Sunshine and Dynamite.....

Happy Birthday, America!

Should have said that yesterday. 

Well, I did, just not on here. 

Judging by the arsenal of fireworks currently going off outside, our neighbors aren't finished celebrating. 

I expect to hear dynamite soon. 

It will make the 3rd night in a row. 

No, I'm not kidding. 

The first night, I was SOUND asleep when it went off. 

It sounded just like it was right outside. 

You wanna know why? Because it was. 

Last night, I was awake, reading, when it went off. 

I swear, I thought somebody had ran into our pier, or our jetskis had fallen out of the lift. 

Why would one want to blow up dynamite? I have no idea. 

Despite the dynamite, it has been a great weekend around The Nest. 

We spent America's birthday on the 

water. 

Lots of sunshine, blue skies, and beautiful sunsets. 

Last night, we rode with friends on their boat to watch our city's firework celebration. 

We had a great time and the fireworks were awesome!

There's just something about being on the water, whether it's during the day or night, that makes everything better. 

Watching fireworks is no different. 

I'm thankful we are blessed with this treasure, called the river, in our backyard, and I am even more thankful for family and good friends to share it with. 

I hope you were able to celebrate America's birthday with those you love, doing what you love, Blog Friends. 

Love you MUCH,

=],

Gracie 

Happy Mother's Day.....

I do realize, even though Mother's Day brings me joy, it is a painful reminder to some of what can't be, what was, or what is missing from their lives. 

I remember, all too well, all the Mother's Days I spent trying, without success, to get pregnant.

It hurt. 

Deeply. 

I am blessed to still have my Mom. 

She is the strongest woman I know. 

I can honestly say, there has never been a time she didn't put me first. 

If I couldn't go somewhere, she suddenly didn't want to go anymore. 

If there was only one piece of pie, magically, she wasn't hungry anymore.

Funny how that works, isn't it?

Through her example, I learned what being a Mom was all about. 

I now understand the sleepless nights, 

pacing the floors, and worrying over, 

what seemed to me at the time, nothing. 

I understand the relief hearing the car pull in the driveway brings. 

I understand loving another person more than you love yourself, and being willing to take on the devil himself for them. 

I understand how your heart can 

literally beat inside another's chest.

I understand unconditional love, and love beyond measure.

I understand love so deep you would be willing to lay down your own life. 

I understand praying to take pain and 

sickness away, and being willing to take it yourself. 

I love you, Mom. 

There aren't enough words in the English language to describe what you mean to me. 

I know now there were hard days and hard times, yet, you never let me know it. 

You taught me so many things about life and about being a woman. 

Not only did you teach me there were real life Princesses, you taught me it was ok to be one myself. 

You taught me I could do anything I put my mind to. 

You taught me I could be anything I wanted to be and what I always wanted to be was you. 

You taught me to love passionately and forgive freely, though, I'm still working on the forgiving freely part. 

You taught me the importance of Family. 

You taught me to hug, and not be afraid of human touch. 

You taught me to say, "I love you" 

and just how important those words really are.

You taught me the value of hard work, and a good name. 

You taught me to be a Leader and not a follower. 

You taught me plain talk is easily understood. 

You taught me to speak my mind and that my opinion is valuable. 

You taught me responsibility and accountability.

You taught me how important it is to keep your word. 

You taught me to laugh and enjoy life. 

You taught me it was ok to cry. 

You taught me to adapt to change. 

You taught me to take chances. 

You taught me it was ok to fail. 

You taught me it felt great to win.

You taught me how to lose with grace and dignity. 

You taught me beauty is on the inside. 

You taught me to be nice to others. 

You taught me to give of myself.

You taught me to stand up for what 

I believe in, even if it means standing alone. 

Above all, you taught me about Jesus and His Love. 

You taught me He has a plan for my life.

You taught me His timing is perfect. 

You taught me to pray and read my Bible. 

You taught me to carry my kids to church, never send them. 

You taught me to take notes in Church. 

You taught me to sing. 

You taught me to never be ashamed of 

Christ and the work He has done in my life.

You have taught me all this and so much more.

I'm proud to call you Mom. 

I hope I can be half the Mom to my girls, you have been to me. 

I love you MUCH, Always & Forever!

=],

I'm Sorry, Not Sorry.....

Simply put, I am in awe of God's Creation and His Handiwork. 

Like, l'm not even kidding. 

Sunset.....

Sunrise.....

The Sky.....

Clouds.....

The Sun.....

Rain.....

Water.....

Flowers.....

Fields.....

You name it, I. Love. It. ALL. 

It all goes back to having a window seat the first time I flew and seeing the world from 36,000 feet. 

It amazes me to think God, who made Heaven and Earth, and placed each one of those white, billowy clouds in the sky, created me and is madly in love with me. 

My mind can't totally comprehend that. 

