Green Thumbs

I have always admired anyone with a green thumb. I have never considered myself to have a green thumb; however I never had much of an opportunity to “practice at it” either. Almost 18 years ago I was brought into a family with “green thumbed women”. I was AMAZED at the farming and gardening that Byron’s family did (and still does). Let me just tell y’all how “uneducated” I was … the first year Byron and I were married, Nana (his grandmother) called to say that there were LOTS of peanuts to be picked - so we headed to Nana & Papa’s after work the next day and on the way out there I asked Byron which tree the peanuts grew on … YEP – that’s exactly how uneducated I was!! Somehow it became routine for Byron and I to go to Nana & Papa’s every Monday when we got off work. Between the full garden and the sugar cane, there was always plenty of work to do. Fortunately the Lord blessed me with 12 years to watch and learn all about farming, gardening and canning from Nana. One of the first things she taught me was how to cook and freeze pumpkin so that we could have homemade pumpkin pies all year round. Of course, teaching me how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch was part of that cooking lesson. I am so excited that Papa planted cooking pumpkins this year … it has been way too long since I have had one of those from-scratch-Nana-pumpkin pies!!

Shortly after Byron and I bought our new house last year I asked my mother-in-law to come over and help me start planning on what to plant. My sweet mother-in-law certainly got Nana’s (her mother) green thumb … I do believe my mother-in-law could resurrect a plant from the dead!! After almost a year of plotting and planning on what to plant, we finally commenced to planting this past March. Let me just pause and tell y’all that we didn’t go to the local nursery and buy a bunch of stuff to plant - everything that my mother-in-law and I have planted has a “deep rooted history” – ultimately everything came from Nana’s yard.

We are in the process of plotting and planning our fall planting session, all of which will continue to have that “deep rooted history”. Right now my mother-in-law is in the process of rooting some Hydrangeas to plant. We are also going to move 2 larger Pink Crape Myrtle Trees from Papa’s house to our house. It seems almost every Monday night Papa, Byron and I walk around in Papa’s yard and talk about all the things we need to transplant from his house to ours.


On Easter Byron and I went to Uncle Kenny and Aunt Dorinda’s for supper. Wouldn’t you know she had a bunch of Crinum Lilies that she didn’t want and of course I was kind enough to take them off her hands. The pictures of the lilies are a mix of the ones my mother-in-law and I planted and the ones that I got from Aunt Dorinda. Aunt Dorinda also gave me several Purple Crape Myrtle sprigs that kept coming up from a tree they had removed.

I have always been fond of the beautiful Oleander bushes at my BFFs parent’s river house so I decided to take a couple of clippings while I was there Memorial Day weekend …

I know, I know, Oleander is poisonous! There may be some folks we would like to “accidently” slip some Oleander sap to, but I think we will be able to refrain!!


One night my nieces and I were at Lowe’s and they helped me pick out some seeds to plant in our yard. I will be honest that the seeds sat on the kitchen table for a long time. Finally I decided that they weren’t going to grow in the packages so I went outside and hoed up a corner of the yard, threw down the last of the potting soil I had, threw out a little fertilizer and the seeds and this is what I got …

Now that I know I can grow wildflowers with little to no effort, I will take a little more time actually planting the seeds instead of "throwing them out" next year.

The very first thing we planted in our yard was our Bradford Pear Tree. Byron and I are so blessed to be part of an AMAZING church family!! Words could NEVER adequately describe how we feel about our brothers and sisters at Glen Springs Road Church of Christ!! Last year when Byron and I bought our house, our church family surprised us at the annual Easter potluck with a Bradford Pear Tree covered in gift cards and money as a token of their happiness for us buying our new home. Byron and I both were speechless with the outpouring of love they showed to us. This tree is planted just inside our gate and we are reminded EVERY DAY of the blessings God has given us in each and every member of our church family.

One day while my mother-in-law was at our house she noticed a sucker at the base of the tree. She told Byron to cut it off and stick it in a pot with some potting soil and see what it did. This is what it did ...

Undoubtedly my husband has inherited a green thumb from his Nana, Papa and mother!! 

As most of you know I have been walking one of the hardest journeys of my life with my Best Friend SaraBeth. 8 months ago today Rob and SaraBeth received a fatal diagnosis for their sweet baby Faith. The last several months have been filled with so many ups and downs, so many prayers, so many sleepless nights and so many tears!! There were so many times when I felt so inadequate as a friend because I didn’t know what to say … the only thing I knew to do was to pray - I prayed so hard for the Lord to be with me, to guide me and to give me the strength, courage and wisdom I needed to help SaraBeth on this journey. I immediately reached out to my AMAZING “30 Somethings Sisters” for their prayers not only for me but for SaraBeth, Rob, Baby Faith and the rest of the family. Again, I can’t even begin to tell you of the love, encouragement and support that my sweet sisters so freely bestowed to not only me BUT to SaraBeth, Rob, Baby Faith, and the rest of the family during this difficult journey. I can’t even describe how it felt to see so many from my church family at Faith’s service and meeting my BFF for the very first time BUT because of our common bond there were no introductions necessary.

This is a Hibiscus Tree that some of my sweet sisters gave me to plant in honor of Faith. I promise you that EVERY DAY since I have had this beautiful tree there has been at least 1 bloom on it. Each day I look at this tree and remember precious Faith and that although her life was very short her testimony will live on through SaraBeth and Rob for years. I am truly blessed to have such an AMAZING best friend and to be part of such an AWESOME church family!!

Maybe I do have a green thumb after all ... at least a "learned green thumb" from Nana and my mother-in-law. After our last planting session my mother-in-law said that it reminded her of when she and Nana would plant and garden together. I look forward to many more years of planting and making memories with my mother-in-law.



