the "virgin islands"

ok all you gullible people!!!!  i've been spending so much time in my back yard that i decided to name it "the virgin islands" - because that's as close as i'll EVER get to the virgin islands!!!!!!   my brother in law named his detached garage "mexico" & always tells my sister that he's going to (like the kenny chesney song) "go have another beer in mexico" & she tells him to be back for dinner!!!  so i figured "the virgin islands" would be a good name for my backyard tanning paradise!!!  i made a sign & hung it on the fence next to the thermometer.  i'll have to put some other decorations up with it!!!!

this is the temp at noon!!!

this was the temp at 8:30 am AND 8:30 pm!!!!

i spent the whole weekend in "the virgin islands" - either sitting & reading & working in the flower beds (i pulled all the weeds, added a bunch of dirt & pruned the oleander bushes), talking on the phone with a friend, or swinging with jonathan & faith!   i did spend a little time in "mexico" with my friend betty sunday afternoon because she wouldn't come to "the virgin islands" with me!!!!!!!

the poor grass --- even though i water, it's so hot & we've had no rain.......   :o(

this is where the bluebonnets were this spring - the next "crop" of flowers to come up here are black eyed susans.  usually this flower bed is FULL of them, but this year only a few came up here - on the other side of the back door there's another flowerbed that usually NOTHING grows in - this year there were lots of bluebonnets & black eyed susans in it!!!!   i think the reason they didn't come up on the other side is because there wasn't very much dirt left.  well, that's all solved so i'll plant some seeds for next year.  it's too hot to plant any new plants & we NEVER get any rain, so the color will have to come from the pinwheels!!!  plus they look sort of tropical colored.    i need to get a kiddy pool & put some sand around it, but the water would just get too hot & the stray neighborhood cats would use the sand for a litter box, so i'll just pass on that idea!!!!

they're so much fun to watch!!!!

it was a great holiday weekend

in

but now i'm back in texas & have to go to work tomorrow!!!!  at least it's a short work week & i can go back to "the virgin islands" next saturday!!!!!!!!

and now - here are some "tan line pictures"-----

WARNING - RENEE':

there are feet pictures at the end, so please sign off now!!!!!

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this one was taken outside in the evening without the flash - came out kinda dark!!

 poor, dry grass!   it's hard to take pictures of feet - they never look shaped right!!!!!

some one asked - i use hawaiian tropic spf20 suntan lotion - & lots of it so i don't burn!!!!

be blessed!!!!  i am!!!!

james chapter 3

the tongue.........sometimes i say things that hurt people when i don't mean to hurt them & then it hurts me.  and i spend the rest of forever kicking myself & hating my very existence,  it's hard for me to get over it.  makes me sad & withdrawn.  --- especially when they won't accept my apology.  i'm strong & brave on the outside but on the inside i'm crying & dying.  i don't want to hurt anyone.  if you have EVER, in my whole life, been one of the people i've hurt, i've asked for God's forgiveness;  i ask for your forgiveness too. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElCIGdLx4UM&feature=player_detailpage

here's what we did at stamp camp today! (& a little extra somethin' else!)

the cards & craft projects have been few & far between on this blog - sorry!   hopefully that will change once i get my "creative gene" working again!!!

today's cards were a big hit - so easy, but a real WOW!! everyone loved them!! the theme was black & white & we did 2 guy cards & 2 girl cards.

finished the book i was reading!!  i'll have to go out tomorrow at lunch & get the 3rd & final book in the trilogy!  i've figured it out, but still i'm dying to immerse myself in the story & get to the end!!!!  i love it when a book is so good that you feel like you know all the characters like friends & you feel like you're right there in the story with them!!!  i feel like i want to sit down with 2 of the characters & just have a long wonderful talk with them!!!!!

.....kinda like the Bible......i wish i could sit down with peter & james & paul (& most of all Jesus!!!!) & just talk!!  i have a specialness towards the woman at the well - oh how i would love to talk to her!!  Jesus forgave her completely - just as He's forgiven me - & she was able to accept His forgiveness & go on to tell many others what He'd done for her.  why is it so hard for ME to do that????  at times i want to hang on to my sin, not completely accepting His forgiveness.

i had a beautiful evening sitting in the backyard with God again!!!  He painted the most beautiful sunset!!!  the past 2 days were absolutely cloudless & then tonight He put some clouds in the sky & then mixed them all up for the sunset!  it was grey!  i love grey clouds!!!  & grey sunsets are so pretty!!!!   the pinks & blues & purples are nice, but the grey ones are my favorite!!!!  i should have come in to get the camera, but i just sat there because i couldn't bear to leave it!!!!!!  the next time He does a grey sunset, i'll be sure to take pictures for you!!!!  (did you ever play the "cloud game" when you were little?  it's where you make shapes & objects out of the clouds---like, there's a boat, or a dog, or a lady with a funny hat.........i still love to play that game!!!!!  tonight i saw a pretty grey dove!!!  reminded me that the Holy Spirit is right here with me, guiding me.  thanks, God!!!!)

i am sooooooo blessed!!! 

