Friday, January 31, 2014

Literary Friday “Where do you turn?”

I’m not sure Ricki Jill will have a linky party up today. She’s had a traumatic time with the bad weather where she lives. Her blog is HERE if you would like to visit her.

I know I have a long prayer list right now of blog buddies that are facing challenges in their lives. And we have quite a few in our family, too. So where do you turn when you need answers to your prayers?

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I like to take my journal and write out scriptures that encourage me.

Awhile back Karen from Grab a Book Our Stack sent me this book. Thank you Karen!!!

 “When God Doesn’t Make Sense” by Dr. James Dobson.

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I have several of his books and admire him greatly. I think I’ll do another post about the books that he’s written that have meant the most to me over the years.

I have to admit, I did not read every word of it. I skimmed through and read the parts that I was interested in and then wrote down scriptures from the text.

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Let’s keep each other in our prayers as friends.

I know several of you post prayer requests and I love to pray for others. So if any of you would like for me to add you to my prayer list, please just mention it in the comments or write to me in an email.

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Has your weather improved? We only had a cold rain but our temps are headed UP! I hope you see the sunshine this weekend, too!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

My Downton Abbey Pillows and Scrapbooking supplies!

What do these have in common?

They both came from sweet blog buddies!

My friend from Olive Out sent me these pillows!

They’re my Downton Abbey pillows!

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Oh my! I admired them when I saw them in person at her shop and I ‘may’ have mentioned it a few times in passing. She sent them to me as a gift!!!

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The link is HERE to the post I did about her shop at Ridge Spring Antiques.

Aren’t they perfect on my red sofa?

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And Twyla and Lindsey from Two Crazy Crafters sent me these wonderful scrapbooking supplies when I won their giveaway.

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Be sure and visit them SOON! They are sharing old fashioned Valentines every day on their blog!

I know what you’re going to say….Yes, I know I’m lucky AND blessed!

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Are you enjoying Downton Abbey this season? WE ARE! Well, except for that one show that I don’t think I can ever watch all the way through again!

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This paper even looks like my pillows!

Thanks to my sweet blog buddies!

And Vee at A Haven for Vee is having a Downton Abbey Discussion today! Come and join in!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Making a Banner

Oh what joy!

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I looked on Pinterest to get some ideas and then started cutting. I decided it was easier to cut the hearts ‘free hand’ than try to use a pattern.

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But the more I sewed, the more I added!

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How long does it take to make a cutesy Valentine banner?

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Well, it took me about 3 days! haha!

I would hate to have to make these for a living!

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I love banners though, don’t you?

Monday, January 27, 2014

Roses “to make things better”

Sweet hubby gave me a dozen roses ‘just because’.

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I don’t think you could walk through my kitchen today without smiling.

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I’ll just show you a few photos

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and hope they make you smile, too.

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And did you notice the little Valentine? I put a glass jar to hold the loose petals that fell off and a pretty Valentine that Celestina Marie sent me years ago. (I keep my sweet Valentines, don’t you?)

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I’m sending lots of warm hugs to everyone affected by this bitter cold weather.

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Wish I could send some Florida sunshine, too.

How are you on this Monday morning?

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Just for FUN!

Well, you can’t have a birthday without just a little bit of fun.

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And I don’t go anywhere without a doll or animal! That’s fun for me!

So we turned on the IPOD when we got in our car to make a little day trip to the beach, and this was the song playing!

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And who was traveling with me?

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Gwen Stefani of course! heehee!

But there was more fun to be had when we pulled into the parking lot at the seashore.

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(we were actually eating lunch, when they drove up)

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So we had a little photo shoot right then and there!

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HEY….WAIT FOR ME!!!

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How do you like their grill?

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And how would you feel about traveling from Vermont on a motorcycle with this in tow?

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Life’s an adventure!

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I’m joining Beautiful Sunday,

Mosaic Monday,

and Amaze me Monday!

