So busy this summer.

 I have been so busy this summer. We have been out riding the Spyder and enjoying the ice cream stops we have been making. I never knew there were so many flavors of ice cream to be had. 
 We had some sadness this spring when we lost our male furbaby to heart problems. It was not something we even saw coming. So we were in no way prepared. It hit us had. 
We said no more furbabies after we had to say goodbye to him. 
 But as God would have it, we adopted another this August. He does have a way of showing you the doors are never closed fully. 
She is a Poodle/Bichon mix. She is being trained in a diaper right now. She was stuck in a box for 3 months since she was 8 weeks old and was never trained in any way. So it will take time to teach her things. She is doing well with the other 2 babies. She will go outside when you take her. But messes quite a bit in the house and won't tell you when she wants out. So the diaper keeps the house safe from her accidents. 

 This is Amara Nomro. She is such a little lover. 

 So how has your summer been for you?? Keeping you busy or just lazing around enjoying the days?
Which ever it has been I hope you are all doing well and just know that God is watching over you and keeping you safe. 
Love you all. 

How time does fly when you are having fun. 

Fun- what exactly does constitute as fun? Some say as long as you are enjoying the day you are having fun. Others say you have to be *doing something* in order to be having fun. Or some say it in such a manner as to mean it in a disparaging way.  

I, myself see it as many different ways. 

Over the time period of my absence I have had fun in many ways. 

I've spent time with my grand kids. Spent time with new people I've met. Went to new places.  And even did new things. 

By that I mean we went on a River Cruise, which was really FUN. 

Went on motorcycle rides and visited places I didn't know existed. Such as the Mini Mac (Mackinaw Bridge).

And one of only 2 of the smallest Post Office's in the United States. This one in Michigan, the other one is in Florida. 

As for the other kind of FUN- we have had 2 fur babies die in the last 2 years.

This little lady-Punkin, who we thought would make it after we had her left leg amputated to keep the tumors from spreading. But no such luck. She was 14 when we had to make the decision to let her go home to god. 

Then this sweet boy- Manny, who was to go in for knee surgery in 3 days but came up with a cough that just wouldn't go away so we took him to emergency. She did many tests only to find out he was having heart problems that couldn't be fixed. He was only 8 years old when we had to say goodbye to him that day. Another one of the hardest decisions we ever had to make. 

Onto happier things- 

My son has moved back near us from out west. So we get to see him more often. 

Our granddaughter is graduating this year. 

Boy they sure do grow up so fast. Her brother is 2 years behind her. 

Can't wait to see how much fun I can find for the following year. 

Update-Life is a blessing.

I know a I've been away for some time now. Time just got away from me. With the new addition to our family, Cora Jane. She is almost a yr old now. Doing fantastic, making her voice known. Even as small as she is (only 4 lbs, 4 oz.) she thinks she is the leader of the pack. Manny the (Think I'm the leader) let's her yap all she wants and spends lots of time playing with her. But Punkin (aka Momma) gets her play time in as well but she still tells them all what's what when they get to rowdy. 

We have moved since we talked last. Bought a house actually. Love it. 4 bdrm, full basement, 2 car garage, double lot with a fenced in yard for all the fur babies to run as they like. It's an old 1900's built home but in the best condition. Even has a fireplace. The kitchen looks completely different than the rest of the house. Which is old/antique style. When you walk into it, you think you're walking into an old 50's diner. It's all red & white checkered. So we just left it & started filling it with Coca-Cola items. We just love it. 
It even has a parlor with the double doors, but we are using it as a bedroom, so we have 2 down and 2 up. Actually the 2 up are being used for my sewing room & a spare storage room. The up stairs steps are the original ones (so they are very steep) so we don't want any of the gr-kids going up & down them. The reason for the 2nd bedroom downstairs. 
The house was move in ready, all we had to do was wipe everything down like you would normally before you move in & vacuum. How nice was that. And the basement is even a dry basement. We have part of it set up as a work out gym. Not to mention we have a fantastic 16 x 20 covered deck on the back of the 3 season porch. We can set out on the deck when it rains and enjoy the rain. It's great for cookout's, or just having your morning coffee & listening to the birds in the backyard. We couldn't have gotten a better home. At least we don't think so. 

