Yes I remember 9/11

I'm sure everyone is sensitive to what day it is today. 

I have two friends who have birthdays on September 11th. 

That date didn't really mean much to most people until 2001. 

We all remember where we were when we first heard the terrible news. 

I was walking into my office and my coworker Darlene asked if I had heard. They immediately started showing it on the tvs throughout the building. 
And we watched. 
In shock. 
And with sadness. 
And fear.

I have a nephew who recently joined the Army. Makes the events of 9/11 have a different perspective for me. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for the spouses and family members that day as they watched their loved ones sacrifice to try to save innocent lives. Pride and selfishness all together I'd say. Somebody's gotta do it, they'll say. But why does it have to be my son? My husband? My sister? WHY? 

Some of the brave firemen, police officers and paramedics lost their lives saving others that day. 

We should be thankful there are folks out there who are willing to do this for us. And we should pray for the families they left behind. 

Because that spot at the dinner table will always be empty. 

Let us never forget. 
And God bless America. 

Commodores & Gamecocks - college football is H E R E

My husband is H A P P Y ! 

Why? 
Because football season is fiiiiinally here. 
I don't share in his enthusiasm. But I do endure enjoy some games with him here and there. Mostly in the comfort of our living room...

Last Thursday night we went to the Vandy/South Carolina game.
my Vandy tshirt - straight from Cracker Barrel for a mere $9.99 purchased the night before

We look pretty happy here, right? 

This was a good 30 minutes before the game. And before the rain. Or should I say the downpour. No, let's call it a toad strangler. 

Anyway, we had headed down kinda early thinking we'd run into traffic because that night there was also a Titans pre-season game and a Sounds baseball game in the Nashvegas. But traffic was no problemo. So early we arrived. And sat in the heat. The humid middle Tennessee heat. It was lovely. Really it was. Did I mention it did NOT rain on the Titans or their fans? Well it didn't. 
I s'pose I should give a shout out to the little old man who gave us ponchos after about 5 minutes of sitting in the fetal position being pelted by rain. 
Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating. 
But I was kinda hunched over trying to protect my camera. 30% chance of rain. Riiiiight. Harumph!

Jason and his wife have season tickets. They love them some Vandy sports. Remember, we went to some hoops with em last season. Click right here to read the blog entry.
They're good peeps.

~ nice peppy crowd ~ 

probably peppy because it stopped raining :-P 

A nice sunset to serve as a backdrop for the end zone

Vandy went down to the Gamecocks. It was a good game though. Not boring at all. And this is coming from a girl who struggles to figure out who has possession of the ball.

Um before I leave you, let me say this. I'm needing the apparently miniature people who design college stadiums to realize people aren't 8 inches wide with itty bitty legs. They sure don't make those places for comfort. Or for people with any amount of girth. Come on man!

My daddy, my hero - a birthday fam jam

See, I'm one of those daughters who thinks her daddy is the stuff.

Always have.

Always will.

He turned 65 about a week ago so we all gathered together. 

At Cheddar's. 

No cleaning house, cooking or washing dishes for us! 

Just food & fellowship with the fam. 

Well minus Caleb. :-( 

He's still in AIT in Missouri. Cuz he's an Army man now. 

This here's how our family is lookin these days. Aren't we a fiiiine lookin bunch?

Pretend Caleb is here. He'd probably be in the back row between his dad and my dad. Cuz he's tall. Hmm, maybe I'll photoshop him in.

These are the little ones. I.e., the ones who aren't driving age yet.

I think they're the best lookin kiddos around these parts.  

My mom went 23 years with just one granddaughter, Sasha. She's married now. All grown up. And plenty special.

But as you know, on Christmas Day 2011 our family grew by two and NOW Nanny has herself TWO granddaughters. 

I absolutely adore this shot of them!

(hint, hint... needs to be in the family calendar)

I just need you to notice how BIG these two boys have gotten. 

Ugh! Feels like a minute ago they were crawlin around in the floor drinkin out of sippy cups. (groan) 

Cullen is nearly as tall as his daddy and his PaPa whew wee

So Phil (my niece's hubby) came to dinner straight from work. And he had some safety glasses. Me and my brothers and my birthday celebratin daddy all donned them for this pic. 

I don't know why.

I s'pose you can tell I love love LOVE my family! 

And if you don't know my daddy, you're missin out. Cuz he's funny. And smart. And talented. And Godly. And a lot of other great stuff. 

Southern FAIR flair

You ain't Southern if ya don't like the county fair. 
Period.
We went a couple weekends ago with Anthony's step brother and his bunch. We kinda invited ourselves. Cuz you can do that with family. he he he

Taken with my iPhone and posted to Instagram and Twitter immediately thereafter. 

