Busy News & Sad News

For some reason, I always think I'm going to have all kinds of extra time over the summer. In reality, I always seem to be busier!! It was a crazy busy week followed by an equally busy weekend! But I'm done and I feel a small bit of freedom.

We had a picnic at church on Friday evening. Alot of games and fun. The picture is of my dad & Jacob in a very heated and "contested" croquet game.

I wasn't able to make the crop over at Karen's due to nice big headache. Thankfully it didn't last all day and towards the evening, I actually found some time to scrapbook...something I haven't done since Christmas! It was so nice and relaxing. I worked on the pages I was hoping to work on at Karen's. I'm about half-way done with Amy's middle school pages.

On a sad note, we found out yesterday that our friend Margaret passed away. Cliff knew her when he was a little boy in GA and she was the one who first got us together. We were so sad to learn of her passing but are thankful she is at home with the Lord.

Yeah!!

I stayed up until 3:00 AM and finished up the video project!! Yay!!!! Now I've got a very, very busy weekend ahead!! On a good note, in the middle of the busyness, my friend, Karen is hosting a scrapbook crop tomorrow. I can't wait to go!! I'll be working on Amy's school album...finishing up 6th - 8th grades.

No Time For Blogging!

I'm in the middle of a HUGE, 800 photo video project that MUST be finished before Sunday. I'm so ready to be done with it so I can get on with the rest of my life!! Anyways, my goal is to be completely done by tomorrow night. It's an optimistic goal to say the least. We'll see!!

Another Busy Weekend!

It was another busy, jam-packed weekend around here!

Friday we worked in the yard pretty much all day. We're also just about finished re-decorating the bathroom. Add into that general cleaning and laundry, Cliff's day off went way too fast!

Saturday I woke up with a really nice migraine which sent me back to bed for a few hours. When I got up, it had subsided

enough that we could run a few errands and stop by a wedding shower. Some very generous friends of ours have a beautiful boat and had invited us to go with them to the lake that afternoon. I LOVE boating but decided not to go along because of my headache. It was so disappointing! Oh well, there will be another time.

Sunday was church and our family lunch. After which we were invited over to some other friends of ours for swimming, a BBQ, and to watch the NASCAR race. They have some great "toys." The kids (and Cliff) had a great time in the pool and playing horseshoes and they have a great very large, hi-def, flat planel TV on which to watch the race. It was NASCAR heaven :-)

I wish all of you a fantastic week ahead!

Show & Tell

My Grandma Adrian first introduced me to needle crafting when I was around 9 or 10. She traced a design from a color book onto a white flour-sack towel and placed it in an embroidery hoop. I spent hours running a chain-stitch around those designs. A couple years later, I was at the home of my Uncle Bill & Aunt Sue. Sue introduced me to stamped cross-stitch and bought a kit for me. During that summer I spent in Ohio, I worked on this sampler.

A few more years later, my sister introduced me to counted cross-stitch. I was absolutely hooked. It was a fairly inexpensive hobby and I loved looking through design books, choosing something to work on and buying all the skeins of floss. I have made so many designs through the years and have given most of them away. The other day, however, I cleaned out a drawer in my laundry room and came across several I had kept for myself.

The Christmas design here is was one of my favorites. I think I made this one at least 3 times for gifts. The little girl in the garden, I made right after we moved here to KS with the idea that I would frame it for Amy's room. Now that she's 20, it's hardly the style for her bedroom anymore.

I have an unfinished project that I set aside about 7 years ago. I think I have inspired myself to go back and finish it!

Thanks for checking out my Show & Tell today. To see more, head over to Kelli's at No Place Like Home.

A Day of Changes

Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in KS! It was cool with very low humidity and just the right amount of a breeze. Cliff & I enjoyed some time out on our newly painted deck before he had to go to work.

With the rising gas prices, I've been a little concerned about Cliff's job. He drives a tractor-trailer for a company that hauls parts from a warehouse to the Ford plant. He works for the side that manufacture trucks...big, gas guzzling ones....Ones that people aren't wanting to pay a small fortune to fill with gas anymore. It seems that they will be cutting out the second shift and guess who works on that shift?? But it's a blessing in disguise because I had been praying about Cliff's job. I've not been a big fan of the hours he's been working. He leaves home at 4:15 in the afternoon and doesn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. He does, however have Fridays and weekends off. During the week, he misses anything that goes on in the evenings....church functions, school stuff, and general time with the kids.

He had two choices. He could either take another night shift (he does like this shift...not having to get up so early) but this night shift would require him to work Monday through Friday and every other Saturday. His other choice is a day shift that works Monday through Thursday, 10 hours per day (pretty much the same he works now) After talking it all through, the obvious choice for the health of our family is the day shift. He's going to continue to umpire as well as referee football to supplement our income. I was just amazed at how God took care of this entire situation so that it was win-win for everyone.

There was another change in our family today but this one I am not at liberty to talk about right now. Suffice it to say it is another area that needs prayer and healing...and I truly believe it will be another blessing.

