Just Thinkin'

Just when I thought I was really gonna get into this whole "Blogging" thing, I realized, maybe there is an easier way for an artistic sorta person to relay their feelings, thoughts, actions, words, etc... I've always loved phototgraphy!  It started in Jimmy Lewis' geography class in middle school where I was made to write a paper based on an article out of National Geographic (and he only had thousands to choose from on his self) when I talked too much in class!  What kinda punishment was that???  I loved National Geographic, all it's articles, and MOST of all it's awe inspiring photos!  What I would've given to be a photographer for that publication then, and even now! 
As I am no longer "punished" into flipping through these books, I still pick them up and browse from cover to cover, caption to caption.  Every photo has a story to tell without reading the first line of it's accompanying article.  That's what I wish for in my photos!  Though I'm not professional, I catch myself daydreaming and seeing the world around me as if I were looking through a viewfinder. 
I capture images that have no meaning or purpose at all, but at the same time, I can think of hundreds of things that these photos may say to others or the thoughts that may fill their heads from what they take from what they've seen. 
Someday I would love to have a collection of all of my pictures from my firsts to those as I have grown in my hobby for not only others to see and critique, but for me to look back on and see how I myself have grown. 
Needless to say, from here on out, don't be surprised if my blog doesn't have a typical "blog" entry, but simply a picture for you to create a story, word, or description of your own.  Share your thoughts on any of them at any time.  I'd love the feedback! 

What to say, what to say...

Haha!  I have gotten so into this whole blogging thing and haven't the least clue why!  When I was growing up and was told to write a paper for a grade I would always wait to the last minute and HATED it (but always made an A)! Now I think about it all day and what I will write about in my quite time at night!
Well...I've thought about it all day and I have tried to think of something serious or with a point, but guess what???  I don't have one or anything in particular to put out there! 
All I can say is that I've had a good day!  From start to finish, it has been a good one!  Only had to work a half a day and it was busy, but good!  Got a nap after work and it was good!  Me and Bryan got to pick Bray up after school, and that was good!  Cooked sausage jambalaya for dinner, and guess what...It was good too!  But wait!  There's more!  We went backroadin' and shootin' and yes, it was good! 
Finally we landed back at home and watched my fave, Love in the Wild, and it was good!  Now, Bray's in bed, me and Bryan are on the couch, and all is GOOD! 
I'm loving my life, and it is....GREAT!  (thought I'd say good, didn't ya?!?) Lol!

From Beginning to End

Oh how I HATE the sound of my alarm going off in the mornings! Why must they make such "alarming" noises!?! Lol!  But I do like getting up before Bray's little feet hit the floor and being able to lean over him and kiss his cheeks to wake him up!  Our morning routine never misses a beat then we're out the door!  First stop is Loves for my 44 oz diet coke to pick me up!  Then off to school!  I was informed yesterday before we got out at school "mama, please don't embarrass me!".  I asked what he was talking about and he simply replied "the kisses thing.  You can kiss me when we get home this afternoon!" Grrrr!  So this morning I slipped a kiss in before we pulled in the parking lot!  He laughed!
After leaving Bray at school I was driving towards work and went to pick up my drink when all of the sudden the lid popped off the cup and it slid out of my hand and crashed back into the cupholder.  Needless to say, I was wearing about 22 oz of my 44 oz drink!  OMG, like really??? Oh well!  I'd just have to tough it out and air dry because I wasn't about to go all the way back home and be late to work!  At least the folks at work got a kick out of it!
Later on in the day I had a couple come in to the office (too cute I may add), well, let me take that back...The wife came in and the husband was in the front parking lot.  Both walk with canes.  I saw the wife turning to walk back out and figured she was going back to help her husband up the steps so I decided to go out and help them both.  After getting outside, I realized the wife was frazzled because she thought she had lost her pocketbook and she was really stressing!  And her husband asked me if I knew how to work the air conditioner in a truck! lol!  I addressed the wife first and told her to go back inside and sit down, I would try to find her pocketbook.  Second, I answered her husband and told him that I was pretty sure that I could figure out how to work his air.  He was asking because they had come from out in the country all the way to town with his long haired shaggy border collie in the backseat of the truck and the air wasn't cooling.  He wanted to leave the dog in the truck with it running while he came inside with his wife.  I went to his truck with him and first, found the wife's pocketbook, then realized that the air settings were all correct but his air was blowing hot!  And boy was it hot!.  He looked puzzled and asked what he should do with his dog while he was inside.  I told him that if he would pull around to the end of our building he could park in the shade where it was nice and sit there with the dog and I would hurry in and help get his wife seen a little more quickly than normal so they didn't have to wait to long.  He was ok with it and I returned the wallet to his wife who was thrilled!  Who knew that nursing encompassed so much?  Not only a nurse, but a detective, a mechanic, and caterer to our patients pets in their time of need as well! Haha! 
After a long and busy day at work I was so ready to get home to my little "don't embarrass me" baby!  He tinkered around with his pop for a while then we crashed on the couch for a little snack, some TV, and a well needed foot massage, and ending the the evening with chocolate chip cookies and milk!
Overall, I rate my day an "A" despite my first of the morning mishap!  It's the little things that make the overall picture great!  Now off to bed for me!  G'night!

