I'm still here...

Wow! What a hiatus I took without meaning to...

It isn't that I haven't had things to say or share, it's that I haven't had time during the day to type them in and the evenings have been mostly full as well.

I've been waiting (patiently mostly, but more impatiently as time went on) for some time now and today was the day! I walked outside this morning and could actually take a deep breath! It was somewhere south of 80 degrees! Fall is coming!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
I don't enjoy summer, I endure it and so this time comes every year with a sigh of relief and rejuvenation for me! In fact, last night was cooler as well and I even left the screen door open for several hours to get some fresh air in the house.

OK, enough with my obsession on the weather.

Some things I've been doing or have accomplished while I've been away from here:

* Day trip canoeing on the Duck River with my Sunday School class one Saturday
* Music City Jam at riverfront park with 3 friends
* Finished the redo of Ethan's afghan - I'll post the pic as soon as I can
* Reading of many books, of course - currently working on Tale of Two Cities (audio) and The Three Musketeers, both I'm enjoying
* Started a new Bible study with my small group (Beth Moore's Patriarchs)
* Been to a Nashville Sounds game/fireworks after with my Sunday School class (AAA baseball for those of you who don't know)
* 3-day weekend in Indiana the beginning of August
* Delivered my first meal as part of the food team from church
* Spent time with my in-town "family"
* Taken both Isaac and Ethan to lunch separately (this was part of their birthday presents) and Elijah will go next week
* Had 4 friends over (1 of which plays piano) on a Friday night and had a sing along - we sang for over 3 hours and it was a blast!
* Had a Sunday School picnic at a local park for Labor Day
* Choir rehearsals have started again after our summer break
* Did an all day scrap last Saturday, which included an abbreviated spa session, and finished 4 pages!
* Got my quilt pinned so I'm ready to do the quilting and am hoping to start that this coming weekend

Well, I guess those are some of the major things that have been going on around here. I'm heading back up to Grandpa's for the weekend the last weekend of September and then am not planning to travel again until Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad are doing fine. We are all beginning the countdown in earnest now. They have just under 23 weeks to go till they are back in the US and almost 5 weeks after that before they will be here to see me! You can begin praying for them and all the things associated with their return: safe travel, safe arrival of all their belongings and all the things they will need to accomplish in those 4 weeks in Dallas before they hit the road.

For those of you who don't know, they will be traveling around the US (much like they did before they left for Thailand) for the remainder of 2008 and all of 2009. So they must buy a van, buy a cell phone, make and keep any health related appointments with their various docs in Dallas area, spend some time with friends they've not seen and of course the most important tasks of unpacking, repacking and arranging all things in their room in my brother and sister's-in-law house. Changing over from the things they've had with them for the last 3 years to the things they will need to load in the van to live in timeshares for the next 2 years - it is a very daunting and seemingly overwhelming task to contemplate, so please pray especially that they will not be overwhelmed as they begin to plan for this. Also please pray for their remaining time on the field that they will continue to touch lives where they are. Also, even though they are looking forward to coming home, it will be another period of high emotions and adjustments as Chiang Mai has been home for them for 3 years and they have friends and a church there that they will be saying good-bye too.

Well, I must get back to work now - my days are full to capacity and overflowing these days so I mustn't take out too much time. Take care and be sure to leave me your thoughts and comments - I'll do my best to be back sooner this time!

More Project Pics!

These are some more projects from last year and this. The first three were baby gifts when Anna joined the family!

These next three are afghans for the boys! The beginning of 2006 they saw took interest in what I was crocheting (an afghan at that time) and decided that they all wanted one too. The red was knitted and is Ethan's. As a side note, the beginning of this spring it got a hole in it and I took it back to mend. Just recently, after finishing the current project, I pulled this out to take care of and decided it would be smarter to just tear it all out and remake it. This time I'm crocheting it and will put up another pic of the redone when it is finished. The "ocean blue" one is Elijah's and the yellow one is Isaac's. They each got to pick the color they wanted theirs made in.

