Counting Our Blessings Linkup

I've been quiet here lately. I have been on a social media break, as much as possible these days. I have only been posting book reviews, for the most part, especially here. I needed a break to quiet my heart and my soul. There has been a lot going on here and I've also been experiencing pain issues more intensely. I did get a back injection on Tuesday so I'm hoping for some relief, however, right now I'm sore and moving slow. It's been a long, hard process of getting my injections for my knee and my back as the insurance company is getting more difficult in approving these shots that help me so much. It's frustrating and concerning when you feel like you won't get the help you need. I'm so thankful for my doctor who fights for me and gets me the help I need so I can live a more normal life.

I have been starting off my mornings with coffee (of course) and cross stitch. I take the time to start my morning off quietly, stitching and praying, before things get hectic. I got this idea from Vonna over at the Twisted Stitcher who started doing this during the Lent season. She worked on the most beautiful portrait of Jesus and had quiet time each morning. I realized that this was a great idea, especially since I'm not a morning person. It helped me to ease into my day. So here's what I've been working on

I love this Desert Santa with his cute, little burro! It reminds me so much of my years of living in Nevada and seeing these packs of burros roaming the desert. I'm nearly done with the stitching and then the fun part will be next - the beading.

After I'm done with this project, I'm going to pull out one of my large projects and finish it. Either the sampler I'm doing for my son (his birth announcement - he's only 28 years old - but it's never too late, right?! lol) or the Queen Elizabeth I've started. I'm ready to put away the small projects using the perforated paper and get back to stitching on my cloth.

We had a lovely Easter day here. I made ham, cheesy potatoes, loaded cauliflower casserole, and more! It was a very delicious meal shared with my family, which made it very special. We played cards after dinner, which was a lot of fun.

I made Easter baskets and was so happy with how they turned out! My hubby and I went to three different stores looking for just the right things to put in them. It was so fun!

It was a lovely day all the way around and I am so grateful for the saving grace of Jesus that we celebrate every year. He makes everything worthwhile and I honestly know that I could not get through the things I have to deal with without Him. He is risen!

Thank you so much for coming by to read my blog. This blog has brought me so much joy and friendships that I would never have had otherwise. I have several friends that I met through my blog and I am so thankful for each and everyone of them! It's amazing how God works all these things out and brings us together despite many miles apart.

Share your own blessings on the linky below!


Many blessings - Julie

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Today is a day of rejoicing. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has risen from the dead! For me, Easter is the most precious day, and my favorite holiday, because it is what my hope is based on. The fact that Jesus is alive is the miracle that I base my faith on.

I hope your Easter day is full of blessings but even if things are difficult for you or the day doesn't go as planned, remember, Jesus is still on His throne and He loves you! No matter how our day goes, He never changes. Our family situation may not be as we wish or we may be dealing with health or financial issues, but our faith in Jesus is our foundation and our rock bed. Look up, dear friend, and keep your eyes on the One who never changes and who loves you with a deep love that we can't even comprehend.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!!

Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!

Hello, dear friends!! I'm a little late in getting this post up, but it's still Tuesday so all is good, right? :)  It's been a rather tough week for me again. I had a back injection last Tuesday and all did not go well. The doctor used a different sedation than I normally have and it didn't feel exactly right. Plus, I got the hiccups! The shot went a little wonky as the needle hit the spinal fluid and I had a headache all week and was rather sick to my stomach. Anyway, I am feeling better today and that's my number one blessing for the week!

34.  I have to tell you all, again, how very thankful I am for my husband. This man has been through so much himself and then all these things that happened to me in the past few years. Most people would be just sick and tired of dealing with someone with the health issues I've had, but not my hubby. I spent this last week pretty much in my jammies either sleeping or doing nothing and he never complains. In fact, he will check on me and see if I need iced tea or water and listen to me when I'm needing to lament my sad fate. lol I am so thankful for such a loving man who cares so much for me, no matter what. Huge blessing, that man of mine!

35.  When I was able, I did pull out the little ornaments I'm working on. I'm stitching a fox for my oldest son and here's my progress.

I love little foxes and I will probably make myself one of these ornaments as well. I love these little ornaments from the British magazine, "Enjoy Cross Stitch". They are wonderful for when you want to do something small and lovely! My cross stitch has always been such a blessings to me and continues to be something that I adore and brings me such peace.

36.  Speaking of cross stitch...I decided to move my cross stitch stand from my bedroom to the living room. I have been feeling rather isolated of late and realized that I spend way too much time in my bedroom alone. It's been easy to get into that rut in that past couple of years but it's not a good thing. I will be able to sit out in the living room, with my hubby, and do my cross stitch. I should have done this a long time ago but am so glad that I finally realized I needed to do this.

