WOW ~ Last Day of February!!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying the last day of February. Where did that time go. Was keeping busy with card making, organizing income taxes, losing weight on the Atkins/Keto diet and keeping my blood sugars down. Yeah, it's been an okay month. Looks like March will come in like a lion with cold....hopefully go out like a lamb.

The above card is a sample of a birthday card I made for the oldest nephew...he'll be 9 years old. I will take a picture of the card in a few days. I decided to make 4 of these cards for the 2 nephews and 2 nieces. That will make things easy, won't have to think of 3 more ideas.....keep it simple, sam!!!

So our back yard is in very bad shape. It flooded out.....what a mess!! This is the worse, it has ever been in the 26 years we have lived here.  We live in the lowest part of the block. So all the rain water drains into our yard. Last year was bad, but not as bad as this. 

It rained all night last week and the water spread into the pond area. The yard was under water completely. Thank God it did not spread into our basement. I can't imagine what people are going through when there houses are under water.

Looks like an ice skating rink....now if I had some ice skates, I could have tried it out!! This would have been great when I was younger....I loved ice skating, but I fell in a hole and sprained my ankle and never skated again.

The flooding spread back into my fire pit area. There's no grass growing back there, now I think the whole back yard will be like the fire pit area. I put some grass seed down last summer....but nothing grew. Guess I will try again.

As of the last couple of days, the weather has been in the 40's so the ice melted quite a bit. Our yard is starting to look normal again. I will be glad when Spring arrives and things start turning green again.

I have some good news about my Atkins/Keto diet. This morning, when I checked my blood sugars, I write everything down on a sheet. Also figured is my weight. So, I lost 1 pound in February....that's not much. BUT when I started this diet on 7/5/17....the grand loss is now 22 lbs. Not bad for this old girl. My Doctor will be happy. Hopefully my A1C will be in the low numbers too.

Well, time to close here. Have to go finish working on my taxes. You have a great day March 1st...hope the Lion does not roar too loudly in your area of the country. Keep looking up ~ better days are coming, soon!! Cheers ~ Louise

JSM MUSIC :: DRAW ME LORD

Hi there everyone. How is Saturday treating you??? I am kind of lazy today. Many things to do, but just backing off. I wandered around Jimmy Swaggarts music, probably listening for over an hours worth of music on You Tube. I love this song and there was such an anointing here....wish I could have been there. I miss the beautiful worship at my old church....Thank God I can go to JSM for my spiritual needs now.

Have a good Saturday evening and don't forget to go to church tomorrow!!! Keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Billy Graham's Last Message to America & the World...listen carefully...

Hi there everyone. Hope you are doing well. I found Billy Graham's last message and thought I would share it with you. This is so powerful. 

There is a prophecy out there that when Oral Roberts and Billy Graham die...God will begin the revival. I know there have been many revivals.....but this will be God's Revival. So, Get ready.
Here we go!!!

I wanted to put this on my Blog....so I can listen to it every now and then. Billy Graham touched my life...I wouldn't be here today if he hadn't pointed his finger at me through the TV and said, "You go to Church this weekend." I said yes, it's quite the testimony, when I think about it.

Have a good day or night....where ever you are. Keep looking up ~ better days are coming!!! Cheers ~ Louise

A Little Bit of This and That

Hi there everyone. Hope you are still enjoying this Valentine Month. Thought as long as we are still in the month, I could share our Valentine's Day with you.

These are the flowers I bought for me, from JP and Kylie.....a bunch of little carnations....sweet aren't they? JP gave me a book mark, made from a card I made for him and he recycled it from Christmas!!!!

These are the cards I made for JP. The red one with the hearts and butterfly is from me. I rather like that card and if I can remember, I'll make more like this for Hospice next year. The "Eye-Love-You" card is from Kylie. That was fun to make, a fun kids card.

This is the inside of the card, that's my drawing...hahahaha...fun!

Last but not least.....I still have my Christmas tree up.....yep!!! But it's a Valentine Tree. I like the lights.....maybe if I can find the lights, decorations, I will make a St. Patrick's tree. We'll see....not ready to take the tree down yet.

The Blackhawks are playing the Los Angeles Kings. Hawks are losing 3-0....oh honestly. Maybe I don't want to watch the slaughtering of the Hawks again. They just came out of a 8 game losing streak and won Saturday 8-1 against the Washington Senator's. The Hawks are not playing the way they played Saturday night......can't seem to figure out what the problem is. It can't be because the regular Goalie is out.....can it???

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the eye doctor. He is going to check to see if his laser job worked on my eye. Guess there was a hole in the retina. I haven't noticed any difference, so to me, everything is okay.

Wednesday, is my date at Betty's to make cards. I missed last month, because I was sick. I can't remember the last time I was that sick. Better now, guess it takes a while to get better after a bout with the flu.

JP has to make an appointment with our Doctor and fill out a form with him for his job. They want to know if he is capable of still working.....(sigh). He is capable, but they (his supervisor) is questioning it. They give him so much to accomplish in one night and then the building he cleans, they want extra work done. "I think they are wanting "Superman" to clean the building!!!!! Just my observation....but that doesn't count!!

