My Pa!!!

15 years ago this summer I lost one of the one most amazing people in the world…my granddaddy!! I was only 10 years old, but to this day he still is one of my favorites and always will be!! He was MY PA!! And I would let you know really quickly he was all MINE!!! At such a young age you do not realize how important and what kind of impact people leave on you, I’m so thankful for this impact!! I was the second oldest granddaughter and the only one out of four granddaughters that was always around my Pa…therefore I was “special” or that is what I told myself. My Pa would have done anything for all of his grandkids and he did! I can remember the days I got to spend with him and it was just ME AND HIM!!! Man, I was a luck gal!!! My Pa delivered newspapers so sometimes in the summer I would go with him, which meant getting up super early but I was willing since I got to be with him. I’ll never forget one time he let me have a coke and a swiss cake roll for breakfast…shh I don’t think my mom knows still to this day!! Ha ha It was great!! He was also his grandkids number one fan in everything, especially sports! He was always at my brothers baseball games and he would let me take multiple trips to the concession stand during one game…mom wasn’t too happy, but that was his job right?? There were days that I had to go to a day care for half-day and it was pure TORTURE!!! But when he could, my Pa would come and get me so I didn’t have to stay there!! He would take me to his house and it was always around nap time, we were the best at taking naps!! He would get the long couch and I got the little couch and we would watch TV and fall asleep!! My grandmother still lives in the same house and I cannot go into the living room without thinking about naps with Pa. For some reason he always had tons and tons of pennies, I never really knew why he always had them and why he had sooo many, but I loved playing with them. My brothers and I would always play with the pennies and we would have them all over my grandparent’s house…oh the things we could do with pennies! My Pa was my “rock” I loved that man so much I cannot even put it into words. He was my only granddaddy (my dad’s dad passed away while my dad was still in college). I would always help my grandmother when she kept my baby cousins and Pa would always give me money for helping. I usually spent it and didn’t really think anything about it…but for some reason the last $10 he gave me I kept. At the time, I had no idea it would be the last, but now I’m so thankful I kept it. I kept it until I wanted to buy something that I really wanted and that I could keep forever. I finally decided that I wanted to but these sunflower pictures ( that summer I was in the process of redoing my room into sunflowers) and 15 years later they are still hanging in my room and the day I move out they will go with me and I hope to keep them forever! It’s a small piece of my Pa that I can always have along with the precious memories. I still remember vividly everything that happened the morning he passed away, he was on a paper route and had a heart attack and didn’t make it. I was at my cousin’s house on my dad’s side. My dad called their mom and told them what happened but she did not tell us kids, but just said to bring us home. So Matthew and I knew something was wrong so we got home my dad told us…IT WAS TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Andrew was already at home because he had a baseball game the night before and my granddaddy was there at the game. So my mom, brother, and dad were the last that saw him other then my grandmother. I just wanted my mom but she was at the hospital, I just remember sitting with my brothers on our front porch bawling our eyes out! All 3 of us were extremely close with our Pa and we loved him dearly! The days to follow were hard on the entire family. My mom is the oldest of 8 kids, big family!! So the visitation was forever long and the funeral was at our church and it was packed!! My Pa was very well known and knowing how many lives he touched was very comforting to our family. Even though I only knew him for 10 short years, I cannot thank God enough for allowing me to have such an awesome Granddaddy!! I’m a daddy’s girl, but I was a HUGE Granddaddy’s girl. We made some awesome memories together and I know without a doubt he looks down on me every day and he was watching after his little Jenny Wynn Wynn ( this was my nickname, his version of Jenny Lynn Lynn). I cannot wait for the day that I am reunited with my Pa!!!!

It's a girl!!!!

Ash, Adam, Family and Friends bitting into their cupcakes to see if they were filled with pink or blue...they were filled with PINK!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet little Gracie will be here in August!!!

Thankful!

Well I’m back in the blogging world; yes it’s been a WHILE!! Sorry!
First, I just want to say that God is GREAT…ALL the time!! I’m so blessed to have such an amazing family and friends! I can’t put into words just how blessed I am. I love that I’m on spring break right and I can take time to see some of my best friends and my family.

I started my adventure of spring break travels by heading to Florence, AL to see Ash (and Baby Rut) and Adam. When I got to Florence, I went with Ash and Adam out in Adam’s boat- fun times!!Then Ash and I went to eat…yes Mexican of course! I’m so glad that baby Rut loves Mexican too! Ha On Wednesday I was able to spend part of the way with Ash at her school with her awesome little kiddos! They were precious!! After school Ash was going to the doctor to find out if she was having a boy or girl!! Thankfully she was able to find out so that night after church, with family and friends they were had a gender revealing party!! This was so much fun! As we all patiently waited to bite into our cupcakes to see if it was filled with pink or blue!!! Such a fun way to find out with family and friends…and the cupcakes were filled with…PINK!!! YAY BABY GIRL RUTLEDGE IS ON THE WAY!!! I cannot wait to meet Gracie!

I’m so thankful for Ashley and Adam- they are two amazing people who really would do anything for anyone. God has blessed them and their families so much. I know they are going to be the best parents for little Gracie. This baby has been loved since day one and I know that God is taking great care of her. She is for sure an answered prayer!! God is Great!!!! Just pray that most importantly she is a healthy baby!!



Gracie Girl- You have the most amazing parents who loves you so much!! You are such a blessing to them and many more people. You also have some amazing grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I (along with everyone else) cannot wait to meet you!! Love you sweet little girl!


(Yes Ash, I stole this from FB!! Everyone else has a pic so she needed one too!!)


