Show and Tell

The Storms of Life... and... March Stamp Club

Today is Sunday, March 4. I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile. Probably because it takes me so l-o-n-g. I'm very slow. It's unbelievable. Maybe I was always a little slow, but just lately it's just ridiculous. I have to type things so many times to get them right.  So I may become a once or twice a week kind of blogger. It's a change and I'm sorry about that. 

Britt and Kenneth (our daughter and son-in-law) were here this weekend. It's always good to see them, of course. Britt went to stamp club with me on Saturday and then we all went out for dinner at a local restaurant called Trio. Ian joined us, too. Wow. The whole family together. That doesn't happen very often!

Of course, we didn't think to take a picture until the next day when Ian was gone and Britt and Kenneth were leaving to go back to Raleigh. Maybe someday we'll think to get a photo of the five us.

 

For today:

Proverbs 10:25

"When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation."

I'm thankful that my foundation is lasting, because the storms of life have definitely come my way. It's difficult to even put a blog post together due to errors in typing and having to search the keybord for what I need. Not all the time, but often enough that it is very annoying.

I just had a melt down due to all the above, so you can pray for me and for Ken. It's very hard on the both of us.  Probably more for him because it's out of his control  — and we all know how guys like to fix things. Thank you for your prayers for us. And to the Lord for being with us in the storms of life.

 

Saturday was stamp club and the theme was Easter or Spring. 

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You now how I'm the queen of the simple. This is another simple, easy, fast card. Just a couple layers and we're done.

AND TELL:  stamp are Stampin' Up (Sweet Floral, Well Scripted); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White); ink is SU (Wild Wasabi, Wisteria Wonder); twine is from SU (hemp); also used SU Sizzlets (Lots of Tags Label 3). 

I've been meaning to tell you about how I liked the Hunger Games series. I liked the first and second books. I hated the third. Until I read the the epilogue. Having closure, I guess, is important to me. :)

That's really it. It's taken me hours, but all the tears are worth it to me. I love the contact with you, hearing about your days, and the chance to let you know how best to pray for us. (By the way, we have a scan on Tuesday with the results on Wednesday.) Hugs and prayers to you!

He Hears... and... You're Just My Type

Today is Tuesday, February 14. Valentine's Day! Hope you're having a great day full of love. :)

We're planning to go out to dinner with friends tonight. I threw up this morning, ate breakfast, took a nap... hopefully there's no more little incidences because I'd really like to have a nice evening. And I definitely don't want to throw up in pulic. That would be icky. (It's bad enough that I seem to be talking about it all the time!)

 

Here is some scripture for today.

Psalm 34:17

"The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles."

Do you get sick of me choosing "rescue" verses? I just can't help it. They seem to speak to me these days. I'm hoping that they'll say something to you, too.   

 

Since today is Valentine's Day, you know I needed to make a card for my sweetie! 

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Those little hearts are from a separate stamp set than the typewriter, but the design could support a little something extra. There was some text under the hearts that I didn't want in the design, so I covered them with scotch tape, inked my design, removed the tape and stamped the hearts. Voila!  

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (You're My Type, Sprinkled Expressions, Noteworthy), cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Real Red, Regal Rose); also used SU punch (1/16" circle).

 

Thought I'd show you a picture of one of my "Valentines".

Yep, my human Valentine. This is our son, Ian, holding his new dog, Dash. Cute, huh? Both Ian and Dash. :) Dash is (they suspect) part chihuahua and part dachshund. I think his face has kind of an old soul type of look. He's pretty cute, but I'm hoping that Ian's in it for the long-haul . We definitely don't need a new dog!

And while this girl enjoys the company, I don't think she'd be into the day-in and day-out of having a puppy around either. She likes to lounge way too much to have a hyper little dog around all the time.

