Alrighty everyone here is the first day of vacation! You can click on the picture to see the original sizes.

I didn’t go to bed at all before we left. We got everything ready and packed. I really didn’t see the point in getting 2 hours of sleep anyway. We left the house around 8am, and went to the Cabiya’s, who watched the animals and house, to drop off keys and such.


This was LucyLillie’s first HUGE car ride. That girl hardly ever goes anywhere, so she isn’t in her carseat too much. Look how happy she is!


We drove for a couple hours before I fell asleep. I woke up when we stopped to get gas. By that time everyone was hungry, so we stopped at my favorite place ever: Sonic! I just love Sonic. When I was little we would go out and get a slushie at Happy Hour, well they don’t have Sonic up here. They just recently put one in in Fort Wayne, but it is on the other side of town, so we don’t go. I got a Blue Coconut slushie, and it was so good! I sure do love those!
Just look how much she likes the slushies! I bet as much as I do!

After we ate, and everyone had a full belly, they fell asleep! It was nice when this one -> went to sleep. He was trying so hard to be a good boy, but you know how car rides go… after awhile he just needed to sleep!
Plus we still had a while to go before we would get to the C’s.


We got to drive through Nashville at rush hour. We were glad there wasn’t too much traffic, although we were in Nashville for 30min, it wasn’t too bad for a Friday.



When we got to GA, we needed to stop, so we stopped at the GA Vistors Center. They had this really neat sign ->
and I got to sign their guestbook.





When we went into the bathroom, we stuck LucyLillie to the wall.
That is THE cutest picture ever! She thought it was so funny to be in that chair. I said we need 3 of those here at the house!

When we called Mrs. C to let her know where we were, she told me, “oh you are almost here… another hour.” That was not what we wanted to hear. We were thinking about 10-20min. lol! So we kept driving. It started to rain really hard and we were going one extremely curvy roads, plus there was a lot of construction, so it was a while before we got there.

When we finally did, everyone jumped out of the van. They were so happy to be there. We had introductions and then we ate some hamburgers and hot dogs and chatted.
Here is Lily meeting LucyLillie. They are both so cute!
Mrs. C was kind enough to let us use her wifi, so we got to check email and such. By this time it was like 1:30am and everyone was dead tired, so we went to bed.

When everyone got up they had cereal. Eric was so funny. He was in the kitchen and Hanners had just walked in, he goes, “Look, we can have cereal for breakfast!” Now that is hysterical because we don’t eat cereal, so it was a special treat for them.

Here is my dude with his fruit loops.



Pretty soon it was time to go and no one wanted to leave! The C’s are such a awesome family! I am so glad we got to go meet them.

Here we all are. Big bunch, huh? They have the same amount of children as we do and we are all pretty much the same ages too. Cool!
So we left, drove about 10min out and noticed we didn’t have the camera. It worked out though because Mrs. C was going to town anyway, and she brought it to us at the gas station!
We hit the road again… next stop Brooke’s!

Ok… Saturday I will post about meeting Brooke and the Lirettes! Stay tuned!

Oh and… this post was pretty easy to do to because I got this awesome program that watermarks pictures! I am so happy!
Love, Prayers and Blessings,

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008

I am so happy to announce that Growing In Grace Magazine now has its July issue up! Click on the cover to be take directly to the magazine.
It is amazing! Not only are there some really great articles this month, but we also have a awesome design! Each month we try to bring out a new design for the site to surprise you with, and this month is no exception!

With July being all about America, we have a new design dedicated to American Patriotism. I  love America and all of our history and this month’s design is so beautiful! The header is my absolute favorite part of this month’s design. We also have things for your blog and computer like a calendar (seen on my right sidebar) desktop wallpaper, and so much more! Check out that beautiful icon too!

We also have a beautiful covergirl too! Lady Jess, A Girl Growing in Grace has become a sweet friend and I am excited to get to know even more about her this month!

Here are my column articles for this month! They are pretty awesome too!

‘Time Is Ticking Away‘

‘Bastille Day- A Clique In Action‘

“I Want You To Vote!”

I was also featured with my fellow writer in
Freedom For All, a Look at Freedom by GGM Writers & What’s Your Fave Flavor? by the GGM Team of writers

Special articles I wrote with Mama and my Sisters included: National Postal Worker Day by Miss Amanda, Miss Jocelyn and Lady Rachel & Go West Day by Miss Amanda and Mrs. D!

