Contentment.

My Facebook status right now says, "All is well." That made me think of the song It is Well With My Soul and I haven't quit hearing the chorus of that running through my head since I posted it.

While nothing in my world (or anyone else's for that matter) is PERFECT, I've had a headache all day long....the list goes on and on....still, all is well...and I am content. I am content because I believe in the promise given to me in the Bible verse that is sewn on the pillow case above, and I am content because being content CAN consist in being happy with what you HAVE, not what you DON'T have. (Right!?!??)

So, I am content. I am well. Are you? I hope so!

Lunch. Good.

Stupid has a gravitational pull.

(Don't be stupid.)

A satisfying day, indeed!!!!

I've been working the kitchen around in my head for a couple months now, and today, I finally got the gumption about me to work on it. It took me all. day. long. But....the end result is great! While I ran out of gumption before I was able to post the photos for you here, I can tell you that I have them to share, and I think you'll be amazed, but in the mean time, I am sharing another "corner" of my home with you....this is the view you would see whilst sitting on the guest bathroom potty @ my house! :) (Just what you wanted to know, right?) Anyways......the drawing is one that my lil sis did for me in '02....and she is one stylin' chic! :) The photo is a post card I picked up while in NYC and the frame, of course, came from the thrift store....but the color schemes match perfectly!!!!! The vine is from my grandfather's funeral, which was about 13 years ago....and the table was MisserPiePie's before I came along, but I painted it black, because EVERYTHING looks better when it's painted!!!! (RIGHT?!?!?!) Oh,,..so I just scrolled down, and I see you can't even SEE the table...oh, well. :) Now you know. On to the satisfying day...not only did I redo the kitchen (photos to come, promise), but I also cooked supper....we had grilled mushrooms, fresh corn on the cob (only I cut it off the cob, added my special touch, and served it in a bowl, sans corny pieces in the teeth....), and we had venison off the grill (marinated alllll day) and squash (fried...00ps!!!!) from our garden!!!!! Good, good, GOOOOD!

Makayla's Room.....

She is COMPLETELY anal about so many things, in an OCD sort of way...but yet, she is SO like me in so many other ways....she found those ultra-coolio butterflies up there, and they are now hanging on her yellow wall....next to the very vintage Pooh and friends curtain....which has to be shortened...but was way too good and mitchy-matchy to pass up for a buck. The yarny goodness you see up there is in my living room, residing on the back of my couch.....it was also a buckaroo at the GW. (And so were the butterflies, acually....) Gotta love the G to the W. :)

Happy Sunday!

A true conversation....

(and not on the subject of the true conversation, but because I cannot make a post without a photo and he is much cuter than my mother in law *love you, Barb*, here is a photo of my baby nephew...Jedidiah.)

Barb: I'm glad you handled that...I got mad and had to walk away...

Abby: Well, Barb, I've learned that you normally catch more flies with honey.....

Barb: I didn't WANT no flies!!!!! I just wanted the free telephone they promised me!!!!!



Moral of the story: Know what you want. Go after it. Don't stop until you get it. But be SBB whilst traveling the highway to reaching your goal. (You'll probably get there faster that way.....)

Life....Enjoy!

This post is dedicated to enjoying life....

There are a handful of things that have happened in my life that I have *really* learned from, and one of those things happened 2 years ago today, about this time of night, that changed our worlds forever.....crazy as it may sound, I miss many people...one dead, many alive, that were changed by this crazy event....(I know you're smiling from Heaven now, Grady.....that is where my peace from this situation comes from.....)

It is because of that day 2 years ago, combined with a few other memorable days I shall never forget, that cause me to see little things and view them as joy....I try to enjoy each day of LIVING...I try to LIVE each day. (That, my friends, is the majority of the reason that I turned my life, and the lives of those around me, topsy-turvy this year.....and I'll refrain from any more details on that for now....) As well as living, I try to be thankful and participate in *life*....and therefore, I've been spending m0re time outside than ever.....

I've been picking squash....zucchini....peppers.....cooking.....sharing.....giving.....and I've enjoyed being, well....satisfied. With life. In general. With being happy. See the harvest of our work????? I've made it no secret that a way to judge if my life is going "well" or not is by my ability (or inability) to create.....and I'm LOVING how these babies have turned out. Now, to hope that someone that happens by my booth at the Nashville Flea Market this month feels just as excited about them as their creator!!!!!

Something I remember doing from my childhood is watching the clouds....this was a passtime that was spent with Keith (the neighbor) and my sister....and now, Makayla....I took this a week or so ago, flat on my back, staring at the sky, making pictures out of the clouds with her. What a fun memory.

We know that color makes me happy....and I love the randomness that represents my son and his haphazard way of living that makes him so stinking annoying....er....endearing.....he and Anna (definitely her brothers protege') created this.....

