Our Story

I have to apologize, I started this story on Monday, March 2nd, but didn't finish it until today but still wanted to post it, Enjoy.

Today is the Birthday of my Wonderful Husband Lyston. But it is also the anniversary of another important day in our lives. The Story is an awesome one and I hope I do it justice.

Our Story!

August 14, 1994- We met at Church, Mom said "he has a cute butt", Dad called him "a Big Gorilla", and we had our 1st date that day. I don't know why I went home with him, (I left my car at the church no way to escape if I needed to, Luckily I didn't) especially since I had just met him, I guess part of it was that I suffered from Love at 1st sight.

Christmas of 1994- I thought he was going to ask me over Christmas vacation to marry him put it didn't happen. I told him sometime in early January that if he hadn't asked me by April 15th, then he had better leave and never bother me again. He tool my planner and wrote it on that date "Ask Kasandra to marry you or leave"

The end of February-March 1995- We took a vacation together we spent the 1st 1/2 of the week at his Folks home in the Richmond area then the 2nd 1/2 of the week we spent in NC with my Grandmother.

On March 2nd his Birthday I was planning on taking him out to a Seafood dinner down on the Outer Banks. We were going to visit Hatteras Lighthouse, on the way down to Hatteras we were talking about different ways our friends had been purposed to, I told him that I would know he was serious when he showed up with a Dozen Roses and he had to get down on one knee. Well little did I know that he wanted to ask me that evening at dinner? But pulled it off he did.

On our way back from Hatteras lighthouse he was very quite in the car and I figured that he was not feeling well but didn't want to disappoint me about dinner, he asked me to pull into a Foodlion parking lot and wanted me to stay in the car, I was still thinking that he was sick and was stopping to use the restroom or buy medicine. When he returned to the car he said he needed to go down the road and stop at another place and I had to stay in the car again. We pulled into a Gas Station, he said "I'll be right back," but I noticed that he didn't go in the station he went around back of it, again thinking that he is sick I think he has gone to the restroom, maybe the one at Foodlion was broke or something. You also have to realize that by now it is late evening and I have forgotten all about our discussion of that morning about purposes. When he comes back to the car he has a smile on his face but not the type that says "I'm up to no good" but he is also carrying a Large Black trash bag, it was funny looking he had the top of it and it looked full by the way he was carrying it. I thought OK you go to the bathroom and now you have to carrying your trash out with you????. He gets in the car puts the "trash" in the back and says "OK, let’s eat!"

I was puzzled "What's in the bag?"
"Oh nothing don't worry about it"
"OK are you sure you want Seafood? If you are feeling bad we can go home."
"No, I'm fine, I’m not sick and I'm starving! Let's Go!"

OK, still very puzzled but starving too, I drive on to "The Sands" restaurant, nice place but out of business now. We go into the place, him carrying black trash bag with him, this is not the small kitchen bag, this is the extra large garden leaf bags you but your yard trash in, so I ask again "what's with the bag?" "Don't worry about it." "OK! Not one to argue (we are still dating) we go in to the restaurant, nice quite place not a lot of customers (Off Season, luckily it's open), only one other table of people. The hostess ask us how many, smoking or non, you know the stuff. Then she takes us to a table about 10-15 feet away from the other guest. But this really weird boyfriend I have ask "can we have one that is more private?" I'm thinking "more private? What?" The hostess has the same look on her face, but takes us to the banquet room "is this private enough?" she asks. He shakes this head yes and we sit down.

By now my nose and stomach are taking over and I just want to eat, I forget all about the big black bag that everyone in the restaurant has seen him carry through. As he sits down across from me I don't even bother asking about it again. The waitress takes our drink orders and the returns with drinks and takes our food order. Then as I'm looking at my menu deciding what I want for dessert, chocolate cake or chocolate cheese cake. He slips out if his seat gets down on one knee and pulls out of the black bag of "trash" the longest white box I have ever seen and sitting on top tied up in the bow is a Teddy-bear (I'm a collector, or I just have a soft heart for them, another story for another time) he hands me the box and ask the BIG QUESTION. I was floored! I cried tears of joy and say yes, then opened the box which by now you have figured out had one dozen of the most beautiful and longest long stem roses I had ever seen. When the waitress came back with our food I was in another world! I was the happiest person on earth and then everything that had just happened in the last half hour or so came back to me, from Foodlion on. I was so surprised. To this day I still have the teddy-bear and the roses (pressed and dried) hanging on the wall in our living room.

