6th Folder in your photos!

Here are the rules:
•Open your photo folder on your computer
•Open the 6th folder of photos
•Select the 6th picture
•Post the picture on your blog with a description
•Invite six friends to join the challenge
•Link your six friends to your blog post
(or you can let anyone who reads your blog participate.)
Leave me a link in the comments is you decide to do this.

Well... here is my photo... I am obviously naturally a woman - lol. My picture is of the closet from the condo in Arizona! Thanks Michelle for sharing this on your blog over at Creative Treasures.

Relaxation Destination Arizona

I so needed that vacation!!!!!!!!! My girlfriend Kelly and I went for tea about five or six months back and we heard on the radio that the weather in Calgary for the winter was not going to be too pleasant ~ in fact it was going to be downright nasty! So... we came up with a plan of attack to get through the winter ~ we would head down to Arizona for 6 days in March! What an incredible place Scottsdale Arizona is... I am sure all of Arizona is just as beautiful. Both of us are very much alike in our tastes, personalities and desperate need for warmth! LOL As soon as we got off the airplane we were in "Heaven"! It felt like home to us ~ we both agree that we could sooooooooooo easily live there! What a dream that would be to have the warm sunshine everyday, or even a warm cloudy day would do!!! As you can tell... I put one of the Arizona pictures of me as my profile picture because I look so happy! I don't remember being more happy than when I am in a warm climate like that! We both loved every detail of the place; the Mexican architecture, the music, the cactus' and palm trees, the orange trees and most of all the SUNSHINE!
My girlfriend loves to shop and we went to one mall for EIGHT hours! We were both so done by the time we got to our car ~ we barely made it back to the condo! LOL. Then we went to two other malls the over the next two days! We were so layed back there which was amazing ~ definitely in our element!
My husband's sister generously allowed us to stay in her condo and she was so kind she even had a huge fruit basket greeting us when we got there! We were so impressed with the condo itself, large enough to hold two families! We each had our own bedroom and bathroom and it was beautifully decorated. There were three doors to the balcony that overlooked the exquisite pool and water fountains.
While we were there we became 'animal rescuers'! One morning we went for a swim and there was a 'RAT' in the pool! We felt so bad for it because it was trying to find a way out and it couldn't... so we grabbed the pool net and rescued it and placed it on a warm dry surface. Eventually it puffed itself up and dried in the sunshine. On our way out of the pool area it started back towards the pool! As it wasn't in the pool the next day we are hoping it went safely to its' home!
I think two days later we helped a male duck get out between gates at the clubhouse to into the pool area where it's mate was. As soon as it was freed they flew off 'into the sunset' together. LOL.
I actually picked up a tiny bunny tail not knowing what it was! EW! There was blood on the end so you could tell it had gotten pulled off or stuck or something! We felt bad for the poor little bunny! As you can tell we are huge animal lovers. Hee-hee.
The six days flew by way too soon but we came back rejuvanated with slight tans and ready to plan our next trip there with our families! LOL. I highly recommend Arizona for a vacation.
Oh yes... I actually conquered my fear of something I have wanted to do for a long time now and got the top of my right ear pierced. It didn't hurt at all! I LOVE IT!!!!!!
Hugs and God bless
Kelly

What The World Needs More

Michelle from Creative Treasures had this posted on her blog and I loved it so much that I really wanted to post it on my blog too. Thanks Michelle for sharing it.

Lovely Little Find

I was meandering through some blogs today and I came across www.amybella.blogspot.com - in this blog Amy posted the above pictures and I fell in love with them. I love finding pictures like these, I love drawing them too. I might take to my journal later on and see what fun things I can draw from these pictures. My head has been so visual lately that I look at everything around me through rose colored glasses.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks Amy for sharing them.
God bless
Kelly

God Makes Himself Known...

