Winter Storm January 2010

7 inches of snow

Oklahoma experienced another winter storm last Thursday and Friday. Thursday was the dreaded ice storm (1/2 - 1") which caused our power to go out for about 12 short hours -- not days. It went off around 9 PM was back on around 9 AM. Since was was primarily while we were sleeping, it wasn't a big issue.

Without electricity, we did got a little board so, I enterained us by playing the piano. Candlelight wasn't bright enough so hubs sat in his easy chair and shined a flashlight on my music. Before long, he begain saying that his arm was getting tired -- pitiful , pitiful-- a very small price to pay for such great entertainment =)

Friday, I shot the above picture of the pond by our house. The snow was only about 1 1/2 inches in this shot. About 5 hours later, there was 7 inches on the ground.

We went to a friend's house to play some games and enjoy the snow. The snow was deep and as we began to drive off, hubs totally missed the driveway and we got stuck in the deep snow. We tried several things to get it out but in the end called our son who has 4-wheel drive to pick us up. They went back today to try to pull it out but could not find a safe place to hook up to the car, so it is still there. A man in our church had a car dealership and he knows where to hook to it so they will go Monday to get the car. We have another vehicle so it's not a big deal to be short one for a couple days.

I drove to our friend's house, and am I ever GLAD that I was not driving when we left! =) He would have teased me unmercifully and the whole church would have heard about it! I thinking . . . I'm thinking . . . do I want to exercise the golden rule here? What would you do?

♥
Sherry

Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration Part 2

Day two began with the alarms on our phones going off early! We had an exciting day ahead of us and we didn't want to miss one minute of it!

Having some fun with the camera while getting ready for our big day!

We met Beth from Louisiana (next to me) and Yolanda from Kansas for breakfast then we were off to the church again for an awesome morning of praise, teaching and saying our scriptures that we had been working so hard to memorize over the last 12 months!

Self portrait.

I decided that I would try to take a picture of my tee-shirt. Obviously my arm was not quite long enough to get very much of it but I did get the emblem in the picture. =)

We met "Snowgirl" (Cheryl) from Austin the first night and she sat with us. She traveled alone to the celebration so we saved her a seat for Saturday morning's service. She said her scriptures to us and did very well. We enjoyed meeting her!

Beth finished her teaching on Psalm 119, which has 176 verses!!! (I remembered, Beth.)

Then it was time to separate into pairs or groups to say our verses.

In this picture I am saying my chapter, Psalm 139.

Valerie followed my progress in my spiral and monitored my accuracy.

I did the same for her.

We did it!

We said all 24 verses . . . . perfectly!

We both memorized Psalm 139 but in different translations.

HIGH 5 TO US!

My goal was to say it word-for-word and smoothly.

God so graciously honored my request!

A quick snapshot in front of the SSMTC banner.


After the final session was over, we went into the sanctuary and took pictures on the platform where so many of Beth's Bible studies have been videoed. We were told that the wood in the cross behind us is believed to be over 200 years old!


As we were leaving, we walked into the foyer and found that Beth was taking pictures with the
Siestas (bless her sweet ♥). We were fortunate to get in line and get a picture with her.
(What I have in my hand is a door prize that I won -- "Wising Up - Set 1". )

When we walked back into the hotel, we stopped to get a cup of coffee. A friendly voice said hello to us from the breakfast room. We walked over and greeted two sweet ladies and had a nice conversation with Margie and Karina whom we had never met before. We ended up going to lunch with them and Margie's husband, Larry, willing became our driver. We became fast friends and so enjoyed our time together. We made arrangements to meet for church the next morning. They are three people that I will not forget.

We attended the early service at Houston's First Baptist church with Margie and Larry.

It's always a special treat for me to visit another church since my honey is a Senior Pastor :)

After service we drove back to the hotel where Joaquin, our driver, was waiting to take us to the airport. Our entire schedule went smoothly. What a beautiful day it was to fly! We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, checked in, bought a Houston Starbucks mug, had lunch and then only had to wait about 15 -20 minutes until it was time to board the plane. The flight was smooth and quick.

I am so thankful that I was able to attend this awesome event! Valerie was the best travel friend ever! What fun we had talking, laughing, reciting our chapter to each to each other -- over and over, taking pictures, just hang'n out and getting to know each other better. Thanks for asking me to travel with you! Love you sweet friend. :)

Beth, Travis and the Living Proof Staff did an excellent job of making us feel welcome and so loved. They went out of their way to provide this free event for the Siestas! "Thank you" doesn't really cover it. God bless you all!

Thanks to my sweet hubs for allowing me to skip out from teaching my Sunday School class and our own church services to experience this awesome weekend! You're the best and I love you, too!

Mostly, thank you for my heavenly Father for all His provisions in making this possible -- and for meeting with us and watching over us each step of the way!

♥
Sherry

Siesta Memory Team Celebration

Hey bloggy friends and Siestas!

I am going to try to get this post up before we lose electricity. Oklahoma is in a state of emergency and it is icing up as I type. Please pray that people we will safe and no lives will be lost due to this storm.

I didn't get all my picture together until yesterday so now I will try to recap the trip.

I was so blessed to have been able to be a part of the original Scripture Memory Team through the Living Proof Ministries Blog and attend the SMT Celebration in Houston. My sweet friend, Valerie, that I met through blogging invited me to travel with her to the event. What a fun and wonderful time we had!

