snow

Welcome 2016!

~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

The New Year lies before you like a fresh blanket of snow.  What kind of mark will you leave?

100_4221

It is a new year – welcome 2016!  I hope you dear friends will have a blessed year.  You may have noticed the name change.  I’ve been debating for some time about changing the name of the blog to my name instead of StoneLeaf and Co.  So, here it is.

Subscribers should still receive posts as usual.  If you are not a subscriber I would appreciate you subscribing to my blog so that you don’t miss out on new posts.  Your inbox is safe with me. No one has access to your email but me. You can subscribe right over there on the right.  Thanks!

I will be back sometime this week with an end of the year wrap-up post of sorts for 2015 – I like to do this to help me see where I’ve been.  So you won’t want to miss that (or maybe you will ).

Welcoming in grace,

Teresa

My Lately

~ Teresa ~ 8 Comments

I started writing a post.  It is not ready for the public.  It may never be.  I really don’t know what is going on with this not writing and it is starting to scare me a little bit.  I trust that God has a plan though and in the meantime I am still here, even though not exactly here.  Not here writing.  Hopefully soon.

While we are waiting for the words to come, I thought I’d share some pictures of my lately.  Just Random shots of recent snows, a small depression glass dish I found to fit a lid I already had,  and supermarket flowers I arranged.

100_4240

100_4266 100_4264

100_4186 100_4190 100_4208 100_4209-001 100_4195 100_4223 100_4232 - Copy 100_4234 - Copy

100_4244 100_4251100_4277100_4255 In addition to snapping pictures and arranging supermarket flowers I have been watching a lot of 7th Heaven.  We started from the beginning and are now in season 3. I loved that show when it was on originally and it seemed a good fit for me right now.  I think watching it has been some kind of therapy for me and I’m still working through the why.

Grace is good,

Teresa

 

Weekend Toss

~ Teresa

I haven’t done a Weekend Toss for awhile, so thought I’d share a few thoughts with you today.  A little late in the day, but still the weekend.  Enjoy!

It's pretty much a gray rainy day here in Kentucky, much like this one I took a year or so ago outside my workroom window.
It’s pretty much a gray rainy day here in Kentucky, much like this picture I took a year or so ago outside my workroom window.
This evening into tomorrow morning, it could very possibly look like this again, according to the weather report. I know, enough already! This was taken out of my kitchen window on one of our recent snows. I've lost count on how many we've had.
This evening into tomorrow morning, it could very possibly look like this again, according to the weather report. I know, enough already! This was taken out of my kitchen window on one of our recent snows. I’ve lost count on how many we’ve had.

 

100_1678
I’m hoping it starts looking like this again soon (minus the weeds). I am ready for a new season.
This is one of my favorite looks, but we'll enjoy spring and summer first. Well, at least Spring. A nice long balmy spring. Hope.
This is one of my favorite looks, but we’ll enjoy spring and summer first. Well, at least Spring. A nice long balmy spring. Hope.

Also, remember the Magnum ice-cream commercial?  The one in which the beautiful girl, who is stuck in a traffic jam, climbs over cars to get to the ice-cream truck for a Magnum bar.  I know how she feels.  I may not know how she looks, but I know how she feels. Some days are just Magnum Ice-cream kind of days.  I just ate a Magnum bar and they are pure heaven. Expensive. But worth the splurge once in a while.  Kroger had them on sale earlier this week. I bought two boxes (three to a box).  I shared with Rocky. You probably need one.  You can thank me later.

Source
Source

Finally, some food for thought (because aren’t we always trying to re-invent ourselves)  Just be who you are supposed to be.

PicMonkey Collage..quote.wilde

Ephesians 2:10:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Weekending in Grace,

Teresa

Hello 2014

~ Teresa ~ 9 Comments

“Look to the Lord and His strength; Seek His face always.”  Psalm 105:4

100_2701

So, it’s February already.  And you may be thinking I’m a little late on greeting the New Year.  Not at all.

I have come to the conclusion that for me the new year begins in February.  I did glance it’s way on a couple of post early in January.  I even chose a word for the year. Begin.  Yes, I get the irony.

But, I wasn’t ready.  It may have been partly due to the worst case of sinusitis I’ve ever had, followed by a horrible bout with gout (see how I rhymed. it just happened).

