My new favorite thing...

Before I can post anything else, I must tell you about my new fave. B-l-o-g-g-i-n-g. More specifically... making blogging friends. Just yesterday I commented on a blog, expecting nothing in return. Not only did I get something in return... but 2 sweet somethings! Words of encouragement from 2 wise women that I may have never met in person but that have blessed me beyond measure.

Let me begin with the first one. This beautiful woman is wise beyond her years. Her love of Jesus is contagious and her gift of words is both encouraging and inspiring.  I look forward to reading about her "lowercase letters" each day. What a blessing she is. Living her life for Jesus.

The next words of encouragement came from another beautiful woman with a smile that must light up Texas. I have talked about her perspective before because she has challenged me on more than one occasion to see things differently. To celebrate and cherish our time with family. In the little things. Those things that are gifts from God.

So, I say "Thank you, ladies" for taking the time to encourage me and enrich my life. May God bless you both tenfold.

Tips Tuesday

I know that I am very late posting tips for today but I do have some to share! I really did start this on Tuesday... just didn't finish 'til Wednesday. :-)

1. When hanging a picture with picture wire, wrap Scotch tape around the wire in the center. This will keep the wire from slipping on the nail. Your picture will stay level. That is, of course, only if you hang it level in the first place!

2. To make your freezer run more efficiently, add water bottles to fill empty spaces. (First empty out a bit of water.) When needed, you have frozen bottles to rub tired or aching feet over; to fill an ice chest instead of loose ice; to take to your child's sports event, hiking, etc. so that by the time your child/you need a drink it will be nice and cold.

3. Spray your plastic wear with non-stick cooking spray before you store tomato based leftovers in them. This will keep the stains away.

Another short and sweet "tip day". Gotta get some sleep!

Done for now.

I have messed around with this blog way too much over the past few days.  It is not quite how I want it but decided it will just be this way for now.  I am struggling with having a blog that looks "scrapbookish" because that is one thing that I dearly love, or being more contemporary and "hip" because I like the look of the blogs that I visit with that appeal. I also struggle with monetizing. I have had a dear friend offer to do a website for me and "hook me up" to bring in some moolah. It would certainly be beneficial but right now I am just in overwhelm mode. So, I shall just leave it for now and move on to more important things. Maybe I will revisit this offer a little later.

We still have changes brewing with our family and as soon as I am able, I will fill you in. Waiting is not my favorite thing. I am not good at it. I continue to work on it, though. Also working on not saying that I am not good at something. Hubby's orders. :-) I shall not pray for the p-word while we wait. (Can you tell that I am talking sternly to myself?) I don't want to be given something that will teach me how. I'll just wait... and trust God to be in control. Ugh. So hard sometimes.

Tips Tuesday

This is a bit late, but I wanted to sneak a few tips in for today.

1. To clean up broken glass, use a piece of bread. This is for the tiny slivers after you have used your common sense to sweep up or vacuum the larger pieces.

2. If your fingernails are a bit discolored, you have 3 good options to brighten them up. You can soak them in lemon juice (Make sure you don't have any cuts or hangnails!) or denture cleanser for about 5 minutes. You can also wipe them with a cotton ball that has hydrogen peroxide on it.

3. When putting a curtain on a metal rod (the flat ones), put a plastic baggie over the end and wrap a rubber band around it to secure so that the curtain will slide on easily and not snag.

4. This is a sticky one. :-) To remove chewing gum from faux leather, use cooking oil on a rag. It will take a little elbow grease too!

5. If you are pushing your knee high boots to the back of the closet, roll up a magazine to slide into each boot. That will keep them standing tall until the cooler weather rolls around again. You can also use empty wine bottles.

I have used all of these tips at one time or another so they are proven. However, if you are wondering about the gum... I didn't do it and neither did the girls. Hmmm.

Changes brewing...

This title speaks about more than one aspect of our lives, but right now I will just talk about the blog changes. Hang in there with me. I am in the middle of redesigning it and this is by no means the finished product. It is pre-addition of a new header and buttons. Hopefully later today I can get Tips Tuesday posted and I will work on getting this whole thing updated and completed by the end of the week. Stayed tuned...

