Being a LEOW

I take great pride in being a LEOW (law enforcement officer's wife). My kids do the same about being a LEO kid. It's all great when someone is nice and says thanks for your service, or good job, or when we all sit in dispatch and share a Sunday lunch as a family. We laugh and joke and are happy. But there are times when it's hard, very hard. Last night was one of those times. There were two separate calls, one shooting and one murder. In our small county, there aren't many murders, thankfully. So when your LEO texts to say he will not be home for dinner because he's on a murder scene, it can really rock your world. Maddie knew this last night and was obviously shaken by it. So she devised a plan... to rid the world of crime. See her Daddy was late and wasn't there to tuck her in at bedtime. She missed him and was worried about what he was doing. Her plan was to send all bad people to Mars, where they could either die out or kill each other, since bad people are stupid, you know. Then the world would be a safe and happy place. If only it were that simple. But I know it is not that way, so to stand in the gap for us are brave men and women who strap on a gun and vest, pin on their badge, and make their way into a cruel and ugly world to protect us, to serve, to be the thin blue line. I honor their commitment and dedication to this calling. I stand behind my husband to be his support, his listener when he needs to debrief, his safe place to come home to. Last night, I waited up for him. I said a prayer for his safety, I swept and mopped the floors, I cleaned sticky hand prints from our windows and door, I caught up on all the laundry. It was all I could do, keep busy and wait. Finally he pulled in the drive and got out of the uniform. The sound of velcro and the vest coming home is a comfort. When the radio is turned off, I know that he's done all he could that day. Strong arms hold me tight until I fall asleep. Tomorrow it will start all over again.....

~Tara

SWAT Camp 2014

Family Reunion Weekend

Every year we have a family reunion the last weekend in July. This reunion is a gathering of family members from Bryan's mom's side of the family. Most of them all live locally but his brothers have to come from other towns, so they stay with us. We had almost 20 together for the weekend and we played at the lake and took a picnic to the river. It was a fun weekend, one that we all look forward to each year.

all the brothers with their children

...and add in Papa

brothers and wives, with Uncle Lynn, Aunt Nita, Nina and Papa

Papa and his grandkids... with no one looking in the same direction. But by this point everyone was sick of taking pictures, photographers included!

I planted new petunias at Nana's grave last week. She helped Blake plant some one year when he was really young. They bloomed beautifully and I will always think of her when I see petunias. It's definitely not the same reunion weekend without her.

Cooper helping make OJ

We enjoyed having Amy, Cooper and Colsen stay at our house. Cooper is Blake's mini me, in looks and behavior as well. When I look at him I am taken back 10 years to when Blake was his age. It's so crazy how much alike they are. But they sure are handsome.

~Tara

Fun Weekend

We spent the weekend with family. The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousins. We swam, played with the boys and grilled out. The kids stayed an extra two days so Bryan and I got a couple dates in during our kid-free time.  I'm headed back today to pick them up.

      

Thanks to Aunt Amy for keeping the kids and taking them to the water park for the day. Sweet summer fun memories for sure...

~Tara

To Honor my Grandma

My last grandparent passed away on June 28. My Grandma lived in the lower part of the state, so we've lived apart my whole life. We visited a few times a year when I was a child and less as I became an adult and had a family of my own. I know that's sounds so shameful, but life often does that to us, it keeps us busy and separated. Earlier in June, my Grandma was hospitalized and during that time the doctors found a cancerous spot on one of her lungs and a tumor in her brain. She fought hard for 2 weeks and then was graciously ushered into Heaven on a peaceful Saturday morning. I am thankful her doctors and nurses were compassionate and prevented any pain and suffering as best they could. I am thankful her children were all given time to spend with her individually and as a group, even if toward the end she wasn't aware that they were even there. I am thankful that I took the kids to her 90th birthday party in May and my last memory was me hugging her when we said our goodbyes. I know by going through this past month that I come from a long line of tough women and that makes me proud. My Grandma lived a hard life, some of which I watched, most I heard stories about. But don't we all endure some kind of hardship in life, that's part of being a human in a sinful world. I hope it can be said of me that I fought hard and that I will one day pass peacefully just like she did. It is one of the greatest desires of my heart to hear, "Well done, my faithful servant."
I was interested to know that my Grandma was known for her outstanding culinary skills and that she worked in a cafeteria for quite some time. She retired, finally, at the age of 80. I like to think she passed her love of cooking through the blood, because I don't ever recall being in the kitchen with her. She did pass on this recipe for an awesome coconut cake, one I affectionately have named...

Grandma Cotton's Coconut Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 16 oz sour cream

2 c sugar

1 10 oz bag of coconut

1 8 oz cool whip

Bake the cake mix according to it's instructions in 2 round pans. Mix sour cream, sugar and 3/4 of

the bag of coconut. Once the cake layers have cooled cut them in half making four layers.

