Hot Summer Days!

Boy is it just me or are the days getting hotter and the nights aren't even cooling off any!  I do not like summers in Texas but I am thankful we do not have the humidity like some other states do.  I was in Fort Lauderdale a week or so ago for training, and it was so humid that each day when I walked out of my hotel room, my glasses fogged up!  My co-workers kept telling me I was late each day but it wasn't true, I just couldn't see when I got out of the room!  haha.

Anyway, July is just flying bye and I'm praying for a quick cool winter to come!  So we just bought a Wii!  Wow is all I can say!  We were at friends house Saturday night and they were playing it and it was so much fun, so we left there and went straight to Walmart to get one!  Yup it was midnight and I said to Danielle as we are getting out of the car, oh my this feels like the day after Thanksgiving!  We were like two kids in a candy store.  Of course we had to drop Don off at home (it was wayyyyyyy past his bedtime) but he also just had chemo on Friday so we totally understood.  We got the machine and also got Just Dance 2...I can say I am sore today!  We did it for a little bit then I went to bed, but Dani stayed up and played some more so today we did it for an hour!  I do not like to exercise but I can see where this is going to be fun and I don't even know that I am exercising!

Anyway...that's what's been happening in my neck of the woods.  Hope everyone is staying cool.

Happy Independence Day!

Wow I look back and see how much I do not use my blog.  I need to start writing here more.  I have learned in the last few months that as we grow in our Faith, our lives begin to change and sometimes things that we thought were right now become not so right.  I have learned that my strength comes from my Heavenly Father and not from anyone else and knowing that he is always there for me, means I don't have to rely on others to be there.  This past weekend our Pastor spoke about who holds the key to your happiness.  We learned this at LTS as well and I came home knowing something different, I am not responsible for the actions of my husband, daughter, mother, aunt or friends and even some of them I am not responsible to them but I am only responsible to my family but not for them!  That took so much weight off my shoulders and yesterday when Pastor spoke about that again, it hit home once more.  I have always been the caregiver of my family, I figured it was my gift from God to care for others, never questioned it, actually still don't but I am looking at it with different eyes now.  I am responsible to my husband as his wife and partner but I am not responsible to make sure he takes his meds or eats lunch, I am responsible to my daughter but I am not responsible to make sure she cleans her room or has clean clothes for work.  Realizing now all of the people that I felt responsible for in my life that I no longer have to is such a joyful feeling.

I love the fact that I am growing more "mature" in my walk with the Lord and am truly blessed because he placed me in a loving, caring church at the right time in my life.  Nate spoke over us yesterday and he reminded me that I need to write my list of people who I "belive" I am responsible for and start crossing them off.  So that's what I have done!  I hold the key to my own happiness and I am moving forward to that.

Wow, now that felt good to write this all down, even if no one reads it, I have it in my journal for another day when I go back and feel responsible for someone!  Hope you all have a Bless 4th of July!

Family Update

Well it's a new month so I guess I will update my blog.  I am going to try and do this monthly just in case anyone reads it!  lol...  We have had yet another exciting month of family happenings but am so Blessed by my family and friends and how they are just there surrounding us with their love.  I know what we are going through might be hard for others to accept but I know that my faith is so strong that I have turned it all over to God and am allowing him to work in my life.  The bible tells us to trust him.

 Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God who transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. 

 Pretty simple right?  Well in my case yes.  I do not believe that God gives us more than we can handle so each day we walk in Faith and lean on the mighty Father we know that he is in control.

So....having said that I can honestly say I am at Peace, not anxious about anything nor concerned or worried.  But I am getting tired of fighting the enemy and he's making me mad so that's good, he will never win!  Anyway, Don has to go back through chemo again.  Atleast this time it will only be once every 3 weeks so hopefully he will tolerate it as well as he did the others as we are going on vacation in May!  The first time for a real get away, not worry about anyone or anything vacation!  woo hoo so excited!  Booked our flights this week and now we are set to go!  Where do you ask?  North Carolina!  I am thrilled beyond thrilled to go see my Sister-in-law and nieces and all my little nieces and nephews and we are going to the beach for 3 days and just sit and chill by the water in the sand!  Can you tell I am so excited!  God is good, amen.

Work has been crazy and about to get crazier!  We are doing so much at one time that I have no idea what I am doing!  Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing!  haha..I guess all I have to say is I am grateful to have a job and my family and am free to express that each day!  So going to close now.  I wish all of you who read this a Blessed month and maybe I'll update again before the next month...

Dawn

Wow can't believe it's been so long since I posted!

