final snow pics

A few final pics from the big pre Christmas snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

:drive by reflections:

It's been quite a while since I posted any of my drive by thoughts. When we first came to little 25, we were driving home one evening and David said 'Look at the deer!'. Well, being a hunter, he has an eye for a deer standing in a forest 4 thousand miles away...that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but the point is that he can spot a deer or other wildlife when no one else can. And of course, by no one else, I mean me.

At any rate, I couldn't see the darn things, and he got all frustrated shouting 'Right there! Right there!'. I'm thinking, I don't know what 'right there' means, for Pete's sake! So, he turned around and drove me past them and this time I was finally able to spot them...after he stopped the truck in the middle of a curve on Rush Fork mountain. (Not the safest move, Mehaff.) Of course, they were so beautiful it took my breath away. It's not that I haven't seen deer or other animals up close in the wild, it just takes my breath away every time is all.

Since our little sighting that first night, I look in those 3 fields on the side of Rush Fork every single time I drive past, no matter what direction I'm going. And guess what I never see? Deer. And guess who calls me every morning after we've both made it to work and says 'Whew. Didja see all the deer this morning? There were tons!'.

So I started to get frustrated. See, the way I look at it, when I see a deer, or really any creature for that matter, doing something fantastic when I'm just cruising down the road, I take it as a gift. I'll go so far as to say I take it as a kiss from my Creator. That concept would have used to flip me out, thinking of God sending us kisses, until I read the book 'Captivating', by John and Stasi Eldridge. You'll have to read it to get what I'm talking about, but needless to say, it changed forever how I look at my relationship with Jesus.

So all this time, I keep thinking, 'Why aren't you sending me kisses?!?! I want to see some deer!'. Once when I was traveling thru Kentucky with a friend I looked to my right and saw 2 deer leaping like they had trampolines on their feet across this hill, and I burst out with this ginormous grin and kept it to myself.

*Pause to tell Toots McGee that she may NOT in fact try to eat Ruby's ear or my knee at this point in time...*

Continuing: Now, while I am driving, I see plenty of wild turkeys. I remember seeing them a lot as a kid on the ride to and from Fines Creek, but never this many. I see dozens and dozens, almost every morning. A few days ago I was driving in to work and I was passing by the cross on the side of the road that celebrates the life of David Sherrill, and all the turkeys flew across the road, right in front of me. I had to slam on the brakes because the sheer size of their big fat bodies and the volume of them was just excessive and very near busted my windshield. I keep trying to think of what significance that had, flying right over David's wooden cross, but I haven't quite wrapped my brain around that one yet.

Yet it seems that almost every time I ride with Hubs, he points out the deer to me. I see them so clearly when I'm riding shotgun. I can't ever understand why I can't find them when I'm on my own...then, Sunday morning, driving into church, right at the bottom of Rush Fork mtn, my wilderness explorer of a husband said (of course) 'Look! Look! Lookit those cyotes runnin across that hillside!!'. I looked to the right and sure enough, there they were. It was incredible. The hill was still partially snow-covered, and the trees bordered it as if it was some impressionistic painting. They ran around and around and chased each other and zigged and zagged and we stopped the car to watch. The sun was still in it's freshly risen state and the sky was a piercing blue and it suddenly hit me:
 
Every time I see the deer, I'm riding shotgun. Every single time. Any time I've seen a deer, even a few times a bear or a bear cub, I've been in the passenger seat. It makes me contemplate the fact that I try so hard to control my life and still enjoy it. Well, I can't enjoy all the blessings and 'kisses' that God gives me if I'm stressing out, trying to drive, avoid txting and driving, scramble around slooooow pokes, watching the clock and fretting about where I should have been 5 minutes ago. Because that's what happens if I try to drive and make God ride shotgun. I end up frustrated, late, missing all the kisses, and half the time, lost all together.

It's only when I'm riding in the passenger seat, in charge of only the radio and my thoughts, that I can gaze out the windows and see and be shown the amazingness of the creation around me. And it's only when I'm letting God be God, letting Him drive my life, direct me, mold me, take me where He wants me to go (even though it drives me insane that He won't let me look at the directions!), that I enjoy the life I'm living and feel the peace and serenity of only having to go where He takes me. I don't have to worry about if I'm lost, or if I'm missing something amazing, whizzing by His special kisses that He has just for me. All I have to do is just climb into the passenger seat, crank up the soundtrack to my life, and enjoy the ride.

And revel in all those kisses.

Finally!

