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.......

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......

My babies ....

my fur babies

Bella Boo and Pippa Lou

later.....

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.....

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....

and now we are bracing for hurricane Irene

well now, isn't this fun!

later...... 

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

http://www.jdeladesigns.com/

and at

http://www.jdeladesigns.blogspot.com/

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...

Maddox and Gabe ...

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

this is what I get.....



later...

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...

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.....

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........

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....



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.....

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.......

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.....