37.  We didn't celebrate Easter on Easter day because I wasn't feeling well. In fact, we are celebrating today! I ordered this adorable cake from Safeway about 2 weeks before Easter when I saw it in the case in the Bakery. I couldn't resist!! We picked it up on Saturday an did have that on Sunday. Here's a picture of the adorable thing...

Isn't it cute? The sides have flowers all over them, which I thought really added to it.

We don't really order cakes like this, as a rule, but it was really fun to do so and it brightened our Easter! We need to do more of these types of these things in our lives, once in a while, as life is too short not to be enjoyed. Blessings!

Share your own blessings on the linkup! Thank you so much for being a part of my blog and my life!

An InLinkz Link-up

Blessings - Julie

Happy Easter!! He is Risen!!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.  But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. - Luke 24:1-12 

 

Happy Easter! Our Lord and Savior has risen! He's alive!

 

Blessings - Julie

Look Up!

 As I have walked this road this year of health struggles and pain, I have come to realize that without God, there is no going forward. God gives hope where there is none. When I have no one on this earth to put my faith in, God is the One who is faithful. He holds my entire life in His hands and I can trust him and have faith in Him that He knows what He's doing when no one else does.

It's been a hard journey, not only for me, but for my family. In the blink of an eye, something can happen than can change the course of your life and you are helpless to do anything but go forward and pray each day that you will make it through.

Thankfully, I have had no new infections for which I am so very grateful. Unfortunately, the wounds are not healing properly and they are a concern to my doctor. He at first talked about another surgery at which time my heart dropped to my toes. I have had four surgeries this year and another one seems so daunting. I personally think the reason I'm not healing well is because my body is worn out but I digress. He brought another doctor in as well as his PA and they thought stem cells might work. So, now I wait to see if my insurance will approve this and, if they do, they will place stem cells in the wounds to give them a boost. Oh, how I pray that I'm allowed to get this procedure and that it works! If it doesn't then I will have to have another surgery.

I try to live as normally as I can. I plan out my days and, more times than not, I don't accomplish but a 10th or less of those plans. I'm still house bound so these are things I want to accomplish at home. I celebrate even the little accomplishments because they are huge for me. Putting a meal in the crock pot, dusting, or decorating are reasons to feel good. I was looking at it before as all the things I couldn't do, but that will bring me down lower than I can handle, so I focus on what I can do.

There are people that sustain me. My husband, who is my rock when I can't do anything but cry. He waits on me - not because I ask - but he does it out of love. Ice water, a grilled cheese sandwich, carrying my books from room to room, making sure the pillows are perfect under my legs when I get into bed; these are the things that remind me of how Jesus washed the Disciples feet. My youngest son who drives me two hours away to my doctor appointment despite being tired and in pain himself. My oldest son who comes over and takes on some of the household duties on his days off because I'm unable to. My sweet friend who writes me a Scripture and devotion every morning in a text so that I wake up to God's Word and a reminder that I am loved by her. My sister who emails me with encouragement and prayers, calls me to check on me, and prays continually for my healing; she has known me all my life and loves me in a way no one else can and she sustains me. These are the people who reach out to me, love me even on the hard days, and keep me moving forward. God has blessed me with a loving core group to get me through the hardness of this journey.

I do not forget you, my dear friends. So many of you email me to check on me, leave comments of encouragement and to tell me that you're praying for me. These are lifelines and I am so grateful. You are also the hands and feet of Jesus to me even though I have never met most of you in person.

The key is not to look down at what I can't do, what is left undone, but to focus on the accomplishments and to look up to the One who holds the whole situation - and me - in His mighty and loving hands.

God bless you - Julie

Happy Easter!

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!

A Bit of This and That

It's a little after 3:00 am and I can't sleep. I have a cold ice machine that my Dad got me for my leg and when the ice runs out, the pad gets hot and wakes me up because it makes my leg hurt. It's a small price to pay, though, for the relief it brings me when it's cold! It lasts about 4-5 hours before it gets hot, so that's pretty good, in my opinion! Knowing my hubby, he'll wake up soon and be adding more ice. I don't wake him up as he takes such good care of me and I like him to have his sleep at night. I can take naps during the day so it's not a big deal if I'm up in the night.

Yesterday, I finally got the rest if my staples out of my leg. It had been over 5 weeks for the bypass and some of those staples were so imbedded in the skin, the nurse had a hard time getting them out of my leg. Thankfully, it didn't hurt, so I'm really thankful for that! Only one staple kind of hurt and that one was in my knee. I can't tell you how much better it feels to have all those staples out!

