When things go wrong...

Some days are harder than others...
It seems the difficult days are always on the heals of the days when you feel content...
Satan's plan to derail us...

I've been focusing on being thankful lately and I have a lot to be thankful for!
But yesterday was a day full of things I was not at all thankful for.  The day left me feeling beaten up, abused and frustrated...

This morning I read;

"One act of thanksgiving, when things go wrong with us, is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations."

-Saint John of Avila

I see truth in these words.

Thankful for another day...

Frychik

Memory Lane...

With Josh being a Senior this year I have had to send pics of Josh to school for various reasons....

Which takes me to a dangerous place...

Albums full of memories...

This is what regular newborn sizes looked like on him... hard to imagine now!

Here we are in Charlotte North Carolina...it took awhile but he chubbed up! :)

Sigh...

 Ty in the tub...

Comparing bellies :)

I came across this picture and it made me smile...

I love Ty's expression - he couldn't be more impressed with is big brother's driving abilities...

I love that this same scene is repeated each day as they leave for school in a slightly larger car...

I also notice Josh is protected with a helmet and Ty only a hoodie...

My mommy heart hurts today....

Frychik

Monday...

The sun is spilling into the room
My tulips are looking lovely in their vase





My counter top has a vase full to daffodils

I have another collection of daffodils by the sink...
I wish they would last forever...

I choose to focus on the things that make me happy this morning...








Have a happy day!

Frychik

My babys leaving me!

Josh has been hired at Big Lake to be a counselor this summer...

He has been a camper there every year since he was 7 - even last year he went for Staff In Training camp...
It will certainly be a different perspective for him being the counselor...

This is FANTASTIC and at the same time HEARTBREAKING!!!!

What that means to me is that he will only be living here full time for 2.5 more months...Then we will only be a place to crash in between college, during vacations and when he needs his laundry done...

That makes me sad...to think this chapter of daily contact is over...




What makes me happy is the fact that he is employed for the summer! He will be working HARD and making some $$$ towards his college tuition. He will also be making some new friends which will be at WWU with him.

But its sad to think my days of "raising" him are numbered...
I know I will always be his mom...but this is definitely new territory we are headed into...

But its exciting to see him turn into the man I hoped he would be...

But its SAD...

Sigh...

Making tulips out of onions....

So we have been working on getting our yard reclaimed from the winter weeds, moss and moles...
And we have made some good progress! The flower beds are weed free the grass has been mowed twice traps have been set, moss has been power washed into oblivion... which makes me want to plant...

Sadly I was too busy in the fall to get my bulbs in the ground :( Which I ALWAYS regret because Daffodils and Tulips are my FAVORITE!) There is nothing like seeing those babies pop out of the dirt in the early dark wet days of Spring around here!

Unfortunately, my bulbs never seem to take!  What I mean by that is they usually come up the first year and if I'm really lucky a second and even third year - however - they get wimpier and sparser as the years go by - which by the way is the exact opposite of what they should do!

Bulbs multiply and therefor when left in the ground they should get thicker over time.  Something I see on a regular basis in the flower beds of abandoned homes or out in the middle of a field where a home once stood...but frustratingly not in my yard :(



So I noticed a bag of bulbs (glads, lilies, dahlias, etc) at Costco so I grabbed it determined to get something planted in the ground.  While I did plant them I noticed particularly the glads didn't look to healthy, they looked dried out and some were even moldy leaving me feeling less than hopeful that they would emerge from the dark earth - but remaining hopeful I planted and fed and watered them.




I also found a bag of tulips in the garage - I'm certain they were purchased last Fall with every intention of getting them in the ground...so while covered in dirt I decided I would throw them in the ground and hope for the best - some were sprouting giving me hope but I'm certain for the majority of them I was just burying them...

