Great gathering of writers

Thanks for every one's prayers. The Write His Answer seminar that I hosted this past weekend went very well. We had 19 in attendance. Here are a couple of pictures. Marlene Bagnull was great. Such a wealth of information she has to share with all of us.

This group was VERY QUIET! I think that most of us were fearful. I know that the first seminar that I went to 15 months ago I felt that way too. You want to know if what you are writing is any
good. Marlene has been in the writing field for over 35 years,
so when you get her feedback and it is positive it really gives you
peace in your heart, and the desire to step out and do some more writing. If she says it stinks (which she did not say once) then you go back to the beginning and START OVER.

I felt very good having brought Marlene here. Thank you Marlene for sharing your expertise with all of us.

We even had two ladies drive all the way from Wisconsin just for this seminar!
Thanks Dana and Monica I am so glad you chose to come!!!!!

We did have a group of very interesting people and an even more interesting group of stories that Marlene read a portion of. Is is not interesting to see how people think? We all had different ideas of what to write about. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

I also had some amazing help from some amazing friends. Thanks to
Sherry, Linda, Mike and Denise for helping me with the food and books. Thanks Anita for arranging for the room and for loaning
me your screen. Thanks Jean for helping me set up the
tables and chairs and tablecloths. Also for offering any other things
needed for this activity. Thanks Mabel for being ever watchful and helping people into the building and directing them to to the
room where they needed to go. Thanks Jerry for the tables and
everything else needed.

Thanks to Jeff most of all for putting up with me and my stuff. I know that you fully support me in my writing, and I appreciate it more than you will ever know. I love you!

Now, I am moving on with things. Mike and I have a couple of meetings for interviews this week. It will be nice to see these folks again. It has been a long time for a couple of them. One I do not think I ever met before. It will add yet another dimension to Through My Tears.

Today I get to welcome Jordan home for a few days. I have hardly seen him since Easter. I am looking forward to his visit. Micah will be home Thursday I think. It has been since Easter since I have seen him too! Yay...my guys will all be here for a few days. I am so proud of all of them, but I really do miss them.

Well, I have already scrubbed the kitchen floor again, swept the living room, and dining room, I have clean sheets to put on beds and now I need to go to the grocery to pick up a few of their favorites!

Thanks again for all of the prayers for this past weekend. God was certainly there, and the grace needed flowed without question. Hallelujah!

Progress report

Just in case anyone is wondering, I got the laundry room done, all of the laundry done except for today's dirty clothes. Bathrooms done (will just need touched up), guest room done, dining room done, kitchen done, (except for window and valance and floor) living room needs to be done...
clean carpet, dust clean furniture (remove Buzz hair)

I am nearly ready! Yay!!!

We currently have 19 people coming to the seminar.

I will make the food on Friday, and set up the room.

Marlene will get in late afternoon, we will eat dinner here and then head up to the church to get all of her stuff unloaded, then it's time! Yippee 8>)

I have to weed the garden tomorrow before it gets too hot... blah..

(It is Thursday AM and I am 2/3 done weeding...just thirsty so took a break) see pictures to right for proof!

Just wanted to let you all know what is happening.

G'night~

If anyone wants more info about the seminar please let me know.

A very busy week ahead

Happy Monday everyone!

Once again a new week has rolled around and I have not blogged. So, I will take the rest of my lunch break to do just that.

I am not at work, but I am working. I am cleaning in preparation for Marlene Bagnull to arrive on Friday for the Writer's Seminar I will be hosting. I have mentioned it in previous postings, but I will mention it once again.

If you are interested or know someone that is, please contact me at jareiser1@verizon.net and let me know right away. We are trying to get a final count so that I am able to prepare enough food for everyone. I need to make sure we have ample seating and materials too.

This past week flew by. Once again Mike and I went to the prosecutors office to gather information. We got several things that we did not have from the sheriff's report, so hopefully we can include some of this information in the book.

Last night Jeff and I shared our testimony out at Memory Park. We were invited by Gospel Haven Church to share at their annual church picnic. What a privilege it was to be there. We took our friends Mike and Linda with us. That was a whole new experience for them as neither of them had ever had opportunity to be at a Mennonite gathering. What a wonderful group of people we met and shared with. Thanks again Marvin and Janice for inviting us!

It is finally summer. Officially! Today is the first Monday of summer, and yet it is nearly July 4. That, in my opinion marks the half way point of summer...UGH.

I am THRILLED that all of my boys will be home for the 4th of July. YAY!!!

So my cleaning will not only be for Marlene, but for the boys too. It seems I have so much to do and not much done. Which means that my lunch break is now five minutes over what I had planned to take. So, back to cleaning cupboards in my bathroom. I would be mortified if Marlene needed something and opened the cupboard and everything fell out! So.... I better get busy!

Quick post

Good beautiful Sunday morning! What a beautiful morning it is. It is Sunday one of my favorite days of the week. I get to go worship my Lord! Have my family at home and maybe if I am real blessed we'll have some friends over!

I wanted to let you all know that I have been blessed by the Circle Of Friends and will be their guest on the Circle of Friends radio this week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It is on 95.9 FM the Light. WNPQ. It begins at 10 AM and is on for an hour. I will not be speaking for an hour, but will have opportunities during the entire hour. Check it out!

