Highs and Lows

My everyday consists of highs and lows. I'm not sure if this is true for everyone, but it makes me feel better to think so.

On a normal day a high would be having someone else cook dinner or leaving work early; a low would be a problem at work or having a police officer call you because your kid is speeding. Yes, this really happened.

However today's high and lows are more like peaks and valleys.

We lost my Granny one year ago today. It was the worst day of my life, and I didn't even know it yet. I didn't find out until the next day when we docked. My oldest nephew had left me a message and when I got cell phone connection in Jacksonville I heard that familiar beep.

Never in a million years did I expect to find that message. I thought she was eternal. My Granny had always been there for me and I chose to believe she always would be. When Lil Sis wrote about Granny last week she described her as our "Big Momma"...to me she was just Mom.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and I miss as much today as I did one year ago.

In some sad twist of fate she passed away on my Dad's birthday. So today we will celebrate his 49th with heavy hearts. It's safe to say that his birthday will never be the same.

Before we celebrate his birthday this evening S and I will be signing our life away. At least it will feel that way.

We decided right before Christmas to take advantage of the lower mortgage rates and refinance our home for less years. It's taken until today to get everything done - gathering all the documents, signing for a "locked in" rate, the ride by appraisal, the actual appraisal.

Once all the "t's" are crossed and the "i's" are dotted we will have shaved off about 7 years of our mortgage while keeping the same payment we have now.

I'm so thankful that the housing market is still somewhat stable in our area, allowing us to be able to make this change.

I'm thankful that I had my Granny for so long and that she will continue to live in my heart forever.

I'm thankful for the family that I still have here with me and that I will be surrounded by them today.

I'm thankful for everyone that reads my blog and offered me some much needed support yesterday.

It's these "highs" that will carry me through today.

Gratituesday

It's been a while since I did a Gratituesday post but I thought it would be appropriate considering Thanksgiving is this week. It always humbles me to actually think of everything I'm thankful for.

I have been blessed to have many great people in my life and to have have lots of nice things, but nothing is more important to me than family. I have a relatively small family, that while not perfect, they have been there for me my entire life at one point or another.

Each day I'm thankful for S and what he's brought to my life, including SS and SD and now Lil J. But before I met him there's always been my Dad, Aunt M, my two sisters and most importantly my Granny.


Granny passed away in January of this year so it will be my first holiday without her here. It will be tough since she was more my Mother than Grandmother, but I still have her in my heart and memories so even though she isn't there I won't be without her.

This year I've been exceptionally blessed to have two precious, adorable, girls added to my family. My first niece was born in May and then we welcomed Lil J in October. I love all my nephews but after 20 years+ of nothing but boys it was a nice surprise to have girls added to our family.



This holiday season I look forward to spending time with all my family and friends and I'm grateful to have so many special people in my life.

Gratituesday

Last night I made the best peach oatmeal muffins and banana muffins and I realized that without all the wonderful blogs I read I wouldn't even know a peach oatmeal muffin recipe existed. So today, I'm thankful for all the great blogs I read!

First I want to thank all the ladies at Happy to be @ Home for inspiring me to try so many new dishes. I've tried pita bread, honey cookies, skillet corn and now the muffins...they were all simple to make and delicious! And if I'm talking about cooking then I'm can't forget The Pioneer Woman. Not only is she hilarious but that woman can cook! I've tried her recipe for bacon wrapped jalapenos (now they are my signature appetizer and I don't even like jalapenos!), chicken thighs with linguine and homemade ranch dressing.

In between all this cooking I've been playing the drugstore game with the help of The Centsible Sawyer, Money Saving Mom and Freebies 4 Mom. Those ladies keep me informed of all the bargains, freebies and deals to feed my shopping addiction without breaking the bank.

Whenever I need a laugh I can count on John Deere Mom, One Crazy Chick (although she sounds perfectly normal to me!), Insane Mama and many others to provide me with comical relief. Plus, they make my life look semi-normal...boring but almost normal. I love that they put it all out there and invite us into their lives, sharing the good, the bad and the disturbing-yet-funny things that happen.

So today I want to say thanks for everyone that takes the time to blog, no matter what the subject. If you want to give thanks this Gratituesday or just check another fabulous blog, visit Heavenly Homemakers and tell Laura I said hi!

Gratituesday - A Picture Post - Home

Oh and last Friday we added this to the back patio:



See all those CVS savings really pay off! LOL!

For more Gratituesday visit Heavenly Homemakers

Gratituesday

It's hard to narrow down and pick only one thing that I'm grateful for every Tuesday but I like taking the time to think about it because it reminds me of everything good in my life. More often than not, I don't take the time to appreciate life instead of living it and take for granted the best things in it. This Tuesday I want to say thanks for my wonderful husband S.



He is my soul mate and best friend. We've been married for 11 years (and counting!) and even though I'm sure we shocked everyone by getting married since we didn't know each other that long, I knew it was the right thing to do. I believe in fate and this was the perfect example of fate in action.

He has many great traits that include being a dedicated and hard worker and I'm so proud of him and everything he's become. S takes pride in the job he does, whether it's at home or for his employer so he sets a good example for his son.

Now, he's not perfect but neither am I and I can accept his faults just as he accepts mine. I can't imagine being with anyone else and I only wish I had met him sooner.

This doesn't begin to touch on how I feel about him and our life together, but this Gratituesday is dedicated to him.



Visit Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday!

Gratituesday

I'm always thankful that I have such great friends (and family) but this week I appreciate them more than ever. As I've been blogging, they are moving about 3 hours away and I will miss them immensensly. This weekend they left us with a parting gift that just blew me away.

We (and by we I really mean S) have been planning on re-doing our upstairs bathroom floor for about a year now. We purchased the flooring last summer, but S was not too excited about messing with the toilet so it's just been collecting dust in our storage room ever since. This weekend my friend Mr. D installed the new flooring...it looks better than I could have ever imagined! S worked this weekend so it was a real surprise for him when he got home on Sunday to see that it was taken care of and he now doesn't have to hear me nagging him has a beautiful new floor without ever having to touch the toilet.

Old floor ~about 32 years old~





New Floor!




I have the best friends and I love my new floor! Do you love it as much as me?

Gratituesday

I'm not a morning person. Never have been, never will be. A few months ago I used to actually dread getting up for work and not just for that reason. I worked for a local business that provides phone service for the east coast and while I was glad to have a job that provided for me and my family, it wasn't a pleasant environment. We had absurd rules that was my job to enforce, even if I didn't agree.

After 5 years, I was offered a position at another company. Since March I've been a much more relaxed person and I actually enjoy coming to work. Not only is the work less stressful, but I'm making the same salary as before with many more perks.

Plus I love the drive to work. Instead of traveling by interstate, I use the Blue Ridge parkway and the scenery is breathtaking some mornings. I never grow tired of seeing bunnies, deer, turtles, turkeys, baby ducks on the way to work.

This Gratituesday, I'm grateful not only to be employed but to work somewhere with integrity. I'm grateful that it provides for my family and makes me happy.

Join HeavenlyHomemakers each Tuesday...for Gratituesday!