Back to Reality...

Tracee and I sincerely hope that you had as much fun as we did this week as we enjoyed our families. Unlike Tracee, I spent my black Friday like so many of the rest of Bristol did, SHOPPING!!! My mother and I started shopping on Black Friday about 4 years ago...laughing every year about how ridiculous it is to be shopping for underware at 4am to save a few bucks. But, I love and cherish this time that I have, just me and my mom. We rarely get these one on one moments and live for Black Friday now...
After staying up late Wednesday to cook a Thanksgiving feast for 9, getting up at the crack of dawn for Black Friday (without a nap), and getting up early again this morning to go with my husband to those stores holding over their sales, I AM POOPED!!! So, forgive me that this entry is very short, but I am sure that Tracee and I will be sharing our Thanksgiving stories with you over the next few days...Get ready to laugh your Thanksgiving dinner off!!!
We love you and pray for you daily!!
~Tracee and Janice~

Bye Bye Turkey Day – Hello Christmas

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already over AND black Friday. Wow!! I spent my Black Friday getting a hair treatment on my hair to help with my frizzies. My hair feel as greasy as can be and there's nothing I can do about it until next Tuesday!!! But, I should be drop dead gorgeous after this!! Haha!

I have been in Florida this whole week visiting my family. It has been absolutely wonderful and hysterically funny. I have laughed so hard that I never even gained one ounce due to the workout I gave myself from laughing so much. I promise you I'll post our Thanksgiving Day video sometime but get ready to laugh your head off. Between my sister, my brother my mom, and myself, there was no shortage of comedians in the house.

Now, all wonderful things must come to an end and tomorrow I find myself getting in the car for a 12 hour day of traveling with my kiddo's. It's a good-bye I have to do every year but overall, I can't thank my Jesus enough for giving me the amazing family that I have been blessed with. We all have the liberties to be exactly who God made us and that's incredible! Even if my dad spends half of his time wondering where on earth we came from. J The beautiful thing about tomorrow is I get to see my super handsome husband who I left behind in the woods of Tennessee/Virginia as he hunted the wild wild East for deer. November has been so busy with traveling that we've only gotten to see each other a total of 14 days this month!! So, tomorrow is going to be wonderful to walk through the front door of my home and into his arms.

Off to hang with the fam one last time!!

See you when I get back to good ole' Tennessee….

Tracee….tired, fulfilled, loved, stuffed, and happy as a turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

Love, Tracee and Janice

The Virus I received this Weekend...

This is a copy of the Amish Virus Warning I received this weekend...I died laughing!!!

"Thou hast just received the Amish Virus.

Since we do not have electricity nor computers, thou art on the honor system.
Please delete all of thy files.

Thank thee"

Still laughing...Janice - Have a GREAT Monday!!!

Christmas Shopping

Ahh, the joys of Christmas shopping! I haven't really gotten a great start yet this year but I am working on it. I have had times where I've gotten it all done by the end of September and then times when it was days before Christmas before I was done. I came up with a great solution the other day that I think I'll do one year and that's simply get gift cards to all my kid's favorite stores and take them out the day after Christmas and let them get whatever they want. Time wise, I don't know if that would be good since the stores are busting after Christmas but then I could be onto something here. I can see myself now, sitting at a coffee shop in the mall, reading a book, enjoying myself while my kid's are stressing out about which toy, clothing item, earrings, or video game they want. Sounds like the perfect solution!!

I have to admit, though. I really do enjoy Christmas shopping. I love shopping period. It's fun – well, it's fun when there's money involved. When there's not it's quite a challenge. Haha! But, I do have some great advice…when you don't have money but you 'feel' like shopping…head over to Target, grab a cart and shop. Go through every aisle and enjoy yourself – put all those things you want in the basket, oh – don't forget to get the $1.50 soda and popcorn at the concession area to help make your shopping trip more enjoyable, or if you have $3/$4 to spare you can get a nice Starbucks coffee. So, you might be asking, "What do I do with the cart that's full when I'm done." You simply leave it in the last aisle of the store and walk away. You'll feel refreshed and had an enjoyable shopping experience and you'll walk away feeling good that you didn't spend all that money!! Haha! I confess, I did do that once or twice. Store camera's love me!! I was at the store and I had it loaded with stuff – all kinds of stuff…I ended up walking away from it all because I felt I went a little overboard so I just grabbed another cart and started all over and left saving myself a bundle and feeling quite happy.

When it comes down to it, it's the simple things in life that will bring you greater treasure than thinking you 'need' all the bigger things in life. Stuff is stuff!! It comes and goes with the times, but having those enjoyable times in life when you might only have $5.00 in your wallet…that's okay. Enjoy what you have and get what you need..but overall – enjoy those precious 'small' moments – whether you have loads to spend or nothing. Don't forget – when Jesus comes, you can't say, "Oh, just a minute, let me pack up my suitcase of all the 'stuff' I've collected through the years!" lol! But what matters most is what you've treasured up in heaven. Matthew 6:21 puts it beautifully: "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."

