The Old Rugged Cross

The Old Rugged Cross

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above to bear it to dark Calvary.

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, a wondrous beauty I see;
For 'twas on that old dross Jesus suffered and died to pardon ad sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away, where His glory forever I'll share.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down;I will cling to the old rugged cross,And exchange it someday for a crown.


"During a period of spiritual struggling, George Bennard (1873-1958) started to study and contemplate the cross of Christ. Bennard had been very active in the Salvation Army and later was ordained as a evangelist for the Methodist Episcopal Church. As he studied on the verse Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death," Bennard got the theme for a hymn that has become a favorite for many, "The Old Rugged Cross."
In 1913, Rev. George Bennard, an evangelist in the Methodist/Episcopal church was “praying for a full understanding of the cross and its plan in Christianity.” Over a period of time he studied more and more about the cross. He prayed and meditated on the cross of Christ, until one day he was able to say, “I saw the Christ of the Cross as if I were seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form and act out the meaning of redemption.” Through this experience and others in his life he penned the words and wrote the tune to our hymn,“The Old Rugged Cross.”"

Valentine's Traditions

• In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
• In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"
• Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
• In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.
• A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together -- but not too closely!
• Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

Christ Arose

Christ Arose

Low in the grave He lay -
Jesus, my Savior!
Waiting the coming day -
Jesus, my Lord!

Vainly they watch His bed -
Jesus, my Savior!
Vainly they seal the dead -
Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his prey -
Jesus, my Savior!
He tore the bars away -
Jesus, my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign:
He arose!He arose!Hallelujah! Christ arose!


"The hymn, “Christ Arose” is a hymn of sheer drama. Robert Lowry, the author, has said,My brain is sort of a spinning machine, for there is music running through it all the time.As he read the verses above, Luke 24:6-7, he sat at his little pump organ and wrote out the words and tune to this hymn in 1862. Lowry was a Bible scholar and engaging orator who became the music editor for the Biglow Publishing Company. This hymn of his depicts a shining contrast between the moods of death and resurrection."

The Bell House

My mom wrote: "A very special back step. My grandpa carved his initials into one of the steps after he poured the cement for them. WDS...Walter Dale Sundin. I believe the date reads March 22, '53. We all got warm fuzzies to see it still there."

My Aunt Karin told this story to the lady who now owns the Bell house: "I was 15 or so. Us five kids and along with Kathy's bestfriend Kathy A. were sitting at the kitchen table here devouring burgers and pork and beans. Everyone was in a jovial mood. I picked up my spoon, scooped up two pork and beans, and 'boing", flung them at Paul. Well, not to be out performed, he picked up his whole plate of beans, sauntered over to me, and dumped them straight away on my head!" Incredulous with disbelief, through the slop I lifted up two fingers to Paul and vehemently cried, "Two beans. That's all you got, two beans!" We all roared with laughter, even my mom."

History of Ground Hog Day

Today the ground hog saw his shadow so I guess we have 6 more weeks of winter. I was curious as to how this little tradition got started.
The tradition started in Germany and they used a badger, but when it was brought to Pennsylvania they replaced the badger with a ground hog.The official first Ground Hog's Day was on February 2nd 1886. For more of the history click here - ground hog.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

I think my cake was a hit! I was up until midnight last night making it but I think it was worth it! The mousse was so creamy and smooth and the chocolate cake was perfect. All of the ladies loved it, some even had a second piece which usually doesn't happen. There were only three pieces left. It wasn't as pretty as Martha's but I am practicing. :)

Ideas for Valentine's Day

I found this small website with a few cute ideas for Valentine's Day. I really liked the idea to make a memory book of your lives together and also putting together a heart shaped box with little coupons inside for personal services. My favorite coupon idea was the "get out of a fight free" card! Very cute! :) If you are looking from some nice ideas for Valentine's Day click here. meltmagazine

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is the February cake from Martha Stewart Living January 2006. I am making it for Bible study tomorrow. I have been studying the directions since there are a lot of things to do. I am going to make it tonight when I get home from work. I made sure to make dinner this morning so I have nothing to when I get except bake when I get home. Daisy has Awana tonight, at church, so Rue and I are going to have a nice candlelit dinner, just the two of us. I made yummy Creamy Cauliflower Soup and homemade whole wheat bread. I will also make a salad to go with. I will let you know how the cake turns out! :)



Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 ounces solid semisweet chocolate
individual chocolate mousse (recipe follows)


1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place eight 6-ounce (3 1/2-inch diameter) ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet, and coat with cooking spray; set aside. (I just made one big cake using a 9 inch round cake pan.)

