Celebrating Twice!

Welcome!

One can never have too many celebrations, and this blog post will prove it!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated my husband Greg's birthday with our sister-in-law and her husband (Greg's brother) since Greg's and Betty's birthdays are just days apart.

We met them at a restaurant in Canton, North Carolina, "Southern Porch." We'd never before been there, and we loved it!

This unique restaurant used to be a hotel; it was named "The Imperial Hotel."

Come on in, y'all! The celebration is about to begin!

Inside, the decor is very attractive...

And the food is very tasty...

You can even BYOC. (Bring Your Own [birthday] Cake)

Betty and Mike brought this yummy one for Greg. (Thankfully, he shared!)

Betty got a gift, as well!

Photo by One of the Staff, Heidi 

We had a wonderful time, and we plan to return!

FYI
Southern Porch
117 Main Street
Canton, NC 28716
www.southern-porch.com

A few days ago, we had another great celebration, this time with my side of the family in East Tennessee at Bruce's ice cream parlor.

We all pitched in and brought food, etc.

Greg celebrated his birthday twice, this time with Nick and Julie.

They blew out all of the candles on the pretty cake! Guess their wishes will come true!

No birthday cake is complete without Bruce's ice cream sundaes! And this was a really good one!

There was no shortage of gifts here!

Nick always likes to get a group photo of everyone.

And here it is!

We'd just like to say that a good time was had by all!

Happy celebrating!

Happy Labor Day!

Positive thought: "Life should not only be lived, it should be celebrated."-Osho

Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, October 7, 2018, Becky

Time to Celebrate!

Although we're now in the month of September, I wanted to look back to last month, to August.

The month of August has no formal holidays here in the United States, but that doesn't mean that you can't take the time to celebrate during this month!

In fact, August is always a big month for Greg and me since both our wedding anniversary and Greg's birthday are in August. Each year, our celebrations are a little different; no two years are exactly alike.

This year, for our anniversary, we went to our favorite park for a romantic picnic...

and we exchanged gifts.

"Our wedding was many years ago. The celebration continues to this day."
-Gene Perret

Then came Greg's birthday...

We celebrated at home on his real birthday,

and at Puckett's Boat House in Franklin, Tennessee two days later.

The main part of the meal was super good...

as was the generous serving of free birthday dessert!

Next on the calendar was something very special for many of us to enjoy, the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse-

Although we had solar eclipse glasses, we decided just to keep them as souvenirs.

Instead, we made our own pinhole projector to view the eclipse-

Also, Greg noticed that we could see several eclipse shapes in this shadow of a plant on the sidewalk as the sun shone through the plant's leaves-

Finally, at the end of the month, I attended a birthday party for talented graphic designer and friend, Lynn.

A delightful luncheon was given for Lynn by her mother, Carole.

The food was simply gourmet,

and the meal was complete with a tasty birthday cake. (Guess what kind it was?)

"Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It's all about memories."
-Buddy Valastro

When I got back home, our Mitzi inspected take-home goodies from the party.

And, that's not all! Just because August is over, that sure doesn't mean that the celebrating is over.

In September, fall arrives in a few weeks; and, of course, there's Labor Day! Let the celebrations continue!

HAPPY LABOR DAY and HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

If you enjoy the paranormal, check out my other blog, "Spirit Photographs."

www.spiritphotographs.blogspot.com

For much more about the paranormal, be sure to check out my book, "Photographic Encounters of the Spirit Kind," available now, either in paperback or as a kindle download on Amazon.

http://amzn.to/2usXWIO

Positive thought: "Life should not only be lived, it should be celebrated."-Gene Perret
Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, October 8, 2017, Becky

Labor Day Thoughts

Welcome!

Hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend!

Labor Day, which is the first Monday in September, began in the late 1800's to celebrate the American labor movement.

For most of us, it's a time for picnics, barbecues, and time with family and friends. It's also a great time to shop for those Labor Day bargains. Labor Day is the traditional end of summer, just as Memorial Day is the traditional beginning of summer. (Wow! Where did this summer go? It seems like such a short while ago that we were celebrating Memorial Day!)

