Waffle House

I LOVE THE WAFFLE HOUSE!!!! It is one of my favorite places to eat. I came home tonight, after teaching a class, and ran to put on my comfy clothes and headed over there. I get the same thing every time here lately... An All-Star Special.... Scrambled Eggs, Crispy Bacon, Waffle, Toast with Grape Jelly, and Hash browns Covered.... This is a change from a few years ago... I used to only eat a Patti Melt with no onions, and my hash browns were always covered and chunked. Here are just a few reasons I like the Waffle House...

1. It is a great place to relax... The atmosphere is not high-paced or in a hurry... Just sit and enjoy the meal.

2. The workers are some of the friendliest, kindest people. They really know a lot about customer service. They smile and welcome every one who walks in the door, regardless of who it is... and they give you anything you need, and are happy to do it. I know a few other restaurants that could learn a thing or two from the W.F.

3. It takes me back to my college days... I had some absolutely great nights studying... ok... talking and being silly and a little bit of studying... I miss those times.

4. It's a great place to be when it snows. Almost every time it snows I meet my mom there to eat so we can watch it through their big windows... We didn't go this last time... Hopefully we will get some more.

Do you like the Waffle House? What do you get? How do you eat your hash browns?

Share some of your Waffle House memories.

The Unveiling!!!

After lots of indecision from me, and lots of hard work from my blog friend Karen, here is the new blog. I LIKE IT A LOT!!! Your thoughts? 

It Snowed.... When??? I Must Have Missed It!!!!

I am embarrassed to even post these pitiful excuse for a snow day pics, but yes to all my northern readers we had a true "southern" snow day on Tuesday. The snow fell all night, not even an inch at my house... school was cancelled... and it was all gone by 10:30. It was a lot worse in the southern and eastern part of our county, but my house got the shaft. The pics are nice though. There is still plenty of winter left... and like every good southern knows... our best snows come in March!!!

Matt's Lesson A Day

Many of you know that my roommate Matt and I lived in Africa as missionaries right out of college. It was 8 years ago today that we arrived there. My life has never been the same since. Living overseas is quite an experience... especially as a missionary. We were there from Jan. to May. He has been blogging straight from his journal the past few days about our time there. Go there and check it out. Leave him a comment too... He needs some comments.

HOLY SNOW BATMAN!!!!!

I am back from my ski trip only to find out that we are under a winter storm warning... I am so excited I am dancing around like a crazy man. I know you want a video of that, but you will have to just picture it. Below are some pics of the trip.

This is a pic of the temp when we left the hotel to go skiing. YIKES... My nose hairs froze instantly when I took a breath. Ironically, when we went up the mountain it got warmer. It was 1 degree when we got out and no wind. The sun was shining and believe it or not it was a perfect day.

This is Matt and I as we are waiting for the slopes to open.

This is Blake, a friend from church, who went with us. He is a way better skier than me and Matt. FYI... I am way better than Matt... (hehehe)

This is one of 50 something trails Snowshoe has. It was mostly all real snow too. Great conditions.

This is Matt sitting down. This was only his 2nd time skiing and it started out rough for him, but by the end of the day he was doing sooo much better.

Me in all my gear. I was very warm. The only thing that got cold was my backside. I fell hard one time and the snow got inside.


Sunday morning when we left it was snowing like CRAZY!!!! It snowed the whole way out of the mountain. It took 2 hours to go 60 miles. Crazy!!! It was so much fun and definitely worth every dime I paid.

Trust

Isn't it hard to do this sometimes.... Probably one of the hardest things to do.... It takes your complete and utter faith in whatever it is you are trusting... For example..

When you sit in the chair, you have complete faith that it will hold you.

When you turn the key, you have complete faith the car will start.

When you put the mail in the box you "trust" that it will get to where it is going.

I know... I know... All of those things are easy to trust about. Trust is just on my mind tonight. I am having to trust about something right now, that only HE can help with because it is totally out of my control. I know that many of you are having to trust on some pretty heavy issues right now too... economy, health, families, jobs, spouse, children...... the list goes on....

Tonight I had to go to HIM about it all and I know that HE led me here. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says

"God, who has called you into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ, is faithful!"

