Wednesday Hodge Podge

I'm joining up with From This Side of the Pond.

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

Crazy, changing, hectic. It seems like last year flew by in a whirlwind. We suffered hail storms that totaled two cars. Hubby went back to work in the food industry. I learned all the rules and regulations for Interstate trucking laws and what is needed for apportioned tags. Old friendships faltered. New friendships were made. Started doing more website designs. We didn't make it on vacation last year. There just didn't seem to be a good time for it. All in all, it was a pretty good year, the crazy changes that came our way ended up being for the best.

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

I have this obsession about NOT liking shrimp. I do not even like to see it in the store. When we pass the seafood section of raw seafood, I have to look away so I don't gag. Of course, that is true of just about any fish. I do love Starkist tuna...loaded with Miracle Whip. I only eat fish if it is made by Mrs. Paul and in a stick form. Then I convince myself she raises it in a nice clean aquarium in her house, just for me. But shrimp? Ooo, yuck. No way.

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

We normally wait until January 1st to take everything down and get back to normal. But that was on a Sunday and I don't do that kind of work on Sunday's. So I took everything down the Thursday before New Year's. I love our new place. Before, all the storage was in a building out back and you had to move things out to put the Christmas stuff in the back for another year. Now that we moved, we have HUGE closets with lots of storage space and all my Christmas stuff is on the back wall of the big walk in closet.

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

No. I am more of a comedy/romance/musical type movie person. I watched scary movies when I was young. Back when they were scary, but not really realistic. Nowadays they are so realistic that if I watch any, I would never feel safe in my house, in my car, in the store, on earth or even in outerspace. I would get paranoid and suspect of everything around me.

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

I love sledding. We had a wonderful hill for it when I was growing up and I enjoyed many, many hours out on that old Flexible Flyer sled. However, I would absolutely love to ice skate. I think it is so graceful and beautiful and love to watch it any time I can. They had a tribute to Peggy Fleming on TV the other night and I watched every moment of it. The only problem

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

Yes, I had forgotten all about it! My sisters and our two friend, who were also sisters, used to love to take walks up our road. We lived out in the country and would sometimes walk for one or two miles There was this one section that didn't have any houses, but there was a wide path that led from the road up a little hill into some thickets. In the middle of the thicket, was a little clearing with the softest grass you ever saw. It never got mowed and the grass got so tall it just fell over into a sort of cushiony area. We would walk up the path and one of us would be appointed the "door keeper" for the day and we had to do a secret handshake to "get in" the "clubhouse". We would set there for hours talking about the multitude of things young girls would talk about. We went there all the time the summers we were 11 through 13. Such sweet memories.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

I actually have two places. One is the mountains and the other is the beach. Either place is so full of grandeur and splendor that it makes me realize the overwhelming power of God. Either place helps me feel renewed and rejuvenated. When I visit either one, I come away fresh and motivated to tackle what the world throws my way.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I guess my random thought is something I would like to borrow from Albert Einstein - Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

What's on my mind today...

 

Today I'm riding the Tuesday Train.

We did get a few snow flurries yesterday. Or as my family puts it, it was "spittin' the snow." Of course nothing stuck on the ground in my neck of the woods. Not sure about the rest of the county. But it was pretty to look out and see it flying around. My niece was going back to college yesterday from her winter break. She was traveling from Barboursville, WV to Wheeling, WV. A little above Charleston, they hit snow. After they had been driving for about four hours, she posted this pic of the interstate they were on.

That is some nasty weather. Glad she made it there safely. Hope my brother spent the night before he headed back home. I'll have to call and check on him this morning.

I'm vamping up my website design side of my business. I've been getting a lot of requests lately from customers and friends who are looking for a web designer. I really enjoy designing sites using the Website Tonight program. It is so easy and gives you total flexibility with your designs.

I found a daily planner on sales at Walmart that I like better than the one I got at the Dollar Tree. I love that the top of each page has a beach scene. Thought I would snap a pic of it before I transferred my appointments. It lays better, the size is more what I was looking for, the dates are already filled in and there are tabs for the months to make it easy to flip ahead and plan. This is for my business appointments. I'll still be using the other one for family and church functions.

