Blessings Monday

Last week was a particularly stressful.  Work stress was the brunt of it.  I’m so thankful to have a boss who’s got my back.  It all ended up swell.  I was all set to study for my certification exam this afternoon, but do you know what?  I’m just TIRED.  I’m all spent on regs at this point.  I’m glad our survey has passed and that we were deemed to have done a good job.  YAY!  There were many answered prayers this week!  I LOVE IT!!!

 

Keith’s schedule has been flip-flopped to overnights at a different store the last couple of weeks.  He doesn’t mind helping out where there is a need, but it’s weighing on his life.  His sleep schedule is all fussed up and he’s missing the routine of home-life spent with me.  I admire him for being able to accommodate the need of his employer.  I’ve reminded him that he’s making a good impression on some people by being the willing and available one.  I appreciate his dutiful making of a living to support us in our endeavors as a family.  I also appreciate the blessing of added shift-differential he’s getting while working nights. 

 

Albeit odd, sometimes the ability to stretch out diagonally across the bed at night is a blessing.  Not having to fight for a fair portion of blankets, pillows, and space can be a blessing.  I’d much rather be cuddling and snuggling, but I’m one that can find the good in all situations. 

 

Finally, we were blessed with the lovely company of the Zom’s for dinner tonight.  As is our custom, we enjoyed dinner and interesting conversation at Olive Garden.  YUM!

 

Thank you Lord for provisions, patience, peace, and good times.  This has been a busy and interesting week.  I’m blessed to know your presence every step of the way.

Saturday Savings & Meal Planning

I worked the Farmer’s Market today.  I got some meat as part of my pay and still walked away with some cash in my pocket.  SAWEET!

 

I’m so proud of myself.  I got about $100 worth of groceries today for $69.  Our standard weekly grocery budget is $60; however, last week we did NOT use any of it, so I do not feel bad spending some of it this week.  In that bundle I got SIX full-size tubes of Colgate toothpaste for FREE.  Anybody need toothpaste?  I don’t even use Colgate, but if they are giving it away for free… I’ll take it!  I’ll share it with whomever wants or needs it and what’s left I will donate to the food pantry.  Believe it or not, they do appreciate toiletries as well as food. 

 

After leaving the grocery store, I hit Rite Aid for a few deals.  I spent $12 and walked away with $7 in up-rewards for next week.  So really I only spent $5 out of pocket.  Not bad!  I got the last two bottles of Dial Nutri-skin lotion on sale this week.  I needed it SO BAD. 

 

So, looking ahead, I need to plan some meals.

 

1) Chicken n’ Biscuits w/ Salad --- Saturday Night Dinner!

2)  Olive Garden w/ Zom’s --- Sunday Night Dinner

3)  BBQ Meatloaf w/ potatoes & green beans --- Monday

4)  Gorton’s Fish Fillets & Salad (just salad for me) – Tuesday

5)  Pork Roast w/ Sauerkraut in the Crockpot --- Wednesday

6)  Eggs, Bacon, & Toast --- Thursday

7)  Cheese Pizza

 

Random fact:  I’m pretty much so addicted to Pomegranate Blueberry juice!  LOVE IT!!! 

Beautiful Sky

I love how the sun shines down through the clouds.  Awesome!

This is my favorite photo this week. 

2011 Hiking Commitment–Take 3

We planned ahead to go for a hike and by the time the day arrived we had invited our husbands to come along as well.  I was annoyed because I had planned to be out of work early to get my chores done and hoped to have a few hours of daylight to put some miles in.  As it goes… I got out of work late.  I asked Janet to take care of the ponies for me.  We were able to pound out a good 2.25 and then ran out of daylight.  We met at Tammi & Rich’s house.  We circled through the woods on their family’s farm and then a ways down the road as well. 

 

Tammi made baked spaghetti and salad and had Zanella’s chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  It was a delightful visit with friends.  We watched some of the truck race and enjoyed the company for a while before we departed.  All in all… a great evening with fantastic company. 

 

I can’t wait to go again!

Quick Weekend Jaunt

Keith and I set out for a quick hike today in search of some geocaches.  It was snowy.  The wind was blowing, but not too bad once we were under the cover of the woods.  I have to say that the terrain was a wee bit slippery because of the snow and ice, but we didn’t have much difficulty traveling. 

We hit the Rachel Carson Trail in Hampton Township.  We found two geocaches there.  One took some climbing down a hill and through some jaggers.  I cannot imagine trying to find this one mid-summer.  We made both finds in little time and hiked back to the car to motor on down to the next idea. 

There is a puzzle cache at the Hampton Township Community Center, but we decided we couldn’t put it all together today.  So we headed on down a little further to the Irma Knot Nature Area to look for the last one.  Unfortunately, after scaling the hillside and searching over and under just about every tree… we were NOT able to find it.  It’s just too snowy.  We’ll try that one another day.  The hiking in that valley is lovely.  There are bridges over streams, hills, and rocks, and wildlife. 

