There's a new girl in town

There's a new girl in the stable. She's a real beauty! We love her. We promised to take good care of her. She'll be around for  long time. Around these parts we keep our girls for at least 10 years.  When most people are trading in, we are just breaking them in. 

The old girl has served us well.  She is out to pasture, but one day, when the right person comes along, we may let her go.  Lots of good memories, and lots of fun road trips.  You know, Wayne could get a piece of plywood in the back if he needed to. I hauled lots of kids all over creation, but cars weren't meant to last forever.

Anniversary trip 2009

We spent our anniversary trip in Pensacola Florida this year.  While we usually spend it in the mountains, this year was a beach trip that included the wedding of Drew, the young man that works for Wayne.  Here are the highlights of our trip:

............The silver bullet, my Honda Oddysey that I've had for 8 years, blew up outside of Montgomery on the way down. (a fantastic story that is an entire post for another day)  Within an hour, we were on our way in a rental car.  That's right, my long legged husband was folded up into a Hyundai Accent.
............We stayed in a fantabulous condo, right smack dab on the beach, in fact, the pic above is the view off our balcony.  Our friends, Scott and Tina, and Jason and Megan stayed just a few rooms below us, so there was lots of eating ice cream, laughing, staying up late talking, etc. So Much Fun!
.........Flounders Seafood.....home of the famous clam chowder, but we opted for raw oysters and shrimp po'boys.
..........The wind was incredible. A walk on the beach made me feel like I was in a sandblaster!
...........Visited my old stomping grounds of PCC. Did I really survive there 4 years?  I saw several girls strolling the campus with flip flops on. What is this world coming to?  Got to visit some of my professors from nursing school. I felt old. The guy at the info desk ask me what year I graduated. When I told him "1991", the girl next to me said, "Oh, that was the year I was born." ugghhh! Why are they letting 8 year olds into college??
........Wayne was his usual sweet anniversary self, and let me get  a pedicure and even stolled through Tuesday Mornings with me, sat on the balcony with me while I drank coffee, and basically spoiled me rotten like he does every year.
.........But, like all good things, the end came and real life is back in swing.  Saturday is car shopping day. Wayne is excited, I'm nauseus.  I'll post my new ride on Saturday.

Look what I'm doin' this Saturday

For some odd reason I am highly motivated to organize my laundry room.  Maybe it's the fact that I am being buried alive in solo socks, looking for a partner.  Maybe the entire room is covered in a layer of dryer lint.  Maybe I need to do something constructive to compensate for the strangest anniversary weekend I have ever experieinced.
For whatever reason, after reading this post on The Nesting Place, I am in full on organization mode come Saturday.

18 years...and counting

I am off on an anniversary adventure this morning. 18 years ago, I became Mrs. Christopher Welch.  18 years. It hasn't been easy.  There were many fights those first few years.  Lots of times I wanted to get in my car and drive to Mexico and never come back.  Somedays when I looked at him and wondered what planet he was from.  I think 18 years is worth celebrating.  Not alot of people make it that far these days. It hasn't been perfect, but I'd say, it's been blessed. Blessed because.........

He works hard and I never wonder if he's gonna bring home a paycheck.

He tells me that he loves me everyday.

I hear him pray for me and my girls every morning.

He has never left me or even threatened to.

He's my rock steady in a crazy mixed up world.

We still laugh at our own private jokes that seem stupid to everyone else, especially my kids.

I never ask him to go to church with me, because he takes us to church.

He thinks I'm beautiful regardless of whether I'm at my fighting weight... or over it.

He's taking me to the Melting Pot on Friday night.

Here's to 18 more with you Wayne Welch, and 18 more after that! I love you!

and they call it.....puppy love

sleepy Monday morning

This morning, I am all by myself enjoying furlough day #2.  Wayne has already left for work, the girls are spending the night with friends, so it's just me and Ginger on the porch watching the rain and sipping coffee.
I have no plans, no where to go, nothing to do. I need to do laundry, but then again, I may read the rest of my book.  I need to go grocery shopping, but I think I may just watch a lifetime movie.  I really need to make Wayne a huge homecooked meal, but I think I will spend the afternoon out here, and we'll eat cereal for supper!

snapshots of fall

This is what fall looks like at my house:

front porch pumpkins

back porch mums

deer eating in the pasture

Happy Fall!

Potty mouth

I want to make a confession. I can be a potty mouth. I'm not sure why, other than I'm a very verbal person and when I'm mad, frustrated, or in the middle of a really great story, certain words seem to add more punch than others. I'm not talking about cursing, or being verbally abusive, just uttering those slang words that seem to express what I'm feeling.....really?
 Wayne hates it when I "talk ugly".  He is always fussing at me for using expressive language.  So, I've decided that I am cleaning up my mouth.  For the next 30 days I am striking the following words from my vocabulary. They just sound ugly:
crap
pissed off
OMG
Dang it
There are a few others that I'll leave to your imagination. Can I be expressive and sweet?  We'll see. I think I'll be fine as long as I avoid all frustrating situations. 

Change

I 've never been a big fan of change. I always order the Alice Springs Chicken at Outback. I buy the same thing every week at the grocery store.  It's always the beach on vacation. I always have oatmeal and coffee for breakfast.  I only run in Adidas Response. There is alot of comfort in routine.

Change is hard.  This year has been the year of change for me.  So many changes, I can't begin to sort them out. Here's what I learned about change: The reason it's scary, is because I am not in control.  I learned that the reason I love routine is because I feel in control of my world. I know the outcomes of the choices I make, so I can prepare myself for the results.  Problem with that kind of living is it can be predictable and thus, very boring.  When change comes along, I'm not in control, and I have no clue how it's gonna all work out.

Good thing God never changes.  In the midst of topsy turvy, I can rest in a God that always keeps His promises to me, to "bring me to an expected end".