Enough about business.....

Let's have some fun!!!  It's National Wear your Pajamas to Work day!!! Are you in?  LOL......well, I am as long as I am working at HOME! And remember that's still my company's name until August....Southern Living at HOME, so I really and truly DO often work in my pajamas....at home!

Today is a BiG, biG, day.....it's my giveaway, so you have ALL DAY long to enter and to spread the word about the giveaway for another entry.
And wouldn't you know it, sweet BEVERLY guessed what the giveaway is!!!  It's not just one, BUT TWO Entertaining Buckets!! Keep those beverages iced down for the dog days of summer....and the tray will keep all the condensation off your surface...  How COOL is that????? Get. it.?  Yes, y'all are awesome and I knew you would get it.

So enter today, blog about it today, put it on Facebook, tweet it, email someone, however you spread a good word, JUST DO IT...and Nike didn't even pay me to say that!  You get an extra entry when you tell someone, and let me know....I will draw the winner this evening.....are you in?????

And MORE FUN.....FRIDAY FIVES!!!

1.  Favorite drink?

2. What's your decorating style?  Traditional, French, Modern, Eclectic??

3. How tall are you?

4. Last place you went out to eat?

5. What are you wearing today?  (if you don't participate in National Wear your PJ's to work today? LOL)

What does all this mean?????

 For those of you just reading this post, without reading the others this week, this NEW name was just introduced yesterday as the new name for the company resulting from the merger of Southern Living at HOME and Entertaining at HOME.  It's an exciting time for us, and I wanted to share that excitement with you, my blogging friends.  So what exactly does this mean?????


For our customers, it means a freshness in products, style and design.  It means the SAME or even better hostess reward plan, the same commitment to bringing warmth and grace to homes across America.  It is a chance to bring friends together, to experience new designs and decorating ideas in the comfort of your home, and the chance to enhance your life with beauty and warmth that will make your home your family's (and friend's) haven.
Beyond that, it means a chance to "try on" the opportunity of being a consultant with Willow House.  There will be opportunities/benefits to those who join at the inception of the company.  There is the chance for you to have fun, grow personally, make treasured friendships, while earning extra income for you and your family.
I can share more of the opportunity with you if you are interested in knowing how to try this risk free adventure!

For our hostesses it means the same commitment to fun, to earning free and half priced products and getting that first look into what Willow House will be
.
You fall somewhere into that spectrum.  Where do you fit?  What can Willow House do for YOU?
There are a couple of questions I'd love for you to answer if you feel so led........in order for me to evaluate my business and what women like you want out of direct sales companies, such as Willow House/Southern Living at HOME.

Do you enjoy going to in home parties?  What makes it fun for you; what do you NOT like?
What contributes to your "trusting" the consultant at a home party?
What makes a home party fun for you?  Do you leave feeling taken advantage of, or having had a time of fun?
Have you ever had a home party yourself? What did you like/dislike?  I'd love to hear your honest answers.

I'd love to hear any other input from you about what you'd like to see happen in the direct sales/home party world.  This is a rare post, in that I don't usually post much about my business, other than sharing beautiful products and ideas.  I will judge by the comments, I suppose,  if you feel like I've overstepped by introducing this info and by asking what you think.  I hope you won't feel that way.  I truly am interested in what you think.
Be sure and leave another entry today for the giveaway.......for the round, cool, SLaHOME product that I'll be giving away......."enter me in the drawing" should be in your comment somehow......be as creative as you like...I love to laugh!   oh, and that round, cool item is also brown.......hmmm......what do you think it is?????

Ladies and Gentlemen.....

May I introduce you to our new name after the "marriage" of Southern Living at HOME and Entertaining at HOME.....

 I introduce you to my new friend and company, Willow House...."Simply Good Design".....
How do you LOVE it???????

Changes.....goals.........challenges

Many of you said you were not very good at planning and or setting goals.  It is such a mental effort, isn't it? After a busy day, the last thing we want to do is to work hard at thinking what our goals should be... And then there's that rat that sits on your shoulder telling you that "you might as well not set that goal, because you won't keep it.  You won't follow through with it  or if you do, you'll be disappointed with the results".  Well, I am learning that IF I want change, I've got to be willing to work for it.  IF I want change, or a project finished, I've got to put fear aside, and be willing to deal with the disappointment if it doesn't turn out like I want it.  I have to STOP being an idealist/perfectionist  sometimes and be a realist.  If things aren't perfect and exactly the way I want them, am I willing to do the work to get it just like I like it?  Or am I willing to take the approach that it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful?!

