Finding Beauty in the Everyday

I was reading Ashley's new blog today & was inspired by her pictures.....finding beauty in this bleak month of February. So, naturally I grabbed my phone to snap a few pictures myself.

How cool is the sun.....it just LOOKS snowy to me!

Eponene came over to say Hello.

Nothing quite so cozy as a snoozing kitty with a little bit of hooky goodness peeking out in the background.

Norah Jones playing while I fold the laundry.....

A nice hot cup of peppermint tea. And add to all that, a special package in the mail this afternoon from Kaye. She always makes me smile. Will take a picture later & show y'all what she sent me.

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Happy February, Everyone!

Just a few more pages....

Thought I'd share a few more of my art journal pages.....This is a tag off a shirt I got for Michael at Dick's. I just thought the tag was cool & so used some washi tape to add it in.

The flip-side of the tag shows what a Bargain-Hunter I am. A $20 shirt for only $2.48. Now, that's what I'm talking about!!

The start of a new month....

I decided to try my hand at sketching one night.....so what did I choose? My reading light clipped onto my bed. LOL! But what I really loved, was the quote I found to go with it the next day!

I can't take credit for this one at all. Alli had started working on a water color painting & didn't like how it was going & so she was going to toss it. I had a fit because I thought it was really pretty. So, I cut it down so it would fit into my journal.....glued it right into the middle & then used my colored pencils to finish off the background.

Afternoon Walk

Well, before the afternoon walk....let me just share a quick update with y'all on my Daisy Blanket. I'm using the join-as-you-go method, so things are coming along quite nicely.

I've been really inspired the past two days get outside & enjoy the fresh air. I was reading Jaquie's blog BUNNY MUMMY & she always has the most beautiful pictures that she takes while out & about. So....I bundled up & grabbed my phone to snap a few pictures this afternoon.

The sky was such a beautiful blue.

I know that they are pretty much always the same old pictures, but I tell ya.....I never get tired of this view!

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Counting my Blessings:

Clay & Michael have been getting lots of firewood cut * Lots of birthday celebrations * potato chips & cream cheese * Clay brought me a Dr. Pepper * kero heaters on these really cold days * Angus Beef hot dogs on sale-- $2.44/16 * a new address book * Chocolate Cheerios * watching Ferris Bueller with my kiddos * home made apple muffins * BD supper out with my hubby * Having Ashley & Brendan take us on a tour of the new Jerry Falwell library * snow * letters written & mailed * reading some of Ashley's short stories *

The Daisy Blanket

Just a little 'progress report' on my first big project of the new year.

A little close-up just to show the dimension that the daisy has. Love it!

It's coming along.....

Good Times!

My birthday was this past Thursday & since Clay had to work, we had decided that Sunday evening would be when we went out to celebrate. So, off we went last night to go eat supper at Texas Roadhouse. While we were there eating, Clay texted Ashley to tell her we had her tripod that she needed & we would drop it off after supper. Come to find out she & Brendan were at La Carreta eating & so they decided they would just walk up the road & meet us at Texas Roadhouse. It was really funny....becasue the way we were sitting, I saw them come in, but Clay didn't & so he was surprised when Brendan came up & just sat right down beside him. To make it even funnier, was the fact that we were sitting in these tiny little two-people-only booths & it just tickled me seeing Brendan sitting there with his arm around Clay. They were good sports & let Ashley take their picture.  After supper & a quick run by Starbucks we took them back up on campus & they decided that they really needed to take us on a tour of the newly-opened Jerry Falwell Library.

Checking out the cool interactive video wall.

It was so nice having them there to show us around. It really is a beautiful new facility. Such a fun, unexpected evening & it really meant alot to me that the kids were willing to hang out with us 'Old Folks'.....nothing like double-dating with your kids. Good Times!

Art Journal Pages

FINALLY.....after much grumbling & fussing/cussing with my computer.....I found a way to upload some pictures of my art journal pages. I love looking at all the mixed media type of art journals & they are fun to play with from time to time....but I have found my nitch, I think.....for my everyday journaling/creativity. I love to use markers & sometimes some colored pencils. Oh & I've pulled out my folder of stencils.....I'm loving those! Basically the journaling is a simple review of my day/my gratitudes/special scriptures or quotes that speak to me.

Here you can see that I've ripped some of the pages.....I just like the variety & texture that it gives. I also used some snowflake stamps here.....& I saved my postage stamps from Christmas cards that I got.

A little close-up of the torn page.

Here's an example of using my stencils.....for the star, swirlies & the funky lettering.

This was copied from something I found on Pinterest. You can find tons of inspiration there.

I used one of those tiny little calendar pages to mark the date, stencil letters for the word 'peace' & the 'ho, ho, ho' border across the bottom was stamped....just some of those cute little stamps that you can pick up at Michael's for $1.

Lots of stencil play here.....the triangle border, letters, sunshine, cloud & rain drops....

