Hello November

Well, I didn't post very much last month...I'm sorry.
Not sure why really, some times it is hard to write when the heart is too heavy or tender. 

Last post was on the day of my parents' anniversary,

but there were other wonderful things to celebrate in October, that didn't make me sad.

October was the birthdays of my son, Manuel, his wife Darla, 

and my other daughter-in-"love" Meagan!

We usually pick one Friday night to celebrate all three and that's just what we did! 

It was a fun night, except for my stressing over the meal.
Usually we grill steaks, but this year my hubby wanted to try out some Sliders recipes.

The video he happened to see on FaceBook, looked way too easy.

I should have known better!

We didn't plan well enough and didn't allow ourselves enough time to make them.

We ended up eating like an HOUR later than planned.

Thank the LORD I had bought a tray of organic veggies and a try of fruit and cheese

to munch on while we waited. 

The sliders were delicious once they were done, 

but I'm not planning on making them again any time soon.

Here are some pictures from that night.

Meagan (on the left) turned "30"

Manuel turned 37 and his wife Darla turned 35. 

We had a lot of fun that night. 

Then of course - there was Halloween.

Here are the grandkids all dressed up:

Here are Woody and Jessie

 Here are Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn
(I believe they are villains from the Batman movies, hahaha)

and my older son decided to wear one of his costumes from the 80's hahaha
as he took the girls around

Love my family! So very blessed! 
Thank you Lord!

A Truly Happy Anniversary

Today would have been my parents' 71st Wedding Anniversary. 

Today they get to celebrate together again.

They were only together on this earth for 31 years as husband and wife. 

My mom waited 39 years to be reunited with my father. 

This is how I picture them again. 

Young and so much in love. 

Almost like the ending scene in the movie "Titanic" 

after the old woman dies and is made young again when she sees her love. 

Do you remember that scene? 

Or the ending in "Somewhere in Time" 

with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour

I am so happy that they are together again.
My mom talked about their reunion so very much. 

For years she talked about it...

I just didn't understand, not completely, how much she longed for that day. 

I still can't believe she's gone!

I started crying in Lowes the other day, looking at all the Christmas stuff. 

She loved Christmas! 

She loved everything about it. I guess that's where I get my love for Christmas from.

She always made it so special. 

It's going to be very different this year. 

Today is also my beautiful niece's birthday.

She was born on my parent's 25th Wedding Anniversary.

That was so incredibly special!!!

Here is a picture of her as a baby with my mom and dad.

What a blessing she has been to our family!

This is the same niece who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the very beginning of this year. 

She's been through eight rounds of chemo, had several surgeries, lost all her hair 

(but it's coming back now and is so beautiful),

Through it all she trusted God, she praised Him for His goodness, 

she stayed strong, and today she was able to truly celebrate her life 

and the beginning of another year. 

Here is a recent picture of her with her beautiful daugther

Thank your for your goodness Father God, and for your many blessings!

You are so good to us, even in the rough times. 

Why do we ever doubt you? Why do we ever worry? 

Because we are human, I suppose. 

You are so patient with us. Thank you God for loving us the way you do. 

Thank you God for forgiving us of all our sins and mistakes.

Thank you for understanding our weaknesses. 

Thank you for surrounding us with your love 

and the love and comfort of our family and friends

when the journey gets tough down here on earth. 

Thank you for letting us celebrate Angela's life 

and please let my mom and dad know how much I love them and miss them. 

Hurricane Matthew

Well, it's a new week and with it brings new adventures and new challenges.

This is ours this week - it's called Hurricane Matthew.

It's already barreled through Haiti, and the eastern tip of Cuba

and is now heading towards the US, more specifically - the Florida Coastline. 

Where will it land, no one knows for sure right now. 

So everyone is preparing, stores are already running out of water and other necessary supplies. 

Some are in a panic, others are in denial, still others are upset about all the media hype 

as they see it as causing a panic, but we honestly don't know how this will unfold

and we should already be prepared. 

I'm suppose to do an outdoor event this Saturday

and the coordinator insists it's still a "go"

we shall see.

I  updated my blog (top right) photo because, after all - it is now October.

And I've put out some fall decorations, although it has still been in the 90's here

so it's a bit hard to get in the spirit of Fall.

Most Floridians are hoping for some cooler weather before too long. 

My family and I did celebrate something rather special this past Saturday

October 1st was the 45th Anniversary of Walt Disney World's opening here in Florida.

My family and I went. All ten of us. 

As soon as we approached the gate, it started to rain...oh yeah

and it continued on throughout the evening. 

We were soaked...down to our sneakers and socks, hahaha

but it was a memorable evening for sure!

