28 Days of Love - Day Whatever

My Grandma

Yesterday we celebrated Grandma's 90th birthday. Ninety!

Grandma and Granddaddy lived within hollerin' distance of our house when I was a kid, and I know her better than any of my other relatives, I think. Grandma has ALWAYS, always, always, always made me feel special. Granddaddy was a member of different dairy associations and sometimes traveled overnight for meetings and conferences. If he was going to be away for more than a night, Grandma would invite one of us kids to spend the night with her. Oh boy, THAT was special!! Even though they lived so close, it was SOOOOO special and made me feel SO IMPORTANT to spend the night with Grandma!! Spending the night at her house meant I could pack my little, hard-sided, "Going to Grandma's" suitcase and well, it was just THE THING!

Grandma was an excellent cook, she could make anything delicious, so eating supper and breakfast with her was always fun, too. Sometimes she would ask what I wanted for supper or breakfast. One time I asked her to make Johnnycakes like in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lo and behold, she made Johnnycakes for me for breakfast!

There are so many things about Grandma that make her so special to me, I could write and write and write. Getting together yesterday to celebrate her 90 years was very special. Watching MY daughter get to know her Great-Grandma, and watching MY Grandma get to know MY daughter - Wow. (I didn't know any of my great-grandparents.)

Grandma no longer lives in her trailer on the farm, she has moved into an assisted living part of a nursing home. She doesn't remember details sometimes, but she is still Grandma. Kinda reminds me of the book, Love You Forever.

Ok, before I start bawling and snotting all over the place...

I have decided that instead of trying to play catch-up with my 28 Days of Love project, I'm going to let it end where it is. The camera is still not working and I don't want to leave this hanging in limbo.

I really enjoyed doing the 28 Days of Love, even though it didn't quite make it the whole 28 days! I will admit that some days I had to think and look for things to post. Other days I had lots of ideas. I still have some that I never got around to. One thing that I did learn - and I thought I would learn this - is that there IS love around me, if I just look for it. Some days it's easy to feel unloved, but when I start looking... there's lots of evidence that I am very, very loved. By my Heavenly Father, my husband, my daughter, my church family, my Grandma ;) ... and it doesn't end there. Sometimes it's not the big flashing neon sign that says "I Love You" - which is what we see the easiest - and instead it's the little things that we don't notice or think to pay attention to.

Just look for it. It's there.

Just Like The Old Cow's Tail (And a garden update)

Ugh. I am way behind (2 whole days) on my 28 Days of Love Project. I just haven't been able to get pictures taken and blog posts written. I have a list of things, I just need to find time to get them photographed and written about.

Actually... I just realized that it might end up being OLD pictures, since the camera has accidentally been handicapped and isn't working right now :(

Yesterday my pea seeds came :) This afternoon while Susannah took her nap I went out - in the drizzling rain - and planted peas! It wasn't supposed to rain until this evening - I guess the weather man was wrong! I knew if I didn't get out there and plant them today, it was only going to get more muddy and be harder to do. So I pulled on my faithful Tingly boots that Mom gave me for Christmas (yay!) and tromped on out there.

Daniel helped me measure off the corners of the garden so I'd be sure to get the first row square in the garden, and then I measured off of each row for the following one. Then I used some string, a stick and a shovel to pull a straight line for me to follow with the hoe to get straight rows. (I am OCD about having straight rows - it makes the garden look much nicer.) After I went through each row twice, I sprinkled in some fertilizer. Then I found a piece of discard lumber from the trash pile (plenty of trash lumber with the addition project going on!) and dragged it through each row to stir the fertilizer in a bit.

1 lb. of pea seeds later, Tada!


I had just the perfect amount of dug up space to fit 6 rows :) The rows are roughly 3' apart.


I'm so tickled to have the peas in the ground already! Last year we planted the Tuesday (3/9) before Susannah was born on Thursday, and I knew I wanted to get them in a little earlier this year. As early as possible is best for our area since it can get too hot for the plants if we wait even until mid-March.

So, all the garden stuff on top of maintaining barely the bare necessities of housekeeping, the house looks like a tornado went through. One of my sisters is coming for a quick weekend visit and I hope to lasso her into helping me do some whirlwind cleaning and get the place whipped into better shape.

So that's where I'm at! I might be on top of getting my peas planted, but I am way, way, way behind in so many other departments. The title of this post comes from an old diddy we used to sing sometimes while we were waiting for somebody. One of line is "Always behind, just like the old cow's tail."

