Southern Living Yankee

I'm so excited! I know what some of you are getting for Christmas! You'll love it! I love helping Santa. Plus, I've added some new links (see column on right). Some of them are really cool people I know, others are good resources, a couple are friends of mine who are REAL WRITERS, and one is a singer I just heard of and fell in love with. Check them all out--all you have to do it put your mouse on a name and click it. Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, the wreath is on the front door, and I've decorated the dining room table. Now to wrap some presents, mail them, and make a run to Michigan next weekend for a fun wedding. I still have some presents to buy, too, but I'm not stressed out about it. Still have cards to do, too, but I'm not going to worry about them either. If I don't get them done now I'll do them later. If I did cards like I really wanted I'd be sending out about 300 of them! Tom is using the last of his vacation time this week. Ma...

Click on this link and in everything give thanks. http://www.biblesociety.ca/free_scriptures/escriptures/ecclesiastes3/ecclesiastes3.html Tom and I went to see the movie "Bella" last night. If you want to show Hollywood that movies don't need to be saturated with sleaze and violence, you should go to this one. It's thought provoking and touching. That's all I want to say about it. Regarding the incident in church last week, click on the Apex link on the sidebar if you'd like to hear yesterday's take on it. Our pastor squarely addressed it. Good job, Pastor Rob Turner. One thing, too, we always need to discern is the difference between conviction from the Holy Spirit and accusations from the father of lies. If we're not careful we can be easily confused, because, as pastor pointed out, a tactic of the enemy is to twist scripture. My personal experience has been that accusation from satan leads to relentless guilt, while conviction from the Holy Spirit c...

Let's take the easy one first: have you seen the movie "Bella" yet? I have not, but I've heard some great things about it, so it's on my list of goals for the coming week. If you've seen it, please let me know your thoughts. If you haven't, read up on the reviews--I think you will want to see it, too. Second thing: today in church at the invitation when the pastor encouraged everyone to spend some moments in prayer or come up front to pray, a woman started telling everyone to listen to God and do what He said. I was up in the balcony so I couldn't clearly hear everything. She sounded very emotional, but she talked really fast. And I didn't think she'd ever quit! She talked so fast, tho, that there was no chance for the pastor to ask her to quit. When she finally did, the pastor asked the musicians to come close the service. Then he commented that "something happened" here this morning and we should seek to discern what it was. So, thi...

I've been living in Seattle since Wednesday. Not doing the tourist thing--I'm just enjoying being with the kids. And yes, I'm coming home to Ohio today. Here are a few pics: 1) I'm a little bleary-eyed from the 3 hour time change. Brad and Joe, and Brad's lovely friend, Rachel are getting ready to go to "Seattle Nails" with me for the boys birthday treat. 2) Brad gives a "thumbs up" on his pedicure. 3) Lisa and I cut out 1 million snowflakes for the visual crew at Anthropologie. We are loving it! 4) The slackers. 5) Lola sleeps more than my cats! Hope you enjoyed the photos. I had a good time, too. Joe & Lisa picked me up from the boondocks airport and had all day off Wednesday with me. Lisa and I spent Thursday together, Brad and I had Friday, and we all spent the whole day Saturday together: Top Pot donuts, Brad helped me pick out my own digital camera --maybe I'll get it for Christmas? Then we went to the antique mall by Pioneer Square...

Here are some pics of Aaron and his friend Lauren before Homecoming this last Saturday. They had fun going out to dinner, the Homecoming event, and meeting up with everyone afterwards at a haunted hayride sort of thing. Lauren goes to Dayton Christian, also to Apex and even babysits with her best friend Lindsey for our house church. Speaking of house church, one of our families has the dad on the army reserve and he has been sent to El Paso, TX to fill in for a guy sent to Iraq. So we'll be helping the mom and her 5 month old and 4 year old get packed up. On Saturday she's bringing her 14 year old cat here for a trial run of living at my house. I will be glad for some female company, even if it does have four legs--but I'm not sure the kittie will appreciate living with me and the boys--especially the four legged boys, Elmer & Fudd. I've been telling my cats they're getting a big sister, but I don't think they believe me yet. Just wait til Saturday! My...

