Thoughts From Last Year: The Journey

God does might and wonderful things for those who follow him.

Thoughts From Last Year: The Journey: "God is taking us all on a journey."  This past Wednesday marks the one year point that started a new phase of my journey. It wa...

One Month

It has been a month and a few days since I posted here.  A few days after my last post I fasted Face Book and without thinking about it, I guess I fasted Blogger too.  Tomorrow is the last day of my fast.  I am glad I did it.  I wanted to have a clear head for the election.  I didn't want to be overwhelmed and too talky concerning the post and comments about the election so God gave me the idea to fast FB.  I could keep my cool, relax and be more in prayer.  It has been a good month.

Another thing I did this last month is lose 10 of a total of 16 lbs. Can't wait to lose more.  I also signed into Bloglovin.  I have seen the widget for many years but never checked it out.  I am not sure why I did finally but when I realized it was a place to go and see blogs I was so excited.  I love blogs.  That is why I used to be a part of Stumble Upon.  I loved being taken from one blog to the next on Stumble Upon and I love hitting next when I am on Blogger just to see what blogs it will take me to.  But Bloglovin is a whole website devoted to Blogs.  I love it.

Well not much else to tell.  Except for this:  I did a bit of sewing this past month.  I made a pillow cover for one of my throw pillows.

I pieced the edges and they turned out pretty good.  The back is solid green.

My SIL and BIL gave us some wonderful bell peppers from their garden.
I had to make Stuffed Bell Peppers.  On I tell you, they were yummy. 

Well that is all my news.  I hope you are having a wonderful month and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  This is some of the best times of the year.  God bless you and enjoy your holidays and every day between now and the end of 2016.  It will be New Year's day before we know it.  It sounds like I am signing off till the end of the year but I am not.  I just think of this time of year as one big block.  To me it is winterThanksgivingChristmasNewYearsday.   I just want to give a blessing each time I post till the new year.

What Would My List Include?

Psalm 71:6 Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you! (NLT)

I woke up at 4:27 this morning.  Maybe I didn't wake up so much as I was awakened by God.  I woke up in prayer.  But it was worry prayer.  Do you know that type of prayer?  The kind of prayer where you are concerned to the point of distraction?  I was praying for someone else and a problem I am noodling through with God.

After praying and trying to listen to scripture I went on the "This will take my mind off of everything!" web-site -- Facebook.  There I found a link to a blog called Momastery.  Being my first time at Momastery, I looked it over from the beginning and found a list.  I am attracted to list.  Are you?  I like to read them, and to make them.  I wondered at how honest she was in this list.  I wondered if I could do that and put it on my blog.

But this and worried prayer are not why I chose to write here today.  I chose to write today because I feel the need to shout the name JESUS! I feel the need to say, loudly "THANK YOU JESUS."  My life is an open book to Him and I always know I can be honest with Him since He is not shocked.  He already knows before I talk with Him what I was doing, thinking and feeling.

I will probably write a list.  I probably won't post it to this blog.  But, I will talk with Jesus about it.

Thoughts From Last Year: True Direction

Thoughts From Last Year: True Direction: "...love believes the best so I am going against what I think." If we are going to stick with what is real and true ...

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Remember that essay every new school year?

When I was young we never went on vacation.  I only remember one vacation with my family and one summer being left (long story) at my Grandmother's in Missouri.  But many years I had to write this essay telling what I did over the summer.  Luckily my parents took us to the beach, the movies, the park, and the mountains all summer long.  Also I lived on a very entertaining street corner.

Every summer there were at least two car wrecks on that corner, and this was the days before mandatory seat belts so the wrecks were often bad.  Since we were far from town it was a while before the police and ambulance would come to their aid so often my parents would be out there checking things out seeing if they could help.  Mostly though we just watched.

Two other things that happened every summer were a heard of sheep that a man brought down our street every summer. He would walk them from field to field where he had a contract, and they would eat to their hearts content. It was a great way to clear the fields and so we had the joy of seeing this large group of sheep walk right down the street each summer. The other thing that happened each summer, was an antique and classic car rally.  For an entire day, one car after the other, would pass by our house.  It was a fun day watching them travel by.  

