Found it!

I may have discovered the original hill

that was photographed for the

Windows Background!!

The top pic is, of course, the Windows shot.

The second pic is my photo from a motorcycle ride here in

California the other day.

Just needs a bit of color boosting & viola!

:)

P.S. I did read that Windows did not use a real photo, it is digitally

created. They probably did not know that such a lovely scene truly existed.

I'm Crooked!

Most people would describe me as a pretty stable and steady person, not given to emotional outbursts or depression. But this last month has been an unusually intense season of craziness in many areas of my life, the least of them being my firstborn moving several states away from us three weeks ago. I say that change is the least alarming because I am very happy about it, he is following his heart and that just makes me smile. But since I cannot tell my students what is really making me sad, I am letting them think it is because Writer Son has moved away. The other day a sweet young man put his arm around me and said, "Don't feel bad about your son moving, you still have all of us you know." I did not correct him.

All of that to help you understand why I almost lost it at Sam's Club today. I picked up my new glasses there yesterday. I was so excited because this time while shopping for glasses, I did not force myself to only look at the discount or lowest rung of glasses as I usually do. I decided that since glasses are something on my face every single day for years to come, I deserve to go for it and really buy what I want. So I did, I loved them and was pleased to hear Hubs ask the saleslady about some of the "extras" like glare control, sunglass transitioning etc.

So today we went back to the saleslady to have them adjusted because they were sitting wrong on my face. One side was higher than the other, I could feel it and I could see it in the mirror. I sat there as straight as possible and explained the problem to the lady. She stared into my eyes and said,

"The glasses are straight but one of your eyes is higher

than the other, look at your eyebrows, one is higher up than the other one."

WHAT? I have never seen that before and my first thought was that she was trying to blame her problem on me! I looked squarely into the mirror while the next customer also looked on to see if indeed I was a crooked face freak. YEP, one of my eyes is higher than the other one. Lovely! Here is part of the problem.....

My new glasses are these cute half rimmed lightweight things in a mauve color frame. I love them a lot! Here are my old glasses......

Apparently that big old single line across my face in the new glasses is highlighting the fact that I am crooked! Since there is no color or frame along the sides or bottom of my eyes, it is making it really obvious that I am not perfect!! What? Ha! Now, can I complain about this or get something different? Umm no! The saleslady twisted the glasses up a bit so that when you set them down on a table they rock like a rocking chair! But they do look a little bit better on my face.

Did I lose it and start crying all over that poor lady? Almost. Hubs was near, thankfully and he started chatting with her a bit so I could take a deep breath and keep my cool. How would I ever explain to her that my life is in the middle of being turned upside down and I am working really hard on figuring out what I am good at and what I want to do with the rest of my time here on this earth. (Melodramatic?, a bit, but still!)

Thanks for listening, it helps a lot.

Nothing Stays The Same....

It's Six Word Saturday!

My life's changing, get over it!

Bear Picture & Video...That's BEAR not BARE!

Friday Follow! Go check out all those amazing bloggers!

In my last post I had trouble getting pics up, but if you go there now you can see my amazing bear video I got in Yosemite last Sunday!

I was not using a zoom, we were really that close!

he came to us, we didn't go looking for him!

I Met A Bear Up-close & Personal Yesterday!!

.......Okay my friends, here's the deal; Blogger & I are having a bit of a serious disagreement this week! (Kinda goes along with a bunch of other stuff that is happening. Must be a special theme right now!) Anyway, this is a great post but sorta stupid without the pics or video....which WON'T LOAD....but I'm posting it anyway so you won't think I'm a slacker or ignoring my blog.

Maybe I will be able to show you the amazing video & pics at another time...when karma or whatever decides to let me! ......

The Video is up now. See it at the end of this post!

Check this out friends! Yesterday, Sunday, we skipped church & headed out for some much needed time alone. Our life has gotten a little crazy & strange recently, so a day enjoying nature sounded just right...and it was! In fact we got to meet some wild nature by surprise as we were heading down from hiking to The Lower Falls in Yosemite.

The gorgeous bear in the video above, if it EVER finishes loading, shocked everyone on the trail in the middle of the day Sunday. I heard someone yell, "Bear!" behind us & turned to see this guy ( the bear) ambling across the path we had just been on! At first, I will admit that I freaked inside! My stomach turned & I frantically said to Hubs, "What do we do, where do we go? What should we do?" Then I saw a lady taking a picture & I lost all fear as I remembered I had my camera in my hand & I went after him! If this video does not load properly I will post the stills I took.

I camped in Yosemite for weeks with my family as a child & my Mom loved seeing bears. She always made sure we got a camp-site near the garbage cans! Ha! I remember walking to the bathroom with my little sis at night, banging a spoon against a pan to scare them away! The big thing to do at Yosemite in those days was to go park at the camp DUMP! Every night the bears would come & all the cars would turn their lights on & enjoy the evenings entertainment! Ha!