Follow me - I'm lyndy2t

We had to wait in line a while for Crazy Mouse, but Bryson wanted to ride it really bad. So we waited. And waited. And waited...

We waited so long Bryson got ants in his pants.

Not literally.

But I did have a mommy moment of sorts and told him to be patient (in my own Lyndy way) and he straightened up. He's just a little boy. And little boys get impatient. 

 One of these landed on Facebook as Anthony's profile pic :-P 

Who sits around and says gee, think I'll carve a guitar and some music notes on some wood and make it into a bench? Not me. But this guy is talented you have to agree. 

Sawyer sampled some of the ice cream the horses make. 

You don't understand this if ya ain't  been to the fair. 

What a shame. 

You don't even know what you're missin.

Like sweet tea, corn dogs, chocolate covered bacon, fried Twinkies and what not. Not that we had that. (wink, wink)

We ran into my friend Brandi (not pictured), her hubby and adorable daughter. Brandi, the gal who swore she was never taking her kid to the fair. Eatin those words. Yum yum ;-)

McKenzie is always my ride buddy. 

We ride EVERYTHING. 

Crazy daredevils! 

High atop the ferris wheel she decided to start talkin bout how they construct the thing and I told her to hush. I didn't wanna think about that. Makes me wonder how S A F E it is if I start thinkin bout it too much. 

 Because when you think of face painting, you immediately think blood pressure, I need to get my blood pressure checked. Um....

 Bryson had no fear - he rode everything he was tall enough to ride. He was the tiniest bit short for one or two rides and I said you should've worn tennis shoes instead of those flip flops. He said you forget, I don't get to pick!

 a view from the ferris wheel - looking toward the back half of the midway

Anthony and I went back another night just to eat. Well, we rode the swings, too. But chowing on the food was the main purpose. He had a sausage and I had a Philly. Then we shared a funnel cake like a couple of love birds. <3

 the ferris wheel is so pretty all lit up at night, yeah? 

 I took this shot because Anthony said he remembered picking up the duckies when he was little. Aww, that's just presh isn't it?! 

And MY MAN LOVES THE SWINGS. So that's what I'm leavin ya with.

a birthday dinner...for my father-in-law

Our families don't get together every whipstitch like some. So when we do, I like to document it with PICTURES of course. I'm the unofficial family photographer I'm pretty sure. I never see anyone else even getting out a camera. :-P 

Terry turned 66 (shh, don't tell him I toldja) and he told Janice he didn't need anything special, he was just turning 66. Every birthday is worthy of a celebration, don't you agree? C'mon Terry!

So to celebrate we all went to a steak house and ate. While we were waitin on our red meat I decided everyone should take a self portrait. So we passed around my camera. 

See the grown ups' approach - 

and the kids - 

The birthday boy man had himself quite a treat the morning of our dinner. He went down to the big city (Nashville) and met Turtle Man and Swamp People. Got their autographs on his purty cap. See ~ 

And I'm gonna need you to know he was darn prouda that hat. I'm thinking he'll wanna be buried in it. It's his most prized possession I'm fairly sure.

These boys are some fine MIMs right? 
    Men in the makin...

Ok, so maybe they're not quite as sweet and innocent as you might think...  

I ended up sitting across from Kyle (the tallest one, in orange) at the table. As soon as we sat down, he started staring at himself in the mirror by our table and making weird faces.  

Funny enough, right?

Well, a little later he took off his flips flops and proceeded to rub his foot on my leg. I wish I could have seen my face. Um, ok what was that about?! By the end of the night he informed me that I was now his favorite relative. I'm scared. Very scared.

I think this last picture of us and Bryson is just blog share worthy. 
So look at it. 
       And smile. 

what's up paper cup? Random nothingness this week

I'm on a random kick. HA!

This week has been a pretty ordinary week. For us... But this fella had himself a birthday. 

my father-in-law

This here's the card Anthony got him ~ 

And the inside said:

Being one day older only matters if you're a banana

At the inlaws' house the kiddos like to mark their heights at each birthday. 

And Anthony felt the need to add his some time ago.... 
     I think it's cute. 

In other random news, I made my boss laugh so hard today she couldn't see. Yeah, laughin' tears. (Them's the best kind ain't they?)

And on the way out of our work campus today I had to honk the horn at a duck crossing the road in front of one of our buildings. When I honked, the little brat literally froze. As in did.not.move.an.inch. I eventually just drove around him. Silly duck! 

I bought a couple new pair of Nike shorts this week. Pumped! I love deals! $14.99 a pair ain't too shabby. I just wish I could find shirts I dig. I think I'm too picky.

Gotta run - need to carb load for tomorrow's 10 mile run with Angela :o) 

random ramblings

I haven't said much about running lately. I know. You're glad about that, aren't you? 