2. Stir flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and 1/4 cup water; mix on medium-low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes.

3. Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Run a knife around sides of cakes; unmold. Cakes can be refrigerated, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.

4. Trim each cake to 1 inch high. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut eight 10 3/4-by-4-inch strips of parchment paper. Wrap a parchment collar around base of each cake, keeping bottom flush with baking sheet. Secure each collar with tape; set aside.

5. Transfer bittersweet-chocolate mousse to a large pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (such as Ateco #808). Pipe a 1-inch layer of mousse into each parchment collar. Refrigerate until mousse is set, about 20 minutes. Repeat with milk chocolate mousse, piping on top of the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

6. Microwave semisweet chocolate until slightly warm but not melted, about 30 seconds. Scrape at a 45-degree angle with a vegetable peeler, forming curls. Before serving cakes, remove parchment collars, and garnish with chocolate curls.


Individual Chocolate Mousse

Makes enough for 8 cakes
This recipe makes two kinds of mousse: bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate.


3 1/3 cups heavy cream
8 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Salt
7 ounces milk chocolate, melted


1. Put 1 2/3 cups cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate 1 hour.

2. Put 4 egg yolks into the clean bowl of the mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until pale and frothy, 4 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons water to a rolling boil in a small, heavy saucepan over high heat. Cook until clear, large bubbles form, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Carefully pour hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high. Mix until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bittersweet chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt with a rubber spatula.

3. Add one-third of bittersweet-chocolate mixture to whipped cream; whisk to combine. Add remaining bittersweet-chocolate mixture, whisking until completely combined. Press through a large-mesh sieve into a large bowl; discard any solids. Repeat entire recipe, substituting milk chocolate for the bittersweet.

Rubba-dub-dub

Here is another picture of Gabe. Isn't he just sooooo cute. For those of you who don't know, Isaac is adopted and the Scheidlers are in the process of adopting Gabe. It is a huge process! Please pray for them and this little cutie during the process. He completely fits with them and they love him to death! :)

The Bell House

My mom wrote: "The old Bell House sits on a corner lot, just out of the pic to the left. This is Nevada St. We skated and road bikes for hundreds of hours around this culdesac. Almost where I'm standing to take the shot is where I fell off my bike when I was seven and drove my chin into the asphalt exposing my chin bone. It required seven stitches to unexpose. (I bare the scar to this day.) Paul and I used to fly kites on this street. I don't remember if my other three siblings did or not. We'd weave the string through those Chinese Elm leaves ever so skillfully and watch as those paper diamonds with tails grew smaller and smaller. We got pretty good at it. Once in awhile a kite would get caught in a branch and we'd lose it but more times than not we were able to bring it down to have it sail again. (I once fell out of the second Chinese Elmon the left. I was hoisting myself up with a rope. It gave way. [I wasn't very good at knots.] I landed on my back with a resounding"whomp!" I had almost made it to that first limb. [It was lower then]. Knocked the wind right out of me. The "whomp" was so loud the neighbor lady came running out of the house to see if I was ok...I lived to tell you about it.)"

My mom wrote: "Dad is sitting in the dining room. We enjoyed many a turkey dinner averaging about 25 family members in that room. We had tables that ran from the china hutch in the dining room to the couch area in the living room. The china hutch with those beautiful leaded glass doors has been removed. Wooden shelves with a teapot collection now take up the space."

My mom wrote: "A wider angle view of the dining room while standing in the living room. You can see the shelving that replaced the china cupboard. The floor heater that Karin waffled a pattern onto the bottom of her little feet is still there. The bookcases were removed. Dare I tell you about the time I was in the backyard and my mother was in the dining room looking out the window at us kids playing. I was about 5. Scott Adams was over playing with me and Paul. He dared me to pull down my shorts. After much teasing and daring, I did. (Gasp!) My mother (unbeknownst to me) had been watching. She came flying out the back porch door and put a good blistering on the part that I'd exposed! (Don't gasp too loudly, I kept my undies on. Just the shorts came down.) Her two favorite behavior modification implements were coat hangers, wire mind you, and wooden yard sticks. Oh. I almost forgot. There was a third. The flyswatter! I don't recall her tool of choice on that particular occasion. It could've been her loving hand. She came out that back door awfully fast. After the dreaded instrument was applied Scott Adams was sent home and me and my warm buns were sent upstairs."