Our world of today is a very dark place. So much wickedness runs rampant that it can be hard to see God through all the darkness, sadness and despair. So easily we are led into depression and loss, into pain, heartache and loneliness. However, I was reminded as I was on the airplane flying home from my Grandmother's funeral that God is here, He is very real and He makes Himself known to us even during the darkest of times.
Looking out over top of the Rocky Mountains I couldn't help but be in awe of His creation. I wondered if man had conquered every mountain peak made by God and I knew that he had not. It would be impossible to step upon absolutely every grain of sand made by the Lord... to name every star in the Universe... to discover every beautiful and unique creation ever created by God. I pictured a mountain climbing party making their way up the steep peaks of the mountains I was viewing from a 'mechanical bird's-eye view" and I wondered why... why would they feel the need to reach the top of every mountain? What were they searching for that could not be found in their everyday lives? I knew that it must be that they were searching for heaven, but what was their view of heaven on earth? Was it God that so naturally makes Himself known to us?... or was it a sense of their own view of a god that existed somehow within themselves. Was it the ultimate adrenaline rush to reach the top of the world??? It reminded me of the story in the Bible of "The Tower of Babel" and how man wanted to build a tower that reached to the heavens... they wanted to prove that they were just as great as God. God nipped that one in the butt right away!!! What does He think of our world now with so many holding on to their own personal god's within themselves... thinking they themselves are god's upon this earth. There is only ONE GOD and that is the "GREAT I AM". The One Who Was, and Who Is, and Who Is To Come. If they can only open their eyes they would realize that God is right here, all around us... waiting for us to open our hearts to Him.
Hugs
Kelly

My First Trip To Value Village

I had no idea what I would find when my sister's, mom, and aunt wanted to go to Value Village while we were in Kelowna for Grandma's funeral. I had never been before and I didn't quite know what to think about buying used clothing. As I was walking through the shoes aisle with my Mom I spotted two pairs of shoes that really stood out at me; one was a pair of dancing shoes (at least that's what they looked like to me). They were black in 1950's style with a beaded flower on the toes. I pictured a 1950's woman, elegantly dressed in a black dress (I found a picture of a dress that went through my mind and posted it above). As my Mom talked about all the different shoes and boots that were offerred I guess I began to daydream about the woman who used to wear these shoes. I could see her dancing around the dance floor dressed all elegant and dancing like they danced in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" (Remember the dance on top of and then eventually IN the swimming pool?) I pondered the shapes her feet made as she performed each dance maneuver in her elegant shoes. When she was out was she escaping the day-to-day routines of her everyday life? Did she need that escape or was she simply out to enjoy an evening with her current bo? What music was playing as she danced?... I could have written her entire life as I was patiently waiting in Value village as my Mom picked out her complete attire for the funeral from shoes to earrings.
The second pair of shoes intrigued me as well. I don't think I had ever seen a pair of shoes quite like this pair. The shape and design was so unique to me. Because I had never seen anything like them it was difficult for me to picture the woman who possibly wore them before they happened to be at Value Village. I took a picture regardless in hopes that something might come to me.
Enjoy.
Hugs
Kelly

Twilight... the big craze right now!