So today is not only the birthday of my most wonderful Husband it is also the 14th anniversary of our engagement. Happy Birthday Lyston, you have and still do light up my life. May we continue on this path for eternity?

$11.00 Dress

For the last couple of days I have been trying to find a Baptism dress for my soon to be 8yr old. One of the problems is that when you do a search for baptism dresses, most of the places only have them in infant size, then if you go for 1st Communion dress they are way to frilly to put in the water. For those that are not LDS or know we baptize at the age of 8yrs or older. We also do the full body in the water, not just a sprinkle, and the clothing must be white.

I was cleaning out my purse the other day and found two Target gift cards totaling $20 and I thought it is getting close to Easter maybe they will have something we can use. What luck we had, when I 1st got there I thought great not much to pick from but then Evelyn found an all white eyelet jumper, then she was sad because there where not sleeves, I said wait a minute, lets see what we can do with this. They had these beautiful 1/2 sweaters that looked as if it was made for the dress, so to the dressing room we went, the 1st size XL was way to big, I could have put 3 of her in it. Her sister Elisabeth was nice enough to go find a smaller size, no Large but a Medium that fit perfect with a little growing room (she will be able to wear the dress all summer if she doesn't hit a growth spirt). I asked her if this is what she wanted, she has been looking at dresses over my shoulder and hadn't really liked any of the ones we had seen even if we could afford it. Yes!!! she loved it, I thought OK lets get it. Went to the register and handed the cashier my gift cards then she said you owe $11.00 and some change, how can I beat that price. So now she has the dress, the Place, the Date, and Wednesday night she has the interview with the Bishop (she is very nervous). Then the big day, anyone that wants to is welcome to come, Saturday, March 14th at 1pm at the LDS Harrisonburg Chapel.

Been there once, done that before, and this should be the last.

"I Daily Diary"

I was sitting here going though my blog and copying things to my Diary program and I thought My friends might like to know about this Program so here it is.

http://www.splinterware.com/products/idailydiary.htm
iDailyDiary provides a simple interface that immediately gets you started taking daily notes, creating a journal, putting your thoughts into writing and much more.

The iDailyDiary editor is "richtext" with the ability to insert graphics, URL's, Hypertext links and links to other diary pages. iDailyDiary is fully searchable so you can always track down those important dates and reminders.

Follow that link or copy and paste it which ever works. It's Free!!!

This is a handy little program that is called "I Daily Diary", I use to to keep my journal, I have a password on it and it can be set up to keep many different diaries too. When ever I blog something that I want to keep to pass on to my children, grandchildren, etc. I just cut and paste it in to this journal.

Since my friend Stephanie got me into Blogging I have really been using it a lot. I really enjoy blogging and never thought of it as journaling until one day I remembered that there are many different ways to keep your history. I am not the type to write everyday about what happened but I love to tell stories to my friend about what I did or what my children did that make me happy or even sometimes make me cry. I also keep the talks that I give at church in this program and if I want to look them up all I have to do is search on the topic. You don't have to know the date that something Happened just put in a search word or two and it will give you all the entries that it is listed in. I have enjoyed rereading things that I have done over the past several years since I started this program but I realized since have been blogging I have more stories in my journal now. Thank Steph for getting me in the blogging world, you have helped me to keep my family history now, which was something I have always wanted to do but couldn't make my self do it. Now I just have to find the time to write all the stories that are stuck in my head, waiting to get out.

"Mom of the Year"

OK it's another year and we are only two months into it and I have already blown my chance to receive the "Mom of the Year Award." In the past two nights I been told that I AM the meanest mom in the world and I don't love my children, it's not fair that I make them clean their own room, or make them wash the dishes even the ones that they didn't make dirty, and God forbid that I make them help fold the Laundry, Yes even the clothes that don't belong to them. I am also so unfair because I took away TV for the night, FOR THE NIGHT!!!, and they can't watch Survivor.

So here's my complaint, since I'm not going to eat all the food that I would normally cook for dinner I think I'll only make enough for me. Since I don't wear and dirty all the clothes that where brought down this week I'll only Wash, Dry and Fold my own, (BTW I don't make them wash or dry them just help fold and put away). Also since I paid for the TV, I will watch every show that I want to watch and they will have to deal! And the next time they are sick in the middle of the night and need mommy to sleep with them, hold their hair out of their face, clean-up the puke out of their bed or all the other things I do when they are sick. Next time I'm going to just roll over and go back to sleep.

