A Post Full of Joy

On December 19, 2014 By AngeliaIn In my heart forever & ever, Timeless Treasures31 Comments

And pretty, pretty yellow lights.

And also…

…a very cute baby that I adore.

I tried to do Christmas photos on Sunday of all the kids. My step-daughters and grand baby. I got lights set up. I got the flash set up.

But…they spent half the day at church and the rest of the time one of them had a school project. She worked on it allllllll weekend loooong.

The baby was way too quick for me. I’m lucky I got two. Everyone always says….Oh, I can’t wait til they start walking! Um, No…just no…not when you are a photographer.

So maybe, we didn’t get Christmas photos this year. Maybe, we don’t have a card to send out.

But do you know what we do have?

Joy.

Heart-felt…full-on…precious JOY.

Wishing you all the joy your heart can hold. This season and always.

Jump over to The Daily Post – Weekly Photo Challenge – Yellow to see more posts about the joyful color yellow.

Finding Goodness

On November 2, 2014November 6, 2014 By AngeliaIn Beautiful Life, Timeless Treasures19 Comments

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.
-Dalai Lama

Funny thing happened in the midst of our break-in troubles. I had my notstolen camera and carried it through the house taking photographs. Then, I went out into the yard and looking about I spotted two big pieces of glass towards the back fence.

Someone had to have hauled butt to get from the broken window to the back of the yard. Fleeing so quickly they don’t even notice the big chunks of glass they carried with them.

These clues helped us figure out the robber fled from the house out the backyard. Right behind us is a small section of woods that lead to a main street. Jason heard a “crunching” sound when he was checking out the neighbor’s yard. A sound of someone walking through the brush.

It helped us make sense of things. Someone stayed in the car as lookout. Someone in the house had contact with the lookout. When we pulled up, the lookout had them exit in a hurry. So much of a hurry, they didn’t even go back to the car, but out the woods to a busy street. When the lookout car pealed out. He must have picked them up later.

Explains why we didn’t actually see a body inside or out.

Those pieces of glass pieced a few things together. And when you are trying to make sense of the senseless, anything you can grasp onto can help.

I’m standing there staring at these chunks of glass and I look to the right of them. There I see a gorgeous bloom. So much color, strength, and joy. Our rose-bush is blooming.

I saw that perfect rose as a sign. Fear gripped us. Despair shook us. But still, the beauty shined through. There is goodness when you look for it.

We were blessed by so many things that went right, and not wrong. Our goodness lie in the soil and I could appreciate that even in the midst of our turmoil.

Are you finding your goodness? It is my hope that you do.

Dec. 7, 2013 – A Walk To Remember

On December 7, 2013December 7, 2013 By AngeliaIn Angelia's Photography, Beautiful Life, In my heart forever & ever, Timeless Treasures33 Comments

Although today was my day off and I finally got to enjoy our wintry weather, I have worked very hard.

I have worked hard to make sure this day is exactly right. Perfect, if you will.

See, today is one of those days that you never forget. The moment the clock strikes midnight, it settles over your mind. This presence doesn’t just linger around, but it gets comfortable. It fluffs up the pillows, shakes out the covers, and leans back to witness every part of the next twenty-four hours. And although, I want to fast forward the day, because there are other days, I would rather remember…

I just can’t.

I find myself not running away or speeding through it, but settling down too. Fluffing my pillows, kicking my feet up, and just enjoying my time with it.

So, I can remember.

And remember well, as I celebrate my wonderful treasures, and uplift them with great honor.

I thought of a million ways to get this right, but in the end. I made a video.

I hope you enjoy my day, and my walk. I hope you see the beauty in how it is lived and presented.

Click here to watch the video online.

My Dad died while I was blogging and it means the world to me that this blog holds what was in my heart that day (and continues to). I don’t ever want to forget them and I am so grateful to WordPress for this means to journal and share – the good stuff and the tough stuff.

God Bless you all for watching.

We are having a bit of winter here in Texas…..more on that later.

YouTube Cover Photo

The Amazing Way Life Changes

On November 27, 2013November 28, 2013 By AngeliaIn Into the Blender we go- Wee!, Timeless Treasures19 Comments

I’m sure you can guess what is at the top of my Thankful list. The very top of a very long list (more on that below). I am thrilled to have so much to be thankful for this year. And being surrounded by the love of family. Many included as family are part of extended families and ex-families and almost families.

And that is not weird to me at all.

I grew up loving a Grandma that was not related to me by blood …I never knew until I fully grasped family trees….and she wasn’t on my branch or even my tree.

I had no clue.

She never acted like she wasn’t my Grandma. And you know what? She was. She was my Grandma. Blood relation or not. That is who I called Grandma and always will. I think of her most at this time of year. As children we made the trek from Oklahoma to Colorado to visit her every Thanksgiving. Most times it took the entire day to get there. She would cook and serve the big feast, then send us packing up the mountain to ski Monarch the next day. That was her Christmas present to us, always the same, a day together of snow, ski, and fun paid for by Grandma.

I will always treasure those Thanksgivings. I wrote about it on this blog in December of 2009 Timeless Treasures. She is my most special Grandma (that wasn’t my Grandma) who made our holidays joyful and bright. And she is who I look up to as a role model. Now that I am a grandma, I hope I can live up to her highest of standards.

I appreciate her these days more than I ever have. I hope I can give as much as my heart to my grandchildren as she did.

My most precious gift this year is my very own grandchild. She is growing so fast. Faster than I ever thought possible. I had no idea how much love a grandmothers soul could hold.

Oh man, is it a lot!

This little angel just turned three months old.

Three months in the blink of an eye. She now recognizes my face and voice. She smiles instantly when she sees me. She stares at me with those grey/blue eyes full of curiosity.

We talk and play and take lots and lots of pictures. She started cooing recently. It is not like the coo I have heard other babies say. Hers is like a musical note. It is so pretty! I swear it is not ooooo. This coo is like a note Snow White sings in the forest to all the wild animals that flock to her side. This music she strains to do by pursing her mouth just so and looking around with her big eyes (like…did I just do that?). Then, she smiles real big and kicks her legs because she knows she just did and it was awesome.

I wonder if she has inherited my mother and father’s musical talent. My mom toured singing Sound of Music as a teenager. She, also, won the crown of Miss Ada (the same Ada Blake Shelton is from). Her talent? Singing. My Dad toured with a 60’s garage band, they were invited to open for the Beach Boys. Musical talent gone wild in that pairing.

I didn’t get a smidge of musical talent. Sydney might have got just that, a smidge. But Averey. Wow. Looks like she may have got the full dose. I guess time will tell if she can carry a tune as a well as a coo. But dang if she isn’t cute doing it.

Excited face!

Smile…

What she looks like talking…

Thinks Grammy is telling a story face…

Three months.

Newborn Averey

I am so thankful.

Newborn Averey

To have this squishy little person as my musical serenader.

Life.

The way it changes?

Amazing…

Happy, HAPPY Thanksgiving to each and every one. May you be blessed beyond measure and treasured beyond time. And be so completely enamored by the life and love of a wonderful family (blood relations or not).

And thank-you for most for being part of my journey.