In the blink of an eye.. Christmas 2011

I truly had a wonderful Christmas! Lots of traditions ! Mom's sugar cookies, my mashed potato's, Traci's mac and cheese! It was a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, Mom made her famous dumplings too! Gosh it was so good, and so much fun to sit in the different rooms and chat with the nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers in law. All the kids said that could be enough~ I love that~ that having their Mom Mom cook all her best for them is enough.. they don't need any more of a present than that!

I received an email yesterday, "in the blink of an eye" everything can change. It's so true, the email went on to say ~ to say "I love you" to the ones you love and hang out with the ones you love, because life changes so quickly you don't know whats going to happen tomorrow.

In the blink of an eye Christmas 2011 is over, my goal this whole time was to enjoy it.. I didn't want to get caught up in the buying, or overspending, I just wanted to be able to sit back with my family and have fun. We mailed Christmas cards this year, I haven't done that in a while, and it's something that I love too do!!

Just think that as we get older, we need to do the traditions that make us happy.

Thank you God for all the blessings of Christmas 2011 and throughout 2011! I see you working in the Brown family lives and all around us.

...

... as doug potvin chatted about in his "talk" on going to Columbia ~ God connected the dots for him ... to line up what knowledge was needed (taken from all of his jobs) to help the people of Columbia with their fish project. ... such strong words.

I've tried so many things and yet, I don't feel I've hit the target with what I'm suppose to be doing. Sometimes I wish I was one of those people that were satisfied with what they were doing at any moment or content, I've always been one that looked ahead, I get bored easily with task oriented jobs, need challenges, love to be apart of a team that "steps out of the box". I don't mean to not be content, I've always felt that I could do more, so I keep trying to learn and improve my situation.

...God ~ you got this!!

College of Charleston

Kevin and I drove many miles for him to check out the College of Charleston~
what a lovely area or as he says~ it has a good vibe too it! The houses were colorful and big and the palm trees were beautiful! The college is in the center of the town, with lots of buildings! The dorms (at first we thought it was all of the small apartments near the college) but realized that they have actual dorm rooms! I asked him to walk ahead and I prayed~ prayed for him, for his choices, for the city, for people in the town. I want him to go and get the experience of living away ~ I want him to be happy and work hard! We drove to the beach(cause that's important to the brown family) ~ and it's maybe 10 mintues away from the center of Charleston and it was a lovely day~ many shells on the beach (yes I did get a few :) ) !

Not sure how any other town could compare to this, but here's to choices!!

Good luck Kevin~ no matter where you choose, we love you and are proud of you!

a new to me couch!

Belinda called me Sunday, to ask me if I knew of anyone that needed a couch~ as the Potvins (frank) were going to give their's away! I said omg !! We do!!

Our living room is small, with the woodstove and brick taking up so much room~ and I knew they had the huge wrap around couch, so I wasn't sure really if it would work out! But it did!
we feel so blessed to have new !! It's perfect! I had made a list several weeks ago, of things that I thought we needed to work on in the house and getting a new couch was first on the list!

Do believe that God cares about all the things in our lives and lines it all up when we have the faith to see the blessings! Some people wouldn't have taken the new to us couch, but we will be forever grateful!!

2 more things on the list :) God will find a way, when we can't!! Another blessing today, Harold (son) had a interview at Pizza Hut and got the job! He is thankful to be able to go back to work! It's not good for him to not be busy, too much time to "think". He has other jollies lined up, so I've been praying that Gods got this!

fun filled weekend

What a great weekend I've had!

Love the commradery of the COJ folks~ lots of fun working with the youth group folks for the Chinese auction, and of course the Youth!! Had great conversations with Doug, Martin, Sharon, Cindy and Sara during the event! Nice to catch up!

Tonight, we celebrate Harold's, Shelby's and Terri's birthdays~ that will be a alot of fun!

Big H brought home the star newspaper on Thursday and there was a job opening for a PT innkeeper in St Michaels... I've applied... and the tour lady emailed me and wants to meet with me again on Thursday, she has more info to share! She has some wonderful ideas for tours in the county and beyond!

Thankful for Gods constant provision, and am hopeful!!

cirlce of friends

So, I have a friend that we've worked hard on many projects~ and life circles us around every couple of years.. She is a great person!! She works part time at the Inn~ and has an idea for a business.. and she would love my input!

Can't wait to see whats in store for me (us)!

God keep me on the path that you have planned for me, cause I can bird walk very quickly!

I want Gods plan for my life! No longer going to worry about finances~ God knows what I need when I need it, I have the patience that's needed to wait and I'm thankful for all!

