Just a Teaser

That's right. If you'd like a glimpse of the kitchen cabinets, hop on over to my photo blog, Shutter Clicks. I'll have more pictures soon.

It's been a long day, class, grocery shopping, cook dinner, complete first class project. I'm tired and calling it a day. I'm going to need that extra hour of sleep. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour today, This Day!

Peace and Joy,
Susan

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV) ⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Thankful Thursday - 10/29/09

Can you believe it? This is the last Thursday in October! Do you know what that means? No?? Well, let me just share with you. That means the next Thursday will be.... in November. ahahahaha I just crack myself up. Anyhoo, since it's Thursday that means it's time to join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey and list five things for which I am thankful. They can be silly or serious, big or small because God honors them all.

1. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. He is doing everything he can to make sure our new home is comfortable. God bless that man.

2. I'm thankful that another year has passed with a clean mammogram report. This is a huge milestone.

3. I'm thankful the kitchen cabinets and new counter top are installed. The appliances arrive today! I'll be cooking in my own kitchen again. woooohoooo!

4. I'm thankful for my job and my boss. He has been so understanding and flexible with my comings and goings these past few weeks as I've taken off to move, paint, and meet installers and deliveries. I have not worked one single Thursday or Friday this entire month.

5. I'm thankful that God is concerned with that which concerns us. Several weeks ago, we selected and paid for our new kitchen sink. After the installers cut the counter top and dropped in the sink I went to see their progress. GASP! That sink is the wrong color. Oh no. How did that happen? The stock person is the one who pulled it from the shelf for us. No worries. The husband took it back to the home improvement store for an exchange. They received one....that morning....in a shipment. God was definitely looking out for us. The right sink is in and it looks beautiful.

That's my list for this week. What are you thankful for today, This Day? Please leave me a comment here and be sure to hop on over to Sonya's to link up with your own list.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

1 Peter 1:24-25 (NIV)²⁴For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,  ²⁵but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Random Dozen - 10/28/09

1. Tell me something about your favorite teacher. One of my grade school teachers (first or second grade) read Charlotte's Web with character voices. I was hooked on reading for life.


2. Tell me about one pivotal moment in your life. Did you read No. 1? lol kidding. Besides the pivotal moment of accepting Jesus as my personal Savior; or saying "yes" to a blind date when I met my hubby; I'd have to say it was when I was six years old and my mother walked out of our life.


3. About favorite colors--a lot of people will ask you what it is, but I want to know why it is. What feeling or memory does it evoke? I love the color of a clear blue sky. There's something peaceful and joyful about it.

4. What's a sure sign that you're getting older? When I say things to my children that my dad used to say to me; and I swore I'd never say them.

5. Please don't sermonize, but Halloween--is it a yes or no for you? Not really into the whole witches/goblin celebration thingy.

6. What's your favorite musical? How do you pick just one? Seriously? There are so many exceptional musicals. I'll go with CATS. The musical score, characters, costumes, make-up, story line....great....just great.

7. Are you more of a city mouse or country mouse? I'm an ambidextrous kinda mouse....I can go either way. I love all that each has to offer.

8. Did you know that it is possible, for a small fee, to name a real star after someone? (It's true! Google it!) If someone were to name a star for you, would you appreciate it for its whimsy and romance, or would you say, "Are you kidding me? For $19.95 we could have gone to the movie and actually bought popcorn."  I'm not sure about this one. I once adopted a zoo animal for a friend as a gift....isn't that kinda the same thing?

This question comes from Paula at His Ways Are Not Our Ways.
9. What's the craziest thing you've ever been doing and texted during it? I only thought of this b/c I was about to try to text during my walking video but I didn't. Driving.....it's crazy that people text while driving.......that's how accidents happen.

Paula, you do know that this blog is rated G, right?

10. "It's not a party unless _______." .... unless there's a good scuffle. No, .......unless someone dances on the table. What??? No, ......unless a sword swallower shows up. lol 

11. When you're stuck in traffic or a waiting room, what do you do to pass the time? PS: There are no magazines available. Who's reading while in traffic? I want to steer clear of you people. ahahahaha

12. If you weren't yourself, would you be friends with you? Who answers no to this? Seriously? Of course I'd be friends with me. I'm tons of fun, generally happy, love life, love God, adventurous, what's not to like?

There's some food for thought. Were you surprised by any of my responses? My question to you this week: Who do you admire most and why?

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Y-A-Y for Internet!

Greetings Friends! It's wonderful to have internet service back. I felt very disconnected from you and have missed visiting. There are pictures posted on my photo blog Shutter Clicks of the last two weeks. You can get glimpses of some of the colors and rooms in our new home.

We are completely moved out of the rented house! Wooohoooo! Praise the Lord!!! We are still figuring out where things go and how to arrange furniture. The living room furniture is set up and it's wonderful to be able to sit down and relax.

