Hodgepodge Wednesday ~

1. April 22nd is Earth Day. Are you inspired by nature? In what way?
Nature absolutely inspires me.  It inspires me to think of the creator
and what He has placed before us to be responsible for. 
Nature = A calming peace

2. Down to earth, four corners of the earth, move heaven and earth, not have an earthly chance, or salt of the earth...which earthly idiom have you most recently encountered? Explain.
Down to earth, it's always important to me that I remain so.
Down to earth people, I seek them out!

3. Share one piece of advice you might give a newly engaged couple.
Marriage takes an effort of some kind, EVERY day.

4. When did you last engage someone to perform a job, task, service, home repair, or improvement? On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best) how would you rate their work and/or your satisfaction with the job or service provided?
A wonderful friend, Blair , a firm 10, installed molding in our bathroom.
 He is a perfectionist, and we love him.
(We still owe him a dinner out .....)
Seriously a very talented  carpenter.....highly recommend! 
I have his number :-)

5. When did you last find yourself engaged in small talk? Are you awkward or an expert or somewhere in between?
Saturday evening at my sister's surprise party....no problem.
However there for sure are times it can be awkward.. 

6.  What was the last historic place you visited?
The Mission in San Luis Obispo

7. The world would be a better place if we just__________________________.

                        If we just ___

  Loved each other despite a differing of opinions. 
Realized, Pride keeps us from true happiness.
  Quit blaming others for our own bad behavior.
 Recognized that apologies go a long way.
Truly realize in all situations, tomorrow is not promised.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Asking you be praying for Joseph who has some life changing

choices to make.  Praying he has clarity and peace with those choices.

He's been through so much already, I'm so proud of him for hanging in there!

Thankful for family, it's what echos from my heart today.....

A Monday Minute ~ A Surprise/Easter Brunch

Easter Weekend

A 90 minute drive north of here to help surprise my eldest sister Deanna...

She is beautiful at 60!!

For sure she was surprised!!

I really love the look on my brother in laws face in this photo...he is awesome...

The Party !

~

Hubstir and I stayed at the beautiful Portifino Hotel On the water in 

Redondo Beach..I never tire of the setting :-)

My love :-)

 Interior of the hotel.....

 ~

 Sunday morning at Deanna's annual Easter Brunch 

Our little Ellery Grace and Pa 

 DIL Katie and Khloe

 My son Mike and his awesome little family :-)

 Khloe and her cousin Ruby

The hunt begins !

Deanna's daughter Amanda in orange, her sister in law sweet Nancy on the right...

 Ruby's little sister Minnie

 A little underwear bowling, what? your family doesn't???  

:-)

Cousin love

Sister Love ~ Ellery and Khloe

Love this smile of Ellery's......

Sweet, no other word says it better....

~

More blessings than one can really believe, it's what echos from my heart today......

IT'S FRIDAY BUT SUNDAYS COMING! ~ HOPE

There are many things that symbolize hope.

The Iris

The Golden Daffodil

Doves

Then there is the Blessed Hope 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ

~

Easter,

 the reminder never to lose hope. 

He died for us, He loves us, and as His children He will never forsake nor abandon us. 

He has risen indeed!

My hope is you already knew this.......

Wishing all a Happy Easter

it's what echos from my heart today....

Easter a Few Years Back :-)

This is my son Mike age two  :-)

Easter egg hunt in Mamaw and Papaw's backyard,

sweet memories.....

I can sure see our little Khloe in that face!

Memories, some of the sweetest ones, it's what echos from my heart today.......

Things That Matter ~

The thing I like about the usual Wednesday Hodgepodge (taking the week off)
is learning about my fellow bloggers, many whom have become friends.

In a small way it's like pen pals of yesteryear, we get to know each other as we correspond, 

the letter just goes out to many at one time and no stamp required :-)

Nothing wrong with growing stronger friendships right?

So with no time to think of a particular blog topic, I've decide to make some lists,
of things that matter to me.......

~

A short list of pet peeves.

Lying

Boasting

Pride

The inability to admit wrongs

Failure to offer apologies

Negativity

Short tempered

Double minded

Laziness

Critical

~

A short list of things admired.

Honesty

Humility

Transparency

Humor

Authenticity

Optimism

 Ethics

Sensitivity to others

Kindness

Mercy

~

Loves

God

Family
 Friends

Writing

Photography

Cooking

All things Outdoors

Montana

Babies

My Home

Reading

Ice Cream

(I wish I didn't love that last one)

~

 Things I need to improve upon or appreciate more

All of the above

So this is me on a Wednesday :-)

Just filling a page with what echos from my heart today!

Monday Minute ~ One Thing That Matters

Accountability

From my perspective, accountability and maturity 
generally travel in pairs.
Pride is so often why accountability would be absent
from a life.

It tells me so much about an individual.

