My New Finds Today

I found this vintage camera with a wooden tripod. I thought it was really cool so I can display it in my house along with my other camera's that I have to figure out how I am going to display all of them. My next project is to find what year is was and how much it is really worth.
My Dad loves Motorcycles and old cars. When I was out to his house last summer painting it, we painted one room Harley colors that way he could have a really cool room. He has a Harley and loves to ride. So, I saw this sign and thought I would get it for him and send it out to him this week. He will be able to display it in his workshop.

Shawn's First Hunt

My boy Shawn took his hunter's safety class in February and completed that and did very well in it. Ever since then he has been wanting to go hunting or shoot some kind of animal.

Friday was the day for that!

From inside the house our dog Sadie noticed a rabbit outside the window. Shawn went and got his 22 that Grandpa Lehr bought for him and we went out on the back deck to see if he could get the rabbit. The rabbit took off into the woods a little ways. Shawn followed it through his scope and then he got it. The rabbit ran a little ways then paused. Shawn went to get another bullet and then we found it again and completed the task. Such excitement for the little man. Here is Shawn with his very first animal that he was able to hunt down.

We had to learn how to skin it and all of that other good stuff. It is pretty tricky as we got some of it but then we called our friend Aaron to help and show Shawn how to do it. Now, we have three rabbit's feet curing and the meat is in the freezer. I will find a good recipe and make it for him someday.

Way to Go Shawn! Job well done!

CATCHING UP TO DO

WOW! Just noticed that several people have new posts and that means I have some catching up to do.

Right now, it is out the door and off to the eye doctor for me. Yippee!

Take care!

Having fun

The other day my friend Wendy was saying that she wanted a new hairstyle. She was asking friends on Facebook about where to go and whatnot, so I took the challenge and started to mess around with her. I posted a couple funny hairstyle pictures that usually just models doing a wild and wacky hairdo would do for a photo shoot.

I was having so much fun playing with the photos and getting a chuckle back out of Wendy. It is great to have friends that love to joke around. Those that can take it make it so much more fun and worth the laugh.

You can see in the picture below how much fun I was having with the last picture that I posted on her wall.

Love ya Wendy!

XOXOXO

Out of Sorts

Wow! Have I been knocked down for a few days. I have had this cold and I think being stuffy to where you can't hardly breathe is the worse. Feeling no energy whatsoever is awful too. I have not ever layed down this much. Shoot, I am lucky if I sleep 5 hours a night. I think I have had more sleep the last few days than I have had in a whole week.

I am doing better than I was a couple days ago. But, still not up to full Shellyness!

Ever wonder if you could take something and shoot bigger holes through your nostrils just so you can breathe? Then maybe the mouth would not feel like a big cotton ball. :)

I know this is going around and anyone who gets it, I feel for ya! I know your pain! LOL

Well, I will write again when the Shelmeister is back to a full recovery.
TTFN

Had a little fun!

I had a challenge on Facebook by my friend Sandy's brother Steve.

That challenge happened to be with a photo that I had taken of her out at the pier when she came down for a visit. That was a lot of fun too! Anyway, the challenge was to photoshop a shark into a picture and that would make the photo really funny.

Sandy made a comment on the facebook too and said that if anyone could do it, Shelly could. I had to laugh. I was thinking, seriously? Can I really do it? HMMMM

Well, Shelly is always up for a challenge. I try not to let anything beat me. LOL

So, below was what the end result was. Kinda funny if you ask me. Every time I look at it, I start to giggle.

Morning drive

Saturday I was on my way home from Grocery shopping and noticed some ice formed on some trees on the Bass River. I thought to myself, you know, that would be neat to go take some pictures of that. That is a busy part of the road and not much of a place to park there to be out of the way.

