Presidents Day

I normally don't really give too much thought to this "holiday". Presidents Day. What does that really mean? I've never been too "into" governmental history, but I am thankful for it. I've never studied in depth what each of our presidents did to make a difference, only recognizing a few that stood out for various reasons. If I were to be very honest here, even though I memorized every one of them in school at one time, the only ones that stand out to me are the ones with their mugs plastered on money and the ones that have been in office in my lifetime.

I ran across a few quotes recently, on one of my favorite blogs, The Primitive Place, and wanted to share them with you.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
George Washington

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.
George Washington

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.
George Washington

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.
George Washington

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.
George Washington

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.
George Washington

Our country was at one time based on Christian values. Sad to see how fast it's headed in the opposite direction now, but I still am thankful to live in the USA!!!

I often wonder, what is it that I do to "fight for my country"? Do I take a stand or do I stand back? Many things I ponder as the years click by. When I was younger, I took a strong stand for those things I believed in and felt passionate about. As I get older, some of those things, I've come to realize, will move forward regardless if I agree or not. I am so thankful for the men that God has sovereignly placed into the office of president. I don't always agree with the decisions they make, but of this, I am certain, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. {Romans 13:1}

So today, I take a moment to thank God for each man he has placed into the office of president of the United States. Actually, when you think about it, it wouldn't matter WHO was in that particular office, God would use him to fulfill His plan...in this I rest.

Valentine - Kina Grannis (Official Music Video)

"And the greatest of these is love"...


Click on the link in the video for a FREE download!

Or here if you trust me! : )

Happy Valentines Day!

My Beautiful visitor on this Beautiful Winter Day!

The sun was shining today!! Hallelujah!! In fact, I think it got up to almost 40 degrees! Can I get an Amen?? I was up, showered and ready for my visitor this morning. Oh how I enjoy spending time with this lady...

Jayme's lookin' all serious in this picture, but she's really a hoot and 1/2! We laugh more when we are together than anyone I know! We tackle things...like moving furniture, painting furniture and borders around pictures...we're not afraid to do anything! (sort of)

What do you notice about the picture below??

Scroll back up and LOOK AGAIN! See that picture hangin' in the corner? Well, Miss Jayme found this picture, framed at a thrift store (or somewhere equally as fun!) and someone had PAINTED a mat around it! Gasp! And can you imagine...they painted it ORANGE! My gracious...what would motivate that? Anyhow...Jayme was painting her guest room (yes, this is her guest room!) while I was slapping on a couple coats of paint on a darling little night table (what makes them "night tables"? Are there "day tables"?). Anyhoo....she decided she didn't like the orange border but she loved the picture. What's this nut do?? She takes the picture out of the frame and begins painting over the orange with the wall color!!! We were busting our gut laughin' at that one! Like she said, "What do I have to loose? They already ruined it!"

Well, that's just part of that picture I wanted you to notice! Now, scroll back up and look at that loom! Wow! She actually knows what to DO with it! And see what is on it?? Do you need a closer look???

Why yes...it's a RUG! Can you guess what she made this rug out of? (I'll spare you the thinking process!)

HOSPITAL BOOTIES!! Yes, that's right! What a clever way to recycle!! And guess what??

She made it for ME!!! I LOVE IT! It is so pretty in my new laundry room!!! I'm going to wait until Spring to put it down though b/c I don't want it to get all muddied up while we're still tracking in muddy waters! Did I mention how much I love it?? Thank you Jayme....it's PERFECT!! Love you girl!! We've got a lot of shenanigans to pull this Spring and Summer!!

And it didn't stop there....

She had this table that she was tired of in her house....so she said I could HAVE IT! Isn't THAT fun?? How generous is this lady?? My mind is spinning to figure out which room this is going into! Knowing me, it'll probably make it into ALL of them before it finds it's perfect home! What a sweet friend!!

I'm back into decorating again. I'd love to take up the tile in the foyer (that you see above) and put down hardwood. Dennis say's no. Spoil sport! Ha!

