100th Post... No Way!

Yes, to my amazement I entered my 100th post last Saturday. Totally caught me off guard, I knew it was close, just not that close. So without further explanations I am posting "100 Things That Pertain To Me." Now please try not to get too excited, I know it is hard to contain yourselves. And I apologize in the beginning for it being so lengthy. You should know me by now, I cannot give one word answers. Oh well - here we go:

1. I can't believe I have done 100 posts. (that's a no-brainer)

2. I love life, and everything about it.

3. Love God. He is number one in my life!

4. I have one daughter, Janice, who is one of my best friends.

5. It is a good thing we have mobile to mobile on our phones, because we talk every day or two.

6. My grandkids, Eden and Cain are the best. They make me laugh and cry all at the same time.

7. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Graduated from West Leyden in Northlake.

8. Lived at home with my parents in Northlake until I was 22.

9. In 1979 I moved to Arkansas by myself. It was quite an experience for a city girl.

10. I was the youngest of three kids.

11. The only girl.

12. Can we say spoiled.

13. Can we say Daddy's girl.

14. Dad was in the nursing home for 8 years with dementia before he passed away in 1998.

15. I was the last one to talk to him before he passed.

16. I was married for almost 18 years, he was 5 years younger than I was.

17. When he decided he wanted a divorce, it was like my world stopped. He came in and told me he did not want to be married to me anymore. He loved me but was not in love with me.

18. I tried to get him to change his mind, even let him come home twice, but he always went back to her.

19. The last time he left, I went looking for him, I was pissed! He upset Jan, not because he left, but because he was gone when I got home. It was my birthday. You can mess with me, but don't mess with my kid... it is a good thing I did not find him that night! Our divorce was final in Nov. 2000.

20. Mom had moved in with us the year after Dad passed away.

21. In 2002 I had to have a pacemaker, due to an electrical short that I was born with, which was triggered by stress. (go figure!) Thank God for technology, I would not be here without it. My heart did not just slow down, I was flat lining.

22. The surgery took longer than expected because my heart was backwards. The main veins were on the wrong side. ( I knew there was a reason I was different) lol

23. Mom was in the nursing home for about 4 years. She had broken her hip and had it replaced, but never recovered.

24. She passed in 2007. She told my hubby she could go home now, because he could take care of me.

25. My favorite color is blue - royal blue.

26. Favorite food is a good steak, baked potato, side salad, Texas Toast and Sweet Tea!

27. I am picky about my Sweet Tea, northerners just don't know how to make good Sweet Tea. (no offense, just stating a fact)

28. Favorite snack is saltines or popcorn.

29. I am not a big chocolate fan, rather have salt.

30. I was very shy when I was growing up, until I graduated from high school... then it was like the chains were broken.

31. Now I live by the motto: There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met.

32. After my divorce, I had to go back to work.

33. I worked 3rd shift at an all night station/store for a year, then I worked at Child Development, Inc. as an Office Assistant. (chief flunky, peon... hey someone has to do it!)

34. I have not worked since I remarried. He spoils me rotten!

35. We will be married 4 years in September. We met on-line.... I know can we say scary... lol

36. His niece Patt, who is 7 years older than me, lives with us.

37. She does all the cooking. (At times I do miss this)

38 She does all the housecleaning except our bedroom and the office.

39. She likes it that way, and it's not a bad deal.

40. I get to cook when we are in Arkansas and my son-in-law loves that. Actually I haven't heard my daughter or grandkids complaining either.

41. When I first moved to Arkansas in 1979, I worked at Levi Strauss for 2 weeks. I sewed belt loops on. It was a sweatshop. I hated it and I love to sew.

42. I worked part time at the garage/station in our hometown, the last 6 years of our marriage.

43. I could look up car parts better than any of the guys.

44. I drove a truck before I married the first time. It was my pride and joy.

45. I took care of it myself, changed oil and spark plugs when needed.

46. After my divorce, I did go back to college part time at night while working full time during the day. I qualified for Pel Grants.

47. I received a Associate of Applied Science degree in Office Technology and also one in Accounting.

48. My dream car has always been an old VW Bug.

49. I did not grow up in a Christian home. Don't get me wrong, it was a good home, there was no fighting or drinking or anything like that, but it was missing Jesus.

50. I started attending church when my daughter was 2 or 3 off and on. She was born in 1982.

51. In 1988, my dad was in the hospital and they did not think he was going to make it.

52. I accepted the Lord into my life as my personal saviour in 1988. I knew I could not make it on my own if something happened to my dad. And Praise the Lord, he lived 10 more years.

