I Have A New Blog!

In December 2007 I started blogging.  I love it and in 2008 I wrote 475 posts.  I really enjoy writing and find it very cathartic.  I am one of those people that sorts my thoughts and life out in the written word.  This blog has served its purpose well and I have grown and changed a lot over these past 9 years.  This is post # 1900 on this blog and the last Simple Woman's Daybook was a real chore.
Just keeping the font size and colors stable and the spacing in order was a small nightmare.

I am hoping that a new slate will run much more smoothly and that One Designing Woman was just too full and worn out to perform well.  And more importantly I am hoping it was not the Designing Woman herself that was fading away!

My New Blog is called Family History In Real Time!  

http://familyhistoryinrealtime.blogspot.com

It is under construction at this time but I have added a few posts from our recent trip to Utah to get it going.  Hopefully this new space will entice me back to the keyboard more often than the old one has lately.  If you are so inclined feedback and comments would probably be motivating.  See you on the other site!  Moving on as of today!

A Simple Woman's Daybook~April 14, 2016

    

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this Daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Thursday, April 14, 2016

Outside my window...It is early spring and it seems our long wet winter is ending finally.  The drought we have been having for the past three years seems to have vanished.  The severity of it has vanished like a bad dream.  The green of new chartreuse leaves and the fullness of the trees is incredible eye candy here in California.  Everywhere you look, new life is budded forth and blessed our days.  We are happy....very happy.  And we are thankful for prayers answered and more keenly aware of our dependency on our Creator.

I am thankful for...Cool breezes and the sunny, longer days.   As I "mature" I find a greater dependence on light and a moderate climate. I have been mighty cold a few times this year in Utah and appreciate the warmer weather where we live.

From the learning room...God loves us deeply no matter what we are struggling with at this time.  Our struggles are for our good even when we cannot recognize at the time what that really means and are often bewildered by them.  Like a chick pecking its way out of an egg, we grow and are strengthened during times of trials.  By the time you are our age you don't ask "why me"you pray instead "help me" carry this burden.  This life is a test of our faith and allows us to choose our path.  God is always with us, do we choose to be with Him is the question?

I am reading... a PDF File created by our cousin of old Italian baptismal records and entering them into Ancestral Quest.  It is a labor of love.  Looking into the lives of peasant farmers in a tiny village in Italy from the 1600 and 1700s records is a scared blessing and a real eye opener.  Our ancestors knew struggle and they overcame it.  We learn from them that we can do the same.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...everything in life is spiritually based.  Every choice we make affects all of us, both body and spirit. Our spirit and our body combined make up our soul.  When they work in harmony it is for our ultimate good.  I have never understood the symbiotic relation of the two so much as I have since I have gotten healthier.  It is a journey that I will stay on for the rest of my life.  It is fully worth the effort.

I am Quoting...

Someone I am praying for this week...oh so many people but I'll mention two.  My very very good friend, Carol and her husband John have had a serious trial these nine weeks.  Carol and I took our annual trip to Salt Lake City for Rootstech.  It is the largest genealogy and family history conference in the world.  We had a great time.  It was simply wonderful.  On the day we were to come home she got a call saying John had had a heart attack.  Since February 8th John has been hospitalized following one complication after another from this by-pass surgery.  They have both been under tremendous stress and are exhausted.  I love them so much they will always be close to my heart and in my prayers.  What an example Carol has been through all of this.  Driving sometimes four hours a day in heavy traffic to get back and forth to be with John and give him the support he has needed.  She is an angel among mortals and I love her with all of my heart.

Our beautiful granddaughter, Chloe Jane.
This girl loves to cook with her Grampa! 
Tea party delights for Piper's 17th birthday!

From the kitchen...things have changed  drastically in our home in the last five months.  In November I started a serious campaign to lose weight.  So far I have lost 54 pounds since just before Thanksgiving.  I am a new person.  I feel amazingly good and marvel at the resiliency of our bodies.  I am so much healthier, have so much energy and so much gratitude.  Our kitchen is full of fresh foods and lean protein choices and no bad carbs.  What a difference a few weeks can make. Getting off the sugar train is miraculous. Everyday counts.  My thin and fit James has even lost weight.  I like the kitchen again, my body likes our better choices.  No more treats in my life like Chloe is holding above.  Lovely to look at but.....not for me.

An enjoyable movie/TV show we have watched lately...Last Love.  This is a movie from Netflix and stars Michael Caine.  Very good.  A story about love, family and friends that is nicely done.

One of my pleasures...Feeling caught up for a change.  Not a lot hanging over our heads right now.

Plans for the rest of the week...  See one of my pleasures above.  Keeping the peace.  Reducing the traffic to and from our house.

A photo I am sharing...this was taken at the Bouquets to Art Exhibit at the De Young Museum last week.

I have spent two hours trying to get the spacing and font size to work correctly on this post.  Sorry for the hassle.  The Blogger platform must be on strike or something.  It is my 1899th post so it cannot be user issues.  Bummer!