New Year's Eve

Tomorrow is fresh
with no mistakes
in it.
                
                         Lucy Maud
                        Montgomery

Everyday is a Good Day

Why fit in when you were born to
                                            STANDOUT?
                                Dr. Seuss



Happy Birthday, Baby.
We love you, MORE.
        

         

Merry Christmas

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my
weakness, so that the power of  Christ may
rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then,
"I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
For "when I am weak, then I am strong."
                                       2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Merry Christmas.

Keep it bright.

Jingle. Jingle.  Jingle.

Let is shine.

Pumpkin Cottage for the Holidays

Where thou art,
that is home.

                  Emily Dickinson

This lovely poinsettia is brightening the garden
here at Pumpkin Cottage.  It came for the
University of California, 
Riverside's Botanic Garden plant sales.

It's a native, similiar to the the poinsettias of Mexico. 
She likes our hot arid summers and cool winter evenings. 

Saying Good Night at the Queen Mary

We are all fixing what is broken.
It is the task of a lifetime. 
                         Abraham Verghese

Like most mother's working outside the home,
I feel tremendous guilt about the time I spend
away from my children.

The flip side is we spend nearly all our free time together
and are exposed to so many adventures.
Making memories for a lifetime.

Did you ever play the game Concentration?

Con-cent-ration 
Con-cent-ration
Now begins
Keep the rhythm
Such as animals (could be cars, states
dessert)

Clapping and snapping
Around the circle of players
Taking turns, in this case, saying
an animal

Ele-phant
ze-bra
Cooow
p i g
all in rhythm

Through Love

The only thing that counts is faith 
expressing itself through love.
                                           Galatians 5:6 


A few weeks ago, the Get-Along spent a night 
with Oma and Opa on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Isn't she a beauty? 

This morning Mr. Lee and I were counting our blessings.
Among our blessings are the relationship between our 
children and his parents.  

There is nothing more precious to us then the love and
time our children spend with their grandparents.
A love so pure and strong.

Live your God Sized Dream

As a gift to my future. 
I signed up for Ali Edwards One Little Word 
year long class. 


My word is PURPOSE..
Every day I get off the freeway
near California Baptist University
and their trademark phrase listed
on their very bright signage:
Live your Purpose 
saturates my heart and mind.

Every single evening. 
It's not like I ever get
a green light and roll
through the intersection.
Oh no, I have to stop and for
a few minutes reflect.
Piercing words.
Filled with accusation.  

I know I am not living my purpose.
It's a good blessed life, though.
I am authentic, I tell myself. 


God has a tremendous sense of humor. 

All kinds of messages are sent to me:
The the book and blog God-sized Dream.
It's a clear message. 
God has nagged me for a lifetime.  Oh yes, my
refusal has made my life more difficult then
to simply humble myself.  

Big Dreams

The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.

                                              Eleanor Roosevelt

What to do on my milestone birthday?
Craft, eat and play with these guys.

There's only a few things I ever
wanted to be: a teacher and an actress.
Being a mother has allowed
for all the desires of my heart.

Milestone Birthday Crafting

Experience is not what happens to you;
it's what you do with what happens to you.
                                   -Aldous Hexley
                            
Chrisy and I have shared a lifetime of memories.
Our lives have often run parallel.

Along the way, we have shared it all
including this year's milestone birthday
only five days apart.

I drew and stitched shared happy memories.
This is Amy Powers' grid design ready for your
own happy memories.

Available with other designs on Amazon.
Christmas
Crafty
Wedding
Baby
Home

Counting Christmas Blessings

Living with creatives. 

Remembering Mericia

Happy Birthday, Mericia.
Oh, to have been blessed by grace.

My own understanding wasn't broad
enough to accept the witnessing of grace.
Grace: what we receive but don't deserve.

My oldest sister was one month shy of her 45th
birthday when she passed away.  It has been
over twenty years, still I recall the blue
of her soulful eyes, the depth of her faith, and
the strength of her will.

Our family: Mother and Prima Texeira. Mericia (in bandana), Dulce.
Joe, me and my other brother, Ilidio.  Rare occasion when all the
siblings were together. 

Mericia, in the middle in blue. 

What a beauty.


My witness of her silent suffering,
built strength and resolve in my heart.
I knew if confronted with my own pain and suffering
I would want to stand as a testament as she did.

Missing you today.
May you continue to rest in peace my
beloved.