I Sure Miss You!

If life could only bring again, the days I took for granted when
To hear your voice was just a call away
Oh what I 'd give for just some time to say the things that slipped my mind
There's so much now I 'd really like to say
But I can never go back when we did the things we did back then
I'll store those precious memories in my mind
I'll take what you've instilled in me;I'll try to be all that I can be
And walk the path that you have left behind.

Chorus: I sure miss you; life will never be the same with you not here
Each passing day has brought much pain
But with God's grace my strength remainsI sure miss you, but heaven's sweeter with you there

The little things that seemed so small
are now gold in a memory vaultI cherish every one I have of you
Now I can see and recognize the part you played to shape my life
I often see you in the things I do
In God's design and master plan
He saw the hurting hearts of manAs we would say goodbye to those so dear
So with our family and friends we'll be together once again
We'll view all heaven's splendor hand in hand

Holidays are always a lot of fun for kids! My kids love it for sure. I even remember a 100 years ago when I believed in Santa! lol I always tried so hard to catch him ( even though we didnt have a chimney) I thought he made one to come down in every house. I enjoy seeing the excitement that my kids have around the holidays. I also love seeing other people with happiness in their eyes too. For me , feels a little different . Don't get me wrong .... I 'm so thankful every day for the people in my life, and my family who are around! I just miss so many people that I love! The holidays will never feel complete again until heaven . I just wanted to take a few minutes to remember them all this holiday season. Remember to hug and tell those you love .. how much you love them everyday! We aren't promised tomorrow! If we could send hugs and kisses to the people we love in heaven my list would be as follows: Dustin , Papaw Foy, Papaw Lyman and Mamaw Bessie , Dot , Ellie,Nellie,Franklin and Hubert( all my great aunt and uncles),Allen , Dorothy , Nikki, Ray, Jackie and so many more. Heaven has been filled with so many of those I love so much ! This song by the Crabb Family means so much to me. It brings both tears and smiles. The memories we make with those we love are priceless!

SHINE ON! SHINE ON! SHINE ON! BAMA 36 - AUBURN 0

Well .... We did it !!!!! Finally , beat those Auburn Tigers! This has been the most amazing season of Roll Tide football for my kids ever! We love our team. We have supported them through lots of phases. I have to say it feels realllllllly great to have had such a wonderful winning season. I wanted to share some of our tailgate pictures with ya'll! God bless and Rollllllllll Tide!

"Yea, Alabama!"Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide!Every 'Bama man's behind you;Hit your stride!Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!And if a man starts to weaken,That's a shame!For 'Bama's pluck and grit Have writ her name in crimson flame! Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win then!Go, roll to victory,Hit your stride,You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!

Just a little FYI- 92 thousand people packed in Tuscaloosa to see this victory!

Thanksgiving History

Contrary to the popular belief, the pumpkin pie, cornbread, roasted turkey and all the Thanksgiving paraphernalia that we see on the Thanksgiving Dinner table, do not owe its roots to the original Thanksgiving meal of the Pilgrims. In 1621, a harvest festival was celebrated by the colonists or the Pilgrims, to thank God for saving their lives and guide them through their struggles through their journey in Mayflower and the following years of draught at Plymouth. After the rain that marked the end of the draught and revived the crop of corn and other fruits, they decided to celebrate the day with their neighbors or Massasoit, the chief of the Native Indians or Wampanoags, and his family. He came with all his extended family that constituted ninety people and stayed for three days. Colonists were of course in bad shape and there were only four grown up married ladies left to do all the cooking. Thus, General Bradford sent four of his soldiers to hunt for fowls, who brought such a large number with them that it could feed the whole village for a week. Wampanoags also helped in supplementing the food supplies by contributing five deer they had killed and probably other supplies out of courtesy. The food listed in Winslow's account consists of corn meal, fish such as bass and cod and wild fowls or turkeys. Other things that were not listed but were available to residents of Plymouth in those days and were probably a part of the feast were lobster, rabbit, chicken, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and may be goat cheese.Potatoes were unavailable in those days and butter and oils were scarce. There were no ovens so though pumpkin stew and pudding may have been served there was no scope to prepare pumpkin pies. Women who did the cooking were born and raised in England and probably experimented with their cooking by adapting their methods of cooking to the native foods available to them. Roasting was the preferred method of preparing meats and poultry but roasting on a spit over a fire take hours and constant monitoring by someone who needs to turn around the spite every now and then, so perhaps roasted venison was served with boiled fish and fowl or turkey and it is not unlikely that few of these birds may still have an overlooked birdshot embedded inside them. Indian corns do not pop well, so there were no popcorns on Thanksgiving table though corn may have been ground into meal for bread and thickener. Though, cranberries were available to the colonists, cranberry sauce could not possibly have been served because they had no access to sugar and though honey or syrup could have been used to sweeten the cranberries, it requires a lot of labor, and four ladies cooking all day to feed the crowd of about 150 people, could not have find time to do all that work. In short, the Thanksgiving meal for the pilgrims may have consisted of roasted venison, stewed or boiled fowl, lobster and fish, corn and wheat breads, stew of dried fruits and perhaps pumpkin, one or two boiled vegetables and only water to drink. So, you can cut out roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, popcorn, pumpkin or any other kind of pies, beer and wine from the pilgrims' Thanksgiving feast and have a simple fare to commemorate all they had gone through.

