ha! you couldnt see the stuff from work because i didnt post it! i forgot to delete that line and it was getting late to get to work.

watercolor a customer brought in. it already had the beige matting on it.


i designed this look with a fillet, which has to be cut at an angle and fit to the matting.














































i went with a suede mat, it has excellent texture to it and looks rich with all the highs and lows in the color of the matting

The frame i chose has all the colors from the watercolor in it, but also a bit of silver to bring out the light from the birch tree. The bronze coloring on the frame really worked well with the fall colors in the backround













































here is the completed piece. what a fun job i have! i enjoy it greatly. i will try to take more pics of pieces i create!




























































































i think i have the best job in the world, well on days when we actually can help customers and they are willing to take our advice. i have been doing this a while and like when people take my opinion. some just ignore the options we give them.


have a great day!

ouch

Here was the most exciting thing to happen at the Mantz home this weekend...





























































































ouch!
Hannah was running with her arms in her sleeves cause she was cold. hit the concrete and flipped over and skinned her knees. I didnt see it happen, but forseened it happen. i just knew when i saw those arms in the sleeves she was going to biff! Thankfully Sheila was near and scooped her up until i could get to her for comfort. Thanks Aunt Sheila! we love you very much!

we were at Ben Gray's grad party and Jeanne let us use a washcloth and band-aid. Hannah and i were both grateful for that. nothin like a skinned knee, and face for that matter.












































































































































thought i would show you some of my work from work.

what can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ?
nothing this world can even change
though i once was lost, now i've been given grace
it's a mystery, that i would not chase.

You, You, You are are all this heart is beating for
Jesus You all this heart is longing for.

i dont understand it, how you love the way you do
even when ive fallen you always bring me back to You.
what can seperate us from the love of Jesus Christ?

so, this is the song i worshiped to on the way to church yesterday, and boy, let me tell you it was a very freeing, tears flowing time. that is probably the thing i love the best about days, being able to worship God anywhere, anytime. this just happened to be on the way to worship with other believers.

yesterday was one of the hardest days since Dad went to be with Jesus. after arriving at church and listening to the Bible study-which i cant even tell what triggered the thoughts-but i just sat and cried. thinking about the elderly couples there and their life-long relationships just made me sad for my mom...i reached over and squeezed Michael's hand and just gave him the "i am drowning here and really need a rescue" he scooted over and put his arm around me and just protected me. what a man! If it would have been just women, i would have shared my heart. good thing Anita is starting a women's cell group! YES! sharing time for me.

Michael continued to protect me through the pre church chatter by just standing there and being close. when i saw mom, i had to tell her how i was feeling. then i felt bad, because i know she was feeling bad that i was feeling so bad. at one point she said she wanted to go home, i am so glad she didnt.

then the music started...

i could see and hear dad in the 2 introductory songs, swaying his body back and forth and raising his fist high in the air in surrender to Jesus. i know he is fully aware now of the power in the songs we can but sing about. butt dust... :) stuelke-speak

then it was my turn to be the protector, i just stood there by mom during the greeting while wonderful friends/family members came to share in the tears and human longings that dad wouldnt even be able to understand now. he is free in every sense of the world. (that was a pun on every sense of the word, by the way)

by the sermon i was feeling better, there were many Dad-ism jokes and that made me feel better. i am glad for my sense of humor to stave off feelings - stave it off 1, 2 ,3. (stuelke-speak)

after church, we came home to get changed and headed for garage sales, which were flops! at home we washed the car and did some more yard work. i think i'm gonna like it here, again subtle Annie reference, for those who dont know Stuelke-speak.

we had a nice Sunday here at 515, now i am off to work to have fun this monday morning, have a great day!

so, i dont think i will be mobile uploading. it has to be sent via txt mesage, and the limit of letters is still the same. so i f you see my posts from yesterday, you have to read them backwards to understand anything.

i am work free until 10AM today. i really dislike the 10 - 6:30 shift, but can't really do anything about it for now. work went well yesterday. the 3 day weekend i have every other weekend, have been and will contine to be very hard to come back to work from. any and all problems from the weekend are left for monday morning. ah, the joys of management. i was able to work through all 7 or so problems and get them fixed totally, or partially! go me!

i think my favorite part of my job, well other than helping people spend hundreds of dollars on a layout i choose for them, i cuttin mats. it is a very fun process and i enjoy getting to layout the lines and use the fancy cutter to do all the work. it is fascinating to get all your beveled edges to line up and come out clean. i cut a mat with 5 openings in it the other day! it was quite the feat. in middle school we had to do a bit of drafting, which really piqued my interest. i remember as a young girl using a ruler to make shapes and patterns. That is what i get paid to do now :) what fun!

i had a good 3 day weekend. Friday i cleaned a house, repotted my indoor plants, headed to get mom and go to Liz's to get some popcans/bottles she had been collecting-it filled the truck bed! after that we moved a couch from mom's to my house. we got pizza for dinnner and after braiding Hannah's hair and munching on pizza we went on a car ride to view flood damaged neighborhoods. it is a sobering reminder of the fleetingness of life and physical material items. a good reminder for us to continue to pray for these people.

saturday i awoke with the dawn, jumped out of bed(literally) and took Chapman for a walk. i even let him off his leash to run in the field at Erskine. i do love early mornings, something i got from my Dad! after our walk, which was quite chilly. i started to clean out our garage. we still have some things left from the previous owners that had to go through and pitch some. when Michael got up, we loaded the truck, another full load, and got ready to go to the dump. before the dump we headed to mom's so Michael could get her lawn mower started. we had to get into the garage, and that was hard for both mom and myself. seeing traces of Dad, and knowing he didnt take anything with him was another reminder of fleeting material items...