Aren't weekends the best?!

I must admit... I have enjoyed a relaxing Saturday. For the past 3 weekends, we have had something going on that required getting ready and leaving the house. Today... not so much. I have at least accomplished some laundry and dishes, but for the most part I have taken it easy. This is not something that I allow myself to do very often because I usually make myself feel guilty over not working on one thing or another. Before anyone feels the urge to tell me how wrong that is... I know, I know. I have tried to tell this stubborn self of mine many times. More times than I can count. Still working on it. A bit of success today. :-)

I am trying to read up on this blogging thing. Since it is still very new to me and I have the ole basic Blogger template, I must read. And read. And read some more. Being a scrapbooker, (or cropper, or scrapper, whatever you want to call it) I LOVE scrapbook paper. I mean L.O.V.E. it. Today I spent a lot of time investigating digital kits. My, oh my. Chills, I tell ya. Chills. When I find just the right papers that have all of the embellishments to match in colors that I love... my heart actually starts beating faster. I think it must be like a shoppers "high". I get so excited that I can barely contain myself.  Luckily no one was watching. I absolutely fell head over heals with this beautiful kit. The colors, the flowers, the ribbons... pure happiness. This colorful, cute thing made me wish my big girls were still small. One more favorite I just have to share because of my love of snowmen (more on that later this year) is this to die for kit. Seriously? If I wasn't sitting, I would be weak in the knees. I can't share my all time fave just yet. Hopefully you will see it before too long as it adorns my new blog design.

So, I'm off to discover more beauties. Perfect ending to a really nice day.

Tips Tuesday

And so begins another day of tips. One of these days I might actually list them in some organized fashion. Some day. Here's todays...

1. Since the warmer weather is making it's debut, ice cream is sure to follow. When making ice cream cones, place a miniature marshmallow in the bottom before adding the ice cream. This will keep it from leaking all over your sweet babes hands and onto that favorite outfit. (An oldie, but maybe somebody hasn't heard it yet.)

2. Another warmer weather tip is for your blooming plants. If you are needing that purdy thang to show some more flowers, there is a proper time to prune. If you have an early bloomer (spring), then you should prune it just after the blooms are gone. For later bloomers (summer), they should be pruned in the early spring before their blooms.

3. To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with them. Don't know why this works but apparently it does.

4. If you over-salt a soup/stew, peel one of those potatoes you just saved and add it to the pot. It will soak up a lot of the salt.

5. Cleaning tip of the day is for baked on goods. Have you heard about putting a dryer sheet in the pan/pot and letting it soak overnight? I've actually never tried this but hear that it does work. I usually just pull out the old trusty SOS pad. However, if you happen to have run out of these wonders, wad up a piece of foil (not too tight) and it will do the trick. This one I have used a gazillion times. It works. Too cool. Oh, but for goodness sakes, don't do that to a non-stick pan. I guess if it is non-stick, nothing would be stuck on anyway, right?

Hope you found a handy tip today. I would love for you to send me any of your favorite tips to share.
Have a good one!

Beginning a new week...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. This afternoon the temps are hovering close to the 80 degree mark and the blooms continue to make an appearance. Some of those blossoms seem like heavenly scents and some are like stink on a skunk. Do you think God was smirking when he did that? Makes me wonder if He had fun with it.

Tomorrow begins a new week and I am a bit unsure of what it holds. I guess that is always true but usually I have a sense just by looking forward to it or dreading it. Today I am just kind of neutral. It may have a lot to do with the sermon we had this morning. Our pastor has started a new series entitled "Kidnapped". The purpose is to bring to light the way the children of this generation are being "sucked in" by friends, technology, etc. This morning's message was heavy on discipline. For the most part, I think Hubby and I have done a good job with our girls. Then there are those times when I begin to panic thinking about the things we haven't done right. Those things that we let slip by here and there because we just didn't want the confrontation. Consistency. Heavy word. Hard to accomplish sometimes. So, I shall pick up my bible, arm myself with the word of God, ask for strength to be consistent as I head out into a new week.

