To Do Tuesday #5

Okay today's To Do Tuesday is directly linked with my very first To Do Tuesday and an item on that list that has been hanging out in the shadows waiting to be checked off. I'm finally getting to it and I don't have any idea why I waited so long! What was I thinking? Precious moments wasting away when I could have be Silhouetting!

Yes, I did it! I finally opened my new Silhouette Cameo and I'm over the moon! We actually purchased the machine to use in the ministry but that was before I realized how AW-MAYZING it is! Are you kidding, have you seen the possibilities? I found this board on Pinterest that I'm nuts for. This chick has pinned over 855 pins related to things to do with this mad machine.

Anyhoo, today's To Do Tuesday is dedicated to the wonderful Silhouette Cameo.

1 Okay first off check out this lovely sign over at Aimee Weaver Designs. Is it not the prettiest thing you've ever seen? I would buy it in a heartbeat if I had $99 and if I didn't have to pay $1000 to get it shipped to me. But, since I don't and can't I'm going to take some inspiration from it and make something sorta similar.

2. I am in love with this sweet image from Dawn Nicole Designs. She is offering the file for free! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I said FREE! This is going on HIS side of the bed!

3. Fun, colorful garland for my super-room! I found this sewn paper garland and fell in love. I love all things colorful and this will fit in perfect in my new craft room *aka* Super-Room.

Okay besides all these goodies, there's still laundry to be done, two baskets that need to be folded and put up. Sunday School lesson for Sunday and Gypsy Kids Meeting Saturday morning. There's still lots to do besides this to do list but I'm making these priorities or at least I want to so we'll see how it goes.

Regardless of however many I get done I can still check off opening the thing from my very first To Do Tuesday. Woohoo me!

Oh wait, I wanted to share this with you too. I seriously do this, no, I'm serious I really do. Pitiful I know. 

Have a great, productive Tuesday and rest of the week y'all, and don't forget to link up!

I'm jazzing up my new craft room

 Okay so I got seriously bored with all my white walls in my new craft room (daughter's old room) and thought I'd do something about it. I opened my trusty PSP program and got after it. I went crazy with colors and thought I'd share!

INSTAFriday #9

Are you kidding? I seems like yesterday was Monday how did we make it to Friday already? As soon as summer is over Fall flies by and before we know it it's holiday time. 

(let me just stop for an impromptu grammar lesson. I am seriously the kind of girl that thinks of what i'm gonna type and if there is a word I can't recall how to spell I just pick another, as is or has been the case with the word "fly". Okay so time "flys" or "flies"?  So I knew it was fly for singular and flies for plural but I honestly had no idea what to use in the place of "time flys or flies." So, finally today after a thousand times of replacing the word fly with another I finally know.  In the case of "time flys or flies." It would be the plural form flies. Go firgure! That was my problem all along, why use the plural form for flies but alas, it's flies. Wow, this grammar lesson has lasted forever. Time flies when you're having fun or is it time's fun when you're having flies?) 

Anyhoo, before all my time flies away, on to INSTAFriday.
This week was pretty quiet. Actually I didn't get out much at all. Johnny was gone for 3 days and when he was home I just felt like cuddling on the couch, which we did a lot of in front of the first fire of the season in the wood burning stove. I love Fall!

This is hilarious! You know the old adage, "as long as there are children in the house you'll never have peace in the bathroom", well I need to rewrite that as "as long as there are children or doggies in the house you'll never have peace in the bathroom". Apparently Zoi feels the need to take up the post of guarding the bathroom door when it's in use. She's crazy, she'll sit there and scratch and it sounds like someone is knocking. Oh well, as least she feels useful. 

My second photo on my Instagram feed is this. My happy place in the morning is at my desk with my Bible and coffee. I'm so thankful that the Bible is a living Book and is new every time I read it. BTW, you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the girl.

