Smoky Mountain... "Idol"?

Hi Sweeties!! Ya'll just gotta know that it is killing me to

not be able to blab all about my family reunion!!

Soooo....as much as I lack any real computer savvy,

I figured out how to post a photo on my

blog using my daughter's Mac!

GO ME!!!

Well, here is the "teaser"!!

Stay tuned for the whole story!! It's a hoot for sure!

Hopefully my 'puter will be back up soon!!

Love and HUGS!!

Becky

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jig!!

HI SWEET FRIENDS!!

HOW ARE YOU ALL??

I HAVE MISSED ALL OF MY GALS OUT THERE!

We returned from my family reunion Sunday evening,

and have just been

settling back in here at home.

I simply must tell you that the cottage we stayed in was absolutely

dreamy, with a lovely view of the lake and the mountains...

ahhh... I can hear the birds singing even now!

I'll be on this Smoky Mountain high for a while!!

There was tons of fellowship and fun, but unfortunately

I can't share the wonderfulness of it all because

our computer is down with some wacky virus!

I am using #3 daughter's Mac and can't

upload photos or ANYTHING!!

So please be patient with me!!!

I sooooo want to share it all with you!!! Hopefully we will have our

'puter up and working by the weekend!

IN THE MEANTIME, I will be visiting you all as usual!!

It'll be great to catch up!

Make sure you smile today, and give some

lovin' to someone who needs a little, OK??

Love you all!!

Becky

Free Willy!!!

I showed you a pic of this little guy last week
but I didn't tell you about him.















He is a Florida soft shell turtle, and his home is
primarily the water.
#2 daughter Mallory (23 yo) found him on our
property line on a 98 degree day. She said we needed
to "rescue" him and take him to the water. I felt sure
he could find his own way since the water is just up
the street from our house, but she insisted that we
must SAVE him! I simply couldn't pass up this
opportunity to indulge my daughter's sense of
responsibility for protecting this interesting
creature!!














So...we discussed how to make this rescue happen!
We decided to put water in the cooler, turn it on it's
side and surely he would crawl right in, right??

This guy's neck when stretched out is about 8 inches
long so there was no way we were going to pick him
up and get bit!!














Much to our amazement...the plan worked.
We got him into the cooler, put the cooler on
a towel in the back seat of my car, and drove
around the corner to the lake so we could

FREE WILLY!!!

Of course we had to snap a shot
of the rescue team in their moment of glory!!














Willy headed for the water immediately!!!














And returned to the surface briefly to show his
gratitude (I missed his head popping up,
but you can see the little ripples just above the
center of the pic) Quit laughing...this is serious
stuff here!! ;o)















So there you have it in case you missed it on the
headline news!!!

WILLY IS FREE!!

Have a great day!!
HUGS,
Becky

Bless Your Hearts!!

I just have to say that God has blessed me
with the creme de la creme of bloggy friends!

~~~

A very heartfelt thank you to all of you special
friends who commented, and lifted us up

before the throne!

~~~

We bit the bullet last night after coming up empty

handed in our search for good condition used washing
machines, and we bought one that was on sale
at Lowe's. We are in a time crunch, so it gave us

both peace of mind just to know it was
taken care of! Thank You Lord!!

~~~

And as far as my car...we still have no idea
what the problem is.

BUT...

The bulk of it is solved for now! Our #1 daughter
will be using our #3 daughter's Scion for the trip!

Britt was so sweet and just offered the use of it!!
What a blessing to a mom's heart!

~~~

This little car is a blast to drive!! I feel like I'm

driving one of those short little busses!!

~~~

Thank you again for the blessing of being part
of your lives and for being such a lovely part
of mine!!!

You touched God's heart and mine!!

Love and hugs to you all!!
Becky

Have You Ever? I'm Sure You Have...

Well, here is the big question for today, Sweeties!

Have you ever had a time when you were excited

about something that was coming up, and were

busy with all the preparations, and one by one

things started to go wrong...

AND
your money just kept flying right out of your
checking account?? $100, $200 or more at a

time?? A veritable FLOCK migrating to someone
elses account???

That is what is happening here!!

We have had more expenses recently than I
care to number, and my car, which our daughter
is suppose to be using for an upcoming trip is
ill and $260 later, is still not fixed,

AND

Our washing machine just went caput!!

God is in control...this we know...

And are extremely grateful for!!

~~~

I covet your prayers for the repair of
my car, a great deal on a good washing
machine, new or used, and that the end of
this redistribution of our resources
would soon come!!

Ya'll are the best!!
Love and Hugs,
Becky

Our Hard Work Pays Off!!

When we moved into this home almost 4 years

ago, it didn't have a yard, sprinkler system,

was painted a yucky color, any landscaping was
old or dead and it had a huge

dead tree looming over the back yard! It was,

however, lovely on the inside!

Well, we fixed all of those things...painted,
added sod, shrubs, grasses, palms, and red lava
rock instead of mulch. We still have a bit more rock
to put in around the bay window area, and I want to add

more color than just my knockout roses,
(which you can't see clearly in this photo)

and it will be done!! YIPPEE!!

All the plantings are really beginning to mature
this summer and we are thrilled with how it looks!

