Still

START:

the reason I struggle so much with Five Minute Friday, is because when my mind receives the prompt, my mind goes off in 10 different directions and I can't choose just one way to go.  The same happened with STILL.  so much so, that I decided to look up the word still... that just overwhelmed me more! :)

I really wanted to take it the direction of a Still ---ya know, the place they make alcohol, but I know NOTHING about that, because I have never had a drop (unless it was cooked in a meal!) ... I was just feeling a little rebellious.

so I thought about how I do NOT consider myself a writer, yet I STILL try to blog. (I do consider myself a crafter/artisan, and am STILL trying to make a go of it in an online card business, but it might just be a hobby)

I thought about how I never liked kids or baby sitting growing up, but God STILL gave me FOUR kids in 4 1/2 years.

I thought about how my kids drive me crazy and are so needy (they are kids afterall) and they drive me crazy most days and I sometimes yell and scream, but I STILL love them, and they STILL love me!

and how I have been extremely emotional, up and down a lot over that last few years, but my husband STILL loves me (and I am pretty high maintenance).

and how I STILL doubt God, even when He shows me time and time again that He is right here with me, and He STILL cares about the little things in life! Yesterday it was deer in my back field... I asked Him to bring me them after 2 pretty bad days!

and how I try to do Five Minute Friday at the worst times, and I always get interrupted and I have NO idea if I typed this in more than five minutes or less than five minutes, but I will STILL link up to Five Minute Friday.

STOP

now go over  to (In)Courage this week and read some Five Minute Friday posts that truly are inspiring!

counting with family visits

A whirlwind week that I am still recovering from... hence the Multitude Monday has become Thankful Thursday! :)  but it is still the counting of the gifts!  My three sisters came LAST Monday-Wednesday (with one niece and my NEWBORN nephew)  It was really all about my adorable nephew, but I had some great sister time as well!! my kids LOVED him... couldn't get enough of him. And my oldest said he really wanted a baby brother! (um, sorry, kiddo!)

Then Friday, my husband's brother and his family came to visit. Their kids are all mixed in agewise with my kids, so we had 7 kids, ages 3-8 running around for 4 1/2 days! :) it was lots of fun! and in the midst of this, I counted (and took some pictures ...until my camera broke)!

907. hearing train whistles from the valley
908. Valley of Vision (pg. 85)
909. impromptu stop at the park
910. my sisters' visiting!!

911. holding my nephew for the first time

912. fresh fruit
913. breakfast for dinner
914. decadent chocolate cake

915. staying up late talking
916. reminiscing our childhood
917. sleeping baby

918. baby cries
919. baby smiles

920. The dollar spot at Target
921. big bubble wands

922. Rita's for lunch

923. dripping ice cream

924. rainbow sprinkles

925. photographs to freeze moments

926. paper plates
927. Aunt Jennie doing bath time
928. baby snuggles

929. shirts on sale
930. tacos for lunch
931. saying good bye (so that we can say hello again someday)
932. a cool basement
933. nerf darts stuck to ceilings

934. a window air conditioner
935. french toast
936. moments of quiet
937. the rod of correction
938. perfect timing of a friends text
939. my lawn swing
940. baby blue eyes

941. nachos/cheese

942. dishes washed
943. water bottles filled
944. individual snack bags
945. music for the soul
946. cousins arriving, chaos ensuing

947. crockpot dinners
948. Mother in law's leftover texas sheet cake arriving with brother in law/sister in law

949. kids in the sprinkler
950. air conciditioned move theater
951. watching Sienna watch the movie

952. an early dinner
953. well-behaved kids at the restaurant
954. card games with family

955. reviewing Ephesians at church
956. buying 2 more chickens (one of these days I will get eggs!)
957. driving through the country side

958. Starbucks Frappacinnos'
959. girl time with my sister in law

960. lots of kids playing at the park

961. sliding with my 3 YO

962. raindrops
963. capturing images in my head ofter my camera focus/zoom broke
964. 4YO nephew dragging my 3YO daughter to see the trains
965. cooling temperatures
966. snuggling under a blanket with hubby

967. homemade waffles
968. Wes cleaning up breakfast
969. good bye hugs (again, so we can say hello someday)
970. playing catch with my 6 YO
971. spilled coffee (all over my One Thousand Gifts book) :(

come back next week... hopefully on Monday... I am sure that I will be topping 1000!!!!

Full

START:

"The blood of the Lamb is like a great river of infinite grace 

      with never any diminishing of its fullness

      as thirsty ones without number drink of it."