I know none of the this will win me mom of the year or even get me nominated, but a little love and less whining would be great. I want my children to grow up and know how to take care of themselves so doing the dishes, even the ones that they didn't dirty, and helping mommy without having to be told to help or whining about having to help would mean more to me than having another thing to dust, i.e. award. I signed up to be a mommy for the good the bad and the ugly, so let the games begin.

Been there, Done that, Still doing it, and I don't want the Award!

No False Alarm.

OK, Yesterday afternoon I had to drive the bus, but I also need to get home by 4:15 so I could get Evelyn to the Doctors office to find out what was the matter with her and then needed to go pick up Lyston from work. I thought it's Monday and I don't have to take one of the kids to grandma's and I should have plenty of time. Little did I know that I should never make plans when kids are involved. I had left the school and was just past my 1st stop when everybody started hollering about something, I couldn't even hear what they where saying. I finally got the bus quite and found out that at little Pre-K-er had gotten sick, OK I'll pull over and see how bad it is, last time I was told someone got sick it was a false alarm, Not this time. She had covered her self and her sister's coat. the best I could do was put the coats in a plastic trash bag and throw some Throw-up powder on it. I did this and continued on my run. I got back to the school about 4:20 and ran to get Evelyn to the Doctor on time, just made it. Doctor said Flu and gave us to Rx for both girls since he figured that Elisabeth would get it too, Good thing he did, read other story. I took Evelyn home had to got get the scripts filled, 1st pharmacy I went to was out of the medicine, DARN!!! 2nd Pharmacy (Wal-mart) was not going to fill any more prescriptions until the morning, WHAT!!!! that is crazy, I need this tonight!!!. 3rd place (CVS) didn't have any but was happy to call there other store and see if they did, sure enough they had some and would be Happy to save it for me. YES!!!! 3rd times the charm, but by now I'm going to be late picking up the hubby, I take care of the Rx and while they are filling it I go get the hubs. We go back to pick it up luckily they have a drive thru because I was getting tired of running in to all these stores. I also had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some more drinks and dinner. I get home and all I want to do is go to bed, but I can't my bus is sitting up at the school with a "pile of sick" waiting for me to come clean. It is now about 7:15 pm the sun has set and the bus doesn't have the best lights in it, on top of that the "sick" is between 2 seats and by now has dried to the floor I had to scrape it up with a scoop like a credit card. Then disinfect the whole area, Luckily my friends the Janitors at the school where still there and I got some cleaner from them, but I'm not sure they are still my friends or not because they didn't want to come help me clean the bus. Finally about 8pm I got home and had to scrub my hands until they where almost raw, I had gloves on but you never know, and I never feel clean until I know I have taken the top layer of skin off. I was unset again as I realized that the Pizza I had bought for me and the Hubby to share was ALL GONE!!!! Oh well what did I except. It was bedtime and I was tired.

Been there, Done that, but I DO NOT ever want to do it again, YUCK!!!!

It's the Flu!!!!

OK I said I was going to blog this so here we go... off to Neverland... Oh sorry I got carried away wrong story.

Here's the story, Daddy, and E-squared (that is both girls) went to Richmond on Friday, just a day trip for his Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. They made a stop at the Tredegar Iron Works, Civil War Visitor Center, they where outside most of the day which was a beautiful day. "Lil e" complained of a sore throat starting sometime during their visit, but Daddy didn't have anything to give her for it, (and didn't think about stopping by a pharmacy) they went on to visit with Oma and Papa (Daddy's mom and dad) and went out to dinner with them to celebrate this Great milestone. They returned home to me about 11:30pm, the 1st thing I notice is the Evelyn is not feeling good she can barely talk, I just figured that it was such a long day and she was tired, I did give her something for her sore throat. When she got up the next morning she was not feeling any better maybe even worse, with a low fever. My 1st thought was she has strep again (just got over it a month ago) and I made plans to take her to the doctors, they have Saturday walk in hours. She was Tested for Strep and Flu and both came back negative, Nurse Practitioner said it was probably just a virus and it will pass in a couple of days. Well the next 24+hrs she was not doing better, she started throwing up, then Temp went up as high as 104.5, that caused her to have to take a cold bath, well she thought it was ice water in the tub but I told her it was the same temp as a warm swimming pool in the summer, she didn't believe me but was a trooper and laid down in it. By Monday morning I decided I would call Doctor and see if this was normal for the virus, got call back 5 1/2 hours later and was told bring her in to recheck. Take her to doctors almost having to carry her as she hadn't eaten much for 24 hr and was very weak. They retested her for Strep and Flu, Strep was still negative, but the Flu test came back positive before it's time was even up. So the kind Doctor who knows my girls was kind enough to write two Rx one for each of the girls. Which was good because "Big E" decided she might have a fever and checked her Temp with the same Thermometer that I had been using with her Sister, she didn't replace the little plastic sleeve on it, Not smart, now I have both home, just glad the doctor was nice enough to send home script for both.

