My father figures i celebrate

This weekend is Father's Day weekend and we have a busy day planned this Sunday.  We will have lunch after church with Todd's family and celebrate my father in law Bob.  I won the INlaw lottery yall when I married Todd. They are the most cutest sweetest supportive inlaws a girl could ask for.  It will be a double celebration because we are also celebrating my sister n laws birthday that was this week.  We meet at the same Mexican restaurant every time and I have no problem with that at all.  The funny thing is that when I spoke to Daddy last night on what he wants to do that evening, he also wants Mexican food.  I  need to remember to take my Nexium purple pill that day!  So both Todd and I will see our dads for Fathers' Day.   Don't tell Todd but i bought him a new wedding ring since he lost his back in December. I replaced it with a ring from James Avery that i think he will like. He doesn't read this so i'm not too worried. 
The bittersweet part of this day is that its our first Father's Day without my stepdad Don. He passed this past January and I know this weekend is going to be so very tough on my baby brother.  I miss my stepdad and cant believe he's gone. He lived in Oklahoma near my brother so it sometimes just seems that he's out of town and not really gone. 
I've had a few father figures in my life and I am so blessed by every one of them.  My parents divorced when I was 4 or 5 and we lived with my grandparents off and on a lot. My grandfather Poppy was there for me everyday. Its true when I say I was his favorite.  No really I was. I loved to ride the motorcycle with him and I was his shadow. I would hang out in the garage with him for hours while he tinkered on the Harley.  That never changed when I grew up.  Poppy was my hero. I miss him more than anything and he's been gone for 17 years. I can cry right now because its still so strong of a loss.

In high school, my mom wanted to move a few cities over when I was a junior in high school. I was devastated because I was doing really well in school and I had made officer on my drill team. No way was I going to switch schools and start all over again. I had just transferred to that school my second semester of my freshman year. It just so happens that my uncle was wanting to move back to the country where we lived and he agreed to let me live with him so I didn't have to move and switch schools.  Uncle James even bought my very first prom dress for my Junior-Senior prom.  He had 3 sons  and i was like a daughter to him. We had such a great year.  I would come home from school and we would go fishing or even catch an early movie and he's a wonderful cook!! I was so grateful that he allowed me to live with him at such an important time. My mom , stepdad and brother lived less than an hour away and of course i had to check in with Mom every day and i spent most weekends with them. 

My stepdad married Mom when i was 13. He was such a loving man who loved me like i was his own. Don is my role model for my stepkids i have today with Todd.  Don taught me how to do the Texas two-step and the cotton eyed Joe.  He was so patient and laid back which was good when i was a high strung emotional teenage girl! I couldn't ask for a better stepdad in my life. He supported me and encouraged me all through high school and college and everything after. Don was always proud me becoming a career woman and focusing on my job instead of settling down. Don was the only one that didn't harass me about when i was going to get married or have kids.  I miss him so much.

Daddy and i didn't become really close until my junior year in high school.  I always would visit him for a weekend here and there and when i was in elementary school he lived in Colorado. I flew there when i was 7 and spent the whole summer with him. Dad bought me my first car which was a '72 Datsun station wagon stick shift.  I hated that car and it was always breaking down on me.  My summer after graduation i worked for Dad in his office and he would deposit my paychecks in an account and would let me have an allowance. The money saved went towards my allowance when i went to college that fall semester.  It was such a smart idea even though i didn't like not getting my whole paycheck every other week when i was working.  Then when i transferred from junior college to  a university i moved in with him. He was single at the time and lived very close to my school. We got to know each other more and got closer.  Fast forward 5 years after college, i moved to Florida and was engaged to a guy named Jack.  We only lasted 3 years and when i moved back to Texas, Daddy let me move back in with him until i got on my feet.  Mom had moved to Wyoming when i was in college.   The rest is history as they say. I've always lived pretty close to Dad and we have a great relationship.  I couldn't even accept the possibility of losing him when he was so ill with his lung disease. The transplant has been the best thing in our lives!!

The songs i posted remind me of certain times or memories of my father figures in my life.  I hope you have a great weekend and Happy Fathers Day y'all!!!

We need Peace and Prayer

Yall, I just can't take anymore bad news. My husband and I watch the news before we go to bed mostly to see what our bipolar weather is going to do.  I end up getting so depressed and then my mind races for an hour and I don't sleep well. 

An older man (78) was brutally assaulted and ended up in the hospital and in the meantime his dog was in the car. Of course it wasn't hot and the window was cracked and the man was only going into the store for a brief minute. Well as you can imagine his dog died while he was in the hospital.  I cried after watching that. This man was so distraught over his dog.   I just can't hear those things minutes before I'm supposed to go to bed. 

