Life is lived forward, but understood backwards!

Good Morning!  TGIF ... my favorite day of the week.  I decided to share some of my favorite quotes about heritage with you today as well as my continuing adventures in Minnesota.  Enjoy!!

Looks like next Friday I will be heading back to the Lone Star State.  Lily is supposed to be ready next Thursday.  Boy (!) will I ever be glad to have her back.  The Jeep Liberty has been a good ride BUT I think I need longer legs to get into it.  I have to grab the steering wheel and pull myself up.  Not a pretty sight in a dress!  My SUV/truck days are behind me.  Rats!

Like branches on a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.~~Unknown

Last night I had dinner with my friend Elaine and two of her friends.  We ate at Wild Ridge ... food was great ... conversation even better.  Funny how the seasons of life dictate conversations.  As teenagers we talked about our latest heart throbs and school ... as young moms we talked about our kids ... as working professionals we talked business ... later on in life, conversation has turned to a multitude of topics covering a life time of seasons -- quite interesting ones I must say!  Since I can carry on a conversation with a door knob, I find all types of folks quite engaging.  I like to start a conversation then listen more than I talk.  That way, I really  learn more about people, who they REALLY are, and how I can enter their world to know them better.

We need to haunt the house of history and listen

anew to the ancestors' wisdom.
Maya Angelou

My granddaughter posted an "I am bored..." on Facebook.  I thought about that for a moment and realized that I am rarely bored.  I have realized that God has given me so many minutes in a day and I cherish every one of them.  I can read, watch a movie, make a phone call, volunteer, rearrange my home (I LOVE interior design!), cook/bake, write, visit someone ... the list goes on and on.  I prefer to have projects going, people to visit, and a forward thinking view of life.  Each breath I take, I am thankful to be alive!  I told my granddaughter she needed to come see me ... we could do life together!  I LOVE my granddaughter and spending time with her.  She's a free spirit just like me!!

All the flowers of all the tomorrows

are in the seeds of today.~~Unknown



Awww...Nancy & Roger 

I have offered to assist my sister in law around the house while I am here to "give back" to her for her wonderful hospitality.  I love to do laundry so it's not a chore!  I don't know how they manage keeping up the farm when they both have full time jobs (Nancy has two jobs!).  My legs are getting a work-out as the laundry room is in the basement and my hands are getting a warm soak as I do dishes (no dishwasher!).  I am thoroughly enjoying my complete change of pace from my life in Texas.  I like the kind of exercise I get here!

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

Ralph Waldo Emerson



Toby's coming out ... He loves to hide!

My husband called me this morning ... in fact, he woke me up...  I think my Texas family is really starting to miss me.  He's NOT a morning person so to hear his chipper voice took me back a little.  he he  He was getting Toby and Sadie ready to go to the groomers.  Since they've spent so much time at the little casa and we have no grass in the backyard, they roll in the dirt and get quite grungy!  Little rascals!  Sadie is still itching like crazy so she'll get a nice warm oatmeal treatment this morning.  They keep sending me photos so I remember what they look like and to remind me to come home...

"I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond.
And their eyes were my eyes."
Richard Llewellyn

I would like to encourage my Readers to take some time and find their own roots.  I know vacations to exciting destinations are refreshing but so is discovering where you came from wayyyy back.  The genes from our ancestors that have gone on before us are carried on from generation to generation and influence our interests, behaviors, and choices in life.  I am still sorting out the real name of my great great grandfather who came here from Norway.  People who immigrated to this country were free to change their names any way they wanted to and, yes, they did!!  Was he Knut Torjusson Helle or Torgus Besteland??  Could it be he was both!!  I wish I had my grandmother's Norwegian Bible ... I'll bet she had it all written down in there.  When my curiosity rears it's head, I'm like the dog who gets a hold on a pants leg ... I don't give up til I solve the issue at hand!!

Your descendants shall gather your fruits. Virgil

Lynda N, Elaine K, Pam H

When I was in college, I took a course in Philosophy.  It was the only college course that I got an A+ in.  I have found that I have always been a philosophical person ... like those before me, I have a voice.  I like deep conversations and am not really fond of surface stuff.  I like to look deep into someone's eyes and know their soul.  I like to know what makes people tick.  I laugh thinking about the morning that my friends Pam, Elaine, Lynda and I got together.  After a little while of chit chat, Pam broke the ice saying, "Can we get personal?"  Gotta love that lady!!  We had the most wonderful heart to heart talk about the roads we've traveled in life and where we hope to go...  We're different people with different backgrounds and we've walked different paths ... YET, we were one.  We were the same group of gals who made homemade pizza ... with hot dogs, ketchup, and olives!!

If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs. Mary McLeod Bethune

I've discovered a new treat while I've been here ... nutella (a hazelnut spread with skim milk and cocoa).  You know me ... when I discover a new food I like, I wear it out until I am sick of it.  I'm thinking this spread would be great on a bagel among other things...  If you're a chocolate lover you would like this product!

Well, I've managed to munch down a couple pieces of toast with nutella, had a cup of coffee and I'm set to take on my day.  I've done laundry between paragraphs (anyone else out there multi-task??) and the dishes are sparking clean in the dry sink.   I have a couple things I want to do this afternoon ... hmmmm ... you just never know what I am up to!!  I don't like to give away my plans 'cause sometimes life gets in the way and I have to take a detour!

In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair.
-- Auguste Napier

We all have a story to tell, a legacy to leave, and arms to embrace our fellow travelers.  We have voices to lift up to affirm and encourage those around us.  We have to be the person God created us to be for to be any other would be a travesty!!~~Miss Dottie

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ...
YA YOU!!