Fun Fall Decor

Work has me traveling...ALL THE TIME. So, I'm a little late on my fall decorating. When I return this week from Phoenix, these are a few things I will be making!!

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: smallgardenlove.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What do you think?? You can see more on my Pinterest account here.

Happy Decorating!

Just dropping in....

Hey blogging friends! It's been a while. I've been super busy with
1) A promotion at work,
2) Our Homeless Ministry - you can read about that here,
3) My "Home Decor and other stuff" booth at a local Flea, and
4) Trying to stay caught up with it all. Whew.



I'm gradually getting some "me" time back so I will be blogging more frequently.


I continue to be amazed at the top news stories on my Yahoo feed. With everything going on in the world, you would think stories about Jessica Simpson's "ladies" and Kate Plus 8's new car would be somewhere toward the bottom or nonexistent all together.....that is not the case. Don't get me wrong, celebrity news is a guilty pleasure of mine. But, these two stories are less than news worthy. However, I thought Jessica's "Udder" story kept with the old theme of this blog, so I thought I should share. See, Jess is getting married and apparently rumors are spreading that she dislikes her "ladies" and wants them reduced.

As Jessica states in her tweet - "Been getting lots of questions about this alleged breast reduction...not to worry...I LOVE MY BOOBIES!! They aren't going anywhere!"

I don't know about you but I feel as though my day is complete now that I know she is not undergoing reduction mammoplasty. Thanks, Yahoo and Jessica, for making my day complete. LOL!

Got to love the media......

Happy Thursday, Friends!!

The Lost get Found!

In case you've been wondering where I've been, you can follow the latest on me here at our Homeless Ministry's website Clean Hands and a Pure Heart. And, don't forget to follow me on twitter here and our ministry's twitter here.

We also have a facebook page, so go become a fan here.

Aesthetic Thursdays: The Lie that is Lifestyle Lift....

It's been a while since I've talked plastics. I still get a lot of questions from friends, family, acquaintances, etc. that seek my opinion and ask for advice before having procedures. In some cases, they even ask if I will go to appointments with them. I'm truly honored to do so. I mean, I definitely don't want someone I care about to get poor service....which brings me to today's topic: Lifestyle Lift.

I know you have all seen the infomercial for the Lifestyle Lift procedure. Wow! If you fall for this then you are...I'm super sorry to say this, but stupid. I mean seriously, look at this before and after!! Please tell me that you really do not believe that this much of a transformation could take place under local anesthetic in less than an hour. Seriously?! No.It.Cannot! It's just not possible. This lady either had her face lipo'd or she lost weight. Plus, she had an extensive full face and neck lift, and I'm willing to bet that she also had her lips plumped, laser rejuvenation, a lower/upper blepharoplasty (eyelid lift), filler injected into her nasolabial folds (mouth parentheses) and it appears that she also had a rhinoplasty (nose job). I'm pretty sure that one would have to inject a lethal dose of topical/local anesthetic to kill the amount of pain that all of these procedures would cause! It's not possible to have this much work done in one hour under local anesthetic. Not possible!

All in all, this does not look like the same woman! Come on Lifestyle Lift people, how do you live with yourselves?!

Moral of this post: people who know my background often ask me for advice on procedures, and sadly I get asked about his particular sales pitch often. This particular company, Lifestyle Lift, is selling a lie. Now, I'm not saying that all plastics will lie about this procedure. Hopefully none of them will, but if they are selling photos illustrating these kinds of results and assuring that it is minimally invasive and performed under local anesthetic in an hours time.......run for the hills peeps. It's a big fat lie.

The Last Supper Debate. Why are we debating?

Per my normal morning routine, I scanned through Yahoo news looking for something interesting to read. Well, I found something...but I'm not sure I would call it interesting. The article is entitled: "Last Supper was a day earlier, scientist claims." You can read it here. But, the basis of this article is that the Last Supper took place well in advance of the Passover festival. The authors state that Easter should be celebrated on April 5th this year. Well, my question is: Why are we spending so much time on analyzing the exact date? Does that make the reality and the significance of this event any different? No! The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is still the single most important event in all of history. Yes, creation was an important event...but if we were created to die and spend eternity in hell, I had just as soon not have been created. With the crucifixion of Jesus, we were given a chance to live in Christ and when we die to not have to experience the agony that will be hell. So, my point is that it really doesn't matter on what exact day we celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We should celebrate it everyday!! What does matter, is that it happened. And, thank God that He sent His son to die so that we may live.

