Snow Cream!!!!!

8 cups fresh snow
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup trivia)
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix snow, vanilla, and sugar together. Slowly add milk to desired consistency. Enjoy!!!!!

"Each day provides its own gifts."-Martial

This has been an amazing week. I love the snow and I always feel rested after a day of being "snowed in" with my lovelies! 
I like to take the time to just enjoy my life...my family, my home, my relationship with the Lord. It's amazing what a lazy, quiet day at home can remind us of. We stay so busy living our lives that we forget what's truly important...like curling up in your favorite chair with a hot cup of coffee and your favorite devotional and your bible and reading while watching the snow fall, or a quiet house that proves everyone else is sleeping and you are left alone to your thoughts and prayers, or a steaming bowl of homemade soup with the fam while we watch a movie that everyone has seen so many times you know every word, but you can never get enough of that moment in time when you are all together sharing something you all love. It's sad that it takes a weather forecast to remind us all to slow down and make time for each other and what is truly important, but I know "the weatherman" personally and I am glad that he can use the weather to remind me of my truest blessings!

Jesus is the answer to all our questions.

He is the solution to all our problems,

the medicine for all our sicknesses,

the end to all our beginnings,

the rest for all our weariness,

the light in our darkest days.

He is the solid rock on which we can find security!

Winter Wonderland

Finally! It is snowing!!!! Big fluffy snowflakes falling so fast it makes it hard to see where you are going! I love the snow, and this is the first real snow of the year! I mean one that covers the ground and you can enjoy watching the flakes without a microscope and the wind blowing it away as fast as it falls! I couldn't fully enjoy the beauty of it until l was sure that Cassidy had made it home safely from her work. Once I knew she and Cam and Cade were home safely, let the celebratory flakes fall!

School has been cancelled for tomorrow and it is going to be COLD! That means pjs and potato soup tomorrow and a chance to finish reading my Battle of the Books Book and catch up on some television programs Clan and I have taped!
Thank you Lord for the beautiful snow that reminds us of your forgiveness....though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow!

Did You Ever Have One Of Those Days????

Okay...Today has honestly been one of the worse days I have ever had...HONESTLY!

I have been so faithful to get up each day at 5am and spend time with the Lord, and I have felt such peace and been so empowered! This week has been amazing UNTIL.....today.....

I woke up this morning expecting snow, so when my alarm went off at 5 and there was no snow, I was disappointed and without thinking I set my alarm for 6 and went back to bed (waiting for the snow I told myself). When the alarm went off at 6, I laid there and felt sorry for myself because it hadn't started snowing. I got up at 6:30, and I leave the house at 7, so needless to say, I started my day neglecting my morning time with the Lord and began my day.

First period I was writing on my whiteboard and I turned to walk to my desk and I fell! Yep! Splattered out all over the place if you don't believe me ask anyone in my first period class-they all saw it! I twisted my knee and my back is a little sore. I had to fill out a accident report and everything-just a precaution!

Then, after dance team practice at Ingles, I ran into a mad parent whose daughter was told she couldn't dance at the first game because she had missed practice yesterday. In all my years 50 to be exact if you don't practice you don't play...not rocket science!
 Anyway, I was tired and ready to go home, and I honestly should have told him to make an appointment with the principal to discuss it and walked away, but I stood there and listened to him and got madder and madder, and he got madder and madder. He took every word I said and literally made it a negative statement. You can never win when someone confronts you with a narrow mind, but he ended up saying very ugly words to me in front of everyone at Ingles and accuse me of being an uncaring teacher (if you know me you know that is funny) I left very upset.

When I got home, my husband and daughter meet me at the door to inform me that we have no water....I haven't paid the water bill. I feel that I have so many things going that I can't think straight. Paying the water bill was on my to do list. I just didn't get it done. I thought I had paid it. My husband says I have too much on my plate. I know he is right. I feel that I have let him down and that makes me sad.

I also feel that I let the Lord down by not making time for Him this morning. I know that if I had spent time with Him, I would have handled my day the same. I didn't want to go to church tonight. I wanted to curl up in bed and cry and feel very sorry for myself, but then I thought, Lord you know how bad I need you tonight. I need to be in your presence with your people, so I went to church and it was so worth it. My church peeps make me feel so loved and I get so much comfort and strength from them. God knew I needed  that fellowship tonight.

He is so wonderful. Even when I don't make time for HIM. HE still makes time for me and loves me more than I can imagine. Have you ever had one of those days when the Lord took your mess and made it amazing? Let's hear about it.... 

Gentle On My Mind....

"Each day provides its own gifts"

                       -Martial

I recently learned that the name January derives it's name from "Janus"-the Roman god of gates and doors!

Now as a Christian, I don't put a lot of stock in the "gods", but I am intrigued that the month that serves as our threshold to a new year is named as a keeper of gates and doors....

To me this symbolizes the clean slate of a new year. A chance to explore new things and possible enter new gates and open new doors. It is an exciting time and a scary time, we have no guarantees what our new year will bring.

I always inventory the past year and make a list of things I could improve on. These are not necessarily new year's resolutions as much as re-evaluations of my life. 

So far, this being the eleventh day of our new year, I have managed to wake up at 5 o'clock each morning for my quiet time with the Lord and to get a start on the day's chores. I can fold a load of clothes, put a new load in washer, put washed clothes in dryer, put something amazing in the slow cooker, pack my lunch and have my "me" time, all before I face my lovely seventh graders at 8 o'clock.

Once I enter the world of middle school, my time goes by very quickly...so many students with so many needs and so little time....