I have this Dr.Jekyl/Mr Hyde within me that wants things just right, but doesn't always feel motivated to work hard enough to get them the way I want them....anyone else like that?  I can come up with a million excuses to put something off (you see, procrastination is tied in with being a idealist/perfectionist ......I seem to think if I put the goal off, I won't have to deal with it, until I can't stand it any longer and then impulsively decide to do something.  That's where the disappointment usually hits, because I didn't plan and it doesn't turn out the way I wanted!!!)
So a few goal setting techniques I was just reminded of the other day are as follows.  Goals  need to be written out in "SMART" terms! They should be:
Specific    (If I can't be specific, I am thinking in terms too general....)
Measurable (can I get to the end and check off my goal as done?
Actionable (break it down into simple steps toward accomplishment!)
Realistic  (is it really realistic that I will lose 40 pounds in two weeks???no.....)
Time -Based  (with a reasonable amount of time, an ending to the goal so I can check it off and call it complete!

So I can write a goal such as this......I want to redo my house and have it all pretty.....

OR in SMART terms:  I will begin re-doing my house by painting the laundry room by Memorial Day, May 27th.  (hypothetically, so y'all can't really hold me accountable to this one!! LOL!)

Then from there,  having a plan to tackle each room by a specific time, and make it reasonable, will help me accomplish what I want to get done in a reasonable amount of time.  I know realistically that planning to re-do a room during the end of May and early June is not a good choice for me because my daughter will be graduating.  And I am certainly not going to be planning to paint my bedroom during October because I will having some new GRANDBABY visiting to do!! I have to look at my calendar and see when it is reasonable for me to set aside time to complete the steps I've measured out for success!
So there you have it, a nutshell of info that may help someone remember just HOW to set a goal and be successful at it.

And for the giveaway you do not have to go back to the original post to enter....anyone who leaves a comment this week on any post, and asks to be entered into the giveaway will be entered.  And another hint for the item I'll be giving away, is that "when you are hot, it will be COOL".....have fun guessing.  Remember to pass along the word, that my business is changing, and will get a new name, AND I' m doing a giveaway to celebrate!!!!

Setting Goals.....

How are you at setting goals? Does fear of failure prevent you from setting goals in your life?  Are you able to actually "visualize" what you'd like to see happen, or are you stymied by the fear that you won't be able to accomplish what you set out to do?




I am inspired today by a training meeting I went to for my business (Southern Living at HOME)....you'll also remember from my last post, that BIG changes are happening at SLaHOME!!! And I am having a giveaway to celebrate some of the big changes.....go here.
AND you can comment EVERY DAY this week for an entry into the giveaway in which I will give away TWO fabulous SLaHOME products!!!
I also noticed something on Facebook where True Value Hardware was asking fans to share something to complete this statement...."I WILL.................".

So I wanted to challenge you, my readers.....what would you use to complete that sentence, that goal for yourself?  Will you share it?  The first step to achieving a goal is to determine the goal, and determine some measurable steps you can take to accomplish that goal.  You want to be able to check off the step, and have it be completed.  If you can't measure the success of it, you will never meet your goal........

I also mentioned in the initial giveaway post here, that I would be revealing what I am going to be giving away on Friday.....one hint at a time.  So guess away, if you'd like to, in the comments.....!!!  And sign up by leaving a comment that includes "sign me up for the giveaway" in it!!  That is, IF YOU WANT TO WIN......please do not sign up if you do not want to win!!! :D

The hint for today is that one of the products is round and will be useful in the summertime!  Now, go leave your comment!!

Big Announcement coming up this week.....

