Our dream house: just pinch me!

It's not exactly indicative of living over the rainbow when you are so busy that you can't even find time to blog. Between running a ministry, trying to be an attentive wife, homeschooling three kids, volunteering as scorekeeper and game blogger for my son's high school baseball team, running all three kids to multiple practices, leading a 4-H club, working as a free-lance writer for the local newspaper I used to edit--well, you get the idea. Blogging can only be done late at night, and by that time, this little gal is often zombiefied.

Since this blog focuses on living the dream, I guess you could say I am dreaming of a time of refreshing right about now! My house is a mess; who has time to clean it when there are not even enough minutes in the day to eat a decent meal sometimes?

Perhaps that's why tonight I am longing to live in a place like the one I visit occasionally--the Ruby Rose Tea Room in Stoneville, NC. I went a few weeks ago on a beautiful Saturday morning with some precious women in my family. I have made plans to go again this coming Saturday with church friends and family. I thought you might want to have a look at this gorgeously decorated place!

I spent a precious time of fellowship with my mother (middle), her sister Audrey (left) and her sister Darlene (right). Talk about living the dream--would you believe these ladies are all ages 69-74?! Aren't they lovely?

See the pinkish tea in the lovely glass? That's a raspberry tea that'll make ya wanna slap yer granny! Most of us ended up ordering the daily special of soup and sandwich, accompanied by a delicious dessert (Aunt Audrey and I split chocolate chip cheesecake and fresh cobbler!)

Also on our little field trip were my daughter Chelsea (left), my mother's other sister Carol (center) and my first cousin Susie. It was a girls' day out!

Notice the elegant table settings. The color pink predominates in this lovely restaurant which emanates peace and tranquility.

This was another table in what I call the green and pink room. I go to this tea room and then go home dreaming of living in a house this beautifully decorated.

(Granted, the hubster might feel it's too girly, but I like it.) If I were handier with stenciling, I figure I could do something like this. Look at the pretty flowers stenciled on the chairs.

Stenciling on the ceilings at occasional outjets of the wall, vine-like flower garlands around pictures--I like it.


Our church group is a small one called Times of Refreshing in Walnut Cove, NC. I am an ordained minister and founded the ministry.

We are being given a big, two-story white house that is one of the oldest in our town--to use for our nonprofit organization. I go to the Ruby Rose Tea Room to get ideas for how to decorate our place once the legalities are handled and it's ours.

This fireplace has the potential to look cluttered but somehow pulls off the look. I love a mirror on a mantel.


















I dream of pretty stenciling across thresholds. And white lacy sheers draped in a doorway, held back with greenery.

Stenciling on stairways, hanging lamps, flower arrangements scattered strategically, lace doilies on the banister post. . .elegant. The house we are being given for the glory of God has a grand staircase that could be restored to its previous elegance. Leaving a house vacant for over a decade is not a good way to preserve it, but it could not be helped in the case of our ministry house. It needs tender loving care now.

Look at the stenciling on the individual stairs. What a quaint idea! (And the plant, by the way, is not real, but painted!)

The tricks you can play with mirrors! Great way to enlarge a room. This is another room in the expansive restaurant. Almost all of the rooms have tables for parties to eat.

I like the idea of lighted trees in each room--and not just at Christmas time either! I adore low-hanging light fixtures as well. My son is a terrific artist--wonder how he'd do at painting murals such as the one on this wall?

A house with a motif like this--one of flowers, vines, pastorally painted scenery--seems the natural way to go for a ministry called Times of Refreshing, doesn't it? We want to use it as a place to heal broken people and to refresh those who have perhaps been burned out by life in this fallen world.

This is the floor in the foyer outside the bathroom. I can't imagine how this paint job doesn't wear down after so long.

Even the bathroom is a place of refreshing in this tea room atmosphere. I like the use of hats that you see just randomly hanging here and there.

Lighting is important in a place designed to refresh people. Who wants darkness? Depressed people traditionally close the shades and hide in darkness. We want to bring in the healing light of day that God gave us!







This little nook is hidden away in the foyer outside of the bathroom. I could sit here and meditate, but that might not be appropriate! The house we will soon have has a front porch. Properly redone, it could be a great place for meditation as it looks out on the little town.

I am in love with cabinets, especially those with stenciling. An ugly piece of furniture can be beautified with such art.

This fountain made soothing bubbling sounds as we examined the decor of this room. I want indoor fountains gurgling in our house one day. Running water is reminiscent of peaceful mountain settings which tend to be calming influences for troubled people.














White columns are so regal to me. I think of the beauty of ancient Greece.










A fake window painted onto a wall? I like it. How could anyone remain unhappy and troubled in such an environment? I can imagine Christian music playing in the background of our house or just CDs of nature sounds.





















The top of the stairs is just as pretty as the bottom!

