Happy Valentine's Day

From my Dad. He surprised me today at work and brought me this! :) Love!

A Secret

Year: 2010

Month: May

Day: 9th

Occasion(s): My 28th Birthday and my 2nd Mother's Day

One memorable gift: Surprise destination trip ... just Mom and me.

Can you guess where? Well, if you can't, here are a few hints...I bet you still don't have any idea, do you? Those of you who already know, just shhhh...That wasn't much more help, was it?

Am I at least allowing you to get a little warmer with your guesses or are you still freezing cold?

Does this look familiar to anyone at all? I bet you've guessed it now!! And, if you haven't... um... keeping comments to myself.

But, that's right, we went to San Fransisco! You ask, "How did she keep it a secret for so long?" Well, you see, I love to be surprised. And when Mom offered the trip to me in February or March, I was so excited about the unknown that I didn't want to know. I will tell you that SF was not at the top of my list for places to go, but I am so glad I went and would go back if I had the chance.

So, how/when did she tell me where we were going. That's kind of the funny part. We were in the airport having our luggage checked and she asked the lady a question to make sure that our luggage would follow us all the way to our final destination because we didn't have a direct flight. The lady's response: "Yes, the luggage will follow you to San Fransisco". Mom and I just looked at each other and smiled. I am not sure when she would have told me, but that didn't matter any more.

After leaving the luggage lady, we were on the way to security and mom told me that the reason why she chose San Fransisco was because that was her mother's favorite city and she had never been there before. She wanted to go and visit and see what it was like and what better way to do that than to go with her daughter. I almost started to cry, so I jokingly asked her to stop talking. I just wanted to be excited about the trip! For those of you that do not know, my mother's mom ("Grammy") passed away in February of 2008. She was 80 years old. Infact, she had just celebrated her 80th birthday on February 5th of that year (and passed on the 20th). She was a wonderful lady and a very special Mom and Grandmother to four children and eleven grandchildren. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be sharing this experience with my mom.

We only where in San Fransisco for a weekend but it was jammed packed with sight-seeing and tours. Mom loves to do those kinds of things because you learn so much more about the, um, "behind the scenes" stuff about the big cities. Especially when you have a good tour guide.

We visited the Golden Gate BridgeAte at Boudin Bakery each morning for breakfast, rode a double decker bus for a tour and got just a wee bit burnt after we only talked about putting sunscreen on, took a tour of Alcatraz...Saw the production "Wicked" with a dear friend of mine that lives near the area, saw the most expensive home in San Fransisco -- which is owned by Danielle Steele, toured downtown twice but saw different things each time, had a wonderful veiw of Lombard Street but my camera just wouldn't take a good picture of it, rode a cable car, and to wrap up the tours, we were able to view these famous "Ladies"...
Now, those were just some quick highlights from our trip. This posting would be way too long to detail EVERYTHING we saw and did. However, here are some things that I noticed while we were there and walking around.

1) The homeless don't lie: While walking the streets of SF, you will find that there are many homeless people asking for money. However, you should take note of their signs that request money. "No need to lie, it's for weed" or "No need to lie, its for beer".

2) Seafood smells make me nauseous: We stayed at Fisherman's Wharf and walked near the water quite a bit. There are several seafood resturants in a row on the main drag there and oh, my golly... do they stink!! Ewwe.

3) Danielle Steele is really rich: So I mentioned previously that we saw the most expensive home in downtown SF. I really shouldn't say that I saw the home because there is a HUGEMONGOUS hedge on the property borders that block the home, but I was able to see the top of it. So, she purchased that home for a whopping $30 million and the tour guide told us that before the market crash, the home was valued at $60 million!

4) The homeless (and others) will do some interesting stuff to earn money: I saw a man sitting on a crate holding a large tree limb/bush in front of him. There were a few picture takers behind him. He was facing on coming walkers and every so often he would shove his limb out a little bit and say "BOO!" and scare the day lights out of the people coming by. It was quite entertaining. Maybe it was because he didn't scare me... the first time I saw him do it, I was on the side of the photographers and I knew what he was doing when I came back by. I beleive the girl in front of me just about fell off the curb. It was quite histerical.

