12 Things

1. Susannah and Sylvia are starting to play together. Sometimes. Occasionally. For this picture they were playing nicely so I went to grab the camera. When I got back Susannah was fussing at Sylvia. I asked her to please stop fussing and play so I could take the picture.

2. I was in Target last week - VERY random because I almost never go there - and saw these miniature ice cream cones on markdown.  If they are a regularly sold item, I think we might be enjoying them this summer!  They are the perfect size for a little bit of "special" dessert, but don't take a long time to enjoy.  (This picture was after Sylvia enjoyed her small piece of chocolate birthday cake.)

3: I actually sold something on Craigslist. For real. No axe-murderers came to scam us (a few may have emailed...). Listed and sold in -24 hours. Since then I have listed another item and am thinking of more things I can list.

4: We have company coming the end of this month to visit for a week.  I'm excited. And nervous.

5: A family of 4 coming to visit for a week is great motivation to finish re-arranging the house.

6: Daniel got the waste plumbing finished on Wednesday, now just the supply plumbing before we can put in the sinks and toilets! Another working bathroom will make a week of 8 people in the house a little easier, I'm thinking.

7: It snowed on Wednesday. Daniel got the day off (a rare thing!) and he took Susannah outside to play and build a snowman.  He learned the hard way to not throw snowballs at Sylvia looking out the window. She cried and cried.

8: The snow is almost all gone. Highs are supposed to be 60's this weekend. I think this may have been winter's last fling.

9: I detest carpet. Cleaning out our old master bedroom confirmed that for the umpteenth time. I will never move into a house while there is carpet in it again.

10: I detest drawers for clothes storage. It is so unhandy and inefficient.

11: I really did not want to wake up at 6:30 this morning unable to go back to sleep.  I think I was afraid we would over-sleep the Craigslist people coming at 8.

12: I started sewing a pair of bloomers for Susannah (for her birthday that is Monday). One word: CON.FUS.ING. Me and my ripper had LOTS of bonding time. Now I just have one leg to hem and want to add some trim. If I can decide on which scrap of fabric to use, I would like to get a 2nd pair made.

I Figured It Out

I figured out how other people (moms) have so much time. Time to do all the things that I think "dude, hoooow do you do all that and still have a clean house, clean clothes, clean car, clean kids... and stay sane?"

They buy all or almost all of their food ready to use (canned or frozen).
They buy all of their bread.
They buy all of their sandwich meat already cooked and sliced.
They use the dryer.
They probably even have a clothes folder and just haven't told me about it...
Since they buy all of their food (including bread) they probably don't make the enormous messes in their kitchens like I do.
They probably put eeeeeeverything in their dishwasher. I'm picky.

Since they buy all of their food they can just come home from the store, put all the cans, boxes and bags in the cupboards, frige and freezer and VIOLA! A million hours already saved! No need to spend several hours in the garden planting, weeding or picking. No hours upon hours spent peeling, shelling, blanching, canning or freezing.

I bet if I logged every minute that I spend doing something that I could just "go buy" the finished product instead, I'd have more available time, too!

Please know that this isn't a rant or a rave or a "I'm better than you" or a "woe is me" or any such thing. I'm just thinkin' out loud. This is also very much my perspective from the outside :)

**I know this could generate alot of comments on how I am wrong - I'm open to friendly discussion, but please let's keep it fun and friendly! I'm not looking to start a war!**

P.S. After reading this, Amy wrote an amazing post over on her blog. You gotta go check it out.

Please Pray

My friend's sister had her baby boy, Robby, yesterday. She was only 26 weeks pregnant and had pre-eclampsia. Baby Robby is doing well, though these next couple days are critical for him.

I couldn't help but cry this morning as I read the dad's post on their online journal (similar to a blog). Babies are truly a miracle and proof of our Creator, and this newest, tiny, 1 lb. miracle only drives that fact deeper.

Being a mommy to a precious little girl who amazes me every day, I can't imagine going through what Wendy and Todd are right now. I don't even really know them... I met them briefly Easter Sunday morning when we passed in the hallway at church. I don't know what Robby's future holds, but I know that our God is an awesome God. He created Robby for a purpose. He gave Robby to Wendy and Todd so they could be his parents.

I just want to ask you to pray for this family and the team of doctors and nurses caring for Robby. They all need an immeasurable amount of strength, wisdom and support through this.

