A new purchase....

Mom and I checked out a local craft fair this weekend....a fun assortment of jewelry, soaps, paper crafts, handmade items and the like. I loved, loved, loved the unique oil paintings in one booth ... after considering them for a while, I went home, retrieved hubby (and sweet E, whom he'd been babysitting) and took them both back to the show. Many dollars later, we have a beautiful new art piece for the living room - so neat to get something new!

Wordless Wednesday...

Quiet days...

E and I have been enjoying more quiet time at home these past few days. We're a little tired from all of the Easter fun, and I think E is just finally really getting over the flu. She's sleeping hard, eating a ton, playing hard and just enjoying being a little girl. It's so nice to just be at home with her and enjoy some quiet days of play and chores.

Sometimes the simple things make me the happiest!

Easter Sunday...

I know that my Redeemer lives;

What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

He lives, He lives, who once was dead;

He lives, my ever living Head.

He lives, all glory to His Name!

He lives, my Jesus, still the same.

Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives,

I know that my Redeemer lives!

Domestic Diva Experiment: Homemade Granola

Hubby and I have been eating granola, yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast....a great treat! I find great prices on these items at a local farmer's market type store that I've started frequenting. But I'm not headed to the store again until Wednesday, and we ran out of granola yesterday....so I tried a recipe I found at this website....I snitched a taste - pretty yummy!

Vanilla Scented Granola Courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine/The Motherload/MomAdvice.com

Cooking spray

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup sliced almonds (I didn't have any - used chopped pecans)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Move rack to middle of oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Mix next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Combine oil, honey and sugar in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well. Using hands or a big spoon, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed. Spread granola on prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionaly, about 30 minutes (but check after 20). Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely. (Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.) Makes approximately 8 cups.

I can think of all kinds of ways to change this up...pumpkin pie spice, dried fruits, chocolate chips, different nuts....mmm, mmm!

Good Friday...

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:4-6

Good Friday, also called Holy Friday or Great Friday, is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus at Calvary.

(source: Wikipedia)

Maundy Thursday...

In the Christian liturgical calendar, Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday is the feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

On this day four events are commemorated: the washing of the Disciples' feet by Jesus Christ, the institution of the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot.

The morning celebration of these events marks the beginning of what is called the Easter Triduum or Sacred Triduum. The Latin word triduum means a three-day period, and the triduum in question is that of the three days from the death to the resurrection of Jesus. It should be noted that for Jesus and his followers a day ended, and a new day began, at sunset, not at midnight, as it still does today in the modern Jewish calendar.[1] The Last Supper was held at what present-day Western civilization considers to be the evening of Holy Thursday but what was then considered to be the first hours of Friday. Its annual commemoration thus begins the three-day period or triduum of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, days of special devotion that celebrate as a single action the death and resurrection of Christ, the central events of Christianity.

(information from Wikipedia)

Behind closed doors...

E and I have been enjoying several days at home with this week...no errands, nothing. It's been great to stay home in jammies/sweats/comfy clothes and catch up on some things around the house.

Inspired by Amy over at The Motherload (I heart her blog!) I've been doing a bit of spring cleaning. My new organizing "trick"? Using the backs of doors for storage. Now, I know this is not revolutionary, but I've been finding a few new ways to store and organize the mass of stuff that seems to accumulate in our tiny house.

The back of the laundry room door? It now features a row of hooks to store extra paper shopping bags that we so often reuse, as well as other little much-needed items. We love hooks in the laundry room so much that the front of that same door also features another row of hooks where we often hang damp items to dry.

The back of the hall closet door? It sports a new hook for all of our various tote bags that we use for the library and a million other reasons. Now, easy to get to, but out of sight.

The back of the bathroom door? Bathrobes of course. Need I say more? These have actually been there a long time...

We have a "hook in waiting" on the guest bedroom closet door (since the guest closet is full of items and has no room for clothes, we leave hangers on this hook so guests can hang items when they visit). Other "hooks in waiting" include inside the linen closet door and inside our closet door. I'm sure we'll find a use for them soon!

Another prime storage space I've not yet used is behind my home office door. I've heard all kinds of creative uses for space like this, including using a behind-the-door shoe organizer with pockets to store office supplies, wrapping paper, etc etc. I haven't decided what to do with this space yet....but I'm sure it'll come to me!

Now, what can I work on next? These little projects do tend to become an obsession...

Freecycle scores again!

We heart Freecycle! Look what hubby picked up last week -- will be super useful when we make the big girl bed transition!

Tag, you're it...

Jennifer tagged me, so now it's my turn to tell a little about myself...

What I was doing 10 years ago?
I'd just started my "new, big PR agency job" and thought I was pretty cool. I still lived with my parents, as I was saving money for an apartment....and trying to find one I could afford!

5 Things on my To Do List
Catch up on my photo albums and scrapbooking
Sort my daughter's closet, going through our stash of the next biggest sizes
Finish the (never-ending) freelance project I am working on
Make my menu for Easter lunch
Work on a PR project for our church

My Favorite Snacks
M&Ms - dark or mint
Trail mix or granola
Hot tea or Chai tea

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Give much money to our church
Give much money to our church's school
Make sure E's college, wedding, braces etc were paid for!
Pay off my parent's house
Pay off my house! Or move into a bigger one!

3 Bad Habits
Picking at my fingernails
Snacking!
Micromanaging: my life, my work, my finances....and more!

5 Places I have Lived
Plano - my parents' home
Denton - my dorm room
Denton - my apartment
Plano - my apartment with dear friend Hope, then with hubby
Plano - our home!

5 Jobs I have had
Sales clerk at a children's products store -
where I had to dress up like the store mascot H*llo Kitty
Sales clerk at a jewelry store
Sales clerk at a candle store
Sales clerk at a bath products store
Public Relations Account Supervisor (and all of the titles leading up to that)

Let's see....I'll tag Kim, Lucy and Christy.

Flu!

Sweet E has the flu....it's been a long several weeks around here, and this is doing nothing to improve things. Armed with Motrin and Tamiflu, we will prevail! Here's hoping Mommy and Daddy don't catch it!

Ugh!

Congratulations Chambers Family!...

Today we had the opportunity to attend our first ever "gotcha" party....a party celebrating the adoption anniversary of a child. Our friend Ethan-Stone has been part of the Chambers family for more than a year - woo-hoo! E always enjoys spending time with Ethan-Stone...look how much these babies have changed in the past year of friendship!...

...first playdate together...

...sharing fun at library storytime...

...a couple of cute little pumpkins at our church fall festival...

And now, Ethan-Stone will have a new brother or sister in August! His mommy Britney looked so cute today with her baby bump! What a blessing!

God is so good, and it is so sweet to have dear friends like these!

Gasp! ...

... that is the sound of our family collectively catching our breath!

It's been a wild month or more:

...hubby is transitioning to a new job. Not exactly what we had in mind to do right now, but sometimes God has a way of changing your situation and working things out for good.
...I have been buried in hours and hours of freelance work. A great opportunity for me, but it makes for exhausting, long days and nights. (But hubby has had more free time at home to watch E, a huge blessing! And makes for good daddy/daughter time).
...many, many trips to the eye doctor for me...it took weeks of trips to get my contacts straightened out and correct...but I can finally see...yipee!
...E is still struggling with teething, a looooong round of antibiotics and the terrible-almost-twos...fun.
...the weather has been wild! Snow....65 degrees....sleet, rain, snow - poor E never knows if it's ok to play outside or not!

The last several weeks have been a roller coaster in every direction. We're exhausted, but thankful for God's guiding hand and His blessings. And now, we're hoping for some "boring" days....whatever that is!