Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 168

click on photos to enlarge
1)
Fiery sunset...

2)
Tan Yur Can...Bedford

3)
Bike parking @ Duke University . Durham . NC

4)
Wilson Hughes Gallery . Roanoke

5)
The Color Purple . Explore Park . Roanoke

Linking up with Tom's Willy Nilly and:
Weekend Reflections
Skywatch Friday
Floral Friday

Have a great weekend :)

Purple Haze

click on photo to enlarge

Greenbrier East High School . Lewisburg . West Virginia

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to West Virginia for a football game and this was the sky during half time...it cast such a pretty glow everywhere which I wasn't able to pick up in the picture but it was pretty amazing...makes me think of these lyrics..."almost Heaven, West Virginia...Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River..." ok, try not to sing that for the rest of the day haha :)

By the way, we won, 45-26! Our boys are undefeated so far...2 games left!

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 116

click on photos to enlarge

1)

Blue Ridge Park...came here on Monday to walk the track...it was kind of cold!

2)

Glade Creek Baptist Church...this is the church that sits next to the cemetery I posted on Tuesday.

3)

Along 460...isn't this an oxymoron?

4)

Sunset this week from my deck.

5) I have been feeling like there's not time for anything lately! The boys have weight lifting at 7:45 in the morning for football so I drive them to that and come back home...I have to be back at school at 9:30 then I get off at 1-1:30...then the boys have track practice right after school so I have to go back and pick them up (rather than have them ride the bus) at 5:30 or 6, depending...My life has been chopped into small snippets of time...I'm drowning!

That's my 5 this week and I hope you will join in with us! Post 5 randoms, link back, visit others!! Thanks for playing along and have a great weekend!!



I'm linking with Photo Friday and Good Fences :)

A New Day

click on photos to enlarge

Yesterday was so fun working the polls! Ashlyn and I arrived at 4:45 AM (luckily the precinct we worked is only 5 minutes from the house!). There were 13 of us helping and we all brought food to share during the day like a potluck! Everything was so good! The polls opened at 6:00 AM and by 5:30 AM we had quite a large line waiting to get in!

I stood at the front door directing voters where to go while Ashlyn gave them their ballots and explained to them how to do it. She was so professional and clearly chose the right major (Political Science) as she really was good at it! We saw people we knew come in so it was fun visiting and even saw some new voters from school and also past students that I hadn't seen in a year of more! (I work PT at the high school)...Sweet elderly couples that came in helping each other out and watching them leave holding hands made my heart happy :) Everyone was really in a great mood no matter how long they had to wait!

When voting ended at 7:00 PM the doors were locked while the 2 people in charge got all the voting numbers crunched. We picked up and cleaned the kitchen and then were able to leave at about 8:30 or 9...It was a long day but time passed rather quickly and the people we worked with were a lot of fun! I would definitely do it again and I think I will be called upon as the guy in charge said I was definitely working the next one haha

On top of all that, the weather here was absolutely gorgeous! I was lucky to be at the front door getting all the sunshine!

Have a great day!

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 102

click on photos to enlarge

Things seen around my house this summer:

1)

Linking this up with Denise's Today's Flowers when it goes live...

2)

I get blessed with the best sunsets! Linking with SkyWatch Friday

3)

Heather: Horton! We've all got our own little clovers with worlds on them!
Jessica: Mine is called Jessica-Land and everyone worships Queen Jessica because Jessica is so beautiful!
Katie: In my world,everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows-and poop butterflies!
Horton Hears A Who!

4)

This sweet girl returned for a bite to eat...

5) THIS HOUSE was built by my 9th Great Grandfather...it's for sale...anyone have an extra $2,795,000.00 laying around collecting dust?

That's my 5 this week! I hope you will play along too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend :)

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 88

click on photo to enlarge

Sunset at Las Brisas Resort, Ixtapa, Mexico

Here we go!

1) If you didn't know, I'm back! For a brief update, Nick and I went to Ixtapa Mexico for a week. For a longer update, check Tuesday's post!

2) On the plane ride home I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2...Oh my gosh, it was hilarious. I had my ear buds in and I kept literally lol'ing. Nick kept looking over at me like I was cuckoo!

3) On Wednesday I went grocery shopping. I have had a sore throat since coming back home from Mexico but by the time I was finished shopping I was feeling really bad. Run down and my muscles were aching. I took a few Airborne tablets Wed/Thursday and am now starting to feel much better...still have a bit of a headache but hopefully that will be gone when I wake up in the morning.

4) Since I wasn't feeling well I made a pot of this Detox Soup ...it's really good...full of yummy veggies: carrots, celery, turnips, kale, tomatoes, cilantro, zucchini...it's one of my favorite soups!

5) On Tuesday I took the kids to see Finding Dory...it was so cute! We really liked it. Nick had rented Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot so we watched that later that night. That was also really good. It was based off a true story about a reporter, Kim Barker, who is bored with her life/career and decides to take an assignment in Afghanistan. Such courage!

