Merry & Bright❤️

May this be a beautiful Christmas celebration . . May God only bless you all in this new year! Merry Christmas ❤️

Better not pout . . .Santa's coming!

I've sung that song for years to my kids since they were little during the holiday season.  Every time I hear that song, it warms my heart like no other.  Something unique and special always happens at Christmas time.  You have to seek it from your heart.  I promised God will show you.  Every year I wait and anticipate it.

Having faith and a love for God has so many benefits.  He makes everyday special.  The more you get closer to him, the more you want to know him.  There is a freedom to having a daily relationship with him.  As I mentioned in an earlier posting, when I got away from him, I became much more involved in myself and "the things" that were going on in my life.

God is my centerpoint, he keeps me grounded and at peace.  He makes my life simple.  He takes me away from worldly things and needs. 

  This year I have a new surrounding, new spaces to decorate.  Usually I just can't wait, I normally would be so excited to do it.  I would be planning the colors, how I was going to set everything up, but this time its different.  

I actually miss my one bedroom apartment with my daughter, it was simple but so nice.  I'm not saying I don't appreciate the blessing of living in a beautiful home, I just realize how much I have changed for the better, Blessings! :O)

Only Gratitude . . . The kids are coming home :O)

It always feels good when the kids come home  . . . I started to prepare the house for company.  A coffee station is always good.  Rexy and I have really been working hard around the house, and its finally starting to look real pretty. 

You could see the doors that still need to be hanged in the living room.  Hoping for carpet by Christmas, might not be until after . . . we will see.  Loving the gray paint with the white trim.

Gratitude has been on my heart for so many things lately . . . life has had so many seasons of challenges . . . feels sort of odd when things come to a calm.  I'm definitely going to enjoy it for now. 

Rexy and I attended church this afternoon, Pastor mentioned writing a thank you list for all the good in our lives.  They say when you praise God with gratitude, it is like a sacrifice.  Rexy had a health scare about a month ago.  We immediately went in prayer and gave it to God to handle.  Every time we started to worry about it, we would stop and pray about it right away.  When he went back to the doctor's office he was pleasantly surprise, it turned out to be nothing.  Right after he left the doctor's office he stopped by my workplace and told me. It so stunned me, we both looked at each other, started laughing with joy and thought it must have been the praying.  PRAYER WORKS!  This will be a very special Thanksgiving for both of us.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus   1 Thessalonians 5:18

Well, went to a vintage swap meet with a girlfriend from work and found this adorable little gold elephant bank  . . . loving it. This little piece is from the 1930's, made out of cast iron. Just too sweet. Definitely will go back to this swap meet next month.   Looking forward to cooking for my babies aka grown children, hope you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  Blessings!

Happy Halloween!

When Life Gets Boring

 

I've always had a love for creating and sewing dolls . . . I hang them, place them around the house  . . . even doing the holidays I'll mixed them in with my decorations, give them as gifts too.  I never seem to get tired of them  . . . I've sold many at craft shows over the years, too many to count, but when I look at them lately, they all start to look the same, just a different color I guess.

 

It's funny I thought I would never get tired or bored making them, but I'm starting to.  I think when you are a young mother raising children, creating this whimsical environment for them is sort of something normal to do, at least for me it was.  I think I coming into a chapter in my life where this might go to the wayside.  I hope not, I don't think I would have anything else to do in my down time, sewing/crafting always has been something I do. It was my peace, my get-a-way.

I've had a calling on my life for a some time now, even with all the commotion that was going on, to get involved with womens prison ministry.  I feel that is something I can do. I have no idea how I'm going to get into that, but I feel God will guide me through prayer.   I've always had a strong connection to young mothers, to women in general when it comes to the word of God.  Before Dave my husband passed away, I used to teach a small bible study to the women in my family once a week and truly enjoyed it.

After Dave passed away and life all of a sudden change drastically, at the time I thought for the worse, was actually for the better. I had to experience some gut wrenching life events to realized that.  Always easier to look back, review and learn.

 

I moved away from my faith, my love for God always remained strong.  I just didn't pick up my bible as much, wasn't attending church that often, let alone get involved in church events. Also,  I met someone that became very special to me and I step off  that horrific world of mine into whole other world.  I was so tired of life it self, I just wanted a break.

This is what I've been doing up to a week ago when I was looking at my blog the other day and realized it's been awhile since I took the time to praise God and post something about it.  When I looked back at my posting they were all about my crafting, touring on the motorcycle with Rexy,  decorating, the new kitchen . . . it was about me and that was so boring.