Whitehaven Inn

Wow, I had an amazing day yesterday! I volunteered at the Whitehaven Inn~ I'm hoping to get jobs at Inn-sitting~ where the innkeeper wants to take some days off and I would fill in for them! I learned so much~ it's hard work but it's feel good work!! So thankful for hospitality people that are willing to share! I've had the opportunity to speak to two ladies that do inn-sitting and they have been so gracious to "let me in"!

Praying for "lift off" into a new adventure!! Knowing that God's got this~ and I'm doing what I think I need to do to help him :)

stress in the work place

Went to a seminar today and the first speaker was how to relieve stress in the workplace~

suggested journaling~ writing down the stress (or the people that drive you crazy!!) :)
writing down a list of things you want to accomplish for the week and label them in order of importance! Laugh every day! stand in front of the mirror and tell your self how much you love yourself! Celebrate the small things that you get done!

So, I say, CELEBRATE! Make it your day!!

Throwing things out to the universe!

I told Belinda yesterday, that kevin and I feel as though, if you have money ... you can make things happen in your life... or you can take chances in other venues and it doesn't hurt your families pocket book....

I have a couple of things that I would like to try... so I'm throwing them out to the universe.. going to take some chances(like I use too) !!

Life is too short, no do-overs, no regrets !!!

Take delight in the Lord

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you, your hearts desires. Psalm 37:4

I received that passage in an email from the Joel Osteen ministries~ I like receiving the positive emails from that ministry~ I just don't feel quite as zealous about his approach as I use to. They are telling me to Believe it and dream it .. God has plans for me and wants big things for me and attached the above passage with it.

I think in this passage ~ if we are delighted with the Lord~ then he is our hearts desire~ we need no more... otherwise I think this passage can lead to disappointment.

satisfied

I'm in a good place

wow at 51 :)

sometimes it takes a while!!

Thankful and Hopeful

Feeling very thankful today...

thankful for my family, friends, and my job~ but thankful for opportunites that I can go further~ with my classes~ I'm hopeful too~ have many things I want to try....

what's on your bucketlist?

Celebrating #51!!

On Sept 3rd~ I celebrated my 51st birthday!! That's just crazy~~ the years go so fast!

As I hit this birthday~ I'm ready to get back to celebrating each day~ the small moments, the coffee on the , the fresh flowers in my house, the texts that say "i love you" from my hubbie and boys!! Don't get me wrong ~ big moments are great!! But sometimes we are waiting on the big things to happen that you don't even see or be thankful for the little things!!

I went to the movies with a friend yesterday~ haven't been in a long time! It was great "the help" ~ highly recommend!!

Some quotes from the movie:

"Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person"

"All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries"

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important." — Kathryn Stockett (The Help)

Celebrate the day!!

9 o clock service

I love the 9'oclock service at COJ~ I def love the music at the 10:30am service~ but the 9 o'clock service is the people that made me feel welcome so many years ago~ they just took Kevin and I in...

When we went to Manteo for the weekend in July~ on our bucketlist was to go to the Baptist Church in Manteo~ we've said it for years.. so since it was only the 3 of us... it was easy to make it happen... the people of that church were just such a "arms open" church! I think they are use to summer church goers and they wanted to know where we were from.. how long we were staying.. the funniest was there was two families that moved from Ocean Pines to Manteo. It truly is a small world!

Thank you COJ ~ for welcoming us and taking us in... and caring.... you've made a world of difference in our lives... and I am thankful!

Tithing

tithing~ if you had a bag a peanuts and your friend wanted 10 of them~ you would give them away "no problem"... but if it was your last 10~ you would probably think about whether or not to give them away... may or may not make that decision.

As my few followers :) know, its been a long financial season for the Browns pocketbook~ learn quickly what can go ~ and what no longer matters!! Having enough to pay the bills and food is enough.. ... sometimes we've felt beat down... and sometimes we would get mad at the circumstance or each other.. it's truly been a hard long road!!

I have been wondering for a couple of weeks now, do I tithe now while I am still behind on bills ~ or do I wait to catch up~ and then give my 10%~ I took a little ride tonight by myself and that was what was on the radio... coincidence? or a God thing?

God, my peanuts will be in the plate tomorrow.. and thank you for seeing us through the last couple of years... even when I didn't believe you were there.. you were!

its all in the name....

I had a phone call today from a lady that works at one of the insurance companies that we work with ...

