My Blessed Life

February is all about LOVE

2012-02-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

I started the Love Challenge this morning...got this great idea from

the Leading and Loving It Blog post written by my friend and Pastor's wife, Tiffany.

Are you looking for a fun way to say I love you to someone in your life?

I am using these great ideas to let my husband know he is número uno in my life.

I started this morning by putting gel clings on his speedometer glass that spelled

out I LOVE YOU and added hearts to his rear view mirror!

There are more fun things planned.....

I will post all the fun ideas after the 14th!

Blessings!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T06:51:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

What an awesome year 2011 was for me/us. There are so many things I could share, but ultimately it was a year of learning to have faith in God. No more giving him the authority, but taking the lead! I truly had to give him total control...hard to do for a control freak, but I did it. That is what faith is for me, letting go and watching God do what he promised he would do. And He did! He was our provider, our strength and our peace. When our hearts were aching, He was our comfort. I believe I leaned on Him during this last year more than I have ever had to before. (that's called growth) As I begin 2012 I will have that same faith and trust and believe that he who began this good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

My goal for this year to continue to grow into the women He purposed and planned for me. He has great plans for me and I can't wait!

Praying you have a blessed New Year!

Blessings!

Thankfulness to the extreme

2011-11-26T19:17:00.000-06:00

As you can tell I didn't maintain my daily thanks blog, but it doesn't mean I wasn't thankful! It means I was out of town and didn't take my laptop....so I couldn't blog! Keith and I were able to take a trip to New York to visit some friends and then to New Hampshire and spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. To say I was thankful doesn't even touch the way I feel. It was a blessing to get away, relax, see some awesome sights and spend extreme time with everyone. We really had an amazing time! I was especially happy to see our friends new baby...he is so cute. We had a ton of fun with them...walked the streets of NY until I thought we had walked the whole state. Ate some amazing food and shopped for some great gifts for the kiddos...big and little. After our visit with them we took the train to Boston and spent the day there with my sister and her husband. We ate fish and chips at a 'quaint' little pub in downtown Boston...on a cobblestone street....wonderful! They live in NH so it was a short trip home after our day out. I can't put into words how much I love spending time with my sister...she lives too far away! We can have a ton of fun together...it never gets old laughing with her. Her daughters were happy that Uncle Keith finally came for a visit and he was happy to see them. It had only been a few years since he had seen Ami`, but 11 years since he had seen Caiti, she is all grown up now. We also got to meet their boyfriends...both are very cute...one is a hugger, the other isn't...the hugger got extra brownie points for the great good-bye hug he gave me when we left.

The trip home was uneventful....except that we sat in the seats in front of the exit row on our first flight and after take off realized our seats wouldn't recline....4 hours of sitting straight up....not good.

We are happy to be back in our house...ready to see our Peoples Church family tomorrow.

I am thankful to the extreme for good friends and my over-the-top-awesome-love-her-so-much sister and her top of the line family.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has a ton to be thankful for!

Blessings!

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-17T11:27:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for my 5 year granddaughter

and what she took for her show and tell.

She took her Bible!

Makes my heart smile real big!

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-16T22:04:00.000-06:00

So....today is almost over and I am just now

getting around to posting.

What am I thankful for today?

The ability to laugh at myself.

Seriously I had one of those days where I was

doing crazy, dumb things.

I could have gotten frustrated and annoyed,

but instead I laughed...

really I laughed!

It helped!

I promise.

So go ahead and have a really good belly laugh. You'll feel better!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-15T05:21:00.000-06:00

Giving thanks today for the change of seasons!

I love to see the colors change and fall mums in bloom.

Change use to be a little scary, but now I realize it only means
something new is coming.

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-14T18:21:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for conversations over coffee with a special friend.

I love talking ministry, hearing her heart, and making plans.

I thank God for this beautiful friendship.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for my community group that meets each month at my house.

I love having these ladies in my life; they make it so much more fun!

We have dubbed ourselves the Divas and do our best to live up to it!

Talk about a good time with good friends, that is what happens at my house once

a month. We are growing in our relationship with Christ, as friends

and in our roles as women of God.

We have a 'secret Diva' page on facebook that allows us to share

our needs, give encouragement, shout out praises and laugh and have

good old fashioned Diva fun.

I am blessed to have these women in my life.

We are Divalicious!

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, sister,

have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Philemon 1:7

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-12T08:05:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for family time. I love our 'get-togethers' where the

little kids are squealing, running, playing hide and seek

and the grown ups are sitting back and chilling.

It is great down time....and awesome togetherness.

I love my family!

Keith, Michele, Matt, Christy, Brandon, Rylee, Emery, Jaedyn & Liam!

Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him

Psalm 127:3

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-11T18:27:00.000-06:00

Today I give thanks to the men and women who serve, past or present, in our military.

Thank you for the sacrifices you have made to ensure we live in a land of freedom.

My husband served for 20 years and I am so proud of him.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-10T06:28:00.000-06:00

Today I am giving thanks for God's Grace (His unmerited favor), that has

allowed me to grow past who I was and into the person He designed me to be.

I am growing into that design everyday.

God wants us to realize His very best for us!

I am walking in that everyday & enjoying it!

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on

to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-09T11:42:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful and over-the-top-blessed to be the wife to Keith.

He is the most amazing man I have ever known.

He is not only a handsome guy (actually he's HOT), but he's kind, compassionate,

gentle, smart, funny, loving and a great provider.

I am thankful he chose me to be his wife!

Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God.

James 1:17a

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-08T12:34:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for God's provision....He provides for us in so many ways,

but today I am talking about being thankful for financial provision.

I recently went from working full time to

working part-time and He has shown me He is faithful to take care of us.

I have not missed one dollar of the decrease I took in pay!

He is providing!

Jehovah Jireh-my provider..the Lord who will see to it.

My God is AWESOME!

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-07T21:21:00.000-06:00

Thankful today for time with my beautiful daughter.

It was crazy, busy time, but is was time!

Loved having her home for a few days....missing her already

as she prepares to leave tomorrow.

Looking forward to the next visit already!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-06T05:53:00.002-06:00

Today I am thankful and 'over the top' blessed to be a part of Peoples Church in Oklahoma City. We have been attending, serving and growing in God through the ministry at Peoples Church for over 8 years.

Lives are being changed, we have been changed!

Check us out each Sunday, we are one church in two locations.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son

into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

Thankful for the women who have taught me about being a

Godly Wife, Mother, Nana and woman.

Blessed to have amazing women who speak into my life.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossioans 3:17

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-04T06:27:00.000-05:00

Thankful for Fridays! I was recently able to go part-time at my job so this is a day off for me. It is also a day off from pre-school for Jaedyn. Never know what you will find us doing on this day off. Sometimes it's the library, shopping or hanging out with Aunt Christy and Liam . Today, we are hanging with Mommy & making homemade playdough! Wonder what color and scent it will be!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-03T11:03:00.003-05:00

I am thankful for the weekday mornings

with Rylee & Jaedyn.

Breakfast, chatter and hairdos!

And of course the morning car rides

to school and singing along with Larry & Bob!

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-02T10:58:00.002-05:00

I am thankful for my first cup of coffee of the day....

in my big comfy robe,

on extra comfy couch.

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing

the praises of the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm 7:17

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-01T10:44:00.001-05:00

November is best known as the month for Thanksgiving so I am going to devote this whole month to sharing a daily Thanks!

I am thankful for my big comfy robe on chilly

early mornings...alone on my big comfy couch.

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:30

Truth!

2011-10-30T06:34:00.000-05:00

"A lot of people have gone
further than they thought
they could
because someone else
thought they could"

Zig Ziglar

Sharing!

2011-10-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

On a recent Monday off, I was taking a little bit of ‘me’ time and watching some of the morning talk shows. None of them really interest me so I was ‘channel surfing’ when I came across a show called The Chew and they were cooking. Cooking peaks my interest every time, so I stopped and was ‘treading’ for a while! The recipe they were sharing was all cooked in a cast iron skillet….I love one pot meals! It sounded so yummy that I knew I’d be testing it. The next night Keith and I made this recipe and it was yummier than I thought.

I feel like I need to share it!

Michael Symon’s Cast Iron Port Pie

2 lbs. ground pork (I used Italian Sausage since that is what I had)

½ lb. bacon (cut into pieces)

½ cup celery leaves

½ cup fresh parsley

1 cup chopped celery

2 large onions (I used green onions)

2 cloves garlic

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

Large pinch of salt

1 cup cheddar cheese grated (I used a Mexican mix I had)

2 cups of Kale (chopped)

3 Cups of mashed potatoes (I got these started ahead of time)

Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 450

In the cast iron skillet brown the bacon and pork (sausage) and remove from pan.

Add a drizzle of olive oil if you don’t have enough bacon/pork grease…and add onions, celery (not the celery leaves), garlic, kale, cinnamon, salt, pepper, nutmeg and sweat (really? (LOL—not you, the items in the pan!) for 2 minutes.
Then add the pork and bacon back in with a splash of water. Stir to combine.

Stir in the celery leaves and parsley. Stir to combine.

Spread the mashed potatoes over this mixture and sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Bake until brown, 15-20 minutes, it’s already hot…you are just browning the potatoes.

I should mention that my cast iron skillet isn’t large enough to cook all this in, so I did it in a larger pan and then poured it into my skillet. I also heated the skillet in the oven for about 15 minutes before I poured everything in.

I am not sure how it is with just plain pork…but it was amazing with the Italian sausage.

Let me know if you like it!

Blessings!

Faith. Trust.

2011-10-15T08:43:00.004-05:00

It's amazing to live out what God has promised.

Peace. Provision. Joy. Spiritual growth.

I prayed for change.
God said 'do it'.
I wavered in unbelief.
God was patient.
I wavered even more.
He continued to speak 'trust me' to my heart.
I wavered even longer.
I think at this point he had his arms folded across his chest and was tapping his foot!
I continued to read and pray...kept hearing the same thing...'trust me'.
And..

I did!

Not sure who was more relieved...Him or me!
But, I can tell you that I am trusting Him...and my heart is happy.

I love the opportunities that He is allowing me to have.

Step out in His will, with faith in Him and not in yourself.
Take your eyes off what you can see, and trust in what you can't.

I am happily trusting God in this new 'adventure' in our lives.
He is providing beyond what I could have ever hoped.

That is faith....believing for what you can't see or understand.
That is trust...having confidence (HOPE) in Him.

Hope!

Blessed be God, he heard me praying.

He proved he's on my side

I've thrown my lot in with him.

Now I'm jumping for joy

and shouting and singing my thanks to him.

Psalm 28:6,7 (The Message)

Umbrellas….

2011-10-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

Back in the day there was a popular song called Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head. I remember as an elementary age girl singing it and twirling the umbrella over my head. The ‘girlfriends’ and I had an all girl band that performed regularly in my front yard for anyone who would watch. It was never raining when we did it, but we always had the umbrellas, they were necessary to perform this song!

I have a huge umbrella that I use to keep me dry when it’s raining. It is a very large umbrella; I think it’s what you would call a golf umbrella. It is so large that the only part of me that gets wet when I use it is my feet. I am sure if I took smaller steps I could manage to keep my feet dry, but my main concern is my hair! :)

In the spring I walk through the outdoor furniture and check out all the umbrellas that are made to keep the sun off you. They come in a lot of different sizes, but ultimately they are all designed to allow you to sit outside without having to sit in the sun. I have never bought one because, living in Oklahoma, you always have to be concerned with them becoming airborne! It seems like a lot of money to spend to have it blown inside out or away!

During a recent trip to the store with my youngest granddaughter we checked out an array of umbrellas designed for kids. They come in every character you can think of, but are designed for the purpose of keeping the little guys dry. Something about having a character on it made her want to open it and put it over her head. If you show her one that doesn’t have a character she isn’t interested in using it at all. (:

The umbrella was created to cover you, to keep the elements off, to allow you to walk outside in the rain and stay dry, to not get sunburned or possibly to sing an occasional song. This is also true when you consider the umbrella of God. He covers us with the umbrella of His protection. Just like a real umbrella, as long as you keep it centered over your body it protects you. Keeping God as the center of your life allows for that same kind of protection. An umbrella must be opened and locked into place in order to be used and do what it is designed to do. The same is true of God’s umbrella, you have to open your life to Him, connect with Him daily and allow Him to be the influence that directs your life. That is when He will do for you what He was ‘designed’ to do. He will cover you and keep you protected from the elements (influences) around you. Under His umbrella is safety and contentment. Under His umbrella is where you can walk in His purpose and plan. Under His umbrella is where you know peace. I get frustrated when it rains and I don’t have my umbrella……..I also get frustrated when I wander from under God’s umbrella. Just like I enjoy being dry on a rainy day, I take pleasure in walking under the umbrella (protection) of God!

Psalm 5:11 but let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy

My church is in a series called Authority Issues which is where I got the idea of this Umbrella blog. It is a good message….highly recommend you listening to it.

Blessings!

One Glorious Day!

2011-09-10T06:32:00.001-05:00

Friday was my first day off after starting part-time. I had a tough time going to sleep the night beforet! It was almost like Christmas--ha. So here is what happened on this glorious first day:

I've decided to continue getting up at my usual morning time...so popped out of bed at 5.
Did the usual dog stuff and made my first cup of coffee
Sipped that cup of coffee on my big comfy couch in my snuggly warm robe.
At about 6 I got dressed and turned on the porch light for the girls. (:
I fixed Keith a cup of coffee when he got out of the shower, offered him breakfast-he said no, offered to make his lunch-he thought about it and said no, then asked him what he wanted for dinner before our movie date tonight--he just stared at me in the mirror. Okay, maybe I was a little too perky for him, so I said we'd talk later. (LOL)
I got myself ready and then heard the girls come in--love hearing Rylee's laugh first thing in the morning.
Lots of hair primping, teeth brushing and other get-ready-for-school stuff happened for about an hour
Then out the door we (Rylee, Jaedyn and me) went to take Rylee to school.
Jaedyn and I ran to the grocery store after that for some juice (I was out) and the car needed gas.
Home again for breakfast for the two of us....and another cup of coffee!
I got a few things done and made my bed (:
Talked with Michele on the phone...twice!
Then off we went to pick up the 'name card' from Rylee's school so I can officially pick her up!
Jae and I went to the thrift store to find some dress-up clothes...no luck!
Western Days is this weekend so the 'carnival' is set up in the parking lot by the store. We took a slow ride past it so she could check out all the rides. Daddy is taking them tonight. She can't wait to ride the swings.
We decided to meet Aunt Christy and Liam for lunch and a trip to the park.
With time to spare we visited several other stores looking for dress-up clothes, but again, no luck.
However in one store Jaedyn did get the chance to play dress up!
We had a discussion in the car on the way to meet Aunt Christy about Little People....she saw a little person in Walmart and had a ton of questions. I love those kind of discussions!
We met up for lunch and then went to the park. That was fun! I actually did some swinging...can't remember the last time I did that. Of course, you shouldn't go too fast or high right after you eat lunch...lesson learned. It was beautiful outside....loved it!
We headed home around 1ish and Jaedyn took a 45 minute rest...so Nana could take a break!
Then off to pick up Rylee from school....she came out all smiles and ready to chat!
Back at home we had a popcorn snack and the girls played for a few minutes...then outside we went, where we played school. Just so you know Papa got in timeout several times! And teacher Rylee had to explain to him several times about how to act in school so that you are good example to your friends. :)
Back inside Papa started a ticklefest and we had tons of giggling going on!
Daddy came in and the girls were ready for the carnival! I bet they slept great last night!
Keith and I headed out for our movie, but once we realized we were going to be cutting it close, we decided on dinner instead. I think....I know I talked his ear off over dinner! Starbucks was the perfect end to that dinner date and home we went!

