LORA

This post is for Lora! She knows who she is by the way I spelled her name! :)

I have my pics from last night, but haven't downloaded them yet...haven't had time. So keep checking back!

~Kristi

A Day of Successful Homeschooling!

Justin dropped Hannah off at her grandmother's today to clean her house before he had to be at class at the college. While they were gone, Harrison and I had a great day in school.

He had two tests today. One on his multiplication tables and one in Spelling. He made a hundred on both. Tomorrow he will have a test in Science.

His test tomorrow will be on:
The five senses
The three states of matter
Metal~what it carries and what can be done to it.
The definition of "machine"
And what it means when we say liquid has an edge that moves

I have a feeling he'll pass with flying colors. But we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to be sure!

Are You Missing the Rainbow?

One of the things in the devotional Mrs. Ava gave out the other night on Seeing God's Grace In Disgraceful Times was taken from Genesis 9:8-17 and asked a few simple questions about God's faithfulness to Noah. What was God's Promise? To whom was it made? And what was the sign?

God promised Noah He would never again destroy the earth by flood. He made that promise, not only to Noah, but to Noah's seed for perpetual genertations. And not just Noah's seed, but to every living creature. That promise was made, even to the animals! The animals were even precious in His sight and God showed mercy to them because of Noah's faithfulness.

The thought I had here when reading this devotion was about the rainbow. God put the rainbow up for Noah as a sign of His promise. A sign of remembrance.

When Justin was very little, maybe two or three years old, we were sitting on the front porch of my parent's home. Daddy all of the sudden gasped and said, "Look at that beautiful rainbow!" Just above a grove of trees you could see the bright colors glistening in the sky. It was truly lovely. But Justin was missing it. His little eyes could not find the rainbow. We pointed it out to him, I don't know how many times, for a good twenty to thirty mintues. He never did see the rainbow. To this day when he can't seem to understand or figure something out, daddy and I will say, "He's not seeing the rainbow." We get a giggle from it, remembering the time we had pointing out that rainbow to him.

But going back to my thought...from a humanistic point of view, when we see the rainbow we automatically think of how pretty it is and how amazing it is. It really is amazing! But how many rainbows have we viewed in our lifetime and thought of God and how He has kept His promise to us. Not only the promise of never destroying the world by water. But every promise He has ever made to us?

The next time you see a rainbow, remember to thank God for His touch of beauty in the sky. But also remember to thank Him for promises kept.

This Is Looooooooooong!

This has got to be the longest snake ever. I would hate to run into this fellow!

Ladies Bible Study at the Gondola Restaurant

Last night we had a ladies Bible study at the Gondola Restaurant. The Gondola is a lot like Olive Garden. I had the chicken Parmesan with pasta and marinara. The chicken was good, although not NEAR as good as Brother John O's, and I didn't eat the pasta. The pasta would have been all right but the marinara smothering it was nasty! LOL So I filled up mostly on bread and salad. I'm sorry y'all...I'm not much for Italian restaurants. But my church people LOVE 'em. I have to say, though, the chocolate cheesecake was the bomb! Thanks, mom, for sharing.

Me and my mommy...


On the way to the restaurant, we passed my brother, John, going home from work. What a goofball.

I may not have been overly impressed with the food, but it was the fellowship I looked forward to and enjoyed the most. We have the BEST group of ladies in our church! And a new one that I missed seeing there last night. Maybe next time, Joy!

You get forty to fifty women in one room and we can get pretty loud with talking and laughter.

Some of us just sit quietly and smile. *yeah right*

Don't let these angelic faces fool ya!

Hi, Angie! :)

Mrs. Linda talking...as usual...ha haaaa, Mrs. Linda, I love you!

Mrs. Lemuel was taking it all in.

Mrs. Ava, our pastor's wife. She is the best in the world!

L'il Mrs. Kellie R. She used to dodge my camera, but now she just stops and smiles because she knows it's pointless to dodge it.

Mrs. Carolyn enjoying her drink. She's our youth choir director. ALSO the best in the world!

They had pretty lights in the restaurant.

I was surprised when Amy pointed out that they were plastic.

This shot was just for fun. lol

Still talking and laughing while waiting on our food to arrive.

Mrs. Colleen and mama.

More fellowship

The salad....

Pass the bread, please! More salad, please! I need dressing, please!

Missy!! :)

Hi, Sam!

Mrs. Ava had prepared a lesson on how God smiles at us, even when we don't deserve it.

She made us these little booklets to finish the Bible study on our own this week. I'm looking forward to doing that this week.

Just before Mrs. Ava began the Bible study, the desserts came.

Theresa doesn't eat "real food" so she ordered three desserts. I don't know how her sugar stays under control. lol

Meghan was very excited about her chocolate cake.

Pam wanted to join in on the sugary delight as well.

We were happy that Elizabeth (our Ambassador Bible student) was able to join us. It was sweet of Cammie to bring her.

