• Book: “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas Stanley

    My husband and I listened to The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley the first time together.  I found the book at the library book sale and went through it again.  It is about the study of Americas deca-millionaires by leading expert Thomas Stanley and the surprising habits and lifestyles of America’s wealthy.  It was a neat book to listen to as a couple or read on your own.  It provides some great topics for discussion.

  • Family Recipe: Karen’s Fresh Fruit Dip

    If you need a super quick recipe to throw together right before the guests arrive you should try my great Aunt Karen Younger’s Fresh Fruit Dip.  It is easy and a hit with everyone.  The fruit looks amazing next to the white dip!

    Karen’s Fresh Fruit Dip

    • 1 (8 oz) package Cream Cheese (soften)
    • 1 (7 oz) jar Marshmallow Creme

    Mix together equal parts of soft cream cheese and marshmallow creme.  Stire well together, cut up fresh fruit and dip.  Works really well with tart fruit.

    My great Aunt Karen added a note on the bottom of recipe – “No double dippers, (smile).  Enjoy!”

    Love that this recipe is quick, easy and delicious!

  • Book Character Parade

    For the Book Character Parade at school the girls their class featured the book “The Crayon Box that Talked” by Shane Derolf.  The kids and teachers dressed up as crayons for the parade.  Every class featured a different book.  It was a neat seeing the kids get excited about their book.  A lot of parents, grandparents, extended family and friends came to watch the kids in the parade.

    They each got to pick and color the crayon of their choice.  Brina was a pink crayon and Karlie was a blue crayon.  It was cute watching them walk in the parade with their classmates.  Thankfully the weather was beautiful that day too.  I always enjoy participating in the fun events at the girls school.  The kiddos are growing up so quickly!

  • Life Simplified: Meal Delivery

    Dessert tray we delivered to a family!

    Every new year we set goals, challenge ourselves to reach new heights and to focus on what’s really important in life.  In 2011 I have made it a goal to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me.  I will be sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.  I have already shared with you my 1st Life Simplified Goal of No Grocery Shopping for the month of January.  One of the most rewarding blessings in life is sharing what you have with others.  My second Life Simplified Goal goes along with that piece.

    My 2nd Life Simplified Goal:

    • Deliver 1 Meal a Month to a family outside of our household

    Explanation of the Goal: In 2010 I signed up to deliver meals to new Moms after they came home from the hospital, people who had surgery and various other volunteer opportunities.  There were a couple months I didn’t do any meals and other months I had several extra meals to prepare.  For example, in December I had 4 extra meals to prepare and deliver outside of our home before the week of Christmas, some of them being over an hour away, plus we had a Christmas Eve party at our house and guests staying with us for a week.  While I enjoy the blessing of helping others I need to work on saying “No” once I have met my limit.  After much prayer and talking with my husband we have decided it would be best for our family if I would stick to 1 meal delivery a month.  Once I have delivered a meal in a month I will have to say no to any additional inquiries.  There are so many people out there that need help, however, I have to decide what is best for our family too.  I want the girls to continue participating in these amazing acts of service and having a limit will give us the freedom to continue to do it without putting our family in a spot we are over our budget. I think with all the people in our church and community that if everyone did just one meal a month for someone needing a meal there would even be extra to go around.

    I will continue to deliver meals for people once a month.  Below are the opportunities that I am currently and will continue to be involved in:

    • Moms with Newborn Babies
    • People coming home from Surgery
    • Death in the Family
    • Other Volunteer Needs for Meal Delivery

    I have a hard time saying “no” to someone in need but in order for me to have the opportunity to continue ministering to others in this way I need to stick to the goal as well as respect my husband in his decision to help me with this area I love to volunteer.  I will share with you the challenges, successes along the way so you can keep me accountable or you can even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Take a Nap

    As a kid I resisted taking naps.  It was about the worst thing my parents could ask me to do.  I did everything I could think of to get out of napping or to convince my parents I had slept even though I hadn’t.  I am pretty sure they realized it but napping did not appeal to me at all!

    Now as an adult, when I cannot take naps on a regular basis, it sounds awesome!  Isn’t that ironic…. During the busy Holiday Season we get so worn out with the celebrations that people tend to get sick.  Now that the schedule is getting back to “normal” try resting a little more.   Take a cat nap when you can even if it is only once or twice a week.  If you still have kids at home that nap take advantage of that quiet time when they are resting.  A 20 minute power nap can give you the extra boost you need to get through the day.  On certain days when we know the family will be up late we try to have the girls rest for at least 30 minutes (like on Sundays and Wednesdays).

    I have a nap on my schedule in the near future.  Do you? You have my permission to take a nap today!

  • Song: “Beautiful” by MercyMe

    I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters.  We all have been created by a loving God who made each of us beautiful and unique.  I am thankful for the uniqueness in each of my girls.  This song is to remind every girl and woman that you are a beautiful treasure in the heavenly Father’s eyes!

  • Book: Better Homes and Gardens

    Grandma Willa gave me this cook book –  Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book as a wedding gift and we use it all the time.  Grandma Willa is one of the most amazing cooks I know.  I am thankful for the times we had cooking together.  Grandma is still cooking a lot of meals for family and friends but due to distance I am not able to participate in her cooking adventures as often as I like.  Below is the note she put in my cook book, which I treasure even more then the cook book itself:

    What’s Cooking?

