Category Archives: Friends

Happy Valentine’s Day & Happy Birthday Beth!

A very Happy Valentine’s Day to all my bloggy friends.

And a very Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Beth, in the State of Washington. I’m so happy our boys became such good friends so we could in turn become friends. God’s richest blessings on you this year!

I John 3:1 ~ “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.”

Psalm 36:5-7 ~ “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your love!”

And now after reading these verses in Psalm I’m singing this song by Third Day..

“Your Love Oh Lord”Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean’s tide
I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings

Have a marvelous day basking in the “love”

Fun Monday ~ Music

The Crown Princess at Ohh a shiny pen is hosting Fun Monday this week.
Ok, here is the assignment.
Music plays a vital role in most of our lives. It is everywhere. I want to hear the ONE song that is you. The song that whenever it is heard, you smile. I am not looking for the soundtrack of your life, just that one song. Your friends hear it and think of you. You can post the video, the lyrics, the wav file. However you want to post it is great.
~
 I was on the phone reading the assignment to my sister Lana G! and she suggested that You’ve Got a Friend by Carole King should be the one I post.  Carole King is a favorite of mine for sure and I love this song.  My husband was listening to my conversation with Lana and he said I should post Smack Water Jack, he’s so funny, he says really it’s only because we were talking about Carole King songs that this one popped into his head, so don’t call the authorities just yet!
~
You’ve Got A Friend
   ——Carole King

When you’re down and troubled
And you need some loving care
And nothin’, nnothin’ is goin’ right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come runnin’ to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend

If the sky above you
Grows dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind begins to blow
Keep your head together
And call my name out loud
Soon you’ll hear me knockin’ at your door

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come runnin’, runnin, yeah, yeah,
to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there, yes I will

Now ain’t it good to know
that you’ve got a friend
When people can be so cold
They’ll hurt you, yes, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don’t you let them.

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I’ll come runnin, runnin’, yeah, yeah, yeah
to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there, yes I will
You’ve got a friend,
you’ve got a friend,
ain’t it good to know,
you’ve got a friend,
ain’t it good to know,
ain’t it good to know,
ain’t it good to know,
you’ve got a friend,
oh yeah now, you’ve got a friend,
yeah baby, you’ve got a friend,
oh yeah, you’ve got a friend.

You can hear a rendition of this song by clicking on the url below…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6r1175w_lM

For more Fun Monday Posts click here.

Six Non-Important Things/Habits/Quirks about Me ~ Meme

 Pam at Beyond the Red Door tagged me for a meme. And now Cricket re-tagged me but her’s is for seven so I’m adding one more weird thing about me.

1.  Link to the person that tagged you.
2.  Post the rules on your blog.
3.  Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4.  Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5.  Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website
6.  Let your tagger know when you entry is up

So here are my six…

1. I always sleep on the left side of bed as you are looking at it. Or the right side if I’m laying down on my back in it…

2. I drink my coffee first all by itself before I have any breakfast.

3. I leave earlier than I need to wherever I need to go.

4. I have a deep “need to know” .  If I don’t know I’ll make up a story (this happens when I’m people watching)

5. I generally do not wear make-up.

6. I usually am in bed by 9:00/9:30 PM…

7. I love to have hot vanilla pudding on top of ice cold chocolate ice-cream.

So if you plan to play this meme let me know…

9999 Steps!

Willow and I had a 4-Niner walk yesterday. (9999 steps) Many of those steps were uphill steps as you’ll see with some of the views I’ve included.

We huffed and we puffed to the top of the lookout… (well I huffed and puffed!)

On the way down some more great views…

 

I loved this tree…
And the trail was shaded here and smelled so piney.

The creative side of blogging. Baby steps with my camera.

Beautiful Runicula that we came upon in someone’s yard. I think this is the sweetest flower. I’ll be posting my walking numbers tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Desires of Our Heart ~

I decided to combine a joyful experience with Thankful Thursday.

God is so good to me. He gave me two desires of my heart today! I’ve said over and over again how sweet it would be to meet one of my bloggy friends and how I’d love to have a walking buddy in Southern California after I left my walking buddies in Seattle, Washington. Today Willow and I met and had a walk and plan to walk on a regular basis, keeping each other accountable. How sweet it is! We found each other through other blogs and realized we both live in the same city. We’re in the same stage of life and have a lot in common. Check out her blog, she has very exciting news today! She became a grandmother!