Isn't that like Him just to be that blunt. IS FAITHFUL.... it wasn't hidden in some secret Bible code that needed to be unlocked with the mysteries of the holy grail. It didn't need to be translated and interpreted by a holy man or prophet...

He simply said... "is faithful!"

Whatever you are struggling with trusting about.... Join me in memorizing this.

Hide it in your heart!

Some Little Things That Bug Me

These are just little things that irk me... this is not a rant... just letting you have a peek into my head...

1. Forgetting to turn the alarm off before I get in the shower, only to hear it blaring right after I get in. It is too late to get out because I am already wet, so I have to let it go til I get done!

2. When the shower curtain doesn't lay flat against the tub and it lets cold air in.

3. Having to get up to get something for your meal right after you sat down to eat.

4. People who constantly have to change the channel when a commercial starts causing you to miss part of the show you were watching because they didn't turn it back in time.

5. Having to put a new bag in the trash can after I take the trash out.

6. Dust... Where in the world does it come from???????

What are some little things that bug you?

Fried Crispy

Last night I decide to make one of my favorite meals from back in the day when I was at daycare... Cheese Toast and Tomato Soup. I remember just loving the taste of the meal, especially with lots of Saltines in the soup. Another favorite part was the cheese toast with a little burnt part on the top. My sister told me to make it black on the top to turn the broil on instead of bake. She failed to tell me to leave it in there just briefly. Thus the results you see below. I seriously on left it in there 3 minutes. I had no idea this would happen. Believe it or not, it happened a second time. I managed to salvage some of it though... O well, every meal cannot be great. Maybe I lost a pound or two.

Just Stop and Listen

Have you ever had one of those moments where you heard a song and it just stopped you in your tracks? It may have been a song you have heard a 1,000 times or a song that you are hearing for the first time. Tonight I had a moment like that with an old song. Matt, my roommate was watching some YouTube videos and he ran across this one below of David Phelps singing, O Holy Night...

Now, I know it's not Christmas, but why not continue to celebrate the most important birth of all time. This version of the song stopped me dead in my tracks. I was busy surfing the net and I had to close my computer and sit and watch it. The power of the words in this song brought tears to my eyes even though I have heard it a million times. Enjoy!

"Truly He taught us to love one another. His law is love and His gospel is peace."

I Heard the "S" Word

No.... not that word.... The other 4-letter word every teacher listens for... SNOW!!! Yep that's right, I heard a guy on the weather channel say that lots of cold air was on the way and that there was a possibility of snow next week for the deep south.

Now, first let me say, that I am well aware that the forecast will change 15 times by then. I am a weather junkie. I wake up every morning to Weather Channel, and usually fall asleep to it as well. I KNOW about weather and how the weathermen change their forecast a lot!!!

Second of all, I realize that snow is not a big deal for some people... especially my "Yankee" friends. However, it is a HUGE deal to me. Not because I may or may not get the day off when it does, but just because I love it.

I love all the fun things you can do in it...

I love how crazy of us "southern folk" get over it...

I love how everyone just stops and enjoys it...

I love how my granny calls to tell me to be careful on the "bad roads" even if it is not sticking.

I love how all the bread and milk disappear...

I love how we all think we need bread and milk...

I love how Johnnie-Lynn calls me while it is falling and sings "Look at all that snow snow."

I love how I get hysterical and jump and dance around when it starts, even if it is just a little bit. Just ask my roommate. He thinks I am crazy!!!

I love how everyone talks about it when it's on the way...when it's here... and after it's gone...

I love how everybody has to get home at the first sign of it...

I love how the weathermen seem to get giddy talking about it...

I love how I get on the phone and call everybody on my contact list to tell them it is snowing... I even call my friend Teri in Utah who probably could really care less if it is snowing in S.C.

I would love to live somewhere like Boone where they get lots of snow, but not too much. I think I would hate it too if I lived in a lake effect snow area like Buffalo or Cleveland. They get like 6 feet at the time if it is really really bad.

All this said, I will now be glued to the TV for the next week to see how the forecast changes, and to see what we may get, if any... Let the anticipation begin!!!

Old Friends

No, this post isn't about all the "old" ladies I am friends with... It is about all the friends I have had over the years that I lost touch with. I miss them... Some of them I only knew briefly, and they impacted my life greatly, or were part of a life changing event for me... Some of them I spent the entire first 18 years of my life with suddenly to have them vanish after the rite of passage known as graduation.

