Wow! Here it is the last day of August and I just realized I haven't posted since June!
Well...what's been going on? Here's the scoop...
First of all, my son Todd has successfully moved to Washington, DC and is happy in his new job at The Heritage Foundation. He has been there almost 3 months already!
Second of all, I have a job! Well, ok...I'll be teaching (subbing) for a 2nd grade class for the months of Sept. and Oct. School starts on Wednesday, Sept. 3, so ready or not, here I come!
Third of all, my oldest son, Tim, has just moved. He is still in southern California, and still has the same job. He seems to be doing well!
I have been busy keeping up with the Scripture Challenges at Faith Sisters. It is a great website, and I encourage anyone to join this awesome group of Christian ladies! http://faith-sisters.blogspot.com/
Sign up, and you can join us in our discussions. Very fun and supportive group!
I have just finished reading my 49th book for 2008. So far I've read 3 more books this year at this time than I did last year at this time. So many books...so little time!
I am so thankful for the way God has provided this job for me. I am confident that He will supply all our needs for the coming year.

Big news in the Thurman family...Todd is moving to Washington, DC next week! He got a job working for The Heritage Foundation and is in the process of moving clear across the country. I'm really happy for him, but sad that he'll be even farther away from us than he already is!

My selling on Ebay has come to a stop for now. I did sell 15 books on there, though! I was happy because I sold some books to a lady who is rebuilding their church library after Hurricane Rita destroyed their church. The church is being rebuilt, and she's trying to get books for their library.

That's about all that's been going on here!

Well, I've entered the world of selling on EBay! Actually, I'm trying to sell some books for my mom. So, if you want to check it out, go to Ebay and look them up! I'm selling books by Michael Phillips and Liz Curtis Higgs. I've got 8 books up for sale so far. The sale ends Friday sometime. I hope they all sell! So far there are bids on two books. I wish I knew how to tell you how to get to them, but if you look up Angels Watching Over me and find my user name (marileet51). Then I believe you can see other books that I am selling. I'm so new at this I have no idea what I'm doing, but at least my dh can help me as he is a mega seller on EBay.
Let me know if you check them out!

It's been awhile since I've blogged (as a couple of my friends so kindly reminded me when I saw them last week), so I guess I better do some blogging!

I had a great week last week as Tom and I went to southern California. We visited with friends and also got to see our sons. I just wish the weather could have been a bit warmer...but it wasn't too bad. The worst was when we went to the Dodger game on Wednesday and it rained! We did not wait for the 1 hr. 15 min. rain delay...we went home. I had my Dodger Dog so I was happy. :)

I also had the privilege of going to the Women's Retreat from our Burbank church. What a great time! Plus, I got to spend the afternoon with my oldest DS, thanks to Pam letting me use her car!

I really missed Faith Sisters while I was away. If you read this blog and want to be part of a great group of women who love Jesus and also love to scrapbook, then check out faithsisters.com. It is a great site, and I have made some great online friends. I am hoping to get to meet some of them in real life in the future.

My subbing jobs have been better in February and March. So far I have two days lined up in April.

Tom is still recouperating from his knee revision surgery from Dec. He should be good to go back to work around the first of May. But, then he is scheduled for Jury Duty April 28 for two weeks, so who knows when he'll actually go back to work!

I am reading a good series of books right now. They are Sisterchicks books. There are 5 of them. I am on my 3rd one. They are by Robin Jones Gunn.

Other authors I enjoy are: Karen Kingsbury (the BEST!), Lauraine Snelling, Beverly Lewis, and Wanda Brunstetter. Tracie Peterson is also good. They are all good Christian authors. I encourage you to read their books!

Well, that's all I've got for now! I'll try to do better...but I've said that before!

I was tagged by my friend (?) JackieAnn :) to share some facts about me, based on my Middle Name~
Here are the rules she sent:
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details)

Ok...I don't have a middle name, so here goes with my maiden name!
K-Kind :)
N-Nice :)
O-Oregon born
L-Loves to Laugh
L-Longs to see Jesus

Ok...it was hard to come up with these, but when your maiden name is Knoll...it's the best I could do.

