3 Loves and a Hate

I read about a very cool site called Print Friendly. I added a link to it on my bookmarks bar, and when I am on a page, I just click it and it pulls up its print preview page. (You can also just go to the site and copy and paste the link from the site that you want to print something from.) From there, you can delete any of the content, pictures, etc. to make it how you want it. I just printed a recipe that had a bunch of pictures in the directions. I only wanted the first picture of the made recipe, and deleted the rest easy peasy, without having to save it to Word and work from there. Love it!

Pinterest.com Very fun site that is like a big online bulletin board. You can pin any of your favorite recipes, sewing, crafting, scrapbooking or cooking tutorials, quotes, blog posts, home decor ideas, etc. That link takes you to my boards if you want to follow my pins. It is such an easy way to keep track of things, especially if you are like me and you have a million things bookmarked, recipes, inspiration pictures, etc. saved to your computer. Here is one of the quotes I have pinned.

Source: asdfghjkllove.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Good one, huh?

I really strongly dislike, OK, hate the big colorful ads that Windows Live has added to my emails. I use 2 different email programs because it is easier for me to read them all if I separate the emails I get that way. (I get blog emails, recipe emails, sewing group emails, etc. Why yes, I do spend too much time online. Why do you ask?) I was considering switching it all to gmail, which is an awesome email program.

Thanks to Jake though, I found out about Google AdBlock for Google Chrome (my favorite browser.) YIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE ad-free browsing and especially ad-free email. LOVE.

What Floats Your Boat?

I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear that I haven't had the mental energy to blog lately. (What? But I've written so much haha.) However, I did have one idea that excited me a little bit. I am going to jump on here sometimes and share some of my favorite things, happy things, or whatever is floating my boat. So, here goes:

1. The internet's plethora of recipes, grain-free, dairy-free, whatever you need, it's out there.

2. A book called Self Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurities Behind

3. My sister's very fun long visit.

4. My brother and his wife coming, and the funny stories they shared.

5. Nieces and nephews

6. Shrinky Dinks

7. DVRs

8. The Pursuit of Happyness movie. I just watched it last night and was thoroughly engrossed. Did.not.want.it.to.end.

9. Lark Rise to Candleford - I have been getting the dvds at my library and holy cow, I am so in love with this series. It ran 5 seasons on PBS and is a MUST watch. SO, so good. This show proves that quality shows can be produced, acted beautifully, be brilliant and engaging, and not be full of garbage! YAY.

Happy 2011

I can't really say I'm sorry to see the back end of 2010. So much has happened to throw our world upside down, but so much has also happened that brought lots of sunshine through the clouds. Like the birth of this little joy:

And watching this little sparkle grow.

We started last year with my dad planning to start some heavy duty cancer treatments. We are thankful beyond thankful that he got a 2nd opinion and decided to do a lighter treatment that is working beautifully! He got a horrible case of shingles and a worse case of postherpetic neuralgia. Which superbly sucks. He is in constant pain still. Praying hard for that to go away this year. PLEASE!! My mom got cancer too. She flew through treatments with flying colors and is cancer free now. My cousin is in the hospital right now in a coma due to being crushed by a truck in a nasty car accident. We are praying for miracles for him and are seeing some already.

This year, I am hoping for some miracles. A cancer-free family, a pain-free family, a family who has all the babies they want. For my cousin to be able to heal fully. I am hoping for Jake to be able to find some answer for his anxiety and ADHD. For him to not stress so much about school. And for the back and forth to his dad's to not disrupt his life and friendships too much. I am hoping to find answers to my illness. Ah... just to feel well. THAT would be such a huge miracle. To do small things like cleaning up after cooking, (If I cook, I'm toast, and have to clean up later, not because I want to put it off, but because I literally do not have it in me), or simply being able to cook a meal a few days a week instead of a few times a month. How heavenly it would be to have that kind of energy. Or to be able to go grocery shopping, AND put away all the groceries within the same few hours. I get home, sit on the floor and get stuff in the freezer and fridge, and the rest sits out while I rest, sometimes for a couple days. Nice, huh? To be able to go to all 3 hours of church without it taking all I have for the week. (I just go to 1 hour, and I'm so grateful it is later for us this year - which makes it 1,100% easier for me.) To be able to exercise without it making me hurt so much, and taking all I have for a few days. The ones for me are my small and simple wishes, that really aren't so small and simple after all. Don't take those things for granted, K?

