One Perfect Day

What an amazing Christmas.  I don't think I can remember one that rivaled it.  It started out with a wonderful Christmas Eve spent with the WHOLE family.  With me being an only child and only having 2 girl cousins, our childhood Christmas celebrations were much smaller.  They've gotten considerably bigger since then.  Between my two cousins and me, we have 13 kids and 2 grandkids.  Most of which are boys.  And that isn't including the kids that are marrying into the family.  I LOVE it.  I appreciate it even more so, because we lived away from home for 14 years.  Now that we're back, our family gatherings have become even more precious to me.  I only wish that my Grandpa was still alive.  He would be in absolute heaven.  (And we would have a whole lot more pictures taken.)

My Grandma with the Great Grandkids (minus 2 of mine)

 Christmas day was spent at home with various visitors throughout the day.  In the morning, the kids woke us up about 6:30.  (Did I predict that or what)  We took our Christmas "kids on the stairs" picture, the pickle hunt ensued (which, ONCE AGAIN, my daughter won.  I think we've decided to blindfold her next year to give someone else a chance.) and then came the opening of the presents.  We made that last for about 3 hours including our breakfast break.  The boys got along at least 75% of the time.  Everyone got just about everything on their lists with a few extras they weren't expecting, and I got to listen to Christmas carols the WHOLE day.  The TV never even got turned on to a stupid football game.  Yes, I'll probably get flogged for saying so, but I don't believe football has ANY place on Christmas Day.  That is a day for enjoying family with no distractions.

Christmas morning 2012

The 2012 Victor

The rest of the day was filled with very special visitors.  My Mom and her boyfriend came over first.  Following them were our very closest friends and his parents, whom I adore. The day was spent relaxing, eating too much, drinking wine, playing games and laughter.  Pretty much the perfect day.  At about 10:00 p.m. my 2nd oldest son and his Fiancee' pulled into the driveway after a LONG drive from Indy.  After another round of presents and some more visiting, we finally said good night and brought Christmas 2012 to a close.  Now that it's done, I'll try to put off taking down the decorations as long as I can stand it but I'll probably only last until tomorrow.  Although this year feels different.  Usually I'm ready to put it all away and start on some organizing or home improvement project.  But as I sit here typing in my chair, in front of the fireplace hung with the stockings I made this year, I think I might be able to put it off a little longer.  Especially since, on the floor in front of that same fireplace, my kids have started playing one of the many board games that Santa brought.  More precious memories being created.  One happy Mama.

The Stockings Are Hung

Merry Christmas Eve Morning.  It's the calm before the storm.   Since I've slacked so much on writing, I thought I would take advantage of these last few quiet minutes and write out some thoughts.

The Christmas season is my absolute favorite time of year.  It stems from my childhood Christmases.  The twinkling lights and beautiful decorations. Presents wrapped with shiny paper and tied with big satin bows.  Christmas programs and parties at school.  Picking out just the right gift for someone. Spending time with the people who mean the most to you. Family traditions.  Creating memories.  It was all so magical, I couldn't get enough of it.  (And obviously still can't)

At the age of 8 or 9, I had my own wrapping station all set up in my basement.  I would wrap ALL of the gifts that my Parents and Grandparents bought, except mine of course.  This was back in the day when you could still have your gifts wrapped at the store.  (I don't think they do that anymore.  And if they do, it certainly isn't cheap.) You would drop off your gifts, pick out the wrapping paper, leave and come back a little while later to perfectly wrapped presents with intricate bows and decorations on them.  My Grandma was the store manager at a high end department store, named Hartzfelds, that provided this service. My goal for each present that I wrapped, was for it to look like something wrapped by them.  And I usually succeeded.  No "stick on bows" for this girl.  Needless to say, things haven't changed much.  I still have a wrapping station.  At the moment it isn't in it's own designated room anymore. (Yes.  I had a wrapping room in a couple of my houses.  Don't judge.)  I still go a little crazy with my wrapping.  There's always a theme.  Only specific colors are allowed under my tree. And blue is NOT one of them.  At the moment, green isn't either.  All of the presents match. Yes, I'm a freak.  But I'm perfectly okay with that.


