A Personal Valentine Story

My husband (Michael) and I have been married for eleven years.

That is not many years for a couple of fifty-something year old people. We both had adult children and Michael had a grandchild when we married.

My son was thirteen years old at the time, what a lovely age for a new step parent...

I had been widowed for quite a few years and Michael had been divorced longer that he had been married.

Sounds so cut and dry --- doesn’t it ? ? ?

 

I just thought I’d throw a bit of background in here...but I assure you these last eleven years have been anything but cut and dry.

“Thoughtfully Blended Hearts” is the way we decided to approach our marriage.

We thought and planned on how we would blend our hearts and families.

Therefore Thoughtfully Blended Hearts became the name for this blog and

Living and Loving Intensely

became the perfect by-line.

 

One of the reasons our marriage has worked is because of  “the little things” ...

yes little things make up a great relationship. My favorite Valentine gift was one of those little things.

 

Michael was working in a large hospital about seventy miles from our home.

He was working long twelve hour days and the commute added more than two more hours to his daily job.

On one Valentine Day he stopped on his way to work to buy me some flowers since it would be too late to get them when he got off.

His next step was keeping the flowers for his entire twelve hour shift.

His solution was to ask a very sick lady if she would mind “watching” those flowers for his entire shift !!!

 

This older lady was so happy to have this task that she told everyone that came in her room

about how she was “keeping” Michael’s flowers on that Valentine Day...

 

I wouldn’t have cared if he had brought dead stems home to me...

it was just the fact that this simple task had given a very sick lady some joy and pleasure along with a sense of being needed by someone.

This is one of my very favorite “little” things that make me so proud of the man that I am married to!!! 

 

Happy Valentine to my “Sweetie”... I love You more than you’ll ever know!!!

 

 

Check out Mary’s Valentine Mosaic Monday Party @ Little Red House

 

The Simple Things

Playing With My Photography

I’ve been playing with my camera again…photographing “stuff”…

Good Morning Sunshine

 

Good Morning Sunshine!!! It’s so nice to have you around!!!

 

 

Please stay awhile!!!

It’s A Slizzard in Dixie!!!

 

I’m not a very patient person…

Feels good to get that off my chest…

I think I used to be patient, but I don’t want to waste time figuring it out!!!

I live in the MidSouth…and this is not funny!!!

I shot this from my front room…because I wasn’t about to go outside…

Yep, I just open the door and give the dogs a little push and then shut

the door till they start scratching to get back in…

I made one good decision when I built this house…steel doors!!!

 

These photos were made this morning…it hasn’t stopped snowing all day!!!

This is what our weatherman forecast as “flurries”….

The birds and squirrels have packed their bags and left…

looks like they could have asked me to go with them

 

What do you call a blizzard in the South??? …a slizzard???

 

“Slizzard In The South”…sounds like a country music song!!!

 

I could have cleaned house today…during the slizzard…but instead I kept my pj’s

on all day…with some of Michael’s thick white socks…don’t worry, I keep a

plentiful supply of Clorox for days like this…(for the socks)…and played…

My make-do placemat and table runner while I’m slizzarding in Dixie…

 

Slizzards bring really weird light…and I don’t really have room for this little table…

What do I do in a Slizzard and don’t have room for a Valentine Tablescape???

 

I fake a wall…with a couple pieces of big posterboard

…didn’t help the weird light though!!!

Moving fake walls are easy…

don’t look at the puppy pad on the right, Miss Zoe doesn’t like

getting her belly frozen…and all the stuff on the sofas (I cover my

slipcovers with paint tarps when it slizzards in the South)

…uuuhhhmmmm I layer slipcovers…

That’s all the excuses I’m makin…for now…

 

Test shot…my assistant was giving orders…woof, woof…

 

 

Bokeh is my newest, bestest bff…

 

Camera magic!!!

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

Susan has more fun stuff…Between Naps On The Porch

 

and this is what is going on in my gardens and yard Tootsie…

I’m pretty sure Tootsie won’t have an ounce of pity for us caught in the Slizzard!!!

My Heritage…Love

 

Kim Klassen Texture

This photo depicts my heritage, no, it doesn’t mean that I’m an exceptional baker or

homemaker---it stands for so much more than what the photo illustrates…

Strength

Love

Gentleness

Self-Worth

Forgiveness

It stands for all the things that my Mom and Grandmother stood for…

and it depicts the ways we have lived our lives…

steeped in a heritage

designed for surviving with love…

This is my “Table Top” photography studio this morning…

I’ll show you some shots…

 

…just as soon as I get through eating my breakfast/lunch brunch…

sorry I didn’t get a photo of my Diet Dr. Pepper…

 

My Mother and Grandmother were both excellent cooks…

no, I didn’t inherit that…

but that grilled cheese was wonderful and I did cook it!!!

 

I did inherit the love part though…

 

I’m very happy to say…

that my beautiful children…

well…

they inherited that love thing also!!!

So—I feel that I’ve done well with my heritage!!!

 

 

 

 

More texture fun from this site…