I do know this, by having an active relationship with God makes my life so much more interesting, worthy.  Sharing the word makes my world so much more happier.  I'm a new neighbor and a new employee here in Mission Viejo. I need to make some new friends in this new location. Sometimes I so miss my old life before Dave passed away.  I think I miss the routine, thinking nothing would ever change and life would stay whimiscal  . . . it shattered to a million pieces. So here I am starting over again, trying to build some normal in this life. A new address again, a new relationship, and I guess a new beginning.  My kids aka grown up adults living their own lifes now and no longer share a roof with me anymore, sort of makes me sad in a silly way.  They were my whole life for a very long time.  Even the dog is gone now . . . oh my.

On that thought . . . Rexy I think we need to get a dog . . . lol!  Blessings xo

"By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me - a prayer to the God of my life" . . . (Psalm 42:8)

PLAYING WITH PAPER AGAIN😊

Creating some Halloween cuteness this morning.  Raining outside, perfect time to play with my papers again . . And always along with a good cup of coffee.  Have a peek . . . love these pin wheels on decorative straws.  Still working on this one . . . need to add straw and some seam ribbon.

 

Bought this glitter from a rummage sale years ago, still works just fine.

 

Loving the straw, I still have to attach it.

 

I found this really neat paper store down here in Mission Viejo called "Pages of Tyme", super cute stuff and very reasonably price items.  I always enjoy my visits there.

Added this spooky black cat to my creation and tied some black/orange thread to it. 

Some Halloween Goodies

A new place to decorate is always fun, definitely more room now lol😊I added a new cross stitch ornament to my wooden bowl, a witches hand dropping an eye ball in the boiling pot . . . Spooky!

 

 

 

I put a nice gathering of my Halloween decorations in the entry, of course, on my black dresser.

 

 

Added a paper good to my standing black cat  . . . Halloween cuteness for sure!

 

Will post some more pics soon . . . Hope you are all enjoying the season :O)

I Smell Fall In The Air . . . Welcome Fall!

Happy Fall everyone❤I don't know what it is about Fall, but I get so excited. My kids come home again  It's always the best when they're around.  Love hearing them talk and laugh with each other again. I get to cook and bake for them in the new kitchen too . . . LOL! Rexy and I have work so hard on this house and we finally will be able to share it with family and friends. I still have a few pieces of furniture I have to recover, towels for the bathrooms and bedding/drapery for the bedroom and we are about done with this house.  Loving my Pinterest, I found this pic of this beautiful pie.  This year I think I might want to attempt to make one.  I'm 59 years old and have never made a pie . . . LOL!  I think I'm going to enjoy decorating the pie with the crust more than anything else. That's the creative side in me. Happy Baking! xo

Loving the new kitchen . . . we finally have a stove again :O)

 

Thought I would share some pics of the new stove  . . . absolutely pleased.

We went with KitchenAid on all the appliances  . . . simple lines and tasteful. 

The colors we went with in the kitchen are muted and I don't think we will get tired of them too soon.  Loving the backsplash, reminds me of the ocean, very calming to say the least. 

This oven is a traditional oven along with a convection oven, I don't have much experience with this type of oven, but will have to learn how to use it, definitely have some reading to do.  Just can't wait to bake in it, getting excited especially with the holidays coming :O)

This oven also comes with a steam bake option, nice when you are baking fish.

We are so pleased with the results of the kitchen remodel, loving the floor color, sort of looks like cement. The material is porcelain tile with the look of hardwood flooring.   The kitchen was so dark before, not a lot of light in the kitchen area, along with the dark cabinets made it not very cheerful, but wow what a difference now.

I'm gettimg so excited for Fall❤Adding some more Fall decorations around the homestead.  Creating some too😊 Oh, and you know I always have to add one of my dolls to the mix.  Hanging one in the kitchen off the towel rack.  Planning on hosting a early Thanksgiving Brunch with family and friends.  Hope all goes as planned.  Currently installing tile and carpet will follow.  Keeping my fingers crossed . . . lol!

 

Adding Some Pretties!

Finally hanging some pictures again . . . it's actually looking normal around here for a change . . . lol!

My Mom brought these canvas prints by Kelly Rae Roberts for me.  They were given to me as birthday presents.  I decided to hang them together and I love the location of them, just enough light to compliment them. 

 This is a small oil painting I found at a church rummage sale, lots of pretty shades of green in it, looks so pretty under the Tiffany lamp.

I found these "drift wood gray" colored shadow boxes at Target and decided to display some of my cross stitch projects in them.  They look great in the den with the canoe rentals wood display.

Added a pretty reading lamp also above the couch or should I say above Rexy's favorite sitting place.  Have a great Monday blogland friends!