This year, I will have all but one of my kids (including 2 more we've picked up along the way) home for Christmas.  I sewed all new stockings and a new Christmas quilt, put up 3 trees, hung garland along all of the banisters, had my honey set up the village and hang the lights outside, baked everyone's favorites, shopped to within an inch of my wallet and spent DAYS wrapping a mountain of presents. I think I am ready.

Christmas 2011

To kick off the next few days of festivities, we will go to my cousin/BFF's house for a Mexican Fiesta.  Since I refuse to trek all over God's Creation on my favorite day of the year, this will be the only "big" family Christmas celebration we attend.   We will eat ourselves into an oblivion, drink some winter sangria, watch the kids exchange their presents and just generally enjoy each other's company.  Tonight, I will probably hear endless pleas to "open just one gift" from my 2 youngest boys. My youngest will get the usual plate of cookies and milk ready for Santa and put carrots out for the reindeer.  After everyone goes to bed, my honey and I will probably make 20 trips each, up and down 2 flights of stairs, to bring all of the presents up.  And literally FILL the living room.  Sometime while we sleep, Santa will show up and add a few gifts of his own.

Christmas morning 2011

Tomorrow morning, I will probably start receiving texts from my youngest 2 kids (11 and 15) sometime around 6 a.m., asking if they can come out of their rooms.  I'll try to hold them off till at least 7:00.  8:00 would be better but I'll probably get 6:30.  When I finally relent, they'll get the other kids up and sit on the stairs for the annual "Christmas Morning on the stairs picture".  Once that's done, I'll un-cage the animals and chaos will erupt.  They will descend on the tree like vultures.  Not to get to the presents, but to find the pickle.  Whoever finds that coveted ornament on the tree, gets a special present.  (My daughter is the one to beat at this game.)  When we finally get to open our presents, it's not a free-for-all.  I never understood the concept of letting the kids rip through all of the presents at the same time.  No one gets to see what you got, the gift giver doesn't get to see the reaction, and Christmas is over in mere minutes.  No way.  Not at this house.  Christmas morning only comes once a year.  It should be cherished.  It should be stretched out for as long as it can be.  We take our time and open one gift at a time. Somewhere in the middle we take a break, have breakfast and then go back to unwrapping afterword.  My Mom and her boyfriend will come over in the afternoon for dinner and more presents and the rest of the day will be spent playing with all of our new "toys".

The Great Pickle Hunt 2011

The Victor....again.

My 2nd oldest son and his Fiancee' will arrive sometime late tomorrow night, so we'll have another round the day after Christmas.  And then we get to keep them until the New Years Day.  I'm so excited I can't wait.   A full week of family time with no interruptions.  No school or work for anyone.  Just hours upon hours to spend with the ones I love and create more memories.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Merry Christmas

Halloween Love

Let me first start off this post by saying this;  I have THE GREATEST Husband.  Sorry ladies, but that's a fact.  There is no one out there that could possibly measure up to the man that I somehow managed to catch the eye of.  Period.  I am incredibly lucky and spoiled beyond comprehension...and I know it.  Now let me explain one (out of a gazillion) reasons why I say this.  If I want something, he will literally move heaven and earth, or kill himself trying, to do it for me.

