This Weekend, I

. . . Finally chose the paint colors I wanted to paint my kitchen. Nothing stresses me out more than picking out colors. It took me literally two whole years.

. . . Bought said colors before I could chicken out again.

. . . Bought all disposable painting supplies. I hate to paint. I would rather take a beating. And cleaning up paint supplies is the worst part of all. This way I could just throw it all away when I got done. Proved to be a brilliant plan.

. . . Friday night I began painting the kitchen.

. . . Made a midnight run to Wal*mart to get one more disposable paint supply item.

. . . Slept till 9:15 on Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time I slept that late. My daughter said she thought I had died!

. . . Saturday was spent finishing the painting project. What a great clean feeling. I love the finished product. It turned out even better than I had hoped.

. . . If you are interested, the colors I chose were Brown Tepee and Lost Atlantis. Fancy names for blue and brown.

. . . Made some salsa and guacamole. My recipe is just a little of this and a little of that and you never know for sure what the end product will taste like. This was a stellar batch.

. . . Met our kids at the Dairy Queen for a hot fudge Sundae. Don't remember the hot fudge ever tasting so good.

. . . Mowed the lawn with my husband. And wondered for the hundredth time why I get the push mower and he gets the riding mower.

. . . Took my yorkie, Willow, to the groomer. Nothing nicer than a freshly groomed dog.

. . . Enjoyed our Sunday morning church service.

. . . Cleaned up the house - getting ready for another week.

How about you? Join in on the weekend fun over at Becky's.

Grandsweetie Update

It occurred to me the other day that it has been a while since I have posted any kind of picture of my little grandsweeties. So when they were here on Sunday I got them to stop a minute to take a picture with me. I can't believe how grown up they are. They are both talking a mile a minute - the only difference is their volume. Tyler is LOUD and Ava is quiet. They both are the sweetest little children imaginable. We just love them so much.

Our third little grandchild, Aiden Ryan, isn't scheduled to come until September 1 but the doctor said today that she expects him to make an appearance in the next couple of weeks. His mama seems to lean towards 8 month pregnancies. That means I have to finish knitting his blankets and finish up some sewing. Yikes!! Tyler had so many baby things, his little brother didn't really need anything. But every baby deserves something new I think. So I am knitting two blankets and making some receiving blankets for him out of super soft flannel. I can't wait to meet him. I am curious to see how having a new baby will change the dynamics we have going. Ahhhh. . . . a new, sweet little infant. What a blessing!

This Weekend, I . . .

* Hosted one of my daughter's friends from college. She, her husband and two kids were traveling through and needed a place to stay for the night and we were happy to accommodate them.

* Worked Saturday - another testing day at the university I work at. It made for a very long day.

* Enjoyed dinner at a Mexican restaurant with my husband and daughter. Chicken taquito's are the best!

* Found a new walking route. It's a bit longer with much more incline. I felt it.

* Enjoyed a family Sunday dinner after church on the patio.

* Attended a campmeeting service Sunday night at the big church in our area.

* Finished writing a long over-due article.

* Got my certificate of completion for the Fiction That Sells course I took from the Christian Writer's Guild. Fantastic course.

* Got in just a short bit of knitting time.


What about you? What did you do this weekend? Click here and share!

A Happily Ever After Story

Twenty-two years ago God blessed me with the friendship of a most incredible woman. D is one of those persons who always sees the bright and happy side of everything. I want to be like her when I grow up. D is always a bundle of energy. She is the sanguine to my melancholy. It is not at all uncommon for my cell to ring at any hour of the night and her voice will be on the other end saying something like, "Have you seen the moon tonight? You HAVE to go out and see the moon!" And me? I'm like - "Moon? What moon?" But I always stop what I'm doing, (or more likely get out of my bed), and step outside to look up at the moon. "Yep, D. The moon - it sure is shining. Now good night." My friend has been a very patient teacher and is slowly but surely succeeding in teaching her stubborn student to keep looking up. In 22 years we have experienced so much together. We have snuggled each others babies and now we are snuggling each others grandbabies. We have laughed till we've cried and cried till we've laughed. She has been so good for me. And I've never felt like I have been half the friend to her that she has been to me.

About two years ago through the midst of many difficult things, her marriage fell apart. She was devastated. But somehow, even in the midst of total pain, she kept her smile and her faith. Even then, while I thought I was helping her, she was helping me understand faith in an almighty and ever-present God would see you through anything. Even the things you fear the most.

