Fav Quotes 2014

• "Sometimes when we least expect it, a small cross proves a lovely crown..." ~ Louisa May Alcott / "The Quiet Little Woman"

• "If God is calling me in this then He will equip me to it."  - Dannah Gresh 

• "Troubles are helpers if we take in kindly and the bitterest may sweeten us for all our lives." ~ Louisa May Alcott / "A Hospital Christmas"

• "Women are life-givers who need to speak life to others." - Dennis Rainey

• "When night comes to your world, what do you see? The darkness or the stars?  Hopelessness or hopefulness?  Sometimes, just as He did so long ago, God uses the darkness to reveal His stars-" ~ Max Lucado / 'Follow the Star' from "One Incredible Moment"

• "the cheerleader without the cheer is like pop without the bubbles." - Robyn McKekvy on wives cheering on their husband

• "Love is only love if chosen." ~ Max Lucado's One Incredible Moment

• "You and I have been given by God the privilege to train our appetites." - Ravi Zacheriah 

• "God has reserved you for a special task. In His hands we're not only useful, but priceless."   - Joni Erickson Tada

• "God draws straight lines with crooked sticks." - Joni Erickson Tada

• Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you.        -Joni Eareckson Tada

• The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God. ~ Joni Erickson Tada

• Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desparate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching. ~ Joni Erickson Tada 

• "The heart is restless until it finds rest in Jesus Christ."

• "Half of real beauty, virtue, & romance of the world gets put into humble souls, hidden in plain bodies."               ~Louisa May Alcott  / Mrs. Podgers' Teapot

• "The greatest ability is availability."

• … Our burdens are our wings; on them we soar to higher realms of grace; without them we must roam on planes of undeveloped faith, for faith grows but by exercise in circumstance impossible.…"  - streams in the desert March 10

• "Great hearts can only be made by great trouble. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes room for consolation." ~ Charles Spurgeon 

• "Nothing echoes like an empty mailbox." ~ Charlie Brown 

• (paraphrase) When you let expectation move from a desire to a demand, selfish anger rears up. (Chip Ingram)

• Love opens us up and we start to feel our pain.  - John Gray (90/10 rule)

•  she says about her man - "I feel like a bird circling & circling an island & never asked to land on his shores"

(.•   )               (•.•✽)

• When coals  separate they cool off; to stay hot they have to stay together.

• "Work is a gift of God. If you cannot do what you love, then learn to like what you do." ~Elizabeth Elliot 

• "Don't let your misfortunes find a home!" ~ Call the Midwife / Season 3 Episode 6

• "Comparison is thief of joy. "

• "A nation's greatest defense is NOT its military, but the family. Our nation's greatest asset is NOT the national treasury — it's the family. The moral spine of our country is NOT in lawmakers — it's in the family, which spawns & nourishes character."          ~ Dennis Rainey

• "What is Joy if it goes unrecorded? What is love if it is not shared?"     Call the Midwife / Ep.8 Season 3

• "If you don't love God first and most, you will have no idea how to love others." 

• "It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another." ~George McDonald

• "Without friends no one would choose to live, though possessed of all other advantages." ~Aristotle.

• "You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Winnie-the-Pooh

• “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~ Einstein

• "Discretion is the better part of valor." ~Shakespeare  

• "A man who prays much in private will make short prayers in public."   Moody 

• "Journeys end in lovers' meeting." Shakespeare 

• "FAITH is eyes on Jesus. Fear is eyes on the problem."

~ Pastor Missionary Kouami Midekor / Togo / Matthew 14

• "our Father is committed to supply our needs not our greeds" ~ Anne Ortlund

• "I've learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages."     ~ Spurgeon 

• "Dwell on the size of your God not the size of your giant."

• "You must not dig up in doubt what you have planted in FAITH."  ~Elizabeth Elliott

• "We need to quit struggling and start snuggling."  ~ Corrie ten boom

• "Never mind how great the pressure is, only where the pressure lies. Never let it come between you & the Lord. Then the greater the pressure, the more it presses you into His heart." Hudson Taylor

• Introverts & Extroverts isn't about hating & liking people rather it is about how we charge our batteries."

