The Birth of Spring.............

As the garage project is nearing its final touches, I had a moment to really take in the coming of spring today.......My fig trees are just starting to reawaken:

My hydrangeas are also beginning to look excited about renewing their gorgeous heads of flowers again:

And our precious Sadie had a bath!!

Seems like all God's creatures are preparing and renewing for the coming of spring.

What are your preparations like?

Garage project.........almost done!

I am so happy to say my garage project is almost done.  As much as I love big projects to mull over my thoughts and organize my brain, there comes a time in those projects when I am just "over it".  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am so excited.  My house needs deep cleaning, my yard does not look at all prepared for spring.  The only way I can get my husband on board with my large projects is to reassure him I will not let my regular responsibilities slip in the mean time.  Needless to say, those normal tasks are starting to look slightly neglected and I need to kick it in to high gear. I just finished all the painting today, tomorrow I vacum and mop the floor and lay down the remnant carpet piece I picked up last week.  I will make a trip later this week to pick up 2 futon frames and some artwork for the walls.  The final piece is the TV which I will kindly leave to my wise husband to pick out.  I am secretly hoping this room will become the new "it" room.  A place everyone will want to hang out in, relax and lounge.

As usual, towards the end of these enormous projects, I am already beginning to think about the next one! There are flowers to plant, a much needed privacy screen along the back fence, a drip system in the orchard, ........... What are your spring projects?

By Still Waters.............

While we await these trials to pass, I have been intentional and so hyper-sensitive in my relationships.  I am trying to pay close attention to my words, my family's words and the words of everyone who walks this journey with me.  Today, my Pastor's sermon was about Lent and what changes we were making in our lives, our church lives or the world.  She explained that if we made one simple change, what an impact that chain reaction would cause......just one simple change.

I have thought about that today, about the changes I have experienced in the last several months........the healing of a significant broken relationship, letting go of a college bound firstborn, a possible new diagnosis of my final child, devastating financial struggles, the long answered prayer of a family member asking for a relationship with Jesus........and of course, my current family trials (I will write about this later).  I hope that with all the chaos, welcome and unwelcome, I can remember to trust God's plan through it all.  To not let the fear or the stress of the unknown keep me from finding God's quiet peaceful voice that tells me I am His own and I am "so loved"........

I am trying to find moments to sit by still waters and just breathe and know that God is walking right beside me every step of the way.....

Re purposing......

Today, in the midst of our families crisis, I decided to redirect my brain and try and find a creative outlet.  This has always served me during times of stress.  I find it very healing to find the quiet time to process situations and analyze my thoughts and feelings.  A few months ago we decided to re purpose our 2 car garage into an area my musician firstborn could retreat to when he was home on his various college breaks.    

Fortunately, we really aren't pack rats so organizing the garage clutter to make room for this space wasn't difficult.  The painting was almost finished before our recent family crisis, however everything has been on hold for several days.  So today, I was back down in our garage and decided to paint a meaningful quote on the coffee table we decided to re purpose for the space.  Its so hard to see but here is the quote my freshman cut, layed out, and traced....

We are currently painting what he traced and will post a final photo when we are done.

Here is the what the garage currently looks like:

and like this:

Hopefully, when we are all done, it will be a place that is both inviting and comfortable.  

Today is also the beginning of Lent. A day to begin the next several weeks of reflection.  In my world, I used to always hear the question "What are you giving up?"....but I have always shared with my children that it can also be a time of committing to something.  Committing to daily bible study, committing to a certain time of prayer,  daily devotions or family devotions.  Whatever your traditions are,  I hope that these 40 days leading up to the day of our risen Lord are ones leading you to a closer relationship with Him.  A time for personal reflection and deep meditation.  Trying to remove all the temptations that keep us from daily time with our heavenly Father....I hope that in the next 40 days you find some time to "re-purpose" time, intention or even a garage!!

;)

Trials.......

I havent blogged in a few days.........My family is currently facing some trials.......I am quietly listening for God's guidance, praying for strength and praising God for our safety and opportunity for growth and reflection.

I will share this when we have had some time to walk through this......and together with God's guidance, I am certain that we will.....

Tonight, as we were finishing dinner together I looked out my window and saw this:

We live in the southwest but this looked like the northern lights!! So beautiful.  It was a wonderful reminder of God's presence and beauty in all this... I am so thankful!!

Happy Valentines Day.......

Today is not just for lovers......

I think today can be a day to take time to tell the people who are special in your life that you value them.  I think its a day to celebrate those special people in loving ways...

Today my children woke up to a special table with small treats just for them.  I made some special snacks for after school, a special dinner just for them...  There were heart shaped biscuits made from the simple package you buy at the grocery store..

......I baked them in a heart-shaped pan and they came out like this..

I made a heart shaped pesto pasta.....

....and a favorite main dish everyone here loves, Chicken Saltimboca...

It was a lovely day showing my family just how important they are to me....

Hope you were celebrated today by all those people who are special in your life!!

A "Ducky" Sunday.......

