99 years ago...

Today would have been my Nanny's 99th birthday.  She went home to be with Jesus almost 6 years ago.  I had meant to take a very special picture while I was at my mom's house to share with you all today but I forgot to do it.  I was going to take a picture of an old teacup that is crusted with sugar.  Why an old crusted over teacup?  That old teacup holds lots and lots of memories.

When I was growing up, my Nanny taught me how to bake.  I think that is one of the reasons I love baking as an adult.  Nanny loved it and she passed that on to me.  She used that old teacup to measure her sugar.  Of course when I was a teenager and taking Home Economics, I explained to her that it wasn't an accurate form of measurement and would most certainly mess up the baked goods.  Nanny humored me and we used measuring cups.  I'm not sure why I or she did not think to measure out one cup with a measuring cup and fill the teacup with it.  We never did.  I did that a couple of months ago.  Guess what?  I was exactly one cup!  In honor of my Nanny, my sugar canister now has a teacup from the stonewear set that she blessed me with for my hope chest when I was in junior high.  I measured it too.  One cup. 

Over my life, Nanny and I built many special memories.  I have tons of pictures but none of them are scanned in.  However, if you can picture the perfect grandma, you'd have my Nanny.  Just to clarify who Nanny was, she was my mother's grandmother...my great grandmother.  To me, she was just Nanny.  The woman who let me sleep with her in her full sized bed when I spent the night with her.  She even made sure my pillow had my special pillow case on it.  It was an old, vintage pillow case with ballerinas on it.  It was lovely with fair dancers wearing soft pink tutus.  She had a nightgown for me at her house that she made.  As I grew, I guess she made new ones because I always had a nightgown at Nanny's house when I spent the night.  Before bed, Nanny told me stories like Little Red Riding Hood and nursery rhymes like Little Boy Blue.  LOL...I won a nursery rhyme contest at a baby shower once because of that!

When we'd wake up in the mornings, Nanny would head to the bathroom first and light the little gas heater in the bathroom.  She wanted it toasty warm for me to go into.  Now, don't laugh, but I always asked her if she had used the bathroom yet because I wanted to know if the toilet seat was warm.  Yes, my sweet little Nanny went in there and sat on a cold toilet seat first so it would be warm for my bottom.  She thought about the smallest, silliest details.

It was a rare thing for me to have cold cereal at my Nanny's house.  I know she and Papa ate it because they always had corn flakes there.  However, when I stayed with them, Nanny cooked breakfast.  You would have thought she was a short order cook.  Papa liked his eggs fried as did Nanny.  I didn't care for fried eggs back then so she scrambled mine.  Just for me.  She also made biscuits and we put homemade jelly or preserves on them.  Nanny made the best peach, fig, and other preserves and jellies.

Sometime while I was with them, Nanny and I would bake.  It depended on my mood as to what we cooked.  She always baked whatever struck my fancy.  She made the best peanut butter cookies.  That was one of the first things I learned to bake.  Of course we used that teacup to measure the sugar.

Someday, many years from now, I hope I can build wonderful memories like these with my grandchildren.  I hope that they can look back at my old teacup and remember how much I loved them.  Of all my memories, the most precious is that my Nanny loved me very very very much.

My mommy!

Ok, so I meant to do this on my mom's birthday, but, well, I'm scatterbrained so I didn't.  My momma turned 53 this past Sunday.  I should have taken a pic for this post before I moved but again with the scatterbraininess so no pic.

My mom is great!  She can also be a little scatterbrained (see...I get it from my mom  :D).  She has been married to my dad for almost 38 years.  She's the mother of two GREAT daughters...see earlier post about my little sister and of course you already know how great I am.  <blushing>

In all seriousness, let me tell you about her.  She married my dad when she was 15.  By this time my mom was running her father's business.  After she had me, she took me to work at said business.  In case you're wondering, NO she was not pregnant.  She got pregnant with me 3 months after she got married.  She did it on purpose.  I wasn't an accident.  I was born exactly a week after she turned 16.  Mom worked part time at various places when I was a little girl and my Nanny babysat me while mom worked.  Um, MY personal favorite that she worked at was Dairy Queen (can we say yummy ice cream?!).  When I was in high school, my mother went to college.

