Rain, Rain, Rain.... ☁

Wonderful Rain...

Here in Northern California it is pouring down rain, and I am loving it!!

I don't remember it raining this much last year at this time, but then I cannot always remember what happened yesterday, ;)

I and my honey, who is fast asleep next to my side, are watching and listening to the wonderful sound of the falling rain or should I say pouring down all around us. To sit snugly warm on the couch with not a single light on and watching the rain, thru our sliding glass door, is the sweetest feeling of contentment. I'm so thankful to have my house, at least for the time being, and feel safe and secure.

I just want to give thanks to my Lord for blessing me with this beautiful house, when He did. I'm falling in love with it all over again since we may not be in it much longer.

"I'm enjoying the rain in my warm secure house."

I don't really like to be IN the rain, but it sure is pretty to watch from the inside. Thank you Lord for my husband by my side and for my animals at my feet and for the warm couch I am sitting in.

SOOO for NOW I am enjoying the rain and this has become a...

**HAPPY MOMENT**

South Lake Tahoe in BlkNWhte [Nov. 2010]

South Lake Tahoe in Black and White.

Since 2008 we have been going to South Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving.

It has become our home away from home.

My mother passed away Mother's Day 2008 and I was really struggling with my emotions that year as the holidays came near.

it was very hard for me to get into any holiday spirit that first year. I had this wonderful friend (co-worker) that made a sweet suggestion for me, as I began to grieved my mother's death. She offered her home (they rent out all year around) in South Lake Tahoe, which is about 1hr and 45min away from our home in the Sacramento Valley. 

'I didn't think we could do it, but my husband feeling he needed to make a miracle happen to help me thru all that Iv been thru, made it possible. I was overjoyed and extremely thankful!!' 

This year we were blessed with heavy snow, all the way up the cabin windows. As a matter of fact, we were snowed in, having to wait an extra day for the storm to pass in order to head back down the mountain.  

*SWEET*

It was absolutely gorgeous and amazingly beautiful!! I was in [earthly] heaven! ;) I thought South Lake Tahoe was beautiful when green and lushes, but... the snow... I was speechless!! It was breath-taking...  the view was remarkable!

On our walk to the lake the icicles [from roof top to ground] were thrilling to see on other homes and cabins. I was extremely blessed and didn't want this 5 day vacation to end. It was a...

*HAPPY MOMENT*

A snowy Thanksgiving

A snowy, white Thanksgiving.

I and my family headed up north to South Lake Tahoe.

We were blessed to have 3 to 4 feet of snow waiting for us.

 Of course that ment my men, my son and his father, had to dig out the drive way so that we could park our Ford.

It was the most spectacular scene I ever did see.

We live in the valley and see rain and quite a bit of frost on the ground, but not snow. We have to travel about 1 to 2 hours north into the mountains just to find snow, so this was a wonderful treat for us. 



Beautiful Icicles

The icicles on the houses' were magnificent and beautiful to behold. I've never seen were they formed from the roofs edge all the way to the ground.

My eyes couldn't get enough of the beautiful whiteness all around me... I was spellbound.

I don't much like the cold or being cold, but I was taken by all this beauty the Lord had for us this Thanksgiving week.  

I sat for hours with my Bible (couldn't tell you what I read) in my lap and me staring out the window at the sparkling whiteness. I have to admit, it was absolutely beautiful to see and breath taking to wake up to. 



Ma and Pa kettle

The day we were planning to travel back home, very early, it began to snow. The winds became stronger and the snow came down harder...

we were stuck.

We decided to stay safe and wait another day hoping for a bright sunny day. But were we really stuck?

 No I was only too happy to sit at the window and watch the snow fall, big fluffy flakes. Smell the wonderful aroma of Turkey Soup, from our Thanksgiving leftovers, and sit by the warm fire. I didn't want any of it to end. I was happy and content.

A day or days I do not want to forget.

This is our third Thanksgiving coming to this cabin and the first time we had this much snow. It was a time of warmth, laughter, sledding, crying, loving, and lots of wonderful food to eat...

I'm thankful today for this time...

*this moment, to always remember.*

☂ Beautiful Rainy Day ☂



Beautiful Rainy Day

I'm not usually a rainy day person, but I've really been looking forward for this rain coming to our  Sacramento valley.

Our local news has advised us too...

Expect on and off rain showers today. This evening a band of steady rainfall will move through the Valley and heavy snow will return to the Sierra. Sunday occasional rain showers and Sierra snow will continue lingering into Monday. Our skies will clear for the big get away day on Wednesday. Chain controls are up on all the Sierra passes. Please take it slow and drive safely. 

Britta Merwin

Sacramento Forecaster

 

I'm so happy and jazzed about this because of a few simple reasons...

For one I feel like the world is cleaner after a consistent rainfall, from all it's filth, and I associate that with a spiritual significance that has happened in my life;

 

Being set free or cleansed from all filthiness and becoming white as snow, Psalms 51. 

I have so much to be thankful for and it being Thanksgiving time helps me to reflect on that one simple thing... being free (cleansed) from sin. God in all His mercy and tender love fills me with much gratitude!

 

Another thing about the rain outside, brings us a very cold day. It reminds me of how cold the world can be towards us in so many ways... But with God there is fire shut up in our bones! A warmth feeling of spiritual freedom brings much joy in a cold dark world.

 

I know my ramblings probably don't make much sense to you but my heart knows what drives me today and everyday that I wake up under the wonderful mercies of God.