bittersweet end

well, some of you may have figured out my surprise announcement that i hinted about awhile back.  (some of the ideas were totally off base!!!!!  one of the ideas would have been nice, but it's just not the time for it!!!!)    

if you're really astute, you may have noticed that i re-did my blog.......i've updated the legal blah blah blah & my profile info......i've been praying about this for a long long time - even before i got sick - & i've decided to end my stampin' up! demoship.  i had my last stamp camp today.  it was bittersweet & sad, & i'll miss "my girls", but we can still be friends, get together & do stuff or stamp & scrapbook together.   i'm just at a different stage in my life.  i want to simplify things, concentrate on the things God wants me to concentrate on & enjoy life.  i was getting to the point where i was doing things because i was "obligated to" not because i enjoyed it.  & these were things i used to enjoy!!!!!

my 2 "downline" girls, judy & sarah will be taking over my customers/sales.  if you want to order anything, let me know & i'll get you in touch with one of them (judy's in dallas & sarah's here in houston).  houston people are welcome to attend sarah's monthly stamp camps - let me know if you're interested & i can tell you all the details.  (her camps are free & she has a $30/mo club)

ok, i'm going back out to my backyard to work on my tan & finish the book i started yesterday!!  (i've read 3 books just this past week!!!!!!!!!!!!)   i'll post pictures of the cards we made today later - have to photograph & upload them.............will do that when the sun goes down!!!!

be blessed - i am!!!!!!

my favorite place to be................

is sitting here

with God

listening to this!!!!

see that poor, pitiful brown grass?  we had rain on thursday, may 12 for the 1st time in 4 months!!!!!  that's not enough!!!  the grass crunches when you walk on it!!!!  please, God, send us more rain.  (but only after dark, or between the hrs. of 9am & 4pm monday thru friday!!!!!!)    !!!!!

have a blessed sunday!!!!!

some things to ponder......

i read this on a blog the other day (from "be yourself, everyone else is taken" by Beth):

"what's worse, going through life trying to find your passion but never finding it or knowing what you want but no matter how hard you try, never being able to accomplish it?"

(i know what i want, but i can't accomplish it right now.)

here's another - don't remember where i saw this:

"when you get what you want, do you still want what you got?"

(yup, i still want it!)

i'm feeling a little melancholy tonight - kinda like the paint on this door!!  or maybe like the doorknob (nobody's holding it!!)  i think i'll go to bed - maybe i'll dream!!

be blessed!!

....for the 1st time since early february........

i stamped this morning for about 2 hrs.!!!!!!!!   got 3 cards ready for stamp camp.  then i went outside & did some things in the yard.  then it got too hot out, so i came in for a while & stamped some more!!!!!   did a bunch of birthday cards, made grandma's mother's day card & then went back outside to tan!!!!!  i sat in the backyard this evening until it got dark, just sitting in the moonlight talking to God.  we had the best time together!!!!  i even thanked Him for letting me get sick, because He really taught me a lot of things during that time.  i'm happy.   then i stamped some more!!!!  made a special birthday card & i'm really pleased with how it turned out!!!  i was in a "paint chip & embossing mood" today!!! 

grandma's mother's day card - she loves butterflies:

 made it look like the newsprint paper was "burned"!

 the inside is newsprint patterned paper too instead of plain white - i just wrote directly on it with a sharpie marker!!!   i embossed a couple stars on a paint chip & cut them out to go on the inside.   i LOVE the way this card turned out!!!  i want to keep it!!!   does that ever happen to you?  you make something for someone & it's so cool that you want to keep it for yourself?!!

be blessed!!!

my mom

today would have been my mom's 79th birthday.  she died 10 years ago in january.  i miss her.

this picture is l-r,  me when i was 2 swinging in the apple tree in our backyard; my mom when she was 2 sitting on a chair; suzanne when she was 2 standing in the bluebonnets!!!  mom's picture was originally sepia toned; my picture was originally black & white; suzanne's picture was originally colored.  i made them all sepia toned for this frame that suzanne gave me for mother's day a longgggggggg time ago.   this is one of my most prized possessions!!

happy birthday mom & happy mother's day!!!

all you moms be blessed!!

hello new internet provider - good bye u-verse & tv!

(no pictures in this post!!  no new tan lines to show you!!!)

friday's the day!!!  got the new internet set up today so tomorrow the u-verse goes bye-bye!!  i haven't had the tv on all night or last night or the night before & i've missed 3 of my favorite shows so i think i'll live once it's disconnected!!  (i guess you could say i was in training!!!!)

the guy the other night told me i could import my address book from the old internet to the new, but the guy tonight said that wasn't possible & i sure tried & he was right, it's not possible.  i sent an email to people in my address book so they would send an email to my new email so i can capture emails by replying to yours.  sorry that you have to do a little work, but i wasn't going to type a thousand emails!!!!!!  i need to change my email with all the companies i do business with too - like the bank, etc........joy!    the new email is:  dmerdely28@clear.net   (did i use the word email enough times in that paragraph???!!!)

i need to get ready for bed & i need to have a long conversation with God because i'm in a crappy mood.  i haven't been in a crappy mood for a long longggggggggggggggg time - even when i was sick i wasn't in a crappy mood.  it's really bothering me & i don't like it!!!!  i don't want to be in a crappy mood!!!!  i want to be happy!!!  (did i use the word crappy enough times in that paragraph???!!!)

well, crappy mood or not, i am blessed!!!  hope you are too!!  good night!!

wanna see my tan line????