Last night we were at a wedding for our friend Heather. What a beautiful woman she is. And absolutely gorgeous last night. I wish she was cloned... I have three boys and I'd love to have three Heathers for daughters-in -law! She is a God loving, generous, kind, beautiful woman that God has blessed. We had fun. We sat with friends at the reception, Sherry and Duane and Jenny and John. We laughed a lot. John is the pastor that married Heather and Dave. He is one of the pastors at NewPointe church. Anyway we had a blast. The decorations were beautiful, the food very good, and we had a lovely time. I was able to see the brides mother, Sue and visit with her for a while. Sue and Heather were in our small group from church for a few years. They are a lot of fun and lovely ladies. I was also able to visit with the groom's mother Patti. I met Patti at GriefShare. She lost a child too, so we had an instant connection when she came to class. Two lovely women! One beautiful wedding!

My week will be a busy one. Mike and I will be going back to the Prosecutor's office. We have been cleared to go through all of the files from Liz's case. We will be gleaning information that we lack for the book. We also will be visiting the Sheriff's office as they have more information/stuff that we will check out. I am so glad that all is going well. It could have been a real sticky situation, but God prepared the way and all is flowing! Thanks God.

Next Sunday, Father's Day. Jeff and I will be sharing our testimony once again. We will be with Gospel Haven Church at their picnic at Memory Park in Bunker Hill. This is our last scheduled speaking engagement for the summer. I am looking forward to sharing there.

Well the time has come for me to get ready to go to church. I hope you all have a blessed week. Go and fellowship somewhere today. Spend time with the Lord!

Helllllllllppppp

I have been sucked into the black hole (aka my laundry room). I know I am in there somewhere...I keep going from room to room with "stuff" from the hole. Now I have piles EVERYWHERE!

I hate to have to clean up my horrendous messes. I hate to clean up any one's horrendous messes, but mine are worse. Why are they worse? Because I made them knowing I'd have to clean them up. BLAH!

Jeff told me a long time ago that if I would clean up that mess he would build me shelves, and cupboards to "ORGANIZE" the laundry room. Ummm-Hmmm. Wonder what he'll say when he sees what I am doing. He'll be glad don't get me wrong, but when I remind him about the shelves, cupboards he may not be as jubilant! I guess we all have to pay...don't we? I can hear an evil sounding laugh in my head (buahahahahahah)

It's been a busy week as I mentioned it was going to be and it's only Tuesday. I feel like I have had a full week since I blogged on Friday. The meetings went well yesterday. All of them. Got to "visit" the court room where we sat 9 years ago for the sentencing of the man that killed Liz.
Matter of fact court was in session, so it was even more reminiscent of the past.

I am not sure why I am sitting here blogging when my mess is S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G at me to finish. It is going to be a while till it is done. I need something else to do....NOT
My ADOS has kicked in (Attention Deficit Ooooh Shiny) if it glitters it draws me... even if it doesn't glitter it draws me. Especially if I don't want to do it.

I wrote a poem or something possibly song lyrics on Sunday during church...sorry John, your message was amazing! It was inspiring. A lot of what you said is in the writing! I am encouraged because I have NEVER written anything remotely like that. It was this feeling that if I didn't find something to write on I was going to pop...so I grabbed the only paper in my purse. It just happened to be my paycheck pay stubs. Ha! I couldn't keep up with the thoughts it came so fast! Pretty cool when something like that happens. I'll share it sometime.

I know, I know...get back to work!

See you later!

Quick update

It' is Friday again and I haven't updated my blog. I'm sorry. I have an 11 o'clock lunch scheduled with my friend Missy, and then I may be heading off to 95.9 The Light to record Circle of Friends radio with Missy, Beth, Angie and I am not sure who else may be there. So maybe you'll hear me...maybe you won't.

The book is coming along. Mike is helping me and giving me wonderful suggestions and support. I need that nudge to get me moving. Yesterday I thought I would be writing all day long, but that didn't end up happening. I read the 57 page Sheriff's report of Liz's murder and all that happened those couple of days. It apparently put me into a bit of a 'dither' and I felt as if I was in a fog all day long. I could not wrap my head around any thing. I ended up searching for a couple of articles I had misplaced, and that ended up turning into an all out cleaning and organizing of my writing area/computer area. It looks much better. Now I have all of my counseling stuff on one shelf, and all of my writing stuff on another. Separate. No longer mixed together willy-nilly.

Yay! Organization...I love it.

Too bad I don't keep it that way, or have my 'maid' do it. Ha what am I thinking I am the maid!

I am anxious to have my friend Missy read what I have written and what Mike has written. She is one of the many people I have as a critique-er for my writing. She is wonderful (as are all of the rest of you) since she has already been published, her book Double Honor (I need to put a link to her book on this site) I am able to pick her brain and get her feed back, and she is honest and gives me great suggestions.

I need to get busy and get ready to go, but I wanted to at least let you all know where I have been and what is happening. Mike and I will meet with the county prosecutor on Monday morning to see what information we can culminate for the book. Good stuff, for adding more interest for the reader. Then on to my writing group after our meeting. Woo-hoo a lot of fun and help.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Tina have a great vacation! Wish I could go hug a palm tree with you and Ted! Love ya!