Time for a Change

I have been wrestling for months maybe even a couple of years now about my blogging. I love to blog but now that I help with the care of my granddaughter (who is 2) I find that I can't sit at the computer for long...usually not at all when she's here. I have another blog site which is where I originally started but this one seems so much more "user friendly" and I know many people who already blog here. Just makes sense that it might be time to move. I am following several blogs and realized I really need to update mine. I did finally put up a more current profile pic but its time to change that again too!

 My daughter is getting married in 17 days! Egads! She had a bridal shoot last Friday that required my help as she wanted to use our horse. It rained 2.5 inches last Monday and everything was still soggy. I was hoping I didn't have any trouble getting the trailer out of the pasture. I got the trailer out of the pasture but got stuck trying to put it back! Had to unhook it where it was and go back a few days later to park it properly.  I waited until Friday to bath the horse because if I didn't he would promptly roll in the mud!

Before and after bathing.

 I had been trying to groom him every day as he is shedding his winter coat so there is lots of loose hair to brush out. I used clippers on the long scraggly hairs on his face. He's a good looking horse for 22! He's the last of the original three we bought 17 years ago. He stands 15H and weighs probably about 1500 pounds! He's stout!

Went shopping Tuesday for an outfit for the wedding. I DID NOT want to wear a dress. I thought I was going to have to until I finally found something I thought would work at Dillards.

Made a card the other night for a friend having a birthday. I used sketch#66  from Operation Write Home and some scrap Basic Grey papers from their Valentine collection last year. Turned out cute I think.

Finishing up a Beth Moore study at church "James - Mercy Triumphs". This study is on the book of James and Beth's newest. It is very good and I highly recommend it. Just a word of caution. If you're not ready to be confronted to change don't take it.

Another lady from my church and I have been asked by our pastor to consider leading a "single" women's group on Wednesday night after this class. This would include unmarried, divorced, widowed or women whose husbands are not spiritually active what I am terming "spiritually single". There seems to be a great need for ministry to this group. We will hold an informational meeting on April 18th to see how to best minister to them. I am looking at some possible studies to do with this group that are not DVD driven. I will know more once we meet with these ladies how best to proceed.

My other granddaughter Remington lives in Arkansas. She is here this week for a visit. Keannon and Vanessa had a meeting with our pastor Sunday evening and they asked if I would like to keep the girls. Of course I said "YES!". This is the first time I had both of them for any length of time. We had so much fun. We played with big rubber balls that I had bought them, blew bubbles, played with pinwheels and when it got too dark to be outside we colored and put stickers on paper. Needless to say, I was one pooped gal by the time they went home but I wouldn't have traded it for anything!

Went riding with my future SIL. He expressed an interest in riding with me every time he comes home from the job. He is working 2 weeks at a time away from home then is home a week. When he is home, he picks up Remington (Remi). I am excited to have someone to ride with me! I enjoy riding alone but its nice for a change.

 The wildflowers are sprouting up everywhere! Bluebonnets are my favorite and our State's flower. Indian paintbrushes are my next favorite. Lots of weeds have beautiful blooms too! Such beautiful colors scattered across grassy land makes me smile. God is such an amazing artist!

 I was on my way to shop for a wedding outfit when I saw these beauties! Bluebonnets (above)...if you look close you can see the edge of the field where the yellow flowers are. This field was just beautiful and covered in these yellow flowers.

 I think these are blooms to some weeds and not really flowers but I don't know that for sure.

 Bluebonnets with some albino mixed in. Not sure how common that is. I've not seen them very often.

 A little Indian Paintbrush (orange/red flower) mixed in this batch by the side of the road.

 A close up of the albino Bluebonnet

 Bees love the Bluebonnet's nectar

 Found a patch of Indian Paintbrushes. I set my camera up on a tripod for this one. I am hoping to get pics of my granddaughters out here soon.

 Aren't they beautiful?! I am such a sucker for wildflowers! I can't seem to quit taking pictures of them!




 That about wraps it up. Have a good one!

