GETTING READY

John and I recently celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary and are getting ready to enjoy our gift to each other......a trip to Alaska to visit with some very dear friends Tod and Lorilee!

We have never been to Alaska and just can't wait to see the beauty and all the amazing things about which we have heard so much. I really want to see a Moose but I will gladly pass up on any bears! I love salmon, so hopefully, we can get out fill of it while there :0) 

I have my packing list all written up, now it's time to start laying things out for the suitcase and crossing them off the list. John keeps reminding me we don't have to take much because Tod said jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirt, light jacket and tennies are the main clothing we will need.  Well, underpacking is not my problem, I just have such a hard time deciding on WHAT jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirt etc. to take. After all, who knows what color mood I will be in when I am there.  Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!!!!!

I understand we are in for a long day of flying and lay-over so of course my crocheting will be going with me.  Did you expect anything else????? 

Well, just wanted to update you on our upcoming adventure. Please keep us in your prayers for a safe trip there and back and a wonderful time with wonderful friends.

FAVORITE MOMENT, TRIP OR ACTIVITY OF THIS SUMMER

Once again, our CreateCrochet Team has posed another question: "As summer is winding down, what was your favorite moment, trip or activity this summer?"

I have had so many exciting and wonderful experiences this summer. I had the privilege to participate in and represent our team, CreateCrochet along with the Relay Wranglers in the Relay For Life Kingman 2010.  This event is held annually to raise funds for the Cancer Society to finance research in finding a cure for this EVIL known as CANCER :-[   It is my honor to say we raised an amazing amount of money and the majority of it came from the wonderful donations from my crochet teammates that were sold at the event. WOOT!!! 

That event started my summer and it just got better in so many little ways that add up to mean so much. Our youngest grandson turned 2 years old and just about the whole family was there to celebrate. It was wonderful to have so many of us together, two families joined by the marriage of their children now celebrating joyfully our children's children!

To top things off, because Daddy (B.J.) had to work, Papa got to play golf with our oldest grandson in an Adult/Junior Golf Tournament. He was so very proud of our grandson for his ability (this was his first year) and that he not only won TWO Trophies for tournaments during the season; together they took FIRST PLACE NET in his age division in this big tournament!!

Proud Papa

                        

Total Six Trophies for the Six year old!

Shortly, John and I will be celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary; and we will be doing something so out of character for us! We are going to ALASKA! Yep, we're going to Alaska to visit friends who summer up there and have invited us. I am so excited, so be prepared for lots of pictures. I really want to see a Moose and eat FRESH SALMON :0)  YUMMY!!  I do Not want to see any bears though. 

This summer has provided so many moments of joy, reflection and anticipation. I am holding onto the joyful anticipation as well as living in and celebrating the moment!  I don't know what is around the corner, but I'm remaining POSITIVE! I am BLESSED with the most amazing and wonderful husband, John, two outstanding sons, the oldest B.J., his loving wife, Bridgett, three grandsons and our youngest, Brian, who will soon marry Shelby (whose wit and tenderness is a perfect fit for this family and whom we already consider a "Maticic")!

I guess without realizing it, my favorite moment of any season is FAMILY! During the good, the difficult, the laughter and the tears, as long as we are together, we can get through anything.

F A M I L Y

Where Life Begins and Love Never Ends

And to think that it all started with Daisies :0)

23 August 1975

B.J. and Brian as Little Boys

All grown up!

02 - 02 - 02
(Bridgett, our first blessed addition to the family)

B.J. and Bridgett

Our Three Most Wonderful and Entertaining Grandsons :0)

Brian + Shelby = BRELBY
(and RUMOR makes 3)

What do you expect from two Drama/Theatre Majors?
Only this is NOT acting :0)

WHAT SONG BEST DESCRIBES YOUR LIFE?

As you know, each week my crochet team posts a question about which we are asked to blog. This is to help us get some insight into each other since we are from all over the world.


This week's question is "What Song Best Describes Your Life?"
Another conundrum! Actually there are so many that fit different times in my life but I guess the best would be "I Hope You Dance" sung by Lee Ann Womack.


Although my life has been a roller coaster of ups and downs (with many many downs), there has always been a strength inside me, even as a child, I never understood. I now know it was the Lord who was holding me in His loving arms and helped me through the worst of times and blessed me with the most wonderful husband, John. 


With the help of our Lord, John and I became the parents of two sons and now have a beautiful daughter-in-law Bridgett who is married to BJ and blessed us with 3 wonderful grandsons. Our son Brian will be wed to Shelby in January of 2011. Our blessings are growing in abundance.