I'm training for another half marathon. This time with my friend Angela. I been knowin her since I was 10 years old. Met her at church camp. Awww

Anyway, she's never really been a runner. She's tough though, don't go assumin. She likes P90X and that Insanity stuff. Cuhrazy! We've been running together some over the last few weeks. She goes in to work pretty early so she can't run in the mornings before work like I do. I do that because of this bone melting, mind numbing heat we've been having here in Tennessee this summer. Ugh >-( 

I tested this Gatorade Prime a couple times this week. I'm a fan! You drink it before your activity. I think it helps keep me hydrated and fueled up during my runs. Try it!
  
In other randomness, I've been reallllly tired the past couple of weeks and I'm blaming the weather mostly. I have allergies (I'm on shots and meds) and this summer has been so hot, it's kinda making the outdoor stuff I'm allergic to worse. Work has also been mega busy lately, so that's probably part of it, too. I fell asleep Thursday night at like 9:00. Loser! 

Movin on... 
     now for the cat story

Tinsley LOVES sitting in this chair. 

It's Tinsley's chair. 

Don't sit in it if you're allergic to cats. Consider yourself warned. No, my house isn't spotless. I work full-time, so does the hub and life is too short for spotlessness. There, I said it.

Anyway, one night this week in the middle of us eating dinner, Tinsley apparently saw something on the front porch through the window. She's done this a few times. She starts to growl and sound like a meanie! Anthony went out to scare off whatever it was (we assume it was another cat because we've seen a few nearby lately) and came back in the house. The second he stepped foot back inside, Tinsley swooped over with lightning speed and pounced him and bit him twice on the leg. Drew blood. Anthony was so mad. And I couldn't stop laughing. I'd give anything if I had it on video. Anthony was mad at her the rest of the night. Closed the blinds so she couldn't see out. Still a little mad the next day. Fussed and fussed at her (like she can understand ha). What's funny is the little brat came over to Anthony once she had settled back down and rubbed up against his legs all sweet like. Suckin up. Cats are so much like kids, aren't they?! 

The other night I was being silly. Common for me. Anthony said I was gettin on his nerves. Said he was gonna get a bucket of water balloons and keep em beside his recliner for those moments. Boom/splash! So one day after that, I had text him something and I figured out I was being silly again (and probably annoying him). I text him: water balloon moment? He replied yes! 

I have gotten so tickled at things a few times in the last week I've had tears. I love laughing that hard! 

That's all I got for ya today. Have a happy Saturday!

Bryson keeps us entertained

Bryson the unintentional entertainer... 

He cracks us up, even when he's not trying to.

 This is his "turtle man" pose

I reckon he has a show on Discovery or somethin. I'm not exactly familiar with it... 

So anyway this almost 8 year old is quite the character. See, Anthony's step brother and his fam live next door to us, and this little fella has been known to wander over (unbeknownst to his parents I should note) just to visit with us. Once he came over to play "bideeo games" with Anthony. Drove right over on his little four wheeler. That was the dead giveaway for his whereabouts... after searching for him for a few minutes, McKenzie noticed his four wheeler parked right in front of our porch. 

Well he's big stuff now and pronounces all his words correctly. And he's got a bigger four wheeler now ;-) 

The other day when he and his dad came over for a minute, the subject of running came up. Joey said back when he could run, he was fast but could only run short distances. Bryson chimed in and said yeah, I'm like a cheetah. I'm fast, but after about 60 seconds, I got nuthin left.

Sometimes when you laugh at him he growls at you. So maybe he is cheetah like... hmm

Bryson's pretty much his dad's shadow. 

When he was younger, he'd say "my dad's an expert." And we tend to agree with that. Joey is known as MacGyver in the fam. Lol He can fix just about anything. One time when I was shooting some pics of Bryson and McKenzie, the umbrella we were using messed up, you know how the silly things do. Joey took a blade of grass and tied it. I was in awe. IN AWE... 

Anyway, last night when Joey was away from the house for a minute, Bryson was home with his Nana. We were on the front porch and he just walked right on over. He was there a good 10 or 15 minutes before we heard his Nana calling for him. :-P He had apparently snuck off again. No harm, no foul. 

While we were hangin out on the porch, Bryson noticed Tinsley sitting in the window inside. He said she's fat! I said yeah, she is. He said she's like a 6o pound mosquito. 

They say the camera adds 10 pounds... 
  judge for yourself

I told Anthony the other day I was gonna rename Tinsley... in honor of The Hunger Games, I think she should be called Fatness Everchunk. he he he I'm so witty. 

On the porch last night, the subject of McKenzie driving came up. She'll be 15 in January (yikes). Bryson rolled his eyes and said she looks like drivin, I'm a better driver than she is.

He also asked his dad if he could go get his gun to shoot the bats flying around near our house. The answer was no. Obviously... 

