The Favorites

Before my dental surgery, I was told that I could bring a CD to listen to during the surgery. I thought about what CD I wanted to bring... Selah? Rich Mullins? 4Him? Then I decided to do something totally new. I was going to try to make my own CD. With our desktop, we didn't have the capability to burn CDs so this was never an option. But with our fairly new laptop, we could. So I decided to give it a try.

The next step was picking just a few songs. Whoa! How can I pick just a few favorites? I finally narrowed it down to fifteen, but it was hard. 

The first CD I made had a skip in it. It was a rather large one and so I decided to make another copy of it. The second one was a success! I am so glad I made a CD. First of all, because my love for the Lord was seen by the medical staff during my surgery. My surgeon remarked that I was a very calm patient and that my music was making him calm! And second, because I can listen to all my favorite songs on one CD. 

My favorites:

1. Sing Your Praise to the Lord - Rich Mullins

2. If I Stand - Rich Mullins

3. Hold Me Jesus - Rich Mullins

4. While the Nations Rage - Rich Mullins

5. The Solid Rock - 4Him

6. Fairest Lord Jesus - 4Him

7. Glory - Selah

8. There is a Redeemer - Selah

9. O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus -Selah

10. Before the Throne of God Above - Selah

11. Wonderful, Merciful Savior - Selah

12. Be Thou My Vision - Selah

13. Part the Waters/I Need Thee Every Hour - Selah

14. O Sacred Head Now Wounded - Selah

15.  There is a Fountain - Selah

What songs would you put on a CD of favorites?

New Decor Reveal and Winter Decorations

Remember when I repainted my desk? Perhaps not since I did it a year and a half ago.Well, anyway, since that time, I've slowly been tweaking the colors in my room.  

I still loved my wall color but I wanted to add some red touches to my room and take out some of the light pink. It was easy to slowly change the pillows and throws to bring in the red color. If I saw some fabric in the right color I might get a little bit and cover a pillow. This Thanksgiving the last of the pillows were redone and I am so happy with the way it turned out. 

The Bed:

Before: Pink and yellow floral quilt, old striped sheets (I've had them since I got the bed. They would have been fine in the "new" room but they were getting worn.), shabby chic pillow, light pink bolster. 

After: Blue and white striped L.L. Bean quilt, white lace shabby chic sheets with blue polka dot shams, yo-yo pillow with fabric samples from the other pillow in my room, striped bolster (made from a kitchen towel I found on sale). 

The Chair:

Before: Pillow sham that went with the old quilt, light pink chenille throw. 

After: Red polka dot pillow, handmade lap duvet (made from this pattern). 

The Window Seat:

Before: Shabby chic (?) pillow.

After: Handmade pillow, red Ikea throw.


Other touches:

I hot glued some yo-yos onto the light pink shade to add some color. 

For my winter decor I put some yarn balls in my aqua bowl and I put out my snowflake birdhouse. 

I don't think I have a before shot of the shadow box but it did have paper butterflies, dried flowers, and postage stamps in pastel colors. The "new" box I covered with scrapbook paper squares and pinned old keys into each square. 

This yo-yo garland doubles up as my Christmas tree decorations. I couldn't stand to put it away when Christmas was over so I tacked it up over my closet door. 

When I first heard of putting plates on the wall, I didn't like it but after seeing different arrangements on blogs, I've come to like it. The little nest plate was given to me by Bekah, the middle plate is a borrow, and the big bird plate was given to me by my grandmother.

Valentine-y touches are on my desk, pink candle, tea/rose petals print, and the Tasha Tudor book All For Love.  

I made this candle embellishment with some buttons I had and jewelry wire. 

Another Valentine touch given to me by Miss Frances last year. I love it! 

For my "photo" tray I decided to put down scrapbook paper for the time being. It has my blue tea set, an antique doily and a candle for warmth. 

I got this hedgehog toy around Christmas. I love hedgehogs and I couldn't resist getting one of these darlings. I made some flocked woodland animals to go in my flower picture frame. 

I showed this to you last week, but I love it so much I thought I would show it to you again.

