Blessed Weekend

Sunday is here yet again, I can't believe that the weeks go by so quickly, the older I get the faster the days seem to go by. I remember when I was young and things seemed to drag on. So today we have fun memes and challenges, these are some of my favorite. I love all the ones I participate in but Sunday's make me think about other stuff and being grateful.

we're off :)

This week at Sunday Creative is the prompt of  "material"

Material: 1. A textile fabric 2. Materials, the articles or apparatus needed to make or do something. 3. Relating to, concerned with, or involving matter.

Here is my take on it. This is a little older of a photo, but this is Mr. Milo or Cranky Pants. I had many nicknames for him. Just thought sharing this photo would fit, and its me remembering him since we had to have him put down a while back, he just got sick quickly and there wasn't anything we could do :( I so miss him, even if he did get cranky :D Here he is laying or relaxing in the window area of our living room. I had put our coffee table at one time, below the window so the dogs could look out the window or sleep there. And alas this is the sight I saw often.

Then there is this, the old ratty seat in an old dump truck we have on our property, its cracked with the stuffing coming out.

{Black and White}

This is Peach and Betty, we haven't went for any wagon rides but that's what we use them for normally. My dad a couple years ago used them to rake hay and pull the hay wagon. They are such babies, Peach, the closest one didn't cooperate too much she came to me and insisted I pet her. So my photographing her ended. Then Betty did the same after a bit. As you can see there I am in shadow form...lol

{I ate this...}

{Historic}

"In 1944 Dick Bong was awarded the nation's highest honor by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of all U.S. Army units in the Far East, who said: "Major Richard Ira Bong, who has ruled the air from New Guinea to the Philippines, I now induct you into the society of the bravest of brave, the wearers of the Congressional Medal of Honor of the United States."

Dick Bong, a hero in an era of heroes, represents a generation of young men and women who willingly left their farms, villages, and cities to defend their country's freedom. They carried out the work that had to be done - and did it well.

Bong was the first fighter pilot handpicked by General George C. Kenney in the fall of 1942 for a P-38 squadron designed to strengthen his Fifth Air Force in Australia and New Guinea. Dick Bong loved flying and the P-38 was the ideal fighting plane for the combat techniques he mastered: swooping down on his targets and blasting them at dangerously close range, then pulling up fast. His own aircraft was damaged in battle in several of his missions, once so badly he had to crash-land.

General Kenney pulled Dick Bong out of combat when his score reached 40 and sent him home to "marry Marjorie and start thinking about raising a lot of towheaded Swedes." Dick and Marge Vattendahl were married February 10, 1945 in Superior, an event attended by 1,200 guests and covered by the international press.

The couple honeymooned in California for several weeks before reporting to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where Dick began training for a new assignment in Burbank, California: testing the plane that would take the Air Force into the jet age - the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star.

Dick Bong was intrigued by the new jet fighter and enthusiastic about his assignment. On August 6, 1945 (the day the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima) Dick Bong was killed when the P-80 he was testing stalled and crashed on take-off."

We went to the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center when we were in Duluth last time, just crossed over into Superior WI. Very interesting, we even met Richard's Sister who helps run the museum.

{Off Center}

Ok this is my FAVORITE coffee drink, man I wish I could drink just one each day...lol. But that doesn't happen but I do drink them often. This also is some yummy candy, not something I'd eat all the time but its a nice treat.

{The End}

Ok I totally had no clue what to do with this one, then I was like ah ha let's try this interesting almost empty bag with a last bite and of course that last bite needs to be in color only :) So that's how i took The End

Freezing Friday er…Fun

Well that flowed except there isn't any fun when you are freezing...lol. It could be much worse but we still aren't above zero this morning. We can hope it goes above :)

Ok yes I have a slight obsession on this old dump truck we have out back. Wednesday I went out and took some photos after the fresh snow that we got. I didn't get a lot of snow shots since it was starting to melt by the time I got my booty out there. But I had looked at this gas cap several times since I started taking photos of the truck and finally decided to take a shot or two and go from there. I really wanted the words to be seen clearly, even through the rust. So I took the photo ran auto levels, did a color pop of sorts, I think it was either Fresh Color or Boost action from Pioneer Woman(I love her actions and use them often, along with CoffeeShop actions then turned it B&W along with sharpening it. And there ya have it. Simple really I don't always do a lot of steps, course sometimes I do way too many...lol

A Wee Bit Wednesday

{one} what kind of camera do you have?

Canon rebel xt - first dsl i got last year. :)

{two} you just won $1000 and you have to spend it on yourself on one item. what do you buy?
probably a lens or two for my camera, or anything camera related.

{three} if you had to choose, would you rather live with your parents in the same house forever or 5000 miles away?
ok this is iffy, i live in the same yard as my parents so its almost like living with them. but there are many times i'd rather live farther awa. love my parents but wouldn't be able to live in the same house forever with them. So i guess 5000 miles away.

{four} is your christmas tree up yet?
nope i don't even decorate much anymore, i grab these small fake Christmas trees we have already decorated and put them up.

{five} do you bring reusable bags to the grocery store?
sometimes, i generally have them in my blazer but forget to take them in the store

{six} which would be worse: listening to the same song on replay for the rest of your life or having to eat the same meal everyday for the rest of your life?
eating the same meal, i could only tolerate the same food for a short while. I think the song I could get past at some point.

{seven} name 3 things you are thankful for this season.
my wonderful husband(whose at work today on thanksgiving) my talkative son, and having a warm home to live in.