Today we met in Old Town Camarillo at a specialty coffee shop and walked around one of the older neighborhoods in Camarillo and through a couple of Antique Stores. Fun times with lots of steps to log for the Lovella’s Walking Club!

This is something I’m thankful for this week!

For more Thankful posts visit Iris at Sting My Heart…

Wildflowers in Winter ~ Week 4

 

The Wildflower fun is continuing at Elizabeth Joy’s site. This week February 6th thru the 12th the theme is decorating in the home.

Wildflowers in the Home – Decorating with wildflowers. Show us dishes or other decorations made by you or someone else that you have in your home. Save the fabric decorations and paintings or drawings for the next two weeks.

I’m sharing dishes that I have with floral themes. Some may not be true wildflowers. I’m also including two collages of tea-cups that we have given to my mother over the years that have more of a wildflower feel to them.

My china pattern is Moss Rose by Royal Albert.

These are Johnson Brothers English Chippendale (pattern 103232)

These are a few of the Tea-Cups we have bought our mother over the years.

 

For more Wildflowers in the Home visit Elizabeth Joy at Wildflower Morning.

The Brown Plate Special ~ Week 1

***Please scroll down to the next post if you are here for FUN MONDAY!

I’m joining my friend Kim at Hiraeth for the Brown Plate Special. Along with Lovella and her Walking Club I’m hoping these two accountability groups will help me reach some of my goals for being in better shape and weighing less while enjoying food I love. Today is the first Monday that I will be posting whether I had any weight loss or gain. Yikes. I think this first week should be great because of the typical water weight loss I have at the beginning of any sensible program. So let me run off to the scale and I’ll be right back to tell you what it shows. No not the total weight (I’m not that accountable) just the loss or gain people!!

Woohoo! I am down 4.8#’s. I realize much of this is water weight but who cares I love seeing smaller numbers on the scale. I also realize my weight loss for the next weeks will be closer to 1 lb. a week or less but that’s ok, too. I’m excited to keep going…

Below you’ll find an explanation of what The Brown Plate Special is with links to Kim’s site if you want to join us or just see how this is working.

The Brown Plate Special

In the comments of my recent Recipe Round-up/Snackalicious Super Dishes post my friend, Ellen B, left a haunting question; well, at least a question that’s been haunting me for some time now:

How’s an aging girl who loves food (and LOVES to cook) ever gonna lose weight…?

I’ve given it a lot of thought and I think I have come up with a doable plan for aging girls like me and Ellen.  I am calling it “The Brown Plate Special” and I invite you to try this along with me!

I got the idea when I bought a couple of cute little chocolate brown plates on clearance last week.  They are just 9 inches in diameter instead of the standard 10.5 inches and have a little “well” in the center that is 6.5 inches in diameter.  I’m thinking that if I commit to using this little brown plate instead of a regular plate for all my meals, and “load” it only so that it looks visually porportionate to a normal serving of food on a normal plate, slowly but surely I will get portions under control and begin to lose weight without giving up cooking and eating the foods we love.

You can use any small sandwich or dessert plate.  The only other guidelines are just the common sense stuff that most of us in our 40’s and 50’s have already come to grips with:

  • No between meal snacking
  • No evening snacking
  • No second helpings
  • No deserts except on special occasions

Since accountability is essential in such matters, I’ll be weighing in every Monday morning and I’ll confess my weight loss (or lack thereof) in a regular Monday morning post.

If you decide to join me, feel free to invite friends to join us by writing a post and adding this handy dandy button in your side bar.   You can post your weekly progress on a post of your own or in the comments of my weekly post.

So, what have you got to lose

 

Fun Monday ~ The Bucket List…

Tiggerlane, the Neophyte is hosting Fun Monday this week. Here’s her assignment.

Have you heard of The Bucket List? Well, that’s what I want from you! Make a list of things you want to do before you die. It must be at least five items – and you can make it as long as you desire. Photos are optional. And let’s hear about some of the wackiest, most bizarre to-do’s on your Bucket List!

These are not listed in order of importance just in order of how they came into my brain.

