~stop & listen~

it only takes me about a few minutes to get to work in the morning, but i can hardly leave my car to clock in when i hear sweet sounds like this on the radio. they are worth being a few minutes late on the time clock.




i heard this song after reading my mom's facebook page this am. she stated today would be her daughter jodi rae's 37th birthday. jodi rae was the sister i never had a change to meet as she was killed by a drunk driver at a year old. i sometimes dream of what it would have been like to have a sister??? would've love it, i'm sure.
so this morning after hearing this song i found hope that my dad who passed away is now in heaven with a daughter he hardly got to know here on earth. along with my sweet grandparents. i'm betting she's getting alot of lovin'. also came to mine people who i've seen struggling through hard times. a sweet lady by the name of val came to mind and her two little ones. or this lady who yesterday had her baby boy the day after her husbands funeral..

~that day~

rec'd a candy bouquet (guess i better not skip zumba tonight) and balloon in the shape of a star that says:

"you are a star assistant"

it was a pleasant surprise!!

 didn't even know it was that day!!

thank God for bosses that remember us.

~things i smiled about today~

 her

she was checking out her new songs on her ipod.

(since the easter bunny was nice enough to leave her and her brother iTune cards.)

 him

here he was playing with the cooking utensils.

but when it came down to do some serious cooking

he couldn't be found anywhere??

 my friend giving me some caramel syrup for my coffee and hinting to me that it's really good in hot chocolate.

she was right!

 otis

sitting by me most the day hanging out

sometimes running off with my blanket or book in his mouth (his nickname is naughty)

here is a little funny about otis this morning:

i come out of my bedroom to find otis with my pajama pants i left on the floor.

i tell chuck, hurry he has my pants

chuck said "what doesn't he have in his mouth ever"

i say " his toys"

chuck laughs because he knows how true that statement is.

it's funny how that works. i spend all this money on neat toys for this guy and he chews everything but those.

speaking of the hubby, even though not pictured he was on my things i smiled about today list too.

 breakfast at haythorns this morning after the sunrise service.

it was good sitting down for breakfast with brothers and sisters in Christ

to have fellowship and laugh with one another.

the cross at haythorns this sunrise service.

the meaning of the cross and what Jesus did on that cross for my sins.

it's a wow moment.

but i smiled today here, because he has risen!

~office space~

 received flowers from my mom in maine at work on my birthday. she's still in maine and we are still way too far west of her, but we are working on bringing her closer. house for sale and waiting on a buyer.

(so if anyone's looking for a vacation home in maine just yell)

thank you mom for the birthday flowers that lite my desk up this week.

i had lots of  passer-byers who stuck their noses in them.:)

here is my office space. the place i spend most my time live. or at least it feels that way.

but thankful i have a job with the cost of everything on the rise.

you'll find me here monday thru friday from 7 to 4.

but not this friday. good friday.

so excited to be off today.

today i will do the things i've been putting off

laundry, sweeping and mopping the kitchen..... lets just say a lot of house work. house work i've been slacking on.

maybe some reading of my new karen kingsbury book i check out at the library the other day.

hope you all get good friday off as well.

happy friday. happy long weekend

happy easter weekend.

wherever you go or are at, enjoy this time.

p.s. holy week readings from the word:

matthew chapters 21-28

mark chapters 11-16

luke chapters 19-24

john chapters 12-21

~to much for this little guy~

sometimes when i watch otis outside i get the feeling he's lost.

lost with the size of fenced in yard he can run around in.

i'm sure if he were a little older he'd love it.

but now at 14 weeks it seems to be too much for him.

he just sits and looks around.

does his business

(as you can see from this post he's not potty trained yet, never will be. but a fun thought)

and looks for us to head back inside.

i keep saying "otis come on boy, tear this yard up, man!"

no such luck.

~tonight in Luke i enjoyed....~

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" Luke 21: 32-33

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighted down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap." Luke 21: 34

~holy week...a.k.a easter....~

monday we were encouraged to read Matthew 21 - 28

today (tuesday) we were challenged to read Mark 11 - 16

in Matthew 24: 42-44

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not exspect him."

in Mark 12: 30-31

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The secone is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

these were a few of the verses i heart from the readings... more tomorrow.