My next adventure leads me back to Columbia to see my great friend, Haley!! She is amazing! I don’t get to see her very often, but I’m very thankful for our friendship. Being able to see her and hang out for a little while was great. I got to her house about 11 and needless to say we stayed up until 4 AM!!! WOW I haven’t seen this time on a clock in a really long time!! I’m definitely not a college student anymore!! But I was worth it!! There really is nothing better than getting to spend some quality with time some of my best friends!!




Now that I have made it to Mayfield, I’m leaving again Saturday to see my brother and sister in law! I’m so thankful to get to spend time at home with my parents also. However, it’s freezing up here! I was so excited about being about to spend time with my dad fishing, but the weather may change that!!









God is great!!! And I cannot thank HIM enough for my amazing family and friends!!!!

God's Masterpiece

This is a video we saw at EU...very touching!! Loved it!

Evangelism University

This past weekend I was able to experience one of the greatest weekends I’ve had in a while. For the first time ever I went to Evangelism University or EU in Savannah TN. This is a weekend for high school students to grow closer to God and learn more about His word. However, even though I’m not a high school student anymore it was still a great experience. My brother, Matthew and his wife Hannah, brought a group from their church in Mississippi and asked me to come along with them. So thankful I did. First, it was a great time to grow closer to God and INCREASE. INCREASE was the theme for this year and it was emphasizing the importance of increasing your relationship with God. Also for me it was a HUGE Freed reunion. As soon as I walked in there were Freed people everywhere! I LOVED IT!! I saw some people that I haven’t seen since they or I graduated. I had so much fun catching up with friends…along with hearing some amazing lessons from some amazing speakers. The key note speakers were David Shannon and Taft Ayers. I had never heard Mr. Shannon before but it was GREAT!!! Taft was great also, he is a great friend of our family and we have been to Honduras together! He is great. The BEST part of the weekend…THE SINGING!!!! WOW!! It was absolutely amazing! It really made me miss Clayton Chapel at FHU!
I’m so thankful that I was able to go to EU and hope that I’m able to go back next year.



Prayer Request- Please keep the Hobbs Family in your prayers. They are friends from Mayfield. The father Gary had knee surgery earlier in the week and did great however, he developed a blood clot and it went to his heart and he passed away early this morning. Mr. Gary was a great friend to my mom’s family. He and most of my uncles were great friends and grew up together and always played ball togehter. His sons were in school with my brothers and I. The oldest son, Greg, played baseball with my brothers. He always went to Spring Break trips with us and the baseball team. This is a great family and they are suffering a terrible loss. Pray they lean on God for strength and comfort!! They are really going to need help over the next few days, weeks, months, and even years! Mr. Gary was a fun loving, always laughing guy!! Please pray for Mrs. Rhonda, Greg, & Jonh Hobbs!

My Momma!!

Well well where to begin! I'm not sure! Over Christmas break it has really hit me just how amazing my mother is. No it has not taken me 25 years to figure this out! ha
She is just always going nonstop! She retired about a year ago and I think it was the best thing ever for her! Yes she was a great teacher, for like 30 years (mostly special ed.) but she deserved to retire. She is a woman that can just go an go and go. Now that she is retired she can up and come see me in Columbia or my brothers in Mississippi and Kentucky. Obviously, Andrew gets to see her the most...WHY??? Well he has the kids which means her grandkids...and man she is obsessed!!! ha I LOVE that she and my dad and just go and see them whenever they please, they both deserve it. My mom has always been the one that does for everyone, always always puts others before herself. She has wore so many hats in her life its just amazing! I can only hope to be like her one day. She is a daughter, wife, mother, friend, teacher, aunt, sister, cousin...and the list goes on! She is the aunt that all her nieces and nephews LOVE!! It's always can we go to Aunt Gayna's house! She always goes to their ball games, band concerts, plays, and anything else they are involved in. You always know she will do whatever for whoever! She is a true inspiration to me and I love her very much! She used to have a license plate that said "The one and only GAYNA" and that is TRUE!!!!! Everyone knows Gayna or Mrs. Taylor!! And I'm glad that I can call her MOMMA!!!

Nana and Poppy


Nana with her kiddos


Mom with her Friend in Honduras!


Mom and her Daughters in Honduras

It's the Most Wonderful time of the year...

WOW!!!! I can’t believe that Christmas is here again! This year has absolutely flown by! But I’m so excited because this is truly my most favorite time of the year!! I first want to give thanks to God for all that we have to be thankful for. Yesterday, (Wednesday) was 5 years ago that my dad suffered a massive heart attack! I can’t thank God enough for allowing my daddy to still be here with us today! That Christmas was a true nightmare for me BUT with God we got through it and my dad is doing GREAT!!!!
Tonight my dad called my niece and nephew and he was “Santa”! It was great!! We put it on speaker phone so we could hear Mattingly…it was hilarious!! Mattingly told Santa she wanted a leapster! She also asked Santa what kind of cookies he liked and what kind of milk he wanted!! It was precious! Then McCoy gets on the phone, he isn’t talking much and he said, “ho ho ho” and “ball” his two favorite words right now! They are the funniest two kids and they getting so big!! Mattingly will be 4 in February and I feel it was just yesterday we waited up all night for her to be born!! Time flies!! Have to enjoy them while we can! Tomorrow, Christmas eve, Matthew and Hannah will be here and then Saturday afternoon Andrew and his family will be here. Now, for me having to wait until Christmas day night to open presents its nothing but torture!!! Ha I am and will always be the little kid at Christmas!! : ) Even though I know everything I am getting this year there is still something about opening presents Christmas morning!!
I ask everyone to say a special prayer for everyone who is missing a loved one this Christmas. I know we all miss our loved ones all the time but the holidays are really hard! I miss my great grandmother so much at Christmas! Especially this year…she would have been 100 on Sept. 15…she was one special lady to me!!! I love you Bea!!!



Merry Christmas to all!!! Happy New year!!!