2009 ends today! As I reflect on it, I'm so thankful for God's amazing Grace! He always supplies just what we need to keep us going. Each year brings joys and challenges that show forth God's mighty power. 2009 had it's share of both!

The challenges that stand out in my mind from this year are health problems. Hubby had a triple bypass in Dec 2008 with some complications. But we looked forward to 2009 bringing restored health to him. Unfortunately, by November 2009 he needed stents placed in the main artery again because the bypass had failed. So once again, we look forward to his improved health in 2010. A surprise call from my sister early morning on April 13 gave news about my brother's death during the night; he was only 51. About a week later, his son's wife delivered their still born baby. Then this fall my mother's brother and sister passed away. 4 new graves in our family cemetery.

Blessings for 2009 include a very special trip to Seattle Washington in May. God provided this small get-away and surrounded me with His love in some very special ways throughout the trip. Just what I needed! Another blessing of gigantic proportions is the opportunity to obtain a small ownership percentage in the accounting firm where I work. We have negotiated, worked through some situations, and arrived at an arrangement satisfactory to both of us. Our agreement becomes effective Jan 1, 2010 when I purchase a minority interest. A final blessing for the year, is finding a house to purchase which is much closer to my work. It is a nicer home, although smaller, and has a much smaller yard. With all my boys gone, we needed a smaller yard. We expect to finalize the purchase in January and hope to be moved in by Feb 1.

So it looks like 2010 holds some new and exciting adventures!

Started Packing!

We started going through some of our stuff last night, deciding what we no longer "need or love" to discard before moving. We put the stuff deemed "needed or loved" in boxes. It's going to be a very busy month. We already came across some "memory triggers" reminding us that moving can be an emotional experience. The new house is significantly less square footage than we currently have so we must find a lot of things that we no longer "need or love." Unfortunately, hubby and I both tend to have pack-rat mentality. We both seem to think we might need it someday. I tend to want to hold on to the sentimental items as well. Something tells me the unpacking part may result in further discarding.

Brief escape to normal

Christmas weekend was so much fun....enjoyed my kids being here for Christmas Day so very much. We've also enjoyed some time with some special friends over these last few days. I've also spent a couple of days of pretty much relaxing and just "down" time.

So now Monday is here and life goes back to sort of normal for a few days. Then next weekend is a holiday too. We're planning to spend it with hubby's extended family. Looking forward to that time.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Contract Signed!

God is so amazing! He found the house and we have a signed contract within hours.

House Hunting on Dec 23rd

AM I InSane?!!!!!

Most definitely!!

I know Jesus is preparing an eternal home for me in heaven, but I also believe He has a place for our temporary dwelling place while we're still here on this earth. I'm asking Him to guide us to it and to prepare the way for a smooth purchase process. Please join me in praying for His direction in this important decision.

Christmas Celebrations

We enjoyed having my extended family here for our annual Christmas gathering this past Saturday. There were 14 of us here. We just had finger foods/snackie type things, but so much and it was all good. We mostly just snacked and visited. We enjoyed a time remembering Christmases from our childhood.

My hubby surprised me with an early present on Saturday. Friday night we were talking about Christmas and Christmas music. I mentioned an old LP album that we had years ago by the Statler Brothers as being one of my favorite Christmas music albums. Of course, like many we no longer have a way to play LP's so I said, I should try to get it on a CD sometime. Shortly after I went to bed 'cause I had a long list yet to be done the next morning before my family arrived. On the other hand, hubby stayed up really late. Then about 5:30 Sat morning while I was making Christmas Goodies in the kitchen, he walked through the living room and turned on the CD player with THAT album. He had purchased and downloaded the entire album and then burned it to a CD. Now wasn't that sweet!!

Take a listen to this song, Christmas to Me.



Now what is "Christmas" to YOU? I'll post some of my definitions of Christmas tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Christmas week!

Classes for 2009 End Today!

