In case you don’t know, I am no longer on Facebook. I was hacked in March by someone in Nigeria, go figure! I contacted Facebook support MANY TIMES with no result! Soon the same person hacked my Instagram. That is not surprising since the two are connected. I have been locked out of Facebook since this fiasco began in March and yet the perpetrator(s) has cloned my account (or just plain hijacked it) and is harassing my friend list! PLEASE, please inform all of my friends to UNFRIEND me and block me from messenger! I AM NOT and will NEVER BE AGAIN on Facebook! If after contacting them several times they do not care enough to help, fine! GOING, GOING, GONE!!! And guess what? I don’t miss it! However, children of mine, please remember to send me any pictures you post!
Since I’m not on Facebook now, I will post the scrapbook pages I create throughout the month. That will give those of you who care an overview of my month.
These first pages are “Monthly Reviews” which means there is a left side and a right side. I’m pretty sure I already posted January’s, but here it is again.
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023 – I should have waited to do the Right side so I could have added Mark’s birthday dinner picture. I’ll just have to do a separate page! 😉
Here are some pages I did for some of the inspiration challenges at the site I “work” for…..OScraps.
This first page was created because I love the blessing I receive even from the “curse” of weeds that have beautiful flowers!
Another beautiful “weed”….. Thank You, LORD!
Another weed I love!
That will give you some idea of the things I have enjoyed (and not enjoyed) this month!
I was invited to take a trip to the Sight & Sound Theater in Strasburg, PA with my good friend and her daughters. We had a wonderful trip. Enjoy the journey!
Pennsylvania Trip Day 1
Left
Journaling reads:
Me, Ilene Joy and Rita stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast on the way to our hotel in Arlington, VA.
4/16/23
I spent Saturday night, April 15th with Ilene so Mark wouldn’t have to get up so early to get me to Ilene’s. We were up until 1 and yet I did not sleep very well, if at all.
Joy and Rita came to the house around 8 and we loaded the car to leave. We went to Welcome for money and gas.
We stopped at Cracker Barrel around 10 for breakfast after we got on I-85. The service was not that good!
Traffic was horrible most of the trip. I drove all the way to Arlington, VA.
We arrived at the Hampton Inn around 4:30. After we got unpacked, we headed out to find something for supper. The hotel clerk suggested we go to the Visitor’s Center on 301 King Street and we would find all kinds of local flavors.
Right
Journaling reads: We walked around to see what restaurant might speak to us. We ended up at Bugsy’s Pizza. The food was delicious. I got a house salad that had fruit, walnuts and a wonderful Viniagrette dressing. No sweet tea but they had Raspberry Tea which was excellent! The others split a pizza.
When we got back to the hotel we played 4 games of Qwirkle and then got ready for bed. We all slept pretty soundly! The beds were very comfortable!
Monday, April 17th, everyone was up between 6:30-7:30 to get ready to leave. We packed, loaded the van and ate breakfast before we left for the Holocaust Museum in DC. Our time for the self-guided tour was noon.
Right
Journaling reads:
In one of the videos shown, the US President basically said the Holocaust was the Jews problem, not Americans’. I was shocked! Especially since we are always getting involved in problems the underdogs of the world have against bully nations. Was he afraid of Hitler?
Mostly the crowd was very somber as we all wandered through the 3 exhibit floors. It is hard to believe someone (Hitler) could be so evil! “Though most Americans sympathized with the plight of European Jews, that sympathy did not translate into a concerted nationwide effort to assist refugees or rescue the victims of Nazism.”
We headed to the Museum Cafe in a separate building for a snack before we headed to the Carriage House where we would stay the next couple of days in Pennsylvania.
Tuesday, April 18th, we have plenty of time to do some shopping before the 3:00 showing of Moses at the Sight and Sound Theater in Strasburg, PA.
We went to a consignment shop and a few other stores. We ate breakfast at the Speckled Hen and grabbed a light lunch before Moses.
We went to The Olive Basin where I bought 2 types of infused oil and 2 types of balsamic vinegars plus I got a free jar of infused oil. Each oil and vinegar had cards of suggestions of how and what to pair them with.
