A Little Light Reading

The hubby and I, and his family went to a funeral a couple of weeks ago.  

A dear family friend, Shellie passed away after a long battle with brain tumors.  Even though it took her body, her spirit will live on through her family and friends. During the memorial service, two friends of hers read aloud a dialogue of scripture and Shellie's responses.  

It has inspired me to do the same today.  

Just like any relationship, there are ups and downs.  I am learning that through these first two years of marriage.  It's amazing that God could create such different beings, a man, and a woman, and then have them live together for the rest of their lives. Some days, I think I never knew I could love another person so much.  Someone that isn't part of my family, had a totally different upbringing, and has a very different way of folding laundry.

Other days, I think this marriage thing has to be more that just our love for one another. 

It is definitely a God thing.  It's supernatural, and we need His help. 

The same is true in a relationship with God. There are ups and downs. 

Today I read in Philippians 4. Here are the verses and my response. Thanks for your inspiration Shellie!

Philippians 4

         10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

 I know that I have a lot to be grateful for.  I have family and friends that care about me. 

       11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I have closets and drawers stuffed with stuff.  I have a garage of stuff.  Sometimes, I don't even know what all is in there.  My car has stuff in it, remnants of all the little things I wouldn't miss.  

None of the matters now.  

My body is decaying.  My life is closing in on me.  Thank you for the good days, when I can enjoy the sunshine on my skin, the wind in my face, cuddling with hubby on the couch.  God, teach me to be thankful for the bad days, being hooked up to monitors, emergency rooms, strong medicines.

      12  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 

In my life, I have had times where I thought I didn't need God.  I can do this on my own.  Bad things happen if I follow Him or not.  I'm going to be sick the rest of my life anyway...

But now I'm starving and pleading for You to help me.  I can't do this alone. I don't know where to go or what to do.  What am I doing with my life?  Why am I here?

This pain is too heavy for me to bear alone.

       13  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

God, are you really there?  Can I ask you just to carry me thru today?  I just need to get thru today.  My meds make me so tired.  This chemo drug sucks, why did you invent it?  Can I just lean on you for a little while?

       14  Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

I cannot believe how perfect your timing is, God! Your hand is over my life.  You have provided just what my soul needed, friendship.  I can feel you God, when they offer a listening ear, bring over a hot meal, visit me in the hospital, or even clean my house.  How can you love me so much?  How do you know exactly what I need? 

      19  Any my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

I know I need you.  I need your grace.  I need your love.

My hope is that my life will be one that glorifies you.

     20  Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen

And in the end

its not the years in

your life that count.

It's the life in your years.

-Abraham Lincoln

I Believe

 We kicked off the Christmas season last night by buying our third annual REAL Christmas tree!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, when you can cut down a living coniferous tree, stick it on a stand, throw lights, plastic balls, plastic silver tinsel, and stick a star on top and no one will think you've gone insane.

I love it!

 I grew up with a REAL Christmas tree every year.

And I'm so glad that I married a man who also loves that REAL pine smell filling our home.

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, we are in full blown Christmas decor, Christmas cards, planning Christmas dinner, coordinating Christmas parties, and of course the dreaded Christmas budget.  

However, I'm really trying to stay in the Christmas spirit.  And in that spirit I would like to share my favorite song of the season...

 

 Mary, did you know
That your baby boy
Would someday walk on water?
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you.


Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will calm the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God.
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
That your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding
Is the Great I Am 

Bowl Full of Jelly

Laughter is good medicine, right?  

"If you're at a Thanksgiving dinner, but you don't like the stuffing or the cranberry sauce or anything else, just pretend like you're eating it, but instead, put it all in your lap and form it into a big mushy ball. Then, later, when you're out back having cigars with the boys, let out a big fake cough and throw the ball to the ground. Then say, 'Boy, these are good cigars'"

-Jack Handey 

"Next Thanksgiving, here is a fun trick to play: When the mashed potatoes and turkey are being served, take some of both. But hide your turkey under your mashed potatoes. When your family asks "Don't you want some turkey?," pull the turkey out from under the mashed potatoes and yell "I tricked you!!"-Jack Handey

"If when you die you get a choice between pie heaven and regular heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick but if not mmmboy"  -Jack Handey

 

And the holidays are coming up, which are really becoming more and more stressful every year!

