It's Kind of a Hobby of Hers

Mama started makin' cakes years ago...she has gotten quite good at it! Here recently she has asked me to help her with a few of them. I have helped her with anything from a Gilligan's Island Cake (which was my birthday cake 2 years ago), a John Deere Boot Cake and her latestaddition a Topsy Turvy Sweet 16 Cake. I have become quite the fondant queen! Even though I do not like the stuff very well! Thehobby that started out as a her makin' cakes on occasion for family members has now hit the halls of Aiken Electric Coop. She spends her weekends bakin' cakes and comin' up with designs for her customers. So I decided that I would make the Logo above for her to use. I keep tellin' her that she should start a business on the side and name it Tira's Tasty Treats...in honor of her Mother and my Nanny, Tira Day. Mama's first cake was made in the kitchen of Nanny's house which makes the name perfect for her signature cakes.

Who know's maybe you yourself one day will have the honor of tasting a cake from Tira's Tasty Treats! :)

Erika's Rules - Learn 'Em, Live 'Em, Love 'Em!

Because of my love for a certain actor on the TV Show NCIS, I decided that I would make my own set of rules just like Leroy Jethro Gibbs! I wanted 50 or so but I could only come up with 21.

Rule #1 --> Erika is ALWAYS right...in certain situations.

Rule #2 --> Never turn your back on Cordell Walker.

Rule #3 --> Never touch Erika's MacBook...that is without gettin' permission first!

Rule #4 --> Never screw over your friends...God gave 'em to you for a reason.

Rule #5 --> Never take anything for granted. (Stole this from Gibbs)

Rule #6 --> Always bring your Bible to Church...cause after all you can't learn His Word without it.

Rule #7 --> Things happen for a reason...no matter how good or bad they are. Because these things are a blessin' from God.

Rule #8 --> Never go on long trips without your iPod and MacBook. They may come in handy.

Rule #9 --> Never harm Erika cause Ernest Cody Rish will beat your butt!

Rule #10 --> Never ever do anything embarrassin' around Jimbo because he will just use that information against you!

Rule #11 --> Cordell Walker and Leroy Jethro Gibbs are the two most awesomeness fictional characters ever! And no one should try and tell me any differently.

Rule #12 --> No matter how bad life can get...count it as Joy cause things could always be worse.

Rule #13 --> George Strait is the King of Country Music and don't try and tell me any differently!

Rule #14 --> Never skip a song on Erika's iPod, only she is allowed to do that...all other's will be dealt with,

Rule #15 --> Good thangs happen to those who wait.

Rule #16 --> Never mess with a Country Gals Pops...especially when she know's where he keeps his rifles.

Rule #17 --> Deer meat is the best meat around...so don't try and tell me other wise.

Rule #18 --> Never go anywhere without your knife...it may come in handy.

Rule #19 --> Never touch my water bottle...I don't drink after anyone!

Rule #20 --> Get your facts straight first, never assume anything.

Rule #21 --> Sometimes you're wrong (I stole this from Gibbs' Rule #51)

And as you can see Yeller already broke one of these rules!

That Little Booger is Fast

Sunday a week ago my Pops came in the house and hollered upstairs to me to tell me he had a pet for me...he said it's even in a cage and everythin'! When I got down stairs to my amazement the pet in the cage was none other than a little baby squirrel. Redneck done caught a squirrel in a Corn Bin!

This surprised me for two reasons:

#1 --> David Williams hates squirrels...he says that they are pest. So I said to myself why on earth does he want his daughter to have one as a pet!

#2 --> I wondered how on earth did he catch the little booger! Cause them thangs are fast! But then again I guess nothin' is a challenge for a Redneck.

Now I have another pet...he's a cat and his name is Yeller. He spotted that little booger right off the bat! He would just sit there and stare at him! Of course all the while thinkin'...what is that and why is it in my house? Yes that's right Yeller is the king of the house...and I don't think that he's too happy that another animal has takin' over. But who know's maybe one day they will become best friends!

Now I told my sister about this little squirrel that is occupyin' the space above the sink in our kitchen. She told me as soon as I found out wether the squirrel was male or female I better let her know because she wanted to name it! So Pops finally told me the squirrel is a female. So Marci named her Ellie Mae, that's a good name for a squirrel caught out of a Corn Bin by a Redneck.

Naturally Marci wanted to see this squirrel so Ellie Mae ended up takin' the trip with us to Florida for our Easter Weekend. There she got to meet two new friends...Lucy Nell and Toby! Ellie Mae spent a good portion of her time on the balcony of Marci's apartment AKA "The Barn". That is where Toby and Lucy Nell first spotted her. And naturally they wanted to play with her, but seein' as how she's only about 5 inches long or so I wouldn't have it! So they stayed blocked behind the slidin' glass door where they could watch in amazement at the little creature.

So I figured that havin' Ellie Mae as a pet ain't such a bad idea at all! It's actually kinda fun feedin' the little booger! She goes crazy over that bottle of milk. Oh and she loves her Strawberries!

So the next time your wonderin' around a Corn Bin look in it you may find some of Ellie Mae's family! I mean come on you can't pass up that little cute face!

Oh I Love The Bunny Bunny!

EASTER IS UPON US!

