Category Archives: Fave Five on Friday

FFF ~ Celebrating, Good News, and Sunshine

It’s time to look back over this last week and share your favorites. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in.

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1. Having a good time celebrating our son’s birthday on Saturday and then celebrating a day off with my sister Lana on Monday. Lana and I made our traditional trip to Goodwill on a holiday. It is our tradition, too, that the person who spends the most at Goodwill has to buy lunch. She won again. I bought some exercise pants, a table runner originally from Pier One, a book on the back roads of South Carolina, and some fabric that I’m considering making napkins with.

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We stopped at a restaurant in Bellevue, Wa. called Brief Encounter. They have great food and their potato pancakes are my favorite.

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2. Good news. The best news. My father called to let us know that my 86 year old aunt decided to make peace with God by facing her sinful condition and accepting what Christ did for us on the cross. She is finally at peace and says she’s ready to go and be with Jesus. Remember the Billy Graham Crusades and singing Just As I Am? These are a couple stanzas from the song…

Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just a I am; thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

3. Reading and studying. I’m reading a couple books right now, a fun entertaining mystery and a heavier book by Philip Yancey. I’m also continuing in a woman’s Bible study in Philippians. Have you ever read these two passages (Philippians 2:5-11 & Isaiah 14:12-15) and considered the contrast in attitudes?

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4. Sunshine in the middle of the week. A full day of sunshine that made me grab my camera and head to Lake Washington to get a good dose of vitamin D.

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5. Seeing a new kind of duck that I don’t think I’ve seen before…on that sunny day.

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Thanks to one of my MGCC girlfriends Bev,  I now know this is a  male Bufflehead Duck.

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Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be around later today and tomorrow to check out your favorites.
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Fun in the Midst of Slumps…

Time to get your favorites together to share. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is our hostess for this event. Click on over and see what events, products, people, books, made the list!

I shared earlier this week that I’m in a bloggy slump of sorts but even in the midst of slumpiness there are lots of good things around me. The Light always shines I just need to see it. So here are my favorites from this past week.
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1. Soccer is my favorite sport in general but I have to say that the Seahawk football game against the Saints makes it on my favorites this week. Mostly because of this unbelievable run that you all probably have heard about already. The Seattle fans even made the Seismic charts.
Seattle is all a-buzz and on Sunday they’ll play the Chicago Bulls Bears to see if they keep their amazing run alive.
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2. I’m happy to report that my big toe was not broken last week but just bruised badly so I was able to go to Zumba on Monday morning. I’m really enjoying this form of exercise and have met some fun ladies my age and younger who keep me going. Here’s how Zumba is described: “Zumba Fitness® is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a “fitness-party” that is downright addictive”. At first I felt like I had 2 left feet but the routines are the same every time you go and before long you can do the steps automatically.
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3. The blower/fan in our fireplace insert died. Dear had to take the whole thing apart to figure out what part we needed. We ordered it online because it wasn’t available locally. It finally arrived on Wednesday and Dear put it all back together and we now have heat in our living room area again. This is our 2nd major heat source so we were pretty chilly for a few days and cuddled up in the family room where our little cast iron stove kept us warm. I’m happy Dear could fix it for a fraction of the cost to replace it.  $150 instead of $1500. Now Dear thinks he should be able to buy himself something for $1350. There is something suspect in that reasoning…
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4. Dear and I went to our local Mexican Restaurant this week and it was a great relaxing time with good conversation and debriefing on things that were on our minds this week. Sometimes it is just good to get out of the house so you aren’t a slave to your normal routines. We know the waitstaff by name here and they always make us feel welcomed. That’s Carne Asada and I’ll share the recipe closer to summer time on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog.

 

5. Speaking of the Mennonite Girls, we’ve had fun news about our upcoming cookbook this week. A few weeks ago the cover was released. This is what the cover will look like. Some of the gals have been interviewed by their local papers and this week one of the T.V. stations in Canada is interviewing a couple of the gals on their Sunday show. We keep pinching ourselves. Our Royalties from the sale of the book will be going to an organization in the Ukraine that feeds children. You can click on the cover to see more information on the book.

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Hope you are doing well. I’ll be coming around today or tomorrow to see your Faves…
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Back to It…

 

I’ve missed a few weeks of Friday’s Fave Five because of Christmas and all but I’m getting back to it now. Thank you to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for hosting this event each Friday. Click on the logo above to join in…

 

1. Fresh flowers in the winter are such a treat. Our winters can be pretty dark so it’s so nice when the sun shines and brightens things up.