Today was one of those peaceful, ordinary days.  I was extremely productive organizing the coming week's events. (Let's hope there aren't too many surprises this week because there are ALWAYS some!)  Laundry is almost completely done (ha ha), paid bills, did grocery shopping, answered a couple emails and returned a few phones calls.  I always feel good when I have my "ducks in a row" before the week begins. It usually only stays that way until Tuesday. That's about when the row of ducks start to resemble a zig zag  formation!

My final child has a four day weekend coming up, my freshman a 3 day weekend.  I wish I could tell you what my firstborn has but he hasn't been returning my last couple texts so I don't know!!!! 

My husband will be home at midnight tonight from a church trip.  We will all be glad when he arrives safe and sound.  Everything feels better when he is home.

Wishing you a 'ducky" week of completely straight rows.......(at least until Wednesday!!! That would be a successful week in my world.......... 

A horse, of course..............

This is my final child:

I am so proud of her! She is learning horsemanship which includes everything you can think of in caring for this 1000lb animal.  She adores it.  She is picking the horse's hooves and making sure all the compacted dirt and rocks are removed before she rides him.  I rode a lot as a girl, but not like her! She is so strong and so brave and a much better rider than I ever was.  It made me nostalgic about my young girlhood and I had a cartoon bubble moment and remembered ........Gum Wrapper Chains!!! Anyone remember those?? My girlfriends and I could sit and fold those gum wrappers for hours.  I found a link here

I think these would be great fun to do with final child while we watch the 3rd Twilight movie....maybe this weekend.  I am now on the hunt for a gazillion gum wrappers............

Hope your Friday is fabulous!

The things they've handed down........

This is my great grandmother and great grandfather:

I see alot of my grandmother and my aunt in this photo.  Even some of my father and brother.  My great grandmother died before I was born. I wonder what she was like and what I would have learned from her.  I love hearing all the stories about my ancestors and their pilgrimage to the United States.  I am second generation born here in the United States on my father's side.  I think about what my great grandmother must have felt coming to a strange country.  The language completely foregin to her.  Did she bring children with her?  Would I be as brave as she in the same circumstances?  Would she be proud of me if she met me now?  Somehow this picture makes me feel more connected to her as well as her hope chest that sits in my living room.  I cant help but think of her everytime I pass by it, wondering what contents she must have filled it with.

I hope my children will always enjoy stories about their ancestors.  I know there are parts of themselves they are not glad to have inherited.  But I do hope they know how lucky they are to have had such brave  people who came before them with the purpose of making better lives for themselves as well as their future generations.  That courage is something I hope they wear with pride and thankfulness.  I hope it is one of their most grateful blessings..........

The Trouble with Tuesday's.......

My Tuesday's look like this..........

• 5:30am-shower
• 6:00-make breakfast smoothies for kids
• 6:45-take my freshman to high school
• 7:30-grocery store
• 9:00-schedule kids Dr. appointments/laundry/reply to emails
• 11:00-mail valentine packages for first born son/niece away in college
• 11:30-make 6 dozen cookies for valentines day
• 12:45-pick up daughter from school
• 1:30-review homework with daughters tutor
• 2:00-call my sick Mom
• 2:30-review freshman's rehearsal schedule and sign up to make 8 dozen cookies
• 3:00-play phone tag with kids doctors
• 3:30-take daughter for riding lesson
• 6:00-drive thru In-N-Out for dinner
• 6:30-reconcile bank accounts(business and personal)
• 7:00-tell daughter her shower is too long
• 7:05-search for daughter lost earring
• 7:15-change earrings in daughter's ears
• 7:30-put away contents of my jewelry box that daughter has strewn all over floor
• 7:45-finish final load of laundry
• 8:00-put daughter to bed
• 8:15-shower to wash away 2 hours spent at horseback riding with daughter
• 8:45-organize schedule in phone calender for tomorrow

There are many things between the lines.  I am frazzled!! i know I am not alone.  This is the same schedule most of us Mom's who work inside the home have EVERYDAY.  I am just wondering how I will ever get it all done, remember everything so nothing falls between the cracks and manage to hang on  to my sanity at the same time. Did I mention I'm exhausted??

What does your Tuesday look like?

Stormy Weather........

My backyard.....

Looks like we may finally be getting some rain in these parts soon.  We desperately need it. All my flowers and trees are so confused by this unusually dry weather we have been having.  I think it makes us all a little confused, don't you??

I am trying to decide what to make for dinner post super bowl.  Yesterday was quite a food fest around here and nothing sounds very appetizing for the dinner menu.  This idea from a post on Pinterest seems like a yummy idea:

http://darkashadeonline.com/wordpress/blog-2/6-creative-ideas-for-those-superbowl-xlvi-leftovers

What are your post super bowl dinner ideas??

A Giant Bowl of fun.........

Congrats to all you Giant fans!  We had a fun Super Bowl gathering today with family! I love days like these.....the people you love spending fun time together to be silly and eat lots of food you will regret later!

For those of us who were hoping for New England........as Scarlet O'hara would say "Tomorrow is another day"!!!!

