Living Simply for Him

Procrastination: A Constant Struggle

2012-01-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I find myself being very complacent. It's sometimes just kind of hard to find the inspiration to put one foot in front of the other. It isn't that life is hard or that I'm feeling depression or anything like that....it's just hard to figure out the next step.
I'm truly a person that loves to plan, plan, plan....I plan for where we'll be planting the seeds we will germinate to put in our garden, I plan on projects that I want to do, I plan out a good schedule for keeping my home neat and tidy. I plan menus with healthy recipes, I plan out a good walking schedule, I plan out the trips we'll need to make so we will save on gas.....I plan, plan, plan....but, what I don't always do though....is follow through!
Oh, I get so upset with myself because I don't stay on task. I know that I've not always been this way but I think I know what my problem is....I need a label...for me.
I think that I find myself at a stage of 'undefinement', yep that's not a word but it's me. I was a young wife, then a young mother, Sunday school teacher, Mother's Day Out teacher, CNS in a nursing home for a while...always some way to define who I was. Next, I moved on to being a 'homeschool mom' (my favorite definition!!!) but now those days are behind me and my kids are grown and moving on in their own directions. Hubby still works full time at Delta, he's been there almost 25 years. But, who is Judy?
I know I'm above all a child of God, He is the rock that is my Constant. God is and always will be the same, never changing. I hold that truth very, very deep inside me because I do not like change so my hope in Him is never, ever failing.
But, life is constantly changing and whether I like it or not I must change with it. My perspective really never changes but my goals and dreams sometimes seem beyond my grasp. Maybe what I'm saying is that I'm not where I thought I would be at this age, maybe I'm just dealing with a little mid-life time of questioning. I love my life, love my family fiercely and after a very difficult time of dealing with Katie's cancer last year I'm counting my blessings every moment of every day.
I'm not a person that says 'I wanted to do this and this by that age', that's not the issue, the issue is simply not finding 'my place in this world' for this moment.
I quit working full time many, many years ago and was blessed to be home to raise all of our children and homeschool them. Having a job is not an option because Dan has always wanted me to stay home and promised me years ago that I could always stay home, I love taking care of him and our little home so that is not in question.
You know I think that I've answered my own question, it isn't about who I am right now or who I should become. It's about finding contentment in the moment but making sure to keep a firm grasp on always planning and moving forward. If we don't have some sort of plan life can become stagnant and we can forget that we cannot be a light to the world if we keep our light under a bushel.
I am definitely a 'pioneering' mindset type of person and love doing things the 'old' ways. Yep, we make our own soap, lotion, candles, burn oil lamps, make our own clothes, household items, household cleaners, even build things in our wood shop, sometimes with power tools, sometimes without.
But, as we look to the old ways we must always have a firm grasp on reality. I love the work with my hands...but I also love my computer, Ipod, electronic sewing machine, serger, etc. It's all about keeping a good even balance in everything.
Well, now I'm off to do a few things on that homekeeping schedule, my procrastination is a problem only I have to power to overcome and that means putting one foot in front of the other! Self motivation!!! (hope it lasts!!!LOL)

Healthy New Beginnings: Two January Choices

2012-01-13T21:15:00.000-05:00

In our quest to really work on living a more healthy lifestyle we have really researched some choices for changes that would work for us right now. Some things are a goal for the future but not workable now due to lack of availability of fresh items so we'll discuss those later.

The first change we made involved a comment from my dear friend Sandy about fermented Cod Liver Oil. She had done some research and started her son Shaun on it, Shaun has some issues from Autism and also said she started taking it herself. I haven't heard how things are working with them but look forward to hearing. Anyway, the more I read about this oil the more I realized that it was exactly what we needed for Katie, a super strong boost to her immune system (since her immune system is still low from being hit with the chemo and radiation) that is in it's purest form with no chemical issues. Sandy recommended the Oslo Orange flavor so that is what we got and Katie puts a few drops in some warm water and has it every morning, she calls it her morning tea and she really enjoys it. (Thanks Shaun and Sandy!).

We ordered this at http://www.perfectsupplements.com/Green-Pasture-Blue-Ice-Cod-Liver-Oil-Oslo-Orange-p/gp-clo-liq-orange.htm

The second change we made was a green morning smoothie. This was something we learned from the West girls at Homestead Blessings. We have all of their DVD's and learned how to make this from the Art of Cooking DVD.

click on the DVD to go to the ordering page through Franklin Springs Media, also you can watch a clip of the DVD there.

The smoothie consists of frozen bananas, milk, spinach leaves (or any fresh greens) and we add a full tablespoon of Spirulina powder, also ordered this from Perfect Supplements. You blend all items in the blender until smooth, pour and enjoy! It's so smooth with the frozen bananas but it is very green in color, didn't bother Katie and I as we figure we can drink anything as long as it's healthy but....our fellows wouldn't have anything to do with it, but we'll trying! We also ordered some Acai powder and will be trying that in a smoothie soon.

Those are our changes for January and we're sticking with them very well. I really want to lose weight but especially want to be healthy, I'm 51 and only have this one body this one time so I want to do the best I can with it.

Frugality, Simplicity & Faith

2012-01-06T22:49:00.001-05:00

Peaceful, beautiful, such calm and simplicity.

I was reading an ebook I purchased awhile back by Patrice Lewis and found the link to an excellent website. It's called livingonadime.com and it is chock full of simple homemade ideas and so very many frugal thoughts.

I've spent way too much time reading articles there today, tried reading from my ipod touch but that screen was just too small!! So I moved on to my desktop computer, I've held back printing out all the things I want but will go back tomorrow and see what I can just write down.

One of my goals this year is to work very hard on recycling. I tend to print out way too many things and not only does that use up my printer ink but I so often forget to highlight and print out the selection, wasting so much paper! Anyway, I have a nice big legal pad next to my keyboard so I can jot down ideas or recipes without printing so much out.

2012 is my year of working hard on sustainability, frugality, preparedness and especially reaching out to help others.

Most importantly, I need to read the Word daily and spend time talking to my Lord and Savior. The Lord is my rock and my constant.

Simple Steps to Stop Procrastinating

2012-01-05T22:56:00.001-05:00

27 Ways to Stop Procrastinating

Get started.
Be realistic about the time it takes to do something, never as long as you think.
Work with time available.
Use small amounts of time.
Carve out time.
Don't always start at the beginning - just do some part.
Do worst first.
Set small deadlines.
Small reward for each deadline met.
Do things as they occur to you.
Is there a simpler way?
What's the worst thing that will happen if you do it?
Do nothing - try looking at it for a full 15 minutes.
Clear work area of everything else.
Make workplace convenient.
If I don't make deadline no treat.
Listen to your mood.
Plan a reason to get motivated (invite someone over).
Seize opportunities.
To do is must do.
Tell someone else your deadline.
Expect problems to come up that will keep you from getting it done.
Don't stall - expect to do a GREAT job.
Get back to people - even to say 'I don't know yet'.
Ask for help.
Use leisure time for leisure.
Maybe procrastinating means you really don't want to do it at all.

Jesus!

2011-12-25T19:14:00.003-05:00

...unto us a child is given.

That says it all.

Today, I celebrate Jesus, He probably was not born on this day but I find nothing wrong with celebrating His birth today. Why not, I praise Him every day!

God Bless you all!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-12-07T14:39:00.001-05:00

To read more Daybooks and visit Peggy's blog click below:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Outside my window...Overcast skies, brown trees, the grass still has some green to it. Very cold, might have some snow soon!

I am thinking...how blessed we are to have a warm home and full bellies. There are so many that don't even have the needs this winter, the wants are so far beyond their reach. I pray we all reach out to those in need.

I am thankful...for feeling good. I've suffered for a couple of days with a headache, very frustrating.

From the learning rooms...learning all about using my ipod touch, Katie got a new one so I am blessed with the 'old' one!

In the kitchen...not sure just yet, have to do some changing things around on Dan's off days. He usually has an idea for something different than our plans.

I am creating...Have two jumpers to make this week, also a new purse for me. I'm going to quilt some fabric and make me a quilted purse, made to my own specifications. I cannot seem to find a purse anywhere that is exactly what I want and need. Posted this last week and still need to make them. Added to this I now have to make an ipod touch cover for Katie and I.

I am going...tomorrow, we have the one month followup appt. with the radiation doctor.

I am wondering...if I'll ever get used to these cooler temps. The older I get the colder I stay!

I am reading...lots of different Christmas idea books and magazines, I keep the magazines I like from year to year and love looking at all the ideas. Especially the woodsy, country ideas.

I am hoping...to get working on my 'to do' list after feeling bad for a couple of days.

I am looking forward to...our little errands we have to run today, I get to use my new ipod with the new speaker system we got for the car.

I am hearing...Christopher and Katie discussing the European football game they're watching. The love Manchester United.

Around the house...clearing, tidying...simplifying!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week: decorating for Christmas, will be getting a 'real' tree after all since our Katie requests one.

A picture thought:

Our girl with her Manchester United scarf folded over her head. This is how she looks every game. Of course right now she has a cap on underneath since her hair is gone. But the good news is that it's growing back!!! Little by little!!!

Jesus forgave....can we?

2011-11-30T22:48:00.001-05:00

When our Katie was diagnosed with Lymphoma I found myself, typically, crying out in prayer. My heart was so very heavy and I had a fear that I’ve never known before. The unknown is always scary but especially when it is not you going through it but your child.

In my prayers I started to see myself as the Lord might be seeing me and I must confess I didn’t like what I saw.

I knew then that if I was going to petition the Lord to heal my child I needed to do some serious praying.....and listening.

The first thing I saw was how I had held onto a hurt from a few months before. Some things were said about me, they were very subtle but it was clear the intended target was me. I confronted the folks in this conversation (I’m all about getting things out in the open) and was told that it wasn't really about me. I was hurt and didn't want to let this go.

Fast forward to the weekend we received the Lymphoma news:

In my prayers I saw myself as the one holding a grudge and realized what I had to do.

I wrote a long letter to the one saying the things, absolving them of all the blame, I took it on myself and said that I misunderstood what had been said. I asked for forgiveness and said it was all my fault.

Anyway, I mailed the letter and have never heard a word back, I'm sure it was received but I was told they would probably ignore it.

They also have never called, sent cards or even asked about how Katie was doing, to this day they’ve still never acknowledged her Cancer.

So, the situation is no different from the standpoint of them and us. But, what’s most important is that I knew that I had to ask forgiveness for me, I needed to know that I could go to the Lord with as pure a heart as possible. I’m not perfect, I’m a sinner through and through but I’m also a Christian and I know that as a Christian I must be able to forgive and ask forgiveness, taking on the blame if the situation warrants it.

I tell you all this not because I think I’ve done a wonderful thing.....no, no, no, what I have done is to ensure that my heart is cleansed of anything that could keep me from Him. If I didn’t have Jesus I would simply cease to be, those aren’t just words, they’re the truth. Judy is nothing, Christ is everything.

I do challenge all of us to look closely into our hearts and undo any hurts that we possibly have caused or simply that others have caused but we’ve let those things fester until there is a separation from that person or just a silence, sadly I know there are those that I have hurt. We know that the Scriptures tell us not to harbor these things in our hearts, we are truly hurting ourselves much more than we could possibly hurt the other person. Below is a list of things that I felt led to pray about and clear up, I encourage you to do the same. I promise you it will ease your burdens, calm your spirit and lighten your heart but especially take away any stumbling blocks that would keep you from Him.

if others have hurt you and there has been no communication: open the wires of communication with a heartfelt ‘I’m sorry’, whether it be from a hurt you caused or simply because you’re sorry the situation escalated to the silence, I promise you they will be open to clearing things up.
if someone owes you money or made a promise they have not kept: forgive the debt or absolve them of their promise. This might be difficult, it might even be the biggest obstacle you could ever face and can’t imagine forgiving this. Do it anyway, not for the pride of being the bigger person but simply to keep the path to Christ clear for them and you. We do not ever want to be the stumbling block to someone else’s faith. Can you just imagine their surprise when you forgive this, it could be that they are really struggling financially or are simply not able to keep the promise, the relief they will feel will automatically cause them to thank Jesus and that’s exactly what we want.
if someone has slandered you: let it go and make sure they know that you have let it go. Tell them you’ve forgiven them, they may not accept the apology but your heart will be cleansed.
if I had 24 hours left to live and wanted to meet Jesus with a pure heart: who do I need to forgive, ask forgiveness from, apologize to or simply talk to so things can be cleared up? Maybe those folks have passed on, in that case we can do nothing but pray about it....but, I know that with most of us it is those closest to us, probably family...that we need to get things right with. The reason we have such strong feelings with family is because of the depth of emotion we feel with family, the hurts hurt worse and the love loves stronger, emotions just get put into overdrive.

I just want to encourage all of us to start the new year with a clean heart, knowing we don’t have to face these people and deal with awkwardness, silence or fighting. What a peaceful feeling we will have and when we pray, we’ll not have that nagging feeling inside knowing that we are holding on to things that we should not.

Most of you do not know this about me but I was married on my 18th birthday, the marriage ended after two disastrous years, most of that time we were separated. What you don’t know is that I was mentally, verbally and physically abused, I’m truly amazed I lived through it because a few times I was in pretty bad shape. Looking back I see that although I was not close to the Lord at the time, my sweet little Christian Mom was praying for me and I know that’s why I was not disabled or worse, thank you Jesus!

Anyway, I’ve never had contact with him since the divorce but I have forgiven him. I cried, I was on my knees crying out to the Lord, asking Him to take away the burden of it all, I forgave and have never ever thought about holding a grudge since. Believe it or not I cannot remember those times if I try to, the memories are gone but I know it happened. I believe the Lord took away those memories so I could move on, isn’t He just so merciful?