Goodbye, 2009

This will be my last post for 2009. The next one will be in 2010. Two-thousand ten. Or twenty-ten. Or two-oh-one-oh. I haven't searched to see if there's a "correct" way to say this coming year's number. It looks more like twenty-ten to me. If it was money, though, it would certainly be two-thousand ten, but it would also be followed by a decimal and preceded by this thing: $.

A couple quick bullet points for 2009:

~ We got pregnant! Probably Definitely the most life-changing, exciting thing in 2009 for us.

~ We took one of our dream vacations when we drove cross-country to Wyoming. We didn't make it to the west coast, or up to Maine (2 places we really want to go!), but we covered a lot of miles and it was fun! Except for the morning sickness on the way back, but whatever.

~ The spring-time was a serious time of trusting the Lord to provide our every need, and you know what? He really does! So often we take everything for granted. When the household income for a month gets down to what you're used to getting in one week, well, the trust-meter shoots way up.

~ I've made so many new friends through blogging this past year, it has been wonderful! I learn new things from you guys every day it seems.

~ We tried to sell our house and buy another house that would have allowed us to be 100% debt free. I still don't understand the "why's," but it was obviously not the thing for us to do when each way we tried to go through that door, it kept slamming in our faces. I think my nose was bruised for a couple weeks. From time to time I still think of how beautiful that old house was...

~ We decided to add on instead! We haven't gotten to stage that involves all the government red tape yet, but we should be able to get our ideas to the blueprint man soon after the New Year. That means I need to finalize where I want windows (We have them pretty figured out, I just want to make sure that it will look ok from outside the house and not like some hodge-podge, didn't-think-about-it-until-too-late kind of job. And start seriously thinking where and how I want light fixtures and switches. Groan. I am very excited, but I am also a very visual person and it's hard for me to sit there and go "yeah, this kind of lighting here, that kind there, and yup, we're good."

We have a very exciting new year coming up for us. We have a lot on our plate, and I hope we can manage it all! I have some posts in mind for once this weekend is over (another Christmas get together) where I'll share different things about what our new year looks like for us.

Since my mini-blogging break will be over New Year's Day,

Happy New Year!!!!

Been Thinkin'

About changing my blog name. A couple weeks ago I signed up for Twitter. I signed up to follow #oamc (OnceAMonthCooking), which always sounds like a bunch of fun. It's basically a day where a lot of people cook and bake "together," all in their own kitchens, but visiting all day long with updates, questions, "hey, howsitgoing's" and whatnot via Twitter. Some blog about it, some Facebook about it, some do all three. And some people chat on #oamc even when it's not the specific cooking/baking day.

To sign up for Twitter I had to come up with a "screen name." I tried a ton of combinations and variations of my blog name, My Country Cupboard, but every one I tried was either already taken or too long. I ended up choosing HomeHomemade. (If you care to follow me on Twitter, you can find me under @HomeHomemade)

I thought it was a clever name. Everybody has a "home." Not everybody has a "homemade home." A lot of people do lots of home-makey things, but then there are those that homemaking is their #1 focus. Some homemakers do it with store bought frozen, prepackaged meals, store bought mixes, doughs, fillings, precooked meats, soup from cans (gross. Just sayin'), etc. But I'm a homemade kinda girl. I can't say that I never use mixes, or never wish I could pop a Stauffer's lasagna or a frozen pizza in the oven because I don't want to feel like cooking. But overall, I prefer good, old-fashioned, from-scratch, home-making. I don't sew all of my clothes, or even make my own laundry soap right now. I use my dishwasher like it's not going to be here tomorrow. But in all things general, I prefer the non-fru-fru, country, homemade, simpler way of life.

And I hope that comes through here at my blog. What I've been thinking about lately (sorry, I kinda took a really long rabbit trail to get to the punch-line) has been my blog title. I'm thinking about changing it from My Country Cupboard to Home Homemade. Not that my cupboards are any less country, or that I spend less time in them - they certainly aren't and I certainly don't! - but my blog doesn't focus solely on all things kitchen. I think the general overall themes of my posts are more "the whole home." I wonder how many times I can get the "h" sound in here? I wouldn't change the location of the blog, it would still be the same "blog," it would just have a different title.

So... that's what I've been thinkin' about. I haven't decided yet. Do y'all have any thoughts?

