Healthy IS Better

I have to confess I have not done very good with my healthy choices the last few days, and believe me - I can tell a difference. A BIG difference.

On Tuesday my Mother in law had an appointment with a surgeon. She had been dealing with an infection for 3 - 4 months. She had taken 4 - 5 rounds of powerful antibiotics and still the infection would not go away.

She left the Dr. office at about 1:45pm after being told that she would have surgery the next day to remove the infection. But that they would call her with the time.

She got back to the store(that she owns and runs and that I work at) at about 2:00pm. There was a lot of things that she wanted to take care of before the procedure would be done. But she waited by the phone. At 4:30pm she called the Dr. office asking if they knew what time yet. they told her -"Oh someone will call you."

All this time I was kind of stressing out. I knew that I would have to do my job, do the bookwork and deposit and cover for her on the grill. But there was also a chance that I might have to take her to the hospital. And the not knowing if that would be my responsibility, on top of a lot of other stuff in my life stressed me out.

Anyway I decided to get myself a root beer - sounds harmless, right? Well I had also gotten one the day before and then I had not had time to fix a good meal for myself so ate junk and by yesterday afternoon I was feeling it. I had a headache and was very tired.

Well this morning, before going to work I took the time o make a batch of my black bean with corn chili. I also took the time to eat a good breakfast of a peach, banana, an orange and my oat groats.

With my black bean with corn chili for lunch I had a few raw carrots. I also did a better job at drinking my water. It is a lot easier when you do no drink sodas.

So I confess to making bad choices and believe me I have paid for it. And I have to say that Healthy is better.

Now to get off of here and get to bed. I have really been trying to get to back on my schedule of going to bed at a decent time. I should already be in bed. But I had written up this post earlier and just had to post it today to make it true for how it is written. Make the right choices to take care of you - you are worth it. :o)

The Quilting Corner

Recently I discovered a new way to do something. The last two steps in order to finish a quilt out and be very time consuming. First you machine sew your binding onto the front of your quilt and then you flip it around the the back, pin it down and then begin to hand sew it down. Depending on of the size of your quilt this can take a lot of time - or a whole lot of time for the larger quilts. This job can be kind of fun in the winter time because of the cold - you can just spread the quilt onto your lap and begin working. But in the summer time this job is not quite as enjoyable if you try to do it the same way you do it in the winter time.

Since it has been so hot out - later in the day I have been spending more and more time in my sewing room. I have quite a list of projects I would like to finish up this summer. Well I have a couple of quilts that were just waiting for me to sew the binding on. So this got me thinking -how can I do this job here in my sewing room without getting really hot and it occurred to me that I could use my ironing board as a table and lay the quilt across it and begin to work on it. This works great because my husband has set up a TV above my work space so I can sit there and watch movies, sermons or my favorite shows - what ever I am in the mood for. So far I have one small side of a queen sized quilt done! It would be more but there is just one little problem with doing it this way. Well to be honest this happens to me whether I have the quilt just in my lap or up on the ironing board. For some reasons my cats really think that I am making these quilts for them. And so they like to curl up in them. I had a photo of this and how I have the quilt on my ironing board but for some reason I can not upload it.

Anyway I look forward to getting a few of my projects done and moving on to a few more projects I would like to work on. I just have too many projects going to really justifiably start a new project. :o)

A Big Job and Busy Week

Here is probably going to be the most challenging area of my yard. This is a corner in our yard. And the trees come out quite a ways and probably the mot challenging thing of this area is poison ivy. Last year I was introduced to:


This is great stuff. I have sprayed this stuff on to the poison ivy that was out front of the trees. And it has all died. yay! I will be waiting till Fall probably before I really tackle this area - so that I can get in here without getting poison ivy. I can not wait to show the after photos - once I am done. I have been so pleased with the out come of alot of other areas in my yard.

It has continued to be hot around here. My temperature thing says that it is 102.4 right now - 5:40pm. That is so sad. I am fixing to get off of here and go turn the water on and run it into my "creek bed" for my chickens. I think I might work in my sewing room this evening. The rest of the week will be stressful because my MIL is having a procedure tomorrow which will mean that I have to cover for her on the grill - 10:30am - 2:30pm and then I will also have to take care of the bookwork for the store. And may have some other extra stuff to do. Right now we are waiting to find out what time it will be. I may have to take her the hospital. Just don't know yet. :o)

A Season and A Time

Today on my way to work, I was thinking about how hot it has been around here. Last year we did not even hit the century mark till the middle or later part of July. What a nice summer we had... Well it is a totally different story this year - I can not tell you an exact number but I can say it has been quite a bit of them. Today was no different. Today my husband met me and my MIL in town and he said his temp thing on his truck said 105 - about an hour later when I got to my car - it was saying 104.

