Dec. 31, 2017
I can't believe I have not posted in over a month. It has been a busy few months. The grands keep us pretty busy. I kept up with my Novemember Graditude journaling but did not finish December. But I am starting something new for 2018. I will be reading the Bible in a year chronologically. I will be doing it with many other women with the Illustrated Faith journaling group. My priority will be reading the Word and journaling as it permits. I also want to get back to blogging. Thanks to pictures and Facebook, I can update here if I want.
Every year I do the one word for the year and I was not going to do it. I really did not feel motivated. But my friend Judy sent me a book and it was a book on creative mindfulness. I do want to keep it Christ focused and will work on my page for it here at my blog. The other thing that was coming to me was really making an effort to let go of things. I went to Dayspring and they have this test to find a word and I got Simplify! So those two words are going to be my guiding base. Here is one of the verses based on it. Colossians 3:2English Standard Version (ESV)Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Another word that comes to my mind is purpose. Loving my family is my main purpose. Sharing God's love with them is a part of that. Looking forward to 2018!
November 25, 2017
I did Friday night shopping and went to bed late. It was nice for the whole family to have brunch the next day. We all talked about our Friday adventures waiting in line and the mad dash to sales items. I was able to wait in the Target line while my daughter and daughter in law got sale items at Best Buy. Then they joined me at the Target line. We got kid pajamsas for $5.00 and I got a shirt for each grandchild. I also got one for the boy were are adopting at church. Our church gets the names of 200 kids and we signed up for a boy my grandsons age. My daughter picked a 2 year old girl.
I started my Christmas decorating but I am not done. I am a little off course because I have been crafting for the two holiday boutiques I am in. I also am making the costumes for the two grands that are in the children's Christmas play. I may be retired, but I am busy as ever! Have a great week!
November 19, 2017
November 10, 2017
November 1, 2017
My daughter in law is having a holiday boutique Nov. 4th and I have been busy crafting. We have rain coming in which will be nice except some of the vendors will be outside. So hopefully the rain will wait until Sunday. I have also been getting ready for a Facebook group I am in. The group is called Gratitude Documented. For 30 days I will be journaling either in a notebook and or my Bible. Finally, the grands had a blast at our church's Trunk N Treat. The theme was Hollywood. I printed out black and white vintage Disney pictures and taped them to old movie reels. We also hung up picture from various movies. There must have been about 60 cars passing out candy.The Disney Halloween is now packed and next week I will start packing some of my fall things to get ready for Christmas. I hope to have pictures of my crafts at my next post.
October 24, 2017
Last Thursday would have been my mom's 82nd birthday. She died in May of 2010 from Alzheimers. So my hubby and I went to the cemetary to leave her flowers. I miss my parents. My grandparents are close by as well
as my inlaws. Afterwards we headed to Disneyland. We decided to stay in California Adventure and enjoy the newest Halloween decorations. There is a section there called Paradise Pier. Is is a replica of a beach boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk there is a gazebo and eating area. Disney is really good and embracing different cultures that are common to California. The new Disney movie Coco comes out around Thanksgving and explains the Dia De La Muertos-Day of the Dead. Click on the Day of the Dead to the left to read more.
For a long time I did not like skeletons. And I did not understand this tradition because my family did not celebrate it. But now that I am older, I want to know more about it. Though this celebration of the dead happens around our Halloween, it is not the same thing. This is a time of family remebrance and the main song in the movie is called Remember Me. I remember my dad telling me that when he was dying.
October 17, 2017
1. Favorite smell. Ylang Ylang, essential oil
2. Last time you cried. Don't remember.
3. Favorite pizza? Canadian bacon and pineapple
4. Favorite flower? Rose
5. Did you go to college? U of Irvine, California
6. Untie your shoes when taking them off? yes
7. Roller coasters? Yes, Space Moutain and Californis Screamin, Disneyland
8. Favorite ice cream? Rocky Road
9. Favorite pass time? Word With Friends
10. What drives you crazy? snoring
11. What are you listening to? Dr Oz
12. Favorite Color? At the moment, Fall colors.
13. Tattoos? 1, plumeria flower from visit to Maui.
14. Piercing? Ears, 4 on each side.
15. Color of hair? Dark brown with lots of grey.
16. Color of eyes? Brown
17. Favorite food to eat? Home made chicken soup.
18. Favorite drink? Sweet Tea
20. Night owl or morning person? Night
21. Favorite day of the week? Tuesday
22. Do you have a nickname? Susie, Mema Susie
23. Pictures on your wall? Yes
October 15, 2017
It was 98 today and wil be hotter tomorrow. It will cool down a few days and then go back up next week. That is So California weather. Last weekend I went to Big Bear Lake with my friends. Oliva and her husband own a condo near the lake. I had such a relaxing time. We took a 2 mile walk each day. We cooked dinners and watched movies and played games. I also had time to work in my Gratitude journal. The grands were all here and enjoyed their time in the spa and having ice pops. Here are some pictures from last weekend.