Tom starts his new position today as manager of the electrical maintenance shop. It's a position he's held before and enjoyed, so he's looking forward to it. Lisa called last week with the exciting news that she is now in the management training program and the company has created a unique position for her that will highlight her personal shopping skills, customer service/pampering, and lifestyle event planning. Who wouldn't love that? Her store website: www.anthropologie.com Me? I dabble. Little bit of this, little bit of that. At the moment the additional things going on, besides two part time jobs and a book--we've got some 11th grade boys coming here every Sunday night for their "house church." Their leaders arrive by 6, we put out snacks in the kitchen, everyone else arrives, they all disappear down to the rec room, and then Aaron wanders up after 8. We enjoy opening our house up for this, and I'm happy that the house gets a once over with the vac...

Forget the blog this week. I'm making a big pot of chicken soup and cuddling up with a box of kleenex. aa--choo! (Tom wants me to cuddle up with him--what a guy, braving the cold spores just for me).

I received an email from another writer today: ". . . I have a friend who is deeply grieving the loss of her husband. I wish I had your book to give her . . " That's a work of God enlarging my vision and my heart. I can feel it. He's also "hemming me in," if you're familiar with that phrase from Scripture. Not a comfortable place, but a good place to be. Some practical things to pray for: That God will continue to do His work on me. I sense a real urgency to get this done this year. Next year will be too late. I don't know why, but it will. Feel free to prod or drop-kick me anytime to accomplish this. That the right people will come together in my critique group. This week I began presenting it to the little circles of people I've been lead to: Moms In Touch, writers group, grief group, my house church. Pray that God will urge the ones He wants--the ones I need --to join me. Thursday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m. is the first meeting. We'll discuss the p...

Don & Ruth Smith say "thank you" for lifting their family up in prayer. Click on my April and May archives to review the horrendous car accident they were in. Imagine driving home from a beautiful family gathering, expecting to be home in a few hours, and not getting home together as a family for over a month . . . God has graciously answered prayers for healing. Everyone is off their crutches by now. Don is back to work. Hannah, the one with the worst injuries, is not only alive, she is playing basketball on the 6th grade girls team! Of course the coach is trying to watch over her a little--her shoulder still has limited movement after being crushed . . . But, basketball?! Praise the Lord! Please pray that this good progress continues. Enzyme levels indicate that her pancreas is still recovering. They are dropping, so it is healing. Her spleen had to be removed so she will need to be cautious and on guard about bacterial infections. Again, they are grateful to God, and t...

On Friday, Sept. 7 we attended the wedding of my niece Megan to Derek Curtis. It was sweet and so good to see my Bowman side of the family. Brooke & Chris came, too, and had a great time. *The first picture is a message for Megan's brother and his family in Shanghai. "Ryan, Aimee, Anna, Elijah, Rachel--Wish You Were Here! We Love You!" *Then you see all who were able to come to a brunch on Saturday morning. *In the last picture we are having fun pelting Megan & Derek with safflower seeds. Funny how the seeds made their way into the little SUV they have, down Megan's shirt. . . and so on. The first Bowman wedding I was in (my own), had me sweeping rice out of cracks and crannies for months. I owe you all an update on my writing and the Smith's car accident recovery. Please continue to check back this week. I intend to play catch up with some additional entries. Thanks for checking on me.

Brooke and Chris visited last weekend, the weather cooperated, and we got the boat out for the second time (boo hoo, only the second time and summer is over!). But we had lots of fun. The first two pictures are of Aaron, then Chris, Brooke, and me and the boys. How do you like my bright orange outfit? I call it "Couture de aero mattresso." Thanks to Brooke for taking a picture that makes me look like I'm wearing an air mattress. Hope you all get a giggle out of it. Thanks for checking in on us. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend! Happy Birthday to Dad and Tammy, Friday, Sept. 7! Happy Wedding to Megan Bowman and Derek Curtis, Friday, Sept. 7!