I wanted so badly to get a picture of all of us, but that didn't happen. 

I did get a picture of me, though

and they gave each of us this real cool pin commemorating that special day!!! 

Happy Birthday To Me

Today was my birthday...I turned 58. 

It was a really nice day! 

I anticipated it being hard, because it was my first one without mom,

but it was ok. I made it through...

Not without some tears, but that's to be expected, I suppose.

My dear friend Theresa spent a good part of the day with me.

Everyone else had to work, but she was able to meet me for lunch

She had the little booth all set up with Princess Placemats 

and we had a lovely lunch together. 

After lunch we visited some lovely shops downtown. 

I love quaint downtown shops! 

She has become such a dear, sweet friend to me 

and I am so thankful God has brought her into my life. 

Her life has not been without adversity, but she is one of the most positive people I know. 

She is strong in her faith and full of the joy of the Lord. 

Then she left to go to her studio (she teaches dance)

and I came home to wait for Manny and then head out to a lovely dinner

with my kids and grandkids. There was a balloon waiting for me at the restaurant,

along with some beautiful yellow daisies, and we had CAKE, too! 

Here's a picture my sweet daughter-in-love captured of me and the grandkids

In a few weeks we will take our annual family pictures.

It's the only thing I ask for for my birthday.

I have had so many expressions of love sent to me, in cards, texts, FaceBook Posts and Messages. 

I am so blessed. I am so thankful for God's goodness and mercy to me.

Thank you Lord! 

Today this song came on the radio. It's a song I have always felt strongly about.

I've decided it's my motto. I hope I'm living my life this way.

            

You Only Ask Me to Follow....

Oh Goodness, once again it's been way too long since I've written. 

I've been in a funk and struggling with some things. 

Manny's back was getting better but now the pain has moved to his sciatica.

I'm starting to go into panic mode. 

I woke up this morning crying. 

In my sleep, I can escape the heartache of this life

waking up puts me back in reality.

I'm not depressed (I don't think), at least not in the clinical sense, 

but I do miss my mom and lately have been going over things I did

and didn't do, the past few years she was alive.

I hope she will forgive me for being so busy, and for not being more tender.

I know now, it just doesn't matter to her anymore because she's free of pain, 

and happy and whole, but there are a few conversations we had there near the end

when I was growing weary and allowed things to come out of my mouth that I wished I hadn't.

It wasn't curse words or anything like that, 

but the words were just as sharp, and just as hurtful to her, I'm sure!

Truth is, even though I have so much to be thankful for
 I've been having a pity party with myself lately, 

and allowing myself to go down the path of

"I should have done this or I should have said this"

and then I move onto my own life and grumble and start whining about our work load

and thinking - we are going to work until we die, 

and - I want to have more fun in life. 

Then I feel guilty because I think I'm not working my business hard enough 

or consistently enough, 

then I get upset with my husband who has been working more than usual and long days

so he's not letting his body heal  and he won't listen to me. 

And then, this song came on the radio this morning, 

and I knew it was for me!

Lord - help me to lay my dreams aside and Want What YOU Want for me!

        

Getting BACK on Track

Ok so we've been away the last three weekends...

time to get back on track and in the swing of things.

Speaking of backs -  my poor hubby has somehow messed up his back.

He had been complaining, moaning and walking funny the past week. 

It didn't get any better while we were away. 

He just doesn't slow down enough, but now he's having to. 

Thank God for our son's help packing up camp and unloading when we got home.

We couldn't have done it without him!

Manny finally went to the chiropractor yesterday -

the diagnosis is a pinched nerve.

He has to wear a brace around his waist and put cold compresses on when he's home. 

Praying he feels better soon.

We did have fun camping this past weekend, though. 

It was very hot, but tolerable in the shade and cool inside the bus. 

The kids went swimming a lot;

I'm not sure why I don't like to swim anymore. 

I grew up on a lake and was always in the water, maybe I got my fill back then, 

or maybe it's just too much work putting myself back together after swimming. 

That's just lazy, I know, but it takes a bit of effort to make myself presentable in the morning

no need to waste more energy doing it all over a second time in the same day - right? 

Here are some pictures from our fabulous weekend camping at Disney

By the way - we celebrated Manny's 59th Birthday while camping

Let's just say, we had a Magical Time!

Thank you Lord!

9/11 Lest We Forget

I viewed this video on FaceBook.
It's graphic, but this happened.
May we never become callus or forget this horrible tragedy!

Happy Birthday to My Hubby

Today was my husband's 59th Birthday, and he was gone most of the day.

