An Engaging Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a very quiet weekend...well that is until Sunday afternoon:

Our youngest daughter, Kerri and her boyfriend, Charlie got engaged on Sunday!  They've been together for about 2 years now.  No date has been set yet, but it is official.  And I must say, he did a good job picking out a ring.

Here he is down on one knee, proposing!

Beautiful Ring

Suffice it to say, Kerri was about bouncing off the walls.  We weren't there and didn't know it was going to happen.  They were having a pool party with their friends.  But she called her daddy and told him she needed to speak to both of us.  So he came and found me and put her on speaker phone and she told us all about it.  She said she wanted to make sure she told us before it showed up on FB.  I have to say, she cut it kind of close.  I had been looking at my Instagram Account and after we hung up, I went on looking at it and about 2-3 photos down was her engagement ring.  I'm really happy, she called and we got to hear it from her and didn't find out on the internet.  Of course, the 3 pics above came from the internet and I'm glad they are there so I can share them with you!

So congratulations Charlie and Kerri!  I hope your life together will be even better than your daddy's and mine!!!!!  We love you guys bunches!!

So, how did your weekend go?

Friday Fragments and SkyWatch Friday

Well it's time for Friday Fragments and SkyWatch Friday.  Click here for the Fragments and here for the SkyWatch.

*It's been a fairly quiet week this week.  Mostly after work each day, we just spent the evenings at home.  I've been working on my Bible Study, "Children of the Day" by Beth Moore.  So far, very good.

*Do you think it's time for Miss Lucy to get a haircut?  I do.  Thinking about trying to get an appointment at Pet Smart.  Have any of you ever used them?  If so, let me know what you think.

Here's my SkyWatch Photo from earlier this week.

  

Have a great weekend Everyone!!!

Throwback Thursday

I've been noticing some Throwback Thursday Posts today, so I thought I'd add one.

How about some pictures from my early years of Police Dispatching for the department I still work for. The ones with the orange curtains behind me would be in the late 70's when I was in my early 20's. The other 2 would be probably sometime in the mid to late 80's. I can't tell for sure, but I'd guess that cake would be for 30th birthday. Did you notice in the bottom picture with the orange curtains (even some of the walls were that color) there's a manual typewriter? Yep, I am that old. It took a a couple years to talk them into an electric one. Now of course, everything is computerized.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What summer activity most takes you back to your own childhood?
Swimming.  We used to have a pool and we swam a lot.

2. What's your favorite summer smell?
Grilling meat.  Yum!

3. It's beach season in the US of A...so how do you feel about sand?
I like sand because it's on the beach and I love the beach.  Plus the shells I love to find are in the sand.

4. Sun tea, SunChips, sunflower seeds, Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Sun-Maid raisins, sun-dried tomatoes...your favorite food or beverage with sun in its name?
Sun-dried tomatoes and SunChips.

5. What's your favorite way to cool off on a hot summer day?
Come into the air conditioning and turn on a ceiling fan and have something cold to drink.  Another way is taking a cool shower.

6. Share a favorite song with the word sun or sunshine in it's title.
The first one that came to mind is John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders."

7. Tell us about a time you had an exceedingly good or truly awful customer service experience. If it was awful, did you report it? Ever go back there again?
Nothing really stands out in my mind as anything special.  I usually feel I'm treated pretty well in most situations.  Now, if you want to talk about my years in police communications, there would be a lot of times I've been treated extremely rudely and I have been known to hang up on someone if it gets really bad.  It's been years since I've had to do that though.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Have you tried the chicken salad wrap from Arby's?  It is delicious!  I want another one.

picture is from internet

Summer Bucket List Check-Up

How's the Summer Bucket List coming along? I posted my list on May 29th and this is where I stand as of this past weekend.

1. I want to read several books.  I've read one book, started another and have listened to 2 audio books.  I think that's a pretty good start.
2. I want to finish re-doing our bathroom.
3. I want to wash all the windows in our house.
4. I want to clean the garage and get rid of a bunch of stuff.
5. I hope to find at least 25 more Geocache's. Searched for 2 on Saturday, but only found one.
6. I hope to go on several picnics.  That little restaurant I told about yesterday..we ate outside on picnic tables, so that counts and that makes 1 so far.
7. I hope to go stargazing at least once or twice this summer.
8. We're hoping to buy a new van.
9. I want to make reservations and plan a November vacation. Disney or Myrtle Beach...we'll find out. No reservations yet, but a decision has been made - 3 weeks at Myrtle Beach.  Dates picked, vacation time approved at work.  Good start.
10. I also want to start and complete the new Beth Moore Bible Study, Children of the Light. I have started this, but to be honest, I'm kinda behind.  But I'll get it, I hope.

So all in all, not a bad start.  At least for the fun things.  Now I need to get started on some of those chores.  

How about you, how is your Summer Bucket List going?

Weekend Wrap-Up

It's been a good weekend.  I've got many pictures.  Hope you enjoy.

