DH and I just took a quick trip north. We flew to Baltimore and did some sightseeing there and then drove over to PA for a surprise birthday party for his uncles 90th birthday. We had a blast and really enjoyed seeing all the relatives. The time spent in Baltimore was wonderful, lots of history there!
I just finished posting my pics on myspace and facebook - got to relive the trip!!
Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the wonderful fall weather and colors!
I love this cool weather. This time of year is my favorite no matter where I am. Two weeks ago I was at the beach for a week with some of my husbands family and this Friday DH and I will fly to Baltimore where we will spend two days sightseeing and then over to PA to celebrate his uncle's 90th birthday. I'm packing my long johns this week and two weeks ago I was in a bathing suit!! Can't wait for the trip!
I have talked with my son now and wanted to let everyone know I appreciate your prayers, I always feel completely at peace after I pray about something but just knowing you have friends praying for you as well gives an indescribable feeling!
In three weeks I"ll be headed to Tennessee for Thanksgiving with my family! Can't wait for that trip also! Already have plans with cousins I haven't seen in YEARS!
I hope everyone is enjoying their Fall as much as I am!
I am in the middle of a major soap opera that I'm sure would have everyone riveted to their tv sets if I were to put it on the screen. It seems like wisdom is misplaced to me. Why is it that you get your wisdom when you are older? So many young people need much more than they have.
My youngest son has decided to go live with his father who is a very bad role model. I have left messages for him but he has not spoken to me in over a month. I just pray and pray that God will watch over him and keep him safe and show him the right paths to take.
I also have a very best friend who is going through some very bad problems in his marriage. He is 42 and his wife is 28. She is just out to have a good time and not worried about the consequences of her actions on her husband and the children.
I guess we get the wisdom from our life experiences and that is the point of going through everything but sometimes I just wish God would give us a little earlier on in life, to help us make better choices.
In just short of three weeks I will hit my one year anniversary of quitting smoking. 
I can not tell you how proud I am of myself and how good I feel mentally and physically since I stopped smoking those awful things. Once again I would like to say if you or someone you know is trying to quit, read the book THE EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING by Allen Carr. Its fabulous and works without you really knowing how or why. My mom read it also, even though she is not a smoker, and loved it.
I have smoked most of my life since the age of 13, quitting three times (for both of my pregnancies and a third time in 2001). When I quit in 2001, it was for a total of 9 months and I started back again on September 19th so Friday will be an anniversary of sorts also. BUT on October 5, 2007 I became a non smoker for the rest of my life and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone!!!
I spent yesterday with my two cousins, Stacy and Angie. Two weeks ago on August 31, Angie got a call from the hospital saying there was a newborn there and did she want him.. needless to say this was very unexpected. Most of us have close to nine months to prepare for a baby and she had just moments. So yesterday we had a baby shower for her and her new baby Joshua. He is beautiful and so lucky to have Angie and Randy as parents just as his big brother Jordan is.
Stacy had gastric bypass surgery in April and has lost 74 pounds since then so she looks great and feels great. They both were so happy yesterday, it was wonderful.
Also drove by my grandparents house yesterday which I haven't seen since 1999 when we cleaned all their stuff out and sold it. Last night I had dreams about my grandparents and being back at their cabin again... so many memories.
Well I guess that's all for now, hubby and I are going to see Mamma Mia. A REAL DATE!!
Hope everyone has a blessed and peaceful Sunday
O MY GOODNESS It's been forever since I've written here. Since my last blog we enjoyed a wonderful week in PA with my husbands relatives, had a great summer which ended with a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my 40th birthday. We saw some really great shows there and enjoyed the great weather - so different from FLorida - we had highs of 105-110 and never broke a sweat!!!! THen of course, we came back to Florida and spent three days at the beach with highs of low 90s and continuously dripping with sweat! LOL
We are having hot humid days right now, were hoping to get some rain from Hurrican Ike but he is ignoring us!
