Goodbye to our sweet neighbor

I must be honest, I can't remember his name but, he was a sweet old man. He loved his dogs, and cared for us all. He paid the young boys to mow his lawn and rake his leaves and didn't mind if they and other jumped in the piles a few times before picking them up. He had his habit of getting the newspaper early in the morning, and lit up like a Christmas tree when someone stopped to chat with him. He always had a friendly smile and a little wave for everyone who met his eye. I enjoyed seeing him and was fond of his presence. It seems like he has been the sweet elderly widowed neighbor for ever so long, even though I remember when his wife was alive, and when she died. I remember his trustee yellow lab who got him threw that time, and who accomponied him on many a fishing trips. I distinctly remember him saying he wouldn't be getting another dog when that one left him. I soon saw him bring home two black lab pups.

Today, his paper was left in it's receiving box, and a neighbor I always considered nosy and meddlesome saw it right away. Knowing he was diabetic she immediately called paramedics. He passed away last night, apparently in his sleep. I will miss seeing him when we both venture outdoors early in the morning, or when he loads up his dogs to go on a fishing trip. I'm glad he did not meet the fate of another neighbor a block or so down, who went undiscovered for 2 months. I am glad we never saw the day when him and his belongings were loaded up and moved to a nursing home. He was active and happy until he breathed his last. I'm unsure of it but, something tells me, maybe his smile and demeanor, or his lack of the "grumpy old man" attitude, he is in heaven, reunited with his wife.

Please lift up his family, I know he at least has a son left behind who came to visit him often. I can't help but worry and wonder about the two dogs he left behind, animal lover that I am.
It will be odd to have new neighbors in that house. He has lived their since I was a child.

She....Is....BEAUTIFUL

I had such a good time visiting family in California the last two weeks. It's amazing to me how you can "barely" know someone, and feel such a deep love for them. My cousins have never lived close to me. Growing up we saw them about every 5 years. Yet, I feel so much affection for each of them. As adults, we have taken it upon ourselves to build relationships with one another, even those who did not show much interest as teens and young adults.

This time I had the joy of spending most of my time with my cousin Quin and her daughters Jaelynnn and Ashlynn. Ashlynn is the sweetest, noisiest, stinky baby :) . She is so tiny and precious, and very good, only cries to eat, sleeps a lot, and smiles in her sleep constantly. Even though she is breast fed her poo's are especially stinky, who knows why. Her Momma says she never had that sweet newborn smell. She grunts and makes noises all the time, even in the deepest sleep. She still tries to suck on your arm, neck, or whatever else her mouth can catch on, if she is hungry. Their is nothing more precious than a new born baby. My favorite thing to do is bath kids. It is such a fun, intimate time. They are coralled, happy, relaxed, etc. Ashlynn's umbelical cord had just fallen of before I arrived, so I had the honor of giving her first real bath, and every bath she needed the entire time I was down there. It is amazing to me how fast they change and grow. I could see it happening before my very eyes that Ashlynn was changing, losing that brand new infant look, and getting the sweet baby features, gaining weight, losing her preemie wrinkles, growing out of her preemie outfits. Her diapers went from being overlapped to the tabs being and inch apart. I am going to miss not seeing this little one grow up!

Here are some of my favorite photos of the beautiful Ashlynn Grace:

Trust in Him at ALL times

Regarding the outcome of the election, I couldn't have said it better myself then Renee at myspecialks.blogspot.com:

GOD IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! HE IS NOT SURPRISED BY THIS! (Psalm 47:8God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.)

It is so true. I had a peace about this whole thing. I did get nervous today as I began to imagine placing my vote, I prayed and hard. Each time I have prayed, I just felt OK, until today. However, when I read Renee's post, I felt at peace again because she spoke truth.

I'm still afraid of what this all means. Did our nations make a good choice? Did they make the right choice? What is too come? No one REALLY knows. But HE knows. Here is some more truth I find VERY comforting.

Let us consider this verse: Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

No matter what you voted, or what you think let us do this, let us FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS. Do not fret about the man that man put in leadership, focus on the HOLY ONE On the throne above all thrones.



This is what I know for sure:
GOD IS MY REFUGE,
God is my strength,
He is my ever present help in time of need
My comfort,
My shelter
A strong tower

Psams 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 91:2I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

2nd samuel 22:3

He is a HEALER, and he can use ANYONE to heal our nation, and our world.