Beauty

I have enjoyed so much beauty in the past week. From my "babes" that are not so small anymore, to the delicate blooms of spring... both have warmed my heart.






Smiles and flowers... some of my favorite things.


                                                                                                
Preparing for the holiday brought out this sweet thing.

                                                                                                                                                       And these... remember our trip to Pop's for spring break? These are some of our bottles. Love them.




There was a visit from the in-laws and a FABULOUS Easter service. With earplugs in place, I think Hubby's mother was able to enjoy the experience. It was definitely loud and absolutely wonderful! A service we will never forget. Over the course of the weekend, we took in lots of restaurant food. And lots of SUGAR.

Before I let today's post get away from me, I want to mention a couple of blogs. This woman is a dear friend of Hubby's family. Because of e-mail, Facebook and now blogging, we have developed our own little friendship. Too fun. She has to be the busiest woman I have ever known. With her passion for snail mail, she regularly has giveaways on her blog and just look at what I received yesterday. Can you believe all of the beautiful cards?! I must get busy. Note to self: buy stamps. So, stop by her blog, say "hello", and you just might be on the receiving end of a package like this.

Another blogging friend I have made is such an encouragement to me. She has not been blogging long either (just over a month for me) but came to me from the Living Proof Ministries blog. You must read about the way she "looks" at doing dishes. Sure made me reevaluate my thought process!

Just a bit random

Well, I promised Easter pics but something is a little screwy and iPhoto won't read the CD. Will have to work on that one.

If you have read my blog at all, you know that I love Canada geese. I actually have always called them Canadian geese until I did a dab of research. Fifteen minutes tops. Learned to drop that "n". Canadian still sounds better, doesn't it? Anyway, yesterday as I was driving down the turnpike, 2 of these beautiful creatures flew right in front of me. It was breathtaking. Thank you God.

Watched American Idol tonight and almost threw a hissy fit. Big Mike (my fave) got the fewest votes. So glad that the judges used their one and only "save". I was about to be done. Seriously. Done. Don't reckon one less viewer would have done them much harm. Guess I may have to start voting next week.

Oh, and good gravies! How on earth is Victoria's Secret getting away with "The Nakeds" commercial? It is pure pornography. Don't you think? My, oh my.

Tomorrow I am going to share some blogs that I enjoy. Off to bed...

Tips Tuesday

Yes, I know it is actually Wednesday. It has taken a couple of days to recover from the Easter holiday. Later today I will post some Easter pics and an actual Wednesday post.

1. If you are going to plant anything in a pot this spring, place a coffee filter in the bottom first. Then put your potting soil on top. This will keep the soil from leaking out but will allow excess water to drain.

2. When needing to remove hard water stains from a shower head you can use a baggie and vinegar. I use a quart-size freezer bag and fill it about halfway with vinegar. Pull it up over the shower head making sure that the whole thing can be immersed. Wrap a rubber band around the neck a couple of times to hold it in place. After about an hour you can remove the bag and rinse. You may need to use a toothbrush to remove and pieces holding on.

3. Place fabric dryer sheets under your car seats to keep it smelling fresh.

4. When you are taking medication (capsules), there are 2 different ways to get it to go down without a hitch. If the capsule is heavy (i.e. - Tylenol, Advil, etc.), fill your mouth with water, toss your head back and swallow. That's how we've always been taught, right? Here's the kicker: If your capsule is light (i.e. - probiotics, herbal supplements), fill your mouth with water, look down (don't lean over), wait a second and then swallow. Since the capsules are light, they float to the top of the water. If you look down (just lower your chin), then the capsules flow down easily. If you throw your head back as with heavy capsules, they tend to get stuck on the back of your throat. This is one of my favorite tips ever!

Peek-A-Boo

Look what is popping up in our neighborhood.



I just love spring. When the sprouts of grass peek through and God shares some of the beautiful colors He must have created just for this season. 

 Wishing you all the most beautiful Easter as you celebrate the good news of the Resurrection!