I don't have anyone to "tag" so guess I'll have to skip that part...I hope nothing "bad" happens to me since I didn't follow all the directions!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Happy New Year, everyone! I can't believe just 8 short years ago we were anxiously awaiting the year 2000, and now here we are 8 years into the new millineum! My, how time flies!

I don't have any real resolutions this year, but I do want to try and keep up with the weekly challenges at faithsisters.com. It is an awesome website and I encourage any of you scrapbookers who may be reading this blog and have a love for Jesus Christ, to check it out! Another challenge I want to keep up with this year is the Scripture Challenge 2008. A new challenge each week. Not sure what all that will entail, but it sounds intriguing!

I am going to scrapbook today with my friend, so I am hoping that by scrapbooking on the first day of the new year, that it means that I will get a lot of scrapbooking in this year!

I want to start a prayer journal this year as well. There have been so many prayer requests at faith sisters, that I want to keep track of them and see how God works! So, hopefully, I will get my prayer journal started today also!

May God richly bless you this year! One of my faith sisters has this motto that says: God is Good ALL the Time! Also...Fully Rely on God. (FROG).

Ok...I've been "tagged" twice now, and I'm just figuring out what that means! Anyway, I'm supposed to post these rules first:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here are my 7 facts about myself:
1. I was a preachers kid for 15 years
2. I worked in two canneries during the summers when in high school and college.
3. I picked beans and raspberries to make money in high school.
4. I was a teacher for 28 years (15 as a 4th grade teacher, but also have taught 1st-6th grades).
5. I have two adult sons living in California
6. I became a Christian when I was 5 or 6 years old.
7. I am left-handed.

I don't have 7 people to "tag"...so now what do I do?

Croptoberfest 2007 is now history! I was very excited about everyone who turned out...it was especially fun having two "Faith Sisters" there! Everyone seemed to have a great time scrapbooking, and I think they may even start coming to my monthly free crops! (at least the ones who live in the area...I don't expect the two who came from Centralia and Belfair to come! LOL).
TODAY WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY IN THE PNW! I loved the day. I went for a walk...not with my dad because he went without me :( But, I did walk to Walgreens to pick up my Croptoberfest pictures. It was a two mile walk. I even got hot! (no, it wasn't due to hot flashes!)

I am praying for my friends in SoCal with all those fires. It's hard to grasp how bad it is. I hope the Santa Ana winds end soon, and the fires can be contained soon.

Oh! Because of the beautiful day, I was actually able to plant the last 3 plants I needed to plant...woohoo! Now, if they will just not die!

I had a great weekend...went to a Women of Faith Conference, and it was amazing! I love all those ladies. They are so real. They shared from their hearts, and how God helped them through their trials. Which reminds me of what Marilyn Meberg said...."David didn't say, 'Yea, though I walk around the valley of the shadow of death', or under it, or over it, but THROUGH it." Through it means there's a beginning, a middle, and an end. God will be with us THROUGH our valleys. Something I knew, but is nice to be reminded of.

Today, I actually planted some plants in my front and backyard. Major undertaking for me...the non-gardener! I just hope they don't die! We're supposed to be getting a lot of rain this week, so at least they'll get water!

I am hosting a Croptoberfest this Saturday. I'm excited about it, I just hope everyone comes who says they will come!

I am really enjoying the FaithSisters forum. Awesome group of ladies!

I can't believe October is half over. Winter will soon be here...

October has arrived! Yesterday we had a huge rainstorm, complete with thunder, and I'm assuming lightning, although I never saw any. I don't like all this rain this early!



I didn't get the dental office job, but applied for another one. I haven't heard from that one either. I do have a subbing job for tomorrow (Friday) so that will be good. I also have an interview on the 19th for a paraeducator substituting position in the Vancouver school district. We'll see how that goes.



I am so enjoying the faith sisters blog. Great group of ladies!



