Sister Swap “Pink Love”

I really enjoyed participating in Monica & Carrie’s Sister-Swap.  Thank you ladies for organizing it.  My partner was Becky from Steps to Grace.  Oh my goodness, we were a perfect match!!!  Not only did we find that we like similar things, but several of the items in our boxes were similar too.  I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my new Sister.  Without further adieu, here is the box of goodies I received from Becky, with her chosen theme of “PINK LOVE”…

• Pink Polka dot dish towel 
• Cranberry Exfoliating Body Bar
• Wine topper with my initial “J” inscribed on it.
• Address book
• A box of Greeting cards – Love them!!!
• A sweet smelling candle
• Two tubes of lotion
• Devotions To Go book – love it!
• Bookmark
• Magic gloves… I can’t wait to use them!
• Sticky notes
• Weekly planner
• Heart-shaped measuring spoons – DARLING
• Little pink purse
• Awesome photo frame
• Texas Bluebonnet seeds

I’m so pleased with my new friend and all the goodies she’s sent my way with love.  Thanks Becky and Monica and Carrie.  This was a fun activity.  Let’s do it again sometime!

 

There is a little show and tell going on over at Carrie’s blog… take a look.

Thankful Thursday

As I’ve mentioned before, I recently started keeping an Excel spreadsheet of things that I’m thankful for in general and about my husband.  I’m being deliberate about thankfulness. 

Here are a few items from my daily list of things that I’m thankful about:

• The cool breeze from a window fan
• Hand-me-down furniture
• Lots of SUNSHINE
• New Blackberry phone
• The softness of my pony’s clean mane
• The smell of clean laundry
• Better insurance quotes
• Special package from an internet friend
• Tarps that keep things dry in a rain storm
• Meat in the freezer
• Sharing a meal with family
• New life… my herbs are poking thru the soil
• My Bible
• Frosted glass full of Gatorade or Water
• My Dad
• My Father-in-law
• My Step-Father-in-law
• My Heavenly Father

And some things that I’m thankful for especially about my husband:

• He would like to be a father someday
• He did yard work to make our home look nice
• He was excited about changing shifts at work specifically so he could see me more.
• He called and asked me to go on a date.
• He moved furniture for us
• He helped bale hay
• He served me breakfast in bed
• He took me to a ballgame
• He works so hard to provide for us
• He not only took the dirty laundry to the laundry room… he put a load in!
• He rubbed my feet
• He said he likes my new haircut

What are you thankful for?  Don’t forget to thank the Lord.

Tuesday’s With Jen – My Memoirs

In honor of Father’s Day, I should mention a few fond memories about my Dad:

• He used to let us ride in the truck (tanker) with him at night to help keep him awake while he was hauling oil for the road company.
• He always took a thermos full of coffee to work.
• He was a soldier in the US Army.  Served in Vietnam.  Was a Radar tech.  Now a veteran.
• He used to ride a motorcycle, a Kowasaki.  He hurt his knee because of that bike. 
• He used to cut wood on Saturdays and we children were in charge of gathering kindling in 5-gallon buckets.  We would toss the wood down the basement steps where he’d catch it and stack it.
• He used to give each of us kids a quarter at church to put in the offering plate.  If you were lucky enough to sit by him in church, sometimes he let you put the check in the plate too.
• He spent many weekend afternoons watching tv and cuddling with us kids on the couch.
• When I was in the hospital, he came home from his Army Reserve assignment and brought me a Strawberry Shortcake nightgown. 
• When he first met Keith, I found them on the front porch smoking cigarettes and talking about war.  They say you marry your Dad… right?
• He’s a baby-hog! 
• When the starter on my truck went caput, he helped me get it fixed and reinstalled it for me.
• He has his own unique sign-language.  When he’s at the dinner table and wants the butter, he points at it with his knife.  The funny thing is that we all understand exactly what he wants. 
• He walked me down the isle and looked like a million bucks that day!
• I remember the look on his face when he saw my new husband dancing to “I touch myself” at my wedding.
• He worked very hard all his life.

He’s my Dad.  I’m proud of him and I love him very much!

Selfless Sunday

This morning my husband served me breakfast in bed.  Need I say more?

