Beachy Keene or Beachy Keen?

A photo collage of our family this past September. I apologize to my sweet John that you're not included in this collage--you were the main photographer that day! :)

Oh, and the beachy "keene" reference? Of course, that's because mom and dad live in Keene! :) I do love me a play on words...

Enjoy!

Tricia

Nature and more nature!

I went to my favorite nature trail last weekend and decided to take some pictures. (Thanks, Hannah, for reminding me to take the camera!)

Anyway, I had a nice time. It was still hot out, but I was determined to enjoy some pretty scenery anyway. I saw Mr. Snake and, gulping down my reptile phobia, got pretty close to take a picture of him. Maybe six inches away? Of course, the fact that he was pretty small was the ONLY reason I was able to get close. He didn't move, for which I was very grateful! :)

But I mostly thought the sunflower turned out so pretty, I just had to share. And of course, had to make a simple collage just for fun.

Everything is SOOOO incredibly dry here in Texas. We are desperate for rain! But I try to see the beauty everywhere I go, wet or dry.

Enjoy life!

All for now,
Tricia

Pool time

Hadn't done a photo collage in a while... thought it was time to share some pretty pix. And yes, I took them while in the pool myself. I held verrrrry steady, you can imagine! Our camera is not waterproof. Also, tried not to notice John's look of consternation at me having the camera in the pool--I'm not sure I could have kept quiet and not said "be careful" a thousand times if he did it instead of me! ha!

School starts a week from now. Poor Hannah, I think this is the first year she's not as thrilled to start as in times past. She feels torn, because she's excited to see her friends again, but doesn't want to start up with schoolwork (she's a normal, red-blooded American tween, for sure!) ha! But also, she wishes she had some girlfriends who weren't so much into the "clique" thing, or drama queens. They're definitely not as bad as so many out there, but Hannah recently said that all she wants in life is " a true friend." She's absolutely fine with her friends all playing with each other. What she doesn't like is when her current friends are nice some days, but then not-so-nice, or even snide, other days. So that's on our prayer list. I believe God hears even the smallest prayers.

All for now,
Tricia

Dear Diary

Our guinea pig, Jacky, lives the good life. He has it made. He eats all he wants, runs around, pops and jumps and squeals and generally has an all-round good time. He has been photographed reading, sleeping (note the pillow and blanket), listening to music, and much, much more.

All in all, it's GOOD to be a pig.

All for now,

Tricia

Ho Ho Hannah

I'm so glad Hannah still likes to mug for the camera. Decided to turn these jewels into a collage for all to see. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz. The last two days have been horrible, crummy days, (car is back in the shop for more, thankfully minor, repairs until tomorrow), but I'm trying to maintain my sanity.

Creating collages with silly pictures of my girlie seemed the best way to do that. Notice "exercisin' Santa" on the second photo. What a doll!

All for now,
Tricia

Love is in the air collage

I've been missing playing with photos (while my computer was in the shop), so I decided it was time to create a new photo collage. For fun, I included the original photograph for you to compare with the finished collage.

I took the original shot after Hannah had spent the day at her school's fall fair, where she had her hair dyed with temporary pink and blue highlights! And the little stuffed chick is a beanie baby she won at the fair. (Notice the big "kiss" on her cheek. She made her daddy's heart stop a moment when she gleefully announced that a "big boy" had kissed her!) That was one happy girlie!

Enjoy!

From this:

To this:

Helicopters, hiking and Hannah

Well, we've certainly had quite a week. It started out with a bang on Labor Day. John and I took Hannah to Cleburne State Park to go hiking, complete with picnic and walking sticks. We ate our suppers right down at the lake, which was gorgeous. There was a light breeze and the heat of the day had disappeared, leaving us with the usual warm, muggy September evening temperatures. We laughed at Hannah as she kept her eye out for coyotes, armadillo, deer, bunnies--ANY kind of wildlife would have made her happy. Alas, we were alone except for the two-wheeled type (cyclists! ha!). But we had a great time anyway and Hannah was optimistic that we'd see some animals the next time!

The next day, Hannah came home really sick, with 104.0 degrees temp. She had chills and vomiting and was just one sick puppy. Poor baby, the temperature climbed to 104.7. We watched it very carefully, gave her ibuprofen and were ready to take her to the ER if need be. But thankfully her fever went down and we all breathed a sigh of relief. John and I washed and washed and WASHED our hands and so far, we've not gotten sick (as we cross our fingers). Surprisingly, Hannah was only out of school one day and by the middle of that day, her temp was normal.

So where do the helicopters come in? I'm glad you asked! DFW had a tremendous amount of rain in a short period of time, which produced flash flooding. While I was napping, John and Hannah heard a helicopter and looked out the window to see THREE of them, hovering across the street. Turns out all of the residents were having to evacuate and be rescued from their homes--the water rose that fast! The news channels covered the story and poor mom had to watch all of that, wondering how we were. She only called my cell, which was turned off while I blissfully slept (sorry, mom!); guess she didn't think we'd be home to answer our phone.

Anyway, our residence is a lot higher in elevation than those across the street, for which we were so grateful! Besides, with Hannah being sick, it would have been a nightmare to try to run out and go somewhere (and lose all our belongings as well!).

So ... a bit of excitement in the Williams household this week.

All for now,

Tricia

I never promised you a...

Hannah and I spent some fun time together painting with watercolors this afternoon. Then John got the idea for us to go out to eat (a rarity for the Williams' family). We were thinking of Olive Garden or On the Border, but I got the brilliant idea to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Hannah was beside herself! I have to admit, it's been years since we'd been there with my niece and nephew!