Well it's been a while since I posted and so much has happened in my life since April 2010.  I was invited to a church in Denton by my friend and my life has changed so much since we started going there regularly.  It is called The Bridge Church, we don't officially have a home right now as we are waiting for God to show us where he wants our building to be so we meet at the UNT college every Sunday and it's amazing the group of people that help set up the building to make us feel at home!  Pastor Duane is awesome that's all I can say and everyone that I have met there has been truly amazing and just so loving.  This leads me into what has been happening in my life.....
In June 2010 Don was diagnosed with stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma cancer in his left lung, pretty large in size.  He went through radiation and chemo from July to Nov and we received a report back that he was healed, there were no signs of it anymore!  Praise God.  This all started because Don lost his voice almost a year ago and when we went to an ENT dr they did a CT scan which showed this mass.  So he's been through all of this and then 2 weeks ago he had another PETSCAN and it had some spots that lit up, so they did a biopsy Monday 2/28 and we got the results back today....All 4 lymph nodes they biopsied were Negative!  Praise God again, he is so awesome and we are blessed!  So that's what's been happening in my life....How about yours?  Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing, would love to hear from you all.

Layout Challenge

Well my friend Jeanie challenged us to do this weeks weely challenge and let me tell you it was a tough one. I worked on this layout for about an hour and a half finding the right papers to coordinate with it as there are several layers on it but in the end, I like how it turned out. I am going to have a second page, just need to find the right layout to coordinate with this one. Hope you enjoy it. Well I just create the first page also and really like it now alot. I love these challenges makes me think and use my stuff I have already..... Thanks 52 weekly challenge.

Fireworks & Friends

We spent the evening with my BFF's in denton watching fireworks. Boy was it ever so hot! Mom and auntie came with me and Jeanies family and Debbies family and Reeses the dog was even there, it was fun. I think I took about 300 pictures of the fireworks and probably about 10 came good! They had some new ones this year that were awesome! I'm thinking Jeanie's came much better since she found the button on her camera that said "fireworks" so we will see but here are a few of my favorites. Okay well blogger won't let me upload them now but I'll try later.

THE BIGGEST ZUCHINI EVER!

So I was checking the garden tonight to see what other surprises I could find......Well lo and behold out of the bottom of the garden appears this beautiful piece of veggie!

We laughed so hard. It is gigantic, not sure how it is going to taste but the others we had were wonderful. My aunt cooked them with tomato sauce and garlic and onion and yum yum.... I see our peppers are starting to grow and we have a bunch of green tomatoes which I sure hope turn red soon. Well that's all for the gardener, keep cool and be safe.

Garden Surprises!

Well I can not be out done! Both my friends Jeanie and Elizabeth have these wonderful tomatoes just a growing on their vines and well our tomatoes......We do have one green one but our cucumbers have just taken over the whole garden and are not letting anything else grow! We (Don) have cut them back several times but to no avail they keep growing and growing and growing. We have had so many this week that I am having to give them away at work because we can't eat them all up! There are about 6 more getting ready to be picked and lo and behold my wonderful hubby shows me my 1st Zucchini........ It is just perfect and I can not wait until this weekend to cook it up! Yum Yum.

Is that not the most beautiful Zucchini you have ever seen! Yup and it's mine all mine! OK got a little carried away there but I love the garden and the cucks have tasted so wonderful. Until the next fruits of our love appear I'll be back.....

Cucks for Us!

Ok two of my girlfriends have shown off their wonderful tomatoe plants so I have to show you our first cuck! Isn't she wonderful? She smells so awesome hopefully it will taste as good as it smells.We will cut it open tomorrow and have cuccumber salad with dinner. We have at least 2 more but we have a ton of baby ones that I pray turn into bigger ones. We also have 1 very tiny tomato. Our herbs are just going crazy this year and the rosemary has been cut back several times but keeps on growing....

Scrapbook Retreat Here We Come!

its that time of the year were I get to go away with 12 of my girlfriends and have the most wonderfullest (if thats a word) time. We are off bright and early tomorrow morning to a retreat house just about 30 minutes away and I can't wait. Work has been very stressful this week for me more mental than anything else and I can feel it in my shoulder tonight. I am just praying the pain goes away as I have not been able to go to retreat without being in pain and I really want to enjoy this weekend. I hope to post pictures of what I have done, have a lot planned just in case I get bored of working on just one project. Gotta figure out this power planning thing sometime but not this weekend. I have my XXL packed to the max, my rolling file case (almost the size of my XXL case) packed, my cricut case, 2 tote bags, my punch case cause you just never know if you need a punch! and my tool case that doesn't include the cooler for cold stuff to make the trip, box of food and my clothes! My husband laughs at me for all the stuff I bring but he has never been to a scrapbooking retreat so he doesn't know that a girl needs all these things to function! Our friend Shelley thinks that we can fit 4 of us in her suburban with all our stuff so we can all ride together, I say if we do it will truly be a miracle and that God planned for us to fit cause I have a feeling there is no way we are going to! But having faith is a big thing so I leave it up to God if not I am so okay with driving my car (less chance of getting car sick too!) lol.... must pack the motion sickness pills just in case. okay off to play my new addicting game of Ice Breakers, I am determined to win it some day! Have a good weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

