greg and i had planned to canoe on the hiwassee river thursday but rain prevented it.  not sure about weather on friday, we decided to stay closer to home and spent the day in tellico.  indian boundary lake was empty, except for two people who were crazy enought to get out there in 45 degree rainy weather.  it was cold and windy so we only stayed on the water for about an hour.
after getting the canoe back on the 4 runner, (which greg can do by himself with a creative gadget someone made for him) we drove to bald river falls by way of turkey creek.

after a peek at the falls it was lunch at "nut n' fancy" where we ran into some friends, the smeltzers.  they run camp livingstones which is a christian adventure camp in etowah. it's a great place that we are lucky to have in our area.

   

it was a good day

ok, let me explain...

if you are reading my blog and like what you are reading, then please become a f-o-l-l-o-w-e-r. otherwise, how will i know that anyone is out there reading. and if no one is out there reading than how will i know to continue. and if i don't continue, than what will i do with all this time. and if i don't know what to do with all my extra time, then i might...

beautiful saturday

what a beautiful saturday in east tennessee. here's just a one of the many things we did today.

first of all we put up my birdhouse that was a christmas present from jessie. it has a clear plastic back so you can see the birds building the nest and hopefully watch eggs hatch.


word of warning from my sister marna. she remembers my dad putting one of these up when she was a little girl. oh how sweet to watch the birds coming in and building their home day by day. then, at last, eggs! they are starting a family. the little birds hatched and soon afterward the sun became very, very, very warm. really, really warm against the sliding glass door that my dad had decided would be the perfect spot for the birdhouse. well, what happened next? yes, the baby birds baked in the sun. actually baked in just a few hours. mama bird and daddy bird never returned, not even to save their young. guess they thought the daddy maynard should have known better than to put a plastic birdhouse on a sliding glass door that would get so hot in the sun you couldn't even touch it.

so that is why you see our little home for the birds on a window that is in the front of our house, protected by some shade.
(good thing she told me that story cause i was about to make the same mistake!)

will keep you posted and let you know what our feathered friends think of the house.

favorite things

ok, tanner was looking at my blog tonight and said he wanted to add a "favorite thing."

mom: "tanner, tell me about your favorite things?"
tanner:
"my new cell phone"
"playing golf and working at springbrook"
"our new kitchen and living room"
"new patio and porch we might get"
"going out to eat with jamey"
"bella's video"
"my job at kmart"
"playing wii & xbox360 & ps2"
"watching holmes on homes"
"my last favorite thing is taking a nap"

i think this is a great list of favorite things.

got chicks?

farmer julie's post, got chicks, brought back memories of easter long ago.

when i was a little girl, we always bought our easter shoes at "taylor howard's". the shoes were kept in the basement of the store. the hardwood floors led us down a wide set of stairs that i remember to be squeaky and dark with wear. i couldn't wait to get down to the bottom to find that new pair of white patent leathers. after the shoes were purchased mr howard would have the children to pick out a special easter "chick' to take home.

choosing the little chick was more difficult than choosing the shoes! you see, the shoes were always white patent leather, but the chicks were the colors of easter eggs! yellow, pink, purple, blue, green - oh what a difficult decision. they were in a box, chirping and pooping all over the place. we just had to reach in and catch the one we wanted.

i'm sure they made a mess at our house. just something else for my parents to have to take care of. but my mom and dad never complained about the little chicks or refused to let us have one. one of my chicks lived quiet a long time. i was a little disappointed that he turned out to be a rooster, and just a plain white one at that. he was also kind of mean and chased us around the yard.

check out farmer julie's blog. she has some of the most beautiful photos of flowers i have ever seen! then go buy yourself a new pair of shoes for easter. preferably white patent leather, and be sure to let me know if you find any easter chicks out there!

goodwill shopping

i have always been a "goodwill" shopper. some of my favorite things have been purchased there. especially in the days when you could "fill a bag" for 10 dollars. shoppers would be allowed to stuff as many items as possible in the bag. wow, it was amazing at how much i could cram in those bags. that ended at most goodwill stores several years ago when they realized how many people would buy and resale on ebay. now, they have "tag" sales, but everything is priced high enough that i think twice before buying.

