God In The Mirror

Lately I have been really spending some time thinking about what God's purpose for my life really is. For a long time I found myself "sitting" in my seat while others told me who I was in Christ, what I should do (and not do) and how I should act (or not act)! In my heart I always knew that God had a purpose and plan for my life...the only problem is that I let others make the decision as to what that plan should be rather then trust God and let him lead the way.

Then one day a still small voice said.......daughter I created you special, unique, one of a kind. All I require of you is that you follow me and be the you I created you to be......so just do you!!!!

Its taken me a minute to fully get the meaning behind those words. Heck, at times I still struggle with the concept that he created me, really created me in his own image...and that only he can lead me!

Recently I was given the opportunity to read and excerpt from Pastor Miles McPherson's book "God In The  Mirror" Discovering Who You We're Created To Be!

I can so relate to this. The only other time I felt this kind of connection to an authors words were when I read Pastor Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life"! There is something about hearing that you were created in God's image that stops you in your tracks and makes you think. If you have connected with me for any period of time you know I am well known for saying...I'm just trying to be the "me" God created!

But what exactly does "created in his image" really mean? Pastor Miles offers a very honest and open discussion about that very subject. What if you had an opportunity to really get to know what that verse means? How would it change the way you think? The way you act? As an individual I encourage you to check out the book. Who knows...it just my change the direction of your life (or better yet...lead you to change the life of someone else).

If your a church leader I encourage you to read the book, share it with your team and consider using the DVD series in your group study time. The six sessions will encourage and equip you to answer the question as to what it means to truly be made in the image of God and what impact that could have on your daily life!

If you would be interested in receiving a copy of the book please share with me here what "Created In His Image" means to you. This give-away will be open for one week.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED MAY 3rd!

Birthday Celebration Re-Cap

This weekend I celebrated my 49th birthday! Marc, Nicki and I traveled to Richmond to see my sister cousins participate in the Ukrop's Monument ave 10k race/walk (actually Marc dropped us off because he had class, but joined later for lunch) ! I've pretty much decided I'm going to walk next year in honor of my 50th birthday and I'm challenging my friends to join me.

After the race the family celebrated my birthday early with a luncheon at the Cheese Cake Factory. Quisha couldn't attend because her goddaughters 5th birthday party was the same day. She had actually given me my gift in advance which turned out to be a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory.

I've included a few pics from Saturday as well as our meal on Sunday. Marc took me to Applebee's after church. We spent the rest of Sunday chilling, which was fine with me because I was still pooped from Saturdays 14 block (7 blocks there and back to my sisters apartment) walk to the park to cheer our cousins on. Guess I need to start getting these old legs into shape now!!! lol

This is mom and I walking back to my sisters apartment after the race. Why do we look like the blind leading the blind? LOL

My mom, my cousin Pat and my sister.

I wish I had been videotaping while we were at lunch because the story behind this picture was hilarious. When some benches became available the women in my family preceded to run towards them as if they were in a game of musical chairs! We attempted to vlog while on this outing but I ran out of space on my memory card (we did get a few snippets before the card got full. Hopefully I can get Nicki to edit it and put it up on her vlog channel). Anyone have any suggestions on what size to get ( I have 16 gb)? I want to be prepared next time. You just can never tell what this crazy group will do when they are together! 

I love the Cheesecake Factory!

My huge salad which I am still eating off of today! 

I especially love their key lime pie! 

This grandmother/granddaughter duo need to be separated! SMH Again, why wasn't I filming this? Oh because it ran out of memory!!!

There is never a dull moment when I hang out with this crowd! But I love them to life!!!

I love youth Sunday! The kids taught us about LOVE in several different languages. Including sign language. 

Marc's message was onpoint! I tweeted about it yesterday afternoon.

Ended my birthday with lunch at Applebee's! Even topped it off with dessert! 

The church bulletin had this in it! Found out this morning I can blame my aunt for this!!! I told her she was fired! She remembered to send in pics but forgot to call me Sunday morning and sing Happy Birthday to me! Who does that? Especially the women who always calls the morning of!

These are snacks from hubby!!! Only thing missing is some chips! LOL I got a little bit of money for the Big Day so I will be making a trip to Bath and Body before the end of the week...I hope! I have a 20% off coupon holding center count in my ipad case! LOL

I had a great weekend and as someone who is not afraid to say there age...I'm proud to be 49 and I can't wait to celebrate 50 next year (already have some ideas in my head)!!! 

