~PRESSING ONWARD~

 Because of God's immeasurable grace and goodness, somehow my Mr. AGP Man and I, along with everyone we love, escaped the latest round of storms that ravaged Oklahoma last Friday.  Aside from our son's fence being knocked down and power outages, everyone is safe.  

I can't begin to tell you how devastated I feel when just driving around Oklahoma City.  Our beautiful Red Earth State is battered and bruised and now she is also flooded.  People are hurting...some have lost everything...their homes and their lives.

Even though I'm not a native of Oklahoma I've grown to love her deeply over the past twenty-five plus years.  My children live here...my parents are here...my heart is here...most of my adult memories were created here.  The thought of everything we hold dear in this life being ripped up and blown away in the twinkling of an eye is almost more than I can personally comprehend.  And so...I don't try to understand it because it is beyond me~

Right now we are all trying to heal.  Trying to find strength to move beyond the rubble and trust God with our tomorrows.  Easier to say than to do sometimes.  Still...like our friends on the East Coast who have survived the worst of the worst, we will too.   God has promised to never leave or forsake us and I am trusting in His Word.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for Oklahoma.  We need them.  We need you.

Love,

~TATTERED ROSE PINS and OKLAHOMA GRATEFULNESS~

Yesterday I took a break from watching the new coverage of the recent tornadoes here in Oklahoma.  The media, both local and national, are everywhere and the news-threads have been non-stop since the storms arrived.  I use the plural, storms, because there was more than one...several in fact.  The worst one of course being in Moore.  My heart continues to grow with pride as I watch the incredible men and women of our beautiful red earth state work to clean up as well as grieve.

At present my Mr. AGPMan and I attend a large non-denomination church here in Oklahoma City.  They have pledged 1.2 million dollars to help the displaced...  Such a huge donation from our congregation, but still just a mere drop in the bucket when you think of the 2 billion dollars estimated damage the tornadoes wrought.  Your giving is so needed.  If you plan on giving to the Red Cross don't forget to earmark your contribution "FOR OKLAHOMA".  Otherwise your gift(s) will go into their overall fund.

Thank you so much for your prayers...notes...support and most of all, LOVE!

 I took a break from news watching to work on some things for my booth this morning.  I just finished some new romantic pillows for my website and some sweet sachets, too.  Also worked on some tattered rose pins fashioned with vintage laces and trims. 

 Tattered Roses are all the rage right now and move really well in my new booth at Serendipity Market (Edmond, OK).  Perfect on headbands, clips, used on pillows, etc.  Fun to make, too!

 After sprucing things up yesterday in my booth I stopped by one of my favorite second-hand stores and found three panels of sheer-mist silk (with fabulous stripes) for $6.98 for the lot.

 They came from Charter Club and still had the original $40.00 price tags attached.  That was for EACH ONE...  That's $120.00 worth of silk for $6.98!  Eeeeek!

Can you say SCORE????  I used some of it on one of the pins at the top...  It's the one with the vintage rhinestone button in the center.  If you look closely you can see the silk peeking out in-between the lace-layers!

Many blessings to you all today.  Hope you're planning something memorial for the holiday weekend.  

Love to you...thank you again for your thoughts and prayers for Oklahoma. 

~TORNADO UPDATE~

Thank you for all your emails and comments...

Here's a blanket note to you all about the tornado that hit Oklahoma today

My Mr. AGPMan and I just got word from our son, Brandon, that he and his wife Sarah and our beautiful Miss K are OK.  They live in MOORE, OKLAHOMA, and miraculously their home escaped any damage or injury.

THANK YOU, GOD, FOR ANSWERED PRAYER!

  It isn't lost on me that today could easily have been the worst day of my life.

For many it was.

Still...Oklahoma's people are already doing what they always do...  Coming together to help the displaced and rising up to meet the challenges of life set before them!  Salt of the earth...

Our beautiful State has been through so much over the past few years...now this!  Please pray for us...

May God have mercy on us all...

Thank you all for caring about us.

Love to you...

~WE SURVIVED THE TORNADO...MORE STORMS COMIN'~

Our La Chaumière de Briarwood here in Edmond, Oklahoma, survived yesterday's storms.  The tornado that tore through our State missed hitting our house/neighborhood by about three or four blocks.  Our electricity was knocked out for a while, but strangely the moment the tornado passed over us the sky directly over our home was eerily calm and blue.  Those only a half a mile away were not so fortunate.

