Friday snippets

~ My live-in IT guy just installed the brand new Safari. Pretty dang cool!
~ I am helping coordinate a wedding for a friend this weekend. Love weddings!
~ I got my PASSPORT in the mail! It's official! England in April!
~ Go read the story about Gwyneth Paltrow and her Dad HERE. Made me cry.
~ These 85 degree temps are ridiculous! It's February, for crying out loud!
~ Speaking of warmer weather, I need to get in shape. Seriously.
~ Facebook is not helping my addictive tendencies one little bit.
~ Check out the sweetest video from the Sweetheart Dinner & Dancing event HERE. Thanks Sandi!
~ The oranges off our navel orange tree are the best they've ever been.
~ My Texas Mountain Laurel bush smells heavenly. Full-bloom pics to come.
~ My Lady Banks Rose is just starting to bloom. She's going to knock your socks off!
~ Oh, and my friend Ree, well, we're friends you know and I'm obsessed with her newly remodeled Lodge, especially her killer vegetable sink! And, I also just wanted to remind you that we're friends. That's all. (ok, on Facebook, but still)

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad is 83 today. No matter how old my Dad gets, he'll always be my strong, hard-working Dad. He'll always seem capable of doing anything.


I always associate my Dad with his John Deere tractor... wearing his John Deere cap... working the land.


My Dad is slowing down now... but in our minds, he will forever embody perseverance, dedication, patriotism, devotion, dependability and strength of character. Cuz that's my Dad.


Happy Birthday Dad!

Emolyn's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday Emy! Oh my gosh, I have never seen anything like it! She absolutely loved her party! She loved playing with all her pink balloons. She loved spending time with her great-Mamaw Emolyn (Shawn's mamaw) and her GG & Popo (Nicole's grandparents). She loved opening all her presents. She loved devouring her hot pink frosted cupcake. She loved watching the 10 minute video that her Daddy made of her first year. She was quite the party girl!










This was the very first picture of our granddaughter Emolyn Kate, weighing 2lbs. 7oz. and practically perfect in every way. She is a miracle and we thank God every day for her. Read Miranda's beautiful post about the day that Emolyn was born.

And this was the very last picture of our granddaughter yesterday. She was one tuckered out little party girl. Sweet dreams pretty princess.

2nd Annual Dinner & Dancing

So much fun serving at the ODF Dinner & Dancing fundraiser last night!
My fellow-servers- Marcia, Darcy, me & Stacey.


Darcy & I served as co-hosts, seating the couples as they arrived for the elegant evening.


Marcia & Stacey decorated and served for the event. No two people know how to decorate and throw a party better than these two!


J.T., John, Tom, Kent, Randy and Nick did an awesome job of serving the delicious four-course meal.


This being the main entree for the meal. Oh my gosh, THE. BEST. FOOD. Thanks you awesome Pattersons and the Stoops.


Thanks Susan, Kim and Jerry!


What are you guys sneaking bites of? And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!


OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE SNEAKING BITES OF THE DECADENT TO-DIE-FOR DESSERT BEFORE WE EVEN SERVE IT TO OUR GUESTS??!! SHAME ON YOU!


OK then, let me have a quick bite and all is forgotten.
Oh. my. I'm in heaven... and may never be the same... ever. again.


SO, what's all the fuss about... THIS is what the fuss is all about!! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful! Thanks JoAnne!


Some of our dearest friends in all the world! Love doing life with these guys!

Oooh, almost forgot... we danced! We did the cha-cha to "Save the Last Dance for me"... and I was never so happy. Thanks honey. (he calls me sugar)

Oh, check out Nancy's blog for her latest post on the event.

*** My granddaughter Emolyn's one year birthday is tomorrow! Check back for birthday party pics on Monday!
Till then, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET EMOLYN KATE!!

my bustier lamp

* I woke up this morning at 3:15... wide awake. Can't believe what I accomplished by 6 AM!
* I starched and ironed 70 white dinner napkins yesterday. Forgot how much I love to iron.
* Emolyn turns 1 on Sunday.
* My Dad turns 83 on Monday.
* I can't wait to see Randy's Mom at Emolyn's birthday party. I've missed her.
* I really enjoyed grocery shopping at 6 AM this morning.
* The Phoenix SUNS scored over 140 points... two games in a row... and won, of course.


* These pics have nothing to do with this post.
* But how much do you love my bustier lamp? (in the top pic) Click the pic to see the aqua blue sparkles.
* I can't wait to ride the brand new light rail around town.
* I'm hooked on "Biggest Loser", "The Bachelor" and "American Idol".
* I am sooo happy for my daughter.
* I love Facebook.
* and all of you that actually read my blog! Thank you.

save the last dance for me

Like I said, Randy & I are either singing at a Valentine Banquet each year or in the case of last year, we were at the first annual Sweetheart Dinner & Dancing sponsored by A Time for Us marriage ministry (we're part of the teaching team). In addition to serving 40 couples a most delicious meal, we took a stab at dancing. But... that was then and this is now. We've since had dance lessons!

The Sweetheart Dinner & Dancing event this year is coming up on Friday, the 20th and Randy & I will be ready with bells on our toes. Well, not actual bells on our toes. That would be... oh, you know what I mean. But I'm telling ya, we're ready and anxious to try out our new dance moves.
And dance the night away.
So darling, save the last dance for...
... the Dancing Queen!
Have a happy Valentine's!
And Love the One You're With. (I can't help myself, I'm on a roll!)

Emolyn's almost 1

She'll be a year old in 10 days. And when I look at her, she takes my breath away. Seriously, the other day, Shawn walked into the church office with her and I looked up from my computer and well, I about cried.