Still working on my Atkins Diet. I hope tomorrow I break that plateau I have been on for a week or so. Gets a little frustrating at times. I am finding a few blogs that have great recipes for the low carb, protein diet. The other day I made a Keto mug bread for my hamburger.....gosh that was good!! I have the ingredients for Keto Pizza Skillet. With plans to make Keto Fathead Sugar Cookies, Fathead Pizza Dough...lots of ideas. The other day I made Keto chicken soup called "Sopa de lima" peppers, tomatoes, chicken....then I added some avocado and cilantro seasoning.

I am really enjoying this diet actually....the last time I tried this, last July, lost 10 lbs and have managed to keep it off. Now if I could do another 10-15 lbs and keep it off, that would be an accomplishment for me. I ask God every night to help me. I think He is helping. I know my mind has to change first. Cause if you gave me a big bag of chips.....I could finish it off....with no problem or a whole plate of fries. I LOVE CARBS but they are the killer!!!

Time to close. The score is still 3-0. I want to watch the rest of the game, I will up-date you. You have a great day tomorrow and keep looking up...better days are coming (I am sure of it.)

Cheers ~ Louise

Kylie Wants Some Too

Hi there everyone....how you all doing??? I have been kind of quiet this past week. Working on taxes and getting all "those papers" organized. Who said, "with computers, we will go paperless??" I think someone was dreaming probably....hahahaha!

So, I am taking a night off from papers.....do you know, I have papers from all the way back to 2004 and older (those may be down stairs). I guess it is time to have all those papers shredded. Our bank does shredding, so as soon as I go through all those papers  pulling staples and paper clips off, should have a couple of bags.

Seven years is all I have to keep some stuff. I have "a list of things to save and how long." It looks like Bank reconciliations, Bank statements, duplicate deposit slips, ins. policies (expired) are less then 5 years. 7 years for accident reports, contracts, mortgages, notes and leases, expired. 7 years for stock and bond certificates (cancelled) and withholding tax statements.

Papers to keep permanently - checks (cancelled for important payments i.e. taxes, purchases of property, special contracts, etc. and those checks should be filed with the important papers pertaining to those payments. Contracts, mortgages, notes and leases (expired and still in effect). Insurance records, current accident reports and claims. Property appraisals and property records and tax returns and worksheets. Hope that helps someone...it does me.

So today I made this for JP's lunch. Three layers of French toast with bacon and fruit on each layer,  then topped with yogurt. Looks pretty good....huh?

See Kylie in the corner.....she is barking for a taste or a pieces of Daddy's lunch. She'll bark and bark till she gets a bite. I finally have to say, "that's enough Kylie" and she stops barking.

Here's another shot of that delicious three layered French toast, fruit and strawberry shortcake.

Barking, barking, barking. Kylie is 14 years old now. She has her days where she feels good, and days when she does not. I have changed her diet and give her less people food and "Beneful" and more "Freshpet". She also gets "Milk bones" and "Special Cuts" as treats. It all seems to be working. 

Just another shot of JP's lunch and Kylie barking.

So today, I started my Dr. Atkins diet again. Cutting out carbs (or just not eating as much) for about a month. The last time I did this diet was last July and lost 10 lbs. and have managed to keep those 10lbs off. My A1c was at a good number too. So I thought I would do it again. As my Blood test is in April....would be nice to have lost another 10-15 lbs. 

It is a high protein and low carb diet. Eggs and bacon or sausage in the morning. Salads for lunch and meats and vegies for dinner and not too much snacking in between meals. It's pretty doable for me and when I see the scale start moving down, I 'll get very motivated to keep going. I have 3 Dr. Atkin books for lot's of recipes and Walmart has Dr. Atkins bars and meals in the freezer dept. So I usually pick up a couple for breakfast or dinner.

I will let you know how things go the rest of this month and the beginning of March. Have to go now, it's getting late and I have to get JP's dinner ready. Pork chops, mashed potatoes and bean casserole and his left over lunch, French toast and fruit.

Have a good evening and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

February ~ What's UP!!!

Hi there everyone. Wow....February and what's up??? Thought I would add another picture of the peony stamp I bought from Altenew. This one looks like it might be a water color rendition of the peony. Looks like fun. I do have the die cut that goes along with this stamp. So most definitely I will have to try this effect.

Started working on my income tax....first I have to go through the files, cleaning everything from 2017 out and start the year fresh....out with the old and in with the new I always say!!! (and I have a lot of OLD to throw out ~ upstairs, downstairs and in the garage.) Maybe 2018 will be my "throw out the junk year." After living in this house for almost 27 years, we have a lot of old to throw out, no doubt.

Otherwise, it looks like February will be quiet....for now. I really need to get some cards made.....looks like Valentines day is coming up soon, an anniversary and birthday at the beginning of March. 

Hospice meeting March 2nd....things might be a bit easier this month. As I finally made labels to place in the cards rather then the regular inserts. So if there happens to be a card with a saying inside, rather then take it out and replace with the Hospice insert, I can just place a label at the bottom of the saying. This might save some time, making life easier.

Well, think I will close here for now....it's 12:03am....time to go to bed. You all take care and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise