DIY Butcher Block Table/Kitchen Island

I just wanted to share with you a little DIY project that I did.
The preacher, who does all of the cooking in the family, (yea! for me), has this great big butcher block that he likes to use for all of his cutting needs. It used to sit on the counter next to the stove but it was so big and it was really in the way.

I found this side table at my work place. It was being stored in the upstairs storage area. I asked if I could purchase it if they were not going to use it any longer but to my surprise my boss picked it up and carried it out to my car and said that I could have it. Free is good!

So I took it home, sanded down the legs, spray painted it black, the preacher then placed the butcher block on top (it fit perfectly) and screwed some long screws in from the bottom. That block is not going any where.

We then placed it in the center of our kitchen. It sits in between the stove and the sink and it works perfectly!

The preacher is happy to have more space to make a beautiful mess.

Hey, It's Franklin

I was at a friend's house babysitting her kids. The kids were playing, the TV was on, and I'm in the laundry room sorting whites from the colors. The cartoon, Franklin, the Turtle, came on the TV, I heard the opening song, 


Hey, It's Franklin
Comin' over to play

Growin' a little everyday
Here he comes
With all his friends
They've got stories
Got time to spend with you
Hey, It's Franklin
Comin' to your house
Hey, It's Franklin
Comin' to my house
Hey, It's Franklin.

Suddenly I was transformed back to my house in Deerfield Beach, Florida. I could see and feel the sun coming through the sliding doors, I could see Sam, just a little boy, my little boy, sitting on the couch. He's watching Franklin. In my mind it all came back to me. I suddenly had this overwhelming urge to go back. I even said out loud, "I want to go back". Back to what seemed like a simpler time, back to being a stay at home mom taking care of my son, my husband and my home. 

Time goes by so quickly, That little boy of mine is now 17 years old. He probably doesn't want anyone to know that he watched Franklin. Every day throughout his life has been wonderful. I know that his father and I worked hard at raising him to be a fine young man and I do look forward to seeing the man that he will become. I'm just glad that there are little songs and cartoons to help me remember those wonderful days of his childhood.

Coffee and a Smile

This morning I took a glass of ice coffee to my son. He was half asleep, half awake. I told him good morning, set his coffee on his side table, leaned over rubbed his head and then kissed his forehead. He smiled. That smile warmed my heart.

Right to Life Sunday

Last Sunday was National Right to Life Sunday. So I thought I'd share with you my experience of this wonderful cause.

Back in the mid-70's I was told that I could not have any children of my own; it was physically impossible. Little did I know at that time what God had planned for me.

During the 80's the Right to Life campaign was beginning to find their voice. My husband and I began to take part helping a local Pregnancy Center. We were asked at one time to make a sign and stand on the side of a busy highway where we lived at the time. While standing there I couldn't believe how much hate there was for this cause .

I took the sign that we used and put it in the back window of the vehicle that we were driving at that time. I could not believe how many nasty notes that would be taped to my car.

I was a woman who could not have children. I could not understand how anyone could possibly think of doing the unthinkable, killing their own child. My heart went out to all of those babies and also out to all of those women.

Well, God had a plan for my life, he healed whatever problem my body had and at the age of 39 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. I love the picture that I have attached, it shows just how beautiful child bearing is.

We again are working with a local Pregnancy Center and they are doing a great work here in NE Colorado.

I ask that whoever reads this blog that you would first, pray for our country, that this awful law that we have, Roe vs Wade, would be turned around; second, pray for the healing of the soul for all of the women who have bought into the lie that it is not a baby until the actual birth; third, I ask that you get involved in a local branch of a Pregnancy Center.

"For you have created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you becuase I am fearfully and wonderfully made;" Psalm 139:13-14

Life Beautiful - No Worries

Have you seen this magazine? I had discovered it a long time ago through a blog that I visit. I bought one at that time and then forgot about it, even thinking that it may have gone under and was not even being published anymore. Then one day my husband and I were in Loveland on a shopping trip. I went in to Barnes & Noble and there it was. Of course I bought it without even browsing through it first. This is a wonderful magazine. It is full of great information; everything from decorating your home to short little studies. The subtitle on the front reads: Faith for Your Journey.