For now, I need to go to bed. Tomorrow's another busy day, getting together with a friend to try some new recipes, picking my sister up from the airport, and hopefully getting some of these dishes and laundry piles under control.

28 Days of Love - Day 22

A very cute, cuddly little girl
who almost always wakes up happy!

*ahem* Please pretend like I'm not more and more frequently getting a day behind on this project, ok? Thanks.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

I Procrastinate So Well

Does anyone besides me do this? Just procrastinate away even when you know you shouldn't?

My #1 "Goal" for this year is to GET ENOUGH SLEEP AT NIGHT!!!

Do you have any idea how well-rested I'm feeling lately? Ha! Not very much. (And no, I'm not pregnant for any of you who might wonder if my being tired is because I'm pregnant.) Whose fault is it that I don't crawl in bed until 11, or 11:30... or 11:45 at night, and then have to bust out of bed before 7am to start the day. 6-ish hours of sleep just doesn't cut it for me. 7 is decent, but I function and feel 100 times better on closer to 8.

Susannah goes to bed between 8:30/45, so I should easily be able to crawl in bed by 10, right? The problem is, I have no excuse most nights. None. I don't stay up late cleaning up the kitchen, or finishing the dishes, or sweeping the floors, or folding laundry. I mean, I might piddle around here and there working on something but not really.

I do better going to bed earlier, feeling alive!! when I wake up, and then I have more spunk, self-motivation, and energy to do what I need to do. Otherwise I feel like something the cat drug in.

So, I know today is Tuesday. It's not the start of a new week, or month or year. Shoot, it's even the middle of the afternoon, so it's not even the start of a new day. But tonight I'm going to get a new grip on this goal and see if I can't master it again. All I have to do is go to bed! I love crawling in bed! I love sleeping! So what's the big deal?

28 Days of Love - Day 21

My rings from Daniel

The engagement ring that Daniel gave me has a story :) It was his great-grandmothers engagement ring from her 2nd husband (she was widowed). I think it's from the 1960's if I remember right? It fits me perfectly! Daniel proposed to me January 1st of 2004. But he didn't have the ring yet as it was still at the jewelers to be cleaned. That was a Friday, I believe. The next Thursday he surprised me by driving 2 hours just to bring me the ring!

We picked out our wedding bands together of course. That was fun and exciting to do! We chose to have them engraved on the inside with our initials joined by a heart, our wedding date and the words "In Him" ("Him" being Christ).

These rings are very special to me, of course. They are visible proof of Daniel's love for me, and his promise to always love me. That is what we tell Susannah, too, when she notices our rings, "that means Daddy (or Mama) loves Mama (or Daddy) very much, and promises to always love her (or him)." And usually we go on to tell her how much we love her too!

So yeah, that's my love for today :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

Growing Up

Dear Susannah,

I love you, my little girl! It is hard to believe that you are already 11 months old, and not a teeny baby anymore. You have finally figured out how to scoot yourself forward, and you are quite happy being able to get around on the floor better. You still get around the best in your walker - cruising around the small space we have here, going down the hallway, turning around and coming back, going over to the piano and stretching as tall as you can so you can reach the keys, digging all of my dishcloths and hot-mats out of "your" drawer in my kitchen, and then carting them off to other areas of the house leaving me with an empty drawer! You also like to steal the hand towel from the stove handle :)

The most recent milestone for you is that you are now weaned. To borrow a line from my friend, Rachel C., I was committed to nursing you to one year old. I didn't mind nursing you and gladly did so for you to eat and grow, but it wasn't something I longed and desired for. For the first couple months of your life you were such a sloooow eater, I was eager for the day to come when I wouldn't have to spend 1/2 of every day feeding you. You took a long time to eat - usually up to 1 hour. It was wonderful when you started finishing in 45 minutes... then you got it down to about 1/2 an hour when you were 6 months and that was even better :) Around 9 months you had it down to about 10 or 15 minutes, you were fast.

About the time you turned 10 months old you started not wanting to eat a meal some days, usually either the supper feeding or bedtime feeding. But when offered a drink from your sippy cup you would drink quite a bit. By 10 1/2 months it was normal for you to not want the bed-time feeding, and sometimes even either the lunch or supper-time feeding. I suspected that you were starting to self-wean and confided with a friend who said that was most likely the case. That's when I started offering you cows milk :) Oh boy, you didn't like it one bit. It took about a week of trying different things - warm, cold, very warm, sippy cup, bottle... and finally you would drink very warm cows milk from a bottle. I was still committed to nursing you as much as you would until your first birthday, but I wondered if you would keep going that long.

