FAMILY IS REALLY ALL THE MATTERS

Thankfully, I got from my Dad the trait AND desire to always make time for family fun…

So…Here are some things that I’ve recently done with members of my family…

And also just random pictures…

A BABY SHOWER…

DD and I attended a baby shower for a friend of ours...







LOTS OF GOODIES...









MAMA-TO-BE AND HER TWIN...



A MOST BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL...



PICTURES THAT HANG IN THE RELIEF SOCIETY ROOM AT CHURCH...



This is my favorite picture of Christ...The artist is Del Parsons...



MY FAVORITE BOOK STORE...

We purused through the store to see all of their new arrivals...



After the baby shower and book store...

A STOP AT A&W...



They have different cute little bird houses in each corner and along the windows...

And the most yummy grilled onion burger...To die for...

Most of them turned out blurry, but here are a couple of pictures of the bird houses...







A DAY OF WORK...



A DAY OF PLEASURE...





CARD MAKING...



Pressed roses to use on homemade cards...





TARGET PRACTICING WITH HUBBY...

This gun is a .44 magnum...



It is pretty powerful to shoot...



VINTAGE TREASURES...

What a blessing I received last weekend! Oh, I was so excited!

While at Mom’s, I generally always look in the candy closet…Once a kid…Always a kid…;)

What did I see there but Gramma’s sugar and creamer set…I pulled them out, and Mom said, “Do you want them?”…Do I want them?! Of course I WANT them!

She told me that she hadn’t asked my sister to which I quickly replied, “Oh well, ya snooze; ya loose!”



Actually, my sister has never really been too sentimental that way…

I can just picture Grandpa spooning sugar into his “Tossee”…

Ahhh…Those were the days…



A FAMILY RIDE...

All we were missing on our family ride was Dear Daughter #2…

Pictured here is Dear Daughter #1 and Son...



Getting their bikes ready...



Me waiting for Dear Hubby...



Boy...



Papa and kids...



Dear Hubby and I...



Headin' down the road...





The gnats were so bad...

We had to stop at the truck stop to clean off our visors...





Of course, we had to stop by Gramma and Grampa's...



Mom is at the stove cooking her WONDERFUL dinner...

Mmmm...Mmmm...Mmmm...



Dad...



I LOVE rice pudding...



Baby Christian sitting in the highchair that was mine as a baby...



If you look in the background...

In the china hutch is the juice jar that was Grandma's...

More precious memories there...





Adrien telling Gramma a secret...



Christian on the counter...

Of course...What little child doesn't love high places...



Grampa putting his helmet on Christian while Great Grampa looks on...



Christian...On the first really warm day of the year...Waiting for Mama to take them on a ride...



Mama and boys...



Daddy and boys flying a kite...





Julian and Adrien...











And so ends a perfect day...

For family is REALLY all that matters...

PUTTING OUT FIRES

I started these new organizational goals this year so that I may improve upon myself…The year is one quarter gone, and could it be that I am even MORE unorganized? If not, it certainly seems so, and not just at home but at work, where organization is not generally a problem!



It is all quite disheartening…Nonetheless, I am vowing and praying and working harder. I cannot let this conquer me. I have prayed that the Lord will show me how to overcome, and that He will help me to listen to His answer…As I work hard, of course.

Because I am the kind of person that is not mundane, I have always shied away from anything that is so. I don’t like eight-to-fives, wearing the same eye shadow for 20 years (I have a MOST organized friend who did just that), or eating pizza every Tuesday…It just isn’t me.

On the flip side, I fear that being this way, which is not in and of itself bad, also lends itself to being unorganized. I flit here there and everywhere delving into many projects and exciting things at a time…So much so that like the spokes of a wheel, my life is a circle of splinters going off in different directions, and I'm the crazy woman in the middle!



So…While I enjoy my none-mundane self, I detest the mess it keeps me in…Thus, the organizational goals and quest to meld the me that I like to be with the me that I want to be.

I KNOW I can do it! I just have to find the way!

Over time, I have searched for someone who has found the way…Or at least A way…Generally, these people are women who enjoy the luxury of staying home…Since I am not able to do that at this time, I needed someone who works a for-pay job and ALSO successfully keeps a home…Jitterbug over at Destination 1940 is just such a woman.