Well that's my 5 this week, short and sweet! I've got to run off to bed and get some more rest so hopefully I can wake up and feel 100% again!

I hope you will play along too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend!

Skies After A Storm

click on photos to enlarge

With the days so hot it is not unusual for a thunderstorm to pop up in the afternoon...these were taken a few days back right after a storm...this is looking to the east from my deck towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along there hidden by all those trees!

There was a very light rainbow...can you see it? Is there anybody that does not get happy when you see a rainbow? No, I don't think so!

And now we look west. Taken at the same time as the others...amazing how different the sky can look!

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens today :)

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No 68

click on photos to enlarge

We are awaiting a big snowfall of historic proportions beginning on Friday morning! You couldn't tell from the weather on Thursday though!

1)

Woke up to this amazing sunrise....

2)

It was so pretty I had to take another picture...

3)

Went and did my prerequisite grocery shopping...look at those blue skies...

4)

And the bright, shiny sun!

5)

Christian and his buddy comtemplating life...or maybe just talking about girls & sports & food ;)

Now it's your turn...post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Thanks for linking and have a great weekend!!



I'm linking up with Cath's

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 53 - Sunset

click on photo to enlarge

From Colonial Baptist Church parking lot. Blue Ridge

Wednesday night, coming home from the boys' football game, this is what the sky looked like. I didn't edit this photo at all. Aren't those colors beautiful?! I apologize for the ugly power line but there was a church service going on and the parking lot was full and I didn't want to look like a weird stalker running around out in the parking lot in case they could all see me from a window...how embarrassing that would be! I couldn't take my eyes off the sky though!

So now for my randoms...I hope everyone is having a great week!

1) Seal Surfing on a Humpback Whale

2) Did you know otters can get asthma? And learn how to use an inhaler!


3) I just finished reading Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman...I enjoyed it. If you want to read it, I'll be happy to send it on to you...just let me know in the comments!

4) Last weekend I watched The Duchess on Netflix...it was really good...so very sad though...I did some serious crying towards the end.

5) Have you seen Pioneer Woman's dishes/cookware at WalMart? I'm not a big WM fan but I love her dishes...I really like the "Flea Market" stuff...you can see it HERE

Well that's it for me this week! Hope you will join in! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others!! Have a great weekend!

SkyWatch Friday & Willy Nilly Friday 5 Number 13

click on photo to enlarge

The boys had a football game on Monday in Salem at Spartan Field. It was a terrible game. We lost 35-0. If you live local you will already know why we lost, "it was Salem". Well at least we were blessed by THIS sky at the end of the game! Linking with SkyWatch Friday

I was reading some useless facts and thought they were pretty interesting so I'm gonna make them my Willy-Nilly post:

1) Johnny Appleseed planted apples so that people could use apple cider to make alcohol. (and here all this time I just thought he was a do-gooder, turns out he was just a lush!)

2) The most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in 1811 in New Madrid, Missouri. The quake shook more than one million square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away. (I actually learned about this when we lived in Missouri. Pretty wild!)

3) The Bible, the world’s best-selling book, is also the world’s most shoplifted book. (well that's ironic)

4) What is called a “French kiss” in the English speaking world is known as an “English kiss” in France. (ok Frenchies, is this true?!)

5) In Baltimore USA it is illegal to wash or scrub a sink regardless of how dirty it is. (and now I don't think I will be eating out in Baltimore! ewww)

Ok, now it's your turn! Post 5 random things about ANYTHING and come back here and link up. Visit other Willy-Nilly'ers and have fun!



Have a wonderful weekend :)

Random 5 Friday - Memorial Day

(click on photo to enlarge)
Taken from Botetourt Sports Complex

On my way home recently I noticed this super awesome sky event and had to pull into the sports complex to get a photo! I'm going to take the weekend off from bloggy land to do some family schtuff! Hope all you in the USofA have a super Memorial Day weekend and those from other lands have a wonderful weekend!

And now I leave you with my random-ness:

1) Memorial Day is a US federal holiday wherein the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces are remembered. The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the final Monday of May, was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

2) I really, REALLY dislike when people confuse Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. I called out a local newscaster on Facebook last year who posted a status something like "I would like to thank all the veterans who have served our country" on Memorial Day. I explained that this was Memorial Day and for our fallen and there is an actual holiday for ALL veterans called Veteran's Day. She replied, quite snottily that she prefers to thank everyone. I don't think she knew. I still hold that against her. Her initials are JJ from WDBJ7...just sayin....I'm married to a vet and the daughter of a vet...I never confuse the 2 holidays and I think it is disrespectful to do so.

3) Wow, reading number 2, I am quite judgmental...I am...I know it. Sorry...

4) The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War. A claim was made in 1906 that the first Civil War soldier's grave ever decorated was in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861, implying the first Memorial Day occurred there. Though not for Union soldiers, there is authentic documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia, decorated Confederate soldiers' graves in 1862. In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers' graves on July 4, 1864. As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.

5) "As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation's wars."
John M. McHugh

Be safe and I'll see ya on Tuesday!