Memorial Day 2012

Hubby and I live in an apartment.
We don't have a yard.
But we don't let that stop us from
having a great BBQ.

We have this indoor grille. 

It works pretty well.

Hubby is the cook in this family so

he will make his BBQ Chicken



My favorite Bush's baked beans

Fresh corn on the cob

I'm attempting a cucumber salad

And for desert - fruit !

We are trying for a healthy BBQ.
I've lost 15 pounds and am really
determined to lose about 40 more.

So you don't need a yard to have a great BBQ !

Thankful to our Veterans and remember them all this day.

We who are left how shall we look again
Happily on the sun or feel the rain
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudging and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?
~Wilfred Wilson Gibson...
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

New Car - Toyota Yaris 2012

I got a new CAR ! 

Yes after two years of commuting with the hubby it was time.
I love it.
It is a Toyota Yaris. Fun little sporty car.

Then after church hubby and I headed to Broadway.
We had tickets for "The Best Man"

Oh what a great cast.

Angela Lansbury
James Earl Jones
Candace Bergen
John Larroquette
Eric McCormick
Donna Hanover
Dakin Matthews

Angela Lansbury is remarkable.

It was about politics and a presidential election.
It was funny and serious at the same time.

Then we went to dinner at one of our favorite
BBQ places in NYC.

DALLAS BBQ

Our meals look delicious don't they?

This is why hubby loves the place.
Their chicken soup. He loves it.
He always gets a great big quart
to take home.

It was a blessed day and even better a day off tomorrow.

Friend Visit and Ikea

Our dear family friend Karine is visiting this week.
She is staying with my Aunt Rose and today I got
to spend the day with them.

We headed off to Ikea. 
What a neat store.
We walked my legs off.

First thing on our agenda was breakfast - of course.

Do you believe this is what you get for .99 cents?

I have to drink decaff and sometimes you just can't get a decent cup.
WOW their decaff was so good. Really enjoyed that cup.

I'm watching my salt intake so I had to pass on the
potatoes and bacon.  I had the spinach crepe. 
They were really delicious.

We had a blast going from room to room checking out each detail.

Oh my word I could take these room right home.

Hubby and I purchased our bed from Ikea because my apartment is
small and when we got married and hubby moved in we turned my
bedroom into a large closet.  So we sleep in the living room.
 The Ikea bed is great.

This is the exact one we have. It really is comfortable as a bed.
And makes a cute sofa.

My Aunt and friend Karine just had to purchase the
 Ikea famous Swedish Meatballs. Who can blame them.

YUM I bet they will be good.  I was afraid they'd have to much salt for me.

But don't feel to bad as this is what I came home with.
Dear Karine treated me too!

Yes the one right in front. Swedish Dark Chocolate bar.
I understand Dark Chocolate lowers blood pressure and is good for you.
 I'll have a square a day ; ) 
Yes oh yes, I'll sacrifice for lower BP. hah


I also purchased this pretty hand blown glass vase.
It looks so pretty with my Mother's Day flowers from hubby.

I  purchased this neat laptop desk.
It is a pretty green and matches my pink & green office -
love when that happens ; )

How pretty is the pillow?  I love it.

Hubby has an old stool and I thought it would

look perfect on top.

Don't feel bad for hubby -

he got a present also

a nice red trash basket for his office.

How great are these hangers? 

Picked up those also.

Karine has been a friend of our families for years and years.
She lives in PA now so we don't get to see her as much.

She gave me a very special gift one Christmas.
It was a Wedding Ring Quilt.
Looks very much like this one I found on google.

You see what made this gift special was I was a single women at the time.
And struggling some with my singleness and nothing on the horizon.
Karine gave me a card with my quilt that said,  "A King size Quilt for the
King size man you will share you life with one day"  At the time she
gave it to me I could not have imagined finding any man let alone a
King sized one. hah  But boy did it give me hope, joy and encouragement.

Now that I am married the quilt gives me even more joy.

I look over at my "king size" man all 150 pounds of him hah and smile.
At the kindness and encouragement of friends and the faithfulness of God.


Tonight hubs and I went to dinner at Bertucci's.
We love their food.

Hubby enjoys the pizza for one.
It has ham, sausage, meatballs and chicken.

I love, love their chicken Marsala with
sauteed spinach.  Oh NO, they changed the menu.
It comes with red skin potatoes and green beans.
They were delicious but I miss my sauteed spinach ; (

Thankful for another wonderful day.
Good family, good friends and good food.