September 29, 2017
September 18, 2017
This summer we took out the planter and some grass and created a patio withpavers. This is how I decorated so far.
September 13, 2017
Our weather is cooling off and that means temps in the 80's We might even have some rain. So I started decorating. I will take more pics when I am done but here is the setup for the fireplace though it needs some tweaking. As you can see I love scarecrows. There is a link on the left that says fall cottage and you can see how much I love fall!
September 10, 2017
The days are just flying by! Though the kids started school a month ago, it has still be summer around here. It has been a really hot few weeks. We went to our timeshare for Labor Day weekend by the beach. The kids had so much fun in the pool. We celebrated Audrina's 7th birthday while there. We also went to the beach the last day but the sun did not come out so the we went back to the hotel. The kids got to stuff an animal and they just loved that.
We had dinner with our middle son on Friday for his 34th birthday.
August 23, 2017
August 9, 2017
July 26, 2017
July 17, 2017
Friday my hubby and I went to Newport Beach with my siblings and we had the best time! We went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory first. Then we went to here a Latin Jazz grammy winner named Pancho Sanchez. Later we went to a place in Old Town Orange called The Pie Whole. They had the best pies! So much for cutting back sugar. Sunday I went to Disneyland with my son Andrew and his kids. I was participating in a scavenger hunt for a group I belong to. I took lots of pictures and the link is on the left. I need to get to bed now. Have a great week!
July 10, 2017
July 5, 2017
June 30, 2017
June 23, 2017
June 21, 2017
June 19, 2017
Things are getting done around the house and it is looking good. The landscaper is about hald done. Srinklers are almost done. and area getting pavers is grated. The last thing will be the grass. We are having a heatwave so not a good time to put it in. I finished most of the painting and things are much brighter now. We have to hand up some pictures and a large mirror and then I can decorate for the 4th. I made a wreath from bandanas I got at the Dollar Tree. I found the idea on Pinterest. I hope to journal tomorrow and then Wednesday is a beach day! I hope to take my current study with me while I at the beach. The grand enjoyed Vacation Bible School last week and they really enjoyed it. My two oldest were a part of the praise team. God is good!
June 17, 2017
I have been busy painting and have not had time to Bible journal much. But I do plan to today.
I love the colors in the picture above and plan to do that in my Bible. Someday I want to do it on a larget size medium.
My mother in law was an artist and we got to talk about the joy of creating they way God made us before she died.
God is the master creator! There is a page I did called God's Masterpiece and it can be found at my Site Map.
I have added several pictures to my Bible Journaling site too. Hope you can visit.
June 14, 2017
Can't believe I have not blogged in 2 weeks! Life has been so busy ever since our vacation. We ordered our spa, and started our outside remodel project. It will look so nice when it is all done. Minnie got spayed on the 9th and we have had to keep her calm. She gave herself 2 days to be sore and not she wants to jump and be herself so we have to block the couches. I started my inside painting project and my daughter helped over the weekend. This house has less windows so I need to changed the color to an off white called Spiced coffee. When we bought this house, I knew I would changed the color! The grands are off school now and spending time with us. This week they also have Vacation Bible School and the older two are on the praise team. My younger grand daughter is going for the first time so it makes me really happy they can experience it just like I did as a kid. Oh and I got a new bedspread to reflect spring/summer. Ever since I started Bible journaling, I really enjoy using more colors.
May 30, 2017
Hubby and I were able to go see the Michael Jackson One, Cirque du Soleil show at the Mandalay Bay Resort. As a teen, I enjoyed the Jackson 5 and Michael's music over all. So sad that he died so young. I hope he found the Lord and is singing with the saints. God gives us all talents to use, like Michael's music, or the perfomers performances. We are all gifted in some way and God wants us to share our gifts. Since I started Bible journaling, my eyes are really opened to the many forms of creativity. Before the we went out to dinner at Ri Ra, Irish Pub. Hubby and I had soda bread and Shepherd Pie and it was so good!
"I'm starting with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways;
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change!"
Michael Jackson
"In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope.
