A Rose To Say I Love You

My family attends the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival in Muskogee, OK every spring. It has become a tridtion 12 years strong. My children have grown up in the streets of Castleton for most of their lives, and Tristan, one of my twins joined cast this last season. 

365 Project: Day 9 A Rose to Say I Love You

As the festival runs every weekend in May, we spend Mother’s Day in garb at our home away from home with our Castle family. For almost as many years as we have been attending, my oldest son has bought me a metal rose and given to me each Mother’s Day.

This is one of those special things between a mother and child that is unique to just the two of them. I know that each year he will be giving me a new rose to add to the many he as already gifted me, and my heart swells with love and appreciation knowing it means so much to him to give me one. It truly isn’t the size or cost of the gift that matters, but the intent in which it is given. 

Knights of Castleton &a Heroic Knights of Old


Matthias was around 11 when we started going to OKRF and is now a young man of 23. He started as an elf, is a Knight of Castleton, has squired for The Heroic Knights of Old, had worked in The Smoking Dragon, and has stormed the castle as a pirate. While he is all of these and more, to me, he is still that precious boy who made that beautiful elf when we first started this adventure. So full of wonder and andvenure with a beautiful heart. As he now stands before me, looking towards the future with the lovely lady in his life, I know that no matter how old we get, no matter how many years we’ve been attending festival, each Mother’s Day I will receive that rose. That token that says from his heart to mine, “I love you.”

Day 8: Time and Time Again

365 Project Day 8: Time and Time Again

I knew I wanted to shoot a black and white image, and I knew I wanted to do a shot of my husband’s pocket watch. To combine them together seemed like the perfect thing to do. I wasn’t, however sure what I wanted to really claim as inspiration for the shot. 

Time is something none of us can escape. We are all bound by its borders of seconds, minutes, hours and days. As I lay in bed last night, thoughts along those lines rolled around in my head. Memories of falling off my horse and breaking my arm when I was around 6 years old, to winning first runner up in the Miss Fairview pageant my junior year in high school came to the forefront of my mind. I then found myself thinking of when my husband and I met, when he proposed to me and our wedding, along with each of my children’s births. Of course, these all made me smile, but my mind turned and brought forth some of those memories I’d rather not think about. My grandfather’s death, the car accident that resulted in a broken back for my husband, you know, THOSE memories. 

It is those frozen moments in time that define who we are, almost as if we are the empty hourglass and those memories are the grains of sand. Filing us up layer by layer. The good, the bad, the ugly, the perfect…. they make us, well, us. 

As time continues to push forward, I look at how much has passed, and how little is left in front of me. I think of all the things I still want to accomplish, places I would like to visit, and what I hope to see my children accomplish. Time is neither my friend or my enemy, it simply is. It hangs like that pocket watch ever before and behind me, and knowing how much is allotted to me, if forever elusive. It is that unknown variable that helps me keep things in perspective. Because it is not promised to me, I never want to waste a moment. 

Day 5: Queen of Battle

I am the Infantry! Follow me!

All birds of prey look back before tricking prey – but not the eagles, they are fearless. 

This quote is found on the challenge coin my son received at his turning blue ceremony at his AIT graduation. He is a War Eagle. He is a Spartan. He is the Queen of Battle. He is Infantry. 

I have been the wife of a solider, and am currently the wife of a police officer, but it is a whole different monster being the mother of a solider who wants to go into law enforcement. It is probably one of the most difficult things I bear. Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of my son I can never articulate it words to do it justice. I was blessed to be able to see his turning green ceremony at basic training as well as his turning blue, both at Fort Benning. If you take one glance at this boy, no, not a boy any longer; if you take a look at this man, you will see it in his stance, in the look in his eye. His first love is the military. It’s why he is preparing for his first overseas deployment, and if that isn’t a difficult pill to swallow as a parent. Am I proud of him? Beyond words. Am I teriffied for him? With every fiber of my being. 

