Archive for Featured
Happy 150th Birthday To The Place This Nana Calls Home
Posted by: | CommentsMetcalfe County – City of Edmonton Sesquicentennial Celebration 1860-2010
If you can’t say “Sesquicentennial” you are not alone! But 150 years is a big deal and there will be the biggest celebration this little county has ever seen this weekend. If you live close by we hope you will come visit. You can check out all the events on Facebook by typing in Metcalfe County and then going to the page that says City of Edmonton Sesquicentennial Celebration.
Thought I would share some of the photos provided by Vicki Stephens of some of our community members helping get ready for the big event. My friends, The Kentucky Headhunters will be giving a free concert Friday night and Black Stone Cherry on Saturday night. My husband Bill’s band, (I call them The Wheezer and Geezers), plays Saturday on the square at 11:00.
So come on over! It should be fun!
Decorating the court house on the square
My friend Mary Ann hanging wreaths on court house
My buddies Freeda and Jane Rhea decorating
Nana asks, “What Are You Saving Your Good Dishes For?”
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My grandmother lived through the Great Depression and because of her experiences she “saved” everything. She took wrapping paper off Christmas presents, folded it and stored it. Then used it the next year to wrap her presents with. She also kept lots of things we gave her and “saved” them, because they were too good to wear. She had several house coats and night gowns that she kept in her dresser case she ever had to go to the hospital and she might need something nice to wear.
I was reminded of ’saving’ things not long ago when my cousin Martha came to visit. She saw some of my crystal glassware in the cabinet. “I ought to give you my stemware,” she said. “I never use it and we have the same pattern.”
I don’t use mine very often either, only at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The glasses are fragile and don’t hold enough liquid to suit my house full of men. My husband got tired of the small glasses we had and went to Walmart and purchased huge fruit jars.
I suppose Martha Stewart would be appalled but Bill’s fruit jars are okay by me. I grew up drinking out of glasses that had the Flintstones pictures on them (or jelly jars), but for some reason when I drink iced tea (with a twist of lemon please) I prefer stemware.
I had been pouring my tea in some stemmed glasses I got at Arbys several Christmas’s ago, but when Martha commented about the crystal glasses it made me think of Grandma Layne and all the things she saved and never got the pleasure of using. So I went to the china cabinet, got out a crystal glass and poured it full of iced tea and I’ve been drinking from them ever since.
So what if I break one? The world won’t end. I have survived broken dishes before.
Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is a dream. The good Lord has blessed us with today and that is really all we have! So thank you God for jelly jars, Flintstone glasses and crystal ones too. My cup (or glass) literally runneth over. You have blessed me with gifts beyond measure and I am so very grateful and filled with praise for you!
Now here is my challenge to you, dear reader. What are you saving and more importantly, what are you saving it for?
Drink your iced tea in crystal glasses and go dance in the moonlight in your new nightgown and housecoat.
Carpe Diem!
30 Things I’ve Learned from Being Married 30 Years
Posted by: | Comments30 years is too long to be on a diet.
It’s too long to go without cheese cake. (not that I would)
It’s a long time to go without seeing a friend.
But 30 years goes by in the blink of an eye when you are married to someone you love.
I decided it might be fun to see if I could come up with 30 things I’ve learned in 30 years of marriage. I started writing and realized I could probably come up with a lot more, but for the sake of space I’m going to stop with 30. No matter how long you’ve been married, you might have learned some of the same things!
1. There are few things better than being married to your best friend.
2. The art of compromising is critical.
3. Snoring is a reminder that your loved one is close by.
4. Laughter and a sense of humor are essential.
5. Finding “alone” time is hard when children are little, but important.
6. It’s okay to have different interests and hobbies. He plays golf, I don’t. I can sit entranced with a good book for hours, he can’t. A few years into our marriage we figured out that we didn’t have to do everything together.
7. Holding hands is always a good thing.
8. Having a shoulder to cry on makes tough times easier.
9. Raising a child (or children) together is one of God’s greatest gifts to a marriage.
10. Growing together in faith is a stepping stone to a stronger marriage.
11. Never go to bed mad.
12. Tell each other you love each other every day. We never know when it might be our last.
13. Make lots of pictures. You think you’ll remember everything but you won’t.
14. Never yell at each other in front of the kids. It scares them and you shouldn’t be yelling anyway!
15. Little things mean a lot. A sweet note, a hug, even a quick text just to say “I love you,” can bring a smile on a cloudy day.
