Ordination

This next Sunday I will be ordained as a Prophet in the church with the rights and privileges
(and responsibilities) as a minister. I am awed about this. I never set out to be ordained. I was only a willing vessel as the Bible asks us to be. But the Apostle of our church, and yes he is an Apostle just like Paul or Timothy who is called by God and empowered to recognize the callings on people's lives, recognized my calling even when I didn't have a clue. So for three years I have been a 'prophet in training' and have finished the School of Ministry and now teach in the school which is a fancy way of saying I'm learning even more.

I have always loved God. Even when I was messed up and wasn't living for God I still loved Him. It's kind of like cheating on your husband. You are still bound to him but doing the wrong things. But the love of God drew me back to and I will never leave again. My home is where my heart is, and my heart is with God.

He never ceases to amaze me. The way He works things out is nothing short of miraculous. Last year I needed a new truck. I wrote down exactly what I wanted and the day before I was to return my leased car, there it was. The year, model with the extras and the exact price I wanted to pay. I left my car at the Volvo dealership and went to the bank and signed for my truck. That is only one of many examples of the miraculous way He has worked in my life.
Being sold out to God isn't always the easiest road but anything worth having is never the easy way. Whatever comes my way, God and I are going through it together. I don't want to draw one breath without Him

July in the South

Yep, it's hot here. And humid. You know everyone from everywhere talks about the humidity in the south, and they are right. It can make things miserable. To those who work outside for a living, that is.

But most of the time we are inside and when we go into a restaurant its so cold we have to take a jacket inside. That is not summer. That is just wrong. And the pick for worst offender is---Beauregards in Huntsville. As much as I like their nachos I'm going to have to boycott the place. I have it on good authority that they keep the place so cold so that the turnover will be faster. I personally think any establishment should be a little more concerned with the comfort of their customers. That is if they want to keep those customers. So I will find a place that I can actually sit in for a half hour and enjoy my dinner.

Husband is mudding walls in the kitchen and as soon as they dry I will sand them. This mess has to get cleaned up. We can't get around in the kitchen which means we can hardly get in the back door and sheetrock dust is everywhere, even though we have plastic over the doors. Another obstacle to getting around. Whatever it takes, it's getting finished today.

Thanks to my friend who gave me the cucumbers and tomatoes yesterday. I made the recipe you gave me and we will enjoy it tomorrow. I made two batches. One for us and the other for the dinner at church tomorrow.

Update on the house

Husband and I are making progress. We have the nicest retaining wall outside that we built between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 at night. I have the dust ruffle made for the bed and Hubby is mudding the walls in the kitchen so I can get them sanded and painted. We keep saying no more big projects but neither of us like to see things undone. Hubby's oldest daughter and her husband came over on Saturday and we really loved seeing them. Since we have been up here in Tennessee we have been seeing so much more family and we are loving that. His youngest daughter visited with us yesterday. We really enjoy having her.

I had a bad dream last night.I dreamed my brother was a teenager and he came up missing. He was just gone. The rest of the dream was the whole family trying to find him and we never did. It was upsetting. When I awakened, I prayed for his safety and blessed him.

I have been hearing from my sisters and I sure like that. My sister is getting old. It's her 30 year high school reunion.

Let me help!

I'm pretty good at what I do and I do lots of things when it comes to design. I can organize spaces, pick colors, remove walls and replace them with interesting architectural features. I can pick plants that meet multiple needs and look great. I can tell you what kind of grass is best for your lighting situation. And to a point I can tell you how much it will cost. I just have to find a way to let people know how I can help them.
The best part of my job is giving people what they want in a way that gives them more than they asked for. I love my job. I really like to work because when one does what they love it doesn't seem like work. I know I could benefit both individual clients and installers and builders, as they benefit what I do. I just haven't figured out how to show them how much I can help them. That is the frustration of my work. I have no doubt that soon I will have more work than I can handle but now I see installers (one in particular) who is completely overwhelmed and I know I can help make his load more bearable but he is too busy to see me even though I am certain he wants to meet.
Surrounding oneself with competent people is one major key to building a successful business. I am always looking for subcontractors with the same work ethic as I have. One day in the near future some of these very people will see the benefit of working with me as many have before. Working with good people makes work a joy.and I plan on being exceedingly blessed in that area.

Lets get lost in the Alabama countryside

I was trying to reach a new client in the Limestone area this morning and used mapquest to figure out a shorter back way. Well I needed Mooresville Road and by looking at the map it looked quite complicated. I soon found out that it was. The first street that I was to take had the same name but it was about three streets before the one I was supposed to take. Then I got to a stop light that allowed only one lane of traffic to pass under a railroad, of course with no signs. Then after missing the turn off for Mooresville because it was a rinky dink road I finally found Mooresville. About 9 miles later it quit, jogged, after a while I found that it jogged again. Finally with the help of a policeman I found my way. What a mess. But I know the Alabama countryside much better than before.
My display board from Across the Pond created interest for this client. I was very excited that my hard work paid off in the form of a new client. She wants a designer like on Designer's Challenge on HGTV. I'm her woman!
Our house looks like a calamity of unfinished projects. We have a small retaining wall with the blocks sitting out there until we get the sand base. I still have the dust ruffle on the dining room table. I have to put the polyurethane on the crown molding. The kitchen is a disaster. And I'm blogging. Better do something productive. The day is getting away from me.

