Leaps and Bounds!

The extra day this year is so welcomed.

Since I last posted I had my surgery. At the doctor's one day, in the hospital the next. I am now a week post op, and am now on the mend. Well a week and 3 days that is, but actually two weeks from when it all came to a head. I am so happy that is over with, and I really could use this extra day to catch up on so much. 

Over the weekend we had some so missed "Grand" time with this young man. He's getting brave by doing tricks on his power quad. He wanted to play blocks with me so he moved his table closer. He plays with these for quite a while. He has a great imagination. He really likes his ice cream cones too. 

Last I wrote, it was all about LOVE and spending time with the youngest "Grand", and visiting the Camel Farm and their new babies. 

What a wonderful day it was. We visited all the other animals in the petty zoo first before we found the mamma's and the babies. He really enjoyed all the animals. A lot of the many breeds of goats also had babies. But the baby camels captivated us. They were so cute!

Before the hospital, I was able to try on my dress and shoes for our sons upcoming wedding. LOVE my shoes, but the dress, which I also LOVE very much was a bit tight around the midriff. When I got home I tried it on again and it fit a bit better. I hope, pray and believe I can loose the last inch of swelling before the wedding on March 18th. 

If not we have a plan! 









I fell in LOVE with this shawl, so I ordered it.

It matches her wedding theme perfectly!

The girls can pin and tuck the back so the shawl cover's it up. With my faith, I believe everything is going to work out just fine. Even if it fits right, the shawl is a perfect addition to help keep the chill away.




For the next 2 weeks I will be walking as often and as much as I can to assure that the dress fits the way it is suppose to. Since my son left his elliptical machine behind, I'm dusting it off and hopping on it as well. After all, if I can work my butt off to climb 99 stairs to go to the top of Denver's capital, I can surely do this.

March may be coming in like a lion on "Our Journey Through LIFE!", but I will tame it and in the end, it will be going out as a lamb!

It's...The Weekend!

Seems like the weeks go by faster these days. Even my doctors appointment went fast! 
Little time in the waiting room, only a few minutes waiting for him to come into the room, and within the 30 minutes I was allotted, we covered everything we needed. Increased heart medications because my pressure was still so high, yet again. I try to tell him, I cry as I tell him, my heart is fine, even the cardiologist said so! So lets find the problem and it will resolve itself. More blood was taken and I was given the referral to the surgeon. 11 days from now we should have a better idea of what the plan is. I know one thing, it will include me feeling better.

Still haven't figured out the Live Writer issue. Guess for now I'll just write online or do the copy and paste thing. Online has it's distractions though, like shopping, playing games, and being entertained by FACEBOOK.

I love looking forward to the weekends though, and after all, this is the weekend of LOVE! I love reading all the stories that come out this time of year. Like it's the only time of year such stories unfold? Then there are the nay sayer's who don't believe in love stories at all. There at those that over celebrate (guilty at times) and those who don't celebrate at all. We fall kind a in the middle most years. Sometimes it's romantic. Sometimes racing is involved. Sometimes we do the dinner thing, either one planned at home, I've been known to do the table for two, candles burning thing, or it's out to a local restaurant. I can always count on chocolates and flowers, and anything else is like icing on a cake. It doesn't have to be the 14th either. It's more like a time to us, a time to be reminded of how our love got us to here. With 40 Valentines Day's together we have created so many wonderful stories. 

With it being cookies season for the Girl Scouts as well, our plans might include the watching of a "Grand" 4 year old! Rather we are or not I want to snag him, or even his mom and sister if they have time, and head out for the afternoon to The Camel Farm! 

  

Seems a baby camel has arrived on the farm! I have never been out to the farm and I really don't know why. I think it's about time we check it out.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that our daughters house is also on baby watch!

TGIF

I Am SOOOO Frustrated!

To say the least.

I use Microsoft Live Writer to draft my post.

Apparently somewhere along the journey, passwords and usernames have gotten changed and no matter what I do I can't get Live Write to recognize my log in information and connect to my blog.

I am so computer stupid sometimes! I use to be able to comprehend such things but lately, it seems like it's over my head. It's just got to be something simple! But for the life of me, I just can't figure it out.


I liked the Live Writer because I can work on post off line. Click the save for later or publish tab and done. I love how I can manipulate photo's and the layout of a post. Not knowing it wouldn't connect, I have a dozen or so projects in the draft stage. Now I'll have to copy and paste I guess!

I tried seeing about deleting the program and start from scratch but there are many Microsoft programs, I have no idea which one.

I hate to bug our company computer guru, but I think it's time. Or I am just going to throw this laptop against the wall!

#LENTCHALLENGE

I got so excited about LOVE I completely overlooked my draft on Lent, in fact I have been over looking a lot of my drafts. 

At the beginning of the year I started a number of drafts with topics I wanted to blog about, with the hope of posting more regularly. Day after day I would add a title here and there, maybe a paragraph or two, but a lot of them were not pleasing for me to hit the publish button. 

With 3 only post published last month, I have already doubled my production for February. Could this be a sign I am getting back into the groove. 

With Lent here, it's time to get my groove on with God too! If you want, pop on over to My Journey Through Bible Study, for this years 40 Day Challenge with Margaret Feinberg.

I'm Positively, Positive...

...that after 40 years, I LOVE with this man more....

Even when we were at our worst, I STILL LOVED him! I would do what ever was needed to be done in order to resolve the issues so not to let them destroy what we had.