I have to tell you, the past two days have been crazy busy. 

The kind of day(s) where you just want to throw in the towel and say

"That's it! I'm done!"

I feel like a spoiled brat to even think such thoughts. 

I know we just got back from a long weekend of camping, 

and believe it or not, we're going again this weekend, 

but we rarely (if ever) have had back-to-back get-a-ways.

Two weeks ago, we traveled south to attend a memorial service, 

to visit my mother-in-law, and to bury my mother. 

Last week, we were invited to camp with some friends 

not far from home, but still, it was a nice get-away. 

This weekend, we will be camping at Disney during their annual Christian Festival 

called Night of Joy which usually coincides with my hubby's birthday.

It's a family thing we've done for years and we look forward to it. 

I just feel like, after all these years of working so hard, 

I want to work less and play more. Is that wrong?

I want more of my (our) days spent doing things we enjoy doing. 

Now, I know we are suppose to make the most of every moment, 

and I know that attitude is everything, 

but this work, Work, WORK thing isn't fun anymore. 

I fear we will work until we die. 

I don't want that to happen. 

God please do a work in my heart, 

clear my head and keep me grateful for all the blessing in my life 

and in the lives of my family.

I know I have so much to be thankful for!

Labor Day Get-A-Way

We were invited to go camping with some friends 

and we don't usually do back-to-back camping trips

but we haven't been camping as much the past two years

(for different reasons)

and we hated saying "no" again to these friends. 

So, even though we had gone to Miami last week...

It was a long, holiday weekend anyway, and not far from home, so why not?

We met up with four other couples and had a great time. 

The odd thing is, that a hurricane was making landfall in our beautiful Sunshine State

quite a ways north of us, but still - it was bringing rain to most of the state. 

When we woke up Friday morning, it was dark and rainy, 

but within a few  hours the rain had stopped.

We had a pretty good weekend, weather-wise. Just an occasional shower that didn't last long.

We shared meals together, as well as stories about our families and our trips away. 

They did not all have buses, but they did all have interesting stories to tell 

about their coaches or their travels.

One of the gals we were camping with wanted to host a Jewelry Bar 

so we decided to do it from the bus - now that was fun!

You don't have to have a lot of room 

and you don't have to have any certain number of people.

We had fun, looking at all the pieces (especially the charms) 

and what they meant to the people they were creating their lockets for. 

I hope you all had a fun and safe holiday weekend, too!

Tomorrow will be the start of a short Work Week Whoo Hoot!!!

OH, one last thing:

I did pretty good with my eating while away, 

even the scale confirmed that, 

but I came home just craving something like this:

But instead had one of these:

YAY for me!!!!

But my husband's birthday is just a few days away

 and I can't wait to bite into his birthday cake!

Hello September

Today I did something HUGE! 

Huge to me, anyway, since I don't like to see myself in pictures 

not to mention videos

but I have been hearing and reading that Going Live on FB 

is a great way to connect with your friends and customers 

and make yourself more personable. 

It took me more than 25 minutes to hit the "Go Live" button, 

but I did it!!!

Now, wouldn't you know, my connection ended long before I was ready to, LOL.

We had bad weather here and if just shut down the video,

but guess what? I logged back on and finished the video! 

Whoo Hoot, I needed to overcome this fear I have of being on camera

and today I did it! 

Not sure when I will do it again...but I have a feeling

it won't be near as hard next time!

Last Day of August

Today is the last day of August. 

I have been quite productive since we got back home from Miami...

Monday I had Abbey and then Ethan when he finished school mid-day. 

Abbey really kept me on my toes, ha ha. 

I posted these pics on Facebook with these captions:

"I guess she'd had enough."

"She's teeny tiny but she's a mighty force!"

                                   

Awww, our sweet Abigail! 

Then, once her brother got here and she was down for her nap

Ethan and I resumed our Monopoly game. I've been teaching him how to play. 

He bought up all the railroads which caused me to go bankrupt, hahaha.

He was pretty excited about winning!

Yesterday I tried getting caught  up around here.

I put some orders together that I delivered today, and I placed an order 

for a personalized  planner I'm going to use next year. It's by Erin Condren. 

I can't wait to get it! I was able to upload my own pictures for the front cover. 

There's a crazy storm sweeping across the State of Florida

so we are getting a lot of rain, and the sun has not shown up in days. 

I had to drive around in it some today - that was no fun.

But on a happier note, while I was updating my photos and some of my albums on Facebook

I realized that it was a year ago today that I paid off our car!

That was a BIG DEAL to me, because I earned that money myself with my Origami Owl Business

If I can do it, YOU CAN TOO!