{ Do yourself a favor }

Sometimes all you need is to go back through your blog, really go back and read some of your previous posts.  It was like the light came back on and I remembered why I started blogging and how much I love it.

Life is crazy, life changes, WE change and I feel like at times we're constantly trying to adapt to what is going on around us.

Blogging is not what it used to be, not by far.  What started as a simple way for us homemakers and moms to connect with others, to share our experiences, to stay in touch with family and just have a platform to speak about the mundane things we do on a daily basis, has become something so Hollywoodized....I know not a word, but it perfectly describes what I feel about this.

I used to be able to look through blogs and find tons of like minded individuals, cute little blogs filled with recipes, family stories, pictures of toddlers getting up to their usual naughty business and moms venting about their feelings of inadequacy or loneliness, or asking for advice, sharing their budgets and their meal plans and giving words of comfort to others like them.

Now, when I try to find blogs it all seems so commercialized.  It's all about how much money you can make through your blog, how many giveaways, how smart, how to write acceptable blog posts and what you should and shouldn't do.

My question....WHY???

When did blogging become a business, when did it become a place where you feel like you should be watching tutorials or reading manuals or taking classes so you can make a simple post about your day?

It's not something I enjoy and I think it is one of the reasons, amongst others, why I've felt less attracted to the whole blogging thing.  I kind of feel like I want to remove myself from it, like I should be trying to maintain my blog's integrity, shielding it from the ever fast paced life that the blog world has taken on.

But then on the other hand, I look at my blog and I see what it is, why it was started and amongst the ever changing blog world, I want to keep it just as it is.  Maybe it will be one of the very few original blogs that is all about....well.....life, as a mom, a wife, a retired Air Force family, a crafter, and homemaker who makes not a single penny from this venture.

So my challenge to you today, if you've had a blog for years, is to take a few moments, go back to your very first posts and read.  You'll be surprised at the excitement and joy you exuded during those first few words on the internet. Then keep reading, keep going, because if anything it will remind you of what YOUR blog is all about, and what you wanted it to be.

Do me a favor, don't get caught up in the shoulds and shouldn'ts of this *new blogging* world.  There is no such thing as the right or wrong way to write a post, it's your blog, it's about you, and unless someone lives your life and knows what you're thinking or doing, they have no right telling you one way or the other.

In this new day and age where the PC police seem to run rampant, and such airs of self importance and self entitlement abound, it's good to remember where you came from and what you're doing, unless you're really into following the masses, in that case, go for it.  But if you're like me, just little ol' me who likes nothing more than to sit down with a good book and a cup of coffee after washing the dishes and straightening up the house, do what is right for you and stick to your guns, don't let anyone dictate what your blog should look like, how many posts you should have, what kind of ads you need on it and how much money you should be making from it.

That's the best advice I can give you.  Usually I wouldn't even make a post like this, but as I sat here thinking about my own reasons for either continuing on with this blog, or stopping altogether, I have received so many messages from other like minded women expressing the feeling that they feel pressured into a certain standard of blogging, and that my friends is sad.

So I'm making a conscious effort to maintain what my blog is about, to never change it, whether its look or the content of the posts, it doesn't matter.  I want my readers who have been here from the very beginning in 2006 to feel like this is home, familiar, not like a completely different blog they stumbled upon.

I'm not saying that I'll be back to blogging every single day, I'm not sure I'm quite there yet, but what I can promise you is that I'm not going anywhere, and that I WILL continue posting albeit a little sporadic for the moment, and that the posts you see will be all about life and homemaking, cooking, and kids and husband and what I'm watching on TV etc.

If you've been reading my blog for years and are still around, thank you, from the bottom of my heart because you have no idea how much that means to me, and if you're just now starting, then welcome and I truly do hope you enjoy what you see :)

Blessings,
Sandra

Happy Homemaker Monday - 07/20/2015

Good morning everyone.

I was about to start my Happy Homemaker Monday post and was thinking about my blog and how far I've come.  I've reached a decision, and that is that I will NOT stop posting.  I can't, this blog is a part of my life and has been since February of 2006.  You can check out my very first post right here.

So what am I going to do, well simply take all of your advices and post when I can, not pressuring myself to write something if I'm not up to it.  Who knows, maybe making this decision will actually prompt me to post more.

All it really took was reading your comments, knowing how much you enjoy my blog, and going back and reading my own blog which always seems to remind me just how much I love this little space of mine.  Thank you all so much for the comments and for always knowing just what to say.

Right, moving on to our Happy Homemaker Monday for today, I've decided to do something different, I went back to my very first HHM post and copied the categories, adding them to the ones I already have.  I guess you're getting a mixed bag this morning and hope you enjoy it.
 You can also go and read it yourself if you like, if you're curious about what started this Monday feature back in 2009.  Goodness it's been going on for so many years :)

On the weather front:
We're hitting the triple digits now, by 3pm we're supposed to get up to 107. For some that may seem crazy, but for me having lived in Arizona for so many years, it is nothing. Bring it on......oh but don't bring on the humidity, keep that far far away.

