Monday & No Power

Just got the internet back up. The power was out for about 2 hours here. I mean, No power, No Bachelor!! OH MY GOSH! How could this be. Since it's so late I'll post more tomorrow.

Blessings,
Magnolia

Sunday & More Blessings

I got up as normal and got dressed for church. Got to church sang a couple of hymns and J drew my attention to the worship guide. There I saw the first extra blessing of today, one member of the duet singing was Annabelle's Mom (see sidebar). We've know the family since their first child, Wyatt, was a toddler. We actually had Wyatt in our Sunday School class & had the pleasure of loving him for about 2 years every other Sunday. I was thrilled and shocked at the same time, I know what courage it took for her to stand up on front of a congregation of about 800-1000 and sing a duet. And the song was about how God is with you even in trials. Oh my word, she really needs to warn me the next time she sings, I won't wear any mascara and I'll take tissue with me. Such a blessing to hear this sweet Mother and woman of God sing.

The second blessing today as a walk at Riverfront Park with J. I pried him from the computer this afternoon and took the cameras down there. The place was packed needless to say. It was 80 degrees with abundant sunshine here today, so what a perfect end to our afternoon.

And to top it all off today, the sermon was outstanding.....thanks Dr. Carney! What a awesome, holy God we have. So here are a couple of photos from today....

Blessings & Extraordinary Things,

Magnolia

A Few More from Today

Saturday - And a True Blessing

I was just going out to indulge my favorite hobby (photography) and received the most wonderful surprise....

I left the house and journeyed down to the State House, I made a few rounds on the grounds and took some nice photos. I then decided to go across the street to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The parrish was founded in 1812 and has some extremely notable people in history (General Wade Hampton) buried inside of its cemetary. But that's not the surprise...I was walking around the cemetary outside of the parrish building and neared the back of the property when a man walked outside from the church. We exchange "hello's" and I mentioned to him that the renovations were beautiful (3 years worth). He stopped and asked me if I had seen the inside of the parrish, I promtly replied "no I haven't but I bet they are beautiful", he then asked "do you want to see inside".......I replied with a "Oh my gosh, I'd love that". So we proceeded to make our way through the courtyard and into a side door of the parrish, down a long hall and through an antique door with a leaded cross. Then...we entered the parrish itself, I don't know if I have the words to describe it, but magnificent is an understatement. I was in awe of the beauty before me. The renovations, to me at least, did in no way disturb the integrity of this historic and holy place. I could have stayed there all day just looking at the ceiling with it's polished arched beams, or the rows & rows of antique pews or the antique stained glass windows that surrounded the whole sanctuary. We talked about all the work that had been done to the building from termites in the beans to the repolishing of the organ pipes to the replacement of the granite floors. After a while, we left the sanctuary and walked down another hall to the dining room, where the parrish feeds about 200 homeless every Sunday morning. All I can say is I was again blown away by the granduer of this dining room. It reminded me of the dining room in the Biltmore House, with it's high wood beamed ceilings and wrought iron chandaliers. As the man and I walked back to the courtyard I could not thank him enough for this experience. God certainly has a way of reminding you who's in charge and that there are so many things that beautiful and precious to him. And he knows what so many of our thoughts and dreams are. I have taken pictures from the outside of this historic place for so many years now, only dreaming that I could get a peak inside, well today, God made that dream come true. Don't we have an awesome God. I was so overwelmed that I forgot to ask the man's name, but I have a feeling that God will bless him in some way or another for this kindness. But "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart that you took the time to show me such a treasure.

Blessings & Dreams that Come True,

Magnolia

TGIF - And that's all I'm Say'in

Another great week down! Work, Gym, then Home. That was my day, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about what happened when I got home. J said last night that he would love to have some fried Salmon patties for supper tonight, so I decided that since I had been good all week that I'd indulge him and myself and have that for dinner. But do you know what happened?!?!? When I started making it, it came to me that it wasn't a healthy investment (thank you again Bethanny) and I really didn't want to eat Salmon patties for dinner. I really wanted a tuna salad sandwich. So what did I do you ask?? I made the patties for J since he had requested them and fixed my self some tuna salad. Simple really, I didn't want to eat all that fried stuff. So my tip for the day is this, even though you might be cooking dinner for your family and it's something they want, just remember that if it's not what you want, you don't have to eat it! What a concept, took me a while to learn and apply that one, let me tell you.

Recipe for the day...My Tuna Salad
1 small can of tuna in water
2 tbsp of light or low fat mayonaisse
2 tbsp of sweet pickle relish
1 tsp of sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Just drain the tuna really well and mix everything together. Done. Some people may think that adding suger is a little odd, but for me it cuts the "fishy" taste. And this is enough for 2 sandwiches, so great value for your pocket too!

Blessings & Happy Friday,
Magnolia

Thursday - Almost the Weekend

I've been reading a great book on eating and you're probably going to laugh when I tell you what it is....It's Bethanny Frankel's Skinny Girl book. I really think she has it write about how "skinny" girls (or guys) eat. Some of her rules are common sense and the book is easy to read and follow. One of the rules is "you can have it all, but not all at one time". I mean how simple is that...if you want a burger, eat it, but eat it with a salad instead of fries. Those sort of simple statements have really made me focus on what I want to eat and how much I should eat. So thank you Bethanny. So my challenge for everyone is to really put this "rule" to the test this weekend, starting tomorrow.

Blessings & Good Luck,
Magnolia

Please Read

Please read Adrienne's latest post (Another Extraordinary Miracle on the sidebar). Grab a tissue before you start. If you don't think God answers prayers just read her testimony. I can't tell you enough of how he's answered my prayers about my health & weight, but maybe reading this will!

Miracles Happen Every Day!
Magnolia