When we are accountable 

It keeps us focused on right things!

Doing right, making right choices....

Accountability, 

allows relationships to deepen to a place of authenticity, 

I ask the Lord to lead me to those types of relationships, the ones that require honesty,

where two people can lovingly point out to each other what we fail to want to see in ourselves!

It's not easy for everyone,

but boy it feels good to do so.

To those who have trouble with accountability,

wouldn't you like to see in yourself what others do?
It's honest, because they love you kinda stuff,
not always pretty, but its honest.

At any rate it means a lot to me.
I've made it known to my friends, I want the truth about me
from them on
how I behave, how I'm living my life.
It really does help me to make good choices,
focused on right things!

 I'm surround by friends that hold me accountable, they speak to me in truth and love.
  They aren't my friends to tell me that which I want to hear but often what I need to hear.

I don't take what they tell me as an attack,
I receive it as what it is, love....it's what love is, honest!
~
So I'm posting quotes on it..

Simple.

~

Good men are bound by conscience and liberated by accountability.
Wes Fessler

“I am not bound to win
but I am bound to be true;
I am not bound to succeed
but am bound to live up
to what light I have. Abraham Lincoln

“I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.”
Walter Anderson

"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." ~ Benjamin Franklin  

You can't talk your way out of problems that  you behaved yourself into.

Stephen Covey (1932 -)

 

 Being accountable, and what it says about us..... it's what echos from my heart today......

Fresh on Friday ~ Be Encouraged Son....

Last night as I watched the evening news, I saw a young man who lost both of his legs

in the Boston Marathon bombings.

He's lost both his legs.

It's been very hard work, but today he is walking again!

He was alive and he was determined....

He life completely changed that day, initially thinking he was going to die.

He is now about to be married with a baby on the way.

He is happy, and thankful.

He is looking forward to all of his tomorrows, with a child he has not yet met.

He is excited about life again.

~

Be encouraged Joseph Horton,

you can do this!

The same praying people that got you this far,

are going to get you the rest of the way.

love you, Smom

The long haul, it's what echos from my heart today....

Wednesday Hodgepodge ~

1. April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes. When did you last 'shower' attention on someone or have attention 'showered' on you? Did you love it, or did all that attention make you squirm?

I love to shower attention on my grand kids... you can see how much it means to them

in there little faces. I personally don't care to be the object of attention, but do appreciate the

thought behind it :-)

2. Share a favorite 'spring break' memory. Not talking about just the 'college spring break' thing, but any favorite spring break memory you'd like to share. Keep it family friendly please!

That would be the first spring after my hubby retired we spent most days at the beach with

morning coffee in hand and lunch packed for the day.

Those were the best days.....


3. It's National Pecan Month...are you a fan? If so, what's your favorite dish that calls for pecans?

Not a big fan of pecans....but put them on a cinnamon roll with lots of icing, I'm a fan.

4.  'Put all your eggs in one basket', 'egg on your face', 'rotten egg', 'walk on eggshells', or 'a good egg'...which egg-spression could most recently be applied to your own life?

None actually apply to my life today but I am doing Atkins and have eaten more than my share of eggs!!

5.  In my experience,
Love is a verb.

 6. What's a  favorite song with the word rain in its title or lyrics?

It Feels like Rain, by Aaron Neville

7. What does the word hope mean to you?

Jesus Christ, the great Hope !

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I received a phone call from someone very special to me.

She called to tell me she loved me, was thankful for our relationship, she admires my faith,

and she is a stalker of my blog :-) She said much more to me that filled my heart, so much so

it reminded me of the importance of telling others how you feel about them,  now.

Why wait for the eulogy?  

Tell them now! 

Monday Minute ~

First weekend with the hubstir back home...

He's been working in the yard doing a lot of transplanting..
nice to have him home.

I was very thankful for the most beautiful weather ever to watch him work in.

This week is suppose to bring 80's at the beach :-)

I'm finding it crazy how fast time is going as I get older...seriously fast!

If only my weight came off  as fast...bothersome.....

I'm determined to be wearing my closet full of the wrong size clothes :-)

by July......

Looking forward to Easter at my sister Deanna's....

catching up with my friend Beth Mary for a couple fun nights!

Mostly I'm looking forward to flowers every where :-)

Have a great week!

....it's what echo's from my heart today.

Fresh on Friday ~

Change

change

CHānj/

verb

1. 1.

   make or become different.

   "a proposal to change the law"
2. 2.

   take or use another instead of.

   "she decided to change her name"

noun

1. 1.

   the act or instance of making or becoming different.

   "the change from a nomadic to an agricultural society"
2. 2.

   coins as opposed to paper currency.

   "a handful of loose change"

   synonyms:

   coins, loose/small change

All definitions sound voluntary, don't they?
Deliberate even...
 I know change is not always a choice, but when it is....
If what your doing in some area of your life isn't working....
the choice to move toward change is yours.

