Snow Day #1

Well, here I sit and it's already snow day #1 with only 12 more days until Christmas. I think I'll bake some cookies and wrap some gifts. That should put me in a Christmas mood!

I haven't posted much this year. I just can't find my voice and a real need to speak. I have a lot swirling around in my head but most of it is not print worthy :D.

I have considered posting a picture a day (or week) and blogging about it after the first of the year. Change my format a little.

The only people who check to see if I have blogged are my mom and DeWayne. So HELLO! family.

Merry Christmas!

Go Vote!

Today, I get to vote. It's my right and my responsibility as a US citizen. So I am headed to the polling place at Raleigh to cast my vote for a new governor. So if you are reading this and haven't voted go do it now. If you aren't registered to vote then get registered and vote the next time. My mom always told me "If you don't vote; you don't have a right to complain about the leadership!"

I've been silent for a few weeks now. I have been taking a lot of pictures and having a lot of fun!

Thanksgiving is at our home this year so I am making plans for our wonderful meal.

Wow! I haven't posted in a really long time! School has started and has actually been going for 2 full weeks!

Every year gets easier and easier to start. I guess it's just the

routine. Might be time to shake it up again next year and co

me up with a new opening week plan! So far I like my schedule but I haven't had pre-k or kindergarten yet. Kindergarten just started this week and tomorrow is the first day the whole class comes at the same time. So

tomorrow I will have my first kindergartners! Then next week Pre-k starts and I will have pre-k then too. I'm trying to start out the year "mean"! LOL! Not really, but I am trying to get them to get the rules!

Evan moved to school last Friday. DeWayne and Jackie and I took the day and helped get her moved in. She is sharing a house with 4 ot

her girls and h

er bedroom is on the second floor. Her room was hot but she says it is cooling down! The room she is sharing is quite large and they have a bathroom to share too! Very cool! I am excited

for her! She will be abl

e to cook and have some spreading out space!

Friday evening, DeWayne, Austin, Kyle, Jackie and I

took off for the Ocoee River so the guys could kayak. We only got about 4 hours sleep an

d the guys kayaked all day Saturday! Jackie and I drove up and down the river and took pictures of them as they kayaked by! I got some REALLY good pictures. It was hot but very fun.

Since Monday was DeWayne's birthday, he and I stayed an extra night in Chattanooga. We slept late and ate a wonderful breakfast and then went to the Tennessee Aquarium. The aquarium was really nice and we enjoyed not having little kids w

ith us. LOL DeWayne then got to explore a couple of kayak stores. He got a new life jacket. It was a very nice weekend getaway! I was rested and ready for Monday!

This Saturday I am hopefully going to finally take pictures of a friend's granddaughters. I am really looking forward to shooting more children's portraits at the park. I've got all my props out. All I have to do is get my cameras ready!

Library is Finished!

The Library is Finished!!

Here are a few pictures of my "book room". I have the most awesome husband ever.

After 5 1/2 months, he sang the Hallelujah Chorus as he clipped in the last track light!

I just like going in and sitting down and enjoying the view!

Hope you like them too!

Three weeks then back to work

Ok, so I have not posted ALL summer long except a couple of times in June during vacation. They don't count! I have noexcuse except I truly feel like I havenothing to say.

I read what my sister

has written and I read other's blogs and I just can't get my mind to go to the writing place. Sorry!

I have spent this summer working

on my photography skills. I loved taking pictures while on vacation with Marsha. When I got home I had a "photo shoot" with a really good friend's grandchildren at the park. That just kind of spurred it on.

I took nearly 1000 pict

ures of those little people and loved every minute of it.

One of my very dear friend's daughter just got married a week ago and they had asked me to be the "candid" photographer at the reception. So, being the over the top person that I am. I loaded up my camera and went to the rehearsal and the dinner snapping away. Then on the wedding day, I arrived at their home and photographed the girls getting ready all morning (about 4 hours worth). I didn't take any pictures during the wedding but I snapped away at the reception. It was very fun, a little intimidating, and very eye opening. I actually had a b

y-line in the wedding program. CRAZY!!! I was a little embarrassed, because I am not a professional and there were several serious photographers at the wedding.

