Titus 2 Keeper At Home

what a day today has been

2012-01-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

Today is Friday and that means grocery shopping day. I had many plans for today that I planned out yesterday, but as someone I used to know said we need to hold our plans loosely because sometimes what we have planned and what God has planned for us do not always work out the same. Too bad God can't send us and email or text ahead of time :)

So instead of getting out going early today as I had planned I woke up with both a horrible headache and miserable back pain and that was at 5AM. I ended up laying back down hoping it would ease some of the pain in my back. The dogs decided that my laying down was not a good idea and continued to pester me until I got back up. By then it was 6:30...After taking a shower, feeding the animals, letting them out to play about 3 different times and calling my mom I was finally ready to go shopping. It was now already 11AM, my day was already almost half over and I hadn't even started anything that needed to get done. So I went to Walmart first, bought some groceries there. They sell the orange pineapple juice I like and also the best ground beef that I like so much better than other places.I came home and unloaded those groceries let the dogs out for a few minutes and had a nice big glass of water. Then I went out to the other Walmart in town as I was looking for dog sweaters for the dogs. The first Walmart I went to didn't have any. This other Walmart didn't either so I ended up getting them matching little dog coats made of fleece. Finally I made it to Winco where I do the majority of our shopping. Got my groceries purchased, stopped at McDonalds for a coke (I love coke from McDonalds and always get one after shopping) then I had to make one more stop...at Raleys (another grocery store in our city) they had foster farms chicken breast on sale for 99 cents a pound which is a really good deal. I purchased 12 packages of it. We don't eat much red meat and eat a lot of chicken so this was a great find. I ended up getting home about 3:30pm and put all the groceries away. Then I started dough in my bread machine which I had planned on starting this morning. I also got laundry going also planned on starting that this morning, I guess better late than never. My headache and backache has never felt any better than it was feeling this morning so I was really going slowly on everything I tried to get done today. I was out in the garage changing laundry over from the washer to the dryer and I slammed my finger in the door of the dryer. Now it was no major injury but it HURT A LOT, it actually made me feel sick to my stomach for a while. Now I am sitting here in my craft room it's about 7:30PM and I am still doing laundry, my finger, back and head still all hurt, I am also waiting for my rolls to raise some more. The dough I made today didn't turn out good at all and it isn't raising right...what more could go wrong today??? I dont' even want to know I am ready for bed and plan on heading there as soon as the laundry is done. I made no dinner tonight so when Roger got home from work he had to make himself a sandwich for dinner. I would appreciate any and all prayers so that my tomorrow will not be a repeat of today :) God wouldn't do that would He?? I am sorry if I have babbled on too much I seriously am so sleepy that I don't really remember all that I have written.

Blessings, and have a wonderful weekend, Joann

"To be self controlled, and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and to be subject to their husbands , so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:5

Not sure what to do yet...

2012-01-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

I recently got my haircut short again and I also colored it, it looks so much better than it did.

Well it's been a while since I last posted on this blog, I had started a new one and I am now not quite sure what to do. I love this blog and the title of this blog is very near and dear to my heart but I just got so tired of people commenting about what I post about. I have had many mean comments and good comments and some times the mean ones just get to me and make me want to just quit blogging alltogether. Then I remember why I started blogging and that was for a few reasons. I wanted to find like minded friends....also to keep a journal of sorts for my grandchildren. Well I have met some friends and some non friends and they seem to try to attack me for my feelings. I really can't stand it when someone tries to tell me how to feel, I look at it this way if you don't like what I am posting about then don't read my blog. I was telling my friend DeNiece the other day when we were talking that my blog title says right in it a Bible verse so why would someone who isn't a Christian read it. We both laughed about that. It's like duh!! I wouldn't go to a blog that has Satanic things in the title. So please if you dont' like my blog or what I write about please leave. Thanks!

So for now I am thinking of keeping this blog and using the newer one just for my crafts which is so far this year at a big fat Zero...No crafting going on yet and I was so wanting to get at least one thing done before the end of the month. I guess I do have a few days but who am I kidding we all know I won't get anything done :)

If you read this blog and like it please leave me a comment that you do I would certainly appreciate it.

Blessings,Joann

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T14:58:00.001-08:00

This year for Christmas we drove over to Chris and Jennifer's apartment in Brentwood and had Christmas there.
First though I have to tell you the story of the Belle Doll :) Katie has an american girl doll and we had bought some clothes in the princess and me doll line by Disney. We bought two very pretty outfits. My mom also bought her an outfit. We went over to my mom's house the day before Chirstmas and had Katie and Dylan open their gifts from her as she couldn't make it to Jennifer's the next day. We were very sad when the outfit she had bought didn't fit, I dont' know much about any of these dolls other than they are outrageously priced. Now we knew we had outfits that also won't fit. So we thougth about it on the drive back home and decided to go ahead and stop at toys r us and see about getting the doll for her. Well the doll cost a fortune but they did have a kind of good deal, you buy a doll and you get three outfits for free and also a tea service for two. So of course we bought the doll so that way all the clothes would fit. I have to say that toys r us wasn't too bad for it being late in the afternoon on christmas eve.

Here are some pictures from Christmas~

Not many pictures but we had a real nice time. We ended up going to Denny's for a late lunch and then came home.

We got all of our Christmas things down and put away because we were leaving on a short vacation to Oregon for a few days.

We left home on Tuesday morning and go to where we were going around 6pm, unfortunately I wasn't feeling well so we ended up not staying except for the one night and then we drove home. We did look at some land while we were up there but nothing looked like we wanted to buy it. So we are still on the search.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, Blessings,Joann

2012 is finally here!

2012-01-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to one and all.

This post will have no pictures as I am trying to get it done pretty fast and pictures always take so long to upload. I will make a more specific post later this week when I have the time. I will be sharing our christmas and other things going on in our home and lives.

This post is about the new year. I was SO happy to see 2011 come to an end. I almost always post about what my goals are for the coming year and each year right before New Years Eve I re read them and realize that I did not accomplish what I had wanted to so this year...no goal list, not that I don't have any just not writing them down for all to see :)

There are a few things I do every new year. The most important one is I take about a week or two and sit down and write my children and grandchildren letters. I know this may sound dumb but I do this so just in case anything happens to me during that year they will have something that I wrote to them to remember me by. If this doesnt' make sense that's okay I just enjoy doing it. I try to look back at previous times and write how I felt about things the good and bad things that happen throughout the year. Another thing I like to do is to get my home in order, this almost always starts with cleaning out cabinets...especially the kitchen ones, getting rid of things we don't need anymore and making room for new things, making it just much more convinient to use all of the cabinets and to find things. I also go through my routines and such and try to re do them to where they will work better for me. I also of course sit down and pray, pray, pray for both the wisdom, strength and energy I so sorely lack for finishing anything that I write a list out for.
This week I will be busy in the kitchen taking everything out of cabinets one at a time and cleaning both the inside and the outside. Getting rid of outdated or unused things and I love the fact of having everything clean to start the year. This will take quite a bit of time as I am almost always moving slow, but slow and steady I WILL get things done.
I truly hope and pray that everyone has a very blessed and beautiful New year ahead of them.

This is the ending for all the letters that I write, not all of it but a few words that I feel are very special.
I give you two things, life and love, the rest you will have to work very hard for and you will become a better person for doing so. I also print the life verse that I pray for that particular person so they know that I have been praying for them for as long as they were alive.

Blessings,Joann

Taking a break

2011-11-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

We all need a break now and then and right now I am feeling like I need one for my own sanity. I really have nothing to even write about right now so will be gone for some time. I hope to be back blogging at the first of the year. I will still be reading my favorite blogs so I won't be gone completely just not posting for a while.
Blessings,Joann

Katie's 5th birthday party~

2011-10-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

We went over to Brentwood today to celebrate Katie's 5th birthday. She had a bowling party and everyone seemed to have lots of fun. Before going over Roger and I stopped at the jewelry store where he bought my wedding rings and I needed to have both my wedding rings and my emerald ring resized, while we were there we seen they were having a sale on loose diamonds so we decided to change my diamond with one that is quite larger and much more sparkly :) This new diamond makes my rings look even more beautiful than they already were.

Here are some pictures from Katie's special day

Katie's cake~

Katie with her cake~

Roger and I at Katie's birthday party at the bowling alley in Brentwood~

The bowling party~

We even got back in town with enough time to pick up my rings, so here it is~

I pray everyone has a very blessed Sunday tomorrow.
Blessings,Joann

Look at what is coming to our city.....

2011-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe it when I seen some signs up in front of an empty store a few blocks from my home. The signs said "Hobby Lobby coming soon". I have never been to a hobby lobby before but from all of my midwest friends I hear that they are a great store. I can't wait, two weeks from today October 7th is the grand opening and I am already to go to see what it is they have that I cannot live without:)

The other day I stopped in the parking lot and snapped a few photos, it really is coming, they put a real sign up ~

This is the front of the store, it will be quite large which I think will be great~

I have always loved going to Joann's for most of my crafting needs but this store is actually closer to my home than Joann's of course I always joke about loving Joann's because it has the same name as me but if Hobby lobby is closer and about the same price I will be shopping there. I love to go and just look at all of the fabrics all lines up either by color or seasonal things.

Please have a wonderful blessed weekend. Blessings,Joann

Pantry cleaning...

2011-09-20T19:46:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I finally had the time and energy to clean our pantry.

this is the before picture~

Now it's all inventoried and clean~

I have been sick for the past few days, don't know with what but I seem to be feeling a little better today. Please if anyone feels like they would want to please keep my son Mattie in your prayers, he is just very lost right now...very far from God:( Thanks, Blessings,Joann

the top 5 blogs that I love to read...

2011-09-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just a random post, needed something more uplifting than my last post. I apologize for my last post it was just babbling nonesense that comes late at night when I have a real bad headache.

I wanted to share with you all what my favorite blogs are to read and the women who have them, most are my friends and when I say friend I mean I may have never met them in person but I enjoy a friendship through the internet.

#1 and please remember these blogs are in no particular order, though I do have two that I would say are the top two.

DeNiece over at organizedhomemakingforChrist is a very very wonderful and Godly woman, she is as sweet as can be and I have done both emailed with her for years and have spoke with her on the phone for quite a while. Her blog is very honest and is just a joy to read. She has made some video tours of her home and days in her kitchen they are just so much fun to watch and I love her North carolina accent. She doesn't put on a show for people she is just who she is. She loves The Lord with all her heart and it shows in the things she says and the things she does, she is very honest and open about most anything. She also has a great love for both her husband and her children, she homeschools her children and she is a stay at home mom who loves her job.I feel honored DeNiece to call you my friend:)

#2 Katy over at The country blossom is another lady that I love reading her blog. She is also a stay at home Mom and homeschooling Mom and she loves her job too. She does many things everyday and when reading her blog you can just feel how much joy she finds in doing the everyday things. She also love the Lord with all her heart and her husband and children. I do also want to mention that a while back I had left a comment on her blog, a not very nice comment and she emailed me and said that I had really hurt her in what I had said and so of course I apologized for what I had said and asked her to forgive me and her and I have still been friends, she is a wonderful friend to have and I figure those who actually have a real life friendship with her are truly blessed. She makes amazing meals for her family and her home though very simple is absolutey beautiful. I am happy and feel lucky to count her among my friends.

#3 Winona over at catloverandquiltmaker

Now Winona is different than the other two I listed in the fact that she is more like me(I hope that isn't an insult to her) she and her husband are empty nesters like we are and she loves to craft. Her blog has the most beautiful creations that she has put together and she is so fast and dilligent about getting things done, OKay on that she is nothing like me:) I remember reading her blog one morning talking about a pieced rooster pattern that she wanted to try, she hadn't done it before and I went to her blog either that afternoon or evening and there was a picture of the rooster all done, well it wasn't quitlted yet but the top was done. That is what I mean, for me I would have sat down and thought about how to do it and what colors to use ect... probably for hours even days and here she already had it done and it was beautiful. Anything she metions about working on or wanting to work on she will have either done or a major part of it done in just hours. She makes the prettiest purses and small wall hangings. I love being able to call her my friend.

#4 Khris over at sewprimkhris Khris is someone I met through a swap, she was hosting the FRIENDS Swap a few years ago and I joined. She is a lovely lady and always seems to know how I am feeling and almost always has to say to me things I am just needing to hear. She is a wonderful uplifter of people around her and she has made an impact on my life that I have no words to say how much she has helped me to get out of my funk and start enjoying life again. Khris I do so appreciate your friendship. She also does many types of crafts and loves prim things as I do but she is much better at crafting than I am.
Khris I treasure our friendship.

#5 Linda over at all-stitched-up

Last but not least, Linda is a very high class stitcher, she embroiders so well and it just seems to come naturally to her. She has made some beautiful patterns and quilts. Her stitches are so small and uniform that it is amazing when you see it. I have embroidered for years now and I don't even come close to doing as good a job as she does. I purchased one of her patterns a while back and of course it is still in the package it came in :0 her blog is a joy to read and I learn all kinds of new things always. I do consider Linda a friend but other than leaving comments on her posts and maybe an email here and there we are not real great friends. But I still list her as my friend because I enjoy her blog and I enjoy her.Thanks for being my friend Linda.

Well there you have it, my list of blogs that I love to read and a little about the blog owners. I read many blogs but only a few do I feel that I have an actual relationship with the owner.Now this is only my side of the friendship there may be a different feeling on their side if there is I am not aware of it.I love to meet new people on blogs, I love to make friends but as always I am very leary of getting too close. Too many times burned by someone who I thought to be my friend. I love it when you have a friend who is a true sister in Christ, and even if you do something wrong or you don't agree about something you work it out and move on I remember a while back when I was just having a busy time in my life and DeNiece had emailed me and I didn't get back to her for quite a while, the next thing she did was email and ask me "did I do something?" and I just loved her for that. I have had many differences with friends in the past and some are true sisters in Christ and we get through it and some are not, they talk the talk but they don't truly walk the walk, those are the ones to watch out for.

Please have a very blessed Day in the Lord and may your week ahead bring you nothing but joy and happiness.
Blessings,Joann

Remembering September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

I seen this song on K-Love.com one of my favorite music stations to listen to and I just loved it.

Please remember to keep in your prayers those who lost loved ones in New York, The Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

Enjoy the video

Michael W. Smith, There she stands~

I am back!!

2011-09-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yes once again I have returned to this blog. I love this blog , especially the title of it. I had made a new blog and I have to say a big ThankYou to all of those wonderful people who followed me over there, but in the end I always seem to come back to this blog. My life lately has been a bit chaotic, made of course by my own doing. I will not go into any details because it is in the past, I don't live in the past, today is a gift that is why it is called the "present".

Last Friday Roger took off from work and I had imagined it a little different than it turned out. I thought maybe we would sleep in and just lounge around all day, boy I could not have been so wrong.

Friday morning Roger had an appointment to get our 2005 dodge trucks transmission worked on so he took it to the shop at around 9AM, I took Molly to the groomers at the same time and then stopped by and picked Roger up...next we had to get a new catalytic converter put on the Blazer so Roger took that to the other shop and I followed him and picked him up from there we went grocery shopping and when we were done Roger called and the dodge was ready to be picked up so I took him by and dropped him off. Went home had a message on our machine that Molly was ready, so I went to pick her up, I took Roger with me and I dropped him off to pick up the Blazer. Roger still had to take the Blazer to get smogged and while he did that I finished up putting groceries away. Basically our day was over.We both also had Doctor appointments in the afternoon. we just this month got our insurance after not having any for the past 3-4 years, my appointment was at 2:30 and Roger's was at 3:50, I went out to my appointment and it was so nice to be making a $20 copay on the dr. visit instead of the $117. for our last dr. Now I have had my doctor for the past 15 or so years and I wasnt' all thrilled about having to change but change we did. We were lucky enough to find a White english speaking doctor who went to school in the United States. After my appointment I had to go pick up my prescriptions and then I came home. I didn't get home until 4:45 and Roger got home around 5:30. We ended up not really even seeing each other all day. We didn't even eat an actual dinner, I got myself a cheeseburger and coke from mcDonald's and Roger just heated up some soup. We were sitting there in the living room around 8pm just watching some tv and we talked about how we were needing to go look at a new BBQ as ours which we had had for about 10 years wasn't working right anymore. We decided to go out to Lowes and see what they had on sale.

We came home with this~

BBQ in a box :)

AFter the many many hours Roger worked on it putting it together~

Sunday evenings dinner, first use of the new grill~

The food was so good, Roger BBQ'd some chicken and some fish and it all turned out wonderfully. The doggies were waiting for him to drop something, they sat on the grass and were very dissapointed when he didn't drop any food for them

Molly and Mandy, Mandy had gone to the groomers on thursday, Molly on Friday~

Thanks to my friend DeNiece for letting me know that Walmart had their fall febreeze effects air freshners out, I found this double pack and oh they smell so nice.

Fall Febreeze~

I have learned so many things over these past few weeks, lots of things about myself some good but mostly not so good.

I have been trying to memorize the Bible verse~

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Phillipians 2:3-4

Thanks to everyone for visiting, I pray that each and every one of you have a very wonderful week.

Blessings,Joann

The time has come for a break....

2011-08-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Winona over at http://catloverandquiltmaker.blogspot.com/">>
is taking a computer break for a few weeks and I told her I may steal her idea and do the same thing. This morning I made the decision to also take a break for a few weeks from blogging and I also took down my facebook page, for those who are my friends on facebook I am really sorry but it is just getting to be too much drama associated with having my page.

While I am gone I plan on working on some craft projects especially the winter wonderland one, also do something with some redwork I have done already. I will also be working on menu planning and grocery shopping budgeting. And as always trying to get my home organized and clean.

Will be back in the fall, my favorite time of year.

Blessings,Joann

What a glorious Wednesday :)

2011-08-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

This morning the doggies and I spent some time out in our chairs on the back patio.

This is what I mean about us sitting in "Our" chairs, Molly has her own chair out there~

I like early morning, everything is pretty quiet. Mainly you can hear the birds singing and of course my doggies barking at people passing by our back gate.

This is the view from the back patio, so nice the sun was just coming up and there is a cool breeze out there. Today the temp. will rise to about the mid 90's but this morning it's nice and cool with a light breeze.

Have to add this video to my post today because it asks the question~ Which Jesus do you follow, Which Jesus do you serve??

Have a wonderful day in the Lord, thank you for stopping by,
Blessings,Joann

A picture post..

