I came across this Free Printable from The Blog Joy's Hope.

It's in my office at work and soon to be at the house in a frame somewhere. Maybe in the bedroom so I can remember and be encouraged to live a Godly Life.

Click Here To Get One!

Have a great day!
Happy New Year's Eve!

Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

My grandma used to sing that song to me when I was little everytime we pulled into the driveway after a day of errands or a trip elsewhere. I think in my head I still hear that everytime I pull into my own driveway, even after all these years. (sniff, sniff)

Lately I've been feeling like the ultimate home body. I just LOVE being at home. I feel like our home really reflects us and our personalities. Or rather maybe it's just my personality as Mr. Jeter doesn't have much say in the decoration. Hmmmm......

Anywho, as you know I'm a little bit of a blog groupie and one of the blogs I read pretty regularly is called Life Made Lovely, written by a gal named Heather. She has a string of guest bloggers who do a "Home Tour" and I la-la-la love it!
Here are a few of the home tours that I wish were my own and reflect my comfy/cozy home as well.

Crystal's Home Made Lovely Tour

AnnaLea's Home Made Lovely Tour

Erin's Home Made Lovely Tour

These are just a few on her website! You should check out Heather's Blog and the lovely ladies mentioned above. So many decorating ideas, and most of the ladies mention repurposing, spray paint, thrifting and free for their home decor! Who doesn't love fashion with a bargain?!

Have a Happy Home! Make it you!

Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

Crafty Goodness

Craft Goodness, that is the name of one of my boards on Pinterest. If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet, I suggest you run, not walk to your computer and then email me for an invite and get started already!

Ok, now that we have that cleared up, I want to show you some crafty goodies I have found on Pinterest.com that inspired me to get crafting.

I need something cute for our door and maybe other rooms in the house. I've been seeing this cute wreath ideas and here are a few of my favorite.

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/38418769

The one above would look great with a "J" for the Jeter family's front door don't ya think? :)

And here is the one with a link on how to start a foam wreath. http://www.thepennyparlor.com/2010/09/coffee-filter-wreath.html


Have you made any wreaths or something else for the home recently? Hopefully I will have pics to share of my crafting soon!
Please share!

Have a great day!

Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

The Happy Hoffmans

I am a very blessed girl when it comes to family. I have so many loved ones both related and not that I cherish in my life.
When I came back to Facebook after being off for a week ( I didn't miss it by the way), I saw this video that my cousin posted while he was visiting his wife's family in Oregon over the Christmas break. I have since watched it about 17.5 times. It's just that good!

Watch this video and prepared to want to be adopted by the Hoffmans :)



The Happy Hoffmans from Nathan Freeburg on Vimeo.


Thank you for letting me share Nay! Love you!

Have a great day everyond!

Love The Faithful City Mouse

I'm Baaaaaack....

Here I am, 2 days after Christmas, feeling pooped. Don't get me wrong, I had a really nice break. Filled with family, a trip to Chicago, more family, then of course the ten hour drive back home to Arkansas, more family, pizza,peppermint bark,Christmas movies, reading of books, opening of presents, naps, shopping and then FINALLY back home to our little humble home.
When we finally arrived back at our house yesterday, I had NEVER been more glad to be HOME. I missed the smell of my family room when I light my favorite candles and a pot of coffee is brewing. Sleeping in my own bed!I missed snuggling up on the couch with the hubs and my Charlie Boy. (He had been at the kennel for 6 days and I nearly cried everyday missing him!) But the only down time I had after being gone for a week was yesterday afternoon. Then early this morning the hubs was off to work and so was I. Back to the routine of the everyday.

But you know what? I welcome it. I look forward to fresh starts, new beginnings and I think I'm feeling more crafty. I have a few wreaths I want to try and make, a few sewing ideas and a general desire to rid my life of clutter and straighten up. Everything.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are still looking forward to the New Year holiday. Think of what you didn't accomplish or push yourself to do in 2011..........now start making plans to concquer that in 2012.

Have a great day!

Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

What I'm doing.......

On my nightstand.....
The second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy and a Karen Kingsbury book. I. cannot. stop. reading. the.hunger.games!

What I want to read.....
The Hunger games, clearly. But I've also been told about a series called "Outlander". That will be next for me.

TV Show worth watching....
Well in all honesty, we don't have cable/dish. We do have a very nice TV though. And I like to give my hubby heck about not having cable/dish. Shhhh, don't tell him. Anywho, we really enjoy Netflix and having been getting the Northern Exposure Dvds and I love watching Felicity on the instant streaming thru our Wii.

Movie I've seen.....
The last movie I saw was The Help. Loved it!

