Bluebonnets

I recently travelled to Fort Worth for business. As I drove from the airport to my hotel, I noticed bluebonnets all along the side of the road.

They were beautiful.

When I parked at the hotel this was my view.

I had to snap a couple of photos.

The next day, when I arrived at the hotel, there was a photographer taking pictures of two cute young boys. It made me wish I had a Canon 40D camera.

A girl can dream...

Blessings,

Expiration Dates

Recently I reached into my pantry to grab a can of soup. For some reason, I looked to see what the expiration date was. To my astonishment, the expiration date showed 2007. I began to look at the expiration date on the other food items in the pantry. With the exception of a couple of cans of corn, green chilies and pumpkin, the expiration date on all the other items was 2007.

As you probably guessed, I do not cook often. I usually buy the ingredients for a dish when I am considering making that particular dish. Sometimes the dish gets made; often times it does not. The items then get put in the pantry and forgotten about until I think about the recipe again. Sometimes it is months. Sometimes it is years.

I hate to admit it, but I have done the same thing with God. I have placed Him on a shelf; out of site, out of mind.

I have always believed in God. I was saved when I was in high school. However, I never developed a relationship with Him. I never believed that God was interested in my day to day activities. That He really wanted to know how my day went; if I was happy or sad. I never considered Him to be my friend. He was just there on the shelf for emergencies; much like a first aid kit.

God sat patiently on that shelf for many years; just longing to hear my voice call out to him.

It has taken a long time, but I am finally learning about the relationship that He desires to have with me. A relationship where we talk each and every day. A relationship where we share anything and everything. He wants to be my friend, my counsel. He wants to know and love me, flaws and all.

For years I believed that in order for God to love me, I needed to be beautiful, thin, smart…perfect. God has shown me that He loves me no matter what. No one has to tell Him what my flaws are, He knows them all. You know what? He loves me any way. He thinks I am beautiful, no matter what I weigh, how smart I am, or how organized my pantry.

I have learned that God doesn’t want to be kept on a shelf for emergencies. He wants to be involved in every aspect of my life; in little things as well as big things. He wants to celebrate the happy times and comfort me in times of sadness.

I am so grateful for God’s love. I am thankful that unlike the can goods in my pantry, His love for me does not have an expiration date, but endures forever.

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

Blessings,

What I Am Reading

I am reading, “What Happens When Women Say Yes to God,” by Lysa Terkeurst. I have read her blog for about a year. I love her style, her honesty. She appears to be just an everyday woman, mother, and wife. It is apparent that she loves God.

I had not, however, read any of her books. I can say that I haven’t been disappointed in this book. It is full of God’s truths.

For a couple of weeks, as I have been reading Lysa’s book, I have heard God whisper that he wants me to write for him. I have tried to ignore the whispers; telling Him that I know nothing about writing; yet I hear another whisper, “You have a blog.” To which I have responded, “Just because I have a blog doesn’t mean I can write. What if I don’t punctuate correctly? What if I use a comma when it should be a semi-colon? What if people judge me? What if? What if?”

With each excuse, I hear a whisper, “I want you to write for me.”

So I am saying yes to God. I will write for him. Even if it means I don’t punctuate correctly, even if it means I will be judged, even if I am not perfect. I am learning to trust Him completely. He will give me words.

I will still share pictures of my projects and silly things that are going on in my life. Whatever I share, just know I am writing for Him.

Blessings,

Birthday Cards

Happy April Fool's day! I hope you didn't get fooled to many times.

I have a couple of cards to share.

My youngest nephew celebrated his birthday in February. He wanted to ride a horse for his birthday. No, not a carousel horse; a real one. Although I could not grant that wish, I did make him a cute “Cowboy” card.


Here is card that I made for my cousin. She is celebrating her 30th birthday on Friday.

I was pleased with how it turned out. I just wished I would have stamped something for the front of the card.

I am trying to make birthday cards to send this year. For those of you who celebrated your day in January, I apologize. I sent you a store bought card. Maybe you will get a hand made surprise some time during the year.

Blessings!

Mr. Flu

Mr. Flu bug stopped by my cozy cottage for a visit. If you know me, I don’t always welcome unannounced visitors with open arms. I much prefer that they call first. Mr. Flu did not take my preference into consideration.

It all started on Saturday morning. I had some congestion and a scratchy throat. I wanted to stay in bed so bad, no makeup, no fixing hair…I bet that’s a visual you could have done without. Hey, I’m a very visual gal and I believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. Anyway, back to the story. My parents were flying home from a week long visit with my baby brother in San Antonio. I was their chauffeur. I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, showered, and fixed my face and hair.

My sister-in-law, her children and I headed to the airport to fetch my parents. When we had collected the parents and their belongings, we headed to my parent’s favorite eating establishment in the big city…Golden Corral. We could eat anywhere; but my daddy loves The Golden Corral. He says that everyone can get what they like…lol. As we left The Golden Corral, I commented that my body ached. It actually felt like I had been in a fight and someone stomped my chest; not that I would know what it would feel like for someone to stomp my chest, I’m just saying I hurt.

We arrived back at my place. I might have been a teensy, weensy bit anxious for everyone to transfer their belongings from one vehicle to the other and be on their way. My dad was somewhat confused, because earlier in the week I had whined that they (my parents) never come and stay with me for a whole week, it must be nice to be the baby. You know how it goes. Being the oldest is not always that much fun; even if it requires being the bossiest at all times.

