Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday. As I imagine the jubilation that the people felt when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, my mind begins to wonder. What was He feeling? He knew what lay ahead at the end of the week. He knew how much suffering there was in store for him. Yet, He gladly carried on with the task the Father had set before him. You have to wonder what was going on in His mind. Not once did He drag His feet and say "I'm not going to do it. I don't want to go." It would have been easy to stay where He was. To continue to live a life where people adored Him, where they brought their troubles to Him. Yet, He humbly carried out the orders of His Father.

Yes, Easter is a time to celebrate. He is Risen. He is Lord. He is the King of Kings. But on that one day, riding on a donkey, being treated with love and respect, you have to wonder what He was thinking. Did He want to scream out in angst and agony and warn them. Did He want to say "This is not going to turn out the way you think." Did He want to warn them how much suffering He was getting ready to endure before He arose in sweet victory?

No, He rejoiced. He knew what was getting ready to happen and He was ready. The big moment was just days away. He had been preparing His whole life for the one moment He hung on that cross on that hill. The one single moment when time stood still and He took OUR place.

I am so thankful to have a Saviour who did all this so I can have eternal life.

Friendships

I have so many friends in my life that I thank God every day for those special friendships. I have friends in their 20's all the way through friends in their 80's. I cherish each friendship. I have friends I work with, friends who I go to church with. Friends from my childhood, friends I went to school with and friends I have had for years. I also have friends who have only been in my life a short while and friends I've made over the past year. We see each other all the time. We go to dinner together or talk on the phone or message each other. 

There are some who are just fun to hang around and be with. Some I can tell my deeps dreams and thoughts to. Some I can cut up with and laugh and have fun. Some who are there for me when I am down and lonely.

No matter what type of friend they are, they touch my life daily.

When I lost my husband, I worried so much about how I was going to live through the years alone. I always have my family and they are very important to me. But they have their own lives and they can't be with me all the time. Surrounding myself with so many wonderful friends from all walks of life means I always have somebody I can call on when I am feeling alone. They always have my back. I never miss an opportunity to thank them for being there for me. March 27th marked what would have been mine and Allen's 38th wedding anniversary. A few of my work friends found out and took me out that night so I wouldn't have to sit home alone. I had such a wonderful time just sitting and talking and laughing. They will never know how much that night meant to me. But that's just one of the things I love about my friends. They are there for me without me even having to say a word. God has truly blessed me in the friendship department.

Weekend wrap up

I worked Friday, was off Saturday, worked Sunday and was off Monday. So I waited until today to do my weekend wrap up. Saturday was a beautiful day. Up in the 70's. I am rarely off on a Saturday and my daughter and I never spend time together like we used to because of my crazy schedule. We decided to play tourist and head to Gatlinburg. The flowers were so beautiful.

I took so many pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them. I just had to share a couple.

Since our new show Pirate's Voyage is opening soon. We have opened a retail store in Gatlinburg called Pirate's Treasure Chest so we stopped in to check out the new store. These two guys are very special to me. They came to the Stampede two years ago as the chaperones for a tour group. We hit it off right off the bat. They told me that they wanted to move down here in two years and I spent a lot of time with them. The plan was to come down and work for us. Here we are two years later and they are here and we all just love them dearly. Truly some great guys. 

Me and Shelby had to get a selfie on such a beautiful day. 

Sunday it was back to work as usual. I did go to church that morning. I went ahead and gave them notice that I had decided the end of September will be my last Sunday for Children's Church. I have worked in in one capacity or another for 12-13 years. The past five I have been the director and the for two of those, I was the only teacher. I told them I would finish this year (which ends in September) and we would have to find someone new. Walked into the sanctuary and was talking to one of the teachers that helps me and she tells me that she wants to be more involved. Long story short, meet Miss Maddie (far right). I was so thrilled. All my babies will be in good hands. She loves them and they love her already. She is in college studying to be a teacher. 

Then on Monday when I was off again, I had to go do my mandatory show for our newest addition to the Stampede family, Magic Beyond Belief . The lights and special effects were amazing.  

Darren Romeo was amazing. He is an extremely talented magician, singer, dancer and songwriter. He studied and trained under Sigfried and Roy. It was an amazing show.

When I got home, I had a little gift from my niece Christy. I love the smell of these.

Before I left for the show that day, I put out some spring and Easter decorations. 

 

All in all, it was an amazing four days.

Sunday's Song

I love Celtic music. This group has become my "go to" music to pick me up and bring me joy. I love the hope and happy ending in this one. 