I am also enjoying a Bible Study at my mom's church. It's a Beth Moore study on A Woman's Heart. It's all about the building of the tabernacle. Very good study! It's fun to do something like that with my mom, too.

Well, well, well! I'm getting even better...two blogs in the same month...imagine that!
I applied for a job in a dentist office, but haven't heard yet if I got the job. Not looking too good at this point, but I'm not giving up hope until I hear the final word!
I've subbed one day so far this month. Hope things pick up.
I've been working out in our yard...er weed patch thanks to the help of my dear friend. Tom has even gotten into it a little bit. We bought some bulbs and plants so hopefully, by next spring we'll be looking bright and cheery!

I belong to a great website for fellow Christian women and scrapbook lovers. It's called faithsisters.com. I am really enjoying reading the posts of everyone and seeing layouts and getting great ideas.

Well, September is almost over, and tomorrow is the first day of fall. Last year I was really excited about the coming of fall because I missed fall when I lived in SoCal. Now, I want to hang onto summer because I didn't feel like we even had summer this year! Plus, fall means I better get a job.

This is all for now!

Well, I'm getting better! Only one month since my last post:) I keep forgetting to come here to post. But, alas...here I am again!

So...in my last post I said that Jane and I had discovered Letterboxing, and that we hoped to find 5 letterboxes that afternoon. Sadly, we were only able to find one of the five we were looking for. But! When we went on our road trip in August, we were able to find 4 of the 7 we were looking for. And, we also found one near my house in a city park. It is so much fun! Even for "old" ladies:) (BTW...I am NOT old!)

Road Trip...in August, Jane and I went on a road trip to the Grand Coulee Dam and Spokane area. She wanted to see the dam, and invited me along with her. On the way, we stopped at the Mary Hill Museum... not to go into the museum, but to look for 3 letterboxes! We only found one of them. It was fun looking though.
After that, we headed on to Toppenish, WA where I spent five years of my life (ages 10-15). We looked up several places of interest to me and we also took a tour of murals that were painted on the buildings. There are over 70 of them. It was quite interesting. I think one of them was actually painted by the dad's of one of my friends I had when I lived there.
On to Ellensburg, where we spent the night. Next morning it was off to find two letterboxes in Ellensburg...which we did! woohoo! Very fun places they were in:)
Then we were off to Grand Coulee where we viewed a laser light show on the dam at 9:30 PM. It was very good. We spent the night in a bed and breakfast there.
Next day we were off to Spokane, but on the way, we went through a couple of towns where my dad and aunt and uncle and lived. It was fun to see the places where they had lived. They are very small towns, and so I'm sure they haven't changed much since dad lived there over 60 years ago. When we got to Reardon, Jane got to do the other "goal" she had on our trip...visit a quilt shop! She had fun for about an hour. We then headed to eastern Spokane to find Newman Lake (to look for a letterbox...which we could not find, and to find the campground where I went to church camp...found the place where the camp was, but it has houses built there now.) We drove into Idaho, so we could say were there! We spent the night in Spokane.
On Sunday, we went to see my cousin's Ruth and had lunch with her and Sid. I was so glad we were able to see them. Sunday afternoon took us home. What a fun, but tiring trip! I guess I'm getting too old for such ventures. BTW...I am NOT old!
Now...what else is happening in my life? Well, here it is...school has started, and I don't know if I want to sub or not. I put my name in to sub, but wasn't sure I really wanted to do that. So, I looked in the paper, and found a dentist office looking for a front office receptionist. So...I sent my resume and the letter of Recommendation Roberta had written for me. I had an interview on Tuesday. Sounds like a good job, but not sure I really want to work fulltime...Guess I'll just wait and see if I get offered the job! I need to have time off to be with Tom when he has his surgery, and to be with my aunt Anita when she has her surgery. I also want my summers off! But, the job did sound nice...we will see.

Guess that's all till next time!

Well, well, well! I guess I'm not any better at computer journaling than I was at book journaling! I thought this would be easier, but here it is 9 months since my last blog. My, how time flies!