So what did I do on my summer vacation?  I turned 61.  I watched/loved on my grands a lot.  I volunteered at a Food Bank on Tuesday and Thursday morning.  I got to Dog and House sit at a 1930's mansion again this summer.  One of my very favorite things to do in the summer.  

And...  My husband and I got to go to Mammoth with my youngest son and his wonderful family.

Just one of the lovely lakes at Mammoth.

This was my first time there and all of it was a treat.  After miles and miles of hot, dry desert and many small towns we made it to this beautiful, lush place called Mammoth.  I can't believe how much there is to do there if you are able bodied. I had a hard time breathing the first few days and I didn't get to go to Devil's Post Pile because I couldn't walk there and back.

My youngest grandson and I sat at a lovely resort, which is one of the bus stops, at Mammoth and we played with rocks.  He has a fascination with rocks. He kept choosing different ones to group together and I started telling him how one of the formations he made reminded me of Corona Del Mar's rocks (A California Beach), that I used to climb each summer as a child.

He then grouped the rocks and told me how it reminded him of a place he and his family had been to in Hawaii.  He is a cutie and he entertained me the entire time we were out waiting for his family and my husband to return from Devil's Post Pile.

Other than that I went to church.  I always go to church. The rest of the time I tried to beat the heat.  All in all it was a great summer vacation.

I hope yours was fun too.  No matter if you stayed home and watched car wrecks on the corner, or traveled to a place you love, or have never been before.

Jeremiah 29:11(NLT)  For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Summer in California is nearly over and every day it is looking more like we are closer to fall.  Well that is it is looking like the kind of fall days we have here in Cali.  Days that are cooler than summer (80 degrees is coming instead of high 90's) and shorter.  I can tell the days are getting shorter because my timed light needs to be adjusted to come on sooner.  My living room gets grey before the light comes on to brighten things up.  But for now there is about a week left of my usual summer routine.

I have three more days of watching grand-children then my schedule changes and I'll only watch them two afternoons a week and a Sunday now and then for one of my sons and the occasional day off for the other son.  I look forward to summer because I get to spend so much time with them.  Then as summer draws to a close I look forward to having more time to myself so I can get a few things done.  It has been this way for a number of years now and I like this routine.

But I am especially excited for this year because my husband and I cancelled the 24/7 internet access and the Fios TV.  Now we only have computer access if we hook our phone up to the computer as a hot spot and our TV antenna doesn't get very good reception so there isn't a TV to capture my attention every moment of the day.

For me it was hard to get used to not having the TV, for my husband it was hard not to have the 24/7 internet access.  It has been about 2 months and we are slowing adjusting.  I was very twitchy at first.  I wanted to watch television so badly.  I missed Flea Market Flip and NCIS more than I though I would.  My husband missed watching videos and cruising the internet whenever he chose.  He also missed being able to work on his programming any time he wanted.  Now he must be selective and careful with his time on the computer.  We find ourselves taking advantage of others 24/7 access to  Wifi when we have the opportunity.

My hope is that without these distractions we will get out doors more and that I will get in my spare room to sew and do crafts. There are many more things around my house that need attention too, we'll see.  We'll see how I/we do at adjusting to life without complete access to technological distractions.  Maybe my brain will grow.  Ha!  I hope so.

Thoughts From Last Year: 2 Decades of Good Times

Thoughts From Last Year: 2 Decades of Good Times: "What a crazy ride it has been!"  In these words I sum up twenty years of my Christina walk. I never dreamt that God would take ...

Thoughts From Last Year: Super Powers

Thoughts From Last Year: Super Powers: "We saw the new super hero movie. It is a bit disturbing how much they quote scripture and misapply the Word. They have a form of godli...

David Phelps & Marshall Hall - Let the Glory Come Down

Random Thoughts:

I must say that I think about this blog a lot and that is as far as I get.  I used to have a very successful blog and so the neglect I show here has astounded even me.  Perhaps I will turn that around.

