Looking back this past year

Well, 2019 is almost over.  I can't believe it's going to be 2020!  This past year has had it's good and bad, for sure.  Here's just a few of the happenings:

I lost my uncle and brother in law at the beginning of the year.

But on a happier note, we had 2 grandkids born this year!

We got to take a wonderful trip to Croatia and Slovenia!

I did an actual TRAPEZE swing!

I started doing trapeze yoga with my sister!

Larry and I celebrated 30 years of marital bliss! 

I finished my Invisalign!

We went to New Mexico to visit our son over Thanksgiving!

Lots of fun weekend trips to see our grandbabies, daughter and her family.

Celebrated 5 years at my job!

So many fun concerts, times with friends, games and good times!

Here's to new beginnings!  His Mercies are new every morning!  My word for this past year was relationships.  Although some became distant, others drew closer.

I don't have a word yet for this next year but I would like to continue to work on relationships, and keep my heart and mind serving the King of Kings.  

On to 2020!!

Are you having a holly jolly Christmas?

It's the most wonderful time of the year..right??  Well why is everyone in such a grumpy mood?  Especially parents to their kids?

We were out yesterday doing Christmas-y things.  Seeing the pretty trees and lights and enjoying the season.  I went into a restroom and a mom was yelling at her little girl, then I went out and a mom was yelling at her kids to "not smile that way in the picture".  Geez.

Momma, I know you are frustrated.  You feel like you have to do all the things for the holidays and make it "special" for everyone.  And you are at the end of your rope.  But please don't take it out on your kids.  They have feelings too.

What do you want them to remember at the holidays?  You getting all the things done but being a complete grumpy pants about it?

Enjoy the season!  So what if the cookies don't get made, or the gifts bought or wrapped.

Stop and sing a song, do the Charlie Brown dance, play a game.

Make some positive memories with your kids.

When you start to feel anxious or frustrated.  Stop, breathe, smile, pray.  Let it go.

Christmas will come and go and what will be left.  The paper will all get thrown away, the cookies all eaten. And what will be left?

The memories.

Make some good ones.  Treat others (your kids) the way you'd like to be treated.

Love them. Kids are people too.

After all it is the most wonderful time of the year.

The year was 1989!

The year was 1989!

The Berlin Wall came down,  the USSR got its freedom, Tiananmen Square protests were happening.

But the biggest news of all was Larry met Valerie. 💓💓💓

We dated and got engaged in a  whirlwind.  Our first date was in April, we got engaged in August, and married in November!

Our first date!

Thirty years ago!  THIRTY!!

What a huge milestone in today's world of broken relationships.

It hasn't always been easy.  We've had a lot of ups and downs. Mostly ups- thankfully.

We've moved 15 times, lived in everything from a small house behind a  house to a 3500 square foot 5 bedroom house, and we even lived in a hotel for a few months!

Lived in 4 states.

Can't even count how many cars, jobs we've had. Or houses we've bought and sold.

We raised 3 kids, and now have 3 grandkids!

We've been to almost every state in the US and lots of places around the world.

I can't imagine my life without you.  You've pushed me to be more than I ever thought I could be.  Challenged my comfort zones. Helped me grow in the Lord.  Shown me how to love the downtrodden.  Helped me come out of my introvert shell. Helped me to chill and see the positive side of things.

Marriage is a crazy adventure.  We've grown.  Even flipped personalities at times.  It's the learning to give and take.  When to give, when to take.

Thirty years ago, I was a young, naive girl who had to read the directions on the washing machine in order to know how to wash the clothes!  My how things have changed.

We've learned from each other so many things.  And now we are learning the art of the empty nest.  And the fun times of grandparenthood!

Who knows what the next 30 years will hold, or where we will be.

But I'm glad I'm with you on this crazy adventure.

Love ya.

Happy Birthday Larry!

Fifty five!

Sakes alive!!

How did you survive?

You’ve managed all kinds of breaks and stitches

Surgeries and other glitches

Yet here you are still going strong!

Always happy as the day is long

You’ve been here and there 

and everywhere

You’ve had adventures galore!

And I’m sure there will be more!

You’ve managed a lot in your 55 years

All very successfully with only a few tears

So here’s to many many more!

May we grow old together forevermore !

Have a wonderful Birthday My Larry!!

Toughest job out there

I've only had a few jobs in my lifetime.  Waitress, admin assistant, retail, and at a cookie store at the mall.  But by far the toughest job I've ever had- being a mom.

It's the job that never ends.