This is the pool at our condo complex. See how empty it is? It's been like that most of the summer and now summer is almost over--it's not right! Aaron starts school tomorrow, and I'm sad about that--summer's way too short. I think he has mixed feelings--glad to be with his friends all day, but not so crazy about the schoolwork. Yes, he's perfectly normal. Brooke and Chris arrive Friday for the weekend, and we'll all be glad to see them. We had a great time with Mom & Dad Hardy last week. Didn't have time to get in the pool with them, but we did finally get the boat out to Caesar Creek Res. You know what? I think I need to put that pool to use. I'd better not keep it waiting! Thanks for checking in on me.

We were driving home from Cinci when it happened. You know the routine. Brakelights in front of you, bump behind you. Pull over to the side of the road, exchange insurance info, get psyched for hassles. We're thankful no one got hurt. Especially since we were in the left lane of the 3 or 4 lane northbound rush hour traffic. With cars flying past at 60+ mph and no safety lane available, every car that passed us increased our chances of being hit again. The cars were driveable so we got out of there. And I thought my trunk was small enough to start with. Oh well . . . Thanks for checking in on me. (By the way, we are having a lovely time with Mom & Dad Hardy visiting here this week). Drive safely!

Just slide the cursor of your mouse over onto Fudd's picture below. Left click once or twice and watch out!

Eenie , meenie , miney , mo-- What do I pack and what must go? That seems to sum up what I've been doing this week--if you can imagine the suitcase as my brain. I've been de -cluttering and prioritizing, trying to streamline what I need to do to make this book happen. Fudd (the cat) is a good picture of the pesky ideas that want to fill my brain and my time instead of the stuff I really need to take on this writing journey. I'm being vague, aren't I? That's because it's pretty vague to me, too. But I'll press on. I think at this point, that's about all I need to do. That's enough. So, just keep praying I can see the road ahead and the signs pointing the way. I'm thinking it'll all work out. And, family, our own family blog seems to be a pretty popular idea according to the vote. I think my mom would be a great one to set it up and manage it, don't you? (I love you, Mom.) Thanks for checking in on me. Fudd thanks you, too.

1. PEOPLE (aka ODD DUCKS): I get to welcome Carol L., Carol W., Carolyn, Deborah, Ed, Elaine, Grace, Jane, Joan, Karen, Sarah, Sharon, and dear Sylvie--way cool people I met this year and/or last at Montrose. Welcome to my blog! (Dear Family, Please check back next week for a decision on doing a family blog. Be sure to vote, and remember, only one more day to stuff the ballot box). 2. PROFESSIONAL CRITIQUE: I sent my book proposal plus 20 pages of the manuscript in ahead of time so Kathy Ide could critique it. She's a sharp, energetic speaker and writer, and founder of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders & Editors Network. http://www.kathyide.com/ What I hoped to hear: "This just isn't worth the effort. Give up." What she said: "This has a LOT of potential and seems as if it would be extremely helpful for readers in your target market." 3. WRITE NOW GROUP: I was able to qualify for this week-long critique group. We met twice a day, read our manuscripts t...

We just got back from a fabulous family reunion in Wisconsin! I'm kicking myself that I didn't take thousands (or even any) pictures to post here. The kicking became even harder when I thought about how nice it would be to have our own family blog--kind of a central location for everyone to get into with announcements, updates, photos, etc to keep us better connected. So cast your vote on the sidebar here--sorry I didn't put an option there for you to kick me, too. If there's enough interest I'll wrangle Greg and John to see if they can work some photos in for me. Memo to: Her Excellency-Best-Sister-In-Law-in-the-World (and anyone else): I won't be able to post a blog next week because I'll be at the writers conference in PA. Please pray for safe travel and that I learn what I need to learn. But DON'T be yelling "When's she going to blog something?" And, Tammy, thank you for leaving a comment and having a nice little talk with Aaron. He is ...

We had such a great time! We found the French branch of the family? We saw sites of breath-taking beauty. We had a few surprises--We saw this hang-glider waiting for the right moment to take off of a mountain in WY. We stopped, waited, and watched! What a thrill to see him go airborne and catch the updrafts and soar higher and higher! But this picture shows the best thing about our trip.