So... my son came home from school a few weeks ago and mentioned this 'Twilight' movie that was out. He told me the 'just' of the movie and my first reaction to it was 'yikes!' that doesn't sound very good. He said it was about a human girl falling in love with a vampire. I have never liked the idea of vampires - my oldest sister used to pretend she was a vampire and come after me and I would cry and it would usually end up getting her in trouble from Mom and Dad. She loved it! Mean old sister - right Kathy???? I think we watched an old vampire movie and this made her pick on me.
Anyway to my point... Ben said that all the girls in his class had seen the movie and have read the books - I thought, 'wow, they are only 11 years old and are into vampires?' It bothered me for some reason (probably from my childhood fears). I also didn't like the idea that if the movie romantisized vampires it might influence kids to try and be like vampires or go 'goth' etc. I decided to check it out on my own. I went to the movie...
The movie was very well done, not scary like the older vampire movies I had seen. In fact the main 'Vampire' family in the movie were 'good', they only went after animals instead of humans. They had trained themselves to not give into their natural instincts to go after human blood. The relationship between Bella (the human) and Edward (the vampire) was very intense as their love for one another seemed to develop over night and was deeper than a crush... it was as though they were 'soul-mates'. Edward's family accepted Bella at once (besides Rosalie who didn't like the idea much) and that was very sweet. The bond between each member of their family was real and true unlike many of human family members in our world, and Bella's.
After seeing the movie I decided to read the book and I must warn you that the book is even more intense than the movie! It is over 600 pages long full of descriptions of every deep emotion that passes between each character. The book starts off with a quote from Genesis which I found very pleasing to me. It was regarding temptation.
In fact as you see above the cover for the book has a girls hands holding an apple... how interesting. It does make sense in the book as tempation is seen from all different angles.
I will not let my boys read the series until they are old enough to understand such deep emotions described in these books. I think it would just confuse them. There are many things in the series that come up that a mature mind can work through and digest - however, a younger mind may take to mean something else and romantasize where they really shouldn't go.
Overall I have enjoyed reading the series and look forward to seeing the sequel to Twilight on the big screen.
God bless you and have a merry Christmas everyone!
Kelly

Fourth Picture Tag

My dear friend Angel tagged me in her blog and so I am fulfilling the tag by posting the fourth picture in the forth file of "My Pictures". This picture is of our youth group at Church... I'm not exactly sure why they were posing like this... but they are always doing crazy things at youth.
So now... I get to tag four people to do the same for their blogs...
So I am tagging:
Nancy E.
Michelle (Creative Treasures)
Debbie
and Nicole
So it's your turn to post the fourth picture in the fourth file of your "My Pictures". Can't wait to see!

Thanks Angel for tagging me... this was fun!
Much love and hugs
Kelly

The Wonderful Life of Living On Effexor...And it's side effects...

You know how we all do stupid things once and awhile right? Well... I tend to do them often! LOL For instance, I recently decided that I needed to try and ween myself off of my Effexor which I have been on for several years now. Why did I do this? Well because my doctor scared the bajeevers out of me when he explained how this medication could cause a few problems in my body as I get older and if I gain any more weight. "What?" I didn't think I was that overweight but he thought otherwise. For one thing the medication has made me gain weight... it may not be the Effexor but possibly the Seroquel that I take with it for sleep... however no matter what the reason I knew I had to lose weight. I also knew that losing weight while being on Effexor is extremely hard... you have to go above and beyond just the normal changing the diet and exercise. So... my solution... I attempted to ween off my Effexor. I took my 150mg pill and opened it up and took 7 tiny balls out of it for one month. How did I do? Well my moods began changing immediately... but I was okay. I made it through the month with not too bad of a time. Then the next step came and I took out 10 more tiny balls... within three days I was a mess! I was getting flashes (like mini-blackouts) in my head, anxiety through the roof, I wasn't eating, sleeping or functioning too well. I recorded everything I did in my day timer, including my moods, exercise, diet or any stressful events that I experienced. The results ~ I lost 11 pounds but as I just stated I WAS A HUGE MESS!!! I began to think back to the beginning of my depression when my second son was born and it all started with post-partum. I remembered the 4 and 1/2 years of memory loss and the dark, dark, dark time in our lives as a family. I knew I had made a mistake! I couldn't put my family through all this again ~ it wouldn't be fair, and I didn't think I could do it anyway. My doctor has always said that I am a "Lifer" and that I should be okay with that. If I had a physical illness I would need to take medication for it right? Well, I needed to change my thoughts in this regard to make myself okay with taking my medicine. God got me through this depression by His grace and by His grace He also brought me to the proper doctors to get me on the medicine that would help me function as a normal person again. I should be thankful that I am here and functioning properly right?
My husband bought me a treadmill a few months back (for $100), a huge blessing as the family we purchased it from took excellent care of it and it is the perfect treadmill for me. I tend to take out a lot of my anxiety or moods on the treadmill and every second or so day I have been doing Yoga on our Wii Fit. I am also going to go to a Yoga class once per week.
Also, as I was researching Effexor and weightloss I found a health site that said to take Fish Oil, CLA, and Vitamin E and drink lot's of water to help with weightloss. I have been doing that and I am beginning to come around. I am still on a somewhat downward spiral of moods and lack of sleeping but hopefully with God's grace I will be coming out of that really soon! God is good and I know that He is in control.
God bless you
Kelly