Been There, Done That, and need a Case of Lysol.

Walking & weight

As of about 2 weeks ago we are now a 1 car family. This has been a blessing in disguise. When I took the job as a bus driver I wanted to walk to the bus and back everyday. I only live about 1/4 of a mile from the school in fact I can see it from my bedroom window, and if the wind is blowing right I could probably throw a rock at it. From my front pouch I can hear the bells ring. But not long after the school year started I got lazy and was not walking as much as I could have, then as winter got colder I stopped all together, telling myself that starting in the spring I would do it again. But Heavenly Father who knows me best knew that I needed the extra help to get myself walking again. So 2 weeks ago my husbands car gave up its ghost, after 15yrs of great service it had had enough. We don't have the money to buy a new/used one and right now we don't really need to. I am thankful that I live close enough to walk to work. This means that in 1 days time I will have walked about 1 mile or more, which is great for my health. I don't walk to the bus in the morning yet, it is still to cold and hubby doesn't have to leave until after my run in the morning any way. but I walk up there for my Lunchroom monitor job then walk home then walk back up there for the afternoon bus run and walk home this make 4 times that I walk about 1/4 of a mile. when spring gets here and warms the mornings up I will add the morning to the rest of the walking. Now the reason for this post is because today I put on a pair of pants that I bought last summer that didn't fit they where way to tight, but today I can button them (if I hold my breath), they are a little tight around the waist but I can wear them and wear them I will. I have also noticed that I have not been doing the roller coaster, 5 pounds that I usually do ever week my weigh has stayed at a constant and maybe even a little less than normal, I hope that with the continued walking that I can have a all down hill roller coater ride with my weight.

Havent' been there yet, Haven't done that yet, but Working on it.

Work in Progress

This post hopefully will be a work in progress today, I will come back and change things though out the day so you can see what I have done.

You see today I am a free Woman, not that every day I'm not free. But today is special, My wonderful hubby, is taking a day trip with both of the girls to visit his Parents for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. I unfortunately I have to work, (the tears are falling and shorting out the keyboard, NOT!!!) I need some mommy downtime. Something I don't get much of since I drive a school bus the one that my kids ride, I work in their school lunchroom as a monitor and I'm home with them most of the time. Don't get me wrong I love my Girls and would not know how to live my life if anything happen to them. But as all mothers know we sometimes need a day off. Well As I said this is a work in progress so here is my progress.

8:45 am...family out the door.
9:oo am... Elisabeth knocking on the front door, "daddy forgot his pills"
9:01 am... family gone again.
9:15 am ...clean bedroom, change sheets, gather all the dirty clothes and toss them down the stairs.
9:45 am... Realize I'm not dressed for work yet, and I don't have any clean pants to wear.
9:50 am ... search closet for pants, find pair that didn't fit when I bought them, put them on and they fit.
10:00 am... go down stairs being careful not to fall as all the dirty laundry is on the steps and piled on the floor at the bottom of stairs and in front of the front door.
10:02 am... find the towels and throw them in the washer to say I have the laundry started.
10:05 am... Sit down in front of the computer and blog about my pants and how the fit.
10:25am... realize that I have to walk to work and be there in 5 mins, if I want to have lunch before starting.
10:26am... realize that getting out the front door is going to be a problem, can't move clothes,
10:26 & 1/2 am... I shove the clothes out of the way and run to work... well this body doesn't run but I walked pretty fast, I have to have my free school lunch, it's free what can I say.
10:30 am until 1:30pm... work in the lunchroom handing out Ice Cream, cleaning up spills, taking out the trash, sending kids to the nurse to cover bleeding scratches, and dismissing the classes as they are finished.
1:30 pm... hitch a ride home with a co-worker.
1:35 pm... start sorting dirty clothes, and start another load in the washer.
2:30 pm... time to walk back up to the school to drive bus to take students home for the weekend, for some reason they don't want to stay at school all weekend, I would have thought that would be fun. Did you notice it took me almost 1 hour to sort all the dirty clothes, I think every piece of clothing in the house was dirty.
2:45 pm until 4:30 pm driving school bus for kids that don't want to stay the weekend at school.