I knew my milk supply was quickly dropping because the times you would still nurse - always breakfast and lunch - it wasn't taking very long at all and you were still thirsty afterwards. You finally gave up the lunch feeding about a week before you turned 11 months. You hung on to the breakfast feeding until February 12th. I was guessing that any day would be the last time I would nurse you. Sure enough, that morning you were only half-heartedly interested and after a minute you were done and didn't want any more.

It was bittersweet. It didn't bother me so much that I wasn't ever going to nurse you again as much as it was confirmation that you are growing and changing. I still cuddle you and snuggle you. And rock you in the same rocking chair. I hope that you will love to rock as much as I do. Rocking is therapy for the soul, I believe.

You are growing up. Before I know it you will be crawling and then walking one day. One thing I promise for sure, I will love you all the way. Forever. And always.

Mama

28 Days of Love - Day 20

It is hard to believe there are only 8 days left!

"Little" gifts from Daniel.

Daniel pays attention to the little, very minor things that I mention wanting, and then sometime later gives me a gift of "that thing"!

I think the first one was a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup that he gave me a few months after we were married. We had a 2-cup and an 8-cup. No big deal except I grew up with a 1-cup and kept forgetting that what I had NOW was a 2-cup!! Lots of batches of pancakes, muffins and other recipes calling for "1 cup" ended up as double batches out of mistake! He was working at a house that was preparing for a yard-sale and noticed the 1-cup measuring cup that was going to be for sale. He bought it, just for me.

I think the same yard-sale is where he bought the old-style, 25lb. kitchen scales that he gave me. I think I had thought of buying a kitchen scale but was terribly disappointed to find only itty-bitty, few pound ones in today's market. What if I wanted to weigh a dishpan of produce, or a turkey, or something bigger than 5lbs??

This past Christmas I had "a little cooking pot" on my Christmas List. The one I had - which he had given me - was wearing out. I wanted something nice and small to cook a few eggs in, make a little bit of gravy in, or whatever. He found and gave me the cute little blue pot I have pictured! It is the perfect size for hardboiling 2 eggs and that is what I use it most for. Since it is so small, it comes to a boil pretty quickly and doesn't take much heat to keep it boiling for the 10 minutes.

Daniel makes me feel VERY loved, and not just by showering me with gifts.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 19

Reading.

It will be no surprise to any of my family that reads this, I love to read. To the point of pretending like I could read before I could read. Yes, I really did it. I picked out a book from our vast, bursting at the seams "library" - I think it was the 1st book in the Grandma's Attic series, sat in a chair and "read" the book. I looked at each page for what I deemed an appropriate amount of time (there were no pictures, just words!), slowly making my way through the book. I don't remember if I made it all the way through or not, but I remember doing it and wishing I knew what the words were!

From the time I actually did learn to read until I got married, I had my nose buried in a book as often as I could. Now I don't read as much, but it is certainly not from lack of want! Mostly because of time, but also because 99% of my books are boxed up and in the attic from lack of space for them in our living area. A good friend of mine has given me a few books lately and I have been devouring them when I allow myself.

I hope I am passing along my love for reading to Susannah. From the picture above (taken in January), it looks like I might be succeeding :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

SQUEEE!!! Seeds!!!

Guess what the mail-man just dropped off?? Guess-oh-guess-oh-guess!


My garden seeds!! I still don't have my pea seeds yet, which I would reallyreallyreally like to come ASAP, but I am very thrilled to have these so fast! I ordered them... Tuesday I think?


Here's the list of the loot:
*3 kinds of spinach: Giant Winter, Bloomsdale and Long-Standing Summer Perfection

*2 kinds of lettuce: a heat tolerant head lettuce and a Romaine

*Yellow and Zucchini Squash

* Cucumbers

*Black Beauty Eggplant

*Broccoli

*Beets

*Yellow Sweet Peppers

*Amish Paste Tomatoes

I think this afternoon will find me working at getting some of these started. Oh joy!!

28 Days of Love - Day 18

What's not to love??!!

We're wearing short sleeves and have the windows open over here!! It is a MOST gorgeous day :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 17

Line-dried sheets.

