Rose of Sharon

Merry Christmas!!!!

2011-12-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

I've moved!

Click here to see new posts over at my other blog,

Rose of Sharon Garden!

Merry Christmas!

Sharon

Pretty chintz table for two.....

2011-08-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Click here to read about it at my other blog,

Rose of Sharon Garden.

Have a great day!!!

New Posts over at Rose of Sharon Garden!

2011-07-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

I have been blogging current stories about our life on my new blog, Rose of Sharon Garden, please click here to pop over to my new blog and don't forget to hit my "Follow" button!

Have a blessed day!

~ Sharon

New posts over at Rose of Sharon Garden!

2011-01-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

This blog is now closed, but I have opened a new blog called Rose of Sharon Garden. Please click here to see it!

Have a wonderful day!

Hugs, Sharon

Merry Christmas!!!!

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

Merry Christmas blogging friends!

I just wanted to pop in to say hello and wish you all a very merry Christmas season! Also, to remind you that this blog is officially closed, but I opened a second blog called Rose of Sharon Garden. I am slowly updating that blog with the stories of our life in 2010. Please click here to read my new posts!

So far the Christmas season of 2010 has been very busy and fun! I got out all the Christmas decorations and decorated the whole house!

We also got our tree!

It's all decorated and ready for Christmas!

I signed all the cards...

...and got them in the mail!

Now we are eagerly awaiting for friends and family to arrive

to start the Christmas festivities!

We are preparing for a big party this Saturday night at our home!

It's a party for our dear friends in our community!

We started throwing this Christmas party 7 years ago and now it is a tradition!

We still need to do our shopping!

This year it should be a little easier with the kids all grown, we will probably be buying small electronics and gift cards!

It is always so fun to wrap the gifts though!

Here's wishing you a white Christmas!

Maybe we'll all get a little snow...

...to stroll in...

...and frolic in with our loved ones!

It would be fun to go caroling too!

I hope to find some time to watch some of the old great Christmas movies...

...and to do a little baking too!

I can't wait to have the families over for our Christmas Eve and Christmas day gatherings!

Getting with the family is so much fun!

I am so blessed with such a loving and fun families! I am so thankful!!!

Here's wishing you sugarplum dreams on Christmas Eve...

...and hoping that Santa will come!

I hope that on Christmas morn...

...you will get what you were wishing for!

But let's not forget.....

... true meaning of Christmas! That Jesus Christ our Savior was born!

"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:9-12

Merry Christmas!!!

Love, Sharon

Christmas decor in the guest room......

2010-05-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

There's a new post at my new blog, Rose of Sharon Garden. I would like to invite you to grab a cup of coffee and come on over for a visit (just click here). I am planning on closing this blog temporarily for repairs, so please hit the "follow" button when you get over to my new one.

Have a joyful day!

Hugs, Sharon

My new blog is open!

2010-04-27T15:24:00.001-07:00

My new blog, Rose of Sharon Garden is open! Click here to get there! This whole process has been time consuming, tedious and frustrating! After going to all the work of creating a new blog and catching up on the stories of our lives, I realized that I did it wrong! The whole reason I opened a second blog is because this blog has gotten so big and takes forever to load. Well, the truth is, it is still using the same web domain as Rose of Sharon, it is just a division of it, so I am afraid it will still take a while to load. I feel like I did all this work for nothing and I am a bit discouraged. I am hoping that I can import the new Rose of Sharon Garden to a new blog address and not lose everything! I apologize if it takes a long time to open.

Also, I just want to warn you that the posts on my new blog are stories from October of 2009! I was going to publish everything at once, but decided, hey, why not post a little at a time as I get them done. So, I will be post three new posts at a time over the next few weeks until I'm caught up to the current stories.

Thanks for being patient with me!

I am really excited to get back into blogging! I have missed all of you so much. It will take some adjusting to get back into daily posts, and I am still trying to catch up the old ones! Whew!

Anyway, I'll see ya over there! :0)

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

Love, Sharon

I hope all of you had a happy Easter!

2010-04-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry this is a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Easter! There is much to celebrate as we remember that He is Risen!!!
I hope that all of you were able to set some time aside to remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus did for us when he died on the cross and arose victoriously from the grave on the third day!
I also hope that you were able to spend some time with your families and made good memories for Easter!
We had a very lovely Easter. We hosted a big Easter feast and had 19 people here! I loved it! It was a great day.

My sister Kathi and her family came (sans hubby and eldest son because they were traveling), along with my Dad and all of my husband's side of the family.
Kathi and her kids spent the night and went to church with us on Easter morning.
It was a very special service and a very special day!
I know you probably don't believe me, but I am still planning on coming back to blogging with my new blog.

I have almost all my blog story photos loaded into my new blog dating back to October of 2009 through March of 2010! Now I just need to write each post.

I am getting really close! I know I don't need to be doing this, it is just one of those crazy missions a woman can get on and I am determined to finish this project! My blog is my online diary and I love journaling about our family life and it's important to me to have all the family events documented on my blog! :0)
Hang in there with me though please as it will be a few more weeks. I can only work on this project when I have spare time, which I rarely get!
Just like you, we just have such a busy life with work, school, church, family, friends, appointments, etc.

Oh, I should mention thrifting and decorating in there too! :0)

I truly am hoping to be up and running soon. Again, I hope that you had a special Easter and that you have a very blessed day today!

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." Matthew 28:5-6

Hugs, Sharon

I'm still here!!!!

2010-02-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! I hope you're still talking to me! LOL! I just wanted to pop in and give you a quick update on what's going on here at Rose of Sharon.

I know I've been gone a long time and I hope that you understand.

Not only have I been really busy with life stuff and our new puppy, but getting used to a new computer is a lot of work!

But, I wanted to let you know that I have been working hard on my new blog! Actually it is just Volume II of my current blog with a new fun background.
I've been typing like crazy catching up on old posts starting back in October! I just finished writing a post about my Halloween decorations, so I still have all of November, December and January to catch up. Since my blog is also my life journal, it is a goal of mine to get all of these stories caught up and then I will publish them all at once.
I am planning on coming back pretty soon!
But I need just a little bit more time.
I promise I will keep working and I'll be back soon.
So please, please, please be patient with me and don't leave!
I am not giving a time line of when I'll be back, but I don't think it will be too much longer. That's all for now! Bye! Take care everyone and may the Lord bless all of you!

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart." Proverbs 15:30

Love, Sharon

P.S. Can you tell I'm enjoying my Photo Booth feature on my new computer! Perhaps just a tad too much! LOL!

Rose of Sharon update!

2010-01-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you a brief update on what's been going on in my life. We had a very sad thing happen to our family. We had to put our beloved dog, Bailey, to sleep. We had to do this because she started getting mean for no reason with growling and nipping and it escalated to the point that she bit my son, Grayson, on the cheek. We talked with our vet about solutions and she said there were no solutions. It was a hard decision, especially on my husband, who loved her so very much. He was there with her at the end and it was very difficult. She was a very fun and loving dog and we will always remember her.
Well, my husband's heart was breaking so much that he went out and bought a new puppy! Meet our newest addition to the family, Blondie! She is a yellow lab and is a wonderful little girl! We have never had a lab before and so far she has been such a great little dog!!! She is not every high strung, don't get me wrong, she is a busy little puppy, but she is also quite mellow and loves to lay down by me and I am enjoying her so much. Needless to say though, our lives will be different for a few months as we take care of this little girl! There are poop and potty messes quite often and she's on a schedule just like a little baby! It's so fun though!

The other new addition to our family is a brand new iMAC computer!!! Our other one was giving us fits with being so slow and constantly getting viruses. My awesome hubby said, "Maybe it's just time to get a new one" and that was that and we bought a new one!!! I've never owned an Apple before and so far it is fabulous! It looks just like the picture above, what you're looking at is the computer, monitor and speakers all in one!!! I love it! We got a cordless keyboard and mouse with it too, so no more messy cords! I still need to learn how to download my pictures and size them, especially for my blog, but I will be learning that soon.

I have been very busy with these new changes in addition to our regular busy life. I am still planning on coming back to blogging, just don't know when. I have a goal, which might be unrealistic, and that is to start a second blog, which really will just be Rose of Sharon Chapter Two and write posts for all of our family events that have happened since October of 2009. We will see if I can do this. Until then....may the Lord richly bless you!

"I will thank You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things You have done. I will be filled with joy because of You. I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High!" Psalm 9:1-2

Love, Sharon

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-12-30T10:53:00.001-08:00

Wishing you a very Happy New Year filled with many blessings from the Lord!

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and Christmas wishes! We had a wonderful Christmas, I have so much to be thankful for! I hope all of you did too! I reviewed my resolutions for the year 2009 and I did not do too bad; I didn't accomplish everything, but I did do a lot. Some of my resolutions for 2010 are: Get involved in our new church; get involved in a Bible study; eat better; lose 10 or 15 pounds;exercise more; finish organizing my home; organize my meal planning and learn how to knit. I have many things to do in January of 2010, but I really am hoping to start up blogging again before February.

I hope all of you have a very safe New Year's eve and a prosperous 2010!!!

God bless you!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:11

Love, Sharon

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from my blog to yours!
I pray that you are experiencing the true spirit of Christmas with the peace and joy of Jesus Christ! I pray that you all will have a delightful time with your families!
The house is all decorated, cards have been sent, there are presents under the tree, yummy treats abound and we've had some wonderful gatherings with family and friends. It has been a very lovely Christmas season so far, and we are still looking forward to more fun things this week!

Please do not give up on me! I am enjoying my blogging break, but I also am missing it very much. I will be back up and running sometime in January of 2010 with a little surprise!!! Until then, I'm wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

"Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,"which translated means, "God with us." Matthew 1:22-23

Love, Sharon

Happy Birthday Grayson!!!

2009-12-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Today is my son Grayson's 19th birthday!!! I wanted to wish him a very special day!

