adopted by an owl

Beautiful. Tender. Amazing.

Now I want to read the book...

TSWDB - 1-14-12

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http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Outside my window...Snow on the ground. Bright sunshine. 

I am thinking...this is quite a contemporary and creative sermon of sorts:

I am thankful...to have a day (today) with nothing that I have to do before it's done. 

A few plans for the rest of the week ... It's Saturday - so the week is almost over but it's a looong weekend. Hoooray! And I have crockpot meals planned for the next two days.  

I am creating...a more organized home. Still working my way around it by cleaning/purging one cabinet/drawer/closet at a time. The kitchen is done :)  And that quilt that was supposed to be finished by Christmas -  and then by Spoke's b-day ... well - it's still not quite finished... :/ But I did give him a sneak peek.

I am wondering...Really?! Is this necessary?? It came with my new curling iron...

Spokes supposes somebody probably tried to curl their eyelashes with one ... and I'm wondering if he could possibly be right?! :/

I am reading...

I am looking forward to... Spoke's learning to play his birthday gift. A while back he mentioned that he might like to learn to play to the violin but he lives with roommates and was concerned that the learning process might take its toll on them. But - this eliminates that potential issue: 

click the pic above for more info 

The girls both think they may want to learn to play the cello and I am hoping they decide to because then we could get them one of these to share - at least while they're learning:

via

I am learning  ...well - nothing that I can think of right at the moment, but I bet I would learn a lot if I were to read these (SUCH A STEAL .... I mean DEAL)! 

Click the pic for more info if interested. 

I found an alternative to bleach to use for cleaning/disinfecting around the house and in the laundry. One I feel good (& green!) about on all fronts. 

The back label says this product does not contain bleach. It uses Hydrogen Peroxide as its bleaching agent which degrades to water and oxygen.  It reduces harmful chemicals entering our sewage systems & is friendlier to the environment. It only contains three ingredients. Hydrogen Peroxide, Citric Acid and Water. 

I am pondering...something I read earlier today:

We are most alive when we're in love. 

A favorite quote for today...

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. 

Kites rise against, not with, the wind. - Lewis Mumford

One of my favorite things...This video is great :) Whether you're a Star Wars fan - or not, this is so cool. The same guy plays both parts: 

A peek into my day... well, this is actually from last night when we celebrated Spoke's b-day. The girls gave him an Angry Birds blanket. He's underneath it on the couch as I type :) 

Practical Princess Playmaker

A few times a year maybe the girls and I will go poke around our local Salvation Army store and just see what we see.  Yesterday was one of those days for Playmaker and I. Among a few other fabulous finds, Playmaker found a bEaUtiFul dress for prom. A deep, rich but earthy olive green, strapless, formal gown with a hint of shimmer.  Just so pretty, simple and elegant. It fits almost perfectly but it's just a tiny bit too big on top.  The gown is a size 2 - so  I'm not even sure we would have found another anywhere else that would fit just right off the rack.   Another woman who happened to see her wearing the gown commented that it looked as if it were made just for her - and quite frankly that's what sealed the (incredibly good) deal - because it was an unsolicited and impartial assessment -  which I could not possibly have given, given the price (it was on sale for $5.99!  Yep - five dollars and ninety-nine cents! - Yes, seriously! I almost felt guilty...as if I were shoplifting!  Even after I have it dry-cleaned and altered, it will still be a steal!)  - and the fact that mothers can do a lot of things but one thing they're just not equipped to do, is to be impartial when it comes to their own children. At least this mother can't.  I know my weaknesses :)


Sharing a pic would be too much like putting the carriage before the horse - but I assure you the dress is gorgeous - and it seems to have been woven with some sort of magical properties. All she had to do was slip it on over her jeans and - while my "little girl" was doing what little girls love to do - - picking out pretty things and "playing dress-up", ...

... I met a lovely and oh-so-grown up princess in a most peculiar place!  That being, The Salvation Army store. Yesterday.


She's already found herself a handsome prince. Actually - I think she had her eye on him waaay back when she probably really was still playing dress-up! :)


Now ... if her fairy godmother can just manage to find a pair of pretty slippers for the Practical Princess Playmaker ... well, that would be the perfect "ending" to the beginning of what appears to be a rather enchanting fairy tale unfolding .... as I type?!


Hmmm. I wonder ... is it a requirement that all happily ever afters begin with Once upon a time...? Because - if it is ... perhaps I should go back and rewrite this post?! ;)

The Simple Woman's Daybook * 1-8-12

Please click the pic above to join with me and who knows how many others over at The Simple Woman's Day Book to journal once a day, week, month....whenever! :) 

Outside my window...It's dark & the moon is big and shining bright.

I am thinking...that this sheet music wreath is reeaally neat! - and simple enough that even I could make it.

via

I am thankful...that Strike was accepted into our local vocational-techinical high school. It is such a good fit for her. She's doing well there and has explored Welding, House Carpentry, Cabinet Making, Graphic Design, Business Tech, Cosmetology, Masonry, and Auto Body so far.  She's  brought home some impressive projects too ... an end table w/ magazine rack, wooden toolbox, metal tool box, etc. ... :) I'm anxious to see what trade she lands in.  If she has it her way, it will be Cosmetology.

I am creating...a quilt that must be finished by Friday...

and three of these...

via

My husband is helping me make them. He salvaged some wood and we hit the jackpot when we stopped into a discount store and found fun drawer knobs for $1 each. 

