Resolutions

Another year come and gone.   It's been an eventful one, for sure.  Mackenzie graduated high school and started college.  Anna escaped (haha) middle school and started high school.  Jack went through 2 job changes - one from the buy-out of the defense contract he was working on (this was a change he was NOT happy about) and then a job-change by choice (which he IS happy about).  And me?  Well, I realize I've been avoiding any kind of change in the midst of all of that. :) 

But now it seems that it has come time for a new year and some new resolutions.  I find that lately when anyone I haven't talked to for a while asks what I've been up to, I mostly talk about everyone else... so one of my resolutions for this year is to have something at least moderatley interesting to say that I've done myself.  Not sure what that is going to look like just yet, but I'm going to commit it to prayer and look for where God is leading.

Just thought this cartoon was really funny -- and I resolve NOT to make it true for me! haha...

Here are a few other things on my mind:
* I plan to train for and finally run the Cotton Row 10K this year.  (my body seems ready to cooperate with me on this - I hope that continues!)

* Less escaping and more praying...

* Read thru the New Testament this year...  (didn't do that last year as planned, and it is much needed!)

* Daily consider this verse and how I can put it into practice, especially at home where I am, sadly, most selfish:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4

* And one more verse to pray over daily:
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
I John 2:17
I believe this verse to be true, but my heart fights with it - I don't grasp it emotionally and I struggle so much with holding on to my own desires over trusting God with His desires for me.  But I am certain that His way is so much better... my prayer will be to feel and trust it deep in my heart.

Oh... and I resolve for Alabama to beat LSU this time and win the National Championship! 
Roll Tide Roll!  :)

So that's it for now... Happy New Year everyone! :)

Catching Up...

On Monday, I should have been celebrating my 24th Wedding Anniversary with Jack, but we spent the day in my mom's hometown of Vernon, AL instead.  My uncle, Emmett Sanford, died this past week and we were there for the funeral.  It was a sad day for everyone.  My uncle was a wonderful man, very giving and generous, wise, funny and outgoing.  He loved to tell stories and was very hospitable.  In these last few years, he and my Aunt Kay (I'm named after her) lived in Destin, FL and we were fortunate on a few occasions to have the opportunity to go and visit them and stay at their condo on the beach.  It's been a couple of years since we have visited because our vacation times just haven't lined up right so that we could go, but I had just realized that this next spring was probably going to work and I really wanted to go see them...  I'm sad now that I won't have that chance.

You realize at times like this how easy it is to get distant from people.  After my grandparents on my mom's side died, that whole side of the family didn't get together as often and we all just drifted into doing things with our own growing families.  I guess that is sort-of a natural thing that happens, but until this past Monday, I hadn't seen some of my cousins in probably 25 years!  Some of that was because we lived in Boston for so long and missed some family events along the way, but still, that seems crazy now.  So I guess one good thing that came out of all of this is that I got to reconnect a bit with my cousins that I grew up with and always spent at least a week out of the summer with every year.  It was really good to see them...

And I enjoyed getting to show Mackenzie and Anna around Vernon where my mom and Aunt Kay grew up.  I have so many good memories of this tiny town in western Alabama.  Playing "shoestore" with my cousin Lori and making movies together. (that was back in the days of reel-to-reel film!)  Earning money doing chores so we could ride into town to the "dime store" and buy candy.  Making mud pies in the back yard and then covering ourselves head to toe in mud!  Telling my younger brother and sister scary ghost stories and rigging a balloon with a sheet over it in their room to scare them in the middle of the night.  (we were mean - ha)  Of course, that backfired when my brother started crying, ran to my grandmother, and threw up along the way!  We were in so much trouble when she realized what we had done... we got to stay up with him and take care of him the rest of the night! 

Anyways, it was fun back in the day... and all my mom's family lived within a block or two of each other... some are still there! So I took a few pictures that I thought I'd post...

This was my grandparent's house where my mom grew up.  It looks SO tiny now!!  Actually, everything looked so much smaller, including the 'big hill' than ran down the back of this house to Aunt Kay and Uncle Emmett's house.  We rode up and down that hill on our bikes so many times and thought it was SO scary! :)

Just down the hill behind my grandparents' house was Aunt Kay and Uncle Emmett's first house.  That big tree right next to it is a chestnut tree and I stepped on one of the chestnutt burrs barefooted - ouch!  I still vividly remember laying on a bed with my aunt pulling pieces of that thing out of my heel... 

And this is the house that my Aunt and Uncle built right next door to their old house.  Back in the day, it was VERY fancy, especially for small town Vernon. :) 

So that's my trip down memory lane.   The best news from all of this is that my Aunt Kay is recovering and it seems that she is going to be all right.  She has been moved from the hospital in Destin up to a hospital near Vernon and closer to family that can be with her and take care of her.  I hope to get to see her in the next week or so.