Infused Olive Oil Garlic
White Balsamic Vinegar Cranberry Pear
Dark Balsamic Vinegar Raspberry
Infused Olive Oil Chipotle
Infused Olive Oil Tuscan Herb (freebie)
Right
Journaling reads:
The play was a musical. The settings were marvelous! The singers were wonderful. The main characters were wonderful! It lasted 2 hours with a 20 minute intermission.
The Sight & Sound building and grounds are beautiful!
After the show we went to Katie’s Kitchen for an authentic Amish meal. It was almost 7:30 when we got back to our hotel. We played Rummikub and Qwirkle until 12:45 a.m.
Breakfast at The Speckled Hen vouchers were included with our “hotel” stay. The vouchers allotted each of us $8 and meal suggestions to stay within that price range. Any costs beyond that, we paid the difference. We always got plenty to eat! Great food, too!
The weather has been overcast and cool and breezy, so it had been pretty chilly in the hotel suites (64 yesterday morning) until we played with the thermostat last night and was able to turn on the heat! Much better getting up this morning!
“Speckled Hen was cofounded by Ryan and Janae Dagen, who are also local residents of Historic Strasburg. Their shared entrepreneurial spirit combined with a passion for the local community, quality coffee, and fresh food is what inspired them to open The Hen.
The name “Speckled Hen” represents a value for diversity and embracing our differences. The Dagens wanted to create a space where all would be welcome to grow in community and in appreciation for great coffees and foods. At the Speckled Hen, we believe that the unique attributes or “speckles” we possess is what makes community so rich and beautiful. We love providing a space for friends, neighbors, and strangers to meet, learn, and grow. It is our belief that when we embrace our differences an even more beautiful type of community can be discovered and enjoyed!The Hen is also symbolic of our love for local farm culture; a heritage that Ryan and Janae grew up surrounded by in Lancaster County. Ryan’s mom was born into an Amish family affording him the opportunity to grow up eating delicious Lancaster farm favorites made fresh by his mom, aunts, and grandparents; while Janae’s family farm, the Runnymede in Quarryville PA, has been family run for over 50 years and supplies the eggs served daily in The Hen’s breakfast favorites. With so many food options available to us everyday, we are passionate about serving a menu that is FRESH, LOCAL & SIMPLE.”
Right
Journaling reads:
We had no real plans for the day except to go to the Bird in Hand Farmers’ Market, get Amish Ice Cream at Lapp’s Farm and other miscellaneous shopping. I was able to buy some sugar free chocolates and peanut brittle for Mark at the Farmers’ Market. Ilene got coconut ice cream and the rest of us got butter brickle. We all got the homemade waffle cones! YUM! The ice cream shop was on a dairy farm. The calves that were eating were the prettiest colored cows I believe I have ever seen!
Aren’t those the sweetest little cow faces you ever did see?
Lapp Valley Farm Creamery and Cafe
The Creamery features the many milk, yogurt, and ice cream varieties that Lapp Valley Farm is so well known for.
The Cafe offers plentiful menu selections for breakfast and lunch.
Ilene and I were going to church until my IBS showed up with a headache.
So, we stayed in. Joy and Rita walked to a pizza place and brought back pizza and fries. We ate outside on the picnic table. A cute little squirrel kept coming to look for a handout. Except he wouldn’t hang around long enough to take it. Some birds came and ate the fry I threw to the squirrel.
Right
Journaling reads:
The Carriage House is a motel. And they also have a 2-bedroom suite next to the office. It includes a living room and full bathroom and refrigerator area. Very nice!
There is another building they are working on. That is where the picnic tables are located. Not sure what the building will be used for. You can see part of The Speckled Hen across the street where we ate breakfast each morning.
Several couples are in partnership. Everything is very nice and clean!
Tomorrow we travel home. We have had a wonderful time!
This windmill was across the field from the Lapp Farm.
The bikes ridden by the Amish did not have seats or foot peddles. They were more like scooters with bike wheels. It is believed that cars and bicycles move too quickly over long distances, therefore connecting the Amish to the outside world.
Wednesday seemed to be the main laundry day. Everywhere we looked, the Amish had laundry on the clothes lines.
