Girls Weekend 2014

Girls Weekend 2014  CLICK ON LINK FOR VIDEO

The girls weekend with my girlfriends that I've known since grade school was a huge success.  Already looking forward to next year. :)


There is something to be said about old friends. I grew up in a small town in Missouri. The same town that my parents and grandparents grew up in. There is something quite wonderful about life long friends that know you...really know you. These women that I adore so much knew me from girl scouts, from St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, from playing on the DoubleCola softball team, from  first loves, broken hearts, school dances, and all the other memories that come with knowing someone for your whole wide life :)

Not everyone made it this year to Florida but they were there in our hearts. Some will never be with us again but their memories are always part of our conversations and they are loved just the same..never to be forgotten.

I am feeling so blessed to have known these women.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 
― Maya Angelou

Best Friends

My Animoto Video

Mason Jars and Summer Memories

My photo of the day today is "Mason Jars" 
Since I don't think I've ever used one as anything other than a really cool drinking glass I went and found other ideas and  pictures on the web and found this blog with some really cool ideas.

And for my 21 Day Summer Challenge, FAVORITE SUMMER MEMORIES





I have so many!  Some of my top summer memories are...

• Going to my grandparents house and celebrating 4th of July and my sisters birthday with cousins and family.
• Going to summer camp. I had church camp one year, girl scout camp several years. I was homesick at first but always ended up having a blast.

• Having my bff Steph and her boys come visit last summer. We fit so much in in those few days and i got to act like a tourist and do things around here that I had never done before.

Learn Something New

I taking a big risk asking #5, so if you don’t feel comfortable answering #5 you do not have to…



1. Do you like meeting new people?
Yes, but let me add I like meeting NICE people. I could do without meeting any mean people

2. Do you remember names or faces?
I'm really bad with both..isn't that terrible? I'd remember their pet thou...

3. Do you believe in sex before marriage?
Thats a funny question, it's not like sex is like Santa and you either believe or don't...if you mean do I approve of sex before marriage..YES :)

4. What bothers you about the people of today?
Alot of young people I see don't have any respect for themselves or others and no social skills.

5. Are you for or against abortion?
Seriously do you really think anyone is FOR abortion ? Of course not, they are FOR womens rights to choose what to do with their bodies. I for one am not a fan of having the government tell me what I can do to my body. With that being said I don't think I  could  have an abortion..no matter what. Even if I was told my child would be deformed or have problems my faith would make me doubt the doctor and believe in the power of miracles.

6. Do you ever feel like your friends are ditching you?
No, but I'm afraid that I may make them feel that way sometimes..I'm not the best friend and in all honesty could be pretty happy never leaving my house...I'm a great communicator online,in texts, emails etc...just don't pin me down on face to face interactions...i suck.

Friends across the net

Several years ago Vic and I became friends with Deb and Lori on Myspace. We left comments on each others walls and followed each others lives through the pictures and blogs that were posted. We later moved them over to facebook and became even closer thru moves across the country, job changes, new pets and so on.

This past week we had the opportunity to actually meet in person when they came to Siesta Key and stayed in one of our rental properties, and the impact of how much you learn about people from social media really hit home. It was as if we had known each other for years and we had such a great time!  We already knew what picture "whores" we all were from the thousands of photos we've shared online so it was no surprise when the cameras and phones came out and pictures started appearing on facebook and twitter. Our night out to dinner was great but I think we laughed even harder once we got home and started reading all the comments on facebook about our photos!

Here are a few from our night at Sharkys in Venice..

What Did You Do This Week?

I made it thru another week of 2011! Can you believe it's the middle of February already?!
I was going to try and keep up a blog of what was going on in my life at least once a week but that just has not happened as of this time.

How about this week...I have

• Taken the dogs (the bigs) to the vet.
• Gone to Reb Lobster twice
• Called Comcast yet again for crappy reception
• Talked to every family member on the phone at least once
• Gave both labs a bath (actually a shower outside with the hose)
• Missed All My Children twice because my DVR is being a bitch
• Celebrated a friends birthday with her (hence the second visit to Red Lobster)
• Started following Rosie O'Donnel on twitter

Exciting eh? Yeah I know....