    Bridgette,

    My Aunt Zell Body, gave me a BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS cook book as a Wedding gift.  It was my first and faithful cook book, and I found it to have many helpful hints as well as great recipes.

    I and the girls wore one out, and almost the second one over the many years.  If I couldn’t find something, needed to substitute, know cuts of meat etc….. I’d go to old faithful BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS.  I hope this new version is as good or better than my old one was.

    Happy Cooking!!!

    Love,

    Grandma Willa

    “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” – John 6:35

  • Recipe: Confetti Dip for Veggies or Chips

    This is a colorful dip to make for when you have people coming over.  It is good on vegetables, crackers, or chips.  Great appetizer or snack for guests.  I received this recipe from a church friend at my bridal shower Andy Conn.

    Confetti Dip

    • 2 1/2 cups sliced and shredded Beef (lunchmeat)
    • 1 (8 oz) package of Cream Cheese (softened)
    • 1 Tablespoon Green Goddess Dressing or Ranch
    • 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
    • 1/2 cup Green Onion (chopped)
    • 1/2 cup Yellow, Orange or Red Pepper (chopped)

    Mix well and refrigerate.  When ready to serve set out with veggies and crackers.

  • Loosening My Grip: No More Repairs…..Please! (continued)

    On Tuesday, I began sharing the repair ripple effect around our house these last few months.   In last half of 2010 every time we turned around something was needing fixed from household to physical and more.  God has a way of Loosening Our Grip on things we want to keep within our control.

    The repair domino effect continued:

    • Glasses – it has been over 3 years since Jake and I had our eyes checked and new glasses.  We bit the bullet and went to WalMart got our eyes checked and purchased new glasses.  The neat part was we learned in our 3 1/2 hour visit that the doctor played tennis with a friend of ours from church, it’s a small world.
    • Dental Work – it had been almost 4 years since Jake and I had gone to the dentist.  We have chosen to spend the money on the kids and wait on going ourselves.  Even though our teeth weren’t hurting we both had work that needed to be done which added up very quickly.  We really like our dentist but I had forgotten how much it costs, however, if we didn’t get it repaired it would eventually become painful and more expensive.  Thankfully over the last couple of months of 2010 we were able to get both of us up to date.
    • Dryer – My dryer has been slowly fading over the course of several years. It has been repair many times in the 10 years we have owned it.  I was under the impression that they lasted longer.  In a typical week I only do 4 to 5 loads of laundry so it wasn’t like it was from over use.  The heating aliment was replaced once or twice.  Two years ago the dial stopped working, you couldn’t adjust the heat or length of the dryer.  Thankfully we could still push the button and it would run, however, it NEVER shut off on its own so you would have to stay home and set a timer so you can take them out.  Many loads were too wet or too dry over the course of a couple years.  Over the last year it began taking between 1 to 4 hours to dry a load of clothes.  We finally decided it was time to replace it,
    • Van Repair & Water Pump – the van wasn’t running well early this fall and it was getting to the point where we where worried if it would start and run for us.  Jake didn’t want me stranded somewhere with the kids so we took it in.  There were several things going on and we were able to get it repaired.  A month later the water pump blew and it was in for another shop visit.  The girls asked why the van was going to the doctor so often!
    • Water Line to the House – one day when I came home after work there was no water at our house.  The water company wasn’t doing any repairs  in our area and since it had been cold the last few days they indicated that we had a burst pipe.  We found the location of the leak in the middle of our flower garden.  The previous owner had a garden water faucet hooked up to the old well and when they ran city water they kept that on the line.  Since the faucet was covered up we just assumed it went to the old well which was not the case.  Thankfully we were able to fix this one on our own with the help of my brother the extra water cost more than the pieces to fix the faucet and we only had to go without water a couple times.  We no longer have an extra faucet in the middle of our flower garden it is now buried underground with the other pipes.

    Even though I would never chose for all of these items to happen within a few months God’s timing was truly wonderful.  Jake was able to start feeling a little better after the surgery and he took on a new contract before some of the household items started wearing out.  Looking back over the year I an encouraged to know that I am not alone.  I have an amazing God, wonderful husband, sweet kids and awesome family and friends.    You are not alone either.  Even though 2010 or another year may have been tough on you physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially you are not alone.  It is through the tough times that you can be renewed and strengthened.  Despite the minor inconveniences 2010 has brought into my life I have much to rejoice about and be thankful for in my life.  There are moments that I will treasure forever looking back over this year.  Hopefully in 2011 it will be smooth sailing as far as repairs, however, I do want God to continue guiding me as I look forward to a fun and exciting 2011 jammed packed with memories!

    Loosening My Grip is a series on areas in my life I am learning to let go of slowly. A couple months ago I was studying Jonah and one of the phrases that popped out at me was “Whatever you are holding on to in this life, hold it loosely so it won’t hurt when the Lord has to pry your fingers open to take it away.”  I have found that in some areas God has had to pry my fingers off of whatever I am holding onto one finger at a time.  There are areas in my life that I feel like I need control over and hold onto them tightly.  I have been learning how to let go and hold loosely so God can do His work in my life.