WARNING: Children do not try this at home. It's like this buffalo is the welcoming committee on the front lawn of Lake Yellowstone Hotel. So Tom goes in for a close-up. Does Aaron sense movement behind him? Isn't this what bulls do when they get really angry? TOM RECOVERS FROM BUFFALO ENCOUNTER. No, not really. No harm done. This is just a pic of him napping in Seattle. See Lola with him? She didn't come to Yellowstone with us. No harm done. No one got gored. Not this time. We'll be more careful next time.

You know how people love to show pictures of the kids? Well, these are some of mine. Forgive me, or skip them if you like. 1) Lisa and Joe on the rooftop with their "Lola" baby. Mt. Rainier is in the background giving me the willies, but it doesn't show up in the photo. They overlook Puget Sound and can see Alaskan cruise ships departing and arriving all the time. Turn the other way on their rooftop, or look out Lisa's kitchen window, and the Space Needle is in full view. Wow! 2) Brad and his roomies, two friends from Ohio, Chris (left) and Kyle (center), on the balcony of their apartment. Brad walks or bikes everywhere and is enjoying the city. He's full-time manager at Kitts Photo in a nearby mall that's the end of the line for the monorail. 3) Aaron and Brad at the top of the Space Needle. 4) Dinner at "The Marakesh," a Morrocan restaurant. Five courses, no forks, no knives, no spoons. No belly dancers either, which was disappointing, but maybe th...

1)Seems like a long time ago already, but when we left Colorado we aimed for Idaho, cutting through the corner of Utah. We made a quick stop at the Dinosaur Monument in Utah--doesn't come close to the Creation Museum near Cinci. 2)We drove over 600 miles that day and ended up in Twin Falls, ID. Named after, guess what? Waterfalls! "The Niagra of the West." The picture doesn't do it justice. Imagine you're about the size of an ant to get a better idea. 3)Our goal was always a hotel with a hot tub and swimming pool. As you see, Aaron and I are enjoying this one. 4)Around Yakima, WA we spotted Mt Rainier off in the distance. I saw it first and could only gasp, "What is that?" It's ghostly presence freaked me out the rest of the time. I wasn't afraid it would blow, although it might. It's just so BIG, and it always seemed to be watching. 5)Finally, here we are with the real reason of the trip--the kids! How convenien...

We pulled out at 3:30 on Saturday and arrived in Kansas City at midnight, gaining an hour with Central Standard Time. The Mississippi River was awesome and too wide to fit into our camera-out-the-car-window shot. Maybe we'll catch on the way back. Sunday we drove through Kansas, into Colorado, and arrived in Estes Park around 6:30 p.m. Gained another hour with Mountain Time. This means I now wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning instead of 5 or 6. Tom and Aaron have no trouble with sleeping in or staying up. It all works out though, and makes for good driving rotations. Picture 1: Proof that we drove through Kansas. Yes, it is that flat. Creeped out Tom and Aaron, the mountain men. I think I could deal with it--I liked the feeling of freedom, no boundaries, and lots of sunshine. Back to the picture: Off in the distance you see "Kansas skyscrapers." AKA grain silos. Picture 2: Me and Aaron on top of Mt. Prospect in Estes Park. We took a tram up. Picture 3: We walked the rest of...

Picture 1: Here I am above treeline, surrounded by tundra and icy cold wind. I have no pride when it comes to staying warm. Elevation 12,110 ft., the "roof" of the Rockies. Picture 2: What we could see: A CLOUD. Not much you can see when you're inside a cloud, but it does make mountain driving even more exciting! Picture 3: The Alpine Center in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Not Alaska. Elevation 11,796 ft. We were amazed. Picture 4: This elk was a great conclusion to our drive along Trail Ridge Road. He was very hungry and paid no attention to us tourists--I didn't even notice the ones off in the background until I saw this picture Tom took. There are several more in the field at the top right. Picture 5: We drove west on Rt. 40 to Steamboat Springs to spend the night. We also had fun seeing Fish Creek Waterfall, over 280 ft. high, and cascading with fresh snow melt and a day of heavy rain. Today we'll make our way into Idaho, about 600 + miles, and that...

