Weekend news

ohhhhhhhhhh!!!! I got hit with THIS this past Friday. IT IS NOT FUN in any way, shape, or form. I don't wish this on anyone. (Well, maybe on the enemy over in Afghanistan. Then we wouldn't even have to use ammunition. We could just gather them up as they fell to the ground in dizziness and take them all away.) A much safer outcome ... alas...not possible.

It was not what I anticipated for my time with Justin, but I know all things happen for a reason. I am up and walking slowly today. (even gonna get a shower...YIPPEE)
The last two days I got to listen to Justin laughing and having fun with his siblings., (from my bed) He's Marine loud, all you moms know what I mean who have one. ...so his voice rises over the others. But when he and his brothers get together playing an x-box game...you know it.
It was a wonderful sound that gave me lots of smiles. He came in occasionally to see me or bring crackers.
I didn't want anybody getting near me in case I had a virus causing the dang vertigo.

However, I am better and will see him off today with his dad taking him back to LeJeune. It is bittersweet. I don't know if we will go to Lejeune on Thursday to see the Marines off as they leave for Cherry Point. Most ventures like that are quite disappointing as there is very little "real-time" to spend with your Marine and Justin is so focused when he is on base that it is not very relaxed or enjoyable time. I have a feeling they will be running here and there and so I'm curious. Any Marine moms out there who have a say about whether they went to see their Marine off on his fly-out day, and whether it was disappointing?
Sound off, cause I'm anxious to hear.
Either way we are definitely saying goodbyes, hugs, prayers, and appreciating the moments today.
Thanks so much for praying for me and for this day. Hugs to all!

I LOVE Surprises!!!!!!!

Thursday night at approximately 9:30 pm I just about got swept off my feet by an unexpected event here on Woodberry Road.
This honorable young man showed up at our back door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Oh me Oh my...Talk about hollering, and kissin' and huggin' and Barking...

I had been arranging substitutes to do petsitting jobs for me Friday night, Kurt was checking out the car for the 10 hour drive, and I had walked my dogs early so I could go to bed. I was supposed to go and get Justin tomorrow afternoon for a very very brief last weekend before they ship out to Afghanistan this upcoming week.

He had texted me this evening that he would see me tomorrow afternoon.

And then, that Marine popped in. He had talked one of his roommates into driving him all the way over here to Charlotte on his way to FLORIDA!!!! What an awesome guy. I'm sure Justin made it worth his while. Thank you Raush!!! WE sure do love our Marine....

Everybody out there have a great weekend.
Keep praying for all our men and women over there defending our lives of liberty and happiness over here.

Sweet Sentiments...

How many times does a mom walk into a child's room...and still catch her breath because she knows it sits empty? They have left and now sleep, recreate, chill out in another place. Oh ...I'm still trying to figure that one out...
Whenever Justin gets an oh-so-fast---way too brief liberty to get back to Charlotte I always go up and check his room after he departs to see if there's any laundry to do, and to change the bed. Oh, yes...tears still well up. Guess it takes a while.
Kat is the oldest, but she is still at home, (though we don't see much of her!) - so Justin was really the first to leave the nest.

Posting some pics of what makes me miss him when I enter his Marine haven.






Papa Shaw's flag (grandfather)




Believe it or not, Justin's bed was originally an old rope bed that belonged to his great great grandmother! (yeah, it creaks )

CLOSET:













Graduating Class - Parris Island where it all began, where the title was earned with blood,sweat and tears.

So, yes, I have a lot of emotion when I step into this room. But it is all good. This place is here and ready anytime he needs to rest, escape and come back home to a family that is waiting with open arms, relishing the time with him, missing him and loving him. We are proud of him, We all respect him for what he faced and endured. We honor him, a USMC Marine. God bless him. God bring them all home.


This one remains back at LeJeune. It is a picture I framed and gave to him. A lone soldier sits in the wall...guarding from his post. It has the verse from Joshua 1:9. The one I told Justin to memorize and take with him in his heart wherever he walked.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

a personal post for my e-journal...

Moments In Life...

Well...He came home like this.



The Lance Corporal asked Mom to give him a "War-Hawk". Left home a week later looking like this to go back to LeJeune to report in on Thursday.




His dad hung out in Jacksonville until the Marines were released midafternoon for another 72 hour leave/liberty.

Got a phone pic on their way back to see that he was returning looking like This!!



Seems he had to remover his cover (hat) for inspection and the leader of his group grabbed him afterwards and took him to his room and shaved his head! (busted!) Kurt found out that was why all the Marines were returning to their rooms but Justin was nowhere to be seen. Un-oh. (No trouble...just shaved) :-) All good fun. War hawks just aren't regulation!