Well, that's all for today. I hope to be back tomorrow. And I hope you have had/are having a very special Valentine's Day! Love and hugs to you!

never disgraced... and... a gift for you

Today is Thursday, January 26. Yesterday I was feeling pretty good until about half-way through the infusion and then started feeling a little puny. And that's continued into today. Food does not sound good but I make myself eat because not eating doesn't seem good either. Today I felt really good when I woke up. I did all my usual morning routine to get ready to go to work, but by the time we got in the car I was feeling sort of lousy so we turned around and came back home. This infusion stuff is getting tiresome. But, if it's working then I'll endure. And tomorrow should be better. 

I told you that last week we stopped in Raleigh on our way to the beach. We went to Archiver's, where I bought some new red embossing powder (but haven't had a chance to use it yet). We also spent some time with these people:

Kenneth & Britt! Always so good to spend time with them! And this time we learned something new about our son-in-law.

He builds an awesome fire! I suppose that being an Eagle Scout pays dividends throughout life. :)

 

Today's scripture:

Psalm 22:4-5

"Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced." 

These verses remind me of one of our family stories. Actually, it happened before I was born. I may not get all the details right, but I know I have the gist of it. My mom and dad were newly married and Dad had just been drafted. (This was in the early 1950s.) Until being called overseas, Dad was stationed in Missouri. Mom was in Indiana with her parents. Dad had a brief leave and was driving from Missouri to Indiana to be with my mom for awhile. It was the middle of the night and my mom suddenly woke up feeling that she needed to pray for my dad. As they compared notes later, the time that she awakened and began praying was the time that Dad was falling asleep while driving and was just about to run off the road. That really impressed me as a young child... how God hears our prayers and how He does rescue us and those we pray for. (And how if we are impressed to pray, we should pray!) I have other stories like that, and I'm sure you do, too. If you don't, maybe you should be praying more. Or paying more attention. It doesn't always hit me right away when God answers one of my prayers, but later (sometimes much later) as I'm reflecting on a specific event it might all of a sudden hit me how God answered that specific prayer. He is so good!  

 

While we were on our little trip to the beach last weekend, we wanted to make sure that we got to see Kenneth's parents. They live about an hour in from the coast, so it was an easy visit to make on the way back home. Of course, it was a great excuse to make a cute gift bag, too. 

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I made this little bag using a Papertrey Ink die and a lunch sack, and filled it with a book, a notepad, and a Starbucks gift card. Making a gift bag is a fun way to personalize a store-bought present. It's also a great way to use up some of that patterned paper that you've been hoarding. (If you're a paper crafter, you KNOW what I'm talking about!) 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #11, Fillable Frames #9, Tag-its #5); cardstock is PTI (Rustic White); patterned paper is My Mind's Eye (29th Street Market: Beautiful Blooms/Peachy Paper); ink is Stampin' Up (Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red); felt is PTI (Fine Linen); button is PTI (Ocean Tides); twine is PTI (Rustic Cream); ribbon is PTI (Vintage Cream classic grosgrain, Ocean Tides satin); also used PTI dies (Front & Center #1, Bloom Builders #3, Fillable Frames #11).

Well, that will be all for today. I'm going to try to rest up some more this evening and be ready to go to work again tomorrow. That's the plan anyway. I hope all is well with you. Thank you so much for visiting!

My Redeemer... and... Sending a Big Thank You

Today is Monday, January 23. I didn't tell you, but Ken & I went out of town for the weekend... to the beach. What fun that was!

I'll tell you more about that in a few days. Because today I want to talk a little bit about my brother-in-law, Michael. I've written about him before. He's such an inspiration to me. A now retired lawyer. A woodworker. A classical guitar player. A husband. A dad. A brother, uncle, etc. etc. etc. A guy full of funny stories. An encourager to those of us living with cancer... because he's living with cancer, too.

Mike and Lynne (Ken's sister) were at our house for Thanksgiving — for the third year in a row. And we sure loved it. But Mike always brings us some great item that he has wrought with his own hands. And I always show it to you, but this year I somehow didn't get that done. Until now.

That's the box that Michael made. And he told me that it has no stain on it. That's the color of the wood. Something from Brazil, I think he said. Isn't it beautiful?  

