Remembering You...

My mom went to be with the Lord six years ago yesterday. There's more than an enormous place in my heart soley reserved for my "mama". At times it feels like just yesterday I was laying my head in her lap so she could gently stroke my hair, b/c she knew that's what soothed me. However, other times it feels like an eternity that I was able to hug her and tell her how much I loved her.

She loved the little things in life, it never took much to make her happy. Just an outing to a grocery store with me would brighten her day (to this day, I wish I had indulged her just a bit more). She loved cooking amazing meals, she poured immense amounts of love into it. She adored time spent with just the four of us, family time was so important. She also relished the time spent with her sister and niece, and those were my best memories! Jen, her niece, had such a special place in her heart; as they were two of a kind!!! My Aunt was not only her sister, but her best friend and she misses her so much!

With every fiber of her being she loved and nurtured my sister and I. She sacrificed so much for us that words can't even describe. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her and miss her immensely. As I just said to someone the other day, until I am reunited with her again, all I can do is pray that I see her beautiful face in my dreams.

I love you mom...

Jeromy's Grandfather

Jeromy's Grandfather (Daddy Bill) passed away on Saturday. He passed unexpectedly, but quickly, of a massive heart attack. Sadly, he had to have his leg amputated months ago and it was not only difficult for the family, but so incredibly hard on him. Daddy Bill was such a strong man and hardly let on of his pain and suffering! He always seemed to have a warm smile on his face and something funny to say, and he was such a loving man. As the matriarch of the family, this was a hard loss to take for his children and grandchildren, but as we are assured, he is being welcomed into Heaven. He is healthy, happy and glorifying our Lord as we speak! He lived a long, happy life and adored his wife and family. He will be sorely missed and never forgotten!

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" John 14:1-3

Tagged....

Hmmm...Ok, here we go, some good some bad!

1. I love old people, I am picky about this though! Most are so incredibly precious, and all I want to do is hug them!!!

2. Speaking of hugs (Ashley), I can't stand when someone hugs me so lightly you barely feel it...you know, they've got their butt sticking so far out that you think they think you have some sort of disease! If you're gonna hug someone, MAKE IT WORTH IT!!! I will call most people out on this too...so beware :)

3. Jeromy won't like that I posted this, but here it goes. I met Jeromy when he was working at Texas Roadhouse through college and I was managing. He was dating a girl that also worked there, whom I did know and like. First, let me just put this out there...Jeromy is very full of himself, and he used to think he was a gift to women (not a huge surprise to anyone that knows him). Well, while he was dating her and being so, um what's the word??? SMUG (love ya babe)...he so "smuggly" asked me to come hang out with him and his friends in a hot tub! I pretty much laughed at him and declined! Well, that was about 2 years before he actually, formerly, asked me out. So, I guess he knew what he wanted from the "get go" :)

4. I am 4 years older than Jeromy. FOUR VERY BIG, LARGE, ENORMOUS, GINORMOUS years OLDER...and I'm reminded of this regularly :) I don't feel older and I'm told all the time that I don't look a day over 24ish, so THERE!!!

5. I don't like talking on the phone. I'm terrible at answering calls, returning calls or just plain calling people. I ADMIT IT!!! (some of you are nodding in agreeance right now)

6. I pierced my tongue when I was like 21 or 22! At the time, my best friend and I thought it would be the "cool" thing to do. Another fact about me is that I have an EXTREMELY LOW tolerance for pain, so don't ask what prompted me to want to pierce my tongue! An interesting side note: it actually didn't hurt! (yea, I know, how in the world will I be able to give birth? not letting my mind wonder there yet!)

7. I wish I was taller, I'm scared of getting old and wrinkley, I wish so bad my husband would "baby" me, I want to see a Broadway show and a Nascar race soooo bad, I can't wait to have babies, I'm terrified of gaining weight (hopefully that doesn't make me sound vain, cause I'm really not), I love to shop, I want the fairytale, I don't like my job b/c I'm not reaching my full potential (hence the fact that I can write this blog WHILE I'm working!!!)....ok, gotta get back to work :)

And, I don't have anyone to tag :( But, thankyou Katrina for tagging me!!!

Bare Minimum...Newlywed Style!

So, after fixing some yummy hot chocolate for my hubs (well, after he brought down all the Christmas "stuff" from the attic, he DID help)...I decided to decorate our pitiful Christmas tree.

Now, I'm not going to diss it that bad b/c my Patti got it for us on our first Christmas...and we are grateful for that. But, this year after decorating the Christmas tree and setting out our very minimal knick-knacks, I had to laugh.