God has blessed us with another Harley so I won't complain about my BUTT hurting while we ride. Hubby was understanding but he did get tired of stopping every 45 minutes or so for me to get off & walk a bit before we continued on our rides. Now we can go up to 2 hrs before we stop.But that's bathroom breaks or for gas now. It sure let's us get to our destination much sooner. ha ha

Well I think I've caught you up on our blessing, I hope he has sent some your way too. I will include some pics so you can enjoy. 
Sure missed you all..  Have a beautiful and bountiful day. 

 Puppies, getting warm by the heater. 

 Mailbox hubby done up, Harley style. 

 Harley wind chime I made for hubby. 

 Cora Jane getting her 1st Ice Cream. I believe she likes it. 

 This is the view of our backyard. Yes, it's that huge. 2 full city lots. It even goes beyond the trees back there yet. 

Enjoying the rain on the deck. 

New addition to the family.

Since we moved and have a giant fenced in yard. We decided to add a new addition to our family. Although she might get lost in the yard we couldn't say no to this face. 

This is Cora. Since she is a fancy breed, a Yorkie. We did some name searching in the 1800's for important names . Cora was one of them. 
Plus is didn't match any of the names we have for the other fur babies. 
Which you can see all favors daddy's lap for a nap.

As you can see Cora goes right for the top. We drove almost 2 hrs to get her and daddy got to be the one holding her on the way home. So she bonded with him first. She follows him everywhere. 
So now we have a male Bichon, a male Pug/Chihuahua mix, then a female Min Pin/Chihuahua mix, then a tiny Chihuahua and to top the family off our fancy Yorkie. I believe we have a full house now. They range in ages from 13 yrs down to 8 wks. 
Love the lap dogs. But I have nothing against the bigger ones either as we had a Chow until she died at 16. I grew up around German Shepherds. So to have a lap dog was a little different at first. But now I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I'm still here.....

How have I been?
Well let me tell ya. We moved. Love it. Enjoying the space and neighbors. The fur babies are a lot less stressed.

Been doing a few fixing to the new place. Had to replace the nozzles for the washer, that they hook up to as they leaked. Had to do some re-wiring to get some lighting to work and some plumbing done. But we are good to go now. Just need to get a queen box spring to get thee one bedroom put together. Have to finish my sewing room/computer room. I haven't got everything put away yet. I put my yarn away and my sewing machine put up but the computer and paper work all put away is still waiting on me. I guess I have all winter to get that done. At least that's what I tell myself.

The in-laws weren't able to make it for a visit this year. Dad wasn't in good enough health. But they are planning a visit first thing in the spring.

We made it through trick or treating in the cold. It stopped snowing for the night for the kiddies. So that was nice. Not many kids came through.

Well this was just to let everyone know I hadn't forgot ya. Hope you are all doing well.

Well another year has passed since my mom died.