Also, if you see my pen, well...it's only the best Bible marking pen ever! If you don't know about these, they're amazing. They are the Pilot Frixion Point pens and they are completely bleed proof, smudge proof and erasable! Yes, erasable!! They erase everything and leave absolutely no mark whatsoever. They are wonderful. They are also extrememly hard to find in stores in the States but you can get them online here. Also I got mine on Amazon where I found them to be the least expensive.

So, Happy INSTAFriday to everyone!! I hope you'll link up today so I can come and check out your INSTAFriday shares too!

Thankful Thursday

Well happy Thursday! Today, keeping with my personal theme of being happy this week I'm joining up with Lori over at Frog's Lilypad for her Thankful Thursdays.

If you read my To Do Tuesday post you'll remember I had only one item on my list for the week and that was to be happy. 

I looked up the word happy just to get a little insight. Dictionary.com defines happy this way:

happy [hap-ee] 

adjective: happier, happiest. 

1. delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: to be happy to see a person.

2. characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy: a happy mood; a happy frame of mind.

3. favored by fortune; fortunate or lucky: a happy, fruitful land.

4. apt or felicitous, as actions, utterances, or ideas.

Then I looked up synonyms for happy.

Synonyms 

1. joyous, joyful, blithe, cheerful, merry, contented, gay, blissful, satisfied.
2. favorable, propitious; successful, prosperous. See fortunate.
3. appropriate, fitting, opportune, pertinent.

The single thought that hit me right between my brown eyes was CONTENTMENT. Contentment brings happiness. My lack of happiness was directly related to my lack of contentment.

God has brought me so far from the type of life I grew up in and the circumstances I lived with that I have always found it very easy to be content. Every turn my life has taken since I was born again at 21 has been a step up. Things have consistently gotten better over the last 22 so it's never been a challenge to find contentment.

I've never had a problem with where and what God has given us. I've always been happy to be right where He put us regardless of the grandeur. Contentment has never been a problem until this last month. I realize that my problem hasn't been a lack of things or people that make me "happy" but a lack of contentment with where are lives are right now.

The truth is, everywhere God has ever told us to go, we have went. When He says don't go, we don't. We've done our best to live with a reverent fear of the One who gave us life. So when He says it we try to do it and do it with a good attitude. My problem is that this whole season of my life, God has appointed and I'm resisting His plan. Shame on me! There isn't anything going on right now in our life that should cause me to resist so why am I?

I have fallen prey to an "I want" mentality. As long as we live in "I want-ville" we can never arrive at "Content-burgh". I've been cruising around and burning up precious fuel in "I want-ville" way too long. Whether it's a person (or people in my case) or a thing, staying in "I want-ville" too long is dangerous. Dangerous to us as Christians and dangerous to the abundant life God wants to give us. John 10:10 says:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

So, for this whole "happy" thing to be possible I must get a firm grip on the big C. Contentment is the key to happiness and it's the one ingredient I've been missing lately. I've stopped and wondered often why I feel depressed when everything in my life seems perfect. I have a more than amazing relationship with the man of my dreams. We have a lovely, comfortable dwelling place. We have a church family that adore us. We have good, faithful friends that are there if and when we need them. We both enjoy great health. We have saved, healthy, smart children. What could possibly be making me sad? A sheer lack of contentment with the season of life that God has given me.

No more! I have identified the culprit in my life. The one that causes most of my downheartedness and I'm finished with it! Dissatisfaction and I are breaking up! I'm finished with it. I'm taking Contentment by the hand and we're going to get coffee. Today, tomorrow and for as long as I trust God, I'm going to be content and by being content I'm going to be HAPPY.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding

                                            Proverbs 3:13-18

So I'm joining Lori today for Thankful Thursday because I'm thankful for those "wake-up" moments God gives us. Those moments when things look a little clearer and make a little more sense. I'm thankful today because God gave me a "wake-up" moment and I woke up.

To Do Tuesday #4

Wow, this month has flown by. I can't believe we're almost in October. We've been back here just over a month and it seems to have just flown by.

