Dear Santa

The Jolly old elf, controversal in the church, yet with origins of and by the church. I have a very different perspective of him and feel the need to share. Isn't the very essence of St Nick, if you think about it, very christian indeed? If your good and you believe, you get rewarded. He loves all the children, even the naughty ones. His colors are (at least here in America) red and white, significant when you think of his sacrifice (although not as brutal as Christs for sure) and his purity. I'm not saying he's an icon to be worshipped, however when there's so much evil in the world can we think of something other than exhibiting that awful emotion of hatred towards an innocent ancient old man who's only pleasure is to bestow hope and joy on the world? (even if it's only for one night.) He has lived his entire life struggling to keep the spirit of Christmas alive, to keep the children in their innocence, to bring a little happiness to us all.I'm proud to say that my family believes! We believe that God can and will do a little gift giving to us all during our lifetime. We believe in the spirit of Father Christmas as well. As the true St Nicholas believed, why not bring a little good into the life of children when they're surrounded by so much bad.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
For I so love my children that I will teach them about God, and let them have a little hope in humanity as well. I grew up thinking the world was on it's way out, I want my children growing up thinking theres always hope in this world. (But first you must believe.)
Okay here's something that a sensitive Christian, God fearing person might take offense to but I'm going to say it anyway. Fact: Most "Christian" holidays got their origins from pagan rituals, and Christmas is one of the biggest. So get over the fact that a cookie filled elf twinkles briefly in the eyes of so many children. Teach them the truth about God, but let them believe in a little magic. The hardest thing most christians struggle with is faith in miracles, and guess what, if they have no background in believing in magic they probably will only believe in what they can see, touch, taste and smell.
So we'll put the fire in the fireplace out, and hang our stockings with care and wait anxiously for St Nicholas to take away our despair. If only for one night a year.

Star Light

Good Morning everyone. Here I sit another long day at work keeping on eye on the computer and doing crafts like mad. I'm doing a spin off of the star decoration I did back in October. This time I glued two stars back to back and used my favorite craft supply...GLITTER!!!!

Now that I have a few of those done it's on to the next craft. But before I go here's a blast from the past. Collapsible travel cups, before there were water bottles you kept this handy dandy thing in your purse. Put a few tylenol in the lid part and your prepared for the next time you need a little drink. Found a few more on ebay, and even etsy. This one I got on a trip to the Smoky Mountains when I was little.

Here's hoping that you all take time to enjoy some good memories and add a little glitter to your lives....ok,  not a little....a LOT!

The Christmas Rush

Had to post a little Thanksgiving shot, and shout out to my family in Detroit! Loved getting to spend some time there. Thanks Mitch, Lynn and Trace for housing us.

Just checking in on my blog. I see I have someone looking in from Alaska. Hey there! Love your state! Wouldn't mind moving there I tell ya. I'm blundering on in the blogfront today because...well....I'm up at 3 am, working, and bored out of my mind. So I did a little reading on what the Dalai Lama's been up to lately and here's what he says. "By implementing the practice of love and compassion, we will naturally live a non-violent way of life. Helping others and not harming them is the work of non-violence. We need to develop love, compassion and forgiveness to develop inner peace and that naturally gives rise to non-violent conduct."  So in closing while I'm cranking out a workweek of 55 hours and trying to get ready for a craft show this weekend, here's some action shots of "Preparing the Feast". LOL  Love you guys!

His Plan

Today I'm being thankful for the peace I have in the Lord, knowing that, ...he's got this. Leaving me to do what I need to do in life to get to the next door. You know, believing that he has your back and is guiding you daily to do what you have to do, is the hardest thing for some people? You can't sit in a house and go through life on autopilot. You'll never get anywhere, and you'll never feel happy. You have to get out and move! Enjoy! Help people! REJOICE in the Lord and his Love daily, by giving back, paying it forward, being an encouragement to others. It's not all about you, it's about what you can do for others in His name. Stop asking will it all end, and find something you love. For in that love you will find peace.
Even as I type this I feel the Holy Spirit guiding me, so it's something someone other than myself needs to hear.

Hearing and doing are two different things, believe me I know. As I cram for this 5k coming up with an injured worn out knee sometimes I lose focus. I think, oh I can at least do the "Mashed Potato Mile" then I think forget it I'll never be able to do it, then, oh heck I'll go ahead and walk the 5k, what I really think I'll do is turn it over to God and let him decide. I'm not giving up on this, somewhere it's symbolic and I'm anxious to see how it all unfolds.