Yesterday inspired by sunshine I went out and bought a few more plants and was busy planting them along the walk leading to the front door.  As I rummaging around the garage I found a grocery bag full of bulbs - beautiful healthy, sprouting bulbs! Not sure where they came from - maybe I had dug them up last year?- My experienced gardener mind identified them as tulip bulbs.  I was excited because they looked so HEALTHY and many were sprouting.  I found a nice patch of dirt under my Dogwood and another near the fountain and planted two areas of what I was sure would become the most beautiful patches of Tulips I've ever had not to mention the envy of my neighbors.



Later- at dinner I was telling my husband of my accomplishments and my discovery of the lushes fat healthy tulip bulbs - he smiled and mentioned that those bulbs were ONIONS from the garden last year...

Sigh...I don't even like onions!

Frychik

People are fun

So at the beginning of my trip I found myself taking lots of pictures of buildings...
The architecture in Spain, Morocco and Portugal is amazing and so very different than what you find in America and so very out there it is natural to find yourself taking picture after picture of buildings...

These were taken at Alhambra in Granada, Spain.  It is described as the "last and greatest Moorish palaces."
It is impressive! The details are amazing and you could take pictures of them all day - but you really have to be there to understanding how amazing it is!

But after awhile you realize...
These may not be that exciting when I get home...

What I really wanted to do was to take pictures of the people - but how would you feel if I stuck my camera in your face and took your picture (you have to pretend I don't know you :)

Fortunately I'm pretty sneaky...

This little guy was adorable! The bubble man just plucked him from his mother and set him down.  He was quite fascinated with the bubbles.

These were taken in Madrid mostly in Plaza Mayor.  The plazas are fantastic places to take pictures of people!

I absolutely fell in love with the little old men over there... and one fell in love with me - I will tell you about that next time :)

 I wish I could say I remember everything our guide Aziz told us about the dress code in Morocco - I know the head and or face covering for women depends on their level of conservatism - the more that is covered the more conservative

 The woman above is bundled up in her "winter wear" it was chilly while we were there.  I love her layering technique!

One of my favorite pictures is the one above.  This was taken in a music room.  Aziz explained that men gather here with their instruments and play.  This man played beautifully.  I loved the textiles in the room and the Arabic writing on the chalkboard as well as the instruments.

Many men in Morocco also wear robes. Some with the pointy hoods (my favorite) others with no hood but a hat of some sort.

I think I could make a killing as a broom sales person in Morocco...

Frychik

Hola!

Hola

I went to Spain - and before I left I had begun blogging again...
I had intended to blog from Spain - that would be cool I thought...
And I had every intention of blogging on a daily basis while I traveled the Iberian Peninsula and ferried across the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa....

And then I arrived in Spain and discovered how unreliable Wifi can be and I was surprised to see how long it took me just to share pictures on FB and Instagram - that kept me very busy and since I get more feedback on those sites then I ever have from here I quickly decided to abandon my blogging plans...

But now that I am back and over the bronchitis I brought home and over the jet lag and over the "springing forward" nonsense...I am amazingly stress free!

I apologize profusely to those of you who are not stress free...there is NOTHING more annoying when you are full of stress then to run across someone who is stress free - sorry

But this school year has been so STRESSFUL! and then preparing to be gone while a thrill was frankly STRESSFUL! and then coming home and being sick and tired and needing to reconnect with family and work was STRESSFUL!

But now the last two weeks have been peaceful...I feel I am back in the grove and I've made a very important decision...

One I hesitate to share because it sounds like I am a quitter -

I am bagging the Masters program!

Here's why:

1. Other than the opportunity to brag that I have my Masters in History it will do very little in assisting me in my future goals (the pay "raise" is laughable)

2. The expense - we have a child going into college this fall - I accept all donations!

3. The TIME! Holy cow! I don't know how people do it - my hat is off to you! My life is completely controlled by these classes and gets in the way of everything I love!

4. I have completed only 4 of the 13 classes required...

5. At this point I have a GPA of 4.0 and I don't want to mess it up :)

So I'm refocusing on things that matter more.
I'm more present for my family.
I'm more focused on reconnecting to those I love
I'm breathing deeper :)


Thanks for stopping by - I will be back tomorrow :)

Frychik