High hopes, love support and a few hugs from Tims place!

I just had to share this as my very first 2014 New Year Post.  Hey, whoever said that people with disabilities can't accomplish much in life, hasn't met this young man. He is simply amazing, and I believe he must have some pretty amazing parents behind him, to encourage and motivate but most of all support him in all that he wants to accomplish. Nobody has anything on this young man! Those who think they have nothing to contribute in life, need a shot in the arm, by watching this wonderful video. Nothing in life was ever accomplished by a defeatists attitude, but the will and desire to win, high hopes, and love and support, will rule the world, and a few hugs.

Here is tim's place website: http://timsplaceabq.com/ 

Free, Printable Breakfast with Santa Invitation

I like to make people smile, because guess what... it makes me smile too and it makes me happy, so, I  wanted to share with you something that I thought some of you might want to use.  I was asked to create a Breakfast with Santa Invitation, and since I went to all this work.... others might be able to use it too.  Enjoy and hope it made you smile! 
Click on the image to enlarge, right click and save as a file on your computer, then customize and print.  (Sorry I can't don't have time to customize it for you but I know you can do it!)   Enjoy!  Katie Gauger

It's Thanksgiving... BE THANKFUL!

We are in a fabulous season of the year.  I look out my windows at the majestic mountains, now beginning to be topped off with beautiful white snow, and still some color from the leaves, mostly fallen from the trees, and I am grateful!  I have been thinking that if I had lived about a hundred years ago, I don't know if I could have lasted very long, because we have it so much easier than they did. When the snow falls, and begins to pile up, I flip the switch to my fireplace, and settle in my recliner, to enjoy a movie feeling toasty warm.  100 years, ago, they lived in log cabins, hunted for food, and collected their water in barrels to drink.  I doubt they were ever really warm especially when they had to trudge through the snow, chop the wood, and constantly feed the fire for heat and to cook their food.

Years ago, our grandparents, had to till the ground by hand, and plant the seeds, and somehow figure out how to keep it watered, because they had to grow all of their food.  I live only about a mile and a half away from several grocery stores, and can just drive my car, not a horse or a wagon, and fill up my cart with anything I could ever imagine to eat.  There is fresh fruit to enjoy all year long, but my ancestors had to bottle, dry and preserve everything just to make it through the winter and the spring, until their crops they would plant, could begin to produce again.

We have it so good, and yet many of us still never seem to be able to find the joy in life that was intended for us. Some people never seem to be happy.  Might I suggest that perhaps instead of thinking about all of our "Have nots," we might want to focus on what we have!  Instead of constantly wishing for something that is out of our reach, maybe we should be more grateful for what is, and what we have, and enjoy the ride.

I am happily thankful and I want to share my list  of some of what I am thankful for, with you.

What I am thankful for:

1.  A loving Heavenly Father who sent us to earth to find joy.
2.  My family.  Nothing is better than family and together we are never alone.
3.  My husband, who has loved me for 37 years and counting, and sees beyond my newly deformed
     oops shaped 50+ year old body, and still says I'm the most beautiful girl in the world.
4.  My cute little shrinking Mother, who has lived through cancer, fractured discs., broken ribs from
     osteoporosis, and still wants to teach everyone how to play the violin for free.  She lost all her hair
     and it didn't grow back so she is grateful for her wigs, and that she doesn't have to style her hair
     anymore and can save on the cost of shampooing her cute little bald head.
5.  My wonderful home, where I feel peace, safety, and warm when the winds are howling outside,
     and the snow is blowing, I am protected.
6.  The wonderful vocation my husband chose so many years ago that supported our 5 children     
     until  they married, and continues to support both of us as our bodies are falling apart.  He can pay
     the doctor bills, send birthday presents to our grandkids, and still have a little left over to take me
      out to dinner, when he knows I need a break! We both have our Cpaps, and adjustable beds, have
      our bathroom closely unlike our forefathers, who carried the lantern to the outhouse.
7.  My God given talents and abilities that keep my mind actively growing and learning, to hopefully
     help ward off Alzheimer's.  (Unless somehow I forget.... to use them.)
8.  My health and strength. I may limp like "Eileen," and retain water...but  I'm still "swell!"  My
     teeth may be yellowing and resemble butter more than milk, and my knees I'm replacing, and my
     weight is on the rise, but then again, so are interest rates.  I'm still grateful.  My hair is thinning,
     but my waist is not, and you'd never know how many gray hairs I have thanks to shoe polish and
     magic markers, (hair dye) my boobs are sagging and looking more like the women featured in
     National Geographic, but I am understanding what they mean by gravitational pull.  Still, I
     am grateful to be alive.  I have grandkids that love me, and want to be around me, and my kids
     still think that I am the best cook ever, and even ask me for recipes.  What more could a mother
     ask for or what more could a girl want? (sometimes I wish for the fountain of youth, but if I did
     find it, and look back on what I would miss, I'd never wish to trade what I have now.)
9.  I can laugh and smile, and that the lines on my face don't droop, no matter how much skin is
     trying to pull them downward.
10. I have the strength to help others, and the eyes to be able to see their needs.

