Break

Right Now I am walking away from this blog for now. Life is busy and I do not have the time to commit to it like I would like. Feel free To look on the blogs I read section for other great blog sites.

Thank You

Living with a purpose

I have not posted in a while. Things started to get busy and I fell into the crazy cycle of busyness and blogging fell farther and farther down the list of things to get done.  Things around me started to pile up as well. I started to fall behind on the cleaning, running has become nonexistent, and my attitude has started to focus my on the negative things around me. So what to do? I figured I had two options...

A) Continue on this path

Or

B) Change the things around me I can control

The first thing that I need to change is to have a more meaningful devotion time. I need to push my self out of what is comfortable and easy and allow God to challenge me.

I will explain more

on this tomorrow but for now I leave you with this....

Psalm 121 NIV

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm —
he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore

Reads of the Week

Here are some great posts I have found this week.

Home......

Delightful Order : Great way to organize recipes.
Its Overflowing : DIY personalized art canvas. I really want to try this.
Homemakers challenge : Making your home a refuge
Money saving mom : Menu planning resources

Kids......

Organizing your way : Great tips on how to involve little ones in chores around the house

Motherhood......

Money saving mom : Great post on burnout and getting back on a routine.
Five in tow : Love , love, love her honesty about becoming a mother and motherhood.
5 minutes for mom : The mommy wars

New Blogs I found ......

Women living well
Generational womanhood

Financial ......

Passion for savings : Great post on the use of the Manila System

Enjoy!

The art of journaling

I have never been one to keep a journal. When I was young I remember once or twice keeping some sort of diary, but never on a consistent basis. While blogging in a way can be a form of journals, I am talking more on a deeper level.

Recently, I started journaling during my quiet time in the mornings. I would read my selected devotion for the day and then write. Sometimes on the verses I just read, other times emotions and feelings I was going thou at that moment. In the process of journaling I have discovered a few things....

• It allows on another level a connection with God
• I can process my thoughts and emotions more clearly
• Its mine and only mine, thus I am free to write as I feel lead
• I actually enjoy journaling

Currently my journal is nothing more then a small 3x5 notebook that was something I received at a retreat earlier this year. Part of the retreat was on quiet time and journaling, hence the notebooks that were given out. Nothing fancy, but I think that is the beauty of jornaling especially during daily quiet time. God doe not want the fancy he was the unique yet plain and simple us connecting with Him.

Do you have journal?

Have you always kept a journal or like me is this something new?

source:dreamstime

Wordless Wednesday!



I found my two youngest playing a few weeks back. The one standing is Levi, and he had just recently had brain surgery {2/17/12} to remove a cyst and blockage on his brain. In the midst of all the chaos of each day remember to have fun and count your blessings!

Weekly Cleaning

When we moved into this house from our last house into Ohio I was very excited to have more space. However, I also new that with more space came more to clean. That honestly overwhelmed me. It seemed that I tried every cleaning schedule, read every book, or blog on cleaning I could get my
 hands on. The result would always end up the same, frustration, money wasted, and a bigger mess then when I started. Finally one night I sat down at the computer and thought about what
I needed to accomplish each week in order to maintain the house.

This was the result....

Mondays - Kitchen

Baseboards/Walls
Floor
De clutter
Fridge/Pantry
Windows

Tuesdays - Living Room/Downstairs Bath
Baseboards/Walls
Floor/Rugs
De clutter
 Couches
Windows/Dust

Wednesdays - Sheets/Bathrooms

Baseboards/Walls
Floor/Rugs
De clutter
 Tubs/Towels
Sheets

Thursdays - Dining Room/Hallways/Laundry Room
Baseboards/Walls
Floor
De clutter
 Table/Chairs
Windows/Dust

Fridays - Bedrooms
Baseboards/Walls

Floor
De clutter
Straighten Closets
 Vacuum Under Beds

I printed it out, and stuck some magnet tape to the back of the paper and put it on my fridge. Now during the week as I accomplish items I check it off with a pencil .
That way at the beginning of the week I can erase and start fresh.

Some weeks are great and I accomplish the whole list. Other times I am lucky to get my kitchen cleaned and the sheets changed! This week for example, my husband picked up the kids from school since he was home and I was able to get all of Monday's tasks and some of Tuesday's; knocked out.

I also have a daily cleaning routine that I will be sharing next week. It goes hand in hand with the chores we have for our kids.

Do you use a cleaning system?

What routines work for you?

Meals for the week

Again this week I am using the build a menu site to plan my meals. Last week I really liked the variety along with the flexibility it gave me. The recipe's are also very easy to follow.

Dinners:

Baked Chicken Thighs

Sausage Squares

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Ups

Beans and Rice Skillet

Green Bean and Potato Casserole

Pot Roast and Veggies

Burrito Dogs

Side Dishes:

Garden Medley Salad

Creole Rice

Steamed Corn

French Baguette with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Fresh Strawberries

Cantaloupe

Garlic Bread

Lunches:

Banana Dog in a Bun

Brown Bag Bean Burrito

Tomato, basil, garlic penne pasta

Hawaiian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Simple Meatless Spaghetti

Breakfasts:

White Chocolate Coconut Pancakes

Saturday Morning Waffles

Banana French Toast

Salsa & Hash brown Skillet

Cinnamon Rolls & Fruit

What is on you menu this week?

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