Well it is the last day of the year! I cannot believe it! Im sitting here with all my housework done, food ready for tonights service and now Im sitting here waiting on Chris to get back from HYC and Im watching my ever anticipated marathon of The Three Stooges.... "Nnuck, Nnuck, Nnuck" 

   

I havent posted in awhile, I have been meaning too... but well I just havent really known what to say... Im super thankful of course for all that sweet Jesus has done for me this year.  I have learned alot this year, grown in Jesus a little, Of course I wish I had grown so much more in some areas... but well if Jesus wills there is always tomorrow to get a little closer, stonger, wiser.... My heart just overflows with adoration to my God, My King! I love Him so much! How could I ever repay him for all he has done and is doing in my life?  (little lightbulb going off)   I know I will live for him to the best of my ability the rest of my days!  One reason I havent posted much is because I lost a very dear friend of mine on Christmas day. ( let me insert here.. that I have the best and most understanding husband ever!) We found out last Sunday that Michael Cavitt was killed in a car wreak on Christmas Day... I could go on and on about him... good and not so.....  well.... (you know how best friends are) He was my very best friend before I met Chris... and of course he didnt stop being my best friend but he was definatly like a brother to me,... and a great man of God. My husband held me as I cried and listened with a heart of love as I reminisced a little..... God knows all and sees all and Im so glad he does.  ~ So to my dear friend Michael *aka* Father Frederick.... ~ he loved calling me sister mary shannon or mother superior (lol) Save us a space in the choir right next to you!
   Chris took the Youth to HYC this week and I so had to stay and work! AHHHH that is totally not cool! I missed going and being a part! I hate it! I was I think the only Youth Leaders wife that did not get to go! (and not only that ... I missed him soooooo bad!!!) ... lol usually Im the one going places while he is working... I think its because he was having fun without me... Yes, Yes I know I know it really is all about me sometimes... oh okay well most of the time then! LOL  Well lets see.. I havent taken my Christmas tree down yet., It will come down tomorrow! (I so love being a grown up) Christmas was great! Despite of the divorce in the family this year, daddy came over and passed out presents... I think mom and dad wanted to make it as normal as they could. I wish my mom would come to her senses though... but well I cant make the decision for her... I just want her to come back to the Lord.
    I want to say thank you to my faithful readers! You really inspire me to keep writing! I have a couple books I have worked on and some short stories that I am going to try and blog this next year... so stay tuned! :-)
   I want to say I really feel like some great things are going to happen this coming year and I believe that Jesus is going to bless me and my family, our finiances, and our church family... esp our youth! I cant wait to see what He will do!    Well until next year ~  Love you all bunches!!!  *-----O-----*      <-- thats a big hug! lol




Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Remember as we go through our family traditions that Jesus is the Reason for the season!

If God hadnt wrapped himself in flesh and came to earth... we would be most misreable (to say the least)

May Sweet Jesus bless all of you!!!!

My very good friend Vicki sent this too me... although I think it should be named twas the day leading up to Christmas....

Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,

**Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,not Happy Holiday !

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Good Morning

Good Morning!

We have 9 more shopping days till Christmas... Yay!!!

<----Insert Me and Chris

The weather is nice, and just a little crisp here.... good "get you in the Christmas mood" weather.  Chris and I are going to Memphis after lunch... SOOOO EXCITED!!! I so love to go shopping with my BFF... Holidays are the best time to go shopping with him because he actually will look around. :o> Love him! .....

 lol nuff about him... more about me..... Im on the look out for the big guy in the red suit.....

(Calling rather loudly.... Santa... oh santa where are you..... lol  ---- >

Oh there you are..... okay you spell my name.... S.H.A.N.N........... wait uh thats the naughty side.... uh arent you going to turn the paper over?????  Oh well... You arent Santa... you smell like beef and cheese!!!

