Sunrise Series #2

Shine

Turn your face to the sun
and the shadows fall behind you.
~Maori proverb

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i heart flowers photo challenge

Sunrise Series #1

A Dewy Morn

In the right light,
at the right time,
everything is extraordinary.
~Aaron Rose


I woke up to a most beautiful morning~
my soul was singing in the sunshine
and beauty of the day.
after several days of cold rain.

So begins my Sunrise Series of photos that I
happily captured today.

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Once Upon a Time

You can't write poetry on the computer.
~Quentin Tarantino


{and I never thought a day would come that I would be quoting Quentin Tarantino~
Don't hold it against me. I like the quote. }
:)

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kim klassen's texture tuesday

Breathe Deeply

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives the flower.

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{my delicious lilacs}

Little Secrets


Adopt the pace of nature~
her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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{my flowering almond}

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Gentleness Inside

Sweet is the memory of distant friends~
Like the mellow rays of the departing sun,
it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.
~Washington Irving

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Looking for the Bright Side


The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world.
~Robert Browning

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A Heavenward View

So often... I want to bow my head in sorrow and sadness.
But I try to remember to hold my head up and gaze toward Heaven~
where my sweet sister now lives.
Every look Heavenward holds so much meaning now.

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Remembering

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you
I could walk forever in my garden.
~Claudia Ghandi

The reason it hurts so much to separate is because
our souls are connected.

Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream
And I seek thee in vain by the meadow and stream.
~George Linley

Perhaps they are not the stars,

but rather openings in Heaven
where the love of our lost ones pours through
and shines down upon us
to let us know they are happy.
~Author Unknown

I love you Shauna.

Heaven's Prettiest Angel

Sadly for us....we had to say goodbye to our sweet dear Shauna today.

But for her~ she must be filled with happiness...
for she was able to meet our Wonderful Creator and our Loving Savior.

I can't even imagine the pure joy of getting an embrace in the loving arms of Jesus.

What a sweet moment that must be.

Shauna fought this terrible cancer for nearly 2 years now.

It has been a difficult and painful journey....physically and emotionally.

But she fought it with more bravery than could ever be imagined.

She never let it shape who she was.



She never complained.


Doctor after doctor and nurse after nurse always told us how special that she was.
one of kind.

But of course...they didn't need to tell us.
We already knew.



We have shed so many tears today.
And we will continue to cry for years to come.

There won't be a day when we won't think of her and miss her.

Because she is special.



She was fun.

She was full of energy.

She was sunshine.


She was good.

She was pure.

She was faithful.



She was a mom.



She was a daughter.



She was a sister.