I remember as a little kid livin' for the day that the Easter Bunny would come to my house to leave me chocolates and presents! It was like Christmas in April! And of course the present entailed Stuffed Bunnies, Movies of Easter and the Gospel of Jesus. I

always found it strange that the so called Easter Bunny would leave me a stuffed bunny...seein' as how he's a bunny himself. But it didn't matter to me.

As I got older of course I found out who the Easter Bunny was...so now what do I get? A big huge chocolate bunny! It's just a little ritual me and my mama started about 3 years ago. She would get me a big bunny...and of course I would commence to singin' that song from Veggie Tales Rack Shack and Benny, "The Bunny The Bunny oh I love the Bunny Bunny." But of course last year she bought me Peter Rabbit. She fussed cause I didn't eat it I just let it turn white. My response to her madness was, "Mama I can't eat Peter Rabbit!" So maybe this year she will learn her lesson and not buy me a Peter Rabbit Chocolate Bunny. PLEASE!

As much as I love the Big Chocolate Bunnies on Easter I always have to remember the real reason for Easter. It's a reflection of what Christ did for a sinner like me. He took on my sins just so that in God's eyes I would be washed white as snow. He came to fulfill the prophecies told in the Old Testament.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

~ John 3:16-18 ESV

Everyone Needs A Code They Can Live By

So if you know me well you know that one of my favorite TV Shows is NCIS. And on that show is my favorite actor Mark Harmon AKA Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Through out the shows Gibbs tells us his Rules! And as he tells Ziva the first day she works for him that they're are about 50 of 'em. I researched this little topic to find out all of Gibbs rules. Oh and did I find them all!

Rule #1 --> Never let suspects stay together.

Rule #1 --> Never screw over your partner.

Rule #2 --> Always wear gloves at a crime scene.

Rule #3 --> Don't believe what you're told. Double check.

Rule #3 --> Never be unreachable.

Rule #4 --> If you have a secret, the best thing is to keep it to yourself. The second-best to tell one other person if you must. There is no third best.

Rule #6 --> Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness.

Rule #8 --> Never take anything for granted.

Rule #9 --> Never go anywhere without a knife.

Rule #10 --> Never get personally involved in a case.

Rule #11 --> When the job is done, walk away.

Rule #12 --> Never date a coworker.

Rule #13 --> Never, ever involve lawyers.

Rule #15 --> Always work as a team.

Rule #18 --> It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

Rule #22 --> Never, ever interrupt Gibbs in interrogation.

Rule #23 --> Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live.

Rule #27 --> There are two ways to follow someone. First way - they never notice you. Second way - they only notice you.

Rule #38 --> Your case, your lead.

Rule #39 --> There is no such thing as a coincidence.

Rule #40 --> If it seems like someone is out to get you, they are.

Rule #44 --> First things first, hide the women and children.

Rule #45 --> Clean up your messes.

Rule #51 --> Sometimes - you're wrong.

Now the first thing I noticed about this little list was first of all Leroy Jethro Gibbs doesn't know how to count, second he sure does skip a lot of numbers, and third there are two #1's and #3's!

Come on Gibbs you're suppose to be my HERO!!!

The Things of This World are Sometimes Not Fair

I have always been told things happen for a reason...

Sometimes these reasons are beyond our control. Does a child abuser deserve a punishment? How about a man who assaults his own step-daughter in ways she can't even imagine? But now I ask, does an innocent man deserve to be punished for something he didn't do? You hear everyday in the news of the many people who get off with doing things that by law should sentence them to just a few years or maybe even life in jail. So how does an innocent man get time in jail?

I take offense when it hits close to home...and in a time like this the only place I can turn to or better yet the place I always turn to is God and His Word. The first thing that came to my mind was Integrity--> the quality of being honest. So I set out to find scriptures on integrity.

"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found

out."

-Proverbs 10:9 ESV

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them."

-Proverbs 11:3 ESV

"Whoever walks with integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall."

-Proverbs 28:18 ESV

So why can't people just have integrity and be honest and own up to what they did? Instead of puttin' it off on someone else. Just a few more parting words. I just want to tell that family member, I love you and we will get through this...all of us.

With God's help that is!

Could It Be Christmas Time Again?!

Growing up in the South is awesome! You always get to learn about truck drivin', fishin', huntin' and best of all how to drive a tractor! But a day on the farm can be quickly ruined when Pops favorite tractor breaks on him and that bad day can quickly turn into a bad couple of weeks and soon a bad couple of months when you can't find the right parts for the broken tractor.

Why? You may ask! Cause Pops got a tractor from an old friend Gene Garvin and unfortunately that tractor was a victim of an assembly line change so findin' parts for it was darn near impossible! This made my Pops very sad...cause he likes nothing more than to ride his tractor.

But his sadness quickly changed on this very cold rainy day...yes that would be today!

His tractor part came in! He opened the box like a little kid at Christmas Time. All the while sayin', "Could be my part? Could it be my part?! It is Erika! It is! Oh boy! The only part left in the whole world! Erika take my picture!" And so I did...

Look at the Joy on that Southern Man's face!

You would never think that a tractor part could make one person so happy! But when that one part was the last part needed to fix the Farmall that has been out of commission for nearly a month. Well I say...

THAT'S ENOUGH TO PUT A SMILE ON ANYONE'S FACE!