Kobe Bryant's Legacy Will Live Forever

Kobe Bryant, basketball star, and his 13 year old daughter, Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, January 26th while traveling to Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy to coach a game. There are reports that 7 other people died in this crash as well. Kobe leaves behind a NBA legacy that will live forever.

Kobe played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years and was a star in high school basketball as well. In 1996, just out of high school, Kobe (age17) became the 13th overall draft pick and became a Charlotte Hornet, but Los Angeles had already worked a deal with Charlotte for Bryant to be traded and the rest is history, as the old saying goes.

During his 1996-1997 rookie season, Bryant did not play as often as he would have liked but when he did he was the youngest player on the court. His second season with Los Angeles, he won the NBA Slam Dunk contest. Quickly Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal became one of the best pairs of players in the league. In Jan. 2006, Kobe scored the second highest all time points in a game against Toronto, 81 points. A career high for a game for him and a feat that showcased his talent on the court. The 2006-2007 season was possibly his best season as he went on to score over 50 points per game in several games during the season. In 2008, Bryant was a member of the US basketball Olympic team and won gold.

Kobe Bryant was a star in the highest ranks in basketball. He was a leader on the court and the inspiration to many young players or kids in general. He will be greatly missed in the basketball world and will live forever as one of the greatest to ever play the game!! His legend on the court will go down in history and many will speak of him in the sports world for years to come.

To the family of Kobe and Gianna, as well as the others that were on board this helicopter, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Each of you were stars in your own way and we must remember each of you in a moment of silence. God Bless!

Home Show and A Few Ideas

Last week my daughter, my long time friend Pam, and I traveled to Indianapolis for the Indy Home Show. I always enjoy going to look at the home that is built inside the building just to see what the new décor and colors are for the upcoming year. Now, I never remodel each year, but I enjoy seeing what is hot so I will know if I want to add in some trendy pillows, curtains, etc.

Most of the show is comprised of home remodeling services, heating and cooling companies, window companies, and others that want you to agree to let them give you an estimate on things that you will need completed on your home, but I go for the fun vendors- food, home décor, etc. Now I did find one booth that had some signs that I could not resist taking photos of, but I will say I did not purchase any.

This one fit me perfectly. I am always telling my husband to tell people to leave his garage when it is closing time. 

My husband used to race dirt track cars and so I knew he would find this one funny!

I tried to tell my daughter that this should be her wedding vows. I absolutely love the saying on here! I wish I would have bought this to go above my bed. 

Pam and I loved this swing with the lights and I am convinced that we need a large patio to add it too. 

We also need one of these hot tubs/spa on our patio where we can enjoy each evening while the sunsets. I took the photo with the diabetes sign to help convince my husband as he suffers from this horrible disease and it lists the benefits to his health as well. 

This bottle of German made wine would certainly need to be on our patio as well. I loved the photo on this bottle and when I tasted the wine, I was blown away. I absolutely loved this wine! I can't remember the name of it, but I just loved it!

Such a pretty bottle and label! 

I want a farmhouse sink in my kitchen and I have talked to my husband about it many times, but I really was not sure that I would like it being one sink because I still wash dishes by hand. 

Luckily, I found this! It is a stainless steel farmhouse sink with a divided sink. Perfect for my farmhouse. I made sure I got information from this vendor. Cabinets and sink remodel might happen this summer. This was one of my main reasons for attending the Indy Home Show to find items like this that I know we are eventually going to need to purchase. 

We have long talked about remodeling our tub/shower unit in the bathroom. I don't want this particular one, but I do want this particular shower wall. I think the wood look to it is amazingly beautiful and I know that it would like nice in my home. 

I should have added this to the pictures of the patio items I found.  The Indy home show certainly has found something for everyone as the styles and items are a vast array of items. This is an outdoors shower and the small rounded building beside it was a sauna. Now, I am not sure I want the sauna, but the benefits of an outdoor shower to a farm family could be wonderful.  Imagine how much dirt and other items could be left outside. HMMM???

I found this to be an interesting contraption as my grandpa would have said. A robotic mower! Now, for those of us that find mowing to be a task, there is help available. I never talked with the salesman, but I wonder how much of my yard this would truly work on as my yard is not really flat, but it did show it climbing hills and stuff. 

Enough of the things I found that I would be interested in and onto the show home. Now, I for one was not fond of much of it at all. Of the years, I have been I found this to be the worst of the homes I have seen. I did not care for the overall layout or the décor. See what you think and feel free to tell me what you like and don't like about the home. 

The flowers outside the home were beautiful! We saw lots of tulips, which happen to be my daughter's favorite flowers. I can't say that I was impressed with the fountain though. I have seen many gardens in homes around our area, but I just am not sure I liked the modern art style fountain. 