Anyway back to this morning- I was thinking about when just months ago we had gotten a lot of rain(hardly any for the last couple of months though) and how it was kind of dreary for days. Then I was thinking about how we had snow and it was COLD. And again dreary out. I was thinking during those dreary days - the hot sun of the summer months would be so refreshing just every now and then. And thinking how cool it would be to be able to have some cold days here and there and some hot days here and there.

Well then I started thinking how in the Bible it says that there is a time for this and a time for that:

To everything there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and
a time to die;
a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up
that which is planted;

A time to kill, and
a time to heal;
a time to break down, and
a time to build up;

A time to weep, and
a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and
a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and
a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and
a time to lose;
a time to keep, and
a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and
a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and
a time to speak;

A time to love, and
a time to hate;
a time of war; and
a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
It seems to me that God like things in an orderly fashion. And things may be hot now but they will not be hot for ever. Just like things in your life may be tough or really hard but that won't last for ever either. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. This too shall pass. And something very important to remember is that no matter what "time" you are going through, God is there ready and willing to comfort you and strengthen you. Run to Jesus and rest in His loving arms. :o)

I Love Vintage Avon Perfume Bottles!

I love vintage Avon perfume bottles. When I was growing up my grandparents on my Dad's side bought my sister and I a couple of things of perfume in really pretty bottles. I don't have those bottles any more. When I was younger, I did not appreciate things like this any where near as much as I do now. I wish that my Mom had have realized that these type things would be important to me one day and had have kept them. It is funny how when you get older things that once were important to you are not so much and things that were not much important to you they have new value. Several of these bottles belonged to my husband's granny. We have a great collection of the more masculine bottles too. I need to get them cleaned up and photos then I will share them with you all. They are on a shelve with quite a bit of dust. Hey now - I have been spending lots of time outside getting things cleaned up and then this week I took some much needed time to start getting things more organized here in the house.

But it won't be as easy of a task to organize and clean here in the house. See what I have been doing outside is cleaning things ups and all but inside - half of this stuff belongs to my husband and he likes his stuff where he has it, even if it is not very neat or tidy. So I work in areas around the house that I can. And I try to ignore the places that I can't.

It amazes me to see some photos of fellow bloggers and how show case ready their homes are. Well mine is no where near that. I try to have it as inviting and nice as I can but I don't have the ability to have it just the way I want it.

Most of these bottles I have found at Goodwill for about 1 - 2 dollars. Which I think is an awesome deal since when I go to Antique Malls I see the same ones for 3.95 and up. My collection could grow at a faster rate if I would be willing to spend that kind of money and maybe one day I will be. But for now part of the joy of collecting them to find them for just a dollar or two!!

This one I believe came from my grandma who past away back in 2001. The same year - actually the same exact week that we moved into the house we are in now. My Mother was nice enough to pick a few things out for me and for my sister. It seemed like a lot of the family rushed in and grabbed stuff so I am so thankful that she got what she got for us.

When we were getting the things that we wanted from my husband' grandparents house- I had no idea how special these pieces would some day be to me. This one I believe came from her house and the very first photo -of the blue pitcher also came from her. And I believe that the perfume bottle with the iris as the lid - came from her as well.

I am hoping that some day maybe these things can be a treasure to our grand children. Just like they are to us. Later I will do a post on the rest of our collection. :o)

Sabbath Praises

If we will allow Him - God can use all of the difficult situations that we go through to bring about His perfect will in our lives. Have questions - just read Romans 8:28 and while you are at it read the whole chapter. And don't stop there - keep reading where ever God leads you to read in His Holy Word. :o)

Needing Some Creative Help

Aren't these stickers pretty? My camera did not do the color justice. These stickers are so pretty that I hate to use them. I am looking for ways to use them that I would be able to enjoy them for many years. Does anyone out there have any ideas? :o)

It's Hot Out There

Well this is what the weather here in Texas looks like. Are you all envious? I bet not. I love Texas - but the summers are tough to get through sometimes. You learn that if you want to get things done outside - you need to do it early or late in the evenings. Of course, late in the evenings it is still pretty hot out. So I tried to do my yard work early and then in the hot evenings - I get my chickens water in their creek bed. That seems to work great. I am thankful that our yard is set up in order to do that. And since I run water through that area every day, the ground does not instantly soak up the water like it would anywhere else in the yard and it give the chickens more time to play in it and enjoy it.

