2018 Ornament Exchange

My dear sweet friend Stephanie

The Enchanting Rose

Hosted her first Ornament Exchange

When I heard she was doing this

I knew I wanted to participate

Everything Stephanie does

Is done with Excellence

And this was no different

I was excited to meet my new friend

Anne Marie of

Musings of a Vintage Junkie

I scoped out her blog and tried 

To choose items that were vintage in nature

And fit with my holiday color scheme

I think I succeeded but I forgot to take photos

Before I wrapped everything

So, here are a few I took

Once my package was wrapped and ready to sent

It was such a pleasure to receive my little package

I seldom receive 'happy mail' so this was fun

My new friend Abby is a talented crafter

I could tell when I opened the envelope

She blogs at: Little Birdie Blessings

She cut this beautiful bird out of chimney flashing

So cute

And designed this treasured advent calendar

Each day has a wonderful scripture

Printed with sweet details 

The little bird hangs on ribbon

Love the hand crafted booklet

A very sweet and now treasured gift

I will always remember my first ornament exchange

Thank you Stephanie for Hosting

Thank you Anne Marie and Abby

For Participating and Being a Blessing

Sharing Joy

Hello Sweet Friends

I'm so happy you decided to stop by

Your visits always brighten my day

I thought I'd just share a couple of happy moments

Below is my Matthew

At 30 years old

He has been offered a job

And he is loving it

He started a couple of weeks ago

Here he is with his first pay check

He was so very excited

Believe me - it is already spent

But, he is SO happy

His bus picks him up at 6:30 am

And returns him home between 3:00-4:00 pm

Five days a week

He is tired - but he finally feels like he is doing

Something important

I'm thrilled for him

Congratulations Matthew

During the 21 years I have lived in my home

My family has been helped out by our local

Fire station 38 on numerous occasions

One day a fire truck pulled up to our front curb

Out jumps my oldest son

After the panic ended

The guys take my son's bicycle off the truck

Follow by a full sheet of plywood

Yep, he was trying to carry the plywood home

While riding his bike

(They picked him up and gave him a ride home)

They showed up the morning my husband passed

It was Christmas Eve

They didn't care - they were here for me

They have hauled my fluffy little self to the ED

A few times when my heart has given me fits

In the middle of the night

They have also assisted my youngest

Numerous times during the past couple of years

As he has battled mental illness and cutting

For those many reasons

And more

The guys at Station 38

Received several boxes of snacks today

And a heartfelt Thank You

From Me

Cannot thank them enough

But taking the time to acknowledge them

Is a Joy~filled Moment

Because my love language is Gifts

I find planning, creating, and putting together gifts

Gives me such Joy

Of course I love to receive too

But, like we always here

 It is Better to Give than to Receive

I Agree

What is YOUR love language?

What makes you tic?

Blessings to you

Love Language

Hi Sweet Friends

Happy Heart Day

I'm sure most of us have read

Gary Chapmans' Book

The 5 Love Languages

1. Acts Of Service

2. Gifts

3. Physical Touch

4. Quality Time

5. Words of Affirmation

Many years ago I read the book

And found my Love Language to be

Gifts

Surprised?

No!!

I have, though, always been embarrassed of that gift

I feel like it makes me a 'materialistic' person

Yet, I personally don't think it has anything to do with that

I've read enough to know

That it really is just what makes us tic

Anyway,

Being a 'Gift' person

Doesn't just mean I like to 'get' gifts

It also means that I LOVE to Give Gifts

For the past two weeks I've been

Gathering the items needed to make my

Annual goodies for the staff

That work at the office I work in

I totally Love to make little Valentine gifts for the girls

Even the act of putting these together makes me happy

Creating the little tags and

Adding the goodies

IE: candy, confetti, sequins, etc

Gives me JOY

Friday I took these cute little bags of goodies

Into the office and gave one to each employee

I just love handing them out

What surprised me this year

Is that I never really even thought of getting anything

I usually don't get anything

BUT

This Year

I was surprised

I received a package on Thursday

From Kris

Who sent a wonderful bag of treats

And a great coloring book

Color Me Happy

I Say

Thank you KRIS

On Friday I received another package from Stephanie

She sent a sweet hand made Mug Rug

I didn't have one and LOVE this beautiful piece

I will enjoy using it daily

Thank you STEPHANIE

As I was preparing to leave the house Saturday morning

I heard a knock on the door

Surprise

A friend from work stopped by to share

A couple of her beautiful roses with me

Thank you DIANNE

While babysitting my granddaughters on Saturday

My K~Bel gave me this totally cute

Ponies Valentine Card

I cannot remember the last time I got such a cute 'real'

