Three Old Ladies?

Today I went to Salt Lake City to have lunch with two of my friends from the old days back in Burbank. We are all the same age and went to Burroughs High School together. I forgot to take my camera so I will mercifully be sparing you from having to view three not so young chicks. My friend Gloria Rokes Jacobsen was here visiting her sister and put this little reunion together. Our other friend, Beverly Parker Chapman has lived in Salt Lake for a very long time, but we never go to the trouble of getting together. My thanks goes out to Gloria for bringing us all together again. It was so great to talk about our families and get caught up on everything that has happened in the last 40 years. Okay, it would take much longer than 4-5 hours to really get caught up on 40 years, but we talked constantly and did pretty well. We've all had our challenges and also many blessings and have much to be grateful for. The Lord has been very constant in each of our lives and we each can see evidence of the Lord's watchful and caring eye.

It is amazing to me to think that we have been out of high school for 40 years. I know that it is something that everyone says, but I just don't feel that old. The person inside this aging body is still the same young person who hung out with these girls between class at school. I can still feel how it felt to laugh with Beverly at silly things. I still remember girl's camp with Gloria the year we bought matching clothes for camp. (How dumb was that?) Thankfully, I am much wiser, a whole lot more empathetic and just a much better person than I was then. But, it's still just me inside and I feel young at heart. Life looks a whole lot different at this end of life than it did at that other end of life. As I look back down that road (a road that appears winding and up-hill all the way) I feel a strange sense of wonder. I actually climbed that road all by myself. Who knew that I had it in me? When challenged, I became strong. I won't bore you with the details of those challenges, but I feel that life has made me a better person, and I am grateful that the Lord has permitted me to live long enough to learn many lessons. I hope to live long enough to learn many more lessons. But, I do feel that life has been worthwhile. The spirtual and emotional muscles gained in my steep climb up the path of life have given me confidence in my ability to do what's right. When I was young (I see myself at the beginning of the path, all pink and new and naive) life seemed pretty uncomplicated and I thought I knew what my life would have in store for me. Thankfully, many of those naive dreams have actually come to me in my life. But, there have been many, many more things that I did not forsee or even imagine. Thank heavens we don't know the future. Would any of us have the courage to live life if we knew what the future held? I am no longer pink and new and naive, more like saggy and aging and wise, but I like me at this stage much more than I did that girl of 20.
Well, I could go on forever, but my darling husband is home and wants me to come tell him about my visit with my friends, so you are saved from further electronic babbling . I'm afraid to re-read this and see how disjointed it must sound, so I won't. Love, M

Tennessee

My mother and I just returned from a fun trip to Tennessee. We had never been there before, so it was great fun to see new places and experience new things. We wanted to go see my Aunt Addeline and the bonus was the beautiful state of Tennessee. As you can see, Tennessee is very green and rural. The houses are far apart and there is green grass everywhere.
Heart attack on a plate.

Okay. I decided that I would just try all of the new food that I could while I was there. Here we have fried corn (really just a version of creamed corn), pulled pork (super tender, great with bbq sauce) , fried okra, and that pan cake is not a pan cake, it is corn bread!
Yes. All we did was shop and eat. Heaven. This is in a little town called Bell Buckle.
The dog wood trees were in bloom. So beautiful.
Here I am with my cousin, Dr. Mark Preslar. He is a professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. The campus looks like Hogwarts (a la Harry Potter) and the Prof.s even wear black robes.

One day Mark went with us to Chattenooga.
I was amazed. There really is a Chattenooga Choo Choo. It was a windy day. That's not a new do.

We stayed with friends from Albuquerque, the Davenports.

Joel, Tamara, and JoLiane.

Ever see an Oreo cow?

These two cows, and all the rest of their herd have black head and shoulders, a white middle and a black rear. My cousin Mark has a beautiful wife, Julie and a darling son, Emery.


JoLiane went with us on an over night stay in Nashville.
We went on a dinner cruise on the Cumberland River on the General Jackson, showboat.