*Friday night:  After work, Tracy, Kelli and I went to dinner at City Barbecue and it was delicious.  Later Kelli and I went and saw the movie, "The Fault in Our Stars."  Very good movie.  I don't want to give anything away, but all I can say is I cried...for awhile...bring some tissues.

*Saturday:  Tracy and I wanted to do something different on Saturday and I think we found just the thing.  We decided to go to Greenville, OH, which is probably a little over an hour away from us.  There is a restaurant (read this hole-in-the-wall) that has become very popular.  It's called the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe.  They have loose meat sandwiches which turned out to be awesome.  They are basically beef that is not in patties.  But the other thing they are famous for is that everyone puts their chewing gum on the outside of the building.  I'm telling you it's covered.  I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

Here's one of the walls with the gum

Had to give you a close-up

Here's one of the cheese burgers.  The meat has a bit of a sweet taste and then with the mustard and dill pickle it's really good

Here's the front entrance and as you can see more gum

And of course, I had to follow the tradition.  I tried very hard not to touch anything but my gum.  haha

More Saturday:  After that hubby and I decided to drive some back roads and head back east towards Young's Dairy Farm, which has the best ice cream!  Again, I'll let the pictures tell the story here.

We laughed when we saw this street sign.  Had to take a bit of a drive because I could see a church down the road and wondered if it was called Hogpath.  But alas, it wasn't.  It was Hickory Grove or something like that.

There were beautiful corn fields all over

We stopped and took a look around Bear's Mill.  It is a still running mill.  Very interesting!  Loved this truck.

You just never know what you'll find on the back roads of Ohio

Here's the dam that controls the water for the mill

Finally at Young's Dairy Farm

Here's what I got.  Double Oreo Sundae.  It was way too much.  Couldn't even finish it.  But what I ate was delicious!

Now this is closer to home.  Hubby grabbed a picture as we were going by.  How would you like this as as a lawn ornament in your front yard?

 *Saturday night after we got home and Kelli got off work, she and I ran and got our hair cut.  Here I am with a shorter hair cut.  Thinking of letting it grow again, but I had to get the layers cut out first.  We'll see how it goes.  :)

 *Sunday:  We had church and went to lunch with my husband's parents at our local Mexican restaurant.  Great food and conversation.

Well, that was our weekend.  How was yours?

Friday Fragments and SkyWatch Friday

It's time for SkyWatch Friday and also Friday Fragments.  Click here to join in with SkyWatch Friday and click here to join with Friday Fragments.  They are both fun and you won't regret playing along.


*RAAM 2014: Have you ever heard of it. RAAM is Race Across America which is a bike race. It starts in California and ends in Maryland and it goes right in front of our church. There are single riders and team riders. One of the teams is 8 riders from Britain called the Michael Matthews Foundation. Two of the riders are Pippa and James Middleton, brother and sister to Princess Kate. Anyway, hubby and I have been following the race some and found out their team would be passing this evening, so we went to watch. Of course, only one is riding and it just had to be raining, but I did get a picture of the rider. It appears to be a male but I couldn't tell who it was. But here's my picture.

RAAM 2014

This is one of the follow vehicles for their team

*Here's my SkyWatch Friday picture for this year.

Wednesday night skies

That's all I have for this week.  Have a great weekend everyone!!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Since you weren't Hodgepodging last Wednesday, how did you pass the time?
Working.

2. What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? Yes, one word.
Forever.  But I really need two words.  Together Forever!

3. Summer officially arrives in the Northern hemishpere later this week. Does it feel like summer where you live? Describe your idea of the perfect summer day.
Yes it feels like summer here.  A perfect summer day to me is about 80-85 degrees (no mugginess), bright blue skies with big fluffy white clouds, a spot of shade, a comfy lounge chair, a good book and my hubby to talk with.  A nice picnic lunch and a stream nearby just adds to the perfect picture to me.

4. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."(Sam Keen) Is laziness ever respectable? Do you have a lazy summer planned, or something semi-ambitious?
I think its fine to be lazy sometimes.  In fact, I think it can be good for you.  We all need downtime.  As for my summer being lazy.  I wish, but since I work full-time, that doesn't get to happen much.  But I hope to have some pretty lazy evenings and also a few Saturdays that are laid back.  Time will tell.  :)

5. Past or present, who's your favorite television dad? Why is he a favorite? Is he anything like your own dad?
Maybe Bill Cosby.  Because he was always wise, but he always presented that wisdom with a sense of humor.  In the wise category, yes he is.

6. June 18th is International Picnic Day...share a favorite picnic memory.
Some of my favorite picnic memories are when we would have a big family reunion picnic.  I love being with my extended families and catching up on everyone's life.  It's been a long time since we've had one though.

7. The travel site Trip Advisor lists the top five islands in the world for 2014 as- Ambergris Caye in Belize Cayes, Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Marco Island Florida, and Lewis and Harris in The Outer Hebrides (Scotland). Have you been to any of these? Of those listed (and if price were not a factor) which would you most like to book for a holiday?
I think Marco Island, FL.  I just don't have much desire to leave our country right now.  There is just so much here that I've never seen or done.  I hope someday to have been in all 50 of our states, or at least all 48 of the continental US.
 
