7 things (not necessarily my favorites things) that make me feel old

This week as I turn 43 I thought it would be funny to list some things that have made me realize I am getting old OR they just make me feel that way. I know and believe the saying 'you are only as old as you feel' and all those nice things but here is some proof and no denying the fact.................. I am not getting any younger! ha ha

1. For the first time ever in my whole life I am older than my preacher. I am so excited and already love Highlands new preacher Jonathan Storment. But I am pretty sure he is 'twenty something and I am forty something! ugh!

2. Yesterday was the inauguration of Abilene Christian University's 11th President. While I am NOT older than ACU (thank goodness) I am older than my good friend Phil Schubert (the new president). I have a hard time believing I am old enough to be friends with the family of this position-let alone that I am actually older than them!

3. I am older than my Primary Care Doctor. This reminds me of Jonathan's grandmother Addie B. when she was in her 80's it was brought to my attention that her doctor was OLDER than her! So I am glad I have gone ahead and jumped over on this one.

4. The first kids that Jonathan and I taught in Children's Church here in Abilene are now Seniors in High School.

5. One of the new faculty members in the College of Business at ACU is a former student of Jonathan's from several years back. (this one actually makes Jonathan feel old-hahaha)

6. Last Sunday at church they introduced all the sweet little kids going into kindergarten and said that they would graduate with the class of 2023! I will be 56 then!!! Not that 56 is old! (right??)

7. And last but not least when I hear someone refer to 80's music as "the oldies" or see my girls wearing some of the same type of cloths that I wore when I was in high school

(in the 80's)...................... makes me feel old!

And we are not even going to talk about the fact that I can't read anything up close any more.

Look out for the 'middle aged' lady in the blue VW Bug!

Twenty Years Ago Today!

On August 11th of 1990 I made one of the best and easiest choices of my life. Marrying Jonathan Stewart. I am posting a few pictures for your enjoyment-yeah I know we looked like babies and we were rocking the 80's hair styles.

I just want to take a moment to say Thank you Jonathan for choosing me, for loving me and taking such good care of me all these years. You have blessed me with 2 beautiful girls, loads of fun memories and all the love and support I could ever ask for. I knew I was making a great choice in marrying a guy like you and I knew I loved you 20 years ago. But I had no idea how much more I would love you today than I did when we said 'I do" back then.

I honestly cannot believe it has really been a WHOLE 20 years. I thought we would be really old when this mark came around. The older we get the more I push back what I consider "old". ha ha

Thanks for sharing your life with me, for playing the guitar and singing to me, for taking walks with me, for cooking on the grill (it doesn't matter if it's snowing or 11o degrees out there). You are so great with our kids-we could not make it with out you! You give 100 percent at all you do-work or play, we are so proud of you.

I love you and can't wait to see what happens with the next 20 with you!

Happy Anniversary my sweet Husband!

7 Favorite Foods that somebody else has made

I have been away from the Blog for a few months now but I am changing my blog background and typing on my computer. In a effort to come up with something different I started thinking about food. So rather than listing my favorite foods I started thinking about favorite foods or recipes that friends and family have made. So here goes

"7 Favorite foods by some of my favorite people!"

1. My Mom and Dad's Biscuits and Gravy. Every time we go home you can bet on them cooking up some biscuits and gravy with sausage. Homemade biscuits from scratch, none of those frozen things or mixes that you add water or the kind that come in a can. The kind where you make the dough, roll it out on the counter and press out circles with a biscuit cutter (I hear mom and dad have even found a way to make REALLY BIG biscuits for my nephew's! They are big boys and need a big biscuit I tell you!)

2. Mamaw's Coconut Cream Pie. Jonathan's Mamaw Hughes could make a lot of delicious foods and LOVED to cook for everyone. She would always have enough Blue Bell Ice Cream for all the family to have morning, noon and night (and she would offer it to my small children at all of those times of day- ha ha). But her pies..................... mmmmm mmm mmmm, just ask my father in law. I am pretty sure he felt the same way.

3. Jonathan Stewart's Sweet Potato Gratin. Ok, really I guess it is Bobby Flay's recipe but husband is the one who makes it! For all of you (I think I have 8 followers now) turning up your nose to sweet potatoes hold on!! First you slice them really thin (with a thing that WILL cut your fingers off!) then you layer them with a sauce of chipotle chile puree and heavy cream. I promise you it is THE BEST!!!!!

