Annual Ham & Egg Supper

Missy, here. We just had our annual Ham & Egg Supper at our church last night. It's a big community event that's been going on for over 40 years!

The menu includes country ham, grits, scrambled eggs, biscuits and homemade jelly. YUM! Some of my favorites. Of course, the day after, I'm always as thirsty as can be from all the salt in the country ham. :)

Every year, people start working the day before, trimming the ham, cracking the eggs, rolling the silverware in napkins, decorating the tables...

And then the day of the event, doing all the cooking and baking. And it takes an army of people to direct traffic, take tickets, serve the food, run the take-out window and clean up afterward. It's quite a production and a wonderful tradition.

Do you have any church or community activities that have become a tradition through the years?

True Friendship-Two Friends

Thinking about friendship led me to two women who have been my friends for many years. The first is Lisa whom I met in "Mommy and Me" group at the local park district center when our eldest children were around 2 years old. The other friend is Carol. I met her at my first teaching job. We were each other's maid of honor. Here are Lisa and Carol's answers to my 2 questions:

1-What do you look for in a friend?

Lisa: Over the years, I've enjoyed having a diverse group of friends. Many friendships were just formed because of an emotional connection - as in we just "clicked." At other times, the friendship formed over time as we shared a common experience. Nevertheless, what I want in a friend is to find them interesting and be able to relate to them. From that, I hope that mutual caring and consideration grows.

Carol: At this point in my life, I think friendships often start with mutual interests and expand with shared experiences. I think that both people must want to strengthen the friendship with trust and revelation.

2-Why do you think some friendships last and some don't?


Lisa: Friendships last when people really care about each other. When I was in my twenties, I moved around a lot and a lot of my friendships dissolved. I did keep up with one friend with whom I have been close since age 12.


Carol: I think this is very complex. Some people keep in touch with each other because of the past or family connections. I have a friend or two with whom I feel that special connection or bond and we do not live close to each other. This unique bond can reestablish itself, instantly, even after not seeing that special friend for years.

Lyn: I value friendship and loyalty very highly and have been surprised in the past that some people gain and shed friends without any qualms. I'm happy that I have Lisa and Carol as true friends. So what are your answers to these two questions?

What do you look for in a friend? What makes a friendship last? .

Old Friends are New Part 2

Missy Tippens again, continuing with part two of my post from yesterday. I'd like to introduce you to my good friend, Lindi Peterson. I did an interview with Lindi about friendship. And as I promised, she dishes a little "dirt" on me. :)

M: What do you consider the most important characteristic of a good friend?

L: Loyalty.

M: What things do you have in common with your best friends?

L: Faith, laughter, interests, compassion, willing to listen when a friend needs it.

M: What are your favorite activities to do with friends?

L: Get together and hang out and talk. I love writers retreats with my writer friends, I love bowling with my friends, I love family reunions where I can see my family. Generally I really like being around people.

M: Okay, I promised you'd tell something funny or embarrassing about me. So I give you permission to share. :)

L: I hope this isn't too embarrassing but I love how we can room together because I sleep through anything and apparently you snore, but I don't hear you---oh, unless you scream in your sleep--now that I do hear!! I would like to add that it's easy being friends with you (Missy!). We have so much in common, we can talk about anything. I feel like you are one of those people in my life whom I can turn to for anything at anytime. I get excited for you--am sad when you are---I really enjoy being such close friends with you.

Missy here again. Okay, so she softened the embarrassing info with kind words. Nice move. :)

It's wonderful to have such a good friend who I can call on for prayer, for advice, for encouragement and support. Thank you, Lindi, for being on our blog today!

Now for our readers... What do you consider the most important characteristic of a good friend?

Old Friends are New Part 1

Hi. Missy Tippens here. I had the craziest thing happen a few years ago. But let me back up even further... Nearly 20 years ago, I had a friend named Belinda (Lindi) Peterson in my Sunday school class. And I really liked being around her on Sundays and at class social functions. But then she moved and I moved, and we lost touch.