So...I substituted during the school year at 5 different private schools. I hated it at the time, but now that it's summer, I am thinking it might not be too bad to sub. Still thinking about looking into office dental work, though. Also, I may try and look into being a staff assistant at Vancouver schools. We'll see.

Summer...ahhhhh...love summer. I guess it's the teacher schedule that has been with me for so many years, that I still love summers off. I really don't want a job where I have to work in the summer! Guess I'm just spoiled.

I ended up flying down to LA to help out my dear friend Diane in a dental office. I went down there 4 times! It was great, I even got to see my sons, and my Burbank/Village friends some of the times I went down. I even got to go to a Dodger game once! That was really exciting...except that they lost to the Giants. Not good.

Tom and I enjoyed a vacation to Cortez, CO (family reunion) and then on up to Park City, UT. We were gone 11 days. We had a really good time. Saw Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Arches National Park, and things around Park City. On the way home, we also stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, OR. It was interesting.

My friend Jane and I have discovered Letterboxing! We've only found one so far, but hope to find 5 this afternoon! I'll keep you posted on whether we were successful or not (at least I hope to, but with my record of posting, it may be 6 months before I post!).

Well, let's see if I can keep this up!

BIG CHANGES have taken place since I've last posted a blog. Wow!

Since May, we put our house up for sale. By June 12, we thought we had a buyer, but he backed out. So, the waiting game began. However, I decided to go up to Washington and try and find a place to live and put some money down on a place. I found a place! It's right down the street from where mom and dad live. Imagine that. It's a good thing. I never thought I would say that! But, I guess maturity happens in one's life!

So, when would our house sell? We finally got a buyer around the 6th of July. Escrow would close on the 4th of August, or by the 10th at the latest. So, we made plans to move the weekend of Aug. 5. We got the movers to come. We had it all planned out. Then...escrow wasn't going to close until possibly the 17th! Oh no! What to do, what to do. Well, here's what we decided. Tom would stay in California until escrow closed. The furniture would be moved out on Saturday as planned, and I would drive up to Washington with my friend on Sunday. Perfect! She would fly home on Monday, so she could be back to work on Tuesday. Then...another clitch...the movers couldn't come until Sunday! Oh no! I had to be there to watch them load the truck! How could I miss that? But, if I wanted my friend to go with me, the only choice we had was to leave on Sunday and hope the movers would load everything correctly. I wasn't completely sure I trusted Tom to oversee this. As it turned out...he left a lot of stuff that should have gone in the truck. So, he had his car loaded to the gills, along with our cat! But, he got most everything moved. I'm still not sure about a few things. But, se la vie (?)

So, I got up here, Tom got up here, and we managed to throw my mom an 80th birthday party at my house on the 19th of August! We had 39 people here. It was a lot of fun, and everyone thought it turned out great.

Then, life began...again. In September I sought out substitute teaching jobs in the private schools around here. I happened to be in the right place at the right time (thank you, God!) and the first school I went to, the lady in charge of all substitutes for the private schools was in the office, so she put me on the sub list for all schools! I subbed about 3 days a week for the first month, but now, I haven't been called in over a week. I hope I can get some more jobs soon!

I'm also pursuing my scrapbook business. I've had a class at my house, and have approached the private schools about doing after school scrapbooking classes for kids. I hope they will let me do that at all four schools! We'll see... I'm also planning on a monthly crop in the clubhouse where we live. I hope to get interest up in that. The manager is all for it. My friend has also said she would have a class for her teacher friends!

So, that's my life since May. I'm still having to TRUST...which is a good thing, albiet hard at times. But, God is always faithful, and for that I am thankful.

Until later...