Mom first got her BSW.  She worked in a nursing home for a while and then went to work for the Department of State Health Services.  She is, and has been for a looooooong time, a social worker for chronically ill and disabled children.  She is an amazing social worker.  She works hard to get kids the things they need to make their quality of life better.  Everything from transportation to doctor appointments (she's even gotten cars donated to families) to medical equipment to nursing services.  She's spent her own money to make sure her kiddos have gotten Christmas gifts and taken her own time to go take their senior pictures because their parents couldn't afford the ones from the school.  Through all of that, she's even made time to go back to school and get her MSW.  In addition, she teaches part time for the school of social work at Texas A & M University in Commerce, TX.  Yeah, she rocks that social work gig!

Besides being a social worker, my mom is also an ordained minister.  She has not only served as Childrens Pastor and Youth Pastor but also as Associate Pastor.  IMO, there have been a couple of pastors that have really missed out on having someone great on staff because they have passed her over.  She's an awesome preacher but above that, she LOVES the people and the church.  She is always willing to serve in the church in whatever capacity she is needed...secretary, preaching, scrubbing toilets...mom is there.  Mom is very dedicated to God and loves HIM more than anything or anyone else.  She also rocks being a minister!

Oh, she does more!  She is also a Make A Wish volunteer for the Make A Wish Foundation of Northeast Texas.  What does she do for MAW?  Why, she is a wishgranter, of course.  She goes out of her way to make every child's wish as special as that child is.  Everything from computers, to shopping sprees, to trips to Disney, mom is there getting the wish, throwing parties, and giving gifts.  She rocks being a wish fairy!

Of course she is also a wife and a mother and a daughter.  I could go on for forever about those things...how she took care of me when I was barfing up my toenails, took sister and I to all sorts of events and appointments, took care of my daddy after heartattacks, a stroke, and open heart surgery.  She took care of my Nanny and Papa when they got old.  She walked with them through life and stayed with them until they went to be with Jesus.  Yeah, she rocks that too!

So, you've caught a little glimpse of my momma.  She ROCKS!

Ask and ye shall receive

Ok, I'll admit it.  I'm a stalker.  Since we've moved here, I've discovered the local Goodwill.  Now, I'll be honest.  I did NOT want to even go in there because I've had such rotten experiences with them.  However, several of the ladies in our church suggested trying there for a sofa (I don't remember if I blogged that find or not).  So, the stalking began with looking for den furniture. 

Well, the screen on my laptop has been in and out for several months now.  I've just been hooking up to the boys' monitor on the desktop when it's out.  Pastor Husband informed me this week that's not going to keep working.  That means I started stalking Goodwill again.  Holy moly.  The day before he told me that, there were FOUR monitors in there.  The very next day at 10 a.m there were NONE.  Of course I have been going back daily.  I even went into Indy to see if the one at Washington Square area had one.  Not one I wanted to spend money on (I think that was the Holy Spirit though).

While I was helping pastor set up the fellowship hall today for another church that is going to be using it, I mentioned in passing that I had been looking for one.  He told me not to buy one that there are a couple laying around the church not being used.  Wendon and I went down in the basement and sure enough, there was a monitor!  I brought it home and hooked it up...guess what I'm seeing this post on.  ;)

My point?  Sometimes it's just best to let people know what you need.  Ask, and you might just get it!  I could have saved myself all that stalking time!

Happy Birthday, Autumn!

Today is my baby sister's 23rd birthday.  Happy Birthday, Autumn!

It was 23 years ago that my prayers for a sister were answered.  My dad came and picked me up from school early because my sister's birthmother was in labor.  We got to the hospital and waited.  and waited.  and waited.  Until finally my mom came out and told us we had a girl.  I knew we had a girl already.  I had prayed for a baby sister and I knew when my parents decided to adopt that baby that it would be a girl.  My parents trusted the doctor when he said SHE was a boy.  The bought boy clothes, boy diapers, and, well, boy stuff.  I told them to buy pink but no one listened to me.  Dad had to exchange everything.  <giggle>

Autumn was a little bity bit when she came home.  She weighed less than 5 pounds and could fit in my Cabbage Patch Preemie doll clothes.  Mom and dad had to special order her bottles and her diapers.  23 years ago they didn't carry preemie diapers at local stores and we couldn't find 2 ounce bottles with preemie nipples anywhere.    She was just so tiny and cute.