She has been having a time of it lately due to health issues and in this paragraph, shares a realization…

If there's anything good that's come out this, it's that I've realized how much my life before The Experiment resembled a sick person's. I had been physically healthy for years. My ulcerative colitis had been in remission for five years, yet I was still living the existence of somebody mired in illness. Buying supplies as they occurred to me. Eating catch as catch can. Opening my mail once a month or so. Clueless about how much money I had or where it was going. Moving in a fog from bed to work and back to bed again. I was forced to live like this for the past few weeks --- and it appalls me that I lost half a decade of my life to that lifestyle by choice. It was one thing during the years that I was actually dealing with illness and surgeries. Another thing entirely when the surgeries were over and my body was physically in good order. That's the toll that depression can take on somebody.

Thank you, Jitterbug; this really struck a chord with me…My life, while very healthy physically, has been lived as “somebody mired in illness”. I indeed feel as though I “[move] in a fog from bed to work and back to bed again”…And that is NOT okay!

So…Onward with determination I march…Not trudge…March!



One more note…Today, “Organized Tuesday”, as I somewhat sarcastically deem it, was one of the least organized days. Because of the aforementioned challenges and also my great yearning to become more self-sufficient (which sets forth a whole NEW list of to-dos :/, I get down on myself and truly feel as if I am just flailing about in life putting out fires…Not strolling through in a systematized manner…Flailing!

Upon arriving home tonight, I wearily sat down and opened the computer…

My oldest daughter, whom I love so much, had a beautiful message waiting for me…

We had been discussing a woman from Pastoral Symphony Farm. This dear lady impresses me! She has NINE beautiful and wonderful children, home schools, gardens, cans, makes her own syrup from their maple trees, sews all of their clothing, cooks from scratch, etc., etc., etc. Now, dear Mrs. G would be the first to humbly say that she isn’t that great…But, (whisper) she really is. :0)

So…I had been remarking to DD about Mrs. G and how I wished that we had done more self-sufficient living while the children were growing up. She wanted a link to
Mrs. G’s blog, which I gave to her, and this was her response…

thanks! i remember you talking about the "pastoral symphony farm" now.
i think it was just as cool that you always practiced being frugal and so taught that to us. not being so wasteful and dependent on use-and-toss items is an important part of being self-suffient too! plus--it's kind of hard to have a farm to live off of when you live in town lol but i liked that we had several gardens and helped you a few different times with canning and making applesauce. we actually really DID do some self-sufficient things!

I think that it is lovely how the Lord uses others hands and sometimes their words to show His love to us…That just made my night.

So…Onward I go…Hoping to move from putting out fires…From fire to smoke…



And then, on into the clear air or organization.



Have a Wonderful Wednesday, All!

DRESSING FOR LESS

DRESSING FOR LESS…

I really must find a better system for taking pictures, as putting my arms up to hold the camera does not allow for the correct fit of the outfit to be shown…

At any rate…Here are a couple of pictures of Thursday’s inexpensive outfit…

As mentioned before, I really don’t recall where I procured many of my clothes or what I paid, so these are guesstimates…

BLAZER…

I don't recall where I purchased this, but it would have been around $20.



BLOUSE…

Given to me by my mom...



PIN…

I THINK that Mom also gave this to me at one point...



SKIRT…

Purchased at a thrift shop for around $7...



BLACK POINTED-TOE BOOTS…

I got these at a classy second-time clothier and purchased them for $30 just over a year ago...This shop takes in only the very nicest of items and offers consignments by appointment only...

Excuse the poor photo quality...The maid forgot to clean the mirror...:/

ROUGH BREAK-DOWN…

BLAZER…

Number of times worn: 25…?
Price: $20
Today’s cost to wear: .80

BLOUSE…

Number of times worn: 30
Price: $0 (Gift)
Today’s cost to wear: $0

PIN…

Number of times worn: 30
Price: $0
Today’s cost to wear: $0

SKIRT…

Number of times worn: 20
Price: $7
Today’s cost to wear: .35

BLACK POINTED-TOE BOOTS…

Number of times worn: 20
Price $30
Today’s cost to wear: $1.50

TOTAL COST OF TODAY’S OUTFIT…

$2.65

Not bad!

The whole idea is to...

USE WHAT YOU HAVE!...

If you were given a gift, use it!

If you find something at a garage or estate sale, use it!

MIX AND MATCH...

