Johanna is having a 200th post give away!!!!

Hiya Friends!  My good friend, Johanna, is hosting a giveaway for her 200th post.  She is giving away some really, REALLY neat items!!!





Please go check it out and enter!  Pictures below of things she is giving away...

A very adorable and charming night light from Tea cups and Roses!

An e-pattern from Sense and Sensibility!!! ;-) That one is especially appealing to all of you seamstresses out there!

A lovely jumper pattern from Marie Madeline Studio! Along with fabric to make it!

And last, but certainly not least! A lovely pair of Purity earrings done by The Joy of Jewelry.  Aren't they lovely? PLUS you can get them for pierced ears, or you can ask them to do clip on. :-)

So, go enter HERE, or click on her button above to see more details!!

Love,

Sarah

Home again, home again, jiggity jig... ;-)

Yes, we are home!!  We left for a three day weekend to attend a family reunion (My Dad's side).  We had a pretty good time, though family members can often be rather interesting.. ;-) lol! We have some pretty crazy family members, but I guess that makes us crazy too!! lol!!

Sometimes the trip can be stressful, trying to get over there and whatnot, but we enjoyed ourselves and got to catch up on relatives.  Also neat and interesting to see everyone come together. :-)

My Grandparents house was where everyone mostly hung out.  It over looks Ute lake, which is the Canadian river.  However, because of the dam in Logan, the river has been backed up and is now considered a lake. ;-)

The views are simply stunning over there!!  If you beg enough, I am sure we can get Becca to post some pictures of our fun time. :-)  Not that she has to be begged, but it is sometimes a pain to upload photos, so she needs some encouragement. ;-) lol  There are red rocks that glisten in the sunset, beautiful gold shimmers on the water as you drink in the view from their upper deck.  The sunsets are so vivid and just add to the glory.  Last night we were able to enjoy watching a lightning storm that was miles away.  We couldn't even hear the thunder, but we enjoyed the lightning show while we visited, or simply watched with awe at God's awesome power.  He is amazing, isn't He?  I just love seeing His awesome power displayed in Nature.  You know what it reminds me of?  Have you ever seen a young couple who are dating/courting?  Have you ever noticed how the young man is usually doing things to show off to his girl? Opening the car door for her, carrying heavy things, lifting weights, arm wrestling, etc?   Well, it is almost as if God is showing us His awesome power to show off, though in a Holy way, if you follow me.  You know, the Bible is His love letter to us, so why wouldn't He show off some with His awesome nature?? Just a thought.... ;-)

Any way, we are off to watch the first movie of LOTR (Lord of the Rings).. looks like we will be up late for a few nights! Lol!!

Talk to all of you soon, and looking forward to your comments!!

Love,
Sarah

Any one else???

Because I don't want to miss the "early birds" of the give away, I want to make a list of who has done a post for voting on my side polls..

If you post this before the giveaway, you earn extra votes for the give away! There is some really neat stuff that is going to be given away, so you DON'T want to miss out!! *giggles*! I have a couple friends who are helping me out, so you can imagine the stuff we are rallying up. ;-) lol!!

So, here is who I have so far. 

Samantha,
Atlanta,
Maggie,
Johanna,
Addie,

If you have posted, please leave a comment with a link directly to that post.. if you haven't posted but I have your name on the list.. well, GO POST! LOL!! Just kidding, just let me know...

I can't wait for my birthday give away!! Well, hopefully I will be able to do it if everything goes smoothly.. lol! Knowing me, all sorts of things could go wrong...

Unfortunately, my birthday lands right on Farmers Market day! So, I will be very happy to spend the day at the farmers market, playing my fiddle and happily smiling at everyone who stops by. lol! We are planning on going to dinner afterwards to celebrate..  It is amazing how when you start getting older, birthday parties lose their... "charm"?? lol!

Love to all,
Sarah

Our new puppy!!!

Alright, I finally figured out how to convert the pictures a little smaller for the internet and have some more of our darling new puppy. :)  We haven't decided on the name yet, but we are all leaning one way.  It is a female- which I was somewhat bummed.  I was hoping for another male to "fend off the property", but a female is just as good! 