One thing I know....taking a little time out of my day....at the beginning to spend with my Father, then with myself....sure has made my week a lot more gentle on my mind....

My Word for this year is TIME!

Here is my challenge to you for the week.....

If you could take one family photo to keep and show to someone 100 years from now......which photo would it be?

Next week I will show you mine. Please share yours on instagram #latresaslifelessonsweek#1challenge!

What will your family be doing in the photo?

Make 2014 Count!

Cassidy, Brody and Clancy

Clancy, Brody, Cassidy and Cam

I have decided to share my blog with a group of amazing ladies who really have blogging figured out! I am answering three questions that were placed on their blogs and hope to be linked with their sites...it's TIME to get blogging!

1.   What is something you want to change, or a goal you want to set for the New Year, and what is your plan for making it happen?

My Goal for the New Year is to enjoy my life and the people in it. I have always been a planner and I never take time to live in the present. I am always moving on ahead to what’s next. I hope to slow down in 2014 and actually live each moment as it comes along.

2. Many people choose a word to reflect on, live by, or aspire to for the New Year. Let us know your word, how you decided upon it, and how you hope to incorporate it into 2014.

The word I have chosen for 2014 is TiME. This year I will turn 51. TIME flies. It seems to go by faster with each passing year, and we have no guarantees. This moment in TIME is all we have. As I look back on 2013, I see many moments of pain and sorrow- a son struggling with drug addiction. I see new life and joy unimaginable with the birth of my first grandchild. I see my baby daughter filling out college applications and searching for scholarships. I see gray hairs when I look in the mirror and wonder where that young dreamer that I used to be has gone. I look into the eyes of my husband of 27 years and see a “Pop” who says the worse thing about being a “Pop” is sleeping with “Lolli” (I refuse to be called Granny!)

I have decided to embrace the year 2014 as it begins with a clean slate…a new beginning full of uncertainties, challenges, blessings and aha moments to endure, enjoy and share with those I love. I will make TIME for my loved ones. When they struggle, I will prayerfully lift them up with encouraging words and be there for them. When they laugh, I will laugh with them. When they cry, I will wipe their tears and shed my own. I will make TIME for my health. I’m like every other woman I know…my life is filled with meeting everyone else’s needs while neglecting my own by not eating a healthy diet and taking TiME for a brisk walk to clear my mind, lower my blood pressure and increase my energy level. Most importantly, I will give the LORD my TiME because He is the one who has entrusted me with it all along. My TIME should be HIS TIME….He has my days numbered, and He sees the big picture when I can only see this second in TIME.

3. I will make 2014 count by…Enjoying each new day as it comes and not worrying or trying to fix it to meet my needs or expectations. (I’m a real worrier…this is a challenge).

If you would like to join this link up, head on over to 

Summer Saldana!

Guess who's walking?????

Lolli and "little man"

Clancy's Open House at University of Tennessee with the folks...Go Vols!!!!!

Holiday Road trip! 

If Everyday Was Like Christmas....?

Okay, It's January 4th.

 The trees are down, decorations in boxes,
 presents have been placed in their respectable places,

and 2014 is in full swing.

I'm beginning day 3 of my new healthy living plan, and I haven't strayed from the plan! (This is success!)

There's snow on the ground and more on the way tomorrow night according to local stations...I am one happy Lolli!

As I think about the coming year, I ask myself an important question...do I have life, or does life have me? Deep....uh?

Let me explain myself. I often find myself spiraling out of control when situations enter my life. I become overwhelmed and lose my grip. My solution is to take a looooong nap! 

You would be surprised at how much of 2013 I actually slept through!

Well bloggers, it is time I got a handle on life.

This year, I will focus on the important and let the rest take care of itself.

Most important is my relationship with the Lord.  I give my future to Him and agree to His divine plan for my life. The past no longer counts and my future is His.

My greatest blessing on this earth is my family. I will spend more time just listening and being in the moment. Each Christmas, our family makes an effort to see each and every member of our little clan. Why do we have to wait til once a year to take time to just be together? I mean we get together during the year, but it is always on the run and usually my mind is at the next stop...school, home, What's for supper? What time is dance team practice? (you get the picture)

Why can't everyday we take time to realize that Jesus...is our gift?

Why can't everyday we take time to touch base with at least one family member we have not spoken to in a while?

Why can't we sit down and enjoy a snack (healthy of course) and just talk to one another?

"Oh why can't everyday be like Christmas

Why can't that feeling go on endlessly

For if everyday could be just like Christmas

What a wonderful world this would be...."

                                                                   written by Red West

                                                                    sung by Elvis Presley

Too Much!

Okay...It's January 2, 2014. I weighed this morning, and let me say...I weigh Too Much!

I am beginning a healthy living program-not a diet, a lifestyle. I have many lessons to learn about eating right and portion control. I have taught weight management classes for years and have a background in nutrition from my days with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, but as Paul would say what I want to do...I don't do and what I don't want to do...I do (paraphrased from the scriptures). But I'd say that sums me up.

This picture was the only one I had taken at Graceland. I know that I am extremely overweight. It's no secret, one look and it's obvious to everyone. I am embarrassed by my appearance,  and my weight is effecting my sleep, my joints, and even my mood. It's time to make changes. If I don't put it out here in print, I won't be accountable...so I am now accountable to you, my fellow bloggers.

This will be a lesson that will hopefully give me life and health! I don't want to post my weight on the home page...how embarrassing, but it is on my healthy living page...open if you dare to take the challenge with me. Let's get healthy in 2014!