Anyway, first came the large mushroom pizza, and then fun and games! Air hockey, Daytona racing, basketball, etc. You name it, we played it! That was one happy girl!

All for now,
Tricia

Dream, daughter, dream

I pray for the sweetest dreams for you, my precious daughter. I love you dearly.

Happy Father's Day a little early

Here's a little taste of the family photos we took in the beautiful Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Be sure to read the poem I wrote dedicated to a wonderful father. This one's for you, John!

All for now,
Tricia

Looking at me??

This is just a fun one I made of John and Hannah. They love being silly!

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Hannah and I had a wonderful time at the zoo on Easter. Her class went on an overnight trip to SeaWorld last week and John and I decided we didn't want to send Hannah on that trip. So I took Hannah to the zoo as a "consolation prize." We had a blast!

Because we were doing this all on the cheap, daddy simply dropped us off, so we only paid for the girls' tickets and no parking. We heard the lion roaring from pretty far away. We exchanged embarrassed smiles and giggles at the chimpanzees and their--ahem--bare bottoms hanging out. We saw bats, snakes, lions, tigers, bears, raptors, zebras, flamingoes, lemurs, a warthog, well, you get the idea. They even had a bug exhibit (not my favorite). The python and cobras were quite impresssssssive.

I think my favorite part was visiting the Texas Wild section. They had exhibits and animals from all sections of the state. I loved the Gulf Coast exhibit, where I touched a sea urchin, starfish, and skate (like a sting ray). I've never touched any of those before and that was fun. We even saw a sea turtle.

We were tired, hungry and very happy when we left the zoo. What a great way to spend Easter--celebrating not only the animals but the Creator who made them all!

All for now,
Tricia

Dinner is served (thank you, Hannah!)

10 years, 10 reasons I love Hannah

Well, I couldn't NOT post a birthday collage for Hannah, so here it is. The rule of thumb in graphic design is not to use more than three different fonts on one page--and I came in at three! Funny the things you learn in college that stick with you. I guess I should thank my publication design professor (no, not John, although he may have told me that tidbit as well). I'm not sure what "they" do if you break the rule--throw one in grammar jail??

Lately, at the end of the day, I seem to feel very tired and a little irritable (apologies to John and Hannah) and yet I have no idea what I accomplished that day. Today was a little better. I'm still learning some computer programs such as Microsoft Access. Sometimes it makes my brain a little numb, there's so much to learn, but it's still a lot of fun. Have no idea in the world what I'll do with all this technological savvy (ha!)--I might like to work for some small- to middle-size business eventually.

Okay, all for now,
Tricia

Two Little Indians

When I saw this picture of Jacky wearing a feather, I thought of that Yankee Doodle Dandy song of old, "... stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni!" Yes, our young guinea pig is wearing a real feather, donated by our parakeet Sonny. Hannah assures me she did not pluck it from Sonny's tail feathers, but rather snatched it from the bottom of his cage. Evidently Sonny eyeballed her the whole time, though! ha!

In addition to playing dress up as Native American Indians, I caught Jacky and Hannah playing checkers together a few days ago. Alas, Jacky, who nudged the checkers with his nose with competitive flair, did not win the tournament. He conceded the game quite readily after being given a treat of Timothy hay.

All for now,
Tricia

Texas winter fun

A Christmas Luau

So I come into the living room the other day and had to laugh--there's Hannah with a summer shirt on, a lei and a flower in her hair. What a bright spot she is in my day! And of course, she had to dress Jacky the guinea pig up in the same flower and lei. Lookin' good, piggie! ha!

Fun times with my dad

Here's a fun collage I created of my dad and me, of our "date" in September.

Love Letters

Every now and then, I write love notes. To John, to Hannah, to my family and friends. And every now and then, they write me back.

When Hannah first got her Bible and a couple of times since, I've slipped a couple of love notes inside so she would find them. To my delight, Hannah reciprocated.

However, because I read about three different Bibles at any given time, I had no idea about the love notes awaiting me in my Women's devotional one. I still have no idea how long they were there, just waiting to be read; she never mentioned them. All I know is that I wish I'd read it sooner, so I could have seen these precious letters.

I wonder how often I've miss out on God's love letter, simply because I don't open His Word. I wonder if I've missed out on His loving words of encouragement, mercy and forgiveness simply because I never checked.

Notice Hannah's note on the left especially. The original is on 8.5 X 11 paper. It's hard to miss. Look at all those exclamation marks (with MY own calligraphy pen, no less! ha!). This letter NEVER fails to bring a smile to my face.

Most people have a "life verse." I never go on and on about mine, but I do have one. It's found in Jeremiah 31:3:

"The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.'"

Wow. Could He be any more plain spoken? Did you feel the exclamation marks in your heart? Feel them. Know them. He's ready to tell you in person today, just how much He loves you. I pray it will bring a smile to your face--and heart--today.

All for now,
Tricia

A spontaneous date with my dad

This past weekend, I really wanted to be out in nature. Sometimes the city just feels claustrophobic to me and I like to get away.

Anyway, I invited my daddy to go on an excursion to a lake with me. We just drove and drove until we got tired of driving; then a lady we met told us about a park where you could get a nice view of Lake Whitney. It was awesome! After we walked along the rocky shoreline, we sat at a picnic table, talked, took goofy pictures of each other and generally had a fun time. I'll try to post more of the pix later, but here's a pretty shot of the lake for now.

All for now,
Tricia