Is it the water?

On November 21st Monday, my best friend and neighbor, Cindy, was admitted into the hospital with a horrible migraine. Later we learned she had a blood clot in her brain. She had a stroke. Her right side of her body is very weak and numb. This horrible news came as a huge shock. She would be spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. She was in very serious condition. As the doctors were trying to find the right treatment for her, her family and friends begin to pray. My heart ached for her and for her husband and son. They stayed by her side along with her Mother and Father. On Wednesday I could hardly concentrate on work and left to go see her. She could barely talk. The light was unbearable for her and the pain was so bad that she couldn't stand or hardly move.The room had to be kept dark. I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. She was scared and didn't really believe what was happening. Very sad. There was no stopping the tears. I brought her a prayer angle to remind her of all the people praying for her. I didn't stay real long as she couldn't have a lot of visitors. I left without leaving the banner my brother and I made for her because she was going to be moved. I had one of my favorite bible verses on it. 2 Timothy 1:7. Little did I know I would be soon relying on that verse again myself.
It was very difficult to continue to enjoy Thanksgiving  with her there, but I managed. My son and daughter in law told us at Thanksgiving that we were going to be Grandparents. Wow. So exciting. My whole family was there to share the joy. I wanted so bad to tell my friend and walking partner. I didn't tell a sole. I only wanted to tell Cindy. I couldn't. I couldn't even tell Rich. (Cindy's husband).
There were so many people praying for Cindy. It is so important for family and friends to pray when someone is ill. The people closest to the ill person depend on those prayers because you can't focus on praying for your loved one you're just too distraught. I went up to see her on Friday the 25th and sat with her for a bit while her hubby ran some errands. She slept most of the time still in pain. Not as bad, but still painful. Went home to start my house work. A couple hours later my husband came walking through the door with a grave look on his face. "What's wrong" I asked. He said his whole right side of his body was numb. I took him to the hospital right away where they quickly diagnosed a stroke. What? This can't be real. I felt like I was in a bad dream. What do I do? Who do I call? I called my brother and asked him to contact the rest of the family and ask them to pray for Tom. His Mom and sister showed up after a little while. I stepped out side the room to do what I knew was going to be so difficult. I texted Rich. I asked him not to tell Cindy. Within minutes Cindy's Mom and Dad and Derek (Cindy and Rich's son) were down in the er. What great people. They hugged us and told us they would be praying for us and not to worry that everything would be ok. Just like parents do. They treated us just like family. They were so sweet. They brought the prayer angle down with them. She sat by Tom's bed the whole time to remind him of all the prayers. I didn't have anyone from my side of the fam there with me. There's just so many I told them not to come. What was I thinking. My phone was blowing up with texts. Rich came down after his in-laws went back up to sit with Cindy. I couldn't go see Cindy because she would know something happened. Didn't want her to worry about us. I went home and came back the next day with my 2 son's and stayed most of the day. The doctors said they were going to check Tom's heart and if it came out good, he can go home. It was and he did. Rich, Derek, Norma and Gary visited us throughout the day. That's family. While the kids were at the cafe Rich told Cindy what happened with us. Jeremy, Mason and I went up to see her. Didn't get to talk to her as she had another visitor and there was only suppose to be 2 in her icu room at a time. We had 5. She did manage a smile to me and voiced that she wanted her prayer angle back if Tom was going to get to go home lol.
Today is Dec. 3. Tom is doing well. He is walking without his cane and has feeling in 2 of his fingers on his right side and his right foot is not so numb. Slow but sure. Cindy is doing great and should be coming home tomorrow.  We have a long road ahead of us but we have each other, family and friends that care. It's just overwhelming how thoughtful family and friends can be. Especially my special friends and neighbors. God is good, all the time.

2 Tim. 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Winter

I think winter is here. It snowed today off and on all day. I love it.

Giveaway

Hop on over to  food renegade  and sign up for this awesome giveaway. She is having a drawing for a kombucha tea kit.

Beautiful Day

What a beautiful fall day today. Normally I find a fall bouquet from my yard but I did such a bad job of keeping up this year that there is nothing to cut. :( I am going to try to make more time for my family from now on. I have realized in the past few months that working all the time to make ends meet is not the ticket. My family has suffered terribly and so have I. No more. I will make myself  take more time for my family and myself. God will provide.  I got a tiny bit excited for Christmas today. Not because of the presents, its never about that for me, its more for the snow and the family time we get. I love it. So, bring on the snow. I'm almost ready lol.

Certified Organic

A visit to greenpastures Saturday morning was awesome. Wonderful farm in Coopersville. They have a little store you can buy any of their products for a very reasonable price. Lots of cheese. Close knit family, dutch I assume by the dutch theme I saw. Learned allot about organic farming (want to live there). Toured the farm, very interesting.

I think my most favorite part was when I first got there and had a few minutes to look around, I noticed all the Dutch decor. There was a cute pair of wooden shoes sitting by the door as if someone left them outside before coming in. I am dutch and loved seeing this. During the tour as I was snapping pictures of the chickens I saw it. Here. The cutest thing ever. Look at her feet. 

I love drawings.

hobbiesofahomemaker had a drawing and I won. I love this little soap pump. Thank you Kara. Can't wait to put soap in it. :)

Treasure

Have been doing some much needed cleaning lately and finding things that I forgot I had. It's interesting to see what the decor was when I was 6.

Moving on into the Monarch Season

I have one milkweed growing in my yard. That's all it took, and I couldn't be happier. Here is the one egg I found. I hope he/she survives. I am going to try NOT to take it in the house. I usually do, but I am going to leave it alone. I hope. lol we'll see.

