Dreaming...

The other night I watched Sleeping with the Enemy.  One thing that really appeals to me in that movie is the heroine's new abode.  That cute old fashion cottage in Cedar Falls.  It always sets me to dreaming.  By the way I do have an African Violet on my window sill in the kitchen just like Sara Waters or is it Laura?

  This house is actually in South Carolina not Iowa as in the movie.  And it was for sale last year.  Imagine that?

Here is a kitchen scene from the movie.  Just love that old fashion kitchen.  It reminds me of my Little Blue Cottage.

On New Year's Eve we had high winds whip through our area.  The winds did damage to our roof and our fence in the backyard.  Thankfully all of our  lovely trees did fine.  Anyway, after the snows pass Big Yellow Cottage will be getting some work done.  Also, we purchased a new stove which we will pick up this Thursday.  I am excited because the stove we have now is a bit of a challenge to work with as the oven is 20 degrees off and doesn't always maintain its heat.  I am fine baking cookies, biscuits and muffins, but anything bigger takes more time than it should and makes the electric bill higher.

Girlfriend Trip

My dear friend Cindy and I took a girlfriend trip.  Our destination was Mueller State Park where we stayed in a quaint little cabin for two nights.  It was so quiet and peaceful there.  On the night of our arrival we sat at the kitchen table watching the sunset out the window.  The next evening we took a hike arriving back at the cabin as a gorgeous shade of pink lit up the sky.  On our way to the cabin we visited Glen Eyrie and Garden of the Gods.  Here below are some pictures from our trip.

Red rocks next to the Carriage House at Glen Eyrie (a Christian conference center).  The grounds of Glen Eyrie are beautiful and peaceful.

Me at Garden of the Gods, where rock climbing is the favorite thing to do.

Love the bare branches of the aspen trees against the winter sky at Mueller State Park.

Elk Meadow trail in Mueller State Park.

Cindy walking in Elk Meadow.

View of Pike's Peak from the Elk Meadow trail.

Merry Christmas!

Dear Readers, please forgive me for being away so long.  December is always such a busy month.  After taking my trip to California, I have been busy with the business of Christmas.  Cards, gifts, special meetings with dear friends, etc.  Mark took vacation this week which was a real treat.  We had a couple of dates and had so much fun.  So much fun that I neglected the duties of Christmas.  So a few things fell by the wayside.  Oh well.  I think we all will survive.  Below are some pictures of Mark and I enjoying the season.

 Me in Clear Creek Canyon with snow up to my knees.  We had fun trudging around and nearly falling down laughing.

 The beauty of snow in the mountains.  I love the peacefulness of snow.

 Here we are in downtown Golden enjoying the sunset and the beauty of the frozen world around us.

Here is Mark on the path next to Clear Creek.  The city decorated it up with tons of Christmas lights.  It was simply gorgeous! 

There's no place like home...

Tomorrow I leave for a visit with family and friends in So. Cal.  I am excited and a little nervous all rolled into one.  My last visit was in March, about 9 months ago.  So far this time around on the departure end I am feeling that I am leaving home rather than going home.  I think owning our own home has contributed to that feeling, not to mention a wonderful church family.  The Lord is definitely working in my heart.  This week we attended the new members class at our church.  I can definitely say that I am excited to become a member at Hillside Community Church. 

Update

Above is a picture of Eric's Christmas Tree stands in use at the Christmas Tree Lot.  We stopped by the lot after church a week or so ago.  It was thrilling to see.  He finally finished his paperwork and his binder was approved just yesterday.  This afternoon he has his Scout Master conference.  Slowly, but surely all is coming together.  In telling one of my girlfriends at church I started to well up with tears of joy.  I am so proud of my son.

Eagle Project

My oldest son, Eric, completed his Eagle project this past weekend.  We are so proud of him.  For his project he redesigned and built new Christmas tree stands for the Optimist Club's yearly Christmas tree lot.  He has a few more things to do before he actually gets his Eagle Scout rank.  There is not much time left as his birthday is coming up in December so please say a prayer for him.  Here below are some pictures from the project.

Project day was held at our church in the basement.  In this picture Eric is speaking to the crew.

 The crew broke down some of the old stands to harvest certain pieces to reuse in the new stands.

Here the crew is working on nearly finished pieces to the new Christmas tree stands.

The project was not without a bit of fun.  Here Eric's best friend demonstrates some dance moves.

Its Cold Outside

Well, our nice warm weather has faded away and in came the cold.  Dead leaves litter the yard and the wind picks them up and carries them.  Everything has turned golden brown, yellow and gray.  Since the leaves are no longer on the tree in our front yard more light floods into the house.  When snow is on the ground it really gets bright.  Below are some pictures of recent snows.

 This was taken during our last snow, looking down the street in front of our house.

 This one I took of the moon rising in the east.  It was such a blessing to sit in my living room and look out and see the lovely full moon through the bare branches of the tree.

 This is a snow that came in October.  Love the autumn leaves against the blue sky and white mountains.

This was taken in the morning.  The sunrise cast a pink glow on the snow.


The Lord has me busy in ways I never expected.  These days I am learning more about the heart of our Lord.  I have learned that what He sees as very precious is people.  He loves them so much.  And there are so many hurting people, some of these people are in our churches.  I have come to see that there is a very necessary need for encouragement.

The other thing that I have been trying to practice is blessing rather than cursing.  I am practicing this while I am out driving.  I was watching something on Christian TV and it really made an impact on me.  The Lord is pleased when we are loving as He is.  So if someone cuts me off on the road, etc., I ask God to bless that person.  When I do I please my Father in Heaven.  On top of that I am opening a door for the Lord to work.  It is pretty awesome that something so small on our part can move mountains.