Happy New Year ~ One Word 2014 ~ Commitment

After much thought and contemplation, I decided my One Word for the year is 

Commitment. 

I have never been a disciplined person.  I am not a goal oriented person either and I want to train myself to think of my goals as if they were sacred commitments. 

When I'm tempted to flake, 

I want the word "commitment" in the front of my mind. 

"Nope. I promised myself.  I will not quit. I will follow through."  

I also have a lot of responsibilities to my family and church 

which I tend to blow off, 

for lack of self discipline and other perfectly good reasons excuses,

more than I care to admit.  

I'm 45 now and I figure it's time to grow up and try to be more 

committed to structure, 

discipline, people and projects that need my physical and mental presence.  

“If we commit ourselves to one person for life, this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather, it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession but participation.” 

~ Madeleine L'Engle~

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”  

~ Peter F. Drucker~

“Set the standard! Stop expecting others to show you love, acceptance, commitment, 

& respect when you don't even show that to yourself.”  

~ Steve Maraboli~

“Seems to me that there is a fine line between insanity and dedication…I call that line commitment” ~Jeremy Aldana~

"It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through."  

~Zig Ziglar~

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."

~Vince Lombardi~

I laughed when I saw this.  It's so me.  I'm a Abstract Random person.
In other words, I'm in orbit around Venus.  I hope to become more firmly planted this year by staying committed and focused and what is important.

What are your thoughts?  

Does the word Commitment bring anything to mind?

If you have one, what is your One Word for 2014?

Be blessed and Be a blessing to others.

Pooh is apathetic about commitments, 

but is grateful for the ones I keep with him.

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act."

Psalm 37:5

I enjoy hearing from you, so please leave a comment.

I hope you'll become a new follower too.

And join our Facebook discussions

Despised and Rejected ~ My cat hates me

My cat, Pooh, humiliates me....again.  

Sometimes, I'm despised and rejected.

After everything I've done for him, too.

I wonder...

Is this what it feels like for God when He loves us 

and we push Him away....

Noooooooo......let me go!  

Put me down!  

I will only love you on my terms 

Not yours!

As you're being carried by Him, do you struggle to get down. 

Do you swat with claws?

Do you bite? Hiss? Growl? 

I feel as if He drags me around with me 

kicking and screaming most of the time.

Isn't that sad?

Why is humbling ourselves and obedience 

sooooooooooo difficult for me?

Is it the same for you?

I read this last night and was so inspired. 

I don't know if Mother Teresa really said this, 

but regardless, I felt rebuked and yet gently encouraged. 

(The holidays can bring out the worst in prideful people or families. This spoke to my heart)

Found on Pinterest


Be blessed and Be a Blessing.
Be humble.
Be gracious. 

If you're in Tampa and need a location and family to worship with, 

I hope you'll come visit us at our church:

"Christians Meet Here"

An Einstein Quote that stuck

I saw this earlier and it has stayed with me through out the day...   

Interesting. Does it provoke thought?

What do you think?

David Gilmour, Wish you were here live unplugged

I can't listen to this song without bawling.  

Some songs just do that to me.  

Why is that???

A Blackbird Designs Cross Stitch Break

I can be somewhat of a workaholic.  I work myself sick and push myself so hard,
 then I crash and can go no further. 
When I get tired, I get weepy and mournful. 
I start missing my daughter or my dad, or Texas...
 just whatever my heart feels is worth a wallow. 

 

I couldn't take another minute of it today.  I snapped at 11:00 AM.  Shed a few little tears.  Went outside and laid out in the sun for some "light therapy" and vitamin D. 

 

 I came inside and pulled out a lovely work in progress. 

 

I love Blackbird Designs and wish I had the time to work
every single one of their cross stitch patterns.

I would wallpaper my whole house with them. 
(Love their fabric too).
 

I'm currently working on Anniversaries of the Heart, Pattern 5. 
 

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...........my soul sighs cheerfully and feels mended.  It's just what my afternoon needed.  I needed to rest my busy mind and back, meditate and pray for cancer filled loved ones, count my blessings....
concentrate on anything but work!!   

Sewing is healing.  I feel as if I received a Vitamin B shot today. 

Now it's off to an early bed for me.  It starts all over again tomorrow. 

 

Do you need an afternoon vacation? 

What do you do when you snap?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.”  

~W.S. Merwin~

 

 

Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark,
or most in the dark,

but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery. ” 

 ~Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter~

 

“Now the Earth with many flowers puts on her spring embroidery”

~Sappho~

 

 

To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and slow. Only a woman's eyes can tell. Other times, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only women can hear the prayer.”

~Louise Erdrich, Four Souls~

 

 

Thank you to my son who took the photos for me.  Such a SWEET young man.

 

Blessings, PEACE and favor to all of you.

(((group hug)))

 

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Dear Watson felt sorry for mama today. 

Nothing is better than sewing and kitten cuddles.

