Lilla Rose

Lilla Rose giveaway going on over at Pecan Pastures...check it out!

P365 ~ Week 34

This was a FULL week for us but it was a GOOD week.

For a treat on Sunday night we went to Yogurt-land...  we all had a good laugh because Paul piled his cup with so many snickers that it was overflowing.  I think he eats snickers with a little frozen yogurt :-)

 Came home from work and got this in the mail... Paul's diploma!

 Tuesday I was invited to stamp with some friends... it was 4 of us ladies laughing and having a great time together.  We were able to complete several cards also.

 This week we started something new - more activity... a friend/coworker of Kathy's has a gym at her neighborhood so we headed over there after work... had dinner and then got some exercise time in.   I had to take a picture of our dinner because I thought it was funny to see the two different kinds of hot dogs cooking... can you tell which ones are only 1 point?  :-)

 Another day of exercise time... I got in 45 minutes on the treadmill... sorry the picture is so blurry but now you see proof that I really was walking on the treadmill.

 My work was piling up and someone went on vacation so Kathy had me come in and work almost the whole week.  I got much accomplished and my desk is finally starting to look better.

 I was playing around trying to take a picture of my hair but ended up getting more of my shirt in this picture... I have to share - this is actually a size smaller than I was wearing... I bought it at a store that was going out of business... I put it in my closet and now I lost enough weight to be able to wear it..... woohoo!  I am excited and hoping to continue my weight loss.

 Here is the picture I was going for... I love my flexi clip... it's so comfortable and so easy for me to put my hair up in the morning and not take a long time doing it.

 Saturday we had a Haitian Creations purse party and we had a blast.  Haitian Creations is a program of Heartline Ministries, an organization serving in Haiti for over 20 years. The women in Haiti learn how to  make purses and jewelry and even some metal art creations.  This opportunity allows them to feed their children and get them an education.  Check out the website and if you want to support them sign up to host a party.

Here is the awesome group of women that came to fellowship and to support the ladies in Haiti.

So that was my full but blessed week.  How was yours?

TSMSS ~ One of These Mornings

Hair Accessories + Purses + Jewelry = Missions

Last Friday I spent the day in prayer and fasting so I could focused on my relationship with the Lord and the direction for my life.

On my last missions trip the book Reckless Faith by Beth Guckengerber was recommended to me.  When I got back home I had Kathy order the book through Amazon for me to read and I am so glad I did.  This book put a whole new perspective on my thinking of Missions and my Faith.  I feel rejuvenated and on fire for the Lord.  I want to use the time I have hear on earth to do God's work as best as I can.

I realize I need money to go on missions trip, so the first decision I made was to sign up for Lilla Rose hair accessories.  I can sell them and make an instant 30% on my sales which will be a huge help and the reason I chose Lilla Rose was because they don't have minimum monthly sales requirements to stay active.  So if I go a month and have no sales it's ok I can pick up the next month and still get my 30%.

My Lilla Rose website & Facebook page

The second thing I did was sign up to host a purse & jewelry party for Haitian Creation.  This doesn't benefit me but it's a great ministry to help the ladies in Haiti.  They hand make purses, jewelry and metal art decorations as a way to support their families.  Each purse is signed by the artist and has some information about them.  Tomorrow is my purse party so please pray that we have a good turn out with lots of sales so that we can bless these ladies!

Haitian Creation website & Facebook page

If you have a minute, please go to both facebook pages and "like" the page.  This will help spread the word.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

P365 ~ Week 33

This week was an emotional week for me but I have to say now as I am writing this I feel rejuvenated and on fire for the Lord.  Thank you God for your all sufficient grace!

The week started with a Life Seminar at church and it was fabulous.  Pastor Jeffers is an excellent speaker.  Sunday night we finished up the last session of the seminar and we spent some time singing and sharing testimonies from things we learned or were challenged with during the seminar.  We sang the song Rejoice in the Lord by Ron Hamilton (you can read all the lyrics on Kathy's blog).  The chorus starts by saying "Oh rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistakes" and I fully believe God makes NO mistakes.  It gives me such peace knowing that Mike dying at such a young age and so suddenly was not a mistake.  It was always in God's plan...that was His perfect will.  I don't know why but I can have peace know God is in control and He makes no mistakes!

