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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Big News In Our Family!

I am sitting here with my laptop ready to tell you our fun news.....
but my mind is whirling with so much joy
and so many emotions that it is hard to rest enough to express myself!
Shall I just list the tumbling & terrific goodness I am swimming in?

  • Writer Son (our first born) is engaged!!!
  • She is the Daughter-in-law I have dreamed about & prayed for!
  • I need to think up a good name for her on my blog.
  • She is totally delightful &
  • we have been good friends for years!!
  • She's a former student of mine.
  • She is a Texan & is staying with us for 10 days.
  • I LOVE LOVE having another woman in the house!!
  • Talking about shoes, clothes, makeup, hair!!
  • I forgot what I was missing by being the Mom of boys only!!
  • Writer Son is completely twitter-pated!!
  • Hubs is in heaven at having a daughter at last!
  • Writer Son is moving to Texas soon.
  • We agree with the plan, it is best.
  • How can I call myself a writer & then write a post like this???Ha

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

California Lovin'

Okay, so I forgot that Blogger loads the pictures backwards so the first are last & the last are first. (Sounds familiar for some reason!) That means that the only not-so-pretty photo of this bunch ends up at the very top of the post! I know I could move them but...

Come & enjoy the wonderful land of Cali! We are so blessed to live near all this crazy beauty! We recently spent 2 days in Mendocino celebrating our anniversary. These are a small sample of the things that caught my eye as we walked the great paths just outside our Favorite B&B.





































I hope you could catch the sweet peace of the coast & the majesty of the amazing redwoods. Actually I am mostly doing this post to keep myself from talking to you about a very big event happening in our family that I should NOT talk about until it really happens! This is so very hard! It is supposed to happen tomorrow night......so if all goes as wonderful as hoped....you'll be hearing about it in a few days!!! (Such a tease!)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Calling All 55'ers!!

If you were born in 1955 then surprise surprise you will be turning 55 this year!!
I know, it IS shocking!!
But now that I have told you the shocking truth....
why don't you click on over to

It is called 55 On 55.
And they want 55 bloggers
who are turning 55 this year.
A pretty fun idea I think!

Because...
after all we are extremely special people
aren't we??


Monday, February 22, 2010

Writing You In My Head....

It's too late tonight to show you all
my amazing photos from our weekend in the
redwoods & on the coast for our Anniversary.
But...
just this thought & question....

As we drove along through amazing views
& outrageous beauty....
I kept writing about it to you in my head.

Why would I do that?
Why would the fun of describing it all to you
distract me from
being surrounded by so much green
wonderfullness?

Well, it didn't really DISTRACT me from enjoying it,
but it is funny that
whenever I am peaceful enough to think...
it always leads me to writing.

And you are going to love the pics I got!!


Friday, February 19, 2010

"I Will Follow You...." A Song Right?



Friday Follow

This is my first time joining this thing, but it looks like a fun way to find some new blog friends so here we go! You can see the details at these 3 Blogs: One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families & Midday Escapades. So now I'm going to go follow the first 3 on the list & at some point my blog will be followed by others too?!



Thursday, February 18, 2010

I've Been Married How Long???


Today, February 18, is our 32nd Wedding Anniversary! And yes, the photos are undeniable evidence that we were married in the 70's & that I made poor Hubs were maroon & pink! It is truly amazing he did it....especially now that I know him so much better! How in the world did we (mostly my mom!) talk him into that? I am full of regret about that choice & wish I had photos of my handsome man in a black tux. Hm.....looking at the cake pic just now....the look on his face could be tied in some way to what we made him do. He's enjoying that entirely too much!

I do love my dress though. It was a gorgeous off-white heavy lace trimmed thing of beauty. After going to so many weddings of our young students lately, I see that my dress is a whole lot more material than the modern ones now. Most are off the shoulder & low-cut, which is very pretty & sweetly dramatic. I did not have enough "up there" to keep a dress like that up though, so it would have made me way too nervous!

February is fun around here & love is definitely in the air! And THAT is all I'm going to say about that! (For now!!!)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Black & White-Blue & White

Does anyone else love Black & White decorating? When Rocker Son moved out & we RECLAIMED our Guest Bath I went crazy with B/W stuff, I love it! I can add a colored candle or flowers to change it up easily, very fun. I am pleased with our re-do! We spray painted the cabinet & the mirror frame....not a real good idea to do spray paint inside, especially in a small room! But we survived.

The other room we have completely re-done is Rocker Son's bedroom. This was a dark hole that remained locked when guests were in the house, I will spare you the details. I had fun making this a blue & white room with all my blue stuff that has been put away since moving our home from Classic Country decor to a little more up to date & contemporary.
It was fun to make it homey for my Mom who spends a week with us each year. I think she will love it! Especially since she says the rest of our house is too masculine now! :)


We found a wonderful bed set at Ikea that is not pictured. It feels good to have every room in my home a place to be proud of. It's definitely not perfect or glamorous, not even as nice as most of my friend's homes, but we love it!


Sunday, February 14, 2010

Hubby Calls It Sweeps Week at Our House!

February is MY MONTH! Feb 13 is my birthday, of course February 14 is Valentine's Day which you all get to celebrate along with me & February 18 is our Wedding Anniversary!