Ahh, there is nothing like crawling into a freshly made bed that smells like fresh air! I always loved it growing up, and I still love it today! Because of where we live and Daniel's allergies, pretty soon I'll have to go back to using the dryer while we go through the season of green dust. It's always hard for me to use the dryer when spring is finally here, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts and be eager for the spring pollen to finish doing it's thing so I can enjoy it some more :)

I apologize for the poor quality of the picture! I knew I wanted to take it but it completely slipped my mind when we came back inside and I put Susannah down for her nap.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 16

Beautiful Sunrises

I wish I knew how to take pictures of sunrises so they could look like what I see with my eyes. The sunrise this morning was soooo pretty. And different friends on Facebook said they had noticed it too. Now, I am not a firm believer of getting up before the sun. I will be the first to admit that I enjoy my bed and sleep! But, if I do have to get up before the sun, I sure do love watching the sunrise! God is an amazing Creator. He could just have the sunrises look the same, every.single.day. Or He could've only given us black & white vision, or not even created colors. But He did and He gave us eyes that can see His beautiful creation! When I think of it like that, how can I not feel loved?

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 15

My Church-Mom, Betsy

I love Betsy! I don't think I knew her before I started singing in the choir at church, and it just worked out that my seat was next to hers. We hit it off right away and have been singing and laughing together ever since. She is wonderful! I love her so much, and she always makes me feel loved every time I see her. We are so much alike. She is very wise and I love learning from her. She is a woman far more precious than rubies, I want to be like her when I grow up.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 14

*mushy picture alert*

Kisses from Daniel

I don't need to say much else... :) They always let me know that he loves me, and they always make me feel loved.

This picture is from our wedding day - no kiddin! - when we kissed for the first time, in front of a bunch of people. He can still turn my heart into a puddle...

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 13

Valentines Gifts from Daniel

I posted on day 12 about going on dates with Daniel. That evening we went on a "date" with a bunch of other couples from our Sunday School class for a Valentines Social. It was a great evening of fun - with each other and with our friends. Daniel's mom came over and kept Susannah here. When we got home and parked the car I thanked Daniel for the fun date night. "It's not over yet!" was his reply, quickly followed by "Stay right here." He got out of the car and soon returned with the bear and chocolates! He had even bought these ahead of time! Daniel doesn't often rarely almost never gives me gifts outside of Christmas, maybe my birthday and maybe our anniversary, so this was a sweet (no pun intended) surprise! The box of chocolates has a spotted puppy dog on the front and it says "You have a spot in my heart!" That is SO Daniel, and he makes me feel so loved.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 12

Going on dates with Daniel.

THIS is something I really love :) It's been a while since we went on a date, and we had a wonderful time this evening. Just because we are married we have NOT stopped dating. We feel it's important to not only our relationship, but to the health of our whole family that we keep dating each other. It helps keep our relationship strong - and helps us stay "in love" ;), which in turn helps keep our family solid.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 11

Something that I love seeing:

My white-board calendar

I like this white board calendar anyway, but I have extra fun being a little artsy when I fill out each month. This month I put hearts. Every time I look at it I just kinda feel a little giggly because I have the best Valentine in the whole world!

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

Nourishing Foods - Grocery Shopping

This is my last post for this series, showing what our current "Nourishing Foods" grocery shopping looks like. If you have any questions, I'd love to answer them as best I can!


(Just for kicks, I'll throw the prices in today as a bonus.)
Organic Romaine Lettuce - $2.99
Stonyfield Organic Yogurt - $3.99
Kroger Orange Juice - $3.49
(2) 1/2 gal. Local Milk - $2.99 ea.
Bananas - $1.50
3lb. Cara Cara Oranges - $3.99
King Arthur All Natural White Wheat Flour - $4.69
Kroger All Natural Peanut Butter - $1.89
(2) T-bone Steaks - $10.48
Private Selections Beef Roast - $10.39
Reg. Roast - $10.08
Chicken Breasts - $8.28
Pears - $1.96
Avocados - $2.00
Naturally Preferred Brown Eggs - $2.59
Pepsi & Dr. Pepper - $4.00 ea.

Total: $83.92

I didn't think my total was too bad considering all the meat I bought and for getting more "delicious toxins" for Daniel (aka his sodas). I saw the steaks marked down and thought they would make a birthday dinner extra special next month.