Buying A Meat Grinder

I am such a weirdo. I mean, how many of you have considered buying a meat grinder? Or maybe you're a weirdo just like me and you've already taken the plunge. I've thought about getting one off and on ever since I turned (even more) frugal a year or so after we got married.

Plain and simple, ground beef is ex.pen.sive. And the "good stuff" is not often marked down, and when it is it's still an arm and a leg per pound (instead of both arms and both legs). I don't mind buying the full-fat ground beef, but my prefrence is the leaner, the better I don't always want to brown and then drain the hamburger before I use it, and I think the leaner stuff makes better whatever.

I'm in the "thinking about it" mode these past couple weeks. Beef roasts seem to be the "loss leader" sale item lately, and I'm just WISHING that I had a meat grinder so I could buy some of these really nice roasts that are on sale for $1.77/lb and make some really nice lean ground beef!

I brought it up to Daniel last week when I saw Food Lion's new salepaper, and we talked about it a little, but I don't know how serious to go with this idea. I checked online and it looks like the best reviews are going to the Waring Pro MG800... and it comes with a price-tag of about 200 smackaroos. So then I have to wonder if it's worth shelling out the $$ to have good quality ground beef for less?

Here's some random figures:

if we eat 100lbs. ground chuck (full fat)/year @ $1.99/lb (on markdown) = $199.00/yr.

If we bought the meat grinder @ $189.00
+ 100lbs. lean roasts @ $1.77/lb
= $3.66/lb the first year
= $2.71/lb the second year
= $2.40/lb the third year
= $2.24/lb the fourth year
= $2.14/lb the fifth year
= $2.08/lb the sixth year
and so on and so forth

Even by the second year (and maybe even the first, I haven't looked at full price) it would be cheaper per pound than full price lean ground beef. Now, I really have no idea how much ground beef we do or would eat per year, but with our expanding family, in another year or two, it's going to start increasing.

You might wonder why I wouldn't go with a manual grinder. Well, my quick answers to that are, first off, it has to be mounted and I'm not really interested in having one of those gizmos bolted to my counter top or kitchen table. And second off, it would take some serious arm gumption to grind through multiple pounds of roast since I would buy several roasts at once to grind through... and to get a nice grind you have to do it more than once, so if I bought 10 lbs. of roast, I would end up grinding 20 lbs. Yes, we could hook a drill up to the grinder (it works great for
Squeezo's!) but then we still have the mounting issue. Even if we would mount it to a block of wood, then we need to have a surface to clamp the whole apparatus to, and neither my counter top or kitchen table would work for that. I could always do it outside on a saw-horse & plywood table, I guess...

And ground beef would only be the beginning! Think of pork roasts that go on sale for under $1.00/lb? Ground pork... homemade sausage of whatever flavor we wanted... Shucks if we wanted to get super healthy we could buy turkeys when they are on sale for $.39/lb and make turkey-burger!

Call me silly, weird, extreme-country-chick, whatever, but I'm really liking the idea of having this machine on my pantry shelf. And yes, I just measured to be sure, and it will just fit on my main appliance shelf :)

Next week I might want to buy a milk cow and butter churn.

Venting

Maybe, just maybe, today could be chalked up to the worst day in my life lately. Not the whole day, but 4 1/2 hrs of horribleness that have left me so drained, I want to stick my head in a bucket of sand.

Daniel's co-worker was throwing a company picnic. There have been a couple of these over the past 5 years that we've been married, but they've always been hosted by the company owner at his house, and a pretty decent picnic to relax at. So, of course we signed up to go to this one.

The picnic was scheduled to start at noon, and everyone was supposed to bring a side dish. So yesterday I slaved away and made a big 9x13 of scalloped potatoes to take, and took great pains to heat it up this morning so it would be good and hot when we arrived at noon.

And I'm so brain fried... here's the picnic in little blips.

We arrived shortly after noon time. The host was on his way home from picking up not one, but TWO kegs of beer. We knew there would probably be alcohol at the picnic, but didn't have any idea it was going to be that open, or that much. I think we were the only ones that didn't constantly have a cup of the stuff in our hands. I was so glad they had bottled water, and Daniel survived on Pepsi. I felt like we were at a slosh party.