I arrived at Valerie's house around 6:20 a.m. She was ready so we loaded the luggage in the car and was off by 6:25 a.m. Our plane was scheduled to depart at 9:25 a.m. and since the airport is about 45 minutes away, we leisurely went through security, took pictures and had a nice breakfast. Before we knew it we were seated in the airplane and on our way to Houston!

Valerie -- almost through security (I wonder if it was against the rules to take this picture in this area of security??!! ) Oh well, no one confiscated my phone. =)

All set and ready go!

After we landed in Houston, we made our way to baggage claim, made verbal contact with Laura and headed outside to wait for her to pick us up.

Look who we found waiting for a ride, too.!!

Tavis Cottrell, worship leader for all of Beth Moore's Living Proof events,-- a brave man to allow a pink boa to be draped around his neck. (The pink boas were a means of identifying Siestas in airports, hotels, etc. We carried our in our purses . . until . . we saw poor Travis! What a good sport.)

One of Valerie's blogging friends, Laura, was so gracious to offer to pick us up at the airport, take us to lunch at Pappasito's and then to the LPM offices all before taking us to our hotel near the church! We had never met her in person -- or any of the other girls we met for lunch! Just the very thing we tell our children NOT to do :) However, meeting these Christian women for the first time face-to-face was wonderful.

From left to right: Laura, me, Annette (from Houston), Angie (from Michigan) and Valerie.

Pappasito's is a great place to eat Mexican food!

We took this picture just before we left. We would be meeting up again that night.

After lunch at Pappasito's, we headed for LPM offices and took a few pictures. Nancy, head of correspondence at LPM, had stepped out to the mailbox and saw us taking pictures so she came over and asked us if we were "Siestas". She took a picture of the three of us then we got a picture with her.

Laura, Valerie and me in front of the Living Proof Ministries sign.

Me, Nancy and Valerie


Next we went to our hotel. It was time to say "thank you" again and "goodbye" to Laura. What a kind hearted person she is. Thanks Laura!

Here we are at the church sporting our very pink boas!

The event was held in the room where Beth taught her Sunday School class. She was a Sunday School teacher for 22 years. Travis led us into worship with beautiful music and Beth taught on Psalm 119. What an awesome study. She made sure we remembered that there are 176 verses in this chapter!

After service, Beth greeted and took pictures with as many as she could.

LPM served huge pieces of Texas sheet cake and coffee to everyone. (There were 508 ladies in attendance -- that's a lot of cake and coffee.)

It was a wonderful evening. We went back to the hotel -- following the pink feather trail along the way :)

To be continued . . . .

Me and Gov. Sarah Palin

On December 3, 2009, I attended Govenor Sarah Palin's book signing in Norman, OK. Shealah Craighead Photography was there to take pictures of everyone that had a book signed. Because of the copywrite laws and licenses, I cannot place a picture on my blog . . . . but. . . . . if you would like to see my picture with Govenor Palin, just click on the link below.

http://www.photoshelter.com/c/shealahcraighead/gallery-img-show/2009-12-03-OK-Norman/G0000.bIvgNFpX60/?P_ID=P0000lMKdCzN08e8&_bqG=1604&_bqH=eJxL9wtIt0zJcssryi918_SzSKoKSErycY_PSvO0MjQzMbcyNbCyco_3dLF1NwACvSTPsnQ_t4IIMwO1AJBoAEg0x9c7xbnKz8Ai1ULN3TPe3dHHxzUoEpsmAFmxIJA-&I_ID=I0000uihA6ny.Ec0

Thanks for looking.

♥
Sherry

"Don't send a man to the grocery store."

Enjoy a good laugh today!



Have a wonderful day!

♥
Sherry

Our own kind of party

On New Year's Eve, my son and DIL decided to go out for the evening an see the New Year in as a couple. Part of their plans was to go see a movie. So. . . . hubs and I kept the kids overnight. Our granddaughter came up with the good idea . . . for us to watch movie like her mom and dad were doing and to have popcorn, too :) She picked "Mary Poppins".

I popped some popcorn, fixed something for us to drink and got everyone seated and then started the movie. The little mister sat by me on a little stool with a little bowl of popcorn and his drink. I was so surprised at his participation in our movie event. He enjoyed his popcorn and as you can see, he was really into "Mary Poppins". He made it all the way to the end of the movie!

I had so much fun with these little munchkins . . . I think it might have been my best New Year's Eve . . . ever!

Blessings,
Sherry

PS Oh, yes, we did see the old year out and the new year in -- barely.

Abundant Blessings

As an old year melts away and a new one is stretched out before us, we have a tendancy to reflect on the year passed. Some years are filled with troubles and heartache and we are more than glad to see them fade away. Other years are filled with great accomplishments, good times, overflowing with blessings and peace. Even in the years that will not make our most cherished list, we can always find things worthy of thanksgiving. Actually, the Bible instructs us give thanks in all things. Some days that can be difficult, but if we do it, we will begin to see our attitude shift and our spirit life.

2009 - a wonderful year for me and my family. Yes, there have been negative things, a few miner health issues, some set-backs, but overall, there have been so many things to be thankful for. Family is always at the top of my list.

Here are few pictures of some of my blessings:

My son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, grandson

and new granddog.

So precious!


These two are gifts from heaven!

And of course, the wonderful man in my header picture.

Family and friends are gifts that money cannot buy. I am "blessed with love".

Blessings,

Sherry

New year blessings to all my bloggy friends!

Love,
Sherry