I have researched poses and setups and props for children and weddings for most of the summer. I have put my Photoshop Elements program to great use and I have learned some wonderful new things about my camera! So that is why I haven't posted in awhile. I've sat at my computer but not blogging.

DeWayne has worked a lot of overtime this summer and kayaked.

Evan and I worked at Jr. High Camp last week. I cooked, she worked with the kids. Cooking was really fun and I am blessed to have so many people in my life who are awesome lovers of Jesus. Camp is a week of little sleep, so I am still trying to catch up. I am the 8 hours of sleep a night girl and 4 hours just about kills me. I survived - so stop whining. :D

My library is almost finished. The shelves are done. I am waiting for the paint to cure before I put books on there permanently. DeWayne has all the floor trim down and the crown molding is next. Then the new track lighting, clean the floors, move in the chair and ottoman and put down the rug. THEN it will ALL be finished. I can move books in and it will be time to go back to school.

School - UGH

Maybe I'll be motivated to work on the things I have to do to get ready for school on the first day of August. That's when I'm going to start anyway.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Home Sweet Home

Unbelievably, the Great Road Trip is over and we are home.

I was hoping to blog every day of our journey but without internet access during 3 days of our journey I failed. Oh well!!!

I am so thankful for DeWayne that he let me take this trip with Marsha. (Of course, he got to go kayaking during that time too!) Marsha and I had the most wonderful time. Talking, Laughing, Singing, and just enjoying the drive. I dislike driving when there is a lot of traffic and this was probably one of the most enjoyable trips because we chose to drive in "busy" places during non-busy times. (Dallas, Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City, etc) With a GPS and a road map we navigated every turn with ease!

I've got a lot of work to do to get the shelves finished on my bookcases. I need to sand, prime and paint them. Maybe DeWayne and I can get something set up tonight so I can start that tomorrow! I am ready for the library to be finished. August 13th will be here before I know it!

Road Trip Day One

FUN, FUN, FUN!!! That's what this first day has already been. Laughing, talking, just being together in the car for 5 hours!

Once on the road the time seemed to fly by. Even Missouri seemed to go by quickly. (Probably because I was quizzing Marsha on her "vocabulary words" for a big test she's getting ready to take.) It was funny trying to figure out the meaning of the words. Some of them are ridiculous. We were wondering who really talks like that and uses those words instead of the common words? Crazy!!!

Once we arrived in Memphis, we checked in to our hotel and then walked up the street for a better view of the gates to Graceland. After this we checked out a highly recommended place to eat - Marlow's. WoW!!! I can see why it was highly recommended! The BBQ was fabulous, the service was awesome, and the atmosphere was wonderful! There were even waiters singing Elvis songs and customers dressed (and looking) like Elvis singing along.

Tomorrow is Graceland! Then 7 hours to Dallas. On the way to Dallas, we are stopping in Mt. Pleasant so I can meet up with an old friend. Actually, Bruce was one of my best friends in high school and I haven't seen him in probably 30 years!

Should be an very eventful day and lots of picture opportunities!!! (Oh yeah, we brought Flat Stanley with us. That's him at Marlow's at the top of the page!)

Road Trip Time

Well...it's finally here - time for the BIG ROAD TRIP with my sister! We've been counting down for a few months now and it's finally time to leave. Yay!!!!!

Good times are on the way!!!

I am really hoping to post something every day!

DeWayne and Austin left this morning for a couple of days of kayaking on the Ocoee River in Tennessee/North Carolina.

My grandma has called me twice this week. She is so excited that we are coming to visit with her. I am excited to see her!

