I don't really have any original musings for you today. In fact the steam has left this engine if you know what I mean.
But the other night I had the chance to go see a family that is VERY dear to me. Like I love them so much it hurts! We live about 45 minutes away and I don't see them very much, but when I do see them, it fills my love tank to the brim! And I feel so blessed to know them. I would claim them any day :)

So before I start crying, because I'm an emotional wimp like that :), I'm going to share some things I have found on Pinterest that are really not related. Like not at all.

Here we go:

I need this for my kitchen. Somewhere that is obvious and will help me to remember that we NEVER go hungry at our house.
In fact we waste food or let leftovers go for too long or toss something out because it looks "weird".
To think that people go hungry everyday around the world is a humbling reminder of how very fortunate we are.
And hopefully this will help me feel not so violent and angry while doing dishes that I let stack up.
Don't judge ok?

Moving right along, I think I need a canoe now too.
Not for canoeing and not to be confused with canoodling. Very different.
I think.

Would this not be fan-freakingtastic in the backyard? For herbs or just flowers or whatever?
I now see that my above reference to canoeing and canoodling was done in haste because this is CLEARLY not a canoe.
Sigh.

When I see things like this on Pinterest- I think "Why don't I have good ideas like that?"
I mean really, is that not a great idea? Upside down ballons and streamers!
Boom!

I hope this doesn't make you like me less, but I have a confession.
I am NOT a cat person. At all.
I used to have 2 cats.
It ended badly. And while I still think about them, I don't ever want to own a cat again.
They creep me out.
But this picture. THIS picture, made me laugh out loud like a big doofus!

Are you ready?

See what I mean?
I'm still laughing.
Bahahahahaha.
Don't wory, I don't think any cats were harmed in this picture. At least I sure hope not.


And last but not least, I saw this.
And it was just what I needed.

Today we finish up our week, pack up our suitcases and our dog who gets carsick ( don't worry, we have drugs for him now), and we are heading up to Chicago bright and early Saturday.
I may have time for blogging and  I may get buried alive in the basement going thru things that need to get packed up, or drown myself in Starbucks. I meant that last part in a GOOD WAY. Really. :)
Happy Friday! :)

Ponderings On a Thursday and The Winner of Jeter's Jam

So tomorrow is Friday.

But today is  still Thursday.

I am so ready for this week to be over, but at the same time we are heading up to Chicago on Saturday and there will be a big pot of who knows what waiting for us.

I would dive in to what I mean by that, but even thinking about it exhausts me.

So stay tuned ok?

And pray for us.

We need it.

I was browsing around some of my fav blogs and this post from Anna sums up how I'm feeling, pretty much exactly!

When I am feeling uncertain or nervous or basically any sort of overwhelming situation, I feel the need to take a bath. Not because I'm dirty or stinky, but because there is truth in the calming effect of a bubble bath.

It's not just advice from a magazine girls. Seriously.

A change is fixing to happen in my life.

But I don't know what it is.

It feels like it's going to be a good change, a BIG change even.

Side note: check out the corn recipe Anna shares in this post.

 Yumm Yummy Yumm!

-------------------------------

Next on my agenda, I would like to say how thankful I am for some of the recent lovely ladies I have become friends with thru the blogging world.

I hope that you know all of them and read their blogs. If you don't, go now and get familiar with them.

You will be blessed guaranteed.

The first lady is Stephanie over at The Honey Pot . Her shop is adorable and her faith shines thru and she is such an inspiration. Not to mention the girl can cook!

She is too sweet and her posts are simply homey, meaning you will fall in love with her immediately and want to be adopted by their family.

I've already asked her and she said yes.

But then I emailed her and said that my hubby and dog would need to come too because we are a package deal.

She hasn't emailed me since.....Haha!

The second lady I am so glad to know is Annie who blogs over at the Farrar Four . She is seriously a hoot!

We exchange emails here and there and I loooooove her southern style. She is also the mama to a super cute little dude who's cheeks you will want to give a big kiss when you see his sweet picture. She is also one craft gal, go see the dresses she has made and encourage her to open up a shop!She encourages me and gives me pep talks and believes that I could quit my day job and make jam for a living. I so LOVE her:)

And last, but definitely not least is my girl Mary from Finding Healthy Hope . I will tell you what I told Mary, I think we could be sistahs from another mistah. I don't know if we've got the midwest roots going for us or we're just blessed enough to have a connection, albeit thru emails, but I am so very thankful for this sweet lady.

