Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Spruce Up Your Patio - D.I.Y.

Hello Everyone,

I was paging through magazines the past weekend to get a bit of inspiration to re-decorate our patio. I found the perfect project for our family to do together! Wooden Pallets will be transformed into beautiful, useful furniture! Inexpensive and so easy to do! A project that we all can work on. Of course, the technical stuff will not be attempted by me, I leave that to my husband and daughter. Yes, can you believe it, a teen girl that's actually quite a handy man, or is it a handy girl?

I found quite a bit of useful ideas with wooden pallets and could not really decide what I want to do with ours. But, we all agreed to make a rustic-looking coffee table like the one in my picture here.


TIP
Cover old cushion inners with bright new tea towels to match your theme!!

Go to my HOME AND DECOR PAGE to see all the useful ideas with Wooden Pallets!


GOD BLESS.



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Sweet and Sour


Ten days ago I posted about gratitude, and me being so grateful to still have my mom around. A 75 year old that is as fit as a fiddle! No ailments what so ever.

Friday night my sister tried to get hold of me, but my cell phone for some reason did not ring. She asked her daughter to text my daughter that I should phone her urgently, there is an emergency! The first thing that came to mind was something happened to my mom, my sister will not phone me if she has an emergency because I am 700km away from her and will not be able to do anything immediately. So, it had to be something about my mom or brother. But if it is something about my brother, then my mom would have called me. That’s it, it must be about my mom, the absolute dreaded phone call. One that I definitely don’t want and I think will never ever be prepared to receive. My heart was racing, expecting to hear a distressed voice on the other side. When my sister answered, she sounded quite normal and I immediately thought, OK, there is no emergency. My daughter, a bit of a drama queen, maybe just misunderstood the message from her cousin. But, unfortunately, it was bad news. My mom is in hospital. They initially thought she had a heart attack, but by the looks of it, it was not. They ran all sorts of tests and we will only know by Monday what the outcome was, and what is really wrong with her.

The sweet with the sour, the sweet, my mom is OK and the sour, there might be an underlying problem and now her fit as a fiddle health status, might have changed to a true 75 year old person with maybe heart problems?  But, it is the way we deal with the sweet and sour in our lives. I choose to look up and still thank God for my blessings and ask God to please guide me and assist me to deal with the sour bits.

And so, on Saturday morning in between house work, I decided to quickly read one or two  blogs that I follow and both authors, Brenda from Bamboo Heart and Ellie Lash from Ellie Lash Designs were sharing their sweet and sour  moments. Brenda about her husband’s promotion, the sweet, but the sour, they will have to relocate to another province. And Ellie, her husband was unemployed for some time, the sour, and then the sweet; he changed his career and is now employed as a long distance truck driver, yet a bit of sour for pour Ellie, as he will be away from home for long periods.

In conclusion, we all experience the sweet and sour bits of life!!  It is not just sour all the time and it is also not just sweet. We just need to ask for guidance and assistance when we have the sour bits and be thankful for all the sweet bits.

I leave you with a poem about courage – (Scrap Girls e-newsletter)


Courage
We lead out our days in monotonous ways
The humdrum of work and of sleep.
Time slips along, no thrill in the song
Not even a reason to weep.

And then, like a flash, there comes such a crash,
We're stunned by the buffet Fate gives.
In the blackness and blur we feel the soul stir
And that is the moment one lives.

When disaster beats down, the true men are found
And cowards are marked with a brand.
They whimper and whine: they cringe and repine
And the whiplash Fate holds in her hand.

The brave men fight on though the chasm may yawn
And midnight's unlit by a star.
How you face defeat in the crisis you meet
That measures the man that you are.

All through the years there are smiles and tears,
But they, in the end, are the same.
One moment of life in the midst of the strife,
Is worth ages of watching the game.

With dismay in your heart, if you still played your part,
Though bloody and beaten and sore;
If your soul flamed white in the hopeless fight,
The world will ask for no more.

- Anonymous

God Bless!








Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Gratitude Journal


Hi Everyone!!

I sincerely hope everyone had a super awesome Mothers Day.

Sunday night in bed I was actually thinking of how grateful I am for my mom. She is 75, very active, no grey hair, no granny looks, no serious health problems, just suffering from Arthritis, and that is basically it. She is as fit as a fiddle! Yes, I am blessed to still have her around. So, I was thinking to myself, “When I pray tonight, I am not going to ask for anything, nope, I am just going to say thank you for everything that I am grateful for in my life”.

If you sit down and actually think about this, there are quite a few things that we should be grateful for, and not just being grateful, but to actually say thank you. My list grew after I sat down and jotted everything onto a piece of paper. Things we normally take for granted was added to my list of thank yous. From the most stupid little thing to very serious ones, I said thank you for every little thing. It felt good, and I realized once again that my family and I are truly blessed. Yes, we all have difficult, troublesome times, but in the end everything just works out perfectly at the right time by the Grace of God. To this I can truly confess!