So, for poor Hubs it can be a pressure filled month, but for me it is mostly just fun! Me, me, it's all about me! This year he did really well, we've had some years where I have felt very unappreciated & forgotten. It is easy for that to happen when you are a young mom & life is so full of busy-ness that the days slip by without notice. (Hubs hates greeting cards, thinks they are a waste of paper & money...I LOVE CARDS! So that tiny difference between us can lead to huge bad stuff in the air, if you know what I mean!)

But this year he bought out the Bath & Body Store because he knows I love bubble baths & smelly stuff. Thankfully, he also knows my favorite scent, Japanese Cherry Blossom. He also found a new scent for me to try & I like it too, yay! (We recently regained our single bathtub for my use after Rocker Son moved out. It required some major sandblasting to get it clean but it is now sparkly & ready for me!)



The fun little rose cake & the heart full of chocolates were gifts from students & the gorgeous scarfs are from my good friend Barb. I feel extremely loved & pampered as I enter my 55th year.

Aaaaand the fun's not over yet! Hubs reserved a night at our favorite B&B in Mendocino for our Anniversary! Guess I better find a gift for him now huh?

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I Am Proud of Me

I DID IT! I taught the school today & had a blast! Yesterday I told you of my concern about teaching in our ministry school. Last night I managed to get quiet enough to change my notes into short bullet points & main themes instead of typed pages full of long paragraphs. It worked perfectly. I even brought out some laughter & a few "woot woots!". During the question & answer time after my teaching was over it was great to hear what they heard & find that I had communicated exactly what my heart was full of for them. Yay me!

An interesting side-note (to me anyway!) : My talk was about my journey of overcoming a deeply ingrained fear that pretty much defined who I was for most of my life. Not a specific phobia that could be worked on, but an over-riding fear of life. It affected all my choices from childhood on. And one of those early choices was a career decision.

I always wanted to be a teacher. As a young person I taught in my church when ever they would let me & my babysitting always involved teaching in fun ways. But when it came time to begin the education for a life job, I remember being afraid that I was not smart enough to be a teacher of older kids or adults so I deliberately chose to be a pre-school teacher, thinking it would be easier & not require much. (I was very wrong by the way! I taught pre-school for years & it is not an easy job in any way!)

But today....I taught college age people!! WOOT WOOT!

Monday, February 8, 2010

TTTTeach?

Do these look like scary people to get up in front of? These fun people are some of our current ministry school students earlier this school year. They are holding journals that they had decorated, a fun way to encourage journaling, I thought!

No, I am not exactly scared to teach this week even though my normal role has been administrative & casual weekly mornings on a stool beside Hubs chatting with them on what is going on in their lives & spiritual experiences. I love those impromptu talks that lead to wonderful discussions that often lead me into sharing stories of my life & what I have learned & am still learning in this amazing adventure. But, this week I volunteered to actually teach on taking our thoughts captive! It is a subject that I am passionate about & have lived for the last few years, so I know it works & I love to help others get in on it!

I have resisted being scheduled to really teach a pre-planned lesson in our school for quite a while due to the nervousness that really messes with me before the moment of introduction. The students are my friends & wonderful, loving & open people who already love me, so what is the problem?

I think I just found the problem & the answer this afternoon as I was looking over some notes I was going to use in my teaching time. I am a writer. My notes tend to become paragraphs. The paragraphs become pages full of solid words. Pages full of words do not lend themselves easily to sharing verbally, unless you plan to just read your stuff to the listeners. ( Which I have done often, but it feels sort of like cheating.)

But today I remembered getting a sneak peak at one of my favorite Guest Teacher's notes once. It really shocked me the first time I saw his teaching notes. They looked like colorful dialogue clouds with short 2 sentence blurbs in each one. Can you picture it? The pages were full of fluffy clouds with one liners in them. Some clouds were red, some blue, some green. I asked him about them & he said that the colors were his keys to certain themes; forgiveness, joy, freedom, etc. Each of the blurbs inside the clouds were memorable phrases that were enough in themselves but he could also expand on them if he felt the need & had the time.

I think this could work for me this week. I will try to get all my desired messages across without worrying about typing out every single word that needs to be said. If it is all written down I will tend to read instead of teach. And if I freak out & simply forget it all, the students would love to be dismissed early or we could all go out for coffee!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Simple Things I Love...


It is so easy to feel totally overwhelmed with the enormous need in Haiti right now. There is one simple & natural way that we bloggers can help a tiny bit. All you have to do is write a post about a few simple things that you enjoy, and the author of the blog Enchanted Oak will donate $2.00 towards the cause in Haiti. That's right! All you have to do is what you already do. BLOG!! Write a post about what simple things in life make you happy, and they will donate money on your behalf!
What could be easier?
Be sure to include a link to Enchanted Oak & leave them a comment letting them know you are on board!
Simple Things I love...

Glass Beach, where the broken glass & garbage from a nearby
dump has been turned into beautiful beach baubles.

The smell & fresh feeling of a
newly painted room.

Having a heater that works & makes
my home cozy & comfy.

Going to a job every day that I love.

That Hubs could not keep his secret Anniversary plan
secret for even one day!

That Writer Son is in love!

That I only run the dishwasher once a week
since Rocker Son moved out.

That I get to work with my best friends.

A washer & dryer that do
what I tell them to do.

The way both my sons hug me every
single time they see me!

The country road I drive to work on every day.
The scene is constantly changing!

Food in my fridge & clothing
in my closet.

SIX Word Saturday! (Sort of)


SIX WORD SATURDAY


Grey, rainy day, cleaning my home!

(If I can figure out how to turn this thing off!)