WOW.....has it really been that long?

Rewind.....19 years ago today.......place.....Chapel on Fort Drum.........event.........wedding.......


Shhhhheeeesssss.......has it really been that long ago? 19 years.....3 kids.......and I don't know how many moves later.......here we are......

I love this picture!! My hubby looks so handsome!!

This year for our anniversary we will spend at least 22 hours together traveling south to Georgia for a much needed vacation. I am soooo looking forward to seeing our "Southern Connection". I'm quite spoiled to begin with by this wonderful man and I'm looking forward to all the years that God will give us on earth and then to eternity in heaven.......

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BEAR!!!!

Summer Harvest!!

Our garden is doing fairly well even tho we haven't had a lot of rain. My dh and his uncle set up an irrigation system to collect rain so we can use that to water the garden but like I said lack of rain.....so anyways.

(you can see the barrels for the rain collection)

The picture above is a couple weeks old. Our plants have really taken off since then and so have the weeds (yuck). I've learned the hard way that if you try to weed when the ground is a dry as it has been you might just pull up a plant with it....live and learn I guess....lol.

We picked about 20lbs of cucumbers the other night with help from dh cousin's girlfriend. She was all fired up about helping and had a ball helping dh pick them.

Last night dh and I got to work slicing and canning. We made 12 jars of bread and butter pickles. Sadly 1 jar didn't make it thru the sealing process, but that's ok!

(This pic was an after thought so the scale is a couple pounds lighter.....lol)

(DH bought me the kettle to the left this past spring. It's going to make canning apple sauce ssssooooo much easier this year.)

(They look so good)

In other news.......(lol) our youngest son is spending the summer in Georgia with my parents. They have spent the past week in Virginia participating in the reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Bull Run (First Battle of Manassas (the name used by Confederate forces)). I haven't had the chance to talk to him to see how it went but my mom sent me some pictures.

(Cousin, brother, sister, my handsome daddy and my sweet son)

(Youngest Brother (YB), Handsome Daddy (HD) and Sweet Son (YS)

I changed the color effects of the pictures so they look more authinic. I love the way they turned out.

The picture below is one that I threw in just because I love it. DH and myself before his cousins wedding. He looks so handsome!

(Me and my Dear Hubby of almost 19yrs)

New Chapter

For the past 2 weeks my family has been preparing for a new chapter in our lives. Life with an "adult" child. Our oldest and only daughter graduated from highschool this past Friday. (Where did the time go?)

My family from Georgia made the trip up to be a part of this special occasion. It was such a blessing to have them here with us.

Sweet Daughter with my grandmother (her great-grandmother)

Sweet daughter with dear hubbies grandmother (her great-grandmother)

Sweet daughter with her great-aunt.

Sweet daughter with dear hubbies parents.

Sweet daughter with her great-uncle.

Sweet daughter with my parents.

us

We had a small graduation party with them here and plan on having a larger one for hubbies side of the family at the beginning of next month.

Pictured with my sweet daughter is her BFF who is also graduating this year. We are hoping the weather will be nice so the school she attends will hold the ceremony outdoors so we can also attend and cheer for her.

My Grandmother and Aunt left Sunday morning and my parents left out Tuesday morning. Really wished they could have all stayed longer but life must go on and work was waiting. Hopefully we will get to see them in July for the Battle of Bull Run Reenactment.

We finished up Saturday with all the young men at my house getting a hair cut. ( Needless to say non of them have very much hair right now....lol)

Don't they look happy with their new doos? (Remember they asked for the buzz cut)

Annual Camping Trip

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend. The last couple years we have been going camping with my inlaws and cousins.


We like to go up to Eatonsville. They have state land there so it cost us nothing to camp. It has beautiful falls there (normally the kids like to "ride the rapids" down but this year the water was to high for my liking)

My guys did a bit of fishing:

We had our daily clean-up:

(She's awful brave to trust these two)

As you can tell the water was a little cold. I know I wasn't getting all the way in...lol.

My youngest enjoyed bike riding around the area with his cousin.

Two things I loved the most about our weekend is 1 spending time with this group of people

and enjoying this beautiful place that God created

I hope your weekend was as blessed as mine....

Honoring those who have served/serving in our Armed Forces!!

(WARNING.....I hope you love to read)


Memorial Day.....what does this day mean to you?

To me it means a day of remembrance and honor to our soldiers who fight to give us the opportunity to be free. Growing up an Army Brat, I've seen first hand the struggles and rewards that our soldiers endure. Deployments, field missions, hardship tours and oversea tours are not easy, but it's the career that was chosen and for some they really enjoy life in the military.

As you will see I have quiet a few "favorite" soldiers:

My dad is a career soldier. He retired after 31 years of service to our country. (So of course he's my #1 favorite soldier).

