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Church

4 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Do you love church?  I mean, do you love to GO to church?

When most people say “let’s go to church” they are usually referring to the church building they attend.

Far too often, we have forgotten that the church building is just that…a building where believers gather together to worship.

And far too often, we forget that it is the believers that gather within that church building who are the church.  The building is just a convenient place to gather.

I want to make a disclaimer here – I am about to show in pictures some of the church buildings where I have attended.  But I realize that they are just buildings.  It is the body of believers within those buildings that I have loved.  And so….

I have been involved with many churches throughout my life.  I was born in Dallas, Texas, and my family attended the First Baptist Church there.  Since we moved away just before I was four-years-old, I have only faint memories of that building or believers.  Fred and I have been back to visit and tour that campus, but it raises no memories to me. (firstdallas.or

FBC Dallas, Texas

FBC Dallas, Texas – photo by Judy Wills

The church we attended in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we moved to from Texas, was the First Baptist Church. That body of believers established themselves as the First Baptist Church of Albuquerque in 1853.  It was been an active church ever since.  The congregation has now built a new building in which to worship.  It is quite modern and up-to-date, and from the pictures I looked at online, it is a growing body with many believers.  I am thrilled.  (fbcabq.com)

As I look at the picture below, I am almost in tears.  That building was my first experience with “church” and it holds many memories dear to my heart.  My family attended that building every Sunday that I can remember.  We had Sunday School there in the classrooms, a room where the choir met before going into the Sanctuary choir loft, and the Sanctuary itself.  I sang in the children’s choirs all the way up to the Adult Choir.  I was baptized there.  Fred and I met and were married in that building.  Dear to my heart, indeed.

Photo credit First Baptist Church, Albuquerque

First Baptist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico Credit Goggle Search

After we married, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where we joined the Travis Avenue Baptist Church.  The body of believers in that congregation was quite large, so most of our friendships revolved around the Sunday School classes, and the choir.  It was a wonderful time in our lives, and I feel we both grew, spiritually during that time. (travis.org)

Travis Avenue Baptist Church

Credit Google Search

Fred was attending the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, at the time, in preparation for a life of full-time ministry.  God had other plans for us, but those years in the Seminary prepared us both for other ministries.

SWBTS

Credit Google Search

When Fred entered the U.S. Air Force, he (we) were sent to San Jose, California, for Fred to study Meteorology at San Jose State College (now University). 

San Jose State University

Credit Google Search and San Jose State University website

 We were to be there for only one year of study – from June to June.  We attended several different churches before finding the one we felt God wanted us to join.  One of the churches we visited was pastored by a man who was a friend of my father’s. (Baptist Temple)  Fred and I had just about decided to join another church, when this man and his wife came to visit us.  They were quite insistent that we belonged to their congregation – Fred with his Seminary training could assist with the Sunday School program.  With my music training, I could play either the piano or organ.  So we decided to join – to their relief.  However, we found out quite quickly that it was NOT where God wanted us to be.  While we made friends and worshiped there, we were unsettled the entire time we were in San Jose.  Fortunately, it was only for one year.  But we learned our lesson – we never again joined a church without absolutely knowing that was the church where God wanted us to serve.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Chicken Pox and Shingles

28 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I don’t believe I had the chicken pox when I was a child – at least I don’t remember having it.  

Credit Pixabay

Measles (German measles), yes, and strep throat a LOT…but not chicken pox.  My brother, Bill thinks he had chicken pox – and the mumps – as a child.  He also said: “Oh yes, and I also had shingles as an adult. Terrible disease!”

Credit Pixabay

I know that my husband Fred, had chicken pox, because there is a “chicken pox pit” in each of his face cheeks.  It must have been a really bad case of it, poor thing.  I must admit – I don’t even “see” them anymore.  

