Lazy Days

You've heard of the "lazy days of summer"? Well, in my world, winter has far more lazy days! And today has been one of them. It's gently snowing right now, the kind that just makes you want to sit in front of the fireplace with a good book & let the world go by. I've spent it mostly scrapbooking. I did a challenge at Wilma4Ever...AprilTheScrapaholic provided a cool sketch (free download at W4E) & I used Patty's Frosty Day collection again (it's on sale right now at W4E -- see link in previous post).

 

 

We really did have a good time Christmas Eve. Brent & Mark hadn't been to our house in years (it's not like we haven't seen them, but not here). Once Brent's boys warmed up to Julie's girls and vice versa, the kids had a lot of fun. Had a chance to visit with Fritz a bit & compare feelings about being the oldest generation now.

I think it has hit me harder this year than any previous. With Mom passing away in October, neither Dave nor I have any living parents -- we're orphans now. But I really have found I miss Mom & Dad so much more, and it's also resurfaced emotions about Andy that hadn't been happening so much any more. I just try to focus on all the wonderful memories that I have buried in my heart.

No fire in the fireplace, but I think I'll go put my nose in the book I'm reading right now...To Kill a Mockingbird, decided to reread that one, it's been years & it was such a good read.

 

Frosty Days Kit by PattyB Scraps

I've started a new venture & am now on the Creative Team at Wilma4Ever. Now I have my first group of layouts finished. The kit I used was "Frosty Days" by PattyB Scraps shown above. You can pick it up in Patty's store at W4E -- here's a link:  http://wilma4ever.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=52_357&products_id=19470

Here's a couple of layouts that I did with the kit:

 

And here's a cluster that I made:

 

 

This is a png file, if you'd like to have a free copy of the cluster, here's a link to my dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wb5l29udhbkrq92/Cluster.png?m

 When you go to the link, you will see a button "get link", click on that & then at the top of that page you will see a "download" button to pick up the cluster file. Enjoy!

 

 

Sad News/Glad News

You've heard that when God closes a window, He opens a door?
Well earlier this week I got a message from Barbara at Precepts & Promises that she is closing her store & going to work full time. So my time on her Creative Team is over. It has been a real pleasure designing layouts for her.
The good news is that Anmarie of ABCreations at Wilma4Ever.com had been encouraging me to apply for the CT at Wilma4Ever. I decided to go ahead and apply -- today I got word that I have been accepted there. So I end the year with new opportunities.
W4E is a relatively new scrapbooking website. I've been a member there for a little over a year, but not a very active one until the last month. Their monthly Speed Scraps & Bingo chats are what drew me in & kept me going back. They have a very nice variety of monthly challenges, 13 for December. Plus they have nice participation gifts.
Here's a couple I've done this week:

 



Be watching for more W4E LOs!

Almost Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Where does the time go?
Everytime I think I will post regularly on my blog something bogs me down....blog bog, hmmm a new ailment?  LOL
Since I last did a new entry we have laid my dear mother to rest. I've done a few layouts celebrating her life. Here's a couple of them...

 

I've been taking photos again! This week there was a fantastic sunrise one morning. Here's what I did with those a couple of those shots:

 

 

And we've been having a few new visitors to the back yard, but I'll save those for my next post.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving -- God is good, all the time God is good!

 



It's been a busy summer, fall appears to be going that way too

With fall officially here -- it's Corn School Week -- I look forward to cooler weather. Alaska got me ready for it I guess. It's been tough getting back into the swing of things from vacation & my blog has definitely taken a back burner.So has my scrap-faithbooking.
At least my computer has been cooperating a bit more than before we went. Unfortunately the CD player doesn't want to play for me. I started another My Life My Faith class with Precepts & Promises at ScrapTakeOut. We've been going for 4 days now & I'm already behind 3 days. Yikes! Well, not totally behind. I have to add photos (they're on a CD) to my layouts & they'll be ready to post. I have tried to get inspired a little bit. Here's what I did last night:

Kind of hard to read, but I've had it in my head to merge together what I've been learning from a little book Eat That Frog  by Brian Tracy and from the Flylady's emails about keeping ahead of my housework. The book is about how to succeed & get ahead in your career; Flylady is about taking baby steps, but being consistent & doing something daily about cleaning out the chaos in your home. So much of their advice is applicable to my daily walk with God. I'm thinking it must be a good thing to do because satan sure is trying to block it happening. So I will take it a step at a time & let the Holy Spirit guide me down this path. The layout above will be my first two pages. I still need to do a cover for it..
And here's the cover for My Life My Faith class:

 



And I have done a few vacation layouts. I'll post those later.