4. Tammy Link's (My favorite sister) Sugar Cookies. Ok, she actually doesn't make these but she buys them for me (and her daughter Megan) every time we go to Roswell NM. These cookies are big, soft, always cute with pretty frosting on top and they taste soooooo good! My sister is a fabulous cook so I feel really feel bad to not pick something that SHE cooks -like her pies, brisket, green salads, or potato salad (she always makes me a little batch without raw onions before she 'ruins' the rest). She is the BEST!

5. Sally's Chocolate Cookies (my sweet mother-in-law). She uses that recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag BUT she adds extra flour (my sister in law and I usually can not find that magic amount that makes Sally's cookies so fluffy (not flat) and so good!

6. Loree's Tacos (my sister-in-law). I can't even tell you for sure what makes her Taco's better than any others I have EVER had but this is a true statement. "They are the best Taco's I have ever had!" You would just have to taste them to believe me, there is no person or restaurant that makes them like hers.

7. Kevin Robert's Mac and Cheese. It is rub it on your face good and I love it when he brings it to my house as a side dish or to church potlucks! Way to go K-Rob!

I hope you all are having a great summer (I cannot believe how fast it is going by).

Love to you all!

Cindy

7 of my favorite movies

It may be hard to actually list just 7 favorite movies but I will keep it at 7 (I can always do the list again if I want-I can make up my own rules since it is my blog) ha ha

1. Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. I have seen this movie so many times (you can find it on the TV regularly) and I will stop and watch it almost every time.

2. Mary Poppins: My email and the name of the purse business I used to own is named from this movie (What's all This) I love it when the Chimney Sweeps all come from the roof into the house through the fireplace and the dad is yelling What's all this, what's all this.

3. Knight's Tale: One of Heath Ledger's movies. The movie starts out playing "We will rock you" by Queen and has a bunch of great music. I would be embarrassed to know how many times we have watched this movie.

4. Elf: What a funny movie. It is just silly!

5. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: I loved this movie when I was a kid and now the girls and I love to watch it together. Dick Van Dyke is in this as well as 'Mary Poppins' It is so cool when Truly Scrumptious and Cractacus Potts (yes that is the names of the lead characters) act like they are wind up dolls. And all the music is awesome.

6. The Proposal and every other movie that Sandra Bullock has ever been in

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas: (the cartoon version) Well................ Cindy Lou Who is just adorable and she has a great name!

Well, hope you are all enjoying summer, I know I am glad it has finally arrived.

Loves!

Cindy

7 Favorite things about the birthday girl. Amber Michelle

I can't believe my baby girl turned 13 this week. I am the mother of two beautiful teenage girls now. Holy Cow where does the time go? So while it hasn't been a full week since my last 7 list I feel like I have to do a shout out for Amber on her birthday.

1. Amber always thinks about others and loves to celebrate events to honor a person. When it is one of our birthdays, mothers day, fathers day........... anything. She is usually the first to want to plan a special breakfast, homemade cards, or making cookies for the neighbors. She has taught our family to think more this way.

2. Amber loves kids and they love her. They may be just a few years younger than her or just little tiny people. She has been invited to birthday parties or asked to 'come over to play' with some of these younger than her. Last summer we would go to the pool and she would make friends with small children and have a blast playing with them. She is gonna be a great babysitter someday and a great mommy!

3. She loves to make peanut butter cookies!

4. She has a passion to teach others about the Bible.

5. She is a great student, she gets Math. (I do not get math so I can really appreciate this talent)

I have had many teachers brag on her as a student and as a friend to others at school.

6. She loves family. Loves her sister, loves her cousins, grandparents, dog, I think she even loves her parents!

7. Amber is such a kind, thoughtful and considerate soul. I have watched her write letters to sick children, give or raise money for a good cause, make cookies for her friends, neighbors, church and school classes, make pictures, cards and paper animals for tons of people. Be a peace maker, and be patient when it wasn't easy.

Here is a quote that was read about Amber just a few weeks ago during an award ceremony at Craig Middle School. She was one of several students honored for the month. She makes us proud to be her parents!

