A Servant's Heart

Sewing Machine

My wonderful husband bought me a new Singer sewing machine today!

Yea!!!!!!

I can't wait to get sewing.

I normally do most of my sewing by hand.

My first project is to whip up a blanket for my grandson, Gabriel!

Thanks, Honey!!

Happy New Year

A Simple Reminder: PEACE (AKA decluttering and organizing)

I received my Country Woman magazine in the mail this morning.  I love this magazine because they have a variety of things to entertain me from recipes to patterns for a fabric purse (made from placemats), to stories and pictures.  This month, there is a section entitled: GET ORGANIZED!   They must have written this just for me!!!!   Do they have a secret spy camera in my kitchen cabinet??? Or perhaps in our bedroom/ office/craft room???  Where ever that darn thing is, I have to find it!  LOL

The author talks about her tip to creating PEACE in the household with organization. 

P: Put like items together

E: Eliminate items you don't need, use, or love

A: Assign a home for everything

C: Contain within designated spaces

E: Execute these steps periodically

I really do believe this article was written especially with me in mind.  And especially Eliminating items you don't need, use or love is directed to me!  I am guilty of keeping things for the memories they have.  My father was HORRIBLE at this as well.  When his mother, my grandmother died, he kept her winter coat and purse.  A guy keeping a coat and a purse!!!  They had memories to him.  Well that is fine, keping SOME things for memories, as long as they bring GOOD MEMORIES!  I on the other hand chose a cookie jar (Smiley the Pig....I love it) and her rolling pin!  Those bring so many good memories for me of Grandma, cooking and baking in the kitchen. 

But through the years, I know I have saved things.......that don't have such good memories.  Are you like that too??? For instance, what about those size whatever jeans you think you might get back into some day???  LOL Get rid of them!!!  By the time you do get down to that size again, that pair of Jordache jeans with the zipper and bow on the back of the pants leg will be so out of style!!!  Or how about those guilt Christmas gifts we keep??  You know the ones.  We didn't like them when we opened them, but we keep them around just in case Great Aunt Mary should come by one day and asks you....."What ever happened to that gorgeous (read here gaudy) peacock figurine I gave you last year for Christmas???"  Send it on to Charity and next time sweet old aunt so and so asks you about it, tell her a little white lie that it broke and you hated to see it go.  LOL  Or better yet, use it as a White Elephant gift next year for Christmas on the OTHER side of the family!!  (We do this.  LMSO  My side of the family has a card game in which everyone puts in a gift of $10 or less.  After everyone has a gift in hand, you draw another car and on and on until all cards are gone.  Each time your card is called, you can steal a gift from someone else.  It is hilarious.   So when we get gifts from hubby's side of the family, we put them in that gift exchange the following year! LOL)

I know several of you have said Fly Lady is "TOO MUCH".  All her reminder emails, etc. are a little too much for me as well.  But I love her, her ideas and support and encouragement.  So when I was at the library, and saw her book: Sink Reflections.  I am reading a section now about decluttering (what is that like) and she goes to explain what the 27 fling boogie is( you pick up a trash bag, set your timer to 15 minutes and grab 27 things in the house that can be thrown away.  You aren't supposed to think about it, just put it in the bag, and then directly take the bag to the trash)  She also talks about going through a room and doing something with the items that you don't want, use or love out.  You put things in a box of where they go, to the trash, to charity, etc.  I have these wonderful thoughts of putting everything on the backporch and having a large garage sale and making a little extra money with it.  But Fly Lady knows me well, and suggests that we give it to someone else and give it a whole new life instead of hanging on to the clutter till summer when we can have a garage sale (that most of us never get around ot having! LOL).

So one of my goals for this year, is to room by room, get my house organized and decluttered.  Fly Lady says you can not organize clutter.  LMSO  WHAT A LIGHTBULB MOMENT WAS THAT!!!  You can only move it , toss it, or donate it.  So, I am going to work on a 27 fling boogie now and then, and gradually my house will become one in which everything has a place, and that item is there.  No more will eb the days of trying to find my favorite black shoes, or hunting for the scotch tape.  No more will be the days when you buy another pack of razors because you can't find the ones you just bought a week ago.  No more are the days when I buy another spool of thread because I can't find the color I need, and then after finishing up the project I find the first spool!  LMSO 

My house isn't bad.  I don't want anyone to think my house is a disaster area.  Friends also say how nice the living room and dining room looks (because I am diligent at keeping them clean), and no area of my house is ever really dirty.  It is just the stacks of fabric and computer games that need sorted through and organized (and some will be donated), the boxes of whatever that needs stacked neatly and labeled.  The upstairs closets that need cleaned out and stuff tossed away!  (Because if we haven't needed it in 3 years, why are we keeping it up there??)  When my mom and dad died, and we went through their house, I was horrified, not by dirt, but by THINGS they had.  THings they probably hadn't seen since moving in the house 20 some years ago.  Things they didn't remember buying, or receiving.  Things that they didn't want to give up because it was easier to just put it in the closet, in the basement on a shelf, or in the attic area above the garage!  I promised mysefl then, that my children wouldn't find such a mess when I died!!!