In My Kitchen.......
Christmas cookies and goodies. And of course dirty dishes and the kitchen table has turned into the wrapping of gifts station. Oy!

In My Ears.....
Christmas Music. All. Day.

Items of Note......
I have company arriving this evening, leaving for Chicago on Wednesday and I feel VERY UNPREPARED for this week in general.

What I'm looking forward to.....
I love this time of year. The goodies, the family, the lights, the music. I even love the anticipation of the new year and the opportunities it brings for a fresh start.

What are you up to?

Have a great week!

Movies and Books

Are you a reader like me? Are you also a movie person? I bet you are.
Now I dont' like just any movie or book. I prefer ones that have somewhat cheerful story lines or a not to sad ending. I only occassionally go outside this comfort zone. I finally got to watch The Help last week because my sweet husband bought it for me. He's the greatest.
And I've been hearing a lot about The Hunger Games lately and so I picked up a copy at Walmart last night. Some of you are probably wondering why I didn't check it out at the library and you are right. I should have looked there first. But in my defense, it is a small library, and they close before I get off work and open after I'm already at work. And besides, owning the copy is a great way to pass it on to friends and family or even donate it to the library once finished reading.

Have you read the Hunger Games? So far I've ready up to the third chapter and I can tell it's going good. Nothing like what I would normally read, but still great.
Here's the clip in case you are interested. :)

Have a great day!
Love The Faithful City Mouse

Joy Unspeakable

There is a song called Joy Unspeakable that you could find in most any hymnal in any rural church across America. It's a cheerful song and depending on who sings it, might even have a southern twang.
I have been thinking about Joy a lot lately. It's that time of year when Joy is something we just expect to show up. It's Christmas, a time that is merry and bright. But it's not that way for everyone. Not everybody is enjoying hot chocolate by the twinkling tree and has invitations to a holiday party. For some people they are facing foreclosures, loss of loved ones and other unspeakable heart breaks.
Who is there for those people?
And what about the people who are going thru the motions regardless? Still celebrating, still having Christmas funded by credit cards, still spending time alone and FEELING alone?
I'm very fortunate to have a family and even though every family has their own craziness, some people wish they had that.

I came across a blog today called Scotty Boy and Katy Girl. I think you will like it. A lot.
A few posts ago, she wrote about Joy.
I copied a few of her words below. Definitely gives you something to think about this time of year. And really something we should think about all the time.

the story takes place in acts 13 & 14 and paul & barnabas were being persecuted by unbelieving Jews for preaching the gospel. and one thing led to another and they ended up getting stoned by these people like crazy and basically left to die. in fact, most people thought paul was dead. and you would think they might take a day, week, month off of their journey to catch up on life and heal and recuperate. i mean, i would have. but scripture says that basically, paul got up and kept going. scripture says that pauls heart was "filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." in fact, he simply got up and went back to share the gospel with the very people that almost killed him. and then the next day, he left to go share the gospel with more people. after being stoned and left to die, his heart still ached to share the gospel with lost people all over the place.

when i read that story, i realize how badly i want to be the kind of person who has so much joy in the Lord that i cannot help but keep going. i want to be the kind of person that when i'm at my lowest point - when i've been betrayed or hurt or gossiped about or even persecuted in our own modern way - that i would just say it was worth it and get up and keep walking. keep shining God's light all around me. keep sharing his Word with anyone around me. keep letting the joy of the Lord be my strength - strength enough to get up off the ground and keep on going....no matter how bad life hurts or how bad i want to give up. i'd love for one second of my life to have the kind of faith that paul did.

what if JOY looked like that?
Christmas songs would take on a whole different meaning.

Thank you for reading and Have a Great Day!
Love The Faithful City Mouse

A Beautifully Told Christmas Story

I saw this last year somwhere. But last year I didn't have a blog to share random goodness I discover here and there. I think this is great. What you will notice first is the adorable-ness. A wonderful story for both those young and old. When you look at the birth of our Jesus thru the simple story relayed by children, it's so incredible and rich.

I suggest you watch this a few times and really let is soak in.

Video found on Youtube.
Have a great day!
Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

Christmas Prayers

I found this super great print on Pinterest.com via Etsy by Dwell Art. I think it would be great to have this in the house all year round actually, but it's a really appropriate reminder of what this Christmas season is all about.

God bless Pinterest and Etsy- can I get an Amen? :)

Hope your Saturday is awesome!

What are your plans for the weekend?


Love,

The Faithful City Mouse

Ponderings On A Saturday

Hello! How is your Saturday going?