Valentine Card

Thank you K~BEL

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Luke 6:38

I never decide to give so it will be given back

However, I am So very grateful that God has

Chosen to place people in my life

Who have blessed me so

May your Heart Day

Be Blessed
So You can be a Blessing to someone Else!!

PS
My youngest is in the hospital again
Update HERE

{10} December Daily ~ Winners

Hi Sweet Friends,

The Big day has arrived
The winners revealed

After I share a couple of little cuties
 

I found the above ornament last year after Christmas

But forgot I had it until the other day

I put it on my desk

I think it's cute and makes me smile

Although I have pierced ears

I found these cute nativity earrings

And even tho they are clip on

I still think I will enjoy wearing them 

Over the next couple weeks

And Now

I set these three gifts out on my dining table

As I prepared to draw names 

For the GiveAway

I am So happy to announce the winners are:

Carol from Oasis in the Desert

Won the first prize

Lorraine from Flower Lady

Won the second prize

Rose from Musings, Meanderings and Merriment

Won the third prize


Ladies, I will have your packages in the mail Friday
I hope you receive them quickly
And in time to enjoy them over the next few weeks

It is always a pleasure to read your comments
And know that you have visited my blog
You all bless my heart
And I wish I could give every one of you a special gift

For now,
Please accept my cyber hugs and wishes
For a Merry and Bright Christmas

Blessings to All
 

{3} December Daily ~ Happy Mail

Hi Sweet Friends,

Here I am to share some happy mail
On Day {3} of December

This month I participated in

Pocket Letter Pals

Sponsored by Deb at Garage Sale Gal

My partner is Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose

I received my pocket letter today

It is absolutely beautiful

So many fun and pretty pieces

Plus a very sweet personal letter

I have enjoyed getting to know Stephanie

Over the past couple of weeks

And look forward to spending much time reading her blog

She is such a talented lady

This pocket letter is one I will treasure

And was the Happy Mail I received today

Speaking of Happy Mail

I'm sending several pieces out in the morning

I have a few more to prepare

But these babies are outta here

I pray over each piece

And hope the recipient finds a moment of Joy

During this very busy and hectic time of year

I believe it is important to take the time

To bless those around us 

And Happy Mail is one way I can do that


More happy mail was received a couple of days ago
"You know who you are"
A comfy pair of slippers
Some really sweet cards
And a Starbucks gift card
Hmmm...I think I'm Over Blessed

So, I think I need to get some more Happy Mail
To the Post Office Soon
So someone Else can be Blessed

Over Joyed by Love
Your Love
And HIS LOVE

Blessings

Question:
Recently, someone mentioned on their blog
That they Love Bells
Was that YOU???
 

{1} December Daily ~ Gift

 Hi Sweet Friends

I start my annual December Daily
with the word GIFT

For truly, what is Christmas
Without the Gift of Christ

As I focus my heart on the true meaning of Christmas
I purpose to not only remember the Gift
But to remember to be a Giver

Gifting doesn't have to cost money

Gifting can be time, prayer or even a simple smile

Today I was able to Gift my boss

Several hours of cleaning time

She hosted our office Christmas party tonight

So it was a Joy to offer her

My gift of Time

Sure

We were able to wear our pajamas

And share gifting with each of our employees

But I also received blessings

By simply being available to her

During the weeks ahead
As I focus on Christ and the Gift God 
Offered to us through His Son
I feel honored to be able to 
Share gifts of all sorts
With those who God chooses to put in my path

This week
Remember THE GIFT
And ask God how you can Bless someone
With a Gift

Be a Blessing
And You will be Amazed at How you are Blessed



Staff Appreciation Project

Hi Friends,

I just thought I'd share a fun

Project I worked on this week

For Staff Appreciation Day at work

I've been a scrapbooker for years

So I have lots of great papers, tools and such

Which I used to make some cute Tags

 

We usually give the staff flowers for this day

But I had an idea last week

To make a bouquet of Garden Stakes

All of our staff members have homes

With nice garden/lawn areas 

So this was a fun little gift

And...since today was Earth Day

It was kind of fitting

I attached a tag to each stake

Then I put each stake in a flower vase

Which made a really fun and cute bouquet

 

I also brought some 'healthy' fresh fruit

And placed it in the staff lunch area

We have such a fabulous staff

They each deserve lots of kudos

Each of the girls got to choose a garden stake

By seniority to take home

And, if you want be able to choose with the first 

half of the staff

You have to have worked in the office

For more than 8 years

Lots of Longevity!!!

 

My boss brought me these absolutely Gorgeous Roses

I did bring them home to enjoy

Love, love, love them

And Love my Job

Which you already know!

It was a Super Great

Staff Appreciation Day

I'm so Grateful!!

And

Just because 

 

Here's a photo I took the other day

I decided to add a touch of blue to my LR 

Love this little vignette

Thank you for stopping by

Blessings to you All

For a Great Rest of your Week

A Bit Random Today

Hi Friends!

I am just sharing a bit of randomness today

Do you remember this photo I shared from 

My trip last weekend to Rusty Saturday

I mentioned that I purchased one item in the photo

I wish I had purchased the cute little pig

However I DID purchase this fun turtle

Because I thought it would be Perfect

For my granddaughters to have outside their Cottage

 

He was definitely a Hit

Lots of smiles today while they played with and on him

 

The above photo (sorry for the poor quality)

 Is something I received in the mail after my vacation

My friend Melanie of Melanie Dorsey Designs

Gifted my one of her canvas paintings

She has talked about doing a painting with a focus on:

"She Considers It Joy"

Melanie told me that she prayed for me the entire time she painted this

And wanted me to have it

What she didn't realize was the very difficult event we were walking through

 On the days she was painting it

It was Totally a God Thing

I keep her on my desk in my home office

She reminds me to Consider All Things With Joy

And to challenge myself to try new things

Love Her

You can find Melanie's Blog Here

 

A few days ago I received this sweet gift in the mail

From another blog friend

Carol from Art and Sand 

She was making some pillows and did not care for how this one turned out

Through a series of comments and emails she graciously sent it to me

As well as the fall banner that she made

So very kind and very much appreciated

There's a little something headed to her house as well :)

 

 I won a blog contest a couple weeks ago

I received this awesome emergency kit from

Kris at Junk Chic Cottage

It is filled with the greatest assortment of goodies

That every person needs to have close by

I've already used a couple of the items

(The Tums have come in handy the past couple of nights)

Kris has a super blog and is SO creative at decorating her home

 

When I ordered cards from Melanie Dorsey Designs

I had no idea that they would come so sweetly packaged

All of her orders are wrapped in vintage hymnal pages or other special paper

 

She also tucked in a special little sachet that I LOVE

Aren't these cards just beautiful

Melanie does an original water color painting

And then prints them on note or greeting cards

You can find her on Etsy here

 

I have been blog buddies with this beautiful lady for about 1 1/2 years

We have been talking about meeting up for at least a year 

But life just gets busy

I finally had the great pleasure of meeting her in person on Wednesday

Carol from An Oasis in the Desert 

Is a true joy to visit

AND her Craft Room is to die for........

Such a talented woman, she is!

She gifted me these hand crocheted dish cloths 

That I absolutely LOVE
I finally have my first bit of blue that I have been thinking about adding to my decor

Yes, totally random stuff today

But people I wanted to thank

And women I wanted to share with you

Every one of them is SO creative

You must visit their blogs/etsy shops

Have a super Friday and weekend ahead

I hope to finish my LR wall this weekend

But I'm also going to Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market

On Saturday so we'll see

Any body going to Scottsdale this weekend?

Love to meet up with you!!!