Jaedyn's word of the day--freaky! Not sure where she learned that, but there were a lot of things we saw today that she said, Nana, that's freaky! *smiling*

Whew! What a great day!

That is how my first day of being a part-time-stay-at-home-Wife-Nana went! Amazing! Can't wait to do it again.

Blessings!

All Day Long

2011-09-02T07:19:00.001-05:00

Our oldest granddaughter, Rylee, has coined the phrase ‘all day long’ whenever she really likes something. For instance, the first time she said it was when she turned 4. Keith and I were trying to sway her birthday dinner choice and she said,’ Papa, don’t you know I love chicken express, all day long!’ So, 2 years later we still use that phrase whenever we think something is the best of the best. Nothing better than a hot, black cup of coffee…all day long! Keith is the love of my life, all day long! Anytime someone says I like ‘whatever’, we end it with ‘all day long.’ Earlier this week I was reading in Psalm 25 and came across this:

Lead me by your truth and teach me,

for you are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in you. Psalm 25:5

Now I realize in this verse that 'all day long' means just that, all day long….but I prefer to mean 'the best of the best'.

‘God, I put my hope in you, all day long!’

Blessings!

God ALWAYS shows up……

2011-09-01T11:33:00.001-05:00

Monday morning didn’t start out the way I had wanted it to. There was a lot on my mind; many things that were causing me to be fearful, angry and hurt. I was trying to trust God with each of the challenges that we are dealing with, but the human in me wants to be angry and hang on to them. I walk a thin line of guilt and anger. Keith hears me say ‘I can’t shake this off’ when I have that ‘thing’ that I won’t give up. When I got to work that morning I opened my email and found our weekly devotion from our Hobby Lobby Store Chaplain, Debbie Kinsey. I read it each week, sometimes it speaks to me directly and other times it is a word that I hide in my heart. Well, Monday, August 29th’s devotion spoke to me. So, I asked her permission to share it on my blog.

He shook it off!

Sometimes when I am studying the bible, I will use a dictionary to look up words. I look up words that I already have a good idea on what the meaning is but just feel there is something more to the verse I am reading. This helps me. A few years ago I looked up the word “fret” as I was studying Psalms 37. (In fact, I did a devotional about fretting.)

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers….”

I knew what fret meant but was not sure how to put it into words. So according to Webster’s Dictionary fret means to gnaw or to wear away, to produce a hole or worn spot, to form a passage by erosion, to agitate.

Fret means to GNAW! Well doesn’t that sound like fun? An example of gnaw is like a rat gnawing or chewing on something. Without taking away from scripture, Psalms 37:1 is telling us not to allow the actions of others to gnaw at us.

You and I would never just sit by and allow a rat to chew on us. Yet, how many times do we allow what someone has said or done to eat at us? I did that word study back in 2007. And guess what? I have to remind myself often about this truth from God’s Word.

In the book of Acts there is a story about the apostle Paul gathering a bundle of sticks. As he did this a poisonous snake came out of the heat and the scripture tells us “fastened on his hands.” What did Paul do? HE SHOOK IT OFF! (Acts 28: 3-6)

In the name of Jesus, I pray each of us will shake off anything that is gnawing at us. I pray by the Word of God that a spirit of boldness will rise up in us and we will be determined with the help of God to get rid of anything that is ungodly.

We are told to fret not because fretting will destroy us! Psalms 37: 3-7 instructs us on how to avoid fretting. The Psalmist tells us to, Trust in the Lord (v3), delight thyself in the Lord (v4), commit thy ways unto the Lord (v5), rest in the Lord (v7).

The Psalmist continues by stating that God will take care of those who are considered our enemies. But he ends with:

“And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.” (Psa. 37:40)

TRUST, DELIGHT, COMMIT, and REST in the LORD!

FRET NOT!

Debbie Kinsey

Hobby Lobby

Management Ministries Coordinator

The great ending to this blog would be to say that I immediately quit ‘fretting’, but I didn’t. As a matter of fact this morning when I was getting ready to put this blog together, ‘it’ was gnawing at me pretty good. Then…..I received an email from a wonderful friend, the subject line said “claim this today’ and then there was this:

Philippians 4:6-7

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (MSG)

At that point I knew God was trying to tell me that He had that ‘thing’ and would take care of it. So I choose to claim it! Today I will not fret or worry about the things I can’t control. I will trust God to take care of them. I hate that I sometimes get sidetracked in my problems and allow them to weigh me down. I am happy to know I have a loving Father who understands, extends His arms and loves me through them. It’s amazing how much better I can breathe now, knowing I can trust Him with it all.

Fret not!

Blessings!

If you are interested in reading more of the devotions by Debbie Kinsey they are here; http://www.debbiekinsey.org/

Have a good day!

2011-08-18T11:08:00.000-05:00

This is something I say everyday to a number of people. I say it to Keith as he walks out the door each day, to the clerk at the grocery store, the receptionist and people I interact with at work. As I said this to Keith as he walked out the door this morning, I thought about how many times I say it. I mean really, it’s almost a thoughtless comment, but it shouldn’t be. The word ‘have’ has a lot of different meanings by the way it is used. In this situation it is an action verb…telling us to experience a good day. We determine how our day is going to be by how we react to the experiences throughout the day. I had to think about the times people have said it to me and my first thought was ‘yeah, right’. I typically have the kind of day that circumstances have dictated rather than the day I know God has purposed and planned for me. Sometimes (well a lot of times) my day goes with how my morning starts, this is probably typical of all of us. Sometimes it is just that my hair won’t fix right that starts me on the ‘bad day’ track! I have determined over the last month that my attitude throughout the day will be one that reflects a ‘good day’. It’s not always easy, but each time I allow my attitude to be ‘bad’ the devil wins….and I refuse to let him have any victory in my life! The next time you say ‘have a good day’ to someone think of it as a ‘mini’ prayer that they would experience God’s best for them that day.

Experience God’s best today!

Blessings!

Running

2011-06-21T10:43:00.000-05:00

Run: to go quickly by moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk and in such a manner that for an instant in each step all or both feet are off the ground.

I have started running….who knew it would be such a challenge for me. Well, Keith did, but I wasn’t listening! Ha (what’s new) Anyway, at the first of the year I determined I would start running this year. I had hoped to start earlier….but I didn’t. :-) Like a lot of things in my life I didn’t think it really needed any preplanning so I just put on my shoes and started running. (a little Forrest Gumpish) Keith had warned me that I would need proper running shoes and need to stretch and take my time and, well, you know all the other things one should check into before heading full steam into running. Buuuuutttt, no, I didn’t listen. I felt like I was running with weights on my feet and even commented that I was running like a stampede of bulls. I wanted to run like a gazelle…light and easy. Well, after running in my ‘generic’ shoes for about a week, I came home one night, swallowed my pride and said “honey, I need some good running shoes”. And he said, ‘OK, let’s make you an appointment to have your run analyzed.’ He could have said ‘I told you so’, but he didn’t. The next day he was the one who called and got all the info and off we went to the shoe store. (Red Coyote) Long story short I have a great pair of running shoes that fit my feet and my run. I now run like a gazelle! However, just cuz you have great running shoes and run like a gazelle you can’t just start running miles and miles. Which I did and hurt my right knee….crazy hurt my right knee. Well, I thought it was the shoes and headed back to the store, I mean surely if you want to run you can just take off, right? Wrong! After some discussion with the great staff at the store, I found out that now my legs/feet have to get use to running in the new shoes. So, I have to slow down…geesh, not what I wanted to hear. However, with the pain in my knee nagging at me, I have decided to slow down and run only a mile each time….distance will come in time, but first I need to learn to run!

I have thought about how I handled this new hobby of running. I ‘ran’ into it without any direction or instruction. Just thought I would do it! We can see that that didn’t work for me! This like many things in our lives needs to be done at a pace…with proper preparation, direction and instruction. I have a dream in my heart that I know God has placed there. I have tried many times to ‘make it happen’, but have learned over the last few years that God is preparing me and teaching me for this purpose and plan He has for me. I have gotten frustrated, angry and even depressed when things I ‘knew’ were for me didn’t happen. I am learning to wait for Him to move and love all the growth and teaching I am getting in the process. One of my favorite women in the Bible is Esther…her life shows me that there is a time of preparation for the plan God has for us, that we need to live a life that is pleasing to Him and trust in His timing. Be found faithful in all things and He will give you ….such a time as this!

Blessings!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

New York City

2011-06-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

I recently flew to New York on business and took the opportunity to hang out with our good friends, the Penlands, while I was there. They moved back to NY a few years ago and I take every chance I can to see them (miss them tons!). DeLeassa picked me up near my hotel in Times Square and drove me to the Bronx to eat with ‘the family’! Yum…we had hibachi at a place called Edo’s. It was my first experience with hibachi and I loved it! The kids are growing so fast and had lots to tell me. After dinner we drove over to their new house. They bought it back in the fall and I had only seen photos, it is beautiful….built in 1915. We didn’t have too much time to visit before it was time to drive me back to the hotel. But we did catch up some more on the drive back. Let me insert here, that the NYC traffic is really as crazy as you see it on t.v! I had to work the next day, but we planned dinner for that evening…just the two of us. I got done early so we had more time to talk! She met me at the hotel and we walked (in the crazy, you feel like you are swimming upstream, mob of people) down the street to Bubba Gump’s. As we headed out DeLeassa told me the Naked Cowboy was out….really? I had never heard of him and was a little shocked that someone could stand on the street corner naked! Deleassa laughed and told me he had on tightie whities…and he did! Not sure what all the fuss is about him…I mean if he isn’t really naked, why is he called the Naked Cowboy? And he isn’t all that fantastic…Keith looks way better in his tightie whiteys, so I wasn’t impressed! Okay , maybe a little, since is a celebrity!

Dinner at Bubba Gumps went on for several hours and through several servers! LOL. We had a lot of catching up to do. The food was fantastic and we even managed to stuff ourselves with dessert. Since she is pregnant, she had an excuse for all the food she was putting away. Me? No excuse! But, it was good. It was hard to say good-bye, but we have some several more visits planned. I really miss them!

I do have to say I enjoyed New York…the crowds are kind of fun. It’s a great place to visit, not sure that I would be able to live there. Give me the slow pace of Oklahoma and the small town of Mustang and I am one happy gal!

I also saw Joan Jett in the airport...we were on the same flight. I tried to get a photo of her, but she was too far away and I wasn't going to be a stalker! I didn't realize she was still 'in the business' LOL

Blessings!

Cha-cha-change

2011-05-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

I decided to change up my hair style. I have worn it short for quite a while. Years in fact. It's a style that requires lots of hairspray and staying out of the wind. Really? I live is OK, where the wind comes whipping down the trail on a daily basis! One hair out of place and the whole thing looks bad. Well, in my opinion anyway. So, I decided to let it grow out a little bit, let it be a style that doesn't require a can of extra firm hold hairspray at completion. I want to be able to brush it during the day if it needs it. So, here is what I am shooting for.

It's still short, but looks managable. We'll see how it goes. The growing out time can be awkward and frustrating, so I hope I make it passed that. I am going to keep reminding myself that I want to give up mass quantities of extra strong firm hold hairspray! Hope it works! Think of the money I'll save!

Blessings!

Oh and if my lips and eyes will look this good, why not? Right?!

My 51st Birthday!

2011-04-28T13:06:00.000-05:00

Yep, just had another one…this year it kind of crept up on me! But, I have to say it was the best birthday EVER. I can’t put my finger on one thing that made it the 'best ever', there were many things. I had a ‘ton’ of well wishes on my facebook (humbling), birthday cards in the mail, text messages, my daughter called me first thing in the morning, my husband got me 3 (yes 3) Thunder (Harden #13) shirts, my co-workers brought cupcakes (yummy), cards, presents and decorated my office. I think I smiled the whole day, which isn’t too unusual, but since I was what I consider ‘officially over the hill’ I wasn’t so sure how my ‘heart’ would take it. I did pretty well with the whole thing. So, just when I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face I got home to a beautiful rose arrangement from a sweet friend and huge example in my life. Then Keith took me to Cheevers for dinner…it was our first time and I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed it. They sent me home with a HUGE piece of carrot cake for my birthday. It was yummy. And then the best of all, the thing that probably put it over the top, Keith got me a 90 minute hot stone massage! Oh yeah, it’s gonna be good and I can’t wait!

So, why smile at turning 51? Because I am where I should be in my life; walking beside a wonderful man of God, serving in a church that is all about more changed lives, Mother to 2 wonderful children, Mother in law of two and Nana of 4. What more could a lady of 51 ask for?

Thank you Lord for another great year and I look forward to the things you have for me in the coming year! I am ready to step off the shore into the water…way out into the deep!

Blessings!

Hoppy Easter!

2011-04-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

When the little ones arrived yesterday they each had an envelope from the ‘Easter Bunny’. Inside the envelopes were photos of a stuffed animal that ‘he’ had hidden somewhere in Nana’s house. Their faces where priceless! I told them to only find the animal in their picture, if they found one that wasn’t theirs, they had to keep it secret. They were really good at keeping the secret and of course that bunny did a great job hiding them! It was so cute to see how excited they were when they found their prize!