We pray for each other and lift each other up and when you visit her blog you will see that her style of writing and the pics of her home/kids/meals/crafty do's/love for Jesus are outstandingly awesome.

I am so glad to know these girls!

I love sharing emails with them and following each other in IG.

True friendships can be made thru social media, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

And on that note..........

I'm going to announce the winner of my jam.

I said that if you left me a comment or email that I would randomly pick a name out of a hat.

Well I decided that I would send a jar to all 5 ladies who left a comment earlier this week.

Thank you for tuning in girls.

The winners are:

Annie Loo

Mary K.

Jess

Jennifer S.

Rachel MC.

Anna

Yay!

Email me your addresses so I can get these jars of jam out.



Happy Day Project and Found

Today I am combining a few  things for a Wednesday post.

And be prepared, it's going to be a little random.

Or maybe a lot.

So let's begin shall we?

First, I need to show you what I was introduced to yesterday.

It's already changed my world and opened up so many possibilities.

It's called the Cuppow. 

Did you watch the video?
Now you want one too right?
We are big fans of The Mason Jar.



And now on to my next random piece.
I was browsing thru pinterest the other day and found this recipe for Summer Corn Cakes .
Be still my salivating taste buds!
I feel like I have eaten this somewhere, but I can't remember with whom or where?

See how yummy that looks?
Go check out this website . They have yummy recipes!
When tomato season is here, I will be eating these left and right.


And lastly, I'm going to share another video.
It's farmy like. But in the city.
Farm meets city.

The video is a little slow starting.
But it's worth the 7 minutes.
Just watch.

I think that's about all I have for you guys today.
Hope you are having a good week so far!
Only 2 more sleeps until the weekend! :)

Grow. Eat. Be Happy.

Good Morning Saturday!

Today if you're looking for me, you can find me on the square, up the street from our house at the Farmer's Market.

I will have some baked goods, possibly some produce from the garden and lots of conversation :)

If you are local, come visit me!

All week long I've been thinking about the growing of food and where our food comes from and what it really means to support the local farmers/producers.

The impact our dollars have when it comes to the choices we make with food are huge.

Along the way I have been introduced to a series put out by Whole Foods called Grow.

Here are a few clips.

I am so drawn to these videos and what they stand for.

I'm totally in awe of these people, living in urban settings rocking out the garden/growing scene.

If they can accomplish these things, so can we!

If you have a bucket and some dirt, you're already half way there.

The cost of a seed packet and what it will provide you with far outweighs the tasteless stuff you find at the mega super store.

But you already know that right?

I thought so. :)

Clips 1-4 are also out there on You Tube.

And you can visit Whole Foods Website to talk and learn more about it.

Do you have a garden this year? What are you growing?

If you send me some pictures, I will post them on my blog so we can delight in what's being grown around the country.

Have a great weekend!

I will let you know how the Farmer's Market goes.

Word

Last night I was sitting on the couch talking to my hubby on the phone before bed. And we were talking about the situation up in the Chicago area with my grandparents and some other areas of our life.

I was feeling frustrated and unsure of what to do.

Sometimes things go well, and other times not so much.

Do you have those days?

Where you questions things and wonder "What In THE World?"

( Long story short- my gramps was diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostrate Cancer, they have now sold their home and moving into a nursing home of sorts.)

Family comes first with me.

Always has, always will. My grandparent's are like a second set of parents to me and helped raised me when I was young. My mom and I lived with them until I was 8 years old and I am so blessed to have them in my life. So it was a no brainer when I things started heading south up there and they needed family to come and help.

I didn't think twice.

But as some of you may know, it's hard to pick up and go and leave your work and life in another state and go help for an indefinite amount of time.

Packing up a house where they lived for 35 + years will not be an easy task.

 Physically or emotionally.

Luckily there will be other hands and muscle to help.

Now let me tell you this.