2011-08-15T16:32:00.001-07:00

Wow the weekend sure does always go by so fast...and the weekdays sooooo sloooooww.

This morning I woke up and was so tired and my back was already hurting. This is not a good way to start the first day of the week :(

I got Roger off to work after making him breakfast of toast and a banana, yep that was it :) I sent him off to work with his lunch of a lowfat yogurt, a honey ham sandwich, pretzel braids and some coke zero's. He is so good about not eating a bunch of junk..unlike me:)

Last week I was going to post pictures of my new bathroom carpets and I just never did get around to taking and posting the pictures. I also made cinnamon rolls and the same thing, I did take the pictures but never got them posted. So I decided to put them all in one post to get you all updated on everything.
I have to start first with a cute little picture of my baby Mandy, this picture makes her look so big when in reality she is only about 4-5 pounds :)

So here are the cinnamon rolls in all their glory~

Getting ready to go into the oven~

Here they are all baked up~

I had no milk in the house when I made the rolls so when I went out to get pizza for dinner I went through the drive thru at McDonalds to get a small thing of milk. That was so much easier than going to the store to get it. So the rolls weren't frosted until later that night, sorry no pictures of them.

Friday was grocery shopping day and as usual I spent way too much for just 2 people, I spent over $150 and that is just for a week. I HAVE TO get a handle on my grocery spending. I need to start working on menus like I used to do and only buy what we need. Any suggestions from anyone about how they do it Please leave a comment or email me. I desperately need HELP!!!!

Last week I also worked on a few dishcloths, the color was picked because the person who will be getting them said their kitchen was purple. I didn't really like the colors but after seeing it crocheted up it was actually very pretty~

Here they are all wrapped with ribbon ready to make their journey to their new home~

The pictures of the bathroom with the pretty new carpets in it, I am very pleased with how everything turned out.

Hallway bathroom~

Now everyone out there knows what a wonderful husband I have and I just had to show you all how that is so true.....On Saturday we spent the good part of his day off looking for ceiling fans for the kitchen and dining room, we had white box flourescent lights for the longest time and I have been nagging him about a ceiling fan in the kitchen because I am hot all the time. We found the ceiling fans and he went to put them up on Sunday morning(also using a day off) but of course he never does anything halfway so he had to take the old lighting fixture down fill in some holes and repaint the area, then start putting in the new fixture.

This is the fan we picked out~

Here it is all put up~

Here is a picture of the new ceiling fan today with the lights on and the fan going~

Have a wonderful week everyone and bless you very much, thanks for stopping by :)

Blessings,Joann

Summer cleaning projects...

2011-08-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

"She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness."

I have been working on a list of things I want to get deep cleaned this summer and now since it is August guess I better get working on some of them.
We are having a small get together for our son-in-laws birthday this coming Saturday. This week I want to work on the hallway bathroom. I finally got all the new rugs and such for in there but don't want to put anything new in until I get all the dirt out :). No it isnt' that dirty but I do want to give the bathroom a good cleaning before Saturday. I love the color of the new carpets and will certainly take a picture after it is all done.

Yesterday was a not so good day for me and today hasn't been that much better. I just dont' feel well. all I did yesterday was vacuum and mop the entire living room, moved all the furniture and also cleaned the blinds and windows, so it was a busy day even though I wasn't feeling that great. I also for some reason was really missing my dad and then pile on top of that the fact that Mattie is home in Texas but still has not called nor has Sara called to let me know he/they are doing okay. I look at it this way if it were the other way around wouldn't Sara want me to have Mattie call her and tell her he is okay. They don't seem to think of much but themselves and that is very hard on a Mom.

I did manage to crochet 4 dishcloths yesterday as most of the day I was just sitting around. I plan on making some cinnamon rolls tomorrow, I find if I get everything ready the night before and set out on the counter it makes me think of doing it better.

Roger is working late tonight as he did last night so he won't be home until around 8pm wich is lousy! He basically gets home, eats something sits down and relaxes for a few minutes then it's bedtime...I don't know how he does it everyday.

THis weeks cleaning projects~

Hallway Bathroom~

()()()Clean out drawers
()Clean under sink
()Wash medicine cabinet and organize things inside
()Wash light fixture
()()Clean sink/counter
()Clean toilet
()Windex window
()Vacuum
()Mop
()Put new carpets down
()Replace hand towel with new one
()Take out Garbage

Thanks so much for visiting, please come again. Have a wonderful week ahead.
Blessings,Joann

A fun weekend..

2011-08-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

A week ago Saturday Roger's mom told him that 6 years before he was born, that she had, had a baby a little girl and gave her up for adoption. This adopted girl hired a private detective to find her mom and she did. Last week this adopted girl got to meet Larry, one of Roger's brothers and this week we drove up to Sacramento to meet her too. Me Roger's mom and Roger were all very excited to meet this lady, and a little nervous too. When we got there we had to wait just a few minutes as we had got there a little early :). Anyway Roger's mom and the daughter she had given up for adoption were reunited for the first time in almost 58 years. It was almost surreal. They hugged and I was able to get this picture of them just touching. I thought it was such a special moment.~

Here is a picture of Roger and his new sister Connie~

This next picture is of Roger, Connie, Esther(Mom) and Larry~

The waiter at the place we had lunch took this next picture for us, so that way we all were in it, I am sure he didn't mind as he ended up with something like a $60 tip from all of us :)

People in this picture are from front - back on the left side~ Roger, Me, James (connie's husband)from back -front on the right side~ Candy (larry's wife), Larry, Esther(Mom) and Connie (The new sister)~

As you can tell I didn't go into many particulars as obviously this is something very private and this not my story to tell. I just wanted to share a little about what happened. Roger is so excited to have a sister, he had told me about a month ago about an unusual dream he had and it included him having a sister. I know everything comes in God's time and not our own and he sure waited quite a while on this one but well worth the wait. We now have new members of our family and we are quite happy with both the new sister and her husband. I have to mention her husband because he is a very special tender/warmhearted person and I am very happy to call both of them family now. I can't wait to meet more of their family and for them to meet ours.

Now on to things that are certainly not as important but still things going on this weekend, I finished up crocheting the two dishcloths I was working on and they are ready to be put into the mail on Monday. I know most things I make are not always perfect but they are always made with lots of love and prayers. I am currently working on some new dishcloths with purple in them and will be hopefully hand delivering these to a wonderful person.

The two red/white dishcloths waiting for their ride through the mail~

One more thing, I had told Sara, Matt's wife that I had seen these so cute twinkie holders at the grocery store but hadn't taken a picture of them. I went grocery shopping on Friday and picked up two of them, one for Sara and one for Matt. I think they are so cute The hat on the top opens up and you put a twinkie in. Aren't they just the cutest. Sara if you read this please note they will not fit in the box so will have to make the journey to Texas in another box at another time.:)

I pray that everyone had a blessed weekend, I know that we did for sure:)
May your week ahead be filled with blessings. Thank you for visiting, hope you come back.

Blessings,Joann

Penny this post is especially for you :)

2011-08-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Okay I will try and explain as best as I can about this vacuum with both words and pictures. Though I can't take a picture of myself holding it so you will have to use your imagination a little bit.

The lift away part comes off and leaves the actual floor part on the floor, the dirt cup part comes with the lift away part.

Here it is sitting on the floor next to the floor part that I lifted it away from...you still with me??

This is the little power brush which goes on the end of the wand part~

That is real good on furniture or even cars.

this is the wand which also has a 24" extension for it if you want to use it for high things~

the whole reason I wanted this particular vacuum was that it did what no other vacuum did, it separated with the cord so when you lift it away you have 25' of electrical cord that goes with you. Even on my very wonderful Dyson when I used the hose part it was always attached to the vacuum and almost always would tip over if you went too far. This doesn't' happen with this vacuum because the hose the dirt cup the motor and the electrical cord go with you. I think this is the coolest thing.

You mentioned the shark that was discounted at Walmart, I really don't know much about the one you mentioned I only did research on this one. I have to say if you want a hand held one and don't have a lot to do then the Dyson hand held would probably be my choice but doing research on that one I found out it is cordless which is great but it only has power for about 10 minutes and it takes up to 3 hours to charge and they don't sell a back up battery for it yet. I love Dyson products and even though they are a bit pricey I do feel they are worth it. The cordless Dyson sells for about $350 and this shark that I bought was $169. at Target, my big Dyson I paid $550 for and have never regretted it one bit. This time I was just needing something different than what they had.

Hope this help understand it better. Now I have two vacuums that I love :)

Library books I got today...

2011-08-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

A few months ago when I learned a new Duggar book came out I got online to reserve it at the library, I had to put my name on the long list....I was 11 in line. Today I went to the library to pick up that book and I have already read the first 26 pages. So far it is real good though it goes over a lot of what I have already seen on their show, but in more detail.

The newest Duggar book~

I also picked up a couple of cook books, one just on bread and one on baking in general. some of the recepies look really good.

this is a gooseberry patch cookbook that I own and use all the time, it has great meals in it and I love gooseberry patch cookbooks~

`

dinner is in the crockpot, crockpot pork chops, I will make some mashed potatoes later and heat up some green beans, and then dinner will be done. tommorow is going to be pizza night so will have all day for goofing off :)

I found out when my Little Mattie is coming home, well he isn't coming home to CA but to Ft. Hood. I can't say when for Army security reasons but it is coming soon...His wife called me yesterday and I told her to take lots of pictures since I can't be there just so I can see for myself that he is safely on United States soil.

My friend Penny left a comment about my new vacuum and it being a lift off one, I will take pictures in a little while of what it looks like and will post later tonight or tomorrow so you can see what it does and how it works and one of the attachments is a mini power brush just for pet hair.

Please visit again and have a wonderful day,
Blessings,Joann

A new servant in our home and grandkids first day of school..

2011-08-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday August 1st was the grandkids first day of school, I can't believe they are so old and I have no idea where the time has gone.

This is a picture of Katie getting on the bus this morning, just loved her smile and her eyes~

If anyone is my friend on facebook you can see the rest of the pictures of both Dylan and Katie on the first day of school. Dylan started 2nd grade and Katie Kindergarten.

Yesterday was also a very happy day for me, as anyone who has read my blog for any time now you know that I struggle with many things, homekeeping probably the main one and I am always on the lookout for things to make it easier to do. I seen this item on a TV commrcial and just had to get one. Oh am I glad I did :)

My new servant~

Look at all of these pieces~

Yes I was smart enough to put it together :)

"
I hate to even show anyone this next picture, but trying to always be a real truthful blog, here it is, yes it's the dirt cup full of well dirt! I used the new vacuum in the kitchen, pantry area and dining area and this is what got sucked up. Disgusting in one way but it makes me happy in another that I now have this much less dirt on the floors

The best part of the whole vacuum is that it weighs 12 pounds and when you do the lift away part it is only 7 pounds, now my husband was asking questions about it and wondering will it magically make me a wonderful keeper of our home, yes and no, no it's not magical but on days when my back is hurting it will be much easier to lug this little vacuum out instead of our Dyson. I am not sure when I boughtour Dyson, it's the pretty purple and silver DC17 Absolute for pet hair we bought it when we had carpet everywhere, now with our new pergo floors only the bedrooms have carpet. Our Dyson is still working just fine and I do love it it's just a little bit big and heavy for me to manuver around so this will just make things for me a little easier.

Roger's tomato crop for this year if doing very well and has produced some beautiful tomatoes, he only has 4 plants but they are huge!

Aren't these yummy looking??

Here is a picture of the back yard with our fountain corner~

And of course my baby Mandy, after she got home from the groomers~

Another winter wonderland update...

2011-07-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today we went over to the mall in Tracy to meet up with Jennifer and the kids for school shopping. Jennifer and Katie were waiting in front of Target when we got there but Dylan wasn't there. Dylan was at home because he wasn't feeling good.So we went shopping for both of them even though Dylan wasn't there. We started with shoes, each kid got a new pair of shoes, a new package of both socks and underwear. Then on to the fun stuff....the clothes, I love looking at little girls clothes they are always so cute.

We got Katie a real cute dress with the Disney princesses on it, then a few skirts adn some leggings for underneath and a few tops to go with the skirts, then on to things for Dylan. Dylan's favorite colors are green and orange and guess what we were able to find both colors in nice polo shirts. I like nice looking collared with buttons shirts so was happy to find them on clearance for $4.49 each. We ended up with like 6 or so shrits of different colors. Target sells the perfect pants for both Dylan and Katie they have adjustable waists in them. Dylan is going into the second grade but he is still so small, he wears a size 6 in boys for length but the waist is way too big :) He could actually wear a 5 toddler but they would be too short. Katie is the same way so we got her adjustable waist pants too. I don't know the exact amount of things they got but it ended up costing a little under $250 for both of them, of course that isn't counting the backpacks and lunch boxes we got a few weeks ago and the little dresses I got Katie at Walmart the other day. I thought we did pretty good. I did forget however to take any pictures of the shopping expedition :(

When we got home I started working on the winter wonderland project and accomplished quite a bit on it. I have the best light when working in daylight so have put it away for the night.

Here are a few pictures of the ww project~~

All that I have gotten done on it so far~

This is what I have to do next~

This is what I finished today~

Just another picture of it, sorry it hasn't been ironed yet~

Roger and I just got back from dinner out and he is out walking the doggies. Plan on having a nice relaxing evening.

An update on Sara (my daughter-in-love) and her getting the house for her and Mattie, she posted pictures on Facebook and it is just the cutest little place, I guess it is close to the base (Ft. Hood) in Killeen, Texas. I know she is feeling kind of lonely since Mattie isn't home yet and she had to leave her family and friends to move there so please keep her in your prayers. She seemes to be very busy with getting the place put together, she is doing her kitchen in Red and it's so cute. Before all the problems with the getting married and me not knowing about it part Roger and I had planned on getting them a BBQ for a wedding gift, but now I don't think that will be happening, but we will see.

Thanks so much for visiting, hope your weekend is going well.

Blessings,Joann

The county fair...

2011-07-18T15:33:00.001-07:00

Roger and I decided to go to the county fair on Saturday night instead of tonight for a couple of reasons, it was nice and cool on Saturday and it would have been hard for Roger to get home in time to go and find a seat for the Mercy Me concert. They always seem to have some sort of Christian artist at our county fair but they always seem to be put on a weeknight, wish they would put them on the weekend. We have seen Avalon, Rebecca St. James,and Matthew West in the past so I will miss seeing Mercy Me tonight but I had a great time on Saturday. Got to see one of my favorite parts of the fair...the animals. Since I live in the city I don't get to see farm animals very often (Maybe one day if we ever get some land in Missouri I can have some animals). The pigs and cows and sheep are my favorite ones. They had a mommy pig with 4 little piglets that were so cute.

Here are some pictures of the animals we seen~

The mommy pig~

3 of the 4 piglets~Aren't they just the cutest??

My favorite type of cow (don't know for sure the breed)~

A Brahma Cow and her baby~

I thougth these two sheep were real cute~

We of course had to have a corn dog, my favorite fair food, but I didnt' take any pictures of the corn dogs:)

I also got a large bag of cotton candy also another fair food favorite :) Didn't take a picture of that either:)

Sunday was a lazy day and we went to in-n-out burger for dinner, I love their burgers and their fries but one of the best parts of eating there is what is on the rim under the cup~

Yes it's a Bible verse and it's on every cup they serve you a drink in, isnt' that just cool?? A regular soda you get a red and white cup with John 3:16 and a milkshake comes in a green and white cup and it has Proverbs 3:5 on it. I have always loved that about that place. You get fed more than you know at In-N-Out :)

My Monday is going real slow. Laundry is done and my routines are going good but it is now almost 4pm and I feel like I still need more time before Roger gets home to do some more things and he will be heading home in about 30 minutes. He won't actually get here till after 6pm but he is on his way.

I also have good news about Sara and Mattie, she made it to Killeen safely, and got them a house, posted pictures on her facebook page so I was happy to see the place, very cute and nice and clean looking. I am hoping they will be happy there. Now she just has to wait for him to come home..
Have a wonderfull week and thanks so much for stopping by, hope you visit with me again.

Goings on here at home...

2011-07-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

First let me please ask all of my wonderful friends out there to please keep Sara, my daughter in love and her Dad in your prayers They left Las Vegas today to move her to Kileen(Ft.Hood) Texas so her and Mattie can start their new life together as soon as he gets home. I dont' know when they will arrive in Texas but have asked her that when she has time to please let me know she got their safely.

Let's see what has been going on around here well to sum it all up in a nutshell it would basically be not much :) I know I know I am supposed to be trying a new routine but I have to admit that a few of the past days I have gone back to bed because I am so totally exhausted at 5AM. Okay there I have said it and now everyone knows I am not a superwoman. I am still getting things done but you know how they say when dealing with children to "Pick your battles" well that is what I am doing with my homekeeping right now. I am doing what is necessary and maybe each day a little more. Like on Monday I did not dust everything in the living room, oh my gosh did I just type that outloud!!! I did what needed to be done but not everything. Yes my ceiling fan is zooming around depostiting little dust particles on everything because I didn't dust it. Will that be the end of my life well I guess probably not. But I am full aware of all of that dust up there and it being strewn all around the living room. I will probably go dust it after I submit this post:)

Okay I went and did it before I posted this, oh that dust was just starting to get on my nerves.... that's it for today.

I went to Walmart today to price some bathroom rugs, I have been looking for some new rugs to go with the shower curtain. Right now I have black rugs and I am just tired of them. When I was at walmart last time I noticed they had some nice red ones, not bright red(well they had bright red too) but this was more of a barn red which is what I am looking for. If and when I purchase them I will certainly post pictures of them.

Today is Wednesday and it is bathroom cleaning day and I have to admit somehting else both bathrooms are half done. I always clean them at the same time, doing the same thing that way I only have to get the cleaners out once. Probably kind of strange or weird but that is how my brain works.

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope to see you again.

Blessings,Joann

My big helpers!!!!

2011-07-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well I was a little off on laundry time, didn't finish unil a little after 10am but still it's done and it's now starting to get hotter out. when I was putting the last load of laundry away this is what I found in our bedroom~

Our doggies taking their mid morning nap~

They pretty much nap all day long and I think they were happy that the bed was made so they could go lay on the pillows :)

Just had to share this with you all, since the doggies are so darn cute!