She was a friend.

~~~

Shauna never let her Faith waver.

To the end she was thinking of others and whose soul she could still reach out to.


Her final evening~ Friday night~ she hosted a girls' party for some of her close friends and family members.

She was still at home...where she wanted to be.

Of course we didn't know this would be our last night with her.

But what a blessing for all of us.

And it was exactly how she would have wanted it~ being surrounded by a house full of loved ones.


If by some force of magic I could get one wish~

I would wish for a day to spend with my sister.

With her healthy and walking. With no cancer.

We could have such fun talking, singing, and being in the garden.

Oh how my heart aches for a day like that again.



The beauty is....

one day that wish will be fulfilled through a promise.

And it won't be just one meager day.

It will be an eternity together.

Laughing. Singing. Being in the perfect Garden of Heaven.





Thank you to all my friends that have been here during these hard times.

Thank you for letting me share my burdens with you.
Thank you for carrying them with me.

Your friendship and prayers and tender words have meant more to me than words can ever say.

Thank you for letting me share the life of my beautiful sister with you.



All my love~

Chasity






I miss you already my sweet baby sister.
I look longingly for the day we will meet again.
Your big sis~
Chas

First Bloom

No matter how long the winter
Spring is sure to follow.
~Proverb

my first bloom in the garden....
a blessed sight for a sore heart.

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Being Green

It's not that easy being green;

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,
or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

~Kermit the Frog



Have a great green day!

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Sugar Coated

Treat everyone with politeness,
even those who are rude to you~
not because they are nice,
but because you are.
~Author Unknown

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Soft Mornings

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toes slippers of snow
And we,
we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan Jr.

To my dear Northern friends....
I felt a little bad talking about our springlike weather
while you still have many feet of snow in your yards.
and here is what I awoke to this morning~

There was a good five inches of snow on the ground.

It was quiet and still and magical.

And yes...it seemed much like Narnia.

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Glisten

Criticizing another's garden doesn't keep the weeds out of your own.
~Author Unknown

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Magical


Hello friends.

I didn't intend on being gone so long.

I'm not quite sure what happened there.

I guess it's hard for me to share when times are dreary.

But today is beautiful....

the weather is lovely~
and
I worked out in my gardens today.

I got six little beds cleared out.

I am trying to get a head start this spring~
last year my gardens were neglected pitifully.
I'm sure I will be paying for that in weeds.

To show you how neglected they were~
I found six hidden Easter eggs today.
{from LAST year's egg hunt}

The candy was not edible.
In case you were wondering.
:)


Looking forward to catching up with you.

Hope your weather is warming as well.

I couldn't help it....had to post another photo of buds.
They hold such promise.
Love them.

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Like the lovely petals
is our love~
Soft
Rich
Fragile
Unfolding

So many layers

Some still hidden and undiscovered.

~Chasity

~~~~

This is another one of the flowers from the beautiful bouquet my husband
gave to me on Valentine's day.
I love that guy.
:)

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Preparing

The flowers of late winter and early spring
occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion
to their size.
~Gertrude Wister

This is what I am going to call a happy accident~
it is sooc~
no editing
no textures

I am not savvy enough to know how it happened
but I was very pleased when I came in and viewed what was captured.
Where did those ghostly diamonds come from?

Photography just amazes me.
Pure and simple.
{well....maybe not so simple}

I'm going to pretend that it happened by magic.
Don't try to convince me otherwise because today
it feels like magic could be possible.

These buds are from my beautiful dogwood out in the front lawn.

It was 76 degrees yesterday.

Probably a record breaker.

And it definitely stirred my spring fever to an all time high.

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Dreamy

Let your love be like the misty rains~
coming softly
but flooding the river.

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Celebration

Loving is not just looking at each other~
it's looking in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Bitter and Cold

Remember this.
When people choose to withdraw far from a fire,
the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold.
When people choose to withdraw far from light,
the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness.
This is also the case when people withdraw from God. ~Augustine

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Longing

One kind word can warm three winter months.
~Japanese Proverb


Winter is definitely taking it's toll.

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As Shadows Shorten

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
~Swedish Proverb

Thank you so much for the kindness and encouragement you have given me
over the past several days.
I feel like saying Thank you isn't nearly enough....
but it's what I have to offer.

Shauna is home now~
and it is a beautiful thing to see her in her own lovely home
instead of in that cold sterile hospital.

And though we were all fallen low the other day~
we are recovering and getting new focus.

Shauna is by no means sitting back and giving up.

The hospital did all they could and now she is continuing the
healing process at home.

But she is still very hopeful that once the swelling goes down...
she can once again aggressively fight this terrible disease.

Hope is a beautiful light.

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Well Worn

Dancing with the feet is one thing;
but dancing with the heart is quite another.
~Author Unknown

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Be sure to check out my sidebar...and go vote.
I'm trying to win a trip to Hawaii in a Shutterfly photo contest.
That would make my heart dance for sure.

Simplicity


to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...
to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring;
these are some of the rewards of the simple life.
~John Burroughs

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Warm Winter Glow

There are two kinds of light~
The glow that illuminates
and the glare that obscures.
~James Thurber

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Warmth in the Cold


A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle.
~Author unknown

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From The Bedroom Window


One of my sweet friends encouraged me to get my camera out
to capture the beautiful snow that we got last night.

She knows what is good for my soul.

Thanks friend.

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