Today we might share any food ... although, some still stick to the tradional creations by our mother's and grandmother's . Whatever food you use to celebrate your holiday with this year...remember to be "thankful!"

THINKING ABOUT JOSH AND OUR TROOPS

I have a very dear friend who is serving in Iraq right now. He sent some pictures I want to share. Before he went to Iraq ... I cut his beautiful curls off in the trash can at my salon. He was really scalped that day! He wanted to get some sun on his scalp before he went away. We had a lot of fun times laughing , joking around, and just hanging out together. Josh is very loved by our family . We all miss him! Looking at his pictures its clear to see that children are children. Some of the other pictures its clear that war is real! Please pray for his safe return home.

Capturing Moments

Today was a cool Sunday afternoon. We decided warm enough to clean up the leaves! All ten- thousand!!! I looked out the window and this picture is what I saw! Dillon was collecting the leaves and dumping them to burn. Sarah decided that she wanted to ride. Watching and looking around so proud ! You just can't beat moments like these.

Loving Outdoors

Both of the boys love outdoors. They enjoy doing all the things boys love to do. We have some family that has farmland . They have experienced putting up fences with their daddy and seeing animals born. I'm glad they've been able to see both sides of living city and country. As for me, I like waking up ... walking outside and no stinky cow poo!

My Little Superstar!

Music is so important to me . To me, if you can't express it in a song.... it does not exist! It's a part of my very being. For those of you who know me personally ...your probably saying... DUH! My baby is learning to play .... YAH! Makes him happy to just be around music! He is starting professional lessons after January. OK ... I 'll admit it.... I'm lovin' it! Have a great night~ Stacy

A LITTLE BIT OF MISTLETOE FOR YOU!

Mistletoe has long been a symbol of love, peace and goodwill. Mistletoe is an aerial parasite that has no roots of its own and lives off the tree that it attaches itself to. Without that tree it would die. Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. Even the warring clans would stop their battles and claim a temporary truce when they would chance upon mistletoe.They believed the plant had special healing powers for everything from female infertility to poison ingestion.

The Tradition
From the earliest times mistletoe has been one of the most magical, mysterious, and sacred plants of European folklore. It was considered to bestow life and fertility; a protection against poison; and an aphrodisiac. It was gathered at both mid-summer and winter solstices, and the custom of using mistletoe to decorate houses at Christmas is a survival of the Druid and other pre-Christian traditions.

The Story Of Mistletoe
The story goes that Mistletoe was the sacred plant of Frigga, goddess of love and the mother of Balder, the god of the summer sun. Balder had a dream of death, which greatly alarmed his mother, for should he die, all life on earth would end. Balder could not be hurt by anything on earth or under the earth. But Balder had one enemy, Loki, god of evil and he knew of one plant that grew neither on the earth nor under the earth, but on apple and oak trees. It was lowly mistletoe. So Loki made an arrow tip of the mistletoe, gave to the blind god of winter, Hoder, who shot it, striking Balder dead. For three days each element of universe tried to bring Balder back to life. Frigga, the goddess and his mother finally restored him. It is said the tears she shed for her son turned into the pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew. The story ends with a decree that who should ever stand under the humble mistletoe, no harm should befall them, only a kiss, a token of love

