It's been a year...Wow!

Well, I guess I haven't been good about keeping up with my blog.  I can't  believe it's been a year since I posted something.  Where did the time go???  So how can I summarize the past year..well, let's see...I"m thinking...uhhh, okay!

Last summer was good in Ohio.  The weather wasn't too hot and we got some rain but not much.  We went down to dad's for the 4th of July, which is always nice. Also, in October, Joy and I did a sister's only trip to TN.  We enjoyed chatting all the way to dad's and then having dad to ourselves for a couple days.  I took Joy back to WV then I stopped over in Ripley for the night.  It's always nice to visit my hometown.  Everett, thanks for the tour and for dinner.  It was great to see you.

We had a nice holiday season.  It's always good to visit with family.  Of course I ate way too much but hey, it's the holidays. So I think I should be allowed.  We lost a dear family member recently.  Johnny went to be with the Lord.  We do miss him.  Dad is doing well, he did have a defibrillator/pacemaker combo installed back in the fall.  There was a couple glitches but he is doing fine now. 

I hope I haven't forgotten anything of importance.  Mother's day is in a couple day so I will try to update again before Mother's day comes around next year!  :-)
Take care.

Mother's Day

Hi,

I hope all mother's out there had a nice Mother's Day.  Terry came up and we went out to dinner at Yamato's Japanese Restaurant.  I love Sushi so we ordered 3 different Sushi rolls and then I had the Hibachi Chicken with vegetables which was so good.  

When we got back to the house Terry gave me my Mother's Day present.  He got me a beautiful hanging plant.  It's a New Guinea Impatient.  So pretty!

 

Below are some pictures of Bob and Terry planting my annuals, also Terry cutting up limbs that fell off our Maple tree and Terry removing "helicopters" from the gutters.

Terry and I had Bob take a couple pictures of us together.  Aren't we cute!

As you can tell the sun was pretty bright.  I needed a hat like Terry.  I hadn't realized how badly I need a haircut until I seen these pictures. 

I had a great Mother's Day and I am so proud to have Terry as my son. 

Flowers....

Hi,

I wanted to share a picture of my beautiful Azalea bush.  There are hundreds of blooms on it this year. The white one is larger than the pink one in the background.

So pretty, huh!!

From nowhere a red Tulip appeared in our landscaping this year.  It is growing in the middle of another plant.  Bob just loves it so I am going to plant more Tulips for next year.

We bought the flowers for my pots yesterday.  We got Wave Petunias, Geraniums and Impatients.  Terry will be here on Sunday so he is going to help us get everything planted. 

I totally blew my diet today.  We spent all morning running errands and instead of going home and eating lunch we decided to go to Steak n' Shake.  Well, I absolutely love milkshakes and of course, I couldn't pass up having one.  It was really, really good.

I'm upset with myself now.  Guess it's all the guilt.  Oh, well.

I need to get back to some cleaning.  Take care.

Missing my exercising.....

You know, I am about to say something that I never thought would cross my lips....."I really have missed not going to the gym this week."  I guess working out is now in my blood.  For some reason the muscles in my lower back are weak and for the last few days my back has been bothering me.  It is some better today and hopefully by Monday I can head back to the gym and at least do a little exercising and maybe get into the pool.  That's my plan anyway!!!

I was planning on participating in a 5K in Columbus for breast cancer on May 15th (birthday present to self) but I've decided to wait and do one later.   Don't think my back will be healed enough to jog for 3.2 miles.  Disappointing but oh, well wasn't meant to be, I guess.

Can't believe May is right around the corner.  Where has this year gone to???  We've had a light frost the last couple mornings.  I hope to get my flowers for my pots in the next few days so I can start planting in a couple weeks.  I am so ready for a lot of color around the house.

Have a nice Friday!

Weeping Redbud & Magnolia bush

I wanted to share with you my beautiful Weeping Redbud and Magnolia bush.  Once my other plants start blooming I will post more pics.
 

This is a close up of the blooms on the Weeping Redbud

Weeping Redbud

Magnolia bush with Weeping Redbud in background

Weeping Redbud

Weeping Redbud with white blooms of my Weeping Cherry in the front of pic.

I hope to buy the flowers for my pots in the next couple weeks.  We are planning on doing Wave Petunia's and Geraniums and whatever else we come across that we like. 

Have a nice day.

Easter, eagles, fish and trails.....

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a nice week.  We are tired from our trip to dad's but other than that we are fine.  I will share with you our visit with dad in a moment but first I wanted to update you on our Easter weekend.  Bobby & Benita invited us to their house on Saturday for Easter dinner.  Terry was able to be there along with Benita's three son's and her three grandkids.  Benita fixed a wonderful dinner, everything was great.  Oh, almost forgot....Bobby did a great job on the ham.  So good!!!!  Here is a picture of Bobby's house and also Buckeye Lake.