Thankfully, due largely in part to the Internet, I have been able to reconnect with many of them. Just recently I found Abbey from New York, Casey from Jersey, Rick from Alabama, and Richie from Surfside, SC. All of these people were friends for a very brief time but definitely made an impact on me for some reason or the other.

I recently found a great great friend Amanda. She is living in Birmingham or Mobile... I cannot remember right now. She and I were great friends in high school. Graduation came and she disappeared. Glad to find her again. Maybe I will see her soon!!!

I often wonder though, about the friends I haven't found yet.... Like Stephanie, Kasey, Kyle, Jeff, Cynthia, J.T, Justin.... For some of them it has been almost 15 years since I saw them... Where are they??? What are they doing??? Do they even still remember who I am?? Do they wonder where I am???

I hope so... I hope they are doing well... I hope life is being good to them... I hope they read this, and get in touch!!! Life is too short not to have lots of friends.

Mama's 50th Birthday!

Yesterday my mom turned 50. This has been a long awaited birthday for her, and for Johnnie-Lynn and I, as we have been planning a big surprise party for a while. I have wanted to talk about it on here FOREVER, but for the sake of the surprise I couldn't Below are the pics. The theme was "Fabulous at 50," and the colors were black and hot pink. They are randomly inserted. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!!!

Taylor and Sophie waiting patiently for Nana to arrive. They were so good!!! I owe them a prize! Don't they look cute!!!

Mama and her boyfriend Chuck on the dance floor.

My mom with her fan palm. A gift from me, JL and family, Chuck, and Matt.

This one is blurry but it is the only one I had of the entrance where mama came in.

Hot pink tulips on the gift table.

All around the party area we hung pics from the begging of mama's life til now on pink and black ribbon. This was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved this idea... It was mine :0)

Lawrence, Me, and Matt in our party duds... Black with a pink tie.

My sister Jessica (dad's daughter) and step mom Kathy.

Johnnie-Lynn, Me, and Mama.... All the girls were given those feather boas when they came in. They made a God awful mess all throughout Chuck's house.

We turned Chuck's garage into a restaurant/dance floor.

Chuck had these candles decorating his house, and we put pink ribbons on them in honor of the occasion.

This was the gift table. The zebra box to the left was for "the old lady's college fund" and on the right was a guest book.

The boa basket.

My Uncle Marshall, Aunt Cheryl, and Mama

Granny and Papa

The table centerpieces. We got the pink twigs from Garden ridge the day after Christmas for really cheap. Thanks Dennis for sending me over there!!!

The cake table

Up close shot of the cake. Please notice the high heel cake server. The heel is magnetic and can you can by different heels for different occasions. My mom LOVED it!

Another ribbon with pics.

The invitation that we sent back at the beginning of December.

Chuck's tree was all decked out in red before the party, so Johnnie-Lynn and I changed all the red decorations to hot pink and silver. It made the party just right!!!!!!

Johnnie-Lynn and I at the end of the party... 3:00 AM!!!!!!!! We were exhausted, but every second was worth it to celebrate 50 years of my mama. She is the best mama I could ever have and I love her so much. I cannot wait to start planning the next big one 6-0!!!!! Holy Cow...that means I will be FORTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas '08 & New Year '09

Here is the long awaited Christmas Blog, coupled with News Years.... Enjoy!

Me and Mama at Granny's Christmas Eve.

All my little cousins and nieces playing with their favorite gift at Granny's, a voice changer, that I got them!!!!!

My annual Christmas Eve Bingo card. We play a quarter a card. I didn't win a dime this year.:0(

Do you think Taylor got too many gifts at Granny's?

Me, Matt, and my cousin Jamie in front of Granny's tree.

My pile of gifts Santa brought!!!

Taylor and her pile!

Sophie and her pile!

Sophie opened all her gifts by herself this year. She did so great and LOVED every second.

Taylor and her cute baker's hat and apron. Nana got this for her to go with a cupcake set I got her!

This pic was just too cute not to post!

Mine and Johnnie-Lynn's annual "In the Mess" pic. It is hard to believe that just minutes after this pic I was running a fever and throwing up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fast Forward a week later.... New Year's Eve at my house.

My Asian Beef Kabobs precooking!

After cooking!