There was always room for forgiveness, sometimes from one or the other or from both of us. Understanding always got us back to why we loved each other to begin with. Compassion for each other when one is in so much pain, so stressed out, to the bone tired sometimes. Show respect, so he can show love, so when you feel loved, you can respect. It was our way of getting off the CRAZY cycle.


Our lives seem to thrive on the roller coaster and having the tools of this book, makes the ride more enjoyable.

Difficult times will always be a part of all relationships. Sometimes difficult times call for difficult measures. They will also be different in all relationships. Each one must be handled individually and not be compared too or stacked up onto other things. I am by no means an expert on the topic of relationships, I am an expect at our relationship though. I know what works for us. I don't know what will work for you. I do know there are many resources available today then there were 30 years ago. There is no reason not to KNOW how to FIX the problem.

"You Were Only Waiting For This Moment To Arise..."

Wasn't expecting to write a post so soon, nor was I expecting anything so extraordinary to happen this weekend.

Hubby asked if I was feeling up to some breakfast, but unfortunately I had to decline one of his BIG breakfast but I would go for a couple pieces of toast. After he brought it to me, I asked what that noise was. He turned down the TV and said it was the birds. Said he was hearing it in the kitchen and took a minute to figure it out.

Well I didn't need another minute to figure out I wanted to see what kind of birds were singing so loudly. Setting my toast side, I got up and went out to see...

It was like my own National Wildlife Refuge or Bird Sanctuary! It lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. They would fly from tree to tree and at one point had used our neighbors newly irrigated pasture as a big bird bath.

"Blackbird"

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Hello February!

I've been waiting for you! I'm so excited for that one extra day you give us every 4 years. Whatever will I do with it?  

I think I am a bit more excited that our insurance took effect on the 1st, wahoo!

Its also the perfect month to check-up on the HEART! 

Actually we made it a point to begin with the heart once we acquired insurance. It just so happened to be this month, or just maybe it was pure grace. I am opt to believe the latter. From here on out, February will be my bi-annual Heart Check-up Month. As for the gift of grace, I'll embrace it. Let it comfort me, while I continue with my baby steps.

Over the last several months, with grief aside, my heart just hadn't been feeling all that great and we've been monitoring some pretty high blood pressure. Add in the results of the carotid artery stuff, how we will be moving forward called for a good sound pumper of life. Before my first appointment last fall, I was really scared I was going to be admitted immediately. Instead he assured us the blockage is considered mild, control the blood pressure with the medications, and any side effects from the medications are better then a stoke. With medication prescribed we walked out that day with confidence and a direction.  

Imagine my JOY, when at my very 1st appointment yesterday as an insured patient, the doctor tells me my heart is just fine. Continue taking the medications and he'll see me in a couple years.

SERIOUSLY! Can I get a great big, PRAISE GOD!

If I wasn't so sick with a this darn cold it would have been a perfect time for a celebration. For the 1st appointment to go so well was awesome. I can only hope the one on the 11th goes just as well too. There will be a lot to go over, but each step will get us to the next, and then the next, and so forth.

Could it be...


Slowly I have been seeing His Fingerprints again. I have always loved seeing them before. I knew it would take time for me to see them again. They were there back before and after Aggie died. I embraced them on the road trip to Orcas. However, I ignored them after my heart was broken, and then I refused to ever look for them or see them ever again. It was like I was throwing a temper tantrum of sorts! Something needed to happen, it just needed time.


So what does he do, He reminds me of a time the "Grands'" and I made some pictures of our fingerprints....

He is awesome like that! All we have to do is open our eyes and take the time to see where they all are, cause they are almost everywhere in our lives. They're on the moments we will take with us to eternity and leave behind at the same time. 

We take in His awesome scenery each time we travel the same road to the Gilbert/Mesa area, which seems like about every month lately. We always take a back road called Dead Cow Road. Actually it is called the 238 between Gila Bend and Maricopa. It takes you right through the Sonoran Desert National Monument. There are so many saguaro cactus I bet I get a different picture each time. I've gotten pictures of them blooming, in so many sunsets, even in a mist of fog after a rain (I looked for some time for that photo, it must be on storage). Speaking of rain, we have had to drive through flowing washes, praise God for having an SUV, we saw other cars having to turn around. W have seen many, many lightening storms, I think the coolest thing we saw was the Ringling Brothers Circus Train. I so wanted to stop, but there is never time on the way over. We actually see lots of trains and along one section they are right off to the right and you can see the engineer driving! It's a beautiful area where Gods fingerprints are everywhere and only a few of mans. It has become one of my favorite drives, other then the drive to the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge that is.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to take a couple of the "Grand's" to a Civil War Reenactment at the Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park. Unfortunately it was the beginning of a cold someone shared with me and I didn't really walk around a whole bunch. The "Grand's" had a great time and enjoyed the battle. The asked many questions and wanted to know how so many things worked. It didn't take them long to keep an eye out on the guys and cannons as to when they were done reloading and ready to fire. Helped them prepare for the BANG!

Time will and does heal, and along the way we'll continue finding other ways of bringing more of these moments to life so that they too will be a part of Our Journey Through LIFE!

PS: I had saved a bunch of toilet paper rolls before Christmas for a kid craft that never happened. Lately there are post landing on my FB page of Valentines...I think I know what we can do with them. I see maybe a kids craft day just might be happening this coming Grandma Wednesday.