~ Tim & Joy Downs

• "If you can laugh at it, you can deal with it." ~ Joan Rivers 1955-2014

•  "You got no love in your heart, you got nothing.  No dreaming. No story. Nothing."   ~Australia 

• "Running ahead does NOT hurry up God."  ~ Pastor Chuck Swindoll / Abraham waiting from 80 to 100 for Issaic to be born 

• "Man is to behave like God the Father. The wife is to behave like God the Spirit. The children are to behave as God the Son." ~ Paul Kingsbury  #God'sdesignformarriage. 

• "Man can legalize it but it does NOT legitimize it."  ~ Paul Kingsbury.  #gaymarriage

• "God is using all of your experiences, both good and bad, to develop your character to match your calling."     ~Lysa TerKeurst 

• "I must exchange whispers with God before shouts with the World."      ~Lysa TerKeurst 

•  "Gather where wisdom gathers not where wisdom scatters."                 ~Lysa TerKeurst 

• "You steer where you stare."  ~Lysa TerKeurst 

• "Leave your footprints on the heights." ~ Dennis Swanberg

• "I'm your wife but you are my life."       ~ a woman said to husband. 

• "It is our pleasure to be a friend to others; is God's pleasure to give us a friend." ~ Stephen Davey 

• "We are blessed to be a blessing."      ~ Brain Kluth

• "Trouble is momentary. Memories last forever.  So just hold hands."  #marriage #relationships #families

• "Let the wife make her husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave." ~Martin Luther

• "Our sin has the ability to hurt the most those who trust us the most." 

~ Stephen Davey
#DavidBathsheba

• "Happy list: ✓ something to do  ✓ someone to love  ✓ something to look forward to." ~ Elizabeth Elliott

• "Joy actually sparkles in darkness, and like heavenly fireworks, Joy doesn't require daylight and cloudless skies." ~Patsy Clairmont

• "He who angers you conquers you."       ~ Elizabeth Kenny

fav quotes of 2013

•"There is no such thing as an 'unknown' to God"
~ Chuck Swindoll / his study in Daniel

•  “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

• "When it is the darkest, men see the stars."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

• "Passion is in the risk. "
~ When in Rome

• "If you're going to be a bear, be grizzly."

• “All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost”
J.R.R. Tolkien

• "FAITH is like a pair of night vision glasses; FAITH helps you see in the dark. "
~ Pas Steven Davies on Hall of Faith passage

• He wants us to be, not hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms.   Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him.
~ Streams in the Desert  I / Feb 28

• "Fear is like sand in machinery where faith is like oil. Faith lubricates life."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real"
~ Zig Ziggler

• "If you are simply obeying the LORD, all the responsibility will rest on Him, not on you!"   ~ Hudson Taylor

• “Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing.”
~ Hudson Taylor

• “All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”
~ Hudson Taylor

•  “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”
~ Hudson Taylor

• "STRESS = amt of demands > amt of my strength".
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "Nothing, without first a dream."
- Carl Sandburg

• “I still find each day too short for the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.”
~ John Burroughs

• “As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over. So in a series of kindnesses there is, at last, one which makes the heart one over.”
~ James Boswell

•  "darkness canNOT chase away the Light!"

• "No victory without a battle. No character without a conflict. No understanding without suffering."
~ Elizabeth Elliott

•  "A life that is too easy is not good for the soul."  
~ Archibald Hart

• "it's much easier for friends to become lovers than for lovers to become friends."

• "Scriptures forecast storm warnings for all believers."
"Storms reveal your root systems."
~ Dennis  Rainey / are you ready?/ Storms of Life

• "It's what you sow that multiples, not what you keep in the barn."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "God always gives His Best to those who leave the choice with Him."
~ Hudson Taylor

• "Submission is an attitude not an action. It isn't what you do but WHY you do it."
~ Pastor Ken Ford

• "satan canNOT create. He can only twist & distort what God created as good."
~ Randy Alcorn

• "Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness."
~ Max Lucado / Cure for the Common Life

•  "Stress is focusing on the storm instead of on God."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• "The grass is greener where it's watered." 🌱