Josh and Sarah while Lady was in labor

Momma and Daughter all tired after the ordeal

Do you see little "Things" spot at the end of her tail?

We are still working on where you get the food...

Momma has settled in to life as a mother, and is doing great.  She still doesn't really like us holding the puppy, but we really try to not stress her out.  So we hold puppy when Lady is outside.  


~Other then that we are starting to do the Farmers Market in Cedar Crest for the Schwebachs, and waiting on God to sell the bit of ranch! 

Although we haven't enjoyed it on days we would like to sleep in, our rooster has been coming up to our windows and crowing right underneath them for us!

God Bless!

Rebecca

Just added...

I just added something new to my business page, Sarah's Treasures from the Past, at the top.  So, be sure to check it out!

Sarah

Bampa.. a tribute

I am a little early in getting this posted, but as we will be gone this coming weekend, I wanted to get this post done. :-)

On Monday the 12th of July it will be a whole year that my beloved grandfather (lovingly known as 'Bampa') passed away.  He suffered through pancreatic cancer for a whole year and half, maybe longer.

Bampa was not my biological grandfather, but I never thought of him as a 'step' grandfather.  He was always just Bampa.  He loved us tremendously and didn't care that we were "related".   I was able to enjoy 17 full years with him, though I suppose when I was a baby, I didn't care much!

Bampa was always so very kind.  I loved how he always made me feel important and never gave up on me.  He was always there to encourage me in my fiddle playing, book writing, and whatever projects I might be doing at the time.  His famous question was always "What have you been up to?" and it was always the YOU that caught my attention.  He never wanted self admiration.  He only cared about others around him and had such a great interest in what others were doing.  You could always try to talk about what he was doing, but he somehow always turned the conversation around so that you were once again talking about your self.

I was his little princess, though I am not the only princess he had.  However, he always made me feel like I was the most important person in the world, no matter what.  I didn't have to worry about how my hair looked, or how I dressed to get his approval.  He loved me for who I WAS, not for who I looked like or acted like.

Whenever my Nana would take me on my special birthday lunch, and he needed to come along for some reason or other, he always let me sit up front.  It was my time with Nana, not his, and he made sure I enjoyed myself to the fullest.  He was always putting me first and wasn't selfish.

Bampa always had such an interest in life.  He was always willing to learn new thing, meet new people, and go to new places.  He absolutely loved living on the ranch, and though he grew up in Brooklyn NY, he could sure fool you with his cowboy costume.  :-)

He loved working the cattle, giving the shots, running them through the chute, whatever needed to be done, he was there.

Although he lived right behind our house, not more than five steps away, I could never get enough of him.  Any time I popped up for a visit, he was always there to give me a big hug and kiss and tease me like no one else.

Any time we came home from a bull sale, all of us kids would rush up to tell Nana and Bampa how the sale went and what not.  They were always so supportive of us.

Now it is no longer "they, them, or y'all".  It is only "her, she, and you."  However, Bampa lived a wonderful life and enjoyed it to it's fullest.  There was never a dull moment when he was around.

I love you, Bampa, and miss you so much.

Sarah

Howdy..

Hello! Just a quick lil' note. :-)

Can anyone believe it is already the 1st of July?  My last day of June was spent being sick, and Rebecca's first day of July is being spent in bed, sick.  Please pray that the rest of our family stays away from this bug.  Everyone else has been taking the vitamin C and pickle juice like crazy, so hopefully they will be able to avoid this nasty bug..

Also, Caleb's birthday is just 14 days away!!  He will be turning 10.  No more single digits in our family any more!  Makes me kind of sad, yet happy to see him growing into such a Godly young man!

I reopened the polls on the side, so if you haven't voted, please do so!  I will be doing a give away (hopefully, if I can get everything done) in honor of my birthday, so keep a watch out! It will be this month....

Also, in case someone new is reading this, I am giving an extra entry for my give away to those who have spread the word about the voting polls.. So far Samantha, Johanna, and Addie have been early birds and spread the word.  If someone else has done so, but I didn't see it (or didn't remember it!) please leave a comment and let me know... I have some cute things to give away, so be sure to spread the word to get an extra entry!