Anyway, our Katie is now cancer free. She still has things to deal with for quite a while but basically the treatments are over and have done their job.

What a year this has been, I wouldn’t want to live it over....but....I’m a completely changed person because of it. I no longer sweat the small stuff and as I know that everything can be fixed but death, I understand that most of the things I worried about before were so very insignificant. Yep, God is so very good!

To God be the Glory!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T22:09:00.001-05:00

The idea of no TV sounds wonderful to me! Sadly, dh does not agree! LOL

I pray we all have a blessedly simple Thanksgiving.

Full of love, family, hope, joy, peace and blessings.

I'm thankful for so much:

Jesus
Family
Good Health
Good Christian Friends
Freedom (only made possible through our armed forces)
Good medical care (courtesy of all the Dr.'s, nurses, NA, paramedics, etc.)
Safety (courtesy of our police forces, firemen, etc.)
a warm home
a very sweet and loving husband
three incredible grown children
so much more!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-11-21T21:52:00.001-05:00

To read more Daybooks and visit Peggy's blog click below:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Monday, November 21, 2011

Outside my window...Dark, very very dark. It's 10pm.LOL Without any city lights close for the ambient light, it is very dark outside.

I am thinking...about all the work we did today getting items together for the Vietnam Vets to pick up tomorrow, so nice to get rid of unnecessary items and to know others will be able to use them.

I am thankful...for the hope of tomorrow, and the next day and next day, etc....God is so good!

From the learning rooms...hoping to learn more about using my serger since we're moving it downstairs to my sewing space.

In the kitchen...roast beef sandwiches, onion rings, fries....yeah, we were thinking Arby's!!!

I am wearing...well, it's time for Pajamas.

I am creating...Have two jumpers to make this week, also a new purse for me. I'm going to quilt some fabric and make me a quilted purse, made to my own specifications. I cannot seem to find a purse anywhere that is exactly what I want and need. Posted this last week and still need to make them.

I am going...tomorrow, we are going to a local knitting store. Katie and I stopped in there a few weeks ago. We chatted with the owners while shopping and they were starting a class to make hats for chemo patients, they chose Katie for their inspiration and tomorrow we go to pick up her hat. Very nice folks.

I am wondering...if I will ever finish all my Christmas shopping....just kidding!!!LOL. I actually have no shopping to do, the only gifts we're buying are for our three and they all wanted one item so that's what they're getting, the rest of our gifts will either be handmade or a bit of cash for the younger family members. We've had a rough year with Katie's Cancer and decided that Christmas will be very, very peaceful. It's all about Jesus. No stress, no wasting money, no overabundance, no worries about who will like what.

I am reading...Simplicity Primerexcellent read, should be a must read for all of us! Still in the midst of reading SP but also reading a series called the Potluck Club Catering, funny and lighthearted reading.

I am hoping...to finish packing the items for the Vets, it's 10:10pm and I still need to close up some bags. Hate procrastinating!

I am looking forward to...Thanksgiving with our family. Last thanksgiving day I was very sick so this will be my first thanksgiving meal in 2 years!

I am hearing...Hayley Westenra playing on Katie's Ipod while she does a few bedtime chores, of course it's Christmas songs! Now, it's playing Andrea Bocelli, beautiful Christmas music!

Around the house...clearing, tidying...simplifying!!!

I am pondering...New ways of doing things, I really am trying to focus on simplifying everything down to the very basics. Still working on the basics, need to get it on paper so I can review as needed and keep things from getting too busy.

One of my favorite things...visiting with my dear mother in love. She's widowed now and doesn't get out much. Dan sees her quite often because he runs errands as needed for her since she doesn't drive (never has) and she lives close to the airport so Dan can stop as needed. Sadly we don't get over to her place as often as I would like, we'll be seeing her very soon though so we can put up her Christmas tree and deck those halls!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Thanksgiving with family. Such joy!

A picture thought:

my Tommy, oh how this mommy loves her babes! Even though those 'babes' are 27, 25 and 21!!! They'll always be my babes!

Five Rules to Be Happy

2011-11-17T20:42:00.001-05:00

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect Less.

Well now, how simple is that?

Does Anyone Cook Anymore?

2011-11-15T14:07:00.000-05:00

Katie and I had the opportunity to be treated to some nice meals last week. Once to Outback on Wednesday and then Texas Roadhouse on Sunday. It was a lot of fun and the food was good but we are so happy to be back to eating our homemade food.

Last night before bed Katie made up a batch of bran flake muffin batter and this morning she baked them up for us. Tonight for supper we are having Southern Greens soup with Iron Skillet Cornbread.

I say all this because every restaurant in our area is packed every single night, it is unbelievable, not only could we never afford that but doesn’t that get old real quick? When I say every restaurant I mean every one! We live on the outskirts of a fairly large town and there is an overabundance of restaurants and more going up all the time…and still folks flock there constantly.

Growing up my sweet little mama fixed us meals every single night, these were good hearty meals made from basic ingredients. Going out to eat was a huge luxury that might happen once every 6 months or so. Actually I can’t even remember us having very many restaurants back then anyway. Dan’s mother was the same way, they had the same basic meals over and over just like we did. With the prices of food going up I know that groceries are very expensive but it is so simple to make up a meal that I cannot imagine having restaurant food every night.

I grew up in the 60’s, remember having some restaurants in the 70’s and by the 80’s there were some more. By the 90’s we had drive thru’s everywhere and now it’s family style or high end restaurants on every corner. When will it end? I actually find the speed in which all this is happening to be kind of frightening, will there be any grass left in 100 years? What will our children’s children have left of our beautiful earth? I do think that the food network and others like it have brought folks back to the kitchen, maybe that will slow down this restaurant building trend. I truly think we must look to the past to remedy some of the problems we’re making for the future.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-11-14T16:12:00.001-05:00

To read more Daybooks and visit Peggy's blog click below:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Friday, November 14, 2011

Outside my window...Overcast, we're in for some storms. The temp is around 70 but will drop after today. Very windy, the trees are dropping the remainder of their leaves.

I am thinking...about our nice weekend, yesterday we were treated to dinner at Texas Roadhouse by my sweet parents. It was a celebration for Katie since her cancer is gone.

I am thankful...for Jesus, what would I do without Christ every single minute of every single day of my life? Too, too hard to even consider.

From the learning rooms...found a new recipe for homemade deodorant, can't wait to try it.

In the kitchen...Southern Greens Soup with cornbread.

I am wearing...comfy at home clothes.

I am creating...Have two jumpers to make this week, also a new purse for me. I'm going to quilt some fabric and make me a quilted purse, made to my own specifications. I cannot seem to find a purse anywhere that is exactly what I want and need.

I am going...today we are blessedly home with no errands to run!!! This is wonderful after going every day for three weeks for radiation and Dr. appointments.

I am wondering...if I will ever forget this feeling of Katie now being cancer free. This has been the most frightening thing we as parents have ever endured, but we have all learned so very much. The small things are so very insignificant!

I am reading...Simplicity Primerexcellent read, should be a must read for all of us! Still in the midst of reading SP but also just finished a fiction suspense by Erin Healy called Never Let you Go, I just finished it a few minutes ago so I'm not sure what to say about it. I couldn't put it down but was 'curious' throughout, definitely know it will be on my mind for awhile, I'll need to analyze it some more.

I am hoping...to just enjoy this week with no pressing appointments, also to finish up a couple of Christmas gifts, the time is getting near!!!

I am looking forward to...EVERYTHING!!! I refuse to dread anything ever again! I look forward to each next moment with such anticipation!!! This life of ours is such a wonderfully great journey!!!

I am hearing...the wind blowing through the windows, other than that it is very silent in our home.

Around the house...Purging of the old, making way for some empty spaces and less dust catchers!

I am pondering...New ways of doing things, I really am trying to focus on simplifying everything down to the very basics.

One of my favorite things...talking to my sweet little mama on the phone. Her and my daddy are so precious to us. We cherish them and I love that they love our sweeties so much! Family is everything to me!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Putting away the old, starting anew!

A picture thought:

a quilt image I found at Google, hope to use it for ideas and inspiration for a quilted wall hanging I want to make.

Homestead Blessings DVD's with the West Ladies

2011-11-13T21:34:00.001-05:00

The West Ladies of Homestead Blessings

During these past few months of Katie needing lots of rest, her and I started a nightly ritual of watching the Homestead Blessings DVD's that I purchased a couple at a time. We had always wanted to own them and this was the perfect time for us to enjoy them together. The West family live 'off grid' I believe, at least it seems that way from some of their comments. They are truly hands on people and love to make from scratch, make do, make naturally, etc. Katie and I have decided that if we knew them their mama Vickie and I would be great friends as I am interested in so many of the things she is and Katie would be friends with Jasmine, Hannah and Cecelia because they all have much in common also!

Through watching these, we learned so many things and got some great tips on things that we've already been doing. I learned a new method of making soap and Katie got some great ideas on making her own hand dipped candles from their soapmaking and candlemaking DVD's and we learned so much from all of the DVD's, they are such a wonderful resource and blessing!

I plan to review them one at a time in the near future but just wanted to share a bit of what has kept us 'occupied' in the times that busyness was not possible because of Katie's fatigue.

Click on the pic or the words below to go to the Homestead Blessings website.

Frugality - Grocery Lists

2011-11-12T19:38:00.001-05:00

I must admit that I have been a bit lax on my meal planning as of late. Too often I find that we're heading to the store at 4pm to get supper ingredients for that night. Well, I get very frustrated with this because I've always been one to stock up, we actually had a full pantry down in our basement that we kept well stocked. Fast forward to today and I must admit that I do not have the stocked pantry anymore, it's all simply that I stopped planning and keeping up with it. In the past few months I've been especially bad but intend to remedy that.

Truly, we have let so many things slide with having illness in our home, our kombucha sat untouched until it finally got mold on it and had to be thrown out. This is very frustrating because I know the health benefits are so important, it's simply that Katie had no appetite so things we made very simply and spur of the moment.

My first step on getting back on track is having a grocery list to print out so we can mark it as needed. I found this online list maker: http://www.grocerylistmaker.com/ and it looks pretty good. I know there are apps for Ipods and I will be using that soon (Katie has a 16gb Ipod touch and needs more gb so she's getting a new one for Christmas and I will get her old one!!! I love technology and don't mind hand me downs at all!!!) but for now I need to just things organized and be ahead of things.

I'm going to go peruse through some of my favorite blogs and see what kind of frugal info I can glean from them.

Any tips will be appreciated!

The Devil's Beatitudes

2011-11-11T18:27:00.001-05:00

I have been reading this book for awhile now and I believe it to be one of the best reads ever. I've had only two other books I've felt this strongly about, one being the Bible and the other being Jackie Wellwood's A Busy Mom's Guide to Simply Living (this book was the catapult that plunged me into homeschooling....love this book!!!) and without a doubt The Simplicity Primer goes on my list as #3.

I want to review the book and will after I finish but I wanted to post one of the pages here today, this is a reminder for us Christians to make sure we are keeping our focus on Christ.

The Devil's Beatitudes

Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow believers-they are my best workers.
Blessed are those believers who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked-I can use them.
Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church-they are my missionaries.
Blessed are the troublemakers-they shall be called my children.
Blessed are the complainers-I'm all ears to them.
Blessed are those who are bored with the minister's mannerisms and mistakes-for they get nothing out of his sermons.
Blessed is the congregation member who expects to be invited to his own congregation-for he is a part of the problem instead of the solution.
Blessed are those who gossip-for they shall cause strife and divisions that please me.
Blessed are those who are easily offended-for they will soon get angry and quit.
Blessed are those who do not give their offering to carry on God's work-for they are my helpers.
Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister-for he shall be with me forever.
Blessed are you who, when you read this, think it is about other people and not yourself-I've got you, too!

While reading this I had to say 'ouch' a couple of times, obviously I need to work on some things.

The Lymphoma Battle Has Been Won by Katie!

2011-11-09T21:19:00.001-05:00

Katie had her last radiation treatment today. The cancer is gone from her body. We will have follow-up visits for quite awhile just to check things.

We will have an appointment soon with the oncologist to discuss removing the port, it will be surgery but will be much simpler than implanting it was.

The radiologist told us that there is a very miniscule chance this will ever return. How wonderful is that? She got a ‘diploma’ from her friends

in the radiology department, they all just loved her there, she kept them laughing. Yesterday she told them it took forever for her to fix her hair

and they messed it all up with the radiation mask!!!!LOL I actually found that most of the patients we saw just seemed to find humor in things and seemed

very positive, I think maybe they are able to put things into perspective a lot more clearly than we can. Truly, the weather, bickering with folks, traffic,

money problems, job issues, family problems, world problems, even day to day aggravations seem to be so trivial when you’re battling a life threatening

illness. Someday I hope to write down all that I have learned through this, I know my perspective is entirely different than Katie’s....I’m watching the

families go through it, she’s seeing fellow patients suffering. Life changing for both of us.

To say that we are thankful just doesn't seem to be enough. We've been overwhelmed with the support we've had from family and friends. This journey was very difficult, but it was certainly made easier having support from so many.

We now return to our regularly schedule life...having been changed in so many ways. Live every minute to it's fullest, we truly never know what tomorrow will bring. The anticipation is so very exciting!!!!! God has blessed us all beyond measure!!! I give Him all the glory and honor.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-09-09T14:13:00.002-04:00

The Simple Woman's Daybook

To read more Daybooks and visit Peggy's blog click below:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Friday, September 9, 2011

Outside my window...Overcast with gray clouds. A bit chilly today but very nice temps, 70 degrees should be our high for the day.

