blogging: back to the basics

so evidently i have the ability to inspire.

or maybe persuade.

or perhaps doggedly nag until i get my way.

anyways, a few of my very bestest friends have started blogging and that makes me so so happy because i mean, who the heck are we trying to kid here? i love to read blogs. so we can attribute that to my inspiring ways. or my nagging. whatever floats yer boat.

anyways first and foremost go check out their blogs:

alina

rhiann

jared

secondly i though maybe it would be helpful if there was a place for them to learn things about blogger that i did not know until after many hours of trial and error, praying that i did not hit save, and just plain "oops that was a mistake but turned out great so i'm leaving it!"

{disclaimer: sorry jared. i don't know the first thing about wordpress so you're on your own...}

thirdly i have no idea who will read this and i don't want to assume i know what anyone's knowledge of blogger is or isnt out there. i am going to start by answering a few questions that i have been asked by my friends and go from there. so if i mention something that makes no sense please leave me a comment and ask! if i haven't covered something that you want to know please leave me a comment and ask!

and fourthly this is, again, all stuff i have learned on my own. if you have a better or more efficient way of doing it please grace us with this knowledge! the whole point behind me doing this is to teach what i have learned about blogger and hopefully learn a lot more in the process!

today is something superbly basic but it is something i didn't know how to do until i had to teach myself how to do it.

the ins & outs of linky parties

first of all let's discuss a linky party. it is not a place where bloggers get together and make one of those paper chain link thingys you made for your mom as a second grader and it still hangs on the christmas tree.

it is however, a place for bloggers to pool ideas and gain inspiration. the host blogger writes up a post about whatever the subject may be and then invites other bloggers to link their site to this post so we can all go ooh and ahh over what was written or done.

some good examples are:

this is a linky party hosted by layla at the lettered cottage called "how to's day" that is posted on the last "to's day" of every month. here, bloggers show off something they made and then tell us how they dunnit!

every wednesday lindsay at the pleated poppy hosts a linky party called "what i wore wednesday" where ladies (and men sometimes) show us all their creative outfits in an effort to get out of stay-at-home-mommy-clothes.

and then there are parties that don't happen ever week or month but they are sporadically thrown together.

like this one. four of my favorite design bloggers, kate, rhoda, sara and layla, got together for a massive "home may'd" party that included things like spray paing projects and recipes.

from what i understand, you have to pay to host these linky parties. i could be totally wrong about that. either way, considering that the hosts of these parties are a) hosting the thing in the first place and b) possibly paying for it on our behalf, it would behoove you to be aware of a few "rules".

one. link the permalink to your blog post about the linky subject. don't link it to your blog home page. (don't start hyperventilating, i'm going to send you to a great tutorial for that!!)

two. keep the blog post that you are linking up relevent to the subject at hand. if it is a recipe linky, don't link a post that goes on and on and on about how you spray painted your living room mirror. or vice versa.

three. somewhere in your blog post mention "i am linking up to so-n-so's such-n-such party today! come check out all the awesomeness!" and provide a link to the hosts blog by either using the button they provide or just insert a hyperlink. (also covered in the tutorial mentioned below!) the more people the merrier!

four. after you link up, visit a couple of the linkers before you and after you and leave comments. the point of these linkys is to bring bloggers together. if you reach out to others they will return the favor!

and to wrap up this wordy little tutorial, how about i give you a really great tutorial on how to link up to a blog party? my friend traci at beneath my heart has a great post on it and i really think you should hop, skip and jump on over and let her show you how it is done. she is such a sweet woman and really does a great job explaining it so why should i try to steal her thunder?

questions, comments, concerns?

as i embark on offering these little tidbits of knowledge, please please please offer any feedback and let me know what you don't know how to do and help me out if there are better ways to do anything! :) i'm all ears and open to any suggestions!

next time: how to add a button to your sidebar.

