Sisterchicks Down Under

I'm a couple of days into reading this book and once again I'm loving this author! This is the third Sisterchick book I've read and each time I end up using post it's all through the book so that I can make notes once I get home. There's a different set of friends in each book, but the friendship is so much fun and Biblical lessons are "accidentally" learned through their adventures. And then, coincidentally, while talking to Jeanie yesterday she mentioned that she'd just started a Sisterchick book from the library! Hmmm..."It's not odd, it's God!" (thank you to my grandma for such an awesome saying)

Then on the way to work today I was thinking about the direction my life is taking. With my baby girl about to turn 21 things are obviously changing in our family dynamics. I am totally enjoying my children as adults and am so proud of the persons that they have become. And now it leaves time for me to discover what I want to do with my life. I watch both kids going to college and Keith has started back this fall as well. But for me right now I am not interested in that. Nor am I interested in my job as a career. I'm happy with my job and feel very blessed to have such a good job, but that's not really where my aspirations lie. I've been doing a lot of prayer on this lately and I'm starting to see some ideas starting to form, so I'm kind of excited to see where God will lead me on this.

~ Elizabeth

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. - Romans 2:1

Sweet Blessed Rain!

Most of the day yesterday was overcast with little bits of rain. When we finished eating dinner we went outside to sit and enjoy it, when all of a sudden it started coming down like a real rain shower! Ahhh....how beautiful it was! And how wonderful to have a break in the drought! The funniest part was that shortly after it began we heard the neighbor man a few houses down holler "WOOHOO!!!" and his family started laughing with him. How cool to delight in such simple pleasures. Keith, Joe and I sat outside for a little bit just enjoying the time together with no other pressures that needed to be attended to.

After the all too brief rain stopped Keith and I ran a couple of errands, then came home and I headed to the treadmill again. I'm really impressed with the fact that more evenings than not I get on it and walk now. And my little cell phone continues to get a workout during my workouts as well. ;)

~ Elizabeth

Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. - Psalm 9:11

Menu Plan Monday

I am so loving this idea! Keith and I had already decided to try and eat at home more, so perhaps posting a menu each week will help. This way I'll have a little more accountability! If you want to see more menus, click here for the Master List of sites.

This week is the start of a new schedule for us at home since college starts today. In addition to Lynne' taking more classes, Keith is also starting back.

Monday - Roasted Red Pepper Chicken (new crockpot recipe), Mexican Rice

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwiches, baby carrots & grape tomatoes with Ranch dressing

Wednesday - hot dish

Thursday - Fish Tacos

Friday - Grilled Pork Chops, Corn on the Cob, Green Beans

Saturday and Sunday - not sure as it's Labor Day Weekend and I have no idea what our plans are yet!

Stop at the Lake Layout

This is the layout that didn't work in the post below! :)

Joe and Xena

The first picture just totally cracks me up, even though I know that technically it's not a good picture. James and Loni came over last night and brought Xena, who is now 11 weeks over. As this picture shows, she never really slows down! I was quite pleased though that by the end of the evening the two seem to be figuring out a way to get along and play together. She was quite persistent in wanting to keep playing though and by the time they left she slept the entire way home and Joe pretty much passed out in sleep too! (And lest anybody think Joe looks yucky in these pictures, both dogs had just finished playing in the hose at this point!)

Scrapbooking and Church Service

After our friends left Keith and I sat for awhile talking about our memories from years past. Sometimes it's hard to decide if the better part of life is the actual living of an event or the reliving of it many, many times through the years. It's all good....

I then headed to the scrapbook store to meet up with some friends and spent the rest of the evening playing with glue, paper and scissors. The layout above is actually timely, which isn't like me at all! These pictures were taken when we stopped at Lake Tenkiller on the way home from Ft. Smith from my grandmother's funeral. It was a very special, somewhat strange time for me. Still reeling from the pain of losing my grandmother and yet we stopped and they all ran and played just like children and I stood there taking pictures with my heart bursting from my love for my family. I know there must be verses in the Bible that say this better than what I can, but it was almost an affirmation of life. I think this week I'll spend some time trying to find what I'm looking to say.

Speaking of verses, church today was another heartfelt service. It's also interesting to me that my church, as well as my mom's and some of my friend's, all roll out their new Sunday School and Bible Study schedule this time of year. I suppose it's all tied into school starting. Anyway, I'm going to be starting a new women's Bible Study two nights a month and Keith, Lynne' and I are looking at the schedule deciding which Sunday School class would be the best fit for our needs right now. What a tremendous blessing to have all these options open to us! It really is an exciting time and our new pastor is so full of life and love. I also love how much of the Word we are learning during his sermons and today the church gave out notebooks to everybody to hold sermon notes. This will be so cool to have them all together instead of having to try and find the one I'm thinking of weeks later!

