~~ WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!! ~~

Well hello there!!!

Has it really been almost a month since I have posted?

What in the world?

Anyway.....

My husband and I have been keeping a little secret from you our beautiful blog readers.....

We are going on vacation!

We have been planning since January.

My Mr. Winslow came home from work one day

in November or December and told me about this amazing place,

that one of his distributors had been to last year.

When he told me about it, I knew this would be

a great place for us to go.

Every since we got lost in Hemmed-In last fall,

something inside us, have craved adventure.

Not in a crazy way, but in a way that draws us closer to God.

That day changed us.

Changed me.

So the idea was born.

Mr. Winslow asked me if I thought I could handle such a vacation.

We mulled it over.

And in January 

started planning.

So three weeks from this Friday,

we will be hopping in the car and headed to the BWCA.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area 

in Northern Minnesota.

It is Northeastern Minnesota up where Canada and MN meet.

We will be going in mid-May.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

We made our motel reservation yesterday for the day we get up there.

It is a 15 hour drive for us,

and the night we arrive, we will stay in a motel.

Then we will get up the next morning,

go to our outfitters and get our canoe

and stuff and get going.

We will spend four nights and five days

canoeing, fishing, hiking and camping.

We have been getting our gear.

We started in January.

We now have last minute things to get, 

but almost everything is bought and ready.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

So let's look at some pictures of this amazing place!!

These are, of course, not my pics since we haven't been there yet =)

So these were taken right off the web,

but they are just beautiful.

Look at this.....

This is how we will get our canoe from place to place.

Wait a minute, let me clarify.....

this is how Mr. Winslow will get our canoe from place to place =)

My doc has okay'd our vacation,

but he said with the restriction that I cannot

carry anything over my head.

So my Mr. Winslow will be doing this part,

while I follow along singing a happy song =)

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

I absolutely LOVE this picture!

See that island?

There are islands in the BWCA that you can camp on 

and only you.

There are campsites set up all over the BWCA,

and on some of these islands,

you get them all to yourself.

How great is that?

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

And look what we might see?

Yep, bears.

There are black bears in the BWCA.

No grizzly's or brown bears,

but black bears.

I love black bears.

I know, weird.

But we will be bear proofing our campsite,

so they don't get our food.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

So what will we eat?

FISH!!

Yep we will be fishing for our food everyday.

Now don't laugh, but I don't know how to fish.

Is that crazy?

Most people look at me in disbelief.

Doesn't everyone know how to fish?

Ummmmm, no not so much!!

So I have two rods and reels I'll be taking with me 

(we're each taking two)

so now just to figure out what to do with them =)

Hopefully, we will catch lots of these guys,

so we can eat =)

(Just in case, I'm not so good at fishing and don't catch my fair share,

I'm bringing back up food packs =)

 One thing we will be making is Bannock.

If you have not had this, it is fantastic!

I have been experimenting here at home,

and it is so good. 

Looking really forward to having some Bannock on the open flame!!

Doesn't this whole campfire look fantastic?

Hello campfire "baked" potatoes!!  =)

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

There are so many different variations on Bannock,

and this is a sweet breakfast Bannock.

YUMMY!!!!!

I'm so happy to be able to finally share this with you!!

And.....

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

I love you so ~~

Grace.....Rich, Lavish, Beautiful Grace

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Grace of our God.

As you know, if you've read my blog for very long,

my husband calls me "The Old Testament Girl".

I love the OT!

You may be wondering why, and I've had questions as to why as well.

It's not that I would ever want to live under the law.

i fail.

every.day.

fail.

When I think of all the sacrifices that were given to atone for sins

and still it was not enough.

Sacrifice

after

sacrifice

after 

sacrifice,

and true atonement was never reached.

A Savior was needed.

One sacrifice.

One time.

God provided
through His Precious,
Only Son,

Jesus!

The OT points to Jesus.

From Genesis to Revelation.

Jesus.

I love that.

It drew me in from the start.

I love that Jesus is prophesied in the first book of the Bible.

