Halloween........

apparently, there will be plenty of candy left

this is not good

not good at all

later............

Purple chair..

just a purple chair

later........

Rock on....

The Home Goods store opened in our area last weekend.

I went by there Tuesday evening

oh my....I've never seen so many things I wanted all in one place

and this is my first purchase....

rock on....

Roller coaster......

Yesterday my nephew married a beautiful girl....in a beautiful ceremony.
I could not be happier as my nephew has been through a lot and we are so very proud of him.

I knew it would be emotional but wasn't quite prepared for the roller coaster of emotions that I went through.....along with most everyone else in our family.

You see, my nephew's mom passed away 3 years ago from a brain tumor. She was my husband's baby sister....and my SIL. And she was my very best friend in the whole wide world. I miss her so much and I know people say time heals. It heals the hurt but not the missing part. I miss her more now than ever.

and yesterday.....we all missed her a lot. She should have been there. She should have been able to see her only son be married.

The tears started for me on Friday at the rehearsal.......then onto the rehearsal dinner. And when the wedding started and the wedding was dedicated to her memory, the tears flowed. They flowed for sadness that she wasn't there, sadness that my nephew didn't have his mom with him.....but also tears for how happy and in love my nephew is.....and tears for how proud we all are of everything he has become....and tears for his new relationship with God.

a roller coaster.....

later......

Haircut...

got a haircut tonight

sporting some bangs now

pics later.......maybe

later........

Good times in the mountains...

we had a great time yesterday in Charlottesville...picking apples. Except that the orchards had been pretty picked over! Still fun...then went over to the downtown historic mall. Walked around and then went out to lunch. The weather did fine for us and really, after hiking up mountains, it wasn't even that cold.

so here ya go....picture overload!

later.....

Apples....

It's apple pickin time here in Virginia.
we are heading up to Carters Mountain in Charlottesville tomorrow morning.
the high in Ch'ville tomorrow will be 49
meaning on the mountain, it will feel more like 39
oh well......there will be hot apple cider and fresh homemade doughnuts!
hope to have some good pics to post

later......

Halloween banner.....

I finished my Halloween banner and it's hanging in the kitchen. I just love making these. I also made them for Nicole and Jacquelyn.

later......

A rare picture...

it's rare to see any pictures of Johhny boy and I together.......because I'm always the one taking the picture!

and I had forgotten that when we were last at the beach in September some guy stopped on the beach and asked if we wanted our pic taken together. I usually am a little weary of that...haha....I'm so afraid someone will take off running with my camera. She's my side kick and I would be devasted if something happen to her. But this guy was old like us so I figured it was safe.

later.....

Cooking on a Saturday....

I made croutons. The first batch I tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and Italitan seasoning and they are yummy.

the 2nd batch I tossed with butter and seasoning salt. These are ok...a little too salty.

Then I baked a Lemon cornmeal pound cake.......with a lemon sugar glaze. Oh my! I had to cut a piece while still warm.......and I even licked the plate. Yes I did.

later.......

Here's what I don't understand.....

how come the vaccination for the H1N1 was developed, approved and distributed so fast but yet other times, things take forever to get approval.

I just don't understand that.......

later......

First photo shoot....

I did my first photo shoot

it's my nephew's engagement pics

I had a lot of fun and took a mega amount of pics

here's a few.

later.......

A good weekend.....

I just had the best weekend and it was all because I got to spend it with my hubby!

as I've mentioned before, he pretty much works all of the time! no kidding....7 days a week. It's not unusual for him to work 25 to 30 days straight with no time off. So when a weekend rolls around that he is off, I am one happy ole gal!

I took Friday off becuase my house being out of order was starting to put me in such a bad mood that I was snapping at everyone. I spent the day getting the rooms back together from getting the floors re-done. Then I cleaned and did all of the laundry.....whew! Tired does not even begin to describe how I felt.

Johnny did work 2nd shift on Saturday but that was ok......spending part of the day together was better than none. So we got up on Sat morning and walked up to Mountain Road for the Glen Allen Day parade. Parked ourselves on the curb and watched the sweetest parade. We had the high school band, churches, karate club and tons of old cars. I have to say...the 69 Camaro was one of the favs. And the color.....yum! Think small town.........I loved it!

Then we went up to Ashland to the pumpkin patch.....bought some pumpkins and mums for the front porch. Next up, Sam's Club. Did a little stocking up and they still had their awesome deal on roses......10 for $5.98. I bought 10 red ones and 10 white ones!

Johnny had to leave for work at 2:00..........then my nephew and his fiance came over and we headed out to do their engagement pics. What fun!

Sunday Johnny was off work and he cooked breakfast for me and little Chrissy girl....she loves her bacon and eggs! We drove over to see Jacq and Bucky's house with the new roof, new siding, new shutters.......lots of new stuff. It looks great.

Then it was baby back ribs in the oven for all day cooking and settling in for some football.

the only thing that ruined the weekend was the Cowboys losing to Denver. It's tough being a Cowboys fan but I'll hang in there with em........just good grief, can we at least get it together a little bit!

later...........

Any suggestions please......

When my MIL passed away year ago and my husband and his sister's cleaned out her house, they found all of this mis-matched silver. My in-laws used to love to go to yard sales and try to find good silver and old coins.

these silver pieces are beautiful but I just don't know what to do with them. I've been cleaning the pices up...........I have a bunch just in a glass ice bucket. And see that pic of the 2 pieces....what in the world is that one piece? I think the other is maybe for tea bags but not sure of that either.

anyone have any suggestions on how I could display these beautiful pieces?

later.............