Since it was raining outside we did all of our egg hunting inside as well. Next up was the ‘big kids’. It has become a tradition that we hide 4 eggs; 3 have $1 and one has the big prize in it. This is our 4th year to do this and Matt and Christy have dominated in the prize finding in the previous years! It was a little more difficult to hide them inside, but Keith and I found some pretty clever places. This year’s winner was Brandon! Woot Woot! It only took about 10 minutes for everyone to find one this year…unlike last year and the hours and hours that the girls spent looking! LOL

Next I took the little kids into another room and the adults ‘hid’ eggs for them to hunt. There were several questions about the bunny coming to my house and did I see him….made me smile! Then it was time to hunt eggs……..never saw 4 kids run so fast. Love the laughter and screeching that happens when these little guys are in my house. Being a Nana, blesses my heart!

We spent the rest of the evening playing hide and seek, Mario Kart, Keith gave pony rides and then we played hide the stuffed animal. It was all a hit. It’s so much fun watching the kids play together, listening to their conversations and hearing their laughter.

Somewhere in all that madness we managed to eat burgers that Keith grilled in the rain! Thanks sweetie, you’re the best! Once again we had some great family time!

Blessings!

The calendar says spring...

2011-04-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

But, the weather says winter. It's 48, overcast and windy! Only in OK can you see all the seasons in a week! I have 1/2 day off and had big plans of working in the flower beds...you know, the same flower beds that I said I was going to work in last week. Yea...not happening today. Unfortunately it didn't happen last week either! So, instead I sit here with the laptop on my lap listening to the 40 mph winds blowing outside, Keith snoring on the couch beside me and the heater clicking on. Weird! The heater, not the wind or snoring...very use to those two things!

We were suppose to be in sunny south Texas this weekend enjoying some time with my Mom and soaking up the sun on the sandy beaches. Unfortunately all the (hmmm select your words carefully) people running the US couldn't come up with the 'right' budget , so the government was put on 'hold' and Keith's leave was cancelled. Of course, God always has a better plan and tonight we are going to spend some much needed one on one time with our beautiful daughter. Excited!

We are also going to head out to the movies in a little while. Keith needed a nap...that happens when you get up there in years! I have heard tons of great things about Soul Surfer and remember when that incident happened so I am excited to see it.

Well, that's all I've got for now....catch y'all later!

Please continue to pray for Sean, our nephew. He was diagnosed with lung cancer several weeks ago, has had one round of chemo, but is finally home in his own bed! He has more treatments ahead of him, but we are all believing God for a miracle! (Hmmm, But, God) Imagine that!

Blessings!

Spring...nope summer

2011-04-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

It's April and supposed to be spring time...it started out a little more like winter and now it's summer. We skipped spring! It's been in the 90's for the last few days and is expected to be that again today. I have flower beds to tend to, but with no rain in the forecast I am not excited about putting in the new flowers right now. I wonder if they will begin water rationing before too much longer due to no rain in F.O.R.E.V.E.R.
Need a little of the Seattle weather to flow our direction!

We are looking forward to a trip to the beach soon, it's good to get away from the craziness of life and just relax. We head south every year for the Sandfest and a visit with my Mom...it'll be good to see everyone, it seems like forever ago. And I will miss my little sister who isn't able to make the trip...won't be the same :-(

Please be in prayer for our nephew Sean. He has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and will begin treatments today. We believe God for healing!

One more thing...Keith and I are looking forward to our first sushi date!

Praying for rain!

Blessings!

Unforgettable Moments

2011-03-05T12:03:00.001-06:00

1. Picked Rylee up from school recently, she ran, jumped into my arms and said "Nana I love you'!

2. Conversation with Keith one morning this past week:
             Keith: Off to the races
             Me: Hope you win and bring home the big prize, you know the million?
             Keith: I got the big prize the day I married you...
             Me: *melted*

3. Family dinners....

4. Listening to Jaedyn chatter about her day at school on the days I am blessed to be able to pick her up.   Love love love these times. Treasure them.

5. Listening to Michele tell me about the weeks worth of meals she cooked and froze for Brandon and the girls.

6. Dinner dates with some of my favorite girlfriends. And the conversations we had about 'girl stuff'. Thanks ladies!

7. Making new friends.

8. Tickle hugs with Emery & Liam.

9. Laughing at nothing uncontrollably with my husband.

10. Weekend getaways....and we didn't go anywhere...we just shut out the world for 48 hours. Necessary!

I like you....

2011-02-20T15:46:00.000-06:00

We played hide and seek last night with the grand kids. Rylee and I team up most of the time and she is awesome to let me hide her in those out-of-the-way places. You know, under the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, behind a curtain or in a closet behind the TV trays. Well, last night we teamed up again and I decided to hide her on the shelf in our closet behind the clothes. She was great to sit there quietly while Papa searched for her for quite a while. He would have never found her, I don't think, if she hadn't given

herself away. Her and I hugged and laughed when Papa finally found her.

As we took off for our turn to count she grabbed my hand and said,

"Nana, I like you"

Blessings!

The Project Girl

2011-02-17T18:53:00.001-06:00

Hey friends, friendly passerbyers, blog surfers, etc....I wanted to let you know the The Project Girl is offering an awesome fabric giveaway on her website. Jen Allyson is a great designer of scrapbook papers and has outdone herself with this new fabric line, Quite Contrary. For every 100 comments she receives, she will give away 1 full set of 21 fat quarters (up to 4 sets). Get on the horn...spread the word. Visit her website and see what all the commotion is about and leave a comment...the more comments she receives, the more she gives away!

Spread the word....I know I wanna win!
.
Blessings!

Love....

2011-02-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

February is typically about celebrating love so I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate my husband, Keith. He has a kind heart, loves me unconditionally and puts up with lots of ‘junk’ from me. For all those who are shouting Amen right now about the ‘lots of junk’, it’s okay….I shout it with you! He is the true definition of a man who loves his wife like Christ loves the church! I am truly blessed and thank God all the time for this man that He sent my way.

When we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary several years ago we wrote ‘letters’ to each to read during the ceremony. I want to share the letter I wrote to Keith because it really is what my hearts says to him.

Dear Keith,

I love you….thank you for this awesome celebration of our love. I am blessed to be your wife, honored to share life with you. I smile when I look back at the last 25 years, which by the way flew by. What a journey this has been and what a journey we have ahead of us.

Remember that first night we met? The first thing I noticed was your beautiful blue eyes. Over the years those eyes have always looked at me with love and tenderness. They do sometimes look at me with wonder and quite often with “oh know you didn’t”. But, most of the time it’s just love! Your heart shines through your eyes and I am glad that you only have a heart and eyes for me.

You have always loved me like God loves the church. Thank you for showing me what it means to be loved unconditionally, for introducing me to God by displaying Him in your life. Thank you for loving me through thick and thin, in my good times and my bad.

You are my knight in shining armor, my hero, the person I want to wake up next to and lay down with at night. I want to hold your hand, know your heart and share your dreams. You are an awesome husband, lover and friend.

What a wonderful Dad you have been to our children and I love to watch you be a Papa to our beautiful grandchildren.

In James 1:17 it says ‘every good and perfect gift comes from God’ Today I want you and all those here to know that you are my good and perfect gift from God and I will love you always and forever.

Blessings!

Shari Robbins-Outpour

2011-01-21T23:36:00.000-06:00

Our niece, Shari, released her second CD, Outpour, on Sunday January 18th. On Friday evening we made a spontaneous decision to make the trip to Southaven, MS for the release at their home church, Cornerstone. It was great to be a part of the service where Shari led worship...phenomenal time in the presence of God and the congregation prayed for the album to be a blessing. If you are interested in this new album you can find it on itunes, amazon or buy the CD at her website http://www.sharirobbins.com/. This is a great worship album and I recommend that you check it out....not just cuz she's family, but because it really is good!

Blessings!

No rewinding...

2011-01-11T09:55:00.001-06:00

I love this song and wanted to share it. When I was 'setting' my goals for 2011 my #1 goal is to continue moving forward in the freedom God has given me. I have a past but God set me free from it several years ago and now I continually look forward to what He has for me..no rewinding....only moving forward.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I don't consider that I have taken hold of it yet. But here is the one thing I do. I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me Phil. 3:12

This past Sunday our Pastor shared a message to help us start the new year off right....'I Quit'. No looking back, only looking/moving forward. It is the best New Year message I have heard and I want to share it with you. If you need to be reminded of how to not rewind into the mistakes/failures of 2010 but instead move forward into 2011 then check out the message here http://peopleschurch.tv/media_podcasts. I am sure you will be BLESSED and encouraged to continue to look forward at the plan God has for your life and not relive the mistakes of your past. Learn from it, but don't live in it. Faith faces forward!

I am excited about what God has for me in 2011...He has more for me than I can ever think or imagine.

Blessings!

Winnie

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43:18

This n' That

2010-12-13T20:49:00.000-06:00

Wow!!! It has been a looonnng time since I was able to blog. In my defense (if I get one) I have been writing, but the computer hasn’t always cooperated and so I have a lot of blogs stacking up. Now that we have replaced the dinosaur with a quick running computer I am able to get back to regular blogging. So, rather than bore you with the multiple blogs from my archive I thought I would do a quick ‘catch u up’ and then get back to the regular blogging.

Ladies Night (this is my new favorite thing) is a night at my house once a month with a GREAT group of ladies that I didn’t know before opening my home! I have wanted to do this for a very long time and finally took a leap of faith.. July was our first get together and we have been going and growing ever since! We have themed nights and each one has been fun and exciting! If you haven’t had a chance to come I hope you will try to make it out in 2011. Our next get together in January 21st!

Jaedyn Alexis, our youngest granddaughter turned 4 in November. We took her out for her birthday outing to Build a Bear and she got Clarice. (Rudolph’s Lady Friend) We really had fun putting her together and picking out her clothes. Buying shoes for a reindeer can be rather expensive since there are 4 feet to cover! We ate lunch and then had some ice cream at Braums…Clarice, too! Love my new 4 year old Jaedyn!

Emery, our oldest grandson, also had a birthday in November, he turned 5! I can’t believe how fast they are all growing. Emery wanted McDonald’s for his birthday lunch, not our favorite place for a meal, but it was HIS birthday. When we picked him up he told me he already new what he wanted and it was a dinosaur at Target. So, off to Target we went, but once there he decided he didn’t want that after all. We walked around forever and then he asked to go to Toys R Us! We walked around there for quite a while, played on tons of things and then he finally picked out a car-related toy! Of course! Enjoying Emery being a 'whole hand'!

Thanksgiving was awesome! Keith and I went to Cracker Barrel for our Thanksgiving Day dinner together….we waited an hour and a half, but it was well worth it. They really do have a great meal and we enjoy walking around the gift shop. I think this puts us in the ‘old category’ for enjoying it so much! I had a ‘moment’ during our meal when I welled up with tears missing my Dad…but was able to ‘get a hold of myself’ before they turned into a full blown cry fest! No matter how many years go by, the holidays are always the hardest for me. Miss you Dad! We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with the kids and grandkids….I love this day with them. Keith had put one of our trees up on Friday and the little kids and I decorated it. It was so much fun! The cutest memory I will keep forever was all of them singing Jingle Bells while we were hanging ornaments…yes, I am tearing up! Then you have to laugh out loud when I tell you the words that Jaedyn was singing “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Old McDonald likes to ride in a one horse open sleigh’! :-) She loves to sing so much she just makes up her own versions! Since all the ornaments were only on the bottom of the tree and sometimes 4-6 deep on a branch, we took a few minutes to hand them up to Nana so we could fill the top of the tree, too. Then we went outside and looked at it from the street….of course it was beautiful. Keith and the boys put up the lights on the house…it’s nice to have the younger guys around for this. That way I don’t have to worry about Keith falling…you know we aren’t getting any younger!

One final thing…we had family pictures done again this year…I have changed all my blog pictures to photos from this latest photo shoot. It was hard to give up the vow renewal photos, but I have a gorgeous family and the little kids are growing so fast!

I am blessed with an awesome family and God has been so good to us!

Blessings!

Monday Night Football

2010-11-09T05:43:00.000-06:00

Keith and Matt traveled to Dallas to attend the Monday Night Football Game against the Giants. This was Keith's 50th birthday present from me. I bought the tickets from a friend and he promised to show them a great time....and he did. They got into places they would have never gotten into, saw some pretty important people and had a birdseye view of the game. Keith was disappointed in the final score and that Romo is out for a while with an injury, but I am pretty sure none of that mattered in the end. They had a great time! Keith and Matt could probably tell you more about it than I will be able to, so next time you see them ask about it.

Be anxious for nothing…..

2010-10-21T13:21:00.001-05:00

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

This scripture came to mind this morning on my way into work. These last few months have been quite stressful with what seems like an onslaught of family issues; physical, emotional and spiritual. The ‘funny’ thing about all this is that just a few weeks before we were ‘hit’ with all this ‘stuff’ I had been thinking about how ‘we’ easily praise Him in the good times, but can we do that in the valley/bad times as well. Then whammo, I got the opportunity to find out! The answer is yes, but it ain’t always easy! There have been highs and some very low lows! But, through it all my faith in God has never wavered. I know that He holds all things in His hands and that I belong to the One who can see me through any storm. There have been many tears and at times I feel like my heart is completely broken, and then I remember Whose I am. I stand firm on the belief that there is nothing that God and I can’t handle together. Anything is possible with God! I can praise Him through this storm

Can you praise Him in the storm? Absolutely. It all starts with a relationship with Him. The dictionary defines ‘relationship’ as a connection, association, or involvement; a dependency. When we become dependent on God and not ourselves, then we are in relationship with Him. Every relationship requires a daily involvement/connecting. Just like you build a relationship with a friend or loved one you can do the same with God.

When difficulties arise believe that God is bigger than anything that this world throws at you and you can praise Him through it. When you realize you can’t , know that God can. When you realize that He has the best plan for you, then you can praise Him through the storm. Know that He will bring you through and when He does you will be stronger than you could ever have imagined.

He holds my heart in His hands and wipes my tears. So, I have gone back to His promises.

John 16:33- I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Isaiah 41:10-so do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

Psalm 94:19- When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
Psalm 71:14 But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Will difficulties arise? Yes, they will…..but God will walk through each and everyone of them with you, if you will allow Him to.

Do you have a relationship with God; have you opened your heart and life to Him? He has great and wonderful things for you. Ask Him to come into your heart today, begin connecting with Him and allow Him to work in and through you. Let Him be your strength through each and every part of your life; the highs and the lows! It will be good! Actually it will be GREAT!

