Bits of This and That

 

Hello.  I'm running rather behind today.  I think I'm just a little worn out from the whirlwind that the weekend was.  But it was wonderful and worth being tired today.

It started on Thursday when I flew out of Cincinnati into Houston, Texas.  My daughter and her husband arrived there from Tampa about 30 minutes before me.  We left from there to pick up the rental car.  There were a few glitches in that process but it all worked out in the end and we had a really nice ride for the weekend.  And even better than that, I didn't have to drive any at all.  I just sat in the back relaxed and visiting and didn't have to worry about a thing.  I could get used to that really quickly. lol

We had a super nice Airbnb Rental House.  You could see the ocean from the north side of our deck.  Every morning I went out here and sat for a short time.  As you can see it's straight in the path of the sun and it could get really hot really quickly, but early as I went it wasn't bad and I totally enjoyed it.

If you look really hard you can see the ocean in this picture.  lol

The Rehearsal and Dinner were Friday evening and it was so nice to actually see the wedding venue.  It really was beautiful and totally fit my daughter's style.  I think she was in 7th heaven.  Below are some pictures of the rehearsal.

Mama and daughters on the "stage" where
the wedding vows were spoken,

This picture was in the same place but shows the beautiful beach behind it.

It was so hot and my hair wouldn't do a thing, so I just pulled it
 back with combs and went with it,

Kelli and Rafael...let me tell you these 2 treated me like a queen the
whole weekend.

My new son-in-law and I having a good talk.  I really love this guy and
they are so good together.

Kelli and Rafael and her best friend Angela and her husband, Steve.

Kerri and her new mother-in-law, Donna

Sisters

Hubby could not make the trip so Kelli's hubby walked
 her down the aisle.

My grandson Colton

Colton and his cousin practicing.

Colton and one of the flower girls.  So cute.  He was playing shy
 quite often over the weekend.

Beautiful bride and beautiful dress.

So these are about the only pictures I took that came out okay.  I can't wait to see the photographer's photos.  Suffice it to say, it was a beautiful wedding and the bride and groom are now married happily ever after.

====================================================

Below is the final pre-recorded sermon in the "Mission Church" Series.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. July 25th is National Merry-Go-Round Day. Do you call it a merry-go-round or a carousel? Both, but usually Merry-Go-Round  When was the last time you rode one? Probably at Kings Island when we took the youth group and we all rode together.  So much fun! Did you enjoy that? Yes Metaphorically speaking, what's something in your life right now that feels like a merry go round? Trying to make some changes to my Medicare Account.

2. What word do you have a hard time pronouncing? Entrepreneur  What word do you have a hard time spelling? Entrepreneur...I had to look it up to use it in the first question. What's your favorite word in another language? I don't have one.

3. What's a phrase or cliche you use pretty often and find to be true? If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it and another is, Joy is a choice.

4. When it comes to grocery shopping what is your most dreaded chore-menu planning, the actual shopping and paying, or the unloading/putting away? Menu planning. How often do you shop? Mostly whenever we need something. Do you use any of the pick up and/or delivery services? If we're getting a lot, we use Kroger Pick-up.

5. Something you need or want to do before July comes to a close? See my daughter wed and then make it back home safely.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I leave Thursday and will return on Sunday.  It'll be a short trip, but I believe it will be packed with a lot of fun and memory making.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a really great day.  Click at the top to link up.

Cathy

Tuesday 4: Friendship

 

Friendship

 

".,,there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" psalms 18

 It's time once again for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

 Let's talk about friendship.

1. Do you have or have you had a special or best friend or do you consider all your friends the same? Honestly, I consider my husband my best friend.  He knows more about me than anyone.  And secondly, my older sister would be my best friend.  We can talk about most anything and we do.  Actually, the older we're getting, the closer we are getting.  I am so blessed with both of my best friends.

