Favorite Things: Day 8

Day 8: Clorox Wipes

A roommate's mom introduced me to Clorox wipes in college, and I've been using them ever since. You just can't beat their convenience.
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With how many of these I go through, the cost can start to add up though, so while writing this post, I did a Google search of how to make clorox wipes at home.
Here's what I found at http://www.thriftyfun.com/:

1/2 roll BOUNTY paper towels (the others turn to mush)
2.5 cups water
1/4 cup bleach
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Cut BOUNTY in half with serrated or electric knife.
Place cut side down in airtight container.
Boil water, add bleach, pour over paper towels.
Remove wet cardboard tube.
To use, pull out wipes one at a time from center.

Monday's 10 Things

Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A long weekend, with lots of family time.

2. My mom for hosting Thanksgiving for our whole crew when my aunt fell sick last minute.

3. Amazing weather over the weekend. Is it really November???

4. Spending the holidays with one very excited little two year old.

5. Listening in as Eric was getting Claire ready for bed, and hearing him tell her she's beautiful.

6. A strong, supportive marriage.

7. A quiet afternoon, all to myself, spent painting the kitchen here.

8. An awesome group of women, working on a very noble cause.

9. Clean water, available whenever I need it.

10. One year spent in the Etsy and blogging world, and loving it!

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What are you most thankful for today?

Favorite Things: Day 7

Day 7: Oregon Chai

I've made it this long without becoming a coffee drinker, but do I ever love me some chai. Oregon Chai is my favorite, but let's be honest, I really wouldn't turn down any kind offered!

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I actually have to be careful how often I allow myself to buy chai for at home because I would certainly have the entire container done within a day or two!

Fresh Start Sunday

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

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Psalm 107:1 (NIV)

Crafty Christmas: Handmade Cards

In keeping with a handmade Christmas, I wanted to do a little something special for the girls in my MOPS group.

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I'm working on a little sewing project for each of them which I'll share once they're finished. But in the meantime, I also made some handmade cards to include with each of their gifts.

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There is just way too much great scrap booking paper out there, it was hard to not buy one of each in the Christmas section!

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Here's a few of the cards:Now I really need to stop blogging, and finish up those gifts!

Favorite Things: Day 6

Day 6: Elsa Peretti Letter Pendant from Tiffany's

Eric bought me this "J" necklace a few years ago and I wear it every single day. Actually, that's not totally true. I did wear it every single day until a two year old who resides at my house broke the chain. But I will wear it every day again soon.

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I love that it's casual enough to wear every day, but can also be used when I'm all dressed up!

Picture of the Week

We take coloring very seriously in this house.

Favorite Things: Day 5

Day 5: Ceramic Egg Crate from Anthropologie

How sweet is this for storing jewelry, keys or other trinkets?

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Bless my mom, she picked this up for me on a Chicago shopping trip a few weekends ago, carried it carefully all day, and yet, when she got home, it was in multiple pieces. I definitely appreciated the gesture though and maybe someday will have a new, non-broken one!

Favorite Things: Day 4

Day 4: Retro Scooter Print from CB78 on Etsy

Eric has been toying with the idea of buying a scooter to ride around downtown and I just think that would be so much fun! This print would be a must then.

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Did you know they make scooters in pink???

Now if only I could convince him that men can ride pink ones too!

(or maybe we could get his and hers??? okay, now I'm just dreaming!)

Thanksgiving

Let All Things Now Living

by Katherine K. Evans

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Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving

to God the Creator triumphantly raise,

who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,

who guideth us on to the end of our days.

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His banners are o’er us, His light goes before us,

a pillar of fire shining forth in the night,

‘til shadows have vanished and darkness is banished,

as forward we travel from light into light.

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His law He enforces: the stars in their courses,

the sun in His orbit, obediently shine;

the hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,

the deeps of the ocean proclaim Him divine,

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We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing,

with glad adoration a song let us raise,

‘til all things now living unite in thanksgiving

to God in the highest, hosanna and praise.

The Polar Express

I LOVE family traditions. I'm a firm believer that simple family traditions will create much stronger memories for kids growing up than any toy or vacation.

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Eric and I started a tradition of watching The Polar Express each year on the night before Thanksgiving. We saw it in 3D IMAX in the theater the year it came out, and have watched it at home each year since, which I think is 4 years now!

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We love the movie for so many reasons, but most of all because it helps get us in the holiday spirit. It's also fun knowing that Chris Van Allsburg (the author of the book) is from our town, so there's lots of Grand Rapids references throughout the movie.

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Well, Eric has the movie ready to go, so I'm off to watch it now!

Favorite Things: Day 3

Day 3: Bath & Body Works Deep Cleansing Hand Gel

Just like all of you, we've increased our hand-cleaning rituals quite a bit lately. I love these little bottles of hand sanitizer from Bath & Body Works. I keep one in my purse at all times, and any time Claire and I are out and about, we use these to ensure that we're leaving the germs behind.

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I trust that they are helping keep us healthy, so with a price like 5 for $5.00, they're well worth stocking up on!

Favorite Things: Day 2

Day 2: Pilot G-2 Retractable Pens

Yup, I'm a pen snob.