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and

pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven

and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Blessings!

Givin’ a shout out

2010-10-14T20:17:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share what my best friend brought me today! He showed up at my office on his lunch with these:

He sure knows how to make a girl feel good.

He loves me!

Thank you Keith for always knowing how to brighten my day and make my heart smile again and again and again! I love you!

I am Blessed!

Liam Baby-Three

2010-10-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

Our youngest grandson, Liam, turned 3 recently. He has been affectionately called Liam Baby by his older girl cousins since he was born. It all started when we were talking about how old they all were and Liam was only a baby. So, since everyone else was 2 and 4 years old it was hard to explain how old Liam was. We tried to explain he was only months old, and Rylee decided that since he wasn’t 1 he must be 0. This affectionately got him dubbed Liam Baby Zero. Well, now he is 3 but occasionally is still called Liam Baby! Not as often, but he still answers when you call him that.

Liam is mischievous and shy, has beautiful blue eyes, a smile to melt your heart and loves to copy his big brother. He is a dare-devil and very accident prone! He is loveable and huggable and LOVED.

He had a Woody birthday party this year and even got his own Woody doll. He and Papa pretend he is Woody a lot and Papa pulls his make believe string and Liam says “I’ve got a snake in my boot” It is too funny.

We took him out to eat for his birthday to Chic Fil A and he ate a few fries. Very unusual for him, but we figured he was probably excited about picking out a toy. We took him toy shopping and he spent about an hour browsing……too funny. Shops like his Mom and Papa! Anyway after lots of testing he decided on a Buzz Lightyear computer toy. He carried it to the check-out because it ‘wasn’t too heavy’. :-) Unfortunately he fell asleep on the way home and we didn’t get to play with it with him yet.

Looking forward to more years of browsing for birthday toys with Liam!

Happy Birthday Liam, Nana & Papa love you all the way to the moon!

Blessings!

He’s at the 50 yard line…..

2010-09-26T06:59:00.000-05:00

Keith celebrated his 50th birthday recently…..seems he gets sexier with each year. I am smiling as I type this thinking about the man that he is. He is an awesome husband, father and Papa. We have known each other for over ½ of our lives…sounds weird, doesn’t it? Actually it makes us sound old……..

We celebrated by having the kids over, cooking out and filled the swimming pool for the little kids. His birthday gift from me was tickets to a Dallas Cowboy home game. A good friend was selling some of his season tickets due to the arrival of his new baby, thanks Sammy. He and Matt are going on a Father/Son trip to the game. They will have great seats with a VIP Pass to the tunnel to see the players! Woot Woot. He was really excited about the tickets…he loves his Cowboys. Michele created this CD to peak his interest when he opened the gift, great job, Chele.

I wanted his cake to say ‘Age is like underwear, it creeps up on you’, but Michele thought “OU are old” sounded better and I agreed! The bakery that made his cake did a great job…it was red velvet. Yummy.

Happy 50th Birthday Keith!

Love you!

Spread the Word.....

2010-09-09T07:47:00.000-05:00

Beginning this Sunday, September 12, 2010 at People's Church, you can now watch the 10AM, 11:30AM & 1PM experiences live at www.peopleschurch.tv. Yes, you get the entire worship experience right on your computer! You get the praise and worship, videos, performances, giving, teaching and response time. When you are on vacation or sick, you can still worship at PC. If you live in another part of the country or world, you can worship with us every week! Let all your friends, family and coworkers know about this new online live worship experience every Sunday at People's Church!

Spread the word......

I don't know about you, but I think this news is worth spreading!

Blessings!

Just One Thing.....

2010-08-30T09:13:00.001-05:00

On the way into work this morning the DJ on the radio asked this question, ‘What one thing are you looking forward to this week?’ Well, I have to say my immediate thought was Friday! Then I thought maybe I better think a little harder about it and I decided I really wanted a Pumpkin Spice Latte, so maybe that was my answer. Then a few minutes longer into my ride to work and a little more thought I came up with several things I really am looking forward to this week:

• Meeting with the group of people that are working along side us to take Peoples Church Starting Point ministry to the next level.

• Contacting the Ladies from Connect.Me that showed an interest in my once a month Ladies Night Group

• Getting things together for Keith’s 50th Birthday on Saturday

• Finishing a novel I started about a month ago

• Putting the final touches on what to share at the upcoming Ladies Night

• Watching the final Bourne Identity movie…yay Netflix!

• Continuing the search for new drapes for my back windows…we have neighbors behind us now and I have to find drapes that close. :-(

Those are the things I am looking forward to this week….

What is one thing that you are looking forward to this week? Can you think of just one thing? I couldn’t….LOL

Blessings!

God's Masterpiece

2010-08-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew

in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

Do you know you are God's masterpiece, a work of art that began at your conception? (Psalm 139:13) The dictionary defines masterpiece as 'a person's greatest work of art'. It makes me smile to know Someone feels that way about me, that I could be Someones greatest work of art. Just like a lot of others, I have a past....bad choices I made and bad things that happened in my life. I lived 'in' my past for so long and didn't think I could ever look at myself as Someones greatest work of art. But, today I know I am a masterpiece, designed in His image, created for great things, to have a future and a hope. He who began this great work, will finish it! It took me quite a long time to 'know' this, it took building a relationship with Him to understand it. Now when I look in the mirror I see what He sees.....a beautiful creation, His treasure, His Masterpiece. I might not always get 'it' right, but He loves me and I am His work in progress.

There is so much in God's word that tells me I am His treasure, His masterpiece:

The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end, so says the Lord who loves you. Isaiah 54:10

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works and my soul knows it very well Psalm 139:13-14 (NASB)

The king is enthralled by my beauty Psalm 45:11 (NIV)

God feeds the birds and you are far more valuable to Him than any birds. Luke 12:24 (NLT)

...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 (NIV)

God says I am valuable.
God says I am loved.
God says I am created in His image.
God says I am beautiful.
God says I am healed of my broken heart.
God says I am lovable.
God says I am an oak of righteousness.
God says I am His treasured possession.

My past is just that, my past, it doesn't define who I am today...instead I walk In God's thoughts towards me so that he can continue to 'enhance' me to be what He purposed and planned for me!

Is there someone you know that needs to be told they are God's Masterpiece?

Blessings!

Rylee

2010-08-07T08:47:00.000-05:00

Our oldest Grandchild, Rylee, had her 5th birthday last month and she starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks. I can't believe how fast time is going. We took her out to eat for her birthday...we 'suggested' Mexican food and she asked for Chicken Express...really? Keith tried to change her mind but she responded with 'Papa, you know I like Chicken Express all day'. So, off we went to enjoy a birthday dinner with our 5 year old! We took her to Target to look for a new Barbie, but after searching all of the shelves there wasn't one that she was interested in so off to Toys R Us we went. They had a larger selection so we searched every nook and cranny and finally found a 'princess barbie'. Actually she is in a wedding dress, but she called her the princess. This particular barbie is dark skinned...not that that is a problem, but it sets up the rest of the story! Now she needed a Ken and since he comes in every outfit known to man there were plenty to choose from. She was looking hard when all of a sudden she pointed and said "I want that one, the one with the curly hair" Yep, you guessed it, he was dark skinned as well. (we had to laugh that she wanted them to be 'matching') However, he wasn't dressed for a wedding. he had on shorts and a tank..so we had to find him a tux! We did some clothes changing in the car so they could ride home in their wedding attire! What a great time! We made a quick stop at Braum's had for some chocolate ice cream...oh yeah!

We had a great time sharing this day with her! Love you Rylee Alisabeth! You are one special little girl!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Repurpose!

2010-07-27T07:17:00.000-05:00

I have been 'crafting' lately and want to work towards repurposing things rather than always thinking I need new. I started with my glass cylinder vase that was just too plain and decided to decorate it with some jute.

I actually saw this on the internet and decided I could do it. It was very easy, but time consuming. I used some hot glue to hold the jute in place randomly through out the process, but you probably don’t have to. I used about ¾ of a roll of jute that I found at Hobby Lobby to cover this about 2/3 of the way…it took about an hour and a half. Why, you ask? The jute tangles as you roll it onto the vase and I had to stop every 5 or so turns of the vase to untangle the stuff…grrrr. Other than that little delay, it was very easy and I’m happy with the way it turned out.
I also bought some large letters at Hobby Lobby recently to use in the hallway by a collage of photos from our vow renewal. They are the large monogram type letters and were gold when I bought them. I am not a gold person, so of course I had to spray paint them black. They actually look a lot better black! I bought them on sale for ½ off plus my employee discount, so I got them really cheap! Keith hung them up for me and I think it looks great!

My newest projects are repurposing some old lamps and two end tables....still a project in progress.

Repurpose away!

Blessings!

Me + Him= Us

2010-07-24T06:23:00.014-05:00

I sometimes think about the differences in our personalities....and thought I would

share them, but in a humorous way! I laughed .....

I can be up and going at the sound of the alarm. I hit the ground running!

Keith hits the snooze button at least once and hits the ground a little slower than me!

I am neat and organized. I am not a big fan of clutter or nic-nacs. I do most of my housekeeping first thing in the morning.

Keith is best described as a 'collector'! Nuf said!

Keith is a 'hands on' personality! (again, nuf said)

I, well, I am not always so hands on!

He has a little bit of a heavy gas pedal foot...but has managed to escape OHP...lol

I am that person always doing the speed limit that has 'bumper huggers'!

We are both very different, but we make up US! And US is very good! I love the man that God has blessed me with and wouldn't trade any of the days, months or years that we have shared!

Gone too long...

2010-07-17T07:38:00.004-05:00

I have been gone from blogging for too long. I check my favorites everyday and frown at myself for being so far behind. In my defense (if I get one) we've had a real busy summer so far and enjoyed every minute of it. Let's see if I can catch you up:

We took a trip to Tennesse on Memorial weekend to visit Keith's family and had a fantastic time. It was like a mini reunion at Keith's Dad's house with his brother and sister and their spouses. We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday after going to church with his Dad. We also took a trip around town and saw places they lived, and places they played. I always enjoy visiting his hometown...there is so much family there and tons of history. Keith comes from a very close family and I love being a part of that.
In June we took a trip to Disney World...it was the best vacation we've taken....well since last year! LOL We planned this trip during the winter and really had a hard time waiting for the date to arrive. Seeing all the Princesses was the best and I even stood in line with all the little girls to have my picture taken with them....yes, I did! I love Cinderella....and she called me Your Highness. :-) I used the excuse that the pics were for my granddaughters, but they were really for me. We also saw Woody and Jesse...and yes, I stood in line to get my picture taken with them as well. We visited two of the parks and spent one day at each, it was fun, but hot and we were exhausted when we got back to our hotel. If we ever do this again, it will be a one park visit! Keith's sister and husband live in the Orlando area so we spend a day and night visiting with them. They really enjoy living there, but the humidity is too much for me! The highlight of this trip, well besides seeing Cinderella, was meeting up with some friends we were stationed with in Kodiak, AK back in 88-89. Dave and Kathi were our across the street neighbors and had 2 children that were the same age as Matt and Chele. We hadn't seen each other in 21 years! Meeting up with Kathi the first night at our hotel was great....we enjoyed some catch up time around the pool and then sat in one of the hotel restaurants and caught up some more. The next night she and Dave picked us up and we headed to Downtown Disney and ate at Rainforest Cafe.....it was GREAT. I really missed them. Kathi and I were 'coffee buddies' when we were neighbors. We would get the kids off to school and then I would run over to her house (most of the time in my pjs) and we would drink coffee and talk until it was time to pick up our preschooler! It was a great friendship and I was so happy to find her son on facebook and get reconnected with her. We are already planning some additional visits!

So, here we are in July.....Rylee turned 5 (or a whole hand) but I will have a separate blog for that very special girl and her very special day. We spent the first week back from vacation trying to get back into our groove and then we had the 4th. I got my days mixed up...thought Monday was the 4th, it was the 5th and planned a cookout with the kids. Keith asked me why we were cooking out that day and I said to celebrate the 4th and he said, but it's the 5th. Really? I was thrown off because we had Monday off! Or maybe it's just old age. Either way, we ended up cooking out and eating a lot that weekend, but all of it was fantastic. Living in Mustang gives you the opportunity to enjoy a lot of fireworks at our neighbors expense...the shows this year were great!

Last night I had a Ladies get together at my house....we had a great group and did a lot of laughing. I told the ladies to bring their 'drama gene' but no one caught on, so when I formed groups of 3, gave them a choice of gift bags with 5 random items in it, they were shocked to know they would be creating a commercial using those items. If only I had a video camera! The commercials were GREAT! Thanks ladies for being good sports....and Geneva, start reading between the lines....Paula, did you sell any of those Scrunchies? I love hanging out with my friends and look forward to forming great friendships. This will be a monthly get together and I already have the next 3 months planned out! August-baby picture night, Sept.-Spa Night and October-Tea Party.

Well, that catches you up to today...I hope I am back on track and keep this updated more!

Here's to hoping!

Be Blessed!

Emery

2010-05-26T07:17:00.010-05:00

Emery is our oldest Grandson. Last weekend while he was over I caught this picture of him. I decided it was 'blog about Emery' time!

He loves to write his name and I am so proud that at 4 he does it so well. He loves to draw with the chalk on our back patio and can fill every space available in no time. He drew a few cars and a long and winding road for them to drive on before adding his name. Hmmm maybe he is going to be an artist!

Emery is our picky eater…well, they are all picky, but he is the pickiest (is that a word). He can eat you out of house and home when it comes to fruit snacks (the gummy kind) and is pretty serious about what kind we buy. Right now his favorite is Toy Story!

He loves to play with cars, well, not really play with them, he analyses them and lines them up. :-) He knows a Hot Wheels from a generic or Mattel…he prefers Hot Wheels. He has a ton of them and can tell you if you get him one he already has. He really likes Monster Trucks right now and has quite a library of them. He is working on a complete set!

He is very quiet and shy, and doesn’t like large crowds. However, when he is playing Hide and Seek with Papa, he can scream pretty loud when Papa jumps out to scare him. He loves to laugh and tickling is a good game to play with him. He enjoys watching a movie and loves when we have popcorn to go with it. He is also a great snuggle bunny!

Being a Nana to Emery makes my heart happy!