Lazy Sunday?

Here it is Sunday afternoon and I'm dressed to start sanding walls. My husband is on a tractor spreading soil for new planting beds and I have received and returned a call for a landscape design. This after attending church, hitting Home Depot and grabbing lunch with church friends. ( That part was nice) I remember something about Sunday in the Bible as being a day of rest but somehow we have abused that.

We will be starting our School of Ministry classes under our own accredation here in about three weeks. Time to hit the books again. But what a great school we have. Attending, graduating and now teaching in the school has changed my life, very much for the better. We have a brand new website but I don't have the address for those of you who would like to get smart like me.

I received feedback from my last blog. Some are reading it. Thanks 10girl and my lil sis.

Running around

Today was a day that I grabbed my friend and just took care of 'stuff'. I got alot more accomplished with her with me. It wasn't so lonely. I picked up my display boards from Frame World and they really did look great. I finally figured out how to make them look good. I dropped one off at Across The Pond where I will be doing a seminar on September 8, and we also picked up a light fixture for the kitchen.
Speaking of the kitchen. I've decided to tackle a face lift renovation and I will take before pictures to post. I think I am the only one wizzed about the project. I must admit I am a little intimidated by the project as husband will be busy with other things and I will be much on my own. But its butt ugly and I am having trouble living with it so tomorrow I'm digging in. I priced new countertops and they are about twice as much as my countertops from 4 years ago. But I found a really great one and I hope that works out.
I have this idea for a magazine article rattling around in my head and I will post it here before I submit it to any magazines for input. More on that later.
I sent this link out to several friends but haven't got any comments so I don't know if anyone is reading it. Please let me know. I'm feeling very neglected here.

Today is a New Day

You know when you know Jesus Christ intimately (like everything you do involves Him) life is much different than when you are out there on your own. I wake up every day and I look at the possibilities that have been given to me. I have a whole day spread out in front of me. The question I used to ask before giving myself over to God was "what can you do for me today, Lord?" but these days I ask " what can I do for you today, Lord?" With Him all things are truly possible.

I have a husband who kisses me every morning and hugs me and blesses me. Every day! A blessing is very important. In the Old Testament a son would scheme to get his father's blessing. So when I bless you, my friends I'm not just wasting oxygen. Something will happen when we bless each other. And when a husband and wife get in agreement on any subject, that is the greatest power of all. So I feel truly "blessed" to have a husband who understands the importance of blessing me. I am truly blessed.

We have a new house up here in Tennessee. (Up from Alabama, that is) and we have new piles of beautiful topsoil around our new house to spread for planting beds. Wait until you see the beautiful Crape Myrtles and Viburnums I will soon have.

The inside of our house is coming along,too. We have wallpaper off two complete rooms and spots in other rooms. We have skim coated the walls and painted and even put some drapery. We are enjoying our new home.

I have been working with a wonderful client who is allowing me to help her with both the inside and outside of her home. She honored me he other day with a thank you card and a gift certificate to a place I like to eat. That really meant a lot to me so I wanted to mention it here. Thank you, my friend.

If you came to this blog from my website, I want you to know that the design was first by my brother who learned on my webpage and then edited by Stacy DeSmet of the advertising company, Synectics. I strongly recommend her to anyone who needs help with advertising. If you want more info on her, email me and I will pass it along.

I hate working online

I think it may be my fault but every time I start a new account or do anything on line I end up in a big mess. Just trying to access the blogger account has been a big hassle. It may be because I don't know what the jargon means. Anyway, I get so frustrated I could throw the computer through a window, you know like the commercial about the lady who doesn't like stains and throws her washer through the roof and it lands on the road. Yeah, like that.
But I have gotten a little smarter. I told my computer to remember the information on this computer. Yep, I'm a smart one, I am.

Welcome

Well here I am- blogging. But starting my own business has pushed me into many things I have never done before and that is a good thing. I certainly have become more computer savvy. My poor friends think ' you mean she was more illiterate than now?' Yes, but just watch me grow.

I wanted to start a blog for two reasons, the first so that potential clients can get to know me better. I feel that design is a very personal thing and the designer and client should match. I have recommended other designers in the past because I didn't think I could serve that client as well as they deserve. But getting to know me a little should help that process go more smoothly.
My second reason is to stay in better touch with my family who is spread all over the country. My daughter is on the Pacific coast somewhere and I don't always have time to go into detail the way I would like so we can connect this way. Isn't technology great?

Anyway here I am. I look forward to wonderful insights from me that will change the face of the universe. Or at least brighten your day