Red & Black

OK, this post is really pulling from a ways back....but I just HAD to use the song title!!

Plus, they're fun pictures of Mom's side of the family made back in January 2012 (but it was celebrating Christmas 2011) outside of Houston.

The oldest generation wore white.  Mom's generation of siblings wore black.  My generation of cousins wore red and the great-grands wore blue - all 7 of them!  We were missing one cousin-in-law, but otherwise, perfect pics!  Love making memories while we made pictures, too. (The sister of one of my cousin-in-laws photoshopped in the title!)

She also added in the state flag :)

The Booker branch of the tree



The "original" Alton Holt family

Love my cousins!

This was a playground nearby and the red & blue really popped!

p.s. The post title is a song title from Les Miserables.  We have no connection to the French Revolution, but seriously - these pics were screaming to have a post titled with this song!!! :)

Spring, Spring, Spring

My favorite part of a Texas spring is the bluebonnets!!  Texas Monthly actually published a set of photos this year of photographers trying to do something unique with a picture of bluebonnets (and somewhat insulting Texans who stop on the side of the highway and take pictures....)  But whatever, it's a Texan thing to do!  And when my good friend Tifani - who hails from Oregon and had never been to Texas - came for a short visit....well, it was my duty to introduce her to a true Texan tradition.  Enjoy the pics.  The best ones are from her - but even I got some good ones, because the flowers were just so dang beautiful!!!

These were taken along HWY 175 between Dallas and Athens on March 23 - with my iphone!

Let's not foret the Indian Paintbrushes either!

(Tifani's - I think I'm going to frame these!)



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Loved sharing my great state with great friends like Tifani, Rob & Tyler.
  (And yes, we even got to take Tyler...to Tyler.)

p.s. Post title is a song from "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

Real Nice Clambake

Well, it wasn't a clambake - because I'm not in Yankee land.

But it was a Crawfish Boil - hosted by true Lousiana Cajuns - displaced into a horse ranch in East Texas!...so basically the same :) The lyrics of the song still hold true:

"This was a real nice [crawfish boil],
We're mighty glad we came.
The vittles we et
Were good, you bet,
The company was the same.
Our hearts are warm, our bellies are full,
And we are feeling prime.
This was a real nice [crawfish boil],
And we all had a real good time."

Just couldn't resist capturing my first drive through this metropolis....what do they call the people from this town? :)

Just in case you weren't sure which state I'm in - check out those hats....

What are they looking at?????

CRAWFISH!!!!!!!!   Still kickin' at this point...

Sorry I didn't get a better pic of my hostess and her son - Lisa & Garrett (She teaches with me). 
Check out Garrett's tribute to LSU.  But he assured me he has a UT poster in his room and is a Rangers fan.

Lisa's cute nephew Kyle was quick to show me the crawfish and the shrimp - the Moment I arrived!

I'm sorry.  I know they're God's creation.  But they're ugly!

Dave was our....Boil-master???  And served HUGE handfuls of everything!

My "plate" (box top) of food.  And yes, I did yank a few of those heads off.  But no sucking.

Job well done, Dave. 

Lisa & Dave have horses in the front yard and hay in the back, and it was a lovely night to be outside.

And a "supermoon" to drive home with after leaving this shindig.

Thanks to Lisa & Dave for introducing me to another tradition (even had zydeco music playing!)  They were also the ones who talked me through my first rodeo last February!

"This was a real nice [crawfish boil],
And we all had a real good time."

p.s. The post title is a song from "Carousel" - obviously set somewhere in Yankee land :)

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

As I mentioned in my last post, I got to celebrate my birthday this year with my 2 best friends - whose birthdays are both within a week of mine.  We've done something together most years since 1997 but the last several years when we're together, one of the things I always ask is

"What were the highlights of your last year?"

For the same reason I like to be reflective on New Year's Eve/Day, I see a birthday as the beginning of  a new year of life, and I'm a sucker for nostalgia.  Plus - I believe reflection is good for the soul and often leads me to set different (or better) goals for the future!