There's no place like home!

We've been home almost two weeks now. I'm beginning to get back into the swing of things.
Actually it has been more like six weeks since I've felt no pressure or been out of town.
First there were preparations for having Nanae & Yoshi visit.
Then there was their eight days here.
A week off, sort of, we had to get things packed & make final arrangements for our Alaskan tour besides seeing that everything was set for the time we would be gone.
Then it was two weeks of travel to amazing Alaska!
And the last two weeks have been filled with getting back into the swing of a routine. As much fun as we had, it was so good to be back in our own home...like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home!"

When we first started planning on our trip way back in July of 2011 (We actually booked it back then!) it seemed so far off. Now it's history. And it's a glorious memory. We were first scheduled to leave on Labor Day, then we got word that the tour had been canceled. They offered us the same tour, same rate only a week earlier. At first we were a little disappointed, we'd miss Janessa's birthday, but we'd be here for Indian Summer Days. (That's a whole other story though.) As it turned out (God's timing!) we were there during the peak season for color; the days were cool, but not cold; the sunshine was abundant; and even though a lot of the wildlife had migrated already, we did see a lot of critters & birds. Moose season opened while we were there, but we did finally see one in the wild. She passed right in front of the tour bus on the last full day of our tour. They say that less than 30% of the people who go to Alaska on vacation get to see Denali (or Mt. McKinley) -- we were fortunate enough to see it on three different days. First on our train ride to Denali National Park; then while we were touring the park the next day; and again on our last day in Anchorage it was visible if you got up high enough in the hotel.

Here's the moose we saw:

And here's our first sight of Denali:

 

I'm getting ready to put my best shots up on Flickr if you want to see more.

 

I still get goosebumps when I think of the splendor of the mountains. Sunday morning when we went to church after we returned, the first hymn was How Great Thou Art. When we got to the verse that talks about the "lofty mountain grandeur" I was blown away at how God orchestrated every little detail of our trip, even down to singing this hymn on our return home. We truly do have an awesome God who is in control of every minute of every day.

Our Week + One Day Went Way Too Fast!

With mixed emotions we delivered Nanae & Yoshi to the airport yesterday. From here to Chicago, spending the night in Chicago last night & then off for a 12-hour+ flight to Tokyo. I had a post on FaceBook from Nanae & they were an hour past departure & still waiting. After checking the flight, they were more than two hours late -- but now they are over the Yukon in Alaska, about half-way home.
We had such a good time, but keeping up with them (being half our age) was quite a challenge. Dave & I totally chilled out today! Back to work tomorrow for me. Dave is having Matt & Jon come over & get the lawn work done once more before school is out. And Janessa & Jillian are all snuggled down for the night. Janessa wanted to spend the night one more time before school starts & since I had promised Jillian she could stay soon, they are both here. The real thing is having waffles in the morning.
I can't seem to concentrate tonight, so I'll just say that I'll be posting some scrapbook pages from our time with Nanae & Yoshi.

Bsuy Week -- Breather Today

What a jam-packed week we've been having!
Saturday we had the whole family over for a picnic barbecue, I guess I mentioned that in my last post. Then on Sunday we took Nanae & Yoshi to the Silver Hawks game in South Bend. They lost 10 to 6 :( But we had a lot of fun anyhow, lots of action with scores that high. I think both teams could use new pitchers!! LOL

They had a special salute to fallen heroes & the Hawk cheered on with the audience in recognition of them.
Monday Dave, Yoshi & Matt went fishing in the morning. Then after lunch it was off to the grocery store. Yoshi has been so good to our grand kids -- they love playing with him!
Monday evening we went to visit some Amish friends of ours & went for a buggy ride in the rain...I had some time today to play a little & did this scrapbook page to remember the occasion:

Tuesday was another full day with a trip to Dallas Lake & a pontoon ride around the lake while visiting with one of Nanae's friends from the softball team back in high school. And me? -- I forgot to take my camera - YIKES!

The afternoon held Frisbees in the back yard, riding the lawn tractor. A trip to Westview to meet the sixth grade teacher topped off the evening. Yoshi teaches sixth grade near Tokyo, so it was fun for him to visit the school.

It is so peaceful & quiet here right now -- it's fun to have company & be doing a lot of things, but it is also good to take time out to rest a bit.