**linking up to**

miracles do happen

they do. no really. want to know how i know?

my husband finally, finally, conceded to the fact that having a couch and two recliners and two shelves and a tv stand and a coffee table and three side tables and small table and mirror combo just might be a little bit too much furniture for a room that measures approximately 11 by 14.

so that is why at seven pm, my husband could be seen begrudgingly willingly carrying an old, torn to bits leather recliner to the curb.

i am hoping it either gets stolen or picked up by the trash people.
{fingers crossed}

so of course once the chair was out of my life way, i was giddy to get some work done in there.

i have to say that my hubby was such a good sport. he was not feeling well at all. all he wanted to do was to relax and watch some television and now that we have cancelled our cable the only tv that gets netflix is the one in our living room. but he is such a sweetheart that he finally posted up in the bed, conceding to only pout a little when i walked by the door on my way to grab a dust rag or the broom.



here is the living room when i got started. as you can see, we have one very large blue recliner right as you walk through the door and a pretty big couch that is supposed to be centered between the two windows. that back right corner was completely inaccessible and since that is where we keep a bulk of our dvds that was just not working for us so i wanted to free up that corner as much as possible.

the maroon and blue plaid pillow is leaned up against one of our three side tables which sits in front of our black shelves. the bottom of those shelves are covered with black curtains that i put there to keep sadie from chewing up dvds.



this is the view from the corner i mentioned above, looking back to where i was standing where i took the first picture. here is our very large blue recliner, another of our three side tables and our "mirror and small table combo". (the one that belonged to my grandma that i talked about in our house tour post). it is also a pretty good view of our rug which is a hot, hot mess. it does tie all of the colors in our room together (baby blue, navy blue, tan, khaki and brown) but since those are not the colors i want in here anymore it is the biggest eyesore. not to mention it is dirty. we got it while we had a puppy. i will just leave it at that.

you can also see here the coffee table which is really a great size and shape for the room and the couch but it really needs to be vamped up. maybe sanded down and stained a really pretty neutral gray? maybe painted? maybe a combination of paint and mod podge? who knows what the future holds for that sweet little table. i just know i don't like the color it is now.



and here is the view from the front door (that we never use). you can see where the blue leather recliner used to recline.  we get a lot of use out of the two black shelves on each side of the tv stand but i really think they could be brightened up and customized a little. this is also a nice shot of the third of our three side tables (the little clover shaped table in the bottom right corner holding the white candle). and you see the basket of blankets? i keep our air conditioner set on a nice, brisk 68 degrees. so most people need a blanket and meanwhile i am sweating it out under the fan.

are you ready for the afters??



the first thing i wanted to accomplish was to make some sort of an entry way. so i turned the couch and got it off the wall and used the back of the couch as sort of a new wall to create a pathway to the front door. i like how it divides the room physically but still leaves space visually for the eye to see the entire room as a whole. if we had a half wall there it would really make the whole space seem a lot smaller.



once i opened up that entire side of the room it seemed a little empty. we often have bible studies at our house and visitors occassionally so i wanted to make a new little seating area over there. i love this side table because it can really hold a lot. in that drawer we have all of our SD cards, index cards for writing recipes on (that i get out of magazines - the index cards take up waay less space than a glossy mag.) and a couple of notebooks for jotting in when an idea hits either of us. it also has those two great shelves where we are now keeping our collection of bibles. but wait - there's more! there are two magazine slots on either side of the table as well. one side holds my crossword puzzle clipboard and the other side is currently empty, waiting patiently for my next better homes and gardens or food network mag!  and those two little seats there are storage ottomans! one has a snuggie in it (yep gave in to the hype and got me an OSU one!) and the other has books that i want to keep but don't have anywhere to display (mainly harry potter and twilight).

oh and that pink basket to the far left has a washcloth that i have been knitting for almost a year and a baby blanket that my mom was crocheting for, presumably, my first child. i would really like to finish it for my sister in law but i don't know how to crochet and mom was left handed so i don't know if i can just pick up where she left off. so if you know how to do it i would love to learn! i will trade you crocheting lessons for the pink basket. ;)



here is a pretty nice view of the room as a whole now. to me it seems soo much bigger and a lot less crowded in there. and we might have gotten rid of one seat by losing the leather recliner but we gained two with the small storage ottomans! so it is a win-win for me!

oh - see that doorknob on the right hand side there? that is our "coat closet" which is right smack dab in the middle of the living room wall. which means that until now, it has been a major pain to get to. i had to move a chair and a table to get into it. now i just have to slide that little clover table forward about 4 inches and wa-la! instant "coat closet" access. except now it isn't a coat closet.

that is my crafting closet!
{post about that coming soon!}



and finally a view from the front door area. here you can see where i put the third side table (which matches the coffee table and will soon be getting the same treatment, whatever that may end up being).

