Welcome to My Morning

Welcome to my morning
Welcome to my day
I'm the one responsible
I made it just this way
To make myself some pictures
See what they might bring
I think I made it perfectly
I wouldn't change a thing

Welcome to my happiness
You know it makes me smile
And it pleases me to have you here
For just a little while
While we open up the spaces
Try to break some chains
And if the truth is told
They will never come again

Welcome to my evening
The closing of the day
I could try a million times
Never find a better way
To tell you that I love you
And all the songs I play
Are to thank you for allowing me
Inside this lovely day

Welcome to my morning
Welcome to my day
I'm the one responsible
I made it just this way
To make myself some pictures
And see what they might bring
I think I made it perfectly
I wouldn't change a thing



just another one of my favorite John Denver
songs.

waiting

I just returned from our holiday with family in Az
only to get a call while I was there that My Aunt had
taken a turn for the worst and was taken back to her house
and waiting to start her journey to Heaven.

upon my return I was blessed to have gone to see her
before her journey begins. we all have known this
day was coming and is coming sooner than we liked. we
hoped for a miracle but I think the miracle is that she is not
in any pain and is at peace and is ready to start her
journey. I spent a good few hours with my cousins and my aunt
just talking she would open her eyes now and then, I sat and noticed
how much she looked like her mother. I have never been one who
was good at accepting death, I was always taught it was a part of life
which is true but it always kind of seemed to me to be kind of a harsh
reality especially when it is the loss of someone you love, there is no answer
it is something that happens.

but tonight as I sat with my cousins and we talked and watched my aunt
I realized something my aunt taught me there can be a peacefulness to dying
she is weak, she is waiting to go home to Heaven.
we are not sure how long we will have her she could pass at any moment
but I have felt blessed tonight to be able to tell her I love her.

Abundance

Yesterday I spent a few hours
picking a bunch of tangerines from
our tree in our backyard, funny while
I was picking tangerines my husband
was picking oranges off the tree on the
other end. as I was sorting them I ended up with 5 bags !
and there is still a great deal
of abundance of tangerines on the tree
that will need to be picked.

so while I was looking at the trees I just
thought what a beautiful color and what
an abundance this tree fruited and produced.

and then I began to think about this week
being thanksgiving and last night I kept
pondering all this as I was looking at all the
tangerines and I reflected it to my life.

I am blessed in abundance for my husband & best friend
of 25 years, for my children, my husband's family, my sisters, & brother,
my nephews, nieces.(for the reconnection with two of them that I hope will always continue)
to my niece and nephew I am beginning to know. for the new family members that married or
that were born into the family this year. for the memories of those that have passed
for true friends, for the folks that read my blog! and don't think I am crazy!
and for myself that I will be turning 45 next week.

I feel profoundly and abundantly blessed
we are off to the desert to spend the Thanksgiving
holiday with my husband's family it gives us a chance
to spend time with them. but it also gives me the chance
to take a breath and recharge and ponder many things
in the stillness of the desert a time just to sit still.

note: those who know me and read this, that live near me
if you would like some tangerines let me know there is
plenty!

so I wish everyone who reads this a Happy Thanksgiving
and hope that you are all blessed with much abundance .

An Evening with Mr. Black

Last night I took my hubby out on a date
to celebrate our anniversary of knowing and
being each other's best friend for 25 years anniversary
which was on Nov 1st.

we started off by having dinner at joint we always wanted
to try in a town then we headed for
the special part of our date I bought him tickets to see
one of his favorite country singers

CLINT BLACK

back to the concert, we had such a great time
if any of you ever get the chance to see him and
like his music I highly recommend it.
he played for and hour and half straight
he is such a talented musician and song writer
he sang all is hits and few new ones.

he does a great impression of Willie Nelson!

he closed his encore by playing his version of the
great song DESPERADO which he recorded many
years ago.

we had such a wonderful time and my husband
enjoyed our date which was great because we
have both been under stress and have not
been able to take our mini road trips or as we
call them our breakaways, due to the upcoming
holidays. and we are hopefully going to be taking
a family one this summer to celebrate our 25th wedding
anniversary and our son graduating high school.

