Our Royal Wedding Party

Who says you had to be in London in order to throw a Royal Wedding Party? My Mom, Aunt Jamie, Cousin Morgan, Me & Jon (for part of the night) had a real shin dig! My Mom is a master when it comes to throwing a party. Together we did all of the cooking for mine, Jordan's, and a couple other wedding receptions, we've done baby showers, wedding showers, birthdays, graduations, swim parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, going away parties, Christmas parties... You name it, we've done it! Being the only child still living in town, she has made me an apprentice. When we found out the date for Wills & Kate's wedding, we decided it would be a great excuse of a girl party. It was a blast! We laughed, ate, looked at magazines, dressed up, and watched the wedding. As a little girl I fell in love with Princess Diana, she was a real live honest to goodness Princess! Not just one out of fairy land, but the real thing! I remember feeling sick when I heard she was in a bad car accident, and I just couldn't believe it when she died. I felt like someone I knew had passed away. My Mom & Aunt Jamie both remember staying up to watch her & Charles get married, and we all stayed up to watch her funeral. (I wasn't born when Di & Charles got married, or I'm sure I'd have been watching too!) So, yesterday we watched Diana's son marry Catherine, and now the world has a new Princess.

A Divine "So That..."

I'm pretty sure most of us have asked the question, "Why God?" One of my faults is that I am, and always have been a brooder. When something bothers me, I don't just let it roll off like water on a duck's back. Not only that, but for some reason I'm also good at taking on the worries or problems of others, and stewing about them as well. I hate to see people suffer in any way, but I learned something last two weekends ago at the Beth Moore conference in Little Rock that for some reason has continued to replay over & over in my mind.

First of all, just like sand through His fingers, nothing happens in our life that hasn't first been sifted through the hand of God. There are a lot of non-believers out there that would challenge that by saying... "If God is so in control, then how could He let so many horrible things happen? Why would a loving God allow people to go through so much physical, mental, & emotional pain?" The thing that has been playing on and on in my mind is this... No matter what happens, there is A Divine "So That..." We can't always know what it is until later, and sometimes it is for the benefit of someone else that we don't even know.

The best way I can explain it is through examples:

"Why did my best friend as a little girl have to die from drowning?"

* It is a different "So that" for each person effected, but mine was So that I would become a great and very safety minded swimmer, and I would teach close to 400 children how to swim. I don't know how many of those children I taught through the years have had some sort of incident where knowing how to swim & the other safety things I taught them saved their lives, but I know that it saved my life when my family had a very bad white water rafting accident in Montana in 1998.

"Why is it that every time we get a substantial amount of money saved something happens, & we end up having to use it all?"

*So that I would realize that He will provide for us, & we can't allow money to be the thing we draw our comfort & security from.

"Why have I had to deal with weight gain, hair loss, and all the other unattractive things that come with thyroid disease when I'm so young & supposed to be looking the best I'll be in my life?"

* So that He could show me that I'm a lot more than what I look like on the outside, and that I have placed too much value in my own vanity, which is useless.

"Why am I so alone right now?" (this was a few months ago)

* So that I would depend upon Him & He could reveal Himself to me as real, and as close to me as any person I can see with my own eyes, or touch with my hand.

"Why did You allow a dear family that my cousin knows to lose their home in the tornado last night?"

* I've imagined "What if it had been us?" It has already caused me to realize that the only thing in my house that isn't replaceable are the people & of course my sweet little animals. I used to have a mental list of things that I'd grab in case of a disaster, and one was my wedding rings if I happened to have them off because they are sentimental and more monetarily valuable than any other single thing I own (I should know, it took Jon the whole first year we were married to pay them off). This has really caused me to think... it isn't the rings that make my marriage, in fact they are really just an ornament - a thing. If Jon needed something & we had to have the money I wouldn't hesitate to sell them. As much as I really love my house, it isn't the bricks & mortar that make a home, it is the people in it that matter the most.