Oh, yes, the gift certificate will also go for my sewing business (pictures to be put on the page soon!). So, for those of you who didn't want a knitting gift certificate, you might still want to win it for a sewing certificate!

Ok, guess that is all for now... ;-)  Talk to everyone later!

Love in Christ,
Sarah

New 'family' member!!

Hello friends!

I am very happy and excited to post pictures of our newly added addition to our 'family'. ;-)

I call him Spot, though I don't know if we have all agreed to it yet.. we did think about following Mike Wazokis wisdom: "Sully, you're not supposed to name it. Once you name it, you get attached to it.  Now, put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!"... So, without further adieu I would like to introduce Thing!

Don't you just love the little 'spot' on his tail bone??  Lady (the mother dog) had him Tuesday night.  She only had one puppy, but since it is her first time, that isn't surprising.  We are also relieved as we can't keep the little thing (or maybe we might, since it is only one...) Not sure if it is a boy or girl yet, though Becca thinks it is a boy.  I wouldn't know, as I am not the dog pro. ;-) lol!

Becca will be posting more pictures later on, but I just couldn't wait!!

In Christ Alone,

Sarah

Trashcans and the Holy Spirit

Now, you may be thinking this is going to be an interesting post, and I hope you find it so.  However, as the title suggests, this is about trashcans....and the Holy Spirit. :-)

Last night at church, we were studying Acts 4 (or part of).  We were all discussing how interesting it was that the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit TWICE -so far.  First, after Jesus died, -Acts 2:1-4-when they were speaking in tongues, and then again after they had been arrested -Acts 4:31.

So, why twice?  Well, we discussed that it could have been because the needed refilling.  Or, as one of the women shared, that it is like a pitcher of water.  You empty it, and if you don't refill it, you will have a dry pitcher.

One of the things that really stuck in my mind was that the 12 PRAYED for confidence and boldness to proclaim the Word- Acts 4:24-31 (most notably, v.29) The reason it struck me is, how often do we actually pray for confidence and Wisdom?  Now, we might pray that we will say the right things to a certain person, but then when the time comes, I often find myself timid and more afraid of what they will think of me than what God will do THROUGH me.

So, I want to encourage all of you to pray that God will give you confidence and boldness to do the things that God wants you to do.  I am praying that all of you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit will continue to pour into each and every one of you daily so that you have Him with you all the time.

I had a hard time imagining what it was meaning until my dear sister pointed something out.  If your parents/siblings/friends didn't tell you that they loved you, would you feel loved?  If they never ever told you that they loved you, you wouldn't feel like they loved you.  People need to be constantly telling each other that they love them (for most of us, this is the Philio (sp?) love, or brotherly love.).

So, go and speak the Word of God with boldness!!

To Christ be the Glory,
Sarah

Woo hoo!!!

Samantha announced the winners for her fashion show!! Hurray!  So, instead of posting a long post (as I have to go get horses back in their respective pastures) go visit THIS LINK to see who all won!!

Congrats girls!! You really deserved it.  :-) Now enjoy your wonderful prizes!!

Love in Christ,
Sarah

The Last day!!

Hello friends!!

It is the last day for voting on the girls' outfits for Samantha's fashion show.  So, if you haven't voted yet, please go and vote right away! She will be announcing winners tomorrow afternoon (if she can).  A lot of girls entered and all of them had some really cute outfits!!

I have to say, it looks like Anna is winning.. she just had such a cute outfit!! Her skirt is really feminine and cute.  I had to vote for her and I really hope she wins. :-) 

So, be checking back here because I think I will do a post on who the winner is... just for fun. ;-) lol!

God bless!

In Christ Alone,
Sarah

Great posts!

Hello friends and family in Christ!

I was reading a lovely blog the other day and was greatly encouraged by her posts on purity and modesty.  Lauren had participated in Samantha's fashion show and had some lovely outfits.  She then decided to do a couple of posts on modesty and purity.  I read them and just loved them.  I hope you read them too, and are encouraged as much as I was.  Be sure to leave a comment, if you can, on her blog to let her know what you think (I would love to know what you think too! lol!)

Part One

Part Two

God bless!

In Christ Alone,

Sarah

Go Vote!!