i feel like i definitely made a big chunk of improvement in here but i also know that in order for me to absolutely la-la-looove it.. it still has a ways to go. but this has at least pushed me in the right direction in order to get it started.

so what are your thoughts? love it? hate it? think i should do this or that to it? i'd love to hear some more ideas for what to do with a small living room that is full of furniture.

i made a list of things i wanted to do in order to improve the space when i talked about painting my tv stand. let's update it a bit, shall we?

find less intrusive tv and a tv stand to go under it

paint the black shelves

new rug with bright colors to set the color scheme for the room

new window treatments

add trim to make the shelves look more custom and less tar-jay

possibly connect them over the tv to look like an entertainment stand

paint walls (most likely bedford gray)

get rid of bachelor pad recliners and get a chair/ottoman

(so i can't exactly cross this off but i can give a woot because i am 1/3 of the way there!)

paint coffee table and side tables.

art and accessories.

negativity, squared

i would like to vent for a moment.

a few days ago i wrote a really sweet and heartfelt post about one of my best friends, ashley, and her adorable children.

someone left an anonymous comment that said some pretty ugly things about her. i deleted it as soon as i saw it which was unfortunately several hours after it had been posted.

i figured that honesty was the best policy and did not want ashley to think that, had she already seen it, i would have left it up there. so i told her that i saw it and deleted it. and because whoever it was seemed to know the details of my wedding i assumed it was someone who was still ashley's friend so i wanted to protect her in some way.

needless to say, these hurtful things upset her and in turn the small, tiny, thoughtless comment that should have never existed has now exploded into a mess.

i want to invite whomever it is that reads my blog and has the wearwithall to say such ugly things to have the courage to take ownership of it. if you have a problem with ashley that is none of my business. but my blog, my personal little slice of the internet, is by no means the place for you to tell the world about it.

perhaps you would like to show some adult characteristics and tell ashley herself?

i would like to cut all ties with you since you don't really much care for any of the people i care for anyways which was more than evident when you took your stand on my blog. especially since you seem to pretend to like ashley in the first place.

and feel free to never come back here. you obviously don't like what i have to say so why waste your time?

now on with our regularly scheduled programming. no more negativity. all positive. i promise.

the bucket list {top five friday}

a friend of mine suggested the other day that i should write a bucket list. a list of things i would like to do before i kick the proverbial bucket. a compilation of dreams, goals, aspirations and ideas that would be fun to accomplish before i leave this earth for my eternal life with the Lord.

a bucket list.

i wonder if my mom had a bucket list. i wonder if my mom left this world regretting that she never went to europe, always drove the speed limit, or never took the time to cook some huge, extravagant, intimidating meal.

although she did make a killer pot of spaghetti.

i wonder why i have never wondered this until now? i think it is because of the many, many, many things my mom did do while she was still here.

she fell in love with and married her middle school sweetheart. she managed to raise two pretty super kids. she never, ever stopped learning; she was an RN, had a business administration degree and taught high school. she knew how to use a sewing machine, crochet, took tae kwon do classes, could play the guitar, scrapbooked, and knew every american idol contentestant's life story by heart.

one thing i have learned since she passed is that i am very much like her in more ways than i would like to admit, but that my husband tells me every day. so that is what i am basing my bucket list on.

things that i want to do that stem from 1) all the genes and personality traits that my mom passed on to me and 2) little things that she never got to do.



via

one

spend a month in scotland

ok so i am obsessed to the craziest degree with diana gabaldon and the love story she has woven between claire and jamie in her outlander series. the whole story starts in scotland where claire falls between a cleft in two stones and travels back in time 200 years, where she meets jamie and falls in love. i'm not giving you any more details than that but i will say this.

read the stories.

also, my husband's family comes from the scottish branch of the mclains. and scottish history, tradition and the idea of being from a "clan" is so brilliant to me that i want to learn everything about it that i possibly can. i want to tour all of the old clan castles, drink scottish whiskey, buy mclain tartan, bring home a sporran, go to all of the old battle sights and find the stones where "claire fell through". hence the reason i want to be there a month. there is no way i can do all of that in a measley seven day vacation.

so, if i put a paypal donation button would you donate money to the "chris & skye go to scotland for a month" fund? ;)

two

crochet a baby blanket

one of the things that i brought home from my dad's house when we kind of cleaned out mom's stuff was her crocheting basket. she had started on a baby blanket and had worked on it for months. i would love more than anything to learn how to crochet and finish that blanket before i die. that seems kind of piddly considering i have my entire life left to do it. but i'm sure mom thought the same thing. so it is something i would like to do.