Things are about the same around here. I tell you one thing, I am so thankful that God has been teaching me to depend on Him because this whole situation with my son and his wife - is totally out of my hands. There is nothing I can do - except to pray and I am learning that prayer is not a last resort it is the first thing that I go to. Only God can change people's hearts. And I am so thankful to have a heavenly Father who loves us so much that he knows what is best for us even when we don't. And I am so glad that I can trust His heart and trust that He will give us the strength to get through what ever is brought into our path along this journey. May you find the peace of God in your lives today. :o)

Some Good News

About a week ago I had my blood draw and tested. Well today I got the results back. And I am excited to report that I had some significantly changes in a few of the numbers. Now you have to keep in mind that I had not had my blood tested since 2009 - so some of the before numbers could have actually been higher or lower.
Total Cholesterol -241 ---- now- 246
HDL- 37 ----- now 49 _Wow! I have always had a low number in this area -happy it is up.
LDL - 170 ---now- 173
trigl. - 169 ---now 118 - a major drop! yay!
My iron was bit low so I will be taking iron for a while. This is not new to me, when I was younger I had some problems.
Everything else looks good. I was thrilled. I will be going back in 6 months to have some more blood work done. I am hoping to see some more improvements. I am so glad that I have made the changes in my diet and lifestyle and to see the improvements is great!
Hoping you all are doing good! :o)

I'm still here..

No....I have not fallen off the face of the earth. It has just been a busy week - with a lot of Dr. appointments and then several other things that just popped up in the mix.

It has been very hot here in Texas this past week - or so- like in the hundreds already. And that is very sad. Last year it did not even hit 100's till mid to late July. So we are really in for it this year. Or maybe ... just maybe we will get the hot out of the way and then go right into Spring. Not. Not in Texas anyways. It has been so hot that this morning when I went to let my chickens out and feed them - I found one of my easter egg chickens dead on the roost. That broke my heart. I hate to lose my girls. I will have to be more vigilant and make sure I get out there every day and run some water in the creek bed so that they are encouraged to drink more water. Yesterday I was busy with something else - and I did not get to doing that and feel a bit guilty -that maybe if I had have made sure I did that, I probably would not have lost her.

I will really try to get on here later this afternoon and write a post. There have been some things on my heart lately and I am praying about whether to share them or not.

Seeing Special Things in Nature

(Edited to add the correct photo)

This morning, I had to go get some blood drawn for my annual check up. After the blood was drawn, I headed to another errand and as I sat at a light I looked over beside where I was and saw a beautiful black bird with a bright red and yellow patch on each side on his wings. I have seen these birds from afar - but not up close. Not sure the name of them either - sorry.

After I got home- I was working at my kitchen sink and looked outside and noticed one of my little squirrel friends. So I slowly went to the back door in the sun room - and got my cell phone out and just put it up against the window and was able to capture a few photos of him. It was so cute to watch him scamper around our yard - finding nuts and things of interest. And of course he had to get a drink at the bird bath. I know it is not very clear - by the time I cropped the photo so you could see my friend - it kind of blurred things a bit.

This bird bath serves a lot of different purposes- of course - my squirrels love to drink out of it, birds love to bath in it and drink, my cat even likes to get the occasional drink, and some local bees love to drink out of it. I love the nature that is in my yard. :o)

Another Day's Work

Today is one of my day's off - but that does not mean that I am not working. First thing this morning I went out and got to work on some trees in my chicken pen. This first photo is the tree I started with - and actually this is not a before photo - but and "after" photo. I had cut a few branches off and really did not have a lot to go when I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks. There was a yellow jackets nest at probably about the level of the middle board on the fence - in the middle of the tree. On the nest - there was probably about 8-10 yellow jackets. Well I called my son and asked him to get the wasp spray and come out and help. He did and sprayed and killed the yellow jackets that were on the nest.

Well I decided to work on a different tree, since there was such a strong smell of poison.