The Big 5-Oh

2010-05-26T07:10:00.004-05:00

Yep, I turned 50 last month. It is really hard for me to believe that I am 50; I feel like I should quiz the Bureau of Vital Statistics to be sure I was actually born in 1960 and not much, much later! It is weird to say I am 50…I should mention that I don’t feel 50 at all. I am just hitting the ground and running, so I must be about 35ish!

I had a great surprise birthday party courtesy of my wonderful husband and family. They gathered some of my favorite people together at a local restaurant and we enjoyed some food, laughs and awesome-over-the-top (not over the hill) Italian Creme Cake. I have a great friend who makes the best cakes and she made this one! Thanks Kristi!

I received some great gifts...the best was an Ipod Touch from Keith and lots of Itunes gift cards from friends and family to fill the Ipod with great music before my business trip.

I left the day before my birthday for the business trip to China so my birthday actually started 12 hours before it was suppose to due to the International Dateline! It ended up being a very loooonnng day! It was great to be able to celebrate again with friends from work at a great restaurant in Hong Kong. Who can say they turned 50 in Hong Kong, well, except for the locals! LOL I received tons of Happy Birthday messages on facebook from friends and family. Thanks to everyone who helped make my day special.

I am truly blessed with an awesome family and great friends.

P.S. Age is just a number!

Sewing Saturday

2010-05-15T17:32:00.009-05:00

I have had the desire to sew for quite a few months and just haven't had the time. I took that time today. I saw a recent blog on repurposing little girls jeans into capris and couldn't wait to try it. Today Michele and I sat down and put the plan into action. I took some jeans the girls had out grown in length and shortened them a little and added ribbon. They are really cute and can't wait to make more! We have a lot of other ideas we want to try, but that is for another day!

We also put a couple tutus together. Michele made one for a friend who has a 1 year old and I was putting together one for a friend at church. Was.....I ran out of tulle before I got mine done. :-( I will have to make a run to Hobby Lobby next week so I can finish mine. Michele was able to get hers done and it turned out so cute. It's a teeny tiny tutu. :-) I can't wait to see pictures of Adyson crawling around it in!

Looking forward to more projects!

Conversations with the kids

2010-05-12T06:42:00.002-05:00

We kept the girls this weekend while Michele was in the hospital and I wanted to share several conversations I had with them:

While driving to our house with the girls on Friday evening, weather became the topic of conversation. Rylee recently learned about tornado safety in her preschool class and shared her knowledge with her little sister, Jaedyn. They asked me to open the sunroof and this conversation began:

Jaedyn: Nana, the sky is blue, no tomatoes come when the sky is blue.

Me: What, sweetie?

Jaedyn: Tomatoes come when the clouds start moving, right Nana? You have to go the bathroom or the celery if a tomato comes. If a tomato comes do you want to go to the celery or the bathroom, Nana?

Me; (laughing to myself) Well, sweetie, if a tornado comes where will you go?

Jaedyn: I will go to the celery, so you can come with me. The celery has stairs and you go down and sit on the chairs.

Got to love her! On Monday, they ended up in the celery because of the tomatoes!

On Saturday morning the girls and I went to Target to find Mommy a Mother’s Day present and card. We picked out some earrings, then wandered over and got them both some sunglasses. Once we had the cards picked out, we found a cute little bag and headed over to get me some lipstick. They both found some chapstick and we decided we could buy the 3 pack and give one to Mommy. Rylee wanted to carry everything in one hand so we rearranged it all so she could. Satisfied that I had spent enough money ;-) I said, ‘alright, let’s go check out’. And Rylee replied, ‘wait, I still have an empty hand’! I laughed and told her I loved her, but we had found everything we needed for now. Got to love her! Shopping is in her DNA!

Texas Trip...Sister Fun

2010-04-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

Keith and I took a weekend trip to visit my Mom in Port Aransas and attend their annual Sandfest. We picked my sister Melanie up in Dallas; she flew in from New Hampshire. I have missed her! We stopped in Austin for the night and enjoyed some great Mexican food at Papasitas…yummmmm. When we got back to the room my sister gave me a gift…a very special gift from Victoria’s Secret! Since I am nearly 50 (just a few more days) I had to laugh at myself for thinking I should/could wear this special gift, but hey….I have to say I love them and am severely addicted now! We made a trip to the store once we got back to OKC and I loaded up! I am now a card carrying Victoria’s Secret fan! How did I miss this store all these years?

One of the things I do as soon as we cross the border is find me some Diet Big Red.....I love this and can't find it OKC. I always bring home a 24 pack to enjoy until we go again. If you ever go to Texas this is a great gift to pick up for me! LOL

My other sister, Dee, and her husband drove in from Houston and the three of us sisters together made for a great time! I felt bad for Keith because it turned into a ‘girl trip’ since the 3 of us hadn’t been together in a long time. It was loud and obnoxious, but oh so fun! :-) By the way, she had just recently discovered VS and was wearing some fun stuff as well.....we laughed so hard! It was a quick trip to Texas, only a day and a half visit, but we managed to fit in a ton of stuff.

One of our favorite places to eat while we are there is The Rusty Jeep, great owners and awesome barbecue. Here we are having one of our sister moments! LOL

Mel drove back to OKC with us and we had Monday together….that was VS day…over the top fun! We also hit up Hobby Lobby since she doesn’t have one, then we met the girls and kids at the park and had a McDonald’s picnic. Those little guys love Auntie Mel-Mel……a fried chicken dinner at Michele’s courtesy of those big girls ended our day.

I hated to see Mel leave….wish she lived closer, but we hope to get up to that part of the country in September. However, there is a new house being built right behind us that she could move into if she really wanted! (Hint Hint)

Easter

2010-04-16T06:52:00.005-05:00

Easter this year was a simple dinner, lots of egg hunting and great family time. This year I decided to grill chicken, roast potatoes and baked some asparagus, it was quite yummy if I do say so. We also had dinner rolls and salad with cookies for dessert.

The weather was perfect for egg hunting and the little kids all ‘got it’ this year so it was fun to watch them running around trying to get the most eggs. We have a ‘big kid’ hunt as well and this year the prize egg was found by Matt….again! Our yard is smaller than our old house so we borrowed our neighbor’s front yard as well and the hunt was on. Brandon and Michele found their egg quickly, but Matt and Christy needed help!

We wait until everyone has an egg before they open them......

Matt had the prize egg...$50 and the rest of them got a $1. Next year Brandon is donating the money since he could pull a $100 out of his pocket for this picture!

Beautiful weather, great food and lots of laughter....what more could I want!

Blessings!

Chele's 29th Birthday

2010-04-07T06:54:00.007-05:00

We celebrated Michele’s 29th Birthday last week. Yes, she is really 29 this year. Not sure how she will handle it next year, go for 30 or stay 29! LOL :-) We met at our house and had pizza, salad and cookies from Johnnie’s Creations. I thought I would do something different and have cookies instead of cake, but I realized that afternoon the little kids would not understand if we didn’t have candles on a cake and sing Happy Birthday. I recently started a new tradition where I make the birthday cake and let the little kids add sprinkles and each one put a candle in the cake. So, after I picked up the cookies I realized they would be a little confused if we didn’t ‘decorate’ a cake for Mommy/Aunt Chele. I mean, what’s a birthday without candles and singing? So, I stopped at Wally World and grabbed a little cake to put candles on. Everyone tried a cookie, but all the little guys wanted cake, too. They were on a huge sugar high after all the sweets....it was quite fun!

We enjoyed another chance to celebrate one of our children and have some great family time.

Cleaning for a Reason

2010-04-02T17:46:00.003-05:00

I saw an article in our Chaplain’s newsletter at work about an organization that will provide free cleaning to any woman who is currently undergoing Chemo treatments. They provide a service to clean 1 time a month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up at www.cleaningforareason.org and they will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange the service. She will also need to have her Doctor confirm via fax that she is currently undergoing treatments.

Please pass this information along to any woman you know who is currently going through chemo treatments for any type of cancer.

What a blessing this would be!

In A Funk......

2010-04-01T10:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I realized I was in a ‘Funk’….well, actually Keith said to me, ‘are you in a ‘funk’? This is my word/description I use when I am down in the dumps. Typically I call or email Keith and say, “I need you to pray, I am in a ‘funk’”. However, this time he pointed it out to me. I was aware of it, but figured it would pass. A funk for me is when I have let all the things going on around me weigh me down. I stop relying on God and take it all on myself. It’s a bad habit, but one I am way better at handling now than in years past. It doesn’t come on often, just when there is a lot going on and I should be giving it all to Him and trusting he will take care of it.

I don’t like the 'funk' feeling, the ‘woe is me’, ‘nothing is going right’, ‘could it get any worse’ kind of feeling. So, last night I determined to pull myself out of it and get back to being myself. Well, I woke up this morning and there it was again…..kind of like a fog hovering all around me. I kept telling myself I needed to let it go, but it kept hanging on. So, later as I was standing in front of the mirror putting on my makeup I thought to myself, enough is enough, I stopped looked at myself and stated the following:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

I am the head and not the tail

He who began a good work in me will continue it

He came so that I could have peace

He knows his plans for me; He is my future and my Hope

Definitely couldn’t remove it without Him……

I love His word!

God is good!

Now I am feeling spunk and not funk! Woot Woot

Purple Day

2010-03-26T21:27:00.007-05:00

Today, March 26th, is Purple Day, Epilepsy Awareness Day, so I asked Michele to share her thoughts....
I have had seizures for about 23 years. That's almost 8,395 days in which I've taken several different medications, had my license taken away, hit my head more times than I could count, had thousands of seizures, been diagnosed with 4 different types of seizures, been hospitalized and been to countless doctors where I've heard, "There is no known cause or cure, so here, take this medicine." Now, you would think that such a life would be quite difficult, but really I've been blessed with such an amazing family and group of friends that I've been able to live a very normal life. I went to school and did well, with a large group of friends. I was a part of many activities and really involved in church. I got married and had two beautiful daughters that I was told I would never have. And even though I don't drive right now, I never want for anything. I get to be a stay at home mom, go to our Mom's bible study, attend church normally, and do anything a normal girl my age does. You would never know I have epilepsy from the outside looking in because I don't let it define me. While I may not ever get my physical healing here on earth, I believe I got my miracle in another form. I've been blessed beyond measure with the ability to live like any normal person because God placed around me an amazing support system made up of my family and friends, and I am forever indebted to them!

Purple Day was started by a little girl named Cassidy that, once diagnosed, decided she wanted the world to know that people of all ages suffer from Epilepsy and just because we do doesn't mean we're different. Purple is the colour of our Awareness Ribbon, so she started challenging people to wear purple every March 26th in support, honour and memory of those that suffer, have suffered and those that have already passed away from Seizure Disorders and Epilepsy. It's a day I'm proud to be a part of because I wear purple for myself and my friends that suffer from Epilepsy, but I also wear it to honour those that constantly support me, because without them, I would be nowhere.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ~John 15:13 People may not literally lay their lives down for me, but in theory they do, because they stop whatever they are doing for me, and I can't think of a greater earthly love than that.

Thank you.........all of you.

Love,
Chele

Rylee, Jaedyn & Michele

Thanks Michele...I love you!

Mom

For more information on Epilepsy Day visit http://www.purpleday.org/

Tulle Time

2010-03-24T07:32:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago Hobby Lobby had rolls of tulle on sale ($1.99) and I invested in some..well, quite a few..LOL

I have seen a lot of tulle tutus on the internet, in gift shops and at The Affair of the Heart, but I thought they were pretty spendy, so I decided I needed to learn how to make them. I found several tutorials on the internet, but this one was the easiest to follow. (http://plumtickled.typepad.com/plumtickled/2007/08/tutu-tutorial-t.html)

When working on the first one, I wrapped/tied the strips so tight that it took a lot more tulle than it probably should have. I actually had cut 56 strips to make two and used them all for the first one! I tied the strips so tight that it rolled the elastic and was stretching it as I tied the strips. I didn't use anything to support the elastic and by holding it in my hand I was stretching it as I tied the tulle. It all worked out, but the tutu was pretty full when I was done.

I decided when I worked on my next one to put the elastic over one of my decorative pillows that was long and narrow. This kept the elastic from stretching and I was able to control how tight I tied the tulle. I am not sure how many strips I used on this one, probably about 35, but it was a lot easier to work with on the pillow. Using a narrow pillow (or something of that shape )as a 'model' is highly recommended.

I made these for my beautiful granddaughters and took them over during my lunch this week. They were a little shy and not sure what to make of them, but after a few minutes they tried them on. I forgot to take my camera to take some pics, but figured I catch them at some point. After I returned to the office Michele texted me these silly photos.

They took turns wearing both tutus....crazy girls!

I am looking for more things to do with tulle, so if you have some ideas please share them.

I've got to be tulle-ing along!

Be blessed!

Thrifty Finds

2010-03-18T07:42:00.003-05:00

Now that I have this 'create' bug I have moved into thriftiness! While I was out the other day I found a cute bird cage that I want to add to my mantle decor. So, I googled 'how to decorate a birdcage' and found some great ideas. I think I am going to go with the candles, but use the battery operated type so I can actually have light on that corner of the mantle. I will show you pictures when I get it done.

The other thing I found that day, was 2 glass bottles and a photo frame at the Salvation Army store. I only spent $3.45...woot woot. I put the glass bottles on the window sill in my hall bath and the frame will be used for another project I have in the works. I am excited to get it done, but need one more frame!

In my running around on Saturday I had to pick up a prescription and was 'shopping' while I waited. Guess what I found....cupcake and brownie mixes and these tasty vanilla wafers for $1 a piece...bought 10! The cupcakes and brownies make small batches....12 actually and that is perfect for us.

Oh and one more thing before I let you go for today....whoever invented this flat whisk should consider themselves hugged by me. I LOVE IT!

Have a blessed day!

Breakfast at the Chandlers

2010-03-15T07:15:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided to have the kids over for breakfast on a Saturday morning. I love mixing things up and we always seem to have them over for dinner. So Keith and I got up at 7 am and starting cooking bacon and sausage.....several pans going at once! We also made chocolate gravy, sausage gravy, biscuits, scrambled eggs and french toast. I think there was something for everyone! It was fun to do something a little different and then have the morning and early afternoon to visit and play.

The little kids love to play hide and seek with Papa and got a game going as soon as we were done eating. It is fun to listen to them count to 10....1,2,3, 10. Keith knows now that he has to hide fast because they are coming whether he is ready or not. When they find him they squeal and run. They even take turns hiding from him, but they all want to get in the same place and don't usually fit. It's a lot of fun watching them play this game.

