Katy's Happenings....

    Why do I blog? Well it is one way to communicate to others my thoughts and whatever is happening in my life. I have no idea if anyone is actually reading my ramblings. I hope someone is reading it. It has been a definite challenge to write everyday in my blog. I have finally finished the challenge for January. I hope that I can continue to write on my blog regularly.

Day 30                                                   What is in my Make-up bag?         I haven't worn make-up in years. Just the other day I actually bought some make-up. I totally forgot to put it on today. I have Eye Shadow, Mascara, and Powder for right now. I keep forgetting to put it on. I am not use to having it even in the house. hehe

 Inspirational Quotes to help inspire you with whatever you need to be doing. I actually got this from   Early Bird Mom. I thought it was worth sharing though. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Eleanor Roosevelt "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." Helen Keller "Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today." Will Rogers "People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." Arthur Ashe "One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly." Andy Rooney "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao Tzu "Light tomorrow with today." Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Day 29                                            Where I have Traveled.....              I went to Montana for two weeks when I was about 19 years old For those two weeks I helped out some other girls from my BSU (Baptist Student Union) and two Missionaries from Mississippi.    We canvas the area by the church for children to go to our VBS that we were having for one of the weeks we were there.    When I was in The University of Texas, (1981-1984)  I went to Mexico twice for our Spring Break. Each time we were there we helped one of the churches there. We made cement by hand. The other time we were there we helped with church services. I noticed that at the market they left the meat out and didn't put the meat in a freezer. It took me a long time after my second trip there to be willing to eat Chicken again.   In 1986 I think it was, I went with my Mom on an Amtrak from Houston, Texas to Oceanside, California to visit my brother, Steven, his wife Carroll, and my nephew Da

        I think there are several things that I look forward to, I look forward to being a grandmother. I am not sure if it will come to pass or not. My children are 22 and 25 and are not even close to being ready for parenthood. As of right now, neither one of them want to have children. I think I was the same way when i was their age so that is normal.     I look forward to seeing my sister, Lisa and hubby Mark, and my brother Steven and Carroll, his wife sometime during the Spring or Summer. When we saw each other for Thanksgiving we really enjoyed seeing everyone. I would like to see them more than once in a couple of years. Now that my Dad is no longer with us, we can meet in the middle instead of always going to Texas. I love my Dad, however he would not go outside of Texas hardly at all. It is amazing to me that Shirley, his wife and now widow, was able to get him to go to Las Vegas to get married a couple of years ago.    I also long for the day that I go to heaven and see

I think my favorite recipe has to be:                    Crack Chicken Spaghetti this recipe is really good and cheesy. I have made it once and it was wonderful! Here is the recipe:                          1 (16 oz.) package spaghetti 2 (10.75 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup 2 (8 oz.) packages velveeta cheese, cubed 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 1 (1.5 oz.) package dry ranch mix 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed 1/3 cup bacon bits 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Preparation Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Combine chicken soup, velveeta and chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth. Whisk in ranch dry mix and salt and pepper. Place drained pasta and shredded chicken in greased baking dish and pou

   This is a picture that I got done at Olan Mills in Austin, Texas in 1984. This was my senior picture from The University of Texas at Austin. The necklace, which I no longer have, was a Geod that my Dad gave me. The outfit was actually my Mom's at one point. This is one of my favorite pictures of myself. I fixed my hair that day, it actually cooperated! I have yet to be able to get it to cooperate since that day.

                                       1)    " Light Our World' is our website. James likes to blog as well and is a lot better at it in consistency than I have been the past couple of years. In James' blog he posts about anything and everything. 2) One of the blogs that I follow is from Kimberly. She was Jessica's counselor when Jessica went to Camp in July of 2001. We didn't know it at the time but Jessica would pass away within a month of her going to the camp. I am so thankful even after 16 years that Jessica had Kimberly as her counselor.  Kimberly kept a diary of Jessica's week at camp and recorded the ups and downs of what happened. She has since gotten married and had two wonderful little boys, Cannon and Townsend. Cannon has on the Autistic Spectrum. Kimberly has a blog she keeps called "Our Father's World Through the Eyes of Cannon".  In the blog she records all that Cannon has had to endure since his diagnoses. 3) Angie Mizzell

      I don't remember a favorite childhood book growing up. I don't think my parents took the time to read to me. My favorite book that I used to read to my kids though is: "Where the Wild Things Are".     I hope that my kids remember me reading to them when they were little. I really enjoyed that time. I think that is why both Justin and Kristina are now such avid readers.