Fall Daylight Savings Time

I don't know what it is this year about the Daylight savings time but I am really not liking the fact that it starts to get dark at 5pm. As soon as I'm walking outside the door from work it is almost completely dark. Maybe that is the difference... I haven't worked this late into the day in years and have not had to drive home in the dark. The entire atmosphere changes and it's almost like everyone in their cars put on 'Grumpy Gus' hats ~ probably because they are feeling the same way I am feeling. The day seems much too short for me and it makes me tired and grumpy.
I usually have a hard time this season ~ when fall turns to winter and the air outside becomes nippy. My doctor recommended that I purchase a S.A.D. light (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which should help my moods during the winter (I still have to purchase one). I am supposed to sit under this light 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night and I believe that is supposed to simulate sunlight. Basically I think you are tricking your brain into believing it is not lacking sunlight ~ it's like... "See Mr.Brain... I am not neglecting you, there actually is sunlight in my house!" LOL.
The light pictured above is from www.sadlight.com and on this site are many different mechanism's a person can purchase to help them through the long months of winter.
Let me know if you suffer from S.A.D. and tell me what you have done to help yourself through it.
Kelly

Movie Review: MAMA MIA!

If you love ABBA and musicals you will absolutely adore this movie! I love both and so this movie was very well received by me. I highly recommend it! It is based in Greece at "Villa Donna" so you can pretty much guarantee the amazing scenery. The hilarious storyline will draw you in with a fabulous cast of well known actors/actresses. The main theme is this; a young woman is getting married though doesn't know who her father is ~ rooting through her mother's boxes she discovers three possibilities and invites all three men to her wedding ~ it continues on from there so use your imagination as to what comes next... I had no idea that some of the cast could sing as well as they did, and others... well you will just have to see it for yourself to know what I mean.
After seeing the movie twice; once with my Mama mia and second with my girlfriends I still love it as much as I did the first time - and I bought the soundtrack too!
Enjoy... and if you do see it, let me know what you think!
Hugs and blessings

Jeopardy Answer: What is Pleurisy?

Udate on what was going on with my chest last week: I went to my doctor last Friday and he believes the chest pains were due to something called Pleurisy. Basically, an inflamation of the outer lining on my lungs due to possible pneumonia that I had and didn't know. I have been sick twice in the past two months with a really bad cold/ with respiratory symptoms but I didn't think it was bad enough to go to the doctor. Silly me.
What Is Pleurisy?
Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the moist, double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage. The condition can make breathing extremely painful. Sometimes it is associated with another condition called pleural effusion, where excess fluid fills the area between the membrane's layers.
The double-layered pleura protects and lubricates the surface of the lungs as they inflate and deflate within the rib cage. Normally, a thin, fluid-filled gap -- the pleural space -- allows the two layers of the pleural membrane to slide gently past each other. But when these layers become inflamed, with every breath, sneeze, or cough their roughened surfaces rub painfully together like two pieces of sandpaper.
I went for xrays and bloodwork on Monday and haven't heard back from the doctor's office so I'm thinking everything is better now. The pain in my chest has subsided mostly and I am feeling really good. YAY. Thank you Lord that it wasn't something more serious.
My mom lives about 8 hours from us (by car) and when I told her about my chest pains attack the first thing she thought about was that it was my lungs - Mother's instict or what???? I laughed when I got home from my doctor's appointment. I guess my mom really does know me! LOL
So, just to update y'all - everythings fine! Amen

Life Is Precious

What does it take to open our eyes to the fact that life is precious? Each moment is a gift of time, love, peace, joy, experiences, adventures etc.