I'll take some other pics of the full front of

the house with the cars out of the way

soon. We have a lovely crepe murtle "tree"

on the other side of the garage I want you to see,

but my camera batteries died!

~~~

The story behind acquiring this house is

a wonderful testimony of God's goodness,

and of waiting on the Lord. Almost every time
I drive into the neighborhood, I thank God for
His love and care for the details of our lives!

~~~

HUGS, Sweeties!
Becky

JOY For Our Journey~~Breakfast of Champions

Joyful Morning Greetings to You My Friends!

Hope your weekend was enjoyable and restful,

and that this day finds you ready to face with
God all that the week may hold!

~~~

I know that I am ready! WHY??

Because early this morning I consumed

THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!!

Ohhh! You thought I meant this one, huh?
OK, well I couldn't resist this box with
adorable little Mary Lou Retton on it!!
Remember how she dazzled us all
back in the day?? All right...let's
get to the real deal!!

~~~

Well, I was referring to the REAL breakfast

of champions...

An early morning feast of God's Word, of course!!!
There is just nothing like sitting down with
my morning coffee and just gobbling up God's Word!

~~~

Let's look at the prophet Jeremiah for a moment.
In Jeremiah 15:10 this is what he says when he

is in anguish and being cursed by men...

~~~

Woe is me, my mother
That you have borne me
A man of strife and a man of contention
to the whole earth!

So in his agony what did Jeremiah do?
We find it down a few verses:

~~~

Verse 16

Your words were found,
and I ate them,
And Your word was to me
the joy and rejoicing of my heart,
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.

~~~

Is God's Word "joy and rejoicing"
to your heart?

If not, it can be!!
Too often we get busy with life, and don't
"eat" His Word daily. Then some crisis
comes and we find ourselves desperately
seeking Him.

Well, I prefer plan A!! Begin each day
feasting on God's Word and with
JOY and REJOICING!!

He is already wherever our day will take us,
and will prepare us for what it holds!

DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT????

I don't think so!!!

It says in 2Timothy 3:17 that His Word
completes the man of God, and thoroughly
equips him for every good work.

SO..........................

Be sure to eat the breakfast of champions
(champions of God, that is) each day
and enjoy the sweet victory over all the
things in this life that can so easily
encumber us!!

We need our spiritual food as much as we
need our physical food!!

May your week be full of

JOY AND REJOICING!!

Love and hugs,
Becky

JOY For Our Journey~~Our Extravagant Lord!!

Happee Monday, Sweeties!!

I am continually amazed by the

EXTRAVAGANCE

of our Lord!!

~~~

Let's see...
Ever stop to think

about how many things are
taking place in your body as
you are sitting sipping your
morning coffee or tea?

Hundreds, possibly thousands!!

Are you making them do that?
~~~

Did you know that scientists have

proven that each and every tree,

even of the same species, has different

DNA, just like we do??

~~~

Our amazing Creator fashions even
the trees one at a time, giving each

it's own God-ordained fingerprint!!

***EXTRAVAGANT!!!!***

~~~

Oh the mysteries of God are far

too wonderful to even begin to

comprehend!!!

BUT...

We can sure enjoy them!!

This week I want us all to

really take the time to look at
all our loving God has created

with new eyes.

~~~

Think about the absolute perfection

of all He has done, and meditate on

the Glory of God!!

~~~

Spend some extra time in nature,

and think about even your own

body and how He has blessed you

with life, movement, brains,

each breath you breathe!

~~~

OH THE JOY OF IT ALL!!!

~~~

I have included a bunch of

photos that showcase His Majesty.

I hope you enjoy looking at them,

and find joy in His

EXTRAVAGANCE!!!

~~~

Truly the whole earth

is full of His glory!!

May you find joy inexpressible in

the amazing wonder and mystery

of the Lover of your soul!!

Love and hugs,
Becky

Why I Can Barely Move!

Hey Sweeties!!

Whatcha been up to today??

Well, I Can Barely Move!

Why, you ask?

Today me and hubby cut, raked, pulled down to
the street, loaded and unloaded at the dump
another 1/2 ton of overgrowth from two wooded
corners of our back yard!!! That makes a grand
total of 1 ton that we have hauled away

in the last 2 weeks!!

TALK ABOUT A WORK OUT!!!

Silly me forgot to snap a before pic, but

TA-DA!!!!

This is what the left corner looks like now!!

Wherever you see sand...there were palmetto bushes
vines, and lot and lots of leaves and sticks.
It really was nice to look at, but will be even
nicer when we're done with it!!

This is a pic of the right side. We still have some

issues with vines to deal with here, a large stump,
a little bit of fence repair, and a couple of small trees
we will be taking down,
then I can begin designing the landscaping!!
YES!!! My favorite part!!!

All the brown stuff in the tree is dead vine!!

We have an additional 25 ft. of property behind
the fence that is designated as a conservation area.
This next picture shows the vine growth on the
trees behind the fence (that we aren't allowed to
maintain) and which consequently ends up in the
trees on the inside of the fence!!

So aggravating, but we're finally getting it
dealt with!

So there you have it. After doing major laps in the
pool, and 35 minutes of intense leg and
arm exercises yesterday...
I did this today, and now you know why

I CAN BARELY MOVE TONIGHT!!

One thing I do like about aching muscles

is that you know you got a good work out!!

Tomorrow we are

CHILLIN' AND GRILLIN'!!

What about you???


HAVE A VERY HAPPY
4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION!!

Love ya'll!!

Becky