thankful.

i'm not even sure where to start with this post...i have so many things that i am thankful for and so many events that have left me feeling very blessed this year. 

but instead of listing all of them, i am going to tell you about one person that i am most thankful for this thanksgiving day.

she is a very close friend of mine...
we have known each other since we were 3, we grew up together on the same block and went all through our school years together.

she is very special to me.
she is  kind, caring, & compassionate.
she is creative and artistic.
she will make you laugh.
she is super, duper smart.
she is beautiful, inside and out.
she has awesome hair :)
she is a amazing mom to 3 of the cutest curly headed boys you have ever seen.
she loves her family and God more than anything.

AND... she just BEAT cancer!
what could've been a very bad cancer if she hadn't noticed something wasn't right.

...and i am so thankful that she is going to be alright.  i can't imagine the alternative. EVER!
thankful for her strength, thankful to everyone who prayed for her, thankful for her amazing doctor who with the help of God and many a hospital staff, worked miracles. 

God healed her...he showed us a true miracle.
...and that is what i am most THANKFUL for.

love ya my friend!

parks family.

a good friend of mine asked if i would take some photos of their family.
i said yes right away...but then later got a little freaked out.
yes, i like to take photos...but i never had done a family before...
luckily i think they came out pretty good...my friend LOVED them, and that is all that matters.

...and it doesn't hurt that they are all beautiful.
their girls are super adorable!

miss bristol was so good the whole time!

don't you just love all that hair? ...and those chubby cheeks? 

 3 months old and she already has pigtails!  such a CUTIE!!!

miss skyler may grow up to be a model..she loved getting her picture taken.

i learned a lot that day...
shooting people is so different than shooting objects and places.
i definitely had a lot of fun though.

thanks jake and kelli....it was a BLAST!

it has it's perks.

sometimes being married to a cop has it's advantages...

not always, but sometimes.

last night definitely was an advantage.
i got to meet county superstar martina mcbride...who is originally from a tiny little town in kansas.

 (yes, i was this close to her!!)

she is on a cross country train tour with amtrak to promote her new album "Eleven" which was released just yesterday and she is also spreading the word about breast cancer awareness. 

she arrived with her entourage on her own decked out pink train.

my hubby craig was part of her security while in town.
when he told me she was coming i said "i am going with you!"

she was only here for about an hour and spent most of the time inside our train station meeting with the media and other groups. 
i got to be in the train station the whole time! 
i got to meet her and have my picture taken with her.

the other girl with me is braidyn, who is a HUGE fan of martina.
she just happen to text me at the right time and i was able to smuggle her in :)
she is singing 2 of martina's songs at an upcoming national talent show in indiana.
needless to say, she was freaking out in excitement.
the only thing that bugs me about this picture is my "deer in the headlights look" and the fact that i didn't put eye liner on that day... :)  oh well!  hey it could've been worse!

while martina was there, she met with a group from BIG BROTHERS. BIG SISTERS and also several cancer survivors.

she also did live radio and television interviews inside the station.

they had set up a mini stage for her just outside the train station doors.
when she took the stage she talked about her new album release and also breast cancer awareness.
she said she was so happy she was able to stop into her home state while on her train tour.
we were happy she chose our little town!
she didn't do any songs, which i would of loved, but the fact that i got to meet her was fun enough!

she is the tiniest little thing!
even though she was being hurried through the crowd outside, she still listened to people's stories and signed autographs for her fans.
she seemed genuinely sweet.

here is her taking some photos with the crowd.

this is the family that owns our town's train station.
they asked if i would take their photo with her.
um, hello?  of course i will!

i have no idea how many people showed up, but from where i stood it was a lot!

so remember when i said the martina and me picture could be worse??
well... i actually had 2 photos taken with her.
her photographer took my camera to take our picture and obviously didn't look at how it came out.
when i saw it i was like "seriously!!!"  that is the photo i'm gonna have the rest of my life with martina mcbride?  i begged him to take another one and later he did.  phew!!! 
if he hadn't, me and braidyn would've been stuck with this picture for the rest of our lives!

a awesome picture with martina's peerly whites!  HA!

thank goodness for second chances...
...and nice husbands that will take you with them on security detail!

happenings and winner.

it was another packed weekend for us.
weekends really should be 3 days instead of just 2.
i would happily go with a 8 day week, as long as 3 of those were considered weekend days.

craig and i walked down to our town's annual food festival...
you know you had a good time if you waddle all the way home in misery from all the yummy food and desserts. 

