Ordinary Details » Family and Friends

Flashback Friday- A Hop, Skip, and Jump Away & Archery

Amy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:13:56 +0000

I’m realizing that I have so many old pics that I ought to share here. . . . so I’m re-starting Flashback Fridays.

This Friday, I bring you some shots of Cody’s Uncle and Cousin back from April 2004. Barbara was working toward qualifying for the Olympic qualifiers in Archery and there was a tournament in College Station. We were really excited that they made the trip from Tennessee. . . they stopped here to visit with us. Then made the drive to College Station- down Hwy 21- If you’ve ever been down that road you know, since it’s one of the oldest routes in Texas, that there are tons of Historical Markers. . . . Barbara shared with us when we met up with them in College Station, that Uncle Jim stopped at all of them!

Here’s a few of the pics I took in College Station with my then pretty new first digital camera:

I love the shot above- Uncle Jim the coach and dad watching over things from a distance.

LOL and I’m remembering now that this was the trip I felt so lost in College Station- I kept looking for the Olive Garden, which I later learned had burned down. . . . . and it threw me off.

Flashback Friday- A Hop, Skip, and Jump Away & Archery is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

I See: Family and Friends

Amy — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:39:13 +0000

I’m working through a backlog of photos created because I needed to go through over 1,000 hot air balloons. I finished pairing those down and am now looking at the other shots I’ve taken. I know I’ve been quite here on the blog and truth be told, except for a few spurts, haven’t taken nearly the number of shots that I normally do.

But looking back, I see lots of family and friends. That’s a great feeling especially all the memories made. Here’s just a few of those shots.

“Nieces” and “Nephews”- Some being born, others getting older

Friends and Favorite Activities

Family and so much time spent in the Kitchen

A few short vacations. . . . a reminder of a stranger nice enough to stop us and let us know about this bird’s eye view of Dallas.

And lots of hunting. This was one of the best moments this month!

I See: Family and Friends is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

One Little Word Update, Blog Hop, and Giveaway

Amy — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:31:00 +0000

January’s Gone, but not my One Little Word. Home. In fact, I feel a bit renewed as a new month begins. This month should mean less travel and more time at home. I’m already tuning in to developing some better routines here at home.

Some observations from January:

1) I knew this year would I’d be spending more nights waiting for Cody to come home. But bright and early New Year’s Day, my One Little Word and the Future clicked. I hadn’t thought about waiting for Cody to come home when/if he works nights. He was out on a ride along when I woke up about an hour after he was to “get off”. . . and he wasn’t home. My One Little Word took on a different meaning before 5 AM on 1/1/11.

2) As part of exploring my One Little Word and a prompt from Ali’s One Little Word Class/Community, I looked up the definition from home. I hadn’t thought about baseball when I chose my word. How could I have not thought about that! or Home Field advantage. I love the idea of having home field advantage- at home! When I think of all that it means in sports, it’s brings confidence that things at home can be great this year. (or more confidence that I can keep house, run a business, etc with the advantage of being at home!) I’m also looking forward to SFA baseball starting this month- and sitting behind home plate.

3) Another definition that I loved- In One’s Element- as in at home within oneself. I loved this definition. I hope this year brings that sense to my life this year.

4) Cody and I’ve been getting more stuff done around the house- I’ve got frames nearly painted for the bedroom. We’ve done some re-arranging in the bedroom as well. I’ve cooked more at home. And we’ve got a few small projects we hope to get done in the next few days. (We’re also bringing a new washer into our home. . .)

5) I’ve really spent a great deal of time concentrating on Reflective Scrapbooking and am excited to have scrapbook products available online now and soon some free videos about how to scrapbook digitally. Loving the idea of working from home and my husband’s support as he helps out around our home while I’m working.

6) I’ve loved seeing pictures of my childhood home. As part of another class I’m taking, mom sent pictures my way. I’ve loved looking at all the old pictures- though I’m dreading trying to deal with that lovely orange shag carpet in my scrapbook pages. It’s been fun to see those pictures- including the things in the background of those pictures- the little bits of the stuff of life.

