Christmas time!

What a wonderful weekend! We had church this weekend and it was an awesome way to celebrate Christmas!! Saturday night service went home with me. Others too. Sunday The Lord was surely in that place. I brought Him with me just as everyone else did too! Saturday night was a restless night. There wasn't much sleeping going on. Sunday service was awesome. I was up at 5 making my pies and dumplings for dinner at Sandys. 

Today I'm making my homemade sourdough cinnamon rolls. There will be some extra and there will be a few lucky recipients who will only have to place them in a pan, let them rise about an hour, bake, ice, and enjoy fresh homemade sourdough cinnamon rolls!! Nick and I will have ours Christmas morning as we always do. Rick always loved those rolls!!  If you want the recipe, it's available in one of my other blogs--

Myfavoriterecipesandotherstuff.blogspot.com 

It is linked to this blog on the left of your screen if you are on a laptop or desktop device. The recipe is in the October 2011 posts along with starter and feeder recipes and coffee cake. 

Merry Christmas!!

I love all y'all!!❤️

To be continued.......

You know, my blog, my thoughts!

All this talk about Duck Dynasty and Phil (I think I have that name right- have never seen the show) being axed for voicing his beliefs has me thinking. I know, scary right? I have thoughts on this. Of course I do! You do too, I'm sure!! Since this is my blog, this is a free country, I am free to write those thoughts here. You are free to agree or disagree. You are NOT FREE to write your disagreements as comments on this post, those will be deleted! You ARE FREE to voice YOUR thoughts on your own blog or other social media. And I will be free to disagree or agree but I will not disagree on your page! 

My thoughts: he is correct in what he says. According to the Holy Bible, which is the Word of God, everything he said that I saw is correct. I'm not a bible scholar by any means. I just know what I read. I have a few family and friends who live an alternate life style. I still love them- just not what they do. I'm certain there are things about me they don't like too. But God also gave us this thing called free will. So if they make the choice to follow that lifestyle - and it's a choice to follow that lifestyle- then it's their choice! I'm not meaning to say whether or not they are "born that way"!! We are all Gods children!! If they believe they are born that way, they still make a conscious decision to live the way they do. They could make the choice to live as we do. Some say then they aren't being true to themselves if they do! Looking back for centuries there has always been an alternate lifestyle. According to the Bible, a city was destroyed by fire and brimstone because of the lifestyle. One could say other cities in our day and in other days/centuries have been destroyed by floods or quakes or great storms. I have NO KNOWLEDGE of the lifestyle of those cities. But I have an idea of one or two of them and I do wonder. I wonder because I'm human. I wonder because I'm nosy I guess. But, really, it's none of my business! I know that the Bible warns us of these days. And it's a warning that the end days are getting closer! We can not change when that will be and we can not predict when that will be! Only The Father knows! Not even the angels in heaven know! It also says there will be a great falling away. And it says people will be calling evil good and good evil. Can you see any of that? I can!! I am certainly not without sins and faults! I will answer for those myself! 

What can we do? Lots! We can not judge! We can love one another. We can pray for our friends, family, neighbors! We can follow our own hearts. We go to the church of our choice. We can listen to the Word of God. And we can put that word in our hearts! And Follow Him! Wherever HE leads! And we can let others have their opinions! It's most surely their right just as much as it's my right to post this! And we can not try to put our beliefs off on someone else! We will each answer for our own sins and I have enough to answer for already!! And we can raise our family according to our beliefs and be sure our children hear His word from an early age and pray that when they come to the age of accountability, God has mercy on their souls and saves them and they follow Him! I pray for my own children to return to follow Him! Maybe one day they will! 

In this Season of His birth, remember the Reason for this glorious Season! It's not about what you spend on anyone!! It's about the joy if His birth! 

I love all y'all!❤️

To be continued...

Isaiah 5:20-21

King James Version (KJV)

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Christmas is close!

Merry Christmas! I won't be sending cards this year. Couldn't find any I liked very much and it's just not the same. 

Graduation for Ashley went well! She received an award for highest GPA in Maternal Nursing. She tied with a classmate. I believe I read this was the 64th class to graduate from the LPN portion of the school. That would make my class ('78) the 29th class. Part of a tradition!! 

After the ceremony, I found a new Prim Store - new to me- Tori's Consignment and Gifts. It's in Cave City if you love prims and you're local they're directly behind the Minit Mart there. Oh, my!! 