Sharing with these SWEET places
Elizabeth and Co. ~ Be Inspired
Far Above Rubies ~ Domestically Divine Tuesday

Weekending ~ Winter in Florida

Stopping in for news and notes:

I hate when I fall off the blogging wagon as I lose my bloggy mojo rhythm, so to speak. 

Here is what has been going on in our life. 

 

 

My computer is half broken, sometimes completely broken.  I'm mostly using my phone to check in on facebook lately.  :(  It's sad how much our lives revolve around our computers, eh?   

 

My husband has Graves Disease, making his life miserable, therefore we are all miserable. 

 

It's strawberry harvest season.  We are busy freezing and jamming. 

 

We will be part of a Springer Spaniel rescue network soon. 

We have lots to prepare around the home.

 

We are putting in the spring garden, hoping it's not too late.  We should have planted lots already.

 

I do my best to inspire others...here is my winter fashion guide for Florida  :)

 Florida still gets cold in the winter.  I wear shorts and duck boots.  hahaha 

(OK, not outside the house in public, mind you, but my feet are FREEZING!!!)

 

 

Well, that's a wrap. Hope I can get back in here regularly again next week.

 

~Be blessed and be a blessing~

Weekending

“Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under!”

 

~ C. JoyBell C.

 

 

I hope you're "sitting under" something beautiful.  Go make a memory. 

 

Be at peace. 

 

Have a blessed and lovely weekend with your lovelies.   


Pinch of a Christmas

 

God rest ye Merry Gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.......
I hope your Christmas was magical and award winning. 
I pray peace, blessings and kind favor on your sweet families. 

*******************************************************************************

 

Sanitary Pooh wants to remind everyone to be clean and tidy at the Christmas table.  And whatever happens, don't get caught. 
Never, ever get caught!  #1 Rule!

My pets think furr people on the table is gross.  

 

~ The End ~



Completely useless post 2 days before Christmas

and now for something completely different.......

 

I finally figured out how to get my facebook username thingy. 

 

I'M A GENIUS!!!!!!!! 

 

Sweet Woodruffs

 

Tell me if it works.

 

I rock my own world!!!  Whoot whoot! 

(Inside joke with daughter.  Had to be there)

 

 

PS:  Just incase you were wondering, I LOVE LOU COSTELLO!! 

 

***Staggering upstairs to bed.  Nyquil is my friend.  Can't.Breathe.Through.Nose*** 

 



Weekending

Make a memory.
 

Enjoy the people you love. 

Photo taken at Indian Rocks Beach, FL

Waiting for my son...

After all is said and done...

and our children are grown and gone...

have been raised and graduated...

careers,

married off,

etc...

How much of our time as parents was spent

waiting?

And yet, I dare not complain! 

(bite my tongue and God forbid it)

My daughter is a junior in college and will marry her fireman in 2 months. 

During her freshman year at Florida College,

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed her coming home to do laundry. 

Who knew I would miss dirty laundry so much? 

Her dirty laundry was such a comfort and for the first time I could ever remember,

I actually enjoyed doing it. 

Yes, it's true. 

I did my grown daughter's laundry because it smelled soooooo good. 

What's more comforting than the smell of our children???

 

You miss the unmade beds.

You miss the 4 dirty plates in the sink, where now there are only 3. 

You miss their friends being over all the time and the messes they make as they try on 13 different outfits to look good for the boy they liked that week. 

Last Thursday, I sat in the car and waited for my son while he was in his homeschool co-op.  

I've been forbidden (ouch) from thrift store shopping for the rest of the month,

so I brought my quilting along...the almost finished wedding quilt.   

(Can't believe I actually did what my husband told me to do!!  Go me!!)

I sat there and waited for over 2 1/2 hours. 

The radio was my company. 

The windows were rolled down.  

A perfectly warm breeze (not too hot, not too cold) was blowing. 

The citrus trees are blooming in our area so the air smells heavenly now.  It was a peaceful time.
  Waiting. 

 He is 16 and will be gone in 2 years.

  

I don't think I'll miss waiting 2 1/2 hours for my son,

but my heart knows better...

 I'll miss waiting for him terribly. 

  

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Choose Joy.  It's there.  Find it. 

Be blessed and Be a Blessing...

"It is strange that the years teach us patience;

that the shorter our time, the greater our capactiy for waiting." 

~  Elizabeth Taylor

Poo says hide in the grass and practice your pounce. 

You never know when you might need it.   

Weekending

Shannon over at Cozy Home Scenes included my

Green Tomato Relish in her Saturday picks. 

How sweet (and sour) is that???? 

Go visit and say hello to her.  It's a yummy and inspiring blog.

I feel blessed and honored.  It makes you feel good when someone likes your stuff. 

I hope my mother-in-law's recipe blesses you. 

This year, I'm going to grow some extra tomatoes just so I can pick them green,

 instead of waiting until the end of the season

to pick my green tomatoes for frying or making relish. 

