Brunch at Pelican Hill

OK...I think today concludes my 10-day birthday celebration! LOL!

After church today, we had brunch at the Pelican Hill Grill. It was a gorgeous day and you can see the ocean in the distance of this picture.

Our sweet girl enjoying a laugh and French toast.

Gratitude is
the memory of the heart.

~Jean Baptiste Massieu

What a difference a year makes. Last year around this same time I was in the midst of an incredible health crisis. Today I am thankful to be here and alive and loving & being loved by my family and friends. I am truly blessed.

Sending love and hugs to all of you who share my life in the big ways and the small ways...

Courtesies of a small and trivial character
are the ones which strike deepest
in the grateful and appreciating heart.

~Henry Clay

Birthday at Babe's

I told my hubby that I feel so blessed to have so many friends/sisters with such beautiful hearts. I felt so loved today as I shared time with Yvonne, Leslie, Phyllis, Dani, Bethany and Lyndi. When Lyndi asked where I'd like to go for lunch, the answer had to be Babe's. It's one of a kind and I haven't found anything like it out here yet.

Everyone of these beautiful women brought their daughters (Hannah, Lexi, Chloe, Hannah, Tiffani & Sierra...we're missing Karah in this picture!) to share time together at their own table.



A big THANK YOU for your kindness and thoughtful gifts. I am truly blessed!

Friendship is a treasured gift,

and every time I talk with you I feel as if I'm getting richer and richer.
~ Anonymous

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

A new friend (thank you, Randy!) showed us a "secret" place close by that sells bags of organic juicing oranges for $2/bag.

It's so cute! You turn into a little driveway, walk into the small, covered fruit stand right next to the orchard, choose your bags of oranges and ruby red grapefruit and leave your payment in the box.

These oranges are not pretty, but they are DELICIOUS!











In an organic system you don't waste anything. We need to educate the consumer to accept a tiny blemish on an orange.
~ Robert Patterson

Stony Paths

I found a card to send off to a friend today, with a quote from Corrie ten Boom. If you have not read Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place, this is another "must" read. I've read it twice and will certainly read it again. It is a heart-changing and life-changing book.

If God sends us stony paths, He provides strong shoes.
~ Corrie ten Boom


We know that life isn't easy, but we know that if we remain "connected to the Vine," that we need never give into worry.

Traci's Office & Tiffani's Studio

This room is just a beautiful space in which we can be creative...we couldn't have asked for anything better. Fragrant air flows from the open Den windows in the back of the house. We have gorgeous natural light all day long. And plenty of empty floor space allows us to maneuver easily around.

We love our old Lazy-Boy rocker. We bought it when I was pregnant with Tiffani and we've spent many cozy hours rocking in this chair...feeding, reading, bonding, comforting...it's a "perfect fit" for OUR room.


So thankful for all the built-in storage. We haven't even filled it up...yet!

Here's my office space...plenty of room for my desk, files and bookcases. I'm missing a shelf...Tiff needs it in her room for another couple weeks until she gets her new bedroom set.

A close-up look at Tiff's Studio space. Our big glass table is dwarfed in this room...it took up so much space at the last house. So glad it works well here...it's perfect for big projects...like the 1000-piece puzzles we enjoy so much!

The principle goal of education
is to create men who are capable of doing new things,
not simply of repeating what other generations have done -
men who are creative, inventive and discoverers.
~Jean Piaget

Living Room

From the kitchen...


Toward the backyard...

I love the lavendar wall!
Works perfectly with our neutrals, greens and plums.

From a hall...

Wood-burning fireplace...