• "My mind can be a factory of fear or a fountain of faith. What will it be?"
~ Patsy Claremont

• "The oak indwells the acorn."
~ Max Lucado

• "to make honey a young bee needs a young flower.
~ karate kid I

• "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought it was only one.'"
~ CS Lewis
• "the wisest person in church? the one who is most submissive to the Scriptures."
~ Pastor Steven Davey / study of Proverbs

• "Because man cannot kill God, they kill the image of God."
~ Pastor Steven Davey

• "Where God does not rule, God overrules."
~Pastor Adrain Rogers/ on God-Given PEACE in storms

• "If love is blind then sex is a blindfold."
~ Ron Deal / don't be deceived - wait for marriage.

• "We are into microwaving. God is into marinating."
~ Brady Boyd

• You will "discover that when you lie close to the heart of someone or someplace for a long time, you hear and see what others don't. The secrets taught by holding on & hanging in there turn out to be exactly what you were looking for."  ~ Marlee Ledai

• "is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• "Let God's Promises shine on your problems."
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• "Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear."
~ Corrie Ten Boom

• “Let them miss you.
Sometimes when you’re always available,
they take you for granted because they think you’ll always stay."

• "It is the shelter of each other that people live."
~ Irish Proverb

• "Let your mess become His Message."

• "Heroes are born in war time."

• "Trials are proof of God's Love."
~ Dr.James MacDonald

• "the greatest submission of our will to God's Authority is when He says NO not when He says yes." ~ Stephen Davey
• "If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it."
~ Bill Cosby

• "Laugh out loud. It helps flush out the nervous system."
– Chuck Swindoll

• "worry is pulling tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine."

• "disappointment should be spelled 'God's appointment'".

• "when love is FELT, the message is heard."

• "Show them what you love. "

• "It is difficult to make a man miserable when he feels he is worthy of himself & claims kindred to the great God who made him."
~ Abraham Lincoln

•  “True friendship resists time, distance and silence.”
 —  Isabel Allende

• "I fall in love with people’s passion. The way their eyes light up when they talk about the thing they love and the way they fill with light.”
~Unknown

• "The secret to the filling a man lies in learning to express love THROUGH YOUR FEELINGS, not necessarily through your actions."
~ John Gray

• The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. 
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

•  “My God…I have thanked you 1000 times for my roses…teach me the value of my thorns…Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.”
~George Matheson

• "God's delight is received upon surrender, not awarded upon conquest."
~ Max Lucado

• "Faith is the refusal to panic."

•  "Do you have a relationship with the Word to cause a revolution in your world?"
~ Stephen Davy / Wisdom of the Heart

• "Whatever the sin issue there is an idolatry at the heart of it."
~ Phil Ryken

• "God designed you to think of one thought at a time so if you are thinking on what is right, you cannot think on what is wrong."
~ paraphrase of Adrian Rogers's Right Thinking

• “Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

• “Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

• "Storms are not an option but fear is."
 ~Max Lucado's Fear Not

• "only a pure clean heart can see the activity of a Holy God."
~ Stephen Davy

• "Discipline isn't to change behavior but to remind the child that the ways of death is destruction."
~ Dr Dan Allender

• "Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."
CS Lewis

• "You never have to worry because with God you will never get lost in the crowd no matter who you are."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey

• "God's answer to any & all of our questions is the revelation of Himself."~ Elizabeth Elliot

• "You can choose your sin. You canNOT choose your consequences."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey

• “If more of us valued food and cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”  ~J.R.R. Tolkien

• "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."
~ John Piper

• "Our Christianity must have sound AND picture."
~ Pastor Stephen Davey on James 1:22-27

• "Our example OUTLIVES our achievements."
~ Pastor Swindoll

• "Submission is the highest form of respect."

• "Submission is ducking so that God can hit your husband."
~ Lysa TerKeurst

• "examine everything for the fingerprints of God" / family mo

•  "God uses broken sticks to make straight lines."
~ Dr. Carl Wiener

• Praise is the language of Heaven better get fluent here on earth.