I am thinking...how much I love the fall, the air seems so crisp and clean and having the windows open is just so freeing!

I am thankful...Katie is really feeling much better (finally!), it has taken over a full week for her to get back to feeling somewhat normal. So thankful she only has one chemo session left to go, the last one took everything out of her, we'd never seen her so sick.

From the learning rooms...Katie and I have been watching the West Girls DVD's since she's not up to doing much else. We have the candle making, soap making, sewing, quilting and cooking ones and we LOVE them!!! We've learned so much from them and gotten some fresh ideas on how we do things. Love doing things the simple way!

In the kitchen...Parmesan cube steak, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, oven roasted asparagus, salad

I am wearing...some working clothes, lots to do today and I don't have to leave the house!

I am creating...Found a new pattern for a crocheted dish cloth, it's a nice change because I love making them but sometimes you just want to do things a little differently.

I am going...no place today, maybe not all weekend!

I am wondering...how to make sure I keep things nice and simple, sometimes I want to complicate things by going too far with things. Always striving for simplicity!

I am reading...Simplicity Primerexcellent read, should be a must read for all of us!

I am hoping...to have the energy and pep to continue with my 'fall' cleaning, lots of things to do and wonderful cool breezes blowing through to motivate me!

I am looking forward to...the end of the cancer treatments. These days are difficult but I have no doubt that we have all grown so much through it all. We've learned what's important: Family, good health and especially keeping our eyes on Jesus.

I am hearing...The upstairs shower water running. Other than that our house is very, very quiet.

Around the house...New projects have begun and with them some purging of the old things, lots for Goodwill and some for recycling.

I am pondering...New ways of doing things, I really am trying to focus on simplifying everything down to the very basics.

One of my favorite things...talking to my sweet little mama on the phone. Her and my daddy are so precious to us. We cherish them and I love that they love our sweeties so much! Family is everything to me!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Putting away the old, starting anew!

Living Simply

2011-09-06T22:46:00.001-04:00

Today has been a very quiet day for us. Yesterday we had a nice cookout with our oldest son Tommy coming over to visit, very nice day indeed! Also, we got a lot of housework accomplished yesterday so today was a day for doing our own things.

We've got a stocked up pantry, fridge and freezer so meals are pretty simple to put together with no running to the store. We're eating very simply these days because Katie doesn't really want food but that should change in a few more days.

It is very chilly outside and we have the windows open so it's chilly in here also! We've spent today just resting and doing what we want since it's Dan's day off. He enjoys just coming home and watching TV so the living room is all his and the remote is his also, he's happy and content!LOL

Christopher, Katie and I enjoy reading so generally we've got quite a few books we're reading so we enjoy days when we can just delve into a book and live in that world for awhile. I've never understood how anyone could not love reading!!! To lose yourself in a book is one of the most wonderful things in the world to me, especially on an autumnish day when the house is so very quiet.

Katie has always wanted to read the Nancy Drew series so we've been buying her a few of them at a time from Amazon and she reads them in no time at all! She loves them and wants the whole series so she can always keep them. I read them just a few years ago from the library and got hooked on them also! Yep, at the age of 45 I read through the whole Nancy Drew series and loved every minute of it! I love reading mysteries and lately have been reading some suspense/mystery fiction books, I find the ones I think I'll like at CBD.com and then put them on hold at the library. We can put books on hold online and then pull up to the drive thru window and pick them up, so very handy! Christopher likes historical fiction and has been enjoying a few different authors lately.

Tomorrow will be quite a bit busier, ebay items to package and take to the post office, need to pick up some plastic eating utensils for Katie (she's having a problem with a constant metallic taste in her mouth and this will help to alleviate some of it for her), laundry, some sewing and some card making. Also, since the weather is so cool, it's the perfect time to get to cleaning that garage!!!

Love these cooler temps, makes you want to throw the windows open and enjoy the breezes blowing through the house! It's truly the little things!!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-09-01T21:19:00.001-04:00

To read more Daybooks and visit Peggy's blog click below:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Outside my window...Brown dead grass, sadly we've had so little rain that the grass just couldn't seem to find the moisture to live. The trees in the woods are beautiful and green though. Very hot today, 95!...yep, I'm ready for fall!!!

I am thinking...I've been thinking that it's time I try to get myself back in some semblance of normalcy so I'm going to try to keep up with this daybook and post throughout the week when I can.

I am thankful...Our 21 year old sweet daughter Katie has Lymphoma, she had her second chemo yesterday and we were unprepared for the horrible vomiting this time. Up all night, roaring headache, every time she moved she vomited, she couldn't keep her epilepsy meds down so while she was vomiting she was seizing. Poor thing sitting there holding her head (which is a bald head now) suffering very quietly and silently. Thankful that it stopped this morning at 7am, one hour before a possible hospitalization, so very thankful! One chemo to go, will be glad when it's over for her.

From the learning rooms...Our homeschool years are past as all three have graduated.

In the kitchen...needless to say, food is not an issue in our home today, whatever we can snack on will do.

I am wearing...my gown, it's 9pm.

I am creating...Katie and I have been watching the West girls DVD's so we're anxious to start on their homemade soap recipe and use the beeswax we have to start dipping candles..plus lots of sewing ready for feeling good days.

I am going...Our lives revolve around Dr. visits and test right now, thankful to say that we have nothing scheduled for the next week or so...so far, could change at any moment.

I am wondering...if we can get all of our gifts made before Christmas, really want to focus on being busy when Katie has good days.

I am reading...Simplicity Primerexcellent read, should be a must read for all of us!

I am hoping...to get our yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream and other recipes finished tomorrow.

I am looking forward to...every moment of every day. Cancer reminds you that every moment is precious.

I am hearing...Twice Upon a Christmas DVD on the TV, Katie already watched A Muppet's Christmas Carol, yeah she's a Christmas nut!!! Just like her mommy!

Around the house...We're all just resting and enjoying the calm.

I am pondering...where can we find a church? This has been an issue with us for a while and I really want to find one very soon.

One of my favorite things...having my whole little family together at home. Tommy lives on his own but I've talked to him twice today, so this mommy is content.

A few plans for the rest of the week:It's almost over!

The Lymphoma Journey

2011-08-30T22:46:00.002-04:00

Update on our Katie: Tomorrow morning she will have her second chemo treatment.  This will be the second of three so she will finish up with chemo soon.  Then we head on to 3 radiation treatments.

She's doing very well, a few days ago we had some rough days when her hair started falling out but now there is very little of it left and she's becoming accustomed to it.

We found a wonderful website that sells hats for chemo patients.  She found 2 cute pink caps and then a deep pink sleeping cap.  She does not want to go without her head covered at all.

Her sweet brothers have both shaved their heads completely in support of her.  Also her uncle Ricky (my brother) shaved his head, he adores our girl too.  I'm wearing some type of a head covering and have cut my hair as short as she will let me.

While we're not letting our life be dictated by Cancer it has been dictated by Dr. visits and lots of tests at the hospital, thankfully everything has come back just fine.

We are looking forward to 'normal', I know a lot of you live this daily and there are others that have their own form of normal with their own health issues in their homes, I will never ever complain about 'normal' again.

This has put so many things into perspective for our family.

Update on our journey with Lymphoma

2011-08-01T22:48:00.001-04:00

Before I give you an update I want to say that living with cancer in your home seems to be a lot of waiting and holding your breath! We had hoped initially that the tumor was not cancer, but it was, so next was having a pet and ct scan to check for more tumors, that was a week ago and today we finally received the results. I think her daddy and I were all set to hear the worst because you just find that that's the only way you can handle it if the news is bad...but today we were given very good news, this is the email I sent to our families prayer list so I'll just post it in it's entirety:

Wow!!! Wonderful news from the oncologist today. The tumor they removed is the only one, there are no more! She will have a port put in within the next 10 days and then have 3 chemo treatments and then some radiation. She will lose her hair 2 weeks after the first chemo treatment but losing hair is so minimal to the possibility of losing your life. God is so good! Thanks for the prayers everyone!

Her treatments will be every 3 weeks for the chemo and then we will head into the radiation part of it. The doctor says that this plan of treatment is meant to cure her. When the treatments are all over (approximately the beginning of November) their goal is to cure her completely. Since they can do so much more now than they could even 10 years ago, they can gear her whole treatment plan to exactly what she will need and nothing more. The long term effects of it are a possibility of her not being able to make saliva on the left side (which is where the tumor was) but really nothing more. This will not at all keep her from living a long happy life! Getting married and having lots of babies!!!! which is her dream.

We are so thankful, her daddy had a dozen red roses waiting for her when we got home today.

Thanks for the prayers, this has given us a good glimpse into the life of a cancer patient and we intend to do more for the American Cancer Society because of it. If the research had not been done in the past few decades none of these less invasive procedures would be available, yes we are very thankful.

We’ve always supported the Arthritis Foundation (moms rheumatoid arthritis) and American Diabetes Society (Dan’s mom is diabetic) so now we can add the cancer society to it. It’s amazing to think how far all of these have come because of the support of so many folks, one day perhaps they will be able to find the cures for them all.

This evening I cut my hair very short and then we measured her a long pony tail and cut it to appr. 13 inches, we’re sending the pony tail to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program. They make wigs and give them to cancer patients, we were going to try ‘locks of love’ but Katie did a lot of research and ‘locks of love’ charges folks for the wigs they make and she didn’t want that, she wanted it to be a free service for those that couldn’t afford it. Although she shed some tears I think she’s happy it’s cut and now when it starts to fall out it will just be short pieces coming out.

Love to all!

Judy and bunch

Here are the pics: Her long hair:

Now very short!

Sweet tear stained face.

We're very proud of her, she's being very brave about all of this. At age 21 I'm not so sure I would have been so mature about it all. I learn so much from this sweet young lady, She holds on tight to her Father's promises and knows her future is in His hands.

2011-07-15T19:44:00.002-04:00

We received the results from Katie's surgery. She does indeed have cancer. She has lymphoma. We will just go on from here and do what needs to be done. God is in control. Thank you for the prayers, continued prayers are welcome. I will not be blogging for awhile, if you want to contact me you can email me at keeperathome@insightbb.com.

Prayer Request

2011-07-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow morning at 7:45 our Katie goes into surgery for a tumor on her face. We found out a few weeks ago that this was all going to happen so we've kinda been in a holding pattern.
The tumor is growing right in front of her ear, they think in her salivary gland but won't know until they get in there.
Please pray for a smooth surgery, the Lord's comfort and presence for Katie and a good outcome. The statistics say that this type of tumor is usually 80 percent benign and 20 percent malignant. We're not even going to accept that it could possibly be malignant.
Thanks for your prayers, the surgery will probably last over 3 hours and she will stay overnight in the hospital, I'll stay with her so I wont' be able to post again until Wednesday or Thursday.
I pray all is well with all my dear friends, my brain has been mush so I've not even given a thought to a blog post, I intend to dive in with both feet after this is all over and she's on the road to recovery!
Thanks again and may the Lord bless all of you with much joy, good health, happiness and every other thing that is good!
Don't forget to give your loved ones a big hug, the future is always so uncertain for our earthly bodies but Heaven awaits us! What wondrous love!!!!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-05-23T17:45:00.001-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday May 23, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Sunny and very warm, we've had a wonderful breeze blowing all day. It's been warm enough for the A/C this weekend but hopefully it will be much cooler the next few days.

I am thinking...wow, my mind is a maze right now and I'm trying to work my way through it. I have so many things on my mind, truly I need to start a journal again and get some of these thoughts straightened out and make some lists, I'm on overload these days with my to-do lists and wanna-do ideas.

I am thankful for...that our Katie is walking around again, she's still limping but she is mobile so hopefully she'll be 100% very soon! She's a very good patient, never ever complains about anything!

I am remembering...the guilt of missing an important event this past weekend. Sadly I had someone wrong me in a very cruel way so I had to miss this event. It's amazing how some folks can do something very cruel, on facebook for the world to see and then refuse to accept the blame for it. I hate, hate, hate deceit and I don't play games with folks that lie to me, it's way to easy for me to see through the stories and lies.

I am currently reading...just finished a couple of the books in the Mystery and the Minister's Wife series from Guideposts, I love their series and collect all of the books, they are very 'pretty' hardcover books and as I love reading them over and over I hope to collect all of them to have on my bookshelves!

I am hoping...Really need to get going on our sewing projects, sadly our sewing room is a floor away from Katie's mobility, we don't want her going down those stairs just yet.

On my mind...Lots of projects I want us to get finished and started on, once again I really need to get those lists made!!!!

Today I'm wearing...navy blue skirt, light blue long sleeve top. I love the warmer weather, so many times I just kick off my birkenstocks and go barefoot!!!

Noticing that...the older I get, the more I want to pull closer to family. Whether it be immediate or distant cousins, I treasure being able to communicate with all of them whether through email, facebook, snail mail or phone. Family means everything to me!

Pondering these words...found this on a blog today: 'Grandkids fill a place in our hearts we never knew was empty!'....I'm not a grandmother yet but I know this is exactly how my mama feels. She loves us all so very deeply, we are truly her treasures! I'm happy to say that's exactly how I feel about my 'babies'!!!! (Okay, so maybe my babies are 21, 24 and 26...they're still my babies!!!!)

From the kitchen...Katie made us tuna salad on whole grain bread for lunch. For supper we're having chicken (hamburger patty for Dan as he will not eat chicken), noodles, salad, 7layer salad (only Katie and I like this), with fruit for our evening snack.