There is no place more delightful than one's own fireplace.
~ Cicero

Favorite Books

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
Thomas Jefferson

He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book.
Benjamin Franklin

The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book.
Vladimir Nabokov



The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.
Abraham Lincoln





If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.
Oscar Wilde

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
Saint Augustine

The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don't like their rules, whose would you use?
Dale Carnegie

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C. S. Lewis






I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Groucho Marx

'What is the use of a book', thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'
Lewis Carroll

All that I am I owe to Jesus Christ, revealed to me in His divine Book.
David Livingstone

"And behold, I am coming quickly

Blessed is he who heeds the words

of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 22:7

Glasses for Tiffani!

Tiffani loves her new glasses and being able to see! Woo woo!! No "four-eyes" for her ~ they're a Fashion Accessory! She wears them only to see the white board or watch a movie...and look at the stars in the sky...

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. ~ Vincent van Gogh

Friends are Precious Gifts

Leslie, Traci, Lyndi (birthday girl!) & Stacey

I was looking through some picture folders on my computer this morning and came across this one that made me smile. :-) We were celebrating Lyndi's birthday at Las Casuelas Quinta last summer. It's always a pleasure to take time to be with precious friends. [Looks like I didn't get the memo to wear a wild 'n crazy blouse. Hee hee!!]

"Friendship is like a violin;
the music may stop now and then,
but the strings will last forever."
~ Unknown

Day 34 ~ Blessings Flow...

Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow...

I had a really good day! I'm believing that this little adventure is coming to an end.

Yesterday my lungs released a solid chunk of something...I wish I could have expelled it, but it was too large for me to "cough" up. So I had to swallow it. It felt like the size of a large capsule when it lodged in the right side of my throat. I ate some sprouted bread to push it down and took an herbal intestinal formula right away to make sure whatever it was didn't stay in my body long.

Since that experience, I've had one other solid piece of something release...this one being much smaller.

We spent a couple hours out as a family today...seeing Jeff's new Wellness Center that opens tomorrow and having lunch out. It was just so wonderful being out and about with my family again. Feeling normal.


Prayer Requests:
- Weight now: 104 ~ praying for increased activity to build muscle mass, which is the only way I've ever been able to keep weight on.

Praises:
- I can breathe so much better after my lungs release more.
- Emotionally, I am so encouraged, which helps me see an end to all of this...which in turn helps me feel better.

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

~Auguste Rodin

Day 33 ~ Seeing Beauty in Everything...

8:53 AM ~ Had an interesting night...coughing woke me up twice and both times my lungs released more...and both times I was perspiring profusely. Oooohhh...just like we've told Tiffani since she was young: God made our bodies so smart!!!

Despite the two wake-up calls, I had a great night's sleep. I feel refreshed this morning...my best morning all week. I have the humidifier going and about 10 minutes ago my lungs released the largest amount yet! Each time it releases, I can breathe even better.

Tiffani has joined me in my room this morning for breakfast. I have the corner-window blinds open, which reveal beautiful Birds of Paradise. The hummingbirds love them, so we've had quite a show this morning. I have a chaise that sits directly in front of this window and it's not unusual for these curious and tiny birds to hover and look in or simply sit on a leaf and rest for a bit. When I was a child living in another area, I never saw hummingbirds just sit. Out here it happens all the time.

Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully through my days, seeing beauty in everything.
~ Amethyst Wyldfyre

Cabazon Dinosaurs

We've always wanted to visit the new Creation Science Museum at the Cabazon Dinosaurs! We normally think of it when it's 100+ degrees. But we planned it for today's Mother-Daughter Day. It was a bit windy as you can see our hair and the palm frons blowing in the breeze, but it was a beautiful day!

Tiffani petting a dinosaur!

Hey! Did he just move?!
















Tiffani jumped right into the fray along with this gentleman to protect us from the terrifying T-Rex.







<=== Tiffani's mean face! (Watch out! That doesn't happen often!)



















We climbed into the mouth of a T-Rex! Yikes! We did that?!


















Playing around!












Farewell to Mr. T-Rex...you can see how tall he is...Tiff's standing by the fence.

After our harrowing experiences we headed next door to the Cabazon Outlet for a treat!