Another store... 50 more disks to stamp... and more...

I am so sorry I have been out of "blog world". I am immersed in stamping land! I got the store I had another appointment with this past Monday and am filling that order for this coming Monday. I've had to hire and extra set of hands... I have my first employee. Whew... it was so cool to have her doing all the jewelry cards while I worked on other things... very cool getting things done in half the time!

I have two other stores I am working on. They both are in Florida. I've made contact with one while I was there and spoke with the owner. She is expecting samples and I must get them out soon... like tomorrow! The other one I am waiting until next week. I am fearful she'll say yes and I'll have another huge order... crazy... catch 22! Anyway, I am hopeful they both will happen. There could be one in Alabama... hint, hint... if she wanted! :0)

In the meantime, there is not much time for me to play on my blog. I've also had a very large amount of etsy sales in the past two weeks. I sold a pair of earrings last night, relisted another pair of them this morning and they were sold again by lunch! BRING IT ON!!! I need a lap top!

Life wise... Abby continues to progress and we are getting very excited about some things we are seeing in her processing ability and just her ability to understand things. She is blooming and I adore her. She is over three months seizure free now and we have an appt. on Tuesday with the neurologist to discuss starting to SLOWLY wean her off one of her anti-seizure meds... we'll see.

Don is in Florida right now as we just learned last night that his younger brother is in the hospital with colon cancer. Please pray for him, his name is Kevin. Our prayer is that he will make wise decisions and take better care of himself. We also pray that he is able to get the chemo he needs and will recover. We also pray that we are guided in how to be God's love to him during this time and that he will become aware of his true need for the Lord in his life. Thank you so very much, as always, for your prayers.

I had my first physical therapy appointment this week and will be going twice a week. It left me feeling worse than I did when I went in... ughhh. But I am hopeful that in some time, I will not be in pain every day. My therapist also told me I could return to Pilates in a few weeks... maybe just two! If I could only figure out how to make jewelry while on the Pilates ball.... hmmmmmm... could be a fun class!

Lastly, we have just been preapproved with an adoption placing agency in California. They work to place adopting families with birth mothers and children here in the states who need adoption. Some of the children they have placed are toddler age. Please pray we are guided by God through this process and we are open to where He may lead us. We are hopeful this may be the way to our Caroline. We will keep you posted!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

I HURT!

WOW! My entire body hurts. There is very much extra pain in my sliver wrapping thumb... both thumbs are numb... fingers ache... back aches... body aches.... But I got another store Friday! And I got my delivery done for the store I got Monday. And I have another appointment and delivery this Monday. And samples to be mailed to the store in progress in Flordia. Plus I made and mailed etsy and personal orders for Mother's Day Necklaces... just three more of those to go. OH, and I have physical therapy on Monday too... yeah for my neck and back!!!!

My treasury on etsy!

I love making these collections on etsy called treasuries. They are collections that etsians make of things they like. If you are LUCKY, your treasury might get picked to go on etsy's front page for a few hours! I think this one is very front page worthy! Basically, not only do I get to spread some love by promoting some fellow designers, I get to MAKE something else! Oh, how I miss doing page layouts! That's why I like to blog so much... it's my minimag! If only I could get this treasury onto a tank or t-shirt... that would be cool. Then I'd have to put in one of my own pictures (a treasury "no no").

Possible Opportunity!

Oh... I have to blog a little bit about this today because it "could" be an important date for me. I have a dear friend on a trip in California to meet and have dinner with someone very cool. I have FedExed her a package to give this very cool person that "could" open a door of opportunity for me. Oooooo, I don't even want to dare think it... anyway... it cost me $35 to send these two special necklaces and it "could" be the best $35 I have ever spent... we'll see... it's in God's hands now... (and the Fed Ex driver!).

I have stumbled upon a beautiful treasure!

I was at the book store the other day. I often go there during Abby's brain balance therapy sessions since it's close to her office and gives me a nice mental break to play in the magazines! (also helps me not subscribe to any anymore). I spent my 45 minutes looking through "Simple", "Cottage Style" and "Cottage Living"... and yes, I must confess, I glanced through "People".

As I was walking out, there was a PILE of magazines someone had left on one of the benches and I thought to myself, "How rude... I should put those back." And then something caught my eye. Peeking out of the stack was one half of this cover... of course the style and photography caught my eye. I pulled it out and realized I had just been given a gift! It's a magazine about FAITH and LIFE and HOME... ALL IN ONE!