I've been reading The Valley of Vision with the reading plan that Ann Voskamp shared a week or two ago;  and this was part of today's 12:00 reading (pg 173)

and immediately I thought "FULL" because I knew that was the prompt for Five Minute Friday.

which led my brain to, "There is a fountain Filled with Blood, drawn from Immanuel's vein. and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains"  So thankful that I am filled with the blood and emptied of the guilty stains!

and that brought me around to my childhood and the song Deep and Wide, which doesn't really explain what the fountain is, but I know

Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide, there's a fountain flowing deep and wide.
Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide, there's a fountain flowing deep and wide.

It flows for me, it flows for you
and all that we have to do,
is plunge beneath the crimson flow
that washes white as snow...

So thankful for that little song addition that I learned during college!!

I am thankful for the Crimson Flow that washes me and FILLS me.

STOP
not much, but there is my thoughts on FULL... linked up to Five Minute Friday!

Winner!!

it's a day late announcing this... but we did have a winner!!  I was very scientific... writing every name on a slip of paper (you can do that when there are so few entries), throwing them in a bucket and having my son pick a name!! :)

Jamie Young... who commented on my facebook  page because blogger wasn't working!!  I hope that you enjoy these thank you cards very much!!

Thanks to all who entered my handmade card giveaway!!  I would still love feedback on any of my cards!!

pretty flowers

My Project 365 has been sadly lacking lately... I've mentioned that before.  I am running out of ideas, and don't have much creativity left.  It gets to the end of the day and I realize I haven't touched my camera, and then I get depressed.

However, God gave me a flower to take a picture of... We moved in to our current home last fall and it has been fun discovering every season here, and finding flowers left from those before us!! :)

so I grabbed my camera and snapped away! This close up was my favorite, so I am entering it in Sweet Shot Tuesday.

and here's a view of the whole flower...

for lots of other great pictures, check out Sweet Shot Tuesday!





ps... my handmade card giveaway is open for two more days!

Slowly counting

counting a little slower this week...  This week is tough... I wanted to blame it on the full moon, (but that in itself is a gift from our Great Creator) It was really just the devil, trying to get me down...he almost succeeded!  I still managed to count blessings, but I felt some of it was superficial, forced!  My kids fought like cats and dogs, I yelled and hollered, got mad at them, got mad at my husband, confessed my sins/anger and then did it all over again!! So please bear with me as I count... and know that God gave me a lot this week internally that I don't know how to put into words!!

858. morning on the swing...
859. homemade Mac and cheese with Velveeta
860. Hazelnut coffee
861. laundry flapping in the preeze
862. naps
863. phonecalls with friends
864. gentle reminders to calm
865. conviction
866. reading Jesus Storybook Bible with the kids before bed
867. pancakes in the freezer ready to go for breakfast
868. letting my 3YO brush my hair
869. air conditioned library
870. Mama instincts
871. meeting a friend  at the park
872. energy of kids
873. pediatricians
874. reading the Valley of Vision
875. serving unto Christ
876. remember that it's Water... it's just water
877. Nothing serious damaged in a flooded garage (the result of a 4YO and a hose...)
878. pajama mornings
879. snuggles on couches
880. reading to my kids
881. chickens taking a dust bath

882. easy dinners
883. bedtime prayers
884. unexpected break
885. blanket/table tents
886. trainsets
887. little girls in princess dresses
888. being aware of my sin
889. praying as a FIRST resort
890. chickens running free

891. puffy white clouds

892. my 8YO son still needing to snuggle with his mommy
893. me, responding to the Spirit's prompting to go snuggle with my son when he was past the point of no return... 10 minutes of love is all it took.
894. meeting my mentor at the park
895. kids burning energy at the park

896. pushing my kids on the swings
897. simple lunches
898. shopping lists
890. moonrise

891. cleaning house with the kids
892. heart shaped train tracks

893. ... kids showing me they love me despite my mistakes!
894. marinating meat
895. shooting a clay pigeon (me, with a gun!)

896. (my hubby getting a couple, too)

897. chicken and pork on the grill
898. picnic food
899. fun with friends
900. encouragement from an older mom
901.  dump cake  (I make mine without nuts)
902. baptisms at church
903. leftovers
904. photographing a pretty flower

905. having cereal and ice cream for dinner
906. anticipation...

... just keep counting, just keep counting! Join Ann Voskamp as we count together each Monday!!