This month is full of patriotism, freedom, liberty and how God is our deliver! You gotta go check it out. There are so many great articles by the whole GGM staff.

Another special thing about this I have an ad in it! Look at this awesome banner:

Isn’t that just too cool?
Alrighty, well I need to go grocery shopping, and you need to head over to GGM to read July Issue, so I am going to get going and so are you!
Love, Prayers and Blessings,

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008

With the month of July starting tomorrow, we look forward to Independence Day this week. Independence Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. So this weeks carnival theme is FREEDOM! There are so many things we have freedom in.
Welcome to The Homesteading Carnival #56: Let Freedom Ring!

Be sure to grab this graphic and blog about this edition!

The first FREEDOM that we have that is the most important one is the FREEDOM to worship and believe in God. Here are some awesome articles about that having that FREEDOM and what is means to be on fire for God…

Judi, my grandma, who runs Starr Salon asks the question are you Worried? She gives some great verses and thoughts about worry and how it turns into free and how you can be FREE from that

Jacque, my Mama, who is Walking Therein shared her story about LucyLillie’s Mosquito Bite and how God is our Healer!

Sisterlisa who has a HomeSpun Life gives us a Saturday Psalm and Praise: I am Resolved to remember to stay resolute in our salvation!

We also have the FREEDOM to pray to God. Here are a few prayer requests you can add to your list…
Dads In Heaven
Elgin Lirette

Accidents
Rachael Kligmann

Other
Hayden - Poison Ivy on face.
Theron - Memory loss and blindness from vaccines.

Sickness/Disease
Baby Joe

Pregnancies
Mrs. Axelby and baby Michael - Having a hard time gaining weight and is jaundice.

You can find other requests here, I Am Praying For:

We have the FREEDOM have families and spend time with them. Here are some wonderful memories that homesteaders have made with their families…

Jen, who is my aunt, is Believing His Promises had a Time of Blessing with Family!

Jocelyn, my sister, of A Pondering Heart has now been nicknamed “Jo” Cool. Go see why!

Kim the Wanna Be a Steader! has some Memories That Make You Go…Ahhhhh… She said “While replying to an e-mail I was reminded of some wonderful memories from my childhood of the simpler ways of life…and a simpler time in my own life…childhood.  Here are some of my favorite memories.  I would LOVE to know some of yours…”

We have the FREEDOM to eat great food. Some countries do not have the resources to make good and healthy foods. We do. Here are some great recipes to try in your FREE kitchen…
SeaBird who writes the SeaBird Chronicles has a tasty and easy dip that she calls Eggplant deliciousness.

Lady Rachel who owns The Milk and Honey Tea House made a Graham Cracker House for you to eat. Its even got pictures to show you how good it is!

Chas whose Cup Runneth Over at Heritage Acres Farm… says that her favorite day is Thursday and she wanted to share some Thursday love with y’all so she gave you her favorite recipe: Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Focaccia Bread.

Anne who is Mama to 6 has a super Mississippi Mud recipe! It comes with pictures and will make you hungry!

We have the FREEDOM to plan. Plan our homesteads, our homeschools, our lives, etc. Here are some great planners you can use to get your life organized and planned…
HowToMe show you How to Make a Versatile Cloth Wall Chart. This chart is so useful. It’s functionality is so diverse. It could be used to play matching games, “Jeopardy,” or “Wheel of Fortune.” It can be used for calendars, chore charts, potty training, math problems, charting a month’s weather patterns, table manners, homework completion, or graphing. All that is required are the inserts which can be made by hand or computer.

The Front Porch has The Schoolhouse Planner is READY FOR PURCHASE!!!! There are so many features for this interactive planner, it is going to blow you away!

SimpleFolk has the perfect planner for any homesteader, A Simple Woman’s Daybook. This planner helps you know what you need to do for the day and a few things for the rest of the week.

We have the FREEDOM to be healthy and take care of our bodies and families. Here are some healthy things you can do to ensure a better life…
Stacy who is Teaching Diligently has a Homemade Belly Butter for Mama! This is actually a tutorial which demonstrates how to make an emollient belly butter for mama’s growing tummy. I know mamas definitely need something like that!

Growing In Grace Magazine has some wonderful Underarm Tips. With info on how to get rid of the odor and wetness and some really great suggestions for how to keep your underarms healthy!