So now, it’s February. Wonder what surprises my One Little Word will bring home this month! I know that I want to work on exercising here at home and building some better routines at home. And I can’t wait to see what prompt Ali brings us today in our One Little Word. (It’s certainly not to late to choose a word for 2011. If you do, I highly recommend joining us in Ali’s class. The community is awesome!)

Speaking of Ali’s class, I’m participating in a blog hop! We’ll be sharing our January Prompts today. And, I’ll be giving away here on this blog the Sinton Paper Collection that I created and used on my January prompt and title page.

One Little Word Title Page

A New Picture taken in front of our home.

Page Protector Page

I created a template (available free here) for use with the page protectors for this class. I really wanted to do something digi that wasn’t just one flat page. This is the file before I printed it here at home and cut out the cards.

Since Ali urged us to handwrite- I decided I’d strike a balance and fill out part of the cards with my own writing. I also took advantage of the size to try some sewing on my page. . . that was pretty fun.

The Giveaway

I’m giving away these papers, the Sinton Paper Collection, to three lucky winners.

To enter the drawing, leave a comment telling me what your One Little Word is or what it could be in 2011. I generate a Randomly drawn winner from those comments left by 8 AM PST time 2/2/11 and announce the winner later on Wednesday. (Comments can be left by clicking the number of comments just below the title of this post.)

The Blog Hop

I want to say thanks to Becky for directing folks over to my blog and encourage you to visit Marlene’s blog next. All of our posts are due up by 8 AM Pacific Time.

Here’s a full list of everyone participating:

Margie http://www.xnomads.typepad.com
Jill Conyers http://www.jillconyers.typepad.com/life_as_i_see_it/
Monica http://www.scraplifters.blogspot.com
Lynn W http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Miranda http://www,mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
Mandy http://www.captureandcreate.wordpress.com
Kathy http://www.katswonderings.blogspot.com
Lisa http://www.makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
Donna http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
Abbey http://www.athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Sam http://www.learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
April http://www.capturethememories.blogspot.com
Nicky http://www.seejanebake.blogspot.com
Rebekah http://www.istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Relly http://www.rel.ly
Nancy http://www.goshery.blogspot.com
Cynthia http://www.paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Kathryn http://www.katlodesigns.com
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au
Heather http://www.scrappyhare.blogspot.com
Gayle www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com
Kristina http://www.ciqis.blogspot.com
Debra http://www.blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Becky http://www.beckyandjames.com
Amy http://ordinarydetails.com You are Here!
Marlene http://www.moore-fun-in-the-sun.blogspot.com/
Maureen http://www.cookingmylife.blogspot.com
Cheri http://www.cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Monica Scrapmom http://www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Jan http://www.mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Junelle http://www.yesandamenblog.blogspot.com
Margaret http://www.gutsymom.blogspot.com
Sharyn http://www.analteredlife.com
Tere http://www.terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

One Little Word Update, Blog Hop, and Giveaway is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

December Daily: Final Pages

Amy — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:05:24 +0000

Wow! I finished this project and I’m so glad I did it. Thanks to all of my family and friends who put up with me “documenting” each day- and those that took shots for me as well.

I love how this project made me think about the little blessings throughout the day- and how I noticed even more afterwards while looking at the pictures and reflecting on each day.

Here are the last two daily pages:

December 24:

Traditional but untraditional- After a lazy day, we had our orange chicken without the gravy and rice for dinner. We opened gifts- I love this picture of Cody that captures the "Oh gee- I got a rain guage" I got until he realized why he got them. Our gifts proved we listen to each other. After Christmas eve service, Mom "helped" me with communion.

I needed an additional page so I made another hymn page to go to the left of my Christmas Day page:

December 25:

Christmas day was all about family-loving the little moments of togetherness like Cody and Coralyn in the kitchen, me and Jack making fritters, and everyone enjoying my scrapbooking.