• "Men TRUST a God by RISKING. Women TRUST God by WAITING."
~ Karen McCully

• "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for extrodanary destiny."
C S Lewis

• "If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes."
—Corrie ten Boom

• "So I decided not to give my life to that Character (God), I was going to run it myself and of course anyone who makes that decision  is actually worshiping themselves and has a fool for a deity." ~ Douglas Gresham stepson of CS Lewis

• "God uses a word that doesn't talk about falling in love, He uses a word about choosing to love. Biblical love isn't about attraction; it's about determination.   It isn't about working it up rather it is about willing it out. "
~ Stephen Davey

• "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."

• "God designed us to be EMPTY without Him."
~ Pastor Chuck Swindoll

• "Only Christ can allow you to take a disadvantage & make it into an advantage for the Glory of God."
~ Ravi Zacherias Jesus Among Other gods

• "You can tell a lot about a man by what makes him sad, mad, & glad."
~ Pastor Adrian Rogers

• The Christmas season highlights the stunning reminder that God keeps His promises. And not only are His ways amazing, they’re also surprising; He chooses to use common people and everyday events to work the miraculous. But any time that God interrupts our lives in a supernatural way . . . it’s a lot to take in. 
~ Pastor Chuck Swindoll

• "Are you the kind of woman that a man would die for?" ~ J Vernon McGee

•  "God is using all of your experiences, both good & bad, to develop your character to match your calling." 
~ Lysa TerKeurst

• "every story whispers His Name"~Sally Lloyd-Jones

• “If they miss you, they’ll call. If they want you, they’ll say it. If they care, they’ll show it. And if not, they aren’t worth your time.”

• Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars. 
~ JRR Tolkin

• “Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone, Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own”
~Adam Lindsay Gordon

~~~~~~~

Boy, do I love to collect quotes.  I am such a thinker and I love to listen to some favorite Bible teachers and Bible podcasts.  How my brain whirls!!!!

fav reads of 2013

• "The Five  Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross canceled, M.D.

takeaway: teach your children to be fluent in all five love languages & teach them to manage anger and the rest of the emotions. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control and this book helps you as a parent or adult to pass this on to the next generation.

• "Cure for the Common Life"

~ Max Lucado  

living your sweet spot : 

use your uniqueness (what you do)

to make a big deal out of God (why you do it)

every day of your life(where you do it)

I love living your dreams and encouraging them.  My job and it isn't my sweet spot. I really don't know how to change it except to do my spot at home and surround myself and my day with creativity and creative thought. 

• "The Vow" by Kim & Krickett Carpenter 

I found this book in Mom's library and with all the hype I read it (I might read before?). You have to read the true story of how God can keep a marriage even when the memories are gone. The movie had the human drama but sadly kept God out of it. 

• "Danger in the Shadows" (prequel)& "The Negotiator" (book one) by Dee Henderson

Dee is a favorite author because there is a bit of intrigue in her love stores.  She is a Christian author and her focus is on the relationship we have in Christ and with each other.  I have been collecting the O'Malley series from my favorite op shop and have all but book two which I am ready to start reading.  I have recently gotten the tapes but I have started another series so I'll have to wait till next year!!  I need to make a family tree of the O'Malleys to keep them organized in my visual brain.  

~~~~~~~

Hmm, I wish my list was longer!  I do read several books at a time because they are informational where I read one story at a time.  So I have some reads that aren't finished to make this list cut off.   I have to admit that I have bad op shop addiction that feeds my book fetish!!  My library is brimming with unread books that I am looking forward to reading.  So until next year, stick your head in a book and take the best vacation ever!