I used a home-made stencil & some paint mist for the spotted background. Then the row of little Christmas trees was done with a stencil. I got the inspiration for the little colorful trees from a pair of my Christmas socks of all places. Inspiration can be found EVERYWHERE.....you just have to look. ;-)

More Christmas stamps & a little coin envelope attached to hold the note someone left on our van & the receipt from our dinner out that night. Just a fun way to keep little bits of ephemera from our everyday lives.

More stencil play, yet again! I traced a tag off of someone's clothes to make my NYE banner in the corner.

Just a totally random, fun page. I heard Toby Mac singing 'Speak Life'.....

'Some days, life feels perfect.
Other days it just ain't workin.
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong
And everything in between.


Though it's crazy, amazing
We can turn a heart with the words we say.
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die


So speak Life, speak Life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak Life.
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak...life.'

Stencils, stamped bird cage & date, spray mist, washi tape & a cool tag that I wanted to keep.

Just a close-up to show how I save the tags off my tea bags & use them as page tabs. Just a fun little addition.

A doodled page that was inspired from Pinterest.

Just showing you the beginnings of a few pages. I sat down & played with some of my stencils....making some borders, etc.

I just LOVE how the pages look....full of color & texture. Gotta love a good journal!

The Joy of Thankfulness

*Taken from a little devotional book that Maw gave me for my Birthday 2 years ago called 'Joy For A Woman's Soul'.

 I don't know about you, but I don't want to live my life in the past lane. I want to find a zillion things to be thankful for today. One little girl was overjoyed one Thanksgiving Day because broccoli wasn't on the table! When God does make broccoli part of the menu, I've learned it's only because he has a greater good in mind.

What are you thankful for right this moment? Start today by being grateful for the tiniest things: water to drink, a moment to rest, the color of a flower or sunset or bird. A piece of bread. A song on the radio. Keep looking for sights, smells, sounds that make you feel pleasure. Write them down.

Let's decide to be thankful & encourage one another to cultivate grateful hearts. God is thankful for you. He gave his Son to reclaim your life. He invites you into the joy of salvation. That's an awful lot to be thankful for right there. And something else to be thankful for? The fact that you are here to be thankful!

--Barbara Johnson

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So, tell me what you are thankful for today! Leave me a comment.

Today I'm thankful for:

*That God has blessed me with another year  * 5 wonderful kiddos * my amazing hubby * beautiful flowers that Chris brought me * The delicious cake that Alli baked for me * a jar full of my favorite candies from Ashley * the sunshine * our wood stove * kerosene heaters that keep our pipes from freezing when it's REALLY cold * music--listening to Third Day right now--Lift Up Your Face *

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Birthday Celebrating!

This past Friday, we began the birthday celebrating with lunch at Cracker Barrel with Ella, Cori & Taylor. I wish I had a picture handy of these two way back when....they've been Best Friends since they were 3 & 4 years old! What a blessing friends are!!

Saturday was Alli's actual birthday & it was spent celebrating here at home. We had our taditional Birthday cinnamon buns & coffee for breakfast. Then Alli opened presents. Here, she is modeling her new slouchie hat that I crocheted for her.

This is one of the 'selfies' that she & Rocky took.

Coffee in her awesome mug that Ella & family had made for her.....with pictures from their Taylor Swift concert all over it.

Jon & Naomi came up to join the evening celebration. We had home-made pizzas for supper & then cake & ice cream for dessert. Don't you just love Alli's moustache cake?! So easy to do.

Oh Jon......

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Sunday, Alli went home from church with Cori to spend the night. Then we met for lunch at McDonald's on Monday & headed on over to Maw's house for more partying. As you can tell, in our family we drag the celebrating out for several days!

When we got to Maw's on Monday, we saw all these work gloves laid out on the table & Maw told us she had a party game planned. It was called Haul the firewood to the basement. LOL! Whoever carried at least 4 pieces of wood to the basement for her was rewarded with some punch. Pretty clever, if you ask me. ;-)

It was such a nice day Monday...in the 50s. Anna & Taylor enjoyed the warm sunshine by having a picnic in the back yard. Outside....barefooted....in January! Hard to believe that it was cold enough the very next day to SNOW.

We did cupcakes for the party instead of cake. And I MUST take a moment to explain about our candles. We were celebrating 3 BDs....Anna (12), Alli (15) & me....gasp (49).....There are two '30s' on that candle + a '9' + 7 more.....so that's a total of 76....all our ages added together!

Opening gifts....look at that action!

Love how I caught Sarah peeking into the picture.

C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E.

Love the expressions on their faces! Sarah was hemming Ella's new dress pants. There's just no telling what we might end up doing at one of our parties. Good times, I tell ya!

I was loading stuff in the van....getting ready to leave.....but the girls were having a little mini concert on the front steps. They were playing their ukuleles & singing.....Taylor Swift, of course.

This was the beginnings of our snow on Tuesday evening.

Yesterday, when Chris came home from work, he brought me these pretty flowers for my birthday. They are so cheery looking sitting on my kitchen table!

And Alli stayed up way too late last night....after I went to bed...baking me this yummy Red Velvet cake. She made it totally from scratch.....cake AND frosting both. I am so proud of her. And so very blessed too. Better scoot......folks are waiting to cut into this & have a little taste.