Update on Karen....

Hello My Friends,

August 22nd I had a Ischemic Stroke and then again on September 4th I had another one in the MRI machine. They kept me in the hospital for only 2 days then released me.

I saw my regular doctor yesterday and she is not too sure they were strokes but thinks it may have been Migraine related so she gave me a Referral to see a Neurologist. May have been Birth control pill related.

I stayed at home nursing what I 'thought' was a Severe Earache from the 22nd of August until my Cardiologist receptionist made me call 911 on September 3rd. Very foolish move!

So far all my heart tests have been negative except for an Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia and High Blood Pressure.

So please pray that the doctors can figure it all out so we can prevent it in the future.

I am so very weak and extremely fatigued. Been sleeping alot.

That is all I know for now.

 I have an upcoming appointment with my Cardiologist.

They really want me to get back into Counseling again. So I have to make that appointment as well.

So far I have lost half of my smile and I have permanent Left Sided Weakness with my left hand being really fumbly. Lucky for me that I am Right Handed so that means I can still crochet!!!! But I am still alive, Praise God! The Lord is good and loving.

The Lord is guiding me through this dark valley one baby step at a time.

Please Keep Me in Your Prayers and Thoughts.......

Hello Friends,

I have a very good reason for having been only on Pinterest and not blogging every day like I wish I could be doing. Reality has knocked me down and is keeping me down for now.

The 22nd I had my first meeting with my Cardiologist at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. He immediately ordered the Doppler Echocardiogram. This test informed me that 3 of my heart valves are Regurgitating blood, That my Left Atrium is Enlarged. I was also diagnosed with Grade 1 Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction. Which means that I have Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Just click on the link and it will take you to Mayo Clinic's definition.

 He also wanted me to wear the ZIOxt heart monitor for 14 days, but after four days it was very apparent that my Adhesive Allergy was not going to let me as I broke out with a blistering rash under the monitor and tape. I am on a Steroid cream for it.

I have become a very Depressed woman as I want to do, but I cannot do and I am pelted with my Vow Renewal Dreams. It means so much to me.

So please add me to any Prayer Chains going,

I know that Prayer Changes things and I may need a Miracle sooner than was thought.

Thanks for your Friendship and Love.

A Tad Late......My Easter Tablescape

Just Ducky 

Front View

The Quilt-as-you-go Carrot Runner I made :o)

My Favorite drawing of Jesus done by an 8 year old girl who had died and was sent back with the extraordinary gift for drawing and painting. You can see it in the book "Heaven is for Real" 

Front left view

Some Bunny Love ya!

In the last two pictures you can see all the coffee filters I was dyeing at the time for a wreath I still have not yet had the chance to make as I need a wreath form to do it, lol. I got a bit ahead of myself :o)

The white runner is a gift from my mother-in-law.
The bright yellow placemats were a gift from a dear church friend Lucy.

The main part of the centerpiece is a mason jar craft I did ages ago for Easter. I put floral foam in the jar and poked some faux flowers from the +Dollar Tree covered the top with grass and a couple of plastic eggs. At the time I had a tree branch poked into it as well with little cardstock birds I had made hanging from the branches along with a few eggs. Then I tied a silk ribbon around the top of the jar. <---free :o="" p="" tutorial="">
I take Easter very seriously as well as Christmas. Because without the Lord I would not be alive to be typing and blogging. So I am very Thankful to the Lord for the many times He has saved me from certain death.


Until Next Time,
Karen

Ruffle Necklace

Howdy Friends,

This was done quite some time ago and I never got around to sharing it so here it is without further ado.....

Ruffle Necklace

What I did was crochet three different layers and then sewed them together at different depths.

It worked up really quickly and was fun to make.

I have another necklace in the works that is my own design. As soon as I can write it out I will post it here. May take a while though.


May you have a wonderful................. and God Bless you richly! <---fill :o="" are="" blank="" in="" p="" the="" wherever="" world="" you="">
Until Next Time,

Karen

Live,Laugh,Love...Believe...

Welcome, My Friends!

I am sorry that I have been offline for so long, but the net connection we are currently using is up ...then it's down...then it's up ....then it's down. Which I mean it is down more than it is up :o(.

I so want a dedicated line, but we still owe $129 and some change on our old bill that my hubby refuses to pay. It would be so lovely if I could open our mailbox one of these days and have a gifted check to pay for our bill so we could get hooked back up again. But as of now, it is just wishful dreaming and right at the time I so want to get professional with my blog and non-profit. Just another mountain standing in my way.

 Lord, help me overcome this obstacle in my way, please. You are my provider Jehovah Jireh. Thank you for meeting this huge need of ours. I Thank you and praise your Holy Name and i ask this in Jesus Precious, Precious Name, Amen. Now who will stand in agreement with me? 

