Category Archives: Meme

Welcome to My Neighborhood! ~

Welcome to My Neighborhood!

Kathleen Marie thought it would be nice to see where everyone is from, where they live, learn more about her blogging neighbors, her friends and acquaintances.

So, since she can’t jump in her car, hop on a train or plane and visit you all, although she would sure like to, she thought it was time for a “bloggy” visit to your neighborhood! Let’s have a chat along the yard fence, have coffee or tea at your local hangout, visit your park or favorite attraction. The skies the limit!

Head over to The Open Window to join the fun.

The day set for this this neighborly visit around Bloggityville is Monday September 17th. On that day everyone will share their favorite things about their neighborhood. This should give us all plenty of time to get those photos, stories and/or slide shows ready. Just sign the linky at her site so we know who’s participating.

~~~

If you are participating I’ll be by on Monday September 17th to see your neighborhoods!

Today I have 3 collages to share with photos from my newest neighborhood in Southern California and my favorite neighborhood and the place I call home in the Seattle area. Please come along and welcome to my neighborhoods!

 

Our condo in Camarillo is a one bedroom. Even though it’s small we still can entertain a crowd. Living in the Southern California area affords us the opportunity to see extended family and close friends from our early married years. The Complex we are in is brand new and has a lot of nice extras.

 

Palm trees are the norm around here and dusty trails. We are at the northern base of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. We are 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean. (Pt. Mugu) We are in a highly agricultural area where we can find fresh produce stands at nearby farms. The Hispanic culture is prevalent in this area with Mexican Restaurants galore. (kind of like Starbuck’s in Seattle!) Speaking of food In-N-Out is just an exit up the freeway from us. California Grill is one of our favorite local restaurants. (bottom middle photo). The new library in town is the top right photo.

 

Here, have an In-N-Out Burger on me…

Now I’ll show you a little bit of my favorite place to live, the Seattle area…

 

The things I miss when I’m living in Southern California are my house, the space I have inside and outside, Fred Meyer Food and Department store, the distinct four seasons, the big fluffy sky, the huge trees everywhere, the downtown area on the water, my library and most of all my children and my best friends. I am thankful that I get to take trips back and spend holidays and other special occasions there.

I thank God for His goodness to us in blessing us with beautiful places to live where we can enjoy His creation and people we can have fellowship with wherever we find ourselves.  Have a wonderful week!

Thank you for coming to my neighborhoods today. To see more neighborhoods around the USA and beyond click on over to The Open Window.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Friday’s Feast ~ One Hundred Sixty

 

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?

The last time I visited a hospital was earlier this year to take my sister to the ER after she tried to cut her finger off. We were there for hours and all she needed was a few stitches.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Probably about a 5. I’m very selectively ambitious…

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

(eye) Ellen yells excitedly!

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

The subject would be food, cooking, planning, staging, eating, enjoying.  The name would be “Create, Eat, and be Merry”

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

 

A picture is worth a thousand words….the flooring in my condo.

For more Friday’s Feast go here.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Tea for Two ~ Vintage Blue

Tea for Two in my Library

Welcome back

 

I’m including this recipe for  tea sandwiches that my mom made for us a while back. .

 Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches

 

INGREDIENTS

     2 cups cubed, cooked chicken, 1 medium unpeeled red apple, chopped, 3/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery, 1/4 cup chopped pecans, 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions, 3/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 12 slices breadLettuce Leaves

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and curry powder; add to chicken mixture and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut each slice of bread with a 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Top with lettuce and chicken salad.

 

 

So happy you stopped by my library for tea. You can still see more tea parties at Make Mine Pink.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Welcome to Moss Rose Tea Party ~ hosted by ellen b.

 Welcome Ladies to Ellen’s

Moss Rose Tea Room