Anyway, I'm happy to call Autumn my sister.  She's become a beautiful young woman who loves God.  I'm proud of her.  I'm thankful to God for giving her to us. 

Happy Birthday, Autumn; I love you!!

Gidget Goes Squirrelly

LOL..I'm not even sure I spelled that right.  Oh well.  Pastor Husband says my brain just goes from thing to thing so fast it makes his head spin.  He can keep up with me but I think he feels sorry for people who don't know me.  I sometimes wonder if he has to translate for some.  Well, tonight I feel jumpy, squirrelly, froggy...I think you get it:  My brain is jumping around from thing to thing.

Our neighbors came over to meet us tonight.  What a sweet family!  Mom, Dad, and two boys (ages 11 and 13) came with cupcakes.  Ok, they won me over with the cupcakes immediately.  Yummy!  We had a nice little conversation with them.  We've never had neighbors come over to meet us with a welcome gift in hand and a Christmas card as well.

Saw The Muppet Movie today.  LOVED it.  If you loved the Muppets as a kid, you have got to go see this.  What made it even better was the family behind us was as into it as we were.  We all sang the songs, bobbed our heads to the music, and laughed.  It was great!  Our boys love The Muppets and had all of the TimeLife Videos of them (I'm hoping to buy the DVDs for them) so they were thrilled.  Now we're gearing up to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol.

BTW, I cried during The Muppet Movie.  I cried watching MASH.  I cried after the neighbors left.  Good golly, I'm just emotional.  I'm not sad at all.  Just incredibly emotional.  I have no clue what is going on with me.  <rolls eyes>

Guess it's time for my brain to do something else.  Like watch more M.A.S.H.  Merry Christmas!!

Gidget Goes CRAZY!

I'd like to scream.  There are many many reasons I do not like to move.  Like reasons beyond the driving and packing and well, all that stuff.  For example, I can't find anything.  We finally found our stoneware plates so we got to eat on REAL plates.  However, the flatware is somewhere else.  Who knows where that box is.  Well, it's in the garage, but, really, do YOU want to look through all those boxes?

I didn't think you did.  Tomorrow my unpacking/getting settled goal is to move all the boxes into a more orderly fashion.  Each room will have a section in the garage for boxes and we'll put boxes with a mixture of stuff on the shelves.  My second goal is to set up beds.  We're sleeping on mattresses on the floor right now.  Blah.

So, there's the getting settled update.  It's driving me CRAZY!

Gidget Goes to Indiana---We're here!

It's been a long journey but we're here.  We got here Friday night (12/2) around 7:45.  On our way we stopped at the visitor center/rest area when entered Indiana.

We're happy to be in IN!

Map of Indiana

 Oliver's first time in Indiana

Noah and Copper's first time in Indiana

Pastor Husband reading some information on our new state.

After fighting traffic between that rest stop and home, we finally made it here.  We were tired but we had to unload some things.  Praise God our new pastor had some young fellas in our church lined up to help.  Our helpers were wonderful.  Before they got here, we were greeted by our pastor, his wife, the piano player, and the piano player's wife.  Brother and Sister Piano player brought us a little welcome gift...a lovely Christmas decoration that I have on top of the piano.

Pastor gave us a tour of our new house.  Here's your tour.

 Oliver standing in the door of Noah's room.

Noah's room.



The closet at the end of the hall 

Full bathroom.  Notice the wonderful curved curtain rod. 

 laundry room/entrance to half bath

laundry room:  washer and dryer hookups 

half bath 

Mine and Pastor Husband's bedroom

"The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table"

On the wall of our dining room

Formal living/dining room.  Pardon the fuzz from my coat in the lower right corner.

 

Kitchen sink area

Fridge with groceries from our church family.

Freezer with chicken and pork chops from our church family.

fridge

kitchen:  dishwasher

Kitchen:  built in china/curio cabinet

kitchen:  groceries and paper goods from our new church families.

