It Is No Bad Thing To Celebrate A Simple Life

Good-Bye Dearest!

2012-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

I knew this day was coming but still I was not prepared for her leaving. I must say....I have been so sad about this. On New Years Eve our dear dog Momo died. She was the best dog I have ever had...and I've had many. She was so wonderful to the kids, and never caused any trouble.

The night she died, was like any other. When we came home she was so cute and the bottom left picture in the collage was the last picture I took of her. It was just hours before we found her in the back yard. The comfort I get is that I took that picture when we came in the door. It was like she was asking me to! Then a little later that night, as I was laying on the couch, she stood and stared at me. She stood there for the longest time. It was so long in fact that I said to Gene..."look at Momo....it's like she was trying to tell me something". I finally said to her "I don't understand!" But now I do. It was like she was saying good-bye, like she was saying "I love you, you gave me a wonderful home".

I don't know what happens to our beloved pets when they die, but after looking to what others say, I have to agree with Billy Graham...

"When asked if animals go to heaven, Graham replied, `I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness' in heaven. If it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there."

So, I like to believe my beloved Momo is in heaven, waiting for me! She was truly the best dog ever!
Good-Bye Dear Momo...until we meet again!

A fantastic giveaway!

2012-01-27T17:00:00.000-08:00

There has been a reason why I haven't been blogging of late, and I will talk about that soon, but right now I'd like to share an amazing giveaway option.

If you've been reading my blog for a while now you have probably figured out that I ~~like~~ love my Disneyland silhouette collection! There is something else I ~~like~~ love!

A wonderfully creative site called le papier studio. I don't think I can explain this site better than Vana herself-

"Professionally trained as an architect, Vana Chupp has always been artistically inspired by the sweet and simple moments in life. Her craft was born with the birth of her beautiful boy Nikolas. Documenting her son’s milestones by cleverly capturing his personality, emotion, playfulness and essence, she began using silhouettes to tell her own life story. It’s a love story – continuing to blossom, with Nikolas as her muse. Coming full circle, Vana was able to combine her passion and artistic experience and share it all with you! In 2008 Vana launched her dream job; Le Papier Studio, a small woman-owned business that expresses creativity and inspiration, all the while giving her time to fulfill her most important job; being a mom."

I absolutely love that she is "inspired by the sweet and simple moments in life". Being a mom is what should be most important to everyone with children! I have been purchasing her items for a year or so now After our trip to Disneyworld, I contacted her to ask if she could reproduce my silhouette from Disneyworld into a charm. Last Christmas (2010) I received this lovely necklace. And from then on I have been a huge fan....

This necklace is no longer available, but you can get the silhouette charm here.

Then, it was on! I continue to enjoy all their artistic items! Above is a return address stamp that I blogged about here.

I have received a bracelet, earrings and even a ring all with the original silhouette they adapted for me.

The bracelet is still available here.

The earrings here.

The ring here.

So, what are you waiting for? Surf on over to Le Papier Studio's blog and enter their fantastic giveaway! Check out their shop and order some amazing custom or just plain awesome stuff! You'll be so happy you did! Better hurry...you have until Monday!

And the winner is.....Chantel!

2011-12-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Chantel said...

"Just tweeted about the contest and the blog post. Thanks for hosting this! Merry Christmas!"

Her favorite tradition from her earlier post was "Okay, that orange tree is amazing. My favorite tradition is only five years old--started when my daughter was born. Because all of our family lives in Miami, and we live in Alabama, we always travel for the holidays. And so, Santa visits about a week early, just before our trip. We call it "Alabama Christmas." It's like we get TWO CHRISTMASES. How awesome is that?"

That is a pretty awesome thing! Thanks for the comment on the Orange tree! You either love it or hate it! Chantel e-mail me with "Hey Pam, I won stuff on your blog" in the subject line.

In your e-mail give me your e-mail address (if different from what you emailed me with) and mailing address that way I can get your D23 membership off to you!