"Amber Stewart has that enduring quality of sincere charm and, like a magnet, friends are drawn to her. She's an excellent student, perfectly mannered and always dependable. Amber's sweet smile is contagious! She fits the definition of a Craig outstanding Student to a 'T'"

P.S. To all you parents out there............... yeah she forgets to make her bed, pick up her clothes and doesn't always get along with her sister. But that is not included in THIS list. hee hee.

Happy Birthday Amber. I love you!

Not my favorite things!!!

I decided to do something different this week; instead of doing 7 favorite things I am going to do 7 things that are NOT my Favorites.

1) Confrontation. I hate to be confronted and I hate to confront someone, I hate confrontation. It gives me a stomach ache. Lets just be happy and all get along please!

2) Having stitches pulled out. Ugh it makes to shiver just thinking about it. I haven't even had to have stitches very often. It doesn't bother me as much to get stitches (which is a little weird since that part involves a pointy needle going through my skin). But that tugging feeling- the skin being stuck to the thread...................aaarrrrgggggghhhhh

3) Many of you know by now that I love the summer and being warm. The down side of summer is air conditioning. Now I am all for air conditioning unless it makes me cold. Why in the world do we need winter coats in the summer at church, the grocery store, the mall, the movie theater, etc. etc. etc. Why can't all these places just find a comfortable temperature, save some money, save the planet.

4) Termites. I didn't know this would be one of my 'not favorite things' until a few weeks ago. I got to experience a termite 'swarm' in my very own house. Many, many, many little flying buggy things came out of the door facing of the bathroom. I don't want to talk about this anymore, I feel itchy. (you do not have to be afraid of coming to our house-they have been dealt with)

5) When husband tells me "you are snoring". How can we not be sure it wasn't that he woke himself with his own snoring? I know my allergies have been bad and my nose has been stuffy but surely I do not snore, I don't!

6) When momma's have to bury their children. I have walked this journey with a couple of my friends and it breaks my heart. No matter if their child was small or a grown adult, I wish this pain did not exist.

7) When Children have to bury their Momma's. It just seems like kids need their moms to help them grow up.

7 favorite Momma Moments:

Well since it is Mother's Day weekend I felt like sharing some fond memories of being Ashlyn and Amber's Mom. It is truly an honor to love and help raise my 2 girls!

1) When both of my girls were babies I would hold one of their tiny hands to my lips and kiss it while they were nursing. Eventually they would put their hand to my lips on their own. I will never forget those sweet quiet moments together.

2)I am always amazed when I watch my girls strap on their ballet shoes, get on stage and dance in front of a big crowd of people, what beautiful graceful young ladies they are becoming!

3)It is always fun times when Ashlyn, Amber and I load up in the VW bug and laugh and sing together. Just a few of our favorites are: Def Leppard, Taylor Swift, Raskal Flats, Jonas Brothers, Sugarland, Bon Jovi, Shana Twain.......................

4) Each night before the girls go to sleep we take time to pray together, even the dog likes to get in the middle of this. We trade turns each night, right now the order is tallest to shortest. (that must mean I AM still taller than Ashlyn!!)

5) I have fond memories of the times I have walked arm in arm or hand in hand with one or both of the girls. Some of my favorite places have been walking along the river outside of Oxford, through the cemetery in France and hiking in Italy. Thank you ACU for the opportunity to go to Europe through the Study Abroad Program.

6) One of my favorite Mother's Day Mornings was the year that Jonathan and girls brought me breakfast in bed. It was complete with Pancakes and coffee, cards, flowers and my gift: an unwrapped frying pan with the paper tag still around it. They all seemed so unusually proud of themselves for this gift, while I was thinking "wow............ a pan!" They had hidden an iPod under the paper tag. I finally figured out why they were so proud!!

7) '2 Girls'

I have just loved having 2 girls, from the adorable little girl cloths, to sharing shoes and coats, pigtails, giggles and tears. Painting each others nails and all 3 of us in my bathroom fixing everyones hair. I have honestly adored every stage with Ashlyn and Amber as they are growing up to be beautiful young ladies. I thank God daily for our precious family.

I am so Blessed to be their momma!

Happy Mother's Day

Cindy

PS I have put some pictures below, be sure to check them out!

My Two favorite girls

Pictures of our family

7 precious People that I miss

Well, this one is going to be a little deeper than a list of my favorite shoes (I know it was a lame one!) I am going to list a few people who were dear to me and are no longer with us on this earth. While there are many already coming into my mind I am going to keep it at my '# 7' at least I think I will.