Blessings,Joann

My bed is made :)

2011-07-11T08:09:00.001-07:00

I have started my new time schedule with my routines this morning. We were up at 5am, I made Roger's lunch and I also made breakfast. Got a load of laundry started and made our bed by 8am. I now have the second load of laundry in the washer and the first is in the dryer. I hope to have laundry done by 9am. So far I am liking getting things done in the morning especially with it being summer, it is so hot later in the day.

I plan on spending some part of today working on my embroidery but that I can do when it gets hotter.

Now I am off to do the cleaning for today, the living room and I also need to unload the dishwasher.

Please have a very blessed day and thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

Blessings,Joann

Backpacks, lunch boxes and embroidery...

2011-07-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Ever since the grand kids started school, Dylan was the first and now Katie, we have tried to buy a few things for them. If they need new clothes, shoes, backpacks or anything else. This year we had planned on taking them shopping on the 23 of July, it's a Saturday and Jennifer will meet us at the mall in Tracy and we will go shopping. but this year I seen a target ad with backpacks and lunch boxes on sale. Roger and I decided we would go ahead and get the backpacks and lunch boxes today and just do clothes with them in a couple of weeks. I called Jennifer and asked what type they wanted and we were able to find the type they wanted and we are very happy. I am hoping the grand kids will be too.

Dylan's new backpack~

Dylan's new lunch box~

Katie's new backpack~

Katie's' new lunch box~

Winter wonderland update!!

Today after shopping I sat down and worked on the winter wonderland project a little more, I finished up the first part I started and have the second part almost finished
Here is what it looks like this afternoon~

Don't look too closely at it as I know it is not perfect and the stitches are still all over the place and not very uniform...I guess that gives it that homemade look :)

We have had a slightly cooler day today and so far an AC free day but it is still HOT!! Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler and I will try and get by with out the AC again. I am also starting a new routine tomorrow, not really a new routine but more of a how I am doing the routine, I would like to get certain things done before a certain time and tomorrow is going to be my day of deciding what needs to be done when. I try to make my bed everyday but sometimes it doesn't get done until late afternoon and I would like it to be done in the morning. Doing anything in the morning is hard for me I AM NOT a morning person at all. It takes all my energy and brain just to get Roger's lunch together and there have been many times when I forget things, this is not acceptable to me, I need to get with it and make sure I do what I am expected to do in the mornings. I have more energy and the want to do things at 11at night or later than I do at any time in the morning. I would like to change this if I can.

Thanks so much for visiting and may your day and your week ahead be blessed.

Blessings,Joann

Goodies came in the mail today :)

2011-07-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today before I left for grocery shopping I noticed that the mail had already came, very unusual for our part of the city. Normally mail comes around 1-2pm but it was already here today at about 9:30am. I looked over at our box and there it was the box I was so anxiously waiting for now don't get too excited it wasn't anything crafty but still just as precious to me.....my new planner!!! Yeah!!

Pictures of my new planner~

Oustide cover~

Inside pages~

I found out about this particular planner from my friend Katy over at

http://countryblossom.blogspot.com she is such a wonderfully energetic and insightful person and I just love reading her blog. She is pretty much my daughter's age so I am way older than her but oh the things I have learned from her by reading her blog and one of them was about this planner. Two things that I didn't know about the planner were that it is such a beautiful color in person and the cover for it has a zipper that goes all around it so in case you want to keep a pen or paper in it you could and then just zip it all up. I am loving it so far and all I have done with it up to now is read all the scripture from January till July.

Anyway I am a very happy camper today, got my shopping done, we are having pizza for dinner tonight so I basically have the rest of the day to just goof off. Haven't done much goofing off lately so I think I will enjoy it:)

Please have a very blessed weekend and thank you for coming here to read my blog.

Blessings,Joann<

Mattie will be coming home soon!!!!

2011-07-07T14:02:00.001-07:00

I found out the other day through Sara that Mattie will be leaving Iraq pretty soon. Military safety as it is I can't say exactly when he will be leaving but he will be out of there soon. I am so happy to hear that he is leaving Iraq, but I also have a very mournful heart for all of the mothers out there whose child will not be coming home. I dont' know the exact amount of how many soldiers were killed over there in the year that Mattie has been there, but any number is too many. I know that Matties squadron lost at least 5 maybe more. Mattie is in the Third Armored Calvary squadron, also known as Thunder squadron and I know that they just recently (in June) lost 3 soldiers in one incident. To know that soon Mattie will not be in that country really has put a quietness to the usual raging in my heart. I pray daily for his safe return and I would like to thank every single one of you that has prayed for my son's safety.

I was up again this morning at 5am and Roger and I were talking about how nice it would be if he could get up at more of a normal time like 7 and just get ready and go to work but when you have this horrible long commute it doesn't work like that. There is a 90 day probationary period and after that we will be making a decision on wether to move closer. Right now we live about 70-80 miles from Roger's work and the closest we could get would be about 40-50 miles closer, any closer and we could not afford the home prices. The homes price increases with every mile closer to the bay area. In our town you could buy a home anywhere from $150K-$500K, over closer to Roger's work they start around $600K and go up and that is for just a normal home nothing fancy just the basic 3 bedroom 2 bath. We will have to see what happens after the 90 day period and wether or not Roger decides to stay with this job. He doesnt' like the fact that he is getting paid $17 per hour less than what he was making working on the Bay bridge so that will be part of the decision process..is it worth all the commuting to get paid less and all.

My week has been going by pretty quickly though it seems that the day goes by very slowly with Roger being gone. I was getting so used to him being home and so were the little doggies.

I pray every one is having a great week and I thank you for visiting me at my blog.

Blessings, Joann

Headaches....who needs them...

2011-07-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's only 8:40pm here in California and not even time for fireworks yet but everywhere else has probably already had them and gone home. I am at home, have had a real bad headache all day and right now all I want to do is go to bed. I am hoping everyone had a wonderful independence day. The light is hurting my eyes something fierce and I just want it to be dark and quiet. Going to bed now.
Blessings,Joann

Winter wonderland update.....

2011-07-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is a very small update as I haven't done much on the winter wonderland project. I was real happy with the word Winter that I got done but am not very happy with the other stitching I did. My stitches are very uneven and I just don't like them at all. I have been debating about taking them all out and redoing the part I don't like but then figure maybe I will just keep it and it will give it some character :)

Pictures of what I have gotten done so far, also on the lookout for some pretty Chirstmas fabric for putting it all together.
All that I have done so far~

Close up of "Winter"~

Life is too short.....

2011-07-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

I have heard this comment many times but until recent events in my life it really wasnt' that powerful of a saying. I myself have said it many times in the past but didn't really take into consideration what it actually meant.

This whole stupid horrible thing that is going on with me and my son Mattie just has to stop and since Mattie is an adult and can do whatever he wants then that leaves me I am also an adult and I am responsible for what I do and how I react to things, I am not responsible for Mattie's way of looking at things but I do have to be responsible for my own actions. I got mad at Mattie and his new wife because they did not tell me that they had already gotten married. Part of why I was mad was becasue I didnt' understand what it would matter if I knew or not. I have only met his new wife 2 times and I really like her. I am very happy that they are married and I truly do wish them all the best in life. This is were the life is too short part comes in....I could sit back and be angry at them both and never have any contact with them, but Life is TOO short for that, I dont' have time for it nor do I want to waste my time even thinking about it. So as humbling as it was I I sent Sara a text and then called her, she didnt' seem like she was mad but then I really dont' know her that well. I also recently sent them both a wedding card telling them that I am happy for them.I am trying to think in my mind(Please quit laughing everyone, I do have somewhat of a mind :) what does it say in the Bible and of course forgiveness is the first thing I though of, if I expect God to forgive me every time that I make a mistake and fail then I have to offer forgiveness to them for not telling me and just get on with life. They sara and Mattie may not think they need my forgiveness, but them needing it and me giving it is two totally different things. I am forgiving out of obidience to my God. This of course doesnt' mean that I am now just going to let every thing roll off my back and not say what I am thinking but like it or not I AM Mattie's Mom, I will ALWAYS be Mattie's mom, and no one not even Mattie himself can take that away from me. I love him unconditionally, no matter what and I am very proud of the nice young man he has turned into. I am also very proud of the fact that he is a soldier. Mattie does not read my blog but I just needed to write this out to get it off my chest. I do feel better now.

4th of July

2011-07-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, MAY YOU ALL HAVE A VERY WONDERFUL BLESSED DAY.
Blessings,Joann

Saturday here at home...

2011-07-02T22:17:00.003-07:00

Today Roger and I did some errands, one of which was going to the farmers market this morning. We have the nicest farmers market they always have good fruit and veggies.

Today we got some apricots, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, yukon gold potatoes. tomatoes and a couple of onions.The strawberries are so sweet as is everything else except of course for the tomatoes, potatoes and onions.

I got my bread machine going early this morning and was able to make some homemade hamburger buns

for tonights dinner

and also a small pan of just plain dinner rolls.

The whole house smelled wonderful with the fragrance of fresh baked bread. This time i got smart and got all the ingredients out the night before and left them on the counter. It seems like I always intend to make some sort of bread and I take the butter out to thaw and then forget about it and then I have liquid butter and that won't work for bread making. I was very happy I made them as they made our dinner taste so good. I think it was a combination of the good homemade buns and Roger's grilling of the burgers that made everything taste good:)

Sunday I plan on working on my winter wonderland project, it is supposed to be in the low 100's so maybe it will make me think cool thoughts. today's temp was 104' according to the van thermometer.

Have a very blessed Sunday.

Blessings,Joann

Working on homekeeping schedules..

2011-06-30T16:15:00.001-07:00

today I started to tackle my biggest problem in my home right now ME!!!

I used to be very dilligent about getting things done and everything had to be just so and I tried to step back and not worry so much about getting things done but I think I stepped back way too far...Now nothing is getting done so I am going back to my old schedule with a few little tweaks to it.

You probably can't tell by the pictures but I have the prettiest light purple paper that I printed everything out on and I really like it. I find if I like things and they are pretty to me I am more apt to use them.

I have been editing the daily pages to get rid of items like scoop litter box since we don't have Oreo anymore and things I don't need on them but they are not all done yet. So please excuse the way they look right now.

Here are all the pages lined up~

And then in daily form~

Mondays~

Tuesdays~

Wednesdays~

Thursdays~

Fridays~

This is how I am putting them together~

The first page is the weekly menu calendar and then the weeks daily chores pages.~

I also have a page for monthly menu planning but have to work my way up to that one, struggling just to do a few days at a time right now.

Don't know for sure if this will work but I always will give something a whirl and see what does and doesn't work for me. Basically I really just have to let go and let God help me with this. I want to do what I am doing for the glory of God and Him alone. Not so that my home will be like a picture in a magazine or so people will see it and say " oh my your home is beautiful,". I like my home to have that lived in look but be clean and a place of refuge for my husband to come home to every night after his long commute. Who wants to come home to a dirty home every night.

Please leave a comment if you would like and let me know how you organize your homekeeping schedule or a link to it if you have a blog.

I feel as though I am not living up to my expectations I have for myself at being a homekeeper. This is the only job I want and I want to do it well. ANd please don't think for a minute that everyday everything on the lists get done. Take today for example I did start dinner in the crockpot this morning and I did most of the morning chores but I did none of todays cleaning chores (the kitchen) and we will have to see what happens tonight with the evening chores. I do have laundry going but it's been cool here the past few days and even though I knew it was going to get hotter today it really kind of snuck up on me and I now have a raging headache, I am hot and there are a million things to get done. Thankfully I have a new day ahead of me tomorrow :)

I printed out pages for menu planning from www.frugalmom.net

Menu pages~

Monthly~

Weekly~

And last but not least, Roger and I both got one of these phones the other day, having fun with it but will take me months to really figure it out :).....

My new phone, it has a real pretty purple case on it but you can't really see it~

Have a wonderfully blessed day in the Lord.
Blessings,Joann

Tomorrow is the big day......

2011-06-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Roger's first day of his new job, and my first day in a long time without him being home all day. Not sure if I will like that or not kind of got used to him being here.

Last week on thursday morning we packed up some clothes etc.. and our little doggies and took a short trip over to Ft. Bragg on the ocean. We had our honeymoon in Ft. Bragg 11 1/2 years ago. this time we stayed at a different place because the place we stayed for our honeymoon was a bed and breakfast and they don't take pets. This time we stayed at a place called Cleone garden Inn it's a little north of the city of Ft.bragg. We got there Thursday night spent a few days and then came home. We had a lovely time and it was pretty relaxing. Friday we went down to the Point Cabrillo lighthouse, I love lighthouses so it was real fun for dinner on Friday night we ate at a place called the North coast Brewing company, they have the best fish and chips!! The fish was so fresh tasting and you got tons of it. Saturday we went to McKerricher state park for a picnic lunch right on the ocean, that was fun too. Saturday night we stopped off and picked up a pizza and went back to our room kicked back and just enjoyed a night in the room with our little doggies. Monday I did manage to get a few loads of laundry done but I was just so tired. Taking a trip no matter how long or short seems to tire me out.

Tomorrow for me will be when I need to get back into my homekeeper mode, I have definately been on vacation from that for a while. I need to redo my keeper binder and get back on my schedules as best that I can. I also need to work on menu planning. I used to menu plan every meal now it's just what can I find to make for dinner :( I also need to work some on the winter wonderland project. I have worked on it now for about 3-4 hours and have completed the word "winter" I know I am very slow at embroidery but I do enjoy it so.

Here are some pictures of the trip~

Our motel sign~

Me and the doggies at the Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse~

Ocean view for our picnic lunch~

More views of the ocean~

Roger and I had a wonderful time just spending time together away from things at home. It is so nice to be able to get away for even just a short time to just rejuvenate ourselves.What was really special about this was Roger picked out the place to go because he remembered we went there for our honeymoon. :)

I pray that everyone has a very blessed week ahead of them and thank you so much for stopping by my blog I truly appreciate it.

Blessings,Joann

Answered prayer~Roger got a job!!!!

2011-06-16T16:39:00.003-07:00

Roger has been out of work since the end of February and even though it hasn't been that long for us it seems like a lifetime. At the end of June Roger will be starting a new job working on the Golden Gate Bridge. I would like to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers for this job.I think both Roger and I feel like a big weight has been lifted off of us. We are most certainly thanking God for this job which was to be in His time not ours. We did get a little discouraged from time to time and of course asked the question why often but then really everything does happen in God's time not our own.

Have a wonderful upcoming weekend.
Blessings,Joann

2011-06-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

2011-06-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that the red pen I bought the other day works just great for transfering patterns. There are two pieces of the winter wonderland pattern that are quite large and I wasn't sure if I had enough white Kona cotton, but I did.

Winter wonderland pattern from www.crabapplehill.com~

*(I believe if you click on the photos they will enlarge and you can see them much better)

The two large patterns are the holly border and the one that says walking in a winter wonderland.

I found out they would be too large to transfer on my small table I normally use so I found another way to do the transfering of the large patterns...

I used the large window in my living room~

Here is a close up of the pattern all transfered~

The only problem I could find with using the window was the fact that it is such a detailed pattern it really hurt my back to stand there and transfer it. I ended up doing it in sections with rest periods in between.

I have had this pattern for a while and normally only think about doing it when it is already Christmas time. Maybe if I can get started on the embroidery sometime this week I can get this done before Christmas :)

Today is also June 15th wich means for me reading chapter 15 in Proverbs...sometimes it seems like God is certainly using His Word to get my attention. I have just recently been very harsh in my speaking and this chapter humbled me to the core. I love this chapter of Proverbs because it always seems to speak to me and I always learn something from it. I love being in the Word of God everyday and it helps me to get through the day. We also used our Air conditioner for the first time in quite a while today, yesterday the outside temp was almost 100' and it got up to 87' in the house, even with the ceiling fans it was unbearably HOT!!! I do not do good in the heat so today Roger turned the air on for me and it was most comfortable all day.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, may you have a wonderful tomorrow and rest of the week. May you find many blessings along your road in life....

Blessings,Joann

Created to be his help meet....

2011-06-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have just recently started reading this book again, Created to be his help meet. I have had the book for a few years and when I first got it I just sat down and read the whole thing without really taking the time to absorb what it is saying. Through the counsel of a wise and wonderful friend I am starting to read it all over again with a completely different attitude.

The first part is entitled~

The Help Meeet

Chapter 1 God's Gift~

"A Wise woman doesn't take anything for granted. She is thankful to be loved and seeks to make herself more lovely."

"Do you wake each morning ready to make your husband happy and blessed, to serve him to the best of your ability-- to be his helper?"

"When you honour your husband you honour God. When you obey your husband you obey God.

The degree to which you reverence your husband is the degree to which you reverence your creator. As we serve our husbands we serve God, But in the same way when you dishonor your husband , you dishoner God."

My first time reading this book, I was very defensive thinking that maybe my husband doesn't deserve to be honoured or reverenced and then this time around this particular sentence caught my eye....
....because it is so weird to think that your husband deserves you as his help meet. But who said anything about what he deserves??

It is much more a realization that I need to do what I was designed to do and to honour God while doing it.

Character traits to work on ~

1) Virtue

2) Graciousness

3) Wisdom

4) Goodness

I am being honest here, as I always try to be...Marriage is sometimes hard work and if people say that they have the perfect marriage I wouldn't believe them. To be a good wife has little to do with your husband and so much to do with what the Word of God says about being a wife. Trying to live as much like Christ as possible but knowing that I am so far from that and that I have a long way to go all I can do is start every day with a prayer and do my best to honour God throughout my day. Do I fail at this, yes I do almost daily but thankfully I have a God who forgives and gives me the next day a new day to live for Him.

Anyone who would like to join me in reading this book you are so very welcome. I am reading it with a friend and we will be emailing each other our thoughts on each chapter. Things I will share here will not be the personal things that I will share with her but mainly my thoughts on the chatpers. Please email me if you would like to join me, if you don't have my email leave a comment with your email and before I publish it I will remove the email part.

Have a blessed day in the Lord, Joann

Updating.....

2011-06-12T13:08:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged in quite a while so will try and update what has been going on here at home.

Last Sunday I had a Bridal shower for my future daughter in law, I was so excited about it and put my heart and soul into making it just right. With Roger being out of work I had to do it on a budget, wich was challenging. Sara's (the bride to be)Mom Annette asked me if it would be okay to bring the cake and I said yes and told her what a blessing that was to me. She brought a beautiful cake and it tasted so good!!