Life is what you make of it – if you choose stress, you'll get stress. If you choose to be miserable, you'll be miserable. If you choose love, you'll get love. If you choose fun, you'll have fun. If you seek treausures, you'll find treasures! Life is like Christmas shopping – you get what you shop for. Choose the enjoy the small moments that life gives you…and when in doubt…just walk away from you cart and start all over!!

Tracee….gotta get out of here and start shopping for treasures while convincing my kid's they don't need all this 'stuff!' lol!!!!

Top Ten...

Top Ten Things You Never Want to Find in the Center of Your Christmas Chocolates:

10. Microfilm wht schematics for the new Mach 937 stealth fighter

9. Magma

8. A fortune that reads "A distant relative will come for a lengthy visit."

7. Another chocolate, with another chocolate inside of that, and another chocolate inside of that, and another...

6. A slip of paper that starts with the words, "Your weight is..."

5. A clown that pops out to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel"

4. A worning label that reads "Not to be taken internally"

3. Legs of any kind, size, or shape

2. One of the evil Penguin's dehydrated henchmen (but if you dind one, Batman will know what to do)

1. An expiration date - especially if it refers to any time now considered "retro"

Enjoy your Holidays!!

Anxiously waiting...Janice

Gobble, Gobble

My favorite time of the year is summer – I love heat and will take it any day over cold weather. You could probably call me a baby when it comes to cold weather because I simply don't like being cold. I can recall a time when I lived in Ireland which is a very cold country. Your heat stays on 24/7 365 days a year. You might get blessed and have 65 degree weather for no more than 2 weeks sometime between May and August but don't put all your eggs in that basket. We had moved from a house that didn't have working radiators to a house that did….after having lived in a cold house for 9 months I believe I went a little overboard on the heat because one night my husband came home and took one look at me. Of course, my face was radiantly red and I probably had sweat dripping down my brow – I was burning up and loving every minute of it because the heat had been on nonstop for hours. He said, "Sweetheart, don't you think the house is hot enough." I gleefully looked at him and said, "No! Doesn't it feel perfect in here?!" I wasn't about to turn the heat down for second no matter how hot I was. That's what shorts and a t-shirt are for. Lol!!

Now that you know my favorite season, my favorite holiday, though, happens to be in the dead of winter…well, actually, not the dead of winter but the early stages of winter even though around here in Tennessee I woke up to 17 degrees yesterday. So wrong!!! So, they call this fall! Haha! What is winter going to be like? Actually, my TN winters have been pretty calm – cold, yes, but not like Minnesota cold. Haha – I just had a revelation….I was born in Minnesota. Go figure!! I only lived there one year so my blood didn't have time to get use to frigid weather.

So, you ask, where on earth is this crazy woman going with all this cold/holiday talk? Lol! I don't have a clue myself. Haha! Actually, I do – Thanksgiving through Christmas is such a festive time of year and that's what I love about it. I get to see family I haven't seen in a year (we compare wrinkles and age spots) since we live all over the planet and get some extra special quality time with my own immediate family and I have to say…it's fantabulous. Of course, I get to warm up since the kids and I have started a Thanksgiving tradition of heading down to Florida to hang with my side of the family while Mark stays here and becomes a mountain man hunting for deer for 6 days straight. He loves it because he doesn't have to shower or shave! Haha! I've called myself a deer widow every Thanksgiving. So, whether it's just you, or you've got a bus load of family or more, I pray that you have the most beautiful holiday season this year. Don't worry about all the 'stuff' that takes place when families get together with all their lovely opinions….simply reflect on the beauty of your family – the positive things that you love like – hearing with my family: hearing my dad clear his throat (a habit he's done for years) – I can find him in a store just because of that one trademark, or my mom dancing around the kitchen with celery in her mouth singing Elvis songs as she entertains herself while cooking, or my sister constantly giggling from my silly forms of entertainment and then saying, "Does anyone need a starbucks?" Or, my brother-in-law with the t.v. remote permanently attached to his hand while he stays glued to football games, or my kids telling their Aunt, "So, when are you going to take us shopping? I brought my list." Or my oldest sister, the teacher, commenting across the room while I'm having a conversation with someone else saying, "Tracee, it's not her but she." She loves correcting people's grammar. Or, my brother trying to find someone to talk to about his hotrod car and how it goes 110 mph in 5 seconds, a story in which we've heard about every single year…haha! Yes, I have been the good sister and let him take me for a spin in that car at those warped speeds at least twice and I have to say – it's fast and quite scary. Make sure you wear a depends if you attempt this at home.