So this is a photo of a tree that is at the back corner of our chicken pen. I had already cut a few things out. For some reason my main concern is to get these jobs done and then an after thought is that I can share about it on here. Sorry for not having totally before photos- it would give a much clearer of photo of what I am doing. I was so pleased with what the results were once I got done cleaning up this area.
Now - I do miss the fact that all of the branches and such did kind of create wall of privacy - but I would much rather have our yard look nice.

I also cleaned up the trees to the right in the photo. There a tree that is to the far right that I want to work on cleaning up but that will be another day. Once I get all of these trees cleaned up - I have piles and piles of limbs and some small, whole trees to carry over to our burn pile. And of course, my chicken's were helping out. Do you see the yellow chicken in the middle? She is laying down just enjoying herself.

By the way, yesterday at 7pm - our thermometer said 100 degrees. Just thought I would share our 7 day forecast. I am worried that we are going to have a hot summer with the temps already being this high. I hope you all have a great day! I am cleaned up and have a list of stuff to do inside and also some errands to run. :o)

More Work Done in My Yard

This morning, I got out and got to work on an area of my yard that has been long neglected. As I cut down the branches, come of which came almost down to touch the ground, my chickens thought that they would help. They loved getting down under the pile of branches and hunting around.
Here is the finished product. I left a small pile of branches for them to play in for a while. I did go pick up the other pile that I had left from the last job that I had in the chicken pen. There is a tree up close to the chicken run that I have not decide if I am going to cut it down or not. I want to find out what kind of tree it is first,then I will decide.

Oh and a couple of the branches are in the chicken run - I will get them later as well. I got some of the trees that were growing up by the fence cut down too. Some of those had thorns.

Speaking of that, I drive down the road and see all sorts of pretty trees - you know the kinds with white or pink buds growing up by the road. Well I am wondering when these miscellaneous trees start growing in my yard - why can't they be those pretty trees instead of the ones with thorns?

Well I spent a few minutes walking around the yard and looking at what all jobs that I needed to are and making a mental note. Then I spent some time just relaxing on my back porch and enjoying my accomplishments.

Well I hope you all have a great day! :o)

Changes on the Outside/Changes on the Inside as well

Today I am having kind of hard day, so I thought I would share with you all some photos of some of the beauty from around our house. I love these pots that are on my front porch. I got them last year for a really good deal, can't remember how much exactly but for cement planters it was a great deal - or I wouldn't have been able to buy them. I got some good dirt and some pretty flowers and go out and water them ever day to every other day.

Here is my $5.00 hanging plant. I have heard that they are called Moss Rose's. And I love them. The leaves are fat. And the flowers are open only about half of the time - like during the day light hours and then they close. It has a lot of blooms during the day. I had just gotten the plant taken out to our front porch when I took this photo.

These are the same kind of flowers - but yellow. I really like them. The flowers are so vibrant. These bring beauty to my back yard.

Here is my bird bath that I had to move back a few feet since we built our back porch. The planters on either side are the ones that I found for $3.50 this week. I love these flowers. The color sure is wonderful for my back yard.

It is funny- several months ago while I was at Krogers I bought this plant:

And ever since then - I want to bring more beauty into my life. I always have wanted more beauty, I just would did not think that I could get to where I wanted. So instead I just put my energy else where - not always good places. But as I have been going to my 12 step meetings and we recite the Serenity prayer every meeting, I am learning that when there are things I can change - that I can ask God for the courage to do so. And it has been amazing what I have been able to accomplish around here since I have figured this out. There are somethings I can not change- like other people but I can make these changes in my yard. And at the same time I feel like changes are taking place inside of me as well. But it is so cool to be able to visibly see the changes taking place around my house. I am hoping to be able to take some of this energy and work towards getting the inside of my house in better shape. This is a much harder arena - since half the stuff is not mine so there are some areas of my house that I really can not change. But I will slowly work towards changing the areas I can. :o)

Did You Know that God uses Loppers? Well He Does - Kind Of

About a week or so I picked up my loppers and put my leather gloves on and started working clearing up the space around the trees around here. And I am thrilled with the results. I have some more places in the yard that I need to work on, but my yard is headed in the right direction - that is for sure!

I have found it quite amusing that since I have been learning what it takes to make trees look nice- as I drive places I notice how some trees are really pretty and some not so much so. I now realize that in order to have pretty trees you have to clean up that growth that really does not belong. You have to cut down the briar's and pull them out of those trees. There is a lot of work. It is not just something that happens without some hard work put in. As I have been thinking of this - I began to understand the way a person grows in Christ. It does not happen all on its own without some hard, painful work involved. Only when we allow God to use his loppers to help cut away that which does not edify our lives. And cut those briar's out and pull them out. Sometimes this is painful for us. But the end result is so worth it.

