Summer Photo Fun: Name This Location!

July 25, 2016 by 2 Comments

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Are you ready, friends, for some more Summer Photo Fun? Each year during July and early August (when my husband is on break from teaching), I feature some fun photo posts rather than my usual inspirational/devotional style posts. I like to take a more casual approach to blogging for a few weeks and hopefully you’ll still leave here feeling refreshed, encouraged, or nourished in some way.

Today let’s have a little “Name This Location” challenge. Who can tell me where the photo above was taken? Let’s see who can turn in the first correct guess!

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer and getting to do a little traveling and photo-taking of your own. Enjoy your location today wherever you are!

“‘I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go . . .’” Genesis 28:15a

*So what’s the location above? Good luck with your guess!

*My photo

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out next week. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: America, challenge, fun, photo fun, summer, tradition Tagged With: , , ,

Winner Plus Summer Photo Fun Kick-Off: Caption This

July 21, 2016 by 2 Comments

IMG_5442 Hey everyone, I’m back! And to start things off with some smiles, I’m announcing the winner of my Mother of the Bride Book Launch Giveaway plus kicking off my annual Summer Photo Fun here on the blog. Good times, huh?!

First things first—time to announce a winner! The winner of the gift assortment  including a signed copy of my book Mother of the Bride as well as some other special items is . . . Susan Best! Congrats, Susan! Hope you thoroughly enjoy each gift!

And now for Summer Photo Fun: For those of you who may be new here, each year during July and early August, I feature some fun photo posts rather than my usual inspirational/devotional style posts.

This part of summer is always topsy-turvy for me since my husband is on his break from teaching so I try to take a more casual approach to blogging for a few weeks. Since photos can really brighten our days and since I’ll also be including a verse from the Bible, my hope is that you’ll still leave here feeling refreshed or nourished in some way.

Let’s start with some Caption This fun. The photo above is of one of my twin grandsons (Isaiah) after enjoying one of Grandma’s love-filled chocolate chip cookies. The rest is up to you—how would you caption this photo?

Thanks as always for stopping by, friends. I hope my sweet Isaiah put a smile on your face today!

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us,” Psalm 67:1

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign-up is free and to the right!

*My photo

Filed Under: books, challenge, family, fun, giveaway, photo fun, summer, tradition Tagged With: , , ,

Adventure Booster

June 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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If you read the last issue of my Life Notes inspirational newsletter or if you caught my blog posts in January, you know that adventure is on my mind this year.

Adventure is my theme word for 2016 in fact.  But since it’s easy to forget a theme word as the year goes along, I thought June, the mid-point of the year, would be a good time to go a little more in-depth with it here on the blog.

So here is an acrostic of ideas and avenues for adventure—an adventure booster so to speak. Even if adventure is not your own personal theme word for the year, maybe you’ll find something here to incorporate into your life this summer. No time like the summer for adventure, right? Enjoy!

Ask someone to join you in trying out a new restaurant or ice cream shop.

Drive to a familiar destination by a new-to-you route.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen, a special needs camp, or other outreach for those in need.

Educate yourself on a topic that interests you.

Notice the amazing beauty and creativity of God’s ever-changing sky each day.

Travel to a place you’ve always wanted to visit.

Unwind with a new-to-you book and a different variety of chocolate, coffee, or tea.

Risk a physical challenge that will push you out of your comfort zone or test your limits.

Enter a contest that spurs you to excel at one of your talents or abilities.

So here is the challenge: If an idea here caught your eye, determine now to make it your next adventure. It’s time to get out there and do something new!

“I will sing a new song to you, O God . . .” Psalm 144:9a

*What adventure are you going to try?

*CCO Public Domain photo

Filed Under: adventure, challenge, new thing, summer, variety Tagged With: , , ,

Pew or Chair Décor Idea: Sunflowers!

February 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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Mother of the Bride, believe it or not, it’s not too early to be thinking about pew or chair décor for summer weddings. Since you and your summer bride probably spent your early months of wedding planning nailing down vendors and shopping for bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses, now you can start giving attention to smaller decisions like décor.

Sunflowers make a perfect choice as pew or chair décor for summer weddings, especially if your daughter also wants to incorporate some in her bouquet or in the bridesmaids’ bouquets. Attaching one big sunflower to the chairs or pews along with some greenery as shown in the photo above will add cheer and beauty at the same time. Sunflowers just have a way of brightening up any space, don’t they?

You can also add another accent color with a daisy or two in the pew décor if you’d like. Several color choices could work. You could go with one of your daughter’s other wedding colors or simply go with white to tie in to her gown or the other white bridal décor that is sure to be a part of your sweet girl’s overall decorating plans.

Why not find out, MOB, if sunflowers will get a yes from your bride-to-be? After all, a touch of sunflower sunshine might just be the final piece to her wedding-day decorating puzzle!

*You might also like to read Wedding Décor Tip: Adorn the Church with Pew Bows and Wedding Décor Beauty: Candlelight Works.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, will come out this week. Sign-up is free and to the right!

*Be sure to enter the Steaming Hot Valentine’s Day Giveaway over on my home page! Deadline to enter is 6 p.m. Feb. 11.

*Flickr photo by charamelody, Creative Commons License

Filed Under: appearance, beauty, bride, cheer, decorate, flowers, Mother of the Bride, summer

Blast from Vacation-Past—Plus a Blogging Break

July 21, 2014 by 10 Comments

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This year’s Summer Photo Fun emphasis wouldn’t be complete without some sort of blast from the past, would it? Since I’m starting a two-week vacation from blogging today, I thought it would be fun to share a snapshot of the Barker gang while on vacation back in the day.

The year was 1989. We were headed into Tijuana for the day. Culottes were in style (at least my style!) and Don toted a camera nearly as big as my purse. Kristin fit in to California quite easily with her glamorous sunglasses while Kelli was missing some teeth. We were a happy little group—at least while taking this photo. You know how vacations go :)

Speaking of vacations, I’ll be back from my blogging break on August 4th. Whatever the last couple of weeks of July hold for you, I hope you get to spend some priceless time with loved ones at some point. Blessings to all—and see you in August!

“the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:8

*Will you be taking a vacation this summer or have you already taken one? What did you do or where did you go?

*Our photo

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out the first of August. Sign up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: adventure, family, memories, photo fun, summer, travel
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