He Lives!

Happy Easter, Friends!

It’s one of those rainy, dreary and foggy days here in NW Pennsylvania so I’ve decided to stay in and enjoy it and to get caught up a bit on things.

My first thought this morning was yuck ... what an icky day but nope, I refuse to let the weather, determine my mood.

After all, I "this is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" [Psalm 118:24]

One thing I’m going to concentrate on is to get some decluttering done around here.

Ugh, where does all of this stuff come from?

I’m sure that it couldn’t possibly come from any trips to Walmart or anything, now could it?

One big thing right now with me is yarn, I have so much of it and yet most every trip I go to Walmart, I end up buying at least one more skein.

Not that I need it you understand but something nags me that I might need it in case I run out [yeah, like that is ever gonna happen. ]

Okay, this past year I crocheted alot of little motifs [just the 1st round of a granny square] and had big plans for them.

You use left over yarn and make them and they can be joined together to make afghans and at the time, I had big plans for them and so ...

I made 4,000 by the time all was said and done [yep, really ... that many of them.

But, then when I was done come along the problem ...

Though I knew how to make the motifs [see pic below] ... I did not know how to put them together. [Oops!]

I’m sure that it’s something very easy to do, however - I had no one to show me how and I am not one of those people who can go by a pattern and figure it out.

I guess that I just don’t have the patience to learn because I want to get busy and just "do."

Well, the other day I had an idea and it’s gonna work out great!

RSVP - you can help!

I am a member of RSVP and I got to thinking - hey, I did a lot of the tedious work that others may not like to do, but ...

I am positive that there are others who volunteer who do know how to assemble them.

So, I called to ask if I were to donate the motifs to our local RSVP if they could find someone to put them together and they said absolutely!

I am going to request that they use the motifs in putting together lap-ghans for some of the local nursing homes!

Many elderly people love to have a little afghan thrown over their legs [especially wheel chair patients] so this is gonna work out great.

You do not have to be a member of RSVP in order to help out and donate so if this is something you’re interested in, call your local RSVP!

A picture of a finished afghan

I am so happy that I thought about being able to donate the motifs for assembly because that alleviated a lot of the stress I was under.

I love making the little rounds ... many people I’m sure would hate it but with putting our talents together, we can make a difference!

If you’d like to check out a pattern for making them, you can find it here.

Now, I guess I had best try to control my urges to buy more yarn and start using some of my leftovers to start more of the rounds for next year!

Have a good day!

Love,

Just a quick note for now ...

Yes, I’m committed to writing regularly on my blog but this past week hasn’t been a real good one.

I went to the doctor last Friday and have a major sinus infection [blah!]

Also, she thought that maybe I had, had a stroke but though I did have I some of the symptons ...

It looks now like instead, I may have bells palsy.

Anyways, I haven’t felt all that good for the past week but hopefully will be feeling better once the anti-biotics start working.

Love,

Yes, I am a blogging gal forever but as you can see ... I’m not always consistent with that but I do plan on changing that!

My goodness it’s been way too long since I blogged last, hasn’t it? Too long, that’s for sure.

Lately I’ve been busy with making little "cross in my pockets" for putting in the Operation Christmas Child boxes.

I know that boxes aren’t collected until November sometime but still, working on them year round is necessary to have them done by November.

If this is something you might be interested in, please check out the Samaritan’s Purse website.

Operation Christmas Child

Picture borrowed from this blog

Some of these children have never received a gift before and can you imagine the smile on their face if they were to receive one?

With a little love and caring and a few dollars ... you can be the one who does put that smile on their face!

And, there are also many other ways to help besides packing and sending a box ...

To learn about the other ways to help, please check out:

Operation Christmas Child: Volunteer

Yes, it’s early to be starting to think about Christmas but if you were to start now, you’d:

1. Be more likely not to forget that this is something you wanted to do

2. It’d enable you to buy a little something each month for the box

3. This would help to keep the children in your mind to remember to pray for them

Another little side note here ... with each box, the children get a little book that tells them about Jesus.

Also, there are follow-up bible classes in many locations where the boxes are given out to help them learn more about living the Christian life.

