Selective Coloring

I'm learning how to work "selective coloring" into photographs and having too much fun! Thought I'd share some of the fun with you.






I thought this was cool....

... but the kiddos asked me to do this...

And ya know... this is a little addictive!

Finishing Touches

Remember the progress we'd made on the house we've been working on? (See my previous post with before & during pictures.) Well, we've been working on the finishing touches! I thought you might enjoy seeing the finished results.

Here's the open concept view so you can see the breakfast bar:

And the pantry side of the kitchen with fridge & work desk:

And the wall side: stove, microwave, dishwasher...
Everything is brand new from the ceramic floors to the lighting.
The cabinets are Hickory.

And then looking back over the breakfast bar to the back of the house:

What do you think?

The Other Guy's Shoes

Recently, a friend expressed the hurt of her day by asking why "Christians" feel they have the right to judge.

I don't know why that is. I know and understand the hurt of it. I've been on the receiving end of those judging attitudes. It leaves you feeling alone, unloved, misunderstood, and deeply wounded. ..... Unfortunately, I also know the critical spirit that inflicts a person with the "judging" syndrome. I've done it too and I am sorry for it. ... deeply remorseful.

The fact is, we often don't truly know what another person is going thru in life. We don't stop to consider a walk in another man's shoes. We might gain a whole new perspective and more importantly, a whole new capacity to love one another. My good man often reminds me, "you never know who might just be fighting to get out of the bed in the morning". So TRUE!

Have we forgotten how much grace was extended to us when Jesus put Himself in our place and served the sentence we owed for the things we've done wrong? None of us deserve it. Yet, HE loves ALL of us. Loves us beyond what can be truly comprehended. (I can think of some really unlovable characters! Yet He stood in their place too- wow! I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that!)

And I should be concerned about the day *I* stand before God, the ONE True Judge. And each should be concerned with their own turn before HIM.

As Christians, should we not be consumed with knowing The Lord, Jesus? And as a result, we should be fully motivated to LOVE each other, understanding how desperately we all need HIM.

And leave it to God to say it perfectly... (hehehe)
"No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

• Do what is right
• Love mercy
• Walk humbly with God

I need that in indelible ink on my heart.

I venture to say that when we're NOT doing those things, we will fall into the hurtful behavior of judging.

There's enough criticism, divisiveness and hurt going around these days. What that epidemic needs is a shot of "Just-Humble-Mercy".

This song makes the medicine go down for me. ;0) (often I cry, but it's always good for me)

Ten Years!

Ten years ago today, She-with-once-skinned-knees (also fondly known as, The Suit), insisted on exiting the womb 4 weeks ahead of schedule.

Life was waiting folks!
She was not to be deterred!
She had a LOT of living to do!

Today marks 10 years of her wonderful determination, courage and brains!

Today marks 10 years of sensitive compassion, quiet thoughtfulness and sweet affection.

You bring so much joy to our life!
We're so proud of the person you are
and we love you so very much!
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Ever get the feeling...

...you're being watched,

...mocked,

...ignored!


Cats!

Such unique creatures!

Fun Friday Foto

Too close?

The other day, Industrious One decided to take her camera out in the pasture and take some pictures of our haflinger, Mr. MaGee. Anyone reading this who owns a haflinger is already laughing!

Here's why....

First, Industrious One had to show her credentials to the herd boss....

that would be Pholly- - why yes! She IS my mare. Why do you ask? Certainly you're not suggesting that she suits me well because of that trait, would you? --- Hey! I am a first born! - 'nough said! ;)

Upon passing the security check, Industrious One set out in her attempts to get some good shots of Mr. MaGoof... oh! I mean MaGee!

And wherever she went...
... there he was!

She even tried changing directions... He just followed suit.
when she stopped, he stopped...

If she walked, he walked right beside her... never wavering.
Does she look a little defeated?
Well.... since she could not get any distance between them, she figured she might as well hug him!
'Course... then he wanted to know why she wasn't taking more pictures of him!

Me?

Why yes! I got some GREAT pictures! LOL

Can You Feel It?

Awwwwwww......

Progress!

Before and After pictures are so much fun to look at, don't you think?

Thought I'd share some "In Progress" pictures with you. The kitchen of our current investment property is quite different that other kitchens we've encountered. This one is located in the middle of the house with no exterior walls and thus no windows to the outside. It made this kitchen DARK- very dark and very gloomy!

This is the day we purchased the property... before trash removal and renovations began. You are looking into the door of the kitchen from a room off the back.

Dark, eh?

Here's a view from inside the kitchen looking back to where the previous picture was taken from:

The rest of this house is light and bright... lots of nice windows and natural light. This kitchen was just ODD.

On the other side of this kitchen (front side of the house) is a dining room. We needed to lighten up.... brighten up this room. The room needed to become a functioning part of this home instead of a cave inside a house.

Here's our progress from last week:

We opened up the wall and this half-wall will be a breakfast bar when we're finished. We added can lighting above this area too and we opened up a window pass-thru to the family room off the right of the picture above.
Much better, don't you think!

I LOVE progress!

I am a Misfit!

I'm pretty sure of it! And since posting that on my facebook account, several people have asked, "Why are you a misfit?".

Well.... I'm just not normal. My good-man-charlie-brown... my always-by-my-side... often reminds me that I'm just not like everyone else. More and more, I find myself in the minority of life... whether it be my thinking, my convictions, my likes & dislikes... I'm just not normal. And yet... I am still LOVED! ::insert huge grin::

So- we're working on our current real estate investment. When our team purchased this house, it had been disassembled... and disassembled in a fashion resembling that of She-with-once-skinned-knees' attempts to remove her training wheels by herself at two years old. Catch my drift?

The process of bringing this house back has been an involved process. And the time finally came when we were ready to run the plumbing (yes! The copper had all been removed underneath... I wasn't kidding! DISASSEMBLED!). A conversation, months ago, with a friend in a similar business, turned us on to a product- not really new- called PEX. The Lord had a hand in that conversation because just a few weeks later we acquired this house. PEX research was at the top of the list.

In true misfit fashion, I was completely intrigued with the idea of putting the plumbing back together and learning all there was to learn about running PEX. Years ago I was hooked on a puzzle game called "Pipe Dream". Maybe that's where this excitement over assembling PEX circuits for an entire house came from. I don't know. But I LOVED it! I think it was even FUN!


And it's not just the flexibility of the product but the COLOR CODING too! Blue lines for cold water.... Red lines for hot water... White lines for main lines. And OHHHHH... then there's the manifold where it all comes together! It's just the COOLEST!

See! Not normal!

I'm a misfit!

There's an island out there for people like me!

And SANTA comes ESPECIALLY for us! ROFL!!!!!! ;D

Yikes!

I haven't blogged since the 3rd!!! How in the world did that happen?

Ok... I'm just a tad swamped right now. We're schooling again and teaching 2nd, 4th & 7th grade is taking a little more brain power than teaching all elementary grades. We've added some additional classes thru our local support group that keep us running more than I prefer. And we are all adjusting to the "back-to-school" schedule. ::sigh:: Summer was just TOO SHORT this year!!

And in our spare time, we've been working hard on our real estate investment. Last week we ran PEX ... a wonderful alternative to copper plumbing... for the entire house. I swear, I had sooo much fun learning and running circuits. And the satisfaction of turning the water on and having it all work- no leaks!- what a blast! It's a beautiful thing... I have pictures to prove it! ;)

But alas... it's too late tonight for me to even consider preparing pic files to post here... so that must wait. I promise that I will try to share them soon. You must see what we're doing to the kitchen in this place!!! I know everyone enjoys before & after pics! I'll share some of those too!

And then there's horses, dogs, cats with kittens... rain... the grass is growing again (oh no! When will I mow?)... painting our classroom... laundry (goodness! That never goes away!)... Fall is on our doorstep (I want summer back!)...facebook (will I EVER figure that out?)... and...




PS - I discovered another family member has taken the plunge into blogging. Check her out! Isn't It Amazing?