Yesterday I had a little scare that opened my eyes in a huge way. I was standing in my kitchen preparing some breakfast for myself when I began to have sharp pains from my back to my heart/chest. They were so sharp that I was dizzy and weak. They didn't last for long maybe a minute and then they would go away. Then they would come back every couple of minutes. I started to get really scared. My husband was out on the deck and he came in when I didn't answer him. The pain was so strong I couldn't speak right away. He checked to see if my eyes were dilated and if I could squeeze his hands with my hands - I could. He made me lay down on the ground hoping that would help and then he told me to put my feet up. The pains were still coming and then I started crying because I didn't know what was going on. Randy grabbed his phone and called 911. At that point I think I had an anxiety attack because my face went numb and my left hand was tingling. The firemen were the first to arrive and they basically calmed me down and took my blood pressure and asked me questions about the pain and where it was etc. The EMS arrived shortly after and they took over for the firemen. They also checked my blood pressure and my heart rate and then hooked me up to their machines placing all these sticker thingy's all around my chest and pelvic area. They too asked me many questions and in the end determined that everything was normal, my vitals were all normal, my heart was good and normal etc. They could not determine where the pains came from. After all the "excitement" I was left dizzy, weak and confused. The EMS said that I should get things checked out though not necessarily at the hospital. If it happened again I should call EMS. I was going to make an appointment to go see the doctor but I was so dizzy and weak feeling I just went on our deck and layed in the shade.

As I was lying there my mind was reeling with the thought of how I had reacted in the midst of the incident. I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or not, I truly feared that I was having one. I thought about my Dad having his heart attack when he was only 51 (as he died from his). All of a sudden my worries about my husband having a heart attack early transferred from him to me. I never thought it a possibility that I could have a heart attack, I always feared that Randy would have one and I would be left alone like my mom was. It troubled me deeply.

Then my thoughts disturbed me further because of the fear that had embedded itself into me. Why was I so afraid? If indeed I were having a heart attack the worst thing that could have happened was that I would die and be with my Father in Heaven. I never really thought that I would react with such fear facing the possibility of death ~ I always thought that I would be at peace. I prayed and asked God to forgive me for allowing this fear in. As I am His child I am no longer a slave to the fear of death. I have eternal life through Jesus so why be afraid? The Lord calmed me as I prayed and helped me to feel okay about my reaction. I realized that my fear was mostly not about me, it was about me possibly leaving my husband and boys without a mother/and wife. Then I too realized that even then that they are in the Lord's hands and He would be taking care of them too. I had nothing to fear.

This whole experience made me see that Life is precious. We need to take advantage of the time we have and not be consumed with fears and worries about the time we might not have. I pray that when God does eventually take me that I will be at complete peace knowing that God is in full control. He is a God full of grace and loving mercy ~ He takes care of all of His creations even when we are worrying about nothing!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

I Am So Blessed

A lady from Austin e-mailed me today - she works for a foundation that helps children and adults in their healing from violence and/or trauma. She is developing a therapeutic game that will help in the process of healing with education for her patients. She has asked me if she can use two of my paintings on the back of her educational material. I feel very honored that she contacted me because I painted these images with the specific intention of being used to help others find healing. That is my entire reasoning behind my artwork, it is not for self-gain but for others, unless you count my own healing process for myself as self-gain because it has helped me immensely.
Thank You Lord for this amazing opportunity to touch other peoples lives in a way only You can do. I pray that you help whoever see's these cards to have hope in their healing and that they will come to realize that they have a huge glorious loving God just waiting to heal them. Amen
Signature ID **** 54486-104-0814F235638E146494EE9339B81997AB

Fact #51 - I Love Birds

Fact #51 - I Love Birds! I could sit on my back deck and listen and watch birds all day long every day weather permitting. I find it so peaceful. When we go to Kid's Camp with our Church I find it very relaxing listening to the birds found only in the woods. I can't wait to go camping this year and bring my binoculars. I find it funny (no offense) but my friend Nancy is afraid of birds and doesn't care for them at all! I think she had one fly at her one day or it was stuck in her house - yikes. That is pretty scary!