At that same time, my brother S, who lives two states away was going through the same experience with his marriage. Even though my brother is younger than I am, I have always looked up to him. He is a man of strong faith and through the hours I spent on the phone with him during the most difficult of his days, his faith kept growing and growing and growing. It was agonizing walking this journey with him too. I couldn't fix anything. I couldn't make anything better. His commitment to his marriage was strong and to walk away from it is by far the hardest thing he has ever done. When we were little children I used to go to my room and cry for him when he was punished for something. Now I cried for him because he was hurting so badly.

While I spent hours on the phone with D and with S, the thought kept going through my mind. What a perfect couple. I could really see these two together. But I couldn't go there. I didn't suggest it. The pain was still to raw. They were not ready. But the thought would not leave.

Fast forward to April of this year. Unbeknownst to me S and D began playing Farm*ville. Apparently divorced people have extra time on their hands. Who knew Farm*ville is really a Dating Service in disguise? At first it was things like, "D fertilized S's crops" or "S gave D an apple tree". They started leaving little comments like "Thank you ma'am for the fertilizer" or "That was real generous of you". Somewhere along the way their comments started getting a little bolder - things like, "Your crops are looking really healthy" and "You are such a great farmer."

Soon the comments moved to private messages, then to texting, then to cell phone calls. How on earth did relationships ever progress in the pre-technology days? I noticed my brother was calling me less. I noticed D was looking really, really happy. What in the world was going on?

Last weekend, Sunday night to be exact, D called me and asked me what I was going to be doing on Saturday.

"Nothing actually, what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would come to my wedding?"

Seriously, they got engaged last weekend and were married today!. You can't make this stuff up folks!

Is is too fast? Some think so. Maybe it is. But here's my take: I see two people who are not kids anymore. They have experienced pain at a level I hope I never have to. They know what they want in life. They have found in each other a person that will not heal them from their pasts, but will accompany each other on the journey to their future. They will laugh so much together. My brother will learn to look up. At the moon and many other good things. They will probably do themselves in trying to out serve each other. (Good luck with that S - I can already tell you, you won't win that one!) They will worship together - something that bubbles up naturally out of each of them. They will be loved as deeply as they love. It will be a beautiful thing between them. I really can't explain it, but something deep inside me tells me this is all right. It's good. I'm betting my money that they will be rocking their rocking chairs on the porch someday. Still holding hands.

It is still feeling so surreal to me. I am so, so, so happy for them. My SisterChick has become my sister-in-law. We never dreamt of such a thing. Our family is so blessed to have her - we will be a better family because of her. But I'm a bit sad for me. Because D now thinks because she is married to S that she has to move two states away to live with him. What am I going to do without her? Who is going to call me in the night to remind me to look up? Who is going to talk me into eating pimento sandwiches? Who is going to go to Women of Faith with me and work our tails off so we can get free tickets? Who is going to make me work out when we are trying to lose a few pounds? Who is going to read the next SisterChick book with me?

Ah D, you are going to be so missed. But you are also going to be so happy. And that my sweet friend, makes me happy too! I love both of you guys so much and pray God's very best blessings upon your lives together. May you live happily ever after!

Just Checkin' In

1. Everything's great - just some big happenings in my extended family going on.

2. I'll post more about it later in a few days.

3. God certainly works in mysterious ways!

4. You just can't make these things up!

This Weekend, I . . .

Spent a lot of time outside.

Pulled some weeds.

Made several jars of blackberry and strawberry jam.

Cut coupons.

Went through some old magazines, pulling out the pages of ideas and recipes I want to keep.

Wondered why life has to be so difficult sometimes.

Mowed the lawn.

Finally got the pond filters cleaned.

Enjoyed my husband's family recipe of authentic Italian spaghetti and meatballs with family.

Loved on my grandbabies.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

This Weekend, I . . .

Took a roadtrip from Boise to Richland to Seattle to Portland and back to Boise in 3 days. It was a work related trip. It was exhausting.

Read The Saddlemaker's Wife by a new-to-me author, Earlene Fowler. Very impressed.

Bought another book by Earlene Fowler on my Kindle and have read the first two chapters. I am going to be as equally impressed.

Took a 3 1/2 hour nap on Sunday afternoon while it thundered and rained outside my window.

Picked a few weeds out of my flowerbed.

Rocked my sweet grandgirl to sleep while singing her the same songs I used to sing to her momma. Her momma says I should win an award because she never lets anybody rock her to sleep.