Many of you know I am a Southern Living at HOME consultant....have been for nearly eight years. I love it because I can work when I want, and , Um,  NOT when I want!! :D
In the recent past, we have been going thru a merger with Entertaining at HOME. Entertaining at Home was actually started by Bill Shaw, who used to be with SLaHOME.....
Because of some legal issues, and because we are going to be a

BRAND NEW bigger and better company, we are going to have a new name....and it's going to be announced this week!!! I am so excited to see what our new "married name" will be!! And I thought in honor of the "wedding" I will be giving away TWO SLaHOME products on next FRIDAY.....the exciting news is that you can enter EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!!! So go and tell your friends and family; you know that everyone you tell will get you extra entries into this giveaway!! One entry for everywhere you post it....Facebook, Twitter, Blog, you tell me where you are going to post it. And remember that you can leave a comment every day. Just comment on my regular post every day, telling me to enter you into the giveaway and I'll compile all the comments from the week, m'kay???? You got it. I'll be letting you in on  some clues this week about what I'll actually be giving away. And of course those of you who guess correctly, will get an extra entry also. YOU LIKE????? Come back every day for your greatest chance to win.  This giveaway will not disappoint!

Getting back to Friday Fives!!!!

(Anyone else having trouble loading pics onto blogger or is it just me???)

Well, my friends, I've been sporadic about posting with so much life and celebrating going on....hope you have stuck around and are still with me.  I do love have such cool blogging friends!
Let's go on with our tradition of Friday Fives....always such fun to get to know one another better!


1. How do you manage your photos?; Do you scrapbook, or keep your photos organized in books or boxes?


2. What state do you live in?



3. Have you ever seen the wildflowers of Texas? They are BEAUTIFUL this time of year!!!


4. What does spring/summer bring that you've missed since last year?

5. When you retire, where do you  hope to live? Will you stay in the same place or move to your retirement spot?

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!!!

And a recipe to leave you with, since I've not been oh so inspiring lately!!!

Apricot Almond Coffee Cake

Makes 15 servings
Prep. 25 minutes, bake 28 min., cool 20 minutes

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. apricot preserves
1 (16oz) package pound cake MIX, divided
pinch of orange food coloring powder (optional)
1 (8oz.) container sour cream
1/2 c. milk
2 large eggs
1/2 t. almond extract
1/2 c. sliced almonds
Glaze

Beat cream cheese, apricot preserves, 1 T. cake mix and if desired, orange food coloring powder, just until blended; set mixture aside.

Beat sour cream, milk, eggs, almond extract, and remaining cake mix at low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds or until blended. INcrease speed to medium and beat 3 more minutes.

Pour into lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Drop cream cheese mixture by rounded teaspoonsful evenly over batter. Swirl batter gently with a knife. Sprinkle almonds evenly over top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes or until golden.

Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes. Drizzle glaze over slightly warm cake or pieces. (Note from Renee: there was no glaze recipe included. I mixed whipping cream, powdered sugar and a splash of almond extract.)

At Home --with Reluctant Entertainer and my Bunny Hop Swap!!!

  If you are not regularly inspired by Sandy Coughlin, you must not be reading her blog.  What a treasure! She has the gift of hospitality that she freely gives to others.  She is a joy.  I was unable to join in last week, because of all the celebrating going on here......my birthday, Easter, our wedding anniversary.  It was a never ending celebration around here!!! I loved it!!  I got out of my blogging groove and celebrated, but missed you blogging friends and neighbors!  So it is perfect to get back to blogging by joining in Sandy's Home Is series!

So, in order to keep the theme of Sandy's Home Is....let me tell you about our Easter.  We were invited to some friends' home for our Easter lunch after having spent our morning in worship and fellowship......so wonderful!  Our friends are another model of what biblical hospitality is......my friend Barbara, is such a gracious hostess, and her husband is as well.  We enjoyed a huge Easter feast of brisket, ham, potatoes, carrot souffle (my contribution), roasted veggies, deviled eggs, salad, green beans, rolls and a spread of desserts.  I made the coconut cake (the one with cream of coconut poured over it?  oh yummmm).  The  best part was the fellowship, really.  To be able to chat with no rush, no timetable of things to move on to.......just unhurried fellowship!! LOVED it!

And one other thing I wanted to share with you is that I participated in a Easter Swap, called the Bunny Hop Swap, sponsored by Pippy at Life from Pippy's Perspective. She is a doll, and you'll want to check her out.