I have been using my down time to work on WIP's and I actually finished two of them last night!

Live...Laugh...Love

Glittered hearts

Paint Chip Hearts

Believe...

Chronic Illness Butterfly -
I chose Blue to represent +Chronic Illness
 as I suffer with several Chronic Illnesses.

Courage, Inspiration, Love -
I chose Red to help me gain Courage,
To give me Inspiration while Crafting,
And to remind me that the greatest of all is Love.

All Things are Possible....

The beginning of Faith is just to simply Believe

Live, Laugh, Love finished

Believe Finished

The paper flower was made by me out of a coffee filter that I had dyed.

The streaks you see on Believe is just where I took my ink pad and ran it around the outside edges of the canvas then I just held it even with the canvas and rubbed it up and down the canvas.

FYI: The three colors you see on my canvasses are the colors I am going to use on my Major project.....A Free standing Bathroom Cabinet. I am so excited to do it but I resent the work it takes to just be able to paint it...ughhhh! But it will totally be worth it when I am finished I do believe :o)

Until Next Time,

Karen

Trying to Drown My Sorrow With Crafts

It has been very hard for me to be stuck in the western part of the United States while my family is in the Midwest. Especially knowing that my family truly needs me and not having the money to get a plane ticket to fly back home to help out.

So I have been drowning my sorrow in a few crafts.

I made this out of 11"x 17" paper (Legal). I folded it in half then I used needle and thread to bind it. I found a pretty piece of scrapbooking papers that I had gotten at Target and pieced the pieces together. Then used fancy scissors to detail it for the tags I used my new Fiskars Lace 3 way punch ( I love it!! ). Then I put some good old Elmers on the spine and wrapped the paper I  had pieced together around the legal paper and clamped it down with 6 mini binder clips.

Just a different perspective of the notebook I made.

Me and My Ideas :o)

The Butterfly and pearl wreath I had previously posted before I had finished it. It is now welcoming Spring and it will be used again for our Vow Renewal. 

This is the back of my Encouragement File I put together after reading +Joel Osteen's "Every Day a Friday" It is an awesome book and I highly recommend it !

This is the bottom part of the front. 

Aren't the Birdy and the butterfly just so sweet?

I forgot to use the Macro button when I took this but it shows the two Martha Stewart Heart punches I had previously won on EBAY. I LOVE EBAY so much that it is the way I have been gathering up everything for our Vow Renewal. 

This is the front part of the lid to my case. I tried to capture the two clear beads I used on the elastic you wrap around the envelope.

I tried to get the birdy up close so you can make out what the stamp says inside the birdy itself.

I am going to finish my sweater necklace I am making. I am so excited about it as it is my own design,  a OOAK....(One of a Kind).

I have also made an Exercise Binder to help keep me motivated to not only exercise, but to eat healthier, to help me understand my illnesses better and how I can manage some of the symptoms. I still need to set up the time I want to do my exercises every day and I am going to change the exercises up so that I am not doing the same things day after day except for the stretching. Not sure when I will start, but I will let ya'll know when I do. My goal is to be able to walk down to the end of our field approximately a 1/4 mile without having to stop and rest every few steps for 20 minutes. I really want to walk down the aisle on my own two feet , arm and arm with my dear sweet husband Ben. It is going to take a bit as currently I am on a walker and a cane. Barely able to walk to the mailbox and to the front office at the clubhouse. :o( So please pray for me and wish me well in my adventure to learn to walk unaided again. My most important dream it is be able to dance with my husband on the eve of our Vow Renewal. I want to waltz  to Beethoven and Bach. A true Victorian Romance *Swoons*

   Woo me , My Darlin'. You have all of me, heart, body, mind and soul. I have eyes only for you. None other will do, only you for me, My One True Love. Heart and Soul you are the piece that makes me whole.
Until in Heaven we should meet, Only you make my heart beat. I shall profess my love for thee both near and far. {©2014 Karen M. Roth "Profession of Love"}

"Oh, How I love thee, Let me count the ways...." { Elizabeth Barrett Browning‎} 

Until Next Time,

Karen  

Please Help My New Friend.....Organized Chaos

Come on, Ya'll please give my new friend a hand up on her Cash Giveaway!

#cashgiveaway #bloggeropp Sign up now with @ShanaMom2 and don't miss this amazing blogger opportunity!
— Karen Roth (@ffpaws) February 13, 2014

No News is Good News Right?

Hello Friends,

     I still have not heard yeah or nay on me yet, but he thinks it may be benign but he does not want to say for certain until he has read my MRI's with and without contrast which will take place on Friday the 24th.