Started knitting another baby blanket.

Marveled at the sentences my little grandboy is using. He was talking to his momma on the phone and in his sweet voice he said, "Love you too mom." I melted.

Thanked the Lord for giving my four daughters the most awesome and wonderful dad ever.

How about you? Head on over to Becky's and join in the fun.

The Upside Down Tomato Thingy Experiment

So, I mentioned in my last post that I was growing my tomatos (or is it tomatoes? I'll check with Dan Quayle) in those upside down thingy's this year. I got several remarks implying that I may be wasting my time. I decided to research the things.

I discovered that opinions seem to be split right down the middle. About as many people who swear by them, think they are a scam. But the nay-sayers think that the people who say they are wonderful are really secret employees of the company who are faking their positive reviews.

Whew! I didn't know what a hornet's nest I had joined up with.

I just want to pick a tomato/tomatoe for my BLT later this summer. I haven't had a lot of luck in our soil growing them in the ground. I have lots of hanging space on my deck. So I just thought I'd give it a try.

I planted the first one, a Roma variety, a couple of weeks ago. It has grown a lot which is impressive considering our weather has been so cold.
The vines do seem to be growing upwards that makes me feel a little bit sorry for it, like it is having to work extra hard or something. But it is about 4 times bigger than it was when I started.

I decided to expand my little experiment, so tonight I planted a BeefSteak variety. It looks a little scrawny right now - it's going to have to flex those vine-y arms and grow some muscle to live up to its name.



My research stressed the importance of watering every day. Apparently, the water drains faster which makes sense, since it is upside down and all. So far that hasn't been a problem since it has been raining about every two hours in this desert land for the last 3 months. I am also supposed to fertilize it regularly.

So stay tuned. I'll keep you updated with the progress of my experiment. I tell ya, if things get any more exciting around here, I'm not sure my heart can take it!

p.s. I am not an employee of the Upside Down Tomato/tomatoe Thingy factory and I am not receiving any compensation of any kind for this experiment.

This Weekend, I

This Weekend, I . . . . .

. . . worked late on Friday.

. . . worked all day on Saturday.

. . . had a sleepover with Tyler and Ava Claire, fondly known as Thing One and Thing Two.

. . . watched Toy Story 1 and 2, with Thing One and Thing Two of course.

. . . went to the grocery story hungry, and worse yet, took my hungry husband with me - expensive mistake.

. . . ran into an old friend whom I haven't seen in about 10 years. We both told each other we still looked exactly the same.

. . . played in the sprinkler with Tyler.

. . . wondered if my tomato plant that is planted in one of those upside down planter things, is really going to grow. It looks to me like it is struggling to grow the right way.

. . . did not clean my pond filters. Again.

. . . made a awesome stir-fry with enough leftovers to share for a quick Sunday night dinner.

. . . enjoyed a picnic after our service Sunday with our church family.

Now, let's here what you did this weekend. Go here and make your list.

My Barn Sale Purchase

There is a sweet lady in our church who loves to go to yard sales and garage sales and estate sales and auctions. She buys lots of stuff, cleans it up, and once a year she and two of her friends have what they call a Barn Sale. They get pretty fancy with it. They even send out invitations.

This year's Barn Sale was this last weekend on Friday and Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon my husband and I ambled up the road from our house about a mile or two to see what there was to see.

I was so impressed.

First of all, the barn was immaculate. Not a spider web, not a speck of dirt. It was cleaner than my garage - that's for sure.

And the stuff. Oh. My. Goodness. Keep in mind that this sale had been going on for two days and the "Barn Chicks", as they refer to themselves, were reporting very robust sales. There was still so much to see. So much I would have loved to have brought home. So much vintage, fun stuff. I was really impressed.

And then it happened. I turned around and my eyes fell on something I have secretly wanted for several years. Something that is typically hard to find. My friend saw this "love at first sight" occurance happen right in front of her and she lost no time in running over to me.

"Do you like that?" "I can see you might want that."

"Um, yeah. I would love it. But how much is it?" I didn't want to look at the tag.

"Well, I would go down on the price for you."

I looked at the price tag and gulped. And then she told me what she would go down too. And then I said "SOLD!"