I love that all through the OT you see Jesus coming.

I love that.

I've been reading the book of Joshua,

and last week I read about Rahab the Prostitute 

hiding the spies.

She hid them in the flax on top of her roof,

(for some reason I love that picture)

sent the guards on a wild goose chase,

told the spies to go and hide in the hill country for three days.

By that time, the guards would be back empty handed,

since she'd sent them in the other direction.

What did she want in return?

Safety for her and her family.

She did as she was told.

Gathered her family, 

tied the scarlet cord in her window,

and was saved.

Why does this story interest me so?

Probably because of the outcome.

The outcome long after she had left this earth.

The outcome in Matthew.

Huh?

Yep in Matthew.

1:5

You see, Rahab the Prostitute, 

is listed in Jesus' genealogy.

Scandalous.

Beautiful.

She was imperfect.

She was scandalous.

She had not crossed all her T's and dotted all her I's just perfectly.

But there she is, in the genealogy of our Precious Lord.

How could this be?

Grace.

God's Rich, Lavish, Beautiful Grace.

He loves.

Beyond.

Loves.

When I read stories like this in the OT, 

I am moved to my very core,

because I am not perfect.

I have been quite scandalous at times in my life.

I have not crossed all my T's or dotted all my I's to perfection

or even close.

But.....

Oh how He loves!

Grace

Rich

Lavish

Beautiful 

Grace

is mine through Christ.

I am forever, eternally grateful.   

Random Friday.....A Top 10

WOW!!  I haven't done Random Friday in a while,

but I have a list of just random things I wanted to get down,

so here we go.....

1).  I am no longer a vegetarian.

I am a meat eater.

A reluctant meat eater.

It is still, and probably will never be my favorite thing.

But I am type O, and O's need meat.

So I am eating fish, some chicken and turkey.....

NO pork and a little red meat.

Ughhh.....

I've tried to embrace the red meat in my life,

but it is just NOT happening.

It hurts my stomach,

but most of all I just don't like it.

Ick..... it taste, well, meaty.

Yuck!

anyway.....

2.  I went and got my hair done the other day,

and my hair dresser gets the color on and then

takes me over to the dryer.

I looked at her kind of crazy,

because she NEVER puts me under the dryer.

She proceeds to tell me that my gray is getting stubborn,

as she pats me on the shoulder.

great.

Now I have stubborn knees, a stubborn back, a stubborn neck

and now stubborn gray?

Well I guess as long as my heart doesn't get to very stubborn I'm ok with it :)

3.  Speaking of which, I have been praying not to be stubborn lately.

I was praying one day and just telling God somethings on my heart,

and I started telling Him all I want to be for Him, 

and it just flowed out that I didn't want to be stubborn.

I am so thankful that prayer flowed out from my heart.

I have been praying that God will not let me get a stubborn spirit about me.

That would NOT be good.

4.  Sir Cuteness is, well, CUTE!!!!!

He is the smartest little thing.

He has started riding his bike.

Which to me is a scary business.

He crashed yesterday and has a little scratch/road rash on his cheek.

Poor guy.

He's fine.

Not bad at all.

He's a bruiser.

He jumps from about anything,

and LOVES to take walks in the dark with the flashlights

with his PaPa and Grandma.

He is the grandest little thing.

5.  Dak is in college.

He is trying to figure life out.

It is hard.

You remember right?

Trying to figure out what this big old world was all about without getting too caught up in it all?

Yes, you could say a prayer for him.

I love him so!!!

Spring break is next week.

He's staying at a friend's, 

but says he will see me sometime through the week.

YAY!!!

6.  Legg's is as well, working out this big old world as an adult.

Yep, you could certainly pray for her too.

She has a lot on her heart I know.

She is a joy to be around,

and makes me smile.

I love her.

7.  My Mr. Winslow is still and will always be the bees knees!!

He works so hard, and loves us so much.

I am truly a Blessed woman.  

Be still my heart, Mr. Winslow.

8.  Our insurance stuff is changing, 

again.