Besides....the clutter we have in our homes is not helping us.  No, it is hurting us.  Clutter in the home makes us depressed, makes our family think you don't care as much about taking care of it or them, it can make you sick if you aren't careful about dust and mold, etc.  And if these things and items we are keeping mean SO MUCH to us, then why are they not put up, protected, or put on display so we can enjoy them.  My SIL has a quilt from each grandmother that was made for them when they got married.  (I have the same.)   Hers are in a box in a storage area, well kept, but hidden.  Mine are here and there.  We use them, we hang them on the wall on quilt racks, and lay them over the bannister for all to see.  I love the quilts and I want them taken care of until I can hand them down, but I don't want them hidden!!  But on the other hand, I have certain things that are put away because, I HAVE A 2 1/2 YEAR OLD!   LOL  I know better than to put china or crystal out somewhere where little hands can grab it and break it.  It is on display in my china cabinet and someday when Noah is older, we can use it.  Until then, it is look and don't touch.  LMSO 

Well all.  I am finally off to declutter my sewing area.  LMSO  Another words, this email was my pep talk to myself.  I hope perhaps I pepped you up to clean, declutter and organize as well though!  This email was my sneaky way of putting off the task of organizing the craft and sewing area.  Hopefully it won't even take as long as I think.  In my head I think it might take me 3 weeks to accomplish this.  So, if I am not online for a while, could someone please page my hubby and tell him to look under the pile of fabric and notions or under the sewing table for me???  LOL  :)

Cutting Some Cords in 2009

• I'm canning up the rest of the meat. It won't happen overnight, but I will get it all finished and empty those freezers once and for all.  We are doing ground meat today.
• I'm getting back to once a week baking for our needs.  It's easy to do -- just requires I think ahead and make some plans.  When it's gone, it's gone.  We will learn quick enough that it's better to spread out whatever treats we have than to go totally without.
• Laundry is going to take a hit.  We will start focusing on that hand-washing.  I will do towels, the blankets and thick items, boys pants in the washing machine still as I don't have a suitable way to wring them out well enough to even hang dry.  But they will only be done once a week.  This having something to wash almost daily is ridiculous.  I need to get back to a real schedule here.  And it will be...has to be...carved in solid stone, no more written in pencil.
• I'm going to look for a small wood heat stove instead of worrying about connecting the cookstove up right now.  I'm not set up space-wise to have both operating, and I think the larger need is for some alternative heat right now.  I'd rather put $600 into a heat stove than the electric bill.

I have been busy!

I sat down and redid my menu for the month, the budget and my goals for the year of 2009.  I also have a list of sewing and crafting projects and a schedule for them so hopefully I will have all the presents done that I wish to give away for Christmas this year. I also have a weight loss calendar going as well.  (I would like to loose at least 50 pounds this year....but would like to push for 100.  Sounds like alot doesn't it???  But break it down and that is only 1-2 pounds per week!  Definately doable!)

  If you think that is crazy, well....so do I!! LOL  If you asked me a year ago if I would ever be this organized, I would laugh at you.....hysterically!  I can't guarantee everything will work out perfectly like I have planned, because things (like life in general) happen to throw us off balance.  But at least I have a plan!!  Most people don't start off with one, and then wonder why they didn't get anything accomplished for the year!!!

I am starting off this year with a clean slate.  No more beating myself up for not loosing weight last year (I did loose 20 pounds, but I should have been more diligent and lost more....oh well.  New year....NEW ME!!!), or for not saving more money, making more homemade Christmas presents, etc.  This is a new year, and the slate is clean.  Clean as we are from sin because Jesus died for us.  He tosses our sins as far as the east is from the west.  He wipes them from his book and his memory, as if they NEVER happened.  HOW WONDEFUL!