I think from now on, I will not be able to look at these major areas in my yard that I have cleaned up without remembering that lesson that I have learned and that I too am a work in process.

"The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands." Psalms 138:8

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;" Philippians 1:6

Hitting the Jackpot!

Today I hit the jackpot!! I noticed that a lady had a lot of really pretty flowers in her basket and they had the red clearance stickers on them. Well I was on a treasure hunt then. So I looked around the garden center till I found on the back wall - a couple of shelves of things that were marked half off. When I saw these flowers in pretty blue planters - for only $3.50 - I just could not pass them up. Our house is yellow and so I thought the blue would look really nice. And these pretty flowers - a pretty little bonus.



Look at the back seat of my car. I got a few herbs - so that I can get a herb garden going. I found them for $2.00 a piece. The are pretty good sized too. I could have found some cheaper - but they would have been smaller containers and plants. I was so thrilled with my finds today. And I passed up a few other great deals cause I just did not have the money. > I had bought a pair of brand new capri's a couple of months ago - thinking I might get a size smaller - well it is a good thing that I kept the receipt cause I have maintained my size. And there is no telling for sure if I will lose another size or not. The other reason it was a good thing that I have the receipt - is that they were already marked down $2.00 and I would have lost out on that money had I not had the receipt. Well after getting my money back - I only spent about $6.00 more money for ALL of the plants that I got. 2 of the blue planters(shown in first photo) 1 hanging thing of what I have seen referred to as rose moss. They are so pretty and for only $5.00 for a hanging thing of flowers - again I could not pass it up. I got 2 things of petunias for my flower bed. I got 2 chives, 1 parsley plant, and a Greek oregano. I did not notice that it was Greek oregano - so when I get done here I will be researching the difference from just plain oregano to Greek oregano - if any of you know, let me know. Anyway - I was very pleased with what all I got.


I noticed some really cute flowers on clearance at HEB but did not see them till I had left - so I might just have to run back up there tomorrow for a couple of them for my flowerbed that we just put in the front yard today - this flower bed is around a Red bud tree that we planted. I am so happy to see all the great improvements around my yard.


The job that I began the day with - was clearing up the area between a couple of trees on one side of our driveway. And trimming a lot of the branches down that were hanging way low. I am sorry - I just keep forgetting to take photos. But believe me it looks better. We still need to get our chain saw fixed cause there are a few things that need to be cut down several different places around the yard. I just make a list and hope that one of these days this job can be crossed off of the list. Well I hope that you all are finding beauty around you. :o)

Added: It looks like Greek oregano is the most common used oregano - so it looks like I got the right stuff! Yay! I have not used a lot of fresh herbs but I have always thought that the idea of having an herb garden sounded cool - and not I will be able to have one! :O)

My Chickens are Benefitting from my Work

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a great day! This morning I decided to work on another job around here that need to be done. So I worked on cleaning up this area in my chicken pen. There was a lot of over growth- well not as much as Sundays job. This area had been cleaned up last year. And I was so thrilled to realize that once I get some of these major jobs done and if I take care of it each year then - it will be alot easier to clean up next time!

I decided to leave some of the large limbs that I have cut down in the chicken pen so that they could enjoy them. They like to eat some of the leaves and I think the leaves are cool because I am noticing some of the chickens just laying down in that area. I will leave them there a couple of days and then I will move the limbs to our trash pile.

In the back ground of the photo you can see that a tarp that we had over the chicken run area, for shade and to prevent as much rain and mess in that area, has torn and is no longer doing its job. Well we have bought a new tarp - this is just a job that I am hoping to be able to get help to do. If I don't get help soon - I will just see if it is one of the jobs that I can actually do. I probably can- I just think it will be easier with help. Right now I have a list of stuff I still want to get done, so I will just slowly but surely get these jobs done.

The above photo is taken from my desk in my bedroom. I love my view. I love to sit there an watch my chickens. They really like this area of their pen. Do you see their swimming pool - the white thing to the right in the photo? Well I know it is not really big enough for them to swim, but they do enjoy wading in the water. So I just work on trying to keep the water pretty clean - since they walk through it and drink on it.

