AHHHH! Happy Homemaker Monday- 2/12/2018

Posted on by Mary

Happy

AHHHH!! It’s been two weeks in a row!  I’m getting into the swing of things and Hubby has made it clear that as I am beginning to feel better he does not want me to over do it and stay up too late tonight.  So I have worked EXTRA hard to power through and finish this baby up.  and when I am all through I am going to take my pricing prompts journal and curl up in bed and obey orders.  On another note be watching in the upcoming weeks for a very SPECIAL transformation that I will be working on.  I am so excited I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Now let’s get Happy!!

The weather:::.

It’s been rather mild and That’s ok and we g to to see this lovely glowing orb in the sky.  It looks vaguely familiar.  We don’t get to see it very often here in the winter,  I was just commenting to hubby how the gray skies were getting to me so that bright ball of glowing gas ws a nice treat…FROM INSIDE!!

As I look outside my window:::

I see lots of melting snow.  it rained a lot this weekend so we lost our nearly 10 uncles from last week’s storm

Right now I am:::

In comfy clothes I have attempted to get dresses twice in the last three days.  It’s been rough.  I have had to miss out on lots of fun stuff this weekend because I have some sort of strange sickness.  Some duggest the flu but I definitely don’t have all the symptoms.

Thinking and pondering:::

how long will this last…no joke.  Im not used to laying on the couch for hours at a time but just simply walking across the room WEARS ME OUT!!

On my bedside table:::

Bottle of water, my phone, cough drops Essential oils my diffuser

On my tv:::

Full House and Family Matters ( the only time I get to binge watch) And holding a book does not help aching joints

On the menu for this week:::

(I must note that I am grateful that at the beginning of this year that I had it set in my head that I was going to plan out my meals a month in advance, so all I would have to do was grocery shop- well this week that paid off because the LAST thing I have wanted to do was plan meals- or think of food for that matter though I have not been tossing my cookies, food just does not sound good)

Monday –  Burgers and fries
Tuesday –  Taco Casserole
Wednesday – Stuffed meatloaf (stuffed with cheddar cheese mashed potatoes) as long as I feel better
Thursday – Chicken Broccoli and rice casserole
Friday – Chef Salads
Saturday – Grilled cheese and tomato Soup
Sunday – Loaded Baked Potato Coup

On my to do list:::

AHHHHH! I can’t even think about that…it pretty much is get better and not over do it

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

not a blessed thing

My simple pleasure:::

drinking anything Hot in the winter….hot cider, hot tea, hot coffee, hot chocolate

Lesson learned the past week:::

just do one small thing.  it will make you feel so much better, even if you feel rotten

Looking around the house:::

Let’s not talk about that!

From the camera:::

AHHHH

this is a shot from my Cricut design space canvas.  this will be an upcoming project that had me absolutely GIDDY late last week

Prayer List:::

Friends with very sick little ones, sick friends in general, new jobs, Hard stuff in general.

Bible verse, Devotional:::

For this week I am focusing On Esther 2 & 3

For More Happy Homemaker Mondays Check out Diary of a Stay At Home Mom!

Thrive, Job, and My Planner- Random Reflections

Posted on by Mary

Random

Welcome to this weeks dose of randomness!  It’s been a couple of weeks but a lot has happened during that time.   I have been pondering about what t has happened and I think I have kind of narrowed it down to  3  reflections of randomness!

Reflection #1. Thrive

Our church is going through the book Thrive by Mark Hall (the lead singer from Casting Crowns).  It is my second or third time through this gem of a book.   My first encounter with this book was when I reviewed it  in April of 2014 (you can find that review here– but don’t judge it was one of my first reviews!). My husband is leading it in two connect groups and I am leading it in the ladies connect group.

As I have jumped into this book again, I am simply amazed by the new insights  I am seeing.  One thing that struck deep this last week was this quote:

“I discovered this is how we pray for people.  When somebody is dangerously sick, we pray for ‘God’s will,’ not for healing, Because we’re afraid the person won’t pull through and we don’t want to stick out our necks in public.  But if it’s my kid, I’m not praying for “God’s will”.  That’s my boy and I am begging God to heal him!  Our just-in-case prayers tell us something about our view of God.”

My response: OUCH!!

It’s true.  Every.  Single.  Word.

So I want to pray differently.  I don’t want to communicate to myself or others that I only think God is capable of  healing someone I want them to know that I have full confidence that He can.  Yes He may not choose to.  I need to drop the easy Christian-ese phrasing and pray with confidence!

