Beautiful Pikes Peak Colorado

Two weeks ago, I was getting home from work, getting ready to eat dinner and pack so we could go here. Colorado Springs and Pike's Peak in Colorado. Now I've been there and been home a week and after this week I think it would be a great idea to go again! Ha. Isn't it beautiful? We had such a wonderful time. We had 9 days of vacation and we spent 8 of them away. Most of our time was in Colorado Springs area. The mountains are so beautiful, the weather was perfect, and we had a special memorable time together, just my husband and I.

This was my first week back at work. I felt rested and glad to be back, but things were busy and hectic because we had week 2 of Vacation Bible School. It went really well though. We had approximately 50 kids from 3rd grade - 8th grade age. My friend and I taught the girls how to make prayer journals. (We had over 70 kids the 1st week!) We took an ordinary spiral notebook and altered it with scrapbook paper, punches, ribbons, buttons, etc. The girls had a ball. It was over yesterday (today they had a field trip for swimming & water games) . After the trip today, I had 2 of the girls in my office wanting to know if they could make prayer journals. I took that as a good sign that our Wed/Thurs. class went well. I think the thing I enjoyed most both weeks though was the music. All I really did was run things in the sound booth, but it was a great place to watch the kids sing. As soon as the music would start they would be up on their feet, singing their hearts out, raising their hands, praising Jesus. Today we weren't even supposed to have music, but while the kids were waiting for the bus to be ready to leave, they wanted to sing. I thought that was so cool and it just gave me chills watching them and singing with them.

We've been running so much this week that we decided to stay in tonight. We got us a pizza and a movie and are watching "Breach" right now. Not bad... little slow moving, enough I guess that I can Blog and watch at the same time. We also have Deja Vu. We belong to the Blockbuster online thing so it makes it pretty convenient for nights like this to have a movie all ready. Hope the weekend and next week will slow down now. Slowing down for the rest of the summer would be good. I'd like to get some scrapping done, like making an album of our vacation, read several books in my stack, float in the pool some, sit on the back porch some, have a shopping day or two with my Mom.... a girl ought to be able to fit that in for the summer don't you think?

Do you watch "So You Think You Can Dance" ?? My husband and I are watching together. We watched the first 2 seasons also. Our favorite last year was Benji and he won. This year I haven't quite made up my mind. I like Anya, Pasha and Lacey the best I think. A lot of them are really good this year. I was surprised when they sent Jessie home last night. I really thought it would be/should be Lauren. Guess we will have to see what next week brings.

So tomorrow we have a wedding to attend in the evening. Hope to get caught up on my DT stuff this weekend too. My deadline was this past Monday but with being away for vacation that was impossible. Hope I can make some serious progress between Sat. and Sunday.

Hope you have a great weekend too! Blessings.

A friend on M2Y message board posted this video to share. Several of us have dealt or are dealing with infertility. Wow..... this song should come with a warning for some of us because now I am sitting here with tears. Pretty powerful. It is pretty rare to come across someone else who understands what this feels like so I wanted to share.

20 Years Together

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary. Wow. 20 years. I can't believe it has been that long. I married a wonderful man who is so good to me. He is amazing. He is so special and he shows me how much he loves me every day. Today he gave me this beautiful music box. He made this for me. I cried when I opened it. I was so touched that he had put so much into something special for me. He is the absolute best. If you want to hear the music box, check out the video clip in the sidebar to the right and down. It sounds pretty great, but doesn't begin to do it justice. What a treasure... and I mean my husband, not the gift.

For dinner to celebrate we went out to the Melting Pot. Such a great restaurant. He had arranged for a private booth which was in a little room all by itself. He had roses waiting on the table for me. The food was fabulous and we had such a wonderful perfect time. Here are a few pics of dinner and dessert. If you have never eaten at one of these foundue places, you should really try it. It is so fun and so different!































My gift to him was a Bible with his name engraved on it and a special note from me inside and also this scrapbook I made for him. You can see all the pages in the album here.

It's been a wonderful, perfect, special day. God has blessed us so much and I am so humbled and amazed by that. Amazed that he would bless me with such love. Wow.


Blessings!

Happy Birthday Honey!

So this is what turning 44 looks like. My sweet husband had his birthday yesterday. He got to pick a restaurant for dinner and he chose The Cheesecake Factory. Have you ever been there? We hadn't. Oh my goodness. The food was so good! Darrel had a combo dinner that had Steak Diane and Chicken Madiera. The steak had a mushroom sauce and the chicken had a sauce and fresh asparagus and mozarella cheese. I got to try it and it was good. I had a spicy jambalya pasta. It had shrimp and chicken and a spicy tomato sauce. It was great. For dessert he had traditional cheesecake with fresh strawberries. I had something called a chocolate tower. YUM. We had a great time and I hope he had a nice birthday.

Wednesday is our 20th wedding anniversary! We made a reservation tonight at the Melting Pot. It is a cool fondue restaurant. We have been there once before and it was so fun and so good. You have to try this place. You get a cheese fondue and veggies and breads for an appetizer, a great salad, then your main course with different meats and a broth fondue to cook them in. Last is dessert with a chocolate fondue and fruit and cookies and cake to dip. YUM. They said they would give us a private table and asked Darrel if he wanted roses for his wife. Love that and I cannot wait!
















