Today...

6 days ago I posted about how my March goals were flying out the window...

I had no idea that less than 24 hours later I would be sitting in the ER of our local children's hospital with my daughter for her to receive fluids via IV as well as antibiotics for the UTI that was discovered while we were there.  Thankfully it was not a crazy emergency situation, but I realized on Wednesday morning that something was not "right" and a call to the pediatrician confirmed that we needed to go to the hospital.  I'm so, so, so thankful for the expertise that the doctors and nurses there have when it comes to working with children (and their parents!).  They were great.  We were all relieved when they said we could go home and didn't have to stay overnight.  By Thursday, we were already seeing significant improvements, although she continued to be very weak and tired.  Now, she is pretty much back to normal, aside from sleeping a little more than usual and eating to make up for lost time.  WOW...she has been SO hungry.

And, while I thought I had escaped the window of "contagion" by the time she was starting to improve, Friday night left me wondering, and by Saturday morning I was no longer wondering.  Yuck.  times a LOT.  I spent all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday in bed, and my sweet husband took care of daughter and the house, and tended to me.

So...those goals are just mocking me...mocking me, I tell you.

I did manage to read a book last week in the two afternoons that C took 3+ hour naps on the couch (waking only briefly to make sure I hadn't left her side...traumatic ER experiences do that to 3 year olds, apparently and understandably), and I'm about 50 pages away from finishing another...  not exactly the EIGHT I had hoped to finish for the month, but oh well.

C did get to participate in our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt last night which she has been looking forward to, and I enjoyed the quiet house for a little while.  Today I'm waging war on any remaining germs in hopes of keeping G from getting sick.  Laundry nazi, germ nazi...  I'm getting a reputation...

But, my body says it's not quite ready for "normal" yet, so I'm resting too.  I'm happy to stay inside away from the blustery snow flurries, and eat some homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch, graciously brought over by a sweet friend.  Another friend brought dinner over so I'm free from that responsibility tonight.  It is a blessing to be a part of the body of Christ, and this week has been another great reminder of that -- from prayers to kind words, phonecalls, meals offered/delivered, I am humbly grateful for these who have been the hands and feet of Jesus to us this week.

Here's to April....

(I'm not making any goals!)

March Madness...

So about those March goals....

I know that God is not a God that would "make fun" of His children...but I can't help but wonder when I was making my list of goals for the month and writing that last blog post including the reference to Proverbs 16:9 if He was smiling and saying..."Wait and see, child...  wait and see.  What I have for you is not YOUR plan, but it is much better."

Since my last post (15 days ago, if anyone is counting), I have not read ANYTHING on my reading list...  My reading goals for the month were already a bit lofty unattainable impossible ridiculous unrealistic.

I have managed to make it to the walking track with friends a few times, and that has been great -- as soon as the weather gets warm I love to be outside!  We have been able to play outside some too, which has been good for EVERYONE.

I started out pretty good with the 31 in 31 pinterest projects, but I'm falling behind some now...click on that link to see what I HAVE managed to try...

I did manage to get all my items tagged and dropped off at the consignment sale and am pleased with my profits from that.  My closets, however, are still not clean as I had hoped.

Spring cleaning........yeah, no.

The "someone else" section of my goals...I haven't been able to think about that just yet... but there are still 2 weeks left in the month!

Limit media for C -- what else CAN you do when you're too sick to get OFF the couch?  I definitely have NOT been limiting media.  We did manage to make it to the park and the children's museum and have plans to go again, so we might actually make that goal for the month.  The gorgeous Spring weather ends today and we're looking at a high of 44* by the end of the week...ideal weather for playing outside LOTS, yes? 

And, then there's the whole topic of the photo-a-day in March and blogging 3x a week....  let's NOT go there.

So, by this point (if you're still reading...hello...?) you're wondering what HAVE you been doing for the past 15 days?!?!?

Well, my friends...laundry.

LOTS of laundry.

Praise the Lord for these two blessings!

It started with washing everything for the consignment sale, because let's face it -- if you pull the clothes out of a storage bin and hang them up, they are not as likely to sell as they are when they look and smell fresh and pressed.  FACT.

Then it was washing bedding to get the guest room ready for my mom who came to visit for a few days, and our own laundry for the week.

Then I found out that we had been (unintentionally) exposed to head lice.  ick.  Taking all precautions, I washed EVERYONE's bedding (all of it!) everyday for 3 days in a row, plus all of our clothes as soon as we took them off, plus towels, stuffed animals, jackets, etc.  Laundry nazi?  Oh yes, that's me!

