Thursday, May 30, 2024

Mooovin’!

 We’ve been told by our landlord that he wants to sell the house.  So we’re looking for a new place!  We’ve started packing already… it’s taken three weeks to get the books weeded and we have enough for a book sale!

Not sure exactly when we’ll have it, but it should be an adventure!



Saturday, December 16, 2023

Nothing New Under The Sun

This year has gone by quickly for me!  

Allen is wearing dentures now; he’s still getting used to them.  He left his truck delivery work and is looking for a new job.  My mother, who lives about 30 minutes from us, needs frequent visitors to help with shopping and to keep her company.

My lower back is in frequent pain. I had Radio Frequency Ablation in August, but it didn’t last very long and the procedure was extremely painful.  My insurance won’t cover an MRI so we’ve been unable to determine precisely why my back hurts so much,  though it’s probably related to lumbar scoliosis.

Despite these annoyances, we are relatively healthy.  It is a gift to be able to recognize our blessings, and we give praise to Jehovah-Jirah (the God who provides)!

We’ve also enjoyed hearing updates about Allen’s daughter and her family… granddaughter Zoe turned one year old in November!



We are also immensely grateful to Calvary Chapel Lebanon [CCLeb] and all those who have been praying for us!



Merry Christmas and peace to all! ๐Ÿ™

Thursday, August 11, 2022

Daddy’s Girl

 January 8, 2022, my father went Home to be with the Lord.  He had acquired Covid-19 in Nov. ‘21, and was sedated and intubated in early Dec..  His death was a shock to me, and my family.  He had just retired, with my mom he was going to downsize their large house.  He was enjoying being “Gramps” to his two grandsons.

I miss him beyond words.  Every time the 8th day of the month rolls around, I feel particularly sad.  I believe we will see him again when our turns to go Home come along.  But I sure do miss having him down here.











Thursday, July 26, 2018

Grief takes time...

I've been bullied since I was in grade school.  Why do I expect more of adults?  A "friend" of mine from college blocked me on FaceBook for no reason that I can understand.  It was completely out of character from what I had previously known about her.  Maybe I was just wrong.  It's been years since I saw her, and a lot has happened since then.  Maybe she's now a bully.  I wish there was some way I could find out if I need to apologize!






Saturday, February 10, 2018

Puzzles!!!




I love doing jigsaw puzzles!  I have since I was a kid... remember those board puzzles that had popular "brands" like Sesame Street, and Warner Brothers or Disney characters?
Allen and I started doing jigsaw puzzles this year just to pass the time and stave off cabin fever.  These are the ones we've worked on so far:


#1: "Warmth of Autumn" by Susan Rios, 1000 pcs.



#2:"Sugar Creek Mill" by Ann Stookey, 550 pcs.



 #3: "Holy Night" by William Ternay, 1000pcs. (came in 'book box')






Sunday, December 03, 2017

Advent 2017

I usually light a candle on the 4 Sundays of Advent, but this year I'm not.  Besides, some of my tapers are burned down to nubs.
I have been reading a few Advent/Christmas devotions... two on-line and the book Advent in Narnia by Heidi Haverkamp.  There are *so* many resources on-line and the app I use for my daily devotion (YouVersion) has a lot of Advent/Christmas devotions to choose from.

May your holiday season be blessed with Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love!







Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Friends of any age ๐Ÿ‘ฑ๐Ÿป‍♀️๐Ÿ‘ต๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿฟ

I recently "met" a young lady on-line.  At first, it was only our love for Christ Jesus that we had in common.  Then we discovered a shared love of reading, animals, fantasy, music... something new pops up almost every week!  But because we don't live near each other, I'm exploring the extent of "social media" in getting to know each other long-distance.  We have so many more options than I did when I was younger!  Then, I wrote a lot of "snail" mail ๐Ÿ“ฌ, but wasn't fond of phones ☎️.
Now there's e-mail, text, "the ๐Ÿ˜ณWorld Wide Web ๐Ÿ˜ฎ", instant message, FaceBook, Skype/FaceTime, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, ... shall I go on?
I'm excited to get to know this girl, "๐ŸŽปB.๐Ÿ“š", as she is younger than I and her experiences stir my memories of that time in my life!  I pray that I can be a good example to her: of a Christian wife, a sister, a daughter, and a caring & entertaining friend!  She is my sister in Christ and that is a treasure to have!




Friday, October 06, 2017

Trace the scars...

     Life is never simple.  Never completely in control.  Pain is a part of life.  Learn to seek value in suffering.  Look for where it hurts and run your mind, like gentle fingers, over the wounds.  Feel the healing "pins and needles."  Watch as scar tissue replaces the gaping wound, soothing the shock, covering the intensity, muffling the ache.
     The creation of a scar hurts.  But it is "good" pain... it means the awful, sudden, immediate jolt of HURT is over.  Healing begins.
     Scars cover the "hurt" so the bleeding can stop and rebuilding can begin.
     In time, go back and trace the scars... and they will show you how much you've grown.  Through pain.  Because of pain.  Despite pain.




Sunday, November 20, 2016

Reveries....


Nov. 17, 2016, 10:47pm

the moon peeks at me over the trees, like a God-wink.  "Heaven let your light shine down"... the radio plays the song of my heart!




Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Bibliophile: Fave Publishers

Tyndale is one of my favorite Christian publishers.  They have a program called Tyndale Rewards and I get points for linking them to my blog so I'm doing it here: Tyndale Rewards





Monday, September 26, 2016

Three Years Happy

Allen and I just got back from a 3 day, 2 night stay at Comfort Inn Bethel.  We are celebrating our third year of marriage!  Not an easy road, but we've grown a lot together, individually and as a couple.  I love my man, my best friend, my confidante, my sweetheart, my "man-of-Steele."  Much (๐Ÿ˜‰)!



Thursday, January 22, 2015

whatcha doin'?

Winter is my "reading season".  Too cold to do much outside.⛄️
I didn't realize there might be an "issue" here until I looked at my Goodreads app and counted 16 books on my "currently-reading" shelf!  Usually it's more like 7 or 8!  Seems like a particularly boring winter?  Not when I have so many literary worlds to escape to! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ
One book I'm rather proud of having on my shelf is "The Portable MLIS" (for the layperson, that's "Masters in Library and Information Science").  My health may have caused me to leave college early, but I can still study at home... and hopefully I will be able to do some long-distance LIS learning via computer & correspondence schools.  Brave new world, for Mrs. Steele, LAH (librarian-at-heart)!๐Ÿ“š


Saturday, January 10, 2015

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Mrs. Steele

Next Saturday, December 21, 2013 is the three "month-aversary" of my marriage to Allen Steele.  My best friend, my kindred spirit, the love of my life.  It's a match made in heaven! (Thank you, dear Lord!!!)



Friday, August 16, 2013

Going to the chapel & we're gonna get ma-arried...

Just 34 days to go... woohoo!!  A helpful site with articles and advice for Christian couples: http://www.unveiledwife.com

[September 2013]



Sunday, March 24, 2013

Two shall become one....

Exciting news: as of February 27, I am engaged to Allen Steele, currently of Tulsa, OK.
He's moving to PA in May and we plan to get married September 21.  Suffice to say I will probably be quite busy for the next couple months!



Saturday, May 05, 2012

There is a season, turn, turn, turn...


                     April 2012


2013


2016





Friday, June 11, 2010

I'm Still Alive!!!

BWA-HA-HA-HA! And you thought I was never coming back! Well, I wasn't really intending to, it's just, I've got this *laptop* now, so I can post wherever and whenever I want, and that is very, very helpful for someone with CFIDS! I just have to get used to this keyboard, and start rationing energy for leaving the house and maybe driving to the library or a park or someplace where I can post w/out distractions (well, actually, someplace that has something interesting to distract me when I can't think of anything to type!) With it being summer, it will have to be someplace cool (most likely air-conditioned), as I'm super-sensitive to heat/humidity. I've mostly been using this computer for my Facebook "games". I play Farmville, Farm Town, My Town, Happy Aquarium, Barn Buddy, My Zoo, Zoo Kingdom, and sometimes Mafia Wars, Fish World, Fishville, Country Life, and SuperPoke Pets. My best neighbor is my best friend, Brian Myers. I'll have to post a separate entry about how he and I met -- it's a neat story! So, if you want to catch me between posts, ask to be my neighbor on Facebook! TTFN! Quiz: How addicted to Facebook are you?" (I'm 36%, according to this quiz)



Monday, March 20, 2006

Mind Wandering?

I used to fall asleep in my high school writing class. My favorite class, and my body made me SLEEP through it!! My teacher, Will Liegel (who could survive on less than 4 hourse of sleep a night), would glance at me, I'd look up drowsily, he'd nod imperceptibly, and my head would fall into my arms. What an angel he was! 'Course, I was acing the class, but still... all that rigamorole about class participation... And what's the deal about that: "class participation"? In college, I came to a sort of "arrangement" with most of my professors that I could miss class if someone took notes for me, and I showed up for tests. I ended up dropping out the next semester, partly because of a misunderstanding about regular class requirements vs. my interpretation of our "arrangement"... One particularly particular professor said I failed in class participation. Ok, uh, wait, uh, wasn't our arrangement that I could miss class (and hence "participation" in said class...). {frustrated noise} Then I have this question about "participation" itself. I'll try to say this without sounding pretentious, but I was always a superb student. Straight A's in grade school and most of high-school. But I always got comments about my lack of "participation". It frustrated me that most teachers calculated participation according to the same criteria for every student. I was a shy student. I didn't volunteer much information... that was the teacher's job, wasn't it? I didn't raise my hand, because I had no questions! I was quiet; helpful and obedient when chosen to perform a task. I answered questions asked of me, promptly and usually correctly. I was a teacher's dream student, compared to the guys who were throwing spit-balls, paper airplanes, and whispered imprecations at the teacher's back. So, the socially adept students got the points for participating. I was a "socially under-adept" (i.e. nerd) Suffice to say, school was an often-unpleasant challenge for me, and I was actually kind of relieved to be too tired to go anymore. I miss having a diploma and an alma mater. But I educate myself now, on my own time, using my own personally chosen curriculum. I always get an A in participation. And I can skip class any time I want!



Sunday, January 02, 2005

Happy New Year!

Just want to wish anyone who's brave enough to come back here (i.e. those who never lost hope that I'd return!),
Xin Nian Hao! (Happy New Year!)