Only Trust in Him

This is a new hymn to me. I recently got a Kindle book entitled Open Your Hymnal Again by Denise Loock. She takes 31 hymns and adds a little devotion with each. This was one of the hymns in the book. You can hear the hymn ~here~.

Only Trust in Him
words by John Stockton

Come, every soul by sin oppressed;
There’s mercy with the Lord,
 And He will surely give you rest
 By trusting in His Word.

 Refrain:
 Only trust Him, only trust Him, 
 Only trust Him now; 
 He will save you, He will save you, 
 He will save you now. 

 For Jesus shed His precious blood
 Rich blessings to bestow;
 Plunge now into the crimson flood
 That washes white as snow.

 Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way,
 That leads you into rest;
 Believe in Him without delay
 And you are fully blessed.

 Come, then, and join this holy band,
 And on to glory go
 To dwell in that celestial land
 Where joys immortal flow.

 O Jesus, blessèd Jesus, dear,
 I’m coming now to Thee;
 Since Thou hast made the way so clear
 And full salvation free.

~ ~ ~

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. ~John 14:1

Photo Friday: Warmth

Part of my winter decorations include this pretty cardinal teapot my grandmother gave me for Christmas and a coffee bean Village candle on top of  my personalized Lazy Susan that my best friend Kate made me for Christmas. 

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Fashion Fun with Firmoo!

I find that it's always helpful to start the new year with a few additions to the wardrobe, don't you? Christmas clothes, new jewelry and accessories are always fun! This year, I have a new sweater, a Charming Charlie gift card (I got a scarf that was on sale and I still have some money left on the card), and a pair of fashion glasses.

I've recently come across an online business called Firmoo. I first heard of this company when my blog friend Jessica did a review on her blog. I perused their site and was surprised to see how much variety they had: prescription glasses, reading glasses, fashion glasses, and prescription sunglasses as well as ones for those who don't have a prescription. 

I liked that Firmoo had a virtual try-on feature where you can upload your picture to see how you look in a certain pair of glasses. 

Then, I was contacted by a representative asking if I would be willing to do a review for my blog! Of course, I said yes, and I had so much fun picking out a fun pair. Since I don't wear/need glasses, I chose to go with a pair of fashion glasses that would go with many different winter outfits that I have put together.

And so, I waited for my new glasses to arrive. 

They arrived in less than a week after they were shipped, which was pretty good being that it was the week between Christmas and New Years. The glasses came with a nice protective case, a microfiber cleaning cloth, a repair kit which included a mini screwdriver, some extra screws, and nose pads, and a drawstring bag to hold the kit. 

At first, the glasses sat pretty far away from my face but after some slight adjusting, they felt fine. The color of the glasses looked the same as it did in the picture on the website.

My glasses

The people at Firmoo were very easy to work with, even when I had to postpone the review due to our computer issues.

Want to know the best part? You can get a pair of glasses, too for a very low price! Firmoo has recently started a new program where new customers can get their first pair of glasses for FREE by paying the shipping only. With such a wide variety of frames, there is something for everyone. 

Here Firmoo explains about their new program:

The old opinion that glasses are only necessities for people with vision problems has already gone. Glasses are increasingly becoming a fad and must-have accessories for celebs and fashionistas. Everyday we can spot millions of non prescription glasses wearers and we are constantly fascinated by many noted film stars’ signature non prescription glasses.They instantly upgrade your look of modern, vintage, or geek by wearing different styles of frames. Any hot glasses/sunglasses /goggles frames you want can be found on Firmoo, and all are available for both prescription lenses and non-prescription lenses. Are you desperate to have a new look? Now here is the chance, Firmoo has launched a First Pair Free Program to people worldwide. You will absolutely fall in love with the excellent quality, affordable prices, fashionable designs, fast delivery and the good service after trying them with paying shipping only! You even can get a refund/exchange if you are not satisfied with them. It's totally Risk free, so why not have a try? Click here to get your free glasses now!

Also, be sure to check out their Facebook page ~here~.

***Thanks to Firmoo for sending me this pair for glasses for review purposes. 

Open My Eyes, That I May See

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law. 

--Psalm 119:18

Open My Eyes, that I May See
words by Clara Scott

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.