That fiasco was barely over (btw, it seems we have escaped the lice for this time! PTL!), and I thought I could stand to do some more laundry so I started washing all of the new things that I purchased at the consignment sale...  While switching out the loads, my daughter walks in to the laundry room and says timidly, "Mommy, I'm NOT going to throw up."  Quizzically, I started to ask, "Do you feel like you're........."  And then I didn't need to finish.  Who knew so much could come out of such a small body?!?  OH, and did I mention she had eaten Nutella earlier in the day?  How's that mental picture for ya?!?!

Yay.  MORE laundry.  And, being the germophobe that I am and trying to keep the parents from getting the plague, the washing of the bedding began AGAIN.  (I'm starting to understand why I regularly put new sheets on my Christmas list...)

At present, C is recovering from the virus and I'm encouraging her to eat and drink just about anything that she will.  She's a pretty weak girl at this point, but she's starting to perk back up.  The parents have no symptoms of anything...  Oh, and my washing machine and dryer are enjoying a much needed respite.

I did manage to get my sewing area setup (still have a few changes/additions to make) before I started the laundromat, so here are a few pictures of that...

This is on one side of our bedroom.

Container storage for now...will adjust as my collection of sewing gadgets increases.

Hope to get large popsicle sticks to wrap the ribbon around for storage eventually.  That's my Great-Aunt, btw.

Every morning I wake up and dream of creating something with all of this...if I only had the time.

For my 31 in 31 Pinterest Projects, I gave myself 2 stipulations -- I could only count new pins, as in things I had not previously tried, and they could not be all recipes.  Here's one of the non-recipe projects I completed this month...

The top was the first one I made, so you can see the progression and improvements.

And, I have started my spring decorating....

Hey!  It's something, right?!?

I'm mid-project for a pinterest craft for Spring decor, so I will get back to it, but I wanted you all to know that I am still alive and that I hadn't gotten buried under all those March goals....  or March Madness...  :)

March Goals...

It is a beautiful morning...it's deceiving to look outside, because the sun is shining, the sky is bright, and it looks like a beautiful day to be outside...but it's currently 30* out there...  Later today it will be nice to be out...

Y'all.  It's MARCH!  Seriously, WHERE did January and February go?!?  The slowest months of the year are GONE and boy did they fly by!  March is definitely coming "in like a lion" for me, as I'm full of inspiration, energy, and excitement.  Spring fever much?  

I decided to switch to monthly goals instead of weekly to see if I like that any better or differently.  And, let me tell you -- I have some LOFTY goals for March.  This is a continual reminder...

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As a planner, I struggle constantly to give up MY plans for GOD'S plans.  I'm continually learning how to balance the tension that is planning and living an "orderly" life, and letting go of those plans that I made to fulfill God's calling to me when it is different.  It's easy for me to get very discouraged and feel like a failure when I don't get EVERYTHING crossed off of my list.  But at the same time, it is good for me to have some direction and structure to keep me focused.  So...balance...

Here's the recap of my goals for the end of last week...

Reading
+ Complete 5 days of Luke study

+ Read Chapter 1 & answer study guide questions for A Woman's Wisdom

+ Read Chapter 2 & watch video/read blogpost for Desperate

+ Read Intro and Chapter 1 of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

+ Read Chapter 3 of Leadership for Women in the Church

+ Finish The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick

+ Look through Joy the Baker cookbook

Health & Well Being

+ Eat Clean

+ Drink Water

+ Move More

Home Project Completion

+ Make list of basic sewing supplies needed and supplies for a few projects

+ Make list of goals for March, including 31 Pinterest Projects in 31 Days (blog post coming soon!)

Organization

+ Planning for next week and for month of March

+ Make menu for next 2 weeks, grocery list, and coupons/deals list

For Someone Else

+ Childcare for Community family

+ Visit church member shut-in

For G & C

+ call to see about places/prices for professional framing for G's diploma

+ coffee date with G

+ research swim lessons & new carseat for C

+ play board game, play outside, and make fish craft with C

Blog

+ 3 posts

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March Goals

Reading (complete the following)
+ A Woman's Wisdom
+ Jesus+Nothing=Everything
+ Cultivating a Heart for Motherhood
+ Getting to NO
+ Proverbs 31 Women
+ Beyond Ordinary
+ Sacred Influence
+ Desperate

