Saturday, March 31, 2012

Surprise Gifts.....



Oh Mercy Me.....I have certainly been a "Princess"
all day long....


Guess this is just one of those "Surprise Gifts" that 
I am sometimes honored to receive, when keeping grandkids that have had a "Bug."


Hopefully, tomorrow will be better!


Take care....
Shug



Friday, March 30, 2012

Pay It Forward.....

This morning, my heart is singing!  It is more than wonderful when you get to witness the kind of smile that was on Tucker's face this morning...


As most of you know, just five years ago, Tucker was in the biggest fight of his life. I can remember at one point, being lost in the thoughts of not knowing if I would ever see those beautiful dimples again.... 


Leukemia had invaded his body and the battle seemed like a never ending war.  BUT....Praise God, Tucker is a Survivor!!!!


Anyway, today he is heading out for a weekend fishing trip with an organization called "Real Men Outfitters."  RMO is a relationship-based network of men that love the Lord and the outdoors.  They help kids connect with nature and they strongly encourage   spiritual growth in this program.


The outdoor activities that this organization provides, is such a blessing to kids.  I know, in Tucker's case,  he has seen that there are many different avenues in life and that not all sports have to include some kind of ball....


He was all smiles this morning and we could hear the excitement in his voice as he was telling us about all the things that are planned for the weekend...


I am praying for his safety as well as the safety for all the men involved in this organization...I am also praying that one day,  Tucker will be able to "Pay it Forward."


Blessing sweet friends..
Shug







Thursday, March 29, 2012

Childhood Memories.......

Yesterday, I found myself having thoughts of Easter's Past.


Precious Memories....I can remember so many wonderful Easter events, of when I was a child..


I can still see my Mom as she would starch and starch the "Can Cans" that my sister and I would wear under our beautiful Easter dresses each year. (For those of you who do know what a "Can Can" is, it's the same as a Petticoat....)




These things have made a huge comeback in the past few years and I love seeing them...Brings sweet, happy smiles to my face.


Another thing I remember was a play that I was in at school....I think I must have been in the first grade, but the memories are just as real as if it were yesterday...
My little group danced to "Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail."  What Fun!!  Hey, this was a really BIG thing to a young child..I felt like I was on the Big Stage!


There is no way that I can forget about the Easter Egg Hunt!!  It was what one would call..."THE EASTER EGG HUNT!"


Just so happens that there was this older couple in our neighborhood that was,.... lets just say...WEALTHY.


They loved hosting this huge egg hunt for all the kids that lived in our little horseshoe neighborhood.  Let me tell you, everyone wanted to attend this event.  It was a EGG HUNT CONTEST!  The kid with the most eggs would win a key, and this key was the key to the....box of prizes.


One year, My brother had this huge "SMART" idea that if he and I could somehow combine our eggs, we could win!  Case in Point, we did just that. WE WON! What we did not know was that this prize was not the same as it had been in previous years. As I remember, there was a large marshmallow Easter bunny and a few other large bags of candy goodies.  The kind that all kids dream of.... but instead of all the usual toys....the gift for this particular year, was a "BIG STUFFED RABBIT."  There was not going to be the big you choose some toys and I'll choose some toys, that we both were counting on. 


 Now, which one of us was going to get to claim the rabbit?....Was it David's or was it mine? One large rabbit and two kids!! 


Somehow, on the way home, our mom figured out that we had cheated.....


We ended up having to give the Easter Bunny back, and we both came home with empty Easter Baskets...I'm thankful for a mom that made us do the right thing.




Love....that is what it was...
Mom loved us and even though she was disappointed in our behavior, and even though she made us give up our prize and apologize...We knew that she was teaching us a big life lesson as well as teaching us about love.


Oh yes, I have so many memories and I love them all....


Blessings today..
shug ~

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

HIS Canvass.

 COLORS..... do you ever think about what (your) color palette is?  Without a doubt, I know that mine would be a 


RICH COLORED PALETTE......


That's just me!  I am a person that loves brightness and I love the bold rich colors. 