The Private Selections roast was also marked down from just under $18. Ever since watching Food, Inc. a second time I have been getting more and more leery of feeding Susannah generic meat. I have heard that Private Selections is a high quality brand (they have a high quality price tag, I know that much!), so I am hoping that they really are. Anyway, this roast will be specifically for Susannah, and Daniel and I will eat the other one (most of it will probably go towards his sandwich meat).

I was excited to see the bananas marked down, too :) Daniel likes Banana Pudding or Banana Cream Pie and I haven't made either of those for him in forever. I'll make one of those for him and the rest of the bananas I'll freeze to add to smoothies. They are nice bananas for being mark-downs!

To keep this post from getting too long, I'll do a "grocery shopping wrap up" post later, with what I've learned from these first few weeks of our journey.

28 Days of Love - Day 10

Day 10:

Fresh Snow

I don't think there's anything nature-wise, in the winter, that I love more than snow. Well, actually, I love to see snow falling. There is something so magical about falling snow. But since it snowed while I was asleep, this picture is of the next best thing :) I enjoy wintertime, and I can appreciate cold weather, but when it snows it makes it so much more fun. And snow is such a beautiful reminder of what Christ did for me: though my sins were as crimson, they are white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). I always think of that verse when I see snow. I love how God uses His creation to remind us of His promises.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 9

I'm sorry this post is so late. I wasn't completely sure what I was going to post for today, and then once I did decide the internet and/or blogger was acting up and I had to try multiple times for it to load.

Something I love: Watching Susannah reach a new milestone!

Today she started pulling herself forwards! I was SO excited when I watched her do it. I was so proud of her! It made my heart melt a little bit to see her accomplish something she's been wanting to do but just hadn't figured out yet.



Of course she wants to go after the cat food! I think the cats might need to find a new place to eat, somewhere that's not quite as readily accessible to a curious pair of hands and little mouth! So yes, that is my "love" for today :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Email me through my contact button.

28 Days of Love - Day 8

Being Together

Last night as I was on the kitchen floor taking pictures for yesterday's post, Daniel joined me. For no particular reason. So we spent a couple minutes snapping pictures of ourselves... with serious faces, goofy faces and happy faces. I love Daniel and I love spending time together with him, even if it is just being random :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Email me through my contact button.

28 Days of Love - Day 7

Something I love:

A clean kitchen floor

There's nothing quite like a nice, clean kitchen floor. Monday's are my kitchen-floor-washing days. It doesn't happen every week, but if it happens I sure do enjoy the finished product!!

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 6

Day 6:

Remembering how much Christ loves me.

... so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cruel cross for MY sins. This morning in church, as is our custom once a month, we remembered through the taking of the Lord's Table, or Communion. As always, I am deeply moved and overwhelmed by His grace and love towards me.

Below is one of my favorite communion hymns, by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Please listen to it and listen to the words.

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 5

Day 5:

Saturday morning family snuggle time.

Today is the first Saturday in quite a while that Daniel didn't have to hurry out of bed and rush out the door to work on either the addition or for his job. Since we were still in bed when Susannah woke up, I just brought her into our bed to snuggle with us for a while. I loved it!! It was wonderful to spend a couple minutes all together. We looked at a storybook, talked, and I'm sure we all felt loved :)

(And now you know what I look like first thing in the morning!! LOL!)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 4

Day 4...

My watch

I wear this watch ALL the time. The only time I take it off is when I take a shower, swim, or am in labor and delivery. Oh, how I missed my watch when I was having Susannah!! I think it was the first thing I asked for after she was born, even before we were out of LDR. I about cannot function without it, it drives me nuts to not be able to look at my wrist and see what time it is.

This watch is very special to me. Daniel gave it to me on my 19th birthday, the 2nd time he came to see me. I remember that it was in a small jewelry-type box, wrapped in red sparkly paper with a fancy bow on top. I was nervous opening it because it was a small package. I knew I wanted to marry Daniel, but I was a little nervous about "what if it was a ring already?!?" Once I saw it was a watch, the thought that went through my mind was that his sister got a watch for her birthday from her husband-to-be before they were engaged... Hmm... do watches mean something? :)

That was 7 1/2 years ago. The battery has been replaced a couple times, the band is dirty on the inside, the gold color has worn off from around the face, it has some dings and scratches... but when I look at it and remember who gave it to me, I always feel very loved :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

