Ode to a (good) FRIEND!!!!!

Oh, how do you tell a friend that is moving away goodbye!  I technically have several more days before she leaves the state, but honestly, I just am having troubles finding the word to (adequately) say thank you for EVERYTHING you have done for me.

You were there when I needed you, in ways you didn't even know.

You asked me to join you on a vacation that you KNEW I needed before you really even knew I needed it.

This was the second great "getaway" we had together in Florida together with Tara.  

You have been there for me through so many rough times, you listened, you watched Hope for us when we needed you (or when I was not in a place to ask family to help out).  

You listened to everything I ever needed to talk about (even when I had to tell you to "stop with the squirrels")  LOL!

And...I know that I told you I would not share these photos, well, you are the one moving away, so all is fair in...well I don't know, but they are funny and I must share them!  :)

All I can say is that I LOVE you more than...well, WINE!

Thank you for being such a great friend!  I know I will see you over the next few days, and I am sure that the last time I am seeing you I will finally break down and cry, but for now...just Thanks!

This was a duo layout...the left side is here in Waukee and the right side is what I was doing in Florida on the 4th of July holiday (with Evon).

I cannot thank you enough for being my friend.  I have only held it together the past few days because I already know that I am coming out to visit you in UT sometime this fall.  If not for that, I probably would have been a more of a mess than I already am (tonight anyway).

(come on sing along)

Thank you for being a friend....

traveled down that road and back again...

Your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant...

AND if you threw a party...

invited everyone you knew...

You would see, the biggest gift would be from me...

And the (handmade) card attached would say...

THANK YOU FOR BEING MY Friend!

I can't wait to come and visit you in Utah and create new memories out there.  Thanks for everything you have ever done for me.  

And remember...I LOVE you more than WINE!!  LOL!  And that is saying a LOT!  HAHAHAHAHA!

Darla

To all the Different Kinds of Mothers...

I hope you all had a nice Mother's Day.

I want to wish my mom a special Mother's Day!  Love you mom!  Thanks for everything you do!

I know I have written about this before, but every year I struggle with my emotions on Mother's Day. The feeling of empty arms for so many years was difficult and even now that I am a mother, this day still holds a lot of sadness for me, for different reasons.  Being a mom is the hardest job I have ever done.  Some days are great and well, let's be honest, some days are crappy.  

I didn't have the energy to attend church this morning, but we did watch the service on-line.  I am so glad I did.  One of the verses Pastor Mike spoke of was this...

While in our church all women are acknowledged as mother's and are celebrated on this day, they still acknowledge that this day is not always a day of happiness for everyone.  For those mourning...whether it be for the arms that are still empty due to infertility, or the loss of a mother, or the mother who has lost a child, or for the strained mother/child relationship, etc., well...he asked the entire church to pray for those hurting today.

So today, I rejoice for those that had the opportunity to rejoice and celebrate today and for those that were mourning (either in silence while trying to rejoice your own mother) or opening mourning...I pray for you.

And so, I did have a little time to rejoice today...Joe and Hope spent yesterday morning building me some raised garden beds.  YEAH!!!

I was so excited to start planting, I didn't even wait for it to be done.  LOL!

In March I started plants by seed and have a LOT of plants to get in the ground this week.

And of course, I did take a little time to sneak away to my scrapbook room too this afternoon, while Joe was finishing up my outdoor gift.

So here are some cards to share...

So to all those hurting mamas out there...I am praying for you and for those of you reading this, please pray for all of us hurting mamas too.

Darla

Morals or Morels

Um yeah, this has been an on going question in my life.  I will by-pass talking about the Morals and go right to the Morels, as in mushrooms.

Ok, growing up on a farm you would think that I would have had plenty of chances to go mushroom hunting.  Well, I probably did, but I was either too busy sleeping or just didn't like mushrooms back then.  I really wish I would have had the opportunity to go mushroom hunting with my grandpa Palmer.  He had all kinds of secret spots, so secret, he didn't even share them with his family.  LOL!

Well, he must have been with me in spirit tonight...because look at what I found!

Last year I looked in the same spots and found nothing, but conditions were not great for mushrooms last year.  Well, fast forward to tonight and my lucky charm...Taylor...and we found us some morels.

On a side note...this is the first picture I have of Taylor "smiling".  LOL!  I love it! and I love her!  She is a great dog!

She was sniffing around along the edge of the walking path, so I decided to take a peak to see if I could see anything...and there they were...just peeking up at me.  It is true what they say...once you see one, you can't stop seeing them.  I didn't even have a bag with me and had to roll up my jacket to hold my mess.


It was hilarious, because I kept dragging Taylor into the brush and tall grasses further and further as I kept seeing them EVERYWHERE!!!  I finally let go of the leash and just let her hang out in a clear area where I knew she wouldn't go anywhere.  LOL!

I was so excited, I could hardly wait to get back to the house to leave Taylor and go back and find some more.   I took a picture and sent it to Joe and told him he was in charge of cooking them up for supper.

You guessed it, we had mushrooms for supper.  That was it!  I so wish I could tell Grandpa Palmer all about my adventure, but maybe, just maybe he was there with me pointing me in the right direction.  :)

I am so glad that I had something fun to post to (hopefully) get me back into posting on a regular basis.  I have a LOT of projects to share, cards, layouts, etc.  Summer is coming, so maybe, I will get into blogging again.  It also doesn't help that our computer is running out of memory/space for photos, and causes me more grief than not and no $$$ in budget for a new one, so we will make do.

Well, let's see, here a a few layouts I have completed in the past couple months to share...keeping in mind of spring time activities.

We have a few dance recital layouts from years gone by...

A few vacation layouts...this is one activity I hope to get to do again someday!

This was before we took our Disney cruise, which I am working on layouts of now.  As you can tell, I just work on whatever inspires me at the time.  Sometimes I just haven't found the right product line to highlight my specific memory, so when I find what works, I create a layout.

Favorite photo layouts...

Easter layouts...oh had I only known that this would be the last year we colored eggs (well, maybe).  Even if we didn't this year, maybe she will want to invite some younger neighborhood kids to do it next year.  We will just have to wait and see.

And that wraps things up for tonight.  If the weather holds out, I might just go hunting again tomorrow afternoon (it is an early out for school, so I will have a LOT of time to look tomorrow)!  Wish me luck and may the luck of Grandpa Palmer be with me!

Darla