Thoughts From Last Year: Planning for the New Year

Thoughts From Last Year: Planning for the New Year: "I have labored most of this day on my message for the weekend. I am supposed to give vision and bring out what the year is to loo...

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.