And this is what I carted home:

It is a Singer Featherweight sewing machine. And it works like a dream. It is so small it feels like I am sewing on a toy. But it is strong and sturdy and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

I didn't need it. My goodness, I have a sewing machine with more bells and whistles on it than I will ever use. And this little sweetheart only sews frontwards and backwards. And that's it. They couldn't be more different. But when I sew on it I wonder about who the first woman was who owned it and how excited and happy she must have been. And I wonder what she sewed on it. My first project was a set of placemats for my daughter's new kitchen.

I called the Singer company and gave them the model number and found out that my little Featherweights "birthday" is May 4, 1953. She was "born" in Elizabeth, New Jersey. That means she is 57 years old. Older than me. I guess that makes me vintage too. Vintage sounds a bit nicer than antique, don't you think?

A really cool thing is that the Singer needles and feet that you buy today, work on this machine too. Threading it was a breeze. The bobbin winder is fun. I love, love, love it! Can you tell?

I love having something from the past. I love having something so simple that still works so well.

They just don't make things like that anymore.

This Weekend, I . . .

So, my friend Becky over at Keys To the Cottage is starting a new Monday meme called, This Weekend, I . . .

It sounds like fun and if you want to join in with us just go here and grab her really cool button (that she made all by herself!) and let us all know what you did this weekend. Just short little blurbs - keeping it really simple.

So here goes.

This Weekend, I. . . .

Planted more flowers - even though I said I was done.

Cut some peonies and bleeding hearts for my kitchen window.


Ate breakfast with our kids on the patio Saturday morning.

Tried a new recipe. It was delicious. And one I will definitely be making again.

Sat in a hot tub with a bunch of girlfriends sharing birth stories - you know . . . girl talk.

Played with these guys. They are just too fun.


Wondered if it is EVER going to stop raining.

Enjoyed our Sunday School lesson - gave me much to think about.

Went to a Barn Sale and made a very unplanned purchase. But I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. (I'll share more later this week.)

Went to a graduation party for a young man in our church.

Kept thinking I should clean my pond filters - but never did get around to it.

Did 6 loads of laundry to be ready for the week.

Stayed up too late.

Finally figured out that all the news coverage of the oil spill is saying THAD Allen - not FAT Allen. I'm so glad his name is not Fat. LOL

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

Memorial Weekend Review

* Finished up our week away in the mountains. It was sad to leave. I had the most restful week ever - first vacation I have ever taken where I did absolutely nothing.

* Went to church

* Went to the airport to pick up our kids who traveled to Michigan for a wedding.

* Realized that all four of our daughters happen to be four different states this week. Weird.

* Knit two little mice - one for Tyler and one for Ava Claire. I'll share pictures soon.

* Watched some great shows on the History Channel and marveled at the sacrifices made by great men and women all for the sake of this country.

* Cleaned the kitchen in Michelle and Brad's house as they prepare to move into it.

* Ate in a public restaurant after cleaning the kitchen all day. I looked like I had been cleaning all day. My family assured me that in this particular restaurant that is what you are supposed to look like. Great.

* Watered my flowers.

* Went back to work.

* Wondered how many days until I retire.

A Week Away Together

This week Chuck and I are celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary. Thanks to the graciousness of a couple in our church we are spending the week in a condo in the mountains and we are having a fabulous time. Some of our accomplishments have been:

Not using an alarm clock. At all.

Looking for constellations while relaxing in the hot tub.

Taking a hike on an old logging road in the rain.

Sitting in front of a real snapping, popping fire in the fireplace.

Knitting. Lots and lots of knitting.

Watching it snow.

Watching lots of movies.

Watched the series finale of both Lost and 24 on a very large screen tv.

Ate a pot of the best chicken and wild rice soup ever.

Reviewed the past 32 years.

Dreamed about our future plans.

Calculated that in another 32 years I will be 83 and he will be 86.

Planned to start a new savings account for our next trip to Hawaii.

Sat together on the same side of a booth in a little local coffee shop.

Marveled that even after being together 24/7 we would still take more of the same.

Counted our blessings.

And realized that God has been so very, very good to us. We are happy. We are blessed. We are in love.

I don't think we can ask for anything more in this lifetime.