When our Karen was a little thing, chicken pox ran rampant through the church.  I had hoped she would get it (is that a terrible thing for a mother to wish for?), and get that particular childhood disease behind her.  But she never did – until she was 14 years old!  Sorry Karen – I know that embarrasses you, but it’s good for this story. She was quite embarrassed back then, as well.  Because she knew of the “pits” in Fred’s face, she made sure she didn’t scratch any blisters on her face.  But she said there was one in her hair that she scratched a lot!

Our Janet was exposed to chicken pox when she was five-years-old, and came down with a fairly light case of it.  I picked her up, held her right in front of her daddy’s face, and said, “do you want holes in your face, like Daddy has?”  She replied no, so I told her to NEVER to scratch any of the blisters on her face!!  And she didn’t.

Janet, age 5

Well, either she and I were exposed at the same time, or I caught the virus from her, because at the same time she had chicken pox, I had a light case of shingles!  I say “light” because it manifested itself on my back in a patch about the size of a silver dollar!

Credit Google Search – Eisenhower Silver Dollar

Lots of blisters, and all that goes along with chicken pox/shingles, and it was not a lot of fun!  However, from what I’ve heard from other people,  I am very grateful for my “light” case!  An interesting footnote to my “light” case – that “patch” on my back is still “numb” – even after all these years.  I guess it killed the nerve endings in that spot.  Amazing.

I remember when Fred’s mother had a case of shingles.  It landed in her face, nearly reaching her eye.  I’m told that, if it gets in the eye, it can cause blindness.  We were grateful that it did not reach her eye!  I’ve heard so many horrible stories about shingles.  It is not a friendly disease!

Later, when I was going through chemo for breast cancer, my doctor was almost in a panic that I hadn’t had either the pneumonia shot or the shingles shot.  She said it would be a “disaster” if I were to get either disease while going through chemo!  So I was given both of those shots.

I guess that’s a good thing, because when our grandtwins were about one year old, we made a trip to Virginia to visit with the family.  One evening Janet and Tom went out – a rare date since the twins arrived – and Fred and I kept the twins.  They had both been fussy most of the day, and Connor was crying so hard and consistently, that I grabbed him up, settled us both in the recliner, and let him sleep on my chest.  When Janet and Tom returned the next morning and got a look at the twins, we realized they had “spots” all over them.  Sure enough – it was chicken pox!  So glad I had taken that shingles shot!  We never really determined where the twins picked up the virus, except they had been at the YMCA taking swimming lessons.  It’s possible, I guess.

Well, the latest info on shingles (which they keep saying that at our age we REALLY need that shot!) is that they have developed a new – and better – shingles shot, but it is a two shot procedure.  We’ve taken the first one, but haven’t been informed as to when we need the second one.  Seems a bit hap-hazard to me, hm?

I’m also told that the shingles/chicken pox virus remains in the body for a lifetime.  Now THAT’s a scary thought!

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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A Good Belly Laugh

21 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

They say…”Laughter is the best medicine.”  I love to hear children laughing – that sweet, innocent gurgle is adorable.  I love to hear and see adults laughing so hard that tears run down their cheeks.    I have a picture here of my mother, her sister, and their mother all laughing at something – they were having a good belly laugh.  It’s one of my favorite pictures of them.

1953 – L-R – Aunt Jessie, Granny, Mother

I’ve mentioned in previous musings that I am on facebook a lot.  I get really amused at some of the pictures posted there.  Here are some of my favorites:

While I didn’t grow up in the era of the “Road Runner and Coyote,” our daughters did, and so we watched those cartoons with them.  And, being from New Mexico, these two critters touched home with me.  The person who managed his wreckage in this way had a great sense of humor.

Credit Google/FaceBook/Truck Warrior

Remember the “toy truck” I posed recently.  The creativity this took brought a chucked to my husband and me.

Credit Google/Facebook

I saw this one of the owls recently and was tickled by it.  I can just imagine my mother looking at me that way if I had said a curse word when I was young!