This is a very brief summary of my life because it would take too long and I would never want to subject anyone to that! Just know that whatever challenge was placed before me, I always knew that with GOD by my side, we could accomplish anything!  And so far, I have not been let down.


There are still difficult times and challenges, but I have faith, and in that faith, I choose to dance :0)


The past is the past, the future is not here yet, we must enjoy the moment of today, that's why it's called the "present".


If you have a moment, just copy and paste this link, close your eyes if you like and just listen to the words sung so beautifully.  It may help you too when times are a bit challenging.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAWY4LLsEw

BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY

Once again our CreateCrochet Team posted a question of the week: What are you best childhood memories?

This created quite a dilemma for reasons I'd rather not get into at this time. There are two specific memories that come to mind which make me smile.

First, it's my Daddy. When I was little, he's the one I remember being with me through so many things. I was his "Babydoll", as he called me all his life. When I had my tonsils out, he stayed with me and got me the most beautiful Bride Doll any 2 1/2 year old girl could ever want.  He also won this Bunny Rabbit in blue gingham overalls at a church bazaar that I named Theresa. I carried her everywhere with me and slept with her. When her stitches gave way, daddy fixed her up!

When we would go for a ride, I would always stand next to him with my arm around his shoulders (no seat belt laws back in the late 50s and early 60s). As I grew taller (and that took forever because I was and am always the shortest person in the group), I stood behind him as he drove and put my hands on his shoulders. We always listened to polkas wherever we went. I never realized how much I loved polkas. 

We would always watch cartoons on Saturday morning and I never knew if I was laughing at the cartoons or how much daddy was laughing.  I miss him so much since his passing in 1996, yet I know he is always with me.

My other wonderful memory is being with my cousins Barbara, Jeannie and Janet planning our family Christmas Pageant at Babu (short for Babula which is Polish for Grandma) Gula's (my Daddy's mom).  My dad came from a large family so I had lots of cousins. I was closest to Barbara, Jeannie and Janet, and we would start in the summer planning for our grand program that we would perform for the family on Christmas Eve.  To be honest, the planning was almost more fun than the actual event itself. Of course we took our task very serious, right down to making costumes,  props and whatever else it took to make our pageant a success!  It was never work; as I look back, it was pure fun and love.

TIME TO RELAX, CROCHET, CREATE AND HAVE FUN

Well, the Relay For Life is over and was an amazing success. The experience is one I will never or want to forget. The outpouring of love and encouragement from my CreateCrochet Team was and is immeasurable. So many special crochet items were donated from all over the world and were a big hit at the RFL.

My wonderful son, BJ, designed and created an amazing Banner for us and my absolutely greatest blessing, my husband John, never left me the whole night. He helped put the pop-up in place, set up the tables, decorate our area with all the crochet treasures, do my walking for me and even sell some crochet items! 

 

And this is only a sample of all the beautiful crochet goodies we had displayed along with my Relay Wranglers' Team!

Seeing my Aunt Rosie walk the Survivor's Walk brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy knowing that we get to celebrate more birthdays with her and that the evil cancer did not win. I also cried tears of joy for my son BJ who is now

4 years free of the horrible evil known as melanoma. I pray that

he and Bridgett get to dance

on their 50th wedding anniversary full

of love, joy and good health! 

One other special experience was constantly felt, and that was of the presence of each and every member of my CreateCrochet Team Family. Without them, none of this could have happened. We sold so many items that we were able to make a significant donation along  with the Relay Wranglers to the Relay for Life Kingman 2010!  What was left over was joyfully donated to the Kingman Cancer Center at Kingman Regional Medical Center.

Now, with all the hustle and bustle behind me, I plan to relax, crochet and create whatever comes from my hook and yarn in my hands.  This is the most wonderful, peaceful and relaxing thing I know.......and all is right with the world.

Of course I don't plan on being a recliner potato, I am also going to play with my 3 grandsons, something I haven't had much time to do lately.....and I need to change that......IT'S MANDATORY :0)

We also plan to go to Phoenix this month to see our son,

Brian, and future daughter-in-law,

Shelby, as they produce their first

Theatre Production of 2010:  THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ABRIDGED

WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

MY FAVORITE SEASON

As you know, our Etsy Team poses questions on our thread in order for us to get to know each other a little better. I'm a little behind on the questions, but I just had to answer this one: "WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?"