Sunday--I got up out of bed and thought, I am going to try to go get some pictures before the weather hits. So, I went out and got a few pictures. The above picture is one of them and then there are more on my photo blog if you want to go and take a look at that. http://shellyvandlenphotography.blogspot.com

I had a nice drive by myself. Driving really slow to see if anything would catch my eye. Well, there were a few neat things and I am happy with the results that I found.

Now that it is after midnight-that makes it Monday. Presidents day! My husband has the day off and has had a little bit of a sore throat so he has been kinda under the weather. I think I will wake up before him-as I usually do-and plow the driveway for him. I will drive our lawn tractor/snow blower. The snow and ice that we have is pretty wet so I don't think the big tractor will move it very well. That just has a back blade on it and that is Tommy's baby.

May you all have a great day!

AMS BAND CONCERT

Last night we were able to go and watch two of my boys and a friends of mines young lady perform in their band performance. The 6TH grade band had Shawn in it and he just switched to the saxophone and did and awesome job. Mitch and Kara are in the 7TH grade-- and Mitch plays the trumpet and actually played the base drum on the last song, and Kara plays the clarinet and they also did an awesome job.

It is amazing to hear how they just start out and how quickly they become little musicians. Their talent is rewarding in so many ways.

Allendale even got an award or recognition for being one of the best in the State of Michigan. Not sure what it is as I was half listening at the time. LOL But, Congrats to all the Allendale School Band performers.

The teachers that teach them are very good with the kids and you can tell that they really enjoy their job.

Anyway, Great job kids!
Love you all!

Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

That was Randy's favorite verse. Randy was my first husband and he passed away from Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2003. Today it has been 8 years exactly. He is missed and we will always remember him.

So, I thought it was kind of ironic that my husband Tom calls me to tell me there are eagles flying around the channel in Grand Haven today. So, I grabbed my camera and went out there to take a few shots. The wind sure was cold on the hands, but I ended up getting a few. You can see some on my photo blog or on facebook.

I am only going to post one here in honor of Randy today. I am thankful to have had a life with Randy and to have two beautiful kids with him. I am thankful that there is a Father in Heaven that is full of grace and mercy.

We don't always know the road that is ahead of us, but after we have been down the road a ways, we tend to understand why God brought us the way we came and look forward to the way that we are going.

I also want to thank my husband Tom for being understanding and for the life that we have together now.

God bless everyone!

Have a Photography blog!

Come and check out the new blog! I bet you can get to it from my this blog too.

http://shellyvandlenphotography.blogspot.com/

Okie dokey

Hope I did not screw up my original blog. I signed up for another blog for my photography but it is all under my same gmail account just different password. Now I just typed a whole new post and it went to my other account. Ugh.



As I was saying we are in for some snow. They say we are going to get hammered. Well, right now a few snow flakes are drifting down ever so gently from the sky. I am able to count each and every one right now. We will see how bad it gets. Oh, wind picking up as we speak. They said it was going to try to start around 4pm and it is. Major stuff tonight.



My deck is 1/3 full of snow and I am looking forward to seeing the rest pile up on there.



Hopefully I am working on making another blog and then I will have two. Any tips from fellow bloggers is well appreciated.



Thanks!

What Is Your Purpose?

What is your purpose? Have you ever thought about what YOUR purpose in life is? I have. We had an awesome message in church today that brought this question up. There was a little video that was shown interviewing people out in the city. The interviewer would ask several people what their purpose was. Some of the people did not have an answer and some did. Some of the answers were to have fun, be there for their family and friends, party it up, live every day in the present, plan for their financial future, etc. Some of these answers are still nice answers. We do need to be kind and courteous and love one another as Christ has loved us.

One question in church was-"what do the people in the video have in common with the man who shot the people in Tucson several weeks ago"? The answer: They don't have a purpose for their life!

God has chosen for Himself a "people" who will live to glorify and enjoy Him, as they live to tell the world who He is!

Genesis 12, 15, 17

Some people might go to church just to go, some might go to worship their heavenly Father, some might think that there are a bunch of hypocrites in church and that might keep them from going. What is the "True Church"? The true church are those that have put their trust in God as their personal Saviour.

