See ya later

Those are the three words I almost always heard from my grandparents. It was almost always followed the words I love you. I love you, see ya later. I like to look at yesterday as a day of all of us saying, "I love you, see ya later."

When it was time to pick out flowers, it was so difficult for me. I just didn't want any ole flower. I didn't want something typical. I didn't want something normal. My grandfather was not a typical man. He was a class act and a gentlemen. He was more than a father, grandfather, a brother, a son, an uncle, a cousin, great grandfather. No matter what role he held, he was simply a friend. The stories he would tell. Oh the same stories. The songs he would sing. Oh the same song. So how could I pick out a typical flower for the man who taught me how to love and be a good friend.

Now in my head, I really wanted to pick out a Lily. The Lily is significant to my family. We have a song that incorporates the word Lily. So it would be completely be appropriate to purchase a Lily, but Lilies are typical. Lilies are the norm. So my husband and I went on a journey. To a florist you say? Nope, not us. We wouldn't be us if we went to a florist. We got in my car and drove to Lowe's. I touched almost every single flower, bush and tree in the place. Then I found this:



Do you know what it is? It's a Red Lily. A beautiful Lily shaped like a red heart. Red Sox Calla Lilies. I had no idea that Calla Lilies came in so many varieties. I knew about a few of them, but this one wowed me. It knocked the breath out of me and it already came in a beautiful pot. So we picked up the best looking pot out of the bunch and started making plans for it. We knew we had to rush to Michaels for a beautiful bow, but wait .. what's that? Something else caught my eye.

A beautiful red Mandevilla. So we decided to pick it up as well along with a beautiful pot to place it in and rushed off to Michaels.



Well when we rushed in, I realized that the bow making lady was no longer there for the evening. What was worse was that she would not be returning until late Thursday night. That would be way too late. So after wandering around for what seemed like hours, we finally decided on some bows that were already made. One was quite patritotic and the other was quite unique. Then we needed white cards and a card holder. Well something you may not realize is that Michaels does not sell card holders for plants. We needed an alternative idea so we began to search when we found these and the little stars held the cards perfectly.



Here is what we wound up with:





Unfortunately, the white bow was not photographed. Somewhere between the church and the funeral home, the bow was destroyed. Also please ignore the snowmen in the window. I have a problem. I know it is the end of April, but I just haven't had time to take them all down yet. :) To be honest, I forgot that was there until I saw it just now!

Praise You in THIS Storm

I've always used this song to lift me up during my Lyme battle. I'm listening to it differently today. My ears that have heard the words that no granddaughter ever wants to hear. My eyes have seen what no granddaughter should ever have to see, but it's a fact of life. God gives and God takes away. If God had not given me such a phenomenal man as a Grandfather, it would not hurt nearly as much. I am thankful for the pain and tears. It's amazing how much I've grown in ten years. I cry because I miss the man that did everything in his power to make sure that everyone was fed and comforted. I've been grieving the loss of "this" man for a while, but the loss of his body is one that is almost too much to bear ... almost, but not quite.

The thing is I know he is no longer in any pain. He can breathe and he is finally HOME. A home he's been wanting for so long. The last three words out of Grandfather's mouth to me, "I love you." In his last moments with me, he wanted me to know how much he loved me. I am trying not to cry. He wouldn't want me to cry, but in part I cry out of joy. He's finally at home. God finally called him home.


Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus







"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me...to grant consolation & joy to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, & failing spirit - that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." Isaiah 61.1 & 3

Sleep Well Daddy George

I love you! He met my Granny in Heaven late last night 4/25/10.

Ever been implored

Ever been implored to write a letter to someone you don't know? Ever been implored to write a letter to someone of importance? Ever been implored to write a letter to someone that could potentially make a difference?

Well for me those three questions are yes. I very easily could have turned down the opportunity to write Congress about Lyme Disease and helping integrative doctors. Two days ago, I was asked again if I would write another letter. This letter wasn't about Lyme Disease. This letter wasn't about medicine at all. Now my first reaction was why me? Why should I write this letter and more important how could I help? After all, I was writing a letter about one person to a very important person. I had met this one person three times. Yet, I was being asked if I would write a letter. The letter stayed on my mind for all of ten minutes before I decided that I would indeed write this letter.

I pray that my letter will impact the heart of the person and will change minds. I am only one person, but there is a chance that my one letter will impact things. Please pray for the person I wrote about and please pray that hearts will be softened. Decisions have been made and while I know this is vague ... please pray that the person I wrote the letter to will reverse his decision.

Essentially, someone I have met three times will lose their job at the end of June. Now people lose their jobs every day, but this is a man of the cloth. This is a Pastor that will not be allowed to preach. So I have written the Bishop in hopes that he will change his mind and reverse the decision he made to remove the Pastor from his role. Say a little pray for this Pastor. He is a good man and a good Pastor for his congregation.

Myrtle Beach Part 1

We stayed at the Dunes Village Resort.
Photo 1: Taken from our extended balcony. It was pretty sweet!
Photo 2: Photo I took when we were downstairs walking towards the beach.


Photo 3: The hubby & I at a Putt Putt course on Friday Night.



Photo 4: We had such a great time on this course. We did silly things. Like turning the putter around and hitting the ball with the wrong end. Once the ball went up against the "wall" and you know the rule about moving it away from the wall by the edge of the putter? Well, we created our own "putter length" rules. ;) Look close and you might can tell I used to be a dancer and a guard girl.




Photo 5: Rob checking out his potential shot. Look at my handsome husband. At this point we had been married 10 years and 1 day and 4 hours. Not that I was counting or anything.



