Home at Last

Since the weather warmed up, we have been planting. We planted pear trees, caladium bulbs, heather bushes, purple hearts, and most recently, a jasmine plant.

baby elephant ears
(a.k.a. caladium)
(a.k.a. chlamydia, if you are my husband.)

I still have a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to plant: a dogwood tree, a weeping willow, a gardenia bush, a camellia bush, azaleas, hydrangea, ranunculus....I could go on and on (and on and on.....).

there's no partridge in our pear tree.
to the best of my knowledge.

I love planting and gardening for all of the obvious reasons.  It's enjoyable.  I find it pretty amazing to plant a bulb in the ground and, just a short time later, have a beautiful plant growing there.  I guess I should've paid more attention in science; then maybe I'd understand how the bulb magically knows to start growing once you stick it in a hole and cover it with dirt.  Instead, I say "WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!" and just watch, awestruck at the whole process.

I love the beauty of the colorful plants.  I love the smell of fragrant flowers.  I love the deer that will eventually come and eat pears from the pear trees.

"Dude, are those pears on that tree?  SWEET!"

But there's another reason I love planting HERE, at our home.

It's because I know that I will be here forever to watch these plants grow and bloom, year after year.

I have only been a homeowner one other time in my life.  It was when I was a single mom the first time, and I ended up leaving that home after I married John.
With my first husband, we 'rented to own' a few times but never got to the 'own' part.

But now, I am home.  We are home.  It's not home 'for now', it's home forever.
It's an amazing feeling.

Five acres of creeks, rocks, trees, plants, wildlife, and woods.

Home.

One of my favorite places on this planet.

In the one home that I owned as a single mom, my youngest, Elayna and my Dad planted a cedar tree.  Obviously, we left it behind.  That was about 6 or 7 years ago, and Elayna still asks about that tree and wants to go by and see it when we're in the area.

Now, finally, we can plant a tree for her here, and know that she can watch it grow.  Forever.  

And that feels....indescribably good.  

P.S. I updated my About Me page.

Go look!  =)

Just Call Me Slothy

I have been LAZY today.

For example, dinner was Sloppy Joes and Sweet Tea.

So this video is just perfect for today.
It's also HILARIOUS.  Please watch.
Most of the offensive language is beeped out.
Most.

Sundays in My City

my jasmine

We had a very nice day. This morning we took a trip to the flea market. No pics from there...trust me, you aren't missing much. But I did get a jasmine plant. If you have never had the pleasure of smelling the lovely scent of jasmine, I am so sorry. Please put "smelling jasmine" on your bucket list, stat. Now I will have some here at home, climbing up a tree near the house. Lovely! We also planted some purple heart that we dug up from my parents' house. Pics to come later when it doesn't look so pathetic.

Lizard hanging out with an angel.

After the flea market, we went to visit my Mother-in-Law.  She made baked potatoes and we grilled out steaks.  It was delicious!   

Can you find the lizard in this pic?

We built a fire in the fire pit and lounged by the pool.  

When we came home,
I was walking one of the dogs
 and I saw these pretty orange wildflowers.

I had to grab a couple to bring inside
& cheer up the kitchen window!

Visit Unknown Mami for
more Sundays in my City
posts!

Keep Calm and Frag On!

~I am seriously hurting over the passing of country music legend George Jones.  There has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone like the Possum.  May he RIP.  I wish I'd seen him live just one time.
One of the things I love about him, besides his amazing voice and talents, is that he totally owned the negative things he did in his past, and could laugh at himself about them.  When he was badly addicted to alcohol and drugs he got the nickname "No-Show Jones" after missing many performances.  Instead of giving up or crying about it, he wrote a a song called "No-Show Jones" and opened most of his concerts with it!
He also was notorious for jumping on his lawn mower to get where he needed to go after one of his four wives would hide his car keys.  He appears in a few different videos riding around on a mower!  I love that attitude.  It's like, Eff y'all, this is me whether you like it or not!

~ We had a good Friday.  Slept WAY in as usual, then we ran a few errands including taming my unruly eyebrows!  YIKES!
Then we ate at Red Robin.  We just got a Red Robin in our town a month ago and it was our first time going.  The food AND drinks were amazing!  YUM!
We both got the Bacon Cheeseburger. I got Pepper Jack Cheese on mine.  It was seriously one of the best burgers I've ever had.  And my drink I think was called Freckled Strawberry Lemonade.  It had fresh strawberries, vodka and lemonade.  Again- YUM!
P.S. I am not being paid for this at all.  
I just love food and want everyone to know how good it was!

~ This week was one of the best I've had at my job.  Part of it was, I had several patients who really touched my heart and I truly enjoyed taking care of them.  But I think another part of it is that I'm really getting into the groove of the job.  I know what I'm doing and what's expected of me and I can do it all with  relative ease now.

~ Oh, I almost forgot!  I am kicking the diet soda habit.  For real.  I did it once before for my gastric bypass surgery, and was supposed to never start again post-op....ooops!  I lasted for quite a while without it...at least a year, I think.  But then I started back.  I've read for years about how horrible aspartame is for your body, but I ignored it.  I buried my head in the sand.  But no more.  I am done poisoning myself.



PS - I HAVE Fibromyalgia, as well as several of the other things on this list.  Scary stuff.  And of course you can find denials about all of this on Aspartame's website as well as the FDA's site, but I'm not buying it.

~ Hope y'all have a good weekend!  I'm off to do a quick clean up of the house so I can relax all weekend.  =)

 

  ~ This song will always & forever give me chills.

Change.

I've never been a big fan of change.  I'm sure I've mentioned that here before.
I don't rearrange my furniture.  I get in ruts.  I usually keep the same hair color and style.  I'm  little outdated.