Thank you to all who commented and all who secretly read my blog! Be sure to comment next time, it is so fun to win! Just ask Chantel! Hope your Christmas is truly blessed in both Alabama and Miami! (and everywhere in between!)

To come up with the random winner, I used random.org and this was the outcome:

It's Christmastime! And an AMAZING...DID I SAY AMAZING GIVE-AWAY!

2011-12-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love Christmas! I mean who doesn't, really?! Above is a collage of some of my Christmas decor. I love "trees" so I have several. 2 big ones and then lots of little ones. For fun I bought an orange tree from Tree Topia. They have many festive and novel trees...check out their web site by clicking on their name. Why orange? Well, for some reason I am drawn to the color orange. I started posting "Orange Item of the Day" on my Instagram page but that is not important right now!

This year I seem to be more up on getting things done than in previous years. Maybe because I have had to stop working because of M.S. Who knew there was an upside? But that is not important right now either....

Here's what I want from you....

What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Tell me in the comment portion of the post. Now, for those of you who think you do not have a Google account and can't post, here's what you do. Click on "comments" link at the bottom of this post. Then click in the box and write a comment, in this case I'd like to hear what is your favorite Christmas tradition. Then click on Name/url. In the box put your name...it doesn't have to be your real name, but something you can identify if you win. You don't have to put a url, it's optional. Then push "publish your comment". It's that easy!

So, let's go...I'm gonna tell you my favorite Christmas tradition....
I use to love that fact that we move the Wise Men (with camels and now a star) around the house. It was so fun to wake up and see where they were on their way to the nativity scene. We use to do this to be able to talk to the kids about the birth of Jesus and what was real and what was not. But now, the kids are grown and gone and it is mostly a formality that Gene and I do.

I would say at this time in my life I love the pickle search. Mostly because my 30ish age kids do not want me to stop it. So I have to have 2 (now 3 pickle presents) on Christmas Eve because they still want to search for it! Over the years, due to the fact that I have different trees, I have had to modify the pickle search. But it is always fun seeing them spend 40 minutes looking for it on a tree LOADED with ornaments!

So...what are we playing for....wait for it...wait....

I am giving away a D23 membership! Yes you heard me right! I will give you an one year D23 membership!

Now let me explain this. you may NOT be getting what is seen here, I have never given away a D23 membership, so I am not sure EXACTLY what you get. But you can see on their site, what they say you get and the watch is in the picture...but I can't say for sure.

This is to show you what D23 does. They send you a beautiful magazine 4 times a year. Through out the year you get little things. Last year I had that watch waiting for me on my door step one day. I don't know what they will send or that it will be as grand as a watch. But, you do get the magazine, and will get emails and inside info on all things Disney. I'm guessing it will be a great thing to have this coming year due to the fact that the new Cars Land will be opening!

So, you can read about D23 by clicking on the logo. I will be giving the GOLD membership!

This time I will allow the extra chances with a tweet and/or FB mention! But you have to come back to my blog and say I tweeted or mentioned on FB. I want a separate comment for each thing because it makes it easier to choose the winner. So.....

1. Leave a comment about what your favorite Christmas tradition is.
2. Leave another comment saying I tweeted the giveaway! Tweet something like this "Go see this amazing D23 giveaway by @pampensiero"
3. Leave another comment saying I posted your giveaway on FaceBook! And be sure to post it on Face Book!

To get the extra chances, you must do it that way because it makes it much easier for me to put the numbers into random.org. Thank you everyone good luck and Merry Christmas!

Oh, I almost forgot....I will choose a winner on Wednesday December 14 at 8:00AM. Be sure to comment!

And the winner is...

2011-11-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

Jana!

Jana said...
"O Come O Come Emmanuel"

E-mail me at pam.pensiero@gmail.com and put Pam I won stuff on your blog in the subject line. Give me your name and address and I will get the iTunes card off to you!

I chose the winner using random.org to generate a number and then I checked to see what name goes with the number.

So congratulations Jana and I really love that song too!

Thank you everyone for participating!
Merry Christmas!!

One stop shopping....or just a treat for yourself!