Weekend Checklist

My weekend accomplishments included:

Vacuuming and dusting the living room - Check

Changed furniture around - Check

Planted the flower beds and hanging baskets - Check

Mowed the nearly 1/2 acre lawn - with the push mower - Check

Treated blisters on hands caused from mowing the nearly 1/2 acre lawn with the push mower - Check

Trimmed with the weed whacker - Check

Watered the flowers - Check

Had dinner with daughter, son-n-law and sweet granddaughter - Check

Dessert at DQ - Check

Went to Church - Check

Dinner with family - Check

Trip to Wal*mart to pick up prescription - Check

Finished sewing layette for niece's baby who is arriving SOON - Check

Fell exhausted into bed so I can go to work tomorrow and recuperate! - Check

Report Card

So I have had my Kindle for about a week now. I have wanted one for a really long time but I have to admit I did have some nagging little doubts in my mind about what it would be like to read a Kindle instead of a "real book". Obviously, those doubts weren't big enough to keep me from purchasing one - but they did nag at me a little bit.

So in case any of you are considering plunking down about two hundred and fifty George Washington's, I thought I would share my thoughts so far.

What I Love:

I love that I can hold it in one hand and drink a cup of coffee at the same time with my other hand. I love that I can pet the dog or scratch an itch or turn down the volume on the tv remote and never take my eyes off the page. It just works.

I love that I can adjust the size of the font for my eyes. The longer I read, the bigger I can make the font. I can change the number of words in a line as well. It is very light weight and it is easy to hold if you are sitting, reclining, or laying down.

I love that I was in Wal*mart yesterday and saw a newly published book that I want to read, "From the Heart" by Laura Bush. Typically I would wait until it came out in soft cover or until I found it at the used book store. This time I simply pulled my Kindle out of my purse, searched for the book, purchased it at a price that was less than the soft-cover edition will be and downloaded it all in less than a minute. I can peruse a bookstore anytime, anywhere. Technology - it's just AMAZING!

I love that it is small and light enough to carry in my purse. I am planning on making a quilted sleeve for it to fit into to prevent any scratches - but it is the most compact thing imaginable. And it has the capacity to hold 1500 books! That means that right now I am carrying more than 30 books in my purse!

I love the free books you can download from Ama*zon. I couldn't believe how many there are. Many classics and many contemporary.

I love that it keeps my place for me. I stop reading, lay it on the nightstand and the next time I turn it on - voila' - there I am. No more searching for my place. No more lost bookmarks.

I love the dictionary feature. If I read a word I don't know all I have to do is put the cursor in front of the word and a window pops open at the bottom of the screen with a full definition.

I can go online with it. If a book or an article has a link I can go to it on the WWW. Wow.

What I would Improve-

I wish there was a light feature for nighttime reading. I know that the reason there is not a back light is so that reading the screen is identical to reading a paper page. I do have a book light I clip on it so mostly that is not a problem. Well, I had a book light clip until Tyler dunked it into my glass of water that it was sitting beside.

I wish there was a way to loan a book to someone else. If I read a really good book I would have to loan my entire Kindle for someone else to read it. It makes me sad to not loan a book.

I would make the page turner button silent. It has a very quiet clicking sound each time I turn a page. I don't know why it has to click.

I wish you could print a page from it. If a book has a pattern or a recipe it would be really cool if you could make a copy of it.

I wish that pictures were in color - but they are black and white, like newsprint.

Although there is a bookmark feature that allows you to mark a page or highlight a section, I have to admit it is much easier to just thumb through a book to find something you want to re-read.

Overall -

I love it. I am happy I saved all these months to purchase it. I envision many, many happy hours of reading. I already have 31 books downloaded just waiting for me to read. And all but four of those were free ones. I will still buy paper books. So many of my books are my friends really. I love having a full series sitting on the book shelf. I love the way a book smells. But there are many books that I don't necessarily need to have on a shelf. Those are the ones that will go on my Kindle.

Now, if my Kindle could just manage my life, allowing me time to actually read the books on it - I would be a happy camper!

p.s. You might wonder why I don't get books at the library. We live in a rural town and our library fits in a single wide trailer! I could order books using the inter-library loan system, but I am much more of an impulsive reader than that. I could also order them from the library at the University I work at, but same thing - I am an impulsive reader. I don't like waiting for books and I don't like having to have them finished by a certain date. I don't always know what books I want to read until I see them and I can't see them if they aren't there - LOL!

I know. Just indulge me, please.

Catching Up

It feels like it's been so long since I've blogged. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I have been going through a whirlwind of busyness and over-commitment these last few weeks. I have been looking forward to the first of May because then I would be through the busiest part of it - and I must say, things are beginning to look a lot more normal around here. Although normal is a relative term of course.