That left me with the cover pages. Since I ended up documenting hockey fights, screaming, and winning the day I took pictures of the house decorations, I decided I’d use those along with a few pictures of the tree for my covers.

Now, on to other projects. . . My One Little Word for 2011 (I’ll be posting about that super soon as I’m really ready to begin 2011!), Yesterday and Today class at Big Pictures Classes, and Project Life/365- a third try to document the entire year.

December Daily: Final Pages is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

December Daily: Dec 17-23

Amy — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:13:23 +0000

It’s almost Christmas and I’ve spent some time going back through the last week as I catch-up on my December Daily pages. It’s amazing to me how much this project has made me thing about the special things this month- or even the regular everyday activities that December brings. It’s also amazing that the project is almost over.

December 17

Journaling reads; Waiting, that was the name of the name of the game today. First, it was waiting for Cody to get done with his ride along so I could hear all about it- especially after he told me they went on a disturbance call. but, then, the wait was even longer for Lisa to get here so we could visit. Of course, by the time she made it, we were both ready for bed. But, we talked a while first.

December 18

Today was a great day. Cody was off hunting at the deer lease and left Lisa and I to ourselves. Lisa and I watched old videos of Jack when he was younger- we even posted one on his facebook- oh how Jack’s face in it made us laugh. then, we got down to business. . . creating a website for Lisa’s work. While web work isn’t exactly fun, it was fun being able to help Lisa out with all the things I’ve learned. We had a few challenges but they are just opportunties to learn. . . and a few tricks I’m even going to try on my website. But, in all the time we got to spend working on the site, we also got time to talk and catch up. We simply just got to spend the day together.

December 19

Journaling Reads: We had dad’s birthday lunch a day early. Conversations included their new cell phones, working out, the football game Cody was watching, and Cody’s ride-a-longs.

December 20

Journaling Reads: After Cody left for Lisa’s, I baked cookies, put on music, and decorated our tree. It was the first time we’ve put the King Ranch ornaments Coralyn has gotten us since 1996 on the main tree.

December 21

Journaling: Today seemed to be about preperation. Cody’s present arrived and I wrapped it before he had the chance to see it. I made several batters for cookies to bake Wednesday, and Cody helped me clean house before Coralyn came up.

December 22

Journaling Reads: 234 Cookies plus a few. Today, Cody and I made five different kinds of cookies for the troopers at his office. Sad thing is, they’ll only get a dozen and a half each. We had less than 10 extra cookies. I don’t know how I’d have done it without Cody’s help.

December 23

Journaling Reads: Our traditional Christmas eve eve dinner wasn’t quite traditional. We used the mixture from Cody’s oopsy instead of mexican meat. Cody had put picante instead of spaghetti sauce with hamburger meat the night before. It still tasted good.

December Daily: Dec 17-23 is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Birth Announcements

Amy — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:52:03 +0000

Amongst our travels, work, football games, deer lease prep, and just otherwise crazy times in the past month, we got to meet our new “neice” and “nephew”. Born just 1 week apart.

Meet Amy Lynn ‘s Sister:

And then Amy and Callie’s new cousin:

(Funny side note, both brothers said the exact same thing when they called after getting their announcements. . . . “We got a package and we thought you might have something to do with it.” . . . . exactly a week apart. Strange deja vue)

Birth Announcements is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Then and Now: 5 Years- Some Pancakes and a Stink and Triggers

Amy — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:59:50 +0000

So, a few months back we went to the Caldwell Zoo with Lisa and Jack. (We won’t talk about all the problems with the truck that followed that trip!). While there I “manufactured” a shot to compare Jack then and now. I knew I wanted a similar shot of him, so I helped myself with a little gentle push of Jack.

I thought I’d share those two pics today now that I’m starting to catch up on a back log of pics that I have for editing. (New Computer= Freeing Lightroom with some Speed!- Sorry got geeky there, didn’t I.) As I looked at them I noticed that I also had then and now shots from the same two visits in our kitchen.

