Simple Life

I took the country tour on my way to Asheboro yesterday for my hair appointment. I love taking the scenic route and getting off the busy roads, to see where people "really" live. I've posted on this cart before, but yesterday was the first time I've seen it by the road this year. The person had bouquets of irises tied together for $3 a bunch. It's all self service and payment is on an honor system. Their house sits off the road behind a big pond and looks so quiet and peaceful. I always enjoy seeing their flower cart and like to imagine that they are truly enjoying the "simple life". 'Tis a gift to be simple...

Clothesline on a Sunny Day

This is one of my favorite things about spring time and warm weather.... getting to use the clothesline! Most of the pollen has settled, so yesterday I gave my clothesline a good cleaning and hung out bed linens! Those sheets smelled so yummy last night and I slept so GOOD! If you will enlarge the picture, you will see my beautiful clothespin bag, made by Debbie at Homemaking Dreams. She makes these and sells them in her Etsy shop. I have really enjoyed mine and it looks so pretty hanging on the line. (My daughter was here yesterday when I was hanging out the sheets, and I realized that we are the only house in the neighborhood with a clothesline. I mentioned it to her and wondered if my neighbors are jealous. LOL)

Sweet baby smiles

Our son in law Troy was able to come home from his Army duties for three weeks, due to a broken thumb. We are sorry he broke his thumb, but boy, are we glad to have him home! This is Troy, my daughter April, and "their" dog, Tumpy. Tumpy was glad to see his "daddy".

My son, Will, and his wife, Ashley, and our baby, Avery! Tumpy loves Avery and wants to be so close to him!

Oops.... Daddy I got you... again. This is quite common these days. It's funny to watch my son with spit up down his back.... it doesn't even bother him. Back when he was a little boy, he would have freaked out if a baby spit up on him. Isn't love grand?

And now.... look at this beautiful smiling face! Tonight was the first time Avery had met his Uncle Troy. He looked up into his face and gave him this beautiful smile! We all got smiles on this night... unfortunately, husband was away at his job and missed all this sweet fun. It was wonderful to see Avery smile at me and to know .... this smile is just for me. I love him!

This is Troy, April, and Avery... I can see lots of love in this picture! I don't want to rush them, but I look forward to the day that Troy and April decide to have children of their own. :o) This grandma business is fun!

Happy Goodwill!

Just when I tell myself to stay out of the Goodwill store, I find something like THIS! I love this plate and it's just perfect for my kitchen. The blue color makes me think of summer time, I love the bird as my husband has turned into an avid birdwatcher (does that mean he's old?), and the sunflowers remind me of my friend, Trish, in Kansas. I love this plate! I love having a Goodwill store in town.... I drive into town at least 2-3 times a week, and the Goodwill store is always a stop I make. You just never know what new treasures have arrived from day to day. So, forget it... I'm not staying out of Goodwill.

Tag: Seven things

I accepted a tag from Ancient One to list seven random things about myself. She received the tag from my niece, at Field of Dreams, who is a military wife blogging about her life while her husband is in Afghanistan. Here goes:

1. I recently became grandmother to this beautiful little baby boy, Avery, who is now 8 weeks old. I am so in love with him.... he gets prettier everyday... which is almost impossible as he is just about as pretty as pretty can get!

2. I am 46 years old... almost 47.... married to a Wildlife Captain with the state of NC. I am a nurse and work part time in a nursing home. I love old people.

3. My dream is to be a "retired" RN and devote my time to my husband, my family, my home, and God. Not necessarily in that order. :o)

4. I like to craft.... especially embroidery and quilt making. I'm not the quiltmaker I want to be yet, but I dream of quilts all the time. I want to take a trip to Western NC to see the barn quilts that are painted throughout the area on old barns.

5. I have two children.... a son, who is a 6th grade math teacher (father of Avery) and his wife who stays home with Avery and is a wonderful mommy. I have a daughter, who is a hairdresser, married to an Army soldier who is graduating from basic training tomorrow. She also has a blog... check her out... and tell her I sent you.

6. I have three dogs.... all of which I somehow inherited from daughter mentioned above. I truly love the dogs and enjoy having them around, even though they can be a pain in the butt sometimes. They do bring me a lot of joy. My mom would never dream of letting us have an inside dog when we were growing up. I felt the same way until we fell in love with our current little dog family. I have now decided that ALL children need at least one dachshund in their life before they grow up. They are way better than teddy bears to sleep with at night.

7. Our family has moved quite often in the past 13 years and husband and I are now waiting to see if one more move is in our near future. I really like my home and where I live now, but have decided if I need to move with my husband soon, then I'm willing... it's all in God's hands.

I'm not going to tag anyone specifically, but if you play, pleast leave a comment so I'll know to read yours!

Contentment

It's been a great Easter weekend, a wonderful Monday (spent most of the day with my husband), and I'm looking forward to spending today with my daughter. Recently, I was having second thoughts about working and wondering if I should go back to work full time. I felt like I was wasting too much time worrying and could be spending that energy doing something else. I have been doing a lot of praying, reading, and reflecting. I am exactly where I want to be right now (except for not living with my husband full time). I am working part time, I have a beautiful new grandbaby, and I have so much more time for family and my home. I have decided to stop all the worry and ENJOY just being.... being here, loving my home, loving my family, loving my God. A thought came to me a few days ago (thank you, God): stop dreaming about the future, it is HERE, it is happening... live it! I love this beautiful weather and hope to get busy in the yard this week. I'll leave you with a few quotes on contentment:

"Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty"

"Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels."

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not, remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." (my favorite)

"We may pass violets, looking for roses. We may pass contentment, looking for victory."

Have a wonderful day, my friends!