Auto Seat Back Protector by Dot&Dot

The Auto Seat Back Protector form From Dot & Dot is a came neatly wrapped in a pouch for storage when not in use. The cover itself is black and comes to fit an adjustable seat size. The material is durable and washable after little feet have found their way all over it. It is a great idea and it saves the backs of your seats from mud and other damage from feet. It is very cost effective at $9.99 on Amazon I received this product for free however I do not recommend products that I do not like and use.

Seaweed Complex Lotion

This lotion is so light and refreshing for the face. My face still feel clean after applying the serum and moisturizer and that is a big deal to me. Seaweed Complex Lotion Is Natural and Organic. It is claimed to be anti aging,I do not know for sure but I know that after use my face was glowing and bright.I really like this lotion.I received this product for free but I do not recommend products that I do not use myself.

Hyaluronic Acid Serum Review

Hyaluronic Acid Serum came to me in a package that was improper for its box. The box was bent when I received it and the lid was not sealed either. Nevertheless I tried the product and I am pleased with its performance. After just a few days I am seeing less wrinkles and my face seems less porous as well. The pump bottle of liquid works well and fits well with the rest of my beauty regimen. You apply the serum after the toner and before the moisturizer. It takes very little to cover the whole face so the 1 oz bottle should last for a while. The cost of $35.95 seems a bit high but if it works as good as they claim it may be worth it. They claim to make my skin glow and I must say that it is. I received this product for free but I do not recommend products that I do not use myself.

Argan Oil....Oh Boy its Heavy

I received a bottle of Argan Oil neatly packed in a glass bottle with a squeeze dropper lid. It is easy to use and has many uses. It lists on the bottle that it can be used on your face, your hair, your nails and your body. I tried it on my face and felt it was too heavy for my face. My face felt dirty and oily like I had not cleaned it at all. I felt bad and wanted to give it a shot so I decided I would give it a try on my very dry feet. So I have been putting it on my feet in the morning and at night for the past two days and my feet feel much softer. The dry skin is ready to be scraped off and the rest of my feet are very soft. I did use a little bit in my hair as well and I noticed a shine on my hair. I have heard that using a good oil on your hair promotes growth but I have not used it long enough to see if it is true or not. The oil has a slight odor which I would say is a little bit like Valerian root if you have ever smelled that. It's not enough to turn you off to it once it is applied tho. It comes at a reasonable price of $14.95 for a large 4oz bottle and ships in two days if you have amazon prime. I received this product for free and I only recommend products that I use myself

Beginner's Waltz One and Two

Beginner's Waltz One and Volume Two are very thorough at teaching the layman how to do the waltz. The couple break it down from the very basic box step from different angles and individually so that the man and the woman can each learn their part. If you are having a difficult time keeping up it is easy enough to go back to the beginning of the chapter and relearn. They layer the learning so it is plenty easy to keep up even for clumsy feet like me. The couple is pleasant and even share a bit of Waltz history in the beginning of the video which I never knew that the Waltz was the first dance that brought man and woman into an embrace while dancing so that was interesting. Overall I feel I could learn to dance from these two videos. OI received this product for free and I only recommend products that use myself

"WE PLAY" Review

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I just finished reading the book We Play by Katrina Strenza and illustrated by Jade Goegebuer. It is a children's book designed to level up your child's reading talents.  I would say the author used vocabulary appropriate for a beginning reader. There is a list of vocabulary words posted in the back of the book for learning which I felt was beneficial for a parent purchasing this book for their child, that way they can tell if it is their level or not. The story is very basic with a few words on each page which would give the beginning reader a story to go with the animated pictures. The story is about playing and it shows many examples of playing that a young child can identify with to keep them interested in the story. It is not too long which would keep a child engaged. The illustrations were colorful and fun to look at. They followed the story perfectly so a young child learning to read can get the gist of what the story is from the pictures. Overall I feel the author and illustrator did good work pulling the story together.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using <a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM70f390f8aa85efbf0852cb17173a576d" rel="nofollow">Tomoson.com</a>. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Conway Family Thanksgiving

What a rowdy crowd we Conway's are, there were approximately 30 or more of us crowded into one house for our blessed Thanksgiving Day. First I want to thank our gracious host and hostess my brother in law Joe and his lovely wife Peg for not only having us over for Thanksgiving but housing us for the whole week of the family reunion. There are so many people staying here it is like a motel. Find a place to sleep.