Alright, so I gave you some insight to my family gatherings and they are quite hilarious and extremely entertaining. Through the good and the quirky – I love my family and the precious times we have together. So, live it up – enjoy this holiday season and no matter whether you are in the state of plenty or the state of need – remember the awesome words of Paul…."no matter what state I am, I have learned to be content." Phil. 4:11-12

That is the joy secret to life…no matter what – be content and live it up!!

Gobble, gobble….Tracee

ATM Machine’s

MALE VS. FEMALE AT THE ATM MACHINE  

A new sign in the Bank Lobby reads:

'Please note that this Bank is installing new Drive-through ATM machines enabling customers to withdraw cash without leaving their vehicles.
Customers using this new facility are requested to use the procedures outlined below when accessing their accounts. After months of careful research,
MALE & FEMALE Procedures have been developed. Please follow the Appropriate steps for your gender..'

*******************************
MALE PROCEDURE:
1. Drive up to the cash machine.
2. Put down your car window.
3. Insert card into machine and enter PIN.
4. Enter amount of cash required and withdraw.
5. Retrieve card, cash and receipt.
6. Put window up.
7. Drive off.
******************************
FEMALE PROCEDURE:
1. Drive up to cash machine.
2. Reverse and back up the required
amount to align car window with the machine.
3. Set parking brake, put the window down.
4. Find handbag, remove all contents on
to passenger seat to locate card.
5. Tell person on cell phone you will call
them back and hang up.
6. Attempt to insert card into machine.
7. Open car door to allow easier access
to machine due to its excessive distance
from the car.
8. Insert card.
9. Re-insert card the right way.
10. Dig through handbag to find diary
with your PIN written on the inside
back page.
11. Enter PIN.
12. Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN.
13. Enter amount of cash required.
14. Check makeup in rear view mirror.
15. Retrieve cash and receipt..
16. Empty handbag again to locate wallet
and place cash inside.
17. Write debit amount in check register
and place receipt in back of checkbook.
18. Re-check makeup.
19. Drive forward 2 feet.
20. Reverse back to cash machine.
21. Retrieve card.
22. Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder,
and place card into the slot provided!
23. Give dirty look to irate male driver
waiting behind you.
24. Restart stalled engine and pull off.
25. Redial person on cell phone.
26. Drive for 2 to 3 miles.
27. Release Parking Brake.

Love, Live, Laugh!!

Tracee, the 'drive 2-3 miles and then remember to release her parking brake!' woman

The Pastries...Redeemed!

This weekend was a blast! Definately a much needed break before the holidays! Our church women's group packed up our bags and headed to the mountains of North Carolina! There were somewhere between 23 and 25 of us (I lost count, and they wouldn't all stand still for me to count!)

Saturday afternoon was our free time and of course, all but two of our ladies went SHOPPING!! (what else, right?) Well, there is the most yumma-delicious bakery in downtown Wayensville that we always stop at and they also serve lunch. Well, it just so happened that my group of thrift store shoppers, ran into for lunch, another group of our ladies who had been shopping the stores of downtown. One of these ladies, (Sandi, our Woman's Ministry leader), had purchased some pastries from the bakery for later and she was so excited about them!! (We took pictures...:))

As we left the bakery stuffed to the gills, we decided to walk it off and found ourselves at the Christian Book store, where we ran into the same ladies!! Coincidence? I don't think so, because the next 1/2 hour brought my group of ladies SOOOO much laughter and joy....:)

Sandi had laid her pastries down on a shelf before we got there and was continuing to shop the rest of the store. WE FOUND THEM...So, we decided to redeem them and take them to the house for her...but we didn't tell her! We just walked RIGHT out of the store with them...Giggling the whole way!!

We decided that we should hold them ransome and take pictures with her yummalicious pastries all the way downtown. We laughed so hard!! People were starring at us as we had our fun! That simple moment of silliness with my friends was priceless! It is a moment that we will all remember and a moment that bonded us for life. Some of us would never have done something like that, and yet for some of us, it is almost expected, but the point is, we bonded...I can still hear us laughing...yes, it is my friends that are now the voices in my head!! You should be so lucky!!! LOL

Our story ends with our last act of silliness, we wrapped Sandi's precious pastries up in Birthday paper and presented her with them at that night's meeting...I'm sure that she would have eventually remembered that she laid her precious pastries somewhere, and she would have eventually found them, BUT this was WAY more fun!!! LOL

Do something silly today...Laugh at yourself...(Don't worry, if your stomach hurts, it just means that it is working! And just think of all the calories you are burning excersizing your abs like that!! Sure does beat sit-ups!!) ~Janice~

Going Back To Work!

My mom sent this to me and I about fell off the sofa laughing so hard. I can so remember the days of typewriters....just watch and see what I mean! haha!



Smiles,

Tracee