Bittersweet Surprise

Normally I check my email early in the day, but today was an exception.  Busy morning, busy day at work, and busy afternoon at home. 
After picking Bray up from school and hearing how great his day was, we went back to my office and finished up a few things and headed home.  After we got home, I decided to let him have his time with his daddy (man to man talk, lol) while I mowed the yard.  I soon came in and showered as they sat on the couch doing their thing.  I then cooked supper and we sat down to eat and got our bellies full! lol!  Shortly after Bray headed off to sleepyland and I headed online.  This is when I pulled up my Yahoo account. What a bittersweet surprise I had awaiting me!
It only took a split second to see DIESEL in all caps in the subject line as well as a familiar name in the sender's address.  Before I bought my Diesel from Mr. Norman, a previous couple had bought him from Mr. Norman as a puppy.  As things changed, the couple (the Strousses) could no longer have Diesel and returned him to his breeder.  This happened to be the time that Bray and I were looking for a dog for ourselves.  Diesel was a little over a year old and we chose him over a puppy out of a new litter.  He just spoke to us and we just hit it off instantly!  Because he was registered, I had his previous owner's names and his name was so unique, it was hard to forget, hence the name on my email rang a bell quickly.
Knowing how reluctant Mr. Norman was to sell Diesel at the time I got him, I knew he would like to know how special he has been to not only me and Bray, but to all that have come to know him.  I sent Mr. Norman a letter last week filling him him in on the past few years and how we adored this big baby we called Diesel!  He then passed my letter along to Mr. Strouss.
As I opened my email tonight, I immediately began to cry as I read the first few lines...Diesel actually had his own Facebook page, Dee Strouss (Dee-Diesel Strouss), which was from the time the Strousses had him and it has his pic as a pup as the profile pic!  It's funny how things come around for you when you least expect it!  With that said, now I have pics on the way of Diesel as a puppy to compare Jada's puppies to should she be prego for sure!  ;-)

Bittersweet how the loss of Diesel may bring me a small piece of him should Jada have babies, but also that he was a major part of someone elses life that can share with me and sympathize...

Ya Never Know What the Day May Hold

Today has been on of the best days in quite sometime!  Woke up this morning to the sound of two little boys playing and decided a good breakfast was the way to get their day started!  And as always, lunch at mamaw and papaw's with the family! 
As we sat at the dining room table (the women's table, lol!) and the men sat in the den (at their table, lol!), we decided it was to beautiful a day to go home and take the usual Sunday afternoon nap!  Back in the day we use to go to Village Creek on Sunday afternoons and cookout and play.  This was always Johnny Poe's "thing"! Soooo, we made our plans to hit the road and go to the park for hot dogs and burgers and the playground!
In the meantime, Bryan and I knew we had Bray and Connor (Bray's buddy) to entertain and we decided we could use a little entertainment of our own, so we decided to take John Henry along for the ride with us!  We hit the backroads trying to find a little mud for JH and looking for snakes or anything that may make for good target practice.  All afternoon we rode and stopped so the boys could shoot, JH included!  "My shoot dat gun MelMel! My can do it!" He's such a special little boy and he really made the trip so worth my while!  After our outing we headed back home where we played with every toy in the house!  My, my, my how I forgot what it's like to have a 3 yr old around for long periods of time! Haha! 
Finally we headed towards the park and pulled up by the playground and before the truck doors were closed good, the boys were already swinging from the monkey bars and slinging gravel! The rest of the crew started joining us and by the time all was said and done we had 25+ burgers on the grill, a whole pack of hot dogs, and all 22 of us ( including a few "as close as family" friends) enjoying the late afternoon together! 
As I look back on my day, I had no idea what it would hold for me.  I never imagined so much fun and laughter, backroads and playgrounds, family and friends! 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this beautiful and amazing day!  Thank you for Bryan and Brayden and all of our family and friends that help make our lives what they are today!  We are forever grateful and truly blessed!