These boxes go to millions of children around the world and that’s alot of boxes, won’t you please consider helping?

Love,

Hi! Just found these two pictures of my cat, Lexi and thought I’d share them with ya.

The one with the Christmas tree is one I took last year ... it’s an artificial tree and she likes climbing up inside of it and going to sleep. Silly kitty!

I just happened to have my camera in hand when she poked her head out which of course, made for the perfect shot.

The other picture is Lexi on top of the door-frame which is one of her favorite places to hang out.

I have no clue as to why but it is and if I move a stand or something and she can’t jump up there? She cries!

I hope you enjoy the pics ...

Love,

Jennelle

I am so excited because I’ve finally gotten back into pen paling after close to 30 years!

Ever since I was young, I always had pen pals and I did when my son was little [he’s 32 now!]

But, after I had my daughter ... it just got to much to try and keep up with everything because I had not one but two kids in diapers and too much to do in keeping up with them.

With them being 30 and 32 now, I have much more free time to be able to write to pen pals.

Of course, I’ve had plenty of time for the past 10 + years but am just a horrible procrastinator.

I’m also starting to get back into swaps as well and found a site the other night that is so cool!

It’s called Swap-Bot and they have tons and tons of swaps going on all the time.

I’ve joined a couple already ... one is a "card and a prayer swap" where you pray for the person you are matched up with and also send them a card and a little note.

So far, I’ve found one pen pal to start writing to and I hope to eventually find a few more as well.

Since I don’t take my pen paling lightly, I’m going to take my time and look around to find one that shares the same interests I do and so forth.

Anyways, I just had to post this ’cuz I’m so excited about it!

Love,

Hi everybody!

Just wanted to post a link to this amazing to do list software that I found this past week and that I absolutely love.

It’s called DL To-do List and it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for, for a long time.

Since I’ve got ADD, I need to break goals and tasks up into smaller steps and this software easily lets me do that.

I just thought I’d post this in case it is something that might benefit someone else as much as it already has me.

I’m in no way affiliated with this product other than being a happy customer.

You can download it and have a 10 day free trial and then if you want to keep it, it costs $15.00 and in my opinion, is worth every penny of it.

Love,

Since the weather around here [and many other parts of the country as well] is to be cold the next few days,

I thought good recipes for supper to find and share would be ones for chili and cornbread. Sounds kind of good, doesn’t it?

It’s hard for me to believe that it’s "that" time of year again,

but I guess we are at the of November already, aren’t we?

Anyways, these recipes should help to warm your family from the inside ... out.

Enjoy!

Chili Seasoning Mix in a Jar Recipe

1-1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup dried onion (flakes or minced)

2/3 cup chili powder

3 tbsp beef bouillon powder or salt

1-1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp pepper

2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients, stirring very well to combine. Pack in a 2 cup jar and attach gift tag with instructions.

The instructions are as follows:

Brown or microwave 1 pound of ground beef (Optional: you can chop and add an onion if you wish).

Sprinkle 1/3 cup of chili seasoning mix over beef, and stir well.

Add a 19 oz can of crushed tomatoes; a 15 oz can undrained kidney beans; a 14 oz can of baked beans.

Simmer or reheat in the microwave for 20 minutes until flavors are mixed and chili is hot.

Cornbread

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup and 1 teaspoon white sugar

1 eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup biscuit baking mix

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together baking mix and cornmeal.

Blend this mixture into the butter/egg mixture, alternately with the milk; stir just until combined.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden.

Serves: 6

Tip of the day

Not sure if your eggs are okay to eat? Put them in a bowl of water.

If they sink, you can safely eat them. If they float, they are no good - throw them out!

Verse of the day

Ephesians 4:29 - "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Make a Difference - Ya mean me?!

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

Love,

Jennelle

I come across a site this past week that I really like ...

It’s called Free Rice and what it is, is a site to click and donate rice to help the United Nations donate rice to the poor in other countries.

This does not cost a penny to do and is a wonderful way to help someone who’s less fortunate than you are.

You go there and the site will bring up a word and a choice of 4 different definitions ...

You click on the definition that you think goes with the word and if you get it right, they’ll donate 10 grains of rice to be given to the poor.

