Thanks for the Memories!

 

Wow! Where has the year gone? I cannot believe how it has flown by and now we are approaching Thanksgiving. This time of year always bring the fondest of memories shared with my family. When I think of the things I am most thankful for I guess it is those memories that come to the front of my mind. The one thing great about memories and traditions; you can share them and build on them to make new ones.
The memory I have of the Thanksgiving holiday involves the smell of Mom's pumpkin pies, and coconut cake baking in the oven, and watching/helping her make her amazing cranberry relish. 

She would pull out her old crank-handle meat grinder and set up the giant bowl on the counter. We would begin by washing all of the fresh fruit (cranberries, oranges (navels), and apples. She would start chopping apples and oranges into small enough pieces to go through the opening of the grinder. . Mmmmmm all of those fruity smells would fill the kitchen. That smell can send me back through the years in a flash. Then we would start grinding. This was the fun, but tiring part. As the years went by I was allowed to do more and more until one day I made the whole batch myself. I can remember feeling like I was finally grown up. Oh Mom was still right there chit chatting or correcting me on this or that (lol even if I felt I had devised a much better method! :) ), but the time spent together I would not trade for the world. Now that Mom has passed away, I still have her crank grinder, but it sits on the shelf while I use my Kitchen Aid grinder attachment!

We have hit that "all grown up" milestone with my daughter Goo this year. She washed cut and grinded all of the ingredients, then finished off with sugar, crushed pineapple, and chopped nuts. When she was finished she pumped her arms in the air and said "yes! I did it all myself!"  A tear came to my eye (and for those of you that know me, that is a very powerful moment for me.)  I thought how proud I was, how proud Mom would be of her. I thought about the memories we were making. Years from now when she is making cranberry relish with her children, she will tell them how she learned to make it and how "Mom" didn't always want to do it her way but how special the time was together just sharing the same air space and loving each other. When I'm sad and I miss those I love I can hold on to those loving memories with all my might.

So if there is a bigger point to this blog...... Make Memories with those you love every chance you get. We are not guaranteed tonight much less tomorrow or Thursday. If you were gone tomorrow what memories would you leave behind? How many hours of overtime you worked? How much money you made? How clean your house was? I'm guilty of all of these mistakes myself. However, one crystal glass filled with a beautiful memory reminded me what I was forgetting. So I'm passing the reminder on to you!

Snap Crackle PRINT!!!!

Tonight I took my very first photography class. It was a beginners class (and boy is this chick a beginner!) I assumed that when I got in there I would feel very uneducated and photographically challenged. In some ways my assumptions were correct, in others I was pleasantly surprised to understand the explanations coming from the professional teaching the class. I love pictures. Not just the say "cheese kind", but those candid unforgettable moments that are preserved for a lifetime that we treasure. You know what I mean..... the moment your child opens up the perfect Christmas gift that they knew for sure he or she would never get, or the sunset that was so beautiful it made you want to cry. I've tried to take pictures like these only to realize that what I saw didn't come through the camera so great.
Well, now I know what the buttons and gadgets can do on the camera.

 Not all of them, but many. I was also reminded that the best way to preserve pictures is to have them printed and put in albums like "back in the day." Did you know that while individuals take more photos than every before that less than 10% of the pictures taken are ever printed? The instructor pointed out that this mean our grandchildren and great grandchildren will never find that shoebox full of old family pictures like we may have. Sure we save them on computers, thumb drives, and CDs, but these devices will be obsolete some day and we run the risk of loosing the ability to retrieve the photos. As he said this I was thinking of going back through my blog posts and looking pictures of
Goo that I have taken, and true to form, few are printed. I kept thinking, "Wow! She was so little," or "I forgot about these!" No more. From now on my goal is to print as much as I can to capture and preserve memories for her in a way that she can enjoy when I am long gone from this earth.

Oh and BTW, tomorrow night is the ADVANCED CLASS!!!! Yikes!

I'm BAAAAACCKK!!!!

Hello Readers, all the rumors about me being dead are NOT true. I simply took a looonnnggg vacation from blogging. My BFF is always telling me I need to blog again, so after filtering all of the "where have you been!???" computer stuff I'm back and here goes!!!!

Since my last post several years ago..... I know... don't judge me, please, I have completed an Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and a Master's degree in Psychology. In addition I have become a homeschool mom for my wonderful 11-year-old daughter, and Origami Owl independent designer

         

 

 and partner in a corn hole construction business with my he-man honey.

                                                                                                        I don't have enough space to catch anyone up on everything at once but I have returned to the land of the blogging, and will fill you in little by little.   Glad to be back!!!!!

Tag, I'm it!