So this year instead of taking another 20% rate hike hit,

we are doing a program that will lower our rates,

but that requires us to do all this physical testing and health story stuff.

Yes, it has been interesting to say the least.

Well, I did my physical last week,

and WOW on paper I should be able to run 10 miles like,

right now this morning!

My height, weight, BMI, Good Cholesterol, Bad Cholesterol, Total Cholesterol, 

and waist circumference are all in terrific ranges.

YAY!!!!

The lady told me that she was suppose to give me a "teachable moment" and talk about 

things I could improve upon,

but she said she had nothing to say, except keep doing what I'm doing.

Now if I could just run that 10 miles.

Silly knees =)

Well, I wanted to do a Top 10 Random List for you,

but 8 is good right?

Oh wait,

9.  Check out my Scrapbook Blog.  

I am LOVING having a place to talk about my art and post lots of pics :)

Oh yeah,

10.  Today I am doing grocery shopping,

so this weekend I can work on my art.

My Mr. Winslow will be working,

Dak will be at school or a friends,

Leggs will be with Byrd,

and Chase will be here with Sir Cuteness,

so I will be hold up in my room getting some crafty love a going ~~

YAY!!!!!

So there we go, we made it.....

 A top 10 of Random loveliness going on in our lives right now.

I Love You So ~~

And..... We're LIVE!!!

So folks......

My Scrapbook Blog is LIVE!!!!!

I've been playing with it and decided to just go ahead and roll with it.
It is a work in progress, but so am I, so I decided it was time to make it LIVE!!

There are two posts on it right now.
One written a week or two ago,
and one written today about a challenge I am in.

Please let me know what you think.
I am going to be working on taking better pics,
especially since I will be taking lots of pics of my projects and I'd like for them to be nice ones.
So if you have any suggestions, (RJ, ahem.....  =) please feel free to send them my way.
I just have a regular digital camera.
Nothing fancy.

Well, check it out here and see what you think.
I'd love to hear your feed back.

Have a Beautiful day ~~ 

It Took Me Back.....

Every year my mom has to repeat what we call cancer scans.

You see, my mom has lymphoma.

She was first diagnosed with it in 1990,

and it reappeared in 2005.

So every 3 months we find ourselves in the oncologists office.

And every year around February/March,

she has to have scans to make sure everything is at bay.

For several years now, the scans have NOT included contrast,

because mom is in stage 3 kidney disease.

Well this past year her kidney's stabilized, Praise the LORD!,

and so the ban on contrast was lifted, 

as long as she takes some premeds to help her kidneys.

So yesterday was the day of scans, but this time was a little different.

She had the premeds and then the contrast, and then the scans,

but this year they required us to go over to the cancer center and have an infusion

to flush out her kidney's.

Which meant we had to be in the infusion or chemo room for an extended time.

This has not happened since her last chemo round in '06.

Yes, we go every 4-6 weeks for port flushes, but that is an in and out kind of deal.

No lingering.

No sitting in the recliner.

No stopping really.

Just in a room.

Flush the port.

Leave the area.

Not yesterday.

It took the better part of the afternoon.

3+ hours.

And it was hard.

Not hard on mom, she did fine.

Hard on me, although I didn't let on.

It was hard.

There are people there in the fight of their lives.

That old familiar feeling came back when I used to watch mom fighting for her own.

There was a little old man there probably older than my mom,

fighting.

losing.

fighting.

About 5'11 or 6'

138 lbs

losing his fight.

His wife was doing EVERYTHING she could to get him to eat.

To help him fight. 

She was tired.

He was sweet.

I was sad.

I don't hate much in this life.

i hate cancer.

I've decided to grow out my hair for locks of love.

I decided this a couple of weeks ago.

Leggs boyfriend Byrd, has a sister who was diagnosed

with a rare form of Hodgkin's Disease, back in December.

She is 28.

i hate cancer.

So Leggs, decided to grow her hair nice and long and cut it off for Locks of Love.

I will join her.

How about you?

Want to join us?