Reflection #2 Job

Ok it’s time for a confession- out of all the books in the Bible Job is my least favorite.  Some you who know me really well might be shocked by that because Job struggled, and I have struggled.  Not like Job necessarily, but most people are stunned when they hear my testimony.  And through that God has blessed abundantly.  But I find Job arduous.  There are points when you want sock Job’s friends for being so…….uncaring ( that seems too tame). And then there is Job who can seem whiny, and even at points puts himself on the same level as God.  And when God steps in I feel like standing up and cheering “YES FINALLY!”  but as I have embarked on reading through the Bible chronologically I have also chosen to use a different translation..though it’s not a translation but a paraphrase.  You know what, It is what I needed.  AND it’s ok.  REALLY.  And I am learning things from Job and kinda enjoying it along the way!  I have even posted quotes from Job to my social media!

Reflection #3 My Planner

I am on a hunt.  a hunt to see how I can take my every day planner and utilize it more with prayer.  I already have a Franken-Planner.   That term means I have created my own take of a Happy Planner. NO JOKE. I have my regular planner (but only  6 months worth and then in the second half I have another planner (my blog planner- the same 6 months.) I am still getting use to the set up, but I am trying to streamline what I’ve got in my bag.  So I wan to implement my prayer  thing (I don’t know what to call it)- into my actual planner.    If you have any thoughts feel free to share below in the comments.

And that’s all I have for today.  How about you? What have you been reflecting on over the past few weeks?  I’d love to hear from you!

I’m NOT late-YET!! Happy Homemaker Monday 2-5-2018

Posted on by Mary

Happy

Happy Monday Evening!! (Yay I made it!!)  It has been a few weeks but I am back.   My hopes were to get this posted this morning but hubby and I decided what my body really needed more was sleep..  Yesterday was rough.  I thought I was dealing with my head cold getting worse and it seemed as though I was battling a major sinus headache but in reality what was really going on was a migraine to beat all migraines.  And I know some of my friends who suffer from migraines sleep while they have their migraine BUT I have never been able to.  I sleep horribly and quite honestly it feels as though my brain is shaking in my head.  Weird right??  so after the migraine goes away I sleep A LOT!!

So Let’s Get Happy

The weather:::.

COLD COLD COLD and snowy. the kids actually had a 2 hour delay this morning
As I look outside my window:::It’s dark. BUT I know there is this blanket of cold white stuff EVERYWHERE!!

Right now I am:::

Writing this up, thinking about how much I want to sleep some more .
Thinking and pondering:::About this migraine- it was 8 months ago we made some changes in our daily lives.  Hubby and I used to suffer from headaches daily and we made these changes.  It is so rare for us even to experience a headache now.  wow this one kicked my butt and I am so glad it’s over.

On my bedside table:::

I don’t have a bed side table but I have shelves on the back of my bed.  What’s there is hand lotion, some books , my  water bottle and maybe chapstick

On my tv:::

Malibu Dan the Family  Man  (a new David A.R. White Tv show on PUREFLIX

On the menu for this week:::

Monday – Meatball subs and fries
Tuesday – Homemade chicken Nuggets baked Potatoes and carrots
Wednesday –  Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Thursday – made at home subs
Friday – Mac and cheese with hotdogs (per a child’s request)
Saturday – Pulled Pork and French Fries
Sunday –  (not quite sure yet) maybe lefts overs

On my to do list:::

this is a funny question!!  considering I spent most of last week battling a cold and a crazy weekend, and then the whole migraine and recovery I have a bunch to do.  I have laundry, some dishes, and various other things round the house.  I did accomplish to get some things done but they did not feel very substantial at all.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

nothing at the moment.  I am working on a hand lettering challenge this year But I am behind!

My simple pleasure:::

daily writing in my writing prompts I picked up at our local 5 Below store.  It has been stretching me as I force myself to fill in ALL the lines!

Lesson learned the past week:::

Do NOT lay on the floor when you have a horrible headache, especially if there are kids running playing a game.  Let’s just say I needed second Lunch.

Looking around the house:::

eh….what can I say it could be SOOOOOOO much worse!

From the camera::
:Happy People
Prayer List:::

oh there are lots of big things right now friends and family recovering recovering from major surgeries.  A loved one with terminal brain cancer.  Friends with hurts that run so deep that only a Heavenly father can heal!