Last week on a Thursday my grandparent's house officially went on the market.

By Sunday, they had already had 10 showings of their house.

10!

We as a family have prayed and prayed and PRAYED about this situation.

And then prayed some more.

God has had His Hands in this situation since day one.

Back in November when the doctors gave that scary diagnosis, earlier this year when the chemo ravaged my grandpa's body and sucked the life right out of him and we wondered how much time we would have left with him.

We prayed.

And cried.

And my hubby being the awesome guy that he is, drove up there with me and our dog who gets major car sickness, and comforted us and made fried chicken.

I know, you can love him too :)

We questioned how much longer they could live in their big house without help.

They got 24/7 care in their home and in the same room where many a family celebration was held, a hospital bed was moved in and my grandpa spent a couple of months there.

With strangers (some nice, some not so nice) coming and going 24/7 giving them the health care my grandpa needed, we prayed.

We prayed for my grandma to have strength during this fragile time.

Can you even imagine watching your mate of  65 years crumbling before your eyes?

And deciding if and when he should be moved to a nursing home?

It was hard for everyone, but we knew and felt it was right.

And so did he.

A few weeks ago I told you that my grandpa moved into the nursing home, he is doing well and getting physical therapy so that his strength can be regained.

Never the same as before, but better than when the chemo was around.

Plans were then made for my grandma to move into another part of this location, into an assisted independent living cottage.

The stipulation was that their house would need to sell first, to free up some funds.

And so more praying happened.

Lots of dilligent, hard work has been done by my Uncle and other family members and my mom has been up there helping and comforting my grandparents along the way.

It's been quite the process really.

And here is the great news.

Yesterday their house Sold.

SOLD

Not even a week on the market and their house sold.

Do you feel God in this story?

We do.

And then yesterday my beloved Home Life Magazine came in the mail.

It is such a refreshing read, I urge you to look into it.

There are reminders all over this issue, reminding me that God is in this.

There is no need to worry about our circumstances because He WILL show up.

Yes He will.

And He has so many times in the past too, that I am so ashamed when I try to handle situations on my own without asking Him to help.

It may not always be the outcome I think, but it will be the right one.

Every time.

I wrote on Instagram that I need to practice this. To be thankful and rejoice in every situation.

And that so often my initial reaction is to whine, complain or judge.

I don't want to be that girl.

Really, I don't.

This is another thing I need to be doing.

Sometimes it comes naturally to me and I find myself praying all day, like an open conversation.

Other days I can't even remember if I prayed before I hurriedly ate my lunch or actually prayed for someone when I told them I would.

I want to do better than that.

I am so overjoyed at the turn of events so far with my grandparents.

My whole family, near and far has prayed about this situation.

And God has been answering those prayers left and right.

It has felt like a Green Light situation the whole time.

Open doors all the way.

Now and moving forward I want to stop and thank God for meeting our needs and watching over us.

I don't want that to get lost in the mix of our hurried lives.

And so this morning, after many days (maybe weeks!) of not opening my Bible, I dusted it off and sat down to Proverbs.

It felt like what I needed.

And it was.

The words felt more clear to me than they have, maybe ever.

I know that the spirit will fill me and my cup will be running over when I read God's word.

It's like we know we will feel better if we excercise and eat right, but we still don't. Grrrr.

Dear Lord,

Forgive me of my foolish ways.

Help me to stay on your path and ALWAYS seek you first.

Thank you for loving me even when I don't feel like I deserve it.

Thank you for all the answered prayers in regards to my grandparent's situation.

You have truly blown us away with what you have made happen.

Please let me always be a light to my family and my husband so that my words will encourage and comfort instead of scorn or humiliate.

Love,

Me.

You can find these printables and more at Home Life Website .

I want to print them all off and hang them all over my home so I have constant reminders.

If you have stuck with me thru this long post, Bless Your Heart!

And thank you!

Will you continue to pray for us?

Do you have a prayer request?

I would love to pray for you as well.

Even if it something you don't want to share, but an unspoken one.

Have a GREAT day!



Ciao Bella

When you read that title did you think " Say Whaaaaaat?"

I bet my husband did. :)

Fun Fact:

Did you know that I usually schedule my new posts to post at 5am everyday so that my early rising hubby can read them where ever he may be?

