Insta Friday

The week has zoomed by. At first, it seemed like there was so much time until Christmas, but suddenly I realize it is almost hours away. I began the week with a celebration of Advent with the Good News Sunday School class.

Of course, there has been some last minute shopping to be done, but the crowds on the road and in the stores have made me so glad that I had most of it done before school got out for the holidays.

My Christmas cards did finally get mailed out---the craftiness was "low-tech" this year, but the sentiment was there for sure.

Jana and I drove down to Cheneyville this morning to pick up Dan. He is quite excited about the presents under the tree and periodically comes into the living room to count and see how many have his name on the tag! I let him go ahead and open the one from Pam, which contained his favorite thing---Cokes!!

Tonight, Jana headed out to meet up with some old friends from her high school days. She looked so cute!

The countdown is on now! It looks like the cookies most likely won't get baked until after Christmas and there are still piles of things that need to be organized in the sewing room. But, through the years, I've learned that Christmas comes regardless of the messiness of life or what is going on in my house and there's something really special and very comforting about that.

(I'm linking up over at Life ReArranged)

Insta Friday

Wrapping up the week, I have a few instagram photos from the last couple of days. I'll be linking up over at Life Rearranged again so why don't you join us.
My newest wrist "contraption". Not sure exactly how this stuff works, but it seems to be helping the swelling a bit and giving me a little support in the most painful spots. Kinesio-tape---oh how I love thee!

The Head Start Center I work with celebrated this week with a balloon send-off. Unfortunately, preschoolers + letting balloons fly away = lots of tears ( I could have told them that)

The balloons were pretty though, as they floated through the air.

up . . .

UP . . .

AND AWAY!!! . . .

Toms and TV--perfect.

I've switched back to Blogger for writing my posts. Live Writer just seemed too cumbersome to me---I'm fairly proficient on Blogger and was having to look up every little step on Live Writer, which just wasn't worth it.

Insta-Friday

It's time for the latest post of Insta-Friday, with a few pictures from this past week. I'll be linking up to Life Rearranged, again, too.

Our church's community garden, one of the few green spots in our city right now:

The grass at my school--no wonder there are huge brush fires all around town!!

Yep, it's hot around here!! This was Wednesday's temperatures--the 44th day of triple digits this summer (the average is 7 days).

Hello, Mr. Lizard. I know it is really hot outside today (107 again on Thursday), but I'm really glad that your beady, little eyes are on the outside of my door and not on the inside.

Insta-Friday

Still in Las Vegas for one more day, here's a quick Insta-gram review of the week.

I'm linking up over at .

Awesome views of the Grand Canyon (of course these pics barely scratch the surface)

My poolside view

Our room at the Palazzo---I've certainly never stayed anywhere this fancy before!


Part of the floral display over at the Bellagio--this bear was made completely of flowers and other living things.



Parrots in the floral display at the Bellagio



I loved these glass discs filling the ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio---reminds me of Chihuly.

Insta-Friday

Happy Friday!! Yesterday I drove (well, actually I rode while my friends drove) down to Baton Rouge for Camp Crop-A-Lot with Valine and my other scrapping friends. I'm not sure how much I'll actually accomplish at the retreat this year, but I know that I'll have fun! This is the only time I get to see a couple of these ladies and it's time to catch up on each other's lives!

A quick re-cap of this past week----

Last weekend I dog-sat for my friend's dog, Coco. While initially excited to have him here, Emmi soon became rather possessive of me and of her space in my chair.

Of course, Coco can jump up and down on furniture without any help from me, a skill that Emmi still lacks. He quickly made himself at home with Emmi's toys, Emmi's bed and Emmi's food. But, since Emmi was dozing next to me in my chair, Coco found an equally comfy spot over on the couch. Ahh, if only I could sleep this soundly!

We celebrated Dollie's birthday at the office by decorating her desk as a surprise.

Insta-Friday

The weeks are flying by! That always seems to happen once July arrives, despite the fact that I try to make the summer last as long as possible. The past couple of weeks have dragged and sped by at the same time--how can that be??

Tuesday, I went back to the doctor. They removed my brace to discover that while bruised and sore, things are looking pretty good. At my first PT visit, I was evaluated and fitted for a brace.

Emmi has gotten really used to me being home all the time. She still gets so excited when visitors come, but she's soon begging me to pick her up again.

This is the prescription for torture!! (You know it's not going to be good when the therapist tells you "Nothing about this is going to be easy or feel good." Great!

A girl's gotta' have a reward from time to time, right? Jordan's parents sent me a cupcake that was much appreciated after my first therapy session----perfect companion for low-fat baked chips!

I'm linking up to Life Rearranged.

Insta-Friday

It's Friday again and I have a few pictures to share with you. After my accident in Yosemite, my ability to use my camera was severely limited, so I finally resorted to using my phone---this could be done with my left hand. Here are a few of my favorites: This first one was actually taken when we first arrived in San Francisco--when both arms were still working. Cool building, don't you think??

Later in the week, Don, Sally and I encountered this young mule deer as we were backtracking through a meadow (just a couple of wrong turns).

We had several really nice picnics in Yosemite. What is it about eating a picnic that makes everything taste better?

My favorite insta-picture is this one from the bridge at Vernal Falls. See the rainbow? So pretty!

Last, but not least, here is the latest of the 4 different casts I've sported in the last week or so. I appreciate its support but definitely won't miss it when it's gone.

I'm linking up with Life Re-Arranged.

Insta-Friday

This really pretty, little feather was left under my carport by a feathered friend. He must know how much I like birds!

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the new Berry Almond Salad at Wendy's? No? Well, I love it! Yummy!!

Emmi could never be described as a "girly girl" (well, maybe except for the fact that she's such a scaredy-cat)---she loves to be outside, chasing birds and digging in the dirt. She was looking pretty rough, so it was definitely time for a grooming. Ahhh--that's better. Here she is sporting her new haircut and patriotic bandana.

I'm going "unplugged for about a week, taking time to enjoy family and summer fun. When I get back to blogging, I'm hoping to have some awesome pictures (and probably a story or two) to share.