Morning Beach Walk

This is our last morning at the beach so I set my alarm clock for 6am so I could watch the sunrise. Although it was a bit overcast, I was not disappointed. God always puts on a good morning show at the beach! I also took about a 45 minute walk with my camera. It is amazing how warm it is… I was able to walk barefoot in the surf! :-) I found some really cool images that brought favorite verses to mind:

Acts 17:27 - God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

1 Peter 5:10 - And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Psalm 8:1 - LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

Ephesians 4:29-32 - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

1 Kings 19:11-13 - The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

OK, now we’re off to drive home! Blessings!

Oh - and don't forget to check out all the creative loveliness at AEDM today!

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From the Balcony

The weather has been wonderful here at the beach this weekend. Especially for November! It’s been plenty warm enough to be on the beach or to sit on the balcony and enjoy the waves.

This morning there were at least six surfers in the water waiting patiently to catch a wave or two. I immediately thought of the patience it takes to float, balanced but ready, waiting for the glimmer of a wave that promises to grow into one worthy of a ride. I grabbed my camera and zoomed in as much as I could and got a few good shots. 

Quotes for your Sabbath Day:

”The mark of authentic spiritual experience is that you become satisfied with God for Who He is an not just for the benefits He gives you.”
~ J. Edwards

“Your religion is what you do with your solitude.” ~Archbishop W. Temple

Blessings ~

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From the Beach…

Hello, hello!! Mary and I are at Wrightsville Beach for a mom-daughter weekend away at our company’s condo. Ah…. the beach!! Here are a couple of photos I took this afternoon on a short beach walk.

Loved this little fella just staring out at the waves all alone.

While walking I couldn’t resist picking up some of my favorite finds on the beach – conch shell centers.

Blessings!

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Flower Pillow Finished!

I finished sewing the crocheted pillow strand on the fabric today as I sat with E during a scan at the hospital. Then this evening I managed to finish it up all together….. by hand (!) since my sewing machine is loaned out for a very good cause right now. The verdict is out on whether I like it or not. I definitely will make one again…. but probably with more space between the rows of petals.

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Flower Pillow W-I-P

I started on this crochet project quite some time ago. Somehow I think I’ve turned it into something much harder than the gals who posted the tutorial meant it to be.

First, I think my crocheted petal strand is much too long therefore making the pillow much bigger than anticipated. Which in turn is making the part I’m on now – hand stitching the petals to the fabric – more difficult, too. Bleh.

Today I chose fabric, penned the petals down, and began stitching.

I’m about half-way finished with the stitching. My neck and head hurt!!

Goal tomorrow: finish stitching down crocheted petals between

• packing for mine and Mary’s trip to the beach this weekend,
• going with E to the hospital for one more test to rule out gallbladder issues,
• making cornbread dressing to serve 35 (!) people for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at work on Friday,
• going to a mentoring kick-off meeting with our church’s women’s ministry (I’m really excited about this!), and
• making snicker doodle cookies with Mary for a school project (with this recipe or this one?)

Oh, yeah – there’s that little thing called W-O-R-K!!

I’ve been doing better with my schedule, lately, I promise! I don’t know how I let all this glob up on me tomorrow!! Yikes! This is how I get in trouble…

Night, bloggy friends!!

Oh – don’t forget to check out AEDM for some creative loveliness!

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A Weekend Away!

So, as promised,  here’s some sharing about mine and Matt’s great weekend get-a-way combined with his marathon. We had a wonderful time!!

First, here’s something I started working on while we were away and then finished with watercolors last night. I love the verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” Words I need to remember. Words I need to have tattooed on my forehead, actually. How often I forget and think I’m in charge! The lettering continues from letterLab and I’m posting this on AEDM. Take a look at all the happy things going on over there!

And here’s my guy just after running 26.2 miles. Amazing, isn’t it? He did quite well in the marathon he’s been training for since June. Not as fast as he was hoping, but good just the same. I think this is his 4th or 5th. Tack on a couple of 1/2 Ironmen and it’s not too bad for a late (ahem!) 40-something father of three. (By the way…. from this photo, can you see why I call him George as in “Curious George”!? Not everyone gets to be married to their favorite childhood  literary character!! Love this guy!!)

This is the lovely inn George booked us in for the weekend. Probably one of the nicer places we’ve stayed. I’ve only been to the Outer Banks once and that was with a work group so I didn’t get to explore much. I absolutely fell in love with it this weekend. I think I must have sea-faring blood in my veins somewhere. I feel so good when I’m by the ocean!

This was the view from our living room. It’s downtown Manteo (pronounced man-e-o). It’s where the finish line for the marathon was at. Our inn was actually on the last mile of the race so I was able to just walk to the finish line to meet him. To the right is Nags Head.

This is where I found my guy after he left me browsing in a bookstore in Duck.

Here’s a closer look…. cute, isn’t he? :-)

Speaking of bookstores, this is the bookstore we visited. Pretty quaint.