Aaron is officially licensed by the state of Ohio to operate a motor vehicle! It happened on Thursday. So far so good. And just in time to help with driving to Seattle and back. Please check back here every once in while to see if I can give you any on-the-road updates. Enjoy your month of June!

We didn't go to the Indy 500 for our wedding anniversary. But here's the key to our happy marriage: Tom and Aaron went and I stayed home! You can see pics of blurred race cars below. Here's where Tom and I went for our anniversary: www.glenlaurel.com It was a beautiful facility, our 5-course dinner on Friday was delicious (good-bye South Beach diet!). We stayed in a Scottish "croft"--a tiny house. Loved the screened-in porch and the outdoor hot tub overlooking the treetops. The weather was great and we had a wonderful time! It was a 2 hour drive from here. We left Friday afternoon and returned Saturday. It's about 50 miles south of Columbus, in case anyone wants a 50% off coupon in the next few months. E-mail me and I'll send you one. You'll love it! Yesterday while Tom and Aaron were at the race I spent the day putting my manuscript together. If I go to the writers conference I'll have to have the book proposal and a chapter in the mail by June 15...

Hannah goes to her home (not another hospital) TODAY! FINALLY! Just over one month ago, the whole family thought they'd be safely home within a few hours . . . Please continue to pray for "peace that passes understanding." Pray for safety and freedom from anxiety on the long car ride from Rockford, IL to MN. Thanks for doing your part.

EXCITING NEWS! You know how people watch pre-schoolers, then sigh, then say "Oh, to have that energy! Wish I could bottle it!" (Probably not those exact words, but do you get my gist?) Here's something better than the little yard apes energy: KEEP A GRATITUDE JOURNAL What??? Here's a quote (with my highlights) from an article by Drs. Blair & Rita Justice regarding research on being thankful: "Psychologists Robert Emmons at the University of California at Davis, and Michael McCullough, at the University of Miami, are foremost researchers in field of gratitude. What they have learned so far is that gratitude is good for you, really good for you. In an experimental comparison, people who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCulloug...

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE SMITHS HANNAH (age 11) Hannah hasn't had any food or drink since the accident. Imagine how life-altering this is for an active and petite 11-year-old with a very healthy thirst! Sat. May 5 was a very difficult day because she was soooo thirsty---and very scary because she ruptured something and lost a lot of blood. She was given 3 pints of blood, closely monitored, and was a candidate for exploratory surgery. But, PTL , surgery wasn't necessary since the blood levels began to stabilize. As stated previously, her tummy area is like a jigsaw puzzle with all sorts of tubes coming in and out of it. I hadn't realized it, but this is because they are not letting anything touch her intestines, trying to let them heal. The good news is that she is now allowed an ice chip every half hour, and she also had a Popsicle . She also has been allowed to start walking a bit. RUTH (mother) Had her broken ankle set this week. She's in a wheelchair and now ...

ANOTHER UPDATE This is from my mom again. "I talked to Anjee regarding the Smith's, and Praise the Lord... prayers are being answered... Izaac and Zoie have gone to Grandma Bonnie Smith's house and there is talk they may all go home to Minneapolis next week where Ruth may have her broken foot taken care of. With prayers from all parts of the world (amazing reports of christians upholding them for which they are most thankful), Hannah is gaining strength each day. They had her sitting up yesterday and plan to do so each day. She had to have water removed from her lungs yesterday and that was pretty hard to go through. But today's another day." Please continue to pray for their situation and recovery. For now, I will email you with any urgent news. I think the blog has served a good purpose in this, but now we can go with "No news is good news." Thank you for your part in the prayer coverage. Be sure to follow the example of the one out of ten lepers w...