And then Mrs. Ava began her study. She broke us up into groups to look up passages and discuss how God smiled on certain people in the OT. Basically she wet our appetites to finish the lesson. It was really good. Although undeserving, God's grace is abundant and poured out on us in these very stressful times.

Arlene, Date Night, and Are You Going Expecting?

Friday afternoon I received a question from my bloggy friend, Arlene, on how to pronounce our last name. Besides her written question being almost confusing, it totally cracked me up. So I felt the need to call her and tell her exactly how to pronounce it. I think we surprised each other, hearing each other's accents. I thought she had one. She thought I had one. LOL I'm sure she thought I was a prattling magpie the way my mouth was going a hundred miles a minute. Somehow I doubt that took her by surprise. But you never know. As soon as we hung up from one another I started snickering at what must have been going through the poor dear's head. And then I got ready for my date with Bruce.

Friday night's date night was spent at Bridges Barbecue. People in these parts that are familiar with this locally owned restaurant will be surprised to hear that this was our first time there! Yeah, I know. It was really good and we were STUFFED when we walked out. Or rather...waddled out!


Very informal decorating, but I do love the piggies on the concrete patio table outside.


Wow, I didn't realize my tights were so bright!! I should have worn a longer skirt. LOL


After supper we walked the mall a bit and ended up at Chick-fil-A for a milkshake. I ordered peppermint chocolate chip, but I think it was just chocolate.

Which was fine. It was still good.

Today (Saturday), Hannah was privileged to babysit for a new family in our church. She had such a good time with the children and I think one of them, especially, won her heart. I'll explain that to their mom Sunday. :)

While she sat with the kids, Justin worked the bus ministry, Bruce worked on his truck (yeah, I know), Harry played with the neighbor, and I went grocery shopping.

The day really got away from me. I have no idea where it went, but now I'm tired and ready for bed and looking for blessings at church tomorrow!

I've been thinking and praying about a blog post to do after a conversation I had about our service last Sunday night. At first I didn't think too much about it. But after thinking about it off and on this weekend, I have some thoughts that are stewing in my head. LOL You know how that is. So maybe Monday or Tues I'll get that out.

I really hope y'all have a great Sunday. Remember, if you go to church EXPECTING blessings, God will surely give them to you. If you go expecting nothing, you'll most likely get that too. Nothing!

This and That

Bruce's mom is very sick. I know she would appreciate your prayers.


We went to check on Marie Monday or Tuesday. Hannah cleaned out her fridge and we got tickled because Marie had these caramel chews in a yellow bag. Harrison thought they were the caramel chew candies so he got a big handful of them and was eating them while watching cartoons before I realized what he was doing. They were the calcium chews she eats for her bones. Harrison said, "Well, they're pretty good to be medicine. I guess I'll have some strong bones now."

I took Hannah today for a hair appointment. She got another new cut.

I told you before that her hair was very thick. It took exactly one hour to just cut her hair and thin it. I really believe this is going to help prevent her frequent headaches.

Click Here!

Click here to see some old pictures. I hope it works!! I'm hoping to upload a lot more from when Bruce and were growing up. You click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Click here to see pictures of the Valentine's Banquet.

And click here to see more pictures of our Valentine's Banquet!

Please let me know if thsi doesn't work. I hope it does. It will save so much time trying to upload to blogger!! There's a lot of pics. LOL

:P

I Have Been Blessed

There's a video at the top of my sidebar of our youth choir singing I Have Been Blessed. It was too big for blogger, You Tube, and Photobucket. But Facebook allowed me to post it there and I was able to get the code to embed it here. Hope you enjoy it.

Brother Weaver

Brother Weaver was at our church last night. He's been once before since Bruce and I have been going to Faith and then the kids and I have seen him at Camp Meeting too. I'm sure a few of "y'all" have seen him at your Georgia Camp Meetings too. He's a very interesting singer with lots of energy. lol So...anyway...here he is singing So Much To Thank Him For.

See, Kellie, I told you I'd do it. LOL

Happy Valentine's Day at the Texas Roadhouse!

First of all...I did it y'all. I cut out my curls today. Can you believe it? Truthfully, they're still there, but I had my hair cut and straightened today. I like it so much better than my curls. Missy is the best!!


I told you the other day I won a dinner at the Texas Roadhouse for an essay I had written. They were having a contest and I entered the essay, honestly not expecting to win. I just liked writing our story. Anyway, tonight was the night we received the award for that it was the tastiest award I've had yet. LOL

Hannah took this pic of me and my Valentine. Good one, huh?


She took this one while he was talking. It just cracked us up so I thought I'd share it with you too.


This one is out of order somehow, but OK...

Me and my sweetheart.

We got tickled at this one too because he looks like a chicken ready to peck my head.

I played with the camera on the way and took some silly pics. This is Bruce singing with the radio.

Me

Hmmmm

Bruce says this is a "Hannah smile."

Blowing kisses at my Darlin'.