~ Elizabeth

Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. - 2Timothy 2:23-24

Friends In Town!

Oh what a wonderful day today was - Cam and Diana came to town! Our entire family has been friends since before the kids even started school and each time we get together with them it's like we were never apart. God has been so gracious to bless our families with each other. :)

We didn't get to spend nearly as much time together as what I would've liked, but each moment was special. Lunch at our favorite steak place and back to the house to play some fast show and tell with some of our toys. And honestly, the years apart just melt away like they never happened.

Sadly, it was time for them to leave all too soon. And here is the reason they came to town - they bought a car on ebay! How cool is that?!?!? We rode in their cool new car to lunch and I have to admit to being very jealous since it's a car I'd like to have. Perhaps having friends get one is the next best thing!

(And do you see how Joe has to make his way into every picture?)

Saturday Sky 082606

This is what the sky looks like when it's 180 degrees outside. OK, maybe I'm embellishing a little bit, but not by very much. ;)

Clean Bathrooms

As I finished cleaning my bathroom a very strange thought entered my head: "Well it's clean enough in here to eat off the floor!" and that got me to wondering where that saying originated. I have to admit that no matter how clean my bathroom floor is I just cannot get excited about eating off it! And why do I have the vision of Mary Poppins saying "Spit Spot" in my head???

By the way, the Method cleaner from Target is the best in the world - and it smells good too!

Calendar Routine

Isn't he precious? Any day that starts with a picture of Joe is bound to be a good day. :)

Yesterday I finally printed some calendar pages so that I can get my schedule organized. There are just so many things I'm interested in doing and not enough time to do them! We are blessed with 24 beautiful, empty hours each day and somehow we have to pencil in work, sleep, housework, family time and extracurricular activities in that time (not necessarily in that order - lol). I'll be adding a Bible study this fall that I'm really excited about as I'm hoping to get to know some of the ladies of the church better.

We also sat down last night and figured out our vacation time through the rest of the year, assuming both of our workplaces approve it. I feel very satisfied today as I am truly a creature of habit and getting a routine in place is soothing to my soul.

~ Elizabeth

"The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine." - Mike Murdock

Old Folk School

You know you're getting old when you start using terms that your almost 21 year old daughter doesn't understand. Last night we had this conversation about her college classes starting up next week:

Mom: Are you going to get some new pencils and tablets for your class?

Daughter: Tablets?????

Mom: You know, pads of paper.

Daughter: Ohhhhh.....you mean spirals.

Mom: Well, yeah. But in my day those hadn't been invented yet and we had tablets.

~ sigh ~

Chicken Salad

I haven't been feeling well lately, so I did not make it to knitting last night after all and am not going to a scrapbooking class tonight either. But what I did manage to do was try a new chicken salad recipe for dinner! Recipe can be found here and I highly recommend it. Monday night I put two chickens on the merry-go-round (Showtime Rotisserie grill) and what we didn't eat for dinner I went ahead and chopped for the chicken salad - with some leftover for the freezer. This recipe was also my first foray with fresh herbs - it calls for dill. I felt very self-righteous chopping it. ;)

Elizabeth

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity." - Voltaire

Wednesday Morning

I almost didn't post this picture today since it's not finished, but I'm pretty tickled over the project and posted anyway! Last night was our monthly teaching group and this flip calendar was what we did. All I ended up having to time to do was the month name and the picture mat on the opposite page for each month. I figure I have until January to get it all decorated! Really cute project and always nice to get together with these ladies and be a part of their creativity.

Tonight is knitting at the coffee shop and we're bringing our scarves for the Think Pink Challenge. In the interest of frugality we've decided to mail all of our donations together. I only have one completed and one on the needles, but I keep telling myself that every little bit helps. I'm hoping this will be an annual thing, especially as pink is my favorite color and I could do these all year long.

~ Elizabeth

“Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it.” - Dwight L. Moody

Puppies and Family

Isn't she just the cutest? Mom, brother and his wife were down for the weekend to go to my cousin's baby shower and of course we went by to see James' new house - and new puppy. She's so smart too and knows so many tricks already. And do I sound like a proud grandma or what? :)

I had so much fun with our guests this weekend. We rode from one end of the metroplex to the other and enjoyed visiting with each other and all the family members in between. Sunday morning we went to brunch for sister-in-law's "pre-birthday" and then to IKEA for their first visit. We of course love to go all the time, so that was fun.

