{a giveaway, ...and another year over}

...and a new one just begun!

I celebrated another birthday this past week. Not just "blog-wise," but "age-wise."

The funny thing is, turning 40 didn't bother me, but 41 did.

Ashley has inherited my love for throwing a party. Monday night, she invited my parents over to celebrate with homemade Chicken Parmesan, and a cake that she also baked. We were all pleasantly surprised out how delicious the chicken was. ...really, really good! I can't recall her ever even frying an egg, and years ago, she made an individual serving of microwavable macaroni and cheese, leaving out the water in the noodles. It was so burnt, we had the throw away the bowl. {LOL!}

She decorated my cake with candy Spongebobs and Patricks.

I love these silly little guys! :)

And what party is complete, without a few balloons and festive decorations!

THANK YOU, Ash! :)
My Uncle Larry has an amazing, magical garden of beautiful iris and daylilies. My Aunt Janet brightened my day with a purple and white one.


So what else has been going on this week, in my world???

Ashley was invited to model for a luncheon sponsored by our local Chamber of Commerce.
I was positioned so far from the runway, that the pictures did not turn out well.

She modeled a prom dress from a local shop, and below she is pictured with the owner.
And moving right along..

Everything is suddenly green and blooming around here.
I encountered a "visitor" when I went out to water and fertilize my flowers this morning. Thank goodness, I am not afraid of lizards, but if he'd "not had legs and crawled instead," you could have heard me hollaring from wherever you are, ...right before I passed out from fright!

My perennials are back and showing some color.

I decided to try something new.

I usually buy beautiful, big flourishing plants in the spring.

I'm impatient that way, ...no pun intended, lol!

But by mid-summer, the annuals just seem to peter out. This year I planted smaller, but healthy, hearty plants in my pots. I am hoping that they last longer. They are already bunching and filling out nicely.

It's pretty neat watching them grow so quickly!

...periwinkles and a "walking stick" plant, below.

And as for never giving up ...

I have several oleander trees in pots around the pool, one of them is pictured below.

They died over the winter, and I broke some of the branches looking for any green or sign of health/life, but there appeared to be none. The only reason these trees are still here, is because I haven't had time to toss them. But literally overnight, they shot out new foliage!

Oh, happy day! "smiles"

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the same promise from my bougainvilleas. I think they may be too lost to save.

One Year Blog'aversary...

A little over ONE year,

and 198 posts ago,

I began this journey of blogging.

This has been a wonderful way to preserve the everyday moments of my children's lives,

as well as gaining much inspiration for making my house a home, swapping ideas with the many talented bloggers.
And the friendships I've made along the way have been invaluable.

I unfortunately don't have to time to maintain my blog or blogging relationships as I would like anymore, but I just can't seem to give it up either.

To celebrate my One Year Anniversary and as a way to say THANKS for visiting my blog, and being such great friends, I am hosting a Give-away.

The Prize....

A matted 5x7 print pictured below.

...entitled "Porch Rockers"

It was crafted by a local artist that grew up near my MIL in Wilmington, Ronald Williams.

You can visit his website if you would like to see more of his beautiful art (watercolors), depicting life in North and South Carolina, http://www.ronaldwilliamsart.com/.

To enter the drawing, just leave a comment before next Wednesday.

And as a bonus...the first person to leave in my comments, the title of the song my opening title derived from will have their name entered three times.

{another year over, and a new one just begun.}

Here's to another year and new beginnings! :)

~Rhonda

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On Another Note, Please be in prayer for our neighboring SC towns, North Myrtle Beach & Myrtle Beach, and surrounding areas, for the devastating fires they are battling....