recently i began to "goodwill" shop again. i was walking around not finding anything interesting, until i walked by a coat. i noticed because the same wool pattern on the jacket was recently featured in country living magazine. the colors and indian design were beautiful. the coat was vintage, possible from the 70's or 80's. i purchased it for 8 dollars. (i actually thought it was going to be half price or i might have put it back!) i decided to list it on ebay, and if it did not sell i would give it to my sister (to make a pillow.) i am knew to ebay, but the coat did very well and ended up selling for 69 dollars! that was 8x the money invested and in only 5 days.

i have purchased two other items to resale and they both did well. i bought a skirt for a dollar and it sold for 4. a burberry item was purchased for 4 dollars and sold for 42! that was 10x my investment in only days! i don't go to goodwill often but i will stop by every now and then to scout out some "hot" items. try it sometime and happy hunting!

what greg is readng now

greg reads all the time. tonight he asked me to pick up this book for him. going to be interesting to see if he can finish it. he has been reading since i brought it home and is still on the introduction! anyone else read this book? will keep you posted.

gift's from jes

i love this present that i received from jes and jason at Christmas. it is an ecosphere that contains 4 bright red shrimp, algae and filtered sea water. a miniature aquarium that never needs to be fed or cleaned. a unique and fun gift that everyone loves!

a couple of days ago she surprised me with this little gift purchased at "bliss". don't i have a sweet daughter!

today

the first song you hear on my playlist is titled, "today" by john denver.
yep, my cousin sang it at our wedding. maybe not what most people would hear at a wedding in 77'...but i just kind of liked it.
i think most folks probably had a puzzled look on their faces during the song. especially when regina's voice cracked and was off key. oh well, it was fun and what i wanted! hope you enjoy it.

dam greed

i've just finished a book that should be required reading for monroe county residents. including those folks living in the communities of rarity bay, kahite, or tellico village. it is the heartwrenching story of what happened in this small farming community during the 1970's.

growing up in vonore during the 60's and 70's was a treat. i took for granted the fact that we could ride our bikes to fort loudon and had the tellico river flowing thought the corn field just beyond our back yard. the little tennessee river was down the road. so close and barely out of our sight. days were filled playing outside with cousins and friends, scouting, and having fun just being a kid.

the 70's were a little different around vonore. cars with bumper stickers that read, "save the litte t" and later "save the snail darter." i am not sure any of us realized the magnitude of what was about to happen. i know i didn't.

the last few years i have been thinking more and more about the flooding of the little tennessee river. maybe because i have grown to appreciate the outdoors more and am realizing just what was lost. i had been doing some searches on the internet and even tried to find a vintage "save the snail darter" t-shirt.

little did i know during this time there was a book being written and it would be a story that i needed to read. thank you fran dorwood for "dam greed." and thank you for being the voice of many. find the book and read it, you will not be disappointed.

newest favorite item: flip video camera!

i recently purchased a flip video camera and am loving it! perfect to have handy for a quick memory maker and takes snapshots as well. works great with imovie and more interesting to have short clips rather than one looonnnng video. so easy to use that my 8 year old neice taught herself in less than a minute. still have lots to learn about it, but i highly recommend it. you will flip for the "flip!"

adventure girl!

ok, let's try this again

ok, i am going to attempt this blog thing one more time. why? who knows. who cares what i am doing or thinking anyway...

on sunday mornings, i drag out of bed at 5:30 (or later) to get to church by 7:00 am. yes believe it or not i do this week after week. why? simply because i love being one of the "behind the scene" folks. it's takes a lot of work to get things running smoothly by 8 in the morning. and to make sure it will continue to run smoothly until 12:15. tanner is right there with me, ready to go out the door at 6:45. i am blessed with the opportunity to serve this way, i love it!

yesterday morning (sunday) we were just getting started at 8 am when my great-niece bella calls my cell phone. wondering what they would want at 8 on a sunday morning, i answered it. she just called to ask when could we go to dollywood again. bella called me 2 more times and it was decided that i would pick her and chelsea up after school and we would spend a few hours together. (since dollywood is closed, she decided my house would do.) looking forward to an afternoon with the watts girls and make some exciting plans for summer!

reality shows

ok, i admit it. i watch some of them.

when reality shows were first introduced i refused to watch. one afternoon when i was not feeling well and was home, i caught an episode of little people big world. and then before i knew it, every afternoon i was watching little people big world. since i have not seen this show in a very long time, i'm excited to report that on monday night, october 12 it is going to be on again! in fact, it is going to be on for hours. yeah! little people big world!