     I truly believe that my "Dream Job" would be to be an Author! I have always loved writing. When I was in high school and was in English class my teacher at the time told me to keep writing. She saw a potential there in my writing. I haven't kept up with writing stories or poems like I used to do. However, since i am home now on disability, this is a good time to start writing. I started back on January 1st, writing for the Blog Challenge. I also write in my journal on " 750words " a day.    Sometimes it is hard to come up with 750 words because I lead a rather boring life. I am hoping that eventually I will get better at writing and write something worth reading.

     This is only day 22 of January so there is only a couple of things that have happened. I think the best thing so far this year is that Kristina is back in Charleston. She moved back on the 14th of January and is staying with her best friend Brittany.    James traded one of his computers for what he considers a better one, so he is happy about that. It seems James is over the crud he had, so far I haven't gotten it! I am happy about that. When I get sick, I no longer just get a cold. It turns into Bronchitis and the Pneumonia very fast.    The beginning of the year I started a Blessing Jar. I have been putting little pieces of paper in it the past couple of weeks when I remember to. I hope to keep up with it this year so i can remember all the good that comes our way.

This one is actually late. I should have had this done already and posted. 1) Potatoes: One of my favorite things to eat since I was a kid. 2) Chip and dip: Either cheese sauce or mild sauce will do. 3) Mexican food 4) Steak and potatoes 5)  Lasagna 6) Rolls and Honey butter from Texas Roadhouse 7) Cherry Pie 8) Carrot Cake 9) Chocolate Cake 10) Apple Pie

   I think we have had several difficult times since we have been married.  The birth of Jessica was probably one of the most traumatic when we first got married.  I can close my eyes and still remember that day. I had just dropped James off at work. We only had one car at that time. I stopped at a little store in North Houston to get a drink and get some gas. I was inside the store and went to the restroom. That is when I felt something was wrong. I looked out of the restroom and told the cashier to please call 911 that something was wrong with the baby. I was 26 weeks along with Jessica. The ambulance came and took me to the closest hospital on that side of town.    I had to get one of the nurses to call James at work., This was before we had cell phones. Since I had to go by ambulance, I had left the car at the little store. James called his friend Larry to come get him to take him to where the car was. Once he got the car, he got to the hospital as soon as he could.    At the m

   I haven't really been collecting anything but I do have collections of stuff that I collected in the past.   We have a collection of Lighthouses either pictures or figurines. James and I both love lighthouses.    When I was younger I collected jewelry boxes. My favorites are the ones that have butterflies on them. I use to collect things with butterflies on them at one point. I love butterflies. One of the jewelry boxes that I have is one that my Dad gave me.    When I was in elementary school I used to collect rocks. I loved my rocks. Since my Dad was a Geologist I would bring him a rock and ask him what kind of rock it was. He would answer me by telling me it was "Chert"     Course at the time I asked him I didn't know he was a Petroleum  Geologist and not a Gemologist. According to Wikipedia: Chert ( / ˈ tʃ ɜːr t / ) is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline silica . Depending on its origin, it can c

   It is pretty simple for the blog name. It has my name on it and ramblings mean I talk about anything and everything. I don't have a fancy name for it like some of the other people i know.    I think the reason I named it. "Katy's Ramblings" it leaves it open as to what I write about. I have always had a wide variety of interests. I think that is why it took me so long to get my Bachelors. I went to a Jr. College for almost 3 years and then transferred to The University of Texas at Austin in January of 1981. I didn't graduate until December of 1984.    During that time I took many different courses including a lot of Psychology courses. I also took Bible Courses, probably about 4 classes which equals to 12 hour credits.  I also have about 6 to 9 hours credit for Sociology. Eventually, I had so many credits that it was enough to get a degree in Psychology.

      The most proud moment isn't just one moment. It was each time I gave birth to my three kids.Those were indeed special moments.  The second most proud moment that I can think of was when I passed my test  to become a teacher. I worked for so long and so hard to get my certificate. It took me a lot longer than it was originally suppose to take.     Another time that I can think of that I was particularly proud of my daughter Kristina was when she sang a solo at a Conference that our denomination had. There is a fancy name for it but I can't think of it right now.  It was so wonderful to see her up there on the stage and performing.   Along the same line my son Justin, the first time I got to watch him perform at one of his gigs he had. I love watching my kids perform. 