It’s amazing to me how much this kid has grown in such a short time, but then again, part of me can’t believe it’s only been five years since the 2005 shots. Was he really that little then? It won’t be much longer and he’ll be taller than me. . . and really not that much longer than he’s taller that Cody. . . or at least I expect he’ll get that tall.

Ok. . . Comparison #1- In with the Rhinos where it definitely stinks. I couldn’t quite get him to make the same expression. . . .

Summer 2005:

Summer 2010

;

A side note that I find interesting: The difference in his size and my camera is fairly obvious. But what’s not as obvious is the similarities in his shirts. The first shirt, a humorous look at 10 things not to say on a road trip, is from a trip he took with his Nana and Papa. The second shirt is from the trip we took with him last year.

Comparison #2- While #1 is somewhat staged, this one certainly isn’t. It’s something that happens everytime Jack comes up. In fact, it even happens at the deer lease and finally happened just last week when we were at his house.

Summer 2005

Summer 2010

Back then of course, we helped him make the pancakes. These days we just sit in the living room demanding he cook us breakfast. . . not that he isn’t a willing participant or that if he wanted us to come in there we would. But, he can make them from start to finish on his own now- all those early mornings of getting up to help him fix pancakes are paying off now- I can be lazy now.

Comparison #3. . . so while typing this, I realized I had yet another pair of then and now shots from these two visits. While the others show progression in size and cooking abilities, this one shows a whole other progression- one that I’m sure Uncle Cody is super proud of and one that Jack is more than happy to make.

Summer 2005

Summer 2010

Cody had promised that Jack would get to shoot the pistols next time he came up, so they had to squeeze a little time in this trip to do so. Jack posted one of the pics from shooting pistols on his facebook and his comment says it all “I love that gun”

Another interesting to me side note: Back then, we had introduced Jack to Johnny Horton music (is there any better road music at that age?) and so the coke cans he was shooting became the “Bloody British”. Just last week, Cody said that a Johnny Horton song came on the TV while he was down there and Jack started singing it.

Then and Now: 5 Years- Some Pancakes and a Stink and Triggers is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Jack Plays Basketball and About Winning

Amy — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:42:00 +0000

What a busy month so far. With Cody taking on his new job, travel for his job, travel for my job- it’s been busy. And I decided to do a Layout-A-Day Challenge this month. But there have been some really great times this month as well. Like seeing Jack play basketball Tuesday night. It was most definetely worth the travel and it messing up our NCIS date night.

His team had been undefeated until Tuesday when they lost to their league’s other undefeated team. Jack impressed me with both his speed and his persistence throughout the game. We talked a lot about the game over Pizza Tuesday night. Cody stayed behind and spent yesterday afternoon doing sports stuff with Jack. When he got home tonight we talked more about Jack and what seems to be a natural ability to learn and play sports. So, it’s only natural that when I sat down to create my layout today, Jack was fresh on the brain.

Journaling Reads: Winning, Losing, and Performance. It was the theme of our dinner conversation Tuesday after you lost your basketball game. No one likes to lose a game, I know. When we asked about whether you had fun, you said that the football coaches you’d seen earlier in the day said it wasn’t about fun, it was about winning. As Cody and I were talking about how well you could do in sports today, we talked about how much I wanted you to learn about winning. Some say winning isn’t everything- some say it’s the only thing. I lean towards it being the only thing. Only it’s not the win ming “the game” that is the only thing. I want you to learn and know that there’s more one way to measure winning or success. You win when you give it you all. You win when you give have fun. You win when you’re a great teammate and show great character. Do you remember when David DeJesus got the triple in the 9th inning as the Royals were losing badly? He had a smile on his face as he signed your baseball. He knew that you can measure winning in more than one way- he hadn’t given up. I heard Mitch Maeir talking about it just yesterday- you have to learn to control what you can control and let go of the rest. You possess their winning traits- you give it your all and you’re always learning to be better- it’s what makes you so good. Sure, playing sports isn’t all fun, and I want you to learn to work hard. Losing the game is certainly not easy to take. But, you have to look in your heart not at the scoreboard- if you know you did the best you could do and you took some joy from the game, you’ve already won.