Michael started the mower right up! it was great. mom had to go to Chick Lits and we headed to the dump, dumped and headed home. our plan was to load up some things to take to the cabin and to Michaels parents cabin, and mow out there. we got a bit sidetracked here and i ended up filling our yardy with yard waste and a tree i nippered down with my fancy nippers. all the while, michael was scrubbing down the innerds from our cabin fridge that had molded a bit. i also had him scrub down my NEW laying out chair! new, that we recovered it from flooded ace hardware and never cleaned it. it is clean now!

we headed to the in-laws cabin to find them not there. so we dropped off their plunder and headed to our vacation villa. michael got the mower started, and Hannah and i picked up sticks and started a fire. i did a tiny bit of landscaping-or weeding, landscaping sounds much more interesting. and the mower wheel fell off. that was the end of our cabin trip.

i have to be going. i'll post about mother's day later, maybe. im headed to cash in my $20 worth of bedding plants/flowers! yee haw!

Star trek last night. It brought back fond memories of summer nights sleeping in he living room in the air condiioning and watching star trek reruns:)

And will see how it works. Had a good mothers day! I forgot to give my mom her letter i wrote, so she will gt that at a later time :) michael and i went to see

So i enabled mobile uploads for my blog, but am wondering how much they will let me post at a time, since it is sent via txt mesage. So im going to ramble on

Just testing mobile updates

song of the day

Artist: Matt Redman
Song: Breathing the breath
Album: facedown

We have nothing to give that didnt first come from Your hand
We have nothing to offer you, that You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift comes from your kind and gracious heart
and all we do is give back to You what always has been yours

Lord, we're breathing the breath that you gave us to breath,
to worship you, to worship you
and we're singing the songs with the very same breath,
to worship you, to worship you

who has given to you that it should be paid back to him?
who has given to you as if You needed anything?
from You and toYou, and through You come all things oh Lord
and all we do is give back to You what always has been yours

Lord, we're breathing the breath that you gave us to breath,
to worship you, to worship you
and we're singing the songs with the very same breath,
to worship you, to worship you




the first time i heard this album i was blown away. His worship style and words touch my heart every time i hear the songs. The album title drew me to this album. the title track chorus sings-

"and i'll fall facedown as your glory shines around" wow!

i am not sure when the album is from, who cares the year, it is the same God.
i strongly urge you to get a copy and listen, i have enjoyed entering the presence of God to the music on this album. The remake of the Blood song-what can wash away my sins? is on this ablum as well.

have a good worship day!

for my mom

last night i went to Andy's concert choir concert. it was fantastic, and i knew 2 songs from my high school days. on the way home we were chatting about blogging and i said i didnt get on a lot, mom said she checks it everyday to see if i have updates. so here goes, mom, this ones for you :)

i dont feel i have a lot to update you on. okay, maybe i do, but it just doesn't seem important to write about. may as well just start with my first thinking tangent.

we have a new car. i am enjoying her quite well. it is a ford focus 4 door and a speed, manual transmission. i feel like a race car driver sometimes, having to shift into gear. i remember in drivers ed having to use the simulator with a 5 speed, and thinking that was pretty neat. we will see if she is more fuel efficient than the SUB. so far, she is. a smaller tank for gas and more miles per half tank used so far. it is fun.

Chapman is doing well, he has stopped chewing people, but still enjoys his sticks. or dowels more like. one of which he dropped on my shin yesterday morning while i was trying to work out with mly new aerobics/stibiltiy ball. oh that dog! He has so far broken 2 collars and 1 leash. we are still trying with positive reinforcement to get him to stay close and come when called. it is working. Cesar would be proud. He just wants our attentions and love. and boy, does he pour it out back onto us! i love the little fur ball. he will cuddle with me on the bed at night while michael is still getting ready for bed, it is quite comforting.

When Michael got Chappy he said he just lost a good friend, meainng Dad, and he wanted someone to take that place. When chapman was a baby we sat togther and cried. me over the loss of my earthly father, and him because he knew he was going to be in for some interesting times with this crazy family and the brown one with poofy hair ;) he is a keeper and i think he would tell you the same about us.



The job is going well. i should be getting a bonus, or 2 on this check i get thursday! that is pretty exciting. we won a contest which accounts for the 1 bonus ($200 before taxes), and then as a manager they are encouraging efficency by giving us .5% of framing sales in a bonus if we keep our frame shop on time, and not having to have stuff redone. smart move if you ask me. i might not have thought that if i werent the manager, but smart all the same.
we have started a new woman, now i have Cathy, Christine, Chris, Leisha, Tamara and Nicole. 6 underlings! HA! that sounds fun. actually, i see 2 maybe 3 of them as more knowledgeable/experienced than me, i am grateful for the people God has placed around me. i am certain our newest addition is a Christian, she wears a Jesus fish ring on her ring finger. i'll have to ask her Thursday when we work together.

well, i should really be going. another thing Michael's is doing to keep efficient is charging people points who are late or not puncing in at their alloted times. when you get so many points you are terminated! i know, drastic, but you gotta do what you gotta do! have a great day, hope you enjoy this mom!