Through the swap, I got to meet Cassie, from Starting from Nowhere and Learning As I Go, as she was my Swap Partner.  She is adorable.  And even though she is young enough to be my daughter, she thrilled me with such a nice Easter treat.  It was a spring vinyl tote bag brimming full of fun Easter treats.  She knew my love of books and magazines, and delighted me with some mini cookbooks, a inspirational book about Grandmothers (she, along with many others of you, recently learned that I am going to be a grammy, called Peaches, this coming October!!!!) She also sent a copy of one of my favorite magazines, Southern Lady!  She treated me to a black wrought iron wall hanging that says FAITH, as well as a journal with Scripture on the front of it....and some neat bookmarks!  As if that wasn't spoiling me enough, she sent me CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!  I decided it was in my best interest to share with my daughter, who shares my love for chocolate!! Cassie also gave me some adorable little pots to start some seeds in, all ready to go...one is basil, one is sunflower, a pepper and a strawberry plant--Goodness Gracious, Cassie you SPOILED me....and I LOVED it!!!  Take a look for yourself!  Well, I am experiencing some technical difficulties with loading my pics from my camera, so I will be back later to show  you pics.  Suffice it to say the swap was LOADS of fun! Thanks, Pippy for organizing it, and for helping me meet Cassie!  It was lots of fun!  I'll be back with pics as soon as I can figure this little issue out.

trying to get my bloggy groove back on!!!!

Enjoy some Anita Renfroe.....I hope to be back tomorrow!!!!

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation!!! 

Easter Greetings to you all!! I've missed you all and look forward to getting back to my blog and my blog friends!!! See you soon!

What a week so far!!!

Birthday week!!!! On Wednesday, a dear friend treated me to a massage and then we went to lunch.  She happened to know the owner of the Fish City Grille, so he treated us to a similar cake as shown for my birthday treat!  Later that day, my husband took me to the jewelry store to pick out new beads for the Pandora Bracelet he had gotten me at Christmas.  Then we met our daughter and went to PF Changs for dinner!  Great food, and they also treated me to a small shot glass size chocolate dessert for a birthday treat!  Are you sensing a pattern here??? Lots of chocolate....so then today, I met two friends for lunch to celebrate yet again; we enjoyed food at the Orleans Cafe, then went over to the Ooh La La Dessert Cafe for a cupcake for dessert.  Enough dessert for me, yet here it is Easter AND our wedding anniversary!!  Monday???? Yes, indeed, Monday will be the end of the treats!!! LOL.
What a fun celebration time this is.......I turned 51 (who me???) and will celebrate 29 years of marriage to my husband on Sunday!  Where has the time flown by???


Lots of other fun presents --I feel so blessed! Thanks to all of you blogging friends and Facebook friends who made my birthday even more special with your birthday wishes!!! I loved it, truly!

Today......

I'll be away doing some serious celebrating!!!  I will report back on all the fun!!!

In the planning stages....

Of a girl's trip!!! Since my daughter graduates from high school this  year, I decided it would be fun to do a girl's trip.......my sister in law, and two nieces and my daughter and I will be going to NYC this May!!! Wahoo!!  Allison has wanted for the longest time to go see Wicked, and it just never happened, even though it was a possibility to see it in Houston....so NOW we are going to do it! YES!!!

I am so excited!!!

Resurrection Cookies or Forgotten Cookies

Well, since I told you all about the egg dyeing here, I also wanted to make sure you knew how to make these "resurrection" cookies in case you wanted to use as an object lesson for your children. It's a fun project, and one that teaches the true reason for Easter. You could do them ahead of time as you begin to talk about what Easter really means. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can print it off, but in case you can't read it, I'd be glad to email it to you as well.
I'm a little sad that my children are too old (and busy) to do these kinds of home projects any longer....so let me know how you use them and your stories of your children's responses. One day soon I"ll be a Grammy and do these things with my grands.....

Friday Fives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Around here at Southern Inspiration Casa, it's a tradition now (that we've done it more than twice!!! :D)
to have our Friday Fives.  You readers seem to love it, and it helps us all get to know fun, maybe goofy things about one another.  And it's a whole post at the end of the week that I don't have to think much about look forward to!  So without further ado, let's get on with Friday Fives.....um, are you as glad that it's Friday as I am???????