The last month has been a nightmare health wise.  I know I am healed.  I know that the Lord is watching over me.  I know that attacks happen but this one had me a bit afraid.  I had pneumonia again (it has been a few years) and I had pink eye again (last time as a kid 1960's) twice this past month  (I was afraid that I might go blind) and apparently I had/have a raging case of allergies along with all of this!  Still God is good and wise and loving and healer.  Enough said.  Except to say that other than the allergies and feeling tired easily (I must build up my strength again), I feel wonderful.  Ready to go and get back to my wonderful blessed life. 

It was awesome to be at Church for the second time in over 30 days.  I missed so much at church and only got to see my grands a few times this past month, but I felt a peace in many things.  I listened to my church on line and looked at FB picture of the grands.   

Oh here is something fun I actually got to participate in last Friday.  My beautiful DIL Annmarie turned 30 something years young, 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNMARIE WE LOVE YOU! 

We all went to a place where you paint a picture while an instructor shows you how it is done.  The Hunny and I didn't paint, we watched while everyone else painted.  ALL the pictures turned out beautiful in their own special way. There must have been 15 paintings.  

I wish I had pictures for this post but all I have are ramblings.  Well I am off now to sew.  I am making blinds for the patio so we can beat the heat.  The electric bill is too high to use the air much in the summer so we will cool things down a bit with blinds (curtains) for the patio.

Thoughts From Last Year: Getting it Right

Thoughts From Last Year: Getting it Right: "From the Word: For because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him abo...

One Relaxing Vacation

Recently Dan and I took a road trip that we will never forget.  But before I get into that I have to say thank you to the people who made this road trip possible.  Last summer was my 60th birthday and my husband and DIL got together and gave me the most wonderful birthday party.

The top picture is the beautiful setting of the party and the bottom is of my DIL and the Lady who hosted the Tea party in the park.  Believe me she did a wonderful job.

We had strawberry lemonade and and water with fruit in beautiful dispensers, yummy small sandwiches, cake and all set at beautifully dressed tables.  Click the link at the words Tea Party above and see her beautiful work at the many Tea's she has hosted.

I could not believe how many wonderful people came to my party and the gifts they gave me were wonderful too.  I enjoyed every one.  Part of my gifts were in the form of cash so I could take a cruise.  Unfortunately the cruise I wanted to take, and the one they intended for me, was no longer offered.  It was one I had been talking about for 17 years, one I had kept the brochure about for nearly 5 years before I tossed it.  But things change and that cruise was not offered as it was 17 years ago.

So what do you do when the cruise you want to take isn't available and your can't find one that tickles you the way that one did?  Or when the love of your life is not keen to fly?  Well you do the next best thing.  You road trip in your state.  I love road tripping so this was not a hard decision to make AT ALL!  And all the wonderful attendees at my party last year made it all possible.

So thank you because Dan and I enjoyed ourselves so much and we didn't worry if our budget was being blown we just did what we chose and enjoyed every minute.  Now we are not big on doing things like balloon rides or bungee jumping.  We don't go to amusement parks much but we love museums and tours of historic place.  We love to relax and walk.  We don't buy a lot but we love to look.  So that is what we did.  We went for a few tours and saw a Mission.  We spent three days in a sleepy town and enjoyed daily walks and rides.  We ate awesome food. We did what we wanted and can't wait to go back and do it all again sometime.

So below are just a few of the 150 pictures we took on our trip.

We left our home early in the morning so we could get here at Kettleman Ranch, at Bravo Farms about lunch time, and we made it.  The problem was that the restaurant with the tri tip sandwiches I wanted to try was closed for Easter Sunday.  But we just walked across the street with about 50 other people and had lunch at Jack in the Box.  While the lunch was less than expected, the day, the beautiful blue sky and lovely farm land on either side of the road was wonderful and had been all day on our travels.  A few of the shops were open so we had fun walking around them and stretching our legs and then we were off to Sacramento.

The drive to Sacramento on the 5 Interstate is beautiful.  It is hard to see the exact beauty of the road side from this picture but it is lovely the whole way up.

