Thankful

Today is one of my favorite holidays, Happy Thanksgiving! I woke up this morning and prepared some fruit salad and some macaroni salad to take to Grandma's house. We spent the day at Grandma Mary's house with all of the family.

My Grandma is awesome! She cooked two turkey's this morning. One for everyone to eat and the other because Eric wanted to be sure we had leftover turkey. Besides the turkeys she made the rest of the side dishes. I am so thankful for such a beautiful and giving Grandma.

This Thanksgiving I just want to say that I am very thankful for my Grandma. She has been a great roll model in my life. She gives of herself like no other person I know. After my Dad passed away she has always made sure that I was taken care of and before that she took care of my dad. As an adult I am very thankful to have her as my friend. I love to spend time with her whether we are on one of our crazy shop hop days where we visit 10 craft stores in one day, or we work on our paper crafting projects at my house or hers, or we just spend time with one another.

My grandma always has time to listen to me ramble on about things and later ask me how it went or how the person is. She is just genuine. I know she loves me because she is one of my biggest fans. She helps me, inspires me, pushes me to achieve more in life, and she helps me with my side business. Always looking out for new customers or getting sales for me.

Grandma I couldn't imagine not having you in my life. I am truly blessed to have you in my life. I could never thank you enough for all you do for me. Thank you Grandma! I love you.

I am thankful for my Husband, you are the greatest husband Eric. I love you and I am thankful to have such a great best friend to spend my life with.

I am thankful for all of my family, my Mom, my 6 Sisters, my Brother, Nieces, Nephews, Grandmas, aunts, uncles, extended family and my church family. You all inspire me. I love you and I am thankful to have you in my life.

Liberia Pictures

Eric and I took over 1,100 pictures of our trip. I wish I could show them all but that is just impossible so I chose a few to share with you. Hope you enjoy them.

This is a picture of Eric and I at the church Eric preached at on Sunday. The church purchased these Liberian outfits for us. They had us put the outfits on and show them off. It was supper hot and Eric and I were already very sweaty and then we added the additional clothing. Boy were we burning up. It was very nice of them to give us these clothes.

This is a picture of the kids from Banal Farms. These kids are amazing. They can quote Bible scriptures off the top of their heads, one scripture after another. They put me to shame in the Bible memorization.

They also had a time of prayer and boy are they sincere and powerful.

Missy and I picked a couple of little girls up so they could be in the picture and they were so excited. All the kids kept touching us, we were like celebrities.

This picture is of me singing at the crusade. Thankfully it was a group of us that sang, God knows I'm not a soloist!

This is the Corina Hotel, were we stayed for the week in Liberia. It isn't to bad here. It definitely looks better on the outside but it could have been worse. For the most part the generators ran and we had air conditioning and electricity in the room so I am very thankful.

On Sunday I taught Sunday School. I took a bag of Jolly Ranchers with me to hand out to the kids. Unfortunately I didn't have enough for everyone. With our weight restrictions on the airplane I was limited on how much stuff I could bring.

I gave the candies away to those that could quote scriptures. I had little ones from the age 3 up to the age 16 in the class and they all did such a great job. I was so sorry I ran out of candy.

This is the rain that came pouring down one of the days that we were there. When it rains, it pours!

A snapshot of the thousands of people that attended the crusade. I believe that there were thousands of lives changed but only eternity will show the true outcome of this crusade.

USA....

We just landed in Washington DC. Waiting for our next legof our flight home. Its good to be on US soil.
We spent the last two days running all over Paris. My feet hurt! We saw as much as we could in the little time we had there and we also tried to get some shopping done. We rode the Metro all over the place and getting back to Brussells for our flight we had to drag our suitcases on the subway with us, up and down stairways, off and on the the subway within seconds before the door closed. It was hectic and exciting.
I am glad to be on my way home. I will share picture soon. I can't wait to show the picture of Eric and I in our African clothing. I love to travel but there is no place like the good ol' USA!