Spread the coconut mixture between the layers, top with cool whip and remaining coconut.

*** My Grandma's original recipe says to let the cake sit in the fridge for 3 days.***

This has never been possible, ever, in the history of my making this cake. 

This cake is so moist and delicious. It usually slides off itself in the cake plate and we have to just flip the cake plate and scoop it out when we serve it.

Like Daddy says though, the ugliest cakes always taste the best.

I am going to make this cake this week in her honor and send it with Bryan to share at work. I may let it sit a few days just like Grandma made it. I have a feeling it will be better on the third day, maybe Grandma was onto something. I'm sure she was hoping we'd learn to slow down and enjoy the good stuff.....

Ada Lucille Driggers Cotton

May 14, 1924 ~ June 28, 2014

What I Learned from a Spray Tan

Earlier in the spring, I decided to work on becoming healthier. I am walking daily or doing some other online exercise video and I am keeping track of what I eat with the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. These things have helped me lose about 13 pounds so far. It's been slow and steady weight loss and I know from experience that's the best way to lose. I have eliminated almost all dairy and gluten in this process. I feel a lot better and I have not been hungry which leads to crazy cravings and the like. Anyway, my goal was to wear a bikini on the beach during our vacation. I can't recall that I have ever worn a bikini aside from when I was a child maybe, so there are parts of me that have never seen the sunshine. I wanted to look my best for my beach debut so I got the bright idea to get a spray tan. Note to all you wise women out there.... NEVER get a spray tan. I had hoped I would have a natural looking tan but, on my skin, it turned a freakish orange color and made my family members stare with the most concerned look I've ever seen. My brother who is 7 was rendered speechless!! That's when the panic set in. I tried not to look at myself and hoped the beach sun would improve my orange hue. However it went down hill from there. The sand scrubbed off most of my feet tan and my knees were soon scrubbed off too after a couple rough waves sent me skidding across the ocean floor. By day 2 of my vacation, I was frantically googling how to remove a spray tan. The suggestions ranged from bathing in lemon juice to peroxide (no thank you) to using a soapy rag and sugar scrub in a hot bath. This option seemed most reasonable and least painful, so I ran with it. With a quick prayer and the hottest water I could stand, I began my quest to remove the spray tan. It looked much like I was rusting in the shower, but, thankfully by the end of my sugar scrub most of my tan was gone.
Here's the lesson I learned.... I am much happier just being myself, white belly and all. When you attempt to be someone or look like someone you are not, it's weird...kinda like that look my brother gave me. I'm not going to be the most tan person around because I am not going to lay in the tanning bed or ever get a spray tan again. I want to be healthy and have my body serve me well, even if my skin is very light. I am very aware of what kind of body issues I want my daughter to learn from me. Both my kids will ask me about what they call my weird diet that makes me eat salads and lettuce sandwiches, which happen to be my own creative recipe. We discuss the fact that I am trying to improve my health by making better choices about what I eat. I also prepare them healthy meals and allow them to have treats from time to time, like most moms do. I, however, am older and you gotta work with the body you have to take care of it and keep it healthy. So, what I learned from the spray tan is be yourself, love yourself, take care of yourself... and it's better to be white on the beach than it is to be orange....

    

And just in case my memory starts to fade, here a shot of my two toned leg.

~Tara

Edisto 2014

Our vacation week at Edisto ended yesterday, I'm still pretty sad about it. It's so hard to pack up and come home to resume regular life. That being said, I'm attempting to bring home a little more of my vacation attitude than I have in other years. On vacation, there are a lot less things to stress you out. It's all about having fun and relaxing and squeezing as much out of one day as we possibly can. While I understand that all of life is not rainbows and butterflies, I am going to try to remind myself to keep my Edisto state of mind a little more often.

a pre-trip group shot

We ate lots of good food, shrimp and grits, Low Country Boil, Shrimp and Bacon Salad, burgers, and homemade ice cream. We played on the beach a lot, took walks and the kids rode bikes. We rode everywhere we needed to go on the golf cart we rented. We swam in the ocean in the pouring rain and would've stayed longer if the lightning hadn't interrupted us. The boys fished from the dock at the marina. We found so many whole conch shells just by feeling around with our feet on the ocean floor. We dreamed about our future and hoped it would have some Edisto in it. We talked about what boat Blake wants to buy when he opens his fishing charter business in a few years. Vacations are good for these things, the things that really matter. Like slowing down long enough to enjoy each other, being still long enough to dream, and, if even reluctantly, coming home with a renewed perspective and trying to carry on Edisto time. Until next year, or at least until later this one.....we can always hope.

~Tara