Down and Back Again

As my last post said, my purse was stolen last weekend and I was headed back to Troy, Al to make a police report. On Tuesday, we began our journey. I was able to find Troy State University with out any problem and went straight to the campus Police Station. The sergant who took my report was great and after finishing the task we came to do, we celebrated by eating at Ruby Tuesday. When it was time to leave, I wasn't aware I hadn't reversed my directions from the way I came and after traveling over an hour, I realized I wasn't seeing any familar land marks . After we passed an aviation college the sergant had told us about and remembering he also said the beach was only two hours from Troy, I had the feeling we may be going the wrong direction. Luckily, the next exit was a rest stop and it was there I was told we were only 38 miles from the Florida state line and 105 miles from Panama City Beach! When Sadie heard this, she begged me to continue in that direction! We all laughed at our situation and it was then I decided to take our picture to document this adventure was had gotten ourselves in! After getting us back on track and going the right direction towards home, we settled in for theride home. Those six hours passed by very quickly. We talked about everything and anything and more of the same. It was truly the best time I have ever had with my mom and daughter. After being gone for thirteen hours, driving for twleve hours, one police report and 700 miles later, we were home! We can honestly say we drove "down and back again"!

(this trip was the equivalent of driving to my sister's house in Lagrange, Ga twice! Lagrange is located on the right-hand side of the ALbama map above. I'm sure Mary Kate would have loved for us to visit her instead! lol)

My Purse is GONE!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here with Sadie and I going to camp and and this past weekend George and I chaperoned our youth to Troy State for Youth Conference. It was Forrest's first time and the whole experience was a blast, but the ending wasn't a blast for me-my purse was stolen! I remember putting it in the trunk of the Civic on Friday along wtih my camera so I would'nt have to carry it around with me during the workshops and when I came out an hour or so later, my trunk was opened! All I could think about was my camera. As soon as I noticed it was there, I drove off. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that I noticed I couldn't find my purse. WHen I went to fill up for gas, it was nowhere to be found. It was then that I remembered that the trunk on the civic wasn't closing correctly when I packed the car and George took care of it and so when I opened the trunk to put my purse and camera in it, I guess it didn't close and so someone helped themselves to my purse! (I'm so thankful my camera wasn't taken. It would take me a over a year to replace it.) They got away with a good amount of cash and my favorite purse! (looks similar to picture, lol) Today I went and closed my bank accounts and opened new ones and renewed my drivers license. BOth sets of keys to my van were in my purse so I will need to get those replaced. They might be expensive because they have a chip in the key and will need to be programed. I still have lots to do to recover my identity. Sadie insisted I call the Social Security office Saturday night when she said, "I do not want to loose my identity at age 12!" She's so funny! I couldn't file a police report over the phone, so my mom and I will make the four hour journey back to Troy State University tomorrow. What a hassle it is to loose something so private and intimate as your purse. I'll be drinking a case of Sundrop tomorrow as I'll be gone for about 12-11 hours. Wish me luck!

Off to Camp!

Tomorrow Sadie and I will head out to our Young Women Girl's Camp for the week. Our church bought the land and built this camp especially for the girls between the ages of 12-18yrs old and this year is Sadie's first year to attend. She is so excited and has been packed for a couple of days now. I wished I could say the same as this year procrastination and family affairs have taken my time when I should have been packing. I went out today and bought all the food and supplies and have the majority of my things packed. This is my fifth year going as Camp Director and my second year going as both Camp Director and Young Women's president. I'm very thankful it will be 10 degrees cooler than last week. I'll take 90 degrees over a 100 anyday! Off we go!

Under the Influence

I created this page under the influence of my friend Rachel. She is an awesome scrapper who has been such an influence to me for over the past couple of years. I absolutely love everthing she creates and am amazed at her talent. I needed some inspiration for my layout and thought to myself, "What would Rachel do?" So I went to her blog The Scrappy Side and decided that her Week 1 Challenge called "Magical" hit the spot. I went to scrappin' and after three hours, I was done with my scraplift. Thanks Rachel for your influence!

