Fun James Christensen Find - In God We Trust

I have a son-in-law who really appreciates the artist James Christensen. I found two large posters a few years back and he was really excited about them and they now hang in his home. 

I have been able to find a few other pieces of art from him in the form of figurines etc. Today, I was able to find a cute little Christmas tree ornament at a thrift store still in the box wrapped in bubble wrap.

When I tried to open the sealed box, there was a quarter that had slipped down into the box!  I chuckled as I normally don't look at Christmas decorations, but feel like God has been sending so many reminders recently to trust in HIM. Here is a link to my first post about finding money and trusting in God. If you search in the search box for "In God We Trust" up will come many posts how I have found coins just when I needed a reminder to trust in Him.

So, I found that quarter today. I found five pennies yesterday in a jacket I was checking the pockets on. I have found at least one coin a week for a month or so. 

I was going through clothes in my closet to get rid of and while pulling them out and holding them up last week, a dime fell out of something. 

It really has been happening so much and I really don't post about it much anymore. I figured it was time for a post about it. 

I feel blessed to have that constant reminder to trust in HIM. 

Have a blessed day!

Great Thrift Find 14 K Wedding Band $30

I went to one of the local thrift stores, and have been checking recently every day at that thrift store as they have the new jewelry people and they are putting out so much jewelry. 

I met a woman there the other day who I have seen buying bags regularly while there. I was looking at bags, and she said she got a men's wedding ring in the bag that the local pawn shop paid her $150 for. The bag was $25. That is a good find. 

I then noticed after she said that, there was a ring in a bag to the side by itself. I usually don't pay much notice to the side bags as they haven't put gold in those usually. I decided to pull it out of the locked case and look at it with the help of a worker and he allowed me to pull it out of the bag so I could look at it with my jewelers loop. 

I was thrilled to see it was 14 karat gold and is a men's ring so is a bit larger. It was $30 and I had the thought that for $5 more than a jewelry bag, I get a nice 14 K gold ring, and not have to sort through a jewelry bag. 

I bought the ring and came home and weighed it. I was .29 ounce. 

When you look up the gold calculator for 14 karat and that ounce weight, the ring is over $300 of gold! I LOVE that the new people at the thrift store are putting out the gold and silver! It is like a treasure hunt every day dropping there as I run my errands. 

I feel blessed. Have a blessed day!

HAPPY EASTER - New Beginnings

I got some wonderful new recently and it revolved around Easter, so I wanted to share a post about this for Easter. 

There was a family that moved in to our area that the mother was marrying a neighbor. Some of the kids struggled with the move and some thrived. 

The middle son got into some struggles halfway through high school and got into drugs. After school, he got really deep into hard core drugs to the point of stealing anything of value in their home and selling it for drugs. 

A few years back, I felt strongly that I needed to spend some time helping his mom organize her home. Coincidentally, at that time, he just happened to get out of jail on probation, and as I spent everyday working in the home, I would talk to him about life and how God sees him. I had one specific day that I felt impressed by God before going to share with him that he is like Jean ValJean from Les Mis. 

That day, we had a really good discussion about how when you accept Christ as your Savior, there can be a huge change in your life. You can let go of the bad, sad, and anything you are willing to let go of if you can just open yourself to accepting that you are worthy to start fresh. 

He relapsed right after that and that relapse was the bottom for him. After that, he moved and started a program and cut people out of his life that were not good influences. It has been a long process but I have checked in regularly with him as he was friends with one of my daughters and I care about him and his family. 

As I have texted him since he has started on that path to "healthy" he has shared that he had a girlfriend who is super positive. He told me he had to cut a friend out of his life, and told me that he was going to church. This last month, when I texted him asking how he was doing, he told me that he was going to get his priesthood back! In our church, this is a big thing. You have to live a wholesome life for a long amount of time before you can hold the priesthood. You also have to live a good life to keep it. 

I could tell how happy and proud he was to share that. I was helping his mother recently and she told me that the entire family was going to be together over Easter and he was going to get ordained to the priesthood while everyone was together!

I have been reflecting over how amazing GOD is as a loving Father. Of course a father would accept a son back who was lost! What keeps us from his is our belief that we can't be forgiven or we can't forgive ourselves for the things that WE have done in the past. 

Easter is representative of new beginnings, the egg. Fresh starts. Christs atonement. Hope. I can't think of a better day or time for him to renew himself! Surrounded by family and recommitting himself to Christ. It is such a wonderful thing. 

I LOVE that he is doing well and I could tell how happy his mother is with where he is after having to go through so much with his past. I am so happy for both of them. I know how much joy I find for both of them, so I can't understand how much joy God must have with where he is. 

I love that each day can be a new beginning and fresh start but especially at this Easter time. 

Have a beautiful and blessed day!

Let The Yardwork Begin

I have been trying for days to get out and start working on the yard. I think I may have shared how I went out and started working on pruning the last few front trees that I didn't get finished. 

I was having such a hard time getting either of my hedge trimmers working that I used to quickly flatten the top of my trees, that I ended up using clippers and was so tired after 1/5 of the tree that I gave up. 

I wanted to edge the yard as I didn't do it last year and when the neighbor kid uses the weed whacker, he is still new to it so I wanted to get a good edge on the front yard before he starts so that maybe it will be easier for him to keep up on it. 

It has been cold and I have been busy that past few days so with a bit of snow and cold winds, I wasn't able to get back to the pruning but did buy another hedge trimmer so I can get back to it as soon as the cold weather is over and won't freeze the newly cut tips. 

Even though it was super chilly out today, I decided to go out and work on something, so I pulled out the edger and edged the front yard. I want to get the back done as well, and then mow and poison the yard, but I hope I can get the trees done in the next few days as well. 

It felt really good to be out in the yard doing something and with the cool weather, it didn't make me overheat. Sweeping the cuttings up was the worst part as I finally finished after dark. It was really nice to have it done as even though the grass needs a mow, the edging makes it look better. 

Have a blessed day!

Happy 12th Birthday Today To The Secret Is Gratitude

I can't believe that the blog is turning 12! Today is the twelfth birthday of my blog! If someone would have told me that I would write a blog every week day for 12 years, I NEVER would have believed that I would be able to do that, especially with my crazy life. 

I know over the years that my posts have helped people. I could not have imagined the path that the blog would take or the impact it would have on my family. At times, they like the blog as it is like a journal, recipe book, history, craft file, and at other times, they hate it. They don't like me taking pictures of events saying I should just "Enjoy" the event. 

I wonder at times if I should stop writing the blog, but when I pray on that, I still feel that there are reasons why I keep it going. I believe that in time, I will be able to figure out a cure for the parasites, and I also think it is a great family history resource. Not many people have such a detailed history of their life and can tell you what they did 12 years ago today!!! 

I feel blessed to live in a time where I can have a computer that makes it so easy to search for certain posts, and find things I am looking for easily. I love that I can put photos to the entries and find those photos in seconds. What an amazing world we live in! 

Have a blessed day and enjoy our 12th birthday party~

Fun Wine Bottle Crafts - Round Glass Cutter

I went to my sisters house the other day to take one of her daughters out to dinner, and when there, she asked me to come in and visit for a minute.

They were using a round glass cutter she had purchased on Amazon and they were cutting glass wine bottles into drinking glasses. 

The made a set of six. Then, they started cutting salsa bowls out of the bottoms, and then, they were using the tops of the jars for plant holders. 

I told her I thought they would be a cute mobile if you used different color jars cut to different lengths, and hung them at different lengths and use a spoon or something hanging in the middle to catch the wind. I think that would be really cute! 

When I took my niece to lunch the other day, we walked into the restaurant, and they had lights over each table. The lights were bottles with the bottom cut off and the bulbs were inside. 

I showed my niece as she was the one that wanted the glasses made out of the bottoms of the green wine bottles. 

I thought they were really nice and my sister is so creative. Once you cut them, you sand down the edges and you have free glasses! 

I just wanted to share the craft as I thought it was fun and a great way to recycle jars! 

Have a blessed day!

Lunch With Another Niece - The Artist

I was supposed to go to lunch with another niece two weeks ago. Here is a post about that. I took her twin sisters out individually a few nights and planned on taking their older sister on the next Monday when she was in town. She was really sick on the Monday we were supposed to go, so she asked if we could do it on the next Monday. 

Last Monday, I was REALLY sick with a migraine and vomited all day so violently that I was sore for days. I called her and asked if we could postpone it for another week. Here is a link to that post.

I texted her last night to make sure she was in town. She lives in a different city and comes home for the weekends and leaves Monday afternoon. She told me she was up to meeting for lunch.

We went to a restaurant and ate lunch and as we were visiting about her job, the wind picked up outside the building on the side we were seated to eat. The wind hit the Awning swoop shaped plastic that covered the outside window and funneled the wind up into the attic / eaves of the building and it started raining foam and insulation into the restaurant. It was between 3 and 4 p.m. when we finished as we sat visiting, but I was glad that others weren't eating in that section anymore as it was like rain and the tables were covered with dust from the metal beams above us and from the insulation. 

We both started coughing and decided we had better leave as it was now fine dust and insulation in the air. My guess is that they had to close that section to people eating as the wind didn't stop until late in the evening. 

We had a great visit and it was worth the wait. She is my artist niece who I have shared her artwork in the past. 

Here is a link that has all her art linked in it. 

I am blessed with a great and talented family! I am glad that they will spend time with their Aunt! 

Have a blessed day!