i also love to watch those duggars! i tell everyone i wish i had 18 kids! now i know lots of people think they are insane, but who cares if they're gonna have 18 kids (and counting). they all appear to be happy. if i had known the duggars were going to pigeon forge to meet dolly, i probably would have taken a little weekend trip to the mountains myself! the duggars, little people, the little couple, say yes to the dress. love all of those. and YES i know that other reality show is not mentioned as a favorite. in fact i can't even bring myself to type their names, but you will probably guess who they are from the following description.

the show i am talking about is full of yelling, screaming, tummy tucking, teeth whitening, hair plugging, disrespecting fake people. poor kids. i even turn the tv channel during a preview.
the other day at walmart, i turned a dvd of this family around backward! weird thing is, why would i do that? why do i even care if they are selling dvd's!

maybe i could have a reality show about watching reality shows.

He's always been faithful to me

morning by morning I wake up to find
the power and comfort of God's hand in mine
season by season I watch Him amazed
in awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
all I have need of His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
in serving God only and trusting His hand
all I have need of His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

this is my anthem this is my song
the theme of the stories I've heard for so long
God has been faithful He will be again.
His loving compassion it knows no end
all I have need of His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

blogging

ok, why have i not been blogging?  is it because i have nothing going on in my life worth blogging about?  or is it because i have too much going on in  my life, and thus no time to blog?  i think a little of both...

friends

i had a friend named joyce in high school who would call me every few days and say, "can i spend the night with you?"  of course the answer was always yes, and my mom would go pick her up or her mom would drop her off.  we would talk half the night about the latest gossip at school, the last football game (which we probably lost) or what we were going to do the next day.  i don't remember us talking very much about the future, we thought those days would last forever.  

joyce and i have not spent a lot of time together since, but she seems to always magically appear when i need her.  the most recent, until tonight, was last year when she learned my dad died suddenly.  

joyce knew we have been at vanderbilt hospital where greg's mother louise, had surgery last week.  she is still in intensive care and we are doing a lot of traveling back and forth.  so what a treat when joyce walks in.  (probably forgot to add that my friend now lives in nashville). 

 

thanks joyce for the homemade trail mix and good conversation! and i need to ask you something, "can i spend the night with you?"

(i'm not kidding, need a place to stay, call me!)

biking in cade's cove

Greg and I loaded up bikes after work on Friday, dropped Tanner off at Jessie's and headed up to Townsend.

We woke early on Saturday morning and arrived at Cade's Cove by 7:30. Lots of people walking, running and biking around the Cove. Saw deer, a turkey and finally at the end of the loop, what I had been waiting on, A BEAR! It walked right out of the woods in front of me and I had to stop, (of course) and let him get across the road. Too bad I was so excited that I didn't have time to grab my camera for a quick pic!

A great way to start the weekend!

tanner's exciting day

While driving home from work today Tanner called to let me know he was home a little early. He was excited and said he had something to tell me when I got home. He wouldn't tell me anything more, except that is was something about Springbrook.

Tanner has worked at Springbrook for the past 4 years. He loves his job and co-workers. We always know who plays golf or eats lunch there on Wednesdays! When someone asks him what he does at Springbrook, Tanner answer is, "whatever they want me to do."

When I came into the house he was waiting with an 8x10 photograph of John Ward. Voice of the Vols. The picture is signed: To Tanner from John Ward, Give him six! Mr. Ward played golf today and was nice enough to spend a little time with Tanner and give him the photograph. Thanks John Ward! And thanks Springbrook!

july 4

For us, July 4 has always been family time, and now for quiet a while "cousin" time.

When I was young we would usually work in our vegetable garden on the 4th and then my dad would take us all to Chilhowee lake for the day. Sometimes we would even spend the whole weekend. Our camping out was throwing a large tarp through the trees, and sleeping bags on the hard ground, or if you were lucky, an army cot. My cousins and I would spend every moment swimming in the lake.

Now we have a pool and for the last dozen years or so, it is filled with cousins on the 4th. This year Nancy, Les, Jesse Anne, Maggie, Morgan, Joe, Grace, and Jake were with us. We missed Kate, who is giving up a week of her summer vacation to do mission work in Guatamala. I know the Simpson clan is very proud of her, as we all are! Jessie was off from work so she and her friend Kathyrn came over as well. (their husbands decided that playing golf was a better way to spend the day.) We had a great time and watched amazing fireworks later at the Simpson farm.
Thanks friends and family for a great 4th of July!