The time was getting later and later, and they were just sitting around huffing and puffing on cigarettes and drinking beer. No mention of food, no indication there was even going to be food. And it was SOOOOO HOOOOOOOT. Like, blazing hot. And we were outside. I tried to sit in the shade, but even the shade was miserable. I don't know how the other people could stand it, but I guess if your focus is on the beer, you're probably not thinking about eating or how hot it is.

EVERYONE was smoking. I did't really know these people anyway, but it seemed that we were the only "sane" people there. The company owner, Daniel's boss, and the office manager didn't come. Can't say I blame them. It really irritated me that everyone congratulated me/us on our pregnancy, then didn't bat an eye at sitting right there at the table with me, smoking ciggarette after ciggarette, smoke going every which way, most of the time right at my face no matter where I was sitting. Oh, it was so gross.

And then the language. Oh. my. goodness. Everthing and everyone that was talked about had at least 1 four-letter adjective thrown in the sentence, if not more. I shouldn't be, but I was really appalled. The women (women - not ladies) weren't any better. It bothered me because a: I am a lady, and b: there were little kids there!! It was so disgusting. I heard more bad language in those couple hours today than I think I've heard over my entire lifetime. It was gross. I think if Baby Bremner had been born, I would've packed our stuff up and left within the first 10 minutes.

About 1:30 I was so hungry I was afraid I was going to be sick, so I dug a couple Tbsp. of rice krispies out of my pocketbook that were leftover from Morning Sickness Days and gobbled them down. Shortly after that Daniel (thankfully!!) asked if there was anything to nibble on. The hostess said something to the effect of being so into her beer that she hadn't thought about it. I guess if you're filling yourself with beer and nicotine, you don't have much brain power left to think that your guests might not have had lunch yet. She brought out some chips and I tried to be polite and not eat the whole bowl full in one bite, but they didn't last long.

Finally, about 3-ish the host fired up the grill, and the burgers and hotdogs were done about 4. I had not eaten since my bowl of cereal at 10:00. I don't know what or how those people did it.

As soon as we were done eating I started pestering Daniel to leave, and we left about 5. By that time I had a headache from the cigarette smoke, the heat and I'm sure the fowl language. Not to mention feeling ill from going 4 hours later than planned before eating lunch.

Here's what I'd planned to do today: Go to the picnic, eat, socialize enough to be polite and come home. Then put several pots of tomatoes on to cook; and make and can a bunch of tomato sauce. There has been no way I've been able to even muster up brain power to even begin to think about it. Thus, what I've gotten done today has been: NOTHING. My tomatoes will probably be 1/2 rotten by Monday, but I just do not have it in me to do anything. I might even ask Daniel to make something for supper.

I still feel like everytime I inhale I can smell cigarette smoke. And I pray that the Lord washes all that fowl language right out of my mind and I never think about it.

Morals of the story:

A: DON'T SMOKE AROUND A PREGNANT LADY.

B: DON'T USE FILTHY LANGUAGE AROUND A LADY.

C: When your picnic starts at "NOON" - have the FOOD READY TO EAT AT NOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gaaaa, I feel like I need to take a pressure washer to my nose, sinuses and lungs to get the smoke out of me, and then use it on my brain to wash out all the filthy language that went in my ears today. I really do not ever want to be in that kind of situation again. I've already decided that if there's any more company picnics, I will not be attending them unless they are held at the owner's house, or someone's house that I KNOW is of reputable character. These people weren't this bad at the other picnics.

And if you haven't picked up on it yet, we are not drinkers, smokers, or fowl language users. So if you come around here, please refrain from all three. I will think better of you for it.

P.S. Daniel did say on the way home that he's really glad he doesn't work with any of those people on a regular basis. He is a service tech so he spends most of his time on his own. I must say I'm really glad, too. And, another thing, the company owner is a professing Christian, so Daniel really does work for a great company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some reason, all day today (Sunday) I kept thinking "you know, I bet I spelled "foul" the wrong way... Sure 'nuff, I spelled it "fowl". I wasn't talking about bird language, but I'm going to leave it. Yes, I know the difference. Under normal circumstances with my brain firing on all cylinders I would spell it correctly.

Me Time

Today after finishing my grocery shopping (which I will post about tonight) I had an appointment to get my hair trimmed.

I know guys go to barbers, ladies go to hairdressers, right? I think so. So I'm going to refer to "the lady that cuts my hair" as my hairdresser. Just so you know 'n'all.