And that's the inside. It has four dividers that are perfect for earrings and what-not. It's great to have such talent in the family. :) (If you're interested, you can check out Mike & Lynne's blog here. It's partly their cancer journey, partly Mike's woodworking, partly Lynne's teaching, and partly family stuff — or whatever else happens to be on their minds.)

I thought I'd show you one more thing that was sent to us by Lynne & Mike.

 Look at his little dog flower arrangement. The puppy was fashioned from carnations and, maybe you can see, he's wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a little Santa hat. Quite cute and festive, isn't he?

 

Here is a biblical reminder for you today.

Psalm 19:14

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

My desire is that the way I live my life and that the things I say would be pleasing to the Lord. Actually, that is more than my desire. It's my prayer. And has been my prayer for quite a few years now. When the Lord looks at my life, I want Him to feel happy. I try to watch the things I say for several reasons... I don't want to grieve the Lord, I don't want to hurt anyone, and (a really selfish and unspiritual reason) I hate having to apologize. I find that it's better to live a life of prayer and as I do that the Lord will transform my thinking and I am much more likely to live as He desires. 

 

I'm pretty good at making thank you cards. But not so good at sending them. This one I made to send to my brother-in-law Michael. Yep. The same guy who made me that useful and sturdy jewelry box. In November. Yes, that's how bad I am at getting thank you cards in the mail. Can we just say, "better late than never"? 

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I thought that all the woodgrain on this card would be appropriate for Mike since he is such a master woodworker. But I also love the combination of the woodgrain with the bright-ish red. Just makes the whole thing look a little more contemporary and a little less rustic. (Michael, thank you so much for the beautiful box... the official thank you card will be in the mail soon!) 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (a big thank you, Background Basics: Wood); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream); patterned paper is Sassasfras Lass (My Dearest: Woo + Woo); ink is Stampin' Up (Poppy Parade, Real Rust); also used PTI's Double-Ended Banners die.

Now it's time to get on to something else. As I was working on this card (and the next few that I'll share with you), I was reminded about an order that I placed from Emma's Paperie a couple months ago... that included this patterned paper.

I love ordering from Emma's.

They always package up my patterned paper order which helps to protect it and is kinda pretty besides. There's always a little gift tied on the top.

And, here's my Emma's purchase from back in November.

I've already used quite a bit of this paper — and intend to use a lot more in the coming weeks. I find it hard to resist all the beautiful patterned papers that are available now. But, I'm determined that if I buy them I'm going to use them. No more wasting money. If I buy it, I use it. Sounds like a great philosophy, doesn't it? Now, if I can just stick to it. :)

And that will be it for now. Thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate you very much!

The Year in Review

Today is Saturday, December 31. New Years Eve Day. The last day of 2011. And what a year it's been. I thought I'd do something a little different today and do a year in review, encompassing all the different areas that I usually write about.

So — starting with the personal stuff. The year began with the search for the perfect wedding dress for Britt. Oh, how fun that was! In fact, the first half of the year was pretty well consumed with wedding preparations — besides the usual work and family related things.

Ken and I took our yearly trip to the Midwest in June, visiting some of his family at the Hayes family reunion in Illinois and some of both mine and Ken's in Indiana. It's always good to get out into the heartland and Ken and I are good traveling companions. We don't talk a whole lot, but there's something to be said for companionable silence. Don't you think?

Then, of course, we had the big event in Raleigh on July 30th — Britt & Kenneth's wedding.

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That snapshot was taken as the photographer was taking the official photos.

And here is one of me and Ken from the reception.

By that time it was apparent that something was seriously wrong with me, as I could barely walk, but it was still such a joyous occasion. And I'm happy that we carried on through it.

Of course, you probably know the rest. On August 1, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and spent the next six days in the hospital, where they determined that the tumor was inoperable. I had six weeks of radiation, which did not decrease the size of the tumor, but did provide me for an opportunity for a new haircut! By the time the pictures below were taken, I had lost my hair in a wide strip across the center of my head — ear to ear...