We didn't think that the Grand Ole Opry was all that grand. And they've rebuilt it so it's not all that old either.Yes, this is TN. I'll bet you thought I accidentally put in a photo from Greece. Well, evidently, they call Nashville the Athens of the south. They've built an exact scale relica of the Parthenon there. It seems out of place if you ask me.We went to a darling old house for lunch.

What can I say?

The best thing I've eaten in my life...pecan cobbler with ice cream and whipped cream and caramel sauce.
This is a lake behind my cousin, Mark's house. How would it be?
Here is my darling, sweet 92 year old aunt, Addeline and her very nice significant other, Tom .We had a great visit with them. I was so happy to see her. She hasn't aged a day since I last saw her, 8 years ago. Her goal is to live past 100 and I have no doubt that she'll do it.
Our trip was great. It just made me feel like a kid again.
My name is Edith Anne. Is this Lily Tomlin's chair?

I just returned from my trip to Arizona to visit Michelle and the kids. Blaine has been deployed and I think I'll want to go visit them often. As you can see, Asher is growing into a darling happy boy.
Kimberley is as beautiful and charming as ever.
Kimberley is a real girl. She has her purse and her baby and is ready to take a walk.
They have a little park just down the street from their house and the Arizona weather is perfect this time of year for a walk to the park.
Michelle is still beautiful, and she is a wonderful mother.

We're cleaned up and ready for church.


Our favorite activity is digging in the dirt.

Arizona

I'm writing this from Arizona. Yes I'm at Michelle's house and while the cat's away, the mice will play. The cat(Blaine) has been deployed and the mice(the rest of us) are playing and eating whatever we want.

Horses, horses, horses!

Now that the snow has melted the horses are out and looking for some grass to eat. One of the best things about where we live is the horse "farm" behind our house. (They breed and raise horses.) I looked out our back door the other morning and this is what I saw. Pretty cool, huh? I love horses and wish my back wasn't bad, because I'd love to go ride these guys. But sometimes I can get them to come and eat a carrot or apple out of my hand. Ah, paradise. I really do like horsie slobber. Go figure.

My Hobbies

I know that the cardinal rule of decorating is to make your color scheme such that it will flow from room to room. So, these two rooms which are on my second floor, break that rule to bits. But, I didn't care about rules when I did these. I just wanted to have a change. I love the aqua walls of my office. When I go in there I feel at once soothed and regenerated. It is bright and cheerful, but also relaxing. I chose a beach theme, which to me is the most relaxing place on earth. You can't see it very well, but there are sea shells and ocean pictures. I got the little rack in the corner at an antique store. I was so jazzed when I found it because it was exactly what I had been looking for.

This little guest room gave me an opportunity to get out all of my pink and girly yayas. I was also able to use some of my pink stuff that I had saved from our last house. I thought that I was sick of these colors when we moved, but I missed them afterall. I decorated this room very cheaply. The headboards on the beds are miss-matched ones that I bought at yard sales for $15 and $20 dollars. I painted them white and they almost look like a set. The green metal hangings over the beds were white and I painted them green to match the bedding which I bought at Kohl's. The antique dresser was already white. I got it here in Utah at an antique store for about $150. Pretty cheap for an antique. You can't see it in this photo but there are cat pictures. I found the chenille pillows at an antique store on Cape Cod. I couldn't believe how perfect they were. They are made out of an old bedspread.

My hobbies

I love a very casual look. Slipcovered furniture is my new favorite. What could be better than washable furniture? I'll never have to worry about a grandchild spilling on the sofa. I had all of the family room furniture made with slip covers and it's great. The "coffee table" just an old chest that looks like it's seen better days. I, however, find it charming and additional scratches will never show, there are already so many. When I brought this home, Ken thought that I was completely out of my mind. Why would I buy such a thing, he asked. I ignored him and sat back to admire my newest find.

Another "find"was this magazine rack that I found at Deseret Industries (the local thrift store). It was like $5 and with a bit of yellow paint it became a treasure.

Okay, so the entertainment center isn't an antique or particularly cheap, but it's cute, don't you think? The quilt and pillow on the blue denim chair are treasured gifts from my friend Jan. Cubby likes them, too.

You probably can't really see it in this pciture but the wall behind the cabinet is painted red. Va va va voom!