Everyone pitched in and brought their specialty of food and we had so much food we could have fed an army. My favorites were the ranch mashed potatoes and the ham. Yummy but what is Thanksgiving without a delicious turkey and it was great! The white meat was so tender and moist.

It was great to see the older cousins and siblings bonding in the younger generation after we had eaten. They were all gathered around the kitchen island spending time together.

Unfortunately all of our younger kids are all grown to high school age now and we were missing out on four of mine and Darrell's kids so the one we brought has been stuck playing video games or hanging out with girls. Alex really loves his mine craft anyways. lol We have one little one in the family and his name is DJ. He runs around and gets into what he wants to and tires his dad Dre out. His thing over at Aunt Pegs is the piano. What a kick in the pants that is. I have been trying to bond with him, he is so worn out of all the people I get a little hi 5 here and there. I am hoping by the end of the weekend we will be good buddies hugging and have pet names for one another but we'll see, that may just be too much to ask out of this trip.

The best thing about all of this is all of the fellowship, getting to sit and talk with everyone. We don't get together as often as we like and it is nice to see everyones smiling faces.

Foxbrims Natural Toner Review

I received my toner and the packaging was nice and appealing. It is a spray toner which I prefer rather than dabbing toners. When spraying the toner on my face it is refreshing and leaves just a mist that is easily wiped up with a cotton ball.

I notice that the smell is not horrifying but it is not pleasant either. The ingredients include witch hazel which I attribute the not pleasant smell to. Personally I am looking for a toner that is nice smelling but I have not found one yet.

The toner removed plenty of dirt off my face even after using a facial cleanser so that told me it was getting the job done. My skin after ward felt clean and refreshed and ready for my next steps in my beauty treatments of serums.

The product came to me in a timely manner through Amazon Prime and so I was able to enjoy using it without wasting a lot of time waiting for it, which I really appreciated.


 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Sports armband I arrow Review Tomoson

How excited my husband was to rip open a package from Amazon that held his Iarrow sports armband this past week. I usually do my own reviews but this one was right up his alley so he gave me some great information to pass along to you the reader about this product. In fact he was so thorough I may use him for more reviews. :) 

The I arrow sports armband comes in a package needing to be fully assembled which is as simple as threading it through the slots and applying a screen protector. The screen protector he suggests that you be very meticulous while applying because leaving an edge exposed can lead to it's demise. 

This product happened to be for the iPhone 5s and the phone fits in the case either way so you can protect the screen or leave it exposed for easy on screen interaction. As you may or may not know the iPhone is a sleek bodied phone and the case cover provides a comfortable, not bulky grip for this phone. 

The strap needs to be fully assembled before putting on the arm and then tightened from there or it will be difficult to velcro to your arm. The strap is comfortable and you can barely tell it is there. It can fit over your skin or a sweatshirt easily. 

Attaching headphones seems to provide no issues. Overall this product is efficient for the active man or woman and provides a safe place to keep your iPhone 5s for listening to your favorite music or book. 


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Dr Songs Rose hip Oil Review

Dr Songs Rose hip oil leaves the skin feeling very soft after use. I have found that rose hip oil is used for various things like for acne, eczema, scars, burns and anti aging. I personally am applying to my acne scars from my teen age years hoping to see some difference in them.

My skin looks radiant after minimal use so that is one of the benefits that I see. One of the negatives is that it has an unpleasant  aroma. As a regular beauty treatment I feel as if I would recommend Dr Songs rose hip oil just for the moisture and radiant glow that it provides.

The price seems fair for what you receive the bottle is good size and it take very little each time you use it will last for a long time. God Bless B I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Instantural Review

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Recently, I have had the opportunity to try Instanatural Pore Tightening Vitamin C Facial Toner. It is a spray on toner which I found quite delightful. You spray it on and remove it with a cotton ball. It leaves the skin feeling refreshed and clean for hours afterwards. I have been using it a few days so I have been watching for my pores to shrink which I have noticed some shrinkage. I am thinking that I may see more after a more consistent usage. The smell to me is not very pleasant, I would like a little sweeter smell.

After using the toner I have been using the Vitamin C Serum by INstanatural. It smells just like oranges which is very pleasing to me. The serum is supposed to fight signs of aging and I have not seen any results as of yet. I will update after a more consistent use.

I have been also using the Instanatural youth express eye gel which feels very cool on the bottom of the eyes but leaves a bit of a sticky feeling which I do not care for. There is no aroma which is good. I still have the bags under my eyes after two days of use so I do not know how long you have to use this to get good results.