Credit Google/Facebook/Mary Balogh

Have you heard of the heat in Texas this summer?  It’s probably the worst heat Texas has had in a long time.  Glad I’m not there!  However, this picture – from Texas – showed up on facebook, and I got a real chuckle out of it.  It certainly made me wonder if those cookies would really cook in that heat!  What’s you guess?  If nothing else, the fragrance in the car would be absolutely delicious after working all day!

Credit Google, FaceBook and Litle Sunny Kitchen

Did I mention how hot it is in Texas this summer?  This one hits the spot!

Credit Google/Facebook/Angie Ward

And here’s a cute one for our fishermen:

Credit Google/FaceBookKippi At Home

This one always makes me laugh:

Credit Google/FaceBook/Truck Warrior

Nothing like a good laugh to cheer up your spirits.  These have helped me – and I hope my readers as well.

Have an enjoyable week – and look for the funny things in life!

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Toy Truck

7 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblogged from 2015

I admit it – I love to look at the e-mails we are sent, and I enjoy most of the facebook stuff I look at.  I also have to admit that on FB, I usually just look for the “pictures” and videos rather than all the verbiage presented there.

I’ve been really amused by some of the pictures on FB.  This one really caught my eye and had a good laugh over it.  When I showed it to Fred, he laughed, as well.

What do you think?  Cute, huh?

But think how creative that truck driver was to put this together.  It didn’t really take a lot of thought to do this, but gave a great deal of enjoyment to those who saw it.

The same could be said of the things we say and do in our lives, to those around us.  Do we say and do things that bring joy to those we live with?  Or to our neighbors?  Or to our fellow church-goers?  Or have we become so jaded that we don’t have any joy left in our lives?  

Recently [in 2015] I had total knee replacement – not a fun thing, that’s for sure.  It was done to help relieve the pain in my knee, since the “cushion” in my knee was gone, and the two bones in my knee were grating upon each other.  Ouch!!  But through the surgery and the following physical therapy, I’ve tried to keep an upbeat spirit.  One of the best exercises was what they call “foot pumps.”  I joked that I would probably wake up from the anesthesia saying “foot pumps….foot pumps.”

I’ve joked with the therapists and their assistants.  When the therapist commented that I wasn’t “grunting and groaning” when he was severely pushing on my leg, I told him that my mind was saying “I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me….. I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me….. I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me…..(and by the way – that’s what the Greek actually says!)”  And he laughed.  I’ve gone back to see the nurse on the floor of the hospital where I was for four days.  She was such an inspiration – she even pulsed pom-poms as encouragement for us to get up and walk!  She always had a smile on her face.  And she seems pleased when Fred and I go back just to see her.  We get hugs.

My time in the physical therapy clinic is past now….anything else I “recover” will be by my own working out.  Recently on FB, I saw a video clip of a little girl – she couldn’t have been more than 1½ years old, trying to walk to her encouraging Daddy.  The thing that impressed me was that she was trying to learn to walk with a prosthetic leg!  I saw that and said to myself…”Well, Judy, if she can do THAT, you can just suck it up and dig in and work to get this leg back into shape!  No more belly-aching!!”

Everyone says that laughter – a good old-fashioned belly laugh – is some of the best medicine anyone can have in healing.  And that’s why that toy truck struck my funny-bone.  It gave me such a good laugh, that my spirits were lifted.

And here’s a directive from scripture:

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  REJOICE!

Philippians 4:4

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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I Love Carpet-Part 3

24 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

continued

From Tyndall AFB, Florida, 

Photo credit WJHG.com  Credit Google search

we moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Credit Google Search and Fort Leavenworth website

We were to be there for only one year, for Fred to have training at the Army’s Command and General Staff College.  Again, we made use of the large rug for our bedroom.  The celery-green shag carpet went in the downstairs living room. 

