Shadow

My grandfather surprised my grandmother with a new kitten last week. She had been wanting a kitten for as long as I can remember. How sweet is it that after almost 60 years of marriage, he still surprises her with little things?!

They wanted me to name it, so I came up with Shadow. He follows Pop around constantly and has the cutest dark coloring. We're in love with the little guy!! :)  

Stretching!

With my sandals and purse... This shows how "itty bitty" he is!

(P.S. Helen, these are the Yellowbox wedges I had told you about. Love them!!) :)

Look at those precious blue eyes!

CW End of Year Party

Sue Locklear & Amy Kinsley cleaning up!

Guess I was just too focused, because I missed the photo op!

Jeannie Woods & Monica Patton...and me, working in the background.

We all love Monica's cute little pregnant belly!

Nakisha Wallace & Dana McCutcheon

Dana fixed the food that night & it was WONDERFUL, as always!

Cindy Lowe & Myla Walworth

Cindy was the hostess, and her house is gorgeous! I picked up a few decorating tips from her. :)

Miranda Chambers & Susan Downey

Two of my Women's Ensemble buddies. I love singing with these ladies!!

Tammy Story & Amber McPherson

I rode with Amy to our Christian Women party Monday night, since it was our last one until the Fall. We had a great dinner and planned so many new things for the rest of this year. I am so excited to be a part of such a large, strong group of women in our church. We're so very thankful to be a part of such a wonderful church.

I included a few pics that were taken at the party. We're going to start a bulletin board at church for our group, so that we can show off what we've been up to.

We are planning our next Winter Retreat, set for Jan. 7th-9th again. This time is better than last year though, since I'll be coming home on my birthday. Last year was a little sad being away from everyone on my special day. All my sweet friends there still made it a great day though. We're going to The Summit again, so we know it will be fabulous!! Speaking of The Summit, Zach & I were invited to attend the Youth/Children's Choir Leaders' Dinner there next Friday night. We're excited about that!

Our Christian Women group is also planning a Girls' Day Out for the month of June, and a very important day in July. We are joining up with the Methodist church for a drive to help kids in need get school supplies. There are so many teachers in our group who are well aware of the many needs kids have in our schools. I, as well as so many others, am planning to volunteer that day at our booth. We have already had a local dentist, Fort Payne clubs, and many investors signing up to help. Let me know if you're interested!! We're also wanting to start up a Secret Sister program. I had done this before at our previous church and loved it! Who doesn't like getting random gifts and cards of encouragement from a friend?!

As I've said countless times before, I can't get enough of choir too! We began rehearsal this Wednesday for Eleanor Isbell's wedding. We have an ensemble of about 12 of us from the choir who are singing as a small choir in her wedding. We're singing two songs, and just looked them over for the first time last night. The wedding is on May 29th, so we need to get a move on!!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a great Mother's Day weekend! Zach was absent for some of it, but he was able to come home earlier than he thought on Sunday! He spent Saturday with friends fishing on the lake, then stayed overnight in a Mentone cabin with the guys for a bachelor get-away. (Believe me, we have made countless jokes about this...four guys, one cabin in Mentone, one hot tub)... His best friend Nathan is getting married next month, so they wanted one last "hoorah" before the big day. Unfortunately, the wedding is taking place in the Bahamas, so we won't be able to make that one...(emphasize the word "unfortunately").

I spent all day Saturday with Mom & Mamaw Helen, shopping and eating--what we do best! :) I bought an incredibly cute pair of shoes that I had had my eye on for a while (more Yellowboxes, but dressy wedges this time.) After we got home, I went out to dinner with Mom & Dad at Don Chico's, then Mom came over to my house for a movie. We watched "The Holiday," one of our absolute favorites. I thought about my mother-in-law while watching it, because she loves it too! I'll have to make plans to watch it with her sometime soon! :)

On Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised when I got home from Sunday School and church to find Zach at home. He was actually getting out of his car when I pulled into the garage, so we made it home at about the same time. He wasn't planning on being home for most of the day Sunday & when he got home he was exhausted, so we had actually planned to see his Mom this week. We are heading to Chattanooga tomorrow after work to take her out to dinner and give her her gift!

We had planned lunch at my house Sunday. Both Mom & Mamaw offered to have it at their houses, but I was not going to make them clean and wash dishes that day. So, I cleaned and washed dishes. It was all worth it, because we had a great time! We had ordered barbeque and potato salad from Jim's, then Mom fixed her really good baked beans, and Mamaw Helen brought the slaw, chips, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. We had a great time catching up with each other and exchanging gifts.

I meant to take pictures during the day (as always), but was really too busy to think about it. I did snap this one, though, before everyone got to our house. This is Daisy wearing her "pearl" and rhinestone necklace that I got her. I was sure she wanted to show it off to our company, so I put it on her. Sad, I know. :)

...Surprisingly, Zach didn't try to take it off of her. He's getting better. :)

Zach & I had extra gifts to give out that day too. We gave Jonathan his graduation gift, and his girlfriend Amanda her birthday gift. Jonathan graduated from college this past Friday, so we're all excited about that! The family traveled to Nashville for the ceremony on Friday. I stayed here, since I have to take Mom's place when she's away. *Sidenote: I love working with my mom, but it's times like these when it comes as a disadvantage. Also, Zach wasn't able to leave work, and I didn't want to drive all the way myself, so it worked better for us to stay home. They all took plenty of pics though, so I'll hopefully have some to post soon!

In other areas, life is great right now! We're both into our routine of work during the day, then watching 24 at night. We're really enjoying using our Netflix to watch the previous seasons of 24. It's a lot better than most of the things currently on TV, so we enjoy it. Zach's also still working in the yard every chance he gets. In addition to the new azaleas he has planted, he has also recently planted new impatiens and petunias, and has sewn new grass seed in the front yard. It makes me happy to see him enjoying working in our yard.

We have also been very involved in church lately. Last weekend, our church celebrated its 125th Anniversary. We attended the banquet last Saturday night with some great friends. After that, we had a get-together at our friends David & Amy's house. We love getting to do that every now & then. It's nice to have friends right up the road from us! I've also enjoyed having a two-week break from children's choir practice these past two weeks. Next Sunday, we'll resume practice, since we have our End of Year program on the 23rd! I'm really looking forward to seeing all of our hard work pay off!

In Honor of Mother's Day

I received this email forward a few days ago and thought it was a really, really good read. Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome moms- especially my wonderful mom, grandmothers, mother-in-law, "grandmother-in-law", and all my mommy friends!!

And, no, you certain people that ALWAYS ask...I, myself, do not have any special announcements to make... :)


A Note from Paul Harvey:

We try so hard to make things better for our kids, that we have seemed to make things worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

I'd really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.

I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends, and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as un-cool as your mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother, that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it...

And if a friend offers you drugs, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandma/grandpa, and go fishing with your uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window, and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.


This was the riddle he included at the end:

When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford University Seniors.

"What is greater than God; more evil than the devil? The poor have it; the rich need it. If you eat it, you will die."

The answer: NOTHING