So we (my hairdresser and I) are chatting along, I'm telling her about how I use coupons; she's talking about how she just found a local butcher shop that sells fresh meat and how their prices are supposed to be really good (I want to check them out, it did sound good!), and so on.

She's almost done blow-drying my hair and giving the final cuts and makes this comment:
"You don't get much me time, do you?"

Umm.... I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what she meant by "me-time". And secondly, do I look that bad??!! Sure, I didn't have any make-up on, I walked in with my hair pulled straight back in a pony tail, my clothes weren't worn or ragged and I even had on nice shoes and not my white sneakers... I don't think I come across as the old country woman who is chained to the washboard and boiling tub of lye water every day. I hope not. Please tell me if I do. And how I can change that.

I bumbled around and said something like "well, I'm home all of the time...." meaning, "I like what I do every day and enjoy being home." I felt super lame-o giving that answer, but I'd never had that question asked before.

On the way home I was thinking about it and wondering what would I do if I specifically were to have "me time"?

Would I go get a manicure? Probably not. I might would get one sometime, but not for everyday living.

A pedicure? Maybe... if I had enough money that I didn't know what else to do with it. I think a pedicure might be fun sometime :)

A massage.... oooo, now you're talking. A weekly massage, that would be nice. But I don't have an oil field in my back yard. Unless the frogs have been keeping something from us.... have you been hiding an oil field, frogs?

Trips to the mall? Nah, not my type. I usually wind up with a headache when I go to the mall. Too much hustle and bustle for me. Now, could I spend $$ at a mall?? You betcha!! But again, see the previous item.

Then I got to thinking, what are ways that I could have "me time" without costing money?

Reading. I love to read.

Sitting on the deck. If we had one I think it would almost be my favorite spot. Many a time do I wish I could eat breakfast on our deck, or take a nap, or whatever.

Playing the piano. Blogging. Facebooking. Emailing. Do those things count?

The more I got to thinking about it, I think that "me-time" would be anything that I enjoy doing, for real and honest. And that's pretty much what I do, all day, every day. I'm the most happy when I'm in my element (and not a Honda Element, either), and that's home for me. Some of those things would be luxuries. I do read when I make/take time to. Playing the piano is the same. Blogging and facebook... well, they just happen.

Even more, I think I would prefer "us time", just Daniel and myself, over "me time".

Am I missing something? Is my backwoods, hickster, country-woman lifestyle missing something that I've been in the dark about all this time? Is "me time" something great and wonderful that I've just never experienced so I don't know what I'm missing?

Do you have me time? What is your me time?

Waffeling

So the thing in my mind all day today has been "why not stay here instead of moving?"

When I think about where we would most likely be moving: to the city
When I think about how much I like my kitchen here: the kitchen in a "new" house will probably not be as big or user friendly
When I think about the 2.5 acres here: we probably wouldn't get much more than an acre, if that much
When I think about the garden space I have here: new place probably wouldn't have one
Hanging the laundry outside: possibly HOA rules that wouldn't allow it

.... and all those kind of things. While I really don't want to live the next 5 years with all my stuff packed away in boxes just so this house feels bigger, I'm tempted to ask Daniel if we can really and truly check into how much it would take to add on to this house and what our options are for adding on. Daniel knows he doesn't want to add on to the bedroom end because it would most likely end up killing "the mighty oak" that he likes so much. That leaves the living room/dining room end of the house, but we can't figure out a floor plan that would give us another bedroom without it being funky. Then we think about doing a 2 story addition, making bigger living/dining rooms downstairs and a master suite upstairs.... and that's where the money ends: on the first floor. We wouldn't have enough to finish both floors.

We have free trusses and sheathing from the garage that he took down a couple summers ago that would double the footprint of this house if we used them for an addition. I suggested that we could leave the 2nd floor unfinished and finish it as we'd have the money, but he said the county wouldn't like that.

Then I think about the whole debt free horse I've been riding the past several months and wonder if I should still be riding it and just close my eyes and deal with a possibly not-exactly-where/something-I-like house for a little while and have less debt, or should we refinance, add on here, have the same amount of debt and at least like the house and have 2.5 acres to run and "be free" on? If we would add on another bedroom at least, we could easily stay here for awhile, really whittle down the mortgage and hopefully the market would be booming business whenever we'd decide to sell.