I mean, there are pages about recipes and there are scriptures printed on the page with the photograph of food! It's a dream come true and I am SO jealous someone beat me to it!

One of my favorite features is the calendar section. There are pages of calendars (since it only comes out quarterly... bummer) in the front of the magazine that you can pull out and each day has three to four scriptures on it... it's like your devotion. There is a section on exercise, books to read, music, recipes, and wonderful features! It would be one of my dreams to work for this magazine!

So check it out and subscribe! Maybe if they get enough subscribers, they publish monthly!!!! When you pull it up online, be sure to read the feature article, "About Face"... it's pretty powerful.

http://www.lifebeautifulmagazine.com

Today's scriptures: Joshua 11: 1-12:24 Luke 17: 11-37 Psalm 84:1-13 Proverbs 13:5-6

Be blessed!!!!!!

What is it about this little piece of heaven on Earth?

Is it the warmth of the sun and sand? The sound and coolness of the ocean? The kiss and whisper of the salty breeze? The laughter and pure joy of children? The aura of relaxation that permeates the air? The lack of a time schedule? The happiness that overcomes you in the moment of waking on your own (minus alarm clock!). The streets of perfectly constructed and painted houses? Riding your rented and rusted bicycle anywhere you want? NO... it is all these things that make our visits to Seaside and Sea Grove Beach linger in our hearts and leave us yearning for just one more day!

As soon as we arrive and I start seeing the colorful houses, my heart just skips a beat and I feel as giddy as a child. "We are here", I announce to everyone in the car, "We are here!" Envy also starts to set in as I start announcing, "I'd take that one, and that one, and that one!" The area looks as if you have stepped into a movie set. Everything is so perfect and colorful and tranquil. Here is the house used in the "Truman Show". Need I say more?

On our past visits, we have always stayed in condos in the same area of the beach. But this year we took along our precious friends, the Pickett Family, and we rented a house for the first time. We rolled into town Sunday evening and made our way to the house. I'll speak of this briefly, as our motto quickly became, "We're so blessed to be here... that's all that matters... we are here and we are not in a roach hotel!"

As soon as we walked in the house, we were greeted with a... shall I say... FUNKY smell. We all felt out the moment and could quickly see the house was pretty dirty. I HATE other people's mung. My friend Shelley was the bravest as she leaned down and took a whiff of the very stained arm of the sofa and almost lost her breath. LUCKILY the sofas were slip covered and so within the first ten minutes of being in the house, we had the sofas stripped and washing in the washer! Just a little more sweeping of sand, vacuuming, bleaching and cleaning of counters, walls, and appliances... we were ready to get settled in! That's all I'll say... I'll skip the moody dishwasher and... no... that's it... we were blessed to be there! Seriously... we were. And they let us take Dusty!

After doing our grocery run on Sunday night and meeting the hilarious and irresistible Roofus (drunk man in funny hat letting Shelley and I know we could have had him instead of chocolate) we were ready to hit the beach on Monday. We started the day slowly with a relaxing breakfast, good conversation, and bicycle hunting. Around noon the sun decided to come out for the day and we made it down to the sand. The water was FREEZING. YIKES. I thought I was going to shrivel up when my toe came into contact with the first wisp of wave debris. The sun couldn't make up his mind either and so it was a bit cooler than we would have preferred but hey... we were there!

After about five hours of sand and sun (clouds), we went back to the house and Shelley made her wonderful fresh salsa and fish tacos! YUMMY! The kids were wiped and went to bed pretty quickly and we, of course, stayed up for hours chatting.

Day two was pretty overcast but it was our bike day and so it worked out fine. The poor guys spent way too much time just trying to locate bikes... everyone was pretty sold out. Luckily Fred Sanford and Sons were in town and we ended up finding some wind up bikes. (giggling uncontrollably!) We needed these cool attachments for the two youngest children to ride and...well... poor Shane was riding sideways for a few blocks before we convinced the guys to go back and try again. The owner of this salvage bike shop was really digging in scraps in the back... giggling again! Finally... they found one (without a chain!) that would sit straight and we were off!

Abby thought it was the coolest thing and just laughed as she peddled... it was really cute. I am hoping we can find one of these one wheel bikes online so we can ride trails here at home with them. Anyway, we rode like crazy for miles! It was so much fun. There is just so much to see and biking itself is relaxing. The place we wanted for lunch hadn't opened for the season yet... sad... and so we back tracked and ended up having a great lunch at a little place called "Sugar Pies". Our menu items included Veggie Panini, freshly oven baked pizza, and a chicken salad wrap... all very tasty!