Busy Weekend and A Headache

It was a busy weekend for us.

Saturday was our city-wide garage sales. You can hit alot of sales on this day. Unfortunatly I wasn't up for much garage saling this year. Cliff and I did go to a couple and came away with some new chairs for my dining room table but that was it.

Sunday was church as usual followed by lunch with the family at KFC. NASCAR race in the afternoon then we went over to my parent's for Father's Day. Mom made a great summery dinner and then we played a game.

Today we ran just a few errands and then it was back to work for Cliff. It was so nice for him to have a few weeks off. We got alot of stuff done around the house...not all of our projects but we put a dent in our list. It's so quiet around my house tonight. Jacob is at a friends so it's just us girls.

I'm hoping for a good, productive week. I hope to give the house a good cleaning, finish painting the bathroom and finish getting the yard under control. I've got to start work this week on a large video for a friend at church who is having a family reunion in a couple weeks.

In other news, my doctor wants me to stop hitting the "Green Bottle" (Excederine) for my headaches. She prescribed a headache medicine to use in place of it. Today was the first test for it. I am able to take 5 in a 24-hour period and I took all 5! The headache is gone and I'm wondering if any headache remedy really helps of if the headache just has to run it's course. I guess time will tell.

I hope you all have a great week ahead!

Father's Day

I don't know if I could ever fully express how thankful I am for my dad.

His passion for travel gave us some incredible trips when we were kids. I took them all for granted...I thought it was normal! We took several road trips a year and I have some great memories from them!

My dad has been a pastor ever since I was born and I count myself fortunate that not only is he my dad but he's also my pastor.

A couple weeks ago, after Bill's funeral, I was just so proud of my pastor/dad. I cannot imagine the awesome task of leading a roomful of grieving people through that grief during the funeral. He's so gifted at his profession as a Pastor and his message left us with hope. After the funeral, I saw Bill's wife, Hope go up to my dad and hug him. I was so moved by this because Hope isn't one to be overly emotional but he had ministered to her so much that she felt free to thank him with a hug.

I am so blessed by my husband and my children and along with my mom, I count my dad as one of God's greatest gifts of mercy to me. My dad is there for me...he always has been and always will be.

I love you dad and am so thankful for you!!

10 Things You'll Never Hear Me Say

I was tagged by my sister to play along with: "Ten Things You'll Never Hear Me Say" so here goes:

1 - Could I have a glass of milk?
2 - Keep whispering and mumbling...I can hear you just fine!
3 - Thank you so much for leaving the toilet seat up!!
4 - I'd LOVE to have a pet bird!
5 - Count me in to go camping!!
6 - Yep, I can live without my computer.
7 - I've read enough books to last me a lifetime.
8 - I have more friends than I know what to do with.
9 - I don't need to take anymore pictures...ever!
10 - Leave all the housework for me!!

I'm tagging Karen and Nanny Kim.

Trip to the Doctor

After being woken up during the night with severe ear pain, I decided that a trip to the dr. was very necessary. My allergies have been out of control this year and I have had ear problems since I was a child. Add to that the fact that I have had increasing more headaches this past year, well, let's just say that I had alot to talk over with my dr. I was so thankful that they were able to get me in right away today. I was surprised to learn that my ears are not infected. She thinks the scratchy throat and ear pain are all connected to the allergy problem. The headaches, she believes, are a result of sleep apnea since I'm waking up with them at least 3 times a week. So, I will be heading to the hospital in a few days for a sleep study. I am NOT looking forward to this. I AM wanting to feel better but I'm nervous and feeling very uncomfortable at the prospect of sleeping with someone watching me from another room. If you've had a sleep study, can you tell me about it? Thanks!!

The Hounds

These are my crazy dogs!
Abbie is actually Josh's dog. She's a lab/boxer mix whom he adopted 4 years ago. She was such a cute little puppy and he assured me she was a medium dog. Then I got a look at her paws and knew if she was a medium, she was a large medium! Josh took all responsibility for training her and he did an excellent job. She's got a great personality and is such a sweetheart. She's got a hefty bark which she rarely uses but we all know that if someone where to try to ever break into our house, they'd think twice once they heard her bark!!




Jack used to live down the street from us. I noticed this little white puppy out in the street and just knew he was going to get hit by a car. The girl who owned Jack asked Emily if we wanted a dog. I told Emily to go ahead and tell her we would take him. He was very skittish at first and would run away at top speed if he ever found the gate open. I am proud to say that Jack has reformed due to the large amounts of love he has received (and a few spankings) and loves to be petted and comes when called. These days if he happens to find the gate open, he just tries to get in the car!

I have taken over a very small, non-fancy mp3 player of Cliff's. For me, I'm realizing the mp3 is like texting...I didn't get it and now that I've tried both, I absolutely LOVE them!! Anyways, this afternoon I was putting some music on the mp3 and came across kind of an older song that just really got to me.