On my bedside table:
A Pattern of Lies by Charles Todd
An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd
The Ones we Trust by Kimberly Belle


On my TV:
Portuguese soaps
Wolf Hall


On the menu for tonight:
Brown Sugar Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Brown Sugar Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Tuesday - Sausage and Potatoes
Wednesday - Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken, Baby carrots, Salad
Thursday - Cheesesteaks, Fries
Friday - Chicken Curry
Saturday - In Dallas for the day
Sunday - Bacon and Cheddar Burgers, Fries

On my To Do List:
Laundry
Mopping and Vacuuming
Bathrooms
Wash bed linens


New Recipe I tried last week:
Last night I made Fried Ravioli which I hadn't tried yet.  It was a huge hit with Curt and the kids so I'll share the recipe today.

In the craft basket:
Ripple Pillow
Foam Armor for Jasmine's cosplay (speaking of which, would you be interested in a post about it?)


Looking forward to:
Dallas this coming weekend.  We are surprising Jasmine with a concert to her favorite band Fall Out Boy, also trying to get her boyfriend to go and meet her there. 


Homemaking Tip for this week:
Whip up tasty maple butter in no time...yummy on pancakes or French Toast. Just combine 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup maple syrup.



Favorite photo from last week:

Lesson learned the past few days:
Not to give up on people, no matter how much we may want to.  There are people in my life who don't put in as much effort as I do, either because they're busy, or stressed or just don't believe in staying in touch the way I do.  My first instinct is to get frustrated and think "well I'm done with you", but then I realize that is not who I am and not who I like being.  So the I guess the lesson I've learned is to stay true to myself and who I am.  I check in on them every few days, with a simple hello, how are you, thinking of you, you're awesome etc.  It always seems to make their day and I feel better for it :)

On my Prayer List:
Families of the Marines and Navy member killed a few days ago.
Our country, it is starting to seriously worry me and I pray that God place His hands over it and watch over us all, it's quite scary the way things are going.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Week in review!

Good morning!!!

It's been a very crazy week for me.  Remember when I said I would start posting daily?  Yeah that didn't work out very well and I've learned a valuable lesson, in which I can't promise or say I'll post this or that because right now, my life is just a crazy roller coaster ride.

So week in review, what exactly kept me so busy the past few days?

I would have to say the biggest thing was finalizing the kid's schooling and finally getting them into Connections Academy.  The weight is off my shoulders, I am now feeling relieved and ready to start the new year, and that is happening in less than a month.  Goodness!!

We've also been working on getting a new vehicle.  I didn't want to get into another car payment, it was not something I feel comfortable with but the truth of the matter is that we are down to no reliable vehicle between us.

My car still needs a new engine so it sits in our workshop, waiting, until we can save up some money and recover from this big move so we can get it fixed.  It gets paid off early next year, can you believe that?

My husband's truck is running, but not very well and we need to have it looked at and fixed very soon, because I'm worried that if he keeps driving it, it will eventually break for good and I would hate to be stuck with two vehicles who need new engines.

Right now, we are looking at purchasing another vehicle, we've actually been driving it the past week and I'm in love with it.  But between the dealership trying to make it's money, which they always do, and waiting on our own bank for a loan approval, it's taken the whole week.  I feel as if I've had the phone attached to my ear for days and if you know me, you know how I feel about phone calls.  Hate it!!!

As always I'm enjoying the wild life around me, especially the birds.  I feel like every single day, I get to see one I hadn't seen before and they're all different colors.

I think they're Yellow Bellied Flycatchers, but I may be way off.  If you know what they are let me know.

Anyway, I'm still enjoying my life here in Texas, I'm still loving the new house and our new life and I'm looking forward to getting a reliable vehicle so that we can start adventuring out and getting to know the area, there's nothing worse than moving to a new place and being stuck in the house with no way of going anywhere.

My plans for this weekend are:

- planting out front
- start seeds
- move exercise machine to the closet
- get office finished
- work on garage
- break down all the empty boxes and move to workshop
- finish putting up pictures, shelves etc
- clean the turtle tank

Yes, quite another busy weekend, but next week we are headed to Dallas, and I'm taking my camera so I can get a lot of pictures to share with you all.

I want so badly to try to do better at posting on the blog, because really my only other alternative is to stop blogging altogether, and I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that step.  Guess I need to do some thinking on this one.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend, sending you hugs until the next post :)

Happy Homemaker Monday - 07/13/2015

Good morning everyone, Happy Monday!

I woke up with a headache and just not feeling too good, I think it's all PMS to be honest, but yeah, not looking forward to today and just want to lay back down, which I may do after I'm done posting today's Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Beautiful morning and no rain in sight this week, which I'm very happy about, not because I don't like rain but because I hate the humidity that comes with it.

Things that make me happy:
Knowing that even in those moments where the finances may be tight, we always come through with the help of God.

Menu for this week:
Ok so we've had visitors pretty much every single weekend since we moved in, not even kidding.  I haven't been able to do 2 weeks shopping like I usually do for me and my family, in a long time, even before we left Idaho.  I need to sit down today and work on a menu plan for us and then get to the store sometime within the next few days.