Here is Sara with the cake~

The day of the shower came and instead of being worried about it being 100'+ I was worried about rain and cold. Who would have figured there would be rain on the first weekend in June in CA. The weather turned out okay but it did rain quite a bit during the bridal shower. Luckily we were under the patio cover and were safe from the rain. At one point I was thinking we may have to build an ark it came down so fast and hard :) Sara got many wonderful gifts and we had 14 people come. The day was fun and turned out fine. Sara came by our home on Thursday this week to pick up some pictures from the shower I had for her and her mom. We chatted for a little while talked a little about the wedding in October and then she left. She left CA friday to go back to Las Vegas (where she is living right now) and I thought all was well and good. I wasn't sure if we could go to the wedding in Texas or Vegas since money is tight but if there was a way I would be there!!!! Friday night I checked my facebook page and now Sara has listed herself as married to Mattie, changed her name and everyone is congratulating her on her recent marriage!!! What, when did this happen, my son is in Iraq, I talked with her on Thursday afternoon and here friday evening she is now married and she didn't even mention it to me, this really made me MAD!!!! I feel like she was lying the whole time. Now I know Mattie has a big problem with lying but I thought maybe Sara could break him of that. I guess not since she seems to have no problem lying either. First I was mad then I just got very sad and dissapointed that I had been left out. Mattie has done some not nice things to me in the past but nothing this important and sadly right now I am to the point of I don't care anymore. You think this catches you up with what's been going on around here?? YOU couldn't be more wrong......

Chapter 2 :)
I have been having some personal problems the past few month and had confided in two very good friends. I won't call them my BFF's because I am an adult and that is a teenage term :) One of them is a true sister in Christ and the other well just a good friend I have know for over 15 years. I emailed both of them and one of the responses I got just gave me a wake up call as to who is really my friend and who isn't. Both of these friends emailed back within a day and gave me some advice to think about, I was sick at the time and didn't get right back to them, it was probably like 3-5 days before I got back to them. In the meantime I get a second message from one of them about me not being a good friend and that all I do is come to her with my problems all the time and that I am not there for her. I couldn't believe what I was reading, this is the same person whom I have visited in her home with her many times and even though we lived very close to where she was living she never once came by my home, she moved I think 3 times and she never even let me know, I found out by either calling or going by and finding no one there. And she has the nerve to say I am not there for her. My other friend doesn't think this way, she knows that that is what friends do for each other, they listen and try to say the right thing and to just make you feel better.

Chapter 3, don't worry this is much more fun :)

I went to the library yesterday and picked up books I had requested. I love the fact that I can go online pick out books and request them and then just go to the library and they have them all ready to pick up sitting in a stack.

THese are the books I picked up~

When I was out yesterday I also went by the fabric store to look for a pen for transferring patterns, I usually use a black micron pen but since I am doing redwork I wanted a red one. I couldn't find a red micron pen but I found this and am hoping it works~

I plan on starting on the winter wonderland embroidery project this coming week. Lots of transferring to do..

Please have a very enjoyable week ahead, and I will try and be a little more consistent with my posting.

Blessings,Joann

Today is My daughters 30th Birthday....

2011-05-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY "30"TH BIRTHDAY TO MY DAUGHTER Jennifer~

Jennifer Marie Price was born in Manteca California at 2:28AM on May 18, 1981. I am so sorry but I don't have any pictures scanned in from when she was little as I have been sick for almost a week now and just don't have the energy to do much...

I will try and post some pictures either later today or tomorrow if I am feeling better.

Jennifer you are a wonderful wife and mother and a great homekeeper.

She is currently working as a nanny which she has done for quite a few years now. She loves working with children and treats them as she does her own children.

Happy birthday to you Jennifer, I love you very much and am very proud of the beautiful woman you have grown into. Love, Mom

Jason Crabb, one of my favorite artists

2011-05-04T04:52:00.000-07:00

I seen this song performed when I watched the Dove 2011 awards and just fell in love with it. It just speaks to how I feel sometimes.....

I am up and it is almost 5am, waiting for sleep to come. Still finding it hard to sleep. end up awake all night and sleeping most of the day.
Have a wonderful day :)

Enjoy~

My little boy turns "21" today!!!!!

2011-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Our youngest child turns "21" today. Matthew Thomas William Bates was born way back in 1990 on April 24th at 8:02 PM.

Mattie you are our most favorite son we could ever have!! We love you very much and I found a few pictures of your years growing up, very nice memories.....

Happy Birthday Mattie,
We love you very much and pray that the Lord Blesses you immensley on your birthday and all the days of your life.

Mattie one month old, May 1990~

Mattie and Jennifer May 1990~

Your 4th birthday part with the family at the park in Escalon, April 1994~

Your first day of school, August 1995, Kindergarten, Mrs. La Rossa, room A-1 Dent elementary Escalon

Giving Mom a great big smile while playing around on your bunk beds with your new comforter, January 1996~

Look at what a cutie you were, and still are :) January 1993~

You always loved to play in cabinets in the kitchen~

You and Mom at the In and Out burger in Bakersfield on our way to Disneyland,July 31, 2000~

You and Roger in our Motel room across the street from Disneyland , looks like you are both worn out from all the fun!!!, July 31, 2000~

Your 16th birthday party, the pirate party!! April 2006~

Sadly this year you are many, many miles from home in the middle of a desert in Iraq, but I still know it is your birthday and you will be in my thoughts as you always are every day of my life.

Lots of Love, we miss you bunches and bunches. Remember you will always be my little SB :)

More deaths in Iraq...

2011-04-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

I was just reading over at the facebook page of Mattie's unit the 3rd squadron of the 3rd ACR and they put up a post about the fact that they lost 2 young men on Sat. April 2, 2011. That means that there are two families out there who got that horrible news that no one ever wants to get. Please keep these soldiers in your prayers.

I have still not been sleeping well, didn't go to bed until after 5 am this morning and so my nights have become my days and I don't like it. We are still waiting to hear news of any job offers for Roger and it is just so hard waiting and waiting!! Right now we really don't care were the job is we are willing to relocate pretty much anywhere. We have been praying about it and we know that God already made his plans for us, but sure wish he would share it with us so we wouldn't be so stressed out all the time.

I am trying to talk Roger into taking a vacation because it would be good for both of us right now, but he says it's not the right time to take a vacation when he has no job. Okay I am sure he is right but to me him not working is the best time, he won't be missing any work days. Of course we only have unemployment to live off of right now and it is only a fraction of what his pay used to be so I guess I understand his thinking I just wanted to go to the Midwest and visit a few friends, take our doggies and rent a motor home and just drive and see where the road takes us.

I am giving Mattie's soon to be wife a Bridal shower in June so I have been busy with all that entails. I found some real pretty bridal shower invitations at party city the other day. She, her name is Sara lives in Las Vegas so I only really have contact with her through the computer, Sara sent me a list of names for the list and then I added my families names and right now I have 14 people on the list. That's a nice amount knowing that not everyone will be able to make it I am hoping to have maybe 10-12 show up.

I am still not in a crafty mood but keep seeing things on other peoples blogs that have peaked my interest. I also want to make something special for Sara for the shower it's only a few months away so I guess I better get my behind in gear and get going on something. Sara sent me some choices they have made about colors for their new place. Red for the kitchen (I love red) Black and white for the bedroom and green for the bathroom.

I have asked Jennifer to help me with the shower and she is in charge of games, I am trying to think of cute things for gifts for the winner of the game and thought about making some homemade dishcloths but not sure what else to make. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog may your day be greatly blessed.
Blessings,Joann

Blogging again......

2011-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I had deleted my blog because I just wasn't finding that joy that I used to feel in posting on my blog. After many emails and some friends on facebook I took some time to think and pray about it and have decided maybe I wasn't looking hard enough to find the joy in it. The joy is there it just needs to be looked for and I wasn't doing it. There was also another reason and that has to do with the name of my blog Titus 2 keeper at home with a name like that one would come to the conclusion that my blog is written by some one who lives the Titus 2 life and they would be WRONG!! I am just like everyone else out there trying my best and struggling every day to be a keeper at home. I read other people's blogs and look at what they do and I don't even come close to measuring up to them and then it hit me I don't need to measure up to other people I just need to do my very best to live as God intended for me to. I have been struggling so hard these past few years just to get the minimum things done as far as housework is concerned, I have looked back through my blog and when I read some of my old posts I wonder who the heck that person was and where is she now! Since Roger has been without a job (end of February) I have been doing nothing except getting up really late and I mean late, wathcing tv all day and going to bed really late. I am starting to hate doing this, so with much prayer, lots of encouragement from my good friends and just getting up and doing it, I WILL get up and get back to my old Titus 2 lifestyle, I will still struggle daily but hopefully at the end of the day I will be able to hold my head up high and be proud of what I accomplished that day. I hadn't been posting very much because I felt like a failure. I so much want to be that Titus 2 proverbs 31 woman and I just wasn't achieving it but then was I really trying my hardest probably not. I pray that the Lord will give me the strength to get the things done that need to be done, the wisdom to work efficiently in my home and the courage to tell the truth about my not so wonderful life when it needs to be told.

I am a Titus 2/proverbs 31 struggling late 40's woman who loves God with all her heart, also I Love my husband and children and grandchildren.I want to be someone who my husband and children are proud to call their home keeper. I want God to use me and my home keeping to bless everyone I can.

Are there any struggling women out there?? I have also noticed on blogger that there aren't many women like me, I find lots of women who are younger and have children at home or women my age but still have children at home. My life is way way different than it was when I had small children at home and that has also been something I have been dealing with. Empty nest syndrome is something very hard to just get over. My youngest child Mattie has been gone now for oh about 3 years and I still miss him everyday.

I want to be the best home keeper I can and I plan to do this,it may take me a while and I may struggle everyday but I will do it!

I thank everyone who sent emails about my blog and the encouragement I get from some of my great friends some have blogs and some don't but they are all my friends and I love them for being there for me when I need them the most.

Blessings,Joann

My Testimony

2011-03-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello all and welcome to my blog, today I would like to share with you all my testimony of how I became a Christian.

I grew up in a non Christian home, I grew up in a catholic home and no that is not a Christian home. We went to church every Sunday for exactly 1 hour and if it ran even one minute more all you heard when you left was how long the service was. These people were complaining about having to be at church for a few more measly minutes. My home was not a place where anyone was encouraged to pray, or to read the Bible. We had the token large white Bible that only sat on a shelf under the popes picture. Do I believe the catholic church is a cult YES I DO!!

I remember going to CCd classes throughout my schooling days and then when I was older..i was probably about 24 -26 and I had watched a program on tv strange enough it was the Jim and tammi Bakker show and they talked about how you can pray to God and read the Bible anytime you wanted. Then came my inquiring at the catholic church about lent. I asked many people but not many could explain to me why and what the reason for lent was. All I know about the catholic version is that you give something up for 40 days before easter. My sister always gives up candy. I thought this was rather strange. I found out many years later that lent originally was when someone stopped doing some sort of sin for the 40 days and prayed to never do it again.

When my son was 2 years old and my daughter was 11 years old I asked Jesus to become my savior and my life changed immensley I got tired of the catholic church not being able to answer my questions and I really didn't like the fact that they basically say that regular people can't read the Bible for themselves, they need a preist to interpret it for them...what a bunch of baloney. We started to attend a protestant Church and finally for the first time I felt free to worship Jesus as I wanted to, No more rote prayers said as a whole. I could talk to Jesus whenever and wherever I wanted to . I also found out that in the Bible it says that Jesus forgives us our sins and that he also forgets our sins this is not what I was taught in the catholic church.IT also says in the Bible that when we die we will be with Jesus if we are born again and have asked him into our hearts.

I remember going to my brothers funeral about 9 years ago and the priest mentioning the fact that we all had to pray for him to get out of purgatory, I personally don't pray for dead people, I feel that their fate is sealed when they die. they either go to Heaven if their name is written down in the Lambs book of life or they go to Hell.

My life has been so much more meaningfull and happy since I became a Christian but sadly my family is still in the grips of the caholic church. They think because they are a catholic then life is just wonderful and since they are not bad then everything will be fine. They could not be more wrong. I have been told by some catholics that they are Christians, I don't think so you can not be a Bible believing Christian and also follow all the rules and such of the catholic Churh.

The catholic religion has made their own Bible including books that are not authentic and have changed the ten commandments making them okay to bow down to idols!! I pray daily for my family that are still brainwashed by the catholic church and really hope someday they will see the light of Christ.

So basically my testimony is that I was able to reject the religion of the catholic church to begin my new life as a child of God and I am so more fulfilled and happy than I have ever been.

I know that when the time comes I and breath my last on earth I will open my eyes and see Jesus, my King and savior.

I have made it through March so far....

2011-03-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been very hard for me. Not only waiting for news of a job for Roger but having to struggle through the anniversary dates of my Brother's and Father's deaths. Some days it feels like it has been an eternity since they both passed away and other days it seems like yesterday.
My Brother was killed by a drunk driver while driving home one evening on March 15, 2002 and my father passed away quietly sitting in his favorite spot one Sunday morning watching the birds in the backyard on March 11, 2007.

Roger had a friend that every time we seen him at Church and we asked him how things were going he always said going good but just waiting for the Lord to return. I always thought this was strange why someone would not enjoy life and just be waiting to go home, but lately I am starting to feel the same way as he did. I sometimes pray for the Lord to come back.The world does not seem to be an enjoyable place anymore. There is so much crime, and money worries that it is very hard to find the joy in it.

We still are waiting to hear about a job for Roger and waiting is so hard for both of us. The time seems to go by at a snails pace.Roger had another job interview with a company that would keep us here in CA, but CA is not where we really want to be. I am not happy with the state of CA and we would love to move somewhere else.

I am still not crafting yet and don't know when I will return to it. I have plenty of patterns, fabric and embroidery supplies and yet they are not yet calling to me.

Next weekend we will be celebrating Dylan's 7th birthday at the local bowling alley. He wants a new bike and we found an orange one the other day that I think we will be getting him. His favorite colors are orange and green.

My Mom had her cataract surgery on Wednesday and is doing real good. I went out to lunch with her and my sister yesterday and had a nice time.

One of my old friends that I found on facebook and I are getting together next Wednesday for lunch. I think it will be fun catching up on the last 15-20 years...

Please have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by.

Blessings,Joann

Molly is home

2011-03-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Molly is now home and resting comfortably. Thanks to all who prayed for her. Mandy is even being nice to her, I think she can sense something is a little different about Molly. We also had her dew claws removed as she had 2 of them when we adopted her. She has some real snazzy looking purple bandages on her two legs and she also needed to have one tooth pulled. I am so happy it is all done and over with. Right now she is laying on some cozy blankets on the couch and sleeping.

I feel very blessed to have the wonderful friends from my blog and on facebook that I know to call on for needed prayers.

Thanks again my treasured friends, Blessings,Joann

A couple of prayer requests

2011-03-14T18:01:00.001-07:00

I have a few things I would like to ask of my readers to pray for. Tomorrow (Tuesday) our dog Molly is getting her teeth cleaned doesn't sound like to big of a thing but they have to put her out and we just don't like that at all. She really needs it done but we are both very anxious feeling about the whole thing and of course it will cost lots of money which we don't have right now.
The other thing is my mom is having cataract surgery on Wednesday. Please just keep both of them in your thougths and prayers.
I know some may think it is stupid to worry about Molly as she is just a dog but to us she is our baby that we would do anything for and we love her so much. Mandy will be doing a lot of crying tomorrow with her big sister gone for the whole day, but that is because she is a baby. She cries just when one of us goes outside...

Thanks to all of my wonderful readers.
Blessings,Joann

Mattie got a promotion!!

2011-03-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

I just wanted everyone to know how proud I am of my little Mattie he was promoted to specialist (SPC) I don't know the exact date but within the last month. I have been trying to find a picture on the Havoc Hounds facebook page but no luck yet. If I ever do find one I will be sure to post it. Also please note I changed the address in the right sidebar to reflect his current rank.

I am just so happy today as most of the people I sent friend requests to from Escalon First assembly of God church have responded. So many of them look exactly like I remember. There is one family who also have a Matthew and he and my Mattie were in the same group in church, very strange to see him all grown up.

I pray that everyone has a very blessed week ahead and that I will have some good news about this job thing by the end of the week.

Blessings,Joann

Decisions, Decisions......

2011-03-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today I made the decision to keep my facebook page. I had thought about getting rid of it but realized that I do enjoy, it maybe not all the time but the majority of the time.It is real nice to reconnect with old friends. Today I came across a name I hadn't heard or thougth of for almost 15 years and when I went to her facebook page I knew almost everyone on her friends list. that took me back to the one place where I felt was home. Back when Jennifer and Mattie were little we lived in a very small town and started going to the local Assembly of God Church. I knew the first time I stepped in that door I was home. Everyone was so wonderfully friendly and not just on that first day over the next 5 or 6 years that we attended there we were so graciously welcomed. I think about that church from time to time. It was the place my son at 2 years old learned his first Bible verse "We are helpers" not sure where it is in the Bible but I was so proud of him. Anyway enough of that.

This past week or two has gone by so slowly as we are waiting to hear about a job. I do not like to wait at all!!! This next week we are supposed to hear about it and I am praying it will be on Monday and not on Friday at closing time. Roger has tried to stay busy, but lets face it,it's so hard for someone who is used to working all day just sit around and wait. He has been helping around the house because well frankly I have been doing nothing. MY daily list of things to do has not been getting done at all. The basics get done, meal making and laundry but then that's because Roger is doing them. I have been totally dropping the ball on my homekeeping.

This past weekend we went over to Jennifer's house for a small party. Chris' Mom was visiting and we had never met her so it was nice to go and visit.

Katie showed us her and Dylan's new bunk bed set~

Jennifer's also got a new bed, I think it is very pretty~

Our tree in the back yard has been blooming and it is just gorgeous, it doesn't last very long but it sure is pretty~

Roger has been working on a new gate for the side of the house, it turned out beautiful~

Here you can see (if you look closely)Mandy on the other side of the gate looking through~

As I had mentioned in a previous post Mattie is getting married. We didn't know for sure when but we now have a tentative date October 22, 2011, I have been in contact with Sara, his future wife about giving her a bridal shower, this is a little hard as she lives in Las Vegas but her Mom lives here so she does plan to come this summer and I think we will just give her the shower then. This is also just a tentative date as if Roger gets a job we may have to move and then of course I won't be able to give her the shower. We will have to see what happens. Hopefully we will know by the end of next week.