Now this shouldn't be a difficult question, but it posed a special conundrum for me. So please be patient with me as I explain:

My Dad instilled a love of Football in me at a very young age. I would love to watch professional and college football every chance I had with him. He explained the game in detail and I learned every pro team ( there were a lot fewer teams back then ) and knew the players names and cheered and shouted at the TV right along with him.

When I was in my Junior and Senior years of High School, I was on the Majorette Squad and we performed with the Marching Band at EVERY game, both home and away.  My Daddy was ALWAYS there.....he never missed a game!  We were allowed to leave our area in the bleechers only during 3rd quarter and this was my real special time. Daddy wrote the Sports News for the local paper and at home games he would always have hot chocolate with marshmellows waiting for me in the press box (Autumn in Pennsylvania can get real cool to cold, especially on Friday nights). He always made me feel so special. I could still hear his voice, "Here ya go Babydoll, you did a great job tonight, you were the best majorette out there!" And he would give me a great big hug. I got to spend the entire 3rd quarter with him and I loved it.

My Dad never missed anything in which I was involved. He always told me, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't be or do something you have your heart set on doing. You are my Babydoll and you are smart so you go out in this world and be whatever you want to be!"

Daddy taught me about alot of things, sports, laughter, but most of all LOVE!
I lost my Daddy fourteen years ago and a day doesn't go by that I don't miss his phone calls that started with "Hi Babydoll", his hugs and his Love.  Yet I am so grateful for all he taught and shared with me, because now my husband, John, and I have a passion for Football (and most sports) that we share with our children and grandchildren. 

It's not just the sports, it's the LOVE and SHARING and TEACHING something that bonds us together. My Daddy helped me see the greatness of all seasons, it's just that Football Season stands out the most for me.  I love you Daddy and I miss you. I just know you've got a game going on in heaven right now. I'm cheering for you!

HOW AND WHY DID I BECOME A "HOOKER" ?

DID I GET YOUR ATTENTION?  Actually, this questions was posed to our CreateCrochet Team as a way of learning more about each of us and how we got "hooked" on crocheting. Each week we will be asked a question and I'm running out of time to answer this one because I've been so busy getting ready for our upcoming Relay for Life 2010 Kingman to help raise money to fight the evil known as cancer!  I am proud to say that my team has pitched in to help by sending so many beautiful crochet items from all over the world for me to sell at the RFL and donate all proceeds to RFL. They are the most wonderful team in the world. Oh, sorry, had to get that Public announcement in there :0)


As for me, I actually learned to crochet from Sister Richard in the 4th grade at Holy Trinity School. She asked if I wanted to learn how to crochet the lace on the altar cloths and I really wanted to do so;  she taught me and I was so excited. I never told anyone, it just made me feel special that I was doing something for God, my little secret between him and me.


Later I tried crocheting with bigger hooks and thicker yarn and felt quite clumsy. Believe it or not, my first real success came with tunisian/afghan stitch crocheting that a friend's mom taught me. I just felt it was so much easier and started making afghans like crazy.  During my teen years I put my hook down and focused on a special someone named "John" whom I married when I was 19 and he was 22. I am proud to say we will celebrate our 35th anniversary this August!!


Back to crocheting, I continued to pick up my crochet hooks  which grew in number over the years  and taught myself many stitches with the help of books and some friends.  I found it enjoyable and soothing.  It wasn't until about 6 or so years ago when health issues really set me back and it as very difficult to cope that I found crocheting VERY therapeutic and my fingers were ablaze with amazing creativity. I was always doing some sort of crafting, but nothing gave me the enjoyment and freedom like crocheting. 


EVERYONE got something crocheted as gifts, scarves, hats, purses, fingerless gloves. etc, etc, etc.  I accumulated so many items my family teased me about needing a whole room just for all my crocheting things. Soooooooo, since both of our sons are grown, one married with children, the other away at college and now graduated and engaged; I turned one of their rooms into my craft room and am in my glory!!!!!


I can never follow a pattern; I may start, but I feel guided by a higher power of creativity and am always surprised at the outcome. I finally realized that I need to write down how I do things so I can create more of the same should anyone want one. 

My guide/symbol which reminds me to play, breathe, create and enjoy life is the Dolphin.  My husband and children have surrounded me with all kinds, statues, bookmarks and even a giant vinyl one on my craft room wall made by my oldest son who does wall vinyl art for a living.

When I crochet ALL is right with the world. This gift of crocheting is a blessing for which I thank God every Day :0)

So, hopefully now you know a little bit more about me. Anyway, "that's my story and I'm stickin to it"

Have a wonderful life............IT'S MANDATORY :0)