Well, I guess I'm a Redneck

I got this in an email from my father-in-law, and thought to myself, another list of "creative" transportation modes, communal living, and hairstyles. Once I opened it and began reading, I quickly decided that I must, too, be a redneck.


You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say 'Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our Armed Forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and (will) raise your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

So, just maybe I am a bit of Redneck...

Seminole Tears

I love college football. I love that I understand the game. I love that although there are rumored "perks" for the players, for the most part, they are not paid to play the game. They play because they love it. And I love my Seminoles. I love hearing the marching band play the fight song. I love seeing 80,000 fans all doing the Seminole Chop together.



I love hearing Gene Deckerhoff announce the game on the radio. I think the colors Garnet & Gold are lovely together. I love being amidst other hardcore fans, cheering on Bobby & the boys alongside me.



I love watching Chief Osceola ride out on his horse Renegade to throw the flaming spear, just before a home game starts.



But....

Lately, it's been hard to be Seminole. So hard that it hurts. Now I know that all teams have their "seasons" and I also know that football is not all that important in the grand scheme of things. It sure is fun to have something/someone to cheer on...to be a part of something grand. To say we are having a rough season is a bit of an understatement. I said the other night after watching the game "sometimes my heart can't take Seminole football". I get so involved in the game! At this point in the season, our record is 2-4. Two wins. Four losses. Ouch. Our boys try hard. They just can't seem to get ALL of the pieces together at the same time.





Have I mentioned that sometimes it's hard to be Seminole (especially when you are married to a Florida Gator fan...what? I didn't mention that?)? This is on the front of our truck.



Needless to say, our season has left us with much to be desired. There's always next year, right? We may not have the same quarterback, defensive line, or wide recievers as we did just 10 years ago, in our "glory days", but we have the same coach,



the same stadium,



and the same spirit of unity...



So, as hard as it is sometimes....I bleed Garnet & Gold. I.am.a.SEMINOLE.

Maddie's New Wardrobe: A Preview

So after the long-awaited news on the gender of my sister's second little one, due in February, I FINALLY got to go shopping! For dresses, at that! My neice, Madigan Ruth, will be well outfitted by the time she arrives, thanks to her favorite Auntie.

This weekend, a couple of local ladies organized the One Week Boutique. It happens twice a year and is HUGE. Needless to say, this was my first stop after work on Friday. I behaved myself, put many adorable things back, and left with a dress, 2 little tops, and a pair of shoes for Maddie.



Today, our real adventure began. Although Wade & I go yard-saling just about every weekend, rarely do we have days as good as today! One county over from us was hosting a county-wide yard sale, all along Hwy. 98 (the coastal highway). We got up early, as usual, and were ready to go before anyone was even set up! Wade hit the jackpot, with all kinds of treasures he just can't live without. Did you know you can NEVER have too many fishing rods? Or chainsaws? His favorite find for the day was a bird (house) mansion for the front yard. He's already set it up and he can't wait for the purple martins to start nesting after winter. I didn't take a picture of Wade's birdhouse...I'll have to add one later.

I found a few little things, but I'm not even going to mention them. As you can see by the title of this blog post, my goal today was baby girl clothes...and I hit the jackpot! Beautiful dresses, beautiful dresses with matching bloomers, adorable outfits, even a swimsuit....I LOVE SHOPPING FOR BABIES, and especially baby girls! All in all I spent $5.00 today on clothes/shoes, seen here...













and my tuck & run find for the day, for only $2.00, a nearly new Hooter Hider nursing cover.



Barbie is so excited, and I'm sure Maddie will be pleased, as well.

And last, the only other reason I enjoy getting up early...beautiful sunrises. This was ours this morning.

Tomorrow's Destination

I can't wait!! It's a COUNTY WIDE yard sale....all along the coastal highway. I hope we find lots of great things!

Church Music

My long-awaited copy of David Crowder* Band's new album, Church Music, is finally in my hands and flowing into my ears. Well worth the wait, the album is chock-full of tunes rich with amazingly fresh sound and incredible lyrics, although I expect nothing less from Crowder. I can't stop listening, and I can't even pick out a favorite song yet!

Here are the lyrics to "Shadows"

Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We remember the cost
We rest in Him
Shadow of the cross
DC*B

Deeper Still

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Deeper Still Conference, put on by LifeWay Bookstores. One word: AMAZING. Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, and Kay Arthur...all in one place! This conference was a much needed "refreshing encouragement" for me, and I learned so much from these awesome ladies. Kay taught on "the REST of faith", teaching from Hebrews and how important it is, especially in these times, to be grounded in the Word of God. Priscilla spoke on God's greatness and how He sees and is able to do "beyond beyond" what we need or ask for, Ephesians 3:20-21. And last, Beth wrapped it all up with "spiritual discernment" and not being "punked" by the works of the enemy. I can't wait for the next time I get to soak up more of these women's teachings, and in the meantime, I will continue going "Deeper Still" with Jesus.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom to pause the music on the playlist if you want to watch the video.

Deeper Still - Orlando from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

Saturday Morning Treasures

We've been back at it the last couple of weeks, but I haven't blogged about my treasure hunting because nothing has really been that great. Today though, we had a pretty good day! And for Wade especially, finding good deals means having more fun. We had fun.

We started at a huge neighborhood sale that has been advertised for a "ritzy" neighborhood here in town. It's a neighborhood that was developed much like Celebration, owned by Disney, in Central Florida. Pricey homes, picture perfect yards, and their own "town square". Needless to say, we thought maybe we would find some deals. Everything was so overpriced!! And NO ONE was willing to deal, so rather than wasting more time there, we headed on without purchasing anything.

We moved on to some of our favorite neighborhoods for yard-saling and had a great time!

I've been needing some new lamps, sinced Wade broke one of ours in the living room recently (broke, as in shattered, into LOTS of little pieces). At an estate sale, I found these cute lamps with the shades, and they look practically brand new! They wanted $5 a piece, but I didn't want to pay that much. I walked away with my new lamps, both for $6!



I'm also working on collecting black frames of various sizes so I can do a photo wall like Raechel at Finding My Feet. I found these! The one larger frame, with a white matte and glass, was $1. The other two square frames are actually mirrors, and they came 4 to the set for only $2. I thought it would be neat to arrange some of the mirror ones mixed in with photographs.



I've also been looking for small, stick style vacuum, but they are SO expensive in the stores. I came across this little "broom vac" from Dirt Devil. It looks almost new, very clean, and had a price tag of $10. Wade asked them if they would take less, and they took $5!! Yay!



I added 2 new bears to my Cherished Teddy collection, and one adorable glass snowman on skates to my snowman collection. 50 cents each!



And last, my favorite. Just yesterday, something reminded me of Super Mario Brothers, and I thought about how fun it would be to play that video game again. Well, after we left the ritzy neighborhood and headed to "Old Faithful", our first stop had a box with a Nintendo Entertainment Center!! Old school! Complete with Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and Tetris. All for $2! I'll take it. Thank you.



We did have a few other things that we found, but it started raining while I was taking my pictures. Wade found another Igloo cooler (because you can never have too many, right?) and a few other things. Overall, we both voted today a success. Can't wait till next time!