Health & Well Being
+ Eat Clean, WATER WATER WATER
+ Walk 2x weekly with friends
+ Walk 2x weekly on own
+ Play/work outside (garden ready, landscaping, clean off fence, etc)

Home Projects
+ 31 Pinterest projects in 31 Days
+ All items ready and tagged for consignment sale = clean closets!! :)
+ Sewing area set-up + dedicated sewing time 1x per week

Organization/Cleaning
+ Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures
+ Spring Cleaning - at least 1 item per weekday

Someone Else
+ Visit shut-in from church
+ Make meals for church freezer
+ Coffee/playdate with at least 2 friends

Family
+ G -- 2 dates, birthday planning, read/pray together
+ C -- pinterest crafts, limit media, play outside LOTS, park 2x, library, children's museum 2x, read lots and lots of books!

Blog
+ 3 posts per week...topics to include:

menu plans

book reviews

pinterest projects

recipes

photo-a-day

garden planning

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Alrighty then....time to get off this computer and GET BUSY!  Looking forward to a great month!  Hope you are too! :)

Goals for this week...

And yes, I know it's Thursday and I'm posting my goals for the week...  it's really more like my goals for the end of the week as I just got them down on paper yesterday and hope to accomplish them all by end of the day Saturday.  My goals and the use of the goals worksheet continue to morph and I'm trying to decide what kind of limits to set to keep them as goals and to keep them from becoming a glorified to-do list...  10 seems to be a good number....  If I could just stick to it...

QUICKLY THOUGH before I talk about goals....let's talk about my windowsill garden...  Just after writing that post, things went downhill fast...and I mean fast.  I came home from a few days out of town to discover slimy yuckiness all over the bottom of my veggies and brown water.  Um, eww.  I rinsed them all really well, cleaned the dishes and put in fresh water (I had also discovered some mold)...  The next morning, it was all back again...  At that point, I decided I was done looking at that nastiness, and I will just wait a few more weeks until I can play in the dirt.  Sorry to disappoint or lead anyone astray -- although if you are windowsill gardening, be sure to let me know how it goes!

Okay -- so goals...a few are marked off as I was able to complete some yesterday and this morning.

Reading
+ Complete 5 days of Luke study

+ Read Chapter 1 & answer study guide questions for A Woman's Wisdom

+ Read Chapter 2 & watch video/read blogpost for Desperate

+ Read Intro and Chapter 1 of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

+ Read Chapter 3 of Leadership for Women in the Church

+ Finish The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick

+ Look through Joy the Baker cookbook

Health & Well Being

+ Eat Clean

+ Drink Water

+ Move More

Home Project Completion

+ Make list of basic sewing supplies needed and supplies for a few projects

+ Make list of goals for March, including 31 Pinterest Projects in 31 Days (blog post coming soon!)

Organization

+ Planning for next week and for month of March

+ Make menu for next 2 weeks, grocery list, and coupons/deals list

For Someone Else

+ Childcare for Community family

+ Visit church member shut-in

For G & C

+ call to see about places/prices for professional framing for G's diploma

+ coffee date with G

+ research swim lessons & new carseat for C

+ play board game, play outside, and make fish craft with C

Blog

+ 3 posts

*Book Giveaway Winner*

Sorry to be so late in posting this today, but here are the results!!!  

The winner of the two Tricia Goyer books is:

Comment #1...

Angie said...

I still like the "feel" of a real book in my hands and these two definitely look interesting :)

2/19/13, 1:20 PM 

Congrats Angie...who just so happens to be my mom!! :-)  And yes, I did use a random number generator, and I actually did it two different times using two different generators and got #1 both times, so it is meant to be! 

Thanks to all for entering!

I still like Real Books too....

...in fact, I like them SO much that I'm giving them away! :-)

Back in December, I was privileged to win the Stuff Your Own Stocking Giveaway over at Kristin's Veranda.  The items have come in multiple shipments, which has been fun to spread it out a bit.  I received two sets of the books that were part of the giveaway, and the author suggested I keep the second set rather than send it back, so I decided to "pay it forward" as it were and host a giveaway here on my blog.

I am giving away these two paperback novels by Tricia Goyer.  Both are signed by the author.  

The giveaway will run through Thursday, February 21st, 11:59 p.m. and I will use a random number generator to choose a winner on Friday, February 22nd and will post the results that morning.  There are multiple ways to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post

2) Become a Google Follower and

leave a comment telling me that you did

(or if you already are)

3) Share this giveaway on facebook and

leave a comment telling me that you did

4) Blog about this giveaway and

leave a comment with the link to your post

5) Tweet this giveaway and

leave a comment telling me that you did

6) Pin this giveaway and

leave a comment with the link to your pin.