We had some left over celery-green carpet, so cut it in pieces large enough to be tacked down on the stairs to muffle our going up and down those wooden stairs.  The gold shag carpet went on the upstairs landing and Janet’s room.  Again, we had a white rug for Karen’s room.  However, when people moved from that base, they had large garage sales.  In one of those sales, we found a gorgeous white rug that we purchased to put in Karen’s room in Heidelberg, Germany (our next assignment).

One more note about Kansas before we moved to Germany:  the mover came out and inspected all our belongings, so he would know how many boxes, etc. to bring to pack up our stuff.  He also took note of our carpets.  When the day came for packing up, when it came to the carpets, he told the inspector that he hadn’t brought enough boxes for the carpet.  Two things could happen: 1) he could drive back to the warehouse (about 50 miles away, as I recall) and bring the boxes, or 2) they could just take the carpets with them and pack them at the warehouse.  The inspector agreed to #2.  As they were driving off, one of the packers was sprawled out on the rolled-up carpets on the truck.  I told Fred then that we would never see those carpets and rugs again.  And we never did.  I am sure they are still sitting on someone’s flooring in Kansas!  They were all gone, with the exceptions of those pieces we had cut to tack down on the stairs.  So when we arrived in Heidelberg, that’s all we had to work with.  I wanted to go to the authorities and complain, but Fred said they would probably tell me the boxes with the carpets were at the bottom of the ocean.  Oh well…

Okay, on to Heidelberg.  The government apartment we were assigned there did have a rug in the dining room – another of those really heavy rugs.  But it worked.  The kitchen and bathroom floors were terrazzo again, but not squares – solid floor.  I left the kitchen that way, but purchased a bathroom rug for the bathroom, in a rust color.  Then I purchased sheer curtains for the bathroom in rust, 

The bathroom curtains

and cream-with-rust trim for the kitchen.

The kitchen curtains

I liked the way both of those curtains looked.  We purchased a somewhat-white rug for Karen’s room.

Karen in her room with the somewhat-white rug

I can’t remember what we had for Janet’s room, but I have vague memories of having enough scraps of the gold shag to cover her room.  For our bedroom, we found enough pieces of the celery shag to go around our bed so we could step out of bed onto rug rather than just floor, and mostly fill in the rest of the room.  Nothing under the bed.  We found two sort-of-green rugs that fit together for the living room.  

Fred’s parents with Karen and Janet – the green rugs we bought

Later, we found a large amount of rust-colored carpet to replace those celery green rugs, and found it went quite well with our blue couch and chair.

Judy and a friend – the “new” rust carpet

I wanted badly to bring that carpet back with us Stateside, but a friend said he really, really needed it for his office.  So we sold it to him.  Eventually, we found, that was a good thing.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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I Love Carpet-Part 2

17 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

continued

From Wiesbaden, West Germany, we went to northern Maine – Loring AFB in Limestone, Maine.

Credit Google Search

It is only about three miles from the Canadian border.  The government quarters we lived in there (thank goodness for only one year!), had hardwood floors throughout the two-story apartment. 

Photo by Fred Wills – the row house we lived in

The apartment (possibly called a townhouse) was partially furnished.  So we decided it was time to purchase our own furniture.  We purchased a 110″ long sofa in electric blue with a matching high-back swivel rocker.

The couch – a friend of Janet’s
The chair – and the charcoal rug – our Karen

Since there were no already-installed rugs or carpet, we also purchased a 12′ x 15′ rug to go under that sofa in the living room.  It was a mixture of colors, which essentially looked charcoal gray.  We had a really good pad under the rug, since we knew it would help the rug to last a long time.  The government had built an add-on to the back of that apartment that included a laundry room and half-bath.  The flooring in that room was vinyl tile over concrete.  Our Janet was born in the military hospital on base.

After our one year there in Maine, we moved to San Antonio, Texas, for Fred to teach at the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School (OTS).  We purchased our first house there, and it was a new house – we were first owners.

1971 – Our first house – San Antonio, Texas

2017 – Our first house – renovated.  That tree really grew big!

