Changes are always good

I am just going to change gears here for a moment.  As most of you know that follow me, this has been a tumultuous year for me and my family.

A mountain of changes, and ones that were life altering.

A family member that has decided he no longer wants me in his life. I miss him, a lot…my family is very small and it was a huge loss for me.

The death of our dear friend Scott who was much too young, but through the process of Scott’s dying,  we all learned lessons that are so important!  About forgiveness, truly loving someone, knowing when enough is enough and being able to say good-bye and know that it was so right between the two of you at the end.  All lessons learned from Scott and his leaving us. We miss you Scott more than words could ever say, but we know you are healthy and happy on that other side.  We will all see you again, that is for sure! 

A marriage that almost didn’t make it after 31 years.  Talk about learning to let go of things and forgiveness….it is a daily lesson. I am grateful that we were able to survive and get strong again.  We have better communication that we ever did before.  Listening is so much more important than talking!

We also have had great joy and new gifts in our life.  A wonderful grand pup that has taught me a lot about patience and acceptance. It is amazing what animals can teach us.  It has been wonderful watching my son start and grow a relationship with this sweet dog and enjoy the happiness she brings him.  Such a simple thing, and it is wonderful to see!

This year we have also gotten to enjoy the company of  our youngest son Chris as he goes to a music engineering school on our side of town.  Having him back under our roof has been a blast!  He is going for his “dream job”….and we know sooner than later he will achieve it!

Manny, Chris and Oompa… aka “Fate of the Galaxies”

I have also started a closer relationship with Scott’s daughter, Rianna.  What a difference it has made in my life!  She is an incredibly strong young lady that has gone thru hard, hard times and came out on the other side a good strong woman!  I enjoy my time with her and hope we can spend more of it together in 2012.

(Photo taken this last Father’s Day Scott and Riana)

10 months of unemployment and no ability to get the infusions I needed for my Rheumatoid Arthritis.

So again, changes….moving slower, not going as much, being home a lot and really learning to enjoy it!  I hope I have turned this into a positive. The pain is worse, but again I have learned to slow down and “smell the roses”  so to speak! :)

I have also gotten to know me a whole lot better.  Taken a lot of time to discover who I really am, and I like myself!  I am not to loving myself, yet….but I hope to learn that lesson soon…:)

I am very thankful for all of the ups an downs we had this year and realizing as we look back that everything happened for a reason! Everything!    So as we start a New Year, my family is ready for what ever comes our way.  God’s grace is incredible!

Happy 2012 to all of you and may the year be filled with the blessings you all deserve!

The Big Box

I finally had a chance to open my big box…..and this is what was inside….

This person wrapped this SO well…..way too big of a box!

Any ideas??????

Here is a hint…..

I will be getting back to you soon…..I have to put this together!  :) 

After Christmas Rednesday

 

 

Yup, it is the last Rednesday of 2011and I have a few things to share….I really love this time of year because of all of the red….but I am so ready for it to be put away! LOL

I bought this on Etsy, I LOVE vintage bright table runners!

He came after Christmas, I am starting to collect vintage Christmas blow molds….he is perfect!  I need to find some next year locally.

Another new blow mold, I have looked at these for a long time. I found one in it’s original warp but 30.00 was just too much!  This one was a lot cheaper.  I got the boot at World Market this year, so so vintage!  And anything with this much glitter is OK in my book!

S& P shakers from K-Mart…didn’t have any out this year.  They were on sale for less than 2.00!

I bought this at Kirkland’s, I love farmhouses, and with a RED door….but look what it does…….

Yup!  The tree and the windows light up!  This is one of my very favorite items…..( sorry photos aren’t straight )

a couple new books to the collection….

A fun vintage red electric candle, I am pretty sure my Mom had one of these, or was it me???  LOL

 

And who can do Christmas without a wonderful red box of chocolates from See’s????

Please pop over to It’s Very Cherry World and see all of the red that others are sharing…..

 

And guess what this is?????

Bet you will never get it!  More to come…..:)

Thanks for coming by…..

