How about another wedding?

Sons Chapel is the location of my nephew Brian Peterson's upcoming wedding this month. As you can see from my blog there has been a lot of marriage activity in our lives. It is certainly wonderful to see the tradition of marriage existing in todays society. That these young people are joining their lives with the ceremony of marriage.

A wedding is a loving ceremony joining two people ready to spend their lives together. Being blessed in a church or chapel.

We look forward to this ceremony, and have enjoyed evey moment of the weddings we have already attended. Love forever! Debra

The Wedding of Brian and Heather Byrd

These are the photos of the wedding. It was my intention to have blogged about it before this but Tony and I have been go, go, go, since our return. So I'm putting them out there. Some are blurry, from me trying to rush the shot instead of focusing and taking the photo. Most of them are good though and I still remember how lovely it was. I notice I duplicated some of the photos and I'm not feeling like taking them out right now so I'm sending them into blog world to you all. Enjoy!

The Wedding

I can never get the photos in order. Well here are the two pics I was able to get of Tony and myself before my battery died. We had trouble getting through rush hour traffic so we arrived late at our hotel and had to hurry to get ready for our reservations for dinner up top. I had planned to charge up my camera battery before we left.

Dinner was great and the view from Sky City was fantastic. Turn after turn of breath taking views. Our dinner of prime rib with a garlic and butter potato and steamed brocolli. A lovely large slice of cheesecake drizzled in rasberry sauce.
Tony and I had such a good time. We picked up our rental car a red Impala. Tony really enjoyed this fun little car, maybe it was its hot red color. Then headed to the hotel. Traffic was terrible (rush hour) and we missed our turn off to get to our hotel when we got to the hotel had only a short time to get ready for dinner at the Space Needle. We made reservations for 7pm the night we arrived.

After dinner we met up with Brian and the rest of our family. They had a meet and greet at the Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle. Most every one had left by the time we got there but some of the family was still there and we caught up on a little of what we missed. Everyone seemed to have a great evening. The Arctic Club Hotel was also beautiful. If you go to Seattle this is a wonderful hotel. Right downtown in the middle of everything. A short free ride on the metro to the market or the Space Center.

The next few days were a joy of touring, sightseeing, rehearsal dinner, wedding and wedding reception. It's getting late and I have go, more about our exciting trip later.

Weddings and more weddings

Oh my goodness it's already Sunday! I can't believe we're just 4 days away from flying to Seattle. I'm excited!


I still don't quite know what I'm taking,warm comfortable clothes and shoes, and of course a nice dress for the wedding and reception. It's probably going to be cold now as well as wet, since there was a front coming down from the north. I've been watching the weather channel and weather bug even going online to see the forecasts there so I can get an idea what to pack.




Brian (our nephew) is so happy. He found his true love on the Internet. Did I blog this part before? Well, seems he was on one of those matchmaking sites. He was corresponding with a few young ladies for a time and something about Heather made him want to meet her. She lives in Seattle and we live in Arkansas, so this was a long distance relationship for a while. Each one would sometimes come here or go there to see each other. When Brian knew Heather was the one he made his proposal plans. He had a friend set up a special table and suite at Carnall Hall, decorated so he could propose to her. After a lovely dinner they went to the suite which was decorated with candles and flowers. Heather sensed something was up and has said it couldn't have been any more special.



Brian has graduated from the University of Arkansas a few years ago. Worked for the government and then decided to go back and further his degree, he graduated this May. We're very proud of him.


Tony's father Harold and his brother Terry (Brian's dad) and Linda (Terry's wife) are all going.

Our flight is a little lengthy we have 2 layovers before we get to Seattle. We will stop in a couple of cities we've never been to. It's fun to see the different terminals as long as you don't have to stay to long.

Next writing will be after the trip. Till then God bless.

Middle of the Week

Here it is Wednesday again stuck in the middle of the week. I have to go get gas for my car today. My husband likes us to fill up on Wednesday because it seems they usually raise the prices near the weekend. All you folks that use regular unleaded are lucky. My husband and I both have Acura's and they run on Premium unleaded. These cars have to have 91 octane or higher in order for them to run right and not build up carbons and other crude that junks up the motor.
Tony is a tech for an Acura dealership so he knows what these cars need to operate. So this means my visit to the pump is a little costly most visits. It's nice to see the prices coming down.
Yesterday I received and email that had a very sweet message about life so I thought I'd share it with you here.