Downstairs in the house that our ministry hopes to soon occupy, there is a master bedroom suite that we intend to make a gorgeous place of retreat. We will then offer it to missionaries, preachers, Christian workers who may need a place to steal away to seek God in times of prayer, praise, worship and Bible study.

We want to offer this master suite to all local churches to house their revival speakers, visiting missionaries or maybe even just for the pastor to take some time away. There is an outdoor entrance to this suite, so that they would never have to enter the main part of the house where we might be working. Everything of course would be free of charge.

This is the upstairs bedroom of the Ruby Rose Tea Room. What a reflective getaway!

There is even a clawfoot bathtub in the bedroom with a curtain for privacy.

Purple is my favorite color and does much to rest my soul!

This dining room is upstairs at the Tea Room. We will have three LARGE upstairs rooms in the house we are being given. I dream of making one of them a Walnut Cove Historical Room, named after the elderly lady whose idea it was to give her house to us. Before she died, I told her that I wanted to name such a room after her. She beamed.

It took some doing to convince my little girl when she saw this picture that the plants were painted on! She was just sure they were real.

Chelsea and I were in Heaven in the little gift shop upstairs. Lovely gift ideas of all sorts there!

Yes, the Tea Room provides a door for me to enter the house of my dreams--the house we hope to one day have in our little town--where the broken can be mended, the bitter can be soothed, the weary can be refreshed and the sick can be healed.

It is my dream.

The YAY ME! awards

Something is wrong with the set of scales at our house. Seriously wrong.

My hubster Superman has transformed his daily diet for the past week into one that Jack LaLanne would've been proud of but instead of losing weight, he has rather GAINED a little bit. I, too, have changed my wicked ways and have only lost half of a pound. (As I said earlier, I'm not as worried about numbers as I am good health, but my poor hubster wants that number to come down!)

Perhaps it is the hubster's hair that is adding weight!

That sweet man who fantasizes about greasy cheeseburgers and large sodas (better than large--or small--greasy women!) has been religiously eating fresh green salads, raw fruits and yogurt daily for over a week. Few are the sweets he intakes and much is the water he partakes (of--okay that ruined my internal rhyme).

Last night when he did his weekly weigh-in, he threw up his hands and said, "I'm just going back to the way I used to eat!" I begged him not to, so tonight before work, he ate his usual green salad before we fixed him grapes and peanut butter-filled celery to take to the job. Baby steps, Superman--baby steps.

As for me, I am doing about the same as last week despite my good intentions to surpass last week's baby steps--maybe even take some froggie hops in this Mother May I "Let's Get Healthy" game. Saturday I walked my one time around the block but had to quit because I had waited too long before walking--it was nearly dark. Sunday I was gone all day, and when I got back, it was snowy and nearly dark again, hence, no walk.

But before I get too negative, let's inject some positivity into this positively positive endeavor of mine.

It's time for the YAY ME! awards:

1.  On MONDAY--ahhh, Monday--the hubster walked with me, and I made two trips around the block. As London Tipton would say on Disney's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," "YAY ME!" My legs were struggling but not as bad as before when I only made one round. Muscles DO get stronger with use; my fourth grade health book was right!
AN INCREASE IN EXERCISE!

2.  My baby steps included me eating only the organic burger with fresh lettuce and raw onions on Saturday night when everyone else ate the patty in a carbohydrate-loaded, mayo-laden hamburger bun. (And I only ate one burger to their two!) And what's more--I only ate a piece and a half of pizza at the buffet today when I usually eat at least four.
SMALLER PORTION SIZES AND A DECREASE IN BREAD!

3.  When the snack urge hits late at night, I have still been forgoing potato chips and nibbling baked pita chips and carrot sticks (yes, still dipped in Hidden Valley Ranch dip--*sad sigh*). The next goal is to stop late night snacking altogether, but hey, at least I have changed the choice of snacks and left behind taco-flavored Doritos.
BETTER CHOICE OF SNACK FOODS, INCLUDING RAW VEGGIES!

This was last year's box, but this year's was even bigger!

4.  Check this out--my big box of Valentine's chocolates is still half full and Valentine's Day was over a week ago! You have no idea how monumental this is. I even shared two or three with the hubster. I had to bite my lip when he reached for a piece of that chocolaty delight (Oh no--what if he gets my molasses chew? Surely he won't get my chocolate-covered toffee!), but Lois Lane is always glad to share with Superman. Why, at Sunday lunch, I even passed on my mama's angel food cake topped with peaches and whipped cream so that I could eat a cookie or two (or three or four) at my inlaws' house for supper on Sunday night! I am learning how to barter for my sweets (you can have the cookies if you pass on the cake).
MUCH LESS EATING OF CHOCOLATE AND OTHER SWEETS!

