Category Archives: Friends

Choose Joy! ~ Carnival of Beauty

This Friday Vicki at Windows to My Soul is hosting the Carnival of Beauty with the Beauty of Joy as the theme.

I am so pleased that the theme of Carnival of Beauty is the Beauty of Joy!!

I have a dear friend Jody who has always given her children and friends the encouragement to “Choose Joy”!  Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have every reason under heaven to be filled with JOY!

Nehemiah 8:10, “…And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”

Habakkuk 3:18, “yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Luke 2:10, “And the angel of the Lord said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Our Savior is the author of our Joy. He is the one that has put joy in our hearts by redeeming us with His blood. We have every reason to shout for joy to our Lord. The good news was for us and we need to choose joy! Even in the midst of struggles and defeat the joy of the Lord is our strength. We look ahead to the Hope that is set before us with joy for what has already been done for us and for what is being prepared for us in Heaven. This kind of joy will make us beautiful on this earth. When we reflect the joy of the Lord to those around us they will have joy, too!

So dear friends in Christ “choose joy”!

On Friday you’ll be able to click here and see more entries on this theme…

Friday’s Feast ~ #5

Appetizer
When was the last time you were surprised?

When my over 40 year old brother and his over 40 year old wife told us they were expecting a baby. They’ve been married for a year and this is the first marriage for each of them. The baby is due in January. Very surprised and filled with joy for them…

Soup
Fill in the blanks: My eyes are Hazel, but I wish they were more green.

Salad
If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?

I would be a brown and black Hedgehog and my name would be Tiggy!

Main Course
Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.

Reading my Bible and eating High Fiber Cereal with a banana in the morning.

Dessert
What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Crest Paste not gel and not the one that tastes like pepto bismol. (yuck)

For more Friday Feasts go here.

WFMW ~ Shower Curtain?

Time for another Works For Me Wednesday and here’s my tip this week. If you have showers that need shower curtains purchase a pretty cloth one to go on the outside and then buy the cheapest vinyl liner you can find for the inside. When the vinyl curtain gets yucky just take it down and throw it away and replace it with a fresh liner. Trying to clean these is too much work for me!

There’s plenty of bathroom scrubbing to do without scrubbing the vinyl curtain!

Now head on over to Rocks in My Dryer and see what other tips there are today!

Wedding Day Fun In California!

We started our day with an amazing breakfast at Nick and Vera’s. Then we all got our wedding attire on and headed to the wedding in Seal Beach, California.

The first two rows of the collage: (DIL Laura), (Josh & his dad), (Katie)

(Katie, Michelle & Laura),  (Brother Tim and Letty), (Melissa, Svetlana, & Kathy)

 

(Kelly & Steve), (Miss, Kathy & Michelle), (Dan, Ryan, & Michelle)

(The mother of the groom, Letty), (Dave, Kristin, Laura, & Josh), (The Groom Derek)

Mom & Pop

Some of their Grandchildren (The Young-uns)

The Beautiful Granddaughters and one old guy!

Some of their Children (The Older folk)

Dear and My Family

My Guys!

Here’s Amy the bride, Lana and Bridget!

Mother and Son Dance

Photobucket is holding hundreds of my photos hostage and that’s why you don’t see the original photos on this post.

4 Things Meme ~ Just “Four” Fun…

Time for some weekend Meme fun. Now we are off for some extended family fun with our Nephew’s wedding today! Blessings on your weekend.

A Meme “Four” You

I saw this at Cherish the Word and decided to play along with Myrna!

Four Jobs I have had in my life….

1. Office assistant

2. File Clerk

3. Elementary School Teacher

4. Housecleaning Business

Four Places I have Lived…  (I’ll do the places since I’ve been married)

1. West Los Angeles, California

2. Huntington Beach, California

3. Ventura, California

4. Bothell, Washington

Four Places I have been on Vacation….