When they are little, you are on 24/7.  It's physically exhausting.  There's the sleep deprivation and a fog of diapers, poop and feeding.  That fog does eventually lift onto a rush of toddlerhood with all it's flurry of activity and learning and talking!  The talking!

We homeschooled, so there was so much laughter, learning, and endless conversations during the school years.

Learning to gradually let go and give them freedom as they get older, is probably the hardest thing of parenting.  Letting them fail, giving them the tools to be responsible, knowing when to step in and when to step back.  It's all very daunting.  But equally rewarding. 

Seeing your kids go from this teeny tiny little one that fits in one arm- to becoming parents themselves is completely awe-inspiring.

You'd think that now that they are all grown and have left the house and have families and careers all their own, that my mom job would be over.  And the physical part of it is. 

Now I'm navigating the road of seeing my kids becoming parents.  How much to say, to help, what not to say, when not to help.  How to encourage, how to support.  How to be the grandparent and not the parent.

It's a whole other level of greatness.

When you're a mom, you're a mom for life.  The job doesn't end.  There's no 8-5, no sick time, hardly any breaks,  even when you are on vacation-you are thinking about them.

A mom to adult kids is a weird stage of life.  It's rewarding, challenging, and sometimes very raw.  I still cry over them.  Still pray over them.  I love them.  And now my heart expands as they marry and have kids.  It keeps expanding..which is a blessing.

I trust God will guide and direct them.  I pray they will trust God to do that.  I pray the things we've taught them will help them.  I pray they will learn from our mistakes as parents.  I pray they will teach me how to love them and their kids.

It's a job that never ends.  And I love it.

A Grandma again!

Being a grandma is absolutely one of the best things I can think of right now.  My kids having kids!  It feels really surreal.  Like, didn't I just raise yall?  Weren't yall little just a minute ago??  And on the other hand...it seems like soooo long ago!

But it's a neat feeling to see your kids having their own families.  Seeing our family grow, not only in size, but in other ways too!  Learning different parenting thoughts and styles from my kids, learning the love of a grandma.

So my son and daughter in law just had their first baby--my THIRD grandbaby!

Of course, I want to post all the pics and splash it all around social media.  But I will restrain.  I just went through and took all the pictures of my other grandkids off social media etc.  It's a big bad world out there and I want to protect my kids and grandkids' privacy.

So, just know, that I am loving this stage of life right now.  Enjoying the empty nest, the grandkids in all their different stages- newborn, crawly baby and busy talking toddler!

And even though I don't post everything, I'm still having fun and loving this stage of life!  God is so very good and I am extremely blessed.  So thankful.

Country songs and memories

We've been watching this amazing series on PBS about the history of Country Music.  I don't really listen to country music nowadays but I grew up on it.  I started watching it just because I love PBS and anything Ken Burns does is always good.  I love me a good documentary.  As I watched, the power of the music just hit me between the eyes.  All these songs, they were reminding me of my childhood.

My dad was a storyteller. And he loved music.  He loved all kinds but especially loved the kinds of music that told stories.  He knew all the words too.  He could sing every verse.

When we used to take long car rides, one of the things we would do is sing.  When we couldn't get anything on the radio, dad would start belting out an old folk song and we'd join in.  He'd sing it again and again until we had the words down.  This was one I remember singing.  And this silly one. 

Watching this documentary and learning about the history of country music, has really brought back just a flood of memories for me.  

I can just see my dad in his youth singing along to these songs.  He was really an old cowboy at heart.  

I'm so glad he taught me these songs.  I'm enjoying reminiscing.  And I'm missing you, dad. 

While you were on your phone

While you were on your phone

You missed a sunset.

a conversation,

a smile,

the beautiful scenery,

the people around you,

the people close to you,

While you were on your phone you missed real life.

You missed the kids,

your husband,

your friend sitting at the very table with you.

You missed working that puzzle,

the wind in your hair as you look out the window,

singing that song with someone special,

You missed feeling what it's like to be bored.

While you were on your phone

You missed an opportunity,

bonding time,

squeals of delight from the kids around you,

a "look what I can do!",

a game,

a hug,

a moment.

Croatia & Slovenia 2019

We just got home from an amazing adventure!  Croatia & Slovenia!  Here is our route:
We started in the south of Croatia in Dubrovnik.  That's where a lot of Game of Thrones was filmed. And we ended in the Capital of Croatia, Zagreb!