No crafting to report or show pictures of, though I did go to a crop on Friday night. I finished a baby card for my cousin's shower and worked on a few other cards that of course are not finished yet. The highlight of the evening, and one of those bizarre coincidence things, was that our group broke out into the song "Whip It" by Devo and then I read that Devo was in concert in Dallas that night! I just thought it pretty cool that we might have been singing the song at the same time they did. ;)

Build A Bear Bib

Last night I got the ends woven in and the button sewn on for my first bib from the Mason Dixon book. I'm really pleased with how it came out and since it's such an easy knit I'm sure to make many more. I also plan to do a little research when I have a few minutes because I would bet there is surely some organization that would love to have some of these donated and that would make me very happy. This is a great project for knitting while watching tv or anytime you want to knit without paying a lot of attention. And since I have no babies at home I let my angel Build A Bear from James and Loni do a little modeling last night.

~ Elizabeth

WFMW!

Pardon me while I have a little commercial message for my "Works For Me Wednesday"! I have found a product called "Head On" that is awesome - for us. You buy it at any drug store and is in a little tube. When headaches strike you simply roll this stuff over your forehead. While I won't say that our headaches miraculously disappear, I will say that the severity is always lessened when we use this. I try really hard to not use too many oral medications as we all know it's not good for us in the long run, so I was very willing to give Head On a try and am quite pleased. What Keith and I feel when we use this is a cool, almost tingling sensation and it kind of relaxes the muscles in your head.

When I was out looking for an image to use I did discover that a lot of people scoff at this product and say that the ingredients are virtually nonexistent - that any relief is purely a placebo effect. Hmmm....I guess I have to say that's ok with me as we DO feel better after using it - for whatever reason! I carry one in my purse, Keith has one in his toolbox at work and we have one in our medicine cabinet. It was worth a try for us and....it Works For Me! LOL!

Head over to Shannon's blog for tons more tips!

Exercise is Fun????

Let me introduce my evil treadmill. I've never been overly fond of treadmills, or any exercise for that matter, but have had no real reason to think them bad. Until last night. A gal I work with has lost a tremendous amount of weight by walking and since the Dallas forecast today may as well be 180 as hot as it will feel I just can't get real excited about being outside. Because of this I have decided to give the treadmill a whirl again.

I will say that the key to not being bored on a treadmill is not the tv or music, but the cell phone! I slipped on my cute pink shoes, climbed aboard and called a girlfriend and we talked for the entire time. She did get the warning from me that if I start breathing too hard and she starts laughing that I was going to end the call though! Luckily it went ok. ;)

But this morning I'm having a hard time walking. Not because of muscle soreness, but because I have a blister on the bottom of my foot! Note to self: wear SOCKS and sneakers instead of the cute pink shoes next time!

~ Elizabeth

Old Coffee

It occurred to me this morning while getting my first cup of coffee that the spoonful from the green package is a sure sign that I'm getting older. Fiber was never something I used to worry about or even give any thought to. ;)

New Cards

Took some time to make some cards! Stamp by CTMH, organdy ribbon by Stampin' Up.








Stamps by Savvy Stamps

My New Grandpuppy!

Yesterday afternoon Keith, Joe and I headed over to James and Loni's house to meet Xena, the 7 week old lab that has now stolen my heart. You forget just how funny puppies can be until you get around them again! Notice the pink bandana around her neck - that's her first gift from grandma! Keith and I stopped at Hobby Lobby to pick it out before heading out to meet her. Joe turned out to be rather a grumpy thing and wasn't nearly as impressed with this little imp as we were hoping he would be, but they'll work it out over time. One of the surprising parts of the evening though is that their cat, Cheeto, was right out there in the thick of things! He did start out sitting under a chair to keep an eye on the "godzilla dog" (Joe), then came out and sat closer.

After playing with the dogs a bit we went to see a movie and out to eat, then back to playing with dogs again. Poor James had two of his wisdom teeth pulled late Thursday afternoon and is still pretty sore, but he did manage to grin and laugh at the silly puppy.

Doggie Day Camp

OK, one of the logistic hurdles to conquer for this trip is finding a place for Joe. That might not seem to be a challenge for some, but we do baby this dog and the only time he's ever spent time away from us was when he stayed with his grandma and grandpa (!). And I realize that by this entry you can tell we're getting older and the dog is our baby!!! Anyway, he now as a reservation at a local PetsHotel in a room just like the one pictured here - a "suite" to be exact. He'll have a bed and a tv in his room (stop laughing!) and will get two 15 minutes walks per day (just like home!). They have a long list of "ala carte" services and we will be adding the "treat time" - lactose-free, fat-free soft serve ice cream served with doggie biscuits - LOL! Before everyone thinks I've completely gone over the edge, the main reason we decided on the "suite" is that Joe has epilepsy and the suite is more soundproof, thus giving him less stimili with not being able to hear the other dogs bark so much. I'm sure there will be pictures after all is said and done and the odds are that there might even be some scrapbooking on this subject. :)

Celebrating Friendship

Yesterday while getting ready to travel and trying to get my thoughts straight I had a some friend blessings. I had a couple of friends call and just let me talk, which is what I needed to do most. It felt so good to share stories of Grandma and they were kind enough to listen, not interrupt and just murmur responses. What a blessing and gift it is to be able to do that! I will always treasure these friends. And then in the afternoon I got a call from another friend, who then came and picked me up, we went to Sonic for drinks (though she did tease me on my choice!) and then off to a hobby shop for a brief oasis. Again, kindness and laughter like this was what I needed and a gift to celebrate in this friend.

