Christ's Birthday is near!

Are you ready? I am! I'm all done shopping and getting "blessings" for our families. I decided that blessings is much nicer word than gifts or presents. I want to bless my family members, not just give them stuff.

A sweet giveaway!

I really would love to win this giveaway for the Bulk Herb Store. There is a dvd on pregnancy that I would love to own! Check it out!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope everyone truly enjoys the celebration of our King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ!
Beth

French Macaroons Delight!

 


Mmmmm, don't these looks amazing.... (excuse while I wipe the drool off my face) 

I have been wanting to try french macaroons for a little while now but a) didn't want to spend $098837095 (What the harry number is that???) on buying some and b) didn't even want to attempt to make them. 

A friend of mine who is very much more daring than me posted on facebook that she made some. I commented about how much I would love to make and try these babies for a long time and asked her for the recipe. Well, I got the most wonderful surprise at church on sunday, 2 french macaroons! I was soooo tickled! She made an apricot one and a peppermint one. 
My Husband could tell from my face that I wanted to inhale these things but gave me a look like "Don't you dare try and open that loud packaging and stuff your face!" 

So, I waited until he took Lilly downstaires to sunday school. 

Hehe, sneaky!

OH my goodness, they were so good! My husbands brothers that were sitting with us just looked at me like "What the heck are you doing?" 
Hey, first off, I'm pregnant, I can eat in church. Second, I don't care. 

I decided that I had to try and make some more so I got the recipe and made some yesterday! I wish I had pictures, well acutally I don't because they weren't perfect and the icing was really runny but they had that wonderful, crispy yet chewy texture that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! I used raspberry flavoring and I wish I didn't. I think I like them (the cookie part) flavored with just plain vanilla and plain icing with some jelly in the middle. Mine kinda taste like cotton candy. Not ideal but oh well! 

Right now their in the freezer so that the icing doesn't drip off and also so I don't eat them all and give this child a sugar shock. 

Blessings and Merry Christmas to ya'll!

pregnancy mood swings

Every now and then, I mourn not having a sister.

I even get angry.
When I hear my friends talking about their sister(s), what they did with them, how much they love them, etc...

It's selfish, I know, but there is just something inside of me that hurts. I know the Lord's will is best and perfect, and He has blessed with some wonderful friends and family and I am so thankful for my relationship with my brother.

It still just hurts sometimes.

When I want to call her and cry on her shoulder...

Ask her to run errands with me...

Ask her to babysit my child for me....and vise versa

But the Lord knew best when He created my family. And I find comfort in that. As I sit here, I can feel His arms around me.


This morning as I was working around the house, I was trying to figure out why I'm in such a irritated mood. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy hormones. :-)Yes, that's right, we are expecting our 2nd child. Lord willing, March 5. (ish) (It will probably be the 16th, my luck....) ok ok snap out of it Beth!

You may now put away your violins. I'm done with my pity party.

I wonder what God was thinking...

when He created you.

He must of been thinking of me.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I know a lot of people look at this "holiday" and think it's stupid (my hubby being one) however I'd like to challenge you to look at it a little different. I want you to think about the love of God and how today is such a great reminder of what He did on the cross for us. I also want you to think about how we can show love to someone special today. It doesn't have to a spouse or girl/boy friend but to a couple from church who just had a baby who is in the NICU. To the newly widowed woman who is having a hard time learning a new way of life. To the pastor and his wife who need some time to be together without interruptions. What can you do to bless them and show God's love? There are many possibilities and I just want you to think about it.

My heart rejoices over my marriage and what God has blessed us with and helped us get through. I know that without God, there is a good chance we wouldn't be together. My heart is burdened though, for all the broken relationships out there. I can name a few that are close to me that aren't doing good and it brings me to tears. I have come to realize that there is not much I can say but to pray. Not gossip or speculate, only pray and love.

Tonight I am making steaks, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, snap peas with dill butter and steak house salad with a balsamic reduction. For dessert we're having warm chocolate puddings. This is my gift to my husband each year, a tasty home-cooked, non traditional meal. (Non tradional= not burritos, burrito casserole, pasta, hot dogs, or chicken)

Enjoy your day and God bless!