I'm going ... to make up some blessing bags to keep handy in my car. I looooove this idea! And  I'm wondering..."Why didn't I think of that?!".  Just today we passed someone I could have given one to - if only I had one with me :/   I'd love to tuck in a small Bible too...as it seems that so often when, for any number of reasons, people are so far down that they finally look up  ...  God reveals Himself.

via 

I am reading...

Yes, it's a children's story :) 

I am looking forward to...going on at least 12 picnics in 2012.

I'm hoping ... That my son likes his birthday present. Something he is totally not expecting - but that I have a hunch he will really enjoy. Stay tuned  (there's a hint :) ... for further details. 

A few plans for the rest of the week ... I'm rather systematically working my way around the house - cleaning and purging about one or two cabinets, drawers, closets, etc. per day.  Just a few more to go in the kitchen before I can move on to another room.  

I am pondering...that Friday was Epiphany - and if someone hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known it. I've never regularly attended a church that observed occasions such as Lent and Epiphany.  Christmas and Easter we celebrate - but that's about it.  Yet I can't help but consider that in their purest form many, if not all, of the seemingly endless observances on the Christian calendar were likely initially intended to encourage Christians to keep their focus on Christ - on His goodness and faithfulness - amidst the continual change propelled by incessant immorality destined to unfold as countless rotations of the earth would relentlessly roll into revolutions around the sun. And - well...I can just appreciate the constant comfort that commemorating Christ would likely convey if I were to be a bit more consistent in that regard. 

A quote for today...

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." C.S. Lewis

In the kitchen... is one of my favorite things...

Jule's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour 

via: www.JulesGlutenFree.com

It can be substituted cup for cup in recipes that call for regular (wheat) flour.  

I love this stuff. If you didn't know you were eating something that was gluten free - well - you wouldn't know it :)  My first and only attempt at making homemade bread with it was a flop tho'  - but that can be challenging even with regular flour too. I learned that Jules also makes a special gluten free bread flour and I want to try that next.  Other than that tho', I am sooooo thrilled/pleased/tickled/giddy with excitement over this product! :)

20+C+B+M+12

Yesterday was Epiphany - and if someone hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known it.

 - Epiphany is the climax of the Advent/Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th, which is the Twelfth Day. 

- The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King. (My note: Can you think of any better reason to celebrate?! :) 

- Around January 6, the symbol +C+B+M+ with two numbers before and two numbers after (for example, 20+C+B+M+12) is sometimes seen written in chalk above the doorway of Christian homes. The letters are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These letters also abbreviate the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, "May Christ bless the house." The beginning and ending numbers are the year, 2012 in the example above. The crosses represent Christ. (My note:  Seems to me they could represent the Trinity too.)

excerpts via 

I've never regularly attended a church that observed occasions such as Lent and Epiphany.  Christmas and Easter we celebrate - but that's about it.  Yet I can't help but consider that in their purest form many, if not all, of the seemingly endless observances on the Christian calendar were likely initially intended to encourage Christians to keep their focus on Christ - on His goodness and faithfulness - amidst the continual change propelled by incessant immorality destined to unfold as countless rotations of the earth would relentlessly roll into revolutions around the sun. And - well...I can just appreciate the constant comfort that commemorating Christ would likely convey if I were to be a bit more consistent in that regard. 

the joy dare ... a treasure hunt for twenty-twelve

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 

Proverbs 13:44 (NIV)

* 

Take the the Joy Dare. Isn’t that what Aristotle said– “We are what we repeatedly do.” Then Christianity isn’t an act — but our faith is expressed only in our habits.

via

Remember the foreign (relatively speaking) language I set out to attempt to speak fluently a short while back? Well, the author of ...

click the pic

...that motivated me toward that end is offering up some timely encouragement to press on.  She dubs it The Joy Dare  - but I see it more as a treasure hunt of sorts  ...

{Download to print here}

 Three gifts a day. 

So simple. 

 Just grab a notebook/journal/this planner/something/anything! to write on


and start

seeking AND finding

joy


in places 


you might never have thought 


to look! 

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Eucharisteo.

You don't hear it spoken much in our day and age where 

"Entitlement" is the native tongue.

There's Just. One. Word. you need to know:

Thank You 

("You" is capitalized for good reason)

But

  - it is important to note three things:

One 

 That word is 

entwined 

like a strand of three cords

with 

Grace and Joy.

Charis. Grace

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving 

Chara. Joy

(via)

as if to 

commune-icate 

that it is 

impossible

 to have one without the other. 

Two

Eucharisteo is a means of

commune-icating with God.

For some

 this may be intimidating at first.

Three

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Rejoice 

always; 

pray 

without 

ceasing; 

in everything give thanks; 

for this

 is God's will

 for you

 in 

Christ 

Jesus.

I Thessalonians

 5:16-18 

emphasis

added

***

*

Mastery.

 This is the hard part

that might very well require

an entire lifetime of

 practice.

²⁶ While they were eating,

 Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks,

 he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

 ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,

“Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Matthew 26:26-29

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If you decide to to join me on this treasure hunt thru' 2012 please let me know so I'll know I have a new traveling companion :)  The more the merrier!  Then head on over to


 A Holy Experience 


to join in with who knows how many others?! 


Still need a bit more motivation?


Well, here you have it! 


Our host (guide?!), Ann Voskamp, is offering those who successfully record 1000 gifts in 2012, the right to enter a drawing for this:

 cick the pic! 


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The fears I’d been feeling, the overwhelmed and uncertain — Is every failure to experience joy because I made an excuse to not give thanks?

via