*sigh* I was also really missing my garden today. It's the time of year when I should be able to go look at the garden and see how my seeds are popping out of the ground, planting new things, watering my tomato plants, putting the pea fences up... and instead I see a garden that nothing has been done to it yet this year.

If we would move, how many years would it be until I could look out my kitchen sink window and not be staring into the neighbors window again? Right now I look out over our back yard and see nothing but the yard, trees and the dog. No neighbors. Right now I would feel very comfortable letting our kids run loose in the yard by themselves (uh, whenever we have kids and they would be old enough to play by themselves of course)... I don't know if I would feel that way in a subdivision somewhere. At least the kind that our budget allows. I don't know. Maybe I just have a weird "neighbor-phobia" and that's why I don't like neighbors and would question any that lived any closer than what we have now.

So yeah, that's what I've been thinking about today. I haven't figured out if it's me thinking or God talking.

On another topic, I got everything done on my list today :) I even made 2 loaves of bread and washed the kitchen and back door windows! I didn't do the whole wipe out the cracks and crannies and space between the window and screen thing... those places are pretty dirty, but until the pollen stops raining, it would just be filthy again tomorrow. I'll get around to that part later. For now, I'm happy with my crystal clear windows :)

Simple Woman's Daybook

Warning: There is some very weird, sappy, mushy, crazy stuff at the very end. It just kinda happened.

For today, Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

Wow, it's been a long time since I've done this...

Outside my window... it's cloudy. It was supposed to rain all day today, but it's not raining now. Maybe I'll be able to hang the laundry out after all.

I am thinking... that I hope this cup of tea has enough caffeine in it to wake me up. I stayed up very very late (early) this morning reading this blog. As in "I didn't go to bed until 2:45 and still wanted to keep reading".

I am thankful for... my husband who can do ANYthing!! He has more talent in one finger than I have in my whole bod. Ok, so maybe we just compliment each other :) He doesn't like to cook and rewiring outlets or installing new bathroom doors is not my preference.

From my kitchen... since we had leftovers for supper last night, there aren't any dirty dishes. Woohoo! That means all I need to do for the "dishes" part of my to-do list is put away the clean ones in the dish drainer. There's also 1 1/2 cups of chopped cranberries waiting to be made into either cranberry bread or muffins (same recipe).

I am wearing... please don't ask. I have not gotten to the "get dressed" part of my list for today. I just hope Jehovah's Witnesses don't show up. If they do I will just pretend to be sleepwalking. It won't take much pretending (see "I am thinking").

I am going... to Mama's later this evening to finish up our taxes. We were supposed to get "The Last Paper" yesterday, but it never came. I will be calling the tax dude here shortly to make sure it's coming. I'm not worried yet, I know he has 135,768,995,546,932 things he has to do and manages to get them done. I'll start worrying about 2pm tomorrow. My MIL, on the other hand, is about to FREAK OUT!!! Thankfully this is the last year we'll have to deal with this. (Long story, don't ask.)

I am reading... the blog I mentioned earlier. I John. Speed reading More Hours In My Day before I loan it to everyone that's asked to borrow it.

I am hoping... that somebody we know will want to buy our house. So far each time one person ends up saying "sorry, can't swing it", a couple days later a new person expresses interest.

I am creating... a blog post. I did start working on Part 3 of My Journey to Homemaking last night. I'm getting writer's block trying to figure out how to put it into words. I'm listening to Kris Allen singing To Make You Feel My Love. I loooooove that song and he sings it sooooo smooth. It could be about my Daniel, my dog, my bread, my kid, the house that I really want(ed)... I'm sorry, you DID see the rabbit that went through here, didn't you? I just had to follow his trail.

I am hearing... see the aforementioned. Another weird thing (though I'm not sure what the previous weird thing is/was), either a new bird was singing on top our chimney this morning, or the same, regular bird switched up his tune. I think I will miss that bird when we move. I love hearing him singing as if he were sitting right beside me.

Around the house... there are 2 prehung doors on their sides in the living room. They are for the bedrooms. The new door in the bathroom really brightens it up and makes it feel a little brighter. It also really changes the way the hallway looks. I can't wait to get all 3 doors up and see the difference. Saturday Daniel hung a shelf over the washer & dryer. He hung it in a hurry, and yesterday I discovered that it is too low and I can't open the washing machine lid the whole way. I have a wooden shim that I use to prop it open for now until he rehangs it.

