Be Strong and Courageous

I know that there is a natural schedule of sorts that dictates my days but a specific purpose, not so much. On any given day I have dozens of things I would like to accomplish, yet at days end, I know that I have failed in some of that. I look toward this Easter Weekend with a thought that keeps coimng back to me from Scripture - Jesus turned toward Jerusalem and never looked back. His purpose was to go to the cross. As I have taken that to heart, not to turn back or look to the left or to the right but focussing on the goal set before me. I have the means to accomplish all that is set before me every day, it is just the choice I need to make. I will not type out my 'goals' here today, but the list of my to do's and want to's is getting pretty long, and with out commiting to them in 'goal' form I know that I will continue to put them off. So pray for me that I can get all my desires down on paper and prioritize, so that I too may look toward them and n...

One of the things I love to do the most is be in the kitchen, I love to bake and I am learning new twists on some old favorite meals to love cook for my family more and more. We all have pretty simple favorites and style that get made a lot. We love Pastas, Chicken dishes, Salads and course desserts. Here are just a few photos of some of my faves over the past few years that I actually photographed. Enjoy! Apple Pie , Strawbery Torte Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frositng and Walnuts (hubby's fave) - Chocoate cupcake with homemade Buttercream Frosting Pancakes are a weekend treat, I even have take time to make 'Dutch Babies' Popovers for the kids on occasion. I am learning the finier cooking of whole chickens, acheiving the crispy outer edges is coming along. . One of our all time faves is Chicken and Stuffing casserole . Anything with Pasta  and a good sauce topped with crumb coating and cheese is delicious. Well like I said just wanted to share a love of mine. We...

It has been months since I have been able to attend the monthly Scrapbooking night that my friend's Erin and Amy put together in town. I got together with my girlfriend Nancy last month, just the two of us and finished 20 something pages, so I was excited to keep moving along. It was so much fun to catch up with them both a bit and get about 15 pages done. I am 4 pages away from completing 2005 and have high hopes of power laying out 2006 this week with spring break and no plans. I have a goal to be done with all my printed photos (2006-2009) and move onto more actual digital photos by the years end. I have continued to print my photos even though I am not current, bad habit from when they were actually on film I guess. I just love to look at them even though they aren't scrapped yet.I hope to be able to attend regularly and reconnect with the girls and just get back to enjoying this expressive outlet of mine. Things are really coming along in my scrap...

So Thomas the Tank Engine is one of our all time favorites at play times. I would love to get more track since there are 3 trains and they run over each other if Addysen gets them all up there at once. Playdoh has never been my favorite to clean up, how does it all get on the floor any way, but I love the smell and feel of it. I haven't done any pottery or molding since high school but get me some playdoh and I love to create the cute fun things that only my 5 year old can adore. Addysen of course loves to cut and mix colors all the time. Hearts are one of her favorites. Two of her favorite things to watch are Happy Feet, and Word World. She even caught them on the camera for you all to see. She even finds a way to take the camera when we are out visiting, so here you get to see Andrew in Wii mode at the Shepherd's home. Here Addysen is taking a self portrait of herself and her doll, whose name is also Addysen. Then we get to look at the close up of her toes and shi...

So last week I picked up the final touch for our tile project, the grey glass border peices. I took inspiration from the Home depot display, but really only wanted a 'bit' of sparkle in the kitchen.  So Monday night after dinner decided to knock out the project, well phase one any how. We still need to grout and to the touch up paint and seal it all. The tile does continue all the way around the tope edge of our already in place solid surface back splash. Last Friday I had a Scentsy Party and my hubby came home after running one of the kids into town with flowers for me. No Reason - just love you honey flowers. They were even my favorite Blush rose. I do love this man!!!God is so good!!!! On a totally differnt note, Addysen begged for green 'spinach' smoothies the other day and I obliged. Frozen pears and bananas, organic vanilla yogurt, OJ and you guessed it Spinach! The colder the better. So good for you and so high in iron and potassium - I love that my 5 y...

HOW TO DECLUTTER - MY FAVORITE WEBSITE FOR INSPIRATION So I love to organize, and at MOPS last week we studied the - Golden Retreiver, Beaver, Otter, ???? cannot remember the 4th one. And well you guessed it I am a Beaver - hence the organization - OCD in me revealed! And there is a whole blogging world out there about how to streamline everything in your life. If I did not spen hours reading about it I may get even more done. None the less!!!

We say this a lot, yet do we really consider all things good. Sometimes I question the outcome of an event, the not knowing what is to come of it and the why it had to happen this way. I am sure that 'most' of the things I have experience have been for the good of training me or correcting me, or leading me to be able to sympathize with others in the same boat. But truth be told some of the more major events in my life that 'happened' to me are still a mystery. I am not talking about choices I made that lead to out comes I did not like, but more about the events that happened to me by no action of my own. I know that I am who I am because of the events and choices I make daily are based on the known, but I still question the why some times and just have to remember that God is God and His ways are better. He knows what we meant for and uses all kinds of events to strengthen us or break us if needs be. I am just Thanking God today for the strength to do all that He sets ...