Beautiful River Ride

We made an escape today and took a boat ride on the Tennessee! The leaves are turning beautifully. It was a great breath of fresh air

Hillary Brings Hope!

I'm not a big politics person, I guess I would call myself independent, but my daughter is a definite Democrat like my Dad was and she is a big Hillary Clinton fan. I must say I did find a lot of hope in Hillary's speech today at the Winfrey in Birmingham...maybe even a politician that I can almost believe in. She promises to bring change which we desparately need in this country. She promises to bring the troops home, to restore the middle class, health insurance reform, to do away with the unfunded mandate of "No child left behind" and to concentrate on alternative energy sources such as solar power. I have to say that she seemed real, dedicated, and experienced. It seemed appropriate that I was there with my daughter to see what could be our first female president. We were able to have seats at Bud Cramer's table just one table over from Hillary and we got to shake her hand. I told her "You give us hope Hillary!". I did snap a somewhat blurred picture of Kacey shaking her hand and I've posted a few others including one of her assistant who we saw run by the table with the makeup bag just before Hillary got up to speak. It was also a kick to see the secret service guys talking to their watches. We'll see what happens. We made a great memory!

Joy!
Tina

BSC Homecoming

We got to go to Birmingham Saturday and have a cookout with our daughter's sorority, Pi Phi, and attend the first Homecoming football game since 1939. They just re-instated the football team after all these years. Kacey is the President of her sorority and has turned out to be quite a leader at BSC. Not that I'm proud of her or anything! She's truly making a contribution to the school in many ways and it will be something she can always look back on with pride. Hey, their banner was beautiful and they won first place with that! Go KC!

This is Kacey with her friend Lauren from New Mexico at the ballgame.

Joy!
Tina

Quickie Monet

Ok, so I'm thinking maybe I should work on other things besides portraits. This is a quick one I painted last night from one of my photographs taken at Monet's garden in Giverny, France this summer. I have a virtual plethora of great shots from that trip to Cairo and Paris. They are so much easier and faster than portraits. Can't wait to get them all painted. I'll be working on these for a long while. More later!

Enjoy Columbus day!

Joy!

Tina

Congratulations to Sister Steph on her birthday. She's loving her new red car! We went for a ride and stopped at Starbucks for a cup of mocha and cruised around the town. Yes, I said RED car! Happy Birthday Stephie!

Love ya!
Mama Grace

Top of the Mountain

It's a lucky day today, 7/7/07 and today we're at the peak of our mountaintop with our recording project. Today is the last session. This is a life long dream of mine to record but, more than that, it's the beginning of a new day for Sister Grace. Our wish is to spread some seeds for God's kingdom and this cd is only a tool for that work. At the top of this mountain we're looking out to "fields ripe for harvest" and we're just workers in those fields. Please pray for us on our journey.

There were a couple of other mountaintops reached this week. My friend, Ahthony, our web developer who supports my office, is at the Grand Canyon and sent these magnificent pictures yesterday. Then, this morning I read my daughter's blog that takes you on her trip this week to the top of Mount Saini. I was so proud this morning and so touched that they read from the bible at the top of that famous mountain that I cried and cried. Don't know why really but it was pure joy and humility and thankfulness for God's blessings to my family. You can read her blog if you click on "Kacey's Blog" over to your right on this page. It's unbelievable that she's 21 and already has seen so much and learned so much of life. Of course, I'm a proud parent...as she says, not gonna lie.

I hope that you'll be inspired by these pictures and let me know when you reach some peaks in your life too. Life's full of peaks and valleys, just have to pray for more peaks!

Joy!
Tina

More Birthday Fun

Last night continued my birthday celebration with MORE FOOD...I went with my sweet friend Jennifer to Mikado to celebrate both my birthday...this is the first time we had a chance to get together...and her daughter, Britney's birthday. I haven't been to Mikado in years and it was lots of fun, especially the onion volcano! Now I'm in the mood to pull out the old wok.
I'm reading a great book about our town right now called F5 by Mark Levine. Bill couldn't put it down and convinced me that I needed to read it too. It's about the 1974 outbreak of tornadoes. It's beautifully written and not only is it a vivid reminder of those terrible tornadoes and their destruction, but it's about everything that was going on in our country at that time and the attitude and mood of the country. Bill was able to get an autographed copy and attended a session last night with the author at Athens State University. ...of course, I was at Mikado doing more celebrating! Check out the book! Many Athens people were interviewed and it is a great description of Athens in those days.

Joy!
Tina