Don't miss the December online party!

 Thank you so much for helping last month in the great cause of helping out all those many people on the East Cost - I am sure it was greatly appreciated!

Once again you have a chance to join my monthly online party and this month we have added all kinds of great savings again! Don't wait too long, before some of your favorite items are gone! There is still time to get some of your Christmas projects done. Once I am more moved in and we are finally cleared from the military I am still planning to get some Christmas ornaments made - yes I am ambitious - ha! But with our Cricut Artiste cartridge, our dimensionals and coordinating stamp set it will be much easier for me.

Let me know if I can help you get some quick gifts together and don't forget our wonderful tutorials!

Hope you are taking advantage of all our great tutorials we are putting out. Close to my Heart is almost taking my work away by not having to show all the cool things you can do with our stamps - almost ... ha! I would love to show you more! So, get in touch with me - I would love to help you get started with your projects. Get those things out of the drawer! Things in the drawer are very expensive. Only when you pull them out and do something with them do they become a bargain!

If you are looking for a quick project - check out one of our Workshop of the Go kits. Everything is in one place. Love those kits!

Need to get quick pages done - consider our Express Layouts in Studio J. Check it out, play around - you don't pay until you press the purchase button. And yes - they count towards a party, hostess rewards. It cannot get better!

Thoughts for Thanksgiving

Just a few thoughts of Thanksgiving ...

It seems we all have thoughts of Thanksgiving at this time of year. A couple of years ago, I might have had a hard time to come up with thoughts of Thanksgiving because my mother was gravely ill and was about to pass away. Shortly there after my dog passed away as well. My husband had just recovered from lung surgery a few months before and I spend almost 6 months with him at Walter Reed. At that time of this year he was back in Iraq. And yet, I still had thoughts of Thanksgiving in my heart, just as I do this year.

Through tough times and good times, my Heavenly Father has always been there. My life has been blessed with a wonderful family. I have two wonderful sons. One just married a wonderful new wife. It warmed my heart to see him as happy as he was on his wedding day. As a mother you always see your children as a doctor or any other great such thing. But nothing is better to see them as a great person and be as happy as they are on their wedding day, when they smile at their bride and she smiles back with just as much happiness.  Those moments are priceless. Those moments, I am truly grateful for.

If I were to list all the things in my life I have ever received that deserve my thanks - I would have to write a book. And much of that are not things I purchased, but they are times spent with my family. Times I spent with them. I loved the times I spent with my sons - we had so much fun together, we were always able to laugh together, be crazy together! Matthew and I still are, ha!

The moment, my husband woke up from his surgery and the doctors told me, he would make it and he would still be able to spend more time with me ... priceless and prayers answered.

Yes, life is wonderful. So, if there is anything I can share with you. If life is hard, try to look around you and see what you can be thankful for and start with that. It has always helped me to keep going.

May the Lord bless you on this Thanksgiving.

The only person missing was our oldest son, Patrick - he will be getting married in a couple of weeks. But after 34 years of service to the United States Army my husband, Francis is finally retiring from the military. He has has a number of commands here in the US and abroad in Germany and Iraq. He has had a number of deployments and still found time for his family. We were always able to connect somehow.

He can be proud of his service and the many awards he has received, I know we are. Thanks, honey for your service and to all the other men and their families who are still serving...

Here is my soldier son. It has been a hard road for him. While he was at Basic Training he was not sure why he was there. It really tested his inner core. After the first nine weeks of really rough physical and mental testing he made it through. He was not that young, almost boy anymore. Yes, he was still interested in video games, etc. But he is much more reflective now. He knows the strength he possesses inside of him. Few young men get to learn that at his age. I am glad for him he stuck it out.

During his break we walked through a store and he received his first handshake (one of many) thanking him for his service to this country. He was speechless, until then he did not think that the sweat, tears (he had not dared to show to anyone) and yes blood he had shed until now in his training really had been for more than just training. But he finally realized what he was really preparing for. The next time someone shook his hand, he was able to say much easier "Your welcome." He will serve proudly, because his dad has done so for over 30 years and still is.

As it is, his dad will most probably be deploying again just a few days after we pick him up from his AIT graduation - such is life in a military family. So, when someone shakes the hand of a soldier they say "Thank You." And the families at home write them letters, are grateful to the Lord for cell phones and we shed tears and always pray for them that they will be kept save.

May the Lord bless our soldiers and their families - always.