• In the third picture on the very right is where my gramma's chair used to be. I would kneel down beside it and watch her work on her crosstiches. I was fasinated by the thread making pictures on the fabric. She would be watching Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansberry while she worked. I am sure this is where my love of sewing was born. I do remember that the house was a lot cleaner than in this picture! :)

Spiders

Yesterday I was reading BlueBerryPatch (a blog) and MrEddie brought up insects that come out in September. This reminded me of the critters that tend to come out around here in August and September, SPIDERS!! We do have spiders all year round, but the ones that come out in later part of summer or absolutely disgusting!
There are two kinds actually. There are these ones that are orange and black spotted and they have a huge, round rear-ends. They make their webs in the most inconvenient spots and I am usually the one to walk face first into one. The worst part is when the spider in on the web and then he starts crawling all over you. I do a crazy dance and eventually get him off. And then of course I have the heebie-geebies the rest of the day. Any little itch that I might have I immediately think, "SPIDER!" and I do the dance all over again. The worst time is when I don't realize there is a spider on me. I am calm and collected as can be and then I see IT out of the corner of my eye crawling up my leg. There goes my serene day!
Then there are the huge long brown ones that are hairy. They are not as big as a tarantula but still they are pretty big for around here. They always seemed to show up in the bathtub. I would wake up all groggy and pull back the shower curtain. I was awake in an instant. I would then recruit my mom, dad or brother to then kill the spider. Of course I hardly ever asked my brother to do it because he had the tendency to throw the spider on me after he had smushed it. My beautiful shower was then ruined as I was on the lookout for anymore. The worst was when I wouldn't have my contacts in and I would climb under the nice warm water and then right next to me head on the wall there would be one of those MONSTERS!! Again, a scream would ring forth and I would come flying out of the bathroom (with a towel, of course) and my family would decide who would be the one to kill the spider this time.
There have been a few times when I would get out of bed in the morning and feel something soft under my foot. I wouldn't think anything of it and then later on that day I would find a smushed big brown MONSTER on my bedroom floor. (I also did it once in the living room. I have no clue haw I managed to step on so many without knowing it but it creeps me out to think that there were that many in the house!) I would get the heebie-geebies realizing that I had killed it with my bare feet! Then there were those two times that I climbed into bed and then remembered something I needed to do. I would come back to find that I had laid down on top of one of those MONSTERS!! And thus again the heebie-geebies would begin. Those nights I had a really hard time falling asleep. I would rip all the covers and sheets off making sure there were not anymore and I would do that for the next several nights, just in case.
Now that I am married I have my husband to kill the spiders, but unfortunately he gets creeped out from smushing them. So we both stand there staring at the spider arguing who is going to kill it this time. I will say that he is usually the one who ends up with the gruesome task! :)

A Special Valentine

I found this really fun idea for Valentine's Day. If you want to do something really sweet and inexpensive for your Valentine why not send them a valentine from Valentine City. (There are also other cities.) Click on the link to see how! :)

http://www.theromantic.com/stories/valentines/valentines1.htm

The Bell House

My mom took these pictures when she went down to L.A. this January. They went and visited the house both my gramma and my mom grew up in. The lady who lives there now let them go inside and walk down memory lane. My mom took pictures and I will be sharing them with you along with my memories of the old Bell house. It is located in Bell, California.

My mom wrote: "Judy is the gal on the right, my writer friend. Mrs. Leva (the lady on the left) is the lady that has lived in the house for the past 16 years. She bought it from my folks. She graciously let us in to look around. All the windows have been replaced with new, modern ones. The Levas use the front steps by the car. We always went up the steps by the kitchen (to the left of the car-out of the photo.)...The bedroom I had just before I married Tim is the one on the second story, you can see the dormer windows. (I won't tell you about the green smears on the wall in that room when Phil had it. We had such a hard time getting him to use a kleenex. Boys!)"

My mom wrote: "I think this pic of my mom is fast becoming my all time favorite that I have of her. She is in the hallway that leads to the back porch. We used to have a chalkboard where the flowers are behind her. (I was playing around in Photoshop and sepia-toned the pic.) All three photos were taken with my 50mm lens before I dropped and broke it. Sniffle,sniffle. Boy it could take sharp pics. Tim's comment when I told him, "You get what you pay for." (It was a cheapie.)"