Around the house...Katie is still laid up doing some work on her laptop and playing around with her IPod, Christopher is learning some chords on the guitar and Dan is home from work just relaxing, I am going to get off here very soon and make us some afternoon coffee and get supper started. ......this was my post from last week and it still applies except that we've already had our coffee and supper is already started.

A Picture though....this is our Katie with her Manchester United scarf on top of her head. This is how she's watches all of the games...LOL! Yeah, we think she's a bit strange! But oh how we love her!!!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-05-16T16:32:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday May 16, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...cloudy and cold! That's right...cold!!! Usually May 15th is the day we can start planting outside without the threat of frost, not this year!!! Plus, we're due to have rain every day, it sure will be beautiful and green!

I am thinking...about the nice weekend we had, got to see my little parents and visit for a few minutes. We're still pampering Katie and she's still not able to walk but a few steps on her sprained ankle so we're her servants! Of course we love it!

I am thankful for...seeing my little parents just working so hard around their home, my dad loves to work out in the woods, clearing and woodcutting. My mom loves to take care of her home (she keeps it beautiful) and loves to garden, her flowers are always gorgeous! Even though they are both up in years, almost 80 for my mama and over 80 for my daddy, they refuse to let age stop them and they continue to enjoy the things they can do rather than complain about the things they can't! What a wonderful spirit they both have and a wonderful example to us all!

I am remembering...how bad Dan was hurting about a month ago, now he is pain free! Sometimes we forget to be thankful for healing, even if it might be temporary we must be thankful for feeling good!

I am currently reading...have some library books about bookkeeping, I want to brush up on some things and I'm sure learn some things I never knew! Seems to happen every day, we learn something that we didn't know yesterday! I love that!

I am hoping...to very soon start sewing on our new sewing machine and serger, haven't even tried the serger out yet, just been too busy! Still need to get going on this, we have a project that needs to be done on the serger and have all the materials, just need to get busy. (We're making some cotton feminine items, trying to be more green and healthy)......still hoping!

On my mind...some issues with hurtful comments that have been made lately, sometimes it's hard to believe that people can be so cruel and so 'stupid' as to post something online thinking the one they are talking about won't see it! It's especially hurtful when it's family! Wow! You just never know about people!

Today I'm wearing...teal long skirt, (Katie and I are officially dresses only now!!!) long sleeve yellow thermal top with white top underneath due to the cold temps!!! My Birkenstocks, I'll live in them all spring, summer and fall!

Noticing that...I'm feeling stronger every day now. I was extremely anemic throughout the winter and unaware of it, now that I'm on the iron supplement I feel wonderful! I seem to feel so much more energetic every day, it really pays to keep up with those medical tests to make sure things are okay. As much as I hate them, I still have to do them!

Pondering these words...This was on my Mary Engelbreit calendar for May 12th: "I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile." Tom Clark I think truer words were seldom spoken, we all must have some hobby or interest to keep our bodies and minds striving and working towards goals.

From the kitchen...I was going to make beef stew but Danny doesn't want it tonight so it will be tomorrow night. Tonight is smoked sausage, green beans and taters and also a pot of chili, he just can't decide which he wants so I must make both! Lemon bars for dessert which is a real treat in our home!

I love these patriotic Christmas ornaments, hoping to make some for this Christmas. I love Christmas and I love the USA!!!!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-05-09T15:32:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday May 9, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...sunny day for the first time in ages! It's nice and warm, all the windows are open....aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!, sadly we're back to rain daily or at least that's what the 10 day forecast says. Oh well!

I am thinking...what a wonderful Mother's Day I had, our Tommy came over and we had a lot of laughs, chinese food (Frisch's Big Boy platter for Dan, he hates chinese!) and just some good visiting. I got Tommy all to myself for awhile, he and I sat on the rockers on the front porch and chatted while I crocheted, I made 2 dishclothes while sitting there with him! Chris, Katie and Dan pampered me all day!

I am thankful for...Katie just having a sprain, she and Chris took a long, long walk this morning and called me to drive and get them, she had twisted her ankle. She is of course being pampered and should be back to normal in a few days.

I am remembering...a very nice weekend, Katie and I played a bit with the Cricut, need to be working on our family cookbook we're making so we're practicing up on making our die cuts.

I am currently reading...a christian fiction series about knitters and ....well murder! I love my mysteries! Still reading this series.

On my mind...a situation we're dealing with that is somewhat frustrating, hoping to have it resolved very soon, I would LOVE to be living off grid and not have to deal with these issues. Oh, to have our own water and power sources and not rely on these big companies that fix things only when they decide to!! UGh!

Today I'm wearing...teal long skirt, (Katie and I are officially dresses only now!!!) cotton long sleeve button up top with little roses and leaves throughout. My birkenstocks, I'll live in them all spring, summer and fall!

Noticing that...I'm feeling stronger every day now. I was extremely anemic throughout the winter and unaware of it, now that I'm on the iron supplement I feel wonderful!

Pondering these words...yesterday, Tommy, our oldest made it clear that we celebrated Mother's day only because of him, being our first child and all. Christopher (who is so used to Tommy making everything about himself) said "I cannot believe he just made Mother's Day all about him!!!!".LOL Funny, funny people!

From the kitchen...Well, since our chef is layed up with the sprained ankle I guess it's up to me to figure it out. Something simple it will be!!!LOL

Around the house...Christopher and Katie are playing Fifa on the Xbox 360 (Chris is taking his turn in pampering Katie!!!LOL), Dan is finishing up the trimming after cutting all the grass, there's a lot so it takes awhile! He just came to the window next to my desk and asked if I wanted to see a dead snake....now why would I want to see a dead snake???

A Picture thought to share...

A gift Katie stitched last year for her dear friend Monica, isn't it pretty? I just love handmade gifts!

Ready for Spring

2011-05-05T22:16:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the hot weather but we are certainly having an odd spring in our parts. We had some very warm days for awhile and now it's back to cold temps, last night there was a frost warning!

I hate to complain because I know so many are having problems with flooding and other weather related issues but we really are ready for some spring weather around here!

Next week is supposed to be warmer and some sunny days also. It will be good because we need to power wash my parents deck and then paint it so we need some nice days. Their deck is actually the whole length of their house plus more so it is huge and it takes quite awhile to get it all washed and then painted, lots of spokes to paint around the sides.

I'm not looking forward to the intense heat we sometimes have during most of the summer but it will be nice to have some sunny warm days coming up soon!

Hope you are enjoying your weather and feel as wonderful as I feel just being able to be outside more, seems the cobwebs in my head blow away with the breezes! Kinda like coming out of hibernation!!!

God Bless!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-05-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday May 2, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...rain, rain and more rain. There has been so much flooding in our area. We are blessed to live at the top of a ridge so we don't have any flooding issues but I just feel so bad for those that do. On a pleasant note: the rain has turned everything soooo very green and lush, our woods are simply bursting at their seams, it truly is beautiful!

I am thinking...that it's about time I get back to blogging....LOL

I am thankful for...family, we are blessed with an enormous extended family and I just love that we all keep in touch pretty regularly.

I am remembering...the past few months, winter did not seem quite so long this year but I am thankful that spring is here!

I am currently reading...a christian fiction series about knitters and ....well murder! I love my mysteries!

I am hoping...to very soon start sewing on our new sewing machine and serger, haven't even tried the serger out yet, just been too busy!

On my mind...oh my mind is a jumble right now, too many things flying around in there!

Today I'm wearing...coral jumper, white long sleeve top and sandals. There's a bit of a chill in the air.

Noticing that...I've finally come to the point in life that if I'm not living a life that I feel is pleasing my Father, I will make changes myself, not matter how difficult they are to make. If I need to drop some friends then that's what must be done. I will not waste time dealing with game playing, I'm just so far beyond that now.

Pondering these words...'I can do all things through Him, who strengthens me.' Phil. 4:13 I have to remember that it is all things, not just some things or the things that are in Judy's comfort zone....all things.

From the kitchen...Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and applesauce.

Around the house...Christopher and Katie are upstairs doing their thing, meatloaf is in the oven and Danny is walking in the door from work.

A Picture thought to share...

This is what has been keeping my busy for the past few months. My mama's kitchen before:

And after.....she wanted a fresh new look, so we went from country to cottage, she loves the white cabinets. It took a long time to get it done, lots of coats of paint on the cabinets and the border you see in the before was a bear to take down. We used DIF, hot water, fabric softener, vinegar, scraped and scraped and scraped. Finally, after weeks of trying all these things we spent fifty bucks on a wallpaper steamer and it came right off!!!

She and my daddy are very pleased and that makes us very happy!!!!

Coming Soon.....

2011-04-26T21:39:00.000-04:00

A blog post :) I've missed all my bloggy friends but needed a good bit of time away.

Now I'm refreshed and ready to tackle the world!
Be back real soon!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-01-17T21:34:00.000-05:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Wednesday, January 17th, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...it's dark outside since I'm posting at 9pm. We are having freezing temps but the snow had all melted so it's just all kinda brown. We are supposed to have cold temps and rain/snow so everything is just cold, damp and dreary.

I am thinking...that it is so nice to have my Danny home on vacation this week. It's all about him just resting and relaxing! We got a Wii this weekend so everyone's having a blast playing the games, we have had so much fun and it really wears you out!

I am thankful for...our sweet daughter who turned 21 yesterday!!!! We had a wonderful day topped off with dinner at Texas Roadhouse courtesy of our sweet cousin that wanted to treat us all! We had so much fun and it is always wonderful to get together with family!

I am remembering...this Christmas and how wonderful it was! We did everything we wanted, had all our gifts made in time and really enjoyed the day. I want to make notes of things so we can make sure to keep all our Christmas' traditions and keep things peaceful and calm just like this year.

I am currently reading...reading the ESV one year Bible, also reading a fiction series on my Nook. I'm really enjoying the Nook but find that some books you just have to have the hard copy of. The nook is perfect for fiction though, you can read it and not have an extra book sitting around that you'll never read again. I sometimes re-read my fiction books, if they're really good or suspenseful, but generally I only read them once.

I am hoping...to get settled into our schedule and routines, it's hard to have a routine on vacation so we're just playing it by ear but it will be nice to get back to having a plan.

On my mind...thinking about friends that we've had and lost. There have been people in my life that I needed to pull myself away from and break off friendships because they were pulling me into things that were keeping my focus off the Lord. Sometimes we have to remember that it is our choice who we become friends with and sometimes we have to choose to end friendships if they are a direct deterrent to our walk with Christ. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be a light to those friends, but sometimes outside influences can pull you away from home and family and if it's just too hard to keep those friendships, so we have to pull away.

Noticing that...I'm really enjoying the winter and not pining for Spring which I sometimes do at this time of year. I'm really content to just be about my homemaking and keeping our outside obligations to a minimum. So many things want to pull us away from being keepers at home.

Pondering these words...'be a light to the world but remember to not shadow over others as they walk their walk.'

From the kitchen...well the plan was for bracciole, collard greens, brussel sprouts (oven roasted). That plan has been put off until tomorrow, today we did more grazing that having meals, little bits here and there, that's the way Dan likes to have his meals...sorta like grazing all throughout the day!!!LOL

Around the house...Danny's on the couch resting and watching a movie, Christopher is working with his new pedal for his electric guitar, Katie is right here close to me and we're just relaxing.

A Picture thought to share...

Katie and our oldest son Tommy at the birthday dinner last night (yeah she kinda loves him!!!!). Such fun!!!!!

New Year's Resolutions and A Confession I Really Hate to Share..but I must

2011-01-06T18:29:00.000-05:00

Last year I made a list of resolutions that I wanted to keep for the new year. They were outward things like cutting out certain foods or changing my lifestyle in some way. Well, I have to say that I didn't do too well with sticking to those, but I did keep them in mind and know that because of having that in my conscience I did do better than I had done previously.

Well, this year I've thought about resolutions and kind of realized that I don't like to be under strict guidelines, there is too much of that in my life that I can't control so it can't be things that stick close to a certain line.

Recently I've noticed some things about myself that I really don't like, you see I grew up with a step-father that was critical of everything and everyone and to say he was prejudiced is putting it mildly. As soon as he saw a person he had a comment for them, he didn't favor any particular ethnicity with his harsh words, everyone was fair game. My mother was just the opposite, her gentleness and kindness were a constant in my life. I'm happy to say that I think I've echoed her more than my stepfather...but lately I've found myself being very cynical about certain things...in fact I'm sounding more and more like my stepfather (who is no longer my stepfather, they were divorced a number of years ago) and I'm very upset with myself because of it.
I know that I have that deep inside me and it will come out if I let it but sadly I also have some folks very close to me now that quickly spout out some of these thoughts also. I raised my children better and they would never say those things, probably wouldn't even think them but for me hearing those things now brings out the tendency to feel and say those things even today.

So, my resolutions are not outward they are inward, I know that my Savior would not say such things so why do I? I'm a 50 year old woman that has enough intelligence to know better and yet I find myself doing it. Sadly, I'm going to give you an example: Last night Katie and I were driving home from the grocery and I saw a wall unit sitting out for the trash outside of a trailer park, I started to say something and when she looked over at me I thought what am I saying that for! I went ahead and voiced my thoughts but added that I'm ashamed of myself for thinking and saying such things. I said "That's probably full of bed bugs, roaches or bugs". Now, who do I think I am? I truly find nothing wrong with living in a trailer park and actually some of those homes are fixed up nicer than some upper class homes I've seen. I have in fact had a roach or two in my own home, we live a bit out in the country so I've also seen field mice, we've had ants and some others bugs. Once again, who do I think I am in so quickly judging what I'm sure are some very nice folks. I quickly asked the Lord for forgiveness and realized that I am quick to find things to judge and use certain words that I want to cut out completely....I frequently say "stupid, hate, idiot", etc. although I've told my kids sooooooo many times through the years that to say those things makes you those things and I truly believe that. It's important to me to speak intelligently and those words not only do not sound intelligent they are simply wrong.