This tornado, an F3 or maybe even an F4, has destroyed so much.  My heart goes out to those people who have lost everything...and those who've lost only a little.  

Today we are gearing up for round two.

Hunkering down for the day.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS, THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!

Love to you...  

~FIRE~

WILD FIRES

are ripping across Oklahoma.  We are now in our 15th -16th straight day of over 100 degree temps and the ground in much of our state is parched...bone dry down to a foot or more.  Yesterday the temps climbed up to 112 plus and today we hit a record of 113.

Please pray for our city and county workers, those tending to the fires and of course the home owners who fear losing everything.  Many of the homes are in rural areas and so many are Mobil Homes. The weather is brutal and currently both voluntary and mandatory evacuation of the affected areas are in place...  Homes have been destroyed and more are destined to follow.  The fires are ZERO contained so this is a frightening time for the

GREAT PEOPLE OF OKLAHOMA!

Your thoughts and prayers for our beautiful, sweeping planes, her people and even her animals are appreciated.

Thank you sooo much!

Love to you...

~BLAZING OKLAHOMA FIRE~

Firefighters in Oklahoma continue to battle hot spots associated with the fires that burned across northeast areas of our state on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Many people have lost their homes.

Sadly, many people have lost everything they own.

 I'm not sure the suspected cause of the fire as been announced.  Yesterday the sky was so dark and black close to our home it was hard to breathe at times.  The fires, combined with the insufferable heat Oklahoma has been having of late, made for a truly miserable day.  Losing anything would be heartbreaking for us.

Losing everything would be devastating!

Next time you talk to the Most High...please ask Him to bless the people whose lives have been changed forever because of this fire.  Rebuilding is always hard.  Without insurance (and many don't have it) it's nearly impossible.

Thanking God today for His protection and grace.

Hope your Thursday is wonderful.  My Mr. AGPMan is FINALLY back home! He's been gone for soooo long!

Love to you...

~OKLAHOMA CHILD IS MISSING...PLEASE PRAY~

***UPDATE***
2:30pm Thursday 5/26

The body of little Ryan Hamil was just found a couple of hours ago.  Please continue to pray for this young family.  They've suffered a terrible loss due to our recent Oklahoma storms...xoxoRebecca

~~*~~

It's been over 24 hours since a tiny three year old toddler went missing after being swept out of his mother's arms during a tornado in Piedmont, Oklahoma.  Ryan Hamil has not been seen since a severe storm destroyed him home last night.  Sadly his younger brother did not survive the tornado and his pregnant mother and five year old sister are hospitalized in critical condition.

This news is overwhelming for us all here in our State.  People are searching far and wide to find this little boy...  We are all hoping that what was once lost will soon be found...

Please, please, please, please pray...

Love to you...

~A NOTE OF THANKS FROM OKLAHOMA~

~THANK YOU SO MUCH~

Dear Bloggie Friends~

Thank you to all of you who sent notes and emails to me last night regarding the terrible tornadoes and weather damage here in Oklahoma.  Your thoughts and concern for my family and I as well as the lovely people of Oklahoma are overwhelming.

Somehow, by God grace, we dodged any damage wrought by this springtime storm.  Both our children and their families are fine and I'm happy to say our brand new roof survived her first close-call!   It was ONE SCARY EVENING let me tell you!

Unfortunately, many of the towns not far from us suffered serious destruction and ruin and the latest reports are saying that several people have lost their lives.  I'm originally from California and I promise you I never once experienced a single earthquake that frightened me more than this storm did...

Please pray for OKLAHOMA!  One thing is for certain.  Lives here as well as those in several other of our States have been forever changed.

Thank you.  Thank you all.  And bless you.