He knows the plans.

I know the plans I have for you says the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future.... Jeremiah 29:11



For everything there is a time and a season.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time to refrain. A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9)
I trust God as my leader, and I will back up the leaders HE ultimately places with prayer.

FFF #20 Pumpkins

I'm twisting this weeks theme a little bit. We arent' really into halloween. Or at least, my Mom, and I. I still have conflicted feelings about it becuase of my faith and my upbringing. It's not really important to me to figure out what I believe about it since I am not married and do not have little ones. Pumpkin patch was never a tradition for us. So, I'm sharing picturse of the newest little pumpkin in our family! I flew to Ca. to visit my cousins, of which included my cousin Quin and her beautiful new daughter Ashlynn Grace, born Oct 9th and weighing 5pds 14 ounces at a month premature. She is two weeks old now and the sweetest, tiniest baby girl! And lets not leave out big sister Jaelynn Noel in the last picture holding her new baby sister. Jae Jae calls me Aunty Violet and she is a sweet heart. Every morning she gets on my bed, taps my forehead and says "Will you get me cereal and we can play candy land!". I'm enjoying my partial vacation (no work but still tons of school. Now, without further adu: The little pumpkins!

Jae-Bird and Ashy- Bug

These next two weeks I am in a whole new state, completely enjoying an entirely different climate. But mostly, I am enjoying family. Which happens to include a two week old, 5 pound baby girl named Ashlynn Grace.

Oh she is precious! I haven't been able to kiss her soft cheeks and my hands are cracking from washing and sanitizing to keep her from catching the cold I caught the day before take off (go figure, I'm always sick on "vacation").... but, I'm still getting to enjoy her A LOT! I get to dress her in the tiny Preemie clothes that are to small for some dolls but fit her just right, let her dream in my lap as I do homework, and take 1,000's of pictures!

I'm also enjoying making 5 year old big sister Jaelynn Noel feel special by playing multiple rounds of Hi-Ho-Cherrio (the new and improved, more complicated version because apparently the version my sister and I played wasn't good enough), and Candy Land. We played several rounds last night. She was bright eyed and bushy tailed at about 7am (early for her), jumping on my bed, asking Auntie Violet to play again with her. She also loves the dresses my Mom has spoiled her with, and the Mariposa barbie I got her (if your little girl wants one, DON'T get it, her wings fall off incessantly and you will hear 100's of times a day "willl you fix Mariposa's wings....please!).

I'm enjoying chit chatting with my cousin too, lounging around, and helping with practical things new mommie appreciate like doing dishes, bathing the 5 year old, and walking the overly hyper chocolate lab.

I'm excited to go see more family next week!

100th + Post!!!

Ok, so a few days ago I realized I was SUPER closet to 100 posts! However, I've had to many exciting things going on to make a big deal of it. I don't have anything exciting or special to give away or anything like some blogs HOWEVER, I can do what I have seen many others do, I can make a list of 100 things about me. Since this is actually my 103rd post, how about 103????

Here goes:

1. I am left handed, I'm the ONLY one of 4 kids that is Left Handed. (So is my uncle. My Paternal Grandmother is also left handed)

2. I have a passion for purity and am a virgin. I plan to stay that way until I get married.

3. I want to court vs. date ( I believe this is the biblical way of doing things, and I think dating sets us of for divorce), and I plan on saving my next (no, unfortunately not first) kiss for my wedding day.

4. At 5ft 2 and 3/4 inches, I am the 3rd tallest girl in my family for 5 generations, beaten only by two of my girl cousins. The average in my family is between 4ft 9 and 4 ft 11 inches

5.My first boyfriend, who was also my best friend, died of cystic fibrosis at age 15. It was the first death I had experienced except for great grandparents when I was still very young.

6. I have a tattoo on my foot and I love it. It says "Come as a Child or not at all... Matt. 18: 3". It's in cute girly black writing put all dots are red hearts. It was the last scripture uttered by my 1st boyfriend and at the time my best friend before he died.

7. I really want to adopt multilple children as well as have biological children. I am open to adopting with special needs. I really have no idea how many children I will have but, I'm sure it's a lot because I love them and am not easily stressed out by them.