We've got a lot done so that takes time but honestly I've spent a small while feeling quite depressed. I can usually roll with the punches but this month back has been brutal.
Okay, remember my post 10 Things I've Learned My First Week of Living in My Empty Nest, well forget everything I said! Apparently what I learned from living my first week in an empty nest is...absolutely nothing!
I was living in a pipe dream. Reality hadn't hit yet. I thought everything was smooth sailing when in reality a storm, a big, black, ugly, storm was coming. Not only did we have an extremely empty nest to deal with we also had to learn to live knowing that three-fifths of our little family was on another continent on the otherside of the globe. It's been a lesson in faith to realize our children are for once out of our reach. We've always trusted the Lord but now it's test time! our hands are tied so we're going to have to truly trust in God to protect them.
I also forgot about the culture shock we always feel when coming home or going to the States. Life is so drastically different and moves at different paces, it takes time to get used to that. I didn't realize or remember how lonely it gets here either. I'm sure I took for granted how easy the transition was going to be and how much I'd miss having children in the house. I am a mom, that's all I've ever been (other than loving and multi-faceted wife). So, transition? Yep, a big one!

The storm has come, a month long storm and I think I can see some blue peaking out from behind those black clouds. So, today for my To Do Tuesday, I have one item listed:

1. BE HAPPY!

I'm going to do my best today to acknowledge all I do have here and put aside all the thoughts about what or rather who I don't have here.
Life is about growing and changing and we're just in a metamorphosis right now, it's a little painful but I'm hoping to come through with beautiful wings and ready for my next phase of life.

Don't forget to link up, can't wait to see your To Do Tuesday!

INSTAFriday #8 Belated

I'm not even sure If I can do this or not but I'm going to. I'm posting a belated INSTAFriday. I know I should have done it yesterday but It was the first day I felt good well better not disgusting all week. So yesterday I actually showered and went out with the hubby, after I got dressed of course and we even stopped or coffee. I usually get a head cold once every year but I missed last year and I was hoping this year would follow suit. At least it's done and over with so I can look forward to the rest of the season. 

My week started off with a lovely bouquet of flowers from my main squeeze. 

He know's just what I like. I like roses bit not particularly. I would much rather have a mixed bouquet than roses any day and these were perfect. 

I was a little chilly the first part of the week so I made my first pot of stew. No, before you ask, those are not pickles and this isn't Russian soup. I actually cheated and used frozen Italian seasoned veggies and it was delish! I topped mine with a slab of Mozzerella and it was to die for!

Okay so this is something completely new for me. Amigurumi. Yes, I spelled that right. It's basically Japanese for crocheted stuffed doll. In my case it's a bear. I found the best ever tutorial (of any kind, she's a great teacher and so easy to follow) on YouTube for making this little guy. After I fdinished I crocheted a quick granny stitch blankie and attached it to the bottom of this little guy. I'm sending him off to the capital in a few days to a brand new little boy. Anyhow, if you ever wanted to try something like this, this is the tutorial for you. 

I was so excited to see flowers on my clematis I planted last Spring. When we left for the states it was just starting to bloom and I was so bummed that I wouldn't get to see it. It's been so crazy warm here lately that everything is still in full bloom. I love these!

I posted this photo this week of my kiddos. This is the photo that is on the visor of our car. I miss them all so much. I'm so glad we had them here with us for the first 15 years. Now I'm praying that grand kids will be coming my way over the next 15. BTW, empty nest isn't as awesome as I initially thought. 

Finally, I found this photo the other day of our preacher and his wife and us right before we left for the field in 2000. I know we look different but it's us I assure you. It seems like an eternity ago that we left and arrived here. I'm so thankful for a Pastor who taught us to stand tall and stick out the hard times. 

Okay, before anyone asks, yes that is my foot in the bottom of the photo. Don't look too close, my nails need serious attention. 

Anyhoo, that's my belated INSTAFriday. I figured better late than never. Hey if you want to join me, it's not too late. I'm gonna add a link up just in case there are some takers.