Instead of spending so much time arguing the facts of the Bible, why don't we spend as much time doing the works of the bible. If only these authors were as passionate about saving the lost and feeding the hungry and giving shelter to the homeless........If only!

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore^[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.^[d]" Matthew 28: 18-20

Sometimes we get caught up in the minutiae. We just skim over "make disciples of all nations" and get right to pointing fingers and arguing over whose interpretation of the bible is the right interpretation. It's exhausting. And, with that note I'm going to end this post with a new and old book recommendation.

Tomorrow, David Platt's new book Radical Together goes on sale. I will be picking up my copy, and I cannot wait! I highly recommend his first book, Radical. And, I'm pretty sure that I will be recommending his second as well.

One more note: Are you all as glued to Glenn Beck's program as I am?? Did you watch today? Did you see this article in the Wall Street Journal: AT A GLANCE: Standard & Poor's Lowers US Outlook To Negative? You can read it here.

Yikes!!! That's really all I can say at this point.

Updates and Quakes, Oh My!

Well, since the theme of my blog has changed over the past year, I thought it would be a good idea to update my "About Me" page. So, guess what..I did. You can check it out here. The layout is very poor and all over the place, but I am always all over the place and semi-poor at times too. Dang you, shoe sales! LOL! So, it's fitting.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a very exiting one! I had a wedding shower to orchestrate on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday was the Hub's 31st b-day!! So, we celebrated Saturday night just the way I like...quietly and low key...with our bestie couple. Yes, I'm a 70 year old trapped in a 28 year old's body....at least I'm catching up. I used to be 70 in a 16, 18, 21, etc. etc. year old body. I've always been an old soul, and I like it that way.

On Sunday, we had a wonderful morning and evening church service, and in between we ate some kickin' BBQ at one of our favorite spots for the hub's b-day meal. The whole fam came, and it was "get in my belly" good. I wish you all could hear my 2 yr old niece say this! Ah, so cute! So, Sunday was basically low key...well, until around 11 p.m. when I experience the first earthquake of my life! A town about 80 miles away has been experiencing a lot of quakes lately and Sunday night's registered at 4.7. It shook most all of Arkansas and into Missouri. Crazy town! Weirdest feeling in the world...I was like "Is someone under our bed, our house? Is it wind?" Of course the hubs slept right through it....this isn't surprising though if you recall my posts about our lovely sleeping habits here. I had to wake him up, and then he thought I was the one being crazy in my sleep!

So after we finally calmed down from the quake, and I took yet more migraine meds to try and shake my headache we finally fell asleep at 1'ish. Then, our precious little Magnis May starting acting a fool and we were yelling at her to "SHUT UP and DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S 2 A.M.!" In case you were wondering, yes, she knows exactly what we say to her and she sasses us right back :) Finally after about five minutes of exasperated yelping, the hubs decides to see what in the world she's all worked up over. Well, thankful he did! He looked out the window and found 4 men standing in our yard. Then cops showed up and they lingered in our yard for a LONG TIME! And, the dog continued to growl and act like she's some fierce ninja...and, she did this for a LONG TIME! Meanwhile, Remy who was in the other room, never made a sound. Ugh, finally the hubs came back to bed and said the cops cuffed the men and hauled them in. We have no idea what they were doing or why they were in our yard. Strange, Strange night bloggy friends...what started out as the norm night of me in bed early with a migraine ended up with tornado warnings, earthquakes, criminals and me up all night with a migraine! Fun stuff!

Well the dogs are worn out tonight and soaking up the warmth of the heater.

So, fingers crossed that tonight will be normal....or as normal as a night in our house can be!

Happy Monday!

Today and Everyday, I Choose Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control

Yesterday, I picked up a devotional from the "Bargain Book" section at LifeWay, and I must say, so far so good! It's by Max Lucado. Love his work! His new book Out Live Your Life is on my must read list, and I just finished Cure for the Common Life. It was great!

So I just wanted to share what Max shares in the Preface of this book. It's an excerpt from Each Day:

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My spouse will not question my love.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF CONTROL…
I am a spiritual being… After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

This really got to me as I read along....What about you? Will you choose to start your day by declaring the above? I'm sure going to try!

Happy Wednesday!