I have learned to live without her. But I think that happened way before she died. 
Sadly I was the only girl of a family with 4 boys in it. I wasn't spoiled like many would think. Actually it was the opposite. If I didn't learn how to work on the vehicles & motorcycles I didn't get attention from my dad.
I was the only one who didn't complain when he drove at high rates of speed when he was drunk, reason being just so I could spend time with him. (oh believe me I prayed many times that the Lord would keep us safe)
My mom never really taught me how to cook. Sure I learnt how to cook speg., or chili but beyond that nothing more. I learned everything else on my own by trial and error. She did teach me how to shop on little to nothing since my dad drank away all the money. She taught me how to rob peter to pay paul. How to mix regular milk with powder milk so it would last longer & no one could taste the difference.
How to replace cheaper coffee in a Maxwell canister so no one knew. She was clever in those aspects.
But she let me down all through my childhood. She knew I was being molested/raped and just plain used for sex and she did nothing about it.
See I was raised in a family where when mom says *no* you DON'T go ask dad and visa versa.
Since mom knew what was happening to me she told me to never tell my dad. I knew that if I did that meant a severe spanking. Which I did not want. So for 10 yrs I said nothing to my dad or anyone else.
I just got to where I thought that was suppose to happen. I lived with a smile on my face so no one knew what was going on behind closed doors.
Why else would a mother not do anything about it?
There were more than one person involved and she knew it. Even when one moved away then moved back it started right back up with that person.
I left home at 17 yrs. old to get away from it. I did good taking care of myself. I ended up having 2 kids with the same dad. He left the pic soon after my 2nd child was born. My mother kept telling me I needed a father figure for my kids.
I listened to her, which I shouldn't have. I married guys who were good but after the 1st yr. showed their true colors. Either they ended up being drunks, or molested my daughter or beat me up.
With the one who molested my daughter he came from a prominent family, my mother wanted me to stay with him and try to work it out.
How do you work it out after he violates your child??? I left him and moved to another state. I divorced him.
I have made wrong choices with men but I never knew they were going to be the way they were when I married them. But when I found out I left and made sure my kids were safe.
My mother has been gone 15 yrs. now and as much as I loved her because she was my mother. I feel my life has been better since her death. I know it's sad to say. I do miss her though.
I have had a nervous break down, from where I was dealing with how do you react to a mother that on her death bed tells you she let you go through what you did because she knew you could handle it. I couldn't yell or scream at her or ask her questions because she was on oxygen and
couldn't talk much. I was left with so many questions.
But I made it through my nervous break down with the help of my now husband of 13 yrs.
I may not be well off like my brothers but I will bet I am much happier than they ever could be.
I have a person who has never cheated on me, hid things from me or lied to me. Sure we have our arguments like all couples do but he is my best friend. We can spend 24 hrs a day with each other and never get tired of each others company.
I don't need flowers, cards, candies and things for him to tell me he loves me. Just a wink and I know I'm the only one on his mind. I still feel like a (giddy) school girl when he winks at me.

I wish my mother could see me now.

Summer has come and gone I think

I have this feeling that our summer has come and went. Our weather is staying in the lower 60's of late. Not that I am totally complaining. I had hubby put in the air conditioner and I think we only used it a week total. Went swimming with the gr-kids a few times this summer and now the lake is too cool to go back. But I don't complain too much. The good Lord gave us a few good days to enjoy. 

I have been busy branching out and selling purses along with my jewelry and army tags. That is something women just can't seem to get enough of. 
I know, I am one of them. I go through many purses a year. So I find them for a reasonable price and sell them for just a little bit more. 

It gives us money to buy more Bibles, socks, and essentials for people we see that need them. It gives us a great joy to see the smile on their faces when we give them things we know they need. We even get small stuffed animals to give to children that we see that may need a smile put on their faces. We've found that by giving a child a toy at a restaurant, they will become much quieter while waiting for their food. Making the ambiance more enjoyable for not only their parents but for all. 

I hope everyone has had a great summer and is not waiting to do the hurry and rush shopping just before school starts. I know my daughter is busy getting school supplies and clothing for her 3 already. Catching all the sales so as to get the shopping done now and she will have a couple weeks to relax before the kids do go back to school. 

Let the Lord guide you in all you do. Sometimes others don't think the choices you make are the right choices, but they don't live your life- you DO. Only you and the Lord can make those decisions. Sometimes they are really hard and they pay off. The good things in life ARE worth fighting for. With the Lord by your side it will all work out. 
Sometimes it doesn't work out the way YOU want it to, but it's the way the Lord wanted it to work out. So put all your troubles in the Lord's hands. 
Pray and he will answer in his time and his time only. 
NOT ours. 

All my love,
Christina