Freedom is not free.

Today as I meditate on the celebration of Memorial day I can only think about the fact that this freedom we enjoy in our country is not free. Today I think about the mothers and fathers, son and daughters, brothers and sisters, all gone so we can live the life we so privileged live. I think about the missed births and graduations, the weddings and birthdays, the Christmas days and the growing spurs. All missed because they choose to serve, to go and fight for us, to die for us. Some are coming back with broken bodies, some come back with a battered spirit, some change for the better, some come back in presence, their mind is still there.

It is our duty to remember, not only today, but everyday. For our children, for the families left behind, for our nation. We are to be proactive. I can be proactive by lending a hand. Yards need to be mowed, some need to be relocated, some need a shoulder to cry, some need to talk, some need space. I can be  there when needed. I can be proactive with my prayers; maybe I can criticize less and pray more. I believe that God listens, I believed that God cares. So my prayer today is that God will show His mercy and grace over our country, that He will protect our troops, that his angels will camp around those that serve Him, that we get to keep our freedom but not at the cost of the blood of our sons and daughters. I pray that the fathers and mothers get to come back home safe to their kids, that freedom will not only be an american commodity but the standard established by example. I pray that we get to have dreams just like MLK, that our government will be one compose and preside by God fearing men, that our children learn from history and hopefully will not make the same mistakes.
To you all serving our country, to the millions of veterans from any war,  let it be known that you are loved and appreciated for all you have done so we can enjoy our freedom. To all the military wives, mothers and fathers, THANK YOU for all your sacrifices, for every life lost, for every tear, THANK YOU and God bless you all...Marta.


To all the Fort Hood soldiers, THANK YOU.
To all the proactive members of our community, THANK YOU.

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday!

It is no secret I love having beautiful things around me. I constantly have to edit, restrain and drag myself out of trouble. When you have been an avid collector for most of your adult life it gets to a point that you have to start doing negotiations with yourself and others around you; (DH). The store had been a good excuse for my misbehaving habits (Hoarder). I am able to recycle, change, redecorate as I please. If I did'n have the store that will be another story. In the house the deal is, one comes in, another needs to go out. I'm cheating though, my princess room is where most of the new stuff goes, then again in more than one occasion I have brought home big things thinking I'm going to get in trouble. I sometimes worry in vain since sometimes (many times) my DH will notice weeks or months later. I love the  French look with all the neutrals, sepia colors. I of course have some of that but my heart for ever will be pink. I still buy anything with roses in it. At the shop I have noticed that my creams and whites are the hot sellers now. My pink rooms just sit there waiting for some pink friends. That is why Pink Saturday is my favorite party to attend. Every Saturday I can't wait to see all the pink yumminess out there. The pink girls are some of the most sweet, talented beautiful girls in blogland. I just want to thank MSs Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound for starting and continue to host PS for all of us. Happy PS and blessings to you all!

                                                                          Yumm

                                                         Even the sides are beautiful

                            Do you know what this is? It is full of  powder with the most amazing fragrance.                

                                                                       Instant love

                                                           Gorgeous silk address case.

                                                               Love my compacts.  

                                
                                                               God bless you all.

I love hats!!!

  Michelle from Rose Garden Romantic was asking bloggers what do they collect. I tell people that ask the same question not to ask a collector that, asking what you don't collect in my case is easy to answer. We have at one point or the other collected something or all. Something I have collected most of my adult life have been hats. These days they have become a popular thing to wear and to collect so when you find a really good one be ready to pay a lot. I have about five hats in the house that I will never get rid off but at the shop my hats are mostly black, creams, whites and my favorite pink. I love wide brims and lots of millinery flowers. I leave you with a sample of my favorite pinks. Pinky Girls I hope you enjoy.

                                            This baby is still at home. Can you blame me?

                                                    Cute, just not enough flowers for me.

                 I got this one for a song, the shape is cute, I called it my pink Charlie Chaplin Hat.

                 This one was a fun hat, a ton of flowers but it fit funny. It is gone to a lady that say she will      
                          wear it. More power to her!

                                                              This one is gone too.

                               This one looks like a shriners hat. I love the huge pink rose.

                                                                     Yummy

. The flowers on the fuchshia one look too new for me. 

The pink silk on this is a weird shade of mauve. I love the pin.

Last, I wanted to include a picture of our going to be God willing front yard. We pass the home inspection yesterday and we will do the official loan application today. It's one day at a time. My DH is already estimating how long it is going to take him to mow this yard. It is like having your own park. As soon as we go into escrow I will take pictures of the before and after. Lots to do but very exciting. 

Go and check the rest of the Pink Saturday girls. You can find a list @ Beverly's blog HOW SWEET THE SOUND. Blessings, Marta. 

PD   We finished the loan process this afternoon. The mortgage company is going to try to move things faster since the lady owner of the house has terminal cancer and seem to be doing not too well. Say a prayer for this family since they really got a lot in their plates. The son was so sad last week when he told us about the mom. I hope they know their beloved home will be loved and treasured like they did for so many years. I feel lucky and honor to "inherit" this little piece of heaven. Will give you updates as we get closer to closing day. Blessings, Marta.