Jack Plays Basketball and About Winning is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Jack’s Infamous Hungry Cranky Butt Incident

Amy — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:14:00 +0000

I scrapbooked an infamous moment in history this week. . . . I’ll share the story via copying the journaling:

“Cody and I knew better. We’ll never forget the time we went with Jack to Brenham- the bottle warmer incident and oh how he cried. At that time, we thought poor thing is hungry. This time, not so much. We had a goal in mind- for Jack to get to eat while watching the Giraffes at the Caldwel Zoo. But, it meant we waited too long to get some food in him. Out came hungry-cranky butt. It didn’t help that the flies kept buzzing his head. He made us pay for making him wait to eat. And, of course, he never really understood why- the giraffes for some strange reason weren’t out in the area that the food court overlooks. All he knew was that he was hungry and flies wouldn’t leave him alone. After eating, petting a few animals and taking some pictures with my new DSLR camera, he was fine again. And we enjoyed the rest of our day at the zoo. Now, we talk about the Hungry Cranky Butt episode at the zoo. It’s been a chance to learn about how emotions and being hungry can be tied together. In fact, we were able to laugh about it together at the Oklahoma City Zoo last year because we thought we’d be home free- their food court was indoors. We joked about how we were eating early enough for no Hungry Cranky Butt at the zoo- especially because the flies shouldn’t bother us. And they didn’t- most of the time. The Caldwell Hungry Cranky Incident proves sometimes we all just lose it.”

And it probably doesn’t help that his Aunt is a scrapbooker and had the camera in his face either. . . wouldn’t you think!

Jack’s Infamous Hungry Cranky Butt Incident is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Friday Night: Jim and Marie’s Small World

Amy — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:04:46 +0000

Friday night we were blessed with free tickets to the NWTF Banquet in town. We really wanted to go and were so thankful to get a call Friday at lunch that would change our boring plans for the evening.

They had Brenda Valentine visitng there from Tennessee. She’s a big hunting personality and on many shows. We don’t really get into the celebrity thing but we realized as we met her she just might know Cody’s Uncle Jim. She was from Tennessee after all. And if you ask us, we think Uncle Jim knows just about every one in Tennessee. . . if his wife doesn’t. Probably not, but he’s well known for his archery skills.

Sure enough, she did now Uncle Jim. And Aunt Marie. She knew Aunt Marie from her endurance horse rides. It was so great to hear a bit about how they are doing. We miss them terribly.

We talked about how Aunt Marie never stops.

And how Uncle Jim is the polar opposite. But, don’t let him fool you, he’s as into archery as Marie has been into endurance challenges. . We also talked about his taste for mayo sandwiches.

We talked about the place they used to have on the Buffalo- where Cody has some fond memories and we have some pics somewhere- not yet scanned. But, I did find these fun pictures that pre-date Cody.

We’re hoping to find a way to go visit them when the weather gets warmer.

Friday Night: Jim and Marie’s Small World is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Being Childless Sucks, Life Doesn’t

Amy — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:13:15 +0000

When I blogged about how being childless sucks Wednesday, I received several words of encouragement which I did appreciate. But, I guess what I failed to get across in that post, is that it was just a moment. . . They come, they go. Sure, being childless hasn’t stopped sucking. But, it’s not the only thing in my life.

I honestly didn’t share about that moment when I searched google for those that know me, but rather because I know that there may be others I don’t know who feel the same way and are looking for something to perhaps validate their feelings or just someone who understands. (OK, that’s a really bad run on sentence whith far to many “thats” in the beginning, but you know, it’s a blog not a term paper)

You see just because being childless sucks, it doesn’t mean that life does. All-in-all, I’ve got a great life. A house over my head, a loving husband who truly spoils me, time to be creative, a job, etc. (Since I just made a long list New Year’s Eve, I spare you the long version ’cause I have a feeling this post is going to be long enough.)

