Thank You

Good morning.  
For those of you who were so kind in sending a package to the troops, I received this email this morning from Jason.
On Behalf of myself and my platoon, I would like to thank you for your support in sending over the packages.  It made my platoon Christmas since that was when we received all of them. Hope you have a Happy New Year.   Jason Hernandez.  
Happy New Year!

WordLess

Day Of Remembrance

Christmas Tree

This Christmas Tree is in the middle of I-17 just north of Sunset Point.  During Thanksgiving someone(s) tend to decorate this tree and has been done so for many years.  No one seems to know who does it and no one claims to be the ones doing it.  But, as one is driving towards Flagstaff or Phoenix, it is a delight to see this awesome cedar all decorated for the holiday.  

Excuse the blurriness....it's hard to take a photo driving down the freeway! I'm Linking To: outdoor-wednesday-205
Wordless Wednesday Fertilizer-Friday-Flaunt-Your-Flowers
Show & Tell Friday

Sisterhood of the World

I am thrilled to be nominated for this award by Susan  at Beneath this Roof Within these walls

So the rules of the award are as follows:

• Include award logo in blog post
• Thank the nominee and link back to their blog
• Post 7 interesting facts about yourself (See below)
• Pass the award to 7 deserving sisters  

My nominees are:  

     Carol at Oasis in the Desert 

     Teresa of Eden Hills

     Karen at The Vintage Bag Lady 

     Marty at A Stroll Thru Life 

     Tracie at Fishtail Cottage 

     Glenda at Tootsie Time 

     Fresh From The Farm 

Interesting Things About Me:

1.   A child of cattle/horse ranchers in Western Arizona.  

2.   A polio survivor.  

3.   Loved horses and was an avid barrel racer, gymkhana participant and even breakaway roping & team roping.  

4.   Medical transcriptionist, coding and billing has been my lifetime profession.  Only figures since most of my life has been connected with the medical field.  

5.   I chose not to have children.

6.   My love of gardening comes from my great-grandfather who was a farmer/rancher on the Colorado river when there were no dams and they actually had steamers.  My grandfather also loved fruit orchards, grapes, & roses.    

7.   Love to read interesting books i.e., Vanished Arizona by Martha Summerhayes....she actually talks about the river and the Indians on the Mogon Rim in Arizona, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson to name a couple.  

I would like to once again thank Sandra for this kind gesture and be sure and check out her blog here

Simple Sunday

OutDoors

I'm Linking to:   WordLess Wednesday OutDoor Wednesday Farm Photo Friday  

Adopt A Soldier

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO SEND PACKAGES  

I recently came across a site where I could adopt a soldier.  Wanting to do something more personal than giving to a charity, I submitted my name.  When I got the soldier's name, I was surprised that he has a platoon of 50 and the only way for me to accomplish their wish list is to ask for your assistance.  

Jason Hernandez
2D BSB
FOB WALTON

APO AE 09367

Home State: NJ
Deployed From: FT Gordon, GA
Gender: Male

Comments: I have a platoon of 50 people with me.  Some items that we would like to have are as follows:

Corn nuts, Footballs, Basketballs, Granola Bars, Drink packets, Nerf Guns, M&M's, Cheese its, Fleece sheets Twin size, butter scotch krimpets, honey buns, pumkin seeds, sunflower seeds, air fresheners, gum, gummy flinstone vitamins, tuna lunch packs, candy, coffee, playing games, slim jim's, jolly ranchers, oreos, pretzels, trail mix, blister covers, wrinkle release, hand held games, cracker jacks, Rice Krispy Treats. Thank you in advance for your generous items. 

Please send your letters and/or packages as soon as possible to Jason so they’ll arrive in time for Christmas.

Please help me in granting these soldier's wishes for Christmas.

This is the AAUSS site
 http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/index.php

 ADDENDUM:
As I packed a box this morning to take to the post office and since it is going to an APO address, I also found out that one has to fill out a Customs Declaration form stating what is in the package.   It is sort of like filling out a Fed-X form.  Thanks.  Joani 

December Blooms

In Arizona this time of year is beautiful for us and even the night temperatures are not below the 50s.   Superb growing weather.  
Here are a few blooms that I have in my garden.  

The pomegranate leaves are finally turning and falling off.  

Please don't forget about the  Adopt A Soldier while you are out their shopping.  

I'm linking to: Outdoor-Wednesday Fertilizer-Friday-Flaunt-Your-Flowers funkyjunkinteriors homesteadrevival barn-hop-90 home-and-garden-thursday

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

I'm linking To:  simple-sweet-fridays

Enlarging

I don't have any photos for this post as I couldn't figure out how to take a screen picture and get it in jpeg.
Since I've been blogging and following parties, I've cursed at the fact that the icons (photos) of the participating bloggers were so small to view and it just couldn't be my aging eyes!  
Well, guess what, I finally figured it out.....
I can enlarge the photos by pressing the CTRL key & the + sign.  Wallah the photos are big enough for me to enjoy and view from there.  I can't believe I didn't know about this before.   
Maybe I'll be able to figure out the screen photo thingamagig sooner or later.  
What trouble are you having with this blogging stuff?

An Old Tree

I came across this outstanding looking tree.  

Awesome looking trunk!

I am Linking to: Photo Friday

Balloons

I was on my way back this morning from attending the Market on the Move when I came across these.  I couldn't resist.  It's amazing what one will see when they get up early in the a.m.  There were 12 balloons in all.  Have you ever been to Albuquerque during the balloon fiesta?  It is breathtaking.   

What have you seen in the early a.m?

ClassMates Lunch

Those of us that live in the Phoenix area try to get together as often as we can.  This was our lunch before the holidays and probably the last one for this year.  We ate at Betty's Nosh.  The food & service has always been excellent.   We have been friends since grade school &/or lived across the street from one another.   

From left to right - Dee, Sandy, Norma, Margaret, Joani, & Pat

WordLess Wednesday

Linking To: tinaswordlesswednesday

Thrifty Finds

I love frogs and this is a watering can.  It happened to be a Better Homes & Garden can and it was also a Home Interiors product.  Home Interiors is no longer.  This was in such good shape that I could not pass it up.  










My second item is a water fountain.  I love the sound of running water outside.  This one looked so interesting and was just my color.  It had a pump with it but it didn't work.  I just so happened to have a pump that would work.  This may not be the perfect spot for it but it's a beginning.  

I also found this wooden box.  I'm not sure of it's future function but....

That's it for this Sunday.  I'm spending my mornings in the outside cuz the Arizona weather has finally cooled off a bit.   
I'm Linking To: SNS - Funky Junk Interiors

Stormy

Storm is brewing this evening.  We shall see if it rains.  

Wordless Wednesday

I'm Linking To: tinaswordlesswednesday

Day Dreaming

I am Linking to: Outdoor Wednesday