This year we were all turning....3 dozen!  As we were planning something to celebrate, I really wanted to work this idea in somewhere.  The way it was resolved allowed the teacher in me to assign us all "homework" the week before our birthdays:

Identify the Top Twelve events of your last year of life.
....and the three of us together would have 3 dozen highlights!

It was really a sweet time of sharing the highlights over dinner- blessings, joys and honors of our year.

Jenni had her list on her iphone, Katie's were the colorful notecards, and mine was in pencil on paper!

I actually had to "cheat" and combine some of mine into "categories" because as I brainstormed the year and went through pictures, I had SO many good things!  For this person who seems to so easily dwell on the negative, being someone who "looks on the bright side of life" is effort - but OH SO REWARDING!

So without further ado, here were the top 12 highlights of my 36th year of life (in no particular order):

* 1st experiences:  Eating at the Oasis in Austin with the Holt family(Apr), Visiting Cowboys stadium to see ACU play a football game (Sept), my first Rodeo(Feb - TVCC in Athens)


* Musical Performances:  "West Side Story" at Fair Park during the State Fair (Oct), Amy Grant with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Oct)

* Renewing Spiritual retreat/conferences for women:  Pink Impact at Gateway in Southlake (April), Beauty for Ashes at Richland Hills (Oct)

Kari Jobe led worship and it was a powerful experience with 3000 women!

* Experiences with my church Life Fellowship: a Passover Feast (Apr), Opening our first building (Dec), Life Groups

* Celebrating parent's 40th anniversary at Rosemary Beach, Florida

* Times with nephew Holt

* Harry Potter 7, part 2....an era ends.

* My friend Leanne's first trip to TX!

* Supper Club/ Bible study every Wed with 3 dear, new friends in Athens

* Procedure to have 5 moles removed - including 3 to my face.  Facing a fear I had put off for a long time.

* iphone.....yeah, it's changed my life :)

* Labor Day weekend with my 5 Girls.  (I just realized I never blogged about this! But here's my friend Jenni's post!

Do you do anything reflective on your birthday?  If not - I highly recommend this!  And even better if you get to share it with friends :)
p.s. Post title is a song from "Spamalot" - a musical I haven't seen, but would like to - just because of the funny songs I've heard on the Broadway music channel I listen to on my TV.  Oh yeah - you read that right :)

Happy Birthday to Me

I know you all care what I did for my birthday....so here it is! Yea for iphones that let you capture the (sometimes) mundane acts of your life that come together to make a great day! 

Awesome breakfast tacos at this new place in Richardson
(after a stop at my first estate sale to pick up something for Jenni)

Yea for a jewelry place that color codes the sections for shopping idiots like myself :)

If every store in the world closed except this one, I'd be ok :)

iphone accessories!!

I miss this in my little town...it's the simple things that make me happy!

Time for dinner!  At the Ft. Worth location of Tillman's Roadhouse.

A "welcoming" door to a Southern comfort food kind of restaurant!

I just loved this chair!!

My Two Dearest Friends, Jenni & Katie, who share my birthday "week"!
Always happy to celebrate with them!

Popcorn while you wait...and a cool bird just for fun (?)

I promise you this tasted amazing, even though it looks weird. 
Pumpkin seed encrusted salmon over root vegetable succatash.
Literally melted in my mouth.

Katie brought us the candles and our accomodating waiter helped us out with the
lighting atop the marshmallows for our s'mores tableside!  YUMMY!! 

And yes, you still got to "roast" your marshmallows
(they were flavored maple, peppermint or blackberry!)

Each of us brought a list of the Top 12 events of our year....which made 3 dozen total - how old we are now :)
More on these lists later!
(by the way, Jenni's list is on her phone, mine is in pencil on ACU paper and Katie's is on colored notecards.)

We ended the night watching this fun movie: cute boys and lots of laughs!

All in all it was a most lovely Birthday, sprinkled throughout with Facebook well wishes from people throughout my life and the world and phone calls from dear friends and family.

One girl really shouldn't be this lucky!
On to another year!


p.s. Well, it's a song, right?? :)