EVEN QUICKER UPDATE I hope more will follow tomorrow. For now, I spoke with my brother-in-law tonite. He's back in Michigan with his kids, and Anjee is helping at the hospital. Hannah : Jim says she is in "the best-case scenario." She has thrown up once, she's used the bedpan a couple times. People are happy about that! Her tummy looks like a jigsaw puzzle with tubes coming out of it all over the place, but organs are beginning to function, and that's great! She's off the ventilator. Earlier in the week, when she first came out of a coma and could speak, once she found out where she was and what had happened, her only concern was for the rest of the family. She wanted them to all be ok and better off than she was. Pray that no infection or abcesses will occur anywhere in her body and that these internal injuries heal effectively. Ruth: Originally it was thought that she'd be released today and brought back for surgery on her ankle. She needed 2 pints of ...

QUICK UPDATE 48 hours have passed, Hannah is still alive. Prayers for that are being answered. My sister Anjee saw the Smith's (Don & Ruth's) wrecked vehicle when she was in Rockford yesterday. She says this was a head-on collision with both vehicles going 70 mph. There are now only 6-8 inches between the front seats and the dashboard in Smith's minivan. It's a miracle Don and Ruth are alive. This morning when I said "It couldn't be any worse," a friend told me, "Yes, it could." She was right. These children could have been orphans. Thank God for angels and airbags. Here's an update from my mom: 1p.m. Thurs. Anjee had taken her 3 kids and driven down to Rockford on Tues. morn. She has returned home and I just talked to her. Hannah has been taken off the life supports her lungs are weak (Jim, who sat with her all night said she was coughing every 10 minutes). She had numerous other injuries; the tip of her pancreas was crushed; a ki...

LIFE is FRAGILE After spending the weekend in Michigan with my sister, Anjee, her husband, Jim and their family to celebrate the 80th birthday of Jim's mother; Jim's sister, Ruth, her husband, Don, and three of their children headed back to Minnesota on Sunday night at 9:00. Sometime after midnight, on I-90 near Rockford, IL, an oncoming vehicle crossed the median and slammed into the family. The driver, who had alchohol content in his blood, and had also been on his cell phone, was killed. Ruth and Don were taken to separate hospitals: the son Isaac, and Don to the same, Ruth and the two daughters to another. Don and Issac are at Rockford Memorial Hospital and Ruth, Hannah and Zophia are at Rockford Memorial Hospital - a childrens specialty hospital. Injuries: Don - broken hand, cracked ribs, messed up ankle in a cast. Released today. Issac - broken toe and bruises. Monitoring him for fused vertabrae problem he has--he was to avoid all contact sports because of the damage an i...

WRITERS GROUP I attended it last Thursday, and squeamishly raised my hand when they asked, "Who brought something they're working on?" Others noticed that "the new girl" raised her hand, and I was ushered to the empty chair in the center of the semi-circle. I explained what I was up to with the book of Ruth, and then proceeded to read it aloud. After four pages I got some valuable and positive feedback, and they asked if I had more. (Yes! They wanted to hear more!) So I read them 2 more pages. They seemed to really like it, or else they were good liars. Sometimes I can't tell with people. Regardless, I was encouraged. The best thing was that I'd been struggling with these very pages for months. As I looked at them Thursday afternoon, knowing I couldn't present them as they were, but not knowing what to do with them, I realized I hadn't taken this problem to God. Oh sure, I pray about it all the time, but I never really asked God for a solution. S...

GOOD NEWS! Because it's "Resurrection Sunday" I can't help but think all these things in my life have God's mark of redemption on them! I'm so grateful that He has already won! And I'm in Him, and He's in me, so I've already won, too. By the way, the picture is of "Lola," Lisa and Joe's new dog, part Pug, part Boston Terrier.100% cute. Didn't Brad take a great picture? This Thursday I'm planning to attend writers group. They might spin off some smaller groups. I think I'd really benefit from a smaller group, so please pray that God will open that opportunity for me. This weekend I might be experiencing my first "IC" flare. I am hoping I only have a bladder infection, but since I was diagnosed with this disease in October, it might be a flare up of the disease--"IC" for interstitial cystitis. It hasn't bothered me much, but from what I've read about it, it's the bladder infection from hell. F...