So here's to you, Grady Carter.....thank you for teaching me a lesson on enjoying life, even though I had to learn it the hard way. I think of you often.

Just a quick peek.....

I thought it might be fun to share with you here and there the corners of my home, for I know that I enjoy looking into the corners of others' homes.... and today, I chose to share with you the trunk from my childhood that sits in my hallway, complete with a treasure chest of books, and a big glass "thing" full of MisserPiePie's homerun balls from when he was just a weeee lil boy... :) There are just some of the ones that have surfaced here and there as we've went through things....so I started a collection after the appearance of #3. :)

Stay tuned for more random glimpses here and there....and please leave a comment and share with me a glimpse into a corner of YOUR home....

"How do you do it???"

I'm asked often how I get so much for so little when I shop for groceries and household supplies, so I thought I'd share my spending today....along with a few tricks of the trade.

Rule number one: Each Sunday, buy two papers. That way, when there are buy one, get one free deals (Publix is the BEST for these!!!) you will have two coupons for the items you are purchasing.

Rule number two: Study all the ads in the Sunday paper, and look for the best deals. For instance: most stores have carbonated drinks on sale, but Pepsi products at store "A" may have 4/$12 while store "B" has them 4/$9. This happends often.

Rule number two a: Make a list at each store of the things you see that you use or could get free. The free items that you don't use can be used in church care packages, and sometimes (like at CVS) you get a percentage back on what you spend, and this counts the original cost of the free thing. (So if free thing is normally, say, $4.49, then you get 3% of that back quarterly at CVS even though you paid $0.00 for it. Cool, huh?)

Rule number two b: Compare your lists for price differences (see rule number two) and decide which store you will get the item from. (Ahem...this would be the cheapest of the two or three places.)

Now, for the fun part!!!!!

Today, I went to CVS. I'm going to break down for you what I got and for how much, but what it would have been had I not used coupons, Extra Bucks, and sale prices....ready?

On purchase number one, I got 3 boxes of General Mills Cereal, 1 Hydro 3 Razor from Schik, and 500 count Ibuprofen, CVS brand. I'm not sure what the cereal is normally a box....$4. something.....but they were on sale 3/$10.00 with $3.00 extra bucks, making them 3/$7.00, but I also had a $1.00 off coupon, so the cereal was then 3/$6.00. That's less than 1/2 price. Sometimes, it's even cheaper....but we need cereal this week. (Another Cardinal Rule: Shop ahead when the prices are best....but our money situation since I'm not working has been that which hasn't always allowed me to do this.....) The razor is normally $9.99. This week, you get $5.00 extra bucks, making the razor $4.99....but then, they had a coupon in the paper this week for $4.00 off the razor, so all in all, I got it (and two cartridges) for .99. SCORE!!!!! The Ibuprofen is normally $9.99, and the CVS brand was $6.99 this week...with a $3.00 Extra Bucks Reward. Sooooo.....original cost of order without coupons or bucks (leaving the cereal at $3.33 a box) would have been $38.97 before tax, but with my coupons, after tax, I spent $26.48. HOWEVER, $21.00 of that was Extra Bucks, so that means that purchase number 2 is going to be $21.00 less.....

On to purchase number two:

2 Airwick Refills

1 Airwick warmer unit

6 Renuzit air fresheners

1 Bounty Basic 12 pack

2 Boxes of Feminine products....

Refills were on sale 2/$5 this week, plus I had a $1.00 off 2 coupon, making them 2/$4.

With any purchase of refill, coupon for free warmer, so $1.49 warmer=free,

renuzit air fresheners...on sale for .88 each, coupon for buy 3 get 3 free, so $2.64 for 6 of those.

bounty basics....$5.99 on sale, plus a coupon for a quarter off. (paper towels never are much cheaper than that....)

2 boxes of fem. products....normally $14.99, on sale for $9.99, plus I had two $5.00 off coupons, so 2 boxes now = $9.99

Total spent before coupons: $46.14 before taxes.

Total spent after sales and coupons, plus the extra bucks I had: $6.13. For. Real.

Now, see, I would normally not buy smelly things, but when I can get them for next to free....why not? I enjoy smelling them, and plus I get 3% of that back when my quarterly bucks come in.

Also, this week, WalGreens ran their 2/$1.00 cans of sliced mushrooms.....I got 8 cans for $4.00.....if you buy mushrooms, you know they are expensive. we use them in everything, so I stock up when they run that sale (about once monthly) so that i have plenty and don't have to pay a dollar a can throughout the month for them.

CVS figures your expenses quarterly compared to your savings on your receipt. For the spring of 2010, it tells me I've spent $62.23 and I've saved $274.73. That should give you an idea.....

