How Do I Spell L-O-V-E?

Suzanne over at Coloradolady is hosting a photography meme each Wednesday for the month of February, so I thought I'd participate! Each person is supposed to post a photo(s) that tells a story and represents what they think about love.

Well, my girls definitely make me think of LOVE! This picture was taken on Mother's Day about 2 years ago when we took a trip to the north Georgia mountains for a picnic and some hiking. The girls planted a big kiss on me when we had stopped by a stream for lunch! I just LOVE this picture!
I LOVE the outdoors and spending time with my hubby! Here we are with some friends that we met through Chris' former employer. We took a company trip to Vail, CO. a few summers ago and we went on a bike tour down a very steep mountain! We were flying...and we weren't wearing helmets. Not smart, I know! Oh, to feel the breeze blowing in my hair was amazing! We stopped by the road to take this picture. I LOVE the mountains and the clean air...so refreshing!

I LOVE to see my girls having fun together and acting silly! I had them out in the backyard a year or so ago and attempted to take some nice photos of them. Of course, as you can see, they seized the moment to ham it up in front of the camera! Never a dull moment...but, I wouldn't have it any other way!
I LOVE music and my brother, Kevin, taught me how to really appreciate it...especially classic rock. Here he is doing one of the things that he loved best...playing the guitar. He never learned how to read music, but he taught himself to play simply by listening to a song and plucking out the chords until it all came together. He was diagnosed with cancer not long after this picture was taken. What I'd give to hear the sound of him playing his guitar just one more time!

I really must share with you the kind of night I had last night. The girls went to bed and I sat up watching TV and reading until about 10:15 PM. Well, just a few minutes after I turned off the lights, the electricity went out...our ceiling fan stopped, so that's how I knew. I got up and took a peek out our bedroom window and our entire neighborhood, as far as my eyes could see, was pitch black! It was extremely windy, so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

Well, as usual, when things go awry, Chris is out of town! So, I fumbled around in the bedroom trying to find my way to the door. Of course, Bella is hopping all over the floor thinking it's play time! I managed to find my way downstairs and open the basement door...I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, it's only a blown fuse (I know...it was wishful thinking on my part!). Well, I tried to turn on the basement light and NOTHING! Nada, zip, zilch!!! By this time, my feet are freezing and I'm beginning to worry about keeping warm through the night with the dropping temps!

I make my way back up to the bedroom and I hear a very loud chirping noise. I knew immediately that it was our downstairs smoke detector. A couple of weeks ago, it started chirping in the middle of the night...drove me bonkers! Chris got up the next morning and had to reset it. It caused the alarm to sound and it was loud enough to wake the dead!

I, finally, ended up calling Chris on my cell phone in a frenzy telling him I was afraid the girls and I wouldn't survive the cold winter's night without electricity. The temp dropped down to 16 degrees...I am no pioneer woman! I like the conveniences of modern-day life. I must admit, the panic mode had set in, which I think he found to be pretty hilarious. I explained to him the predicament I was in and told him about the smoke detector. He said for me to go down to the basement and find his flashlight and ladder. So, I grabbed my cell phone and held it so that it lighted my way. I found the flashlight and ladder and made it back upstairs. I called Chris, again, so he could walk me through everything. I told him that I got up on the ladder and there were two buttons on the smoke detector...which should I push? He told me to try the button that wasn't the test button, first. I did...and it wasn't even a button, just a little light that wasn't illuminating. I got back on the phone with him and he instructed me to push the test button and to be prepared for it to sound. Up on the ladder, again, I went and nervously pushed the button. I thought my eardrums were going to explode with that high frequency noise...OUCH! Sure enough, it woke Abby and she leaned over the upstairs banister and asked what was going on. I gave her a quick rundown and told her to head back to bed that Mom had everything under control! Yeah, sure!

I went back upstairs and walked in the bedroom and the electricity came back on! Thank the Good Lord! I called Chris back to tell him I had "fixed" everything, then crawled back into bed...it was 11:15 PM. I fell back to sleep and at about 1:00 AM, the electricity went off, again! I lay there hoping and praying it would come back on so I didn't have to get up and go through all of that, again! Sure enough, a few minutes later, it was back on! Of course, I didn't sleep much the rest of the morning because I was afraid my alarm didn't get reset correctly and it wouldn't go off. However, at 5:15 AM, it did and I wanted so badly to roll over and go back to sleep...I'm so pooped! Looks like today, I'm going to have to find a few minutes for a little catnap to get caught up from all the sleep I lost. It was a very LONG night! Poor pitiful me! :)

Anyhow, I hope your Wednesday is AWESOME...do something YOU love today! ♥

Why Does It Always Happen?

It was the oddest thing this morning. I got up at the usual 5:20 AM and walked into Brittany's room to make sure she was moving...which she wasn't. I reached to turn her ceiling fan off and, as I did, the electricity in her room went off. I saw her alarm clock go dark and I fumbled around and tried to turn on her lamps, but no luck. I walked out into the hallway and put my ear to Abby's door and I could hear her fan running. Plus, the computer and lights in the office worked, and I know I had electricity in my bedroom. The girls' bathroom (between their rooms) had it, too.

Why is it that just about anytime Chris goes out of town, something in the house falls apart? It never fails!!

I remember once, when the girls were very little, and we were at home and I began smelling something funny. No, it wasn't another dirty diaper! So, I called my next door neighbor and he and another neighbor came over and thought they smelled gas! So, they made the executive decision
to call 9-1-1. Yes, in a matter of minutes, there was a screaming firetruck pulling into the cul-de-sac. A little embarrassing, I have to admit, since it was around 9 or 10 PM.

The firemen went in with full gear on and checked our entire house only to come out and declare that it had been cleared and there was no problem, at all. Not sure what that smell was...maybe it was a dirty diaper, afterall! Ha! The point is, this all happened when Chris was out of town.

Another time, we'd had a torrential rainstorm in Alabama, where we were living at the time. It poured for what seemed like 40 days and 40 nights. Well, the girls and I were in the family room watching some TV show when we heard a loud noise in the foyer. So, we all hopped up to see what was going on. Brittany exclaimed..."Our ceiling is falling!"

Yes, that is true. Apparently, we had some loose shingles on our roof, so when the rain blew horizontally, it made it's way up under the shingles and saturated our foyer ceiling somehow. Then, as the girls and I stood there, bits, pieces, then chunks of our ceiling began to fall down. It, literally, looked like a bomb had exploded!! Then, water started dripping down...plop, plop, plop. It soon became a steady stream and I had to grab some buckets to catch it in various spots.

Once again, I called on my trusted neighbor, Ed, to come over and get his advice. He didn't offer much help this time, other than to call our builder the next morning, which I did, of course. I just stood there and looked on in amazement at the huge mound of debris and water all over my hardwood floors and carpet (in the adjoining formal living room). Where was Chris when all of this happened, you ask? Out of town!

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do to get power back on in Brittany's room. I refuse to call my neighbors about this. I am woman, hear me roar!!! Right now, I'm thinking a fuse blew and all I have to do is go down to the basement and flip it back on. Right? Hopefully, I won't end up setting something on fire...namely myself!! Wish me luck! :)

*After I wrote this early this morning, I went down to the basement and flipped the fuse on. I ran back upstairs to see if Brittany's lights came back on...VIOLA! Everything is in working order! Oh, Chris is going to be so proud of me when I tell him what I did all by my little self!! I am woman!!! ROAR!!! :)