resolve

as the old year winds down, my thoughts today have naturally tended toward turning over a new leaf...in so many ways. there are things that i want to improve. better eating and exercise habits, better financial management, better time management, better mood management, better, better, better.

i AM looking forward to 2008. i am hopeful for this upcoming year. in many ways i have been waiting for this 2008 for most of my life. i have been content with 2007, but there were hard things too, as every year holds. i'm sure there will be hardships in 2008 also, but i am glad that the Lord gives us new beginnings.

on sunday, our pastor gave a really good sermon on Psalm 119. it's the longest Psalm in the bible, 176 verses. for some reason, it really struck my heart. i printed it out, and have been meditating on it for the last 24 hours...

it occurred to me that i want to have new year's resolutions. i NEED to have new year's resolutions. i think we all do. but instead of making a bunch of promises i can never hope to keep, i started to think about some of the promises that David made in Psalm 119. promises to meditate on the Word, and to follow God with all his heart.

i wondered why THIS PSALM struck me so much now, at this time in my life. crazy the way the Lord talks to our hearts sometimes. anyway, this afternoon, i noticed that a particular section of Psalm 119 seemed to fit what i am experiencing. i share it with you, in hopes you might go and read the whole of it on your own sometime.

You are my portion, O LORD;
I have promised to obey your words.

I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.

I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.

I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands.

Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
I will not forget your law.

At midnight I rise to give you thanks
for your righteous laws.

I am a friend to all who fear you,
to all who follow your precepts.

The earth is filled with your love, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:57 - 64

anyway, i'm not sure if i will even stay up til midnight tonite. it always seems like a good idea, until about 11:15 when my body wants to go to sleep! in any case, i know that i have the unbelievable honor of rising in the morning to a new day, a new life, and new chance to be a better version of myself, thanks to the Lord.

love you all, happy 2008!

infj

i was reading some new crafting blogs that i discovered yesterday, and i found a really cool lady in mexico that is so darn terrific. great sewing, and cooking, and she's a montessori teacher and cat lover as well. she was talking about being a "rare" INFJ personality type (is that the meyers-briggs test?) and i remembered that i once took a test and wound up as an INFJ as well. didn't know it was rare, but i do find it kind of freaky when you read those personality tests and they describe you to a "t"...

some of the most obvious likenesses are:

Many INFJs who have the opportunity to gravitate toward higher education where they often find their niche. With their intellectual bent, they are led to endeavors that allow them to deal with theory and complexity. Professors often spot their intellectual inclination and encourage it. oh, so is that why i always tell people i want to be a college professor when i grow up?

The INFJ external environment may be only partially organised. Their internal environment, by contrast, is anything but haphazard. Their ideas need to fit into a coherent whole that has the pieces in place. Organization of the internal world takes precedence over organization of external world. ha ha ha ha ha.

Leisure-time pursuits for INFJs are often solitary or involve the company of others who are particularly important to them. Sitting around with dear friends discussing feelings can be very special to INFJs. coffee and conversation, anyone?

INFJs want to give love and to be loved. They enter into relationships just to be cared for, even when the person is not right for them and they suspect it. um, yeah.

INFJs are usually good students, achievers who exhibit an unostentacious creativity. They take their work seriously and enjoy academic activity. They can exhibit qualities of over-perfectionism and put more into a task than perhaps is justified by the nature of the task. so THAT is why i cannot sew a perfect #$%^&* apron!

anyway, i have taken lots of these kinds of tests over the years. i think i was an owl in one test that compared you to animals, and an introverted, melodramatic, loner-type on some christian test i took once. the biggest thing it tells me is that God had a great big giant box of crayons when he sketched us out, and sometimes he favored certain colors in some of us.

I'm dying to know what letters some of you guys are labeled!!! happy sunday!

http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/infj.htm

all grown up

well, if karen thinks she's old because she got a mixer for christmas, i must be ancient right about now...old but happy! i finally decided to break down and get new appliances for my little bungalow house. i am 45, and i've never cooked on a new stove, or had a new fridge!

so, i took advantage of those new year's deals that are going on. i did not go super crazy, but i did get a fridge with the freezer on the bottom instead of the top (woo hoo, less bending over - hee hee) and a really really cool stove with 5 burners!

i am giddy, and hopeful that i will not get buyer's remorse, as i am wont to do. seriously, i buy lots and lots of little stuff, but i kind of freak out when i buy something big.

watch out girls, my cooking habit should get really serious in about 10 days!

enough already

okay, so much for picture perfect. i'm sure every photographer in town has been out shooting the pretty snow. but after the 4th day of it, i'm ready to say "can we stop this already?"

shoveling is not really my forte :)

thrifters unite!

