Lawdy-Lawdy--Look Who's 40-50-60---SEVENTY

Elizabeth Bruce Banks (Betsy) born August 5, 1942

Uh-Oh!!!!! Another birthday?????  How can that be????  This ole woman is turning SEVENTY on Sunday!!!!!  Holy Cow---that's ANCIENT!!!!!

Oh Well---life is not age (although my old creaky bones let me know that I'm not 40 any longer)---but it's what you make of it and what you do with it.  Right??????   I don't feel 70 (WELL--most of the time... ha)---and I certainly don't act 70.....

BUT---I can  'act' dumb sometimes ---like when I'm playing Trivial Pursuit with my kids/grands.... YIPES----I AM dumb!!!!! ha

Today,  you are going to get a picture of me taken each decade....  All in all,  I've had a pretty great life for these 70 years...  AND--I hope to have more decades of good health!!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures.....

Betsy in about 1952  (although I think I was 12 instead of 10 here)

Betsy in 1962 (college picture)

Betsy and ex-husband and three sons in 1971-72

Bert was about 8,  Mark -1,  and Jeff--just a few months old here

Betsy and her sweet Mama in 1982

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my Mom...  She was 82 years young then ---and lived 'til she was 91 (in 1991).   What a wonderful lady ---and I miss her so much!

Betsy at her desk working hard in 1992 (age 50)

My favorite job all through the years was the 12 years I worked at Clear Lake United Methodist Church  near Houston, TX.  Such great memories from there!!!!

Mr and Mrs. George Emery Adams --June 23, 2001

This began a new life journey for me with George--and was truly  the happiest decade of my entire life--with more to come! This portrait was our official wedding photograph --taken by my son, Jeff,  at his studio.

Betsy at the Biltmore House and Gardens,  June 14, 2012

Finally,    here is a picture of one very happy lady---even if she is 70!!!!!   I only hope I am doing this well and smiling like this in 2022.

I spend time on these special days thinking about my life, my joys and my struggles.   There's truly not much I would change because we all go through struggles and make good and bad choices and decisions.. I think that's just part of life ---and we certainly learn from these struggles..  The key is to keep God at the center of our lives,  find joy in everything we do,  and live each day to its fullest.  Thanks be to God for giving me these 70 years.

I am going to take a blogging break to 'really' celebrate the big 70, so I won't be back until either Friday,  August 10 or Monday,  August 13.    Hope ALL of you have a fabulous week!!!!!   Thanks for loving me!

Hugs,
Betsy

A Summer Smokies Hike

Can you believe that it is now AUGUST?  Goodness---where did July go????  The good news for me is that Fall will be here soon.  Yeah Rah!!!!!

George and I SELDOM hike during the hot summer,  especially in the crowded Smokies.  BUT--on  July 23,  after a stop in Knoxville at the Apple Store,  we headed to the east side of the Smokies at Cosby.  We decided to hike part of the Gabes Mountain Trail (toward Hen Wallow Falls)...

The hike is rated moderate because of its steepness... It's 2.2 miles one way to the waterfall which is not that far...   However,  since it was VERY hot and VERY humid on the 23rd,  we hiked for about a mile and a half --and turned around there.   SO---instead of a 4.4 miler,  we had a 3 mile hike  which seemed like a long enough hike to me!!!!

Even though we didn't see the waterfall,  we did stop several times along the way so that we could get lots of great pictures...Today I'll share with you some of what we saw along the trail on that hot summer day.

Above is a picture I took from our trail...  Other than being steep,  this area is a great place to hike.  Be sure to enlarge all of the pictures in order to see them bigger.

I took this picture of George on a little bridge at one of our water crossings...  This is a pretty area ---and we enjoyed our day,  despite the high humidity.

As I was resting along the trail --while George took more pictures of the creek,  I got some good pictures of the trees ---as I pointed my camera UP toward the sky... Pretty area,  don't you think?

George got more great pictures of the creek using his tripod and 'special' filter....  Isn't this an awesome photo???

They have had more rain in the Cosby area recently than we have had on the Cumberland Plateau....  I got several pictures of mushrooms along the damp trail...  One even had a pretty yellow stem...  Aren't these pretty little mushrooms --with moss all around them?

George took this picture of me on the trail...  Since it was so hot,  I was wearing my white headband --and carrying my 'sweat' towel!!!!!   I also was wearing my camera vest --which I love.

This little blue butterfly followed us for awhile.  I love its color.  Anyone know what kind of butterfly this is????   I do NOT know my butterflies ---like I do our flowers.

This is a 'creative' picture I took of a big leaf with the sunshine peeking through and shining perfectly on it!!!!!   You like it?

This little ground cover was EVERYWHERE along the trail... I loved it.  It is very tiny with little red berries.... Anyone know its name?????  SO PRETTY!

Finally,  here is a picture we took of the two of us using the tripod---beside the creek....  As you can imagine,  even though we didn't make it all of the way to the waterfall,  we did have a great day!!!

Do you like my new header?  Thought you might!!!!   We DID see the sunflowers when we were at Biltmore on Monday... Had a wonderful day!!!

Hope you have a great day today!!!
Hugs,
Betsy