... and the steriods had been wreaking havoc on my weight. Since my dosage continues to be decreased, I'm hoping that my size will start decreasing, as well. And, speaking of the dosage decreasing, I think that tomorrow we're going to try going from 2mg a day to either 1 or 1.5 mg. As always, I'll appreciate your prayers for that. Those little pills got me through a rough time, but they're wicked and I'm ready to be done with them!

So — that's pretty much our 2011 in a nutshell. An interesting year, for sure, but not really a bad year. The Lord has definitely proven himself faithful to us through all the ups and down!

 

The last psalm in my Change Your Life Daily Bible is the perfect psalm for the end of this year, I think.

Psalm 150:1-6

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram's horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes. Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

We're singing the Lord's praises around here. May the new year find you singing His praises, too!

 

Yesterday I took a little time to check out a few of my favorite papercraft blogs and noticed that many of them had posted their favorite projects of 2011 (that they had made). So, I decided to follow suit. Here are 12 of my favorite crafty projects of the year.  

January — merci card

February — Go-To Sentiment Card for Make It Monday

March — Scripture Tag Book

April — Appreciation Card

May — Smile!

June — Everything Beautiful

July — Blessings

August — Tags for Wedding Guest Bags

September — For Our Mail Carrier

October — Hello, Little Baby!

November — Mug Filled with Thanks

December — Corn Casserole Recipe and Doily Recipe Card

I was planning to briefly say what I liked about each project, but we're going out to dinner with friends tonight and I should probably get cleaned up a bit. Maybe later tonight I'll drop in and edit the post. Or... maybe I won't. :)

Hope all is well with you and that your 2012 is filled with all the Lord's goodness and blessings. Sending you lots of love tonight! xxoo 

 

He hears and rescues... and... More Gift Card Holders

Today is Monday, December 26. We had a fabulous Christmas. How about you?

I thought I'd show you some of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions. The ones that involve the food variety, anyway.

For quite a few years now, we've spent both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our neighbors to the left. And this is their tradition for Christmas Eve...

mmmm! Crab legs flown in from the Pacific Northwest... where our neighbors and I are all from. I didn't grow up in a crab leg eating family, but I'm happy to have been adopted into one. :) They're so yummy. Especially dipped in melted butter and lemon juice. 

For Christmas Day I actually made something that I've served for years on Christmas morning (and I found some of our Christmas plates, too!).

Little ham and swiss sandwiches with a poppy seed, mustard, and butter spread. Actually, I couldn't find the recipe that I usually use, so I resorted to the internet and found something close. And, I usually use a Pampered Chef recipe for cinnamon rolls, but this year just bought some frozen sweet rolls at the grocery store. It wasn't quite the same, but close enough that if Ken or Ian noticed they didn't say anything.

Ian was pretty wiped out from his weeks working in St. Louis (he didn't get home until Saturday afternoon) so he slept all morning — but by the time we got home from church he was up and ready to open presents.

Here he's inspecting the contents of his stocking while Ken looks on. This was the first time that Ian was the only "child" at our house on Christmas and I must say that he quite enjoyed it. At one point he kind of looked around and said with much joy, "So this is what it's like to be an only child!" Haha! Yep. That 25 year old kid likes to be the center of attention!

Another important tradition of ours is decorating gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve.

Actually, it's important to me. I'm probably the only one who really cares. And I may be the only one who really likes iced gingerbread cookies, so I probably eat the whole batch. And then spend weeks working them off. This year, it may be months. But I love the cookies so much and since I only eat them at Christmas, it's worth it to me. Actually, I'm just kind of impressed that I made a few of our holiday favorites all by myself... a variation of our traditional breakfast, hot cider, the gingerbread cookies, and some delicious chocolate marshmallow cookies that we all love. Not the amount that I've made in years past, but very good, I think, for someone who hasn't cooked since before Britt's wedding at the end of July!

 

Here is some scripture for today from the Psalms.

Psalm 145:17-19

"The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them."