 

2. Our very cold and clear weather has afforded us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Sunrises are easier to see from inside my warm house then sunsets. This is a Sunrise…

 

3. Lots of good food has been cooked and eaten around here. These were the lamb chops we had on New Year’s Eve with a pepper cream sauce.

 

4. Dear’s new smoker is becoming a favorite around here.  Dear has smoked ribs, a Prime Rib Roast, and Pork Roasts in it already.

 

5. This last one is therapy I purchased for myself for $1.60. When I was little I always wished I’d get a package of Life Savers like this for Christmas. I saw them at the store and then saw kids at church who were flaunting them on Christmas morning. I never got one. When I was at the store this week there they were…a whole table of them for half-price. I stood there looking, then I picked one up and opened it to check the flavors of the rolls inside. I almost walked away and then I decided it was time to lay the wanting to rest and I threw one in the cart with a smile on my face and walked away. Ahhh…I’m free from that deprivation in my childhood!

6. This is an extra. Our daughter Katie was feeling ill at the beginning of the week and we were afraid it was appendicitis but it ended up being a kidney infection that could be treated with antibiotics and she’s feeling a whole lot better.  Yesterday a bag of groceries tore and a large bottle of juice landed on my big toe. Boy was I in a lot of pain and I thought it was broken but it’s feeling so much better today.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all of you this week…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Reminiscing…

…to think, talk, or write about remembered events or experiences.

 

These are all images from my early days in Montebello, California. One of my high school friends posted them on Facebook. It was so much fun to see them and remember the times I spent at each of these spots so many years ago. Some of these buildings do not exist anymore.

1. 31 Flavors on Beverly Blvd. in Montebello ~ My family would stop here growing up. It was always a very exciting time for us kids. We didn’t eat out as a family and to stop and get a treat like this was special. We would get one or two scoops. When we got to have 2 scoops I’d always choose orange sherbet and chocolate chip.

2. Curries Ice Cream Parlor was across the street from my junior high school. At lunch you could get a hot dog, chips, and cherry coke for about 35 cents. I think I only had money for lunch maybe once or twice during my time in junior high. I always had a sack lunch made by my mother. The cherry coke was the kind where they pumped in the cherry flavoring into the coke.

3. The Garmar Theater was the only theater in town. I went a few times with my friends in junior high and high school.

4. Gardunos was a fast food stand a block from my high school. We had an open campus for junior high and high school so we could walk the 1/2 block to Whittier Blvd. and enjoy the food here.

 

5. In the background of this 2nd photo of Curries Ice Cream you can see the wonderful brick building that was my junior high. It is long gone and has a modern building that looks more like a prison on the property now. I really loved the great old brick building but it didn’t withstand earthquakes well and had to be replaced for the safety of the children going there.

Thank you to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for hosting Friday’s Fave Five. A time to join together and remember our favorites from the past week. Click on the image to join in.

My posts will be getting a bit spotty for the rest of the year. I’ll be concentrating on some holiday baking next week and getting things ready for house guests. Our middle son will hopefully get time off to come from Eastern Washington to spend Christmas here. Our daughter Katie’s fiance Andrew will get leave to come for Christmas. He arrives on Christmas Eve. Katie is very happy about that. Are you staying home or traveling for Christmas? Enjoy!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ I’m in Hot Water Now…

It’s time to reflect on your past week and see the many good things that you were blessed with. Visit Susanne at Living to tell the Story to join in this worthwhile exercise.

My favorites from this past week…

 

1. A decorated Christmas tree filling the living room with a nice fragrance. Oops somethings crooked!

 

2. Nativities to remind us why we celebrate Christmas.

 

3. Hot Water! Our old water heater was giving up the ghost and we didn’t want to be surprised some morning with a cold shower so Dear with his handiness put in a new one this week. We had to live without hot water for 24 hours but we knew about it in advance and boy are we all ever thankful to have the hot water flowing again.

4. Thankful once again for a husband who can take on most any project around the house and do a good job at it!

 

5. These great words I read this morning;

2 Timothy 4:18 (ESV)~

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

and 2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17 (ESV) ~

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

This weekend Dear and I are escaping to Whidbey Island for an overnight at a Bed and Breakfast Inn to celebrate our anniversary. I hope to tell you all about it next week. We have a heavy rain and flooding forecast which might make things interesting on our trip. Enjoy your day and weekend!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Family, Friends, Food!

