Ah, Sugar Sugar.....

Sugar, ah honey honey

You are my candy, oh

And you've got me wanting you.

Honey, ah sugar sugar

You are my candy, oh

And you got me wanting you.

Remember that old song? 

It popped into my brain today when I realized that our classroom had been overtaken by beautiful, sugary confections.

Valentine's Day is suppose to be a day to show love to others, but I have decided that it may have been created by Russell Stover or Ghiradelli or perhaps Palmer or Hershey for the sole purpose of selling chocolate.

It was certainly NOT created by Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or Richard Simmons.

I have had to turn on my extra strength will power today.

This is the plate of goodies sent by the sweet parents of my kindergarten class.....

I think I was drooling as I set out the plates.

It left a distinct scent of sugary cookies in my classroom for the afternoon.

I smelled it, but I did not indulge.

I ate grapes instead.

This is the decadent pile of chocolate that the parents of my students sent me for Valentine's.....

My kids must have clued in their parents that chocolate is my weakness.  I really, really love chocolate.

If had decided to indulge and eat all of this chocolate, I would've consumed

3,405 calories.

Yes, I added it up.

Instead, I settled on sharing with my students and my kids.

I treated myself to one piece of dark chocolate with raspberry filling. It had 70 calories and was totally worth it.  Besides...just a little bit of dark chocolate is good for you.

The best treat of the day was from my own Valentine.

My sweet hubby left me a little surprise this morning.  I had a Valentine gift sitting on the stove waiting for me this morning when I got up.

Inside the bag was a card that fit us perfectly....

 and some running pants and socks.

I had mentioned that my longer training runs had been rubbing blisters on my toes because my socks were too thin.  He listened.  He remembered.  He bought me new ones.

I was touched by his thoughtfulness to steer away from the chocolate and toward something that he knew I would really love.

And now I have the gear to run off all that sugar that probably seeped into the pores of my skin through the air in my classroom today.

Love is certainly in the air today......

or is that just the sugar?

My Little Valentine

Carter's first grade class took a mini field trip to our town post office yesterday.  The class had prepared a valentine ahead of time to put in the mail.  The kids were allowed to mail their valentine to anyone they wanted.

I just checked our mailbox today, and Carter's valentine was there waiting for me.

Ahhh.....

Be still my heart.

True Treasures

  My Nanny passed away in September of this year.  She left behind an amazing legacy of love with 8 children, 20+ granchildren and even more great-grand children.  Her death was difficult for those she left behind.....but only because we will all miss her so much.  Not because we feared what she would encounter in her afterlife.  Nanny was certainly at peace with death and we all know that she is enjoying the beauty of heaven and is dancing in her new arthritis free body in the angel choir.

  We all also know that stuff isn't important.  It's not the things in life that are important, but it's the people and the experiences you share with them that are the most meaningful. 

But sometimes, the things in life can help to remind you of the people.

  Today was the estate sale for my Nanny's things.  I went to her house completely not expecting to buy much. 

  Nanny was never known to have lots of exquiste things.  She had meager resources to clothe and feed a gaggle of kids.  She lived in a modest house and never was one to splurge on unneccesary extravagances.  Nonetheless, I wanted some sort of material item that belonged to her that I could keep as a treasure.

  The boys and I began browsing through her things.  The things she left behind.

  We started in the garage, and within minutes, we had all found something we wanted.  The boys found some handmade bookmarks that they wanted to place in their Bibles.  I found a nativity set that I remembered Nanny displaying each year at Christmas.  After walking through the house, we found several more little treasures that we each wanted to keep.

I laid claim to an old apron that was possibly hand made by my great grandmother, I got Nanny's Bible that she used when I was a child, and her jewelry box. 

   I also had my eye on an antique cedar chest at Nanny's that I wanted, but decided not to buy.......although I really, really wanted it.