So this year, I plan on spending more time with my Heavenly Father in Bible Study, church, and devotions.   I plan to spend more time with hubby by planning monthly date nights (without Noah), and more playing with Noah and planning fun events with him.  (He is really getting into tumb ling around here at home.  Maybe I can look into tumbling things online and teach him, or enroll him in a class.  I think he would love it!)  I want to spend more time with friends and my extended family also!

And sometimes, it is the simple things in life that pleases myself and my family.  I want to stick to my cleaning schedule and bless my family with an organized home.  Bake more for my family, and friends.  Make more homemade, heart felt presents and cards for holidays, bdays, anniversaries, etc. (and actually remember to send the cards this year too!) 

I want to learnt o crochet this year.  I always wanted to in the past, but made every excuse in the book.  LOL My mom crocheted the most gorgeous things....and now that she is gone, I want to learn even more.  So, if I need to learn from a book, or a friend, etc.....it needs to happen this year.

I want to read more, travel more, sleep more (LOL), learn more.  I want to smile more this year.  The last few years have been hard loosing so many family members to death.  This is a year to celebrate what we DO HAVE, and not mourn what we don't.  No more whining about not having a new car, but smile and be ever so thankful for the OLD car we do have.  After all....IT IS PAID FOR!!!

This is the year, to pay off a personal debt we have, and become debt free except our mortgage.   Matthew is starting a new part time job this year doing electrical work.  He won't quit his current job until he can support the family, but we are both pouring time and effort and ALOT of prayer into this new endeavor. 

Yes, this year, is going to be a good year.  God has surely blessed us in the past (in our marriage, our finances, in our children, etc.) and he will do the same this year!!!!!!!

A Very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Blessings!

   Well, 2009 is finally here! God is so good! Our past year has been filled with wonderful adventures, trials and tribulations, blessings and abundance:) All of which have shown us God's powerful presence here in our lives.

   With 2008 behind us we are face with new adventures, trials, tribulations, blessings and abundance of a different sort and I can't wait to find out what they will be and to learn where I will grow next:)

   I pray that each of you is having a very blessed first day of your new year!

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

I Need a Breather

Life has been hectic to say the least! We are still working on getting settled into our new home.  It feels so good to have a home again.  It feels homey (is that a word?) too, since it belonged to my mother-in-love.  The funny thing is, I have had a very hard time coming here every since mom passed on, but it just feels natural now.

I feel like after two months of everything being thrown up in the air, I can finally take a breath.

What will spring time bring?

I'm just not sure.

Will we end up buying this house?

Will we still be heading for Alaska?

I don't know.

Thank God that He knows.

I have put my trust and care in Him.

Happy New Year everyone!

~Candy~`

Making More Aprons!

I can't beleive how quickly the last year slipped by, and especially the last month or so.  It seems as though the last month or two zoomed past us.  LMSO  I had great expectations of things I wanted to accomplish last year and although several of them got accomplished, some DID NOT!  My list of goals to accomplish this year is just as long as last year, but I will be more diligent at paying attention to it!

So, tomorrow starts my new crafting and sewing schedule.  I made a list of all the things I want to get done for Christmas presents, and if I do one project a week, I should have it all done by November 1st, leaving me some time to finish up projects that didn't go as quickly as I had hoped. 

So today, after switching over laundry, and loading up the dishwasher, I am going to start cutting out the aprons and getting a small head start on the 4 denim aprons I need to get done by the end of January.  I also found a really cute pincushion pattern online and intend to make a few of those for Christmas presnts as well, for myself and a few friends who sew.  They are super easy and so cute.

Tonight we are having South of the Border Chicken Soup, crackers and cheese and summer sausage on the side.  I love having soup and snack nights, and so does the family.  This is one of our all time favorite soups.  So yummy, filling and it is good for you!!!

I am off now to finish laundry, dishes, straighten up the house, make dinner, and then cut up some blue jeans.   (and if I have time, take down the tree tonight...but if not tomorrow it will come down!)

New Year's

Happy New Years to everyone!  We have been so busy over here and just finally just got over everyone in the house being sick.  New Years Eve here was quiet, and we failed to stay awake until midnight.  We made pizza and watched some I Love Lucy.  The little people went to bed and the adults watched Some Like It Hot.  An all-around fun evening!

We did post a couple of recipes over at our other blog though. We did this recipe last year, and LOVE them! Fried Pasta, the best snack! We hardly ever fry food though, so this really was something that we might only make once a year ;) Go over to Joyous Notions and see how to make it! :)

What did everyone else do for New Years? :)

Many blessings! ~*~Jessica

The Missing Link....Granny Miller's blog