Fav Movies 2011

* Dolphin Tale

* Courageous

* Faith Like Potatoes

* The Guys

~~~~
I can't believe these were the only new movies I watched this year!

What seed are you?

2010 has been the year of cancer. I am surrounded and dazed. I need a way out but there is no escape. All I can do is listen.

With each announcement of the diagnosis and with each turn for the worse, I get busy with praying. I am just an observer feeling helpless on the sidelines. My deep feelings come out in liquid form even when I rest on His Promises - even when I know death will never have victory.

Through the trenches of prayer 'warrioring', God has brought hymns and scriptures to mind to boost my hope. Sometimes it comes in my daily reading of the Scriptures like I Corinthians 15:35-58. On first reading what hope is found! The wasting earthly body will be clothe with glorious immortal body. Now that is something I can shout about after seeing a believer's body succumb to the ravages of cancer. Within the anguishes of prayer I thank God for His Ultimate Design of our glorious bodies in our Everlasting Life.

With a mind that sees pictures, I paused on our earthly body as a seed sown. Aren't seeds little packages of hope and expectation? Hasn't God given us talents and gifts to use for others? Hasn't our journey been filled with hardships and pain resulting in lessons filled with treasure? Put this all together. Wouldn't all we do and all the journey lessons we have required be all neatly packaged in this seed we call our flesh? So what you put into it is what you get? What kind of seed are you? It is frighting and exciting at the same time!

As this year closes and a new one begins, I will be reflecting on little seeds. Well, more like one little seed - me! Such potential to lay this little package God-Designed seed at my Savior's feet or what if the seed doesn't germinate? Yikes! Time to embrace my gifts with more fervor and be more joyful of my journey lessons for when time is no more, this little seed sown will be revealed.... WOW!!

Happy New Year!

Fav Movies of 2010

***Extraordinary Measures***

***Remember Me***

***Robin Hood***

***Charlie St. Cloud***

***The Next Three Days***

I missed seeing 'Secretariat' - maybe in the new year.

fav hymns for 2009

* "I Know He Cares"
* "Under His Wing"
* "Sheltered in the Arms of God"
* "Darker the Night - Brighter the Light when I walk with Him"

wishes for 2010

to create a gift stash
I wish to start thinking and creating gifts now for my family and friends. There is no payoff for gift making that begins to hit crunch time. Christmas comes and goes too fast and I end up feeling badly. I also have a lot of birthdays towards the in end of the year too so I am putting my foot down. I have made some notes on some prospects on gift making already! I must be working always on a gift. When they are finished I am going to tab them with the name and the event. I am going to get a fabric cube to store these gifts that I can fold away when at Christmas. I will also work on a small stash of spur of the moment gifts where I can at a whim have a gift ready to give whenever I feel that urge. This spur of the moment gifts will be for my sister-in-law and for my mom to raid when they have that urge too. I have thought about Christmas teacher gifts my niece to give. I was able to put more thought in some of my gifts this year and would love to be more ahead on my gifts so that I can spend time on the wrap and presentation of them.

to keep creativity going
I have been like an addict when it came to creating Amigurumies and from my symptoms I want to put it to some of my other crafts. I love paper, cross stitch, fabric yo-yo's, loom knitting, and words. I want to marry all my crafts into one so that I am not lopsided! I also want to be more artsy with my craft and be able to present well. A gift well wrapped shows thought, love, and listening. I have made pom pom flowers and used sticks as stems. I want to polish this up with yo-yo flowers and butterflies etc. I want a unique vase of flowers on my desk that everyone wants!!!

to get back my kitchen table back & tame the glass
I have been struggling at keeping my table clear (on and around). I want the work space not only for writing or crafting but for what it is intended, cooking and eating!!! I want to invite my Mom over again for a bit of cuppa and cake. The cake part is a challenge too because it will have to have no sugar or flour and it might be fine for me but might not be sweet or tasty enough for others (worth a try). My glass has become a beast. I have recycled quite a bit of my glass to trim it down to just choice pieces to paint. It seems that even the small steps get me nowhere.

to write more
This was last year's wish and I did not get anywhere with it but wishing. I did read "Knit Together" which was a great boost of encouragement. I had an idea about a single girl's self help but I don't like self help. This idea is changing back to what I used to do, poetry. Sounds weird but in a world of fast maybe this is the right mode of transportation! We shall see....