However, I think the truth is that it takes me that long to decompress and wind up the old year.  That whole stretch from Thanksgiving to New Years is not especially kind to me.  No matter how much I try to stay calm, for some reason the holidays stress me every time.

If I could just go away for about six weeks at the end of every year to my favorite place in the mountains, I’m sure I’d be ready to say hello on January 1.  That, of course, is not usually an option because it is family time and family is important.

So, I take January to regroup.  This year I had some brain swirls, but I didn’t feel like engaging in deep thought on a regular basis, so I just left them swirling.  Oh, I did make some lists of goals and projects and even daily schedules.  Things I was shuffling around in an attempt to come up with a plan for the year.

I even had an epiphany of sorts that sometimes in order to begin you have to stop. If you think about it long enough it does make sense.  Sometimes in order to gain perspective and direction you have to stop and take it all in.

Stopping to reassess goes along with the theme of reviewing the old and regrouping for the new. Right?  It goes along with setting goals and moving forward. Right? So, that’s what I did.  I stopped for awhile.

Today, I decided I was finally ready to greet the New Year.  Ready to begin. Please don’t ask me what that means.  It may take all year to figure that out.  But, you have to start somewhere.

My somewhere is simply to say, Hello 2014.

Beginning in Grace,

Teresa

PS.   I am ready for spring and swinging on my front porch. Winter is so last year.

100_1879

Weekend Toss (clearing out some thoughts)

~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

What I’ve been about and some random thoughts.  I hope your weekend is blessed and warm!  I appreciate you for taking time out of your busy day to read the words I’ve written.

1.  I have been decorating for Christmas.  Thursday was decorating day, but I started late, so it spilled over into all day Friday.  I still have a few things to tweak, but it is pretty much done.  This year I have decided to use what I already have and incorporate everyday objects from around the house and my knick knack stash.  The only items purchased new are some boxwood wreaths that have not arrived yet.  They can be used year round, so not necessarily just for Christmas.  I may need two or three candles, but otherwise it is a nothing new Christmas. On Monday December 16, I will be linking up with the Nester for her Annual Christmas Tour of Homes so if you’re interested in how the Christmas decor turned out you may want to come back.  In the meantime here is an in progress picture. It will be simple this year.

Image

2.  I look out my window and it looks as if someone has taken a sifter and scattered powdered sugar across the lawn and on rooftops.  It is pretty, but oh so cold.  We usually don’t have weather this wintry until later in the month or even January. According to the Farmers Almanac we are headed into a long winter.  I know a couple of my friends will be extremely happy about all the snow – present and future.  Bless their hearts.

3.  Sometimes, I would like to give up social media and go back to a simpler time when there was less invasion of privacy and I didn’t know every time someone’s baby had a poo.  We are bombarded with so many images,, tips, warnings, conspiracy theories and pout pictures that we are in danger of becoming desensitized to the things that really matter. Maybe I’ll consider taking a break for the winter.

4.  As I sit here and look around my messy cozy home I realize just how much I am blessed.  I should never complain about anything.  I have more than I need and probably even more than I really want.  With each passing birthday, I realize that less is more and people, not things are the blessings in our life.  The less we have, the more time to bless and be blessed.

5.  You may have heard that I attended an event at the Barn a couple of weeks ago. It was hosted by Emily Freeman.  She posted pictures of the event here  in case you are curious. She also had a few links to others who wrote about the experience, so you may enjoy them as well.  It was a great event that is still impacting about 80 people.

6.  And lastly, I have been swirling thoughts around trying to figure out just what is the purpose of my blog and who does it impact and why.  I want to explore this more going forward and will probably be devoting a post (soonish) about some of my thoughts with questions for my readers.  I love writing and I believe that it is a gift of God.  I don’t believe that I always use it well or with intention.  I don’t want to waste the gift of words.  If I have a message to say and an audience to say it to, then I want to honor God by doing it his way.  And if he has other plans, then I want to be sensitive to that and not beat a dead horse. I’d appreciate you joining me in prayer for direction.

7.  If you’re looking for a good book about how to use the gifts you have been given and how they just may be the art you were designed to make I’d highly recommend a million little ways, by Emily Freeman.  It will help you search your soul. Whatever your age. It’s never too late to make art.

What about you, what is on your mind this weekend?  Feel free to leave a comment and be sure to come back tomorrow for the second Sunday of Advent.

My thoughts may be random, but grace is not,

Teresa