hello, it's me

Saturday we went to a travel agent to discuss going to Italy.  It was more expensive than we thought, so we have tons more research to do on it.

Darryl wanted to take my picture before I went to the party at church Saturday night. I think it was because I was wearing a pretty pink pin that the boys got me for Christmas.  The party was fine, but as usual I awkwardly tried making conversation with people, and I ate way too much.  But I survived.  Decided to spend the night at church instead of driving home, so that was kinda cool.  I thought it might be creepy, but it really wasn't.  It reminded me of staying in New York when we were there over the summer.  I listened to cars going by until probably 1 am, then it started to quiet down.  There was a nice street light right outside my window to cast enough light into the sanctuary to make it so I could see a bit.  Too bad I forgot to take any pictures.  lol... hey it was more fun than driving home!!  How many people get to say they sleep at their church?  I had a nice breakfast on Sunday morning.  My fun experience at church...what could be better?  

Today was a busy day.  Began cleaning, and preparing a menu for next week. A lot to think about. A lot to get done.  I had to put away all my sewing and painting supplies.  I also tried a new recipe today.  It was a Chinese dish, and I needed a Wok,  so Darryl went out and bought me one!  It's so cool.  I will need to make some modifications to the recipe I used.  But I greatly loved having my new food processor to get all the ingredients sliced and chopped.  What a time saver.  

I love singing or doing a voice lesson while I cook.  Today I worked on a Perfect Pitch course.  haha....I need all the help I can get!!   Been trying to learn harmony, but I have a long way to go.

I am very excited that I only have 2 more physical therapy sessions.  I'm so psyched to be almost done!  Now I feel like I'm strong enough to get back in shape.  I absolutely have to lose some weight before we go to New Orleans.  We will be doing a lot of eating there....and I only have a few weeks to get ready.

our Little King

Those are a couple of pictures from Ryan's choir trip to Orlando (Association for Biblical Higher Education). Hoping to get at least 1 video of the group singing.

He will be back in Florida next week during spring break for his Grace Singers tour. He is a busy lad. I am so happy and excited to see all that God is doing in his life! Ryan is certainly blossoming - nearly before my eyes... (since I'm not in Michigan).

And here are a couple of Tae Kwon Do shots with Ryan.  He is doing so well (almost a black belt)!!  I will have to have him teach me some defensive moves when he is here for the summer, while he is teaching me more singing stuff.  I love it.  The teacher becomes the student.

 

Kyle and his friends will be here in less than a week. We are super excited to see everyone. Oh, and since I got a food processor, I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it. There will be a lot of cooking going on!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ~Ephesians 1:3

my life is a river

Saw these pretty deer Saturday morning. They looked so peaceful. But just wait till I have my garden going and I see this critters, we'll be out there chasing them away! haha... It is nice to live in an area where we see so much wild life. We won't be here forever; we'll have to move at some point when the kids get settled. And when we are older we won't want to have to take care of this big house and this property. At some point we will get something smaller, more manageable, with less property, and fewer creatures roaming through. I will miss these days.

It's funny, I so often think of "seasons", like the seasons of our lives.  When we are going through them we don't even give it a second thought that this isn't forever.  We just think "here we are and this is how life is, and it'll always be this way."  Maybe we don't think of it exactly that way.  But how often do we actually acknowledge that where we are and what we are doing is only a short little span of time, a short little piece of our lives?  Living here, going to church, doing the things I do now, they are all only for a short season of my life.  Just like it was when my boys were home.  All of these things, these seasons, they don't last.  Life is like a river, some stretches of the river are long, without much change.  Some places are calm and peaceful.  Some places are rough and turbulent.  Some places are wild and crazy, with twists and turns.  Some places make you feel like you are going to drown.  And other places are so quiet and relaxing.  I could go on, but you get the picture.  Life, like a river, just keeps flowing... going on till it reaches the end.  It takes many turns and paths, but eventually it just ends.  Where did we go?  What did we do?  Who did we love?  How did we change lives?  Did we make a difference?  Did we show the love of Christ?

