Happy Valentines Day!

 

 

 This is the 1st Valentines Day that my hubby won't be together in 34 years.  He left me a Valentine under my pillow.  I had a feeling that he did that, so I looked after he left this afternoon.  We are missing each other like crazy & making some decisions to move me over with him, leaving the house here on the market.  There are some possibilities that we are considering & will pray about it & go from there.  Of course, if the house would sell in the next few weeks, then the problem would be solved!  What a blessing that would be!  In church today, I sang in worship team & one of the songs we sang speaks to our life right now...

Everlasting God 

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord (repeat)

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

God will bring us through this, as He has so many other times in our lives.  

Well onto Valentines Day...
I wish I had some things to share that were a little more exciting.  All my pretty pink, red, & heart things are somewhere in a big storage unit, so I searched my photos & found these fabric hearts I made last year, with sentiments & lots of added ribbons, lace, & pretties.  Each heart is different & I had made over 30 of them.  Each bag had two small bags in the back of the hearts with homemade potpourri in one, and dried roses, special pinecones, & glitter in the other.  I wish I had them here to take some more pictures of each individually but I don't.  What I have left is...hmmmm...in STORAGE!!  So I will just share them as they are...

Happy Valentines Day!

Blessings,

Cindy

 

Sunrise & Sunsets out my backdoor...

I have been thinking a lot about moving out of our home and what I'm going to miss.  One of the greatest things about where our house is located is the open field behind our back yard.  We get the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the immense sky just beyond our property.  I have loved photographing them and the storms that go through.  I thought I would share with you the beauty that I have enjoyed here for over 9 years.

Spring Swirls

Smoky Skies

Breaking Dawn

Peaceful Summer Morning

After the Storm

Colorful Clouds

End of Day

Misty Dawn

Storm on the horizon

Stormy Solitude

It's a New Day Dawning

Snowy Beauty

 

 

 

 As I contemplate moving away from such beauty, I know that there is beauty where I am moving to.  There is beauty in any place you go...you just have to look for it.  When I moved here, I only saw tumbleweeds, junipers, and desert land.  But after living here, I see the magnificent mountains, the colorful skies, and all that God has placed in this area known as Central Oregon.  I know that I will have more opportunities to take pictures of the beauty in my new surroundings...whenever I get there.  God has blessed me and every living creature on this earth with beauty; all I need to do is open my eyes and my heart.  
Blessings,
Cindy

Had a nice week away, now I wait...

I am home again after a week in the valley.  We got the moving truck on the 21st and with lots of help from family and friends, got it loaded.  It was actually pretty quick since we had everything in the garage.  Then my hubby and our son unloaded the attic storage.  That was a mess that resulted in some more stuff for donation & repacking a few things.  It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate and really don't need or use.  We left at 7:00am on Saturday the 22nd to drive over to Lebanon & put everything in storage.  The weather was wonderful and with more help from family & friends we got it unloaded in record time.  Sophie (our dog) and I stayed with our son & daughter in love and I was able to spend time with my hubby during the day.  We looked at some homes & of course, found one we loved.  But it will have to wait for us, because we aren't going to have two mortgage payments.  If it is meant to be ours, then it will work out...if not, then we will find another home.  We had fun with our son & daughter in love on Tuesday going to Joe's Crab Shack in Vancouver, WA (YUM!) and then went to IKEA in Portland to check it out.  I'd never been there & it was huge!  We didn't buy anything, but I may go back for some drawer organizers after I move.  It was nice not to have to think about anything & just enjoy being together.

We had someone look at our house in Redmond on Thursday and then they wanted to see it again with another family member on Saturday.  That got my hopes up, but we haven't heard anything else since.  I just have to be patient.

http://rosebark.blogspot.com/

I enjoyed the beautiful green fields in the valley.  I wish I had taken some pictures to share, but I wasn't focused enough for that!  LOL!  So I found this one that really resembles what I saw.  The weather was warm for winter, 55 during the day, 34 at night.  It didn't get above freezing here yesterday & expected to be about 8 degrees tonight with a wind chill close to 0 degrees.  But at least it isn't snowing!