I was looking through old photos yesterday and came across some from 2007 and I had so many crafty things I had done,seems like I just don't have the desire to do any type of crafts anymore! My favorite thing to do is embroidery but even that is just not interesting to me. I remember when I got the baby quilt for Katie. I started working on it in August and I had it embroidered and sent to get quilted and had gotten it back before she was born in October. I sat and worked on it for hours everyday and enjoyed every minute of it. It was a lot of work but it turned out so pretty when it was done.
Here she is with it, hanging on the wall in her bedroom~

I also made one for Dylan his was made of small squares and then put together and quilted ~

I only did the embroidery part the person who quilted them did everything else. Now I am just not interested in doing anything, even reading which is another thing I used to LOVE!!
Please if you remember keep me in your prayers and also Roger and the whole job situation.

I think this next week is going to be very stressful for both Roger and I but I am trying very hard to keep my head pointed at the sun..

I recently found an old song that I just fell in love with, I don't know the name of it but the chorus goes

I can't see the sun with my head to the ground,
tears fill my visions and weighs my heart down.
But I found the secret when I knelt to pray
That when I lift up my head then He lifts up my heart and my troubles just all roll away!!!

Blessings,Joann

A lazy Sunday and a prayer request....

2011-02-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today has been a lazy day, We did pretty much nothing other than go to Target to pick up a few things. Since Friday was Roger's last day at work my weeks are going to be so totally different from now on. Jennifer stopped by today and we were talking and both Roger and I said at the same time (jokingly of course) I was tired of him being home and it's only been a weekend so far, and he said that on Saturday he was already bored from being at home and it had only been one day.....so we will have to see where this new adventure for us takes us. I am not relating any details but please keep us in prayer this coming week.

One of the good things is that I don't have to get up at 5AM anymore Yahoo!! I am not a morning person so this will be just wonderful. I do much better if I can sleep until about 8AM I know that sounds kind of late to some but I rarely get to sleep before Midnight or even later. Roger and I are both night people.

I haven't been here to blog lately mainly because I just don't have any thing exciting to say. I have been very lazy lately and not much homekeeping has been done. Luckily it's just me and Roger and things don't get to bad.

Our grandson Dylan will be turning 7 in March, I can't believe it has been that many years since he was born. He wants a new bike for his birthday which of course I want to buy for him and Roger says did you forget I don't have a job??? This is going to be hard to get used to. We are not rich but having to think about do we have the money for this or that will be something new.

Well I have already run out of things to say so hopefully I will have some more to blog about later in the week.

Blessings,Joann

Life gets in the way!!!

2011-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Don't you just hate it when life seems to get in the way of your plans. Lately this has been happening more and more for me. I mentioned in my last post that I would be back blogging this coming week, but I lied, well I didn't know it but I won't be posting and don't know when I will be back maybe never??? I need to deal with some issues before I can come back and post.

Blessings,Joann

Birthday greetings for my son

2011-02-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

I am enlisting the help of my fellow blogger friends to make my sons 21st birthday a happy one. Mattie will be turning 21 in April when he is in Iraq, so no celebrating with him. I was thinking about this today and thought how nice it would be if my friends would send him a birthday card, maybe it would make his day a little brighter. If you are interested in sending him a card his address is under his picture on the right side bar. Please don't send any gifts that is not why I am doing this I just know it would be a wonderful suprise to get lots of cards from all over the place. Right now it seems to be taking about 2 weeks for mail to get to him and his birthday is April 24th so make sure to mail early probably by the 1st of april just to make sure it gets there. You may also want to mention that you know me through my blog or he may wonder who in the heck is this from.

Thanks in advance, I plan on blogging again come next week. I took an unexpected break for a while.

Blessings,Joann

After a long wait at the airport last night.....

2011-01-21T13:25:00.001-08:00

My son Mattie finally got here last night right before Midnight. I left my home on Thursday at about 2pm and went to pick up my Mom, then we went over to pick up Jennifer and the kids. We got to the airport at about 5:30pm and just when we are pulling into the parking area we get a phone call telling us that Mattie is on a different flight, a later flight...a much later flight!! He was originally going to be coming in at 6:55pm and now he wasn't going to be there until 10:50pm and then that time turned into 11:45pm. So we waited and waited and then waited some more and finally he was here.

The gate where he was going to come out of, very empty~

To be able to get to this gate you have to have a boarding pass and go through securtiy, so guess What I got!!

A boarding pass(my special ticket)~

His plane arrived at 11:42pm and when he came out I made sure to give him a great big hug, he is the best hugger there is

Me and Mattie~

We left the airport after paying the outrageous fee of $27 for parking and started on our long journey home. We dropped Jennifer and Matthew and the kids off at Jennifer's house then I went to drop my Mom off at her apartment and I made it home a little after 4:30am. I was strangely wide awake and decided to stay up and get some laundry done. Now it's a little after 1:30 and I am starting to get so tired.

I may take a nap later but right now I am still doing laundry.I am putting off grocery shopping till another day other than bananas we have enough food to last for a few days.

Praying that everyone has a very blessed and wonderful weekend.

Blessings,Joann

Mattie is on his way home!!!

2011-01-19T12:44:00.001-08:00

Just got the call, Mattie comes home tomorrow night. I am so excited that I just want to drop everything I am doing and just think about tomorrow. I can't believe that he is finally coming. Seems like we have waited for so long.
don't know how much I will be on the computer in the days to come but I will certainly be back with pictures.

Blessings,Joann

One down and one more to go!!

2011-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the carpet installer came and installed our new carpet in the craft room, now we are still waiting to get Mattie home.

I have a picture of what the carpet looked like before~

The craft room with new carpet and trim~

I really like the color of the carpet and the style, it's called Lasting elegance in Saddle color. It doesnt' show up very well in the photo but it sure makes the room look so different. The last carpet was dark and made the room look small it is a small room but now it looks very large and bright!!

This week so far I have been working on finishing some embroidery things I had started over the summer. Two of the pieces are in redwork, I love doing redwork, but the last piece I did in two colors, Red and blue.

PLedge of alligience~

I think they all turned out nice and am happy with them. I will be getting one of those black bookcases that we bought for the living room for my craft room and I was thinking of making one of the items I got done into a small pillow to set on the bookcase for a decoration. Not sure yet what I will make of the Pledge of alligience one, maybe a small wall hanging. So now that the carpet is in and the trim is done it is now my turn to put everything away in it's own place. I have a big pile of stuff sitting on the back patio that came out of the craft room. I have a few things that will be going on the bookcase, but I haven't gotten it yet.YOu may have noticed that we took out one side of the table top, seemed like all it was ever used for was to pile things on, I think I have plenty of room for my computer and my sewing area. Roger very nicely put up my thread holders and bobbin holder, now to just get my rulers hung up and that will get them off of the table top.You can also tell in the photo that I have plenty to do in the craft room at least organizing things will help a bit.

I was very happy to have my internet back, but have to say I really didn't miss it as much as I thought I would.Mattie called from Iraq yesterday morning but not today so that may mean he has gone to Kuwait, then we just have to wait for him to fly to the states. I am really getting excited.

Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for stopping by, Blessings,Joann

Now we wait....

2011-01-16T22:48:00.000-08:00

We are now waiting for two things to happen this week. Monday morning we should be having the carpet put in the craft room, spent many hours getting it ready this weekend and of course the most important thing we are waiting on is Mattie coming home. We are thinking he may be here by Friday!! I am so excited for him to come home. But Friday seems like it is so far away. This weekend went by very slow.Today while watching football with Roger I looked at him and asked "is it still sunday?' sadly it still was.

I have taken some pictures of the craft room and will take some after pictures tomorrow after the carpet is in. Then I will post them all so you can see what it looks like right now.
I will have no internet plugged in tomorrow but will be back in a few days maybe even tomorrow night.

I pray that everyone has a wonderful Monday and entire week.

Blessings,Joann

We Knew it would be coming.....

2011-01-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

Now that we have an actual date of Roger's last day on his job I just feel kind of numb. February 25, 2011 will end Roger's temporary job.The good things are he won't have to drive that stupid outrageous commute every day and I will get to spend lots of time with him. Actually we feel truly blessed, this job was supposed to last for 6-9 months, he started working on May 19, 2009 so any time after that we felt was just abundant blessings from our God. We have both talked about this time and we realize that we don't need to worry about another job because God already has our plans made up, we just don't know what they are and of course we tend to worry but we shouldn't. Worry you know how hard it is to not worry, well let me tell you it is very hard!!!We are praying that he will be eligible for unemployment so we won't have to live off of our savings. I have looked up unemployment benefits and it seems like the maximum amount that you can get is $1800 a month and we can easily live on that.

Monday we are having my craft room carpeted, made a few adjustments in there and I will post some pictures after it is all done. I have done very little crafting but I am blaming that on not having a craft room I can use and not saying that I am just being lazy this past weeks, well I have been sick for about a week now. Started feeling much better on Thursday and went grocery shopping today so I guess I am back to normal now :)

I took those scarves I made the grandkids over to them a couple of weeks ago but forgot to take a picture of them with the scarves on, they seemed to like them.
Mattie has been calling pretty regular, this past week every morning except Wed and today. He will be coming home on leave in a few weeks don't know exactly when but we are all very excited about it. I have been buying him some things he wanted for when he gets here, some clothes and a cell phone for getting in touch with all his friends and I still need to get him a pair of shoes.

My 2011 certainly didn't start out too great but I am still claiming my joy in Jesus!!

I am thinking about joining in the Bible study of the book of James on the 17th through the good morning girls web site. I think it will be interesting. I was thinking of doing another Bible study too but then figured it would be too confusing for me to do two at one time.

Prayer requests, please keep my grandson Dylan in your prayers, he has been having a few problems at school and needs to be lifted up.
Roger's job situation, praying for a real good permanent job, one with benefits would be so wonderful.
Prayers for me I won't go into great detail but would like to also be lifted up.
thank you so much my very good friends

Blessings,Joann

January 4, 2011

2011-01-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a lot of both praying and thinking about what I would like to accomplish in 2011. I was very excited to start a new year and start the stitching challenge but I have made a decision that I am not going to continue with the stitching challenge, I started out behind and now all my thoughts are consumed with trying to catch up. I was thinking if I could get a little more done on my first project and then start the second I wouldn't be too far behind, but then I came to the conclusion that I am not enjoying this very much. I know that I mentioned in another post that Management would be a good theme for me this year, I think I would like to add also Peace as my theme. I have many things rambling around in my head all the time that I really just want to find peace for. As far as the theme of management, this would be in all areas of my life. Time would be the main area, I am a very good time waster, you got some time that you want to waste then send it on over here and I will waste it very good for you.Managing my time in my entire life sounds so simple and you would think it would be easy...well you would be wrong!! Managing time also takes time and that is the thing I am bad at managing in the first place..now I feel as though I am going in circles with no end in site.

Joy is another theme for this year for me, I want to find joy in all that I do and I want to do everything joyfully, even yucky things like cleaning the bathrooms :)
So there you have it my Themes for 2011~
Management of~
My time with God, be in His Word more each day and truly be in prayer for more than two minutes.
My household chores, Get a routine and stick to it!!
My eating~Cut back on whatever I can

Peace~
Finding the peace of God's love
Peace within our home
Peace in my heart

Joy~

Being more joyful on a daily basis
Doing chores with more joy
The joy of reading and keeping God's words in my heart

The past, this is not a theme but just something I need to do, forget about previous wrongs and start new, reach out to those who have hurt me in the past and fogive (this is much easier said than done)them, love all people even if I do not have any love for them to love them with love from Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a sister in Christ..
What is that Bible verse about Love not keeping score, can't remember right now but it says something about not keeping score and I really need to heed what that says. Some people will always live in the past and dwell there and for those I am so sorry that they can not move on.

Have a beautiful week ahead, Blessings,Joann

Crazy January 2011 challenge

2011-01-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

Crazy stitching challenge has started and as usual I am behind :)

Sat down last night and went through my floss and wrote down what I have and what I need. How come is it that everytime I want to do some sort of stitching I never have the color I need?? I have over 150 colors and still needed to go out and buy about 40 new skeins of floss today~

I still don't have all the colors as Joann's didn't have a few but I do think I have enough to at least get started.

I need to have 15 projects to start one each day from January 1st through 15th. I have decided to do a monthly snowman project for 12 of the days and then add in a few other projects to round out the 15. Still

One of the stitching projects, on the top in the picture is the original size, the botom is the same pattern but 150% larger~

The January snowman pattern original size~

This is what it looks like after enlarging it 150%, much easier to see and read~

I still need to post a list of the 15 projects but just don't have time right now.Today for the challenge mainly I got all my aida cloths, needles, floss, patterns and anything else I need all organized into gallon sized ziploc bags. As you can tell my projects will be small.

I think this challenge will be fun, and I look forward to seeing what everyone is doing.

Have a blessed week and a wonderful day with the Lord tomorrow.

Joyful days to you, Joann

Happy New Year everyone

2010-12-31T23:42:00.000-08:00

I would like you all to know that my daughter has started her own blog so if you have time please stop by and say hi to her Jennifer's blog

I hope and pray that she enjoys blogging and that she will meet some real good Godly friends.

Also tomorrow January 1, 2011 will be the start of the stitching challenge I have decided to join. Basically you start a new project every day for 15 days and then finish them throughout the year. I am very happy to start and have most of the items I want to get done picked out. Most of the patterns I use will be from cross stitch magazines, they will also be very small that way I won't get tired out from doing it, haven't done it in a while.

Another thing I have been working on are my goals for the coming year, I have a list already planned out but that will be in another post, another day.
I am thinking my theme for 2011 will be management~in all areas of my life~~ More on this later also.

I want to wish everyone~ Family, friends and anyone I happen to know a very blessed and joyful New Years.

Blessings,Joann

I went shopping today and had a blast!!!

2010-12-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

Today being 3 days after christmas I thought it was time for me to go out and spend some of my Christmas money. Armed with my coupons for Joann's I set out on my venture.
First I went to Beverley's fabrics, they are usually a little more pricey than Joann's but they have good sales.

There I came across something I hadn't seen yet....Kona cotton fat quarters $2 each, they had every color you could think of but since I use them for embroidery I usually stick to the lighter colors so I can transfer patterns easier.

These are the colors I chose~

I also came across this package of buttons called Bag-O-Buttons and I really liked the colors. I don't have lots of buttons but these were just so pretty, I also purchased a smaller bag of some different colors~

I only spent $23 at Beverley's. So onto Joann's this is where I like to spend my time, I love to look at all the pretty fabrics all lined up by color.

These were my purchases at Joann's~

Sidewinder~ I had been wanting one of these for a while now and had a 40% off coupon plus 20% off entire order, so it was a great deal~

Some aida cloth for cross stitching~

I also picked up this thread box with 26 spools of gutterman thread for 19.99(minus the 20% off)

I of course have to show you this cute little bobbin holder I bought, never seen such a small holder, it was on sale for $4.19 (minus 20%) Isn't it just the cutest thing??~

Here is a shot of everything I got today, I am so happy with everything.

I ended up spending a little over $50 at Joann's but with my coupons saved $36 so that would have been $86 dollars if I didn't have any coupons. I love it when they send out coupons!!

I am trying to go through all of my counted cross stitch books, and magazines to pick out 15 things for that challenge that starts on January first. I am mainly going to do small things and maybe one medium sized project. I almost always buy 14 count aida cloth for cross stitching, I know lots of people use different types of fabric and linens but I am most comfortable with the type I bought today. I am kind of excited about starting some cross stitch, as I had said in my last post I haven't done counted cross stitch in many years (I think I left out the part about many years and made it sound like I had never done it, but I have just many many years ago)I am also going to sit down and make a list of items I would like to make for friends and relatives for this coming year. I can't believe it is almost 2011.

Blessings,Joann

2010-12-28T01:00:00.000-08:00

I have decided to join in this challenge called Crazy January 2011 challenge. I am so bad at never finishing things, thougth this may motivate me and since their are lots of women joining in it will be encouraging. I have not done counted cross stitch but I have tons of patterns. I am working on my list for the past few days of things I want to start...If any of you are interested follow the link below and include your name and blog at that site. This is not a challenge I started it was started by the person at the link below. Many thanks go out to her.

The part under the link is what I copied from her blog, just didn't feel like re-typing it all.

I will be back in the near future with a list of things I plan on doing, they will be small just to make sure I will finish them. I am also working and praying on what I want to be my goals for 2011. I ordered a few Bible studies from CBD this evening and can't wait till they get here. One of them is a study of Ecclesiasties(don't know if I spelled that right and am too lazy to go check )I am very interested in that one.

So if all goes well I might actually finish some projects , 15 of them!! It is almost scary just thinking about it.Luckily my hand will have some rest time before I start using it again, have been having to wear my brace quite a bit of the day and always at night!

Enjoy your Tuesday, I am planning a trip to Joann's making sure I have all the items needed to start January first.

I have also not spent all of my money yet. I did order those books from CBD and a magazine subscription to Cross country stitching..

Crazy January 2011 challenge

We have so many charts in our stashes, so let's start stitching them!
The rules are simple:

1. Start stitching a new design every day, from January 1st to January 15th. So by January 15th you have 15 new WIPs to stitch!

2. Try and finish everything you started stitching during the year 2011 :)

3. Show photos in your blog if you have one, in January and during the whole year while you stitch, as we all love to see photos!

4. If you wish to join, leave a comment with your blog address into this post and I will add your name to the list.

5. Have fun stitching!

Blessings,Joann

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T15:03:00.001-08:00

I purchased these two Yankee candles to try and lighten my mood and make our home smell wonderful, I now know why these candles are so expensive. They fill your entire home with wonderful fragrances. They cost quite a bit but worth every penny!

I also Did some Bible reading starting at the first of December~

I worked as hard as I could and was able to get both Dylan's and Katie's scarves finished late Christmas eve.