Now it's 5:30 and I'm tired of working and I'm missing my family... wait a minute what am I saying. Yes if I really admit it I miss them... they bless my life so much... I wish I had gone with them... Oh well... I have to go the buzzer on the dryer is telling me another load is done.

Been there, Done that, and still folding laundry.

The Snow/ Elisabeth

Theses pictures are of the Big storm that never was.
My oldest Elisabeth (11yrs) took these with her new camera.
we did end up with about 3 inches but that is not enough for me
I am still waiting for a 2-3 footer.

New Theme

This song was sung at the girls school holiday concert. It has become the new school song I think every grade now sings it. It has also become my new theme song I wish I could find it for a ring tone on my phone. I would love to have the sheet music to it too.

"The weather man is saying that snow is on the way.
The sun is disappearing, the sky is turning gray.
I listened to the forecast, I hope it isn't wrong.
And that is why I sing this song.

There'll be no school tomorrow, no school tomorrow,
No school tomorrow if it snows.
There'll be no school tomorrow, no school tomorrow,
No school tomorrow if it snows!

I'm wishing and I'm hoping that snow will fall tonight.
I'm crossing all my fingers so very, very tight.
I hope we get a blizzard and snow the whole week long.
And that is why I sing this song.

There'lll be no school tomorrow, no school tomorrow,
No school tomorrow if it snows.
There'll be no school tomorrow, no school tomorrow,
No school tomorrow if it snows!

No school, no school,
No school if it snows.
No school, no school,
No school if it snows!

(spoken) And now as dawn is breaking, I jump up from my bed. And yes, I still remember what the weatherman has said.
I run straight to the window to see if he is right (rest for 4 beats)
Every thing is snowy white! (Hold the note)

There Is.
No school today,
No school today,
No school today because it snowed.

There is no school today,
No school today, No school,
Because it snowed!
Please snow some more!

Been there, Done that, and still a kid when it snows.

My Love and Secret Life.

I am an avid reader, but at one time I admit there were several books I swore I would never read. "I hated Harry Potter!" I believed it was full of witchcraft and I wasn't going to bring it into my home. I was even thinking of trying to get it band from the schools, but thought I can control what my children read but I shouldn't take away that right for others.

The change came one day when Lyston, who was working at R.R. Donnelley (book printing & binding company) brought home a copy of the book the company had just printed, "HP and the Order of the Phoenix." I couldn't believe he would bring it home knowing my thoughts on the book series; he said it was a give away and anyway what could he do about a freebie?

The book sat for a while, until I was bored one afternoon and was looking for a quick read. I decided to check it out, I thought I can't be against something that I have not really tried to understand, isn't that what the missionaries put up with every day? The first Chapter piqued my interest; 4 chapters into the book, I had to know what came before. So I went out, bought the four preceding books and spent the next week immersed in the Wizarding World. I've been hooked ever since.

I was at the last two midnight book release parties and have been to the midnight showings of the last two movies. I was interviewed for our local paper for the last and finial Book release. I have dressed up as a Loony Luna Lovegood, and Molly Weasely. I have even made a portable clock similar to Molly's described in the books, it tells where her family is, either school, work, traveling or mortal peril, there is a hand for each member of the family. I have radish earrings and a necklace with Butter Beer caps on it. I have also made wands for myself and my two girls. I love Bertie Bots Ever Flavor Beans, including grass flavor, but I try to stay away from the boogie and vomit flavors. I even love trying to do magic spells, the only one that works for me is the Alohomora the unlocking spell, and only on my car not other peoples.

I know that I am a little on the crazy side for liking Harry but I can tell you that he changed my life and my daughters they both are following in my footsteps and love to read about him. I just started the series over again for about the 6th time.