I did get a trip in to a couple of thrift stores but only found a few wooded spools of thread, which I snatched up.  They will be great for my bottle brush trees this year that I make.  I kinda wish I had kept out my boxes of trees to bleach & tint while I am bored, but they are somewhere in storage.

We got back to Redmond Friday and we are back in the routine of me being here & my hubby being over there...I hate it!  Sometimes I feel like this has been going on forever, but the reality is that it has been 2 months...two long months in winter. 

So I wait for the house to sell.  I keep praying that God is preparing a family to move into this home.  I want it to be sooner rather than later, but it is in His Timing...His Perfect Timing.  Life is full of waiting for things and we are building our patience! 

Isaiah 40:31 
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (NKJV)

Blessings,

Cindy  

New Look to my blog & moving continues...Spring??

It was time to change up my blog because my page had lost some of it's elements & looked really drab. I will be adding more as time permits, but it was a good start.  I worked on it until close to midnight the other night.  How time flies when you get to working on something!

 

  Just like today...I am STILL working in my craft room packing.  I really want to be finished & it is getting there slowly.  We will be getting a moving truck on Friday to load up with help from friends, then on Saturday morning head over the mountain pass, with my husband driving the U-Haul and me driving his Ranger truck with our daughter,  to unload all the packed boxes & unused furniture into the storage unit.  I will be staying for the week with our son and daughter~in~love, when I am not with my hubby.  It will be good to get away.  I have felt so hemmed in!  It looks like the weather is going to permit, but I will keep praying that it does.

 

 Due to being gone, I probably won't get to blog or check out other blogs.  My laptop died early fall last year & I really miss having it.  But can't even think about getting another one at this point.  It was used & I really used it some more, so I guess it served it's purpose!!  

 

 Well, I see that many other blogs are talking SPRING!  I don't think that is coming anytime soon, but the thought is nice, so I decided to put a few pics of my flowers from last year for some pretty color on this posting...enjoy! 

With spring in my heart,
Blessings,
Cindy

The "Glitter and Roses" giveaway...I WON!

Here is the cookbook I won, plus a sweet note from Ginger and two vintage music pieces.

My favorite part too!!

I want to thank Ginger of "Glitter and Roses" blog so much for having her giveaway and choosing me as the winner of this wonderful, colorful cookbook.  I received it in the mail today and was so excited!  Ginger has a beautiful blog full of inspiring photos and posts, plus an Etsy shop of her creations that are lovely. Check out Ginger's blog at: http://glitterandroses.blogspot.com. 

The cookbook is a treasury of recipes that are beautifully photographed with step by step directions.  The recipes include Macaroni and Cheese, Guacamole, Lasagna, Fried Chicken, Meatloaf, Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler, Chocolate Sheet Cake, and Sangria.  Everything looks scrumptious and I can't wait to try some when I get moved & settled.  All my cooking stuff is packed!!  If you want a delicious recipe book with down home country recipes, check this one out.  You won't be disappointed!!  Ree includes stories about her family farm and a mini biography of her life.  It also has pictures of country people, places, and things (animals).  It is a treat for the eyes, heart, and stomach!!  

Blessings,
Cindy 

The house is officially on the market...Whew!!

We decided on a Realtor yesterday and the pictures of our house are already on the internet.  Tomorrow the sign & lock box will be put up.  What a lot of work it has been to get to this point.  I must admit that when the realty office sent the paperwork to sign in an email, my stomach turned in circles.  It is a weird feeling to know that this house will belong to someone else...sooner rather than later, Please God!  We bought this house just before it was built and I picked the vinyl flooring, carpet, and countertops; all neutral which is a good thing.  My husband loves the uncluttered look.  I kinda agree, but I love my things.  Maybe there will be a happy medium & I can have some rooms clutter free & others with our collectibles!  (BTW~my hubby has a coke collection!)  I had a family room in our previous house, plus the living room so there was more opportunity for that.  Here are a few pics of our home, which is 1360 square feet, all ready for potential buyers...

