Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!!

   Well, today is my birthday.....I used to really dislike my birthday as I was concentrating too much on the age factor and not enough on the joy factor....The last several years I have really taken to enjoying the day and having lots of fun....Today at work I was dancing around, being really silly - the girl I was working with couldn't quite figure me out!!!!  My favorite thing to do on my birthday is to take the day off and spend it at Barnes and Noble.....The last two years I was able to do this, but this year I had to work..... I would go there early in the day and spend lots of time enjoying the books about things I was interested in at that point in my life.  Then I would take a few magazines to the cafe (love that you can do that!). order their wonderful potato leek soup, and enjoy lunch while reading....My idea of a great time!!!!   Of course, I could never leave without purchasing books - birthday presents to me!!!!!

   Today it snowed for the first time (except once really early on) all winter, so it was quite slippery when I came out of work.....So I went to the Christmas Tree Shop on my way home and picked out a lovely new mug for my tea.....I'm sitting here typing, drinking tea (in my new mug), and eating brownies....It's the  small things that mean so much.......

    This December I started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp - I have read it through two times now and will be starting on the third reading soon.....What a wonderful book!!!!!!  It has really opened my eyes to all the blessings we have in our lives that we take for granted unless we really make an effort to be aware of them.....Her idea is to make a list of 1,000 blessings.....I started in December and this morning wrote number 512!!!!!  Ann writes about days of Joy and a life of Gratitude....I can tell you that reading this book has really changed my life!!!!!  Ann and her husband are farmers in the Mennonite countryside of Ontario.  She is the mother of six children and writes everyday at "A Holy Experience." I hadn't expected to write on the blog today, so didn't have any pictures lined up - now that I have begun again, I will try to really get into the swing of things soon.....Have A Blessed New Year!!!!

<!-- START OF ADDME LINK -->
<a href="http://www.addme.com/submission/free-submission-start.php">Search Engine Submission - AddMe</a>
<!-- END OF ADDME LINK -->

The Small Things

"Show love how you want love"

   Jumped out of the shower this morning and headed downstairs with thoughts of making myself a refreshing smoothie for breakfast....Opened the freezer, took out the ice cube tray and saw that there were only two itty-bitty ice cubes....I wonder who didn't refill the tray????  Could it be "My Dan"????  Oh well, I thought, I'll just make do and have a warm smoothie today....Got all the ingredients together and into the blender...Meanwhile I was looking for the cap for the almond milk to to put it back in fridge - couldn't find it anywhere....Moved everything on the counter, looked on the floor - no cap.....Strange I thought, but by now the blender had stopped, so I poured the pink liquid into my favorite glass, took a nice drink and noticed something hard in it....Guess where the bottle cap was????  All chopped up in much anticipated, refreshing (or I thought so anyway) breakfast delight!!!!!   Now to rinse out the blender and glass and start all over again....Of course this time there weren't even two itty-bitty ice cubes, so the second batch was warm and not at all what I had anticipated for starting the day....(Oops, is that complaining? Guess I'll have to switch the purple bracelet to the other wrist!!!!).....Anyway, I finally decided that in the grand scheme of things, my day wasn't so bad after all.....When "My Dan" came downstairs, I went through the whole scenario with him and we had a great laugh to start the morning with!!!!!!  You can be sure the ice cube tray is filled tonight!!!!!

  

   This morning it was really raining as I left the grocery store....I quickly deposited my bags into the car and faced the empty carriage.....Now I know I'm supposed to walk several car lengths down to the carriage corral to leave my carriage, but after all, it's raining....Ohhhh God,  just this once......And then, in my head, I heard Joyce Meyer telling her shopping cart story and I knew there was no way I could leave my cart where it was.....It really is the "little things" that we must be faithful with.....I kept thinking of the Bible story in Matthew 25:14, which ends with "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness! "Isn't it amazing that a seemingly unimportant thing like returning your shopping cart to the designated place can remind you how important it is to follow in Jesus' footsteps - not only in the big things, but also in the small things......

   Blessings.....

                      "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"    (Corrie Ten Boom)

Happy Tuesday

        "Good morning!!  This is God!!  I will be handling all your problems today.
                     I will not be needing your help....So, have a great day!!!!!
 
   I first saw this quote on a card from Joyce Meyer Ministries and have always loved it - it rings so true for me.....How many times do we give our burdens to God and then quickly pick them up and start doing the "worry thing" once again????  We have to know that God in His infinite wisdom knows what is best for us and will bring it to fruition in "his own time"....Give everything to the Lord - he has really big shoulders and can carry all those problems for us.....

   This morning as I was out walking "Miss Elliekins", our mini schnauzer puppy, I was trying to practice being very still to "hear the whisper of God"....Usually I keep telling Ellie to "go potty" or "hurry up" or "I'm going in - you've had long enough"....Today, though, I stood still and listened....The sounds of early morning were amazing - A woodpecker was rat-a-tat-tatting on a tree way above us, the birds were chatting back and forth with each other and my wind chimes were singing in the slight breeze going through the trees...  Amazing sounds that I am usually not aware of because of my constant "hurry ups" to Ellie and thoughts of all that has to be done in the house before we leave for the day.....  Sometimes I think we just have to be more aware of our surroundings and fall in love with nature.....

   It just feels so good to finally have sunny days and warm weather - somehow I just feel so much better when I can open the doors and windows and sit on the deck with a good book and a soothing cup of herbal tea.....Did you hear me jumping for joy this morning when I finally took the plastic off the windows???  A sure sign of spring!!!!!  Last night Dan and I actually ate dinner on the deck - what a thrill!!!!