I cannot believe that people have their Christmas lights up already, or their Christmas tree decorated!

What happened to Thanksgiving?

You know how much fun it is to prepare, shop, cook, arrange schedules, forget something you really need in a recipe, wait in long lines at the checkout, have last minute guests show up, clean your whole house all for about 20 minutes of eating.

Sounds like a great tradition to me!

Life is easier when you are little, you just show up.

Flying High

Over the summer, I decided to explore Southern California a little by myself. 

I think that's what they call "finding yourself"...

I just found myself in a very long line in the middle of the desert, with a lot of other people.

When what to my wandering eyes appear should appear...

Oh, okay I can do this.  I can figure out my way there, for the sake of research of my new state of California, right?

But which way do I go?

Apparently, I'm just as confused as everyone else.

I have a college education, I can figure this out!

Just follow the yellow brick road.

Or just follow the dry grass on the side of the road.

Getting closer...

I found it!

California sunshine, rolling hills, warm desert air, white puffy clouds, people, food, drinks, shopping...

But, where are the BALLOONS!?!

Beauty in the middle

We traveled up and down the California coast 

this last week to visit family, and 

celebrate our 2nd year Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been 2 years since the most amazing day of my life, when I married my best friend!

We drove up to Vacaville to visit my aunt and cousins, and second cousins, and third cousins...geesh I have a lot of cousins.  They are always a blast, so welcoming and fun to be around.   This is my cousin Sandy, and us at a winery in Napa.  She never seems to age, she always looks good!

Speaking of wineries...

There are a lot! Oh, and did I mention that my family we were visiting, their last name is Babcock.  And what did we find...but a Babcock winery.  No relation though...boo. 

Of course, we had to stop and taste it!

There are so many cute, little, expensive coastal towns.  However, my favorite part of the trip was driving along the rolling hills of the valley, watching the sunlight dance off the grape vines, and the big white plume grasses.  

I tried to capture that feeling with my lens.

But it's never really possible to express that feeling with a camera...of the sun warming your skin, the moist salt water breeze, and your heart overflowing with love.

Road Trip

We left the Left coast to go to the Midwest, which I really don't know why it's called the Midwest if you are actually closer to the east side of the country. ??  

Each region is so different and beautiful in 

 its own way.  The dessert in California...

The mountains and blue sky of Colorado!!!

 Then the plain states...I mean the "Great Plains"

I know it sounds crazy, but I really had a great time spending 24 hours with my hubby, even though his favorite road trip food is spicy bean dip with Fritos.  You can imagine the outcome...

 

I was so happy to talk and listen, watch the sunrise and sunset together, stop to take pictures, visit with family and friends along the way, and just be there for one another through all the ups and downs that being on the road brings

We are truly blessed to share our lives together and we have awesome friends and family that took us in even if we hadn't taken a shower in a few days.  

And even if one of us ate a whole can of beans...

Love you Honeybunny!

Do This In Remembrance

This Memorial Day weekend, we found ourselves in Riverside, CA.  They had a Memorial Day ride with about 7,000 motorcycles.  It was loud!

We walked through the grave sites thinking about how lucky we are to live in this country.  There are men and women out there fighting for our freedom while we go about complaining about mowing the lawn, having to run back to the grocery store because we forgot that one item we really need, or having to walk the dog, again.

And their families are at home holding down the fort having to play the mommy and daddy. 

I could not even imagine what that must be like to have your loved one, your best friend living in harms way everyday. 

That must be a constant struggle to continue to live out your life without your mom, dad, sister, brother, wife, husband, grandpa, or grandma for a year or more at a time. 