OK to make my husband, my mother, and all my followers happy, I have decided it's time to blog again. Yay!!! I have put it off and put it off and I am still not sure I have anything worthwhile to say but I'll try.
School is officially out until August 13. This has been my first full week off. I have been painting and painting the bookcases in the library. They are finished (until the shelves get finished) and I am going to paint the walls tomorrow. It looks awesome. I will take pictures after I paint the walls and post them. DeWayne is still working on the shelves for them. I am not looking forward to painting them. It will be hard to get them painted nice and smooth on all sides. I think I will concentrate on the top and sides and not so much on the bottoms. Sand, prime, sand, prime, paint, and paint. That's only 6 steps for each shelf about 40 shelves. I can see the end though and it is going to look amazing!!!
I leave for Texas in one week. Marsha and I are roadtripping to see grandma. It should be several days of laughing, driving, laughing, eating, seeing crazy things and laughing. I can't wait. I really can't wait to see my grandma. I haven't seen her in almost two years. I talk to her all the time but I miss seeing her face.
It's looking to be a wonderful summer. Evan is home and we are having a great time laughing and haning out. She's been going to Curves with me in the mornings and working out! (That means she is out of bed before 8 AM!!!!) We are cooking breakfast for the bus kids on Sundays and I am helping at Jr. High Camp and she will come with me. Looks like a summer of cooking!
DeWayne and Austin are gearing up for their trip to North Carolina to kayak while I am in Texas. He can't wait. The guys came out Monday to practice their rolling.
I have a whole list of things I need to do before I leave next week. I need to make appointments!

Well, I've done it again. I've taken a month to post something new! Oh well, it's not for a grade! LOL!

Lots of things have happened in the last month. My bookcases are finished they are now ready to prime and paint. DeWayne is working on the shelves. NO hurry, I have to paint the cases first.

Easter has come and gone. It was very nice to spend time with my family. Evan is down to the last few days of her semester. Then she will be a junior in college. Where does time go? She's also getting ready to celebrate her 20th birthday! WOW! Dane is working is Evansville still and DeWayne is working very hard in his job too.

My school year is almost over too. As of right now, my job is still secure. Of course, the government can change that at any time when they decide that Title funds are no longer available to schools. But as I have said before, I can't worry about that. It will have to take care of itself through a lot of prayer!

Marsha and I are still working on the details of our trip west to see grandma. It is shaping up to be a VERY eventful and fun week! Only about 48 days left before we leave!

I finished up Technology testing this week in the lab. I now have to enter scores and send them off to the next level. I am now working on the inventory for the school. UGH!!! It's not that hard just time consuming. Searching out the items and checking the numbers and making sure they are noted in the right spot or the same spot as last year! Fun!!!!

Hopefully I'll add more this week!

Just a quick update on the week.

Last night I hosted March Book Group. I love my friends. We had good discussion on the book and wonderful conversations full of laughter and love. When we get together we just have a great time. This is the most wonderful group of ladies! I am truly blessed. The oohed and ahhed over my picture wall and the paint and the bookshelves that DeWayne is building. (Of course, they think I have the most awesome husband ever and I agree!)

Tomorrow I am going to hang out with Evan. We are going to the movies and to the book stores. Yay! I can't wait!

More later!

Oh yeah...Enjoy the picture and you can get a glimpse of my living room wall!

Spring Break

It's here...Spring Vacation! Yay!

It was a very taxing week at school. This was the week that the school board officially put names on the teachers they were cutting. There were 10 teachers and 1 Social Worker. A very sad day in Harrisburg. What makes it even sadder is that all the coaches kept their positions and their sports and their stipends and all those classroom teachers lost their jobs. I understand the sports argument. "Some kids only do well in school because of sports. " But in my heart I just hate the fact that little Johnny will be able to hit the ball but he won't be able to spell it or read about his accomplishments! I also know that the money is not there. The state has not kept their end of the financial bargain either. BUT...not one administrator took a cut in pay to save any jobs! The school board will make a decision about non-certified staff at the next meeting. That would be my job and my friends jobs. They cut my friend Mary's position but she has more seniority that I do. They are talking about cutting Pre-K (which is another non-payment from the state). That would throw 3 more aides in the mix of job bumping. It will get very interesting by the end of the school year. All in all someone is going to not have a job. :(

It's a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the forsythia is blooming. Everything has a beautiful glow! God is amazing!