As I'm on the eve of another chemo treatment, I finding myself a little nervous — yet grateful for the Lord's kindness to me. So far each infusion has been slightly worse than the one before, but nothing too terrible. And I kind of wonder if each has been a little worse because they told me that's how it would be. So, I sort of wish that I didn't know anything about the treatment so that maybe I would just go, have it, and then go on with my life as normal. So much of fighting this disease is mental, I think. Because of this, I try to be positive and stay busy. Staying busy seems to help me a lot. That and praying. :)

I'm thankful for the Lord's kindness. For His closeness to me. That He hears me when I call. That He grants my desires and hears my cries for help. That He rescues me. I'm so grateful that God is on my side!

 

Here is another set of gift card holders using PTI's Gift Card Greetings die. 

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I made three gift card holders using the same layout with different papers. The great thing about using patterned paper is that the prints on each side of the paper generally coordinate, making it really easy to make a great looking gift card holders. (The picture that I took of the inside of the holders showed the VISA number of one card, so it didn't seem like a good idea to post the picture I took of the inside of the cards... sorry!)

However, here is one (not using the patterned paper) that shows the PTI stamp I used on the inside flaps. It's a perfect fit!

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Candy Cane Christmas, Tiny Tags, Tree Trimming Trio); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Real Red) and PTI (Stampers Select White, Vintage Cream); patterned paper is October Afternoon (Very Merry: Write the Cards and Fill the Stockings); ink is SU (Real Red, Craft White) and PTI (True Black, Dark Chocolate); baker's twine is The Twinery (Cappuccino); also used PTI dies (Gift Card Greetings, Double-Ended Banners) and SU punch (1-3/8" circle).

Do you remember last week when I showed you how our amaryliss has been been growing? Well, here it is yesterday:

It's almost blooming... probably just another day or two. Can't wait to have it cheering up our home!

I guess that's all for tonight. Thank you so much for all the Christmas wishes you sent to us. And for those neighbors and friends who brought us goodies — which we are really enjoying! Thank you also for all the prayers as we go into another treatment session. We really, really appreciate your attention to our situation! Sending you lots of love and hugs! 

Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours

Merry Christmas 2011 from the Hayes/Freeman Family!

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Verve (Poinsettia Christmas); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Going Grey).

Hope you're having/had a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you after the holiday!

Happy Birthday, Britt!

Today is Tuesday, December 13. And today is also Britt's 28th birthday. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

I had my fourth chemo treatment today... and this time I've felt it. I was tired before I went into the infusion center and shortly after they hooked me up for the treatment I fell asleep and slept for a couple hours. When I woke up I did a little organizing of computer files and tried to get some things done for work tomorrow... and got a bit finished before the bags of healing poison were emptied into my body. 

Then, since our coffee pot stopped working this morning, we stopped by Target on the way home to buy a new one, and afterwards found our way to Pinkberry. Of course. :)

By the time we got home I was pretty tired again. So, after trying to put to get this post written, I gave up and took another nap. Then woke up nausous and still tired... so... blah. I feel a little better after sitting up for awhile and eating something, so maybe the rest of the evening will be better. And hopefully I'll be good to go tomorrow... because tomorrow is the first of two days of preschool Christmas programs. And I'd hate to miss those.

 

The scripture I chose for today if from the book of Revelation.

Revelation 4:14

"'You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.'"

I'm tired today and don't feel all that great (although, I've started feeling a bit perkier as the evening has gone on). But that doesn't change a whole lot. God exists and He created all things. Things that please Him. And, no matter what is going on with me, He is still worthy to receive glory. And honor. And power.   

 

Can't believe that my first baby is now 28 years old. How crazy is that? I suppose that no matter how young or old your children are that each birthday comes as a bit of shock as you think about the passage of time.

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I had a hard time getting the true colors when I was photographing this card. For some reason it kept coming out with a lavender tint. Probably because I'm too impatient to wait for better light. The colors are truer in the photo to the left. At least you can see that the one strip is grey instead of purple.