I do know that for tonight I have Chicken but I'm not even sure how I'm going to make it, will figure it out later.  I may do a Chicken with Peppers and Mashed Potatoes.  Yes, I think I'll do that.


What's on my TV today:
Catching up on shows.  Also watched The Maze Runner yesterday with the family and really enjoyed it, was very good.


Looking around the house:
It's clean and tidy.  That's the one thing about having constant visitors, I've had to keep the place spotless, constantly, in case someone just shows up and needs a place to stay.   Not that I had a dirty untidy house before, but definitely going the extra mile now.


On my To Do List:
Laundry
Menu Planning
Grocery List
Check on kid's school enrollment


New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I actually made a really yummy Samoa Eclair Cake, but it disappeared before I could get a picture of it.  I think I need to make another this week so I can take pics and share it on the food blog.


In the craft basket:
Jasmine's armor, the chest piece is pretty much done, just need to add a few more details, run a hot gun over it so I can make the foam softer and more manageable to mold it to her body, and then paint.

Looking forward to this week:
Well, I'm hoping and praying, but by tonight we may have another vehicle, which we desperately need.  I will give more details when and if it comes through.


Tips and Tricks:
For my tips this week, I want to talk to all the ladies out there.  I have a really cool app for my phone that I came across a while ago.  It's called Snupps.  You sign up and then begin organizing your stuff.  Basically if I am wearing a super cut outfit and matching nail polish or whatever, I take a pic of each thing, like for example the nail polish, and I name it (Essie, and the color), then add it to my nail polish shelf.  It's just a really cool way to keep track of what I have in my collection and wardrobe, it makes it easier when I want to go shopping.


My favorite blog post this week:
Didn't have a chance to read any blogs this week.


Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
Likewise, didn't find anything new.  I'm thinking I will probably remove these two categories for now, until I actually start blog reading again.

No words needed (favorite photo or picture):

Lesson learned the past few days:
That sometimes it doesn't pay to show people you care.  I'm so tired of being nice, of caring, of checking on people, of trying to be there for them and either being completely ignored, disregarded, unappreciated or just downright ignored.  It's not something I'm used to because I'm not like that, so it bothers me and I'm really just tired of it. 


On my mind:
The car situation, if this pans out today, it will be a huge blessing from God.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
– 1 John 3:9 (NIV)

It's so hot and humid.....oh Texas!

Did I ever tell you how I don't like humidity, how it is one of the things I really really immensely dislike and so does my hair?

When we moved to Texas, or rather, when the whole Texas thing first came up, I didn't even think of it, I mean I had bigger fish to fry and a myriad of things running through my head, none of which included humidity.

Now I'm here, and I'm really really immensely disliking the humidity, and so is my hair.

Worst part?

Our AC decided to conk out last night and we've been dying here in this heat.  I don't think you can survive in Texas without an AC, I'm pretty sure that it's not even legal to live in this State without one.  At least that's what I tell myself.



The rain has been coming down for the past few days, matter of fact as I started typing this post, it started up again.


Had a really hard time sleeping last night with the heat in the house, even though the fans were going, I actually ended up getting some ziploc baggies and filling them with ice to take to bed with us and the doggies, it was the only thing that made laying in bed bearable.


Didn't even bother to try and sleep in today, it wasn't going to happen and I had phone calls to make and things to attend to, so just got up and enjoyed a cup of coffee while watching he day starting to break.



Anyway, enough about humidity and heat, I wanted to show you just a very few pics of our 4th of July weekend, we had so many people over, the house was packed.  I didn't get many opportunities, if any at all, to grab my camera and document anything.  Craziness!!!


I did want to show you my drink dispenser, I've had my eye on it for a while and thought that this weekend was the perfect time to get it. It held Mint Tea, yum!!!

Oh and guess what I saw in my front yard, I can't tell you how excited I was, I'm sure for most of you it's nothing, you're probably used to seeing it all the time, but I've never in my life had them in my own yard.


Adorable!!!!

I also wanted to tell you all that it looks like we finally have the kids school figured out, which is a huge weight off my shoulders, had me quite worried there for a while.

Right, I have floors to vacuum, a house to clean, laundry to get through and a menu and grocery list to plan.

Curt's aunt and uncle are arriving tomorrow afternoon to spend the weekend with us, we haven't seen them in so many years, and we're quite excited to visit.

Almost forgot though, wanted to share with you real quick.


My hair has been really frizzy and dry with all this humidity and I don't like it at all, so I've been needing to deep condition it more often.

I just did it last night, and this is my favorite go to hair mask using ingredients you already have on hand.

Moisturizing Hair Mask

2 tablespoons coconut oil, slightly warmed
1 squirt of honey
1 egg

Whisk it all well, then apply all over your hair, starting at the ends which are usually the driest.  Wrap a plastic bag around your hair, tie it with a knot and let sit for 4 hours.  Wash as normal and voila.....soft and silky hair.

 You can check out my results on my Instagram.

I better get started on my day, have a wonderful rest of Thursday friends :)