Hello readers!  Please head over to Samantha's blog and vote!  The Fashion show she hosted ended this past Saturday, and now she has picked the 'finalists' for the votes. Whoever gets the most votes, wins a prize!  So, click HERE to go visit her blog and vote on the girl who's outfit you think is the best!

(No, you don't have to vote on mine! lol! There were lots of good entries!)

Sarah

Books anyone???

Hello!

Momma has set a new rule for our school this Summer.  All of us kids need to read a book a week.  This probably isn't a problem for some, but I don't care for reading all the time.  I also get brain blanks when it comes to finding good books. 

So, I need ya'll's help.  What are some good books that you would recommend?  It needs to be good reading, not just the 'fluff', as Mom calls it, or easy reading.  I can read easy read books every once in a while, but this is for the good character building type books (and they don't have to be devotional all the time.. fiction is good too!)

So, any good books I should check out??

Love,
Sarah

Enter this neat give away!!!!

Hey Friends!! Go over and enter this really neat give away.  Hurry fast!! $100 certificate to Marie Madeline Studios!! Click HERE! 

Also, this is my 150th post! Can you believe it?

In Christ, Sarah

Thank you!!!!

Alright, I don't have my fingers bound up as much, so I can type a little easier.  :-)

So, I want to thank a few people.  First off,  thank you to Samantha who hosted this wonderful fashion show.  It has been such a blast and I have really enjoyed getting to meet new girls out there who are striving to dress modestly! For those of you who may not dress in skirts and dresses all the time, I hope you were encouraged to see all the other girls out there doing it.  It is truly a wonderful thing to be feminine.  It is what God made us to be, and we need to be feminine!  I will hopefully be doing a longer post sometime soon on Femininity, so be watching out for it. :-)

I also want to thank my very, very dear frien, Ellie!!  She has been such a sport and dear and has posted the last two days for me.  She was even able to squeeze in a minute yesterday (which was extremely busy for her!) to get a post done.  Thank you so much, dear!!! I love you!!

Also, for those of you whoare probably wondering... I am going to do my give away in honor of my birthday.  So, when my birthday gets a lil' closer, I will be starting the give away!!  So, be sure to keep watching for your chance to enter!  The rules are going to be a little different than most give aways, but hopefully nothing too dramatic. lol!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the fashion show!! I know I certainly did!! :-)

In Christ Alone,
Sarah

Too bad I don't have a camera with video... could take a video so show y'all how *talented* I am. =D ;-) lol
Playing piano -BOTH HANDS- using my left thumb only! lol!!!!! Quite interesting, actually.  Everyone would probably have gotten a good laugh from it! =D

Fashion Show Day 6

Hello! This is Ellie again!

Today, Sarah is wearing her beautiful blue skirt that she made.  She is also wearing a red shirt with a white button down on top!

In Christ's love,

Ellie, for Sarah

Please pray for the ranch!

Mom and Dad had a good long meeting with the Realtor on Thursday, talking about all the options they have. Well, after they left the meeting Dad recieved a call from the realtor saying that our lady from Nevada, Jean, was finally on her way! She will be here (last we heard) on Saturday around noon. We were busy cleaning around the barn, corrals, etc. today, and tomorrow will be the house. Thank goodness we had everything ready to go except for a pick-up/ quick clean!  
Joshua had signed up to go to a Chess tournament Saturday with his group he has been meeting with. Originally Josh and Dad were going, but as Jean will be here Josh and I (Rebecca) will go.

~Please be praying that Jean has a good trip over and has no problems; that she really loves it out here, and it is EXACTLY what she needs and wants.
That the price is not a problem and easy to work out a deal, and then close.
That we trust God and don’t worry too much about it.
That we are able to get everything ready for tomorrow.
 For Joshua’s Chess tournament, that he would be able to concentrate and do well.

In Christ’s Amazing Love,
Rebecca for the Herd

Fashion Show Day 5

Hello everyone! This is Ellie, one of Sarah’s friends. As Sarah burned her fingers yesterday she cannot type very easily, so she asked me to type up her posts for the fashion show!  I am sorry this is so late!

Today, Sarah is wearing a blue scrub with a denim skirt.  Her hair is styled in a flip through!

In Christ's love,

Ellie for Sarah

ENTER THIS GIVE AWAY!!!