{eight} do you dye/highlight your hair? if so, do you do it yourself or have it done at the salon?
Yep and a Salon. Generally just once a year but this year i got it done twice...lol

{nine} would you rather watch a movie at home or at the theater?
at home

{ten} would you rather win $1000/week for life or $5 million all at once?
$5 million at once. Then I could pay off everything we needed to, help my parents out anyway they need, like fixing up the house. Then anything else we need done, which isn't a lot.



Winter Wordless Wonderland Wednesday

Our wonderful afternoon drive home. Snowy and difficulty seeing then it went away..lol

Black and White Wednesday

{virtual coffee}

{Virtual Coffee Tuesday}

I know, I know its evening on Tuesday instead of morning. People normally have coffee together. So sorry for that, but I'm so glad that you were able to stop by with me to have a cup, or two and chat away. Right away I don't have any earth shattering news to share. I think that happened yesterday with my lovely Mumblings of a Minnesota Monday and I was so glad that today didn't go along with yesterday. I didn't want my week starting off that way.

So grabbing my cup of vanilla, caramel coffee with added cream and sugar(yes I have some issues...lol) I'll as you what you would like :) Then we get settled in and talk about our weekend and anything else you want to share!

If we were really meeting for coffee I would tell you...

Yesterday afternoon we started to get snow. I know its the time of year and we live in Minnesota, but I'd really love to put it off. I was nervous this morning to see what we had out there. More then last time, which wasn't much. So I'd say about 1.5 inches when last time we barely got an inch, and most was gone by the time this snow came along. Of course along with the snow does come some chilly weather. I *think* we got above zero today, I don't like looking this time of the year, its just better to not know. 

If we were really meeting for coffee I would tell you...

That my 13 year old has been doing well the past few days. He does his chores without being told, and then even does schoolwork without being told. Its all because he wants to get as much time outside as possible. I should have really taken photos of him out there plowing snow. Its so great to have a kiddo that would do these things and LOVE doing them. Of course it could have something to do with the fact that he has a riding lawnmower, he bought it himself from a friend of the hubs for like $25. An older mower, nothing fancy, but that's what he has instead of a four-wheeler :) And he's happy with that. It's an added bonus that they took the mower deck part off (for anyone that might think I'm nuts for letting me kid use a riding mower). But there he was today with his homemade snow plow, pushing the snow on the driveway cleaning it up for us. I will indeed have to take pics next time :)

If we were really meeting for coffee I would tell you...

I can't believe we are so close to Christmas! I have nothing bought for my 13 year old, and to be honest we aren't sure its going to happen at all. I really need to remember to put things away throughout the year! I keep saying that "next year I'm going to buy and put away for his birthday and Christmas" Uh yeah hasn't happened yet! Something will work out, I have no worries on that! I've told him if I by what he really wants, which is a Nintendo DS it will be about all because its not all that cheap. I did find on Amazon.com a DS Lite for $129.99 and I have $40 in gift certificates(that I got from searches with swagbucks.com which I earned in around 2 months, I use the toolbar to search for just about anything) there, SO just need to work it out. If I could just sell some of my college books that I've used, and quickly that would help too. Ah I'm rambling and being a "Debbie downer" I really do have a positive attitude about it, unlike many years before the hubs got this awesome paying job. Just this time of the year its like bills go nuts!

If we were really meeting for coffee I would tell you...

That I'm truly sorry that I ramble on. Moving on to the holidays, do you have plans for Thanksgiving? Do share them, we stay home and have lunch with my parents and that's the extent of it. So hearing about others' plans is wonderful. Going out of town or having family come to your house? Are you an early shopper for Christmas or the run around last minute kind?

If we were really meeting for coffee I would tell you...

I really appreciate you taking the time to visiting with me and I look forward to talking with you again next week. To hear all about your Thanksgiving holiday fun! Have a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving my dear friends.

I would like to share these photos before we part our ways. Enjoy. These photos are a couple years old, so its like walking down memory lane.

I have this red chair that we actually picked up at the dump. It was an orange color but I knew it had to be red. I would so love to find more like it but I really don't know what they are called or where to dig some up at. The yellow rose was given to me by a dear friend from church. She gave a rose to each lady in our bible study that year. This is what I did with that rose, then shared the photos with her and gave her the ones she wanted. She was surprised at what I did with the flower she gave. It was something I felt was needed to do. Tonight I added the quote to just add to it.

This photo is of the hubs and the 13 year old. Of course he's not 13 in this photo more like 9 or 10, I can't remember what time of the year we took these since his birthday is beginning of September. As i was setting up another shot, this is what I turned around to and I just had to take a shot because this is how they are :)

This was our Christmas card picture in 2007 and I think the last one we did :eek: I need to get another one, but I'd have to set up in the house to get it. I have the shirts for us but hard to get it done when the hubs works late. So maybe a weekend he's not working will be the time.

Glory, Love and Thanks with the Lord

I'm thankful for my boys. I love watching them when we go away overnight up north to Duluth, Minnesota and surrounding areas. They are always talking and my husband is always teaching the 13 year old about things. This is one of them talking about the train that's sitting in Two Harbors, MN

I have shared this photo before, but I really love it. It makes me happy when I look at it, as though the Lord is right there with you shining down.

Sit with the Lord and bask in his Glory

Reach high to the Lord and feel his love around you

For my Touch up Tuesday I just grabbed a photo I took this morning and messed around with it. Basic edit of levels, Pioneer Woman's Fresh Color, Define Sharp and Colorize Actions.

Before

After