He has brought such happiness and joy to our lives!
We are so very proud of him and so thankful for him!!!
He is an awesome person who loves the Lord, has good character, is a hard worker, is responsible, funny and is a very kind person! Who could ask for more in a son!
I hope you have the best year ever Grayson! I love you!

I am still on my blogging break, I just wanted to wish my son a happy birthday today! Things have been very busy around here, but life has been very good. Thank you for the well wishes for Thanksgiving! We had a beautiful day with the family. I hope that all of you had great Thanksgiving days too. I have the whole house decorated for Christmas and the front porch too. We still need the tree, which we are getting today and Eric will put the house lights up this weekend. Basketball season has started for Hayden, so that's two nights a week we will be going to games. All my kids are doing well and work has been really good, so I have much to be thankful for. I still feel overwhelmed sometimes with the things of life, but I really feel like the Lord is teaching me so much about trusting Him and it's a nice place to be. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this season as we celebrate our Saviour's birth!

Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone! :0)

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3

Love, Sharon

Exercise quiet, sweet, diligence in your work...

2009-11-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling really overwhelmed lately. This year has been a stressful year for me. Although I have had many blessings and many good happy times, I have also had many things that have burdened me. On top of some of my stressors, I have been trying to organize my whole house by cleaning cabinets and closets, moving things around and throwing things out. Then, right around the corner, is Christmas and all that that entails! I am feeling like the lady above.

I feel like I am doing a lot of things, but I am not doing anything well. I have not been happy with myself. I feel like the girl above, I look fine on the outside, but inside, I'm feeling out of control, a little angry and not happy. I'm not trusting God.

Any way, I was feeling down this morning and started praying. I got down on my knees and prayed in the spirit. I just gave all of my troubles to Him. When I was done praying I opened my little devotional book called Streams in the Dessert and this is what I read:

“Talk to God about whatever may be pressuring you

and then commit the entire matter into His hands.

Do so to be free from the conflicts and cares that fill the world today.

In fact, anytime you are undergoing some trial or

simply pursuing your normal business, tell the Father about it.

Acquaint Him with it; yes, even burden Him with it,

and you will have put the concerns and cares behind you.

From that point forward, exercise quiet, sweet, diligence in your work, recognizing your dependence on Him to carry the matter for you.”

R. Leighton, Streams in the Dessert, 11-21, edited

What stood out to me is the part that says after we give the Lord our burdens this is what we need to do:

From that point forward, exercise quiet, sweet, diligence in your work

So that is what I'm going to do. I have decided that although there are some stressful things in my life that I cannot control, one thing I can control is giving it all to the Lord. Then I need to continue to do the work that the Lord has put upon me, which is being a good wife and mother and making my home a wonderful cozy sanctuary for my family with yummy meals and fresh baked sweets. This is the true desire of my heart anyway and I keep letting other things get in my way. I also have been called to work outside my home at my little part-time job and I need to work there with the same heart and same attitude. That little book just hit me when it said to give it all to the Lord and just continue to work, but not just work, exercise quiet, sweet, diligence in my work! This little passage was just a gift from God this morning.

I believe that we are not fighting a battle of flesh and blood, it is a spiritual battle. I feel that in my Christian walk, I just go up and down all the time. Good news than bad news. I know this is how life is, but I do believe the enemy is trying to rob me of my joy. Although it is true that 2009 has brought some big issues on the old stress test, the Lord also has answered so many prayers for us and I'm talking amazing prayers and long term prayers that I never thought would get answered! He is so good! Why do I let things get to me? Where's my faith? I feel like I am such a light-weight Christian. I want to be strong like my Grandma Ethel and my Grandma Margaret. I need to continue to get on my knees and give all of it to Him and keep trusting.

From that point forward, exercise quiet, sweet, diligence in your work

I have concluded that the beginning steps to exercising quiet, sweet diligence in my work, I need to be a better steward with my time. I have decided to quit blogging for a bit. I am not sure for how long, perhaps a month or two with perhaps a few little posts in between. I will just see how the Lord directs me. I will miss all of you, but I will be checking your blogs often to keep up on your lives.

I also want to be more thankful for all my blessings. I am going to start a thankful journal and list all my many blessings. Our pastor said if you list all the things you are grateful for you won't have any time left to dwell on the negative things!

This is how I want to be, carefree, joyful, happy and trusting in the Lord! I pray the same for all of you.

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

May the Lord richly bless you!

"Commit your way to the Lord." Psalm 37:5

Love, Sharon

Voice to Spirit Concert!

2009-11-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

This is my son, Mackenzie, and his gorgeous wife, Brittany. They have created a musical group together called Voice to Spirit. They perform electronica worship music and they are really, really good! She sings and writes songs and he plays all the instruments, sings and writes songs. They are so talented and I am so very proud of them!

A few weeks ago they had a concert and my family attended. I took pictures of us "with the band" before the concert! We know people in high places! LOL! Here's my Dad and Hayden standing with them.

And here's my Dad and me standing with them. My hubby, Eric, was there too and also our other sons, Cameron and Grayson, but I didn't get pictures of them. :0(
My sisters and their kids showed up too!
They did such a great job!
They sang many songs from their first album........
.....and sang a few new songs, which were soooo good!
I wish you could hear them, the music is so amazing and Brittany's voice is so beautiful.
I am so proud of my kids because they are using their talents to bless the Lord and to minister to people. This is an answer to Mackenzie's prayers. He has been interested in creating music since he was in middle school and it is so neat that the Lord brought him a wife who is so musically talented and that they create it together and perform together!!!

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150

Love, Sharon

P.S. Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. I am feeling better and getting back into my routine. You are all so sweet and kind. I would like to come and visit all of you this weekend.

As far as my blog being slow, I think it must be because I have nearly 800 posts. I think I need to open up a second blog and will be looking into that soon. I will probably call it Rose of Sharon II or Roses of Sharon.......do you guys have any good suggestions?

I want to go back.....

2009-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

Knott's Berry Farm at Night

November 2009

I want to go back on vacation! Since I've been back there's been drama at work, trouble with my parents and my brother, sad news about a niece, sad news about a friend, disappointing news about a house for sale, and it's been pouring down rain. I want to go back to the sunshine and back to being carefree on vacation.

I have today off and my day is loaded with plans including cleaning, going to the store, going through a lot of paperwork, making phone calls, writing and sending out Christmas party invitations, making a good dinner, making cookies etc. I am hoping to have a few hours this afternoon to catch up with my blogging. I love to blog, but I need more hours in my day! I have heard from a few of you that my blog has been slow to load. I do not know why, I have not done anything differently. I went in and changed it from loading ten pages to just five, so hopefully that will speed things up. Please let me know if you're still having trouble.

Hope you have a great day!

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40:29

Love, Sharon

I'm baaack......

2009-11-16T05:09:00.000-08:00

We're back from our vacation down to sunny California! Eric, Grayson, Hayden and I stayed a week down in Huntington Beach. We had a wonderful vacation! The Lord was so good and blessed us with so many good memories, safety, fun and great traffic conditions! It was just right, it was great to be there, but also so great to be back home. We got home yesterday afternoon and we had all the kids here for dinner and a movie last night, which was fun, and today we are all back to our regular routines. I have lots to share; I took 732 pictures!!! Thank you for leaving your sweet comments last week, I will try to get back with all of you in the next couple of days and I am hoping to get back to my regular blogging this week.

Have a great day!

" I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High." Psalm 7: 17

Love, Sharon

Leaf napkin rings....

2009-11-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share with you my new fun fall find!!! Actually, I found these beautiful leaf napkin rings on clearance a year ago and tucked them away until the Autumn came around.
They are made of a heavy bronzed metal.
I like the detail of them.
I got such a great deal too! They originally were two for $11.99. and I bought six sets. If I paid the full price it would be $71.94, but they were marked down to $2.99 which would have been $17.94, but all the clearance was an additional 50% off, so I was able to get 12 beautiful metal leaf napkin rings for only $8.97!!! Score!!!!
Don't they look pretty!
I think they look perfect with my brown transferware dishes, gold chargers, amber stemware, fall floral table cloth and burgundy napkins!
As Martha would say, "It's a good thing"!!!!

Hope you're having a great week! I'll be back Monday!

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

Love, Sharon

Pork chop, stuffing & apple casserole

2009-11-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Here's the recipe of the good old fashioned home cook dinner that I made for my parents the other night. It's easy, economical and delicious!
It's called Pork chop, stuffing and apple pie filling casserole. My sister Kathi found this recipe for me. My family loves it!
I doubled the recipe to feed nine people. I used two boxes of stuffing mix...
...three cans of apple pie filing...
...and a large tray of pork chops. First you need to brown the pork chops...
...and make the stuffing according to the directions on the box.
Spread the apple pie filing in the bottom of a greased 13x9 casserole dish.
Lay the browned pork chops on top of the apples.
Then spread the stuffing on top of the meat. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes.
Delicious! They will gobble it all up!!!

"I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11

Have a wonderful day!!!

In Him ~ Sharon

Sunday dinner with my Mom and Dad

2009-11-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share one more of our Sunday dinner's with you. A few weeks ago we had my parents over for a big Sunday dinner with the family. Here's the table all set and ready for company. I set the table for a fall cozy dinner with gold chargers and placed brown and moss green transferware china on top of them. I used my amber stemware and serving dishes. I think the amber glass looks so pretty with the transferware dishes. I used burgundy linen napkins and placed them in my new metal leaf napkin rings. I will be sharing more about the napkin rings later this week.
My Mom and I were sitting out on the back porch watching the boys play on trampoline. This was a special day because we don't get together with my parents that often. My mother's health has declined and she does not often feel up to going to gatherings. I was glad that she came on this day. My mother has been very good to me and she has taught me very much. We used to spend a lot of time together and I miss her. I love my Mom!
Mackenzie and Brittany came over too. Brittany is so sweet to my mother!
Here's all the guys visiting on the back deck. My father is on the far left and he is so proud of all of his grandsons!
We had a nice dinner. I made a good stick to your ribs casserole made of pork chops, stuffing and apple pie filing. I will share the recipe with you in a few days. We had lemon pudding cheesecake for dessert!
I love it when we can all get together for a meal.
We had a lovely meal and a nice evening together. When you put a little effort into it and just simply make the plans, they will come!

