Do Not Be Afraid.......

 

 

Throughout our lives we are haunted by fear. Fear can be good. It can keep you from doing stupid, irresponsible things. It can give you an odd feeling when you are approaching a dangerous situation. When you are a child your parents can put fear in you really quick with discipline. I was never disciplined that I did not deserve it. And probably not disciplined as much as I should have been at times. That fear that accompanied discipline was to keep me safe from harm. So that I would learn what I should and should not do. I have repeated the same with my children. You want them to learn to not speak to strangers, look both ways when you cross the street, don't put things in your mouth that could harm you, etc. These are examples of good fear.

 

I am a God fearing woman. Do I sin? Of course I do. I am human like everyone else. However, I always have the fear of displeasing God. I grew up in a great church with an even better youth group and youth minister. You knew wrong from right. You knew the power of prayer. But most importantly you learned about the Bible and the importance of God's word. One example is below:

 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

                                                                   Joshua 1:9

 

This is a very powerful verse. In reading this should we be afraid or frightened? This verse clearly says to not be, just trust that God is with you always. Fear can be crippling. If we did one thing each and every day that we are afraid of then our lives could be totally different. Maybe we would stand up more for what we believe and not worry so much about what someone else thinks. Maybe we would speak to that stranger that is just wanting someone to talk to. What if we let fear keep us from asking out our significant other the first time? One of the best quotes ever is from the movie

We Bought A Zoo-

 

 

"All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come from it."

~Benjamin Mee

We Bought A Zoo

 

I love that. 20 seconds of insane courage could change your life! That could not be more true and really gives you a thought to ponder. I believe fear can be a gift in the right circumstances. I also believe that fear can hold you back from endless possibilities. So each and every day when you hold back from doing something you really want to do but fear takes over, remember Joshua 1:9 and quote from We Bought A Zoo. You will go further and see more than you ever imagined.

 

June

 

"It's better to look back on life and say: "I can't believe I did that." Than to look back and say: "I wish I did that."

                                                    ~Anonymous

 

 

BASKETBALL BAAABY!!!

 

 

As I said before I am from Kentucky. Kentucky is known for two things, horses and UK basketball. Our fans are crazy (including me) over their Wildcats!!! It has been that way all my life. When I was a preteen my mom would take me and a few friends and family over to Wildcat Lodge on UK campus. We would stand outside and wait for the team to come out after practice hoping that we could possibly meet them and get their autograph. March madness is true madness in Kentucky. When a game is on everything else is on hold. Some preachers at the churches even know that if a Kentucky game is going on around noon then the sermon needs to be quick! We also love our Coach Cal!!

 

 

We have our own little basketball star in our house. We think so anyway. Parker plays basketball for the sixth grade middle school team. He is a lefty and plays point guard. Basketball is his favorite sport. He also plays baseball in the spring, which is mine and his dad's favorite. I show up to his games usually in high fashion with my "bling" shirt on. That is when I am not wearing scrubs because I am rushing to the game after work. Parker is actually not old enough yet to be completely

appalled by his parents. In due time. I cannot believe he is a preteen. Soon he will be dating, driving and wanting very little to do with his parents. It seems like yesterday that his little newborn head was nestled under my chin. He was a mommas boy. Time certainly does go by way to fast:(.

 

Here he is under his UK blanket. What else???

 

Parker and his sister Alli and cousin Will @ Rupp Arena. We were there for a circus not a UK game but hey it is still RUPP ARENA!

 

Our future UK basketball player. We can dream.......

 

Actually no matter what sport Parker wants to play or not play is fine with us. We are just so proud of the young man that he has turned out to be, We could not be more proud. But in the event he becomes a UK basketball player, that would be OK too. We Love You Parker Douglas, and GO BIG BLUE!!

 

June

 

"Be quick but never in a hurry"

                          ~John Wooden

 

 



I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream!!

 

 

Ice Cream has always been one of my guilty pleasures. There is just something about the creamy, cold, delicious goodness in ice cream. When I was 4 years old my dad started a dairy bar named The Kwik Draw. I have so many fond memories of that restaurant. I distinctly remember the first items we taste tested in the new restaurant as it was being built. We tried out the hot dog warmer complete with bun warmer, ummmm. And we tried out a brand of ice cream to see if it was the brand that my family wanted to use. The flavor was Pralines and Cream and it was delicious!! That indeed was the ice cream company we would go with.

 

 

The Kwik Draw had a bunch of different food items to choose from. We had our famous Double Decker or as some would call it The Country Boy. This was a double burger divided by a bun with all the fixins', complete with our homemade cole slaw on the burger. Every morning my dad would make our secret coney sauce, homemade chili, and cake for the hot fudge cake sundaes. My father along with my grandmother Elsie worked so hard. I did not. I got to just indulge in all that Kwik Draw had to offer. Mostly the 30+ flavors of ICE CREAM!!

 

 

We had all kinds of flavors. The classics, Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, Butter Pecan, Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, etc. We also had the originals. Smurf, Superman, Bubblegum, Strawberry Cheesecake, Smores, and I could go on and on. We also had soft serve ice cream and yogurt. They were delicious as well, but I was all about the hard dipped ice cream on a cone of course!