Overall, I enjoy having a beauty regimen but I do not know if this one is working for me as well as I would like it to be. I am going to keep trying it and see if I have better results after using it for some time.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using <a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOMf306cc0df1162042c17bd481597d25a7" rel="nofollow">Tomoson.com</a>. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Canning Apple Butter

This weekend my Ma and I had fun canning apple butter and apple sauce. Last weekend we sent my 14 year old son Alex up on the ladder in the tree to pick apples and we came up with two trash cans full of apples.

Apples from MA's tree

So we got our recipe together and our supplies which consisted of pint jars, a water bath canner, knives to peel, a food mill, cinnamon, cloves, sugar and apples.

Recipe

We peeled the apples together and sliced them into the plan and had a lot of fun laughing and joking around. We missed the kids a lot because they always did stuff like this with us. After we peeled the apples we had to cook them to a soft consistency. We found that the recipe castled for too much water and we were standing there for a long time waiting for the juicy apples to cook down into a thick consistency that we could keep on a spoon so the next batches we lowered the amount of water we added. 

Apples before boiling

After the apples had softened and boiled we to the to the food mill and processed them through that to come up with the butter that we desired. In another bowl we had added the dry ingredients of the sugar, cloves and cinnamon so that after we had processed the butter we added all of that together and took it to the stove to cook it down to a thick consistency that would not fall off the spoon.

                                                                      After Food Mill

While cooking down to proper consistency

While the butter was cooking down we heated our jars in the water bath as well as the lids and after the butter was cooked down we poured it into the jars and cooked it in the water bath for 10 minutes. After that we took them out and let them cool and listened for the lids to pop. 

It was a fun day and we are making apple sauce next weekend when we have Alex because he loves applesauce. Hopefully he will have as much fun as we did. Oh I forgot to tell you during this whole ordeal, MA burnt her hand and we had to take her to the E.R. So please be careful if you try this. Hot water scalds.

God Bless.

B

Thrift Store Junky

I love going to thrift stores. Yesterday was the bag sale at a neighboring towns local thrift store. They had a great deal where you could fill one bag full of clothes for $7 and get one bag free. I filled two bags full of winter clothes. I was so excited to peruse the store yesterday it was all I could talk about to my husband. It's the bag sale It's the bag sale I proclaimed with a melodic song.

I also like to go junkin, I firmly believe that one woman's trash is another woman's treasure. Just last week we found a dishwasher. We have been without a dishwasher the whole time we have lived in this house. Well there is one but it down not work. Also about a month ago I found a whole bunch of picture frames. Cool, antique looking ones. I can't wait to put my wedding pictures in those.

My husband and I found this awesome antique store in Fort Dodge, Iowa Called Lily Grace. They have the best stuff. New deals all the time and very reasonable prices. Oh man I love that store. My heart pitter patters whenever I see the new stuff come in on Facebook. The service there is so friendly too. We talked to the gal that owned it and she said to me and said how sad it would be that this generation would not have antiques because the quality of furniture would not last. That really is sad because when I was growing up I really loved the old stuff. Now things are made up of thick cardboard that is built to be destroyed so your repurchase it again and again.

Well it is time for me to head off and spend some time with the hubby.

God Bless.
B

Reviews

I am going to start doing some reviews for a company called Tomoson. It involves them sending me a product and me trying it and blogging about whether I liked it or not. I am looking forward to thtis because it gives mea an opportunity to try some new products and to put my opinion out there for others to read about. The opinions will be right here on this blog with my other stuff because I feel this apart of my God led life. It is something to keep me occupied and out in the world while I am dealing with my disabilities. I have a tendency to keep myself shut in and this will keep me from becoming depressed because I am offering useful information to perspective buyers of a product.

My sister in law turned me on to doing this and she seems quite content doing this. She has tried some good products and some not so good products. I look forward to serving you my readers with an honest and forthright opinion about these products and hopefully you may turn around and purchase some that you may have been looking for because I have given an honest review.


Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to the time we share together.

God Bless.
B

Fibromyalgia

So I went to the dr today and he diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. He said it is a chronic pain disorder that I will have the rest of my life. I was really hoping that the pain would go away but it looks like it is here to stay. The good thing is that he has given me a pain regimen to talk to my primary care provider about which includes medicines like Lyrica, an antidepressant and Tylenol or Motrin. There were some other medicines on the list but I did not recognize them.