Love to you~

~~~~~~~~~~~~SNOW....KLAHOMA~~~~~~~~~~~ And I Gotta Get Outta Here

SNOW...klahoma
Where the cold front's sweepin' down the plain

And the piles of sleet, beneath your feet
Follow right behind the freezing rain.

SNOW...klahoma

Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I

Travel home from work and hope some jerk

Doesn't wreck our car in passing by!

We know we belong to the land
But it could use some more salt and more sand

That's why we say...WHOA!
We're the sliding the other way...YIKES!

We're only sayin'

You're slick as snot SNOW…klahoma

SNOWklahoma
SNOW-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

SNOWklahoma, SNOW-K!

~*~

Note to "Sweet Tea":

If you TELL ME ONE MORE TIME how gorgeous and warm it is in my homeland (um...that would be Cali for all you who don't know!) I'm going to SOCK-IT-TO you! :)

~~*~~

All joking aside...the weather and road conditions here in Oklahoma are truly terrible and just this morning an SUV plunged off a bridge in Miami, Oklahoma and three of the eight passengers were killed.  This is serious stuff.  Prayers go out to everyone...

Love to you...

~WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN?~

~SLIP SLIDDIN' AWAY IN OKLAHOMA~

Thank you to all of you who wrote to me about the flooding here in Oklahoma.  Thankfully our home is free from storm damage but some of our neighbors were not as fortunate.  Our La Chaumière de Briarwood sits at the crest of a long street and mercifully was spared anything more than a torrential downpour.  Our neighbors saw their garage flood and we believe parts of their downstairs living area as well.  Also...the house you see above lost it's retaining wall AGAIN!  It's about 10 houses away from ours and on a corner lot.  This is now the third time it's fallen in 18 years.

~Another View~

Heavy rains caused Oklahoma more loss and damage than I can say.  We know for sure of one casualty. :(  And...unless you are in a floodplain insurance isn't available.  This is not good news for the people who lost nearly everything.

Thank you for your prayers for those who are hurting. 

I'll be away from you a couple of days.  For the second year I'll be participating in the Where Bloggers Create II Party (see my right sidebar) and the big reveal is on the 19th.  Everything in my studio has been rearranged since you saw it last year and I'm excited to show you the changes.  Nothing EVER stays the same in my home...nothin'! :)

Thank you again for thinking about Oklahoma and her people.  

More soon!  Love to you~

~JUST TO LET YOU KNOW...Maybe You Can Help~

~RAIN-RAIN GO AWAY~

Dear Peeps...

I hate to keep reverting back to our WEATHER here in middle America (I'd much rather write about things I love like Shabby Cottage Chic Decor, Pink Rose Painting, Fluffy Pillows, Yummy Sachets and Vintage Finds), but it's been sooo stormy of late I just can't seem to focus on much else. 

You may know that Oklahoma was hit again last night and somehow (Thank You, God!) my La Chaumiere de Briarwood and ALL of the homes of my extended family members escaped damage once again.  Not everyone (or every house) in our beautiful state has been so fortunate. 

Tammy Rider, young mother of three small children, made her home in Little Axe, Oklahoma.  She was killed on May 10th when a tornado hit her tiny town, demolishing her mobile home. Her children have been severally injured and are at present hospitalized.  The oldest, age 9, has head trauma and if I understand correctly the two youngest (ages 1 and 3) have broken bones.  Tammy's husband was at work when the tornado tore through the rural acreage her family has called home for many years.  Her private service is slated for Friday.

This young father is facing more than his fair share of sorrow.  If you feel led to help, memorial donations can be made at any Chase Bank or The Bank of Chickasha Oklahoma, In Memory of Tammy Rider and her Family.

Blessings to you as you continue to weather the storms in your life.

Love to you~

~WEATHERING THE STORM~

Just another quick post today to let you know the we weathered the latest storm that slammed head first into Oklahoma yesterday.  Tornadoes seemed to be everywhere and there were indeed moments that were SCARY at best!  At the slightest notice we were ready to hunker down beneath our stairwell when the weather changed and the storms veered east.

Unfortunately, several people lost their lives yesterday.  Many more were physically injured and countless men, women and children have lost their homes.  Today is a sad day for many Oklahomans and those who live in the surrounding states.

Today I'm thankful we have only a few small branches and clumps of leaves to clean up...

Prayers going up to the Most High for those who were not as fortunate.  May God be with you all...

Love~

~SAY IT ISN'T SO...Please God, Send The Spring...~

Oklahoma is bracing for a huge snow and ice storm. It's suppose to hit us sometime tomorrow. My dreams for the quick return of warmer weather have been dashed...at least for the time being.

At present we are hunkering down for a long winter's night.

The last time this happened (December '08) much of our City was in a blackout that lasted over 10 days.

Come back Spring. Come back.