They are here! :)

Yesterday was a day we will remember for the rest of our lives!
Jim & Tina & their granddaughter Elizabeth arrived in time for lunch at Ianarrelli's.  Dave & Jim picked up right where they left off in 1968. Tina & I were soon swapping photography stories -- and talking scrapbooking; just like we were old friends, [And then we ate fried skunk at the local saloon. -- inserted by Julie, smarty pants, we really didn't eat any skunk!]
As much as Tina & I like to take pictures, we neither one took a photo of Dave & Jim together. So this morning we got together again for a few minutes for a photo-shoot.
Here's Dave & Jim on our back patio:

We went back to our house for a couple of hours. Jenny had gone to Ianarrelli's with us & was heading off to pick up Kalei from camp so Elizabeth went with her. The two girls seemed to have a good time together on the trip home according to Jenny.

When Jim & Tina left Dave & I headed for the airport to pick up Nanae & Yoshi. We left a little later than we had planned on but made good time & got there about 10 minutes before their flight was due to arrive. Oops -- the flight was delayed for an hour. :(  So we sat around for a while. You know the hurry-up-and-wait kind of thing! Finally the plane arrived. We were so excited to see Nanae & Yoshi. We chatted as we waited for their luggage...we waited & waited again. No luggage! So we waited in line to fill out a baggage claim for lost baggage. The first story we got was that it should be at the airport in an hour or two, but when we got to the counter we found out it might be late morning or early the next afternoon. We decided to let them deliver it to our house & we headed for home.

We once again made good time, went to find some supper -- a late (8 pm) supper. After we had our fill, we stopped at WalMart for pjs & a change of clothes; a toothbrush for Nanae & a few other things they wanted. It was certainly a memorable experience -- like Dad always said when we had things go wrong on a vacation, "This is the one we will remember the most!"

Today we had the girls & their families over for a barbecue. Jon & Logan weren't here, but all the rest of our off-spring were. We took this family photo of all of us...kind of a mini family reunion:

One more big thrill today was after all the kids left. We took Nanae & Yoshi over to the state grounds to show them the eagle's nest. Wow! There was a bird on the nest -- a first for us. I took a bunch of photos as we drove closer & closer. I even got a couple of good shots as it flew away. But alas, it wasn't the eagle. However, it was a bird I had been hoping to see -- an osprey!



God is good! What a blessing today has been!

Almost Down to Single Digits!

Still working on getting ready -- the guest room is almost ready! The bathroom is nearly spic 'n span - and after a two-year wait I've got the computer/sewing/craft room almost presentable. Nothing like visitors to spur me on.
I've even done a few more pages for my photo frame:

These all three are using Precepts & Promises templates (P&P Template Pack 11) with a little alterations to make them fit my frame.

Well, it's back to work on the bathroom...,plugging away, with God's help I'll have everything all ready for next week's arrival.


26 Days & Counting

The countdown has officially begun! In 26 days we will pick up Nanae & Yoshi at the airport. I'm getting very excited about this; lots to do before then though.
The guest room is full -- really full. I've kind of avoided cleaning in there, but have wanted to get it done. It just keeps getting worse & worse. First there were all of Andy's things to go through. That I put off for a very long time. In fact, there's still some of his things in there. Then when Marge died a couple of months later we added more things. And since Mom went into the nursing home, it filled up more...now that we've sold her house, it's really a mess. And so is the computer/sewing/craft room & the toy room. Just full of things that need to be gone through & organized. But with Nanae & Yoshi coming I now have a deadline to get it finished. First I have to clean out the computer/sewing/craft room. Lots of weeding out of things there. I've got a good start on it & should be in there working on it right now. Then I will have room in there for the things (especially the stuff from Mom's house.) When that is finished, I'll get busy on the guest room. If I don't get the toy room all cleaned out before they get here, then I guess that's just the way it has to be. I also need to do a lot of "spring cleaning" in the rest of the house. It's not bad, but just needs to be done.
In the evenings I've been working on something to put on my digital photo frame. Memories from when Nanae was living with us, from our trip to Japan & a few other things. Barbara sent me some new templates to work on & I've been incorporating them into something for the frame. Here's the two that I have completed so far:

This one is from when we first met Nanae & she was living with us as an exchange student.

Then I did this one (kind of reversed from the first one) from when we went to their wedding in Japan. I'll try to post all of them as I go.

Well, I'd better get to cleaning or I'll never be ready!

