Come on, get happy.....

When my two year old granddaughter doesn't get as much attention as she thinks she should get, she drops her head and mumbles "I so sad." Very pathetic. So somebody picks her up and says "What's the matter, sweetheart?" Her head bounces up, her smile gets big and bright and she says "I not sad anymore. I happy."

Oh, to be able to bring ourselves out of the blues that easy. I have noticed that if I get tired or a little down, if my day is not going exactly how I want, I have a tendency to get "so sad". I have come up with some little tricks I use that make me "not sad anymore" and boost my spirits. I thought I'd share some of them with you. They are some good little pick-me-ups.

1. Stop and fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate. Take a 5 minute break and look out your window while you slowly sip on it.

2. Take a bubble bath. Let Calgon take you away. Soak in a tub of steaming bubbles to ease the aches and pains. Light a candle and grab a good book or that new magazine you have been wanting to read.

3. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for one of your favorite upbeat songs and crank it up and sing along or get up and dance to it. This will not only improve your mindset but will count as exercise.

4. Give yourself a manicure. Be daring. Find some bright pinks or ruby reds. Currently, mine are lavendar. I have some pale yellow, a copper, a silver, and a light blue hidden among my normal light pinks and tans. All guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. I love typing and glancing down and seeing my "wild" nails. At least they are wild for a grandmother of 5.

5.  Rearrange something in your decor. Maybe move a knick-knack to a new area or simply reorganize a whole design setting. Just changing what you look at every day can be a mood booster.

6. Quote an uplifting bible verse.

7. Sing a silly song from your childhood: "This old man" or "My Mother Sent me to the Store".

8. Wash your hands really good and apply some of your favorite smelling lotion. It's strange, but if my hands feel good; I feel good.

9. Grab your binoculars and scour the trees to do a little bird watching.

10. Just breathe. Stand up, stretch your arms to the ceiling. Take a deep breath and relax for a couple of minutes and then get back to the task at hand.



Tuesday Teasers

Back in the heart-throb days of my teenage years, I had many teen idols. Some were singers; some were actors. Some were a little of both. I thought it would be fun to post 10 of my favorite ones I remember from way back when and see who can remember them. You can leave it as a comment or email me at brendakeefere@comcast.net. I would be curious to see who you remember.

#1

#2



#3

#4

#5

 #6

#7

#8

#9

#10



My weekend....

Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes yesterday. We had the best day together. Even with the dreary rain. It rained the day we got married so it brought back fond memories. He surprised me late Saturday night with a beautiful soft yellow and white sweater and then took me to get my new Donna Sharp purse yesterday at The Maples Tree. We had a romantic dinner together in a cozy restaurant and even got to sit in front of the fireplace that was burning. It was an awesome day (of course, we ended up at Walmart before the day was out.) Here is my purse...

(I'm going backwards on my weekend, but I wanted to share my Saturday as well.) The day started off with my Olan Mills Portrait session for our church directory. I have been dragging my heels and basically kicking and screaming all the way because I detest having my picture made. The last one I had done by a professional photographer was my twins first birthday (around Christmas). I was having pics made of the babies and they suggested I sit in one of them. Their Godparents bought it and it still hangs over their bed 32 years later. But I hated it. But this guy Saturday was awesome. I actually for one time in my life liked my picture. Of course, all I ordered was the one free 8 x 10 because my family knows what I look like and I wouldn't give my picture out to anybody else. But without sounding conceited, it did turn out well.

I got a great bargain when I went shopping Saturday thanks to my wonderful niece Amy in Parkersburg. It went like this....

I thought I needed a new tablecloth so I posted on my blog what I was thinking of doing.

My niece, Amy, saw it and called me the next day all excited. Kohl's was having a 40% off sales on their plaid tablecloths! Plan A - go to Kohl's after portrait setting was launched into action.

Saturday, I made a trip to Kohl's. Went to the one I THOUGHT I wanted based on what I saw on-line. I didn't like it. Was walking away disappointed when I went down the next aisle and found one I loved. It's hard to find the 102" length and they had it in that length. It was regularly $29.99 on sale for $17.99. I snatched it up. Walked straight to the checkout. The girl rang it up and said, "That will be $13.08." WHAT?? It turned out that it fell into one of their sales categories that day that gave 35% off the lowest price, making the actual cost before tax.....$11.99! Since I had a short supply of SSC (Saturday shopping cash), I had went in with my mind believing I was going to find what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. God is so good. He is in everything we do. You know how I am about faith and I approach everything in my life with "in faith believing". Just one more example that FAITH does come through in all areas of our life. My daughter dropped me at the door and I popped out of the car with "I'm just going to run in and get a tablecloth and be right back." It's the little things I have faith in that never cease to amaze me when they come true.