My family sold the Kwik Draw when I was eleven. Mine and my older sisters hand prints are still in the concrete outside of the old building. We often gather around and talk of the good ole Kwik Draw days. Complete with my dad telling how he would call every night to see if any of us girls wanted anything. My older sister and mother always had reasonable request. Me on the other hand, I wanted a triple scoop cone of three different flavors, just like the one pictured above. My dad, not one to disappoint would make me my triple scoop cone and balance it as he drove all the way home to my little anxious hands.

 

My taste buds have changed over the years, but my love of ice cream remains. I think we all have that one comfort food and mine is indeed ice cream. Maybe it is the taste? Or maybe it is the rush of happy memories that accompany every bite. The sweet memories of my childhood. So yes I will diet, deprive myself of foods that I love, but there will always be a place for ice cream!

 

 

June

 

"You can't buy happiness. But you can buy ice cream and that's kind of the same thing."

                              ~Anonymous



Sunday. A time to worship, a time to rest.

 

 

Sundays are always bittersweet for me. They are a great day to spend with family, go to church and have fellowship, maybe even curl up under a blanket on the couch and watch a movie. But there is always the dreading of MONDAY. I try to be thankful for each and every day that God has given me however, Mondays can be a little difficult. Well enough about that M word and lets get back to today, SUNDAY!

 

 

Coming off of this long holiday weekend I am feeling a little more rested than most Sundays. The sad part is even though I have had four days off of work I have not gotten a thing accomplished around this house:(. Of course in June fashion I have said, "I will do that tomorrow". Well time is up! I must get up and get this house half way clean so that I can start the week off without that looming over my head.

 

 

This morning our family went to my childhood church. It is always like going home. We changed churches a couple of years back so that my children could have more youth to fellowship with. My previous church has unfortunately slowed in growth over the years, so there are very few youth there. However, my grandparents still attend that church. My daughter is 7 years old and does not have a shy bone in her body. Give her a microphone and an audience and it is on! She was invited to sing this morning at church and she was all for it! She sang "Down To The River To Pray" by Alison Krauss. She did really well and a lot of family had come to watch the big performance. Right before she went up to sing, the pastor had the morning prayer of which always ends in The Lord's Prayer. As we all started to speak in unison my little outgoing songbird Alli looks up at me and says loudly,

"They stole this from our church!" speaking of The Lord's Prayer. Never a dull moment with that one! She went on to sing beautifully and I am just a little proud. After church we went with some of the family that had come to watch the performance to lunch.

 

Now I am here again not doing what I need to be doing. But this is so much more fun! I guess I will get to work. The moral of my blog today is, 1.) enjoy your Sundays and don't waste them dreading Monday, 2.) don't put of till tomorrow what can be done today, 3.) The Lord's Prayer is used in a lot of churches, and 4.) no matter who, what, when or where you are asked to sing, SING!! Sing your heart out! It just may make some ones day. Happy Sunday friends!!!



 

June

 

 

"As much as you want to plan your life, it has a way of surprising you with unexpected things that will make you happier than you originally planned.That's what you call GOD'S WILL."

                                                                                                    Anonymous

 



A Day In The Life Of June........

 

 

Welcome To My Life!!

 

Hello everyone! Since this is my first blog let me tell you a little about me. My name is June McCreary. I am a full time working married mother of two. I have been married to my husband Jimmy for 15 years. We have one son Parker, 11 and one daughter Alli, 7. You will learn a lot about them very soon! I also have a boxer Mason, and a cat Roxie. Or as Alli calls her,   

"ROX THE FOX". I work as a nurse in Lexington, Kentucky. Then I come home to the serenity of my little hometown. Well it is sometimes serene. I live on a farm. It is actually not our farm but rather my in-laws. They have cattle and that is about all at this time. If it was up to my children we would have a horse, several bunnies, chickens, goats, and about any other farm animal that you can imagine.

 

The reason I decided to start a blog is.....

 

1.) I love to write

 

2.) My life can be too comical to keep all to myself.

 

So here we go. In a nutshell I cannot cook. I LOVE Pinterest, and fully intend on doing at least one of the 3000 things I have pinned. You never know what is coming out of my daughters mouth (nor do I). My son is starting into puberty. I have a completely dysfunctional family life that can resemble Everybody Loves Raymond. I am constantly redecorating my house because well the same look for more than 3 months is just overdone! I am fixing to start a diet and exercise regimen, which if you don't read my blog for any other reason you should totally read it for that. And last but not least if something is going to happen it is going to happen to me. Which of course can be a total pain in the, well you know, but hey makes for some great stories. Oh and I love quotes. I guess I could call myself a "quote-a-holic". It is inspiring how so many people,  famous or infamous from all different walks of life can say a few words that speak directly to you. Therefore, I will end each post with a quote that seems to apply. So again welcome to my life. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

"Life is like a roller coaster. You can scream or enjoy the ride."

 

June