Giving Back

I live in Jessamine County, Kentucky. If you live near a railroad you may have heard of R.J. Corman Railroad Group. It's based in Nicholasville, KY which is in my county.

R. J. Corman is a perfect example of giving back to our community. There's so many ways he gives back, it's hard to know where to start.

To begin with, he takes good care of his employees. I've never talked to anybody who works for him who isn't a happy employee. He has a chef on staff and provides breakfast and lunch for his employees.

He has walking trails on his property and sponsors 5K runs and walks to benefit organizations like Chrysalis House.

He helped Jessamine County get an Emergency Room. For as long as I've lived here, he's had a fireworks display for the community.

A few years ago Mr. Corman was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of cancer. He's been fighting this for ten years and while some might grow bitter, he's continued to give back to our community.

Not all of us can give as generously as R.J. Corman, but Jesus even noticed the widow's mite.

Luke 21:1-4 As Jesus looked up, he saw rich people putting their gifts into the temple offering boxes. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

3 “What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus said. “That poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All of those other people gave a lot because they are rich. But even though she is poor, she put in everything. She had nothing left to live on.”

I challenge us all to see how we can give back to our communities.

Did you know?

While doing research for an Amish story, I found a few interesting tidbits I'd like to share a few with you.

You can eat dandelion blooms. But once the flowers begin to bloom, the greens taste too bitter to use.


The bloodiest Civil War battle was fought in Perryville, KY.

The first town in the United States to be named for Georgia Washington is Washington, KY. It was named in 1780.

In case you notice there's a Kentucky theme, we do have quite a few Amish communities here. My house was framed by Amishmen. When one of the men learned about a carriage for sale in PA, he left to go buy it and construction stopped on my home.

In 1856 the first enamel bathtub was made in Louisville, KY.

What about chewing gum? In 1873 a Louisville pharmacist invented chewing gum.

And my last bit of trivia...Did you know Lake Cumberland has more miles of shore land than the state of Florida?

I hope you all have a great weekend.

We've got family coming in today to celebrate Allison Christine's baptism tomorrow morning.

Fathers and Daughters

It's a day late, but oh well...that's how my summer seems to be going.

Happy belated Father's Day.

Here's my dad and mom.



Here's Bill with Brooke.

My dad, Dick Lutz, and baby Allie.

Bill and Allie.

Layton fathers and sons.

And my brother, Chris, and his sweet daughter Kelli.

Okay, I'll stop there before I bore you.

Have a great week!

Flag Day

In honor of Flag Day, I wanted to post a couple of my favorite flag pictures.

The first two I saw in Alabama.

This one I spotted in North Carolina.

Have a great weekend, and remember to fly your flag.

My garden

I love having a garden. When I first began gardening I focused on flowers.

Then I spread my wings and tried strawberries. I've had pretty good luck with strawberries, and this has been a great season. We still have a few left.





Blueberries are harder. You have to have more than one bush, and you need a male and female. My blueberry bushes did pretty good at my last house, but I haven't had much success at this house. I'm still hopeful though. Here are my first two blueberries of the year.



We started our blackberry bushes a couple of years ago with a shoot from Mrs. Layton's yard. I think we may have an amazing year, and the best thing is they are thornless.



We're also growing tomatoes, peppers and parsley.

I didn't grow up on a farm, and I'm always thrilled when God provides food for my family from my garden.

One last picture I want to share with you. My coreopsis began blooming this weekend.

T-shirt Girl

I've decided I must be a t-shirt kind of girl.

Last year when I prepared to go the my first ACFW Conference I needed a picture to put on a business card.

Time after time I froze when Tim tried to take my picture. No matter how often he told me to relax, I'd freeze and the picture would turn out awful.

This is what I've learned. I'm not photogenic.


Here I am alone.



Now here I am with a group. We're celebrating Mrs. Layton's birthday. Not quite so bad.



Here I am in a t-shirt early in the morning before a tennis match. Not great, but better. I guess if my clothes are more comfortable, I'm not so uptight.



So, if you ever wonder why I post pictures of myself in a hoodie or t-shirt, you now have your answer.