Friday's Fave Five #47

Oh dear, my body came home but I think my brain stayed on vacation! I totally forgot to auto-post this. Nothing like waking up in a sheer panic as a realized this in the fog of waking up. Sheesh, sorry guys. If you're new, please check out what it's all about here and then join right in. We always welcome and love someone new to visit! And for the rest of us, I'm really, really looking forward to coming around and reading your faves.

1. Visiting my girl. Nothing can top getting a 4 day visit with with your girl who miss terribly. Well, nothing except maybe a week long visit which is what I'll get next week when she comes home. But for this week we went there. It's so nice to see her getting on fine, doing so well for herself. We delivered her a starter vehichle, which her Granny sold her for a buck, so now she won't have to rely on everyone else for rides. The whole visit was nice and relaxed and we had her for the whole time as she took a couple of days off. Loved it!

2. Shopping in a different city. I always find this fun. I don't know what it is but it is fun checking out a mall you've never been too. And we got to go to one of my favorite stores which we don't have in my city, HomeSense, where hubby bought me a lovely mantle decoration.

3. Perfect travel weather. It wasn't smoking hot and it wasn't cold. Perfect for travelling. There was cloud coverage for parts of it so the sun wasn't blinding me. It was just perfect.

4. Coming home to a clean house. I cleaned before I left, so it was awesome coming home to a clean home and not feeling pressure to start picking up and cleaning right away. I could just relax and unpack at my leisure. I don't have to be back at work till next Tuesday so I can stock the cupboards and still "vacation" without freaking out about cleaning.

5. Coming home to sitting a reading your faves with a nice hot cup of coffee and not be interrupted a million times by a pre-schoolers needing attention. While I love my job this is a very nice thing about vacation. I can actually read the faves on a Friday morning in my jammies, with hot coffeee and no interruptions. Ahhhh. A mini vacation in itself.

What were your favorite things from your week? Do up a post and sign on Mr. Linky so that we can come and visit you. Everyone is welcome!

*Updated: I'm linking my fave five up with a sweet 12 year old's idea for "Positive Day" in the internet today, sharing those things in our life that are positive. If you're so inclined, her link is here.

Back from being AWOL

Well, we are home sweet home. Yes, I've been missing in action a few days as we went to go see Kay, my oldest. Although it's a looooong drive, about 7 hours if you only make a couple quick pit stops for coffee, it is like a mini vacation. It's getting away from here to new scenery. It was so good to see her. Little Miss Independant is doing very well for herself in another city.

There were restaurant visits:

Wherein we had to pose like they do on the cover of the menu showing what fun we are having.

Lots of shopping where I scored on Yankee candles for less than half price. Needless to say I stocked up with great scents like the above Peaches and Sweet Berries. I also got Basil & Nectarine, Amber Sunset and Seaside Escape, which smells like suntan lotion and water. So summery! From the same great store Hubby gifted me with a gorgeous mantle jar which I fell in love with and I scored some great sandals for half price. this sweet table top decoration from Pier 1 somehow managed to come home with me too:

Though I wish I could say this was half price. But it was so cute I couldn't leave it behind, especially after carrying it around the store for 30 minutes. I fell into the old "picking it up and carrying it around" ploy while daughter was purchasing a Papasan chair. They know they have a sale when it doesn't leave a customer's hands for that long.

There was lots of time for reading and relaxing and I finished my "fun" summer read. It was a great time of refreshing with my family and I still have a few days off before back to work. My kind of holiday. And we'll see my girl again for a week or so on Sunday when she comes home for her vacation. Yipee!

So now I've got my Seaside Escape candle burning, cup of coffee beside me with a full pot brewed and waiting, bank account reconcilled, my suitcase totally not unpacked but I'm coming around to "coffee" with you and catch up on what I've missed while we were gone. The unpacking will not go anywhere and after all, we must do things in priority order, mustn't we?

Sigh.

Oy. I just lost my bid for the Mother of the Year award. My son just wore wet pants, wet uniform shirt and wet apron to work because his mother got distracted, misplaced her brain and forgot to put his work clothes into the dryer.