It has been sooooooo long since I have written a new post. I'm surprised the blog police have not tracked me down and given me a warning! There is so much to catch up on and I will promise to do so soon. However, today my friend Laura at Goose Hill Farm tagged me with this survey and I decided it was a good place to start. My life is not that exciting but here it is, for what it's worth!!!!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00 AM
2. Diamonds or Pearls? I'm not picky I will gladly accept either
3. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? What happens in Vegas
4. What is your favorite TV show? Law and Order (all versions)
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal
6. What is your middle name? Faye
7. What food do you dislike? Asparagus
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Craig Morgan
9. What kind of car do you drive? Dodger Charger (aka Thekthy)
10. Favorite sandwich? Can't have sandwiches anymore. Used to be a Reuben
11. What characteristic do you despise? Selfishness
12. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans and hoodies
13. If you could go anywhere where would you go? Scotland
14. Favorite brand of clothing? Nautica and Ralph Lauren
15. Where would you retire to? I don't think I'll every be able to afford to retire!
16. What was your most memorable birthday? I actually have two. The first was when James was driving "long haul" and drove all night across several states to surprise me, and actually did! The second is when the best boss I've ever had took me to Disney world for lunch and made me ride the rockin' roller coaster!
17. Favorite sport to watch? Football BABY!!!! NFL rocks!
18. Are you a morning person or a night person? I'm more of a midday person.
19. Shoe size? 8 - 8.5
20. Pets? 1 dog - Lil bit, 1 fancy tail goldfish - Fritz
21. Any new exciting news? Nope
22. What did you want to be when you were little? A professional singer/musician
23. How are you today? Very tired from being up so late finishing homework
24. What are you listening to right now? Anni humming and talking to her toys.
25. What was the last thing you ate? A piece of chicken and a small salad
26. Do you wish on stars? I would if I thought it would help! But I'm with Laura, praying is better.
27. If you where a crayon what color would you be? Periwinkle
28. How is the weather right now? Overcast and COLD!
29. Who was the first person that you talked on the phone today? James
30. What is your favorite soft drink? Diet Barqs Root Beer
31. What is your favorite place to eat at? Outback Steakhouse
32. What is your hair color? Auburn
33. What was your favorite toy as a child? Spyrograph (is that how you spell it?)
34. Summer or Winter or Fall? What happened to spring? Cause I really like spring!
35. Hugs or kisses? Again, I'm not picky, I'll take them both!
36. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate! I miss it.
37. Coffee or tea? Coffee
38. When was the last time you cried? Last week
39. What is under your bed? Kick butt dust bunnies
40. Salty or sweet? Depends on my mood.
41. What are you afraid of? Being alone
42. Do you make friends easily? I'm usually shy around new people. It takes awhile.

Thekthy Is Theckthy No Matter How You Spell It!

This all started back in October when my husband decided to lavish me with gifts for my birthday. I have to say the guy earned some major brownie points! First of all he decided to take me to a concert in West Virginia, and then he had my car windows tinted. Pictured above is the last installment of gifts; personalized plates. This is where it gets a little sticky.

You see, James is known for coming up with some strange little names of affection like boogashay, and shugaboog, and shugalump all of which he knows would be very dangerous (for him anyway) to have printed on my charger!



The only little name he thought would be safe was "Sexy". Well, I'm not at all convinced the term applies to me; however, it was an acceptable tag for my car. Of course when he went to the DMV to order the tags, the standard spelling was already taken. So, after lots of combinations, this is what he came up with. THEKTHY! He said, "I just thought of how Anni says it - and Sam too!"

I laughed and thought it was cute, but now I have realized something. James has taken my intimidating, sexy car with an attitude and given it a lisp!!!


Oh well, if Tham Kiefer can be thekthy, so can my charger.


So if anyone laughs I'll just rev my engine and threaten to run them over!

No Snow Yet But She's Training For It!

Last weekend Daddy had a paper to write and we needed to vacate the homestead and let him have some quiet time. So Anni and I set out to the back yard to find something to do and hopefully Mommy would not freeze her backside off. It was one of those grey cold days in Virginia, where wind was kicking up and it bit you every now and then. Any way, Anni said, "Mama, I got a good I-Plan!" And she was off into the garage to get her shovel.



One thing Anni loves to do with her daddy in the winter is shovel snow. Well, since we haven't had our first snow yet, Anni decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get in shape by shoveling leaves. While most people would use a rake, not our Anni, she prefers her handy-dandy-Anni-sized-little red snow shovel!

Of course the whole process is about having fun so when the pile is complete the only thing left to do is........................... Pick up as many as you can hold and .....................................

THROW THEM INTO THE AIR!!!!!! YAY! She was having such a good time I had to take some pics. The snow is on the way, you can feel it in the air, but playing in the leaves was just fine for now.

The throwing continues until she's exhausted or the leaves have to once again be shoveled. (Got to keep up that training you know!)

Of course she had to show me them "shuga lips" and beg me for some "warm shocolit" (that is the correct Anniese term for hot cocoa.)

Then it was back to the leave pile. Where's Anni?............................. Are you kidding me? She actually almost fell asleep in there. I had to make her get out and get cold again. Then it was time to go bug Daddy.

My Little Fairy Princess

I know, I know, Halloween is over but I was busy with finals last week and I wanted everyone to see my Fairy Princess! She can give you a black eye one minute and the next she wants to be decked out in pink wings and jewels! Go figure!

Well, the Mitchell family as never celebrated Halloween before, because we seriously have some issues with the holiday, however, Anni's school was having a special event the night before and we wanted her to be able to participate. This way she got to do the whole costume thing and get a small amount of candy and be with her little Kindergarten buddies.



This is the principal of Luray Elementary. Don't know what she was smokin'! The assitant principal, pictured below definately had the force with him all evening. I'm beginning to be a little worried about the leadership at this school! Yikes! (actually Mr. Baker (Darth) is pretty cool) But the star trek babe I could do without. Anyhoo!!!!!!


Anni made a finger puppet with Daddy. Looking like the beautiful princess she is!

And then it was on to monster bookmarks with Mom. Still looking like royalty in her little costume.

She got to hear stories, play games and then it was off to get her goodie bag complete with candy, peanut butter and jelly crustable, juice box, and prize. All in all we had a really great time and Anni loved getting dressed up.