Triple Digits Hit Again

Did you ever hear of the expression "It's so hot outside you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!"? I think that's what we have today. It's up to 101. I'm not sure how I ever survived without A/C. Even though it's just a small window jobber, it sure does help keep things cool. I've been so full of energy for the circumstances that I've found my sewing table & am getting the sewing area cleaned up. I think I could even do some work on my sewing machine if I had any energy left. But while I was doing that, I had grandson Matt cleaning out my Tupperware cupboard. Now this evening I will need to go through the two boxes of plastic containers & deem what is still useful, what needs to be kept, what needs to be given away & what needs to be pitched.
So in the space of just three days I've unearthed so many things that I'm getting really motivated to get everything organized again. I have some of my kitchen cupboard totally cleaned & organized; my sewing room has space in it again & I'm ready to tackle the next "space" on my list -- that Tupperware cupboard & the shelves by my sewing machine. Maybe I'll get organized & cleaned before Nanae & Yoshi arrive in just a little over a month. It's only taken me two and a half years of retirement to get motivated!
Be persistent is my new motto!

Blog Train

I've just spent the last few hours collecting goodies on the Blog Train. It's sponsored by DST (DigiShopTalk.com) and digital scrapbook designers all post a freebie on their blogs. A list of all participants is give at http://blogtrainblog.blogspot.com/ and you travel through each blog to pick up the freebie. They run this every other month and you have a month to pick up the freebies. After that they will be offered for sale in the designers' stores.
This month's theme is camping and the color palette is pretty much camouflage colors. Lots of nature things included in many of the kits & can be used for much more than just camping LOs -- good thing, cuz I don't do camping! If you're interested, go to the link above & head out on the train for a great adventure.

New Kit at Scrap Takeout!

Barbara, creator of Precepts & Promises, has just put a new kit in the store at www.scraptakeout.com. You can find it here. It is bright & summery as the name implies -- Summer Stories. I've already made three layouts with it & have some more roaming around in my head that I want to do.
The first one I did was this:

Then I just had to do one for the boys....

And I've been working on scanning my Dad's old slides from LaGrange County taken from the 1950s clear up into the 1980s. Dad was quite the photographer & liked to go around taking pictures of things to be remembered, especially when he found that something was going to be torn down. There were also lots fishing shots -- he was an avid fisherman too. Among them I found one of our family friend, Frank, taken in 1970 & it brought to mind all the fond memories I have of him. So I pulled out a few things from the Summer Stories kit to go with Frank's pic....

Sharing memories -- that's what scrapbooking is all about! Your family, your youth, your kids, your grandkids & your faith.

Too Hot for even the Heron!

I'm definitely not a hot-weather person. Give me the 70s & I'm fine, but when it is in the 90s just give me A/C!
Yesterday was super busy for me, but I took time to capture this heron out by the river. I only took 50+ shots of him. I started from the living room window & then decided to see how close I could get. I went out the front of the house so he wouldn't hear me opening the back door. Then I walked down toward the river very slowly & actually ended up on the bank of the river right across from him. I was totally amazed when he put his wings out; I'm assuming he was trying to stay cool -- I know I was!

Gratitude Board

Last week Pastor Jean's sermon was on being grateful. At the end of the service she passed out slips of paper for everyone to write what they were grateful for. I pulled up some of the papers from Dawn's Today collection at Faithfully Yours & made a page that had 2x2-sized papers & put all of the gratitude slips on them. Then I made a "Gratitude Board" on one of the bulletin boards at the church.

What are you grateful for?

Bird Watching on the River

Dave & I get such pleasure from watching the birds in our backyard. Today was no exception. There was a wren that was working so hard ... taking the nest out of a wren house. Or at least that's what it appeared to be doing to us. Actually it was removing nesting material from two houses in the backyard. It would work on one, then go and work on the other one. (Oh, to have that much ambition!)

Here it is outside one of the houses.

It is truly amazing to watch the birds & how God created them to care for themselves. And it's awesome when you think about God knowing each one of them individually; caring for each of them. Totally awesome!

Web of Faith

Today Pastor Jean started a series of sermons on Spiritual Gifts. Fits right in to our study on Spiritual Gifts. Fits right in to the class I took in April at goDigitalScrapbooking.com - My Life, My Faith. And today was a very inspiring sermon. I came right home and created this layout so I could get it in my brain and remember what she had to say!