But he gets the Son of the year award because he laughed about it, said it was allright because it would dry fast in the hot kitchen at work and forgave me. As he walked out the door to work in wet clothes.

Sigh. I'm so glad it's Friday and my week of insanity is over. Now I think I need to go bake him something!

Friday's Fave Five #46

Hi everyone and welcome to Friday's Fave Five. It has been one busy, busy week around the Living to Tell household. Lots of kids, lots of fun, lots of mess. I am looking forward to the weekend to just have some down time and a chance to catch up on everyone's posts that I've missed this week. It hasn't been the same not popping by everyone's blogs and catching up but sometimes it just goes like that. If you are new, jump on in, don't be shy. If you need to get the idea of what's going on, you can hop over here first and then come on back. I will be enjoying my Saturday morning with a large cup of coffee and my feet propped up reading all your favorites from the week.

So here we go. I wasn't sure I could actually come up with five things. I was a wee bit nervous about that. I've had such a busy, overwhelming week that a lot of things just went right on by me, but once I got going, it wasn't too terribly hard to find five favorite things.

1. Good customer service. The young man who served a very frustrated me at the registration office and kept a smile on his face the whole time and treated me nicely, you don't know what a blessing you were. When I was ready to blow a gasket, you were a very calming force. Thank you for that. I wish some of that would rub off on the fella who sits at the service window next to you!

2. This sad, sorry dead strip running through my back lawn.

No, the fact that my poor, old lawn has a dead strip running through it is definitely not my favorite thing, but it is what this sorry strip of grass represents. And that was three hours of tons of fun to 5 preschoolers and 2 elementary age kids as slipped and slid and laughed their way down the slip and slide that was situated there.

3. A real live handwritten suprise note in the mail from my friend Donnetta at My Quiet Corner. I love my email but oh, how wonderful to get an actual note that written by the hand of a friend with such encouraging words. Thanks so much Donnetta. You made my day!

4. Fishing with my son and daughter. Okay, if we're going to be technical, I don't actually do any fishing. Ewww. I just go with my camp chair, camera and book and keep them company. When we went to the lake on the other side of town the other night, it was especially enjoyable. It was so calm and peaceful. There was nary a movement on the top of the water, unless you counted the trail the family of ducks were leaving as they swam by. There was hardly any noise except for the plop of the hooks as it hit the water. So peaceful. I think I read about 4 chapters sitting there with them.


5. Air show practices. I always get a thrill watching the fighter jets, and huge cargo planes and the Canadian Snowbirds as they arrive for the air show. We're on the end of town that has the airport so as they do "advertising" practices, they go right over top of the house. There is just something so exciting about hearing and literally feeling their rumble as they make their first pass over the house. Me and the kids all go running out, straining our eyes trying to get that glimpse as they roar by. I can't quite put my finger on why it's so thrilling for me but I guess if I figured it out it wouldn't be quite so magical.

So what were your favorites from the week. If you've done a post, please sign onto Mr. Linky so that we can come and visit you and enjoy your favorites with you.

The Week in Which I Go in 50 Directions

My life this week seems like this dandelion puff ball. Looking so together and pretty until a puff of wind comes and one by one the little pieces start blowing away willy nilly where ever the breeze carries them. Well my breeze of the week is more like a roaring wind in the form of 8 kids here this week. It's one of those overlapping weeks on holidays where everyone is here and it is busy. And loud. Oh, so loud.

We've got crafts to do, slip and slide to, well, slip and slide in, balls to bounce, bikes to ride, playgrounds to visit. And it's going to be a hot week. So I forsee some quiet time moments after lunch happening too.

And my out of work life is really busy this week too. Yes, I really do have a life outside of work. And that is involving the lake, a picnic or two, taking my son fishing and maybe for a float down the river. That is if it's not too terribly hot. I want to enjoy it. Not feel like a chicken under a broiler. All of the above involve a book in hand and maybe a tall iced tea. A car we're delivering to my oldest girl in another province needs registering and licencing and inspecting.

