Part 2 - Spring/Easter Decor

Here is Part 2 of my Spring/Easter Decor. I decorated "some" in our basement too. I'll show that next time. I added a little vignette of Spring/Easter items to the sofa table in our Great Room. You can click on the picture to enlarge it. I'll probably leave this up until we actually have *Spring* here in Michigan. . . which probably won't be until the end of April here in our state!

*The little chocolate bunny is really ceramic. If it was real it wouldn't last too long around here with three women in the house! It's the ONLY safe kind to for us to have :)

I absolutely adore the little bunnies on the floor hugging *sigh* they are just too adorable! Looking at these items, I do believe most of them came from my fav. T.J. Maxx too!

Enjoy!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Part 1 - Spring/Easter Decor

Here's the first part of my Spring/Easter decorating. This is what you see when you walk in from my front door. Click on to enlarge the picture. I just purchased the little grass covered bunny this year. . . at my fav. . . T.J. Maxx!! I placed a few little speckled eggs in his basket and plan on leaving him there all Spring. After Easter I'll replace the eggs with flowers. It'll work. Actually, I'm thinking about leaving up most of my Easter decor after Easter. Spring decor it will then become :) - after a few adjustments, of course.

The two little rabbits perched on the shelf I have had for quite a while. . . at a different home, when I was into blues. Not so much am I into blues anymore. Done that, been there. But, my little rabbits stayed. On the shelf beneath the bunnies is a pot of flowers and beneath that a little bird house I've had for a while. I have a "May" basket hanging on the handle of the French doors - which leads into the Den. I think I'll leave the basket up all year-round. I like how it looks there.

Next time, I'll show you what I have displayed in the Great Room.

Blessings. . . until next time,

A Little St. Patty's Day Decorating

Hello dear friends. Yes, I know, I've been missing for a few days. I'm sorry, but I have not been feeling real well and then there was the. . . so much to do, so little time to do it!!

Anyways, it's very hard to think of decorating for Spring/Easter when we are in the middle of another Michigan winter snow storm. . . and yes we are, even. . . as. . . I. . . type this - it's snowing! But I did think about it this past weekend. I decorated for Spring/Easter! I thought it would give my family something to look forward to, you know, some HOPE of Spring. Easter is SO early this year, March 23rd! I'm sure we'll be wearing our finest spring clothing to church on Easter Sunday underneath our winter coats.

So, while I was digging out all of my Spring/Easter decor. . . I stumbled upon my one little lonely St. Patrick's Day decor item. Poor little fairy. . . only 6 days prior to Easter is its Big Day. So, I've decided to give it a place of prominence on my mantle. All alone, holding her little shamrock garland.

. . . tomorrow, I'll start showing some of my Spring/Easter decor. But today. . . today, is for my little lonely St. Patrick's Day Fairy. Isn't she just too adorable?

Blessings. . . until next time,

Michigan Beauty

It's been a while since we've been able to go up to our cottage. Actually, I think it's been since Christmas time! We've been wanting to make a visit (just to check things out. . . make sure the furnace is still running, everything is OK, etc.), but there always seemed to be something going on here at home. . . church commitments, confirmation seminars, cheer competitions, etc. So, when we got the chance, up we went. What a beautiful sight to behold. This is Michigan winter at its finest friends.

Here's a picture I took of the frozen Rifle River. We love to kayak down this river in the summer and fall. Absolutely beautiful!

Here's a picture of a cut-in on the lake. If you look closely, or click to enlarge, you will see the men (& women) ice fishing! I'm so glad my hubby doesn't ask me to try that with him. I'm not one for enjoying being out in the cold for hours. . . sitting. . . holding a fishing pole!

This is our mailbox at the front of our cottage. I'd say we had some super heavy duty snow fall this year. It's been a great year for winter sports in Michigan.

The little water well over the well pump. . . to protect it so no one backs over it or knocks it down

Our little storage shed where we store lawn equipment and bikes.

Our back yard looking down the hill.

The snowfall on our deck.

We drove up on Friday night, stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and arrived when it was dark. What beauty awaited us on Saturday morning when we opened the blinds. It was. . . the. . . most. . . perfect. . . day. Sun shining and very, very bright. Absolutely stunning.

Blessings. . . until next time,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day to all my blogland friends!

How are you planning on celebrating? Anything special? Exciting?