I could go on and on and mention so much more, but to just stop for a moment to be grateful for what we do have, and not focus on what we don't, will make all the difference in the world.  Oh and one thing I think I forgot to mention, is that I am thankful for a sense of humor, that has remained intact, or how could I deal with all my woes, and still come out smiling?

Enjoy life!  Stop and smell the roses, or smelly feet if you wish.  Look around, put on your glasses so you'll be able to see what is right in front of you. (Mine are coke bottle glasses... thick but I look so cute!)  Enjoy what you have, and be grateful!  Be happy!  Smile!  Thank the Lord!

I'm just thankful!
 

If you want to be happy, give something away! (book trailer)

I am excited to share with you, a secret that has been passed on for years.  Do you want to be happy?  If so, read this darling Christmas book and find the secret that was told to Old Gentleman Gray, that helped him to get out of his sadness, and figure out what he needed to do to be happy.  He was a quick study and as a result, his entire village was happier, because of what he started.  Enjoy my darling video trailer that tells a tiny bit about my book.  This book will be available for sale in a week and a half, and the trailer tells where you can get it at.  Enjoy, and BE HAPPY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VpujUWLgg&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share

 

IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY GIVE SOMETHING AWAY by Kathleen S. Gauger

I am so happy to announce my new book "If you want to be happy givesomething away."  I just received word from my publisher available for purchase in print in only three weeks.  It is a charming story, set on the eve of Christmas, in a little English Village. The main character is a cute little old English Gentleman, who is sad and lonely, and can't seem enjoy anything in life, let alone celebrating Christmas. Suddenly something happened that forever changed him, and in turn, had a huge effect on his entire village.

This Christmas book needs to be in every home this Christmas. It's not just a children's book, but a family book, with a message that everyone needs to understand and act upon.  My book the perfect gift to give to your own family, and to share. This story has become a treasured family tradition in my home, and I hope that it will be the same for you.

I am now officially taking pre-orders through email, and soon  my store will be up on  my website.
"If you want to be happy give something away," by Kathleen S. Gauger, is THE family  book for Christmas!

If you want to be happy, be blessed with Heavens Very Special Child

Wow, I am actually writing two posts in one day.  I guess I am catching up for my lack over the past month.  A friend of mine asked me yesterday if I would design and format this beautiful poem that she was given many years ago when she gave birth to a Special Child.  It touched my heart and it brought tears to my eyes as well, because I too have been blessed with a special child, 2 special grandchildren, a special sister in law, and a special sister.  Who knew way back when we decided take the leap and to come to earth, what life would have in store for us.  We only knew that it wouldn't be a piece of cake, but we were given the tools to do whatever came our way. Sometimes it was harder than others, but God knew that we could do it, and so he sent his most special children into our lives and family.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful poem and if I knew where it originally came from, I would give them credit, however it does list the authors name on it.  I designed it for my friend in several different colors so she could pick which one she wanted to put up on her wall to match.  Enjoy and feel free to pass this along.

Smile

 

One of the very first posts that I did on this happy blog was a YouTube video of Jimmy Durante signing.  I don't know why I forgot about another song he sang, "SMILE," but I did.  Today I myself needed a smile. In this very imperfect world, thing are bound to happen to knock the wind out of your sails, and mine was today.  I have been frantically writing a second book because my first one that is with my publisher, is suppose to be out for Christmas, and they aren't even done with the image editing.  I fear my book that I have been so excited about releasing, and submitted a year and a half ago, will be waiting another whole year at this rate. So I started writing another book, about a month ago, and have been counting on some help from individuals who said they would help me and today they bombed out on me too.   Discouraged and frustrated, I decided rather than let these big upsets in my life get me down, I would just keep my faith, and hope and try to keep smiling.  

Today, I finished some more illustration for my book, and went out and visited someone who really needed a lift.  She needed a smile, a hug and the visit I made, and in turn, I returned home happy filled with good feelings because I did something for someone else.  I forgot about my challenges and focused on somebody else.  It is so interesting that when you do that, you become happy yourself.  My eyes still feel tired from crying, and my nose is still stuffy, but my heart is filled with joy, knowing the efforts I made for someone else made them happy, and loved.

The icing on my cake was out of the blue, and I have no idea really how I found this video to the song Smile, because I was looking for "How to create your eBook template, but there it was.  This song was written for me today, though came out many years ago.  Hope you enjoy it and that it makes you smile too.