November Stamping

Okay, I slacked off on the blogging quite a bit last week, but I was busy!

Pete sent out about 60 business Thanksgiving cards and I'm pleased to say I made each one of them. I will confess however that I totally copied cards from Linda Heller's Stamping School. If you are not a member you should be! Great video tutorials added every week. Love it. So much easier than losing hours at a time at splitcoast. (nothing against splitcoast, it's just a time black hole for me)

Also I made up a batch of gift card holders for Lake Mary Jazzercise. The pattern/directions for these are also at Stamping School (www.stampingschool.com) and they are easy peasy!

Next post will be a knitting update. Yes, I've been in a knitting frenzy and will need to keep it up to accomplish all my Christmas gift knitting.

A List...

I saw this list on someone else's blog and decided it would be fun to steal it for my blog! (Thanks Dawn!) You are supposed to bold the things you have done. Going along with my blessing theme, look at all these blessings! Wow!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square


74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Way too much fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Today's Blessing Count Remains High...

The freezer (although it's insulted with only bread and a few assorted odd ball things to keep cold) is still chugging away at 20 degrees.

Water Heater is still working hard, but hanging in there!

The surviving turkey (survived the freezer incident of 08) who was left alone in the dark all nite to defrost did not fit in my crockpot! Horrors. What? That doesn't sound like a blessing? Well my oven (that has been dead except for the stove top) suddenly decided to rise (in temperature) to the occasion! Said surviving turkey is enjoying warmer climates (shh.... don't speak of his fate!).

Lastly, yesterday ended so productively, that this morning there is clear white space on my desk top (signifying lack of paperwork, bills, etc). Sweet!

All these blessings and it is only 9am.

Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

Our sermon yesterday was about having an attitude of gratitude. I'll admit straight up that I'm not very good at that. It is a habit that I really need to develop.

So this weekend was looking like a complete and total disaster. I had a lot of work to do for the business, had a whooping sinus headache, our freezer alarm starts going off (with a freezer FULL of meat I just picked up from Angelfood ministries) and the water heater appears to be on the fritz. I'm thinking about our Pastor's words and really trying to adjust my grumbling attitude. At best I can say that I didn't complain out loud. I went to bed with a very heavy heart last night, but prayed myself to sleep. Do you think God minds when you fall asleep in the middle of a convo? I hope not.

I get up this morning and my sinuses are worse. The freezer alarm is going off and I have a desk full of bills to sort to even see the top of my desk. It could be worse I tell myself. I have a desk. I have a computer. Heck, I've got Facebook even. Pete takes Lilli to school for me. Blessing! He makes me cheese toast=yum! Blessing (so not So. Beach friendly, oh well)! I sort some more. I make a dent. I call the Sears repairman for the freezer. He can come today. Blessing! I make more headway on the paperwork. Blessing!

Then the repairman comes... (cue the music from Jaws). In my freezer (which was alarming at 20 degrees, everything is frozen, but not optimally) I have 3 eleven pound turkeys (2 really cheap from Aldi's, one free from Angelfood), steaks, 10 pounds of chicken breasts, ribs, pork chops, 2 roasts, and much more. I'm not counting the bread, veggies, popsicles, etc. So the repairman comes in, takes a look, mutters, looks in his computer, mutters some more and then proceeds to tell me stuff that sounds like the adults on Charlie Brown cartoons (wah wah wah wah wah). Basically the freezer is shot to heck. It's 7 years old (don't appliances live longer than 5 years anymore?) and will cost more to fix ($1000) than to buy a new freezer. All I can think about is, "What am I going to do with all this food?" We can't eat it all, can't afford to replace it. The food is okay at the moment, but the repairman is shocked that anything is frozen at all. The freezer could breathe its last any second. He's punching part numbers into the computer as fast as his fingers can type and then says, "hmmm.... You still have 4 months left on your service contract". "WHAT??? Huh??? So I don't have to pay the $70 service call fee?" "Um, no... you don't have to pay for the whole repair either, plus you get $250 towards food replacement cost" I think I swooned!