1. Janet Hughes: Our family went to Yellowstone together with Jonathan's cousin and his family. It was the last time I got to see Janet before she passed away from colon cancer. That girl could find the best little antique stores in East Texas. She could name any flower or type of rock (she was especially impressive at this while at Yellowstone). She bought me a little toy car VW bug for my 40th birthday-sadly she wasn't around when I got the real thing. One of the funniest things she said was that her family was a "Lawrence Welk" kind of family and Paul's (her husband) was a "Hee Haw" kind of family.

2. Uncle Max Magness: He was the youngest of 7 of my Dad's siblings. He was as real cowboy as they came. He looked like some of those funny cowboy cards you see sometimes. The ones with nasty teeth. He did have nasty teeth and spit chewing tobacco every waking moment and I kissed him every time I saw him. bleh! He was funny guy and a loyal friend with a big ol heart.

3. Hardy Stewart: Hardy became MY papaw pretty much the first time I met him (who was really Jonathan's papaw. He was a big tall man who loved his wife dearly, was proud of his sons and adored his grandchildren. My mom's parents passed away when I was only in 3rd grade and my dads mom "had so many grandchildren, she didn't know what to do" ha ha. So I guess I just ate up the love that Jonathan's precious grandparents showed me. I will always remember his laugh and those big hands with the end of one finger missing.

4. Kerri Lane: Loved her girls and God more than anyone I have ever known. She had the funniest sense of humor and was such a dear friend to soooooo many people. I wish I could have spent a lot more time with this lady. I am thankful for the time I did spend with her and the time I get to spend with her girls.

5. Russell and Vida Post: These two lived across the street from my family in Roswell New Mexico. They were an older couple that never had any children. I would go to their house A LOT; back in the day when a child could go 'missing' for hours with no cell phone and no worries. My dog Jiggs loved them as much as I did, in fact she would jump the fence all the time and go to their house. Maybe it was because they would give Jiggs and I Oreo cookies and Snicker's bars. They moved to Arkansas and I went and saw them a few times during the summer one time for a full 4 weeks (and I had never been away from home). They took me all over Arkansas and Tennessee and fed me fresh strawberries until I broke out in hives and thought I had the chicken pox. I remember that was the first time to ever see fireflies and mosquitos the size of humming birds. I think I looked like I had been pecked by a humming bird because of those mosquitos!

6. Myrtle Gray: when I was in Junior High and High School I went to Pine Springs summer camp in Sacramento New Mexico. There was a lady who would teach all the girls bible classes. It seemed like she was 80 years old, she had long grey hair tied up in a bun and always wore a skirt. It was really something to watch that lady get around in the mountains. She had such a passion to teach, she spoke just above a whisper and the 'mess hall' filled with girls listened to what she had to say.

7. Addie B. Hughes: This sweet lady was Jonathan's other grandmother. She was soft spoken and someone who was content with very little. The only things that would get her out of the house was: 1.) going to church every time the doors were open 2.) getting her hair fixed and

3.) going to the grocery store. I really need to learn to cook pies the way she did. It was always a treat to go a spend time at her house in East Texas, it was a peaceful place to be and she fed us well.

There are so many people that have passed through my life and I am thankful for everyone of them. I hope this makes you think about the people you have loved and miss. Blessings to you people!

love

Cindy

7 of my favorite pairs of shoes!

7 of my favorite pairs of shoes!

After many wonderful suggestions for this weeks '7' I finally decided to share 7 pairs of my favorite shoes (although I have to admit there are more than 7 favorites in my closet I thought it best to not go overboard). And apparently I had way to much time on my hands since I actually took my shoes, posed them around the house and photographed them. I will blame that on the fact that I work for a photographer-maybe I am trying to 'feed off of her talent'. But these pictures only prove that is better that she take the pictures and I remain the one who takes care of everyones orders. So here you go and I will be using some of your suggestions for future favorite lists. It was very fun to see what my facebook friends came up with. I seem to need Ashlyn here with me today to post this like I wanted to. I would love to put captions by each picture. But as some of you may know I am 'computer stupid' sooooooooo I think at this time what you see is what we get. And maybe you really don't want to hear about my silly shoes anyway! ha ha

I hope you all have a great week!

