What have I been up to?

Several folks often ask "So what have you been doing?" Well I'll show you:

Basket making is never a neat and tidy job.


Just about finished.

Ta Da! One market basket with a twill weave base.

This is a cassarole basket. This basket was my teaching basket. The Lord used this to teach me "let the basket teach me, not me "making" the basket". I learned patience and humility. It's surprising what God will use to teach lessons.

Yummy food!

And a bit of this!

Hope you have a great day!

Vacation to AZ

We haven't ever taken a vacation just because. In 20 yrs of the Marine Corps, our vacations were always to go visit family so the girls could see there biological mom. Well, not this time. We did make a stop to see my mom. It was brief but good. Then on to the Grand Canyon! Can you believe~ we took the train from Williams AZ to the Grand Canyon. What a spectacular sight to see. Pictures can't do it justice, but I will afford the effort to see if you are tantilized to go visit this creation from God.

The train ride up to the Grand Canyon.

We upgraded the car so we could stand on the back "porch" while we rode up. That was so neat!

The first glimpse at God's creation. I don't know all the statistics, but believe me when I say it's aloooonnnnggg ways down.
Thank you Lord for a railing. It kept my knees from being wobbly. At least at this look out point.
My Husbands creative eye at work.

Believe me, I am not standing anywhere near the edge. C just is good with a camera.

Now he on the other hand got so close I started to have anxieties!! I think the AZ sun baked him to long.

I found this little mound of red rock to be intriguing. Out in the middle of no where.

Our country's flag flying at the Grand Canyon.

The donkey trail down. No way! No how! Not a chance!

I hope you enjoyed our adventure. We really had an amazing time.

He graduated!!

I am so proud of him. After 20 something years of wanting and trying to finish his college degree, it finally happened! May 8, 2010 C graduated from Franciscan University. Whoot whoot!! We had a busy weekend with a mass celebrated by a CARDINAL (never seen a Cardinal before so that was pretty cool!) then the graduation ceremony on Saturday. The largest class the unversity has ever had, with 700 students.

So now what you ask? Well, after much prayer the past few months we feel it's not time to move. The Lord still has us here in for a while. C is going from part time work to full time, with the same company, and working out of the house. He has the desire to chip away at a Master's so he is enrolled in a class in the fall. There are some things in the works with some of the professors on campus. Not teaching, that needs a Doctorate (which requires knowledge of 4 languages including Latin and Greek. Yikes! That doesn't excite either of us :) But some other possibilites. We will see how the Lord unfold's things.

I decorated the front door and our dinning table with cute "Graduate" decorations, and even little sprinkles with graduate hats. Cute!! We went party hopping Saturday and out to dinner to a very nice restaurant. Then Sunday we did BBQ beef ribs, his favorites. Two days later we left for AZ for a vacation/family visit. That's for another post.

Here are a few pictures from the amazing event of a graduation ceremony of a non-traditional student who has worked at this even while active duty, when he could, and followed the Lord to a place we never knew of, only to be rewarded abundantly for his efforts.

The Friday night get together, C with a good friend.

:)

Tee hee, he doesn't know I'm taking his picture!

Now he does! I think someone is excited!

C "walking" across the stage. What a moment!

Moving the tassle from right....

to left. Graduated!!

The hood with the school colors and a well deserved diploma.

:) I love my graduate!

Family

Our trip to NM was great! C' parents had their 50th wedding anniversary and ALL the family was there. Danielle even got leave to be there. Here are a few snapshots:

This was on our drive back to ABQ. The morning fog was so beautiful.
Here is most of the family.

They are so grown up! My heart remembers the little girls. They will always be my girls, even if in my heart.

Doesn't God make some amazing creations.

Fastest trip in the west!

We are flying back to NM this Friday. Leave Friday, come back Monday. Why would we fly back to New Mexico for 2 1/2 days you ask? Well we are celebrating my In-laws 50th wedding anniversary this Saturday. And what's cool is the WHOLE family will be there! (There's a couple surprise's so I can't say who just in case someone is reading this that you know who shouldn't know you know what!) :-) I just love surprises!!

I'm nervous. I have missed the southwest so much and I have allowed the Lord to work on my heart and change my passionate desires to move back there. I am willing to live where He wants me, and right now He wants me in Ohio. That may change soon, but for now this is where we are. I have hope in the Lord that if that's where we will move to when C graduates in May, then so be it. If not, please Lord, keep my heart in Your loving hands. I want what you want.

On the lighter side, my husband as BIG plans to go skiing Sunday...God willing, with Kim, his oldest daughter. He hasn't skied in over 25 yrs, so pray for them. I feel like all will go well, but just in case I'm bringing my homepathic kit for bumps and bruises. :-) The Lord helps those who help themselves, right?

See you next week!

