A Love Story That Started 74 Years Ago ~Happy Anniversary to my Parents in their Heavenly Home ~Here’s How they Celebrated their Special Day

 Today my parents are celebrating their

Wedding Anniversary in their Heavenly Home.

They were married 74 years ago,

after my dad came home from WWII.

He was a man of few words, however he wrote to her

frequently during the four years that he was gone.

I have those letters, tied with a ribbon

in my mom’s Hope Chest in

one of the bedrooms downstairs.

Along with this book of wedding mementos...

...such as this Newspaper Clipping

and handwritten story of their engagement.

You can see in their Wedding Photo that a bride of that time

often wore a nice suit instead of a long white gown.

It was practical, as they could wear it

for special events over and over again.

Plus those women grew up during the Depression

and were accustomed to making do with very little.

Also in that book of memories, is this photo of their first home,

this majestic old farmhouse. They lived here from that June day

until we moved during the Winter of 1970.

For their anniversary celebration, I picture my mother

spent the afternoon getting ready by setting her hair with rollers,

and sitting under the dryer while polishing her nails.

She would get dressed with her nylon stockings,

pencil skirt and jacket. Of course she wore heels.

My dad came in from working in the field.

He cleaned up and put on a suit and tie.

They would drive the 20 miles into Devils Lake to go to a nice restaurant.

My Dad would order the Ribs.

It would come with a finger bowl on the side.

If the band played Alley Cat, he would ask my mom to dance

and they would two-step around the dance floor.

One of the Bye girls would come to babysit me,

And when I got up the next morning,

I had the treat of eating a package of those fancy crackers

and playing with the little plastic sword that came in my mom’s beverage.

Sweet Memories.

Take care,

~Natalie

Simple Things ~ Make Me Happy

The end of January...Several bloggers are joining Christina in celebrating the Simple Things that make us Happy.  For each blog that participates, her family will donate $1.00 to doctors without borders.  Here is part of my list...

soft pajamas

watching early morning TV in bed

a clean house

electricity

running water

the sound of our daughters' voices on the phone

freshly ground coffee

animal tracks in the snow

new textbooks

a new notebook

sparkling clean mirrors

lace

the cat's fur

the crunching sound of snow beneath my feet

dancing with my hubby

popcorn

new mascara

cookbooks with pictures

the iris blooms

the colors of the sunrise

a friendly letter in the mail

a snow day

kneading bread dough

homemade guacamole

a field of sunflowers

a new purse

hand crocheted dishclothes

riding the train

fresh bedding

liking my job

sewing on a button

achieving a goal

mashed potatoes

sweet potato fries

a dinner party

a good clearance sale

the sound of birds singing

holding a new baby

road trips

spending time with my family

blog comments

German chocolate cake

warm sunshine

a crisp dollar bill

goulash

college football

a Sunday nap

the Christmas tree lights

a new magazine

a candle burning in the kitchen

summer

Oh, and so much more...

Mail from Malaysia

A very sweet blog friend, Jasmine has certainly brightened my day...and my week. I received notice that a package has come registered mail, so I went to the post office after school today, to pick up this large envelope. The stamps alone are fascinating! It's cold (-17 to be exact), school is hectic, so a package in the mail made my day. I could hardly wait to get home to open it!

Inside, not one, not two, but three journals, artistically embellished, personalized for me and for my daughters. What a thoughtful gift. I can't wait to get these into the mail to my girls.

Even her

handwritten note is charming! Be sure to visit her blog Scrap in the City to see more of her wonder ful creations.

... And Callie was right there...on the stool, paws up on the counter,

as if to say, "Those are the cat's meow!"

Thank you, Jasime

Labor Day Labors

My Personal Development Class keeps a journal for the term. Their first assignment is to personalize their journal cover by creating a collage of pictures, words & phrases that represent their personality.





This takes one class period of browsing through a variety of magazines. Some of these collages are very impressive. If you look closely, you will see little pics and words that, although small, may represent a huge part of their life their character.

The students receive a grade for their personality profile. They need to find a variety of items, they need to cover their background and they need to consider neatnesss. These samples are some of the most impressive.
Every other weekend, I bring the journals home...This helps me get to know the students much faster than I would otherwise. I am not critical of how they write, but interested in what they have to say.One of their journal prompts this week had been to write about...if you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be...

...answers included "a soldier fighting in Iraq"... to ..."Kendra from the Playboy Mansion" ...and most were somewhere in-between.

Another journal prompt was to write about a time when you felt out of place... One student wrote about that his brother died within the last two weeks; another said that "at school, I feel like I'm not good enough for anyone to hang out with"; and another said "always-when do I never feel out of place?" These are 3 students that will get extra attention from me tomorrow and all week.... And the girl that says "I dislike when I get used by my loved ones"... What exactly does she mean by that?

Most of the journals were typical teenage thoughts, but one was particularly refreshing...

"I love life...

I would never sleep if I had a choice."