We the people .....

I've been blogging for a very long time

I don't think I have ever put up a political post

but I just feel I want to document my thoughts on this day

January 20, 2017 when our 45th president will be sworn in

Isn't it amazing to think that this awesome day, this event in our

great country has only been done 45 times!

I will start this with something interesting.......I told Johnny

about 20 years ago that either Warren Buffet or Donald Trump

needs to be president of our country.

at the time, they both were democrats

I just believed politicians were no longer working for the people 

of the country and that we needed a businessman to run it.

And if he picked the right people for his cabinet, we would be

ok with foreign affairs. 

So now look at us, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in today

as the 45th president of the United States.

I have supported him from the beginning.

and not only because he is a smart businessman but because I

felt like he was doing this for his children and grandchildren.

I truly believe that he would not put his family through this

campaigning disaster if he didn't feel like he could make our

country better for the future. 

Is he the best choice, probably not, is he crass at times, oh yes

I can't even tell you how many times I cringed when he tweeted, debated,

interviewed......but it still did not sway me. I still do believe that he is there

to work for the American people. That is our problem, we have had

politicians and they do not work for us. They don't.....the do in the beginning

but then politics come in to play and things change.

I will say, I have voted Republican and Democrat in the past

I have tried to vote for the person and what their goals were

for the country. And really, none of them have lived up to my expectations

I do believe that Bill Clinton did pretty good his first 4 years

after that, no. And I believe Ronald Reagan did a good job.

There was no way I could have voted for Hillary. In my heart, I just

don't believe most of what she says. And I think the icing on the cake

turning me against her was Benghazi. I just don't know how as 

a woman, as a mother she could care less about our service men that

were killed. And the fact that she lied about it to the mothers

of those 4 men, that takes a cold heart. 

I thought about maybe I could vote for Rubio but then again, that would

have been 4 years of politicians kissing each others ass and getting

nothing done. So I decided that I needed to support a non-politician

People keep saying he needs to be more "presidential" and he needs 

to stop tweeting. I don't believe that, I think he is an American

who truly loves this country and wants to make it better and

safer for our future. I have grown children and 6 grandchildren so

that matters to me. He doesn't trust the media, he has 1,000

reasons not to trust them. I no longer trust them as they showed 

how they tried to control our thinking.

so President Trump, tweet away!!

I will be honest, I did not support Obama and I never really 

cared for him. I could say a lot of things but I'll only mention the one

thing that really bothered me about him. He promised to get our troops

out of Iraq. That was one of his big platforms

and his supporters were focused on that and preached it

to everyone who would listen. And even though it was Bush

who had signed the agreement to have the troops out by 2011 (?)

he failed to negotitate to keep enough troops in place. I felt like all

he wanted was to be able to say "I fulfilled my promise to get the troops out"

but at what cost......it enabled ISIS to then go in

(who was just forming)

and I'm sure everyone knows had we kept a strong presence over

there, ISIS would not have grown as they have

So I blame Bush and Obama for not protecting our country.

because truth be told, it is not safe

and we need someone to make it safe

Is it Donald Trump....I don't know but at least give someone

else a shot at it. Because as we know, Hillary would not have 

done it.... she would not have grown our military and she would not have protected our military. And if you do not have a strong military force, you don't have a lot of power to protect your country.

When Obama was elected both times I said I would support him

and I would respect him. And I did......maybe between Johnny and I or very

close friends we made jokes but in public, I did not say ugly things and did not make fun of him. I don't think that is the proper thing to do.

 I would not do that to any president and oh my, there have been

plenty that you could! So the things that go around about Trump from

adults that I know has been horrible. Like I can't believe that mature 

adults would say some of the things they say. But that's not my job to judge.

I think the worst thing I have seen through this entire election was

last night on the news, they were live interviewing protesters

there was a child, maybe 11 or 12 years old, it was 9:30 last night

so first thing I thought was why isn't this child at home in bed, it's a school night! Then the reporter asked him why did you set that fire in the street

the child replied "because I can"

and then the reporter asked something about why he was out there

and he replied "because Trump sucks"

you know what, no matter who you support that is sad....and yes

that is the worst thing ever. That child is our future and look what we

have done. So if you choose to go out and protest, which is all of our right to do that, please keep in mind, act as an adult, don't do and say foolish things.
let us keep things civil and respectful. If I went out and acted like a fool
at a protest, I would be terrified of my own children seeing me
act like that......haha!!

