Back on the Picture Track.....Day 09 – A picture that motivates you to do more (Day 09 A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most)

Sorry, I've been gone for quite awhile. For better or worse, our youngest daughter enlisted in the Marines last March with a ship date of November 2011. She received her orders on June 15th, for a ship date of June 20!!! WOW! All of a sudden, we were faced with having a grad party (originally scheduled for July 9th) and getting her ready to leave (2-4 months early!!!) and calming our "fears" and "anxiety" and sadness regarding her leaving...........

Now I'm back................

Remember (maybe) that when I started this, I'd found two lists that were slightly different, so I tweaked them together.......so some days have two pix. This is one of them.

Okay, this may get a little boring for y'all cuz my favs and my inspirations and my closest's all seem to be the same people.............with slight variations.

KOLTEN. Yep, the picture that motivates me to do more is Kolten, my bubba. Also just lucky to be included is my hubby, Freddy. He, by far, has gotten me thru the most. Now, bear in mind, my MOM is one of my best friends and is always there for me, no matter what. I chose Freddy to go thru life with 30 years ago! We've been thru a lot together. It hasn't always been easy; don't let anyone tell you it is, but he's always there; we always do it together.

So this is a pretty cool picture that covers both "days".

I also noticed on another blog, that the person included the list (and names of the pix) on each blog............so I'm gonna do that here too. The nice thing about that is that I can just look at "yesterday" to see what I need to blog about "today".

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Day 01 - A recent picture of yourself (Day 01 A recent picture of yourself with ten facts)...Mom-me-Jen

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest...me & Kerry, me & Mom

Day 03 - A picture of your inspiration for weight loss...Kolten

Day 04 - A picture of the cast of your favorite TV show (Day 04 A picture of your favorite color)...Grey's Anatomy, Kolten w/Green cake all over

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite animal (Day 05 A picture of your favorite memory)...Bailey (duh), Mom & Daddy dancing at anniversary

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day...Bill Gates

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item...my scrapbooks

Day 08 - A picture of your favorite color (Day 08 A picture that makes you laugh)...my REAL fav color, Corvette Red & Kolten w/a mohawk

Day 09 – A picture that motivates you to do more (Day 09 A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most)...Kolten&Grandpa in Marine gear & Mom

Day 10 - A picture of your closest friend

Day 11 - A picture of your IPOD or other music playing device on shuffle, and then list the first 10 songs that play. (Day 11 A picture of something you hate)

Day 12 – A picture that defines you (Day 12 A picture of something you love)

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Day 14 – A picture of you now (Day 14 A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without)

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity, and the reasons why it is the biggest

Day 19 - A picture of your nicknames you have; why do you have them.

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Day 21 – A picture of an exercise you can’t do, but would like to try (and then try it if you want to)

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book; why is it your favorite?

Day 24 - A picture of what I would find in your bag (Day 24 A picture of something you wish you could change)

Day 25 - A picture of your favorite super hero and why

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

Day 30 - A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

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Love and Blessings.

Day 08...A picture of your favorite color (Day 08...A picture that makes you laugh)

Another tweak in the system........from two of these lists melded together...........

My favorite color is Corvette Red.

And something that makes me laugh..............oh, you gotta be kidding..............how could you not laugh, smile, giggle, grin at this face?!?!?!

Another day down...........trying to catch up before the end of the month....yeah, right!

Love and Blessings.

Day 07...A picture of your most treasured item

I'm blatantly stealing this idea from another Sparker, MCLAFLIN. My most treasured item(s) are my scrapbooks. I've got all of the digital files on a flash and I'm working somewhat sporadically at getting all of the older paper books scanned so the flash can be put into a safe deposit box.

That's all for this one.

Love and Blessings.

Scrapbook Challenge!!! May 13-20!!!

...Day late and a dollar short................this was the challenge for last "week" which ended yesterday.....and I thought I was going to be able to do all of the items for the challenge, but ended up with only the blue and 6-month-old embellie...... Oh well, got something done and "anything is better than nothing", right Trace!

Love and Blessings.

May 2011 Digital Challenge...Spring & Flowers

Last spring Mom and Jen and I went to visit the Iris Gardens in Forest Lake. We were pleasantly STUNNED! The pictures just do NOT do it justice. But here they are.

Love and Blessings.

