In His Grip

Three Word Thursday

Way too hot!

You Don't Know Jacques

I am here to tell you I am not a toe kind of gal, in fact, they kind of creep me out which is a good reason to keep them looking good at all times.  Here is one of the hottest colors of nail polish for the Summer.  It is OPI, "You Don't Know Jacques".  I absolutely love it.  As I am one who has never had a professional manicure or pedicure, I am always looking for the newest colors so as appear to have had a professional job.  OPI is my favorite brand of polish, in fact that is the only kind that I own.  My experience has proved that the couple of extra dollars up front means a longer time between re-dos.  As I do my polish myself, that means I only have to totally do a  new pedicure about every three weeks.  I must admit that I did not actually buy this color, the daughter, Lindsey, brought it over the other night and I knew that I just had to have it.  I will be purchasing this color for myself soon.  The color reminds me of a nice cool glass of chocolate milk, yummy.

Praying for a Soldier

Praying for a solider has changed my perspective on how I take my freedom for granted.  When I stop to think about it, I live as though it is my right and dog gone it, I deserve to live in a country where I have known no other way.  But if I stop there, that would mean that those who live in a part of the world where they have little freedom and live under oppression deserve that way of life too.  It comes down to the fact that there is no real justice in where we are born and the circumstances of the government we find ourselves ruled by.  I have come to be so much more thankful and appreciative of the men and women of our armed forces and the sacrifice they are making to give me the right to freedom.   One of the gals in my "tribe", saturday morning coffee group, has a son that has been deployed.  Just hearing regular updates of the conditions and morale of our guys and gals who have chosen to put themselves in harms way on a daily basis has really taken me to pray daily/hourly for our solider. He asks for prayer for his fellow soldiers as well and the difficulties they have being away from loved ones and having to be "on" everyday in the face of mortal danger.  Our "tribe" has been wearing these bracelets as a reminder to pray for our solider as well the rest of our military.  I have only had this bracelet for a week, but I cannot tell you how many times a day I have been reminded by this bracelet to pray for our solider.  I would challenge you to make yourself some kind of reminder to pray for our military on a regular basis.  Our solider depends on prayers to get him through his time of service to our country.  This is the verse I pray for our solider regularly.

God is your refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Psalms 41:1

Three Word Thursday

All we need . . .

Pinterest -- My New Addiction

Over the weekend I joined a new creative social network.  And boy doggies, I am totally addicted.  The website is Pinterest.  You can browse around without joining, but once you join, that's when the fun begins.  All you do is basically bookmark or "pin" things that you see on the internet that you like and then others respond by "like" or "repin" your "pin".  I knew something was up somewhere on the internet as there were several of my older posts like Bed to Front Porch Bench, Pink Christmas Ball Wreath, and Homemade Peppermint Bath Salts that were coming up with a tons of hits.  Now, I know that someone had "pinned" them on Pinterest.  I am just warning you now DO NOT even get started because you will not be able to stop looking at Pinterest.  I just think of it as a little vacation throughout the day. But BEWARE your time will fly away on Pinterest.  Happy pinning :o)

Sew Excited Sewing Class

This morning my daughter, Lindsey, hosted a sewing class in my Stitches by Sturman studio. She kept getting gals she knows asking to teach them to sew so she organized a sewing class.  The gals brought 1 1/2 yards of fabric along with stuffing and other embellishments for their pillows.  Lindsey did a great job helping the gals with their first sewing projects.  She asked me to be there for moral support and to help with any snags that might come up.  The class started at 9:30 am so we had an offering of muffins and coffee as well.

My studio is not used to having company so I had to spend a good part of Friday afternoon cleaning up and making the place presentable.  

Lindsey was able to work on a pillow of her own.  She made a pillow out of one of my Dad's wool shirts.  She kept the button placket and pocket to embellish the fron,t it turned out super cute and she plans on putting it on her bed.  I never did get a picture of the finished pillow.

This was really fun and such a great idea it may not be the only "Sew Excited" class there will be.

Three Word Thursday

Potter is coming . . .

Grillin' Group Night

Tonight we are headed to our summer small group "Grillin' Group".  This is where we meet for some grilled food and share a little bit of life together.  It has been a great way to meet new folks that you would not otherwise have a chance to get to know just in passing on a sunday morning.  I love this opportunity to try out new recipes.  Tonight we using our Grillin' Group as taste testers of a Garden Medley Salad recipe I came across recently at The Realistic Nutritionist.  The ingredients are all things that we eat a lot of but never together, so I just had to try this one out. I have already done a little testing myself and it is awesome!  You really need to give this one a try!

It's Good To Be Home

Although I love vacation, especially our time at the lake, it is always good to come home.  I love the first step in the front door where I smell the familiar scent of our home.  The first night being able to sleep back in our own bed and just the feel of our home around me. I am not going to lie, I love our home and how it makes me feel.  It represents so much love, memories, and family.  It's good to be home. 

Three Word Thursday

Enjoying Camp Grandma!

Little Country Church

The little country church on the edge of town in Cook, Minnesota, is one of the happening places when it comes to making God's kingdom grow.  We have been attending this little church on our vacations for over 25 years.  The transformation from a very traditional older, baptist church to one that is keeping up with the times and meeting the needs of their community has been fun to watch over the years.  This is the first church that my dad attended as an infant as his father was the pastor here when my dad was born.  I think of the this old song from the 1970's every time we attend here.  "Little Country Church" by Love song.  This song has to be written about First Baptist Church of Cook, Minnesota.