Untitled...

 ...because sometimes titles are far from me.

I present you with this picture of the sister and I after we had returned home from a thanksgiving supper with friends. We were supposed to dress up. And yes, it's from all the way back in November of 2014. I'm on top of this people! Can't you see??  I was told by several sources that I looked like some kind of old fashioned, country preachers wife... and Rhoda looked like a business woman with some kind of style!

Two weeks ago from this very day, I was going to Iowa with Rhoda to see my other sister and brother and sister-in-law. It was grand! We painted the one sisters house and listened to all sorts of happy music, ate cheesecake, had breakfast of pancakes w/ bananas and cream, and went to my favorite thrift store and found bright, happy clothes for 50-80% off! This is precisely why thrift stores are my favorite. :)

Fast forward to present day. I am in the midst of school and work and planning to move which means packing and sorting and adjustments and finding a new job and transferring to a new college.... Sometimes it feels like a bunch of craziness and it seems like suddenly, everything is happening really fast, and very soon I will no longer be surrounded by the familiar. Instead, I will be surrounded by the unfamiliar and people that I don't know, but I'm honestly excited about the fact that I will be meeting new people and stumbling upon new opportunities and I can't wait to see what God will bring to my life through all of this.  

My boss takes amazing pictures! I stole this one from her Facebook -and she doesn't know it yet- because she lets me do things like that and I had to work while most were celebrating our Freedom in some way or another...hence I missed the fireworks. Yesterday didn't seem like the 4th to me. Most times there is a picnic with friends, but this day I was writing an essay in response to an article on the effects of American parenting compared to that of other cultures from South Korea, Sweden, Finland, and China, to name a few... and then I had to work in the afternoon and evening. When my sister and I were on our way home from work around 10:45 we had to take a different route home because there had obviously been an accident or something blocking our road, but all was well 'cause we went past a trailer park where Fireworks were happening.. so Yay! We still saw some! :) 

This is it for now friends. More will come another day when I get around to writing the things I have been thinking. Please enjoy what remains of the summer and eat lots of watermelon and roast marshmallows and eat smores...and go swimming and all that good stuff...

'till next time....

In Which...I return from hibernation.

February 1st. That's the last time I blogged. 126 whole days ago. It's been a crazy spring, and I know I don't actually need to say that. I think it's fact that I just stated the obvious of everyone else's life too.... surprise! 

In January I began my first semester of college for my Associates degree in accounting. I enjoyed it a lot and now that summer has arrived I'm studying Human Relations and taking my Comp 1 class.. for which I will nervously tackle my essay writing abilities. I think perhaps a love/hate relationship is developing between me and English. I just don't normally include colons and semi colons in my writing. And I don't usually spend much time thinking about when to use 'their' or when it sounds better to say 'his or her' instead...Help! 

 So far this spring I have had great fun making wedding cakes for 3 of my friends, as well as a ton of graduation cakes which I will not post here, lest it turn into a food-blog-that-is-linked-to-on-pinterest-all.the.time. which is exactly not what I intend. I did post the wedding cakes though. Just because. 

Above is a picture of my sister and I with Mom at my sister Naomi's wedding. I have a few more pictures which I will post in a few days. Let me just say that it was a beautiful wedding full of good things. :) One of those weddings where you keep wanting to go back and have all the happiness all over again... 

-------------------------------------------------

And now we are here, experiencing today. Yesterday is gone, never to return and tomorrow is on a countdown to the exciting unknown. This post is a very random, non-deep-thinking return to what will hopefully be a more frequent string of posts in the near future....

Until then... please smile at someone who looks sad. They need to be able to see your joy. What's more, a smile just might save their day! :)

The untitled post of my thoughts this evening.

“Hannah! Come quick!” I left what I was doing to go see whatever it was that was causing the urgency in my boss’ (I’ll call her Audrey) voice. “Look!” she said, “That’s the girl that my husband said he loves. The one in the gray pants.” I looked at the lady she was talking about. She was shorter and fluffier than Audrey “How can he say that?” she asked me. I don’t remember what I said and to my regret I don’t remember saying anything.

That is just one example of the frantic-ness which occurred often in the 4+ months I knew her.