I am going to be taking a few days off from blogging, but I have written a few posts this week that are scheduled to be published. I hope that all of you have a wonderful week!

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to the strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." II Chronicles 16:9

Hugs, Sharon

Good morning????

2009-11-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Serenity now!!!! I wanted to share with you what my week day mornings have been like. I take Hayden to school every morning and three days a week after I drop him off I head off to my job at the clinic. He got his permit this past summer and the Oregon law is that teens need to have 100 hours of driving under the supervision of an adult before they can take the test for their driver's license. It takes about a year to accumulate 100 hours, so I let him drive as much as I can and driving to school every day is a great way to get the hours.
Hayden is a really good driver, but I'm sure you can imagine the stress of teaching a teenage boy how to drive on the way to school while in a hurry not only to get to the school but then to my job by 8:00am!
Well, just mix in this little situation.....road work ahead! The sign should say Major Road Work Ahead or better yet.....Stressful Major Road Work Ahead, Please Stay Calm!
Oh my gosh, it is about all I can take trying to get him to school and then get myself to work on time! There are dump trucks and tractors, school buses, children on bikes, work men in the road and other mother's just like me and all of us seem to be in a hurry! But what we do is hurry up and wait!
Normally the route to school and then to the clinic just takes about 5 minutes, but during the construction it averaged about 20 minutes and sometimes longer! We started leaving the house a half hour in advance just to make sure we weren't late.
Everywhere we went we saw construction equipment. Hayden got some excellent driving experience with learning how to drive around big trucks, tractors and heavy equipment as well as multiple flaggers and traffic jams!
We have about three routes to chose from to get from our house to the school and if one day we took a certain route and it was clogged up with traffic or had roads closed, then the next day we would try another route only to find that it had road closures and traffic jams as well.
I took these pictures over a couple of days, but every day was the same. Stress and frustration. We always pray in the car on the way to school and I'm thankful that God was in the car with us, especially me with my stress level! I always feel that prayer really does help me keep my attitude in check!
Hayden actually has been doing such a great job. He seems to be a natural and is coming along really great.
But with all the stress, even my coffee doesn't seem to help!!! :0) I get so extra stressed because my boss is a stickler and does not tolerate tardiness. I can't be late! I can't be late!
Everywhere we look... construction!
Okay, stop and smell the roses......I thought these barriers looked neat all staked up together. LOL!
Actually there is much to be grateful for. I am thankful that all these workmen have jobs!!! They started this project in the spring when the economy was really at it's lowest, so this is a good thing.
Also, the fact that we are getting brand new roads and sidewalks are such a blessing. We had so many potholes in our old street and there was no sidewalk, so it was dangerous for the kids to walk to school. It just would have been nice for all the busy parents if they got it done before school started. I am sure it was hard and stressful on the construction workers as well as the bus drivers too.
Finally, we made it to the high school!
"Bye Hayden, I love you, have a nice day!"

He gets out of the drivers seat, I get out of the passenger seat we meet in the middle with a big hug and a wave goodbye. (Isn't he cute!!!)

I am proud to say that I never swear, yell or do hand gestures at other drivers or construction workers while driving and I do stay pretty calm, especially in front of my kids. I want to teach them that it doesn't help the situation to get like that. My problem is that I internalize it and my stomach gets in a big knot and my heart rate goes way up by the time I'm done! LOL!
Now I jump in the driver's seat....7:57, oh my gosh, I've got three minutes to get to work!
Grrr......
What, my short cut is closed??!!!
Ohhhhhhh!
Slow? You want me to drive slow??? Do you realize I'm trying to get to work here????
Hmmmmmmm!
Abrupt edge, how about abrupt woman who's gonna be late for work!!!
Come on!!!!
Ugh!!!
Finally, there's the clinic, I made it to work!
And on this particular day.....just in time!
I better run! I need 200 cc of coffee STAT!
I am just being funny here and poking fun at myself. This is such a small thing to put up with when there are so many people out there with really serious problems. I am just trying to make light of a daily nuisance we had for a few weeks. I have so much to be thankful for; I'm thankful that my kids were able to get an excellent free education and that I have a good job. I'm thankful for our awesome high school. I'm thankful for my wonderful son! I am thankful that I have a car to take my son to school with. I'm just sharing with you one of those daily aggravating situations we can have in our lives.

As mother's we need to remember our children are watching us all the time and watching and learning how we deal with stressful situations. I want to always try to be calm, patient and loving during these times. But, even if we lose our tempers for a moment, we need to remember to be quick to apologize and really try to learn from it and not do it again! Life isn't always perfect and we have to put up with little irritants and we need to be able to deal with them in a graceful manner, which I, unfortunately, do not always do!

Well, since I have taken these pictures, I am happy to report that the road work has ended! Now we are back to our happy, stress-free mornings and we can get to the school in 3 minutes and I can get to the office in another 2. Life is good!

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

"A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly." Proverbs 14:29

xoxo, Sharon

My kitchen cabinet tops.....

2009-11-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to show you guys the tops of my cabinets for a long time now and recently I got up on my cute little red kitchen stool and cleaned all the items up there and decided, hey, maybe this would be a great time to take pictures for the blog and do a post on them!
As you know, I love the country cottage look and I have decorated my whole house that way. I love antiques and I love vintage cookbooks, so the tops of my cabinets are a perfect place to display both!
The bad thing is, the tops of my cabinets are like dust magnets! I am terrible too and I don't dust them very often, maybe only once a year! Needless to say when I recently dusted up there, it was pretty gross!
On this shelf I have an antique ceramic casserole dish and some old canning jars filled with dried things.
I filled the jars with beans, rice and peas. I tried to get things that would go with my color scheme! The green peas have faded and are now are kind of a beige color! Note - if you display foods like this just for the purpose of display, make sure you let your kids know not to get in them to eat! They are waayyyy too old to eat!
In this corner I have a really old cookbook by Good housekeeping. It's called Recipes and Methods. I love the silhouette of the busy homemaker on the front! Next to this I have a very old Bauer bowl. It was one of those "love at first site" things! Sitting next to the bowl are several old cookbooks.
My sister, Kathi, got me hooked on the old cookbooks. We both started with the old vintage home economics books from the 50s. We loved looking at all the pictures of the cute young housewives setting up their homes, making dinner and grocery shopping! After that I started picking up antique cookbooks, books on manners and entertaining. I love to look at them and I do occasionally get them out to use for the recipes, but most of all I use them for decorating.
Here's an old cookie jar. It's the perfect color for my kitchen and I love the soft finish on it.
Here's more canning jars, cook books and a rooster to watch over things!
Here's a close up of some of my books. I also have some antique Christian books on being wife and mother and building a Christian home.
I had to buy this book when I found it! It's called "Sharon", with a title like that I knew it had to be interesting and fun! LOL!!
Here's another vignette. I have another antique mixing bowl, cookbooks and an antique potato masher and an old Folger's coffee can.
When I do my displays I tend to do groupings in odd numbers like 3s and 5s. This helps with balance. Also, I pick items that I love that are in my color scheme to match the kitchen. I like the crowded country look, but I don't like it too over the top. I always say, "I like busy, but controlled busy!" You have to know when to say no and to stop! Do any of you out there remember the old Lucite grapes from the 60s? My mother had a set of orange ones sitting on our living room coffee table and I always admired them. I found this set of red ones at Goodwill many years ago for about a dollar and I love them! I think they are fun. I saw a set on Ebay going for $100.00!
These are my favorite! My mother gave these wonderful stacking bowls to me 16 years ago when we first moved into this house. She received them for a wedding gift back in 1956 and she never used them! She said they were too heavy. I remembered always seeing them in the back of our cabinets as a child and one day I asked her if I could have them. She was thrilled to give them to me and thrilled that they are on display everyday in my kitchen! The colors are perfect for my home! They are made by the Watt Pottery Co. and the pattern is called Star Flower. I looked them up on Ebay and just the large bowl alone is going for $85.00! It's amazing how things that were once common place and purchased for a few dollars can become so collectible and valuable over time. I wonder what things young brides are buying today at Wal-Mart will be valuable in the future.
More chickens and cookbooks. I bought these cute little chickens from Mardell on her blog! I will be writing about that in a few weeks. She was so sweet and surprised me with extra goodies! I love my new chickens!!!
I also collect these cute little Betty Crocker wire bound cookbooks from the 50s. I think I have the whole set now. I also found a few Campbell's recipe books with the same binding.
Here's a few more bowls. The larger cream colored one with the green band is very old, but the smaller bowl is new from Target. I read that having a plants in your home brings life and the silk variety do the trick as well, so I tucked in a little in my display. I have had the same things up on my cabinets for a long time and often think I should change them out, but then I think why should I? I love everything that's up there and I think it looks great, so I guess it will be staying! :0)

My son, Hayden, woke up yesterday at 4:00 in the morning vomiting and he had a fever of 100.7. Today he still has a fever of 99.7, but he seems a little better. I still kept him home from school. Can I ask you to please say a prayer for him. I know so many of you and/or your loved ones have been sick and my prayers go out to you as well.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

"I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security." Jeremiah 33:6

Love, Sharon

Brittany's 23rd birthday!