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Poo and I are chillin' with Netflix (Friday Night Lights, 2nd Season)

and......

 the last row of the

Grandmother's Flower Garden.

Here is the original post about the Grandmothers Flower Garden, but I'll share more about it soon. 

 There is a nice story behind it. 

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness......

 I'm so close to finishing I could cry. 

Seriously. 

I. Could. Cry.

So what are y'all doin?   

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Have a blessed and joyful weekend. 

((((((group hugs))))))

"Every man has a right to a Saturday night bath."

~ Lyndon B. Johnson

Poo says it's perfectly OK to get cat hair all over the fabric.



MARCH ing through the week

 Hello March 

Good Saturday Morning my friends and Happy Weekending... 

This is a week in review, yo...

How was your week?  What's going on in your life?

Mothering

Boy Child doesn't let me take his picture

so I have to be a creeper and sneak shots.  :)

Mailing

Save the Dates.  The "A Listers" have been invited, now we finish up the "B Listers". 

Muse"ing"

Loving Purple and Copper lately.  I put this bottle next to this picture

and I want to do a whole room around it now. 

Malcolm in the Middle"ing"

Love to turn on Netflix and stitch with several episodes of Bryan Cranston's genius. 

I have a major crush on Dewey too. 

Making

A rug for my mother, because I can only hand sew for so long before I completely blind myself.

Munching

That's right people, it's strawberry season in Florida and I can't get enough. 

Head to Plant City, FL for the Strawberry Festival for all you can eat Strawberry Shortcake.

Maturing 

My 16 year old got his permit, jumped into a car and figured out the stick shift in about 10 minutes. 

I think it took me weeks.  Love that boy.  He is the joy of my life. 

This is me playing chicken with him.  :)

Manure"ing"

The pasture behind our house is one of my favorite places. 

We sneak back there and "steal" poop for the garden all the time. 

Maintaining

The winter garden looking forward to harvest.  I couldn't keep the dogs out of my onions so I put rose bush prunings down to help.  It worked.  :)

Missing

My girl child and her man.  3 months till the wedding. 

She's in Texas, far, far away from her mama. 

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Choose Joy and be happy, no matter what. 

Be blessed AND Be a blessing.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." 

~Charles Dickens

Moo says find a patch of sunshine, warm up and relax. 

Seriously. 

He said that.



English Paper Piecing Life

My life on the corner of the table....

I buy my paper pieces from Paper Pieces and wouldn't use anything else. 

I love their product and highly recommend them. 

 

my glasses, my Bible, my Kindle and my cell phone are the only things missing from this shot.

 

 

Thanksgiving and Sannibel

Today...November 24th
Windowing...a lonely Sandhill Crane and around 75 Hooded Merganser ducks. You can click on the links and hear their sounds. This is one of my favorite links to learn about birds and their calls. Bookmark it.

Thanking...November 21st was the 3rd anniversary of my car wreck and I'm thankful I'm still alive. Even though it's ruined the last 3 years, and maybe my back forever....I'm not dead yet. And for that, I'm thankful. Truly.

Learning......Ancient Greece and the human body. During the week of Thanksgiving, we read William Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation. Also, a fellow bibliophile has loaned me her coveted copy of The Lion's Paw, copyright 1947. We're reading it as a 'read aloud' and I'm so very grateful my older children still love to read aloud with me. I hope we never out grow this as a family. Here is an interesting article on The Lion's Paw. Get it and read it. :) It was out of print and has been republished.

Kitchening...Lot's of cooking with my kids. We have quiet Thanksgivings by ourselves. My son makes his signature banana chocolate pie and my daughter will make homemade rolls. Iced Pumpkin Cookies is one of my favorite holiday recipes. I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan, but I love, love, love these cookies. They have a wonderful texture and taste. You GOTTA make them.

Reading..."Redeeming Love", by Francine Rivers  Woah. Pretty intense read so far. I don't read a lot of romance, so I'm proud of myself for sticking this one out. It's certainly sobering and thought provoking. I thank God for His constant pursuit for my heart. I'm glad He never gives up on me.

Favorite things...sitting outside on a chilly November night with quilts and hot cocoa, watching the meteor showers. Watching meteor showers is one of my all time most favorite things to share with my family.

A few plans for the rest of the week...sewing, cleaning, reading, baking, planning, table dressing, game playing and puzzle constructing...I love the week of Thanksgiving because my family is at peace and enjoying each other's company.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is my nephew Hay-Hay learning shell identification at Sanibel Island. If you come to Florida, skip Disney and head to Sanibel. It was God's jewelry box for me. I felt like God said, "Here is my jewelry box, take whatever you want". We found 100's of shells and left billions for you to gather on your visit. :)

5th grade, 1978

What were you doing in 1978?

I was working on my Farrah Fawcett hair. Why was a girl with thick, straight, heavy hair with no texture trying to look like Farrah Fawcett? This was my favorite dress too. I remember wearing it with black shoes and white stockings. Isn't that a fashion no-no?