 

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Birthdays by the Numbers); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Peach Parfait, Apricot Appeal, Going Grey) and PTI (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Basic Gray); gems are Kaiser (Moss);  also used PTI's Cover Plate: Quatrefoil die.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to be back tomorrow with an update from the day. Thanks for all your prayers for strength and healing. Big love and hugs to everyone!    

Delight... and... Flower Fusion #10

Today is Wednesday, November 30. Tomorrow a new month begins. Wow.

I went to work for about an hour this morning — really just put in an appearance. I was there during morning opening time, though, and got to see and talk to some of the moms that I hadn't seen in awhile and meet some of our newer moms that I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Oh, and even lay eyes on a few babies who were born over the summer. Very precious! So, I guess that even though it was short, it was a good work day. :) After all, I've always considered getting to know the moms an important part of my job. I love being able to encourage them as they are doing the important job of raising their young families. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to doing more of that soon... maybe in January.

This might be a fine time to show you photos from our visit to the Christmas tree lot. The youth at the church where I work have a tree lot as a fundraiser for the first time this year and we decided that it would be good to support them... so while Britt and Kenneth were still here last weekend we did a little tree shopping.

It's not a very clear picture, but these are my hams... always ready to cheese for a photograph. I'm skulking around, trying to take candid shots and they just can't seem to stop themselves from hopping in. :)

This is the tree that Ken & I selected for ourselves. It's about 7 feet tall and narrow, so it fits in the corner of our family room nicely.

And, here are Britt & Kenneth sizing up a tree.

They had two vehicles with them in Charlotte and since one was big enough to accommodate a tree, they helped to support the youth group that Britt was in as a middle school-er by taking a tree back with them.

 Their tree is about the same height as ours, but much more full... perfect for their house. Awwww... their first tree in their first house. How fun is that? :)

And, speaking of fun...

Cute picture, huh? Did you notice the bunny ears that Kenneth put over Britt's head? Sigh... boys just don't really grow up, do they? :)

I just love a Christmas tree lot at dusk, don't you? It's just so festive. (If you're local, this tree lot is at Sharon Baptist Church, in case you want to check it out and purchase a tree that will benefit youth missions.)

 

Here is the scripture that I chose for today. It's actually very much like the ones for the last few days... still from Psalm 119. Still a cry for rescue.

Psalm 119:174-175

"O Lord, I have longed for your rescue, and your instructions are my delight. Let me live so I can praise you, and may your regulations help me."

Once again, I echo the Psalmist in my longing for rescue. I do want to live so that I can continue to praise the Lord and lift up His name as the One who saves. Jesus is the ONLY One who can save our souls. Reading the Bible and knowing His laws it keeps me on His path... which is a tremendous help. Having a rule-follower type of personality, I've always liked knowing what is expected of me... so I'm really glad that the Lord has clearly outlined it in His word. I've said it before, I think, but that is a good reason to read and know your Bible. You, too, can know what God expects of you!

 

I mentioned a couple days ago that my stash of cards to give to those who bring us meals was getting low, so here are two more cards for the pile. 

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Being the impatient sort, I couldn't wait until the light wasn't shining through the cards to take the pictures. Oh, well. You'll have to ignore the text showing through from the inside. And, I should really pay more attention to when my stamp pads need to be re-inked, too (as evidenced by both cards, but especially the one on the right). Oh, well... again. :)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Flower Fusion #10, Flower Fusion #4); cardstock is inexpensive office store white and PTI (Stampers Select White); ink is PTI (Simply Chartreuse, Berry Sorbet, Melon Berry, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate); also used PTI dies (Flower Fusion Stem, Flower Fusion #10).

One more picture from today. You may remember me mentioning before about how pots of flowers just appeared on our front porch. And how when those mums had run their course, they were mysteriously replaced with pansies? Well, we did find out who was doing all that sneaking around in our landscaping... and she's been at it again.

