Winter Wonderland from Northern Kentucky

All you need is the plan, the road map and the courage to press on to your destination.

                                                                                           -Earl Nightingale

 The following photos are were taken from a SHORT trip to Northern Kentucky.  The snow was quite a blessing as it provided the perfect amount of sparkle to create the most beautiful winter scenes.   



I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.  ~George Washington Carver







Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning








To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life.  ~John Burroughs




And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.  ~William Shakespeare



Nature is too thin a screen: the glory of the omnipresent God burst through everywhere.
                                              -Ralph Waldo Emerson



I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.  ~e.e. cummings



Pajamas and Flashing Lights Don't Mix

     It is very evident to me that I am NOT to wear pajama's outside of the home.  Now, I am not implying that I would  EVER wear them to a store, or a public place. (Note: I have seen people in places wearing pajamas....gag!!!)   I have personally found that even in the privacy of my own vehicle,  wearing pajamas is the ultimate faux pas!  I am not quite sure why others can get away with it, but the ONLY  TWO times, I have worn my stylish pj's in my vehicle, I have drawn a crowd to the scene.  Not good.  I can imagine what you may be thinking now.  Go ahead think it, it is true.  It was UGLY. 

  It leads me to wonder when I have tried to sneak out wearing my pajamas did someone place a  huge beacon on my vehicle?  Other people get away with it!!!!   I realize pajamas were invented to wear indoors and to be slept in.  However, there have been times, when an emergency CAN arise and you are wearing these soft, snuggling, and warm two pieced outfit and there is just no time to change clothes especially when you know you wont be getting out of the car. Did I mention I was only going to be travelling five minutes away???

    Well after this morning, the second and final episode of my pajama runs were put to a halt.  I no longer wish to see flashing lights behind me beckoning me to stop while people come outside  from their warm  houses to check the situations out.  No, I am finished with living the  dangerous life and have decided to keep my pajamas inside my home.  I can say one thing, "Thank God I dropped the kids off first!"

Ugly Sweaters-Spirit Day SHOCKER...

     Tonight I had to come to the realization that my daughter and her friends think my clothing tastes are out of style.  "Wha..what?" I thought to myself.  I actually stumbled upon this heart breaking moment when these  six or seven teenage hipsters were posing in their "ugly sweaters" for spirit day at our house after school.  One of these precious girls forgot her "ugly sweater" (which I am now thinking, these girls picked their sweaters from their mother's closets???)  and my lovely, kind, and oh so  sensitive daughter piped up and offered her one of mine! What? GASP?? I thought I took all of my ugly sweaters to goodwill years ago....????  I don"t have any ugly sweaters?

   "I have the perfect one for you," she said.  My daughter bebops down the stairs with a very expensive Michael Simon sweater.  Michael Simon is a famous designer.  Of course, these girls have probably  NEVER heard of Michael Simon.  His sweaters run well over a $100.00 a sweater.  Actually, anything Michael Simon puts his name on sells for a bundle.  He is known for his creativity and artsy whimsical designs. These girls need to appreciate a good artist when they see one. 

     Now I have worn this sweater to the grocery store and mind you, have received dozens of compliments.  Were these girls loopy?  There was nothing wrong with the sweater!!!!  Colorful? Yes, but in a good way.  Ugly? No!  Was the sweater torn or ripped? No.  Okay, do I think an "upper" senior citizen would wear this sweater?  I would have to answer, No!!  So it wasn't cruise wear!

    Then I started to think about the whole entire situation in an entirely different angle.  Other adults as well as teenagers  make fun of  adults who they try to "dress" like a teenagers.   So either way, as a mother of a teenager, you are "burned at the stake" no matter how you dress! 

    I decided to address the situation and tell the girl that had worn my sweater that she had superior taste in choosing my sweater. Seriously, to wear a sweater like the one she did, definitely showed, intelligence and a fine love for boutique wear!   Silence and a little bit of smirking surfaced among the girls.  I giggled too.  How could I not.  Bless their hearts.  They truly think fashion is a pair of ripped up jeans and a thin low t-shirt.

    As I walked away, I thought to myself, "oh my, I have seriously matured beyond that young girl that  I feel still exists inside of me."  Please take notice, I said matured and not aged.