What a wonderful week!

Starting with Sunday night, we baptized Jim, one of the men that we have been teaching a Bible study to. It was awesome to see him have his sins washed away in the lovely name of Jesus! Here are a couple of pictures of this wonderful baptism:

Jim, his brother Bill and their friend Doug experienced Ohio Campmeeting for the first time this past Wednesday night and absolutely loved it! Again, it is so exciting to see these wonderful men, as new christians, experiencing so many "firsts" in their walk with the Lord!

Indecision!!!

I just can't seem to get my blog the way I want it! Can you tell?? *feeble grin* Now, I am really liking this present look. I love pink. It just makes me feel happy and good inside, you know? But I have only one or two pieces of clothing that are pink. I do have some pink in our home here but it is more of a rose color, a deep shade of pink as opposed to bright pink. Anywayyyy.....I will probably be tweaking and playing around with my blog appearance for awhile, so you have been warned. It would be cool if I could like put a top layer over it saying something like "Caution: Remodeling Taking Place. Enter At Your Own Risk". You know, like the highway workers do when they are out smearing arou.....er, uh.....I mean, working on the roads. *cough...cough* My mom used to see them standing around along side the road leaning on their shovels and so on and she would always say...."well, I see they're out smearing around again." It was so funny the way she said it. *smile* Honestly, sometimes it does seem like that is what they are doing. BUT I must say that they have done a bang-up job on OUR main road....St. Rt. 595! Newly paved, widened, new lines! It is awesome and the first time since we have lived here.....15 years!! Now our township road.....the one we ACTUALLY live on? Well, that 's another story altogether! We used to have an older man who was the head trustee. Our roads were always in good shape BUT people voted him out and voted in this young whippersnapper a couple of elections ago and our roads have never been the same!!!!
Okay, okay, I'm done! I hope you are having a wonderful summer and a good week!
Oh, and I thought of just going ahead and doing my blog in Ohio State colors and motif because I will be doing that come fall, BUT I decided to hold off for awhile longer. AND the pink does lift my spirits! *smile* Ta Ta for now!!

My sister is 60!

I can hardly believe it! Do we ever think that we are going to be as old as our parents were? My oldest sister, Bev, just turned 60 this past Wednesday, so, of course, we sisters and sisters-in-law took her out for dinner to celebrate. We had a wonderful time, of course. I am 3 short years behind her. But, thankfully, age does not bother us. We are who we are, hm? And I think we are doing wonderfully! *smile*
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Bev's little grandson, Nathen, turns one on the 20th. Sooooo, we will be going to his big party tomorrow at Rising Park in Lancaster. Most of the family will be there so it should be a great time!
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Daniel had his wisdom teeth cut out this morning and has been here with me and Ed since about eleven o'clock this morning. Erin had to go back to work and he wasn't to be by himself. He's been in pretty rough shape all day, but has slept alot. I think his weekend is going to be pretty low-key as he recovers. Erin brought supper to us when she got off of work and they are spending the evening with us, even as I type this.
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On Wednesday, I got the second injection in my back. It doesn't seem to be helping. :-/ Soooooo, we are going to be seriously praying and considering what to do next, if anything. I was so hoping that this injection would offer some relief. All I know is that the Lord knows what is best and I am trusting Him and asking Him to guide my steps and show me what to do.
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Campmeeting begins a week from Monday, on July 28. I am getting so excited! I plan to go to the evening services for sure, but I would love to and stay. It is so wonderful to see so many friends and be in the morning services. We'll see. I just found out this afternoon that a friend of mine is staying all week and she can help me with a few things that I need assistance with. Thank you, Jesus!!
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Have a blessed weekend, everyone!!!

Thirteen Great One-liners and Short Funnies! If I can laugh, I find that I can handle most anything that comes my way!! :-) Enjoy!! 1. What lies on its back, one hundred feet in the air? A dead centipede. 2. What do you get when you cross a stream and a brook? Wet feet. 3. How do you make a hot dog stand? Steal its chair. 4. What did one magnet say to the other? I find you very attractive. 5. What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop. MORE THAN ONE-LINERS! :-) 6. A cop spotted a woman driving and knitting at the same time. "Pull over!" he called. "Oh no, officer, it's a cardigan." 7. "You know somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a note on my windshield. "It said, "Parking Fine". Wasn't that nice?!" 8. Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other off. 9. So I was getting into my car, and this guy says to me, "Can you give me a lift?" I said, " Sure, you look great, the worlds your oyster Go For it!" 10. A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet. " My dog is cross eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well, " said the vet "lets take a look at him". So he picks up the dog examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down." "WHAT? Because he's cross eyed??" "No, because he's really heavy." 11. "Doc, I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of home". "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome." "Is it common………?" "Its not unusual…" 12. I went into the butchers the other day and I bet him $50 that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, " No, the steaks are too high". 13. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak and where chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it,too!

