birthday blessings

Happy Birthday my Sweet Love,




May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

I love you. :)

WFMW: no more potato peelers

I don't know why my little picture isn't working but oh well.

Todays work for me wednesday will be one that I think many might appreciate.

My boyfriend HATES to make mashed potatoes because he cannot stand peeling them. Here is the solution, and it is super easy! Take all of your potatoes and with a knife score the potato peel all the way around the potato. Boil your potatoes for 15 minute then remove from boiling water and dunk in ice water for 10-15 seconds. Then pick up the potato and the peel will literally SLIDE right off.

You have to remember to put the potatoes back into the water for another 15 mintues or so so that they finish cooking though.

You know who taught me this? Mary Ann from Giligan's Island! Here is the link to the youtube video in case my directions didn't make sense.

Check out Kristen's blog We Are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

1,000 gifts list 157-161

On this sunny February morning I turn to my once a month post of my 1,000 gifts list. My heart is overwhelmed as I look at the pages of gifts, listed one by one. And I am even more overwhelmed as I contemplate all the missed gifts, the glossed over gifts, gifts that were lovingly placed in my life in which I was just to busy, to jaded, to lazy to notice. But here are some I did notice and I will continue to look and see the abounding gifts from the Father.

157) the hum of a sewing machine

158) raw material turning into something beautiful

159) soft glow of a candle

160) cute fabric

161) Nikki howling when jared plays the piano

beautiful

Just a few pictures from my trip to South Dakota this past summer. Can you tell why I love it so much?

Prayer Bench

I love the wisdom that I can glean from other bloggers. What a beautiful blessing to be able to click on a link and be inspired.

Ann Voskamp writes with words sent from heaven, I'm convinced. Her family has a prayer bench and I find it a beautiful and simple idea.

My Grandpa made me a hope chest and I have decided that once I have my own house it will be my own prayer bench. I love the way that Ann changes her bench to reflect the season. She did this and now this for lent.

Because I will be using my hope chest (the name is befitting is it not? a spot that will lead me and my future family to THE Hope)I will be able to store things inside of it. I'm thinking that it will be the perfect spot for my Jesse tree at Christmas, a resting spot for a Seder plate, the holding place for a menorah, and place for a box where sins can be quietly written then slipped into during lent.

I am excited to be able to create a space that will be a visual reminder to search out God and a beautiful way to train my children in the Truth.

Lent

Today was Ash Wednesday. I'm not catholic so that doesn't mean a whole lot to me.

However, in my heart I feel as though Lent should have a place in my life. But how? How do I work Lent into my non-denominatinal relationship with Christ? How do I make it so that it's not just something meaningless like giving up soda (which for some, might not be meaningless, but for myself, it would be.) I don't want to do something that will easily turn into a routine with no deeper connection with Christ. I don't want it to become legalistic. I want it to be a time where I am focusing my heart intently and intentionally on what Jesus did for me.

I think that it is important, especially for those who have grown up in the church, to take the things that we feel we know so well and to take a good, long, hard look and remind ourselves, no matter how many times I've heard it before, I still will not be able to fully comprehend or appreciate it this side of heaven. Growing up in the church I've heard it all before. And I find myself more and more tuning out in church when the pastor starts talking about something I already know. Just because I've heard it before doesn't make it any less holy.

After much internet researching and trying to figure out how other christians incorporate lent into their walk here is just a few recources that I found helpful.

Ann Voskamp reveals how she incorporates the forgivness we find due to Christ's death and resurection on their prayer bench- When Family Needs Fresh Start Making


Season of Dust- an article describing lent and the call that Christ gives His followers

The Upper Room Devotionals: This website gives you a devotional for each day. I especially love what their four goals for the lenten season are.

Refletions on Lent gives a much needed reminder on how and why we so joyously celebrate Easter. We tend to look at the happy ending but forget what Christ had to endure before the happy ending could occur.

The Challenge of the Lenten Season made me smile becuase I feel as though it was written just for me.

I believe that tomorrow I will head to the library and see if I can find any more books on lent. For now I will be partaking in the devotions from The Upper Room and trying to weave this foreign concept of lent into my every day walk with Christ.