three

make sourdough bread

in my humble opinion, there is nothing more delicious than a crusty, warm loaf of sourdough bread smeared with butter (and nutella. if i'm feeling feisty, you know.)

i think they only thing that would make it taste better is knowing that i created the starter, remembered to feed it, lovingly kneaded it and rolled it into a loaf and baked it in my own oven.

four

get my master's degree

my mother was a professional student. had someone paid her to take classes and learn something she would have found her dream professsion. there are only a few years of my life growing up that i know she wasn't in school. i vividly remember having dinner on tuesday nights with my dad at winn dixie in gladewater while my mom was in night school at letourneau (which, not surprisingly, is the same night school i went to in order to get my bachelors).

i have no idea what i would go back to school for which is partly the reason i haven't done it yet. i want to get a master's in business administration with a focus on either human resources or marketing. i would love to get a master of theological studies at smu. or maybe i should just take some continuing ed classes at the local university to fill the need i have to learn something which i think is the real desire. i just want to always learn and try new things. it was something my mother was very good at and definitely instilled a love for in me.

five

live on a lake

i love the sound of water lapping up against the side of a wooden dock, extended out over a murky blue-green lake with little ripples of activity buzzing all over it. i love the smell of fresh air and the feel of that wind you can only get from sitting lakeside when it blows my hair back and cools the hot texas sun off my skin. i love the peaceful time in the morning, sitting at a rusty table with a big spiderweb between the legs of the chair, sipping hot creamy coffee and watching the stillness of the water for the abrupt interupting fish that daringly jumps out after a tempting bug.

i want a house, on a lake, with a screened in back porch and a huge second story balcony where i can sit and read the paper in the mornings and watch the boats dash by in the afternoon.

what is on your bucket list, friend?

fancy & poke

see, i have this friend named ashley.

ashley and  her golden smile at hat tricks in lewisville, tx

ashley and i have been friends since she was in the 4th grade and her mother was my volleyball coach and i was in the 7th grade. ashley used to come to practice and her mom would have her serve to us to teach us how to pass.

yes - a 4th grader was serving up some major heat and kicking our little 7th grade booties.

then ashley and i were in high school together and we got in a fight over a boy named jeff woods. his nickname was "icky" which really makes me wonder why i would ever want to get in a fight over a boy named "icky".

ashley right in the center of the couch, recovering from the hat tricks night mentioned above

then we graduated high school and grew up a little and got to be friends again.

then her brother died. then her world changed. then our friendship grew exponentially.



ashley taking a picture of me and my mom getting ready for my wedding

then i got engaged. ashley was the first person to see my engagement ring and kept the secret from me the longest. ashley threw me an awesome bachelorette party and didn't make a big scene when she took off her four inch heels in the middle of my wedding.



i forgot to mention that ashley is one of the most beautiful people. ever.

then ashley got engaged. she bought me the most brilliant purple dress to wear as a bridesmaid. i hosted her shower and planned an equally brilliant bachelorette party.

then ashley got pregnant! or, from the looks of it, she had a glowing red alien in her belly.

then she had noah.

then i became a godmother. and chris became a godfather. and we became fancy & poke.

noah is quite possibly the cutest kid and has the best personality.

he gets it from his momma.

now they have molly, who is the tiniest buttercup baby i have ever seen!

so these two little bebehs mean the world to me and i can't wait to see them grow up!

oh and their mom is pretty awesome stuff too. she always makes me laugh and we understand each other in a pretty neat way.

love you ashley!

honeyed pepper biscuts

{this can also be filed under: last minute ideas for church pot lucks}

last week the hubs and i decided, very last minute, to go to the pastor's farewell dinner.

oh. i should probably expand on that. we are united methodist. our senior pastors, elders in full connection or lisenced local pastors, are itinerate. meaning they are appointed to churches and are moved every so often. but that is a really long post for another day.

for today let's just go with this: united methodist pastors move. a lot. and every year we have a dinner to say goodbye to those that are leaving our district.

so, somewhere in the united methodist dogma, it is written that you are not allowed to eat at a pot luck unless you show up with food. between the hours of 4:30 and 6:00 pm i had to come up with something.



