains a lot!)