2010 District Convention In Long Beach California

What a fun time we had this weekend!!! That shot in the arm that we get every year....just when you need it the most.  You know, the district convention!!!  A time to see your old friends and make new ones.  A time to reflect on what we  need to work on.  A time to give our thanks to Jehovah for all that he has done for us and to feel so privileged to be a part of his people.  Well Kim and I were so used to going to Qualcom Stadium in San Diego for our convention but I think we really have been spoiled going here to Long Beach!  No getting up early to save seats.  We actually sat so close to the stage everyday that we could see the speakers face!  We sat in air conditioning all day.  The restrooms were spacious and very clean.  Oh, and then during the lunch session.....the weather was absolutely beautiful!   The grounds of the Long Beach Arena are beautiful!  We had park like settings and walked around an visited with everyone and enjoyed the scenery.  What a relaxing weekend.  We also got two new brochures, a book and a new DVD!  Can't wait to check them out.

Here are some of the beautiful things that we experienced during our convention...........

My Mom and Silvia looking too cute!

At lunch time we would take a long walk in this park like setting and enjoy the association with our friends.

You don't get this at Qualcom!!!!

The outside of the building is painted like a giant aquarium.  It was very pretty.

This is how close we were to the stage!!! How cool is this!  But there is not anywhere in the staduim that is a bad seat. 

Kim and my mom.  Aren't they cute!

Creative Camping Week....

This past week I spent some time camping in San Elijo with my friends and family.  We had a great time being creative with our crafts.  Kim brought me down there and set up the RV and stayed for one night.  He left me to be creative and enjoy the time with my friends.  This is the view we had for the first couple of days while the weather was hot.

Kim and I went to Swami's for breakfast on Monday morning and here is a bird gleening what we didn't want.  Too cute!!!!

Our craft table was completely full with our art!!!!  It was completely Tinafied!!!  And anyone who came over to visit with us was given a small canvas to create a piece of art for my collection.  No one would pass up the chance to do a piece of artwork.  Kamron and Karla came and visited with me and spent the day with me creating!  What a nice time....

These are boat houses in Encinitas that are apartments!

Tina made me a cute posie hanger with fresh flowers from her yard for my RV door.  Isn't it precious!!!!  I love it!!!

"Friendship".......Cherished Gifts

Throughout our course of life we meet many people although some just pass through our lives unnoticed.  But if we are really fortunate we are able to achieve lifetime friends, those that you may not be able to see everyday but when you are able to see them once again, you just pick up right where you left off.  A friend that you can trust with your life, the kind of friend that you feel as if you have known them all of your life.  They are family to you.  This is the kind of friends I have been very blessed to have.  Although I have many very different friends from all walks of life, I love them all because each one of them is very special to me.  One friend in particular I have in mind is my friend Katherin Neuman.  She has been my friend since we went to the International Convention in Frankfurt, Germany 4 years ago.   Kim and I passed out our bookmarks at that convention with our email address and our picture on it and since then Katherin and I have become very special friends.  I have really gotten to know her throughout these years and I feel like her big sister.  I always wanted a sister.  I cherish her friendship especially because she is my spiritual sister and she encourages me greatly!  She keeps me in touch with what is happening on her side of the world and she shares experiences with me that are very encouraging.   I also let her know what is happening on our side of town.  Periodically we will send each other some special items.  These pictures are some of the very special gifts that Katherin recently sent me from Germany.  I wish I could just reach out and give her a big hug for all of these precious gifts.  I will always cherish them especially since they are home-made gifts (we all know how much I love items that are home-made).  These plaques were hand-made by Katherin and the beautiful collage of pictures and the frame were also made by her.  I received a beautiful post card, book marks and covers for our song book (I am already putting it to use).  Oh, and the can is Gummy Bears. 

Kim is enjoying some of our German Chocolate (Yummmmmmy)!!!

Just What I Needed....Another Project!!!!

Well Girls, in the midst of us working on our backyard pond....Of course, I came across a great deal on a trailer for our camping excursions!  My girlfriends and I go down to San Elijo during the hot summer months and Tina Capriotti, Brenda, Tina Fergusson, Gina and Tammy all have the coolest trailers that are the envy of the State Beach when we go.  They have been trying to convince me to give up my beautiful luxury suite RV and conform to the trailer life!  I couldn't pass this deal up, so Kim bought me my own fixer upper.  I will be trying to "cute it up" for the next few months.  Here are the "befores"....Boy do I have a lot of work to do!!!!!!!

We removed all of the doors on the cabinets and the bathroom so that I can paint them at home and to make it easier to work in the bathroom area.  It also came with all of the cushions for the seats and bed and I removed them so that I can recover them.  But they were actually all in great shape. 

It's Spring!!!! Time for Flowers!!!!

My poor flowers have been completely neglected yet they are still loyal to me!  Look they are letting me know it's time to get busy and start planting!  These are flowers that just sprung up from last years blooms.

Time to Get to Work!!!!

Well it's spring time and if you've ever been to Sun City during the summer time you know it gets very HOT here.  So we have decided to try to get our very small backyard completed before the heat gets here.  Kim has decided that he wants a water feature in our backyard.  This is a great idea since the water will make it very inviting and will offer some sense of solitude to the backyard.  So Kim is ready to go and tackling the job head on!  He is quite "The Man".  I'm here for moral support.  I will be ready for the "making things pretty" stage.  I hope that's soon because IT'S LOOKING PRETTY SHABBY!  I will have to keep you up-to-date with our progress.  So here are some of the "Before" pictures.

Trash 2 Treazure Face Lift

Have you noticed?  I decided to give my Blog Logo a new look.  I have been inspired once again by my friend Tina.  I noticed her beautiful new picture on her blog and thought.....what better way to start off the new year than to start with a new picture to update my blog!  I searched and really tried to find something appropriate to the name of my blog.  How did I do?  What do you think?

What's Been Going On In My Life......MOVING!

Ok, it's been a while since my last post. So I guess I will update you with what has been happening in my life......

Kim and I have made a huge decision in our life! We have decided that we needed some changes in our life and that we were on the fast road to destruction if we didn't make these changes soon. As our friends know, Kim's health has been horrible this past year and with all of the stress of everyday life we decided to downsize our life so that we can ease the pressures of this world we live in and get busy spiritually (which is where we wanted to be). Our happiest times were always when we were busy in serving Jehovah. So we decided to get rid of the extra burdens that were weighing us down. This meant getting rid of our huge house and a whole lot of stuff! Well that was not easy especially with this economy!

We have been blessed with the offer of renting my Uncle Ducky's house which was available to us at just the right time. We took the offer and we have been updating a few things on the house. Although we have been making Uncle Ducky's house our own, we really feel that it will always be his home. In fact Uncle Ducky made a plaque that said "Uncle Ducky's house is Love". I cherish it and I will always keep it here because it belongs here in his home and it keeps him close to my heart.

So between our crazy move over the holiday weekend and our circuit overseer visit that week and the circuit assembly the following week and I also have been voluteering my time with the Regional Building Committee on a remodel of a Kingdom Hall in Lake Elsinore, life has been very crazy! But I am grateful for all of my family and friends who have helped us to get to this point in our life and who have been there through all of the chaos! These are some "BEFORE" and "AFTERS".......

After.......

I've been very busy organizing my things. You never know how much you have until you move from a 3200 square foot home to a 1,000 sq. ft. home. Yikes!!!