Don’t forget the Porch

I don’t know about you, but I love when I am out driving and I run across a home that is decorated for the upcoming season.  Something makes me feel good inside, is shows love of home to me and a family that shares together.  A mom who wants to make “home” a special place for her family and make memories that last a lifetime.  Below are some of those that I enjoy looking at:

Check out all kinds of decorating with the entries for the front porch contest.

 

Here is a sneak peek of mine:

 

Got your porch decorated?  Be sure to let me know, so I can stop over and visit.

Hope you have a blessed Friday and weekend.

Romans 12:1“[Living Sacrifices] Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Simple Pleasures-Reading

Happy Thursday dear friends….hope your having a great week and are enjoying this fall weather.  I am loving everything about this time of year…

Last night I spent the evening making pumpkin bread and my house smelled so yummy, the mixes of cinnamon and nutmeg and pumpkin spice filling the house was a aroma to behold.  Anyway, I could go on about that and the smells of cooking are a wonderful simple pleasure, but today the one I am really enjoying now is reading.

This is my favorite…Amish Fiction, next to my bible and bible study books, this is what I enjoying reading the most.  These stories are full of family, love, faith.  Such strong family values.  Where life slows down and the real things in life that matter are tended to.

“If you think all romance novels have covers displaying a shirtless Fabio clone embracing a woman with heaving bosoms and are filled with torrid sex scenes, think again. The hottest trend right now in the romance genre is the “Amish inspirational,” which are books with chastely dressed women on the front and no sex inside. Yep, that’s right, kissing is about as racy as it gets in an Amish inspirational. But, for many readers, that’s very appealing. As a recent article in USA Today says, “In our sex-soaked society, nothing seems to inflame the imagination quite like the chaste.””

If your a reader, and you love the simple life, I highly recommend these books.  You will not be disappointed.

So what is your simple pleasure today?  Check out what others are saying, by stopping in at Simple Pleasures. Join Dayle (our wonderful  hostess) @ A Collection of This and That. 

 

1 Peter 1:24-25“For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Little behind the times

Do you ever get like that?  I know I do. 

I decided that today I would finally offload my camera, cause I had gads of pictures that I wanted to share, but just hadn’t taken the time to do this one intricate step. 

Several weeks ago, I mentioned that hubby and I traipsed off to The Wild Rose and Co. shop that was just opening in our area, you can read about the shop opening here, oh and did we ever. Well, today I am going to show you just one of the things I got while we were there.  If you remember this is the weekend hubby was in the market for the new TV.  Anyhow, I fell in love with one piece there and he fell for another.  This is the piece he fell in love with. (Sorry it is a lop sided view of the cabinet) but hey, what can I say. 

Actually this is a old cabinet that was housed in a barn (I believe) until Molly got ahold of it.  (Check out her blog and the other talented ladies that have space in this shop  ooh la, la!!.  You can find their links on the other post)

Anyway, Molly put this piece in the shop, and even though I loved it too, I wasn’t sure it was going to work for the purpose of a TV stand.  It was a bit to high, so hubby took his handy dandy saw to the legs and shortened it a bit.  Now it is perfect height! But I am in {heart} with the way it houses my components and DVD’s and CD’s. 

Not sure it is going to stay this way, as I have another piece that I purchased too, and have some ideas for it…so you will just have to wait and see what happens with it.  Hoping to finish up with it soon.

This past weekend, hubby and I traveled down to The Barn Show and that was really awesome.  Unfortunately I couldn’t go down on Friday, so went down Saturday and they still had great pieces to buy.  But with very sad face, I didn’t get anything.  I am  believing I need a bigger home, or I need to stop liking these girls work.  Anyway, here is a small sample of what they had that I just fell in love with.

(Forgive the quality of these pictures, they were made on my phone)

How cool would this be as a kitchen counter island.  It was a distressed cream color with the dark top…stunning!