2. Many in the past had close relationships and fell in love through letters.  What do you think of online friendships.. are they real ? Are there friends who last a lifetime?  Personally, I feel many of the friends I've met in this Blogging World are true friends.  We pray for each other in times of need and when you pray for someone or they pray for you, that, to me, is friendship.  So when sometimes, I think of stopping my blog, I just can't do it.  I can't standing not knowing what is going on in each of your lives.  I miss you when I take breaks.  I am thankful for these friendships for sure.

3.  Are there stories, movies or TV programs that you enjoyed because of the friendship or relationship portrayed in it? I'm sure  there probably are, but I guess I don't necessarily think of it that way.  I know sometimes when a book ends or a TV series ends, I actually find myself missing the characters.  A book I read by Lori Wick called "Pretense" is one of my all time favorites...it's mainly about 2 sisters and their lives together and apart.  I love their relationship so much.

4. What does friendship mean to you? Loving and accepting someone just the way they are.  Just because you don't believe everything the same, you choose to accept them and love them anyway and they return the favor to you.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 Good morning:

We had a very quiet weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it.  The most exciting thing we did was go to lunch on Saturday with my mother-in-law.  I love spending time with her.  Poor hubby can barely say a word as she and I talk non-stop.  Oh, who am I kidding...I do most of the talking.  lol

We had good services on Sunday and now we're on to a new week.

Here is a pre-recorded video of the Sunday morning sermon which was the 6th in the series Mission Church.  

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Friday Photos

Kym from A Fresh Cup of Coffee has a link up for "Everyday Images" and below is the list of prompts of July.  Kym says:  "I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post."  I think I'm going to try to join in as I'm not taking near the photos I used to and I'm kinda missing it.

 July Prompts - Everyday Images #13

~~~~~

summer

red

free

weather (quarterly)

road

animal

~~~~~

Hummingbird Feeder says "Summer" to me

"Red" Flowers in the porch basket.

"Free" Little Library

And here's another "free" Little Library

Really beautiful "weather" for a walk a couple weeks ago.

The "road" I live on.  Out with Lucy yesterday taking an early morning walk.

"Road" in my town,  I think this view of Broadway is so pretty in all seasons.

"Animal" is a squirrel I photographed a few months ago.

Thanks Kym for letting me participate in your photo challenge.

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's something bizarre you've seen or heard recently? Can't think of anything right now.  If I do, I'll do an update.

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other foods with 'sour' flavors? Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit...of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? I am not a big fan of sour.  I do like dill pickles sometimes and I like sauerkraut but it has to be rinsed really, really well, so it's not so sour.

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. I've loved all of my aunts and uncles, but probably my favorites were a younger brother of my dad and his wife.  They are just a really fun couple and always they were doing fun stuff.  Probably a favorite memory is when we went on a cruise with them.  I remember every evening we would meet up on the upper deck and just laugh and visit with them.  They lived in Daytona Beach all my growing up years, so we only got to seem them maybe once a year or so.  Loved them so much.  Oh and she makes absolutely awesome home made pizza.  My uncle is the last living sibling of my dad.  He's 90 years old now.  My sister and I were just talking the other day, that we need to make a trip to see them.  I haven't seen them since my dad's funeral in 2016.

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? I'm not always very good at this.  I try to just give the problems to the Lord, but I have a tendency to keep picking them back up.

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? Nothing in particular.  Mostly I just flit from this to that.  I think I may have a bit of ADD.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I saw this on Instagram or FB the other day and it truly is hubby and me.  lol

Thanks for visiting.  If you'd like to link up with the Wednesday Hodgepodge, you can click on the button at the top of this post.

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Book Worms

 

Book Worms

 

Annie says: "Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we try and challenge you to think , discover and make new friends through blogging."

1.  Did any book besides the Bible have an impact on your life or beliefs? I really can't think of one, but since I read a lot of Christian Fiction, many of the books I've read have encouraged me along the way. 