Blessings Monday

My good friend gave us a dresser this weekend.  Thank you Amy.  Over the years we’ve only ever had a couple dressers.  We each had one from our childhood that didn’t quite make it in one piece from move to move There are a couple small dressers in our house that were here when we moved in, but not nearly enough space for our clothes.  We each also have 4 Rubbermaid tubs.  They are stacked two high.  The bottom ones have our out of season clothes and the top ones have our everyday clothes.  It’s not real pretty, but functions.  We haven’t ever found ourselves with enough money to purchase a new bedroom suite.  We don’t even have a headboard for our bed.  Oh well… we don’t need “things” you know, but sometimes it is nice to have some.  I’m delighted to have this new dresser.  I’m totally claiming it for myself.  (sorry Keith)  It has a lovely mirror with some little shelves and that’s just what girls want in a dresser. 

 

So this Monday morning I’m counting the blessing of good friends with generous hearts and LOVING my new dresser! 

Saturday Savings and Meal Planning

Ok.  I admit it.  I am not the least bit motivated to do my grocery shopping.  It’s storming outside, hot inside, and I just feel like doing mostly nothing right now.  UGH.  Maybe if I plan my meals for the week I can map out what I need from the store.

 

1)  Stir-fry.  I’ve been making this about once per week for a while now.  It’s good because it’s almost all vegetables and as I said last week… we need to consume more of those.  Hmmm…. what kind of meat shall I use?  So many choices.  I have chicken, pork, and beef in the freezer so it could go any direction.

2)  Breakfast.  Another almost weekly idea. It’s either eggs, bacon, and toast OR pancakes.  This is one of those meals I make when I just don’t have a lot of time to slave over a meal.  It’s quick and easy and that suits me just fine.  I can always serve it with a side of fruit or glass of juice.

3)  Beef Roast.  I have a small roast in the freezer.  It’s a perfect crock-pot idea.  Hmmm… should it be BBQ, or Mushroom, or French Onion flavor?  OR… I could turn it into a stew.  I even have the potatoes and carrots already.  Hmmm…  I’ll likely serve this with mashed potatoes and green beans.

4)  Chicken & Dumplings.  Now here’s one I haven’t made in a very long time.  Again, I have just about everything I need to make this.  Maybe I should get some frozen peas & carrots to dump in it?  That sounds yummy. 

5)  Pork chops.  BBQ or Garlic???  I might serve this with rice and a vegetable, maybe broccoli?  I have some rice mixes but need to pick up some plain white rice.  I like Jasmine rice or Sticky rice the best. 

6)  Grilled Cheese with tomato soup and a side of fruit. 

 

So my grocery list is short again thanks to my full freezer and well stocked pantry.  I will need milk and snacks like cheese sticks, yogurt, some fresh fruit & veggies and the dreaded chips (especially for the Hubs).  YAY!  I did it!  Now I just need to look at the ads to see what great deals are out there that I shouldn’t pass up! 

Nature: Waldo

Foto Friday - FAVORITE

This weeks theme proves to be as difficult as any of the others.  It’s HARD to pick just FOUR favorites! 

I took this photo of a fading sunflower in the fall as the sun was setting.

 

My niece, Gayle.  She is so beautiful.  I love the splash of color.

 

The kind eye of my precious Penny. 

 

Wizard… so majestic. 

 

For more FAVORITE Foto Friday entries, head over the Rebecca’s blog. 

Thankful Thursday

I recently decided that I would embark upon a project to purposefully record things that I am thankful for.  On my computer I set up an Excel document entitled “Thankfulness” and saved it on the desktop so I would see it each time I turn the computer on.  It has 4 columns of note.  The date, three general things I’m thankful for during that day, and at least one thing I’m thankful for about my Handy Hubby.  This project is also helping me to be deliberate about being grateful for my sweet husband.  You know when you live with someone for so long, after a while life seems mundane and we forget the sweetness of just loving one another and loving on one another.   Here is a snippet of what I’ve recently been thankful for:

• Ladies in my Bible Study that pray with and for me
• Milking cows
• Making and remembering precious memories
• Yummy cookies that my Mom made for us
• The site of my pony leaping up in the air
• Quiet morning with a cup of peach tea
• Shopping in a Quaint town
• Running Water
• The sound of children filling the barn
• The sound of the rain
• cuddly kitties
• Fresh donuts
• Veterans and those serving our country
• Drugs that ease my pain and fight infection
• New tomato plant
• Loaner vehicle
• Exercise (whoda-thunk-it?)
• Sunshine

Sweet thankfulness about my Handy Hubby:

• He called me just to talk. 
• He apologized to me.
• He drove me around.
• He kissed my forehead before bed.
• He tucked me in.
• He recharged the A/C in my car
• He’s my soldier (veteran).  I’m so proud of him.
• He ran errands for me.
• He took me on a date.
• We had another date.
• He rubbed my feet.
• He picked me a daisy while we were horseback riding. 
• After 10 years, he still tells me he loves me at least 3 times every day.
• He weeded our flower garden.
• He snuggled with me in the morning.
• He dreamed with me.
• He works hard.
• He shared a dessert with me.
• He noticed my new haircut and says he likes it.