5.  I have decided that to keep healthy eating interesting, we must eat a variety of foods, rather than getting bogged down in the same ole same ole. Today I left behind the world of apples and oranges and enjoyed two exotic fruits--fresh kiwi and mango. They were delicious! I felt positively tropical--nearly put on my lei and hula skirt (oh yeah, I forgot--I can't wear my hula skirt any more because of the jelly rolls/side meat I have accumulated!). Variety is one of the spices of life. Mix it up, people!
CREATIVE NUTRITION LED TO CONTINUED INTEREST IN HEALTHY EATING!

RED ALERT! RED ALERT! It's confession time and the priest ain't here! I didn't drink much water today (being out and about so much all day, plus my distiller broke--really it did!), I drank a few glasses of sweet tea at lunch (I had to meet my cousin to make her wedding plans and the lunch buffet included a drink--I am not one to waste money), I ate a breakfast sandwich from Subway when I met a preacher to discuss upcoming revivals (no excuse except extreme hunger), and I didn't exercise at all today (unless you count the long haul to and from Elijah's baseball field). BAD GIRL!

But now the day is over, night is drawing (has drawn) nigh. Leslie will soar o'er her failures, like birds that have learned to fly.

After all, says Scarlett O'Hara, tomorrow is another day!

Mental motion--Forward! MARCH!

The road may look dark right now, but the sun is shining just up ahead! (Photo by Monty Stevens)

Living the dream has been no cakewalk this week. I felt as if I had been plopped right back into sepia-toned Kansas with the twister headed straight toward me and Miss Gulch riding away with my little dog. When your health suffers, it's hard to focus on doing what it takes to achieve the dream.

Some sort of detestable virus started toying with me nearly two weeks ago, but I was able to keep going--even walking for exercise around the block (in accordance with my dream of being in Madonna-like shape). I would have an okay day followed by a yucko day, as far as how my body felt. (Every day above ground is a good one, relatively speaking!)

By the beginning of this past week, the days of utter exhaustion/queasiness/achiness were outnumbering the days of recuperation. Yet still the virus seemed to be playing ping-pong with me, never hitting with a magnitude that would knock me off my feet yet making life slightly miserable as I kept going. I took Tuesday as a day to simply rest and commune with my Maker, and by the next day, I felt much improved.

But Thursday dawned with the familiar queasiness and abnormal exhaustion. Today wasn't much better; in fact, now the membranes in my eyes and the back of my nose and throat are stinging.

I'm not telling you all of this to have a pity party or to solicit sympathy. I, who haven't had so much as a Tylenol since Dec. 2000 and who had my last two babies at home with no medicine, am not one to play up sickness or pain. However, I am a firm believer in using hardships to learn lessons and grow stronger.

Yes, it was a bitter blow to have been healthy all winter and then get started on my "living the dream" regime only to suddenly be stricken in such a way that I COULDN'T carry out my grand schemes. I wanted to keep up the exercise routine I had started but literally didn't have the strength. (Hard to walk briskly up and down "hills and hollers" when your legs are shaking just from walking from the living room to the kitchen.)

I wanted to transition more and more to healthy eating, but it's tough to prepare what you need when you don't feel like moving from the couch. It's easier to eat Super Bowl leftovers like sausage balls and party mix. It takes effort to clean and juice organic carrots. It requires strength just to fix your hair, put on some makeup and go on a grocery shopping spree for healthy foods for a pantry that has been inhabited for years by canned ravioli, Vienna sausages and sugary cereals.

But here's what I learned this week: even when you can't PHYSICALLY move toward your dream, you can still MENTALLY keep moving. You can still keep the dream alive by focusing on it mentally, by visualizing where you want to be in a month, six months, a year.

"Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be." (Joy Page)

In other words, you've got to see it to be it. So when life's inevitable blows try to knock you two steps backward, in your mind don't you dare give up. In your mind, don't you dare give in to the thoughts of failure. In your mind, see yourself as the you that you want to be. And when the tide turns (as it always does), then reset your physical motion to match your mental motion.

I remember my little sister loving that old song by Little Eva, "Do the Loco-Motion." I say that we dreamers need to "Do the Mental Motion." Don't focus on the negative, such as "I don't want to be fat and bulky." Focus on the positive, "I want to be slim and flexible." Not "I don't want to get sick," but rather "I want to be healthy and whole."

I've always said that Christianity often misses the mark by being so negative--warning people not to be bad in hopes that fear will motivate change. If we would change the focus to wanting to be good because of our love for the Lord, I believe we would see greater change--change that is lasting.

So let's change our mindsets. Let a setback actually be a slingshot that pulls you back before it propels you forward.

Yep, it was a tough week here over the rainbow. But even Dorothy had to fight the Wicked Witch in Oz. And those flying monkeys? Please. Those things creeped me out.