I actually remember the chalkboard that my mom is talking about. It was a little green one with a wooden frame. I remember the little hallway that led to the back porch that was also a sun room. There was a couch that had duck pillows all over it, and you had to keep the pillows on it in order to stay comfortable because the back of the couch was really hard! And then there was also the washer and dryer out there. I had a little blanky that I took everywhere with me. One day my gramma told me that it needed to be washed. I could hardly bear to part with it but she told me it was "icky" and she put it in the washer. I could not stand being apart from it from it for that long so when my mom pulled it out I asked if I could have it. My mom told me that it needed to go in the dryer, but I insisted and I walked around with a damp blanky the rest of the day.

Getting Ready...

This last week I got my first Fit Pregnancy magazine in the mail! Reading it really got me all excited for a baby. There was a lot of information about nutrition before one is even pregnant, I found it really helpful.
They talked a lot about being overweight and pregnant. I learned that if I were to get pregnant now I should only gain 15 pounds. Hopefully though I will have lost my goal of 25 pounds by the time I get pregnant. They said that a woman only burns an extra 300 calories a day being pregnant. I would have thought it was a lot higher. That will definitely help when I am pregnant. I also learned that I should be taking lots of folic acid now. They didn't quite explain why but they did say that I should be taking up to 5 milligrams now and then continue taking that much through the first trimester to prevent neural-tube defects. (I have heard that not having enough folic acid causes spinabepheda, spelling?)
So, I really enjoyed reading the magazine. Seeing all the pictures of cute babies was fun too! :) Well, I am off to the gym!

Ways to Be His Valentine

Since Valentine's Day is coming up I have been trying to think of things to do for Rue. In A Woman's High Calling by Elizabeth George she gives a list of 26 things that we can do. And these things don't even have to be done on Valentine's Day. I am going to strive to be doing these things for my sweety on a regular basis! Here are few ideas she gives.

• Amorous words are not outdated. Write your husband a poem, sing him a song, buy him a romantic card.

• Drive the next time the two of you go somewhere, and lethim relax and enjoy the . scenery.

• Enumerate his fine qualities, using this modified line of ElizabethBarret Browning's: "Why do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Tape the list to his mirror.

• Hide encouraging scripture verses or personal notes in his coat pocket,his wallet, his sock drawer or on the pulpit.

• Old, cherished wedding pictures can help you to remember whenyour love was new.

• Prepare his favorite meal.

• Quips and cartoons can lighten his day. Cut them out and give them to him on a day he needs a lift.

• Uphold him in prayer.

• Yes, let's do it! Make that your answer when he suggests things to do - a walk, watching the sunset, taking a day to ski, whatever.

I'd Rather Have Jesus

I'd Rather Have Jesus

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land;
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand:


refrain:
Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway!
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.


I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause;
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than world-wide fame;
I'd rather be true to His holy name:


He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He's sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He's all that my hungering spirit needs -
I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead:


"At the age of 23 George Beverly Shea (1909 - ) had a hard decision to make. He could accept a job offer in a secular singing position in New York City with a great salary and wide respect; or he could continue singing in churches and for Christian radio programs. While sitting at the family piano, he started to prepare a special hymn for the Sunday service. On the piano he found a poem by Mr. Rhea F. Miller. He immediately began to compose the music for the poem and used the song that same morning in his father's church service. He also used those words to direct his life and has shared his song, "I'd Rather Have Jesus" with audiences around the world."

Who wears the pants?

Yesterday morning Rue woke up, showered and put on a fresh clean pair of jeans. He thought they felt a little different than they usually do, but whatever.
I was in the kitchen and he came walking around the corner. I noticed how nice his pants looked. They really looked good.
I sauntered on up and gave him a kiss and told him how much I liked those pants on him. He said he liked them too but the pockets weren't very deep. He said that he wasn't going to be able to put anything in them.
Well, we both went about the rest of our day. I went to work and Rue chilled at home because it was his day off.
That evening, after I got off work, I met him at his parent's house. (We were going to a concert that evening and he had dropped Daisy off there.) When I got there I noticed he was wearing a different pair of pants. He said "Oh yeah, you remember those pants I had on this morning and that you thought they looked so good on me, they were your old pants!!" We both started cracking up! No wonder the pockets were so shallow!
The only regret I have is the fact that my husband fits into MY pants! I guess this brings me some more good motivation for losing some extra pounds. :)
Oh, and his last comment to me about it was, "Your not going to write about it on your blog are you?"
I love you sweety!

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A Mighty Fortress is Out God

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.


Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth is His name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.


And tho’ this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim - we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.


That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;The body they may kill;
God’s truth abideth still,His kingdom is forever.