1. Maui

2. London

3. Great Britain (Wales, Scotland, England)

4. Napa/Sonoma Wine Country Bicycle Tour

Four of my Favorite Foods…

1. Anything Russian my mother makes

2. Mexican food with good Salsa

3. Stews or thick hearty Soups

4. Bread! (in any form sweet or not)

Four Places I’d rather be right now…

1. In the State of Washington

2. At a Restaurant having Brunch.

3. In Great Britain

4. At a Cabin in the Mountains

Four Places I’d Rather Not Be…

1. In the desert.

2. At a funeral

3. In Traffic

4. In the Dark!

If you’d like to play please do and let me know if you do because I’d love to read your 4’s!

Friday Feast #4 ~ October 5th

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?

Probably a Seven. I get a lot of joy in buying gifts so I actually prefer other people’s birthdays.

Soup
What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?

Streptococcus – any of several spherical bacteria of the genus streptococcus, occurring in pairs or chains, species of which cause such diseases as tonsillitis, pneumonia, and scarlet fever.

Salad
Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside?  If so, what does your current pair look like?

Yes all the time since I live in Southern California. Because I wear prescription eye glasses my sunglasses are not very cool. They clip onto my regular glasses with a magnet.

Main Course
If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?

I would dedicate it to the family members who really love to read, my daughter Katie and my husband.

Dessert
Name a beverage that you enjoy.

I enjoy a classic G & T, with a high end G!

To see more Friday Feasts go here.

Thankful Thursday ~ October 4th

  

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Well it’s been quite a week and we’re gearing up for a celebration filled weekend. All of our children are flying into L.A. on Friday evening for my nephew’s wedding on Saturday. They’ll be here a very short time and we’re filling up a lot of that time with family get-togethers besides the wedding on Saturday evening.

I am so thankful to all of you who have been praying for our son Josh after his TIA episode last week. He’s doing well and he’s had 3 procedures/tests inflicted on him this week. He’s done with everything the neurologist ordered now and we’re waiting for the results/findings. Dear and I and Josh and Laura are very grateful to the blog world that is so willing and ready to pray for those in the body they have never met face to face!

Josh at about 14 months old, Easter of 1980

I am so thankful I will see each of my kids this weekend and be able to give them a hug.

I am thankful to Family and Friends who have been upholding us in prayer along with our bloggy friends.

I am thankful to God who upholds us, answers prayers, and gives us peace and joy.

I am thankful to my Savior Jesus Christ whose sacrifice for us on the cross opened up the door for our relationship with the Father and because of that we have the undeserved benefits that come with being a Child of God.

God bless you all with a wonderful Thankful Thursday!

To see more Thankful Thursday posts click on Sting My Heart.

What Season Are You? ~ A Meme

Saw this fun little quiz at Lisa Writes and Hiraeth and needed something light hearted to do…

Play along too and let me know if you do.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times…
You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings
Whether you’re carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Overwhelmed and Thankful

I’m overwhelmed and thankful to family, face to face friends, and friends I’ve never seen, who have poured out their support, love, and prayers for my son and our family. He’s doing well and is having follow-up tests. God created us to glorify Him in community and it’s in times like these that we see how beautiful community is. Blessings on each and every one of you. I’m praying that God would return the blessing I have received back to you. Have a wonderful weekend.  Ellen b.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ~ “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Friday’s Feast # 3

 

Appetizer
How are you today?

Tired and full of heavy sighs as I recover from staying up late last night waiting to hear about my son’s status after going to the ER for a first time ever episode with Aphasia.

(Son was released that night, is doing well, and is having follow-up appointment with specialist and a couple more tests in the next week or so to try to determine what caused it)

Soup
Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.

Survivor, CSI, Top Chef

Salad
What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

Heavy rains that caused our area to be declared a National disastor area because of flooding which caused a huge landslide behind our 1st home in Washington. We heard a huge crash and watched a huge fir tree go dancing down the hill like something from Fantasia!

Main Course
If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?

Oh this one is easy. Great Britain for sure….

Dessert
What do you usually wear (oops I didn’t copy the last two words) to sleep.

Jeans and a t-shirt. (my first answer) I really don’t wear jeans and a t-shirt to sleep 🙂

I wear one of those cotton t-shirt nighties…one size fits all sort of thing. Very romantic….

To see more feasts go here.