The cabinet makers started installing the cabinets today. Oh my! They are absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to show you. The appliances will be delivered on Thursday. It will be so good to cook in my own kitchen again. Honestly, it will just be good to cook. Eating out all the time has gotten old. We still need to pick tile for the back splash and a couple of light fixtures. It's fun tho.

We've made lots of memories and God has sustained us through it all with lots of laughs. What brings a smile to you today, This Day?

Peace and Joy,
Susan

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Thankful Thursday - 10/15/09

Another week has flown by and it's Thankful Thursday. This is the time each week that I join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey to list five things for which I am thankful. The can be silly or serious, big or small because God honors them all. Let's get right at it.

1. I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband. He is tenacious about accomplishing a task. I love that about him.

2. I'm so thankful for the house God has provided to us as our new home.

3. I'm so thankful that today is MOVING DAY! That's right, after months of searching and weeks of painting and fixing, we are moving in our new home. I actually scheduled this to post because I'M MOVING TODAY!

4. I'm so thankful for friends who volunteer to help us move.....and mean it. We have some pretty large pieces of furniture that without the help of friends, we'd have to pay movers to get the job done.

5. I'm so thankful for you! That's right, YOU! For your friendship, encouragement, and prayers.

So today, This Day, is the day we start a new season in our life; a new adventure; a new mission field. Please pray that we are open and receptive to all that God has planned for this house and for us.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Esther 4:14b (New King James Version) Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Random Dozen - 10/14/09

1. I've always wondered why we were taught both printing and cursive. Do you prefer to print or write cursive? (Keyboard is not a choice.) I do both. I usually print my grocery lists and notes other people read so there is less chance of it being misread. I write personal notes and letters (yes, I actually send letters in the mail) in cursive.

2. Are you a dreamer or a realist? Definitely a realist.

3. Billy Joel or Elton John? Billy Joel but I really prefer Jim Brickman or Floyd Cramer to either of these guys.

4. What is the scariest movie you've ever seen? Not just horror flicks but also ones where the tension or suspense is killer, for example, Flightplan (2005): A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet the child vanishes and nobody admits she was ever on that plan. Nightmare on Elm Street

5. Now what is the scariest real-life moment you've had? Being broadsided in a car accident.

6. What word do you misspell without fail? Difficult to say. I'd have to say choose/chose or loose/lose.

7. Name something you like to do but are not really talented or good at? Playing the piano. I took lessons years ago (more like eons ago) and would love to play like Jim Brickman.

8. Do you get your emotional/mental batteries recharged by being around people or by having alone time?
Depends on my emotional/mental state.

9. Have you ever been on TV? Not yet, but there's still time.

10. Apple or pumpkin pie? (Don't be greedy.) This is so not a fair question.

11. How many magazine subscriptions do you have? Only one. Cuisine at Home.

12. What lesson do you have to keep re-learning? Letting go and letting God. Did you read my response to last week's control question? No? Click here and read my response to questions 6 and 12. hahaha


If you'd like to join in on the fun and post your own responses to these seriously random questions, please click here to link up your post. So here's my random question for you.....if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Thanks for playing along today, This Day!

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Romans 12:12 (NIV) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

A Funny and Project 365

I'm caught back up with my picture project on my photo blog, Shutter Clicks. This is a project to take a picture a day during 2009. We are up to week 41. WOW! That means there are only 10 weeks until Christmas and 11 weeks until the end of 2009. If you'd like to see some of the other participant's photos, hop on over to Sara's blog. She's our wonderful host and there are some great pictures out there.

Friday night, the husband, the grand-boy, and I were running errands. We made our daily trip to the home improvement store followed by a stop at the more than bathroom place. We were on a quest for new towel racks and other bathroom accessories. A young couple entered the more than bathroom place store just ahead us. They were in their mid-twenties with a toddler at their side and an infant in a carrier. After struggling to get the infant carrier securely in the shopping cart, they head off on their own quest. As the wife is looking around searching for the item of their quest, she asks the husband, "Where do you think it is?" He replies, "How should I know, you're the woman."

I had to turn around and walk the other way, his reply struck me so funny. Hope you enjoyed it to. What brought a smile or chuckle to you today, This Day?

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Psalm 126:2 (NIV) Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

Thankful Thursday - 10/8/09

Editor's Note: If you missed yesterday's post, please scroll down to read about the day I shaved my head! 

Welcome to Thankful Thursday. This is the time each week that I join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey to list five things for which I am thankful. They can be silly or serious, big or small because God honors them all.

1) I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who has been so diligent in helping get the house ready for the big move.

2) I'm thankful that I'm not missing Thankful Thursday this week. We were so busy painting last week that I wasn't near a computer for four days in a row. My post today means I'm at work getting a break from painting.

3) I'm thankful for the stamina to paint four days in a row. I'm not even kidding! Rolling paint on walls is a lot of work. I'm still painting everyday, but at least I'm not painting all day.