Weekly Challenge #18

Okay I am just loving this weekly layout challenge and can't wait for the next one to come out. This are pictures of Danielle thru the years of soccer. I really like how it turned out. Thanks Jeanie for getting me involved with this. I think I will use this layout again for other pictures and make the circle smaller but since I already had the circle paper it was so easy! Maybe I will get an album or two finished working this way! Woo Hoo won't that be neat.

52 Week Layout Challenge

My friend Jeanie has invited me to join her in this challenge which I think is great since now we will be able to maybe get some pictures done and have layouts that don't look exactly the same! lol. So I did the one for week #17 since it was up on the site, it was a simple layout but took me some time to do. I like how it turned out so we'll see. Here is the website if you would like to join along. http://52sketches52weeks.com/ Enjoy!

Mojo Monday Card

Well I finally did it! I created a Mojo Monday card. Now to see how it looks, it came blurry but hopefully you will be able to see it.

My little cousin (who's 33) is having her first baby so I made this card for her. Hope you like it.

Learning How to be a Plumber!

Do you ever have one of those days when it's just not a day until something has to be fixed! well that was my weekend. Sat was a nice day, can't remember what I did though....lol.... Hate getting old. anyway in the evening I decided to color my hair and I was doing the final rinse and condition at the kitchen sink cause it's higher and I don't have to bend over as far anyway all done, turn the water off, wrap head in towel and look down at floor...yup..puddle, ugh what is this? so I grab paper towels and wipe it up only it's not getting dry. more towels, more wipes still wet! hum...got get a towel and put it under the dishwasher and that should do it. Text Don think we have a leak in the dishwasher, he will look at it at 10. comes home and we don't see how it's leaking, unscrew the machine, pull it out and wham! water everywhere! but where is it coming from, okay turn faucet on so we can see, water just gushing out of the bottom of the pipe that is the main connection to the house. GREAT! clean it up as best we could, put a big note on the faucet not to turn on water and go to bed. Rise and shine, pull it out again and look. hum gonna need some tools so off to wally world with a list, get everything and the fun begins. Here's what it looks like when we cut the hole in the wall to see the pipe.

Come to find out it was pieced together when they built this house some 30 years ago and Don actually found duck tape on part of it! great. Anyway we used putty to seal it up and waited for atleast an hour before we tested it and it seems to be holding. We were truly blessed that we could fix this ourselves and not have to call a plumber out on a Sunday and pay premium rates.

Hello Kitty Tribute

Well I finally got my shelf up and now have my display of beautiful Hello Kitty stuff that I have. I got some really neat one for Christmas and birthday from my friends. This is in my scrapbooking room and above my TV so I can look at her anytime I am working in there and watching TV. Just love it!

Well I bought my first material to make a Raggedie doll. My friend Jeannie makes them and they turn out so cute, that I just have to learn how to make one. I am using one of her patterns but we picked out pink material to go with my Hello Kitty theme so she can sit on my shelf as well. I am going to tea dye the material today and then iron it so it's all ready for our Retreat. I can't wait, retreat is next week and so is the new year. I plan to enjoy myself at retreat as it's been a tough year and a busy one at that. I am truly blessed by all the events that happened in my life this year and look forward to 2009. As you know this will probably be my last post for 2008 as I happen to be the "Once a month blogger!", hey 2 post in December thats a lot for me! haha

I wish every one a Blessed and Safe New Year! God Bless

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well today is my birthday and I feel old! Who knew growing up would be like this, if I would have known that I would have stayed a child forever! LOL....

Yesterday a friend and I went to a craft show in Sanger, wow big show but before hand since we were early we stopped at a garage sale. Let me tell you my friend can shop! It was so windy and the wind was so cold that even I who loves garage sales bailed to the car but not her, she was on a mission. Now mind you I told her upfront that she could buy whatever she wanted but it had to fit into my car! (as we pulled up there was furniture and I saw her eyes get big) so she picks up a few little things looks at the furniture sits on it and then boom she's gone. So I watch from the car she comes back with the guy and they are looking at the couch and she's coming back to the car "hey do you have any cash I think I'm buying the couch!" yeah here you go.... a few minutes later she's back at the car, well I bought the couch and the 2 chairs and they are delivering it tomorrow! woo hoo great deal, they looked like they were in good shape. Now where she gonna put them! I love how she can do these things spur of the moment and they fit in with her decor at home and when I see them next time it will look beautiful. She really has a talent for this. So now she has me thinking of changing my kitchen theme! What a friend, wouldn't trade her for the world.

