Moving In…Barely Moving…Moving Over

Please forgive me for being very neglectful of my little bloggy…you will see later in this post it has been {partly, at least} for VERY good reasons!

Moving In

One of the VERY good reasons lately has been of the dwarf, four-legged variety. While we were on a mini-vacation to Branson we found out that a daughter-of-a-friend-of-a-family-member {whew!} was looking for a good home for her Pembroke Welsh Corgi. So, being Corgi Fanatics, we started looking into the possibility of giving our Riley a new buddy….and 2 weeks ago he moved in. Meet Duncan!

He {excuse me for the interruption, he just approached for hugs & kisses} is just the sweetest, lovey-doviest little 3 yr. old dude!! For various reasons he just wasn’t able to get the attention he deserved in his former home {hence, his loving previous owners sought new loving owners}, so he really is milking {oops, more pets & kisses} this “attention thang” to the hilt! We think he’s been reassured & comfortable enough it’s time to dial it down a notch. We don’t mind spoiling our dogs a bit, but we don’t want REALLY SPOILED dogs, ha ha!

Introducing an “intact” {i.e. non-neutered} adult male dog into a home with another intact adult male was not without it’s challenges, but since they are both HUGE sweethearts, we knew discipline an patience would pay off.

Here are the 2 brudders together on Duncan’s 2nd day… just before we let them off-leash in the house

There was definitely a whole lot of playing and panting, and dominance assertion and panting, and playing and panting…you get the picture!

Here’s someting else they both do a lot of, too, after so much fun play.

Barely Moving

We’ve hardly had the worst of it {praying for you Texas!}, but we HAVE had our hottest summer on record – 52 {or 53? I lost count} days of 100+ temps, and many of those 105+. All I have to say is I consider it HAWT once it gets over 85…and we are soooo behind on rain. Everything’s been dry and crunchy, and did I mention hot? A lot of the ways I had planned to relax and enjoy summer went right out the window with the scorching heat. But God is good, ALL the time! He is in control and I am SO thankful for cooler temps - upper 70s to mid 80s! Next week we will still be above average for this time of year, but at this point I’ll take mid-80s to low-90s.

Moving Over

One of the main reasons I have not been blogging is that I have been using my computer time for other things…I shut down 2 old blogs and started a new one for our church women. AND…. I am moving to WordPress!! Blogger is great, and I could have done more with it…but I was having trouble realizing my vision for blogging. So, this is exciting because it will be more organized and better-functioning for how I want to minister and encourage with my blog. Rather than completely migrating, I will be saving this domain for personal/family uses and the new blog is on a new domain. Not being a web guru, it has taken some time to design and set it up…I have already imported my Blogger posts, but just need to finish some formatting & re-categorizing and tagging issues. It’s almost ready to go!! I hope to switch over on Monday and will DEFINITELY let you know when it’s time. This will make me a much better {and happier} and consistent blogger. Yay!

So, anyway, I have truly missed you…and can’t wait to invite you over to the new place!

Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!

Is Your Husband or Father a Rich Man?

I
had the privilege of screening Courageous last week. This is the newest project to come from Sherwood Pictures, who also gave us Fireproof. Those I saw it with agreed it is their best yet! Enjoy this video clip from the movie...

In today's society it is such a tremendous blessing to have godly fathers and husbands...if you have either {or both} make sure you take the time this weekend to let them know how much you treasure their love and leadership!!

Courageous opens on September 30...mark your calendars now and plan to see this film! The fathers in this film are policemen, so the material would not be suitable for very young children. I pray this movie will start a powerful movement among men...but also women and families, to be all that God has called them to be!

*I'll post lots of pics from our Mini Adventure "Daycation" on Monday*


Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful Fathers' Day Weekend {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!


Disclaimer: Community, church and ministry leaders are often given the opportunity to pre-screen "faith-based" movies at no cost so that they can help spread the word prior to the movie's release. I was able to screen Courageous for free...all opinions are completely my own.

Mini Adventure

Remember way back when {like 9 days ago} when I posted these little summer goals? My dear husband cracked me up this morning when he called it my “Summer Bucket List”. Well, the two of us are going to accomplish part of one of them today.  Darling daughter is still on her summer mission trip to South Dakota {coming home tomorrow – YIPPEE!!!!}, so her parentals decided on a little rural day trip.

Don’t know if we’ll see any bison or not, but we’re going to check out the Prairie Trail Scenic Byway and see what we can discover together.

I cringe every time I hear someone whine about how boring Kansas is scenically and otherwise.  It’s part of the world God created…and when He was finished He said that it was good.  That meant ALL of His creation!! Even when I am craving an ocean-side nap or a cool mountain breeze I still love this state of mine.  {And just in case you’ve never visited, not all of it is flat!}

I know we’ll have fun…’cause I’ll be with my very best friend ♥.  We’ll take pictures {maybe even video} and hopefully I’ll have a fun share post afterward.