Thank you, Amy, for looking out for your Aunt B!  With new rugs from Walmart for $5.00 each and some springy items setting around my house, I have now turned my kitchen from this....

 to this.....

Hope everybody has a wonderful week!

I'm on "day"cation today....

I am writing this a day early so it can post first thing Sunday. By the time you read this, I will be well into my "day"cation. In honor of our 30th wedding anniversary, hubby and I are spending the entire day together with no family, no friends, no home phone, no cell phones. Just us.

I've had an exhausting week and he has kept the home fires going while I've been busy. I am so blessed to have such a supportive spouse of anything I want to do. We are both ready for a well earned break.

I don't know what the day will bring but after 30 years with this man, I know he will make it special.

Happy anniversary to my wonderful sweet hubby of 30 years.

Here we are a few years ago on a boat in Panama City heading out to Shell Island.

Below is the same vacation...getting ready to go in Pineapple Willie's to eat ribs and chicken on the pier and watch the sun set over the gulf. One of many wonderful memories. That is my sister, Rachel and my brother-in-law, Dale, on the left of the photo. It was the first vacation the four of us ever took together once all the children were married and moved out. We had an awesome trip. Allen was a little sunburned but we still had a great time.



Knowing when to stop....

Do you ever have times in your life where you seem to be going full speed ahead every waking moment? Well, I do. Sometimes I feel like a freight train barrelling down the tracks of the wide open spaces. I've had one of those weeks this week. Go, go, go. I'm involved in quite a few projects right now...family stuff, church stuff and job stuff. Thanks to some organizing skills a client taught me, I'm still able to juggle all the balls. But sometimes, I just have to make myself take a break. I have to have a talk with my brain and tell it to be kind to my body and unwind a little bit. This has been one of those weeks. When I'm working on a project, I take every moment of it very seriously and feel responsible for anything that doesn't go right. Which means, I usually try to stay on top of things as much as possible. Thanks to a high energy level (sometimes borderline hyper, thanks to lots of chocolate) I'm able to accomplish what I need to. A friend told me the other day that I was like the Engergizer Bunny...EverReady.

While all of this is true, I do thank God that He reminds me I'm only human and I need to take a break and slow down. So after a crazy, hectic week, hubby and I are taking a break tomorrow and going to Gatlinburg and over in the mountains for the day. I am just going to relax and enjoy my day.

One single dandelion.....

Today I'm linking to Jeremiah 29:11. Be sure and pay a visit and join the fun.

I was looking out my window yesterday and noticed one single dandelion popped up in the yard next door. Its brilliant yellow a deep contrast to the crisp green grass. What made it even more amazing is he had just mowed earlier that day and the grass was neat and trim. But there, standing alone, was that one small dandelion.

It got me to thinking about the life of a dandelion. They have a short lifespan and can turn from the pretty yellow to the white "blowing" ones overnight. They regenerate themselves by changing to the white and letting their seeds be redistributed. They have a very deep taproot that is hard to remove and lawn fanatics lament about the invasive dandelions and invest small fortunes to keep their yards free.

So to sum up what I found out about the dandelion. It is not very well received. While some plot and plan to do away with it, it's seeds still live on and it grows stronger and more powerful with time.

Is that not like our Lord? Though Jesus had earthly friends, He basically walked alone. While some despised Him and plotted against Him, they were not able to completely destroy him. Though they pierced His side and crucified Him. He arose. Isaiah 11:1 says And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

God has planted the seeds with the crucifixion of His beloved Son. Evil cannot destroy it. Hatred can not wipe it out. It is like the dandelion that continues to see rebirth over and over again. The love of God is a deep root that replenishes each of us with the seeds of His love, mercy and grace.

What a wonderful thought......

I was just watching the news and seeing all the destruction in Greenback, TN from the tornado last night. They have determined it was an F3. There is a lot of devastation, but a lot of wonderful stories from the survivors of miracles that befell them last night.

But this one scene showed a church that had been hit real bad. He show some of the congregation looking at the destruction and one elderly lady took one look around and said "God is still God."

How blessed to have that type of attitude in the face of destruction. God is still God. I'm going to have to do a plaque or something with that on it. I love it. It is going to be my new mantra.