Why The Red Bead???

My Son, My First Born, My Baby has made a decision to serve our Country by enlisting in the United States Air Force...

"I am in the Delayed Entry Program so I won't be leaving till at least February"...

"They Called me Mom... I leave Dec.3rd..."

Welcome to the world of service honey, your life is no longer your own...

We sure have learned this over the past month, our family has been sent into a tailspin of getting ready and sending our son off to serve, and feeling the effects of his sacrifice.

His wife and babies are horribly missing him, he has been married and out of our home for five years, we didn't think his leaving would change our household that much...

But it has...

Everywhere we turn we are reminded of our son. "That was Cameron's favorite" keeps coming up over and over. We keep saying things like, "That's a Cameron and Daddy movie" and "Cameron would LOVE that!" He is on our minds constantly, He is in our hearts always...

Letters are arriving ACTUAL HAND WRITTEN LETTERS!!! I didn't know my son even knew how to write a letter! In them we can hear his voice, he is so excited about all he is learning, what he is doing, the History he is making... BUT also in his letters we can tell he is anxious, very anxious... Anxious to see his family, not just his wife and babies, he is wanting his ENTIRE family, that means US! Daddy, Mommy and Brother...

Especially Daddy..."Dad, I cant wait to see you, Dad I cant wait to show you what I am doing here, Dad you are coming right?" Dad, Dad, Dad... Eric and I were feeling like small potatoes until my friend summed it up...

"Cameron KNOWS you and Eric will come" But my dear husband will have to overcome himself in order to see his son again. Steve has fears of flying, heights and leaving his home and his doggies. These are real issues to him, his fear is crippling.

But his love for his son is greater...Cameron KNOWS his daddy loves him, but Cameron wants his daddy, and in spite of himself and his fears, Daddy will go... Because his son wants him to.

We want this important reunion to take place and that is why I am selling crafts, I don't normally sell my crafts, I would rather give them away because with each thing I make, a piece of my heart goes with it, plain and simple.

Because of my strong desire to reunite our family and make this Airman's dream come true, we are creating and selling crafts all with one red bead, to remind you that YOU are making a difference in the life of a young man who, for many good reasons has decided that protecting and serving our country was his calling...

God Bless Cameron Miller, God Bless this Journey, God Bless America, and God Bless You, and Thank You for your support...

Oh Yes, I remember it well...

 

Oh Yes, I remember it well...

 

Saw this on Facebook today and I was spiraled back in time...

 

I was eight months pregnant with Cameron and Steve caught me in the bathroom in the middle of the night crying my eyeballs out... I was in the bathroom for the third time that night and all of a sudden it hit me " I am never going to sleep through the night again". When I told Steve he just chalked it up to another pregnancy drama moment (believe me there were plenty) but the thought of the loss of my precious sleep was real and I was bummed.

 

Flash forward 25 years (which have really sped by) and I now see my Daughter in Love Beka dealing with two little ones and one on the way, she is alone because my son is in Basic Training in the Air Force keeping his "Eye on the Prize" which is an excellent future for his family. She has the babies on an excellent schedule and for the most part they sleep through the night, but there are always exceptions to the rule, sick babies, teething whatever...Children and her being alone robs her of the peace that allows her to rest.

 

My heart goes out to her and to all the mothers I know out there with little ones or soon to join the ranks of the mommies union.

 

My mom had four little kids and was going crazy until her lifeline my Aunt Audrey gave her the famous line she repeated to all new moms (including me) "THEY WILL GROW".

 

Yes, they will grow, you will have a day without crying and you will sleep again.

 

I Promise...

Story of my life...2014 Version "A New Start"

A friend told me I should blog... I looked back on things and realized I haven't actually "Blogged" since 2011! Time sure flies when you enter Facebook land. My facebook posts short and sweet have taken place of my blogs but when I looked back, Blogs are SOOOO much more fun, So, I decided to resume my blogs, they are fun and a great way to remember the goodness of this life given me.
Here we go again...

                                                                A New Start...
                                             
My new years resolution for 2014 is to thank God in advance for the blessings I will receive in the coming year... The Scripture Nehemiah 8:10 The JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH is my motto and I am determined to live with the Joy of the Lord in all things I do...I expect my year to be amazing...

 

Last year,I made a blessings jar in a cute little Mason Jar like Pinterest showed me to, the jar was filled by January so that project was over...I guess I should be grateful of that but to me it felt like another unfinished thing added to my list. This year, I found this GIANT jar and decided to cute-ify (Troysie word) it up beginning with removing the label... Forget it, too frustrating, so here the jar sits waiting to be filled with blessings...

 

Next, I decide to take a picture of the super cool "Joy" themed birthday gifts my girlfriend Judy White gave me to use as the picture of my scripture of the year and love the results.

 

Took a few tries though...

 

Story of my life, it is a good, and Simple Blessed life indeed hope you enjoy the journey with me.