i guess my fascination with winter (see previous post) did not last long. because i have been sitting here thinking about "the longest yard sale" that i have seen on hgtv.


i want to go there.


right now.


but, it appears that i have to wait til August 7-10, 2008.

take a look at the humongous map. i would stay in the southern region, i think....southerners have better stuff :)


oh. btw. montgomery, alabama is just slightly south of the southernmost part of the trail. hmmmm. know any good shoppers down that way?!

whiter

so, i was thinking it could never ever possibly be any brighter to stare outside than it was yesterday. that is until today happened. the sun is not out, but it's kind of a misty, foggy light that makes everything, absolutely everything, white. again, not capturable on film. just imagine in your head "very, very white."

even the garbage can was kind of pretty this morning when i brought out the trash.

could it be that i am starting to like wintertime?


nah. i wouldn't go that far :)

wow.

just when i start to think that i am going to become a snowbird and fly south for the winter, we get a day like today!

words (nor pics taken by me) cannot describe how beautiful it is here today!!! and warm too. the snowfall from yesterday (which kept me home safe and sound instead of at my parents house in brookings) is light and fluffy and sparkly. ohhhhh. ahhhhhh.

really, snow is a wonderful creation from God. even siesta had to go out the door and stick her head in a snowbank to see what that stuff was! i laughed when she pulled her head back in surprise and went right back to the door...sissy cat.

anyway, i just wanted to share. i dare anybody to have a more beautiful day-after christmas than mine :)


happy day!

weekend wonderfulness

ah. sunday eve before christmas eve. i wish the calendar fell this way every year. all is as it should be, the last gifts have been fought for and won, the last parties have been attended, friends have been hugged, and merries have been wished.

now to just relax, go home to the fam, and "be" for a day or two.

this weekend was exactly what i craved. bubble baths, coffee chats with friends, thrifting and baking goodies. and thanking the Lord because He is good i am grateful for His presence. wishing you all a very merry one! see you next week sometime :)



thrifting for small pillows is kind of a new hobby. so far, i'm two for two, but this is the bestest one. oh, and the vase. love the yellow vase.

and what better to go with the yellow vase than a yellow shelf? the perfect size!
doilies are a good thing, don't you think? i have PLANS for these little gems.
hey, is that a great yellow daisy bowl that somebody bought me for christmas? why, yes it is!
works PERFECTLY whilst baking cookies :) thanks Lou!
ummmmmmm. no wonder my tummy is hurting. these babies required a bunch of tasting!!!

sleeping in

oh, how i love to sleep in! i ended up staying up later than usual last night, and then had a bad case of insomnia...the last time i checked the clock was 3am, doh...

so, it was not a huge surprise when i woke up this morning at 9:30am! sheesh! i began to freak out at first, then remembered that I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT TODAY.

and sleeping in is one of the things i wanted :)

ah. anyway, i tried to google "pillow" to give you an idea how much i love sleeping, but i found the above photo instead. need me a pair of those :)

happy day!

oh man.

how many of my favorite singers were in this clip!

and the most FAVORITIST of all, boy george.
he he.


yeah. times change. the sentiment is still pretty good though.

christmas letter

okay, i actually sent christmas cards this year. i have never really done a christmas letter, but i think they get a bad rap, because i love getting the ones i get. most of the time it's from people i live far away from, and i don't care if they tell me about taking out the trash, i miss them and will read whatever they have to say.

so anyway.

i decided to do a christmas picture collage. no design involved, because my head hurts from designing too much :)

thing is, i need some snail mail addresses or i cannot send cards to some of you lovely friends! you know who you are. send me your real addresses, please. you might want to include your birthday on there too, i am going to ask God to help me remember dates better for my new year's resolution!

and susan, thanks for doing detective work to find out my address. you are good :)


anyway, click on the photo so that you can read the captions if you so choose!

happy Christmas!

ho ho ho

i love bloggers, i really do.

you have to go over to "angry chicken" (click on the sidebar to get there fast) to see the great gift tags amy karol made and gave to her readers! what a neato idea! she is always giving out crafty advice, great recipes and NOW THIS.

i dare you to use one or all of them!

game on

okay, i feel kind of like a high school basketball player in overtime standing at the free throw line. will i make the shot and get everything done i wanted to for christmas? will the crowds cheer and will i be a hero?

or will i just let the world fade away a bit this week, and remember not to forget that Christ is really important, and not much else matters except that we celebrate Him really heartily?

ah. we'll see how it goes. after an almost sleepless weekend, of crafting and brochure making and even some worship and fellowship, er, lunch with friends, i am TIRED. really, really tired. i kind of just want to crawl up into a ball and nap like siesta.

who, btw, is enjoying her 1st anniversary day of living at my house. doing what she does best, napping in a ball on my lap.