Hope you are making something an adventure today!

 

Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!

My Girl and DaySpring Giveaway Extended!!

As you likely already know, Blogger was down for a couple of days this past week.  While I don’t believe I lost any comments {because of using a 3rd party commenting system}, I know that some bloggers did…SO, I am extending the entry period for my $20 DaySpring Giveaway to 11:59pm Central Time US on Monday, May 16.  The winner will be announced within a day or two after that.

Hope you all are having a tremendous weekend.  I spent a good portion of mine hunting down and going through 18 1/2 years of photos.  My darling daughter is graduating from high school this year and I needed pics for the church slide show.  Childhood truly does last but a moment…how does the time fly so?  Those of you with little ones, cherish each and every moment you possibly can!

 

Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!

For Mothers…But Especially for Others

I pray that what I have to share today will provide encouragement to those who need it and understanding for those who may need to encourage someone you know and love some day.
With some comic relief at the end :)

Let me start by saying that I know this weekend’s holiday is a painful or bittersweet time for many.  Some of you don’t have your mothers here with you on earth anymore.  Others of you are grieving the loss of a child.  If either {or both} is the case, I pray that you know the peace that passes all understanding and that your Heavenly Father is there to wrap you in His loving arms of comfort.

Maybe your relationship with your mother has been strained, or even broken.  I can only imagine the hurt you are feeling, but my prayer is that hearts could soon be mended and relationships restored…Nothing, you see, is impossible with God. {Luke 1:37 MSG}. 

Some of you are feeling left out this weekend.  Lonely. Forgotten. Unloved.  I have been the woman who wanted desperately to become Mom to someone, or several someones. I have prayed the heart-wrenching prayers…only for God to answer “Wait.” “Wait some more.” then finally “Yes, but not the way you planned.”.  And some get the answer they never expected… “No.”  Maybe you’re a woman whom God has called to be single, or not to “legally parent”…and you’ve always been okay with that. Or maybe not so much.

I want to encourage you if you fit into this last category.  I know it is hard to see, or even imagine, when you are in the midst of the frustration and disappointment but God has an amazing, beautiful and wonderful plan for your life! Even, and maybe especially, if it’s not the plan you hoped for {notice my life verse & tagline for my blog – top of right side bar}.  In my case, God did decide to eventually make me a Mama. That’s part of the way He chose to heal that particular wound, but it didn’t heal immediately.  In fact it couldn’t heal until I did my part.

He showed me that reluctant acceptance of the road He chose for me was not enough. In order for healing to come I had to: 1} Believe that God loves me just as much as everyone else and that He really does want to give me the desires of my heart – even if His plan means He can’t; and 2} Surrender completely and joyfully to His good, acceptable and perfect will {Romans 12:2}…no matter what! Please take note that while He healed my wound…I will always have a scar.  It is my reminder to have compassion for others who must travel difficult paths. It is an altar stone laid in remembrance of a period of refining, where God revealed to me a portion of Himself. My trust and surrender were my act of worship.

" I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."

Jeremiah 29:11-14a MSG

He's got this sister! Believe it. Trust it.  Surrender. Be comforted.  God created women to “mother” – to nurture – and almost 100% of us do it on a regular basis, whether it’s our legal responsibility or not.  Be a spiritual mother, a mentor, a teacher, a listener, an encourager, a comforter…you were MADE for it!

Now check out Anita Renfroe {my personal hair model – a story for another time perhaps} in her latest hilarious video…and Happy Mothers AND Others Day!!

 Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!

A Movie to Inspire Faith and Courage

"SOUL SURFER is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, inspiring millions worldwide through the love of her family, her sheer determination, and her unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. The film features an all-star cast, including AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt, with Carrie Underwood in her film debut, and Dennis Quaid."

 Soul Surfer opens tomorrow all across the country! I had the opportunity to screen this movie and found it inspiring, encouraging and challenging.  The family's faith is central in this dramatic true story, but don't expect it to be overtly central to the movie.  It is definitely there, but not the focus of the film.  Christians need to remember that we cannot expect "faith-based" films to do our job for us.  They can open up a dialogue with those who don't share our faith...it's our job to get the conversation going!

Enjoy the trailer and plan an outing to see this movie {dramatic events that are the basis for this movie are too intense for little ones}.  I'm glad I did!




Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!

When We All Get Together

My sisters often say our family reminds them of My Big Fat Greek Wedding…we’re loud, we’re a little crazy, and we love each other a lot!  We recently got together to celebrate our family’s August birthdays.  My nephew Jonas turned 7, Mom is 60 and Will is now 15! As I was watching the following video footage I was re-writing a hymn in my head with lyrics to fit the situation {because that’s kind of how I roll}…

…and here’s how my song went {to the tune of When We All Get to Heaven}…

When we all get together

What a house full of noisy that will be

When we sing Happy Birthday

We’ll sing and shout a lil’ off key!