But it was also entirely possible to spend a week at Yosemite & never see a bear at all....and we got to see one while only there for a few hours! My Mom is going to be so jealous!! I kind of feel like it was a little kiss from God actually. Hubs kept saying, "Bet you can't wait to get it on Facebook & your blog, huh?" And he was right!

One of the other reasons for taking the drive (in our car) was a trail run to see if it would be a good trip for our first long motorcycle journey. It took 3 hours to get there & the longest bike trips we have done so far have been about 3 or 4 hours total! But we have learned that if we stop often & stretch our legs, get a meal, walk through a shop or something, it makes the long distance a fun experience. We saw that it is a gorgeous drive & look forward to doing it on the bike when the weather gets consistently nice! Yay!

Ok, this video upload has been "Processing" for over 10 minutes! Blogger, if you can't do it, just tell me! Don't keep me hanging here!

"Hello My name is...."

I took this picture while on our motorcycle ride today.

I'm wondering if there are

any support groups

for bitter pastors?

ARGH!

Leave me alone, Anonymous!

You keep making me think

I have more comments than I do!!

Such a Doll!

I don't know what it is about Barbie that always make me smile. I had this one, my only one, back when they were new to the world! This one is based on Mrs. Kennedy, it was the newest thing when my Mom got it for me in 1960 or 61 when I was only 5 or 6. Isn't she beautiful?

I remember riding my big pink bike to my friend's house when I was 9 with the shiny black case on one handle bar and a huge cardboard Barbie Dreamhouse on the other handle bar. We played our make believe stories for hours on her bedroom floor. We explained the absence of husbands by saying they were "at the war in Vietnam."

Thankfully I never tried to straighten her hair or mess with it much. It is tight & shiny & always looked just right, similar to her beautiful namesake. My Mom hired a woman to sew a wonderful collection of clothing for my Barbie but sadly I don't have much more than this jeans set, a swimsuit, bridal veil & a sweet flannel bathrobe. I clearly remember a light brown two piece suit that had a soft dark brown fur collar that I swore was mink. Oh yes, it was similar to this amazing brown coat she wore so elegantly!

Why do I smile every time I look at her? I'm not sure, other than the sweet times I had with her & my friends & cousins day after day. Barbie was purely beautiful in my eyes. She was kind & wise & never felt self-concious or scared. I was convinced that she was the type of lady who was friendly even to ugly people that were ignored by others. Barbie was hopefully the future me. And yes, I am a kind lady......but my feet do not crave high heels like hers & my shape has never come any where near hers!

Please Step away from the Roller Coaster

Things are looking good again in my little world! Changes are coming that will benefit many and I feel inspired to let my imagination go & fantasize about all the crazy possibilities in my future! I have just deleted a couple of my posts due to the sensitive nature of what I shared, it was making me nervous that the wrong people may read them & that would not be good. (Not really the "wrong people", but the wrong timing!) So, those wonderful blog-friends who read them & commented with so much warmth & encouragement, your reward is that you are the elite few who know what I am talking about!! Wow, don't you feel better about yourself already? Ha! ( And I realize that the title will not make sense to most of you, sorry!)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In the meantime, I am loving the article writing job so much! My mind keeps me up at night with new ideas of things to write about! I need to re-learn some mind discipline tools for getting it to shut-up and let me sleep! But I figure that too many ideas is a lot better than not enough ideas, right?

This web content writing job is also causing me to yearn for this blog space where I am free to talk about myself or be funny etc., because the job-writing has to be very business-like & general. So you may be getting some lighter & more personal version of the same subjects I am discussing in the job. Wow, that last sentence needs some serious work, but I don't have time & I'm going to just let it hang there for you to figure out, You're welcome. FREEDOM!

Little Boys Turn Into Men

I just hugged & kissed Writer Son good-bye. He is my firstborn. (Yep, it has been a very emotional week!) Tomorrow morning at 5am he will begin his two day drive from California to Texas to be with his sweetheart. He'll be finding a job & looking for a place to live. It will be the place that he & Miss M will begin their married life together after the wedding in October!

My heart is full. This will be a stream-of-consciousness post because when I feel this way it always helps to pour it out in writing. I don't feel bad at all, just full. Full of thankfulness for such an amazing & sweet man to call my son. I sat here on my couch & listened to him talk about how he loves hearing Miss M think aloud about the wedding plans & all the details, but that his mind is on the fun daily things of life together. He is fantasizing about going grocery shopping together, choosing their home or talking about their days at work in the evenings. (And yes, of course those are not all he is fantasizing about!) He has a silly grin while he talks to me, so cute, so genuine.

Writer Son is going to be a wonderful husband. I have always known this. Not sure why I have known this about him. He has always been one to think of the others in his life more than himself. He is a good, loyal friend to so many people. His gang threw him a huge going away party last night; the Facebook invitation said, "Let's get together & make him feel guilty as hell for leaving us, he should feel as bad as we do, bring it!" Ha!