Overall, 2 out of 4 finds.  We talked about setting a goal to find a certain number of caches this year.  My hiking goal is with Tammi, because she and I cover miles.  When I hike with Keith, it’s usually shorter distances looking for treasures.  (although occasionally we’ll put in a good distance.) 

Any way you put it… it’s just good to be out exercising and enjoying each other’s company.  God’s creation has so much to offer!  I love it!

2011 Hiking Commitment–Take 2

Yesterday Tammi and I covered the 2nd hike of our 2011 200 mile challenge.  Jill came along too.  We covered 4.75 miles.  Tammi parked at the trail-head on Christly Road and then Jill and I drove to the trail-head near the park-office on Old 422.  The Weggeston Trail is a 3-mile hike one-way with a 1.5 mile loop at the end.  (plus a lil’ back-tracking in the middle)

Rain, freezing rain, and snow were all part of the forecast for the day.  As it goes, we were blessed with mostly pleasant weather.  Yes it was cold, but we warmed up quick and easy. 

There were a couple good hills.  Some places smelled like gas.  There are natural gas wells in the area.  We ran into a guy heading the opposite way who had two dogs.  We stopped to pet the puppies, but the little beagle was skittish.  After heading on our way for a good ways more, the dogs came barreling through the woods.  The beagle was hot on the trail of who knows what.  The bigger dog circled around us and then headed back from where he came, but not on the trail.  We thought for a few minutes that maybe the guy had gotten hurt, so we back tracked a ways until we found footsteps in the snow headed up the road we had crossed… that were obviously not ours.  Satisfied that they must be that guys tracks, we headed back on our way.  A short while longer we heard him calling the beagle… whew!  Glad to know he wasn’t lying in the woods somewhere.  We made another mile and a half loop and at that we were finished.  It was a GREAT HIKE!

By evening, and again this morning, I am a wee bit sore.  My hips ache, but overall I still feel pretty good.  It’s just a reminder that it was a worthwhile hike.  Can’t wait to do it again! 

Add this to our previous hike and we are now at 6.75/200.  Only 193.25 more to go!

Anyone Want to Claim Either of These?

Fusia/Siler and Black/Silver – both have platinum plated hooks.

Homemade Game–Take II

Sandy likes green.  Joyce says teal or purple.  Rachel wants purple.  And Denise says purple is her favorite, but she likes anything.  So…  Here’s something for my purple lovers…  just not sure which one to send it to:

 

Two down… a few more to go!

Homemade Game

On FB I agreed to send something that I’ve made home-made to 6 people in 2011.  Here’s my first item, for my friend Tammi:

A bracelet & earrings.  She said her favorite color is blue. 

 

FIVE more to go… 

Blessings Monday

I am very blessed to have a boss that has my back.  When we needed to leave town on a dime for a funeral… a few days before my big meeting… my boss accepted the load of responsibility to get everything accomplished for tonight’s big meeting.  He even updated me on Friday.  That made me feel better.  I made it back for the meeting and everything seemed to fall together nicely.  I really appreciate my boss. 

 

Thank you Lord for allowing me to work under the direction of a Godly man.  It is a wonderful blessing!

2011 Commitment

My girlfriend and I are making a pact to hike at least 200 miles together this year.  We are making our lists of places we want to hike and then we’ll put together a schedule.  I can’t wait to document this journey with her.  These will just be the hikes we do together… not counting miles we hike otherwise.  Yay! 

It’s Been Confirmed

We are officially crazy people!

We went geocaching again today, on the way home from Kentucky.  It was a whopping 7 degrees outside.  We are nuts!

 

It was fun tho.  We found 4/5 and swapped some travel bugs.  Not a bad day if I say so myself.  This really made the trip home more enjoyable.  We were disappointed to not be able to find the one at Cabela’s.  We will have to visit there again in warmer weather. 

We Must Be Crazy

It was –5 degrees when we woke up this morning.  That’s NEGATIVE!  By afternoon the balmy high was a whopping 23 degrees.  We had some trackable Geocaching bugs that we brought south with us intending to plant them far from where we picked them up.  This afternoon’s adventures took us out to do just that. 

 

The first find was easy, but it was just a log, not even big enough to leave any kind of trinket.  It was really close though, so worth it to stop. 

 

The second was a TB Hotel stop, near a rather large highway.  We found it with great ease.  We left two of our trackables and picked up one to hitch-hike north with us. 

 

The third and fourth caches we never found.  We blame it on the snow.  It’s hard to find something hidden in the woods when it’s significantly snow covered.  I thought it would have been nice to have snowshoes for this trek!  (still dreaming) 

 

The photo above was taken after we succumbed to defeat at #3.  The walk around the lake was really nice, even in the cold.  The sun was shining and I was in the best company.  I cannot wait to return in warmer weather to try this one again!

