Random Things

I have learned without this, I am nothing and I get upset about trivial things I can not control so I pray whenever the need is there, which is about sixteen plus hours each day.

I was thinking about this motley crew and still keep in contact with at least 4 people to this very day. 7th grade Mrs. Martha Sandstrom, Saint Mary's Catholic School, Pueblo, Colorado. Our teacher's son was the Pueblo District Attorney and at one time one of the bad mother's from an older peer wrote a scathing, mean and hateful letter to the parish priest, the priest felt threatened, gave the letter to the DA and he turned it over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. She must have been shocked when they showed up at her door to confront her! Otherwise I had a wonderful childhood and very happy memories of these kids, most of whom I knew my entire parochial school years and some of them into high school as well.

My friend Karen Mesojedic-Clark , the girl with the Marlo Thomas "That Girl" flip hair in the 7th grade photo, lived in this house during our childhood. Her father kept the yard immaculate. The grass was lush and green and they had a huge backyard tree that dropped "cigar" shaped pods and we would pick them up and pretend to smoke them!  That tree was a Catalpa tree. Ah childhood, and the imagination you have! We also spent a lot of time lying in the grass and staring at clouds passing by. We would shout out the things we thought we saw. Life was simple then.

This one is for my sweet friend Linda who loves her farm chores and makes them fun while she is praising the Lord! She is a favorite friend and I cherish her friendship very much.

This is a Colorado autumn.

This is a 2014 Colorado Autumn sunset. I sure love my state and living here my entire life.

I just love this expression. Batman is and always will be very cool to me.

I'm not a golfer but my son Nick is! This is good advice for life in general.

Come back soon.

I'm Here

I wish I were here instead. What a gorgeous Autumn decorated road.

This face had to be shared with you from pinterest.  If you prefer felines how about this one?

Aw....this face is me on a Monday morning! Even though these days I get up and do my housework I feel like this too. Stop by Sandee's and say Aw.... too!

January 5, 2016, a blue sky I shot just for you! Make sure Jeanne and the Blue Crew see you here and there and everywhere that is sharing some blues.

February 15, 2015 more blue skies. I don't think I have ever seen the sky look the same on any given day.

I always said the Queen was a classy gal! Did you know that on September 11, 2001 she broke protocol and during the changing of the guard, she had them play the American National Anthem? The Queen looks lovely in blue too!

In my gray walled living room I have a beautiful black and white canvas depicting happier days before the Twin Towers fell.

I love this canvas. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." Psalm 46:1-2

A BoJon favorite, Auntie Jo Steblay and Uncle Tom Binder on their wedding day. Uncle Tom was in the Army Air Corp. and served in WWII. They loved their Dallas Cowboys and resided in Texas for many years. Later Uncle Tom, an engineer, took a job with Mobile Oil and was transferred to Baton Rouge, Louisana where they had the most lovely home. She passed away, from pancreatic cancer, just like her mom, in 1977. She was young, way too young to be taken away.  Uncle Tom lived the rest of his life in their Baton Rouge home and he passed away tragically from a brain tumor after being involved in a car accident that revealed that tumor. A beautiful couple with smiles that lit up a room. Broke my mother's heart to lose her baby sister. I will always hold my heritage close to my heart and remember these good and godly people until the end of my own life.

Love is...if only the entire world would learn to love their neighbor as they love themselves. What a wonderful world it would be.

Oh Maxine, you silly girl, you have a valid point here! Hee Hee Hee Hee! Sporting events, the movies, anywhere you go you have to be prepared to pay for those treats like they are high end gems!

Until next time....

Life in Black and White

My goodness, the first time I saw this photo of these gorgeous BoJon women I thought they were all beautiful brides! But this was the wedding of my mom's younger sister Elsie (far left). Auntie Ang Jacklovich-Steblay is next to her. My cousin Joanne Petgovsek Wieser's aunt Doris Petgovsek Amy and my mom's baby sister Jo Steblay- Binder. I am unsure if Auntie Jo was married to Uncle Tom but I am guessing yes, because cousin Sharon, daughter of Elsie Steblay and Edward "Munson" Trontel is younger than cousin Tommy Binder (1946) son of Jo Steblay and Tom Binder.

