Recycling

These are some items we recently recycled. The boys stroller and the dog cage went to the curb and were gone within about an hour! I love curbside recycling.

The bowling game, tiny moccasins and blouse were brought to my city's family services. Glad to get a couple items out of the house and garage!

School update

I was busy again with school this semester. I took Research Writing and History II.  They were fun classes, but lots of work. Research writing was interesting and I learned a lot about writing and research writing. I received an A- in that class.
History II was interesting and boring at the same time. I learned a lot in this class too. I did my oral report and paper on Child Labor laws. I also received a 97!! on my final. I was shocked that I got a 97.  My grade for History is an A.

Now that I am done with school til August, I have a lot more free time. It's weird having so much free time now.  I have a lot to do around the house to keep me busy though, and I still continue to crochet.

My boy just has a few more weeks left of school, then he will be off for the summer as well. 

A shawl

This is a Prayer Shawl I recently finished. It is made from Lion Brand Homespun yarn and the color is "Seafoam."  It measures 115 inches across and 50 inches from neck to tip. It's huge, but this is how large I make all my prayer shawls!

I purchased this yarn on a huge sale. I think it's pretty. It's a variegated green color and looks nice. My model didn't really do a good job of modeling, he said his arms hurt to hold it up.

I will be delivering it tomorrow to the church where I donate the shawls.

Baby blankets..........

This blanket is made with Homespun. The washcloths are 100% cotton. This blanket is made for my cousin, she is having a baby boy!

These two blankets are made with Red Heart yarn. Each of the blankets are a large Granny Square Green/white on the bottom and Red/white on the top. I made these in December but I didn't get them sent in time. I'll add them to the box I send this year for the NICU babies.

This blanket I finished earlier this month. I made most of it last year and ran out of yarn and I set it aside. It's made with two strands. One is Bernat baby yarn and the other is just plain white yarn. It's a regular sized baby blanket and not a small NICU blanket.

One positive comment a day

I'm going to try this for a year. I don't know how to keep this post at the top, so I may have to dig for it later.

January 1, 2013
*we took down the Christmas decorations today

A New Year..

Happy New Year! I hope you all have a wonderful 2013.

This year I would like to:
*read more
*learn to book bind
*crochet more
*work on taming my tongue--it's that gossip thing
*read the bible in a year
*continue with my college
*post something positive each day
*pray more

I didn't write a list last year, so we will see how this year goes with this list!

Prayer Shawls

These aren't the typical prayer shawls I usually make. They are called pocket prayer shawls. I make them with cotton yarn and they are about 3x3 inches or 4x4 inches big.

The idea of pocket shawls are for people to be able to carry them. I originally made a batch for the troops at the request of the church I donate the prayer shawls to.

This batch I made for my church.

Dishcloths

These are dishcloths I recently made. The two on the left are made with regular cotton yarn. The four on the right are made with cotton thread. They were interesting to make. I made these dishcloths for a woman at church.

Baby blankets

 This is a baby blanket I made this past summer. It's made with Bernat baby yarn. It reminds me of a creamsicle.

 These baby blankets I made for two friends that know people having babies. The top one is blue/white and it's made with Red Heart yarn. The bottom one is actually pink.

This blanket I made for my boy because he liked the yarn.

Shawls

 This pretty blue shawl is the exact same color as my moms. I made it for a friend of my daughters mom. The mom has a tumor in her brain that is inoperable. I can't do much for her besides pray and make a prayer shawl for her. I made it in early December.

 This beautiful prayer shawl (it's folded here) is made with "Claret". It's so pretty. It's made with a new Homespun yarn called "thick and quick". It's a little thicker than the regular Homespun yarn I normally use. I like it well enough. I originally made this to give the church prayer shawl ministry, but I found another need for it. A friend of mines son died in October and I gave the mom this prayer shawl.

This prayer shawl I made for my sister in law. I asked her what color she liked and she told me yellow. I made this one in September.

Getting caught up

It's been a busy season for me. Christmas is over and I finally downloaded all my pictures from all the crochet I've done.  I'll make new posts for that though.

I also registered for two classes this semester. History and Writing ll.  I am looking forward to taking these two classes and I know I will excel in both classes.

My boy is doing well. He sold 4,500 dollars this fall for the boy scout popcorn fundraiser. He earned 200 dollars in gift cards for WalMart, and a lot of other fun stuff. He gets to go to a Basketball game, museums, amusement parks and a couple other things I can't think of at the moment.

My husband has been working a lot. We miss him and hopefully he will be able to take a week off from work right after the new year.

My daughter continues to do well. And so does my mom!  Mom is getting new granite counter tops in her kitchen next week and is excited about that!  I can't wait to see her new kitchen.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

Seven years..............

I love that huge NO SMOKING sign.

Today marks SEVEN YEARS that I have been a non smoker!!

Hard to believe it's really been seven years. I occasionally still miss smoking, much to my chagrin.  But, I simply cannot ever go back to smoking. If I take one puff, I know I will be right back smoking full time.

There have been plenty of health benefits for me too. I can actually breathe.  I don't huff and puff anymore just walking up stairs. I feel better. I am losing weight again too.  I actually can run and not be winded now.

And that old wives tale--that food will taste better?? That hasn't happened for me. But, I think most all food is tasteless anymore anyway.

Maybe I'll take up running for real in the coming year.

World Vision

http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?lpos=top_drp_WaysToGive&go=catalog&

Each year my husband receives a bonus from work and each year we each receive a piece of the bonus to give to a charity.  Most years I choose World Vision.

Each year when I make the phone call, I make a fool of myself and start crying. I cry because it makes me desperately sad that I even have to give to this charity to begin with. But I give with a cheerful heart.