Now, just see how amazing God is – My sister sends me a daily e-mail from Joyce Meyer. I attach a copy of the one that I received on Monday! All about being grateful and to say thank you!

will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 
—Psalm 34:1 NKJV
It is good to have love for God in your heart, but even better to express it with the words of your mouth.  Tell God several times each day that you love Him; say with the Psalmist David: “I love you fervently and devotedly, O Lord my Strength” (Psalm 18:1). It isn’t good enough to merely think, “God knows how I feel.”
Are you blessed when people tell you they love and appreciate you?  Of course you are, and it blesses God when we verbalize our love and praise for Him. Verbal expression of love and gratitude improves all our relationships, including our relationship with God.
It is also good to verbalize thanksgiving several times each day.  Quite often we should say as we go about our day, “Thank you, Lord for everything, I love you.”  One hundred times a day would not be too much.  Psalm 104 says we should be thankful and say so. Expressing gratitude is good for us; it reminds us of our blessings and helps us not to complain quite so much. 
Don’t offer your petitions to God without telling Him how grateful you are for what He has already done for you. As parents we are more likely to answer the request of a thankful child than we are a grouchy and ungrateful one.  As an employer I want to do even more for employees who are appreciative.
Offering our continual gratitude to God for His goodness and mercy in our lives moves Him to want to do even more for us. Our gratitude shows God that we are mature enough to handle even more blessing and responsibility. 
Women often say, “I know my husband loves me, but I wish he would tell me more often.”  Let’s try to be more diligent in telling God and the people in our lives, that we love and appreciate them and what they mean to us.  
Love God Today: It is impossible to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and not hear it come out of your mouth.
 But, that is not all – I read this from Joel Osteen – Your Best Life Now -


In the light of the above, I have decided to start a GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

Gratitude is an emotion that opens up your heart and allows you to connect and align with Spirit. Gratitude makes you aware of the richness and abundance already present in your life.

Begin a gratitude list, at least once a week. Write down all the things in your life that you are grateful for. Making and adding to the list and reading it will open your heart and align you with Spirit. When you count your blessings, your blessings multiply.



START YOUR GRATITUDE JOURNAL TODAY!!

God Bless!!




Wednesday, May 9, 2012

More Mothers Day Goodies and Gift Ideas

Nope, I did not forget about my blog.  There is just not enough hours in the day for me. Between running our business, cleaning the house, doing washing and simply being a mother to a very active 12 year old with lots of activities, my time is sort of not enough. I think it was just one of those crazy weeks, where you wish you had more than two hands and feet. I am sure you will all agree with me that life sometimes can be really hectic, and before you know it, another week has passed! So, before it is the end of another week, some more Mothers Day Goodies, a few gift ideas and a bit of daily inspiration to Spice-up our everyday lives.




Baking Tray Memo Board

Kitchen Clip Board
Personal Spa

Gifting Cook


Scrap Booker Gift




GOD BLESS!!





Sunday, April 29, 2012

FREE GOODIES - REMEMBER MOTHERS DAY


Hi All!

I normally don’t do any posting on a Sunday, but I had lots of inspiration and there are so many things that I want to share with you. So, I thought I will give you a heads up of what will be coming this week. – FREE GOODIES!!!  (Lots of free print ables and great ideas)

Seeing that Mothers Day is coming up, which I love, I thought, for those of you who also like to make your own gifts, I will share a few of my goodies with you. Gift bags, gift tags, Calendars, Book Marks and Greeting cards, everything ready for you to download and print!

I am also adding more pages to my blog:       
Crafts and Makes
Family Life
Fashion and Beauty
Health and Well being
Home and Decor
AND then of course more words to inspire.

You can also sign up to my FREE E-NEWSLETTER delivered to you weekly where I will be sharing more info on these topics with you. Instead of spending hours searching for info, tips, ideas and images on these topics, all the hard work has been done for you. So much info with ONE FREE E-NEWSLETTER, lots of direct links to super cool sites not to be missed.

 I have come across the most amazing, inspiring sites that I would love to share. Hey, you can even contribute to my News Letter if you have something nice to share!! Yip, some SUGAR AND SPICE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE!!

WHY NOT TRY OUT MY FREE E-NEWSLETTER
Leave your e-mail address below in the comment box to receive your first FREE News Letter. Remember, I hate spam as much as you do, and WILL NEVER , EVER pass your details on to any third party companies. That’s a promise. You can also stop your subscription any time you wish!


Best Wishes

REMEMBER








Thursday, April 26, 2012

Life's Unexpected Curve Balls


Hi Everyone,  

Wow, what a week so far! Yes, it was one of those weeks where life throws a few unexpected curve balls at you. I had quite a few of them in one week and thus my posting for today, HAPPINESS. I know, very hard to put on the smiley face if everything within you just wants to show the upside-down smile! But then, as always I received tit-bits of encouragement and love from various sources, whether it is an e-mail form my sister with encouraging words from Joyce Meyer or a web page that out of nowhere pops onto your screen while searching for something completely different. I believe it all happens with a reason and was specifically meant for me to look up and realize that I am not on my own, God is watching over me and is guiding me every step of the way.

I am firm believer of positive thinking and that it can actually attract positive things into your life.

Positive thinking brings inner peace, success, improved relationships, better health, happiness and satisfaction. It also helps the daily affairs of life move more smoothly, and makes life look bright and promising.


Ways to clear negative thinking:


  • Listen to your favorite music.
  • Spend some time with God in prayer.
  • Before starting with any plan or action, visualize clearly in your mind its successful outcome. 
  • If you visualize with concentration and faith, you will be amazed at the results.
  • Read at least one page of an inspiring book every day. (Greatday.com and Joel Osteen Ministries is my favorite sites to visit for my daily inspiration)
  • Watch movies that make you feel happy.
  • Always sit and walk with your back straight. This will strengthen your confidence and   inner strength.
  • Walk, swim or engage in some other physical activity. This helps to develop a more positive attitude.
  • Do something you really enjoy, painting, crafting, and gardening, anything to take your mind off the negative situation. You will soon find yourself in a different mind set!
Have a wonderful, blessed and HAPPY life!