On our drive home we were talking and came to
the conclusion that out of our summer concert series this
year we enjoyed them all but for my hubby he enjoyed
two of them the most which was Clint Black and Keith Urban
for me it was Keith Urban,Clint Black and Brad Paisley.

oh, yes I did enjoy getting my photo with Taylor Swift(who some how
I saw three times this summer)
and seeing Tim McGraw and Faith Hill wasn't half bad
either!

update to last blog

My sister that I wrote about
yesterday was not Mary and

this sister is home now
her tests came back normal
but she will have to take a stress test
and some other tests in a few days

concern

Yesterday my sister who
has the smile like a big sunflower
was taken by ambulance to the
ER after she had chest pain and
keeled over at her work which
ironically she is a medical assistant
so she was in the right place at the
right time. anyway she was kept
over night so that tests can be
run to see if she had a heart attack

to be honest it would not surprise me
if this was the case after-all Heart disease
and diabetes runs deep in my family and
then she has been under a deal of stress
and she has other health issues.

I will know more later today
and hope that it was not a heart
attack and that all will be well

funny

I love the character "Maxine" I get a kick
out of her whip wisdom.
lately, I can relate to this particular one
(not that I am making light of Global Warming,
I am not) but I can seriously relate to the Hot Flash
part. since I have been experiencing them for sometime
now. It is natural I realize I can't recall my mother ever
having hot flashes ( I am sure she did!) although there are
some lucky ladies that don't. anyway, I am one of the ones
that have the pleasure of having hot flashes!!!

if Global Warming is Mother Nature having a
Hot flash then ladies we are in serious need of something
to keep us cool!!!

like a tree

another one of my favorite Psalms
I have many of them but this one is how I
am feeling today.

Psalm 18:2

These words are hitting close to home for me today
for so many reasons. as many of you who read my blog
know that one of my aunt's was diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer. I finally had the chance to call her yesterday
and she sounded so tired and the tone of her voice
was like she is giving up the fight. ( I pray that she
is not and that God will give her the strength ) I tried to
stay positive and then I thought what right do I have to tell her
to keep up the fight if she does not want to? I have always
told myself and my immediate family that if I am ever
diagnosed (depending ) on what stage it is found I would
rather live what time I had on earth with my family then
to be sick with all the poison like chemo and not enjoy
each day of life with my family.

Then this morning I came across this poem in our
city newspaper

FOR TODAY

OH FOR THE GIFT OF LIVING
FOR TODAY

ENJOYING LIFE WITHOUT IT GETTING
IN THE WAY

TO SEE THE WONDERS THAT
EACH DAY PROVIDES

TO SHARE THE EMOTIONS WE
TOO OFTEN HIDE

TO SAY THE WORDS WE HESITATE TO STATE
TO RISK , TO LIVE IT'S NEVER TO LATE
TO GO AHEAD AND DO JUMP IN
INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR LIFE TO BEGIN

TO FULLY LIVE, NOT JUST BE LIVING
TO SHARE OUR LOVE TO BE FREE GIVING

LET US NOT FOR HESITATION LATER PAY
THE LESSON IS TO LIVE FOR TODAY

(WRITTEN BY DIANE INGRAM)

I pondered this poem all day and thought
of many things. this time of year is always
full of emotions sad and happy and always
melancholy at the same time

it is always remembering the two brothers
and grandfather my family lost, it is always
full of joy for the family birthdays that are this
month including me! it is being thankful for
the blessings I have in my life, past, present
and future.

I believe that my aunt will continue her fight and
give her the strength she needs. and even give
strength to her family.

after all the Lord is my Rock, my strength, and
it is him I trust.

Psalm 24:1-2

The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it, The World
and all who dwell in it, for he founded it upon the seas and
established it upon the waters.

Sometimes I wonder what the Lord thinks of
his creation of the world the way it is today
with all the craziness in it.

then I look at the mountains, or the ocean or look
at simple things and see the beauty in all that
the Lord created for a reason and the blessings
he bestows on us even if we must journey through
this craziness and sometimes stop believing.

weather we believe it or not he guides us every step of the way

there is a line from a Garth Brooks song I love
it goes like this

"Some of God's Greatest gifts are unanswered prayers""

cap & gown

This Past Tuesday we had to
place the order for our son's
cap & gown and announcements
for his up coming high- school graduation in the
spring.
we went through photos of him being
a toddler for his year book and
Later this week we will help
him apply for colleges

I have known this was coming
it is the next step in his life
then all of a sudden it hit me
my son, my little boy, my only boy
is grown up he will be 18 in a few months
and then graduate and start his journey

I could not get to sleep
I keep having thoughts racing
through my mind. thoughts
of, have I done a good job with
my son? did I and my husband
teach him everything he needs
to know about heading out on his
own?. I think we did, I hope we did.