Tonight at exactly 6:15, my last class for 2009 will begin! My FINAL, Final Exam for the year! I've studied and feel pretty good about it. I'll review my study guide a couple of times today, but I think the major work of exam prep is behind me.

It's been quite the journey this year! And I promise not to relive it (whine again about it). But looking back and summarizing.....

I have completed (or will tonight) 5 accounting classes and 2 business courses this calendar year. That leaves 3 accounting classes and 4 business classes and an ethics class to complete before I can take the CPA exam.

I think I'm in too deep to turn back now...past the half way mark.

Semester is almost over!

I'm soooo ready for my break! I'll have about 5 weeks with no school.

Looking forward to:

cleaning my house
decorating and cooking for some Christmas celebrations with friends and family
looking at possibility of moving
getting caught up on some paperwork for home
working a bit more
getting to blog a little more
having some free time to just do something FUN
getting a hair cut
getting new glasses.

BUT before I can do all of those things...there's one more weekend of intense school studying. I have one "homework" type assignment to do in one class and one final for another class. The final is a two part final with one part of it being take home, essay style and then a 50 question Multiple Choice in class on Monday night.

So I must get in gear and go work for a while today and then focus on finishing everything up.

Christmas Tree

So I don't have all my Christmas decorations up yet...just too busy with school, BUT I did manage to get my tree up this last weekend.

Happy Birthday to Janice!

Today is my very special niece, Janice from Butterfly Gardens birthday! Please hop over to wish her a very happy birthday!

Follow Up

Here's a few clarifying facts about my snake adventure yesterday.

I freaked out pretty much as I do with all of my snake adventures. I have actually had several snake adventures. They seem to find me. One of my boys likes snakes and used to look for them. He says they find me! I live out in the country and the house is not sealed real well in several places. It really doesn't take a very big space for a small snake to get inside. We had a cold weather spell and I'm sure he was just looking for a warm place. I'm pretty sure he got into my purse from inside my house during the night Tuesday night. I had been looking for a flash drive in my purse the evening before, so I do not think it was in there then.

When we first saw the snake we were afraid it was a copperhead and determined to treat it as if it was poisonous. That's why it was killed.

I did not take the pictures. One of my co-workers, Susan, grabbed her i phone and started snapping away. I was in a different room when the pictures were taken.

After things settled down, Susan, my husband, and "snake liking" son looked at the pictures and compared them to some internet pics and all three independently came to the conclusion that it was a rat snake so not harmful.

I am being extra cautious in my house to watch where I step, sit, put my hands, etc. as I think it is possible that it has siblings. It was definitely a young snake. A few years ago, we had several small snakes over the course of about a month. They were a little smaller than this one so perhaps there are no others, but I'm being extra careful for a while.

I really was having a difficult time with putting my hands back into the purse, even though I know it is not likely to have another snake. So I did buy a new purse today!

I NEED a new PURSE!!!

Let's start this story with an emphatic statement about something I HATE!!!!

I HATE SNAKES!!!!! I don't care if they are poisonous or little or big or wild or pet or well, I just hate snakes!!

Now for the story.......I went to work this morning and as our office has a lunch order arrangement whereas there is a place chosen every day for us to order lunch from and admin goes to get it and brings it back to us. So this morning I wrote down my order and got out my purse to find money to pay for it. Well, I had to dig for change to have enough. In the process of digging, something inside my purse MOVED!!!! About 3 screams later my co-workers knew there was a SNAKE in my purse!!! So my co-worker grabbed the trusty iphone and took pictures in case I might forget it! It crawled out a bit and pretended to be trim on my purse. When it decided to go back inside, another co-worker took my purse outside and dumped it!!!

So what's in YOUR purse?
Then the knife that we used to use for cutting birthday cake cut the snake! Guess we need a new cake knife too!YIKES!!!!!!

Not sure how well I'll sleep tonight since I keep my purse beside my bed at night....Guessing that he got in overnight!

December is here!!

What happened to this last year? God has sustained us through a very difficult year. You know how there are those defining days in your life...those really big events...marriage, death of loved ones, birth of kids or grands, significant surgeries, change in careers, buying houses, blah, blah!

