Whitewater Adventure

We had a blast on this whitewater trip in Leavenworth Washington. It was the first time I had ever gone whitewater rafting. I was terrified at first and about 15 minutes into it I was swearing that I would never do it again and I just wanted out. But about half way through, I started getting the hang of it and let myself enjoy the experience. By the end, I wanted to start all over and do it again right then and there. Mom and Mark were very generous and paid for the entire family to go. THANK YOU for that! It was a memory I will remember for a life time.

Happy Children

Katie Mae is seven months old today. She is the irriating little sister in every sense of the word. But Simon is so sweet and good natured that he lets her play with him even though at almost 11 years old, he'd rather sleep than play. Simon turns 11 years old Oct. 15. Kitty who is going on 17 1/2 just sits there and watches them play. I don't think there is any play left in her but she seems to like Katie Mae who by the way is totally potty trained!

Cows

Anyone who knows me at all knows I love cows. One of the things I love about our land is that we have cattle farms all around us. I hope to have several cows of my own one day but for now I just have to enjoy my neighbors cows.

Love

They make my heart squeeze!

Life is meant for smiling

I took this picture at the fair. Little things in life make me smile and these little cuties definitely made me smile.

Alabama National Fair

I look forward to the fair every year. This year Trace Adkins was there and it was a great concert. I am just like a kid at the fair. I can't wait to go to the circus and get cotton candy and a snow cone. I love to watch the racing pigs and the sea lions. I enjoy seeing all the live stock also. The entire atmosphere just makes me smile.

Trying to get a good picture

Uugghh..it is so frustrating. Katie Mae is too cute for words but I just can't get a good picture of her which captures how adorable she is. Oh well.

Fire Department Update

My life definitely is not boring! With school, school tours starting back up this month, and going out on calls with the fire department, I am pretty busy. We get called out for motor vehicle accidents, medical calls, and fires and it doesn't matter if it is 1:00 in the afternoon or at 3:00 in the morning. We have had several structure fires in the middle of the night recently. Fighting a fire is not easy work, it literally takes everything out of you. A fire fighter in a neighboring county was just convicted of arson. They suspected him and his friends of starting 14 fires but he was convicated three counts of arson. I honestly don't understand why anyone would do that because putting the fire out is so exhausting for us and so devastating for the homeowners. When you can save someones hay field from being destroyed or save a house from total destruction than it is rewarding. Fire is a very scary thing and I just hope no one I love ever has to go through a tragedy like losing a home.

A&P

I am loving being back in school. I was watching Grey's Anatomy and NCIS this week and there were a lot of medical terms thrown around that I knew which was pretty cool. I am the oldest person in the class but I really like all my fellow students. We have already formed a tight bond because all of us in that class are trying to get into the nursing program next August. We will basically be with each other for the next three years. We joke around a lot as you can tell by the picture of me dancing with the skeleton. I got an 80 on my lab test and I was very disappointed in myself but I more than made up for that by getting a 110 on my lecture exam. I was pretty proud of that grade because I had really studied hard and it felt good to have all my work pay off that way. It is well known that this teacher doesn't give As easily so if I want to make that grade I'll have to keep studying hard but so far so good.

Katie Mae went to the groomer

The first picture with Katie Mae and Kitty is the Before picture. The next two are the After pictures. She went in a dirty, curly puppy and came out a huge white fluff ball that I barely recognized. I can't believe I have a child that is not photogenic! She should know that I love to take pictures and scrapbook but getting a cute picture of her is almost impossible. Poor Simon just thought he wouldn't have to pose for the camera so much with the newest star but no such luck. He is stuck as my top model.

Lunch with my Dad

This is my favorite restaurant in Nashville. It has become tradition for my Dad and I to go there when I am in town. I absoutely love authentic Japanese restaurants. I should have known not to try something new though because the noodle dish was very bland. Next time, I'll have to go for my usual and get different types of sushi. I hope there will be a next time though because this restarant is very near where my Dad used to work. He retired this past September but hopefully that doesn't mean it is that last time we go there together.