Our Hunter Girl

Well, we found out what was wrong with the blog thanks to Karen Valentine, I had my counter go corrupt, so out it went!

I wanted to share some photos of Abbey we took on Christmas, this dog and my son have become quite the unit….they go out every weekend now and work on their communications and her ability to “point thru the flush” of the bird, retrieve the bird and give it to Bryan.

It is amazing to watch a 14 month old pup do this well. The trainer cannot wait to put here in some AKC trials this winter.

We have a lot of quail out in the back park here and so Abbey went “hunting”…..

These next shots were all taken in a row….

Perfect point, my Son told her “whoa” and she stopped dead….

Here he is about to touch her to “release” her so she can move forward slowly….

This shot just amazes me…he told her “whoa” again and she stopped with her hind leg in the air…didn’t move a muscle! I am so proud of her! Her abilities are incredible!

Again, she had been told to stop…..after Bryan "flushed the birds” she was allowed to run after them….she just didn’t get any. She didn’t care….we had a hard time getting her convinced to come inside for awhile….her instincts are really strong. I just know Bryan and Abbey are going to be a heck of a team in no time!

My grand puppy is all grown up, and a beautiful example of her breed.

Christmas was a wonderful day of just family and relaxing, it couldn’t have been better!

Thanks for stopping by…..

Merry Christmas!

I am going to be baking and wrapping and running around the rest of this week, but I wanted to wish all of my blogging friends a wonderful Merry Christmas!!!!! 

A Victorian Christmas

I am going to take a bit of a detour on this blog….and do another genealogy post…..this is the only photo of have of anyone in my family in this time era at Christmas and I really wanted to share it!  ( Thank you Joan)

I have no photos of my parents as children at Christmas, in fact I have no baby photos of my Mom at all….my grandparents were too poor to have any real photos of any of their children as babies.  It makes me sad as the maternal grandparents were very well off….but such is life.

My Dad’s dad was a barber…enough said about their income….but I do own a few of him as a baby, just not at the holidays.

This is a photo of Severin “Socky” Westlund at Christmas in 1915.  This was taken at my great grandparents house.  ( we think)  They were Zachrias and Mary Severson.  Socky is just 7 years old…. I wish I could see more of these!  Even the ceiling is wallpapered…I would love to have been able to see what the whole house was like.  My grandmother tore this house down when her father passed.  Her and my grandfather built a new home on the land.

I just love the walls and that photo on the wall….wonder where that ended up?  His toys are behind him and he looks way too serious for a boy of 7.  I love the popcorn strings on the tree too….I wish we could get a better look! :)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to still have these great vintage toys?  Look at that barn….and the wagon and horses, they sure look like they are iron. And what 7 year old wouldn’t have loved a drum?

I remember Socky very well and with a lot of  love, he was a wonderful, kind, soft spoken man with a great sense of humor! And he loved talking about the history of our family.  I just wish I had been interested in the family genealogy before he passed….again, if you have family members that you can talk to…do it!!!!!  You only get that chance  for those wonderful stories and tidbits while they are with us…

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight…as Santa would say…:)

A Surprise in the Mail

 

I received a wonderful Christmas gift today from one of my favorite people!

Yes, Elizabeth sent me a set of the tags from the swap I was suppose to be in, but was just too ill to participate….isn’t she something????

Here are some close ups….

Such talent out there in Blog land…

And look at the sticker that was one one of the packages that held a tag…..

Sorry…couldn’t wait!  Thank you E, this means a lot! 

Also, I just love all of the vintage Cardboard cutouts that we used to hang every Christmas….

                                          (Images from Google)

Well, last year I went to the 99cent Store and got these after Christmas…I know they are a bit different, but I just love them!  I hung them on my pantry doors in my kitchen…..

                                   

                               The one above is my favorite….

They are three dimensional, and lots of glitter ( sorry you can’t see it)

I usually like to stick to the vintage versions, but they are in a box put away this year, and since I didn’t get out my usually stash, I just decided to use these…..aren’t they sweet?  Kitschy for sure!!!!

Thanks for stopping by…..