I finished the little box yesterday that I was making for my friend. I'm taking it to her at church tomorrow night. Just when I was thinking about what project to do next, my sister called. She had seen the box and the new blue yarn on my blog yesterday. So now she needs a new box for some of her bangle bracelts and silver jewelry. I got it cut out last night and I am going to start it tonight.

After dinner last night, Hubby suggested we play a game of dominoes (yes, I know, old people alert). We haven't played in a couple of years. So we got them out and started playing only to realize we couldn't remember how. I pulled out the directions and there were so many different games and so many rules and wierd score keeping that we put them up and played rummy instead.

I was looking at my new ALL YOU magazine yesterday and saw where Robyn Carr has released three new books in the Virgin River series. These are going on my must have list. I haven't missed one of these books yet. You feel like you know the people and like you live in the town with them. Love this series.

Every year it is a big joke around my house "What Christmas item will I miss packing up this year?" I got everything all packed up last week and we both walked through the house...twice and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. I didn't miss a thing this year....or so I thought. Yesterday, hubby had his first day off since Christmas was stored away. When he sat down at his desk to do some paperwork, we found his Christmas coaster was still out. Oh, well. Missed one. Maybe next year.

 We all change things in the New Year. We make resolutions and goals. We plan and organize. We make tons of changes. I have done all that as well, but one thing I will NOT change is cutting back on Junior Mints. There will still be a dish on my desk at all times and a dish on my end table in the living room. Yes, I am addicted to them and I can't help it. I cut out a lot of sweets and a lot of Pepsi's over the past year, but I refuse to do away with my Junior Mints. 

Monday morning musings....

How exciting it is this morning to have a fresh start. To be able to kick off the new year at the start of a new week. I have a ton of things I want to do today. I'm almost finished with a little box I've been making for one of the teenagers at church. I'm going to finish it this afternoon so I can get it to her Wednesday.

I bought some new yarn at AC Moore this weekend. I'm going to use this blue to make some coasters for the living room.

I just need to decide the pattern to use. This variegated yarn looks good with any of these patterns.

This is one of my favorite coaster patterns using variegated yarn.

 These only take an hour to make and are so relaxing to work on. I usually work on them at night while we watch TV. Here are a couple I made last year using different yarns.

I bought this pretty burgundy and blue yarn Saturday as well.

 

I'm going to make a basket for the kitchen using this yarn. I'm thinking about something like this. But I'm using the variegated yarn on it.



 I'm going to place an order for one of these Thirty-One Cinch Thermal Totes this week while they are on sale. I just can't decide which one I like the best. I've narrowed it down to these three. Could you take a moment to leave me a comment and let me know which one you like the best. That might help me make my mind up.

I'm taking the day off today since my clients all own their own business and they take off every holiday throughout the year so it allows me to do the same thing. Thanks in advance for helping me settle on a pattern for the thermal tote. 

Happy New Year!



I can't believe it is 2012 already. Are you making your New Year's Resolutions?

I have been busy setting my goals for 2012. I've been thinking about them all week and getting them down on paper. I'm going to tackle each one of them in baby steps so I don't get overwhelmed with what I'm challenging myself to do.

I read a post at Jeremiah-2911 regarding a signature word for the year as opposed to setting numerous resolutions that will not be kept. I really liked that idea so I am going to pick a word and that will be my signature word for the year. My word will be:

I will set my course and stick with it. I will stay focused on the Word and let it guide me instead of trying to do it all my own. I need to put more trust in God to handle the situations that come my way instead of turning them over to Him and then trying to help Him solve the problem. I need to let go and let God so I can focus on what I need to be doing. This will apply to my spiritual, personal and professional life.

I do very well when I have a game plan, a list of what I need to accomplish. As long as I stay focused on that I am successful at what I set out to do. But this past year has been a time of losing my focus and trying to take control when I should relinquish that control to God. Things happened that made me question my belief in myself. I allowed others to still my joy and question my faith. It was a long struggle to begin believing in myself again and restoring my confidence that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13.  

Does that mean I cannot do the things I enjoy like surfing the Internet for cool products, visiting with friends and family on Facebook, working on crafts, shopping, reading and writing blogs? No, it just means that whatever I am undertaking, I need to be undertaking one thing at a time instead of multi-tasking 24/7.