Absent

I've been absent for a few days weeks. But much has been accomplished in that time.
The garage sale at Mom's house is behind us. Just a few things yet to do down there & then I won't have to be feeling like I need to be stopping in there. And we signed papers on an offer for the house. Unbelievable since it's only been on the market for about 7 weeks.
I've also been working on layouts for Dawn & Barbara. Dawn is putting her's  in the Faithfully Yours newsletter next Friday, so I'll wait until after that to post here. I've posted Barbara's in the new ScrapTakeout website where Barbara is one of their designers. They are having their grand opening this weekend - was at a chat last night & got to know some of the people involved. I have seen some familiar faces in my lurking around the site. And I met a fellow Hoosier last night.
Here's the LO I did this morning for Father's Day using Barbara's (Precepts & Promises) American Story kit & a couple of her masks - Messy Masks Vol. 1 & Messy Masks - Dad (I think that's Vol. 5):

I kind of cheated & basically used the same LO for Dawn's but changed the papers using her Father's Day kit. I'll post it here after she releases next Friday's newsletter. Her kit is awesome too, they have very different styles & I like that - it gives me more variety.

Add all of this to Memorial Day weekend, visiting Mom in the Nursing Home and Dave hurting his back & my time has been totally taken up. I did squeeze in a speed scrap this week at Scrap Girls using photos from our Memorial Day celebrations:

And I managed one for the grand opening at Scrap Takeout for Barbara using the same American Story kit and one of her templates:

I couldn't believe the change in Jon here!

Well, I need to get some work done around the house & go visit Mom later on.

Journaling Prompt - Doodling

Doodling is a form of meditation.
I used to doodle all the time back when I was in school -- first I remember the arrow tracks I used to do around my school notes. Then there were the flames later on. When I doodled with my Bamboo Tablet this evening I was planning on doing some of each of these, which I did do. But the flames reminded me that next Sunday is Pentecost. That made me think about God & His beautiful creation. And further, that reminded me of flowers & how I used to always draw daisies.
So doodling, did help me meditate on my creator....

And today we re-declared war on the raccoon(s) that has (have) been invading our backyard. A very long time ago we started bringing in the suet blocks inside every night. Then a few weeks ago he started getting into the bird feeder, so we started scooping the seeds out of there every night too. This week he went even farther and started getting into the oriole feeder, eating the jelly & knocking down the oriole & hummingbird nectar feeders as well as knocking down the birdbath. A couple of nights ago he was up in the bird feeder. He scared me & I scared him! Last night was the final straw - he came up on the porch & knocked over the potted plants. He's even gotten so bold that he has shown up before dark a few times & I got this photo of him under the bird feeder:

I found & ordered something that is supposed to help. If that doesn't work I'm afraid that Dave may be sitting out back in the evening with his rifle. Will see first if this helps. As for this evening, everything is in the garage & the potted plants are down on the ground instead of on their stands, at least they can't tip into the ones below them.



Journaling Prompt - Experience

The experience of sitting in quiet will bring oneness.

Ah, quiet. That's how I sometimes feel after all the kids are over & have gone home. Don't get me wrong, we love having them visit, but it's also good to hear the quiet when they leave.
And then there's the quiet of sitting out back watching the birds. Which sometimes isn't so quiet! In fact sometimes it's downright deafening. When they stop their chirping/singing/cawing or whatever the quiet is so loud! Especially if there's no traffic for a little bit on the highway.
Sitting in quiet does absolutely bring oneness with God. It's so good to be still and listen. Sometimes He will speak to me through the quiet. Other times He speaks with a loud and booming voice. Right now it is very quiet in the house. The birds are quiet & there doesn't seem to be much traffic. It is so peaceful. And peace is what I'm needing right now. Thank you Lord! Thank you for being near & thank you for the moments of quiet.

Journal Prompt - Transitions

My prompt for today says: " transition will come when I ___."

Right at the moment the only transition that I want to happen is for Dave to get out of his funk. The depression is better for a while & then all of a sudden something sets him off & it's worse than ever. I'm not sure that there is anything I can do to make this transition happen other than be there when he wants to talk. Depression can be so very tricky. But with God's help we will get through it and back to normal. It will take a few days, maybe weeks. It didn't happen overnight & it won't correct itself overnight.

The other transition that I'm having take place right now is that two of my big projects are completed. Now I have to set my priorities. First will be getting things ready for Mom's garage/estate sale set for Memorial Day weekend. Fritz & Diane have done so much already (thanks guys!) This is rather complicated because I also need to do some sorting here. I'll have some things to include in the sale. Sure hoping that the weather will be cooperative for nice days & that there will be lots of people out looking for bargains. I'm not big on garage sales, and I'm not at all sure this is the way we should have proceeded. But we'll get it accomplished. I do think perhaps we will soon have an offer on the house though! YAY!!!!