8. I do all of my schooling (working towards a B.A. in psycholgoy) on at Argoys Univeristy

9. I call my cousins daughters my nieces. Neither of my cousins have sisters, so I willing adopted the Aunty title. This means I have three nieces and 1 nephew (my nephew being the only one belonging to an actually sibling)

10. I want to be a social worker when I grow up :} ( Or rather, when I graduate in August!)

11. I am a major animal lover. Mostly of dogs.

12. I REALLY want to swim with dolphins

13. I love warm weather and loath cold, rainy weather, apparently I live in the WRONG state. However, I LOVE snow!!!!

14. I almost moved to Ohio (Boy would that have been a HUGE mistake, I'd have been miserable.

15. I LOVE Anything water related, drinking it, swimming, water skiing/wake boarding, inter tubing, rafting..... I'm just a beach babe at heart

16. I like MOST green veggies: broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts, green beans. But I HATE canned PEAS and LIMA BEANS UGH!

17. God healed me of a pretty serious dairy allergy at summer camp one year

18. I was going to be named after an adopted great grandmother. My name would have been Vivienne. She saved me from that fate because she always hated her name and told my mom she didn't want me named after her. My parents let her pick out my name and she chose Violet because it was her favorite color and favorite flower. It was perfect because my Mom really wanted my nick name to be "Vi" after another major influence in her life.

19. I have two middle names, both of which my Dad picked out.

20. My biggest, most outrages dream is to live on a HUGE farm/ranch, that runs a rehabilitation program for abused/neglected animals and children.

21. When I was very little, I answered the door and and African American man was standing their. He asked if my Dad was home. I yelled up the stairs "DADDY, THERE'S A CHOCOLATE MAN AT THE DOOR" Turns out it was one of his old Navy Buddies. I will never live that one down.

22. Ever since I was healed from my dairy allergy, I am an ice cream a-holic. My a favorites are tillamook chocolate chip mint, and Dreyers Chocolate. I am also a big fan of sour cream and cheese!

23. I still can't stand the taste or smell of milk

24. I have been dreaming of a little girl since I was 10 years old. I began praying for her when I was 14. When I was 15, God gave me her name. I still dream about her

25. I started telling my Mom I would adopt a little girl from China when I was 5 years old. I told her God told me I would in a dream.

26. When I went to China on a mission trip in 2004, I was prophecied over me that I would be back and leave with a new member of my family

27. As a kid I played two sports and two instruments: Soccer & Swimming, Piano and Clarinet

28. I have lived in the same house since I was 3 weeks old. I've lived other places breifly for school, or as a live in nanny but mostly, here.

29. I sponsor a little girl from Rwanda named Seraphine. I really want to go meet her someday through a program the ministry offers

30. I love shopping for baby clothes

31. I hate excercise but always feel better about myself when I do.

32. I'm not afraid of spiders, snakes, or many other little critters. Except tarantulas. Those things are scary.

33. I am slightly afraid of the dark. No, Seriously. I am.

34. I'm really bad about putting some of the kids I babysitt to bed on time. Only because the babies go to bed really early and I want to spend quality time with the older kids. I enjoy their company.

35. I have been in 2 car accidnets. It very easily could have been 5 but God seriously protected me from 3 of them. My Mom was on her way to pick me up or had just dropped me off at a babysitters each time. Every time my parents were told if a child had been in my carseat, the would not have made it.

36. I use to pray for a "normal" sister because both of mine are developmentally delayed. Now I feel blessed to have them as sister for who they are. But, I still grieve not having a typical sisterly bond.

37. My Mom also has learning disabilities and is bipolar. I have had amazing role models come in and fill the gaps my Mom wasn't able to but, I still really wish I could have had a typical mom and I still cry about this. No matter how amazing these women are, when it comes down to it I am NOT their daughter, I cannot call any time of day or night, and they will not drop everythign for me. Their families always come first (as it should be). I'm still learning to seek God FIRST.

38. I have had the same phone number for EVER! And my cell phone # is the same as when I first got a cell phone.

39. I'm really attracted to guys with brown hair and blue eyes

40. I am a messy person unless the person I live with is really messy, then I become a neat freak. Ask my first college roommate : )

41. I'm a night owl. I love staying up until 2-3 am and sleeping until 11 am.

42. I love scrapbooking

43. I love naps.

44. My first Major was Elementary education

45. I am a licensed massage practicioner

46. I like to read in the shower. Seriously.

47. I like long, HOT showers and I HATE to be disturbed. Nothing worse then your DAD nocking on the door when your in the shower.

