Hillbillies on Parade

What a great trip! I brought back lots of inspiration from my time on the road and visiting with family. I realized how much family means to my entire family. No matter what dramas might be swirling in their lives, they come together with love in their hearts and they do not drag each other down but lift each other up. What a comfort it was to be around that kind of love and positive attitude.

We ate a great dinner of BBQ with all the sides and desserts you could imagine. We sang, played or listened to the music made by our families. The kids swam in the pool to beat the heat. It was a successful reunion. This is my daughter in the pool.

My granny on guitar and a cousin on banjo....told you we were hillbillies! hahaha

The highlight for me had to be looking through the scrapbook that one of my cousins has lovingly put together of our families beginning back in the late 1800's. It was another inspiration for me. I have had intentions of gathering all of the old family photos and putting them in my own scrapbook to preserve our stories and history. Now, the fire has been stoked to get the book completed. It was so awesome to look through her book and see my great grandmother on her wedding day and my grandmother at age 19...so beautiful! This picture shows my granny and her sisters.

Here are a few photos of my "hillbilly" family reunion.

This is some of my cousins...my granny's neices. Lots of love in their hearts!There's my granny playing guitar.

Me... ain't I purty?

It was a good trip but alot of driving from Florida to Missouri! I'm exhausted. Off to bed.

PS Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!

On the Road Again...

Heading to Poplar Bluff, MO today for the Moore Family Reunion. I haven't been since 2002 and I'm eager to see my relatives. Especially my Uncle Ricky. What a cool cat! He's a confirmed bachelor so to have his sisters, mom and neices under his roof is a hormone overload to his male senses!! It shouldn't be so fun to watch him squirm... but it is!

This reunion... the name of my blog... they are intertwined you know. Sometimes I feel like my life has been over shadowed by a "weight problem" even when I was at a healthy weight. My parents both told me over and over when I was young...I don't even know when it started... that I would ALWAYS have to watch my weight because of my genetics. My family. Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Great Aunts and Uncles... mostly over-weight. The women on BOTH sides of my family (except my Mom) are big women. I'm talking 200+ pounds.

Do you have any idea what this barrage of messages to watch my weight does to a girl's mentality? I grew up thinking I was fat and that nothing I did would change that fact. I've never been satisfied with my body. Not even when I was a healthy 125 at age 22. I look back at pictures of myself in high school and after and think how gorgeous I was and how could I have even thought I was fat???? It saddens me to look at those pictures and I grieve for the girl that couldn't even enjoy herself at that time.

Now days... I know what fat really is. I'm unhealthy, inactive and over-weight. I just had to start taking pills for my cholesterol. I'm depressed most of the time over seemingly nothing and basically just can't seem to love myself. And yes, my parents still will make comments about my weight but not as much as they use to. Simply because I told them how I feel and that I didn't want to hear it ever again. They basically made me this way with all of their negative badgering.

So here I am today, in the process of taking control of my life and my health, about to rub elbows with the relatives that can share in my struggles, understand my feelings and maybe show me that I'm okay.

Next time I post, I'll share some photos of the family. What can I say...we love to eat!