Sinus Infections.

After a couple of dose's of antibiotics and I'm feeling finally my good old self! Lilly is over her cold and Dom's gout is staying at bay. If you step outside and listening carefully, you can start to hear the sounds of spring. If you tilt your head just right, you can smell life beginning to awaken.

I feel like pulling a 'Napoleon Dynamite'  "YESSSSSSSSSSS"

Here is a great giveaway to get you thinking of SUMMER!!!

Have I said how excited we are for our garden this year? Well I am. I think Dom knows what's coming and is waiting to see my reaction. :-/  But I know how smart it is for us to grow our own food and can it for winter so I am excited to start this lifestyle. I'm excited for our children to be able to help out in years to come. In a few years we want to get chickens, a pig (Dom's idea), and maybe some bunnies (not to eat, promise).

Anyways, hopefully I win this giveaway because I also want to work a lot with herbs and drying them.

Well, my workout is calling my name.  My goal- lose 40lbs by Lilly's 1st Birthday in May. So far I've lost about 7lbs...... it's a slow process :-(

what miserable comforters!

As I'm reading through Job, I keep coming across some really interesting verses. One that really hit me today, with a bit of a chuckle was JOB 16:2. Eliphaz the Temanite is there with Job, talking to him, I assume, like a pastor or elder. Eliphaz is trying to comfort Job but Job is pretty much sick of it.

"I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all!"

For some reason this verse really struck me as, well, funny! I think it's because I've thought/said this many times.

I just thought this was kinda comical; makes Job seem more real. Does that make sense....? I can only imagine how it feels when someone who has everything, is trying to comfort you, who has NOTHING. And tell you it'll be ok, to trust God; He really knows what He's doing.

Job speaking....
JOB 16:4 I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you;
JOB 16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

I'm no expert when it comes to reading the Bible and translating meanings but I do believe Job is saying that if he were to be the "comforter", he'd be a lot better job. This Eliphaz guy seems like he is basically telling Job that it's his fault that this all happened to him.

Anyways, I thought these few verses were kinda interesting and I thought I'd share. Have a great weekend everyone!

my shaklee review - YAY!

For months, I had been reading about Shaklee and their cleaning products and I really wanted to try them out. I'm not a fan of cleaning but seeing how good these products worked, I was ready to fall/winter/spring/summer clean all in one day! 

I entered a contest one day for a free Basic-H2 sample and to my surprise... I WON! I was soooo excited. I really wanted to buy the cleaning products but due to trying to make it on 1 income, I just felt like I shouldn't yet. I still had other cleaning products and felt I should use them up first. (Even though they were not near as good or safe) 

When I won the sample, I felt truly blessed! I got an itty bitty little vial with an itty bitty amount of concentrate in. However, with this amount, it made a 16oz spray bottle of window/mirror cleaner (2 drops of concentrate needed for that) and a 16oz spray bottle of all purpose cleaner. (1/4 tsp. needed for that bottle). 

I was thrilled! 

Once I used up those bottles, it was after Christmas and I had money to spend! So I went and bought out the website. Ok, not really but I did buy enough to become a member for life. Yay for member discounts! 

Here is the proof! 

Here is the inside of my oven door. Yucky, I know. I used the Heavy Duty Scour Off Paste to do this and believe me, it is worth every penny. With a little elbow grease, the paste cleaned this up real good! And it even smelled like red licorice! No chemicals here!

 

 While moving 2 years ago, someone stepped on our dresser and left a nice sized shoe print that refused to come off. Since it's finished wood, I was limited to what I could use to clean it.

After a few sprays of the Basic-H All Purpose and some rubbing, this shoe hit the road, 

never to be seen again. 

Momma was happy.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll post more as I can. Hope you all enjoyed and I promise, it is so worth it to buy these products. Sure, it's a lot of money now, but these products will last you for probably at least a year. Plus, you are doing your part to keep a happy, healthy, safe household. Here is a list of what I bought and recommend. 

Basic-H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate

Scour Off Heavy Duty Paste

Germ Off Disinfecting Wipes

Dish Wash Concentrate (smells soooo good) 

Nature Bright Laundry Booster & Stain Remover