to more more
This is going to be a constant wish because movement is good for any age. Crocheting is more sedentary and I don't want to lose out on weight lifting and walking. I have noticed in the past months that I was frantically working the hook because of upcoming events, I was sitting even on the weekends. I don' get out and walk in the cold but I need to get my stepper and my dvds out and movvvvvvvvvvve. Crocheting is just as great for the mind as walking but the body needs to be able to find its peace as well.

to allow 'my disappointments to be God's appointments'
For 2009 I wanted to allow God to romance me and to fear not my constant companion of aloneness and this year I want to continue with Elizabeth Elliot's quote "Our disappointments are God's appointments." To my amazement this crochet addiction I have has helped my mind and heart to stay above the issues of employment and of living this life as just me. The dark nagging voice is overpowered by the joy I found in creating little crochet toys and flowers. Turning 40 has also changed my thoughts about marriage. See I have studied and studied on how to be a good wife and to have a good marriage for two decades and for what really? I did not think I would feel what I am feeling at this age. Why get married now? I know I really didn't want kids of my own but I thought it would happen because that is what you do when you get of college and marry. Didn't happen. The choices I have are men who are dads already and that means baggage and I don't want that. What wholesome guy waited? Momma boys? and then what does that say about me....? Ok, shape up keeper!!!!! I felt that when I turned 60 these thoughts would come. Maybe by 60 I will be quite happy and very ok with the single life without still having that hunger for companionship. So here is to turning my disappointments into God's appointments!!!!

to have a faster internet at a decent fee ($20)
Hmmm, is this really a life changer wish? I waste so much time waiting for pages to load up. It takes me hours to file unemployment and downloads to upgrade my computer etc. Most nights all I can do is try to go through the mail because I am waiting to get in here to write. It takes forever to download my personal email and half the time it won't download. I don't get to do Shutterfly of Picnik because to upload and fix pixs is just a no go. Earthlink dsl is way to expensive compared to verizon but I just do not like verizon. So this year I will have to decide what to do .... free wireless coming anytime soon to this city??? I believe faster internet will help me to achieve more creativity and more writing... oh, iSlate would be nice too.....

highlights of 2009

*was finally successful at my attempt to crochet!!! internet photos helped for this visual person!- jan 4th
*figured out the magic loop for crocheting Amigurumies - feb 16
*made lots of Amigurumies, pears, cherries, cupcakes, mouse, bears, kittens, monkeys etc
*work dumped lot of peeps including me .. lost my job in Accounts Payable - apr 24
*thought there would be a possibility to find a creative job but became swamped w/ unemployment
*little bro graduated from Grace with his Master's in counseling - may 9
*worked called me back for a costing job - may 26
*ate rotten food b/c I didn't realize the frig wasn't cooling. got a smokers frig for a temp but happy to have a clean fresh new one.
*got a bad sore throat - will not use muscinex ever again...
*love nutshellmail for keeping my emails and twitters organized.
*got google voice! Love having a number to use for long distance at least here in the states...
*with my unemployed weeks here in the fall was able to Niece sit when she was sick. learn some mommy instincts.
*upgraded to Snow Leopard
*vcr broke & have not been able to find a replacement w/ specs wanted
*got google wave - still need to learn to put it into use
*did my final craft show (said this the last time '07)- oct 10
*found out that the tooth pain is from a root that is so short it is close to the gum line! (cause by braces) - nov
*Mom & Dad got a new couch
*finally requested tire info b/c I am tired of low tire pressures
*got a nice new polaroid digital camera w/ 12 picixals to ease from film
*loomed knitted a corkscrew scarf - seems to be a real hit!

wishes for 2009

to be more creative
I have the old standbys and favorite loves of my life like cross stitching, painting, and looming. I am adding yo-yo's! because they are quite easy and just another way to embellish! I have been wanting to make some really cute amigurumi toys but crocheting has been a real nemesis of mine.

I am a self-teacher because I can't find anyone who will teach me. I am at it again being too focused on trying to find easy pictures and instruction for my learning. I have to come up for air and let me tell you, it is not going very well. So here is to taking my time and try, try, try again.