1. Do you like Peeps?  these kind are what I am talking about:

Or do you prefer some other kind of Easter treat?  Maybe this?????

2.  Do you have a pool at your home?  When do you begin to use it for the first time in the spring?

3.  How do you read blogs?  Do you use Google Reader, use the Blogger Dashboard, or a different method?
Do tell!


4.  Do you Tweet on Twitter?  Do you Facebook?

5.  Do you have Spring Cleaning on your list of things to do?????

Hope you enjoy your weekend!!! It's looking like GREAT weather here!
I enjoyed seeing Anita Renfroe and Mandisa last night with a friend.  If you've never seen Anita Renfroe, she will indeed make you laugh and laugh.  Here's a youtube video of her, one of many........

We made a college choice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wahoo......we finally have a choice made for Allison's college!  We are very pleased that she wants to go to Texas A&M.  She had narrowed it down to Texas A&M and Oklahoma University, and just this past week, she decided that A&M was her choice.  I am pleased because it's less than two hours away, and I know it is a great school.  Her brother is there, and it has a LOT of good qualities.  I feel good that my girl will do well there!
I am just so glad the decision is MADE!!!

So very charming.......

Remember when I told you in this post about my getting this book in the mail (FREE!) for the purpose of reading and reviewing on my blog?  Well that's my purpose today.  I finally finished the book ( I thought I would be able to finish it Spring Break, but I guess my nursing responsibilities for my son took more time than I thought!).  I really couldn't put it down during the last 1/3 of the book.

The book is by C. A. Belmond and is the third book in the "Rather charming" series....and I must say it is indeed "rather charming"!!!!  The main characters are Penny Nichols and her fiance' Jeremy Laidley.  Obviously, I have some catching up to do, as there are two books that come before this one that detail just how Penny came into an inheritance to make her an American  multi-millionaire, and how she comes to meet Jeremy and become engaged to him.  Normally, I don't like to read things out of order chronologically.....but when the offer to read the book was presented, I didn't even know the two books preceded this one.  I guess that's a rabbit trail , though, and I'll get back to the book review at hand.

A Rather Charming Invitation  was indeed a delightful read, rich in detail that made each scene literally come alive, made each emotion understandable and easily shared, made each intriguing twist of the plot thicker and more interesting.  It was the perfect balance of love and romance (without TOO MUCH detail), intrigue and mystery (without blood or gore) and picturesque tale-spinning  to make it enjoyable and able to sink right into.  I've never been to the French Riviera, Nice, Antibes, or seen the Cote d'Azur......but this book certainly evoked in me the desire to do so!!  It pulled me right in with its lovely descriptions of gorgeous scenery.  It even had me imagining that I could smell the scents of beautiful perfumes handcrafted by Penny's family, in their family perfumery business.  It was quite a romantic book, yet full of intrigue......and colorful characters!  Even the language was refreshing, with only one offensive word in the whole book, but placed in such a way that it totally fit the character and mood of the event.  The author did such a fine job of portraying the bad guy that you didn't mind at all "hating" his character!!!

I would highly recommend this series by C. A. Belmond, the "Rather"  Series!!!
I can see the possibility for  so many sequels to this series, that I surely hope the author is considering........when you read it you will no doubt understand......A Rather Memorable  Honeymoon,  A Rather Romantic Invitation (for when Honorine actually decides on her betrothed) and many other charming stories to follow!  Hope you will find the book and enjoy it as well!!!!  And so my task for today is to go find those other two books and do some catching up.....A Rather Lovely  Inheritance and A Rather Curious Engagement!  I've got some reading to do!!!

You can find the books here.....or at your local bookstore!

Oh, and this opportunity came to me when I joined Business2Blogger --you should check that out, too!!

It's a NEW day

Ahhh, the quiet, the spring morning.......it's a new day full of great possibilities!!!
It will indeed be more spring like by the end of the week.



And I thought I'd share with you some fantastic Customer Service I got this morning.