"Family one of God's masterpieces"

on the wall in our den

. 

Our den.

So there ya have it.  Our beautiful new home.  I'm working on getting it all set up and I'll take pictures of that when it's all done.

We're very very excited to be here!  God is great and we can't wait to find out what He is going to do through us here.  For now, I need to get back to unpacking.  Be blessed, my friends!

Gidget Goes to Indiana--Days 2-4

I've been having some issues getting my blog to work.  It could very well have been an IOE (idiot operator error).  Everything seems to be working great now so I'll just catch up.  :)

Day 2
We were in Clovis, NM getting our stuff out of storage.  Lemme tell ya, the day didn't start off all that great.  We got up too late to have a leisurely breakfast; anyone who knows me well knows I like to have a big, leisurely breakfast.  Ok, so that didn't go that great.  It's all right. 

Next we went to the home of some friends/former church members.  Everything went fine there.  We got our stuff they had been borrowing and headed to the storage unit.  Oh. my. goodness.  We got straight to work and I was near tears.  I told Pastor Husband, "If I knew who to hire, I'd hire someone to help us."  Well, Pastor's parents were there and had gone to breakfast.  When they came back, they brought help!  Pastor Mother-in-law (MIL) told Pastor FIL that he and hubby couldn't do much because of heart conditions and disability.  She said there was no way I could do everything; "we have to get some help."  She asked the waitress if she knew someone!  I LOVE my MIL!! 

With the help of the two young men Pastor FIL hired, we got it emptied and completely loaded into the truck in two hours.  Really, the only downside was that we had to pay a whole month's storage rent because we were two days into the new month.  My advice to avoid that:  Don't rent from Uhaul.

After we finished loading, we had to check into some personal financial business.  We had been praying about it for several months.  God completely worked a miracle!  Praising Him still for this!  We are now free of some bondage that has been on us since July!

We had lunch with Pastors MIL & FIL at Juanito's in Clovis.  It's our fave mexican place there.  All the employees wanted to know where we've been.  We were thrilled to tell them we're moving to Indiana.  :)

After a few tears, we said goodbye to hubby's parents.  I have a feeling Pastor MIL cried on their drive home.  Here's a pic of them.

My in-laws:  Don and Wenona Pettey

Finally, we drove and drove and drove some more.  We made it to Abilene, TX.  We were happy to stay in our usual motel, the Whitten Inn.  If you're ever in Abilene, it's a great place to stay!

Day 3

After a wonderful breakfast at the Whitten Inn, we headed out to my parents house.  First we had to fill up our gas tanks.  Here's another pic for ya!

 Pastor Husband putting diesel into the moving truck.

Our moving truck.

If you haven't been through Dallas, TX in a while (or ever), people there have driving issues.  Like many of them apparently don't know how to drive.  Ugh.  All in all, it wasn't too bad.  It was worth a treat though.  :D

My salted carmel hot chocolate from Starbucks.

We finally got home and loaded more stuff into the truck and packed and packed and packed.  My friend, Josh Miles, was kind enough to come out and help load our piano onto the moving truck.  Wasn't that sweet?!  He's a great guy!

Day 4

We started our day today by finishing loading the moving truck.  We ended up leaving 3 hours later than what we wanted to.  That's ok.  We just stopped in Texarkana, AR and filled up our gas tanks again.  Went inside and picked up lunch (thank you, mom and dad for lunch!).  We didn't have to stop again until we got to North Little Rock, AR.  That was just to stretch and go to the restroom.  Of course we waled the dogs.  Last pic...

Pastor Husband, the pastoral children, and pastoral doggies

Finally tonight we made it to West Memphis, AR.  I am NOT impressed.  I find it creepy.  I don't know why so don't ask.  I just don't suggest staying here if you don't have to.  If any of you are from West Memphis, well, I'm sorry.

So, that catches us up.  Tomorrow we'll drive and drive some more then end up at our new home.  I'll try to update tomorrow with some pics of the rest of our trip and our new house.  However, I might not be able to.  Please just bear with me.  Goodnight, friends!