I love IG..Insta Gram!!!

Merry Christmas....................

Do you feel like the Barbie at the end of "Toy Story 3..."are we done yet?  is everybody gone?...Geeze..my cheeks are killing me..."

Is this you??  All the shopping all the running all the visiting...you just need a brake.

From Thanksgiving until today....I have been on full power. The four kids and the parties and the running.

Now I love every second of it....but I forget some of it ya know???  

That is why I love love love IG....

I have taken more pictures of sweet moments this past season and I am so thankful because today I was able to sit back and look at this busy blessed season and  remember....

Merry Christmas....to all !!!!   come and see me at joanniedoors on IG...so much fun...

Smooches!!

Freedom...

There is a great deal to be said of this last election. 

 But whether your guy won or lost doesn't matter for the purpose of this post. 

 What matters is the process that we took part in.  

The process of choosing. 

 On the days, weeks..leading up to the election we all had the right to choose how to show our support for our values and beliefs.

  Some choose to toss their opponent under the bus...but that too is another post.

  

We had the opportunity to exercise the muscles of democracy. 

 We all had the freedom to think for ourselves and act accordingly.

  

 Simple.....freedom.

But we know that freedom came at a great cost.

We took the family to Washington DC over Thanksgiving weekend.

We walked the National Mall and took in all the sights.

This never gets old to me. 

 I remember going to DC as a child and The Lincoln Memorial steps , though an easier climb still leave me breathless. 
 I hope one day when I am very old they still take my breath away.

My kids are older now and much much wiser.  They know how to connect the dots.

  My William is 13 and the memorials hit him hard.  
He cried openly as he experienced the WWII memorial.

My hubby is fiercely God and Country and he too was overwhelmed by the sacrifices.

It was an extraordinary family trip.  One that left me with the question on freedom....

The fact that many people on our planet do not have freedoms that we take for granted.  

The freedom to think and act as we wish.  The freedom to open our minds and our hearts...

My father in love..(law), but I adore him..so love is more fitting...sent this to me and it was heavenly timing....

“The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default-setting, the “rat race” — the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.” commencement speech by David Foster Wallace given in 2005 (complete read is about 15-minutes – it’s one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever read). In it he said…

Did you get all that????

Holy Cow!!!

At times being a mom..a parent seems like "Groundhog day,". The endless discipline.  The hearing your voice repeat the same stuff over and over.  The tasks that are the same and never ending......this isn't sexy...this is important...this takes great effort...this is self sacrifice...and we choose to do it every single day...without pay...without rest..because we choose to.

I know this is a twist on freedom....

But it makes so much sense to me.


 
God has given each of us the opportunity to choose.  We are innately free to do His will.  To serve others and to care for other people in our own lives in our own homes.

Loving you!!!!!

The month of October is alway full of busy busy bussell bussell around my house.

It is the beginning of six months of birthdays.  My dad, brother and oldest girl are all in October and of course there is Halloween.  We just love Halloween.

What I don't love is the weather.  As you know I was born and raised in Michigan.  I played and worked and ran and went to school in the freezing weather.  It was cold but it didnt bother me too much.  But then I went south for Spring Break and ohhhh man.....the flowers in February sold me.  I was going to be a southern bell and lucky me happen to find my hubby at Michigan State who happen to be heading to Atlanta....LUCKY DAY!!

What I do like about moving farther north is the fact that I get to wear great clothes.  Sweaters, long dusters, and boots....I LOVE BOOTS!!  So it is a trade off.  Now dont  judge me when you see photos of me in full layers and it is 50 degrees....that is WINTER ladies...in my book.

And what else happens in October....you got it ladies..Breast Cancer awareness month.  Now settle in cause there is a story comin...and it is funny and scary all wrapped up in one.

When I was in my early 20's I had a scare.  The annual girl doctor visit did not go well and I needed to get an ultra sound and a mammogram.  This is not something you think about in your 20's.  It isn't even on the radar.  I was living in Atlanta, Georgia and didn't have my mom to lean on.  

Now here's the thing.  No one likes to go to get a breast exam..partially if  it is not routine.  But no one tells you the details.  OMG!!  ladies!!  LADIES LADIES!!  Tell the young ones what to expect......

HOLY COW....it hurts!  This is not to deter....NO WAY!!.... It is just fact....if you are in the itty bitty club like me....MAN! They are going to find tissue and I mean from your collar bone to get a good scan.  Your eyes will water and you will hold your breath.....and see stars.

I would like to report that after four kids this fact has not changed not a little itty bitty bit.  Still scary..still like being run over by a truck with the tread marks to prove it...but this time...I got a flower and chocolate....

Now these treats were not lost on my sick humor...cause it kinda reminded me of an old boyfriend....

Truth is.....sometimes..love hurts...but dont skip your annual exam....love yourself...I sure do.

BLessings!

Sold!! To the Cougar in the cowboy boots....

As promise my sweet friends....I am going to make your mouth water!

It was a crazy morning.  Nicholas was just starting to make it through the school day without needing me and I had already run errands.  It was only 9:30 and my girls had told me about an auction that they wanted to check out.

I swung by and picked them up and we were on our way in the White Rhino, thats my trucks name.

My copilot, Annette has the best way to travel, county roads...the smaller the better.  Off the beaten path.  We laughed so hard at all the names of the roads around here.  I will be naming my next child 

"Chula"....just sayin. 

