To My BEAUTIFUL Mama On Her 95th Birthday…

Dear Mom,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Can you believe it? 95??? Like NINETY-FIVE!!!!! 😁 Gotcha!  I managed to say how old you are 3 times already!!! It's all good...right?  Because you are the MOST AMAZING 95 year old in the history of EVER! You just wear that number boldly and be proud of YOU!

Okay, while trying to think of a FB post I remembered my old blog, and how I'm sure there were many times you were the only one reading it. LOL What a perfect time to bring this thing back to life...on your birthday! I'm kind of winging this so it may or may not make any sense at all.  Just know that it all comes from the heart because 

I LOVE YOU! I'm gonna list some fun memories, things in common, fun facts about YOU and who knows what else, in no particular order, so let's do this...

My Mom's name is Irene.  I looked up the meaning of Irene and kept seeing it means "Peace".  I love that:)   When she was younger friends and family sometimes called her "Reenie" (not sure of the spelling:).  ADORABLE!

I bet you didn't know that November 8 is NATIONAL IRENE DAY.  It sure is...you have a whole day named after you!! You grew up with an older sister and built in BFF...Margaret.  And three brothers...Paul, Bob and David. 

I love that your best childhood friend was named "Toots"  Gosh!!! We all should have a friend named Toots! 😊

You were raised in a Christian home and you raised your own family in a Christian home. In fact you have attended North Baptist Church your whole life and your girls grew up in that church as well. You have lived a life of faith and made sure your girls knew Jesus as well.  I have no doubt that someday when you reach Heaven He will say "Well done..." 

You met Leo when you were almost 18 years old and that was it...true love.  Married for 61 years, by each other's side throughout many years and many memories, until God called him Home. I know how much you miss him and how tough it has been at times.  But I can honestly say you have been the very definition of grace, perseverance, strength and courage.  Thank you for show us all how it's done.  

Okay...moving on to some fun facts that people may or may not know, and even you may have forgotten!

~You carried Lily of The Valley in your wedding bouquet.

~You always planted beautiful flowers at the house every spring and you had two of the most GORGEOUS lilac bushes i've ever seen, UNTIL one day Dad got carried away trimming and cut them down.  😂That was TRAGIC!!! LOL

~I love your cooking.  It's just good 'ol homecooking and my favorites were your mashed potatoes, goulash, spaghetti and strawberry shortcake. (Honorable mention goes to homemade lemon bars and fried egg sandwich.  Wait...Dad made those, right?)

~One of my favorite memories was having breakfast for dinner.  ESPECIALLY french toast!!

~My absolute #1 Favorite was the ORANGE CAKE you made for my birthday every year!  AND Grandma's Frosting is LEGENDARY around here!

~Also, What would you do without BIG BOY's breakfast every now and then? lol

Do you Remember how I begged you to teach me to tap dance and twirl a baton?  YES...Irene had SKILLS I tell you! And you could sew AND knit..even teaching my girls.  (Unfortunately I couldn't figure it out)

By the way, Thank you for being such a wonderful Grandma and loving my girls.  They love you right back! They also think you are one of the funniest people ever and you ARE.  That wit and quick comeback...wish I had it! 😂

We had so much fun shopping together.  To this day, you're pretty much the one person I would happily shop with! Remember when we walked in that very first dollar store in Florida and didn't know what it was?  You asked the guy why there were no prices and he yelled at the top of his lungs "EVERYTHING'S A DOLLAR" 😂😂We laughed so hard!!!

I loved shopping with you AND trying new make-up.  You always fixed up and if you ask my girls, more than once when they were growing up I told them to at least fix their hair and put some lipgloss on. or something! I got it from you Mamabear! lol

Okay, almost done.  Just a few random things, like...

I love how you've never met a stranger.  You can talk to anyone when you're out and about:)

You're a GOOD, loyal friend. 

whenever I see Baskin Robbins Jamocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream, I think of YOU!