No ball point pens for me, thank you very much.

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My pen of choice is the Pilot G2 Retractable Gel Ink Rollerball Pens 0.5 mm

(yes, that is the full, correct name according to Office Depot!)

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Back in my working days, I would buy my own supply since they were not available for order through the office. That's how much I love these pens. I even love my penmanship so much more when I use one of these pens. No really, I mean it!

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Sadly though, if you're a lefty, these pens are not for you. My left-handed husband tries to use them and ends up with a big, smudge mess all over his paper and hands. But for all you righties out there, these are well worth trying out!

Favorite Things: Day 1

Day 1: Kitchen Aid Stand Mixers

Five years ago already, I was getting ready to throw a baby shower for my sister-in-law. While preparing some of the food for the shower, my hand mixer seized up on me. So, I might have taken advantage of the situation to get the mixer I wanted did what I absolutely had to do, and bought myself a Kitchen Aid stand mixer in Empire Red.

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I think at the time I wanted one so it would look cool on my kitchen counter, but now I appreciate it for how practical it really is, especially while trying to cook with a two year old around!

Monday's 10 Things

Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A great weekend away with friends.

2. Girlfriends who I can talk to about anything and everything.

3. Amazing weather while up north. 60 degrees in November!

4. A husband who walked blocks each morning to get me a chai, which he then served to me while I was still in bed. Oh yeah ladies, he's that good!

5. Pumpkin pancakes for breakfast and a filet mignon cooked to perfection for dinner.

6. Time to reconnect and have great conversation with my husband minus a certain two year old.

7. Having pictures of Claire emailed to us while we were gone. As much as we enjoyed our little time away, we still wanted to know everything she was up to!

8. Thanksgiving is this week!

9. Our church's Thanksgiving Day service.

10. New family traditions we're hoping to begin with Claire, starting this holiday season.

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What are you most thankful for today?

My Favorite Things!

Alright, I'm not Oprah, but I happen to have a lot of favorite things, just like Oprah!

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So, starting tomorrow and for the next 31 days, I'm sharing my favorite things with you!

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Some of them are things I already have, some of them are things I'm hoping Eric will read about here and rush right out to the store to buy for me to maybe have some day!

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I hope you enjoy reading these each day as much as I've enjoyed putting this together!

Fresh Start Sunday

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
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Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.
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Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

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Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.
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For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

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Psalm 100 (NIV)

Picture of the Week

Our first holiday event of the season!

What a Week!

Okay, this week has been nutty. Hence, no posts.

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But before we head out of town tomorrow (woo hoo!), I wanted to share a Bible verse with you that our speaker shared with us today at MOPS.

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James 1:2-5

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Monday's 10 Things

Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A very productive Saturday.

2. A great Sunday dinner, prepared entirely by Eric!

3. Amazing Fall weather, is it really November?!?

4. Christmas music that's been blasting in our house for a week already.

5. A little girl who is quite the trooper in spite of new teeth in the back of her mouth.

6. Motrin. Let's be real, it's helping all of us be troopers in spite of her new teeth.

7. An annual Northern Michigan getaway with friends coming up this weekend.

8. My parent's willingness to take Claire for the weekend so we can get away.

9. A big week in sales in the shop. Woo hoo!

10. Our first holiday event is this week, and we're very excited!

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What are you most thankful for today?

Fresh Start Sunday

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

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Colossians 3:15-17 (NIV)

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After post: I had this verse pre-set to post this morning, and as it turns out, this is the exact verse that our pastor preached on this morning.

Wow!

Picture of the Week

Sunday paper reading.

Charity : Water

Today, November 13, I'm joining moms, fellow bloggers and others by making a donation to help bring clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

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I hope you'll join too.

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Visit here to find out more.

Off My List: Living Room Curtains

Holy smokes am I ever glad this project is done.

I did not like this project one bit.

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For me, these were tough.

It was a lot of fabric to deal with all at once.

I had to turn our dining room table into a sewing table.

It didn't help that one of the sets of curtain clips I bought disappeared somewhere between the store and home. I turned this house upside down looking for them, and finally had to break down and buy more.
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But I was most scared to finish the bottoms for fear of doing the length wrong. The curtains were hanging in our living room for weeks with an extra two feet of fabric at the bottoms because I was so afraid of cutting them too short.

I'm a get-it-done kind of girl, and procrastinated endlessly each time I should have been working on this project. I finally had my dad install the curtain rods, thinking if those were on the wall, I'd have no choice but to finish the curtains.

And now they're done.

And I am happy with how they turned out.

And order has been restored to my house.

And I feel like a new woman.

And I can move on to my other projects.

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But please, remind me of this post next time I say I want to make curtains.

Crafty Christmas: Wrapping Paper

I picked up a large roll of white drawing paper while at IKEA this weekend with plans to turn it into Christmas wrapping paper, created by Claire. I thought this would be a fun touch for the gifts that she will be giving her cousins and friends.

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I gathered up all of the red and green crayons we have in our house, spread the paper out on the kitchen floor, and let her have at it.