The really sad thing along this road is all the signs that say it's not a crime to grow food, and the ones that tell how many farms are no longer in business because other areas won't share water.  Or the signs that speak out against the fines for using water.  It is terrible.  I don't know who to write to but I think they should have water to grow food.  Still the landscape is lovely and we enjoyed the ride very much.

By the time we made it to Sacramento we were tired of sitting and hungry.  It didn't take us long at all to find our hotel once we pulled into town.  I had prayed before we left that our rooms would be free of germs even if they looked kind of old and maybe not so clean. God answered that prayer and I was very happy with every room.  One room did have a strange smell of cleaning supplies in the shower that was off putting, but otherwise every room was clean and comfortable.

We had dinner at the best P. F. Chang's I have been to.  They were on a corner and there were windows spanning two entire street corner walls.  We could see the busy, tree lined street from every seat in the house.  They played jazz (my favorite) and the waiter was really nice.  They messed up our order and just brought out everything anyway so we had lots of left overs.  It was a really romantic setting with the jazz, the windows and the tree lined street.  Which made it an unexpected bonus.

After dinner we drove around to kind of scope the area out since we have never been there before.  We found the street that drives toward the capital and it is so beautiful to see the Capital building lit up at night.  We didn't get a picture but I can still see it in my mind.  Then we made our way back to our room.  We realized that we were so close that we could walk to the capital building, take our tour and get back before we had to check out of our room.  So the next morning that is what we did.  The shot below is what we saw all lighted up the night before.  Beautiful in daylight or night light.

The walk was so wonderful.  We crossed paths by many of the electric trains that go around the city.  I would have loved to of rode one but I didn't have a destination, so we didn't do it.  But each train seems to have a different bell for alerting stops depending on the way they are traveling.  Meaning North-South, or East-West.  I was really surprised because the town was not busy.  I would have thought that an important place like that would be busier than LA.

Walking around the outside of the building is impressive and so it the inside.  Oh and we had the most wonderful tour guide, so if you go anytime soon ask when Alan is doing the tour.  I wish I had gotten his picture.  What a load of information he has.  We learned so much about CA that we didn't know and what we learned there we were able to connect when we went though the Santa Barbara Mission a few days later.  The Capital building inside is so lovely.  I wish I could show you all the pictures we took.

This is just three of the pictures we took.  I so wish they had turned out better.  The colors in each area and rooms were soft and beautiful.  This dome is much lovelier in reality than in this picture.   We really enjoyed our tour and I would gladly go again.  We enjoyed our walk back to the hotel after our tour too.  We decided since we really didn't know the city we would go on in our journey.  So we packed up and headed down the highway.

I have to say we really don't enjoy the San Francisco and surrounding area.  The few times we have been there we have not liked what we have seen.  I won't describe, but I view it close to Sodom and Gomorrah.  Which is too bad because Dan has family there that we adore.  He has a wonderful Uncle and three cousins. We LOVE them but we don't love that area.  So sadly we didn't stop.  We went around it and kept right on going.  (We truly feel terrible about this.)

Above is the love of my life at the Hearst Castle gift shop, the towers over the main building that we toured in the Castle, and the bottom picture is a view from one of the patios of the Castle overlooking the outdoor pool which is in repair mode right now.  The grounds and hills behind are the back yard of the Castle.  It is a very impressive place and I highly recommend you visit.  We really enjoyed the views, the rooms, and the history very much.  Even the history here was enhanced by what we had learned at the Capital tour.

We had spent the night a bit down the road so after the Castle tour we headed out down the road to Solvang.  Along the way we stopped a few places hoping to shop.  There is a cute little, very little, shopping area with old buildings about a 1/4 of a mile long just down the road from where we had spent the night.  We looked at a few of the antique/thrift shops there for things for my Spring Tea table.  I didn't find what I needed there but I loved looking.

Then we made it to Solvang.  We had a great hotel and wonderful free breakfast.  We loved walking around the city and going to all the many thrift and antique shops.  We went to a farmers market there and got the sweetest tomatoes I have ever eaten.  We relaxed and we enjoyed ourselves so much.  Santa Barbara is only 38 miles away so we stayed at our Solvang hotel, paying less than half what we would have paid for a 2 star hotel in Santa Barbara, then just drove there one day to tour the amazing Mission.