Well, we've had a few of those this last year! One of the really big ones has an anniversary coming up within days---Hubby's heart bypass surgery was 1 year ago this coming Saturday.

Those kind of dates cause you to look back and say, "Wow, it's been a year!"

Let me just say, I'm ready for this year to be over! I'm so very thankful for God's sustaining, ever constant presence throughout.

I am anxious to dig into the Christmas spirit, but I have another 12 days of school with several more tests, papers, etc to complete before I can get too much into Christmas activities.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have plenty to eat and people to share it with you.

And believe it or not we've made it to the very last letter of the alphabet--Z!

This has been fun and good for me to keep focused on just how much I have to be thankful for. Z is another difficult letter.....so here goes.........

Zippers

Zoo

Zero--a very important number you know.

Zephania 3:17--go look it up!

and the ZZZZZ's I caught last night!

By the way, although the alphabet is done and we reached the countdown destination, I plan to continue to post something that I'm thankful for each day on a brand new blog: My Attitude of Gratitude blog starting tomorrow. I'll post a link on my side bar soon.

Tomorrow is the BIG day!!!

And today's letter is Y!

I'm thankful for:

Yellow, such a bright cheerful color

Yesterdays, somethings need to be left behind

Yearnings, somethings need to be anticipated

YES, a positive, uplifting, affirming word

Yield, daily I'm learning to yield my will to God's will

Yahweh, the personal name for God;
so glad to have a personal relationship with an Awesome God!

Have a great Wednesday!

2 Days left---Letter X

I bet you all thought I'd be stumped on this letter!!!

Well, I'm not, but the list is short even though the post is not. LOL

I'm thankful for X-Rays; in particular I'm thankful that the X-Rays made during my husband's Angiogram yesterday revealed NO BLOCKAGES!!!

He's had a really tough year or so of heath problems, especially heart problems. As a matter of fact, he's had 3 Angiograms over the last year. The first resulted in a Triple Bypass with complications. Many of you read about that last December. He never really felt better, so this fall we've changed Cardiologists and resumed tests and found that one of the bypasses had failed. Stents were used to repair that. Then he began feeling better for a few days. Suddenly, about a week ago, the pain returned. But this time there are no blockages. Doc says maybe jsut the stress of all of this. The stress of all this has been really difficult for me as well to add to an already full plate of responsibility. But God is faithful and He provides just what I need for each day. He'll provide strength for today's tasks as well.

The cardiologist must have known I needed to see the X-Ray pictures for myself, because he showed me pictures taken from the last Angiogram and the one done yesterday. It was pretty neat to see the dye going through his arteries. I could see where the blood couldn't get through and then I could see where the stents were and how they opened up the artery to allow the blood to flow freely again.

The other X word I am thankful for is simply the letter X. In thinking about it there are many different uses for this letter in different settings.

It can serve as a warning or indication that something is not good for us like on poisonous substances or movies that are not appropriate.

It can draw attention to something we need to see; sort of a marker such as sign on the X's or X marks the destination of a map.

It can be a variable in a mathmatical equation. We often use X's where we are either intentionally leaving out information and want to keep some placeholders there or maybe when we don't know what should be in the spot.


There are actually several meanings. Click here for more info on the uses of X.

Have a great Tuesday everyong!!

The letter W & only 3 days left til T'day

3 more days......I'm thankful for W words....let's see.....

Water

Watermelon

Wheels

Wishes

Word of God

4 days 'til Thanksgiving & letter V

I overslept, so this has to be quick....

Voices

Victory in Jesus!!!

Valuables

Maybe you can think of more!

5 days & Letter U

Oh, my what starts with U?

I know.......I'm thankful for......

Underwear

and

Understanding

and

Undeserved grace from an almighty God!!

6 days until Thanksgiving Day--Letter T

It has been so good for my soul to think about some specific things to be thankful for each and everyday this month. Some days (most) my list was made very quickly, but it still served to put my mind in an attitude of gratitude.