Thursday, I had my first physical therapy session outside my home and it went really well. I really like my therapist. I had him when I was in the hospital and he really understands both the knee and the restrictions of the bypass, which eases my mind. There can be no pressure put on that bypass and he's very careful. I felt like I did well, though, and I'm so glad to be going now! My legs have finally gone down enough to get pants on, although they are tight, but at least I'm not having to go every where in my nightgown anymore! lol My legs are still swollen but at least I'm seeing some progress.

Holly is doing really well and even played with her toy yesterday. I have to really watch her as she wants to jump up and down off the furniture and she's not supposed to do that yet. I'm so very happy that she's doing so well and I'm still praying that this cancer is not aggressive! She's such a cutie pie and just brings such joy to my life.

I'm going to have my family help me move my recliner back to my bedroom today. They had moved it to the living room because I was sleeping out there, but now that I'm sleeping in bed again, I want to get my recliner back in my bedroom. I'm finally feeling like I can work on my cross stitch and my stand is in my bedroom and all my things are in here. It will feel good to have things out back to normal, too. I'm also hoping to start decorating for Easter a little bit. I love decorating for the holidays and that will feel good, too.

Both my sons birthdays are this week, so I'm going to bake a chocolate cake for my oldest tomorrow and then frost it on Monday. I'm not sure, yet, what my other son will want, but I have a feeling he'll ask for my chocolate pie. Thankfully, I have one of my homemade pie crusts in the freezer, so that should be easy, if that's what he wants.

I'm hoping to go back to church tonight. It will be my first time back since my surgery and I'm so excited to go. I've missed going to church. It's such an important thing in my life!

I hope your weekend is full of blessings - Julie

Easter Egg Blog Hop!!

I am SO excited to welcome you to the Easter Egg Blog Hop! Today I am hosting the first stop along this ten-stop-hop. 

What’s the Easter Egg Blog Hop? Learn more about it HERE and join the fun!

I am happy to feature the book trailer for Lisa Tawn Bergren’s newest book in the God Gave Us series, God Gave Us Easter. 

Check it out, and look for today’s egg below! 

Click HERE to check out the video and to find today's egg!

Today’s Easter Egg: Post the YouTube link to this video on your blog or social media! Then head over to the ENTRY FORM and submit the link to your blog or social media post.

Springtime!

Spring has arrived!! I looked out our kitchen window this morning and saw yellow irises blooming in the yard! I love this time of year when I can throw open the windows and listen to the birds singing outside.  It will be so great to go out and cut a bouquet of flowers for our home.  After a long, cold winter, it is so wonderful to welcome Spring into our lives again.

Our Easter Sunday was so fantastic.  My entire family attended church together.  So many times we go at different times depending on my boy's schedules. We had a service filled with worship and praise and the sermon was focused on our risen Savior. I got to see two of my friends I haven't seen for a while, too, which made it even more special.  After the service, we headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. When we got home, I headed in for a nap and got some much needed rest.  For dinner, we were going to have a ham, but instead, I made a meatloaf (Turkey), baked potatoes and creamed corn. Oh, yummy! It's one of our favorite meals.

My son has been coughing every day quite bad even though he seemed to be over the illness we all had.  He had a doctor's appointment last week and so we discussed this with him.  He decided to do a breathing test to see what's going on and found that my son was only able to use 57% of his lungs.  They did a breathing treatment and it helped a little, but he still was only at 60%.  He was diagnosed with asthma and given two inhalers plus a 5 day prespcription for prednisone.  We noticed that he really wasn't doing any better, but over the weekend, it became obvious that he was just as bad as when he went in.  He has a doctor appointment tomorrow to see if something more can be done to help him.  This is my son who has the herniated disc so each cough is agony for him and I pray that he can get some relief.

I've been having some better days recently and I am SO very thankful.  As a person who lives with pain, the good days stand out and I am grateful beyond measure for those days.  Now that my studio is cleaned up, I'm hoping I can spend some days in there doing some painting, quilting, stamping and writing.  My patio outside my studio is almost cleaned up and ready for all the furniture to be put back and the umbrellas.  We are also going to put our fountain on the patio where we can enjoy it more.  I do love to sit on the patio with my computer and look at the mountain and write.  I also love to do my Bible studies on the porch were I can glance up at the mountains as I contimplate all that God has done and continues to do for me and my family.

Take time for the Lord daily.  It will enrich your life and you will get to know Him more intimately.  Allow Him to direct your life because He will take you places you could never imagine.  Best of all?  He will be beside you every step of the way!

God bless you - Julie 

Hallelujah! He Is Risen!!

The tomb is empty...just as He said

He is not in the tomb...He is alive...He is risen!!

Hallelujah!! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!!

Have a most blessed and happy Easter!!

God bless you - Julie