16. Trust is essential.
17. Always have your spouse’s back.
18. Don’t be afraid to give compliments. No one ever gets tired of a kind word.
19. Fight fair. There are certain areas we are all sensitive about and those are off limits during disagreements. I call it “hitting below the belt” and it’s a no-no for a happy marriage.
20. Keep your personal life private.
21. Pick your battles carefully. It’s best not to battle at all but it’s easy to fall into the “nag” trap. After 30 years Bill knows that if a jar lid isn’t screwed on, I probably did it. And about ten years ago he stopped complaining about it. I just can’t remember. He loves butter and gets it out to butter his bread…and never remembers to put it back in the fridge. I gave up on that one about the same time he quit complaining about my not screwing the jar lids back on.
22. Share the load. I saw a survey recently that said the happiness level in marriages was always higher in marriages where both spouses shared household chores. Makes sense to me!
23. Decide early on who pays the bills and how you will budget your money. Set goals and work toward them together.
24. Take vacations (with the kids and without). Even if you can’t afford it, find a cheap way to go somewhere. Home always looks better when you come back from a trip.
25. One of my grandmother’s favorite sayings was, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” That’s good advice for a marriage too.
26. Work together to make your house, apartment, whatever, a home. It doesn’t take a ton of money and an expensive decorator to make a home. It just takes a family who loves each other being there together.
27. Surround yourself with happily married couples, either through church, family or neighbors. Happy marriages inspire other happy marriages.
28. Realize that hard times will come and support each other in any way you can when they do.
29. Brag on each other. We brag on our children and our grandchildren, why shouldn’t we brag on our spouse. I love the fact that my husband is musically talented and love to brag on his piano and guitar playing. My husband rocks (literally)!
30. Remember love isn’t just a feeling, it’s something we do. Bill knows I love cheese cake so he goes out of his way to bring me a slice if they serve it at the hospital where he works. He calls me every day before he comes home from work to find out if I need anything from the store. He’s thoughtful about all the little things I like and I try to do the same thing for him.
Saying “I love you” is wonderful but showing someone you love them is even better.
Happy Anniversary, Bill. You are a great friend, husband, father and poppa! Thanks for making memories with me for the last 30 years and may God bless us with 30 more!
August 30th, 1980-The beginning of our journey through life together!
Sunday Sermon, Potluck and an Awesome Nap
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s sermon was entitled God and Chaos, with the point being that when we have chaos in our lives it is because we have left God out of our choices. How true and how sad that some will never see that the road to peace comes from knowing God and living for Jesus.
After church we had our fifth Sunday potluck. My boys and my nephews looked like vultures (cute ones) hovering at the beginning of the line, waiting for the blessing and the “amen” that signals “let’s eat!”
Then I came home, unloaded the dishwasher and proceeded to get out of my church clothes and into something more comfortable. You know how police tell suspects to “assume the position” so they can pat them down for weapons? At my house on Sunday afternoon if you say “assume the position” it means curl up on the bed with a bunch of soft pillows for a nap, and that’s what I did.
Hope each of you have a restful, peaceful Sunday. If you missed yesterday’s guest post (which I posted late in the day) please read it. Amy did a great job! http://nanahood.com/why-every-nana-should-record-her-stories
And if you didn’t read Jennifer’s comment about Friday’s post, please read it too. http://nanahood.com/nana-wonders-about-turning-back-time#comments
I know just what she means.
Blessings to each of you!
Teresa
Nothing beats a good nap!
Why Every Nana Should Record Her Stories
Posted by: | CommentsPlease join me in welcoming a new cyber friend and an awesome Nana, Amy Hagerup!
The Importance of Recording Your Stories
By Amy Hagerup
Have you ever stopped to reflect on your life experiences, how they have shaped you, and all the lessons you have learned from them? Or, to take it a step further, have you proactively done something to share your life experiences with your children and grandchildren?
As we age, some of us are just accumulating a bigger pile of undigested experiences. An African proverb states that when an old person dies, it is as if a whole library burned down. In our busy life style, we often don’t take time to stop and reflect.
Our life stories are significant and can be a wonderful legacy for our grandchildren. One of the amazing gifts that God has given us is the gift of memory, but He knew that it would not be an easy task to remember well what all He does for us.
In Numbers 6, after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River, He told them to go back into the dried up river bed and collect 12 large stones – one for each of the tribes. Then He said to pile them up to be a memorial so that they would be a sign for them throughout the years. When their children asked them what the stones were for, they would tell them that it was because the Lord had cut off the water of the Jordan to enable them to cross over. The stones were physical things to help them remember.