My mother is on the far right with my oldest sister Pat in front of her. Cousin Charlotte was making her first communion with my brother Bill (left) and cousin Ron (right). My Tata Rose in on the far left with my grandmother next to her then Auntie Mary and Auntie Elsie (flowers in her hair). Auntie Annie is in the front row with the lil boy in the sailor suit. I am unsure who he is. The background is my grandmothers house which survived in the Pueblo Flood of 1921 and the Pueblo Flood of 1964. The Arkansas river is on the South side of the house and although there is an embankment the floods were quite devastating.

Another wedding photo of Auntie Elsie. Uncle Munson was very much like my own dad. He loved his given name of Edward and he was very kind. I can never recall a time I heard any unkind or inappropriate word leave either one of these gentlemen. They were humble and kind and they spoke respectfully to everyone they knew. Uncle Munson was a butcher. The phamily still owns Frank's Market in Pueblo, Colorado. The had their own feedlot and raised their own antibiotic free cattle. We still buy meat from the market. When I was a kid Uncle Munson would always give us a cold hotdog or a slice of cheese and beef baloney. Years ago my hubby had a co worker JT who loved to purchase a half a beef with us. It was fun sitting in JT's house sorting all those pounds of hamburger meat, steaks, roasts, etc. Good memories all around. If you go here: Frank's Market you can see a few more photos of this BoJon business.

I hope you liked the black and white photos I have shared. I will be putting up more posts. I have decided to post as I can. Sometime life throws you a curve and you do what you can do. I enjoy sharing my phamily history here and will continue to do so. Thanks for joining me and always, thank you for your kind comments.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Sandee

Friendship

In November 2014 I was blessed to meet Linda Stubbs before Nick's Championship XC meet which was held in Sterling, Kansas where Linda and her hubby Phil and their daughter Tressa own and operate the Broadway Market. They were new to the business when we first saw their quaint little place. But the rave reviews and their awesome menu makes lots of locals as well as folks passing through S M I L E! Linda is a dear heart, she is one of the first bloggers I met in 2009 when I started blogging. She is a marvelous friend. You will meet her once and love her forever.

I had asked Linda to pray about my awful back pain and she gave me the information on this nifty little device. I ordered it ASAP and it arrived this morning giving me the first relief I have had in two week! My low back pain was nagging at me and after our Kansas trip on the 28th to return Nick to KWU it went from bad to worse.  What a sweet deal this is and the cost about 1/3 of a medical massage. I am so happy to have this that my hubby ordered one for himself too. The only other recommendation I would give you is make sure you use rechargable triple AAA batteries so you can save in the long run on the cost of batteries. 

When I was just a kid my oldest sister and her phamily lived on an Army base in Fort Bragg, NC. They trained the members of the Green Beret there. Her neighbors were moving overseas, My sister already had a beautiful Collie named Lassie and the neighbors had a beautiful AKC registered miniature standard poodle named GiGi. They could not take her overseas with them so we gave her a new home. My dad paid for the dog to be flown to us in Pueblo, Colorado and GiGi Regina Olivera became my pet. I loved that girl. Her mother had been a circus performer so GiGi came from a line of excellent pedigree and first class dancers too. She was smart and pure black in color. She was a gentle pet and had one litter of beautiful AKC registered pups herself. My dad allowed us to keep Renee who had the legal name of Renee d'Orleans Antoinette for her AKC papers. I loved mom and daughter alike but can not find a photo of us with Renee. Both mother and daughter passed away from complications of breast cancer. But they gave us all great joy and I will never forget them or the kindness my dad showed that little dog traveling nearly 1700 miles to come home with us. It is a nice memory I like to hold on to and shared it here for Sandee and everyone at Aw...Monday.

Well having lunch with my hubby at Famous Dave's today, I snapped this photo of this magnificent moose over their fireplace. Although I am not a fan of animal heads in homes and places I snapped it to show you this guy:

I figured Jeanne and the Blue Monday folks might like this guy, a pinterest find. He is warming himself in Lake Moraine after a bath in the Banff National Park, Canada. I am always in awe of these giant creatures especially the rack on their heads. Wow! Graceful and that weighs a lot! The water around him here is blue and crystal clear as well as the sky and the mountains in the backdrop. Ah....

The summit of Pikes Peak at 14, 110 feet. Rebekah was happy she went there and conquered the mountain.

Her climbing buddy Colton. Since Jacey and Harrison are in Wisconsin this week, he is being a bachelor. He is a fearless young man and he often goes up the mountain off trail. He always loved climbing even as a small child.

Could there be a climb in Harrison's future? He loves hiking with his daddy. Look at that smile. They were at Chataqua last weekend. I figured a photo of him would make me smile and the blue in these last three photos would go along with Blue Monday too.