   At one time I had a Bucket list but I can't remember what web page it is on. So I had to work on a new Bucket List. I decided that on top of my bucket list i wanted to get a tattoo. I have been wanting a tattoo for sometime on my right wrist.     In 1978 I had to get a cyst removed from my right wrist.I have a snake like scar that is hidious looking to me.  I have been wanting to get a tattoo of a bracelet in the shape of my scar. Then I would like to get charms attached to it with my kids names on it. Maybe this will be the year that I start the process of getting my tattoo that i want. I just found the link for the Bucketlist web site. I tried to get in it but I can't remember my email that i used for it or my password. I am hoping that they will write me back about it. I wrote the admin about my problem so we will see.

1. Real name: Georgia Kathryn 2. Nickname: Katy 3. Favorite color:Turquoise 4. Male or female: female 5. Elementary school: Meadowbrook, Schanen, Sanders 6. Middle school: Tom Brown 7. High school: Mary Carroll High School 8. College: Del Mar Jr. College, University of Texas (Psychology), Grand Canyon University (Masters in Education) 9. Natural Hair color: brownish-blonde 10. Tall or short:   Considered Average now (used to be considered tall) 11. Sweats or jeans: jeans 12. Phone or camera: prefer camera, but sometimes the phone is more convenient 13. Health freak: Not   even! 14. Orange or apple:orange 15. Do you have a crush on someone: no 16. Guy friends or girl friends: both 17. Piercings: ears 18. Pepsi or coke:   Root Beer or Big Red, Pepsi Cherry 19. Have you been in an airplane:   yes 20. Have you been in a relationship: yes 21. Have you been in a car accident: When I was much younger…..16, 18, 21   and 25 22. Have you been in a fis

   Hi all, I found this online somewhere. The author's name of this information is Mandy Wallace. You can go to her site at: www.mandywallace.com.                                 14 Tools to help with your writing Evernote captures story ideas and drafts on the go. Audiosparx gets you in the mood to write emotional scenes. (Which emotion do you want to evoke in your scene? There's a track for it to inspire you, and you can literally search this database by mood.) The Pomodoro Technique breaks through writers block, twenty-five minutes at a time. Roomsketcher  (get the free option) makes it easier to create and visualize the spaces your characters inhabit. Design your space, then keep it open while you write for more realistic settings. Write better with these free, online courses in writing and literature from the International Writing Program at Iowa State University. Visualize your story ideas and plot structure with Mindmup , a

1. Write an "About Me" about yourself.   2. A list of things you're thankful for.   3.   Small things that make you happy.   4. The last time you celebrated something.   5. The best thing that happened to you this week.   6. Something you want to change about yourself.   7. Something you could do right now to get you closer to where you want to be in life.   8. Someone you love.   9. A skill you want to learn.   10. Your favorite quote right now.   11. Something that you think holds you back.   12. A word that actually describes your life, and a word you wish described your life.   13. Someone you admire and why you admire them.   14. Something you're stressed about.   15. Something that's been making you laugh lately.   16. The happiest moment in your week so far.   17. Write a letter to teenage you.   18. What you like the most about yourself.   19. The one dream you have that you just can't stop thinking about.   20.

        Typically I don't wake up until around 7:30 or so. I go downstairs, turn coffee pot on if James hasn't beat me to it. I then start a cup of coffee. While it is doing its thing. I make sure all of my fur babies have food in their bowls. I give Willow her treat she gets in the morning. I give the cats their treat. I then take Willow outside to go potty.    Once Willow is done with her business we come back in. I usually get her to open the door. Our door is easy to open since it needs to be replaced. I tell her "Open" and she will push the door with her nose to open it. I then get a cup of coffee. If James hasn't gotten his cup of coffee yet, I will get him his coffee too. I then make a small breakfast for us to eat, either oatmeal, breakfast bowl, or breakfast biscuit are some of the types of breakfast we like.   Depending on what type it is at this time, James will go get ready for work. I then go and load the washer and put dirty dishes in dishwasher if

                                               If I won the lottery ...... well first we would have to play! However, this is a what if scenario so if we did win the lottery....then James could quit his job! James would gladly leave his job to be able to travel.  I would like to be able to pay off all our debts. Then give our kids and other family members some of the money. I think then, James and I would like to travel for a year around the USA. We would buy an RV and travel. I think maybe even buy a house in Texas as our go to spot when we are tired of traveling. We miss being in Texas and by our family.    Of course all of this would depend on how much money we actually won and how much Uncle Sam got of the winnings. Then we would have to prioritize what we really wanted to do with the money.

