Shoes and Family

Christmas has come and gone.

Family has come and gone and

I miss them already!

I got new shoes to wear with my favorite winter outfits~skirts, sweaters and tights!

 New shoes can do a lot of things.
But

they can't make me as happy as my family does.

They are cute and comfy but then ~ so is my family.

Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the World.

                                               ~ Marilyn Monroe   

Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life.          

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Love is...

...a blogging friend that sees a little coffee cup and thinks of someone who mentioned in a blog post that she was hunting for just such a cup.

 

 

 

Love buys that sweet little cup for her friend.

 

 

She carefully packages it along with a beautiful Love stocking and cheery Christmas kitchen towel...

 

 

...and even pays the extra bucks to send it priority mail so that her blogging friend will get it in time for Christmas!

 

 

 

 

I will think of you, my sweet friend Elaine, every time I sip my morning coffee from my new cup!

 

Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Love is also a husband that spends his hard earned vacation time with his bride of thirty years.

We have spent a lot of special time together this holiday season.

We've:

• shopped together
• attended our church's Christmas program
• spent time around our piano singing Christmas songs together
• visited Noccalula Falls Park in a nearby county where they have put up thousands of lights ~ beautiful!

And

We have have another date tonight!

We're going to a community college where they are showing free Christmas movies. 

Tonight they're showing Elf.

I don't know if the movie is any good, but I know the company will be!

I am so blessed with family and friends!

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Coffee Happiness

I enjoy coffee.

It makes me happy.

So I have two cups every morning.

Black.

No sugar.

Free embroidery pattern
Wild Olive

I had graduated to drinking two MUGS of coffee each morning, but decided I was going a little overboard.
You can get too much of a good thing!

I got to thinking about coffee drinkers from the 1950's.
Think of the cups June and Ward drunk their morning and evening coffee from.
What about Lucy and Ricky's coffee cups?
They weren't 12 ounce mugs like I was using.
They were tiny.


If June could get her housework done on a tiny cup of coffee (or two) so could I!
 
So, I set out to find myself the "perfect" coffee cup.
It should be small... dainty even.
It should be dark so I don't feel guilty when I see coffee stains in it that I don't want to scrub out.
It should make me happy when I fill it up every morning with my happy brew.
 
It wasn't easy finding the cup to meet all my requirements.
I searched for quite awhile and then
Ta-Da!
There it was sitting on a shelf in the thrift store, just waiting for me!
Simple perfection!

I can now enjoy my small, girly cups of coffee each morning guilt-free

because

I now read that coffee...in moderation...is good for me!

It can help me lose weight!

(You can read that article here.)

And

It keeps me happy and fights off depression!

(Read that article here.)

I'm trying to apply the idea of moderation in other areas of my life.

Maybe I should next look at my sweets consumption.

Would this be considered moderate?

uncommon goods

How about you?

How do you like your coffee?

From a mug?

From a dainty little tea cup?

Black?

Sweet and creamy?

P.S.  Thanks to everyone for your helpful comments on my last post!  I'm still reading and rereading them all and mulling it over.  In the meantime I remain 

~A Happy Valentine~

Linked to:  Show and Tell Friday?
                  Pink Saturday
                  Whatever You Want Wednesday

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Whimsy and I need your advice

I'm thinking of changing the name of my blog.
Why?
Because I think it may get overlooked because people think it is a blog only about Valentines.

The problem?
I don't know what to call it.
"Experts" say the name should reflect the content of the blog.
That would make mine the: cooking, cleaning, teaching, whining, laughing, sewing, photography, random thoughts blog.

I would love to hear your thoughts.
Have you changed the name of your blog?
How has it worked for you?
Do you have a suggestion for a new name for my blog?
All input is appreciated!



Linked to:  Whatever You Want Wednesday

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On Sunday I...

...went to church
...came home to a warm, wonderful smelling home

My two good friends ~ Mrs. Crock Pot and Mr. Bread Machine ~ had us a wonderful meal cooked up!

Crock Pot Lasagna?

and Paprika Onion Bread

TasteofHome.com

After sharing the meal with my sweet hubby, two sons, and one son's girlfriend, we cleaned up the kitchen, shared some old family photos with son's girlfriend, and then sweet hubby and I took a leisurely walk on our country road.  The weather was beautiful ~ warm and sunny!

Then I worked on my decorations a little more.  I can't seem to get them just right, but I'm still puttering with it.

I've been craving some homemade granola so I made up a batch and enjoyed a bowl full of it while it was still warm. Yum!

(Recipe below)

Lastly, I finally got around to something I DO NOT enjoy, making a menu for the week.

I was so happy to get it finished up so that I could make out my grocery list for Monday.

All in all, I think it was a perfect Sunday!

Homemade Granola

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

4 cups oats

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup dry milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

?Mix sugar, oil and honey in a saucepan.  Heat until sugar is dissolved. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour sugar mixture over dry ingredients and mix well.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Let cool and store in an airtight container.

Optional ingredients: raisins (add after baking), wheat germ, dried fruit, etc.