Bible verse, Devotional:::

job

For More Happy Homemaker Monday Posts go check  out  Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Random Ramblings- Welcome to the New Year and a New Title

Posted on by Mary

Ya know what, I cannot seem to ramble when writing.  (But I have zero trouble being random, matter of fact Hubby is amazed at my ability to be so random.). I know sometimes I might take a rabbit trail or two BUT to ramble, that’s another story entirely.  I can ramble with hubby.  And when I am nervous, or when there is awkward silence.  I HATE AWKWARD SILENCE!. So What I have decided is to pick a couple of Random topics to share with you my thoughts on.  They will be things that have been on my mind.  Things I have been pondering.  So (drumroll please) it will now be called:

Random

Random Reflection #1-Slow Starts and Being Flexible

This year has had a seemingly slow start, and I think that is a good start.  I am hungry though for a more normal schedule.  Things just keep getting cancelled and re-scheduled.  You know because of  randdom things like:

  • weather
  • sickness
  • scheduling conflicts
  • did I mention weather

Seriously though we have had two rather mild winters.  The kids had more snow days after spring started than they had the entire winter.  This winter we have already had a severe cold temps day – they missed school because it was -25 with the windchill. and it looks like something might happen tomorrow.  Im not heart-broken I LOVE snow days. after awhile though a lack of consistency starts messing with my head.  As I work through One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp last year I have learned to look at the smallest things as gifts.  and that means schedule changes too.  I kind of look at it now as if God says you need time to….(insert whatever I am currently in need of at the moment in my life.

Random Reflection #2-New Planner Setup

I am still using  the Happy Planner (and I love it) But instead of doing a full 12 months I am Using two six months together.  Now I know what you are thinking , “Mary Mary Mary clearly you cannot do Math 6+6=12”. Yes I know But The first 6 months of my 12 month planner and then a 6 month expansion pack – so each 6 month section runs January to June .  The expansion pack is a brainstorm I hadst I can keep my blog planner and regular planner all in one classic sizedHappy Planner.  It’s taking a little getting used  to but I am beginning to  really get into it.

Random Reflection #3-Goal Setting

YIKES!!  I am soooo far behind it’s crazy!  But this past year I was gifted the book Meet the New You by Elisa Pulliam.  I decided that I would work through this book and it is a “21  day plan  for embracing fresh attitudes and focused habits for real life change.”  I have used some of her other materials in the past  and loved them and I even began to use those same ones again this year.  Now I don’t really think  that there needs to be a whole lot of life change but I really wanted to be more focused in my goals, more concise if you will.  So I began this journey.  Wow can you say intense.  there is a lot of work even outside of the focused study questions.  The chapters are short BUT the work takes longer than one might think.

Thanks forechecking out my random reflections for this week.  What is something that you  have been randomly been reflections on this last week?  Share it here

Blessings.

Mary

Happy Homemaker Monday- Better Late than Never 1-16-2018

Posted on by Mary

Happy

Greetings and I am so sorry this is LATE!  What a weekend this has been and boy was I exhausted by the time I hit this morning.   Seriously though let’s get going before I get side-tracked by something else.

Breakfast time….what is on the plate this morning:::: Nothing really I wasn’t really hungry

Looking around the house:::: YIKES!!  We are doing some re-arranging , including putting our living room back in order!  Yes hat means the Christmas tree MUST come down tomorrow.

On today’s to do list:::: Get this blog post done.  I have some other late correspondence as well that I need to catch up on

Currently reading:::: Meet the New You and my new review book for the monthHello Mornings

On the TV today:::: well we watched Family Matters during lunch and the Brady bunch

The weather outside is:::: ICK…snow again, but it is not as cold so possibly not as bad as the last Happy Homemaker post.  I will admit though I’m in desperate need  of some legit WARM sunshine.

On the menu this week::::

Monday-
Tuesday- Meatball subs
Wednesday- Tortellini Soup
ThursdayPhilly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes (Yeah I found that yumminess on Facebook)
Friday-Grilled Cheese and soup

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will:::: NAP  (and yes I did)

New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::  See Thursday!  Philly cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

One of my simple pleasures:::: coffee in a cute mug
Favorite photo from the camera or internet:::: I have two!

Beter late than never

This is the project I worked on with another lady at church yesterday.  it was fun but we learned some ins and outs of Cricut design space..LOL.  and here is a quick snapshot of my new space hubby created for me as part of my Christmas present.  I LOVE IT!
Praying for::::  Family in So Cal. Friends and family going though some tough stuff! Church

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating with me at the moment::::

I am still SLOWLY going though Hebrews and I am almost finished with it!  Today I was in Hebrews 12:7-17

I am also Reading through the Bible chronologically  this year and I am somewhere in the middle of Genesis.  I am a few days behind and I will catch up easily over the next few days. The two oldest kiddos were challenged to do it in Sunday school so I have accepted the challenge right along with them!

I hope you have a great week and I will do my VERY best to not be late to the Party next week BLESSINGS!

For  more Happy Homemaker Monday posts visit Diary of a Stay at Home Mom