The reason this issue seems to be of more importance is because I am going through a season of worry. Worry over our finances. Within the last year we have lost quite a bit of money each month in income and when you have lost that much you can understand how I can be stressed How am I going to pay my bills? All was going okay until November when our savings, that was keeping us afloat, began to run out.

But just when I was feeling very overwhelmed God was there. A guest speaker came to our church and something he said in his sermon hit me. He said "Don't tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is." When he said that it was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I realized I had not been giving this problem of finances over to my God. I was holding on to the problem. I was not letting Him be God and taking care of my finances.

Every month since then I still worry but I have been making a conscience effort to give it to God. And each month He has been reminding me of who He is. And this is why I am blogging about this lovely magazine. Even though I bought the magazine the first of January, it was just a few days ago that I actually opened it up to read it (at just the moment I needed it). There it was, the way God was showing me He is bigger than my problems. It came in an article by Joyce Meyer. She was talking about how she and her husband had gone through a time in their lives when they needed a miracle to pay their bills each month. (I could relate.) She was angry at God, and at her husband for not helping her worry over the situation. (I could relate.) She says that she realized that what she needed was to spend time with God, rather than her checkbook. She concluded her article saying, "I want to encourage you to live by faith, not fear."

It is amazing to me that when my worries seem just about ready to defeat me, God steps in and sends me these wonderful little messages. He is always letting me know that He is in control.

Matthew 6:26 reminds me that God takes care of the birds and ask the question, "Are you not much more valuable than they?" I have written on my mirror the word 'sparrow' so that each morning I can remember that I am valued by God just as his sparrows and each and every day He will take care of me, my husband, my son and even our finances.

God has been blessing us with just the right amount of money each month to get through. I am so thankful for His blessings.

I want to encourage you to look closely, look around you, God is with you and He will let you know of His presence in the smallest and the most opportune times.

"Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feed them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matt 6:26-27

one thousand gifts

Have you read this book yet? If you haven't, you should! This is my all time favorite book.

I had read a few blogs that I follow on occasion, and this book was being mentioned in several of them. I didn't really give it too much thought until the day that my husband and I were in Denver. We had just returned the night before from our vacation, and on this particular day we were waiting on our son to fly home from his Leadership Retreat. We had all day to wait, so we went to a Barnes & Noble to sit in their Starbucks lounge. While waiting, I had my iPad and was looking at some of my favorite blogs and there was this book again. The person writing about it had made a mini-album after she had read this book. She wanted to list all of the things she was thankful for in this mini-album. She also said that she had read and reread the book several times. Well, I'm in a book store with not a whole lot to do, so I decided to go and try to find it. I found it in the Inspirational aisle and it was the only one on the shelf. I took it back to the coffee lounge and began to read it. After a few paragraphs I decided that I had to buy it, I had to have it. I couldn't put it down. I do believe that the Lord put it in my hands just at the right time.

Mentally, I was not in a good place. I was grumbling to God for some things that had taken place in our lives. I think He showed me this book in that blog because He knew I needed the message that it gives. It talks about being thankful; not just for the big things in our lives, like getting a good job, or a new baby being born. Although those things are wonderful and we should thank the Lord for those big things, this book talks about being thankful for everything. Ann Voskamp, the author, had a very tragic thing happen in her life when she was just a child and because of that she had a hard time seeing the good in life even though she had a wonderful husband and beautiful children. A friend challenged her to write down 1,000 things that she was thankful for or things she saw as blessings, gifts. She then began to study this word "thanks' in the Bible. She shares in the book her insights from her studies. You will never look at your everyday life the same again after reading this book. Have you ever had a hard time trusting in God? Give thanks for all things, all days, and you will not be able to not trust God again.

So go and pick up this book. Go to your local book store today or order it on iTunes, Kindle or Amazon, as soon as you can. Then while you are reading it begin your own 1,000 gifts list. I made a framed board and hung it up in our house. Now everyday we write down something that we see as a gift from God. (I'll show you pictures at a later date.)

Dare to live fully right where you are.