I have some happy news to share - Michelle and Brad have found out they are going to have another healthy baby boy! Two grandsons and one little granddaughter - how blessed we are. We are thrilled and we know that Tyler and his yet un-named little brother will be the best of friends. This is so different for us as we only ever had "pink" at our house. But we are fast getting used to cars, trucks and footballs. Tyler has learned so many words and is talking up a storm. He is a very verbal little guy (takes after his mama) and his favorite word these days is Poop. Anything yucky is poop. His stuffed animals are always going poop. Anything he doesn't want to do is poop. He even makes up songs about poop! He cracks us up!

Miss Ava Claire prefers to use the word "ucky" when she finds something distasteful to her. She is as feminine and sweet as can be. I marvel at the tiny-ness of her little hands in comparison to her cousin. They are as different as night and day but they are just the best of friends.

This weekend Tyler's mama bought him two big Tonka trucks off of Craig's list. Immediately Tyler labeled one as his and the other one as Ava's. Ava doesn't seem to be overly impressed with her cousin's generosity, but Tyler is sticking with it all the same!

The ladies retreat I spoke at was this last weekend. While I felt completely stretched and out of my comfort zone all weekend, I think it went well. I simply asked God to fill in all the gaps and the areas I missed and He was so faithful to do so. He is so faithful. When I was invited to be the speaker my immediate response was "Oh thank you but no, that's not what I do." Yet something checked me and told me I should pray about it. So I did. And I asked a couple of friends to pray too. And I just felt that God was asking me to do it. So I did. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if He didn't ask me to do it again though. I much prefer writing.

Which reminds me, I don't think I have shared that in the midst of all my over-commitment these last couple of months, I signed up to take an online writing course! I am learning so much about writing and about myself. My favorite thing about the course is that I have been matched up with a published author who is my mentor. What I am learning from her is invaluable. She is kind but she is serious about her task and she has helped me so much. She is helping me with my book and while it is seriously hard work, I know it is just what I needed. I have discovered however, that I rebel a little about writing by deadline. Which is not a good trait for a serious writer. That is probably the one thing about this class that has helped me the most. I am learning to write under pressure, not just when I feel like it. Good stuff.

I have been bitten badly by the knitting bug. I just can't get enough of it and I find that I have collected more yarn and patterns that I will finish in a couple of years. I think I love it so much because it is easy to pick up and put down, it's very transportable and most of my projects are quick. Right now I am working on a pattern called the Cedar Leaf Shawlette. I am working on the leaf border and it is so addicting. I still have the same sock on the needles that I have had for a few weeks now. I'm not sure what compelled me to pick out a lace pattern for my first pair of socks ever - but I'm on the turning the heel part(I just accidently typed hell instead of heel and I'm thinking it may have been more accurate!). I'm not going to give up but I need to have time to take a deep breath and just dive into it. I also have just gotten the yarn for a beautiful pattern called the Shipwreck Shawl. There is something about that name that just speaks to me - I love it! The yarn color I ordered is called Dolphin and the most challenging thing about this pattern is that it includes 5000 beads. Yep, you heard me. 5000 little seed beads. I am crazy. But I think I'm going to love it and I am in no hurry to get it done. This will be my project that I work on when I have time in the early evenings, before I get too tired. I can't wait to start. I also have the yarn to knit a blanket for my new little grandson. Even though Michelle has all of Tyler's little things, I think every new baby deserves something new and handmade all of his very own.

At the end of this month my husband and I are taking a week off to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary. We are going to stay in a condo up in the mountains and I cannot wait. I am envisioning lots of knitting, lots of reading and lots of walks in the woods. No responsibilities at all. I simply cannot wait.

Oh, and I am so excited! I have been saving my pennies here and there for a long time and I finally have saved enough money to purchase a Kindle! I ordered it this morning and it will be here on Wednesday. I was extra excited to see that there is free shipping this week - Yay! I can't wait to get it and take it with me on our little get-away this month.

This week my goal is to finish the nursery layette I am making for my neice. I don't have much left and it should be a very attainable goal. Then I am going to pack my sewing machine away and spend the month of June painting my sewing room. Little Tyler has been enjoying that room as his while they have been staying with us, but at the end of the month Tyler and his mama and daddy will be moving to their own home and I will get to reclaim my sewing room. It is badly in need of some paint and I have some changes in mind for it so there will be no sewing for the first part of the summer. But after I get it all put together again I have in mind to make some of these cute litte stash baskets. They look so cute and easy and I think I could use a few of those around my sewing room.