When I wake up in the mornings, the very first thing that I do is to OPEN the blinds....I need the light!  I need sunshine!




Of course....we all know that when it comes to EASTER, the Pastel Colors seem to be what we tend to see most.







I must admit, those pastels do make for some pretty good eating......Isn't this a beautiful cookie?  However, it would, no doubt, taste the same if it were filled with 

B O L D
COLORS



 I thought I would look up a few things about colors and this is what I found.....


Yellow.....means Joy and Happiness.
           It also represents the sun shining, on a clear Spring day....


Green....represents Hope and birth and 
              renewal....new leaves, new 
              grass, new life.


Pink....is like a fresh beginning.  Health 
           and a new start.


Orange...is the color of dawn, or the 
              start of a new day....


Lavender.....means something special.


Blue....suggest sky and water....It brings
           peace and harmony.  It's the 
           clear blue sky and the freshness
           of the rain which brings forth 
           new life....              


In reading about colors, I realized that we all have our own preferences when it comes to the colors in our life....But how precious it is, knowing that God created them all, for us....HE made the colors of the rainbow that are so pretty in the sky....
He made the brightness for ME and for others who love such bold rich surroundings.  He also made the pastels, for those who need only a touch of color in their lives....


 Our God is more than wonderful....How marvelous are His creations...How brilliant is HIS canvass!!!!


Until Tomorrow...


shug ~











Monday, March 26, 2012

Daily Cleaning

Oh yes....It is now SPRING.....and one of the great things about Spring, is the opportunity for some deep cleaning....


I don't know about you all, but I can best describe "Spring" as being full of freshness....New life, New Hope, New Joy!






I love to open the windows of our home and let the fresh clean air, spread all through the house.  I like to organize and get the clutter cleaned out and sorted through.   


Just think about it.....Fall comes, and we have many reasons to bring in new clutter.....Decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then we have all the supplies for the parties that we love hosting.....


Before we know it, we have allowed things to become shuffled around and all jumbled up.    Sometimes, whether we want to admit it or not, we might find that we are living in junked up house.


Sure....we may keep the surface clean and looking good, but deep down......OH MY.....WE KNOW THAT WE NEED SOME "SPRING" CLEANING!!!!!










As I see it, our spiritual life can sometimes get messy too!
We may very well be able to look good on the outside.....we may be super talented when comes to putting on an act in front of friends, but deep down inside, we are a mess......


In some cases, we are filled with anger, bitterness, jealousy, 
resentment, bad attitudes and even this thing called gossip!!
We pick up bad habits that end up sticking with us...


GARBAGE.....so to speak!


If we allow these sinful things to clutter our hearts, then we become like garbage.  WE STINK!  No one wants to be around us, so therefore we are unable to be used for the Glory of God.   






I do not want my soul to be cluttered with things that are unpleasing to God....


Call it what you may, ...Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter cleaning......I think I'll call it "DAILY CLEANING!!"  When it comes to our spiritual life, we must do some deep cleaning every single day!


xoxo


Shug ~

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Wiling Servant

Happy Sunday Everybody.....


I am so excited and I just have to give you an update on the outcome of "FREE THROWS FOR SOULS."




As you may recall, a few weeks ago, I did a post about our son-in-law Tom, shooting free throws for 24 straight hours.   His mission was to raise money for "God's open Hands" and for a Missionary that our church supports....
                       
                                       

Please keep in my that a basketball in my hands is worth only what the ball itself cost.....


In the hands of Tom Booth......the ball was worth
at least $11,000.00 dollars.....


This past week, our Pastor was able to present a check to God's Open Hands for $5,500.00 dollars and at the same time, present a check to the missionary for $5,500.00.... I Praise God for this!!


Isn't it amazing what we can do when we follow what God is calling us to do?  Thank you Tom for being a willing servant....


Because of Tom's willingness, many people's lives will be touched...


HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY...


SHUG.....







Friday, March 23, 2012


I'm linking with Pink Saturday....hop on over....