So many outfits can be made by altering the way you wear a piece of jewelry or an item of clothing.

MAKE DO...

At one point in my life, I found myself with just the clothes on my back…literally…

For two weeks, I had one outfit to wear…It was a sundress, and a spaghetti-strap under tee…

I wore it that way or without the under tee for a bit of variation, or I would fashion the dress into a skirt by tying it a certain way, and wear the tank for a top…That gave me a total of three outfits.

There certainly was not a lot of variation each day, but it was all I had, so I made do.

Most importantly...

HAVE FUN!

A SIMPLER TIME

Did you ever yearn for a simpler time?

No time is or will ever be simple; however the struggles of yesterday were different…

Today, we have ease of body…We do not toil to break the sod so that we may eat…We do not have to depend upon our physical efforts to survive…

But…We labor mentally…We have to struggle greatly to keep up with the ever necessary changes in technology…We have to fight off temptation like never before…

So…let us take a look back to a time where media, smut, and pollution of the mind did not rear their ugly heads at every turn…

Let us take a look at a simpler time…



Quilt from Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum...Walnut Grove, Minnesota



Dugout site of the Ingalls family...Walnut Grove, Minnesota

"Laura Ingalls Wilder lived 1.5 miles north of Walnut Grove along the banks of Plum Creek from 1874 to 1876. Charles and Caroline Ingalls settled on the property in May 1874 declaring their intent to homestead it. After three consecutive crop failures they decided not to complete the homestead process. Instead they purchased the land in July 1876 from the United States for $413 and resold it immediately for $400 to Abraham Keller." (Walnut Grove, MN website)

Taken from the official site of The Little House on the Prairie

Do you ever feel as if you were born at the wrong time in history…?



Image taken from www.calicoannie.net

At the end of a hectic day…Or any day for that matter…It’s important to relax the mind from the world of stress…

So…Take some time for yourself…

Brew a pot of relaxing herbal tea…And sit back, relax, and think of a simpler time…



Cove Fort



Cove Fort



Cove Fort

THE SEASON'S CHALLENGES

I don’t recall whether or not I have written about the coming season and my feelings toward it…If I have, please bear with me…

First of all, I would like to thank anyone who takes the time to read my ramblings…I appreciate the take you take to stop by and visit…

I pray that you may find peace in life as you go through each day, and I hope that I may inspire you, in some small way, as I am inspired by my friends in blog land…

For isn’t that why we are all here…To help one another…?

Back to the new season…

SPRING…

It is such a beautiful fresh time of year!



At the same time…I feel very overwhelmed.

One of the biggest challenges in my life is SUCCESSFULLY melding work outside of home with work at home…

Thus, the Organizational Challenge that I am accomplishing this year…

So, as I consider both of those (work outside and work at home) full-time jobs, it’s a lot of work…And, now I am forced to add another job…The Yard!



While Hubby takes care of all of the mowing and weed eating and shares in the watering, I still put a lot of hours into watering (we have poor soil) and also have flower beds to tend to and a small garden to grow, weed, and care for…

I shouldn’t complain, as we DO NOT have a large or extravagant yard…But…

Each year, I spend quite a bit of money on flowers that die…One bed is on the West and right against the house, so it is like an oven that is constantly on broil…The other bed is on the North AND in the shade of two trees, so I struggle with getting plants to grow there as well…

On top of that, one of the trees on that side of the house has beetles that come each year and eat everything in sight…We keep trying to control them, but have never been successful in eradicating them…

Each year, it’s the stress of trial and error as far as which plants to buy and which pest controllers to use…Nothing is plain and simple maintenance…

And…

Bob Dog likes to run THROUGH the flower beds, eat plants, AND dig holes… :/ He also joys in hopping into the container gardens, eating the plants, and pulling out the dividers… :/



This causes the stress of deciding how to alleviate these issues, which kind of fencing to use (if I decide to go that route), and how to keep it from looking junky…

All of this takes a lot of time…



“Is it really worth it?”, I ask myself? “How can I streamline it, and is there anything I can cut out or am WILLING to cut out? (I tend to be an I-want-to-do-it-all person…Not always good).

And so…while my PLAN is not yet formulated, I am definitely going to MAKE one before the season fully upon me…

I am always open to other's thoughts if you have something that works for you...



Otherwise, I will stress myself out, and who needs more stress, right? ;)