"On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther hammered into the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, his 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church. Among the things for which Luther became famous:
1.The scriptures to be translated in the common languages of all men
2.The doctrine of salvation by faith alone
3.The birth of congregational singing
The hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was written by Martin Luther around the time when the term Protestant was first heard. This hymn became the battle cry during the Protestant reformation.
Thank God for men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldreich Zwingli and others who led the way during the reformation and gave us the basis for our evangelical faith.
The hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” written by Martin Luther, was the battle call for the Protestant Reformation. It is based on Psalm 46. Luther said of music, “After theology, there is nothing that can be placed on a level with music. It drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. It is a gift that God gave to birds and to men. We need to remove hymn singing from the domain of monks and priests and set the laity to singing. By the singing of hymns the laity can publicly express their love to the Almighty God.”

Mary Beth

My mom sent this picture over e-mail. This is what she wrote:

"My sister Karin has a mirror hanging in her entryway. On the mirror is a very old photo of a Koontz ancestor or friend who is sitting and knitting by available light. It is a beautiful photograph. Mary Beth and I had fun trying to replicate it with a tungsten light. This is the modern version we came up with."

Make sure you're potty trained!

This picture was taken at Long Lake County Park, Fall 2005. :)

Delilah

Today I whined! I whined so much that my dear sweet husband left the house to get away from me! When I woke up this morning I felt cranky and grumpy and decided not to deal with it. I sat down to do my devotions but because I felt cranky I decided to not continue! Big mistake! That was the one place I needed to be, looking to the Lord to help me rid myself of my grumpiness. So then when my husband got up all I had for him was a whining spirit. I knew I was wrong. I feel so bad that I treated him that way. I finally did sit down and had my quiet time with the Lord, and what do you know, my whining went away. Rue came home before I left for work and I apologized. He is so wonderful because he always forgives me. I found this article at christianitytoday.com called Delilah. Click on the link and then put Delilah in the search engine on the website. I want to put into practice her advice about holding your tongue until you have something nice to say. Sometimes it is probably best that I don't talk at all. I know the Lord is working on me though as I continue to seek Him He will continue to weed out all the sinful habits of mine. And again I will say that I am so thankful for my husband who continues to love me even with all my sin!

Hamster and snake best friends at

Tokyo zoo

"TOKYO - "Gohan" the hamster was supposed to be dinner. But now he and a rat snake are best buddies.
Zookeepers in Tokyo named the dwarf hamster Gohan as a joke, because it means "meal" in Japanese. It was put in the snake's cage in October for the reptile's supper.
Zookeepers say the critters have been sharing the cage ever since. The snake shows no signs of eyeing its furry little friend for dinner. The hamster even climbs onto the four-foot-long snake's back to take naps. "

Thursday, January 19, 2006
Associated Press

Linda Nelson Stocks

I came across some paintings by Linda Nelson Stocks. I think they are so pretty and cozy. I just want to step into them and spend the day in those quaint places. :) Click here to see her paintings.

Quilts

On the back of my couch is a quilt that my gramma made me for my 18th birthday. I also have a gorgeous, huge king size quilt that the ladies made at our church as a wedding gift. They also had people write on the back of it little messages to us. I will cherish it forever. I think that having quilts around the house makes it fell more cozy. I am actually working on a nine-patch quilt right now. On our honeymoon Rue graciously let me shop in a quilt store in a little town on the coast of Oregon. I bought a bundle of reproduced vintage lavander fabrics. They all have a different pattern but are all lavender. (And lavender is my favorite color.) I don't get to work on it much, but when I do I enjoy it. I love to see how patterns and colors can fit together. Just this morning I went to the scrapbook store and looked through all the pretty papers. They have them all sorted out already by color and pattern. I almost wish they would just mix them all up because it is so much fun trying to find patterns and colors that match.
Well here are some quilts I found pictures of that I thought were beautiful. You have to have great talent to make quilts like these.

The Calico Garden Quilt
1950

The Clarissa White Alford Quilt

1886

The Elizabeth Green Quilt

1852

The Sarah Johnson Quilt

1826

The Pincushion Quilt

1835

The Tooth Fairy

This picture was taken by Josh Suko from my church. (He and his wife took our wedding pictures.) He can do amazing things with photoshop. This was taken the night his daughter Rachelle lost a tooth. He took a picture of her sleeping and then photoshopped the fairy in. I guess the next morning she almost believed that the tooth fairy had really come when he showed her the picture. :)