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“Woohoo, Yeehoo

If I could escape…

the gorilla sitting in the boat…”

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PS I’m pretty brave and very friendly. I met the nice couple that were traveling in this rig and asked permission to take these photos! Just in case you wondered! hahaha!

PSS Now I wish Gwen Stefani would visit my blog, don’t you?

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Gray is the ‘new’ black!

….or in my case, the new blonde!

So have you noticed? Were you just too polite to mention it?

It actually was an easy change for me.

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I’ve been blonde my whole life…lighter when I was younger and then dirty blonde as I got older. And living here in Florida, the sun bleached my hair out until it looked almost white.

So I thought….what the ‘hey’! Let’s see what it looks like. I had been putting a medium blonde rinse on my hair about every 2 months (and my roots looked very light) so it didn’t seem too radical to stop. So about a year ago I stopped. And now all of the color has been cut off.

So far my hair dresser, Pam says my blue eyes look even bluer and my husband has complimented me more on my hair than ever. And awhile back, a man behind me in line at the thrift store asked me about my hair. He wondered if I colored it and said he liked it. What a shock!

So now I can get out in the sun all I want and not worry about how much it bleaches out. The lighter the better, I think.

I would close the comments but you know I can’t wait to hear what you think. Do you like the before or after?

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(I didn’t touch up these photos or even sharpen them…just cropped them)

Being blonde has defined me.

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But time moves on!

(and this post may move on to the second page, too! hahaha)

Have a FUN weekend!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Literary Friday–A trip to the Library

It always gives me the best feeling to check out a big stack of books from the library.

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So I set out to make the short trip to my local library for these. (thanks Nana Diana for encouraging me!)

Doesn’t it make you excited to see so many pretty covers and know there will be stories to enjoy between the covers of each one….or at least some of them.

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I got my Goodreads page caught up and I finally decided to list a couple that I didn’t like. I always read at least 50 pages but I can usually tell whether I like a book by that time.

I think I’ll start with this one. Or I might just read a mystery this weekend.

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I’m joining Ricki Jill at Art @ Home today!

I wanted to request The Goldfinch but I would have been #73 in the queue! lol

And one of my favorite authors has a new book out, Lost Lake! I can’t wait to read it. This is the email I got from Sarah this week.

Dear Readers,

It has been a long and eventful three years since my last book, but I'm thrilled to say that the pub day for my new book, Lost Lake, has finally arrived! It's now on sale wherever books are sold. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Wishing you all good things for this New Year.

xo

What are you reading right now?

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Highs and Lows!

I wished for a birthday to remember and I got one!

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Thanks to everyone for your sweet birthday greetings. They meant a lot to me when I got home from the beach.

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It was beautiful for a few hours and one of the best shelling days ever at Canaveral National Seashore.

There were MOUNDS of seashells of every description and we had tons of fun picking up our favorites.

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Calico Scallops are my favs and we found lots of variations.

A rain shower rolled in so we left a little earlier than expected. And I’ll just leave it at that and share the good parts of my day.

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Is the sun shining in your part of the world today?

Do you focus on the good in your life?

It’s the best ONLY way to live your life!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A Birthday to remember?

Well, I hope it is.

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For some reason it makes me hum this classic tune…..

“When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm hhhmmmmm de dum….la la la!”

Thanks Paul Mc Cartney for this special birthday greeting!

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And thanks to all of my blog buddies and best girlfriends for singing along with me on my ‘special’ day!

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Sweet hugs from the birthday girl!

(hopefully I’m a beach bum today. I’ll let you know tomorrow!)

 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

~~True Love~~

Here a few more photos from Sholom Park.

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I posted some earlier in the week HERE.

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It’s just the best time to live in Florida.

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The weather is nice and the trees and flowers are so beautiful right now.

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Many of them look like Fall.

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday,

Mosaic Monday,

and Amaze me Monday!

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There’s nothing better than walking at the Park with your Sweetheart. Red heart

Enjoy your day!