Needless to say we had a wild and crazy time, which ended with a couple of rounds of the game 4 on the Couch.  I hadn’t played in years…and BTW the Women won :)

My fabulous sister, Lynnette, made YUMMY homemade pizza {with the help of my equally fabulous niece Abigail}.  She only has one oven ya know, so she could hardly keep ‘em coming fast enough for our hungry bunch.

  What you see next to Assistant Chef Abigail would be a “bucket o’ cheese”.

Some of us like to “dress up” for a party.  These are my nieces Adelynn & Julia.

Even yours truly can be a big ol’ goofball {and brave enough to show you}

So, if you don’t have a big, noisy, crazy family…you should go find one and hang out with them sometime…’cuz it’s pretty wonderful.

Have a beautiful day!

Cheezy, Imperfect, Fruity, Silly & Random

I don't know what it's been like in "yer neck o' the woods" but it has been SO windy here lately!!  It's blowing stuff off of things, and debris onto junk, and giving people with allergies major fits.  We're all ready for some calm around here! Here's some random stuff - like it's been blown every-which-way...by the wind.

True story - while reading the blogs I follow about 2 weeks ago 4 separate and completely unrelated bloggers mentioned a penchant for Cheez-Its. Weird.

Well, it's because I've been doing this...

I've been pretty quiet lately.  It's been for many reasons (some of which I'll share below), but I think one of the main reasons is that I've been having way too much fun being inspired by others to spend any time sharing my little somethings that might inspire you!  So here's a little random wrap-up of what's been going on:

♦ We backed up the computer over the weekend - just in case.  This old dinosaur of a desktop is gonna go some day, and the way it's been acting lately it could be sooner rather than later. I am very fond of my technology and when it does happen I just hope and pray we'll be able to find some way to replace it. :(

♦ Remember this?

The custom sign I designed at DaySpring to enter The Nester's giveaway...and then I won!

Well I changed the design a little bit and it arrived Saturday!!  It was packaged very nicely and wrapped in a pretty brown grosgrain ribbon with a congratulatory note inside.

Here it is in real life (sorry for the poor pics, I took them at night).  Notice the memory included on the back so I will remember how I came to possess this little lovely :) BTW, the beautiful canvas below my new sign is also from DaySpring and was a Christmas gift from my mama.

♦ My baby got her driver's license on Friday!

Okay, so she's not a baby any more (she'll be 18 in November).  She was in no huge hurry to learn how to drive and get her license...and her dear-old-dad and I had nooooo problem with that. She's not too fond of the pic, so I told her I'd keep it on the small side.

♦ I've been trying to take the time to enjoy this beautiful Spring!  I have especially loved this view out my kitchen window (dandelions and all).  You can't see the tippy-top of a pretty yellow forsythia right behind the valance tassel.

♦ I made this yummy Lemon Blueberry Dump Cake.  I got the recipe from Sno White at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  It was made by her hubby, Frog Prince (don't ya just love the nicknames?) I recently discovered this blog -- she has tons of yummy recipes to share!  Oh, and this week she's sharing an Ice Cream Maker Giveaway!

♦ Chances are you know someone who has experienced infertility and/or adoption...or may have yourself.  If not, I'm sure some day you will.  It is so difficult to express the many varying feelings one goes through.  Well, Amy at Our Journey Together shared a poem recently that illustrates a tiny piece of it beautifully!  This is a quick MUST READ!

♦ God is incredibly good!  I've been taking some extra time to read more of His word, to learn more about how I can be a better Christ Follower, and doing some research & reading so I can encourage others to do the same.  He's got some changes in store in the coming months in our ministry and I wait anxiously to see where He challenges us to go and who He challenges us to be!

If you've made it this far, thanks for following the randomness (and exclamation ! points). Have a beautiful day!

Back from a week off - What If? Wednesday

Wasn't planning on taking an entire week off from posting...but (A) Mr. Migraine went away for a day, then came back again...and (B-Z) I started waaaaayyyyy too many projects a couple of weeks ago and I'm just now getting them finished!





WHAT IF I decided to paint all of the "hard" furniture in my house black or white? I ask this question ALOT! (we have done a couple of pieces - and, no, these are not mine)





WHAT IF my puppy-dog LOVED our new curtains in the living room that can open so he can see what's going on out front? He does! (look at that cute little fluffy-butt)





WHAT IF I had a Rachael Ray Easy Button?  Any time I didn't feel like cooking I could press it and she would show up (with groceries of course) and whip us up something in 30 minutes - Yum-O!  She would have to learn to cook without onions (I'm allergic), though, which would be a HUGE adjustment for her.





