Happy Birthday, Edie!

Those of us who have been around bloggyland for awhile see names and blogs on a daily basis. Although we may never have the opportunity to meet these precious people on this side of heaven, we can reach out to them via the internet 24/7.

Through online Bible studies, decorating ideas, cooking, crafting, and photography tips, I have truly been blessed! I mentioned the other day that my friend's husband became a new Christian right before Christmas to my Hubby. He asked me, "Now how do you know each other?" Well, it's through blogging! When you connect with others and develop relationships, you want to spend time with those friends just as you do your real next door neighbors.

Sometime back, I was reading a blog and the writer mentioned a great kitchen re-do that we just had to visit! So, I joined the other bloggers and went directly to Edie's blog--Life in Grace. I fell in love with the decorating ideas and most importantly, with Edie's heart! She is such a busy mama! She's another of you all that home school--bless your hearts! Y'all are on a pedestal in my book!

So, another friendship blossomed. Right before Christmas, I was horrified to read that Edie's home had burned to the ground. But praise the Lord, the entire family (including the dogs!) escaped unharmed. My heart just wanted to be in Tennessee with them and help! I felt helpless! I'm here, and she's there! So, after reading this post this morning and learning that it's Edie's birthday, I wanted to send hugs and love to her via my blog. I hope that you'll hop over and visit a while with her. Some of her friends "hijacked" her blog so we can send her birthday wishes. Pretty cool!

Edie, praying that the Lord will bless you today! That you will feel His warmth and love all around you. You have touched the hearts of so many women in bloggyland by showing them how to be the hands and feet of Christ. You are a gift to us! I hope that one day, we can meet and do lunch! Preferably here in the south. If not, there's a place down the streets of gold that holds a table for friends. Happy birthday, sweet friend!

Love ,

Happy Birthday and a Challenge!!

Good morning, my friends! It's finally sunny here! Whoohoo! I took this picture a little after 7 this morning. Child #1 celebrated his 17th birthday yesterday. Wow, that must mean that I'm getting old!! Not! We searched for a "new" car for him to get back and forth to school and to cross country and track practice and to meetings, etc. People, I am just about to drown in carpool! It consumes hours of my day--HOURS! I love my precious children, but this extra car is going to be such a blessing! We prayed about it and searched Craigslist. This one appeared after church yesterday. It's a '98 Acura. Very reliable and all the belts and "stuff" had been replaced. The owner's family owned an auto shop, so they've kept it up. There was low mileage--amazing on an 11 year old car! And the best part of all--it was the exact amount of money that we wanted to spend--which was not a lot! God is good!

We went to our Youth Super Bowl party at church last night...talk about food and fun! There were over 80 kids and adults there. The sad part was that our youth minister is leaving for San Diego on Tuesday, so last night was his going away party as well. We are really going to miss Mookie!

Mookie and Austin, aka Child #1--no telling what Mookie is saying here!Hubby with the cake. Of course, being the thoughtful mama that I am, I made sure that some of the candles were the ones that would not go out--the obnoxious ones that keep relighting over and over again! Gotta have my fun too!

After all of that food, today is definitely a running day! I cannot wait! I have a challenge for you all as well! Child #2 and I are doing this and have been successful so far! It's called the:

PUSH UP CHALLENGE!

Here's what you do! On Day 1--which is today for you, simply do one push up. Just one! Tomorrow is Day 2--2 push ups. The next day is Day 3, so 3 push ups! You get the picture!

I am on Day 7. I wish that I had started this on January 1, but I didn't read about it until 7 days ago!! A group of people here in Greenville--30 of them--decided to take on this challenge. They did push ups each day. By December 31,2009, which should have been 365 push ups, only 8 people remained!! And, only 2 of those were women. Y'all, everyone who succeeded was over the age of 50! One man was in his 70's! We can do this!! You pick the type of push up! It can be military or the girl push up where you are on your knees. There is ANOTHER one which has more assistance. After dislocating my shoulder--yes, on a trail run several years ago!!!--I HAD to strengthen it. But, YIKES! It hurt so badly! Using a wall, gently lean into it with a push up stance. Feet should be at least a foot and a half from the wall. You should feel your muscles working. If not, you are not using your body's resistance. Do these assisted push ups until you can get to the floor and try the others. Whatever works for you!

The ladies who completed the challenge were amazed at the difference of how their arms looked! I am all over this strong arms thing!! Join me!! It'll be FUN! You can break your push ups into sets as the numbers climb higher. Encourage your Hubby or kids to join you as well! I want to know how y'all do!! Just be honest!!

Y'all have a wonderful day!! Oh, and I loved the comments from my question last week!! Great ideas! I appreciate your sharing.

Sweet Blessings,

A Purty Front Door--A Tutorial!

Finally, I've worked on "beautifying" my front door! It only took until mid-May!! Better late than never! I found this darling little basket at a local nursery--and used my handy dandy $5.00 coupon to purchase it for only $8.00!!!! Look at that darlin' bow made from twisted sticks!! Who woulda thunk? First, line the cute little basket with a yard/trash bag to hold the plants! You don't want the dirt to come out each time you water it! Just tuck the bag down so you don't see it!!

Add some good potting soil! Do not use dirt that your kids play in! You never know what you might find in there!

Now, find you some plants! I went back to Martin's Nursery rather than hitting Lowes or HD. The folks there KNOW what they are doing! They KNOW how to help you coordinate colors and textures. And, they KNOW the names of millions of plants! Plus, they color-coded everything this season! I love it!!! All of the yellow flowers are on one table, the purples on another, pink, reds, whites...you get it! What a great idea!Tuck in the first plant--the tall one--in the back.

Add your second plant on one side.
Stick the third plant, which is a trailing flower, on the other side. I kept the little plastic sticks with the names of these flowers just in case you were interested! The long, leggy purple is Verbena Imagination. The variegated one is Licorice Splash which is Helichrysum Petiolare (Can you even pronounce that cute thing?). And, the trailer is Calibrachoa--again, a cute yellow flower whose name I do not dare try to say!! Put all of these sun-loving plants together and hang on your front door--or back door--or gate!! Your choice!
Now, I have done my first yard tutorial! I can always do one on weeding the beds, but that would simply be too boring! Can you guess what I'm going to do after supper tonight??? I promise to spare you the excitement!

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations! Isaiah 61:11 I LOVE how God has a word for all that we do!!

I'm winding down my subbing for the school year. Just two weeks left! I will be working Thursday and Friday this week with some fun third graders! Friday night, we kick off our swim team season with a mock meet and a pizza party. I'll be celebrating another birthday with over 50 friends at the pool!! Hubby is making my favorite cake--sour cream pound cake! How do I know this? He sweetly asked me this morning to pull out the recipe and to make sure that we had all of the ingredients!! :)

Hugs!

Susan