We can all make excuses for bad behavior,
I say choose to not make excuses.

For me for example.
I can complain about my weight till the cows come home,
there home, and I did.
Often proclaiming the excuse, I don't have time to work out.
Truth be told, I just don't like to work out.
 Eating a lot and what I eat, I do have a choice and I chose to change it.
If it's not good for me, I choose not to buy it. If you bring it home you will likely eat it.
I may not have time for a gym...
I do have time to stay off the couch and keep moving.......
it all adds up.

We can also make excuses for bad behavior
ours or others.
No excuses.....if it's bad it needs to change,
except for very rare instances, it's a choice.

If we make excuses for an others bad behavior,
what on earth might be their reason to change if it continues to work for them?
It's easy to blame others for your behavior,
truth is you are driving this truck!
Make different choices, no one makes you do anything.

Change.

What is it that you wish to change?
Weight, forgiveness, temper, relationship, income, negativity, worry?
The list is really one that may never end.
Whatever it is, your best bet in changing it is
read everything you can find on the topic.
Seek out answers to change whatever it is!

Little kids blame others,
Adults...take a good honest look at themselves,
and make changes as needed, regardless of how you got there.
Changes that will benefit self and those you love.
Why does that not sound appealing to you??

So often it's  pride standing in your way of change.
 Do you really understand pride?

Pride

C.S. Lewis, another top contender for having had the greatest impact for Christ in the twentieth century, called pride “the great sin.” Every believer should read his chapter by that title in Mere Christianity. There Lewis said,
According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…
… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.¹If this sounds like exaggeration, it will help us to know that Lewis is not simply giving us his private opinion but summarizing the thinking of great saints through the ages. Augustine and Aquinas both taught that pride was the root of sin.² Likewise Calvin, Luther, and many others. Make no mistake about it: pride is the great sin. It is the devil’s most effective and destructive tool.

Hmmmm...nuff said?

I often pray that God will show me the areas I need to make changes in my life.
There is always something.....
and I'm aware pride can take the lead very easily.

I'm encouraging all ...if you need to make changes...do so!
Chances are, the changes you make,
will change your life as you know it today, and for the better!

Pride....break the hold it has on you, why wouldn't you?
If you think pride is not an issue ever, well...
perhaps re read what C.S. Lewis says about pride...

The desire to change that which is not working for you....it's what echos from my heart today.

Hodgepodge Wednesday ~

1. Since these questions are posting on the first day of April it seems only right to ask-when was the last time you did something foolish? If you can't answer that one, try this one-when was the last time someone fooled you?

About a month ago I ate a pint of ice cream for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I adore ice cream, in fact I believe it's part genetic, part comfort as it makes me think of my sweet Dad.

My Dad scooped what are now known as Papa scoops of ice cream...

in today's language it would be known as Super sized! 

Foolish because most of what's in my closet doesn't fit, largely due to my super sized love

of food and ice cream.. happy to report I'm down 9 to 10 pounds (depends on the day) since 

that memorable date with

 the cold stuff.

2. What's the last biography or non-fiction book you've read? Was it any good?

It was sometime back, Sidney Poitier's, The Measure of A Man.

I remember liking it...just reading about what made him the Man he is.


3. Garlic-friend or foe? What's your favorite dish made with garlic?

I can sometimes have "issues" with garlic, but oh I love it.  I think my favorite would

maybe be shrimp scampi !!

4. Several Spring flower festivals happen in the US during the month of April. Of those listed, which would you most like to see in person...The Skagit Tulip Festival in Skagit Washington, The Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville Tennessee, The North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington North Carolina or the Daffodil Festival Weekend on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts?

That is a tough one. I love tulips!  I also love the Arts, I could do a day of that... My husband has a giant Azalea plant that is beautiful, so I would love to see lots of them at one time!  

Then, there is just something about Daffodils, they just make me smile.. 

Sorry I would have to pull this choice out of a hat....

5. How do you choose which blogs to read?  What is something that will make you stop and read every time? Something that makes you say, 'eh, think I'll skip this one and move on to the next'?

Good question...there is a common theme as to blogs I follow...Family... :-) Grand kids, faith, photography.

Those I follow are very down to earth people, who love their families, stand by their beliefs,

even when it may not be the politically correct thing to do...admire that so much. 

6. April is National Mathematics Education Month so tell us, when did you last use math?

That's what I have smart friends for...I'm not gonna kid ya!

7. In honor of the A-Z challenge kicking off on April 1...choose one word beginning with the letter A to describe your yesterday.

Amazing!!  My husband came home after being gone over a month..

Yes, it was amazing... 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

 Thinking about getting away this summer...I'm not sure to where or to do what... 

but pretty sure I'm in need of it.....