Wise Words about Fear

(click on picture for a closer view)

I Stink

I Stink At......

1. whistling

(can.not.do.it.at.all and please do not try to teach me)

2. saying no

3. eating vegetables

(other than green beans, spinach, and peas)

4. telling someone when I am upset

(regardless of who it is or why I am upset)

5. videotaping

(because I tape like I talk- super fast)

6. asking for help

7. keeping my closet clean

8. moping the floor

9. growing anything

(plants, flowers, trees, shrubs, etc. - I have the black thumb of death. Seriously.)

10. forgiving myself

What do you stink at?

Monday Morning Question of the Day

Madison told me yesterday that some of her friends

(including Dory's sweet girls Luby and Beebo)

think it's odd that

I always have on makeup including lipstick.

I guess that kind of surprised me because lots of women

wear makeup so it doesn't seem that strange to me.

It's not like I look like this:

The more I thought about it the more I wondered about it.

Hence, today's question(s) of the day.

1. Do you wear makeup everyday?

2. Do you think it's strange that some people do wear it all the time?

I obviously do wear makeup all the time.
Every single day.

I am NEVER EVER in public without makeup-

unless it's 5am and I am at the gym.

(not that I have been there in a sweet forever)

If you were to see me out in public I would have my face on including lipstick.

I think that this stems from a something that a silly boy said to me in the 9th grade.

It was a tiny statement made by a boy I was "going with"
and I know he wasn't trying to be ugly

but it's a comment that has stuck with me for 25 years.

I was on the drill team and it was the morning

after our first football game of the season.

I was up way too late and early the next morning

the youth group from church kidnapped us and took us to breakfast.

Of course I did not look my best but neither did anyone else.

I walked over to my boyfriend Henry and

the first thing he said when he saw me was

"Man you sure do look different without makeup".

And I've been wearing it ever since.

Sunday Morning Inspiration

Pretty Clothepins

I've seen some altered clothespins around blogland before and

so I decided I would give them a try myself.

They were super easy, took very little time, and turned out super pretty!

Supplies:

• clothespins
• spray paint
• scrapbook paper or old paper
  (I used a few pages of a hymnal for some of mine)
• rubber cement or glue of some sort
• a paper cutter or scissors
• ribbon to match your scrapbook paper
• a sanding block
  

So at the suggestion of my sweet husband I first clipped all of the clothespins to wire hangers then hung them in the garage and he spray painted them for me.

This worked great to easily paint both sides of the clothespins.

I then measured the front of one clothespin

and cut out scrapbook pieces that were the same size.

Next I glued a piece of paper to each clothespin using rubber cement.

I love rubber cement because you can easily reposition a piece of paper

if it does not go on correctly the first time. It's very forgiving!

After the glue dried I used a sanding block(sand paper would work also) to distress the edges of both the paper and the clothes pins. The sanding block is a little easier on your paper than sandpaper so it was perfect for this project.

Then I tied on the matching ribbon and voila- they were done!

I think they look super cute hanging on my shutter fireplace screen

and on my inspiration board above my craft table.

Randomness on a Wednesday Morning

There is randomness swirling around in my head this morning. Of course that is usually the case, but there seems to be more than normal today so I decided to share. :)


-I am not one to eat fast food very often- it's just not my thing. But the other day while coming home from out of town I realized I hadn't eaten all day and so I stopped and got a Happy Meal at that fast food restaurant that starts with a Mc and ends with a Donald's. Have you seen the Happy Meal drink lately? Seriously. It's like a Dixie cup with a lid. It must have all of about 4 ounces of Diet Coke in it. I wouldn't call it a Happy Meal....I'd call it a I'm-Still-Gonna-Be-Thirsty-When-I-Finish-This-Meal.

-Yesterday morning I arrived at work and threw away the EVIL candy pumpkins that were hiding in my desk. I was resolved that I was done with those yummy things for good. Of course my resolve later in the day- when I was exhausted and worn out- fizzled. And I'm embarrassed(mortified) to say that I dug through that trash can (which had nothing but the pumpkins and one piece of paper in it) and pulled out those stinkin' pumpkins and ate 5 of them. How pitiful is that? Seriously seriously sad. (Lesson for next time: throw EVIL candy in a trash can NOT in my office).

-Wouldn't it be cool if people can with instruction books? When you met them for the first time they would shake your hand and hand you a book with all the details about them- their likes, dislikes, quirks, habits, preferences, etc. Wouldn't that be fabulous?

-Why is it that if I wake up super early I'm wide awake and yet it never fails that about 10 minutes before I actually have to get up, I fall back asleep into a DEEP sleep? What is up with that?

-Why is it that when we do something unexpectedly kind for someone and they are so very appreciative, it doesn't seem to spur us to do more kind things? Why do we always have to make a conscious, concerted effort to do kind things?

-If you need a good laugh today- check out this website: People of Walmart. It's a site full of real pictures that people have taken in that W store of the oddly dressed people one often sees there. Some of them are absolutely hysterical!! (A word of warning- the language on the site is occasionally questionable)


Okay your turn.

Share something random with me so I don't feel alone in my random thoughts. K?

Wise Words

(Click on the image for a larger view- it wouldn't post any larger than this!)

Monday Morning Question of the Day

If we lived in a perfect world and calories didn't matter

so you could eat anything you wanted, whenever you wanted,

what would you choose to eat for dessert?

For me I think it would be a toss up between

cheesecake and apple pie.

YUMMY!

New Math

New Math by Craig Damrauer

E.V.I.L.

Candy pumpkins are E.V.I.L.

A tool of Satan for sure.

The Blessing of a Bell

I've always loved traditions and I started a new one the year after my sweet mother died. Although I treasure this tradition, it is very difficult for me talk

about because it's very personal and means so much to me.

The Christmas before my mother died,

I bought her a sterling silver bell necklace.

I found these bell necklaces at a cute little gift store here in my town.

They are created by the Jewelery John Company and are absolutely beautiful with incredible details. There are over 40 bells in the collection and

each one has a different, distinctive, and beautiful ring.

Each bell comes with a card that explains the details on the bell and is just about as important as the bell when giving one as a gift. When I saw these bells, I knew my mother would love them. I purchased one of the first bell necklaces- the Nestled Hearts Bell- which is shaped like a Hershey's kiss.

The card that comes with this bell says:

Let this love bell gently ring to remind you just how much you are

thought of and loved! It's shape is that of a chocolate kiss, with a small heart for the clapper and an open heart for the bail. Let this Nestled Hearts Bell be an expression of my love.

To say that my mother loved the bell is a huge understatement.

She adored it and wore it all of the time.

She wore it every time she went to the hospital for chemo because

each time she heard it chime, she said it was a great reminder of how loved she was.

Once she found out there were many different kinds of bells, she told me

that from then on I could buy her a new bell for Christmas each year.

Before the following Christmas arrived however,

she died after a valiant 10 month battle with lung cancer.

As that first Christmas approached, I was so very sad and wasn't sure how I was going to get through the holidays without my precious mother. She LOVED Christmas and I couldn't imagine celebrating without her. As I did my Christmas shopping I thought of the bell that I would not be able to buy for her that year and it just about broke my heart.

After many tears and talks with God I decided that I would buy a bell for my mother- I would just give it to someone else. I decided that each year I would buy a bell necklace for someone that I considered a fabulous mother and give it to them in honor of my fabulous mother.

And so each year, I purchase a new bell and give it to someone who is a blessing to me and is an example of a wonderful mother. Each year when I go to the gift store to pick out the bell I shed many tears- (along with the store owner who knows what I am doing and why) but always feel like God leads me to the perfect bell for the perfect person. I love seeing the ladies I have given these bells to wearing them- and it blesses me every single time.

My sweetest friend Dory wears hers every day and I love that so much.

This past weekend I was at a local craft show and was

so shocked to see a display of the bell necklaces.

I literally ran over to them and starting looking at all of the different bells.

I started talking to the man behind the counter and quickly realized that it was

the creator and owner of the company-

Mr. Jewelry John himself.

I could NOT believe it!

I told him the story of my mother's bell

(that I was wearing that day- isn't that awesome?)

and he was so very kind.

I explained how much I loved his bells and

how very much they had blessed me. He told me the story behind many of the bells and we chatted for quite awhile. As I was about to move on-

he told me thank you for stopping by and that meeting me and

hearing my story had been a blessing to him.

He gave me a catalog which I put in my purse and

didn't think of again until I got home later that afternoon.

I pulled out the catalog to show Madison as I was telling her

the story of meeting John, and as I was looking

at it I noticed a handwritten note on the back.

While we had been chatting he wrote the note before handing it to me.

What a precious blessing!

Monday Morning Question of the Day

If someone were to look at your DVR and see the shows that you taped,

which ones do you think would surprise them?

In our house we have two DVR's.

Tony tapes things on one and I tape things on the other.

Although some of the things he tapes are obviously his -

like hunting shows and car racing- some are not quite so obvious.

If you were to look at the listing on those DVR's

you would most likely confuse some of the shows that he taped,

thinking they were mine instead.

He tapes So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars

while I tape 48 Hours Mystery and Dateline.

What about you?

The Wife Song

Chalkboard Paint Use #243

It's no secret that I LOVE chalkboard paint.

I've used it to paint plates, to paint frames, and even to paint the inside of my pantry door.

So when I saw these cute little jars at Michael's for only $1.00 each
(over by the wood and paint section- on the left side wall)
I knew that they would be perfect with a little bit of sprucing up using chalkboard paint.

So I brought them home and using a little blue painters tape-

taped off a small rectangle on the front of each one. Then I painted the little rectangles using a foam brush (a must when using chalkboard paint). It took many coats (probably 5 or 6) with lots of drying time in between to completely cover the area since it was on glass. When they dried and I pulled the tape off- a bit of paint had seeped under the tape. I just used a small exacto knife to scrape the extra paint off and they were good to go.

Once they dried I filled them with some items from my spice cabinet that I use frequently.

I went from the shelf in my cabinet looking like this
to this Aren't they cute?

And for only $4.00 they were a super simple and super easy project that I can change anytime!

Tell Me A Story?

I love a good story.

Will you tell me one please?

There's only one catch.....you have to tell me a whole story in

ten

words or less.

Can you do it?

Joy

What's one simple thing that brings you joy?

Mary Beth's Apple Cake

My sweet friend Mary Beth recently had a birthday. Back during the summer she shared her favorite cake recipe with me and so I made it for her on her birthday. And oh my goodness- it was AWESOME! A super moist cake that does NOT need icing of any kind. It's the perfect for the fall and would also be fabulous for breakfast!

Mix well:

1½ c wesson oil

2 c sugar

2 eggs

In separate bowl, mix together:

3 c flour

1 t salt

1½ t soda

1 t cinnamon

Add to wet mixture and mix thoroughly.

Add:

3 c fresh chopped apples (Golden delicious)

1 c chopped nuts (pecans)

2 t vanilla

Bake 1¼ hrs at 325 degrees in a floured 9 x 13 pan.

Here is what Mary Beth had to say about the recipe:

This recipe was given to my Mom by two sisters in Searcy, Arkansas in the 1950's. They had it handed down to them from their mother who received it from her mother. So it is very old. It's my favorite birthday cake and does not require icing. It gets more moist by the day.

Monday Morning Question of the Day

or

Do you find it's easier for you to say

Yes or No

when someone asks you to do something?

Does it depend on who is asking you?

1. When your spouse asks?

2. When your kids ask?

3. When a co-worker asks?

4. When a friend asks?

For me, it is easier to say yes.

Always easier to say yes.

Although I am learning, slowly and baby step by baby step

to say no sometimes.

As a people please, that is HARD.

What about you?