Ok that sounded weird.

For those of you just tuning in, the hubberooni works hard all week surveying the great highways of Arkansas for the state. As in he stays in a hotel in some town anywhere in the state or Arkansas Monday-Friday.

If they are going to expand a highway, build a bridge, design a new expressway- he and his crew drive out to the proposed site and measure away. I think they might do a little goofing around too, but don't tell his boss ok? It's mostly hard work, out in the elements all year round. That means when it's cold and snowy here, he packs his long undies and when it's July and we have weeks maybe months in the 100 degree range, he's out sweating his booty off in that weather too.

God bless that man for working so hard for our family.

So back to my Italian " Ciao Bella".

I came across this little cooking series on Yahoo.

They call it :

Chow Ciao 

You need to check this out.

The chef is named Fabio mmmkay?

This video is about 2 minutes long......just watch it ok?

And I would like to invite him over for dinner to cook for the hubby and I.

Wonder how that would turn out? Ha!

This is the first VIDEO I watched.

( I couldn't get it to embed, sorry.)

I think you will like it too :)

And then you will go check out the other videos and come back here and tell me which is your favorite recipe ok? Ok.

I often become so repetitive with what I make for meals.

Spaghetti- check.

Tacos- check.

Sandwiches- check.

Soups-check.

Chicken something-check.

Booooooring.

It seems like the same old same old shows up every week.

With garden season coming up and frugal living on our minds, I'm all about stretching a dollar yet having healthy, delicious meals.

Who's with me?

What are your thoughts for meals?

Have any go to meals you'd like to share?

Happy Day Project

Hello!

Last week Alicia prompted us to do a little task for her Happy Day Project.

Here's what she says :

"...write up a summer list just for you.

Here's my list from last summer if you need more ideas..."

I don't know where she got that cute little template for making a list, but remind me to ask her ok?

So here goes my Summer wish list:

Keep my little tootsies looking good, and toe nails painted.

Read books. Lots of them.

Make bible reading and excercising a daily habit.

Take advantage of the fresh, seasonal produce at our finger tips and from the Farmer's Market and cut out the processed junk.

Go camping.

See a movie at a drive in theater with my honey.

Fireworks.

Swimming in the lake.

Canoe trip down the river.

Bbq's and bonfires.



Have you made a summer list yet?

What are your plans?

Now go check out Alicia's Blog and see what all the other bloggers linked up with.

Have a Happy Day!

Farmer's Market and Hello Tuesday

So I realize that my blog titles are becoming more and more lame. Oh well.....

Let's start this post out with a pic of my new lamp.

I'm in love with it!

I can't stop looking at it, and when I'm in the kitchen, even if it's not needed I turn it on.

But then I remember that it's a waste of electricity if I don't really need the light and turn it off.

Happy now?

What's that?

You want to see another picture?

Ok, here you go..... :)

 Right alongside my trust Minnesota Mug, 25 cents at a garage sale. Love that.

And ok, here's just one more with the dewberry cobbler I made with berries from the farmer's market.

We have had that baking dish since we got married 2 years ago and this was the first time I used it. I think this is going to be my official cobbler dish from now on. I love the way it looks!

Oh, what's a dewberry you ask?

Well it's very close kin to the black berry. Black berries grow on a big bush, dewberries grow on a smaller vine closer to the ground?

This cobbler was so easy to make! I don't know why everyone doesn't make it from scratch from now on.

Here's the recipe that I used, based on one from The Pioneer Woman , don't you just love her?

I do. And seriously, everything she cooks looks so ahmazing!

The only thing I did differently is add more berries and a splash of vanilla.

Served warm with ice cream and a mug of coffee, well it was just shy of heavenly!

And now, on to the Farmer's Market.

This past Saturday was our town's first EVER organized Farmer's Market.

And IT was awesome!

I came home with some really great produce, which makes this girl VERY happy!

Do you see all the vibrant colors?

They are so beautiful and incredibly delicious.

All of these items were grown by local growers.

Grown no more than 10 miles from my house.

We are trying to be more of  a locavore family in our house. Supporting local farmer's, shops, restaraunts etc. There is such importance in doing this.