So far mine started like this. Wake up ridiculously early after staying up ridiculously LATE after a fun night of bowling with friends (at least late for me!), saw the hubs off to work this morning (poor him), thought about going back to bed but remembered that I had already determined YESTERDAY that TODAY I was going to be productive! We're talking laundry, wash and put away, dishes (again!), wrapping gifts, baking and cooking (then cleaning up the kitchen AGAIN. Needless to say coffee and Christmas music were a necessity. It's a day like this that I would love to sit around in my pj's watching Netflix until my heart's desire. But alas, I will be productive.
I'm really good at putting things off. Most often my motto is "Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?" Terrible, I know. Pretty soon the New Year is approaching and I'm not sure I'm going to have any resolutions or not. Procrastinators are big on giving up early on things. Trust me, I know.
Maybe I shouldn't be admitting any of that, but it is what it is.

So there are two yummy things in the oven right now, making the house smell oh so good! A pumpkin pie for the hubs ( he LOVES them!) and a swiss and spinach quiche. Delish!

What are you doing today?

Picture via http://emilymcdowell.posterous.com/ via pinterest.com.

Small Town Living At It's Best!

Last night I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes, a chore I HATE by the way, and all of the sudden I notice that I've been hearing sirens for several minutes. So I peek out the kitchen window and see ambulance/fire truck lights a little down the street, maybe 3 houses down. I quickly dried my hands, got Charlie's leash on, shoes, hat, coat and we were out the door. After all, you don't grow up with a self proclaimed Neighborhood Watch and not want in on the action. And I want you to know that normally in a situation that includes hearing several sirens, I would call my dear friend Melba and ask her what the scanner is reporting. Hey- we live in a small town!

Back to the task, as we bolted out the door (without the camera), I realize that the Salem Christmas Parade is going on right past my street! I could have watched this from the cozy confines of my home, but getting in on the action was so much better. Charlie immediately sat right down in the driveway and enjoyed the show. I was mesmorized! I have never had anything that exciting happen right in front of my house.....ever! The fire trucks drove by with lights flashing, a float from the locally owned hardware store went by with all their family members on it, a float from the bank, a float from a few of the local churches and even some citizens on horses. And might I add that all of them were throwing candy! Some kid on the fire truck felt bad that it was just Charlie and I watching in our driveway and he yelled " Hey Lady! Here's some candy!...........But don't let your dog eat it, chocolate will kill him!" He kept smiling and let the float take him the half mile into the town square. Meanwhile, the neighbors had their broom out and were gathering as much candy as they could out of the street. Classic.

I really can't describe to you how much it made my heart happy to be a part of this 10 minute escapade. Life is really so unpredictable, one never knows what's around the corner or even in their own front yard!

Now I'm inside enjoy a warm cup of Christmas Eve tea, typing away near the Christmas tree.
Life is good isn't it?

Enjoy your day!

Love the Faithful City Mouse

Happy Happy

As usual I read Meg from the Whatever Blog today. And she posted the most adorable youtube video.
Seriously if this doesn't make your heart happy, you might need help.

Enjoy!
What makes you happy this Christmas season?


Have a great day!
Love,
The Faithful City Mouse

The Outdoor Wife on Marriage

Several months ago, I found a blog thru Faith Blogs, which is a great place to find women of faith who have awesome blogs by the way. The name of the blog is The Outdoor Wife and the writer is Nish. Cool name right? So as I was falling in love with her fresh and witty blog all over again I was looking at some of the older posts she has written and one of them caught my fancy about marriage.
So I decided to share it below. No matter who you are I think you should read this, married or not.

* Nish Weiseth has been married for just under 5 years, has a super cute son, and is one of the most beautiful women in the blogosphere. She is founder of DeeperStory, and blogs at The Outdoor Wife. You can follow her on Twitter at @theoutdoorwife.

It’s been nearly five years since I donned that impeccable designer dress, my hips hugged in ivory silk taffeta. I only had those heels on for five minutes before my feet were throbbing.
The first thing I’d tell you before you get married – make sure you wear shoes comfortable enough to walk down the aisle. The blisters aren’t worth it.
I met my Erik at the altar. We recited those vows so holy, prayed and were united in the arms of a loving God. I was ready. He was ready. We were young, and everyone liked to remind us how young we really were, but we knew it was time. I knew it like I knew my own skin.
The next thing I’d tell you is… if you’re ready, get married. Don’t wait for everything to fall into place. Don’t wait for your life to be “perfect.” If you both know that you’re meant to be married (and trust me, you’ll know), do it.