Next up...I have 1 gallon of Palace Arms RED PAINT. I'm stripping the wallpaper in my powder room (who powders anymore?), building up my vanity (the sink cabinet, not my personality!), painting it off white with glaze and and then painting the walls RED! This should be interesting!!! I'll surely have some before's and afters on this project! I got the paint when Sherwin Williams had their 2 qts. for $5.00 sale! Sofar, the cost of the entire makeover for that powder room is $10.00!! My plan is to keep it at that!!

Now THAT'S affordable!

Coming To Jesus Christ

Posted by jerrywhite on Feb 10, 2011

The Lord Jesus invites anyone spiritually thirsty to come to Him and drink (John 7:37). The church is not Him. The Bible is not Him. A home group is not Him. Nothing can be a substitute for Him as a living Person to whom you can come. Nothing else truly satisfies.

We cannot come to His physical presence and kneel at His feet. His physical presence is in heaven where one day His followers will behold His glorified bodily form. His spiritual presence is with us by His Holy Spirit whom He promised to be with us and in us (John 14:17). His spiritual presence now is just as real as His physical presence was when He walked on the earth. When He said on the last day of the feast, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37), He could not have meant a physical coming but rather a spiritual coming. Our inner spiritual being can come to His very real spiritual, invisible presence.

Our eyes do not see the air we breathe, but does that make it less than real? We cannot see the molecules that compose the chair on which we sit but does that make them less than real? So it is with coming to the living resurrected Lord Jesus who is truly present by His Holy Spirit. His invisibility does not make Him less real. His spiritual presence is dynamically real and with your inner being you can behold Him, sense Him, be near Him and commune with Him. This will require a settled and still soul and a heart that believes what the Lord Jesus said. If you open your heart to Him in simple child-like faith, then your awareness of His real nearness becomes your sweetest experience on earth, and this gives a partial foretaste of what you will experience in the glories of heaven.

Dear child of God, He who cannot lie said His presence would be with you. Believe it with all your heart. The world clamors through your five senses to keep you mentally occupied with the physical plane in which you live. Quietness of soul in a place alone, with your heart open to His spiritual presence, allows the Holy Spirit to guide you to the Lord Jesus so that your inner being actually touches His very real spiritual presence. Like the woman with a twelve year discharge of blood who pressed through the crowd to touch Jesus’ garment in faith (Matthew 19:20-21), press through all the distractions until your inner being touches His spiritual presence, and just like that woman of faith, power will flow from the Lord Jesus into you to meet you at your point of need. Come to Him!

Blizzard 2011

We had a snowstorm last night!!

This is a shot early this morning of Lakeshore Blvd. downtown Chicago.

Kind of reminds me of what it might look like when the rapture occurs!!

This is a shot of my back porch! I really didn't think I would have to shovel the inside of my porch!

The sad thing is, I got it all shoveled up and couldn't get the door open to get rid of it! So, I have a pile inside and outside that door now!

This is a shot from my front porch at 11:45 this morning! Dennis came home from work b/c Indiana had been declared a State of Emergency, and trucks were not allowed on the road. On the way in at 4:15 AM this morning, he was driving in basically a "white out". On one of the main drags he hit a pile of snow that some yahoo scooped out onto the road...and it broke the grill on my car. I'm just thankful he didn't get hurt or do more damage. Thankful for insurance!!

I think.

Above is after we ran the snowblower once. We're estimating about 24". With the 70 mph winds, it's hard to tell exactly how much snow we got b/c of all the drifting, but it's a good guess.

Dennis said he was glad I didn't make HIM hold the lantern!

This was tucked up under the front porch...how pretty is that??

I feel so sorry for my little man! He kind of looks like a toy soldier with the snow piled on his helmet!

I looked up at this sign several times while I was shoveling the snow off the back porch and smiled!

Dreaming of Spring and Summer, when I can sip iced tea out there with my feet up, grilling a burger!

A girl can dream, right?

I've been busy. Doing what, I don't know, but I've noticed that many of my bloggin' buddies are also taking breaks...is it just me or do you see that trend too?

