Weekend Wrap Up

It was a fairly decent weekend weather wise but we did have some rainy moments. Lots of rainy moments actually. Some of the areas that flooded in the last big rain have not returned to normal and are back up crossing over roads again in outer lying areas. But I did manage to have a good weekend. I had went last week to McKay's and picked up some books. A friend of mine brought some to me from work as well. I have 31 books to read right now so I am set for awhile. 

My little bookshelf was given to me and I have never gotten around to painting it or staining it. I think I am going with a soft creamy white so it will fit in any room. I'll keep you posted on the process.

I decorated the table for St. Patrick's Day. I set out a few other things around the house. I do love the way the table turned out.

Did some retail therapy this weekend but didn't spend much. All I found I wanted was this little sign. I have two friends who love my cake and this sign made me think of them.

I got my first box of Girl Scouts cookies this year. I used only eat the thin mints. But any more, I am all about the do-si-do peanut butter ones.  

I am in the process of writing a book. But I also have decided to create a cookbook of my favorite recipes. This is one of my favorite pictures of food I have made so I may use it on the front of the cookbook. I'll just have to wait and see. 

Celtic Thunder

I have discovered an amazing group called Celtic Thunder. I thought a little Celtic music would be great to play as St. Patrick's Day approaches. 

The tree

This tree is in a big field right across the road at my house. It's branches are old and gnarled. They span in many directions and criss-cross lots of times. In the dead of the fall when all the grass is turned to brown and all the leaves have fallen off, it is just a big dried out looking tree. 

Then the snow comes and it stands proudly in a flurry of white as winter brings it's first dusting.

Some of the old fall leaves never did fall and it stand proudly still through the snow of December and the rains of January and February. But as the first day of March arrives, it's dried branches hover over the first batch of daffodils and they begin to bloom. 

It's just an old tree to most people and they don't even look twice at it. But to me it is a constant reminder that our life can take different twists and turns. We can have moments of blah and feel like we are can't face another change in our life. But then when the daffodils bloom beside it, I realize soon it will have buds that will open up and it will be beautiful and green again. Spring is just around the corner and this cold wintry season of change and doubt will give hope and joy to the dreary days behind.

Yes, it's just an old tree in a forsaken field. But somebody, somewhere, at sometime had to have planted those flowers. Someone besides me had to enjoy their beauty every spring after a cold, dreary winter. 

Paint Chip Art

Let's face it, we all love seeing all those myriad colors of paint chips in the paint store. Over the years, people have devised some cute ideas of things to do with them. I just never had the nerve to take a ton of the free paint chips in order to make a craft. But we did bookmarks at church one time so I did ask the guy at Lowes and he let me take all I needed. The ones we did were similar to this and the kids loved doing them.

But I found some other ideas on Pinterest. Check out this cute colorful wreath.

This one had to be from somebody more talented than me.

You can get some that are wider, about a 4 x 6 size. Like how people printed b & w or sepia pictures on these.

Some more options for book marks using washi tape instead of ribbon.

Not sure how you would bind these, but how cute are these notebooks.

Love the heart display.

This looks easy.

Cute boxes for little gifts made with the paint chips.

My favorite. A dry erase calendar. Love it.

Six Hours One Friday

 "Three boulders which can stand against any storm. Three rocks that repel the tallest of waves. Three petrified ledges to which you can hook your anchors. Each anchor point was planted firmly in bedrock two thousand years ago by a carpenter who claimed to be the Christ. And it was all done in the course of a single day. A single Friday. All done during six hours, one Friday...." 

excerpt from Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado

I am going to do a bible study with Max Lucado and the above book. He is my favorite Christian author and I have read almost all his books. I am super excited to do this online bible study by him. I downloaded the schedule and all the various downloads to get ready for the bible study. You can purchase the above book for $12 for the study. I am ordering it today to make sure I get it in time. Here is the schedule.

 March 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kickoff Event on Facebook Live – 10 am Central 

March 18 - 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Week One Video (Monday to Sunday) 

March 25 – 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week Two Video (Monday to Sunday) 

 April 1 – 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Week Three Video (Monday to Sunday) 

 April 8 – 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Week Four Video (Monday to Sunday) 

April 15 – 20  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Final Week: Passion Week 

Facebook Live event TBD during Passion Week 

April 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Easter Sunday Celebration! 