So today's letter is T, and I'll start my list with TODAY! I am thankful for another day to live and serve my creator.

Tomatoes

Turkey

Tinsel

Tools

Tortilla Chips & Salsa (missed that one yesterday)

Time (time is a great healer!)

Teachers

Truth

Testimonies

Trinity

Now, as you ponder the T words you are thankful for, it doesn't count as a T word if you just put THE in front of it.

Happy Friday!

1 Week Left & The Letter S

One week from today is Thanksgiving Day! Always fun to spend time with my kids and friends. We love to scour the ads after stuffing ourselves on lots of yummy food. My daughter-in-law and I plan our attack on the stores for Black Friday. Christmas wish lists are all due from my kids on Thanksgiving and we all search the ads for the best deals. Sometimes we play some games. This year we have a new Wii, so I'm sure we'll have some Wii playing going on.

Now on to the things that begin with S that I am thankful for:

Second Son, Stephen tops the list

Sam

Sister and sister-in-laws

Silver

Sales

Strength

Solutions

Saviour

Wishing everyone a great Thursday!!

Yikes! Only 8 days 'til Thanksgiving!

I am so NOT ready for Thanksgiving. Have cleaning, shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning some more, and school papers to write, and doctors to visit, and work.....oh my what a busy week ahead!!

BUT I am so very thankful for some R words today:

Let's start with my oldest son, RUSTY!

Refrigerator, roads, rest, relaxation, refreshments, re-do's on exams, restaurants, and recliners are all good.

But my Righteous REDEEMER is the very best!!

Hope you all have a great day!

P.S. Today is the anniversary of Sam finding his way into my house. Click Here to read about that special day and here for another neat Sam story.

9 Days! The letter Q!

So only 9 more days until Thanksgiving!

Today's letter is Q. Now that's a touch letter, but I am really thankful for the word I came up with...............

QUIET!

10 Days & Letter P

Let's think of some P words to be thankful for. This should be easy!

How about

People

Pets

Plans

Purpose

Peace

Physicians

Presents

AND the Presence of the Lord!


Have a great week All!

OH my, only 11 days 'til thanksgiving!

Oh where oh where has the time gone!!!!!


Today's letter for being thankful is O!

Oreos

Ointment for healing our Boo-boos

Others--So glad we have other people in our lives

Organization

Order

The omniscience and Onmipresence of our Lord

Outdoors

operations (so we get well)

Oxygen

And I thought O would be difficult! We have so very much to be thankful for!

Only 12 more Days until Thanksgiving!

And the letter N words to be thankful for:

Nieces

Nephews

Nurses

Newborns

Never-ending Love of Christ

Newness of each New day

Nancy, my sil

Do you have your Thanksgiving Holiday all planned yet? My DIL and I look forward to Black Friday. It's our favorite thing to do together. It's become tradition now. We have a great time being crazy together in the mob of shoppers.

13 Days Until T'day!

AND I'm thankful for M words today!

Messiah

Mema

Memories

Money

Munchies

Movies

and ME!!

Have a Marvelous Day!

2 Weeks Til Thanksgiving!

It's been fun to think about so many blessings in my life so far this month. So today's letter is L!

LISTS

LIFE

LOVE

LOVED ONES

LORD

LEGS

LISTENERS

LECTURES

LEMONS

LESSONS

Have a wonderful day!

16 days & K words

Thankful today for:

King of Kings

Kingdom of God

Kindness

my Knight heritage

Kirsten, my dil

Karo Syrup

And I just started a new blog for posting some recipes--Karen's County Cookbook. My friend, Kim of Homesteader's Heart is hosting a Tried and True Thanksgiving Recipes this week on her Cooking Blog. Check it out.

17 days on the countdown & J words

Thankful for these J Words today!

Jesus

Jonathan

Job

Justification from my sins

Journey

Joy

Can you think of more J's to be thankful for?