    Recently, I came across a very interesting website...."A Complaint Free World"....It's a really effective campaign to get us to stop complaining, criticizing, or gossiping....Their way of doing it is by wearing a purple bracelet which has "A Complaint Free World" engraved on it....You start out by putting it on one of your wrists and every time you complain, criticize, or gossip you must change it to the other wrist...The ultimate goal is to go 21 days with the bracelet remaining on one wrist....This journey will transform your life and you will be more positive, hopeful and optimistic.... 

  

      It's a wonderful idea, but hard to do....I have been using it for several days now and have been unable to go a whole day without moving it to the other wrist!!!!!  It really works though because I have become much more aware of what I am saying.....I'll let you know when I have gone a whole day without switching it and then maybe a week and then 21 days!!!!!!  Just think what a loving person I will be then!!!!!!  I'll keep you posted.......

      Oops, I almost forgot to tell you about the "clean" muffin recipe I have discovered....It's in "The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged book by Tosca Reno.....At first it seems like a lot of ingredients - maybe some you haven't purchased before - but once you have them, you can make the muffins several times.....So much of this is new to me....I had never used raw bran(one of the ingredients) before, but I did have the flaxseed, wheat germ, agave nectar and almond milk...A few months ago, they wouldn't have been found in my cupboards, but now they are "regulars" there....I added strawberries, which made them more moist and the next time I make them I think I'll add walnuts too.....You'll find the recipe on page 294 of the book.....

The next think I want to try is making brownies that have black beans in them.....They say they are delicious, so I'll let you know......

     Until tomorrow......

                "I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am

                      able to do it."    (John Wesley)

"Rush and Scramble Mondays"

"Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God"

    I always seem to oversleep on Mondays....Possibly it's because I stay up so late on Sunday night - I guess I'm just trying to stretch out the weekend a little more.....Then it's really "rush and scramble" as we try to get out the door for school/work......One good thing about this morning was that I made a fabulous smoothie to start off the day....The recipe is as follows:

                                        1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
                                        1 cup almond milk
                                        1 cup ice cubes (about 5)
                                        1 scoop whey protein (comes in vanilla or chocolate -
                                                                           I use chocolate - yummy!!
                                        1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
                                        1 tablespoon wheat germ
                                        1 cup frozen berries (Wymans frozen berries are great...)
                                        1 handful of spinach (I use Trader Joe's organic frozen
  .                                                                                      spinach chopped)
                   Mix it all together in your blender and you have one yummy breakfast treat!!!!  It's very filling.....

   I'm really enjoying the clean eating way of life....Not only have I lost about ten pounds, but I really do feel so much better eating all "clean" food.....I never thought I'd be able to give up sweets and  those comfort foods just filled with preservatives, but it has become really easy.....I actually have no desire for any of the things I once thought I could never live without....  Tomorrow I'll tell you where to find a great recipe for muffins.....

  It's beautiful here in New England today.....The Lord has given us a bright, sunny 70 degree day.... Just what we need after the long winter we had....We actually had snow on April 1st....Here's a picture we took last week when my son (on his bike), our dog (on the leash) and I (on foot) went for a walk through our town. We slipped down these stairs and traveled over the covered bridge....It's really amazing how much more you notice when you're walking rather than riding in the car....We walk around the town about once a week now and it seems I discover something new every time......

  Last Wednesday morning when I looked out my kitchen window, this is what I saw.....It was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen!!!!!  I called my son (Dan) to come and see!!!   It was magnificant!!!!!!

   The funny thing is - the next day I was in the bank and the teller was asking me if I had seen the wonderful sunrise the day before...She said "I even called my son to come and see it!!!!!"  The glory of it only lasted a few minutes and then it slowly faded away.....Amazing!!!!!

   Have a wonderful night - we'll talk again tomorrow....

  
              "To the world you may be only one person, but to one person you
               may be the world".......

Time Flies!!!

                            

                                      



   As you can see, I started my new blog (or should I say, my eleven year old son started my blog) on March 12....Here it is almost a month later....During this time I have been agonizing over what to write, how to write it, and if I truly had anything truly meaningful to say....Finally I just decided to jump in and write about life as it comes.....

   Today is the day the Lord has made - Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!!!!! 

   Yesterday I went to see Kathy Trocolli at a "Ladies Day Apart" in Derry NH with some friends....What a wonderful get-away it was for all of us....Kathy is an amazing singer and her message  was all about waiting expectantly, confidently, and worshipfully on the Lord....She shared with us parts of her life story, sang many amazing, meaningful songs and impressed on us to never lose sight of Jesus...."There's something about that name"....

   Kathy read us a letter sent to her by her niece which was such a blessing on one of those days when she really needed to be blessed....Special things that happen in her life she calls "Kisses from the King"....I think we all need to look for those special "Kisses from the King" in our own lives....The little "God winks" that come from family or friends that make our days light up with joy....

   I received one today by e-mail when my cousin wrote to say she was hoping I could get to Maine this summer again as they so enjoy my visits....Made me want to go out and make reservations in that special bed and breakfast we always stay in (the Mill Pond Inn).....Imagine if we sat down at the end of each day and made a list of all our "Kisses from the King" or blessings what a difference it would make in our lives.....

    Now that I've gone on and on, I need to tell you a little about myself...I'm a single mother of six children, (four are grown and married with children) self-employed and someone who loves to read, knit, decorate - I especially love doing table settings - and learn new things!!!!  Recently a friend introduced me to Tosca Reno  and her clean eating lifestyle, so one of my new facinations is finding and trying "clean" recipes...

    There are soooo many other things I could chat about, but will leave them to another day.....Looking forward to spending time with you again.....Blessings to all....

   "Do not pray for easy lives.  Pray to be stronger women.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.  Pray for powers equal to your tasks" 

One of my Prayer Shawls