Counting Our Blessings - Link Up

Time to count our blessings - one by one! Won't you join me?

174.  I'm so thankful and blessed by so many of you that come by my blog and link up on this day! I know it takes time to come by and read my blog and then comment and/or link up. I'm very grateful for your participation and your faithfulness to read my blog!

175.  I spent several days in my studio this past week. I have made the decision to drive over to my studio, despite the fact that it's only a few hundred yards away from my house. The problem is that there is no sidewalk over to my studio and, with all the weeds, I have been very concerned about walking on the uneven ground and it kept me from my studio. Finally, I realized it was okay to drive over to it. Sure, it makes me feel a little odd, but the point is to get out there and work, so who cares? I'm blessed to be able to work out in my studio again!

176. I worked on some holiday projects this week and my first project is this cute, little ornament bell.

I painted it in 50's type colors with touches of pearlized pink paint. It really does ring when you move it and it will be a cute addition to my tree this year. I think I got this at Michael's after Christmas one year, but I really can't remember. I do a lot of my Christmas shopping after Christmas to get in on the good deals and then I have things to work on for the next year. I love a good bargain and it's fun to have these things on hand when I'm ready to paint for the holidays. Such a blessing!

177. Here's my next project that I made for Christmas. 

Aren't they one of the cutest couples you've ever seen? Again, I used some light blue pearlized color on the snowflakes to really make them pop. I don't know if that really shows up in the picture, but in real life, it really shows up. I just love these little snow people and I'm sure I'll keep it out even after Christmas is over for the winter months. They just bless me so much with their cute, little faces!

178. The weather is quite cool now and I find that to be such a blessing! Even though my arthritis acts up more, I still love it. I love wearing my warm jammies, seeing the trees turning all the beautiful colors, and not having the air conditioning on! I love that God created the four seasons and blessed us with seeing all His amazing creation in it's different glory!

Thank you for linking up and sharing your own blessings. You can grab a button from the "Grab A Button" page at the top. I can't wait to come by and read your blogs!

An InLinkz Link-up

Blessings - Julie

Faith of a Mustard Seed

An update has been long over-due, dear friends! I have been busy with a lot of things and yet I've had some days where I'm just dragging.  Not due to pain, but due to allergies! Oh, the weeds growing everywhere are just too much! As I look out my window, I see weeds that are just thick and at least 3 feet tall! We live on 10 acres, so we live in a rural area where everyone's land looks like this. So many of the weeds have little flowers on them and I believe this is what's making me miserable. My hubby has also been out there on his riding mower cutting the weeds, so that just really stirs up the pollen! Fall is in the air, though, so I believe this season will be ending and those nasty weeds will be getting the cold snap soon.

My Bible study started and our group is so wonderful! The ladies just bonded immediately and it's exactly what I prayed for. I prayed that our hearts would be knitted together and I felt that the first night, we definitely had that happen. The study of Genesis has been really, really great and I love the in-depth study of this amazing book.

I am also going to be co-leading another Bible study that is once a month at our church. It's the Women's 101 study I showed you on another post. How amazing our God is to allow me to be used by Him in this way again! It's so true - if you have the faith of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible - WITH GOD!

I'm in the process of making changes in my doctors. My wonderful doctor decided to move back to his home state as his wife was really missing her family. I can't tell you how sad that made all of us. He was an amazing doctor and we were blessed to have him for the few years we did. I totally understand why he made the decision to move, though, and admire him for taking care of his wife first. I went to the doctor that was in that office, however, I was not impressed. Tomorrow I go to a new doctor and I'm praying that it will work out. I'm also going to start going to an endocrinologist in the big city for my thyroid issues. The doctor that left town was taking care of them, but I feel it's time to have a specialist now that he is gone.

I'm starting to think it's time to decorate for fall. I found a great table cloth at our grocery store for $3.99! I also found really cute Thanksgiving paper napkins for $1.00 per pack of 18! I was really surprised as normally those cute napkins are at least $4-5. Now I just need to get all my cute Fall items out and decorate....

God bless you - Julie