BLESSING!

The repairman (who is now my favorite person in the whole world) tells me I'd better get the expensive stuff into the refrig freezer fast. I'm thinking about those 3 dang turkeys that take up way too much room. So I do what any deperate woman would do. I hand one to the repairman. He was tickled. Hadn't bought a Thanksgiving turkey yet and thought his 9 year old son would be excited to see what he was bringing home. Blessing! Our neighbors next door are in a situation much like us. The dad is self employed in the construction industry and work has been slow for him. The mom just got her hours cut back. Like us (like most of us) it's not the easiest of times. So I pack up a turkey and other random frozen stuff (about 4 bags full). They are excited. Blessing!

Katelyn and I get all the important stuff transferred to the little freezer. It fits too. Blessing!

I am a very rich woman indeed. Thank you God for the real and practical application of yesterday's sermon. I needed that.

What a Week...

I've been away from the blog for a bit. It was a crazy week. One of those weeks that was busy, but I can't really tell you with what. If you're a mom, you know exactly what I mean. Maybe those of you who aren't moms know what I mean, I just can't remember not being a mom.

I've managed to get 3 knitted scarves done and made a batch of cards for Pete's business. I'll post those when it's not dark so I can get a decent picture. This week should be a little slower and I'm looking forward to staying a home a little bit. Maybe I'll get something done. If I'm really lucky, I'll manage to see the top of my desk. Do miracles still happen? Not usually when it concerns my desk.

Saw a production of the Canterbury Tales at the kids school. It was very entertaining. Will post pics of that too. I just remembered my camera batteries are dead. I have spares somewhere... Probably on my desk.

Loving the cooler weather. It feels like fall. This is a novelty as it is often in the 80's or better on Thanksgiving in Florida. The Thanksgiving bonfire will be fun this year! I hate sweating while I'm roasting my marshmellows!

I'm off to try to find camera batteries!

I've seen it all possibly. This is a cross usb stick from geekalerts.com. One question... why?

We sang a praise song today in church that has left me pondering all day. It's called Knowing You by Graham Kendrick. Here's the verse that I just can't get out of my head today:

Now my heart's desire is to know You more,
To be found in You and known as Yours,
To Possess by faith what I could not earn,
All surpassing gift of righteousness

This is my prayer for the week. I want to be known as His. We get caught up in debates and differences in theology. But really, the bottom line is it's a giant leap of faith at it's very core. You believe by faith (and really faith alone) that you possess something that you could never, ever earn (an everlasting relationship with God). There it is. Simple really. Yet we all too often junk it up. I hate that.

It's not what we do, how we act, what we own (including a cross usb memory stick) or even a fish on our car. It's a leap of faith that many years ago, changed the world. And it should change me too.

After that leap, it's really not a hard journey. Although the day to day stuff can get rough and messy for us all-it's part of the human experience. It can really be summed up quite easily. Love God, love others.

It's what the sermon was today. In the book of John, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me? Feed my sheep."

Because I've made that leap of faith, I do love Him. And now I walk out what it looks like daily to love others. Lord, help me to keep that focus this week.

Thank you Pastor Jeff for that reminder. I needed it.

(I usually try to stay away from religion on this blog, but this blog is me and this is who I am. I don't mind discussion, but will immediately shut down anything that gets nasty. Thanks!)

Sometimes I'm tossed about...

I'll fess up right now. Sometimes I waver in my faith. I get so caught up in unimportant details (well, they seem so important at the time). It's kind of like heading out into the ocean and picking up your feet. You become subject to the whims of the waves. Tossed to and fro. It's kind of scary being subject to such a powerful force.

But here's the thing. At any point (assuming you haven't wandered too far out)you can just put your feet down. Sure, you get pushed around a bit, but you are back in business heading the direction you want to go.