I like learning new things and I have to watch to not forget my first loves and real passions - painting & writing. I want to expand my painting imagination and ability on glass. However, I do want to be more handmade in my gifts and yo-yo's looks like it will help in the area of hair bows and embellished clothes for a little niece of mine and just maybe the big niece might like some too. I love things small and amigurumi is just perfect for this tiny fetish. I guess my biggest hope that I can be well rounded in the creativity but play up my favorite passion as well.

With that I wish to make my creativity my profession or maybe just to have some pocket change or at least get my kitchen back to a more kitchen instead of being overrun by glass. So I am checking out esty.com and making plans! Hmmmm ...

to move more
I already walk every Saturday in the summer if it is a nice day. I do on occasion lift weights for a toned arm but now that I have two dance dvds I really need to use them! An old quote that I love is 'movement is medicine.'

to write more
Now we are talking. I have always loved the written word whether it is a book or blog. I like to write and have found that writing gets out all the pent up emotion and thought that started to bog me down. Not that I have morbid thoughts even thought they are present at times but even the good thoughts need to be expressed and even taken in by others. It is a form of encouragement.

I have been using google docs but I really want to get iWorks so that I can really get into writing and be organized about it without having to be online and have that distraction! I am waiting to see what the job front is doing because it is hard to fork out the mula when it could go for groceries or some other important bill.

Besides online I really need to figure out how I can be successful with my writing and do it. Maybe I need a more organized writer space or maybe I need to really create some writer habits to do every day or maybe I need to really put the focus on words. I have been making white origami & putting God's Words as a why to encourage others as well as myself...

to be Romanced more by God
I have already fallen more and more in love with Him so much so that I really want to dig into His Word and keep my eyes open and receive His Love. Psalms 45:1 & Jer 31:3

to embrace my life & fear not the constant companion of aloneness
Kinda enough said! I am so tired of this duel emotion of this want of teamwork and having to be alone. I have got to make this work! I dig a duet but having to sing alone? help! Anyway my focus is on the above - Romanced by an Everlasting Love.

to have an neat & organized home to promote more creativity
I am well on my way but I would love more storage and more organization. Being tidy and having a space for everything allows you to see all and coordinate things together that you would not have thought of at first. I like a creative imagination and this allows for adult play! It is not just for kids. Problem is that I need some good furniture for the bedroom especially but furniture is pricey and quality isn't found at the local department store. If I am honest my 'craft room' isn't just in the kitchen but there are parts of it everywhere!

fav reads of 2008

* ''The Last Lecture'' by Randy Pausch
Do you need a boost to get your focus back on your dreams and the stuff of importance? This is a must read!

* ''Meeting God at a Dead End'' by Ron Mehl
This is a favorite author of mine. When I began to get lost in October with the job mess, I got into this book. Great renewing of the mind stuff.

* ''Chronicles of Narnia''
Started to read the series and must continue to finish. I am not a big fan of science fiction but with the movies it helps to see it in your imagination as you read. I fell in love with the Lord of the Rings & these authors where friends, maybe I could fall in love with Narnia. Well, I didn't fall for Narnia like I have with the Rings, but a good read none the less!

highlights of 2008

*making several cute hats for Lucia on the loom - jan
*had major probs with my mac & loosing appleworks grr - mar
*felt an earthquake - apr
*scoffer epiphany - prov 22:10
*major cold & cough enough to take me out - may
*Tink, bro's dog, adopted into our brood w/ Bobby & Andy - jun
-->What make's you (or ______) successful? epiphany
*Wii adventures w/ mom - love tennis!
*Erica & Mitch's wedding - jul
*loss of online time because I really messed up my mac - jul
*Summer Olympics! the opening, US swimming, & US beachball!! - aug
--> 'Don't put an age on your dreams' Dana Torres
*Getting back with my old friend, my bike - aug
*got a new iMac!!!!
*an old friend came back who didn't want to hear my no - sad to say no but was the best thing to do - sep
-->no on the human level hurts but no in the Eternal realm is freeing!!!
*two sister company's merged into 1 - means I had to move offices and now share. - sep
*rearranged my livingroom! Love it better! more organized
*sparrows epiphany - FEAR NOT epiphany!!!!
*working with a bumper crop of pears -making pear sauce & pear butter - oct & nov
*'my HOPE is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood & righteousness'
*got to have two weeks vacation right at Christmas!!!!
*wondering if I will have a job....