Grandkids Scarves, obviously Katies is the light blue/pink/purple one and Dylan's is the one with his favorite colors orange and green~

Sadly with trying to get everything together to go over to Jennifer's Christmas morning the two scarf presents were accidently left at home. Really made me kind of mad after working so hard to get them finished on time. Oh well they are done and they turned out pretty cute even if I do say so myself : )

I also made up two dishcloths for Molly and Mandy's groomer, her name is Pam and she is just wonderful with them. I didn't wrap them in Christmas wrap just wrapped a ribbon around them~

Our Fireplace with all the stockings~

Our Christmas tree with all the presents underneath~

Our Christmas 2010 will be one we will always remember as the Christmas without Mattie and Oreo. We do need to remember those that were here and we had a wonderful time at Jennifer's house with the grandkids. There is nothing better than seeing children open presents. When we first got there Dylan asked "Did you bring any presents" and of course we did, we had 2 large garbage bags full and 3 smaller bags. We had got a bunch of things from the 99 cent store you know the kind of stuff that you are lucky will last a day or so but they really seemed to like those things. Mainly we bought board games, they like to sit as a family and play games.

Grandkids opening presents boy were they fast~

Jennifer and the kids made a birthday cake for Jesus and they sang Happy Birthday Thougth it was so cute...The cake tasted so good. Jennifer knows how to make a good tasting cake!!!

We gave Jennifer her special gift of a Bible~

This is a closer look at the front of the box~

Here is the cover, it's purple her favorite color. We also had her name put on it.~

This is the inside, it's a study Bible, something she had been wanting~

Here are some of the gifts Roger gave me~

Gaither DVD's~

Money~

web cam~

These are the gifts I gave him, don't exactly know what they are for but he does :)

I pray that everyone had a great Christmas and will have a very blessed and peace filled New Year.

Blessings,Joann

Merry Christmas to one and all

2010-12-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to put this post up today as I won't be using the computer tomorrow.
Our wish for each and everyone is to have a fun,wonderful, blessed day Christmas day and for you to not loose sight of what we are celebrating. Yes getting together with family and friends is fun and will make your day more enjoyable, but please remember that the Reason for the Season is Jesus Christ!! I was reading this morning from Morning and Evening by Charles Sprurgeon and the Bible quote for this morning is "For your sake he became poor" so please keep Christmas as it should be rejoicing in our saviors birth and really think on the whole reason he was born.It was not so people could run around and be all stressed out trying to buy presents, the ultimate gift was from God "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son , that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemm,but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17

Have a truly Blessed Christmas day and New Year.

Blessings,Roger, Joann, Molly and Mandy

This is for my son Matthew....

2010-12-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

I have many Christmas songs that I would call my favorites this is one of the most favorite ones.

This song is for my son Mattie, I pray that he sees it. His name isn't Zachary but I still have "my gift for him that peace on earth fills up his time, brotherhood surrounds him and that he may know the warmth of love and wrap it all around him."

Ecclesiastes 4:10

2010-12-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

This particular Bible verse has been on my heart lately along with a few "friends". These "friends" I speak of are ones from a few years ago that I lost when I had the problems with one particular person who was at one time my friend. Okay now that you are all up to speed and totally understand what I am saying :) I will continue.....

For the past two weeks or so I have been having this continuall conversation with the Lord, he keeps telling me to do something and I keep coming up with excuses not to do it, I debate very good let me tell you!!

So Ecclesiastes 4:10 "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" In this particular verse I am not the one who has no one because I have many true treasured friends and they know who they are. I started thinking about these past "friends" and I got out two Christmas cards and addressed them to my friends from another year and also wrote a short note inside them. I don't really know what they will do when they arrive at their homes, they may just throw them away, they may get mad and call the police and say I am stalking them or they may be the sisters in Christ they have always claimed to be and open the card and read my sincere words and say to themselves~ Wow, how nice of Joann to send a card. I have kept my end of the bargain with my Lord, he pressed upon my heart to send these ladies Christmas cards and I did so even if they do just throw them away I will be fine with that I have done my part. What do I want in return from these ladies?? Nothing at all, no contact, no nothing. I feel good about doing my part and that is all I am thinking about. It would be wonderful if one or both of them would get a hold of me through email or however and say something like the past is the past and we now live in the present and pray for the future. I know they won't but I have come to terms with that and remember that wise quote from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" written in the book given to George Baily by his guardian angel Clarence at the end of the movie
"Remember, No man is a failure who has friends"

I am not a failure, I have many kindred and treasured true friends and that is all that matters. I just felt a need to write this post. The two women I am talking about do not read my blog and even if they did, I have said nothing about them that is bad.

I will get off my soapbox now :) :)

Have a wonderful Thursday, thank you for stopping by
Blessings,Joann

The joys of having a dysfunctional family at Christmas!!

2010-12-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

Have you ever just wanted to take one of your family members and smack them upside the head??? Well I have and many times. Did I mention that I have the most dysfunctional family I have ever known!!!

Christmas has always as long as I can remember been at my sister Marie's house because basically she was the only one with a large enough place. My other sisters house is too small and me and the kids always lived in small apartments. Well when I married Roger I made the decision one year to have Christmas at our home, oh my you would have thought that I commited a crime. Marie was all upset because she always has Christmas at her house...I guess we aren't supposed to ever do anything different. So in November of that year I announced that I was having Christmas, Since Marie was so upset and crying about it (she cries about most anything that isn't her way) I asked her did I need your permission to have Christmas at my own home and her answer was no but you should have asked??? Now isn't that getting permission?? Did I mention I have a disfunctional family????
Okay speed ahead to this year. Marie made and "Official announcement at Katie's birthday party that she is having Christmas at her house and my comment to her was oh okay. I have decided to just not worry about what she plans for Christmas and Roger and I and Jennifer and the kids do Christmas morning here at our home and then we sometimes will go over to Maries later in the day. Everything is going very well and then Chris has his knee surgery.......since they were coming over to our home for Christmas morning we decided to just plan on going over to Jennifer's house for Christmas morning since they live upstairs and it isn't too fun for Chris to go up and down the stairs. So I called my mom and asked if she would like to go over with us for the morning and we could drop her off at Marie's after. She said she would have to think about it which really means I have to call Marie and see if it's okay!! I also told her that everyone was welcomed to go to Jennifer's if they wanted, oh they can't do that because Brandon is coming home...what that has to do with it I do not know, remember that disfunctional part??Then she found out I did not plan on going to Maries, basically because we do not get along, she is a selfish, self centered person and she doesn't like me or Roger so why would we go somewhere we aren't wanted.Anyway then my mom said something that I have to say really bothered me. She is worried because they (meaning my mom and two sisters) have told everyone(all of our relatives) in Minnesota that we were all going to be together this Christmas!!!!WHAT THE HELL I guess my mom forgot about her other grandson who is in Iraq this Christmas...so now I am in trouble because according to Marie (and she is never wrong) I said I was coming way back at Katie's birthday party. No I did not say that and then when we had went to Tahoe and some unpleasant things went on I can't believe she would expect me to come anyway..Did I mention that I have a dysfunctional family. So I am very sorry to all of our relatives in Minnesota who thougth we were all going to be together for Christmas, it is just going to be the regular disfunctional get together that we usually have. Marie over at her house pretending she is living the perfect life with the perfect children and perfect marriage. Me and Roger and our family at Jennifer's celebrating the birth of our Savior and missing Mattie. Marie and her family could not be put out having to go over to Jennifer's to accomodate Chris. I am so happy to have the family I have~ Roger, Jennifer, Matthew, Chris, Dylan Katie , Molly and Mandy. I plan on having a very joyus Christmas and even my sister Marie can not take that away from me!!I do feel like going over to Marie's and smacking her upside the head but I will not, it is the Christmas season after all : ) : )

Thank you to all who took the time to read my rambling, but sometimes you just have to get things off your chest. I seriously would love someone like hallmark to come out with cards for disfunctional families....I have a hard time finding cards on days like Mother's day, sister's birthdays etc...

Bren This post is for you!!!

2010-12-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Recently I ordered a couple of skirts and some new long sleeved shirts and my friend Bren told me I should do a fashion show. Well I am not doing a fashion show but I did take a picture of my recent clothes that I got. My original order was for 3 skirts and 4 shirts and Roger said I could order some more. I was wanting enough skirts so I would have one for every day. So I ordered 4 more skirts and 6 more shirts. The picture above is my order. From left to right the skirts on the bottom of the picture are Charcoal grey, kahki, navy blue and black, they are all the same skirt just different colors. This skirt is the most comfortable skirt I have ever owned. The shirts that are sitting on top of the skirts are either mock turtlenecks or regular turtlenecks. From left to right Oatmeal, Wisteria,Pink,brown and navy blue, I know that is only 5, the red one I wore yesterday and is in the laundry. Today I am still in my jammies so haven't decided what I will wear today. :) I ordered all of this from a place called Woman Within, the skirts are called sport knit and they cost regular price $21.99, I got them for $15.99 each, the shirts regular price is $13.99 and I got htem for $11.99 and also buy two get one free so I got two of them for free.

Now on to the subject of dresses/skirts only, this will be short and not a long drawn out explaination.

I am NOT dresses/skirts only and I do not believe you have to wear only dresses/skirts for salvation. I wear skirts and dresses because I like to, I feel more feminine, I feel more modest and I just feel more like me when I wear them. I know there are lots of blogs out there where the woman feels she has to wear a dress or skirt out of conviction for her faith. That is fine and I am not saying they are wrong. What I post on my blog is my opinion, some may agree with me and some may not and that is their choice. I like to wear a skirt and do so most of the time, but I also wear sweats and jeans some times too. Basically I like to be comfortable and wearing a skirt to me is very comfortable. I feel that God is more interested in our heart than what we are wearing. I also feel that modesty is way more important that the whole dresses/skirt thing. There was one blog that I used to read who was a dresses/skirts only person and some of the dresses she showed that she wore were very un modest. I wear long skirts or dresses almost everyday and my relationship with the Lord is wonderful. If and when I wear a pair of jeans or put on my sweats My realtionship with the Lord is the same. I would love to hear from anyone who has an opinion on this subject even if you don't agree with me. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know how you feel.

Thank you for stopping by and may your day be blessed.

Blessings,Joann

I have been working hard...

2010-12-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Remember that Homespun yarn I showed in my last post?? I was using it to make a gift for someone for Christmas. I started it a while ago and boy have I been having fun!!! It has to be one of the most difficult yarns to work with, but when it is made into something it turns out to be so soft and pretty. I started it and pulled all the stitches out at least 6 times. It is hard to see the stitches so I was ending up with either too many stitches on a row or not enough. I can understand missing one or two but one of my rows was missing 4 stitches. That is a lot of stitches. Anyway I finished up two things I was working on and now they are ready to go to there new homes. The red colored one was done in regular yarn and was so much easier to make. I am just hoping that everyone likes what I have made them.I am currently working on a blue one and hope to have it finished by the end of this weekend.

Blue/green homespun scarf and red regular yarn scarf finished 12/17/10

I went over to Jennifer's house I think it was last weekend and they had made a gingerbread house, Katie told me she did the candies on top. I thought it turned out pretty cute looking

Jenn and familie's gingerbread house.

I also went over to Jennifer's house this past Wednesday to babysit the kids. Chris, Jennifer's husband was having knee surgery. He seemed to be doing okay when I left and I have heard that Katie is being his nurse.

This is Jennifer's christmas tree~

I have done no more decorating and that is fine with me. I really don't have that usual Christmas spirit that I normally have. Christmas is my favorite holiday but this year with and Mattie not being here and having to have my beloved cat Oreo put to sleep I am just not the same as I usually am. It's almost like I can't allow myself to have a happy time knowing my son is so far away and he is not having fun so why should I right?? Having a child gone at Christmas is just so hard. I know that all children grow up and leave home but I just am very sad about it.

I have tried to keep myself busy with making gifts and trying to decorate but everything reminds me that Mattie is not going to be here. I even hung his stocking up on the fireplace mantel knowing he won't be here, that sounds kind of stupid doesn't it?? I keep thinking I hear Oreo down the hallway, making his very loud meows but I think it is just my mind playing tricks on me.

Have a very lovely weekend.Thank you very much for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment.

A rainy Wednesday..

2010-12-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

Today it rained most of the day. I turned on the Christmas tree lights and since it was kind of dark and gloomy outside it made our home just glow. I sat in one of the new chairs with my feet up two dogs on my ottoman and crocheted while I listened to the rain coming down. What a joy it is to be home and not out and about today. I had plans on going to Target but after talking with my husband and him telling me about all the accidents he had seen on his way to work, he thougth it would be best for me to stay home and not be out in the rain. Now my family would look at what I just wrote and take it that Roger was not allowing me to go somewhere and my take on him saying that is that he is concerned with my safety. Does anyone else out there have any problems with their families not understanding that your husband is the head of your household and you are submissive (I almost hate to even use that word) those of you who live by the Bible know what I am talking about. Anyway I had a very enjoyable day even cleaning the bathrooms....just knowing that I am blessed to be able to stay home ,where I believe any Mom or wife should be (just my opinion)and take care of my home and my husband.

Roger is on his way home from work right now, I have potatoes on the stove and I have had pork chops in the crock pot all day. Just need to finish up with the potatoes and warm up some veggie and dinner will be done. I also made a big salad. A wonderful home cooked meal... Pork chops mashed potatoes w/ gravy salad and a veggie (I am thinking of peas) Yum Yum!!!

I think I may finish up the item I am working on this evening after dinner time and kitchen clean up. I had purchased the movie Avatar for Roger for his birthday and we haven't watched it yet..we are real big movie people but we watch at home not at the theatre. I love sitting in my own home with my husband, our pets and watch a movie. I haven't been to a theatre for probably over a year maybe even two years. Someone gave us movie passes one Christmas and we didn't use them until the following Christmas. We are just homebodies. We love our home and the love you feel in it when you walk in.

Got to get working on dinner, Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate it.

I plan on doing a post this week about a question someone asked me recently They asked me if I was dresses/skirts only and if so was it for salvation. I will explain my thoughts on the subject.

Blessings,Joann

Tuesday evening

2010-12-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is the yarn I bought earlier today, I didn't have any blue yarn and I needed some. I really like the color of this blue, it looks nothing like the picture it isn't bright at all

Blue yarn~

This is how overstuffed my yarn basket for Crocheting is right now~

This is one of my favorite yarns for colors and for it's softness but it has to be one of the hardest yarns to work with. This is going to be turned into a gift for a special person in my life, just a regular person would not be worth the time it takes : )

I really wanted to learn how to knit but that will have to wait till after Christmas.

Have a blessed Wednesday everyone and thank you for stopping by.

Blessings,Joann

A busy Tuesday so far

2010-12-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

The day is almost over as far as homekeeping in concerned. I still have laundry going and am waiting right now for the washer to get done so I can change it over to the dryer. Since our laundry area is located in the garage and when the truck is in the garage I can't get to the machines, every day I do laundry I have to move out the truck to the driveway and it has to be back in the garage by the time Roger gets home so he can park in the driveway with the blazer. Some days this being one of them I got a late start on laundry so I am now trying to squeeze in as much as I can get done before 6pm. I think it will end up being 3 loads. It takes 50 minutes for the washing part and I have been using my timer today...it keeps me from forgetting all about laundry which I have been know to do many times.

I picked up some new yarn today for a couple more projects for Christmas, so now my list is 10 things instead of 8. I am very excited about the gift I ordered online for my daughter. I won't mention what it is because I think she reads my blog sometimes. But I will certainly take a picture of it when Christmas is over and it will no longer be a suprise. I think she will be happy with it.

Today has been a day of catch up....that is one problem with taking a day off :) things I should have got done yesterday had to be done today with todays things. Tuesday is bedroom day and Monday is living room day. So I had to do monday's room today. Tomorrow is wednesday and that is bathrooms day I really hate cleaning the bathrooms but really they don't take as long as I think they do.

When I was out today I also picked up some wonderful gifts for a good friend, Need to get them packed up to ship out on Friday. These days of December seem to be going so fast. I keep thinking I have plenty of time to get everything made and shipped out but in reality I need to get my behind in gear and get working on things.

I pray anyone who comes to my blog and reads my post has a wonderful Tuesday and rest of the week.
Blessings,Joann

What a wonderful Monday...

2010-12-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

I made an executive decision to take today off. I did absolutely nothing!! This past weekend I did a lot of crocheting and fearing having to wear my brace let my hand have a resting period. I worked approximately 8 hours on Sunday on a Christmas present for a good friend and I am pleased with my progress but was I hurting by the end of the day...I am making some scarves for the grandkids and with my other crochet projects that makes about 8 more items that need to get done as soon as I can. The kids scarves go pretty quickly but the other things take much more time.

Today I also re-signed up for Weight Watchers, it is a great program and I had quit going thinking I could do it on my own, but I have gained over half of what I lost back again I was so dissapointed...not only had I fallen off the weight loss wagon I was being dragged behind it for a long time!!! I will start going to the meetings again on Wednesday mornings and I will try and curb my cravings for foods that I know are bad for me.

I have all of the Christmas presents wrapped and under the tree, I even have the stocking stuffers bought. I am still waiting for one gift that I had to order on line but it should be here pretty soon. So I guess I was wrong they are not ALL wrapped and under the tree.

I don't have any pictures to post tonight and I usually do, so it feels kind of strange to post without pictures. Tomorrow I am making a trip to Joann's to look for a gift for a friend that I need to get in the mail pretty soon, would like to get it sent out by Friday. Mattie called the other day and said his packages that I had sent made it and he really liked the blanket we sent him,he had wanted a down comforter wich was a little out of our price range. I did find a reasonably priced alternative down blanket and sent it to him. I am praying it keeps him warm.

Our Christmas tree is still not finished and no other decorating has been done, just not in the Christmas mood yet I guess. I keep trying to make myself more Christmassy but so far no luck : (

Blessings to all who have stopped to visit my blog may your week be greatly blessed. I appreciate one and all who visit.

Blessings,Joann

Look what came to our home today...

2010-12-04T18:24:00.001-08:00

I posted a while ago about our new recliners that we purchased, well we had nothing but problems with them from the very beginning and after a lot of complaining and such we were allowed to have them returned and we picked out somethin else.

This is what we had picked up today~

And this is what was delivered today~

These chairs should have no problems, there isn' t really much that can break or not work. We really like the fabric and coloring. They are also very comfy to sit in and the dogs love the ottomans it is like their own personal sitting spot : )

I also am going to include just one picture of a new outfit just for that one friend who wanted to see what I got....This is the most comfortable skirt I have ever worn, even more comfortable than my jean skirt!! I also got 2 more skirts in a black and also a kahki colored one, plus 4 more long sleeved shirts.

Have a very blessed weekend and thanks so much for stopping by...

Blessings,Joann

Mandy turns one year old today!!