This desk would have come home with me, if I could have figured out a place to use it.  It had loads of space and little cubbies, and it was painted a wonderful mustard gold with a dark stain.  Be still my heart….

  I would die for this too….it was painted black with all the little white labels….needless to say my head was reeling by the time we left. 

And here is sweet Gail  of The Kramer Angle check out her blog….she does awesome work and has such beautiful things at her shows and in the Wild Rose Shop and Co.  If your local check her out, you’ll be so glad you did.  I know I am….

Again I apologize for the quality of these grainy photos, but I am making do with what I got. 

I hope you enjoyed your visit, and make sure you pop back in soon, want to share my front porch decked out for fall with ya.

Hope your having a blessed day.

2 Timothy 3:16-17“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Simple Pleasure - Lighting my Candle

Happy Thursday to everyone, today I am participating in Simple Pleasures with Dayle @ A Collection of This and That. I hope you will  check out the simple pleasures that others are sharing.


Today my Simple Pleasure is my Pumpkin Spice Candle burning in my kitchen/family room. The aromas stemming from it feel the senses with warmth and coziness.
I love the way the candle changes the mood in the house, as well as mine,something as simple as a candle can slow me.
So what is your simple pleasure today? 

Psalm 40:8“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Thankful Thursday-Good Health

Another Thankful Thursday is upon us….and today I am extremely thankful for my health.  For the last several days I have not been feeling all that well.  Not really anything bad, but just didn’t feel good, mainly upset stomach and just feeling blasé.

And this morning  I woke up feeling much better and it made me realize just how much we take for granted when we feel good.

And it gave me enough incentive today to decide to change some of my habits. Drink more water, green tea, drink less caffeine, etc… I want to feel healthy more than I want to feel tired, sick
and just not myself.  How bout you?

Today Lynn, suggested we share ten things that make you uniquely you.

• I have a heavy southern accent
• I share my birthday with the Marine Corp
• I LOVE history
• I love to watch it snow, but hate driving in it
• I love  old black and white classics
• If I could have done anything other than being a mom and housewife, I would have liked being a investigator
• I'm the oldest 
• I lived in 4 other countries
• I like to salt my apples when I eat them ( I get laughed at for this)
• I take sugar and cream in my coffee.

So what is unique about you?
What are you thankful for today?  If you would like to join us for Thankful Thursday hosted by Lynn @Spiritually Unequal Marriage, stop in.

Psalm 40:8“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Is your home singing?

After a very busy Monday Morning, I am finally taking a break.

I’m a bit late in getting this post up, but thought I would share Making My Home Sing Monday hosted by Nan @ Mom’s the Word

I have spent the morning getting my house back in order after a weekend full of kids, cooking, and football.  Every weekend of Football season, all my kids come home (they all live away from home)either on Friday night or Saturday morning and stay until Monday when they have to go back to work, or leave late on Sunday night. Either way, it gives my house a total workout when they are all here, not to mention, mom, plus usually I they bring a significant other with them.  This weekend, I had kids sprawled out all over my house, in sleeping bags and couches, as well as my kids own rooms….but it was fun. 

So this morning, I lit my pumpkin spice candle and filled my sink with hot soapy water, and started washing down my entire kitchen, cleaned my oven (I had a little mishap with a overflowing casserole this weekend), countertops, washed all my glass canisters, and moved some things around.  Then moved onto the floors, which were in dire need of a good mopping,  My major focus was on the kitchen, although the whole house got a quick pick up and dusting, and since there will not be anyone here until again until the weekend, I think I will save the sheets for Wednesday. 

So what did you do to make you home sing today?

Hope your having a beautifully blessed day.

Psalm 27:14“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Simple Pleasures and Thankful Thursday

all rolled into one.  :)

Today I am joining Dayle @ A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasure and Lynn @  Spiritually Unequal Marriage for Thankful Thursday. 