Wednesday’s Coupon of Wisdom – C.O.W.

This is just something very simple that I’ve been thinking about lately:

 

When you pray for something… don’t just sit back and wait.  SEEK IT!  For example, if you are praying for better eating habits… don’t buy junk.  If you are praying for a better marriage… work on it!    Don’t just say it.  Do it!

Tuesdays With Jen – My Memoirs

This past week was hot, for me anyway.  When it gets up to 80 degrees plus, I’m miserable, especially when there is no air-conditioning.  The other day I was thinking, reminiscing, about my sweet Gram Ditties.  She lived in an older trailer and for most of it’s time it had NO air conditioning.  She had a couple fans, but nothing that did anything more than move around a bunch of hot air.  It was sweltering in her trailer.  She had her ways of dealing with the heat.  She would put on her “house-coat” which was basically a very light robe of sorts that zipped or snapped up.  She kept glass drinking glasses in her freezer so when you poured a cool drink it was ICE COLD, like a frosted mug.  She’d sip ice water and sit on her swing in the shade of the trees in her backyard.  Why can’t I be so content in this heat?  Maybe I should try frosted glasses of ice-water?  She may have been on to something there!

Blessings Monday

A few weeks ago, I noticed that the air conditioning in my 2006 Toyota Corolla wasn’t working. I’m all about saving a buck, so I went to the auto parts store and bought a can of the refrigerant to recharge it. Boy was I glad, because otherwise we were going to take the Big Bird (Hubby’s truck) on vacation and that would suck up a lot of gas. As it goes, I was SOOOO glad to have a/c in my car again. I do NOT enjoy the heat and I don’t care to be windblown when I’m going to work. That lasted only a few weeks. It’s blowing hot air again. Oh drat! I wonder how much it will cost to get it fixed? I wonder how hot I will let it get before I am crazy enough to find out? I’m so disappointed.

And thus I am counting the blessing of a/c in general. What would I do without it? Our home is HOT, but we have a/c in the upstairs bedroom. That is where the house is most bearable right now. The coolness of that room reminds me of how blessed we are to enjoy it.

Visit Amazing Graze Farm for more.

Selfless Sunday

A friend of mine recently bought her first home.  She’s a single mom of two lovely young ladies.  I helped her move.  It’s times like these that remind me of what a blessing it is to have the Big Bird (hubby’s truck).  I wanted one for so long and now that we finally have it, I enjoy sharing it with others who need it’s use.  It’s a great feeling.  

Saturday Savings & Meal Planning

Does it count as saving if you just plain don’t do the grocery shopping?  Or does that just make it double next time?  UGH.  I’m going through a very unorganized phase.  I know that’s hard to believe.  Ha Ha.  I haven’t been keeping up with my weekly planning and shopping as I used to.  Don’t get me wrong, I do some shopping.  It’s just not the frugal cheapskate coupon-clipping wizard I was for a while.  I need to get back at it because we saved so much those days. 

 

So meal planning:  (in random order)

1) breakfast:  either eggs & bacon or pancakes

2) personal size pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, & mushroom)

3) Stir-fry (chicken or pork with LOTS of vegetables)

4) Buffalo Chicken Salad

5) Ravioli with side salad

 

So what do I need to put on my list?  A little bit of stir-fry meat and some salad makings.  That should do it!  I have everything else. 

 

I’m realizing that I need to increase our vegetable consumption.  I need to step away from the bread-filled meals like sandwiches.  I like sandwiches because they are quick and easy.  I want to make a pot of soup, but it’s just way too hot and sticky to even go there right now.  Sometimes I think it would be good to add more fruit, but honestly, so much of it doesn’t agree with me.  Kiwi and pineapple burn my mouth.  Bananas are squishy and smell funny.  Pears have a funny texture.  I like apples and grapes, but tire of them easily.  I love melon, especially in the summer, but my Handy Hubby does NOT.  Anyway… at least I realize what would be a good change for us… more vegetables.  BRING ON SUMMER… I can’t wait for fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, beans, zucchini, and more!