Fact #41 I Love To Play With New Craft Items

I received my order from CHF (Cornish Heritage Farms) a few weeks back but have not had the time to play with my new stuff. I love discovering new things to play with even if I don't know what to do with them. On this page I used the new background stamp with the dried up ground, and the new foam swirls, and this pearly colored 3D stuff that I don't actually know what it is for yet - LOL! Hence this is where the "Playing" comes into play.
I 'needed' to buy a new trimmer (right!) and I loved the fact that it had interchangeable blades with different uses! I am having a great time playing with it. So far I have made some tickets for my son Ben to draw on and I have been able to cut through 10 pieces of paper at one time. I still want to purchase different blades for it as I don't have them all yet. I am waiting to do this until I know that I absolutely must have them and will use them.
I LOVE TO PLAY!

Fact #40 - Collages

Collages are one thing that I have never really enjoyed creating. I never understood what they were all about. With looking through different art blogs I have noticed the rise in the amount of collages being created. So many artists have perfected this art and maybe that is why I have never really caught onto it ~ if I can't perfect it my way, why do it? I am getting much better though. I am trying new things and getting more comfortable with the idea of things not being exactly perfect.
This collage is made from different pictures of women in the 1500's-1800's. I went googling to find different pictures of women's fashions during these times. I love looking at the fashions but I know that I would hate wearing them day in and day out! I couldn't imagine having to wear layers and layers of heavy fabric on my body - even in the summertime. Sure their gowns were exquisite and beautiful but I think that it would have been rather difficult to pull off every day of your life.
I covered this page with a sheet of laminant and then stamped images on top with Staz-on ink. I really like the outcome of this page.

Fact #39 I am a Romantic

I love romantic movies - where chivalry still exists! Where courting was something that occurred without "going all the way"! Where women blushed at the mere thought of their betrothed passing by. I love period pieces of artwork that captures moments like these, books, artwork etc. I drew this picture from the cover of a book I am currently reading. Although there are a few words I don't like in the book, (these words only occur once or twice)the book in itself is very innocent and romantic in a sense that the main character keeps her purity for her marriage bed. I loved the picture on the cover of the book Philippa by Bertrice Small. The main character looks strong and bold and beautiful. I distressed the background to make it look like a "London" grey day. I wrote out some of the idea of the story of the book around her because I really liked the story.

Fact #38 I LOVE BABIES

I think I have a radar for babies! I don't know how it works but it seems the second a baby is in my vicinity my radar goes off and I am all goo-goo and ga-ga over them. My son's make fun of me because they know that I am going to get like this. They tease me saying "Mom it's okay... we know you like looking at babies more than you like us!". I know they are just joking. I got to hold little baby Sarai all through Church yesterday and I was in my glory (she is just two months old - unfortunately I didn't hear much of the sermon because I was so concentrated on the beautiful little miracle in my arms. Every newborn is such an amazing little miracle. Thank you God for each and every one of them.

What Happened to My Puppy????

Just yesterday my little Mila was a little "fur-ball" and then I dropped her off at the groomers... so... I was a little shocked when I came home from work to find we had exchanged our toy-poodle/papillion for a Chiauaua. I had to go to Petland to find a sweater for her because she was shaking so much. The day before yesterday I needed to tie Mila's hair up so that she could see! She does not look too happy in either pictures does she? She looks so frail now I am not certain as to how to hold her except to cuddle her like a little baby. LOL. My poor girl.