After our biking adventure, we went home briefly to make a picnic dinner to take to the lawn in Seaside. There is a stage there and they hold events almost every night, including plays, concerts, and movie viewings. The lawn is a huge area and is covered with families. Children are running every where. Daddies are dancing with their daughters, playing football with their sons, and mommies are keeping them all in eye shot! It's awesome. I think this is one of the things we love most about this beach... how family oriented it is. Abby and Shelley were getting their groove on! "Shake your booty Mommy!" says my little one.

Day three is really our last day as day four will be packing and leaving. Sadness starts to set in as soon as we awake... :0( How fast these little vacations go by when you are having fun! We head down to the beach again and soak up a little more sun than on day one. The water, funny as it sounds, was actually a tiny bit warmer too! Sand castles were made, shells were collected, and snacks eaten. All too soon it was time to head back to the house and it was my turn to make dinner... sun dried tomato, artichoke hearts, and sauteed chicken pasta with salad. YUMMY again!

As always, it was very nice to be down at the beach. It's funny how just being there makes me feel so differently than I do anywhere else. I miss living in a beach community and I always forget until I am back. We always leave trying to figure out how we can make another trip down in September. But the craziness of life takes us over when we return and we never make it back. But I do feel very blessed that we have been able to go four years in a row now. We never took vacations when I was growing up. I think it is wonderful that we are able to share such fun times and make sweet memories with Abby. I can't believe how much she has grown since our first trip. We planned this trip before Abby got sick again this year. While we were in the hospital, I was wondering if we'd even get to go. And we did... we went and had a blessed time. Abby got to ride a bike with us. She was able to play in the sand and water with her friends. Praise God for His hand of healing upon her!

"I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26~

Thank you Lord... we so love and adore you.

I LOVE DOGWOOD BLOOMS

We have these amazing dogwood trees in our front yard and they are just bursting with blooms right now. I think they are some of the most beautiful blooms. They also remind me of my mother. When I was very young, I knew she loved them. So my little feet went tromping into the woods one day and I pulled several limbs from a dogwood tree. I took them home and dug a small hole in the yard... just big enough for the stem to go down into. I then "planted" the "tree" for my mother and went in to get some water to help it grow.

There is a picture, somewhere, of me squatting down watering the "tree" with a tea pitcher. But the thought just makes me smile. How much I loved her then... I love her even so much more today.

So here is a picture of my precious dogwood blooms that make me smile every time I look outside and see them peeking through the windows. I hope they make you smile too. God is such a wonderful artist!

Be The Church!

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13

Last weekend, our church (Heritage Christain Church), did not hold church services! Instead, the congregation was involved in community service projects through out the community! It was the end of the "Taking it to the Streets" series we'd be going through and was really very cool.

Don, Abby and I went into downtown Atlanta and, along with members of another church, cleaned up a city street in a neighborhood. It was very moving. It was Sunday and our spirits were so filled with worship and thanksgiving. As we picked up trash, lawn debris, and raked sidewalks that had not been touched in years... I was so overwhelmed with the knowledge of knowing not only was I trying to bless people who lived on this street... but I was doing it in the name of the Lord. It is such a wonderful and peaceful feeling to allow your hands to do God's work.

It was also wonderful to share it with Abby. She was very much into it and knew we were doing it for God. It was very sweet and she touched many people there with her spirit and story.

So try and remember that we are the church... not the building. We, children of God, are to "BE" the church to those around us every day. Whether you let someone in front of you in a line, extend grace in traffic, smile at strangers, volunteer some time, or send a note to someone... YOU are the hands of God in this world. You have no idea what a simple smile can do to someone. You may never know but I do believe you will know once you are in heaven. If you touch one person for the Lord... that is something BIG and wonderful!

Mother's Day Necklace and Other Ramblings

This is my Mother's Day Necklace... I love it! I made this one for part of a friend's baby shower gift and I am thrilled with the way it turned out.

The sterling silver disks are hand stamped with names, oxidized, and then hand polished. The cluster of beads add color and texture and have meaning! The pearl is for the Lord, the silver beads represent each parent and the peridot represents life (green stone).

I have made several of these and they always sell before I can get them on etsy. I have two store showings coming up and so the ones I have I have to save and can't put on etsy either... :0( So I thought I'd at least post this one here in case anyone wants to order one for Mother's Day for your mother, sister, grandmother, spouse, friend... or for yourself!

