Fall Beauty

This was my view as I was enjoying a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon reading on my deck.

Have you thanked God today for the beauty that he surrounds us with every day? I have!

Packed 'n ready...

Where are we going?

This is actually my gym bag. I usually put it on the floor by the back door so I remember to grab it as I head out to work in the morning.

Oreo seems to have decided that it's a great spot for a little nap.

Here we go again...

Don't you just LOVE the "political season?" All of the advertisements, signs, direct mail pieces, etc., etc., etc. Yes, yes, we know it's time to vote again.

Yuck, I'm just so NOT a political person.

Early to bed, early to rise.

Why would I have a picture of my computer desktop with 4:32 AM on it?

That would be because I was already up, showered and at work by that time.

Why would I be at work at 4:30 in the morning when I don't have to be to work until 8:00 am?

Well, my body decided it was time to be up at 2:30 AM.

Why would my body decide to be up at 2:30 AM?

I guess it is because I was forced into bed at about 9:00 PM last night.

Why was I forced into bed at 9:00 PM last night?

I can blame that on the migraine headache that hit me with a sneak attack last night.

I was in the middle of a meeting at church and all of the sudden someone set a house on my head, or at least it felt like it anyway. I tried to deal with the situation as best I could for a while but ended up having to abruptly and rudely excuse myself from the meeting (I'm so sorry ladies).

You see, when I get a migraine it never fails that I throw-up from it. I knew that the inevitable was soon to occur so I tried to race home in time. Well, I made it to my driveway and...we'll just say that my garage floor will never be the same again. : } At lease it wasn't in my car - the Black Pearl of Death would have been doubly cursed then!!

I haven't had a migraine in a very long time so I was really surprised by this whole ordeal last night. I would usually have some forewarning of the impending doom in the past when I would get these headaches. I am thinking that it was brought on by a pinched nerve last night, because it was so sudden, and my neck and back have been bugging me for the last week.

I am thankful that I feel great this morning, so far. My lack of sleep will catch up with me later, but I will be done with work by about noon or 1 since I was in so early. That's a happy thought! Then I can go home and mow my lawn in the nice afternoon sunshine. If I don't take a little power nap this afternoon (my body doesn't nap unless I am sick) then I will probably be in bed about 9:00 again tonight. And, hopefully, sleep on through until my alarm tomorrow morning.

Good morning and (God willing) good night!

Peace

Oh, if we could all be so cute, peaceful and have such a spoiled life!!

This is my cat Oreo. I think she was just thankful to be back in the house and comfortable this morning. She was loudly purring as I took this picture.

You see, she got locked out in the yard last night because she didn't come in when I called her and still wasn't back by the time I was ready for bed. So, she spent the night in the rather chilly temps outside (in the 30's I think) instead of in the nice, warm, comfy house as she is used to.

I would like to say that last night ought to teach her to come in when called, but I know that it WON'T! Yet, I still love the fluff ball!! : )

Let me introduce you...

to the "BLACK PEARL OF DEATH!" (Any "Pirates of the Caribbean" fans out there?)

"Aaaaargh, ellooo mateys."

This would be my fairly new, (a few years old) very low mileage car, that has now refused to start for me on three different occasions over the last couple of months.

Why does one pay (exorbitantly high prices) for a nice new car? Reliability you say? That's what I THOUGHT. I have been proven wrong however!

No, I am just kidding (kind of). It has been a good reliable car for me, up until the last couple of months anyway. So I am hopeful that the problems are now taken care of, for at least a fairly long while.

After the first or second time that the car wouldn't start, I had started calling it the "Black Pearl of Death." Jodi (my sister) thought that was a great name since we are huge "Pirates of the Caribbean" fans. Well, earlier this week Jodi had asked if I could give her a ride to Dickinson this weekend, 100 miles away. She bought a van out there that she needed to pick up and drive back home. She said that she would really appreciate a ride so she didn't have to take the bus. Of course, my response to that was "are you sure you trust the 'Black Pearl of Death' as your means of transport. I question it every time I go out to start it now." Her reply was "that was exactly what I was going to say. You stole my joke!" Ha, at least we are getting some good laughs out of the troubles that occured. Life is so much more pleasant that way! :)

Isn't this cute?

