This week and Pt. 2

This has started out as a busy week.  It takes so much to get a family of 5 ready to go on vacation!  (Plus one excited dog!)

I did manage to meet my goals of cleaning the house; washing sheets, planning this week’s menu and sorting through my list for packing.

We are having Chicken Cordon Bleu, smoky mashed potatoes and butter peas tonight.  I managed to loose another couple of pounds last week.  I have learned that it is all about PORTION CONTROL!!  I rarely just out and out deprive myself; except for most sugar/desserts; so I have learned what is a SERVING and stick with that…LOL.  I hope to continue this motivation during vacation.  Sweets are rarely a temptation for me…but fried things are…:(  I have made it through one vacation this year and did well…but it wasn’t a whole week…7 days….way too many hours to contemplate!

I managed to get Part 2 of Soft Breezes done for you.  Click here to download it!

Soft Breezes

Hello again!  It has been a wonderful week…one of those weeks that you actually feel fulfilled.  I got things accomplished around here that needed to be done!   We have exactly 8 days left before we leave for vacation!  We are going to the beach and are really looking forward to it.

I also found my lost camera!!  I had been using my phone camera and believe me…it just wasn’t the same…so expect some new pictures before long.

I started a new kit today…..Soft Breezes.  In anticipation of (what I pray) will be nice soft beach breezes.  I will be adding pieces to it this week….so be sure and come back so that you can get all of the parts.  It will be rather large.

Here are the papers below….Click here to download.

See you tomorrow!!!

Romantic Getaway Kit

As I have mentioned in a previous post; my 17th anniversary is coming up soon.  On our 15th anniversary, T. surprised me with a romantic getaway….this was so out of character for him.  He did not tell me anything about where we were going; or anything.  He just had my mom come and get the kids and took me away!  I think we had the best time on a trip we had ever had; even better than our first honeymoon!

We went to a beautiful Bed and Breakfast in Gatlinburg, Tennessee called Gracehill.  (Check out the beautiful place!) If you ever get the chance to go…tell Miss Cathy that “Patty sent you”…lol.

This particular trip was the inspiration for this new kit…Romantic Getaway!  I hope you like it and can use it.  I’d love to see anything you create with it if you’d care to share it with me.  I think this is my favorite so far.  Click on preview to see it larger.  Click Here to Download…hope you leave a comment and let me know what you think!! (hint, hint)

Have a wonderful evening!

Glitter Grunge Mini Kit

Busy day today. I had to go to the dentist with my oldest daughter, who had to have her four wisdom teeth pulled.  Ouch!  She handled it very well though.

I spent this afternoon making a little goodie for you.  The Glitter Grunge Mini Kit.  It includes:

• 3 Papers
• 9 Frames
• 2 Grunge Flowers
• 1 Grunge Bow

Click Here to Download.  Leave some love and please follow TOU.  Have a great weekend!

Thoughts on Tomatoes and Gravy!

Remember me talking about our gravy cook-off a couple of weeks ago?  The winning gravy was a wonderful Tomato Gravy.  Now…for me…tomatoes have never been my favorite…not quite right for a girl from the south, huh?  During the summer here…folks are all about “setting out” their tomato plants and dream of the day when they can pull a fresh, ripe, red tomato off the vine and go inside and have a “mater sandwich”; as my grandmother used to say…known to most folks as a BLT.  Yuck…was all I could say.  If tomatoes weren’t in catsup (at that time) I wanted nothing to do with them.  I have matured a LITTLE since then.  I will eat them in soups and pasta…LOL.

Well, to say that I was suspect of tomato gravy…is quite an understatement…but since dieting, I have made myself step out of my food “comfort zone” and have tried other things.  I will actually eat (small) tomatoes on my salad.

So, when my hubby walked over to me at the gravy cook-off and says “Here, try this”..I usually look at him with suspicion…but I tried this concoction and found it WONDERFUL!

I have the recipe to share with you…..give it a whirl….it’s great with a lot of different things.  JUST be careful with the latest tomato “goings on”!

I am currently working on some new things for you!!  Be on the look out.

Tomato Gravy

This gravy is delectable over fried chicken, pork chops or rice; ladled over biscuits it is almost a meal in itself.

2 tablespoons bacon fat or pan drippings from fried chicken
1 cup finely diced onion
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 pound tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:
Heat the bacon fat or pan drippings in a heavy nonreactive skillet and add the diced onion. Sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper and thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring well, for another 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and remaining ¸ teaspoon salt, and cook 5 minutes longer.
Slowly stir in the milk and heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. Serve hot

Summer Pansies Pt. 4

The guys are gone to camp and it is just me and two teenage girls!  Boy…do they like to squeal and giggle!

