Beginning 2015

Wow! Life has a way of just taking over, doesn't it? Sometimes, I feel that I am on a ride at an amusement park that will not stop, or even slow down. 2014 has not been a good year for me, but I am sure that 2015 is going to be a great year! We had many changes and happenings this year, and it boggles my mind when I look back at all of it. I am going to start fresh in 2015, and really make some changes. Health, attitude, and most of all faith and family. These will be my focus for 2015. I hope to blog on a regular basis because I would like to share my progress, even though I know that no one actually reads my blog! I read it! Happy New Year! Let's make it our best!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads! I am making my sweetie's favorite, Cinnamon Rolls! We have new family member, his name is Elvis(which I am hoping to change, but he has had it since birth). He is an adorable 9 year old Shih Tzu that we adopted from rescue. He is just so sweet and so loving. He will be such a good addition to our family. Randy says he will be my "Therapy Dog". I believe that could be true! I am still working on the Secret Garden Project, but it is slow, because I am taking out almost as much as I am putting in. I can't get some of the colors as I want them, and I can't get some of the stitches to look as smooth as I would like. This project is very special to me and it is definitely testing my abilities as an embroiderer. I am working on another project for my children for Christmas, but can't reveal that here. I have been cooking and baking a lot, and that is therapy for me also. I really love doing it and the food is so delicious! Anna will be here in another week. She is staying with us for a week while Brian is at camp. I am going to try and teach her to knit while she is here. I want to teach her all the sewing and needlework skills that I know. I did not have the Mother and Grandmother's who knitted and sewed, so I want to make sure that Anna and Addie have the opportunity to learn while they are young. Til tomorrow~~~

Time

It is amazing how much time you find when you aren't sitting in front of a computer staring at ecard sayings and recipes for a dish that you can't even pronounce. I wish that you could pick what you see on Facebook, but since you can't do that, the best thing is not to waste the time to look. I Love my family and my friends and I am very interested in their lives and what they are doing, but in order to see that, I have to go through all the other stupid stuff, so I just don't want to waste that time. I have been cleaning the garage with Randy and working on my Secret Embroidery Project. I am shocked at some of the things that I have found in the garage. Things I have been looking for upstairs, things that I forgot I even had and it is fun finding all these great surprises! Cleaning the garage is hard work, but I know that when it is finished, I will be better for it. Well my cinnamon rolls were a big success! Not only did they look and smell beautiful, they were delicious! I have decided that I might be forced to make more today. They are Randy's most favorite dessert and I like 'em pretty good myself.

Got lotsa stuff to do today~ Til tomorrow~~~~

Time to take control

For those of you who do not know me, I am the world's biggest control freak! I think it developed in my childhood when I had to take care of my brothers and keep my Dad organized. So, over the years it just grew into a monster that I can't keep from rearing its ugly head more often than I care to admit. I have decided that in order to regain control of my life, I have to make some serious changes, and the first one is going to be social media. I have taken an indefinite break from all social media except this blog. I will post when I feel I have time, but that is the only thing I plan on doing. I will continue to have my iPhone, but will not have any social media apps on it. I want to go back to the person I used to be, who had a clean house, cooked lots of great food and spent many hours in the garden. I also want to spend more time with my sweet and wonderful family. The only way to do that is to free up my time. So, today is the beginning of a new lifestyle for me. Til tomorrow~~~

Cinnamon Rolls!

I have cinnamon rolls rising and they will soon be in the oven! It has been a very busy day. I never run out of things to do. If I cleaned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I still could not keep up with all that needs to be done, and I work a full time job! The gardens need trimming, the garage needs cleaning, the house needs dusting, and on and on! Oh well, it will all be here when I am dead and gone! I am seriously considering mixing a pitcher of pomegranate margaritas and heading for the playhouse! After the cinnamon rolls are baked, of course! Til tomorrow~~~~

TGIF!

I am so glad that it is Friday! It has been a grueling week at work and I am glad to have some time off. I am going to do some cooking this weekend. I am hoping to make BBQ and to bake my Grandmother's Pineapple Upside Down cake. It is so delicious and I have not made it for years! Hope to have a pretty quiet weekend for a change. We have been on the road constantly the last few weekends and I am ready for some R & R! I am going to take Mom out shopping and to lunch tomorrow. But other than that and church on Sunday, I hope to have a nice quiet weekend. I am hoping to work on my Secret Garden project and relax. Til tomorrow~~~

Embroidery

I am starting the Secret Garden Embroidery Project that you can find over at Needle n Thread. Mary and all the others are very far ahead of me, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you love embroidery, this a great project. Go over to the website and get all the instructions from Mary. I have the book and materials and I think I will be ready to start transferring the design by tomorrow or Saturday. I am not sure about my colors yet, but I love the way the Mary has done her leaves and vines. I will post some photos along the way to let you know how I am doing. Til tomorrow~~~

What a Great Weekend!

