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