Happy First Day Of Summer

Right now I am at the library with my youngest daughter. While she is in book club I thought it would be the perfect time to play blog catch up. So much has been going on since my last post. We had family from Chattanooga come and visit for a week. Then we went to Chattanooga for a week. Plus I also started a new job. I am a part-time home assistance aid. Plus I started 2 summer classes and before I knew it time and the blog just got away from me. So here I am hoping that I can keep up better. I installed the Blogger app on my phone so that I can blog from anywhere now so maybe you will at least get some snippets every now and then.

                I still have some pictures from my kitchen rearrange to post but they are on my desktop at home so I will post those later. I hope life has been going great for everyone so far. Our first official day of summer here has been hot so far and the outlook for the rest of the week does not look great heat wise. But at least the nights are cool. I spent several hours on the porch with my family the other night. We had a great time just sitting around chatting and enjoying the evening sounds, cool breeze and the lightening bugs.

                We hope to go camping soon. My children went with my parents this year (a few weeks ago) but I didn’t get to go. We are making plans though for a camping trip to the lake. So what are everyone els’e plans for this summer? Blessings! ~ Nikki

Got That "Rearrange Bug" Again...

So I decided that I was going to rearrange my kitchen and dining room today. Now I wonder what in the world I was thinking lol. I managed to get the big things moved around thanks to Preacher and Hoopy. I just ran out of time and energy tonight to finish putting everything in its place. Maybe tomorrow morning I will have it done and put up some pictures. I will tell you that I am making "places" for certain things in my kitchen...a baking cabinet (for all baking supplies and tools) and a canning cabinet (for all of my jars, canners and canning tools). So have a great evening and hopefully you will see the completed project tomorrow. Blessings! ~ Nikki

Rainy Daze

It has been a cool and rainy day. It has been great with the windows open and the breeze rolling through and the distant thunder rumbling in the background. But alas, cloudy sky and pattering rain make for a rainy "daze". My energy level has been nil and all I have wanted to do is be lazy. I did manage to get laundry done today. BabyGirl helped me cook supper tonight which made for a fun time. We had pintos, cornbread, polish sausage, taters and peppers and onions. A very  "comfy" supper but it sure did add to the lazy feeling lol. I'm hoping tomorrow is a little sunnier so I can work outside although I can't complain about the steady and gentle rain we have had over the past two days. Well, I'm headed off to bed .Blessings! ~ Nikki

Morning all

Preacher and 3 of our Blessings went to Chattanooga this week and Tman and I stayed home. We have had a pleasant week together watching tv and goofing off. He is at work this morning and I have been lurking around on the computer. I have most of my housework completed except for a small load of laundry but I think I will wait till the family gets back today with their dirty stuff before washing it. I could go outside and start working in the flower beds but it looks like rain is eminent so I think I will hold off for now. I have been fighting a headache for 3 days and had a bout with a tummy bug yesterday so I'm not feeling completely up to par anyway. Maybe I will just laze around this morning. It would be a good time to start working on some Christmas projects. Have a blessed day everyone :) Blessings ! ~ Nikki

Weekend Wanderings

Good morning everyone! Today is starting out nice and cool although it is a little rainy and sometimes even stormy. I took some money to Tman this morning at the Rescue Squad and I got soaked to the bone from the heavy wind and rain. Things have calmed somewhat now and I am enjoying a lazy moment before heading out to start my day.
I am officially the proud owner of a new screen door. Preacher surprised me the other day with it. I came home from my Momma's and he had just finished hanging it. He knows I have wanted one for years. I grew up with screen doors on our houses and what I love even more than the breeze through one is the *squeak*. Ahhh, that's a special sound from childhood. I think I will write a post on screen doors :)
I finished finals on Wednesday and ended up with all A's this semester except for one well deserved and hard fought for B lol. My instructor/advisor said I did a wonderful job this semester and she even wrote a letter of recommendation for me. I have applied for several part time jobs and even had an interview Thursday. I thought it went well and I expect to hear back from them. We are praying about it for sure. Preacher took me to pick up my letter at campus yesterday morning and afterward we went yard-saling for a little while. We bought a 4 piece luggage set that looks new for $15. It has 2 rolling suitcases , a large one and a small one. That is why I wanted them. I need a rolling suitcase for next semester and a small one at the store is $20. Preacher also got a new propane torch attachment that hooks to his large tank for $5. We also got some clothes for the kids at cheap prices. All in all we spent very little and got some great deals.Last night we sat in the swing and watched the "super moon" and were blessed to see several meteors from the shower.We even snuck off for a $1 ice cream treat , which was nice :) We had a few lightening bugs flashing in the yard this week. I'd say by next weekend they will really be lighting the yard up. We enjoy watching them on summer nights. There is something so peaceful about watching them "dance".
Thursday at midnight we went to see the Avengers movie. BabyGirl got tickets for us. We saw it in 3D and it was pretty awesome. I am a Marvel nerd from childhood and it is rubbing off on my kids. We were tired when we got home about 3 am but we had a good time and its nice to do things like that together.
Today I have plans to do more housework and get everything back in its place. Later this afternoon we are having a cookout at my uncle's. I hope that y'all  have a great Saturday. Blessings! ~ Nikki

Goings on and such...

