GoodBye 2008...HELLO 2009!!!

Hey everyone! Just popping in to say I hope you all are having a safe and joyous New Year celebration! Whether at home with family, or out and about, let's take some time to reflect on all our blessings of 2008 and prepare for all the blessings to come in the following year! God Bless you all...aaannnnddddd.....

Christmas is Past and a New Year is Coming!!!!

I finally downloaded my pictures from last week! Do you see that cutee patootie Christmas shadow box on the mantel there? That is the one that I won from Bobbie, Creative Life Diary! http://creativelifediary.com/

She is a Lollishop vendor and makes the cutest shadow boxes and paper art!!!! I just love it! We have it on our mantel with our topiary tree that we decorate for every holiday. (Next it will have hearts all over it...LOL)

This and our Joy tree were the only things we decorated this year. We are remodeling and between that and the changes in our mom's behavior, we did not do much. Any significant change affects our mom right now....Here is our little Joy Tree...I just love these ornaments!

That's our glitter church village with our praising snowman! Aren't they adorable??? We (my sister and I) have an enormous snowman collection that we add to every year. Our praising snowman was added this year as well as the vintage one with the top hat and candy cane on the mantel. Do you have a favorite at Christmas that you collect every year? What are they? Share some pictures....

Here is a picture of my sister and our niece (Angie) watching a movie last weekend. My sister is gonna kill me when she sees this! LOL. Aren't they both pretty???

Here is my latest of me and my baby boy Kody....he is such a character and I am hiding back there behind him....

You Got It!!! It's Friday Flea Market Time!

Here are some cool bangle bracelets made of Resin with Swarovski Crystal insets. There are many widths and colors to choose from. All are under $17.00! Here are a few to look at. They can be found at my website at:

http://www.rebeccarosedesigns.com/category_31/Bangle-Bracelets.htm

Or you can click on the pictures below to go directly to that item.

Raggedy Anne - An Old Time Friend!

Do you have a favorite doll? One that will always bring a smile to your face? Mine fond memories are of one of my dolls that my mom made for me. She was a Raggedy Ann doll. Unfortunately she was ruined and I no longer have her. But thanks to a wonderful site on Lollishops (Bowls n Annies) I ordered some patterns and will be making a new one to replace the old.

I did make some altered art journals with the tried and true Queen Annie. They are for sale on my website, and you can check them out by clicking on the picture.

It's Friday Flea Market Time!

I have some great tag sets for just $4.50 for a set of four. Click on the pictures to go to my website.

Pink tags of Hope

I finally got some pictures and listings of my new tags. My favorite, Hope! We can all benefit from Hope and Joy in our lives. I often have to remind myself that having hope is an activation of my faith. It is an action word. I have to exercise it. I have to choose it. I have to believe in it. With hope comes joy...

Look What I Won!!! Isn't it Awesome?

Look at what I won. It is adorable and I can't wait to get it. Bobbi from Creative Life Diary made it. She has give aways all the time. Go to her blog and check it out. http://creativelifediary.typepad.com/my_weblog/ She also has a website where she sells awesome goodies like this one....It will be worth the visit! http://creativelifediary.com/

Thanks Bobbi....Becs

Are You Finished With Your Christmas Shopping???

Is anyone done with shopping? Have you even started yet? I talked to a friend of mine yesterday and she was wrapping the last present and putting it under the tree...."It's not even Thanksgiving!" I told her....She said she is already done....I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET! Oh my gosh!

Am I the only one that enjoys the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping? My sister and I love to do our shopping after Thanksgiving....I think it must be a tradition or something. I remember when I was a little girl, My dad and I would go out on Christmas Eve afternoon and buy something for my mom. I always helped him pick it out. I am the youngest of four girls and ten years are between me and the next sister....so I was not only the baby, but kinda of a second family for my parents. All my sisters were out of the house married or in college when I was young.

I remember one year I wanted to go cut a fresh tree instead of getting one already cut at the tree farm. So against my dad's better judgement, he gave in....we found the biggest, fullest tree and cut it down and brought it home....When dad tried to put it in the tree stand the trunk was too wide. So he tried to shimmy it down at the base, and when he did, the tree fell into three pieces! LOL.....he was so disappointed, but I think those were my favorite trees of all time! I had three instea of one! I think it was the excitement of getting it, cutting it and everything else. Once we got all the trimmings on it and turned the naked side to the corner....no one could even tell.. (Except my sisters who were quick to point it out and give dad a bad time about!...LOL)

As I am sitting here, I realized that today is the 7th anniversary of my dad's passing...God is so good! He is flooding my heart with fond memories of my dad today. Thank You Lord! God knows the desires of our hearts and today He is showing me just how much.

Well for those of you that need to get some shopping done, don't forget about all the wonderful online shopping opportunities. Just scroll down on the right side of my blog here to get started....Happy shopping! Becs

I am Soooo Ready for Winter!!!!

Good evening friends...

I am ready for it to be cold and stay cold for awhile. And nothing higher than 60 degrees here! It seems like we have not had a good winter here in central California for the longest time!!! I don't think I have worn my coat for two years......

The last time it snowed here was in 2001 and it was about 1 inch deep and stayed on the ground for an hour...LOL! It is one of the best memories I have of my dad though. It was in April, (yeah I said April) and it snowed here. My dad came over and woke me up (I was working nights on patrol) to play in the snow. He was video recording us. My yard was white and my police car had snow on it. My little dog (she has since passed away) Sadie Mae, my Lhasa Opso of 15 years, were outside in the snow. My dad was talking during the video. And as usual, he was zooming around making everyone dizzy...LOL He had a habit of doing that! He was talking and laughing at us. He passed away in November of 2001. So when I think I have forgotten his voice, we get the video out and play it. You can't see him, but you can hear him....

This was my Sadie Mae...in her pink suede and fur coat....the princess....

Isn't it amazing how attached we can become to our pets? I never thought I would survive losing her, but I have, after two years....I still miss her and have her little face on my cell phone. I wasn't gonna get another dog, then I found Kody...he was the cutest puppy....Now he is Mr. Handsome!!! And he knows it....LOL!

Well, I am so glad that California voted Yes on Prop 8!!!! YES!!!!!! Unfortunately I am sad for McCain, I really hoped he would win....So, now all I can do is pray and know that God is in Control!

One more thing....this is my new banner for my Lollishop store. It will be opening soon, so keep an eye open....

Oh....I almost forgot....I will be listing new items this week on my website and will be having a giveaway here on my blog. So check back sometime this weekend.....God Bless You all! Goodnight....Becs http://www.rebeccarosedesigns.com

COMING SOON...Lollishops!

I am pleased to announce that I am a part of an exciting new shopping guild called Lollishops! It is a most extroardinary place...a whimsical, fun, frou frou and fabulous place. It is a place that every girl, no matter the age, will love to shop! For more information click on the link above...

And if you are interested in being a vendor at Lollishops you can apply by clicking this link below. Hope to see you there!

And for those of you that want to jump in before the grand opening....we have a special place for all Lollishoppers....It's called Lollishopping and is located at the below link:

Hope to see you all there! Becs

Marie Antoinette Award

I recieved the Marie Antoinette Award. Thank you Janet from Graceful Rose! You are so sweet! To check out her beautiful blog you can click here:

http://gracefulrose.blogspot.com/

What an honor! Here are the rules for the award!

1. Place the logo on your blog.
2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs.
4. Place links of those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blog to tell them

My nominations for Marie Antoinette Award:

1. Melissa at Adored Before
http://adoredbefore.blogspot.com/

2. Marisa at Elegant Bloggery
http://tootsiegrace.blogspot.com/

3. Lori at Katie's Rose Cottage
http://katiesrosecottage.blogspot.com/

4. Victoria at Victoria's Rose Cottage
http://victoriarosecottage.blogspot.com/

5. Silena at Enchanted Valley Boutique
http://theenchantedvalleyboutique.blogspot.com/

6. Theresa at Cottage Violets
http://cottageviolets.blogspot.com/

7. AmyLynn at Brambleberry Lane
http://brambleberrylane.blogspot.com/


These are a few of my favorites! Please visit them all, you will be pleasantly surprised! Becs

Sunday before Retreat

Good evening! I am Exhausted! Have any of you ever wondered, "How did I get myself into this?" And..."God, what exactly IS the lesson I am supposed to learn from all of this?" I am expecting him to show us in a big way. We have literally re-created Padan Aram (the place where Rachel and Leah were from) in the book of Genesis. You should see our living room! On the wall painted in chalk on two sheets, is an ancient stone building with a camel!!! LOL. There are sheep in our Den, palm trees on our pation and in the living room, and hundreds of yards of muslin for the tents we are constructing. The fun part is that we have to haul all this up to Sonora (about a 3 hour drive) so we can set it all up. The blessing is knowing that there will be many women that will have a wonderful encounter with the Lord. And I will have been a part of that. That is so cool!