We have just booked a condo at Madeira Beach for a week in October which we will spend with my husbands new sister and biological father - that should be great!
Hope everyone is having a blessed day!
Last night we had a really great rain storm! It was wonderful, afterwards we had the doors and windows open listening to the frogs croak - I love it!
Today is cooler and very breezy and tomorrow is suppose to be perfect beach weather! I love this time of year in Florida!
We are steadily preparing for our trip to Pennsylvania, I can't wait! We leave June 1st for a week to visit my husbands family. We'll go to Hershey Park, Longwood Gardens and also do a short trip to New York City! I'm really excited about that! I'm a big baby when it comes to American history so I can't wait to see the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Coney Island AND EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!
DH is out working in the yard and I'm just enjoying the smells of the kitchen. I've got a huge pot of potato soup on the stove that I can't wait to dive into. I had a tooth cut out on Wednesday and Thursday was sick in bed from a migraine so ever since then I've wanted the soup...... I love my comfort food.
I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead of us!!!
Well here I sit in my flannel pj's again - it will be in the 30s again tonight. Just three days ago I was at the beach getting a tan. The weather is so odd this year.
Last week was spring break for our kids so we spent a few days at the beach, had a great time. I can't wait for summer! I booked a flight for my hubby and I for the first week of June to PA - couldn't pass it up - it was only $49 one way on Southwest. what a bargain. You can't drive that cheaply!!! So we will go up for a week and visit his family, and also take a short trip to NYC to visit friends!
My cousin Tina (aka countryheart ) had surgery yesterday for a kidney stone. She is home resting now but will have a stint removed later in the week. Please keep her in your prayers. It's hard to be down when you're the mama.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!!
Well the weekend just went by too fast. I really only have a partial weekend since I work a half day on Saturdays. We had beautiful weather all weekend. My brothers came over Saturday evening so I made the oven baked cream cheese french toast on Saturday night and stuck in the frig for Sunday morning. It was so good! We served it with strawberries and blueberries YUMMY!
Yesterday my hubby cooked ribs on the grill and we had bacon topped cheesy stuffed potatoes, succotash and garlic bread for our superbowl supper! I really didn't have a favorite team this year so I just enjoyed watching the game - this was a really exciting one!
Today has been a blah day so far, just a stereotypical Monday! I sure hope it gets better.
I don't know if I have mentioned before that I am a newborn non smoker! I started smoking at the age of 14 and have quit twice before for both my babies. This time is different though, I know I will be a non smoker for the rest of my days! I am so proud of myself! Tomorrow marks my 4th month yayyyyy!!!! 
If anyone is interested, I quit using the Chantix pills but also by reading the book ''THE EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING'' by Allen Carr. I really believe the book is a miracle worker. I gave mine to my sister and she also quit! I recently had a friends mom quit after 40+ years of smoking by reading the book. I highly recommend it to anyone who is ready to quit.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Well today is the Kumquat Festival, it is an annual event held on the last Saturday in January in Dade City. Our neighbor, St Joseph is the kumquat capitol so every year we have this festival and it just keeps growing. We have so many vendors with arts and crafts and foods and much more! There are several contests including recipe contest using kumquats!!!! Last year they estimated 40,000 visitors! This year its been drizzling rain all day so I don't know if we'll have that many. Although, I was just there and the weather doesnt seem to have deterred many!You can read all about it here http://www.dadecitychamber.org/default.cfm?page=KumquatFestival and also at www.kumquatfestival.org
I am home now working on decorations for my in laws anniversary party! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
I am cold. It was 38 this morning and will only get up to the 60s today. I know some of you are literally freezing and covered with snow but I'm in Florida and it just doesn't seem right LOL
We had a great weekend, got alot done around the house, made homemade apple turnovers. Sunday we all went to see the Lipizzaner Stallions - they were great. Simply amazing.
Better get back to work, my sister in law and I are planning a 40th anniversary party for my in laws so I have no time to spare until after that is over!!
Hope everyone has a great day!
