Trekking with Me

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. ...

Hello! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday!  I am enjoying a day off, doing things I love this morning, at home, which is the place I love to be.  Sure, I get that tickle to travel now and then, but being home, taking care of what makes my home, home, is a priceless treasure.  I told a dear friend this morning, it makes me feel like a normal woman. Whenever I use the word "normal" the phrase pops in my head, "what is normal? the setting on your dryer..."  I better stop there before I digress more.  That could get complicated.  It's Friday, complicated topics should be saved till Monday. Any who... It's been a good start to 2013 for me. A few things that have made it a good start: A Detox!  I finally did it.  All last year, I wanted to do a good cleanse/detox.  I have had a few issues with low-iron; frustration with a low energy level drove me to begin taking good supplements (again, as they have been part of my life yet my tigh...

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....

Care to join me for a Sunday evening chat with a delightful cup of hot tea?  It's the perfect evening for it.  I recently bought a "Night Time Tea Herbal Blend" tea and discovered it is my new favorite!  It's very smooth, mildly spicy and softly cozy.  Perfect treat as you snuggle down for a quiet moment before bed. Loving Fall, as it has come in it's fullness this last week or so here in Columbia, South Carolina.  It's Fall when you use the blower instead of the mower to do yard work!   I blew off my yard on Friday and it looked like it was in need of another blowing this afternoon.  Instead I gathered up some pine cones and kindling to light up a fire in my fire pit.  A friend stopped by and he graciously offered to finish the process.  We soon had some flames licking up the needles and my flip-flop baring feet enjoyed the toasty heat from a few inches away from the fire pit.  Lovely. So I smell like smoke now, as I drink my Night ...

It's been a beautiful October Saturday.  I sure needed a Saturday.  A friend asked what my average week was like, and I had to admit an "average" week is non-existant at this point.  My new normal is still working itself out.  I am so grateful for work, and enjoy the variety of my days immensely, yet I would not mind a little more stability.  How thankful I am that God is unchanging!  He is my Rock, a sweet refuge to which I continually go.   Today I stayed home most all day and enjoyed a quiet Saturday.  This week I read an article that reminded me that the Scriptures tell us to live quiet lives, by  Donald Miller.   Do a word search on "quiet" and it may surprise you.  So today I embraced the quietness of having the day to myself.  After walking the dogs, and spending time in the Word, I started in on my Saturday housekeeping needs.  It was so nice outside, I opened every window I could: some of the windows in m...

My Little tree in my back yard: I love it. My favorite trail in Columbia... with some of my favorite peeps. The Local Natives are so nice too. Fun in the Columbia Sun I went to take a nap today (Sunday) and noticed a few weeds.... I ran for my camera after I began snatching a few of these annoying, but wispy beauties up.   Ever think of having a Dandelion garden?  Another flowering bush in my yard; the previous owners really loved flowers... I am enjoying the fruit of their labor, AND my dad's labor too.... My beautiful roommate :-)

God amazes me over and over and over!!!! My Cup Overflows!! (yes, i am excited and MUST use those exclamation points!) This would be me... on Myrtle Beach; it was MUCH COLDER than I anticipated.... note the few layers of clothing I am sporting.  I was extremely thankful my wool footies made it in my suitcase...  when your feet are warm and dry, it makes the dreadful cold bearable.  :-) I attended a retreat this weekend and it wasn't so much that it was a power-packed event but that I saw His hand pulling pieces of Words, Truth, glimpses of treasures of Himself, in His Word together.  Almost as if all the things He has been bringing to my heart and mind over the last year culminated this weekend into a blast of understanding and eye-opening revelation! Saturday was the main day for me; Friday, God was whispering to me, "prepare your heart."  (Note previous blog post!) As I looked down into my soul, my heart was gripping something that was out of my contro...

O ne of the many blessings of living here, and even one of the blessings of winter (winter means the snakes are hiding deep, and I can SEE clearly through the woods) is that I live on the edge of a "100 acre wood" area.  I don't really know if it is exactly  100 acres, but it is a beautiful untouched wooded area that makes me feel like I am stepping over into a deep dark forest, miles away from civilization... and let Sasha romp and run crazy.  There really isn't anything as pleasing to my heart than to escape into God's gloriously beautiful creation for a walk, hike, trek... you know what I mean.  So, though I quite literally live in a "hood".... in about 20 steps I can step over into a magical 100 acre wood!   These are a few snapshots I took with my camera phone this morning... I think it is pretty cool how my camera caught the sunbeams... Sasha loves loves loves our 100 acre wood... I found a new road this morning... I  love these ...

Some bitter coldness is rolling our way outside and I am feeling like a true Florida gal... while NYC is powdering up with the white stuff, and somewhere out in no-man's-land it is well below freezing... I sit here in SC watching the thermometer still teetering on 50 degrees, shivering and in gridlock under my blankie. It being Friday, I figure it was a good time to share some confessions of the soul - I hear it is good for you. 1.  I don't make my bed everyday. 2.  I talk to myself and often say things in a third person comedian type of way and laugh out loud at my own diatribe... 3.  I am a self-diagnosed A.D.D or A.D.H.D. - I get distracted easily.... what was I doing? 4.  I have not been a total "no sugar" gal since New years day...though the scale scared me half to death a few nights ago and I have done MUCH better since!! 5.  I like my outfits to match somehow... like everything ... I may be the only one who knows that fact in my day, and ...

Friday Morning Sky from my back fence; it was one of the most incredible sunrise skies I have ever seen! I like pancakes, but i have always had a battle with making them ...  these were a little on the thick side... i hate it when it is still uncooked in the middle... the pan was too hot... so... Sasha was happy to take care of some of them. Jimbo helped me out and the last half of the batch actually turned out decent.  Ask Kayden... she even shared them with George. :-) Now THIS is the face of a satisfied customer! This one... it's up for debate. ;-)

An Awesome Bridge!!  Three weddings in about 8 weeks.... two in the last week.  Those latter two took me out of town... which is fun - though I am exhausted because I have literally been running in and out of my house.  My roommate just commented on how fast-pace our lives have been in the last week.  We have only filled one bag of trash since last trash pick up... usually it is at least 2-3 or 4.  Wow. My dear friend Deidre wedded Friday night.  It was amazingly beautiful.  It was a beautiful wedding and a very nice reception - with fun dancing and a newlywed game... :-)  It was in St. Augustine and I relished in being in FL as it is the perfect temperature, 70-80ish - the first morning I had to changed from my two layer sweater top to a short sleeve shirt and flip-flops! Amazing that you can travel a few hours and the temperature change so drastically.  I even went running the second morning - in shorts and a short sleeve top... it is ...