My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

I Shopped for a Year and Some Thoughts for Today

Just to let you all know I got my money back for the Rosetta Stone scam! Hubby said he was thrilled and surprised. I truly didn't doubt I'd get it back even if the scammers were in China. I just knew I wouldn't be left holding th' bag. I am very happy Paypal came through for me.
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When we moved in the the early 1990s we knew a year ahead that we would be coming here. I wasn't familiar with Idaho but I knew it wasn't as big as California or as cosmopolitan. I didn't know what they had in the way of shopping since I hadn't been to this area before.

So I shopped for a whole year, while our house was on the market to be sold. I've told people this before but they really don't have a clue how much I bought the year before we moved up here. I needed down feather comforters, a blue Kitchen Aid mixer because I was going to start cooking more. Clothes? I spent about 8,000 to 10,000 dollars that year for clothes up here. I thought Macys was going to give me an award for so much money spent. I bought bowls, plates, china, stemware crystal, huge embroidered table cloths and napkins. Gorgeous fancy paper plates and napkins. Trinkets and knick-knacks. Bath towels and beautiful sheets. Rugs. Lace curtains. Several limited edition prints I loved. Makeup. Perfumes. Shoes. Purses. Candlesticks. Writing paper. Pink file folders. Hanging file folders. File folder labels. Reams of colored copying paper in light pink and fluorescent pink, dark pink, fuchsia, yellow, green, blues, magenta and lavender. Fancy notebooks and note papers. Several beautiful fountain pens with different inks. Decorating books galore. Just so much I can't begin to tell you all I bought. When I say trinkets, I mean beautiful little things to either hang on walls or put on tabletops. Then there were the crafting supplies. At that time I was into the country look so I bought boxes and boxes of supplies and things to makeover. Dozens of embroidery kits and embroidery. We actually filled a huge Mayflower moving van with our very own stuff. Truly I shopped almost every single day for a year and it was glorious to be able to do that.

But things change and we grow older and, in my case, much wiser. I joined a church and things literally changed in the blink of an eye. To read my story in its entirety go here. I had a "Mighty Change of Heart" and my heart truly was softened. I had so much love for my fellow human beings that I was brought to tears when I'd see them in distress. It is very difficult to explain the heart.

This past week Japan has made a page in the annals of History that they'd probably much rather have just skipped with that devastating earthquake. I can't begin to tell you how sad my heart was at seeing families wiped out, homes, businesses, towns and cities destroyed in the blink of an eye. The photos are, as they say, heart-wrenching. I look at this woman who just learned she has lost her entire family and wonder how it would be to endure such tragedy. I hope I never have to find out. Her eyes tell all the emotions she is going through.


And this Japanese man who thought to stop and pray before digging out his countrymen. How small he must feel for the task ahead of him. I can only imagine his anguished heart.
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I've been absent from blogging a lot lately, but there are reasons. I need to get some priorities in order. I've started working on my genealogy for one thing and have been asked by my church to do a mission and help out. This doesn't require me to go to a foreign country or even another part of our country but it involves a commitment of several hours a week working with a team of others. As I've said before, blogging is a passion of mine to help with my writing and photography skills. It is for me and no one else. I have many, many favorites and I skim them on my Google Reader—that's the best way as far as I'm concerned, GR—but if I don't comment please understand why. I pretty much don't comment if there is just a "Blogging Today Just To Say Hello", if there is something that has been put on many times before and I've seen it or if someone is describing how to upholster something for the 10th time. You get my drift here. But I truly do love commenting when I have the time. And I truly, truly appreciate every single one of you who visits me. :-) And I shall absolutely be doing a Pink Saturday post tomorrow!
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