Saturday....Success!

How is this for success?
A beautiful picture of my beautiful school girl!
Thank You, Aubrianah Shannen Photography!

Week 2 of the 16 week semester done!

A 75/75 on my first Accounting Assignment!

A full 4 weeks of blogging under my belt!

All of my house cleaning chores accomplished!

Etsy sales on Etsy!

Student Loans disbursed!

Coffee out with a friend!

Could it get any better? Well, sure, but for now it is good. It is doable and livable…

I do have other things to share, but you will have to wait for next week when I can post pictures. I hate to post pictures of things that are intended as gifts or surprises. But I can say that I knocked two projects off the long term to do list, AND I am pleased as punch with how they turned out.

A special Thank You to everyone who has been reading and sharing the blog. I appreciate it.  I also appreciate all the comments on the blog and Facebook page posts! I really do enjoy getting feedback…and I would love to hear about your successes.

For me there aren’t huge successes or successes that are out where others can see them, but it feels good to say I did something. It fuels me to do more.  So please share your successes…either in the comments or send me a picture and a description of what you have accomplished during the week and I will do my best to include it in next Saturday’s successes!

On the Road again...this Friday afternoon...or not...

Friday…I am ready to get out of dodge!

I don’t know what it has been lately, maybe having been in town for four weeks in a row, but I am ready to hit the road. I don’t have any place in particular in mind. I just want to go! 

The house is tidy; chores are done for the week. I have projects, but nothing so pressing it can’t wait a few more hours.

Back in the days before kids, my husband and I would frequently spend a day just out and about. We would drive up to the mountains or down towards the beach. We would visit state parks, but not antique stores (I am not my mother, yet!). Maybe it was having a jeep that made this sort of outing so much fun.

One of my fondest memories was a day that we decided to head to Crabtree Falls (back before it was just around the corner and before GPS). We had a paper map that I was in charge of, but we knew generally where we were going.

I was navigating pretty well until the road came to dead end! I thought the road we were on and the road we needed intersected, but alas they did not. The fold in the map and the wear around it had fooled me. Terry was very patient about it – though I still get teased every now and again, and I am never put in charge of the map!

It is different now. We have kids and no jeep. We have responsibilities. We have life. And it is good and sweet. So maybe this longing, this pull to get out of town is about something else.  I will offer it up in prayer today…that the Lord may lead me where I am to go…when I am supposed to go there.

Where are you going to today?

I have a confession…

There is something that I am afraid of and I feel like it is really keeping this blog, my writing from being all that it could be…and y’all are going to say what you want, but I have to tell you…

I am afraid of…

Quoting scripture…

Petrified…

Not afraid that people will stone me, or disapprove, but that

I will have it all wrong!

That I will have managed to find the verse in the wrong bible,

And I will give the wrong book,

The wrong chapter,

The wrong verse.

It won’t mean what I think it means.

On a moment by moment basis, I am certain the same thing applies to the Glad Text cards I make. I’m just certain I have it all wrong...

I enjoy so much when others share a bit of wisdom, words of comfort, of joy and praise, even of rebuke. 

God’s word is such a treasure. I love when folks post scripture on Facebook. The only place I don’t enjoy it is on people’s license plates – how I am I supposed to drive and look that up!!!

It is one thing to quote someone, even someone famous and get it wrong, and it is another to quote God and get it wrong!

But, anyway…So now you know…and I still don’t feel any better about it.

Words on Wednesday….

 

There are several Tim McGraw songs that are very dear to my heart.  One such song is Watch the Wind Blow By, which was our first dance at our wedding reception. 

But, I am not a Tim McGraw fan…I am just not.  I will listen when one of his songs is on the radio, most

of the time.

Earlier this week, I was on the way to pick up my daughter from school when It’s Your Love  came on the radio. I was listening as I sat at a stop light and at first I wasn’t feeling it, but then the lyric:

It does something to me,

It sends a shock right through me,

It’s your love.

That is just what I feel in those moments when things haven’t been so good or I haven’t been my best and I am quietly reminded of God’s love for me. It is just like a shock, a jolt…a reset button and a reminder of who is in control and how I am called to live.

And then next few lines get even better:

Better than I was, more than I am
And all of this happened by taking your hand
And who I am now is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together
I'm stronger than ever, I'm happy and free

Isn’t that amazing…! Doesn’t that sound like a beautiful relationship? One you would want to have? To be so in love with someone that makes you better, more than you can be on your own? So in love that you feel free? That is powerful love, God’s love for us.

Each day I try to take God’s hand – more firmly each day, and when I do it feels so good. It is the days when I think I don’t need to or I forget and let go that aren’t so good. 

What a blessing that each day God is there all day with His hand out for mine…

Tuesday Treasures...Buttons

A few years ago my mom found some buttons that had belonged to her grandmother. They were fancy buttons and simple buttons, buttons her grandmother had cut off of shirts and coats, buttons still on the cards from the Five and Dime.

Mom used these buttons to make the sweetest little button bouquets. She made one for her, and then one for her sister and then several of her nieces. Next, she started buying buttons to make button bouquets for gifts. Soon other people started bringing her buttons to make them bouquets.

Each flower a little stack of buttons wired together and planted in the holes of a salt shaker was a treasure. 

While the button flowers bloomed, so did my mother's button collection. She hunted and shopped. She read and  researched. She cleaned and sorted. Buttons! Buttons! Buttons!

It seemed nearly daily the packages of buttons arrived or she was coming home from some little out of the way shop with buttons.

This might sound like a bad thing, but it wasn't. If anyone can find a gem it is my mom! A gem and a deal!

Then surrounded by all these beautiful buttons, she started creating things other than button bouquets, but alas there are still to many buttons to use - realistically, anyway. She has been generous and offered to make some of her wonderful buttons available through my etsy shop, The Things I am Made of.

I hope you will enjoy today's treasury, as well. The uses for buttons is never ending and certainly inspiring. And nothing says you have to make a coat to chose the buttons. Why not switch out the buttons on an old coat or sweater or dress and breath a little new life into them.

Made of Monday...Autumn

I know the first day of school is behind us and the true first days of fall are still weeks away, but I am ready for it. I can feel it just like I can feel spring as the crocuses start to peek through the snow.

Autumn is a busy time of year for our family – birthdays and anniversaries galore, school events, and all our favorite things happen this time of year, too…football and marching band. The weather has cooled enough for us to hike like we mean it.

I know I shouldn’t wish away the summer, but I am looking forward to fall.

I am ready to have the windows open and the air conditioning OFF!

I am ready for jeans and sweaters, rich jewel tones and warm cozy colors.

I am ready for the crunch of leaves on wooded trails.

I am ready for apple picking and baking pies.

I am ready for bubbling pots of stew and soup and hearty meals baked in the oven.

I am ready for afghans and blankets to cuddle under for story time on the couch.

I am ready for shoes and socks, instead of flip flops at least for a short while.

I am ready for evenings on the porch (without bugs!).

I am ready for the days when I stop short to stand in the warm sun that shines through the front windows in the afternoon.

I am made of autumn...