First day all travel...  Flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, to Munich to Dubrovnik.  Dubrovnik was abolutely stunning!  The islands, the coast line, the old town!  Just wow! Our hotel was really close to the beach, so after our long walking tour of the town, we came back and hung out on the beach for the afternoon.  The water was crystal clear.  Beach was unexpected--pebbles!  

Next we headed up the coast to the town of Split.  I enjoyed it, but it was a bigger city and we didn't spend a lot of time there.  It was so hot there too!  

Driving up the coast, we stopped in an island town, Trogir.  Really cute place, walked and had coffee and enjoyed just watching the sea. 

Next up was the one place I really wanted to see!  Plitvice Lakes!  This place did not disappoint!  Sixteen Lakes connected by waterfalls!  With a cool boardwalk that you walk around and see everything.  So many people though!   But the beauty was just phenomenal!  We stayed the night at a hotel in the park.  It was an old hotel so no AC! ugh!  All our hotels were gorgeous.  This was the only one I wasn't too fond of. 

Next day, we made a quick stop in the town of Opatija.  Just enough to stretch our legs and have lunch.  We lunched by the sea and the waves were just ripping!  

Onward to Slovenia!  We stayed the night in the the amazing town of Bled!  Our hotel was right on the lake!  This was an unexpected treasure!  Such a fairy tale!  Beautiful lake with a castle on one side and a little island in the middle with a church on it.  We hiked, and went to the castle.  Got to hoop on top to the castle! Then we went down the summer toboggan!  Long lines but really fun!  This was definitely one of the highlights! 

Hated to leave this place, put then we went to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. Quaint little town on the rivers.  Walked a lot and had some great lunch there too-Steak!!  So good!

Last stop was the capital of Croatia-Zagreb.  We enjoyed the cultural dance and dinner that we had here!  Lots of good food and games! A full moon that night too! Walked a lot in Zagreb as well.  

My favorites:  

First of all, the tour.  We did Gate1 Tours (for the 3rd time) and we just love them.  They take care of you.  You have free time, lots of optional tours, great accommodations, the tour guide is awesome, local guides at the towns.  I just can't say enough good about them.

Another favorite, Bled, Slovenia!  Loved loved loved that town. Oh, I forgot to mention the caves!  We stopped at some caves in Slovenia and they were bigger than anything I've ever seen in the states!  Way bigger than Carlsbad!!

The coffee.  I just love European coffee.  Maybe it's the atmosphere, maybe it's the cafes, maybe it's the little cups and saucers, i don't know but I really really love the coffee in Europe.

Such a wonderful trip.  Enjoyed every minute of it.  Can't wait for the next trip!!

What's your favorite memory from a vacation??

Straight teeth!!

I got some amazing news at the dentist this morning!!!  My invisalign will be done TOMORROW!!  I go in the morning and get fitted for a retainer and get all the attachments off!   it's been about a year and a half since I started this journey!

I couldn't wait to start and now I can't wait to finish!!

It's been a long long journey but I love the end result!

AFTER!!

BEFORE!! Those are some crazy teeth!

And.... it's just in time for our awesome vacation!!

We head to Croatia & Slovenia tomorrow!  Everyone keeps asking me why Croatia.  Well, I hear they have the most beautiful beaches in the world!  And there's a wonderful place I want to see called Plitvice Lakes.  Plus, it's just somewhere that not everyone goes to!  I can't wait to see everything and just have some time off! 

I'll post pictures and blog about it on my return. 

Here's to new adventures and straight teeth! 🍷😄

Sisters

Some people have a lot of siblings.  Some people have none.  I have a wonderful sister.  It's just me and her now as both our parents passed away last year.  We are the only ones that hold our childhood memories now!

We were really close as kids.  We had very different personalities but we were great friends.  We did almost everything together!

I got married at 18 and left the nest.  She was just 15.  I moved across the country and started having kids.  She was going through high school and we just kind of grew apart.  I was in one stage of life and she was in another.  We still talked and she came to visit but it was a different time.

Then life hit.  With all the tragedies that come with it.  Lots of storms that threatened to pull us apart forever.

We clung to the liferaft-we only had each other.  I didn't have any other siblings to run to.  It was only us.

We muddled through.

We reached out to each other.

We started talking again.  Every morning.

The bridge was starting to be rebuilt.

Now I am doing things I never thought I'd do!  Go on a TRAPEZE???   Do Indoor Skydiving!  Start aerial yoga!

But the best part of all these things.... it's with my sister!!

We are still different in a lot of ways.  But we enjoy each other's company.  We laugh till we cry. And that makes me happy.

Love you Laura!💗💗💗