Spring Tag

I first saw the "Spring Tag" on YouTube ! Yes, YouTube has officially become my newest entertainment. More so then tv! Anyway since I'm a spring baby, and my 49th birthday is on Sunday I thought this would be the perfect "tag" to participate in. Actually when you think about it...us bloggers were tagging each other long before YouTube was even thought about!

1. What are you looking forward to about Spring? First of all have we had spring? I mean really if you haven't had snow in March and April, you've had extreme heat temps! I'm pretty sure mother nature and God are having a field day watching us change in and out of summer/winter clothing every couple of days!

Anyway I digress. LOL I love spring one because it means my birthday is right around the corner and two I just love how fresh and "springy" everything looks!

2. Must have Spring make up item? I almost didn't do this one, but actually the summer time is the only time I really get excited about using nail polish. I'm not big on bright neon colors and I'm not that fond of many of the deep dark colors that come out in the fall and winter...but give me a beautiful pink or creme frosted nail polish and I'm a happy girl. 

3. Favorite clothing item for spring? I have to say as much as I like my straight leg (elastic waist) jeans I love when spring rolls around because I can break out my capri's and skirts. I'm a girly girly through and through. LOL

4. Favorite shoes for spring? That's an easy one. Its usually to soon for me to break out the sandals (I'm not a big flip flop person) but I love my "casual" tennis shoes. There was a time I would grab every pair of keds (in every color) I could get my hands on. LOL

5. Favorite spring drink? Without a doubt Ice Tea! As a matter of fact as much as I love my Teavana Tea maker, I'm really looking at buying a new Ice Tea Maker. The one I had for years finally broke down and I really miss it.

6. Spring Break or not and where? Of course our kids are all grown now, but when spring break use to roll around we never took a vacation. If it wasn't in the summer we would try to wait until the weather really cooled out (like December...lol). Of course our favorite place was (and still is) Disney. Hello!! 

7. Favorite Spring flowers? I love, love Hydrangeas and was so excited when my kids gave me a bush for Mothers Day. I don't have the best green thumb and with the crazy weather we have had I'm not sure how well my plant survived the winter. I'll post a picture if it blooms!!!

8. Favorite Spring fragrance? Without a doubt my favorite scent is Sweet pea (or peonies)! And its the "April" flower.

9. Skirts or dresses? I could go either way, but I'm more comfortable in a skirt. 

10) Lace or no lace? That's a tough one. I love lace, but not necessarily on me. I have been wanting an eyelet lace dress like forever. I just haven't found "the" one.

Well, I hope you like my tag and if you have a blog, or YouTube channel I would love to hear about your Favorite "spring" things!

Getting Organized (Again)! lol

The last time I tackled a large "organizational" project I ended up with a pinched nerve and was out of commission for nearly 4 1/2 months! We're not going down that road again if I can help it. So even though I'm feeling well enough to blog and tackle a few small projects here and there I'm not ready to tackle the big stuff. Which would include overhauling my scrap room/office space. Right now that room is almost as big a disaster as my pantry was! In the meantime nothing I've been able to do has worked when it comes to my mail organization. I can't tell you how many times I've tweaked this particular project. But I'm hoping this latest update will stick.

One problem I've been having is keeping up and tracking our spending. I really want to get a good feel for how much I spend each week so that I can put myself on some type of allowance. So first up is keeping those receipts in check. I picked the two floral pockets from Office Depot ( 99 cents each) and the solid green accordion file at the dollar spot at Target. Did you all really think I wouldn't find a cheap way to organize?

Marc picked up these file folders for me from Office Depot for 99 cents a pkg (6 in each one). The folders are actually turned inside out because they had a pattern on them and I preferred the solid side instead.

These magazine bins were also in the dollar section of Target! I'm not sure of I'm going to use them for mags or something else but with the color and the price I couldn't resist! LOL

Yes, I know the bank isn't necessarily a traditional "organization" item but when you think about it. Its a good place to coral all that spare change that builds up in the bottom of your purse! LOL It was $5 and I picked it up at Ollie's. I've seen similar ones in Target for $13! 

YES! I'm all about that life right now! LOL

I'm about to not be about this life (Oh, this was also in the Dollar section of Target. Its going to be a pen holder for my desk once I clear it off ) !!! LOL

My new "organizational" notepad and pen $1.00 each at Michael's! 