I want to live every day to its fullest, be there for my family and friends, show love to one another and hopefully plan for a better future. BUT, the ultimate reason we have purpose is that we have a Christ who gave us the gift of salvation. We have a choice to make. I have made that choice when I was 18 years old. I had some great friends show me the way to a better life. A richer and fuller life. There is not a great life than that with our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for these friends of mine that helped me. Now, because of them and their purpose in life is why I will be spending eternity in heaven instead of burning in Hell. How many of you have made the choice to have Christ in your life? Are you living life with the purpose to fulfill what God wants you to do or has planned for you? What kind of talent or talents, gifts has God given you to share with others?

The basic purpose in life is to accept Christ as your personal Saviour and to live life according to the way that Christ would want you to live.

So my friends, I wish you the best in life and may you have a life of knowing that someday you will have eternity in heaven with our lovingly Father. Let the Spirit of God work in you fulfilling His purpose IN us and THROUGH us.

De Quervain's Tenosynovitis

This is the picture of the left hand. My pain is in my Right hand.

So, I went to the doctor because my hand was not getting better. There is a constant pain at the base of my thumb which is towards the wrist. The pain goes up and will be really painful when I over use it. Sometimes that just consist of doing things around the house.

Now I will give you a lesson as to what this really is.

De Quervain's Tenosynovitis is a painful condition affecting the tendons located on the thumb side of your wrist. A tendon is a strong band of tissue that attaches muscle to bone. A sheath, or covering, surrounds the tendons that go to your thumb. Tenosynovitis is an irritation of this sheath.

How does this occur you might ask?

Usually occurs from overusing your thumb or wrist, especially in activities that move your thumb directly away from your wrist such as skiing or hammering. And No, I have not been hammering the kids! LOL

How do I get this to get better you might ask?

Sometimes they put a splint on it. The Doctor did not see that I really needed one yet. So, I have to ice it for 20-30 minutes every 3-4 hours until the pain goes away. Wow! I think my hand might be frozen and then for sure I won't feel any pain. Just cold! LOL

After ice, massage the area for 5-10 minutes several times a day.

Take an anti-inflammatory med.

Last resort is to get cortisone injection.

When can I get back to normal activity?

As soon as my wrist recovers. If attempt too soon, this will create permanent damage.

Zoiks!!!!

Guess I better behave.

Think I might be going to the drug store to get my a splint so I don't overuse or twist and turn it when not suppose to.

On another note-I hate the fact that I have Type 2 Diabetes. So, I have to really behave now. I hate buying tons of fruit because it can be so expensive. But, to be healthy I have to pay the price. Not sure if I can eat fruit three times a day and veggies three times a day. But, I do know that I can try. I am such a carb eater that it isn't funny. I don't eat a lot of sweets, but those carbs sure do turn into sugar eventually. Sucks! Anyway, I told my husband today--who loves carbs, pastas, etc, that he and the rest of the family is going to have to go on this journey with me. Not saying we can't have that stuff once in a while, but it is good to eat differently anyway. Maybe I can find some fun and Yummy recipes.

I am lucky that I can take a pill and not have insulin. So that is a bonus. I wonder if I will ever be free from this? Going to try. It does not help that family had Diabetes. My Grandpa Odette had Diabetes 1 so he had to take insulin. That was not fun for him. Was not fun watching his legs blister up either. God rest his soul.

So, what do I have to do now? I have to make an eye apt. Have to get that checked every year. Eat healthier and exercise. I have not been one to just lay around, but this will push me to get to my cardio stuff. Now that I am not working, I have more time so I don't have any excuses.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday to Two 13 year olds!

Around our house we have two boys that have birthdays close to each other. Mitch is in January and Shawn in in May. Two Thirteen year old kids in the house after May. Look out when they both start driving at the same time. I think I need to get a job!