Open my mouth, and let me bear,
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.


Refrain:
Silently now I wait for Thee, 
Ready my God, Thy will to see, 
Open my eyes, illumine me, 
Spirit divine! 

Photo Friday: "The Boot"

Henrietta is back! Yay! She came home yesterday. We are so glad to have her back. 

This picture is of Pinky. I guess she decided she wanted to be a boot. Kitties can be so silly! 

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Jellicle

Our dear boy Puss is the sweetest cat alive. He is a beautiful jellicle cat. His fur is so thick and shiny and he look like he is wearing a tuxedo. He wags his tail like a dog when he is happy. He has a highest little meow for such a big kitty and we call him big baby. If you come to our house, you will probably not see him because he is very shy. He won't even let us pet him unless he's in the porch.

There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat. ~Tay Hohoff

Purrs to signal "all is well" and shows more love than words could tell. ~Author unknown

What greater gift than the love of a cat? ~Charles Dickens

You cannot look at a sleeping cat and feel tense. ~Jane Pauley

Linking up to the beautiful Vee's note card party...

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

This hymn story, told by the writer herself, was found on NetHymnal:

Early in the spring of 1905, my hus­band and I were so­journ­ing in El­mi­ra, New York. We con­tract­ed a deep friend­ship for a cou­ple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doo­lit­tle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doo­lit­tle had been bed­rid­den for nigh twen­ty years. Her hus­band was an in­cur­a­ble crip­ple who had to pro­pel him­self to and from his bus­i­ness in a wheel chair. De­spite their af­flict­ions, they lived hap­py Christ­ian lives, bring­ing in­spir­a­tion and com­fort to all who knew them. One day while we were vi­sit­ing with the Doo­lit­tles, my hus­band com­ment­ed on their bright hope­ful­ness and asked them for the se­cret of it. Mrs. Doo­lit­tle’s re­ply was sim­ple: “His eye is on the spar­row, and I know He watch­es me.” The beau­ty of this sim­ple ex­press­ion of bound­less faith gripped the hearts and fired the imag­in­a­tion of Dr. Mar­tin and me. The hymn “His Eye Is on the Spar­row” was the out­come of that ex­per­i­ence.

-- Civilla Martin

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  ~Matthew 10:29-31

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, 

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, 
I sing because I’m free, 
For His eye is on the sparrow, 
And I know He watches me. 

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Photo Friday: Knitting

Since our laptop is still broken, I was looking in old albums for pictures and I came across this one. 

When we get the repaired Henrietta back, I'll post a few of my recent knitting projects. 

Link-up is still open on last week's Photo Friday.


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Ack!

Friday night, I went to get on Henrietta (our laptop) and a screen pops up that one of the fans is broken! Oh no! We download all our pictures onto the laptop these days since Henry (the desktop) has run out of space. This means that we can't download the pictures of the party we had Sunday, or photos for Photo Friday, or the review post pictures I'm supposed to put in a post.

Today, while looking through some old pictures, I came across this one of Pinky's whiskers. Aren't they so sweet?

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. ~Romans 16:20

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

words by Haldor Lillenas

Wonderful grace of Jesus, 

Greater than all my sin; 

How shall my tongue describe it, 

Where shall its praise begin? 

Taking away my burden, 

Setting my spirit free; 

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Refrain: 

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, 

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; 

Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me. 

Broader than the scope of my transgressions, 

Greater far than all my sin and shame, 

O magnify the precious Name of Jesus. 

Praise His Name! 

Wonderful grace of Jesus, 

Reaching to all the lost, 

By it I have been pardoned, 

Saved to the uttermost, 

Chains have been torn asunder, 

Giving me liberty; 

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Wonderful grace of Jesus, 

Reaching the most defiled, 

By its transforming power, 

Making him God’s dear child, 

Purchasing peace and heaven, 

For all eternity; 

And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Photo Friday: The Joys of Baking {Plus Link-up}

Making two kind of bread today for a party we are having this weekend: rosemary bread and French sweet bread. Oh, the smells are good!

It's time to link up your photos again! Just follow the directions below. I'd love to see the moments you've captured. The link-up will stay open for two weeks.