More Flowers.

Loving all the flowers. Wish they could stay all year.

Flowers flowers everywhere

I just love flowers. I can't stop taking pictures of them. So, here are some more.

A walk out in this small city yard between the rain showers. What do I find? Some things to brighten this dreary day.

 Radishes

 You know what this means!

Money plant.

Will it EVER stop raining?

Ok, its been raining for days. Got the garden in. Hope its not all washed away. I really should go check on it. The sun keeps trying to peak out today but it just isn't warming up enough to justify it coming out for good. God has a plan for all this rain. I think we will see the benefits in our gardens. Have been enjoying my nieces blog hobbiesofahomemaker
I am so very proud of her and her decision to go organic. It will be one of the best things they ever did. Hope all goes well Kara, love you.

Spring is here.

I love the smell, the sounds, and everything about spring. couldn't wait to get my hands in the dirt today. Planted the garden, did some weeding and managed to take a walk too. Beautiful.

Decorating a little boys room

Pictures coming soon. Finishing up with the weeding and masking of the vinyl tomorrow. Heidie's inspiration is her boy's blankly. It is a little like this one shown. I should have taken a picture of it. I found this one online. It's close. Can't wait.

Every business should have this on their wall.

Silent Ministry

Here are a couple more possibility's for your walls. My thoughts for this cool decorating idea is that I hold a class or party. You can choose your decorating ideas and be able to make them right on the spot. I would show you how to help get the vinyl ready for your walls and that would help keep the price of the item down because you would be doing part of my job. Sound good. I am working on trying it soon. I have to get everything in place and ready. I will post some more ideas soon. In the mean time start thinking of what you want your walls to say...

This is in our kitchen at the shop!

April Showers

Spring is just around the corner

It has been pretty nice out the last couple days. This is what greeted me when I got home from work Yesterday. Makes me excited for our next season. Spring. I love each and every season that God has given and I believe He gave us spring because the time just before spring is kinda boring. Thank you Jesus!!

It's a Cold Day in Michigan

It is super cold today. Freezing rain and a lot of wind. Was kind of hoping for a snow day, but knew I had way to much work to do at work. The roads were not bad at all. Looking forward to the weekend.

On My Mind!

Following a fun game at
Down---to---Earth


This creek is on my mind today, because it was a beautiful day out today and it felt like spring. In the spring my kids and I love to go hiking in the woods. This picture was taken at my Mothers house. We go on lots of hikes out there. One of the things I love about living in Michigan is the season's. Just when you start getting bored, a new season approaches. Each one is exciting.

The Grandchildren's room

My Aunt was redecorating her spare room that she made into the "grand children's room". She has a big day bed in there that they can all pile onto and read a book or watch a movie. She asked me to help her with her walls. She wanted to put some vinyl on them. (If Walls Could Talk) This is what we came up with.

The newest addition will be added on my next visit to see Auntie. She was blessed with another grand son.

Brewing Kombucha Tea this week

Brewing Kombucha Tea this weekend. I love this tea and it has so many good benefits. It looks so nice in my bottles that I found for .99 I am looking forward to spring now and making lots of tea and planning the garden for the season. A nice break in the blahh days of the winter. .

Valuable Information

I would like to share with all my 2 friends that I have lol, and any others that may stop by, about my friend Angie's blog. I supplied the link to it. Her and her husband have 6 children and run a farm. It's called Maple Valley Farm. You are going to want to get a cup of coffee or kombucha tea and get comfy and read her blog. It is full of wonderful information, from gardening to butchering chickens. I love this blog. It's actually a de-stresser. I enjoy taking a few minutes to catch up on the farm life. Her pictures make you feel as if you were right there, and to be honest, sometimes I pretend to be.
Currently Angie is having a give away and it is Tattler Lids for canning. They are very cool and reusable. and you can read what she has to say about using them on her blog. You can enter while your there. Don't forget the coffee and maybe a comfy blanket. Enjoy!! I sure do.

The Working Family

Today was a good day. Worked all day and so did the kids. They both have temporary jobs working in the green houses. I am a little envious though. I loved working in the green houses.
I found a good quote today, Our children are like mirrors they reflect our attitudes in life. A good "If Walls Could Talk" quote. My friend over at
Woods Edge Creations had a drawing and I won it. It was so exciting to win something. Here is a pic of what I won. It is all home made. I love home made. Thank you Nicki!!

Cuddling With My Kids

Well, not really cuddling. They are 15 and 16. The kids and I took a snow day from work and spent the day at home watching a movie. I so miss the times when they were little. I even said out loud, "I miss the days when you guys were little". My son said to me "Well don't you like us big?" lol awww. Of course I do. The occasional hug could come a little more often. When they were little we would all curl up on the couch with a blanket and watch a movie or read a book. Miss it. Need kid love!!!

Waiting on the storm

There is suppose to be a big storm coming. I wonder if we will really get it. lol I sure hope so. I can't figure out how to fix my blog layout lol.

Sunny Sunday

Today was a quiet Sunday. Opened all the blinds to let the sunshine in. Baked a couple loaves of bread. I love snowy days when the sun shines. I dream of the farm life and wonder if I would be able to go out in the snow to take care of the things that need taking care of. Its so cold. Brrrr, props to you farmers.

My Special Moment

This is my special moment that I will cherish forever. My first born was married on Oct. 9 2010. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him or maybe play the song we danced to at his wedding. I see him every week and still miss him every day. I'm glad he's happy, but this kid's moving out of the house thing is rough on me.

I'm gonna give this blog thing another chance. I'm lovein the snow today. So pretty.

The New Year

Finally a winter storm. :)