The builder had installed carpet in the living room/dining room but only there.

The gold carpet in the living room – our Karen

The rest of the house had vinyl tile on the floors.  Actually it was rolled vinyl, not squares.  We still had our 12′ x 15′ rug, so we put it in our bedroom.  The bedroom was smaller than the rug, so we had to have the overflow of the rug up the wall behind our bed.  That worked.  I have no pictures of any rugs/carpet in either of the other two bedrooms there, and I honestly can’t remember whether or not I placed rugs in those bedrooms.  They would have been just large, loose-laid rugs, if I did.

After three years in San Antonio, we moved to Tyndall AFB, in Panama City, Florida.

Photo credit WJHG.com  Credit Google search

Tyndall AFB – our half of the duplex – carport only, no garage

The government quarters we moved into there had awful, deep blood-red vinyl squares for flooring throughout the apartment.  We knew we had to do SOMETHING to make it more comfortable!  So we purchased a large amount of two-toned celery green shag carpet to  cover most of that flooring. 

A repeat picture, but it shows the celery-green shag carpet

For the entry way, kitchen and dining room, we had a roll of vinyl flooring as cover.  It was a pretty white with speckles of color.  We also purchased some gold shag to cover the hallway and the back bedroom.  We had purchased some white furniture for Karen’s room, and found a white rug to go in her room.

The “semi” white rug and Karen’s white dresser

 I purchased a “bathroom” rug for the bathroom and made curtains from white towels.  All the carpet had good padding underneath, except the bathroom rug – it already had a rubber backing.  Those were wonderful carpets to walk barefoot through!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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I Love Carpet-Part 1

10 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I am a carpet person, that is, I prefer carpet on my house floors rather than wood or tile.  I like to walk barefoot on the carpet.  In the house where I grew up, we had carpet on all the floors, except in the kitchen and bathroom.  The kitchen floor was a patterned linoleum. 

My Granny holding Trixie, My Mother, Boots our cat and the patterned linoleum flooring in the kitchen – 1959

I don’t exactly remember the bathroom floor, but I suspect it was linoleum, as well.  Other than that, there were wood floors throughout the house.  Mom and Dad had some gray carpet installed (dining room and hallway), but the rug in the living room was “loose-laid.” 

Mom, Dad and me – Christmas 1964 with the blue carpet in the living room

I’m not sure whether or not anyone knew about carpet padding in those days, so I don’t know whether or not there was any under that rug.  In the short space between the living room and dining room, then between the living room and hallway, the bare wood was exposed.  Mother had some throw rugs in those spaces.

Boots and Trixie on the throw rug between living room and hall – 1959

I had a loose-laid aqua rug in my bedroom.

Trixie “fighting” with my fiesta skirts – 1958

Here is a picture of my brother Bill, in his bedroom.  The floor is hardwood.  There may have been a loose-laid rug, but I don’t see one and don’t remember whether or not Mother had one in there.

Bill-1956

Because of all that, Fred and I have had carpet or rugs in our apartments/houses wherever we could whenever we could.  We have lived in 12 different apartments/houses in our married life, and not all of them were carpeted.  And so we purchased either carpet or throw rugs for those that were not carpeted.

Our first apartment – in Fort Worth, Texas – had vinyl tile flooring throughout – it was a very small apartment.  So we had a fairly large throw rug for the “living room” there. 

Our rescue cat, Tommy, sleeping on our throw rug – 1962

The next apartment we lived in, was mostly my apartment, in San Antonio, Texas.  Fred was going through OTS, and was only home one night a week.  It was a small apartment with only wood floors.  We only lived there three months, so I don’t remember even putting down throw rugs.

The next apartment we lived in was in San Jose, California.  The owners had a commercial-grade carpet installed throughout the apartment, except the kitchen and bathroom.  Not too soft on the feet there, but at least it was carpet.