Of course a visit with the kids isn't complete without a wrestling match and some horsey rides!

We really enjoyed this and plan to do it again soon!

Create

2010-03-09T07:02:00.000-06:00

I got the 'create' bug during the holidays when we were snowed in. I have always loved to create things and before I started working I did a lot of it. I love to crochet, craft, scrapbook and sew. I had a friend when Keith and I first got married that did a lot of sewing; she taught me the basics and Keith bought me my first sewing machine. I spent the next 15 or so years sewing most of the kids summer clothes (remember jams?) and loved sewing Michele's dresses for special occasions. The kids grew up and didn't really want to wear those homemade outfits anymore so the sewing machine went in the closet. That sewing machine got broke when we were moving 2 years ago and I asked Keith for a new one. He came through and surprised me with one, but I just didn't take the time to put it to use until a month ago when I decided I needed to start sewing for the grandkids. Now I am searching the internet on a regular basis for fun things to craft or sew. I am in the middle of an apron, but since the machine was new and digital it took me a while to figure it out...I am not a professional at all and technology challenged...so that was a process. I finally have it figured out and plan to do a lot of sewing now. Be watching for updates on what I create!

I Won!

2010-03-04T18:36:00.000-06:00

Back on the 17th of January the Vikings played the Cowboys! I am a Vikings fan and Keith roots for the Cowboys. So when they played it only made sense that we would make a friendly wager. If the Vikings won he would buy me a Farve jersey and if the Cowboys won I would buy him a Miles Austin jersey. Well, I won! The Vikings crushed the Cowboys 34-3! So I am here to brag about my new jersey that arrived in the mail last week...isn't it beautiful. I will wear it proudly!

Thanks Keith!

Yummy New Recipe

2010-03-03T21:06:00.002-06:00

I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. It is so simple and easy. I did have to make a few changes, but only because I didn't have some of the things it called for, so I improvised.......

Pepper Jack Chicken Pasta

3 cups uncooked mostaccioli
¼ cup chopped onion (I used green onions)
¼ cup sweet red pepper
½ teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon canola oil (I used EVOO)
1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed nacho cheese soup (I used cheddar cheese soup, it’s what I had in my pantry but I also added a can of rotel since it wasn’t the nacho cheese soup.)
1 package (9oz) ready to use Southwestern chicken strips (I marinated 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts in taco seasons instead and cut them into strips before cooking.)
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained. (Didn’t have this in the pantry so I used chili beans, rinsed and drained)
¼ cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (didn’t have this either so I just pepper jack)

Cook mostaccioli according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet sauté the onion, red pepper and garlic in the oil until tender. (I added my chicken at this point and cooked it) Stir in the soup (and rotel if you want), chicken (if you are using the southwestern chicken strips) and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Stir in the beans and heat through. Drain the mostaccioli and add to chicken mixture, serve with shredded cheese on top. I also added some avocado chunks.

Made enough that we have leftovers!

Let me know if you try this and what you think. We really enjoyed it, especially with the avocado added.

25 Things you might not know about me.....

2010-02-27T18:34:00.003-06:00

1. As a child I lived in Maryland (twice), California (twice) Washington, and Texas (twice), my Dad was in the Navy.

2 As an adult I have lived in Texas (three times) Oklahoma (twice) Tennessee, and Alaska (twice), Keith was in the Coast Guard.

3. I didn't get my drivers license until I was 19......but I still drove!

4. I grew up without air conditioning. My Dad installed it after living in the house for almost 25 years!

5. My first job was a summer job as a grill cook at a skating rink in Corpus Christi.

6. I met Keith in Sallisaw OK....and we lived happily ever after.

7. Even though we moved a lot when I was young, I only went to two schools.

8. I wasn't a popular person in school.

9. I tried out for cheerleader my freshman year of high school....didn't make it.

10. I took Cosmetology classes during my junior and senior year...but never got my license.

11. We had a black and white TV until I was in Junior High.

12. I always wanted to be a teacher while I was growing up. Thought seriously about going to college about 15 years ago, but changed my mind.

13. I will turn 50 in April.....in Hong Kong.

14. I love to sing in the car with the music blasting.

15. I would like to go to a class reunion and see the people I went to school with.

16. I love to cook, especially with Keith.

17. I drug out the sewing machine and will start sewing again. I have always enjoyed it!

18. I am not a huge fan of flying, but will do it when I have to.

19. I love being a Nana.

20. I love being a friend to everyone...and best friend to Keith.

21. I became a fan of the Minnesota Vikings this passed season...laugh if you want to, but I have never followed one particular team and liked they way they beat the pants off of the Steelers...I also realized that Adrian Peterson was a Viking..woot woot.

22. I don't enjoy watching basketball, baseball , hockey, tennis or golf.

23. I love being a part of our church, Peoples Church.

24. I have dog named Molly. She is a miniature Dachshund.

25. Right now my favorite song is 'Then' by Brad Paisley.

Affair of the Heart

2010-02-20T08:24:00.002-06:00

I have lived in OKC for 13 years now and have never gone to Affair of the Heart, but have always wanted to. So, this year I was determined to go and check it out. I have the sewing/create bug right now and thought I could probably be inspired if I took the time to go. As the day got closer I still hadn’t found anyone to go with me and while I wouldn’t mind going alone, shopping is always more fun with a friend! I mentioned to Keith that I hadn’t found anyone to go with me and he offered to go. What a guy! I know he probably could have thought of a thousand other things to do that day, but instead he choose to go to a giant craft market with me.

I have always heard it is a huge affair, but was really shocked at how many cars we saw when we pulled up on that Saturday. We did manage to find an ‘up close’ parking spot and headed towards the ‘line’. We got our map and I purchased a bag to carry all my goodies in and off we went. It is amazing the things people create with a t-shirt and some tulle, or fabric and tulle or wood and tulle---LOL I saw lots of tulle! I would share some pictures, but there was a sign when we entered that said ‘no photos’! I was bummed since I had hoped to take a ton. We walked through the first building (there were 7) and my ‘bag’ was still empty. However, we did find a wall hanging for our bedroom….I love this saying.

They held it at the booth so we didn’t have to lug it around, so yes, after the first building my bag was still empty. After several additional buildings we found all the people for all the cars we saw in the parking lot. LOL In the end we found some great Rosemary/Garlic dipping oil, several packages of spices to make chili and gumbo and Molly got a new collar with some bling.

It was a lot of walking, but we enjoyed looking at all the creativity that was there. Now I am inspired to make something…hmmm..let me think….probably something with tulle!

I can’t wait for the next time Affair of the Heart comes to town; I even saved my bag so I wouldn’t have to spend $1 on a new one!

My Special Valentine

2010-02-20T08:15:00.000-06:00

Keith surprised me (in a big way) with a singing Valentine at work. I was in a meeting with my boss when I looked up and saw a familiar face peaking in…immediately I knew he (Caleb) was there to sing! He has become our personal anniversary, vow renewal and Valentines singer! I jumped up screaming and clapping…yes, I was acting like an idiot, but I LOVE~LOVE~LOVE when Keith has Caleb sing for/to me! And Keith had totally surprised me! It turns out that Caleb brought his group (Wild & Sweet) so all 5 filed into my office and sang Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You, and I’m Yours. They sang I’m Yours acappella , both songs were amazing. They are amazing singers! There were a ton of people in my office and hanging out in my assistant’s office, but I can’t tell you who…I was oblivious to anyone but Keith and the singers. It’s funny I have heard people say that before and thought they were crazy, but I really didn’t see anyone else! Later I heard from lots of ladies that Keith is the best (which I know) and that they cried….well, so did I! Unfortunately no one got any of this on camera…………..*sniff*sniff* But, it is forever etched in my memory as one of the BEST Valentines Days ever.

Love you Keith…

Brandon’s Birthday

2010-02-19T07:08:00.002-06:00

We celebrated Brandon’s birthday at our house with the whole gang. I love when we all get together……I love my family.

Brandon is our son in law and is truly a blessing to us. We have enjoyed having him in our family and look forward to a bazillion more birthdays with him

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for him and then let the little kids decorate. It cracks me up that ‘sprinkles’ turn into piles when they decorate. I let each one pick a candle to put on the cake….32 candles would have set off the smoke alarm! Once we sang Happy Birthday they all helped him blow them out. It was a great evening!

Oklahoma Snows

2010-02-18T19:18:00.007-06:00

We have had more snow this winter than I can remember in the 13 years we have lived here. I love the snow and enjoyed every flake that fell, including the blizzard on Christmas Eve. I had to have Matt drive me home from work because I couldn’t see, but once I was safe and sound I thought it was a perfect way to spend Christmas. I was a little worried that Matt would be stuck at our house, but Brandon, our son in law was able to drive over in his truck and take him home. Of course that was after he and his cousins drove around Mustang pulling people out of ditches. He was completely in his element that day. Thanks Brandon!

I took some pics of the snow that was piled up around our house at Christmas

and even had Matt measure the drifts on our back patio, but

my picture taking abilities really don’t do it justice.

I love the icicles that form on the edge of the house…..

I also like the way the snow in our yard and around our house looks from the street! Sorry to see the snow season pass, but I am ready for Spring…and my tulips are already trying to grow! Crazy!

Homemade Pizza

2010-01-20T21:30:00.002-06:00

Keith and I found a pizza recipe about a year ago that we both really enjoy. We try to have it at least once a month. I think I found it in a Cooking for 2 recipe magazine, but don't remember for sure. Here is the recipe:

1 thin crust Pillsbury pizza dough (in the tube like biscuits)
garlic & oregano pesto (I found this at Walmart)
roasted red peppers (in oil)
fresh mushrooms
mozzarella cheese

I cook the crust for about 5 minutes in a 400 degree oven on my pizza stone to have a crispier crust, but you don't have to. Then I spread the pesto on the crust, add the roasted red peppers, mushrooms and cheese. Bake as directed for the crust. It is YUMMY!

I made an artichoke marinated salad to go along with our pizza last night. I have never eaten artichokes that weren't mixed in something else, so I was a little leery. I marinated a can of artichokes (cut into quarters) in a glass bowl with a palm full of oregano, 2 cloves of garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. I made it in the morning and refrigerated it until dinner. We really enjoyed this as a side to our pizza. I recommend it!

Upgrade

2010-01-19T19:09:00.005-06:00

Earlier this month while the little boys and I were making a 'happy birthday' cake for Matt (their Dad) my mixer burned up and died. It was about 12 years old and had really worked hard during December for lots of cookie making, so I wasn't surprised. I was a little sad, because I don't enjoy mixing anything by hand!

I have always wanted a Kitchenaid mixer....it's so heavy duty and does most of the work for you! I decided it was time to upgrade and to make an investment! So, I searched the internet until I found the right price...Amazon dot com! LOL It only took 3 days to arrive and now it has a special place on my counter...until I find a place to store in the pantry.

I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but plan to make cookies soon!

Happy mixing!

Updates

2010-01-11T16:57:00.002-06:00

1. Matt turned 25 on the 4th. It seems like just yesterday he was learning to drive; time sure flies. We are so proud of the young man he has grown to be. We celebrated at Brandon and Michele's house with brisket and potatoes. Michele also made mac and cheese and dinner rolls from scratch. It was a great family dinner!

2. Rylee and I had a conversation about 'having Jesus in our heart' on New Years Eve. It went like this:

Rylee: Nana, do you have Jesus in your heart?
Me: Yes, Rylee, I do. Do you have Jesus in your heart?
Rylee: Yes
long silence....
Rylee: But, Nana, I don't remember him going down my 'froat' (aka throat)

We ended that conversation with further explanation of how Jesus got into her heart. Not so sure she walked away convinced!

3. We sang my favorite (okay one of my favorite) songs on Sunday, From the Inside Out, by Hillsong. I love that no matter what, God loves me, when I fail, he picks me up and puts me back on track for his ultimate purpose.....and I want to continue to grow in him from the inside out!

4. Keith and I ate at IHOP on Saturday morning before we headed out for some shopping, it was great. On Sunday we ate at Jimmy's Egg before he took me to the airport....it was way better. Our new favorite place for breakfast is Jimmy's Egg!

5. Our church is beginning 2010 with a fast. Keith and I talked about it and decided we are going to fast tv in the evening and spend that time together in prayer and bible reading. I am excited to do this with him.

6. We also received a bible reading plan this past Sunday from our church that we intend to use this year. I am looking forward to growing in my relationship with God by reading his word and my relationship with Keith by discussion from what we read.

7. I finally found a store that sells dress pants in my size in Long! It is so hard to find pants or jeans long enough. I am over the top happy! *Woot*Woot*

8. Keith and I are planning several spring and summer getaways. I am ready for time away to relax.

9. We are looking forward to the Wednesday Night Connect starting back up on the 20th of this month. We met so many new people last semester and have formed some new relationships.

10. On Friday night Keith rented several movies and we ordered pizza. It was a great stay at home date night. One of the movies we watched was My Sister's Keeper...okay, this was a huge tear jerker. It was good, but very sad.

Brrr...it's chilly

2010-01-07T17:52:00.002-06:00

Winter came in officially on Christmas Eve and is hanging on with a tight grip. Last night we listened as the newest blast of winter air blew in and brought the temps down to the teens. I had put a roast on in the crock pot in the morning, so we enjoyed it in the warmth of our house while the north wind blew against the front door. I can’t think of anything better than some good comfort food during the cold temperatures. We still have snow drifts in our front yard from Christmas and our decorative deer are still buried. Of course the lights are still up on the house and around the yard since we haven’t had temps above 40ish. Hope it doesn’t turn out to be Easter before we can get them down! Something about that really bugs me, must be the OCD in me!
The news warned that water pipes would burst if they froze so before we went to bed we turned the faucets on to drip with the cabinet doors open so the heat would reach them. We lost power multiple times during the night…..I know this because the microwave beeps when it comes back on…grrrrrr. We started using a sound machine several years ago and listen to ‘rain’ while sleeping. I jokingly said to Keith, ‘we will know the power goes off if it stops raining’. Well, it did stop raining, but when it came back on it switched sounds and birds were chirping! So, between the beeping of the microwave, the rain quitting and the birds chirping we didn’t get much sleep!
We did have power when we woke up this morning, the pipes weren’t frozen and there was no ice on the roads. That’s HUGE and I was very happy!
Here’s to a better night’s sleep tonight and some more cold weather tomorrow!

My Fantastic Family!