The bidding started at 10:00 so we were a tad late.
  It was the coolest, funnest auction ever.  Have you ever been tailgating??  Of course you have!!
 I am from Michigan Sate University so ...YES...love to tailgate.
 This was a tailgating auction minus the keg.
Those selling pulled their trucks into a large circle with the tailgates down and unloaded the big stuff.  The caller rode in the back of a four wheeler and moved around the circle.

I was scoping out the boxes full of old jars and bitters bottles.  Little did I know that some of the really old guys were scopin out me.....lol
 See....I have a problem with bling.   You know it...you've seen it.  I over dress ....all the time.  So when I got dressed in the morning knowing I was heading to the country for a field auction....what else do you wear...but..cowboy boots and cut offs.....  Not tacky short short..please I am too old for that garbage...just cute.  Back to the bitters bottles.

I wanted those bottles bad....they were in horrid shape but they were cool.  I played it smart and did not return to the box..just walked past casually and never touched the box.  That is a rule....never touch a lot that you really want...dead give away.  Look at everything around it but never right at it.

BIdding started......$7.oo chanted Tom.....I stayed quiet...about killed me but ..nope..not a word.  And my dream came true...I wanted to see if I had any competition for them.....not a sound.  So I yelled $5.00......and 

"SOLD!! to number 161 the cougar in the cowboy boots."

THere were about 20 old bottles in that box and they were dirty.  Like buried for years out back somewhere kind of dirty.  This picture was taken after being soaked, sprayed and run through the dishwasher a few times......

These three are my favorites....they have cork tops and are super heavy.

THere were about 8 soda bottles.  Three are Pepsi ones and are super collectable and the rest are local soda companies from the 30's.  By local I mean that back in the day, the big three had bottlers all over.  Coke , Pepsi and Mt. Dew...the little guys in Lynchburg VA...bottled their own stuff called PAL.  This heart bottle is a PAL soda bottle.  It was fun learning about the jars and bottles.  It makes me happy to have saved them and now they decorate my home.  Well..the clean ones do....lol

Estate jewelry fantasticalness.

It is that time of year!  The air is crisp and the leaves are changing.

Football season is in full swing and with that comes Homecoming!!

I loved Homecoming.  It was a chance to dress up and celebrate.  I still love it and all that comes with it.

Shopping with my girl for the amazing unusual dress.  Because my Shelby cant have any old thing.  It has to be EPIC.

My girl is so much like me.  We love to mix up styles.  We have determined that our style is juxtaposition.

Mixing the old with the new.  The soft with the edgy.  So when I am at auctions I am always confusing the  caller.  A rusty gas can and estate jewelry........"what?" 

 Yes!!!!

Love it!!

So before these necklaces hit my etsy store I wanted to show them to you.

$12.00 first buyer gets first pick and the bracelet free.

As I am posting this I am trying very hard not to just keep this one......MAGNIFICENT!

Not to knock the mall, but this is the stuff you played with in your grandmother's bedroom when no one could find you.....princess wear!

This is a choker....kinda sexy ladies...maybe not for the teen, but for a little surprise for the honey.....just sayin........meow!

This one too....choker .....might be using this one...lol

Very elegant.......

I will have these listed in the next couple days at my store.  If you are local I can bring it by.  If you need detailed measurement send me a note.  The clasp is a claw and hook on all of them, so they will adjust to any comfortable length.

I guess I should take them off now......

Who invited YOU!!!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 

Proverbs 3: 5-8

Doubt...negative self talk..insecurities...fear...anxiety.....

 You are not and have never been invited to the party.

 I have four amazing children.  They are each very very different.  I have to say I am a hard mom.  I do not give my kids a lot of slack and I do not ask twice...ever.  (remind me to tell you about airsoft guns)

We home schooled the kids until we moved here to Virginia.  I loved it.  They loved it.  We had so much fun exploring and learning and growing in our faith.

But, when we moved there was a lot going on and we decided to try out public school.  This is when the D word comes in. (doubt) Being in a principals office with your four kids and saying...HI The Bates kids are here.....and getting the stares and murmurs about home schooling and not having the "right testing".  I left that day in tears.

"How could I be doing this?"  "How could I be sending my kids to school?"  "What am I thinking?"
What a mess.  But I knew we had to give this a try.  I knew that I had educated my children.  They were each behaved, well spoken, respectful kids.  They each understood exactly what was expected of them and they most importantly are fun kids.  Really cool kids.


This post could go on and on.  There is so much joy and heart ache in making such a huge transition.

 But today we are talking about the D word.  That overwhelming toss you to the curb doubt that I felt as I stood in that administrators office.  It was heavy it was dark and it was evil.





























It wanted to steal everything we as a family stood for.  It want to take my Faith.  It wanted to shake the bananas out of my foundation.  It wanted to hurt me and it wanted me to give up.

So ya know what we did .

We showed up.

I stayed on the administration.  I went higher when I had to.  I brought Moon Bear with me...my hubby to every meeting.  We stood together on our foundation of God, and family and we never wavered.

I was not a popular girl.  I was talked about.  I was ..I am sure very interesting conversation for awhile.

I was and still am an expert on my children's education and I made demands.

My kids did not understand the system.  There was a learning curve and after a couple of weeks they were getting the hang of it.  They had to take very remedial test and work their way up to where the classes were.  This took time but I knew my kids.

After the first year three were moved to honors and my guy that was LD (the schools like to put kids who have aspergers in LD) he was moved to honors as well.  From LD to honors.


THATS WHAT I AM TALKIN ABOUT!!!  

Sooooo.....whenever the D word knocks..remember..it wasn't invited to the PARTY!!!