1. Visit Ireland. And while there I want to visit Trinity College and see the Book of Kells. I also want to tour the Guinness Brewery. A visit to the Jameson Distillery for my husband’s pleasure. I want to eat a good meal in Cork. I’d like to see the countryside. I’d love to do a Pub Crawl with some good traditional Irish music.

2. I’d love to experience grandchildren.

3. I’d like to fly first-class to Australia or New Zealand so the many hours in the plane would feel more comfortable.

4. I’d like to have a great famous cook like Ina Garten or Jamie Oliver cook a meal for me and my friends at my house with a clean up crew.

5. I’d like to walk across England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.

6. I’d like to meet some of my bloggy friends at a spa resort.

7. I’d like to be living back in my home in the Seattle area.

I’m just not a person who desires whacky or bizarre things in my life. I’m happy with a cup of tea in a beautiful setting.

Or a lovely meal with friends. A worshipful church service where the truth is taught and the love of God is felt. Probably the most out of this world experience I think would be real cool is …

8. The Acts 2:2-4 experience…”Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

For me that would be an amazing experience.

For more Bucket lists check out Tiggerlane’s site for more links to Fun Monday posts…

I Was Tagged! (Thank Goodness it’s not Graffiti!)

 Angie at Bloggin daz has tagged me for a meme with these questions that she has come up with…

1. Are you rooting for the Patriots or Giants?

a. Go Giants!
b. Go Patriots!
c. No strong feelings either way, but should be a good game
d. The what?

I’m torn, I’m amazed that the Patriot’s have had a perfect season and that it would make history for them to win but then the real fan (my daughter) is rooting for the Giants so heck, I guess I’ll say Giants…
 

2. Seven choices of vacation. Pick one:

a. Beach house, white sand, great waves
b. Condo in the mountains; view of snowy peaks
c. Nice hotel in New York City with tickets to the latest Broadway show
d. Tour of historic sites and museums in Greece and Italy
e. Bed and breakfast with time for antiquing
f. Home–sleeping in, hanging out, and doing stuff you don’t usually have time to do
g. I prefer not to take vacations.

I’m going to say (d) the tour of historic sites and museums in Greece and Italy. I am more comfortable visiting countries where English is spoken but Italy and Greece have so much history that I’m sure I would enjoy them...

3. Coffee drinker? If no, why? If yes, sugar, cream, or neither?

Yes, at least 12 oz. of coffee every morning before 8 am black!

4. What’s the last book you read (or are you in the middle of reading)?

I have finished Hood by Stephen Lawhead and I’m currently reading Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge. Goudge is one of my new favorite authors.

5. You’re at the grocery store, waiting in the check-out line with a cart full of stuff. You glance over your shoulder for a moment, wondering whether you should have picked up an extra package of waffles. When you turn around, you notice that a lady has cut in line in front of you. Your eyes meet. She glowers and starts to put her items on the belt. You:

a. Grumble to yourself but don’t say anything out loud. You dislike scenes.
b. Say, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I was next in line.” That’s about as far as you’d take it, though.
c. March over to the belt, push her items onto the floor, and tell her that she and her cream of mushroom soup can go get in line like everybody else.
d. Grab your cell phone and snap a picture of the lady, thinking “Yes! I’ve got something good to blog about!”

Oh absolutely (d) since I’ve been bloggin for almost a year now this would be a great post. Also when I’m walking in the Spirit these little inconveniences don’t bother me as much as they used to…

6. Please share two or three links of things that made you laugh. Out loud. A blog post, a cartoon, a YouTube clip–whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFLS_RexrWA

I’m a real dweeb with linky kind of things but this one I’ve shared is very funny in my opinion.

thanks Angie!

Thankful Thursday ~ Compassion

 

I am thankful for God’s compassion for us.

Before he formed us in our mother’s womb, before his creation multiplied on the earth He planned a way for us to be made alive with Christ. His compassion for the lost world because of sin sent His son to the cross to suffer and die for us. Without the sacrifice on Jesus’ part on behalf of us we would still be dead in our sins, separated from God, utterly lost. We are redeemed through Christ’s blood.

Thank you God for your compassion.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice.

Thank you Holy Spirit for your work in our lives to help us to be a compassionate people who love like God and sacrifice like Jesus.

Ephesians 4:32, 5: 1-2 ~

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Praying that God through His Spirit helps us to be a compassionate people who see the world through His eyes…

For more Thankful posts visit Iris at Sting My Heart.