We have the FREEDOM to have our own land. Back in the old days many people did not have this FREEDOM, some still do not.
Stephanie who wants to Stop the Ride! has The First Harvest from her land.

GP who owns the Innstyle Montana wants to give you The Zen of the West. There you can experience all things with the enthusiasm of a child, as if you were seeing it for the first time. This is the zen mind. Always new, always aware, always that of a beginner. Wake up, look out window, pinch self. Life in Montana is nothing short of panoramic.

Melissa who lives on Mulberry Lane has a few flood pictures from our view… With all the flooding going on in Iowa, here a look at what one homesteading families yard looks like.

Lisa of ~Our Special Homestead~ has some kitchen remodeling pictures and updates for you to look at and see how their homesteading projects are going.

Ashley who is part of Two of a Kind Working on a Full House had a question of modesty & large families. She gives some great thoughts on those topics. She said “These two questions were thoughtfully left on my last post, so I wanted to take the time to address them. I tried to do so thoughtfully and carefully, but I certainly don’t know it all and there are many factors that could play into these scenarios that I don’t know about…. just a small disclaimer!”

Lastly, we have the FREEDOM to sing. So join in with me as we sing America The Beautiful. Thanks to Grandma Rosie’s Texas Home.

Remember this Independence Day that you have liberty and freedom not only on earth, but also with Christ!

Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

So let us walk in His liberty because He has made us FREE! Freedom and Liberty To All!

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008

I am still working on writing about vacation. I just can’t believe how much we did. I hope I can get it done soon. So while you are waiting for those, I have a few other reads you can read about.

You know, I told you I graduated last month and I didn’t have a party or anything, but I did receive some perfect gifts I am so excited about. They are perfect because they are totally me!

First was my Dell Vostro 1500! Man, this thing is amazing! It is has been so wonderful to have my own laptop. I am able to accomplish so much now! I love my Vostro! Mama and Dad, thank you so much for getting it for me!

Second was vacation! That was so great. Meeting my online friends in real life was so special and amazing. That is something I will never forget!

Third was an old book! Now if you have read any of my Book and Literature Articles, you know how much I adore old books! This particular book came from my Grandma. I got it when we went down to see her on vacation. She has a whole bookcase full of old books and I was able to look through some of them WOW! That was so great. The specific book she gave me is called “Adventures In American Literature“. I haven’t been able to read through hardly anything in it except for the index, but I simply cannot wait to dive into it. Some of the contents are:

The Short Story which includes stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, O. Henry, Edgar Allen Poe, Jack London, Washington Irving, among others.
The Essay which includes works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, and many more.
Biography and Autobiography with works by Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt, and others.
Historic Milestones with works by Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, James Monroe and others.
Folk Literature includes songs by different genres.
Poetry has so many poems by many popular authors.
Early Northern Poetry with poems by Emerson, Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Poe, Whitman, Dickinson, Riley, and much more!
Twentieth Century Poetry
Humorous Poetry
Drama
and finally
History of American Literature: A Review and Reinterpretation with some truly amazing articles!
It even has lists of novels to read and biographies of many authors of the different centuries.

Doesn’t it sound just awesome? I am so excited to read it! I also found some papers in it. There is one that has writing from my Great Grandpa Duvall. It’s about John Greenleaf Whittier and what he thought about the author. It is really neat to read. I really don’t know much about my Great Grandpa, and this little piece of paper is him. It’s my heritage and it is so special!

Another book I am just dying to read is the new Chris Walley book from his The Lamb Among Stars Series! The Infinite Day came out on June 1st and with all the hussle and bussle of vacation, I wasn’t able to get it. I hope to be able to get it in the next few days though with some money I got from quietcajun for graduation. I am really excited to read it!Funny that I am talking about literature and books, because that is the topic I chose for Saturday Poetry and Literature: Summer Reading today at HSBA. You should check it out!

I finished all my GGM! I am so happy! It’s such a great feeling to know that I am finished and our July issue will be out soon! Now I can write exclusively about vacation!

For some encouragement on this Saturday, head over to Walking Therein for Saturday Psalm & Praise! It is back this Saturday and is in full swing! Look, its even got a awesome new icon you can use!

Well I hope you have a awesome day! It is beautiful out here and if it weren’t for the mosquitoes, I would go outside.
Love, Blessings and Prayers As Always,

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008