IRIS IT WAS SUMMER

BEAUTIFUL LIGHT PURPLE BEARDED IRIS

DARK PURPLE BEARDED IRIS

ONE OF MY IRIS PATCHES

MY FAV-YELLOW BEARDED IRIS

This post is in memory of my Granny. She loved flowers and always anticipated the arrival of the Iris'. She would ask me everyday if saw the new Iris that had bloomed. I got some of her Iris' and can't wait till they start blooming. Normally when you transplant iris' they don't bloom the first year. I moved Granny's last year and they are getting ready to bloom. I know that my Granny had a hand in that. I am sure she is looking down on my Iris' and everyday when I get home I go look at them to see which ones had bloomed that day and fondly remember my Flossie.

2008 UMW "ISLAND PARADISE"

2008 UMW DINNER/MUSICAL "ISLAND PARADISE"

THE PERFORMERS
TCHS DRESSED UP FOR THE PARTY

BRET HELPING DECORATE

April 26,2008 The Hartsville United Methodist Women hosted a dinner/musical for the community for our mission fundraiser. We were successful! Thanks to everyone who assisted to make this fundraiser a success. We had a great turn out and it was wonderful seeing folks I hadn't seen in a while. We had great food, great entertainment and great fellowship.

Kerry enjoyed herself. She was a big help. Much more than I really expected. We dressed alike and don't you know, we did not get one picture of us.... I am some glad she is getting into helping out at church and enjoying the fellowship. Praise the Lord!

Kerry and I are going to help out at VBS this summer. We will be doing the Music. That should be fun! At least we will have a tape to follow.

Yesterday we broke out the chocolate fountain. We had a blast dipping marshmallows, apples and bananas in chocolate. I think I had more chocolate on me than in me. HA...

Kelly, Kerry and I headed out to the Lake to go fishing and I kept telling Kelly, I thought it was going to rain. Sure enough, as soon as we got to the Lake, it started raining! Kerry looked at her Dad and said, "when are you going to start listening to Angie?" HAHAHA.... We headed back home and chilled out....

PRAYER

Do you believe in the power of prayer? I sure do. I may not get what I ask for but, I do know that if I don't get what I pray for, it wasn't in God's will.

I've learned a lot about God's will. Kelly and I were trying to get pregnant from the 1st day we got back together 5 years ago and really trying since we got married 4 years ago. I took fertility drugs to make sure I was ovulating. I was. I got pregnant right before our 2ND anniversary. I actually found out I was pregnant on our anniversary. It was a sweet anniversary present for both of us. 3 months later I miscarried. That was not so sweet. We continued to pray.. This time it was for strength to deal with a tragic loss. I knew that the baby was sick because I knew that God would not give me such a gift then take it away if the baby wasn't sick. The baby had a chromosomal defect. I never learned the sex, but I am pretty sure it was boy. I at least got to see it's heart beat along with my Mom. It was the greatest moment of my life.

This past December I had to have an emergency hysterectomy because I was basically eat up with endometerosis. I had it from my breast bone to my uterus. Everything was smushed together. The OBGYN told Kelly that it was all in my uterus and I wouldn't have been able to carry a baby to full term only to 3 months- therefore, that is what caused the miscarriage. The OBGYN didn't want to to the hysterectomy either but it was that or I would die. Thank God for Dr. B.

The day before my surgery, I had called some of my church ladies and told them I wanted them to pray that I wouldn't have to have an hysterectomy. They told me to pray for God's will. Well, being the stubborn one I just cried and said, I want a baby. I was in terrible pain. My heart was breaking and my stomach was killing me from the pain too. I eventually felt a calm come over me and knew that God was with me and that I needed to pray for God's will. I was saying the Apostle Creed when I went under for the surgery. When I woke up, I knew with-out being told that I had to have a hysterectomy. Dr. B. was the sweetest to me, he was apologizing for having to perform the surgery. My Mom and step-daughter took the hysterectomy worse than I did.

I know that God has a greater plan for me. I am a great step-mom and one day will be a great Mom to a child we have adopted. I sometimes wish that I could open my Bible and see a little note that God has written to me to let me know what his plan is.

God's will- I gotta pray for it, so do you...

Acceptance

"It’s sad that society tells fat [insert any number of looksist descriptors here] people that we will be lucky to find someone who appreciates us as just as we are. Like it’s some sort of great and rare sacrifice on the part of (non-fat) others to actually find us attractive."( I read this on Fashionistas! blog)

You know, this is something I struggle with everyday. I am FAT!! There I said it... I know that I am fat and I don't need anyone telling me that I am. I am also BEAUTIFUL, CARING, LOVING and pretty much a good person all around. Yes, I have my faults but, they are small faults. Hopefully Kelly will say the same if you ask him. I love that my husband makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. When I am around him, I am not fat. I am a runway model because of the way he makes me feel. I have a coworker who is a good size but feels like she is as big as I am and is always making comments that she wishes she had my confidence. She says that I am skinny on the inside. Maybe so, but the best thing is, I have confidence of who I am.

I am a wife, a child of GOD, a martial arts student, a friend, a co-worker, a daughter, a sister, a step-mom, etc. I hate to do laundry but do it anyway, I hate to wash dishes, but do it any way. I hate to grocery shop- I am a tight-wad! But do it anyway. I hate to walk for exercise, but I know that if I don't, my joints will stiffen up and then I won't be able to do anything I enjoy to do.

In a few weeks I will be shooting a commercial for a plus-size lingerie store in the 'Boro. This will be the second time I have does this for them. It's fun to do and I get to live out my dream of being a "model". It doesn't hurt to dream to be a model when you are a plus size woman. I know that I am pretty, heck, I've been told that ALL my life. I don't have the big head. I always tell my step-daughter, if you don't love yourself, no one will fall in love with you.... I had a co-worker to tell me that he thought I was beautiful because of the way I carry myself, I walk into a room to be noticed but not to be the center of attention. I carry myself so that I am approachable, but so people know that they can't run all over me.

I owe my Mom for the self-esteem she has given me. She always told me, I am no better than anyone, and no one is better than me. Yep, that's right. You go Momma! My Mom is a self reliant person, she doesn't need anyone to help her. Now, that is good sometimes and bad at other times. She is very impatient, another quality I have inherited. She is a leader and no matter what my brother says, she was a good mother. Yeah, she was hard on us at times but, hey, we aren't in Jail or living with her and mooching off her or anyone else.

So everyone, let's accept people for the qualities that they can give to us, or the things we can learn from them, not for the color of their skin, the size of their body, the color of their eyes or the religion they choose to worship. We need more acceptance in this world and with each other.
Peace out with All of God's love-Ang

Spring Break

This is a Direct TV blimp that flew over my parents house yesterday. We were all hanging out talking and Bridget said well Lord, look there's a blimp. Poor Josh said yep " It's the GoodYear Blimp" I laughed!! Josh, do you need glasses? It says Direct TV on it! He laughed... How many beers were you on at that time, Josh?

Ashton and a Alpacha we visited on Sunday. Aren't they both the cutest things ever?
Ashton is the daughter of my new Little brother Jack. She is a mess. Too cute to get in trouble. Her Mom and Dad are the sweetest people ever! Bridget and I participated in 4-H together. Of course I am MUCH older! I remember when I took her to camp!! We had so much fun. Her group begged me to stay in their room when I was the counselor. What a blast!
Yesterday, my Dad decided to cook and asked half the county to come and eat with us. We had smoked bologna, deer meat, chicken, turkey and potatoes. There were a lot of people there, we sure did have some good eating! There was plenty left over, you couldn't miss what was eaten. The day was beautiful.. A little chilly when the winds was blowing but it was nice.

Kerry took the above picture last week. She loves sunsets! ME too! I think she has my photographic eye. I wish I had a better digital camera. I am saving!! She is at her Mom's for Spring break. I hope her Mom takes her shopping for tennis shoes. I really do miss her. I can't wait for her to come back home. Hopefully she'll have a good time with her Mom.

DANIEL & HANNAH

Here is Daniel practicing for baseball. He's the one in the blue and gray. He's not the smallest on his team. I can't wait till we go see him play. According to Daniel he probably will be the bench warmer since, he's never played before. He sure was digging for the balls that were being hit towards him. He is trying to prove he can do it. He looked so cute out there. Sorry for the blurry picture. My little digital doesn't zoom very good.

Here is precious Hannah Rhae Beers. My new " niece". She is Daniel little sister. I am gonna be called Aunt Angie by Hannah too. Dan-O can't have an Aunt Angie and Hannah not have one. She is soo sweet. When I was talking to her, she would look at me like she knew exactly who I was. I'm sure when she gets bigger, and Daniel comes to see MawMaw and Poppa, Hannah will be there too. Krissa looks great, you can't even tell she's had a baby, much less 2 kids. She still soo tiny!

SURVIVOR MAN

Yes, folks, I have my very own "survivor man". He is the man of my dreams... Most of the time! HA! Kelly is a full fledged hunter... He hunts turkey, deer, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits and he also fishes. Needless to say, our grocery bill is not that high when it comes to meat. No, we do not eat the masked man.. Gross.... Just recently he bagged his first turkey of the year. It wasn't much to talk about it since it was a Jake but at least he killed one and we have fresh wild turkey breast in the freezer.

I hate the taste of beef since we eat so much deer. There is a secret to making deer not have the wild taste. You have to beg to get the secret. We eat so much deer that I can make any recipe that calls for beef out of the deer meat and no one would be able to tell the difference. Our fav is country fried deer steak. I like wild turkey breast too. I'm not much on the rabbit or squirrel. My Flossie sure did like the rabbit and squirrel. When she was alive Kelly would make special hunting trips just to kill a mess for them to eat. I would try to eat it with them but, most of the time I would just eat cereal.

I had lunch today with a dear friend of mine, Christy. I haven't seen her since she got married in October, so it was great seeing her again. We do keep in touch by e-mailing each other but, we have families and busy lives and not enough friend time to spare. Even though we both crave it. We have a third musketeer that belongs on the group but you have to hog tie her to get her to quit working long enough to have fun. Yes, Paula, I am talking about you!! Hopefully we can make time to have a slumber party soon.