53. I enjoy almost all crafts.

54. Have never seen a rhyme or reason for Scrapbooking, maybe I have to many photos to think about it. (I know I am weird.)

55. I love to sew.

56. I had Sewing I and II and Tailoring in High School.

57. I also had Creative Writing I and II. Just saying.... lolol

58. I love to crochet. I have been crocheting for years, but just did a doily about a month ago.

59. I enjoy counted cross-stitch, however the eyes do not always co-operate.

60. I have a program where you can make your own patterns from photos or clipart on the computer. It is pretty cool. Gives you all the colors to use and everything.

61. I make all the cards that our church sends out.

62. Photography is one of my passions.

63. I have 2,552 pictures on my Webshots page. They have had 35,013 views and 1,176 downloads.

64. My pictures are used for the fronts on our church bulletins.

65. I love to take nature shots: streams, flowers, birds, barns.

66. Barns are a passion of mine. I get so excited when I see one. They have so much character, especially the older ones. If the walls could only talk!

67. My dream is to one day sell my pictures.

68. I think it would be fun to take a photography class.

69. I would love to learn how to oil paint.

70. Would love to have a keyboard.

71. I took piano lessons in 3rd and 4th grade.

72. I love to read.

73. I have read more since I remarred than ever before.

74. I love Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis and Robin Hatcher. They are my favorites.

75. I love poetry, always have!

76. I love genealogy, it is so addicting.

77. Would love to spend some time at the Archive Records researching.

78. Or at the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City. That place was awesome.

79. Enjoy the findagrave.com site. We do a lot of work on there. A great tool for genealogy.

80. Play games on Pogo.com.

81. I love facebook. This is how I keep up with family and friends in Arkansas. I have also reconnected with a lot of classmates.

82. I am a nightowl. We stay up to 1 or 2 a.m.

83. I usually sleep until 9 or 10.

84. My favorite time of the day is right before I get up. It is cool in the room, the windows are open, the birds are chirping, the ceiling fan is on. I usually lie there talking to my Lord for a few minutes before I start my day.

85. I love collecting recipes, and trying new ones.

86. I miss going mushroom hunting. When Janice was growing up we would go out and look for Morels.

87. When going thru some of my mom's stuff, I found a Homestead Act that has my great grandpa Beavers (my dad's grandpa) name on it. It was in 1906 and signed by the president Teddy Roosevelt. I thought that was pretty cool!

88. I hated History when I was a kid, but the older I get the more I enjoy it. I love to read about pioneer families and enjoy researching families.

89. I enjoy visiting Historical places. Battlegrounds, Home places, etc.

90. I love to travel - would love to see all the states. There is so much to offer right here in the United States.

91. We put 4,986 miles on the car when we took our trip this last summer.

92 We entered 11 states, some just the edge, but we crossed the line. It was a wonderful trip.

93. As my daughter was growing up, I was very active in the church. I was the youth leader for many years. We had a great time... They were a great group of kids, who were on fire for the Lord!

94. I found the little dress I came home from the hospital in, and my hospital bracelet and the card off the bassinet.

95. I intend to make a shadow box out of these.

96. My hubby and I are friends with my ex and his wife. She actually is one of my friends. We usually see them at Jan's when we are in Arkansas. I truly believe everything happens for a reason! Makes it a whole lot easier on my daughter.

97. When I was still in Illinois, I bowled with the group from work. We started right after work and would not get home till early morning. I was known at the bar as the Schnapps lady. I am not mentioning this to brag. Far from that, I am mentioning it to show what the Lord can do with a life and how He can totally change it, if you have faith and believe!

98. I have an area I have to pray about continuosly, I do not have compassion for someone who is not trying to help themselves. Or someone who is wallowing in self-pity. You have to shake yourself off, pick yourself up and move forward. Or if you are sick, go to the doctor, do something about it.

99. I also have a problem with people who are judgemental. Don't make accusations just because someone may not be dressed or look as good as you. Don't look down on people because of their social level.

100. I am so glad this is over. I love to talk, and this was hard!


Thanks for sticking it out with me. I hope that gives you a better glimpse of who I am. I am sorry if I repeated anything, but I will blame that on age if I did. lol.
That's my story and I am sticking to it.

I just want to say when I started this I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. I appreciate each and every one of you, especially those who leave comments and let me know that you were here. You are not only my blogging buddies, but I am proud to call you friends! Thanks.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

until next time... nel