    I also have to have the Holter Monitor Test on the 22nd since my heart is deciding to do cartwheels in my chest when I lay down to sleep every night and I get really short on breath as well

     In other news, great news! Our Box Springs are on their way!!!!! Oh, May God Bless Ben's family sooooo much for helping us with this {{{{{BIG BEAR Hugz))) Thank You so very much :oD I cannot tell you just how much it will be easier for me to get in and out of bed and to get rid of that junked out queen sized mess will be a sweet blessing in disguise :o) I will finally be able to get into my chest of drawers and over to my bookshelves....Oh, How I have missed my books!

Speaking of which....Does anyone have any crafting books they would be willing to send me, please? 3inch 3 ring binder and sheet protectors? It would be for my printed out Crochet patterns.   Just email me if ya do :o) This is a year of learning new things and to do it scared anyway. Besides getting hyper organized. Once I get to being a professional blog I want to seriously start a Craft Swap each month. We would ask every to sign up with an email and then we would start by taking the email below ours and send them the craft supplies we were done with that way there would be no waste or storage problems for anyone and everyone could come up with one project out of the supplies they were sent and we would hold a Linky Party to show off that one craft :oD So tell me what you think, ya think ya might like to do that? If so, Let me hear ya leave a comment at the end of this post :o) I would like to call it: Major Mustard's Pickle.

     I have a super cute couple of projects in the works so hang on while I take pics of them so I can get them posted!  They are a complete secret until I post them. Mwahahahah!

     In Savings news, My health insurance has approved my Humira for the next year!!!!! Woohoo, yeah right, I know. I'm not too keen on having to give myself shots every other week for the rest of my life thanks to the good 'ol li' gene I inherited, most likely from my father so I pray that he gets himself genetically tested to find out for sure as this might very well be the reason for all the physical pain he has had. But I had better pull up my Big Girl pants and buck up.

     I know my parents were hurt and angered by my leaving the way I had, but it really was best for everyone in our family that I did so. So that  I could find out what had been cursing our family health for so long, now I know, I pray that they will forgive me and take me back again.  This is my fervent prayer every single night. I would love nothing more than to have them present at our Vow Renewal.   I do love them, but it was they who rejected me and not the other way around. I just pray that God will soften their hearts and give them a true reality of who Jesus really is.
     But now that I know this information I am able to pass it onto the authorities where my children and parents live and maybe even help them even though at the present moment they all hate my guts and never want to see me again, but truly I have only a deep mother's love for both of my children and I pray that they too will forgive me for just leaving to get the help I needed and that my parents never would have been able to afford. I have wept every birthday and holiday because I miss them so, but my mother is a very stubborn woman who needs emotional help as does my father. But I pray each day for God to Shine His face down upon them and to bless them richly. I just pray that one day they will all see the truth for what it is. That alot of my behavior was just a reaction to theirs.

  Anyhoo, enough of the sad story and that is not even half of it, but I have chosen to forgive them so I will not use their sins against them any longer. Just keep praying for a happier ending to my story please.

Until Next Time,
Karen

Doing It Scared + Possible Prayer Answered

Hello My Dear Friends,

I have to admit something...I am scared to death of my doctor's appointment tomorrow at 2 p.m. so if I may request something special just for myself tomorrow?

Exactly at 2 p.m. PST I want everyone who knows me or of me to say a prayer for me. There is a distinct possibility that I may have more than one form of cancer. Just thinking about it scares the daylights out of me but for the past month my physical pain has increased so much in my leg and foot bones. Hubby and doctor have been denying it all this time while I have been pleading for help. My doctor has finally believed me and referred me to the Bone Specialist I am seeing tomorrow. 

My Humira is to be covered by my insurance for up to one year, which is the answered prayer. At last notice they were fighting my pain patch so I still do not have it.  So pray that will get worked out as well,please.

I think our prayer is just about to be answered about getting  our box springs....thanks to family {{{GIANT Hugz}}}

I have determined this year to not let my fear keep me stuck in a rut so that is why I am going to start doing things even when afraid. 

Until Next Time,

Karen

What I have been up to lately.....

Hello Ya'll *waves*

Are ya asking what I have been up to lately since I have been so silent? Well, Here Ya go have a looksy....

Ben and Karen Roth

This is the best pic he has taken to date and he has taken numerous gorgeous ones, let me tell you! This was taken on my last hike I was able to do, Silver Falls up near Entitat, Washington.

What I have been into :o)

Let me walk ya through it.....

Top Left: Spray painted a paper bell from our wedding. Then I hot glued the ribbons in the middle after I tied the ornaments onto the end of the ribbon.

Top Middle: is moi wearing my Christmas Corsage I made. 

Top Right:  Is the Hair Barrette I made.

Middle Left: Is a Dollar Tree Picture Frame I painted. The artwork is actually one of a few cards I received as I gift for Christmas.

Left 3/4 and Left Bottom: Is one of two Keepsake boxes I made that are now holding my paper clips and my binder clips on my desk :o) I am rather proud of them as they turned out better than I expected :oD. 