All I can say now is I hope as Americans we will support our new president

because hoping he fails as president is hoping our country fails

our people fail and our children fail

Let's try to support Donald Trump and give him a chance

let's act like adults and true Americans because the one ugly

thing that I will say is......if you don't love this country, then leave.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

later.....

Current favorite things ....

here are my current favorite things....

and they are simple things, I'm no Oprah!

I love the candle melts.....even better than burning candles

and it turns out my favorites are from Kohls

We are having a big snow today so this one is perfect

and smells so good

I love working puzzles

and I always wait until after Christmas is packed away

I've done so much cooking and entertaining during Christmas

that I know it will be a while before I'm hosting anything

so the table is free for working a puzzle

I LOVE "All Washed Up" jewelry

Johnny has bought me 2 of them in the past

one is the coordinates to the Outer Banks

and other is 3 ocean waves

So for Christmas, he was going to surprise me with 2 more except our

puppy Khaleesi found them first!

One was undamaged, 3 starfish

but the other one the blue stone was missing and the bar was

scratched up from her chewing on it. The chain was also broken

We sent it back and the wonderful owners repaired it and replaced

the stone. I got it back the other day.

I told Johnny "but you're my anchor"....haha

we decided we are each others anchor

Of course I have to put my new planner on my favorite list

I just love getting a new planner!

and really, I cannot live without this

with all of new technologies, I still like to have a paper copy

for my planning, appointments, vacation notes, birthdays, etc.

My manager gave me one of those new mini polaroid cameras

for Christmas. OMG....absoutely love that camera

and I takes pictures of folks as the come

over to visit and put them up on the kitchen hutch

I guess it might look a little tacky but I don't care, I think

it's fun! 

these are cleaning cloths from Norwex

when first introduced to these I thought wow, pretty expensive for some

cleaning cloths but now that I have used them, I can understand

why. I can't explain them on how they work but goodness, they are

awesome. The dusting mitt for example.....I can dust my TV stands and I

swear 2 days later they have dust on them again. I kind of figured that was 

because the electronics attract dust. Well now I use Norwex mitt and it was 

8 days later before there was dust on the stands!! So apparently all of these

years of dusting I was just scattering it around....haha

No matter what I used on the kitchen backsplash it was always 

looking streaky. Now with the window cloth, no more streaks!!

these cloths are amazing

and my last favorite thing....my hair! haha

I did like it short but now that I have decided to grow it out, I'm 

really loving it. I have gotten past the awkward, hard stage and

can now style it better. So it's my favorite right now....haha!!

so that's it for now....my current favorite things!!

later....

Christmas 2016 ....

I think every year I say we had the best Christmas ever

so this year is no different....best Christmas ever!

Though to be honest, it was also one of the hardest. Last year, not

having momma with us was really bad. And then this year

not having daddy with us....well, it just really sucks once 

both of your parents are gone. 

Johnny and I have so many traditions with our kids

we have kept all of the old ones and always adding

new ones. But this year, all of those traditions changed

and that's ok

we always knew it would happen and it was fine.

In the past, the kids all came over at once, it was loud

and crazy and wild and then it was done and they all left

So this year with our changes, it seemed to be more enjoyable

and lasted throughout the day 
But it was the first year since 1981 that we woke up with
no kids in our house so that was very weird

We woke early to go over to Jacquelyn's to watch the kids

see what Santa brought. 

after they opened presents we all had breakfast.

Jake and Kayce joined us 

this was Bucky and Jacquelyn's first time hosting breakfast

and they did such a great job and everything was delicious!

When we left there, Jake and Kayce came back to the house with us

they opened all of their gifts. 

Then we gathered up gifts and went to Tyler and Nicole's

what fun we had with all of the kids opening presents

We came back home and RESTED....showered

and did a little cooking

Then our brother-in-law Tommy came over

Jacquelyn and her crew came over
Nicole and her crew came too

and our niece and her boyfriend came

and we just really had a great day

Santa brought super hero costumes to Declan and Avery

Enjoying delicious breakfast of hash brown casserole, bacon, 

cinnamon buns, fresh fruit

Our 2 little princess'.....so sweet

later....