2009-11-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we celebrated my daughter-in-love's 23rd birthday! She requested homemade potato soup, green salad, rolls and a yummy chocolate cake for dessert.
The potato cheese soup doesn't look that good in this picture, but it was delicious! It was a big hit with the family too! All the boys had seconds. I made it in the crockpot and it worked out wonderfully!
Here's the recipe! Yummy!
Here's the table. Brittany gets the "You Are Special Today" plate.
I used my beautiful soup tureen that I found at Goodwill many, many years ago.
Time to open presents! After I uploaded all these pictures, I saw something funny.....Mackenzie is in the background of all of these pictures looking silly!
Mmmm, Brittany is sniffing a wonderfully scented candle she got. There's Mackenzie again!
Time to make a wish! This is such a delicious cake, click here for the recipe. It's chocolate cake with caramel sauce, sweetened condensed milk, Cool Whip and smashed Heath bars on top! Oh my goodness was it delicious!
Oops.....there's Mackenzie again! He's such a nut! Brittany says that's what she loves about him, his sense of humor! I am so thankful for my sweet, beautiful daughter-in-law, God has answered all my prayers with her!!! We had a great evening and she had a wonderful birthday! I hope all of her wishes come true!

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your entire being and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6: 5

Love, Sharon

P.S. Thank you for your kind words of support on my last post. I give God all the glory for the victory!!!

The pain a mean girl can cause.....

2009-11-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

Well, by reading all of your comments, it sounds like I am not alone in my experience with mean girls. I wish that they would realize how they can effect a person. Some of your stories are so sad. One girl wrote and said a woman at work came up to her and told her that her husband was ugly! What????!!!! How in the world could anybody be so mean and rude? How in the world could a person ever justify that behavior? What is up with some people feeling superior over someone else. What ever happened to good manners? We might not all like each other and we might get on each other's nerves, but we need to use our manners and be cordial and polite. Rude behavior is just not acceptable in my book.

After learning last week that two girls that I used to work with had been talking about me just as I had suspected and realizing that I was not crazy, I decided to go back through my prayer journal to read some of my entries that I wrote about these women at work. You see, this information meant a lot to me because I went through a very difficult time back when I worked with them and I KNEW they were talking about me and being mean, but I couldn't prove it. They were sneaky and would be rude and mean one moment and then nice the next. I tried everything to be their friends, but they would not let me in. I actually teared up as I was reading these prayers. It was a very hard time for me back then, as you will read.

I would like to keep the time period and employer a mystery, as well as not reveal their names because I do not wish to stir up any more problems with all of this. I just want to talk about what I had gone through and to talk about the real pain that one person can cause another, as well as talk about how good and faithful the Lord was to me and how He brought me through it all. These are entries from my actual prayer journal with the intention of no one else reading them, please excuse the messy writing as well as any grammatical and spelling errors.

The entry above was the first one that appeared in my prayer journal about this problem of mine. This is when I first started realizing that something was amiss. I had gotten hired about four or five months before and I was feeling pretty good about the job. Then all of the sudden things changed and these two girls started to give me the cold shoulder. I couldn't understand it and started thinking I was imagining it, yet I knew it was real.
I started having a weird feeling that these two girls were talking about me. Then I remembered back to when I first started my job there how they were talking terrible about another lady and were documenting her errors. They would say very mean things about her and then when she walked in the room they were sweet as pie to her face. This was a big red flag waving!!!

Then later, I would walk around a corner and hear them whispering and they would suddenly stop. I would walk into the office in the morning and said a cheery good morning and the first girl would just barely let out a "morning" without looking up at me and the other one would literally just grunt and walk by me! Have any of you experienced that? It is just so rude and so painful! I admit it, I am a sensitive person, so these things cut me deeply. Some of you wrote to me to just ignore it and walk away from it, but this was day after day and I had to sit two feet from one of them! I could not just ignore it. It was hurtful. Then, it was almost like they were messing with me, because all the sudden they would say good morning and chat with me. So this is when I started feeling a little like I was going crazy!

I looked at myself, as you can see by the above journal entry. I worked on myself. I tried everything to be friends with them. I wrote in my journal that God would help me to improve myself and not bug them, but you know, usually people like me and I know how to behave socially! I knew that I wasn't doing anything to create this behavior, but I started questioning myself.

It seemed like every time I worked with them I would have a miserable day. I would get weird vibes from them. The office closed everyday for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. I often did my own thing at lunch. One day at about ten minutes before lunchtime one of those girls said, "Hey, if you want to go to lunch early, go ahead and leave now." I thought this was very suspicious and I had overheard them planning a big lunch inviting all of the other employees including the boss and they did not invite me! She was trying to get me out of the office before they all gathered for lunch so I wouldn't know about it! On another day the boss had planned that all the employees go out for Mexican food for the four employees that had birthdays that month. I was never invited. It was accidentally "leaked" to me by one of the neutral employees. I told her that I didn't hear about it and that I didn't think it was an accident. Well, it got back to the boss and she personally invited me. I went ot the lunch and those girls would not even look at me! I think that not only were they mad that I was there, but I do think they probably got in trouble for not inviting me!

I cried out to the Lord. I feel that when we are going through a tough time, it is really wise to try and learn as much as we can. I try to look at myself and try to figure out what God wants me to learn when I am going through a trial. I prayed that God would expose the truth if they were indeed gossiping about me. I was concerned that they might spread rumors about me and hurt my reputation.
In retrospect, it was a hard time to go through, but I did learn a lot. I leaned on the Lord and just hung in there. The siutation got so desperate that I did make a mistake one day and I lowered myself to behave just like them. You can read in the above journal entry that I didn't talk small talk with one of them one day and I did feel bad about it. It's not like me to be rude. Being rude back was not the answer. I prayed about it and asked God to forgive me and to help me be nice to them. I needed to just be myself and be sweet to them. I asked them about their weekends and their lives and they talked. I listened.
You can see by my journal entries that this was a hard time for me. It really effected my life! This went on for about six months! I analyzed it and tried to learn from it. I don't think these girls really had any idea how much their behavior hurt me. I bet they had no idea that I was going home feeling horrible about myself and writing in my prayer journal! They were just enjoying feeling superior and having their little exclusive club.
I leaned on scriptures. II Corinthians 4:16-18 really comforted me. I could not imagine going through this difficult time without the Lord in my life! He comforted me and gave me strength! I also prayed for them. The Bible calls us to pray for our enemies and I did. It was hard to do, but I did it. Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 ~

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

This picture says how I was feeling. I wrote "I give it all to You, I just lay it at Your feet" and you can see a little sketch of me on my knees before the Lord giving my job to Him. I cried out to the Lord and laid it at his feet and you know what? One day a new girl started and she was my friend.

Then another girl came who was higher up on the ladder than all of us and she started reporting things. One day a lady from management talked to me and she said she had been sending spies down to our office and she heard the same story from all of them that these two girls were mean. One of the "spies" told them that I was the only one who made her feel welcome! God vindicated me and it felt wonderful! I prayed that the Lord would expose them and He did! Then a few months later one of the girls ended up quitting and the whole problem just went away. I was so thankful and just kept working hard, but I had always wondered about what had happened and if I was just being paranoid or if they were indeed talking about me.

Then, just the other day I heard the truth. Another co-worker who was neutral and actually new to the office told me that they used to talk about me to her. She was worried that I would feel bad and I told her that it was quite opposite! It made me feel really good to know that I was not crazy. What I felt for all of those months was real. I do feel bad for them though. Why did they do it? Were they so unhappy in their lives that it made them feel better to be mean and rude to me?

I am so thankful that God was with me during this time and He gave me strength. I am so thankful that He brought me out of that valley and that I grew from it. I am thankful that I got to learn the truth about the whole thing. Since I have learned about this I have been praying for them, that God will fill that hole inside them that they would not have to tear someone else down in order to make themselves feel better. I pray in some way that they saw how I continued to be kind to them and perhaps they might change. I do pray for God's blessing in their life.

If you have someone in your life that is being rude or mean, please try to understand that it really is their prolbem and not yours. Just lean on the Lord and pray and cling to scriptures that are comforting. God will give you victory!!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Corinthians 4:16-18

Love, Sharon

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

I hope you have a fun day today with your families!

Tonight we will be having our traditional Halloween dinner, chili and cornbread. This year we will not have any children trick-or-treating, which is kind of sad to me, but we will still give out candy to the little children in the neighborhood. Hope you have a great day!

It's almost 1:00 in the morning and we just got back from our son Hayden's football game. They won! He got a touchdown too! It was at a school on the Oregon coast and it was a 2-1/2 hour drive one way! I'm tired and hitting the sack.

Before you go.....turn up your speakers for a spooky song! :0)

"For with God nothing will be impossible." Luke 1:37

Love, Sharon

P.S. Thank you for your comments on my post below, Mean Girls, I will be working on my post about it and share it on Monday.

Mean girls.....

2009-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Have any of you had to deal with a "mean girl" in your life? I did not experience mean girls in my youth, none that I can recall anyway, but I have in my adult life. I want to tell you a little story about some mean girls in my life, but I need to get some notes together. I just wanted to get some of you talking about it.

Last night I found out the truth about some women I used to work with. I found out that I was not crazy and that they were indeed talking and gossiping about me and they were being mean to me. I felt like I suffered in silence while working with them. I told my family and I told the Lord. I tried everything to be nice to them and to be friends with them with no avail.

I want to share more of my story with you, but for now, I'd like to get your feedback on Mean Girls. Have you ever been at the mercy of a mean girl or have you been a mean girl yourself? Why do you think some girls are mean to other girls? If you had a girl be mean to you, did it get resolved, if so, how did you resolve it? I really hope that none of you are having to deal with a mean girl in your life now as it can be so painful and hard to understand.

I just came home from work to eat lunch and check my blog and I need to get back. I'll talk to you soon!

"For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Luke 12:12

Love, Sharon

A deer gift from God.....

2009-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

Back in June I was going through a rough time. Click here and here to read about it. Any way, I was going through a tough couple of weeks and I was sitting on the porch early in the morning, reading my Bible and crying out to God. I was sitting there concentrating on the Lord when all of the sudden I heard what I thought was someone running really, really fast. I thought it was a jogger, but boy were they running fast and loud too! I looked up and saw this beautiful deer running down my street! Can you see him there in the background of the picture?