It seems like just about every year my wedding anniversary gets 'sidelined' by something else... I believe this was one of the reasons I said, "I'll never get married at Christmas time..."   Yeah, right.  But we did get to go out to dinner with my sister and her husband last night at The Melting Pot, so I think I'll count that as our Anniversary Dinner!  :)  And the neat thing about this anniversary is that it marks the point where we've been married now as long as we haven't been married.  We got married at 24, so we've doubled that now.  :)  I can actually remember thinking a long time ago that it would be funny when we got to that point...  and I'm thankful that we've made it this far.  :)

Just a clarification about the picture.  It was 'tacky sweater night' at The Melting Pot, which meant you got a great discount on your dinner if you were brave (desperate?) enough to wear a tacky Christmas sweater!!  SO, that's what we did.  :)  And believe it or not, these both belong to Mackenzie - ha! 

Holidaze...

* Gymnastics Christmas Party/Sleepover on Friday night
    
     * My Cousin's wedding on Saturday afternoon
         
          * Jack's work Christmas party on Saturday night
              
               * Club Xtreme Christmas party Sunday afternoon
                   
                    * The Way Christmas party Sunday night

Um....  needless to say it was a busy weekend!  But all the planning and preparation got done without too much stress, all the parties were fun, the wedding was beautiful... and the sun still came up on Monday morning when all was said and done. :)   Now I'm looking forward to school being out soon and finals being over for my girls, a little more down time, Mackenzie coming home TOMORROW - yay!!!, a little more shopping, my sister and family being here next week and good times with family.  And here's a picture to share of me and Jack all dressed up for the work party last Sat. night.  (We don't dress like this but about once a year when we have to, so you gotta take a picture - ha!)

A Thanksgiving to Remember...

Several years ago my sister-in-law, Deb, introduced our family to Callaway Gardens' spectacular Fantasy in Lights.  It's a truly amazing display of Christmas lights set up along the pathway through their beautiful gardens.  It takes about 45 minutes to drive through on an open-air trolley.  (the BEST way to see it!)  There are several different scenes such as the 12 Days of Christmas, Jack Frost, The North Pole, The March of the Tin Soldiers, etc. and there is fantastic holiday music playing in the woods to go along with each one as you drive through.  So almost every year for about the last 8 years, we have traveled there with them and Jack's mom -- and usually THANKS to Jack's mom since she often makes this a Christmas present to all of us! :)  You can read about it here:

http://www.callawaygardens.com/info/calendar/calendar.fantasy_in_lights.event.aspx

It is especially fun to travel there over Thanksgiving and spend the holiday there.  That's what we did this year.  First we went down to Birmingham and had Thanksgiving dinner with all of Jack's family and Jim's (my brother-in-law) 91-year-old-mom, Charlene.  After eating way too much yummy food, we got together for a big game of Yahtzee.  I think at least 8 of us were playing, so it took a while!  We managed to talk Charlene into playing with us, and the funniest moment of the day came when she had one last roll of the dice and REALLY needed to get a "3" (I can't even remember what she was rolling for - maybe to be able to make the bonus score on top? ha)  So she looked at us and then looked at the lone die in the bottom of the cup, and proceeded to shake the cup, then look in at the die, and shake the cup again, and look in at the die.... this went on for a while until finally, she got the "3" she was looking for and gently slid the die out of cup to make sure it landed on the "3"!  Maybe you had to be there, but it was just hilarious to see her "cheating" the game in such a funny way... she definitely stole the show! :)   Then later that night we presented Jack's mom with a DVD of about 450 pictures that we had converted from several years of slides they had from the early '60s and '70s of Jack's family.  So we had fun watching old family photos that haven't been seen in quite a while.  And it really is true that about a quarter of those pictures are of Deb in a red dress! ha! :)   And the fashion, oh my...  ;-)   Here's a few fun ones of Jack and Deb.  (Jack will probably kill me for the last one...  heehee...)

 

 

 

We left on Friday morning and drove to Callaway, did the Fantasy in Lights on Friday night, and then came back home on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the Alabama/Auburn game, of course.  Roll Tide!! :)  We got a few good photos that I wanted to share and I'm going to include a few fun memories that you probably won't get unless you were there...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

And a few memorable moments:

You just THOUGHT you could check in where you always have!
Yeah, those cabins are right next to each other - sure.
And hey, do you see those cabins that are connected with a screen porch? Now that's nifty! ;-)
2200 Butterflies?  You could've fooled me....
Smile for the camera and no one gets hurt! (and we get this over with faster - ha!)
I'm sorry... everyone has to be holding their own ticket!
Blankets?  Where are the blankets?
I hope they haven't replaced Snowflake!
Wow... it's 3D!
Oh no... don't tell me they aren't going to play Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!
VIP party of 10?   I'm pretty sure that would be us!  ;-)
And one more time around just for good measure...
Who knew we had Mario Andretti for a bus driver?
So who's really bringing the VIP sign next year?  :)
Awesome Bingo prizes - yay Deb! :)
Tree killers!
Table for 10?  Really?
And finally --- drum roll please ---  NEW MANAGEMENT!

Just had to write down those because they made us laugh - a lot!  Really, it was such a fun Thanksgiving weekend.  And the realization is not lost on me that there may not be many more times, with Mackenzie already in college and almost yearly graduations to follow with the rest of the kids, where we all get to be together like this.  It was certainly a Thanksgiving to be thankful for and to remember.