You might say my week is plumb full. But thought I'd check in and just let you all know I am alive. Just in case someone out there was wondering. ;v)

Friday's Fave Five #45

Welcome everyone to Friday's Fave Five. As I'm typing this I'm melting into a nice puddle. It is so hot here. Well, hot for me anyway. It's 28*C here, 82*F for my American friends. I know, I know. I can hear you laughing all the way from Florida, Hawaii & Texas and states like that. But I'm seriously cooking. And alas, I'm a land locked gal. No ocean to dip in for me. So I'm glad I have this to distract me. Did I mention it was hot here? LOL. I'm such a heat wimp. Anyway, I'm sure this look back at my week will get me on track for looking to the positive. I mean, I read on a few blogs that some of you actually like the heat. It will probably make some of your lists. In fact, I think I'll count and see how many of you I can catch at it.

If you're new you can go here for details and jump right in.

1. I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that a kiddie pool is the first on my list. Wow, it sure did wonders today to keep the kids all amused in this heat. And don't be too shocked to know that I will probably actually sit in it with them tomorrow. Why do you think I buy the 18 inch deep by 7' foot wide one? Perfect for an adult or two to sit and a child or 5 to splash around in.

2. Sweet Peas. My sweet peas have started blooming and oh, the fragrant smell. I wish I could load it and put it through the post for you! And they look so pretty too, in all their colors.

3. Cherries. We've been enjoying the season's cherries from the Okanagon. This is such a wonderful once a year treat for us and we've enjoyed every sweet, luscious bite.

4. And I'll bet it wasn't too hard to guess that Air conditioning is making my list. I finally gave in tonight and turned it on when the house was 80*F at 10:30 at night and not a breeze to be felt. I know I'm totally spoiled having it but I am very, very grateful for it and do not take it for granted at all.

5. Hawaiian Tropics Sunscreen. This stuff totally smells like summer to me. And yes, Thom, I tried it for the very first time in Hawaii. My goodness, can that be 21 years ago? 1988. Yup. Wow, where did the time go. A lot of bottles of this stuff has been poured in our family since that fateful trip that introduced me to this.

So what are you enjoying from your week? Can you name 5 favorites? If you do a post sign on to Mr. Linky and we would love to come and visit and enjoy your favorites with you.

Wordless Wednesday

Is it snow? Hail?

Or, be still my heart, could it be raining diamonds?

Nope, just the sun shining through HUGE drops of rain as it fell.

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here.

Finally an exercise I can handle!

Being in the middle years of my life, I find exercise, shall we say, not quite as easy or fun as it once was. But my sister sent me this exercise to build upper arm and shoulder strength.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks.
Then try 50-lb potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (After 6 months of work I'm proud to say I am at this level finally).

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each sack.

The Latest in Helmet Fashion

Remember that old commercial, I think probably from the '70's that had the tag line: "Curlers in your hair...shame on you!"? It was in reference to those ladies who went outside their homes with curlers in their hair. Well last week we were singing "Curlers in Mom's hair, we thank you!". My 76 year old mom was out in her back yard with curlers in her hair. I have no idea what she was doing, but one of her bird houses that hang from a tree fell down and conked her on the noggin. Her comment: "Thank goodness I had curlers in my hair." Apparently, those curlers acted like a helmet of sorts, and that old bird house just bounced right off. Hmmm, she may be onto something here. Maybe I can somehow patent the idea and start marketing it. I mean, if it's okay for Mona and Mom, it could be the next big trend!

Friday's Fave Five #44

Hello everyone! I trust you all survived the July 4th celebrations. Are you ready for your fave five for this week? I know if you had a great holiday it might be hard to narrow it down but I'm sure you will do a fine job! If you are new, it's easy. Go here for details and then jump right in!

1. This commercial cracks me right up. Smart Dad.

2. Saturday mornings. I so enjoy Saturday mornings because it is the only morning that I get to totally relax. It's my only day to sleep in, to sit in my housecoat, coffee in hand. I either grab whatever book I'm reading or finish reading all your Fave Five posts. With no pressures.

