Loved this one too! Perfect for the shopaholic in your life!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEILwsGU5IlbthbeRBgnqi9yz8wgVYKSelzkfUFUow3Nk26dI0R3DSm55QVVE3VvyRzv5oAUfsWhyphenhyphenfq0Wf_wUA2h5xUm-txtvc7RSh4ZMCwhxAC2NuhJjOeIF046lMe9NicP2SiEhza0/s576/subway-art-finished.jpg

It's been awhile! Seasonal Affective Disorder got the best of me this winter - this long, long, no good, very bad winter!!!

Anyway, feel like I am emerging from the depths a bit here. Saw this and loved it! I would love to do it in all white and cream buttons.

http://httphttps://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtM87Af5n4tMlhafiE12jb-3P6Yiz-mKfzculYaC_cCYWc2xGhOaff41f9jEuX00vcHpzkqZO1PIrkMewr_nWk1LDA6p1LQ6vs9yPIurC-7C2SzC7kOkZCLgpDWost2CozvLzHI1HvCU/s500/buttonmirrorblog.jpg

Fireplaces

Love the jars filled with the shiny ornaments!

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/15-glowing-holiday-mantels/pictures/page-9.html

Photo Collage ideas

I just did a photo wall in my house and I wish I had more big walls! Here are some fun ideas found here: http://www.merakoh.com/2010/09/21/13-women-show-you-how-they-got-their-photos-off-the-computer/

Amazing Birthday!

Wow! I had the best birthday day! We started the day bright and early with brunch at the Monte Carlo downtown.

Next we hopped the choo-choo from 1st Avenue to the Metrodome (or Target Field as Yvette likes to call it! :)

The plaza at the dome was packed!!!

Bill, Jeanine, Yvette, Todd, Me and JohnWe thought our sunglasses made us look cool!!! LOL!The game ended in an overtime win for the Vikes!!! They did it just for my birthday! Then Bill and I literally ran to the choo-choo to get back to our car so we could get to Brennan's Rebels 8U Championship game!The boys played great and won 28-7!!! What a great year of football and coaching this was!!!Yvette even made signs for the car! We ended the evening with a lovely dinner at Biaggi's in Maple Grove. It was one of the best birthdays ever!!! Thank you to great friends!!!

Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Abundantly Blessed - In just one weekend...

I am finally getting around to posting about our amazing October - there was not one single day that was not scheduled (well, except the 18th - but I did manage to fill that one up at the last minute too!) The highlight was the middle weekend which started with Erin's Sweet 16 Formal Dinner Party for her friends. What a surprising, incredible, fun night. The kids just stepped up to the plate so well. They were well behaved, polite and so sophisticated. I was thouroughly impressed. Thanks so much to John and Yvette and Janet for helping - we couldn't have done it without you! The next night was dinner club at Hoffman's. They had us all in the dungeon in the garage. It was spooky and beautiful all at once! Delicious meal and amazing company!
Then Sunday morning was Erin's confirmation service. I am pretty sure I cried through the entire thing! I was overwhelmed by the significance of the occasion, moved by Pastor Morrie's poignant sermon and so touched by my baby girl singing from her heart. It was so wonderful!

So want to do this...

...but where? I need more big, blank walls!

I would like to do this one in red, pink and green.

Cool Halloween quilt

http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2010/10/halloween-quilt-2.html

Heard at Church

A young man who was a former prison inmate convicted of murder came to speak to our church. The biggest message that he was imparting is that young people need to be lifted up. They need to hear positive messages and be in relationships that build up self-esteem and self-worth not tear it down. He had the entire congregation repeat this message:

I am lovable
I am valueable
I am powerful
I am important

So even if someone did not hear this from the people around them, they could tell it to themselves. I found it very powerful.

Celebrate what is right in the world

"When we celebrate what is right in the world or in a situation, we find the energy to fix what is wrong" - Dewitt Jones, National Geographic Photographer

Heard this in a video at church last week and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I guess it's that whole being grateful thing again. If you feel grateful for what you have you are not unhappy because you are wishing you had more. Defintely need to work on that one!

Erin and Jeff

Edited with my new Pioneer Woman actions above, original below.

Organization Rocks!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/55565243/magnetic-chalkboard-weekly-calendar

Love this idea! Wish I had a big blank wall somewhere!!!

Love these all in one place!

You say: 'It's impossible'
- God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: 'I'm too tired'
- God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: 'Nobody really loves me'
- God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: 'I can't go on'
- God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: 'I can't figure things out'
- God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: 'I can't do it'
- God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: 'I'm not able'
- God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: 'It's not worth it'
- God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28)

You say: 'I can't forgive myself'
- God says: I FORGIVE YOU (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: 'I can't manage'
- God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: 'I'm afraid'
- God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy1:7)

You say: 'I'm always worried and frustrated'
- God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: 'I don't have enough faith'
- God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

You say: 'I'm not smart enough'
- God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: 'I feel all alone'
- God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews13:5)

Inspiration

Found on Ali Edwards site - http://aliedwards.com/

Inspiration

Look back and thank God
Look forward and trust God
Look around and serve God
Look within and find God

In a little book called "God Always Has a Plan B", there is a chapter on HOPE. Here is an excerpt of it:
"Who knows how God might fulfill and surpass your hopes? It might surprise you, but it will happen. So never, ever give up hope. You can count on this: Hope didn't happen only to people in Bible times. Hope happens here, hope happens now."
Isn't that perfect?

These all found me on one day...

...and it was just the day I needed them!

Fear less, hope more. Eat less, chew more. Whine less, breathe more. Talk less, say more. Love more and all good things will be yours. ~ Swedish Proverb (via Christopher Plourde)

His grace is sufficient. which is especially good on the days when my grace is GONE.

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great." - A League of Their Own

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.
I wish you a wonderfully normal, ordinary day.

Cute Fabric Flower

Cluck Cluck Sew

I just love how these looked pinned to...well, anything!