Journaling Prompt - Distortion

The distortion of light brings confusion to me.
That is what my journaling prompt said for today.

After finishing up my DAR scrapbook and having the Genealogical Society & UMW program over with last night I am feeling a little bit of confusion this morning. Add to that Dave's problem with depression last night and this morning & I would definitely say that confusion seems to be a good word for today for both of us.
He has asked me to stay home from work today. Not a problem, I already have the bulletins finished & off to Pastor Jean for approval. If he falls asleep this morning, I'll probably run up & take the mail up to the church.
I'm not sure what triggered Dave's depression, but I'm  going to assume it is a number of things. However I will say that even through my business of the last few days I have seen it coming. It's so easy to deny when this happens; or to think that I'm imagining it. Yesterday he forgot to take his morning medicine which didn't help matters at all. Then last night he went to his first meeting as a church trustee. Not a good combination at all. Meetings in general are difficult for him. Then add our study of Spiritual Gifts -- he keeps saying that he doesn't have any, I keep telling him he does! And the Bible also says that God gives Spiritual Gifts to everyone. I'm praying right now that the medication he has taken today will help him & he will be able to go to class today. I really think that satan is trying very hard to discourage him because God has so many great things for him to do. Saturday night he is supposed to talk to the kids at the Coconut Hut and that may be working on him as well. Or maybe what he has to say to them is something satan doesn't want the kids to hear because it may make a difference in someones life and turn them on to Jesus. I know satan doesn't want that to happen!
I'm just sort of rambling here -- and praying at the same time. If you read this, please pray for Dave.

Journaling Prompt - Rest

After a long day, I am ready for rest. It's really not been a busy day, and it's just after lunch, but I am ready for a rest. I was sorry to miss Jenny's first campaign parade, but I didn't miss fighting the crowds in Shipshewana.
I have done my daily study for our class and made a scrapbook page --

Today is National Scrapbooking Day, so there's lots of special chats & challenges going on at most of the websites I frequent. This one was for a challenge at Scrap Girls. Now I'm waiting to play bingo at Gotta Pixel later this afternoon -- unless I take a nap & sleep through it. Not in a very chatty mood today, but I'll join in some of the chats this evening I'm sure. 

Prompt - Happily

Today we are to be "Happily Journaling About ____"
I'm continuing to get hung up on my last post about "Still."  I need to slow down & be still. It's been totally amazing how many things God has put in my path this week about being still...the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley had one this week; I jotted down Psalm 46:10 several times this week "Be still and know that I am God"; this morning's GodVine message I was reminded about being still; and now just before I started journaling here I read Dawn's ezine where she talked about living for today and how we so often are more worried about what's going to happen tomorrow that we forget to thank God for today. So I am happily journaling about what a wonderful relaxing day it is today; praising God for giving me eyes to see and ears to hear the birds that are in a flurry in the backyard - for taking time to just enjoy His wonderful creation. And I'm also praising Him for giving me the strength to accomplish all the chores that I've gotten finished this week. It seems as if a burden has been lifted -- as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel of my many tasks which I need to complete. I'm not saying that the list is completed, but He has given me the perseverance to stay with the projects I've started and see them to completion.
Sure I'll set new goals for tomorrow. Sure I'll have new adventures to explore. Sure there will be more projects, in fact there are already many projects on my table, but they will be accomplished in due time. And I'll enjoy God's creation and His company as we walk down this road.
My newest endeavor is a study with Pastor Jean to discover my spiritual gifts. We all have at least one. I've done this before, but it's been a long time ago & I'm not sure what I discovered before. I'm open to what God has in store for me now. I will go hand in hand with Him leading and me following. PTL!!

Journal Prompt - Stillness

The Lord is really speaking to me with this word today. I must really need it a lot! Not only is it the next in line on my journal prompts (which I'm about 3 or 4 weeks behind on) but it was also part of my devotional this morning.
When I got up this morning I remembered that today is the Retired Teachers luncheon at our church. I had told Yvonne that I'd be there to help. And I'd bring two pies. Oh my, I have to bake two pies before lunch. But wait! Fritz & I are taking Mom to Ft. Wayne for her eye doctor appointment at 1:00. We need to leave in the middle of Mom's lunch, so instead we're going to go down early & take her out to lunch. Need to leave her place at 10:30. Hmmm, how in the world is that going to work?
What to do? What to do? Be still & know that I am God. Listen, I'll work it all out.
Dave volunteered to run to the grocery store -- mind you there's none in town, we have to go either north six miles or south six miles to get to one. Thank you Dave & Marie Callender! While he's gone I get everything ready to pop the pies in the oven & then fix our breakfast. The pies are cooling, I've had my shower, talked to Yvonne to let her know that I can't help at the luncheon. All no problems. Thank you Lord!
I even have 15 minutes left to journal about being still. And I'm feeling calm about the whole matter. Not so when I first realized what I had done. God really does work everything out. And give you peace in the process. Thank you Lord.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak & White-crowned Sparrow