Thanks for the laughs Bry. If you hone your skills, maybe someday we'll be watching you do stand up comedy routines somewhere ya funny fella. 

Tragedies all around us

In the last week or so I've heard about a few tragedies. They didn't happen to me or anyone I know personally. But they were sad and I feel like sharing them with you.

My friend Angela told me about someone she used to work with who lost her daughter-in-law in a car accident. She died. Gone forever. Left behind a husband and a sweet little 2 1/2 year old daughter, and lots of friends and family too I'm sure. What happened to cause the accident? Can't say for sure, but they said she had been on FACEBOOK just prior to the accident.

I follow a blog of a crafty lady who's a friend of my friend Brandi's. Click here to go to Mandy's blog. She has a cousin who lost her husband the other day. I don't know what happened, but what broke my heart is she's pregnant with their first child. That little sweetie pie will never get to lay in daddy's arms or feel those sweet daddy cheek kisses. Seems so unfair.

I also read this story online this week - Click here to read it. and it's just more proof about how DANGEROUS texting and driving is. This Texas guy was driving along and texting an old buddy he was about to meet up with when he drove off into a ravine. He survived, yeah, but now his life has totally been turned upside down. 

I've been seeing the tv commercials by AT&T. They are moving. Disturbing even. You're right AT&T - it CAN wait! 

Then I did a little googling and found that the government has a website devoted to this very topic. Distracted drivers. And I see a lot of em. And I've been guilty. Here's the link.

These two stats jumped out at me ... 

~ Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times 


worse than driving while not distracted.


~ Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's


eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 


seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the


length of an entire football field, blind.

Obviously I realize tragic, devastating things happen every day. Kids get cancer. People die unexpectedly. 

Does it make sense? NO! 

But today I sit here comfy and cozy in my living room as it thunders and rains. My cat is behind the couch in her "safe place" and my husband is beside me. We aren't sick and we have the things we need. In fact, we're blessed beyond anything we deserve. 

My heart hurts for those folks who aren't so blessed. The ones who just lost a loved one. The ones who can no longer function normally, lost their jobs or don't know how they're going to pay the bills. 

Let's pray for them and if you can, HELP THEM this week. Look for ways to share God's love.

And if you feel a complaint come on your tongue, bite it and start listing your blessings one by one.   :-P

God's plan for US

Do you ever stop and think about where you are in life? 

Do you ever think how did I get here? By now I thought I'd ..... fill in the blank.... 

Lately it seems like everywhere I turn, there's stuff popping up about God's plan for us. I see things on Pinterest, Twitter, Christian blogs, and today I heard it at church... 

This morning we went to a church we've visited once before. It's a large church with multiple services and a few satellite campuses. The pastor is such an amazing speaker and so down to earth. He seems like a guy you could hang out with and talk football with as easily as you could talk Bible with.

Today's message came from the scripture in Jeremiah 18 - about the potter molding the clay on the wheel. If you've gone to church much, you're probably thinking yeah, I've heard that story a hundred times. So? 

I won't try to regurgitate the message here, but if you want to hear it, go to this site to listen for yourself. 

The thing that hit me like a two by four 'tween the eyes was this - does the clay tell the potter what to make it into? If the potter is molding the lump of clay into a beautiful bowl, does the clay have the right to say no, potter, make me a tea pot? That sounds pretty silly doesn't it? 

Well God is our potter, and we are his clay. Yet WE try to tell God what WE think we should be. 

Uh oh, I see a problem.

Clay is supposed to be flexible and soft. But we are often so hard and immovable at times, aren't we? 

We need to stop and listen for God to lead us toward what HE has for us. Because HIS plan for us is better than what we have for ourselves. 

Sometimes we try to be the potter, the ship's captain and if we would just leave it in God's more than capable hands, we'd have less heartache and disappointment. And more of God's grace and blessings.

But we're human and thankfully God is patient with us. Like the potter in Jeremiah, when we get crooked and terrible (marred clay) God will simply pick us up and start shaping us again. He's always there... to make us beautiful again.



Sometimes when it seems like everything's falling apart, that's when God's putting the pieces together the way HE wants it.. 

There's a great Christian author/speaker someone put me onto a while back, Lysa TerKeurst. She always has great stuff on her website, and this particular entry fits with what I'm talking about - -  
Read this Christian blog
You may not know the WHY now, but you just have to trust that God has a plan and if you're seeking Him like you should be He's definitely going to take care of you. 

Chin up! 
  ~ stop comparing yourself to others
  ~ stop holding yourself to a standard that's so high it's unrealistic
  ~ start loving yourself as much as God loves you
  ~ and never let a day go by without being thankful! Even though you think things didn't work out as you planned, remember God has a higher purpose for you.