Right
Journaling reads:
I love reading about the Amish way of life and sometimes wish we could go back to a much simpler way of life. But when I think of the hard work without the modern conveniences, I quickly put that thought to rest!
Beautiful countryside!
Since we were in Amish country, most of the roads included a separate lane for the horse-drawn buggies.
I get the Farmer’s Almanac Daily Newsletter. I love using some of the poems they include in some of my scrapbook pages. They also use quotes that are inspirational.
Today they have posted about the April full moon, which happens tonight. Here’s the poem and their notes about the moon:
“A full Moon in April brings frost. If the full Moon rises pale, expect rain. –Weather folklore
Look for the full Pink Moon tonight! This full Moon is the Paschal Full Moon and is related to Easter’s date.
Passover begins tonight at sundown, too. This Jewish holiday gets its name from the Israelites who were “passed over” and spared by the tenth Plague of Egypt.”
I love taking pictures of the moon! Once, a couple of years ago, I was able to capture a photo of a red moon! I would love to capture one tonight of it being pink! But, we have severe weather moving into the area, so the moon may not even be visible for me tonight!
I was diagnosed with IBS about 7 years ago. It has always been more of a nuisance than anything. But lately it has been more of a pain, literally! I am nauseous more than I am not. I was basically sick all weekend, so on Monday I called and got an appointment with the doctor. I was happily surprised to be able to get an appointment for yesterday. Since I asked my kids for prayer, I decided to give you a rundown of the appointment here:
BP was 130/82 Oxygen was 99 Pulse was 80 so all of that is good She took X-rays of my stomach and found my bowels are not emptying properly. She took blood and urine. She did an H pylori test which is breathing into a bag then drink some unsweetened lemonade-type of stuff, wait 15 minutes and then breath into another bag. They will compare the two bags for acid or gas content since I have so much heartburn and acid indigestion. After I get a colonoscopy, which is overdue, if it looks OK she wants me to try Linzess. It is a medication for IBS sufferers. I told her I was having a lot of headaches and would like to explore that problem. She said she wanted to get my stomach fixed first and then we would explore that problem. Actually, the headaches have not been too bad the last week. I think all of the tests were sent off to Lab Corp so I will be waiting on those results.
So, nothing definite settled yet, but at least I have the process in motion now! Also, still no fix for my Facebook page yet. So if you are getting weird messages from me wanting a code LEAVE IT ALONE!!! I sent an email to Facebook support and said this (which I don’t expect much from):
Subject: If you aren’t going to help me…..CLOSE MY ACCOUNT!!!!!
“I have notified you of my account being hacked.
I have notified you that the changes made to my account lately were not made by me, other than changing my password which someone changed AGAIN!
I have sent you copies of my drivers license and you claim you cannot confirm it is me.
WHAT MORE DO I HAVE TO DO?
DO YOU WANT ME TO USE FACEBOOK OR NOT????
This is the ONLY email address that should be associated with my account is ….. yada yada yada
The only phone number that should be associated with my account is … yada yada yada
PLEASE FIX MY ACCOUNT!!!!
OR CLOSE IT!!!!!
Vicky Whittemore (aka Vicky Brandenburg Day)
All caps means I’m YELLING, right? And, I am! I’m sick of this! I wish the Lord would save us from all of the hackers! Better yet, I wish the Lord would SAVE all of the hackers! GET A LIFE!!!!! Why do people have to be so mean? Don’t answer that! I already know the answer!
“There is NONE good…..NO, NOT ONE!” I’m thankful the Lord saved me! Thank You, LORD!
“This weekend, Christians will rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus. While every Lord’s Day is a reminder of what Jesus accomplished, Easter Sunday is a special day of joy and celebration for believers around the world.
This is the season we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and celebrate His victory over death. It’s also the perfect time to recommit to live our lives for God’s glory.
Easter is also a time of reflection. We reflect with gratitude on the suffering of Christ, on our behalf. We also reflect on our confidence – because of His resurrection – on that coming day when we will be swept into Heaven.” Stephen Davey
I rejoice am so thankful for everything the Lord has done for me through the years! Especially since I have deserved none of what He has done! Starting with salvation at the age of 10.