Kat and "Hogie"


Bubba and Hogie


All American Canine - Gideon


A lovely day for Justin's brief stay.




Justin and his padawan... Woobie... (Woobie's favorite person in the whole world)
Salute...First Class Rob Roy.


Love that Marine...


Hey, where was this guy...? Kam was already at church. He has to go in early because he is on Worship Team for Youth. So I'll just stick one in of him!! Can't leave out Captain Cold...


Mom, if you take one more picture.....!!!!!!!


Both of these...my two oldest....have dimples...OH Those Dimples!!! Wish Justin was showing his.

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck


Family Is Everything.

Rich Heritage...

Heritage:- Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition






Monday night we celebrated my dad's 76th birthday. Is it sometimes hard for you to think of your parents as "old people"? It is for me. I will turn 50 this year. I do not think of myself as old on any given day. So I guess by not thinking of my own Senior years creeping towards me, I also avoid thinking of my parents as elderly.

As the birthdays come and go, I briefly realize that time is flying. I wonder that my life has been blessed and covered with a heritage that is an awesome gift for me to ponder.

My parents raised me to live the Golden Rule. To put others first. To be considerate and mannerly...to be kind. To have respect for life, for others, for property, for self... a moral uprightness, so to speak.

But the greatest heritage they passed down was what they were taught by their parents. Belief in the God of the Bible. Our Heavenly Father. The gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ by His death and resurrection. And this is the greatest knowledge I can pass on to my children. As they take this faith, and walk in it, I know the day will come where it is not just "the faith they were taught", but will become their own "personal intimate faith." Walking in the truth - Acknowledging God's presence with them.

I am grateful to my mom and dad for the heritage they passed on. As my own leave the nest, I pray the blessed heritage continues. Generations before me spent a lifetime working to keep this going. I pray I have honored their lives by keeping the flame alive. I pray we have honored God by pressing it into our children with His hand of grace helping us. A lifetime of walking and talking with God. It is a heritage of the highest blessings. It is a journey. May my kids experience it and be blessed.

White Wednesday

Having fun with Kathleen over at Faded Charm.
Check out her post today, along with all her participants here:

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/



Remember the little chippy angel with the broken foot I shared on White Wednesday earlier? Well...he got himself a bonifide heavenly wing this past week. Now he can officially hover over Justin's shoulder. This is what I will look at every day when Justin goes to Afghanistan in March. It will be my reminder. And the wing just fit perfectly. I don't even notice the missing foot.



When a girl finds 2 pair of Pillow shams that look like the two above, and the price is 79 cents....what will she do? (this is not a trick question!) She will buy both pairs. Shams are great for layering over tablecloths, on chairs, gracing a sofa back, runners for small tables, toppers for shower curtains, layering for window toppers,hanging off of hutches, etc, etc! not to mention the obvious, beautiful pillows on a bed.


When a 15 year old little lamp breaks because the switch is worn out, and you can get another lamp cheaper at the thrift shop, than you can go buy a new electrical kit for the old one....what does a girl do with the base she loves?....Take all the electrical components off and use it for a pedestal to hold a little perfume bottle!!


When a gal wants a particular "wall-word" saying to grace her home, but the price for a custom one to be made does NOT fit her pocketbook, what is she to do???? Just get on a chair and do it herself...Yikes. It's not perfect, but then neither is this little Cape Cod cottage!..So I guess it fits. :-)

Freedom...It's a Beautiful Thing.

FREEDOM...

The quality or state of being free.
The absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.
Liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another.

America, a FREE country. This is my country. I wave the flag freely. It represents all that I love about America. Freedom. It is precious to those who don't take it for granted. It is even more precious to those who don't have it and long for it.

REFUGE...
a source of protection or shelter.

United States Marines...


Take note. War is not just about taking out the enemy who would suppress freedom. It is also about liberating the ones who live under the tyranny of oppression.

Our men and women go. They choose to go. They fight for what they believe in. They know the taste of freedom. They see the despair of those who don't have it. They defend our freedom at all costs. They attack all injustice that would seek to keep others from living in it.

These people are HEROES. Not just to us...but to others also.

Take a good look at the photo above that someone shared with us from halfway across the globe. This says it all.

Don't dishonor the ones who give their all for Freedom for others, simply because you don't like war. Nobody likes war. Support your military heroes. Pray for them.
Honor them when you see them in your daily activities. Thank them.

Freedom isn't free....and it isn't a given. It has to be defended.

God bless them. God protect them. God give them success.

All of them. And today...this mom says OOO-RAH. For all of you, especially those who carry Semper Fi in your hearts... I honor you. You are in my prayers.


God bring them ALL home safe.

*addend) Today is President's Day. Here are some quotes I am fond of from some awesome Presidents who served our country well.