Our friends, The Parrish Family have a nice, sweet young lady that is now 13 too. Her name is Kara. Mitch's Birthday is the day before Kara's. We like to have supper together and go out bowling afterwards to celebrate Mitch and Kara's Birthday. Here are a few pictures of our fun night. Mitch and his bowl of dirt cake.
Kara and her bowl of dirt cake.
Went bowling and had a lot of fun.
This is Mitch and Shawn.

Here we have, Brittnay, Kara, Amanda and Mason.
Here is Brittnay, Amanda and Kara.
I am really not sure about the young lady in the middle. Looks a little crazy to me. LOL

I cannot believe how quick the years go by. At first you want them to talk, then walk, etc and now you want them to be still and listen. LOL
Nah, they are great kids. These next years will go by so fast and I am sure that we will treasure every year.

Memory lane with the Family

I am going to go down memory lane for a little bit.

I have to find more pictures from some family members. As I do not have very many from the past and sure would like to have some copy's of some. These pictures were from my childhood.

My cousin Andy

This is Laurie.

This is Jonna.

The above three kids belong to my Auntie Jan (my Mom's sister) and Uncle John

This is Sheila and Grandma Myrt
We like to call Grandma Myrt--Grandma Myrtle the Turtle when she was still with us here on earth. This is John


This is Tina Ree
The above three kids belong to Mom's brother Phil. I don't remember Sheila's Mom's name. John and Tina's Mom is Chris or we called her Aunt Tina.

This family is Mom's sister Carol or we like to call her Aunt Sis.

Grandma Myrt, Kim, Uncle Bob, Chris, Mike, Leslie, Aunt Sis

This is a picture of me!

Yep that is me!

Was cute then, what happened? LOL

I will try to find some more old pictures to share. I only have a few of what my Dad gave to me.

Shelly's Winter Photoshoot Jan 10, 2011

Sadie and I went out for a walk around our yard and I was enjoying taking pictures as she was enjoying sniffing around and playing in the snow. By my previous post you noticed some pictures that I had taken yesterday too. The hoarfrost was amazing. Sure does make everything look different. After taking pictures around the house, I decided to head out to Grand Haven Michigan to get some photo shots out on the lake shore of Lake Michigan.

This is the ice building up on the shoreline. You see this right when you get out to the pier.

The above picture is of ice build up on the lighthouse at the end of the pier.

When you are walking out to the pier this is the little light on the North side of the pier when you enter the channel.

This tree seems very lonely. Even though there are many branches to keep it company, it still stands alone. Actually, this is not far from the beach house/restroom. I thought the tree was pretty. Sometimes I feel alone, but then there are so many people in my life that are important and make things all better. Just like that tree. The trunk is the strong part--could be God, the tree grows and has many branches. God put these branches in our lives. He made it so we had many paths to take and many people to cross our paths. Thanks be to God for all He has provided.
This is a beautiful duck. There were several out on the lake. This one was in the channel with a few other ducks.

On the boardwalk out to the pier you notice this building that hold boats--I believe.

Check out that ice build up on it! Isn't that awesome!

Again a picture of the little light on the N side. I thought I would be tricky and take this picture through a life ring. The life rings are located all along the pier to use when someone is in need of help or in danger. Once you pull the ring off, a little blue light will light up and will call our wonderful USCG (United States Coast Guard--as we like to call Coasties!)

It is not good when they have to go out to save someone, but we are all grateful that they are ready and available when someone needs them. It is amazing watching them in action too.

The ice looked like broken glass!
The sound of this crashing against the other ice pieces was a neat sound.

Well, I made it out to the end of the pier with careful footsteps. There was a lot of ice built up on the pier and with just a dusting of snow cover. At times there were chunks of ice or really big ice balls. So, just have to maneuver slowly and cautiously. Then the next things that you would see is what I am about to show you.
The above picture has the amazing big rock boulders at the West edge of the pier.
This ice build up is on the lighthouse itself. It attached itself to the railing and made such beautiful formations.

This is the Grand Haven, MI Lighthouse.

This is what you see when you make it all the way to the end. It is a nice walk out to this spot. When the lake is calm, like it was yesterday, it is a very pretty site. On windy and high wave occasions, it is most likely that you will not get to the end unless you want to get soaked. The waves crash against this area so hard at times.

This is the view that the lighthouse always gets to see. How beautiful!

Kinda like going to the ocean except for a few things. Not salt water is one. We are privileged to view this and look so far that it seems like there is not an ending. Like it goes on forever!

This is so cool! I am so glad that I was able to make it out there.

Another bonus, nobody was in the picture except for what I wanted in the picture.

OH WAIT!!!

WHO IS THAT?

OH, THAT IS ME!!!! LOL

I set my camera up on an ice ball and walked carefully over to get in the picture. Good thing I had it set on Ten seconds. HA HA HA HA

This is the light on the way back from the house!

Hope you all enjoyed a look at my pictures and me rambling on. It was such a nice day, that I had to take advantage of taking some photos!

Hoarfrost

Ever hear of Hoarfrost?

It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water.
There are not many opportunities to take pictures of this because it only happens once in a while. So, The last two days it has been pretty out in the morning with all this frost.
I heard from my husband Tom that our weather man that he listens to and reads his blog, stated that this was hoarfrost and all should get out and take pictures. My husband was pretty impressed with the pictures. Thanks Honey!

All of these picutures were taken in my yard or from my driveway. I have more but only selected a few to share. I am happy with how they all turned out.

SMILE -- GOD LOVES YOU!!!!

Snow, snow, and more snow!

This was Thursday during the day. Today we are suppose to get a good amount of snow. I have only seen a few flakes falling at times today. Kinda like yesterday, where it would snow really hard, then let up, snow lightly and then snow really hard again. We must have got around 4 inches of snow yesterday.

Last night I was able to hook up three sleds to my quad and pull the kids up and down the driveway trying to tip them over. All four kids had so much fun. I did too! There were times when I was laughing so hard!

It was fun to try and spill the kid on the third (last) sled. That one has the most fun! I make them go back and forth/side to side and then we went through the yard and tried to hit the high bank of the garden area. The garden area in the summer was not a garden but a turn around and "make donuts" for the quads. So, there was a pretty high bank from the dirt being pushed up from doing that all summer. The kids were like 'yeah' then 'oh no' then 'wow-that was fun'.


It is hard to get a close up of a snow flake. The snow was coming down so fast when I tried. As you can see there were a few big flakes. Some of my friends my think I am a big flake. LOL

This is Sadie and Calie sharing Sadie's bed. Or should I say mainly Calie's bed. Sadie will always let Calie take over. It is cute watching. Sadie will be on the bed already and Calie does this thing with her feet to make the spot comfy. Then she lays down. They are such good friends!

In the winter Sadie does not like to be out in the snow and cold very much. She would rather be inside. Unless, we are outside too. For example, when I ride my quad, she likes to chase me and bark along the side at times. She thinks it is a game. I am the only one she does this with. So, last night when I pulled the kids on the sleds with my quad, she would run up and down along the side like she was a big part of all the fun too. We have a pretty long driveway and good size yard, but, she kept right up. Then later that night, she did crash out!

Looking forward to see how much snow we might get today. As it looks right now, not very prosperous!

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy!

Winter finally arrived here in Allendale.

Tom is out plowing with the tractor that my Dad gave to us. As you can see Tom loves it and it does a great job!
One of these days I will try to work it!

The beautiful tree! We cleared out trees around this birch tree so I could enjoy it better. Tom's Dad came to help clear out around it.
Just a little bit of snow!

Looks so pretty the way it lays on the trees.

The sun is out today and the sky is blue. I think I should go out and go for a walk and take some more pictures. See what I can find that is interesting.