Then last night a mass shooting happens in a church. Church people!! Really? 9 people lost their lives while praising HIM. 

I must admit that I would want to be in a church praising GOD if that were to happen to me.  You can't watch the news without hearing about murders, racism, attacks, Isis, terrorism. 

We need more peace, love, understanding, patience, tolerance and we need more prayer!  I am a Christian. I am a very imperfect Christian that sins and struggles every day.  I don't preach nor do I witness to people and friends who aren't Christian.  I have friends who are non believers and I love them! They still want peace and they have a right to believe in whatever higher power they want.  Either way- we need to all band together and pray.  We have got to do something to end so much hatred, sadness, racism , and tragedies done by people. 

Please have a great day. Take deep breaths.  Read your bible or a daily devotional. Smile and be nice to others. You can make someone's day by smiling at them.  

I'm a Biker NOT a Outlaw Biker Gang member

I'm sure all of you heard the news last month on May 17th when there was a deadly shootout in Waco Texas among some bike gangs and police officers.  It made National news for days.  Waco is about hour south of Dallas and the poor town cant catch a break from being in National news. Anyone remember the Branch Davidian's?  Yep Waco!
Because of all that commotion many restaurants within hours of each other up and down the highways are banning colors ( vests with organization) on back and some are banning bikers all together.  This absolutely infuriates me!!! Why you ask?  I am a biker. I've been a biker since as long as  I can remember. My whole family are bikers.  Matter of fact I bought my Harley from my dad when he got sick . He was a biker.  I have been a member of CMA ( Christian Motorcycles Association ) for 12 years.  CMA is a motorcycle club.  There are numerous groups and clubs of people who ride but are not in a biker gang. 

Here is some biker terminology so you can be in the know:
As I briefly mentioned above a leather or denim vest with the patch of your group is called Colors or a Cut. Its called a Cut because it started where the sleeves off a denim jacket or leather jacket were cut off to be the vest for all their patches.  There are a lot of rules with having colors.  Even in the CMA.  You treat it with respect and never drop it on the ground or throw it around, etc.  With the hardcore biker gangs, you have to earn that patch and its called being Patched in.
Road name is when you see a patch on the front of your colors with a nickname. I have a road name but quite going by it a few years ago.  Now I use my own name.  Biker gangs stay true to using road names.
You will most often see a patch on a biker gangs vest or jacket that says 1%.   Hells Angels, Bandidos, Mongols, etc are mostly all considered one percenters.  They are the bike gangs and the percent that would be up to no good.
When you see someone riding by you and their handle bars are high up and their arms are stretched past their shoulders- those are called Ape hangers.  Because... think about it.
A bigger bike with lots of bells and whistles like a Honda Goldwing are called Touring bikes.  They are built for comfort and lots of miles. 
Weekend warriors are those ( like me) who typically don't ride everyday but primarily ride on weekends.  Dr's, Lawyers, Corporate trainers and general managers can be seen wearing jeans and their colors or their tshirt and doo-rags riding all over on weekends.


Bikers are mostly good people yall! I serve and volunteer countless places in the biker community with the CMA.  There are tons of food drives, toy drives, fundraisers, etc that bikers sponsor and support for charities , communities, friends and family.  There are some bad biker gangs.  Its true. We ride knowing that we can encounter them any day of the week.  Just be realistic and don't act stupid. Its not TV, its real life.
Please don't look down on someone who rides a motorcycle. They have a right to live life and enjoy a hobby like the rest.  Please look out for them to on the roads. Cars can hurt pretty bad if they don't pay attention. People texting is so scary and that's way scarier than a biker gang!

Family reunion 2015

This past Saturday was our family reunion on my Dads side.  My great grandpa had 6 kids and my grandpa was the 3rd born if I remember correctly.  They all had the funniest nicknames and grew up being called their names since they were kids.  There was Cotton, Bigun, Beans, Sis, Runt and I can't think of the other one right now. Shoot!

Anyways, my grandpa was Papa Beans. LOL. There is only one living sibling left and that's Sis. Sis had 15 kids yall!! Over the years, they've only lost one of their kids ( died many years ago). Our reunion is held in either Lindsay or Muenster, TX which are small rural farming towns.  Many of the aunts, cousins etc live out there. Muenster actually hosts an annual Germanfest and it draws huge crowds.  My family is German and majority of the finally is Catholic. Here's a funny story, one year we had our reunion on a Sunday. Because the family is so big , if they didn't go to church that day it would practically be empty. So the pastor actually came to the reunion and we had own Sunday mass.   