We were living in Liberty, Indiana. The year was 1965. We were attending the First Baptist Church in College Corner Indiana/Ohio…..not sure which. College Corner was divided. Part of it was in Indiana and part of it was in Ohio. The school I attended straddled the state line. Dad was working on a farm and we were living in the farm house of that property. I remember it was a big house. I remember watching “Frankenstein” there. I remember riding one of the horses belonging to the owner of the farm. I was on the horse bareback when the horse took off running. I had no idea how to guide it! I just hung on the its mane for dear life! It ran down the road and the next thing I knew it stepped into the ditch along side of the dirt road and I went flying over its head. When I hit the ditch the breath was knocked out of me. I looked up and saw the horse. I thought it was going to fall on top of me, but it didn’t! Thank the Lord! I don’t remember what happened after that. I’m sure the owner’s son had run after the horse and probably led it back to the corral. I didn’t get back on a horse for a long time!
I remember we attended church faithfully. The pastor was Harold Haynes and his wife was Anne. They had a daughter named Sandra, I believe. And I believe there was a son, but I don’t remember his name. Mom and dad were saved during our time there. I don’t remember dates. I just remember asking mom about being saved and she said I needed to talk to the pastor. I can see myself talking with him as the back of the auditorium. I don’t really remember going forward, but I’m sure I probably did.
Dad accepted a truck driving job with Emery Air Freight at the Greater Cincinnati Airport located in Northern Kentucky that year. Or it may have been Rocket Transportation that was bought out by Emery Air Freight; I’m not sure which it was. At any rate, we rented and moved to a dairy farm house in Union, KY. I’m not sure that the dairy farm was active at that time, however. But before we moved mom, dad and I were all baptized at the Baptist church in Dartown, OH.
I’m not sure how long we lived there before Bro. Robert T. Ginn, Pastor of the Big Bone Baptist Church, came knocking on our door and invited us to church. We were members there several years before we moved to River Road in Hebron, KY. I’m guessing the year was 1968. Eventually we started attending Pleasantview Baptist Church in Constance, KY, Pastor Eugene Dunn. We attended Conner Junior and Senior High.
Tim moved down the street about 1/4 mile from us in 1970. On March 13, 1971 we became a couple. We both graduated from Conner Sr. High on June 3, 1973 and Tim started college at Louisville University in Louisville, KY that fall. I started working. I would send him money to come home and go to the Greyhound bus station in Covington, KY to pick him up. We always ate at the Skyline in Covington before going home.
Reflection
April 4, 1974…..can it really have been 49 years ago?…..the tornado struck. On a Wednesday afternoon. Mom was in the basement working on supper…..chili. It was hailing softball sized. Dad was collecting them and putting them in the freezer. Then the tin and garbage started flying over the hill and he had enough time to run for shelter in the basement. Mom ran upstairs where I was sleeping since I was working the night shift at IRS. We went flying down the stairs and all of us were under the dining room table (Elisabeth had that table when she and Brad first got married). Glass and debris was everywhere when it was all said and done…..a matter of minutes. Dad had fish tanks along one basement wall. They were all in the floor. What a mess! When it quieted down we went outside to survey the damage. We saw the twister across the river in Sayler Park, Ohio. At one point we thought it looked like the funnel cloud had turned and was heading back across the river towards us so we hit the basement again and back under the table. But it didn’t return, thank the Lord! We went back outside. Our VW bus was gone. The station wagon was scooted sideways through the yard. The porch awning above the garage was a mangled mess. The next door neighbors’ home was gone from the foundation up. They had all been in their basement and were even lifted up in the wind. They were OK. The neighbors on the other side of us had one room left. The linoleum was stripped out from underneath them. The marina’s boat barns across the road were gone and the boats that were left were mangled. FEMA totaled our home which had been lifted, twisted, and set back down. Insurance would not pay us for the VW bus until it was found. Someone dredged it from the Ohio River. The neighbors on the corner of Tanner and River Road, Electa and Bill Sprague, were not injured, but their house was laying on its side. We spent the night at Tim’s house. We ended up renting a house back over near Big Bone Baptist Church until mom and dad bought the house on Hathaway Road in Union, KY. I did not return to IRS.