So...get busy -- you have 6 chances to enter!  I'm sorry to keep my settings such that I have to approve comments, but I get a LOT of spam comments that I don't want on my posts.  I will try to keep up with comments as quickly as possible so that you can see your entries.

See you on Friday!

eBooks...and why I'm glad I tried them...

I was hesitant for a long time to jump into the world of eBooks and eReaders...  In some ways, I'm a closet romantic (think Anne of GG here...) and like to keep the "old school" way of doing things alive.  But, a conversation last Fall with our children's librarian had me re-thinking things...  She started telling me how much she loved her nook glowlight....  the three things that stood out to me from the conversation were:

1) she liked having the light on the device for nighttime reading....appealing as I almost always want to read in bed after my husband is asleep...

2) she liked being able to check out eBooks from the library...I had no idea this was even an option...

3) she liked only having to take one "book" with her when she traveled but having multiple options available...that is SO me...we will have one less bag to load up when we take long trips now because I will only be taking one "book" instead of the usual 8-10...

So...following that conversation, I put the nook glowlight on my Christmas list and was blessed to receive it from my in-laws, bil, and sil. Thanks, y'all. :-)

I have been nothing but Pleased. (that's with a capital P...)  I've not given up on REAL books by any means, and still enjoy reading them, especially for my highlighting habit. ahem.  But, the convenience of eBooks is delightful.  

Not only being able to have 8-10 books in one, but I love being able to check out books from my local library, and the library (in another state) where I had a card before I was married.  

Soon after getting my nook set-up, I joined the facebook page, and the best part about that is FREE FRIDAYS!  Every friday, they give away a free eBook...  I have yet to take advantage of the offer because the majority of the books they give away are junk, but when you click over to the blog, others will list more free eBooks in the comments.  I HAVE taken advantage of some of these, and my eBook collection is growing faster than I can keep up with.

This article was absolutely the most helpful thing that I read with regard to my nook and getting it set-up for borrowing and purchasing eBooks.  I was thankful that I read it before downloading the (free) adobe digital software, because in order for the programs to communicate you have to use the same username and password for the adobe software and (in my case) barnes and noble.  

I'm still amazed at how many FREE eBooks are out there...  it seems that there are more that are formatted for the Kindle as opposed to the nook, but even if you don't have a tablet eReader, you can still download the eBooks and read them on your computer.  You can download Kindle for PC from amazon for free.  Every week, Money Saving Mom posts about free eBooks that you can download.  And we all know how I  looooooove free stuff!

I have downloaded 6-7 books and have them stored on my PC and hope to begin reading some of them soon.  This is especially nice for cookbooks, and there seem to be lots of those for free.

Another way to find free eBooks is to search on barnes and noble or amazon for "free" or for "0.00".  This way of searching has a LOT of returns, but be warned that a LOT of them are JUNK.  But, you may find a few diamonds in the rough....

So, that is a quick re-cap of how I'm loving this whole new world of eBooks...  Hope some of that is helpful or at the very least interesting to you...

In the comments, let us know... have you found good sources for free eBooks? Share your favorite eReader/tablet and why?

My windowsill garden...

I'm so looking forward to gardening again this year...as I write this post, I've pulled a muscle in my back (for the second time in less than 2 weeks) and I can't imagine hoeing or pulling weeds right now, but I'm looking forward to it, just the same.  I'm so thankful for the way that God has created our bodies to heal themselves a large percentage of the time.  It's easy to lose sight of that, but when you have to explain EVERYTHING to a 3 year old, you realize just how much you really take for granted.

Until I can get outside to grow things, I've been making use of my kitchen windowsill, some water, and the parts of the produce that I would normally throw away.....

I saw this on a friend's blog, and HAD to try it for myself.

This is 24 hours after I cut the lettuce and put it in water...it was a straight cut across the top...

I placed the lettuce in the water on January 31...this picture was taken on February 2.

February 4

A friend mentioned you could do the same with celery, so I started some on February 5

February 16

February 16

This is crazy easy...all I did was place the pieces that you see in a plastic bowl of water.  I change the water every few days to keep it from getting moldy....  I can't wait to try some of this fresh windowsill produce!

Vday recap (aka the one where she gushes about her husband)...

