Welcome, Monday

It's Monday. A time for fresh new beginnings, a new start. If you are like me, you normally approach Monday with a sense of dread. A sense of wondering what's in store this week. As of today, I'm changing my thinking.

It's Monday. New things are right around the corner. Blessings lay ahead. I can't help but wonder what good things might come my way. What changes and challenges has God prepared for me. Will this be the week that I see prayers answered? Will this be the week that I see all my hard work pay off? Or will this be the week that things will get back to some semblance of order and bring smooth sailing for awhile.

I know one thing. No matter what is in store for me, I will face it with both feet firmly planted on the ground. I will abide by Philippians 4:13 as I go through my week --  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!

Today I'm loving...

...my grandchildren

Waiting, waiting, still waiting.....

How funny is this picture? Do you ever feel like this? You sit at your computer and you are either waiting for information to come, a photo to upload, your chat partner to respond, a page to load...always waiting on something. I'm not to good at the waiting game. Thank goodness for my laptop which can go at a pretty good pace.

But as I sat looking at this picture, I wondered how patient others are when they are having to wait...and wait...and wait.

Now I have never claimed to be a patient person. As a matter of fact, when the grandkids get impatient for anything, my kids blame that trait on me. But the truth is, I have learned to be more patient. But I am about to run out of it with my car guys insurance company. As you will recall, my car was damaged in a recent hail storm and it was totalled.

Therein lies the problem. My car guy has the perfect car for me. It's a 2005 Ford 500 and it is SO adorable. The minute I saw it, I started drooling and murmuring "Mine. Mine. Mine". It had a minimal, really minimal amount of hail damage but he is selling all the damaged vehicles at a ridculously low price since he is not going to fix them (I have a guy lined up to fix it). It is a perfect car for what I want and the little bit of damage will allow me to pick it up at a bargain. He even let me drive it for 2 days to make sure I liked it. I DID!

This is going to be an awesome deal and I am getting so excited to get the car. Enter Mr. Insurance Man.  He wants to calculate and combobulate all the damages of all the cars that were on the car lot at the time of the storm. My car guy had hoped to have it all settled in 2 weeks. Mr. Insurance Man said it shouldn't be a problem, THEN he went on vacation. THEN the insurance company needed more files.   THEN he wanted to see the car again. THEN ... I guess you get the picture. So here we are, 50 DAYS after the hail damage, and I am still without wheels. I am so tired of driving hubby's truck I could scream.

But, still, I persevere. I want THAT car. I am willing to be patient until I get it. I know in the long run I will be glad I waited, but oh the waiting it not good for someone known as Little Ms. Impatient.

Looking ahead....

Some people dwell on the past, some look forward to the future and some just live life for the moment. Which one are you?

I asked myself that question today. I was a little dismayed by the answer. After a lot of soul searching, here is what I discovered.

I'm a little of all three.

It is normal, as we get older, to remember the past with great fondness. To think of the people, places and things that we have enjoyed and have combined together to make us what we are today. That is just a normal process of aging. However, I think that I am guilty of revisiting the past on things that are better let go.



As I traveled this journey, I realized that I also live for the moment. I try to find happiness in whatever comes my way. I try to squeeze every moment of joy out of each and everything I do. Do I succeed, not always. It's hard to live for the moment when you can't let go of something in the past or you spend time dreaming about the future. But for the most part, I find it easy to be content with whatever God's plan is for me at any particular moment.

I have realized that I also love the future. I love having something to look forward to. The excitement and thrill of anticipation. Whether it is something long awaited such as a vacation or something as simple as a day out with my hubby, I just love having plans and dreams. I love knowing something good is in the air and that things are looking up. As I was looking out my window this morning, I had to laugh as I was thinking about the future. I was noticing that the neighbor needs to mow. He just mowed a few days ago, but the rains have really given us some good green grass this year. But it made me realize that in the middle of every season, we start anticipating the next season. Here we are, barely into July, and I was thinking about the fall decorations I want to put out in September.