The mission was a wealth of information.  The Indians that lived around the mission were very intelligent people.  I am not telling you this because I was surprised but because others are sometimes surprised.  They were skilled in many things and taught the Catholic Priests and those who lived at this mission.  They in turn were taught music, and things they didn't know, by the Priest. Something that does amaze me though is all the beautiful things I saw that people used to do so well by hand.  This score was written by hand.

Well after three days in Solvang we didn't want to leave but we decided to go.  So we made it down the coast, first taking the 1 hwy. then coming to our senses and taking the 101 to LA.  Below are some pictures of the Elephant seals we saw and the beach we stopped at to eat lunch.  I got a bowl full of shells and rocks. I didn't see any signs saying don't take the shells so I took some.

The last picture is just before Santa Monica.  It was a beautiful ride along the coast and we got to see it day after day.  We did much more than I have put here but we relaxed a lot too.

One last note of something fun we did.  If you grew up in CA. in the 70's you probably remember Dr. Demento.  He used to play a song that sang the streets in LA., Pico and Supulvida were the two main streets in the song.  I had never been to that corner so I was delighted when that was our destination.  Our last dinner out on the road was on that corner at La Salsa.  BTW best tortilla soup I have ever had.

We tried to spend all the money we had available, plus what we usually spend for our anniversary, and then some but we just couldn't.  So we have enough to take another road trip later in the year, and I think we will.

Thank you all again for my 60th birthday gift.  I loved you all just for coming to my party.  Believe me that was more than enough.  But to have this bonus I will never forget, well thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I love you all.  I enjoy completely every gift I received be it $1.00 or more, gift card, jewelry, or my awesome fun bird feeder.  That birthday just keeps on giving and I can't be more thankful.  God bless you all.

James 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Thoughts From Last Year: Not what you thought

Thoughts From Last Year: Not what you thought: "I did not expect today to be what it turned out to be." A year ago I released my first book. Not the kind I expected to be my f...

Waking Up From a Nap

I am re-reading a book by Jamie Langston Turner. She is a Southern writer and a Christian who has written many good books. The one I am reading now is Winter Birds. I was reading it as I fell asleep this afternoon. I needed that nap but I dreamed while I was sleeping and I know I dreamed about my Grandmother and where she lived in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Her name was Willie.

When I woke up I was thinking of her and something she used to say. She would use the word carry instead of brought or take. She would say, "George carried me over to the store today." Or "Cousin Eleanor carried me to Tennessee so I could visit a few days." She used the word cream for Ice Cream, and when she said help it sounded more like hope. She had the cutest laugh, it was a high pitched and quick Hee Hee sound. I loved her a lot.

One time when we were living with her she told my mother "The All Seeing Eye is watching those girls." She said that because she disapproved of how short our skirts were. She probably prayed for me her whole life.

I never heard her say one bad word about others or speak down of any race. She only spoke of race once to me and that was to tell me of a helpful and respectful young man (who happened to be) "...a Colored boy...", her words but they were not spoken with distaste or hate. I could tell she thought very well of this young man.

She was always old, always had grey hair. She never drove a car and never wore pants, always dresses that she made and she carried a pocket-book not a purse. The gift she loved from me was a purse with a ton of pockets in it so she could separate everything she put in the purse, huh excuse me, pocketbook. The only time I saw her with pants was to pick wild blackberries. She wore the pants under her dress. I miss her sometimes and I loved her. I sure hope I get to see her again. I think I will.

I gave up my Weebly account and now I am back to blogger.  I am so glad I changed back.  New Post to come.

I am just pondering what to post.  So till them I hope your days are blessed.  2016 is a good year.

God doesn't owe us anything-
yet in His grace, He still gives us good things.

- Billy Graham

Thoughts From Last Year: Christ in the Boat

Thoughts From Last Year: Christ in the Boat: “Christ’s presence confers success.” - Spurgeon "Spurgeon sparked a great thought from Luke 5:4 where Jesus tells the fishermen t...