Here’s your seat and let’s enjoy delicacies and delightful conversation.

 

The Tea has been steeped and is ready for you…

 

Sugar? One lump or two?

 

A few sweet delicacies and lots of pink roses.

 

We hope you will sit awhile and speak kindly of your hostess…

 

We’re thrilled that you’ve joined us in our little fun.

 

and that you will leave here remembering everyone.

 

So relax, enjoy, be still for awhile.

 

The world will go on without us for now.

 

We’ll chat, laugh, sip to our heart’s content.

 

And when it’s all over we’ll be happy we met

 

So much beauty to enjoy.

 

So many people to meet

 

So glad you stopped by to enjoy my pink and moss treats!

To enjoy more tea parties head on over to Make Mine Pink and click on the links….

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Meme ~ 12 Questions…

I was tagged for a meme by Theresa at Seeking Diligence Blogspot to answer the following 12 questions…

1)What is your school name and why?

When I homeschooled our daughter for part of 4th, then 5th and 6th grade in the mid ’90’s we just called our school by our last name, B—–Homeschool.

2)How is your weather today?

Very nice crispy but sunny with puffy white clouds in the sky…

3)What steals your joy?

Confrontation. My own selfishness.

4)Name five blessings you received this week.

1) Spending time with my children in Washington.

2) The joy of reading a good book.

3)  Extra insight in the book of James that I’m reading

4) My daughter being accepted into UW for her last 2 years of college.

5) My husbands phone calls from California.

5)Favorite Scripture

There are so many but since the 4th grade one of my favorites is… 

John 14:1-3 ~ “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.” 

Of course the King James version that I memorized this verse from in the 4th grade talked about a mansion not just a room. I think I was excited about that prospect….

6) Who in the Bible do you think you are most like?

 Moses for his public speaking awkwardness, the woman at the well for her evasiveness, Sons of thunder for their act first think later attitude, Peter for talking big and then denying Christ in a pinch. Thank God for His mercy and grace…

7)The passage of scripture you read last:

The book of James. I’m reading the whole book everyday for 20 days…

8) Have you ever praised God for something weird?

   Yes lots of things other people might consider weird. Finding something on sale, finding the perfect gift for someone, having a meal turn out. There are probably way weirder things that just aren’t coming to me…

9) If you were making a greeting card for God what would it say.

There are no words to express what you mean to this undeserving sinner. I want to shout your praise in a stadium filled with people!

10) What is the best miracle God has performed in your life, or what is your favorite answered prayer?

    I think the best miracle is that God’s hand was on my Father to cause Him to be the first in his family to immigrate to the U.S.A. where he later heard God’s call on his life at the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles in 1963. This was a huge miracle in our family and has affected so many areas of our lives. My favorite answered prayer is that God has extended His grace and mercy to my children.

11)What is the most fun thing you have done lately.

Had a early birthday party for Dear with friends and family at our friends home in Washington and the other meals and evenings with my children.

12) How did you choose your screen name.

Sat around with my brother and others while he forced me to start a blog. We went back and forth. I’m a happy person in general and I wonder about a lot of things. (I’m curious) So I came up with The Happy Wonderer.

So now I tag whoever would like to do this meme. Maybe you don’t know what to post. Go ahead and do this meme and you’ll have a fresh post…

Hey! Let me know if you do it….

Friday’s Feast ~ Sept 7

This is my first venture into Friday’s Feast…

Appetizer
Using only one word, how does grocery shopping make you feel?

Prepared

Soup
What is your favorite part about the season of Autumn?

The cold crispy mornings and the fact that life seems to become organized again.

Salad
Have you ever had any bad experiences online?

Yes. Early on I thought I needed to click on every email that came to me. Yikes the junk that came up made me sick. I learned really quick to only click on emails where I knew the sender…

Main Course
Name three things that make you happy daily.

1. Peace with God.  2. Getting something accomplished on my to do list. 3. Connecting with loved ones.

Dessert
What one household cleansing or organizing item would you not want to be without?

My cleaning tote that has everything I need in it to clean any room in my house thoroughly.

For more Friday Feasts go here and here.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Praying…