The shelves in "the library" are coming along wonderfully! All the bases are made. DeWayne only has two more cases to build and then the shelves. Then I will be ready to paint. He built the wall surround for where the chair will set. It looks marvelous! We have taken pictures all along; so when it's all finished I will post a before and an after.

Monday is the only day that DeWayne and I have off together this week. The rain has kept the river levels up at the St. Francis so we might go over there. There is a hiking path along where he kayaks that I could walk along and take pictures and video while he kayaks. We might do that Monday.

Thursday, I am going to Evansville to spend the afternoon with Evan. I think we might go to the movies and see "Last Song". It starts Wednesday so it should be on in Evansville. Out to eat, a little shopping, the used book store, Goodwill, Salvation Army! Yay, all of our regular places!

Easter is here already. We are a quarter of the way through 2010! WOW!

Tuesday is book group and the ladies are coming here. I think I will fix Italian Beef and Olive Garden salad. We are discussing the book "When Crickets Cry". It is really good. I can't wait to share with my friends. I can't wait for them to see my house! We haven't had a lot of company since I painted the living room. I still have a few pictures to hang. (Maybe I'll get to that today!)

I better get to work...cleaning, groceries, and laundry...the 3 most important things! :D

DeWayne Kayaking

Well, I was hoping you could enjoy a video of DeWayne kayaking the St. Francis River. He took the day off last Friday to go with Austin, Kyle, and Aaron. They had the best time! If you want to see all the video, you'll have to go to YouTube and search kayak863. That is where he posts his videos. Very exciting. So instead of a video that I couldn't get to load you will have to just love the picture. :D

We are still working on the bookshelves in Dane's old room. They are coming right along. The south wall's cases are finished as well as the window seat. It looks awesome! I have the best husband ever!

Evan has officially changed majors. We now have an art major in our family. In reality, I guess someone had to give in to it! LOL! Art has always been her passion. I"m excited for her.

Thursday was the Tech Showcase at JALC. I really do like to go to the Technology conferences that are available. I get to see new ideas and try them out when I get back.

I'm glad it's Saturday! I've done laundry, I've cleaned my bathroom and bedroom, and I've put some pictures in an album. Very productive day!

Hopefully, I'm Back

Well, I have let the little things keep me from sharing my randomness. LOL

The living room/kitchen is finished for now. I will post some pics. DeWayne is working on building bookshelves. So far the "library" looks awesome! I can't wait to paint and finish but it is all a process and I can't get in a hurry.

Evan is in Florida for Spring Break with a mission team. It's called Beach Reach and it sounds really cool.

Dane got moved to Evansville. He is closer to home but has to work M - F now. There is always a trade off.

This weekend will be the first weekend DeWayne has had off since last fall (I think). He is dying to go kayaking!

More another time!

Pictures from LaDonna

Click here to view these pictures larger

It's coming together

My living room is coming together. DeWayne and I hung the 3 of the picture ledges last night and I rubbled wall words on to two of the walls. I added a few pictures too. I will reframe things today and add more pictures this morning. It looks beautiful even if I do say so myself. The picture ledges are awesome. I am so thankful for friends who share their ideas. There was no way I was going to pay @$75 for a 4 foot ledge from Pottery Barn. I now have an 8 ft., a 6 ft. and 2 - 4 ft. sections (with enough stuff leftover to make some 2 ft. sections.) all for about $100. Yay! I promise pictures soon.

School was a little wild this week. It was a week of assemblies and special events. Second grade field trip, bus safety, pep rally, movie reward and popcorn, etc, etc.... It was the first 5 day week I have worked since January, so I can't complain too loud. Although, I would love to have another snow day! LOL

DeWayne and I ate supper with Dane and Jean Sunday evening. They gave us a small album of wedding pictures and then Jean shared the link to shutterfly with the rest of their pictures on it. WOW! I have a very photogenic family. Pretty, Pretty!

I just figured out I can post a few pictures from Shutterly straight to my Blog page. How cool is technology!

My sister and her family, Evan, and Dane and Jean are all coming today! I can't wait! I am making potato soup and brownies, and pineapple upside down cake. Yummy! So I guess I better get going!