Got a few Christmas presents yesterday too, the craft show was awesome and I think we are going to see if we can be vendors next year at it. We left there and headed to Gainsville, she hadn't been to the outlet stores in forever (unfortunately they don't have that many anymore) but we did hit one that I will go back to again as they had wonderful stuff at great prices, I got 3 shirts and a wonderful hot chocolate mug and a gift for my Kadie girl for under $40. I was happy, loved their purses too. It's the type of store where you have to dig through everything (kind of like Ross on a Sat!) but that's okay if I'm getting a good deal, I'm all for it! then we walked some more or should I say we were "blown" by the wind and ended up at the book store. Got a few books and then off we went to the antique store in Denton and wow I haven't been in that one and it was wonderful as well. Got Don something cute from there too. So I'm almost done with Christmas shopping now. Then we headed to Hobby Lobby and called it a day! I was pooped! Then I went and rented some movies and wrapped my presents while watching them, figured I needed to do that before Danielle comes over again and starts snooping! That child of mine, wonder where she gets it from!

So today is clean house day since there is only one more weekend before Christmas and I am having my friends over for Christmas eve, starting a new tradition I think, I know my mom is really excited so that's good for her to get into the holiday spirit as it's been hard for them this past year. So next weekend will be baking cookies and such what fun that will be!

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Day

Well we went to my friends house for dinner and it was wonderful. There were 14 of us and the food was great. We had so much that we could have feed 100 more! The turkey was so moist and yummy along with the stuffing and green beans and so on and so on.... Everyone cooks for hours that day to be eaten so fast! maybe we should do it in courses so we have to stay at the table longer to enjoy it and the company of our families.

This is one of the desserts I made and brought with us, it was a Brownie Trifle which was yummy but not eaten by enough so I had to take it back home with me and since I am the only real chocolate lover I had to end up throwing it out today. Such a shame but what could I do...next time I know to only make one dessert instead of 3!

After the yummy dinner, I took my family home and met my girlfriend at Michael's for the Thanksgiving day specials! I got some new cricut cartridges for a great price of only $29.99 who could beat that! I have been playing with them all weekend. This is probably the most I have played with my cricut since I got it! Then I convinced my friend to go shopping on Black Friday! (she is not a morning person) so I let her sleep in and said we could meet at 7am. That was early for her but she is such a trooper. I of course was up at 3:30 with my husband who had to be at work at 4am and I just couldn't go back to sleep so I laid around thinking of what I really needed at Walmart to warrant me to go there at 5am and I really couldn't think of anything so I searched the Internet again and again to see what I needed and then said what the heck it's tradition that I go shopping early! so I got dressed even brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back and off I went. OH MY GOSH was all I can say when I saw the parking lot at Walmart! It was like it was a Saturday afternoon and everyone was shopping for the football game! I had to park in the back forty and when I got inside the lines were huge already with people who came for their treasures and were checking out! so I strolled along the isles as I was not really looking for anything in particular and when I found something that looked good, I popped it into my cart then I headed over to ladies clothes and they had jackets and hoodies for a great price, threw a few of those in the cart and then headed to the jeans as they were a great price also, threw a few of those in the cart as well, then walked around the store a few times and looked at baskets that had been abandoned and found a vacuum cleaner I was looking for so it was mine (hey possession is 9/10th of the law) haha then I found Don and showed him my treasures then he told me of a treasure he wanted so we headed over there and got that for him and then I strolled some more and looked at the time and it was already 6:45 and I knew my friend was on her way to my house so I called her and told her to come to Walmart directly. So I checked out, loaded my car and then the rain came! ugh...it was pouring so I waited in my car and watched for her to come, sure enough she arrived. We ran into the store and headed shopping again. I helped her make good choices on her purchases! and made sure she spent at least the same amount as me cause that's what friends do right? :)

So we left there and headed south so we could use our coupons at Joann's and Michael's which of course we did then we headed to Avenue as they had their sweaters for $5.00 couldn't beat that one either. Got a few of those and another shirt then we realized we were beat! So homeward bound we went. I of course took a nap and then went scrap booking with more friends and played with my new cricut stuff then we went to dinner and back to one of the friends house and just hung out and talked what a great day it was! I am truly blessed for sure.