There are other things that have happened to me that I'm still learning the "So that," and I'm sure there are others that I won't be able to understand for years. In whatever you may be dealing with, there is a "So that," if you are willing to let Him guide you & teach you.

Cotton Candy

I love cotton candy, don't you? I wish it was time for the Texas state fair in Dallas, because I'd have to head over to Fair Park, and get myself a bag of it. For some reason their cotton candy is always perfect. It doesn't have sticky lumps, or hard crusty clumps of sugar in it. It is just like eating a pink cloud. Two of my favorite recent discoveries are related pink cotton candy.

I may be one of the last people to finally try it, but I've found the most delicious smelling perfume ever! It's from Italy & it's called Pink Sugar by Aquolina, it isn't too strong & it doesn't smell like kiddy play perfume. I've worn it when I've been out and about the past week, and had strangers ask me what I was wearing. One woman what was checking out my purchase at the store said I smelled like Heaven! Now that is a pretty high compliment, so if you're up for something new this spring, give it a try.

As you know I paint, and I love to look at other artists work. This week I stumbled across the work of William or "Will" Cotton. All I can say is Incredible! His painting look like photographs they are so good! If you're interested you should visit his website http://www.willcotton.com/ I especially love his cotton candy cloud girls.

I was so inspired that I painted my own 30 x 24 inch cotton candy clouds. This layer has to dry before I can add more definitions or paint anything else in them. I just haven't decided who or what it is that I'm going to add in them.

Dr. Doolittle Catches the Easter Bunny!

Jon, my Mom, my sister, and a few other family members like to refer to me as "Dr. Doolittle" because I've spent so much time & money up at the vet's office that I ought to have a veterinary degree through osmosis by now. Not to mention that I'm constantly having to doctor on one or more of our pets. When it comes to animals in need, I can't say no. We feed the squirrels & birds in our backyard. When Jon & I go for walks through our neighborhood there are 3 cats that belong to one of our neighbors that come & follow us along until I stop & pet them! It cracks Jon up! He's constantly asking me, can they smell love coming from you or what? Although I am guilty of bringing in most of our animals, some have ended up with me by default. Since Jon & I have been married I've cared for 2 beta fish- Jordan gave me one for my lingerie shower. I was not thrilled, but I couldn't just kill it, we ended up with it for 2 years & a friend of mine moved to California & she left her fish with me as a gift- it lived 2 years! (SERIOUSLY People... I DON'T want a beta fish or your beta fish as a gift! If you want to get me a gift, I'm not hard to buy for... some Vera Bradley, Pandora, flowers, chocolate, Amazon Kindle gift cards, gift cards to anywhere, but NOT a beta fish!!!) Then Jordan had 3 parakeets for about 6 years, and then decided she was tired of them, so they got to spend the rest of their natural lives with me & Jon - they lived 2, 3, & 3.5 years with us. I also took care of Sophie & Flyer, mine & Jordan's cats that we got from the same litter when I was 11 years old. Both of them lived long healthy lives, and they past away from kidney failure/ old age. Flyer lived to be 15 & Sophie lived to be 16. We currently have Sasha who is an 8 year old rescue dog (she had parvo as a puppy & is now hypothyroid & diabetic - that means pills & insulin injections twice a day), Cookie another rescue age 6 (she was another parvo pup), Winston age 5 (mega esophagus dog), Zip an almost 4 year old rescue cat, & Ralphie my latest almost 1 year old rescue cat. I also feed Scaredy Fraidy, a black cat who lives in our neighbor's bushes & comes when I call him to come eat twice a day. I'm wondering how many animals it takes to declare your home a working farm/ranch? It wouldn't hurt to get some sort of tax credit ;)

Now that you have my background it should be no surprise to you that I now have the Easter Bunny in a crate in my garage! He or she is very sweet & tame, and I know it must belong to someone close by. It's owners don't have to worry, because it's enjoying some fresh romaine lettuce, a strawberry, some salt, & fresh water :) I hope you're having a Hoppy day!