When he enlisted in 2013, we knew he would do split-ops over his junior and senior years in high school. He was steadfast and determined that this was the path he was to be on. He still is as he wants to tab out in everything possible, Ranger, Paratrooper and so on. 

As I sit at my desk writing and look over at his AIT graduation photo, I can’t help but miss him already. My husband and I always joked that he was his dad’s and his twin was mine, but as they have grown up and left the nest, I realize how much this one has left his mark in my heart. All of my boys have in different ways, but this child has imprinted “I am the Infantry! Follow me!” on my heart. He will always answer the call, and I will always see the toddler in BDU’s. (I know, they’re not called that anymore. I’m an old school veteran’s wife.) 

I will watch as he follows in his father’s footsteps and know just as his dad is, he will be a man of honor and integrity and devote his life to one of service. I am an army national guard mom. And I will stand with poise, with pride, and though tears may be in my eyes and fall, I will stand awaiting his return home. Safe, though I know forever changed. My heart, my life, my son. 

Day 4: The Secret Life of Cats

We have always been cat people. With as much as we are on the go, dogs are just too high maintenance and require a lot more attention than cats do. We have always been a 2 cat household until recently when my mother’s cat had a litter and threw a baby too cute to pass up. Now, we have 3 cats who keep us on our toes with what shenanigans they will pull next. 

Much like humans, cats have their own unique personalities and quirks.

Mr. Bubbles and the Spider

Meet Mr. Bubbles, our most recent addition to the family who has claimed my youngest son as his human. We tapped into his love for fake, Halloween spiders when he decided to use our two giant spiders as a kitty playground. We quickly realized that we would need to give home one of his very own, and we tied a cat toy to it to keep him away from Kronk and Ysma. It partially worked. Now that I have stripped the house of Halloween decorations, his spiders remain and are not just toys, but makeshift pillows as well.  Mr. Bubbles also has an alias. He has the quietest meow. It is almost non existent…. that is until it’s time to eat and then Banshee Bubbles comes out. He finds his voice and wails until the food is in front of him.

Anubis

Anubis is my baby. I had always wanted a black cat, and when Bast, who I will share about later passed away, we found Anubis a couple of weeks later and adopted him. This cat is an attention whore and a cry baby. When he decides it is time for me to love on him, nothing will get in his way. His favorite time to demand affection is when I am at the computer, and he is relentless. He is also the emperor to Darth Bubbles and has taken our newest family member under his paw.

Officer Pebbles

Pebbles is the queen bee of the house and is very much my husband’s cat. She is the oldest of our trio and has an attitude proving she is the true ruler of the household.  She tolerates us all, but really only has affection for my husband, and when he gets home from work, she lets him know that she didn’t give him permission to leave for the day and that it is now time for penance. She then commandeers his lap and proceeds to take a nap.  While wanting to think she is a big tuff kitty who can rule the outside as well as the inside, she will sit at the window, wait for her chance to try to get outside, only to freak out once she is there. To quote from The Lion King “Let me out, let me out!” “Let me in, let me in!” Both lines provided by her.

Bast, my old man

The first cat I truly fell in love with was my old man, Bast. I had decided before we got him, the next cat we got, regardless of gender would be named after the Egyptian cat goddess. When  my twins found this poor little stray, covered in fleas and starving, he stole my heart that first moment. He was frisky before he grew into adulthood, and even then had his moments. He was a mint addict and would go nuts over the smell of peppermint, which I planted on his grave when we buried him.  In 2014, he became ill and when we found that it was untreatable, the vet recommended that we put him to sleep so that his passing would not be painful. To date, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The day after my birthday, we said our goodbyes and I held him in my arms as he slipped from this life. I’m not going to lie, just writing about it is making me tear up. I truly miss my old man.

Last night, we watched a documentary on Netflix called “The Lion in Your Living Room”. For over half of it, Mr. Bubbles sat and watched with us. My husband even took video as it was quite unbelievable to behold. Midway through, he decided his boy needed his attention and went to curl up with him. 

Cats are amazing, fun, and interesting animals. They are affectionate, until they aren’t, and make my world so much more lively.