3. The smells and sounds of early morning. I love when I first get up in the mornings. I come out to the livingroom and on nice days hubby has the big windows open and the fresh smell of the morning is wafting in. That sunshiney morning smell. And the birds are chirping as they pull their breakfast out of the lawn. I wish I could somehow bottle a true morning smell into an air freshner.

4. Friends who pray for you. What an encouragement it is to have a group of friends that pray with and for you when you are going through things. The everyday life things. To know that you can share something with them and have them pray for you right on the spot and then knowing that they are continuing on praying for through the week is such a comfort. I have friends like that who have kept us in their prayers as hubby searched for a job. If you have been one of those who have lifted us before the Lord, thank you!

5. And saving the very best for last: We celebrated hubby's new job this week! You read that right! Yes, thank you Lord, hubby has a new job and will be starting Monday. We're very excited. It sounds like something right up his alley and something he will love. And it's really funny how God works. Remember this little concert we went to? The one that was a miracle in the way it happened? Little did we know at the time that God was setting something else up other than just an enjoyable evening of music. Well when we went to our seats, lo and behold we were sitting right next to a couple whom hubby knows really, really well. In fact, he used to work for them when he was a teen. The Mrs. asked him what he was doing now and he mentioned a few things he was thinking of going into at the time. Well, as the months went by and no job, it all of a sudden occured to us that maybe hubby could go see these former employers and I'm pleased to say he is now once again in their employ. That concert was a blessing in more ways than one. Thank you God for setting all that up!

What were your favorite things from your week? A special event, a funny happening, a great read, a funny quote? What made you smile? If you've done a post, please sign onto Mr. Linky linking the specific post (and not your home page). Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm really excited to introduce the Fresh Life Bible Study Series.

Not Your Grandmother’s Bible Study
Award-winning team of Heitzig and Rose has created a stylish, fast,
AND substantive Bible study series for women on the go

Voracious Bible study readers, women purchase Bible studies more than do men by a ratio of five-to-one—and Gallup reports that 14 percent of Americans belong to a Bible-study group. This summer, David C Cook will release two new books in the Fresh Life series, their easy-to-use series of Bible studies for women and about women.

With strong endorsements from well-known Christian leaders like Kay Arthur and Ruth Graham Bell, two up-and-coming female authors, Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose, have created the Fresh Life Bible study series published by David C Cook. Perfect for every age, appropriate for groups or individual study, and intended for today’s on-the-go woman, the Fresh Life series requires just 20 minutes a day for a meaningful contemplation of God’s Word. The next two books in the series are Live Relationally and Live Deeply (David C Cook, June 2009). (The first two books, Live Intimately and Live Fearlessly, were released in the summer of 2008.)

Live Relationally offers a fresh look at the important women of Genesis. Though women in the Bible are sometimes overlooked or downplayed, this fascinating Bible study curriculum reminds readers that women are central to God’s story—and His plan. Genesis alone is peopled with women who experience death, marriage, divorce, rape, and family tragedy. And if that sounds like something out of Desperate Housewives, it just goes to show that the Bible has a message for women—today.

With probing questions, insightful sidebars, and meaningful life-application exercises, Live Relationally offers the vivid lessons and rich wisdom of Israel’s founding mothers. From the complicated Tamar to the often oversimplified Eve, they are wives and mothers, slaves and owners, sinners and saints … and each woman’s story will touch hearts for God.

Live Deeply is for anyone who has ever read one of Jesus’ parables and asked, “What is He talking about?” Now women—alone or with a small group—can dig deeper into the meaning of these parables to uncover their important meaning for their walks with Christ. Designed with today’s busy woman in mind, each lesson can be completed in as little as 20 minutes per day, but will leave her with a lifetime of valuable insights.

Based on the inductive Bible study method, each lesson conjures vivid imagery of the sights and sounds of Ancient Israel alongside poignant application questions for today. The Fresh Life Bible study series offers something for Christian women of all shapes and sizes; everyone will leave with a more profound understanding of the important women of Genesis and Christ’s amazing parables.