I'm so excited with the birds this week!
Yesterday we were sitting out back enjoying the nice warm day we were having. Dave & I spotted it at the same time...there on the ground was a bird we'd never seen (or at least noticed) before. Instantly he flew up in the tree, but I was still able to get a good shot of him with my camera. Then he came back out in the open & posed for me.
After doing some searching in the bird books we have decided that it was a White-crowned Sparrow. Here's the best one I have:

Cute little guy isn't he?

This morning when we got up the heron was in the river for his morning catch. And the woodpeckers don't disappoint us with their daily visits. There are Red-bellied, Hairys & Downys on a daily basis. Then there will be Northern Flicker with a lot of regularity though not daily. We've been hearing and seeing from time to time a Pileated and this spring for the first time we've had a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker around. But we haven't seen him for a couple of week now, so he must have been passing through. Soon we're hoping to have the Red-headed ones back again for the summer.

And speaking of birds returning for the summer, they are beginning to arrive! The robins have been around for months, but today we had two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the feeders. Hope they decide to make their home near here again this summer. Until last year we would only see them passing through. They are so pretty! Here's a shot of one of them:

Okay, so this is where I was going to stop --- but the events since I started are making me keep going! There was a Red-bellied Woodpecker kept coming up to the window feeder and eating peanuts, so I decided to get my camera (which was right by the feeder) in case he came back. Well he did come back, but not before I got my camera in hand. That's when I noticed a big splash in the river. And then another. So I used my camera as binoculars & there was the strangest looking thing in the river. 

I still didn't know what it was. Then I saw a pair of wood ducks on the sand bar. Eventually the funny-looking one joined them. I guess it was a wood duck with it's head feathers standing up. I'm still not sure....what do you think?....He's in the back:

After taking about a dozen pictures & just as I was turning to go back & download the pictures onto my computer our friendly little woodchuck zipped by...

This was the first we had seen him this year. I was beginning to think he'd found a new home.

Now you thought I was done didn't you? I wasn't real happy with the duck pictures, so I thought I'd check & see if they were still there. No luck, but wait -- what's that on the sand bar? Was I seeing things? You take a look:

The female laid an egg! And just left it on the sandbar! I walked out to the river to take this & as I got down to the shore a Great Blue Heron flew down river -- didn't get a good shot at him though. Sigh.

What excitement -- off to make Jon's birthday lasagna. Have a great evening & happy bird-watching,



Quality - of True Friendship

It's back to my Journaling Prompts! And I'm right on schedule; at least this one says Monday.
So for true friendship: I've heard it said that a true friend is one who is still there when you have trouble, one who is excited when things are going well for you. A friend is someone who will laugh with you, cry with you and be still with you. And the best friend of all is Jesus Christ, His love is unconditional. Why don't you take a little walk with Jesus today?  Pour your heart out to Him and then listen for His still small voice, He is there for you. He will give you courage. He will give you hope. He will give you strength to carry on no matter what stage you are in your life.

Breathe; Just Breathe!

Well April is almost over. It's been quite a month for me. And the last week is always a bit hectic with getting our church newsletter put together, printed, folded, labeled & mailed. Thanks to my dear husband it's out & delivered!

Now for the rest of the month --

My first month at Faithfully Yours as a part of the Design Team. It has been fun & very inspiring.

Speaking of inspiring, I just finished up a class at godigitalscrapbooking.com that really made me work hard. It was a month-long class with an assignment every week day. Now I have a book about my faith ready to print out. One last message from Barbara this week. But her assignments really made me look long & hard at my faith -- a real affirmation!

I also tried another new thing & entered a Quick Page contest at coolscrapsdigital.com. There I made a page that you can just drop photos into & have a page ready to print!
Here's a preview of my page....

You can download it here: http://www.box.com/download/account/f_2135623307/0/AnnB_Designs%29CSDQuickPageApril2012.zip

And if you want to check out what's happening at CoolScrapsDigital just go here:

www.coolscrapsdigital.com



I'm almost ready for May to be here -- just need to get my DAR Pressbook finalized & off to the printers.