Many years ago, we lived in an AWESOME neighborhood.  The very definition of community.  It was a unique situation in that we weren't just neighbors, we were all very close friends that did a TON of stuff together.  Couples game nights, Sunday dinners, Girls trips, Guys golf and poker trips, Pool parties, New Years Eve parties, July 4th parties,  Easter egg hunts.  Whoever was in town, would all spend Thanksgiving together.  And oh, Halloween.  We would spend months getting all of the pieces for our costumes (the adults....not the kids) in preparation for the annual Halloween Party, two weekends before Halloween.  Once that was over, the core group of us, would spend the rest of the month building and decorating a haunted house.  This was no ordinary, backyard, amateur haunted house.  Two huge tents filled with hallways and rooms.  It would take the guys days to frame the whole thing and the girls (3 of us) a week to decorate and fill the rooms with scary scenes.  Every year we would don our overalls (because they have umpteen pockets to hold supplies and are way comfy) grab our staple guns and pool our ideas from our hyper-actively creative minds to create some really cool effects.  We had a BLAST decorating together.  Have you ever tried to staple webbing to a ceiling while standing on a ladder and laughing your butt off?  I can't even begin to describe to you how precious those memories are or why it became my favorite time of the year, but it did.  I would look forward to it all year long. And then we had to move away.

The first Halloween we spent in Illinois, we actually flew back to Houston for the Halloween Party and my honey spent the whole next day building the walls of that year's haunted house.  But we had to fly back home before any of the decorating was started.  I was so sad.  Not just "aww, I miss that" kind of sad.  Miserably upset, kind of sad.  I missed my friends and our old life horribly.  I couldn't take part in the holiday in my usual form but I needed to do something, so I made our front yard into a graveyard.  I cut out tombstones and painted them to look like cracking stone.  I bought a small picket fence and made that look old and spooky.  My honey found some dead trees and braced them up so I could add moss and webs to them for additional effect.  It turned out pretty cool but it wasn't enough to appease my creative appetite.

The following year, either because he missed it too or he was tired of seeing me mope around, my amazingly wonderful husband said that he would build me a haunted house.  Not anything on the grand scale of the one we did in Houston.  A small one.  But that was fine with me.  Our kids were sooo excited.  However much building the HH was embedded into my memories, it was even more so for them.  They had grown up with it.  It had become a HUGE part of their childhood.  

The first year we did it all on our own was trying, to say the least.  We had nothing.  No lumber for the walls or a tent to go over it.  Not one blacklight.  The only decorations I had were the ones that I had contributed to the one in Houston, that for some reason didn't get stored with the rest of the boxes the previous year.  We were starting from scratch so yes...that year we spent a small fortune just to get it up and running.  My honey built the entire thing himself.  My second youngest son helped where he could but the bulk of it fell to his Dad. (He did get some new tools out of the deal though.  Very first purchase was a nail gun.)  Then it was up to my daughter and I to decorate the whole thing.  It wasn't the same as being down in Houston but that was okay.  We didn't realize it at the time, but we were beginning to make a whole new set of memories for our favorite time of year.  In the middle of the decorating phase, we had several nights of SEVERE storms.  There were times when I didn't know if we would ever actually get it open but we made it through.  No one in our new subdivision really knew what to think.  They had never experienced a neighborhood HH.  The first night we opened I was excited, nervous and proud.  What if they don't like it?   What if they think it's cheesy?  What if no one comes??  Yeah...THAT was wasted energy.  We were a very definite hit.  

After several years and a move to yet another state (but this time back home near family) we are still doing the HH every year.  Of course, like most things, it has grown and gotten bigger and better every year.  In addition to opening and running it, we have also started a new tradition.   Opening night is always the Saturday before Halloween.  That night we invite all of our family and friends up to our house.  Some of them are our actors that work in the HH.  We make tons of food, hot apple cider and hot chocolate.  While the fun is going on outside, there's a makeshift party going on inside as well.  I love that night because I get to share all of our hard work with the people who mean the most to me.  My kids have friends that work it and look forward to it every year now too.  We have new friends (well, actually old friends from way before we ever even lived in Houston) that help us out with some of it now.  We get to provide Halloween Memories to yet another neighborhood full of kids.  But absolutely NONE of this could ever happen without one specific person.  My amazing husband.