I may feel set back, but I'm on track. I may feel delayed, but I'm a dreamer on parade. I may feel discouraged, but I will be encouraged. I may think I've been slack, but I'm coming back!

Mental motion is where it's at.

I am healthy, I am whole, I am blessed!

Vacation ends Monday!

Vacation was fun, but it's DONE!

As the hubster and I headed back toward North Carolina after a 12-day dream trip out West in September 2011, he sighed deeply and patted his "big white belly," as he is fond of calling it, "Well, vacation ends tomorrow." We had been repeating a variation of this line each time we sat down to a sumptuous meal on our trip. It was our justification to indulge just a few more days, with the "end of vacation" and the push toward a healthier diet looming ever nearer.

Once we were home, there was always an excuse to eat more junk. The hubster would flash me his mischievous look and say, "Well, vacation ends tomorrow." This continued through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's--you know the drill.

Yesterday, he patted my "side meat," as he likes to call it, and said, "Girl, we gotta get healthy!"

I just looked wryly at him and reminded him, "Sunday is Super Bowl."

He grinned like a possum and declared, "Well, vacation ends Monday!"

Let's face it. There is ALWAYS an excuse to eat junk: somebody's birthday, a baby shower, a holiday, a big sporting event. There will ALWAYS be an excuse to eat junk.

 I have some twisted thought process going on in my brain that I've got to eat that double chocolate birthday cake while I can get it, that I might not get homemade peach ice cream ever again, that Reese's peanut butter cups might be discontinued or something. My family jokes that I, who certainly never lived through the Great Depression, have a "depression mentality." (You know--can't waste anything, have to save everything, better eat good food while I can get it.)

But truth is, if there's not peach ice cream next time, there will be chocolate. If there's no double chocolate cake at the next bridal shower, there will be Dewey's sugar cake or something. For all of my life, there has been good food around for special occasions. If I pass on the lemon pound cake today, you can bet your aunt Annie's alligator there will be lemon pound cake again one day.

 It's not that I'm so worried about losing weight, although I have gained a lot of poundage since tying the knot with Superman. I, who weighed 104 when he met me and 114 when he married me and had often weighed in the 90's even after having four kids, am now up to 126 in my heavy winter clothes. (The hubster weighed 128 when I met him; he's up to about 210 after these idyllic years with me--ha ha!)

But weight is not the primary issue. I am, in fact, more worried about being healthy. I am convinced that Daddy was right--we are what we eat. How can I build good, healthy cells with Heath toffee ice cream, Doritos and Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls? We wonder why our society is suffering with more and more cancer, heart disease, arthritis, etc. Perhaps we should examine the SAD facts--SAD being the Standard American Diet.

Today I sat in the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall for the family lunch after my great-aunt Lola's funeral. As the luscious meal wound to a close, I looked down at my plate with its mound of creamy banana pudding, a generous slice of chocolate chip cookie cake and the biggest piece of German chocolate pecan pie that I could find at the dessert table.

And I exhaled a resigned sigh, thinking to myself, "Vacation is over in two days." And I was actually glad. Let the healthy eating begin!

Here is a video by a doctor that talks about how she reversed her multiple sclerosis by changing her diet. My dream is to do what she did!

Leaving Kansas. . .

If I don't post any more after this initial greeting, please think of me fondly in days to come and mourn my passing. Tonight before he left for his third-shift job, the hubster begged me to start getting into bed earlier and to curb my new blog fascination, but here it is 1:08 a.m. and lo and behold, I'm starting a brand-new blog. (I hope if he sends me to meet my Maker that he remembers I want fireworks at the funeral.)

I already have a blog at Wordpress.com. (Is the mention of a competitor going to get me into trouble with blogspot.com?) That blog is called "Longing For Him" and is expressly for religious purposes; it's a great outlet for me to pour out my longings for my Lord and Savior. I don't want to clutter that one up with my ramblings about daily struggles and victories en route to "living the dream."

SO. . .looks as if I need a new blog, and here it is! I believe that if you write the vision, you have a better chance of achieving it. I hope to be able to use this site to write my dreams and visions for my future, in faith that this will help me accomplish them.

Superman lives!

My oh-so-hot hubster is encouraging me big-time to focus my energies on my biggest dreams. He was thrilled that I quit my super-stressful news editor's job in Sept. 2011. Now he's saying I should even quit the side jobs if it means I will pour myself into answering the calls that nearly tear out my gut when I am disobedient: the call to minister and help bring revival to my hometown and county, the call to disciple and train up my children in the way they should go, and the call to FINALLY write those many books that are begging for me to write them.

For the 1st time ever, I saw a rainbow form--in CO this past summer!

 So yes, I feel a little bit like Dorothy who left the black-and-white realms of Kansas to plop down in that technicolor world over the rainbow. If Dorothy was right, it's the place where dreams really do come true. I am about to find out! Thanks for joining me on this journey!