Nourishing Foods - Grocery Shopping

Ah, the 3rd week of sharing my grocery shopping with you. Sally was right in her comment last week when she said shopping with a goal is a lot more expensive than shopping with a budget. Somehow I want to get "goal" and "budget" married to each other. I know that eating nourishing foods is going to require a bigger grocery budget, and that I don't have a printing press in my basement. (Ha, I wonder how many hits that line will get me!) So I think my best bet is moderation. Surprisingly, alot of the prices are very comparable for the better quality, if you compare with a leading name-brand. Anyway, enough rambling. Here's what I got this week:

Bottle of Red Wine (for cooking!)
Gal. Kroger brand orange juice
Gal. local milk
Oatmeal
8lbs. oranges
Qt. honey (I'm checking into a possible local source)
Popcorn (Maybe I'll try growing some this year!)
Cornstarch (Yeah, I know, a modified corn product!)
Frozen Peas and Veg. Blend
Spinach
Organic Lettuce
Sour Cream
Organic Carrots
Organic Mushrooms - markdown
(10) 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese
Dried Apricots
2 doz. Cage Free Brown Eggs
Organic Pumpkin Seeds
Kiwi
Onions
Mango
Organic Tomatoes
Avocados

$94.97

The wine and cream cheese ($10 in itself) aren't usual buys, and I had to up our milk because Susannah is drinking milk now :)

28 Days of Love - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of my 28 Days of Love series!

Today's LOVE:

Note from Daniel

This is a rumpled, worn, scrap piece of paper that used to be in my wallet, but now resides on the windowsill at my kitchen sink. "Way back when" I worked at the bank, he came through the drive-thru one evening (I was working the DT at that time) and sent the tube in with a Mr. Goodbar and this note :) The candy bar is long gone, but this note I will keep forever! Paper and ink "affection" from Daniel is a rare thing, so seeing this every day makes me feel especially loved! (and yes, it is being propped up with an empty matchbox bottom to keep it from sliding to a watery grave...)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

A Wonderful Discovery

I am always excited when I find a new blog that I really like. One that makes me want to visit it every day to see what's new. To dig through the archives. Sometimes I go all the way back to the beginning of the blog and start reading - like starting at the beginning of a book - to get caught up to the present. I love finding a new blog where the more I read it the more I wish the writer was my next door neighbor!

My latest such discovery has been Heavenly Homemakers.

Laura is a wife and mom (4 boys!), a fellow believer (that always makes it even better!), and she is just a huge encouragement to me. I recently discovered her podcasts which are perfectly sized - between 10 and 15 minutes - for a busy mom to listen to. I think my favorite one is Podcast Seven: Teaching Little Ones About God. It was a wonderful encouragement to me, and a reminder of all the ways I can start teaching Susannah about God NOW.

Another perk is "I wanna be like her when I grow up" in the kitchen :) What she does in her kitchen is similar to where I'm trying to get to! She grinds her own flour, has a garden, makes healthy, wholesome food for her family to eat... all that good stuff and more.

Anyway, I just wanted to share links with you. I don't know Laura personally (I know other Laura's personally, but not this Laura), and aside from a few comments I've made on her blog, she probably doesn't know me from Adam. Or Eve? I hope if you stop by her blog you will be as uplifted and encouraged as I always am!

PS: I love her subtitle: Making our Homes Heavenly ... Striving towards our Heavenly Home.

28 Days of Love - Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of my 28 Days of Love project!!

Today's love:

Pink Fuzzy Pajamas
(and of course the wearer ;) )

Nothing looks more snugly warm than a baby in snugly, fuzzy, footy pajamas! I love it :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!

28 Days of Love - Day 1

As it is the first day of February, which is the month for Valentine's Day, I wanted to do something special. I thought about coming up with a creative header picture and new background, but I couldn't settle on just one theme. Plus I kinda had this idea at the last minute, which puts a little bit of a time crunch on things, huh?

So I decided to do a picture a day for this month. Pictures of things that say "LOVE" to me. Whether it's something I love (chocolate?), or something that means love, or maybe somebody I love... I see things every day that either I love or mean love to me.


Something I love to see, and that means LOVE to me every time I see it:

3 Toothbrushes

3 toothbrushes means 3 people live here. 3 people living here means we have our baby Susannah, who we love more than anything else!! Seeing this every day makes me feel all smiley inside :)

********
Please feel welcome to join me in posting 28 Days of Love!
I just ask that you link back to my post for the day
and leave a comment with a link to your post!

********
Here's a shameless plug to anyone that might want to design a cute button for this meme.
Contact me through my contact button!