AMEN!

How Fortunate We Are!

Wow! Whatta day!  When I woke up this morning I knew I had a full day ahead of me and kinda shrugged simply because I love lazy Saturdays after a long busy work week.  I actually took my time getting up and about and tried to put off  "what the day had to hold" a little longer.  In the mean time I got some disappointing news (that I worked myself up over only to later resolve itsself) and was in a slightly blah mood. But as usual, I tried to put it behind me for Brayden's sake!  We decided that since Bryan was at the fire department and it was the weekend before school starts back that we would go get Bray's long time bestie, Connor (Jennifer and Chad Lynch's son).  As we drove into Wynne I told Bray we were taking a detour first and stopping by Lisa's (one more of my best gf's) for a surprise visit.  I love seeing her because she always wraps me up in a hug and we go on and on about how good it is to see one another!  While we were chatting her phone rang and it was the Wynne Friends of Animals Shelter.  They wanted her to come and look at a rescue they thought may have belonged to her.  We jumped in her ride and went straight there...As we pulled up I felt a huge lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes.  After losing Diesel last weekend it was undescribable to see all the dogs just wanting to be loved and needing a home like what I have to give!  It took every ounce I had in me not to just close my eyes and point at one and say "I'll take that one!"  I lived in Wynne for over a year and had never been to the shelter and I stopped and wondered how many that have always lived in Wynne and had never been there!  It is a remarkable place!  I don't want to act impulsively and adopt until my wounds begin to heal, but I will adopt in the near future!
After leaving the shelter, Bray and I went to Jenn and Chad's to visit and pick up Connor.  We sat outside while the kids played and we laughed and caught up on time passed.  I realized then that no matter how much time passes, best friends always pick up where they left off! 
After leaving Wynne, Bray, Connor, and myself went to the movies and had a great time!  Now we are home and the boys are living it up!  Games, movies, snacks, and uncontrollable giggles!  Absolutely priceless!
As I sit here and write, I can't help but realize how fortunate that I am! Not only am I fortunate and blessed to be Bray's mama, but I am so fortunate to have Bryan back in my life, best friends that make my day, an unexpected trip to the shelter that made me realize how special our K9 friends are and how much they need us...the list goes on and on!  Right now I keep hearing a church hymnal that I remember most from growing up, "Count your blessings name them one by one... Count your blessings, see what God has done!"
Days like today make me so excited about tomorrow and what it has in store for me!  I so look forward to all the blessings I have and have coming my way!  It's even better to be able to sit back and start counting and the list just keeps going!

The Beginning of Something New

It's a little after midnight and I'm sitting here listening to the rain and trying to decide just how I should start a blog...I don't really see it as a way to stay connected or keep others informed on what is going on in my life necessarily, yet I would love to hear from those whom I have lost touch with over the years.  I guess I will simply use it as a tool to vent, express myself, and keep those who are interested up to date on what's going on in my everyday life.
The title "The Beginning of Something New" was an easy one to come up with.  I have had several new beginnings in my life but somehow or another there is always room for others.  Most of you who read this already know that the last several years have encompassed several moments of despair and times of pain and sorrow, as well as the happiest days of my life.  From the loss of my uncle Johnny, a painful divorce, then the loss of Michael, I have made it through by the grace of God! At the same time I have always had the most precious and steady thing in the world to live for...Brayden, my awesome little boy! 
I guess what I see in the future of my "blogging" is just an insight into my life and how it has transpired over the last few years to the present, kind of a book and the chapters it contains. 
Here's to my "Beginning of Something New!"