For my Mother

Seeing these beautiful birds remind me of my Mother...

they are her favorite....she is mine.

This one is for you Mom! I'm thinking about you today!

more quotes

"Love God and do whatever you please." Augustine

Whoa Whoa, what? This guy is a Christian....my Pastor explains.....When you truly love God ...whatever pleases us pleases the Father. Ok, yeah!

"Love God and sin boldly." Martin Luther

Whoa Whoa again...what? In the words of Mike Austin..."When you are a God-lover, (passionate, with abandonment for Christ and Christ alone) ...and you do what you are called to do in a big way....if you mess up...it'll be big!"

So, go ahead....live for the Lord and sin boldly!

glad to be here

OK...I received this picture yesterday and have passed it onto every Floridian I know.... I love it....

It shows "from whence I came"...while we here are complaining about our cold front (39 degrees) and our Governor calling for a state of emergency....the North Carolinian's truly know cold.... This picture of "Annie" was taken because Annie didn't want to come inside the warm house and sit by the fire. She's a Mountain Dog and proud of it!! HA HA ...you go girl!!

A new day...

"Why so downcast oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me? [I will] put [my] hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5

"Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men". Psalm 43:1

In the words of my Pastor: "Our future and our nation are in the hands of God (we know in whom we trust) not our Government Leaders.


Inauguration day. We are told to pray for our new President......"What does the LORD require of you {and me}? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God". Micah 6:8

That will be my prayer...and that his evil schemes will be shown as light as the noonday. That the Lord Jehovah will call him unto himself (not any other entity).

sights that thrill my soul...

"Golden Hour" on Lake James, NC;

sailling on open sea;

dolphins swimming,

and words!

Inspiration Cafe

Ok, I stole that title, but I love it...it's pithy!





My buddy Thomas Aquinas, Christian Theologian and Scholastic Philosopher in the 1200's.

Today is famous and favorite quote day....endulge me..."wonder is the desire for knowledge" (Thomas Aquinas)...actually, while I'm at it...here are a bunch of ol Thom's quotes...I like 'em

• How can we live in harmony? (Barack?) First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God. ...yeh-uh!
• To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
• The things that we love tell us what we are.
• Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine....That might be my favorite among my favorites.
• Whatever is received is received according to the nature of the recipient. ouch!

Ok, nuf of Thom....here are some others

• All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. Havelock Ellis
• Life is the sum of all your choices. Albert Camus
• We should consider everyday lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which wasn't accompanied by at least one laugh. Friedrich Nietzsche uh, yeah!
• Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. Raymond Lindquist....uh, nevah...I think I might be a chicken...I like familiar...a whole lot!

and finally...and this one is key (Mr. Miller...you "other" personality you....)

• The meeting of 2 personalities is like the contact of 2 chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung

...POOF! wow, didn't see that one coming...transformed huh? I guess that's better than just being irritated. I'm going to start referring to myself as the Transformed or the transform-ee...which is it? Life with Mr. Chemical Substance is just that....transFORMING!!! It's not me right? Right? hahahahaha

All done! Hugs!

January's Bible verses

Ok...it's a new year and I'm making some changes. We've been here going on 8 months and it's time to re-instill old habits...like going back to organized Bible Study with home-work, AND ...memorizing Scripture ("Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee")...without it I'm just wretched.

So, today I have signed up for the "Esther" study...hurrah...can't wait (starts Jan 29). Also, signed my name and committed to learning just 2 verses per month. I know that sounds simple...but it will probably be a challenge.

Here are my 2 January verses:

Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

and

Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

Ahhhh, feels good! (just like my favorite....COLD PERRIER with lime!

97 seconds with God blog...go there!

97secondswithhgod.blogspot.com.....Thursday, October 23...this is a must read....read and re-read it...we all need to hear it.

Back at it!

Well....the girls are back in School and my man is back at work...guess that means the dog gets a bath and the cat?...well, he'll just eat some more! I like routine so I'm glad we are back in it.

(Marc, me and my neon glow-stick)

It's interesting who misses you. I go to the YMCA pretty regularly...even found time in NC to go back. Today, it was like a family reunion when I walked in. People warmly greeted me and asked, "How was your Christmas? I haven't seen you in a while".

It's good to be missed...even by people whose names you don't even know. I'm glad to be back in the routine. I'm glad I had enough sugar over the break to last me a very looooong time!

Christmas revisited!