WILMM: plays and musicals

Why I love my man reason #11

Yesterday my wonderful boyfriend and I celebrated Valentine's Day. Yes, I am aware that we were three days early, but that's what we wanted. We wanted to be able to spend a nice evening together without paying through the nose just because the date was the 14th of February and we also didn't want there to be hoards of people.

I really enjoy plays. REALLY. I'm also really starting to enjoy musicals, which at one point in timne I didn't. I think the fact that it is live is what makes the difference for me. I don't mind going and seeing it on stage but I don't want to watch a movie that's a musical. Unless it's "The Sound of Music," because that movie is just spectacular. I digress. ANYWAYS. The point is that I love going to plays and musicals. My boyfriend...not so much. But he takes me anyways!

Last year he took me to see, "Wicked." Which, might I add, was AMAZING! Yesterday we went and saw, "All Shook Up," a cute little musical that features music from Elvis.

I'm so glad my boyfriend loves me enough to go to plays and musicals with me, even if they're not his favorite. :)

WFMW: Brian Regan

My family loves to laugh. We laugh long and hard and often and (a good ammount of the times) at each other.

Unfortunaly, not a whole lot of comedians are clean enough to listen to without wondering who else is around.

Our family has a winner. His name is Brian Regan and he is HILARIOUS. He's jokes are clean, his language is clean, and he pokes fun at every day things. Everyone I've introduced to his acts love him.

In fact...don't tell my sweet boyfriend...but he's getting a Brian Regan DVD for Valentines Day. :)

If you want to preview his stuff check him out on youtube. You won't be dissapointed! While you're at it, check out Kristen at www.wearethatfamily.com and learn more works for me wednesday tips!

WILMM: memories

Why I love my man reason #10

Maybe it's because I've been home sick for two days and have had nothing better to do with my time. Maybe it's because I read people's blogs who actually have SNOW right now (it's 75 degrees where I live right now...). For whatever reason I have started looking up things about South Dakota again.

As I continue to research the city that I went to this past summer a flood of memories washed over me. The entire trip was wonderful, my sweet boyfriend was with me and my goofy brother and his buddy came along. We were all together the entire trip except for one day when boyfriend and I went sightseeing and left the other two at our cabin (upon their request). I was a little bit worried about leaving them all day because my brother's friend is deathly allergic to bees and I envisioned coming back to the cabin with firetrucks and ambulances surrounding it.

By the time we were done seeing the sights it was nearing dinner time. I wanted to go back to the cabin and make sure the boys were ok but Jason wanted to go get dinner. He could tell that I was worried about them so he suggested going back to check but then insisted that the two of us, just us, needed to get dinner.

We ate at a very quaint little family style resteraunt (that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of). The food was good, but the company was better. It was nice just to sit across from the man I love and share a meal with him. I felt honored and blessed that it was so important to him to take me out so that we could have dinner together alone.

After dinner we went to this very whimsical ice cream parlor for dessert.

It looks much brighter in person. And yes, that is a pink and purple pig on the porch. And let me tell you, this place was hopping. It was pretty late at night when we went, about nine at night or so but there were a LOT of people. I had a slice of peanut butter pie and Jason had ice cream. It was fun to just sit and watch because a lot of the locals came in and talked to the people working behind the counter. It was a true small town feeling. :)

I didn't take any pictures while we were there but I'm sort of glad. It is something that is very vivid in my memory and means a lot to me.

WFMW: homemade cat cone

I have a cat. Her name is Smokey. I've had this kitty for over 13 years. Recently she got this gross, gaping would on her side right where her back leg meets her torso. I've done everything to keep her from licking her wound and making it worse. Everytime it starts to heal she re-opens it. I've covered it with bandaids and gauze and fabric, you name it. She always manages to get to it.

I'm home sick today from work and I was petting her and noticed that she started to lick herself raw on the OTHER side. I think she's going crazy.

I contemplated taking her to the vet to get a plastic cone thingy but I don't feel all that well and I knew they'd want to charge for other stuff as well. So i figured I could make something. How hard could it be?

My solution? A styrafoam plate! I cut a straight line into the center and then made a hole big enough to go around her neck but not so large that she could pull her head through. Then I gently pulled it apart so I could get it around her neck and used medical tape to tape the straight like that I cut. TA DA!

She sat in the exact same position for over 10 minutes. As I write she's sitting on my couch looking very grumpy.

Hooray for homemade cat-cone-no-licking-collar-things!