In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort.
In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream.
And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe."
Michael Jackson
May 29, 2017
May 24, 2017
We started out the week with hot weather but it will be cooling down a lot.
We leave on our vacation to Las Vegas Friday and my daughter will be house sitting. Meanwhile, we are making plans to
improve our front and backyard. We have almost killed off our grass and we will add a porch to the front of the house,
along with a paver walkway to the house from the sidewalk. We will add pavers to one section of the grassy part so that we can
put a patio set there. We are getting an 8x11 foot spa too! We looked into a pool, but it is way out of our price range.
This spa is bigger than the one we had at our last house and I know the grands will enjoy it too. This will start in about
2 weeks and we hope to have our spa done by the 4th of the July! I am packing my Bible journaling bag and making a craft
bag for my grand daughter Audrina. I am taking my laptop too and hope to post from LV.
May 19, 2017
I finally got to Sprouts today to stock up on fruit and personal care items. My cousin came over for lunch and we had a great visit. She also gave me a jar of her home made coconut cocoa face cream with essential oils that I love. Later my daughter dropped off her kids and we did a little shopping. This week hubby and I are going to look at pavers for our yard. We are also going to look at spas. We had one at our last house that we used a lot. As much as I would love to have a pool, we don't want to get in debt because they cost so much. After all, we downsized to get out of a higher mortgage and higher taxes. My friend who just bought down the street says we can take the grands swimming at her house. I hope to get a lot of bibe journaling down this weekend. Here is a picture of my cards an pictures I got for Mother's day.
May 17, 2017
Last Friday, all the grands spent the night here. Renee had to take a test and joined us later. After a movie and snack, we had all kids in bed by 9:00pm. Elijah came to bed with me around 11pm since it was his first over night with us. The next day started early as we prepared for Disneyland. All the kids fit perfect in the new car.
May 12, 2017
How the time flies! Mom mom will have been in heaven 7 years at the end of the month. I sure miss her!It has been another busy week. My son Daniel and his wife had us over to dinner on Monday before they left to Virigina. Had lunch with my other so Andrew and my brother Scott. I get to attend the mother's day celebration with my grands. Tonight all the grands will spend the night and we go to Disneyland Saturday. Sunday will be nice but rain will be coming in on Monday. I know I will be tired next week and hope to have more time to Bible journal. Happy Mother's Day.
May 8, 2017
I had a great week with my sisters and plan to do it again in June. Hubby picked me up on Friday and I finally got to open my happy mail package from Judy. She sent me so many goodies. We met on Facebook at our Bible Journaling Group. After I opened up my package we picked up 2 of the grands and headed to Disneyland. The weather was really nice but the park was pretty busy. They had some new items to eat at Califronia Adventure and we tried the waffle battered chicken. It came with hot bacon maple sryup and it was so good! On Saturday we looked at swim spas and we are also thinking of getting a pool. We watched the grands Saturday evening and we watched Moana and enjoyed the popcorn I got at Disneyland. Sunday Hubby and I atteded the Volunteer Thank You Dinner at our church. It was really nice! We had rain this weekend but sunny weather is the forcast for this week. Today I will work in my rose garden and hubby and I will talk about re doing our front yard.
May 5, 2017
May 4, 2017
I have had such a nice time with my sisters! Ann and I had lunch by her pool today.
She made a great taco salad. Last night I went shopping with Terry and we had dinner afterwards. Now that
we have 2 cars, I plan to come visit more often. I will be 62 my next birthday, Terry is 60 and Ann is 58.
Our younger brothr is 56. Dad woulkdl tease us about being seniors. My parents both died in this house, Terry's
house and I have peace knowing I will see them again. I am blessed that I am close to my sibling and family.
I have enjoyed my Bible journaling. Tomorrow we are off to Disneyland!
April 30, 2017
I am staying at my sister Terry's house for a few days and
I am enjoying myself. In 2007 my parents moved into this house so my parents moved closer to my sisters to help out
with my mom who had Alzheimers. I came as often as I could to help. Mom passed away May 2010. I came often to stay with my
dad. We had so many great talks and we were close. Plans were for Terry to move in with dad in 2013. But dad got sick at the end of
2012 and Terry moved in sooner. To make a long story short, dad passed in Feb. 2013 and he deeded the house to Terry while he was sick.
We siblings knew our dads wishes and were okay. Dad was generous with all of us. So when I come here, I feel close to my parents.
Terry is single so she welcomes my visits. I will also get together with my sister Ann starting on Mondays as she is busy with her
family on the weekends. The kids and grands are keeping hubby busy! So here are a few pics of me.