I was so shocked to see him and so excited too! I quickly ran into the house and grabbed my camera. I was so sad because I thought he was gone, but I looked up the street and he was coming back! He ran right in front of the my house where I could get a good picture of him.
Isn't he beautiful! It was sad though, he seemed so scared. He had somehow wondered off the path and became lost in an unfamiliar place. This is such an unusual occurrence because we live in a developed neighborhood, we never see deer here! I was so excited and I immediately felt like this was a blessing from the Lord.
There were many reasons why I was having a hard time in June and one of them was the fact that my son did not get a big important internship at a local utility company that he had applied for. He made it through many levels of the interview process and we had heard that he was a shoe in and then he didn't get the job. I was just so disappointed and it sent me into little funk.

The little deer was gone in a flash, just as quickly as he came. He jumped over the fence at the end of the road and probably went through the yard and out towards the country. I am certain he got back to safety out in the country away from the developed city.

I thanked God. I sat there and thought, why would God send this deer on this particular day, at this particular hour when I was out on my porch praying and feeling so down. I thought that maybe he was saying don't worry, I'm watching out for you. It really comforted me. I still went through the feelings of being down, worried and concerned, but I kept going to the Lord in prayer.

Well, the story does not end here!

I kept praying and trusting God and He gave us a miracle! Three weeks later the utility company called him and offered him the job! It turns out that one of the boys they hired didn't work out, so they gave it to Grayson. You can read more about it by clicking here . It truly was a miracle and I give God the glory!

Any way, the internship was only for 12 weeks and it ended two weeks ago. Because he was working full time at the internship he was not able to sign up for college, which was a bummer, but he will be signing up for winter term. He really wanted to stay on at the utility company because he loved the work and it is one of those excellent jobs that you could stay at your whole life and get promoted and he would go to night school. Any way, the job was over and he wasn't taking classes, so he desperately needed to get a job. He went to town and went on line and contacted probably thirty places. Last Friday he got a job offer at Target and then on Monday morning he got a job offer at a mill! He actually was planning on accepting both jobs to earn more money, but then Monday afternoon he got another job offer to go back to the utility company working full time!!!! I cannot believe how the Lord has worked all of this out! Grayson is so excited and so thankful! We all are!

With all of this new activity, I just started pondering everything and I remembered that sunny morning back in June when I was crying out to the Lord and then the little deer came. It reminds me of how God does care for us and does hear our prayers and does answer them. He is faithful! We do not always get the answers we want, and sometimes we have to wait a long time, but that is the beauty of faith, you know that God is taking care of all of it and He will be with you whatever the outcome. I just want to thank God for how He has worked in my son's life and how He has blessed him and how He has answered my prayers. I feel like I disappoint the Lord because I do lose my faith and I do get in funks when life gets hard. I want to remember these times of victory and I want to remember that He will never leave me or forsake me.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Hugs, Sharon

The ultimate man chair!

2009-10-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Can you see Eric's "garage" chair there on the left side of the picture?
Here is it is a bit closer. He's had this chair out in the garage for many years. It has been spray painted on, used as a surface to hold wood to saw on, used to hold wet coats, wet boots, wet towels, used as a sturdy surface to put a vice grip on, used to stand on to get in the cabinets and oh ya, used to sit on to watch football on man days out in the man cave.

Well, it finally had enough wear and tear and the back of it broke off. Grayson was actually the one who finally broke the camels back and he felt bad, so with the help of his partner in crime, Garrett, they revamped the stool for Eric! With these two inventors, it was not going to be any "normal fix" it would be an inventive one! Above is a picture of them standing next to Grayson's go-kart that's he's been making in the garage over the past year.
Check out the new stool! It is an old car seat that Grayson bought for the go-kart, but did not use. They bolted it to the base of the stool! It cracks me up! I swear, if they could motorize this puppy, they would!!! LOL!

It looks like something right from that old TV show "Home Improvement" with Tim Allen! At least he's comfortable and it didn't cost a dime! Gotta love it! Every time we look at it we crack up! Never a dull moment!!!

"But as for me, I will come into Your temple protected by Your mercy and Your love; I will worship You with deepest awe." Psalm 5:7

Hugs, Sharon

Mom and Sister time!

2009-10-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

My Mom and sisters and I have a fun little tradition. Every September we get together for our annual birthday celebration and lunch. Above is from left to right, Kathi, me, Mom, and Kelli. Mom, Kelli and I all have birthdays within three weeks of each other. Kathi's birthday is in March, be we celebrate celebrate hers with us!
This time we went to a cute antique store that serves lunch. I ordered a delicious tomato bisque soup! Oh my goodness was it good! I love how they serve water in old canning jars!
We exchanged gifts, talked and laughed.
We also shopped!
I am so thankful for my awesome sisters and my mother. I am so thankful that we have this fun tradition together and that we are able to spend so much time together. I am truly blessed!

Can I ask that you say a prayer for my mother please, her and my father have been hit hard with a lot of stress and she could use prayers for joy and peace in their life.

"This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:23-24

Love, Sharon

New cute, cute, cute idea!!!!

2009-10-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is how this invention came about.......I was cleaning out my kitchen cabinets and I found this cool old Pyrex pheasant mug. I really like it because of the design, but I'm picky about what kind of cups I drink my coffee out of. I prefer a cup that has color on the inside, I don't like the white background. I knew that it was vintage, cool and collectible, but I made the decision to toss it out and donate it to a thrift store. But then I thought, hey, that might be cute with fall candies, nuts or feathers in it and use it to decorate for fall, so I decided to keep it.

Then all the sudden I got the idea to try a tea light in it. I placed a tea light inside and couldn't believe the neat glow that it cast! I was so happy! Then I thought, I wonder if I could put it on my little cup hook on the side of my bookshelf. I hung it there and it looked awesome!
The bad thing though was that the little tea light slid to the back of the cup and I was really concerned about the flame being so close to the class and causing it to crack. I started trying to think of a solution and then I got an idea! It was simple and easy too!
I just put an empty votive holder inside the cup and then folded a tiny piece of foil to actually set the candle on so that it would stay level.
It worked perfect! I made sure that the flame was actually clearing the cup so it wouldn't burn the glass or crack it.
Isn't it just soooo cute!
I love how it glows!
It adds such a warm cozy feel to the kitchen.
Now I'm excited to try it with jadeite and other types of mugs! So simple yet so rewarding!!! This is the kind of idea I really love!

Tonight is homecoming at our school and we'll be going down to watch Hayden play football and see who gets crowned homecoming queen. Hayden was chosen as the sophomore prince! I was so excited for him, but he really doesn't care though, he's so funny, he said, "Now I HAVE to go to the homecoming dance Mom." LOL! Oh, I'm sure he'll have a great time!

I hope you have a beautiful weekend! God bless you!

Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world." John 8:12

Love, Sharon

I can't mask my feelings.......

2009-10-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of the flu and I am tired of the swine flu! I'm tired of all the crud that's going around! Our medical office has been swamped with phone calls and patients coming in with flu like symptoms. Every day we get a ton of emails on all the updates regarding the H1N1 flu. It seems a little bit blown out of proportion to me. One of our doctors suggested that we start wearing masks at the front desk to protect ourselves from getting infected with any of these germs. That was very considerate and thoughtful, but I was not thrilled! I admit it, I am a bit vane and I didn't want to wear the mask! I do not look good in a mask! It didn't match my outfit!

Any way, I said, "You know, I was sick with the flu two weeks ago, so I've already have it. Phooey on the mask!" and I asked our nurse about it. She told me that she didn't think I needed to wear it, so I took it off and boy was I glad! It was hard to breath with that silly thing on and it fogged up my glasses!

I hope all of you are being careful and staying healthy. So many people are sick that they are actually asking them to stay home and just talk to our triage nurse rather than come in for an appointment because there is really nothing we can do for them (well, the triage nurse asks pointed questions to make sure that folks do not have high fevers and that they are okay to stay home). I'm not a nurse, but from working at the office I've learned that the thing to watch for besides high fever and dehydration is respiratory problems. I guess a rare amount of people can develop respiratory issues and their lungs fill up, and without prompt medical attention they could die. So if you have kids, really watch for that. The old fashioned remedies are always good, chicken soup, rest and plenty of fluids, and remember, call your doctor if you develop flu like symptoms!

I guess I just had the regular flu, but I was never tested for the swine flu. We have had several confirmed cases at our clinic. All I know is I was so fatigued and had such terrible body aches. Mine started with a low grade fever, body aches, fatigue, stuffiness, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and my lungs felt tight. The worst of it lasted a week, but then I had another week of continued terrible fatigue. I am so thankful to be on the mend and I am especially thankful that none of my family has gotten it! I pray they don't!

Take care of yourself and stay healthy! Hopefully this will pass through our country quickly and we all will be healthy!

"For I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 30:17

Hugs, Sharon

~ Oh, one more thing, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I have not been around to visit you. I have been so busy with tons of different things and I barely have time to put together a post every day. I am hoping to catch up with all of you this weekend. God bless you!

A sweet promise.........

2009-10-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

We had a little bit of excitement around here! Grayson saved up his money this summer and bought his girlfriend, Rachelle, a very special gift! He bought her a promise ring! They are high school sweethearts and have been together for a year and a half.
Isn't it pretty! I thought he did a great job of picking it out! I know, I know, it does look a little bit like an engagement ring, but it's not! It's a going steady ring or a promise ring. It symbolizes that he has promised his heart to her and she has promised her heart to him. It also is a promise of purity too, to stay pure, so it is a purity ring as well.
She was sooooo excited to get it! This is the first time I saw her with it on. She was so cute when she showed it to me, she was beaming!