After all this deep thinking and soul searching about the past, present and future, I have decided that's it's okay to be a little of all three. Doris Day said it best in The Man Who Knew Too Much when she sang Que Sera, Sera  (Whatever will be, will be.)

Newest craft projects....



I love crafts that are quick and easy. I don't have a lot of patience and I don't have a lot of spare time. So I try to find little things I can do with ease that don't take a lot of time. I need immediate gratification or I lose interest. A few weeks ago, you will recall that I took the kids to the local drive thru zoo and petting zoo. Garret, my 12 year old grandson, took an awesome picture of a rooster. I loved it and wanted to put the picture in the kitchen with my rooster "stuff".

I found a cute wooden frame and painted it black and wiped off some of the paint to make it a lighter color and put the picture in this frame. I love it. The frame was $1.00 and I printed the picture at home on matte photo paper. I had the black craft paint so I now have an adorable little picture for just $1.00. I need a piece of chicken wire 4 x 6 to place over the photo to add a little something to it, but when I checked at Lowes, you had to buy a whole roll. They don't precut it anymore. I'll look at a craft store for wiring to use.

Here it is setting on the shelf in the kitchen.

I bought a brown wooden tray that the bottom of it was red and green Christmas design. I never thought to take a picture before I painted it, but I painted it blue.

I had the tall vase and the sweetgrass flowers. My daughter-in-law bought me the jar candle at Mother's Day. I had the little votives. I purchased the click glass vase for $1.00 and the colored rocks inside it for $1.00. The tray was 25 cents at a yard sale and I had the paint. Total out of pocket expense to make this display for the beach room was $2.25.





Serenity at the lake...

I had the best weekend this past weekend. Do you ever have such a relaxing time that you just want to snuggle it close and enjoy the memories before you venture into sharing it. That is what my weekend was like. My mom came down and we had a wonderful time together. Saturday evening, my son invited us out to the lake house and you would just not imagine the relaxation to be found along the shoreline. I had to snap this shot of Mom and my son with my granddaughter Alexis, it is a picture perfect moment of relaxing.

It was a gorgeous evening so there was a lot of activity to watch on the lake.

I took a walk with two of the grandchildren, Garret and Alexis because I cannot be this close to water and NOT dip my toes in it. The water felt so good against the heat of the day.

Colby enjoyed the outdoors just as well as the rest of us. He is such a good baby. It's hard to believe he is already 9 months old. I love the look on his face as he sat there feeling the breeze blowing.

I spent most of my time "sitting on the dock of the bay". Okay, so it was a lake, same theory. I was still watching the "tide" (or waves) roll away as the boats would go through.

My son took us on a driving tour of the point. Someone had built a small lighthouse as part of the landscaping so I had to have a picture for my beach room. (watch for an additional post to see what I'm planning with this picture).

All in all, we had a wonderful evening in my son's little piece of paradise.

Top 10 Tuesday

In typical female fashion, I love stuff. It's no secret. I also go through phases of what I love. So today for my top 10 Tuesday, I'll share what I'm loving at the moment. (Which is subject to change without notice.)

1. Rag Wreaths. Mom brought me down some awesome assorted fabric with fall patterns. I'm working on a wreath and will show it to you when I'm done....if it turns out. :)

 2. Swan Salt Cellars (can't find the one I'm wanting, but I'm still looking.)

3.  Donna Sharp's Sea Breeze Pattern (this will be my new fall purse)

4.  These flips flops from Totes. They look so comfy and support a great cause. The cost is only $4.99 so I'm going to have to have some.

5. Fabric change purses. Cotton Threads on Etsy has some of the cutest ones I've ever seen.

6. Vintage pitchers

 7. Lighthouses

8. Samsung Galaxy Tablet. This will be next major purchase. Thanks to US Cellular and their Belief point system, it shouldn't be long until I score enough points to get one for free.

9. White Star fish. I am working on a wall scape in my beach room to incorporate some of these. 

10. Light Blue. I have never been a fan of blue, but for some reason, I'm falling in love with these blue vases as well as anything light blue and white.