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No one could even begin to comprehend what all this man does, BY HIMSELF, to make this wish of mine come true every year.  It's just one of the never ending number of reasons why I am so totally in love with him.

It's All In The Genes

I am a history freak.  Not the American or World History kind.  Mention a war or a battle and my eyes will roll to the back of my head, right after they glaze over.  But if there is a story to be told about something from the past that concerns a person, house (or building), vehicle, piece of furniture or antiquities of just about any kind, I am ALL ears.  Going into an antique store is an absolute adventure as far as I'm concerned.  If all those objects could talk, I would sit and listen to their stories for days.  When I see sets of china or dining room tables, I envision the holiday dinners they have served.  Were they big and loud like my family is when we're all together or were they more quiet and reserved?  What conversations have they been privy to?  Were there any major life decisions made while sitting around that table?  When I see homemade quilts, I wonder about the hands that made them.  Were they pieced together by one or many?  For utility or pleasure?  What are the names of the people who have slept under them and what are their stories.  Houses are another obsession of mine.  Beautiful old "Painted Ladies", Georgians, Craftsmans or Bungalows.  It really doesn't matter what style.  They were built in a simpler time but with more craftsmanship in one door, than the houses built today have in their entire structure.  Real wood staircases complete with thick handcrafted newel posts and creaking stairs.  Hardwood floors that aren't pristine and polished to a shine, but wear their generations of battle scars proudly.  Each one of those scratches and gouges have a story that I would love to hear.  

As much as all of those anonymous items excite me, you can only imagine what happens when my own family history comes in to play.  Yes.  I am a Genealogy Junkie.  I have been a traditional "back to your roots" kind of person for as long as I can remember.  I value family above ALL else in this world, whether they are living or have already left this earth.  Even though I haven't met any of the people higher than about the 3rd branch of my family tree, I feel a distinct connection to them.  They are who I come from and I want to know their stories.  Each one of them have a birth date and a death date but that's not who they were.  There was a whole life in between those two entries.  I want to find out as much about that life as I can and record it so that I, and future generations, can know them as real people.

Back when the internet was still fairly new, Ancestry.Com was born.  As soon as I found out about the site, I joined.  Unfortunately, that was at the beginning of the digital age.  It didn't take too long to start running into walls.  You could input the information about the people you knew, but there was no documentation available, online at least, to speak of.  A marriage, birth, death, etc. could be entered but you would have to write a letter to the specific county (and pay) for a hard copy of that marriage/birth/death certificate.  Sometimes, you had to go there in person to fill out the form.  Not very conducive to filling out the branches of a family tree if you happen to live in a completely different county, much less state, than your ancestors did.  It could also get pretty costly, especially if you weren't completely sure about a name or date and needed several records for verification.  Needless to say, for the most part, I gave up.  

A few years later during a move, my Grandma came across a family bible that had several generations of people written in it.  That peaked my interest again, so I had her type all of the information out with names and dates.  She even gave me some original photos of a few of them.  I got back on my Ancestry account, but again started running into walls.  I got a little further than the first time but not much.  At that time my kids, and life in general, were keeping me extremely busy.  I put my research away once more, with the promise to pull it out when I could give it the attention it deserved.

Yep.  That time is now.  With my daughter attending the same college that many of my family members went to, in the same town that a good portion of my family lived, it was really only a matter of time.  The spark was ignited again, providing the perfect segue into my latest addiction.  (To which I lose HOURS of my day.)  