Time to look back and remember your favorites from this past week. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in this worthwhile experience.

My favorites from this past week revolve around our immediate family being reunited for a few days.

 

Here are the guys, my husband with our sons. I love this photo of the three of them.

 

Our girls Katie and Laura with their special aunt Lana.

 

We took advantage of my sister being here so she could take a photo of all of us together. This will probably end up being our Christmas photo this year.

 

Our Thanksgiving gathering on Sunday is definitely a favorite from this past week.

Last but not least our son Dan made it safe over the passes to his new digs in Eastern Washington. He started his job at his new location and is pleased with his surroundings. We are looking forward to my brother and SIL coming to spend Thanksgiving weekend with us. So much to be thankful for.

Psalm 40:16 (ESV)

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

What are your favorites from this past week?

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ He’s Home!

 

My Friday Fave Five is a little slow in the making as I was busy just sitting around and looking at our 2nd born son yesterday. I’ve missed seeing his face for over 9 months. More about that later. In the meantime you can join Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and share your favorite things from the past week.

Here are my favorites~

1. Zumba! It’s physical torture for a solid hour that makes you sweat till you’re drenched but it’s fun! I signed up at the YMCA this month and I try to go to the Zumba classes 3 days a week. The other 2 days I do less torturous activity like the treadmill.

2. Molbak’s ~ We have a wonderful garden store in a neighboring city here that really decks the halls for Christmas. I’ve been looking for place card holders and had a Groupon coupon for $30.00 worth of merchandise for $15.00 so I went shopping there last week. I found some holders I really love and got to enjoy their displays of an amazing variety of poinsettias. I’ll share the holders next week after I set our Thanksgiving table. While there I saw this sign that made me chuckle. Just goes to show you how fickle happiness is :0). I much rather choose JOY!

 

3. I was praying all day long on Wednesday for safe travels for our son Dan and Dear. Dan drove 12 hours from Yuma, Az. to Sacramento, California. Dear flew to Sacramento to meet up with Dan and to drive the next 12 hours to Seattle together. Dan left Yuma at 3:00 A.M. and they pulled into our driveway at 2:30 A.M. I heard their voices and fell back to sleep thanking the Lord for their safety. When I woke up on Thursday and pulled out Daily Light (a Bible devotional) the heading for this day was “He led them on safely”. I smiled and thanked God again for leading them safely home.

4. When Dan finally woke up on Thursday it was so good to give him a big hug and then just sit and smile and talk to each other! He was so happy to be back in the state of Washington. Some of the things he enjoyed…

~cold water right out of the faucet. The water is warm coming out of the faucet in Yuma. Not surprising since it’s desert.

~A real nice mattress to sleep on. He’s been living in a hotel for 9 months.

~A house to move around in with more then 2 rooms.

5. TACO NIGHT! We had the whole family sitting around the table last night for Tacos. It was real good. We got to hear lots of stories from Dan and get caught up a bit.

Dan will be heading to Eastern Washington for his full-time job next week so we’ll enjoy a few more days with him before he heads out. It’s good to have him in the same state now with the opportunity to see him on some weekends in the future. We’re having our Thanksgiving meal early this year (on Sunday) so we can enjoy it all together.

I’ll hop around for some visits now before Dan wakes up and before ZUMBA!

6. I’m cheating with one more. Here’s a quote Dear sent me this week that I wanted to share.

“We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life.” – Speech to the Graduating Class of 1978 at Harvard by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

FFF ~ As November Begins…

 

It’s Friday again and time for Friday’s Fave Five. Look back over your week and choose some favorites you’d like to share. Join us at Susanne’s Living to Tell the Story to share your five.

 

This week is a week of looking forward for me. Looking forward to next week when our middle son is finally back in our home state of Washington. Looking forward to having an early Thanksgiving meal together.  But I’ll pause and think back and share my favorite quotes from this past week.

1. From Gumbo Lily’s blog ~

Earth is crammed with Heaven
and every bush aflame with God.
But only those who see
take off their shoes.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2. From my brother and SIL on Facebook ~

“How much greater is the God we have than the one we think we have” -Father Gregory Boyle

3. From Mighty Mom’s Blog ~

“You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in.”

4. From our sermon on Sunday at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue, Washington.

“Your dreams should be bigger then your memories”

5. My fifth favorite is not a quote. Hip Hip Hooray the elections are over and my phone has stopped ringing off the hook looking for support of such and such candidate!!