It was a daily occurrence. I would get to work at 7 in the morning and shortly after that Audrey would get there. She usually seemed to be hung over from the night before and it would take about 3 hours for her to come around. When she did start talking she was usually mad at the person above her (the manager of the store where I worked) and there was always a story from her time at the bar the night before or it was a story of how she sat down by the pond fishing till midnight or 1:00 in the morning… and every day there were tears. They usually lasted through the whole day. Many days she spent a good fourth of her day outside on the phone crying.  There was deep hatred inside. And the lies…to customers, to us girls working under her, to the guys above her… lies to everyone about everyone… it was better to just figure something out on your own than trying to ask her because what she would tell you, you would soon discover was not the truth.

The last time I saw her was back in August 2014. She had left work that night muttering hatred and threats aimed mainly at the store manager.

I haven’t ever been able to stop thinking of her. At times I want to but for the most part I don’t. What I do want to forget is the stress that was there for 4 months. What I don’t want to forget is her. I want to remember what God had to teach me about loving the unlovable. I remember so clearly thinking how she is equal to me. Sure, I was raised in a Christian home and at the age of 18 my life was vastly different then hers at 50. Much more ‘good’. While I may have never had abortions, gotten drunk every night, slept with every available man or what have you, I still couldn’t have any pride in thinking God loved me more. Because He doesn’t.

 I wish I could say that she came to know Jesus and that the whole entire situation changed but I can’t. What I can say though is that God showed me a whole different meaning to the word love. And when I see how He loves people like Audrey it’s very squelching to any pride that He would love me more because of how much ‘better’ I am.

I don’t work at that particular store anymore, but it’s interesting the reactions I get when I tell people what I miss the most from my 17 months there. I tell people honestly that the thing I miss the most is working with the people. I miss working right beside them every day. I miss being in on their lives. It was my all time favorite activity of the day to see a co-worker sad and have them laughing and positive till they left that night.

 I know some people think it wasn’t a very good environment to surround myself with. “What terrible company for a young person…” I can almost hear them thinking…  It was dark. But God was also at work there. I felt His Spirit there. Some days when the darkness and stress was so heavy that it felt claustrophobic another worker would tell me how glad they were that I was there. I would give them a hug. Tell them how glad I was to know them…or give them a compliment. It would make their day just hearing words of kindness. Other days it was them giving me a hug. But lest you think I always embraced the stress and every other chance I had to show complete Christlikeness… I didn’t.

All that said…Don’t shy away from loving the ‘unlovable’. After all, who is the unlovable? It’s us just as much as it is them. Open up your life and let Jesus love them through you. You won’t ever regret it. I promise. 

It begins to feel like summer. Today....

....Was a beautiful day. The kind of day that makes everyone excited about summer. It was 80 degrees. Never mind that it's supposed to be in the 40's again on Wednesday.... We're talking about THIS day. It was the kind of day that brings invigorating spurts of motivation which is precisely why I went on 2 long walks up and down these hills. Once with the brother & once with the sister & both times with Sam & Lena! -the dogs- :)  Whats not to like about having a good workout right at the end of your drive? And I thought about a certain sister of mine who sometimes gets homesick for these hills and how that if she would come this summer we would go on long walks everyday...and talk... about things.... to the sister:  you know which one you are! 

 Rhoda & Sam.  She has a fonder liking of animals than me. Just sayin'.

 Rhoda & I. 

Today was also the day that the braces which were stuck to Rhoda's teeth for 2 years got to come off! Yay!! The first thing she did was eat popcorn & chocolate covered coffee beans.... I helped her. :)

 Buds on the maple tree in the front yard. I'm so excited for spring people!

 The beautiful night sky!  After supper Rhoda & I went out and did jumping jacks & jump roped... the latter didn't go so well for me but they say practice makes perfect! For which I am grateful!

This is the day that the Lord hath made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Psalm 118:24

13 Random Moments....

...in 2013. Yes, I know I'm a little behind since the year has already been for 21 & 1/2 days but hey, it's good to remember the good times right? I think so.

 

 The moments of sitting around the table talking with family...

 the most adorable moment of Haley & Colson...

 

The time I went to see my sister with friends & we went to a coffee shop... 

 The time when Micah plays with Colson...entertaining I tell you! 

The moments when we played in the snow with friends beacause we could.

The time we randomly decided to go eat fried cheese curds & cheesy tater rounds right before making supper...

That moment when your trying to stay occupied while traveling....

Walks in the beautiful outdoors with the sisters & the brother...

That moment when we step inside the door after a random trip to DQ & decide that a picture is in order..