January 7, 2012

January 7, 2012

Christmas was a blur and New Year's passed me by while I watched helplessly unable to do anything to stop it. 

Maybe it's just the age I am or the circumstances I find myself in. I don't really know. I did enjoy the holidays but it just didn't seem to last long enough for me. 

One of my friends from church who was praying for me the other day shared a picture that God gave her for me. 

She said there were certain individuals in my life (whose identities will remain anonymous - although if you are really close to me you will figure out who they are.)

They were riding horses and I was being drug behind by a rope and these individuals were totally oblivious to what was happening to me nor could I do anything about what was happening. I was one beat up bloody mess! She went on to say that's what my emotions were like right now. Wow! I didn't realize I was that bad off! 

I was encouraged to keep pressing into Abba. I still after all these years of pursuing God deal with performance issues and resting in the knowledge that I am loved by Him. I know it intellectually but I want to experience it tangibly. I have in some ways over the years but it only seems like "snippets" and not much consistency. It is so hard for me not to compare myself or my experiences to others. I also feel as though there are some who have passed me by spiritually. Of course, I am smart enough to know that feelings are just that...feelings and are not the truth but it's still hard to not let feelings reign sometimes. 

I was going to start off the year with journaling everyday. Hmmm...It's already 7 days into the New Year and I've journaled once. Well, its still early. Some is better than none right?!

Incredible Weekend 09-04-2010

What an incredible weekend I had! My friend (Teresa) and I left on Thursday to go to a scrapbook retreat. This isn't just any ole' scrapbook retreat. This is a small group (6 women) all who know and love the Lord who have the same hobby! 

 

All but 2 of us converged on Ragle's retreat Thursday evening. We went into town (Canton) and ate at Ochoa's an awesome Mexican food place. This is this groups tradition. We finish the evening staying up late scrapbooking.

This is Vickie & Marshall Ragle, owners of the retreat location. Some of the sweetest people you will ever meet!

By the time I packed up my stuff to come home I counted 29 12x12 pages I had completed! I was amazed. Of course that wasn't without a cost of "minimal sleep". I was up late every night. I am usually up maybe 2 nights at the most. I was rumdum by the time we got home! The sad thing is I have only scrapbooked up through March for Lil' Peanut! I need another retreat! LOL!

Lil' Peanut Update

Lil' Peanut is doing well. Today was Vanessa's doctor appointment and the doctor had ordered a sonogram to make sure Peanut was growing properly. Because Vanessa has such a long torso she's carrying Peanut almost sideways. Vanessa kept saying she was getting broader!

Lil Peanut weighs around 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. Dr. Gardner says she is right on target and everything looks good.

It was a little easier to actually see a baby this time but features are still difficult to make out. We did get a glimpse of some hair on her head!

We are going Saturday for a 4D sonogram. Dr. Gardner said it is a wonderful experience if we could do it. Vanessa had done some research of places and the one she had picked the Dr. gave approval. It's called Stork Vision. They are not a medical facility but just a place that conducts the sonogram having rooms large enough to accommodate families who would like to see "baby" before arrival. The price includes a dvd and pics (I think). Vanessa is far enough along that after today her appointments will be every two weeks.

Ok, looks like we already have a drama queen. This is a side view of her head and she has the back of her hand on her forehead like "oh, dear me"! She had it there through the entire sonogram! It cracked us all up including the technician! Even the doctor had a good laugh!

After the appointment we did some shopping. Vanessa wanted to try to find some more jeans. One of the stores we went to had an adorable little onesie and bib I just HAD to buy!On the left sleve it says "here a neigh" the right sleeve says "there a neigh" and around the neck "everywhere a neigh neigh".

Here's the back! There is a tail under the neigh! How cute is that! Any grand daughter of mine should be a horse lover! We'll see! I'll give it a good college try!

Vanessa at 7 months. You can probably tell her poor little belly button has turned into an "outy".

Vanessa found this t-shrit today and wore it home from the store she liked it so well. Pretty much says it all don't you think?!