I came across these 2 pieces of heavy duty "manly" machinery that look like they are holding hands (claws?). I thought it was so cute that I had to run home and get my camera to take a picture.

I really have to start carrying a camera with me at all times. I missed 2 or three other shots that I came across in my wanderings this evening. Darn it!

(Sorry for the poor picture quality. The batteries in the camera were dying and I was struggling just to keep it turned on long enough to get a photo taken. I'm such a professional photographer. :)

The look of things to come...

Fall is beginning to make its appearance wherever you look these days. This picture is of my baby poplar tree (which I have affectionately named "Poppy") that I planted in my yard last summer. The tree was about the same height as me when I planted it. Tonight I was standing under it and shooting way above my head. It's incredible how the last year has changed so many things, in such great ways!

Misunderstood

It was brought to my attention today that my "It's a challenging life..." blog came across sounding as if I were saying "woe is me." That wasn't really my intention. I was TRYING to say that I am doing much better now as I am finding my way in my newfound faith, step by step, day by day. I missed getting that point made I guess, oops!

What's the matter with you people, can't you just read my mind and understand the gibberish I am spewing here, come on!! : )

Just kidding of course, I will try to do better but I make NO GUARANTEES! No money back offer here. You're lucky it's free!

Aaaaaaahhhhhh

I received this photo as part of a "forward" email many months ago and just came across it again yesterday. It's SO CUTE I had to put it on the blog.

Inspiring thought...

Here's a great statement that I came across in the book I am reading about St. Therese of Lisieux.

"How merciful is the way God has guided me. Never has He given me the desire for anything which He has not given me."

Wow!

Now have a GREAT day!! :)

Midnight reflections...

OK it was actually more like 11 than midnight last night when I took this picture but midnight reflections sounded better than 11 0'clock reflections.

I have always liked how the trees/moon/clouds/sun reflect off of the glass top on my table outside. Last night I tried to capture it on camera. It's not great but gives you the idea.

It's a challenging life...

Things have been somewhat of a struggle in my life for the last couple of months. My possessions have been breaking down, causing me problems and anxiety. And my Jason moved 1000 miles away to St. Louis, MO to start seminary, discerning if he is being called by God to become one of His faithful priests. Following Jason's lead, I am trying very hard to not contact him much in order to give him the space he needs to listen to what God is saying now (instead of my insignificant rambles about life). It's kind of like having one of my limbs ripped off though.

All of this (sinful self-pity and selfishness - confession anyone?) has caused me to be pretty quiet and not feel like blogging about my life. And I was feeling like no one is really reading this drivel of mine anyway so why put in the time and effort. Well, this morning the Holy Spirit seems to have descended upon me and put lots of words in my head. I had the overwhelming feeling that it would be therapeutic for me to just get them out in my little journal of life (which happens to be on the internet for the world to see, hmmmm, oh well, openness and honesty is the way).

As I see it, God created me as this big, walking, mushy heart for a reason. So now I have to lovingly accept the challenges that this heart is being put through, knowing that He will also give me the strength to fight through these painful, challenging times. I keep repeating to myself everyday that "I put my full faith in God and He shall provide!"

I don't want to come off sounding like some religious "NUT" but my new relationship with God is what is getting me through right now. I am still amazed at how having knowledge of and love for God has changed my life.

After Mass yesterday I was talking to Fr. Phillips and Ken Johnson, an aspiring deacon candidate for our parish. At one point Ken described himself as a 4 year old - meaning that he has been a member of the Catholic Church for 4 years now. That made me start thinking about how I am really just a newborn, not even 2 months old yet. I have SO much to learn and SO much growing to do. Some days I struggle to stay strong in my faith and I feel sad and lonely. I have recently realized that those are the days when I have gotten away from prayer. During the weekdays it is all to easy to let the daily tasks of life fill your time and not give yourself that oh-so-important one-on-one time with God.

This next year will be my time to "grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord." ~ 2 Peter 3:18

Bird in flight?

Can you see the bird in flight in this cloud formation? (Click on the picture to view it larger if that helps.)

As I was walking the other night I happened to look up and saw this image of a huge bird. I thought it was pretty cool so I snapped a photo.

Maybe I am the only one that can see this mirage of mine (my brain tends to work in ways that no one else can understand - including me!) so I highlighted what I was seeing, as seen below.