LOL yes just in case you are wondering... I DO crack myself up! lol

Soooooo Anyway ~ ~ ~ lol

Okay so last night I sat down at my sewing machine that I bought in November and well okay..... the tension was being weird and then I tried to use a very lightweight material without that fuse stuff.... and that didnt work but things were going on just swimmingly.... then well.... We had a fight.. and I told it that it was either going to behave or be thrown out! Yes I did..... lol well ..... I guess it was more like " ahhhhhhh (tears) please work right... " LOL okay okay so I know it cant talk back but you know... so anyway the bobbin thread was doing some crazy stuff so I had to take it out which Im glad I did... because I had to clean it... I guess the previous owner didnt do that... well trying to put it back...... UGH it took me 45 minutes, a broken needle, and then a tutorial online (because the book wasnt clear) to put it back in... so 45 minutes later, 5 extra minutes to figure out how to take that needle out and put in a new one... (recalculating time..... 50 mins!) I was able to use it again.... BUT I do know how to do that again and my sewing machine and I are friends now! YAY! I did get one stocking sewn! I was going to hand sew it and had actually started to but I didnt like it and took that out and then sewed it the same color as the felt and I liked it so much better because of what I am going to do to them! Im so excited.... I have 7 more to cut out now and sew! WHEW!!!!  I will post a picture of the stockings when they are complete!

Anyho!!! :o)

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Holiday Gift Guide: The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary Special Edition

Happy Friday! Well here I am looking for unique gifts for.... uh me! LOL no not really but I totally stumbled upon this great gift!
For all you pop up book lovers and Sound of Music lovers... this one is for you!


Holiday Gift Guide: The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary Special Edition

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Merry Christmas

 from my home to yours!

I was walking through the living room today and the light coming in the window was so pretty,

shining on the tree, that I needed to take a picture!

I didnt have the lights turned on, but I still think it looks beautiful.

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Some things I would love to have...... for Christmas!

Just a few things on my list this year... LOL

I love this orange color!

 I totally need a camera so I can really upload some pics! :o)

I love some Tuscany!!! ~

Love this Bike! Check

out the cutest basket!

Hmm so I am thinking

I really love some Orange!

   My momma and daddy always said that money didnt grow on trees....

but I totally have the picture to prove it!!!! and I want one! :o)  Dont be sad everyone! You can grow your own... I will tell you the secret later...

P.S. I told you daddy that hugging those trees would pay off!!!

  

Of course to work off all the holiday pounds I would love to have a wii fit.... with PINK accessories.. please!

Then really if you cannot think of anything else to get me.... I would like to have a ..... drum roll please....

Maybe... just maybe a European Vacation???? LOL ( I guess I will just settle for a pic of Chris! LOL ) *christmas skit joke, coulndt resist!*

Here are some other ideas...

A new hat, flower neck thingie (someone please tell me what that is... because it is way too cute) I dont think I need the gloves.. lol

This dell laptop with Africa on it... the name of the design is Shine within 8 by Siobhan Gunning. Also when you purchase this design... they give $20.00 to the global fund to help elimanite Aids in Africa...  Love it! ~ and helping Africa at the same time... totally me! :o)

Or of course a mangerie of gift cards would not hurt!

Of course Love will do... and Peace if we would all come together.... Is it too hard to ask???!!!! So I got a little carried away on the blog today.. hopefully I made you all laugh!!!

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

 Oh and dont forget to .......

Great Giveaway

Good Monday Morning!

Everyone hop on over to Jane Malinina Design she is hosting a wonderful giveaway!

Of course my newfound love is vinyl wall art, so Im all for promoting this and all things beautiful!

She definatly has talent and she has some stuff I have not seen in my extensive research throughout the wonderful world of vinyl wall art! I would totally love to win one of these... because I just simply love them and well I hate naked, drab walls, and I have one in my kitchen that I cannot find "just the right picture for" ~ We cannot paint in our apartment so it would give me something fun, whismical, and lovely to look at! :o)

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Happy Friday my lovelies!

