Monday, January 3, 2011

Hi My name is Joy

I feel like I need to introduce myself.  Where have I been?  I really don’t know.  I blinked and it was Christmas..now a new year and I haven’t written a blog post since September.  I’ll do a brief catch-up:

October was pretty uneventful except for Halloween.  My neighbors had a costume party and I dressed up as Beth Chapman.  She is Dog the Bounty Hunter’s wife.  They have a “riveting” reality TV show here in the U.S.  Riveting might not be the right word, but it is quite a cast of characters.  Trust me I do not do her justice.   It was a fun night:

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In November we celebrated Paige’s 15th birthday.  She is truly growing into an amazing young woman.   I can’t believe she’s 15 and takes me back to the phrase of blinking…There is a country music song called “Don’t Blink” by Kenny Chesney. It is so true and makes me cry when I hear it.  When Paige was little she called country music  ~crunchy~ music.  Love that.

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At the end of November was Thanksgiving and we decided to do something different this year.  We drove 10 hours to Destin, Florida and rented a beautiful condominium on the beach.

My parents and nephew joined us there and my in-laws and Keith’s cousins stayed nearby.  We all spent Thanksgiving together and it was wonderful.  Who knows, maybe we’ll make it a tradition.  Here is one picture at the Thanksgiving table.  This condo was great. It had a huge dining table and a perfect kitchen for all the cooks.   We had turkey, dressing and collard greens, sweet potato casserole and some cranberry stuff (which I never eat) and much more.    What do you think  of our fine china?  Ha.

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We woke up  Thanksgiving morning and some talented folks down the beach had created this beautiful sand art.  Pretty cool.

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The water was a little too chilly for me, but when you are 10 and 11 years old I guess you don’t feel the cold.   Here is Leah and my nephew:

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Well, that catches me up thru November.  I’ll stop here and not make this post any longer than it already is. 

Happy New Year.  Hope you are living and loving the life God gave you and giving the ones you love a squeeze along the way. 

♥ Joy

21 comments:

Deb said...

love you as Beth....that's great...so glad your back to blogging....

Unknown said...

I'm glad you're back! I've missed your blog posts.

Alicia said...

Glad you are back to blogging. I had checked in now and then lately as I'm trying to pick blogging back up and noticed yours was quiet.
My Victoria just turned 13 and I feel the same way. Taylor Swift has a new song called "Never Grow UP" that was making me ball!

Karin said...

Welcome back and all God's best for the 362 days left this year! Going to check out the cost of a vacation in Florida with a condo on the beach - or maybe we should stay on the west coast! Keep wanting to go away during our long winter, but if you help the kids with their moving expenses, guess what - no $$ left for pleasure, lol!

Tracy P. said...

YYAAAYYYY!!!

So glad to see you. You're almost caught up! The pics are awesome!

Melody said...

Glad to see you again! :) It looks like a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm so glad that you were able to get together with family to celebrate it. It looks like a beautiful place, too.

Unknown said...
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Susan said...

Welcome back!!!

Sandra said...

Bahaha....that picture of you is hilarious. I loved looking at all your pics What a great idea for Thanksgiving. It's been a few months since I had blogged too.

Clarissa's Cottage Arts said...

I was wondering where you have been. I've been going to call and see if you had changed the address of your blog. I too checked in often. Thanks for commenting on mine. See you on down the blog-road.

Givinya De Elba said...

So great to see a new post by you! Glad you had a vacation - look at that water!

The Farmer Files said...

Wow...loved the sand art. I am about to sit and write a post...ahhh here is to more blogging in 2011.

Keeper of the Skies Wife said...

I know how you feel...I haven't blogged much either.

LOVED the Halloween costume!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Joy, So glad you are back.. I have missed you...

Great pictures... I thought you were Dolly Parton when I first looked at that picture... ha ha ... Cute costume.

Your daughter really growing up!!!! What a cutie....

AND--I think that was a marvelous day to spend Thanksgiving. And I love that good china.. (That's the way to go for sure!!!)

Hugs,
Betsy

Tiffany said...

OMGosh, Joy, Destin is my FAVORITE beach to go to! We borrowed my cousin's 5th wheel one summer and we stayed at a campground right on the beach. It was the best family vacation we have ever had! And the "sand art" that people make is simply amazing!!!!! The time we were there we came upon a huge crab (in sand art) as we were walking on the beach. That place is truly amazing and a perfect reminder of God's beauty!

Brenda said...

It looks like you've just been having too much fun to blog! But its nice to have you back.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Hey Beth Chapman, I mean Joy, WELCOME BACK! It's good to hear from you.

Love the Halloween costume and your Thanksgiving, including the "fine china" looks fabulous. It's so nice everyone could be together.

The sand "castle" is pretty awesome. I wonder how long it took someone to make that lovely surprise.

Hope your 2011 is fantastic. Cheers, jj

Gombojav Tribe said...

Nice to have you back to blogging! Now we (all your faithful readers) are expecting something equally as riveting as Dog the Bounty Hunter each and every week from you!

Pictures of you in funny costumes will suffice! LOL!

Happy New Year, Joy!!!!

'LUSH' said...

Hi Joy, glad you're back too! Life has a way of taking over sometimes! LOL!

Just a few comments.......love the "Don't Blink" song too! So true! And, love the Halloween costume! I can only imagine the reactions!WOW!

life...justsaying said...

Enjoyed your blog!

Pamela said...

Joy you just made me laugh that I was afraid I would pee a lil'! LOVE your costume and if ya had not seen the show u soo would not get it. Hope all is well!!