Loud and Pretty :)

(these pics are taken with my old camera....my new one was having the batteries charged) :)

Dan's Jeep had issues! It got a hole in the muffler and I could hear him coming home from a mile away! :)

Last night he finally had time to work on it! It took lots of elbow grease to even get it loose from the underside and then even more to take if off the tail pipe!!

The guys worked and worked some more!

Danny showing how big the hole was!

And then being crazy! :) 

{see my loooooong shadow?}  :)

They finally got the pieces apart, but it was about time to leave for church, so Dan will put the new one on tonight when he gets home. 

He had to take my van today since the Jeep isn't done, which is fine by me. I have wash, baking, canning (more boiled peanuts!!), cleaning, and packing to do! :)

As "Fall" as our leaves are going to get.....

they are falling off and turning brown. All except for the Magnolia Trees!! :)

And my Knock-Out Roses are just blooming away. I love having something that gives color this time of year!!

Y'all have a super day! Dan goes for his last sleep study tonight and then tomorrow is ......

VACATION!! :) Woot!

Dream Come True??

I am SO excited!! Some wonderful people blessed Dan and I with a weekend vacation to the beach.

Ever since we moved here, I had a dream to go parasailing....and now it looks like it just may come true!! :) 

I cannot wait!! We haven't been away by ourselves since August 2009. I think it's time!! :)

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Last night Dan had his first sleep study done for testing him for sleep apnea. He said it didn't take long to fall asleep, but he felt like he woke up often! I know one thing...I sure missed him! :P He has to go back Thursday night and this time he'll be hooked up to a c-pap machine, if that's what they determine he needs.

I'm just happy that he'll be able to get some relief!

Today we need to return library books and get a few things at the grocery store. I also want to get my kitchen cleaned up. Tomorrow it's wash and baking and just getting everything ready for the weekend! :)

I am loving my "new-to-me" camera that someone so kindly gifted to me!!

The flower setting works so much better than any other camera I've ever had!!

This week I did a photo shoot for a friend. While I was waiting for her to change outfits, I took some pics of the flowers on the grounds....thought I'd share them! :)

See the little ant crawling on the flower? :)

With the white backdrop, it made the flower look darker!

I don't know what these are, but they have a whole long row of them!!

Only noticed the bug on this flower after I loaded the pics on the computer! 

Fall beauty!! :)

{ 20 Little Things I Love about Fall}

1. Apple and Cinnamon {whether it is the scent or being made into sauce} 

2. Fall Scented candles

3. Pumpkin cookies

4.Outdoor decor

5. Indoor decor! :)

6. Homemade pumpkin spice latte's.

7. Fall leaves

8. Did I say candles??

9. Goat Day at the Pioneer Settlement.

10. Cleaning up flower beds and getting shrubs trimmed.

11. Campfires and cool nights!

 12. Shoofly Pies

13. Pretty sunsets

12. Soup!!

13. Hiking

14. Watching the farmers harvest cotton.

15. Canning boiled peanuts.

16. My Mr. Happy Harvest scarecrow guy on the front door.

17. Fall specialty coffees.

18. The scent of burning leaves.....probably should have been at the TOP of my list!! :)

19. Open windows that let in the cool crisp air mornings and evenings! 

20. Reeses Pumpkins! :)

I'm linking up with The Inspired Room

There are many more things! One thing that I am especially thankful for is that my Creator loves me and cares about every detail of my life. And on top of that, He blessed me with an awesome husband and two great kids!! :)

~Photography~

Thanks again, to whoever so kindly and generously sent me a new camera in the mail!!I still have a lot to learn about it, but I am so thrilled to be back to taking pictures, and this week, I got to take some portraits for a sweet teenager!!

Rachel is a daughter to David and Jill Smith. We met them 6 years ago when they moved from southern IN to north FL to also work in prison chaplaincy. 

Rachel was a young 9 year old girl with a big grin and lots of spunk!!

This is the beautiful young lady she is today!!

We had so much fun doing this shoot! We started at a somewhat deserted "dump" on one of the most scary streets in town, where a dog barked at us and we stayed prepared to run back to the van! Then we went to the Pioneer Settlement for the rest of the pictures. ;) Much more relaxed!!

The porch on the one old house had old bottles sitting on it, so we got one "just-for-fun" pic!! :)

Rachel, may God bless your future! You are a sweet young lady with lots of potential!! :) I've enjoyed watching you grow up!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Wednesday, Sept. 26 was my 35th birthday! I am really enjoying my 30's, but it's kind of scary that 40 doesn't seem that old anymore! I used to think 40 year olds were getting to the end of their life! Heehee! Now, that's just "middle age"!! :)

My birthday was pretty much like any other day...we did school and I did wash! In fact, the kids didn't even remember that it was my birthday till late afternoon when they found out we were going out for supper!

Dan called on his way home from work and asked what I was making for supper. I told him I was heating up leftovers from the night before. He said, "well, don't! I'm taking you out to eat."

So, to El Jalisco's we went. And it was SO good!! 

We have been limiting our eating out, so this was a huge treat!! :)

Don't that make you hungry? :)

Thanks for the treat, love!! 

We walked over to the little park next door to try to get a few pictures. They didn't turn out real great. I am still learning the settings on my new camera. :) But here we are! 

And one of all of us! :)

 I looked back in my photo files and found a picture of our family a year ago this same week. (and found it a little disturbing that I was wearing the exact same outfit!) 

This was taken at Nate and Allison Landis' wedding.

It's fun to see how much our children grew!! :)

So it was a good day....I felt a little spoiled since I didn't have to cook supper and I also enjoyed some phone calls from siblings and one far away friend in Colorado!! I also was blessed with many notes on facebook! :) So here's to another year!!

Praying for good health and wisdom to keep teaching my children and more love to give to my husband!! :) 

I am blessed!!