For Leontien

These Agapanthus are for beloved blogging buddy, Leontien Vandelaar, who is battling cancer. The name Agapanthus is derived from the greek 'agape' which means 'love' and 'anthos' meaning 'flower'. They are quite beautiful and showy, making a dramatic, yet graceful appearance, kind of like Leontien herself. :) Sending many good thoughts, prayers and wishes for good health to return to you, Leontien!

A big thanks to Buttons, TexWisGirl, and A Rural Journal for coordinating and/or hosting this beautiful event!

Update and Backyard Friends

Greetings from Baton Rouge! We have been quite busy getting settled in, then we had a health scare with Double D. :( Right before the move he started experiencing some pretty significant chest pain. We chalked it up to all the stress we've been dealing with this year. After getting unpacked, the pains persisted along with a new symptom: extreme fatigue. A cardiologist determined that DD was probably 90% blocked in at least one artery. A few days later a heart catheterization discovered one artery with more than 90% blockage and another with almost 80%. Two stents were placed successfully and I'm happy to report that my little patient is doing much better and will be with me for years to come.

I want to ask if 2012 can get any worse, yet I dare not float that question out there. :/ God is certainly exercising my prayer and faith muscles, which should be pretty toned by now, but there is still work to do in that area.

Anyway, we're thoroughly enjoying the new house; especially the back yard! Here are some of our new avian friends:

Hummingbird - unsure of type

Hairy or Downy Woodpecker - cannot tell the difference!

Woody is completely addicted to seed cake. When the starlings take over he swoops around, letting them know it's his turn! He loves to eat upside down which I love because
it makes for a better photo. :)

Carolina Chickadee

Bluejay

Northern Cardinal

Conehead

Mrs. Conehead

My dad and his wife gave us this beautiful wind chime for a housewarming present. I love it!

Where to begin...

For 3 months I slowly sipped and stirred a cocktail of sickness, death, tears, exhaustion, drama, waiting, guilt, reconnecting, moving, unpacking, throwing away, treasuring, remembering, forgiving, loving, and letting go. I hope and pray that I never have to experience so many intense emotions in such a short period of time ever again. My heart can only take so much, or so I believe.

Here we are, finally able to emerge on the other side of the chaos, with eyes clear enough to see evidence of God all over the place, especially with our new home and surroundings. The move to Baton Rouge has been the one bright spot in the scary black sky that hung over us for too long. A sky I feared was intent on drowning us with a poisonous, unrelenting downpour.

We absolutely love, and excitedly embrace, the laid-back lifestyle here. And our new home! I'm completely smitten with every square foot. Of course guilt sets in when I realize we could have done this years ago and had more quality time with my mom. :( But as Ann Landers said, "Nobody gets to live life backwards."