Had to make a guy birthday card for a dear friend at church.  This is what I came up with.  I found a similar idea on my favorite website for card ideas - Split Coast Stampers

 Tuesday night we spent an hour playing with our pastor's boys.  We had a blast although I have to say my favorite part of the night was watching Kathy play with this HUGE ball they have.  I couldn't stop laughing.

 Wednesday I was invited over to stamp with a dear friend of mine.  She made this card and I thought it was adorable... I loved the little onesie.  I ended up making a cute card somewhat like it.  I'll have to take a picture of it and share it later.

Thursday I spent the day cleaning the house and getting all the supplies cut out and ready for our stamp class on Saturday.

Friday was the 2 year anniversary of Mike's home going.  I spent the day in prayer and reading.  I fasted from all my electronics so I don't have a picture of this day.  I hope to share more about this day in a future blog post.

Saturday was the card class which turned out great.  The ladies had a fabulous time making cards and I enjoyed showing them how.

 When all the card making was over Kathy decided to pull out my flexi clips and show them off.  She started playing around and made these beautiful hair styles.  I ended up selling 3 Lilla Rose items which was a blessing since that will go to help pay for my missions trip to New Mexico in October.

 To end a long week we decided to go out to eat somewhere nice.  We tried two other restaurants before ending up at the Melting Pot.  We just couldn't see waiting an hour to be seated.  I was very thankful we were able to be seated at the Melting Pot without any reservation.  The cheddar cheese  fondue was my favorite, as usual!  This was Paul enjoying his white chocolate fondue for dessert!

How was your week?  I'm heading over to Sara's to check it out.

TSMSS ~ What A Day That Will Be

Two Years

It's hard to believe it's only been two years since Mike went to Heaven.  I say "only" because it feels like I haven't had Mike in my life for much longer than two years.  Each day without my beloved husband feels like years.

Mike was an amazing husband.  He was a great provider, he took care of my needs and so many of my wants.  Actually Mike had a hard time saying NO to me so I had to be careful not to abuse that.  He supported me in anything I wanted to do and He was always there to help me through anything.

He would always say his job was to make me laugh every day and he DID make me laugh EVERY day.  I actually REALLY miss that.  I realize I am more of a serious type person so he balanced me out so well.  Not that Mike wasn't serious but he knew when he needed to act like an adult and be serious and when he could be like a big kid and laugh and play.
He was a romantic.  He loved planning out trips and surprising me.  I have lots of memories of weekend trips with Mike and even our big trip for our 5 year anniversary to Niagara Falls.
He always took care of everything.  He wasn't the kind of man who needed to be asked twice to do anything.  Actually I never even had to ask him once because he always had everything under control.  He set goals for himself, he had a schedule for everything and he was organized in every way.  Any commitment he made he put all his effort into completing it.  I honestly don't know how he did it all.  How he managed to stay organized, focused and committed to all his church ministries, home duties, work responsibilities and everything else that came his way.

Please continue to pray for me.  It's hard going on with life when half of you is missing and that is how it feels when you lose a spouse.  Mike completed me...He was my better half!

Some of you met me after Mike passed away, so for you, here are some posts about Mike and the day God called him home.

My posts:

• Michael P. Williams (10/21/1966-08/17/2010)
• At Home with the Lord
• Mike's Testimony
• One Year Ago Today...
• Memories

Posts from Dad's blog:

• He was only ten years old
• The Memorial

Posts from Kathy's blog:

• Update
• Atlanta
• Praise Him

It's Chicken Time

I'm continuing my tradition of buying chickens through Gospel of Asia in remembrance of Mike and his love for God and his love for chickens.

May God be glorified and may the lost come to know Him through the Gospel of Asia ministry.

I will also be fasting from food and electronics on August 17th as I focus on my personal relationship with the Lord and what my future direction and focus needs to be.

P365 ~ Week 32

It's been a very productive week for me.  It feels so good to be able to cross off a few things from the To-Do list.  Life is still super busy but I can't complain.

I organized the crawl space and pantry and now I know exactly what foods I have.

 Paul has made some beautiful pens in the past but I have to say these recent ones are my favorite.

 I made some boy "dirtday" cards  :-)

 This is the book we have been going through for Bible study and I highly recommend it.  Easy to understand and highly convicting!

 I'm getting ready for a stamp class we are having this coming Saturday.  This is one of the cards we are going to make. (not sure why my picture is upside down but I'm too tired to fix it right now)

 Thursday night Bible study was fabulous, as usual!  We have a great group of ladies at our church.

 This week I signed up to start selling Lilla Rose hair clips.  I am going to use the profits from the sales to help pay for my future missions trips.  I am really excited because these flexi clips are gorgeous and it makes it so easy for me to do my hair. 

Good night all!  I'll be heading over to Sara's tomorrow to read about your week.

TSMSS ~ Just a Little While

God's Word

To the weary pilgrim, I am a good staff.
To the one who sits in gloom, I am a glorious light.
To those who stoop beneath heavy burdens, I am sweet rest.
To him who has lost his way, I am a safe guise.
To those who have been hurt by sin, I am a healing balm.
To the discourages, I whisper glad messages of hope.
To those who are distressed by the storms of life, I am an anchor.
To those who suffer in lonely solitude, I am a cool, soft hand resting on a fevered brow.
O, child of man, to best defend me, just use me!

                                                                   ~ Unknown

I Signed Up Again!

For the past few weeks I have been praying about going back to New Mexico and today I went onto goodgoers.com and signed up.  I actually took the last spot available for the trip in October.  Please pray that the people we minister to may see Jesus and His love through me.  To God be the Glory!

P365 ~ Week 31

I keep thinking things are going to slow down but they just aren't.  The start of this week I was doing really well with eating healthy and watching my points but by the end of the week, I was stressed out, overwhelmed and tired and the last thing I wanted to worry about was my food choices.

This is a Smart Ones heat up and it's actually a very tasty one and it's only 5 points which works out great for me.  It's turkey and mashed potatoes.  We had coupons and these went on sale at the grocery store so I ended up getting lots so I could eat them often.

 Paul had a doctor's appointment for his knee.  After the appointment Kathy and I ran to the drug store to have his prescription filled.  While Kathy was checking out I went and had my blood pressure taken. My blood pressure was excellent... the numbers were in the "normal" section so I was thankful for that. I've never had issues with my blood pressure but since high blood pressure runs in the family I try to check it when I see these blood pressure machines.

 Four days this week I walked 3 miles.  Because it's so HOT out here I have to wake up early to get my walking done.  So normally by 5:30 I am out the door enjoying this view.

 These are two sweet ladies who I, from time to time, get together to stamp and make cards.  We always have a wonderful time but this week it was extra special because...

 ... I got to go home with a box of goodies and 

 a huge stack of scrapbook papers.

 I was able to complete a set of cards I had been holding onto the supplies for these specific cards for quite a while.  It always gives me a much better sense of accomplishment when I finish something I started a long time ago.

 We had some internet problems and the way for the company to keep us happy we were given basic cable for free so I was actually able to watch some of the Olympics.

 There is so much to be happy about!!

 Kathy has been getting into making cards almost every night and she has been making some beautiful cards.  Here is one of her latest creations.

 I am so thankful we had an opportunity to go visit Wylma (our 92 year old friend) before she moves to Alabama to live with her nephew.  Wylma is a spunky old lady whose mind is as sharp as a tack. 

 Please pray for Wylma because as far as I know she has not turned her life over to the Lord.

 My latest creation... I was just in a glittery kind of mood.

Kathy and I made food for a baby shower today.  We had a wonderful time celebrating with our friend the miracle and blessing of a child.

How was your week?  Any celebrations?  Any special people in your life?  Heading on over to Sara's to read all about it.

TSMSS ~ Brighten the Corner Where You Are