Here’s an inside shot, too.

And after the bookstore visit, we went for a drive on the beach…..

And we spent a couple of hours in the outlet mall buying George some very much needed new clothes, especially since he starts a long-anticipated new job next week! Hooray for George!

Ok, more to come creatively..... I started reading a great book on writing.... and I finished the crochet portion of a pillow project I've been working on for some time now.... So more on those things later this week! Blessings, bloggy friends!

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Words Popping!

I’m continuing to work through the LetterLAB workshop. I’m learning how to add shadows. And now I’m packing up a little bag of pens and pencils to take with me on the road this weekend! Hooray!


Check out AEDM today!

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Retro Night!

Tonight was our neighborhood dinner and the theme was “retro" night. We have six families who eat together every month and somehow it’s morphed into a different theme for every month….. sometimes even with costumes! (Tonight one couple came as Mike and Carol Brady. Hilarious!)

Everyone brought food they ate as kids. We had hamburger biscuit casserole, Salisbury steak and gravy, peanut butter filled celery sticks, creamed corn, and cornbread.

I brought BBQ green bean bacon rolls and pear-mayo-cheddar cheese salad! :-) (They are better than they look, promise!)

So this is my creativity for today – cooking with lots of color, photographing, and “retro-ing” it up with Photoshop.

I also met with a new friend plus an old friend to begin a writing group. We discussed how we thought the writing group might work and did a short writing prompt together: “Write about two rivers that join together.” I like the direction mine took and may rework it this weekend.

And – oh! This weekend!! Big plans and I’ll be sure to share!

Finally, one of the three most creative things I’ve ever done and her name is Mary. Precious, isn’t she? Taller than me at 12 – hard to believe! Smart, funny, makes me laugh all the time. I love her!

PS. Don't forget to take a look at today's postings for AEDM! I've found some lovely places to land over there.

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AED: LetterLab #1

So, I did it! I signed up for LetterLAB with Lori Vliegen at Elvie Studio. I started working through the videos today and am practicing my cursive writing then learning how to turn it into “magic”! Here’s a practice sheet I worked on tonight. Now it’s time to go do some real dreaming.

G’night, Bloggy Friends and thanks for the kind comments on The Boy and The Girl’s anniversary present.

Oh! And don't forget to see what other creativeness has been going on today at AEDM!

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Finished, Framed…. & Given!

Well, thanks to the encouragement of doing Art Every Day Month, I’ve finished all six storyboard frames for The Boy and The Girl’s anniversary, framed them up, and given them away. They came home this afternoon from their anniversary trip so I left it propped up on their kitchen counter for a surprise. I think they liked it.

It’s pretty big though. Once I saw it framed I thought, “Wow, what a terribly big thing to get from your mother-in-law if you don’t like it.”

It could be like those dolls with the skirts made from folded Reader’s Digests. Horrors!

I made sure to tell her they didn’t have to hang it up. :->

Well, now I need to find something else to work on….
Take a few minutes to stop by CED and see all the creativity going on!

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AED: Frame #6

Whew!! The last one – Frame #6!! Now the poem is complete and all the frames are done! Tomorrow I’ll add just a few touches and frame. The Boy and The Girl will be home tomorrow evening some time and I’d like to have this waiting for them in their house as a surprise! I’m pooped!!

Click over to Art Every Day Month and see all the creativity going on!

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AED: Frame #5

The fifth (and next to last) frame of the storyboard for The Boy and The Girl. I think I’m pleased with how they are turning out.

Happy Sabbath day, bloggy friends! I hope yours has been full of peace and rest.

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AED Frame #4

Here’s the fourth frame for The Boy and The Girl’s story board…. “They found a dog…” That would be their doggie, Dingo. Sweet boy!

Two more to go!

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AED Frame #3

Here’s frame #3 for the storyboard I’m working on for The Boy and The Girl’s anniversary gift. One of the first things they did after meeting was go to see 4th of July fireworks together. :-)

Happy Arting!

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AED: Frame #2

Just finished Frame #2 for The Girl and The Boy’s 1st anniversary story board…. “And there was a boy.”
Hop over to Art Every Day Month Day 3 to see what others are doing!

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AED: Frame #1

I’m going to try to do Art Every Day again this November. It was a good exercise last year, although I didn’t come close to posting something every day. And *sigh* I’m already starting off a day behind. But such is the way of my life and I’m going to keep plugging along!

The Boy and The Girl’s marriage turns 1 year old on November 6th. We had coffee with them tonight to see them off on an anniversary trip that starts tomorrow. I’m so excited for them! I’ve got several little projects in mind for them that I hope to have done by the time they come back next Tuesday. Well…. one of them is a “larger” project and involves a 6 frame story board telling their story. Here’s a shot of frame #1….. “There was a girl….”

Hopefully frame #2 will come tomorrow!!

Good night, Bloggy Friends!

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