Due to my hubby's work travel schedule we celebrated Valentine's Day last Saturday. We went to the movies to see Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. What a great movie. If you go, take a few extra kleenex along with you. Yeah, it's "one of those!" Jack Nicholson is one of my hubby's favorite actors and Morgan Freeman is one of mine. . . so we knew we had to see this movie. . . and I'm so glad we did. Then we went out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was so nice to just spend the time together, being adults instead of parents for a bit. Thankfully, our cell phones were turned off in the theater. . . so we didn't hear our children calling us. . . like three times. . . during the show! Oh no, nothing important! They just wanted us to bring home an order of Crazy Bread for them. Gee Whiz. I remember my parents going out, or even away for over-night when I was a kid. . . and somehow we survived without calling them!! Yeah those were the days, remember?

Oh yeah, they got their Crazy Bread. We stopped on the way home and picked it up for them - the little darlings : )

Blessings. . . until next time,

R E S C U E ME!!

Rescue me someone, PLEASE!! OK, I've had enough of this Michigan winter stuff. It's freezing here today. Sooooo cold that school has been cancelled!! Why? Because of the liability of the children walking to school, waiting at the bus stops and the buses probably having trouble starting. The wind chill is bitter.

*For some reason spell check on Blogger is still not working. It's a problem that Blogger is aware of and working on. . . so, please overlook and typos you may read :) Thanks!


I just came back from my Weight Watcher's meeting and thought I was going to "die" going out in this cold. I didn't. I've been working my butt off for 5 weeks and so far only lost 7.7 lbs. Better than going the other way, but it's a slow drop. I'm on medications which also slow down my system. . . so I guess 'll take what I can get.



Weight Watchers is great and said I'm going at the pace they prefer, slow and steady. I enjoy the meetings and networking with other ladies. I have struck up a friendship with another meeting attendee who has the same 30 lbs to lose. . . like me. . . again. She's had a lot of stress in her life for the last few years. . . like me! Her 20 year old son was in a car accident in 2005 (fell asleep at the wheel and plowed head on into a semi-truck) and is now paralyzed from the neck down. This is a heavy, heavy load. . . daily and constant care he needs. Sometimes I think the Lord allows us to connect with others so we don't feel like our load is so heavy afterall and to be thankful for the life we have. God Bless her. She is my exact same age and has been married the same number of years as I have. She told me all of their future plans (retirement) have been cancelled now, knowing they will have to care for their son for the rest of their lives. It only takes a second to have a life altered (and those affected by it), doesn't it?

Wow, I think I'm going to go and hug my children now.

Blessings. . . until next time,

B. J. Thomas. . . Remember???

. . . Tripping down Memory Lane:

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head; Eyes Of A New York Woman; Hooked On A Feeling; Rock and Roll Lullaby; and I Just Can't Help Believing . . .

One of my "goals" for 2008 (I don't call them resolutions - just sets one up for failure. A goal is something to work at and achieve, a resolution is something that one resolves to do, or never do again - I like the word "goals" better. More flexibility!) is to spend more time with my hubby, go on more dates and not just "go out to eat." Not going out to eat will also help me achieve, hopefully, another one of my "goals!" That is to drop a few pounds. Eating and cooking at home is much healthier and I can control how our food is prepared and the portion size.

Anyways, back to the topic of this post. We went to see B. J. Thomas a few Saturdays ago and thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Talk about a flash from the past. It took me right back to the early 70's - and I enjoyed the trip. What a smooth voice B. J. has. . . and not to mention his testimony. Being caught up in the fam took B. J. down a road of alcohol and drugs like so many musicians. He is recovered from these addictions and giving all the Praise to the Lord. His blessed wife, of almost 40 years, stayed right by his side and prayed him through. What a blessing for him to have a praying wife.

My hubby and I enjoyed the concert (along with all the other middle agers) and being together so much that we are going to be planning more "couple time" outings very soon - minus the eating out part.

Now, I think I'll check AMAZON for some B. J. music. I could use a CD or two - I enjoyed the stroll down memory lane and wouldn't mind visiting again!

Blessings. . . until next time,

SPRING!!!!!

Oh Spring, Where Art Thou???!!!!

Ok, to all my southern blogger friends. . . it's about this time in the north that we are all starting to get tired of the winter, snow, slush, cold. Unfortunately, we have about another 2 months of this stuff. Heck, I remember a few years ago when we had a snow storm on April 22nd!!


I think I'm going to run out and purchase some blooming tulips, daffodils, or hyathincs for the home to give us. . . H O P E!!

Blessings. . . until next time,