A few plans for the rest of the week... nothing real spectacular. I need to make bread today. Tomorrow I'll be mailing our taxes. I need to make a grocery run, hopefully for just a few things. Finish my Part 3 of MJTH (see "I am creating"). Laundry. Dishes. Cleaning. Oh, on my list for today is "clean the hall closet". I'm going to do some SERIOUS cleaning. I am vowing and declaring to get rid of any and every thing that I do not use. That's probably about 1/3 - 1/2 of the stuff. After that it should be all neat and pretty and organized. *Note to self: take before and after pics so I can blog about it.*

One of my favorite things... Peanut M&M's. Dude, I was really irked when I realized that most of the candy coupons that came out before Easter expired either Saturday or Monday. Hello, people. I don't go to town on those days. How am I supposed to be able to get the clearanced Easter candy with a coupon if the coupon is expired??!! I don't know if there will be Peanut M&M's on clearance or not tomorrow. It will probably be yucky something-or-others, but still... I was hoping to snare some Peanut M&M's for nothing with my coupons :(

A picture thought I am sharing with you...

This is the house that I mentioned in this post. I sorta took the picture from the online ad. Is that stealing? Anyway, while we were out and about yesterday we drove by it "for old time's sake" and there were some electricians there. And no "For Sale" sign. *sigh*. We really like this house. It is be-u-ti-ful. It has all the original doors and hardware on the inside. The staircase, oh, the staircase. It isn't elaborate or anything, but it's just so pretty. The trim work. The wood floors. The big, high-ceilinged rooms. Everything in it is original. Did I mention that it was built in 1890 I think? That means some seriously beautiful woodwork. Nothing elaborate or gaudy, just old and beautiful. This house "spoke to me". To the point that I had a very.hard.time (read: crocodile tears for a couple days) letting go of it when it seemed like we might not buy it. I still want that house. I think "when my ship comes in" and we build a house, there will be similarities to this house in it. Until then, I'm trying not think about what might have been.

Goodbye house. I loved you. The first time I saw you on the inside and walked on your wood floors I was ready to pack my suitcase and sleeping bag and start living inside your walls right then and there. I didn't care that your roof was very, very old. Or that no one had ever cared enough to insulate your attic and walls. Or that you were boxed in by the interstate 1/4 mile away in one direction and the traintracks 1/4 mile away in the other. You had been abandoned and needed someone to love you. I loved you but I couldn't help you. I'm sorry that I couldn't come live in you and fix you up so that you could be the warm, inviting, gloriously beautiful home you were made to be. I hope your new owners realize the qualities that you have and don't try to change you. I won't forget you.

Calling All Bloggy Friends

I'm probably going to end up thinking out loud here, so consider this a warning. Count yourself a true bloggy friend if you don't get bored outa your gourd and stop reading before the end :P

So it's kinda official. We want to sell our house and move. You probably wonder "where?".

I'd love to move to Elizabeth's town and let her "drag" me to the stores with her. And I could go hang out with her when there's 3' of snow on the ground and it's going to snow some more.

I think it would be a ton of fun to move to Washington and live close to Gayle and Emily. We'd become best buds, and if I ever needed a cup of sugar, I'm sure they'd let me raid their stash. And I could get in on all of Emily's really cool homeschooling science experiments!! I hated science, but her experiments make it look fun!

Or we might just move out to Oklahoma and figure out a way to hang out at Ree's place where I could watch her cook and be her photographer and use her really cool camera.

I'd love to hang out with Liz or Sarah, but Sarah's new hobby/job might make it a little cramped. And speaking of Liz, look at what she gave me the other day!!

Ain't it cute??

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Soooo.... since it's not really a good time for Daniel to be switching jobs, we're gonna just stick around here. Two things (that might become 3 or 4 or 5 or...) that we really want: More house and less debt. No debt would be amazing! Yeah, I thought there might be a third thing come up. 3: We don't really want to have two mortgages going at the same time (I think Dave Ramsey would scowl at us). Which means we need to have a contract on this place before we put a contract on another place.

It's kinda stumping to me how that will work out... but I know God can work it out. It stumps me because I feel like if we get a contract on this place, then we'll be under pressure to find a place to move, and neither one of us wants to move under "have to" pressure.