Day 9 of the 30 Days of Truth

Day 9:Someone you did not want to let go but drifted off

People drifting in and out of my life is pretty common. I never want to let them go but I know that there will be a time and place when we re-connect. Life gets busy and in the way sometimes of seeing/talking with my friends on an everyday basis but once I make a friend they are my friend for life. I recently heard from my BFF from college. It had been many years since we last spoke but we picked back up with the memories like it was only yesterday and that is usually the case for me with long lost friends.

I have been told that I am very "Fluid". I don't stress too much about missing friends or not talking or staying in touch all the time, as I said they come back around when it's time. People are put in our lives when we need them most.

The world of twitter,facebook,blogging has made it easier to stay in touch with a larger number of people but some would argue that the depth of the relationships suffer. I'm not one of those poeple..maybe because I'm not that deep? Perhaps.




For the complete list of the 30 Days of Truth Click Here

I was Poked!

I was pleasantly surprised this week! My best friend from college "poked" me on facebook!! We had lost touch many years ago and I had often  wondered what had happened with her life. When we lost touch she was married with two small children in North Carolina and her life/world looked as close to perfect as my brain could wrap around. She had the very well dressed perfect kids, the big beautiful house that looked like it could have come out of a magazine. Her husband had a good job, she was doing wedding planning and scrapbooking. I believe..very creative "perfect" things. I am sure her life wasn't all this perfection, but since so many of the things that I longed for were lacking , her life sure looked good!

When we lost touch I was sure it was because of me. I wasn't married, if I was it didn't count. She came to visit once (maybe twice, but I could have blocked out the second time) I was living with my first husband in a small house with two Dalmatians and a dozen puppies. The bed she had to sleep on had no frame or headboard. My then husband was loud,obnoxious and drunk most of the time...I spent her visit being embarrassed by my life. Instead of the nice visit I wanted, I was hiding all of the fighting and hoped she wasnt noticing all of the drinking.

We lost touch and I went on to marry a second time. I had remained friends over the years with a boy that I dated in high school. He was the cute surfer that my parents were not crazy about at the time but they grew to like him after we got married.

That marriage lasted about two years. What went wrong? He drank, I bitched and we both needed time to grow up a little. We still talk on occasion and I would do anything for him, one of those things where we should have stayed best friends and not ruined it with marriage.

Ok then on to number 3....What? you thought that I would have given up dating and enjoyed life? Noo..just kidding. Number 3...We met in beautiful St Simon's Island GA after talking a very short time on AOL.Yes after husband two I discovered the Internet! There was a lot of dating going on.Number 3 and I really clicked.At the time we met I had a girlfriend and he was fine with that. I wasn't as fine with his girlfriends but it worked. It never really occurred to me that I could have a serious romantic one on one relationship with a female. I knew other gay couples but just never considered that option for myself.

After a year of dating long distance he moved to Florida. We moved in together and got married. We had a very good life together. All of the things I thought would make a perfect life...Nice cars,Big houses, yacht club memberships, wonderful vacations...and so on. Boy was I wrong on that one!

 We started doing foster care because I wanted children. I fell in love with my first foster baby...Jabez.  

All thoughts of adopting this perfect little boy ended one day in court when the judge thought it would be better if he was raised by his grandparents. I would go on to take in dozens of other foster children but none filled the hole in my heart left by this boy.

Fast forward a few years and I was sitting home more often than not waiting for the phone to ring in the middle of the night. Not for news of children needing a home for the night but for Number 3 needing a ride home from the club so he wouldn't be drinking and driving. He would go out more and more and I would turn to my "computer" friends for company and understanding.

I could go on and on about the things that happened but we can't go back and it wouldn't change anything..so moving forward in my story...

Between that day in Oct of 2006 when I walked out of my life as I knew it  and today...

I am able to smile, I am with a woman that makes me very happy. I am in a relationship that knows TRUST, not just trusting that there will not be cheating but trust that we will do nothing to harm the relationship we have together.

Today I laugh more than I cry

I smile more than I frown

and I look forward to every day ahead of me