2.  What books influenced you as a young person? I think the Little House Series helped me to really learn to love reading.  Those books and others that the teachers read to us made me love the stories and then I'd check them out from the Library and read them for myself.  And I believe that is how I learned to love reading.

3.  Do you continue educating yourself by reading books or listening to podcasts or lectures? I don't typically think of my reading as educating myself.  But I guess in a way it does. I also love listening to podcasts of all kinds.

4.  Have you ever sat in a coffee shop/restaurant/cafe  reading a book? I don't believe that I have.  What is your preferred place to read? My recliner or really anywhere when I have a few minutes to wait.  Since I have a Kindle and I also have the Kindle app on my phone, I can grab a few minutes here and there to read.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 

Good morning:  It's a beautiful morning here.  Lucy (our dog) woke me up at 6:00am and would not let me go back to sleep, so I finally got up, cleaned up and took her out for a walk.  It felt really good to walk over a mile and I didn't have any trouble with my knee...Thank you, Jesus.  Hubby and I finished getting ready and we picked up McDonald's for breakfast and are now at the church.  Loving this day.  

We got this big plaid comforter out one day last week when hubby was having chills so bad.  I moved it across the room to this leather recliner and hadn't put it away yet.  Look who piled up on top of it.  She has always loved this comforter.  If you look closely you can see there are two other blankets under her.  The higher she can sleep, the better she seems to like it.  Can you tell, with all these blankets out that hubby and I love to relax under a blankets?  lol  There are always at least 2 or 3 out when we're watching TV or reading.

Early on Friday, I went with my sister to take our other sister to an eye appointment.  She had to have shots in her eyes (they do this ever few months or so right now).  We stopped and picked her up some lunch and then took her back to her place and then I spent a little time at church with hubby while he finished up a few things.   Hubby still wasn't up to par, so we grabbed some lunch from the Noodles and Company and took it home and spent the rest of the day there. 

Saturday we went to lunch at Chuy's and then I went to Kroger and picked up some much needed things.  Then we got a Starbucks frappecino and went home for the day and had another normal Saturday evening at home.

Sunday was church where hubby preached the 5th message from his "Mission Church" series.  We grabbed some lunch and took it home and we both took a really nice nap, then I cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeders, clipped down some weeds that had grown up into the bushes and then we went back to church for the evening service.

I enjoyed our weekend together as always.  I hope you all had a good weekend too.  Stay cool in this weather and enjoy your day.  Thanks for visiting,

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Simple Life

 

1. Is your life simple? Elaborate. 

I think it's pretty simple since I retired.  Hubby's still working and in the church office 3-4 days a week, not counting Sunday.  And most of those days, I'm there with him.  His office is in the back of the church and mine is in the front.  We both do our thing, but we are still "together", in that I can just holler across the church and he can hear me.  I love any and all time I can get with him.  I seem to say that a lot here on this blog, but it's the truth.  We really enjoy being together.

2. What simple pleasure are you are currently enjoying? 

Reading (just finished a book this morning), crocheting, walking with the dog early mornings and blogging.

Saw this hot air balloon while out this morning.

3. Travel by plane or go on a cruise? "I'd prefer driving.  But I'll be flying 2 weeks from tomorrow and that's okay.  As for a cruise, I loved the ones I went on back in the day, but if I were to cruise now, I want to see Alaska. walk or ride a bike? Walk swim or ski? Swim  ocean or mountains? Depends on the time of year...if spring or summer, then the mountains and fall or winter, the ocean.

4. What's the last thing you bought online that you really loved? Some summer tops that I am very happy with...and of course, the several Kindle books I've purchased this year.

5. What’s your 'back in my day we__________' story? Back in the day when I was a kid, life really was simple, but I didn't really know that then, it was just life.  We played and did chores and really had no worries, because mom and dad took care of everything.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

And this is exactly how it works with Lucy and me!

Thanks for visiting and if you'd like to link up with the Hodgepodge, you can do that right here.