 

One wonderful thing about this weather is we are headed to the Sierra's (Tahoe) this coming Wednesday and I'm hoping snow will be in the air or at least on the ground. It's a beautiful place beyond words and brings much comfort to my family (we started this tradition the year my mother passed away in 2008)... God has blessed us with many wonderful people in our lives to give us this opportunity to go to such a place as this cabin... We are truly thankful  (thx Melissa)  

*BLESSED*

 

Rain, rain, rain, thank you for coming at such a time as this... to help us be thankful for many things; the love of our families, the warmth of our homes, the love of our God.

I don't know what more I can say but I don't want to forget this moment and feeling that burns deep within my heart... it's a

*JOYOUS MOMENT*

FALL glorious FALL

fall is my favorite time of year...

The cool brisk weather...

the wonderful smells of rain...

but most of all the leaves...

the color changes in foliage...

I could lay for hours under a tree heavy with red, gold, brown leaves

as they fall on my silent, relaxed form... It makes me thankful for the changes that have transpired in my life... the gift of God will always be alive and well within my soul and the soul of man.

If we will but grasp the wonderful promise of change as the trees do, every fall time when change begins within... before they sleep, for when spring arrives there will be newness of life.

Glorious life... living from glory to glory!!

 

Leaves

"How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow."
-   Elsie N. Brady

Freshly Painted Walls

New painted walls gives this wonderful sense of a new house and  it's
 a whole lot cheaper.
We are in the process of repainting my kitchen and dinning room and I'm so excited to see the conclusion of our labor!!
The theme is coffee with three different colors;
paper sack, sandy yellow, and autumn stem...
Autumn Stem is a very dark color with Paper Sack being the medium color and Sandy Yellow being the lightest...
Eeeek, I can't wait!!!
Umm... I absolutely love coffee, frappes, and lattes that I decided to fix my kitchen up with vintage coffee signs and pics.
The great thing about this is; it's  my marvelous husband undertaking this adventurous project, just for me. showing great enthusiasm for the task at hand.

Him showing an interest has softened my heart,
loving him all the more.

My family for the last year has been buying pics, signs, place-mats, rugs and so forth with coffee theme that my little hutch was teeming with generously rich coffee articles. I could put stock in the stuff
*SWEEETness*
So my husband and I went to good ole WalMart and picked out the colors. It was so exciting, I was beside myself.
"I know, I'm such a simpleton, but hey it's who I am."
My house has been smelling like paint...not the greatest smell I know but I look at it as just the beginning of wonderful changes in this old neglected (far too long) house.
I'm very happy and have been cherishing this...
*HAPPY MOMENT*

❀Vase full of Flowers...

A dozen roses a vase full of carnations or just a handful of wild flowers...

I have found that I love

having my table grace a beautiful

set of flowers..

real flowers not silk, fake flowers, but real.

That leave a beautiful natural sent and drop leaves when they begin to die...

 I just love the life it brings to my home and the pleasant feeling it gives me on the inside.

 when I come home from a hard days work and see them as a center piece on my Dining Room table or in my living room on the coffee table, it just brings a warm feeling inside. These particular flowers are from

a drive my husband and I were on,

just spending some time alone together.

Enjoying each others company

without the children in the back seat arguing or asking when we'd eat or stop for a potty break; and yes they still do that as teenagers and young adults. We were on our way back towards town when he decided to stop at a local farmers market and we found some wonderful home grown vegetables. As he was filling our basket

 my eyes were drawn

to the counter to the most beautiful

bright sunflowers I have ever seen.

There were many different sizes and bouquets of small wild flowers, but they were all surrounded by these sunflowers that were so beautiful and graceful... Like strong straight soldiers standing at attention protecting the smaller flowers in the center.

I just had to have one of these amazing, God made beauties... My husband came up behind me as I was admiring these beautiful sunflowers... and together we choose the best looking ones for our home. 

Before I was just relaxing enjoying the drive in no hurry to get home, but then with these beautiful arrangement in my hands I just couldn't wait to get home, I couldn't wait to spotlessly clean my kitchen and dinning room just to make these precious flowers a home.

Right then I realized

how much I absolutely loved

a 'vase full of flowers'

... it was a

*HAPPY MOMENT*

❀ ﻻυ♏♏ﻻ ₮rℯα₮ ツ

 

Friday at work, during nap hours... NO not MY nap hours :) but my preschoolers, My husband and son came by with a surprise (something he's done quite often in the last 8 months since he has not been working). They brought me one of these 'StarBucks Coffee Frappaccinos' 

UMMMMMM it was Yummy Sweetness to my taste buds. Delicious appetite to my weakness.
I have not had one of these in such a long time it was a wonderful surprise.... Oh the little things that bring such happiness to my simple life
*UMMMMM*    

They didn't stay long and left it sitting there on the table staring at me with such a character of flair. I didn't want to drink it till all the children were resting still on their mats so I could savor every moment of the drink and that I did. Once the last wiggly lil child was still on their mat, I got up to pop open the lid to smell the wonderful aroma of coffee in the middle of the afternoon. Sometimes I get so sleepy watching the children nap that coffee is something I could use more than not on a daily basis.
I was a happy teacher, a happy wife, a happy mommy...
 Ummm what a nice treat from my husband and my 18yr old son.
The simplicity of life..
It is all I need in life... To love all that comes my way and to love all those that are in my life who care and love me everyday and show me in lil simple ways.
*A Happy Moment*