This last one was a baby gift for my friend Leigh Ann who had a baby girl early in May.

This last one is a bit different than my normal projects, but I really felt God calling me to do give a housewarming gift to a couple married just over a year this spring. Below is what I pulled together. In the envelope tied to the pitcher I put quite a few drink recipes (nicely printed out with a border) on some card stock. The the ingredients in the basket are some of the things that the recipes called for. It was really fun doing this one!

Thanks for taking a look at all the final products of my many creative outlets! If I can ever do anything for you, please let me know, I'm happy to take on projects I enjoy for reasonable fees!

Sharing After a Short Sabbatical

Oh, wow! I knew it had been a while since I'd blogged, but I'd no idea it had been over a month! Well I've been busy, but nothing big or life-changing. I've recently gotten a ton of pics downloaded off my camera so I thought I'd share some with you. These are some of the projects that I finished in the last year or so.

These first four are bookmarks and coasters that were Christmas gifts this past Christmas.








This one is a scarf for my sister-in-law for Christmas.

Many of these are projects that I have written about earlier or at least alluded to, so I thought better late than never in getting some pictures up for all to see.

Memphis

A week and a half ago I made an overnight trip to the Memphis area. I drove over after work on Friday night and checked in to the Marriott, courtesy of Mom and Dad, since I was there on business for them. I had two appointments for the next day at two different retirement communities.

They have decided, through prayer and consideration and discussion that building a home on the lot they own in Hot Springs Village, AR is not what they are supposed to do next. As most of you probably know, they will be done with their field assignment next February and will be back here in the US by the end of that month. They will then buy a mini-van and pack up like they did early in 2004 and will spend the rest of 2008 and all of 2009 travelling the US from timeshare to timeshare. At that time they intend to move into a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Center), which is why we are beginning the research and info gathering now. Some of these places have waiting lists.

So over the last 6 weeks or so, we have all been searching the web and they have begun contacting places via email and having the info packets sent to me. I visited one place here in Brentwood and then the two places mentioned above in the Memphis suburb of Germantown. I talked with them just Saturday morning to let them know all I had learned last week. We have now enough education to begin a little weeding out of places that we know will not work for them. I have two more places to visit in the Fort Wayne, IN area when I head up there next (probably the first weekend of August).

All that to say that I had a really nice day in Germantown and had plenty of leisure time to drive around the area a little. I also had researched enough in advance to find a scrapbook store in the area. I was able to spend about an hour browsing at Remember When Scrapbooking (www.rememberwhenss.com) and really enjoyed myself. I got some great deals too - I got 7 12x12 sheets all on sale, 2 tag sheets that were also on sale and 3 QK dies that were 30% off! Add in one more pad of liquid chalk that was on sale and I got all for $25.01! Plus since I spent over $20 I got 4 more 12x12 sheet for free! All in all I was ecstatic with my frugal finds of things I know I will use.

I also found a nice little lunch place in between appointments and enjoyed eating my lunch and reading my book! Yummy creamy tomato dill soup and a slice of spinach quiche - I couldn't have found anything better!

So if you are ever headed to or through Memphis, make sure you check out Germantown - it's really a nice place. More news on other things coming soon... Don't miss it!

New and newsy stuff!

It's already June. I feel like I've been very remiss here. I had a good Memorial Day weekend with my aunt and uncle in the Dayton, OH area. My uncle works at Wright-Patterson AFB and has for as long as I can remember - first as a member of the AF and now as a civilian. Anyhow, there is a air museum there and I have not been since I was a little girl, but my uncle has been volunteering there on weekends for several years now. Since we had a 3-day weekend, we went a spent a couple hours going through. It was nice to have our own personal tour guide so we could keep up a nice pace and he hit all the highlights and answered questions for my aunt and I.

I also want to give tribute here to my parents - they celebrated their 39th anniversary on June 1! They said they went to a really nice French restaurant for dinner and had a really nice time. Yes, a French restaurant in Chiang Mai. I praise the Lord often for giving me to parents who love Him wholeheartedly and serve Him diligently. I am blessed to have been raised in a loving home that follows God in everything and I congratulate them on all the hard work over these 39 years and pray that they will continue to enjoy life together and reap the blessings they have sown in not only my life, but the lives of so many others. Thanks Mom and Dad - I love you!

And speaking of my parents, tonight I'm heading to Memphis to do some research for them tomorrow. After much prayer and discussion that have determined that they will not be building a retirement home on the lot they own at Hot Springs Village. They have decided that they will find a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Center) that runs the full spectrum of independent living (in a stand alone home or duplex or townhouse) to assisted living to nursing care to alzheimers care. This is the type of place that my grandparents chose many years ago and has been a blessing to them as well as the rest of our family. I'm sure it will be the same for my parents and our family too. So that said, the search has begun. They've had many packets of info sent to me and I'm going to be visiting as many places as I can to gather more specific info and get a look at/feel for each place. Then they will be able to narrow it down some and will do their own visiting next year as they travel the States.

I'll be back in town tomorrow evening in time to go to a game night for my new Sunday School class. This will be my first social activity with the class and I'm looking forward to it. It is at the home of one of the girls in my small group Bible study (which I started May 24), and she only lives about 10 minutes from me. I'm feeling at home now in this new place and am intending to join the church this Sunday. I also spoke to another girl in my Bible study who is a choir member and I'm planning to go for the first time next week. Once again the Lord has been faithful to lead me where He wants me to be and all is good. It feels really good to be back involved and attending on a regular basis. My singles class does a lot of mission projects and I'm looking forward to participating in many of those as well. The church as a whole is very mission minded and does a lot of mission work here in the community, in other states and around the world.

Well, I need to get back to work and finish up some things before I hit the road tonight. Thanks for checking in - please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, questions, or topics you'd like to hear my thoughts on. I really enjoy hearing from you too!

Blessings on you and yours this weekend!

May is running by...

Well, I finally sat down and did some scrapping on Saturday evening and accomplished 4 pages. I was pleased with what I finished and am hoping to do some more this coming weekend. I even did my first scraplift ever! It was interesting to do something that way. I think it took me longer than creating my own usually does, but I like how it turned out. I also finished another big chunk of pictures with those 4 pages and on Sunday afternoon I got out the next big set of pics and began sifting through them to know what I've got. It's actually from my first time to ever use one of Mom and Dad's timeshares by myself with friends. It was the summer of 1993 and the place was Weirs Beach, NH, right on Lake Winnipesaukee. So I've also done a little research in the last couple days, looking up the names of places we visited and correct spellings, etc. Then I won't have to be back and forth to the computer when I'm ready to work on the pages.

In other news, the current afghan is moving right along. It is actually a pattern done in strips and I'm just finishing the 4th of 9 strips so I'm getting close to half done with it. I wore my new skirt to church on Sunday and it made me feel good! I'm looking forward to maybe getting some other things made to wear, rather than the fabric just sitting in my wardrobe and closet. It's so hard for two reasons. There are so many things I enjoy doing and it's hard to split my time between all of them and yet still feel like I'm accomplishing something. Secondly, on the sewing front, I so want to lose some weight and am really trying to eat well and have started walking (twice a week as of right now, with Susannah), that I want to wait till I do that to make all new clothes. But if I keep putting it off and I don't lose then it all just sits there. What a vicious cycle! Anyway, I think I'm going to have to at least make some new pants for work because the ones I have are getting worn and I'm definitely not going to go spend money on new ones when I already have the fabric and thread. I will have to get some zippers, but that's it! I'll keep you posted.

I also have a new project I'm helping my parents with... they have decided that they are not going to build a home in Hot Springs Village, AR where they have a lot and had intended to retire. They've realized instead that it really would be better to find a continuing care retirement center (like where Grandpa lives) and move into it instead. Then they will not have to ever move again. So we have begun the research, learning and information gathering campaign. We spent a couple weeks looking at stuff on the internet and they began to narrow some things down. There is one here in Brentwood, that is fairly new and interested them so I went last Thursday night and met with a lady to get all the nitty gritty. She spent over 3 hours with me and really gave me a lot of great information and tips. This particular place is way out of their price range, but it was really a great place to start for learning about this type thing in general. In June I will be making a couple trips to check out some places for them. One about halfway to Knoxville and a couple over in Germantown (suburb Memphis). I'm also planning a trip to visit Grandpa near the end of July and will probably meet with someone at his place and an additional one in Fort Wayne. I also got an email from Mom today that they've found another one in Nashville and there is one in Murfreesboro that we aren't sure about, but that I will check on in case. So, those of you who are so inclined, please keep the family in your prayers as we work through all of this over the next couple years - there's alot to learn and alot to decide on.

One more note on the "new" board. I'm going to begin going to a small group Bible study with some girls from my Sunday school class. We meet at our teachers' home once a week and they are just ready to start a new study so it's perfect timing. I'll go for the first time this Thursday and we will have a get-acquainted time and small devotional and then next week will begin the new book. I'm excited about this, I know myself well enough from times past and know that this will help me tremendously to get fully plugged into the new group and the new church. Thank you Lord, for showing me this opportunity!

Well, I guess this has grown quite a bit longer than I had planned, but at least catches up most areas of the doings of my daily life. Have a great rest of the week and hopefully I'll have more to share with you in the very near future!

Busy times...

Well, it's been a busy month. I've been to two birthday parties, a weekend in Indiana with my Grandpa and I had a great Easter Sunday with my "local" family. Work has been busy too. We finally got the approval to get another temp in here to help us out in finishing all the backfile process. We've done the interviewing, chosen, and just found out that our first choice didn't pass the background check, so we will start the drug screen and background check on the second choice tomorrow. Hopefully it will go more smoothly. Overall, though I've made some significant process in the portion of the daily grind that is my person repsonsibility.

I also finished two baby gifts this month and have started on a new afghan. I've delivered one of the gifts and as soon as I've sent the other one, I'll try to remember to post some pictures of them. This past weekend I also cut out a skirt and a skort for me. I finished the skirt yesterday, all I have to do is hand stitch on the hook and eye and then I'll be able to wear it. I've finished several books too, including some audio ones - I've done a good job so far in keeping up a list of everything I've read since the beginning of the year.

The most exciting thing that I've picked up this month is some new habits. A friend of mine told me about the FlyLady (you can get all the details at www.flylady.net) and both she and I have started. I'm learning so many things about how to organize, declutter and clean my house in a manageable way that works for me! I'm seeing progress and I'm working towards being able to have the ability to invite people over to my house again on a fairly regular basis and have room for them to move around, be comfortable and enjoy themselves. This is so exciting to me I just had to share! If you are like I was and feel like you are never going to be able to get it under control - check out this site and see what you think!

I've recently cleaned off my kitchen table too and thus have back the space that I use to scrapbook, so I'm looking forward to working on some pages in the near future. I think part of me has gotten so used to doing this when I'm with friends that it just isn't quite the same to sit at home and do it by myself. I need to just get over this and sit down and start - once I get started I enjoy it, but I just keep putting it off wishing I had the room to invite others over.

Well, I suppose that doesn't seem like as much when you write it down, but I guess it filled up my month just fine! Oh, Grandpa sent some more lilac bush shoots home with me and I planted them and are keeping them well-watered hoping that they will take well. If they do, along with the 2 others that survived from the first planting campaign in 2004, it will make a nice little hedge row someday along the back of my carport. Someday they will have grown enough to blossom - I can't wait, they are some of my favorites. I also got several blossoms from my irise this spring too and have been enjoying them.

So, it's almost May already and hard to believe that 1/3 of the year is gone. I need to get going on some of the things that I was wanting to work on this year! How about you? How are you doing on your yearly goals or "want to improves"? Hopefully well! If not, now is the perfect opportunity to get back into it!

Smile - God loves you!

Joy... Joy? Joy!

I so enjoy the deep conversations that I'm able to share with very close friends of mine on a regular basis. Our topics run a wide range, but it just so happens that we touched on the topic of joy a few nights ago. Realizing how many of us as Christians miss out on the Joy of the Lord, for more reasons than we can even fathom. Joy is one of those complex things that is part of the mystery of Christ. It is more than just being happy. You can have joy even while you are walking through dark days. Joy is something that I think we should let the world see more often because it is at least one if not the only thing that the unsaved world can see as a difference in us that might attract them to God Almighty. If they see us only as having the same grumblings and problems as they encounter, but don't see a difference in how we handle things, or our inner attitude of dealing with life as it happens, what exactly is it that's different about becoming a Christian that is worth it.

They need to see the joy...
so that they will come closer and wonder about the hope...
and become curious enough to ask about the love...
and then we can explain the sacrifice, the Salvation and the grace.

We need to immerse ourselves in the joy that God has given us and then let that overflow out of us into those lives that come in touch with ours everyday. ("The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45). They need to see a difference! I was reminded again today as the radio station I listen to played this simple song by Cheri Keaggy. If you've not heard it, I recommend you call your local station and request it, then sit back and soak it up!

There Is Joy In The Lord
Cheri Keaggy

CHORUS:
There is joy in the Lord,
There is love in His Spirit.
There is hope in the knowledge of Him.
There's a fountain that flows,
Like a river from heaven
Abounding in love to my soul.

VERSE:
All blessing and honor are His,
All glory and power are His.
Let all wisdom and strength be the Lord's in this place.
Let all glory be given to Him.

CHORUS 2:
There is joy in the Lord,
There is love in His Spirit.
There is hope in the knowledge of Him.
There's a fountain I know
Every time I am near it
My heart overflows to the Lord.


Words and Music by Cheri Keaggy© 1992 Sparrow Song (BMI) (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
CCLI Song ID #1184209

Us

Just thought you might like to see a few of the three of us that we were able to gather from throughout our time together. We had a really great time over these two weeks and now I pray that God will keep us all safe until we meet again.

Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market Scenes

Here are some scenes from the floating market we went to on Friday morning. It is about an hour drive outside of Bangkok and is mostly a tourist thing now open only in the mornings, but protrays very well what it was like in days gone by. We didn't buy because Mom and Dad can get the same things at home for much less at the different markets they are familiar with. It was fun to see.

Mosaics on a temple

One of the temples we went to was built by a king at one time and then generations later it was decorated by another king. It was very interesting to see that the use of broken pottery pieces to make mosaics and decorate things was a very, very old concept. In at least one of these pics you can also see some large seashells. These were used in a prior time period as currency and so mixed in with some of these mosaics. Enjoy!

Canal Tour - continued

More scenes from the canals in Bangkok...

Scenes from the Canal Tour in Bangkok

Here are some scenes from our relaxing tour on the canal boat around the canals in an area of Bangkok. It was very interesting to see the mix of well cared for vs. dilapidated, big fancy vs. small non-showy and how you could have the extremes sitting right next to each other. See if you can feel the cool breeze of another nation, another people as you tour through these pics which are only a very small fraction of the actual amount we took.

Beginnings of Bangkok

Here are a few general shots from our first afternoon in Bangkok. Mom and I are both wearing our Salwahr Kameezes because we had to wear long pants to visit the palace. So here you see a street scene of a bunch of motor bikes parked on the corner. And the next is a shot of our guide, Mom and I walking down the street after seeing the palace. We are heading next to the canal ride. This was the hottest part and shortly before we had to make our 15-minute rest in the 7-11.


This is me at the beginning of our palace tour. Those 3 spires in the backgrounds are wats (temples) on the palace grounds and the building behind is the temple where the emerald buddha resides. Yes, they use their umbrellas in the sun as well as the rain - it helps keep off some of the heat. Mom even has one that is reflective on the top side to help even more.

Here is a shot that shows the kind of boat we rode in for our canal tour and the next pic is one of Dad and I sitting in our boat as we begin our canal tour ride, which was very enjoyable.