Birthday Card for Grandma from Shutterfly!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Better Homes and Gardens Contest on Facebook

Have you entered yet?? Just a few more days till the deadline!  One lucky person will win the bathroom of their dreams with a $200 Gift Certificate to give their bathroom a wonderful Refresh!


For more information on how you can enter check out the Better Homes and Gardens Facebook page for more details on how to enter yourself!


Here are some pictures of our bathroom.  I wish that there was a "Refresh, Sweep & Clean" button I could press so that things look more like a Bathroom Spa-Getaway instead of the Room you "RUN AWAY FROM"! 

1.)  Our faucet is just not working out for us.  
 The spout is just so low and the sink just doesn't allow for little hands to easily get at the flow of water.  I literally have my daughter's belly pressed against the sink and her hands outstretched to its limits before being able to get at the water.  If the neck were longer then things would be able to work so much better.     Also, cleaning in between the faucet parts are just plain difficult.  The space between counter and the faucet parts are so close together and so low that I have to get a towel and "floss" it through just to get it clean from the sitting water and mildew buildup in there. 

2.  The walls are bare and impractical. 
The space (on the right) is a wall that could use something!  We could really use a cabinet or something to ground our walls to practical reality.  With the bare walls, the space really creates a cold hospital-office feel.  I could really use a cabinet or shelving to create a comfortable, practical, and interesting bathroom.  Or even some wall decor! :)

This used to be nice decor over the toilet...

What we would rather have it this! 

With a price point online for $54.97 

$200-54.97

=$145.03

 Better Homes and Garden Cottage Wall Cabinet.

$54.97

Better Homes and Gardens Ferns I Framed Art

$16.00

3.  Shower curtains need a makeover. 
Would love to Refresh our bathroom with a bold look.  I know that I fresh bold shower curtain can really change our bathroom into a room that is comfortable and pleasing to be in. With new shower curtains having nice colors I think it would put a nice warmth to the bathroom.

What we would absolutely love to get are new 

Shower curtains: $16! 

Shower Hooks: $9

$145.07-25

=120.07

LOVE THIS BATHROOM SET!

Better Homes and Gardens Vine Shower Curtain Hooks, Set of 12

$9.00

4.  Kitchen Rug serving as a Bathroom rug
Our brave Kitchen Rug bravely volunteered to be our temporarily rug in the bathroom.  Now serving his 3rd year as the Kitchen-Bath Rug, he is not happy at the more permanent spot in the bath.  He would rather be in the kitchen keeping my feet warm from the cold laminate!

"Retire me please..."

  To be serious, I really want something that makes me feel good when I step out of the shower.  I want something soft luxurious and well--nice to look at when I get out of the shower.  I want to feel like I just stepped from the shower into some place dry and warm and not my kitchen rug.

What we would absolutely love new rugs

$120.07- 14.00

= $106.07

 

Better Homes and Gardens Vine Bath Rug 

  $14.00

Please Refresh our Bathroom--Better Homes and Gardens!

Jenn Bostic- "Jealous of the Angels"

Have you ever lost someone in your family or a close friend? 

I know that I have been fortunate to not lose a family member yet, but I do have grandparents who are reaching the ends of their lives.  I have however have lost close friends that are forever in my memory.   I know that up above they watch me and root me on to live my life well and to be faithful to the One who has always been there for me.  I know that there is a great cloud of witnesses up above somewhere watching our lives play out before them.

I was contacted to share this song "Jealous of the Angels" by Jenn Bostic.  This is her song, and reason for writing her song.  I hope you enjoy!

"Jealous of the Angels," was written for my dad.  He passed away in a tragic car accident when I was ten years old.  Music and songwriting became the only forms of therapy that truly allowed me to express my emotions.  I have written multiple songs on this subject, but it wasn't until fourteen years after his death that we (cowriters Zach Runquist and Jimmy Fortune) created something that represented everything I felt.  I remember saying that night that my one wish was to know that he was smiling down on me and that he was proud of me.  That night I prayed.  I prayed every night for two months that God would give me some sort of sign that my dad was smiling down on me.  I didn't tell anyone what I was praying for, but I was believing God for a selfish answer.  On Christmas Eve that year, my best friend in the world, who has been with me through everything, called me from Oregon at 7:15 in the morning to tell me about a dream she had had the night before.  She said my dad was in her dream and said, "Please tell Jenn I'm so proud of her and that I'm at every one of her shows."