I have finished up the Summer Pansies Kit…so here is the final part 4.  Click Here to download. Be sure and leave some luv!

Click the image for a larger preview.

I’ll see you guys later with a new recipe!!!

Thoughts on my 4_ Birthday and Freebie

Today is special….it’s my ???? birthday!  

Always a time for reflection…isn’t it?  Especially if you are one of the fortunate ones to have made it to at least 40.  There are times I feel like I have learned a lot in my 40+ years of life; and then..there are those times I feel like I haven’t learned a dadgum thing.

What would I have done different??

1.  Well…I would have listened to my parents more…they REALLY did know what they were talking about…

2.  I would have studied more in high school….I did really well in college (suma cum laude); but…what was I wasting my time on in high school???? Oh yeah….boys..I believe it was…

3.  I think I would have went ahead and went to graduate school….but on second thought…it would have been a waste of time and money being a SAHM for the last 17 years.

4.  I would have spent more time with my grandparents…..I learned so much from them; but when you are a teenager and in your twenties….why do you think other things are so much more important?  They really weren’t.

5.  I would have married T. sooner than I did. We knew each other 11 years before we married.  He saw me through a bad first marriage (BTW–I don’t regret that; or I wouldn’t have my beautiful oldest daughter), helped me through things before I really opened up my eyes and saw that HE was the ONE.

6. I would have practiced forgiveness more often than I did.

7. I would have enjoyed each day for itself.

8. I would have stopped saying “I wish….” and found ways to see it in reality.

9. I would have take more chances instead of playing it safe.

10. I would have been more “comfortable” in my own skin.

In some of these things, I still have the opportunity to grasp….and the truth is…we all do!

On to………..

FREEBIE!!!  Part 3 of Summer Pansies!  Click here to download. Leave some luv! Click on preview for detailed image.

Summer Pansies Part 2

I hope your family is having a wonderful Father’s Day.  We took T. out to eat after church and it was great.  For the last six years this has been an odd time for me.  You see, my father passed away 3 days before Father’s Day just six years ago.  It turned out that he was buried on my birthday…which is the 17th of this month.   I was born on Father’s Day and he also said I was his best gift.  I miss him always, but this time of year is just…well..extra special.

On to Part 2 of the Summer Pansies freebie!  These elements are in PNG format, 300 dpi and are larger than in this preview….they are taggers size.  Click Here to download….leave some luv (I so appreciate those of you who do) and enjoy!

Freebie and Learning to be a Child

There are days….well….you just don’t know which way to go….not sure what the path to take….or maybe you know the path…but you just don’t know what’s awaiting you if you walk down it.  Worry….confusion….what does it really get cha?  You think are trying to be a responsible human being…trying to decide what is best…trying to take care of things the best possible way you can.

I stood in my kitchen this afternoon, putting up groceries….going over my list, mentally…trying to be certain that I had purchased everything I need for the next two weeks….wanting to be a good steward with our money…thinking about the expense that comes with the summer months….the kids’ camps, the girls’ trip to North Carolina for a national competition, school books that will inevitably have to be purchased before long, their missions trip to Thailand next year…you know…all of those things, that when you think about them too long, you begin to feel like you are drowning, feel like you can’t breathe and are overwhelmed.  I stand there….asking God (for like the humpteenth time) if He is sure about the things He has called me to in life…being a stay at home mom, (instead of working and helping my hubby bring in finances), all the ways we were told He would take care of all of our needs….you are SURE, aren’t you God?

Amongst this, my 10 year old son is standing, oblivious to my thoughts….interrupts me (probably for the humpteenth time)…”Mama….we really should hurry up and get new windshield wipers for the van..” (He is big on vehicle maintenance…)  We cannot get into the car without him checking the gas gauge to make sure there is enough gas, in his opinion, to get where we are going. If it even looks like it might be close to “E”, there is a continual barrage of “We really need to stop and get gas”  And I do mean…continual. Finally, I ask….”Son, do you really think that Daddy and I are going to not supply you with enough to gas to get to where we are going?  Do you really think you are going to be abandoned on the side of the road in the dark without us there?  You need to worry about being a kid and let us worry about the rest.”

Suddenly…there it is…the soft voice…the “God Moment”….and I stop in mid-chore….I hear…”Exactly what I am saying to you, daughter.”  Tears sting my eyes and a knot comes into my throat….”I hear you, Father.”

Here are the papers to my new kit…Summer Pansies….I will be sharing the parts over the next week.  You may want to subscribe to this blog with a reader (such as Google) so you will know when I update this website and be sure not to miss the upcoming freebies.  Click here for the papers.  I am off to “be a kid”.

Antique Tags

Playing around with some new tags and incorporating my love for the vintage.  Here is a new little freebie for you!  Click here to download.  Leave some Luv!!