A new hero

My hubby read this article to me this morning and I loved it.  Lorna Call Alder is my hero!  As my family knows, my goal is to live to be 138.  Lorna may beat me to it.  Here's a link to the article if you want to read it (it's great). http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_2f2c76a1-fdd2-5152-9111-ee4cf81fbd34.html
She eats oatmeal with raisins every morning.  That made me happy, maybe my wheat, oatmeal, raisin breakfast will work for me like it has for Lorna.

Lorna Call Alder turns 104!

She also eats fresh veggies from her garden.  I soooo want to do that, but alas I currently have a teeny tiny yard and my dream of an orchard and veggie gardens is just that, a dream (for now).

This 104 year old lady goes for a short walk not every day, but TWICE everyday.  Wow, what inspiration for me who has been talking and thinking about getting into shape for awhile.  TODAY I am starting with walking.

Lorna and I had something else in common, we both like to crochet hats, cool huh.

I just now got done going for a walk.  Yippee, it's a good start!

Sunday inspiration . . .

Sometimes life is discouraging and sometimes God shows his hand in our life and reaffirms that he loves us and cares about us.
I've seen and felt that love a lot lately in my little trials. 

Here's a favorite scripture passage (it sums up the last few days of me trying to conquer a few fears of my own).  It makes me stop and ponder when my mind gets stressed and frantic:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power,

and of love,

and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

Here is something else that is inspiring to me.  It's from a book called, As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen:

"Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."

Star Trek Cake

As I have recently entered this new world of blogging, I've seen some pretty amazing blogs lately with perfectly decorated cookies and cakes.  It would take weeks (maybe months, maybe years) for me to achieve that kind of perfection.  So after seeing those most awesome bakers out there in cyberspace, I felt very inadequate after I made this cake with all it's flaws.

I made it for my husband's birthday (Happy Birthday Honey!).  He is a huge Star Trekkie (TNG) so I thought he would like an Enterprise cake.  It ended up looking like a spider web mess to me, but my hubby still loved it!

As Captain John Luke Pickard waves his hand and says, "Engage"

Changing the subject from Star Trek tng to tea parties.  If you read yesterday's blog post:    hopefully, I will be able to turn my thoughts to crumpets, scones, and little tea sandwiches soon.  Oh, but guess what . . . I did make time to work on my Regency era dress today, and so far it is okay! 

dreams, english tea parties, and making it real

Today I need to escape to my dream land . . . sigh . . . breathe in breathe out.  I'm going to my happy place, cuz sometimes this real life stuff is too much to bear.

My escape is dreaming about living a life like Elizabeth Bennet's from Pride and Prejudice.  My girls aren't little anymore, but we all still enjoy having old english style tea parties, and we will still be having tea parties when we are all old and gray. 

My dream is to own an old fashioned, romantic looking, cottage type home on a few acres (or at least one acre).  This dream property has a wonderful fruit orchard with cherry trees, peach trees, apple, pear, and plum trees.  Since this is a dream I'd also like pomegranite trees.  Do pomegranites grow on trees? Nectarine trees would be nice too.  I dream of a pretty herb garden and an awesome organic vegetable garden. This place has so many beautiful flowers and shrubberies (reminds me of Monty Python) and shade trees, it is like heaven. 

It is the perfect setting for an outdoor tea party.  To make tea time more realistic, me and my girls have lovely dresses like they wear in Pride and Prejudice.  We have parasols and little beaded purses and gloves (maybe a nix on the gloves, they make your hands clammy and clumsy, the gloves can be tucked into our little purses!).

They tea party food is the tastiest and prettiest quaint delicacies you've ever seen or tasted.

The weather is perfect and the birds are singing lovely songs. 

I actually escape to this dream place a lot.  So much so that I'm going to see what I can do to make it a reality. 

So far, I only have the gloves (I got the gloves on ebay), but it's a start.  I hope you will join me in this journey to make beautiful dreams a reality.  I took a huge step (huge for me anyway) toward this dream/reality goal last week when I started making me a dress-up gown.  It could turn out to be a huge disaster or it could turn out (miraculously) looking like a pretty dress in my imagination.

Here is the pattern I bought to turn into a dress.  Now you can really appreciate the miracle part of this equation!!!  I will keep you posted . . .

Glitter, Shimmering, Bling Toes!

Finally, I can get out my sandals and flip flops. It has begun to warm up (and it's only June!!! crazy weather!) That means it is time to spruce up my scary feet.

My toenails on my big toes are bruised so I desperately need to glamorize them.

Here are the supplies you'll need: glitter (I got 6 colors at Walmart for 3 bucks), a sheet of paper (for the glitter to fall on), a base coat polish (I use the same color as the glitter I'm going to use), and a top coat (clear) polish.

I paint the smaller toenails first with the base coat and then sprinkle glitter all over them (do it quickly, before the polish dries!).

Then I do the same with my big toenails (one at a time, paint, glitter, shake off excess glitter, paint, glitter, shake).

The picture to the left is without the clear topcoat.  The picture to the right is with the topcoat.

(make sure the base coat and glitter are dry . . .)

Clean up time.  Funnel the glitter from the paper back into the glitter container and then touch up your toes with some nail polish remover.

Before and AFTER!

Now I can face the summer! Oh, there are some more felt flowers on my flip flops! Adorable!  Click here to learn how to make the retro felt flowers

A Time to Remember

It's the day after Memorial day.  I went to my mom's house on Sunday and Monday and came home today.
Yesterday, the small town that my mom lives in held a special Memorial program at the cemetary as they do every year.  My mom, my brother and sister, and I went to the program and I was touched by the comments the soldier that spoke made. 
The comments led me to ponder on my own complacency as compared to the courage, the bravery, and the great sacrifices made by our military to help keep us free.  Wow, how much I take for granted. 
The next time I see anyone of our Armed Forces, I hope I take the initiative to go and tell them "thank you!"

Our liberties and freedoms are on shaky ground.  I want to learn more about TRUE history and our divine constitution.  I have read the "Five Thousand Year Leap" and it was a good summary, now I need to really dive in and learn about the constitution.  I don't remember learning about it in school, but then I don't remember much of anything I learned in school!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable, safe, thought provoking Memorial Day weekend.