I'm also linking up today with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for her Friday Fave Five

To Do Tuesday #3

Today's To Do Tuesday is gonna be pretty lame.
#1 on my To Do List is GET WELL! I'm a bit under the weather so today's goal is to feel better.
Hope you guys are super productive today, I'm planning on spending it in bed!

New Blogger Friend

I wanted to introduce you guys to a good friend of mine who recently started blogging. Angela is a pastor's wife in Texas and is a multi-talented lady. She can do it all and she's begun blogging about some of her life and hobbies. Please take a moment and drop by and see her, I know it would be an encouragement to her. Oh and let her know I sent you!

INSTAFriday #7 Link-up

I am in shock! How can it be Friday already? Where are the days going? As of yesterday we've been home already 3 weeks! It seems like we arrived yesterday and now we're already on week 4! 

The weather's turned a little chilly and wet here which I guess is to be expected since it's September and the kids are all back in school. It has to be wet and cold or those kids won't have stories to tell their kids about standing in the cold rain waiting for the school bus when they were kids. Oh yea, after walking 12 miles to the bus stop. 

Anyhoo, my Instagram feed started out Sunday with a photo of my favorite preacher. I am so proud of my Johnny. He's become such an amazing man over the years and even if he weren't my husband I would still be very impressed. 

Oh yea and that blue suit, well it makes it a little hard for me to pay attention to the sermon. I love being in love with him. I know it's mushy but I don't know how else to say it. 

This empty-nest stuff is for the birds! (Ha, I made a funny and didn't even try.) While I'm loving the alone time with Johnny and the peace, I can't stand the quiet. I never dreamed I'd miss noise so much. He's also been in a bit of a funk lately because of it. Between knowing they're not here are worrying about them there, (yes, I know that the opposite of faith is worry) it's been a learning experience. I need to study harder so I'll quit flunking the quiz. 

So Johnny and I decided to have a frivolous Monday of just gallivanting around for no good reason so we headed to Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia. It's not far, only about an hour and a couple tolls.

As we headed toward downtown I happen to see this at a stoplight. I know, it's art right? If you say so.



Then we headed to the Botanical Gardens that I've wanted to visit for 15 years. We've driven and walked past this place numerous times but since today was all about being frivolous we stopped. I loved it! The flowers were still in bloom and everything, I mean EVERYTHING was labeled. The crazy thing is that Johnny loved it. He even talked about how cool gardening would be. Oh be still my heart! I have hope.

Oh yea, and the lily pad house was amazing. I have never seen a lily pad this size. The flower blooms which weren't bloomed were the size of a small child's head.  Is that not unreal. I was so solid too, a child could have floated on in. On the bottom side of the pad it was covered with monstrous thorns. Very jungly. (is that a word?) It is now.



We had such a good time meandering through town and down back alleys. Most of the towns in this part of Europe look the same but I never get tired of strolling down the cobblestone streets.

This is what we found at the bottom of the above walkway. it was the perfect place to get a cappuccino. We sat and did was all Europeans do, we sipped coffee, slowly and we watched people walk by. That's the national pastime of Croatia and I like it!

We chose this place for coffee, you know why? Because I loved the plants on the tables in old tin cans. I like quirky things (that's why I like y'all) and that's pretty quirky. The coffee was great even through the waiter was a bit of a jerk (I mean that in the nicest way).

We made our way back to the car and headed to the Promise Land! Okay so it's just IKEA but pretty close. I don't know why I love this place but I do! I always leave with some cool thinggy or two. This time several cool thinggys.

Anyhow, that's what dominated my Instagram feed this week. I don't seem to take as many photos as I did before. I guess without a cute daughter to photograph my feed has slowed down.

We enjoyed our frivolous Monday and I'm thinking it's gonna be a permanent fixture in our lives.

I'm also linking up today with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for her Friday Fave Five

Can't wait to see your INSTAFriday! Don't forget to link-up below!