Check out the goodies I got today. We got to visit an Archivers. Such a cool store. I got several great deals. The large container of prima flowers was 25% off. I also had a 25 % off coupon, a coupon for 5 sheets of free cardstock and 5 free 4x6 prints too! Then with purchase I got a free KI Memories paper pack. I bought some of the MM travel collection for a book I want to do about our anniversary trip. Also found some of the new Heidi Swapp ribbon. So cute!

I was praying the other day about some fear and apprehension I was feeling about something that was coming up. I picked up my Bible and asked God for a verse and some comfort. Where I opened to was verses about Jesus coming in contact with a man posessed by demons and how the demons recognized him as the Son of God and how they screamed and feared him. At the time I didn't really understand what God was saying to me, but as often happens, things fell into place a little later. We were riding in the car and a song came on. I can't think of the name. I believe its by Casting Crowns and it talks about being free. A line in that song always gives me chills and its when it says "the dark ones shriek, they scream His name" I love that. I love how Satan and His demons know the Son of God and they fear Him. They know His power. They know He has already won. I suddenly realized what He was telling me earlier. I have nothing to fear. I had already prayed and asked Jesus to be with me. I am saved by the blood of Jesus. I have Jesus on my side, I have Jesus in me...evil cannot harm me. Such comfort in those thoughts. When those doubts and fears nag at me I am going to remember that I have Jesus. There is nothing to fear.

I need to run. Want to work on my travel book and then time to head for bed! Hope you are having a great week.

Blessings.

VBS Week, Birthday Week and other news

I love this picture. It is week #1 at Vacation Bible School. My job for the week is tech stuff and taking photos for a PowerPoint slide show for Sunday. This was today at closing. I love this view of the kids singing at the top of their lungs, raising their hands, praising Jesus! So cool. I could just get lost in all of the photos and their little faces. After all our church has been thru with the fire and rebuilding it is so awesome to see the result of a new building filled with children, learning about God and Jesus and the Bible.

Been in the kitchen this evening make a birthday Carrot Cake for my husband. His birthday is not until this Sunday, but we won't be home so I wanted him to have his cake earlier in the week. I mean it's birthday week after all right? My friend Judy "invented" birthday week and I think its a FABULOUS idea. Everyone should get birthday week where you get to celebrate and have cake and gifts and be pampered and treated nicely for the whole week! Sounds good right? I mean if you have to have a birthday and get older, you might as well enjoy it right?

Came home to a wonderful message on my answering machine from Better Homes and Gardens Scrapbooks, etc. They want to publish I card I submitted to them! I am soooooooooo excited. It has been a long dry spell between things being published so I am thrilled. It has also been a goal of mine to get something published in SB etc. and in CK. So now I will be half way there! The lady that called got cut off by my dumb machine, but she said I'd be receiving an E-mail with the details. I haven't gotten that yet so I m dying to know all the rest of the info.!!

I need to go ice a carrot cake so better run. Hope you have a great week!

Blessings!

God's Amazing Grace

I just finished reading this book and I would say it is one of Robin Lee Hatcher's best. Once again she has an amazing way of explaining God's grace in such a simple way that it hits you right between the eyes. Return to Me is in a way a modern day retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son. While one sibling goes off and squanders her inheritance and life, the other stays home and does all the right things. Yet the story shows that each child is still in need of God's grace and forgiveness as are we all. I found each of the main characters in the story so easy to identify with. I could see myself and therefore was reminded of God's love and grace for me and that when I am like Roxy when "she envisioned herself dragging around the sins of her past, like a ball and chain clamped to her ankle." I only need to remember that dragging around is not necessary because of God's grace. This is a good truthful uplifting story. You will enjoy it!

You can order your copy on Amazon with this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310258049/

Or from CBD (Christian Book Disributors).

Memories2You DT Layouts

3 more DT projects completed! Yay. The first one is my sweet husband with our niece and nephew on the 4 wheel at my Mom's. It was so cute. Little Ethan wanted someone to give him a ride and everyone was busy. Uncle Darrel had not driven the 4 wheeler before so he took it for a spin around the yard on his own a couple of times to make sure he knew where all the controls were. Then he and Ethan went for a ride. Lindsay wanted a turn too of course and both kids seemed to have fun. The second layout is some photos of the girls from a few years ago on Memorial Day. Had some fun with the Elsie epoxy stickers with the journaling. Lots going on here... hopefully it isn't too busy. That is the Elsie style though so I thought it was fun. When I got those finished I threw together a card from the left over scraps. I used just about all the kit this time around. It was not my normal "style" but I feel like I did well with it.

Had a rough day today. Been a bit upset about something I can't really discuss. A friend prayed with me before I left work and that helped. Darrel and I talked some more about it at home and I am feeling a little calmer now. I was bothered by this problem all day and am sure I was probably pretty crabby. I apologize to anyone reading that I was crabby towards. It's just hard sometimes to not see things worked out where truth and justice are done....then to disagree about it with those you are close to also just makes it all the harder. So that was clear as mud right? But I feel better....