One of the items I bought yesterday! My house smells amazing!! I love scentsy but I also love this!!  I hope to go back soon!!

Short post, y'all have a blessed day!!

I love all y'all! ❤️

To be continued.......

Graduation Day

My graduation photo from WKU School of Nursing. December 1981. I have somewhere a photo of GSPN graduation day June 1978. I've been at this nursing thing 35.5 years. I'm 54 years old. Both are a long time! I was the only nurse most nights on a busy 22 bed med-surg post CCU floor at Bowling Green Warren County Hospital in September 1978. I was 19 years old and as green as they come. That fall I decided to go "back" to school and in January I started at WKU. My first class was anatomy and it's lab. I did ok so I kept going. Challenged out of Nursing 101. In ways that was great but in ways it made it harder. I had to learn how they wanted care plans papers etc. other students already knew! But I also knew all that was busy work. Back then we didn't have care plans on paper in the 'real world'. We have them in the computer now. And all that was to help us learn. Anyway. It finally came: graduation day. Actually I only participated in the pinning ceremony if the nursing school, not the WKU graduation line. I don't regret that at all. But I remember the excitement of graduation and having known I did it myself. I worked full time as a LPN while in RN school. I paid it as I went. I had no debt after graduation. Unfortunately, times have changed!! I digress! My parents and brothers were coming. Pinning was in DUC in the theater. I was in stage with my classmates looking out over the crowd. I could see them clearly. They weren't there. No one. I cried through the ceremony. My classmates thought they were tears of joy. And they were a little. But mostly because every one of them had someone there. But me. My papaw had just died about a month before, feelings were still there from that and out of town family had stopped by that couldn't make it to his funeral. Instead of telling them they were on the way to my graduation, they kept quiet. It hurt my feelings at first. But then I understood. I had already had one graduation from nursing school and they were there. So it was ok. But today my nephews wife graduates from BG Tech Nursing School. So memories came flooding back. It's the same school (GSPN) with a different name and a degree now and RN instead of LPN (they got that after one year) but I'm proud of her and I want her to know that. I plan to attend her graduation today! I'm sure Jeffrey and their boys and her mom will be there too. But, just in case I don't want her to not have anyone there! 

Happy Graduation Ashley! Love you!! 

I love all y'all!❤️

To be continued......

Something I've learned

There are many, many things I've learned on this journey called life. The main lesson is that His will, not ours WILL be done! I listened for weeks from late November through March 6 and that still small voice putting the words "trust Me" in my heart and they still echo in my heart today. But oh, how difficult it is when you want, ask for, pray for one outcome and His will is another. And we don't understand why and we know we shouldn't ask. And people tell you that you should move on. And you try. And every day you wake and there's a reminder of one event or another. This year is more difficult than last for some reason. I just needed to say these things. It is here to be read. I shall not post a new blog post notice for this one. As much as I loved you in life, I still love you now Ricky. I miss you everyday. I know many others do too but they don't miss you like I do. Unless they've had a spouse to die, there's no way they can know how this feels. And I hope they never have to know in one way. But, as humans, it is something we all must face. And half of us will face the death of a spouse.  I never want this experience again.  So sometimes I wonder: why was love created when it causes death to hurt so much. I have a friend in Nashville whose husband died. After a few years, she met and married a man who treated her like a Queen. He too died. I don't see how she stood it. I really don't think I could. I really don't. 

I'm ok. I just had to say these things and there's really no one to say them to. So I write it here. 

I love all y'all ❤️

To be continued.....

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Ah! Christmas Time is Here. I love this time of year. I love what Christmas means. I love the reason for the season! I followed tradition and put my tree up my first day off after Thanksgiving and that happened to be Friday. I put a lot of my ornaments on the tree. I've been collecting Precious Moments ornaments since Rick got me my first ones Christmas 1984. 

And from 1986 and 1990 for my babies first Christmases. 

And I have many more ornaments including a collection from Hallmark called "Mary's Angels" - I love those ornaments. They are so cute. And now they have their own tree. 

I do miss Rick so much right now. 29 years ago we were dating, about to be officially engaged and our first Christmas. It's difficult this time of year - holiday time - when people you love are no longer here. It's a fact that depression rates go up. There's an increased sadness and loneliness even when you're among friends and family during major holidays. But I'm ok. It is what it is and I am dealing with it. 

I've taken the step to turn off his phone. It was a difficult decision but I did it. He wanted me to do it- it was something we had discussed. One step at a time. 

I love all y'all. ❤️

To be continued.......