The little things

The other day I got to noticing some things I had never really taking the time to appreciate before. They were not big things, not major events, just little small things that I had noticed, but never really paid that much attention to. Each one brings me happiness in it's own special way and I wanted to share just a few of these things with you.

1. I love how my youngest daughter automatically takes my hand when we walk side by side:
It never fails, just as soon as we start to walk anywhere if she is beside me, she will reach out and take my hand automatically and I am going to enjoy it while it last.

2. I love how my little dog Dixie looks up at me with such love in her eyes:
I just love so many things about my Dixie, but the love in her eyes is so real and true. Humans can fake or hide their emotions, but dogs do not have the ability to do that. There have been many days that her love and comfort have seen me through difficulty and I hope to have her around for a very long time.

3. I love how my husband always holds my hand as we are driving down the road:
I hardly ever drive anymore, unless I just have to. I like being able to ride as a passenger and just watch the world around me. You see so much more when you are not driving, but I like holding my hubby's hand the most. There is just something solid and comforting in knowing that he is there and taking care of us. 

4. I love how my oldest daughter and I can sit just reading together without saying a word:
So many times we feel the need to fill up our days and the days of our children. It seems as if everyone's kids have sports, music, and all sorts of activities planned each week. I am so thankful for the quiet nights at home when we just sit around with our books, not feeling the need to talk or go everywhere, just content to be at home and share our love of reading.

5. I love how all the kids around call me Tink:
Eight years ago a little boy named Hunter came into our family and since them I have been known as Tink. It is a nickname that is short for Tinkerbell.  All the little ones in my family and some in my church call me Tink.  It just seems so natural that they all use that for my name. I am so glad to have so many wonderful little ones in my life.  I was privileged to finally meet "myself" on our most recent Disney vacation. I have to say I was very impressed.

6. I love snuggling up on the couch with the girls for movie night.
My husband doesn't really care for the whole cartoon thing, so if the choice for the night is a movie of the toon variety, my hubby just lets me and the girls do our thing.  There is always fighting over space and the last bag of popcorn, but I love our time anyway.

7. I love how my youngest daughter "plays along" with our pianist at church:
Every service as we are singing in the choir I look down to see my 10 year olds little hands playing right along with Ms. Sherri.  She gets so upset if she has to stand in a different spot and can't see Ms. Sherri play.  I am so glad that she has a talent for music and I pray that she will use it her entire life.

8. I love how a cool breeze is just what you need on a hot day:
Southern summers can be hot, but not just hot, they are humid.  Sometimes you can just stand outside and not be doing a thing and the sweat will just be rolling down your back and legs.  Then all of a sudden the Lord will send a nice cool breeze along your way and it is like instant air-conditioning.

9. I love how the acoustics in our church bathroom are perfect for speaking whale.
Really, I am serious! I guess it comes from watching to much Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, but the way that bathroom makes your voice sound is perfect. Speaking whale is so cool!!







10.  I love older television shows:
I know it sounds strange, but I just love to sit back and watch old tv shows from when I was a kid.  When I say older I mean they were in reruns when I was growing up.  I am so glad to have the chance to introduce shows like, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Little House on the Prairie, etc.  That was when television, was good and decent.



You see, the little things are important. They are the things that we never really notice or we do, but just don't appreciate.  I am going to start trying to find the little things around me each day and to appreciate them even more.

   "That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

Why I Adore Country Living!

I have traveled some and been to some pretty big cities and I love seeing new things, but there is no where I can imagine making my home than in the country. I know a lot of people would absolutely hate it. They would ask, "How can you be so far away from everything?". You see the thing is I don't see myself as being far away from everything. Sure the closet town to us only has a population of about 2500 and I have to drive at least 30 miles to get to a fairly good size city and that I have to travel at least one and a half hours to get to a major metropolitan area, but I like it that way. The way I see it, I am close enough if I want to get there I can and far enough away that I don't feel the "big city" creeping in.

I know there are good things about city living, I can't deny that, but let me share just some of the reasons I adore living in the country.

1. The quiet: I know this will not be a plus for some people, but I absolutely love sitting on my back porch listening to the quiet, peaceful sounds of nature. You can always hear the frogs at night or the birds during the day. In fact lately we have a mockingbird who has decided that singing at 3:30 in the morning is an appropriate thing to do. I remember my trips to the big city and it always stuck out to me that even in the parks and natural places I couldn't hear nature. All I could hear where horns honking and people yelling.  I much more prefer my quiet little country oasis.

2.The wildness: This sort of goes along with the first point, but expands it some.  When I say the wildness I mean the actual wildlife.  I really enjoy watching the kids chase frogs and toads across the driveway and catching fireflies on a hot summer night. I enjoy those cool autumn mornings watching the deer drink from the pond as I have my morning coffee.  I know that these wild animals have started making their way into the more populated areas, but there is just something magical about seeing them in their own environment and being able to share that with my children.

3.The people: It seems to me that most people see us country folk as rednecks, hicks or backwoods people. I have heard all the stereotypical terms used to describe us and to tell you the truth those words don't really offend us. We might go at a slower pace, talk a little slower and do things differently, but we are a true, loving and compassionate people.  I don't think you can really appreciate the country without knowing it's people.  We are kind and would give you the shirt off our back if you needed it. We live, laugh and love just like city folk, but yet we are looked at as if we are ignorant and backwards. I admit some people do fit that bill, but for the most part you can't find a better group of people anywhere else.

4.The lifestyle: I think that I have already covered this some in my previous points.  Living in the country is just a slower, more laid back lifestyle. We have a different way of living and being. I am thinking about one thing in particular. My Daddy wanted to buy a hen from a man. He really wanted this hen, she was what we call a good sitter, which just means she would be good for raising baby chicks. The man didn't want to sell the hen, but was willing to trade her off for a turtle. Yes, you read that right, a turtle. His plan was to cook and eat said turtle. Yes, we do eat turtle around these parts. So, my Daddy has spent the last week trying to catch a turtle to trade for a chicken. I just had to laugh and say only in the country.

I know that our way of living may seem strange and foriegn to a lot of people. but I hope that after reading this you will have a better appreciation for the country and maybe you will even want to visit it some day. It will be somewhat of a culture shock, but come on over! We'lll brew up some sweet ice tea, bake a pound cake and sit on the back porch visiting and enjoying some country living.

"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

Money Saving: Dimes for Disney

A couple of months ago I shared with y'all one of the ways I am saving for Disney, recycling cans. Well today I am going to share another of our projects, Dimes for Disney. 

I got the idea for this project from Pinterest. 

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=Dimes%20for%20Disney&rs=typed&term_meta[]=Dimes%20for%20Disney%7Ctyped

After reading about some other peoples experience I decided to give it a try. 

I started out with an empty two liter drink bottle. If this seems to extreme at first I have read that some people start out with a small water bottle,doing this makes the task seems less daunting. We decided that we would just go for the big payoff from the get go.  After washing the bottle and allowing it to dry, it was time to decorate. We wanted something that was Disney related, since it was a Disney saving project, so we cut out a picture of Cinderellas castle from the Lego catalog and glued it to the front of the bottle. We then used letter stickers to label our bottle Dimes for Disney. 

Making the container was the easy part, now we have the task of filling it up. All of us, my husband included have started saving our dimes. I have even started asking for my change back to be as many dimes as possible. That gets me some strange looks from the cashier, but then I explain why and most of them totally understand.  I read that when the jug gets completely full you would have somewhere in the neighborhood of about $650, but no matter the amount it will be a huge help in paying for our vacation. 

"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"