Who am I to judge anyone? No one at all. I'm posting this because I want to confess them and I need to see them in print and might just put this up over my computer to remind me every moment that I sit here. I am a child of God and know that we are ALL His creatures, but I think I let the thoughts of the 'world' invade my heart and soul and so my resolution is to cut that out completely. I will stick closer to His Word and follow the guidelines that He has set forth for me, not the worlds guidelines...only His.

Now, I will return to fixing my supper and keep praying for guidance, I want to be as close to 'like Christ' as I can and those things are keeping me from that.

In Him,
Judy

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-01-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...it's dark outside since I'm posting at 8pm. We are having freezing temps but the snow had all melted so it's just all kinda brown. Although we had a beautiful day, the sun was very bright and felt wonderful!

I am thinking...I'm glad we got both of our parents Christmas trees taken down and un-decked their halls, everything is all tidy and ready for warm cozy days and nights!

I am thankful for...a wonderful Christmas with our family, it was so very nice! To us family is everything and we just love get-togethers, lots of family and lots of laughter!

I am remembering...how last year at this time we were looking forward to a new year with lots of hope, turns out our year was one of many struggles that were not at all anticipated. What we learned from the struggles was that we were a lot stronger and capable than we thought we were and that as long as we kept our focus on the Lord we could handle anything. He brought us through those tough times and although I pray never to have to go through it again, I know He will always be there with us, with Him we can do anything.

I am currently reading...oooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I got a Nook for Christmas from my sweet hubby and have been reading up a storm on it, I didn't know I would love one as much as I do but I really do. I've had fun getting the little gadgets to go with it also! They have so many free books to download, the first thing I downloaded was the ESV Bible and it was a free download! I also bought some cookbooks on it, they are so much cheaper than the physical copy. I would want the physical copy of them if I intended to use a lot of the recipes but these are more for browsing through and finding recipes here and there in them.

I am hoping...to get things accomplished in this New Year, I have some lists in my head but need to get them written down, I do so much better with lists because I love being able to mark things off as I get them done, wonderful sense of accomplishment!

On my mind...thinking about my sweet daughter's 21st birthday coming up in 11 days. Yes, I said 21!!!! She's our baby and it's so hard to believe she's going to be 21, time flies! We're so proud of her, she's turned into a wonderful young lady with such a wonderful heart for Christ. We love her dearly!

Noticing that...although I love doing things the old way and always will...I love the new technologies that are available today. I love my Nook and my Cricut and Gypsy, so much fun playing with them. I still love doing some handiwork, sewing, embroidery by hand but it really is fun to play with new gadgets. Probably a good thing that items like the IPad are so expensive and beyond what I should spend on such things, I would really being spending all of my time playing with it! (but it would be fun!!!!)

Pondering these words...this was from the first day of my little desk Mary Engelbreit calendar:

And now let us welcome the New Year, full of things that have never been!!!

I love that!

From the kitchen...what we call a big salad for a meal, salad with grape tomatoes, chicken nuggets cut up, little tater sticks and cheese chunks. Not the healthiest salad in the world but that's as close to healthy as hubby will get!

Around the house...Danny's on the couch snoozing (although he says he's watching TV!!LOL), Katie is watching me type and keeping me very amused and Christopher is playing a video game, I'm getting ready to get my sewing stuff organized to start a jumper and skirt.

A Picture thought to share...

Our Christmas tree this year. We've always had a 'live', cut tree but this one might be our last. As much as I love them they really are quite a bit of work and those pine needles hurt!!! I kinda like the idea of having a tree in each room, smaller ones maybe instead of one big one. I guess we'll see!

Our Christmas in photos...plus a challenge to give.

2011-01-02T20:34:00.001-05:00

It seems I have not written a post since the beginning of December, I can't believe it's been that long! We had a wonderful Christmas, lots of time with family and everyone had such a great time. Katie and I had a special treat because we got to snuggle with the new twins on Christmas morning, they are so precious! That's the beauty of twins, there's one for each of us to cuddle with!

We are getting a good start with purging unneeded items this New Year, we are giving any and all things that are not needed, loved or precious to us away to Goodwill. We have so many things in our home that I'm sure can be useful to others so we really need to get them out and give with a giving spirit. As we sit in our warm cozy home with a full pantry we must remember those that are struggling and dealing with issues we can't even imagine.

We worked hard in December (guess that's why I didn't blog) making some Christmas gifts, Christopher cut out some ornaments for me to craft with his band saw, Katie kept the kitchen busy baking, cooking and candy making (she made potato/peanut butter candy, no bake oatmeal peanut butter, fudge, chocolate covered potato chips, pumpkin cheesecake...and on and on....sooo yummy!!!) and I tried to get the gifts finished early but was spraying a finish on them on the 23rd!!!...hey I tried! Here are some pics of a few of our items we made:

I have a bit of work to do in figuring out what kind of pens or markers to use and then the right finishing spray, these bled when I sprayed the finish on it, kind of frustrating but now I know for next time!
These are some photos of Katie holding her sweet little Charlie:

We didn't get any clear pics of me holding Alyssa, but here is their big brother William. He kept us all entertained with....was it all his toys? No....was it a present? No....it was a ball of wadded up wrapping paper!!! He played toss with everyone and was such a cutie!!! They are such a sweet little family!!!

Here are some pics of our pretty snowy Kentucky, we had such a pretty Christmas Day here in Kentucky!

Well, that's all for today, I really have to do a few more things before getting ready for bed so I must get to them. I do intend to post more often and I can't wait to scout around on some of my favorite blogs to read about how others celebrated their Christmas....the day we celebrate the birth of our Saviour!!! Isn't God good?!!

I challenge you all to find items that you no longer need/use and give them away, it makes our homes lighter and it will certainly make our hearts lighter to give...whether it be clothing, automobiles, appliances....all of these can be useful. I usually give to Goodwill only because it's close to where we now live but years ago I always gave to the Salvation Army, either way it's so important to think about others.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-12-06T13:15:00.000-05:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday, December 6th, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...It's a winter wonderland! Snow is covering everything and it is very cold. Perfect for decorating for Christmas!

I am thinking...how wonderful it's been to have hubby off some extra days! He's surprised me by taking some days off and we've enjoyed having him home.

I am thankful for...everything! The Lord is so good to us. He answers our prayers in ways we couldn't possibly have thought of on our own, His ways are the best ways!

I am remembering...a nice quiet weekend once again, we enjoyed watching the snowfall and got our tree and have it set up, we'll be decorating it tonight and then I can start putting presents under it!

I am currently reading...browsing Christmas magazines and Taste of Homes for some ideas for Christmas goodies. (This was my answer from last week and still applies, love getting inspiration from the magazines)

I am hoping...to have all our decorating finished this week. I bought our cards last week and will be getting those addressed.

On my mind...right now things are just muddling around in there, I need to get some lists made because I work much better with lists in front of me.

Noticing that...time is passing so very quickly, I'm enjoying this stage of life but can't seem to keep up with things, need to really concentrate more I think.

Pondering these words..."Judy, you have taught me to be very flexible". This was what my mother said to me last week when I had to cancel our visit with them for the 3rd or 4th time, way too many interruptions right now to plan anything! I believe my mommy was being nice but what she's really saying is "Judy, I never expect you to come when you say you will or be on time"....she's just too sweet to say it that way!

From the kitchen...Danny has a craving for cheeseburger soup so I guess that will be on the menu for tonight.

Around the house...Danny's on the couch playing a video game, Katie is finishing up in the kitchen and Christopher is playing his guitar, I'm getting ready to get ready to go run a few errands.

A Picture thought to share...

My sweet Katie holding her brand new second cousin Alyssa. Her twin Charlie was last weeks photo, they are finally coming home today after being in the nursery for the last two weeks, they just didn't want to eat and weren't gaining enough weight. They are so precious!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-11-29T15:03:00.001-05:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday November 29, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Lots and lots of sunshine today with warmer temps, they will be plummeting after tomorrow. Trees are all bare and getting ready for their long winters' nap.

I am thinking...how exciting it is to prepare for Christmas, I'm looking so forward to it this year! I intend to decorate the whole house and hopefully put some lights outside too!

I am thankful for...a family that pitches in and takes over when I am under the weather. I had an adverse reaction to some meds and was literally in bed all last week missing Thanksgiving and all but they took over and had all the preparations taken care of to take to my moms. What a blessing they all are to me!

I am remembering...our nice quiet weekend, everything was calm and peaceful. The only thing missing was seeing my Tommy but I did talk to him each day.

I am currently reading...browsing Christmas magazines and Taste of Homes for some ideas for Christmas goodies.

I am hoping...and praying that the new meds will not give me any problems.

On my mind...making a list in my mind of some meals I want to prepare to have made ahead. Also, want to get some soups made to freeze for quick meals.

Noticing that...feeling good changes how you feel about everything.

Pondering these words...As long as we resent a person, we live in bondage.

From the kitchen...Chicken sandwiches and fries, fresh from the kitchen! Simple and Danny's favorite meal!

Around the house...Christopher and Katie are getting ready to watch a football (soccer to us Americans) game; Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.

A Picture thought to share...

My sweet hubby holding his brand new great-nephew Charlie. Charlie has a twin sister Alyssa but she had to stay in the nursery for awhile. They are so precious!!!

Simply Fall

2010-10-19T16:40:00.000-04:00

It seems wrong to love one season of the year more than the others, we are so blessed with all seasons...but I love fall!!! I love the beauty of all of nature in the fall, the trees, the crispy leaves on the ground that crunch under our feet, hot apple cider...so many things to love!!!

I always get a boost of inspiration as the seasons change and in fall it seems I want to get everything all cozy and homey...lots of pillows, rugs, candles, oil lamps...just kind of getting our home ready for the fall and winter. It's kinda like spinning a cocoon and getting everything all closed up nice and tight to keep the chill out and the warmth in. Years ago women would have been working on their quilts getting ready for the cold weather but these days it's not necessary to make our own bed covers (although I do love to quilt!) but I always feel the need to stock up on things just to be prepared for power outages or snow storms.

We love to spend our winters making our crafts we sell in our store:

All Natural Soaps

Country Signs

More soaps!!!

and some woodcrafts!!!

It's wonderful to keep busy during those long winter days, we make our items for ourselves, our home, gifts for family and friends and for our store. It is a wonderful way to have a small cottage business and learn how to do things the 'old ways'. Although these days modern technology works with such automation that we don't 'have' to make our things from scratch....but given the choice our family chooses to make them as natural as possible and make them ourselves, it helps to keep some of the old ways going even today so hopefully our grandchildren and on down will keep up some traditions.
Well, now I'm all set to go start some crafts! Our weather is quite chilly today so it's the perfect time to get busy and try to warm up!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-10-18T19:44:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday October 18, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Cooling down after a slightly warm day. The trees are pretty with their leaves changing and the sky is starting to darken.

I am thinking...about our wonderful weekend. Katie and I took off for our family reunion which is in Levi Jackson State Park in London KY. We had so much fun, we shopped in Berea, Renfro Valley and spent the night in a pretty suite! Sunday we had a wonderful day with all our huge family, it was an incredible weekend!

I am thankful for...a sweet, fiercely loving and caring daughter. At age 20 I know most daughters would rather be with their friends but Katie and I have always been best friends and we love spending time together! How blessed am I?!!!

I am remembering...last year at this time, my depression was so bad I couldn't attend our reunion, I'm so thankful for feeling so great this year! Thank you Jesus!!!

I am currently reading...browsing Country Sampler and Country Accent magazines trying to get a bit of inspiration for some crafts we can make for Christmas.

I am hoping...to see our Tommy this week. He was on vacation and out of town last week so we didn't get to see him on his birthday.

On my mind...I'm always amazed at how good it feels to come home! We had a lovely trip and a wonderful time together, then coming home was just as wonderful! Home is truly where my family is and it was good to get home to our 'boys'!!!

Noticing that...time seems to be going too fast right now, I wish I could just slow it down but I can't so I must enjoy every second! So many blessings!

Pondering these words...Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. Sigmund Freud

From the kitchen...baked sweet potatoes, pork loin, stuffing and broccoli.

Around the house...Danny's at home with the couch, attempting to bond with the new couch, not going well, he wants his old couch back!!!

From my picture journal...

Our pretty bedroom in our suite. the beds were so comfy, lots of fluffy pillows, a warm down duvet and beautiful bedspreads and bed skirts. Perfect for us girls!!!

A Call to Modesty

2010-10-10T16:10:00.001-04:00

Our sweet Katie all dressed up for an Opera that my cousin took her to.

There's a wonderful company called Christian Light Education that publishes some wonderful material. We purchased some of our homeschooling material from them years ago when we were still homeschooling. They really have some great resources whether you're homeschooling or not.

I was going through some papers the other day and found a pamphlet from them entitled 'A Call to Modesty' and wanted to share some of the information.

"We live in an age when exposure of the human body seems to be an accepted way of life On the billboards, on the streets, at the office, on the job site, in the classroom - everywhere we turn men and women parade their bodies for anyone to see.

In view of such shameless immodesty, is it any wonder that in our society:

65% of high school students have had sexual relations.
43 million Americans have incurable sexual viruses.
Illegitimate births increased 400% from 1963-1993.
every 2 minutes an arrest is made for sex offenses.