One day a few weeks ago, I gathered my coffee and my family history folder and logged onto my Ancestry account.  Right away, I knew this time would be different.  Somewhere along the way, my meager little tree that I had started years ago was deleted.  When I started rebuilding it, I was amazed.  I'm sure you've seen the commercials for Ancestry.Com where they talk about all the little "leaves" that pop up over a name when there is information on that person.  Holy Mother of All Jackpots!!  There were so many leaves waving at me, I didn't know where to click first.  I couldn't even begin to contain my excitement!  By the end of 2 weeks, I had added over 265 people to my tree.  I can tell you the name of my 5th Great Grandmother on my Grandma's side, and my 8th Great Grandmother on my Grandpa's side.  That is 10 generations including me.  10!!!  11 when you factor in my children.  But here is where it gets even more fascinating.  When I clicked on my Great Grandfather's leaf, there were photos attached to his name.  One of the photos was a family portrait that was taken (sometime before he was married in 1908) of he, his brother, his sisters and his father. I have the original in my possession so you can imagine how awestruck I was to see it floating around on the internet.  There was one of him inside the General Store that he owned. Another of he and my Great Grandma.  There was a picture of HIS Father and Grandfather.  And this was just the tip of the ice burg.  Marriage certificates and birth certificates and yearbook photos and newspaper articles.  The list goes on and on.  When I sit down to the computer these days, I enter a time warp and usually walk away hours later with a brain that is complete mush and a headache.  But I go right back to it the next day because I haven't even begun to scratch the surface.  Such is the life of an addict.  If there is an "Ancestry Anonymous" group, I don't want to know about it just yet.  But if I disappear for days at a time, someone should come check on me.  Or at least bring me more coffee. And maybe some Ibuprofen.  

My Great Grandfather, John L Wright (bottom left), his Father, Brother and Sisters

A Family Filled Weekend

This past weekend was pretty great.  It was Family Weekend.  Yes, that's the name that my daughter's University gave it, but for us, it really was a "family weekend".  Let me explain why....

My daughter is attending the same college that my Grandmother and Grandfather both graduated from.  In addition to them, I have several Aunts and Uncles that graduated from there as well.  It's a beautiful little campus, located in a small town in Kansas.  The same town that my Grandparents grew up in.  Sadly, we don't have any relatives living there anymore, but we did for almost 100 years.  My Great Grandmother lived in the same house from the time she got married at 19, until the day she died at 92.  She gave birth to all three of her children in that house.  (I can't even imagine.  In my married life, I've never even lived in the same house for 5 years.)  They owned various businesses in the town and she ran her own drapery business out of her house, for decades.  I spent tons of time in this town as a little girl and have very fond memories of it.  Even though I've never lived there myself, I have always felt a very strong connection to it.  So I LOVE that my daughter chose this school for herself.  (Although, as I've said before, she shares my love for all things "family", so it only makes sense that she would go there.)

This was the first time that my boys have ever been to the campus, or even the town that it's in.  I showed them a few places that are part of their "history", as well as visited the cemetery where a couple of generations of our family are buried.  As we put flowers at several of the grave sites, I was touched by how interested the boys were.  They have never met any of these people. All they have are my stories from either my childhood or the ones that I've been told and are now passing on to them.  As I watched them help me with the flowers and while my 14yr old was busy cleaning off grass clippings from all of the surrounding graves, I realized, they feel the connection too.

One of the things that we do every visit, is eat at one of the local chicken places.  My family has been eating at this same restaurant since my Mom was 6 yrs old.  I have memories of my ENTIRE family going there for Sunday Dinner.  Serious comfort food.  Some of the best fried chicken you've ever eaten.  (They were even featured on Food Wars a few years back)  Walking into that building is like walking back in time.  I'm pretty sure not one thing has changed as far back as I can remember.  What a wonderfully nostalgic feeling.  To be able to take my children to a restaurant that I used to go to with my Great Grandma, and have them see it exactly as I saw it at their same ages, is incredibly heartwarming to me. 