To Do Tuesday Link-Up #2

Well, it's that time again and I'd love to say I checked off all of last week's list but sadly... I didn't. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Actually, time just doesn't seem as long and abundant as it used to be, time just seems to fly these days. Plus, I had a pretty big list.  

Hey don't forget to add your link before for To Do Tuesday link-up. 

We actually did get quite a bit done and some stuff that wasn't even on my list. BTW, before you ask, #6 says klakavci  (I have no idea what this is in English) which is Croatian for those little brick thinggys our downstairs patio and driveway are made out of. For those wondering, yes I know the list is messy. 

 Okay so we did finished the curtains! This was a huge job because the ceiliing by the crazy, almost 3 meter window wasn't flat. It actually started to slant up quite a bit about a foot away from the window. We just had the sheers on one of those tight cables before. Johnny had to flatten the ceiling over there so he could put up a proper curtain track. It was a lot of work but it's amazing to be able to close the curtains and walk around at night and not have to worry about creepers watching you. This was a big one and I'm glad it's done!

 My second semi-completed job is our conversion of our Nan's old room to my super-room. Johnny got the shelves and desk put up and now it's up to me to find all my junk tucked away all over the place and move it into my super-room! Yes, super-room is what I'm calling it.

I do have a confession, I haven't touched the Silhouette yet. I'm telling you, time is hard to come by. It seems like I should have more time but the time I have is just flying by. We've already been here almost 3 weeks and that's craziness!

Okay now for my actually To Do Tuesday.

I am seriously going to tackle my drawers today!! They are so full that they won't close properly and I've had it. Okay, I'm gonna make a confession...I hoard undies! No normal person, in their right mind needs as many undies as I have. I know that but I just can't seem to toss them. But today...they're gone!!

To Do Tuesday = Bathe stinky doggy. BTW, she's a ShihTzu and yes she should have long hair and did when we left her in the kennel. When we returned she looked like this. Don't get me started!!!

So I still have school books lying around and what's a girl to do with them? They're too good to throw out but it's too expensive to ship them to someone who needs them.

So, should I box them and put them with the multitudes of other boxes in the garage to never been seen or thought of again or what? Decisions, decisions. Either way, they're leaving my super-room today!

Oh, this has nothing to do with To Do Tuesday but I wanted to share it. I found it yesterday at Ikea. It was advertised as a lap table for a computer but it works wonderfully for Bible time. A neck can get pretty stiff staring down at your Bible for 10 chapters. So this works amazingly and it was cheap, which I love! Oh yea and look, it matches my Bible cover!! Thanks IKEA! 

Okay Guys, it's your turn! I can't wait to read your To Do Tuesdays!

INSTAFriday #6

Wow, I can't believe that we've been home 2 weeks already. Time has seriously flown and we've been majorly busy. I am glad however to be able to start up INSTAFriday again hopefully you guys will join in. 

I can't tell you how happy I was to be home and be able to enjoy the view from our 2nd floor terrace. We live in the city but Croats are so good at gardening their yards that it almost feels like we're in a garden. I love it!

Funny story: Growing up my mother always had Wisteria planted in every yard we ever had. She loved it and I love it. So 15 years ago when we bought a house here I went and bought some Wisteria and planted it in my yard. Well a year and a half later we had to sell that house when the Dollar plummeted. Anyhow, we have since moved 5 times and every time I've planted a wisteria in my yard. The problem is, Wisteria takes up to 7 years to bloom. So I would plant it but then we'd move before it bloomed so I've yet to see a Wisteria bloom in my yard. So when we moved here almost 2 years ago I planted Wisteria again. This time I actually went to the national pastor's wife (they bought the house we sold where the first Wisteria was planted) and got some of the very first Wisteria I planted here in Croatia 15 years ago. It's very happily growing in my yard in two different places. I have seen it bloom yet but I have great hopes it will before we leave this house. 