Pink Saturday

Sweet Blessings to you all......Have a great Saturday and don't forget to smile at someone today......


shug ~

The Robin







A little robin built a nest and laid her eggs. One day, while the little bird was busy gathering food, a cuckoo came and laid an egg in the robin’s nest. When the robin returned, she didn’t  even question why a new egg had appeared - she was far too busy for that. When her chicks hatched, she didn’t question why one of her chicks was distinctly different from the others - she had too many jobs to do. And she did not question why one chick ate three times as much as the others - she just worked three times harder to feed them.



One day, while she was busy at work, the cuckoo chick pushed the other chicks out of the nest. When the little robin returned, she did not question where her other chicks had gone – no time for that as the cuckoo chick was demanding to be fed. The cuckoo chick continued to command attention around the clock. The little robin exhausted herself trying to obey. Never did she once question why the chick was three times her size, sounded nothing like her and shared none of her characteristics.


Ritual without reality blinds us from the truth. When doing things, we must always check our motives. We should continuously test our priorities lest something of no eternal importance starts taking up all our time and energy. We should guard our beliefs against impostors - otherwise it is easy for Satan to lay an egg in our nest (life) for us to raise. Christianity is about having a right relationship with God. If we work on this, everything else will fall naturally into place. 


                                             ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Laugh everyday.....it's like internal jogging!


Blessings All.....
shug ~

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Being on the Wrong

Hey There guys!   Have you ever had to deal with yourself being on the wrong side of nice?  Like as in, Attitude Adjustment Required???
I certainly have been guilty of doing such....As a matter of fact, just this past week, I felt like I was fixing to have a complete melt down...


I was incorporating anger into my day without even realizing that I was doing it.  I can best describe my attitude like a tight fitting bra that keeps digging deeper and deeper into ones  rib cage.  I caught myself trying to make a few adjustments, only to find that I was really in the popping kind of mood...(as in "Pop that tight fitting bra across the room)


This mood that I am talking about, probably did not start at the Verizon store, but that it where it decided to show it's ugly face....


You see, sixteen days prior, I had Purchased  a new iPhone S
and was so very excited about all of the new apps that I was going to be able to use...  Little did I know that the very phone that the sales rep brought me, was going to be YELLOW,  LIKE LEMON  yellow!


The phone itself was not actually yellow, but it evidently is a lemon phone because it does not work!!  If someone called me, all they could hear was an echo....if I called someone, all I could hear was myself repeating myself!!


I returned to the store within a few days to talk to the sales rep about it....They simply tuned it off and turned it back on and said it was fixed.  A couple of days later, I called the Verizon office....Oh, they did something online and now it "IS FIXED!"  NO...it still did not work...


I walked into the store on Friday and ask to change phones..."Well, you can't, because you only have 14 days to do so!"  I said:  "Well, why did you not do something about it the first time I came in?"    Them:  "Well,we thought we fixed it but now you are past your 14 day time period."  Me:  "You are telling me that I just PAID   for a phone that does not work properly....as in I'm just going to accept the fact that you say you can't do anything about it?"


This conversation went on and on for about 15 minutes and then I ask to speak to the manager....the girl stated:  "I am the assistant manager."  "I can send you a refurbished phone, but you will not get it until next week."


Let me tell you, by this time, that bra that I've been talking about, was a size 30 A trying to fit on a size 38 double D body!!  I was more than upset....I already had deep indention's digging into my skin and I was about ready to make a sling shot out of that BRA, using my phone as the stone!!


Then....thank goodness, I embraced the realization that I was in desperate need of an attitude adjustment.  I gently smiled, took a deep breath, and made the decision to follow through with the plan of sending me a different phone.  


It takes a whole lot less energy to look at things on the bright side, than it does to battle with the opposite rules or opinions of others.  


The remarkable thing is that we have a choice as to what attitude we chose to embrace....


 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:6-7


    An angry person stirs up conflict, 
   and a hot-tempered person commits many sins. 