I took the dogs to my friends west of town yesterday. I hadn't been out there in a couple of months. The trees are beginning to change colors although we don't have the brilliant colors you folks north and east of us have. There is still a lot of green with the recent rains we've received and more rain is on the way! Thank You Lord! Of course with the dogs no adventure is complete without a romp in the water and yesterday was not exception!

Kajen and Kaidence playing.

Mercy getting a drink. This is as far in the water as she will get!

While the other three dogs love to get wet all over. Here is Zorro and Kaidence.

These beautiful brilliant yellow flowers have popped up EVERYWHERE since we have finally gotten some rain. They are gorgeous! These are intertwined with some briers and barbed wire fence.

Also saw some dragonflies.

There were tons of these!

Can't get enough of these flowers. Neither can this little bee.

This guy was really hard to shoot. His wings would glisten when the sun hit them just right. You can sort of see that in the blue coloring in his wing.

More dragonflies!

Walking in the woods we came across a delightful surprise......

yes! Butterflies! Gorgeous butterfiles!

I just happen to catch these two as they fluttered by.

One of them did land long enough for me to take his picture.

Isn't the coloring just beautiful?!

No these pumpkins were not where I was. I took these recently as a "photo challenge" on Facebook. Nothing says fall more than a load of pumpkins!

Happy fall ya'll!

Have a good one!

An Unexpected Treat 092509

That's what Monday was for me. I had my plans, my agenda, my schedule planned. After taking Vanessa back to work from lunch I was going to do my grocery shopping. I had put it off to the point I had to drop by the store to pick up just enough items to fix the next meal! I usually go the day of or a few after payday but last week I worked at the store Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I didn't feel like shopping afterwards.
I drop Vanessa off and head to my first stop, Walgreens. When I finished there I planned to go to Walmart. As I got in the truck I realized I didn't make the church's bank deposit when I dropped off Vanessa. So I went back to the bank. While there Doyle called me. Back to the story in a minute.....

Doyle went back to work Sept 1st. but because he had been off work due to injury he was unable to take any vacation. His anniversary date is October. He had to take two weeks or lose it so after working a couple of weeks he was off for two weeks! During this time we had friends who own a lakehouse on PK Lake. They are going to build a new one. Before demolition we were able to go through and take out anything we could use in the Peanut Palace. That was very helpful to us. Doyle has been removing cabinets and fixtures the last several days. On Monday he had got to the lake without a tool he needed. That's where the story picks back up. Doyle, told me he didn't have to have it but if I was were I could bring it to him it would help. He said I could walk the new trail at the lake if I wanted. I gave it some thought and weighed my options. I decided the groceries could wait. The store is open 24 hrs right?! I went home to get the tool he needed. While there I made the decision to take Kaidence with me. I wanted to take all the dogs but I wasn't sure that I wanted to try to keep up with all four on an unfamiliar trail.

Here Kaidence and I stand at the entrance to the trailhead. The irony of this is 2 years ago when Doyle & I stayed here for a mini retreat I hiked this same area but at that time there was no trail. I remember commenting to Doyle there should be a trail. In some ways reflecting back to that time I think I was “prophetically” hiking the new trail! I was truly excited. It is a wonderful trail….although there is no water for man or beast along the route and it was 90 on Monday. I had water with me that I shared with Kaidence.

The trail winds around through mesquite, oak and cedar trees in and around cactus. The trails have very sandy soil.

Some of the last of summer's flowers.

I was so excited to get this photo! So beautiful!

I thought it was taking too long to get to the end of the trail so I did a “no-no” and went off trail to make way to the lake. This photo is taken where I left the designated trail. I just love how you can see the rays of sunlight against the dark clouds.

Blazing my own trail to the lake I hear rumbles of thunder. When I finally got to a clearing enough to see the sky I saw dark clouds. I watched long enough to think that the storm was going to stay west and south of me when a big gust of wind nearly blew me over! I was definitely too far to go back where we came from so I pushed on toward the lake knowing I could find shelter there if it began to rain. So from here we blaze some more trail. This time it was much heavier woods and was all rocks!