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 ready???????????

you were expecting something else??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i went to the dr. today.  he's very happy with my #'s!!  i have more bloodwork scheduled for a month from now & then i see him a week after that.  until then, i need to keep checking my levels, keep taking the 4 shots of insulin a day, & keep eating well.  hopefully my body will start making it's own insulin again - the bloodwork will tell............. pray!

ok, i mentioned that i've got some big announcements to make........so here are a few:

1.  we will have stamp camp on sunday, may 15 at 2pm.  if you are one of my regular people, please BE HERE because i will have some special things for you & a very important announcement & i want all of you to hear it firsthand from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (some of you have orders that need to be picked up!!)  if any of you wants to swap,  bring 10 cards.  that should be enough.

2.  i have been having lots of problems with my u-verse tv & internet service so i have decided after lots of friendly "fighting" with att to cancel my service with them!!  i'll be changing internet providers & according to my conversation with the guy at the new service it will be very easy for me to let you know my new email address once i get the modem connected (all they have to do is ship it to me & then all i have to do is plug it in to my laptop).  it better be!!!!  (i just hope it's not a hassle changing my email address with all my "bills", bank, etc...............but anything has to be less of a hassle than dealing with u-verse!!!!!)

3.  suzanne's gonna have a fit, but i've decided NOT to get any tv service!!!!!!!!!!!!!   i've been praying about this for a long time - even before i got sick, & i think i can do a lot more constructive things if i don't have the temptation of tv lurking over me!   i can do more reading, more Bible study, more praying, more piano playing, more gardening, more sewing, maybe even more stamping & scrapbooking! (more tanning!!!!!!)  & more other stuff!!!  i'm just at a different stage in my life!!

i've got more announcements, but you'll just have to wait....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

be blessed!!!

(p.s.  the middle finger nail broke today - the thumb didn't bother me, but this one does!!!  it was soooooooooooo long & now it's soooooooooooooooooo short!!!!!  the thumb doesn't look funny, but this one does!!!   oh well!!!!       2 down, 8 to go!!!!!  hopefully not!)



i just KNEW this would happen one day................

i'm not doing nothing anymore, so.......................


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..................i broke a fingernail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(look how long the others are!!!!  and that shadow looks pretty good too!!!!)

my nails usually crack when they get any degree of length to them.  they grew very long (well, very long for ME!) doing nothing for 2 months, & none of them cracked until last week when i went back to work (they don't like working!!!)  i caught one of them in the crack between the rows of keys on the keyboard & it's cracked (middle finger, right hand).  yesterday i washed my car then went in the backyard to clean out the dead bluebonnet plants from the yard & flowerbeds.  picked the rest of the seed pods that hadn't already popped & cracked my thumbnail on the left hand while doing all this.  this morning i caught it in my hair when i was rolling it & tore it off!!!  i tried to save them by putting acrylic gel over the cracks, but it didn't work.............

(you can't really tell, but this is the middle one that is cracked because it got stuck in the keyboard of my computer!!!!    sorry this picture is blurry - it's hard to hold the camera in my left hand AND press the button with my left hand while taking a picture of my right hand!!!!)

but look at THIS picture:

i took it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  i sat the camera on the table; then i focused to the right of the tip of my left finger (the broken one....  ;o(   ....)   then i pushed the button with my right hand & QUICKLY put my right thumb next to the left one!!!!  i can't believe i managed to get it in the picture & it's fairly focused!!!!!  and this was on the FIRST try!!!!!!!  boy am i good!!!!!

someone told me when they break you should cut them all off to the same length so they're even.  well, it took me too long to get them to this length, so i'm just going to let them be & enjoy them until they eventually break off themselves!!!!  one thing's for sure, red polish is not as durable as the pink i 1st had on!!!  the red chips too easily.  the pink lasted for 2 weeks with no chipping!!!  i'll leave the red for a little while, then i think i'll go back to the pink - it's more "me" anyhow!!!!!

i ain't cuttin' these babies!!!!!

just a random thought:

can you see in this picture above.........my hands are so tanned & brown but my fingers are whiter!!!!!!!!!!!  it's more noticeable in person!!!!!

there are a few people that have birthdays this week - i just went through my box of cards & pulled out a few i already had stamped - i'm just not in the mood to stamp yet!!!!  maybe tomorrow.....................

have a blessed night & an even more blessed day!!!!  (it's soooooooooooooo windy out; the windchimes are ringing like crazy!!!  there's supposed to be a 40% chance of rain tonight, but so far, not a drop in sight!!   however the temp is about 57 right now!!!!!  crazy!!!!!)