It is such a beautiful ring and it looks so pretty on her finger!
Eric and I are very happy for them both! We love Rachelle and feel that she is such a great person for Grayson. They are still very young and have a lot ahead of them, but they are so sweet together. You never know, they could go the distance, Eric and I did! Eric and I were high school sweethearts too! I was just 16 and he was 17 when we met! Now we've been married for 27 years and together for 31! We feel really good about Grayson and Rachelle. They have a really healthy happy relationship. I like it because they spend lots of time together, but also lots of time with their friends. He spends a lot of time at her house and she spends a lot of time here. It is a very balanced and happy relationship and they have really good chemistry! I am especially happy because the Lord is the center of their relationship! They have a great start together, we will see where it goes!!!

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace at all times and in all ways. The Lord be with you all." 2 Thessalonians 3: 16

Love, Sharon

Delicious Barbequed Onions!

2009-10-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is such a simple, frugal and delicious recipe! It's one of our family's favorite side dishes! First you take a bunch of yellow onions, usually one per person, but you could throw a couple extra in for the pot!
Cut the ends off.
Peel the skins off.
Try not to cry! Brittany was tearing up, so I told her to put on my sunglasses, I don't think it helped though! But....she is one cool onion peeler with style!
Okay, once you have all your onions trimmed and peeled.........
You take a knife and quarter the onion, but do not cut the onion all the way through, keep it connected at the bottom.
Gently pull it apart....
...and place butter down inside.
I put about a table spoon....sometimes more....sometimes less, it kind of depends on the size of the onion.
Once they have the butter in them place them on a big piece of foil, approximately 15 inches long; you need enough to completely wrap the onion.
Salt and pepper to taste.
And wrap up tight.
We're almost there! Now we need to head out to the barbecue!
Eric has been barbecuing ribs tonight and they are almost done. He said he was ready for the onions, so I took them out to him. He lays them right on the grill for about twenty minutes, turning them a few times.
Okay, they're all done! He says he can tell that they are done when they become squishy when he squeezes them.
Unwrap them to find a yummy soft, cooked onion with tons of flavor!
What a delicious meal we had! BBQ ribs, homemade potato salad, homemade orange Jello salad and barbecue onions!
I put them in sherbert size dishes.
They turn out so tender and absolutely delicious. If you love onions, you've got to try this recipe! If it's a date night, make sure that both of you eat them or that you have plenty of mints on hand! LOL!

Have a great day!

"Ogres are like onions.Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers." ~ Shrek

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27: 17

Love, Sharon

I didn't lose a son.....I gained a daughter!

2009-10-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Brittany and I had a mother/daughter day together! It was so much fun! We started the day with lunch. I took her out to Applebees.
We had a fabulous meal! We found out that both of us LOVE French Onion soup!
Then we went to a chick flick....Julie and Julia.
I was just enjoying my day so much. You see, with all boys, I do not get times like this very much. I am very close to my sons and we go out to lunch and movies, but usually it's an action film, not a chick flick! We have had lots and lots of fun together and we have so many great memories, and I can honestly say in all my years of mothering four boys that I have only felt sad about not having a daughter about two or three times. Really! I'm telling the truth, even every time when I was pregnant and learned it was another boy, I was very joyful and thrilled to have another son and a healthy baby.
I'm so bad.....I snuck in a pop and some candy! Well....I wouldn't have to do it if they didn't charge $5.00 each for them! We did buy popcorn though!

Any way, something new is happening to me. As my sons have aged and have gotten such busy lives, I don't get to spend so much time with them. I have noticed that women with daughters have kind of a built in best friend and I don't have that, you know someone to have girl days with or just to go to Wal-Mart with and the grocery store. I have a great relationship with Brittany, but since the wedding we have both been so busy that we haven't had very many girl days together with just the two of us, so I invited her to have a special day with me. I realized I didn't give birth to a daughter, but I have a beautiful daughter by marriage and we can be very close and have that mother/daughter relationship!

I realized too that to have a good relationship with her, we need to cultivate it and we do need to make plans and spend special time together. I feel so blessed to have such a great daughter in Brittany and I am thrilled to meet the other three that will be coming into my life in the future! When we walked in the theater it was completely empty! We had the whole place to ourselves! That has never happened to me before! I teased Brittany and told her that I rented out the whole place just for us!!! :0)
We had such a great day together! I loved the movie. Well, I loved everything about Julia Child's life and have learned that she is such a great woman and role model. Julie's character was a bit disappointing to me, but it was a great movie.
After the movie we headed to a fancy day spa. Here's Brittany in the waiting room filling out paperwork.
When I quit my job working for the cardiac surgeons they gave me a $100.00 gift certificate to this spa. I could have used it on a variety of things from getting my hair done to getting my a manicure, but I chose to have side by side massages with Brittany!
We were in two seperate rooms with an open curtain between us. It was so amazing!
I have never had a massage before and oh my gosh.....I'm hooked! It felt soooo good. We got half hour massages and I wish it was longer.
And to end our day where else would we go but to Goodwill? :0)
We had fun shopping and finding treasures. We both found some nice things. It was so fun to walk around the store with her talking and laughing, it was a wonderful day and it is nice to know that there will be many more of these types of days ahead!
I did not have a daughter by birth, the Lord blessed me with four amazing sons, but I do have a daughter by marriage and I count myself truly blessed!

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God." Philippians 1:3

Love, Sharon

Happy One Year Anniversary Mackenzie and Brittany!

2009-10-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

One year ago today my oldest son, Mackenzie was married to his beautiful bride, Brittany!
It was such a beautiful wedding!
It was such a happy day!
They had a beautiful wedding and they have a beautiful marriage!

Wishing you a very happy day and many, many more wonderful years! We love you!!!!

To read all about the wedding go to the Archives button on my side bar and click on October 2008. You will see many posts about the wedding preparations, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding day.

I hope that all of you have a restful and peaceful Sunday!

"The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.' So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. " Genesis 2:18, 22, 23

In Him ~ Sharon

More Fall Decorations.......

2009-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to share with you my fall decorations on our front porch.

I admit, it's a bit over the top! It looks like the entrance to a little country store! I love fall and I love to decorate, so what's a girl gonna do? LOL!
I have showed this old wheelbarrow to you before. It is actually three pieces married together. My father gave me the antique metal wheel and I found the wheelbarrow base and the wood box at garage sales. Eric put them all together for me. I think it turned out wonderful! It truly looks like an old antique piece! I love to put it out front for fall and fill it with mums, pumpkins and garden tools.

A few years ago I found this fabulous old cast iron pot at a church rummage sale. It was all rusty and beat up, but I thought it would go perfectly on the front porch for fall with floating candles in it.
I added acorns to the water for an added fall touch. We don't have an acorn tree, so I went down to the high school where there is an oak tree and got down on my hands and knees and picked up all these acorns. People probably thought I was going nuts! Get it...nuts....hee-hee! :0) I was a bit disappointed that most of them sunk to the bottom, only a hand full of them floated, but you can still see them and they add a little drama!
I found the floating leaf candles at a thrift store, three for $1.00. A funny thing happened the other day with this little display. I noticed that some of the acorns were laying by the pot and they were cracked open. I believe our little squirrel that has just moved into our yard this summer was sneaking into my display and eating my acorns! :0) This gave me a little chuckle!
I stacked some old wooden fruit crates to create this little display area by the front door. Most of these items are just things that I found in our garden shed.
These are new to me this year. I bought some beautiful amber colored mums and placed them in some old galvanized buckets and set them on the wicker end tables. I love how they turned out!
I wanted some fall colored pillows and throws to warm up the wicker furniture and I found these fun items at the thrift store. I love the little orange and red neck roll you can see there in the background. I was thrilled when I found two of them for just .99 cents each! I found the rust colored embroidered square pillow there to for just .99 cents and also the brown and orange blanket for just .29 cents!

You know a few weeks ago I had a man leave a negative comment about how much money I spend at thrift stores. Well, I do spend money at thrift stores, but certainly not very much and certainly within my budget. This particular thrift store where I purchased the pillows is called Teen Challenge and all the proceeds go to help homeless teens. It is a Christian organization that provides safe homes for homeless teens. I donate many items to this store and I purchase many items from them. It is a whole beautiful recycling process that is helping not only the teenagers, but the employees who work there. I am proud that I shop at thrift stores and I don't have any guilt for buying things there!
This old window is on the front porch year round and I just change out the wreath seasonally.
My friends and I made these windows as a craft project several years ago. I found an old nine paned window at a home recycle center for $3.00 and then I painted over it with yellow and then black paint. After that I sanded it down to reveal some of the yellow paint underneath to give it that shabby chic look. I purchased some chicken wire and cut it to size and then stapled it on the back with a staple gun. Eric hung it on our front porch for me. I love the effect it gives and it's fun to change out the wreaths that I hang on it seasonally.

Here's another old window that I have hanging above the wicker settee on the front porch. I was so excited when I found this at a thrift store for only $2.00! I have seen similar windows at antique stores for nearly $100.00!!! Score!!! It has a touch of stained glass on it, which I love! It does have a crack in the corner, but it has been hanging there for several years without causing any problems and it adds a touch of character to the window! This year I hung a fall swag made of a variety silk autumn leaves on top of the window and I like how it turned out.
Here's what our porch looks like at night with the candles lit.
It looks so cute and cozy!
Welcome to our home!
This old cast iron owl lantern gives us such a warm glow!
My father made this planter shelf for me about twenty years ago. I love it! You can't see in this picture, but there is a flower box that sits on top. I have this right next to the front door and decorate it seasonally.
I showed you this last year, but everyone really liked it so will show it again. I simply took an old antique muffin tin and filled it with votive candles. The effect is pure fall magic!
Here's a little trick that I do. When I go through my inside decorations and I realize I haven't used something for a few years and I'm tired of it, I don't just toss it out or throw it in the Goodwill pile. First I "demote" it to the outside decorations! I try it outside and if it works great and if not, then I will pass them on to Goodwill. These wooden cut outs of pumpkins and crows are a perfect example of this; they got demoted to yard duty this year! I think they look great on this little shelf!
Well, that's it for my fall porch decorations. I know I have a lot of things on the porch, but it is nice because I will leave it all up until I bring out my Christmas decorations. I will just add in a few touches for Halloween and then change them out for a few different pieces for Thanksgiving. Many of you ask where I store all my decorations, well, for the inside things I have them all boxed up and labeled and placed in the guest room closet. I store the outside things in our garden shed (click here and here to see). It is very fun and rewarding for me to decorate my home for each season and holiday. I love the homeyness it brings and my family appreciates it too. I try to weed things out every year to keep things under control.