2010-11-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

The newest member of our family Mandy a Schnorkie is turning one year old today. We purchased her on February 13, 2010(but she was born on 11-29-2009) from a place called moorepuppies.com they seem to be a reputable place to get a puppy and we are so happy with Mandy. She looked more like a yorkie when she was smaller but when I had her cut with a schauzer look she looks like a miniature, miniature schnauzer and that is fine with me. I have always wanted a miniature schnauzer and now I have one. She was purchased as a dog for Roger, I got to pick Molly out so he got to pick out the next dog and he did kind of.But with him working so many hours she hardly ever sees him so she is really attached to me. She is my little shadow she goes everywhere I go and is sometimes under feet but that's okay with me I enjoy her company a whole bunch.

Here are a few pictures of Mandy growing up over this past year.~

On the ride home sitting in my lap~

In her pink bed~

In the living room playing with some of her toys~

In the kitchen waiting for some food to drop on the floor~

and relaxing on the couch~

Here is what she looks like now and what she does most of the day with her big sister Molly~

Thanks so much for visiting, may you have a blessed week.

Blessings,Joann

A sad day for our family.

2010-11-24T14:18:00.001-08:00

Today is a very sad day, I took our cat Oreo to the vet expecting some test and medicine to make him better. Lately he had been loosing weight, stopped eating, wasn't drinking very much and had no strenght to even walk hardly. They did all kinds of tests on him and came back with a very bleak outcome. The choices were to put him in the hospital for 3-4 days and then send him home where I would have to keep giving him under the skin injections for a while but all that would really do was put off to another day what really needed to be done. Option #2 put him to sleep. Wow I was totally not prepared for that option and being there by myself and having to make such a major decision without my family around was very hard to do but after doing all the test I found out he was in major kidney failure, dehydrated, and anemic. The last two were fixable but not the kidney failure. So after much thougth and feeling that I had done everything possible to keep him alive(we didn't care how much it cost to do all we could)I went ahead and made that horrible decision I did not want to make. I thought that it seemed very selfish of myself to keep him alive if he is suffering, because I wasn't thiking of him.So I thought about it and decided to have him put to sleep. I really wanted Roger to be there but in the end I know that even if he was there we would have come to the same decision. I was very sorry that Jennifer and Matthew weren't able to say goodbye, also Roger didn't get to either, it was just me !Jennifer and Matthew both loved Oreo very much and I know they will miss him just as much as I and Roger do.

We got Oreo from an ad in the paper, he was already an adult cat and we had him approximately 16 years. When we first got him his name was Sweet Pea, wich the kids and I thougth was kind of strange for this very large adult male cat, so we named him oreo because of his coloring, actually his name was double stuffed oreo since he was over weight but when Mattie was little he called him Sweet Pea all the time he would even sing him a song for him to go to sleep. Oreo used Mattie's back one time for a spring board and left a large scratch on his back of which he still has the scar.We gave him a wonderful life and I know he was a very happy cat. He wasn't all that thrilled when we brought Molly home and really didn't like it when Mandy first came here to live. I still have my wonderful husband Roger, my children and my 2 little dogs but I will miss Oreo very much. We don't know his actual birthday but I have always put on any paper work 1994 because that is when we got him.

We think of our pets as part of our family and would do everything possible no matter what the cost to take care of them. But sometimes the best thing for the pet has nothing to do with money.

Oreo very beloved pet Oreo 1994-November 24, 2010

Here are a few pictures of Oreo~

In his most favorite spot~

My favorite time of the year started today at our home

2010-11-21T14:45:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Roger and I spent the day together running errands. We got the majority of the Christmas shopping done and we went out to a nice what we call linner, you know kind of like brunch (Breakfast/lunch) this is linner (lunch/dinner) :) We shared a very nice meal at Sizzler and then our quest began.......When we were at Walmart I seen the prettiest artificial Christmas tree, it was 7.5 feet tall and was called some sort of Hymalaian spruce I think any way it was just gorgeous, so we decided to buy one, that sure made it sound easy you would think you would just get the box and pay for it well you would be wrong!! They had none in a box. So we went over to Manteca(about 25 miles away) to look at another Walmart. They didn't even have this tree on display, so we went to Target thinking they may have one similar but they didn't. On to Kmart who also did not have a tree like this one. We decided to go home for a while and then go check another Walmart. We got home, spent some time with the dogs (our babies)and at about 8:45pm went to that other Walmart...oh did I forget to mention it was pouring down rain and it was very windy!! This other Walmart is about 15 miles south of Modesto. We got there found a good parking space because I am sure all the sane people were home out of the rain. We went to the Christmas part and there was the tree we wanted. The very first tree we seen had no tags on it, so when we looked at this tree that did have a tag on it we were very stunned it cost $148.00 I was so sad, I just knew this was the tree for us. We looked at all the other trees and found one similar but smaller and it was only $88.00 so we put the box in the cart and started to the checkout place. Roger looked at me and said are you going to be happy with this tree? I was honest with him, this tree would be fine but I really liked the other one better. So back we went with the smaller tree and traded the box in the cart for the new one. Oh was I so happy!! We got it to the car and drove home our precious cargo in the back of the van. This morning the box was sitting in the living room and of course we had to put it up so here is a picture of it though the picture does not do it justice, it is so pretty in person.

Our new Christmas tree~

We have not done the decorating yet, but I had to see what it looked like with the lights on and as I thought it would it was beautiful. My Christmas season has begun and with such a great story on how we got the tree. You know you are married to the right man when you go shopping all day and he drives all over everywhere to find the perfect tree that you dreamed of.

Have to also include a picture of our babies, they were so cute snuggled up on the same blanket.

Our Babies~

I will probably wait until tomorrow for more of the decorating....

Thank you so much for visiting my blog I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures in life. Have a great Monday and rest of the week.

Blessings,Joann

I am sorry but I have to brag a little here!!

2010-11-14T17:33:00.001-08:00

Our local newspaper has a column on the front page of the local section that is called in Service and it mentions every Sunday a person from our community that is serving in the Military. A couple of months ago I emailed the person in charge and gave them Matthew's information. After a few weeks of back and forth emails I got an email about 2 weeks ago saying that it would be in the newspaper on the 14th so I have been waiting very patiently(anyone who knows me at all knows I am not good at this!!) for the 14th to come.

So today is here and in our Sunday paper I was just thrilled to see my wonderful son of whom I am so proud honored in the "In Service " section, I know it's probably not that big of a deal to some people but to me it is very big. I think of my son on a daily no on a minute basis every minute of my day. I don't usually brag about things,but My son being gone and so far away right now is a really big thing and I just wanted everyone to know about it.

If you click on the picture I believe it will make it big enough for you to read if you are interested. There are a few things missing but I figured it was a space issue. I had sent the fact that Matt is with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and they left out the cavalry part and I also mentioned that he has a sister named Jennifer that lives in Brentwood.

I just got his packages ready to mail tomorrow (Nov. 2oth is the last day for Christmas delivery) of his Christmas gift and I included a copy of the newspaper clipping and I also made him a picture cd which took me forever as I am not that good with a computer. I hope he enjoys all that we are sending. I was hoping to fit everything into one large flat rate box because they only cost $12.50 to mail and that is a great deal doesn't matter how much it weighs. But I just couldn't get everything to cram into one so I will be sending 2, I took a red marker and put MERRY CHRISTMAS all over the boxes. I am just weird aren't I???

I have a busy week ahead of me and I am really ready for it. I have a dr. appt. tomorrow after noon and I am working my fingers to the bone making some christmas gifts. I may post some pictures after I have some of the items completed.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed reading my post and that you come back and visit again. Have a wonderful week and may you be blessed by the Lord daily.

Blessings,Joann

What I got done on Wednesday..

2010-11-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Wednesday, I actually found one of my countertops, no it wasn't actually missing just cluttered and not clean! Now it is. I know that this sounds like a minimal accomplishment but for me and where I am right now it was a huge step. I am trying to set some smaller goals to get done everyday and hoping and praying that I get them done why I am still sane:)

I also went to the library, returned some books and picked up a book on depression, very interesting book so far. May let you know what I think about it after I am finished or I may not??

The animals today and last night have been bothering me a lot!! I tried to go to bed last night at a decent time around 11pm and the cat continually walked across my head and then would just stand right in front of my face...drove me crazy (Ya I know I didn't have far to go : ) Then this morning we played "I want to go out, I don't want to go out" with the dogs this is not a fun game.
Tonight I made dinner, something I have been struggling with lately. It is in the warming drawer right now waiting on Roger to get home. I made pasta and sauce (very easy) and salad and peas.
Tomorrow my goal for the day is laundry and getting the bedroom done so we will see what happens.

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog I appreciate it.
Blessings,Joann

I have returned!!

2010-11-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

Ever since I have changed from using this blog to the newer blog I have felt totally not with it, now I am not saying that this blog makes me magically different or better but I do feel somewhat strangely more like a home keeper. Maybe it's just the name of the blog, that it mentions Titus 2 I don't know all I do know is that right now in my life I need all the help I can get at being a homekeeper.
Today so far I got up, let the dogs out, got Roger off to work and then nothing else has gotten done yet, but I am trying my best to get myself going get myself pointed in the right direction. Hey I may suprise myself and make dinner tonight :)
Our weather here has changed in the past few weeks, now it is mainly cool, not cold yet but definately cool. Roger leaves in the morning when it is dark and comes home in the dark, not a good thing feel like the day is just gone in a flash.
Sorry this is kind of a jumbled up post...just writing out my feelings as they come to me.

Hope to get back on track, this may take some time so please bear with me.

Thank you for visiting my blog and for keeping with me through all my jumping around.
Blessings,Joann

There is a time and purpose for everything....

2010-08-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under Heaven...

I beleive the time has come to close this blog, I have had it for almost 2 years and have posted almost 300 posts. I am in the progress of making a new blog so will look for all of my wonderful friends over there http://www.simplelifeofJo.blogspot.com/ as of now there are no posts but hopefully soon.

Blessings,Joann

2010-07-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

I Will be taking a much needed facebook, blog, computer, tv break for the next few days, maybe weeks. I just feel the need to take some quiet time for myself and my sanity over electronics right now.

Blessings,Joann

countertop cleaning

2010-07-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Okay I got a little energy and did make some progress in the kitchen. Here are some pictures of my progress.

Countertop on the sink side all cleared off~

Can you see the sink at the end all overflowing with dishes, how sick is that?

Countertop on the stove side all cleared off~

this is the place everything went while I did the cleaning~

My favorite cleaner for the countertops and the grout~

I have found after many years of trying most anything I could find that this type of cleaner works the best on my tile countertop with the white grout. Most other cleaners would never get the white, really white and I like it to be really white looking. This is really great as you just spray it on leave it for a while and then go back and scrub the grout lines with a grout brush and it looks like new.

The stove top cleaner~

I got everything cleaned up real good and put things back on the stove side, you may notice the new electric can opener next to the toaster. That is one of my new servants in the kitchen, I also have a new knife sharpener and does it sharpen a knife like new!

On the sink side it is much cleaner but the putting things back will have to wait until later as I have things drying on it right now~

And you may notice that the sink is now empty, I loaded and ran the dishwasher and washed everything else by hand including my canister set, everything just sparkles and makes me feel so good to get something done.

This is what my two little helper dogs where doing while I was working(the picture is from a few weeks ago but basically this is what they do most every day)~

While waiting for the Tilex to work on the countertops I made a quick trip to Joann's, I had 2 more 40%off coupons that I didn't want to go to waste so this is what I got~

A package of real pretty embroidery floss~

And a nice book of counted cross stitch patterns~

It is now almost 6PM and Roger is on his way home, he left Oakland around 4:30 and will be here sometime between 6:30 and 7PM. I hate his commuting but for now it is what he has to do for a job. I am not sure what we are having for dinner maybe a trip to Subway yummy!!

Have a wonderful evening everyone

Blessings, Joann

the first official day of the Good Morning Girls and how it is going

2010-07-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today was to be the first day of the GMG's and it started out very badly due to my badly started day!! I woke up with one of the worst Charlie horses I have every had. I was crying it hurt so bad. I just a few minutes ago sent my e-mail to everyone and basically told them my day isn't going too good so for my quiet time today I was planning on reading the proverb for today (after I figured out what day it is ) and that would be it. I haven't been feeling well all week and don't really know what's wrong. I took everything off both of my countertops in the kitchen to clean the countertops and so far I haven't done anything. I will get the countertops done but the way I am feeling it may take all day...

I also found out that Mattie will be coming home on July 31 but he told Jennifer he will NOT be seeing me and that he is no longer talking to me. Isn't that just lovely? I guess that may be part of why I am not feeling well.

I have still been working on my stitching but when my head is hurting badly the last thing I want to do is work on embroidery. Boy years sure do change a person and for me that is not a good thing. I was thinking yesterday about when I was oh 26 years old, I was married to Mattie's dad and Jennifer was 7 years old. We had a small 3 bedroom 2 bath house and every day I cleaned the entire house including doing laundry and mopping all the floors. I cleaned both bathrooms and I was usually done by 11AM now I am lucky to be awake by 11 AM we also had 5 people living in the house and I made a dinner every night that would feed at least 6-8 people as we always had someone stopping by. Now it is just Roger and I and a few pets and I can't seem to get anything done. If anyone out there reads this and has any extra energy please send it my way and any and all prayers for me to well Get my act together and start being a good homekeeper again!!
I am praying that everyone has a wonderful day and that I get my countertops done!!
Blessings,Joann

Good Morning Girls...anyone out there interested???

2010-07-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Was just over at CourtneysBlog reading about the groups called Good morning Girls and I would love to have anyone who is interested in being in one to e-mail me. I would like to find people just like me but anyone who is interested is invited too. Go over to her blog and read what it is all about (didn't want to steal her post) if you think it is something you would be interested in doing with me send me your e-mail address- you can post a comment and leave your e-mail in it since I moderate all comments I can edit it out of the comment so it isn't published. This is something that sounds like something that would be very benificial for me and anyone else who has quiet time problems...Please come join me, anyone interested???

My plan if I can find some people is to start on Monday July 19th and do it Mon-Fri but not on the weekends, also I live in Ca so even though I get up early around 4:30AM that is already 7:30 on the East coast so my posts may seem kind of late but they really wouldn't be at least not for me.
Blessings,Joann

The story of two children..

2010-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

I want to tell the story of two children child A is now 22 years old and child B is 20. They both had very different upbringings. Child A was a bratty little kid and always got what he wanted by throwing tantrums and by calling his parents horrible names. Child B was also bratty at times but was raised by a single mom most of his life and she thought the bond between them was wonderful. He was very quiet at home but sometimes did have tantrums too. When child A was in his teen years, he had his own cell phone (paid for by his parents) and was allowed computer access. child B was not allowed a cell phone (parent did not see a need for one).Child B also had no computer access at home. Child A basically did what he wanted and parents just let him do whatever he wanted including driving him to many places just to ride his bike, some were over an hour away. I remember a couple of holiday get togethers where child A cussed his parents out calling them every name in the book and on that same day they were at his beck and call to take him places. Child B was taught to respect his parents and was not expected to talk back. Now come to where they are now. Child A and B are both in the Army, Child A when he comes home on leave wants his parents to pick him up at the airport and spend time with them. Child B gives orders to his Mom to not be at the airport or he won't come by and see her at all. Child A does well with his money and has enough to pay for his plane ticket home. Child B spends all of his money and more I don't know what on but he is always broke! Child B is supposed to come home at the end of July for a couple of weeks but he can't because he has no money for a ticket! He calls his mom because he knows how to make her feel guilty and explains that once again it is someone else's fault he has no money so he won't be coming home. He doesn't actually ask his mom to buy him a ticket but he knows her and she would do anything to see him, even though he had already called a few weeks back and let her know that he won't have much time to visit with her as he has too many friends he needs to visit. I am sure you have guessed by now that I am talking about my son Matthew and my Nephew. Child B is Matthew, even though I feel that I raised him well I guess I was a horrible mom and did not do a very good job at raising him. I look back at all the mistakes I made and I wish I could go back and do everything over again. I tried to raise him to be responsible and a man of God. But right now he is so far from that it just breaks my heart. I now question everything I did as a Mom and why did things turn out this way. My sister raised her son totally different from me and now it looks like I was the stupid one!! She let her son walk all over her and her husband and never made him work for anything and yet he grew up way more responsible than my son did. I am acutally embbarressed by the things he does sometimes. Like right now I am trying to decide what to do, we really don't have any extra money to send him a ticket home but that means I won't get to see him. On one hand I really want to get him a ticket so I can see him and then on the other hand it just makes me so mad that even if I do get him a ticket I may only see him for an hour or two. I have a big decision to make and it is not easy. If I don't buy the ticket I know he will be mad, but he only wants to come home to see his friends not me. I know one thing for sure and that is that if I don't buy his ticket and I don't see him and he does end up deploying I will never forgive myself for not seeing him before he leaves. I am having a hard time right now forgiving myself for the type of parent I was. I have so much guilt about the way I raised my children it is all I think about somedays.

Sorry for this long post but I just needed to vent for a while.
Blessings,Joann

MY "Me" day and how it's going...

2010-07-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

This morning after my post I got out my pretty red file box that I wanted to use for my files, I was wanting to get some really pretty colored hanging file folders but I guess they only come in ugly green! That's okay I don't like the green but I will deal with it.

Here is what it looked like this morning~

Now this is what it looks like after all my hard work~

I also finished up the 1st stitching project last night~

I started on the 2nd one~

This is what my wonderful pets were doing while I was doing the filing thing~

The rest of the day and evening I will be reading in this book~

I have 3 people whom I consider my favorite authors, Beth Moore, Stormie Omartian and Elizabeth George. I have many books by all of these authors but this one about adult children is just what I needed right now. The first part of the book even before there is a chapter 1 is a part called What every parent of an Adult child needs to know and then it goes on to list 7 specific things

#1~You need to know it never ends

#2~You need to know you can't fix them

#3~You need to know God can change everything

#4~You need to know you must stop blaming yourself

#5~You need to know you have to forgive

#6~You need to know there is only one perfect parent

#7~You need to know you can Wholeheartedly say, for this adult child I prayed

After reading just this part of the book I think I have used so much highlighter it has run out!!