I hope that if my life has crossed with yours that I have helped you or loved you in some way.  I hope you can see Jesus living in me.  And I hope that I never take you for granted, because we are all only here for a short while.  Relationships sometimes are so fleeting.  Makes me sad to look back and think of people who are no longer in my life.  It makes me sad now to think of people who won't be in my life when my next season starts.  This is what happens when the river flows.  Life can't stand still.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

Revelation 22:1-3

What is at the end of your river?

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  He is your Life Saver.   

Mom's flower

Here is the thing I painted for Mom's birthday. hehe... I'm glad she liked it.

For, 

"All people are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of the Lord endures forever."

And this is the word that was preached to you.

~1 Peter 1:24-25 

Bad Wolf...or coyote :)

Caught this guy wandering through our yard this morning. Darryl and I were pretty sure it was a wolf, because it looked so different from the coyotes we've seen here before. But friends on Facebook thought it was a coyote. According to this page it's probably a coyote.  Either way, it was pretty cool to see it.

Naomi cleans house

I taught children's church on Sunday. Well, let me rephrase that. I attempted to teach, but it was pretty much nuts. I actually had fun playing Naomi (Ruth's mother-in-law) from the Bible. It was also a really sad role to play. When I was going over the account of Naomi's life I almost cried thinking about how she lost her husband and both sons. While I was reading it I was thinking how devastating that would be. I think the kids totally got into the whole Naomi and Ruth story, but after I took my costume off, and ran out of material, and had too many kids I lost control of the whole situation. It was pretty annoying and stressful!

Naomi

lots of turkeys!

There were so many turkeys in our backyard the other day!! This picture doesn't show all of them. It was so cool. When I opened the back door to take a picture they all flew away into the woods.  I'll bet you didn't know turkeys could move so fast into the air.

Today I purchased my 3rd vacuum cleaner in a month.  I just keep buying them and taking them back.  Darryl says I have a vacuum cleaner fetish.  I think my problem is, I just can't find one that I really like.

Well, I finished my last painting project! I will post a picture of it soon!  Must decide what my next project will be.  Sewing? Painting?  Jewelry?  lol!  I have lots of interests.  And in between all those things, I like to cook and sing.  (well, I really like to eat my cooking!!)  Today I made 3 dinners: 1 for tonight, 1 for tomorrow, and 1 for someone else.

Physical therapy was going super good until I tried out one too many vacuums.  So, today I was in pain again.  Tomorrow my PT will have to undo some damage I did trying to keep my house clean.

Naomi needs to take it easy.

Today Ryan left for Florida for a special Chorale opportunity.  He will be joining a group down there to perform for the week at the Association for Biblical Higher Education.  Such a cool thing!!

Polka Dot Bow Tie

Here's my other handsome son wearing one of the bow ties I made. He looks so cool. Who does he remind you of? Dr. Who? Harry Potter? lol

Polka Dot Bow Tie on handsome son #2

Ryan's colorful vest!

Ok, here it is. What you have been waiting for!! I think it looks pretty dang sweet.  He's going to wear it worship leading tomorrow.

Colorful vest on handsome son

poppy painting

I finished my first painting today (I was unable to avoid a reflection from the closet doors behind me). I know it's not that great, but I had a blast doing it. I figure if I keep doing it, I'll get better. It's been so dang many years since I picked up a paint brush... I shouldn't expect too much from myself. And besides, it's great fun, so I don't want to drive myself crazy trying to make everything perfect. I always wanted to paint a poppy for the family room and so I did it and now I'm happy. My next project... hahaha.. I will keep you in suspense until I'm done.

Poppy Painting

Know what I love about painting besides the actual painting? I get to sing while I do it! So, I am doing 2 happy things at the same time. I can't wait to get really good at both!

Family Room

 ‘I will build myself a roomy house

With spacious upper rooms,

And cut out its windows,

Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ 

~Jeremiah 22:14