Oh, you might say, immodesty is not all to blame. Our society is filled with lust and perversion. True enough. But immodesty and lust are two sides of the same coin. Has immodesty become so commonplace that we cannot admit what it does to us as men and women?"

Recently a young man at our local store was commenting to the question 'how are you?', he informed the person that he was having girlfriend trouble. The person then said 'I hope it all works out'...he responded by saying 'I got a kid on the way'.

So many times we find that young people are just shocked when they find out they have conceived a child, they say 'how did this happen'? They seem to be mature enough to know how to have sex and yet can't figure out how a pregnancy happened.

Are we not teaching our kids about sex? I really hate the word but it's what they understand and respond to so we might as well not beat around the bush and be all shy about it. Of course we know that a child is not the only consequence, there are many, many sexual diseases out there. Some will lead to death but others are something that they may have to deal with all their lives. Not the best thing to have to admit to a future spouse...'Oh yeah, I have a sexually transmitted virus that I got from some fellow, it might flare up occasionally throughout our married life...hope you don't have a problem with that!!!'

Beyond the person involved in the act there are others to consider, a child that might be born with AIDS or another disease, your parents that may have to watch you wither away in death when the AIDS virus kicks in and puts an end to your life. Your siblings that will have to deal with your mourning parents after you die. Yes, I'm being morbid but this is all around us, our society sees the answer in using 'protection', I see the only answer in total abstinence until marriage. If you're not giving your body away and your future spouse doesn't either you will come into the marriage clean and sure of no future problems because of your bad decision in having sex with someone else.

I am a people watcher, I used to love sitting at the airport watching people walk by, wondering where they were headed. I still watch people and regardless of what anyone says what you wear does make a difference. I see the response if a girl is wearing very little and exposing too much skin, the fellows will turn around and gawk and then say something to their friends so they're all looking at the girl. This is not the response we should see, the scriptures tell us to guard our ourselves against lust and lust is what these fellows are doing. Their first opinion of this young girl is that she's 'hot', this is so wrong. Of course being 'hot' used to simply mean you're warm, I despise it used in the context of describing a human being....I've heard younger children saying it!

Such vulgar uses of some words should be nipped in the bud immediately but of course if they're hearing from their own parents...we've all heard it from adults and it's just so wrong. I was at the Dr. the other day sitting in the waiting room and there was a girl and her mother sitting there, the girl looked to be about early 20's and was very pregnant, she talked about naming her baby and in the midst of it I realized she was going to be a single parent living with this mother with her. Suddenly the mother starts talking and uses language that I was shocked to hear, I truly can't imagine hearing my little mother using such language....ever!!!!! It's not that the language is so shocking, I know all the words..have heard them all my life from others, it's the idea that by the time a person is middle age you would think they would have learned some intelligence and maturity. I've always told my kids profanity and even using words like crap, sucks, etc. in the wrong context is not just morally wrong in my opinion....no it makes that person sound like a complete idiot! Any respect you may have had for that person disappears in a 'poof' when they start using profanity, it just sounds so very 'stupid'!!! I personally do not want to sound stupid...so why use those words!!!!

Modesty and purity are huge issues for me, our goal should be to raise a child with strict values and decency, it's disturbing that so few understand that concept.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-09-20T15:10:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday September 20, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Sunny, but sadly everything is just sooo dry, we're in desperate need of rain. It's also back to hot temps again. Sooooo looking forward to Fall!!!

I am thinking...hard to think right now, I've got Christopher and Katie here twisting words and realities to their own thinking. Makes my head swim!

I am thankful for...These two crazy people behind me!!! They might be a bit messed up in the head but they're all mine!!! They're not really nutty, they're just funny, funny people...they crack me up!!!

I am remembering...visiting with my sweet brother Randy, his friend Elaine and Randy's sweet daughter Randi, on Saturday at my mom and dad's house. Lot's of hugs, laughter and joy.

I am currently reading...finally got started on my one year ESV Bible, started re-reading my Mysteries of Sparrow Island series again. I had these a few years ago and then sold them all on ebay...well, I missed them something awful and bought them bit by bit on ebay. I love all the series from Guideposts, Grace Chapel Inn, Mystery and the Minister's Wife, Heather Creek, Hope Haven and the Patchwork series. These are all such good books and I'm bit by bit buying all the series. Not only are they such an excellent read but the books are all hardcover and very pretty, they look so nice on my bookshelf!!!

I am hoping...to get some things settled in the next couple of weeks, we've got some decisions to make and I'm so ready for them to be over and to get back to normal again.

On my mind...so enjoying the music in our home, Katie plays the piano so beautifully and Christopher is really playing a lot on his electric guitar, thankfully he doesn't usually have the amp plugged in to it!!! He plays very well and I'm amazed at both of them and how quick they learn. Now, if I could just make the time to learn to play my hammered dulcimer I'd be a very happy girl!

Noticing that...the older I get the more the small things seem so insignificant. Years ago I would hold a grudge against someone and not want to let it go. Now, I wouldn't dream of wasting my time with such silly things. There are so many joyous blessings to enjoy and I don't want to waste any time with such trivial things!!!

Pondering these words...one of my favorite sayings....If you want to burn our American flag, do us a favor and wrap yourself in it first! This Kentucky girl is proud to live in the USA!!!!

From the kitchen...that's a very good question!!!

Around the house...kinda quiet but lots of things lying in wait, our hands will be very busy with all the chores to do, trying to get the 'fall' cleaning all finished!

From my picture journal...

A rustic snow angel we made, I think she's so cute!

Simply Getting Back to Normal

2010-09-16T17:26:00.000-04:00

Last Friday Christopher walked into my room and said 'Mom, why is your eye red?', I walked in to look in the mirror and couldn't believe what I saw, within half an hour my whole eye was totally red. I called the Dr. and zipped up there and by that time it was really looking scary!LOL

Turns out it is simply a blood vessel that popped and was hemorrhaging into my eye.

I looked at some pics online and was going to put one up on my post but they're just disgusting, my kids couldn't even look at me it was so bad. The white part was dark red and then there was this bright green glowing in the middle of my eye, my iris, it was so odd looking that I actually startled a young girl working at the store one of the days, poor thing!LOL

Now, I'm almost back to a normal looking eye, at least Christopher and Katie will look at me again and Dan has stopped promising to buy me an eye patch and parrot for my shoulder!!!

Sot thankful that it was just a small problem and will fix itself in time.

A Simple Book Review - The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

2010-09-07T19:27:00.001-04:00

I received a copy of The Butterfly Effect from Thomas Nelson publishers to review. I've never read anything by Andy Andrews but definitely will after reading this book.

It's a short book and a quick read that will encourage you to not gauge the importance of your life by the worlds standards and to remember that everything we do, in every moment we do it will make a difference to many others along the way.

The Butterfly Effect is in essence telling us that our actions resonate now and forever, the choices I make today will not only effect my life tomorrow but will affect many generations to come. I, of course can't imagine anything I do today to be important enough to possibly change history, but after reading this book I see that others probably thought the same way and yet history was changed because of their choices.

The writer gives us prime examples of the changes in history due to the choices of such folks as George Washington Carver and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

We spend a lot of idle time these days because of the computer age, and technology does so much for us but we're challenged in this book to remember to weigh the choices we make so the future generations will be affected in a positive way.

Very good and inspiring book, can't wait to check out more of Andy Andrews books.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-09-06T15:26:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday September 6, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Sunny and very pretty, the humidity is down but we've got the air on because we've got lots to do inside and it was just too warm in here.

I am thinking...how wonderful the weekend was, we didn't really do anything but we enjoyed being home and had the windows open with a wonderful breeze coming through. Actually it was more like a wind tunnel! We live at the top of the ridge and get some strong winds, it was wonderful! Sunday morning the temps were around 44 when we got up at 5am. brrrrrr!

I am thankful for...our family and extended family. We don't always get to talk or see each other (although we are all friends on facebook!!!LOL) but we always know that they're there if we need them...or vice versa.

I am remembering...the joy of being with Christopher and Katie all day long, I know those times will not go on forever and I absorb every moment of the joy! Christopher does an incredible impression of Bill Clinton, he didn't purposely set out to make it sound like him but it does and simply cracks me up!!! Katie is...well Katie is Katie...she has voices for her fav 'football' players and nicknames for them. I never know who's going to be talking to me next, will it be Bill Clinton, Nani, Ronaldo, Fabio, Chris, Katie.....jim, fred, dorean, chrls....you'd have to live here to understand!!!!

I am currently reading...finally got started on my one year ESV Bible, am finishing up the Patricia Sprinkle series.

I am hoping...for the strength, endurance and comfort to deal with the changes we'll be going through, we're a close family and changes are sometimes very, very difficult for me!

On my mind...the wonderful comfort that He gives us 'just enough', I ask for nothing more.

Noticing that...it's getting dark earlier in the evening! I love that, we love to light oil lamps and have a nice cozy atmosphere.

Pondering these words...'Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin' Grace Hansen

The older I get the more I see that we have to step out of our comfort zone and take some risks and chances, we never know what will be on the other side!!!

From the kitchen...Katie is going to make us meatloaf, broccoli casserole and roasted potatoes for supper.

Around the house...Christopher and Katie are in here with me so the rest of the house is very quiet. Can't say that for this room...full of nonsense and weirdness!!!

From my picture journal...

One of Katie's pics of the clouds, she loves the sky (just like her mama!).

Simple Inspiration

2010-09-03T20:14:00.000-04:00

I desperately needed this list today, I can't seem to stop procrastinating. I've always been bad about it but right now it's ridiculous! Maybe I'll keep reading the list until it sinks in!

27 Ways to Stop Procrastinating

Get started.
Be realistic about the time it takes to do something, never as long as you think.
Work with time available.
Use small amounts of time.
Carve out time.
Don't always start at the beginning - just do some part.
Do worst first.
Set small deadlines.
Small reward for each deadline met.
Do things as they occur to you.
Is there a simpler way?
What's the worst thing that will happen if you do it?
Do nothing - try looking at it for a full 15 minutes.
Clear work area of everything else.
Make workplace convenient.
If I don't make deadline no treat.
Listen to your mood.
Plan a reason to get motivated (invite someone over).
Seize opportunities.
To do is must do.
Tell someone else your deadline.
Expect problems to come up that will keep you from getting it done.
Don't stall - expect to do a GREAT job.
Get back to people - even to say 'I don't know yet'.
Ask for help.
Use leisure time for leisure.
Maybe procrastinating means you really don't want to do it at all.

Delight in the Simple Things

2010-09-01T18:48:00.000-04:00

Delight in the Simple Things

Learn to like what doesn't cost too much.

Learn to like reading, conversation, music.

Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.

Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills.

Learn to like people, even though some of them may be different from you.

Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well as it can be done.

Learn to like the songs of birds, the companionship of dogs.

Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things.

Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.

Learn to keep your wants simple, and refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.

Lowell B. Bennion

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-08-30T13:11:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday August 30, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Sunny and hazy from the heat, we have a smog alert from the 90's to 100 temps.

I am thinking...glad to have some things checked off my to do list, plenty more to do. We're preparing our home for Autumn, lots of fall cleaning, cozying and fluffing!!!LOL

I am thankful for...a clear mind and joy in my heart, it all comes from my Savior

I am remembering...all the laughter in our home yesterday, Danny was really on a roll and had us all laughing!!! Also, talking to my Tommy, this mommy just loves to see his name on the phone when it rings.

I am currently reading...the Patricia Sprinkle series 'Thoroughly Southern Mystery Series', I've read all of her books now and finally had to buy this series from ebay because our library didn't have them, they are really good.

I am hoping...for things to go as planned in September, we have some things happening that are kind of new territory for us and some things that will be an adjustment for Christopher, Katie and I but we're looking forward to this next step.

On my mind...my sweet little mama that had a fall last week and is hurting still from it. She has had severe rheumatoid arthritis for over 20 years and a fall really flares up pain and she has to up some meds, just praying she's 100% again soon. She's my hero, I've always wanted to be just like her, I love her so very, very much!

Noticing that...I'm feeling the need to stock up and prepare, I'm not a doomsday person but it seems that it just makes sense to be prepared for any possible time of need.

Pondering these words...Your are either a dasher or a dancer, sad to say I'm a dasher...I think I might work on that and try to turn myself into a dancer!!!

From the kitchen...Banana bread for breakfast, beef stew with Katie's bread for supper.

Around the house...music is playing in the kitchen while Katie goes about her baking, air conditioning roaring away!!..come on cooler temps!!!

From my picture journal...

Last week wash Tasha Tudor day, since I missed it on my blog I want to pay homage to her here with some of her artwork, she has been such an inspiration to me in living simply and enjoying the simple things.

She was a wonderful lady, she bloomed where she was planted!

A Simple Recipe: Homemade Pure Vanilla Extract

2010-08-18T13:30:00.000-04:00

We're kinda vanilla snobs in our home, we use only pure vanilla and usually get a bottle from Watkins. Well, the bottle is about $17.00 but we think it's worth it because we like to have our ingredients as pure as possible and as few ingredients in it as possible.
Well, I found a recipe for making our own vanilla extract and it's an amazing thing!
We took a bottle like this:

Bought some vanilla beans from here bulkfoods.com, used a bottle of vodka that we keep on hand for homemade cleaning products and make our room sprays, must be at least 40% alcohol content.
Split 4 vanilla beans in 1/2, stuck in the bottle, filled with vodka, put the top on and leave for 8 weeks. Shake daily or when you think of it. The beauty of this is that when you use some you just top it off with vodka again and it will be ready for the next time! I think this would make great gifts for Christmas and the vanilla beans will last a long, long time so you just pull one out and replace as needed, they should last a couple of years!
Ours has been in the cabinet for appr. 1 week now and it smells wonderful, we do remember to shake it every other day or so.
We love these homemade recipes! We especially love knowing exactly what's going into our products!