When my daughter and I did our first college visit to PSU, we stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast and immediately fell in love with it.  The house was built at the turn of the last century and is just beautiful.  The owner is so sweet and welcoming, it feels more like you're visiting a long time friend.  Needless to say, it has become my home away from home, anytime we do an overnight trip.  This was the first time that my boys have ever stayed in a B&B and they both absolutely loved it.  The owner, Miss Sherri, has candy bowls scattered all over the house. (Just like my Grandma always has, my entire life.)  There's a sunroom over the port a cochere, that has a table filled with various flavors of coffees and teas for the guests to enjoy while they read or visit.  My 11 yr old is a coffee drinker and both are HUGE tea drinkers, so of course they loved that they could make a cup whenever they wanted.  (Not that they don't do that at home but for some reason, and I have to agree with them, it's just more fun when you're on a trip)  There's a Grandfather clock that goes off every 15 minutes that my youngest was completely intrigued by.  He thought they were church bells at first.  The house has a gorgeous front porch that runs the entire width of the house complete with rocking chairs and a porch swing.  Heaven.  We all enjoyed our morning coffee out there before our breakfast was served.  And ohhhh, the breakfast.  As if it was even possible, my boys fell even deeper in love with the whole experience once we sat down to the table.  Little yogurt parfaits, any flavor pancake they wanted, fruit, sausage, and the best maple syrup baked bacon you've ever eaten.  Even the coffee is better there.

The Himmel House

During the day Saturday, my Mom and her boyfriend joined us for the family weekend festivities.  She got to see Punk's dorm room for the first time and meet her roommate, who is awesome by the way.  We all ate lunch in the university's Dining Hall. (which is usually VERY good, with lots of choices but not that day for some reason)  We walked all over the campus. Mind you, the very same campus where almost 75 years before,my Grandma and Grandpa would meet up between classes for a quick kiss and then race to the next one before they were late.  It gave me chills to watch my daughter and her fiancee' walking on those same paths together.  We ended up at the football stadium with all of the tailgaters.   Since I brought down a trunk load of food and supplies for Punk, we didn't have room to bring any tailgate necessities.  There's a gorgeous little lake next to the stadium where all of the pre-game festivities take place so we found a place to sit and visit while we watched all the activity.  The PSU Gorillas were the Division II Football champions last year and this year is looking just as promising.  The game was completely sold out before we could get tickets so we didn't get to see it, but we listened to it on the radio as we drove home.  They kicked ass.  Before the first quarter was even over the score was 49-3.  Obviously, we won.

Me and My Punk

One would think that since school has already been in session for over a month, and we already left her once before, that saying good bye this time would be easier.  Not so.  It was twice as hard.  Probably because I know what to expect now.  I know what it's like to not have her home all the time whereas before, I could only guess.  I also know that, unless I can come up with a different plan, I'm not going to see her for over a month this time.  Ugh.  I've decided I'm not a fan of  this new chapter of my life where my kids leave the nest.  The only thing that makes it better is that every day that passes, is one day closer to having them all living near me again with families of their own.  Now that's a chapter I'm going to LOVE. 

Hoodies and Apples and Pumpkin Lattes, Oh My!

I have been in the midst of a full blown love affair with Fall, as far back as I can remember.  It's my very favorite time of the year.  It probably stems from the fact that my birthday is in October.  As a child, my parents and I, along with the friend of my choice, would celebrate it by going to the local amusement park each year.  The air was usually crisp and the park was always decorated with thousands of mums in the beautiful autumn colors of deep purple, reds, golds and burnt orange. Pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and hay bales were scattered among all of the rides and attractions.  Of course, that distinct "smell" of Fall was always present.  I love those memories.

Through the years, my love for Fall has never waned.  In fact, it has grown tenfold.  I am a HUGE proponent of family traditions.    No other season, at least in our family, holds more of those precious traditions.  Apple picking, going to the pumpkin patch, all of the fall baking that I do, football games (high school, now college, and pro games on Sundays), our haunted house that we build every year for the neighborhood kids, the HUGE Thanksgiving dinner that we host every year.  The list goes on and on.  As I write this I am seeing material for quite a few blog posts in my head, so I guess you will get to experience a few of these right along with my Crew.  