Now on to the cool part. We found a house. We really, really, really like it. It meets 99% of the "requirements" list that we made. The 1% that it doesn't have? 100 acres :P It's on 1 1/2 acres, which is still big enough that you don't feel all crammed up. The un-cool thing about the cool thing is that we don't know if we'll be able to get it or not. There's a couple things we need to find out about the place for sure (read: it's a very, VERY old house and we want to make sure the septic business works). And we don't have a buyer for our place. An acquaintance expressed interest a while ago, and we're hoping to find out soon if he really is interested.

So... can I get you guys to pray with us about this? We have our wants and then we also try to keep in mind that this could NOT be the place for us. And what if everything keeps checking out for the "new" (old) house, but we still don't have a buyer for ours? Basically we're praying that God will open or close doors as is His will for us, and that we'll be able to see it all clearly and accept whatever His will is... but we always add a P.S. that sounds something like "but we really do like this house and think we want it!!"

And the whole job thing that I've been hashing around for the past several weeks? Thanks 100% for all the comments y'all have left me. They've been great "thinking" material and I really appreciate you guys caring! In general, y'all keep giving me the same advice: Do what makes you happy. That's the nutshell version :P Sooooo... I think I'm just gonna keep on hangin' out here on the farm (LOL, it's a far cry from a farm!) cookin' and cleanin' and bakin' and bloggin' :D And trying to keep the "what-if-itis" at bay. Ya know, that's one thing that I have trouble with in making this decision... all the "what if's". But ya know (Sorry, y'all, I keep saying "y'all" and "ya" - I just gotta keep up my country-woman twang here. You know "y'all" is really pronounced "yaaawwwwllll"), if something does come up and it's totally obvious that I need to go make a little money? I can always do it then. In the meantime I need to get off here and get started on MY LAST WEDDING CAKE!! I told Daniel last night that I can NOT wait for Monday, because on Monday I will NEVER had to make a WEDDING CAKE again!!!!!!!!!!! (Just watch - one of my sisters will want me to make their wedding cake. ha ha) And you know what I plan to start doing next week? Packing. Yup. If I want God to send the rain, I'd best get ready for the rain. I forget where I heard that little ditty from, but it's basically the idea of "If you want God to do X, then be prepared for X!"

Oh, and I need to pass on the award, huh? Let's see...

Elizabeth. I know Liz gave it to you, too, but I love reading your posts about your small town life :)

Gayle and Emily. Y'all are Mom Role-Models! I want to be a cool mom like you when we have kids. Especially if it means I'd get to eat chocolate.

Sarah. You're a nut. Your blog makes me laugh almost every time I read a new post.

Now here's what you do when you get the award:
Display the award on your blog.
Leave a comment to those you gave it to, letting them know they have it.
Link back to the person who gave to you.
Pass it on to 10 or fewer bloggers who you think demonstrate great attitude and/or gratitude.

The End.

For a friend...

This isn't something that I would usually do, but a new bloggy friend of mine, Elizabeth, just lost her baby earlier this week.

Having never been through anything near that, having never carried a child in my own womb, I cannot begin to identify with what she is going through... but I can imagine - and it makes my heart ache.

So.... as you think about it, could you pray for her and her family? She and her husband have 2 little boys, and she was so excited to be pregnant with their 3rd baby.

Our pastor just started a new series on Faith, and the choir has been practicing this song for a couple weeks now to sing in one of the services. The lyrics "blow me away" each time we sing it. It is amazing and comforting to me that even when we are too weak or weary to even get our thoughts together to pray or talk to God... He still knows and hears the cries of our heart.

Here are the lyrics (and you can go here to listen):

My Wordless Prayer
by Craig Courtney

My words lie still and lifeless as dust upon the sand,
I can no longer voice one request or demand,
My cup of tears is empty, I can no loner cry,
My lips have fallen silent, my prayer is but a sigh.
Spirit come and rest Your ear upon my heart,
O come and hear my wordless prayer,
my silent plea and take them far away from me.
Take them from this heart of mine to the Father’s heart divine,
Speak in tones unknown to man that God may hear and understand.
My voice is weak from calling to You both night and day.
How long will You be silent? Why do You turn away?
Spirit, come and rest Your ear upon my heart;
Come and hear my wordless prayer,
my silent plea and take them far away from me.
Take them from this heart of mine to the Father’s heart divine.
Speak in tones unknown to man that God may hear and under stand.