And so it goes with me spiritually. I wander a bit (but really never too far out). I analyze each and every wave and the potential it has to hurt me. So much so that I often miss the bigger picture, like a gorgeous sunset, perfect weather, beautiful shells and sea life. I need to put my spiritual feet down and stand in what I know. That even in the midst of uncertainly, He has always been faithful indeed. And when I stop looking at every little thing and look at the big picture from His perspective, it's all good. I am loved and safe and well.

This gorgeous picture was taken by my favorite 15 year old.

Oh yea, we live in FL

Every Floridian at some point in August, after preparing for a few hurricanes (or actually toughing one or two out), when the temperature is about 98 degrees with 250% humidity, we ask ourselves, "Why do we live here?"

Along about October or November when we see national news with forecasts of snow, we say, "Oh yea, this is why I live in Florida!". Truly this is my favorite time of year. The evenings and mornings are crisp (that means the 60s to us) and the days are sunny and in the 75-80 degree range. Surely this is the weather in Heaven.

Oma and Opa are in town and so we spent the day at their place with my sister, her husband and the cousins. We ate, we talked, we laughed. Some of us took a sunset walk on the beach.

We are more blessed than we deserve.

Sweet Saturday

It's been a long time since Lilli's BFF Patrick lived across the street. We still miss them. About a month ago a new family moved in right next door to us with a girl Lilli's age.

This is how they spent much of Saturday. From 10am until 6pm when I called her in, Lilli had the time of her life with sidewalk chalk, moonboots, basketball, jumprope, sidewalk chalk, popsicles and a picnic lunch.

These are the things childhood are made of.

Quick! Go here now!

Okay, I'm a first born and prone to fits of bossiness!

I have been a follower of the blog Thepioneerwoman.com for quite some time now. I enjoy her blog more than words can say. She lives about as opposite a life from me, but yet manages to make me feel like us women folk have a kinship.

Anyway, there is a group of bloggers on a Compassion International trip in the Dominican Republic. The Pioneer Woman's husband (marlboro man) and 2 daughters are on this trip. The posts have moved me to tears more than once.

Please go read the reports and be encouraged by the difference that one ministry is making, one person at a time in a real and tangible way.

When you're done, click on over to www.compassioninternational.com and pray about what you can do.

For your enjoyment...

I don't care who you like for prez, this is cute! I think she nailed it!

Kingdom Coming Download

Some thoughts on Election Eve

For me the election is over, meaning that a week ago I cast my ballot.

But on this evening before election day, I am feeling very uneasy. It's always the unknown that is the most unsettling.

If you have read even a small bit of my blog, you could probably correctly figure out how I voted. But that's not what I want to talk about.

These are interesting times we are living in. Right now. The future seems so uncertain. Optimism is low. The economy seems so bleak. There's a dark cloud hanging over this country. It's really easy to buy into the media's spin. They have an agenda. There is no unbiased media in this whole country. On either side. I think they work the people into a frenzy that wouldn't have happened in the days when there were no 24/7 news outlets.

I do believe we are in a time that our grandchildren will ask us about. The first black presidential candidate and a woman VP candidate. Historical. I feel like this nation is on the very edge of something. Depending on your politics we're on the edge of a great change or a very bad change.

We've had dark days and worry in this country before. What makes us great is that we eventually come around and get it at least mostly right. That's what I'm holding out for - the mostly right (not right wing/conservative right).

With all our problems and division, slanted media and dirty laundry this is still my country and a great one at that.

No matter the outcome tomorrow, God Bless America!

The End of an Era

The economy sucks. Yea, you heard me.

One of the casualties of this sucking economy is the taekwondo school my son has attended for 7 years. This place changed his life in a real and tangible way. It was necessary physical therapy for him. He worked hard and earned his black belt.

But it is no more. I guess people consider this type of thing a luxury when they are tightening their belts. I understand that really.

It still hurts me. Makes me sad. Makes me mad.

We are thankful for your time, love, patience and skills, SSMA.

We will miss you.