The views up there are amazing. It was a long time ago I climbed this mountain. Ah......youth!

Love this Love is...

Oh Maxine, she is too funny! She should have taken a stroll through the Home Depot today. She would have seen a big Halloween display. Now that my back is feeling a little better I can think straight again and will hopefully get these posts for September up. Have a great week everyone.

Grateful BoJon Girl Day One

I am grateful to have made it this far in 2016. What a year it has been. Grateful for my little flower garden and pretty blooms. I love the autumn or Fall, and love seeing the beautiful colors burst forth.

Achy back and all glad to be alive today and enjoy so much of God's goodness. Baby boomers are stronger and more resilient. we have lived through some turbulent times although our generation can not compare to the last. They really were  heroes and encouraging us after what they lived through.

My father was a life long New York Yankee's fan but he would smile if he saw this photo of David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox). I am grateful America still affords us this luxury of freedom. What a first class gentleman and excellent ball player this man is. Born in the Dominican Republic he knows the opportunity the U S A held for him. God Bless Big Papi for respecting the American Flag.

In 1982 Jim Rice, another Boston Red Sox player saved a child's life that had been hit in the head by a foul ball. Jim knew if he got that child into the clubhouse that little one had a chance to live. When asked why he did it he said simply, "I thought about my own children." I remember watching that game with my dad and his smile seeing someone act so quickly and courageously. Back then people weren't troubled by the things that cause such a mess in our society today. I was grateful living in those simpler times.

Grateful every day I live for my faith. I may stumble but I will never stop believing.

My hubby was raised a Baptist and a Nazarene. But he befriended an older Catholic priest. I could write a book about Pastor Edward Pettit. He was a terrific conversationalist. The priest was trying to stop smoking and told my husband he saw a hypnotist! My husband thought the priest was quite silly. Pastor Pettit gave him this verse. They had a little bet between them. My hubby would say "Father if you get to heaven before me put in  good word for me" and the priest would say "Ditto". Pastor left this world after a long career in the priesthood which is says he was inspired by God Himself as a small boy of 8. He told us he felt God called him to do his work. A finer man never wore the collar like Pastor Pettit did. He was a true man of God.

I say it a lot, but very grateful to have been raised by these two incredible examples of God's goodness. My folks were so beautiful and they are here with my two oldest siblings. My father taught me so much about sports, particularly baseball and my mother taught me how to pray. I will always miss them but I would never wish them back into this mixed up world we are living in.

I am very grateful to have been raised as a sLOVEnian a/k/a BoJon Girl and growing up in the best neighborhood in the world. Until next time:

MONDAY FUN DAY

Aw....Roxanne. She was a special little girl. This was taken April 22, 2012. She lived with us for a few years until she passing on  November 3, 2013. God sent this girl to us, I just know it. She would dance when she heard the song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. Just a sweet girl. Someday I want to find a little Chihuahua just like her and live the rest of my life protecting these little furry friends from bad people. I saw the cutest boy Chihuahua at the pet store. I have to walk through there occasionally so I can smile and lower my blood pressure from the evils of this world.  I see protesters at one local pet store. I think they should be protesting those that breed dogs illegally.  It is so frustrating. This lady must have a protection order because her pets are clean and happy and well cared for. But boy oh boy does she have the puppies. Lots of tiny pups and a handful of big doggies too. Or at least they will grow into their little sturdy bodies quickly. Stop by Aw...Monday and tell Sandee hello today.

I missed both Sandee and Jeanne last week. Back ache issues. :-( But I am back today and took this photo of the morning sky while making sure the hubby got to his bus timely. The clouds have a blue hue in the grayness of the early morning hours.

I would like to recline in this cozy blue bedroom I found at pinterest. Currently we have gray and bright yellow in our bedroom. It is a cheerful combination but I do love blue. Stop by and tell Jeanne hello along with the Blue Crew there too.

Aw....Love is...always makes me smile and this is truly part of my everyday life.

I use to love bike riding.  I probably need a bike with a wide comfy gel seat today. Which I did not know they have but my daughter's beau Zach told me that is what he has. Maxine is plain grumpy today!

Today marks the wedding anniversary of my parents. What wonderful role models they were. Faithful and kind and loving. They loved each other their entire lives. I miss them so much on days like these although they are issed each day I live.

Their wedding day August 29, 1936.

This was them in 1979. I miss them both so much.

Thank you for sharing with me today.