I am very bad to be reading a blog and then clicking a link to see something they are promoting and that link will have an ad that will lead me to another site. Next thing you know, I have 9 windows open and forgot what I was even doing in the first place.

I will be doing my daily work and something pops in my head and I stop to take care of it. I'm going to keep a notebook beside me at all times and when there is something that piques my interest or I am reminded of something I need to do, I will make a note of it and go back to research it, look at it, or do it later in my free time.

 I'm going to read my bible using the Women's Daily Devotional Bible a friend gave me as a gift. It not only has scripture reading for each day, but provides a synopsis of the overview for that day as well as a prayer and additional verses for further study.

If we keep our FOCUS on God, we will accomplish great things. It is when we lose that focus and try to do things ourselves that we get all all of kilter.

My bible verse for the new year is going to be Deuteronomy 4:29:

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. - NKJV

I hope you join me this New Year with setting yourself a signature word for the year. I would love to hear what yours will be.

UPDATE ON THIS POST: I wrote this post yesterday so it could post this morning. I got up and started my day as I said I would by FOCUSING on my daily devotional bible reading of the day. I read through the various chapters it selected. In the summary where the writer brings out the point of the day, it ended with this....

"It is not by accident, I believe, that the Bible opens with the thunderous acclaim: "In the beginning God...". I tell you with all the conviction of which I'm capable: If God is not our primary focus, then everything else will soon get out of focus."

I love it when studying His word lets us know we are on the right track. Apparently, God picked my signature word for me this year. 

The UN-decorating dilemma...

I couldn't decide when to take down the Christmas decorations since we normally do it on New Year's Day. But that is a Sunday and I refuse to work like that on a Sunday. So we decided to take them down last night. Everything is restored back to order. I love waking up to a clean house.

I did make some changes in the kitchen. When we moved in a couple of months ago, I put away a lot of my French Country style decor and moved into light greens and blues. I haven't liked it at all. So I brought the burgundy and cream tablecloth back out.

I had some lace curtains I wasn't using so I put one of the valances in the kitchen window and got rid of the blue and green valance.

I put my vintage Pyrex, my roosters and sunflowers back on my wine rack and hung a couple aprons on the ends. I'm loving the new look.

I still need to do some work on the bottom shelf, but I'm loving the little red wagon to hold the spare aprons.

I'm keeping my wicker baskets and old pottery pitchers on the top of the cabinets to add to the French Country charm.

Here's a close up on wine rack. I hung some vines of grapes under the top shelf. Grapes just say "French countryside" to me.

Now I just need a huge braided rug to go under the kitchen table.

Well, I'm off to get things ready for tonight. Hubby and I will have finger foods, assorted cheese and crackers, and fruits while we play our annual game of Monopoly for New Year's eve. No parties or travels for us. We enjoy just spending it together the same way for the last 30 years. Everybody stay safe tonight as you ring in the New Year.

The year in review....

It's been a great year overall.

Our family added two new babies this year when two of my nieces each gave birth to boys.

We had several hail storms come through the area. One of them totaled both my car and my hubby's truck. He bought his truck back, but my Cadillac was so far gone that we let them total it. I started car shopping and it took almost three months for me to settle on a new (used) car.

We moved from our home of the past 12 years to a new bigger place. I am thrilled with the move. I have so much more room and don't feel cramped up all the time.

The grandbabies have went through changes. Garret turned 12. His last year before becoming a teenager. Caleb turned 8 and Alexis turned 7. Shelby hit three and was finally completely potty trained. Little Colby turned one and learned to walk and now he goes as fast as his little legs will carry him.

We did a new church directory for the first time in about 4 years and I was able to assist in the project and had a blast getting to know our members better through the process.

Our church also put on the first annual Kodak Community Christmas Parade and it was a huge success.

I had one nephew graduate from the United States Marine Corp and one graduate from the US Army.

We got a new Donna Sharp outlet at our local mall.

Our TV of 19 years went kaput and we are starting the shopping hunt for the best buy on a new one. 

All in all, it has been an interesting and exciting year. Can't wait to see what 2012 brings.