Michelle’s Birthday Party

My niece Michelle turned 30 this year and a celebration was in order so family and friends headed to Orange, California to Debbee’s townhome for a party. There was lots of great food including everyone’s favorite Piroshky. We had meat filled piroshky, potato filled piroshky and a cabbage filled pirog.

Here are some of the usual suspects.

The Parentals/Grandparents ~ Nadia and Moisi

Some of Michelle’s aunts and her mommy

Michelle and her auntie ellen b.

Michelle and her son Jackson

Nana and Jackson

Jackson making a serious point!

This photo turned out so tiny in the collage I wanted to add it here since it’s the only shot of Ryan I managed to get and I wanted M. Lou to see her son. So here’s Michelle and Ryan (Jackson’s Dad) with cousins David and Kristin. I also realized that this is the only photo I took that has Michelle’s sister Melissa in it. There she is way back there behind Michelle.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Blue Monday

Welcome to Blue Monday

These images are from the flowers at my niece’s 30th birthday party this past weekend. Lots of Tiffany Blue!

For more Blue visit Smiling Sally!

O Christ, Who Hast Prepared A Place ~ Hymn

John 14: 1-6 ~ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answererd, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

O Christ, Who Hast Prepared A Place

O Christ, who hast prepared a place
For us around Thy throne of grace,
We pray Thee, lift our hearts above,
And draw them with the cords of love.

Source of all good, Thou, gracious Lord,
Art our exceeding great reward;
How transient is our present pain,
How boundless our eternal gain!

With open face and joyful heart,
We then shall see Thee as Thou art:
Our love shall never cease to glow,
Our praise shall never cease to flow.

Thy never-failing grace to prove,
A surety of Thine endless love,
Send down Thy Holy Ghost, to be
The raiser of our souls to Thee.

Words: Jean B. de Santeüil, in the Paris Breviary, 1686, p. 503 (Nobis, Olympo redditus); translated from Latin to English by John Chandler, Hymns of the Primitive Church, 1837, p. 86.

ht: cyberhymnal

Today’s Flowers

Welcome to Today’s Flowers hosted by Luis Santilli Jr. and have fun viewing flowers on blogs around the world. These photos are of flowers we saw on our walk in downtown Ventura, California last Saturday.

Thanks to Abe Lincoln I now know that these flowers are called Indian Blanket!

To see more photos of flowers or participate click here.

Pink Saturday ~ Store and Houses

It’s time for another PINK Saturday and I couldn’t resist showing you this store at the Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks and some houses we walked by on Main St. and just off Main in Ventura, California.

I’m going to admit to y’all that I didn’t go into the store because I was just speeding through the mall that day to get in some extra steps for my walking totals.

The following houses were fun discoveries when my husband and I decided to stroll through this part of downtown Ventura last Saturday. We saw a lot of great old houses but I’m only sharing the PINK ones…

The house that is shown in the top row of the collage is for Rent and the sign says that it is the oldest house in Ventura.

Do you think it would be fun to live in this pink house?

Oh and I’m experimenting with a new program that is more creative with collages. Here’s my first attempt.

I’ll be doing a lot more experimenting this week. Have a fabulous Saturday everyone. I’m headed to an Open House for my niece’s 30th birthday!

For more Pink Saturday Posts visit our hostess Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Shiver me timbers! I almost forgot it’s talk like a pirate day Mateys! Here are a few of my favorite pirates and the words to that Yo Ho Song on that ride at Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean…

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle and even highjack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We kindle and char and in flame and ignite.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we’re really a fright.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.

We’re rascals and scoundrels, we’re villians and knaves.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re devils and black sheep, we’re really bad eggs.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.

We’re beggars and blighters and ne’er do-well cads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we’re loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.

Ha! Sounds kind of like a politician’s life to me…

And here is what my daughter carries her lunch to work in…

Now I should go Scrub the Deck!

Fridays Fave 5

Whoohoo! Look at the new beautiful badge to go with Fridays Fave 5. Tia created it for Susanne…

1. One of my favorites this week is listening to good music.

2. One of my favorite meals this week was this Mediterannean Tilapia. Recipe is here.

3. Hearing about cousin get-togethers that are planned for October this year. Two of my nieces from Dear’s side of the family are flying from New York and Los Angeles to spend time with my kids for a cousin reunion in Seattle. Then the 2nd week in October two of my nieces on my side of the family are flying from Los Angeles to Seattle for an Anne of Green Gables Weekend with my girls in Washington. How wonderful is that? It makes my heart glad…

4. Eating breakfast at Allison’s on Saturday after our early morning walk on the beach. Look at the size of those freshly made biscuits! My favorite here is the Mexican Omelette with hot chiles, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, and cheese. Served with a side of quacamole and beans. Hee, hee, I cut down on calories by ordering the fruit instead of the potatoes. :0) Dear orders the Green Chile Omelette. It comes with a whole green chile on the top and filled with more.