My hubby helping my niece Hannah - HER FIRST FISH!!
My baby boy Ben flyfishing for trout - he's got one!! My dad in the background.
I am so so glad to be home. We left December 21st for Helen Georgia where we rented a big house and spent Christmas week. Most of my family went up and we were also joined by my aunt and uncle from Tennessee. We had a great time. It was really nice getting away from all the 'commercialism' of Christmas. We gave a few gifts but didnt have the stress of shopping for everyone. It was wonderful. We just spent quality time together and made lots of new memories!
Part of our gift is going to see the Lipizzaner Stallions on January 13th - I'm really excited about that!
I hope everyone had a wonderful BLESSED Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy and SAFE New Year!
So, tomorrow we leave for Helen, Georgia where we will be spending the week. I am so excited. My whole family decided to not do a bunch of shopping this year and instead, spend our money on a big house in the mountains enjoying each others company and making lots of special memories. I just finished sewing a bunch of potholders that I will give to everyone and am getting ready for bed.
This will be my first Christmas away from my oldest son, he and his girlfriend have to work and wont be able to join us. I will miss them terribly 
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season - whatever you celebrate, make lots of memories with your families and friends!
I love the weekends and they just go by too quickly. We spent Saturday afternoon putting our house back together - still unpacking boxes after the new floors. Yesterday after church we cleaned out the travel trailer, it's being sold so I grabbed all the good stuff for my son who is moving into a new place this week and needs everything. We had some great dishes/utensils/pots etc... that were barely used so I passed them on to Josh and Magen.
My brothers came over yesterday and cooked gnocchi last night with grated parmesan and garlic bread - yummy!
Back to work today - it's beautiful outside 58 degrees and beautiful sunshine - and I'm missing it.
Hope everyone has a great week!!
well, 22 years ago tonight I was giving birth to my first child. Seems like yesterday - how time flies. What I wouldn't give to have that little boy back for just one day to hold him and play with him. Never ever ever take one day with your kids for granted - they'll be grown before you know it. I can't tell you how many times I heard that but it really is true, it seems like only yesterday.
Cherish every moment with them.
Well my week off from work is coming to an end.... we got new floors in our house so we spent the week packing up everything and then unpacking, cleaning, and putting everything back in place. we also replaced alot of furniture so I've spent alot of time shopping (which I don't care for). 
I did spend the last two weekends at the beach. We just got home this afternoon from my second trip to the beach. My husband has just met his biological father for the first time and we spent the weekend together. Quite an experience and one I've waited for for many years. Everything turned out great and he also acquired a new sister who I just love, she's a real sweetie. I feel like my husband finally has some peace and understanding in his life after having many unanswered questions.
This was our last trip to the beach for the year (maybe LOL), it'll start getting cooler soon. I know so many of you out there already are cold so I won't complain about any weather at all. This morning my sis in law and I were on the beach in shorts and this evening she called when she got off the plane in PA and their low tonight is 32......
Well, I'm the only one up - watching my Red Sox WIN THE WORLD SERIES, and just thought I'd say hello to everyone. It's good to be back home.
My jalapeno plant is thriving though, I picked about three dozen off last week and gave them to my neighbor who, in turn, gave me sweet potatoes and onions!! It's only been in the 80s here this week and one night last week actually got down to 58! so cool weather is coming. we are heading to the beach this weekend to enjoy the last warm rays of the sun. Can't wait!! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beginnings of fall!Made it through another week of work! I wasn't sure I would. Feels good to be home and know I've got a day and a half before it all starts again.
I'm working on my baby afghan, didn't get as far as I thought I would while on vacation since we had more 'go' time than 'down' time.
The weather is pretty gloomy today, drizzling here and there and no sun at all, and not cooled off at all. I'll be glad when Fall weather gets here - takes a little longer for it to get down this far. Hopefully we'll get to take that trip to PA next month and get some nice fall weather up there.
Better get back to my crochet - hope everyone has a great weekend!!