Sometimes I wonder if it's not the fact that facebook has a much quicker posting process? Easy to upload pictures and videos and on there, and you can only type in a short message, which I believe encourages people to make more comments. I also wonder if the social networking craze is actually separating us. There are times that we "catch up" with our friends on FB, thus we don't seem to have the "conviction" to make that call, or go visit, or make a meal, etc. Is it ME, or do you find that trend in your neck of the woods too?

Anyhow...I'm back. I got a new laptop for Christmas and it's taken me quite awhile to learn how to get my pictures uploaded on here...and to learn how to maneuver my way around with this little thing since I didn't even get a manual!! What's up with that? Don't they know old ladies buy these things and we don't know how to use them? Ha!!

I just got back from a week in Phoenix. I could move there for at least 3 months a year. While my sweet honey was working in temps that were too cold for anyone to have to be outside in, he sent me to sunny Phoenix to love on our grannykids and kids for a week. Exciting things are happening out there, which I'll let Amy share on her blog. (no, I'm not getting another grannychild...just yet!) Suffice it to say, I'll be going back, Lord (and Dennis!) willing in a couple of months! ; )

While there, I got to play with Carter to my hearts content! Amy and Brian were so kind to let me rock him to sleep each night...and go get him as soon as I heard him rustle in the mornings! I cuddled him, bathed him, smothered him with kisses, ran around the yard, blew bubbles, fed him, and taught him how to say a couple of words. I know he was on the verge of opening his mouth and talking, but God blessed my heart to HEAR those words when I was there! I just tried uploading the little video I took but it's 149 MB's and Blogger only allows 100 MB's in a video. Soo...if you want to see it, you'll have to go to my FB page and view it. At some point, I may try to figure out how to use You.Tube, but that may be awhile...or never! Ha! I am such a bad picture taker anymore! I keep forgetting to get the camera out, just savoring every moment I'm there!

Rylie Roo was with us for a couple days when I was there too. Amy and I went to pick her up from school the first day and she said I could go up and get her if I wanted, so without another word, I flew out of the car and dashed up to the school. My heart did flips when our eyes met and she started jumping up and down yelling "GRAMMY CHERYL!!!" and RAN into my open arms! It was like a movie and we were the stars! : ) Love that girl! We have been so blessed to have her join our family. Such a sweet nature and so stinkin' smart! She read me a book that had words like "nasturtium", "chrysanthemum" and such. I am blogging this as a memory b/c it was so cute. She was reading these big words like they were 3 letter words. Then, she got to the part that said "the flower was pinned on her lapel". Rylie was flying through the words at warp speed and read it this way: ""this flower was 'pined' on her 'laple' ". I know "laple" isn't a word, but I had to type it like she said it. We both laid there and giggled for what seemed like 10 minutes over that! She is so smart...reading at a very advanced level. And she is quite a little artist too! Oh how I miss these little ones, but the Lord has us right where we are supposed to be for now.

I'll be posting pictures of my completed kitchen soon. I kind of let that go after I got it done. Then Christmas came, then New Years...then I just didn't get new pictures taken and put on here. I learned how to do that when I was in Phoenix, so I'll get back at it.

Hope you're all having a wonderful winter. We're supposed to get a whoppin' snowstorm in the next ple of days, so that might be my next blog post!
And I miss all of you who have cut back on your blogs too! Although I've not been faithful at writing, I've still checked in on yours every few days! So, lets get back at it, ok?

Bittersweet day.

Mostly sweet.

Remembering Mom and Dad...and family traditions.

Traditions continue.

Cinnamon Leaf Ring.

Gift opening.

Christmas Prayer at breakfast.

Showers.

Boxes galore.

Christmas Dinner.

Saying goodbye to kids.

Naps.

Computer.

Here's one of my favorite gifts this year....honestly, it was better than a new laptop! Shhh...don't tell Santa!

Thank you God, for FAITH, FAMILY and FRIENDS...and most of all, for JESUS!!

And to all a goodnight.