I love you so ~~

Some of my favorite people have blogs.....

Good Morning Blog Family....

How are you?

Yes I know....my writing habits are well, less than extraordinary lately.

I have sat down and started several posts and none of them have made it here.

I actually have a lot of things I want to record here,

it's just a little different season for me.

My blog has taken a little bit of a back seat to some other things that I KNOW

I am to be doing right now.

I have no doubt that regular blogging is coming again.....

it is.....

*****

I wanted to jump on here today and tell you some EVERY exciting news.....

two of my favorite girls, now have blogs.

Yep, that's right Leggs and Lovely both have new blogs,

and I'd love it if you would go and read and share some love with these two.

They are pretty much the bees knees.

Leggs is a new, beautiful Christian.

She was baptized on Sunday and last night I knocked on her bedroom door,

to find her on her bed with her Bible open and notebook by her side and 

questions on her beautiful lips.

It was such a beautiful time sharing in the LORD.

And Lovely is a beautiful young lady who has a seriously contagious Spirit!!!

If you don't know the LORD yet, just spend a few moments with Lovely....

You WILL want what she has!!

She is the best kind of Beautiful.....God Beautiful.

I'm so happy they have both started blogs,

as they are both so unique in their own ways,

and both of these lovely ladies mean so much to me.

I prayed for God to give me a Ministry.....

a way He could use me.....

something unique to who He created me to be.....

Well He has done just that!!

I have four lovely ladies that God has lovingly placed in my heart,

and entrusted me with.

It is a HUGE responsibility, that I take very seriously

every.single.day.

I'm committed to helping them grow in their relationship with God,

and being all they were Created to be.

I'm so thankful.

*****

I love you all so ~~

Field Guide Pictures and I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

 Well Happy Tuesday and Valentine's Day!!!

Our Valentine's Day will be pretty low key around here.

I have a UTI (yuck) and had to go to Urgent Care yesterday in the snow and bad roads,

but I was so sick.

So I got some medicine, but today still have no energy.

So we are gonna make it a low key kinda day.

Well, except for Leggs!!

She is ALL about Valentine's Day and has a hot date planned with her sweetie J =)

He has made reservations somewhere, but won't tell her where,

and has planned their date.

Isn't young love fun?!!

She told me last night she was getting up at like 9:30 this morning,

and I said what time are you going out,

and she said their reservations are for 8:00 PM!!!

I love young love!!!!!   =)

Now that is cute!!!!!

***** 

So before I start with some pictures of somethings I've been up to in class,

I wanted to ask y'all a question.

I have been thinking about something for awhile and thought I'd get your thoughts.

I am thinking about starting a scrapbook blog.

I think it would help me to really keep things separate.

What do you think?

*****

Okay, on to class.....

I am LOVING this class!!

I am learning SO much.

Well this week is all about mists and washes.

So I thought I'd share some fun things I've been working on.

I sent Dak a fun little care package for Valentine's Day.

I love sending care packages.

anyway..... 

=)

Here is a bookmark I made for him.

He loves to read and being in college gives him lots of reasons for that right?  =)

Bookmarks are so much fun to make.

I used a stencil for the wing at the top.

I sprayed the wing stencil with my white spray mist

and pulled the stencil and viola!!

Love it!!!

And here is the cutest little helper in the world!!

He LOVES to scrapbook!!!

 Thought I'd show you the tags I posted pics of the other day

all tucked away in my art journal.

I made little pockets and did a little practice with heat embossing.

 This one is one of my favorites!!

It says "follow your heart"

and the flower came from Leggs.

And the lamppost is my FAVORITE stamp,

because it reminds me of Narnia.

I am making our Valentine's this year.

This one I sent to Dak.....

Here is the inside.

I wrote a little poem =)

Its the little things that mean the most isn't it?

I've tried to remember that this year.

So there you have it.....

Some crafty fun!!

So let me know what you think.....

Scrapbook Blog = Yes

Scrapbook Blog = No

And I'll let you know what I decide.

Love you ~~