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 

Good Afternoon:

I'm running a little behind today.  My sister texted me last night and let me know that one of our favorite shops (The Christmas Tree Store) is closing down and everything is on sale.  Well, guess where we went this morning.  We each bought a couple of things, but really not too much.  Then we left there and went to Hobby Lobby because she needed a skein of yarn for the project she is working on.  They had tons of stuff on sell too.  We both bought several things there too.  Then we headed home and I picked up lunch for hubby and I and now I'm doing this blog post.  We really did have a fun morning.

Hubby got sick Thursday night, so we stayed home Friday and Saturday.  Rarely do we ever have 2 days in a row where we stay home.  He was feeling better on Sunday and we went to church and he preached (the pre-recorded sermon is below.).  We had good services and then picked up lunch and took a nap after and then back to church.  Sometime that morning, I did something to my knee and I'm hobbling around now (but from the paragraph above) you can tell I didn't let it stop me from going shopping.  Hubby's feeling better today, but still not 100%, but he's getting there.  Oh and on Saturday, I finished reading the book, Sisterchicks on the Loose by Robin Jones Gunn.  Very good.

Sunday Morning Sermon:  Mission Church:  A Place to Serve.  This is message #4 in this Series.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you had a great weekend.

Cathy

Thankful Thursday and Friday Photos

 

Good Morning:

I think it's a very good thing to think on the good things I am thankful for this week.  God is so good and I want to remember to give Him thanks and praise for the grace He shows me every day of my life.  

I'm so thankful to be out walking again these last several weeks.  Here are some photos from my neighborhood walk this morning which was a little over a mile.  And then hubby had a doctor's appointment this morning and there is a small pond and trail behind the facility and I took a walk around that while waiting on him.

Sunrise skies from the end of the street I live on.

Another photo not zoomed in so you can see the surrounding farmland and
 the beautiful church over there.

The moon was still out and if you look below the moon and to the left, you can see a big jet.
I love watching the skies for jets and other flying objects.

Little Miss Lucy out walking with me.

Love this beautiful hawk watching us.

This is the path heading back to the pond behind the doctor's.

I love the beautiful reflections in the water.

Bullrushes

A cute little family of mushrooms

Little Robin

Beautiful Bunny watching me.

Thank you God for all your little critters and beautiful sunrises.  Thank you for visiting here today.  I would love to hear about something you are thankful for today.

Cathy

Currently - July 2023

Today it's time for the July Currently Post.   You can link up with Jennifer here, as she is the hostess.  In July for Currently, we are talking about what we're currently loving, savoring, celebrating, remembering, and trying. 

Currently I am:

Loving: The days when I take an early morning walk.  Here are some things I saw on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

I think this is such a pretty tree and landscape.

Pretty woodpecker on a utility pole

Cute bunny out for breakfast!

If you look closely, you can see there is a bee inside

You can see him here too.

The moon was still out this morning.

Here's a wider angle

Savoring:   Every minute with my hubby.  I'll be flying out and leaving him alone when I go to Texas for the wedding.  I do not like to go anywhere without him, but this is where life is right now.  We'll both be fine, we're already discussing making sure we can Face Time while I'm gone.  People may think we're crazy, but we really like to be together most all the time.

Here we are last November
 in Myrtle Beach

  

Celebrating:  Independence Day with just hubby and me and we're okay with that. I feel so blessed to live in this country.  Even with all the problems we have, I love America!

Remembering:  I just ran across this picture of Dad and me on my wedding day.  We are out in the narthex of the church waiting for our turn to enter.  I think I had asked him if he was nervous and he said no, which helped me to calm down.  He told me later he was fine until they opened the church doors and he saw everyone standing and looking at us.  By then, he was the nervous one and I was all calm.  lol   I love and miss my dad and mom.

Trying:  I'm trying to stay calm and not get all nervous about flying later this month.  

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy