Veterans Day

I just want to personally thank every man and woman who has fought for my freedoms, past, present and future. I can not put into words how I feel about each of you, your families and sacrifices! Thank you again for fighting for our country! May God be with each of you on this day and everyday!

GOD BLESS the USA and the Men and Women who serve it!

10 down 2 to go!!

I am so proud to be a Texas Tech fan... They are well on their way to the CHAMPIONSHIP!!! OU 11/22 and Baylor 11/29.... Get 'er GUNs UP!! Graham Harrell for the Heisman 2008!!!

How beautiful is this State!!!

One of the best pictures I have taken! Love it!

A run down....

Well lets see, compared to last week, this week has been pretty great. T and S (A's daughters) called me on Monday and we visited about school, football, softball, boys and of course their Mom. They both were so glad to have my cell number and it made my day that they felt comfortable enough to call me. They both told me that they loved me and wanted to see me, so I was planning a trip to Amarillo in December for my Goddaughter's debut in the Nutcracker ballet, so I just added a couple of days so maybe I can make it to Perryton and one my way there I can pick up S and B in Pampa and take them to lunch or something and at least finally give them that hug I been dying to give them!! And T called me night before last just to chit chat, she invited me to KState for her 21st birthday weekend in Feb and I am planning on going, I sure hope I can. Her Mom always made her Birthday so special and fun, its the day before Valentine's Day... they would have a bunch of girls over, do toenails, fingernails, and watch chick flicks. "A" had told me that she wanted to make T's 21st birthday amazing, so I would love to be there for her on her day! They have just really made me feel pretty good. S started her new school on Wednesday and had an ok day, I can't imagine how hard it is for her and her brother B to pick-up in the middle of the school year, move to a new town and start a new school all without a Mom to talk to about all the changes going on in their little lives.... Continue to pray for them and M.
As for the whole trying to quit smoking I am now SIX days smoke free... the only thing I have been trying to fight and I have found really hard is the habit of being out on my porch when I am on the telephone. So to fight the urge, I went out on the porch talked on the phone and chewed THE CRAP out of a straw!! I am feeling fantastic!!! Trying to fight EATING all the time though.... I've been doing good and even better once our Halloween candy was out of the house!
This weekend I am not sure what we are going to do, J called me this morning and asked if I would want to take a picnic out to the lake tomorrow and maybe drive around some more in Nashville to take pictures.... You can not believe all the COLORS! There are several spots on my way to work, I would love to just stop and shoot a picture. Off 440 there is a cemetery and the back drop is all the colors you can possibly imagine, reds, oranges, yellow, rust, deep purple's and dark greens... I haven't seen anything this gorgeous since we lived in Wyoming! I absolutely love fall in Tennessee!! So we will either do that, or I may try to talk him into taking a quick trip into the Smoky Mountains this weekend and take some really awesome pictures, plus some much needed time out of the house together!
I'm pretty excited about next week, one of my girlfriends from Amarillo is coming here to see her sister in Mt. Juliet, her and her mom will be here the 13-17th, YAY! FINALLY SOME GIRLFRIENDS!! And some GIRL TIME!!! AND.... someone who knows me!!! I'm pretty excited! I will finally get to show off my house to one of my friends! This is probably really wishful thinking but I called Tana last night and told her to catch a flight with them! Now that would be fun! I sure do miss her and my Goddaughter, I miss going to lunch, running by her house if I wanted to, just hanging out! She's my family and we have been best friends for 29 years, her mom and my mom have been best friends since 6th grade, so we feel like sisters. Anyway, I'm rambling, but this week as definitely been a better week! Hope to take some more great pictures of fall this weekend so stay tuned....

New lifestyle check...

Well as most of you know I have been taking Chantix for 7 days now, I slipped up this weekend.... That Texas Tech game got me all nervous!! Ha... by slipping up I mean I had one cigarette and didn't enjoy it so I put it out half way through. So you can smoke on it for the first 7 days and then you are done. I was done with my pack after that Saturday nervousness slip up.... and I'm not buying anymore. Its a great drug, but you have to be willing to quit as well. I have been a little irritable, but with the week I had last week, I think I've done pretty good. It will be a process and I am willing to stick it out for the sake of my life and our future family. Just hadn't given you an update on my lifestyle change... unfortunately I had to restart my quit days... so now, its 4:35pm and I'm almost 2 days smoke free....

I love fall in Tennessee...

Jay and I went for a hike around Radnor Lake yesterday after Church and man was it beautiful. It was so peaceful out there, they have the road blocked off around the lake so the road that goes around the lake you can walk on, and then there are trails that go off of the road up into the woods, it was gorgeous. There is no fishing allowed and no boats allowed so the water was like glass unless a fish jumped.... we saw a buck, a doe and her baby... it was definitely good for the soul! Here are some pictures that we took.... enjoy! We definitely saw God yesterday!

There is a new angel in heaven....

Loosing a friend, who was so young and being this far away from her family and my friends last week was super tough for me. I got to talk to a couple of buddies I hadn't spoken with since we moved and it was so good to hear their voices and know that they were there for M and the kids. S who I have been friends with since I worked at Coors almost 6 years ago, called me the day of the funeral and told me he was giving the girls my cell phone number so that they could call me whenever they wanted talk. That made me feel great. Anyway, they told me that A's funeral was beautiful and that K did a wonderful job. I said a prayer for him that day as well, he married them 5 years ago and I can not imagine how hard that was.
Thursday was the funeral and I've done a lot of praying this week, like really hard praying. Around 2pm Thursday I went off by myself into an office, locked the door and prayed, I was feeling alone, I wanted to be there so bad with all of our friends, just to celebrate her life and to physically be there for M and the kids. So I am praying in the office and just asking for K to have the right words to help comfort her family, praying that God would comfort the family the only way he can, to help carry them until they are able to walk on their own again. I felt better once I had my time, but still just felt alone. God is amazing, in about 10 minutes I get a call on my cell phone from the preacher at the church Jay and I have been visiting, I haven't ever spoken to the man on the phone before, his first words were, this is M from BGB Church and I was calling to ask you how your week was going? Tears filled my eyes, amazed once again my God's love. I told him about A and the loss I was feeling and how sad I was that couldn't be there for M and the kids, he asked me if it was ok if he prayed for me and for A's family. I lost it and said absolutely can you please. I needed reassurance at that moment and God answered my prayers.
Today, I am doing better, I have been able to talk to M a couple of times and bless his heart he is so lost, so please keep him and her kids in your prayers. I've been able to make him chuckle a couple of times and that made me feel better, I just wish I could give the big guy a hug! I know now that we have one more beautiful angel in Heaven watching over us, and I will get to see her again one day.
A -- I am thankful that God brought you into M's life so that I could meet you and your kids. I will miss the talks we used to have, sitting in the chair at your house wrapped in a blanket watching t.v. and football games, your beautiful smile and the way you lit up a room when you walked into it. I will miss the way you looked at your kids, I will miss your silly little way you talked to the dogs when they "were talking" to us. You were a beautiful daughter, wife, Mother, Nurse, and friend and you will truly be missed by all that you touched. I can not wait to see you again!