Butterflies and Rainbows (Seriously)

Today wasn't so great, but then again it wasn't the worst day either. At least I didn't collect concussion number six or broken pinky toe number eight. (There are about four hours left in the day, but I'm being positive.)

A couple of things at work caused me to have a decidedly unproductive day. A task that always take 10 minutes took almost an hour due to computer issues. Yay!

Unfortunately my computer wasn't finished tormenting me. It froze up and restarted itself and threw away over two hours of creative work. The kicker is that I could have limited the level of devastation, but I chose to ignore the "save as you go" rule.

Lesson learned.

But you know what? A couple of great things happened too. Last week I got to witness the birth of a butterfly. (The daycare at church has grown and cared for caterpillars over the last couple of weeks.) Today I participated as dozens of butterflies were released into the courtyard. One by one, children got to hold a butterfly in their palm until it flew away. Each time a butterfly took flight the children would wave and shout, "Bye, bye butterfly!"

 When I was almost ready to leave for the day, I walked into the sanctuary. The lights were off, and the sun was streaming through the stained glass. It was a beautiful, peaceful moment.

When I was almost home I realized I had left my phone in the bathroom at work. It was in a public area and I was concerned because it had been about 45 minutes since I last had it. I borrowed a phone and called a co-worker who happened to be near by. She went back to church and retrieved my phone.

So it was still a good day.

And Satan doesn't get to win. (He's a punk.)

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What Does Easter Mean to You?

Eureka!

Several days ago my niece and I decided to take a trip during spring break. We went to the charming town of Eureka Springs. It has fabulous architecture and friendly people. Here are a few of the shots from that trip.

There was so much fog on the road north that there were times we couldn't see an oncoming car until it was almost even with us. Suddenly there was a break just in time to see this idyllic scene.

One of the many great signs on the walls of the buildings.

Spring Street

This darling area was about 75 feet from our cottage. 

I love the rusty fence and gate.

Starry Night Cottage. It was seriously over decorated with a multitude of styles that waged war against one another. There were mirrors everywhere, even weird places. We counted 38 mirrors in the tiny house.

There was also an odd smell in the cottage. Fortunately it wasn't a strong odor, so we were able to ignore it 90% of the time. The only way to describe it was a mixture of vanilla incense burned days earlier combined with old kitchen grease and dust. Thankfully it was a weak odor. 

That said, we were so pleased to have the place to ourselves,

 and we discussed, in depth, how we would re-decorate it.

A cool bathhouse/hotel. 

I know. The writing on the photo is cheesy, but I couldn't help myself on this one.

We had such fun at this store. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the store. I'm sure that's to keep the place from turning into an attraction instead of a boutique. The owner was delightful.

This fabulous gate was was on a trail about a block from our cottage. The trail was a 35° angle, and we had a clear view of the Christ of the Ozarks. The Crescent Hotel was above and behind us.

Coca Cola relieves fatigue.

Again with the cheesy words on the photo! Forgive me. I don't know what is wrong with me. However, you need to make sure to visit the Simply Scrumptious Tea Room if you are in Eureka Springs. The food was divine, the service was exceptional, and the owner was delightful. 

Check out their website simplyscrumptioustearoom.com/ 

Another amazing gate. Don't you want to go inside?

The Crescent Hotel. We climbed to the 4th floor veranda and took 

photos of the Christ of the Ozarks.

 

This was real fun and real silly. Caitie and I found the locations of the webcams around town. We coordinated our goofy plans with Mary, who was waiting in front of her computer. As we posed with our paper eyes and smiles, 

Mary took screenshots to document our play.

This is an old sign. We peeked down the stairs of the alley. We didn't see any undertakers

Thorncrown Chapel.

This is an interesting and odd, old truck we passed on the way home.

We rarely got a reaction from anyone else on the road, but the drive 

home was lots of fun- at least for us. 

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Old School Rescue

My car is 11 years old and has exactly one cup holder. The manufacturer would argue that there are two more in the back, but since we've never found a cup that wouldn't fall out of those holders, the official count is still one.

This means that any passenger in my car must hold their own cup. That really hadn't been an issue until I took my niece on a road trip to NashVegas last year. The solution was to go old school. Caitie Bug had never seen a window hanging cup holder. And to be honest, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find one. (FYI- WalMart has them - four for $1.98.)