2010-01-02T23:22:00.000-06:00

Look what God gave me......

Christy is Matt's beautiful wife and is a great blessing to our family. She is sweet and gentle...adores her husband and loves being a mommy to their two sons, Emery and Liam.

Matt is our youngest child--Christy's handsome husband, I have enjoyed watching him grow into a great man, husband and daddy.

Emery is our second oldest grandchild and loves monster trucks. He has one in his hand and carried it the entire photo shoot. :-)

Liam is our youngest grandchild and loves cars and trucks that are animated.

Brandon is Michele's wonderful husband and is a blessing to our family. He adores Michele and is the best daddy to his beautiful daughters, Rylee and Jaedyn.

Michele is our oldest child..Brandon's beautiful wife. She has a beautiful giving heart and loves being a wife and mommy.

Rylee is our oldest grandchild and her favorite thing right now is having a purse with make up in it.

Jaedyn is our third grandchild and loves to sing. She is always singing.

Last, but most certainly not least, Keith...Matt and Michele's Dad....and my smokin' hot husband of 25 years. I love him and we are having the time of our lives......

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T22:14:00.002-06:00

It's 2010...amazing.

I remember back in the mid 70's trying to imagine what it would be like in the year 2000...living like the Jetsons, spaceships and robots! A little like Lost in Space with a little bit of the Jetsons thrown in. It's funny to reflect on the conversations we had as teenagers when we tried to imagine life in the next century. LOL

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T21:27:00.000-06:00

We had a fantastic Christmas this year...I am pretty sure we have one every year, but for some reason this one was 'over the top'. (in my opinion)

Keith and his nephew got the outside decorated on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The weather was in the 70's! Crazy isn't it. They worked all day to get the lights up and it looked great!

I worked on the inside of the house. One of my favorite things to do is get the Nativity out that I inherited from my Dad. This Nativity was handmade by the Nuns at the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Corpus Christi, TX and given to our family in 1972. I treasure it! My Dad was a huge help to them when I was a kid and they LOVED him. They were always a part of our lives and I remember them all fondly. They moved from Corpus to Brennan TX in the 1981 and began raising miniature horses. I hope to be able to visit them sometime this year. The donkey in my nativity lost an ear a long time ago and I hope to be able to replace him. Well, probably not replace him because he is fondly called our 'unidonkey' and the nativity wouldn't be the same without him! But, maybe I can find one that isn't handicapped to add to our scene.

Keith and I purchased a new tree and all new decorations this year. It was so much fun searching for all the right ornaments and all the right colors. I don't think a day went by that I didn't smile when I looked at our 'new' tree. We even bought wrapping paper to 'coordinate' with the ornaments. The one thing I couldn't find this year was a tree topper, so I settled for an old angel that we had. I will have to look next Christmas before they are all picked over.

It started snowing on Christmas Eve and didn't stop until late in the evening. We woke up to a white Christmas, it was wonderful! Keith and I spent Christmas Day together and enjoyed most of the day snuggled up watching movies. I fixed crab cakes and shrimp scampi for our Christmas dinner, it was very good!

Christmas with the kids and grandkids was the day after Christmas at our house. Our tradition is breakfast first and then we open presents. This year we had breakfast burritos and chocolate gravy with biscuits. It was a hit! Presents were passed and opened and EVERYONE was happy! The little kids decorated individual birthday cakes for Jesus--they were adorable. They each got a candle, we sang Happy Birthday (actually Emery and I were the only singers) to Jesus and everyone blew out their candle. It was fun and they all enjoyed eating cake!
Christmas was a blessing again this year. I love this time of year and absolutely love that I have a great family around me to share in it each year! I am BLESSED.

Little-Big Things

2009-12-02T17:37:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it’s the little things (that are really big things) that make me smile. I am a morning person, to the extreme! I hit the ground running when the alarm goes off each morning at 5:00. I can get more done in the few hours before I go to work than I can in the evening when I get home. I love to get all the ‘home’ stuff done before I leave for work. You know, bills, balance the checkbook, laundry, empty the dishwasher, plan dinner, straighten up, and any other little things that need my attention, plus shower, dress, eat and fix a lunch. I bounce around in the morning from this thing to the next, but feel good when I walk out the door if ‘it’s’ all done. Occasionally there are things that are left undone and while it doesn’t bug me through out the day, it can make me frown once I get home in the evening. One of the things I love to have done, but sometimes don’t get to is making the bed. Wellllll, on the mornings when I don’t get to it, Keith does it for me. I don’t ask him to, I don’t hint at it, I don’t even mention I’m not going to get to it, he just knows. I love when I walk into the bedroom a few minutes before walking out the door and see this.

The funny thing is I will say out loud “Awww, he made the bed” and it makes me smile.

Love you sweetie…thanks for doing this thing that seems little to you, but is really huge to me!

Enchilada Casserole

2009-11-11T07:05:00.003-06:00

1 lb. hamburger
1 pkg corn tortillas ( I got the 24 pack)
1 can ranch style beans
1 can rotel
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sliced colby cheese (I used sliced pepper jack)
1 onion, chopped ( I used green onion)

Brown hamburger, drain. Lightly grease bottom and sides of your casserole dish and layer corn tortillas on bottom and up the sides.
Layer the following ingredients on top of tortillas:

hamburger
chopped onion
ranch style beans
sliced cheese

Add another layer of tortillas covering the top. Mix soups, rotel and green chilis together and pour over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

You can substitute cooked chicken for the hamburger. I think I will try it with the chicken next time. This was really yummy! We added it to our 'have it again' list.

Enjoy!

Quick thoughts.....

2009-11-07T08:10:00.005-06:00

1.)I prefer my toenails in the summer time and perfectly polished over the nakedness of them in the winter. They are u.g.l.y without polish!

2.)Wednesday night after our connect groups Keith and I were talking with a friend in the lobby area when their 3 year old niece said something to me that I didn’t understand. I asked her what she said, but still didn’t understand (I hate that). ‘Auntie’ asked her again and she said “you danced with him”, talking to me. For goodness sakes, this little girl remembered Keith and I dancing at our vow renewal reception. How sweet!

3.)Michele took Rylee on a mother/daughter shopping trip this week. Evidently Rylee prefers lip gloss and bling over clothing. During their trip she would walk into the store and if there wasn’t any lip gloss she would say ‘I’m done, let’s go”! Her store of choice on this trip was Claire’s.

4.)Jaedyn turns 3 this month and will be having a Minnie Mouse party.

5.)Surrendering control of my life to God is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of faith.

6.)I am ready to decorate for Christmas….Keith is not. :-)

7.)I am enjoying all my new relationships that I am building through Wednesday Night Connect.

8.)Keith and I went to a Mustang/South Moore football game with some friends. This is our first HS football game since we moved here 12 years ago…sad isn’t it. South Moore won, 22-19...it was a great game! We ate at Chilis after the game...didn't get home and in bed until after midnight..broke curfew..LOL

9.)Keith and I will be reviewing our budget/finances for next year. We want to live off less than we make, give more and save....be better stewards of our money in 2010. If you need to learn how to honor God with your finances I recommend the new series that our church is in called Green Peace. We have 3 experiences for you to choose from- 9:00, 10:30 and 12:00. See you on Sunday…come ready to be blessed!

10.)Emery turns 4 this month and his party will be all about Spiderman

Have a blessed weekend!

Family Pictures

2009-11-07T08:09:00.002-06:00

We met a friend/photographer at Hafer Park in Edmond and had family photos taken. This is our first time to do this and we had a blast. It will now be family tradition! We did some posey posey pictures, but the rest were candid photos of us playing. We hid behind trees and threw leaves. Jaedyn wanted to climb a tree, so we put her into one. Keith climbed into it a little later and then pulled me up....old people in a tree.hmmmm. However the little kids thought it was great and a couple of them let us pull them up with us, those will be great photos. I am excited to get them back and will be sure to post a few. After about little over an hour of picture taking and running around the little kids were done. So we called it a day and headed to Steak ‘n Shake….great food and shakes....and of course awesome family time. Keith and I got different burgers and then shared…the Guacamole burger was my favorite. I finished my meal off with a Peppermint Chocolate Shake….YUMMY.
Once again, another fun family adventure.

I love my family

Halloween

2009-11-07T08:00:00.003-06:00

The family met at Matt and Christy’s house on Halloween for pizza and we walked the kiddos around their neighborhood. We had some great costumes this year. Snow White, Mulan, Spiderman and a Fireman were this year’s costumes of choice. I love to see them dressed it. I bought some costumes after Halloween for dress up at Nana and Papa’s house…can’t wait! We headed out after dark, which wasn’t our plan, but we had a pizza issue that I won’t go into! LOL As soon as we stepped out the door Emery said, ‘Nana, I am going to be scared’. I took his hand and told him it would be alright, I wouldn't let him be scared. He doesn’t like the ‘scary’ things about the holiday and steers clear of them. There were several houses that he wouldn’t go to because there were ghosts or ghoulish characters in the yard or on the porch, but those people were all very nice and came down to the street to give him his candy. There were also a few occasions that we had to stand between him and a scary costume so he wouldn’t see it. However, when he would see a carved pumpkin, he would say ‘It’s okay, it’s just a pumpkin.’! Not his favorite holiday! The rest of the gang did fine, although no matter how many times you said ‘don’t run or you will fall’ they all ran and we did have one accident. No major injuries, just total wipe out on a drive way. We also worked on them saying ‘thank you’, which was usually said as they were running away to the next house! It makes me laugh now at the memory of it.
It was another great family evening….

Fall Family Fun

2009-11-06T17:09:00.008-06:00

We enjoyed a trip to Orr Family Farm early in the fall season. We wanted to take advantage of the warm October weather and spend some quality time with our kids and grandkids. What better way to do it then take them to a place with every kind of fun imaginable. It seemed this year they had added some great fun things to do. The carousel was a hit for the girls, but neither of the little boys would ride a horse, they choose to sit in the benches. But they rode it twice, so the motion doesn’t bother them, just the horses. They played a little in the park, petted a lot of animals and the girls rode the ponies….again the boys weren’t thrilled with the horses! We rode the train….it took a long time and went really slow…not sure what exactly we were looking at. Saw a house, some grass, a pond, maybe a horse or two and some more grass! The kids loved it though, especially when we went by the pond. There were these giant ‘pillows’ for you to jump on…I didn’t jump, but took pictures instead. Everyone else enjoyed a little bit of time on that and then we headed over to the giant bikes. That was a huge hit. We saved the hayride for last so we wouldn’t have to lug around our pumpkins. There was a corn maze that we paid extra to do, but once inside realized it wasn’t an activity for pre-schoolers. They all wanted to be carried after only a few minutes inside. Luckily Matt had taken a picture of the maze map with his iphone before we headed in and he was able to get us out in record time. We did the micro version of the corn maze! I was very thankful for his great navigational skills!

We ended our day at our house with a hot dog/sausage cookout and pumpkin painting. The little kids were very artistic! It was an awesome fall adventure.

Diamond in the Rough

2009-10-28T17:31:00.000-05:00

There was a time in my life, really not so long ago, that I thought I was nothing special. I felt as though I was beneath all those that I came in contact with and would probably never amount to much. The enemy would like us to hang onto the things of our past and never attain the true knowledge of who we are in Christ, but God’s word tells me that I am more valuable than silver and gold. I am above and not beneath, the head and not the tail. Most of all I am a conqueror! Today I heard the words diamond in the rough and I felt like that was a good definition of who I am in Christ. I ‘googled’ it and found the following definition:

Someone that has hidden exceptional characteristics and/or future potential, but currently lacks the final touches that would make them truly stand out from the crowd.
The phrase is metaphorical and relates to the fact that naturally occurring diamonds are quite ordinary at first glance, and that their true beauty as jewels is only realized through the cutting and polishing process.

Over these last few years (weeks and months) I have allowed God to work and form me into the woman that He designed me to be. At first glance I might seem ordinary to you, but God doesn’t design ordinary. We are each individually crafted and designed into the gem He wants us to be. Each of us will shine in a different way and have unique ‘cuts’ that allow us to shine in specific lighting. I have come to realize that through the cutting and polishing I am a new jewel, treasured by the Jeweler, carefully crafted and gently polished so that I can shine for Him. God treasures me enough to help me find my hidden potential and make me stand out from the crowd. The cutting and polishing may not always be comfortable or enjoyable, but when all is said and done I will shine. The shining isn’t about me or who I am…but instead it is all about Christ and who I am in Him.

I can continue to allow the past to dictate who I am or I can allow the Jeweler to continue to cut and polish until I am the precious stone that He knows I am. I choose to be cut and polished, I choose to be a Diamond in the Rough. How about you?

Hamburger Stew

2009-10-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

It's my favorite time of the year when it comes to cooking....well, not really....I love to barbeque as much as I like to make soups and stews...LOL Tonight I threw together one of my favorite quick dinners, Hamburger Stew, so I thought I would share the recipe.....

1.5 lbs. hamburger
1 large can of large cut Veg all (don't drain the juice off)
1-15 oz can of small cut Veg all (don't drain the juice off)
1- 15 oz can creamed corn
1 small can of original rotel
1-15 oz can beef broth
1 package of spanish rice mix (the kind in the pouch) ( I use the walmart brand)
1-11.5 oz can Snap-E-Tom Tomato & Chili Cocktail (you find it by the tomato juice)

Brown your hamburger with a little onion and garlic powder....dump in the rest of the ingredients..simmer until the rice is cooked and eat! It is really yummy and quick! We enjoy it with cornbread.....

Weekend Off

2009-10-11T20:56:00.000-05:00

Keith and I decided we needed to get away this weekend and relax. We have been so busy this last few weeks that we just wanted to get away and 'chill'. As the weekend got closer we decided we didn't really want to drive anywhere. A chauffer and a limo would have been nice, but since we don't have either we decided to stay home. Friday we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and enjoyed some shopping before heading home. Once home we snuggled into the couch and watched some recorded TV. It had been a while since we had time to sit and watch any of our recorded shows, so it literally took us all weekend. Of course we also watched the Sooners and Dallas Cowboys games and caught several hours of The President's Cup. Saturday morning we slept until 7:30, enjoyed coffee and breakfast then settled in for more recorded shows! I made Chicken Marsala for lunch/dinner and we both enjoyed a large bowl of ice cream for dessert...with caramel, fudge and cool whip. :-) Sunday's sleep in time was 8:30...not sure how I slept that long, normally I am awake by 7 with the feeling I have way overslept. I must have needed the extra rest. We enjoyed a late breakfast and did a little bit of laundry, but overall it was another relaxing day. Now we are both chilling on the couch, we have caught up with all our tv and are ending our weekend off with the Tennessee and Indianapolis game. I love these relaxing weekends off.