A Simple Read

2010-08-16T16:58:00.000-04:00

I received this book from Thomas Nelson publishers to review. I had a bit of an advantage because I've read every book Dave Ramsey has ever written. I've been a follower and reader of his since his first Financial Peace book came out. Dave isn't just some financial guy telling you how to manage your money, he's a guy that has been at the bottom and worked his way back up. He was a millionaire, a business man at the top of his game and then it all came crashing down, he lost everything and knows how to do things the right way.

Initially I started reading his books because he is a Christian and I love to learn things from a Christian perspective, he pulled me in from there.

Dave has come a long way, having his own show on Fox News Channel, he knows his stuff.

This book gives some quick answers to questions that you will also find answered in his other books, this is a great book though, especially if you've never read anything by him and want to get a feel for his style of teaching and writing.

I recommend this book and even learned some things from it that I had not learned from his other books, great read!

Beautiful Music

2010-08-13T07:17:00.001-04:00

Our home has become one of beautiful music! I’ve always thought that having a piano just makes a home seem very cozy. Last month Katie was gifted with one from my sweet little sister. It’s a console Baldwin and has a beautiful sound to it. At just the same time that we were looking for lessons for her a small music store opened in our little town and she’s taking lessons from a wonderful teacher, she calls him her piano professor!

She’s been taking lessons for three weeks now and I am so enjoying her playing. She plays very well and although the songs are repetitious while she’s learning I don’t mind at all. The sound is just so soothing and I find myself just daily walking around our home and thanking the Father for always providing. His timing is always perfect, she’s wanted to take lessons for many years but I think that as a mature young woman she is so thankful for the piano that she is totally dedicated to practicing. It’s almost as though when she sits down at the piano she is finally able to expend some of the creative energy that has been just waiting for those piano keys!

Christopher also has been blessed with the gift of a guitar, it’s an electric guitar and he has been practicing almost daily. He actually doesn’t turn the amplifier on, truly I think he’s more an acoustic guitar kind of guy but he’s just thankful for the guitar. He’s also been helping Katie with her practicing and setting the metronome for her. Actually the metronome is the laptop, he just went to a website and downloaded the metronome for it for free. He just sets the laptop on the piano and has it clicking away keeping time for her. It’s just another way the internet is a wonderful thing. Metronomes can be expensive and this works perfectly for us. Christopher also borrowed an accordion from my little mama, she’s had it for over 50 years and it works like a charm, he’s becoming interested in playing it from some of the music he enjoys. He loves to listen to Andrew Peterson and enjoys the instrumentals in his music. Both Christopher and Katie get their music talent from my parents, both of them can sing and play multiple instruments. I can neither sing nor play any instrument very well, guess that passed me by. Tommy has a violin that he’s had for a few years, now that he’s on his own I don’t think that he practices it but maybe down the road he’ll decide to play again, I think they all have the talent and an ear for music. I like listening to music…LOL and can play a mean ‘Little Johnny Jones’ but that’s as far as it goes!

We’re looking so forward to fall, these 90 degree days are getting very, very old and we’re ready for some cooler temps and being able to throw those windows wide open!

Life is very simple here in our home and that’s just the way I like it!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-07-05T08:13:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday July 5, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Sunny and already hazy from the heat at only 7am.

I am thinking...how nice it is to be back on my blog and posting again, so much to say....

I am thankful for...my family.

I am remembering...a nice weekend with my little family, we didn't leave the house and enjoyed every minute of it!

I am currently reading...waiting for my new ESV daily Bible to come!

I am hoping...for lots of energy this week to accomplish all we have to do. Want to get some soap going and get a Christmas list made so we know what needs to be created.

On my mind...the closeness we have with our grown children and how close they are to one another. Such a blessing!

Noticing that...when I get my lowest the Lord seems to pull me closer. Such wondrous love!

Pondering these words...In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. Franklin D. Roosevelt

From the kitchen...Egg on English muffin with fruit for breakfast. Cheese, crackers and fresh veggies for lunch with iced water. Supper might be roast with veggies, not quite sure yet.

Around the house...very quiet as it's early and I'm the only one awake.

From my picture journal...no photos yet, we have a new computer and as Katie's digital camera broke and her new one is not here yet we have no pics.

Simply Blessed by Him, through 'Nana'!

2010-06-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

For many years we've wanted to get a piano for our Katie. She has lovely long thin fingers and can play so gracefully. We've searched Craigslist, etc. but have never found one in good condition that meets the budget. Today I got a call and found out that Katie will be receiving a wonderful piano in excellent condition, plays beautifully....all for free!!! What a wonderful gift! My sister, whom our kids adore and call 'Nana' (her name is Rhonda) has a piano that her sweet hubby got her awhile back and she has decided that she needs the space in her home so she's gifting it to our Katie! How sweet is that? Years ago Rhonda used to take all the kids to her apartment (when she was still single) and keep them overnight, they played video games, watched movies, rode around in her cute little red convertible, etc. She holds a very special place in their hearts, she and my sweet little mama were the only babysitters they've ever had in their lives, if they weren't with them they were with us. We're a wee bit selfish with them!!!
Anyway, tomorrow she gets her new piano. Now all we need to do is find a teacher for her. Years ago I took lessons from a sweet little lady that was in her 80's, she's been gone for many years now. I didn't learn enough to teach Katie but hopefully we can find some good Christian music teacher for her close by.
Isn't God incredible???!! He is using Rhonda as a tool to answer a prayer. How blessed we are!

Simply Thankful

2010-06-18T15:09:00.000-04:00

The above image is in Kentucky, this Kentucky girl loves the beauty of our state!

There's so much beauty all over the USA isn't there?

A number of weeks ago I stopped posting for awhile, I'm now back and looking forward to posting again and reading all my dear friends blogs. I will be posting bit by bit about our journey these past weeks, it has been quite a ride and although we had to go deep in the depths of a storm we were able to survive and thrive simply because the Lord was with us. Actually I would have told you weeks ago that there was no way to get through this without some major repercussions, but God didn't have that plan at all apparently. He was able to blow each problem we faced right out of the water, right before we would have crashed into them, allowing us to sail right through unscathed.
It amazes me that folks don't want to hear about God or read His Word. I am nothing, period, I am a sinner through and through and as far from perfect as you can get....but, through Christ I am a new creation. He shed His blood for this lowly sinner, I am so undeserving and yet He loves me that much. Unfathomable!
I praise His Holy Name today!
I hope you know my Lord. If not email me and I will tell you about Him and His precious love!

Hello!! It's so good to be back!....also I'm 50 today!

2010-06-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

Well, thank you all for the birthday wishes!!! I am 50 years old today...yeah I said 50!!!

These things were invented the year I was born: halogen lamp, lasers, felt tip pens.

These things were invented in the 60's and are now obsolete: 8 track cassettes for music, which are now replaced by CD's. Typewriters, replaced by computers. Pagers replaced by cell phones. Records replaced by iPods.

Thankfully I've not been replaced (yet)!!! Dan tells me it's just a number and not to worry about it...but then he says....'hey, now you can pay attention to the commercials that say "If you're between the ages of 50 and 80..."!!!! He can say these things because he's 8 months younger than me and will turn 50 in Feb. 2011...yep I married a younger man!!! Thanks again all my sweet friends and family! Birthdays mean nothing to me, I'm just thankful for God and His Grace!!!! So Blessed!

Out of commission for awhile

2010-05-03T18:58:00.000-04:00

Hello my sweet friends! I'm simply not able to keep up my blog right now and I'm finding myself feeling stressed because I don't feel I can blog right now.

We are headed into a storm right now and I don't know the outcome, but He does. Dan and I are fine and so are our sweeties but there are things happening in our lives, outside of the family that need our complete attention. We appreciate your prayers as we make some decisions.

If you want to email me my addy is joyfulkeeperofmyhome@yahoo.com.

God bless and I hope to return someday.

A Simple Hymn

2010-04-29T22:24:00.000-04:00

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

The homes of this world are temporary, our bodies but a shell; our houses but a temporary resting place; school, jobs, buildings...everything is temporary. But...Jesus is not!...He is a constant that never changes, His sacrifice was for us, His Father the ultimate foundation.

Jesus paid it all for us...we can do nothing to repay that debt, it was paid for us and is now 'free and clear'.

What do we do every day to show our faith...to show the hope of Heaven...to show someone with no hope that being a child of God is a hope that never ends?

My faith cannot be disturbed by the things of this earth. I sometimes sway a little bit because of depression but I will never, ever falter, nor will I fall...all because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for me....a lowly sinner unworthy of even a small morsel of the mercy He showed by dying on that cross. Such a horrible, terrible, painful death and He did it for me. To say I'm unworthy is not enough, I know I'm undeserving but He withstood the pain and agony...

for me...and for you.

Do you know Christ?

I would love to tell you about Him....Jesus, the sweetest name I know!

A Simple Reminder

2010-04-28T16:20:00.001-04:00

Hymn: Jesus Paid It All

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Refrain

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Refrain

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

Refrain

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

Refrain

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Refrain

Just words chosen and put together in song. It's amazing what happens when you put those words together and read them. Now we must simply believe them and live them. His promises remain forever and ever. God is the same now as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow and His promises always stand. He never, ever goes back on His word. Pretty wonderful, huh?

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-04-26T14:48:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday April 26, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...cloudy, drizzly, everything is wet from the rains all weekend. It is all truly green and lush and beautiful.

I am thinking...of how blessed we were with a cool sunny week last week. We worked for 4 days at my parents home. We scrubbed and power washed the house, cleaned windows inside and out, power washed their deck (which is huge, we call it the runway!) and got some other things done for them also. It's always a treat because they're so appreciative. Years ago we would do the same for Dan's parents and even today when we help out his sweet little momma she is so very appreciative. Makes you want to do even more!

I am thankful for...like minded friends that understand and uplift me when I'm so very low.

I am remembering...a nice calm quiet and restful weekend after working hard outside all week, it was rainy outside and perfect to just enjoy my sweet little family!

I am currently reading...yet another Travis Thrasher book, excellent author!

I am hoping...for lots of energy this week to accomplish all we have to do. This was my answer from last week and applies for this week also. I was blessed with plenty of energy last week to do all we needed to do for my sweet little parents.

On my mind...the closeness we have with our grown children and how close they are to one another. Such a blessing!

Noticing that...when I get my lowest the Lord seems to pull me closer. Such wondrous love!

Pondering these words...Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor. Benjamin Franklin

From the kitchen...Katie's brewing up something in there but won't let us know what it is. Supper will probably be Cheeseburger Soup.

Around the house...busy kitchen, vacuum running, washer running, plenty of indoor chores to do today!

From my picture journal...

This is a cute little dress and jacket I made for Katie years ago. She was photographing things in her hope chest for a friend and this was one of the items. She was probably 7 or 8 when she wore it. Sweet memories and I love that she's kept all of the dresses I made her when she was young. She's my sweetheart!!!

Simply Living for Him

2010-04-24T22:22:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been feeling very low, I know it's a mixture of hormones *yeah I'm almost 50* but I think I've had a bit of depression sneaking in with it. I find that at times like this I want to just turn off all communication with the outside world, it isn't that I don't realize everyone goes through hard times, it's just that I sometimes find myself living for the next day...you know, tomorrow will be better. Sadly that better day just hasn't been coming lately and I know it's just because of my age and things that go with it plus a bit of depression....but mainly it's because life is a bit complicated for us right now. Things are kind of up in the air over some issues and until that gets settled I'm just feeling in limbo.
Why is it that when we get to a certain age we feel like we should have accomplished this or that? I've always said that age means nothing to me but I do notice that I tend to look around and think that I should have done better with some things. You know:

   *I should have lost the extra weight a long time ago....
      *I should have done much better teaching algebra to the kids, my oldest was a whiz at math and helped me through it also since I was never good with algebra...
         *maybe I could have done better with finances so we could have our farm we so hope to have....
             *maybe I should have kept up friendships that I let go by the wayside....
                 *maybe I should color my hair so my young looking husband doesn't have a gray haired wife (he doesn't care, his is getting a bit gray also!)....the list goes on and on.

After praying and searching through the scriptures for answers and hope to get through these times I realized that all of the things I worry about not doing were simply the way things were and I can't change them now and some of those things I now see were meant to be such as:

    *I can still lose the weight, it's up to me to work on that!
       *My kids have learned a lot since they graduated, what I did give them was a thirst for knowledge and to always be learning something new....to me life's all about learning and experiencing new things, He gave us such a wonderful world to play in!!! Such beauty all around us!
           *Dan worked out of town for 3 years to advance with Delta and I worked 4 jobs while he was gone and also raised the kids....I've truly done the best I can but I can work harder to trim spending even more, just because I'm turning 50 doesn't mean I can't still move to a farm, maybe that's my next 'season'!
               *Some of the friendships I had to let go....they were using me as a dumping ground for complaining about their husbands and gossiping. I cannot listen to either of those things, a Christian has to guard themselves from sinful tongues or they might just join in. Don't want to go there as I detest gossip....such a horrid thing!
                    *Dan doesn't mind my gray and I really truly have worked hard at getting our home as chemical free as possible. Also, if I'm going to teach Katie about being a godly woman a big part of that is to pound down an feelings of vanity whenever they come to the surface.

My point in all of this is that I don't like to blog when the words are not pretty words but I need to quit that, life isn't always pretty and the point of blogging is to share with others and learn from the feedback...right?

Now, I'm back on track and am going to make myself blog daily. I've found that it has really helped me just sitting here typing it all out. Things don't look nearly as bleak as I thought they were 'in my mind'!

