Memories From the Past: Celebrating my 17th Birthday with my Family...

Growing up, birthdays were very special. Mom would cook us a delicious meal, complete with some favorite dish that we had requested. All throughout the day Mom would do little things to make 'our day' seem special.

There would always be a home baked cake or dessert of our choice. On this particular birthday, my 17th, I requested a blackberry cobbler, (my mom makes the BEST blackberry cobbler!). Whatever age we were, Mom would always put that amount of candles on. Someone would turn out the lights and everyone would sing happy birthday, their faces aglow with the candle light. There would be a pause, and out would go all of the candles with one breath of air. The room would be dark and still, but only for a moment and then the lights would come on and the festivities would continue. 

We never had big birthday parties where we invited lots of people, we just gathered together as a family and the Grandparents would come over. We would talk and laugh and of course there were presents!

I'm now married and have a home of my own and in a few days I'll be celebrating my twenty-second birthday, but the memories of birthdays gone by will always be with me. Thanks Mom and Dad, for all of those special Birthdays!

~Clair

Valentine's Day and our Third Anniversary

Valentine's day dawned clear and bright here in southern Illinois. It was a perfect day for adventure!

We spent the morning relaxing at home. After enjoying our crockpot brunch we had fun with a short Valentine photo session.

 

Once our photo session was complete we headed for the hills.

Our first stop was a boot store where I browsed the ladies boot section, drooling over a pair of Timberland work boots. They certainly were not a fashion boot, but I'm dying for a nice pair of serviceable work boots. (I know what I'm saving for. =D )

After stopping at the grocery store for a few items and getting a Jr. Ham and Cheddar sandwich from Arby's  we headed on down the road. 

We went to The Chocolate Factory, that is well known in our area for their delicious chocolates. We had fun browsing their selection.

Piano keys for my piano man...

Chocolate toothbrush anyone?

 It was incredibly hard to make a final decision on just what to buy, but we finally made our selections.

Chocolate lover's paradise...

Out of this world fudge!

The Chocolate Factory was just across the road from Dixon Springs State Park, so we drove until we found the perfect location to taste our yummy treats! We found a picnic table in a lovely spot beside a creek with towering boulders all around us.

The taste testing was dreamy!!!

White Chocolate covered Oreo

Cashew Cluster

Chocolate covered orange peel (aka, kitty poop!)

Peanut butter chocolate swirl

Peanut butter cup

Peanut butter chocolate fudge

Chewy Praline Fudge (my personal favorite, but very rich!)

After enjoying our goodies we took a short walk among the boulders.

Dixon Spring

 A cool breeze began blowing and the day was beginning to turn chilly, so we climbed into the car and went on our way.

One of the things that I asked Trey if we could do was go roller skating, for I love roller skating just about as much as anything!!! The rink that we chose just happened to be having a Valentine balloon drop. I won a one dollar prize and Trey won Valentine bubble gum.











After skating we drove around trying to decide where to eat supper. After passing Red Lobster and observing the packed parking lot we decided to try Long John Silver's, one of my all-time favorite restaurants! It was a half an hour before closing and we were the only people there! You can't get much more romantic than that! ; ) We enjoyed our peaceful meal and I wasn't even able to finish all of my food!

Help!!! A pirate is stealing my goodies!

"Arrrg, little lady!"

We had a quiet drive home enjoying one another's company in the silence. It was a little late when we arrive home and it felt so good to crash into a cozy bed!

Trey even surprised me with a romantic 'honeymoon suite'.

Friday dawned chillier than the day before and we were thankful for the crackling fire in the woodstove which kept the house pleasantly warm in-spite of the piercingly cold wind that whipped about the corners of our little house. I was awakened with a kiss from my dear Husband as he beckoned me to the kitchen where he had provided a delicious breakfast while I lay fast asleep. A plate containing not just one, but TWO sausage biscuits from McDonald's (my all-time favorite breakfast), a Bearclaw, and a cake doughnut (my favorite!). I have such a thoughtful and generous Husband!

 We enjoyed the day mostly inside. We played games, Trey played the guitar and we sang, and enjoyed one another to the fullest!

Peanut Butter M&M's

Trey made this pretty design for me out of PB M&M's. It took me a second to figure out  the 'eye'.

It was a lovely Anniversary. Each year of marriage is better than the last. 

~ Clair

Memories From the Past...

I would love to share some of my memories from the past with you, my dear readers. It is such fun to look back through old pictures and remember days gone by! I've decided to occasionally pick one picture or several pictures from one event previous to the creation of this blog and share a little information about what was going on in the picture. 

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you! Keep an eye out for posts labeled Memories From the Past...

~ Clair

Sunshine on My Shoulders...

I love this song...

~ Clair

Computer Trouble...

We've been having some computer trouble for the last week therefore I have been unable to load pictures or blog!

Trey and I celebrated our third anniversary on Valentines day! We had a wonderful anniversary, but I won't tell you too much because I don't have access to all of the fun pictures that I took over the weekend that I would like to share with you! We didn't do anything exciting like go skiing (our first anniversary) or rent a cabin on the Ohio river (our second anniversary), but it was an excellent weekend! I can truly say that each year of marriage is better than the last!

Hopefully our computer will soon be working correctly because I have so much that I want to share!

~ Clair

From the Pages of My Life...

Saturday, February 4, 2013                                                    5:50 p.m.

          I slept rather late this morning. I woke up at 9:20 a.m.! We have pretty much been night owls over the last week, not getting to bed until after twelve to one o’clock each night. Trey has continued to get up at 6:00 each morning, but I don’t know how he does it. He is a strong man. Coupling the late nights with all of the manual labor that he has been doing he is starting to show some weariness. The last two nights we have made a point to get to bed at a decent time and I’m feeling more like my old self!

          After doing the feeding and gathering the maple sap, Trey arrived home just after I had awakened. We had a grapefruit, went for our sprint interval jog, and then while Trey read the bible I knit on my sweater. I finished the back! It looks like it is going to fit well. I must hurry and finish it for spring is in the air and soon it will be too warm for sweaters.

          After bible reading Trey left to boil down maple sap and I washed dishes and did house work.

          We had a late lunch at 2:30, of chicken gizzards, spinach, cottage cheese, and Trey had a baked potato. It was a true southern meal, complete with hot sauce on the spinach.

          Trey left to continue boiling down sap and I washed more dishes, (which I am and nearly always seem to be behind on).

          I took some time checking Facebook, looking at a few blogs, and a few other things online.

          I am on the last song in my piano book! It is a very pretty version of Amazing Grace, so I took some time to practice and also enjoyed playing The Entertainer, which I just recently learned. And of course I had to have some fun playing some of my own songs. I’m looking forward to starting my next book, the second of three! I really enjoy piano.

          I have been itching to make these adorable ric-rac flowers that I saw online a while back, so this afternoon I got out my ric-rac, my sewing machine, and my hot glue gun and set to work. They were simple and fun. I made two large and two small. I made the small ones into post earrings and the large ones into hair clips. I only had yellow ric-rac and I would have loved to make several colors, but I’ll just have to wait until I can get more ric-rac.

          Now it is getting late and I have no idea what I’m making for supper! I’m going to have to put this journal down and work on supper, for I will soon have a hungry man on my hands.

                                                                             Clair