It's late and I need to post my DT stuff so I will run for now. Hope the rest of your week is great!

Blessings!

Just wanted to share a couple of DT layouts completed today. Having some fun with the Love Elsie papers. Aren't they fun?

You might remember me mentioning we have had bunnies in our yard? Well last night when we got home from the wedding I thought I saw something up on the back porch. Turns out it was 2 bunnies! One was eating dog food we had out for our dog. The other it turns out was eating my husbands Christmas Cactus plant! Now I am worried they will be back to eat more of the flowers. We've been enjoying watching the rabbits, but are feeling more and more now like we are going to have to do something about it. It started out as 4-5 rather large rabbits and now several of them have had babies. It's only going to get worse and besides eating plants, they are digging holes! Darrel spent the afternoon putting down mulch and today we found 2 holes dug in it.... So, anyone know what you do about having a bunny community living in your back yard? Is there a way to trap them and take them someplace? The bunny saga continues....

Hope you are having a great Sunday.

Blessings.

And The Two Shall Become One...

We just returned home from a wedding. It was so pretty and it was the first one in our new church building. It was pretty big. I am guessing there were close to 500 people in our Sanctuary? Wow. The picture shows the wedding program, the guest table centerpieces which were flowers made out of 2 hershey's kisses, and the little favor bags. You can probably guess that the wedding colors were chocolate brown and blue. The bride's dress was gorgeous and the attendants were in chocolate brown with touches of blue. We had a nice time and it was so cool to see our new building so full for such a happy occasion. I found myself getting emotional sometimes because we have been talking so much about our own 20th anniversary coming up that I was taken right back to our wedding day. Pastor Mark even said some of the same things that Pastor Art said to us so many years ago. He spoke about the love talked about in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13 and how as humans we can't love each other like that on our own. What we can do though is ask God to love our spouse thru us. Pastor Art spoke to us about that in our pre-marriage counseling. Pastor Mark also mentioned the wedding in Canaan and Jesus getting you thru the hard times. That was in our wedding too. So cool to hear those things again from Pastor Mark.

My heart has been heavy for marriages lately. I just asked Darrel last night what did we do different? We are together and close and happy and strong and even better 2o+ years down the road. What is different for us? Why are there marriages all around us that either didn't make it, or people are still together but don't seem to like each other very much? I praise God for our relationship. I just LOVE us. I love how we are together. I love what we share. I love my husband with all my heart. I love that we share everything and that we are such good friends. I feel so overwhelmed with that blessing. Wow. My heart breaks for those who don't seem to have that and I wonder what I could do about that? Anything? I've always felt a burden for marriages and have wondered if God wants me to do something ministry wise with that? If one marriage was better for it... it would sure be worth it. All at the same time though I am at a loss for what I would tell them? I guess I would say its so important to be friends first and always. I would say that God has to be the foundation and center of the marriage. I think it is so important to share your faith with each other. I think you have to know each other's needs and be intentional about your role in meeting them. I think it makes a difference that we are completely transparent with each other. There is nothing we don't talk about....no secrets between us. We also never stopped working on our marriage. We have attended so many marriage conferences I've lost count. We have tried to be wise and affair proof our marriage with things we have learned in those conference. So maybe those are some things we did different. Maybe I just answered my own question.... I don't know, I just wish everyone could have that. I wish everyone wanted that.















So my pink fans already came yesterday. Isn't it cute? One of the pair I ordered does not work. They ebay person I ordered from was so great though that he already has a new one on its way to us and doesn't even want the old one back! Very impressed with that kind of service.














This is where I am sitting at the moment. Trying to get going on my DT layouts. At least I have my pictures prepared right? Hopefully the ideas will come easily and quickly and I will be able to get a lot done tomorrow.




















Bought this easel 1/2 price last night at Hobby Lobby. I thought it would be fun to use to display some of my layouts before they go right into the album. I think I'll like getting to enjoy them for a bit first. Last night we also hit a pizza place we had not been to before. It is called Turoni's. It was SO good. We really liked it and will definitely go back. We were like why did it take us so long to come try this restaurant? It was yummy!

Have you seen this album kit they are offering at Scrapsupply? So cute! I am soooo tempted to order but so far I have been a good girl. I probably have enough of the kit ingredients to come up with my own so maybe I'll do that. It is supposed to be a mini album to hold a photo a day for a month. I've always wanted to try that. Seems like a cool way to record a month in your life. Besides that I am getting more and more into the photo taking thing so I think it would be fun to see what interesting photos I could come up with.

It finally rained this evening! We so need some rain. Don't think it will be enough but so glad to get whatever we can.

Think I will scrap for a bit before bed. Oh, did I mention at the wedding they had a chocolate fountain? YUM. It was so cool. This big fountain of melted chocolate with things like pretzels, marshmallows, angelfood cake, fruit, cookies, etc. for dipping. Fun, pretty and yummy!

Blessings!