Do you see the board that goes across the "creek bed?" Since it is now in the 90-100 degree area - I try to turn the water on and let it run for a few minutes every day(that it is really hot) so that they can have a cool place. :o)

All in a Days Work

This week-end my husband, son and my son's friend went on a camping/fishing trip. So I had a nice quiet week-end. Sunday morning rolled around and I decided I wanted to tackle one of the things on my long "To Do" list. Well it did not take me long to figure out that the job I had picked was much bigger and harder than I had even imagined. One one side of our house - the side that has the AC unit - we have a couple of trees. And lots and lots of briar's had grown up into the trees and lots of over grown. I sure wish I had have thought to take a photo at the very beginning of this project, but I did think to take one when I was about 1/3 of the way done.

I learned that when the briars have grown up into the trees they like to weave themselves around anything they can which makes it much harder to pull them down. I ended up having to just work with a piece or two of briar until I could get it to come down. It was kind of like a puzzle - I had to just try different briars until I could get one down and some how removing that one helped make another one a little looser. It was a BIG job. And I will NOT be letting it go again. I will have to be diligent to keep up with that area(and the other areas I have been working on) and keep them at a reasonably doable job.

Here is my after photo! Isn't that 100% better? There are still a couple of little trees between the two oak trees that I want to cut down but they are too big for me to use my loppers for. S0 I am hoping we get our chain saw fixed soon and get them cut down.

It has amazed me at the things I have been able to accomplish, jobs that for a long time just seemed overwhelming. But once I put my mind to getting them done. And prayed and asked God for wisdom and strength - then I was able to accomplish them. I have more jobs around here to do and slowly but surely I will get them done. I am thinking next year when spring comes around - I will be getting out to get any of the things that are out of hand taken care of. Yesterday I worked from about 8-noon - and it was hot and I was sweating big time. I was glad that I had waited till after that job was done to take my shower for the day. The high for yesterday was 99. So those of you in cooler regions - I know you must get tired of cold weather, but just remember it could be running in the hundreds. And I am afraid with us already almost at 100 - that it will be one long hot summer here. So I will get these things taken care of and then I will just have to plan my jobs for in the morning hours or the evenings. :o)

Sabbath Praise

I know I have shared this song before, but this has been an extremely stressful week and when I heard it on the radio yesterday- I just knew that this was the song I needed to share today. I hope if any of you find yourself in difficult situations that you will call on Jesus - He is our hope and our strength, and He can make us well. Praise God! :O)

Lessons Learned Along This Journey

I am learning so many lessons lately. I am one that has really not liked people not liking me. Silly me - thought that some how I could make everyone like me. That I could jump through all sorts of hoops in order to make other people like me. Well I am learning that no matter how hard I tried - I could never make it through all the hoops that some people put up for me to jump through.
Another thing that I have learned with help from my sponsor is that in order to be a peacemaker -means that I don't cause strife. It does NOT mean that I need to work out ALL the problems around me. I am only responsible for MY side of the street and if I do my best to keep MY side clean - that is ALL I can really do.
I have shared with you all that my Mother is not speaking to me. Well it still hurts but I am trusting that God knows what is best and that I am right where I am suppose to be.
I have another situation with my son's MIL and we have come to a place of agreeing to disagree - and that is actually pretty freeing to me. I had not lived up to an expectation that she had of me and I apologized and there is really nothing else that I can do. And so I have made sure that my side of the street is clean and you know what? I am at peace. And that is very new for me. Before I would be all stressed out and sad because someone did not like me.
I have also realized that while Jesus was on earth that not everyone like Him. This is a man that went around loving and healing people - and people still found reasons why they did not like Him. So I have to realize that I live in a sinful world and there is NO way that I can please everyone. So the best thing to do is to do my best to please God and to be kind and loving and allow other people to be themselves - even if that means that they choose not to like me. Accepting ourselves and other people is probably one of the best things that we can do. Accepting them does not mean that we have to agree with them.
So there you have it - along this journey- I am learning all sorts of lessons and along the way God is giving me the strength, courage and wisdom needed. And that is really the best news of all! :o)

My Favorite Things

So I have had several pretty serious posts - so now I think it is time "My Favorite Thing." So here we go - I shared this with you all about a year ago when I first got it - my Black and Decker GrassHog - I LOVE it!! If you click Here you can learn a lot more about it.

This is my favorite yard tool. It is so easy to operate. Easily starts right up. Let me tell you - I have been making sure that both of my batteries are charged and I have spent hours - weed eating. And my yard is showing the difference. It was well worth the money spent. :o