Bobby's house

Terry, Colton and Jason on front porch

 

 Buckeye Lake

On the way home I spotted this cloud formation that looks like an Eagle.  So cool...

On Monday we headed to Tennessee to visit with dad.  Tina, Brian and the boys also came down.  It was great to visit with Tina and her family.  It's been a little over three years since I've seen Tina.  On Tuesday, dad took us to the IMAX theatre and we also walked around Chattanooga then we went to the cemetary and visited with Johnny & Chris for a few minutes.  The boys couldn't wait to get back to the lake to do some fishing.  Here's a picture of a couple fish that Zack & Logan caught.

They both caught several fish during the time they were there.  These are the only one's I took a picture of because I had to go down to the dock and of course when you go down to the dock you have to come back up!!!!  I know everyone understands what I'm talking about...I think Logan would have lived at the dock if he could.  Every day he was fishing until after dark. 

Dad took Brian, Logan, Zack and myself on a hike through the Cumberland Trail.  We hiked for about 3 1/2 miles.  It was a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous. 

Entrance to the trail

Beautiful

Dad & Brian coming up one of the many inclines

Such a good picture!

What a rock formation!

Logan

Pretty waterfall

Taken from the bridge

Zack

Do you see Zack on the rock?

Logan took this picture of me.  He kept telling me to back up.  I am about 1 inch from the edge of the bolder and it's a long way down!!!

Isaiah loves having his picture taken.  Here's a couple cute one's of him.

 

Such a "ham"

 

Isaiah and Dad

Bob and I are going to a Home Show this weekend that is held here in Marion.  Of course it's a lot smaller scale than the one in Columbus but it's still nice.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend.  Take care.

Yard work, jogging, eyes, pillows....

Hello,

How is everyone this fine, warm, sunshining day?  It's absolutely beautiful outside today.  It's in the 70's and not a cloud in the sky.  Love it, love it!  Yesterday afternoon we spent 2 hours working in the yard and my landscaping.  We have 3 different types of Maple trees in our back yard and if your familiar with Maple trees you know they are notorious for dropping small twigs.  We had a ton of them in our yard so we picked up 3 very large yard debree bags full.  Also, I trimmed some bushes and picked up pine cones from one of our pine trees in the front yard. It was nice to do some outside work.  After we finished the yard work we decided to take a motorcycle ride.  It was a little chilly but we enjoyed the ride.   Terry is going to come up in a couple weeks and help us pull out our deck furniture and also get my pots ready for planting.  Terry loves doing home projects so it's nice to have him help out.

As most of you know I hurt my back a few weeks ago and I've been restricted on what I can do at the gym.  Thankfully, my back is better, so this week I started back to my normal routine.  In my cardio class we are now jogging 2 miles.  I would never have thought that I would be a jogger but I really like it.  I'm still using lighter weights than before in my weight lifting class but I plan on moving back up in weights hopefully by Monday.  I want to make sure I don't do anymore damage to my back.

I went to Columbus today for my eye check-up from my surgery and all is going well there.  I don't have to go back for another 3 months.  We went out to lunch (Yum!) and then we went to Polaris mall.  Bob loves Down pillows and his is so old so we went to Bed Bath and Beyond....OH MY!!!!!!!  I have driven past that store many times but I've never been in it.  Just to sum it up, I am in LOVE!!!!!  That store is great....It has everything!  There is so much to look at and so many unique things that I've never seen before.  The prices on some things can be rather high but I am so glad to have checked it out.  Right down from that store is Kirklands Home which I have shopped at before and also Catherines.  I've never been to Catherine's but I know several people that shop there so I plan on taking a day and heading back down.  Watch out credit card here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!  By the way Bob did find a new Down pillow so he can now part with the one he's had for like 15 years.  Bye, bye pillow!!!!! 

That's about all that is going on up here.  Have a nice day!

Time Change!!!!!!

I have a question....How many people forgot to change the time on their clocks last night? 

It's March...

Is it just me or is this year flying by?  Can't believe it's already March.  We are still having snow in Central Ohio.  Supposed to get more in the next few days.
Of course, on one of the coldest mornings this past week I get up and it's really chilly in the house.  I checked the thermostat and the temperature was lower than it should have been.  We usually keep the furnace set at 68 during the day and 65 at night.  Well, the thermostat was saying it was 63 degrees.  Brrrrr!!!  We ended up calling in a repairman and it turns out the Inducer wasn't working.  The Inducer is responsible for closing/opening the flu and also igniting the gas burners.  Once it was replaced we had heat again. Thank you, Mr. Repairman!!!!