Shortly after arriving back at home, I felt a wave of regret wash over me for not buying the chest.  I knew that I would regret the decision forever of not buying it.  So, I told the boys to get back in the car and we went immediately back to Nanny's.  Thankfully, the chest was still there and I snatched it up.

I also grabbed three more of these precious little aprons.

Although the things I aquired from Nanny's house today are just things, I am still happy to have them.  I am happy to have these little treasures because each time I see them, I can remember the amazing example Nanny was in my life.  The fact that she showed love to everyone...no matter what.  She lived a life so that others could see God's love in her.  That's the true treasure.

 

All That Mushy Stuff

I was listening to my Ipod yesterday when I went out for my afternoon jog.  I had the Ipod set on "shuffle".  I have everything from Disney songs, to country to hard rock to classical on my Ipod.  I never know what will pop up when I run.

Just as I was finishing up my first mile, the song "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain came up on the playlist.  I was not yet incoherent from the lack of oxygen, so my mind focused on the lyrics. I remembered our wedding day and how I was so, so young, but totally in love. As I listened to the lyrics of the song, I swear to you, I could see a slideshow of images run across my brain.   

It went kinda like this.....

Looks like we made it

Look how far we've come my baby

We mighta took the long way

We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better

We beat the odds together

I'm glad we didn't listen

Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

You're still the one.

 

  Typically during my jogs, I don't get all lovey dovey.  But during this particular jog, with the slideshow playing in my brain and the song playing in my earbuds, I did.  Sometimes, you just have to get mushy and appreciate what you have.  It was my day for mushy stuff.

The Legacy of Love

    I am off work today, which is nice. Except the circumstances stink.  I took the day off to be with my family, since my Nanny passed away.  I dropped the boys off at school and then pulled into my Mom and Dad's driveway.  My car, that apparently makes a distinct noise, woke them up.  Even though they say they were already awake.  They invited me to join them for breakfast at our local fast food joint.  This is the hot place to hang out in town if you have already retired. 

   I watched my parents interact with each other over breakfast.  They ordered their breakfast, knowing exactly what the other one wanted.  Mom still looked at Dad with a glimmer in her eye, probably just as she did many years ago.  Dad is still protective of Mom, just as he probably was back when they were college age kids. They shared "dessert" (a buttered biscuit with strawberry jelly), which is something they apparently do every single day. 

  We discussed lots of things over breakfast.  We talked about Nanny.  We discussed football.  School.  Running. Food.  My brother and sister....neither of which are Mom's favorite., by the way.  We talked about lots of little things. We discussed how some families in the area have been broken up and turned topsy turvy by divorce.  That one got me to thinking.

   On my ride home from breakfast, I thought about how happily married I am. About how much I love him.  I thought about how much I love my boys.  And how much they love each other. Somebody had to have shown me how to do it.  I had to have an example of how to love. And I did have examples. I have had all the examples I will need in a lifetime.  I have been able to watch love in action all around me.  All of my life.

Because of this...

And this...

 There is this.

And because of this.....

There is this.

Because I see this....

I have this.

Because of this.....

And this.....

We had this....

And this....

Because of moments like this......

I had moments like this.....

All because of this.....

 And this....

I know to do this.

Because of this....

There is this.

And if we continue to have this.....

And this....

We will continue to get this....

And this....

and this.



The legacy of love lives on. 

The Church Thief Stole My Sleep

 I have the most amazing church in the universe.  If you are not a part of it, then you can't possibly understand how much we love each other.....and others.  If you aren't a part of it and want to be....come on over!  (Sorry for the shameless plug for Fowler Springs Baptist)  So anyway, our church is filled with love.  Love is oozing from our cracks.  It's quite beautiful.  It was evident today, as it is every.......single.....week.

   A couple of days ago, someone stole from our beautiful little country church.  Our church is small, but not too small, and it's perfect.  It is white with lovely stained glass windows.  Someone came to our church and stole two air conditioning units and stole the copper out of two more.  Word spread quickly, but the word was never of anger.  Never resentment.  Never rage.  Never even, "Why would they?"  The word that was passed around our congregation was simple.