I wanted to write down some of my life stories to pass on to my grandchildren and future great-grandchildren, so I started a scrapbook. I made a list of different stories I wanted to include and then would add to it as I remembered more stories. I gathered up a few photos to include with the stories, and then I began to compile them. Some I wrote by hand and some I typed on the computer and printed them out. Each story has a lesson to it, so my grandchildren can learn from them.
One of the stories is about how my mother used to warm up our shoes with the oven door open because our heat had been cut off. My dad had deserted our family and the heating bill was unpaid. But, I remember that my mom was praising God that we had an oven to heat up the kitchen.
Another story is how my husband and I met and fell in love. How fun for my grandkids to know the details of Nana and Papa’s love story!
My book is called appropriately “Nana’s Stories.” I used an 8.5 by 11 album so that I was able to make 3 copies of each of the pages and put them in three other albums. That way each of my married kids has “Nana’s Stories” in their homes to read to my grandkids. Another option is to make digital story books and that way, you can have printed as many copies as you want. I’ve done digital storybooks about my grandchildren too, but that is another story!
Amy reading to her grandchildren
Something special happened recently. My son told me that he had been reading the stories to his sons at night and when he finished, they would beg him to read another story! And he also told me that some of the stories that I have written had details in them that he hadn’t remembered. How cool is that? The stories are impacting my adult son too.
I’m on a second volume now. What a great way to impact our grandkids with our life stories. The neat thing is that my albums will outlive me. Even after I leave this earth, the legacy and lessons in my albums will still be passed on to future generations.
I feel like I am accomplishing the importance of impacting my descendants with the goodness of the Lord. It is all summed up in Joel 1:3 – “Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons to the next generation.”
There's nothing like a nana's love!
Many thanks to Amy for her wonderful guest post!
Author Bio: Amy Hagerup from Wisconsin is mother to five and grandmother to 12. Amy and her family spent 23 years as missionaries in Africa, where they also adopted their two youngest daughters. She is a Health and Wellness educator and enjoys promoting all types of good health at her blog: http://amyhagerup.com.
Nana Wonders About Turning Back Time
Posted by: | CommentsIn a recent survey over 2,000 Americans were asked to the following question, “If you could be richer, thinner, smarter, or younger, which would you choose?”
I had a cousin who always said “You can never be too rich or too thin.” I wonder if she participated in this poll?
Looking at the results of the poll I can’t help but wonder a few things. Things like how many of the 44% who want to be richer would be willing to work more hours or get a second job? How many of them had just rather get food stamps or win the lottery? Wonder if they’ll do a survey about that?
And the 21% who want to be thinner, I wonder if they would be willing to exercise thirty minutes every day and give up soft drinks and chips? Hmmmm, now that might be hard! (No, don’t take my cheese cake!)
What about the 14% who want to be smarter? Would they be willing to take a couple of college classes or read the classics? Would they give up their sit-coms and ESPN in favor of The History Channel or Discovery?
Finally, about the 12% who want to be younger. I can’t think of a single way to help them unless they are willing to consider plastic surgery.
There isn’t a way to turn back time but if there was what would you change?
If life gave “do overs” what one thing would you want a second shot at? Maybe a romance that didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to? Or maybe you didn’t go to college and you always wished you had? Maybe you only had one child and you wish you had two? (If so please come get one of mine….just kidding.)
I’m guessing Miss Philippines would like a second attempt at answering the question that probably cost her the Miss Universe title. (http://nanahood.com/nanas-advice-to-miss-universe)
I think perhaps Jesse Jackson wishes he could erase from memory the statement he made about President Obama a few years ago when he thought his microphone was turned off, but it wasn’t. I won’t repeat it, but you can read about it here. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128931647&ps=rs
Personally I would start my “do overs” with my high school years. Now that I’m a whole lot older and wiser, (okay, maybe just older) I know better than to be ashamed of my height. I wouldn’t be afraid of the guy who got pleasure from being a bully. I wouldn’t be upset when a certain teacher made a snide comment about my weight and another said something disrespectful about my parents. And that’s just for starters.
I would hug my dad and tell him at least once a day how much I loved him and how much I appreciated how hard he worked to support our family. I’d tell my mom how much I enjoyed her sense of humor and how much I admired her faith, courage and determination. I would have studied more in college and spent more time with my grandparents.
I would have prayed more and worried less.
Ahh, but youth is wasted on the young. Even Cher knows we can’t turn back time.
So I think I will just rejoice in the blessings of today, the gift of now and not worry too much about being richer, thinner, smarter or younger. That’s one of the best things about getting older you know, being at peace with who you are.