Please go and enter this really neat give away!! A $70 valued espresso maker!  Who could turn that down??

Click HERE!!!

Cute lizard!!

Look at this Desert Lizard Josh found!! Cute, isn't he?  Josh is holding quarter so you can see how small he was. :-)

Sorry the photos are blurry...

Day four and burnt fingers.

Well, Samantha's fashion show is half way done!! I can't believe it!

What I wore today:

Denim skirt worn on day one,
Horse print T Shirt with Bible verse Rev. 4:11

Tennis shoes (I rode my bike this morning so I needed slightly more sporty shoes. ;-) )

My hair is clipped up and I put my bangs in a headband as I couldn't curl them this morning. 

So, I burnt my fingers. It was stupid, but, as my dear Mama said, no accidents are "smart". ;-) lol!! 

The worst part is that it is on my finger TIPS.  So, no playing violin (which will kill me... ;-) ), guitar, piano, etc.  No sewing, knitting, crocheting, or anything.  What CAN I do? School. =D lol!! I don't mind so much, though because I needed to finish some things up. :-)

So, I am typing with my thumb and then my right hand.  Rather interesting and quite tiring! So, expect posts and comments to be kept very short, unless someone else types it for me!
  Oh, and flower theme is the bracelet.. Sorry I am so boring today, Samantha!! :-|
In Christ Alone,
Sarah

Placemats!

I thought y'all might want to see the project that we did last night at the quilting thing.  My friend sent some pictures of the place mats she and her sister made.  The one she made (second one) is one she made after coming home.  I Didn't get any pictures of the one I made.

Enjoy!  And be sure to leave a comment to let them know what you think! lol =D

Also, ask them to explain how to make it.. lol I can't type very much as my hand is stiffening up on me for some reason.. over worked it today, I guess.  Any how, they can do a much better job explaining it any way! lol

In Christ Alone,

Sarah for Ellie and Amy. ;-) lol

Fashion week day #3

Alright, here is day 3 of the fashion show!

My youngest brother was so very kind to take these pictures for me today. :-)

Ok, what I am wearing:

Black long sleeve shirt (I know, in the middle of summer? Well, it is slightly shilly today and I just feel so feminine wearing my sleeves pushed up.. Don't ask why.. lol!)

Black skirt with big brown leaf design on it.

My hair is down
For flower theme (tomorrow I will have some REAL flowers!) I am wearing the lovely flower bracelet that I won during Megan's blog party.  It is simply beautiful and I wear it all the time. :-)
No shoes today. ;-) lol!

Ok, hair comparison.  2 feet once, now 17 inches. =D

Before:

After: (sorry, my hair is really dark because I just took a shower....)

Looking forward to seeing all the other girl's outfits!

In Christ Alone,

Sarah

They're home!!

Hello friends!

My wonderful family is home!! HURRAY!  They arrived LATE last night, I think some time around midnight or 1 am.  I had gone to bed already.  It was so wonderful to wake up this morning, roll over and see all 3 of my sweet siblings in their beds.  Ah, nothing better. 

Although I enjoyed my time alone, I did miss everyone!! Life is just so much more fun with siblings around to tease and play with you.  :-)

So, what did I do while they were gone?

Well, I had some very odd meals.. never ate at the 'right' time (no one else to feed but yourself, well you just forget!).  Often times I would look at the clock, see it was 3:00 pm and think, "I guess I should eat something"!! 

Addie Suggested I should sew something fun.  Maggie Suggested I should sit down and read.  Well, I have to say that I am not a big fan of reading, though I do enjoy it every once in a while. So, I sewed something cute and fun.  I can't wait to post pictures!  Hopefully you will see it this week in the fashion show entries. :-)

Daddy and I enjoyed some wonderful time together.  We visited tons and just really had a blast.  I was very thankful to have him all to myself for a couple of evenings.

Last night I went to Charity Quilting at our local quilt shop.  We made "quilt as you go" place mats for "Meals on Wheels".  It was lots of fun.  The quilting as you go was the BEST thing I have ever learned.  Unless it is hand quilting, I totally fail at quilting period. ;-) lol

My wonderful friends came a picked me up (THANK YOU!!) and we had a blast.  Laughing, teasing, sewing.  What else could a girl want?  They then took me home and I was able to spend more time with Daddy.