these are simple, delicious and have that great combination of fluffy, doughy, sweet & spicy.



i used pillsbury frozen mini biscuits. bake them in the oven while you take a quick shower for 20 minutes at 350.



meanwhile, get out your butter crock and honey.

what? you don't have a butter crock? you don't keep room temperature butter in your house so you can spread it thickly on a crunchy piece of toast at a moment's notice? blasphemy.

stop reading this right now and go buy one.

here i will make it super easy for you. click {here}

i promise you will thank me.

now. stir about four tablespoons (that's about half a stick) together with two big squeezes of honey. if you don't have a butter crock then it would be my recommendation to not make this on the fly and to let your butter sit out for at the minimum four hours. it allows it to have this super velvety texture when you mix it with the honey.



as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, slather the honey butter on each of them. the butter will melt and drip everwhere and that is ok. once you have all the biscuits buttered. slide each one around on the baking sheet and sop up the rest of that butter.

don't let one drop go to waste. blasphemy.



before the butter all soaks into the hot biscuits, take your pepper grinder, or your pepper shaker - however you like to roll, and lightly dust the tops of the biscuits.



then break one in half, slather it with the rest of the butter and eat it before your husband can stop you. i promise. it is so worth it.

monday, monday

so. i woke up this morning.

hit the snooze button approximately 300 times.

and realized, in my groggy stupor, that i don't have a post scheduled this morning. 

so hi.

it is monday.

i had a long weekend.

i would much rather be in the bed, sleeping it all off.

i hope everyone has a great day!

im off to work.

bye.

:)

{top five friday} summertime!

helloooo friday loves! :)

today i am very excited to share something with you. something that i named as a goal on my 30 day detox top five last friday. something so totally amazeballs that i am squirming in my pants to run with it.

i have kind of, sort of, maybe just a little bit started formulating a temporary idea for a plan that i might put into place that could possibly one day morph into a hand made business.

{i know}

squeeee!!!

i can't share details yet. the idea i have stemmed from a gift i made for my sister-in-law's baby shower and i don't want to spill the surprise on here, you know because she like stalks my blog and all.

{hey mccall!}

but i can tell you this. i have a name. and i have an etsy account set up in that name... but i don't have a shop yet. i'm still working on that part.

i will very soon have a logo with that name and i don't want to spoil that for you but i will ask for this...

your continued prayers and encouragement because seriously folks... it keeps me going! knowing that i have friends that think what i do is worthy makes my heart tumble around a bit and swell up inside.

oh and by the way, the hubs is totally backing me up too, which makes my heart almost burst. i'm pretty sure i have the best husband ever ever ever.

so - on with the top five friday!

it's summertime!

{are you singing summertime by will smith? nope? bet you will be now. all day. you're welcome.}

ok well not officially summertime. i always know when summertime officially starts because it happens that the hubs' birthday is on summer solstice, june 21, the loooongest day of the year.

{yep - he never lets me forget it}

but in the south it is already hot & humid, the pools are warm enough to jump into and the sno cone stands are already open!

here are my top five favorite things about summer

one

sunshine

via

even though i am a white-white-white girl i love the sunshine. i love the warm envelope of happiness it wraps me in. i love the tingle when i am in it just a little too long. i love to jump in the pool and then lay in the sun and let all the water evaporate off me. i love to open my sunroof on a long drive and let the sun warm my car up. i love to squint through sunglasses at a beautiful sunset at the lake. i love to sit outside in the mornings and watch the sun filter through all the trees behind my house.

and don't worry - i am a huge supporter of spf and don't carry anything less than 50 with me at all times. it's a rare occurance that i get a sunburn anymore.

two

icy cold drinks in mason jars



via

nothing screams "i live in the south" better than a cold refreshment served in a mason jar. sweet iced tea for you, unsweet for me, lemonade, dr. pepper, mint juleps, water... you name it & i can almost guarantee it will taste better coming from a mason jar.

three

smores



via

omigawsh omigawsh omigawsh. squish a perfectly burnt, gooey marshmallow and creamy milk chocolate between two graham crackers and i am in my own little version of heaven.

four

cutoffs



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i would definitely love cut off jeans a whole lot more if i looked like this in them. but i don't. and that is ok with me! why is it cutoffs are so comfy anyways?

i love the casualness of them and how you can just throw them in the floor of the boat and jump in the lake and when you come back they are more comfy than they were before! i love the way they look with a comfy, soft white shirt and brown sandals. i love the tiny bits of sand that collect in the corners of the pockets after a day at the beach.

do you have a favorite pair of cutoffs?

five

the fam dam



via

every year on july 4th weekend my entire family gathers for a reunion (which we have affectionately named the "fam dam reunion" and it is always soo much fun. this will be our 21st year in a row to have one. read about the 20th year here.

here is the catch though:

they are by invitation only.

if you get invited and you don't come, we talk about you

and you don't get invited back.

this is of course a joke. kind of.

