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

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 REASON FOR EVERYTHING !

THIS IS MY FAMILY..... the ones for whom I would do anything. They are my reason for so many things including the Relay for Life. With our combined family history of cancer and my oldest son's experience with melanoma, I want to do all I can to help FIGHT this horrible disease and make sure everyone celebrates more and more birthdays joyfully!

The RELAY FOR LIFE KINGMAN 2010 is just around the corner, June 5th!  It's not too late to make a donation or make plans to be there and cheer on our team, THE RELAY WRANGLERS or any other team as long as you come.  There will be opportunities to buy goodies of all sorts, (check out our merchantile for the crochet items from around the world), meet and talk with survivors or friends you might just bump into there.  It will be an experience to remember, I can guarantee that!

So PLEASE, take the time for a potential life changing experience, Saturday, June 5th starting @ 6 pm (come a little earlier before the events begin).  You wouldn't want to miss the OPENING CEREMONIES AND THE SURVIVORS LAP AROUND THE TRACK :0)

And by the way, this is my wonderful Aunt Rosie, who is ever so special to me and I love her so much.  She is also a survivor of Breast Cancer. She will be there to walk in the Survivor's Lap.  If you live in Kingman, chances are she helped deliver you, your child and/or your grandchild.  So please come and cheer for her.

CREATECROCHET TEAM SUPPORTS RELAY FOR LIFE 2010 KINGMAN ARIZONA

TEAM CHARITY EVENT!!  The CreateCrochet Team (an INTERNATIONAL TEAM) is participating in a charity event to support the Relay for Life. We will be crocheting chemo caps and other items that will be sold at the Kingman AZ Relay for Life the weekend of

June 5-6, 2010.

CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING LINK TO SEE SOME OF THE ITEMS BEING DONATED......THESE ARE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF WHAT'S TO COME :0)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=168224&id=170047937483#!/album.php?id=170047937483&aid=168224&s=0&hash=a6aa65ed06c921382301e2df317d576c

CROCHETING-More than a Hobby-It's a way of Life!

Crocheting is the most comforting and soothing form of activity I know. I just melt into a world of my own when I have hook and yarn in hand. May sound crazy to some people, but crochet is a passion for me, it is a way to create something beautiful from pile of yarn (which in itself is beautiful!).

I can start with a chain, have something in mind and before I know it, something wonderful happens; it's as if something/one takes over and what I had in mind when I started, becomes something totally different of has a little tweak I never planned :0)  My muse (or inspiration) is the dolphin. 

According to what I read in Native American Animal Totems, the dolphin is a brilliant animal who reminds us to take the time to breathe thoughtfully and purposefully and to be playful. I guess that's why I rarely follow a pattern without adding some new touches to it.

That's how I see life too.  I see and hear the rules, know I am supposed to follow them; yet I just can't help changing things up a bit. I believe in the spirit of the rules, not necessarily the letter of them. I believe common sense is a God-given gift that too many people forget about.  Please don't forget about this GREAT gift and remember to take the time to play and have fun every once and a while :0)

I am also a member of the greatest crochet team known as CreateCrochet Team. We are an etsy team, but we are more like family. We are from all over the world and it is so exciting to share ideas, stories, joys, hardships, comfort and encouragement for each other.

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

This is my first Blog and could not have managed this without my future daughter-in-law, Shelby. This is so exciting and a new adventure.

I'm Marianne, married to John for 34 1/2 years, have 2 sons, BJ who is married to Bridgett and has 3 of the most adorable and smart little boys, and Brian who is engaged to Shelby and they will be married 15 January 2011.   I can't wait :0)

My favorite thing to do in the world is to spend time with my family and we are all going to be together for Easter this year.  I feel a family picture is coming on Easter !!   YIPEEEEEEE!

I also love to crochet, actually it's a passion!  I absolutely love to create new things.  I start  something and it just takes on a life of it's own. The dolphin is my creative inspiration and I believe she guides my hands.....cool huh?

I also have two poodles who are so special, Maxi, a white standard (the biggest type of poodle) and Snickers (a toy poodle).  They are family to us. For as big as Maxi is, she thinks she is a Lap Dog, Snickers, the little is actually the alpha dog,  it's actually quite funny. Don't know what I'd do without them.

I'll leave my first entry with this quote:
"Life is God's gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to God"
-Ecclesiastes-