WooHoo

OOOh! How EXCITING! My new friend, Modern Mom, has nominated me for this award!

It's my very first and I am so glad she thought of me! I try to keep my content fresh and interesting for my followers, after all, I don't want to run them off!

Now, to make it even more exciting, I get to pass it on!


The Rules:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 10 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are my award winners, in no particular order:

1) House of Raquel
2) Erasing the Bored
3) Drama Mama
4) Joyful Reflections
5) Opus #6
6) Lollypops and Lizards
7) Ann again...and again
8) Native American Momma
9) Chatty Kathy
10)A Room of My Own

Thanks again, Modern Mom! I also thank all my followers for hanging in there with me!

Awwww

I am trying something new this week. I am entering the I ♥ Faces Kids' contest for week 18. The topic is Laughter.
The picture I have chosen is of my great niece, Isabelle, at her 1st birthday party! She is quite a little ham!

Make sure you go click on the I ♥ Faces link above or visit their site to check out all the entries: www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com

Mother's Day

I dedicate this to my wonderful Mother. She has always been my strength, my hope, my love, my everything.......MY MOTHER!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!

I would like to share with you a poem that I wrote for my Mother to help her when she lost her MOTHER, a wonderful woman, my GRANDMOTHER, BONNIE MARIE GIBSON! GRANDMA, WE LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!

DEAR DAUGHTER

My precious baby girl,
Please, do not cry.
I had to leave you in this world,
But I would never say goodbye.

You know I'm with you always,
And I will always be.
Do not be sad, my Daughter,
Some day you'll be with me.

My life HERE is so perfect,
No pain is there for me.
And I've saved a special place here,
For your soul when its set free.

Whenever you get sad,
And lonely, as you do.
Just raise your eyes to HEAVEN,
I am right HERE with you.

Now, carry on, dear DAUGHTER,
Live life the best you can.
Remember, when you need me,
I'm THERE, holding your hand.

By Lagean "Gena" Ellis


Please, take the time to give your support of time or money to CANCER RESEARCH! Too many wonderful lives have ended way too soon.


Please ask me for permission if you would like to copy this. It is a published work, but I do not mind sharing, if asked.

I must say, when I think of relaxing, one of my favorite places always comes to mind: Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Let me take you on a short tour:

THE LANGUAGE OF HERBS


Here are some common herbs and their symbolic meanings, which were found in The Language of Flowers, a charming book originally published in 1968. Keep these meanings in mind when creating your heartfelt arrangements for Mom.

BALM sympathy
BASIL love, blessings, best wishes
BAY glory
CALENDULA joy, remembrance
CATNIP intoxification with love
CHAMOMILE comfort
CILANTRO hidden worth
COWSLIP happiness
DAISY innocence, loyalty
DILL good spirits
ELDER zealousness
FENNEL worthy of praise
GERANIUM comfort, consolation
IVY friendship, matrimony
LAVENDER devotion, loyalty
MARIGOLD grief, honesty
MINT wisdom, grief
NASTURTIUM optimism
OREGANO happiness
PANSY merriment, remembrance
PEPPERMINT cordiality
ROSEMARY remembrance
SAGE wisdom
SORREL affection
SPEARMINT warmth of sentiment
THYME happiness, courage

Walk it OFF!

I wanted to share this challenge with you. It is for the American Heart Association. I am unable to participate with my injury, so, if you don't mind, could you take a couple extra steps for me? I will log a little. Every little bit counts! Thanks! Happy VGNO!

When you're done, stop by "Ann Again...and again" and join us for a VGNO! For my friends who aren't familiar, this is Virtual Girl's Night Out! Every Friday, Ann takes us partying with a little blog hopping. All the details are there, along with, this weeks game!

Add your blog to Ann's Mr. Linky so everyone can stop by and say hello!

Have fun!

Hello, my friends!

I haven't found much serenity the last few days. The battle with Workers Comp is becoming "quite a challenge". But, I am sticking with my Serene Moments, so I will give you what I do have.

This afternoon I received a text message from my boyfriend, Ollie's, daughter. She was letting me know that his grand-daughter, Maggie, was playing her first baseball game this afternoon.
Now Maggie is the youngest of his 5 grandbabies. She is 7. She has beautiful curly hair...
Well, take a look at her:



Isn't she an angel?

What's even better is that Maggie reminds me so much of myself when I was little. She wants to be a boy! When she was really little, she would tell everyone that she was a boy! HeeHee It was so cute!
Maggie loves the outdoors: fishing, playing ball...she even got mad Christmas before last when Ollie got his grandson a gun and took him squirrel hunting. She sulled up until I promised we would buy her a gun, when she gets older, and take her hunting, too. Now, she has girlie stuff, of course people still buy it for her, but she loves camo and other "boy type" clothes. I was the exact same. I would stay outside all day, exploring in the woods and such. If my Dad and brothers were going hunting, fishing, hiking, whatever....I was right there, hair tucked under my ball cap and gear in hand.
I knew the rules, too. You kill it, you clean it! Squirrel, rabbit, fish.....I cleaned them all. Didn't care one bit.
I suspect that Maggie would do the same, if given the chance. Maggie's Momma is girlie, so we have to kind of "persuade" her on some things.
Anyway, I turned out "fairly" okay, so I know Maggie will, too. She's my little buddy and she keeps me in check.

