Cards Keep Flying Through my Head

I just finished uploading some new cards onto my YMLYGifts.com website. I could create new ones everyday, except that printing them out, making them into 2 different jpg sizes, uploading them onto the website, attaching all the details (size, weight, inside text, etc.) takes such a long time for this 50-year old brain to handle on a daily basis.

Thought you might like to see my new favorite line of cards. I have LOVED my photo notecards for a long time, but other than my mom, my mother-in-law and my second mom Ann across the street, no one seems very interested in blank notecards with pretty pictures on them. So, I added some amazing Bible verses onto 5 of them (more to come if folks like them) and here's what they look like:

The Lord's Pictures

On Tuesday, July 13, God woke me up at 5:45am. I was startled by a case of the hiccoughs ... who gets hiccoughs in their sleep? A hiccough woke me up and I sat up, hiccoughed two more times, then said out loud to God, "Okay, I'm awake." I looked outside and the sky was yellow. I ran to the sliding glass door and saw this beautiful orange ball low in the sky, grabbed my camera and walked out to the beach. The orange ball was behind a cloud, so I began a nice little chat with God while I waited to see whatever He woke me up to see.

I wasn't the only human awake at that hour, but I was alone on the beach for quite some time, so I continued to talk aloud to God as I photographed His amazing sunrise. I don't know if He woke me just to talk or to also have me photograph His work, but here's what I saw that morning ...

What a wonderful way to start the day!

Simple Pleasures ...

For years now I have been impressed with my mother-in-law, Betty Mears, and her love of nature. One of the most amazing things that I appreciate and understand better as I get older is how the sight of a beautiful bird can make her entire day wonderful. When I was 25, I didn't get it. Today, I describe the birds at the bird feeder in my backyard to my friend Lori over the phone with great enthusiasm ... and I take pictures of flowers and birds and sunsets all the time. I have created a line of blank notecards that feature these photos called TLC ... The Lord's Creation. Here's some of my recent favorites:

Stone Harbor, NJ.

Jean's backyard.

These water lilies are at the National Arboretum. I was fortunate enough to be able to explore this paradise with my in-laws and Willie this summer.

Also at the Arboretum.

Take a look around. Appreciate the amazing beauty of nature that we all too often take for granted.