Easter Treats

Just a few ideas of some cute little Easter treats. They all look super simple and self-explanatory on how to make them. I definitely want to make the no-bake cookies as a nest with little robin egg malted milk balls on them.

I've been so busy....

I have been so busy this past week that I haven't had time to post anything. I thought I would catch you up with what's going on in my world. Since we have had prettier weather, I have started to walk. I took my pedometer to work one day. It turns out I can walk around a long block at work and get pretty close to one mile (10,000) steps in 15 minutes of my lunch break. And doing a two show day at work where I am up and down in the arena is another 10,000. So I can get in 2 miles a day on a two show day if I walk at lunch. Saturday and Sunday we had fours shows so I got a lot of steps in those two days. It's a four show day today as well. So about another 3-4 miles today. The problem with the four show days is that I work 12 -13 hours so there is the "plum worn out" factor at the end of the day.

The other problem is we are right beside Shoney's and I have a weakness for their hot fudge sundae. My friend Kayla walks with me and is side by side with me all day. So even though we get all the exercise, we have a bad habit of stopping to share a sundae.

And trust me, we clean the whole bowl.

The other day at the store to get some pickles. I cut my pickles into chunks so I can just pick up a bite and keep going. Well, Vlasic is now cutting them up ahead of time. Check out the new Kosher Dill Bites.

Yesterday was my day off so I was going to relax. Ha ha. Yeah, right. I woke up and decided after working 59 hours in 6 straight days, I needed some retail therapy. I wanted a new shirt and wanted to price tennis shoes. Usually I like to shop for stuff for my house, but today was all about new clothes or shoes for me. I did get distracted by the beautiful bedding set. I may go back next week to get it for my beach room. I've been looking ever since I changed that room. The day bed has a comforter and I wanted a quilt.

I did find me three shirts. Talk about a bargain. I wanted long sleeve, soft t-shirt quality tops. I was willing to pay about $9.00 each because I know that is what I like at Kohls. Imagine how elated I was when I found all three on a clearance rack. This one was $2.60.

I got this one for $3.20.

And my favorite one is this blue one that was $4.20. Then I had a 15% off coupon. So I got all three of them for $8.50. That was less that I was willing to pay for just one. I am super excited. Tomorrow will be the fourth wedding anniversary since my husband passed away. We would have been married 38 years. So some of my friends and I are going out after to work tomorrow to keep me distracted. With a four show day, I can keep busy. I wanted a new shirt to wear out and I think this is the one I will wear. 

I didn't see any flip flops I liked. But I did love these shoes. But I just wasn't going to pay $39.99 for canvas tennis shoes. But they were extremely comfortable.

Imagine my excited when I found the same pair just different brand name and even more comfortable for just $9.94 at Walmart. Since I wear a 5 1/2 because I have tiny feet, I thought they looked adorable on my foot if I do say so myself.

I got home in time to put my stuff out and grab my directory info for a meeting at the church to design our new directory. The meeting lasted 2 1/2 hours. So after that I went to the store. 

After that I ate supper and then cleaned up the mess before gathering supplies for cakes. I had to make four chocolate cakes with homemade chocolate icing for various reasons for work today.

Plus my very best work friend Jonnie wanted an apple pie. He didn't care if it was pie filling and Pillsbury crust, he just didn't want a frozen pie. And he wanted to lattice work. He is such a wonderful friend and he knew I would make him something special since he doesn't it chocolate cake. So I tried my hand at it. This was my very first pie ever to make. It turned out pretty good looking except a little done around edges. Next time I will cover the edges. But we will get a verdict today on if it is any good.

So after my crazy busy day, I ended up with all the baking done at 10:20 last night. I took a long song in epsom salt to ease the pain I have been having in my hip and leg the past three days and did some yoga that is supposed to relieve the pain. I went to bed about 1:30 a.m and was back up and raring to go at 6:00 this morning so I thought I'd take that extra time to catch you up on my life this past week. 

Have a great day!

A little excitement

In the town of Gatlinburg, there is a section off the main drag called The Village.

In the Village, nestled among the other quaint shops is the Donut Friar.

Inside the Donut Friar there are a multitude of wonderful treats but my favorite is the Cinnamon Cake Donut. Yesterday, a dear friend blessed me by getting me two of them while she was working our Pirate's Voyage store in Gatlinburg. They were so good.

Speaking of our Pirate's Voyage show, things are moving right along for an opening sometime in May. This was posted on our Facebook page last night. Every time I drive by, I check to see if the new sign is up yet. I guess today it probably will be. So excited for it to open!