Our next apartment was in Wiesbaden, West Germany.  We lived “on the economy” for the first year we were there, which means we were not in government quarters. 

We had the entire top floor – with balcony – 1967

This house had wood floors throughout, except – again – for the kitchen and bathroom, which were like a ceramic tile.  It was a furnished apartment, which was good, as we didn’t have any furniture of our own to bring with us.  Fred purchased a rocking chair for me after our Karen was born.  We still have that rocking chair.

1969 – Wiesbaden, Germany Fred and Karen playing/rocking chair in background

We lived in that apartment for one year, then moved to government quarters.  It was a fully-furnished apartment.  Here, the floors were all wood, except for the kitchen and bathroom, which were like a terrazzo tile – very hard.  The government had loose-laid rugs in all the rooms that were quite heavy.  We lived there for two years, before heading back Stateside.

1969 – Karen in our apartment-he floors are polished wood

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Lady and the Cross

3 Jul

Sunday Memories

Judy Wills

Reblog from July 2016

I know the July 4th, our country’s Independence Day, has come and gone, but it’s never out of style to be patriotic. Because of the service to our country that my Father, my Father-in-law, my husband, and his brother have done, I find myself fiercely patriotic. I weep when the National Anthem is sung or played. And I am not ashamed of my patriotism.

Many years ago, while in the church choir, we were given a song to sing that touched my heart so much, that I’ve never forgotten it. I would like to print the words below and hope you feel the same patriotism I’ve always felt.

The comparison between our Lady with the Lamp, and the Cross of Christ is absolutely breathtaking.

Credit to Lillenas Publishing Company

Composer and Lyricist Neil Enloe

Arranged by Tom Keene

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Sailboat

26 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

REBLOG

Credit Pixab

Growing up in New Mexico, there wasn’t a lot of water around – no swimming pools (except at the public ones), no ponds or lakesides, no oceans, etc. So, consequently, I was not really familiar with boats of any kind. That really didn’t bother me too much I had a lot of other interests.

If you have ever lived in government quarters – as we did on any military base where we were stationed – then you know that, when you leave that posting, you are required to have those same quarters absolutely immaculate! Better than when you moved into them!  And there would be an inspection of those quarters by an official inspector. If they found anything wrong – you were required to “fix” it before you were allowed to leave the base.

We had lived in quarters on Tyndall AFB, Florida for five years. That’s almost too long, actually. Our usual moves were about every three years. I told Fred that we needed to leave soon, because I was beginning to put down roots – in a government duplex!!

He was finally given orders to relocate. So then the work of packing up and moving out began. After the movers had taken our belongings away, we started cleaning the unit. We had always thought we could do that ourselves, rather than hire someone to come in and do it for us. So I set Fred and the girls to cleaning, 

Credit Pixabay

and I thought I would tackle the kitchen. I had planned on the weekend to do the entire kitchen. Unfortunately, the stove was so old that, in taking it apart and cleaning it – it took the entire weekend just for the stove!

By the time we had finished, we were exhausted.

Now….you may think there is no connection to cleaning and boats…but wait….

There was a gentleman who worked in the Weather Station with Fred, who LOVED boats! And especially sailboats. Not being able to purchase one for himself, he had contracted with another gentleman from Alabama to care for his sailboat.

It was a 33-foot Hunter that would sleep six people. It had a full galley and full shower. It had a small auxiliary engine to get us in and out of port. It was set up for ocean voyages and was one-person configured. Whenever the owner wanted to “play” with it, he would call and come down and retrieve it. That usually only happened once or twice a year. The rest of the time, our friend could take it out whenever he wanted.

And that’s what happened with us. He had offered to take us out for a sail, on the last day we were in town. And so we did. I was a bit confused when we motored out of port, thinking “what does this have to do with sailboating?”

But then he cut the engine and unfurled the sail. It was the most wonderful thing – so very quiet, and peaceful, and RESTFUL…just exactly what we needed after all that cleaning.