I think this post wins the award for longest title ever, don't you?

I really shouldn't be blogging....I should be unloading the dishwasher, switching out loads of laundry, making a menu and grocery list, straightening up the house....etc, etc.

But I have 4 or 5 posts rattling around in my head right now and it's killing me to not be able to write them.  That, and I've read everyone else's V-day posts and really, yesterday just left me feeling exceptionally blessed and thankful.  Sometimes we go through what I call "dry spells" (or at least I do) where I almost don't feel any emotion towards anyone because I'm having such inner struggling with my own sin and in my relationship with the Lord and His calling in my life.  I'm thankful for days like yesterday to snap me back to reality and in small ways remind me of just how greatly blessed I am.

I grew up having family dinners for Valentine's Day where we spent the day preparing and decorating and making cards and it was a special evening to spend together as a family.  That continued up until I left home to get married, and it was especially nice during my teen years as I was freed of the pressure of dating and wondering if anyone would be getting me flowers, etc.  It was nice to just focus on family.  I hope to continue that tradition for my daughter too.  We spent the afternoon getting our table set and cards/gifts made/decorated.

We ate by mostly candlelight, with a little bit of light from the overhead chandelier, and the last remaining bits of daylight.  

Since it was a weeknight, I cooked, but my husband is bringing home pizza tonight and he plans to make a special dinner tomorrow night as a late V-day celebration.  So I get the next two nights off. :-)  

Our menu was:

Tossed Salad

Homemade Breadsticks

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti 

Broccoli

Easy Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Definitely NOT the healthiest of meals, and NOT how we eat everyday, but it was all very yummy and I was thankful that all four of the new recipes I was trying turned out great!  The breadsticks are a KEEPER and I will definitely be making them again.

My husband spoils his girls (not complaining!) and he brought home a single pink rose for C and a mylar balloon which is currently in her room while she naps.

He created a personalized gift for her online and filled it with her favorite candy...it was as much a surprise to me as it was to her.

I am enjoying a beautiful bouquet of roses, which even included two stems of eucalyptus, my absolute favorite! 

And, the man searched high and low over the world wide web to find this for me...

...because he knows I've been coveting admiring my friend's for quite some time now.  He goes out of his way to make us feel loved and appreciated all year long, but he also goes above and beyond on this special day when we can stop and recognize just how blessed we truly are.  I'm thankful that through the ups and downs, he is still my best friend.

The Beholder...

I've been trying to be more intentional about leaving my camera sitting out on the counter so that I will see it and pick it up to chronicle our days and God's good gifts to us...  Some days I can't stop snapping pictures and sometimes I go for days without taking any.  Here's a few gifts we've been blessed with since the beginning of 2013...

What's in your makeup bag?

I wrote this post last week with the intention of posting on Friday to get in my 3 posts for the week....but, I got a little busy and that didn't happen.  So, I'm posting it today so my poor blog doesn't appear any more neglected than it already is.  It's definitely a "lighter" post...currently all the deep thoughts are banging around in my head and bumping into one another and my heart is struggling to process them all.  I think it's some weird kind of information overload from all the reading I've been doing combined with some great insights this weekend from a missions conference.  That and the fact that God is currently stripping away the crustiness of my heart to reveal some pretty yucky stuff...  So -- pardon me while I work through the deep stuff and "put up a good face" here on the blog. (pun absolutely intended)

As if the purse post from last week wasn't enough, I'm giving further vent to your curiosity and revealing what's in my makeup bag...because I know you ALL wanted to know.  I really do find these sorts of things interesting...and I think I should blog about what I find interesting...in hopes that there are kindred spirits out there...somewhere.

The actual bag is a Clinique freebie...as is every makeup bag I have ever (and probably ever will) owned.  It's starting to show some wear and tear, but I love the shape and pattern so, that I just can't bear to part with it yet.

So here's the routine...

Covergirl natureluxe liquid silk foundation 330

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Covergirl Truconceal 

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Clinique soft-pressed powder blusher in New Clover

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Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Dark Denim

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Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner in Black Brown

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Revlon Eyelash Curler

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Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara in 101 Black

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Lip Shine

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So those are the everyday essentials...the stuff that stays in my bag but I only use occasionally/as needed...

Revlon Tweezers

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Covergirl Pressed Powder in Creamy Natural

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Clinique Youth Surge

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Clinique All About Eyes Serum

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And...there ya have it!  

What is the ONE item in your makeup bag that you "can't live without?"