Just a girl....

I have spent last night and today doing a little research about guns.  Over the last few hours I have been reading about women and guns:  Women who are certified weapons instructors. Women who are competition shooters .  Women who just like to be able to defend themselves.  Women who have differing opinions about guns, defensive stances, calibers, concealed carry, open carry, etc.   First of all I would like to clarify..... I know a small amount about guns.  I know probably the basics.  I am not an expert by any means.  I am always trying to read and educate myself.  When I go to the range I am constantly watching and trying to learn from my husband or the other shooters around me.  I will admit when I don't know.  I will ask questions freely when warranted.    I want to learn from everyone... Male and female.   However, few things tick me off faster than the "little missy" treatment in the gun store.  To follow ...

There are a few things that trigger memories of my Granny Downs like no other.  Summer vegetables are one of those things.  I remember that summer vegetables meant some very early mornings for us grand kids.    If we were not in the field out by my grandparents house.  We were in the Tomato patch in Slocomb, AL. For some reason I remember that it was always a little foggy and the dew was falling just before sunrise.   I can still see it in my mind.    Who knows what time it really was but for us it meant groggy eyes and cat naps whenever we could.  Granddaddy would always stop at Hardees and get us a buttered biscuit on the way.  He knew we would need some carbs for that labor we were about to do!  haha I can remember that tomato field in my mind so vividly.  My granddaddy would park the car at the end of the row and we would pick tomatoes until our 5 gallon buckets were full.  Granddaddy would put them in the trunk of t...

Wow, I just realized that it has been almost two years since I sat down to blog or write.  I wish I could say that life has just been so good that I have not had time to blog.  However, the truth is that over the past two years life has been difficult.  Don't get me wrong I still feel as if God has blessed us with more than we deserve and I am so thankful for what we do have. I want to just get of all this out in the open.  I want to address the issue that I sometimes vaguely speak of and ask for prayer for.    I would be kidding myself to think that most people do not know what is going on with my brother.  Last year (and this year) he got himself into some legal issues.  Small town....Big news.  He went to jail and made headlines.  You really never know how reading about your sibling in the news will make you feel....until it happens to you.  Humbling to say the least.  I was mad.  I was sad.  I was furious. ...

There are so many other things that I need to be doing.   So many….   However, my mind just keeps going back to the events of last week and the loss of a special person.   My previous mother in law, Brenda Steed passed away on Tuesday of last week.   It’s no secret that I was married previously before I married Bryan.   Robert and I met my junior year in high school after my friend (who also happened to be his sister, Robin) introduced us when my date for my junior prom backed out at the last minute.   Robert and I went on one date and were inseparable after that. Our casual dating quickly progressed into a serious relationship.     I was also quickly adopted into his family as if I had been there all my life.   Robin and I immediately declared that we were sisters.   And His mother, Brenda, took me in and treated me as if I was her daughter.    If there was a need or want for something then Brenda found a way to get it...

I am having company this weekend.  So, as usual I am running around a few hours before they get here trying to make sure the house is clean and presentable.  I began to make up our bed and realized that I was a little more than unhappy about the way those sheets looked.  I folded the covers back and stood at the edge looking at the wrinkles.  I just couldn't be happy with the way it looked.  I noticed that I started to get a little negative about everything I did after that.  I began to think:  There were clothes in the hamper- I can never stay caught up on laundry.... there were a few stray dishes in the sink...why cant anyone ever take out the garbage.... I will never get caught up on my work stuff...  All thoughts that were going through my head.  Those dang wrinkled sheets were going to ruin my excitement over my family coming.  It was at that moment that I had an epiphany!!  I think that sometimes we let our ...

Some of you have heard me tell this story already.  However, I felt the need to share it with everyone.   A few weeks ago, I was in Ozark catering a rehearsal dinner for my cousin. I had worked half a day and then went to finish buying food and flowers.  It just seemed like nothing had went the way it was supposed to.  And if you know anything about our family...nothing is ever simple.   I got aggravated, tired, and hungry. The family and I decided to go to Rodeo's for lunch.    By the time I arrived at Rodeo's I was just about on the verge of an anxiety attack.  My week was catching up with me, I was missing Bryan, and then we had to decorate AND cook the next day.    I was eating dinner and felt a tap on my arm and it was Stella Sanders Jones and then a few minutes later Daphne Hughes Johnston came to the table. We began to talk for a minute or two. Out of no where it seems, ...

It seems like just yesterday that I was 12 years old. I would spend my summers at my granny and granddaddy Downs' house. It was a small wood frame home with an inviting porch across the front, complete with a porch swing. The house was nestled between Oak and Pecan trees. The Pecan trees provided ingredients for baking during the fall. The oak trees provided entertainment by giving us "ammunition" to shoot at each other. Who knew that a small piece of PVC pipe could be bent to make an "acorn" gun? And believe me when I tell you that if you could sling that pipe just right, when those acorns hit your bare legs, it would make you want to surrender! My cousin Krysten and I spent many a warm summer day under those oak trees in that yard. We entertained ourselves by playing "Ann Varnum". For those of you reading this who are not from the Wiregrass area, Ann Varnum was a local television reporter. She had a morning talk show that included cooking ...