                                                         Proverbs 29:22




All I could think about was..."Lord, I do not want to stir up conflict, because I am too weak and they might beat me up!!"


I definitely do not like being on the wrong side of nice....Sure, there will be a lot more of those kind of days when I am not happy about certain things, but, I know that I do have a choice when it comes to keeping my attitude GOOD!  Thank you Lord, for opening the right side of right for me!


Blessings,
shug ~

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

My Winnings!

Howdy!


Rain, Rain ......isn't there a country song that goes something like  RAIN IS A GOOD THING....??


I'm certainly not going to complain about a little rain, as in 5 to 6 inches of rain....NO, NO..not after this past summer, when the lakes and ponds disappeared almost over night.


WELL....I have to tell you just how excited I was Monday morning when I went to the Post Office.


There was a key in my box, which meant that I had a package or something way too big to fit into my regular P.O.Box....


 Isn't it fun to get surprises?  I was the winner for the give away over at  Faithfulnessfarm and let me tell you, I honestly felt like it was Christmas around here when I opened the package...


gorgeous kitchen towels, an apron to match and a Gooseberry Farms cook book!


I could not wait to get in the kitchen and fix one of the recipes out of the book....Since we are trying to eat light these days, I chose to make the Broccoli salad (which was sooo good) and I served the salad with a piece of BBQ chicken.



I added some cauliflower and for those of you that know me well, you know that I left out the red onion that the recipe calls for!  I know, I know....most of you are probably thinking that the onion is what gives the salad flavor....  You see, we don't like onions, BUT the salad was super delicious without it.




Aren't these just absolutely adorable?  I am one happy lady, and Blessed as well....


Stop by and visit Gail....You will love her place and she truly is a sweetheart...


Blessings Ladies...Blessings Gentlemen....


Shug....

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Storm

In the dark dreary nights, when the storm is at its most fierce, the lighthouse burns bright so the sailors can find their way home again.  In life the same light burns.  This light is fueled with love, faith, and hope.  and through life's most fierce storms these three burn their brightest so we also can find our way home again...




There is much to think about when you are out in the middle of a storm in the wee hours of the morning...


Last week, on Friday......Sam began having problems and not feeling very well...."Kidney Stone!"  Yes, it was a kidney stone!  He was sick all day Friday...all day Saturday and then on Sunday morning, he was better!  Or so we thought!


On Monday of this week, he was back home from work by 9:00 in the morning, and he was in pain.  He called the urologist and the nurse advised him to drink lots and lots of fluids all day long and that he probably would pass the stone....(Of course, she did not know that Sam's bladder was completely blocked and unable to empty)


It was windy all day long and  were expecting storms with heavy down pours....This was what the weather forecast was calling for....


Around 7:00 p.m.  Sam decided that the pain was too great and that he needed to go on to the ER..
Of course, as we get in the car, it starts to drizzle and the skies were looking dark.  I drove him to the hospital, only to find that the ER was totally packed!!


Every seat was filled and people were even standing outside.   Sam immediately told me just to turn around because he was not staying....he said he would try to drink more fluids and wait for the stone to pass (we did not know the bladder was blocked either)....finally, we were safe and sound at home!


And then it hit!! I was awakened around 3:30 by the loud noise of thunder clapping all around us..
The Storm was Hitting!!!   And wouldn't you know it?  Sam was up and dressed.....He said we had to go to the hospital!!  In the car we went, and I spent the next 30 minutes, driving in heavy down pours and heavy winds....The storms were here and would hang around all day long.


I was more than nervous, but I knew he had to get some help.  His bladder was totally blocked!  He was almost screaming in pain by this time.... By 11:00 a.m. he was in surgery to remove the stone.


It was a large stone and it was lodged in the 
Urethra tube.

Around 2:00 he was out of surgery and in recovery.  We finally made it home around 6:00 this afternoon.  Praise the Lord!


Sam is in bed (sleeping) and he is feeling much, much better.....


God is with us even in the storms and I give Him glory, for keeping us safe and for giving Sam the strength that he needed to endure all that he has had to go through....