4) I'm thankful for restaurants that prepare delicious food at reasonable prices. Seriously! Who has time to cook when there's so much painting to do?

5) I'm thankful for good paint that requires only one coat to cover up other paint and marks on the walls.

That's my TT list for the week. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you're thankful for today, This Day!

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Exodus 15:2 (NKJV) The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation;  He is my God, and I will praise Him;  My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Party in Pink

I was blog hopping (imagine) and found myself back at Rachel's spot Musings of a Future Pastor's Wife. I was there to see what she had posted for her Random Dozen. She did not post that today. She posted about this:

Which I totally forgot this was going on today. FringeGirl is hosting this Party in Pink for her bloggaversary, honoring her aunts who are both breast cancer survivors, and bringing awareness to Breast Cancer Month.

I'm supposed to take a picture of me wearing Pink. I thought I'd go a little farther. This is a picture of me taken with my friends, the day we shaved my head after my second chemo treatment. I couldn't control the fact that I was going to lose my hair; but I could control how I lost it. That was three years ago this month.

Here I am in May when I went to Nashville. See Betty, I haven't changed much. I just color my hair a little darker than I used to.

Those were tough times that I couldn't have made it through without God's strength and family/friends' love. So no matter how dark your road seems today, This Day, the Light of God shines and through faith cuts away fear.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Psalm 63:1 (NKJV) O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

Random Dozen - 10/07/09

1. On an average, how often do you splurge and buy something for yourself? About once a month. Usually something small like a new top, scarf, a mocha latte, or a bottle of wine.


2. Are you more like Hall or Oates? Just kidding. Real question: What is the last creative project you began/finished? Feel free to post a pic of it. I am so totally not a creative person and rarely do craft projects. But....last fall I helped the grand-boy make a no-sew fleece blanket to give his mom for Christmas. She loved it!


3. OK, Goldie Locks, do you consider your house too big, too little or juuuust right? It is entirely too big! We sold our previous house to move closer to our jobs and to downsize. We succeeded in being closer to our jobs, but our house is bigger than the last one. What's up with that? 

4. What is your favorite outdoor chore? Riding my motorcycle. Wait...what? Oh, you said outdoor "chore" not outdoor "activity." I'd have to say gardening. I love playing in the dirt. 

5. If you knew that cigarette smoking was not bad for your health but would be a weight loss tool, would you use it? Why or why not? Even though I used to be a smoker, I would have to say absolutely not. That is some of the stinkiest stuff ever! If smokers could actually get of whiff of how bad they smell, there would be fewer smokers. 

6. On a road trip, would you rather drive or ride? I honestly enjoy doing both. Sometimes I just want to sit back and watch the scenery whiz by. Other times I want to be in control of when we stop. lol 

7. What do you consider a trivial pursuit? Any preoccupation that consumes your thoughts and steers you from your core values.

8. This weekend, we downloaded the movie "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Within 5 minutes, I was bored and annoyed, but I kept watching 5-10 minutes at a time hoping it would get better between small chores. I finally gave up and Jorge watched it alone, and then regretted wasting that time because he disliked it intensely, too. So ... how long do you watch a movie or read a book before giving up on it? A book? I try to read into the second or third chapter. If it doesn't have my interest by then....it's not going to. I usually give a movie about 15 minutes. Who has time to waste on a boring movie?

9. Is there a song that you really love but are embarrassed to admit because it's not cool or it's racy or because it's by Hall and Oates? Nope, but there's still time. 

10. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = extremely) how spontaneous are you? In my younger days before marriage and children....I was a 10. I moved to different states four times with friends just because. I've since toned down and become more ummm responsible and mature. I'm probably closer to a 6 or 7 most of the time.


11. Are you a food and/or beverage snob? ahahahaha If you asked my husband that question about me, he would emphatically say, "YES!" I enjoy fresh, flavorful, home made food and rarely eat at places with drive-thru service. He considers that being snobbish.

12. Who/What are you trying to control in your life? Everything! I'm a total control freak! Did you read No. 6? OK, not totally, but this is one of the most difficult areas in my Christian walk. Letting go and letting God.


A special thank you to everyone who visited and commented on last week's Random Dozen. Several of you were first timers. Thank you for taking the time to leave me a note. As soon as time permits, I'll be visiting each of you. 

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Isaiah 26:4 (NIV) ⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

Monday Musing - A Place of Rest

That's so what I need today.....a place of rest. Painting four days in a row has exhausted me and the hubby. It's pretty sad when you go to work to get a break. We have made tremendous progress with the painting. The upstairs is completely done. WooooHoooo! The walls in three rooms downstairs are painted. Only two left, then we start painting the trim. It's really a shame that years ago someone thought it was a good idea to paint the trim in every single room on the first floor. I'd much rather have the natural wood. 


Are you taking on any projects this fall? What are some changes you'd like to make to your home today, This Day? 


Peace and Joy,
Susan

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.