So, that got me thinking, whatever did Randy & I talk about before we became doting grandparents? I mean, sure, we talked about our dogs quite a bit. And we reminisced about when the kids were little and the funny things they did and said. And we dabbled in the occasional aches 'n pains associated with people our age.
Oh... but now we talk about our granddaughter. Now we talk about our last visit with her. We talk about the secret garden we are going to build for her in our backyard. We talk about the way it feels when she falls asleep in our arms. We talk about what she will look like with hair. We talk about her infectious smile... her darling dimples... her perfect, rosy lips.

Then we remember she's only a year old. She's yet to walk and talk... and go to the Zoo with her Grammy & Papaw yet! Man, we've got lots to talk about in the coming year. And I can hardly wait.

30 years ago...

Randy asked me to marry him on Valentine's Day. We had sung at a Valentine's Sweetheart Banquet, which btw, we have continued to do most every year since that night. Which is kinda cool. We can recreate the night and remember that moment. But at that particular banquet, when we looked at the program, they had listed the musical guests as Mr. & Mrs. Linda Larson. Umm, 1st of all- we weren't married, much less engaged and 2nd of all- if we had been married it should have read Mr & Mrs. Randy Thompson. I remember laughing my head off. Randy was most likely sweating buckets knowing that in a few hours he was going to pop the question. So after the banquet he drove me out to the end of the runway at Luke Air Force Base in his '69 Dodge Charger and while we watched fighter jets take off and land (those afterburners produce quite the light-show), he reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a box with my engagement ring inside, and asked me to marry him. I was shocked to say the least. Seriously, I had no idea! Of course I cried and said yes! But what made it extra special was that my sister Ginny and her husband were visiting from Wisconsin! I was able to share my excitement with her the next morning! We were engaged for six months. The first three of which I did absolutely nothing to plan my wedding. Nothing! Ok, we set the date. You see, I had never given a thought to my wedding day. I wasn't one of those girls that dreamed about her gown, a color scheme or veil or no veil. I thought about being married and to whom, not the actual wedding day. So at the 3 month mark, I met the wedding coordinator from the church we were using for the wedding. Janice had this charming southern accent, she was cute as a bug and man oh man, did she know her stuff. Within weeks, I had ordered my invites, the cake, the flowers and after trying on several gowns at Diamonds on Central, I bought the first one. I was in business. The cool part of this story is that I was the last wedding she coordinated before going pro. Right after my wedding she opened her dream bridal shop. *** The above pic was taken a few years after we were married, but it was the only one that was scanned and ready to post. I think it pretty much depicts what we kinda looked like on that eventful night, February 14, 1979. (minus Randy's beard)

flat & funk-y

I am in such a funk.
For whatever reason, I have had no desire to do much blogging as of late. But it occurred to me that if this is truly an online journal, then I have some catching up to do. See, whether I feel like it or not... I need to record not only the fun but the funk-y times.

So ya, just feeling kinda flat. Could be all the changes going on... illnesses among friends and family... death of a friend... Miranda being sick... and so far away... concerns about our parents health... work related stuff... the depressing economy... burdened for my husband's work load... just being overwhelmed with life in general.

So, this would usually warrant a much needed road-trip. Don't know what it is, but the mere act of driving away from my environment almost immediately opens my eyes to a clearer perspective, better insight... and my attitude changes dramatically! It's like I have been given a bird's-eye view and everything suddenly makes sense.

Well, instead of a road-trip, I took Koda to the dog park this morning. To clear my head. To get out of the house. To realize that~

~ I want to better balance my time between indoor activities... outside activities... social gatherings... and work.

~ I want to be more intentional about processing my life with someone else other than just my husband.

~ I want to spend more time in my cozy cottage creating... sewing, scrapbooking, photographing, sorting buttons & fabric (oh ya, very therapeutic), etc.

~ I want to be quiet before the Lord and hear His voice.

~ I want to live in the moment, instead of looking ahead to the next thing.

~ I want to be a better friend, wife, daughter, mom, mother-in-law, grammy, sister, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, employee, cook, communicator and manager of my time & money.

~ I want to truly live the life I love... or is it, love the life I'm living? Whatever the case may be... they both work for me.

Have a great weekend. I know I will. Rain is on the way!

this and that

~ THE best SUPER BOWL game ever! SOOO proud of our guys. THE most entertaining game from start to finish. From the slow start to the bitter end. Simply heartbreaking. We had the game. But lost it. Along with my voice.

~ THE best National Anthem ever sung! Jennifer Hudson blew me away! She made me cry.

~ The Pioneer Woman is my friend. OK, so she's my friend on Facebook. But still, she's my friend. And one day we're going to hang out. But till then, I don't mind occasionally dropping her name... you know, like "oh, you know my friend Ree, well she just posted the best recipe on her blog."

~ The dance classes at our church started back up and once again we were there. Sooo much fun. This week, the rumba and the swing. And can I just say, we're getting good. Darn good.

~ Found a brand new London Fog jacket at my little thrift store on Saturday. It was half off day. I had seen the jacket earlier in the week for $12.98. Gambled it would still be there on Saturday. Forgot about the sale till 2 PM. It was still there, only they had marked it down to $5.98, so I paid $2.98!! SOOO happy!

~ That coat will come in handy in April when Randy & I visit Miranda in England! YES! We're going to England! YEH!

~ Miranda is sick. So she's spending the day in bed on iMovie. You see, the premier of her next video blog is coming out soon. So stay tuned.

~ I wish I could be there to serve her a warm cup of tea at "elevensie". I wish I could pamper her with a protein smoothie to cool her throat. I wish I could... just be there.