I’m not sure but I think you can do up to 1,000 grains of rice [on the right side of the page it keeps a tally of how many you’ve earned.]

Not only is this easy to do but also it can help to boost your vocabulary as well!

I just wanted to share a very cool site that I found last night [I absolutely love it!]

It’s on dreams and goals and well, since I’m not always the best at explaining things...

you can check it out yourself if you’d like!

Superviva

Love,

Good morning, friends!

Once again, it’s been way longer than I’d planned between postings ...

I thought I’d start this post off with this picture of such an adorable kitten, isn’t it just too cute?

I ought to make mention that it is not but I’m hoping it’ll make you smile like it did me.

This morning I am so happy because I made a discovery of something that will help me alot to redeem my time!

Okay, my Dr. prescribed a nebulizar for me to take my medications through ...

I’m not sure how to explain what a nebulizar is but will try for those who don’t know.

Here’s a link to what a nebulizer is: What is a nebulizer?

I have to use this for my asthma and bronchial problems and am taking 2 meds through it and have to use it 6 times a day.

I’m not a person who can sit still easily [yep, I have ADD!] so before - having to sit and use my machine was about sheer torture,

But ... now, it’ll be a breeze [and give me an excuse to jump on the computer when I should be doing something else.

So, as you can see ... this is why I’m so happy that I can have it set up so I can use my computer while doing the treatments!

As if I don’t already have enough to do, I’ve found something else that I want to get involved in doing ...

I want to start making some ATC’s [ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards].

These are small cards [2.5 x 3.5 inches] and you can do them either with real cards or can do them digitally as well.

I think what I’d like to do is to make mine digitally and then print them out ...

Why would I want to do this? I don’t know, other than I think it’d be fun!

Below is an ATC I found online quite awhile ago to show you an example of what I’m talking about.

I wish I could tell you who made this because I just love it but ...

Unfortunately, it’s a picture I had saved a long time ago before I knew enough to keep author info and such with pictures, etc.

Not much else to gab about for now but will see you again soon!

Love,

Finally I have a chance to sit and relax a bit and to get a post written!

I’m just now getting over bronchitis, for a few weeks I felt pretty crappy ...

But, I’m feeling much better and am back to normal now!

Today I’m working on trying to get caught up on things and am making some progress anyways.

First off, I’d like to ask for prayer for my daughter, Keesha.

A few weeks ago she had to have tests done for a lump she found ...

The tests didn’t show a very good report I’m sad to say.

Her Dr. referred her to the Breast Cancer Center in Erie and she has to go there Tuesday for more extensive tests.

We are praying and believing that she does not have breast cancer ...

So, please - any and all prayers would be more than appreciated!

Also, she is having severe back pain and though x-rays taken did not show anything wrong, next she needs to have an MRI done.

What have I been up to lately [besides being sick, that is? ]

I’ve been making postcards to send to those who are in nursing homes in order to cheer them up a bit.

Below is a sample of one of them I’ve made ...

It’s not perfect but I’m learning and having fun doing it!

I’ve only made a couple so far but have many more that I want to make and send.

Sometimes something this little, means so much to someone who can’t get out and about like they once were able to.

What I did with the first couple of them [just to test and see if they’d turn out or not] ...

Is to make them and then upload them to Walmart’s website and I got them printed out as 4" x 6" pictures.

Then when I got them home, I used double-sided tape and used a 4" x 6" index card and taped to the back of it.

And ..... voila! I had a postcard ready to send!

Not only can they be personalized which makes them much nicer for the one who gets them,

But also, they only cost 26 cents to send so it’ll allow me to send nearly twice as many than having to pay 41 cents for regular stamps.

Okay, I guess I’ve gabbed enough for now but as always, will write more soon [I hope!]

Love,

Jennelle

One way that we can thank our troops is to be in prayer for them every day and with all that is going on over in Iraq and Afghanistan, they surely need it!

Another way we can thank them is to go to Lets Say Thanks and send them an encouraging e-card to let them know that they are not forgotten.

It's quick and easy and I'm sure would mean so much to those who are fighting for our country's safety.

Love,