Last but not least I picked out some fabrics to go with the things I am stitching~

A different kind of Thursday for me today~

2010-07-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday is the day I usually do things like go over the pantry and freezer etc. to see what to put on the grocery list (Friday is Grocery day) I also like to clean out the refrigerator to have it all ready for new items, but today I have decided to take a Just me day, I plan on doing some reading, some organizing of papers and of course stitching. I of course will still do my daily things and make dinner but today is a "JO"day

Have a wonderful Thursday
Blessings,Joann

Good News :) Bad News:(

2010-06-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Mattie called this afternoon and said Mom I have good news and bad news not something I was wanting to hear. The first part yes that is really good the next part not so much.

Good News~ Thanks to all my faithful friends and their prayers, Mattie is NOT deploying with his troop.

Bad News~ Mattie is now considered a replacement for any person who gets injured etc. So even though he is a bradley mechanic he could be sent over as a Cav. scout or a hummer driver or anywhere they might need him.

So I just wanted to come and post this to send my heartfelt thanks out to all who prayed for Mattie and to ask to keep him in your prayers. He is still coming home at the end of July for 15 days and the party is still on!

Blessings,Joann

First stitchery almost finished!!!!

2010-06-30T15:42:00.001-07:00

Well I am at the last part of the first stitchery I started quite a while ago. slow and steady and now it is almost finished. Just have that part on the bottom to go wich I will do in just a few minutes after I post this post.

Today was a busy day for me. I was thinking of changing the living room furniture around and after I did real

ized I didn't like it the new way so I moved it all back. The one good thing I was able to dust and damp mop all of the flooring under the furniture I moved. I try to dust mop daily in the open areas and also try and damp mop on Mon/Wed/Fri but that doesn't always happen and then damp mopping under the furniture is more like a weekly or monthly thing. I find it kind of strange that our short haired dog Molly sheds so much and Mandy who has lots of hair doesn't shed at all. I am always finding dog hair everywhere. I just love our new floors so much, they are so much cleaner after you clean them than carpet and I like the feel, it's kind of cool on my feet. Okay enough talk about the floor.

I got both a phone call and an email from 3/3 Armored Calvary Regiment about deployment. They sent out an email letter explaining things a little more. I of course won't say everything it says as I am sure they don't want everything passed around. One interesting thing was that they are now going to be sending a few less people than originally planned, I have been in prayer about this all day and please anyone out there who feels inclined please pray that My son Matthew will not be deploying. Thank you. He should find out pretty soon one way or another.

I am still in the process of planning a party for Mattie when he comes home on leave, we are planning it for August 7th I don't want to say it is a going away party because I just can't so I am calling it a We love you party!!

I have been kind of down this week I think it's just because the days are just going by way too fast for me right now seems like it was just mother's day and it's almost 4th of July. I am really hating the fact that August is coming and I am fighting it tooth and nail everyday.

Blessings,Joann

organized and inventoried pantry

2010-06-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my wonderful husband Roger our pantry and big freezer are all organized and we have an inventory of what we have. I had mentioned to Roger that I was wanting to inventory the pantry and that it would take less time and be easier to have his help. All I was wanting to do was have him read off what we had on our shelves and I would write it down, but instead he totally reorganized the entire pantry!! I got the list made up and it turned out really nice

Organized pantry~

We also inventoried the big freezer in the garage but I don't have a picture of it :)

On Sunday we went to Walmart for a few items and came home with this large thermometer, to hang in our backyard. Roger put it up on Sunday and on Monday I took this picture~

As you can tell it was well over 100' and that is on the back patio in the shade! I really like it because I can see it out the back window. I don't like having the dogs out in the heat, yes they are a little spoiled but I figure if I am hot then I know they are hot and I don't want them out when it is so hot.

I also don't have any pictures of the stitchery I am working on. I am very much like a snail or slug when it comes to stitching,I love to do it but I am very slow at it plus I have carpel tunnel real bad in my right hand and it never fails after stitching for a little while my hand will go numb and I have to wait for the feeling to come back before I can continue. I will post a picture when I get it done. I started the one that says Share Faith, Offfer Prayer and Gather Hope, have finished almost all the words and then onto the outside where the outline is with twigs.

I am praying everyone is having a good week so far. I have also been reading a book about setting boundaries with adult children along with a book by Stomie Omartian called The power of Praying for your adult children. These are both really good books. Then after reading Courtney's blog I also dusted off my copy of The power of the praying wife and have been in prayer for my husband everytime I see my wedding ring on my hand. This is such a good suggestion.

Blessings,Joann

Crafting I did today...

2010-06-21T18:32:00.001-07:00

Today I was busy all day, time even went by pretty fast. I wanted to get some stitcheries transfered onto some Kona fabric and I actually did it. I got 4 done today so tonight while watching tv I will have some hand work to work on. I am hoping this will curb my television eating habit.I have a bad habit of eating while watching tv so I need something in my hands to work on and this will be just perfect. I still need to put on some backing and then I will be ready to go.

Here are the 4 I got done today~

I had planned on putting up a post everyday this week on the subject of self control, I found a nice short Bible study on this subject about a week ago and was going to share it. I obviously didn't get it up for Monday so I will start with it tomorrow.

Have a great week!
Blessings,Joann

**Edited to add response to Salena**

You mentioned in your comment about how I did the transfering of the patterns. I actually do sometimes use iron on transfers but mostly I just use patterns and transfer them myself using a makeshift light box and a Pigma micron 005 pen. It is permanent and because of this I have to be real careful, sometimes it can take me up to an hour or so to transfer something. I always use 3 strands of floss and that seems to cover the fine line very nicely. I have tried using the type of pen that will wash out but for detailed things I found it didn't work very good. Hope that helps.

Father's day visit with Jennifer and Katie

2010-06-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

today is Father's Day and Jennifer and Katie came over and we all went out to lunch. Had a nice visit as we always do when they visit. I am so happy to have Jennifer for a daughter, she always comes by and visits and brings the grandkids over for us to see. Of course most of the time it's because either Dylan or Katie says they want to see grandma or grandpa because they miss us.
Here are some pictures~

Jennifer and Roger~

Jennifer, Roger and Katie~

And here is one of Roger and Me~

Roger even mentioned how he really likes the fact that Jennifer takes the time to come by often even though they live an hour away.

I hope all the Fathers out there in blogland had a very wonderful and blessed day.

Blessings,joann

**Edited to add**

Don't know if you can actually see it or not but I am wearing the dog tag necklace Mattie gave me, On one side it has a yellow ribbon and says Proud Mother of a U. S. Military Son

and has the Bible Verse JOshua 1:9
"I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged;for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go."
On the other side is the prayer of salvation. I wear it everyday!

Friday was a grooming day....and grocery day!

2010-06-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning after rounding them all up. All three of our animals went to the groomers.This is not an easy task for one person, but Roger set up the crate for the cat before he left for work so that made my job a lot easier. I went and picked up the cat to put him in his crate and he is a cat that does not like his crate at all. He starts to make a very loud meow to let you know he doesn't like it. Luckily he is declawed on his front paws or I would be in shreds right now. I finally got him into his crate and I took it to the van. That was the hard part, now to just go get the dogs. Molly gets very excited when she sees her harness and leash coming out and starts to bark and whine very loudly, Mandy seen her doing this and thought it looked like fun so she joined in with all the barking and such. I eventually got Molly's harness on and after running around the living room a couple of times also got Mandy corraled into her collar and leash. I took them out to the van and of course I put them in the back seat, by the time I had shut the van door and got the drivers door open they were both sitting there waiting for me. I eventually put one of them on the passenger side seat because I can't hold them both while driving. Got to the groomers and dropped them off. Roger and I both went to pick them up and they were all so nice smelling and cute I just had to take pictures of them.

THis is the first picture I took, they moved just as I snapped the picture~

Here is Molly and Mandy~

Here are some more pictures of Mandy, she doesnt' have all that scraggly looking hair anymore and looks so nice and cleaned up especially on her back and sides and her hair is so soft~

Here she is after we took out the cute little pink bow things~

Oreo I didn't take his picture until today, but we always get him shaved in the summer, he is a long hair cat and he is always shedding so much but after we have him shaved we won't see hair on the floor for quite a while.~

It cost a lot of money to have them all done but they come home so pretty and they smell so nice I just love it!

Friday is also my errand and grocery shopping day. I put some things from my shopping trip into the new freezer and thought I would share with you all what it looks like with actual food in it~

I have not done a freezer inventory yet but hope to this weekend sometime.

We rented a movie from Redbox last night and was very dissapointed with it, it is called Shutter Island, I am all for either horror or Mysteries etc. but this was just plain slow and boring. going to get another movie for tonight hoping it is better than that one.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Blessings,Joann

MY wonderful Godly Husband!!

2010-06-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

My husband came home the other day and told me something that happened at work and I knew I just had to share it. He had a co-worker ask him "So Roger what's new under the sun?" My husband answered "Well according to Solomon there is nothing new under the sun" and his co-worker said "You are the first person to get that right" When Roger was telling me this I asked him is that right Solomon said that and he said yes it's in Ecclesiastes, it's a real good book you should read it. Well first I felt really dumb in the fact that I didn't know this probalby very simple fact.But secondly I felt very thankful that I am married to such a Godly Man. When in today's society Husbands can be many things mine is a Godly Man!! I am very happy and feel very blessed to have Roger in my life. I have a friend whose husband she told me many years ago was into internet porn, and not happy that she didn't look like the women in those pictures. Many men cheat on their wives, or drink or do drugs or do all of that. I have a man who knows Bible verses better than I do, not that we compete about that but obviously if I missed that verse I am sure I have missed many more.I have a man who works very hard at his job and commuting everyday to provide for his family. I appreciate him so much and I do tell him this on a regular basis. I feel for women who don't have such a good man in their life. I pray daily for my friend and her marriage. I just had to post about my husband and let everyone out there in blog land that I have the most Wonderful Godly husband in the whole wide world!!

Blessings,Joann

Some pics from this weekend

2010-06-15T11:18:00.001-07:00

This weekend started out with Roger and I doing some errands, one of which was to find a new freezer. We had an old upright one for many years and got rid of it over a year ago. Even though it is just us two we did really miss it. so we went out looking for one on Saturday. We had wanted to get just a small chest type one and ended up with a 15 cubic feet chest one. I love all the baskets and dividers it has and even though it was wider than we were wanting it did fit with a little moving around of things. It is in the garage kind of where we had the old one. Right now it is pretty empty with just a little bit of chicken. I went out yesterday and bought foster farms chicken breasts on sale for 99 cents a pound. Packaged it all up into freezer bags and then put a use by date on them.

Here is what the inside of the freezer looks like~

ON Sunday we went over to my sisters house for a get together, my aunts and one cousin have been visiting from Minnesota for about a week and a half. They returned home Monday.

Here is my Mom(in the middle) and her two sisters Dar(on the left) and Donna(on the right)~

Katie with her princess swimming ring~

Dylan getting ready to jump into the pool~

And here is Chris, Katie and Dylan all playing in the pool~

Everyone had a nice time, but boy was it hot. Monday was even hotter. Used the airconditioning on Monday. I think the next few days it is supposed to be a little cooler, but not much so I think officially it is Airconditioner season so mine will be running pretty much every day. I am a very hot person and if I do anything around the house I like to have it cool so I don't get too hot.

Now on to another subject totally different than pictures of our weekend. I have for the longest time been going back and forth on a couple areas of my life. Most that have read my blog for some time know that I have had a real bad experience a few years ago with someone who I thought was my friend, no I am not saying anymore than that. ANyway the person uses a message board, forum and a few months ago I had asked to be reinstated (I was banned from posting by the person in charge of the board)because I had been missing some of the people on there. It has been about 3 or 4 months I think and so far I am still banned. But then I learned something amazing. I have been trying to work on my spiritual life(It needs lots of work) and I had read a verse about gossip, I am terrible about remembering what verse but I do know it said gossiping was bad and when I go to the home page of this board/forum it has the word gossip on it. Well I prayed about it for a while and even though I do miss some of the people there I just don't think it is the place for me. Really it is just a place where people post what they are doing everyday and somedays it seems almost like a contest who has the longest list and who is going somewhere so they can rub it in because not everyone can afford to go somewhere for a vacation. Well that was my great revalation!! For me it was very freeing, I do still miss some of the people there, but most know my blog and if they miss me at all they can find me here. I am done with that board/forum and I am finding my heart feels so much better. Another area in my life that I am currently working on is my speech, I always seem to say the wrong thing! I have started using a list of things to ask myself before I say something. The first two things are #1 Is it true, most things I say are true I don't make things up, but then comes #2 Is it kind, just because it is true does not neccesarily make it kind. I pretty much don't talk much anymore. I have lots of areas in my life I am working on and it may take some time but if in the end it will glorify God then it will be worth it.As Courtney over at Women living well says at the end of her posts Walk with the King, and that is what I am trying to do, Walk with the King and try my best to do everything in my life joyfully and start being a more happier person. Roger and I had a wonderful talk about my being a keeper at home and I am feeling so much more appreciated and I in turn appreciate so much what Roger does for us as a family.
Happy Week to everyone, Enjoy your week looking well to your households
Blessings,Joann

Please go visit Courtney, you will be glad you did...

2010-06-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

Hello All, I have been real bad about posting regularly but I am here now.

My wonderful friend DeNieceintroduced me to another wonderful person named Courtney whose blog is just so great, I love all her videos and she is so real and such a Godly woman I just wanted to put her link to her blog so you could go visit and meet her for yourself. She has started a new series named "Completing him challenge. Come and join if you would like.

Have a great Friday!!

I myself have been starting my own challenge and that is I am trying very hard to learn self control. I am not doing all that good so far but with Christ in my heart I feel I can do anything!!

Blessings,Joann

A wonderful weekend!!

2010-06-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

This past week went by very fast, at least the whole week did but on a daily basis my days seem to drag on. Roger is gone for so long each day I only get to see him awake about a half hour in the morning and about 2-3 hours in the evening. I hate him commuting but I am also thankful he has a job at all.

On Wednesday I went over to Brentwood to see a little play that Dylan and his kindergarten class put on. It was real cute they sang lots of songs and I enjoyed myself. We went out to eat after the program was over and did some visiting. I plan on going over again this coming Wednesday just to visit with Jennifer and the kids.

Thursday and Friday I spent doing the rest of the putting the living room back together. I had emptied all of the bookcases to do the flooring and now it was time to put it all back. I went through a lot of things and got rid of quite a lot of stuff. I kept all my books as I like books a lot!

this is the living room after getting things put back on the bookcases~

I also did the first damp mopping of the new flooring, I went with what the back of the box said to use on the flooring~part vinegar/part water in a spray bottle, this worked well. The spray bottle I have makes the liquid come out in a nice fine mist so not too much water got on the flooring. I used my new damp mop and just sprayed a small area working from the bedroom in the hallway out to where the living room meets the dining room

Spay bottle of water/vinegar~

Here is the hallway after damp mopping~

And here is the living room after damp mopping~

I had also purchased some new carpets to place around the room to try and keep as much dirt as possible from getting onto the new flooring.
This is what the carpets look like~

We also purchased a new small black bookcase for in the dining area, I like it because it holds things much better than the cabinet I had.I bought 2 nice baskets to hold things on the shelves. I was also able to relocate a lot of my small containers to the bookcase and it gives me a lot more room on my pantry shelves.

Here is the black bookcase in the dining area~

Also with the purchase of that new bookcase it means that I have now replaced everything in the home with black furniture except for the bedroom furniture.

The dining area, all done~

Saturday evening we had a get together at our home. My two aunts and one cousin from Minnesota were visiting so we had a nice dinner of A big chef salad,it was around 90' so we wanted something light to eat.

Saturday was also a very good day because I got a phone call from Matthew, my son has done some stupid things in his life and we have not always gotten along perfectly but as soon as I hear his voice on the phone all past things are forgotten! I hadn't talked to him for over 3 weeks, that's a long time for me and it wasn't easy. I told him I don't know what I will do when he is in Iraq for so long.

Sunday was so warm out that we used our air conditioner for the first time. I love air conditioning :)

Our backyard is looking real nice, our butterfly bush is blooming and is so pretty but I have yet to see a butterfly~

I had been working forever on a shower curtain I wanted to make and seemed to be going no where with it so I finally ordered one and I am so happy with it, it is real nice quality and I love the look of it.

New shower curtain~

This is what the top looks like~

Mandy got to have her cone thing taken off this weekend also, she was very happy.

Here she is all snuggled up~

I have made some decisions about crafting, while I love my sewing machine my true love with crafting is in hand work. I love to embroider, so I have done some evaluating of my crafts and am now going to concentrate on more embroidery and still throw in some sewing here and there but for me I just love to sit in the living room and use my hands to make something beautiful.

I have also been doing some quiet time questioning about my walk with the Lord and right now I don't know where I am in my walk but it seems like I am walking the wrong direction right now so I plan on working on that some each day. I don't want to get to the end of the day and realize like I have so often that I hadn't even spent a few minutes in the Word of God.I need to make it more of a priority in my life, this is hard for me I don't know why but it is. I have heard it said before that you should spend the same amount of time in the Bible as you do either reading ohter books or tv or computer time and I know I do not do that so that is something obviously I need to address.

I plan on having a wonderful week this week. I hope everyone else has a wonderful week too!!

Blessings,Joann

A little bit of this and that...

2010-05-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday this past week I took Mandy to the vet for her spaying surgery. I picked her up Wednesday morning, she came home and started licking her inscision area. I called the vet and they said that wasn't good and to keep her from doing that. Well it is very hard to keep a puppy from licking unless you hold them every moment and since I couldn't do that of course the area opened back up. Saturday morning she was back at the vets office and they put some surgical glue on the spot and put a collar on her. She was not very happy about that. She is still trying to get it off but she has to wear it until next weekend.

This is her before going to the vet on Saturday~

And this is her after going to the vet on Saturday~

On Friday we started the flooring project, Roger worked all day including overtime and still came home and started tearing carpet out. This is the hallway with the ugly old carpet~

Here is the hallway after the carpet was pulled up~

The hallway done except for the trim~

THis is looking from the hallway into the living room~

The living room before~

The living room during~

Roger worked very hard and by Sunday night it was all done!

The living room all done~

I think the new flooring looks so nice with the black tv stand and bookcases~

I love the look of the new flooring and it has made the house look so pretty and light with the light colored floor.

I was also lucky enough to see Katie and Jennifer this weekend, here is a cute picture I took of Katie by the pool~

Have a wonderful week ahead
Blessings,Joann