He LOVED being a soldier. He joined straight out of high school working his tail off and by the time he retired he was as high in rank as an enlisted soldier could go in the Army ~
Command Brigade Sergent Major~~wooooohoooo.......(so loving my daddy <3)

My dear hubby (dh) and his younger brother (yb) also have served in our armed forces. Dh served in the Army and yb served Air Force. With the training they received during their time of service they have been able to acquire employment happily working along side our men and women in uniform.

My Dear Hubby!!

and his younger brother...

One who has followed in his father's foot steps and is proudly serving overseas today. Thank you ECM and your family for serving our country and keeping us safe!! (Love Ya <3)

One I have yet to meet but married my best friend. PJF thanks to you and your precious family for serving 20 years for our country and congradulations on your retirement!!

A co-workers brother who is actively serving our country. JRM thank you for yours and your families service to our country. I for one greatly appreciate it!

Who is your favorite soldier? Leave a remark and share....

Every family knows someone who is serving or has served in this great countries Armed Services. Many do a couple years to learn a trade, there are the career soldiers and then there are the soldiers who serve and pay the ultimate price to keep us free. They are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers.....the best friend.

To the families whose loved one has given this sacrifice.....THANK YOU!!! Your dedication, service and love for our country will never be forgotten.

So if you see a soldier this Memorial Day weekend, take a minute to shake their hand, look them in the eye and tell them you appreciate what they do for our country.

If you know a soldier, send them an e-mail, text or even take a minute and call them. Tell them you love them and thank them.

And for the soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice, be still, remember and offer thanks to that soldier and their families because of them we have this special holiday and because of them we will always remember.....

Be safe everyone and have a wonderful weekend!!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...gloomy with a slight breeze.

I am thinking...of the knitting project I would like to get done and the list of things I need to complete by Thursday morning.

I am thankful for...God blessing me with my wonderful hubby.

From the kitchen...Pot roast in the crockpot with veggies and rice.

I am wearing...Brown denim skirt and a yellow shirt with a pink hoodie

I am creating...a list of things I need to pick up from the store before Thursday morning.

I am going...to my first Zumba class tomorrow night....(wish me luck)

I am reading...Martha Peaces~The Excellent Wife

I am hoping...to spend time with my family from out of state this summer.

I am hearing...K-Love and associates talking.

Around the house...finishing laundry and general cleaning

One of my favorite things...spending time with my hubby at the end of the day.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Start work in the garden, final preparations for the weekend and dr appointments.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

For guidelines to join go to:
http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Our weekend!

Our Saturday was quite busy. Lots of yardwork that needing attending. We've had alot of rain lately so our grass was about to over take the house. Dear hubby and the boys worked at tilling the garden plot to get ready for our planting season. I worked on our strawberry patch with our daughter and her boyfriend.

In the 5 years we lived here this is the second time the strawberries have been moved. Hopefully they will do well here.

Our crab-apple tree is BEAUTIFUL this year. I love the pink flowers and watching the humming birds.

We even did some planning for the upcoming weekend. Hopefully all goes well with these plans.

By the end of the day we did what we always love to do and that is having family over to sit around the bon fire and visit. Kids playing hide and seek in the dark (quite funny watching them come out of no where).

On Sunday, dear hubby worked on a vehicle, kids took advantage of the dreary day and slept in and I was off to church.

How was your weekend? Was it busy or laid back?

What to write about?

I've been giving this blog thing some thought. I'm still trying to decide what I want to post about. Yesterday, while working in the yard, I had plenty of ideas on what to write about but where do I start?

I guess I've decided to start with my life here in NNY, (probably a good thing considering that the title to this blog...) I moved up here 20 years ago with my parents. My dad was stationed at the local military base. I met my husband in high school. We married 2 months after graduation and so our life began.

After 3 kids and almost 19 years of marriage, we have our own little piece of heaven outside of the town my hubby grew up in, in a county with more cows than people. We don't own much property but our 2 1/2 acres is plenty for what we want.

I love our home. It's over 100 years old and at one time use to be a working dairy farm. (go figure) We bought it 5 years ago from a wonderful family who owned the home since it was built. I tell dear hubby all the time we didn't buy a home we inherited a family. They still stop by from time to time to see what improvements we have done to the old homestead. Granted we haven't completely renovated the whole house just a couple of room: ie~the bathroom, kitchen and the boys rooms (even tho no room is 100% complete yet)

First post

I've been "stalking" blogs for almost a year. I've wanted to start my own but what do I say? The blogs I've seen are wonderful. These ladies are very creative with their talents and their love for the Lord is inspiring.

So....where do I begin. What do I say? hhhhmmmmm......