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Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt

tnchick hosts a photo scavenger hunt at her blog, giving each Saturday a theme. This week's was "support", so we are to post pics expressing "support". I immediately thought of this picture that I took a few years ago of Daniel holding his Dad up. Now, that's support!!

How do dogs fight the heat????

Daniel came up home this morning to help his dad split some wood. (We had ANOTHER tree come down during ANOTHER storm this week!) He brought Heidi, his boxer, with him and she and Rocky had a blast running around. Well, they headed to the "crick" and Daniel took some pictures of them in their "pool". Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
Here's Rocky cooling off in the water! I think it is such a pretty picture.
Here's Rocky and Heidi. Rocky is dipping his head down in the water.
Here they are heading out of the water to go run and play!
Here's one of Heiders all by herself. (Heiders is my pet name for her. *smile*)
Isn't she so pretty?!?!

Friday's Feast!

Click on the button to join in on the Friday’s Feast, “a buffet for the brain.”

Appetizer:

When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?

About 33 years ago!

Soup

Name one thing you miss about being a child.

Being able to play pretend for real, if that makes sense...*smile*

Salad

Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.

Definitely BUTTER!

Main Course

If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?

French because I feel that it is the most beautiful language I have ever heard.

Although spanish would be more practical because so many people speak it here in the U.S.

Dessert

Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…

.....in Heaven because the Lord is coming!

Thursday Thirteen!

Thirteen Things I Plan To Do With My Tax Rebate/Stimulus Check 1. BUY some new clothes! 2. BUY a new pair of shoes! 3. BUY a new camcorder! (we have a new grandbaby on the way!) 4. BUY dinner out a few times! 5. BUY a new range hood! 6. BUY a new flat-top electric range! (Do you see a pattern here? :-) ) 7. BUY some new dishtowels! 8. BUY some new food items in order to try some new recipes! 9. BUY patriotic bunting for the front porch! (Already did this!) 10.BUY a new digital camera! 11.BUY my dh some new shirts! (Already did this!) 12.GIVE an extra offering to missions! (Already did this!) 13.SAVE a little bit! :-) There! I feel so much better about doing my part to stimulate our economy!!! *smile*

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Stimulating the economy!

Yes, that's what we've been doing: Our part in helping to stimulate the U.S. economy and are we ever glad to do it! *smile* We got our stimulus check Monday, so before and after I went to Dr. Meszaros yesterday, I did a little shopping. Very light shopping but I did pump a little money into our struggling economy.
My doctor's visit was a follow-up from the injections I had had on June 5. He told me that the pain relief I had experienced for 12 hours following the injections was from the pain medicine he gave me before giving me the actual injections. Sooooo, on to Plan B! Next Wednesday, he will be giving me ONE injection of a different sort and it will be in a different area of my spine. Down lower. Then we will see how that does. If the results are not what we want, then we are looking at surgery. Now, there was a time when I would not even begin to consider surgery but procedures have advanced so much since then, so I am going to really seriously consider it and pray about it.
These past couple of days have been terribly painful. You may ask: How can you shop if you are in so much pain? Wellllll.......there are things we need and also things that HAVE to be done, so I guess you could just say that I push through the pain. Like yesterday, after I was done at the doctor's office. I went over to Walmart to pick up a few things that we needed. It hurts to get in and out of the car......pretty intensely. But, I have my moves all figured out to make it the easiest to get in and out of each of our cars. Every car is different and takes a little different maneuvering to get in and out of. Next, I get my trusty walker out of the trunk and head for the store, where I get a motorized cart. It is sometimes very painful for me to get situated onto one of those, but I do it. Then, depending on what kind of cart it is, it can be painful to ride the thing. Somtimes they jerk pretty hard when you take off and when you stop. Pain! *feeble grin* How can I grin? Well, I just have to!!! And maybe it is because I have dealt with this now for 3 1/2 years, so I guess you get used to it?
Wellllll.....I didn't mean to go on and on! It is just that I never really understood what it was/is like for people who suffer from chronic pain until it happened to me and if I can help someone else to have a better understanding of it, then that is a good thing, I believe.
You can't always "see" pain. Well, that is, unless you get a look at me! LOL If you can't tell I am in pain by the way I walk, then you hafta be blind! LOL It is not a pretty sight. I've had people tell me...."stand up straight, suck your stomach in, hold your head up, yadayadayada....." Usually it is my sister Debbie or my friend(?) Neda! They get a free pass.......*smile* They have their own issues! LOL
Well, I need to go and get ready for church. We are still teaching our Bible study before church on Wed. evening. We started out with Bill and Doug. Bill's oldest brother joined us last Wednesday. He's been coming to church off and on for about a month. AND tonight his younger brother is joining us!!! Isn't this great!!! They are so hungry for the word of the Lord!! We feel so privileged to be leading these precious men into a closer relationship with the Lord. Jim may even get baptized tonight!! God is so good!!!
Have a wonderful evening!!