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Today I...

washed and rehung the shower curtain and

our fluffy white towels...?

...cut my hair (big mistake!)...

...trashed the dining room with boxes of Christmas decorations...

....escaped to the breakfast room to enjoy a little peacefulness...

...had lunch with dear friends (fun!!!)...

...returned library books...

...decorated the tree...

...pondered over the complexities of life

(like how can ornament hooks go separately! into a little plastic bag one year and come out like this the next year!?)...

...cooked Cheddar Chicken Pie and toasted biscuits for supper...

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TasteofHome.com

...bundled up and went to our little town's BIG Christmas parade...

...came home and watched The Miracle on 34th Street with sweet hubby.

What a wonderful day!!!

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I should have known better...

... than to have tried to carry on a conversation at the same time I was putting ingredients in the bread machine.  The result?  I didn't put in as much water as the focaccia bread recipe called for.  And that's why you find me perched on a stool - for leverage - rolling out a lump of stiff, hard, unyielding bread dough.

These flabby middle-aged arm muscles aren't up to the job of spreading that resisting dough out to the edges of the pizza stone.

After many minutes of my struggling with the impossible, my photographer (eldest son) takes pity on me and trades me his camera for my rolling pin and with those young muscles, gets the job done quickly!

The bread turned out wonderfully, by the way. 

Wish I had gotten a picture of it before we gobbled it up.

We're planning His/Her Thanksgivings again this year.

Thursday, Thanksgiving with my parents and family and Friday, Thanksgiving with sweet Hubby's family.

I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving season!

Love,  Sherry

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Color My World!

I'm over my whining spell about the time change and now I'm working on adding color to my grey surroundings.

I started out my colorful journey at the plant nursery where I bought some bright plants and flowers that can handle the winter chill.

I snapped this picture of the ornamental cabbage after bringing it home and setting it on my front porch where the afternoon sun was bringing out its colors.

Below is the same plant on this cloudy day (first large plant on the left).

It's funny how the sunshine affects the color, isn't it?

I think sunshine has the same effect on me...it just brings out my color.

ornamental cabbage, kale, and pansies

  

 I surrounded the cabbages and kale with many, many pansies.

Pansies always make me think of children's happy smiling faces.

I still have this brave, lone, little bud on my front yard rosebush.

I found this picture in a store yesterday while out and about in town.

It's very large and took the saleslady and me quite a while to squeeze/wedge it into the backseat of my car after my purchase.

It took even longer to get it out once I got home, even though I had help from my son!

Sweet hubby hung it over the living room couch last night and I think it carries on the Color My World theme quite well.

And last, but not least, I went through some of my many pounds of cotton scraps with ideas of making some colorful throw pillows for the couch.

Below are pictures for happy-scrappy throw pillows I found on Cluckclucksew.com.

(The links below the pictures will take you to the tutorials.)

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Sprocket Pillows

?????

Petal Pillow

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?And today?

Well, I should be cleaning house.

But.....

I may go out in my backyard and walk around barefoot instead.

The day has started out warm with just a little peek of sunshine here and there but

thunderstorms are expected later today and then cooler weather behind that.

So I think I'll just play hooky from housework and enjoy this "snappy new day!"

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I JUST CAN'T GET USED TO THE TIME CHANGE!!!

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!!!

I don't like darkness settling in before 5:00 p.m., or even earlier on cloudy days.

I don't like not being able to take an after-supper walk with my sweetie because it gets dark before we even start our meal.

I don't like the closed-in feeling that comes with the early evenings.

I want more light, more sunshine, more happy things in my fall and winter days!

Thank you for listening to my whining. And now....

I have a Plan!!!

I plan on LIGHTING up my life!

I'm starting with winter blooming flowers for my backyard garden.

 

I plan on going to a plant nursery tomorrow and bringing home some pansies to plant outside my kitchen window.

Those little smiling faces will make me so happy while I wash dishes at my kitchen sink this fall and winter.

I want to cheer up our home.

I've been searching for bright ~ but cheap ~ ideas to chirp up our living spaces.

I love the brightness in the rooms below:

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simplecasualliving.blogspot.com

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images.meredith.com

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micasarevista.com

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vintagehome.tumblr.com

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homegoods.com

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justinetaylor.tumblr.com

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creamofwhite.tumblr.com

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inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com

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 inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com

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I have a list of some other things that I hope will help fill the shorter winter days with cheer:

• fill bird feeders with food to attract a wide variety of winter birds (I enjoy bird watching out my patio door in the winter)
• add lemon to my tea/water (lemon tastes like sunshine! :)
• play uplifting music
• get more caffeine ~ (my favorite idea :)
• keep volunteering in the kindergarten class
• keep up weekly eat out date with my friends
• daily exercise (walk outside when possible or exercise to a DVD when I can't get out)
• take advantage of every minute of sunshine possible
• buy a cheery new coffee cup

Do you have any ideas I could add to my list?  I would love to hear how you deal with the shorter fall and winter days.  Your comments always cheer up my day!

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This post is linked to:  Whatever You Want Wednesday

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