2011-11-19T19:56:00.001-08:00

This week I am giving away an iTunes gift card! Woot! Woot! So I know everyone doesn't use iTunes (really?) but I bet you know someone who does....a friend, relative, child or maybe a thank-you gift to that special person in your life who blesses you all year! I don't know, but I'm sure you can all use this fun thing! So, here's how it goes....

To enter do the following:
1. Tell me what is your favorite Christmas song!

I will choose a winner via random.org on Wednesday, November 23 as near to 8:00 P.M. as possible.

I was trying to think what my favorite song is..and I have a couple of ones...I think the first one is this...

And as far as singing goes...I have always loved The first Noel!

So now it is your turn...tell me what song you like!

Bekah chose the necklace so....

2011-11-17T08:36:00.001-08:00

Here is another recipient because Bekah wanted the necklace. I don't believe the Hope necklace is available anymore at The Vintage Pearl but they have other beautiful things!

I put the same numbers into random.org and this lucky post win!

Rachel said...

1. I don't think my church does...
2. I don't think you had that program while I was there, but I always hear that the ladies involved were really blessed and the photos are fun!
3. I just re-found those vintage buttons you sent me last year =)

I re-posted to twitter/Facebook!

Hope you have a great day, Pam!

Thank you Rachel! E-mail me your e-mail address and I will get the TVP certificate off to you! Congratulations Rachel and Bekah! Thank you Bekah for choosing the necklace so I could give the other away as well!

Merry Christmas girls!

The Winner!

2011-11-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

I really appreciated all the comments and other endorsements! Thank you! I hope you will all come back and check my blog for other giveaways! I want to do one each week during this Christmas season!

What I did was list everyone who commented, shared tweets and Facebook mentions! I used Random.org to choose a random number and this is how it turned out...

And the winner is...

bekah said...: I was apart of AOG for 2 years. I was sad to of missed it this year. Can't wait for AOG 2012. It is a really great program. I like how you personalized it this year with your own curriculum. ;) Fb'd and tweeted :)

Bekah....send me an email with "Pam I won stuff on your blog" in the subject line...and tell me if you would like the gift certificate or the hope necklace! Congratulations!

Thanks again to everyone and check back soon! I'm thinking a fun toy for the next giveaway...what do you think!

Apples of Gold 2011, and a give away or gift certificate you choose!

2011-11-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

The big reason why I haven't been blogging is that I have been focusing on a program our church does called Apples of Gold! We do it a little different from what the national program does. We have adapted it to our Church's needs and I think it is a bit of an improvement on what the national program does.

We start the program usually in September on Monday nights for 6 weeks. (this time we had to skip Halloween because it was on a Monday). We meet in the fellowship hall at our church. Ladies are assigned to a Mentor and are with that Mentor each week. The program has a cooking demonstration, a devotional time then a dinner.

I am a mentor which means I decorate a table each week, give a gift, and then do a devotional talk on the topic that evening using stories from my life. The idea is that you "mentor" the girls and bless them with a fun night out away from their normal lives. They come back to the table set filled with good food. They don't have to do anything but enjoy their time!

The theme this year was "The Ladies' Home Journey". Gene came up with the snappy title, (he's really good at that) while I came up with the concept. This year we followed the stages of a woman's life from birth to death and focused on how to be a Godly Woman (girl, gal, etc) within each stage of life. For example....we are born and are a daughter. So we talked about being a Godly daughter, raising Godly daughters, raising sons to find the right Godly daughter, etc, you get the idea. The topics for the weeks went as follows:

Week 1: The Godly Daughter
Week 2: The Godly Young Woman (unmarried)
Week 3: The Godly Wife
Week 4: The Godly Mother
Week 5: The Godly Older Woman
Week 6: Going to Meet our Lord as the Bride of Christ

It is a wonderful program. The kitchen staff demonstrates a meal and then while we break into small groups to do the devotional teaching they cook the meal and then put the dinner out on the table so when the ladies return from the teaching the meal is waiting for them!