  

Florida College Camp - Part 3

Remember how I told you that FC camp brings a lot of special people to the area??  Well, my college roommate Erin is one of those VERY special people.  After Erin and Wade dropped their oldest daughter off at camp they came to our house for a very long overdue visit!!  No matter how long it has been since we have seen or talked last we are always able to pick up right where we left off!!  Byron and I miss Erin and Wade so much … we are trying to think of a way to get them to move to Gainesville!!

Friday morning was pickup day at camp.  I was super excited that Erin and their youngest daughter Lauren came up Thursday evening to spend the night so that they wouldn’t have to make the 2 hour drive on Friday morning.  I didn’t want Lauren to be all alone so I rang up my sister (in-law) to see if Hayley Bug could spend the night as well and as usual she said that was fine and thought Hayley Bug would enjoy it.  Just a side note here – I must tell you how much I appreciate my sister for always allowing me to take the kids pretty much anytime to do whatever we want.  I love my nieces and nephew as if they were my very own – I was there when all 3 of them were born and I will continue being there for them FOREVER – I would lay my life down for them and there is NOTHING or NOBODY who will ever change that!!!!  It was AMAZING to be able to spend so much time in one week with Erin!! 

I must admit I was SUPER excited Friday morning to be able to pick Brooke up and hear about all the fun she had at camp.  Hayley and I went by Brooke's chalet first to pick up all her stuff so that we didn’t get caught up in all the craziness with everyone else loading up - a trick my sister taught me!!  Once we had all of Brooke's stuff we headed over to the chapel for the closing activities.  Just as we walked in they were honoring an AMAZING MAN who has devoted 20 years of service to FC Camp and I promise you there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!!  As if the last day of camp isn’t sad enough and full of enough tears in saying your regular “good byes till next year” everyone was saying “good bye” to a man that is “retiring” from camp.  I know the first thing Brooke said when she got in the car was how sad she was that Mr. Spriggs won’t be there next year for her first year of war games … 

I remember crying so hard the last day of camp … especially because our closing song was ALWAYS “Friends Are Friends Forever”

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
I can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter of your life is through

But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

And with the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you live in
Is the strength that now you show

We'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

No a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends.

I thought it was neat that this is the song that they chose for the slideshow of pictures of Mr. Spriggs!

Brooke is VERY lucky in that so many of the kids from camp are right here in this area and she won’t have to wait a year to see them!!

Remember all those goodies I delivered to my girl while she was at camp … well this is what she gave me on Friday … Brooke said that it was so crazy and not everyone signed it BUT that they all had good intentions!!  The card alone was enough for me!!

Click on the card to read the VERY sweet note ...


After we left camp we headed into Alachua for a nice lunch - Brooke was starving …

Brooke told story after story after story while we all listened intently – especially her little sister!!  Not long after our food came and Brooke finished about half her meal you could see he fading fast …

I’m so glad she had such an AMAZING week and that she is already looking forward to next year!!  Lord willing I will be there as a counselor with Hayley Bug in my chalet and then Jake said he guessed he better go too ...

Florida College Camp - Part 2



3 of the sweetest girls you will ever meet ...
looks like they are having FUN at camp ...
of course I would be having fun if I was at the water park too!!!!


For months there have been so many people gearing up and planning for an AMAZING week at camp.  One of the things I LOVE the most about having the camp in our area is that it brings so many visitors to our worship service on Sunday morning.  Y’all we had 311 people at worship Sunday morning.  The singing was AMAZING … so amazing that I found myself covered in chill bumps and just sitting there listening!!  Just a side note here ~ I love love love my church family AND we have AMAZING singing ALL THE TIME BUT “Camp Sunday” is ALWAYS extra AMAZING!!!!  I also love the familiar faces that Camp Sunday brings … faces that I may only see once a year BUT they are faces of people that I love dearly!!

For several weeks I have been trying to think of what I could send to my oldest niece and her 3 “buddies” AKA the 4 Amigos.  I mean regular ol’ mail is just boring to 13 year olds.  So it hit me one day … my niece has been eating her Aunt Amy’s Famous Amos Pound Cake since she was 5 months old and I know that the 3 other girls LOVE Aunt Amy’s Famous Amos Pound Cake as well so the big item of the care package was decided upon!  While I was doing my weekly grocery shopping I added some other care package items to my cart … chocolate M & M’s, Blow Pops, Twizzlers, Mike & Ikes, Pringles, gummy worms, sour gummy worms, bubble gum and minty gum.  My original intention was to package it all up and ship it over night so that the girls would get their package on Wednesday.  Then it hit me just as I was pulling the pound cake out of the oven yesterday morning … a few phone calls later and I was Florida College Camp bound to deliver the care package in person.  I quickly made up a card to leave with the WARM pound cake in their chalet.  I then drove over to the gym to deliver the other goodies to someone who was going to deliver them to Brooke during lunch.  While I was making the exchange I looked up and Brooke was coming out of the gym (we had no idea that she was in the gym)!!  Y’all that sweet niece of mine ran over to the car and gave me the biggest hug and kiss and she was smiling from ear to ear … it absolutely melted my heart!!  She peaked in the bag and was thrilled with the “junk food” selections I had made, then she quickly reminded me that I was picking her up on Friday, gave me another hug and kiss, an “I love you” and scurried off to her chalet to primp before lunch.  It made my heart SMILE to see my girl SMILE!!  Then this morning I had the sweetest voicemail from my girl thanking me for the pound cake and all the other goodies, she told me she loved me and she would see me Friday …

I pray that all of the kids will soak up God’s Word this week so that they will be better equipped to let their lights shine when they come home!!  Lord willing I will be able to be a part of this wonderful camp next year so that my youngest niece Hayley Bug and my nephew Jake will be able to experience what Brooke is experiencing this week!!