Stay tuned for more photos

Thanks for your prayers

A pictures speaks 1,000 words.

Delayed in Myrtle Beach Post

Due to the poor health of my Grandfather, I will be postponing the blog on Myrtle Beach. Please pray for my Grandfather and family. I went to see him today. He's tired and struggling to breathe. So until I can catch my own breath, the blog will have to wait.

Back from Myrtle

I'll post more tomorrow, but for now:





PS. Donna, I will try to email you tomorrow regarding your comment.

So Excited

I am so excited to go to the beach tomorrow. Here are some photos of me & the beach from the past.

September 2008. Outer Banks NC. I still had the PICC line. I was still very sick. You can see how I felt about Lyme Disease. And yes, I was FREEZING cold! :)



Atlantic Beach. This was in March of 2009. This was our early anniversary celebration and my personal picc line pulling celebration



July 11, 2009 at Carolina Beach.
This was a few hour get away to de-stress.



Well I better go back to packing!

Since Dec. 94

I met my husband December of 1994. I am almost wanting to say I met him on December 10th, but that would be a little bizarre to put a date on the day we first laid eyes on each other. I do remember the day though. I met him shortly before I got my acceptance letter to go to Western Carolina University.

Throughout 1995, he and I became buddies. We were friends that saw each other once a week. We chatted and had a great time. Once I went to college, I looked forward to coming home during the holidays and seeing my friends. In November of 1995, I realized that he was the kind of man I would like to date. However, I had just ended a relationship that was pretty dreadful. Also I was going to college a good 300 miles away and having some health issues. I rarely saw him in 1996, but we did hang out some in the summer of 96.

During the summer of 1997, I ran into him again and we exchanged emails. We began our friendship on the computer in August of 1997 and in September I agreed to hang out with him for a bit the weekend of a family friend's wedding. We hung out at Golden Corral, at the lake, the rock quarry and at the bowling alley. A few days later, he officially asked me to go out with him. I was elated, but nervous.

In 1998, he bought a house. It was our future home, but it wouldn't be my home until 2000. In 1999, he asked me to marry him. It was a very sweet proposal. He essentially recreated our first unofficial date by carrying me to Golden Corral, then we went to the lake and finally wound up at the rock quarry where he popped the question. Of course (obviously) I said yes. Later, our friend took our engagement pictures. This is still one of my favorite pictures of us together.


In 2000, our lives became one life. The lady that altered my dress said that I was the tiniest bride she had ever seen.


2005 at Grove Park Inn. My favorite trip ever.


I began to get really sick in 2005 during that trip. I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in March of 2007. The last 10 years of marriage have been something else. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring. In a few years, we'll have been together longer than we lived without each other. I hardly remember what life was like without my husband.

On Thursday, we'll head to Myrtle Beach for a few days to celebrate our 10 years together.

The Camera

I haven't really been able to use the camera yet, but I will be using it in 7 days. The hubby and I are going to Myrtle Beach on April 15th! Hopefully I'll find some great things to photograph while we're there. :)

This is the front lobby of my school. I used the camera to highlight the blue. See the blue door in the background? That's the room I work in.

Easter Sunday

Spend the day of Resurrection at the feet of Jesus Christ and tell God you are here to worship.

The Tall Tail was ...

absolutely true. Every single bit of it. I wish I had gotten pictures of his muddy feet because they were too cute. Instead here is a black & white photo of my black & white dog from my new Point & Shoot.




I think that some neighborhood kid probably took him off his chain for a "joke." I wasn't laughing too hard, but I was just glad that Dexter was safe. I am pretty retentive dog mommy and I usually check every 5 minutes or so to make sure he's okay. I listen and if he's barking .. I know he's either barking at a vehicle or just to hear himself. If he's not barking, I go do a visual check. Usually he's enjoying the scenery in a sit down position or he's lying down resting. Yesterday I got involved in something in the house and had failed to do my every 5 to 10 minute check. In fact, he was probably enjoying himself a good 30 minutes.

My first thought other than a kid letting him off the hook was that maybe I didn't latch the latch good. However, I had checked on him a good 5 times from the window and the chain was there attached to him. I'm just glad he's "grown up" enough to stick around the house. The first week we had him (7 to 9 years ago???), he broke free from his chain and took off. My husband had to spend quite a while looking through the woods off the other road in our subdivision. Every time he got close, Dexter darted as if he were playing keep away.

So grateful Dexter just came so easily to me. I wasn't in the mood to play keep away in the woods.

Truth, Partial Truth or Tall Tale?

So this precious dog right here is mischievous



He got into a handful of trouble today. Maybe I should just change his name to Trouble. I'm sure I know the events of what happened. Dexter had fun in the process.



So I walked out to the mailbox to get our daily mass of junk mail. I don't even know where I put it because while I was out there I realized that Dexter was being VERY quiet. I walked over to where I had put him out and he wasn't there. I looked for the chain and realized it was still there and was still in tact. So my thought was that maybe Dexter's collar had broken. It didn't matter what had happened, but I had to find my dog and fast. There was no telling where he was.

I took the mail back into the house and grabbed his leash. I walked back outside out towards the wooded area of our property where I saw Dexter gallivanting in the mud sniffing to his heart's desire. I walked towards him and felt my shoes sinking into the muddy yard. I couldn't believe I was walking into this area of my property because almost everytime I go there I wind up with a tick. Dexter slowly walked to me and realized his romp in the mud was over.

We went to the hose and I hosed down his feet. I brought him to the porch where he sat until he dried. I brought him in and now he's panting from what I can only assume was from the fun and mischievousness he had.

The big question is ....

Is this the Truth, Partial Truth or a Tall Tale (Tail)?