September 1, 1982

28 years ago, a 14 year old girl whose name we don't even know did one of the hardest things a person could ever do. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and gave him up for adoption. I know that where ever she is, and how ever her life may have changed since then, I'm certain that September 1st is a day that always stands out in her mind. If I could, I would love to tell her, Thank You for the choice you made, Mickey & Jan are great parents, and they raised him to be an amazing man. I couldn't ask for a better friend, and I'm so happy to call him my husband. He loves the Lord, and does so much to help others. So... since it's his birthday I thought I'd share a few pictures of the love of my life through the years....

This is the first picture in Jon's baby book. It all started with a phone call September 14th (the phone booth Mickey was at when Jan gave him the news... "We've got a boy!")

September 15 At Edna Gladney in Fort Worth, the nurse brought out Jon & gave him to Mickey. This is the 1st picture of Little Jon! What an awesome moment, we all get teary eyed everytime we hear the story.

Love at first sight! You can tell Jan can't wait to get to hold him for the first time!

Jon & his little brother David doing their daily wait for Dad he's on his way home.

The Boys

A robot & a dinosaur for halloween

Little bitty Football Player!

Jon & his first ride... The Amigo!High School Graduation

Our Wedding Day

Jon being "Michael Corleone" on our 1st Anniversary

At Amy & Brian's Wedding

Jon's College Graduation - Cum Laude Honor Grad

At the Peabody in Memphis when we went to a friend's wedding.

Mom & Jon in London

Giving our friend a boost so she could sit down in Paris

Jon in Pisa
Jon on the Isle of Capri, in Italy

Zipper Cat Weighs In

I guess lots of artists end up painting one or two of their pets. Mr. Zip was my inspiration for this painting I did.......

I call it "Pineapple Up-Side-Down Cat" because one of Zip's favorite past times is hanging up-side-down. I don't know why, but since he was a little fellow I would pick him up, and he would fling his arms and head back so he could hang. At first I thought he wanted me to put him down, but he'd continue following me and begging me to pick him up again so he could hang up-side-down. It's one of the goofiest things I've ever encountered. One of his nicknames has been pineapple up-side-down cake, so I just took the play on words a little further in this picture. I posted the above same picture in a previous blog post, but that was before I was able to get Zipper's reaction....

The look says it all.... "I'm a black cat! Not purple! I don't have any pink hairs on my chest! What would make you hang it up in the laundry room beside my washer, where I take my knaps? Just who is this supposed to be a picture of???"

New Stuff

Something about having birthdays is making me less and less inclined to try new things, meaning cleaning supplies, make-up, shampoo, etc. When I was a teenager I would try out every new gimmick that came out in Seventeen magazine. As a result my bathroom drawers and cabinet at my parents house were absolutely packed with deodorants of every scent and even some that sparkled (seriously why would anyone care if their arm pits sparkled!), every flavor of chap stick, every face cleanser, several types of toothpaste, every color of eye shadow, every scent of Bath & Body Works, and at least 5 brands of shampoo. Looking back, I realize I was every advertising executive's dream come true, and somehow I've become their worst nightmare.

I've become one of those people that just likes Colgate original toothpaste. I don't need it to tingle, whiten, brighten, or last for 4 days. I don't want it to taste like Mentholatum, citrus, vanilla, berries, an icy mountain rush, or cinnamon. I just want plain Jane good old fashion toothpaste.

With that said, you will be proud that I decided to go out on an limb, and be a little "adventurous" lately. Here is what I can report.....

I went to the store to get laundry detergent, and they were out of All free and clear which is what I normally use. I looked around, and noticed this stuff, it's good for the environment, so I reasoned it can't hurt to give it a try. I guess you could say we've "gone green," we haven't turned into crazy hyper milers, or joined the green party, but we recycle. If we had a Whole Foods in Texarkana, I might be a bit more extreme. In a perfect world we'd all be eating wholesome organic diets, and all of our cleaning supplies would be non-harmful. Anyways... Arm & Hammer Essential Power Gel detergent works great, and smells even better! We're hooked, so if you've thought about giving it a try, get after it. You'll love it too, and if you don't then you can give it to me.

These Scrubbing Bubbles Gels may not be "Green" but they are awesome. Just put these in, and your bathroom stays cleaner between scrubbing! I give it my stamp of approval!

Not everything I tried was good... This body wax kit by Sally Hansen is the devil! After watching Bettheny Getting Married I had the "brilliant" idea to throw aside all reason, and give this a try. Tears, Cuss words, and an Afternoon of misery are all this little kit can guarantee. Yes I used baby powder, yes the wax still stuck to me, and NO I won't ever try it again!
So, since waxing is not my cup of tea I decided to listen to my Mom who'd been telling me about these razors with the soap already on them by Venus. Deep sigh of relief! No yanking, pulling, hurting, crying, or need for Advil. Just nice clean smelling soap stuck to a razor. I like it, and I think you will too.

The "Kids"

Being the proud mother of an entire zoo means sometimes you've got to show off the clan. Especially, when you catch them acting super cute! A few minutes ago I let the team come over to our side of the house, and what was the first thing they did? They all climbed up on mine and Jon's bed like they own it! Luckily I had my camera charging on my nightstand, so I picked it up and captured the moment.

Sasha

Cookie

Winston

Zip

Sophie

My Favorite Place... So Far

My favorite thing to do is travel. Luckily my parents were the kind that took my sister and I everywhere. Jordan and I have gone to many places where we were the only kids anywhere. I'm really thankful they took us along, because we learned so much from traveling. When you go somewhere different, your eyes are opened to different food, scenery, lifestyles, and cultures.