Ken was working in the garage when Sara Gwynn drove up and began fertilizing the pansies she had planted earlier. What a sweetie! I was getting ready to go on my second walk of the day, so she joined me. It was fun to have a walking and talking partner. :)

That should be it for the day. I'm hoping that tomorrow my energy will be increased even more... especially since the parents are hosting a luncheon for the weekday school staff the next two days and it would certainly be a shame to miss that! :)

Thank you so much for visiting us here and for your continued prayers. We so, so appreciate them and you. Sending you big hugs!

Sustenance... and... More Food Thanks

Today is Monday, November 28. Thanksgiving is over and we're rushing headlong into the Christmas season. Did you do any decorating this weekend? We did a bit.

No, we didn't decorate the Jeep. But that is where Ken put the bows while he draped the lights as he tested them on Friday night. Between the lights and bows... well, it kinda makes for a festive-looking garage, doesn't it?

We also started a very little bit of inside decorating. After last Christmas I bought a champagne colored tree from Treetopia and had been eager to put it up, so Britt & I dug it out of the attic first.

 That was our first round of decorating it... and here it is finished:

I think I'll need to get a picture of it in the daylight, too. This pic's a little blurry. But it's a very sparkly tree and I'm loving it. :)

 

The scripture I chose for today is from the Psalms again.

Psalm 119:116-117

"Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on your decrees."

These verses are very much along the line of what I shared with you yesterday. In fact, it seems to be a theme in Psalm 119 — praise the Lord for His commandments and then ask Him for mercy and rescue. And, that's pretty much what I've been doing since August. Glorifying and begging. And trusting in God's faithfulness. He is so good! And if you want some encouragement from the Lord, you might want to read Psalm 119. It's long... but it's full of good stuff. :)

 

For today's craftiness, we have a couple of thank you cards.

SHOW

I haven't made cards for the food stash in awhile, so I'm building back up. You may remember that I like to make a couple of these cards at a time, but I always switch up the colors. Each person deserves a card that is unique to them, I figure. That, and I also don't really like to do the exact same thing over again. It's more fun this way. :) Anyway, here are two cards for the stash... same design, same stamps, different colored flowers. Variety is the spice of life, right?

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Flower Fusion #9, Flower Fusion #4); cardstock is office store white; ink is Stampin' Up (Old Olive, Early Espresso, More Mustard, Perfect Plum); also used PTI's Flower Fusion #9 die.

Just a few more pictures from the Thanksgiving weekend. Lynne and Mike stayed until Saturday morning. And, apparently their dog, Ivy, was ready to get going.

She hopped into the car all on her own as the good-byes were being said. Then our dog, Roxy, must've thought a car ride looked like fun, because she tried to stow-away. 

Good thing she wasn't very subtle about it. We would've missed her. :)

And here is the annual picture of Lynne and Michael...

Love those guys. And, we'd love them even if we weren't related. Funny. Smart. Full of faith. And fighting a deadly disease... like us. Their fight has been going on longer, though. Michael was diagnosed with cancer of the gall bladder a few years ago and given a short time to live... like weeks. And he's still here. You know that I find that inspiring! Back in October, Mike shared his story at his church. It's really good, honest, and worth a listen, if you have the time. You can find it by clicking here.

And now just a couple pictures of the Christmas decorating...

 We left the glittery brain tumor awareness bow on the mailbox and Britt added some Christmas-y bows and baubles to the top. 

While she was doing that, Ken was putting the icicle lights on the house.

I took some pictures of the house all lit up, but it was still a little too light outside to get the full impact so I'll have to try again later. Stay tuned. :)

And, that should be it for tonight. Tomorrow is my third chemo treatment. I'm scheduled to be in the infusion room at 10:00. Prayers are appreciated. :) Tomorrow is also our 31st wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate, huh? But, we'll be together... which is more than I can say for many of our previous anniversaries, so that's a sweet blessing. I expect we'll appreciate this anniversary more than any of previous 30, too.

Thanks so very much for stopping by and for continuing to give us so much love and support... and for sending up so many prayers. You all are the best! Give yourself a hug from me. :)