God Bless all the men and women in service for our country!  May you be forever in our hearts!

Planes, Planes, and more Planes

Guess what I got to do this weekend...hang out with my hubby that's for sure!

And watch these...

And this...

And that...

My brother-in-law flew this...

And my other brother-in-law flew this...

I watched with all of these people..

.

Pretty cool huh?

Another beautiful weekend in Cali!
Thanks honey for a great Airshow 2011 experience, can't wait till next year!

Cinqo De Nada

Cinqo of Nothing, because today is nada mucha.

While other people are going out to celebrate, I'll be home alone.

This is the stinky part of having a husband that travels a lot, and no immediate family to run to.  Well, I do have my in-laws, who always graciously invite me over, but they are busy tonight. Oh well!
Of course I have a lot of things to do to fill my time. 
When my husband has been home for a long time, and we get to spend 24 hours together, I selfishly think when does he go back to work again? All so I can have control of the TV remote again, and spread out in the middle of the bed.

Why is it that when you have it good, you want something else, something different, I can't just appreciate what I have and live in the moment.  And when it's gone, I want it back.

I think of my grandma who I really didn't appreciate when she was alive, because she always wanted to be apart of our lives.  She moved from California to Illinois to be with us.  I never thought of what that must have been like for her.  She loved to tell us long stories, go shopping, go to lunch, buy us birthday presents, Christmas presents, give us little candies she kept in her purse, rub our backs with smelly grandma lotion.  She was the perfect grandma with her bright pink lipstick and icy hot smell!  But I didn't appreciate going to her house, her making me take a spoon of honey to help my cough, or her interesting soup concoctions. 
My favorite memory of her was letting me sort out her jewelry and pretend like I was a store clerk selling them to her. Ha, how funny!  I also would write on paper she would give me, not real words of course.  I wrote gibberish, which I thought was cursive writing at the time.  When we went through her things after she passed, she had saved my papers of gibberish.  Such a loving grandma thing to do. 
Wow, I miss her! What a great lady! She packed parachutes during World War II, isn't that cool?


I guess the lesson of the day is that there is always something to do in life, like remembering good people and the good times in your life.

Maybe one day, I will learn to like my hubby's stupid TV shows and look back at them with fondness. 
Maybe...

Procrastinating Projects

I've had this hutch for almost a year now, purchased at a garage sale last summer.  It was actually the first piece I saw on the driveway as we drove by, and I ended up buying two more pieces of furniture.  It took two car loads, hubby was not too happy!

But it proved to be worth it when I made back all the money I spent, plus $120 when I sold one of the pieces on craigslist.  Sweet!
My friend suggested I open up an online store called something like Pottery Barn, but not, like E Barn, or Emily's Barn. Maybe...someday I'll start my own business.

So, I liked it but wanted to kind of make it a little more modern looking. This is what I did...

I also copied the mirror idea from one of my favorite stores.  Of course, I purchased it from my local goodwill store and painted it black.

Now on to the next project...

Spring is springing...

Someone asked me the other day what I preferred, living here or in the Midwest?

I, of course, said well all my family is back there, but the weather isn't bad here!  It's always sunny in California, right? So if it's always sunny, and it feels like I'm living in the movie Groundhog day, how do I know when the seasons change?

My new seasons consist of rain, rain, and more rain, which is winter.
Spring is pleasantly warm and sunny during the day, and cooler at night.
Summer is unbearably hot if you don't have a pool in your backyard.
 And fall is just hot.

So, this is Spring! 
For about a week...

Woman's work is never done...

Sometimes I wonder why I ever bother to clean the stove.  I think it is one of the most mundane tasks and it never really looks clean.  After I painstakingly clean it for what seems like hours, it's time to use it again!  Of course I love using my brand new oven, my first and only oven that I've ever owned.  Even when I don't use it, it somehow becomes dirty and dusty.  Imagine that.  But like a good little housewife I will clean it and make it shine like new again, because a woman's work is never done.