Been there, Read that, and still love Harry more than Edward.

The spill

I wish it was a spill. This morning I was going to my bus to get it ready for the day when I twisted my ankle and fell into what could have been a big mud puddle but luckily we haven't had any of the wet stuff lately. As I was laying out on the ground trying not to cry I realized that I don't bounce, I hit the ground like a flat basketball does. As I was getting my self back up I knew I hadn't broken anything thank Heavenly Father for that. I was thinking I need one of those buttons to wear around my neck where if you fall you push it and say "I've fallen and I can't get up" I that is what I want for my next birthday, by the time I celebrate another one I will be old enough for one. you see I'm going to stay 38 for a long, long, long time.

Also Jill I can't find a supplier of bubble wrap that can get me enough of the stuff to wrap my entire body. So I guess I'll have to just be happy that I'm a flat basketball and try not to stop the ground from coming up with my body.

Been There, Done That, and It HURTS!!!!!! wheres my cane.

Activity Days to active!!!

Wednesday was our first Activity days of the New Year, We did a little getting to know you activity. But first I had share some things about myself. I shared that I love to read (Harry Potter being my favorite) I even told them a big secret that I have even tired some of the magic spells (the only one I can do is the Alohomora, the unlocking spell and for some reason it only works on my car, go firgure). I also told them that I like Teddy Bears (I have over 100) and many other things but the one thing I forgot to tell them was that I have a daughter that has a hard head. I guess it was good that I didn't because I found out later that one of the other girls in the class actually has a harder one. She and Elisabeth had a run-in literally in the hall way and this is what Elisabeth got from it. I guess we where lucky that her tooth didn't go all the way though the lip, also a good thing I don't faint at the sight of blood either. the Next morning I asked her if she wanted to go to school she looked and me and said "Do I look like I WANT to go to school, seriously mom, I don't think so!!!" I let her stay home, she looked a lot better that afternoon. we thought that she might have a hairline facture of her cheek bone but I think it was just bruised really badly, we are now a week out from it and she says id doesn't even hurt any more. I guess next time we have Activity Days I should teach one on First Aid.

Been there, Done that, and forgot about it by the time I was married.

More Power

I'm sitting here waiting and waiting and waiting for just 2 pictures to upload to my blog. I just wish I had more power, as in High Speed internet, this Dial-up stuff is for the birds. I guess I will have to wait until I win the lottery, Oh! I forgot I don't play it. Even if I did we don't have highspeed out this way yet. OH!!!! H*LLO!!!!

Need SNOW!!!!!! Part 2

I saw my first snow fall of the 2008-2009 winter sometime in October, I was taking a field trip group to Skyline Drive. Since then I have seen many, many flurries. And even one heck of a snow squall, that covered everything in 5 minutes, but then was gone after that. One day last week it snowed the whole hour that I was driving the bus to pick up kids for school, I thought for sure that the weather man was wrong that day and I would be called to take the kids home early, but NOPE! We have had many times that the weatherman has said that we where going to get snow but when I wake up in the morning... NOTHING!!!! It is now the 13th of January, and not any snow in site. It's can't be as cold as it is without snow, it's not fair, the temp this morning 22* and tomorrow is suppose to have highs in the single digits but NO snow. I have very little hope of having a decent snow this winter season here in the Shenandoah Valley. I guess it's time to move to Alaska or Iceland. I WANT SNOW AND I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!

Announcements

My sister told me to get a paper today because my Brother's engagement announcement was in it. Here it is I know I posted about it before but since it is in the DNR it's official.
Mallory Paige Newman - Benjamin Christopher Williams

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Newman of Dayton have announced the engagement of their daughter, Mallory Paige Newman of Chapel Hill, N.C., to Benjamin Christopher Williams, also of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Williams is the son of Phillip Williams of Manteo, N.C., and Carol Williams of Harrisonburg.

Newman graduated from Turner Ashby High School and the Rockingham Memorial Hospital School of Radiologic Technology and is pursuing a specialty in nuclear medicine at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. She is a PRN radiologic technologist at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.

Williams graduated from Turner Ashby High School and received a certificate in automotive technologies from the Universal Technical Institute. He is a certified Volkswagen technician with Maxwell Volkswagen in Burlington, N.C.

An Oct. 10 wedding is planned in Clover Hill.