From Dust you came

* From Dust you came and Dust you shall return *

This is what the priest says as he made the sign of the cross, using the ashes from Palm Sunday, across my forehead. Today is the first day of Lent. The day that marks 40 days to the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. While I'm excited, the end of the journey is the most Glorious day...Easter. But today, it is somber. Our home is filled with a spirit of sacrifice and will be daily until Easter morning. Chris and I have each made personal choices as to what we want to give up for Lent, or do for Lent. While I don't feel it necessary to share my personal sacrifices, I will share one.

I have been inspired the past couple of days to "get my home in order". The Holy Spirit is working through others and recently I found a past magazine I used to get called "Keepers at Home". The article is titled "To Guide the House". I had randomly picked this out of my bookshelf when I felt I needed some inspiration, for what I don't know, but felt I needed inspiration. I ran across this magazine and opened up to this article.

The first sentence was: "How do you keep your home orderly?" Um, well at the moment my home was chaotic with paper clutter, piled in several places in the house. My bathroom, small as it is, had so many things on the counter (including clean towels to be hung) that you had to pass by carefully. Ok, enough confession. Anyways, she goes on to say "This seems to be the struggle of every housewife." Whew! I'm off the hook. Oh wait, fiddle sticks, there's more. "Let all things be done decently and in order" from 1 Cor. 14:40. Ok, I'm listening Lord. This is where I started to get renewed in my desire to manage our home. I pondered it. I don't do things decently, I do them rushed. Oh, Lord. You have so much work to do in me. "In order". Hmm, my husband can't find what he needs and always asks me, sometimes I can't find it either. Hmm, I have some work to do. I sat thinking: "How can I sit around complaining there is nothing in this house to do! The house is tidy (on the first floor) and it is cleaned weekly, but it is not in order, nor do I do things decently. There is not a peace in our home, a rythym of which I thrive on. How can I consider taking that part time job offer to fill my time when my husband and I don't even know where things are? I have work to do right here!"

So the article goes on: 1 Tim 5:14 and breaks it down and goes through it. I'm good with it all until she hits "Guide the house..." She writes "Do I hear groans?Is keeping order not part of the comand to guide the house? It includes teaching and training our children the blessings of diligence and self discipline in this area." Um, diligence? self discipline? Ok, now I'm feeling sheepish and see I have no excuse to sit around and say there is nothing to do and there is too much snow to go outside!

Though she talks of the Proverbs 31 woman, she admits, along with many women I know, while this woman is a role model, it sets an almost impossible standard. But doesn't God call us to holiness? Doesn't God set the bar high for us to give us something to work towards, to humbly admit our weakness and our dependance on a Power greater than ourselves? While I could never do all the things the Proverbs 31 woman does (nor do I think anywoman in her right mind could do it ALL) I do believe the Proverbs 31 woman gives me something to work towards.

That is to do things,not rushed, but peaceful...creating order...and doing it decently. Do the things that are needed for our family, for me, and for our home. It is in this process, I believe God will mold me and change me into the woman He knows I can be.

So, I will use this next 40 days to clean out, par down, and create a peaceful environment. I have already taken care of both my desks, which was an all day task. Death by papers!! I have one desk upstairs (which I'm on now) that has the computer and all my files within arms reach. This is my Home Management desk of which I do most of our budget (we split this by the way!), our records upkeep etc. The desk downstairs was my great-grandparents and it is used as my everyday desk. It is very small and I keep my planner open on top all the time (unless it's with me :-) That desk is somewhere for me to do the day to day things...like dreaming of my garden and making plans for it.

We don't sing the Alleluia in mass during Lent and each Crucifix in our home is covered with a purple cloth. A visual reminder of the our Lord's suffering and where my heart should be during this season.

Wow!This is a long post. But there is much to say about Lent and my journey as I set out.

I wish you Christ's peace,

Dee

(Note: This is posted on Thursday but was written on Wednesday.)

My sweet Valentine!

It was so sweet.

I woke up to a great breakfast and a romantic setting in our living room. Check it out-

I helped a bit with the table cloth, but he did all the fixin's as we say in the south. It was so wonderful. No paper, no books, just us and a fire. :-)

My Valentine also wrote me a very sweet letter for my valentine card. I am not much for purchasing things, I like handmade. This was not only handmade, but handwritten. That's a keeper in my book!

For my morning prayers, I wished God a Happy Valentine's Day. He is the ultimate example of Love, for He loves you, and me, so much that He sent His Son to walk amongst us and die for us. For our sins. He deserves acknowlegement of the example He has given us.

Chris asked me to join him for World Marriage Day dinner at our church, which also happened to be Valentine's Day. It was great. Everyone in attendance got a blessing on their marriage. Then a lovely dinner and some witnesses about marriage...and how it's not all roses but it's worth it!

I hope your Valentine's day was grand.