One thing I have learned since I was sick is, that you do everything you can do to have fun and enjoy the day with people you love and people that make you laugh. With those two, we never stop laughing. We do have moments when we've cried but, one of us would say something funny then we all three are laughing again. I love all of my friends and family. I hope that Kerry can grow up having as many friends that she can depend on that I have.

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CHICKS WITH STICKS!

These are some of the ladies I do Karate with. The Blonde in the center is my instuctor Sandy. She is a 4th degree black belt. She is the best instructor in the world, I have learned so much from her. She and her husband David own the studio I attend. I am a lower belt than everone else in class and have learned things that I am not suppose to know yet. The reason I have labeled this as "Chicks with sticks" is because we train a lot with Escrima sticks. My fave... I am a weapons girl!!! We are a close knit set of friends and will be going to a concert in a few weeeks to see Jon Bon Jovi!! I can't wait..

MOWING SEASON HAS BEGUN

I forgot to take my ankle brace to work with me yesterday so I went home instead of going to Karate practice. (Bad Student) It was beautiful outside so I decided to help out with the yard work. WORK? I just got off work, why in the world would I want to continue working? Well, I don't do manual labor only mental labor... Poor Kelly works his tail off at his job so I wanted to be nice and help him out. The push mower wouldn't start so, I had to wait till he came home. No surprises in store for him.. Me mowing.. Kelly finally got the mower started after I huffed and puffed about it not working and stormed into the house to do "women's work". Kerry mowed for awhile, while I stewed in the house. I felt bad so I took her a glass of water and I mowed till the mower ran out of gas.
Then the mower wouldn't start again, so, I stormed off again into the house to fix supper. Earlier while I was stewing about the mower not working I got on-line to try to find a mower. So, I really wasn't doing "women's work" I was shopping.. What I can do better, than getting a stinkin' mower to run! And I'm really not storming off to the house more like, Yea, I don't have to mow skip... Bad wife...
Kerry got fed up and came into the house to help me fix Taco Salad for supper. She forgot to drain the meat so it was a tad greasy, other than that it was good. We all took showers from trying to mow and laid around watching the boob tube. Kerry had me to take her blood sugar to see if she is diabetic, you see, every week she has a new aliment. Last week was diabetes, this week she has an over active bladder. Poor, kid, 15 and a hypochondriac. I blame her Mom. Mom has Crohn's and is sick ALL the time, a new aliment every week, that is all Kerry knows. I'm trying to get her out of that... She's been complaining about her teeth and biting her jaw. I reminded her this morning to brush her teeth and asked when was the last time she brushed and her answer was... UH... I don't remember// No wonder she is having teeth issues!!
So we go to the dentist on Saturday and I hope I see the dentist before Kerry does so I can let her know that Kerry isn't brushing.. Still looking for a mower. We didn't finish the yard but hopefully Kelly can get the mower running today while I am at Tai Chi and finish the yard.

Back Again

It's been a while since I last posted. In December 2007, I got sick from endometreosis and had to have an emergency hysterectomy. That really sucked since Kelly and I hadn't had children yet. Luckily he had Kerry before we had gotten back together! I am in the adventures of being a step-mom. She is a great kid, when she is not being influenced by bad decision makers.

The best thing that has happened since my surgery is that Kerry has moved in with us. The first 3 weeks were great! She is a good helper. She LOVES to cook! Yeah me! Since I have Karate and Tai Chi 3 nights a week. The beginning of the 4th week she got a wild hair stuck up her butt and decided to skip school. OK, I know most kids skip school, but I never did! My Mom had the fear of GOD in me!! Anyway, her mom decided to take her lunch and Kerry wasn't there. My MIL called to see if Kerry was sick, 'cause she wasn't at school! I totally freaked out. I called Kelly at work and he went to Hartsville looking for her. His cousin had her but lied that she didn't know where Kerry was. Kelly busted some tail! She is grounded for quite a while. Kelly had the cousin arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Don't mess with his baby!!! Any who, we should be done with this issue at the end to the month.

I passed my blue belt test!! I should have tested in February but I was afraid to do so since I had been on so many drugs the month of December and January. Here I am breaking the string to prove that I am ready to take on the responsibility of being a blue belt! See the concentration on my face. Luckily I didn't have my tongue out! I was the only adult to get a belt that night. WAY TO ANG!!

This past weekend was the 1st weekend Kerry had spent at her Mom's since we have gotten custody of her. It went well, but of course Mom and the BF is kissing butt! Kerry's words, not mine. I have stronger wording. I have gotten my 1st payback, since becoming a full time step-mom. Last weekend I took Kerry shopping. NO MORE!! She is a grunge wearer but wants to be more girly. So I took her to LB and the clothes were TOO Girly. Then we went to RW and couldn't agree on anything except jeans. While she was in the dressing room trying on clothes I made her try on, I sent my Mom a text to apologzie for all the grief I gave her as a kid. By the time we finished shopping I had a headache~! At least Kerry and I were still talking....