Little did she tell me that on the same page was my Favorite Storytime lady in all the world, Miss Annie!!!

Annie Hololob - John Robert Layne

Joseph and Magda Hololob of Eastport, N.Y., have announced the engagement of their daughter, Annie Hololob of Waynesboro, to John Robert Layne, also of Waynesboro.

Layne is the son of Jim and Teresa Layne of Fishersville.

Hololob graduated from Eastport High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history at Purchase College, SUNY. She works in client services at Rosetta Stone in Harrisonburg.

Layne graduated from Tabb High School. He works at the Virginia Truck Center in Weyers Cave.

A Sept. 6, 2009, wedding is planned in Harrisonburg.

It looks like next Fall is going to be busy!!! Better mark my Calendar.

Been There, Done That, Love looking at the Pictures!

Craving Nuts

Do you know what Filberts or Nu-Nuts are? If you are allergic to tree nuts you better they are Hazelnut (Filberts) and Nu-Nuts are peanuts that have been de-flavored and re-flavored with a nut like pecan or walnut.

What is Glanduja? This is a nut past that is found in imported chocolates. German and most good European chocolates have a hazelnut paste in them, that is what makes them So GOOD!

I have a daughter that is allergic to Tree Nuts, now you might think that means she can't have peanuts, don't worry you aren't alone, everyone thinks this. But Peanuts are NOT tree nuts they grow underground not in trees, she can eat all the peanuts she wants. But! Tree nuts are in just about everything from BBQ sauce, cereals, cracker, ice cream and chocolate. With this allergy she has to carefully watch what she eats especially when it comes to desserts and most chocolate that comes from over seas like German and Swiss, the best in the world. I have to read every label that is brought into the house to make sure it is OK for her to have if not I have to tell her and then usually I will put it in my secret hiding place for myself. Until she was diagnosed, around the age of 2, with this allergy I didn't like nuts, I would eat them if they where in the brownies or cookies but I really didn't care if they where there or not, and all the recipes that I had that said nuts optional I never included them. Well now I have nut cravings, I can't past a pecan without my mouth watering, and cashews are my biggest cravings. We try to keep a nut free house, which is hard considering that my family is the biggest bunch of nuts I've ever seen.

Been there, done that, and still reading and learning about Nuts.

Need SNOW!!!!!!

OK I'm home from work today because "little e" is sick. I have wanted a snow day since the beginning of December but have not had one yet. I can't even call this one because I'm actually only home for one of my jobs, I still have to drive the bus this afternoon. I really, really, really need a snow day. Why, you may ask? I love snow, I love watching it fall, I love walking in it, I love going sledding, I love drinking Hot Coco, I love making and eating Snow Cream, the list can go on and on. I really want some snow soon and lots of it.

The Best Book Ever.

For the 1st time in my life I have been reading the scriptures mainly the Book of Mormon and wanting more. My family has been members of the LDS church since I was 5 years old and I have read the scriptures many times. But never in my life have I ever read them and not wanted to stop at the end of my allotted time. I have been wanting this to happen to me for many years but it has never happened. I would write more but at this time I want to go back and read...

Rainbow Dreams

Wednesday was another in a long line of rainy days....sigh.... I was really hoping that the weatherman would be made a lair and we would get snow and not rain, but no such luck... So as I left this morning to start my bus what does Heavenly Father decided to do... laugh at me, by having a torrential down pour precisely at the same time I had to do the pre-trip inspection (out side the bus)... NOT FUN... then all day long we had the wonderful liquid sunshine ... as a best friend of mine call's it... I don't call it that... I usually like rain but not in the winter time when it's suppose to be snow... Well Heavenly Father decided this afternoon we still had not had enough of the stuff so we got more and more and more... I felt sorry for the kids that had to walk home in the rain but what could I do... but this time he was teasing us with some sunshine in between the clouds... After I dropped the last one off and Evelyn and I where headed home (Elisabeth rode another bus home) I came over a hill and as I crested it the most wonderful thing in the world was in front of me... A RAINBOW... this was not just your here it is rainbow that disappears in about 30 seconds... this one was hanging around for a long time... I was reflecting on the reason for rainbows, the covenant that Heavenly Father made to Noah after the flood... It made my day to see that rainbow at the end of a long and stressful day... I know I slept better that night... dreaming about rainbows.