Living with chronic pain makes things very unpleasant. It changes my life patterns to revolve around my pain. If I am not in much pain today I can do this but if I am in pain today I can't do that. What it must be like to live with me. I can't even imagine.

To describe the pain, it hurts to be touched, my legs mostly and my back but my knees and ankles ache at all times like they have been beaten on. It is an excruciating disease that many people just don't understand. I don't even understand it myself. I have some books that the pharmacy tech ga e me to read so I guess I will read up on it and get some of my questions answered.

I pray a lot for God to help me get through the day and without my faith I do not think I could survive. I trust that God has a plan for all of this and I just allow Holy Spirit to lead me through the day.



God Bless
B
 

The Message

Two horses, one black and one white, ran free from all masters except for the light.
A message from God is one that they carry follow the book and you won't grow wary.
Tales of people like you and like me, followed the light and then they were free.
A map drawn for all to follow, leads us away from the dark, pitted hallow.

Time has come for all to stand, with heads held high, out of the sand.
Help your neighbors down the street, clothes for their back and food to eat.
Houses for all to sleep every night, leaving them homeless is just not right.
Human kind will never last as long as we ignorantly repeat the past.

A caste system is what holds us all down, ensuring the rich run the town.
Monopolies on water, energy and air, hidden fees and high prices are really not fair.
Cars and clothes, the things we need, prices are raised inflated by greed.
Charging your brother for information you know, leaves them stagnate unable to grow.

Powerful and mighty to us you have shown, how does it feel being there all alone?
A greedy little trek to the top you have made, I have seen a near future where all that will fade.
How you treat the people below, ensures your fortune will grow.
What if they did not participate in your selfish game, forgo ed your fruit and your shame?

Blood being shed, lived being lost will be your curse to bear no matter the cost.
This is not the way God intended us to be, we are the people the land of the free.
Open your hearts, flood them with love, give us nudge not a push or a shove.
Educate all to stand up with pride, stand with your neighbor side by side.

You say natural selection weeds out the weak, but the earth will be left to the powerless and meek.
The ladder you climb is so big and tall, be careful tho lest you fall.
Fall to the bottom, left to find a new way, the nicer you were the brighter your day.


Written in 2010

I AM: A Journey

I am a child of light, a sad reflection of a spike piercing His flesh into a splintering cross.
From my reluctant lips,pour many confessions.
Through spiritual death and divine intervention, I have emerged.
Whispered prayers carried on a roaring wind, heard and answered.

I am of Gaelic ancestral traditions, May baskets presented to denoted summers entrance.
Leprechauns clad in red velvet garb, promising gold and fortunes of large.
Impish ways were my souls birthright, a pale complexion and unearthly foresight.

I am from a mom and a dad whose marriage could not survive the unknowing of oneself and complacent lies.
From this union, two innocent souls arise, dedicated to Christ so they might survive.

I am from an insane cycle of uneducated truths, leaving me heated, battered and bruised.
From mother to daughter each generation passed acceptance of self replaced with a man.
A man with strong arms, and the age of our dads, parading his bonnies all over the land.

I am born of innocence and delivered to wolves, my heart bleeds poison of endless black holes.
The scares on my skin serve to remind me of rats stalking prey by the smell of naivety.

I am of camouflaged war games disguised with a tale, a protector of Americans trained not to fail.
From spit of a Sergeant, and miles afoot, a soldier replaced a feeble female gone aloof.
Integrity and honor now navigate my journey, understanding of diversity and higher learning.

I am a nurturing mother, one that has lost, lessons to be learned at a very high cost.
Through defiant tears and unwedded sin, a son to me is born for us to begin again.
Years on our own, and two husbands pass, my son and I meet our family at last.
Two beautiful babes entrusted to me, sums my count to a glorious three.

I am betrothed by my Father above, to the man of my dreams, the one that I love.
Together we conquer ghosts from the past, to build a foundation, one that will last.
Our souls entwined in a loving embraced, guide me to take my rightful place.






This is a writing from 2010.

Oh How He Loves Us

In my devotional today I am reminded that God is always available to us. All we have to do is call upon Him. Over the past couple of weeks since the kids have been gone I have felt like He has been  gone from my life when I have needed Him most. It reminds me of a poem that I have always cherished and kept near and dear to my heart.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from

anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,

"You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during

the most trying periods of my life

there have only been one

set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most,

you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have

seen only one set of footprints,

is when I carried you."