I hurt my back at the gym on Thursday...Not sure exactly what I did but it felt a little irritated towards the end of my workout and later on after I got home it just got worse and worse.  I went to my Chiropractor and he said I slightly turned my lower back.  So, for now I can only walk at the gym.  I just started two new classes.  One is a weight lifting class and the other is a cardio class.  I really hate missing them but I have to take care of my back.  So for now I am applying ice for 20 minutes every hour and trying not to do anything to aggravate it.  So frustrating!!!

Sorry, but I couldn't find a picture of a female with backpain. That's the best I could do!!

I have my diet group this evening...not looking forward to those scales.  I haven't done well at all this week.  Oh, well, I will just try harder starting tomorrow. 
Better go.  Have a nice day.

Happy Birthday, Terry!!!!

Today is Terry's 30th birthday....WOW, where in the world did all the time go?  I still remember the day he was born...So cute and tiny!!  Here's a few pictures of him as he was growing up.  

Such a cute baby!!!!

His mean streak is coming out in this one....

Such a happy little boy!!!

He loved reading Little Golden Books.

I think he badly needed a haircut in this one.

My wedding day! 

Terry after he lost 70 pounds.

What a great smile...

We are so proud of the man Terry has become.  He graduated last year with his Bachelor of Science in Financial Management.  He worked really hard to receive this degree.  He went to work everyday for 8 hours then spent his evenings taking college courses.  He was on the President's list and Dean's list several times.  He never made below a "B" in any of his classes.  That is such a wonderful accomplishment.   He loves his job and also he's made a good life for himself in Columbus, OH.  He's a very polite and caring person whom we are so proud of.  

Terry, we hope you have a great day! You are loved by so many people, especially by your Mom and Bob. 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" 

A wet day

The snow is melting and it's raining so right now were having a wet, slushy, yucky day....We have a lot of snow that needs to melt and our sump pump in the basement is really getting a workout.  Did I mention how thankful I am that we have a sump pump in the basement?  We actually have 2 sump pumps.  The main one and a backup.  We got the backup pump when Bobby told me about his basement flooding and also when Terry had his basement to flood in the apartment he was renting in Columbus. What a huge mess that was!!

We took Terry out to dinner for his birthday this past weekend.  His birthday is actually this coming Wednesday but we celebrated it on Saturday.  Since it's a milestone birthday for him (he's turning 30) we got him a new recliner.  I have to say it's quite comfortable.  It's a Lazy-Boy, so he should get many, many years of enjoyment from it.   He was quite pleased.  We ate at Carrabas Italian Restaurant.  It's hard to even explain how good that place is.  Just, if you ever get a chance to go, DO!!!!  You will love it.  It can be a little pricey but it's worth it.   

I have diet group this evening.  We weren't able to meet last week because of the weather so I'm hoping everyone has a good loss this week.  Tonight is my cheat night so we are having homemade lasagna along with garlic bread and a salad for dinner when I get home from my meeting.  Tomorrow at the gym I am starting a new class.  It's a cardio class.  I talked to the instructor a couple days ago and she has a lot planned for us.  I'm hoping to survive the class but we will see.  Maybe we should have t-shirts made saying we survived it.  I heard this instructor is a slave driver....How in the world do I let myself get talked into these things!!!!!!!!

Have a nice day!

Is the snow coming??????

Hi,

I guess there's a bad snow storm on the way.  We hear on one TV station that were going to get 3-6 inches and on another station their saying were only going to get 1-3 inches.  So who knows????  To be safe though, Bob and I, went grocery shopping this morning and we decided were going to hibernate for the next couple days whether we get the snow or not.  Sounds good to me!!

Buckeye Chuck (our local groundhog) predicted the opposite of Punxsutawney Phil this year and said that spring is coming early.  It will be interesting to see who gets it right. 

I got my haircut yesterday.  She gave me lot of short layers which will give it body and right now it just barely touches my shoulders.  I was amazed at the pile of hair in the floor.  It was also a little scary.  It's too short for me but it will be fine once it grows out a little. 

That's about all that is going on.  Take care and I hope the one's in the path of the coming storm aren't hit too bad.  Be careful and be safe.

New picture of me!!!

Here's a picture Bob took of me yesterday.  I've

lost 56 pounds so far!!! Still have more to go

but I'm slowly getting there.

Take care!

It's tea time!

Hi,
Sorry it's been a while since I updated.  Time just goes by so quickly.  Not a lot has happened but there are a couple things I wanted to share.  I attended my first tea party a few days ago.  A couple women at church decided to get together and plan the event.  I hadn't been to the person's house where it was held so it was nice to see where she lives.  There was about 30 of us that came which was a great turnout for the size of her home. 