The livingroom...the front door is behind the reclining chair.

Looking back into living room.  The TV is on an antique sewing cabinet.  I sold the entertainment center.

The dining room...I sold our dining set, so this is temporary.

Obviously the kitchen next to the dining room...Open floor plan.

Master bedroom

Master bedroom looking into master bath...walk in closet is on the left and a full wardrobe closet is just inside door facing bed.

Master bath

Daughter's room

Office.. the cords will be out of sight!  I have a glider rocker & ottoman on the right of the window.

Main bath

 
I only have to pack my craft room now, which isn't going to be too fun.  I had let it go for the past six months, putting all my purchased goodies from garage & estate sales and antique & thrift stores in there, so it is a mess.  I do have a lot already in plastic bins and drawer containers.  It is really cold in my craft room because it is in the garage and the weather has been freezing here.  It got to 50 degrees today, but the garage doesn't warm up very quickly.  So tomorrow I will turn on my heater & wait a few hours before I venture out there.  My daughter will be working out there with me since she has glass bead making things to pack also; her torch, glass rods, and all her tools.  That will make it more fun, for sure!  ;-)  My dream is to have a room in the house that I can decorate & have all my treasures on display.  I want a room that I can enter in the "Where Bloggers Create" magazine!!  We'll see if that happens...gotta sell this house first & see what we have to work with.

I have exciting news to share...I won a giveaway from "Glitter and Roses" blog.  I will receive a wonderful cookbook by Ree Drummond, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks".  Check out Ginger's blog at:  http://glitterandroses.blogspot.com.  She has a wonderful blog full of beautiful things she makes, decorates, and shares.  I will post when I receive my book & share it with you. 

I am exhausted mentally and physically.  I haven't shared about my health, but I have been getting by with the help of a naturopath/chiropractor.  I hurt my back in July & the result is 5 bulging disks, 2 pinching the sciatic nerve causing much pain & difficulty walking, standing, or sitting for long periods.  I was contemplating surgery which I didn't want, then a co-worker of my husbands recommended this doctor.  I have seen him now for 2 months with much relief.  However, as I work hard on packing, my back rebels; thus I continue to have treatments.  Once I am done with packing, I pray that my back can heal totally and that surgery won't be necessary.  I only know that I couldn't have done anything if I'd had surgery; I would have been laid up for 6-8 weeks conservatively.  I am so thankful that I followed through seeing the doctor & didn't back out like I wanted to.  My husband is instrumental in that decision!!  LOL!  But thankfully the house packing and prepping is coming to a close and I can rest more.  But for now we wait.  We wait for clear roads to pack a moving truck & take it over Santiam Pass with all the belongings that are ready to go to storage,...we wait for a family to buy the house...we wait for the final move with the rest of our stuff in another moving truck...we wait for the answer on what we can buy in another home, if at all...we wait to be together again; my hubby & I.  But life is full of anticipation & waiting for something for everyone, isn't it? 

Blessings,

Cindy 

Goodbye Mocha Kitty...

Here's Mocha sleeping at my feet under the computer desk in better days...

The time has come to say goodbye to our kitty, Mocha.  She had a stroke about a month ago and the poor thing had lost so much weight and couldn't groom herself.  She stumbled around when she walked & was blind in one eye, due to the stroke affecting her left side.  She was 17 and it just took too much out of her.  It was such a painful decision, but my hubby & I decided it was time to put her to sleep.  Our two kids that live here came to say goodbye to her yesterday & this morning.  With all our children's blessings, we took her to the Humane Society today.  I held her in my lap as we drove the short distance and cried.  She was such a sweet cat and had a long, good life, our daughter pointed out.  She also said that the move would likely upset her so much that she would die in transit, which is probably true.  It doesn't make it any easier, tho.  She will forever remain in our hearts...Goodbye Mocha...

Heartfelt Blessings,
Cindy