My tree

Last week I was snuggled up in bed with the husband. I had gotten back into full force on my ancestry research after about an 8 month break. There was something I found on Pinterest that was deep in my thoughts for some time now and I finally decided to attempt it.

Now I have never stated I was artists or creative. In fact I look at some of the things I see on Pinterest and stare in awe at the creativity. Up until about a year ago my walls have been pretty bare in my house that I've lived in for 12 years now. Why you ask? Because I look at my walls and I see nothing. No creative juices flow through this mind at all!

So in my bed the other night I said to the husband, "Can I put a tree on the wall here behind the bed? And put pictures of our family?" His usual answer to about just anything followed, "I suppose. If that is what you want to do." Now what I lack in creative ideas I make up for in impulsive whims. From the moment my head hit that pillow until the time I touched that wall with the first stroke of brown outline pencil, that was all I could think about.

And so I started. Outlined, drawn and painted it was finished in around 4 hours. All while the husband was at work. When he got home and found the bed pulled away from the wall and a tree drawn on it I got a look. And, "I didn't really think you were going to do this." Silly husband, when will he ever learn, was my thinking.

The next day came the great picture hunt. I decided to only go four generations back on this tree. Maybe more but for now I will share what I have so far. It is a work in progress. I am now going to track down relatives for pictures. So here it is........

 I will share my progress as I go.

~April~

A Dish That Became More!

The Ugly Wedding Gift!

Here it is! The dish that was my least favorite wedding gift ever! I became the owner of this kitchen wonder when I got married in 1999. It was a gift from one of my mother's older church friends.Now I know the lady meant well at the time  but I just made some offhand comment later to my mom that it was ugly and it went to her house for storage. Now let's put the story behind this.

I was 20. I was marrying a wild and handsome cowboy and I did not know the first thing about cooking. I could boil water and the husband's favorite meal was shake and bake pork chops with shells and cheese. Trust me, that is not a very challenging meal. I had no idea how to utilize a dish like this! Plus I knew it was secondhand and old. I was not into older things at all at that time. Fast forward 14 years to now.

This casserole dish is a common site at my house. It survived a divorce from Mr. Handsome and a marriage to Mr. Sensible and came out of hiding. It has cooked so many tuna casseroles  and other side dishes I cannot even count. And the ugly has grown on me. Cause of course when you have a family of 5 function always outweighs looks.

I have to say, out of the wedding gift I got back then, this is about the only one I remember now!

~April~

Diving in!

I have always wanted to write a blog but I just could not think of anything that would remotely interest anyone. Then I started the magical journey of ancestry research. I credit my mother for starting me out. I have sorted through hundreds of photos, became best friends with a scanner and the micro-film machine at my local library. This blog will talk about my research but also about the everyday things that bring back memories of days past! Hope you enjoy. (Now to figure out how to post pictures!)

~April~