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What Are You Reading? eBook Sources Edition and Product Review

Guess what? I got a Kindle for Christmas! It was a total surprise. I have never really longed for a Kindle. I am old-fashioned girl when it comes to books. I like that with a "real" book you can flip back if you want to check on a detail a few chapters back, you have that book smell and the feel of turning the page, and I loved that you could let a friend or sister borrow a book anytime they asked. 

But after just a few days with my Kindle, I love it! It still doesn't replace a hard copy of a book but it's also great! I love that you can take several books places without the bulk. I like that it fits in your purse and that it's so light. And, my sister Kristin (who also has a Kindle) and I figured out that we can loan each other books through our Kindles!

It feels like I'm starting with nothing in regards to my book collection. Even though I have my vast collection on my built-in bookshelves, the bookshelf in my in Kindle library was empty save for two dictionaries and a user guide. 

Because I'm frugal, I find it hard to spend money on e-books. But with the help of a few sites, I've been able to build my collection up a bit without spending a dime. 

Bethany House Publishers:

They have a Facebook page were they alert fans to free and highly reduced books.

eReaderGirl:

This a website (as well as a Facebook page) where they post about freebies. 

Inspired Reads:

They also have a Facebook page in addition to their website. 

eLibrary:

Do a search for an elibrary in your area. My local library is hooked up to a state-wide elibrary. I just use my library card number to check out books. When my check-out has expired it will automatically take the book off my Kindle.

If you have a Kindle, do you have any sites you follow to find deals? 

I'd love to hear of more!

*******************************************************************************************************

Because I want my Kindle to be protected while not in use, I started looking for a Kindle case. It was hard to find what I was looking for. I thought about making my own, and I thought about buying one. When looking for a case, I wanted one that was slipped into the case, not one that has elastic on the four corners to hold the Kindle in the case. I wanted one with a velcro closure or elastic/button closure. I wanted it to have plenty of padding to keep it safe inside. The fabric had to be something I liked a lot. And all that for the right price. 

I started looking on Etsy. I asked Kristin where she got hers, I did countless searches using different keywords. I found many that were pretty but they didn't have all the right elements. Finally I found four that had everything I was looking for. To narrow it down, I tightened the qualifications a little bit and selected one. The one I decided upon came from a shop called BluebirdMountain. While doing searches, whenever I came across an item from her shop, I was drawn to it. The fabrics, the photography of the items, the style... I know I picked the right one. 

I just love the kindle case I found! It has just enough padding to keep my kindle save without being too bulky. The fabric is beautiful and I love that the pretty liner fabric is different from the outside of the case. The button and the elastic are sewn on so well that it would take quite a lot for them to come off. The quality is excellent! The case was shipped out quickly and I received it very soon after. 

If you are in the market for a Kindle case, I would highly recommend BluebirdMountain.

Coconut Cake

My great-grandmother was famous for making her coconut cake around Christmas. This year, I decided to carry on that tradition.

This recipe isn't Mommom Rita's, but it's her style of cake which includes walnuts in the batter.

Ingredients: 2 sticks butter, room temperature  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour  1/2 teaspoon baking powder  1/2 teaspoon baking soda  1 teaspoon salt  1 1/2 cups sugar  3 large eggs  2 teaspoons coconut extract  1 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup walnuts plus flour to coat * *If you don't have buttermilk on hand try using 1/4 cup white vinegar and 3/4 cup milk. Let sit 5 minutes before putting it in the batter.  Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-by-2-inch cake pans.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in coconut extract.  Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Lightly stir in flour-coated walnuts. Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Spin cakes around on the counter until the batter starts to come up the sides.  Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 27 to 31 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.  Coconut Icing Ingredients: 1 stick butter, room temperature  1 box confectioner's sugar (3 3/4 cups)  3-4 tablespoons milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract shredded coconut  Directions: Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 second.  Stop the machine and add confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 more minute. Blend in as much confectioners' sugar or milk as needed until icing is stiff but spreadable. Ice cake. Before the icing sets, press coconut on the sides, middle, and top of cake.

Enjoy!