I'm Baaack!

It's a great day! Wonderful things are in the works and I'm so grateful for all that the Lord has blessed me with. Let me share a few of those blessings.

I'm so blessed to have you as my friends. You have been such a joy and inspiration in my life. You were with me through the passing of my mother, you have supported me in my Stampin' Up! days, you cheered me on in my weight loss success, and you continue to e-mail, phone, and send cards of encouragement of love and support. Thank you, thank you, thank you ... I'm so blessed!

I know that we are all anxiously waiting for April 1st for the announcement of Stampin' Up!'s convention schedule. Once again, I can reassure you that World Joy's event will not interfere with anything that Stampin' Up! has planned. I've moved my event to 4:00 p.m. so you'll have plenty of time to come over and swap, stamp your projects and have a delicious buffet dinner, and be back in time for any festivities that Stampin' Up! may have planned.

The reason why I tell you this in advance of April 1st is because the media is going to have me on their TV program announcing our event to build the well. The event will be open to the general public. I want to give you 'first dibs' on registering. Click here to register.

Why else am I excited? Because we are going to build a merry-go-round in our little village of Abrenya, the one we are raising money for the well, and the 'whirl' will generate electricity for the school and charge (40) battery operated lanterns for the children to take home in the evening. This village has NO electricity. The lanterns are assigned to leaders who are in charge of keeping them charged. The leaders are in charge of 6 children who gather in the evening as a study group around their lantern. Test scores have risen at least 50% since the children have been able to study at night. Isn't that AMAZING?? I'm going to the inventor's home to play on the 'whirl' and charge the lanterns to see how they work. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Am I'm also excited because World Joy is coming to St. George, Utah and Mesa, Arizona. We'll be doing some fund raiser dinners and auctions in those cities this year. There is a wonderful lady who called our office yesterday and volunteered her reception center and is providing the food and venue for the event on December 2nd. I can't get over the generosity of people! And our Mesa event will be on November 6th.

And .... I'm going to Ghana on June 24th! We will be teaching English to the school children. I'm so excited I can't wait. My Visa came the other day.

What else am I excited about? Oh .... you know that I've been training for a Half Marathon on April 17th in Salt Lake. I'll be so happy to get it OVER with. Our long walks/runs are on Saturdays and it takes up such a big chunk of my time. I'm beginning to not like it sooo much. But I do like the results after the walk is over. I feel good ... well most of the time ... if I've had a good rest the night before. We walked 10 1/2 miles last Saturday!

How am I doing with my weight? Well, I'm maintaining. When I started training for the Marathon I gained about 4 pounds. I've lost 2 of those. My weight stays right around 147-149. I'm still wearing a size 10 ... oh wait ... I bought a pair of size 8 corduroys the other day. I still continue eating too much sugar and have bad headaches. When will I EVER learn? After the candy is gone in the house I won't buy more, I promise!

And last, but not least, I'm blessed with a wonderful family who love and support me. Most weekends have been spent tending grandchildren, which I adore. Our daughter Natalie joined us last week from Oregon for a few days. It was wonderful having her just to ourselves ... no children to compete with. She didn't have to make her bed ... got to sleep in ... eat when she wanted ... lounge around in her jammies ... and just have a relaxed time with her siblings and Mom and Dad. She needed the R&R. She's expecting her 4th baby.

So, that's about it for now. I'm teaching myself how to can meat tonight. Pray I don't blow up the house with the pressure cooker! Yikes .... I'll share more on the Bag Meal preparation and why I'm canning meat. It's amazing what I've been doing with food storage and I'd love to share my recipes and how to's. It's great for the working Mom in helping simplify meal time!

Love and Hugs to All! See you soon!