These were my tables over the last 6 weeks. I was very proud of my ideas. Especially week 1 what had a horse head with a bit and bridle around the base! The "dishes" were pots all of it signified that we are on camping type trip, temporary time here on the earth and that we should allow ourselves to be guided by our Lord's eye and not by force (for lack of a better word) as described in Psalm 32:8-9. I thought it went along well with the topic of daughters!

These were my gift presentation each week! Each week there was a gift and a devotion. I tried to tie everything in to the topic of the evening.

This brings me to the give away portion of my post....one of the items I gave was a wonderful hand crafted necklace from Vintage Pearl! They are by far my favorite jewelry site. Anyway, I decided to order an extra one to give away on my blog!

Here it is....a beautiful hand stamped sterling silver charm with the word "hope" stamped in it. The giveaway includes the 18" chain and pearl along with the gift presentation! I can even do a special tag if you would like.

I gave this necklace away on week 5 it was tucked into the little Russian Nested doll. Yours will be sent to you as you see it in this amazing box with the ribbon and pearl attached! I believe this item is discontinued, so if you missed it here it is! Also, if you would rather have a $50.00 gift certificate to The Vintage Pearl, let me know that when you win and I will be happy to give that to you! I want everyone to enjoy their holiday season and this is my way of giving back!

How do you win? It's easy....just comment below....Choose any one of the topics or say whatever you want!

1. Tell me if your church does the program Apples of Gold

2. Tell me what you think of our program

3. Tell me anything you want!
4. Extra entry by twitting on twitter
5. Extra Entry by posting the give-a-way on your FB page

I will choose a winner on November 16 at 6:00 PM using random.org.

If you post on your FB page, and/or tweet the giveaway then come back and leave a comment telling me you did so. So you can enter 3 times by comment/FB/twitter! Good Luck!

I'm still here!

2011-10-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

You have read how I feed lots and lots of birds! We've seen Mourning Doves, Starlings, House Finches, Purple Finches, Scrub Jay, Rock Pigeon, House Sparrow, Humming Birds, Mocking Birds, Great Horn Owls and even Coopers Hawks! So, the other day I looked out my window and I said...."Gene, I think there is a hawk out side!"

Now I was a little sad that we feed the birds and here was a hawk that was looking for a quick meal! I figured all the birds had flown away. But as I watched, I noticed he was calking his head this way and that appearing to be listening.

He's listening on each side of the fence....then suddenly there was a quick jump down to the feeder below. As you can see there is a lot of cover from seeds that sprouted up from the dropped seed.

He's on the feeder listening. Apparently some little birds were down on the ground either hiding from him or not aware of him above them. Then he jumped down to the ground. I lost tract of him, but when he re-emerged he had a little sparrow in his claw!

Thanks for all you faithful readers! I'm still here and I hope you find your way back to me! I hope to have a great give a way soon! Keep reading!

I did a little research. He is a Cooper's Hawk and he did the hunting exactly as they say they do! Read about him here.

Escaped!

2011-09-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

So here I am posting from my iPad! I feel so tech savvy!

The other morning, while enjoying the delicious breakfast my husband made, I heard an unexpected sound. You see we feed LOTS and LOTS of birds. I'm pretty sure my neighbors don't like it, but that is not important right now!

As we were sitting on the patio I heard an unfamiliar bird call. You see I have identified mocking bird, scrub jay, house finch, starling, purple fiche, coopers hawk, rock pigeon, humming bird, owl and house sparrow but this was different. I said to Gene "that's not a normal bird"! We jumped up and looked around. Suddenly we saw him there above on the wires. He was a beautiful parakeet of some kind. I know the neighbors have an aviary in their back yard. I looked up and was a little sad to see him. I'm guessing he escaped from their yard. I hope he makes it. It gets pretty cold here in the winter. I take solace in the knowledge that my yard has the most amazing amount of bird seed in all of California! Maybe the world! Good luck little guy! My yard is always welcome!

I guess I wasn't so savvy, since I had to go to the computer to take off the extra photo! But...hey, I'm learning. Thanks to the new blogger app for the iphone, maybe I can post more!

