my blessed life

 Our summer is about to officially wrap up~can't believe fall is almost here!  August has been crazy busy so far, but these last couple of weeks are (hopefully) going to be a little slower. We had two short trips back-to-back at the beginning of this month ...which made me realize more than ever that my son is just not a very good traveler.  But we survived.  And even had some fun in the meantime ;) Our first trip was to Indianapolis for a ministers conference.  I didn't attend much of the conference, but I did get to hang out in a cozy hotel room downtown with my kiddos, eating some delicious pizza, and watching lots of the Food Network (a guilty hotel splurge since we don't have cable). The kids and I also did a bit of walking around downtown while Vince was at the conference.  Indy has a lovely downtown and I always enjoy visiting there! So then we came home for a couple of days and turned around and headed back to the Cincinnati area....

A few years ago I never would have thought I would be jumping in my car and heading off to meet up with internet friends with whom I had only had virtual communication before.  But this past Monday night I was so excited to meet up with a couple of blogging friends who live in the same region that I do.   One friend, Jennifer, I actually know in real life, but have only met a few times through homeschooling activities.  She lives in a different town and so most of our communication is through the internet.  Jennifer has a lovely new blog called Godly Glimpses .   Crystal met up with us from yet another town not too far away.  She has a wonderful blog called Serving Joyfully .  She and I are both a part of a bloggers group on Facebook and have only interacted there until this week.  Ironically, she and Jennifer had "met" in a different Facebook bloggers group as well.  So this was a fun little reunion for us all!   These ladi...

Having lived in a few states now, my daughter has quite the little list of far-away friends.  She loves keeping in touch with them all!  One day this summer when the kiddos needed something different and fun to do I dragged out all of my old stamping supplies.  In the days before I had children I actually did a lot of stamping, making cards with friends and I still have all of my stamps, stamp pads, special scissors, etc.  I get them out for the kids once in a great while. In the process of getting out all of these supplies, I found a little journaling kit that I'd forgotten all about.  It was a Circle Journey kit , which I don't think they even make anymore.  It's basically a correspondence kit for friends and comes with a small journal, extra envelopes, stickers, and journaling ideas.  I had bought it thinking to keep my circle of high school girlfriends in better touch ...and that didn't happen.  It had never been used.  I...

There's something about getting into a routine and schedule that helps you start to feel *planted*. Last week we started back to school and began to regain some normalcy in our days. Since our move it's been so crazy because of the unpacking of boxes, painting rooms, etc., that there has seemed to be no routine at all. Unless you count my daily cup of coffee w/hazelnut creamer...a must in my life! When my schedule is *off* though, I feel *off* in general. I guess I should be more flexible in that way...and I do try, really. But it just takes a little time to find my groove in a new house, with everything in a new place. Yesterday I could feel things beginning to click~and it felt so good! I've been in desperate need of getting organized with my cleaning schedule. It seems like I'm always dropping one of those proverbial balls that I have in the air: homeschool, cooking, cleaning, remodeling, laundry, etc. So I revisited that little plan I came up with just abou...

I hope you're having a great week! Mine has been super busy~and pretty good, too. I keep thinking it's Saturday instead of Friday, but I'm glad it's not because I need that extra day! This week has been filled with delivering Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints, anyone?) , school, church, the usual house stuff and--believe it or not-- two girls nights out! I don't know how I managed to get two in the same week, but I did. Last night was our monthly Moms Nite Out for our homeschool group and we had a really great time. We had a guest speaker, the childrens pastor from my church, who talked about those *Awkward Talks*. You know , the ones we dread to have with our growing children. She had some amazing advice to give and some great resources to share. I'm definitely going to be headed to the bookstore very soon. And tonight is the kick off of our *new & improved* womens' ministry at our church. So I'm headed out to dinner with some of my girl friends...

I'm beginning to feel like Willie Nelson:) Although not a huge fan of his, I do love that song and like to sing it {out loud} on road trips. Much to my husband's dismay. We are on our way to visit some of our very best friends ever and I am SO excited!! This is a pure pleasure trip~haven't had one of those in a while. We'll be visiting a part of Alabama and Georgia that we've never been to before since our friends have moved since we last saw them. I always enjoy going to new places! And as our laptop is in the repair shop {sigh...}, I will not be able to blog while we are gone. But I'll be back next week, I promise. I like you all too much to stay away very long:) Have a wonderful weekend!

It has been an absolutely wonderful week of being in my old hometown! I have had so much fun catching up with friends ( you know, the ones who feel like family !). I've gotten to eat at some fave places... take my kiddos to some fave old fun spots... and take them to some new fun spots... and hang out with my BFF's some more! I'll be back regularly later this week. We are driving home today (Monday) and we have company coming on Wednesday. So Tuesday will be nothing but laundry and grocery shopping! Now I'm even more glad that I cleaned the house and got several meals in the freezer before I left on this trip.

Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends {and family} are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled by them. ~Henry Ward Beecher words in{} added by me Timely words to ponder as I prepare for my uncle's funeral today.

This past weekend my wonderful friend Donna came for a visit. We met 19 years ago at college in Springfield, MO. She now lives in Virginia and we hadn't seen each other in about 7 years. We had a great time together~she's a kindred spirit! This was the first time that she'd met my kiddos and they hit it off extremely well. Donna took home quite the collection of specially drawn and colored pictures (my children's current love language) ! We had fun doing some of the *touristy* things around town and just hanging out. Mostly we talked~it's what we do best:) This was also Donna's first visit to The South during the summer...she thought she was going to melt in our wicked heat! Bless her heart! And look what she brought with her: Books, books and more books...and a bag of delicious coffee!! She actually brought for the kiddos' library the set of the Pollyanna books and the Five Little Peppers series (all vintage, I might add!). Plus there were qui...

Last night a very good friend, Ashley, came over to give me a hand with some of the decor in the house. Most of my decor I've used in several houses and still like it very much. But sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to look at it and come up with some new ideas on how to use it. Ashley & her mother formerly owned a home decor/antiques shop where I worked for five years. She is so talented with this sort of thing! So since my brain is a little frazzled with all of the packing/moving/unpacking, I decided to call her and say *help*! :) We got quite a bit accomplished: some things are up on the wall, some are placed waiting to be hung. Some things we simply grouped together for a specific room after brainstorming about them. I plan on getting much more accomplished today!! Hopefully by the end of today I'll be able to take some *completed* shots. But for now here is just a glimpse of some things by the front entryway.

( New Year's Eve 1985) I've had photos on the brain these past couple of days. Old photos, to be specific. Photos of me and my friends growing up, to be even more specific. All of my friends on Facebook are probably madly searching for revenge photos to post in response to the ones I've posted lately. heehee (at Evangel University 1990) I've only been on Facebook for a few months now, but have reconnected with so many friends from my much younger years. Friends from elementary, jr. high and high school. Friends from youth camp and college. Friends from around the world, some of whom I haven't seen in years and years. (with friends in Ohio 1998) Yesterday as I was starting to pack up my photo albums I decided to take the opportunity to scan some fun old photos of myself and friends to share with them on Facebook. It started quite the online conversation between friends across the nation. Very fun! (a lifelong best friend, Kathy, in 1987) It is amazing to me how the...

Yesterday I hosted a totally impromptu *blessing shower* for one of my best friends. She and her husband recently found out they are ~shockingly~ expecting #4. They were totally out of baby mode, she had even passed on all of her maternity clothes. They are a part of the small group that we host and several of the other girls (we're forever *girls* in the South) decided to go shopping for maternity clothes for her. I mean, shopping is great, but if you can actually do it with purpose it's even more fun! So after several days of gathering gently-used and clearanced maternity clothes, we decided to have a spur-of-the-moment *shower* for her. I tricked her into coming over for lunch and then while she was in the backyard with our kiddos I set up out the shower food and gifts and all of the other girls showed up. It was so fun seeing the expression on her face when she came in! I have always enjoyed hosting events like this, but I usually have plenty of advance notice. Yesterday...

These were amazingly simple to make and absolutely delicious! Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies (The Chocolate Deck) 3 large egg whites, at room temperature 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar Pinch of salt 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup cocoa nibs (optional) ~~~~~ Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 275F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. Beat whites, cream of tartar and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until they form soft peaks. Add sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue beating just to stiff peaks. Beat in vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips and nibs, if using. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls on prepared sheets. Bake, switching position of pans after 30 minutes, for 1 hour, or until meringues are light golden brown. Cool on sheets on wire racks 10 minutes, then peel meringues off parchment paper and cool on racks. Makes 2-3 dozen. I took these to some friends...

After waiting all winter for some snow, we finally got some on the first day of March:) The Bradford Pear trees are already blooming and the daffodils are, too! This is so typical of the South! :) We are certainly enjoying it, too! The kiddos and Vince even built a snowman~miniature though he may be! A few years ago my mom had given us one of those *snowman kits*~you know the ones with all of the snowman accessories~but we've never had a good opportunity (meaning: enough snow ) to use it. Well, our snowman may be a miniature one today, but we got out those accessories and put them to use anyway. There was some snow angel fun and Vince even decided to get in on the action. Our best friends brought their kiddos over to play, too. We even whipped up some real snowcones with some homemade syrup made with lemonade and raspberry syrup. Yummy!! Now for some hot chocolate to warm up.....