With Labor Day right here upon us, I started thinking about, well,...labor, all types of labor.

Greg labors at his job, and I labor with my businesses (art, photography, writing, and organizing.) For those that love the work they do, however, it's really more like play than work.

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
-Confucius

Also, when Greg and I are not "working," visiting, or going on trips, etc., we're mostly at home, doing projects around the house.

We do special projects, like-

remodeling a closet or...

organizing a shelf.

We also do our own chores, like-

mowing, which is good exercise, and it also saves us money.

Once a week, I take our garbage to the nearby dump which saves us around $300.00 a year. You don't realize how much you can save until you start adding it all up.

All of this talk of laboring, makes me think of the saying,

"The end of labor is to gain leisure."
-Aristotle

Great idea-

taking time out for a picnic in a favorite park.

Positive thought: Happy Labor Day!
Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, September 18, 2016, Becky

A Positive Mixture of Things

Welcome!

Today, I have a positive mixture of different things to share with you.  First of all, I'd like to continue with some more healthy ideas from Patricia, my friend from Tennessee, and some ideas I have incorporated into my life to make things more positive.*

The following is from an email Patricia sent me:
"To promote a healthy, tranquil environment, we think it is important to surround ourselves with nature.  We are completely dependent on the earth and the earth is dependent on us.  From the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, nature is our lifeline...Air is something we must have to stay alive, but in 2,014, the American Lung Association reported that nearly half of all Americans live in counties with unhealthy levels of pollution."  (She went on to say that "NASA did a study and found that houseplants actually clean toxins from our indoor air" and that some are better than others at doing this.  She also cautioned that some plants can be toxic to pets and that some children and adults could be allergic to specific plants.  Therefore, research, etc. would be valuable before obtaining any indoor plants.)

Patricia went on to say, "Scientific studies have proven that being connected with nature is vital to human health.  College students perform better on tests if their dorm rooms view green spaces.  Children with ADHD have fewer symptoms when allowed time in outdoor activities surrounded by trees, grass, and bushes.  Public housing complex residents have better family interactions if they live near trees.

We eventually suffer physical, psychological, and social breakdown if we live in unnatural environments.  It is good to integrate plants, flowers, or a bowl of fruit or vegetables into every room, making our home a more tranquil, beautiful and inviting place to live."

Well stated, Patricia!  Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful insights with us.

I don't know about you, the reader, but after all this talk about nature, Greg and I decided we'd go celebrate Labor Day (tomorrow) in a beautiful park.

Now, I'd like to mention a couple of things that have made a positive difference in my life.

One thing is a new website I discovered, and that is Nuts.com. (www.nuts.com)  They sell bulk nuts, dried fruit, snacks, etc. by the pound.  The item I ordered was of good quality, and it arrived in only a couple of days.  They have some organic and gluten-free products.  The people who own the company have a great sense of humor, and their clever packaging proves it!  I smile every time I look at the package I ordered.  Things like that make life so much more enjoyable.

Also, I tend to be the world's number one procrastinator on things I must do, but don't really want to do.  I should correct that and say that I used to be a procrastinator, because I now have something that motivates me to do things I should be doing, and I'm actually doing them.  How?  It's a simple idea, but it works for me.  I'm really impressed with the Home Depot ad on TV that shows a bucket with "LET'S DO THIS." on it, so I wrote the words down and put them in a prominent place that I see often.  It's a visual cue that puts and keeps me on track, and I love it!  Whatever works!

Please click on the link below to see our latest photos on iStock:
www.istockphoto.com

*Disclaimer: As always, I want to say that I am not a health expert.  The ideas, etc. presented on my blogs may be right for me, but I'm not responsible for the results of anything anyone tries as a result of reading my posts.

Positive thought: Have a happy Labor Day!
Thanks for visiting!  Until next Sunday (or before or after), Becky