I have been slowly starting to get more energy and feeling better. I have had a nice slow week and have been organizing cabinets and drawers. It feels so good to get things cleaned up, but I still have more to do and will share pictures when I'm done. We don't have any big plans this weekend, so it will be nice to stay in our cozy home and hang out together. I would like to wish all of you a great weekend!

"But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God." Psalm 146:5

Hugs, Sharon

Fall decorations.......

2009-10-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Fall has come to our home and there are little signs all over the place! The day I decorated it took me sooooo long! Not because I have so much junk, but I had the flu and I didn't know it! I thought I felt feverish and I should have listened to my body, but instead I kept plugging away. I kept thinking to myself, why is this so hard, why is it taking so loooonnnggg??? Well, I soon found out. Oh well, I'm glad I got it done! Here's a little display in the entry way. I set a faux pumpkin on some old books and placed some vintage ceramic pheasants near by. The pretty pillar candle was given to me last year for Christmas from my son Grayson. I've been waiting all year to light it!
Here's a little scarecrow tucked in a nook with some fabric pumpkins.
I placed this vintage squirrel planter next to an orange enamelware colander filled with fall potpourri on the living room coffee table.
I love this little guy's face! His hand is pretty cute too!
Here's a view of the whole coffee table. I like how our living room looks at night with the cozy lights and candles. Do you ever walk through your house and just feel like you like it so much? I do that a lot. I really do love our cozy little home!
Here's the fireplace. I wish there was a fire in it, but not on this night!
I found this cute ceramic pumpkin at Wal-Mart last year on clearance.
I dressied up our mantle with fall garland.
The garland is actually leaves and I tucked in some silk sunflowers.
I also found a strand of some beautiful mustard and orange glass beads mixed neat silk covered styrofoam balls and I wove them into my display.
I think it's actually vintage Christmas garland, but I thought the colors were more appropriate for fall!
In the dinning room I changed out the tablecloth for a fall colored floral cloth. It instantly changed the whole room!
I placed a cornucopia filled with silk flowers and faux veggies in the center. I found this at Goodwill a few years ago; if I remember correctly I paid $4.99 for it, which is such a great deal! I have two wood candlesticks with amber colored votive holders. I am on the hunt for larger wooden candlesticks as I feel this are a bit small for this display.
I set these cute little patterned squirrels next to the cornucopia. I love these little guys!
Moving into the kitchen.......you can see that I added some fall touches on my little bookshelf.
I simply filled an antique basket with pine cones and set some fall candles near by.
I love this little squirrel. He is a new find since last fall and I'm so tickled to have him!
In the family room I placed a cute vintage looking squirrel picture on the end table along with with this fabulous cast iron pot. I found the pot at Goodwill two years ago and I was so excited when I found it. I love the acorn and leaf pattern on top. I filled it with pine cones and added a little votive candle. Oops, don't eat any of that candy in the crystal candy dish!!!!! It's old left over candy from Christmas! Yuck! I guess I forgot! Just to let you know though that since I took these pictures I have purchased new fall candies and placed them in there!
Here's my little fall rag swag that I made many years ago. I still really enjoy it.
I put this cute little scarecrow along with some old crows on top of the computer desk. I guess he's not doing his job at scaring those crows! LOL!
I found this pretty fall looking mini wreath and placed it on top of an old brown glass jar. I love how the candle light looks through the brown glass, it is so soft and warm looking! This little display is on top of the refrigerator.
Last but not least is my fall kitchen windowsill display.
I mixed some fabric pumpkins along with a variety of different squirrels to make a cute fall display.
I found the wonderful orange, black and white fall picture out of a a vintage children's book. I framed it in an old black frame. This is one of my favorite fall decorations! I also love this cute little squirrel and this wooden acorn. I just like to mix and match all my favorite fall things. It seems like every year it always turns out a bit different. Sometime next week I'll bring out my Halloween decorations.

Fall is in full swing here in Oregon. Today it was raining cats and dogs. We've also had our share of the gorgeous sunny afternoons mixed with crisp, cool, foggy mornings. I love fall!!! Tomorrow I'll be sharing my outside fall decorations.

"Thy word I have hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm 119:11

Have a happy day!

Hugs, Sharon

Do not be anxious.......

2009-10-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Good evening friends. Today I wanted to share with you an amazing devotion that I read in a little book called Streams in the Desert by LB Cowman. I was having a difficult morning. I have been having a hard two weeks and really a hard 2009. It has been a stressful year to say the least. I know all of us go through trials and many of you, for various reasons, have not had a pleasant 2009 either.

I do want to remember to be thankful to the Lord for all the many, many blessings that I have. First that Jesus died for me and I am saved by grace and will have eternal life in heaven after my life here on earth is over and that I have a personal relationship with Him and can go to Him whenever I want. Secondly, I have an amazing family and we all love each other and get along. Also, with this tough economy, I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with our good jobs. Okay, so that being said, I will move on.

After having the flu last week and just starting to get better and I had a what I thought was a relapse with severe fatigue. I then realized that I was dealing with some female problems that I had endured earlier this summer. I ended up going to the doctor today and came home feeling discouraged. I just feel so drained and so tired of all of this. It seems like in the last year I have gone week to week with some new ailment or injury. I just want to feel like me again. I do not have anything really serious like cancer, but I have an annoying health problem that I will not go into. Any way, I cannot believe how perfect the devotion was that I read this morning. It seems like the Lord always gives us what we need when we need it. I found the passage on the internet and pasted it below. I hope you enjoy it.

"In nothing be anxious" (Phil. 4:6).

No anxiety ought to be found in a believer. Great, many and varied may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son, and whose very joy and delight it is to succor and help them at all times and under all circumstances. We should attend to the Word, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

"In everything," that is not merely when the house is on fire, not merely when the beloved wife and children are on the brink of the grime, but in the smallest matters of life, bring everything before God, the little things, the very little things, what the world calls trifling things -- everything -- living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father, arid with our precious Lord Jesus all day long. And when we awake at night, by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him, and speaking to Him, bringing our various little matters before Him in the sleepless night, the difficulties in connection with the family, our trade, our profession. Whatever tries us in any way, speak to the Lord about it.

"By prayer and supplication," taking the place of beggars, with earnestness, with perseverance, going on and waiting, waiting, waiting on God.

"With thanksgiving." We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving. If everything else were wanting, this is always present, that He has saved us from hell. Then, that He has given us His Holy Word -- His Son, His choicest gift -- and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving. O let us aim at this!

"And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And this is so great a blessing, so real a blessing, so precious a blessing, that it must be known experimentally to be entered into, for it passeth understanding. O let us lay these things to heart, and the result will be, if we habitually walk in this spirit, we shall far more abundantly glorify God, than as yet we have done. --George Mueller, in Life of Trust.

Twice or thrice a day, look to see if your heart is not disquieted about something; and if you find that it is, take care forthwith to restore it to calm.--Francis De Sales

May you be able to completely rest in the Lord and be anxious for nothing in your life and just trust completely in Him.

In Him ~ Sharon

Hayden's 16th birthday!

2009-10-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

My youngest son, Hayden, recently turned 16! I can't believe he can possibly be this old! It's crazy! I made him a little birthday display with some vintage items and I placed his new school picture in the center.
I always make my kids any meal that they desire for their birthdays. Hayden wanted shrimp!
That's all he said he wanted, just a big bowl of shrimp (he takes after his Mama!).
I wasn't quite sure what to do with the shrimp to make it festive and fun. I was telling my supervisor, Pam, my dilemma and she suggested I make shrimp cocktails!
I loved the idea! I used my little ruby and crystal sherbert dishes and mixed up a concoction of a variety of ingredients to make a cocktail sauce. I had one bottle of cocktail sauce on hand and I added ketchup, lemon, garlic, french dressing and a little horseradish to it. It turned out really good! Hayden loved it! I thought the table turned out so pretty too.
I explained to him that while it is his birthday and he gets to pick the meal, the whole family will be eating and we really must have a complete and balanced meal! After a little thought, he also request cabbage and Top Ramen salad.
Mmmmmm......this is such a delicious salad! We also had fresh rolls and jam. It was a very tasty meal!
Here's the whole gang gathered for Hayden's birthday dinner. I love our family birthday dinners!
For his cake he said he didn't want a cake, he wanted brownies without frosting!
I couldn't NOT put frosting on his brownies, so I just dabbed a little on them and made stripes and added sprinkles. After we had cake his opened his presents and we had a great evening together with the whole family. Hayden had a great birthday. I am so thankful for my son and I hope that he has a terrific 16th year!

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord." Psalm 127:3

Love, Sharon

It's in the bag.....

2009-10-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

A patient came into our clinic the other day carrying these two bags. She was a very sweet, older woman wearing a cute cotton skirt and light weight sweater with her soft gray hair pulled up on her head in a loose bun and she had the cutest little southern accent.
She asked me if I thought the employees would enjoy some fresh vegetables from her garden.
She set the bags on the counter and I peaked inside to see these beautiful veggies. I told her yes, I think the girls would all enjoy some fresh vegetables and I thanked her for thinking of us.
After she left I took the bags and carried them to the employee lunch room. As I was carrying them I was impressed by the fact that she was using such unusual bags! She reused a tortilla chip bag and a sugar bag! I thought this was so cute and really resourceful and I was impressed. She was a 76 year old woman who lived through the great depression and I am guessing she learned to be frugal and she recycled the bags.

