I love the contrast of color against the green in this photo of ladies in Bangladesh. Visit Nathaniel's blog today for recent news - there's even a photo of a NEW Muslim CONVERT. Enjoy the good news!

Madison herself.

She might look a little bit like her dad...

You can view this Apples of Gold article for February and many others at our Apples of Gold blog. Enjoy!

The Story Goes Like This...

A recent business trip brought us to the bustling airport of Raleigh, North Carolina. As I prepared to go through security, I found myself fretting a bit over the items I had in my purse. The last time I traveled by air, security personnel forced me to throw out my lip-gloss and my lotion; nor was I allowed to carry my water bottle on board. The Sahara Desert would have been a good destination for me that day. At least I would have blended in with the dry, parched landscape.

So there I was, in a long, long line of travelers, each of us disassembling ourselves in preparation for the metal detector. When my turn came time to go through the electronic archway, I stood there in my stocking feet, completely embarrassed that my knee highs didn’t match my skirt and assuring myself that all the stuff in my purse would pass inspection without a problem. Wrong.

An elderly, yet authoritive airport security agent met me at the end of the line, his left hand holding my shiny, red purse while his crooked right index finger beckoned me to follow him. My heart sank as I searched the line behind me for my husband. I felt like a grade school student on her way to the principle’s office; wondering whether or not I would live through the rest of the day.

The man’s character was cold and his words without expression as he questioned me about my red purse. “Is this yours, Ma’am?’

“Well, well, yes it is. But I took out the lotion before I…” He cut me off before I could finish telling him how efficient I was about obeying the laws of airport security.

“What’s in there?” he interrogated me as he pointed a wooden stick at the black, patent leather change purse I got at Marshall’s for $4.99. It was fat with quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies and weighed about two pounds—a beautiful thing, I thought.

“Change?” I answered, a little unsure that it was actually okay to have change in my purse.

He pulled a white cloth from beneath a stainless steal counter, and began to wipe off my purse, inside and out—especially my overweight change purse. “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice incredulous.

“Checking for explosive residue,” he answered bluntly. With a furrowed brow, I wondered if my mismatched, green argyle socks made me look dangerous enough to have explosives in my handbag.

After my purse and I tested negative for explosives, the security man handed me a zip-lock baggie and told me to use it for transporting my change on the airplane. “Makes it easier see what’s inside,” he said.

“Thanks,” I replied. I crumpled up the plastic baggy and stuffed it in the pocket of my jacket—not planning to ever use the thing.

Randy met me at the end of the conveyor belt. Putting my boots back on I asked him, “Wanna get a coffee? I’ve got a bunch of change to spend…”

Here she is, the USS New York! She was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. . .



It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003 "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up.”
“It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget."

Today...snow...heavy at times...then rain...snow and sleet this afternoon. Snow and sleet accumulation of 5 to 7 inches. Highs in the mid 30s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

8:30 a.m. About four inches.


Just a cute shot of Mr. Higgins' new haircut...

Love this pic of my girl and me - mostly because it was my first day out after 12 days inside!

Sleeping seagulls.
Interrupted by Abigail.
How fun!

Moonrise, beautiful moonrise. This time, at the ocean...

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY to JOEL HAZRA!

Visit his blog today and wish him a wonderful day!

Because I've done a whole lot of resting these past several days, I've had time to start a new afghan for our family room. I haven't crocheted in years, and I've enjoyed it. Here are the first three panels...

Look what Thomas and his kind mother, Louanne, dropped off at our house today! It came with a valentine and was all tied up with a pretty, polka-dot bow. These cakes are quite famous I've heard. Loaded with popcorn, peanuts, jelly beans, and pink fluff, this cake looks like it came from the pages of a Martha Stewart cookbook. I can't wait to take a bite of ours! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

Happy Valentine's Day
to You!

The scenes from around our house:

Roses from Randy...

I Corinthians 13, the Bible's "Love Chapter"


A gift from a family friend:

Abbey's roses from her Daddy...

Seen on the coffee table...

Gift wrapping...

Looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel - I'm feeling better today! And Randy is at 100%. While caring for this cold, I realized how much I love to take care of our home. It was hard for me to do nothing each day. I am so happy to be on the mend! AND - I could actually SMELL the coffee today - a first since seven days ago. Happy, happy!

This is a very accurate picture of the scene in our home. Randy and I are both down with the flu. Abbey is taking such good care of us. I'm praying our roles don't reverse; Abbey has important plans!

If you want to accomplish something, if you want to be someone of worthy influence, then consider this advice for your own personal development:

Down on the farm...

Randy and I flew down to North Carolina last Thursday to visit some friends. It was a business trip that ended up being a lot of fun! We flew Southwest (obviously!) ...

Here's the gorgeous house our friends built with their own hands!

This cat (one of about seven) followed me everywhere! If I walked, he walked. If I ran, he ran. Isn't that just the weirdest behavior from a cat?

Kimi and me. She is a darling girl who carried this bunny EVERYWHERE and who can't pronounce her Rs. I'm sure you can just imagine the cuteness!

Carolyn and Chase on the night the Giants won the Superbowl!

Jacob gettin' into the game...


A great bunch of kids!

Cathy (a.k.a. Cath)...

Kimi and her victory shout when the Giants won the game...

Randy and Kirk on the day we had to leave.

Tomorrow, I'll post photos of the the business aspect of our meeting.

North Carolina

We are in North Carolina visiting with some very close friends. Here are some photos of the kids.

Jacob
Chase - sporting a very bad cold.

Kimi and Randy

Carolyn and me.

Kitty-boo, who has no tail...