I have so much in this life to be thankful for and I give God the thanks on a daily basis. Even the small things.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:15)

Today my simple pleasure is really simple really.  Pumpkin Spice Latte…

When I see the signs go up at Starbucks or DD I know that fall has finally arrived.  It is the one thing during this season I afford myself the pleasure. 

I love curling up with my latte and thumbing through some old books or magazines or simply watching a wonderful old Classic movie.  Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

You might ask why I am thankful for this little simple pleasure….well again for me, it is simple.  For the past several weeks, when my children have come through town on the way to my house, they have stopped off and picked one up for me.  Why, because they know it is a treat that I love.  And seeing their giving and generous hearts is always something to be thankful for.  Plus I am thankful that it is a wonderful time to create  special memories with them while we sip our drink of choice for this colorful and beautiful season. So what are your simple pleasure today, and what are you thankful for?  

God is so good!

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (I use canned pumpkin)
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don't have a blender, don't worry about it - just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

Life is Good!

Romans 12:2“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

I did it again

went and stayed away much longer than I had planned.  Guess I needed this little break from the blogging world.

Not sure about anyone else, but  the last several weeks my life has been rather busy and at the same time, I can’t tell you alot that I have actually done.  Nothing that would look like a major accomplishment, but one of great self satisfaction for me.

One of my primary focus though has been less time at the computer.  Seems some days get lost while sitting at the computer, and I have made a pretty concentrated effort to stay away from the computer during the days.  Spending much more time, getting caught up on things around here and puttering around with some “fun things” for the home.

My weekends have been full with all my kids here, so I have been spending time with them and doing quite abit of cooking.  It’s all good!  Something I have greatly missed since they have all been away. 

I’m just taking in the wonderful days of Autumn, enjoying the weather and fall festivities in the area this time of year with family and friends. It has been like a breath of fresh air.

A little run down of some of the things I have been up to:

• Antiquing with friends
• Fall festivals and carnivals
• Watching apple butter being made (and buying some) can you say YUMMO?
• Decorating my front porch for Fall
• Traipsing around hunting down the perfect pumpkins
• Going to farmers markets
• Creating list of upcoming crafting projects
• Hitting some yard sales with my bf
• Starting to organize photos (getting them ready to scan)
• Cooking home cooked meals for my kids on the weekends
• Watching football on Sundays with my sons
• Reading for pleasure
• Spending more time studying THE WORD
• watching movies with my hubby
• getting to bed earlier

So as you can see, I haven’t gotten alot to show for my time away, except a content heart.  Which is a wonderful feeling.

I feel like I have been a terrible blogging friend/buddy, but this season has been a time for slowing down and making some changes and something that I feel like I really needed to do.

Not sure how often I will be around, maybe daily, maybe once a week…maybe when I feel like I have something to share….basically I am just taking this time as God leads me too, to enjoy those things that I get great joy from. My home, family, and friends. I know I will not be gone totally, because there is just so much out there in blogland and friends that I love to visit with and learn from. 

K…since I have a few minutes tonight by myself…going to do some blog hopping. It’s been awhile. 

Hope your having a blessed week so far.

Jeremiah 29:11“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Can't seem to get back in the groove

last week was spent "working” playing in my house, and getting ready for all my kids for the weekend…and as you can see, I didn’t get here to post even. Hoping I do better this week, although I can’t believe how late in the day it is already. 
Saturday my hubby and I went out with some friends, we were heading to the Annual Apple Festival but there was just TOO many people, so we ended up going to the antique mall and then hitting up the market for  some pumpkins and gourds.  We had such a fun time and the weather was simply perfect.


I found a interesting assortment of gourds while I was here, I will have to show you later in the week…(they are still on my camera).
Today the weather has been rainy and cold, high was only 53 today.  Today has been just a all around lazy day for me.  Haven’t been real motivated.  However, I have quite a few things on my plate for the rest of the week.
Just wait to you see what I have….Can’t wait to share. 
Hope all is having a blessed Monday!

Proverbs 27:1“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.