Day 6...Person I'd Like to Trade Places With for One Day

This was really tough. I looked at several other's blogs about who they'd like to change places with and just wasn't inspired............not that they're choices didn't inspire me, but that I still couldn't come up with anyone. Well, I can't tell you precisely who it was, but someone wanted to change places with Oprah for a lot of reasons, but the one that struck me was being able to get things done with the money and influence she had.

Money and Influence...........

I've always thought that you can have too much money. I love the way Bill Gates and his wife give theirs away. Their Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest charitable foundation in the world. And they've been credited as the 2 most generous philanthropists in America. Okay, so I really, really like them.

It occurred to me that if I could trade place with Bill Gates for one day, I could get some of that money for my pet charities, like the American Cancer Society, the Girl Scouts of America and my church..............and because we're in such dire straits here at home, I'd probably have to grab just a little bit of that money for myself to get us out of debt so we could start over. A little selfish? Yep!

So, that's it for this one. Maybe I'll do Day, 7, 8, and 9 to try to catch up a little.....

Love and Blessings.

SCRAPBOOK CHALLENGE- May 6-13!

Kinda lame cuz the challenge included using GREEN......Been so busy working on Anne's grad vid that this was the best I could do. Maybe I'll try to do another one later.....

Love and Blessings.

Day 5 - A picture of your favorite animal OR your favorite memory

Okay, my favorite animal in general (dog) or my favorite dog in particular, Bailey. I love dogs. I was raised with dogs. We always had a dog (or two or three) in the house. We have Bailey. Mom has Sunny (a yellow lab) and both brothers have their canines, one a weimaraner, the other an english spaniel and a springer. We've gone through cockers, poodles, gordons, and brittanys. We're dog people. And here's one of the reasons.......

My favorite memory is simply of my mom and dad together. They were the epitome of love in my book. They were also some of the best parents I've ever known. Not just my own, but any parents I've ever known. Mom's still one of my best friends and dad was just always......there. They were unconditionally loving to each other and to us. They were fair, though us kids didn't always believe it. They were fiercely loyal and completely supportive.

Unfortunately, he hasn't been "there" for almost 13 years now. Gosh, that's just amazing to think about....when I think about it. It seems like only yesterday that he died and then it seems like forever ago. I miss him so much. You know how they say that it gets easier with time? Nah, it doesn't get easier.....the times just get further apart. When I stop..............................and think about him, I miss him just as much and I cry just as much and it's just as hard not to have him here. The difference is that there are so many more times now that I can think about him and laugh.

So that's it for today......not days in a row, but still on a roll. Gonna get these 30 days-30 pix done............eventually.

Love and Blessings.

Day 4...my first little tweak of the list.....

Okay, here's the first tweak. One of the lists I found says today I should post a pic of my fav TV show......and that's okay, but I don't know that that tells a lot about me. Here it is anyway.....I rarely miss a week of Grey's and I'll be sad if it ever goes off the air..... I don't know that my favorite color tells a lot about me either BUT, my favorite color changed as of yesterday! Take a look.

I am totally in love with green................as long as it's on the face of my little one-year-old pumpkin!!! We had so much fun yesterday. Kolten really didn't know what all the fuss was about. He just knew there was fuss and he was LOVIN' IT!!! as the commercial says........... He also did have a grand 'ole time once he figured out that all of those pretty bags and boxes on the window seat were for HIM! Then he wanted them all and he wanted them now! Mind you, he didn't care what was inside..........he wanted the bags and boxes.... ; )

Happy 1st Birthday, little man!

Love and Blessings.

Day 3...My Inspiration for Weight Loss

People who already know me well will reply............duh! For those who don't, this is my Kolten. My only grandchild is the love of my life, light in my world. He's going to be 1 year old tomorrow! My how the year has flown. He is such a joy and we're so blessed that, due to circumstances, Kolten and Mommy live with us. I have to admit, I'm not good at this weight-loss thin g. I'm really going for the healthy-living thing. I watch what I eat. I move more daily than I ever have before (with the exception of HS and college). I'm trying, but I hate labels and restrictions so I refuse to say that I have to do "this" or "that". I just do my best at living the best way I can. Kolten has been my most recent inspiration because I want to be around for his baseball games, graduations, and marriage and kids like my mom is.

Love and Blessings.