One of the things I love so much about the blog world is the friends I make. Do you know that I often pray for you? I keep a list on my desk and when I see the names on it I pray for you and whatever you have going on at the time. One of the blogs I read is called Our Journey of Love. I don't remember how I found it but Adrienne's situation has captivated me for a long time. She and her family are in desperate need of prayer. They have gone through so much heartache and I cannot believe what she is going through now. When you have time go over there and read her story of loss, infertility, adoption and hope. And then spend some time praying for her. Adrienne doesn't know me at all and I have only commented on her posts a few times. But she is always on my mind when I pray. I am just always so inspired by her faith and trust in Jesus.

Well, it has felt good to blog again. Next time I will have some pictures of my sweet babies to share. In the meantime, Happy Monday!

Happy Thoughts

Just thought I would take a few minutes and reflect on a few happy thoughts.

Things like:


Eating grilled pork steaks and pasta salad on the patio last night!


Watching Tyler help his poppa get the sprinkler system up and going. He LOVED it and kept saying "BIG Water!" He ended up soaking wet. And deliriously happy.


I have a new project on the needles - a pair of socks. It will be my very first pair of socks to knit. I know, I know. I wasn't going to start a new project. But it calms me. It relaxes me. I need to do it.


A beautiful weekend with temperatures in the 70's. Ahhhhh.......... I can't tell you how happy that makes me.


Knowing that every time I sit down, my little dog Willow jumps in my lap and snuggles right in.


When Jess has a big test at school, she always calls home and asks us to pray for her. I love that she knows where her Source of Strength and Wisdom comes from.


Diet Dr. Pepper. 'nuff said.


Knitting podcasts on my iPod. I found the KnitPicks podcasts and I love listening to them in the car as I travel to and from work. I have learned so much about knitting by just listening. I also love Never Not Knitting's podcasts. So relaxing and just what I need to take my mind of work on my 30 minute ride home each day.


Took the studded snow tires of my car this week. Can I just say hallelujah! I sure appreciate them when I need them but I appreciate that I don't need them even more.



Financial Peace University. Dave Ramsey has helped us immensely. Retirement is not that far away and we will be ready. The techniques and information we have learned from this class are invaluable. Thank you Dave!



Sweet Ava Claire. I love having a granddaughter. She is just a little bundle of sugar and I could just eat her with a spoon. Her sweet little voice just melts my heart and yes, it's true - she could get by with nearly anything when she flashes that precious smile at me.



Tulips. My very favorite flower of all. And they are almost ready to pop at my house.

Couponing. I just get so happy when I coupon. It's like winning a game show or something. I can't explain it - you just have to try it and then you will know.

Book giveaways! I have two winners. The winner of This Little Prayer of Mine is Denise from A Grandmother's Heartbeat. And the winner of Forget Me Not is Nancy. Send me your addresses girls - rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu and I will get them in the mail to you.

Have a happy weekend everybody!

Forget Me Not - A Book Review

Recently I read Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze. Believe it or not, this is the first mystery/suspense Christian novel I have ever read. I'm not sure why, but I've just never gotten into that genre of books before.



The back cover of Forget Me Not says:



Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man- in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He'd failed to protect his family.

Now a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help - a victim who eerily resembles Ben's deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith - and Susan's necklace.

The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman's situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?



What I thought:

Since this is my first venture into the mystery/suspense genre, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it so much. In fact, after reading the first couple of pages, I found it very hard to put the book down. I was a little surprised at the violence it contained - although nothing was graphic or even very discriptive - I still wasn't expecting it. I was pleased that there was such a strong salvation message in the book without being overly preachy or simplistic. Even though it was easy to guess some of the mysteries in the storyline, there were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. By the end of the story there were several characters that kind of came out of nowhere and it made it a bit confusing to keep everyone straight. It's ending leaves the reader knowing that there will be a sequel. I love sequels.



Overall, I recommend this book. It was very entertaining, well-written and kept the reader throughly enthralled with the story.



Would you like a chance to read this book? I have an extra copy I would like to give away. Leave me a comment telling me you would like to read it and I will do a random drawing sometime next week. I will also announce the winner for the children's book I reviewed last week at the same time.



By the time May rolls around, I hope to be back to my regularly scheduled life, which means I plan to be blogging more. I miss it. I truly do.