5) The Golden Gate Bridge: Is painted yearly and it takes 365 days to paint. Just as the painters are finishing the last stroke at the end of the bridge they turn right back around and begin again. Can we say, "job security"? However, if you go to visit the bridge make sure you go at the right time of the year because if you don't, fog will cloud your view of the bridge even as you drive on it.

So, again, I had a marvelous time and will cherish the memories of this trip forever. Thank you Mom for planning such a trip and maybe, just maybe, we can do something like this again?!?! :)

Happy Easter

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter. Jackson and I have spent the day together. Wayne had to work today. My mom came over before church this morning and brought Jackson his Easter gift. He got a few books, a couple of outfits, a bathing suit, a Mega Blocks school bus, and a juice cup. After church, we had lunch at my grandmother's house. Jackson ate really well -- mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and beef stew. Oh, and I can't forget the homemade biscuits too. We had a very nice time seeing family and enjoying the nice Easter lunch.

We headed to see Wayne at work and spent just a few minutes. Then it was back home so that Nana and Papa (my dad and step-mom) could give Jackson his Easter gifts. He got a few more outfits, bubbles, snacks, more juice cups, a bath toy, and a book.

It has been a great day spending time with family. However, we were able to remember and reflect on the true meaning of Easter. That our Lord and Saviour died for us and pardoned us from hell if we chose to believe in him.

I leave you today with two things. One, the lyrics of the song In Christ Alone. This song really reminds me of what Christ did for me. Two, a picture of Jackson in his Easter outfit.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Spring has sprung

And as you can tell, the blog spirit has left me...

In some ways, I don't want to just post pictures for you guys as that is not the purpose of a blog... even though it does capture our lives at that moment of the picture taking, that is where I felt like this blog was going. I want to be able to leave you with something to read, sometimes.

Maybe i am just slight bit frustrated that a photography class I signed up for fell through. I really want to learn how to use my camera the right way... the way it was meant to be used. I totally dislike the "full auto" feature. Yes, it usually takes the best pictures, however, it won't let me not use my flash when I don't want to use my flash. Yes, it may be kind of dark in the room, but I don't want my subject to be bright white because of a camera flash.

But on to brighter thoughts...

Last time you heard from me, Jackson got a hair cut. We have had more compliments on this little fella and his new do! Oh, and he got it just in time for this great new weather we have been having. Supposed to stay in the 80s this week. I am so glad we got an Easter outfit that was with shorts (a shout out thanks to Ben and Jessica). Mom bought him some sandals yesterday and I am really in love with those.

I was able to have a three day weekend with Jackson this weekend. His day care closed Friday, so I took off. Too bad Wayne has to work all weekend. Friday I spent most of the morning with Mom and we went Easter dress shopping for me. :) Love my new dress. Friday afternoon, Jackson took a 3 hour nap and I think mine was about 2 hours. :) We sat outside afterwards and ate some fruit and enjoyed the sunshine.

Today was a morning filled with an Easter egg hunt, then lunch with Wayne and napping. Jackson is still asleep now at 4:15. He will be well rested for the evening. Now, its time to start thinking about our dinner plans. Would love to cook out again (cheeseburgers on the grill were the best last night).

I will leave you with another picture... I took this Friday while Jackson and Bo were playing.

Random...

Okay, so I started typing this blog post last Thursday. I know that I started it when I was in a lull and was kind of having a sad kind of day. I seem to have those more often these days, but that is beside the point and way off subject – will save it for another day. As I re-read what I had typed, I realized there was no point or aim and it even seemed to be very sporadic... It is almost like I wrote each paragraph on a different day or something. I have often thought I could create this blog into a journal for myself and I have expressed that some through some of my posts, but I also think that I don’t want to “bare all” on the world wide web for EVERYONE to read! However, do I need an outlet? Yes, I just have to really consider what that will be.


So here goes (everything in italics is what I wrote last week -- if not in italics, I added tonight to make the entry flow a little better):

On this upcoming holiday, when we celebrate a day of love, I often times have bitter sweet emotions about the whole thing. I am really not sure why. Maybe it is because every year I always feel like my husband will not have the inclination to do something for me and then he does and I get on a super high! (Um, just as I did again this year!) Why do I put so much weight into one day of the year? I have no idea. I am a female; I guess it is just in my nature. I don’t know why I underestimate him so much because he always comes through for me! I love him so much for it too! I love him for MANY other reasons too! (Just as an FYI – I am not sure where this posting is coming from but I figured I would pull away from my normal Jackson happenings for something different for a change.)