I am sure we did. ( at least I think and pray so) I guess we will find
out.
this week in particular made me
very emotional because of all the thoughts
going through my mind and to see my son
kind of feeling the pressure of completing
scholarship applications and the college applications
and rehearsing for his school play at the end of the month

he is feeling the stress quite a bit and tonight he
kind of had a bit of a melt down( a natural thing) we
talked and I hugged him and comforted him like mom's do
for that brief bit he clung to me like he was two years old
and wanted mom to make the boo boo better. again I think
I did, I hope I did.

I know in the next few months he will still be a bit stressed
and then he will be alright but one thing he knows is I am
here for him always no matter how old he is to give him a hug
and try to make the boo-boo feel better.

psalms

just one of my many favorite prayers.

retreat

This past Friday and Saturday my Daughter and I
went to Twain Harte for a woman's retreat with a
new church we recently started attending.
one of the ladies of the church was kind enough
to be host in her family cabin.
there were about 20 of us not all stayed at the
cabin a few stayed in a hotel.

I was not sure how I would do at this retreat
a little bit nervous but something kept telling
me inside myself that I should go and then
I kind of asked my daughter to tag along
which was fine cause her friend from church
was there too.

I guess I was nervous because I'm fairly new to
the church and did not know anyone but it
was more about this being my first retreat since
I was a teenager. of course my thoughts were silly these
ladies made everyone feel right at home!

The cabin was wonderful it was a loft and then a basement
type sleep area. ( one of my dreams is to own a family cabin
probably happen when we win the lotto!!!)
anyway we all ate, worshiped, ate, had great lessons
taught and it was so tranquil

we tried new things I had never tried and love have some great
new recipes I spent time pondering things and Saturday we
went into town and shopped most of the group went
to the knit shop since I am a beginner ( and not quite good)
my daughter and I went to the clothing shop!

my daughter and I decided that we would leave early
this Morning cause we wanted to get home and get things
ready for our week. (plus she missed her brother and I missed
both of my guys)

before we got out the door the elderly ladies that put on the
retreat gave us a gift bag a special one for my daughter ( her friend
got one as well,) it was a handmade white bag that one of the women
who was a missionary got from Bosnia it is known as a "outreach" bag
and the story behind it, is when the girls in the village go out to preach
the only ones who can receive a bag are the ones who accept the Lord.
the lady who gave the girls these gifts said she could not have put them
in better hands then my daughter and her friend. as she knows how these
girls are outreaching now. in fact my daughter shared that at her prayer
conference last week her small group she lead was proud to have outreached
to someone and he accepted Jesus.

I opened my bag when I got home and it had some really cute things
in it as well. so again I felt this tranquility in the beauty of my scenery, the love of
my daughter, the spiritual blessings of these women.

I hope one day to rent a cabin and have a great time with my family, sister or nieces and yes the first thing I would buy should
I ever win the lotto , yes a Cabin!.

Turn your clock back

Just wanted to send a friendly reminder
to turn your clock back on Saturday before
you go to bed.

my family is going to be in different places
this weekend my daughter and I are going
to be up in the mountains for a retreat and
my husband and son are off to tour a college
my son is interested in applying for.

I hope each of us has a great bonding time
with each other I know we will but looking
forward to the 4 of us being home together
Sunday night.

will be back with a post for Sunday
until then Remember to turn your clock
back!

25 years of my better half

It was 25 years ago yesterday in
Yosemite National Park that
I met my best friend, the partner that
brings out the best in me! and
I am so blessed by it.

I can not believe how fast the
25 years have passed by
but through all the sorrow
and joy we endured in these
25 years of knowing each other
looking back I would not trade
it for anything in the world.

I have enjoyed this ride in our life
together and can't wait till May
when we celebrate our 25 wedding anniversary!!
but more importantly I am looking forward to
another 25, or more years together.