Loss

Oh, the Five Minute Friday prompt of LOSS... I've been feeling a little negative this week, so I didn't really want to touch this topic... we will see what happens.

Five Minutes of just writing (which I really don't consider myself a writer, so it's not easy)
no editing, no second guessing, no worries of perfection (yeah, right)
then go love on the other writers...





LOSS:Start

I've started and stopped this post a million times in my head this morning... even started it and stopped on the computer... and I've got nothing (at least nothing positive)  but I guess that's the thing about loss, it's mostly negative!

I do not consider myself a writer and there in lies the problem... I have lost my desire to blog (a little bit, the draw is there, I just don't want the work involved) Because I am a perfectionist I spend way too much time on each blog I post, especially when pictures are involved because I like to think I am a photographer and I want perfect pictures, too, but that ain't gonna happen any time soon.

So I am not a writer, and I am not a photographer, so I have LOST any thing worthwhile to blog about...

However, I do consider myself an artisan (or at least I am attempting... again with the perfectionism) so if you are interested in handmade cards, go check out yesterday's blog post for a chance to win my "artwork."  I like to think I will post more of my cards on my blog, but that means taking pictures of my cards and making them look "just right" and then uploading... all of which takes time. And while I know that every day has 24 hours... I seem to keep losing hours, too!!

STOP

well, there you have it, my pathetic attempt to be a writer... and yes, I have lost all optimism this week, too.

thanks to you...

I had so much fun making these cards, I am having a hard time parting with them, but I did promise a giveaway, so a giveaway I have for you. 

Originally, this was going to be a giveaway to celebrate one year blogging on Blogger... 7 years blogging total (Yes, I really did start blogging on Xanga... in June of 2004), but June was a busy month and it just didn't happen.  I started blogging to share what was on my heart as a new mom (back when I only had ONE) and to share what God was teaching me, and to show off pictures of my kids to all our family far away. When I made the switch to Blogger it was for the intention of promoting my hand made cards and Artfire shop... but that didn't happen so much either!  I have been too busy counting my #1000gifts, and talking about other miscellaneous stuff, and occasionally I did share my cards and crafts, but those posts didn't seem to generate a lot of comments! :(
   
To be honest with you, I think I am afraid of actually succeeding.  I have had plenty of people tell me how much they love my cards, and I have been giving my cards as gifts for years... mostly to my family or for shower gifts (homemade thank yous are so nice).  Then I tried selling them, but my only clients are people I know in real life (and I am so grateful to them for supporting me in this venture). However, I don't think I have actually sold any cards to someone I have never met (and for some reason that defines success to me).  If people really started buying my cards, I would be committed to spending time in my craft room instead of wasting time on twitter.  I would actually have to go to the post office occasionally to mail packages. I might have to improve my photography, so the cards would look as great on the computer as they do in real life. I would have to be ready to have someone criticize my work or, heaven forbid, want their money back... I am not very confident... except for these cards, I love these cards, and I think you will like them too!!

So here they are and the work that went into them...

A beautiful set of 10 thank you notecards (ARV $25.00), made with Creative Memories paper and paper accents. Embellished with brown lace ribbon.  Sentiment is hand stamped in colors to match!
Here are some close ups of the individual cards.

Of course, the Creative Memories Paper Buttons I used are in the While Supplies Last section, but they have others in different color schemes, I so might have to buy some more to make another set.

Here is a shot of the paper accented with the brown lace.

I also made the envelopes matching with paper and accented the inside of the cards with paper and brown lace ribbon.

Here is another shot of the whole lot of them, with the matching envelopes... 4 burgundy, 3 navy, 3 olive.

So this giveaway is a thank you for reading... even when I don't know what direction I want this blog to take.

But I can't make it too easy for you to win these cards, so for a chance to get these delightful thank you notes mailed to you (and you can only have them if you promise to use them! :), please answer one of the following questions in your comment!

1. Do you have any compliments, ideas, criticisms, suggestions for me, as I attempt to make a go of an online business?

2. What would you personally be willing to pay for handmade notecards (individual or a set)? Have you ever bought a handmade card before? Do you send cards?

Please be sure to leave a way for me to find you, contact you in the event that I draw your name as winner!! Giveaway ends Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 10:00pm EST.

In an effort to promote exposure for my shop, you can also connect with me on facebook, twitter, Artfire, or follow my blog (but it won't get you any bonus entries).  You can however get one bonus entry by sharing this post/giveaway on facebook or twitter... just leave me the link to your post so I can confirm it!!

Thanks again...