Getting Ready to Move

Well, here it is May 1, and you may be wondering what I've been doing lately. (As if there's anyone besides me who actually reads this!). Well, I'm still teaching Music one day a week, and working in the dental office two-three days a week. On Mondays I clean house, walk, and try to pack stuff.
We're getting ready to move. This is the biggest move we've ever made. I think it's because 1) it's the longest we have ever lived in any house since we've been married, 2) it's the biggest house we've ever lived in, and 3) it's the first time we've ever had to sell our house, since this is the first house we've ever owned. There is so much to do to make sure the house is ready to sell. We spent the day today taking a bunch of boxes and some shelves, and our entertainment center to a storage unit. It was quite exciting as I had to drive a big truck that we rented for a few hours to get all our stuff to the storage place. Thankfully, Tim and Todd helped me load and unload all the stuff.

One of the hardest things about moving is leaving my friends. It is so weird, because I sometimes feel that if I moved, no one would really care. But lately, several of my friends have indicated that my moving is really upsetting to them. I feel terrible, because I know how it is for friends to move away from me. Inside, I feel like saying, "Ok, I won't move!" But that is not really my heart's desire since I have never felt like California is "home", and I've really wanted to move back up the the northwest in like forever. I cannot believe I've lived down here 28 of the last 30 years! That's mind-boggling! I mean, how can I be that old! LOL. And now my parents are in their 80s (ok, Mom will be 80 in August) and I really want to spend as much time as possible with them at this time of their lives. And, I am really looking forward to having a nice manufactured home with a room for JUST ME to have my scrapbooking in! And even more importantly, Tom can have HIS OWN ROOM for all his baseball cards and stuff he's selling on EBay! Woohoo!

Another hard part of us moving is...Tim and Todd will be staying down here. This is very sad and somewhat upsetting to me. As much as I would want them to move out and get on with their "adult" lives, I really don't want to be so far away from them. I just hope and pray that they will find success in their jobs and in life in general. I really worry the most about Tim, because he doesn't seem to have any direction in his life and I don't know how he's going to make it. I just have to pray and pray and TRUST!

Well, that's all for now!

Well, here it is almost the middle of April! Time sure does fly! We are beginning to get into gear to getting our house ready to sell. Very scary! But, exciting too. I have started to "declutter". I have been inspired by www.flylady.net. Every day I get emails to motivate me to do something. Even though I don't follow her exact zone cleaning schedule, it gives me ideas on what to do. I have gotten the habit of dressing to my shoelaces every day, and I am keeping my sink clean (and the dishes done) pretty regularly, and I make my bed every day (but I was doing that before April--this was April's new habit to form. There is one more habit I was supposed to form, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is! But, I'm sure I'm already doing it LOL!

Every week is different. Two weeks ago I didn't go to Hermosa Beach to work; I subbed in 3rd grade at Light and Life on Wed-Fri. Last week, I didn't go down to Hermosa Beach until Thursday (I was going to go after Tom's physical therapy appointment, but my car had an oil leak, so I went up to Valencia and set at the car dealership for an hour and a half!). This week, after taking Tom to a doctor's appointment and a physical therapy appointment in the morning, I'm going to get together with Joan and Marilee for an early dinner. I can't wait to see them and catch up!

Good news! I have two scrapbook classes tentatively scheduled for the last two Saturdays in April! I just hope they actually happen.

Well, life is going on, and I can't wait to see how it all comes together in the next few months!
All for now...

I've been told I haven't posted in a while...so here goes.
When I first started "blogging" my life was in great transition and I was learning that I needed to trust God for everything. Now, nearly 7 months later, I think I'm learning!

So, what's been happening in my life since my last blog? Well, I have a permanent parttime job now. I'm officially working at the dental office in Hermosa Beach 3 days a week. At least I was going to start working there 3 days a week beginning this week, but there was a glitch in the plan (I'll explain later). But, I am going down there tomorrow for two days. I really am enjoying working there. I'm doing a little "front office" work, which consists mostly catching up on charts, writing when the patient's next appointment is and billing insurance, then I file charts and pull charts. The only part of the job I'm not crazy about, but am learning to do better at is calling insurance compananies to get information on coverage for certain plans. Actually, the worst part of the job is the 32 mile drive on the 405. It wouldn't be so bad, but if you're from LA, you know how bad the 405 is any day or time of the week. It takes me 40 minutes on "good" days, but it's usually an hour and a half. However, on Feb.17 (Friday and rain) it took THREE HOURS!!!! Made me really wish the office was a lot closer. But, I shouldn't complain, because my plan is to spend two nights down there so I only have to make one round trip a week. Many make that trek on the 405 every day, and I simply couldn not bare that. I think it must stem from the fact that I've never really had to drive far to work in my life...until now. Up to this year, the farthest I had to drive to work was five miles, and I did that for 15 years. I have a new admiration for Tom, who drives 38 miles every day to work. Wow!

