A White Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.

So it may be a day late, but it's still as heart-felt. Christmas morning was full of surprises for the Grishams. First, we wake up to a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Yippee! Second, Santa Claus visited our house and delivered tons of beautifully decorated (hem-hem) packages. :) Guess I shouldn't brag, considering I didn't get a picture of the really pretty ones. Third, Doug surprised me again with another antique locket. This one has a wicked sort of look to it. There is an eagle trying to catch 'something' and it has three sapphires on it. Oh my goodness do I ever love it. And the fourth and biggest surprises of the morning was the hot water heater had quit working. "Hey Santa. Come back!"

Devony and Clay are so good about playing along with the 'Santa thing' for their mothers sake. I tell them every year, "You don't believe, you wont receive." However, Clay occasionally will roll his eyes when I say that, look at his sister, and say in the most disgusted voice ever, "Oh great, here she goes again." But deep down inside, I know he really loves that I demand we all believe in Santa Claus. And they must have been on the Good List this year, because every gift came from Ole St. Nick.

Merry Christmas everyone. And remember to Shine.

The Locket

When I pulled into the driveway last Wed. evening, Doug was waiting for me at the door. I knew something was up. As I walked through the door, this is what Doug started telling me. "Angel, I was playing with the dogs earlier today and they got a little wild. Wiz was running through the house so fast that he ran into the Christmas tree. I barely caught it before it fell all the way down. I tried to put all the ornaments back on the way you had it, but I know how you are about the tree. You might want to come in here and take a look at it and see if it's OK." He's telling me this as we are walking through the house to the living room. And all the while I'm thinking, "Why is the house so dark?" and "If he had been 'fixing the tree' for me why are the tree lights not on?'

So I went over to the tree, turned the lights on, stood back, looked it over for a moment and said, "Doug it looks fine. You did a really good job. I can't even tell anything was ever messed up. It all seems...."

And then I saw it. Hanging on a branch and blending in so well with the other ornaments (that I almost missed it) was a gold locket. My hands flew to my mouth and I was just, well...speechless. I just couldn't believe it. Doug knew how much I've been wanting an antique locket, and there in front of me was the most perfect one I had ever seen.

Once I got over my initial shock, I picked it up and opened it. Inside he had even wrote me a little love note. it was on a post-it note which I thought, coming from Doug, was priceless Well, let me tell you, that 'post-it note' pushed me over the edge. I still couldn't speak. But I had no trouble bursting into tears. Honestly, I truly could not speak. All I could do was hug him and cry.

Doug being so thoughtful to find me something that I had really been wanting was sweet enough. But the way he 'presented it' meant more to me than the gift itself.

Maybe it has to do with age. Maybe it has to do to with the fact that we've been together for 18yrs. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we have a deeper love and respect for each other that only comes from time together. Maybe I don't really care-Doug has become 'quite the romantic fool'

I am a lucky girl.

Have a beautiful day. And remember to Shine. As bright as my locket!

SWEET SWEET 16

Oh, what a night!

For the past 6 months I've been planning this party. Considering it was going to be Devs Sweet 16, I wanted to do something really special, and I knew that was going to take "a little more planning than usual".

-30 invitations. Check!

-Karaoke machine. Check!

-Disco Ball. Check!

-Strobe light. Check!

-Photo prop. (see above) Check!

-3 layer Birthday Cake. Check!

-Party decorations out the ying-yang. Check!

-Tiara, wait...WHAT! OK, whatever. Check!

-6ft. Party Sub. Check!

-10 2 liters of soda to wash that 6 foot party sub down. Check!

-Snacks. Oh, I know what your thinking, but trust me, teen girls eat a LOT!!!

Particularly, one certain little BFF.

-Candy Bar. Check! As if cake wasn't enough sugar to get-em-goin. Heck, lets throw in several

varieties of candy to eat too!

-Thank you cards. Check!

-Somehow manage to scrape together enough change after all this to possibly get her a gift. Check!

-Wha-laa! One Sweet 16 necklace. (it's so adorable. it has these cute little charms on it)

And after allllll that, I'm happy to report that it was a complete success! It was a success because

JOY and SPIRIT was in an over-abundance that evening.

There was a lot to do to get ready for the party that day and thankfully a few teens (Tyler, Tearra, John and Paige) came early to help us. If it had not been for the extra help, I'm really not sure Dev, Clay, Doug and myself would have been able to have everything ready in time. We did a lot of decorating. Inside and out! I even did the cake! I was a little nervous about it, but it turn out really good. It almost toppled over once......"Nobody move, or, breathe!" I whispered.

Devony has such great girlfriends. I truly and honestly think the world of these girls. Most of them I've known for years from school or church. But there were several that I met for the first time Sat. night and I was equally impressed with them. They are really good, fun girls.

The best part of the evening was when my little girl turned to me, took me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Mom, thank you sooooo much for doing all this for me. I love it! It's the best Sweet 16 party EVER!" Then finished that precious little moment with a hug that was so filled with love and appreciation, that it brought me to tears. (i'm an emotional soul anyway, so that's not that hard to do)

Sweet 16. Oh, what a night! Oh, what a bright night. Cause those girls were Shine-ing!

Have a joy-filled day.