This was as we first walked into the home and I loved the table and the horse statue. It looked to be made of cement , but I am sure it was not. The table looked as it though it was a piece of wood laid on the top of the pedestal and I thought it was a nice piece of furniture. The wood floors are nice, but I felt that they were a little on the busy side. I did not care for the lamps or the wall art. 

This was the first bedroom that we walked through. I felt it was rather cold looking. I did not care for any of it. 

This was the bathroom that was off of this bedroom. It was a nice room and I do like the double sink. My friend, Pam is the one in the mirror. For a guest room, I think the small round tray is a nice addition. 

Around the corner was this nice wine area. I think it is a nice addition, but I don't entertain enough to need this much area dedicated to wine. I believe it looked nice and was an interesting concept, but I just don't see that many people would prefer to have this in their home. 

This was the living room. I love the fireplace and the table, but I was not impressed by any of the rest of the décor in this room either. 

Another picture of the living room area. This long sofa table was probably my favorite piece of furniture in the home. It looked antique and country. I took this photo for the wall in the hall. Such an interesting design and color scheme. 

This was the pantry in the kitchen area. I found it to be rather small and I did not care for the glass door. Do you want to have to clean your pantry every day so that it is company ready and the fingerprints that would be here if the family living here had small children is unbelievable to me. I am not sure why I did not get photos of the kitchen other than this, but I will say that I did not care for it either. 

From here, we will be entering the master bedroom suite. Now, as with the other bedroom that I showed you, I felt that it was not the warm and cozy feel of a bedroom, but rather cold and uninviting. Maybe with a different paint color, I would have liked it better. 

 The fireplace in the bedroom was a warm accent to the room, but I was not impressed with the particular look of it. I found the design of the décor to be a modern artsy look with a African feel to it. 

I was impressed with the coffee bar in the bedroom. However, we all are very aware that I would never be able to enjoy a cup of coffee in bed. My feet hit the floor running each day. It would be nice with my dream patio outside the bedroom door where I could go to relax at the end of the day. 

This was a section of the closet. I did enjoy the large closet as my home as very little closet space. 

I found this mirror to be an interesting piece of décor. I did like the design of it, but I don't think it would be an addition I would make to my décor. 

This master bath shower must be to conserve water as it is large enough for a family to all shower together. I just feel as though it is such a waste of space. 

This ladder look towel rack was another interesting piece that I would enjoy in my home. However, I did not feel as though it fit with the remaining décor of the home. I actually have a small ladder in my bathroom that holds towels for the grand doll. 

This was a craft room, which I thought was a nice addition to the home. I enjoyed seeing some of the ideas in this room that I could add to my office/craft room.

The laundry room was one of my favorite rooms. It was large enough to work in and never have clothes on the kitchen table to be folded. I also love the built in dog kennel. I love the cabinets in this room as well and look at the counter space. I don't like the open shelves though. I know that is a huge trend at the moment, but not for me. My home gets too dusty!

The dog kennel!

The sink in the laundry room, what a grand idea!

Sorry that this is a little blurry. This is the back patio/ deck area and I love the garden look and feel to it. 

I enjoy a fire pit and I could picture us roasting marshmallows and making smores here. 

This pool is a concept that I love. I do not swim and truly don't care to be in the water, but I like that the pool is in tiers basically and I like the spot to just sit and be near the water and yet, I would not feel that I was in it. Then it drops to a very shallow area and then gets deeper at the other end. The fountains and lights were a nice addition to this area as well. 

Imagine sitting here on a hot day with a book and a glass of wine! My idea of total relaxation!!

Overall, we had a fabulous time at the Indy Home Show and are looking forward to going again next year. The showcase home was nice, but I was not impressed with much of it. The open concept is huge in homes currently and I think that is a fine idea, but also remember that there are times that you want to escape that hustle and bustle as well. 

The décor was not my style, but I am sure that designers are seeing it as the in thing for the year and so that is why we were looking at it. If I think of décor with an African flair, it will have zebras in it at some point as they are one of my favorite animals. 

I hope you have spent some of your cold winter day with me as I have traveled through the show and I hope you have made some notes of areas in your home that could use a touch of fresh décor. Thanks for stopping at the Indy Home Show with me!

Sat. 9

Go Where Baby Lives

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!  Join us here


Go Where Baby Lives (1957)

Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here. 

1) The lyrics tell us that the girl of his dreams lives up on a hill. Is there a hill near your home? Or is the terrain pretty flat where you are? 

  * We have very large hills around us. The one on the backside of our property is tough to climb. 