 

Now the house is empty… all have gone their ways.  Keith is playing poker with his cousins.  Tammy has gone out with her girlfriends.  Mom & Jim have gone out having special dinner invitations.  Me… I chose to stay home alone.  I’m beat.  I’m in need of some quiet.  I’m actually enjoying the solitude for the moment.   The dog isn’t thrilled to be left with me (of all people), but we exist harmoniously alongside one another.  He does his thing.  I do mine.  Sipping hot tea, perusing Face Book, and updating my blog.  Ahhh… peacefulness. 

Saturdays Saving & Meal Plan

My week was a bust.  I got NOTHING.  I saved NOTHING except the pennies that I did not spend because I didn’t get to do my weekly sales run.  I lost the Rite Aid Up Rewards that expired this week.  Boo hoo.  Oh well.  We had a family matter to attend to and we were glad that we could drop everything and go on a dime like we did.  I have coupons from last week to clip and should be getting more tomorrow as well. 

 

So then what’s on tap for meals? Hmm…

• Salad (hopefully what I left behind is still crisp and sweet)
• Beef Stirfry with rice
• BBQ Porkchop with mashed potatoes & veggie
• Grilled Cheese w/ soup
• Pancakes

What do I need to get?  Maybe a can of tomato soup and some milk.  That should do it.  YAY!!!!

Weekly Savings & Meal Planning

Once again, I hit Rite Aid at the last hour on the last day AFTER they had changed the signs and after most of the best deals were picked over and out.  Grrrr… I have to get there sooner next time!  I did get a couple good deals and I also did a quick grocery run as well.  I think we are pretty well set for the week.

 

Meals:

• Ham loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
• Beef Stir fry with Jasmine rice
• Spaghetti w/ red-sauce
• BBQ Pork chop (boneless) w/ veggie
• Chicken quesadillas

We have enough salad to have some with every meal and then some. 

Trying Something New

I went snowshoeing today.  It was great fun with fabulous company and the exercise is a plus!  I so enjoyed it.  Now I want a pair of my own.  Hmmm…. not sure when that will fit in the budget.  This was the first REAL hike in 2011.  One other night I went for a walk in the woods, but I think anything under an hour doesn’t really count as “hiking.”  I wonder how many miles I will cover this year? 

These snowshoes would really be a nice thing to have in my car.  Sometimes I don’t make it the whole way up the long driveway at the farm, so I walk up the hill.  These have grippy claw-like teeth on the bottom that work really well for traction. 

 

Have I mentioned that I’d like to have a pair of snowshoes?  I can dream can’t I?

Mid-Winter

Yes, it’s mid-winter now.  I don’t mind it.  It’s part of living in western Pennsylvania.  I’m blessed with the ability to witness the change of seasons and for that I am grateful.

I had NO IDEA how much snow actually accumulated from last night to now.  I was surprised to see how high it was piled upon our trash cans this evening. 

I’ve now shoveled our driveway, porch, and sidewalk TWICE.  Shoveling is good exercise.  I’m not sure if it’s good for my shoulder or not, but I’m relentless when it comes to shoveling.  As a matter of fact, since I did not have to shovel at the farm tonight, I could not wait to shovel the driveway!  I probably need my head examined, huh?

This last picture is purely for amusement.  I should have swept first.  Try to look past that…  Crystal is spinning around trying to catch the laser I bought.  It’s great entertainment.  I really need to make a video of her chasing it.  She goes around and around and around and around until she just can’t do it anymore.  Then she plops her body down but her head keeps bobbing around watching the light.  Too funny!

 

Ok then, enough useless talk for tonight.  There is a big bowl of salad and a cup of tea with my name on them….  I shall go enjoy them.

Jewelry #4 - Amanda's Pieces

Both of these pieces are sterling silver. The top one is sterling silver on platium-plated hooks. Amanda picked out the embelishments for these so I could make them for her. I'm sorry but the pictures do not do them any justice. The little silver balls are textured and very sparkly. I can't wait to give them to her.

Jewelry #3

Amanda went shopping at the craft store with me and picked out some things to make a pair of earrings that she wanted to have made. These two pair above were my trial runs before I made hers. Aren't they neat?!!!

Jewelry #2

I bought this horse-shoe embellishment w/ matching earrings after Christmas. I LOVE it. All I did was add some coupling rings and strung it onto a necklace I already had.

I've made two of these sets. They are flat blue marbl-ish beads. I gave one set of earrings away to someone I work with. She says she really likes them. I do too.

These purple and blue beads are probably some of my favorites. These were gifted to me by Keith as part of the kit he got me. I've made several sets of earrings out of these and a couple of wire wrap bracelets like the one you see here. I've given away a couple pair of earrings I made with these. LOVE THEM!!!