As I finish up this post I can't close it without saying fairwell to my Aunt Jackie. You fought a battle you knew wasn't about winning, it was just about the fighting. At times we know you wanted to give up, but the love of your family kept you going. Your race is complete, you've crossed the finish line and all the Angels in heaven rejoice that you have come home. We will all be together in the end, and oh what a time that will be!

Persevere.

On the road to success!

1st organization thingy done: Coat Closet - it's part of my pantry but I split it into two parts, next project...the rest of it. Forgot to take a before picture, but imagine as much crap piled on the shelves as it would hold. ;)

Now it's nice and neat. All ready for winter accessories! A seperate bin for everyone, and a basket for extra pet items.

Pretty tags let everyone know there's a system not to be messed with!

Training for the 5k is still going on. I'm confident that I have the mash potato mile licked. Can't run the whole 5k, but Walk/Run is done. Walking a lot more than I like but I may have it under an hour.

Today I'm thankful for that peaceful feeling I have after I walk/bounce. Not to mention all the wonderful uplifting support I'm getting from friends and family as I try to attain a healthier body.

hem hacks

Today let us be thankful for.....  Okay, so this is going to sound really strange, but it just goes to show you that God is ever present in your life. I get inspirations from the weirdest places. So I'm watching American Horror Story Asylum. (not a very good show for Christians). But there in the middle of this very inappropriate show is God, talking to me...Nun relays a story of her childhood. About how she prayed and prayed for hours over this dead squirrel. She cries to her mom, "God didn't answer my prayer!" Her mom replies, "God always answers prayer, most of the time the answer isn't what we expect." Isn't that the truth!

Wanted to share with you a trick my cousins fiance' showed me. Do you get frustrated because you hem your jeans and then they look tacky? You can't ever get that factory hem look. Well now you don't have to! Check it out.
Step One: Have the wearer put pants on, then cuff them to where the back of the heel is barely touching the floor (or table cause I don't want to sit on the floor). Pin and then have them carefully remove pants. Iron where that line is to give you a strong guideline. It helps to have a ruler and put the ruler on the inside of the cuff, matching the existing hem to the same spot on the ruler all the way around ironing as you go.  

Step Two: Pull cuff out and refold to your guide line. I put the very bottom of the hem to the right of the crease as seen in the photo.

Step Three: The picture below shows the jeans inserted into the sewing machine with the exact same fold and sides as the above picture. Place the needle above the bottom of the hem, the rest of the leg and crotch are to the left of the machine. I can't stress enough this is exactly as the above picture shows just inserted into the machine. Make sure the leg is around your machine so that your not sewing the leg closed.

Step Four: Now pull the bottom of the hem down, put the extra material up into the pantleg, you'll be cutting off the extra after the final fitting. The bottom picture shows (left to right) the original guideline, the new hem, the original stitch line, and the bottom of the hem.

Below see the finished result, have your wearer try it on for a final fit, better to be safe than sorry, you can take the stitches out but it's a lot harder to reattach the cut off fabric. Happy Sewing!



In the month of November

There's a bunch of people I know who are doing this challenge thingy, apparently your supposed to say what your thankful for everyday. Today, I'm thankful for that little button up in the top right that lets me exit an area when it's creating stupid stress in my life. I'm still baffled that people can read what you write in a chat room and just pick out a few words and then act like they're all offended. I am choosing to ignore ignorant things, life's to short to try to figure it out any longer. Stupid is as stupid does, and as far as I'm concerned they can play with each other for eternity. Now with that said, breathe in...breathe out.
Before I hyperventilate though, let me tell you what's been happening.  We went to state competition for the marching band and placed a very respectful third. Then my soon to be cousin reminded me that I was supposed to run the turkey trot with her on Thanksgiving in downtown Detroit. Not the actual turkey trot, there's a 5k also. So now along with all the other projects I'm doing add training for a 5k in there.
http://www.theparade.org/turkeytrot/index.php
Then there's my project organization going on, day one is "The Coat Closet" pictures to be posted tomorrow. Great ideas from a pin on pinterest I'm going to follow within my choosing of course.
And last but not least, I'm trying to get things prepared for the Woodland Shores Baptist Church's 2nd Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair.
Gotta quit sitting around here and hit the bricks. Catch ya later's.