Christ's Peace,

Dee

Dropping my "Followers" widget

Ever since I posted the Followers widget in the sidebar it has bothered me. I've asked myself time and again, why? Why do I have that on there? For me, it borderlines pride and pride is not something I chose to contend with. So, I've removed it. I hope you understand, it's more for me, to keep me honest with myself and some of my personal blogging rules. Thanks!

We are having another snow storm...5-9 inches expected by tomorrow. Where are we going to put all this snow!!

Have a great day!

Dee

Here's a few more pictures

Here's a few more pictures after the walk and driveway have been shoveled. My guy is the best!






Me, freezing!
Neighbors helping neighbors. God's love is truly awesome!

My Guy! I am so blessed.

My Guy finishing up our driveway.

Peace,

Dee

Snow? Boy do we have snow!!

We have been having one big snow storm! Since yesterday about 3pm it has snowed more than 15 inches! That is the most the folks here have seen in over 20 years! Where does it all come from? I went out to help Chris shovel the rest of the driveway..for the second time and the snow comes almost to my knees. The piles on each side of the driveway where he has tossed the snow comes to my waist! Can you imagine making a snow angel in that!

So here is a few shots I wanted to share. The brown colored pictures were taken last night about 10pm, the rest I took this morning.


Our back porch, right outside the kitchen door.

The front yard, um er, what yard?


My garden. This was taken from the underneath porch, out from our basement door.

The front, um, front yard...somewhere out there. The road is out there too, it must be there somewhere!

Our trees in the back yard.

My husband has been blessed with strength and willingness to shovel the snow for us. I am so thankful. God is good to us, we still have heat and power.

The is from our second floor, out the window. I know, out the window! C took this one. We thought the chimnea looked funny.

And one of my garden, with the fence now down. The weight of the snow brought it down last night. :-( I know what I will be doing when this all melts.

Have a great day! I am, even amongst the snow and being housebound. We got out, shoveled some, posted here on my blog, going to make a hot lunch, and finish de-cluttering the basement.

I am blessed.

Peace,

Dee

What we've been up to

Last Sunday it was so beautiful out, Chris and I decided to take a drive in the country. We headed north towards Bergholz then hooked a right on a back road and sometime later met up with the highway we needed. Let me just say, hills and windy roads made the beautiful drive interesting. My husband took his time meandering and I got to snap some great pictures so I thought I'd share. We didn't get out of the truck since it was REALLY cold out, so most of the pictures are landscape. I had fun trying to get a good shot, he had fun making u-turns and driving slow while I tried to take the picture.


A couple of the other pictures are random ones of the happenings in our home. God is so good to us. We have a warm home, happy dogs and a blessed marriage. I couldn't ask for more than to have a husband who is seeking the Truth in Christ. Thank you God for all you've given me.

It isn't as large in the picture as it was driving, but that is the moon last weekend. It was so beautiful. A reminder to me of how large the whole creation is.

Molly, our 9yo Boxer. She really likes the warmth of the fire. When she wants a fire going she just sits in front of it staring at it, wishing for a fire. My girl is getting older. Yesterday the vet said her tremors or shaking is possible senililty....aww, how sad. He said she sort of spaces out and forgets where she is and shakes. I didn't even know dogs can get that! Aside from that she is the healthiest 9yo Boxer he has seen in a long time!

This was just too cute not to post. Koda, our white Boxer, and Sasha, she is all of 5 lbs, sleeping together in the sunshine. To cute!

Icey water falls from the side of the hills near Bergholz.

I took this because of the old barn. There is something about old barns, hmm, antiques in general, that I just find adoring. If they could talk! oh, what stories we would hear. This home was set back off the road. Someday C and I would like to have a small place that would give us the space away from the road. I hope to add chickens and goats to our gang soon, but not until we move.

The river was ICE! Hopefully you can click on this and see the water up close. It was so fascinating.

The view as we drove out of our town. Once you get behind the hills, or valley as the locals say, this is pretty much what you see. It is beautiful with all the snow. It's wonderful in spring and summer too, heck, throw in fall...the fall colors are beautiful as well. Hmm. Not like the desert I used to live in many years ago.


This was just too funny. The car wash has icycles all over it! We've heard from the local's ( I use that affectionately since we have lived here just over 2 yrs and I am learning how to live in this climate.) that we should take our car to a car wash everytime it stops snowing. This will wash off the salt from the roads and will allow our cars to last longer. I just had to take a picture of getting a car wash, in the winter, with ice hanging off of the device that goes around and under your car. The blower blows the water off as we drive out, sssllloooowwwllllyy. And any remaining water is frozen before we get out of the driveway. I've also learned to keep a lighter in my purse (I don't even smoke!) to heat my key so I don't get locked out of my car because of the snow or ice. It sure makes for an entertaining day. Unless you are in a hurry of course, then God is teaching me something I'm sure, I just need to step back and give it to him.

Hmm, enough rambling. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Peace,

Dee