A Pantry Challenge (I Know, I Sure Like Challenges)

I am getting in on this a little late, but not too bad.  And I am currently under  the weather, and I won't be doing this right away.  But I plan to get it going.  I think this would save me a ton of money.

I don't plan to just  do this in January.  I plan to start it for next week and continue for a couple months at least.  I think maybe it would be neat to  see how long I could go with just eating out of the pantry and only restocking fruits and vegetables.

So I will be working on this challenge, and  I'll let you know how things are going.  I promise.  We have a very full pantry, and  we need  to get some stuff used up!

Queen of the Castle Week 1

Okay, I realize I am a little late.  My book just arrived today, and I read chapter 1.  So I am up to date.  If you are wondering about what I am doing, I am involved in a read-along of Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker over at Colletta's Kitchen.  

I think the thing that stood out to me in the book this week was that the author is not trying to be super-woman in her homemaking endeavors.  And I liked that she said that every woman is a homemaker.

I am in an unusual position.  I am living with my parents. I am a single mother.  My household duties are very light since I am a substitute teacher with an ever-changing schedule.  I pitch in as I can.  My mom probably spends more time with my daughter, but I do my best to make up it for it when I can.

What I hope is that in this book the author speaks to women who are not traditional homemakers.  I realize the author is a stay-at-home mother.  But I don't want to read a book that puts me on a guilt-trip for not being a stay-at-home mom.  Even when I was not at home, I still  couldn't be one--I was a single mom.  I had to go out an work.  I had no choice but to get a divorce in my position.

I do look forward to continuing this read.  I also look forward to reading thoughts by other women reading it.

Love It Or Lose It Challenge Week 1 of 4

The Crazy Domestic is running this great challenge over at her blog (it's actually  Katie P here from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge).  I have been doing it this week.  And it's time for the verdict.  So here goes.

First of all, I didn't get through all the clothes I set aside.  So I will have to set some aside for next week.

Secondly, I do not have pictures--this is something I really do have to improve on this year, and maybe I'll get it going for next week, but I am currently under the weather and don't feel like locating my camera.  So I'll tell you about what I did.

I had this beautiful black wool jacket I bought at the thrift store, and I had yet to wear it.  I really like the warmth of it, and the classiness.  It went really well with some black pants and a turquoise sweater (that I also had not worn though it was not part of the challenge!).  So I am keeping it.

Then I had a blue/beige flowered pair of pants.  I always thought that these pants were too tight on me.  I thought I  might be getting rid of them.  But when I put  them on, I realized just how nice I looked in them.  In fact, I was certain that I wanted to keep this pair of pants!  They were the surprise of the week, I do believe.

Okay, I have a pair of medium blue slacks that I am still undecided about.  I put them on, and I was pretty sure that I didn't want them any more.  They seemed tight.  However, they did loosen as the day went on.  I wore them with a black sweater, and I just wasn't sure how flattering the pants were. The pants are comfortable, but I don't think I have found the right thing to wear with them.  I think I need a frilly off-white blouse.  I think I will save them aside to try one more time.  They are not ugly, and I don't have  a lot of variety in my pants closet.  I know people say if you have to think too much about it, you should get rid of it.  But I am just not ready to.  So I will give it another try. 

So I got rid of nothing I wore this week, but that's okay.  At least I wore some things I had not in a while.  And I got rid of some things even before the week began.

So I will try to get some pictures of next week's clothes.  Thanks for this challenge!

52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge

Well, I have to admit that I am doing one more challenge.  I was cleaning out my inbox, and I found this great challenge over at Org Junkie.  She is a great blogger, and I always enjoy her posts about organizing things and menu planning, but she has challenged us to organize something every week this year.  She even has a printable list (see her blog post), and I printed it out tonight.  I decided this morning that I am definitely in!

I do not have pictures as of yet, but I plan to try to do more of this this year!  It is always neat to see the before and after pictures, after all.

So do I have my list done?  Only the first 5 weeks.

Week 1:  Christmas Put Away--almost done, will be done tomorrow.

Week 2:  Magazine Purge in the living room--I have magazines in various places, but this is one place that I can quickly and easily take care of.

Week 3:  Straighten bookshelf--I have received so many new books (and I'll have more by then).  It needs some work.

Week 4:  Straighten VHS/DVD.  Again, we have so many new ones.  I need to go through them and get them organized.

Week 5:  Purge clothing.  This will be just in time for my other love it or lose it challenge!

Not bad for an organizationally challenged woman, eh?  So join in, if you like!

Sorry I'm Behind

I will get caught up today--I am fighting another lovely cold, and I just couldn't get into blogging last night.  I will try to post two things tonight.  I don't feel horrible, but I am trying to keep from getting any sicker than I am!

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Well-Spoken Wednesday--Thank You For Your Comments

First of all, I tried to post this last night, and blogger wouldn't let me.  So I figured I would wait until this morning--I knew I had the time.

Today I would like to highlight my terrific readers.  It has been exciting to see the comments that people are posting!  I know you may have a reason--entering the giveaway--but I want to thank you for your well-spoken comments.  I may not always respond to you specifically--I try to--but just know that I appreciate each and every comment you write.  I even enjoy the comments on the giveaway post.  It is fun to see what gems you have found on the CSN store site.

What I appreciate the most is that you are really thinking as you post these comments.  You are not just commenting to be commenting.  It reminds me that when I comment on other people's blogs that I need to do the same thing!  Thanks again!

Twilight Tuesday--God is Good

I thought I would share tonight something that was (and sometimes is) a twilight moment for me in recent times.  And God used a wonderful book that I read recently--Redeeming Love.  I shared a little in my review, but I will share more here.

Those of you who have been following me know that my best friend, Martin, is here 6 months out of the year.  He is not saved, but I am trusting God that he will be.  And I am in love with him and joyfully anticipate the moment when he is saved and we can be married.  Our relationship is very complicated because we are best friend, soul mates, and yet he insists that is all we are.  Except that there is a definite chemistry and spark between us that everyone who has ever met us sees almost instantly.  We do have a bit of a physical relationship,  but it is kept within certain realms.  And he dismisses  it as nothing emotional.  I just follow God and make sure I don't let things go too far.

Things were fantastic when he came back this time--he treated me like a princess.  Then things were becoming rather regular between us.  But things got busy.  And Martin and my dad don't get along.  So Martin was often physically sore from clearing property and very mad at my dad.  So I normally kept silent and did not try for anything physical between us.

That was killing me!  All I could do was think about the physical.  I craved it to the point that it almost began to consume me.  And I  began to cry out to God.  My emotions and hormones  went wild.

It was just  about this time that I began to read Redeeming Love.  I immediately identified with Michael Hosea.  I understood his pain.  And when Angel left one time,  he cried  out to God.  God told him that Angel had made sex a god.  That kind of  stopped me in my tracks.  Wow. In a sense, that is what I had done.  I had gotten so into  the  physical that I had forgotten to pray for Martin's salvation.  I wasn't working on any other parts of our friendship.  It wasn't out of control, but it was headed that direction.

So I made a commitment at that point to let the physical go.  I don't spend every night hoping it will happen.  I am content to wait.  And I have.  Tonight, things turned somewhat physical--quite surprising under the circumstances--and I did not go crazy.  In fact, God had given me such insight  into things that I knew why Martin had not craved the physical.  He was too tired, and now he is sick.  I used to worry that I was not attractive enough and that Martin was losing interest.  God is opening my eyes to so many things about Martin because I have resolved to make God first and Martin's salvation the primary thing in my prayers.

Indeed, what has been a twilight time is now an early morning sunrise.  In time, I believe the sun will be shining down!