April 24, 2017
As I mentioned in my last post, I have to prepare to close my website. I have lots of pages so it will take lots of time to do it.
I started removing pages today. But I will try to blog until my time expires. Meanwhile, I am enjoying my Bible journaling and I made a new friend on Facebook Bible Journal Group. It was nice
getting to know her. We are also busy this week buying a new car! We plan to take it to Las Vegas next month and we don't have to rent anymore!
April 22, 2017
As I spend more time with my family and in my Bible, I realize that I have to make some changes.
Like most people. I do not like change. I have had my blog for over 17 years but I know I have to let it go. I don't
have many visitors though I have tried meeting new people by visiting and commenting but not many respond.
Maybe because I do not have blogger. Well I do have a blogger account, but this has been my home for so long. I am going to start
deleting pages from my Cpanel, where everything is held. I want to go back to scrap booking and I plan to print out
many of the pages I have done here at the blog. I have a lot of pages so it will take time.
I also need to exercise. I have lost a lot of muscle weight and yet my middle gets bigger! I have to change
my eating habits too and finally I need to get to bed earlier. Have a nice weekend!
April 16, 2017
April 11, 2017
April 5, 2017
I have been busy making things for my grandson's 3rd birthday party which is on the 8th. We are having beautiful weather but rain is forecast for Friday evening through Saturday late morning. We are praying it is light and ends before the party begins. He is having a car theme. I have made the banners, and pit pass badges the kids will get. I also made bean bags they will toss into a tire. They will also toss a hula hoop on to on orange cone. I will be working on a photo frame that kids can hold for a picture. Hubby worked with my son to put together the front of a truck.
As grandparents, we try to be as involved in our grandskid's life as we can. We were suppose to go see our grand daughter cheer but hubby wanted to get the truck project out of the way and I was just super tired after our few days at Disneyland. So we missed out on her cheer. I feel bad, but we did go to the movies the next day to see Beauty and the Beast. Luckily my daughter recorded her performance and Jazzy's dad was in town to watch her perform and go to the movies with us. We had another busy day today and I have my woman's Life group Bible study tomorrow. Friday hubby and I are going to some antique stores and lunch. We have 3 parties this weekend! So more happy, busy days ahead!
April 3, 2017
March 29, 2017
We are having a family day at Disneyland today! My Minnie Tea page pictures are linked on the left column. Will have pictures up of Disneyland this weekend.
March 24, 2017
After a few days of rain, we have a beautiful sunny day. A touch of rain is coming in tomorrow but will be nice for going to Disneyland next week with all the grands. Tomorrow is the Crystal Roses Tea and my cousin Joanie and I are so excited to do this. We have a Minnie Mouse theme. I will be talking lots of pictures to share. I have been involved in several teas and they are linked at my Site Map that is on the sidebar. My grand daughters went to a birthday Tea party and the boys stayed with us. I am blessed!
March 20, 2017
March 18, 2017
1. Friday was St. Patrick's Day, March 17th!
Did you celebrate with green beer or a green milkshake? No, Don't like beer.
But I did read about the story behind St. Patrick.
3. What color do you look best in? Bright colors like yellow, green, red.
4. This week's featured artist, Gilbert O'Sullivan, was born in Waterford, Ireland. Waterford is famous for Waterford Crystal. Do you have glassware that you save for special occasions? I do own a couple Waterford pieces that I bought for my mom who loved Waterford. I got them back after she died. I do have crystal and used it at Christmas.
5. This week's featured song includes the line, "To think that only yesterday I was cheerful, bright and gay." How were you feeling yesterday? I feel pretty good, but the song did make me a bit sad.
6. It begins with reference to a wedding that didn't quite come off because the bride left the groom at the altar. When were you most recently at church? Was it for a holiday service, a regularly scheduled service, a special event (a wedding or baptism)? Last Sunday, I go weekly, see previous entry.
7. In 1971, when this song was popular, Malibu Barbie was a big seller for Mattel. This doll had a perpetual tan. For a human to achieve this, a tanning bed or self tanner is usually required. Have you used either method to give yourself a tan?
No tanning bed. I try to stay out of the sun.
8. In March, 1971, James Taylor appeared on the cover of TIME magazine. What's your favorite James Taylor song? You've Got A Friend. I love his music and Carole King too!