Well today has been very good.  We have a Christmas Concert at church tonight that the Youth are hosting!

So exciting!

      I got together with some of the youth committee last night and we went and decorated... somehow I think that it will take a little less to take it down,  than the 4 hours it took us to put it up. :o) It really is pretty... I will have to take some pictures with my phone so I can upload them... (my camera is broken.. *tear).  Here is the picture I promised! It didnt turn out as good as I wanted it too... the trees have lights on and it really looks beautiful.. the presents in the corner (well the big one) I hollowed out so we could use it for puppets! Its so cool. :o) anyway you get the idea eh?

 Well I was reading a fellow sisters blog today... Cylinda and she asked the question What does Christmas joy mean to you.... soooo I automatically was hit by a wave of emotional memories of faces of the Children at the UPCI headquarters in Narobi, Kenya that I was able to send Christmas gift bags to the year I came back from visiting.
             I remember I had sooooo much fun going and picking out and fixing up the bags for girls and boys! I took them with me along with some more Bibles for them to give out,  to General Conference that year and gave them to Bro. and Sis. Droke (who were the missionaries at the time) and they were going to take them back with them, along with some things that they bought for the adults.
                  I didnt think anymore of it until Christmas came along and I received an email from Sis. Droke and she told me of how the children loved their bags and how that they held the trinkets and toys like they were little treasures... (gee my eyes are filling up with happy tears right now.) I made sure to include sparkly hair clips in the girls bags because they all loved playing with our hair while we were there and they specifically asked for them, and of course matchbox cars for the boys. I know that those kids could not imagine who I was or anything BUT Im so glad that I was able to help in putting a smile on their precious faces! Of course I could imagine how that when they got the bubbles out and started blowing them toward the heavens that sweet Jesus was enjoying their smiling faces too! (Oh how I love to make my Jesus happy)  Of course Im not writing this to receive any glory or anything... it still thrills my heart at the thought of those children the Lord allowed me to help for Christmas that year.

                 So and then... My best friend Melissa went to Ghana that same year... actually she left the day after I did, but she stayed longer than I was able to. She went to be with a family she had met through college, and well she brought back some gifts for everyone.. and I was one of the blessed ones to receive my first gift from Ghana. I still have it, It was a bracelet that she had made by these kids that were selling them on the side of the road, they were woven with thread (hand woven) that she said took them no time to make. Anyway Im telling all of this because I really felt so important .... not really sure why other than Im just a crazy kind of girl who has been faulted for finding happiness in a paper bag! .... think of all the cool things you can do with one! :) anyway back to my story.... ahem so she brought this back and gave it to me for Christmas... It was one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got (next to the barbie closet my dad made me when I was little out of my mothers breadbox... that I totally didnt know thats what happened to moms breadbox until just a couple years ago) *awww precious giving and loving parents* ( I need a hug right now) so anyway when Mel brought me this precious little gift I didnt expect it to have anything on it... but they had woven my name into it! I felt like a million bucks... you know how you imagine you would feel if someone actually named a star after you??? yeah thats how I felt! I could just imagine these precious children not knowing who they were making it for... putting their time into it... working and doing something so small but yet so great that it touched me... in America! How I still pray for those hands that made that precious bookmark for me! And soooo for me... Christmas joy is all of this and more! :) And of course my favorite song echos in my head as I write this... How He Loves Us.

                                                  

                                                     And oh, how he loves is so

                                                     oh, how he loves us

                                                     how he loves us so

                                                    

                                                                           Yes        

                                                    He loves us

                                                    Oh how he loves us

                                                    Oh how he loves us

                                                     How he loves us so       

                                                   

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

So Im just a tad bit aggrevated!
                                                     Okay so a lot!

I need some shani time so bad... just time to really be by myself, and work on some projects...

Now before you think... what???!!!!   