Conversations...

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. You see, I am not overly given to hugs etc... & Rhoda loves them & somehow our expressions just make me laugh. And laugh. It's so original! :)

 And we have breakfast with friends...

Time spent with surprise guests... :)

 So there you have it. A few of my favorite pictures from 2013. 

The End.

Perhaps I will just call this...A blog post.

Hi everybody! Here I am with a few new pictures...I know only 1 of them has people in it & those are always the most interesting ;) But the others are nice too I think :)       You may or may not have noticed that I also changed my header and blog colors.... You may also have noticed that it is kinda late in the season to come around with fall colors but I never once thought about it until today when Mary & I were looking at random pictures of this fall.... so enjoy!

  Grandma was here for several days so we took her to our favorite cafe for coffee...

excuse the bad lighting.. ;)

 Yay for fall decor.... a gold plate, leaves from the tree, acorns & a yummy coffee beans candle....(you get all the good scents when you make them yourself! ;))

An awesome sunset...and gate... Just beautiful!

And who doesn't like bright red leaves in green grass?!

Hi peoples! :)    And so I see that it has been a little while since I posted last.    This is very quick..... Today Wes & Sara came and then this weekend all of Mom's brothers & sisters (my friends & relations) will be together at a retreat center of sorts by the lake for my aunt Karens 50th birthday....
and then...................... keep reading.................. next week I will post another giveaway!   It's very exciting! ;)  I am happier about this giveaway then the last one I did because it is something that everyone (nearly everyone) wants, (or has) (& the people that have it really like it ;))...
So please go ahead and guess what it is and then next week I will reveal the wonder to ya'll! :)

Have a happy weekend!

A new years update of sorts

 Hello all! I know it has been awhile since I've posted anything and I thought now would be a good time to update.....
I had a wonderful Christmas & I tried desperately to do a nice long picture post about it but blogger wouldn't cooperate.  So if you feel the need to see pictures you can go here & here.

Happy New Years to you all! I really wonder what 2012 will hold...(that goes for all of us) 2011 was a really challenging year for me and sometimes I still try to see what all God was/is trying to teach me.  I am quite certain that I felt/noticed more God moments this past year then any other so far....  my prayer for all of us this year is that we would draw closer to God then ever before and that we would be ready and willing to do what ever He asks of us.

Speaking of a new year....  My aunt Wanda has started a new blog.  The Ordinary Homemaker. She has a wonderful way with words and I find what she has to say to be very inspiring! :) Go check it out!

My brother Jon & his lovely wife Mary, They plan to move here sometime this spring, It will be so nice to have here....(instead of CO:)

  I don't put much stock into new years resolutions simply because by the end of January most of them have been forgotten (that's how it works for me anyhow) but I do sorta have two of them this year: #1 is to read the Bible through this year  & #2 is to "hopefully" update more often.....posts with pictures.....(no promise of this:)

  This is one of my theme verses this year.....

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.     

Hebrews 12:1&2 

53 weeks & 5 days of blogging...

...This blog has existed that long! I do enjoy it (even if you don't :)) & I think we should celebrate in some way but everyone does that,( giveaways when their blog is a certain age etc. :)) ... So maybe we will wait until sometime when nobody is expecting anything and then we will have a little surprise! Don't we all like that? alot?       But to admit, I am a little curious as to who all is reading my blog, the stats show that alot of people read it every day so I think that perhaps some of you read it & never comment & that's fine if you don't want to, (I hate feeling obligated to comment on someones blog) but in case you want to comment, now is the time to make yourself known.   In your comment please say your first name, where you're from, how you found/heard about this blog, and for curious me, which is your favorite of the following:  coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream, gummy bears or raisins.

Today...

... Is a lazy day...

Some snow is slowly making it's way down from the sky,  I am working on organizing the closet that holds all manner of things; games, my scrapbooking things, candle making supplies, a few stuffed animals believe it or not! :) (I wonder why?) Only those of you who have seen it in the last month or so know what it looks like. :)   In other news, I ate my 'breakfast' at about 12:30 p.m. this morning afternoon.  Tomorrow my brother and his wife are coming for 10 days, we are expecting a large time :) 

More seriously; my sister is leaving for Alabama on Saturday, she is going as a volunteer for the We Care prison crusade so please keep her in your prayers. 