Mary Stevenson

What the author has really relayed to me as the reader in this poem is that during my darkest times The Lord is carrying me and that I am not really alone. My devotional has given some scripture on how He is always with us.

  Though the mountains be shaken

    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

We can see from these scriptures that He promises no matter what is happening in our lives he is always with us. 

I was christened as a baby and so I know the Holy Spirit has always been with me guiding me and teaching me and protecting me from my stupid decisions. I may not have always consciously had God with me but my parents had made the decision to keep me protected and turn me over to God so I feel no matter what I went through in life I always had the Holy Spirit to give me a Higher insight even if I did not quite understand what was going on. When I joined the Army in 2003 I chose to get baptized on my own and consciously started learning about spiritual matters and making my free will choices by educating myself on religions with the help of the Holy Spirit. I made some  choices and learned about Wicca, Mormonism, Catholicism, Paganism Hinduism and many other spiritual beliefs before finding that only one way said that the only way to the Father is through the Son and that was Christianity so I figured if I wanted to get to God I better follow that one way. It has been a beautiful journey and I have learned so much and know now more than ever that no matter where my free will choices take me that He loves us and He waits patiently and pursues us diligently to get us on his team. He forgives us with gentle mercy no matter what we do and comforts us during our darkest times. All we have to do is ask. I love my God, Our Father in Heaven just as if He were sitting right here next to me and pray that you do to. Maybe this is your first experience reading about Him and I invite you to ask Him into your heart. He doesn't want you to be alone. All it takes is saying I believe that Jesus died for my sins and you will go through the change. He will be there for you too. Something my husband always says to nonbelievers is If your right and there is no God you have nothing to lose but if I am right and there is a God then you have everything to lose. So let's just assume I am right and there is a God and He wants to be in relationship with you and He loves you and lets have you ask Him into your heart today. 

First Signs of Fall

Summer is fading away into fall. Off in the distance I can hear the kids practicing their music in band at school and their giggling and laughter as they pass between classes. I can feel the crispness of the morning telling me that summer will soon be a distant memory and the beauty of my favorite season will soon be here to beguile our eyes as winter creeps up on us. I found my first fall leaf this week to give me a sneak peek of what our autumn colors will be like.

Summer went by so fast with a vacation to South Dakota while taking the kids to Montana. We saw Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota which was under construction but still held a lot of charm.

                                                      Designs on outside of Corn Palace

                                                           This is all made of corn

Me acting silly

The family acting silly

We had a lot of fun there. Next we moved on to Wall South Dakota where we ate and spent the night and did a little window shopping. Everyone took pictures with the famous cowboy or sexy lady.

                                                                       Dani

                                                                      Devon

                                                                         Darrell

Me

Next we went to Mount Rushmore, which we were all more than stunned by. We could not believe the magnitude of the faces carved in the mountain. 

Darrell and the kids at Rushmore

We really missed having Alex on this little road trip with us but he had already started school so even though it was fun it was bittersweet. :( But the good thing is that during the summer we had lots of fun watching Alex ride his dirt bike as he races motocross with his dad and little brother Kellin. They are the mighty trio on those things. 

This summer we had the pleasure of watching Alex and Kellin race two races in Humboldt, Iowa. They were awesome! It is so fun to participate in the racing culture. You go to the races and set up a tent and are there all day. The run two motos( hopefully I spelled that right) and then they average out the heats to see the winner. Some of the more advanced racers can really jump their dirt bikes high.

                                                                      Alex

                                                                    Alex in action

Coming around the corner

We also had a family reunion this summer on the Martin side. I had not seen this side of my family in over 10 years so it was a great pleasure to get to see these people and get to catch up and hear old stories. We had an enjoyable afternoon with the family.

The Martin siblings. My dad is on the right side

We had a visit from my sister in law Trudy who I bonded with like a real sister. I have always wanted a sister so I finally got one after 38 years off life. We had some fun times with her hanging out talking, going on drives, visiting a cemetary, looking a Iowa sites, talking about God. It was really a great time.

                                                               Awesome headstone

Darrell and Trudy

Our summer was packed full of fun adventures going to all of the town celebrations and seeing parades and spending time together as a family. I really loved this summer more than any other because I was close to my family.

Trust in The Lord

Sometimes when we go through tough times it it easy to just give in to the devil and give into our struggle. My biggest struggle these days has been with the addiction to cigarettes. I have pled with The Lord through prayer to release me from my addiction and I have come up with and affirmation to assist me in this fight. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13. I say this every time I want to light up a cigarette. Sometimes I still light up and other times I wait.

