Back to the routine

Another Christmas has come and gone. I spent all of last week putting Christmas away and cleaning the house. It feels good to say I started the new year with a clean house, clean laundry all put away, dishes done, meals prepared and a pantry full of groceries. For one of the first times in a very long time I feel like I've started the new year on a positive, prepared note.  My students are returning this week...more about them soon. I'm looking forward to getting back to my routine. I like my routines, they keep me on track. 

I know I've said this before, but I'm really hoping to be able to blog more regularly again. It's good for me. Life has a tendency to become overwhelming at times and it's those times when I tend to disappear for a while. More often than not I have a blog in my head but when I finally get the chance to sit down to type it out it's gone or just not the same. Often I find I lose interest because so few are even reading what I write let alone letting me know they're here. Maybe this is the year I'll be able to get to know more bloggers. I hope so. 

We're under another lake effect snow warning today through Friday. They're saying we could get 1-2 feet of snow by Friday. It really doesn't seem to be putting down that much in snow depth, but the wind and the cold are bearable and makes for very poor visibility for drivers. I had planned to go practice today, but there is very little gas in my car and Hubby didn't fill it at lunch time. Between that and the snow and cold, I guess it's best I stay in and get caught up on my blog. 

I have much to catch you up on so I'll do that a little at a time. In the meantime...Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

Two of my students cancelled this afternoon due to colds so I have a few minutes on my hands to finally put up a new year's post!!

First of all, I'd like to share some verses for the new year that a friend of mine shared on her blog:

Lucy Maude Montgomery in her classic, Anne of Green Gables book said, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it?”

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  Isaiah 40:31

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,…”  1 Chronicles 16:11-12

It is nice to think that each new year, each new day is a chance to start fresh. I have been working on re-working my schedule to allow for tasks that have been slipping through the cracks. I'm doing better and hopefully this next week will be better yet. 

Our new year came in quietly but cold. We did stop in at a church members open house on New Year's Eve and when it came time to leave our car wouldn't start. We'd been having trouble but thought we had it solved...wrong. It seems the car doesn't like the cold and so ever since then Hubby has been chauffeuring me to the grocery store and to the church for my practice times...that's all I get to do - the rest of my time is spent here in The Little Turquoise House. This has been all well and good, I don't like going out in the cold and snow anyway. I've got my house all clean and put back in order after Christmas and have some Valentines created for sale...more on the way, hopefully tonight while I catch up on Downton Abbey episodes. Castle was certainly good this week!! 

Students have returned this week...well...sort of. I thought of taking another week off to get some more things done and now I wish I had as I've only had four students of the 13 show up due to either weather conditions or illness. Hopefully next week will be better. 

The sun is shining today - it's so nice to see!! I don't know how much I'll be around for the next while with my new schedule and all, but I'll be in and out. 

Memory Lane

A friend of mine shared this and I think it is worthy to pass on...

Memory Lane is so much fun to visit but if I parked there permanently then a discontent feeling could overwhelm a person. You know, the what ifs. I serve a mighty God that has brought me through so many different situations and it has caused me to be stronger in many areas of my life. The strength and endurance I have are only made through the trials my family and I have been through. So, though I may miss some of the past, I can never live there because my future is brighter than my past. How do I know this? Well, because Heaven is my future! Our family has crossed paths with so many people over the years and though some may not claim us in the friends category any longer...I still claim them, for I have grown closer to the Lord with each friend experience. Grudges, are really not my thing because ultimately God will handle any thing not taken care of scripturally and I leave those things with Him. Peace...love the sound of that word! A new year is about to happen in a few days. A do over for some, a fresh beginning for many. Let's do all we can to put our past in our past and move forward, onward, and upward as our goal this year. Let's put God at the helm of our ship and be the crewman taking all our orders from the Captain. He can guide us through the roughest of storms! Love y'all ... FOCUS may just be my word for the year. Don't enter 2014 blurry. Focus on the outcome you want to see and if the picture comes out blurry sometimes, just refocus and press on. Love ya!