Thankfulness ~ with a spin ;) HEATWAVE Edition

Sometimes, it is fun to put a new spin on thankfulness and Kmama hosts just the therapy needed for this ;0)


I have seen comments on Facebook, Blog, Twitter etc. about one thing just about EVERYWHERE.....THE HEAT!!


It is soooo HOT that I continually look as if I just stepped out of the shower! Thank you very much

Stepping outside makes it difficult to even breathe because of this heat! Thank you very much

Taking my grandbaby outside to swing (which is one of her favorite things in the world to do) finds me saying ~ "wait until it's not so hot sweetheart" ~ which NEVER comes ~ so we sweat and swing and then sweat some more!
Thank you very much

Going for a family walk is wonderful but returning demands everyone has to change clothes and/or shower because we are drenched in sweat! Thank you very much

On a serious note ~ Remember to drink lots of water in this heat! Dehydration is sooo easy in heat like this!

Happy Thursday and may you stay cool on this Hot Summer Day

Why I Count it ALL JOY and today's Love

I love my wednesday post :) Please join in with Angel and help spread the JOY and why not add some Love in there!! I am also joining Joanne and showing what Love looks like here @ our house!

I am filled with Joy because nothing says JOY to me like having our whole family together :) and since today was the day we have Rylee ~ Krista had said she wanted to come out and have dinner and see everyone! :) Remember ~ she is pregnant so I texted her and asked her what... if anything she was "craving?" Ha! Look @ what she said sounded good :0) Her request is in the white text



So her Daddy made her Breakfast for dinner and then.......malts




Rylee enjoyed them too :)


and I made her homemade chocolate cake... YUM



I am filled with Joy because I Love my family! I am sooo blessed to be a momma, a step momma and a noni ♥ and a very blessed wife! Thank you Lord for all you have given to me! I don't take one day for granted! I cherish my family with all I am!

Tuesdays top 10 ~ Why I L♥VE Reading

Don't you just love the Lazy Days of summer!? I sure do! I love being able to live without a schedule and trust me ~ this summer is extra special because my Jenna will be a Senior (gulp) next year, so this time with her is PRECIOUS!!!

I love reading and summertime provides that perfect opportunity to read The Word outside in the morning while I listen to the birds singing and sip my coffee

I love being able to read a Christian Novel and share it with my friends

I love being able to Review books and Jenna is joining me on my book blog and reviewing them as well! DOUBLE SCORE!! :)

I love receiving FREE BOOKS!

I love sharing/discussing about these books with other Bloggers and my friends who borrow them!

I love those nights when we are all in the living room with NO TV on and everyone is reading together! Simply Bliss I tell ya :)

I love to sit with Rylee on my lap and read her a story ~ Oh to pass on the Love of reading!

I love being able to read more than one book at a time and now that I am reviewing that comes in quite handy!

I think it is funny to watch my husband read because it never fails ~ He gets about two paragraphs into it and he's gone! Fast asleep LOL

I absolutely LOVE finding other Christian Book bloggers/reviewers and am seeking to help promote the Christian genre! Believe me ~ there are soooo many others out there and I hope to create a meme for those of us who love to read and promote Christian authors!

What about you? Do you love reading? What is your favorite book so far this summer? Where do you prefer to read?

I'm Sorry

We had a wonderful, fun, family filled weekend. Rylee was here until late Saturday when Brian and I went on a Date night w/ our friends Dan & Angel! When we met our daughter with Rylee to give her to her momma & she did not want to leave her Papas arms. Brian said "Oh my goodness, Papas' head is going to explode!!" LOL

Oh the Love of a grandchild!!

We had so much fun on our date night and had a FABULOUS dinner! Thanks Mom for suggesting such a delicious place :)

Well, I have alluded to you all recently about myself not being so nice or being somewhat cranky! YES I HAVE BEEN AWFUL! Last Monday my friend Angel posted on "our responses" and while @ dinner, I shared with Angel about how that post is STILL continuing to speak to me!

I have shared about my health issues in the past, and about a month ago I began experiencing some inflamation issues again. Grrr! I had NOT been to the doctor for at least a year and a half and because the pain was so bad I had to go in and he did some blood tests and the auto immune stuff showed up positive AGAIN. This means a number of things, but to me and my body, it meant that the Doctor would put me back on Prednisone. I H.A.T.E. PREDNISONE! why??

It makes me Hungry ..... all.the.time!
It makes me SOOOO IRRITABLE
It makes me soooo (MUCH MORE) HIGH STRUNG!

Seriously, my mind is doing things before my body is able to catch up and my family is just about to go nuts! What I MUST do is this:

Seek the Lord
Rely on the Holy Spirit
Renew my mind and not conform (to the meds)
Allow HIS Word to work in me...be a doer of what I am hearing and reading

I am also frustrated because I have worked so hard on doing My Shred w/Jillian Michales and I feel the inches piling on and certainly see the bloat in my face! The thing the nurse told me about Prednisone is: You will gain weight and it won't be easy to take off! Well, it's true but I did lose weight (not all just yet but hey! any loss is awesome!) and am still working out so I won't gain all I have lost!


James 1 speaks to each and every thing I have described!

v 2 ~ Count it Pure Joy when we face a trial or challenge says the Message~ this is an opportunity for God to do something in me
v 5 ~ If I lack wisdom, God will pour it out for me (generously) without finding fault! Halleluah! without Fault!
v 12 ~ I will be blessed if I persevere during this trial and stand the test!
v 13-14 ~ God is not tempting me with Food, Frustration, or anything evil! Thank you Lord
v 17 ~ Allow this to be a good and perfect gift from the Lord
v 19 ~ Be slow to anger! ......nuff said there huh!


I will be seeing a Rhuematologist next Monday and finding out more so until then would you all mind whispering a prayer for me and for my sweet family!