Miscellaneous Pictures!!

Good Monday Morning, Everyone!! I just wanted to share some pictures I've taken recently.
:-) This first one is of an absolutely gorgeous sunset that I captured last Wednesday evening when we were leaving church. It came out better than I thought it would. I was concerned
about it being too dark. Our church is on a small hill and it is the perfect spot to get sunset pictures!
This next pictures is of our neighbor's cows. *smile* They were all gathered around, standing in this pond of water underneath a tree. It had rained for like days and then it was so hot and humid on this day and as I was driving by I just had to stop and watch them enjoying the cool shade and water. BUT they apparently didn't LIKE me watching them, so they started leaving and I barely had time to get any of them IN the water! Snooty cows!!! *smile*
Below is a picture of my sweet potato vines which I planted with an asparagus fern. I just love them! They grow like crazy and are just beautiful!

This is a beautiful flowering hanging basket that I bought. I don't know what it is called but the flowers on it close up at night and then just burst out in bloom during the day. I love it!

Here's another view of it:
And lastly....here is a picture of Rocky waiting for Ed to bring him out a treat! And you can see the patriotic bunting that we put up on the porch railing. I have wanted bunting forever but didn't want to pay the price they were asking but I got a really great deal on these so I finally took the plunge and bought some. These were like two in a package for $24.95 and they are made of really durable fabric so they should last for a loooong time! *smile*

Happy July 4th!!

Birthday celebration

Noooo, not mine, but my niece, April's , my sister Debbie's daughter. Her birthday was last Saturday, so Debbie and our sister Bev and I surprised April by showing up where she works...on Friday...and taking her out to lunch. She didn't have long and is trying to eat healthy, so we went to Subway. I loooooove Subway. She was absolutely surprised and we had a great time. She and Bev work at the same place though in different offices in Riverview Diagnostic Center in Lancaster. Well, Bev was running interference and I was running a little late (the story of my life *feeble grin*) so I asked Bev to go tell April we were on our way, only to find out that she couldn't go to lunch until 1:30 because so many people had taken off that day. We were going to be there a little before noon which is her regular lunchtime. Soooooooo, I decided that Debbie and I would just take a nice leisurely ride and take the long way to Lancaster by going out Clear Creek Road and so on. Many years ago, when I first came into the church, I worked in the Outreach Program and the bus route I worked on took these same roads every Sunday morning. It brought back alot of memories to drive along them once again. Well, Debbie doesn't really like to take drives along back roads (these were all paved though they were secondary roads) but, hey, I was driving and we had some time to kill. (She ended up going to sleep on me anyway...AFTER I so kindly stopped at a convenience store and bought her a snack to hold her over until lunch. She is a diabetic. She always has an excuse! LOL) Along the way, we passed two covered bridges and I took pictures. So as not to be redundant, you can view the one covered bridge a couple of posts down, k? *smile* Here is the other one:

Of course, once we arrived at our sister Bev's place of work, everyone would look at me, then look at Bev, then look at me, and say, "You two HAVE to be sisters, right?" Well, yeah......

What do you all think? Bev, Debbie and I do have a wonderful time together. After lunch with April, Debbie and I were on our way home and Debbie piped up and said, "Boy, Bev is really spry, isn't she?" I had just been thinking the same thing! I mean, Debbie has to cart her oxygen along with her and I have my walker as my walking companion and everyone kept telling us, "You two go on ahead. You need a headstart. We'll catch up." Heyyyyyyy......*feeble grin* But it's true. AND Bev is the oldest!!! But I have to admit that she does get around great! She is going to be 60 in July, so none of us is really old, even if we DID think our parents were really OLD at our age! Why is that??? *smile* I am 56 and Debbie is 58. I feel about 35 inside and then I stand up! Argh! LOL Well, I can laugh about it tonight anyway. Some days, it's not so easy to do so. *feeble grin*
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

A fave quote

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.

The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

A new web community!!!

Just what we need, hm? *smile* But this website is awesome! It is Everyones Apostolic. You have to be invited in order to join (thank you, Liz), so if you would like to join, let me know and I'll gladly invite you!

I'm kind of busy today, so that's about all I have time to post but I am determined to blog more faithfully because it is rather therapeutic for me, you know? Have a wonderful day everyone!!