Joy

I have a friend Chris who has a great blog called betterthoughtmedia.com. Today she posted a great one. so please go to her site and check it out.
 I read Ann Voskamp's book on 1001 gifts  a few years ago and it made a BIG impact on me. I started a journal for a year and filled it, then I started a different prayer journal as that is what I needed to do and knew it! Learning to listen and be grateful is hard after number 20.
 I bet most of us have 20 things we can and are grateful for, but after that going the distance can be rough some days. So, now I'm thinking and praying if I'm to combine the two journaling issues.
 My prayer journal now is all on my son's family because his family needs prayer, well we all need prayer, and I feel called to pray for them, so since there is 7 of them, each one has their own day that I write down a prayer for them or scripture verses that the Lord leads me too for them! It may sound complicated, but it's pretty easy!
Joy comes in so many ways and to acknowledge them is so important to you and the Lord! When we acknowledge the everyday joys, we are drawn closer to God!
Blessings to you all!!

Mini Vacation

So Gordon made an executive decision about a month ago to take me on a 36 hour mini vacation.
We went to Chanhassen Dinner theater in the Twin cites area and saw Came lot, stayed the night, went to Cabela's and found a Trader Joe's for me! Had supper with Kate, Kurt, Olivia,  Lily and Kora at "Buca". It's an Italian restaurant that serves family style meals!  Very good food!We got lost and turned around about 5 times, but we got there wherever there was and got home safely! It was pretty funny at all  the turn around time we spent being lost! You see I was driving, I'm the co pilot, the navigator and Gordon was the passenger this time! He gets car sick if he can't see the road so reading the map was out or my phone, so there we are!! It was pretty funny and exciting, we didn't get hurt and that's all that counts! But next time we will be better prepared as we are getting new iPhones and can have the directions spoken to us!

at Woodbury, Mn

Dessert at Buca

Book

So I finished reading "Almost Amish" By Nancy Sleeth, it was interesting. She is into more of less is more attitude which I feel can be helpful for young married people, single people or like me people with too much, which I am continuing to get rid of things. Cleaned out the pajama drawer today, next on my list is my earrings. Then, the drawer with odds and ends of Christmas items that have no meaning to me.
Nancy did say some interesting things though so I don't want to brush over them lightly. She did talk about making relationships that are meaningful is much more important than stuff and they were able to teach that to their children. They have downsized several times and eliminated more items in the process. I am awed by that, I get overwhelmed and stop when I can't see the big picture. My friend Chris is a life coach and I should hook up with her in how to reach a happy medium and not quit this for weeks in getting rid of stuff that has no meaning to me ! Help Chris if you are reading this. Stuff is stuff and I keep telling myself that, but sometimes it doesn't translate to my brain!
 But here's to a better week and more purging when I find time. This week Gordon and I are going in to the twin cities to see Camelot which is playing at Chanhassen Dinner Theater. This is last years Christmas gift to us! Staying the night and seeing the kids, going to Cabela's and getting away from here, YAY!!!!! Blessings, Earlene

new book

So I saw this on a website as a good read and ordered it for $.01 from Amazon, of course I had to pay shipping as it was coming from not Amazon, but hey that was $3.99. So I'm reading this and the main theme is living simply! Relationships are more important than stuff!! That hit a cord with me, as I'm purging. I should take a count of all the things I get rid of, but then I'd either be embarrassed by all the crap I collected over the years and wasted money or just sit down and cry over all the money I spent on stuff! So, I will just continue getting rid of stuff. Sending my grand niece a bunch of kids books, yes, it will cost me, but I think she and her sister can share the books for little kids. I would rather spend the money. Their children love books. I have about 30 Golden books and don't know what to do with them. I'm also giving away my kids rocking chair to a young family in the area for their children. Everyone has sat in it as far as my children and grandchildren, now is the time to pass it along! Back to reading my book, blessings to you all!!

Fall is here

 Fall is here, trees are turning colors, but not in full color yet. I think it's going to be a mid October color! My fall allergies are in full bloom, sneezing, sore throat from sinus and a small cough!
 My friend Cheryl got me a beautiful mum, looks like daisies. Got it planted last week, I thought about getting my lights ready for Christmas in the front planter.
 Gordon is out duck hunting, except he just shoots at them. We don't like wild duck very well, but I'll figure something out. I cleaned Gordon's closet, just his shirts. Now he can't find anything, oh boy! I got in trouble as he can't tell that winter shirts are on the left and summer on the right, to me it made sense! It will be a mess in a month anyway! I'm still purging, but not as fast as I had hoped to get done.
 Blessings to you all!

weekend

 Gordon, our son Kurt, son in law Trevor and his Dad Larry took the siding off the back side of the garage yesterday and got replacement siding up! Thank you guys!!! Gordon wanted to paint the garage and knew that the siding on the west side needed to be replaced. So yesterday was it, now to prime and paint!
 Kurt brought 2 granddaughters and one of their friends with him, so I put the girls to work in the house as it was drizzling outside. Spot cleaned my main carpet and then when it cleared up a little, window washing using Windex spray that you hook to the hose, it's so slick!! They did some stacking of wood for Grandpa and driving the 4 wheeler with the trailer. Good job girls!
 Then we went over to the Burch Barn a local place and had fun walking the corn maze, shooting the corn shooters, sliding down the hill and just hanging out. Thank you to Becky, Daniel and family for this fun spot to be for families!
 My friend got me a mum from the Country Lane Pantry in Rice Lake, it's gorgeous!! Thanks Cheryl!!

back again

 So, I couldn't truly make the move over to Wordpress. I had so much trouble downloading photos and got so frustrated, so I'm back here.
 My leg sore finally got healed and it only took 3 1/2 months. Longest time ever in not showering! Sponge baths and I bonded, but let me tell you Bob, I was so in the shower when I got the okay!!! Now I wear support stockings for the REST of my life to keep the swollen legs down to a low roar! I have learned the art of putting these suckers on!!! It's truly an art form!!! Tom, if you or Chris are reading this, you should take photos of this art form, Just kidding!!!! LOL!!!!!
 My baby boy turned 40 last month, I can't believe it, I don't feel over 40, but there in lays the problem, I am older than 40, yeah, and I am proud of my age, but really, Kurt can't be 40. We went to a really fun place for his birthday called the "Muddy Cow." So fun and we had given him a little drone the weekend before for his gift. He had a blast up here flying it! He's such a great guy!
 My little girl turned 43 on Labor Day this year, how does this happen??? We had lunch on the Saturday before her birthday and spent 3 hours or so together. Had a good time! Love that girl!!!
She loves Jesus and it shows in her life, just a great counselor!
 So, now the temps are cooling down and I dread what's coming, but I'm not going to fret about it! So, we have a little project next weekend, so I found a new to me website and found a couple of recipes to try out on all the guys. One is a "chicken fajita casserole" and another is a breakfast casserole, found them at www.smalltownwoman.com . They sound good and easy! Gordon, Kurt , Trevor, and Larry are replacing the back side of the garage siding and hopefully it goes well and gets done in a day!
 Well, that's enough rambling on for the time being! Blessings beyond and back!