I have been receiving great encouragement from people who see me trying to quit and are praying for me or offering nice words to me. This helps. What does not help is the beating myself up because I have not been able to achieve my goal. I am scared I will never be able to quit. I am afraid that I will always be a smoker.

My devotional today told me today to trust in The Lord. I may not have quit today but He is working on me. I must have faith when I pray that He has heard my prayer and is answering it. Sometimes these things take time and I need to have trust.

Proverbs 3:5,6 says Trust in The Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.

I trust and believe with all of my heart that God will release me from this addiction and I will be a nonsmoker. I just have to have patience and keep my faith.


God Bless
B

Daily Devotions

My sister in law and husband bought me a daily devotional because I have been going through a tough time since my three kids have gone to live with their other parents. I have been trying to rely on my relationship with God to get me through these trials. As I was reading my devotion for today it told me to rely on Him even when my life feels out of balance. With three kids missing my life feels really out of balance but the good thing is I know I can rely on my Lord to give me strength and courage to face each day. 

Last night my sister in law shared a story about her mother in law who quit chewing gum because she put it in her mouth before she even thanked God for waking her that day.  So it reminded me this morning to thank God for waking me and giving me life. 

Today I just want to take a moment to thank The Lord for giving me the strength and courage and the breath of life to go through this day. It may not be the day that I dreamed of but it was a day given to me by The Lord. 

This is a day The Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118: 24

Labor Day Parade

One of the many charming pleasures of living in a small town is that there is always something going on in one of the surrounding small towns if not in your own. For Labor Day, Kanawha had a parade which was a lot of fun. My husband, son, sister in law Trudy and my parents all went to enjoy the event in the neighboring town.

There were people lined up on both sides of the street anxiously awaiting the start of the parade which always begins with the police and the Vets carrying the flag.  All the surrounding towns put their fire trucks in the parade so if there is a fire I don't know what would happen. lol. Seriously it's only one of them. Many churches have floats and inspire people to get on fire for the Lord.

But you should see the bag of candy my son brought home. He got so much candy. They throw candy from almost every entry in the parade and it is a big deal to get this candy. If you wave at them and are super friendly, you can leave with a lot of loot so of course I put on all my charm so my son can have all kinds of candy. (just what he needs)

Some of my favorite parade entries are the old cars. These old cars run better and look better and are safer than the cars we have out on the road today. I love old cars. So does my dad.  I love listening to my dads stories about his old cars back in his prime.

I love small town life. There is always something going on and the people are so friendly. Communities still get to gather to celebrate and know one another. When I lived in the city this did not happen. In fact I rarely knew my neighbor let alone celebrated with them.

God is so good.

God Bless!
B

Quitting Smoking

Yesterday, I took the plunge. I put on a patch and called it quits on my 21 years of smoking. I have been sick as a dog, which I don't really understand that phrase because he is healthy as a horse. lol But the truth is the patches have been keeping me up at night and giving me crazy dreams.

Let me tell you about this first dream I had. There were two women and me in a hospital bed. They were quite older than me. One had one so much make up. She looked like a total clown. The other was normal. I was at the end of the bed with my lap top open and had praise music playing and was rubbing the one woman's feet that had on all of the make up.


Can you say crazy!

So these patches are not really taking away my urge to smoke, I still crave a cigarette like every 5 minutes. I am trying to find some activities to get me through so I thought blogging would help. I am also journaling and playing with my dog Hooch.

It really is a struggle to give up something you have done faithfully for 21 years. I have smoked through illness and persecution. Do you know how hard it is to still light a cigarette when your cute little child is telling you the reasons why you should't smoke and the main one is them. That is tough stuff. But when it comes down to it, it has to be your own choice to quit. No badgering, no bribing, just a decision to quit.

Along my struggle I have taken up smoking little cigars which are no nicotine and I only smoke them when I am craving so bad that i can not fight the urge. For a one to two pack a day smoker that is often but I only take a drag or two. This really is a struggle I tell you.  The patches only help so much the rest has to be my will not to smoke. Well I will let you know more as the days go by about my successes and struggles of quitting smoking but for now over and out.

God Bless.

B

Hello

Hello, I am starting this blog so that I can get some of my thoughts out and share my life with those that may be interested. The content of the blog will be about the simple life, living in a small town and my family life and my relationship with Christ.