5. Here’s one of my favorite photos from this week. This is from a walk down Main St. in Ventura, California.

So is it just Dear and I or are those door handles taken off a coffin?

To see more Fave 5 or to join in and participate visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. I’ll be around later after Bible Study this morning. I’m getting a breakfast casserole ready to take to the study. I’ll be sharing that recipe sometime soon. Have a great Friday and weekend everyone…

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia ~

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia– I got this recipe off the package of High Liner Mild Tasting Tilapia Loins (frozen individually wrapped and purchased at Costco)

4 Tilapia Loins
1 large or 2 medium Vidalia onions (if unavailable use yellow onions)
2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I’ve also used canned tomatoes)
4 Tblsps. Fresh Chopped Basil
8 cloves of chopped garlic
4 Tblsps. olive oil
12 Calamata olives chopped

If you don’t have fresh tomatoes you can used canned variety. I have and it turns out very nice, too.

Defrost tilapia loins. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel and slice onions 1/4″ thick. Saute in olive oil in oven proof pan over medium heat, 2-3 minutes each side or until onions are translucent.
Place loins over onion slices. Sprinkle olives, garlic and basil over fish. Place tomato slices on top. Salt and pepper to taste.
Place pan with fish in center of oven, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until fish is opaque.

You’ll notice that I only made 2 tilapia loins so I cut the recipe in half. There are only two of us and fish isn’t great as a leftover in my opinion…

Serve tilapia with rice pilaf and spinach salad (their recommendation) Serve it with any starch you’d like and any salad or green vegetables.

Tonight we’re going to have it with pasta and a spinach salad and some fresh bread.

Yummy light and fresh tasting…

Sky Watch #10

Sky Watch #10 ~ St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, California

I headed over to this historical church this week hoping to get inside to see their stained glass windows. I looked up and saw these wispy clouds above the church bell tower and decided this would be my Sky Watch photo this week. I found out that to see the windows up close I’ll have to return for a 6:30 AM mass because that’s the only time during the day that the church is open. Here is a little of the history behind the windows. I find it fascinating.

“The most notable chapel fixtures were its magnificent 13 stained glass windows. These azure, crimson, green, and gold windows tell a double story — one of the life of Christ, the other of a world at war.

While on a trip to Europe, Juan Camarillo selected the windows in Munich, Germany. The year was 1913 and the early rumbles of the continent gathering its strength for conflict were growing with each passing day. Somewhere between the studios of glass-blower F. X. Zettler of Munich and the church on a hilltop in faraway Camarillo, the stained glass windows were lost. Zettler’s name can be seen at the bottom of the windows depicting the Holy Family (east side) and Christ with the children (west side). Despite the best efforts of the Camarillo family through consuls and ambassadors, the windows appeared lost forever. Mrs. Carmen Camarillo Jones recalled that her uncle Juan feared they were at the bottom of the sea. One day a letter arrived from a German official. This official in Munich had been noticing several large crates staked outside a building with Juan’s name on them. He had written Juan several letters and finally one got through at the end of Word War 1. Much to the joy and relief of everyone, the lost windows had been found. However, it was a painfully slow and long trek to Los Angeles, and then on to Camarillo, before they were finally installed in the thick brick and plastered chapel walls in 1919.”

I’m not catholic but I’ll be happy to attend mass early in the morning and have my heart directed to God and then enjoy viewing the stained glass windows. I hope they’ll let me take pictures…

For more Sky watch click here.

ABC’s of the Word ~ Instruction

We are up to the letter I and I’m choosing to share some scripture on the subject of Instruction.

Proverbs 1:7 ~ “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 4:13 ~ “Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.”

Proverbs 8:10 ~ “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.”

Proverbs 10:17 ~ “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.”

Proverbs 23:12 ~ “Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.”

Romans 15:4 ~ “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

For more ABC’s of the Word visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffie.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Author Archives: Ellen