Time to clean the bathroom, dust mop the floors, and cook the food, and oh yeah, a lot of laundry thrown in for good measure.

Snow Day Again

Another snow day. I think we are #5 but it could be #6. I have lost track. The children only had attendance on Monday. We may have to go tomorrow for our half day but I'm not sure. Mr. Smith will let me know. I am going to see Evan tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to hug her neck. I have missed her.

Our snow here is nothing compared to the east coast. They have feet of snow not just inches. We're big babies compared to them. (But I do like my snow days!)

I finished painting my great room yesterday. It looks beautiful. DeWayne is working on the backsplash in the kitchen. And today, we will clean the floors and put the furniture back. Yay! Then I can take some pictures and share with my friends. When we get the furniture back in place DeWayne will then build my picture shelves. The color really makes my house look different.

With all these days off, I won't want to go back to work on Monday! LOL

Sunday I joined several ladies from our church to plan a Ladies Day for October 2. It was really fun to sit around with these women and brain storm ideas for topics and speakers for this event. We discussed many possibilities and topics. My friend Terah, is such an encourager. Long story short, I will be talking about my life and all the events of my early marriage. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I shared my story at Book Group last fall. Sooo, it should be an interesting event. (The theme is taking off old traits and putting on the traits of Jesus) I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Just Another Saturday in February

Not just any Saturday but the first Saturday in February for 2010. Wow! I am so far behind in blogging that I should probably start over. :D

I have spent every Saturday in January prepping and painting the walls in my living/dining/kitchen room. And now they are finished. Beautiful, they are just beautiful. I remember why red was my favorite color when I was a little girl and that yellow makes me sooo happy. Since this big room is all wood (ceiling, floors, cabinets, furniture and trim) the color makes the wood look very rich. I now have to clean my wood floors and put my furniture back. I have some new ideas for the wall decorations. Slowly, I have to approach DeWayne slowly. HA!

He and I went to Home Depot last night and purchased new backsplash for my kitchen. It is very cool. It's plastic sheets that look like old fashioned tin. My friend Mary suggested it. Hopefully we will get to put some of it up this evening. So REALLY, I don't know if any project is ever considered finished!

My very good friend Mel became a grandma yesterday. Her son James and his wife Casey are parents. James and Dane are very good friends too. So they are more like family than just friends. Little Elias made his appearance right around midnight. I've seen his picture online but not in person yet. I can't wait to hold and snuggle him! She was describing the emotions yesterday of it finally sinking in that "I'm a Grandma!" It's an exciting time!

It snowed again last night. That's two Fridays in a row. Too bad these aren't coming on Sunday evenings so that Monday school is cancelled. :D

I haven't posted in awhile. I have been consumed with getting my living room painted that I haven't thought about blogging. I have the red walls painted. I finished them this evening. I have to wait for DeWayne to put the trim back on and take the other trim off and then I can start painting the yellow walls. I may go ahead and paint the yellow down the hallway since I can do that with the trim on. Yay! It's finally coming together. I have so many things I want to do! The painting, the bookcases, the new design is my office and just maybe getting organized!

It's supposed to snow tonight. Maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow. If we work, then I'll paint on Saturday! Can't wait.

Finally I have something to say!

My first official blog for the new year! I know I posted a short paragraph last week but it doesn't really count!

I didn't even do my year in review; so I guess I better start with that for all my wonderful family and friends who read this.

Looking back at 2009:

January - DeWayne is still at Lake of Egypt power plant (SIEPC), Dane is still working for a company called PAR in Missouri, Evan starts her second semester at UE and I start the spring semester at West Side.

February - The biggest ice storm ever hits southern Missouri (where Dane is) and we miss several days of school. Dane is called out on storm duty and works 7 days a week - 18 hour days for 3 full weeks. (He saw ice on power lines the diameter of coke cans!). Even Evan had ice/snow days at UE. We were lucky and had power the whole time. Many people did not.

March was pretty uneventful. Dane is coming home on weekends. DeWayne celebrates his one year anniversary at SIEPC.

April - Dane starts "talking" to a girl at church named Jean Bond. They instantly click and start dating at the end of the month. Evan starts finals. DeWayne and I just work work work!