Author Bios:

Lenya Heitzig is an award-winning author and popular Bible teacher. After beginning her ministry as a single women'ts counselor with Youth with a Mission, Lenya married Skip and together they started Calvary of Albuquerque, on of the fast growing churches in the country. The author of Holy Moments and co-author if the Gold Medallion-winning Pathways to God's Treasures, Lenya currently serves as director of women at Calvary, overseeing weekly Bible studies and yearly retreats. Lenya and Skip live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Penny Pierce Rose is the award-winning author/co-author of serveral books and Bible studies, includinge the ECPA Gold Medallion winner Pathways to God's treasures. She has served on the board of directors for the Southwest Women's Festival and develops Bible study curriculum for the women's programs at Caolvary of Albuquerque. Penny, her husband, Kerry, and their three children live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Live Relationally: Lessons from the Women of Genesis
and Live Deeply: A Study of the Parables of Jesus
by Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose
David C Cook June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-434767-48-6/288 pages/softcover/$14.99
ISBN: 978-1-434799-86-9/304 pages/softcover/$14.99
http://www.davidccook.com/

I'm very excited to show my ladies group these studies. Just browsing through the books has got me itching to get into them. They are set up perfectly for either individual study or for group study. Each lesson is broken down into 5 days. Within each day are scripture readings, prayer, the lesson with thought provoking questions pertaining to the lesson, and then a section on ways to live out what you have learned. And it's not just a section that tells you what to do but encourages you to journal answers to specific questions so that you can make the lesson personal.

Other studies in the series include "Live Intimately: Lessons from the Upper Room" and "Live Fearlessly: A Study in the book of Joshua"

Wordless Wednesday

Beware:

Guess what you'll find in your bag of California pistachios?

Bet you'll never guess! It's...

Pistachios!

Who knew?!

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here and here.

Forget twitter, I have a different obsession

It's Monday Tuesday morning and what else is there to do but upload pics I took on the weekend and play with my new obsession. A cool program called Piknik. It's got so much fun stuff you can do with your pictures. And the best of all is you can do most of it for free. But I'm so thinking I'm going to get the upgraded program because this is too much fun!

So this weekend, hubby and I, decided to shake up our bike riding a bit and chose to walk a path down in the coulees that we've never been on before. It's only been around a couple of years yet we've never ventured down it. And by "down", I mean down. To the river valley. So Saturday was the day.

HDRish feature

We grabbed the dog, who was ultra excited to come along and see the bikes left in the garage, and set off. At first we were by ourselves on the path but soon we could see a lady coming way at the top of the path with her dog. But as you can see I took the camera. So I was stopping constantly to take pictures. I found all sorts of cool coulee vegetation that I'd not seen before. Like this flower:

basic auto fix feature (fixes exposure automatically)

focal B&W feature

collage feature

This first flower in the collage was gorgeous. I've never seen that either with it's rich pinks and purples. Please say you like it because I went off the path through the dry grass and prickly stuff to get the shot of it. The funny little cone flower I've seen before but haven't a clue what's it's called. It's not dying or distressed, that is how it grows. And following up last is our own provincial flower which is the Wild Rose.

original

1960's feature

I braved a buzzing bee to get the shot of that little orange beetle on the purple thistle. And if you know me at all, you'd know my great aversion to flying, buzzing, striped black and yellow insect varieties. What I won't do for my blogging buddies.

So remember that lady who was behind us? Hubby said at the rate I was taking pictures she would soon be passing us. And I laughed and called him crazy. Well, ahem.

focal soften feature

Uhm, yeah, she's that tiny yellow dot at the bottom of the path that you can see right before the path curved. Yup she hoofed it right passed me. Hmph. But we did make it down to the bottom, took a breather and then we turned ourselves around. Now we were uphill all the way, baby! Joy. I tell ya my lungs and glutes and hamstrings were lecturing me about the point 3/4 of the way back.

focal zoom feature

Okay enough playing. I need to go dust or scrub a tub or something.