This blog is called Living Simply for Him for a reason...that's the most basic and the ultimate goal every minute of every day!

God bless you my dear friends!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-04-19T12:31:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday April 19, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...sunny, a bit chilly today only up to 68.

I am thinking...of the fun we'll have today with my sweet little parents. What a joy it is to be with them!

I am thankful for...so many things!

I am remembering...visiting with our Tommy!!! Life doesn't get much better!

I am currently reading...another Travis Thrasher book, excellent author!

I am hoping...for lots of energy this week to accomplish all we have to do.

On my mind...the joy of being a parent, you truly never know until you experience it!

Noticing that...time seems to slip by so very quickly, wish I could slow it down just a bit!

Pondering these words...'turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face...and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace'.

From the kitchen...lasagna, salad

Around the house...showers in preparation for all we have to do today.

From my picture journal...

A picture Katie took last week, just beautiful!

A New Beginning with Kefir and Kombucha!

2010-04-14T22:49:00.000-04:00

Awhile back we had to let go of our Kefir grains and Kombucha scoby. We had nurtured them but just had to give them up for awhile, life just didn't allow us to keep up with them.

Well, I found a source for some new kefir grains and a scoby and am really excited about getting back to having our smoothies and kombucha.

The package arrived today and we've already got the kefir rinsed, drained and a new batch brewing in the cupboard. Tomorrow we'll get the kombucha going and make good use of those pretty scobies!

They really look great and sometimes it's just kind of nice to start something anew and I'm just not so sure about the source I got the first grains and scoby from, I just felt we needed to start anew with a new batch and we're looking forward to having them brewing again!

Sometimes we just get way to used to convenience items and as my sweet hubby would much rather have burgers and fries every single night!!!...I just don't pay as much attention as I should to what's going in our bodies. Now that the markets have some many beautiful fresh fruits and veggies now I'm really looking forward to lightening up our menu! Sweet hubby will just have to fill up on fresh stuff and skip the 'junk food' he so loves!

I love reading all the blogs and learning about different healthy meals in different parts of our country and the world! Such a wonderful variety and it's very inspiring to have all the fresh new ideas!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-04-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday April 13, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Warm and sunny, beautiful day!!! Dan is cutting the grass (mostly dandelions!!, no chemicals on this yard and it shows!!!)

I am thinking...How nice it is to be back to blogland!!! I didn't mind the hiatus because I there's always something to keep you busy but it's nice to be back in the loop!

I am thankful for...the Lord giving us 'just enough', we need nothing more. Thank you Jesus!!!

I am remembering... fun night last night with Christopher and Katie, we played Trivial Pursuit and it is unbelievable to me how much I do NOT know!!LOL It was fun thought, we always have a great time playing games together, no competitiveness at all, just fun!

I am currently reading...some books by Travis Thrasher, they are good but a lot of different folks to keep up with. I prefer to follow along with just one character but these are really good, he is an excellent author.

I am hoping...to get some clothes on the line this week, I've so missed my clothesline!

On my mind...he choice to be happy, so many times we let the things of this earth keep us bogged down so far that we can't find the joy...that's just crazy and I'm telling myself today to 'stop it!!!'. I will find and hold onto the joy in this journey!!! Being joyful and love the Lord with all my heart, He is everything to me.

Noticing that...the more we let go and let God, the more peace there is. Thank you Lord.

Pondering these words...if we keep our eyes on Him, always looking to Him, we will walk in the light and shadows will always stay behind us.

From the kitchen...Smoked sausage, corn flake potato casserole, a nice big salad and sweet tea!

Around the house...washer and dryer humming along, Katie is making Boxty in the kitchen. Christopher is busy, Dan is cutting grass, and I have been busy also. Always lots to do in the spring.

From my picture journal...

This is Chastity and Michelle (Chas and Mitzy are their nicknames). Katie has had these two for almost 20 years and we just found them when she was transferring items over to her hope chest. When our kids were in school (until Katie was in 3rd grade) I had to take Chas and Mitzy everywhere with me in the car. Katie never wanted them to be at home alone so I wrapped them up and they went on my errands with me...no I did not take them in places with me...lol! Mitzy is the one with her eyes open, one of her eyes kept trying to fall back so I had to use 'eye drops' (superglue) to help her eyes, that's why they're a bit gunked up!

Such sweet, sweet memories!!!

Lonestar Homecoming - Colleen Coble

2010-04-08T05:23:00.000-04:00

I received this book from Thomas Nelson publishers to review. I love Christian fiction and this is a really great read. I love Colleen Coble and have read most of her books, she is an excellent author.

This book didn't disappoint and was just as great as the rest of her books.

A brief synopsis:

'With nothing but five dollars, a train ticket, and the wedding dress she’s wearing, Gracie Lister escapes with her daughter to the West Texas country where her family fell apart years ago. There, Lieutenant Michael Wayne—devoted single father, dedicated soldier—gives Gracie the hiding place she needs, and a job caring for his two children. Michael and Gracie aren’t looking for love, but it finds them right away.'

I quickly came to know Gracie and was a champion for her and wanted her to be successful in life after the problems she has dealt with. We learn that although she's been through so much and is so concerned that in her sin she has just gone too far to ever be forgiven by Christ. We know better of course and you'll hope along the way that she sees this also.

This was well worth the read and truthfully once I started I couldn't put it down. I love the choices of authors available through booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson has so many incredibly wonderful Christian authors to enjoy!

A Simple Hiatus

2010-04-02T17:11:00.000-04:00

All is well but need to take a break. Be back soon :O)

A New Project - A Family Cookbook

2010-03-30T20:34:00.000-04:00

Katie and I have taken on a huge project and I'm curious as to how many folks have done this with their family. A couple of years ago we started requesting recipes from our family and friends of the family. This is my mother's family and she was one of 9 children and her parents had multiple siblings so the extended family is simply huge. I have more cousins than you could even imagine and of course they've had children and their children are having children, etc. The list just goes on and on!
Well, we have received quite a few recipes but it's just kind of hard getting folks to sit down and write them down and send them. I set up an email addy specifically for family recipes and that's been a big help because most folks have their recipes computerized and can just zip them to me through email. Quite a few of the family are not computer folks and just wrote them up and sent them or sent me copies.
My favorite ones so far are the ones that are handwritten, some of them are the originals or copies of the originals, these are just treasures! We also request stories behind the recipes or just tales of how often they had them, etc. We have learned so much and have enjoyed having the stories to go along with them.
My grandparents were farmers and I well remember as a child seeing my grandma frying up the chicken and they raised a lot of their own food and their own critters...yep, chicks for that fried chicken!
I wanted to share a recipe that my aunt sent about my Grandma Burn's fried chicken, feel free to try it yourself:

Grandma Burn's Fried Chicken

Go outside, catch a big young rooster. Pick it up and 'wring it's neck' (almost instant death). Hold it up, pour hot water on it to loosen its feathers. Then 'pick' the rooster. Cut it open, take out the stuff you don't eat, cut up the rest. 1 breast, 1 back, 1 pulley bone, one liver, one gizzard, 1 neck, 2 legs (drumsticks), 2 thighs. Roll it in flour and a little meal (this would be corn meal), salt & pepper. Fry it in a deep skillet and enjoy.

Sound tasty and fun???LOL Of course she used lard to fry it in, I'm sure my grandma did not know what olive oil was and she certainly wouldn't have called it extra virgin olive oil...they didn't use that sort of talk back then!!LOL

I have a lot of recipes family have sent from those that have gone before us, this same aunt sent me a recipe from her daughter who was one of my best friends growing up. She died the same year Dan and I got married, in 1982, they found her dead on Christmas morning, she had some health issues but we didn't know they were that bad, sadly she was going to the Dr. the next week to have some things checked out. I loved her dearly and to have a recipe with her name on it is more precious to me than gold!

If you've never thought about this idea, I encourage you to try to get one started. It's taken a while for us to gather the recipes and are still waiting on some but our hope is to have it finished by this fall at our annual family reunion.

We're going to make it in a scrapbook style with scrapbook papers and will add pics and stories to the pages, it should really be nice. I'll post some pics when we're finished. It's a bit of a project for us but I know it will be worth all the work in the end and I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. We'll make sure and print it on acid free paper so it will last beyond our generation.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-03-29T12:26:00.000-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday March 29, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Very dreary, rainy cloudy sky. Quite chilly.

I am thinking...how I've neglected my blog lately, I need to get back on track with my posting. Seems spring is just such a busy time, so much work to be done.

I am thankful for...the Lord giving us 'just enough'.

I am remembering...some blessings during our yard sale, met some really nice folks and an old friend of Dan's stopped by that I had never met but I knew his father. His father is passed now and was best friends with Dan's dad, who passed last year, we had a really nice visit with this new friend. He talked about World War II with Christopher (who loves learning about WWII) and taught him how to cast the reel on an old fishing pole Christopher inherited from Dan's dad. It was a very nice day, didn't make much at the yard sale but enjoyed chatting with some really nice folks.

I am currently reading...finished the last book in the Sophie Trace Trilogy by Kathy Herman. It was excellent! I will post a review soon. I was so sad getting to the end of the this book because I had just gotten to know all these folks so well and was pleasantly surprised at the end to see that it continues in a new series, something to look forward to!!! I've read all of Kathy Herman's books and just love her writing.

I am hoping...for some nice warmer weather, it was chilly over the weekend and today it's chilly and dreary. We have sunny days and much warmer temps coming this week.

On my mind...blessings! We can never ever out give God, it's an amazing thing to behold. I love being a Child of God!!!

Noticing that...life isn't about playing games with people trying to make them happy, it's taken me many years to see that it's all about God. I spent many years thinking that we should be about pleasing our parents, family, etc. and that's just wrong, life improved immediately when I realized that it's about pleasing God and put that into practice. It's all about Him, every breath of every day.

Pondering these words...if we keep our eyes on Him, always looking to Him, we will walk in the light and shadows will always stay behind us.

From the kitchen...Southwestern Lasagna, salad.

Around the house...some chores being done and reorganization happening, we're preparing our home and ourselves for what might be around the bend. Still working on the list of to-dos, preparing for a possible change.

From my picture journal...

Just another felt applique image that I think is so cute from weefolkart.com

A Bekah Tag

2010-03-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Coffee or Tea? I like coffee in the morning and loose Earl Grey tea in the afternoon

Do you have any animals? Well, there's ~~Dan~~, no...~~Tommy~~, no....~~Christopher~~, no...~~Katie~~, naw, no pets, I have allergies to dogs and cats!

Any news you'd like to share? We're having a yard sale!

What is your favorite flower? orange/apricot roses

Favorite day of the week? not sure, one day melds into the next most of the time

What time did you get up this morning? First ask me what time I went to sleep.....5am...I don't sleep like normal folks do, unfortunately :(

What is your favorite TV show? Avonlea, our favorite show.

What do you usually have for breakfast? coffee

What food do you dislike? anything spicy, don't like hot spicy foods

Salty or sweet? mostly salty, sometimes sweet

What is your best quality? I'm told I'm a good listener.

What is your name? Judy Kay, the Dr. that delivered me was Dr. Kay

What characteristic do you most despise? cruelty, so very unnecessary

Anywhere in the world on vacation? Switzerland. But truly if I never left Kentucky I'd be quite happy. I've been to Hawaii, California, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma...but to me Kentucky will always be the most beautiful. I think it's very good when we can bloom where we're planted and I'm happy to be planted right here!

Are you organized? That is the goal...always the goal!

What is your favorite song at the moment? "Give me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath

Where are you going to retire to? Kentucky

What is your birthstone? Alexandrite

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Orange

What is your favorite drink? RC

Favorite clothing? jumper, tee, sandals

Favorite restaurant? Cracker Barrel

What was your favorite toy as a child? Dolls

Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

What is under your bed? I don't think any of us want to really know that...:) Actually it was cleaned recently and vacuumed so nothing.

What do you usually do in the evening? Supper, finish up laundry, piddle on the computer, read, watch something with Christopher and Katie

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-03-22T16:53:00.001-04:00

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...
Monday March 22, 2010...
Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...Very dreary, rainy cloudy sky. Quite chilly.

I am thinking...that it's time for a change in our home, things have just gotten boring and it's time to spring spruce things up!

I am thankful for...our oldest son getting a job promotion! He's worked very hard for this and we're very proud of him!

I am remembering...a nice relaxing weekend with my family, still healing from the illness so we just were not up to doing things just yet.

I am currently reading...a new Kathy Herman book, will post about it when I'm finished. Also, still reading on crafting with wool felt and got some books from the library about algebra, just want to brush up on some things.

I am hoping...for some nice warmer weather, it was nice over the weekend but today it's chilly and dreary.

On my mind...blessings! Just when we get down and let things bog down our mind, heart and spirit....we're reminded that Christ came so that we can have life and have it more abundantly! We are not to fret and worry, as my oldest brother Rick tells me 'worry is of the devil'! I will rejoice in Him today!

Noticing that...there seems to be a change happening in our lives right now, I'm not even sure what it is but things are happening that we did not foresee or cause to happen, good things, truly makes me wonder what the Lord has in store for us!!

Pondering these words...if He brings us to it He will bring us through it.

From the kitchen...something with ground beef, we're just playing it by ear!

Around the house...some chores being done and reorganization happening, we're preparing our home and ourselves for what might be around the bend.

From my picture journal...

This is along the lines of what I'm working on with my wool felt, I'm really enjoying working on the stitches I haven't done for awhile, it's a nice change. I love all the sweet things on the website weefolkart.com lot's of fun stuff!