This weekend, although a few weeks shy of the official first day of Fall, has been the picture perfect kickoff to the season.  Absolutely GORGEOUS weather and the opening weekend of College and NFL football have completely switched my gears from Bikini/Boating season to Hoodie/Boot/Pumpkin Latte season.  And there is NOTHING in this world like putting on your favorite pair of jeans, slipping your feet into perfectly broken in boots and pulling that "world's softest material with the name of the only football team worth rooting for" Hoodie over your head.  Ahhh...pure bliss.

Usually, we have friends over on the first official NFL game day but not this year.  Today, it's just me, my honey and our 2 youngest boys.  (All rooting for different teams, btw.  We get all of our money's worth from NFL Sunday ticket in this house.)  I think I'll spend the day in my kitchen baking up something scrumptious in the Pumpkin department while I watch the game and listen to Pandora.  I believe a country station fits the bill today.  I'm off to make a pumpkin latte.  Happy first weekend of Fall....At least in this house. 

Yummo... Might be on the baking list today.

I Knew I Shouldn't Have Blinked.....

I have no idea how this happened.  Just yesterday, my kids were little.  Yet, today...somehow, I have three full grown adult children (each in a different state, with an ocean separating us from one of them) and two more growing up, very rapidly, behind them.

Before my youngest was even born.

This weekend my only daughter, and best friend, got engaged.  It's a very surreal feeling when you see a "grown up" beautiful diamond ring on the finger of your precious baby girl.  On one hand, it seems so foreign.  How can she possibly know what she wants for the rest of her life, at such a young age?  On the other, I know her.  I have known almost since the moment she was born, that she is way beyond her years.  If you've ever heard the term "old soul", that's exactly what she is.  It was a struggle at times for her growing up, because she preferred adults to kids her own age.  Her eyes are filled with a wisdom and knowledge that most 40 year olds don't possess.  I always say she's been "older" than me for a very long time.  This is why we are best friends.  She has never really been a "child".  Ask anyone who has known her since she was little and they will absolutely agree.  So it only stands to reason that at not quite 19 years old, she would not only know who she wants to marry, but have a plan for the next few years leading up to that marriage.

1997

2011

Enter, the new Fiancee'.  (wow, that sounds weird)  We love him.  He is the perfect match to my daughter.  They compliment each other beautifully.  He is completely in love with and devoted to her in every way, and anyone who sees them together will agree.  He treats her with the respect that any parent prays for their child to receive.  He is also wise beyond his years and knows she is exactly who he wants to spend his life with.  Before getting down on one knee, he did what generations of men before him have done.  He was nervous as Hell, but like any true southern boy knows, there is only one way to put a ring on a girl's finger.  By asking her Daddy's permission.  Once that was granted, he presented her with his Great Grandma's ring.  Nothing could have been more perfect for my daughter, who values family above ALL else.

I am so impressed by the way that they are handling this.  They are young but not stupid.  They realize that this is not something to be taken lightly or rushed into.  They want to be taken seriously and not end up like most of the other couples out there that rush off and get married without a thought of what happens after they say "I do".  They recognize the importance of a college degree.  They understand that once they are joined together in the eyes of the law, they have to somehow support themselves and begin building the life that they want to live.  (Not to mention the fact that they would like to enjoy their first toast as Man and Wife with Champagne, rather than sparkling cider.)  Therefore, this will be a several year engagement.  This will give them the time to plan their lives as well as get to know each other that much better.  They don't have an easy road ahead of them for the next few years and the odds are, sadly, not with them.  My hope is that they beat the odds and go on to live a very full and happy life together.   And give me Grandbabies to spoil!!!!

The Happy Couple

FINALLY, a Plan Comes Together

Steamboat Springs, Co.

For awhile now, three of my girlfriends from high school and I, have thrown around the idea of meeting in Steamboat Springs for a long weekend.  After years of talking about it but never actually being able to agree on a weekend, we have a girls trip planned!   I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! 4 nights and 5 days of uninterrupted "girl time" which is sure to include many walks down memory lane, endless shopping excursions, rock hard abs by the end of the trip from the HOURS of laughing, relaxation from a day at the spa, and of course, a little drunken debauchery.  Total bliss.