Hope your April was as exciting as mine.

Journaling Prompt - Quality

Quality of friendship that is...which makes me think of "loving someone warts and all" and then I automatically me think of our dog Nikki. She has developed some nasty looking warts the last year. And she's lost fur down the middle of her back, which makes her really strange looking now, but as faithful as ever. Her joints are stiff & it's hard for her to get into the car & impossible to get into the Jeep. One of her favorite things is to go for rides with us. Now she hardly responds to us when we ask if she wants to go with us. But we still love her and she still is our great protector.
But I digress. What makes for a good quality of friendship? In my mind it is someone you can share all your joys with and they are happy for you; someone you can share all your sorrows with and they are there to cry with you; someone you can hang out with and say nothing at all and they aren't uncomfortable with being there. That is the difference between a "friend" and an "acquaintance".
I have been blessed with many new acquaintances this year who are quickly becoming friends. For this I am grateful. We have poured our hearts out at the My Life; My Faith class. We're learning about each other on the Design Team at Faithfully Yours and becoming friends. And my Makeover Group is such a sharing, caring group of people who encourage one another through all the hills and valleys of our walk through life.
Some of the above mentioned people I have known for years; some of them I have only known for a few weeks; but our common bond is our trust in God as our Savior. And I truly thank God for all He's done for me in my life, but especially this last month. And I thank Him for the people He has put in my path on my journey through life. I'm praying that He will bless you all!
Thank you Lord, praise you Jesus!

Contest at Faithfully Yours

Stewardship contest over at Faithfully Yours
Check it out for your a to win $50 gift certificate to their store:  http://faithfullyyours.net/Blog/contest-share-your-favorite-stewardship-tip/

Journal Prompt - Enlarging

I'm up-to-date with my prompts! Well, not really, but this one is for Friday -- two weeks ago. LOL
The whole prompt reads: Enlarging my world will bring more opportunities for service.
That has certainly been my world for 2012. When I look back on the first quarter of 2012 I stand in awe of how much enlarging has occurred in my world. And some shrinkage as well.
The Bible study group that I have been leading for a number of years has ceased for most of the year. We did do one on Romans, but have since been going to one at the church that our new pastor has been leading. It was a very thought-provoking book on Why? (More on that later) Then we took a break for Easter. What a glorious event in the life of the church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
The study at church was so well attended that Pastor Jean is going to do another session about discovering our spiritual gifts. Not enough time to squeeze in a study for our group, so we'll wait until after it is over. I do miss Dee & Barb joining Dave & I for our little group sessions. Planning on doing Ephesians next, whenever that might be.
Then there is the enlarging of my world to include being on the Design Team at Faithfully Yours. This has been a fun adventure & has really made me think lots about my faithbooking practices. And has expanded the way I scrapbook altogether. I found the website that gives these journaling prompts (www.inspiredtojournal.net) and have been using them here at my blog.
Another added activity is taking a month-long My Life; My Faith class this month at godigitalscrapbooking.com. Another very thought-provoking walk for me. We do a page every week day from the assignments given by Barb. So far it has covered where & when our faith started and how it has grown. Yesterday was even about where we faltered. It is covering everything! Next week we will have a time to chat with other class members and Barb hinted that we will start working on where we are going in our walk with God.
And there's my being active on FaceBook. Not something that I really cared about before. But I've added a timeline on my FB page, joined two groups through FaithfullyYours and one through a friend at church. The one from church was first started by a couple of ladies who wanted to have someone to be accountable for in their weight-loss attempts. It has since enlarged to include others who want to be accountable for other things -- get busy & don't procrastinate is the theme and we're there to encourage one another. Very helpful! And it's all God-centered! In the word's of my friend Beverly (who has been gone from this world for several years now) "Thank you Lord! Praise you Jesus!" I'll always remember Beverly for saying that ALL the time!!!
Next week I'm going to do something that I haven't done in a while. I signed up to take a painting class with Carl Moser. It's been a couple of years since I've done this. But now that he's holding some classes right in town here I decided to try it again. Excited to get my hand on a paintbrush again. It's a fun way to get creative.
And now here's my page for today's assignment in My Life; My Faith:

I thank God for our son Andrew and all that he was able to do while he was with us in this world! God gives us many wonderful opportunities here on earth & my prayer is that I am able to recognize His will for my life & follow His plan for my life.

Thank you Lord! Praise you Jesus!