2011-08-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

While watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel, (well actually through the Roku but that is not really important right now) I found myself wishing I had an underwater camera! In passing I mentioned my desire to Gene and he said "I think you can get a one use underwater camera". "Really" I said. I'm sure you can hear my next sentence..... Off to Target we went and there it was, a single use film camera. For about $10 we could try our hand at underwater photography-Woo Hoo!

We just love doing new things with CJ and this was going to be fun! It was a little hard using film again (after digital) and floating while taking the photo but after a few tries we figured it out. I have to admit I am very spoiled by my Nikon D40 camera. When we were done, off to Walgreens we went and one hour later we had a few amazing photos. We had so much fun I know we will be doing it again real soon! I highly recommend the Kodak Sport Single Use Camera to all lovers of photography....try this before summer is over!

M.S. update

2011-06-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've been on Copaxone now for almost 3 months. I really tried not to take it using every excuse I could think of...ie. cost, conflicting with LDN, etc. Every excuse I came up with was dissolved before my eyes....so I relented and viewed it as part of God's plan for my life to take this medication. Since leaving Betaseron and beginning Naltrexone I have not had any new episodes. I have, however, moved to the progressive state of M.S. I am still taking Low Dose Naltrexone and it is my understanding that Copaxone does not conflict with it. It is suppose to work with it or enhance it. IDK (means I don't know) but I have been taking both.

Copaxone is a once daily subcutaneous injection. It doesn't hurt when you do the shot but after about 3 mins or so it really hurts. It is true it feels like a bee sting. Then there are a number of things that can happen. You can have reddness, swelling, itching and bruising!

This is a fairly mild example. This was one week later on my leg. It is the size of about a half dollar. It doesn't hurt but looks pretty bad. I had one of these on my stomach which was many times worse. It did heal, after about 3 weeks but left a "ghost" area of bruising. I don't know if it will go away since it has been about a month. I think the thing that bothers me about this is the fact that bruises dot my body. They are mostly in places I don't readily show, but I know they are there. This forces me to wear 3/4 length sleeves in the heat of the summer when around people because of how they look. Forget about wearing shorts or other summer things, at least in public. It has made me really aware of how I look at people with bruises like this.

The lumps I get are about the size of a grape to a golf ball and are deep under the skin. They usually have redness that is about the size of an egg. It kind of looks like hives. They are itchy and it is hard not to scratch them. They usually only last about 48 hours.

The area that I have the least amount of trouble with is the hip. The injection sites there usually sting, burn and/or itch but never very bad. The areas that give me the most trouble is the arms and legs.

Ok..with all of that said. I really don't have any other side effects. Yes, I have a bit of an elevated heart rate for about 1/2 hour after but it never really bothers me. I've always had an elevated heart rate whenever I do anything, so I don't even give it another thought. I have not had any panic type attacks or black-outs as others have reported.

I really can't tell if it is helping. I am walking with a cane (occasionally) and my right foot and leg are pretty numb. I have stopped working and am on state disability for the moment. My husband thinks I am doing a little better but It's hard for me to see any improvement. But I am trying to stay positive and do what I can do.

The M.S. symptom I have the most trouble with is spasticity. I am just so stiff and sore. I guess I am going to have to go to physical therapy. Because of this symptom I tend to move slowly and can't do simple things. If I bend over to pull a weed, for example, I end up pulling my back and it is horribly painful for about a week. I'm trying various medications but they all have their problems. I don't know if this is true, but medications like ibuprofen seem to stop working. Then after you go off them for a while, when I try them again they seem to help. So, I am currently taking Celebrex to help with the pain of the muscles. I also have a muscle relaxant called Tizanidine, which does help but makes your mouth and eyes so dry that I pretty much suffer with burning. I thought of doing Punctal Plugs in my eye lids, but chickened out at the last minute. So I spend my day using bottles and bottles of tears.

That's my update. Thanks for reading!

July is almost here! Get your copy!

2011-06-14T12:12:00.000-07:00