(OK, in proofreading this, this next part is going to seem really off topic and a rambling tangent, I promise I’ll be bringing it back around.)

Last weekend as Cody and I were celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary, we discussed a new class that I want to take. This morning as I thought about that class, I realized that my hobbies all seem to piggy back on themselves. Last year, I spent a lot of time learning more about photography and taking pictures. This year, I’ve gotten back into scrapbooking. This new class is about organizing pictures with a scrapbooking purpose (well, that’s just the surface.) One of the assignments before the class starts is to go through your digital pics and printed pics and put them in chronological order. I’m in luck since my digi pics are all in folders my month and year and named by the date and a sequence that keeps the approximately 16,000 pictures in order. . . not to mention digi pics can be sorted by date/time taken. But, our printed pics, that’s another story. The class talks about not trying to do all your pictures but a portion so that you can learn the process and then repeat with the rest later. So, I decided to just tackle the years from when Cody and I met until we went digital- Fall Semester 1994-Deer Season 2003. (Another tangent. . . Deer Season, you may be wondering, why I associated that. . . Because I got my first digi camera on the way to the Campwood and I remember taking tons of shots along the 8 hour drive there. Looking back now, I realize it was purchase and trip that would change my life.)

So this week, Cody and I have been sorting those printed pictures. We really don’t have that many. They filled two plastic shoeboxes longwise (aka short side so that the pano shots would fit). It was so much fun to remember those days. We really enjoyed looking back. We were both amazed at how young we look. . . even though we don’t feel that much older today. In many ways, despite the things we’ve gone through, we’re still like newlyweds or perhaps even those kids in college. We’re still like those two lovebirds in those pictures- two lovebirds who got married and watched as their friends got married, two lovebirds who used to eat on the floor in Etoile, two lovebirds who have watched their nephew grow-up, two lovebirds that have seen great vacations, two lovebirds that met in college, moved to Corpus Christi, and came back to that college town. We’ve been blessed. I’ve been blessed.

And, I realize just how blessed to live in the digital age! We narrowed that lot of pics down to just a little over one box. Purging a lot of awful and failed shots, I realized how much I benefit from being able to instantly see my pictures. Going through the so-so pics, I realized how much easier it is to take advantage of learning photography in a digital world. Looking at how few pictures there were compared to fewer years of digital, I realized just how glad I am that I don’t have to pay for film and processing.

Being Childless Sucks, Life Doesn’t is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Being Childless Sucks

Amy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:06:12 +0000

That’s what I put into the google search engine yesterday. . . in a moment when it really was sucking. I’m not sure what I was wanting to find. I think to just see someone else feeling the same way and find some perspective. Do you know what I got? Posts about how infertility sucks- And it’s true, it does. Been there, done that. But, my being childless moved well beyond infertility sucks when we hit the brick wall that was adoption. I wanted something that caught the full gamut of how being childless (not just infertile) sucks. What else did I find? Posts about how motherhood sucks. . . and I suppose at times it sucks just as being childless sucks. But, it’s really not what I wanted to read about. And then, there were the posts by those who are childfree by choice saying that being childless doesn’t suck. That may be true when it’s by your choice, but for the rest of us who aren’t childless by choice, it does, at least at times it does. Not sure if you’re aware of it, but there’s a huge contention/movement about how being childfree is so great- it often feels like a slap in the face when you’re not childfree by choice.

So this person is for the next person who finds their self at a point when being childless just sucks and searches for something when they’re not sure what they want to find.

What brought me to that point yesterday? The dang drum in my head that is life without kids that never seems to stop beating. There isn’t a day that’s gone by when I haven’t thought about kids or the lack there of. Sometimes it’s a “positive” thought- that we won’t have to deal with a screaming kid in the middle of Wal-mart (even though we’d trade places with the parent anytime). Other times, I wonder about the kids we were so close to adopting- how they’re doing or how I feel they were taken from me. Sometimes, it’s just re-hashing old history. Or perhaps it’s the incessant, how can parents do the things they do to their kids. Other times, it’s wondering about where I go from here- the fact that I’ve not idea what the future looks like without kids.

