What is Christmas?

it is a tenderness for the past

courage for the present

hope for the future.

it is a fervent wish

that every cup may overflow

with blessings rich and eternal

and that every path

may lead to peace.

~agnes m. pharo

have a very merry and warm, wonderful Christmas!

Thy Love

"satisfy us with thy love when morning breaks,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days"

Psalms 90-14

our view

Expectant of greater things,

We try climbing -

Higher And Higher;

An effort that costs us much,

Leaving us short of breath

To find only

The ground below is much prettier.

~Phillip Pulfrey, "Mountains"

hoarding.....and more creating

i don't know if any of you have watched the "hoarder"
shows....but i get infatuated with them and just how
things could possibly get that bad. obviously the unclean
conditions are one thing....but i am just talking about the amount
of stuff......and then something came to my attention.... i have photographs everywhere....on walls...in drawers...in closets, tons on the computer....and now i'm adding more to my laptop

if i had to gather them all together, i wouldn't even know where to begin...and to top it off....i belong to pinterest which is a place with thousands of the most beautiful photos of anything you can imagine.....available to whoever wants to look at
them and collect them. and i am collecting at a very fast rate....i think that is when i
officially started realizing that i am a hoarder......of photographs!
love them

and the feeling they evoke
the memories they stir
some because they are from our experiences
and some because they are just magnificent
so.....if i was told i needed to get rid of my pictures
i think i would need some counseling too!

blogger has me going crazy on this post....so will just say the creating was making a beach sign for our dream of living by the beach someday and finally getting our bed fully dressed with a no sew burlap bedskirt! fun.fun. so many DIY tutorials on pinterest....amazing!
i love being creative
i also think its therapeutic, energizing and essential for mental health :-)
well at least mine!

creating

over the past few months
bryan and i have loved working on some projects together
we both love creating
so sharing the process makes it even more fun!
i found the mirror below at goodwill
and knew right away what i wanted to do with it...

in the meantime, my husband, in his amazing ability with wood,
took some driftwood i had gotten on orcas island in the san juans
and created the mermaid....knowing my great love for them.
she added just the right touch!

i bought this dresser years ago at an antique market and have just loved itthe finish is a crackle and shabby chicand wasn't really done well....but it suited me just fine.while looking through magazines, i spied a picture of a dresser turned into a wonderful place to store wine.....and so the transformation began!bryan had the yucky job of removing all the old paint from the topshowing a beautiful cherry wood underneath all the crackle finish.i sanded down the rest of it, to make it smoother and a little nicer finishand then bryan made the wine holders out of cherry wood and we now havea wonderful new piece of furniture!

i was driving in our neighborhood one day and passed a table out at the end of someone's driveway with a sign that said "free"i was in a hurry to get to the store so i just kept going, but......it was still there when i returned...so i stopped....loaded it into my little pt cruiser and away we went......the finish on it was in pretty bad shape, so i sanded it down and put three coats of a color i love on it and then gave it that shabby treatment and voila......i love it!

i love doing this kind of thingand i have a husband that can pretty much make/fixanything....and that makes possibilities almost endless!
o now i scour goodwill weekly and keep my eye peeled around the neighborhood

who knows what treasure will need a makeover next?

colorful day!

we had a very festive, celebratory, colorful daythat involved mostly eating
swimming
and trying to stay cool!
hope you all had a very safe and happy 4th also!

firecracker

happy happy birthday to our firstborn....jamie

she was born on her due date which was the 4th of july

and was, from that very early age, quite a little firecracker!

we love your caring and tender heart

your kindess and thoughtful ways

and your generous and loving nature.

you bring so much joy to our lives.

you are a wonderful daughter, sister,wife and mommy

and we hope you have an amazing day.....and a blessed year.

xoxoxoxo

the present

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.
~Jean de la Bruyere

some of the grands and their enjoyment of the present

one happy boy after getting "cruncher" the remote dinosaur for his 7th birthday

clay sporting mama's shoes and a new do


milo LOVES the harley helmet papa has for the little ones
walks around in it til he's just sweatin' like crazy



wyatt, clay and brody

before brody and wyatt's 'graduation' from preschool


may we all enjoy
the little things
and our little ones!

this and that

june:

busy

hectic

celebrated
shared

activities

family

blessings

we are almost done with all the june celebrations and then jamie's being the 4th of july... it is always such a fast and furious month for all of us

cassie came down and celebrated with us and filled back up on all the love from family...including those precious little ones...her neice and nephews and we all got to have some cassie time and get our share of sister/daughter love too

bryan and i made several trips to california ~ you know me and the ocean....just can't quite get enough!

and in there also was a mammogram that came back suspicious....so an MRI was ordered for two weeks later and thankfully it came back normal!

so i am one thankful lady

a song on a cd that cassie gifted me for Christmas is a great reminder to be thankful for every day that we are alive!

i'm alive by kenny chesney

So damn easy to say that life’s so hard
Everybody’s got their share of battle scars
As for me I’d like to thank my lucky stars that
I’m alive, and well

And today you know that’s good enough for me
Breathin' in and out's a blessin' can’t you see
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
And I’m alive, and well
I’m alive, and well

and very.very.thankful

ocean love*

bryan and i took a little trip to carlsbad/oceaside ca a few weeks ago

just beautiful and full of livin'

so much vegetation around...

walks on the beach

so many beaches around this area...just beautiful


an amazing little coffee/tea eatery in encinitas

we had some amazing food!


coffee at the beach....yum

we thought the grands might enjoy these pterodactyls...er...pelicans!

the waves were just amazing while we were there

oceanside by the pier

oceanside beach area near the pier


thursday street market


The waves of the sea
Help me get back to me

great reminder*

i know i don't need another "something"
to take time away from other things that need attention
or keep me from other creative avenues...
but i have an account with pinterest.com
and i love it
it is a site to share your loves.dreams.creativity
in pictures/words......
a type of
virtual pinboard —

a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by others

this is one of my favorite pins:

sure makes you think

doesn't it?