We may not see him again until the wedding weekend. That is hard to swallow. But, O thank you God for Facebook!! Seriously! And Skype! I already enjoy hour-long phone chats with Miss M, we are good friends from when she was a student in our ministry school. I am so, so blessed in that area! Oh my goodness, I used to worry about how it would feel to watch my son give his heart to someone I did not know or worse yet, someone I did not like. But Miss M has been our family friend & Writer Son's Best friend for 5 years. Yes, I am extremely blessed, I know!

My little, skinny, freckle-face munchkin is a grown man, entering into a brand new life as a husband many states away from us.......And I am good. My heart is happy. We are blessed. What more could I ask for?

Six Word Saturday!

SIX WORD SATURDAY!

Expect the unexpected, life is crazy!

ʍou ʇɥƃıɹ ǝɯ sı sıɥʇ

We just had some extremely surprising & bad news today. Not a death or illness, it's a job thing. My mind is reeling & my heart is hurt. I could go to anger...but I am choosing to trust. I trust that my God is bigger than the stuff of life.

I am also choosing to remind myself that in the past when it seemed like the world was going to end due to a huge change in our life.......the change ended up being a truly wonderful thing that led to a better & happier life. I am recalling the goodness of God, He has never, ever let us down. Even when I could not see the good in a circumstance, He knows the better outcome. My Father God right now is holding me & helping me to listen to what I am writing & that is helping me to believe.

To believe that He loves me.

To believe that I have not disappointed Him.

To believe that I am not a failure.

To believe that this bad thing may lead to a very good thing.

I am so, so thankful that I can sense His presence as I sit here at 10:45pm dreading going to bed & trying to sleep when my mind is jumping all over the place. Father, I ask you to calm my thoughts & be close to Hubs & me tonight. I love you & I trust you with my whole life, every little bit is yours.

Exercise Is Good, Exercise Is Good, Exercise Is Good.......

Oh Boat Posture, how I

love/hate you!!

&

¡ʎʞɔıɹʇ ƃuıƃƃoןq sǝʞɐɯ ʎןןɐǝɹ ƃop pɹɐʍuʍop

Almost 100 ! Thanks Friday Followers!

I am inching towards having 100 readers!

Yes, I care about numbers.

Just a few more to go!

Thank you Blogger Friends!

***

Today I did MOVE FIRST, THEN BLOG.

...While waiting for the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls to bake!...

In Her Easter Bonnet With All the Frills Upon it! FRIDAY FOLLOW!

The promise I made to myself earlier this week with all of you as my witnesses is harder to do than I thought! BUT, I have done it....so far! I decided to use the slogan..."MOVE FIRST....THEN BLOG!" to get back into the routine of exercise that my new Mac sabotaged so well. (Yes, I blame this lovely hunk of technology.) Every day since March 30th I have moved my body in serious workouts before coming to see you all. (Ha! "since the 30th"?...that's what?....FOUR DAYS !) This morning I even took a BEFORE photo of myself, but you will never see it unless there is an amazing AFTER photo to put next to it! :)

*********

This Sunday is Easter Sunday! The photo above shows you my background experience with Easter as a little girl. It was about Jesus & pretty dresses. Because we loved Jesus we dressed up for Him on that special day. Even though I am not the excited one with her arms stretched out all drama-queenish, I loved my new dresses, shiny shoes and especially the WHITE GLOVES made of lace!

I still love Jesus very much & I'm looking forward to our Easter service in two days, but the fancy dresses are a thing of the past. I probably won't wear my usual jeans that I wear on most Sundays to service, but new clothes are no longer a part of the day for me. I helped stuff Easter eggs this week for the kids ministry egg hunt & I love seeing the little ones all dressed up special.......but my focus is completely different than it used to be on this celebrated day each Spring.

The best part of the holiday for me are the words, "It is finished." When Jesus uttered those famous words on the cross, He was not talking about His life being finished or even that His time of suffering on the cross being finished.

The thing that is........ done with..... over........ finished.......... is our need to run to Him for forgiveness every time we blow it. He was talking about the price for our sins being paid for. We ARE forgiven, not just at that moment but forever. PAID IN FULL. I am forgiven of my past mess ups, my current mess ups and my future mess ups. What? That just sounds too good, how can that be true?

The word "sin" has come to include a lot of things that are truthfully not sinful. A bad thought is not a sin. A drink of alcohol is not a sin. Smoking is not a sin. Staying home on Sunday morning is not a sin. Going to a bar is not a sin. (Can you tell what kind of church I was raised in?) Any of these things can become a sinful thing if they begin to control you rather than you controlling them.

The cross and what happened there is huge in that it was the beginning of our freedom. I don't keep running BACK to the cross to get forgiveness, I live FROM the cross in total forgiveness for my mistakes. I can say to Jesus, 'Wow, I messed up there. Thank you so much for forgiving me, it won't happen again." And go on with my day. Just like that! Honest! FREEDOM!!

*** And yes, I have accepted Jesus' forgiveness for letting my mom dress my firstborn son in the Easter outfit you see below! Not so sure that Hubs is forgiving me yet though! Ha!

http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/