It just so happened the event was being held on a Monday evening, which is the same evening we have our diet group at church.  So all of us in the diet group decided we would come up to the church and weigh in then ride over together to the tea party.  When we arrived we were told to choose a colored disk and put it in our pocket.  They had red, green and blue.  Of course, since green is my favorite color that is the one I chose.  Once everyone arrived they told us to go to the room that corresponds with the color disk we chose.  The green room was in the basement so that was where I headed.  They had a organ set up and one of our members at church was playing music.  There was desserts (2 different cheese cakes) in this room along with several selections of tea.  They also served the tea in real china.  Pretty nice, huh!  We drank our tea and ate until a bell rang and then we switched rooms.  This time I went to the kitchen which was the blue room.  In this room there was more tea, scones and blueberry cookies.  Here we took a ball of yarn and one person started a story and had to continue telling the story until they ran out of their color of yarn, (each color was about 5 feet long) then they passed the yarn to the next person who had to continue the story.  Very entertaining and funny!!

After we finished there we went to the red room.  In this room they had cookies and more tea.  The host in this room read poetry to us that a couple members of our church had written and we chatted.  Then all 3 groups met together in the basement and we picked a person and said why we appreciate that person and we had a drawing for door prizes.  I won some Bath & Body lotion.  After that we all went home.  This was my first tea party and it was so much fun.  I got to mingle with people that I see at church for a few minutes each service but I really didn't know well.  It was really a fun time.

I just finished studying the book of Esther with my next door neighbors.  I've read the book of Esther several times but we did a indepth study with Beth Moore who has a DVD series out on the book.  There is a lot more to that book then I ever imagined.  What courage Esther had in such a difficult time.  She was amazing!  We are starting a new series on the men in the book of Genesis around the first of March.  I'm looking forward to learning more about these great people.

That's about all that is going on up here in Marion, OH.  Take care and have a nice day.

Good evening!

Hi,
It's been a few days since I updated so I thought I would post a short note.  Not a lot going on up here in Ohio.  We've had a lot of snow but it's starting to warm up so the snow is melting.  Good thing because I am really getting tired of shoveling the driveway.  It's good exercise but I've done it everyday for the past week. 

I'm still going to the gym everyday.  The cardio class is going well.  It's such a good workout.  We do walking, jogging, side shuffles, suicides, ab exercises, jump rope, bands and the exercise ball.  We get our heart rate up for a few minutes then take it back down which is supposed to really get the metabolism going.  I want to lose more weight but I also want to tone.  So I hope all of this works.  I'm also doing a weight lifting class.  It's going to also help with the toning.

That's about all that is going on.  Take care.

The new year is here!

Hi,

Well, 2010 is here...So unbelievable.  It's hard to believe it's already been a decade since we welcomed in the year 2000.  Where does all the time go??  Bob and I went to the Marion pop-n-drop New Years Eve.  It's our town's own ball drop.  There wasn't as many people there as last year but it was nice.  We also enjoyed a very relaxing weekend.  I didn't step out of my house on New Years day or the day after.  Every year I record Christmas movies so I spent those two days watching movies.  I believe I have about 5 more movies to go.  Guess what I will be doing Saturday afternoon?

At the gym today I started a new class called "Cardio workout."  I had a feeling it was going to be tough and was I ever right.  For the whole hour we did different exercises to raise and lower our heart rate.  I sweated more today than I have since I started going to the gym.  We also entered a contest to see which team can lose the most weight in the next 7 weeks.  I am on team "black".  So far there are a total of 11 people participating.  They hope to sign up more.  We weighed in today and then we will be weighing in every Thursday.  I have my diet group this evening.  We didn't meet last Monday night so it will be interesting to see how everyone has done over the holidays.  For the next 7 weeks I will be weighing in twice a week, on Monday and Thursdays.  That should really help me be good with my diet.  I hope so anyway!!

Take care and stay warm.

Happy Holiday Season

HI,
I hope everyone had a nice holiday...Ours was very good.  Bob and I lounged around Christmas Eve and ate.  Of course we ate too much junk, but hey, what is the holiday for, huh!!!  Anyway, Christmas day Terry came up and we had brunch then we opened gifts.

After we got done with presents, Bob and Terry started watching football while I started dinner.  Bob did put the turkey on the grill to smoke.  It took about 5 hours and "wow" was it good.  Bobby and Benita with Robert too, got here around 4pm and we had a really nice dinner.  It was great to have them with us.  The food was very good if I say so myself.  Dessert was pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread..Do you see a theme here?

I took all my decorations down today.  I didn't put up that many this year so it didn't take me too long.  Us girls in my diet group decided we had all been way too bad over the holiday so we are giving ourselves a week off from weighing in.  Works for me!!!!!!  I wasn't at all looking forward to getting on the scales.

I headed back to the gym this morning to burn off some of the holiday calories.  It has been 4 days since I worked out so it was tough getting back into my routine.  Tomorrow should be better.

I want to wish everyone a very happy new year.  Take care and be careful if you are out on the roads.  There are a lot of crazy drivers out there.  See ya later!

Miss you, mom

It's so hard to believe it's been four years

since you left us to be with God......

I miss you so much!

I love you.