Saturday, August 27, 2011

Thank you ...

*I wrote this post on Aug 27, 2011.
I was going through my blog list looking for a certain post and noticed this as a "draft"...haha, I had never posted it. And because this is our family journal, I'm posting it now so it will be up.......so here goes........

I know the proper rules of etiquette are to thank your
out of town guest for attending an event
but for Jacquelyn's wedding.....everyone was from out of town!
So Johnny and I decided the best thing to do would be to thank
all of our guest
For so many people to travel out of town for the wedding
just meant the world to our family

We thought it would also be nice to include the group
picture that the photographer took of everyone from the pier

and again, that handy excel spreadsheet that we used throughout
the whole wedding planning came in handy for this
project too
I have almost finished them up and should be mailing them
out before this post....I hope!


later....

My husband ....


It's hard to believe that he had a stroke just 5 months ago
almost 100% recovered
still battling fatigue but they told us that could take up
to a year to recover from

he's looking great
and I love him so much!

later.......

Friday, August 26, 2011

Oh Irene......



first the earthquake, now the hurricane!

Hurricane Irene is getting ready to hit the Outer Banks of NC
as most folks who read my blog know.....I LOVE the Outer Banks!
that is where our daughter just got married
and that is where Johnny and I go as much as we can

So tonight I pray that Irene shows some mercy on the OBX

here in Richmond, local forecast are saying 20 to 40 mph winds tomorrow
2 to 4 inches of rain
then Sat night gust up to 60 mph
according to the NWS, Richmond is under a tropical storm warning

so Johnny and I have secured the deck and patio furniture
have put the large deck plants in the garage
guess we'll spend tomorrow "hunkered" down......

and maybe tomorrow I'll have some interesting pictures

later....

Painting ....

I helped Jacquelyn paint last weekend
she had one wall in her living room / dining room that is real wood
and it had a heavy coat of varnish on it
so a few weeks ago we sanded it all down
and this past weekend we painted it white
and even though we used paint that had primer in it
that real wood really drank up the paint..........it took 3 coats!
and in the background you can also see that the accent
wall in her living room is also being painted....navy blue
her new colors for her LR & DR are navy blue, white and lime green
here's a sneak peak of the wall

before

and after.....and that's Melissa smiling....she loves to paint!


I will post pictures later after she finishes all of her decorating

later......

Thursday, August 25, 2011

My babies ....

my fur babies
Bella Boo and Pippa Lou


later.....

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Snacks ....

In our kitchen we have 3 pantries
one is for all of the pots and pans and baking dishes
the other one is for food
and the 3rd one is referred to as the "snack pantry"
on the bottom shelf I do store my paper plates, aprons, place mats

but yes, the rest of the shelves are snacks
all while our kids were growing up, all of their friends loved the snack pantry
it's funny because sometimes when I run into those kids while out
they still will remark about the snack pantry
so it's well known.......haha!
and it's no wonder I cannot lose weight.......


later.....

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

EARTHQUAKE ...

today in Virginia, we had an earthquake
OMG.....AN EARTHQUAKE!!
it was 5.9.....wow

we do not have quakes in Virginia
well, little itty bitty ones that know one feels
a few years ago we had like a 3.0 that just trembled a little
but today...well, it shook it up good today
I was working from home sitting at the kitchen table
the house started shaking and my first though was....
hmmm, did I over load the washing machine!
except that I wasn't washing clothes
then I saw the kitchen chairs start moving around
then I realized......EARTHQUAKE!!!!
I grabbed the puppy and yelled for the other 2 dogs
and ran out the back door ... leaving the door open
standing out there, you could still hear my windows rattling...

then I realized all of the dogs in the neighborhood were going crazy
barking and howling
my own Chrissy girl was shaking
the puppy...she was clueless

it was scary to me

I don't know how people out in California do it
Connie - how do you do it??
scary....

East Coast quake

and now we are bracing for hurricane Irene
well now, isn't this fun!

later...... 