Too many days it’s not just one thought but many thoughts. Somedays, it’s just a thought or two. Other days, it seems to be in sterio coming at you from all sides. No matter how much you try to tune it out, it beats louder and louder. You can’t turn it off; you can’t even seem to turn it down. Yesterday, when I did my little google search, was one of those times. . . when the drum beat was just too loud. Those are the moments when being childless seems to take hold of you, stir up all sorts of emotions, and wreck an otherwise good day. That’s when the word “sucks” just seems to be the best way to describe the state of being childless. Despite all the other words in my vocabulary, “sucks” is the one word that is apropros. And it sucks when “sucks” is the one word you can find that describes the moment.

All I can do is ask God for peace. I know he’ll get me out of those moments. And I hope that one day he has in store for me a day when I don’t even think about whether or not we have children.

Being Childless Sucks is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Christmas in Pictures, Not! Christmas Without Pictures

Amy — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:19:43 +0000

Since I haven’t blogged in a while, you’ll have to bear with me for a short tangent. Last Christmas, or maybe the year before, my nephew got a Wii. We’ve been down there a few times and loved playing it. He and his mom came up earlier this week and they brought the Wii. . . Well one thing led to another and we wound up buying a Wii ourselves. which arrived just about the time they left Wednesday taking their Wii with them . . .

I do not have any pictures from our Christmas gathering this year. I didn’t even get my camera out. We didn’t get into any shooting wars. I think that’s a first for my family in many, many years.

My mother-in-law drove up and arrived on Wednesday. My parents, brother, and his girlfriend came over Christmas Day. I was more organized than ever with the meal. I had to be. . . I had plans for Christmas Day and while I wanted to eat good, I did not want to spend the day in the kitchen.

As soon as my family arrived, we let them grab a small snack and then hit them with our best shot. Sorry, couldn’t resist that. We created Mii’s for them and then made each of them thake the Wii Fit Body Test. . . Isn’t that just what you should do to all your houseguests and a festival (AKA feast day)? But, that’s what we did. . .

And then the games began. . . We played the Wii Fit all day long. We flew through the air, ski jumped, headed soccer balls, caught fish while sliding on icebergs, and had a few snowball fights despite the fact we did not have a white Christmas. We all threw caution to the wind and made fools of ourselves. And with a few broken no camera moments by my brother and father, there are no pictures to embarrass us with.

Before we knew it, it was time to eat. Yum, Yum. We had our typical Stephenson’s Restaurant and Family Recipe meal. We started with just a doubled batch of Banana Fritters (usually, it’s banana, apple, and another flavor). Then came the meal- ham, Grandma’s macaroni and cheese, green beans, bread, and frozen fruit salad. Did I leave anything out. . . I don’t think so. . . we made sure we did not have any repeats of the Thanksgiving forgets. For dessert, we had banana cake and pumpkin pie. And a few more Wii games. Now, I just have to keep up with the Wii to work off all that food.

Before I knew it the day was over without any pictures. Even the clean-up was mighty easy and didn’t get any pics. It was one of the absolute funnest Christmas’s I can remember.

Christmas in Pictures, Not! Christmas Without Pictures is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Thanksgiving Dinner

Amy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:33:11 +0000

We went to mom’s house yesterday for Thankgiving. We haven’t been over there in quite some time due to my allergy to dogs. We decided that I’d just take plenty of Benadryl and celebrate Turkey Day at Mom and Dad’s. So glad we did. So glad Mom hosted.

As it turned out, I only had to fix one thing- the Chocolate Pie. I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to eat if I didn’t have a Chocolate Pie for my Uncle. I even got out of fixing the meringue! Which given that I hadn’t been feeling the best and given all the benadryl in my system, was a very, very good thing.