Today I had my final in Pharmacology. I think I did fairly well. Wednesday is my final in Fundamentals so lots of studying ahead. It has been very warm here for the last few days with highs in the 80s. We can't complain much though as we had a true Dogwood and Blackberry Winter with cold temps and even frost over the last few weeks. I'm eager to get my garden out now that the weather seems to have settled down. Hopefully even the tornadic weather has decided to stay away for a while since we have had some nasty bouts with it also this year.
Right now it is a pleasant evening. I'm sitting in my favorite chair beside the picture windows in my living room. There is a cool breeze blowing through the house bringing the heady scent of honeysuckle with it. I let the honeysuckle grow wild in my front flower garden . I love the smell of ...it is so relaxing especially when mixed with the birdsong. And of course y'all know I like having my windows open as soon as the weather is warm enough. It makes the house feel so nice and helps lower the electric bill too.
My blackberry bushes are covered in blooms this year so I am hoping for a good crop.They are wild bushes so its a totally free crop :) I need to cover them as soon as the blooms are gone though so that the birds don't end up with more fruit than us. I would love to get some jelly and jam put up this year.
Well, have a pleasant evening everyone. Blessings! ~ Nikki

its me ...again

Life is somewhat back on an even keel, at least for now. Life has been a whirlwind since my last post. DH was blessed to not have to have open heart surgery but there have been and will be many more doctor appointments to continue to treat his condition. With some follow up testing they now also believe he may have COPD.  We should know more about those results when he goes back to his PCP next month. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.
Life has taken many other turns that have just kept my heart and mind busy and my thoughts pulled away from this blog. I have continued on in nursing school. I received a wonder evaluation from my instructor on my Clinical performance. I just need to do well on my finals next week and I can then say I finished this first semester well. But the one thing that has consumed me and at times completely drained me is that we left our church that was our home for 13 years. I served as youth director and Drama Team leader there and served with DH Preacher in the JR church ministry. Although we had been praying for a while on whether or not to leave because of spiritual issues there,sadly, our decision to finally leave came about due to comments our Pastor's wife made to our oldest son. Like any teen trying to live the Christian life today, he struggles to do what is right and also to try and find his "place" among his peers. He is an outstanding young man who was saved several years ago but sometimes now he doesn't always make the greatest choices and that simply means he is human and sins like we all do. He was always being berated by the Pastor's wife and daughter with snide comments and derision not only at church but during school hours, often being openly mocked and ridiculed in front of other children. The final straw came when he made a choice not to participate in a choir competition for school because not only had they been practicing for just over a week , 3 days before they were to leave , the song was being changed for the third time.He told me he did not wish to look foolish in front of the other schools because his instructors couldn't get their head in the game months before and prepare them for the competition. His father and I gave him permission to not participate. When he informed his teacher (Pastor's wife) of his decision, she became very angry at him. Not long after, another classmate also chose to not participate for the same reasons as my son. The PW then proceeded to tell this student that he should make his own choices and be a leader not a follower because the one he was following (i.e. my son) would lead him straight to hell. Later at church that night she announced during prayer requests to pray for those students especially the one one who was leading them down that path to destruction. Now , my son may not be perfect but his judge is God not her. She has always been a gossip and back biter and sadly our Pastor has never set his foot down to put his wife's attitude in order. Over 12 families have left our church over the years due to things she has said and done to or about them and one couple even took her before the deacon board. I pulled my son from the school the next day when I found out what happened and we have not returned to that church. My son was very hurt over what she said to him and about him.And to make matters worse we found out that the PW is spreading lies about us to the congregation and her and her daughter are also bad mouthing my daughter and I to the youth and drama team. These are people we counted as friends. I know God has our back, and he has truly blessed us with good Christian fellowship and some spirit filled services where we have visited, which is something that had been missing for a while at our church, but still the pain of what is being done behind our backs is terrible. The choice to leave was hard to make but in the end it was best for our family. We have yet to find a church "home" but we know God is faithful and will lead us to the right place.
Again I apologize to anyone who does still read here for the long absence. As you can read, life has been a roller coaster ride for us. Keep us in your prayers. My daughter is in the process of making me a new template for this blog and I will be updating again. I just had to spend some time in my "shell" mulling over life. But I do have some good news, out of all the trials and burdens over the past little while, I have again been inspired to write. God has given me so many new things to put to paper. It has been like a dam burst and words and ideas have begun to flow again. I missed not being "able" to write devotions and things and I am glad He restored that joy to me. As I said before , keep us in your prayers and come back again. I'm getting that garden in next week :) I did have to wait after all for Winter to decide to leave and take the frost with him lol. Have a blessed day everyone!