Here’s some history... I met the man of my dreams just over 14 years ago. We didn’t know it then, but the Lord had many plans for the two of us. We actually didn’t start dating until about 10 and a half years ago. My now husband is not much of a romantic kind of guy. He shows his love in different ways but most of the time it is not the “goo-goo”/ “gaa-gaa”/ aww kind of love – if you know what I mean. Yes, I will get a card every now and then… or a special night on the town, and if I have been really good, I may get a special note in my car when I least expect it (those are my favorite). He is definitely not much of a note writer. However, I can’t say he hasn’t ever been because when we were in high school and when I went off to college, I received notes all the time. But, I guess that was one of those learned skills that just died off and became non-existent after marriage. Or did we both just become too comfortable with each other and the dating/courtship phase of our relationship kinda died down? Now, I have to say that I love it when we go on a "date" now. It is always nice to be able to put reality behind us for an evening and just worry about the two of us. We probably need to do that more ofthen than we are.

This is where I think I just went way off track...

Recently, we were having a “bonding” moment, at my brother calls it, where we were just talking to each other in bed before falling asleep. (Those are the times when I feel like we get our true heart-to-hearts. No distractions -- well, except Bobo every once in a while trying to get under the covers.) A few weeks before, I had requested that we each make two lists. One list was to name everything we love about each other and the other list was to name everything we disliked about each othe. We began discussing our items and it was kind of funny to really think about the differences in the types of responses I gave to what he gave. His pertained to a lot of physical things, like doing some house cleaning, taking care of Jackson, and some intimate things. My lists however, spoke of many spiritual/emotional items... such as how he made me feel and our spiritual walk. It really just goes to show how different a man and woman think. I have always known that we were different, of course, but it is times like this that make me really think about the fact.

I heard a commercial on the radio last week for a jewelry store, I believe. I am not sure what the item was that the guy was promoting but what I do remember is that it was about Valentine's Day. The man said, "Guys, I don't care how many times she tells you that she doesn't want anything for the big day, she is lying. She may even tell you that she doesn't know what she wants, but she does. Make sure you are ready with a gift for her!" I guess what I am really trying to say is that yes, I love to receive little love notes in my car, flowers every once in a while at work, or a nice card on our anniversary. However, I don’t want him to feel like he “has” to do something for me. I do love my husband with every ounce in me. I do complain sometimes but I don't know what I would do without him! I do appreciate EVERYTHING he does for me. Wayne, I know I show appreciation in different ways but I really do thank you. For everything.

I think I feel better now. Thanks for letting me get this out and I hope it didn't confuse you too much...

New Prize

So, Wayne finally gave in and let me purchase a new digital SLR -- under only one condition -- that I return the funds back to our savings account within 3 months. No extra spending for us! :) I am pleased with my purchase so far. The camera itself was not only included, but a separate lens, a bag, a memory card, and 75 free photos...

I have only had the camera one night and I have just been taking some shots to try and get used to it. I plan to take a photography class at the community college in the near future to expand my knowledge of the camera and photos themselves.

Here are a few shots that I took tonight. As you can see... It was a little rough going at the beginning (even though the blurry shot seems to be kind of interesting)... but it got better.

Since it has been kind of hard learning to walk on his feet... Jackson thought it would be fun to walk on his hands instead! :) Its always fun to take still shots. I have always thought they were very interesting. You can always try to decipher some meaning out of them...
And, last but not least --- it was Bobo's turn!

We're ready for CHRISTMAS!!

a delayed posting...