 

By the way, my Blessings Jar turned out cute and is ready to be filled with Troysies Joysies

 

Memoirs Of A Kitchen Lady... TMI

Over the years I have learned not to bring up certain subjects in the lunch line or it simply takes too long for the kiddies to get their lunch in under a minute AND tell me all the important details of their lives...

Lunch Lady Subjects to avoid if you want the kids to get through the line quickly(and that's what we want) because bringing up these subjects starts a chain reaction involving every child in the line.

#1 Subject- Pets
#2 Subject- Baby brothers or sisters
#3 Subject- Loose or Lost teeth (Especially true for first graders because just about all of them are losing teeth)
$4 Subject- Movies or Videos
#5 Subject- Disneyland

The other day I broke a cardinal rule and I paid the price.

Troysie- "Oh Honey, you lost a tooth"
Girlie- (Proudly)"I pushed it out with my tongue!"
T- "Good"
G-"Then I YANKED it out, and it was bleeding all over the place!, then I spit and there was more blood!,(she's gotta hurry cause she is almost done getting her lunch by now) "Then my mom saw it and said EWWWWW! then I washed my mouth out and the water was orange"
"THEN I GOT $5.00!!!"
Troysie-(exhausted) "Wow that's great!"

Well, I did ask...

Channeling My Inner Dusty

I have a girlfriend Dusty who can make the coolest things from found objects. I have some of these treasures and you would not believe what this gal can do with brown paper bags and we have the worlds cutest snowman made from stair posts. Dusty Rocks the world of re-claimed craft items.She is very inspiring...

Yesterday, a gal at my gym was offering a box of her mother in laws old porcelain doll parts. When I saw them I decided to channel my inner Dusty and take them home...





Now I am wondering...

What will I do with this stuff???


All Hand Painted, and simply beautiful...


I am making a vow that the box that sat in that ladies garage since 1983 won't sit in my garage just as long...

Any Ideas????

The Big Five-O Party #1

This year I have TONS AND TONS of friends who will be turning 50. I expect to attend several parties in their honor, it will be a blast!

I don't look at it like a dreaded getting older kind of thing...

I consider us to be Nifty-Fifty...

First on the block to turn 50 in our group is Kathy.

On her actual birthday January 22 we went to The Ice House in Pasadena and saw some great comedians with her family and friends. Get this! five of the women at this party will be turning 50 this year...

Last night however was our turn, time for just us girlfriends. Dee Dee and I plotted and planned to make Kathy's day so special. Our idea of a good time always includes a good dinner so we decided to make Kathy's birthday "A Hoot" and take her to Hooters.


We started our evening decked out in our scarves and sunglasses ready for a convertible ride in my groovy new car. (Thanks Charles for stopping the repairs on your car to come take some pictures of some silly gals)


Woo Hoo!!!!

Next we made it to Hooters and Kathy Loved the idea. Dee Dee and I had not been there before, Kathy took her son to the one in Las Vegas when he turned 21 but when we walked in we realized we had just walked into a Man Cave...

We were the only girls in there.

We almost felt like we had entered into the "no girls allowed" Order of the Water Buffalo Lodge or someones basement during a secret Man Only ritual,we were intimidated, but we pressed on... We were welcomed in and had a cute waitress who sat right down and joined us. She was all into seeing Kathy's gifts and we had a super good time.

Soon after we arrived some families with small children came in for dinner. Dee Dee was Shocked! "I am 50 and never have been in here and they come in their strollers"She's a crack up.

To Honor Kathy's big day they made her a GIANT foil bow hat, we are talking HUGE. They have some big foil at Hooters. Kathy loved wearing her hat but unfortunately it had to come off to get back into the Mini Cooper.



We hit the mall a bit to work off our dinner then it was dessert time at Cheesecake Factory. NO Dessert Sharing allowed for this group of gals.



Funniest line of the evening...

Kathy- "I can't read this menu, Can you read it?"
Dee Dee- "Sure I can read it no problem"
Troy- "Here's a flashlight"
Kathy-"I don't know how you two can read this and I can't?"
Dee Dee- "Well, We're not 50 yet"


I am so incredibly blessed by these women and after some math we realized Kathy and I have been friends 40 years Yikes!!!!

Happy Birthday Kathy, And Many Many More...

I Thought You Understood...

Dear Steve, I thought you understood, I told whomever would listen about how you totally understood, and I was so proud of you, because YOU got Me!...

"My Husband knows what I love" I would boast, fully confident that you knew and understood my feelings and passions...

We talking about my love of a nice purse...

I was so excited when you got a bonus and said, "go get yourself a purse" starting my Brighton Purse collection.

You were excited and told everyone last Christmas that you bought this lovely number for me... Oh, how I loved that Man O' Mine.



So, I thought nothing of it today when I decided to do my birthday shopping for you and came home with this baby...





A bag I have been admiring and researching for quite awhile. I thought you would be happy that I was happy AND that you didn't have to go shopping for me, But you said the most shocking, heart breaking words a purse loving woman could hear...

"Didn't I just buy you a purse a year ago?"

Oh No!!!! What A World, What A World...