Final destination: Texas Roadhouse. We didn't have to wait in line at all. As soon as I told the young lady at the desk our name, she knew exactly who we were and they seated us immediately. Cool, huh?

I was totally shocked to see they had rose petals and little lighted candles on the table. I wasn't expecting that.

They also had this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

And balloons! We felt special that the servers would stop and say hi and congratulations to us. They were all so nice!

The waitress was kind enough to take our picture.

They started us with an appetizer of yeast rolls and cheese fries. Yum! We chose the 12 oz Ribeye smothered in onions, mushrooms, and cheese with loaded baked potato and salad.

Bruce enjoying his meal!

This was the manager and she was wonderful. Very sweet. She made sure everything was just right and romantic for us while we enjoyed our meal. Hopefully she'll remember what I wrote my blog addy on and see these pics.

Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. We love your restaurant and will definitely be back!

Me

This was Brandi. She was our waitress and she was GREAT! I don't think our glasses were empty at all. She was quick with the food too, making sure everything was to our liking. GREAT waitress! We made sure she had a GREAT tip! She deserved it.

Bruce and I were so full, but still managed to share a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

We had such a great time. If y'all have a Texas Roadhouse near you, be sure to stop by and order some of their yummy food. I know you'll love it!

Thanks again, Texas Roadhouse for a wonderful evening. We had a really good time and everything was PERFECT!

Going home

Here's a better shot of the flowers. Aren't they lovely?

OK, so several people asked me to show my essay. I would have shown it to you sooner, but I wanted to wait until our dinner. So for all you inquisitive minds.....here ya go!

I was working at Harris Teeter while in high school. I was in a horse riding accident and was out of work for several weeks. My first day back I was ringing up a customer and just felt like someone was staring at me. I looked up and there was this new guy standing at the time clock getting ready to punch out. Sure enough, he was the one staring!

Being the feisty red head that I am, I snarled my nose and asked, "What are you looking at?" He just smiled a goofy smile and shrugged his shoulders. I shook my head and went about my business.

Little did I know that he was going to go home and tell his mom he had met the girl he was going to marry. Regardless of the fact that his dad told him to NEVER get involved with a red head!

From that day on, Bruce became a thorn in my flesh. He was a stock boy but every chance he had, he would make his way to my register to bag groceries and bug the hound out of me. Asking me out every few minutes. Telling the customers that he knew he was going to marry me. Blah, blah blah! It was so annoying.

I told my mom about him. She just laughed.

I finally had enough of this bag boy and decided to talk to my manager about him. I told Mr. Smith that if Bruce Morrow did not leave me alone I was quitting my job because I just couldn't deal with him every single day. Mr. Smith was nice about it and said he would talk to Bruce for me.

Shortly thereafter, Bruce came to me and apologized. "Kristi, I'm sorry for bothering you. I promise I won't talk to you any more. I just really liked you."

At first I was happy that he actually got the point. However, several days passed without even a hello from him. This bothered me as much as him talking non stop to me. I remember laying in bed at night not being able to sleep and thinking how rude he had been.

I told my mom about it. Again, she just laughed.

One day I decided to speak to Bruce about him not speaking to me. I told him he did not have to totally ignore me. A hello would be nice. Even a simple wave would be something. Just some kind of acknowledgement. Anything! He did start telling me hello. Eventually his hellos became more and he asked me out one more time. I told him I would go out with him if he would go to church with me and my family. He came! I was really surprised. That same Sunday after church, we walked the battleground at Kings Mountain state park. He walked me to a clearing overlooking a beautiful valley and asked me to wear his high school ring. I accepted it. I became his girlfriend March 12, 1989.

The first time he told me he loved me, he blurted it out in front of a customer at work. My eyes grew big when I looked up at him and his eyes were big too. Neither of us could believe he had just said it. Especially since his dad had always told him to "NEVER tell 'em you love 'em!" I thought it was cute that Bruce was blushing.

Our first kiss was in the break room of Harris Teeter. We were reading the newspaper together and our heads were getting closer and closer the longer we read. Finally, we turned to look at each other and it happened. He kissed me. And I kissed him right back! During this wonderful, very first kiss, we heard Mr. Smith's voice ringing behind us, "You better tell that Bruce Morrow to leave me alone or I'm going to quit." We all looked at each other with big smiles. Mr. Smith rolled his eyes and walked away. We continued kissing!

Bruce left for the Air Force two months later. What should have been a time of dates and getting to know each other was filled with lots of letters and phone calls. He graduated from Satellite Communications School in Biloxi, Mississippi, leaving for Germany soon after. But it wasn't long before he called to say he was coming home. He was home for a month and on February 13, 1990, we walked the battleground once again. We had not walked the battleground since he asked me to be his girlfriend. He walked me to that same clearing, overlooking that same beautiful valley, bent down on one knee and asked me to be his wife, replacing his class ring with an engagement ring.

We were married December 22, 1990.

It's been eighteen wonderful years with the good and the bad. And I wouldn't trade a single day for another.