Hello, all!

I always appreciate your patience with me. Today, I am once again "over stepping" into my business. I am excited and want to share it with you!

As we speak, I am being featured and interviewed on the House of Raquel blog: houseofraquel.blogspot.com

Raquel has a wonderful blog full of beautiful JEWELRY that she designs and makes. That is what drew me to her blog. Raquel and I have be speaking for a few weeks and I had entered a contest on her blog to win one of her bracelets. I WON!!! Through that, we have developed a friendship and mutual respect for one another. She recently asked if I would allow her to interview me for her blog. I did not hesitate in saying "YES".

Now, I ask that my followers not only visit and see my interview, but that you "browse around" and look at my friends' wonderful creations.

Also, make sure you leave a comment about the interview, Good or Bad. One comment will be chosen at random and that person will win a Cinnamon Bun Candle courtesy of my biz, SERENE MOMENTS

Again, House of Raquel : houseofraquel.blogspot.com

How about a little more scenery?

Hello everyone!

Hope your Spring is getting off to a good start!

Want to let everyone know that I have started a Social Network called "Serene Moments". My plan is to sign up members who we will all focus on Serenity, whether it's books, movies, videos, photos....whatever you deem as a Serene Moment.

It is "Invitation Only" so, if you're interested, let me know and I'll send you one.

Until then, enjoy this:

I'm feeling "visual". This is a photo I took of a hyacinth in Ollie's yard. Ollie, of course, is my sweetie!

Isn't it beautiful?

Won't you join me for coffee?


Let's head down to the river and take a look!




Thanks for coming along!
I took these photos when I went to check on my boyfriends' house. He lives in a cabin at the river. The welcome sign is by his front door, but I thought it made a great photo.
The chairs are on the front deck.
As you can probably tell, I love hanging out there. It's quite relaxing!

I had one of my SERENE MOMENTS this weekend!

With my boyfriend, Ollie, working in Wisconsin, I ventured to his house to check on everything, and to get away. Ollie lives in a cabin on the river.
I took along "my son's" brindle boxer, Tiger.
Saturday, RAIN.
You know, something about being in a cabin at the river, I just really didn't care that it was raining. I kicked back on the couch with Tiger lying beside me and caught up on a little bit of NOTHING!
Sunday starts with lots of sunshine, but cool and windy! Again, something about the surroundings made me just not care.
I loaded up Tiger and took a drive along the river, stopping at homes of my friends to see how things were coming along. There's still a massive clean up going on since the big ice storm in January.
Tiger and I stopped several times and just enjoyed the river. It has changed so much since the two floods last year.
Lucky for me, I remembered my camera. I have one of those old fashion ones that takes film. I took several pictures of the river and will be posting them soon!
Tiger and I spent the rest of the day just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine.
I'll be returning this coming weekend. Ollie will be in for a couple of days and then will be returning to the job in Wisconsin.
I am really ready to see him.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by.
If you are a dessert fan, stop by my "Yummy!Yummy!Yummy!" blog and view my recipe for Twinkie Pie.
Also, I have a new blog in the works. It is titled "Visions of Life: A Journey Towards Health and Wealth". If you have a health topic you would like me to explore, just let me know.
I will be starting, by request, with Heart Disease.
Stay tuned for my photos from the river. I will be posting them within a day or so.
You'll definitely want to hang out and enjoy some Serene Moments there.

I just have to share this with everyone!

My candle business is about to get EVEN BETTER! That's right! You heard it here first!

The company I work with has just announced that they are adding a line of ALL NATURAL, MINERAL BEAUTY PRODUCTS! How exciting is that?!

The products are expected to kick-off in MAY and here is what we will offer:

MINERAL FOUNDATION - 8 SHADES to start with; made with natural bismuth ingots

BRONZER

FINISHING POWDER

PRESSED POWDER - perfect for those who do not want the MINERAL FOUNDATION

BLUSH - 5 SHADES to start with

EYESHADOW - 16 SHADES to start with

SLIMLINE LIPSTICK - 10 SHADES to start with; made with Vegetable Oils/Natural Wax...

LIPGLOSS - 10 SHADES to start with; Sunflower Oils, Vitamin E...

MASCARA - BLACK and BROWN; purified water, moisturizing oils...

BRUSHES - a line of makeup brush applicators

So, there you have it!

I will keep you posted with more and will post photos/video when I get it!

Thought this was cute! Wanted to share it!


One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was

going on. So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.

When he returned, he told God, 'Yes, it is bad on Earth;

95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.

God thought for a moment and said, 'Maybe I had better

send down a second angel to get another opinion.'

So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.

When the angel returned he went to God and said,

'Yes, it's true.The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving,

But 5% are being good.'

God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5%

that were good, because he wanted to encourage them,

and give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what the e-mail said?



Okay, I was just wondering, because I didn't get one either.