So, something funky has been going on with my blog, and I haven't been able to sign in for weeks! Hence, the lack of posting. I've been around the world it seems to find a solution to this problem, and finally, stumbled across the answer today. What I clicked and how I got there I have no idea, all I know is that somehow, my brilliant mind fixed it. Ok, well, maybe not my brilliant mind, maybe just my sheer desperation as I read forum after forum in the Help section, just clicking on whatever looked the least dangerous. Whatever it was, it worked, and I am blissfully happy to be back on blogger! Although now, I have tons to catch up on. I'll probably end up simplifying what I would normally post, simply because I'm so behind and extremely busy. Until then!!

*land of snow*

The bilzzard that hit Friday morning has given David and I quite the adventure. David, of course, has been working non-stop, trying to restore power all over Western North Carolina. He did get to sleep and shower at the HEMC office for a few hours, but I don't think the hard floor did his mood any good! He's been back at it since about 6 or 7 this morning, and I'm sure he'll be working for the next 2 or 3 days.

While David was working, I was stuck at home. Now, normally I adore being home alone, and I adore the snow. It's also super exciting to have not only our first big snow in several years, but to be at our new home! Well, it was a fun Friday of relaxing and picture taking in the snow with Ruby and Toots, and then the power finally went out on me. I called my brother and we decided that since it could be days before the power or David returned to me, he'd just come get me and I could stay at their house. So, it took him about 3 hours to make the 25 min. run to my house, and I'm so thankful to be here with my family! I even got to play with their neighbors, who are also some of my closest church friends, and this was exciting for me! I normally don't have anyone to play with since David is pretty much always gonna have to work...poor Leah! Haha.

So, these pics are from both bein at Sawyer and Scouts house, and also from our house before I left. Between the time I took the pics and the time I left there were about 6 more inches. If it's still there when I get home I'll take some more!

(The pics in the dark are from my crazy brother who said 'Let's go night sledding!!' at 10:30. Needless to say, Saw and I were all over that...)

:soap box:

“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief”
 Gerry Spence

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed 

insufficient for that day"

Abraham Lincoln

“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people” Eleanor Roosevelt.

So that's where you were hiding...

So, I was working around the house today and it was suspiciously quiet. Ruby was asleep in her bed, but Toots was no where to be found. Until I found her, of course. 

   

Now everytime I can't find Toots, I walk past the tree and there she is, curled up under the lights.

 

Toots and Rubes

Ruby is the cutest dog on the planet:

My babies :)

 

Toots has done great with the addition of a huge strange object in the house...we thought she would go absolutely nuts since she is pretty psychotic most of the time anyways. The first hour or so she was super inquisitive, but since the ornaments have been on she hasn't messed with it once.

She was pretty crazy climbing around in the tree at first, I couldn't get her to stay still long enough to snag a non-fuzzy picture:

*twinkle*

I made these garland pieces out of the extra branches from the tree...It brought back so many memories of growing up on a tree farm, watchin and helpin my Mama while she made wreaths and garland, helpin Dad load them all up to take to sell... Great childhood memories. David helped get them on the porch... 

 

Poor Toots McGee...she just didn't understand why she couldn't come help us and Ruby put up all the decorations! She meowed and meowed at the door all night...

 

 

David had put all the lights up this afternoon, but we were one strand short. By the time we got home from the grand Tree Lighting at church, we were too excited to wait till tomorrow, so David whipped out his handy dandy head lamp and climbed back on the roof to finish the job...

 

Growing up, we had a ginormous tree outside that we always decorated with blue lights. It's a tradition that I've really missed, and when we were looking at houses to buy, these two trees were a huge sentimental seller for me. They actually turned out to be gifts from my parents to the previous owners to the house from years ago. We couldn't wait to try out some blue lights of our own!

 

David really did a great job hanging the icicles!!

We are so tickled with how it all turned out!!

 

*lily scout belue*

Welcome to the world, Lily Scout!! We are all so glad you're finally here :)

Aunt LeeLee and Hunka Davie sure do love you tons already!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*trim the tree*

As long as I can remember, I've wanted to have big double windows for one reason: so that at Christmas time we could have a tree in front of them that you could see at night through the windows...sparkly lights twinkling from a distance...it's my biggest Christmas dream...and now? I guess dreams come true at Christmas time!!

 

 

We love how our sweet little tree turned out. We had to rearrange the whole living room to accommodate my 'tree in the window' dreams, but David is such a great sport, and it all turned out very simple and lovely.

Let the Christmas season begin!!

let's see this city!!

This church was right across the street from our hotel:

 

Grand Central:

 

 

 

Every block had flowers like this...amazing:

 

Inside the New York Public Library (It was my FAVORITE!!)

 

 

 

 

 

Rockefeller Center:

I loved finding nature and the beauty of God's creation in the midst of the concrete jungle:

 

On the ferry, view of Manhattan:

 

Ellis Island:

I love this view of Manhattan from the Great Hall @ Ellis Island:

 

The New York Stock Exchange:

 

I always love this building in commercials, and it's just as beautiful in person: