Trekking with Me

Good Morning! This morning's Golden List ... 1.  Celebrating and enjoying a day off: love that I had no alarm to wake me.  Dark January chilly mornings make for stay-in-your-pj's-longer and coffee that much more cozy & delicious. 2.  I so appreciate the community of friends God has given to me.  I love that these relationships are maturing in depth of insight and love.  I enjoy making new friends but I am so thankful the rich deeper levels of intimacy that grow through walking with others over a good length of time. 3.  God's provision:  I have had to deal with some ...shall we say... interesting circumstances of late, and I see God's hand holding me as I worked through making decisions, having conversations and taking actions which would be hard for anyone.  He is good in providing me the strength, support, and insight for each step. 4.  My furkids:  they bring a smile to my face each morning with their own little personal...

Good Morning! It's a lovely quiet morning, and I am soaking in every little second of being home, on a Tuesday, with no real demands, agenda, project, job or responsibilities screaming down my neck.  For now, that is... and I love it. I even slept well last night.  Which is a gift, since REST is from the Lord.  Yes, I must admit anxious nightmares have been flickering through my nights, stirring me to action, as school is about to start up again.  It's my minds way of dealing with fear of "oh no, it's just around the corner" and I will have to face the end of these lovely do-what-I-want-to-do days in a week. What a gift this summer has been! It has been a full, very productive, eventful, surprising summer!  From summer house projects, family time, reconnecting with old friends, trips all over, meeting and making new friends, to leisure mornings like today: Thank YOU Jesus for refreshing my soul! "Refreshing" is the word that my soul has repeated...

I snapped this this past week as I was sitting in traffic downtown.  I think it may have been on Thursday, the first day of Spring.  I had my sunroof open, soaking in the wonderful warm weather, blue skies and new season.  I did not mind the 5:00 traffic jam as it let me appreciate the earliest of blossoms on these trees.  I shot this through my sunroof.... straight up into the sky.  

It's Valentine's day, a day to celebrate love and relationships.  From my red couch to yours, here are a few of my thoughts and endeavors on Valentine's day: First, I am enjoying another snow day, yes our third day at home because of the massive winter storm.  I am trying not to eat myself out of my house.  Funny how my appetite explodes when gray clouds cover the sky, a chill hits the air and activities are limited to movies, homework and reading.  Not that I mind that... Today, I woke with a peaceful happy heart and mind.  Joy gushed up upon seeing the sunshine glisten over the snow, especially after two days of cloud cover and lockdown.  I am suffering a bit of cabin fever so I was ready to move!  I cooked up my favorite pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.  This was a good morning for pancakes; I did not even burn them! Kitty and Sasha are enjoying me being home.  Kitty is still not use to these colder temperatures. ...

Hello from Wintery, Icy, Snow covered and now melting Columbia, SC!  What a treat for us!  Thank goodness, the forecasted ice storm turned into mostly snow and sleet for my area.  I never lost power, but I know many did. Sasha is plum tuckered out from all the running, romping and snow playing she did today.  She is right now curled up on the floor, tucked as close as she can be to my feet and the couch.  I kind of like it except for the occasional dog-stench that rises... so much for that dog-bath she got two weeks ago. It's the joy of having a critter when you see her so excited over all this white stuff.  It gave me a good reason to get up and out.  This was our second snow day, which allowed me another lovely day to sleep in with no alarm.  I tried being productive - kept the dishes washed and tried reading instead of watching another movie... so getting out was much more

The snow finally came!   Today, Sasha and I enjoyed a morning romp through the snowy neighborhood.  It's amazing how still and silent a walk through the freshly fallen snow is... it's truly delightful!  Here are a few snapshots: My Backyard! My little rosebush   A Magnolia tree rarely sees this lovely white stuff! Fence line covered in snow... Home Sweet Home My jasmine bush... hope it survives :-) Not even sure HOW I did this but this "snow falling" affect was not my genius technology skills!

SNOW DAY!  But I have yet to see one snow flake fall in my yard.  I am still hopeful... and very thankful for a day at home.  A snow-day, even without snow, is a wonderful blessing.  Today I have hunkered down after cleaning up Sasha's feather mess.  That use to be the swing cushion: This is what it USE to look like: So what does one do on a snow day without any snow? I have actually been quite productive and tackled a few things I have been wanting to do but weren't exactly on the top of my list.  Here are a few: Renewed my passport!  It's expiring in a few months and I hope to go somewhere on a plane this year.  A few of my hopeful destinations include Uraquay, Ireland and who knows where else.  So, my wishful thinking made me proactive today!   Print my money challenge for the year.  I saw someone post this: I thought it was quite the creative plan.  So, I printed it today, finally, and checked off...

Merry Christmas to my Blog friends and Followers!  I pray you are well, and that the Joy of Jesus fills and drenches your heart and mind this season.  I have a half a dozen blog posts I would like to write up and as soon as I have some days off I will share as the Lord leads.  For right now, I can say I have a very thankful and full heart!  God is so very good; I sing His praises over and over!  Christ is so beautiful, He continues to faithfully open my eyes to see Him more and more through my days and experiences.  His Truth and Love is truly unfailing and unending!  Indeed He has been enlightening my heart and mind with His beauty.   Moving from glory to glory... it's truly Living! His Richest Blessing to you! Love Tammie

This past weekend God did something that I don't want to forget.  If your life was written as a biblical account, how would it sound?  This past weekend would have been a "God-Moment" for sure in my account. As you know if you have been reading my blog, I have stepped back into the classroom; with that comes new and old ground.  The old ground is not necessarily my best moments, and honestly, feelings, I did not want to repeat.  But, in a God-like fashion, He gives redeeming experiences, to reframe, so-to-speak, things that seemed painful yet hold eternal treasures of joy and beauty.  Not sure if that makes any sense to you - but I guess I am trying to say, sometimes the things, times, relationships, or experiences that have caused us deep pain are places we need and must revisit in the power of God, to know true healing.  Just a tid-bit from my counselor heart and mind.  And since I am living it... It's simply testimony to His glorious work in me. ...

Summer is approaching.  I have two weeks of teaching left.  FYI - God blessed me with a long term assignment working in a middle school classroom.  He takes care of me like that! These past few weeks have been pretty good, then this most previous week HIT.  It was about the longest week of my life, or it seemed like it.  My students seemed to forget the normal procedures; chaos broke out in my classroom like a bad case of teenage acne.  By Wednesday I arrived home in quite a tizzy. As I tried to see through my flustered emotions, it was fuzzy as to the actual root of my frustration.  It was more than a crazy classroom of pre-adolescence!  Realistically I had been trying to hold a rising issue under water with one hand. Then I realized... It's MAY: May is NOT my favorite month as stated in previous  posts.    I am facing some major shifting in my relationships.   Friends and acquaintances that I had not the time...

Good Morning ~ It's a good morning: Saturday's are amazing gifts... I don't have to wake up to an alarm :-) It's time for a " Golden List " 1.  Spring in South Carolina --- there could be a hundred subtitles to this first point.... 2. A great roommate and friend She will hate me for posting this....  3.  Amazing cheese --- our Whole Foods were sharing samples of this cheddar cheese variety with sea salt in it... I may or may not have had a few more than my fair share. 4.  Bare Essentials Make up.... a new thing in my make up bag.  :-) 5.  Friends passing through town & a free meal to boot! 6.  Sasha: funny how a relationship grows with a person or group or animal in this case... :-) She brings me much joy. A recent road trip: Sasha always enjoys getting fries for a treat! :-) 7.  Communication: texts, emails, snail mail, facebook comments, blog comments... phone calls... yes.  More please. 8. ...

I hope you are enjoying a Sabbath's rest today, every day.   He is our Rest.   I can't help but share what God gives me, when He rocks my world, or touches me to tears.  This happened this morning.  I was driving to church, accompanied by my new roommate, Megan.  We were noticing the beautiful fresh baby green leaves filling what only a week ago was barren and naked limbs.  How quickly it seems these little leaves fill the trees, filtering the early morning sunlight;  it was radiantly beautiful.    It triggered a memory of something God impressed upon my heart a few years ago.  Growing up in Florida, I lived very close to a pretty large fresh water lake.  Several years ago, we experienced a drought and a huge explosion of land development in my area.  Both of these factors affected the level of the lake to sink significantly.  The waterline was a good 50 to 100 feet beyond the closest dock, which in normal rainf...

Oh Fall, how I love you.... It's God gift to me to live in South Carolina.  I never thought I would love living somewhere so much.  Sure, people make a place wonderful and God has definitely blessed me with a sweet community of friends.  And, yet, He has also blessed me with delight in the place. Growing up in Florida was great.  I went barefoot most of the time, wore shorts and tanks or my swimming suit 90% of the time and liked it.  But I have to say, experiencing a change in seasons, the sweet smell of spring, or brightly colored leaves falling as you enjoy a walk through the woods or the smell of a wood burning fire wafting through the neighborhood and sometimes a snowfall, is serious joy to my heart.   My wardrobe is definitely growing to meet the need, though I could do with some more warm layers. This Fall was even more accented with a Pumpkin party I co-hosted.  I was inspired by my sister in love in Florida, a native Colorado gal....

I did it!! Woooo-Hooooo!! God is so good! I can't believe four years have come and gone.  I can't believe what I thought would take me TWO years stretched into Four!  I can remember a night early in the four year journey when I started freaking out when I realized it was going to take that much longer!!  A very wise mentor gently prodded me on by saying "where else will you be in four years?"  Hmmm, simple logic is a good thing.  It calms me down and I love sweet friends who gracious, non-judgementally point it out to me.   It kept me going for sure. I wrote about the beginning of this journey and the reason for it  way back in 2008, before even moving here.   God is so good.  MUCH ground has been covered in these four years.  I feel like a different person, and yet more of who God made me to be. This part of the journey is where it starts to feel like I am jumping off a cliff.  It is scary and exhilarating to finish something. ...