Smile Today!

“I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”

― Matt Groening

Be Kind



 There is a destiny that makes us brothers: none goes his way alone: all that we send into the lives of others Comes back into our own.
- Edwin Markham
 

 

image from here
also available here

"Always be kinder than you feel"

 

 



that got me thinking



 

 

"I want to be kind to ev'ryone,

For that is right, you see.

So I say to myself, "Remember this:

Kindness begins with me."

here

 

Check out a complete message by Mary N. Cook here

 

 

 

moments and memories

 

 

 



Why Do I Do That?

If this were my garden/yard and event I would have cringed at the fact that the leaves are still in the corners and on the greenery, and yet I love the look in this photo.  Well, I love the leaves in the corner, but on the greenery still bothers me a bit.

Why do I do that? 

I want to sweep or rake up the leaves because it looks cleaner, but I love to see photos of fallen leaves in the yard or the lane or lining pathways. Like this from here -

It's naturally beautiful. Do I like what I don't like?  Why do I do that?


When the snow comes in the winter I always wanted the kids to play in the back yard and leave the fallen snow natural and clean in the front yard, without tracks, because I love the look of snow without blemish. I tried hard to keep it that way for years, but sometimes I would give in, or the kids would get out the front door before I could encourage them otherwise.  Why do I do that?


When they did play in the front yard I would still enjoy the view.  I love to look into the yard and see the tracks in the snow and snowmen or angels or forts created, all evidence of children I love, playing and having a good time in one of God's awesome creations. 

I do still get bothered if there is yellow snow or animal droppings on the clean snow. Just saying!  That is no fun to play in or look at.


Why do I do that? 

Why do I love the look of a room or a house in a photo, would love to have one just like it, but could never live there every day of my life?  What's up with that?

Why do I love old and chippy paint but if I have something old and chippy I find the urge to paint it clean and new again.
 


Is it because of some OCD problem I have?  Is it this perfectionist thing I do where I want things perfect, even though I don't always get them that way?  Maybe it's just that I love too many things and too many styles.  Or maybe I want it ALL.  What is it?  Why do I do that? 


I don't always understand me, but I'm trying.  If anyone has an answer to why I do that, I'd love to hear about it.  Maybe it would help me figure me out.

Okay, here is an update photo because I just saw it at Aiken House & Gardens right now - It is such a beautiful look. 



But ...,  I would have had everything in the house and out of the weather so this couldn't happen.  Look what I would have missed.  Snow really can be beautiful in many ways.





SaveSave

times like these - hang in there

In times like these ...
 

image from a calendar I had

 Hang in there!
 



framed image I was given years ago

  

 These were just to help us smile today!

 

Delta Flight 15

Another great story I received in an email:

 

9/11 Delta Flight 15

It is more than 12 years since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day.

This is an amazing story from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic . . .

All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta's main office in Atlanta and simply read, "All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport Advise your destination."

No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, Newfoundland.

He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately no questions asked.

We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request.

While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.

We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, Newfoundland, to have it checked out.

We promised to give more information after landing in Gander . . . There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that's nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM! . . . . that's 11:00 AM EST.

There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the U.S.

After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason." Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the U.S. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.

The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were U.S. Commercial jets.

Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC. People were    trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada. Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. Were either blocked or jammed.

Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.

 We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning. Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane.

Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word. Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross.

After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander! We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the U.S. airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.

We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started.

Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the "plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.

Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days. What we found out was incredible.

Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers. Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.

ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the "guests." Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.

Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.

Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were offered "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests. Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.

Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools.

People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft. In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.

Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully.

It was absolutely incredible.

When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.

Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.

And then a very unusual thing happened.

One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers. He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte.

He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte. He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!

The gentleman, a MD from Virginia, promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.

As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education.

I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them.

It reminds me how much good there is in the world.

In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in todays world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good and Godly people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward.

God Bless America . . . and God Bless the Canadians.

Jerry Brown, flight attendant on Delta Flight 15

 

Too often we pray to have patience, but we want it right now!
 

-Robert D. Hales

---

Continue in Patience by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!

Impatience, on the other hand, is a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all-too-prevalent condition called “center of the universe” syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theater of mortality in which only they have the starring role."

---

 2 Peter 1:6-7

6 And to knowledge ^atemperance; and to temperance ^bpatience; and to patience ^cgodliness;

 7 And to godliness ^abrotherly ^bkindness; and to brotherly kindness ^ccharity.

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Patience =
Calm endurance; the ability to endure affliction, insult, or injury without complaint or retaliation.


 

Painting Leather

Did you know you can paint leather?  It really clever huh!  Redoux has a post about it and shows a lovely chair she painted silver.  The silver surprised me, but it's a good look.

Here is her before and after looks ...

Nothing Added

This is a great outdoor area from 100 Layer Cake 

It's a beautiful natural look! Nothing Added except for the chairs and microphone stand.  How easy is that!  (Except for the upkeep year round, but I'm guessing that gets done anyway.)

 

Here is the same area with a different look, from Verandas Beach House. It looks like this was before the greenery grew and color was added.

 

 

Just thinking about weddings and receptions today, especially since My husband and I are celebrating 34 years ...,  He's still the one! ..., and ALWAYS will be!
And, I keep trying to be the one for him ..., still!

