Counting Our Blessings Linkup!

Hello Friends! It's been a while since I was here with a personal post. It's for a wonderful reason, though, as I've been on a trip to see my parents. I had a good time and this weeks blessings are about that. I will share more on next weeks linkup about my trip as I have a lot of pictures to share!

33.  I was very concerned about how I would do on this trip. It's a 12-13 hour drive to see my parents and I wasn't sure how my leg would handle it. I was very thankful that I did pretty well! I did have about 3 days where my leg got extremely swollen but I took my machine with me that helps my leg and I was able to keep going for the most part. This was such a huge blessing because I was able to make the trip to see my parents.

34. While there, I went to an amazing cross stitch store and found some wonderful things! Here's just some of the things I got.

I'll share more pictures of the rest of my haul next week.

35. I also went to Paper Source and got these wonderful things.

I had so much fun looking at all the beautiful paper and fun supplies there. I haven't been to Paper Source for ages and it was such a blessing to get to go again. My son dropped me off at the store and after I was done, I sat on the corner bench and enjoyed the beautiful Spring day and people watched. It was interesting being back in my old neighborhood and just soaking it all in until next time I go home.

36.  It was a huge, huge blessing to be there for two important events. I got to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom for the first time in years. We bought her a cake and I had taken a card and gift with me. We also got her a rose that she can enjoy inside and then transplant in her garden to enjoy. Here's a picture of me with my parents and all the things for Mother's Day she got.

37. The other special event was my Dad receiving his 65 year pin and certificate of being a Pipefitter! Isn't that amazing? 65 years! It was a beautiful ceremony and here is a picture of my parents at the event.

and here's a picture of my Dad and I after the ceremony.

I was so glad that I could be there to celebrate these wonderful times with my parents. Such good memories and huge blessings!

There's more to share, dear friends, but I will do so next week. I hope you've been blessed beyond measure these past few weeks and I can't wait to read all your posts on the linkup!


Blessings - Julie

A Lovely Surprise

The other day my son came home from his college classes and walked in carrying two, huge boxes! I wasn't expecting anything so was immediately curious!  They were from my parents and inside I found some wonderful treats for Easter! 

The first thing they sent were four of these luscious, yummy things - one for each of us!

Oh, my.  I haven't had one of these for over 20 years!  My parents used to send me one for Easter for the first couple years after I got married.  I was quite homesick and lived in a very, very small town and so this was their special treat to me to remind me of home.  It was so very nice to get one again as we don't have a See's candy in our little town that we live in now.  It immediately made me think of home when I received it.  :)

They also sent a box of these...

If you've never had these, you are totally missing out! There is nothing in this world like a See's Lollipop!  My favorite has always been Butterscotch but that was before I tried the new flavor of Cafe Latte!! Such yumminess! My youngest son loves the Vanilla, which is fine with me since it's my least favorite flavor, but still good.  Such a treat this all was!

The most wonderful part of the box, though, were these. 

Are these not the most adorable things you've ever seen?  (Be sure and click on the picture to view larger...they are worth it!).  My Mother painted these for me and I just love them!  I immediately cleared off the top of my dresser in my bedroom so I could put them on top where I can see them every day.  I just adore them and the fact that she made them, makes them that much more special.  Didn't she do just a great job on them?  My Mother is very artistic and she always encouraged my craftiness and I'm very grateful as I love making things, too.

Can you see that adorable 1950's lamp behind the bunnies?  I found that at a yard sale with the original shade!! The cord was bad, but that was an easy fix of buying a new cord and installing it (which I did myself) and it works like a champ.  I've had it for a long time, but wanted to share about it since it's in the picture.  I can't remember for sure, but I think I paid $1.00 for it!  Such a deal!

Today was a day of not doing much.  The pain is back in full force so I just relaxed, read a lot of different blogs and looked for fun, free crochet patterns online.  There are so many cute crochet blogs out there and I have a list a mile long of things I want to make! lol  The other crocheters inspire me so much and I'm going to be busy for awhile with all these patterns.  :) 

God bless you - Julie