Fantastic Fridays

2:42 p.m.
I went to Coffee with Friends at Wellness City and had a wonderful time. We took our online class at home and are moving forward with our financial plans with confidence especially after this morning's bible study.

Today I see Heather and I'm really looking forward to that. I don't think I've seen her in over a month, well, it seems that way anyhow.

I'm going to do some Bible journaling for the next hour.

Answered Prayers

Wow! Once again God came through and blessed our family with lightning speed. It truly is amazing to watch him work for our good when we seek him daily and give all of our cares, worries, and needs to him with thankful, trusting hearts!

We've been praying for our son and daughter-in-law. to find a house to buy within their price range. They needed 3 bedrooms but would like 4, they wanted a pool, in a good school district, close to his work, with a two car garage.

We only prayed TWO days and God answered their prayers. They got a beautiful home with all the requirements save one. It's a 3 bedroom instead of a 4, but it has a lovely family room. I think they wanted the 4th bedroom for guests, but Evan can bunk with AJ if they need to put someone up overnight. Or they can put a sofa sleeper in the family room.

Anyway, the pool is beyond gorgeous. The master bath has a Jacuzzi garden tub that looks out over the lovely back yard gardens. It has a covered patio that they hadn't asked for, there's a fireplace in the living room, the kitchen has all built-in appliances. There's a two car garage. And it's in a good neighborhood with above average schools, perfect for the kids to go to. AJ is only 3, but kindergarten isn't that far away.

They also have this quirky think about everything important involving them having a 7 or an 11 in it.
Their birth dates all have a 7 or 11, the kid's birthdays have a 7 or 11 in them. They were married on 7-7-11 and get this...The house is the 7th on the block! I had to laugh at that. I guess God is quirky too.

I'm only going to post pictures of the outside of the house for confidentiality reasons.

Isn't the front yard gorgeous?

I just love this hot pink door that matches the bougainvillea

 Here's the large covered patio.

And can you believe this pool?

Okay, so now for the price...it's in an exclusive community, but without homeowner's fees. The house was listed at $315K, but they got it for $300K!

Well, that's all I've got to say about my bragging rights, but I tell you I'm dying to get in that pool and have a BBQ!

An Average Day in Banning

4:15 a.m.

I've been up since 3:30 a.m. journaling and listening to "Spring Water Radio" on Pandora. My friends at Wellness City just told me about Pandora and how to put it on my phone and computer. I'm still learning how to make my own stations up or find and choose the ones already made. I've already chosen George Strait, Loreena McKennit, Enya and Harry Nillson. Just a few of my favorite performers. I'm kind of all over the place with my musical tastes.

I wonder what kind of day today will be. I will probably go back to be to catch an hour or two of sleep before classes start at 9:00 a.m. but right now I'm wide a wake.

Eric is sleeping in his room with Shilo on the bed. I know that some of you may think this odd or even a sign that we don't have a healthy relationship but that's not true. It's a matter of sleeping preferences and how we can get a good night's sleep which has become very difficult and now that we have a larger house with two bedrooms we have decided to sleep in separate rooms. Eric snores very loudly and he gets hot easily so a sheet is comfortable for him. I get cold easily and like the window open over my head because I love to snuggle down under the comforter and enjoy the fresh air at the same time. So as you can see we have very different sleeping styles. Before, in the cabin, we had no choice but to share a bed, but now we have a choice to sleep separately and both of us are very content with that decision. In fact, our relationship has become even closer because of it.

Longing for My Cabin Home

Today was an energetic day at class at Wellness City.

Once again there wasn't any coffee or creamer so I ran home and got some. I don't live that far and I am more than happy to share what I have.

The staff there pulled me aside and thanked me profusely for all that I do there because I give so much they said. I don't mind giving a person a ride home or to some place nearby if it will help them. I'm just that way. I guess you could say it's in my make up. Anyway, they said I was a lifesaver and I felt touched. They insisted that I needn't bring things or give people rides or do the things I do, but as I told them I really didn't mind. 

The classes were filled with very energetic and positive people today and I came home renewed and refreshed all except for one citizen who has been extremely clingy and demanding. He said "I miss my friend" and then pouted. Now you've got to understand this is a 40-year-old man and many times he is disruptive in class and acts like a 4-year-old faking crying jags or interrupting people with his crazy immature antics. I have decided that the next time he acts that way I will ask him if he needs a "time out" just like I used to do with the first graders I used to teach. That or I will just get up and leave the class until his silly tantrum is over. It's such a trigger for me that it makes me very impatient and angry with him. I don't want to express that in class. It wouldn't be appropriate. I've already had a Peer Support Specialist meeting to tell him that I just want to be friends at school and that I don't feel comfortable doing things with him outside of school. I mean he started asking me to taking him to my watercolor class and bingo which are things that I do for myself to relax, enjoy and recharge my batteries. Then the final straw was when he asked me to take him home to meet his parents. I felt like he thought we were a couple. It freaked me out so I had the meeting with him to ask him to take a step back and for us to just be friends at Wellness City which is why it upset me so when he threw his emotional hijacking behavior by trying to make me feel guilty for my decision. As I said before I just told him, "We are still friends just only here at Wellness City." I've had to set a healthy and protective boundary for myself. It's sad, but true.

As for the rest of classes today It was very positive and I learned a lot. When I got home I typed up my notes as they really rely on me to let them know what chapter or lesson we are on. I don't mind. In fact, it's a lot of fun for me and is very rewarding.

When I came home for lunch, I checked into buying "The Secret" which is a movie they need for class. I found it on Amazon for $2.49 + 3.99 for shipping. It's a new copy so I will order it so that we can continue with the class. I called the school and told them that it wouldn't be available until the 8th or the 23rd which if the latter date means I would be at my seminar to become a Peer Support Specialist myself. I will order the movie on the 3rd after we pay our bills. Since they couldn't continue on with the class I called the center and told them about the movie and that I wouldn't be coming back for class today.

Instead, Hubby and I went to the pool to soak in some sunshine and cool off. It was refreshing and when I saw that I was getting a little red I told him that that was enough sunshine for me for the day. Later today we went back to the club house and shot 6 games of pool. I'm getting much better at hitting the ball into the pocket and I won several games but I also scratched a few. Either way I had fun and was pleased that my skills are improving. Perhaps we will play some more today as hubby doesn't have to go into work until 4:00 p. m.

So when we came back home I worked on my class notes again, but I didn't print them out because we were low on ink and I didn't want to use it all up before we could see if it was in the budget to buy some more. We really use the printer a lot. Me for my class notes and hubby for his scripts. He's a writer as well as an actor a music teacher and a professional musician.

I am so pleased that when we moved we could buy our house outright. I mean how many people can say they own their house at 50? We pay association dues which also include our utilities but it's very affordable and I love our house. I still miss that we moved off of the mountain and it's painful to think about going back up there right now, which is why I chose to cancel my spot at the craft fair they are having in town. I would just want to see home again and it would break my heart to know that it wasn't my home anymore. Here's a picture of it in winter and spring.

 In this photo (above) we had just laid down the bark and planted some of the yellow marigolds which hadn't blossomed yet. We put in the picket fence panels up by the door. I had a picket fence with a gate across the front yard at one time but the snow plows broke it down so this time I put the panels down at the bottom of the hill. It was still very quaint, don't you think. We had just painted the house too. I chose the colors. It looked very pretty in the snow. This was an average snow storm in January. My neighbor took a picture of it. I still have the key to the front door on my key chain. It just one part of the illusion I have that the house still belongs to me. Part of me is still upset and sad that I had to move off because Eric was tired of the snow. I loved it. Oh well, it's the past now. So is my life that I had up there.

Etsy Store

I had an order for a Tinkerbell Costume that I just couldn't get motivated to complete. That's the first time that has ever opened since I opened my store over a year ago. I've put my shop on vacation because I just have too much things going on right now. I don't think I'll close it though because if I'm going to be doing craft fairs I can place orders and take credit cards which could really help me make sales.

Here's the outfit I just couldn't complete: I sell it for $50.

Memorial Day

It's been a quiet day of Bible Journaling. We went shopping at Aldi and I got a new coffee pot with a built-in shut off timer for $20! It was a steal. It's a 12 cup model with one of those mesh coffee filters so no more paper ones to run out of or more trash in the landfill. I'm really happy about that. I like that it's black too, because the white ones get dirty so easily. I haven't used it yet, but I will probably tonight.

We love shopping at Aldi. We used to go to Walmart for everything but now we can find most things at Aldi and for a fraction of the cost.

After Aldi we came home and had chili dogs for lunch then Eric sacked out. I colored for about an hour and then laid down myself.

I have discovered Pandora and so I went to bed with my headphones on and listened to it on my cell phone. I'm hooked.

Well off to color some more...

The Lord's Day: A Day of Rest

11:50am
Today I was going to go to church, but I found myself nodding off while talking to Eric and decided to stay home and work in my Bible Journaling, then doing a Bible Study and finally reading A Purpose Driven Life. It's a 40 day journey into enlightenment about who you are and what God has planned for you. Plans he determined before you were even born. I truly believe that once we have completed this goal, God takes us home to be with him and what an adventure that would be.

I'm off to journal now...