Our year in review....2016

JANUARY
We started the new year cleaning up

Christmas!

and then of course I became a weather fanatic watching and

waiting to hear the words I love......SNOW!

There was rumbles of the "big one" coming our way but 

we know how that always turns out, big disappointment

but not this time.....Jan 22nd it started snowing and it didn't

stop for a long time

by the next day, we had 15 inches with 18 to 20 inch snow drifts

and Jan 23rd our grandson John Thomas turned 2 years old

FEBRUARY

was a terrible month as we lost our sweet daddy only
17 months after losing our momma.
It was heartbreaking but yet we all knew he was ready
to go be with momma again. He struggled to breathe so we
all knew it ended his suffering. But never easy....and we all
miss him so badly. There is not one single day in my life now
that I do not think of momma and daddy

MARCH

March 8th another grandson, Declan Liam, turned 3 years old
We hung out with my little sister and her husband at the
Irish Festival and we celebrated Easter at our home
the weather was bad so had to have the egg hunt inside
Even though the weather was annoying, hiding eggs in the house
can still be interesting

I turned 60 years old!! OMG
And my sweetheart husband surprised me with
a party at Maggianos
My siblings, kids, grandkids and a few close friends were all
in on the surprise.
I still can't believe he pulled it off!

APRIL

My siblings and I continued with cleaning out Daddy's house....not
an easy nor fun task. Though we did run across many items
that brought back great memories and laughs.
Our middle child, Jacquelyn Diane, turned 29 years old
And we left for Myrtle Beach at the end of the month
to visit with our dear friends Glenda and Jerry

MAY

May 6th our son Jake turned 28 years old
our granddaughter Avery Grace turned 1 year old
Our son's fiancee celebrated her birthday on May 28th
It would have been our daddy's 83rd birthday on May 31st 
and Johnny and I celebrated 37 years of marriage.
just a big old month of celebrations!!

JUNE

My darling husband turned 63 years old on June 22nd
Our daughter Jacquelyn and her husband Bucky bought their first home
and right around the corner from us!!

We hosted an engagement party for our son 
Jake and his fiancee Kayce

JULY

As we do every year, we headed down to the Chesapeake Bay
to spend a week with Tommy and Joanne. By far our most relaxing
vacation each year. Just a beautiful place to be, hanging out 
with the best people and just having so much fun!!

AUGUST

Our daughter Nicole Renee had her 33rd birthday
We picked up our new addition to our teddy bear pack
Miss Khaleesi Rue

We went to my momma's 80th family reunion 
weird to be there without momma but such fun to see all of our cousins

SEPTEMBER

We headed down to our most favorite place on earth.....
the Outer Banks of North Carolina
Hurricane Hermine had been downgraded to a tropical storm
but knowing how bad those can be, we decided to head down one day early
it was crazy but fun
we had one moment of thinking "did we make a mistake" by
coming down. We're driving on Beach Road, a lot of it flooded
then we came upon power lines down and across the road
so we headed over to the bypass highway, so windy it was hard keeping the
car in our lane, ended up hanging out in the parking lot
of the Kmart until things died down a little
the rest of the trip.....AWESOME!!

OCTOBER

Always a fun month

and we decided to have our first ever Halloween party

that sure was fun and there will def be a second one in 2017

Our daughter Nicole coordinated the 2nd annual

Walk to raise awareness for Apraxia.

Apraxia is what our oldest grandson Maddox has

we are so proud of the work our daughter does to

help people understand about this neurological disorder

NOVEMBER

We decorated for Christmas, had Thanksgiving dinner

at our home for 16 people and then celebrated with my

family.....I think it was 32 of us!!

Johnny and I with all of our grandchildren....love them so much

our children.....all grown up

we continued to enjoy our newest puppy, Khaleesi Rue
even though we are still dealing with moments like this

DECEMBER

We just had the best Christmas ever!

our traditions changed but that is ok

our family is changing and growing so much that we

knew that day would come

And now we just have so many things in 2017 to look forward to

and changes for our children.....Jake and Kayce getting married

Tyler entering his 4th year of trade school on his road to 

becoming an electrician

Jacquelyn starting her new job at Capital One

Nicole experiencing 3 kids in school and only one

home with her now and planning her 3rd Annual Apraxia walk

and Bucky continuing big success in his job

so much to be thankful for

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

later.....