Psalm 62:7-8

In God is my salvation & my glory:

the rock of of my strength, & my refuge, is in God.

Trust in him at all times; ye people,

pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.

  

 

Happiness!

•  A candle is burning
• piano is practiced for the day
• Jolly fat snowmen sitting on the shelf
• the laundry is getting clean :)
• I'm happy about the fact that I am updating 5 days since my last post instead of 15! :)
• I'm working on sewing a dress
• there are the best chocolate covered coffee beans (that my sister won in a giveaway) sitting on the desk & sometimes I get 1 or 2. or 3?

The new year is coming! 

I'm thankful for another year to be alive & most importantly another year to serve my God 

& discover more of His Greatness!

6 Random pictures

       My bro-in-law w/ his kidders, something must have been very funny! :)

Cousins                                      Jaden

                                         Naomi's car, looks just like her I think:)

                           Carson with his ice cream birthday cake.

                           All of us girls at Jon & Mary's wedding.

   Most of these pictures are old but I still like them:)  (my blog lacks people pictures so I thought I'd put some on)            

Attention!

 My friend Kristin is doing a giveaway on her blog! the drawing is on Tues. so there isn't much time left!
 The prize includes coffeeish things:)  Here is the blog; Transparent Splahes of Color

Rambles.

I currently have nothing to say.
Nothing that is very interesting & needful that is. Last week my sis. & her children were here all week, perhaps sometime I will post pics. perhaps I won't?- presently the computer isn't wanting to cooperate to let me take the pics. off the memory card, on to the computer. *sigh* this IS modern technology! this week I was very busy -baking- you may think this is all I do but it isn't. Next week we (mom, Rhoda & I) go to Iowa to clean my Grandma's house. A fun piece added to that will be seeing all my cousins (if pics. get taken I will post them;) Last night my bro. Micah came home from Iowa after being there for 2 weeks, it is good to have him here again seeing that  it might be good to have "someone with some common sense" around again in case of things happening (water pipes breaking etc.:) well I should go and bake some supper.  A wonderful weekend is wished  to you all!:)

Happy Fall! :)

Hello to one & all! Honestly I did not mean to hold back posting till after the first day of fall but being very busy plus slow internet when you have time to update makes for wide spaces between posts!

                                            Meet Jane:

She happily sits in the corner of my sisters schoolroom with some pumpkins & squash, (this was before the pumpkins & squash were there) Dorcas found her & she probably comes from China but I do like her!:)

I am currently working on some pages for my blog, such as; Favorite Songs ~ Quotes  & Proverbs ~ Links~ etc. Perhaps there will also be a guest book?  The reason is to hopefully make this a little more interesting(I said hopefully) Please tell me if it is boring 'cause I don't like boring things! :)

This coming Saturday my sister is coming for a week, bringing her little family with her:) It will be fun (to state the obvious!)

  Wishing you all a good day until next time:)

Who agrees...

...that beautiful, breezy, fall days are a gift from God & God alone?

            
This morning I woke up to the sound of birds singing, leaves rustling, a coolness that was fresh air coming through the window & blue skys.  What more could I have asked for?!

A random collection of things

To start with I shall write the chorus from a beautiful song entitled; All good things(a Pooh perspective) from my (older) sister's Pooh tape :)  :)
                                                                                                                                                                       I'll see the good things in everything
                         around me
                        The happiness and beauty of it all
                        So many good things if everyone
                        Could find some
                        Look and try to see within your heart
                       All good things

                             
________________________________________________
           
                                                 Chocolate Chip Bars
                                                 2 cups brown sugar
                                                 2 cups flour
                                                 1 stick butter
                                                 1 egg
                                                 1 tsp. salt
                                                 1 tsp. soda
                                                 1 tsp. vanilla
                                                 1 cup milk
          Mix together first 3 ingredients. Reserve 3/4 cup for later. Add the rest of the  ingredients to the remaining crumb mixture. beat well. Put in greased jelly-roll pan. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup crumbs & mini chocolate chips.
Bake at 350* for 20-25 min.  
                          (certain ladies ~ahem~cannot quit eating these :)
                

     And because I don't have a picture of the bars, I shall post a picture of some chocolate that some very wonderful cousins gave to us! :)      

                         __________________________________________________
               

       My handsome brother and I, the morning of our baptism.
     

                                                                  A rainbow

                                             

                                        A footprint in the sand/gravel