Fred and Judy on the sailboat

He even let our 8-year-old handle the wheel for a while. She loved it!

Picture by Judy Wills – Janet at the helm!

We’ve never purchased a boat of our own – never felt the need to. But it was an experience that we savored and have remembered all these years.

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

19 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Recently, Fred and I made a trip to Virginia to see our youngest daughter, her husband, and our grandtwins.  We always love being with them.  They live in Williamsburg, but not in the restored colonial area.  But every time we visit there, we always walk through the restored area.

When we returned Stateside from Heidelberg, West Germany in 1983, Fred was stationed at Langley AFB, Hampton, Virginia.  Neither of us had ever lived in Virginia, so it was to prove to be a new and exciting experience for both of us – actually all four of us, since our daughters were still living at home.

We were excited to realize that we lived just eight miles from Yorktown, and that is within the “Historic Triangle” of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown.  That area is just oozing with American history.  While that had not been much of an interest to me prior to our time in Virginia, I found myself totally engaged in it.

And Colonial Williamsburg helped that viewpoint.  In that vein, we purchased what they called the “Patriot Pass” – essentially an annual pass.  Since we lived only about 30 minutes from Colonial Williamsburg, we went there often – so often that our girls grew a bit tired of it.  Not only did we take them with us, but their schools had field trips there, as well.  Eventually, we felt we had seen just about everything they had to offer, and let our Patriot Pass lapse.  We could still walk the streets and see the gardens and shops, but we couldn’t go into the “attractions” where the “interpreters” told what was going on in their areas in colonial times.  

All that to say, this time when we visited, we decided to get the Patriot Pass and go through as many of the attractions as possible.  We are so glad we did – it was new and refreshing to hear the explanations of what was done in those areas, by people dressed in period costumes, and telling just what it might be like in colonial times to do their jobs.  

We stopped at the seamstress shop (I was especially interested in how they got the printed fabric),

Trend & Tradition – Autumn 2021

 The printer

Credit National Graphic – Visiting Our Past – America’s Historylands

The apothecary, the boot and shoemaker,

Credit National Graphic – Visiting Our Past – America’s Historylands

 The Capitol, 

Credit Williamsburg Before and After

The blacksmith among others.

Credit Military Lifestyle – March 1992

The tour of Raleigh’s Tavern was especially interesting, as we were told it was the birthplace of Phi Beta Kappa!  And there was a gentleman walking the Duke of Gloucester Street, dressed in period costume (along with a yes-man sidekick) who told about how his house was so much better than his brother’s house.  Just delightful!

Credit Trend & Tradition – Winter 2022

We had hoped to go through the Governor’s Palace, but the line was exceedingly too long, with about five or six groups ahead of us.  By the time we were on our way back there, we were both too tired, and skipped that one.

Credit Military Lifestyle – March 1992

We wanted to go in the Bruton Parish Church (that’s BRuton not Burton!!),

Credit Williamsburg Before and After

 which we had seen quite often, but it was closed that day.  It is still an active Anglican church, and was the site of many of the country’s beginnings.  It is especially beautifully decorated at Christmas time.  Just a note here – all the private residences within Colonial Williamsburg, as well as all the stores and attractions, are required to decorate the outsides of their facilities/houses, and it must be all living decorations – no silk flowers or fake fruit – it must be real.  It’s amazing what they come up with.

Credit Trend & Tradition – Winter 2022

Credit Trend & Tradition – Autumn 2021

The Capitol is at one end of the Duke of Gloucester Street, and Merchant’s Square is at the other end, just across the street from the Wren Building on the College of William and Mary.  Many shops and eateries there, which are fun to patronize.  Duke of Gloucester Street is about one mile long.

Here is a book we purchased titled Williamsburg Before and After.  Many of the pictures in this post are from that book. 

Duke of Gloucester Street – 1928

I am so glad someone decided to restore this area!

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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