You made Halloween fun!  You let me actually eat the candy and wasn't all fussy like some moms.  And you dressed up and sat on the porch to hand out candy when NO ONE ELSE did that.  My favorite was when you threw the sheet over your head and was a ghost. 😂😂

You keep up with the times clearly, because when i ask you something you tell me to "google it." 

There's so much more but I'll stop for now.  More than anything I hope you feel special and loved and appreciated on your birthday, because you ARE!!!  You are a blessing and i love you so very much!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Suzy💕

Why Did I Ever Stop Writing On This Blog?

 Dear BeachGypsies Blog,

I've missed you!  SOOOOOOO much has happened since 2016.  Frankly, in the years leading up to 2016 I missed a lot of events too! Can I possibly catch up?  Hmmm...  Not sure.  But I want to! 

I know I could just start where I am, but the main reason I started this blog was to document my life to a certain extent. If I could provide good, interesting, helpful, fun content for others in the process, well even better!  One thing I've done in the past is I get each year printed into a blog book, so I really have to make an effort to catch up if I can.  I think I'm gonna try.  No promises, but i'm gonna give it a shot1

 Suzanne XO

2016 New Year's Resolutions...To Make or Not To Make...

Do you make resolutions for the New Year?
I haven't for awhile now,

but I'm thinking I might this year. 

Whether you call it a resolution, goal or whatever,

the New Year seems like a good time for a fresh start.

According to Forbes Magazine, 92% of people who make resolutions break them.

Or never even start working on them.

The most common resolutions are the following:

Lose Weight/Be healthier

Quit Smoking

Pay off Credit Card Debts/Save Money

Be More Organised

Be Nicer/A Better friend

I think this one is good...............

But that's just me:)  I like driving people crazy! lol

Or how about this one I made up earlier, as a joke.............

but now that I think about it, I like it!

Anyway, there are a few things every expert

say would help us keep our resolutions or achieve our goals.
(not me......I'm no expert for sure:)

The first thing is to simply start!

That's it...........just START!

Sounds simple but trust me, it's the hardest step for some of us.

Personally I think we should "start" without a lot of fanfare.

Just quietly go about doing it.  That's what I'm gonna do.

Just chip away at it.

The next key to success is to keep going!

Don't give up.  Even if you screw up and blow your resolution, just start over

and keep going.  Who is watching and judging anyways?

Nobody should be.........so ignore anyone who is quick to point out that you failed in 

your resolutions.   That one IS simple.

Third, make it an achievable goal.  Not some crazy hard thing............

something you have at least a chance to accomplish.

Actually, this might be the very best one:)

Just be YOU!

I swear that comparison is a terrible enemy of ours.  

And like it or not, social media.............and I mean all social media, as well as TV, doesn't help much.  Everyone talks about their perfect life and amazing marriage and blah blah blah.  

Let's be real...........we're all doing the best we can on a daily basis.

Or most of us.  I believe that.

Rather than a "resolution", how about filling out something like this next list..........

more of a to-do list for the year.

I like that!

You may be wondering what mine are.

I guess I better figure that out in the next 45 minutes, right?

I'm thinking of the following.

-I want to lose weight but instead of saying "lose 20 lbs", 

i'm saying this.....I want to exercise a minimum of 3 days a week.  

Just do something Suzanne.

-And I want to cut out sugar as much as I can.  

-There is a program in town for people with MS where you can do free group horseback riding..........and I love riding, so I want to do that.

-I do a lot of projects.  I see new ones and start them without finishing old ones.

i want to stop doing that, and focus on just a few.  And learn to do them well.

-I would love to read one good book every week but I'm not sure that is attainable, so I will say every 2 weeks.

-I want to laugh more.  Just laugh.  And not stress.

-And I want to borrow one from Shondra Rimes and "say yes" more.

That may be my tough one;)

But if I fail at all of them, it'll be ok if I simply do the following............

 whatever you decide to do in 2016,

I wish you the best, happiest, healthiest year yet, 

filled with many blessings.

XOXOXOXOXO

Suzanne