This day in "history"

My daughter, Brittany Jean (singer-songwriter), reminded me where we were one year ago today (actually it was a Sunday, but it was August 5). We were walking around Lower Manhattan in New York City checking out the 9/11 memorials and then taking a Clipper Ship tour around New York Harbor. The following day (Monday, August 6, 2018) Brittany would have the privilege of performing for 30 minutes at the City Winery NYC prior to the main event: Three Dog Night in concert!

It was a whirlwind trip, but one I am grateful we were able to make with Brittany and get to "see her shine!" It was a "night to remember" and truly a highlight in the year 2018!

"There were only six of us then; how we've grown!"

That post title comes from my daughter's song, "Satellites," and it is more true today than it was even when she wrote it to put on her first album called, "Whispered Stories," released in 2013!
(You can check out her work and info at: bjeanmusic(dot)com
:)
I'll just post a photo from 10/18/2018.
 :)

How I spell "Happiness"

If I could use only one word to describe "happiness," that word for me would have to be:

FAMILY

So when two of our four children traveled across the country with their families to join my husband and me and the other two of our children who live in our town so we could be all together in one place for Thanksgiving, I was filled to the brim with "happiness"!

And a line from my singer-songwriter daughter Brittany Jean's song, "Satellites," came to mind:

"There were only six of us then.... how we've grown!"

We began to "grow" in 2004 when our eldest got married... and then had their first child in 2008...

then her two brothers followed that marriage path several years later...

then... more children came along, whom I like to refer to as our "grand-loves," so that now our family members' magic number is fifteen!

Next year, in the year 2017, we shall grow by three more as each of our married children will welcome babies, and Lord willing, our tribe will reach the eighteen mark!

I am so grateful to the Lord for each one of these people! What a blessing they are!

"Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

How do you  spell happiness?

The Blessing of Family: Priceless!

I think there were a total of 44 of us gathered together to surprise my mom with an early birthday party on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. We pulled off the surprise, so that was a lot of fun.
Amongst our family members is one professional photographer and she captured a few good shots of all of us together. That is quite a feat, especially with some little boys that insist on making every shot a "goofy shot."  :)
I must say, though: I.Love.My.Family!
They are a "good and perfect gift" from the Lord above!



Yay! It worked! The photo showed up!  :-)

Book Cover Reveal Day!

 My daughter, Jenelle Leanne Schmidt, is preparing her next book, Yorien's Hand, to go on sale hopefully in mid-November, 2015!
But first, a peek at the beautiful book cover painted in water colors by Angelina D'Angelo Walker. Copy and paste the following link to view:

http://jenelleschmidt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Yoriens-Hand-Cover-Reveal-Banner-Small.png

All the details can be read at Jenelle's web site:

http://jenelleschmidt.com/yoriens-hand-cover-reveal/

I had the privilege of reading and doing some editing work on this book, so I'm quite excited about it getting closer to its release date! I know it is a great story!

If you enjoy fantasy-fiction with high adventures, intrigue, and dragons(!), you will be delighted with this third installment in Jenelle's "The Minstrel Song" series!

I hope you will have time to take a look!

Satellites, Meteorites, & Stars...

Wednesday, 8/12/15
What a wonderful evening we had tonight, listening to Brittany Jean put on a concert at Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, Washington! She did three 45-minute segments, with a 10-15 minute intermission after the 1st and 2nd segments. It wasn't a very big turn out, maybe 20 to 25 people total attending, but those that were there were extremely warm and welcoming to her! And 18 of her Whispered Stories CD's were sold! The Lodge sold tickets for this event in order to make a contribution to the Carlton Complex Fire Recovery efforts. Brittany Jean did a wonderful job and many of her songs seemed to evoke tears from many in the audience--a sign of a great story-teller balladeer!  :)
Upon arriving home quite late, I decided to see if I could see any of the meteorites that were predicted to be showering down tonight. I did see some, and that was a lot of fun. I saw a couple satellites as well. The billions of stars were amazing to behold! Talk about feeling small!
From the telescopic to the microscopic--it all points to The One Creator of it all! Regardless of whether He is accepted or rejected, He allows everyone to enjoy the myriad blessings of His creation!

Wednesday, March 4, 2015
     For some reason, after reading my daughter's blog post regarding her second-born daughter, who just turned three years old yesterday, a line from a story came to mind and I couldn't recall from what source it came. I did a Google search to find out that it came from Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass.
     Now, that has never been a story I paid much attention to, as I never really liked it; but after scrolling through some Lewis Carroll quotes from that book, I think I should pick up a copy from the library and read it from start to finish. Then I might either confirm my dislike for it...or perhaps be dissuaded from that opinion.
     Anyway, the line I was thinking of in relation to how quickly three years has seemed to pass for my granddaughter to already be three was this:  “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” 
     So this morning, I think I shall just stop and be still and not hurry...so I just don't get any more behinder!