The Year of No Holidays!

Hi, Everyone! Did you wonder where I've been all week? I haven't gone far - I've just spent most of the week in bed with bronchitis! Now, let's see, I missed Christmas and New Year's with the stomach flu, Easter with a bad cold that I never really got over, and now today is our 10th wedding anniversary, and I've been in bed with bronchitis! So I'm calling this the Year with No Holidays! But hey, I'm not complaining! Not when I have sweet sisters who have been enduring surgery, radiation treatment and chemotherapy! Now THEY are brave, not like me the whiner!

So, onto a more pleasant topic, like, uhmmm, how about gas prices, huh?! Just paid $3.84 per gallon - how about you where you live? It just makes me more determined than ever to combine trips and decrease my miles as much as possible! Last year I only drove a total of 3,778 miles, and the year before my total was 4,300 miles. This year I'm going to try to keep it under 3,000 miles! It does help that I can work from home - I'm a lucky girl!

Here is a fun little card for you to look at - I made it last weekend. It's simple but cute, and makes me think of alternative modes of transportation! Although it would be difficult for most of us to make our rounds in a sailboat! So here's hoping that your life will be clear sailing this weekend, may the wind always be at your back, and may the Good Lord watch over you until we meet again!

My Husband, the Fix-It Man

So I always wanted one of those fancy schmanzy grind and brew coffeemakers, and my sweet husband gave me one for Christmas this year. And I love it! Until the other day when this little spring popped out of the basket, and I couldn't get it back in. The spring goes around a little pokey thing, and the pokey thing goes into a hole in the basket, and that's what lets the coffee drip into the coffeemaker. So I showed the problem to my hubby, and he immediately said, "Oh, it looks like you've lost an O-ring." An O-ring??? Isn't that what made the space shuttle explode?? And I have one of those in my coffee maker??? Wow! This IS a fancy schmanzy coffee maker! Anyway, he took the basket and the spring and the pokey thing out to the garage, came back, and voila! Everything is back together and working now! He is so-o-o-o smart, isn't he???

I would show you a picture of him with the basket and the O-ring, but that would be kind of boring, so instead I'll show you a mini scrapbook page I made yesterday. I'm participating in a "Bible Verse Challenge", and each month we challenge ourselves to make a scrapbook page featuring one well-loved Bible verse. This is mine for - uh-h-h, February - I know, I know, I'm already behind schedule!! But I hope you like this picture - the Bible verse I chose is "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age" - now isn't that a nice promise to hang onto? It's definitely one of my favorites! I love how this page turned out, and I can say that because the design isn't my own! I got it from a very talented stamper named Laura Fredrickson - she is awesome! So I hope you enjoy it, and have a lovely Sunday!

(And watch out for those O-rings!)

Love and blessings,

The Little Flower That Tried Too Hard

Hi, Everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you're having a wonderful Friday and looking forward to a fun weekend. So far I have nothing planned for this weekend, and that's the best in my book! A two-day blank slate - woo-hoo! I wonder what I'll do . . . ! Remember how fun it was to get out of school on Friday afternoon, and know that you had all day Saturday and Sunday to play? What a terrific feeling!

Last night I decided to make another flower card, but I wanted to "dress" this one up a little bit. First I made the basic card - too plain, and I wasn't very fond of the colors I had chosen. So I added a little bling with a rhinestone in the middle of the flower. H-m-m-m, still not right, so I added glitter. Now the rest of the card looked too plain, so I added a row of tiny flowers along the bottom. That poor little card! The more I tried to dress her up, the sillier she looked! Have you ever had a situation in your life in which, the more you try to make something happen, the worse the situation gets? Yup, me too! That's when I need to step back, take a deep breath, stop fussing and picking at it, and give it to God. Then I need to let it go, and enjoy the beautiful day I've been given! So when I look at this gaudy little gussied-up flower, it will remind me to keep things simple, don't work everything to death, and relax!

Enjoy your weekend, and God bless!

Sunshine and Flowers!

Hi, Everyone!
I hope that whatever you are doing today, you are enjoying beautiful spring weather and sunshine in your soul! It was a perfect afternoon to spend in the back yard, working on my work "stuff" while Ken dug a new garden plot. Our lettuce and swiss chard are doing so well that he has decided to give them their very own personal garden, and he is creating another plot for tomatoes and carrots. The grapevine grows several inches a day, and the orange tree is full of teensy, tiny little green orbs that will someday hopefully grow into big, fat juice navel oranges.

In celebration of this beautiful spring weather, here are a couple of flower cards I whipped up. And see, that little spring lamb had to get in the picture, too! One card says, "Time spent with friends is time well spent" The other says, "May your day bloom with happiness". And so, friend, it's been fun spending time with you, and may the rest of your day bloom with happiness! Until next time, God bless!

Happy Tax Day!

Hi, Everyone, Happy Tax Day!

I hope your income taxes have long been completed and filed for another year, and if not, well, you'd better jump off this blog and get going on them! Only a few more hours until the filing deadline! Why, ours have been filed for . . . forever! . . . or, uhmm, at least three or four days, now! And good riddance, too!

And on to happier topics, here are some cards I've been "working" on lately. I just love the Boho look, and I can't stop using these stamps! So if you are in my family, you will probably receive one of these cards some day, 'cause, well, they're just so, so pretty and fun to make! I especially like the sentiments - some say, "You make my life a beautiful thing", others say, "Always on my mind - forever in my heart". And that is how I feel about all of you! You make my life beautiful, and you are always and forever in my heart!

I like the "Wanted" ones, too, because they can say, "Wanted" " ... to wish you a Happy Birthday", "to wish you well", "to say congratulations" or whatever you want to say!

And speaking of congratulations, the news is out! It will be another little baby boy for Jay and Julie! Now that just makes my heart dance, being the Mom of two boys myself! I'm so happy that little Jack will have a brother! Hugs and kisses to you guys, and the new little fella, too!

So to each one of you, I send my love! Keep coming back - and hey, add a comment if you wish!

A New Beginning!

It's been a beautiful spring day, and it's time for a new adventure! Join me as I explore the world of blogging, stamping, musing and learning! We might take little side trips into the realms of knitting and embroidery, and we will certainly visit the children, share our spiritual journeys, and enjoy some vacation travel from time to time. Today was a lovely day, and I carried my work (my work work, not my stampin' work!) outside to the patio. I made phone calls and sent emails, wrote reports, soaked up some sun, and delighted in watching the kitties prowl in the myoporium, chasing lizards and butterflies and little buggy flying things. Periodically I hopped up to move a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer or fix a snack. But primarily it was an outdoor-working type of sunny, happy day! No time for stamping, though! But maybe tomorrow! Until then . . . thanks for stopping by, and God bless!