~when words are hard to find~

just last week i heard of a man in town here that was starting to feel ill. they sent him by air from our hospital here to a bigger hospital about 5 hours away for help. turns out his liver was failing him so he was put on a transplant list for the next available liver. he received the liver days later and than die at the young age of 34. the age i happen to be today. 34?? come to find out he has 3 small boys at home all under the age of 6. his wife is carrying their fourth child who is due in just a couple of weeks. a child that will never see her/his father.

this couple is from our small town and even though i don't know them up close, i do know the power of prayer. and this young wife and her babies need lots of prayers at this moment. this tragic moment. so please say a prayer for them today....tomorrow.... and the days ahead....

i can't imagine how hard this is.

my grandma has a birthday in heaven...and the eve of my birthday.

today would've been my sweet grandma's 97th birthday. she passed away 11 months ago and our family misses her dearly. more about my grandma wilson here.  and today is my birthday eve. which was a wonderful day. we went to church then over to a friends for mexican food and some cards. they made a birthday cake too. so blessed to have such good friends. my family handed me a card tonight with this full body massage certificate in it. so tomorrow after work i will get to relax with a wonderful massage. 

some sweet birthday surprises from last year found here.  my kids and hubby always do so much for me on my birthday. they too are such a blessing.

~now would be a good time to start potty training otis on the toilet!~

~spring i heart you...well if you ever get here

today started out rainy.

 then by afternoon we had a blizzard with thunder??

it's april for crying out loud.

but you sure wouldn't know it by looking outside.
feels more like december again.

i don't think otis is a fan of spring already. at least the kind of spring we are having right now.

~13 weeks...

 even though we've only had otis with us for 3 weeks it already feels like longer.

he is 13 weeks old and hard to see in pictures yet, but is growing.

he still finds comfort in taking naps on our couch pillows.

which is ok with me as long as he is sleeping.

it's kind of like a little kid...he's cute when he's sleeping :)

and when he's not sleeping.....

we are usually reminding him what is ok and what is not ok to chew on.

trying to teach him that he should not carry his water dish around the house....(exspecially with water in it)

and when his food dish is empty he likes to play hockey with it across the hard wood floor.

we are thinking he is starting to pick up on the fact that we named him otis and comes when we call his name.

we also believe he is picking up on the word NO!

~remember when skating was the cool thing to do every friday/saturday night??~

 shall i introduce you to a couple of brooke's bff's from left to right. i shall. will, trenton, sophia, brooke, ashley, and walker.

i remember being brooke's age a long time ago (20 years long ago if you're counting) and begging my parents to give me money to meet up with my friends at the skating rink. almost every weekend. even though a lot has changed since then some things remain the same. we still at this age... 13ish (going on 14 real soon) enjoy to roller skate with friends on the weekends. we still beg mom for money to go. and we still can't drive, so we still beg mom to pile as many kids that will fit in one car to take us.

one thing that i noticed they do more now than we did back then is beg mom to take goofy pictures.

i wish i would've had more pictures of my friends and i skating when i was younger. like these.

because it goes by fast, and later in life we all go our separate ways. and we would like to look back and remember just how goofy we are/were

~He Is~

This morning as i started my car i heard this song . what a way to start your morning. do you hear the words to this song:

He is
He was
And He always will be

He lives
He loves
He?s always with me
Even when it feels like there is no one holding me

Be still, my soul
Be still, and know
Be still, my soul
He is

so true. hope you have a happy weekend!



~happiness~

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." -



-- Unknown

~want a space like this~

via design sponge

~good luck buddy...~

otis trying to tackle my 12 year old son's shoe. (which is a 13 in men's) having a shoe size bigger than your age is kind of wrong, yes? anyway seeing the pup trying to carry it around the house when it's bigger than him is hilarious. you may want to give up now buddy! before he's in a size 17??

~shyness wearing off~

 he's starting to feel at home since last week, when he was a little camera shy.

loves looking out the window

getting in laundry left laying around.

gets thirsty often.

and relaxes along side us.

~today~

today as we say good-bye well see ya later

to a very special young lady

who at the age of 49 lost her battle to cancer

in the last years of melissa's life she went through alot.

and i tell you what this lady NEVER complained.

she was at every one of her sweet son tyler's activities.

you see melissa was a believer and today is with her savior Jesus.

pain free forever.

and us we are here still keeping on and helping those she left behind.

one of those she left behind is a 12 year old son, tyler.

who is my son's buddy. school mate. friend.

and as we say see ya later melissa we also want you to

know we got his back.

 every one of us.

his buddies. his teammates. his schoolmates

 after posting these i realized my son had his hands on "T's" shoulders(touching)

these boys get it.

they get that they need to be there for each other

when life happens. when the unexpected happens.

when they need to have each other's backs.

an amazing service for an amazing women who raised herself a wonderful boy.

melissa was born on the 4th of July so after the service the youth group she lead let off

balloons with messages for her

(i bet she's reading them right now smiling down from heaven)