I had visions of Claire filling the paper to the max with her drawings, but I must have forgotten that she's only 2 and unless she's watching Curious George, only has an attention span of about 30 seconds.So, in the end, I have a lot of white paper, with a few red and green drawings on it! But I still think we can make it work. My new plan includes wrapping presents with the paper, and then giving Claire a few more red and green crayons to add the "finishing touches"!

Happy Mail

Claire and I have a tradition of meeting the mailman outside (almost) every day. Our mailman is a sweet old guy who always chats with Claire and makes her feel special. I appreciate good service like that.

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Every day I pick out some of our junk mail or catalogs that have lots of pictures and give them to Claire as her "special mail".

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I have to admit though, I love getting special mail as much as Claire, so when these arrived I was most excited!So excited in fact that I turned around and ordered a set for a birthday gift for someone. Hopefully she enjoys them as well!

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I'm working on growing my hair out. It's an annual tradition really, and I never make it long, but here's hoping that these adorable clips keep me going!

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Thanks Pixel & Hank!

The Sale Goes On!

I've cut prices as low as I possibly can to clear out the shop!

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Cards - were $2.00, then $1.25, now $1.00!
Gift Tags - were $2.00 and up, then .75 - $1.50, now .50 - $1.25!
Med Fabric Necklaces - were $12.00, then $10.00, now $8.50!

Lg Fabric Necklaces - were $12.00, then $10.00, now $8.50!
Pillows - were $22.00, then $18.00, now $17.00!

Monday's 10 Things

Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A fun day away at IKEA and outlet shopping with my mom.

2. 60+ degree temperatures in November.

3. A nice afternoon outside working with my husband! Our fall yard work is done!

4. Great progress this weekend here thanks to my dad and husband.

5. A fun Friday night hanging out with neighbors and their new baby boy.

6. The holiday season is just around the corner. I'm so excited to watch Claire take it all in again this year!

7. Major progress on my to-do list.

8. Very good music in church this weekend.

9. Wrapping up what was a great church-wide Bible study based on the book Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels.

10. My little girl who loves to wear her tutu ("beautiful dress" according to her) everywhere she goes. Including to church and on play dates.

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What are you most thankful for today?

Fresh Start Sunday

Men of faith rise up and sing

Of the great and glorious King

You are strong when you feel weak

In your brokenness complete

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Shout to the North and the South

Sing to the East and the West

Jesus is savior to all

Lord of heaven and earth

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Rise up women of the truth

Stand and sing to broken hearts

Who can know the healing power

Of our awesome King of love

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Shout to the North and the South
Sing to the East and the West
Jesus is savior to all
Lord of heaven and earth

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We've been through fire we've beenthrough rain

We've been refined by the power of his name

We've fallen deeper in love with you

You've burned the truth on our lips

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Shout to the North and the South

Sing to the East and the West

Jesus is savior to all

Lord of heaven and earth

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Rise up church with broken wings

Fill this place with songs again

Of our God who reigns on high

By His grace again we'll fly

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Shout to the North and the South
Sing to the East and the West
Jesus is savior to all
Lord of heaven and earth

Picture of the Week

She had a sudden burst of energy and didn't quite know what to do with herself!

Off My List: Sunroom Pillows

Wow, items are actually being checked off my monster to-do list, and I think I can feel my sanity returning. Almost.

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Here's the first item off my to-do list:

new pillows for our sun room couch! We bought this couch just a few months ago, and I didn't love the store's options of coordinating pillows, so I ordered pillows in the same fabric as the couch. There's nothing wrong with the pillows themselves, but blue pillows on a blue couch looks like a lot of....blue!

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I had found this Waverly fabric online and considered it for curtains for our sun room. Then I spotted it on clearance (eek!) at Jo-Ann's, and seeing it in person, I knew the fabric was too heavy for curtains, but would be perfect for pillows! The pillows are zippered on the back, because with a two year old in the house, washability is key.

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And, the best part, they coordinate perfectly with my bird print chair!I love it when things just fall into place, don't you???

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(My apologies for these dark pictures...we've entered the time of the year here in Michigan where we don't see the sun...ever, so this was the best I could get!)

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Off to check more items off my list!!!

Am I Old?

The girl working at the GAP seems to think so.

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I returned a pair of jeans tonight because they didn't fit right,

and the girl behind the counter says to me,

"yeah, they are a pretty young style."

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Gee. thanks.

Monday's 10 Things

Here's what I'm most thankful for, right now!

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1. A really fun Halloween with neighbors (after Claire's meltdown that is!)

2. An amazing church service.

3. A new pastor who I really appreciate.

4. Great weather allowing us to tweak out one more trip to the zoo.

5. A haircut appointment this week, I treat that as my personal pampering time!

6. A handful of items checked off my master to-do list this weekend.

7. Finally some progress here after a week of waiting on an electrician.

(Praying for a successful inspection this morning!)

8. A family that has still managed to avoid sickness in the middle of flu season.

9. Claire's announcement before bed last night that "Jesus loves chocolate!"

10. An upcoming day away with my mom.

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What are you most thankful for today?

Fresh Start Sunday

"Happiness is not something ready made.

It comes from your own actions."

-Dalai Lama

(thanks Anne!)