It is time!

    
Just a quick note to share about what we are up to.  This morning at 10:00 we will be touring a property that just came up for sale. I went yesterday at got us qualified for the amount of the loan. I do not do anything in a whim rather I'm prayerful about everything. I have been praying for changes in certain aspects. The main change is the fact that I'm tired of paying so much money and rent for the building where I run my antiques shop. I'm over 160,000 in rent for the last 13 years. The overhead, insurance and everything else just have been eating up my profit. I drive 25 miles to get there so that is another big bill in gas. I spend so much time there that my house have suffered the neglect.  I have saved money always thinking I want my own building.
       This is where this property comes in. It is a house big enough for the two of us. It got enough land to build more if we decided but the main thing there is a 30x30 building already in place. I have been brain storming for a long time. Closing and stop doing what I do is not a choice. I LOVED what I do. I'm good at it. I have created a good follow and I know they will follow me wherever I go. I think that if I do shows that will be the way to go right now. I'm planing one weekend a month and the shop by appointment. As everything in life this is scary but fear is not from God, fear is paralyzing. Fear didn't get  me where I am, faith in God and his gift did. So friends, pray for me, please. My husband is not fully in yet. He is not the one with the vision and I used to resent that fact until a wise woman of faith was used by God to counsel me. She told me "Marta, you can't resent your husband for not getting involved in your business, he is supportive, he just don't have the vision because the gift and the vision was given to you.  Be prayerful and he will come along". I have listen to those words, today they will be tested. So I'm closing this post not with a heavy heart but with a heart full of hope for our future, for expanding the vision and make it totally ours. The economy does not scare me. We survived 9/11, Katrina, high gas prices, the war and we will continue surviving. One last thing, my brother told me not to mentioned it to my husband at this point because it will be too much to swallow. There is a stable in the back acre of the property. I want miniature horses. That will be later, I have to take it easy, I don't want to give DH a heart attack.
     Hopefully this is the one, I let you know tonight. His will be done on Earth as is in Heaven. Amen.


PD We toured the property and we made an offer. I cried, my mom cried, my friend realtor cried. Mr Ramos had a poker face but he went for it, so he likes. It is out of our hands. I will post with updates, keep helping me pray.


We got it!!!! The sellers accepted our offer, this is pretty amazing, so fast, so easy. We will have a home inspection this week, after that...I don't even want to think about it, it seems an impossible task, we got so much stuff, this may be a good time to downsize. We will have to clean and fix a couple of cosmetic stuff both in our house and the one we are buying. I do not foresee any major problems, I believe this is God's will for us, so many prayers... Thank you God!

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

    I decided busy or not I could not let another Saturday go without visiting with my pink friends. I thought this one is extra special since we are about to celebrate God's gifts to human kind, our precious moms.  Let me introduce to you all Ms Marta senior. She is 70 years young and in top health. She is the reason I am who I am. I received from a very young age the most important gift any mom can give her kids, the knowledge of God. I remembered her message was simple enough, Papa God loves you and Papa God is crying when we got in trouble. Later on in live I have learn and experience a deeper relationship with My Savior but she was the one that instilled this love and obedience towards our God from a very early age.  She was everybody's mama, since our home was the gathering place for all the neighborhood kids. They all called her mama, I don't think they new her real name. She endured many years of a hard marriage to my dad, always  taught us to honor and respect our dad, even when he many times didn't deserve it. I realize later in life that she did it for us. To this day we can talk about those days without remorse and regrets knowing we were never disrespectful or rebellious toward him. I know she had said countless prayers and that God have listen and spare us. So Mama, today I celebrate and honor you. I love you and hope I get to celebrate countless more with you.

           By the way, the little cowboy is Neithan. He is doing much better, thanks for your prayers.

                       For Pink Saturday I want to show you some of my little pink dresses. No, I don't have a daughter, I just like to display and collect them.

                         I love the organza skirt with the little rosettes. It is a faded pink color.

                                            The back of it remind me of a wedding gown.

                         This one is so pretty too. Love the lace. It got the cutest sash.

     Love the cute apron. I got it at the store at one point and I decided I could not part with it.

    This little beauty I found at City Wide for a dollar. It was so dirty and wrinkle I wasn't sure it can be safe. TLC does wonders.

You have seen this before. Another one I have to bring home from the store.

Can you blame me for keeping all this stuff?.

Last I have to show you this crocheted pieces. I'm not into crochet, but all crochet is not created equal. There is crochet ugly and good crochet. I think this two are good crochet, what do you think?

I was going to post photos of about 10 new pink hats, that would have make this post too long. I will do that next week for PS since the hats are mostly pink flowered ones. Until then my friends go and visit the other pink girls. You can find a list of participants @ Ms. Beverly's  How sweet the sound blog. Happy Mother's Day to you all!!!!! Marta.