There are many different items that can be donated. Most years I give animals. This year I gave a goat and chickens, then another portion for where ever the need is greatest.

Last year I donated fruit trees.

It is very humbling to me to give to this organization. I am thankful I can give.

Veterans Day 2012

 Today is Veterans day. There are a lot of Vets in my family including me. You never know when you sign up in the volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines whether there will be a war. And when you are drafted, you know, of course, that it is war time.
Here is a list of my family members that are Vets:
John- Great Great Grandpa- Army- Civil war
Leonard-Dad-Army-WW2
George-Father in Law-Air Force-Korea
Bill-Uncle-Air Force-Korea
Mark-brother-Air Force-Viet Nam era
Bill-cousin-Army- Viet Nam  era
Bob-cousin-Army- Viet Nam era
Steve-cousin-Navy Viet nam era
Bill-cousin-Army- peacetime
Lisa-cousin-Army-Viet Nam era (last of the WACS)
Mike-brother in law-Air Force-peacetime
John-husband- Navy (Naval Academy)Desert Storm
Pam-Army-peacetime
Nick-nephew-Air Force-serving NOW
I am proud of my family members, and everyone else that serves in the Armed Forces, and I am thankful for each and every one of them that served. I am thankful for the men and women that serve in the Armed Forces today too.

This is a picture of me in Basic Training (Fort McClellan AL), I think. It might have been AIT in San Antonio TX.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.

Baby blankets

These are the baby afghans I made for the NICU babies this year. It wasn't near as many as I usually make.  Hopefully I'll make up for that in the coming year.

A fellow crocheter on my crochet board collects blankets for the NICU at a hospital near her where her baby stayed.  I make them because I like to make them and my daughter spent time in the NICU when she was born too.

It gives me pleasure to give these blankets to a NICU unit knowing that the babies and parents will appreciate them!!

Disappointed...........

I, like a lot of other people in the nation are disappointed with the election results.

That's ok!! The world keeps spinning and we keep moving on.

I was reminded this morning twice that GOD IS IN CONTROL!! Still. Sometimes I forget that but it was nice to be reminded amidst my disappointment.

Romans 8:27-28

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

I voted

Went at lunch time. Took 15 minutes. I was number 471 of 1500 expected in my precinct.

Now, we just sit and wait and see the results tonight. I am very excited for the results.

Lots of praying for the nation and for this election this year. It's a big one. I know that is said each year, but this year it really does seem to be a big one.

I hope you all got out and voted!!

Seven things...........

I have a Seven things project update.

We periodically put things out to the curb. Most recently it was fish tanks and air conditioners. I love curbside recycling.

Also, I cleaned out my shoes. I desperately needed to do this as the shoes in my closet were piled high on the shoe racks. That's never good. It ruins the shoes and it indicates that a person has too many shoes.

I finally went through them and put them in a large garbage bag. There were about 14 pair of various shoes in very good condition. I will be dropping them off at our local family services. I like this place better than Salvation Army or Goodwill. I feel it serves the local people better.

October

It's been a rough month.  There have been several young deaths in our community. I know two of the families of the young men that died. It's just heartbreaking that this has happened. As parents, we need to be involved in our kids lives, to know where they are and what they are doing. Who their friends are etc. We need to keep the lines of communication open with our young people. At any age. At all ages. We need to pay attention, even if the child is not yours.

I'm currently taking a Statistics class, that I am not doing very well in. It's very humbling to not excel at a class. I received a mid-term e mail from my professor. While I am currently passing the class (barely), I am not confident that I can actually pass the class. I just don't understand the concepts of Statistics. If possible, it is even worse than last semesters Algebra class. I have chosen to with draw from the class. I feel like a loser for doing this, but, I don't think I can pass the class and the last seven weeks have been very stressful for me. Give me a biology, or microbiology class any day and I will get an A in that class! My mind is just not geared for Stats it seems.

On the other hand, my daughter is doing well with her job and life. She seems happy with what she is doing and since she moved back to Minnesota, we all see her more.

My little guy is doing well too. He just finished selling popcorn for boy scouts and did very well! He is still liking school too, which is always good.

My mom is doing very well too. She says her place finally feels like home now. And she has her pictures hung up now! I know that can make a huge difference. She is also getting new counter tops in her kitchen. She is happy about that too.

We'll all make it through the rough times, and be all the stronger for it.

Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Twenty years ago

This is my baby girl. Grandpa is holding her. I never let anyone hold her but grandpa.

Twenty years ago on this night my baby girl was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes.  She was very ill for a long time. I had brought her to the doctor three times and they missed this diagnosis. It wasn't until after we had gone out for Halloween and were home that it became apparent that she wasn't doing well.

I was awoken with a very audible voice, that I believe was God, telling me to get her to the hospital NOW. I sat bolt upright in bed, got my daughter bundled up and carried her out to the car. It was 2 am and I sped down the freeway to Children's Hospital.  I parked my car right by the emergency entrance. They took her immediately and started working on her.

After they finally got an IV in and got blood from her, the doctor told me she was very sick. And that she had diabetes. She was in ketoacidosis and not doing well at all. She had lost about 11 pounds too. I asked if she would be ok and the doctor wouldn't answer with a yes. He wouldn't even tell me if she would make it through the night.

It was terrifying. I stayed at the hospital all day and night while she was there. If my mom or dad were there with her, I would run home and get fresh clothes etc. I knew very little about diabetes. My daughter and I learned together. And we finally found a good doctor that we went to for 10 yrs.

She recovered and has done reasonably well since her diagnosis. The pump has made life for a diabetic much easier to manage with fewer sticks with a needle.

I am thankful each day that I listened to that voice and that my daughter is still here.

Proverbs 3:5-6

New King James Version

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.