Falls Mill Grist Mill, Belvidere, TN

I thought I would post a few photos I took in 2006 of Falls Mill Grist Mill in Belvidere, TN. My grandfather used to take me there every summer when we would visit him and my grandmother. I used to be his shadow. Falls Mill is still a working grist mill. The photo of the egret was taken on my parent's dock on Tims Ford Lake.

St. Louis

I was blessed to be able to spend a few days with my son who lives in St. Louis. We toured the Missouri History Museum, walked around, watched Italian DVDs, and he showed me around the law school. One of the photos is of the ceiling in the law school library. The other is of part of a building I saw while walking in the Central West End. The third is 'mother and son'.

One little word for 2009

It seems to be a popular theme for people to pick a word for the year. So I have chosen mine for 2009. My ONE little word for 2009 is Persevere. According to Webster's Pocket Dictionary, the definition is: to continue in spite of difficulty. Of course, that could apply to many people in today's world.

Be careful when you walk on ice

On Monday, January 26, 2009, we awoke to sleet that lasted all day, followed by a mixture of sleet and tiny snow drops which continued through the next day. I describe it that way because it was more of a mixture of tiny sleet and frozen raindrops than real snow. I had a dentist appointment at 2 pm Monday. Since Oklahomans don't know how to drive on snow or ice, I surmised that the news crews were overreacting, and headed out of my apartment to my car. I made it down the wooden steps safely, as they are covered. But after about four steps onto the sidewalk, I did the splits. Of course, I can't do the splits completely, so about halfway down, I leaned and fell onto my right side. It was actually a rather funny sight. After a few minutes, I slowly picked myself up, and made it to the asphalt parking lot. After about ten steps this time, I fell again. As I was looking up to the sky, I made a wise decision that I would crawl back to my apartment and reschedule the dentist's appointment. :o)

Happy New Year sketch

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. 2008 was full of many challenges. Here's a wish for a better 2009. I am posting my attempt to sketch my son. There are alot of things about the sketch, I would improve, but I posted it as I am learning by doing.

~Bye for now.

Check out Rhonna's blog

Check out Rhonna Farrer's blog: http://rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com. She is giving away 209 digital designs and fonts to one lucky winner.

Christmas Baking

I love Christmas and baking for Christmas parties. This last weekend I made Pecan Tassies for our adult Sunday School party. They are so good and almost like mini pecan pies.

Christmas Cards

I love to make handmade Christmas Cards. I signed up for an online class called The Gift of Words, and I have told myself that I am going to write something meaningful on each card - only a sentence or two, but something unique for each family. Who I am kidding, I'll be lucky to address the cards! Anyway, here are the only two cards I have made so far. (I know, I am running out of time). The one with reindeer is for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in Virginia, and the other one is for her mother. For the past 35 years or so, her mother has sent us Christmas cards with lovely birds on them.

I love the smell of bread baking

I thought I would share this photo I took of my crescent rolls rising on Thanksgiving morning. I neglected to take a photo as they came out of the oven. I love the smell of fresh bread. The wonderful aroma of fresh bread baking fills my home and makes me happy - and grateful.

Thanksgiving 2008

I have so many things to be thankful for this year. For my Savior, for a warm bed to sleep in at night and for plenty of food to eat, for my son who is intelligent and hard working and is a man of integrity, for wonderful friends, for this country I live in, and so much more...

~Bye for now.

Women of Faith Infinite Grace Conference 2008

I attended the 2008 Infinite Grace WOF Conference at the Ford Center on November 14 and 15. It is always such a fun time to reconnect with women, sing praises, laugh, cry and listen to stories and Bible lessons. Marilyn Meberg gave a wonderful talk that gave me chills. She talked about abandonment and that we were created to be connected. There is a disconnect when one is abandoned; a feeling of shame - "Wasn't I good enough, why did ___ leave me?" She noted that those who have been severely abandoned, especially in childhood, have a need to control others. And an intense need to never talk about that which they are most ashamed of - that something must be wrong with them to cause the other person to abandon them, they must not be worth keeping. The strange thing is, it is only through recognizing those hidden hurts and working through the hurts that one can heal. A couple good verses that pertain to the subject were: Isaiah 41:9 and John 1:12,13. Patsy Clairmont is such a hoot! Anita Renfroe sang a song about Spanx! And, if you go to You Tube, you can see her video that is a remake of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" - It's called "Before I Eat" and you will laugh until you cry. Sandi Patty and Nicole C. Mullen and Mandisa sang their hearts out. Both Sandi Patty and Nicole C. Mullen had their daughters sing with them. And Sandi Patty's husband sang with her - he sang in Italian and has a wonderful voice. One of the photos is of everyone holding up their cell phones for light. I am old enough to remember people holding up lighters.

~Bye for now.

Edmond,OK

I took this photo along 15th Street today. I love watching the leaves change color.

The other photo, of the sky, was taken an hour or so later, as the bad weather was coming into town. I got drenched by the storms later. Not exactly what I had intended, but it is good to be alive. ~Thanks for looking and bye for now.

Autumn

In honor of yesterday's historic elections, and for no other reason than that I felt like it, I took a drive today to Arcadia to visit the historic Round Barn. I spent awhile visiting with Butch in the gift shop. He is apparently always there. He told me he lives right next door. I then stopped at Pops for lunch. As we were getting some storms coming in, I asked the waitress what they do there when there is bad weather. The gas station and restaurant is almost all glass and I can't imagine being in there during a tornado. The waitress smiled and told me that they "get in their cars and drive home".

Time for Reflection

Photos of happier times. These photos are from 1970 and the one of us walking is from our wedding day in 1974. This next photo (actually the first photo, as it turns out) is of a building I would just as soon never set foot in again: The Oklahoma County Courthouse.

Free class on story telling

Jessica Sprague has developed a week long online class on telling your stories called Stories in Hand, and you can register for it beginning today. And best of all - it is free and the class size is unlimited. Check out the link below. We all have stories to tell.

http://www.jessicasprague.com/

Entry for October challenge for Becky Fleck's Pagemaps

I did a little scrapping yesterday with some girlfriends. I scrapped a couple of pages about last Saturday's (October 4, 2008) Race for the Cure in OKC. The first layout is my entry for the Challenge on Page Maps. The second one (with the panel of photos along the bottom, was for my Breast Cancer Survivor Scrapbook.

Another sketch

Thanks for the comments on my previous sketch. Here is another one.

learning to draw

I am trying to learn to draw. The problem is that my sketches never look like the person I am trying to draw. This is my latest. I am afraid the person I was attempting to draw would never guess it was her. Any suggestions? Besides, quit drawing??

thank you card

Here is a thank you card I made today.