Of course, Mom might as well have had benadryl herself. . . She messed the meringue up twice! But, when she got it right, she got it right.

She took it all in stride! I really like this shot of her preparing the sweet potatoes (more on those later):

So, my task for the day was to photograph and capture the day. Well, that’s what I decided my task was. . .I wanted to get some shots of the action. Of course, around my family, you can’t get your camera out without everyone else getting their cameras so they can hide behind them.

There’s just something wrong with my brother’s eye in this shot. . . I’m can’t figure out what he was looking at!

Of course, the turkey took all day to cook. The guys all rested in the living room and watched some football:

I nearly fell asleep myself (benadryl was kickin’) and was glad when there was some more action to photograph. And that my brother found the step stool for me so I could get a different angle on things.

My Aunt Sarah made the gravy:

Cody carved the turkey:

My brother got silly

and then decided to do a little “acting” if you want to call it that. . . at least he didn’t have a camera in his face or one of his dimented faces:

(Later when it was finally dessert time, he would put the pie at his spot at the dinner table as if it was all his. . . he did share though.)

Mom was absolutely in her element in her kitchen.

And then we sat down to eat.

See anything missing????

Just before we moved onto dessert, we started talking about our traditions at Christmas vs. Thanksgiving. I started saying that I preferred our Christmas meal. . . that I’m not a turkey person, but eat a little turkey just because you feel like you have to. . . just like I. . . “We forgot the sweet potatoes!”. . . So we had a little helping of sweet potatoes between the meal and dessert. . . ’cause as I was going to say, I have to have a small bit of sweet potatoes- with marshmellows on top.

Thanksgiving Dinner is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary

Flashback Friday: Tugboat Parade

Amy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:12:14 +0000

I mentioned the hot muggy weather when we were in Corpus last month when I took this picture.

This is the tale of the absolute opposite weather in Corpus Christi. Well, except that, it was as windy if not even windier. It was the coldest day I ever remember in Corpus and Cody would agree. I don’t think I have any pictures to mark the day- a day that would wind up a famous legend in our family. One that has become a part of the very code we speak.

My parents, grandmother, and brother were in town for Christmas. We’d gone to the aquarium and found out that we’re having a lighted tugboat parade. I love watching tugboats and so this was the ticket. I talked everyone- my husband, my family, and my mother-in-law- into going back for the Tugboat Parade. I couldn’t wait to see the tugboats.

We came back to the aquarium that evening to enjoy the parade. We wandered around the aquarium as we waited for night fall. . . so the lighted tugboat parade could start. We sat out on the lawn- right about where I took the picture above (only it’s not lawn anymore). It was so cold and the wind blew that cold damp air off the water. We huddled up. We drank hot chocolate. We took turns going inside trying to warm up. We worried about my Grandmother but she handled it just fine.

I waited to see the tugboats.

The parade was late. From what we gathered, the coast guard had been called out and was late for the parade. We huddled up. We drank hot chocolate. We took turns going inside trying to warm up. We worried about my Grandmother but she still seemed to be just fine.

I waited to see the tugboats.

After hours in the cold damp wind, the moment finally arrived. The parade began- the parade which consisted of two lighted coast guard cutters and one, count them, one tugboat.

I felt horrible about convincing every one to wait for this little moment. We couldn’t believe that we’d waited all this time for 1 tugboat in a Tugboat parade.

The parade would go down in infamy. Now, when we do something, we say, “I don’t know this might be a tugboat parade.” We judge things as being worthwhile or not by comparing them to the tugboat parade. If it wasn’t very fun or what we thought, it was a tugboat parade. And we’re always thankful when things surpass the tugboat parade.

(Little did I know that night that while I worried about my grandmother, my husband was quite ill. He knew I loved the tugboats and never let on that he was not feeling well. The next morning he awoke with 104° temp.)

Flashback Friday: Tugboat Parade is a post from: Ordinary Details - The Joy of Ordinary