        I didn't realize that the Comments on my Blog post is moderated and I had to approve the comments. I just went through the comments today and found out that I had 750 comments. Some of the comments were actually advertisements for Male Enhancement! LOL   No thank you don't need that.    However, I did have several people actually comment about some of my blogs and I do appreciate it. I found several comments that my sweet honey, James had even written and had never seen!  I did publish those. I also got one from my son, Jeremy. He is actually my Step-son but only because I didn't give birth to him. In my heart he is my son. He has been in my life since he was 3 yrs old!   So for anyone that leaves a message I have made it where the comments will NOT be moderated for right now. Unless I see that I really need to moderate them then I will change it back.    Some of the posts were back from 2005. OH MY!!  I still can't believe I didn't know about this part o

    There are only a couple of memories I have of my really earl\y years. The first one was when we lived off of Drexel and Airline in Corpus Christi. I was learning to ride a bike so I was about 5 or 6. I was riding my bike and ran into a rose bush that was by the sidewalk. I remember it was my sister, Lisa that helped me get taken care of. I had scratches from the thorn bush that had to be bleeding. So she bandaged me up.    Another memory from about the same age and same house, was when I was bit by a German Shepherd. I had to get shots in my stomach. I am guessing they were shots for rabies.     I also remember when I was in first grade that we had a play at school for the "Nutcracker" I was one of the Sugar Plum Fairies. I remember when I was dancing with my partner, and happened to be my best friend at the time, I nearly danced her off the stage.   The only other memory from this time was when my Mom became sick and had to be taken to the hospital. I found out later

           This is a tough one but I guess I will pick out things that I have that are my favorite. 1) "Wow Bow" is a ceramic Basset Hound dog that was my Mom's. I received it from my sister when  I was down in Texas in November. 2) "Barney" is a Airplane bank that was my Dad's that I got my sister when I was in Texas. I remember when my Dad would put money in this bank when I was living at home. I would roll up the money for him so he could take it to the bank. Most of the time he just kept the rolls of money in a drawer. 3)  Picture of my three kids in jean outfits. This is one of my favorite pictures of them together. It was not planned that they had blue jean outfits on that day. 4) There is a picture of James and myself cheek to cheek on our wedding day. 5) One of my favorite jewelry boxes that I have is one that my Dad gave me when I was a teenager for my birthday. It is a butterfly jewelry box. When he gave it to me it had some earrings in

                                                               We have the usual: Condiments on the side door, along with cheese, We also have bottled water on hand, Milk, Orange Juice, and soft drinks, usually Pepsi Cherry.   I just went to the store and got more eggs. We also have butter, as well as some leftovers from the other night that I need to discard. Here is a picture:

                                                              I am not too sure about this one. James says that my best physical feature is my smile. Now that was the case before I had my first brain surgery. Since that time, I have Bells Palsy on the right side of my face. This is what i call frozen face. It is paralyzed on the right side of my face. I have a slight droop. So thanks to the surgery I do not have the same smile i had before surgery.    I always that might best physical feature was my green eyes. This was especially true when i was younger and didn't wear glasses. I also had wonderful hair that had the 80's look back in the 80's and 90's!   

Day 9                                                                            Growing up my worst habit was biting my nails. I don't bite my nails anymore. The only time when it looks like I am biting my nails would be when I break a nail. When that happens i tend to use my teeth to even out the nail. I really need to remember to carry a nail file with me when this happens so i can fix my nail better. The second bad habit that I can think of is I am the Master of Procrastination!  I don't really know why but I am. This worked well for me when I was in school and had to crank out papers like crazy for my graduate classes. In that case, I work great  better under pressure when it comes to writing. I am sure I have other bad habits but those are the two I know for sure. I might have to enlist the help from James about this one. I am sure he could think of more than my two that I came up with.

January 8, 2018      If you asked James about my handbag, he would say that I carry luggage and not a purse. I carry a large purse so that when I need to carry some of James' stuff in it, it will be big enough! So I will list what I have in my handbag and post a picture as well.  As you can see nothing really exciting in my purse. It has the usual in it. I have a hair brush, pens in a bag, little notebook for lists or whatever, phone, and my keys. Sometimes I will put a book in there, James' bottle of meds, and some candy. I also have my Ipad in there most of the time.