We celebrated our one year anniversary at his family’s cabin in the woods.. there’s an outhouse there, and the walls between the bedrooms doesn’t quite reach the ceiling. We were sitting at the picnic table in the kitchen when I remembered the words of friends who had been long-married… “The first year is the hardest.” So for the first year, I had a hard time fully embracing the joy of marriage, because I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was told for so long that I’ll probably be miserable.
I wish someone would have told me that’s a load of crap. The first year of marriage is new, fresh, transformational and exciting. It has it’s challenges, just like any new experience. But, the first year of marriage is only as hard as you allow it to be. You can’t control what happens in life, but you can control your response.
We had candles lit on that same picnic table when we celebrated our second anniversary. I’ve always loved the way my wedding ring sparkles in candlelight.
There were so many things that I imagined would change with the appearance of the wedding bands on our ring fingers, but I was shocked to discover that life was still… life. You don’t get to wear the pretty white dress to work every day. Your college debt doesn’t disappear when you get married. Your laundry doesn’t fold itself and the dishes don’t clean themselves. The steps you need to take to advance your career are still there. Life is still life.
Our third year brought challenges. The pregnancy from hell, a new baby, severe postpartum depression… so many things happened that year that brought some serious issues to the surface for me. Things that I didn’t realize I needed to deal with a long time ago.
So, you know that heavy baggage you carry around? The stuff that you shove underneath the bed so nobody sees when they show up in your life?
You might as well take it out and start sorting through that stuff now. I wish someone would have told me that the baggage doesn’t vanish with the vows. But, you don’t have to have it figured out before you’re married. God is gracious in providing people in our lives to help us sort through the hard stuff… and you will find no greater ally than your husband.
Our fourth year was spent trying to find a new normal, but realizing that we live in a constant state of transition. It was a lesson in flexibility, simplicity and refining our communication. It was a time of learning that marriage is where I feel safe, my husband can always take what I dish out, and I can be real with my emotions within the safety of my marriage.
I wish someone would have told me that conflict is okay. I wish someone would have told me that it’s okay to respond emotionally. I wish someone would have told me that being honest and real is more important than good conversation etiquette. My husband wants me, all of me, the real me… not a watered-down version, not a sugar-coated version. Anything less than the real me will never last in marriage.
And here I sit, with our fifth wedding anniversary just over a month away. I’m thinking back on the last half-decade of my life as a wife, and if there’s anything that I can share with you, it’s this:
While marriage is joyful, blissful, exciting and adventurous, those aren’t it’s only purposes. Marriage is meant to change you. To mold you. To transform you into a better version of yourself.
Marriage is one of the most powerful tools that God uses to shape us into looking more like Him.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jenna Love

I've told you about Jenna right? She writes the blog Cold Antler Farm. She's in love with the farm and homesteading life. And she is one tough cookie. And I mean that. The hubs and I really wanted to go to one of her workshops this past fall, but it just wasn't meant to be. We're saving up for next year. She's also the kind of blogger that writes you back if you email her. She's just real like that.

I could brag about her forever. But what I want to tell you is this. I got an email from Amazon earlier this week. It was about her newest book called Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own. And I pre-ordered it from Amazon many months ago because I wanted to have it the moment it came out. You can find it here from Amazon.

OR you can buy it from the local bookstore in Jenna's town and there is a good chance her and her pup Gibson will sign it. If I hadn't pre-ordered mine from Amazon, I would have gone this route. Because it's always good to support the locals remember?
So go here to Battenkill Books to get yours.
Mine will be arriving over the weekend. I can't wait! I'm going to sit down with a hot beverage in a Christmas mug and devour it.
Dear Jenna, you're my hero. Keep on truckin. Love, Rachel (Ps. I mean that in the most non-creepy way possible!)


Have a great day!
Love,

The Faithful City Mouse

Christmas Cards

Do you love Christmas like me? I bet you do. For a few weeks now I've been thinking about the Christmas cards we are going to send out. Last year was our First Christmas as a married couple. And this year is our First Christmas in our own home! With our very own tree! I love Firsts!

I'm not decided where to order my Christmas cards from yet. But I will tell you that I look for convenience. We don't have a printer so printing off a bunch of cards is not in my forecast this year.
There are so many places to choose from though.
Here are a few links to consider if you haven't gotten yours yet.

This one is from my girl Kendra with Keylime Digital Designs .

Here's one from Walmart.com

Christmas Card Templates from Etsy

Basically there is something to fit all of your digital card needs for this holiday. And many of these designers do birthday, wedding, baby and various other announcements.
If digital isn't really your speed, my best advice for holiday cards is your local dollar store. Because you just can't beat ten Christmas Cards for a dollar.

Have a great day!
Love The Faithful City Mouse