Girls Just Having Fun!

Okay so it's been longer than a month, I know I am just not good at this but while I was downloading my camping pictures this weekend I was showing Don our retreat pictures and came across this one and he said I needed to post this to my blog with my caption being this:

Scrapping In The Swamps of Mississippi!

We laughed and laughed at this picture! Boy did we have fun though.

This weekend we went camping with my BFF's and their husbands and kids and had a wonderful time but a very cold time indeed. The camp grounds were beautiful and I can't believe how close to home we were and we have never (well I have never) been there. We did have the boy scouts with us the whole weekend and that was a fun thing! NOT, but all in all it was so nice to be outdoors with friends and spend time with Don who I never get to do anymore, he has to work 8 days straight before his next day off so he is going to be worn out by next week but he said he wants to do it again in the spring! woo hoo....now to find a bigger tent and we are set! Here are some pictures of our site.

I will never figure this program out! found my pictures which I thought didn't download so here they are. Camping fun.. Enjoy~

Until next time have a Happy Thanksgiving and may God Bless you each and every day.

Time for a new post

Well it's that time again for me to update my blog...Let's see what has been happening in my life lately. Got a new boss at work last month, got to spend oh about 2 hours with him before he went on vacation for 3 weeks! Yeah buddy....then he went back to the UK (that's where he's from) to go to the consult so he can come to the US and live and work here and now he's stuck there for next week and then he and his family move the week after so we won't see him till 9/22! It has been interesting communicating by email mostly but I like him and I think he has alot of pull and things that we worked so hard on he will support us. So that's a good thing.

Been walking with my BFF Beanie and crocheting once a week at starbucks with her and sometimes our other BFF scrappygolden comes to visit us and knits. We now are going to walk 2 x's a week so that might help get this stupid weight off...ugh.. I finished my one project but I can't post a picture cause my new computer doesn't have my camera software on it so you won't get to see my beautiful turquiose and pink striped bag! Designed especially by me (well it started out as a circle and kept growing into a bag) gotta love it! This week my DD came to hang out with us and it was wonderful, I miss her but we text or talk everyday so that's nice. I have been working on her room, turning it into a sitting/craft room to be shared with my mom & aunt. I needed a place I couldn't find anything and so I have begun sorting and putting things in places. It will be great when it's done and tight with their couch and chair and tables and tv but it will be mine!
Can't wait for our retreat, it will be 4 days of wonderful bliss with my BFF's. It will be here before I know it actually week after next. This house is awesome and fellowship and fun with the girls makes it even more special. Now to just learn how to power plan so I don't have to rent a U-haul to bring all my stuff just to work on one project the whole time! LOL...okay time for bed, early start tomorrow as my BFF Beanie and I are going cropping at a friends work...should be fun...stay tuned to next month when I post again all about the retreat...

Once a month blogger!

I guess that's what you could call me, since it appears to be one month or so from my last post! I am so bad at this. I enjoy reading everyone's and can't believe that people post every single day without fail and even put pictures of what they did that day on there. Wow.

I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning and thought I need to get some focus in my life, so I just sat there for a few minutes and thought about it. Then I decided okay I am going to start fresh so off I go to the bathroom scale~ BIG MISTAKE! UGh....reality hits. What was I thinking? That I could just eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and the weight I lost would stay off! Open eyes, shut mouth.... Ok, not going to get depressed but going to look at it as an opportunity for me to make some changes in my life.

So starting fresh and early tomorrow morning, I am going back on weight watchers. For some reason being able to count my points and write down everything I put in my mouth makes me accountable. I know the extra weight is also hurting my pain that I already have and so I need to do this for me.

So I look for my stuff since i have started weight watcher atleast a zillion times you would think I would have everything in one place, no that would be too easy. Also have to understand that my house is upside down right now and hasn't gotten better since my mom and aunt moved in almost a year ago, we packed up stuff in a day and 1/2 so they could move in so things go put in boxes and not labeled and I can't find a thing, my garage is overflowing...that's another story to blog about, oh maybe next month~ LOL

okay so I find the quick start plan, jeez only 20 points wow that's so little for such a big body. Okay I can do this. I look at the book, decide what we are going to eat all week, make a menu and now I will shop for those items, I will weigh and measure everything that goes into my mouth and see how the week goes. I will not eat chocolate this week even though I know I will be craving it as I PMS but I will not cave in, I will journal and pray about my choices every day.

So will you pray for me this week on my journey and allow God to show me that I don't need food for everything and that I will drink more water and I will walk more this week besides just my Monday night walk. Thank you my friends for your support and love.