  

 

A Lovely Wedding Look

I think this Romantic Moscow Wedding from Ruffled is lovely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pink, Gold, soft colors, beautiful flowers, lovely backdrop, pretty buffet display, ...

 

Sigh!!!!

 

 

 

 

LOVE

Love is not about how much you say I love you but how much you prove that it’s true.

— Gabrielle Funaro

Where there is love there is life - Mahatma Gandhi

Thomas S. Monson has repeated this poem a few times, and it truly demonstrates how we might say something but then do something quite opposite. 

“I love you, mother,” said little John;

Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,

And he was off to the garden swing,

Leaving his mother the wood to bring.

“I love you, mother,” said rosy Nell;

“I love you better than tongue can tell;”

Then she teased and pouted full half the day,

Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play.

“I love you, mother,” said little Fan;

“To-day I’ll help you all I can;

How glad I am that school doesn’t keep!”

So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep.

Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom,

And swept the floor, and dusted the room;

Busy and happy all day was she,

Helpful and happy as child could be.

“I love you, mother,” again they said—

Three little children going to bed;

How do you think that mother guessed

Which of them really loved her best? ¹ 

 “Which Loved Best?” by Joy Allison



0426“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).

 

 

The desire to lift, the willingness to help, and the graciousness to give come from a heart filled with love. True love is a reflection of Christ’s love.

Live every moment, Laugh every day, Love beyond words

 

Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living.

— Booker T. Washington

 

Verrines

I learned something recently that I'm going to share -

I hadn't heard of Verrines before, but I just saw it used on Kara's Party Ideas, sharing a recipe of Red Velvet Strawberry Mousse Parfaits from Art de Fete

 

Verrines: Luxury In A Glass

A verrine is an appetizer or dessert that consists of a number of components layered artfully in a small glass. (The word verrine refers to the glass itself; literally it means "protective glass.")

The word refers to the glass itself, but has since been used as the type of dessert being layered in those glasses.  I have created my own verrines and didn't even know that is what they are called.


The recipe above makes me think I should try it again ..., soon!

What a Wonderful World

great look seen at Dear Lillie

 

 

 

 

... take time to look at the world ...

 

 I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue clouds of white
Bright blessed days, dark sacred nights
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Louis Armstrong, What A Wonderful World  lyrics found here

 

 

 

 

Who IS in that Mirror?

Saw this on Facebook and thought it was cute.  It brought me a smile, maybe it will bring a smile your way too.

(I believe my house is haunted.  Every time I look in the mirror a crazy old lady stands in front of me so I can't see myself.)

Hearts

 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Matthew 6:21

 

It's  time for hearts, well, it's always time for hearts, but Valentines Day is coming up ..., and so is a 34th anniversary (one place my heart can be found is with my husband), so hearts are definitely in order right now ... and this little garland of hearts hangs nicely on this cabinet found here. It looks like a great way to remind us to look into our hearts and find what is really precious to us.

 

 

 

 

A good man out of the good treasure of his ^aheart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the ^bheart his ^cmouth ^dspeaketh.  Luke 6:45 

 

 

 

Stand!

“He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.”

― Alexander Hamilton

 

...

 

... stand firm for truth and righteousness.

Because the trend in society today is away from the values and principles the Lord has given us, you will almost certainly be called upon to defend that which you believe. Unless the roots of your testimony are firmly planted, it will be difficult for you to withstand the ridicule of those who challenge your faith. When firmly planted, your testimony of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that you do throughout your life. The adversary would like nothing better than for you to allow derisive comments and criticism of the Church to cause you to question and doubt. Your testimony, when constantly nourished, will keep you safe.

Esther, through fasting, faith, and courage, had saved a nation.

You will probably not be called upon to put your life on the line, as did Esther, for that which you believe. You will, however, most likely find yourself in situations where great courage will be required as you stand firm for truth and righteousness.

Complete Message, May You Have Courage, by President Thomas S. Monson 

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From a 2014 ME calendar I have.

(It's important that people know what you stand for and what you won't.)

 



---

 

 

Standing tall begins with our own conversion, for when we taste the gospel’s “exceeding joy” (Alma 36:24) we want to share it.

 

Complete message, Stand Tall and Stand Together, by Sheri L. Dew

 

 

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It is said that a fence-sitter eventually has to come down on one side or the other. If we are sitting on the top of life’s fences, now is the time to muster the courage to stand tall on the side of righteousness and shun the shackles of sin.

The life, ministry, and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ, provide a template for introspective assessment. Jesus Christ is our perfect example of one who always stood tall.

 

Complete message, Standing Tall, by H. David Burton 

 

 

---

 

 

Stand up for truth in a world of sophistry.

 

 ... speak up for moral standards in a world where filth, sleaze, pornography, and their evil brood are sweeping over us as a flood.

 

Stand up for integrity in your business, in your profession, in your home, in the society of which you are a part.

 

Stand up for loyalty—to your associates, to your heritage, to your good name, to the Church of which you are a part.

 

... stand strong, even to become a leader in speaking up in behalf of those causes that make our civilization shine and that give comfort and peace to our lives.

 

Complete message, Stand Up For Truth, by Gordon B. Hinckley