I will continue on this topic weekly....stay tuned for more tips and pointers, feel free to leave me yours, and ask questions!!!!

Oh...and that pic up there? That's me (duh) and my lil protoge' up there....she's *almost* as good as me at this....she's learning quick! :)

Loving this today:

Found here: www.rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com.

How fitting is this?????

Found here: www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com. (Gotta love Elsie.)

Brought to you by the letter "A".....

She's counting down the hours.....

until she gets to see her sister....

Ode to Sisters...

Go here:

http://www.annamariahorner.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to the post for June 9, entitled, "Today's Lesson".....then...find your sister, and play Go Fish.

On this computer, I have no photos of my sisters, so the photo of me blowing them a kiss (bedhead and all) will have to suffice.

On the Word "Christian"

I was asked today by someone who matters to me what my definition of being a Christian is. In my simple-minded, child-like way, I've answered the question, hand-written for this person, but wanted to document my answer, mainly for my own personal reference, and this seemed to be the place to do it.

Here is what I wrote:

"The definition of a 'Christian', according to dictionary.com, is a person who believes in Jesus Christ, adhering to Christianity, a person who exemplifies the teachign of Christ in his or her life.

To me, the word 'Christian' is what is listed above, for certain. No one is perfect, but if you purely and truly believe in Christ and His teachings, ayou you try to follow the rules outlined in the Bible, striving to be better and learn more each day, repenting for your sins, praying, and being a good example to others, then you have a good start to being Christian.

I think Christians should share fellowship time with other Christians, but also they should not be afraid or too good to fellowship with those who are not Christians, because how else will those people know about God and Christianity if they don't have someone to tell them? Being rock-solid and secure with your beliefs around those who do not share the same makes them respect you; makes them think and question their views and actions and thoughts.

Being a Christian means to have FAITH in God and HOPE in a future. (Read Jeremiah 29:11.) It means to have JOY in your heart, and THANKFULNESS for all things -----> because ALL things work together for the glory of God. (He says so in His book. Romans 8:28) Being a Christian means putting yourself after others, caring, loving, and giving of yourself to make the world a better place.

As a Christian, others will ask where my joy comes from, why I am so happy...it is because I CHOOSE to rest in God's hands, enjoying the life He gave me, giving Him the glory for where I am today, for without His care, I would surely not be here!

I can do ALL things through CHRIST who strengthens me!!!!!" Philippians 4:13

Anna Lucia's "Pilla" Case....

You may recall the butterfly pillowcase I finished not too long ago....I'm too lazy to find a photo of it right now....but at any rate, when I was working on it, Anna asked me to please make her a "pilla case" too....so this is what I came up with to match her shabby chic rosey comforter in her room....what do you think?

I'll Love You Forever....

I'll love you forever...

I'll like you for always...

as long as I'm living...

my mother dearest mumsy dearwums you'll be!!!

It was a good, good day.

Good Things....

come in small packages! :) I drew on MisserPiePie's work calendar the day or so after he "retired" from his factory job. About freedom. And how good it feels to be free of something that shackles you so much...jobs, relationships, thoughts, dreams, desires, this could be applied to so many things...but at any rate, freedom is indeed a good thing. :)

Here's a quote for today: "Life shirnks and expands in proportion to one's courage." ~Anais Nin Good things that happened to me today:
1. The sun was all shiny-like for most of the day.
2. I had all sorts of my kids running around me most of the day.
3. I was productive, at least somewhat.
4. I laughed and smiled.
5. Kate is feeling so much better today! I think she's turned the proverbial corner! Yee-haw!

Happy Almost-Friday!

Believe.....

"I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a neverending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it just be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret." ~Anthony Robbins

Live your dreams today...I am, though it takes a lot of courage....and just for fun, here is another quote, relative to the subject, sent to me by a friend...."It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." ~E.E. Cummings

Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy....

sort of. We've done two yardsales in the last two weeks, held 2 cookouts, had the parents over, and we are still alive and well.....but needless to say, life has been in the way of my blogging activities, much to my dismay! :)

At any rate, we've been having fun, just living life, in between the work, and we are going to do another yardsale this coming week in Tullahoma with the fam...I'm excited to visit with them alllll dayyyyy loonnnngggg, whilst making the moo-lah hand-over-fist....I can dream, right? :) We'll see how it goes.

Today, Kevin has baseball tryouts, only he is helping the coach, not trying out. Kate's mouth is in bad shape after her wisdom teeth removal on Friday, and Anna is curled up next to her big sis, snooozing. She told me yesterday she had allergies and she knew this because she had been "blesshooing" all day long. You just have to love that kid. :) Makayla has been trying her darndest to learn how to crochet and blanket stitch with her left-handed mother....she is frustrated but a trooper and keeps on keeping on!

I will have some fun things to share this week, I promise......