The Catholic Church is St Peters and it's amazing! The stained glass and many of the pieces came from Germany.  It was built in 1903. The architecture is incredible.  If you have a minute, read about the history  ST Peters They had a tornado destroy the church in 1917 and the community helped to rebuild it and was finished a year later in 1918. 

The church has a cemetery and a school on the same premises. Also a home for the priest and a Hall. We had our reunion in the hall.  It was air conditioned and had kitchen and bathroom. All you need! 

This year we did something new and that was we had balloons that we could write a message on to someone we've lost from the family.  My aunts husband ( uncle Donny) passed 4 years ago.  Papa Beans passed when I was in high school 1982.  I wrote a balloon for those 2.  Then we all went outside and released them. I liked that idea a lot! 

We all brought a side dish and dessert and we had fried chicken that someone cooked for us. We had too much fun and it was all so good. 

It was a great day and that was the first year I brought Todd. He had a great time too and people were excited to meet him so he felt like a celebrity. Haha! 

This is my grandma ( daddy's mom) and Sis. Sister n laws. 

The lady in blue tshirt was Runts wife. Runt passed last year. 

Me and Daddy. Isn't he the cutest! Next month will be 2 years since his double lung transplant. 

Papa is buried at St Peters so we walked down to check his plot and I introduced Todd to him. Papa Beans was a sweet loving kind farmer. He was so fun and down to earth. Todd would have loved both of my grandpas! 

We're writing our balloon messages 

Balloon release

Aunt Brenda holding onto her balloon

Someone had made a collage of the kids and this is Papa as a baby. I had never seen this picture. 

This was my great grandma. Look at that gorgeous hat!! 

#Lilagram

Yall I am swamped today at work!! I should have posted last night but was too busy watching the season finale of Game of Thrones. 

 My little girl Lila loves to sun. She will find the sunniest spot in the yard and just bask in the sun.  I opened the door yesterday and saw her laying on our patio loveseat.  She's so dang cute! It looks like she's doing a Marilyn Monroe pose.  

Have a happy Monday!! Hope you had a great weekend.  I'll tell you more about mine tomorrow. 

Throwback Thursday

Good morning yall! Happy Thursday. 

I thought it would be a little fun to show some old pics of me for throwback Thursday.  Unfortunately I'm blogging from my phone app so I can't post any songs to go with my post today.  I wish the app would let us do more fancy stuff. Oh well, at least I can do this much right? 

This is me when I was 6 yrs old (maybe even 5).  This picture is black and white but the original was color. My leotard was  red sequined and I have a small hole in my pink tights. Funny memory about this was Mom bought me a new pair just for pictures but they were itchy. I threw a fit because I hated wearing itchy tights.  I didn't get the concept that I would only be wearing them an hour tops.  I still hate itchy fabrics!! 

I'm 10 years old here and those are my cousins holding their new little brother. This pic was taken at my grandparents house on July 4th ( I think).  A fun fact is that my mom, my aunt and my aunt by marriage to uncle were all three pregnant at the same time.  They all had boys and so they're only a few months apart.  So there was 3 girl cousins and 3 boy cousins. We all used to be very close. 

So this is my senior year in high school.  I was an officer in drill team and this is us at a football game.  The girl next to me was the captain of our drill team. 

This picture was either my freshman or sophomore year in junior college. I had a dancing scholarship to be on the college drill team in east Texas.  Notice how I'm wearing a red hat again? The director of my college team also used to be the director of my high school team so she carried on the red hat tradition.  I loved my hats! Now the little guy next to me is also kind of a Texas celebrity.  He was our college mascot ( Cardinal) and he taught at cheerleader camps for years.  Jeff also went on to work for the children's TV show Barney for years. 

He was Baby Bop.  We were good friends and we couldn't go to Six Flags or a concert without teenage girls screaming at him and wanting their pictures with him.  Gotta remember that Texas is a football state which means cheerleading is a sport here too. Lots of cheerleaders knew Jeff.  

This picture cracks me up!!  All the drill team had our own dorm hall.  When you're a sophomore it was tradition to go on a raid through other dorms.  This is how we decorated for it. Hahaha!  Yep we got in trouble but it was so worth it.  

I'm the one in the middle wearing pink and a heart on my cheek. Lol 

I hope you have a MAHVELOUS day! 

Tattoos part 2

Hey yall, I'm super busy today training classes so I'm doing a lazy post.  I'm  continuing with tattoo subject and wanted to share some more great memes and cartoons I found from Pinterest.  Man I love Pinterest!! Here's MY pinterest if you want to follow.

Anywho- have a great day and do something today that makes you smile. 

As much as I love tattoos and I am not a fan of the ones on the face and throat.  Very distracting and may make it a little harder to get a job.... Just sayin