Hot Springs that we are TOTALLY going to.

Isn't it funny the bond we have with friends from high school?  No other time (at least in my life) is quite like it.  I only spent 3 years at the school that I graduated from but in those 3 short years, I made some of the closest friendships of my life.  After graduation, we all went our separate ways.  I only stayed in contact with a couple of people.  I would go back for a visit every now and then but most people were gone, living their lives elsewhere.  My 10 year reunion and a little site called MySpace both happened around the same time.  I reconnected with quite a few people through both.  Then Facebook came along and I found TONS of people.  The think what struck me the most was that the people I went to high school with were the ones who were always there for each other. There was this unspoken bond between all of us.  Granted, we were spread all over the country by then, but regardless of geography, we were able to rekindle our friendships.  By the time our 20 year reunion came, we all felt like we saw each other every day.  We knew all about each others kids', husbands, jobs and interests because we were able to see it all through our Facebook pages.  Now, again because of Facebook, I get to go on a girls trip with 3 girls that I have known for over half of my life but haven't seen in over 20 years, 17 years and 2 years.  That is an amazing thing.

So, I'm adding a countdown clock to my blog so I can watch it sloooowly go down.  It took years to plan so one would think that another few months wouldn't be too hard.  No so.  
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Perfection is the Enemy of Completion

I created this blog about, oh...4 months ago.  Yes.  This is my first entry.  Why?  Because not only am I the queen of procrastination, I'm also a part time perfectionist.  (I say "part time" because I can be sitting in the midst of chaos with clutter all around me, but if the project I'm working on isn't done, I don't see any of it.)  Where the "perfectionist" part comes in, with regards to being a procrastinator, is this: if I can't see the complete end result in my mind, I'll never start.  Period.  I am a very creative person.  If I want something, I usually figure out a way to make it instead of buying it.  I will spend hours, days, weeks, even sometimes months, planning, buying materials, organizing it all, but if I don't have every single piece of it figured out, I'll never start the project.  Ridiculous.  I know.

 I'm new to blogging.  The whole thing is intimidating to me.  Why would I want to write something that will just be critiqued?  Who would want to read something I have written in the first place?  Then there's the technological side of it.  (I was one of the original "My Space" freaks.  HOURS of work went into that page with all the cool slide shows and banners.  But since Facebook took over, I got away from it all because you can be lazy on that site.)  Is this blog layout the same principal?  I feel like I should take a class or something.  I was sure I could figure it all out but then there was a new problem.   I couldn't see how the entire page would look once it was done.  I didn't know which direction this blog should take.  Should it be a jewelry making blog?  A home decor/DIY blog?  A cooking blog? (all things I do on a very regular basis) Or should it just be a place where I ramble on about what I think is important and everyone else be damned?  Somewhere along the way, I came across this saying: 

"Perfection is the enemy of completion." 

So, fast-forward 4 long months to today.  I still have no idea which direction it should take.  And I still have absolutely NO IDEA how to navigate it all and put all the cool things up that I see on everyone else's blogs, but I finally just said screw it.  I'm not putting it off any longer.  

Soooo, here I am.  My name is Tracye.  I'm married to the love of my life.  Together we have 5 amazing kids, and 4 more of the four-legged "rescued" variety.  I've been a stay-at-home Mom for the past 18 years and wouldn't change it for the world.  Now that my kids are leaving the nest one by one and I only have 2 left at home, I find myself with more time on my hands than I've ever had.  Someday I will figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  Until then, I'll just plan thousands of projects and (hopefully) actually start on a couple.  Then maybe I'll write about it on here.  Or, I'll just bore you with my ramblings.  Either way, I actually started something without a plan.  Yay me!