“Praying is no easy matter.  It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very center of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.  Why would you really want to do that?”

~ Henri Nouwen ~

 Praying might not be easy but we can be more confident in our prayers if we are praying according to God’s Word. When I let the Word of God along with the Holy Spirit reveal what He wants me to deal with in my life He equips me to follow through in obedience. If I try to go into my heart without the help of God’s truth and His instruction I might tend to dwell too much on me and not enough on God’s truth and what He can do with the sin in my heart. I’m going to share another quote about prayer in response to the quote above.

This comes from Bonhoeffer’s Life Together ~

“The Scripture meditation leads to prayer. We have already said that the most promising method of prayer is to allow oneself to be guided by the word of the Scriptures, to pray on the basis of the word of Scripture. In this way we shall not become victims of our own emptiness. Prayer means nothing else but the readiness and willingness to receive and appropriate the Word, and, what is more, to accept it in one’s personal situation, particular tasks, decisions, sins, and temptations. What can never enter the corporate prayer of the fellowship may here be silently made known to God. According to a word of Scripture we pray for the clarification of our day, for preservation from sin, for growth in sanctification, for faithfulness and strength in our work. And we may be certain that our prayer will be heard, because it is a response to God’s Word and promise. Because God’s Word has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, all prayers that we pray conforming to this Word are certainly heard and answered in Jesus Christ.

It is one of the particular difficulties of meditation that our thoughts are likely to wander and go their own way, toward other persons or to some events in our life. Much as this may distress and shame us again and again, we must not lose heart and become anxious, or even conclude that meditation is really not something for us. When this happens it is often a help not to snatch back our thoughts convulsively, but quite calmly to incorporate into our prayer the people and the events to which our thoughts keep straying and thus in all patience return to the starting point of the meditation.”

Boenhoffer’s language might be “dated” for our ears but the truth here is so good to read. I especially appreciate this last paragraph. We can pray about what our minds wander to and then get back to the point of our prayer and the scripture we are meditating on. However hard prayer may be for us we should never abandon it.

There are more In Other Words contributors at Fruit in Season…

ht: Life Together. Copyright 1954 by Harper Collins Publishers.

What’s In A Name? ~ Meme

A name game to lighten up and cool off the summer heat and humidity:

My sister Lana G! over at Above the Clouds is real CURIOUS and has tagged me for this meme:

 WHAT’S IN A NAME?

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Lana is real sneaky tagging me after she used my middle name. Well it’s hers too because in our Russian culture girls and boys get their father’s name as their middle name. So Lana and I do not have a middle name on our birth certificate but when we are introduced to anyone in our Russian culture we are called for example Ellen “Moisi’s daughter” Bagdanov. So everyone knows then that I’m a Bagdanov but I’m further identified as belonging to Moisi Bagdanov, not John Bagdanov. Thank God from whom all blessings flow. (oops did I just say that?) So now I have to make up a middle name to use for this meme. I’m not going to stray too far though. I’ll use Moses which is pretty much Moisi anyway. So here we go. This is a picture of Moses (Moisi) with me and my younger brother Tim.

 

M ~ Married ~ I’m married to a non-Russian. I was the fourth one of my siblings to be married and I was the first one in my family to marry out! I’m so glad I did.

O ~ Observant ~ I see things I wish I wouldn’t see sometimes. I can see danger on the street or on a playground. I’m very visual. When I had my house cleaning business some of my clients would call me to ask if I’d seen this or that. I could usually tell them exactly where the thing was.

S ~ Shopper~ I love to shop for a bargain. I think I could have made shopping a profession. Shopping for other people is what I enjoy the most. I have to admit though, since I started blogging I haven’t been shopping as much.

E ~ Extravagant ~ I love to be extravagant. I love to treat people. I love to buy gifts for people.  I enjoy going over-the-top.

S ~ Sister ~ I’m a sister 7 times and a sister-in-law. I take my title seriously. I love being a loyal sister/sister-in-law  and I’d fight to the death for any of my siblings. Just ask my brother Steve…

So who to tag… I tag Bee, Kim at Hind’s Feet, Lucy, Southern Bell, and Sarah Anne. No pressure people. It is ok with me if you do not play….