I've also sold several with colorful bead clusters that say; "Be Love", "Be Real", "Miracles", "Create", "Believe" and "Faith". So they almost can say anything you want!

Single Silver Disk necklace with two to four bead cluster- $39
additional stamped silver disks are $12 each
Just message or email me and I'll contact you back for the order!

Other Ramblings:

I saw a website last night that has just rubbed me... baffled me... saddened me...
It's run by a woman who is about as raw and brash as they come. She says things that are just inappropriate and she is rewarded by people, mass numbers of people, who read her website, sponsor her, and she pretty much supports her family from the sponsorships and sales from her site.



Now she is talented... in several ways. But what comes out of her mouth is just... well... unnecessary. But isn't this just the thing that feeds our society? This is what had me thinking last night. Here is someone who doesn't need to be this way and really does offend many people... but yet, like rubber neckers... people go back to her site and really support and reward her. Would her site be as popular if she didn't speak the way she does...? Probably not... shock factor gone... 3/4 of what people "enjoy" would be gone. Now don't get me wrong... there are probably as many, if not more, people who enjoy her and think it's cool. Well, that's just another story. Anyway, I won't be going back for more and just needed to speak my peace on how sad it is that we live in a world that feeds off of and rewards such nonsense.

Abby News:

Abby is completing her fifth week of brain balance. It's also been this long since we have eliminated her food allergens. It's been kinda hard to see quantitative results so far. There have been very evident things such as behavior collapses... ughhh. Apparently, with the stimulation of the right side of her brain (social and rational skills) kinda explode and all of the sudden they start buckin the system. Funny enough... we were told this would happen around week three... it did... and would last about two to three weeks and then level off and Praise God... I am seeing some light at the end of this rebellious tunnel! Her behavior the past two days has been remarkably better than it has in about three weeks! Yeah... lets go day three!

In addition, her precious teacher told me today that she is seeing some remarkable improvement in her testing at school! I have been seeing this a little with our workbook pages we do at home, and her ability to process and verbally express more, but to see it coming out on tests too is just VERY exciting!!!! So I am very hopeful and excited to see what the next few weeks bring for her.

She also remains seizure free now for over two months! Praise God and please do continue to pray that He keeps this hand of blessing and healing upon her! She remains a trooper and a fighter!

I met a woman at Wal-Mart

Yesterday, I met a woman at Wal-Mart. We hugged and cried... and we were strangers.
I was stopping by to print some photographs for a friend. As I walked up to the photo printing kiosk, I noticed this woman at the one next to mine. There was a memorial pamplet in her buggy that caught my eye. There was a photograph of a beautiful young girl and below was her name, "Amanda Dawn" and her date of death, March 25, 2008.

As I stood there, the newness of this passing of life overwhelmed me. I put in my camera card and noticed she was just standing there, in front of her screen, staring at a collage of photographs of this young girl. My heart started aching and I could physically feel this woman needed to be hugged. Abby was with me and I kept telling myself, this is SUCH a private thing, don't bother her. So I started going through my pictures and just continued to feel such pain and longing to hug this woman... mercy. So I am fighting with myself and trying to figure out what I needed to do and before I knew it... words just came out of my mouth.

"Have you lost someone special?" I asked. She turned and looked at me and said, "My daughter." In that moment, my heart swelled and tried to come out of my throat and I struggled to say, "I am so very sorry." She turned towards me and continued... "She was my best friend... the other half of me. I found her dead on the floor... you just can't imagine what that's like." I could not hold myself back any longer and just embraced her and we both began to weep. I told her that my daughter struggles with an illness and I have feared on several occassions being where she now stood and my heart just hurt for her. She squeezed me tighter and told me that my hug was an Amanda Dawn hug. She said that she felt Amanda had sent me to hug her because she didn't want her to be sad.

We talked, hugged, and cried a little more and then we went our seperate ways. Her name is Judy. She has lost her precious daughter whom she simply said was very sick. She was 21 years old. She told me she feared she'd not done enough for her daughter and I begged her not to blame herself and reminded her that Amanda was and had been in the Saviors hand. She said she found comfort in knowing that Amanda had seen the face of God and was being comforted and loved.

Please say a prayer for this precious mother. As I watched her walk across the parking lot... I was overcome at how she was just trying to get through the day... trying to act normal in the midst of such loss and my heart was and continues to be so saddened for her. So I am asking for prayers for this precious woman, Judy. Please pray that she will see God each and every day and with each day she gets through, God will give her more and more comfort, strength, and peace.