I still got a little bit of quiet time to myself this morning, as everyone is sleeping in.  I can't blame 'em!! In Fact, I slept in a little, too, but not that much over my regular time. ;-)

So, I am very happy that my family is home, home, HOME!!!

Hope everyone is having a blessed Wednesday!

In Christ Alone,
Sarah

Fashion show day #2

Well, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do today as no one is around to take pictures for me! However, after a little engineering thinking, I was able to prop up the camera and take some self photos on the timer (those are the best things!).

So, today I am wearing some rather interesting things...

Floral T-Shirt- hand me down from some friends
Brown tiered skirt- Thrift store
Shoes- my adorable brown clogs
Hair- French braid tuck.

So, my skirt is actually a dress.. You know those dress that are sleeve-less and they have that weird elastic thingy that forms the bodice?  Well, when Mom and I were shopping at the thrift store, I saw this cute brown skirt peeking out from between some skirts. So, I pulled it out and said, "Oh, isn't this cute? My, the waistband is really weird!"  Dear Mother looked at it and said, "Honey, that is one of those dresses, not a skirt."  We laughed, and I bought it any way because we decided we could just cut off the bodice, leaving a little bit for waistband, and it would be just fine. So, that is my interesting clothes! lol!

My hair is done in a French braid tuck again.  My hair was 2 feet long a couple weeks ago.  Now it is 7 inches shorter.  I had gotten a layer a while back, but as it started to grow, the dead and split ends became a nuisance.  So, I asked Mom to just cut off my hair up to where she could get ALL of the dead ends (meaning she would have to chop off a bunch to get to that layer.)  So, she did.  AT first it was rather shocking, but I have gotten used to it and have to say I like it a lot.  It feels a LOT healthier now.  So, I will have to post pictures sometime so you can see the differences. :-)  Any how, unfortunately I can't do much with my hair now.  French braids, tucks, and wearing it down are about it.  However, I am going to try to be very creative this week and see what I can come up with. :-)  As you can see in the picture, some of my hair is already falling out... :-/

After tucking my hair, I secured it with a pony tail holder, and then put a beautiful EZ clip over the holder to hide it.

My adorable clogs. I am simply in love with them!! I got them from Maryland Square.  An online shoe company.  I have big feet (10 1/2 wide to size 11!!) but I also have to have at least a leather upper, if not all leather in my shoe because my feet are allergic to man made materials..  So, shoe shopping is rather difficult!  Especially in New Mexico. Our state is mostly homeland to Hispanics, which isn't a bad thing at all.  However, they tend to have small feet, and so the shoe companies do an average of people's feet.  Well, big footers like me our out of luck there! lol   So, Maryland Square has become my favorite shoe shop.  They have large sizes and really adorable shoes!!  These are perfect for get togethers, church, and especially Square dancing! The little rope detailing is just prefect. :-)

Also, Addie suggested that I sew something cute and fun for myself while I was home alone. So, tomorrow I will post pictures of what I did!!

See everyone tomorrow!

In Christ Alone,

Sarah

Awarded again!

Johanna, over at An old Fashioned Girl (blog button on side bar), awarded me the Beautiful Blogger award!

So, I get to tell seven random facts about myself... Here goes and I hope some of you are surprised!

1. I am such a homebody.  I don't like going many places, which is why I am home along while the rest of the family is away!

2. I am crafty. Both ways.  I can play some sly tricks on my friends and they had better watch out! But I also like sewing and crafting.

3. My birthday is just a little under 5 weeks away.. any one guess how old I will be??

4. I am a people watcher and I enjoy watching how people interact with each other.

5. I am going to go to a sewing thing tonight with some very dear friends

6. I have ridden a cow before....

7. I have seen a C-Section being done on a cow... ;-) lol!!!

I award the first seven people who comment!!!

In Christ Alone,
Sarah

any one know??

Hey!

Does any one know how to change the color of your text?? I can't seem to remember where I go to do that and I can't find it!! Rather frustrating..

Any help is really appreciated!!

Thanks!
Sarah