4.52 motivational monday

Never, never, never give up.

-Winston Churchill

I thought about actually going out and trying to hike a mountain or something,

but we have other things going on around here that preclude such taxing endeavors.

The sporadic sounds of piano keys fill our days,
with a special song that keeps getting longer and longer
the more often it is played.

Admittedly, the amount of time I've been sitting on the bench has been

a bit limited of late, but Tia adds beautiful music to our days  ....
never giving up.

And then there is that laundry pile.
 It just sort of never goes away.

Although the desire to wear clean clothes is usually enough to keep the washer going,

and keeps me from giving up,
the tip is sort of like reaching the mountain top.

 Onward to Amber .....



Unaccompanied Youth Homelessness Project

As part of a Community Health Project in the Bachelor's Nursing Program I am enrolled in, I have become very interested in the Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Population. The goal of my project is to educate people on the homelessness of our vulnerable youth population, particularly in the state of Arizona, and to conduct a personal care items drive. I am looking for contributions which will be forwarded to Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development.

I have posted information about this project on private Facebook groups with the hope of soliciting contributions of items on Tumbleweed's wish list. Through that group I was encouraged to open a Paypal account to which people could contribute from different areas of the country.

I have to tell you ... the thought hadn't crossed my mind! After giving it some thought, I realized that I could reach an incredible number of people in this forum and perhaps (after figuring out how to do all this!) have an opportunity to provide an unbelievable gift to the young people that Tumbleweed helps. This is all new to me, so bear with me. I am not a power point professional ... but I hope the message is clear.

Youth Homelessness Project

This project will not be an ongoing one ... at least for now. I am hoping to raise funds in the next several weeks and am hopeful I have a generous audience out there! This link here should connect you to PayPal where you can donate to the cause. I'll keep you updated on the progress ... and I thank you. The teens thank you. Tumbleweed thanks you.

I especially thank you creative gals out there who suggested this route!

3:52 motivational monday

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that take our breath away.

-Author Unknown

 

 

Once again, we celebrated this 50th birthday with a surprise party Saturday evening.

We pulled off another surprise .... unbelievable!

Our children put together 50 things about their dad

and Anna read them aloud for all to hear.

Very precious.

One of them was this:

You are always there for mom and you care for her and you love her.

It shows us kiddos a good example.

 

Even the simplest of things can be breathtaking moments.

Jari is usually stoic in photos and capturing a smile like this is rare.

In this one he was having a good ol' time whispering to me in Finn

that my belly button was showing.

The next 50 years are going to be quite the ride.

 

Back on over to Amber this week!

Happy 50th Birthday Jari!

I've been telling Jari for a while now that he should take a jaunt to Minnesota.

Just a quick jaunt to see his folks.

Several days before Christmas we found some plane tickets that

were to sweet to pass up and I decided to join him on his jaunt.

He wanted to surprise Mummu and Pappa ....

and I thought I'd surprise him a bit.

 

Thankfully we missed the bitter cold.

The air was warm even if slightly breezy at times.

Jari's words when we got off the plane were

"Feels like home!"

 

 When dear hubby went to take a nap on Friday, we gals hustled into the kitchen.

It has been a long time since I made a taytekakku working alongside Mummu.

What a treat it was.

 

We had a gathering of just family ... with the exception of one person.

We were doing good until that one person showed up.

At that point, Jari looked at me and said something like,

"You're going into the snowbank!"

They really were having a good time ... even if the pictures turned out not so good!

 





Today is Jari's actual birthday.

Today he celebrates half a century of living

and over a quarter of a century living with me.

Simply amazing.

Somedays we feel like we're reaching these numbers ...

other days I would say not.

But then again, I really wouldn't know.

I'm not there yet.

 

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

2:52 motivational monday

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

New thoughts up next up Ambers way  ....

Nana

In September I picked my new name.

The name I'll be honored with in April.

Jari and I learned that we will be grandparents.

For the first time.

Ever.

I've wrapped my heart around the little one.

The little one has wrapped himself around my heart.

And even if the dear hubby protests .... he is going to be the greastest papa ever!

 

Friday we girls did a bang up job of filling the trunk with shopping bags.

As we shopped, I had a great moment of chuckle.

My girls certainly like their shoes.

It doesn't matter if they come with heels and funky colors.

Or the priceless little ones that will wrap around little feet

someday soon.

 

This little guy is already an active one.

Tonight I saw the cutest little video clip of what may have been jumping jacks.

I wonder if he will be tall like his parents.

I wonder if he'll have hair ... will it be blonde, brown or red in color.

I wonder if he will have have big feet to grow into.

I wonder if he'll be musical.

I wonder if he'll like to read.

I wonder if he'll like to fish.

I wonder if he'll enjoy the kitchen as much as his dad

or as little as his mom.

I wonder if he has any idea how anxious we are to meet him.

 

The little guy who will fill these shoes ...

and liven up our world in the most delightful ways.



1:52 motivational monday

Welcome to 2014 in the blog hopping circle!

Just to keep you (and us) on our toes, we've switched things up a bit.

New day.

New type of posting.

A few new folks ... at least we're hoping.

 

This years theme will all be motivational in nature ...

that would be why we're calling it Motivational Monday.

The interpretations may be far and wide, making it all the more fun.

 

 

A positive attitude is contagious, but don't wait to catch it from others.

Be a carrier.

-Author Unknown

 

 

 

Off to Amber in Alaska where the weather is quite balmy compared

to the Midwest this weekend!



christmas 2013

There is nothing like looking at the kitchen on Christmas Eve at 2:00 p.m.

and thinking, "Okay ... we're ready!"

Hanging up the apron, putting on the heels and heading out the door

to Christmas Eve church.

I know. It's already 2014 and I'm still blogging about Christmas.

My brain is a month ahead of the calendar and I can't get myself to blog about last year!

 

 

It is a whole different kind of excitement when the kids are all older

and there are no littles in the house.

The challenges of gift giving grow a bit,

but I no longer need to have the gifts hauled out one at a time on the hour.

(We did that for a number of years!)

 



 

For the first time ever, we surfed and turfed this year on Christmas Eve.

As always, I didn't get enough pictures and am missing folks in my mine.

Tarron ran the grill with the steaks, the other guys ran the crab pots.

Steak and Alaskan crab filled our tummies ... it was absolutely divine!

 

Although the apprciation of gifts received and the joy at gifts given goes without saying,

a great thrill of mine is having adults who have mature taste buds.

I love trying out new recipes on my loved ones ... and anyone else for that matter!

This year we added a few new things to the menu.

 

Anna's mashed potatoes

(she is now the official mashed potato maker)

Green beans almondine

Roasted carrots with garlic and thyme

 

Leftovers.

Oh. My. Gosh.

My stomach is about to growl and it is in nothing close to starvation mode.

 

There are too many irons in the fire right now.

They're all good irons, but irons nonetheless.

I was ready for all this business to be over before it even started this year.

I'm not entirely proud of my attitude ... just so you know.

Friday after Christmas, Tia and I ran to the chiropractor and came home to this.

The tree was already gone.

Out the door.

Gone.

I could have almost done a jig.

Smart hubby put a tarp on the living room floor after he untangled the lights

and took off all the ornaments.

Pulled that nearly dead tree out of the house and kept all the needles

contained to the tarp rather than stuck in the carpeting.

Voi, he is a smart one!

 



Next Christmas should be a little more relaxed.

I am hopeful.

As for this morning .... my Christmas traditions were carefully tucked away yesterday.

I can breathe again.

 

And in 45 minutes I need to be out the door for a day of shopping.

The girls and I are going to spend the morning rushing and laughing our way

through one store after another.

We have a wedding in six weeks .......

one of them irons in the fire.