 I share this story whenever I perform "Jealous of the Angels."  It is a huge part of my testimony.  As I began sharing it inspired others to tell me there stories.  Soon I was receiving emails and facebook messages from strangers telling me their intimate stories about loss and how much my song had spoken to them.  When we had written this song I thought this was a blessing for me to have some sort of closure with any uncertainty I might have had, but I started to realize and continued to everyday, that God is using this song to touch the hearts of those who have lost loved ones, to comfort them and to help them heal.  I feel so blessed to be a part of it.  The stories kept coming, I cannot count on two hands the amount of people who have come up to me in tears after a show telling them how much "Jealous of the Angels" touched them and exactly who it makes them think of.  The stories have not only been an affirmation that God is at work through the song, but they are healing and comforting to me as well.  This is what inspired my team and I to develop a weekly blog featuring one of these stories each week.  The stories and comments continue to blow me away.  I thank God everyday for the gifts He has given me, and am now trying to live up to responsibility I have with them.”

Winner of the Seventh Generation Diapers....

Book Review: Safely Home by Randy Alcorn

Summary of Safely Home:

 Randy Alcorn's heart for this book was to write a fiction book that is a melting pot of many very non-fictional events and realities that have happened to those in countries where real Christians are really persecuted.

While telling the story of Li Quan whose legacy seems to be martyrdom, Randy was able to intertwine in the book the sole thought of God's Sovereignty.  He is in control of every circumstance.  And He works every circumstance for good to the glory of God--even through great sorrow and loss.  In this book you can catch a glimpse of how He is at work in the characters of Ben Felding and Li Quan.

Every circumstance and detail seem to be purposed by God even the hard ones we can't explain.  I feel that this book can be the story of everyone in some shape or form.  I felt myself encouraged, ashamed, repentant, forgiven, and joyful.  Many times I found myself thinking the exact thoughts that one person was thinking--I feel that this book is an encouragement to every believer and non believer too.  --An encouragement that life is more than this world.  There is hope and joy and life in Christ Jesus that is more filling than anything this world can offer.  This book is also about knowing that the sufferings of this present world is but for a moment in light of eternity. 

Lessons Learned:
People face persecutions because of their faith in Jesus and their desire to read the Bible everyday. 
Often times I find myself just cold, uncaring, and desensitized when I hear about brothers and sisters in some third world country being persecuted for their faith.

Have you ever felt that way?

How often does one get overwhelmed or even feel so detached from news like this?  For me, it is quite often.  I feel sorry and pity for them in one second, and forget about them in the next!  I hate that I am shallow in this sense.  But this book, Safely Home  awakened me from my cold emotions.  I was not overwhelmed nor burdened by the weight of knowing all the horrible things people are going through.  Instead, I felt love and compassion come back again, and that cold uncaring feeling melted away.

I believe God showed me that my part in all this was to be a prayer warrior for these brothers and sisters.  He never asked me to conquer the world or anything...but what  I could DO is to pray. Instead of feeling detached or pity or sorrow for them because I feel incapable and  can do nothing, I feel like I am taking out the enemy with the biggest guns ever---PRAYER! 

JOY and HOPE and LOVE for those who I could not see seemed to take bloom. 
Not joy because others are suffering, but the hope and joy that I know will come in the morning for them.  I pray that they remain faithful until the end and be strengthened with His might.  I pray that they know that "Real Gold Fears No Fire".  Also, joy that I can get to see those who I have never seen before in heaven. 

Conclusion:

• In short, I love this book and I heartily recommend you pick it up to read--I already have a friend who is going to get my copy of the book to read! 

• I give this book a 5 out of 5!

To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Book Review: My First Words At Home

Book Review: My First Words at HOME

I think this would be a great board book for my little girl!  The colorful vivid pictures that are identifiable and common enough for her to recognize provide my one year old enough to keep her attention for a while as I read.  I think it is fun, and is a book that will help her when she is old enough to be learning how to read.

 The words are something that I can easily point out and with a big picture near the word I am saying, I am sure this book can help little one learn their first words of Home.  It's a nice first "words" book for toddlers and though I wish the words were a bit bigger to catch my daughter's attention a lot more, I think it's still a good book to have.

Where to Buy:
Where to get your own "My First Words of HOME" or for more books like this check out their website:  http://www.starbrightbooks.org/details.php?id=344 

From the kitchen to the living room to the bedroom and the bathroom there are over 100 words for baby to discover in this exciting romp around the house-both inside and out! Photos of familiar objects and new discoveries will have children talking about all the fascinating things they find at home and in the backyard too. Board Book.  --Description from the Star Bright Website



Thank you to Net Galley for providing our family access to check out books to review!  And Thank you to Star Bright Books for letting us review your book!  Review is our own and is our honest opinion of the book.