Finally, Sophie and I could take some Advil and rest. No, I didn’t give Sophie Advil. Later I would learn that Advil was the strongest medication (over the counter or prescribed) in the house. Over the course of Saturday night, Sunday and Sunday night, I scoured the bathroom cabinet for Benadryl or something stronger with an expiration date of at least 2008. Not one Benadryl in the whole entire house; everything else in the medicine cabinet (if you call it that) had an expiration date of around 2006. When I used the last tissue on Sunday night and resorted to blowing my nose on Quilted Northern, I knew I must see my kind young doctor if at all possible on Monday.

The doctor asked me how long I had been running a fever. Fever? I have a fever? Oh that explains why, I would dose off to sleep, only to be awakened fifteen minutes later drenched in sweat. Did the fever cause the really weird dreams, too? Yes, I own a thermometer. A digital ear one. No, I had not used it.

I am grateful to my awesome PCP. He prescribed me a strong antibiotic and a cough pill. Today I began to breathe through my nose again and the cough is practically gone. Modern medicine rocks! I actually stood at my back door this afternoon and soaked in some awesome sunshine. This is quite the accomplishment; as I have not had the energy to lift my head off the pillow in three days.

Notes to self:

1. Buy tissues with lotion. There is a difference.
2. Keep a supply of Benadryl and Tums.
3. Stock freezer with frozen juice, ginger ale and ice.
4. Stock pantry with items other than Rotel, green chili’s, microwave popcorn, caramel sauce and Starburst Jelly Beans.
5. Buy lots of Lysol - the big cans.
6. Check the dates on items in the bathroom cabinet, the pantry, the refrigerator. Most items have expiration dates!

Be Blessed!

Bag Woman

It is so hard for me to pass up cute tote bags. I have a bunch and I love them. I found a cute one on clearance at Ross a couple of weeks ago for $2.97. Did I need it? No. Could I pass up such a great deal? No. I can’t help it.

I recently bought a laptop. When I bought the laptop, I did not think it would be difficult to find a cute bag to carry it in. Mind you, I did not want a plain old practical black bag. I wanted a CUTE bag. So I headed out to Ross in Lubbock in search for a bag. No luck. They had some cute bags, but not one in which my new purchase would fit. Bummer! Oh well, I was headed to El Paso, surely there would be a cute laptop bag with my name on it in El Paso.

I searched every Ross and Marshall’s that I found in El Paso, still no bag. I proclaimed my disappointment to my brother, telling him that I didn’t want some practical black computer bag; I wanted a cute bag. Now being the typical man that he is, I could tell he was ready to move away from this conversation when he stated that it wasn’t a purse; it didn’t necessarily need to be cute. Ughh…

One of my students always arrived to class early. One day she arrived with an awesome RED bag on her shoulder. She stated that she had heard me say that I was looking for a computer bag. She thought she would bring it to show me as her laptop is the same size as mine and it fit in this bag. I knew immediately that this was the bag I had been searching for. She said her husband gave it to her for Christmas, and he had purchased it at none other than J.C. Penney. I asked if she would mind if I copied her and bought the same bag. She told me of course not. So that afternoon after work, I found the closest J.C. Penney. No bag. I stopped at J.C. Penney at the mall. No bag. I was somewhat disappointed.

I returned home the next evening. While running some errands on Saturday morning, I stopped at J.C. Penney. They had the larger computer bags grouped together on a table. Hanging there on that table was ONE lone bag in the style I was searching for. I was excited, except that the bag was BLACK. I wanted RED. I took the bag off the hook and began to inspect it. Then I began to casually walk though the area, looking at the other purses and bags. Guess what? There on the bottom shelf all by itself was my RED bag. I could not believe my luck. I was holding the only two bags in this style in the store, one black and one red.

Now if you know me at all, you know that I could not decide which color to get. One of the bags had a sale price on the tag; the other had the regular price. I headed over to the counter for a price check. The sweet little sales clerk check the price…both bags were on sale…75% off. Oh how I love a bargain! One of these bags was meant to be mine, but which one?

Here is my new bag. What do you think? I LOVE it!

I’m traveling to Austin this morning for a week of meetings and training. Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze in some fun.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Mom

My sweet mom is seventy years young today. Mom is such a kind and giving person. She has always been my biggest supporter. I talk with my parents, especially my mom, every day. Not that I am partial to mom, I love both my parents dearly, but my dad doesn’t talk much. Oh, he will answer the phone if mom is not home and sometimes he might answer when she is at home, if he actually hears it ring, but if mom is available he usually passes the phone to her after just a few words. Anyway, mom and I had a conversation earlier this week regarding her birthday. She informed me that she did not receive a birthday card from me last year and she would really like to get one this year. I tried to remember if I sent her a birthday card last year.

I usually make everyone in my family a handmade birthday card. However, last year was a difficult year for me. Although I tried to remember birthdays and at least buy cards, I don’t remember sending mom a card. She remembered. I gave her a gift, but no card. I didn’t realize that a card would mean so much to her.

Mom quilted when we were growing up. She and my grandmother had wooden quilting frames that hung from the ceiling. I decided to use a stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Quilter’s Sampler to make mom’s birthday card. When talking to mom on the phone, I asked her what her favorite color is. She told me she didn’t know, she doesn’t have a favorite color. How can someone not have a favorite color? I finally asked her if I were making her a quilt, what color would she want it to be. After much deliberation, she stated sky blue. So here is her card. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you.

I finished the card late Thursday night, so the picture is not that great (no natural light). I also had to trim the quilt blocks with scissors because the square punches that I have are bigger than the blocks. Lucky for me, PTI has a square punch just the right size.

Many Blessings!

Charlotte