Father Time, please slow down..........

Today is my gorgeous baby's birthday! He's 15 today!  I can hardly believe he came to us 15 years ago! My husband reminds me that it means he will only be with us for 3 1/2 more years until he leaves us for college.  That is exactly what happened to us this past fall with our firstborn.  I can remember all three of my children's births.  I can remember the whole day like God played it slow motion.  Just like when I was 12 and hit by a car on my bicycle.  I think all those really important, profound moments in our lives are like that, purposefully.  Like God intended them that way so we could remember every detail because our lives where about to experience something that was going to completely change our lives.

We celebrate life today.  I really never understood the concept that time really would move so fast.  And it really is true that the older we get, the faster it seems to go.  I think of my tiny little Mom in the hospital, fighting with every cell in her body to hang on to her life.  Life really is so precious.  I just wish it could slow down...........

A Rather Blustery Day........

Today was a very winnnnnddddyyyy day.  The weather in my part of the world has been so strange lately. It doesn't feel much like winter here.

I was talking to a friend today and I made the comment...."it wasn't meant to be".  She said she did not believe in "meant to be" but instead "make it happen".  I have been thinking about that comment a lot.  I have never felt like a person who sits on their laurels waiting for my life's fate.  On the contrary, I feel like a person who is constantly just trying to manage my forward motion.  Trying not to trip on my own steps as I  

check off all my planned tasks while treading the unplanned events on any given day.  It made me kind of sad for my friend.  Does she not believe in a greater power than her own to navigate her life? Does she believe she must grasp the steering wheel of her life all alone?  I believe we must see our lives as a gift.  Everyday is a gift and we must make the most of this one life we have.  We must be productive stewards on our journeys.  But we must also know that we are not alone.  That there is a plan for our lives.  We have the choice to make decisions on our own or with the guidance and trust of our creator.  Trusting Him to take the wheel as we drive is one of the hardest things to wrestle with. I struggle with that everyday.  But I do believe in meant to be.  I move forward making productive choices everyday.  I make lots of bad choices to.  But either way, I know that I am not alone.  I know that I alone cannot make anything happen.

I believe today was meant to be.  That the wind and our strange weather is meant to be.  And that you and I are "meant to be".............

A Promise....A Hope

Did you see your shadow today?

Today is groundhog day.  Apparently we have 6 more weeks to go until spring arrives.  But I guess we all do have the expectation that it will indeed come....sooner or later.

My Mom is in the hospital today without that hope.  She has cancer. Every breath is a struggle for her.  She has been fighting for almost an entire year with no hope of surgery, chemo or even a lung transplant.  I can't imagine what she is feeling.  How she reconciles that everyday as she coughs and sucks oxygen for breath.  

Whatever your troubles might be today, whatever hardship you may be facing, whatever struggles make it seem impossible to conquer, I hope today you remember the promise that there will be new life.  Spring is coming.  The seeds that have lain dormant for the winter are starting to awaken with new hope.    My heart asks you to look around today and see if you have any trees beginning to have new buds.  Flowers beginning to awaken.  Sunshine beginning to warm the afternoon.  Can you see it?  We must trust that a new life will happen.  A new day, a new season will come.  A new chance for life in a new way.

May you see your shadow today as a promise and a hope.

Seems like yesterday.......

Seems like yesterday when I decided it would be a good creative outlet for me to start a blog!!  HAAAAAAAA!!!  Well, as you can see that was 10ish months ago!!!  Funny how time flies!!


Much life has happened since then.  Like most of us, my husband and I are trying to decide whether to try and hold on to our home of 10 years, or put it on the market.  The last 5 years has been kicking our behind (to put it politely) and we have been breathlessly treading water ever since.  We are tired!! We are wondering when we be able to catch our breath and feel some financial security.  It is just not getting any better even though there are the occasional reports that things are "slowly recovering".  Anyone else feel the "slow recovery" yet??


Anywho......my oldest child is back at college after a wonderful month long visit.  We miss him so terribly and savored every moment with him while he was back home.  He loves university life and is also enjoying a recent private dorm room since his roommate moved out.  First born is loving this!!!


My second child auditioned for his high school musical and won a part.  To his dismay, a musical meant long rehearsal hours of singing and learning tap dance.  Not exactly what he had envisioned, however he has stepped up to the plate and embraced his vocal cords and dancing feet wholeheartedly.  In between the rigors of rehearsals and homework, he has also set his sights on a pretty high school cheerleader in a grade above him.  I am now praying for this cheerleader to hold my son's heart kindly and righteously.


My third, and praise God, the last child of my heart is now sitting with her after school tutor!!  The angels are singing as I write that!! You see, I no longer have the daily job of dissecting academic information from my sweet, pre-pubescent teenage daughter!  (and all God's people shouted "Amen"!)


What does your Wednesday afternoon look like??


Today I am thankful for the uninterrupted routine.  For the place I now call home.  For the love of my husband who wakes up everyday and keeps trying to provide for his family.