;)

this year we are going to galveston, texas. and while i don't loooove the beach as much as i loooooooooove the lake where we usually go, i am nonetheless excited to see all of my family!

so let's have it. what are your favorite things about summer?

lucky number seven

i have been thinking. a lot. about this number.

7

and about how i am going to make seven pounds disappear from my body in the next few days.

for starters, i am going to stop having nutella and toast for breakfast.

unfortunately that has nothing to do with the fact that i want to lose these seven pounds and everything to do with the fact that i am completely out of nutella.

i may or may not have scooped every last bit out with my finger last night. just sayin.

i had a couple people mention the 30 day shred with what's-her-face from the biggest loser.

i'm not going to lie. this woman scares the living daylights out of me. it also just happens that i received that as a birthday gift from some friends.

i know. i thought the same thing. but then i remembered that it was on my amazon wish list and got glad in the same pants i got mad in.

so i am hemming & hawing about whether or not i should submit to her hellacious video.

i also kind of have to decide the date that this little 30 day detox is over. because i first read & blogged about it on may 10th. but i didn't set any goals until may 13th.

in the interest of giving myself an extra seventy-two hours to burn off some fatty tissue, i am going to say that i have until june 13th. how does that sound with you?

good? good. i like you. we can be friends.

so here is how i am going to do it:

no more soft drinks.

no more beer. (yah. i have a beer occasionally.)

run three days a week.

spend one day of the weekend outside, doing some sort of activity.

(yardwork, sanding something, throwing a frisbee, etc.)

and that is it.

and p.s.

the more you people help me, encourage me, and keep me on track the better i will do. so please please encourage me because i need it. im a terrible self motivator and your sweet comments always make me feel like i am working towards something for the good of us all. i will love you forever and ever. amen.

525,600 minutes...

five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes...

five hundred, twenty five thousand moments so dear...

five hundred twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes...

how do you measure, measure a year?

in memories... 



at my cousin's bachelorette party at pete's piano bar in fort worth, tx

 

mom on her first mission trip.

 

at the beach for one of the family reunions - this is in 2002

 

for my 23rd birthday we did the super supper thing

mom loooved crackin crab legs!

  

seriously old school here - every year we get christmas pjs. :)



on my wedding day!



in celebrations...

after my brother graduated from NSU

 

after my husband graduated from SMU



my brother and his wife at their reception



 in laughter...

at my cousin kyle's wedding



real belly laugh's at enochs

groucho marx day at NSU

in old friends...

liz and i in spain

 

ashley, me, lindsay and megan several years ago at a wedding

me, alina and mara at possum kingdom last summer



ashley and her son, my godson noah



adrian, sarah, me and jennifer several years ago in dallas

me, nina and liz on the night before my bro's wedding

rhiann and i at my birthday party this year

in new friends...

hubs, me, james and cynthia at church camp
woot pine cove!!

morgan and i at church camp (woot pine cove again!)



me and my brother from another mother, johnny

me and dan at church camp (woot for pine cove again!!)



in family...



my awesome, supporting, loving, amazing, brilliant husband :)

dad and i at his company christmas party, 2010



the whole fam dam at the fam dam reunion, 2009

me and auntie kay, my mom's best friend



me and dad at some meat cooking extravaganza

bill, lori (inlaws) & grammie at christmas, 2009



auntie kay and me, 2010

 

impromptu family get-together at dairy queen in white oak
dad, me, mimi and rance



mccall and i on her wedding day

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one entire year has gone by and i have loved, lived and learned more than i ever thought i could.

i miss you mom. every day. i would give anything for five more minutes but i am so thankful for the time we had together.

thank you to everyone who said a kind word, gave a few moments of time in prayer, picked up the phone or gave us a hug over the past year. i may not remember every single one of them but i promise you the compassion and the love outpoured will never be forgotten.