Combine that, with my love for taking pictures, and you have quite an obsession, I mean, passion.

 

It's the kind of passion that will make a girl stop in the middle of wherever she is, at any given moment, and take a picture, or two, or ten.

 

I can't really explain it; can't put it into words. 

I think we get so use to seeing things everyday that we forget to appreciate them. 

We become desensitized to their beauty and splendor. 

I never want to lose the wonder of His creation. 

So, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Blog Friends, I'm sorry, but not sorry, for my endless pictures.

 

I really can't help myself.

 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  ~Psalms 19:1 (NIV)

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. ~Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV) 

13 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalms 139:13-14 (NIV)

Have a wonderful weekend, Blog Friends!  

Love you MUCH!

=],

Gracie

The Healer.....

I've had several people ask me if the recent trials in my family have caused me to question my faith. 

My answer is this.....

No. 

It doesn't. 

In fact, it makes my faith stronger. 

I wrote this post in 2010 and it is still appropriate for today.....

http://mygraciern.blogspot.com/2010/10/dont-be-afraid-just-believe.html?m=1

I can focus on the hurt or The Healer. 

I choose The Healer. 

Satan doesn't like that. 

He would rather I move my attention from The Healer, where it belongs, and focus on the hurt. 

In doing that, he would successfully rob me of joy, hope, and a peace that passes ALL understanding. 

Does my heart hurt? Absolutely

Do I wish I could take it all away? Of course

But, do I question God's love? Never

Do I question His faithfulness? Never 

His mercies are new every morning. 

His strength is made perfect in weakness. 

He never changes. 

Love you MUCH!

=],

Gracie

Weekend Review.....

Wow!

What an ending to the

Auburn vs Mississippi State game last night.

I can't say what a game, because,

most of the game, my Tigers looked terribly flat. 

The ending, though, was unbelievable!  

For those of you that didn't watch,
Mississippi State was leading with only 10 seconds left
when we scored the winning touchdown to finish the game. 

Needless to say, the stadium went CRAZY!

And so did I!

I could hardly talk after the game from yelling so much. 

It was great day for Auburn
football, and it was a great day for tailgating. 

The weather was perfect, and

 had just a slight feel of Fall in the air. 

The company was good and there was lots of yummy food. 
 

Who can go wrong with ribs and cookies? 
 

A fellow tailgater made theses delicious ribs for us.
 

I will find his business card
and give him proper credit on a future
 post, but let me assure you, they were d-lish!

I must confess, this girl cracked me up. 

 

I'm not sure what game she
was playing, but I can tell you for sure
 she wasn't interested in the game on the field. 

AT. ALL. 

To each his/her own, I suppose. 

One last picture from Auburn. 

The orange and blue sunset was quite fitting. 

Next week, the Tigers travel to Baton Rouge

 to play the Tigers of LSU, and I am looking forward
to spending a whole weekend at home watching football. 

Today, we spent the day on the water. 

Ruby loves riding the boat and now she has decided

she likes the water a little more and more every time we go.

We love her spoiled rotten self! 

Can you tell?

She played and swam and swam

and played until she was pooped.

I had to leash her on the ride back,

because she kept wanting to jump in the water. 

We wanted a river dog and we definitely got it, I guess. 

This afternoon I was able to relax on

the dock, cuddle up with a blanket and take a nap. 

It was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l! 

Waking up to this amazing sunset was even better.

I hope you all have a great week, Blog Friends! 

Love you MUCH!

=], 

Gracie 

It's finally Friday! 

Friday means the weekend is fast approaching. 

The weekend means family, friends, food, and football. 

Football means tailgating, watching the

eagle soar around Jordan-Hare Stadium, singing

The Star Spangled Banner with 80,000 other people,

and, of course, 60 minutes of what I hope ends in a WIN! 

We'll be getting up bright and early to head to Auburn

to watch my Tigers play the Mississippi State Bulldogs.   

I love Auburn and I love Auburn football. 

I also love sunsets, clouds and, really, the sky, in general. 

In fact, I admit, I am quite obsessed with D.) All the above. 

It amazes me how beautiful God's handiwork is. 

I am literally in awe that He can paint

a masterpiece in the sky with the brush of

His Hand and can simply speak creation into existence. 

Here's tonight's sunset.....

It was too pretty not to share. 

My Daddy's check-up went well this week. 

Thankfully, his counts are good and holding steady. 

He feels great. 

He is playing golf 2-3 times (or more) a week,

and is just enjoying life, which is what I want him to do. 

He'll continue to see Dr. Erba monthly for check-ups. 

We'll take that over chemo any day. 

I hope you have a great weekend, Blog Friends!

I hope your team wins. 

Well, that is, unless you're a Mississippi State fan.

 

Or a Bama fan.

In that case.....

 

Love you MUCH!

=],