Kaidence on a dirt trail we found leading us closer to our destination.

Kaidence didn't seem to be too sure I knew what I was doing! It was pretty rough walking. I really should have had boots on! I'm really surprised I didn't stir up a rattlesnake!

Lake is finally in view!

Sun rays being interrupted by rain clouds. See the "spot of sun" on the water?

Monday, 31 August 2009

Refreshed, Renewed, Rejuvenated

That’s just a few of the words I would used to describe my time at the scrapbook retreat.

I tried all week to decide what I would take and leave behind. As it tends to happen I got overwhelmed and ended up taking nearly everything I own! There wasn’t a store near by that I could run to for last minute items so I had to be prepared! I really need to take the time to match cardstock to patterned paper and the paper to pics so that when I want to go to a crop it’s not a major ordeal! I’ve been putting it off because I know it’s going to take a lot of time!

Wednesday Vanessa had her monthly check up. She is doing fine. She’s 128 lbs. The next visit the doctor will do a glucose test to check blood sugar levels. This is standard at this stage of the pregnancy. On our way home from the appointment I get a call from the lady who had invited me to the retreat saying she had a last minute cancellation and did I know of anyone who would want to go on this short notice. I told her “yes, I did!” I called my buddy Teresa. I had told her about my experience the last time I went and she said she would like to go if there was ever an opportunity. I called Teresa and said “do you remember that retreat I went to that you wanted to go if there was ever an opportunity? Well, now’s your opportunity!” She was shocked and told me "I think I can do this. Let me check my calendar, talk to my family and get back with you." It didn’t take her long and she was calling me back to say she could go! We were both like giddy school girls!

We made plans for her to meet me at my house and we would drive there in my vehicle. Doyle told me I could take his which was nice. My old truck runs pretty good but things are beginning to quit working. Like the other day I went to set the emergency break and it broke! That may not be a major deal for most people but when one is driving a manual transmission it is a must! Then the day before I left for the retreat I was going to the post office to pick up the church’s mail and my spare tire fell off!

I packed my stuff in the car Wednesday night. Teresa makes it to the house and we load the car. It is full! We couldn’t have taken anyone else with us! It was about 2 ½ hours to our destination. We get there about 5:30PM. We unload and wait for the others to arrive. When they get there we got into Canton to eat at Ochoa’s Mexican Food. It is an awesome place to eat and they have the VERY BEST PIES I’ve ever eaten! Teresa & I got a piece of Banana Cream. We were going to share it but it was so good I ate it all!

Food at the retreat was good too! I watched several movies, got 22 pages completed, took a couple of walks and had a great time during our devotional when we encouraged and prayed for one another.

Vicki the owner of the retreat mentioned that she discovered a little scrapbook store out in the middle of “nowhere” close to Mabank. She offered to take me there. My curiosity got the better of me and I told her I’d like to go so we went. I’m not sure I would have ever found it! There were no signs, you just had to know where it was! I’ll have to admit I was skeptical but when we arrived and I went inside I was amazed! She had a lot of inventory for the size building she had.  She had some of the new products too like the Tim Holtz alcohol inks, Graphic 45 paper, Stickles glitter glue and more! When I go to a place like this I am always looking for things our local store doesn’t carry. I did find some unique ribbon that reminded me of one of my scrapbooking buddies and bought some for her. I can’t wait to show her either! This place is called Country Scents & More. It is operated by a mother and daughter. They don’t keep regular hours. You must call first before you go because they are not always there. Interesting setup I must admit but considering she is in the “heart” of scrapbook retreat centers it works. There are two close by (Heavenly Acres & Heritage House) and the one I was at (Ragles Retreat) is about 15 minutes away. It’s really nice if you’re in a pinch as there is no other place to shop.

Our group. Back row (L to R) Teresa Montalvo, Andrea Taylor, me. Front row (L to R) Denis McConnell, Marci Purtell and Carol Vickers. (Marci is the one who organized the reatreat.

We had a great time!

Have a good one!