May - Evan's 19th birthday and I take a personal day to shop in Carbondale with her and Jackie. We eat at O'Charley's in Marion while it is raining so hard you can't see the mall and the sky is VERY black. After we eat, the rain has let up some so we decide it's ok to go on to Carbondale. As we go in to the mall, the wind picks up and the rain starts. Evan wants her upper ear pierced so we all go to Claire's. While they are in there I go to the restroom and just nonchalantly see the storm corridors (I laugh to myself when would we ever need those?) As soon as I return from the restroom; the security guard comes by and tells all of us to evacuate to the storm corridors because there has been a tornado sighted outside of Carbondale. So the 3 of us and several other people exit to the safe sections. The girls and I stand in this hallway for about 45 minutes while the wind pounds the roof at the mall. Kinda scary! When they finally let us out of the hallway we venture towards the door and see trees being blown nearly over. We decide to wait awhile longer before leaving. I was scared that roofing would be on our car but it was not. We got in our car and drove home (very slowly). There was no power in Carbondale, Carterville, or Mairon so there were no stop lights. It took over 2 hours to drive 45 miles because the roads were blocked by downed trees also. Evan will never forget this birthday!

Dane and Jean officially are an item by the end of May.

June - Finally my school is out. We went until June 8 this year. Horrible! June flew by! DeWayne has become white water kayaking obsessed. His every waking minute is in the water learning rolling techniques. He has becomes very good friend with Austin, Kyle and Aaron!

Dane is moved to Evansville. Evan is enjoying her summer!

July - Church camp time. I cooked at camp for the first time in several year. Jr. High camp! (I wasn't sure I even liked Jr. High kids! :D) I worked with people I hadn't spent a lot of time with before and came away with some great friendships! Its was wonderful! Can't wait until 2010 camp!

Dane and Jean became officially engaged on July 3. They start planning a November wedding! (Needless to say the rest of the year was consumed with wedding plans)

August - DeWayne, Evan, Jackie, Angela and I head south to Seagrove Beach, Florida for 4 days at the beach! YAY! It was relaxing and awesome and wonderful! We chilled in our beach chairs, ate fabulous fresh fish and shrimp, and played a lot of cards. VERY FUN! School started for me early (18th) and I begin my 6th year in the computer lab. Evan went back on the 23rd to start her sophmore year and Dane is still working in Evansville.

September - DeWayne and his buddies make a trip to North Carolina to white water kayak in the Nantahala River. Jackie and I spent the weekend with Evan for family weekend. Dane and Jean are working on wedding plans.

October - Fall break for Evan and on our day out I roll my ankle so badly I think it's broken. I am out of exercising for about 6 weeks. Yuck! DeWayne and his friends start going to SIU indoor pool to roll their kayaks!

November - THE WEDDING! The whole month is consumed with wedding plans. Dane and Jean to married on the 28th. I go to Springfield for a tech conference.

December - We all try to catch our breath this month. Evan gets out on the 17th, I have to go until the 22nd. DeWayne was off for the first time in a long time on Christmas Eve and all of his family came here. Very fun and nice.

I know there are a lot more things that I could add but why bore you!?! :)

I've been having a hard time blogging. Not because I'm so busy but I guess because there hasn't been much I want to share.

Evan has started semester number 4 of the 6 she has to have for her undergraduate degree. She applies for PT school next fall already! Time really does fly by when we don't pay attention!

I have been scraping wallpaper off the living room walls for a week now. (The paper had been up since 1996). It was time for it to go. I am going to paint when I get it stripped and ready. Then Dane's room is going to be my "book room" (library) and my office is getting a makeover too. After those 3 rooms I'll paint Evan's bathroom again. Then the laundry room. I'm saving my bedroom for last. So, I feel HGTV! LOL Wish me luck!

A new year and I am very far behind in the blogging world!

I can't believe how fast my Christmas break went by and how far behind I am. I've read several books so perhaps that's the reason I haven't blogged in awhile.

I will post more later

Sorry, I can't pull my random thoughts together! LOL