9. Random Question: What word or phrase do you hear yourself saying too often? Life happens.
March 16, 2017
Today's Saying! Jury duty :(

I don't mind going, just hate the drive/parking. I am watching the grands the last week of the month so I hope I am done before that. Here are a couple of pictures with the grands. New Bible Journal pictures added. Link on left.
March 9, 2017
Everything is green now and the weeds are taking over. Mosquitos are out in a big way too. I have been searching the Pinterest for bug spray using essential oils. I have always been using oils on my dogbite I got from Minnie while we were playing. This was a deeper bite and the skin started to split so I had to go to urgent care. I am going to have a small scar for sure.
I have been getting things ready for my table I will be doing for the Crystal Roses fundraiser tea. My cousin Joanie and I are doing a Minnie theme. I am also helping my daughter in law get ideas for Elijah's 3rd birthday. It will be a Disney Cars theme. We are going to Disneyland tomorrow to pick up a few things for decorations.
March 1, 2017
As a child, I grew up in the Methodist church. Some of my neighborhood friends would have ashes on their forehead and they went to the Catholic school. I did not know what it meant, but respected them for it. This year I will be Bible journaling through the Lent season and learning about it. The first scripture reading comes from Genesis 3:19. I will be adding my finished page to my journaling section when done. I have added a few new ones recently. The link is on the sidebar.
The days go by so quickly for me. We have had cold weather and rain but a warm spell is staring tomorrow. Minnie our puppy is keeping us busy and we are enjoying her more. She sits on command now waiting for her treat. Potty training is going better and she goes to bed between 8-9pm and sleeps until 6am. I will leave you with some pictures of the grands.
February 14, 2017
February 6, 2017
The Bible says laughter is good medicine. Our Minnie and grandkids give us a lot to laugh about! Minnie has lots of doggie toys but prefers to play with he grands toys or just about anything!
January 31, 2017
Back in November I had some breast/lymph pain and after a couple of weeks I decided to go off my hormone replacement pills. Was not too bad the first couple of weeks, especially with cold weather. But the hot flashes have come back full force. I hate when they wake me up at night. Both my regular doctor and female dr. think I should stay off them and try other things. So I am taking Black Kohash and will experiment with my Young Living Essential Oils. I found a recipe for a spray I am going to make plus I am diffusing Bergamont at night with my Lavender. What made me laugh about this picture is that I did go through a stage when I liked to play with matches!
This picture of the grands was taken this past Sunday at church. It has been awhile that we had nice weather.
During the winter cold days, I like to make soups. Hubby wanted fidello(ll sounds like y)It is an easy thing to make with any package pasta you have on hand and canned tomato sauce. The grands all love it served with grated cheese. Just sautee onion in oil along with the pasta. Add seasoning, water and canned sauce. Add enough water and cook on medium until pasta is ready. My mom use to add cooked hamburger meat to it long before you could buy it in stores in a package. We calli t fidello when we use vermicilli. But Sopa when we use other pasta like macaroni.
Minnie is doing fine and keeping us busy. I added new pictures to her page that is linked on the side bar. I also added pictures to my Bible journaling blog also linked on the sidebar. I love when I can journal but have less time now that we have Minnie. As I look around my family room, I see puppy toys everywhere! Though at times we call her Minnie Monster, she makes us laugh and we get exercise too!
January 20, 2017
This picture was taken on 15th, on my son Andrew's 36 birthday and the day after we got home from our week vacation in Las Vegas. On Wednesday we had lunch with our son Daniel and later picked up Minnie. She hates being along in her crate at night and really cries, but she has to be crate trained so our daughter in law can sit when we go on vacation. She is doing well doing her business when we take her outside even though there is rain. She wants to be by my side when I sit down or get up.
Minnie woke me up with her crying as soon as she heard my hubby get up. So I need to get to be early if I can. We watched the presidential inauguration and pray that our land will heal. I am really worried about those who have Obama care for insurance. Something else has to be set in place first so people are not left without it.
I have added a link on the sidebar that will show pictures of Minnie.
January 11, 2017!
January 10, 2017!
We came up to Las Vegas on Sunday for a week! We are staying at my son's time share at the Marriott Grand Cheateau. Hubby and I have a suite adjoining my son's. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get here with stops. I spent a lot of time looking at the desert and the mountains. While I was here I painted a picture in my Bible which I will add to my Bible journaling link. My one word for the year is posted on my sidebar. I also did Bible journaling for Advent and that is also posted on the side bar. We watched the movie Sully and it was really good. I am going to bed soon. Next week we will be getting Minnie. I will leave you with a picture of her. She will be 8 weeks on Tuesday.
January 1, 2017!