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I finally got it hung.  I love it.  It had some real color and brightness to my office.  As you can see, I have plain, white, block walls and they really need some color.

Friday Fragments and SkyWatch Friday

It's Friday Fragments time again and look!  There's a new button!  Love the new summery look.

It's been a fairly quiet week this week.  And of course, I love it like that.  Kelli's worked mostly dayshifts, so she's been home in the evenings with us.  It's been fun having her around to laugh and talk with.

She also painted a picture for my office this week.  You can see that in the post right below.  I have to get a hook so I can get it hung.  I know just the spot I want it.  I'll try to remember to post a pic when it's hung.

Lucy has been a hoot this week.  She loves having us all home.  She just runs from our room to Kelli's and to the livingroom.  Full speed ahead!  But when she crashes, she really crashes.  As you can see in the picture below, she really just wishes I'd leave her alone and let her sleep.  lol

Look at that face!  Total disgust!  lol

The below photo is from this morning.  I think she has such a little old man face.  And again, she looks like she's just suffering through me taking a picture of her.  Too funny!

And here's my SkyWatch Friday picture.  I was out with Lucy the other night waiting for her to do her business and the night sky was beautiful.  I don't think this is too bad, considering I just took it with my iPhone.

Wednesday night sky from my back yard.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I saw a painting on Etsy last week that I really liked and I told Kelli that I'd love to have something similar to that hanging in my office.  It's so bright, plus I love the scripture.  So guess what, she painted it for me.  It's beautiful and I can't wait to hang it.  Of course, it's raining today, so I didn't bring it in, because I don't want it to get wet. But hopefully, before the week is out it'll be in my office.  Although, I'm enjoying it at home right now.

So, what do you think?  Didn't she do a great job? It's so wonderful having an artist in the family!

Have a great day!

Friday Fragments

It's Friday and that means it's time for Friday Fragments.  Click the button on the left, if you'd like to join in with Mrs. 4444's.  Of course, please read mine and comment first.  Thanks!

*Mrs.4444's I just want to again say thanks for the Amazon Gift Card.  I used it last night buying some books for my Kindle that I've been wanting.

*I haven't been doing much blogging in the past few weeks except for the Wednesday Hodgepodge and Friday Fragments.  Thank goodness for both of these, or my blog would be completely quiet.  There are a lot of serious physical things going on in my extended family and that has been sucking the energy out of me lately.  Hubby, me and the girls are fine.  And things are looking some better for some of the family.  If you ever happen to think about us during the week, prayers would be appreciated.  We are believers and know that God has a plan for us and that He is the True Healer!

*One thing I have been doing quite a bit is posting on my Instagram Account.  I love taking pictures and now that I have a smart phone I take lots of pictures and many of them end up on Instagram.  I believe Instagram is my favorite app on my phone.  If you're interested in following me, there is a link in my sidebar on the right.  If you follow me, I'll follow you.  I love taking pictures and looking at other people's pictures.  Here are a couple I've posted recently.

On mom and dad's front porch

Love seeing God's beautiful work up close.

Beautiful roses at Church

Well, that's all for me.  Have a great week!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. I've read several posts and status updates recently describing end of year school field trips. Do you remember taking school field trips as a kid? Where did you go and do you recall a favorite? For any parents responding today, have you ever chaperoned a school field trip, and if so where?
As a child I remember going to the Cincinnati Zoo and also Wright Patterson Air Force Base.  I loved them both and still do to this day.  I also remember going to both of those same places with my girls as a chaperone.
 

2. What's something you're tired of seeing online?
Commercial ads for things I have looked up when considering to buy something.

3. June is the month for roses. Which of the following expressions would you say has most recently applied to your life-'everything's coming up roses', 'there's no rose without a thorn', 'came out smelling like a rose', or 'wearing rose-colored glasses'?
Usually, I'd say wearing rose-colored glasses.  Because I always look for that silver lining and if I find something, then I just hang onto that as hard as I can.  But currently I'd have to say there's no rose without a thorn.  Life for my family is pretty difficult right now and at the moment I'm having trouble finding a silver lining.  

4. When grilling outdoors do you prefer gas or charcoal? Who does the grilling at your house? What's the last thing you ate that was cooked on a grill?
I prefer gas and hubby does most of the grilling, but I will from time to time.  The last thing I had on the grill was a hamburger tonight and it was delicious.

5. Are you afraid of the dark?
Depends where the dark is.  In the safety of my home, no.  Out in the dark night somewhere I'm unfamiliar with, yes.

6. Share a favorite song with a number in it's title.
 How about this one.


7. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."(C.G. Jung). Do you agree? Why or why not?
I agree because usually what really irritates you in others is something you probably do yourself to some extent.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I've just started Beth Moore's new study, "Children of the Day".  That's the summer Bible study on her website.  Click here if you'd like to join in with her.