Daughter's Deployment to Iraq

Today I said goodbye to my daughter, Whitney, as she begins her deployment to Iraq. Never in my life did I think it was possible to feel your heart aching with so much pain and yet burst with so much pride. I wish it was easy to find the words to describe how proud I am of the young woman who stood before me today.

The following photos show our journey today. I thank you all deeply from the bottom of my aching heart for stopping by and being a part of our day. (You can click on the individual photos to see the larger photo)

I Am A Blue Star Mother
Author Unknown

I am the mother of a United States Service Member. My child gave me this title. I will give him a heart full of wonder at his accomplishments and a voice that praises his desire to serve. I will place my faith in his military training and in God’s protection I will give him the prayers that will follow him where I cannot. I will be strong when I want to cry and brave when I want to cower. He will know that I am behind him every step of the way. Because I bear the title of Mother of a United States Service Member.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, comments and well wishes. We appreciate them so very much!!

Late Night Visitor

We had a late night visitor on the porch. Well, he was actually underneath a cooler and I found him when I moved it. Normally, when I stand outside on the porch at night, I leave the porch light off. This guy is a non-poisonous garter snake, common to the area, approximately 6 to 7 inches in length. He certainly didn't like my flash, and since I had the camera just a couple inches from him, he did raise his head towards me, so I didn't get too many photos cuz I didn't want to tick him off (yes, they will bite if they feel threatened, but as I said, they are non-poisonous).

And before I forget again, here are the pictures of the praying mantis and bat that I took back in August.

Cool Bee Photos

So the other day my hubby and daughter came home and found me out on the front porch with my camera. There was a bee sitting on one of the posts, and I had my camera in it's face LOL I got about 25 good shots, and was able to narrow it down to 5 that I wanted to show you. Which reminds me, I still haven't posted the bat or praying mantis photos yet. Will have to do that after I shut the computer down for a rest (or should I say, before it decides to shut down on me).

Dad's in Rehab, New Photos

Dad is settled into his rehab room now. My aunt and uncle have gotten there, tho it would have been nice if they called and told me they got there like they said they would. Mom is gonna make a trip back home today to take care of some stuff and grab some clothes and make a return trip to Lubbock tomorrow. And I just took some tylenol PM to see if I can get some non-nightmarish sleep so I can function halfway decent at work tonight. I took some photos yesterday while I was out walking the dog and thought I'd share a few. As always, my photos are not for snagging as per my TOU's.

(click to see full size)

A Visitor In The Yard

Had a visitor in the yard this past Tuesday. Thought I'd share a few photos.

Playing with camera

I was outside a little while ago and playing around with the macro settings on my camera. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get out the book and read it, but for now, it's just fun to mess with the settings and take pictures and see what I get LOL.

The tulips are looking pretty with their petals wide open. And the bees are out (reminded me of the Bee Movie with Jerry Seinfeld LOL). Can't wait for our rhododendrons to bloom. I take pictures of them every year but this year is going to extra special for me cuz I got the new camera to play with LOL.

Thanks for looking!

Springtime

Yeah, Spring is finally here! I had tulips bloom this year and not in the same place as they did last year. Ok, I admit it... I have no green thumb and don't take care of them at all so wherever they pop up, there they be LOL. If the hubby ever gets the gutters up on the front of the house, I might consider being a little more serious about taking care of the little area between the porch and the sidewalk but until then, I'm not messing with it.

Took a couple pics of the tulips this morning.

Well, I thought they came out pretty good :)