Today I'm linking to Jeremiah 29:11. Be sure and pay a visit and join the fun.

 

But by the grace of God I am what I am... - 1 Corinthians 15:10

 

Sometimes I can be so silly. Sometimes I can be so serious. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry. Sometimes I take things with a grain of salt and sometimes I take them as a personal affront. Sometimes my husband will just look at me and shake his head and chuckle because of my reaction to something. When he does, I just smile, shrug my shoulders and say "You just gottat love me." which always cracks him up. But no matter what "mood" I'm in; no matter what fates befall me at a particular moment, I am what I am. A child of God. A product of His grace.

 

grace alone

which GOD supplies

strength unknown

HE will provide

CHRIST in us

our cornerstone

we will go forth in grace alone

One life - a little gleam of time between two eternities. - Thomas Carlyle

Definition: Gleam - A brightness in a person's eyes taken as a sign of a particular emotion

What puts a gleam in your eye? What are the "little things" that leave you with a smile, a tear of joy, a feeling that something has touched your heart? Here are some of the things that put a gleam in my eye....

• The laughter of my grandchildren as they play
• A small little hand reaching down to pick that first flower of spring and then handing it to me
• A child's smile
• The look in my husband's eyes when he watches me
• The smile of a loved one who hasn't seen you in a while
• A blessing from an old southern gospel song
• A card in the mail from my sister
• A quick note or phone call from a dear friend
• The suns rays as they burst through the cloudy sky
• An eagle as it soars through the sky proud and free
• The Star Spangled Banner
• A hand holding mine
• A hug
• The words "Good job!"
• Driving through the country side with my window down and music blasting
• A good bargain
• My mom staying all night and telling me she loves me at bedtime
• Memories of my daddy
• Just being silly with my family
• My children and their family coming to visit
• The smell of a new baby doll
• The sounds of the birds on a quiet summer day
• The ocean
• The rain on the roof
• The first butterfly of the season
• Going barefoot through the grass

Any time life gets to you and you start feeling overwhelmed, just stop and ponder on the things that bring a gleam to your eye. I guarantee it will be a great pick me up.

Come on, get happy.....

When my two year old granddaughter doesn't get as much attention as she thinks she should get, she drops her head and mumbles "I so sad." Very pathetic. So somebody picks her up and says "What's the matter, sweetheart?" Her head bounces up, her smile gets big and bright and she says "I not sad anymore. I happy."

Oh, to be able to bring ourselves out of the blues that easy. I have noticed that if I get tired or a little down, if my day is not going exactly how I want, I have a tendency to get "so sad". I have come up with some little tricks I use that make me "not sad anymore" and boost my spirits. I thought I'd share some of them with you. They are some good little pick-me-ups.

1. Stop and fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate. Take a 5 minute break and look out your window while you slowly sip on it.

2. Take a bubble bath. Let Calgon take you away. Soak in a tub of steaming bubbles to ease the aches and pains. Light a candle and grab a good book or that new magazine you have been wanting to read.

3. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for one of your favorite upbeat songs and crank it up and sing along or get up and dance to it. This will not only improve your mindset but will count as exercise.

4. Give yourself a manicure. Be daring. Find some bright pinks or ruby reds. Currently, mine are lavendar. I have some pale yellow, a copper, a silver, and a light blue hidden among my normal light pinks and tans. All guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. I love typing and glancing down and seeing my "wild" nails. At least they are wild for a grandmother of 5.

5.  Rearrange something in your decor. Maybe move a knick-knack to a new area or simply reorganize a whole design setting. Just changing what you look at every day can be a mood booster.

6. Quote an uplifting bible verse.

7. Sing a silly song from your childhood: "This old man" or "My Mother Sent me to the Store".

8. Wash your hands really good and apply some of your favorite smelling lotion. It's strange, but if my hands feel good; I feel good.

9. Grab your binoculars and scour the trees to do a little bird watching.

10. Just breathe. Stand up, stretch your arms to the ceiling. Take a deep breath and relax for a couple of minutes and then get back to the task at hand.



Tuesday Teasers

Back in the heart-throb days of my teenage years, I had many teen idols. Some were singers; some were actors. Some were a little of both. I thought it would be fun to post 10 of my favorite ones I remember from way back when and see who can remember them. You can leave it as a comment or email me at brendakeefere@comcast.net. I would be curious to see who you remember.

#1

#2



#3

#4

#5

 #6

#7

#8

#9

#10



My weekend....

Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes yesterday. We had the best day together. Even with the dreary rain. It rained the day we got married so it brought back fond memories. He surprised me late Saturday night with a beautiful soft yellow and white sweater and then took me to get my new Donna Sharp purse yesterday at The Maples Tree. We had a romantic dinner together in a cozy restaurant and even got to sit in front of the fireplace that was burning. It was an awesome day (of course, we ended up at Walmart before the day was out.) Here is my purse...

(I'm going backwards on my weekend, but I wanted to share my Saturday as well.) The day started off with my Olan Mills Portrait session for our church directory. I have been dragging my heels and basically kicking and screaming all the way because I detest having my picture made. The last one I had done by a professional photographer was my twins first birthday (around Christmas). I was having pics made of the babies and they suggested I sit in one of them. Their Godparents bought it and it still hangs over their bed 32 years later. But I hated it. But this guy Saturday was awesome. I actually for one time in my life liked my picture. Of course, all I ordered was the one free 8 x 10 because my family knows what I look like and I wouldn't give my picture out to anybody else. But without sounding conceited, it did turn out well.

I got a great bargain when I went shopping Saturday thanks to my wonderful niece Amy in Parkersburg. It went like this....

I thought I needed a new tablecloth so I posted on my blog what I was thinking of doing.

My niece, Amy, saw it and called me the next day all excited. Kohl's was having a 40% off sales on their plaid tablecloths! Plan A - go to Kohl's after portrait setting was launched into action.

Saturday, I made a trip to Kohl's. Went to the one I THOUGHT I wanted based on what I saw on-line. I didn't like it. Was walking away disappointed when I went down the next aisle and found one I loved. It's hard to find the 102" length and they had it in that length. It was regularly $29.99 on sale for $17.99. I snatched it up. Walked straight to the checkout. The girl rang it up and said, "That will be $13.08." WHAT?? It turned out that it fell into one of their sales categories that day that gave 35% off the lowest price, making the actual cost before tax.....$11.99! Since I had a short supply of SSC (Saturday shopping cash), I had went in with my mind believing I was going to find what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. God is so good. He is in everything we do. You know how I am about faith and I approach everything in my life with "in faith believing". Just one more example that FAITH does come through in all areas of our life. My daughter dropped me at the door and I popped out of the car with "I'm just going to run in and get a tablecloth and be right back." It's the little things I have faith in that never cease to amaze me when they come true.

Thank you, Amy, for looking out for your Aunt B!  With new rugs from Walmart for $5.00 each and some springy items setting around my house, I have now turned my kitchen from this....

 to this.....

Hope everybody has a wonderful week!

I'm on "day"cation today....

I am writing this a day early so it can post first thing Sunday. By the time you read this, I will be well into my "day"cation. In honor of our 30th wedding anniversary, hubby and I are spending the entire day together with no family, no friends, no home phone, no cell phones. Just us.

I've had an exhausting week and he has kept the home fires going while I've been busy. I am so blessed to have such a supportive spouse of anything I want to do. We are both ready for a well earned break.

I don't know what the day will bring but after 30 years with this man, I know he will make it special.

Happy anniversary to my wonderful sweet hubby of 30 years.

Here we are a few years ago on a boat in Panama City heading out to Shell Island.

Below is the same vacation...getting ready to go in Pineapple Willie's to eat ribs and chicken on the pier and watch the sun set over the gulf. One of many wonderful memories. That is my sister, Rachel and my brother-in-law, Dale, on the left of the photo. It was the first vacation the four of us ever took together once all the children were married and moved out. We had an awesome trip. Allen was a little sunburned but we still had a great time.



Knowing when to stop....

Do you ever have times in your life where you seem to be going full speed ahead every waking moment? Well, I do. Sometimes I feel like a freight train barrelling down the tracks of the wide open spaces. I've had one of those weeks this week. Go, go, go. I'm involved in quite a few projects right now...family stuff, church stuff and job stuff. Thanks to some organizing skills a client taught me, I'm still able to juggle all the balls. But sometimes, I just have to make myself take a break. I have to have a talk with my brain and tell it to be kind to my body and unwind a little bit. This has been one of those weeks. When I'm working on a project, I take every moment of it very seriously and feel responsible for anything that doesn't go right. Which means, I usually try to stay on top of things as much as possible. Thanks to a high energy level (sometimes borderline hyper, thanks to lots of chocolate) I'm able to accomplish what I need to. A friend told me the other day that I was like the Engergizer Bunny...EverReady.

While all of this is true, I do thank God that He reminds me I'm only human and I need to take a break and slow down. So after a crazy, hectic week, hubby and I are taking a break tomorrow and going to Gatlinburg and over in the mountains for the day. I am just going to relax and enjoy my day.