my blessed life

When we first bought our house I was so excited to find out that we had blueberry bushes in our backyard. Then came the Late Great Freeze of 2007 and it nearly killed our bushes. We only got a handful of blueberries, so I basically just let the kiddos pick them and eat them right there. This year, however, I have been fervently watching over the bushes ever since the first buds appeared. And I've threatened my family if they pick them without putting them directly in a bucket and bring them in to me. I've been dreaming of blueberry pies, blueberry waffles, blueberry muffins, blueberries in my salads....It's been such an interesting process to watch that I've been taking pictures of the different stages of these delightful little berries: First the bushes have these tiny clusters of white blooms. We enjoyed watching the bees passionately pollinate like crazy for weeks: Then the little blooms begin to get rounder and actually close up toward the tips: They just close ...

Today's the day that I join in some fun with Reese & Heather over at Kicking it in Crazyville : 1. If you are a blogger, what got you started? Have you ever made, or do you hope to make, money blogging? Well, I lurked for a year before starting my blog. I started it 1.)to keep in better touch with far away family and friends and 2.)it just looked like such a fun *community* to join! I'd love to make some money having so much fun, but as of yet that hasn't happened:) 2. Are you a collector of anything? Oh, my....collecting just seems to be in my genes. I started collecting things as a child although my tastes have changed through the years. You can look on my side bar to see a list of things I enjoy collecting. Some of my favorites are: blue & white dishes, the Dickens' Village and vintage Nancy Drew books. 3. Apple juice or orange juice? Either/or, I'm flexible here. 4. What are 3 of your best personality traits? Hmmm....friendly, kind, generous--I asked...

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all . Francis Bellamy Happy Fourth of July!! I'm waving my flag proudly and joining many others over at Ask Kari & Kijsa's . Go over and visit them and their patriotic participants. Kari & Kijsa have a beautiful blog, by the way--if you haven't ever visited them, you should. We just returned home late last night from a trip to Arkansas. We had a great time visiting family there. We even celebrated Independence Day a little early with an old fashioned picnic! I basically begged my mom to fix a picnic like she always did when I was growing up. It was so delicious: fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, baked macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs....are you licking your lips yet?!! Picnicking at Lake Fort Smith, Arkansas We decided to picnic at a recently re-opened state park and it was a lovely spot...

We are getting ready for a little family getaway, so it may be a few days before I get a chance to post again. But I'll be back very soon! In the meantime scroll down to the next post and check out Vince's latest video. Have a blessed weekend!

This past weekend I took a little overnight trip to Memphis with four of the ladies who work with me in the youth department at church. It was strictly all play and no work! It's been a long time since I've done anything like that. Since none of us had ever really spent any time in Memphis before, we were totally the dorky tourists. It was quite funny! First off, we hit Beale Street which is famous for its jazz music. at Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street (I'm in pink) We had fun checking out the rock star stuff at HRC and then strolling down the street a little. It was mostly just a lot of free-flowing beer (which is not my scene at all) and some trashy tourists shops. There was some great live music going in lots of little spots though and some cool music history. But when we saw the horse and carriage rides, we had to do that. It was so much fun! Our driver took us all over the downtown area for some great sights. Along with some awesome historical sights we even saw the bu...

Well, it's going to be a busy one this week. Last week the menus really helped me out and I definitely got creative with the leftovers and cleaned out my fridge without much waste (yeah!). This week I'm going to have more fun since the leftovers are out of the way. Monday: grilled chicken breasts, salad, veggie Tuesday: grilled burgers & fries (I think I'll try Betsy's Hawaiian burgers ) Wednesday: (meal at church) Thursday: small group (Italian night--I'll be making homemade pizza ) Friday: youth luau party (teryaki chicken, sesame almond salad , rice, grilled pineapple) If you're in need of some dinner plan inspiration, head over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out about a zillion menu plans!

Reese & Heather over at Kicking it in Crazyville have this fun weekend thing going called *Know & Tell* Friday. I've been enjoying reading their posts on this for the past few weeks, and this week I thought I'd finally join in the fun. ~Which is your favorite season? Why? Well, I really do love having all four seasons, it just makes the year so interesting, but if I had to choose one it would be Fall. Maybe it's because my birthday is in the fall or the weather is so lovely or the trees are so beautiful, but I really do LOVE Fall. ~Are you a bikini or one piece gal? Do the same rules apply to your daughter, if you have one? I have not worn a bikini since I was 4 years old--and things will stay that way! I do actually wear a 2-piece, although it wears like a 1-piece. It's a tankini that has a skirt bottom (read: good coverage!) My daughter has 1-pieces and 2-pieces, but this will probably be the last summer for her to wear bikinis--only 1-pieces and tankinis fr...