Bookmark for Joyce

I made this bookmark for Joyce as a thank you for being such a wonderful secret sister this past round. She gave me a challenge to use my newest stamping tool called a scor pal so this is what I am came up with using that tool. I hope she loves it. The book mark is on the right and the cover that you splip the bookmark into is on the left. It was fun to make. Rubber stamps can be used for so much more than making cards as you can see from the rolodex she made me. I guess since my blog is called Country Girl Stamper, I should really start to share more of my projects and cards with you.

Sibling Rivarly

Simon and Katie Mae are your typical brother and sister. If one has a chew toy than that is what they both want. If the other has a different toy than that becomes the toy of choice. They will both look at me and you can just see that they trying to tell me "Mom, make her give my toy back." Too cute!

Awesome stamping friends

My homepage on my computer is set to a stamping forum. I spend about 50% off my computer time on this site. It is thousands of gals who love to create cards and projects using rubber stamps. We share pictures of our cards, learn new techniques, swap rubber stamp images, and talk about everything in the stamping world. There is a secret sister forum that I have participated in for the past few years. I had the sweetest big sis this round. She made me beautiful cards and sent me great little treats. We have a secret sister for 3 months and at the end of that time you reveal yourself and sent a little goody package. My big sis went out of her way to find things she new I would love. But the best part of the entire package was this cute little Rolodex that she made for me. I took out one month so you could see how she handmade something special for each month. I can put every one's birthdays in it and the back half of the Rolodex is for phone numbers and addresses. It meant so much to me that she put all the time and effort into making such a cute gift. I really love it. Thanks so much Joyce!!! The card is the one she made to reveal her real name.

Quilts

My Mom's newest hobby is quilting. She has made some really pretty things so far. She would probably love to make me some girly fru fru flower quilt but she knows that is just not my style. She made me the cutest chicken quilt and I love it!!!! Then she made me the fire fighter wall quilt for the fire station. The front side could be shown to the general public but it is the back side that totally cracks me up. I tell all my friends, "Hey, my Mom made me porn...wanna see?" You rock Mom!!!

My New Car

I have a new car!! It is a Pontiac Grand Prix Sedan. I am typically a Chevy girl and we went to the Cheverolet dealer and found this steal. It is a 2008 and it only had 1700 miles on it. We bought it for $6000.00 less than a new 2008 with zero miles. Less than 2000 miles is new enough for me!

A full heart

Last month, Jeff and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. We dated for 4 1/2 years before we got married so we have been together for over half my life. After over 21 years together, I am still absolutely madly in love with my husband. I look at pictures like this of him and I still get butterflies. How could I have ever gotten so lucky? I know how very blessed I am to have such an amazing man. He is extremely intelligent and a wonderful provider. He is a deeply spiritual person which I appreciate. I know in my heart that we are truly soul mates and will be together always.

Moved by cherry trees

My spiritual path in life has taken many turns and some might think I have gotten off the path altogether. That could not be further from the truth. Yes, I probably will not ever go back into a church building and I want nothing to do with organized religion. But my relationship with God and my understanding of who He is has deepened so much in the past few years. I am awed by the canvas God has painted on this earth and I treasure it so much. I had never seen cherries on a tree before so when we were invited to pick from a private orchid in Washington this month, I jumped at the chance. This experience is one that I will remember for the rest of my life.







A very special thank you to the manager of this farm!

Old vehicles

While in Seattle this year, I ran across 2 old vehicles. They were not in a museum or on display for tourists. The car was on private property in a the middle of a cherry tree orchid. We were invited onto the orchid and were allowed to pick a ton of cherries. The truck was in the field of an old farm. I just thought they screamed to be photographed. Enjoy.

My barn photography

I have been asked by several people if I took the pictures of the old barns which were at the top of my blog for a long time. The answer is yes, I did take these pictures. I really enjoy photography and old barns is one of my favorite subjects. I decided to move the slide show to a post. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

More Barn Photos

Here are 3 more recent barn photos.