WHAT IF I could have all of the fabric-lined baskets I wanted, without going broke? Pretty-and-useful...my favorite combo!





WHAT IF my sweet little mama got a new car?  She did!  Look how cute she is (she deserves it)...





WHAT IF someone loves me so much that he DIED just for me - to pay for all of the selfish, prideful, thoughtless, reckless, hurtful things I have ever done (or, unfortunately, will do)?  The GREAT NEWS is - Christ DID and then He rose 3 days later...and that means I get to live with Him forever!!  I hope and pray you appreciate the true meaning of this Holiest of weeks...and that you CELEBRATE it all year long!






Have a beautiful day (and if you don't come back before then, a Beautiful, Blessed Easter)!

F-F-F-Friday!

Flava

A new Spangles (it's a Kansas thing) restaurant opened here, so hubby went and picked up a 4-pack of Yoder cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Four Dollars

That's how much I paid for the cute bird plate, and also what I paid for the pineapple (love) finial.  The finial was originally $40 and gold, but I love me the Hobby Lobby clearance aisle & white matte spray paint!

Faux (not usually a Fave)

I don't love silk flowers & "faux"liage, but I thought these faux dogwood branches might look a little better with some real sticks thrown in.

Free!

I've had this little guy for years (in fact, until last night he had been sitting on my kitchen windowsill for several years - looking out, of course) but he used to be beige resin. He got a Spring makeover with the same matte white spray paint!

"Feathered" Friends

I found these 2 little darlin's at different stores.  One is iron and the other is ceramic...and I think they were destined to hang out together, don't you?

Flecks

(I like "speckled" better, but it doesn't start with F) Aren't these just so cute and Spring-y? Hubby spotted them at Pier 1 and I just had to get them.

Fun

Darling Daughter and I just finished a game of dominoes.  She is texting her cousin Abigail, who said we are the Game-Playingist people she knows...to which we replied she and her family are the Movie-Watchingist. (And if you look at the background of this pic it leads me to the last F)

Flames!!

I think that would be the most Fitting end to these curtains (which were oh-so-cute and clever when I bought them for our new house in 1997) How very country - and notice how "designerly" I was alternating the big hydrangea floral and the buffalo-check panels??  They are not long for this world...

It has been a fun and productive Spring Break week!  Brad is outside building new wood shelves for my baker's rack (the wire ones have been giving me fits for a long time), which he will paint black to coordinate with our kitchen table.  And, I can't wait to see how all my Spring organizing/decorating projects come out.

Have a beautiful weekend! (We have SNOW in our forecast!)

A Great Night - Glimpses of Home

 

Emily at Chatting at the Sky is hosting a new meme for a few weeks called Glimpses of Home. It's about capturing glimpses of the place we "do life". I decided to start with this picture I took on Christmas Eve. (It's supposed to be a "detail", but I came across this photo in the last week and wanted to share the homey memory).

The scene: We've had an early Christmas Dinner (which I enjoyed working on a good part of the day) --- we've been to our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, which I love, to celebrate the Savior's birth (ours is at 6pm) --- we've come home, gotten "comfy" and had pumpkin pie with real whipped cream and coffee --- the Christmas tree, fireplace & candles are all aglow --- we've popped in our tradional Christmas Eve movie (if you can't read the television it says "You Are Now in Bedford Falls" - It's a Wonderful Life - l♥ve Jimmie Stewart and George & Mary Bailey!)

Have a beautiful weekend!

A Different What If? and a Meditation

I am suffering from a terrible case of Glue Ear (which I have decided stands for Good Luck Unplugging (it) Ever!) so my creative juices have just not been themselves this week.  So, What If I take a little detour this Wednesday to share a tiny bit about me & my peeps? (Especially since I have a couple of new readers to which I am not related, ha ha.)

First thing you should know is I am NOT photogenic...

Sometimes I think the photos that look the most "like me" are the goofy ones like this one my niece took at Thanksgiving

...so, I don't know how many pictures I'll post that have me in them.

Second, apparently my husband, daughter and I never stay still in the same place long enough for anyone to take pictures of us together (or if they do, either they don't turn out well or the family photogs don't share them with us, haha).  So, here are pictures of us the same day, at the same cousin's wedding that hubby officiated...but just not taken together.  Hubby (Brad) & Me...and Beautiful Bailey

And Third, Here's the one who is really in charge of our house.  His name is Riley. He is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi (aka Clown Dog) and he lets us live with him and spoil him...

Lastly, here is a scripture and thought I have been meditating on today.  I've been thinking maybe we love God with our hearts and souls, but forget to guard and love Him with our minds sometimes.  What do you think?

Matthew 22:36-39 (New International Version)

36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Praying for Ivey and her family today, will you join me?
Have a beautiful day!