Caitie was super excited to have her own drink support system. 

She commented on the lack of style and suggested we remedy the situation. I hadn't thought much about it until our next trip approached. Since we leave Monday, I decided to drag out the craft supplies. (I used what I had on hand.)

What an adorable improvement, if I do say so. You can't go wrong with grosgrain or a chevron print - especially one that's a color match. And of course I had to personalize it. The final touch was a little bit of bling.

I used the finest acrylic gems from Hobby Lobby (half off of course) and super-glued them down. I also used strategic spots of hot glue to hold the ribbon in place. I think the total price tag for this project was around $.80. That's a lot of happy for a little change!

And that's how you teach the youth of today how to groove the old school style. (Was using "groove" too much?) At any rate, my Caitie Bug loved her beverage containment system. Now it's up early tomorrow morning for our next trip!

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A New Lens and a Fresh Adventure

Saturday I took a drive with a friend to look for photo ops. We drove 192 miles on small Arkansas highways. It was a magnificent day with a most splendid sky. We found jonquil fields on Wye Mountain, an amazing thrift store (and one not so amazing), and an abundance of gorgeous scenery. Here's some of what we saw.

A cross in the jonquil field on Wye Mountain. The jonquils weren't really in bloom, so I looked up  for a most beautiful site.

We found a great old church in Houston, AR. It looks as if someone

 is working on renovations.

I couldn't get enough of this sweet building. 

The new doors look out of place on the the grand, old building.

I am so please this shot came out. It was in a dark pocket in the thrift store.

Isn't this door the best? Both screen doors at the thrift store were 

Colonial Bread ads.

I want this Coca Cola sign.

It was a good day, and it was tons-o-fun getting to play with my new lens! Thank you Lord for sweet blessings.

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Acorn Squash (sigh)

I have zero excuses for ignoring my blog. I'm sure I've lost (again) the two or three of you who were hanging in there with me, and if there is anyone actually reading this post- thank you.

It's going to be a rather short post. I thought I would pass along a great recipe I tried tonight. There were going to be pictures (plural), but I was too busy cooking and drooling to get my camera out. I did remember to snap a shot of my plate before I snarfed the whole thing down.

I know. It's a horrible "shot from overhead" photo. It's also from 

my phone. (Don't judge.)

The squash was roasted then stuffed with rice, garlic, ground beef, black beans, green onion, spices, and topped with white cheddar. I also made a tomato-cilantro salad. It was so good that I'm having trouble breathing. That squash isn't the only thing that got stuffed. 

I'll leave a link to the site from which I got the recipes. You should definitely check out The Cozy Apron. Seriously- she has real pictures of the dish.

That's pretty much it for tonight. I'm hoping to be back on CC in a couple of days. In fact, I'm expecting a new lens to be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait to take it out and post a few pics. 

See you soon. (promise)

http://thecozyapron.com/a-cozy-resolution-oh-to-be-like-the-roasted-stuffed-acorn-squash/ 

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Let's Catch Up With Pictures

It has been over a month since my last post, so I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of what went on during that time. Most of the shots were taken with my phone, so forgive any lack of quality.

I was honored to help put together Christmas bags for a group of young Marines stationed at LRAFB. Here are eight of the 14 Marines.

I had fun decorating my office for Christmas. 

Of course everything had to fit into my pink and black color scheme.

Even the tree on my desk matched.

A couple of La La Loopsy friends that I received as gifts. How appropriate for a children's ministry office.

We got a big snow on Christmas day. It was beautiful.

After Christmas I headed to Nashville. I got to see a sweet friend marry her love. Here they are walking in the snow at the historic home where it took place. I'm pretty sure I didn't take this picture, but it ended up in my photo stream.

 I also got to hang out with another of my favorite families. This young lady is Melonie. She is beautiful inside and out. 

What a godly role model for young and old.

I was able to spend a few short minutes with my dear friend Tammy. 

She is another example of a God fearing woman.

And I did something fun while in Nashville. I acted like a tourist. In all the years I lived there, I never took any pictures of the Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel.

This is part of the nativity scene. 

The new year brought another birthday for my super cute mama. Here she is with a few of her fun gifts.


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