Top Middle Bottom:  Was the sweetest gift I had gotten for  any Christmas ever! I just love them as they came from my Wonderful sweet hubby after we had a fight on Christmas Eve due to my physical pain overriding my sweet heart because he was able to go to the family dinner and I was not able to ....Stupid reason to fight but that is how Chronic Illness is sometimes... You feel like you are being left out of life while all your family and friends keep living life like you were never ill and hold expectations that you can never meet even on your best day. So this is a gift I hold most dear to my heart. My sweet hubby found my sweet spot and the verse holds true...."A soft answer turneth away wrath..." 

Middle Bottom:  Are a complete set of booties I made for my sweet companion, Pepper Paws....Oh, My, I do not think I have laughed so hard as I did when I first put them on her and she first tried to walk in them...Oh, My! I kept telling her I was laughing with her and not at her but I don't think she believed me, lol.  She would take a step then shake her leg, take a step then shake another leg, it was so funny! While actually taking the evening stroll she would take a few steps then immediately lay on the ground on her tummy and lick her paws from where she had kicked snow up into the booties.

Bottom Right:  Is my Butterfly wreath I am in the process of making for our Vow Renewal. I still have to make flowers out of embroidery floss to add to it in between my blue Butterflies. When I am finished with them I may try to write up a tut for them as it is my own pattern :o)

Sorry if the pics are a bit blurry, I have hands that shake and my dear hubby was still asleep when I took them...He is an amazing Photographer....but then I am a bit biased ^.^ I do love him so!

Get Your Craft on!

Until Next Time,
Karen

Oh, My ! Crochet Love.....

It does not get any better than this ya'll.......

Without further ado......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Crochet-Love

Or How about.......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Crochet-Red-Jimmy-Beans-Wool-Yarn-Bouquet

OR......Maybe this one......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Lion-Brand-Hometown-USA?


Whaddya say, are ya game to get your game on?

Come on I dare ya to enter to win the chance to be the Champion! or Champette!

Well, whaddya still sitting here for? Go enter ya'll!

Booya!

Until Next Time,
Karen

When Life Rains Down Persimmons.

Hey there Y'all! *waves and {{{hugz}}}*

So how to decide what to do when Life rains Down Persimmons....

Well, My Friends , You have one of 2 choices.....

Choice # 1 Milk it---> You can curl up in a ball ,weep, and isolate yourself from people period and let your health continue to get worse and worse because life has never been fair to you.

OR

Choice # 2 Juice it ----> You can buck up and put on your big kids undies, lose the Binky, the Blanky and lay all the garbage going on in your life at the precious feet of Jesus and His redeeming work on the Cross and pick up a much lighter burden of just resting in the Peace of God knowing that no matter what evil has befallen you  ( Every person has had one at one time or another in their life) that we have the (to quote my favorite song by @Chris Tomlin +) "King of Angel Armies by my side...I know who goes before and I know who goes behind....He is a Friend of mine" Just to quote my favorite parts of my all time Get-out-of-the-Funky-Pit song!  (Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)  from the Burning Lights CD). Thank you so much +Chris Tomlin The Christian Music Artist, +1 Fan here in lil Ol Ellensburg WA!

 While you may have more of an burden than the person beside you, but know something to now quote @Joel and Victoria Osteen +lakewood church , "Hurting people hurt people." ( This was such an invaluable lesson for me to learn myself ,  I thank you, Joel,  for your wonderful Insight and for just being Real {{{hugz}}} to you and your lovely wife Victoria! AND Your wonderful Mama!) 

So,  Peeps, before you get mad and take offense at people for dumping on you when you already have more than your share of wounds and hurts please take a moment to remember:

1. Every person has a Story to tell about their own Journey through this thing we call "Life".

2. The person hurting you is hurting themselves and are in need of help as well.

3. That not every person on the Earth is going to like you no matter how you may sacrifice and change for this person.  

Start looking for the Lesson (s) to be learned in amongst your pain, suffering, and sorrow and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that God truly means only good for you...that while He may not remove you from your situation He can bring the whole thing about for your good and in the process blessing you doubly. God will replenish all the years that the Locusts have eaten. You may have to wait quite a while for it but know this IT WILL HAPPEN!!!!

I do not know which choice you will choose to make,  but I can assure you that I choose to JUICE IT!!!!

I choose to LIVE Abundantly and FREE. Life is Glorious and Beautiful when you clean off the Windshield of all the bug guts!

So until next time,

Karen

P.S. If ya would like to say a prayer for me,  these are the things:

1. Health for both the hubby and myself. Multiple major things going on all at once.

2.a comfortable mini-van (CV joints are getting ready to break and the van is too old to repair but we seriously do not have the money to replace the things we need to replace.

3. A bed-  our Box Springs are broken.