Several of the growers we knew personally which made it even more sweet.

I'm about to admit something to you that may or may not surprise you.

Until 2 years ago, I had never eaten a strawberry straight from the strawberry patch.

Until this past Saturday, I had never eaten a pea fresh from the picking.

The real truth is that I hate peas. So much that when I was little I used to tell the lunch ladies that I was allergic so they wouldn't give me any on my plate.  Yeah they asked my mom about that one, and I was BUSTED! :(

But when I tasted that pea, that the Amish family was selling and I thought about their dedication and care of the land and their hard work and how they had picked it just that same morning, it was the sweetest, sweet pea I have ever had. I was popping them like chips when I got home!

Yum!

The combination of healthy food and Zumba is making me feel REALL GOOD!

And making me think " Why o WHY haven't I don't this sooner?"

This upcoming Saturday at the farmer's market, I plan on being there.

And I am SO super excited about this.

Our yellow squash and zucchini should be ready by then, we will have some lettuces and I plan on doing some baking of breads, cookies and scones.

If you are in the area, you should come! Email me and I will let you know the details.

Happy Tuesday everyone!



Yippee! It's Friday!

Hello Friday!

I've missed you!

It really doesn't matter what I have going on for the weekend, I am always glad for Friday.

Today I don't have anything uniform to share, just a sprinkling of this and that.

I discovered this blog called Bowl Full of Lemons. And they have a house tour that you will love browsing thru!

And if you are in to that sort of thing like me, you will love Heather over at Life Made Lovely and Her Home Made Lovely series. 

Over at Megan's there is always something good to eat, like this and this and this. I could go on and on about how much I love her blog and her recipes, but when you go for a visit you will figure that out pretty quickly :)

I've been stock piling books in my cart on Amazon, whether I will ever purchase them all is another question. But it doesn't hurt to do a little virtual window shopping right?

The Back Yard Homestead and The Bucolic Plague and One Thousand Gifts and Jamie at Home , just to name a few.

This video is totally intriguing to me. And this is exactly what the hubby and I would like to do.

You can check out this website here.

I bought this cd over the weekend specifically because of this song. I know, I know- I could have just bought the song on iTunes. Whatever.

I must warn you, that if you listen to this while driving it will make you drive fast.

Just saying.

Have a great Friday!

Tomorrow we are heading to our town's first ever Farmer's Market, so excited!

Guest Post with Annie from The Farrar Four

Happy Thursday!

Today I am so excited to have Annie here with us.

You will absolutely adore her!

I have so enjoyed getting to know her and consider her a long distance friend. Just another reason why I love blogging is getting to connect with cool ladies like Annie!

Hey there Faithful City Mouse Readers!!!!  I’m honored to be here today!

I’m Annie, the momma blogger behind The Farrar Four and the seamstress behind Annie Loo Handmade.  Rachel and I met on Instagram.  Rachel is just a joy!  I’ve so enjoyed getting to know her through her blog and through our emails back and forth! 

When Rachel asked me to guest post, I decided my favorite Summertime Pie would be it.  It’s from my mother-in-laws kitchen, so I can’t take all the credit.  You are going to LOVE this pie.  It’s the perfect arrangement of sweet and refreshing.  This is sure to delight any hot summer lunch or dinner party!

With that, I give you Blueberry Banana Pie!

Makes 2 pies

Ingredients:

Premade frozen pie crusts

1 tub of cool whip

1 8 oz bar of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 large can of blueberry pie filling

3-4 bananas

Directions:

Bake the pie crust according to directions. 

Once cooled, slice bananas and cover the bottom of the pie pan. 

Add more or less according to your love of bananas.

Pour the blueberry pie filling over the top of the bananas.  Half can per pie.

In a bowl, combine cool whip, cream cheese and sugar.

Beat until completely mixed.

Spread over the top of each pie.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This pie is actually even better, the next day!  If it lasts that long! 

Or for breakfast!  It’s fruit right?

ENJOY!

Follow my blog HERE.

Find me on facebook HERE.

Find me on twitter HERE.

Find me on instagram @annie_loo

Thanks for letting me share Rachel! 