So, Jackson and I had our Mommy/Son day just over a week ago and I am finally getting around to posting for you. We had a good morning -- watched Handy Manny and Mickey's Clubhouse. Then, Jackson took a little nap to prepare for our afternoon. Afterwards, I got him ready in his brand new outfit. I bought it just for his Santa pictures and I never knew how much I would love him in it! He looks so growny.
A friend of mine called earlier in the morning and asked if she and her son could tag along to see Santa too. So, we met at the mall and the boys had their pictures taken. Her son just turned 1 today. So, here is Jackson's picture. I really wish that we could have gotten another one. He looks so doped up. Yes, he had a runny nose but he really just doesn't look his best. I think they got the tail end of smile. But, he didn't cry at all. He kind of just looked at Santa and just wondered who he was. He started to freak a little when I got out of sight but I made sure I was back in his sight quickly and he was fine.After Santa, we had lunch and did some shopping in the mall. Jackson was really tired but he fought the sleep all afternoon. Then I headed home because Wayne was going to be home. We were walking out of the mall and I had Jackson's blanket over his head because it was SO cold that day. He giggle the whole way to the car! That was the best part of the day. Just to hear his laugh. So sweet!


All in all, we really had a good day. I am glad we can have those days. I will cherish them forever!! :)

Here comes Santa Claus

Tomorrow, I took the day off thinking Wayne was going to be home too and we could have a long weekend off together. However, Wayne has to go to a training class all day so it is just going to be me and Jackson. We are going to have another Mommy/Son day! So, I decided tomorrow would be the day when we go visit Santa Claus. I hope that Jackson doesn't get too scared. I bought him a cute little outfit to wear. I will post the pictures tomorrow when we get home.

I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit as much as I am. I just can't wait! :)

Random...

I don't want to "count my chickens before they hatch" but Jackson seemed to be so much better today. He could actually breathe through his nose. I guess this antibiotic is actually working. Yay! I just hope that this sticks for a little while. He is really in such a better mood. Giggles at everything. That's my Jackson.

So, I think I am going to take Jackson to see Santa this weekend. I really didn't think about doing this until a co-worker asked me if I was. Since this is his first Christmas, I guess it would be good to get a picture with Santa. Lets just hope that he doesn't get scared. I guess it will be a good weekend to spend time with Wayne and do some Christmas celebrating since he will be working next weekend and then the following will be Christmas. Oh my... I can't beleive Christmas is just over 2 weeks away. Where does the time go?

Preparing for Christmas

We started our Christmas preparations just shortly after our Thanksgiving dinner. Wayne wanted to try the Black Friday Smithfield adventure this year. So Jackson went to Wayne's parents for Thursday night and ventured to our destination with my dad and step-mom around 10:30pm. We thought that everything opened at 12:01 am but when we arrived, there were several stores already open. Our main mission was to Nautica and that was the only place we really got any "deals". After that we just walked the center. Apparently Yankee candle was giving candles away because there was a long line to get in the store and people were walking away with cases of candles. I will say that we quickly realized that we probably won't do this again. There was just too many people and I didn't get any deals worth going out for in the middle of the night. There were also too many people just "hanging out". We got home around 4:15 and went right to bed. We got up around 1pm and went into town to do a little more shopping. We seemed to get better deals at home than we did in the middle of the night. Hmm...

Saturday was the day to put up the Christmas tree. We were able to add some new ornaments to the tree this year.

Of course, I have not added the pictures needed for these ornaments yet. I plan to do that this week. I was very excited about Hallmark's Baby's First Christmas ornament this year. We used jungle animals for Jackson's nursery and the ornament was just so fitting.

I was also able to purchase these cute ornaments at the Carolina Pottery Friday morning. So fitting for our "House Divided"!

Thanksgiving 2009

Since Wayne had to work this Thanksgiving, I decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for him. We had his parents (MeeMa and PeePa) and my dad and step-mom over (PaPa and Nana). My mom (Grandma) and my brother were in Savannah, GA celebrating with my mom's sister's family. This was a very special Thanksgiving for our family because it was Jackson's first! My mom had a cute little bib made for him (pictured above). I actually didn't do much of anything most of the Thanksgiving day. Jackson and I watched the Macy's Christmas parade. Then I finished up some cleaning. I didn't have to start cooking until around 4pm. I roasted a turkey breast and made mac-n-cheese and green bean casserole. I did prepare the stuffing and turkey gravy as well. Stuffing from the box and gravy from the can -- those are the best! Oh, yeah, and I can't forget the yeast rolls!! Nana made corn pudding and a peach cobbler. MeeMa made sweet potato casserole and a blueberry crunch dessert (my request). Everything was so good.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and really had a chance to reflect on everything you are thankful for. The Lord has really blessed my family and me and there is so much that I am thankful for.