Monday, August 22, 2011

T-shirts

the hottest trend in t-shirts now are hand drawn designs
no more computer generated stuff
getting back to the basics and loving the art of ART!!

my son creates custom made t-shirts and he does all of his work by hand
he sketches his designs, uploads them to clean up the lines
and then has them silk screened onto high quality t-shirts

he does 3 designs per month
once those designs are sold out, they are retired
which makes them unique...kind of cool
check him out at
and at

you can also find him on Facebook




so support the arts.......check him out and give him
some "like" love on Facebook
and he's running a special now if you order 2 tees

and I thank you

later...

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Maddox and Gabe ...

Everytime I ask Maddox and Gabe to give me a funny face

this is what I get.....



later...

Friday, August 19, 2011

Happy Birthday ...

This one is a little late BUT.....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our daughter Nicole
she turned 29 on the 15th..what? no way...I'm that old?
haha

We are very proud of Nicole
and...she is the mother of our precious
grandson Maddox.
Long time readers know that Maddox is a special needs child
and Nicole has worked her butt off for that child

So a big ole shout out to NICOLE

we love you sweetie!!



later...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Recent read ...

No secret here ... I am a huge Aerosmith fan
have been since 1973
I have every album and every CD
they are my number one group and 2nd is Prince!

the very first book I downloaded to my new Kindle was
"Does the Noise in my Head bother you"
by Steven Tyler
I have always followed his life....not in a creeper way, haha
so there were no real surprises as far as his struggles go
I was a bit surprised about how he was in such awe of the other upcoming
musicians during that era.

Good book...of course I loved it!



later.....

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Family news ...

I promise other stuff has been going on and not just
wedding stuff and wedding pictures!
stuff like .....

  • A new puppy.....Miss Pippa Lou
A road trip to Eden, NC for my family reunion ...
this is the reunion on my mom's side of the family
she is the youngest of 13
and this one was special ...our 75th reunion!

on our way there, we ran into some smoke around South Boston, VA. this
is from the wild fires in the Great Dismal Swamp which is south of us.


and of course so much fun with my silly nieces



5 of the 13 left .... some good genes there!



early in July I did a photo shoot for Odessa rescue
I have always had a fear of large dogs so this one made me a little nervous
but there was no reason for that....these babies were so sweet and loving!


Johnny is recovering great from his March 17th stroke
as a matter of fact, some people have a hard time believing he even
had a stroke since he looks so great!


Summer is winding down
we are going to do one more trip to the beach and
one more trip to the Chesapeake Bay and then we are
done with traveling this year. We will "hunker" down for winter
cooking, football, crocheting, relaxing......
I have some goals I need to focus on
photography...need to find another class and need to work on building
up my portfolio a little more
I also am in the mode to do some decluttering. I want to simplify...and then simplify even more!
Long time readers know that I have sworn off of yard sales...did one, hated it, vowed to never do another. BUT....since I am decluttering, Johnny said he will have one. Oh goodness...here we go again!


My sweet niece Abbey graduated from high school and is now off to join her sister Mallory at Longwood University.
One more niece to graduate!
 
My sweet Bella Boo is still tearing up everything in sight!
 
 
even though it has been hot as all get out.....my plants and flowers
are thriving!

the squirrels are still driving Chrissy girl crazy!

so yeah, I'm running out of stuff to blog about
maybe I need a break from it
I'll work on trying to come up with some things and be back
at another time

later........

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

wedding photos ...

Our photographer provided us with 2,304 photos
wow...do you know how hard that is to pick out your favs
they are all my favs!!
these are some of the most beautiful to me ...








later....


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

want to see more ....

because I def have more to show
these are some of the fun photos of the wedding party




this one cracks me up! the girls were to be flirty, grabbing at the groom. Tonya, who is to the right is Bucky's sister so she was to act shocked at what they werre doing....so funny!




you know it ... more tomorrow

later.....

Monday, August 8, 2011

You know it ... more photos

more of my favorites ....





not sure what Jake and I were laughing at....but we sure were having fun



and yes, more tomorrow...

later.......

Sunday, August 7, 2011

More photos ...

and here are some more from the wedding......





Bucky's mom and I .... who through this whole wedding planning have
become the best of friends!


 what a miracle and a blessing that Johnny was able to walk
our daughter down the aisle!


later.....