I truly am so blessed in so many ways and I'm so grateful for all my nieces and nephews that bring light to my life. For my family that I love so much. And for the health and strength that I do have. I am grateful for my wonderful Savior, who is also my friend.

And I'm grateful for all of you that read my blog. Thanks for reading, and commenting!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope this year brings your dearest wishes to fruition.

P.s. - did you notice how cool the date was yesterday? 1/1/11 and just think what it was at 11:11. :)

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

I hope your day is filled with joy and that your new year is filled with peace and love.

Flowers in the Winter

Here is a bit of sewing for 2 of my nieces that I started way back in the Spring, finished this fall, and am just now getting around to posting. As I've said before, the treatments I am doing have been wiping me out really bad, so I'm just glad I got them done while they could still wear them! I got excited about making these when I saw a striped onesie at Old Navy. This striped/big applique combination has been calling to me ever since I saw this and this at Mini Boden. Mini Boden does some amazing appliques. I actually like the strawberry one best, but this project just seemed to call for a flower. I was so excited to find an XL Women's shirt in the same stripe so I could make something out of it for Sarah to match her little sister Gracie.
So here's Sarah's skirt. (I figure she can wear leggings with it for now, right?)

And Gracie's top went through some changes. It actually started out as a onesie, but my sister doesn't love the look of those on an older baby, so I cut it off and hemmed it, and then added the white sleeves from another shirt to make it a layered-look long sleeved top!

Here is the shirt I used to make the skirt for Sarah:

Maybe I'll do a tutorial for it one of these days, although the pictures I took were all in the middle of the night and not great!

And lastly, here is a little thought for today:

Just remember in the winter

far beneath the bitter snows

lies the seed, that with the sun's love

in the spring becomes the rose.

---The Rose

Christmas Shopping and Legs

Jake and I did a little Christmas shopping this weekend. He found all these legs in a pile at Sears and since there was seriously not a single person working on the 2nd floor where we were, he took his time building statues with them. And I laughed. We had fun.

My phone camera takes terrible pictures, but hey, at least we have a shot to remember the silliness.

Holiday Wish List Meme

I figured my son would kill me if I had the chance and didn't enter this giveaway, plus it is fun to share this information here!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
Calmness, peace and happiness.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
Our real traditions are Christmas Eve - we get together with my family and exchange gifts, which is an amazing time. And I've just decided Jake and I are going to have a pj tradition. Getting jammies on Christmas Eve is my absolute favorite tradition from growing up, and we haven't been doing it - we are going to start! Maybe for Christmas morning, we'll start a green smoothie tradition to counteract that stocking full of candy!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? A trip to Pennsylvania to see my nieces, nephew and sister!!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

Hmmm... using decorations we already have... making cookies and wishing I didn't...

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
"Guess Who" was one of my favorites, and we also played "Restaurant" with bubble gum and candy that was made like food, or that we made to be like food. For instance, we would put Big League Chew, and gum balls together in a bowl for spaghetti and meatballs. Ahh... the awesomeness of being a kid.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
I am going to reinstate the pajama tradition.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

Other than my sister's, I would choose to go somewhere sunny like the Caribbean, Hawaii, or to visit my friend Kristen in France!!

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

1. I know my son would love an XBOX 360. He already has his favorite gaming system - the Play Station 3, but he would love to be able to play some of the games his friends play on the XBOX.

2. A Wii - I think it would be fun to do the Wii Fit, and Jake would love to have a Wii!

3. I'd let my son pick out some games - I know there are a ton he'd love. I'd let some of my family members pick some games too!