(The girls with Dramuh and Ollie in the new Gazebo!!)
I can't start the new year without at least mentioning the wonderful Christmas we had. We had Christmas in our little rental...the best ever because I took the girls with me this year to pick out their goodies...they shopped with Marc for me...and they wrapped 90% of the stuff....very very relaxing. Then, we traversed the country...well, kinda....We left sunny Florida, it was 84 degrees...we were dressed for Southern Indiana...so we were all sweaty by the time we packed the Volvo. Dog, luggage, presents, 2 girls, Ma and Pa set out for Grandmas...or "Dramuhs" as we call her. We decided we'd drive an extra 2 hours (for our stopover midpoint) and stay over in Chatanooooooga (sounds like a horn)...and have breakfast with Marc's cousins & Aunts....we bedded it down in the only room available in a Pet-friendly hotel...use your imagination..yep, that's it. The girls got to sleep on a pull out couch...facing us...the dog leaped from 1 bed to the other all nite because he had slept allllll day thanks to his doggy tranquilizer....he wanted to go out at 2 am....my mind considered it...then realized it would involve full body clothes, an elevator ride, not to mention the frigid TN temp....I made him wait until Marc woke up at 5...gotta love that man.

(Tennessee family)


We had breakfast at one of those all u can eat places (secretly we loved it) had a good visit and headed north....arriving at my Mom's....the first time I've been home when my Dad was not sitting at the kitchen table waiting to greet us...his absence was a constant. I've mentioned before...he was kinda cranky...but even cranky is missed because it always had its place in the family dynamics...I've never been there when he wasn't. I missed him every minute. It was kinda like the Aboriginese' tradition in the movie "Australia"...once someone passes away you are to never mention their name again....We weren't trying not to mention his name....we just couldn't bring ourselves to talk about him...it's too soon, too raw...the tears were always about to overflow. That was difficult.
Dan's new ride...and willing passenger.... )


But soon the family started pouring in...we ate all the traditional stuff that is served up in So. Indiana...."Italian Spaghetti"...made with lots of onions and bacon....cottage cheese at every meal...rivoli's (stewed tomatoes with homemade dumplings) etc., etc. Christmas dinner took place there on Saturday...everyone in attendance minus my brother Chris' family...they celebrated in Texas. A total of 25 sat down for a feast...then 25 opened presents ...1 at a time...it's tradition...and each gift is graded...."good present"...everyone says it in unison...and they are!

Miss Ava plays "Santa"

After a fun weekend there full of 'guy movies (hellboy II) and chic flicks (27 dresses) and HOURS of visiting from alll the extended relatives, and Marc singing at Dan's church...we headed SE....to visit THE house....we stopped off in TN to pick up Adrianne's honey then continued on to the mountains...arrived, turned the heat and water back on and voila....it's our home again....we even hosted (kinda) a New Years Eve party....lots of friends came out....we are such a party crowd that everyone was able to make it because no plans (besides family dinners) had yet been made....I love our friends.



NC gals....buds for life!!










We made it back to Florida in time to have 2 more days at home before returning to work...and a few more days before the girls headed back to school.

I loved this Christmas. We celebrated in Florida on Christmas Eve with our newfound friends and church family...then our visits in IN, TN, and NC with family and friends was full of quality time and "love".


This was a very good Christmas indeed. Happy Birthday Jesus!

The Miller-4 plus a drugged pup...in the traditional family photo op at Grandmas...in front of the tree!

Happy New Year!!

Gotta love the south...all year...but especially in Winter. Yesterday, January 4th...I laid out at my pool...it was in the 80's...bright, sunny, blue sky with scattered puffy white clouds...mmmm delight! Thank you Lord for sunshine and warmth...ain't nothin better....nowhere!

More about Christmas later...I'm still basking in the love of having both kids home for 2 more days...hubby went back to work today...we won't hear from him til tonite...that gives us a day of just girlness...we are deep in the midst of watching The Thornbirds...mmmm, my girls' first time thru....one of my most favorite movies...or moovah as we've come to call them. By the way...have you seen Australia yet? It's as great as "Gone with the wind"...but with eye candy. And, what about "Marley and Me"...loved it...but cried at the end...hated the part about when they left south Florida for Pennsylvania...talk about a death wish...who does that? Why would you? You could tell Jennifer Anniston was cold....check out that awful sweater she was always pulling around herself....back in Florida she just wore cool shorts and a tank.....