"I just want to be a blessing..."

I got that saying from Heather. And you have to say it in a high pitched voice or it just doesn't work. Heather. She's full of sayings.

And I did want to be a blessing. Cause her Mom is real sick. Cause she's taken on her Mom's care. Heather needed milk, and I needed to serve someone other than myself. She wouldn't tell me she needed the milk, but I knew better. So to the store the kids and I went with me reciting through the store, "A loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a stick of buttah." { Sesame Street :) }

The strange thing about blessing others is that usually it means just at much to you, too. There are now two hugs that I will always remember in my friendship with Heather. The one she gave me right after Beth died. And the one I gave her when I took her the groceries. It was done with me trying to keep a light spirit in a dark time. Me teasing her about not coming clean about needing the milk and bread. But there was so much more underneath. It was an "I love you Heather you are so precious to me I can't even describe how sorry I am and did I mention that I love you" Hug. Yep, all that in like a 5 second hug.

She needed milk. I needed that hug.

The Honest Scrap Award.

My friend Heathahlee. She's so kind. She awarded me Honest Scrap. I'm verklempt. Okay. Not really. But in receiving this award, I must give you 10 randomly honest things about me. Then I must pass it on to 7. I don't have 7 people in blogland I can pass this on to, because I'm so minuscule in blogland. But I will pass it on to three people. I'll save that for the end. Oh, and the people you pass it on to are supposed to be people that have encouraged you. Encouraged you with their honesty or something like that. Heather is probably so wishing she hadn't passed this on to me right now. I don't think I'm taking it very seriously. How can you take a title like "Honest Scrap" seriously though?

Okay, 10 randomly honest things:

1. I have Vitiligo. An auto-immune disorder that causes you to loose pigment in your skin. You know...the disease Michael Jackson said he had. Well, I have it. For real. I'm afraid one day I'll end up like a spotted cheetah or leopard or something.

2. In addition to having Vitiligo, I'm loosing my hair. It runs in my family as my Aunt was almost bald. I don't think I'll be bald, but I'm looking at really thin hair in my older, older than I am now, years.

3. The fact the the previous two honest tidbits bother me makes me think I am vain. The fact that my third fact is still talking about the previous two makes me know I am vain. Being honest here people. But I don't know many women who think, "Isn't this fantastic! My hair is falling out. I love it." Anyway, I appreciate the Proverbs that says "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Yep. I'm clinging to that.

4. I love Casting Crowns. I am a Casting Crowns groupie. Truly. I've met them, have autographs from band members, and one of the cutest concert t-shirts you'll ever see. You'd like to see it wouldn't you?

I am a Casting Crowns groupie, but not a stalker.

5. I love a tidy house. But I sometimes end up with cluttered closets in making the house tidy ;)

6. I am a Foodie. If you don't want to click on Foodie to see what that means...it just means I watch A LOT of Food Network.

7. My first date with The Bob was a blind date. I didn't say 2 sentences to him and then fell asleep. Isn't it so easy to see why he asked me out again? But he did. And when I introduced him to my Mom on our first "real" date, I called him by the wrong name....I introduced him as Chris. His name is not Chris. Isn't it so easy to see why he asked me to marry him? (giggle) Oh, and I was 21 when The Bob and I met, and 25 when we married.

8. I lived at home until I got married. Yes, I lived at home until I was 25. I've never lived on my own. I was either at home with my parents and then married. Never by myself or with roommates or anything like that.

9. I lost a baby at six months of pregnancy. I'm forever changed by it. But not in a bad way....anyway, her name was Beth.

10. Two months after I had Moose, I had my gallbladder out and a bilateral hernia repair. That was a rough pregnancy....but so worth it ;)

Okay....passing this on to:

**Daisy at The Quiet Life. I love everything about her. Especially her honesty. Her blog has the name of my old blog, and my "life verse"...Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life...(1 Thes 4:11-12) From what I read from her blog, I think we have a lot in common, but I think she is the better part of what I want to be. Oh, and if you home school, she's an excellent source of info, too.

**Then there is Dawn at beyond grace. I love everything about her, too. She makes me smile, warms my heart, and has a humble spirit. Wonderful lady, she is.

**Finally, Jen at unglazed. I love her love for birds. And I love the photos she takes of them. She makes me smile, too. Oh, she has a giveaway going on right now. You could be the lucky winner of a year subscription to Birds and Blooms. So, check her out.

These recipients may now choose to pass it on to 7 encouragingly honest bloggers that they love. And thank you Heathahlee. You know I love you. Always.

Love you...

Yesterday was a heavy, burdensome day. I have several relationships under fire right now and some of it is just beyond my control. It's a heavy load. One relationship that I thought might be under fire was my friendship with Heather. I was afraid I had offended her, and with everything else going on, I was just thinking the worst. But in her comment on my last post, she affirmed her love for me. "...I love you so very much". Those were her words. And once I read that, my day was lighter and things were brighter. All the other junk...it's still there. But with her affirmation, the load was lighter. The load wasn't so heavy.

Never under estimate the power of telling someone you love them. It may be just was they need.

Somebody....

Somebody, somebody really special, is having a birthday today. I won't say how old she is...just that next year will be the big 4 - 0. Mmmm hmmmm.



This special little lady loves her family....including her pooches....

She loves to serve others....

She loves fine feathered friends. And taught me to love them, too....

She loves to laugh.....


And she loves....me....

Happy Birthday, Heathahlee. I love you :)

Finding my way back

I'm still overcoming the newness of Facebook. It still has me in it's grips. Heather says the newness will wear off. Dawn says she hasn't looked at her Facebook page in months and hasn't missed it. But I am still stuck in it's grasp, finding "new" old people and family. Seeing pictures of family and friends and their children that I haven't seen in years and years and years. And then I check in on blogs and I find this post by Emily or a visit to Ann at Holy Experience. And I am captivated and touched by their words. Words that aren't random. Well, sometimes the words are random...but sometimes, the words stir our hearts. And sometimes there are words that have the ability to change us and impact us forever. I'll never ever forget this post from Ann, and I have the words "It is enough" taped on my kitchen window because of it. Life changing.

My words are not fancy or thought provoking or life changing, so I cling to the heels of those that have that ability. And I find my way back from the pictures of faces to words. Words that are worth Unwrapping with Emily. Words that are cleansing, sweet, and filling.

"When you're smiling..."

"When you're smiling, when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you." Do you know that song? We sing it all the time. Anyway, these are just a couple of the many things in my home that makes me smile. First I give you...

This was the first Christmas present Fep ever bought me herself. She was around 5 years old at the time. In additon to Heather, I have another best buddy, Lisa, who took her to Dollar Tree so she could have something to give her Mamma that she picked out and that she paid for herself. I remember that Fep even wrapped it. You can imagine what 5 year old wrapping looks like. This little angel only cost a dollar, but I wouldn't take a hundred for it. It warms my heart every time I think about the thought that went into it.

Then another smile maker is....

Heather gave me this this past Christmas. I love it. I absolutely love it. It sets of the china cabinet beeeeyouteeefully. Real nice, it does. Oh, and if you love it, too, she makes them and sells them in her Etsy Shop. And I'm sure yours would make you smile, too. And really, this is not just a Heather promo because we are best buds. I love that tassel, and I've gotten compliments on it. It's a real smile maker.

And finally....

I made this blueberry jam this morning. It will make me smile when it's in my belly ;)

For more smiles....

Make Her Smile

Heathahlee is having a linky party Monday. You can see her posts here and also here for the scoop. Check out her posts, and then link up on Monday. Monday is the day. It's Monday. Not Tuesday. Not Wednesday. Monday. Butterfly Genes. Be there or be square ;)

A Servant's Heart

I'm quite convinced that the picture which should go along with the word "servant" in the dictionary should have HeathahLee's picture by it.

Our company had a function at a restaurant tonight in which we needed to have a Hawaiian theme. When I hit Heather up for a favor, I like to give her advance notice. So, I gave her a whole 2 hour notice this morning to get herself ready, and then drag her and her Kiddo around in the heat (it's 100 degrees here) with me to get together what we needed for said company function. The thing is that I do this to her all the time. And she loves me anyway. She has come to my rescue more times than I can count. Like when I needed a singer for a wedding that was at my house for people she didn't even know. Like when she spent the entire day of that wedding running around with me getting stuff and coming back to my house and helping me decorate. And then she sang. And then she helped clean up after the wedding. I could go on and on. Stuff she probably wouldn't even think of or remember. Why? Because not only is she a servant, she's a humble servant.

Oh, how I heart this woman.


If you don't have a friend like this, you seriously need to get one! And if your dictionary doesn't have her picture by the word servant, you probably need a new one ;)

And just why did we need to decorate with a Hawaiian theme?

Well, somebody's going to Hawaii. Stay tuned and see :)

Oh, and finally, this post is linked at Emily's Tuesday's Unwrapped. This day would have been just rush, rush, hurry, hurry without Heather in the mix. She made my super busy day fun and light hearted. We ate lunch. We laughed. We giggled. And we put out cheesy Hawaiian decor. Well, we hoped it didn't look cheesy. Or not too cheesy.

And may we all have a servant's heart...

Finding the good...

The past week was pretty crummy to say the least. I won't even bore you with all the details. Really, why bother? Shouldn't our focus be on finding the good? Yes, in the midst of a not so great week, each day had a treasure of it's own.

Monday - Memorial Day. Remembering self-less sacrifices of others. Time spent with The Bob and the kids.

Tuesday - a quiet day at home. Just me and the kids. Front porch swinging. A special young lady comes over to announce she's engaged, and asks Fep to be a bridesmaid! Awesome.

Wednesday - A rainbow. A reminder of God's unfailing love and always kept promises.

Thursday - a loved dog that likes to lay with her rear end sticking out from under the bed. I'm not sure if she thinks she hiding or what?

Friday - Moose turns 8!! Swimming with friends. Opening some birthday presents. What gets better than that?
Saturday - Missing dogs give us a scare, but return safely home.

Sunday - Moose's official birthday bash. Swimming. Hot dogs. Hamburgers. And lots and lots of friends. He got to spend time with his friends, and I got to spend time with mine...

Might I mention that the lovely blonde haired lady on the left is 50 years old and has 9 children. Yes, I said nine. She is amazing! I heart these ladies.

And I heart Heathahlee. Oh, I do.

Yep, it was a good week after all. There's just no telling what treasures I'll find hidden in this week....

Nothing is everything.

When I started this blog, I didn't do it to become "big" in the blog world. There are others far more worthy than myself for that. I did it because blogging makes me really notice things. It makes me very reflective. The blog was to be my little online journal. My little online scrapbook. My Reflections. I would say that for the most part, I've stayed true to that purpose.

Last week I didn't link up with Emily and Tuesdays Unwrapped., but I could have. I realized that every other post I have could be linked. This whole blog, for the most part, focuses largely on the simple little things that my family does that brings me joy. Things that would be largely overlooked if I didn't put it out here on the world wide web. Not for the world wide web and it's audience, but for me. So, that I'll remember.

I want to remember these faces,

these times,

and goodness knows that I would not want to forget this dog.

To most this blog is nothing, but to me it's everything.