Barn Swings...A Leap of Faith

Fun, crazy, slightly INSANE are all appropriate words I would use to describe my emotions Saturday evening as I leaped from the security of the boarding platform of the beginners barn swing in Ozark, MO. ( I promise you no pictures will ever surface of that event.)

Fun, crazy and even more INSAN-ER are the words I was thinking to myself as one by one, actually it was three by three, the teens from church jumped 'with glee' from the biggest, tallest and somewhat unstable looking (this description coming from someone who is afraid of that sort of thing) barn swing. And they did it over-and-over-and-over again! My daughter Devony being the ring leader of course! No fear insight...

...except from me. I made it halfway up the stairs of that bad boy and had to turn around and go back down. The workers were kind, but less than impressed, considering all the time it takes to get you appropriately strapped in and ready for the jump from "The Beast".

After we (they) were done with the swings we had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Not only did I swing from one of the swings for the first time, but I also had my first Smore. No..seriously! And it will not be my last one, I assure you.

This was my first visit to Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball( 417-443-6600). Even though I was a scaredy-cat, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Saturday night was a lot of fun.

We definitely had our Shine on.

Is It Wrong?...

..to eat most of my children's Halloween candy while their at school?

..to obsessively read random blogs?

..to stare out the window cause it is ANOTHER beautiful blue sky sunny day? (November is definitely starting out better than October)

..to already be wondering "What day am I going to put up my christmas tree?"

..to look at the laundry overflowing the hampers..then decide to look out the window at the beautiful blue sky sunny day instead??

..;)

..HA! I didn't think so either.

We are so blessed. Life is soooo good. Make today a wonderful day. And remember to shine!

1 Fish, 2 Fish, 3 Fish...Layed Off Fish?

Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 was the annual Grisham Fish Fry. Which one you say..3rd annual?.. 4th annual...5th annual?..lol, I don't know, I forget.

For a few years now we have been hosting this little event. And some years it 'wasn't so little'. This year was just right. Not only because of the guests, but the weather was perfect too. Almost everyone that showed up talked about how "it was pouring" at their house when they left. Thankfully, it never rain a drop here.

What started out as a get-to-gether for Doug and the guys from Roadway has turned into a free-for-all. Family, Friends, Neighbors..whoever, is invited. Which is a good thing in my book. "How would you like to be stuck out here with nothing but a bunch of boasting, back-slapping, 'pull my finger. huh huh' teamsters?" No, really Doug is very lucky to have tons of good friends, who are always welcome at our home. It's always a pleasure to see them, and have a chance to catch up with them and their families. And in many cases that's the only time we get to see them.It's also been good for morale to establish friendships that go beyond the walls of the workplace. Especially for a workplace that's (union) :(

However, this year those teamsters haven't seen much of the walls inside Roadway. Many of them have been layed off since March, my husband included. We were kind of afraid that this years Fish Fry would consist of 'Fish Sticks'. But thanks to Doug Purmas fishing expertise and a box of fish (that we purchased), the day was saved.

We had such a good time. The food was wonderful (thank you Doug Purma and his brother Greg for doing all the cooking, as usual) and the friends and family were wonderful too. We hung out with people we have known for years along with new people we have recently met. Jokes and stories were told again...and again. lol. And the bonfire was the biggest its ever been. Thank goodness Doug didn't try to jump it. Yes, I'm speaking from experience. The only downfall of the evening was that "Buck" was not able to make it to this years event. Oh well, there is always next year.

As I said, "This year was juuuust right!" :)

Have a wonderful day and remember to Shine!

This Old House

Built in 1897, this old house has stood the test of time. It's witnessed the turn into two new centuries, depression, recession, two world wars, made it through the remodeling of the 50's, survived the neon 80's and to much surprise of many saw that the world didn't stop at 12:01, Jan. 2000.

Now, if it can just survive me.

Purchased 4 1/2 yrs ago, we vowed to take it back to its glory days. That means tearing out blue shag carpet, taking down white vinyl siding and vinyl mini blinds (perhaps I'm wrong but I don't ever recall seeing vinyl mini blinds in any of the historical homes I've ever been in) like I said, "could be wrong", removing the metal sink/cabinet combo, removing 'Pergo-like' wood flooring and anything else that resembles a 'Home Depot' look.

It's a little something we like to call re-store, not remodel. Restore...remodel, restore...remodel, two very different things.

Now having said alllll that, historians/re-storers/preservationists enthusiasts hold your earists...(I'm going to say this fast and in a whisper) I've decided to paint the hardwood floor in the dining room. :(

I know..I know, what is wrong with me! How could I do something like this! There's no painting of 100+yr old pine floors. Well, let me tell you. When I, lol, we, lol, ok just Doug, ripped up the carpet in the dining room we found that the floors had already been painted and even worse, had glue all over that. You know, the kind of glue that's used to apply gymnasium flooring. Mmm Hmmm. That's what we found. God-Only-Knows what these people were doing to need that kind of adhesive. And let me tell you, it's not been fun (for Doug) :) removing what little we've been able to remove.

So let the painting begin. A paint color that has been approved by the National Historical Society of Preservation. Seriously, check it out for yourself. We got it at 'Home Depot'. LOL