Friday's Fave Five # 43

Hello again! Welcome to Friday's Fave Five! Hopefully you'll find a nice, relaxing time looking back over your week and finding five of your favorite things out of this last week. If you're not sure how to jump on board, take a look here and then just start. Thanks for all of you bringing me many smiles and a lovely way to spend a short period of time reading about all your wonderful things that make you smile!

So here we go:

1. Peonies. My mom gave me some beautiful peonies from her garden and they actually lasted alsmost a week. I love them. My mom is a wonderful gardener and her love of flowers is apparent in her garden. There are so many lovely varieties, but the peonies (and the tulips) are my absolute favorites.

2. Holidays in the middle of the week. Love the long weekends, but I'll never turn away a day off in the middle of the week. Wednesday's Canada Day dawned warm and sunny and proved to be a really nice mid week break. For the first time in a long time I didn't feel like going to the lake to watch the fireworks. But we only live about 6 blocks away and I have a great view of the higher ones through the trees. I laughed at this picture with the squiggly looking fingers it almost looks like some kind of strange flower. I couldn't believe my little camera could take pictures of fireworks from so far away.

3. A date out with hubby this week having a little supper at our favorite restaurant. Date nights are a good thing.

4. Blood pressure numbers down. A definite thing that made me happy, happy, happy. I don't know what I've done right and they still aren't where they should be but they did go down. Yipee!

5. Iced tea. I can tell summer is here because I'm craving the iced tea. Long, tall, cold glasses of iced tea. I'm going to try to make sun tea for the first time this year, I just need to find a good jar. Anyone have any good recipes.

What have your favorites been from the end of June and and first few days of July? If you do a post, please sign up on Mr. Linky so that we can come and read it. Just click the Mr. Linky icon to have the page displayed. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Because We're Such Party Hardies Around Here

Yesterday was Canada's big birthday bash. It was sorta nice having a day off smack dab in the middle of the week. A little sleeping in, reading with a coffee in hand and then a huge bike ride with hubby. We avoided all the hoopla and celebration stuff at the lake. Ah yes, the celebration stuff which is another way of saying "Come and spend all your money on all the overpriced junk and food in the booths set up at the lake & get claustrophobic with all the crowds". Instead, with the kids gone with friends, we opted for a leisurely ride through some of the older sections of town with all the lovely two story homes of old, and then around some more trails to newer sections. We compared what we like in curb appeal, what gardens we liked, what streets appealed to us. We rode around the track where they train law enforcement at the local college, quite by accident. We thought it was a cool trail leading elsewhere but we laughed when all we did was go in a big circle with different "stops" along the way. Stops like chin up bars, walls to scale over, tires to run through ala football training camp. No we didn't try the stops out. We'll leave that for another day. Not!

In all we were gone and riding a good 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Good thing I have a good seat on my bike with a nice thick gel cover. I want to kiss the people who invented gel covers. A mighty fine invention indeed.

(riverbottom from last Sunday)

No pics of yesterday's ride however. Last time, hubby was so gracious and patient as I stopped constantly as different things caught my eye that I thought I'd go easy on him and not even tempt myself by taking my camera along. We just rode and rode and rode with nary a stop to drink water. Of course, that didn't stop me from several times noticing something and saying I wished I would have brought the camera along.

The bike ride times this year have been really good for me and hubby. It's our way of clicking out, being together with no pressures but how fast to go and what street to turn down. It's just fun being together touring around the city. It's funny how getting out in God's creation, feeling the sun on your back and a slight breeze in your face just washes all worrisome thoughts away and allows you to be in the moment. Who can stew about the negative when you are looking at beautiful green coulees, a blue river running through it and myriads of colors of wild flowers? When we see all the lovliness of the world God created and see the order in it, it is so much easier to trust that He will also take care of us and release it to Him. And we wonder what we're worrying about in the first place.

And on that note, I can't resist just one more picture from the riverbottom.