Last day in Liberia

It is Sunday morning and we are waiting to be picked up for church. The whole group will be splitting up this morning and visiting different churches. Eric and I will be going to a small village, I'm not sure of the name and Eric will be preaching and I will be teaching Sunday School. I have some jolly ranchers to give to the kids, I'm sure they will love that. After church we will be coming back and getting changed, going to the Stewart's for lunch and then heading to the airport. We will be beginning our stretch home but we will be stopping in Paris on the way. How fun! A little reward for our hard work this week.

We finished the crusade on Friday night.There were thousands of people in attendance! I'm not sure on the numbers of those filled with the Holy Ghost (it was over 1,000 as of Thursday) and those Baptized in Jesus name. I will have to report that later. Thursday night during the crusade it began to sprinkle, the clouds above were black so we prayed for God to stop the rain. He is faithful, the sprinkles stopped and not another drop of rain was felt until we had finished the service and then came the rain. What a miracle!!

Yesterday was the dedication service of Hope Center. What a touching and powerful service we had! While in service the found and killed a cobra snake right outside the church.Thank God no one was hurt. It was a long ride home with 7 ladies squished into the cab of the truck but we made it back safely.

Bro. Stewart made us an excellent meal, a casserole and his famous Texas cowboy beans. Yummy!!!

Well I can't wait to share pictures with all of you. I will be home soon. Grandma don't forget to pick us up :o)

Sis. LaVerne wants me to wish Sis. Gloria a Happy Birthday, Happy 70th Birthday!!!

See you all soon.

Much Love,

Rose

Liberia Update

We arrived in Liberia on Sunday night. Immediately I could see some improvements in the airport and there was new pavement on some of the roads. Thank God!! It was good to see the Stewart's (missionaries to Liberia) and the other from the church. When we arrived we were greeted by many people from the church. Sis. Stewart had a scrumptious meal and a birthday cake ready (Sis.Wilmoth's birthday) for us. I love her cooking. It is different because it is mostly Ethiopian food, but it is so delicious.

Monday we had a devotion and then we went shopping downtown. There were so many people on the streets, I think they may have multiplied in the past two years. We got a look at the Hotel that we stayed at last time and it looked horrible. I am very thankful for the change in hotel this time. Its in a better location and the generators have only gone out a couple of times but only for a few seconds. Everyone was getting there shopping done because it was the only day we had to shop, the rest of the week is pretty packed with stuff to do. I got to help haggle some prices in some shops since I had experience on what some of the items cost. I knocked over a bunch of items in one of the stores, Eric wasn't too happy about that because he thought we were going to have to buy everything, luckily the items were all wood carvings so there was nothing broken.
It was a great day of shopping and then we went to the Stewart's for dinner, yummy!!

Tonight was the first night of the crusade, wow!!! What a great time. I had to get up and pray for the offering, the gentleman leading just called me out and said you come and pray for the offering. Good thing I'm not that shy! A group of us sang, spur of the moment. Pastor and Bro. Brandon preached and God moved in a great way! Thank you Jesus for the good weather tonight. There was a lovely breeze and not to many bugs! Yea for that! The new people on this trip are getting spoiled. LOL!

Well I just wanted to let everyone know that we are doing fine, we are having a great time. I will try to post again soon but it is hard because the Internet connection is very bad. I've been trying to post since yesterday but every time I got on the computer it would go down or the generator would go out.

Remember to keep us in your prayers!

Love sent from Liberia,
Rose

Procrastination

I will admit I am a procrastinator, we have just finished packing up our stuff and we are heading for LA. We will be spending the night and getting up at 4:00 AM to get ready to head to the airport. We will land in Brussels on Saturday morning and then we will be flying out on Sunday morning to go to Liberia. I will try to keep everyone posted about the trip if the Internet connection is good.

I just want to thank everyone that helped us in our fundraising for this mission. We are excited to see what God is going to do in Liberia.

Well it is time to go, yea! Remember to keep us in your prayers while we travel! Liberia here we come!!!

Cards, Cards, & More Cards!

Tonight is my card class, yeaaaaa!! Here is another sneak peak at one of the cards we'll be making. I just love this new stamp set, Winter Post. I also used the Heard from the Heart Stamp Set for the sentiment. This card was very simple to make.