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it: I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say 'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's 'dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.' You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, fo lks live about seventy-five years. 'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays.' 'I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.' 'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There i s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out tohelp get your priorities straight.' 'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.' 'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!' You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on?' she asked with a smile. 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles. A friend sent this to me, so I sent it to you, my friend. And so, as one smart bear once said...'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' - Winnie the Pooh. Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to the person that sent it to you. And if you receive this e-mail many times from many different people, it only means that you have many FRIENDS. And if you get it but once, do not be discouraged for you will know that you have at least one good friend...
And that would be ME.

9th annual Bikes, blues, and Bar BQ

With the end of September came the local annual event, Bikes, Blues, and Bar BQ. Fayetteville welcomed thousands of bikers again this year.

It is estimated over 300,000 in attendance this year. Lots of good food and drink, and plenty of music. Including this years major act the Allman Brothers Band. The band performed on Friday night of this years event at the Randall Tyson Track Center here in Fayetteville.
Downtown Dickson streets stage was a central location of many local area bands which drew huge crowds and was very enjoyable. We couldn’t resist the smell of Bar BQ and of course her’s Tony eating a pulled pork sandwich from Lucky Lukes.

Tony and I went down to listen to our favorite band “Big Uns” Fuzz one of the band members works with my husband and has invited us to many of their performances. Here we’re hanging out listening to some of the bands. What a blast!

Dickson Street was crazy! Bikes roaring up and down the street riders showing off their rides. Folks jammed the sidewalk for a peek or a chance to get to one of the many restaurants and bars up and down Dickson. All in all another great event benefiting local charities. Bikers really come together to help out others., and for that Fayetteville tries to show the folks visiting a good time.
So till next year when we will be hosting our 10th year of this event, so long .

Turning 50

Ta Daa! I'm 50! Holy crap! Has it been that long since I was born?

What happened to the time?

Life has been wonderful. The good times and the bad.

Yes there have been both, but who hasn't had them. If there were no bad how would know to appreciate the good so much.

Born in Prairie Grove a little town in Arkansas, about 20 miles or so from my hometown of Fayetteville. The hospital no longer exists that I was born in. As with some things in life progress removes the old to create the new, it is of course the cycle.

Living in Fayetteville most of my life, being raised by my mom and my grandparents on Rose hill next to the U of A. I went to Leverett school, corner of Cleveland and Garland streets. My friends and I thought we ruled the hillside, we'd get together and ride bikes, play ball down at the church yard at the bottom of the hill. Sneak into the swimming pools of the neighborhood apartment complex's. My friends and I met many UofA students who became somebodies and so and so's. I sometimes see an article written by or about some of the students I met growing up around the campus.

The university was my playground also. Since my grandmother worked there for over 30 years it was like my second home. I learned the ins and outs of the campus. My brother and my friends spent 1000's of hours exploring and finding interesting things of each building.

I've seen the aquariums of interesting aquatic life that was harbored in the science building. Reptiles and skeletons abound which either amazed us or grossed us out. In the science and engineering building I probably saw and knew what computers were long before any of my friends, Or even the adults I knew. From the lower floors of that building. I would stand at the window and watch them feed the cards into this huge massive room sized machine, and later the cards turned into a keypad. Maybe you see where I'm going with this.

You now are sitting in front of your monitor of your small PC or laptop, with a keyboard in front of you and you see I have come full circle.

My 50 years, my childhood, and now my words can be seen by the world. Did I know it when I was watching those professors and students all those years ago? I had no idea. You could not have made me believe I would be doing this in my own home. After all these machines were huge. Massive amount of space, whole rooms, needed just to house them. Early on two seperate rooms to input from the processing. But here we are about 40 years later and laptops go almost anywhere.

It's been a great life so far. I wonder what I'm doing right now that I will be using in my next 50 years? I can't wait!