The BEST vacation we ever took was to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan. There are no cars allowed on the island, so everyone gets around on bicycles or horse and buggy. In the evening there is a dress code. Women must wear a nice dress or dress suit, and men must wear a suit and tie. Beautiful music played by a violinist and pianist flood the entire hotel. The dining hall is one of the longest in the world, the front porch is the longest, and at night there is a full band, and a dance floor filled with couples. The hotel has 385 rooms, and no two are decorated the same. The movie Somewhere in Time was filmed there in 1980. It was a very appropriate film for the location, because when you're there you feel like you've stepped back into 1910. The island is covered with little romantic hidden alcoves here and there. When we went I wasn't very old, but I remember so much about it. Now that I'm an adult, I'd like to go back and share it with Jon. I had always dreamed of going there on my honeymoon, but since Jon and I got married in November we weren't able to because it is closed from October to the middle of April.

Fabric Rosettes

I've been seeing these things all over the internet, and I love how they looks, so today Mom and I tried our hand at making them. I'm going to put these on necklaces, pins, and I might stick a couple on one of my headbands... The possibilities are endless! I managed to make 18 today, not bad for a beginner!

Our House

When you purchase an older, or perhaps I should call it a "Vintage" home, you should be prepared for a bit of the unexpected. In a lot of ways buying a house is a lot like getting married... You don't really know what you've gotten yourself into until the ink has dried! When we bought our house in April of 2006 we were totally excited, and everything looked like happily ever after, without requiring more than a couple buckets of paint to suit our tastes. Then after 1 month the pipe under the kitchen decided to bust (and of course it was late at night!) I screamed for Jon who was alread in bed, and started grabbing towels and the mop bucket. He had to run out of the house in his underwear, with a flashlight, and a pair of pliers to try to find the shut off valve! I did the totally rational thing, and sat in the floor crying and mopping up water as it sprayed all over me and my night gown.

Then in July 2006, ahh we all "LOVE" July in Texas! The air conditioner completely bit the dust. In case you wonder what a new indoor and outdoor unit run these days that would be 5 big ones, and I'm not talking about Benjamins. I'm talking about $5000!

When we got our house that April, part of the deal was that the previous owners had to put a new roof on it, and to our great "delight" August 2006 we had a horrendous hail storm which resulted in new roof #2. I think Jon and I are trying for a world record on roofs because in the 4 years we have lived here, we have gotten 3 new roofs. Gotta LOVE those Texas hail storms!

Then we had our enormous beloved dogwood in the backyard to fall on the roof of our screened in porch during yet another storm.

We've changed out all of the flooring, redone all of the landscaping, all of the light fixtures, got a new dishwasher, replaced every single cabinet handle, both of the toilets, bathroom fixtures, epoxy grit painted the garage floor, blown in new insulation, and tiled the front and back porch. I would have never thought we would have done so much to this place, but in the end it has been worth it. Jon and I have so many memories that we can look back on, and laugh about. We've added our own personal touches to everything, and every room has a story.

There is one thing that we had planned on changing, but decided to leave the same... the oven and stove. When we first looked at the house, we both looked at eachother and said, "Those are going to have to GO!" Now neither of us would want to trade them in if Lowe's promised to give us new ones for free (unless of course we're talking about a new free beautiful Viking range, and then we'll talk). I love my olive green General Electric oven and stove! There, I said it. They are 50 years old, and they still work like the day they were made. I don't know anyone else who still has their retro appliances, so that makes them unique. I just hope they keep on working another 50 years. Wouldn't that be something? Yes there are 3 doggie gates stacked up because it is the only way to keep our wild & crazy Zipper cat out of the formal dining room, and we don't want to loose the light that comes in from there.

Oh, and I have to share with you guys a blog that I am loving. There's No Place Like Home! I got her cute little tag with the red shoes, so you can just click on it, and go straight to it. Dina, who write it, has got the coolest decorating ideas I've ever seen! Her old house had an all colored rainbow checker board painted back deck... Gasp! Who would have ever thought to do such a thing... for me it was Love at First Sight! Here is a picture of her kitchen... I showed it to Jon tonight, and gave him the fair warning. "Honey I'm thinking about painting the kitchen cabinets." He simply laughed and said, "Just tell me what color."

Hodge Podge

I decided to post a few random pictures of some of my favorite things. They are in no particular order, so that's what makes this a bit of a "Hodge Podge" post.

My favorite store! Harrods!
My favorite salad plates (Mom got them for my birthday)

Isaiah 30:21

My favorite verse in the Bible branded into real leather.

This was my 16th Birthday Present. My favorite car! I love London Taxi cars!
My favorite chairs (found them at a thrift store!)
I love embroidered dish cloths!
Favorite picture I've ever taken of Bell Peppers

Favorite brooches
My favorite wedding and engagement rings!
My favorite picture of all time!

The day my little sissy was born!

(Mom has her arms around Me and Jordan)

My favorite new stockings for my favorite Holiday!
Favorite Antique Children's books

(I found these babies in Mineola, TX for a steal!)

My favorite painting! The scandalous "Olympia" by Edouard Manet!

In a time when it was "against the rules for a nude in a picture to

look out of the painting," Olympia gazes out at you with nonchalance, as

her servent presents her with a bouquet.

It depicts a time that has long been pardon the play on words...

"Gone with the Wind."

I love the bold colors in the picture, and the way the sheets look real enough to touch.

Something about this picture is just so striking when you see it in person.

Perhaps because she is life size!

Or maybe it is the way her eyes seem to follow you as you cross the room.

Most people don't notice, but there is a black cat a the foot of her bed,

which was considered the symbol of prostitution.

It wasn't until recently that people started thinking of them as "bad luck."
When this painting was first produced, it caused real live honest to goodness riots,

and several people tried to destroy it and set fire to the gallery it was in.

I'm so glad they were not successful!