But sometimes in life we find ourselves in the middle of a whole lotta change, and we just have to roll with the punches.  Let me tell you what has changed in my life, just in the past six months: 

My marital status, twice: (divorce and then remarriage)

My last name:  (technically twice also. I had my maiden name restored when John and I divorced but didn't officially change anything since I knew I was marrying Byron.)

My job:  I started a new job in October.  Even though it's still in the health care field which I've worked in for almost 7 years now, it's totally different from what I've done before.  For the most part, I love it.  Just last week I had a sweet little old lady hold my hand and tell me there is a special place for me in Heaven.  But, it's definitely challenging as well.

My home:  I moved out to the woods with my love in December.  My husband welcomed me into his beautiful home and I could not love it more.

   



My car:  I kept the car when John and I split, but gave it back to him a few months ago  It needed more work than I wanted to pay for. It wouldn't survive the trips down the long dirt road to our home, anyway.  Now we just use Byron's big red 4x4 truck, which I LOVE.

Pets:  Byron came with a cat and dog, Mama Kitty and Patchy, whom he loves.  Since we got together, we acquired a little ankle-biter dog for me, Mackenzie, and then ended up with Byron's son's dog, Bo.  I adore all of these animals, but Patchy most of all.  He is an American Bulldog, about 11 years old, and just a wonderful animal.

Byron & Mama Kitty

Sweet Patchy

A-dork-able Bo

Crazy Mackenzie

 

Family: I have gained a Mother-in-Law, a stepson, and a brother-in-law.  Also, my stepson has a girlfriend whom we consider another one of our kids.  And a whole, wonderful, loving extended family.

Lifestyle: I now live in a world of hunting and country life.  My husband has outfitted me in head-to-toe camo.  I have learned so much from him.  Our yard attracts turkeys, raccoons, opossums, deer, hogs, coyotes, and who knows what else. I learned how to cook wild hog in the crockpot.
 Yes, these are MY boots on MY feet.

His & Hers Phone Cases

Home.....

        

For a girl who is resistant to change, that is a WHOLE LOTTA CHANGE in a short period of time.
It's no wonder I get a little overwhelmed sometimes.

But there is a contentment in this life that I have never before known.  A security and a feeling of protection and safety.

I guess sometimes.....change really is good.


Linking up with:

   

Mosaic Monday

Just a Little Random Fraggin'

~~Well hellooo my friends!
I had a very good Friday.
My mother-in-law and I went to lunch together, just the two of us.  I just love her, such a sweetie.  We had a great time.  Then we picked Elayna up from school.

~~Then we all (hubby, MIL, me, Tim, Elayna, and Shelbie) went to Tyler's baseball game.

Then MIL, hubby and I and the girls went to a pizza place for dinner.

YUM!!!

I am so glad the weekend is here.  My girls are here, my son will probably be with us tomorrow - we are going to my parents' house to help with yard work, since my dad is not well right now.

~~~~To DD- Drink on, my friend.  Cheers.  Keep digging.  MUAH. (PS - really? up at 3:20 a.m. commenting on my blog?  CRAY CRAY!!!!)

Have a fantastic weekend!!!!!

Prom ~~ 2013

I already admitted that I'm biased and think my daughter is simply beautiful.

But y'all....this is proof.

My Shelbie didn't go with a date, nor did her friend Mikayla.
(Shelbie's heart still belongs to Dusty, our friend with cancer)

Me & My Girl

Byron and I both have gorgeous children.
This is Shelbie and Byron's son, Tyler.
They happened to eat at the same restaurant pre-prom and their friend
snapped a pic.

TGIF!  

Cuteness in my City

I decided to give myself more time to edit the prom pics, and post some pics from this weekend today.
I'm making you wait for the prom pics.  Because I am evil like that.

But it's okay, because for today, I offer you CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

My Mother-in-Law just got her second toy Australian shepherd puppy.
Her good friend Sue did the same.  They now have four different toy Aussies of different ages and sizes, between the two of them.

It's like a Puppy Chow commercial when her friend is visiting.
TOO DARNED CUTE!!

Meet Tucker, my MIL's new pup.
He is 3.5 months old.

Tucker is sweet, cuddly, and kind of a fraidy-dog.
I wuv him.

This is Tanner, 8 weeks old.
He is feisty and probably thinks he's a rottweiler.
GRR!

"I am Tanner; I am FEROCIOUS!"

"I am also a big fan of belly rubs."

Tucker, Toby, and Tanner.
MIL's friend Sue's oldest dog, Buddy, would not pose for me.

And here's what I did today:
relaxed by MIL's pool.

Life is good! =) =)

Visit Unknown Mami for more SIMC posts.....

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

....as usual!
I have an excuse.
I've been busy.  I'll share all of the pictures on Sunday, but here's a sneak peek.....

Tonight (Friday night) was Shelbie's Junior Prom.
I know I am biased, because she is MINE, but....O.M.G.  She looked SO, SO beautiful.  I couldn't stop the tears, looking at her and her beautiful friends whom I've watched grow up since middle school.  They are so confident, poised, and lovely.

After pictures they headed off to dinner.  Shelbie and my new stepson, Tyler, ate dinner at the same restaurant and one of Shelbie's friends took a pic of the two of them together.

Byron, my mother-in-law, and I went out to dinner together.  We had a great time.  I really lucked out in the MIL department this time around.  She loves me and my children.  She's sweet and SMART and a wonderful person.  She, of course, adores her son and so do I.

OK one more.  Then I'm outta here.

Me & My Girl

It's bedtime for this girl.  We're going to hang out with the MIL tomorrow.  I plan on tanning by her pool!
Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!!