Now I'm off to try and get some of this house picked up since the housecleaning fairies didn't come in during the night again. I'm finding you just really cannot depend on those little fairies... :)

~ Elizabeth

My Grandma

My grandmother passed away peacefully yesterday - she was 86. I've had so many emotions running through my mind today as I think of her and figure out the logistics of getting my family to her funeral.

This picture was taken three years ago in the hospital, when we were all called to come and see her one last time as the doctors told us she wouldn't make it the two weeks to Thanksgiving. Funny how God's plans outweigh the doctor's predictions.

Grandma was a very Godly woman and loved to tell you about it. That's what I will miss most - sharing our faith together on the phone. No matter what she was facing with her health, she had a note of joy in her voice. She was truly grateful for each and every day that was given to her.

So when we all get together the day before her funeral and talk about her, there will be mixed emotions. Weeping as we all miss her inspiration and presence in our lives. Laughter as we remember her giggle and happiness. Stumbling as we feel the pain of loss. Dancing as we envision her dancing with our Saviour. And above all the warmth of family togetherness and knowing that she is still there among us in our memories.

~ Elizabeth

Sizzle, Gauge and Baby Bibs

Here it sits looking oh so pretty, but in reality it's all a sham. This is one of the swatches for the Sizzle top made with Shine yarn from Knitpicks. Unfortunately I just cannot get gauge and am frustrated beyond belief and am ready to kick the whole project to the curb. I did consult my knitterly friends and they have suggested I try again on needles made from a different material, so before admitting defeat I will do that.

Which has all lead me to think - why am I so worried about doing more difficult projects with my hobbies? Since when did it become a race to do fancier and more difficult, whether in knitting, scrapbooking, quilting, etc.? We must strive to be published, to do the latest and greatest and somewhere along the line the love and warm feelings go by the wayside. Knitting to me brings about peace and contentment in listening to the rhythmic click of the needles. I'd be willing to bet that blood pressure drops when knitting - it's that good. So why add stress to my hobbies?

I received my Mason*Dixon Knitting book and have thumbed through it and really think these ladies are my new heroes as they seem to have the knitting for pleasure down pat. And now if you'll excuse me I think I'll go work on a baby bib from the book - 64 rows of garter stitch knitting pleasure - and let my worries over gauge melt away.

* Edited to add - as luck would have it my phone just rang and one of my friends offered me the use of some of her knitting needles to see if I can get gauge. That way I don't have to run out and buy needles unless I know it works. I love my friends! :)

~ Elizabeth

Happy August!

I made this card last night with some of my new dry embossing templates and new inks. While not 100% happy with it, I'm still excited with the idea and will play some more. Mostly it was just so nice to sit and play with scissors and glue again!

Dinner last night was one of those best laid plans type of things. I was going to do a chicken in the rotisserie (set it and forget it!) and serve salad and corn on the cob with it - one of our favorite meals. But when I got the chicken out of the package I noticed it looked a little flat, like somebody had run over it almost. When I felt it I could feel broken bones all through it, so we decided it wasn't worth taking the chance with those tiny bones and we threw it out. Instead we made a quick hot dish and served with corn on the cob. We are really wanting to work on cooking at home instead of eating out - unless it's a fun event like eating with friends. Eliminating the almost daily fast food run is really what I suppose we're aiming for. So even though our original plan fell through, we thankfully had a backup plan.

Later in the evening I was all set to do some treadmill walking when I couldn't find shoe #2. I looked everywhere, then stomped around and sulked a bit. Keith came in and graciously looked as well, but to no avail. He is just so sweet though and next thing I knew he was bringing Joe's leash into the room and getting the dog all excited about a walk. He knew that I wouldn't walk in the heat late at night by myself, so by just doing it he got me motivated to go with them. I am not able to walk really fast and usually just walk in my Crocs, so lack of shoe #2 wasn't a problem for this walk. And we had such a nice time walking together. Late evenings just seem so peaceful. While out we noticed that the house directly across the street from us now has a "sale pending" sign added to the top of their sale sign. Now I'm anticipating new neighbors, which hasn't happened near us in many years. Fingers crossed!

~ Elizabeth