    This is pretty easy! 1) Ice trays left half filled up. 2) Driver that is slow driving in the fast lane. 3) Inconsiderate people 4) People that crunch ice loudly. 5) People that leave items on the counter that belong in the trash. I think that might be it. If i can think of anything else I will add it later.

Day 6 of 31 day challenge       Taste:Thirsty Smell: Nose stopped up so can't smell anything. Touch:smooth- typing keys. Sight: Watching Callie play with the kitten on the cat tree!  Willow sleeping at the end of my bed. Hear: Just hear Callie scratching on the cat tree. Guess that is it! 

Day 5 of the 31 day blog challenge:                       10 Favorite Songs right Now 1. " Love Me Tender ": Elvis 2 " God's Not Dead ": Newsboys 3. " Blue Christmas ": Elvis 4. " Voice of Truth" Steven Curtis Chapman 5. " Let it Rain ": Newsboys 6. "I Can Only Imagine": Mercy Me 7. " Jesus, Take the Wheel ": Carrie Underwood 8. " Cinderella " Steven Curtis Chapman 9." You Reign " Mercy Me 10." Good Ole Gospel Ship " Imperials This was actually hard to do. I had to narrow it down. I am probably missing some that i really like but this is what i came up with today.

          The first thing that comes to mind would be HEIGHTS! I am scared to death of heights....like if i was standing on a mountain with nothing to hold on to. Actually you wouldn't catch me on a mountain. I can handle elevators that are made of glass and you look down, that doesn't bother me. It is when I have nothing to hold on to that freaks me out. I think that is really the only one that I am actually fearful of.

        This is the notes from our Pastor Chris Rollins at Coastal Community Church. Please go to their website at: coastalcommunitychurch.org and listen to the audio of the sermon. December 10, 2017 "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." Colossians 1:18 "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell, will not conquer it." Matthew 16:18 I'm grateful for my church because    1. My church helps me  focus on God.    "Jesus replied , "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."  Matthew 22:37-38   "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." Hebrews 10:25  Make church on Sunday a priority.

                                                             Actually in my case my favorite quote is actually my life verse. It is: Proverbs 3:5-6 "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 direct your paths." I learned the verse back when I was 13 and first became a Christian. It was one of the first verses that I memorized. Throughout the years it has become my life verse.

 January 2                                                                        20 Facts About Me 1. I am a true lefty through and through. 2. I love to eat dry Frosted flakes as a snack. 3. I can't stand Roaches! They freak me out but only when they are alive. 4.I have had a total of 9 surgeries in my life time. 5. I struggled with learning to read as a kid. 6. My brother Steven, taught me how to tell time. 7. It took everyone in my family to teach me how to drive. 8. My first car i drove was actually a Blazer that was standard. 9.In high school i taught several of my friends how to drive a standard! 10. I used to do donuts in the school parking lot. Now if someone did that in the school parking lot they would get suspended! LOL 11. I was bit by a German Shepherd when i was 5. 12. In first grade i was in a school play of "The Nutcracker Suite"  I almost danced my partner off of the stage for song "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies". 13. I used to

I posted this blog back in 2015 and would like to share it again. In 2016  I lost 70 pounds because of 5 surgeries in 6 months. I had to get a new wardrobe! I went from a size 24 to a size 18-20. Since that time though I have gained back about 25 pounds of the 70 I lost. I don't want to get as big as i was. So with that in mind i am reposting the blog post from 2015. December 21, 2015     The word DIET has a bad taste in most people's mouths. I found a good article on Pintrest that I want to share having to do with dieting.   I decided to share this because like everyone else I am struggling with my weight. This past 6 months I have managed to put on at least 20 pounds. This is mainly due to me not being able to walk very far or stand very long. I used to be able to walk a relatively long distance. We used to go to the Flea Market and walk around. I can hardly do that now. Anyway, James and I both have managed to gain more weight than we care to admit. So we are trying to be

Here is my challenge for January 1, 2018 Hopefully I can get through all 31days for this blog challenge. I didn't do so well the last time I tried to do the challenge it was in 2015.   They say that if you can do something for 28 to 31 days then it becomes a habit. I am hoping by doing this challenge I will get into a habit of blogging.