Sunday Reflections

My Heavenly Father Loves Me
By: Clara W. McMaster, 1904–1997

Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heav’nly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I thank him rev’rently

For all his creations, of which I’m a part.
Yes, I know Heav’nly Father loves me.

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good..."
Genesis 1:31

Have a beautiful Sunday~

An obsession...

SO...

For those of you who didn't follow me here from my old blog, you probably haven't seen the oodles of posts I have written trying to win one of these:

I can't help it!!! I think I'm a little obsessed... The Silhouette Craft Cutter can do so many AMAZING things and as a devout crafter, I think I absolutely NEED one! The Silhouette Craft Cutter can do anything from die cuts for scrapbooking, heat transfer for clothes, glass etching, vinyl, and so much more! (Are you starting to understand why I NEED one???)


I think I've entered dozens of giveaways trying to get my hands on one of these, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw that Blue Cricket Designs was hosting another giveaway for one of these freakin'awesome machines!

Why not just buy one, you ask? Well, as a wife and mother of 3, and trying to buy a new house, and a car that is falling apart, I just can't justify purchasing one...yet... Blue Cricket Designs also has some great promo codes for those of you wanting to take advantage now!

***sigh*** I guess I'll just have to be patient and hope I win one.

Oh, the many things I will make it do for me...! Too bad it can't do dishes and laundry...

Have a fantastic day!

Peachy Keen!

ahhh...!

A weekend away with the Hubs is exactly what I needed! Now I feel recharged and ready to take on more projects! Speaking of which, I got my big box o' Utah peaches over the weekend, so what did I do? I spent my whole Monday canning it all with my friend Jamie!

Now, this was Jamie's first time canning anything and I have never done peaches before, so it was a learning experience for both of us... I must say, it wasn't that bad! We made jam and peach pie filling and aside from being a little time consuming (we had screaming children running around and between our legs), it was actually pretty easy!

♫♪...millions of peaches...peaches for me... ♪♫

I used the recipe from the Sure Jell box for the jam, and for the pie filling I used this recipe here.

We started by washing the peaches.
Next, we blanched them in boiling water for about 60 seconds. This make peeling them SO much easier.
Then we dropped them in ice water to cool quickly.
The peels should slip right off if the fruit is ripe. If not, you can leave them in the boiling water a little longer.
We then prepared the peaches by cutting off the bad parts and slicing (for pie filling) or finely chopping (for jam).
While peeling and cutting the fruit, a little rat got into some of the peaches.
It's a good thing he's cute, 'cuz I don't think he felt bad...
Then followed recipe directions for cooking and canning.

Mmmm!!! Now what first?

Peach cobbler?

Or Jam on toast?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a productive Monday too!

Show the linky love! ♥

A Little Break...

*sigh*

It kills me to do this, but I need to take a breather.

Things are crazy hectic here with the new job at the Salon & Spa and all my other duties as a wife and mother. The Hubs' birthday is a week from today and I am whisking him away to a bed & breakfast in the Northern part of Arizona for the weekend. There is just too much to do before then, so I won't be posting again until we get back. I will have some fun stuff to blog about when I get back... I promise!!!

My project for this week was my own hair. I needed a little pick me up and I used color I had in my stash, so no $$$ spent on this one! Does that count as Stashbusting? :)
I'll miss you all... Until next week!

Luvs~

Sunday Reflections---For 9/11

"For as in Adam shall all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15:22

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die..."
John 11:25-26

Finding comfort in the scriptures for those who have gone on before us, and those whose lives were unwillingly taken. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who made it possible to be reunited to those who have left this Earthly life.

Have a beautiful and happy Sunday~~

Thank Yous & A Winner!!!

I would first like to thank CSN for sponsoring my first giveaway. It was really exciting to be recognized and chosen to host this on their behalf! :)

I'd also like to thank all of you in BlogVille for participating and becoming followers of my humble little blog! You are all just fabulous!!!

This is just the beginning of more giveaways to come!

NOW... the winner of the $35 CSN gift card goes to comment #7!!!
Debbie from Suburb Sanity! Here is what she would like to buy:
Congratulations Debbie! I will be contacting you soon and enjoy your prize!

I hope you all have a lovely day!

FALL-ing

I love Fall. When I was younger and living in California I loved to watch the changing leaves, the crisp air, the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon...

unfortunately...

I live in Arizona. The only thing I smell is the stink of coconut tanning oil on those who spent the day at the pool...in September... Today it was 98 degrees outside and THAT was a drop from earlier this week. Starting Sunday? We're back up in the 100's. Booooooo!

My purpose for telling you this? Well, I am wildly envious of those of you who actually get to experience Fall. Yes... While the rest of you are celebrating with orange, golds, and browns, I will be sitting here as green as can be.

I would really like to start decorating for this season, but I'm having a hard time getting into that spirit when I'm sweating to death!

Are there any other Arizonans out there who feel my pain? Anyone else who doesn't get to experience this fabulous season? What do you do to get into the spirit? PLEASE!!! Help me!!!

Thank you for letting me vent. :)

*****Don't forget to enter my CSN giveaway here. Ends Saturday @ 6pm PST.*****

Simple tastes GOOD!

Here is a little recipe for a simple salad that my sister-in-law shared with me. She got it from a friend, who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend, etc... So we don't really know where it came from, but we know it's sooo tasty! We call it Kris's Salad since that's the friend we learned it from. Here it is... Enjoy!!!

Kris's Salad

3 Hearts of Romaine Lettuce, cut to bite-sized
1-2 Small Tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
Parmesan Cheese, finely shredded (add to your liking)

Toss salad makings together.

Dressing:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup *olive oil
1/3 cup *vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Fresh Ground Pepper & Salt to taste

Mix dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss to coat salad.

*Instead of using vegetable oil & olive oil, you may use light olive oil for both. Extra virgin olive oil alone has too strong a taste for this salad.

This recipe makes a very large salad, so make sure to share the love! It also tastes aWeSoMe with broiled or grilled chicken! I hope you enjoy it! Salad season is almost over and soup season is a'comin'!
****Don't forget to enter my CSN giveaway! You can enter it here.****


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