It has been a wonderful long weekend! We spent Saturday in Greenville for Ansley's 1st Birthday Party! I can't believe that little cutie is 1 year old! We had great food and a really nice afternoon with family.

After we returned to Atlanta, Randy and I made Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches and settled in and watched RED 2. Today, we went to breakfast with Tiffany, Parker and Colin. Colin loved the train in downtown Tucker. Our friends, Michael and Jenna own the best home cooking restaurant in Atlanta, Matthews Cafeteria. It is located on Main Street in downtown Tucker, and let me tell you, it is the best food anywhere!

Randy is gone to play golf now, and I am "piddlin", which is my most favorite thing in the world to do. Tonight we are BBQing and hanging out at home! What a great weekend. Thank you to all of service men and women for making it possible for us to do these wonderful things because we are Americans. God Bless all of them! ~~til tomorrow....

I am getting organized!

I know that it looks as if I have been lax in posting the last few months, but believe me, I have a couple of good reasons. I am not going to elaborate, except to say that I have been caring for my Mother and have had some pretty serious health issues, myself. I am going to try and get caught up over the next few days with updating the blog and downloading photos and various things. I need to do several serious updates. ~~~til tomorrow..

Birthday Girl!

Even though tomorrow is actually her birthday, we all went to Columbia yesterday for Anna's 5th birthday.

With the exception of the California gang, we were all there. It was the most wonderful day! Richard made pizza and spaghetti and let me tell you that boy's cooking is awesome! He makes the best dishes and his pizza and spaghetti could easily rival any restaurant, including Olive Garden. He needs to open a restaurant! All the babies were there and it was so fun to see them all playing together and having fun. I think that I needed this day to make me realize how wonderful my life is and how all this health stuff is just a bump in the road. I am feeling so much better today about things. A visit to the Orthopedist has convinced me that I can get this back problem under control. I have been doing so much knitting and I am seriously considering starting an embroidery project. I have seen one that I am just in love with and I am thinking I will give it a go! I am also about make a needle book. If you are not familiar with them, they are handmade and they are for you embroidery needles and tools. They also make lovely gifts. Til next time~~~

Snowed In!

We are really snowed in! But, I guess what we actually are now is sleeted in. We have had non-stop sleet and freezing rain since Monday and everything is white. I am up late, as usual, since I can never sleep, and it has just started to snow a little while ago. The flakes are light and feathery, really pretty and delicate. That is what I really love to watch and if they are big and fat, even better. I have cooked enough food for about 10 people on a week camping trip, even though it is only Randy, Mom and me. I made chili, taco filling, salsa, vegetable beef soup and corn muffins and this morning Randy made a meatloaf for me and put it in the freezer. We have plenty of snacks and milk and bread and of course, coffee. So I think we will be good for the duration. Ivey sent me a picture of Ansley eating snow cream and she is so adorable...take a look:

Isn't she beautiful? Well, I might be a little prejudice. Guess I better try and get some sleep. I was up last night until 4:30 am and only slept about 3 hours. I am seriously considering asking the DR to give me something. Will post more later about the snow! Until next time~~~

So Many Things to Talk About

I do have so many things that I would like to post, but I will only hit the highlights! I am really enjoying knitting socks and the KAL I have been doing with my Ravelry group. We are working on the VisionWalk for 2014 and it is going very well. I have been reading alot about Elizabeth Zimmerman and I am so loving this wonderful lady! Good news from the doctor today, though we still have some issues to deal with. I am hoping to get all the health issues behind me in the next few months. If you pray, prayers are appreciated. Til next time~~~

Life is Good!

It is January 26, and this is my first post! Sometimes I am such a procrastinator! I didn't procrastinate about blogging, but I do about tons of other stuff and then I get rushed and don't have time to blog! Oh well, I am trying to get myself organized, simplify my life, and try to enjoy more time with my family, especially my grandchildren. We all know that Rome was not built in a day, and all the things that I want to do won't be either! I had a pretty stressful 2013 and I am so hoping that 2014 will be a much better year! I have been knitting, a lot! and I have been doing Zentangle, though I am taking a break from drawing now. I have been doing alot of cooking and baking and we are getting geared up for this year's VisionWalk. It will be held on April 27, in Piedmont Park again and we are all looking forward to a fun-filled, family day with lots of people raising money and awareness of genetic eye diseases and the effect they have on families, especially children. I will post the link at the bottom of this post to volunteer to walk or to donate. All donations are appreciated! Brian is growing like a weed. He is 8 this year and almost as tall as I am. Here we are at Christmas!

I am doing OPAM again this year and I am excited! I want to finish much more than I did in 2014, and I am working on my TO-DO list, which is not that long, but needs some work for sure. Til Next Time~~~