Kissing under the mistletoe
Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with the Greek festival of Saturnalia and later with primitive marriage rites. They probably originated from two beliefs. One belief was that it has power to bestow fertility. At Christmas time a young lady standing under a ball of mistletoe, brightly trimmed with evergreens, ribbons, and ornaments, cannot refuse to be kissed. Such a kiss could mean deep romance or lasting friendship and goodwill. If the girl remained unkissed, she cannot expect not to marry the following year. We see mistletoe everywhere....thought those who really did not know the story might enjoy! Don't forget the mistletoe! Have a great Thursday!

Ignorance Can Really Hurt!

Ok ... so I'm up! It's 2 a.m.! Tonight wasn't such a good night. I was at the store earlier tonight to get some milk. Heard this man talking in line to this other man about blood sugar issues. The man said to the other .... ( as I only caught part of the conversation) yes he is diabetic .. other man replied," sad to hear ! " I hear they always die young! " My heart sank as I stood in line. How dare he stand there and say something like that! No way is some freaking disease going to take me away from my kids early! I know the facts . I know that if you take care of yourself, you can live a long life. But I just wish that man knew how he affected my night. I could not get what he said off my mind or heart . I thought one word IGNORANCE! Learn your facts. I do know sometimes diabetes can get you! I refuse to give in , and lay down from a fight that intend to WIN! I will take care of myself , do what I have to do to see my children , and grandchildren grow up in a world where diabetes is a word , and a disease of the past! So as the night went by I sat and looked at my kids. Cried a lot! Prayed some too! Thought about how much I want to share with my kids ... so much more! I just took a deep breath at 2:26 a.m. and gave it to God! I'll just keep fighting.... & "PRAISING GOD IN THIS STORM!"

AW LOVE!

Sarah loves to hang out with the boys. Whatever they do is fine with her!

Getting in the Christmas spirit a little early !

Tonight we put up one of our trees. I have years worth of decorations. Some were made by the boys, and some I have bought. We had a good time putting glass angels on this tree with angel wings. I wanted to do a tree full of blessings this year. We did not have a tree last year. We refused to put a tree up until my dad was free from cancer. We have a tree this year, but more important .... WE HAVE MY DAD!

Live Well .. Love Much.. Laugh Often!

A plaque in my kitchen says it all!

Fighting It! Everyday!

1.Lives life by their own rules, fighting back against stereotypes, misconceptions and harrassment. If no one ever stood up for what they believe in there would never be a revolution.2.Is not complacent and does not live by the status-quo. Life is special, so do something special.3.Does not say "I'll do it tomorrow". Every breath could be your last. Ask the 9/11 heroes, the Virginia Tech students, the lost miners. How do you want to go out?Most of all, A Rockstar is someone who lives their life to the fullest, realizing we are not here for a long time... So we better make it a good time. This is the Diabetic Revolution. This is DiabeticRockstar.com
I fight this disease every single day! Thought I would share this with you ! The ones of us born with this.... have no choice but to fight or die! Please pray for a cure , and support your national diabetes association whenever possible. Stacy

Touching Hearts

I ran across this picture, and to me it spoke mountains! Only two defining forces have offered to die for us! Jesus Christ who died for our sins, and the American soldier who dies for our freedom! I am so thankful for the both ! God bless the USA!

So proud of our Roll Tide!

My whole family is so excited! We have supported the Tide since I can remember! My kids were born into it ! We 've gone through many different changes since I have been a fan. Never loosing the ability to shout ROLLLLLLLLL TIDE! Once again ,we have a little louder shout! It's our time again ! We love them regardless... but it's so nice to be winning! So if you are in MS, Ga or maybe even TN. on any given day and you hear from a distance ... B-A-M-A! Roll Tide Roll! It just might be some Tide fan who lost control and could'nt stop cheering! God bless America and God bless the Tide!

The Bama Belle!

Living in Tuscaloosa we have many peaceful places to go read, sit or share with a friend. This is one of my favorite. I took this photo one afternoon after bike ridding . A place I love to go and just relax! It has beautiful sunsets!

This is my first blog. A friend has been begging me to try blogging. Hope you enjoy the sunset!