What's going on in this world? Wait a minute, I know.....

As I reflect on all that's gone on in the world here lately I feel the need to get it out.  My topic is Paula Deen, George Zimmerman, and Big Brother.  First of all, Paula, let me begin by saying I don't not agree with using the 'n' word but that said I also don't agree with the 'r' word (retarded), the 'q/f' word (queer/fag).  I don't like calling any single group of people a name that is used in a deragatory way ~ men calling women (who are on an opposite side politically) the 't' word or 'c' word, the 'c' word (cracker), the 'h' word (honky), ect. ect. ect.  You get the idea.  Now that all said, for pete's sake we are all human and fall short of the glory of the Lord and SHOULD be able to forgive one another as we look to Christ to forgive us.  Now I realize all people aren't Christian so they don't understand this concept but come on. 

George Zimmerman - I don't believe for a moment that he intended to kill Trayvon Martin and as a mother my heart is saddened for BOTH mothers.  The only people who truly know what happened, how it happened, and all of the specific pieces are George and Trayvon.  Not the media.  Not the police and certianly not the GOVERNMENT!  The government has no business getting involved now that the jury has returned it's verdict.  If they want to get involved then why not get involved in the case of the 4 black men who beat a white ex-marine in Georgia.  Why is that case not a 'race' case?  Why do we continue to throw any kind of card?   Another example ~ I want my special ed child included in every aspect at school but when I need to I'm going to throw the 'my kid has special needs' to get them special privleges.  Racism goes in all directions regardless of color but yet no one likes it - myself included.  Here's a shocker ~ we are ALL human created in God's image.  We are ALL children of God.  Let's ALL act as such.

That said it leads me to Big Brother ~ where do I begin.....I was very excited to learn that a girl from my home town was on.  And on top of that she is attending one of my alumni colleges (Southwest Texas ~ now called Texas State) so that made it even better.  Welllll......I am very saddened and really disgusted that she's from Angelo, SWT, or even Texas for that matter.  She gives my town/college/state a bad name.  She is a MEAN girl with some very bad stuff spewing from her mouth.  She needs to learn the choices you make affect the choices you make.  How surprised will she be (and the others that are meeting the same fate) to learn that she's been fired from her job?  What will her fellow SWT/TS students think ~ will they treat her as she has treated?  I guess time will tell but let me just say ~ IN NO WAY does she represent me, my school, or my state!  She (and others in the house) need to grow up and learn how to treat people. 

Now with all this rambling said let me just say this ~ I am prejudiced.  I am prejudiced against those that are mean to others, those that don't pull their own weight, those that think they are better than others, those that abuse kids/animals/adults, and on & on REGARDLESS of color.  I am color BLIND when it comes to this.  White, black, brown, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or whatever color.   

 As Luke 10:27 states:

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There you go!

 

 

^{Enough said.}

 

^{~  Saddened Me}

Where have YOU been?

So, what's been going on with you?  A lot I'm sure.  Same here.  Let's see February through now - rodeo, parents in for Spring Break, Easter, end of school (WOO HOO), trip to Vegas with some friends (had a great time and ate some AMAZING food), Tannar & Taylar finally home, visit with Candi, boat races, trip to San Antonio & Six Flags with all 4 girls (Rylee, Chandler, Tannar & Taylar), my NEW car got hit not ONCE but Twice, and here we are on the 4th of July.  Wow, that was a quick trip from February through June.  To say we've been busy would be an understatement but we've had a ball.  Let me see if I can find some pictures for you.

This year the girls and I entered some items in the Arts & Crafts part of our Stock Show & Rodeo that's held every February.  I'd say we are hooked.  They came away with ribbons and few extra dollars in their pockets and making plans for what they want to do for next year.

This is the scarf that Chandler made and won a 2nd place ribbon for.

 A scrapbook layout I entered and won for.

 Another winning scrapbook layout.

Rylee's first place winning scarf that she made.

First 'hit' was a hit & run in the HEB parking lot.  Just lovely!

Second hit was almost a hit & run as the girl that did it almost didn't say anything because she didn't think it did any damage.  $1300 later it was fixed.  No damage my @#$!

Headed to a wedding....

Tony & Tina's wedding that is.  It was awesome - will be seeing this one again.

Hash House A Go Go - can you say delicious?  Oh yeah!

We are ready for some 80's music at Rock of Ages - another will see again show.  You ought to see my Rock of Ages shirt!

Didn't get to stay here too long but we will next time, that's a promise.

 

 

 

 

THE GRAND CANYON!  'nuff said.

Sedona - beautiful.  Will have to take the girls there too.

Six Flags trip with four wonderful girls - Chandler 12, Taylar 10, Rylee 15, and Tannar 13.  Love these girls!

Stampers From The Heart Team Virtual Swap

SO here it is.....drum roll please.......my FIRST 'blog hop' swap!!!!!!!!!

I need to work on my photography skills ~ next time I will use my big camera instead of my little point & shoot.

Here is a list of supplies if you want to make these too:

Make It From Your Heart Vol. 1  9035 ~ we used Pattern 19 on page 42
Artise Cricut Catridge Z 1790 ~ used to cut out the 'm' and the white & yellow pieces used for the Happy Mother's Day image
Perfect Fit - Mom stamp set C1543
Chantilly Paper Packet X7163B
Chantilly Assortment Z1814 ~ fabric covered button used as the 'o' in Mom
Twilight pigment ink from the Whimsy Set Z2500
Sparkles - Clear Z1752
3D Foam Tape Z1151

If you'd like to order any of the items mentioned to make your own cards just leave me a comment on how to contact you or order directly from my website at:  http://debbielou.ctmh.com/Default.aspx

Thanks for looking and remember that you TOO can Make It From YOUR Heart.

~ 'Creative' Me

Oh really......part two!

Here is said lamp mentioned in my previous post.  And, oh look, it's working.  Oh yeah!  So I couldn't/didn't do it all by myself like I had planned.  Turns out because the Mogul fixture is so much bigger than a regular fixture you can't just switch them out.  So after buying a new 'regular size' fixture and a couple of extra pieces and a little bit of Redneck engineering by Mike it is WORKING!  It is in the perfect spot ~ right behind my rocking chair in my bedroom which will now be (with the proper lighting now being supplied) my very own little knitting nook!

~ 'Grateful for a handy man (when he wants to be) husband' Me

Oh really.....

I went to Lowe's today to get a light bulb for a 1940's lamp that I bought at a garage sale.  It doesn't take just any regular size bulb - no, that would be too easy.  It takes a bulb with a Mogul Base.  This was pretty much my ONLY choice ~

Nice huh?  I don't think so.

So I ask light guy:

Me:  Can it be rewired with a 'regular' light fixture?

Guy: No, it can't.

Now, when I get home and try gargantuan bulb in said lamp, guess what?  It. Doesn't. Work.  Now what?

I did what any other person would do, 

I took it apart. 

SO.....now time for a trip back to Lowe's to see about getting a 'regular' size light fixture to put in my 1940's lamp with mercury shade.  I know exactly where it is going to go too!  Stay tuned for more...........

~ Handy (Wo)Man Me

So between Rylee and I we've seen Les Mis 6 times and Chandler has seen it once (both her & I would love to see it again and so would Rylee for that matter but we will have to wait for the DVD!)  Chandler has heard us say 'Les Mis' this and 'Les Mis' that over the last few weeks.  So Sunday after church she grabs my iPad and using a white board app she writes something down and says, 'Can we listen to this?' at which point she shows me what she has written ~ Lame is.  Needless to say we listened to it even though Mike really thinks it IS lame!  That kid cracks me up all the time.

~ 'Humored' Me

You Are An Obsession {insert 80's music here} and the scarf that started it all!

There's a song from the 80's that keeps playing in my head.  It's Obsession by Animotion.  The lyrics go like this:

You are an obsession, I cannot sleep
I am a possession unopened at your feet
There is no balance, no equality
Be still I will not accept defeat

So here's where this comes into play ~ I made this scarf just after Thanksgiving.  

Which promptly lead to this:

And since I've taken this picture I've purchased some new 'yarn' that I can't wait to use.  I've finished the scarf that is on the loom.  Here is a picture of it:

So now I've also signed up for an into to Knitting at a local place called Chandler's Cottage (great name by the way!)  It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's awesome to see something that starts as a ball of 'yarn' and ends up in something that you can wear.

~ Knitting Me

23 years ago today.....

I was getting ready to go to my wedding rehearsal

and here was Mike from back then 

Can't believe it's been that long.  We've had some bad times and many, many good times.  If it weren't for the grace of God we wouldn't have made it this far.  Here's to the next 23 years.

~ 'Married' Debbie

Snow, snow, snow, snow

First ~ as you saw we had a forecast of snow on Thursday night.  This is what we woke up to on Friday morning ~

and this .....

The girls played (briefly) and you can see Rylee went out with (in)appropriate footing ~

Now, the best thing about West Texas snow is it's here today and gone tomorrow.  So today I am dealing with this ~

 muddy footprints and clumps of mud on the floor from.....

 Maddie and 

 Red.  

Good times, people, good times.  

~ Debbie

Here's hoping.

Could it really happen?

Here's hoping!

~ Debbie

Here I am with webpages and waffles oh my!

I have spent my day in front of this computer playing!  Facebook, Pinterest, and Grace Adele catalog, oh my!  I've played my turn on Draw Something with supersmiles and chatted with my mom on Messages.  I've texted (and talked to) two of my besties (as Amy Farrah Fowler would say) today.  It has been a totally lazy day and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  We have all stayed home today just enjoying being at home with absolutely nothing to do or get done.

Here are all of my electronic gadgets that have been in use today.  I would have had one more iPad but it's charging.  This is my shout out to my friend Aimee - thought you'd get a kick out of this.  Look familiar?  I have 9 windows open on my web browser - FB, Blogger, Pinterest - with several windows open from interesting pins, Scentsy website, and the ALL NEW Grace Adele catalog.  Let me just say this - I am gonna go BROKE with this new catalog.

So now for the waffles:  Bing has been down & out with the flu for about 4 days.  She just got her appetite back a little yesterday so when she requested waffles.....you can see I made them.  Of course if you have waffles you have to have homemade syrup (it's a MUST).  My girls won't eat store bought syrup now, and I must say I won't either.  Here's the recipe:
1.5 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
Combine & bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add 1/4 t. vanilla & 1/4 t. maple flavoring.  Yummo!

So here it's January 1st, 2013, and I am finally entering the world of blogging.  Not sure how this will turn out but we will see.   I have many friends who blog and I have aspirations to be as crafty as Pamela and as witty as Becky and maybe someday I will be a little more like them but in the meantime I am as 'crafty me' as I need to be and 'witty me' here and there (when I am lucky and think of something quick).  I hope y'all will give me pointers on this blogging thing.

That is all for now.  Time to make the black-eyed peas for dinner so we will have a prosperous 2013.  Now go eat a PEA.

~ 'Lazy' Me