Thankful for I Words--18 days left

So I'm up to the letter I in my 26 days until Thanksgiving countdown. Gee, I should have started at Z and counted backward. But that would have required even more thinking. As it is, I think my countdown is a day behind. I think Thanksgiving Day will be DAY 1 instead of day 0. Oh well, my point in doing this is to help me focus on all the wonderful blessings God has given us and to
BE THANKFUL!

So my I thankful list goes like this:

Ice

Ice Cream

Icing

Imagination

Can you think of more I words to be thankful for?

19 days until Thanksgiving

And the Thankful letter of the Day is H.

Heaven, of course.

Husband

Hershey's

Holy Spirit

Hope

Health

See what you can think of to be thankful for today!!

20 Days 'til Thanksgiving Day!

Today I'm thankful for these "G" words:

GOD

Garry

gifts

grapes

girlfriends

And my aunt Gladys who went to heaven this morning on her 85th birthday. I saw her about a month ago at her younger brother's funeral (my uncle). When I hugged her goodbye, she said, "Well, I'm next." I told her to wait awhile, but she seemed very ready to leave this earth for a better place.

21 days and the letter F

So 21 days until Thanksgiving and time to be thankful for words beginning with F.

Fingers

Friday

Forgiveness

Friends

French Fries

22 Days & Counting

Thankful today for E's--

Everlasting Life

Elastic

Erasers

23 Days and Counting!

Only 23 more days until Thanksgiving!! Oh that I could learn to focus on Thanksgiving EVERY day.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thess 1:18


So today I'm thankful for some D words---------

Daughter-in law and future daughter-in law

Daddy

Doggies

Del Laptop

But today I'm thankful for a specific Doctor--Dr. Khan, a cardiologist.

24 Days Til Thanksgiving!

Today's letter is C and there are bunches of C words to be thankful for in not particular order:

CHOCOLATE

Caffeine

Cookies

Caring Christian Comrades

Cardiologists

Cross of Christ

Cats

Calculators

Cars

Christmas

Maybe you have some things to add to the list. It is by no means complete.

Thankful for B's

25 days til Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for my

BOYS

the BIBLE
and the BEAUTY that God has created!

Happy November!

ONLY 26 days until Thanksgiving!!!

I want to express thanks for something in my life everyday until then. Just to make it a challenge, I think I'll do it alphabetically!

So today I'm thankful for:

America: It's got its problems, but there's no where else I'd rather live.
Apples: An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Accounting: It's my profession and even though I'm a bit sick of accounting books, I really do love the profession!

Ancestors: So thankful for those who came before me.

Animals: They make life so much fun and we learn a lot from them too.

Automobiles: We are so very dependent on them.

When you just stop and think, there are lots of things to be thankful for.

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD,And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;" Psalm 92:1

Click here to find more verses about giving thanks.

It's your turn now--leave a comment about what you are thankful for that begins with the letter "A"

My grandmother's quilt

Recently I visited one of my mother's sisters. While there, she showed me a beautiful quilt that my grandmother had made many, many years ago. I wanted to share it with you.

Just look at all of the detail!

Her name was on the quilt in 2 places.

And a couple of dates were there too. Here is one of them.

Isn't that amazing!

Learning Time

I got my oldest son to come teach me some basic lawn mower maintenance procedures today. I learned to change the oil, change the air filter, change the fuel filter, put the belts on, and change the spark plugs. I had a few problems and got some help from hubby and youngest son too. When it got to the blades, there is no way I will ever be able to do that part by myself. I also learned that it can be really expensive to send hubby to get lawn mower parts. He came home with a couple of toys that we had talked about buying, but hadn't planned on getting today. They are here now, so I may as well enjoy them. I did not study and I really should have. So tomorrow it's serious business with the books!!!

Just a few more......

I loved my afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum. Can't wait to go back again!
Here are just a few more pictures from a very lovely place.

Flowers from the Arboretum

Here are some of my close up pictures of flowers at the Arboretum.

Do you want to go yet?