John 15:13 NIV
Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Mother's Day 2012

Todays my first Mother's Day with out my sweet Doggie Solomon.
While my heart is so heavy and I miss that sweet little guy I choose
to rejoice in thanksgiving for the gift of being a doggie Mom.
I don't have any children but I learned unconditional love from him.
I learned sacrifice and committment and in the end heartbreak.
I was given joy beyond measure.

So today I am going to rejoice in my blessings !

I found this great little poem and tweaked it abit.

My Dog Solomon and His Love
Author Unknown

He was me 24 hours a day.
And never a word was he able to say.
But he could say more with a look or two,
such as I Love You, My Whole World Is You!

As I did my chores though out the day,
He was by my side, every step of the way.
When I stopped to eat, you can bet he was there,
sitting of course, in his favorite chair.

And if some night I decide to go out.
He'll hang his head, and kinda pout.
He’d sit by the window,
until I came home.

He sat there and waited so patiently.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of me,
he couldn’t wait till I put the key in the door.
He'd be barking and jumping, and barking some more.

Then as I layed myself down to sleep.
He was there by my side, his vigil to keep.
And I thank the Lord, in the heaven above.
For My Best Friend, My Dog Sollie and His Love!

 Here's to you Sollie - it won't be long and Mom

will join you in Heaven.

I am also so thankful for a hubby who is kind and

tenderhearted and understands.

He gave me the most beautiful card and lovely

PINK flowers.

Happy Mother's day to every women

We all have loved and mothered in our journey.

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5

Craft Shows and Ocean Grove

Today we spent time visiting my Mom, Lori. 
She is a great crafter.
There is nothing she can't make.
She use to make Country Crafts.
ie:  the bunnies, beeswax ornaments,
snowmen etc . . .
My apartment is decorated in good
fashion with my Mom's crafts.

Then she got tired of it and taught herself
how to make beautiful jewelry.

Here she is at her jewelry craft table.

I get my love of crafts and country decorating from my Mom.

Here's a photo my hubby took of my Mom, Lori, me and Aunt Rose.
I think he did a great job.  The sun was so bright it was hard to get a shot.

My Mom lives in Ocean Grove. It is a great little town.

So much christian history. It's only about 30 minutes drive

from my home.

They have the most colorful and beautiful Victorian homes.

One of the things that continues to make Ocean Grove a unique community is the colony of tents and the people who occupy them in the summer months. Many of today's "tenters" are fifth and sixth generation tent families who would not trade the summer life style for anything.

As the name implies, Camp Meetings were just that, camp grounds were visitors lived in tents during the summer months to attend the religious meetings held on the grounds. Because of its many groves of trees, especially pines, Ocean Grove, which got its name from the tree groves, was a perfect retreat. Visitors were able to escape the heat of the big cities in the summer and live a more simple life in the tents which surrounded the squares where the meetings were held. Originally Ocean Grove's meetings were open air, with the worshipers sitting on rough hewn pine benches in a semi circle around a "preacher's stand" capable of seating up to 75 ministers.

However, as Ocean Grove grew in size and popularity, permanent structures began replacing the tents and many of the groves of trees were cut down to provide room for the building. Of the original 600 tents only 114 exist today. The fully modernized tents today have a wooden back room, with modern facilities including bathrooms, kitchens and sleeping space. The structure provides a place to store the canvass tents in the winter as well as providing the tenters a place to store their personal belongings. Then in the spring the tents are taken out and placed over their wood frames on the front of the platform. When the summer residents return to their tents they bring out their rugs, furniture and personal items and begin the process of decorating their canvas parlors. Many of the tenters plant gardens and individualize and personalize their tents by painting the porch rails, adding furniture and also decorative elements. Although living in a canvass tent for three months of the year provides little privacy from their neighbors at times, the tenters relish their unique community and return year after year.

The Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove, NJ, is considered to be the most impressive and largest enclosed auditorium in New Jersey, and is the center of activity in Ocean Grove since 1894. It is used for Sunday services in the summer and showcases are held for well-known preachers and evangelists known throughout the world. Concerts, exhibitions, and other entertainment are also held in the Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove. 

This summer Kirk Cameron is coming and doing Love Worth Fighting For a Marriage Conference - hubby and I will be attending.

It really is so awesome to attend a church service

at the great auditorium.

I saw Pastor Charles Stanley here several times

and it is really very moving.

The Auditorium's pipe organ is one of the 25 largest in the world.
 Installed in 1908 by the innovative organ builder Robert Hope-Jones.

And of course the beautiful beaches.

Our Christian Heritage is so important.

God commands us to pass it on to future generations.

Ocean Grove has been a little town trying desperately to keeps Gods commands and pass it on . . .

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.