48. God told me in early November my sister was going to be pregnant. She got pregnant about mid to late November. He also told my nephew would be delayed to some capacity. He also told me another bit of personal information reguarding my nephew that I will keep confidential.

49. I have consistently dream about a specific sibling of mine dying. It's really freaky and I pray every night God would protect me from those dreams.

50. I also tend to have a "6th sense" about when people die. When I was 7 I woke up and told my Dad his grandma said goodbye. 5 minutes later her got the call.... I read a book about a boy with C.F. that died when he was 15. I was convinced Andrew would die when he was 15. He did. All day on July 2nd. I was constantly thinking about my Grandma and Grandpa. I was edgy and annoyed that I had to work. I really wanted to get off early "Just because" On my way home I got the call grandpa had passed 45 minutes earlier. The night Andrew died, his brother and I went swimming. My Mom was late picking us up. We began to walk home. Both of us looked up at the stars at the same time, and looked at each other, we said "thinking about ANdrew" and we expressed sadness to each other. He died at about that same moment. we found out when we dropped him off at his grandpa's house.

51. I work well under pressure. It's why I am the ultimate procrastinator.

52. I am a paparrazzie. I love to take pictures.

53. I get a kick out of dressing up my Dog for special occasions.

54. I like to bike ride. My new favorite thing is too take my nephew in a bike seat or carrier.

55. i really like veggie tales and know many of their songs. One of my favorites is "God is bigger than the boogie man" sung by Junior asparagus

56. Pudding still makes me sick.

57. The highest ranking spiritual gift for me is hospitality. Followed by wisdom, then knowledge.

58. I often doubt God answers prayers for my personal life. I know he DOES but, it's a stuggle. Perhaps I just don't take NO very well or NOT right NOW?

59. When my sister gave birth to a healthy blue eyed, brown haired baby, I felt somewhat betrayed by God. I felt like he gave my dream to her (their is a history here.... It often seems like she gets what I want as a result of my parents or grandparents). I took me awhile to realize I did NOT want what she has...I want to bring a baby into this world intentionally, with a devoted and loving mother AND Father, and with means to be home with it and care for it.

60. My favorite book is Esther. God has really spoken to me throught the phrase "for such a time as this" I belive I was created for "such a time as this".

61. I want to go snorkling in Australia for my honey moon (whenever that is!) and I REFUSE to go to Hawaii.

62. I bown with my right hand

63. I've always been and avid tooth brusher. I use to walk around the house with my tooth brush all the time. It drove my Mom crazy. I hate having dirty teeth.

64. I have a high risk of having twins because I apparently sometimes ovulate on both sides (this being proven because I have had ovarian cysts while on my period, technically not possible since ovulation is suppose to be over at this point in a woman's cylce).

65. I also have high probablity of having difficulty conceiving since I have endometriosis. Luckily, the caught it early and effects may be reversed by the time I want kids (or rather can have kids, I'd love kids now but frankly, am waiting for a precious jewel to be place on my left 3rd finger)

66. I have a very lower pain tolerance for some things and very high pain tolerance for others.

67. I get chronic migraines, so does my Mom.

68. I have always wanted a pot bellied pig. I still do.

69. I love to read. Especially cheesy christian romance novels, and old "settlement" books.

70. I have a love hate relationship with school. When I'm out for more than a month I go crazy. Once I start again I can't wait to finish.

71. I went to a private Christian univeristy for 2 years. I really miss it.

72. My best friend and I are 15 days apart. Our Moms were best friends before we were ever thought of. She knows me the best.

73. My grandma started taking me to church. If we stayed the night at her house Sat. night, we went to church on Sunday. Then, she took us out to our choice restaruant. I loved this one on one time. When I was 11 I began going because I really like church, not for the happy meal after.

74. My favorite Christmas present was my first Guinea pig. I begged for one when I discovered them by my 3rd grade class pet. If I couldn't have a real pig, this is what I wanted. I was so dissappointed and thought I was a bad girl when Santa didn't bring one. Once all the excitment died down, I suddenly heard a squeeling. I was confused and my Mom said to look in the kitchen behind the couch. Under a sheet was my pig., Cage and all.