I told that story because I could see clear evidence in God’s protective hand on our lives…..really everyone in our neighborhood. That whole street, us and our close neighbors, could have been blown into eternity that day! But the Lord was not finished with us yet.
Due to a split at the Big Bone Baptist Church, we were part of the charter membership at the Grace Baptist Church mission, pastored by Bro. Ginn. My brother still attends there. The current pastor is Brother Wilbert Ellis. The mother (sponsoring) church was in Harrison, Ohio, pastored by Brother Berlin Heisel. I believe Brother Ronnie Wolff is there now. He was the pianist for the Bluegrass Boys Quartet.
The Lord began working on Tim’s heart for the call to ministry, I would guess, sometime in 1974. It may have been later than that, I’m not sure. It is really neither here nor there. When Tim spoke to me about going to the Louisville Southern Baptist Seminary I told him I didn’t want to marry a preacher. He never said another word about it again. He continued attending U of L until May 7, 1976. On May 8, 1976 we were married by the Justice of the Peace in Covington, KY, in the 3rd floor apartment at 1414 Greenup Street. I had moved in about a month earlier to start setting up housekeeping and get it ready for after we were married. Tim finished his studies for an accounting degree at Northern KY University in Alexandria, KY. He worked part time at McDonalds in Newport, KY and I was working full time in downtown Cincinnati. We continued to attend Grace Baptist Church in Florence, about 30 minutes away via I-75.
The Lord was still working on Tim for the ministry. We were in charge of the primary Sunday school class and Tim was also the treasurer for the church. In 1978 while on visitation with Bro. Ginn, Tim asked him how someone knew if God was calling them into the ministry. Bro. Ginn told him if he could do anything else besides preach that he should do it. I don’t know the time frame, but one Sunday on the way to church Tim told me he felt like God was calling him to preach. I remember feeling very sad that because I had told him I didn’t want to marry a preacher he had never talked to me about it. By that time, however, I was ready. God’s timing is always right on time! And when I look back on all of the years of putting him through Seminary and all of the years filled with trials…..especially during the years I was not working while the kids were growing up…..you know what I remember the most? The blessings. The blessings that would fill a book if I were to try and enumerate them…..And even after Tim left me alone on earth way too early, I am still blessed every day! And it’s all because of Christ. I’m so glad He chose to write my name in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world!
Count Your Blessings by Johnson Oatman (1897)
1 When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain: Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]
3 When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; Count your many blessings, money cannot buy Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]
4 So, amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. [Refrain]
Baptist Hymnal, 1991
He’s Alive! by Don Francisco
The gates and doors were barred and all the windows fastened down, I spent the night in sleeplessness and rose at every sound, Half in hopeless sorrow half in fear the day, Would find the soldiers crashing through to drag us all away. Then just before the sunrise I heard something at the wall, The gate began to rattle and a voice began to call, I hurried to the window and looked down to the street, Expecting swords and torches and the sound of soldiers feet,
There was no one there but Mary so I went down to let her in, John stood there beside me as she told us were she’d been, She said they moved him in the night and none of us knows where, The stones been rolled away and now his body isn’t there. We both ran toward the garden then John ran on ahead, We found the stone and the empty tomb just the way that Mary said, But the winding sheet they wrapped him in was just an empty shell, And how or where they’d taken him was more than I could tell.
Something strange had happened there but what I did not know, John believed a miracle but I just turned to go, Circumstance and speculation couldn’t lift me very high, Cause I’d seen them crucify him and then I’d watched him die, Back inside the house again all the guilt and anguish came, Everything I’d promised him just added to my shame, But at last it came to choices I denied I knew his name, Even If he was alive it wouldn’t be the same.
But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume, Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room, Jesus stood before me with his arms held open wide, And I fell down on my knees and clung to him and cried, He raised me to my feet and as I looked into his eyes, Love was shining out from him like sunlight from the sky, Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release, And every fear I’d ever had just melted into peace.
He’s alive, He’s alive, He’s alive and I’m forgiven, Heavens gates are open wide. He’s alive, He’s alive, He’s alive and I’m forgiven, Heavens gates are open wide. He’s alive, He’s alive, He’s alive and I’m forgiven, Heavens gates are open wide.
she was unwilling, but God... 
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