Two Year Olds........... definitely one of my favorite things!

Jonathan and I have been teaching the Two year olds on Wednesday nights at church for at least 7 years now. I wish I could say that I have been writing down all the funny stuff that has happened over the years. But I have not been doing that so I am going to do my best to remember some of the good ones.

So here goes: 7 of my favorite things from the 2's class:

1. "What happened to your hair?" This is a very common question that the kids will ask my handsome bald husband. The next question: "Can I touch it?" I wish I had a picture of the time that about 4 little kids were all rubbing his head all at once.

2. "Look at my shoes!" You would be amazed at how proud little people are of their new shoes, even their old shoes. These are kids after my own heart.

3. "This Bible is orange and it does not match my outfit!!!!" This statement cracks me up every time I think about it-

4. If you are needing to kill a little time with 2 year olds just ask them if they have any 'boo boo's'. Every one of them will show off their latest bruise, scratch or bump. And they ALWAYS have some to show.

5. This one is just a general rule of thumb: When one 'two' needs to go potty it almost always ends up in a parade of many who 'need to go potty'

6. I love how if you ask them to help you clean up they might just act like you are talking a different language BUT if you start singing Barney's clean up song they are like robots and just start cleaning. AWESOME!!! Too bad this one doesn't work on teenagers.

7. And this one doesn't happen very often but one of our two's told us a joke. He was dressed up like a Pirate for halloween (because it was halloween). Here is the joke: How much do Pirates pay for earrings?................. 'A buck an ear'

(Thank you Kara for letting me post a picture of Will and Levi-2 of our favorite 2's) I might have to post a few more pictures of these guys and some of the others during the week.

I sure do love all those little people!

This week's 7 things is gonna be an easy one......... My favorite things about SPRING!!

FINALLY we have gone days without some bitter cold for a while now. We have had some 90's, 80's and all of this week may be in the 70's. I will even let those slip by- ha ha

So here is is this weeks 7.....

1. Cooking on the grill, let it be burgers, chicken, quesadillas , corn, asparagus ......... whatever it is it is YUMMMMMMY! (Thanks Jonathan for cooking on the grill) ;-)

2. The flowers are blooming, I have seen daffodils, tulips, blue bonnets, iris, little yellow flowers and purple flowers (ok they might be weeds-but they are cute none the less)

3. The trees have gone from beautiful blooms to full green leaves.

4. I have ridden in the VW bug with the top down a few times

5. Had my first sun burn (remember I like to feel 'toasty')

6. The family has been taking some nice long walks in our awesome new neighborhood.

7. Just 50 more days until school is out and it will be SUMMER!!!!! whoo hooooooooo

7 favorite things about our Easter Weekend

1. Our Easter tradition of an English Breakfast (Scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream and hot tea (or a Diet Coke if you are Jonathan)

2. That we didn't have to wear our winter coats with our Easter Dresses.

3. Val Durrington singing "Arise My Love" at church. It makes me cry EVERY year!

4. Spending some time in Dallas over the weekend, touring Texas Stadium, going to the Sculpture Museum, shopping in Anthropologie and eating at PF Chang's.

5. Relaxing with the family, taking walks, listening to New Moon (book on tape) on the road,

6. Seeing all those adorable Easter dresses on sweet little girls (including my two beautiful girls)

7. That the girls still wanted to hunt eggs.

Cindy's Seven????

Well, I saw a blog where once a week this person would post a number of her favorite things or some variation of different lists. I thought it looked like a fun way to keep track of memories with the girls since I am not a good 'journal-er' if you will. So we will see how this goes.

This is where the name Cindy's Seven is coming from. I am going to list 7 things each time. For some reason that is the number our family came up with, not too many, not to few........... Just right (we think).

Here we go:

7 of my favorite things:

1. Husband! I feel so incredibly blessed to be loved by that guy!

2. My two beautiful girls, I love to laugh, sing, or talk with them, watch them dance, watch them grow. They are awesome!

3. Spending time with my girl friends, humm I think we should all get our toes done...SOON!

4. the blue VW bug parked in my garage

5. I love to feel toasty, not too hot and not too cold. Toasty!

6. Curling up with a blanket on Sunday afternoon and watching the Cowboys (the NFL kind)

7. flip flops. I can never have enough of these

Hope that wasn't toooo painful

love,

C

coming soon........................