It seems like there's alot of fear, worry, and anxiety out there. Prices on everything seem to be out of control. There's so much uncertainty. We are currently in a message series on Sunday Mornings on "Trusting God." And this song just seemed to go right along with what we've been hearing from the pulpit. (For those of you who go to church with me, know that Charlie will be singing it very shortly!)

These brought me so much comfort today, I hope you will find some comfort not just in the words but in the Person behind the words.

Lily of the Valley, let your sweet aroma fill my life
Rose of Sharon show me how to grow in beauty in God's sight
Fairest of ten thousand make me a reflection of your light
Daystar shine down on me let your love shine through me in the night.

Lead me Lord, I'll follow. Anywhere you open up the door
Let your word speak to me, show me what I've never seen before
Lord I want to be your witness, you can take what's wrong and make it right
Daystar shine down on me, let your love shine through me in the night

Lord I've seen a world that's dying wounded by the master of deceit
Groping in the darkness, haunted by the years of past defeat
But when I see you standing near me shining with compassion in your eyes
I pray Jesus shine down on me let your love shine through me in the night

Lead me Lord, I'll follow anywhere you open up the door
Let your word speak to me, show me what I've never seen before
Lord I want to be your witness, you can take what's wrong and make it right
Daystar shine down on me, let your love shine through me in the night

~Daystar (Shine Down On Me)

Christian Fiction

The late Ruth Bell Graham once said, "Read, read, read. Use the Bible as your home base, but vary your diet.

I like to read. I believe that reading is so fundamental to my growth as a person as well as a Christian and a leader. I try to always be reading and learning something. Sometimes, I just like to read for fun, though and a personal decision has been to guard my choices of fiction. Over the years I have read so many books by so many talented authors. There's no way I could remember them all. However, there are some that stick out and here's a list of my favorites.

• Jumping in Sunset by Dawn Ringling: One of the best stories I have read of the casualties, consequences, and aftermaths of an affair and subsequent divorce.
• Two From Galilee by Marjorie Holmes: This book came from my grandmother's collection. It tells the story of Mary & Joseph. For me, it gave faces and life to these Biblical characters.
• And The Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers: Although a work of fiction, it is a warning to the church. I could not put this book down! Francine Rivers is also one of my favorite authors. Her stories have such deep storylines of redemption, forgiveness, and grace.
• Though None Go With Me by Jerry B. Jenkins: A wonderful story of a woman's life. She meets with love and tragedy and through it all, seeks to fulfill God's calling upon her life. In the end, she finds how many lives she touched.
• Jeanette Oke: Back in the early 90's, there was a girl in our church who had come across a series of books by Jeanette Oke. She loved these novels and was so thrilled to have her mother read them because each book contained a story of faith. I have collected almost all of these books with the hopes of one day passing them on to my daughters. I have read each one of them several times over.
• Dee Henderson: These are absolutely just for fun! I love adventure movies and her books are full of wonderful stories and adventure. I have all of the books she has put out so far and have read each of them several times over.
• Gilbert Morris: I have lost count of how many books are in his "House of Winslow" series. It starts with the Winslow family coming over on the Mayflower and continues up into the 1940's. He intertwines fictional characters with historical figures which is something I love!
• Brock & Bodie Theone: Their "Zion Covenant" series was an incredible account of the holocaust.

These are just some of my favorites. How about you? Any good suggestions? I'm always looking for something good to read!!

Printing Pictures

I got my first digital camera 3 years ago right before Josh graduated from High School. Since that time, I have taken a couple thousand pictures. They are all stored on CD's in a CD album. I do have the CD's labeled and have printed some of the pictures.

One of the projects I'm hoping to get to work on this week is getting some of my pictures printed and into photo projects so that I can put them into scrapbooks. To help with costs, I'm planning on taking advantage of a few "freebie" deals as well as Kodak kiosk coupons and CVS deals. It's a large project but one that I definately look forward to. I have forgotten all the treasures that are stored on those CD's!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

My husband, Cliff, has driven a tractor-trailor truck for over 15 years now. He currently is employed by a company that exclusively hauls parts to the Ford plant. Consequently, whenever the Ford plant is shut down, his company shuts down also. Such is the case for this week and next. Knowing that these two weeks were coming, we have planned all the household chores, jobs, repairs, improvements, and projects that we could possibly squeeze into a two-week period. So today was day 1. We woke up to a big storm which essentially took out all of the outdoor projects and I woke up with a HUGE headache. It was a less than stellar start to our marathon DIY week!! It's OK....we'll get it all done.

Cliff is also doing some umpiring these weeks also. He's done this off and on for about 9 years. It's been a wonderful source of extra income and is a life-saver to our budget during these two weeks!! He has spent many hours in the hot summer sun, crouched behind a kid at homeplate, only to be hit in the shins and shoulders more times than he can count. He's a good man, my husband!!!

Amy has begun a big purge up in her room. Its a bitter-sweet thing. I'm trying not to dwell too much on it but its the beginning of her moving out. It was this way with Josh too. Soon there will be another pile ready to be loaded up and headed off to college and the rest will be packed up.