75. My favorite boy name is Jedidiah Moses.

76. My favorite clothes always come from Old Navy or Gap (discounted at the outlet malls)

77. I have been known to rescue many animals including : a litter of feral kittens, two golden retreiver puppies, various birds, a shrew, a baby rabbit, and so on.

78. I hate wearing High Heals. They always hurt my feet. But, I get the appeal. they sure make you feel glamorous

79. I am still bitter that wal mart moved here and destroyed my small town home.

80. I did not know that I'm not really native american until I was 12 because I always thought my grandpa was my biological grandpa. I found out he wasn't by accident and I was furious. Even though my Mom has no desire to know her real father, I'd really like to meet him.

81. When I was a kid, I had naturally curly hair.

82. I'm really good at picking out animal names. Some of them have been: Kalika, Soot, Smudge, Gizmo and Kylana. I just like unusual a names. Not to say I haven't had some non originals like : Kelsey, Oreo, or Tiger.

83. My first cat I named Shelby. Everyone thought it was a girl. It turned out it's testicles were retained. I quickly bought a blue color and changed the name to Sheldon. This cat later decided it wanted to live with our lesbian neighbor. She adopted him and took him with her when she moved

84. We have two retention ponds in our neighborhood and I have been known to swim in them (when I was very young)

85. People make best against how long it will take for me to sprain/strain/break/fracture my ankle...again.

86. I graduated High school with some of the same kids I went to kindergarten with.

87. I am forming many opinions about child rearing: Including NOt circumcising, not immunizing, homeschooling, cloth diapering, organic feeding, and more.

88. I have been a live in nanny.

89. I have never been able to grow my hair past my shoulder blades. I'm working on that now.

90. I love to fly and travel.

91. I had been to China and Korea before I had ever been to Canada, even though we live only about 2.5 hrs. from it's border.

92. I've eaten pigs heart (an proceeded to vomit)

93. I loved going to the Korean bath houses.

94. My senior yeare the teachers decided to strike. It did not end until October. We normally graduate about June 6th but this year it was July 9th. I was in Korea during my graduation ceremony.

95. If all of my Moms pregnancies ahd been healthy, I would have been the 4th child of 7. I would have had 1 more baby brother, and 2 more older siblings.

96. I love smallville and E.R. I'm going to cry when it's all over.

97. The ONLY celebrity "crush" I have had (including boy bands) was on Dean Cain. I came home EVERYDAY from 7th grade and watched Louis and Clark, The new adventures of superman" before doing my homework.

98. I should be doing homework and not this.

99. My favorite colors change all the time. For a long time it was yellow. Now, I really like earthy green tones. My MOMS favorite color is Violet, NOT mine. But I love my name.

100. I pray for my future husband every day. I also pray for my children.

101. I am REALLY hoping to get a promotion available in April

102. I'm kind of bad about complaining and whining. I really need to work on that.

103. I am addicted to surfing various blogs!

Sleeping Beauty!

This is my "niece" Jaelynn. Isn't she adorable? Her Mommy (my cousin) gave me permission to enter this adorable photo in a photo contest at:

http://www.5minutesformom.com/4380/win-a-new-bedroom-set

The winner gets a bed set which I KNOW Jaelynn would LOVE. She is the biggest sweet heart and calls me :Aunty VIIIIIIIIILet! She so deserves it. She has had a rough last few years. Her Mommy and Daddy seperated. Then Mommy moved out of state and she bounced back and forth betweeen states every 4 months. Finally, she remained with Mommy, and then a step Dad was introduced. And just last week she became a big sister. Jae-Jae takes it all gracefully but, I know something like a pretty bedset would make her room at mommies feel extra special, and make her feel special too!

Anyway, in the pictures she fell asleep watching a movie in 3D, and had her 3D glasses still on! She is also snuggling with a Bunny that is eating a carrot. She would love the Lilly Rose Bedroom set, and I know it would make her feel even more like a Princess (and this girl loves her Princesses! I must admit I saw the contest on another bloggers site and decided to enter myself. I feel "sorta" guilty. But, her picture was adorable as well, and her daughter deserves it just as much so..... not TOO guilty. I just think Jaelynn deserves a shot at this bedset! Don't worry, I won't be offended if you enter (although the deadline is TOMORROW!).