We are one week away from flying off to Liberia. Please note that I won't be here to answer any questions or for you to place any orders but if you do need to order something you can just go to my website http://rosecastillo.stampinup.net and click the shop now button in the upper right hand corner. Your items will ship directly to your house. I will be returning November 19th, so I will be available after the 20th of November if you need anything or want to host a workshop.

Stamp Club members please remember that we will be having our stamp club on the first Tuesday of November because of my travels.

Well I'm off, back to work! Have a great day.

Christmas, Its only October!

I have been working on the Christmas cards for my card class coming up this Thursday and it is making me have panic attacks. It actually make me feel like it is later in the year than it really is. It also reminds me that I will be leaving for Liberia a week from this Thursday, yikes! Only a little over a week left for me to get ready for our mission trip. Boy am I feeling the pressure. By the time we get home we will be the week of Thanksgiving and then its Christmas!

If you won't able to attend my Christmas Card Class this Thursday don't worry I will be holding one more class on Saturday, November 29th at my house. Let me know if you are interested in attending.

Have a great day!!!

Birthday Special

This week I will enter the last year of my 20's. I will be truning 29 and will be heading into my 30's real soon. Life flies by quickly! I've been getting white hairs since I was like 12 or something like that but I just recently started to see them more on the top of my head, I guess its a sign that I am getting smarter!! Ha! Ha!

Well in celebration of my Birthday I wanted to offer a everyone a special offer. So I am offering you 20% off one item from Stampin' Up! -OR-Free Shipping on any order (your choice) offer is good only this week. Contact me if you have any questions.

Don't forget about SU!'s Birthday Promotion.

Spend $20 on regular catalog merchandise and get 20% off these select birthday stamp sets:

109439 Big Bold Birthday (pg 62) Reg $27.95 Sale price $22.36

112895 Cumpleaños genial y divertido (Spanish Big Bold Birthday, pg 62) Reg $27.95 Sale price $22.36

111532 Party Hearty (pg 63) Reg $26.95 Sale price $21.56

110994 Bitty Birthday (pg 64) Reg $12.95 Sale price $10.36

111618 Crazy for Cupcakes (pg 64) Reg $23.95 Sale price $19.16

111546 Simple Birthday Thanks (pg 65) Reg $17.95 Sale price $14.36

111702 Time to Party (pg 65) Reg $16.95 Sale price $13.56

108559 Crab & Company (pg 68) Reg $27.95 Sale price $22.36

WCMD Cards

I just wanted to share the pictures of all of the completed cards from the WCMD class I had last weekend. I know you may have seen a couple of them already but this time I listed the ingredients for the card. I have a couple of card kits available if anyone is interested.

Halloween Card

Halloween Frights Stamp Set (Mini Catalog)

Pumpkin Pie Card stock

Basic Grey Card stock

Basic Black Card stock & Ink

Whisper White Card stock

Ghostly Greetings DSP

Sympathy Card

Inspired By Nature Stamp Set

Close As A Memory Stamp SetChocolate Chip Cardstock & Ink

Creamy Caramel Cardstock & Ink

Very Vanilla Cardstock & Taffeta Ribbon

Thanksgiving Card

Happy Blessings Stamp Set (mini catalog)

Sage Shadow Card stock & ink

Creamy Caramel Card Stock

Realy Rust Card stock & Ink

Very Vanilla Card stock

1 3/8" & 1 1/4" Circle Punch

Earth Elements Watercolor Crayons

Blender Pens

Christmas Card

Winter Post Stamp Set (mini catalog)

Lovely as a Tree Stamp Set

Riding Hood Red Card Stock

Chocolate Chip Card Stock & Ink Pad

Very Vanilla Card Stock

Big Shot Top Note Die

Sentiment- All Holidays Stamp Set

Friendship Card

Season of Friendship Stamp Set (mini catalog)

Whisper White Card stock

More Mustard Card stock & ink pad

Really Rust ink pad

Close to Cocoa ink pad

Chocolate Chip ribbon

Scallop Edge Punch