1. cast iron cobbler  2. mr. jost, cobbler cooker extraordinaire.  3. finally made it to the front of the line.
4.  what we were waiting on...BEST PORK CHOPS EVER!!  5. flame master pat.  6. creepiness.  7. best seat in the house.  8.  good music.  9. PIE!  'nuff said.  10. peppernuts (ick!)  11-13. suz's curly head cuties.
14. packed house.  15. seconds on the cobbler :)


miley's friend twig came to stay for the week...

1.  trying to thief the m & m's.  2. super close-up.  3. waiting for those elusive squirrels.  4. twig  5.  chasing squirrels can lead to getting stuck in the compost bin.  6. waiting for treats.  7. miley


a local church hosts a "blessing of the animals" ceremony every year.
we have had almost all of our animals blessed over the years.
this was miley and twigs first time.

1.  waiting patiently  2. listening to the message.  3. getting to know everyone.  4.  miley being blessed with holy water.  5. wondering why she can't just drink the holy water.  6.  she heard the word "treat"  7. twig being blessed.  8.  the dogs just kept coming.  9  miley and kelly.  10.  being blessed tuckers you out.



and now for the winner of the birdie plaque...

congratulations to...

kristin said...

uh, please. and i want to shop your leftovers too.

October 8, 2011 7:47 AM

kristin, please email me so i can get this little birdie to his new home.

thanks to all of those who entered!

giveaway day!

*********GIVEAWAY CLOSED***************

if you weren't able to attend  the barn sale last weekend, don't fret!
i decided to give you, the readers a chance to win something fun and fabulous too!

i am giving away  this cute little birdie hello sign....it's just waiting to be hung by someone's front door!

to enter, just leave me a comment about anything!
or just say hello!
that's it!
easy smeasy!

giveaway closes on sunday oct 9th at midnight central time.
i will announce the winner on monday around noon.
good luck peeps!

*********GIVEAWAY CLOSED***************

fall barn sale 2011

i think i have finally recovered from the barn sale over the weekend.
it is a lot of work getting ready for it, but it is always worth it.
this is what my booth looked like.

you can't miss it, it's pretty colorful....i just need to figure out how to get my tent canvas turquoise or red or something fun like that.  can you spray paint those things??  hmm, maybe i could dye it.  :)

 the countdown chalkboards were pretty popular.

 i love the  "my friends" saying...it is so true!

i had such a good time meeting new people, seeing familiar faces, and friends i haven't seen in years!

initial estimates are that there were between 1100 and 1200 people that came out for the sale!
it was definitely a busy day!
...and once again, i couldn't have done it without my awesome neighbor amy j.  she has helped me from the beginning and i really appreciate her help!!!  THANKS AMY!!
i was very pleased with the turnout and how much i sold...which made getting up at 5 am totally worth it.
i was surprised at how many people came from far away!
everyone i talked to loved it, they said it just felt so warm and homey, and they thought it was neat how it was just smack dab in the middle of the country.
country folk are just so dang friendly!

everywhere you looked, there were moms,dads, kids, grandparents, and even a couple sweet hounds.
everyone was smiling and just out enjoying the beautiful weather that God provided.

 2 men and a baby.  :)

 those mennonite girls baked up some wonderful, yummy food.


this little guy wanted that car so bad...he kept saying "me get vroom, vroom?"  so cute!

take a look around at some of the other booths...
(i wish i had gotten pictures of every booth, but i got so busy that i didn't get them all.)

my friend crys with her booth.

she had the most amazing antiques and the cutest hand painted eggs.

the super hero cape booth is always popular with the littles.

nicole came to shop at the spring barn sale and we talked her into having a booth at the fall one!

 loved her necklaces!

 i love plane jane's booth...it's very colorful like mine.
we decided next sale, we need to be next to each other because we were shopping back and forth at each others booth all day.  :)

i always find something at this booth. 

 i saw lots of shoppers with those wire baskets.

at this booth, you picked out what buttons you wanted to have made into a ring.

i loved that argyle wreath!  i wish i would of bought it for my kitchen door.

miss beki's booth.

thank you josh and beki, for all your HARD work to make this sale possible!
i don't know where you get all that energy!
if you figure out a way to bottle it and sell it, let me know!!

...fyi, i have a few things left over if anyone is interested.
you can leave me a comment or email me to see if i have something your wanting.
if you comment, just make sure you leave a email so i can get back to you.

oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to amy wade & leeah baker for winning our booth giveaways.
and just so you readers don't feel left out, i will be having a giveaway for you this week!
stay tuned.