2) Another clue to her whereabouts is that she's about a mile from town. Will you be staying close to home this weekend, or will you be traveling a mile or more?

  *I am going to a bridal show with my daughter tomorrow afternoon so I will be traveling more than a mile from town. 

3) Sam admits she's crazy about the sax solo. Is there a particular musical instrument that you love to listen to?

*Guitar, piano, organ, and so much more. I love music!

4) This is the only record The Strollers made for States, a company based out of Chicago. States was only in existence for five years (1952-57) and this was the 63rd or 64 records released before they went out of business. Tell us about a business in your neighborhood that recently closed their doors.

  *We don't have stores in our neighborhood as we live in the country. However, we tried to go to a Kitchen Collection store last night that is within 10 miles of us and it is now closed and we really liked it. 

5) More than 60 years after its initial release, this song enjoyed new popularity when Xfinity used it in commercials for their wifi. What company is your internet service provider? Are you happy with it?

  *We have Verizon and I am happy with it except that it slows down when I reach a certain amount of time and yet, I pay for unlimited internet. 

6) In researching this week's song, Sam googled "strollers" and was surprised to discover how many different types of baby buggies are available today. When did you most recently push a child in a stroller?

  *It has been a few years ago when I pushed our grand doll, but she never really liked riding in a stroller. 

7) In 1957, the year this song was released, President Eisenhower celebrated his second inaugural with a parade featuring more than 50 marching bands. The mercury never quite reached 45º that day. How's the weather outside your front door?

  * It is cold and wet. I think we are forecast to get some freezing rain, but I hope we don't. It is currently 34 degrees out. 

8) One of the best-selling books of 1957 was Peyton Place. This steamy saga of small town life launched two films, two television series, and several made-for-tv movies. Is there a book that you enjoyed that was successfully turned to a movie?

  *The one that comes to mind is "The Shack". I am sure there have been others, but I can't recall. 

9) A Peyton Place-inspired question: Can a man be physically unfaithful to a woman, but still love her?

  * I believe so. I think physical attractions can come and go, but love is a different feeling. I know this goes against all that we have been taught, but I believe that it can happen. 
 

Surprise! It's A Party

Oh there is so much that I need to share with all of my friends here in Blogland and yet, I am so far behind in sharing my news. I will start with Saturday. ( Now, I really have news from each day since then, I believe. )

For years, I have mentioned to my children how I wish I would have had a wedding reception and a wedding cake. My husband is not a fan of such things and I don't think he would have ever danced at a reception or anything like that. I just have always thought that we missed out on a lot and I have always wanted a wedding cake of my own. I had also mentioned that for my 25th anniversary, it would be nice to have a small celebration. Well, our anniversary was Jan. 11th and it came and went with no cake and no real celebration, so I assumed that they had forgotten what I had said.

Instead my oldest daughter had planned a surprise party for me. ( My husband knew about it the whole time. ) She had invited many of our friends and relatives for a party to help us celebrate our life together and I had a cake.

Here I am as I walked through the door where everyone was. 

Our grand arrival! The grand doll was happy to see me and she wanted to show me all of the decorations and wish me a "happy birthday". She did finally say " happy anniversary" to Pappaw. Many of our friends were able to make it and a few family members. This is my father in law in the photo  with the hat on. 

Here is my beautiful cake. My daughter told me that she decorated it because it cost so much extra for the baker to decorate. I said it was fine and that it was quite pretty! She does a good job at planning and she had a knack for making things look great!

Very nice table decorations that held the cake as well. She made an announcement that we were going to cut our cake since we never had a wedding cake. Of course, the grand doll was right in the middle of everything so it make the moment a little more difficult. 

I love this photo even though you can't see as well what we are doing. This is our life these days and it will be some of our best memories! She sure loves us as we do her!

Of course, he thought it was a great idea to eat a small piece of cake and then wipe some of it on me. I returned the favor and I think he got the worst end of things. 

Here he is trying to get his "bite" to attack me with. LOL! The grand doll wanted her piece of cake soon! 

A good group of family and friends. The tables were full at times. This is my youngest daughter squatted on the floor. 

Another picture of friends and family. 

A few of the kids that were there enjoying the balloons!

My husband and a few of his buddies!

Another group of guys. The young man in the red plaid shirt is our son and the one in the blue plaid is our future son in law. 

These three girls are very special friends of mine. They are my traveling buddies and my partners in crime. We have been friends since high school or before and remain close. We get together at least once a month- sometimes way more. They love my husband! 

These two right here deserve so much credit and love for pulling this whole party off! They were the ones that done the work and planned the entire thing. I can't say how much I appreciate and love them!  He is going to be a great son in law!! He spoils her and I have never seen her look happier or healthier!!!