Until then, I'll enjoy looking at my neighbors Wisteria that grows up over the roof of out out buildings. 

While the neighbors garden looks awesome ours didn't so much. We have a huge patio area out back and when we got back it looked like that. Apparently it was a bumper crop year for weeds. Those weeks were 4 feet tall. We had a little work to do when we go home, needless to say.

 I know what you're thinking, that doesn't look real appetizing. Okay so it's not a foodie photo and it's not suppose to be. When our daughter was at home she always used the yellow plate. All my dishes are white but somewhere along the way I ended up with one special yellow plate and Hannah adopted it. We didn't dare use that yellow plate, it was hers! I sent this photo to Hannah to show her that the yellow plate was now ours. She got a chuckle out of it but later that day, I dropped the prized yellow plate and now ALL my plates are white.

I told you guys not long ago, (or did I?) that a baby was being born in our church and they were naming her after me. We'll here I am meeting Tory for the very first time. She is an amazingly good baby and she's beautiful. She's so similar to her namesake. HA! Anyhow, here she is, Tory. What an honor. 

Did I tell you I started crocheting? We'll I did. All those long road trips in the States were so boring and a girl can only sleep so much. So I started with hankies and moved up to blankies. I fell in love with this chunky turquoise and brown yard I found and Michael's. Plus I used a 40% off coupon so that's a win and it's big and chunky so that makes for a quick project. I'm all about seeing progress and quick projects. I probably should be on Ridlin, cause I have a seriously short attention span so quick projects are essential for my happiness and longevity. I'll share when I'm finished. 

Our daughter Hannah is one lively young lady. She has always had enough life in her for all of us. She is zany and fun and I thought she was one of a kind till I meet Agatha. Agatha is 75 and she is Hannah's personality twin. I'm so not kidding. She is so much like Hannah it's almost scary. They think alike and she's just as lively at 75 as Hannah is at 18. They are twinseys. Anyhow, we took this photo to send to Hannah when we got back. Agatha is sadly lost without Hannah. She talks about her all the time. It means so much to me to know that Hannah left such a hole in so many hearts, including mine. 

Okay so that's INSTAFriday #6 done! I'm actually surprised I had any new photos on my Instagram cause life's been crazy busy here. 

I can't wait to see yours! Make sure you link up for INSTAFriday so we can come take a look-see. 

To Do Tuesday Link-up #1

Hey Guys, I'm doing something new here at Home Away From Home. 90% of my problem when it comes to productivity is forgetting what needs to be done. Aside from a whiteboard I need a time to sit and reflect on projects for the week. So here's what I came up with, To Do Tuesday, a weekly link-up for all those who want to be more productive. Oh oh, ME ME!

So here's my list for this week, it's not all-inclusive but it's the fun stuff. 

1. Pillow makeover!! I love throw pillows and mine are long over-do a makeover. I found this adorable fabric at Hobby Lobby when I was home. My living area is turquoise and brown and I'm trying to add some bright yellow to brighten up all the brown. I love the birdies!

2. Curtain fixer-uper! We are going to lower the ceiling area over the top of the curtains so it's even with the rest of the ceiling and then add a curtain track and then new curtains!! I have waited for this since we moved here, so I'm pumped!

3.This is a fun one! My brand new Silhouette Cameo! Whohoo! Okay a confession...It was actually purchased to use in the ministry but that doesn't mean I can't use it, right??? I'm excited! There are so many cool tutorials online, so stay tuned to see my creations.

5. Hannah's room, redo. This one makes me a little emotional but excited at the same time. Since my baby girl is gone there sits an empty room and since I need an empty room, well...There it is! Johnny is going to redo this room and make it an office/sewing/computer/devotional/quiet time room. I'm super excited can't wait till it's all finished. There's quite a lot of work to be done so my goal is just to start this week. 

Anyhoo, I'm seriously looking forward to this link-up each week and hope you'll join me. I always get so motivated seeing others be productive so let's do this together.