Signs of the Coming Winter Season

Well it's that time of year, time to get ready for the winter. It has been getting down in the 30's at night and I am not ready. I shouldn't complain to much, they have had snow in the mountains, 15 inches in some places. I'm not ready to be cold, although my flannel pajamas do feel good. I am certainly not ready to turn on the furnace. I can just see the gas going through and burning up money. Our monthly gas bill went up last year and I'm not ready for it to go up again this year. So to help with that cost, my dear husband goes out and cuts wood for our wood-burning fireplace. He feels as though he needs to cut more since we have already had a fire going twice now. I have to thank our good friends and neighbors for letting us cut their old wood. I know they feel like we are doing them a favor by cleaning up their wood piles but really they are doing us the favor.

In all the years we lived in Florida never did we think we would cut wood or even own a chainsaw, but here we are, my husband in his overalls cutting wood like a professional lumberjack, and me with my work gloves on loading it up on a trailer.

This winter if you're in the area come on over and get in out of the cold, sit by our fire. We'll swap stories and drink a little hot chocolate.

Smash Albums Are Nothing New To Me

The "Smash Album" is all the rage in the scrapbook industry right now. I even went online to You Tube and found hundreds of videos of people making their own because they didn't want to pay the expense of buying K & Company's line of Smash Albums and accessories. I have even read other blogs where someone has went out and bought the album from a local store and they are so excited about it as if they had never thought of this idea before.

I have been doing my own line of Smash Albums for years, I mean years. I didn't know that was what you would call them. I just called them my 'scrap' books. Actually scrapbooking was started with these types of books. Ladies would save pretty cards or postcards, they would save a pretty ribbon, even maybe a photo if they were able; all of these things they would adhere in a book of some sort. And here we are all these years later doing the same thing, and some even making a pretty good profit off of it too.

My first 'scrap' or 'smash' book was a high school senior yearbook. It wasn't the book of all of the students photos, no it was a book that had pages with words and sentences that would prompt you to write down memories of your school year. It had built-in pockets so that you could save tickets from basketball games, or letters from your friends, any little memorabilia that you might have wanted to save so that you could remember your last year in high school. I'm not sure if my book is still around. I will have to ask my mom if she may still have it up in the attic.

Ever since that book, I have been keeping a journal/diary, and in them I have put the same things: tickets from a movie or ballgame, leaves turned into their fall colors, love letters from my husband, little pictures that my son has drawn for me over the years. There is just something about saving these things that appeals to me. I don't know if anyone will ever take the time to look back on them after I'm gone, or maybe it will just become junk to someone some day. Right now I just know I enjoy looking back over them. It may not mean a whole lot to anyone else but they mean so much to me. I can look at a movie ticket and remember exactly what we did that night, not just the movie but where we might have eaten that night or if we enjoyed the movie, little things like that. These things make me smile, and right now that is enough.

So good for you K & Company for bringing this type of memory keeping to the public at large. I might look into buying one of your albums just because they are really cute. More than anything I'm glad that you have shown the scrapbookers out there that there is more to this 'scrap' business than just keeping pictures.

Passport to Memories Part 2

Well, I finally sat down and got started on my Passport to Memories album. As I told you before I bought this as a kit from Archivers, so everything that you need is available, including instructions. I'm going to put pictures and memorabilia from our vacations in Las Vegas and in Glenwood Springs. I'm also going to put in memorabilia from Sam's 2 retreats in Milligan College. I'm excited to continue working on the album but, for some reason when I get home and see the house, dishes, and laundry, I get distracted from play and begin to worry about everything that needs to get done. I guess that the housework will be there again tomorrow. I just have to remember that and just stop everything and go play in my scrap room. With football season now in full swing I just might be able to get away a little easier.

This is just a side note, but after looking at this picture of myself, I can't help thinking just how much I look like my mother. Is that a good thing or not? I don't know, if you read this Aunt Judy let me know what you think.

Passport to Memories

I ordered this kit from Archivers. I saw this album in the store in Aurora and I thought it would be perfect to put for our vacation photos and also some of Sam's summer memorabilia from his trips to Milligan.

I have begun putting it together but of course I don't have it done, not yet anyway. I really want to get it done soon. When I get it completely done I'll take pics and show you the finish product.

For Sale By Owner

We have decided to put our house up for sale. Right now we will try to sell it ourselves (trying to save that commission cost). So if you know of anyone moving to the northeastern plains of Colorado let them know there is 40 acres of land, with a large log home that has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and is ready for them to move in.

Before anyone ask, no we are not moving away, we will just downsize to a home in town.