They had these cute binder clips at Office Depot for $1.00 with the months of the year on it. The plan is to use them to transfer the mail to a more permanent spot at the end of each month, then at the end of the year they will move to "yearly" folder for storage. They were so cute I couldn't leave them behind! And it saved me from making a bunch of labels! LOL

Marc had these baskets just laying around so I swiped one! It also holds my receipt envelopes and my Holiday binder and Christmas planner binder. LOL

This is originally where I put my mail when it came in so I could sort. Now its the spot for the kids mail to go when I sort at the end of the week.  I have a place for the mail to go when it comes in so whoever brings it in from the mailbox can place it there and I can sort later. I do need to pick up an additional set of files for some misc. stuff and a small envelope binder like I have for Marc's receipts. I also want to put a pkg of stamps in the basket along with a few blank envelopes in various sizes. Cross your fingers that this system will work and help cut down on some of the paper clutter! 

Sunday Best!

It's been forever since I did a Sunday Best! In all honesty the last few weeks have been the first time I've really been even interested in my attire since my illness. A sure sign I'm feeling better ( there is still some lingering pain, but I'm determined to get back to living life).

My outfit! The dress is about three of four years old. Its the same dress in my sidebar by the way.

I can't tell you how long I've had this pin. I know its at least 15 yrs or more.

My beaded bracelets from Easter.

Using the same earrings as well.

I liked this shoe so much I have it in navy as well. LOL They are about 15 years old if not older.

I love this Liz Clairborne purse. I've had it for a while (maybe 10 yrs).

We've started taking pics so that we can choose a few for our 5th anniversary this fall at WABC. This is not the one. LOL By the way this is the white suit hubby wanted to wear for Easter.

This picture looks like Marc is touching me and I'm about to do a prasie dance. Instead he was being bad and I was about to slap his hands! LOL

Nicki was sick on Easter Sunday so she finally got to wear her outfit as well for the first time.

My emergency bag

I first got the idea of an emergency bag/walking pharmacy ( I highlighted it in my March Favorites ) from Organizedlikejen . It's not that I wasn't carrying around a lot of this stuff in my purse I just never thought to "coral" all of them into bags. This has helped me find items in the pit I call my purse a lot easier. But also when I transition from bag to bag ( which I can end up doing two to three times a week) I just transfer my bags from one purse to the other!

And as you can see my Sonia Kashuk bag holds a lot of stuff! lol

(Sonia Kashuk Make-up bag)

(see how much it holds?)

(tissues, lipgloss, lip balm, lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, mirror, swabs, Chlorox pen, floss picks, bandages and eyeglass cloth. I'm in the market for a mini pillbox).

Easter Decor and Target Haul

I picked up this cute runner and the matching towels from Big Lots. They were 30% off a week ago and I grabbed them while out getting supplies for our Easter Eggstravaganza!

I picked up this tablecloth and placemats from Target last night after church. The signs said 50% off but I'm pretty positive they took more off. I only paid like $4.00 for each!

I also picked up this egg dish at Target. This was originally like $18.00 and I got it for $6.00 something!

I couldn't resist this cute basket and the original price was $15.00! Of course I didn't pay that much (it was less then $6.00)! LOL

There is no way I could have made this colorful wreath for $4.00 (original cost was $12.00).

These cute egg holders were in the dollar section at Target! I wish I could find at least one more! Oh well, maybe next time (the first two cost me $1.00. The discounted one was 80 cents). 

I've had this bunny forever. My sister in law gave it to me a long, long time ago. 

If I'm not mistaken I think I got this bunny when we lived in Kansas at one of the little speciality shops. That was over 15 yrs ago if not longer.

Marc brought me this bunny many moons ago. Its taken a lot of abuse over the last few months because I've used it in bed as neck and back lumbar support. LOL

I actually made the wreath in this picture. I had the material for this thing for years but never got around to actually making it until last month. The bunnies on the mantel are from Big Lots a few years ago and of course the egg holders are the ones from Target. I had the two shown since last month but I found another one last night while searching through the clearance section. I've still not felt well enough to do a lot of decorating for the spring but I'm hoping to do more over the coming months. As you can tell I've nissed blogging so I made up for it today! 

Update:

(found two door hangers for my upstairs for $1.80 each. I don't recall the original price)

(towels were 89 cents each. Original price was around $3.00)

(the runners posted above and below were $3.80 each, I think the original price was like $12.00 each)

Made another run ( I also picked up a cute salt and pepper shaker set. Posted a pic on my Instagram )! LOL Next years Easter decorating is going to be fun!