Final devotion and message from Max

I can't wait to get started. If you like to do online bible studies, you can learn more about this one by visiting the following link:

https://www.faithgateway.com/six-hours-one-friday-easter-obs-confirmation/

Just a few goodies.....

Yesterday, I went for a quick stop at a local antique store to look for Pyrex. Didn't find what I wanted, but I did find this little Butterfly Gold bowl for $3.00.

I also found this vintage glass colander for $8.99. It was from 1983 and was Telefloral planter. I fell in love with it because it has daisies, my favorite flower. It looks brand new but is actually 36 years old. I found out I had a store credit there from last year. So she adjusted the price. Know how much my stuff cost yesterday?  Nothing. That's right. It ended up being a wash. Talk about a happy dance.

So I rearranged some things in the kitchen and put my daisy flower arrangement in there and I'm in love with the look.

My wine rack is now my favorite display in my kitchen.

I did my nails yesterday with some new polish and put a top coat on called 1 minute manicure by Nail Aid. They turned out good.

There is a guy I work with who knows I love milk glass. As he goes through boxes that belonged to his dad, he has been bringing me any he finds. Yesterday, he found this little soap dish. It was Avon and was from 1973-1975 and called love nest. It even came with little blue bird soaps. It had been in storage for a long time so it was dusty and dirty.

I took my old toothbrush and some Barkeepers Friend and it looks brand new. I love it. It going to go on my dresser to hold my rings and earrings I wear everyday.

You can see I had a great day yesterday and got some neat stuff. My new plan is to leave you with a smile every day. Here is your "Something to smile about" for today......

Weekend wrap up

Friday I had to run to the store after work so I just stopped in Walmart (not my smartest move to go to Walmart at 8:00 on a Friday night). But I found this new snack mix by the Keebler Elves. I had to grab a bag.

It has miniature fudge stripes, little pretzels, caramel corn, and little candies like M & M's. It is very addictive. 

I also grabbed my new favorite candy bar. It is a chocolate bar with miniature M & M's in it. Oo la la. Very, very, very delicious. It sure satisfies a chocolate craving. I don't eat it all at once, this one lasted through the weekend and still have a few more pieces left. 

Remember me telling you I had to wear a flannel shirt. Well, here it is. Miss I love pink, and floral, and lacy, and girly actually wore a flannel.....and liked it. I was so comfortable at work. And since it was greeting people as they came up to get their tickets for the group, it felt more like I was socializing than working since I was in comfort clothes. May have to rethink the I don't do flannel. I posted this pic on Facebook and since I haven't been in flannel since 1979, my sister commented and jokingly said who is this woman? LOL.

Since my friend declared I get to be 26 this year since they say I act like I'm only 26, one of them told me I needed a license plate to remind me that I can always be 26 if I want to. It's my life. So I took him up on the idea and have been patiently waiting for it to get here. It was such a good price and shipping rate that I didn't even realize it was coming from China. I watched the progress for 2 weeks as it finally arrived in Queens, NY on Wednesday then made it to Knoxville and then to my mail box on Friday. I am loving it.

But it was pouring the rain and 9:30 at night and it rained all day Saturday so I didn't get to put it on until the sun came up Sunday morning. The rose is very yellow but you can't tell in the picture. It is gorgeous. I couldn't be happier. A big thanks to my friend Jonnie for recommending it.

Speaking of Jonnie, he and I were talking desserts one day and he said he wanted to create his own version of a smores pie. So Saturday, he did just that and brought a bunch of us little individual pies and then a big one for the department. It was a layer of graham cracker, a layer of Hershey's chocolate pudding, and a layer of marshmallow fluff. Then he covered each pie with mini marshmallows and browned them under the broiler in the oven. Then he stuck little pieces of miniature Hershey bars in the warm marshmallows and drizzled Hershey's chocolate syrup over it. You just cannot imagine how good this was. I ate my little pie and then later had a smaller piece of the big pie. I think I was on a sugar high for 24 hours after that. But it was worth it. 

My daughter bought me this cute bunny sign for Easter. I can't wait to decorate for Easter after St. Patrick's Day is over.

I came home last night and a friend of mine had brought me this cute coaster with my initial on it. I love it. She had hung it on my door with some plastic canvas squares she was giving me. 

Well, that was my weekend and it was a great one. I look for every joy I can find in life and I find a lot. I saw some cute humor over the weekend so here is my humor for you for today. Have a great week.