On another note, we celebrated birthdays for our niece (Angie) who is 24, and our nephew (Justin) who is 29 and their father (Jerry) who is.....older than me...LOL! I cannot believe how old they are! OMG! I feel so old....We are noticing that it is becoming harder and harder to take our mom places. She gets real spacey and then belligerent when we try to get her to do anything. PLease pray that God gives us the strength and wisdom to deal with her at this stage. It is a struggle!

I wanted to mention that Lollishops will be opening before the holidays so be sure and check it out. I will post more info on it later in the week. I am gearing up for Christmas on my website and will be listing some new items and return items. SO please, check my website or here for announcements.

I will leave you with this ... "Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit whic is precious to God." 1 Peter 3:4

Good night and God Bless you! Becs

Retreat is Almost Here!!!

Good Evening! Another Saturday down of making life sized sheep, huge tents, journals, bookmarks, bags, towels, etc... Now the only thing left we have to do is finish up the 225 journals, tote bags and tea towels, paint our back drop of Padan Aram, and make our life sized Camel! Yeah, I said Camel!

Have you ever had a hundred things going at once and absolutely nothing is finished? Well I am there now, kinda overwhelming. Here are the journals we are making, all individually handmade by an awesome team of ladies on our retreat committee that I have been "journal making" teaching. These are turning out so pretty and the women at retreat are truly going to be blessed.

I am attending a church called Family Worship Center in Exeter, Ca. We are a Four Square Pentecostal Church. Our congregation is small and changes often. I think it is because it is a place of healing and restoration. Our Pastors are wonderful people, Don and Debby Boles. They are both involved in the National Four Square also. They also care for their adult son, Tim, who sustained a brain injury eleven years ago. Their faith and calling on their lives is amazing! They have been a blessing to me on my journey.

Our retreat is held up in the hills in Sonora California and we are recreating the story of Rachel and Leah. We will be ministering to women in a primitive setting. It is gonna be awesome!

I guess I better get back to work. God Bless you all!

"May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home, like Leah and Rachel, who together built up the house of Israel." Ruth 4:11

Welcome to my First Ever Blog!!!

Welcome, my name is Becky, I go by Becs. This is the first time I have ever had a blog or even written in one, so please bear with me. I am in my 40's (shhhh) and I am divorced (18 years). I am a retired Police Officer. I had to retire due to some medical problems and have been out for 4 years. It seems like it was just yesterday. I have a disease called SLE Systemic Lupus and with it came Fibromyalgia and Diabetes...funnnnnn! I am happy to say that the Lupus is dormant (with medication) but the Fibro still kicks my booty regularly! The Diabetes is type 2 and non-insulin.

Let's see....I live with my 82 year old mother who, bless her heart, has Alzheimer's Disease and it is in a moderate stage. Also living here is my sister, Belinda (10 years older...HA HA) and her husband, Rick. Poor guy living with all these women! Belinda and Rick and I share in the care of my mother. I have had to depend on Rick and Belinda financially for the last few years. And our mom has come to depend on financial and physical care as well. So, you can imagine 4 adults under one roof! Add a 13 year old cranky female Chow Chow (Cita) and a huge young male Kelpie Shephard (Kody) in the house too! It is always interesting here, that's for sure!

I work part-time as an adjunct instructor for College of the Sequoias in the Criminal Justice Department. I teach 2 -3 classes a semester. I enjoy it. I also teach in the Police Academy, so it keeps me busy. My sister and Brother - in - law both work full time, so when I work also, we take my mom to a day care in town that is designed for Alzheimer patients. They are wonderful there. What is so frustrating is that there is no freedom at this time in our lives. It is very difficult to deal with. It's like having a GIANT toddler.

Ok, some more about me. I am spending most of my time right now working on journals and sets for our women's retreat at the end of October. Journals for 200-400 women!!! Let's see, we made life sized sheep out of PVC Pipe and fleece and chicken wire and Palm trees out of carpet tubes and mesh wrap. LOL! I will show pictures of the finished products! Needless to say, it is a zoo here right now!

I wanted to comment on some new ventures with my website, Rebecca Rose Designs...I have been a member of Shabby Lane Shops for several months now and Catherine has just done an outstanding job!

I have also joined a new advertising venue called Shopping4home decor. It is another amazing one stop shopping center for online shoppers!

And the last venture, which borught me to this blogging adventure, is Lollishops, a great shopping alternative that will be opening soon!

For now, I will sign off so I can put some thought together for next time! God Bless each and everyone of you!

Becs