See y'all tomorrow!
Shug





Monday, March 19, 2012

Five Secrets......

Good Morning.... It's gonna be a rainy day here!




Today's topic: 5 "Secrets of an addicted Blogger"


1.  I spend way TOO much TIME on my computer.


     Oh, I have things that I need to be doing, but I am guilty of
     spending EXTRA time on my computer instead of doing 
     housework.  No one would even notice if they were to stop
      by for an unexpected visit, but I certainly know the things 
      that I am neglecting...I know how many hours I spend 
      blogging!


2.  I'm not always prepared.....


     Just as in all the things that we do in life, there are times 
      when we fail at being totally prepared. 
       I'm not one that     plans out my
      blog, weeks in advanced.  A lot of times, I have these great
      ideas for blog topics, but I'm not fully prepared, because I
      have not researched the topic nor  have I committed myself       
      fully by having pictures or interesting visual aids.


3.   Sometimes WE need a break.......


      Blogging is fun, but it can be a job!  Every person needs a 
      vacation from their daily jobs, and just like an 8 to 5 job....we 
      bloggers need vacations as well....I need to take time, and I
       need to realize that my faithful followers (those that 
       appreciate my friendship and my words) will be there when
       I get back...     Hawaii...here I come! I wish!


4.   Not all of us are really tech savvy!


       Oh yes, anyone can write a blog, but it does take a little 
       knowledge in understanding some of these widgets, 
       gadgets, and buttons.....I really have a lot of learning to do!
       I just have fun and if I goof up....I try to fix it!  If I can't fix
       what I have done, then I call the kids!


5.    Writing topics.....


       Oh yes....many of us need (secret) blogs...(unidentified 
        blogs) that our family and friends cannot connect to us.
        Many times we have  words that we would love to
        write about, but cannot freely do so, because we fear 
        that many would think we are crazy!  Hmmmm ....how 
        many of us really do have SECRET blogs??




And now you know!!




Hugs, 


Shug ~



Friday, March 16, 2012

Smile...It's a Pink Saturday


Smile......It's  a PINK SATURDAY!


and boy, do I have lots of pink to show you....




It was girl's day out yesterday, and can I tell you, WE HAD A BLAST!




My granddaughters were styling....honestly, they must have modeled at least 20 or 30 outfits ....EACH!




I'll have to tell you....I love taking my camera on our shopping trips.....They try on and Shug takes pictures.....That's the way it works!


Both girls love to let their smiles be seen...especially in front of the camera lens!




They have even learned how to pose!!


I'm telling you......we have fun!


I was able to capture so many great pictures from this particular shopping trip, but most of all.....we made memories that will last forever!


Have a happy pink Saturday...


shug


I'm Linking with
Pink Saturday



Stop by and see some Pink!

The Place That I Own.....



Hello, Hello...My Sweet Friends.

Writing is my happy place!  This is a place that i own.  It's all mine!
Each day when i visit this place, i am given the awesome privilege of letting my creative side bloom.

i am happy when i am able to pour out my heart in the words that i write.  i have found that i can write out the events which leave me with great expressions of gratification......it gives me a few moments to escape the true reality of life from time to time and to find my own peace and serenity to enjoy.

i look this place, as being a place where all my dreams come true!  All my wishes to be sprinkled with magic fairy dust and for all those things that i would love to change, to instantly be real.  Today, right here in this very real silence that i am sitting in, it all belongs to me.  

it is a day that i can jot down happiness, peace, and contentment that many long for.  it is a day to love deeper, to hug tighter and to tell those people around me, just how much i care.

it is a day for me to see the world through the eyes of God.....
to honor HIM through not only my words, but my actions of love, joy, peace, self-control, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and goodness.

~ ~ ~ ~

i appreciate those who take moments out of their day, to read the words that i have written....Blessings to each of you. 

Shug.......


                                                                 

Sunday Thinking

  Happy St. Patricks Day!   🍀 Tomorrow, I will be filling my hummingbird feeders.  The little beauties should be arriving any day now.  I a...