I hope to come around soon and see what your favorites were this past week. Blessings…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ A Year Ago…

Thank you Susanne for hosting this weekly event! Click over to Living to Tell the Story to join in.

 

What a difference a year makes. The photos in my collage are from last October while we were still living in Southern California. An early morning walk at Emma Wood Beach with Dear. A walk at the Blueberry fields with Willow. Tea with Willow in Camarillo while she knits and Tea with my family in Fullerton when Avery was just a wee little baby. Good memories. If you are a knitter there’s an opportunity for you to donate some of your work for a great cause. Click over to Willow’s Cottage for the details. But hurry there’s a deadline.

Now for my favorites from this past week.

1. Monday’s Announcement about the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Cookbook coming out next Spring! We had to keep it under wraps for a long time and it was fun to finally have a press release and to be able to speak about it!

2. Tuesday night Josh, Laura and I attended an international friendly soccer game at Qwest field between Seattle Sounders F.C. and Chivas de Guadalajara a premier team from Mexico. There were so many Chivas fans there and it’s the first time I’ve been at a Sounders game where the opposing team cheered even louder then us. A very exciting game with music and announcements in Spanish. We were horrible hosts, though, because we whooped them 3 to 1.

3. Making an appointment for Katie’s first wedding dress shopping this Saturday. Katie, Laura, my sister Lana, Katie’s Maid of Honor Jamie and I are all going along for the fun. When I called to make the appointment the sweet gal said “Don’t forget to bring your camera”. Now that was music to my ears!

4. I over stressed the muscles in my right arm over the last month and have had a lot of pain and haven’t been able to do the simplest things with my right hand because of it. I asked for prayer at Bible Study and one of the gals there decided I needed to go see her muscle guy at an Athletic Institute and got on her phone right then and there and made me an appointment. This guy worked on my muscles from my back, shoulder, upper arm, etc. etc. and the results are amazing. I’ll be going back because the results are worth it. I don’t even know how much it cost because this gal took care of the fee for me. That was over the top generous of her!

5. Participating in a Bible study on the Book of Philippians has been really good. The main theme of the book is JOY in all circumstances because Christ is with us and because we can have the attitude that He had. That really is the key to everyday life and I like focusing on that every week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Filled, Full, & Flowing

A time to remember some good things that have happened in the last week. What are your favorites. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in this worthwhile activity.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 (ESV).

On Thursday morning I had one of those times of overwhelming thankfulness to God for what He has done and continues to do in my life and the lives of those around me.

 

1. I was given the gift of appreciation of old friends who have been in our lives for years. Several of these friends came to our house on Sunday to celebrate our daughter Katie’s engagement to Andrew. Then on Tuesday night some young long time friends and I sat together at the U.S. Open Cup Final and enjoyed the excitement of winning the game with high fives all around and hilarious stories during our ride to the game and back home.

2. Our son Dan is really close to completing his time of training and will return to Washington State to his own space and regular work environment next month. God has been gracious to him and given him a gift of a job that he is really cut out for. During his time away he has been protected and safe and I am so thankful to God for that.

 

3. On Sunday morning as I was preparing for the open house we were having for Katie and Andrew’s engagement I listened to my daughter singing praises to God in the shower. I walked into the guest room and said to Andrew “Thank you Andrew for rescuing my daughter from her old boyfriend” My daughter had lost her joy in that past relationship and her personality was altered from her usual bright and positive self. I am so thankful to God for sending Andrew into Katie’s life and for the fact that they bring out the best in each other.

 

4. Our son Josh started a new job this week. He was pursued by a company that recognized his skills and work ethic. I thank God for the gift of this new job for Josh. I also thank God for Josh and Laura’s relationship and how they support each other. This was a bonus week for me because I got to enjoy two winning Sounders games with Josh and Laura! Whoohoo!

5. I’m thankful for my “Dear” who gives me the freedom to pursue and enjoy adventures in life. Many of the adventures we enjoy together but he’s man enough to let me go off on adventures without him, too. I’m more of a sports fan then he is and our relationship can manage that reality. He is a great provider and works hard so that I can spend his money. He is faithful to me and our family and I do not take that for granted. God has been good to us in giving us a trusting relationship. Greg is a man of integrity and our children recognize that and have been positively effected by that.

Yes my cup is full to overflowing this week.

And on a “lighter” note I sure wish I weighed what I weighed in that last photo taken with Dear in Edinburgh almost 5 years ago. :0)

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.