     "Our church services will be moved up on Sunday by two hours. This is due to the fact that someone took our air conditioners.  We will have service early to keep our congregation comfortable from the heat."

That's it.  Occassionally, I heard someone say, "We should pray for whoever took it."  But mostly, the word about moving services just got passed.

During church service today, it was hardly even mentioned.  No one was mad or upset about not getting to sleep late on a Sunday because of early services.  No one was grouchy about it being stuffy in the church.  No one gripped about how one person inconvenienced 200. 

Last night, as I was lying in bed, I started thinking about the church thief.  I wondered, how bad do things have to get before you would steal from a church?  What could be going so wrong that you would do that?  Maybe an addiction?  Perhaps court fees?  Backpayed child support?  Greed?  Hunger?  No matter what the cause, you have to be at the lowest point in your life for you to go there.

My house is less than a mile from our church.  During the winter, when the trees lose their leaves, I can see the church from my front porch.  As I laid there last night thinking....instead of sleeping....I heard a noise.  I couldn't place what the noise was. I kept laying there listening.  My imagination ran wild.  I was certain that the church thief was at our house stealing our air conditioner.  Why is it that noises at night can make you think the worst scenio must be happening? 

I finally figured out that the noise was my ice maker.  I was in no immediate danger of losing my beloved conditioned air.  I eventually drifted off to sleep thinking about how blessed I am.  Blessed to not be so desperate to have to go and steal someone's copper.  Blessed to be a part of such a loving church.  And blessed that no one was stealing my air conditioner.

15 years together and still in love!

   I am just now getting back to blogging trying to catch up on some major events. On July 2, 2009, Bradley and I celebrated 15 years of marriage together. Thinking back to 15 years ago, we started our marriage on less than promising circumstances. I was 18 years old and he was 20. I was just out of high school and way too young to know what I was doing. All I knew was that I loved Bradley and I didn't understand the point in prolonging the inevitable. I was going to marry him and I didn't want to wait. Our meager income was enough to place us in the "poverty" level on any government chart. We lived in a trailer next door to my parents and I was in school full time. Bradley worked as a counter clerk in a parts store and we barely made enough money to get by. But we were in love!

I look back on those days with fond memories. Although those days were the rocky days of our marriage, we defied the odds and made it through. I believe that our marriage is stronger and blooms beautifully today and that is largely due to the fact that we have built our lives together from such a young age. In 15 years we have overcome any obstacles and delighted in many more joys. We bought our first house together, lovingly referred to as "the little house".

The 900 square foot house in downdown Blountsville was a labor of love and made a great home.  We lived here for 4 years. 

We built our current house together, our personal dream house. Almost the entire house was built overseen by me and most of it completed with our own hands.


We have experienced the greatest joy any person could experience by seeing the birth of our 3 sons, Tucker, Sawyer, and Carter. We also grieved the loss of a child together, lost to miscarriage in 2001. We have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, taken trips, watched school plays, and grown in love. Our life over the last 15 years together as a couple has been a wonderful ride.

To celebrate the life we live together and to cherish each other even more as a couple, we decided that we would take a trip together for just the two of us. This was not a decision we made lightly, since taking a trip with just the two of us meant that we would have to leave our boys behind. We enjoy traveling together as a family, but on this occasion, we decided to invest in our marriage and celebrate US.

We journeyed together to the Dominican Republic on July 1-6. We made memories together that we will recall for the rest of our lives. We truly enjoyed each other's company. We felt like we were in a tropical paradise being pampered. We loved every minute of it. Highlights of the trip were laying on the beach, watching the ocean, eating at the awesome restaurants, taking a boat trip, getting a couple massage and snorkling. We loved it so much and hope that maybe in 15 more years, we can do it again.