The journaling reads: Sadie absolutely loves Mustangs. She goes crazy everytime she sees one. This Mustang show brought tears to her eyes as she told us, "They're beautiful!"

Cookies & Obstacles

I've never been a cookie lover and up until a couple of months ago, I have been very satisfied with Keebler and Nabisco taking care of my family's cookie needs. But since I became a stay-at-home mom this past year, I thought I should fulfill my motherly duties and learn how to make cookies! I was really impressed by my friend Ashley and how much she enjoyed baking cookies weekly for her family. I do not enjoy cooking, much less baking, but after watching her in action and the joy she has making cookies for her family, I decided I wanted the same joy for my family. After adjusting my attitude towards baking and learning through trial and error over the last couple of months, I can honestly say I am totally in love with baking cookies! Seeing my family gooble up the cookies I make and hearing the words, "Thanks mom!", I am hooked. The best part of adjusting my attitude toward baking, and the most unexpected, is the change in my attitude toward cooking for my family. What a blessing it is to finally overcome two obstacles in a couple of months that have plagued me for sixteen years of marriage. Never would I have guessed it would come in the form of an oatmeal-butterscotch cookie!

(btw, we didn't eat all of these cookies. I gave most of them away! lol)

And It Came to Pass...

Happy Father's Day Dad! You're the best dad ever.

I love you! (And you too, Mom!)

Forrest gave me a big hug when I picked
him up from Boy Scout Camp. He earned several merit badges
and is close to begin working on his Eagle.


Forrest wasn't thinking of the consequences of
eating the first piece of Sadie's birthday cake
without asking. He made her another cake
to make restitution! Sadie forgave him.


I absolutely love Willowtree, so I thought Sadie's 12th birthday
was the perfect time to give her her first Willowtree.
I picked out the "Spirit of Giving" because Sadie has so
much to give to others!

Sadie has been waiting to turn 12 so that she could
"graduate" from primary to Young Women at church.
She was very excited when we came to kidnap her
for good!


Up the road from our house is a new subdivision
that has only two houses and a one mile loop that
I allow Sadie to drive around. She is actually
pretty good! I can see her being a soccer
mom in her future!



Sadie and I thought it would be fun to look up our marriage
license while we were in the Fayetterville, TN courhouse.
It's been 16 years and the memories were there as if it were yesterday!

The past couple of weeks have come and gone so fast that I was thinking only a week had past from coming home from my sister's but in reality, it has been two weeks! "Business" has really crept in along with a calendar of events and that has left me no time to be on the computer. Entertaining the kids is an art and is neccesary so that boredom doesn't set in!

The pictures above are just a couple of things that have filled the days in the past couple of weeks. The kids and I went and stayed a couple of days with Mom and Dad this past weekend. I cooked dad a Father's Day dinner and spent some time him and mom. Sadie is officially 12 and with that she is officially a teenager! She is really loving being in Young Women at church and not in Primary with the little kids. Forrest is working on merit badges to get done with Scouting. THis weekend, he and Dad will go on a camp out and he'll finish a couple of merit badges and will only lack two from being able to start on his Eagle. Last week, George was able to build shelves for my scrapbooking closet and I was able to slap a coat of paint and I am so ready to make some time for myself!

THe next several weeks will be filled with the following: next week, Sadie and I will be going to Girls Camp for the week, the next weekend will be Youth Conference at Troy State, the weekend after that, we'll head back to my sister's and when we come back from Georgia, I'll drive Forrest to Especially For Youth in Bowling Green, KY. When he comes back, we'll have a week before school starts back to shop for school cothes and supplies. And in between all of the above, I'm going to be scrapbooking!

Home Sweet Home!

We're headed home today to Sweet Home Alabama! After two weeks in Georgia, it's time! We have had an absolute blast living my sister's identity while she is away with her family visiting in the Phillipines. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so we are Bama bound! (Thanks Chris for entertaining us! love ya!)