More vows

2009-10-03T08:09:00.000-05:00

Here are the words I shared with Keith at our vow renewal.

Dear Keith, I love you….thank you for this awesome celebration of our love. I am blessed to be your wife, honored to share life with you. I smile when I look back at the last 25 years, which by the way flew by. What a journey this has been and what a journey we have ahead of us. Remember that first night we met? The first thing I noticed was your beautiful blue eyes. Over the years those eyes have always looked at me with love and tenderness. They do sometimes look at me with wonder and quite often with “oh know you didn’t”. But, most of the time it’s just love! Your heart shines through your eyes and I am glad that you only have a heart and eyes for me.

You have always loved me like God loves the church. Thank you for showing me what it means to be loved unconditionally, for introducing me to God by displaying Him in your life. Thank you for loving me through thick and thin, in my good times and my bad.
You are my knight in shining armor, my hero, the person I want to wake up next to and lay down with at night. I want to hold your hand, know your heart and share your dreams. You are an awesome husband, lover and friend.

What a wonderful Dad you have been to our children and I love to watch you be a Papa to our beautiful grandchildren.

In James 1:17 it says ‘every good and perfect gift comes from God’ Today I want you and all those here to know that you are my good and perfect gift from God and I will love you always and forever.

25th Anniversary Wedding Vows

2009-10-02T05:15:00.001-05:00

While we were planning our vow renewal we decided we wanted to be 'different'. One way to do that was to leave out the 'typical' vows and write our own. Here are Keith's vows and I will share mine in another blog.

September 26, 2009
On September 28th, 1984, 25 years ago, God joined our hearts together and we became one. I am so thankful that God chose you and me to travel this journey together. We have had some of the most memorable and amazing times together and there have been some difficult times as well, but there is one very important belief that we share. That belief is that we both know that our relationship with God is number one. You and I have been extremely blessed with a beautiful family and did I mention precious grandchildren? God has truly shined on us.
With that said, in front of our family and friends…Winnie, for the next 25+ years, I promise to continue to love, respect and cherish you, to laugh with you during the funny times, and comfort you during the sad times, to always support you as you strive to reach your goals in life, to love you even when the Dallas Cowboys and the Sooners are losing, to listen to you with compassion and understanding, to encourage you when you are discouraged, to be more sensitive to your needs when you’re sick, to always take you on romantic get-aways, and to play lots of golf while you enjoy lots of shopping.
But seriously, I just want to say ‘thank you’ for putting up with me for the last 25 years. God has truly blessed my life with a beautiful woman inside and out. I love you so much and I look forward to continuing our journey together. I’m confident with this renewal of our vows, that our love and commitment will grow even stronger. I will continue to give you my everything from this day forward, and I will love you always and forever.

Our Amazing Day

2009-10-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

On September 26th, Keith and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary and renewed our wedding vows. It was the most amazing day!!! We planned this event over the last year and did everything in ‘our’ power to make it unforgettable. But, all the planning on our part couldn’t exceed what God did. The sun was shining, the winds were calm and there were butterflies enjoying the flowers that surrounded the ceremony area. Keith and I both woke up at 3 that morning with our heads swirling, knowing that our big day had arrived. At 4 we enjoyed a cup of coffee in bed, talking about the day ahead of us. As the morning kicked off, I was having nervous stomach issues and was a little sick for a few hours and of course somewhat emotional. But, by the time we arrived at the Dominion House, I was walking on air. It was time to change into our formal attire and shoot some family pictures. Our family, including our Pastor, looked amazing all decked out. We had the most awesome photographer, Ashlea Wright, she was all about taking candid shots which we loved…can’t wait to see the pics. We had been praying for good weather since we had been experiencing rain for several weeks, so I was so happy when we saw the sun. God is so good! All praise goes to Him for not only the beautiful day, but for the relationship that Keith and I share.
Thank you to our Pastor for doing an amazing job officiating the ceremony. Herbert and Tiffany have been a huge influence in our lives over the last 6 years and we wanted them to be a part of this celebration. Their example as husband and wife has allowed Keith and I to grow in our relationship with one another. Their spiritual leadership has also guided us to a stronger relationship with God. We are so blessed to be a part of their ministry.
Also, thank you - to all those who shared in this day with us. We were blessed to have all of you share this wonderful celebration with us.
Here are a few pictures from our day. I will post the ‘professional’ photos when we have them.

Happy Birthday Keith

2009-09-07T08:10:00.000-05:00

Keith's 49th birthday was Friday. We celebrated at our house with a brisket dinner followed by an ice cream cake. Earlier in the week I asked the little kids what kind of cake we should get for Papa for his 'happy birthday'. Rylee said a blue star cake and no one else really had an opinion. You can always count on Rylee having ideas/opinions! Anyway, I searched and couldn't find one, so I got a small ice cream cake and found star candles. After dinner I pulled the cake out and Rylee's first question was why isn't it blue! LOL The little ones each chose a candle and we put them on the cake. It was cute to hear them singing Happy Birthday. Emery sang it for the rest of the evening....too cute.

Here are some pictures from the fun family get together.

Visits with the kids always end with horsey rides and they always want to ride together! This horsey is too old for that much weight! However, the horsey's wife thinks he still the hottest horsey in the barn.

The big kids were there as well, but I didn't get pictures of them....hmmmmm.

Night of Fun

2009-08-29T19:20:00.000-05:00

I picked up Rylee and Jaedyn on my way home from work last night to sleepover. It had been too long since we had had them over. On the way to the house I asked them what we should do and Rylee said we should eat with "Memory" (aka Emery) and Liam, play at the park and then take Molly (our dog) for a walk. Keith and I had talked about taking them to Chuck E. Cheese, but when I mentioned it to Rylee she said she was scared of him....we didn't want an evening of hysterics, so I hoped Keith would think their idea was a better one. Once we got to our house Keith checked with Matt and plans were made to meet at the park. Rylee was so excited to see Emery and she immediately complimented his new haircut. She is so grown up and loves hanging out with Emery. We sat down to eat our picnic and every fly in OK made an appearance. It was gross, but we managed to eat real fast. The kids snacked because they were too excited to play and off they went. They really did quite a bit of running around and we took a very long walk to the pond to see the ducks. It was some great exercise for us and the kids had a blast. When it was time to leave the park Emery didn't understand why he wasn't going with us. It only took me 1 second to decide Christy needed to run home and get them some sleepover gear and bring them back. His sad face turned happy right away. By the time we left the park it was getting dark, but Rylee didn't forget that we were going to take Molly for a walk. She was excited to help put Molly's 'buckle' (harness) on. It was a short walk on our street which for little legs was plenty. The kids ran like crazy once Christy got the boys back to our house. One would think they would be worn out from 2 hours at the park....but they weren't. They played hard until about 10:30, then we settled in for the night. Nana slept with Rylee, Emery and Jaedyn in the guest room and Liam slept with Papa in the king size bed. I still haven't figured out why it turns out that way, but the kids always want to sleep in the 'big girl/boy bed' with Nana.....one day I will talk them into the king size bed. Hopefully!

Jaedyn and Emery were up first, but at least it was after 8. Once everyone else was up we ate waffles on the back porch, played for a few minutes then came in and got dressed. The kids wanted to take Molly for another walk and let Papa pull them in our wagon. It was a much longer walk than last night, but 3 rode in the wagon while each child had a chance to hold the 'buckle' and walk Molly. Molly was exhausted when we got back, but the kids were fired up and ready to go!

On a funny note, Rylee asked if I had a purse she could play with so I pulled one down from the closet and off she went to fill it with cell-phones and sunglasses. Of course, it only took a minute for Emery to realize that she had a purse and he wanted one. So, I dug one out for him, too. He immediately went off to the toy room and filled it with cars. When he came walking out with it on his shoulder Papa wanted to know what he was doing! He said 'playing with my purse'....to which Papa replied, 'duffle bag Emery, duffle bag'! I must have heard Keith say that a hundred times last night and this morning. Emery did finally start calling it his duffle bag, but it took quite a bit of brainwashing from Papa first!

We ended our time together with lunch....and then it was time for parents to pick them up. It was great to have them over,but I was ready to relax and sit for a minute! I always enjoy our time with them and sometimes get a little emotional when I realize what a big blessing we have been given in each one of them.

This 'n That

2009-08-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

This summer has been so busy that my blogging has suffered from it. I make attempts to sit and blog, but always get sidetracked! I always thought summer time was a little less hectic than any other time of the year, but this summer has been very busy. I think Keith and I went out of town at least once each month beginning in May. We have never gotten away as much as we did this summer, but we enjoyed each trip we took.

Keith and I are working hard to pull together our 25th Anniversary vow renewal. So far we are on track with everything. The guys ordered their tuxes last week and I am being fitted for my dress tomorrow night. Hopefully I have lost enough weight that it will have to be taken in! I really wanted to loose my back fat since it is strapless and I think I have managed to do that. We’ll see tomorrow night! We are working to pull together as many loves songs from the 80’s that we can find. Some of them are pretty lame, but we loved them back then! I am on the hunt for a topper for the cake. I don’t want the traditional '25' that most people use, I want something different. I found a porcelain bride and groom in a dancing position, but can’t find it locally and am too cheap to pay $11.00 to have it shipped! I will be on the hunt this weekend. Also, we aren’t going to do the traditional exchanging of the rings, but want to do something different. Anyone with ideas? I really don’t know what I want to do, but want it to be as non-traditional as possible. We are both writing our own ‘letters’ to each other that we will read in place of the I Do’s. I would love to hear your ideas!

My tomato plants are finally growing some tomatoes! I can’t believe I had to wait all summer to finally get a home grown tomato. Well, one from my own plant anyway. I have eaten tons of them from other people (jealousy inserted here) that had plants that cooperated and produced in the right season. The upside is I have tomatoes now and everyone else is done. Hope I can grow enough to share with those who shared with me.

Rylee and Emery both start pre-school this week. I can’t believe they are both at the age to be doing this! They have grown so fast.

We attended our first Wednesday Night Connection at church last night. It was amazing to watch as people connected with each other. I had expected to encounter times of awkward silence, but that was not what took place at all. People connected right away within each small group that was formed in our class. There was so much laughing going on that it was hard to hear sometimes. If you didn’t come out, I want to encourage you to try it next week. Connecting people to God and to others is what it’s all about.

Keith has been fighting off a sinus infection for what feels like months, but I think it's only been a couple of weeks. He got a 'Z' pack on Wednesday and now he is sick to his stomach. Crazy!

Molly, our mini dachshund, had her first dental visit today. Weird, huh? She has had really bad breath for a few months and Keith noticed her gums were red the other night. So, off to the vet we went. She has gingivitis, was put on an antibiotic and had to have her teeth cleaned. This requires that they put her 'under', so it was a day visit for her. She is home now, with white teeth, that by the way were even given a fluoride treatment. Unfortunately she doesn't have dental insurance and we had to pay out of pocket!

We'll catch up again real soon!

Things that make me smile......

2009-08-04T17:59:00.000-05:00

Knowing that God loves me….no matter what!

Hearing Keith snore at night…yes, I know that’s weird, but I always smile…then I nudge him to roll over.

Going to sleep and waking up next to Keith, the love of my life.

Walking in God’s plan for me.

That I have two awesome children, who are blessed with great spouses, and knowing they all love and serve God.

Those beautiful grandkids….Rylee, Emery, Jaedyn and Liam Baby!

Worship music….especially in the car on the loudest volume possible!

Those ‘ah-ha’ moments with God!

Finding the right scripture that speaks to me at 'just the right time' ….God is good.

Quiet mornings by myself on the couch with my first cup of coffee….

And then the end of the day on the couch with Keith and a cup of hot tea.

Watching God do amazing things in my friends’ and families lives.

Babies

Attending a church that wants us to take our Light into the world and not hide it in the church.

What makes you smile?

Yes, we have no bananas

2009-07-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

Or tomatoes for that matter……..I had this same problem last year. I have two tomato plants this year and neither is producing the fruit they are born to produce. They are growing and making lots of pretty flowers, that to my understanding are suppose to be tomatoes in the making……but, NO…I have big leafy tomato-less bushes. Geesh, what am I doing wrong? Last year when I ran into this problem the advice I was given was to beat them with a paper sack or grab'em and shake‘em. So I grabbed that bad boy and shook the heck out of it. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but it worked. I had tomatoes through to the first freeze! Well, I have shaken these two little guys this year and sadly, it’s not working. Maybe I need to grab the paper bag!

P.S. This morning Keith found a big ugly green worm on one of the bushes. I decided to leave him alone...I mean what harm could he really do…..well, I came home today and he had eaten the leaves off one complete stem and was working on another. Needless to say I took him and his current meal off the plant and he took a one way flight into the field behind our house. Ewwwww

O' Happy Day

2009-07-12T16:10:00.001-05:00

So, I went to go get my hair trimmed yesterday at a new shop by a new stylist. I wasn't real nervous because she had been recommended to me by a friend. I don't know about you, but I get really frustrated when I have to search out a new stylist on a regular basis. About 4 months ago I had to do the same thing, but found someone that I really like, she did a great job and was available in the evenings after work. I had my hair cut by her 3 or 4 times and she even did an over the top job on coloring. Before my next appointment I received a call that she was no longer with the salon and if I would call back they would set me up with someone else. Well, let's just say this is the norm for this salon and the reason I left there several years ago....can't remember how I ended up back there, but anyway.....I was frustrated. So, I thought I would call and see if I could get her number or find out where she went. The information I got from the person who answered the phone was just a lot of drama and nothing that would help me in finding her. So the search for a new stylist began..........fast forward to last week. I called and made an appointment with this new salon/stylist for Saturday afternoon....walked through the door and there she was...the long lost stylist that had 'left a note, walked away and disappeared into the night, and changed her cell phone number'. I wanted to jump up and down...you know how it is ladies when you find that one person who can do with your hair what you want them to do and do it very well.. Well, Heather is that person for me........so the sweet stylist who I had an appointment with let Heather cut my hair. I am over the top happy! We have now exchanged cell phone numbers and become facebook friends.....just in case she ever leaves a note, walks away and disappears into the night.......thanks Heather for being awesome at what you do! Hair color is right around the corner. It is definitely a happy day!