Meanwhile,I'm still teaching Music on Tuesdays at Light and Life. I quit being the Librarian because I was offered the job of working three days a week down in HB. The Library job just wasn't working out for me.

Now, for the reason I didn't start working 3 days a week this week in HB. On Tuesday, Feb. 21 Tom had knee replacement surgery. He came home the 24th Everything went well, but they wanted me to stay home with Tom for a week. However, he is doing so wel, that the physical therapist said it would be ok for me to go to work. So, I'm going for two days instead of three.

So, my life has been busy, but busy is good! I am learning to trust!

Later....

Well, life is certainly interesting! Just when I am getting myself organized, "life happens" and disrupts my carefully planned schedule! Yesterday, after I finished working in the school Library at 1:30, I got a call from Tom (husband) saying he was in the hospital! Long story, but he started out at Whittier Community and was transferred closer to home. He had had heart palipitations, but seems fine now. But after blood tests, they decided to keep him overnight and have him do a treadmill test this morning. Well, it's almost noon, and I haven't heard if he's had it yet, or not. The last I heard at 10:30, was that he hadn't. So, I wasn't able to go down and work in the dental office as I am supposed to do. Fortunately, it should be ok for me to go down tomorrow, but who knows what they're going to find out about Tom! And, we have his car to get which was left in Whittier. These are the types of things that discourage me, and cause me to give up with this whole organization and cleaning that I try to do. I like routine, and when it gets interrupted, it's hard for me to deal with. Once again...learning lessons in life. How will I deal with it this time? Time will tell.

It's a little late, but Happy New Year! I am feeling very up about life right now...hooray! It seems that every January I feel energized to start becoming a better person. Since we are planning on moving this summer, I must de-clutter...BIG TIME! So, I've determined to do a little each week. Mondays seem to be the best day for me since that seems to be the day I never work. I've also joined a group called http://flylady.net and it's been great so far. It's really helping me to stay on track...but then again, this is only the beginning of the second week. I hope it will last!
I'm also excited because I am now officially working 3 days a week. I work in a dental office on Thursdays. I really like it, I just wish it wasn't so far away. It's 33 miles away, which isn't bad, except that I take the 405, and that's always a pain. But, over Christmas vacation, it wasn't too bad! I hope it will give me the experience I'll need if I ever need to get a job as a front office dental office person. That is IF I have to work outside the home! I'm hoping I can get my scrapbooking business going. It's really hard though. I don't know who to recruit. It seems that no one wants to get in the business, which is sad because it's really a great business opportunity!
Todd is home...came home Dec. 19. I was able to go out to dinner with my two sons and my husband for my birthday! What a special treat that was! All four of us have not eaten out together in ages (not counting the night we all went out before Todd went to DC, when his friends were with us). I'm also excited because Todd has a job! He's going back to Yahoo! which is a real blessing. He starts tomorrow.
I'm also excited because Tim bought a "new" car! It's his first car that he's bought on his own. It's a 92 Integra and it's a 5 speed. I was worried he wouldn't be able to drive it, but he is doing really well! Now, if he could just get a better paying job!
Tom sold a baseball card on EBay today for over $183! woohoo! He sold over 100 items this week, so that's a good thing. I hope he'll be able to keep it up! Meanwhile my house is overrun with baseball cards!
That's all for now...hope my year continues to go as well as it's starting out!