                                                  
 Let me explain! ~
  I have some projects I want to work on, namely ~

 The S. Marie Collection
... especially for Christmas.... and to sell but, well ~ I have a full time job... and then some... (meaning I work with the public monday through friday.. and then I go home and work there)... Im usually either cleaning the house or we have something planned and are not at home... so by the time I get to sit down its usually about 10pm and then sometimes if I am not finishing up on cleaning or taking a shower...  will watch a show together that we record earlier in the evening... (which is usually really nice to breathe) If we decide to talk between then.. I almost have to repeat myself or dont get a response,  because my hunny is in his (im not here mode) usually chatting with his friends online, txt msging, and watching tv... and heaven forbid that I have to get him to answer a question or talk to me!!! LOL Crazy that I actually met and married a man that can multitask! 
( In the words of Christopher Walken) WoW  ~ Wah...

So anyway... I am a dreamer... but Im super tired of all my dreams just laying in wait... and some of them being crushed never to be repaired! What is up with that?? Im the kind of woman that when I start on something I hate to not finish it... but I also work on a few at a time... so right now I have a big peice of canvas hanging in the middle of my living room and kitchen on the wall that I am drawing the Effiel Tower on and then Im going to paint it in... Im turning my bedroom into a little bit of Paris' (something I have wanted to do since I got married) geez it takes money...

wowwah I didnt know!?  < :o) ----me being just a bit sarcastic. I guess I could be like others and go out and buy new and super expensive stuff all the time??

hmmm Anyway

 I also have a picture that I am repainting and fixing... and I have to say it is turning out beautifully! I so wish I would have finished Interior Design School when I first started it... now I seriously have NO time for it. and the funny thing is... Im not as busy as I could be.. when I didnt work for a little over a month (over a year ago now)  my husband made sure I was busy with so much stuff I didnt even have time to clean the house like I wanted too.... so work is my sainty! lol

 Hmmm I wonder if anyone feels the same?

I have been asking and asking for a sewing machine, and well they get expensive I guess... because I didnt get one for my birthday sooo I decided to ask Jesus to find me a sewing machine... well He found me one... it was brand new in the box for 35 dollars! What a blessing! I got a few things of thread and some material, and Chris bought me some material to make a duvet cover for our bed... which Im excited!

But well my great collection is starting to burn there on the back burner... Does anyone have a great time management plan that I can tap into?

Meanwhile I am so NOT allowed to buy anything else to make until I start working on what I have so far.... NOT to mention that I need some felt, and some fleece in different colors... and I need some flowers, and decorative tiles, ink and stamps... Im supposed to be making stockings this year and I wanted to make some presents... (why I am tearing up right now I dont know... I guess Im being way way WAY tooo emotional! ) Maybe its because I was told that Im pretty much incompentent because I havent even started on this... so how could I even begin to think of starting on something else. UGH...

 This is turning into a vent my frustrations blog so I see... Its funny but all I can hear is my bff saying that Im just making my life all about poor pitiful me... geez!!! (RUNNNNNNING) okay so Im just doing that in circles! HAHA

Let me tell you ~

I really am super awesome person who absoutly loves to laugh and have fun and be around people who bring out the best in me and I in them.... (looking around ~ where did everybody go?)

This is my Egypt. This is the place in my life where all I can see is the red sea in front of me and pharaoh and his chariots behind me... Where is the cloud by day and the pilar of fire by night? Hmmm I dont know BUT I trust that it is there.  Alot of stuff has happened and of course I know its not the end... Im thankful Im here because well at least Im here and not uh... there.  :-)

 

I shall get off my soapbox now... I dont know even how I got on it... but If anyone does read these crazy blogs of mine... just take heart! I will totally be my non frustraited self... soon... :)

 
Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"

Grosgrain: "First Step Photo" Vinyl Wall Art $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY

Grosgrain: "First Step Photo" Vinyl Wall Art $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY

Kubarikiwa

"Blessings on You"