"Post-Its"

Paul left for California early (3am) Sunday morning. He's off to open fishing season with his brother in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Virginia Lakes, more specifically. It's something he does each year if he can and he always has a fantastic time.

In March he stayed behind and homeschooled the girls while I went on an Exotic Mexico Cruise with my mom and sister-in-law. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful man to share my life with. It's just not the same when he's away, but I know he needed and deserved this time away and I'm glad that he could get away and be with his brother. He really works so hard for our family.

Before he left, he placed "Post-It" notes all over the place saying things like, "Your honey loves you!" and "I'm thinking of you." and "Miss me yet?" The "post-it" tradition goes way back to when we first moved to Idaho and Paul had taken a job that required him to travel 2 weeks or so out of the month. From the very beginning, he would leave notes around when he left so I would have them to find while he was away. I guess it was his way of reminding me that he loved me and was thinking about me as I went about my daily tasks as a stay-at-home mom.

That makes me think of God and how He gave us His Word to remind us of His love for us. A whole book of "Post-Its" that reads, "I love you." "I sent my only Son to die for you." "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "Do not fear, for I am with you." etc...

God left more than a book of His love, after He rose from the dead, and before Jesus ascended into heaven, He left us His Holy Spirit to be our daily help and reminder that He is still with us. We can draw upon His strength as we need it each day.

As I look outside I see more reminders of God's love...every buzzing bee, every colorful and blooming flower, every bird that feeds happily from our feeder this spring, every green blade of grass, every puffy cloud, every dazzling sunset. All of His creation is a daily reminder of His wonderful and eternal love for us. Thank you, Lord, for your "Post-its."

Click here for Virginia Lakes info.

"Masshu, by David"

This drawing was made by a most talented young man named David. He's courting our Amy. I never cease to be amazed by his artwork. I've always dreampt of being an artist and being able to put what I see in my mind's eye onto paper. Just doesn't happen for me.

Guess that's where my love of capturing God's ready-made art with my camera came from. God's art is far better than anything I could come up with from a pencil and my own hand. Some people have it...like David, and some people don't...like me. Oh well. Guess I'll keep appreciating the work of those who have it.

"Congratulations on another beautiful piece of art, David, and I hope you win the contest!"

Check out more of David's artwork at http://mediaghost.deviantart.com/


Masshu by ~MediaGhost on deviantART

"Serenity"

This is the 2nd video of my images on Youtube. My daughter and amateur film-maker, Amy, made it for me and I love it!

See more from AKB Productions at: http://www.youtube.com/user/AKBProductions

"New Tricks"

Okay, so I'm learning html and css code and how to design and customize things on the web. Those of you who know me are probably wondering how in the world I can do this. Well, I have NO idea! I'm as surprised as you are! I'm teaching myself, so maybe I'm a good teacher. More likely, I have resources and am using them: God, the web itself, books, friends, colleagues, etc...

Was I looking to learn this stuff? NO! It kind of just developed out of the desire to change things on my own website and blog. It started with a couple of things and has really snowballed, but I'm having fun doing it. I've found some tricks that I'm using to help my eyesight and strain, allowing me to be at the computer more than I have in the past year or so. Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking at the inevitable cornea transplants or blindness. But, I have improved my quality of life in the meantime. My daily activities aren't as impeded as they were before, and that is a major Praise the Lord, in my book!

Click on "My Links" at left, or this post title, to go to my newest blog (the photography blog) and see some of my customization. Who says, "You can't teach..." nevermind!

"Grocery Store Gripes"

After being sick for almost a week, we were in need of some things so I headed out to our nearest Walmart, yesterday afternoon. You know, the "low price leader." Even though I was still kind of weak, it felt refreshing to get out of the house and walk around a bit.

I noticed very quickly that the price of groceries seems to be exceeding my grocery budget, by far. Was I only sick one week? Every time I go to the store, the cost of things has increased. On the upside, we are not poor. Very few people in America even have a clue what it means to be poor. Even the poorest people in our great country are rich compared to the real poor of this world; the ones who truly know what poverty is. In America, you can go to almost any church for help, not to mention all of the soup kitchens and government aid. Many of those who have "government aid" drive a better car than I do. (which also comes out of our hard-earned family budget, thank you very much!)

By the time I reached the register, I was about to fall down with fatigue and I had a splitting headache. Evidently, we needed more things than I thought. I think I must've waited in line 15 minutes, and there was only one couple ahead of me. But, of course, the lady at the register didn't know I needed to get home, so she proceeded to oooh and ahhh over their baby and talk to them like they had all day and no one else was in line. No, just me...the one about to pass out! I thought, "Well, she doesn't know how I am feeling and normally I'd be ooohing and ahhhing over their baby, too, so I'll just rest my head on this germ-laden cart and try to keep myself vertical." I almost left my cart full of groceries and went home.

While my items were being scanned, I noticed a sign that read..."Paper or Plastic? I'll take neither." "Walmart is going green." The sign then showed how you could purchase, that's right purchase, re-usable grocery bags to help the environment. Like I'm actually going to pay for, store and remember to bring back re-usable bags. You've GOT to be kidding me! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking care of the earth that God has given us dominion over, but lets not be ridiculous! Gas is approaching a million dollars a gallon and they want another .99 per bag to come out of MY pocket! It's bad enough that many items I purchased in the recent past have now doubled in price at this same grocery store. Okay, Walmart...you can go green all you want, but I'm not doing it until I legally have to; which I'm sure is on the horizon, if the liberal media and democrats get their way. God forbid. But, I digress...

I'd like to mention one other thing that really chaps my hide about grocery stores. It's when they use the shipping boxes to conceal the price tags of the more expensive items. Take the toilet paper isle, for instance. All the tags were showing for the four packs, but then you get into the 12, 18 and 24 and all of a sudden, it was pretty hit and miss. Mostly miss. Where were the tags? "Oh wait...I see one, it's under this big Costco size box that contain the packages of TP." Unless you were Gumby or about 1 foot tall, you couldn't see the prices on the bottom because the boxes were hanging over too far to be able to see them." Also, the other prices that you could see were not for the items above them on the shelf or, in some cases, any item on the shelf. So, in my feeble state, I leaned way over and used my arm and shoulder to lift the different boxes and finally make my choice. No wonder I was exhausted by the time I got to the register. Grocery shopping is hard work! Upon mentioning this problem to the lady at the register, she was upfront with me about the fact that they do this on purpose. As if I'm going to practically lie down on the floor to see the price labels...hey, wait...maybe I missed my chance to grab a little cat nap. Darn, if only I could go back and do it again. Oh, THAT'S RIGHT, I will be able to do it again; and sooner, thanks to the fact that I get a lot less for my money these days and will be back at the grocery store before you can say "pay day."