This reminded me so much of my grandmother, Margaret, who was so frugal and she reused everything even foil. She also saved the envelopes from bills and letters that came in the mail and she would use the backs of them for scratch paper. I remember playing board games with her and we would keep score on the back of an old envelope.
It is so rare to see someone reuse these types of bags, bags that food came in. I felt kind of bad that I have never even thought to save a chip bag or a sugar bag, but then I did realize that I do save and recycle my bags all the time, I save all our plastic bags that we get from stores such Wal-Mart and Goodwill, as well as the brown paper grocery bags and we reuse them for all kinds of things. I am going to save this sugar bag because it really is old (prior to the mid 70s because there is no bar code on it) and I want to remember this sweet lady's kindness and her frugality!

Oh, one more thing, if you are wondering why I have so many of the veggies.......it's because everyone took what they wanted and they gave me the rest of them. We seem to have lots of patients who are generous and bring us their surplus from their gardens. This is just a little perk of working at the doctor's office! :0)

Have a happy weekend!

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope,comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Sincerely, Sharon

Our little labor day get a way......

2009-10-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

Over Labor day weekend we packed up our two sons, Grayson and Hayden and headed for a beautiful resort called Sunriver. We also brought Grayson's girlfriend, Rachelle, along. On the way to the resort we stopped at a restaurant and had hamburgers.
Here's Gray and Rachelle waiting for their burgers.
And here's Eric and Hayden.
We drove about three hours and when we got there we were so pleased with our rental home! Usually they are gorgeous homes decorated in a more modern style and this home was more like a log cabin with country decor.
It was so warm and cozy, I really loved it. This was our room.
This was Rachelle's room.
This was the boy's room.
Here's a shot of the living room and you can see Grayson and Rachelle cozied up on the couch together.
After we got settled we all took a long bike ride into the little town.
There are bike trails everywhere!
Hayden popping a wheelie!
They even have tunnels to go through to avoid going on the main road!
We went to the grocery store and we found these giant otter pops! They were so good!
We saw several deer on our bike ride. They were so pretty and actually quite tame!
For dinner on the first night we had pizza.
It was a casual dinner while watching a movie. The kids opened the hide-a-bed to be more comfortable!

Eric and I enjoying the cabin!
The next morning I found these two snuggled up in the window seat talking.
Grayson and Rachelle took another bike ride to the little town and I found these cute pictures on the counter when they got back. They are such a cute couple. Eric and I really like Rachelle.
Hayden chill'n out. Grayson brought his lap top and the place had free internet. It rained while we were there so we watched a lot of movies and hung out in the house.
Here I am checking out Rose of Sharon!
Mmmmm for dinner on the second night we had BBQ steak, baked potatoes, green salad and garlic bread! What a delicious meal!
On the way home we took the Old McKenzie Highway and stopped at the lava beds. There are miles and miles of lava from a very old volcano that blew many years ago.
They made this neat monument and lookout tower for folks to view the many miles of lava.
It was a beautiful place to visit.
We climbed all the way to the top.
It was pretty windy and cold though!
Oregon has so many beautiful places to visit!
Look at all that! Isn't it crazy!
We had a great labor day weekend.
Then we had to drive back home and start our lives again. School started and we got back into the routine of life. It was really great to get away though.

I am still very weak from the flu, but I do feel I am on the mend. Thank you so much for all of your well wishes and prayers. I never got the really bad upper respiratory symptoms such as coughing and nasal congestion, but I got so achy and soooooo tired. I hope that you guys don't get this!

Have a great day.

"For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by endurance and the encouragement from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope."Romans 15: 4

Hugs, Sharon

I'm sick......

2009-10-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I was feeling fluish and under the weather and over the weekend it turned into a really bad upper respiratory illness. I am staying home from work today, having chicken noodle soup and resting.

I hope all of you are staying well and healthy.

"God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." II Corinthians 9:8

Hugs, Sharon

Hayden's baptism......

2009-10-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day we had! A true day to celebrate. Hayden made a decision to publicly confess his love for Christ and be baptized in water. We started our morning at church and we heard a great message. I love going to church with my whole family, it is so great to see all my kids there and we can sing songs of worship together and listen to God's word together. We take up a whole row!!!

After the service we all headed to the river for the baptism!
My father, Hayden's Grandpa Leonard, was able to make it.
And so were Eric's parents, Hayden's Grandma Alice and Grandpa Jim.

Hayden's Aunt Kathi and Cousin Jessica came to watch too. Here they are standing with Grayson and Cameron.
I'm so proud that Hayden has made this decision to get baptized. We have been talking about it for some time and we did an in depth study about baptism and what it means prior to this event.
Mackenzie and Brittany were helping with the worship during the baptism.
It turned out to be an overcast day, but warm. The water was pretty warm too. Eric got down in the water too.
I really like it that Eric did this; he was in the water helping with all four of our son's baptism. It means so much to Eric and I know it meant a lot to Hayden and to me!
Pastor Danny was praying with Hayden and Eric.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
I love the look on Hayden's face and on Eric's face.

What a special day for us!
I love this picture of Hayden! I love how he is hugging his Dad. He's so very happy and full of joy. It warms my heart. I am so happy that he loves the Lord and made this public decision to follow Him and serve Him.

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

In Him, Sharon

Semi-Homemade Autumn wreath

2009-10-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

When I visited my sister Kathi on her farm last summer, we went on a stroll through her property and I found these neat turkey feathers. I immediately thought that they would be really pretty in a fall wreath. I asked her if I could have them and she said, "Sure." She suggested that I freeze them to kill any little critters that might be living on them!
They stayed in my freezer for a few weeks as I started gathering supplies to make a pretty Autumn wreath. Well, instead of starting the wreath from scratch, I cheated a little! I found this pretty floral wreath at Goodwill for $2.99. I thought it would be great embellished with the feathers and some silk sunflowers and hydrangeas.
I could not find any good silk fall flowers at Goodwill, so I bit the bullet and bought these beauties at the Craft store.
I also found these beautiful fall colored silk hydrangeas. I LOVE hydrangeas. Man, I thought the silk flowers were expensive! They were $6.99 a stem, but I was blessed and they were having a 40% off sale. Also, each stem had four flowers on them, so I only had to buy two of each. Next time I see pretty silk flowers at a thrift store or garage sale and they are cheap I will probably buy them and save them for projects!
Okay, now it's time to assemble. I laid everything on the floor, pulled the heads off the silk flowers, laid out the feathers and plugged in my glue gun. I then placed all the flowers and feathers out on the wreath in a pleasing way.
Once I figured out how I wanted each flower and feather placed, I started gluing.
I had to really push the flowers onto the wreath so they would stick.
I then put hot glue on the feather quills....
and stuffed them into the wreath.
I think I'm done!
Aren't the colors so pretty!
I love the markings on the feathers.
I am happy with how it turned out!
It looks great on our front door.
It's fun to have a new fall wreath. By starting with a simple ready made wreath it saved me money and time!
What a lovely way to great the new season and to welcome my company!

Hope you have a wonderful day today!

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Love, Sharon

Can you guess what I'm doing today????

2009-09-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm going to decorate my house for fall! I brought down all my boxes of fall decor. I think four boxes is a bit much, but some of the things in the boxes are large. Mind you, these are just the boxes for fall, I also have about three more boxes of Halloween and two more boxes of Thanksgiving! I decided that if I don't put it out this year then I need to give it to Goodwill! I would like to cut it down by a third or more if possible. I have a lot of things out in the shed to decorate our front porch too. I have been collecting these decorations for many years and I do seem to hold on to things I'm not using anymore, so this year I really would like to par down and get rid of the things I don't use anymore. However, I do think it is so fun and festive to decorate the house and I can't wait to do it today! I'll show pictures later!

Hope you have a great day today!

"Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. " Psalm 90:14

Fondly, Sharon

I had a good birthday!

2009-09-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I turned 48! Oh my goodness, I am only 2 years away from the big 5-0! It just doesn't seem possible, yet I know it's true. I had a really great birthday this year. It started with my sweet hubby taking me out to lunch. He said we could eat anywhere I wanted, so we went to this darling restaurant where they sell antiques. Now this is a real act of love for my hubby to take me to this place because it is soooo not him!
We had a lovely lunch and strolled through the store. It was a nice time, but I think next time I'll pick a place that he would enjoy a bit more and I'll save this place for lunches with the girls! LOL!
After lunch we headed to Best Buy to buy my present!
He bought me a new camera! I am so excited about it! My old digital camera broke and I was borrowing my son Grayson's for a few months. I picked out a Canon Powershot. I was so excited to get this! I love it because it is so little and it's RED!!!! It has all the features for good blogging pictures, 12.1 mega pixels, rechargeable battery, zoom lens, micro zoom etc. and we bought a chip that holds 900 photos! So far it is working wonderfully and I really like it! I am really excited about the battery! My old camera took two double A batteries and they would run out after a few hours of taking pictures. This new little camera will be so nice! :0)
That night the whole family gathered at our home for my birthday dinner. Eric made the whole dinner of barbecue steak, baked potatoes and green salad. It was a delicious meal. I forgot to take a picture of the food, but it turned out so good! I did get pictures of me with all of my kids though. Here's me and Brittany.
Me and Mackenzie.
Me and Cameron.
Me and Grayson.
Me and Hayden. I am usually the photographer and I forget to get pictures of my boys and I together. I am so thankful for my husband and children, they are the best gift in the world!
Here I am with my cake. I had a great birthday! My birthday wish.....that the Lord would continue to keep my family safe and we would all continue to walk in Him and grow in Him. I also wish that all of you out there in Blogland have a great year too!!!

"The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15:2

Hugs, Sharon