Wood is one of my love languages.....

I do love wood....wooden everything.  What can I say, I am drawn to it.  Apparently, those who buy gifts for me are aware of this little wooden love affair....

I received several beautiful wooden items.  I am loving this cutting board in shape of Alabama, the wooden slice with one of my favorite Bible verses, a handmade wooden carved cross and this notepad.

Here is a closeup of the cross

It is several layered pieces of hand carved wood put together to make this beautiful cross. My friend Teresa's husband Keith makes these.  My girls got me this one.  If you are interested in seeing his beautiful woodwork, check out his site here.  While you are there check out Teresa's quilt work.  I packed up my older daughter's t-shirts and mailed them all the way to Texas because I knew Teresa would do a fantabulous job on making a quilt from them......and she did.  Here is a little peek

They are quite the talented pair.....and they are just good, trustworthy people which is very important when you are ordering things on line.

So back to all my wooden treasures.  Here is what I treat them with to keep them well conditioned and looking great.

This is from Home Depot and please note the bottle says "food grade" which is very important when you are putting it on cutting boards, wooden spoons, etc.

Hope you are having a great week!

See you back on Friday!

Surrendering - A year of Prayer

You all know I love a good word for the year.  I can lose focus.  I get sidetracked and therefore fairly ineffective, so a word to keep coming back to helps me stay grounded and on the right track.  Last year we were INTENTIONAL and focused on doing some very intentional things to appreciate and encourage others.  

Over the holidays I was reflecting on the year and watching all the "look back" shows the networks like to do this time of year and I was struck by all the hard things that happened.  Yes, lots of good things happened, but here is the story that brought me to my knees.......a 9 year old girl commits suicide....I am still not over it.  It rocks me every time I think of it.  What is going on in this world when a 9 year old child can even carry out a suicide attempt.....but even more importantly when a child thinks this is their only solution?  I was moved to SURRENDERING......not in a give up kind of way but in a we need God in a more than ever kind of way.  Would you join me this year in surrendering a very specific topic each month to God?  A collective focus of prayer.  Here is our schedule for the year

If you want to print the plan and post it somewhere click here for a printable format.

I don't know a better place to start than Salvation.  Would you join me this month in praying for Salvation for the lost in our city, state, country, this world? 

Here is our inspiration verse for the month

I will be praying this month that God will open eyes and soften hearts to receive the salvation He has demonstrated and provided for us all.  I hope you will join me.

If you'd like to print and post the inspiration verses to help remind you of our focused prayer this month just click here for a printable format.

I am excited about us collectively surrendering our cares to our God!

Wishing you a great week.  See you back here on Wednesday.

Fun finds at Target

We had a little time yesterday so we set out on a very slow walk through Target to see what we could find that was not in the Christmas clearance section.  By the way, Target is in full Valentine mode.  No time was wasted in converting that holly to hearts.  But here are a few things we noticed as we strolled through.

First, who has the resolution to drink more water this year?  Yes, me too.  You know what makes water easier to drink for me?  Ice!  You know what ice is the absolute best......well yes, Sonic of course......but pellet ice in general.....yes, that is the way to go.

Houdini Ice Mold

I'm seriously considering getting this little ice tray for work.  What a fun little treat this would be.  It makes 160 tiny little cubes.  The reviews are mixed because of the time it takes to get the cubes out of the tray.  But I am thinking you should be able to dump them into a bowl.  It is only $5.99 so I think maybe it is worth a try.

Then we ran upon these poster frames that we have in our guest room.  Katy found ours when she redecorated our guest room

They are perfect for hanging posters, art work or anything you want displayed.  Ours came from Amazon but Target has these in the store now

Project 62 Poster Frames

They come in a neutral and a black finish.  If you are looking to add some art to a room, you might want to check these out.

We finished our Target time by trying on swimsuits.  I won't post pictures of any of those because I feel like perhaps you aren't mentally ready for that......I'm definitely not mentally ready for that.

Now just a couple of things from Nordstrom

This scarf is 50% off and has great colors

BP Scarf

and if you are ready to put winter behind you

Ted Baker Watch

This watch would be totally fun for spring and summer......and a great Valentine's Day gift too.

Monday we will be kicking off our focus activity for this year.  I hope you will meet me back here then.  

Have a great weekend.

Best of Last Year......and looking forward

It is that time of year when we all look back over everything that happened last year and think about what we want this year to hold.

When I look back over the blog views and hits, here is what you guys liked the most:

The most popular posts without questions were the Waco Trip Reviews which occurred in three separate posts.  Click here for Part 1.  Click here for Part 2. Click here for Part 3.

Fingers crossed that there will be a fun trip or two this year to share on the blog.  We've been searching a few things out on the internet so we will just have to see.

The next most popular posts were all about books.......maybe you have a resolution to read more this year.  Well check out all the books I read in 2018, maybe you can find a few that interest you.  Click here to see all the books I read and reviewed last year. And if you like those posts, plan to tune in once a month and see what I am reading in 2019.

Another popular post was the "What I've learned in 49 Years" post which I posted right before my 50th birthday.  You can read it by clicking here.

Of course I did tons of shopping posts, craft posts, decorating ideas and we even all joined in doing a "Great Things in '18" challenge together.

I have a few good ideas all lined up for you this year.  But, of course, I am always interested in what you would like to see.  If there is anything on your mind that you'd like to see us talk about here, definitely let me know.

For now I am going to go take down and pack up all this Christmas decor.  I love having every possible inch of the house decorated and always a little shocked by how bare the house looks when it is all put away......but also love the clean open space that I haven't seen in a few months.

Other than that I may or may not be scoping out a few stores and websites for all the end of the year clearance sales going on.  If I find anything good, I will post it here on Friday.  Have a great week.  See you then.