Now, jump ahead about 7 years. I had been writing romance for a while. And I had joined Romance Writers of America, then Georgia Romance Writers, my local RWA chapter. One Saturday at a meeting, I looked up and saw someone who looked so familiar. And the name Lindi popped into my head. It was her! We were so shocked to see each other. Neither of us knew that the other one was a writer.

And then began a great friendship. Eventually, we ended up in a weekly critique group together. And we began attending conferences and rooming together. We brainstorm and critique together. We talk on the phone a couple of times a week. And even though we live two hours apart now, we try to get together whenever we can. We know we'll usually see each other once a month because we serve together on the board of our local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. And of course we usually email almost daily!

I'll be a substitute poster tomorrow, so I'm going to share a short interview I did with Lindi about friendship. I hope you'll come back. She tells a secret on me! :)

So, now your turn. What do you do if you have friends who don't live near you? How do you keep in touch? How often do you get together? Has distance been hard on your friendship?

Missy

Treasuring Good Friends

Welcome! This is my first post to the Craftie Ladies of Romance blog and I am so excited to be here. We hope this will be a place where readers can come share time with us as we talk about the joys of friends, family and faith...and as we build new friendships with you. We hope you'll join in on the fun.

I wasn't sure what to blog about since my post is the first official post to blog so I decided to talk about friends...

Friends are so needed and we as women sometimes neglect to maintain those bonds because we get caught up in our jobs, and doing for everyone else. We're just busy people! This picture is of me and my two best friends since 3rd grade. That's me in the white jacket then my friends Deb and Lisa. They have been such a blessing to me over the years but especially over the last five years. While our kids were growing up we were so busy working and taking care of family that we disconnected from each other even though we all lived in the same small town. But after my husband died in 2003, Deb and Lisa made it a priority to come back into my life. They have been a great blessing to me. Especially since I write full time and can become a hermit! Really, I've always been a workaholic, only now I hole up here at the house with my imaginary friends and create my books--and while I love doing that I do need to get out. We all need to take time out for friends. For me, a break with people who've known me for so long and who share so much of my past is not only fun but relaxing. What I've found is sometimes the best time for Deb and Lisa to sweep me away for the evening is when I'm on a horribly tight deadline(lol which is most all the time)...why? Because laughter truly is the best medicine. It renews our spirits and lets joy flow through us. My writing is always better afterwards. I thought I'd share a special gift idea that my friend Deb had last Christmas. It was her idea to take the picture above. We had been out to eat and she had us sit on the bench in the order in which we are sitting. Then at Christmas she presented Lisa and I with a cool, double photo, glass frame she'd bought at Hobby Lobby. The frame stood on its own with one photo on top and one on the bottom. This second photo is us at 17 on our senior trip! (As you can tell I'm not the photogenic one but I was having a blast :) We are sitting on a paddle boat and as you can see I have no makeup on because I have been swimming. I thought it was such a wonderful idea for a gift and brought back such great memories. Deb had also placed gold numbers of the date of each photo at the corners to remind us of then and now. I will treasure it always and wish I'd come up with the idea :) Maybe you can use it for your friends.

I hope you will bookmark our site and that you'll count all of us Craftie Ladies of Romance as your new friends here in cyberspace. Come share with us, leave comments, join in on the contest! And when you can, call up your old girlfriends and make a date--especially if its been a while since you connected with them. You deserve it!

Also, if you'd like to know more about me and my books drop by my website debraclopton.com and my personal blog debraclopton.blogspot.com where I just posted a few fun coincidences I share with NYT best selling author Debbie Macomber!

Until next time live, laugh and seek God with all your hearts,

Debra Clopton

Stay tune for book 10 in my Mule Hollow Series, TEXAS RANGER DAD hits the shelves April 2009! For more information visit my website debraclopton.com