Have a blessed Monday my friends

Spiritual Sundays

First ~ I MUST SAY A "♥HAPPY ANNIVERSARY♥" TO Clif and Charlotte! This Sunday they will celebrate 52 YEARS!! ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL!! I LOVE these TWO and they are just such a wonderful example to soo many of what marriage should be! Thank you both for glorifying the Lord in your lives and your marriage!!

So now, for Spiritual Sundays ~ go here to join in your own post or just read the many posts that bring glory and Honor to our Father!

Most everyone is familiar with YouTube right? But do you know there is a place on the Web called GodTube?? Well, I just found it and it has Christian music videos, Inspirational videos, Christian comedians, etc. Well, I believe we should help support sites such as this, don't you?


This is just one of the awesome videos they had in the Inspirational section: It is just so moving! Enjoy! Have a blessed weekend!

Friday Funnies ~ BUBBLES

KIM @ Homesteaders Heart is our Queen Of Funny and she hosts Friday Funnies! Go here for your Friday Laugh!

Bubbles and Fun in the Tub w/our Sweet Grandbaby provided us with SO MUCH LAUGHTER!

ENJOY ~










Happy Friday and may you all have a blessed weekend my friends!

THANKFUL Thursday ~ Marriage

Lynn is hosting this month for TT so please go here & join in and share your Thankful Hearts! Lynn was sharing about a couple who just celebrated 50 years! WOW ~ what a blessing !! I thought I would continue on with that theme

I just celebrated 20 years with my DH this past May and I am sooo Thankful ~ soo very blessed! We have had your typical marriage with your up and downs for sure! We have learned over these past 20 years that God is ALWAYS @ work in us individually as well as working in our marriage and family! HE is our Foundation and without HIM we would not be where we are today! Knowing that HE is always working keeps us pliable ~ moldable! It scares me when people think God has done all HE can do in them! He loves us sooo much and doesn't EVER leave us alone ! He LONGS to teach us, grow us and make us more like HIM! Thank you Lord

I am so thankful that HE has taught us that we are a team! We work together, we pray hard and for each other, we are each others BEST FRIEND and no one else can have that place! Thank you Lord

I am so thankful that we have learned about Boundaries in Marriage! Boundaries with kids! Boundaries with family members :) Boundaries in Friendships! Boundaries @ work! When Boundaries are set "IN LOVE" ...they will save soooo much Strife! Thank you Lord

I am sooo thankful to know that God made Brian Just.For.ME ♥ ♥ ♥ I learned this at a conference we went to one weekend....He made your spouse just.for.you too! Isn't that awesome! Only YOUR Spouse can Love you the way they do! Care for you the way they do! Know you the way they do!! Thank you Lord


What are you thankful for in your Marriage??

Why I Count it ALL JOY :)

Today is our JOY day and I am thrilled to join w/Angel and many others to spread some JOY!!

I am filled with JOY because my sweet daughter returned home yesterday, safe and sound, from spending the last 5 days with her friend on vacation and I missed her sooo very much!!

I am filled with JOY because instead of spending Tuesday with us this week our grandaughter Rylee will come on Thursday and spend 2 ~ yes TWO nights with us!!! ♥

I am filled with JOY because I have the SWEETEST Husband ever! Even when I am cranky, irritable, grouchy, and just plain ol' mean HE loves me anyway!! (& trust me I have been all of these lately!!)

I am filled with JOY because being in Gods presence fills me with JOY! Knowing that I am under HIS continual care and HIS watchful eye ALL.THE.TIME brings me Peace and JOY!!


Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

May you all be Filled with JOY today! I ♥ You all!

Helping out some Friends

My Wonderful and Oh so Famous Friend Lori Sabin AKA "Girly Muse" has one of the most amazing voices you will EVER hear! She also has one of the sweetest Hearts I have EVER KNOWN! I had the privelege of meeting Lori last year and felt like I have known her all my life! She captured my heart that day and I am sooo thankful the Lord has blessed me w/her friendship!

So Lori has a friend named Staci Frenes. Any friend of Lori's is a friend of mine :) Staci has come out with a new CD and has asked for help in sharing this WONDERFUL NEWS!

You can go here and listen (& "like") to some of the songs on her Facebook page


If you would like to PreOrder this Fabulous CD ~ go to STACI'S LINK here

Here is a quick note from Staci and a bit about the CD
Thanks so much for helping spread the word about my new CD, Snapshots! :) As an independent artist, I don’t have the kind of marketing budgets the big labels have, so I’m grateful for the press. This project is a unique thing....it’s a collection of demos I’ve done for film/TV, other artists, etc....super fun, hooky songs more in the mainstream than CCM vein.

The CD will be ready to ship (around) the end of July....so right now we’re offering PERKS (free shipping and and a signed CD) for anyone who pre-orders at this PayPal (link listed above!) The CD is on $7.99!!!!! That is awesome so please help out Staci and pre-order today :)

4th of July & and Papa's bday :)

I pray everyone had a blessed and safe 4th of July! We had a wonderful time filled with Family, Food and LOTS of FUN! :)

Everyone came over to our house and we cooked out, shot off fireworks and celebrated my StepDads 60th birthday! It was soo much fun! We missed our daughters and grandbaby though! Krista, Casey and Rylee all went to the lake with her mom and our Jenna was with a friend in Branson! They all had a wonderful time but were soo very missed!!

Here are just a few pics from our day! I am soooo happy my DH has today off and we are planning to just..... CHILLAX!!


My Red, White and Blue centerpiece


Playing volleyball w/Don :)


cousins


My Momma, Aunt Lynette, Uncle John and his girlfriend Aranka, and my Brothers girlfriend Tami


Michael and his chocolate cake! (and some cookies too)


the other table