This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Catching Up ...Book Review....And a Giveaway

So do you ever have those times when everything just seems so overwhelming? I know you do - and I'm there right now. I have over-committed myself in several areas - do you think I would ever learn? The sad thing that happens when I do that is that I don't feel like I do anything well. I just get by - and I really hate that. Hopefully by the first of next month things will be slowing down and I hope to take a deep breath and just be. Not do. Just be. Doesn't that sound lovely?



In the meantime, you wouldn't be wasting a prayer on me. Truly.



In the midst of all the things I am doing I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu. Yuck - it knocked me down for 4 days. And it was the strangest flu- it made me very irritable and everything seemed so depressing. I've never experienced that with the flu before and I was so relieved on the fifth day when the clouds left (figuratively speaking anyway) and the sun came out again. I was getting a little worried about myself. I was nice enough to share it with family members so it hasn't left our house yet.



While I was sick I was laying in bed and I kept staring at my huge yarn stash that has started multiplying and creeping out all over my bedroom. When the kids moved in with us in November I gave my sewing/craft room to Tyler and my knitting took up lodging in my bedroom. It was to the point that it really needed to be dealt with. So on my first day of feeling human again I got a box of zip lock bags and organized all my yarn into projects and put each one into a zip lock bag with a copy of the instructions for whatever it is going to be inside with it. I love this idea - now I just have to grab a bag and I have an instant project. But I am not allowing myself to start a new project until next month, because, ahem, well, because of the aforementioned overcommitment issues I have.



One of my commitments is a sewing project I promised to my niece who is expecting a baby in June. I promised to make her nursery layette and I have finished the crib sheets and the bumper pads but I still need to finish the crib blanket and start the dust ruffle. I absolutely will not start another project until that is done. It's a bit more challenging these days to sew since I no longer have my sewing room. My sewing machine is in Jessica's room, the ironing board is in the laundry room, and the only space large enough to cut fabric is the island in my kitchen. It spreads me out all over the house! I think I can finish fairly quickly though and it will be good to have that project behind me.



I also had really good intentions of getting our taxes done early this year, but let's see, my calendar tells me April 15 is next week and I have yet to even start them. I guess we know what I will be doing this weekend.



And the biggest thing I have been dealing with is that I committed to speaking at a Woman's Retreat at the end of this month. I have never done this before for another church and I am scared to death! It didn't seem like that big of a deal about 6 months ago - but suddenly - wow - what was I thinking?!



And the yardwork, people. Oh the yardwork. It just mocks me everytime I glance out the window. I really need to do something to clean up my gardens and pond and fencelines, and well, just everything.



Well, thanks for listening to me whine! It feels better just to tell you all about it :)



In the meantime I have a fun book review to share.

This children's book was sent to me to review by Waterbook Multnomah Publishing. It is just the sweetest little book for kids. The first thing that struck me was the beautiful and colorful artwork. The pictures are large and life-like and every child has such great expression on their faces. The storyline teaches children how you can talk to God about everything - what is happening in your life - what you want to be when you grow up - relationships with your friends. It demonstrates how prayer is just as natural as breathing - a great lesson for kids to learn. I think the book is geared to kids in the 4 - 8 year range. I love how one of the pictures shows a child playing with a handheld game system - very relevant to the day. Would you like a copy of this book? I have one for you. All you have to do is be #8 to email me telling me you want it. My email address is rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu.

I'll announce a winner soon. I hope. At least it will be on my list of things to do!

Easter 2010

Just thought I would share a few snapshots of my sweet little "grand-bunnies" on Easter morning. I finished knitting Miss Ava Claire's dress in time but I didn't get a picture of the top of the dress - it was SO cold outside we didn't even think to take off her sweater. Ava and her mommy had matching gold shoes - so pretty!
Believe it or not, the girls did not intentionally match the kids outfits. But it made us all kinds of happy that they ended up that way.


I knit both the babies these sweet little bunnies - they are Susan B. Anderson's pattern Hop. I just love that name - Hop. Somehow I neglected to get a picture of both of them.

Even though the weather didn't cooperate - not even one little bit - it was a great day and everyone had fun. We all had enough food and candy to last us for the next 6 months.

We had 461 in church this morning. 461 in our little town in our little church that used to think breaking 100 was a miracle. 461 people heard my husband preach about the hope of the Resurrection today. 461 people heard that God sent his only Son to die in place of us, and on the third day He came back to life and He lives today. 461 people heard how all they have to do is ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and they too can live forever in Paradise. 461 people were given just a glimpse into what Paradise could possibly be - even though our minds cannot even begin to imagine.

All in all, I'd say we had a very good day.