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks so much for stopping by today Annie!
That pie looks delicious and I can't wait to try this recipe!

Oh Happy Day! It's Wednesday!

Good Morning!

I'm linking up with Alicia @ La Famille today.

To read more about her project and find about how you can join in, read here.

Her last week's prompt was to throw a little lipstick on. I was wondering if there was any dudes joining in and did this challenge???? :)

So this past weekend the hubby and I were in Oklahoma for a short trip, and I got a little dolled up for a date night.

See the glossy lipsstick?!

When we were dating and early married, I always did my hair and looked cute for my hubby. I'm sad to say I don't do that very often anymore. In fact more often than not I don't do my hair, don't get dolled up and think things like "When was the last time I shaved my legs?!"

This night, from the picture above, I felt pretty. You can't see in this picture, but I even braided my bands and straightened my hair! Wow!

Our king size hotel bed was SUPER comfy! I wanted to take it home with us but couldn't fit it in the Subaru. Bummer.

Anytime that I can get Starbucks is a good time.

This was a Venti iced Americano, light ice, with room, 3 sugars please.

So refreshing on a 90 degree something day in Tulsa. Whew!

Got to spend some time (and money) at Barnes and Noble. I could seriously browse at books forever.

Especially the gardening/homesteading/make our earth a better place kind of books.

Before we left, we picked these potatoes from the garden. I couldnt believe how big some of them were! Of course the teeny tiny ones were great too. Eaten raw they tasted like a really healthy potato chip!

There are a few radishes and turnips in the mix too.

This was a staged picture on his part. He would never pick his nose while driving for real. Ha!

He cracks me up!

Happy Wednesday!



Happy Birthday HB!

Hello Monday!

Today is the day we celebrate my hubby's birthday!

And the fact that our car insurnace will significantly reduce in price due to his birthday :)

I am so glad this guy picked me to be his wife. I feel so blessed everday that I get with him.

I love our Love Story .

In fact we our celebrating our 2nd Wedding Anniversary today as well. We had two weddings and so we celebrate both dates.

You can read about how we celebrated the first of our two dates here and here .

We got to spend the whole weekend together this past weekend, and I so totally love that. We ate Chinese food and watched cable! We were living it up because we're wild like that! :)

I never want to take for granted our time together. It's so special to me.

This guy makes me laugh all the time. He's such a goofball and knows just how to get a giggle out of me.

I thank God so much for him.

Dear HB ( aka. Hunny Bunny)

I love you like crazy, thank you for all that you do for our family to provide for us and to buy Charlie dog bones. We greatly appreciate it :)

Also,

You know how sometimes I add a pic to the Found Link Up on Wednesdays?

Well this last week, they featured one of my pics. And I'm kind of excited about it :)

Go check it out here.



Pinspiration

Howdy everyone!
Friday is HERE!
And we are on our way to Oklahoma this weekend for a short trip!
I definitely look forward to a little road trip with my main squeeze.
Charlie the Wonder Dog will be having a slumber party at grammy and grampy's house- yes we are dorks for referring to my parents like that in reference to our dog. What can I say? It's who we are.

We're still having major Barn Heart over here. If you are just joining in, catch up with me on this post HERE.

So I was wasting time on Pinterest, naturally, and found some farmy things I want to share with you.

I don't know about you, but I'm totally swooning over these pictures. I know subscribe to Country Living, Mother Earth News and The New Pioneer ( I think that's the title.)
I never thought that this girl who came from California, to Chicago to NYC would ever end up in Arkansas let alone be thinking and dreaming and wishing and hoping and praying for REAL farm living.
 It just goes to show that God does work in mysterious ways.

This last quote makes me think of my grandpa, who moved into a skilled nursing home yesterday. He read me every book from the Little House on The Prairie series when I was younger, taught me how to whistle and lick an ice cream cone just right so it doesn't drip down your hands. I pray that this  is a smooth transition for he and my grandma and that he gets the very best care available. I know God has His hands in this and while none of us are thrilled with this option, it seems to be the best right now.
And to prevent anymore tears from falling, I will bid you a HAPPY WEEKEND!
Be appreciative of each and every day you have with your loved ones, enjoy each moment.
See you Monday!