Life with my sister

There are many reasons why I haven't blogged since Novemeber, I won't go into all of them. Or any of them! I thought I was blogging here, but it turns out I had logged into an old blog of mine, www.juliesjournalofmemories.blogspot.com and have been blogging there for the last few weeks. I have no explanation. But let me catch you up on what's been going on.  This was Christmas morning. I love that they line up in the hallway until we tell them they can look at their gifts. They're so cute! Samuel made All Conference (2nd team) in football. Crazy! Samuel has played baseball. He made All Confernce for that too. Anna has loved her dolls well.  And has turned into a beautiful 11 year old girl. Daniel is 14 and is as funny as ever. David is 14 too, of course. They are both driving, and doing great in school. They'll  be freshman next year. And by next year I mean in August. Yikes! Stephen is losing weight like crazy. (Samuel preached on this night) And I'm loving ...

We have lived in Jonesboro for 7 years now. We have lived here the whole time and like our little area of the world. People ask me if I ever get house envy and as a whole I really don't. I envy nice screened porches, laundry rooms and large front porches, but never has there been a house that I felt I had to have. Ok so there was 1 house we both liked and almost purchased my first summer in real estate but God never gave us complete peace. I love that about our Savior.  We needed to do tree work when we bought our home but put it off year after year. This past month Randall said to call and get it done....so that I did. I try to do what he says, you know.  We have taken lots of pictures with our cute boy between these 2 oak trees. It has provided lots of giggles and smiles. I took this picture the day before the tree came down. It was like or little ode to the oak.  The best part of the oak was that it held this swing that swang my sweet baby day after day.  In fact,...

I never mention work much and how it's going. It's been 2 years since I became a Realtor and hit the ground running. I have sold about 5 million in real estate so far and been fortunate to help many wonderful people. I won my first RE/MAX award for my performance in 2014. I wanted this plaque for my office wall so badly and I got it! Now the heat is on to perform at that level or higher. Yikes. It's not like what you watch on HGTV and if it ever resembles that I get scared because that means something is fishy! Ha. It's building relationships through proving myself,  serving as an unlicensed marriage and financial counselor, a logistics coordinator, a stager/decorator, tour guide, and if I do all these right, becoming a friend in the end. It's hard work. It's not 8-5 work. It's round the clock work. I return texts to the stressed out client at 11 pm if need be. I wake up early to catch the night shift nurse before they go to bed if need be. I meet them where...

I thought I would write about my surgery for anyone who reads this that might wonder what the scar was from in my Mother's Day post. The photo above is from the day before my surgery in the snow with my guys. It's the last shot of my neck without a scar.  This was about 24 hours after the previous snow photo. I was half a thyroid less and looking mighty fine. I was so glad to wake up and hear my mama and husband tell me it was not cancer  and the surgeon left half of it, which means no daily meds. I was prepared for the worst and ready to tackle it head on, but I was so grateful to not have to in the end. The recovery was painful but my generous support system made it  bearable. We did not cook a meal for 7 days because our friends rock at reaching out in times of need. We had so much we invited friends over to help us eat it all. My mom came to sit with me a few days and my mil took Henry home for a few days. It was nice to recoup without responsibility.  I wore a s...

 This was my 7th Mother's Day being a mama. I love being this boy's mama more than anything. The joy is unmeasurable and so are the gray hairs!  My husband is the best gift giver and does not skimp on showering me with what I love best  to excessive proportions. He knows it's my love language. The ladies in both of the gift shops know him now and know what I have and don't have yet in my various collections. It really makes my heart melt. I love him for it.  I'm a sucker for a collection.  The new domed glass "I love you" charm for my necklace was the best. My neck is not the prettiest thing anymore since my surgery but these boys of mine keep adorning it with charms! It's my battle scar and to me it says "it was not cancer so BOOM!"  After church they took me to downtown Memphis for the day. They know that's my place and we were in need of a Redbirds game before it gets too hot outside. They were giving away shirts for kids to personaliz...

My love for all things Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant are real. I saw they were coming together to Memphis for the debut night of their Hymns tour and I was online ready to buy tickets when it went live for purchase. I got front row seats and meet and greet tickets. I bought 2 tickets and asked my friend Autumn to escort me. She's a nurse and good at CPR and knows my health history pretty fair in case I fainted or hit my head if I passed out.  We were sitting this close. That has no zoom on it. It was unreal and I think I smiled all night and belted out every word with them as they sang. I'm sure the man next to me hated me for it. Amy sang "I got my hopes set high" and I was over the moon ecstatic and then Smitty started playing and singing "Place in this World". It was like my teenage years came alive  in my soul. Autumn did not know me then nor did we even have parallel lives back  then so I'm sure she was rethinking the whole CPR thing at that point....

Henry has been so excited about being on a Tball team this year. We were picked to be on the Astros. They are orange and that's Henrys favorite color right now. Our best neighbor friend was picked to be on the team too. We started practicing weeks in advance of our first game and the boys (and 1 girl) had a blast working on their skills and developing a friendship with each other. Watching them get better with each practice was great fun for the mamas and daddys.  Our little team started winning and winning big each game. At the moment I write this we are still undefeated. We are the only undefeated team in the league. It's exciting but it's not right.  We have 5 year olds on our team. There are 3 or 4 players who are naturally gifted and are practiced with often at home. They of course get put in the key spots on the field. We do not have that player in our home but we have one who loves to play, wants to learn and succeed. When the team gets ahead (look at scoreboard in t...