She said.. Hi this is Aquanet from xyz company... I'll be honest I totally blanked after the Aquanet... I was kinda thinking is it someone from a Physical therapy office that offers pools, and then I kinda went to Xmen movie... that would be a cool name for an Xman character...

then I came back to the convo.. I said I'm sorry what did you say your name was? She said Aquanet... and then I said what company again? and she said XYZ.... I said ok thats what I thought you said.....

What a cool name!! She said thanks (kinda sounded like she doesn't hear that very often).....

honestly... I will always remember her name.... she probably didn't remember mine :)

Life in Bloom!!

For my few that are reading this :), remember this is my notes to myself~ to help me regain/keep/ my jolliness~ my sunshine and I hope it helps you a little bit too!!

I saw that on an ad for an "old peoples" home~ though now the people don't look quite so old ~ that they are selling too :) I think the point of the ad was come live here and we will allow you to continue to live your life in full~ with out the upkeep responsibilites of owing a home. I googled "life in bloom" ~ its a florist shop, a photography place, a life coach, a blog!

It's all that and more!! It's about finding or renewing a passion that you have (no matter your age), it's about keeping up with friends (which I don't seem to be doing as well with that as I use too), it's about trying new things ~ restaurants, classes, whatever!

It's about not letting life knock your sails down, but whatever comes at you~ let it be one more part of you that blossoms!

Life in bloom~ I like it :)

see the magic in an ordinary day...

... There's a movie on tonight similar to the see the magic , I think it was find the magic in an ordinary day.... either way it gives me something to think about..

most days are ordinary... wake up, go to work, come home, dinner, bed and start the day over again... then you have some days that are off the hook good!! and some that are not quite so good! ... Ordinary are probably the best days... I made french toast for breakfast this morning.. the whole family was here.. it felt good... so many years ago that was ordinary.. all the boys home "at the same time" and we all sat down to breakfast.. now its not as routine to have everyone home.. especially on a Saturday...

Enjoy those ordinary days, I think those are the ones that as the boys get older, I will miss the most!!

work a couple of hours....

.. so I was scheduled to work a few hours today....

I woke up a little late, so I text ~ Sam, to say will be there by 8 am!!! At 7:35 ish she called me to say.. don't come in yet.. I am here, the police have blocked off our building and we can't get in? I'm like what? ? Apparently there was a package that was suspicion in the ramp of the church that is right beside our building... She says I'm going to go run errands and call you back ~

I'm thinking.. OK so I'll get a call to say... you can come to work now, the package has been taken care of? Sure enough she called me back at 9 to say the police are gone, the package is gone so all is good we can go into the building now.

Harold had already said ~ I don't think you should go today, just let it all settle down... so I told Sam that... so right or wrong we decided not to go in today.... for that 3-4 shift.

The building beside the church is a gym and it has just been rented out to the county for their "Stop the Violence" program~ grand opening was this week~ Thursday.... is it a coincidence?
Not sure... hope the program administrators had more courage than I did today!! I know that the kids in that area need a safe place to play~ just like I need a safe place to work......

Pray for the kids over the Railroad tracks in Salisbury!!

Unwritten

I just love the song Unwritten~ love the lyrics, love the beat~

"Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that could not find you... Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it, release your inhibitions, feel the rain on your skin. "

My take on these lyrcis is.... each day is a new blank page, reach for something you want, feel , taste!! Be a part of your own journey!! Our lives are one book~ I want to fill as many blank pages as I can!!

Enjoy your day!! "No one else can feel it for you, No one else can speak the words on your lips!"

comments on facebook

I've noticed lately on my friends facebook status, that her comments are really not her... they are not nice and sound very vinditive... so the other night I wrote to her to say.. these comments are sooo not you??? She quickly replied that the person had been ugly to her for years and she was sorta feeling good because this person was struggling.

When I left my old job, I had some ugly feelings against the guy that I felt had made me walk away. It took me a journey to get over all the feelings I had about what happened that day in March 09 ! I explained to my friend, that I didn't know what she and her "old friend" had gone through, but the way I saw it with my situation... I could 2 1/2 years later be dwelling in that place of ugliness and let that situation have control of my life... or move on... and I chose to move on, this I know for sure, I know that he doesn't sit at home and worry about any of the people that he has hurt along his business journey, so why should I give up one more minute to him once I chose to walk away? Something else I know for sure... God helped me walk and has helped me through the journey!

I don't think posting about bad karma is the way to go, I think it holds you in a bad situation.

She thanked me for emailing her and she said she was going to try and look at things differently... I said to her.. you really are a good positive person, don't let whatever happened CHANGE you...