schweet, happy day.

shhh. it's a secret.

in the midst of all the holiday madness, i have virtually given up on the idea of homemade christmas gifts this year. it's too easy just to get out the credit card and go, amazon.com must love me!

but, in my heart, given all the time in the world, i would only give handmade things. i did finally finish something for a friend, and i am so happy! i wish i could make 20 more! the big thing is that this is my first official "branded" item of the new company i've had in my head for awhile. if ever i get it together enough to sell any of my handmade lovelies, this is going to be my company name.

the other night in bible study, we talked about living in your dreams, vs. living in reality. i know that mostly, it's not a good idea to live in your head. but as an artist, i always kind of do have those little fantasy dreams that usually never go anywhere except swirling around inside. at any rate, it feels good to take this little baby idea out into the open, even if just to show you guys!

merry christmas thursday!

wordless wednesday

furry happy monsters...

as i was at the computer working this afternoon, i found myself thinking back to the early 90s (yeah, well, i was working AND thinking about the early 90s...i'm silly like that) and i thought of r.e.m. i was a major r.e.m. fan for about a decade of my life. naturally, i got out the itunes and started to play some songs. then i saw this one on youtube, and it made me smile. i love the muppets! and they love r.e.m. too!

saturday coffee

i woke up at 5:30am again today. i don't think i'd actually get out of bed at that time of day, if not for the fact that i get a cup of coffee (albeit decaf). i've been waking up early all week, i think the brain is working on overload a bit, and really has not been sleeping much at all over these last few weeks.

i kind of wish the holidays were different. by the time i come around to fully embracing the meaning of the season, it's practically over. i wish i could learn to relax more, instead of adding on to my to-do list, when i should be concentrating on more important things.

last night, i attempted to go to the mall, i wanted to pick up some stuff for a craft idea i have for some girlfriends. i knew i was in trouble when i sat thru five stoplights before i got to "go" at an intersection that was about a mile away from my destination. it took about 20 minutes to go that last mile...people everywhere. i got into the store, got my cart, and proceeded to walk around aimlessly and WASTE TIME for far too long. never did find the materials i came to buy. bought a bunch of other pointless stuff. got into my car, and went home, feeling a sick emptiness, KNOWING that i was missing the point.

i did set up my christmas tree last night to try and recoup some spirit. in my deflated state, the best i could do was set things up almost exactly like last year. usually i try to put a little spin on things to make them different and new, but this year, the best i could muster was to go thru the motions. so tired of doing, doing, doing...

still, seeing the little warm lights and sparkly treasures makes me smile. ohhhhhh. to stop for a moment and really be in the moment. that's what i want for this year.

so today, a couple of great friends are coming over this afternoon to craft. i may not even dust the furniture, or buy a bunch of stuff to impress them or totally plan the activity we'll share. i may just wait for the moment to happen, welcome them in, and realize that just being together is what christmas is all about, and thank the Lord for having them in my life.

yep, i just may do that :)
happy weekend everybody!

flowers for karen

i woke up this morning to see that my dear friend karen's mom passed away last night. i admit i have been checking her blog almost compulsively for the last week or so. still, my breath caught in my throat when i read the words.

this journey with karen and her mom sue has been a new one for me in many ways. i have always been a sentimental type, a "softie" from the time i was a real little kid. so the delicacy of life, the sweetness of a love between a mom and daughter, the raw emotion of going thru a time like karen has been through, those things are things that have always touched me deeply. i remember times in my own life when i lost things i truly treasured, and did not know how life would ever taste the same without. i hurt for people like karen's dad, who might not know how to show their pain, but feel it deeply nonetheless. in those places, i have been.

what is different for me now, is that sue and karen and many of you dear blog friends and i share in the promises that Jesus brought on the cross. how did i ever LIVE without His touch in my life?

the truth is, i really didn't. until i knew that i knew that i knew that He is real, that He means what He says, that He is the REAL REASON that i am on this earth, i did not know what it was to live. to cling to Him when you are so sad that you cannot function is the ONLY WAY to make it make sense.

and it does make sense to me. what doesn't make sense is the craziness of the world. the silly fighting about whether to say "happy holidays" or "merry christmas." the brutal words that we use with each other in our efforts to prove that WE are right, and THEY are wrong, whoever we and they are.

i guess that the Lord has the ultimate laugh sometimes in my life, because i honestly used to mock people who were "bible thumpers" and looked to God first for answers. at that point, it was still a secret to me, what they knew and what i didn't. but He is famous for revealing His secrets in His time to us, when we really truly want to know them. i thank Him for the secrets He is showing karen even now, and for the promises and delights that He is showing His beloved sue, who i am so honored to have met.