Here it is!!! Cute but pitiful...I think it's leaning. What do you think???

And, here are a few of our decorations...and as you can see, it "ain't" much! So newlywed"ish" of us!

I'm holding back until we can sell our townhome (which may be sometime around 2022???), to invest in more Christmas decorations! So until then, we will settle for this.

Oh, and check out how cute I was when I was only 3 years old!!! Not humble at all ;) Little blurry, but you get the picture!

Two Little Elves....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Quick trip BACK to Florida...

We went to Orlando this year for Thanksgiving. This was the first year celebrating Thanksgiving without my Grandmother. She passed away last February, so it was particularly hard on us and especially my Grandfather. Her presence was certainly missed...her running around preparing things, snipping at people to get out of her way, breaking out in a sweat...so I had the pleasure of taking on that role this year! We all know by now that I don't cook, BUT I can surely throw a casserole together. My sister prepared most of the casseroles, and then she was out like a fat kid in dodge ball...leaving the rest for me. You know, all the timing of the casseroles, turkey, biscuits...and then setting the table and the hour of clean up, while everyone kicked back! Ya'll would have been so proud of me :) Jero would not appreciate me bragging about my Thanksgiving day accomplishments. His thoughts are, "Don't do it and gloat about it, just do it!" Well I say, the heck with that I worked my little bootie off! ***Taking a bow***

So, onto the airplane "drama"! I bought Kamden one of those CHEAPLY made, but not so CHEAPLY priced, remote control airplanes. Well, if ya'll didn't know already, I'm married to a big kid who just HAD to try it out first...and guess where it landed??? Oh YES, you guessed right...THE ROOF!!!

So, we came across this ladder. This picture doesn't do much justice in showing how very SHORT this ladder actually was! I didn't get a lot of pictures of Jero trying his very best to get on the roof with this stunted ladder...but, lets just say it was HILARIOUS watching him try!

So funny that my sister was in tears! This picture, also, does no justice in expressing how hard she was laughing...it was just one of those "moments", laughing till you cry-there's nothing better than that! I, however, didn't find it quite as funny as I was envisioning an impending hospital visit!

Low and behold, he made it up there (after discovering a much taller ladder, thanks to Gramps).

Kamden was sooo upset that he couldn't bare to watch!!! I'm not sure if he was upset for Jero or for his plane???

What a hero Jeromy was!!! We wouldn't be making that mistake again!

Yes, there is that tall ladder we needed so badly...worked much better :)

And there is our Happy Camper!!! No damage to the plane OR Jeromy...thank heavens!!!

Just us girls!

It was such a wonderful visit that I am very grateful for! I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!!! Christmas is on it's way...YAY!

The ABC's About Me...

A--Attached or Single: Attached...MARRIED!

B--Best Friend(s): My husband, sister and cousin

C--Cake or Pie: Um, cake!

D--Day of Choice: Most definitely Saturdays!!!

E--Essential Item: My devotional prayer book

F--Favorite Food: Mexican & Italian

G--Greatest Joy: My family

H--Hometown: Asheville

I--Indulgences: Clothes shopping!!!!

J--January or July: JULY!!! I LOVE summer!

K--Kids: None YET...does my husband count?

L--Life is Incomplete Without: My faith & salvation, second to that is my FAMILY!

M--Marriage Date: October 20th, 2007

N--Number of Siblings: 1 Great Sister

O--Oranges or Apples: Love 'em both equally!

P--Phobias: Heights....YIKES!!!

Q--Quotes: "It's not WHAT you do, it's how much LOVE you put into it that matters" Mother Teresa

R--Reason to Smile: Most definitely all the little things in life that we take for granted...I'm blessed in sooo many countless ways!

S--Season: Summer...doesn't get any better. I'd say winter just for the Christmas season, but I hate the cold!

T--Tag 5 Friends: I don't have 5 friends to tag....sad huh?

U--Unknown Facts About Me: I'm actually a little shy, believe it or not! I think if someone were to describe me, shy wouldn't be in their description.

V--Very Favorite Store(s): Old Navy, Gap, Ann Taylor, Charlotte Russe

W--Worst Habit: Sucking my thumb (I personally don't think that's "bad", but my husband does!)

X--X-ray or Ultra Sound: Funny question...I've never had either

Y--Your Favorite Movie: Steele Magnolias "Don't talk about me like I'm not here"

Z--Zodiac Sign: Taurus