Life events can change us ~ for the better or worse~ it truly is up to us!!

a new "whip" for the Browns

Another one bite the dust.... that's what happened to our 1998 Ford Contour.. it's been a good car to us.. but it was over heating and lots of issues.. couldn't really trust it! I could drive it to work, but by the time I got home it would start to shake and the water would be boiling? It had 216,000 miles on it!!

With our new look on life, (live below your means) we didn't want to have a big car payment, we are so excited to say we now have a new whip~~ a 2001 Saturn wagon, with 44,000 miles on it... Can you believe that? It's such a nice car... the people really took care of it! and we will do the same! We were cracking up before we saw it, the salesman said we have a 2001 wagon, we were like we are not really wagon people, once we saw it.. we said we'll be wagon people :)

We are extremely thankful!!

What kind of friend are you?

That was the sermon at COJ this morning.... Pastor Martin asked.. what qualities do you look for in a friend? people in the congregation started calling out what they look for... honesty, loyal, listener, someone that loves you for you, etc etc. I said adventerous, I think that is very important! Someone that you can say... what do you think about.. and they say "lets do it".

I've been very lucky with my dear friends, no matter what I've come up with ~ they are "in"!!I also have one friend that is always my "cheerleader", she supports me no matter what new thing I've gotten into! I appreciate that! Very blessed because my husband does the same! So I can always count on those two no matter what!!

Also blessed because I have two sisters that are truly my friends as well! My circle is wide~ and deep in the years of friendship as well... and the best part is we always have room for more!

The sermon went on to tell are you the type of friend that is bringing people to Jesus~ like in Luke~ where he talks about the friends that cut the whole in the roof, to take their friend to Jesus.... I hope I am that friend, and I know I have friends like that!! (my friends would be parting the crowd..... excuse me,, got to get my friend to Jesus!!) love you!!

I know I only have a couple of followers on my blog~ but if each of you write a note to your friend thanking them.. and maybe what is the #1 quality about that person that "attracks" you to them... and ask them to ask their friends to do the same... we would all be sharing a blessing to each of our friends and their circle!! .. just a thought... make someones day !! You could even share the Luke story.. and then we would be sharing Jesus too <3

Our niece is getting married today,

our niece, Ashley, is getting married today! Awww just seems like yesterday she was born! I love that we are close to her and her family~ in relationship and miles! Feel as though I've been to most of the important days in her life! She is a lovely young lady! She loves country music, love the Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, loves to laugh, loves her babies, and loves her man (Patrick)~ whom we all really think alot of!

Here's to Ashley and Patrick as they start their lives together in holy matrimony! May God bless your marriage!!

Love you!!

Positive Feedback

I'm getting positive feedback for my blog~ funny I've been thinking all day what I should share.. so many tidbits happened today..

I was again waiting outside for my friend, and the black crow was on the steeple again, but wasn't squawking, must have realized I wasn't going to climb up there and and take his spot (dear father!!).. but he didn't stay long, and my eyes wondered to the top of the roof and it looks like it needs a little repair and there was a piece of awning hanging funny... now I know all of that was there yesterday, but I never noticed it. I was so focused on looking up at the sun rising and the birds squawking.... I think there is an important lesson there! Staying focused on a positive (God, goal, dream) and don't take your eyes away from it... as the negatives can enter in!!

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”- Dr Wayne Dyer

Waiting for my ride...

We've had a little car trouble this week.. fan not working, so it's making the car run hot! A friend at work has been picking me up, and I was outside waiting for her at 6:35 am, and I saw the sun rising above a tree~ it was just beautiful! On top of the church steeple (St Paul's) was a black crow just a chirping.. telling me something.... I looked around and saw two other crows on the house across the street~ so I guess they were marking their territory and couldn't quite figure out what I was doing out there! ....

thankful that I was up and didn't miss out on the sun rising or the crows either, and I would have had I been driving my own vehicle. Funny how when our "norm" is interrupted we realize what we would have missed out on!

When the music changes...

I was looking for a quote on happiness today and found this one

when the music changes, so does the dance (African provberb)

So true, what we are listening to today, isn't the same as next week or even tomorrow~ events in our lives change daily ~ and it's up to us to sway to the beat of our own tune!

looking forward to what today brings....

A jolly a day....

Starting this blog for myself...

the world has a way of crashing down on you, and you can lose your spirit in the journey. I've always been "look at the positive", I think my family and beliefs and have helped me with this. The last 3 years have taken it's toll on the me and the family, and I've lost a little bit of myself!

I know that if I keep looking back with a negative heart, I will end up not being me!

I want to hear/ share some Good News!!