Recently, I bought a package of Dixie Perfect Touch Grab and Go disposable cups.....my daughter loves to fix a cup of coffee on her way out the door to school.  And it's better than her spending two bucks everyday for a stop at a local well-known coffee shop........anyhoo, I bought these cups and as we began to use them, discovered that more than half of the black plastic lids had cracks in them, rendering the lids essentially useless.  You cover the cup, but it leaks anyway.....hmmm, not good with hot coffee.  So this morning, she nonchalantly said, "you should call the company about that".  I decided that since I had bought TWO packages of 26 count cups that she had  a great idea!  So I did, and talked to a very pleasant customer service rep, who agreed to send me a coupon for a free package and to pass the info onto their quality control representative.  So, I encourage you to give that 1-800 number a call if you find a product that has a defect.......it's a nice thing to happen on a Monday morning.....

Other news....
Yesterday, we heard a sermon on fasting and prayer.....both on an individual and corporate or national level....More than ever, I am seeing that this could be a great thing for us to do.  It might be fasting from food, OR fasting from whatever draws you away from God.......news coverage, too much time on the computer, shopping, whatever....good things to consider.  Have a marvelous Monday, my friends....

Some things coming up on my blog are a book review of  A Rather Charming Invitation, by C. A. Belmond, as well as a few photos of my Easter/spring decor, and the beginning of  a series hosted by Sandy Coughlin at Reluctant Entertainer on "Home Is"..........it's shaping up to be a great time to be a blogger!!!  See you soon.

The Spring Break that wasn't.....

I want to post real quickly, as I have a list a mile long of things that didn't get done this week,   YET.
My son is doing quite well; the first night was not so good, but then things began to get better.  He still needs prayer, lots of help, and he will go back to school and have to do things single handed for himself.......that will be a stiff learning curve.  We pray the week and the next few weeks will go well.  Hopefully his girlfriend, roommates, and friends can help him out.  We take our two arms for granted, I suppose, until we can only use one of them for a time. 

I thought I would do a Friday Fives just for fun.....I think I'll be needing my SPRING BREAK next week, when everyone is back in  school and back to work!!! LOL....

So enjoy the Friday Fives and hope your weekend is wonderful...we've had several days of perfect weather, but I hear the chances of rain tomorrow are high.  Take care and enjoy your family!

1. Do you enjoy playing games?  Board games, card games, computer games?

2. Do you enjoy gardening?  Do you grow flowers/veggies/ or both?

3. Have you ever been on a cruise?

4. What challenges do you face this week?  (If you list them, I can pray for you!!!)

5. What Easter traditions do you enjoy? 

Have a great weekend, y'all?  I hope to be back to a more normal online, blogging life after the weekend, although there is a ton of stuff to do around my casa!!!  Let's motivate one another!!!

Visiting over the fence.......I'll be back later.

I just wanted to say thanks for all your prayer and support over the past few days for my friend Mary.  She is doing so much better.  She went home yesterday I believe and can still use your prayer, but is doing so, so much better.

In other news, my son is having shoulder surgery this morning, so I'll be up at the hospital waiting for that to happen, then I'll be helping him get better and back in the swing of things.  He won't get much of a Spring Break, but this will put him in better shape for the summer, so we decided to go ahead and do it now.  He's in great shape, so hopefully it will be a quick and easy recovery!
I'd love it if you could pray for him this morning.
Then I promise I'll have something FUN on my blog later this week.  It's been a little intense around here in my heart!! Talk to you later, and I really DO value you and appreciate your prayer and support!  Take care, and enjoy these spring days!

Trusting in Him for this day.....

Enjoy your day, my blogging friends.
Picture found at:
http://www.photosforsouls.com

Thanks and Late friday five....

Thanks so very much friends for all your prayers and well wishes for Mary.  I thought I'd let you know that when we saw her this evening, she was more alert and chatted a little bit, but wore out easily.  The results of her MRI will hopefully be done in the morning, and they will see what they are facing.  Thanks for your continued prayer.

I thought I'd go ahead and do the regular Friday fives, although most of you will not read them until Saturday....
Play along if you'd like, answer the questions in the comments and we all get to know each other a little bit better.

1. Do you enjoy Daylight Savings Time?  What will you look forward to doing with that extra hour of light in the evenings?

2. Do you have a special tradition for St. Patrick's Day or for Easter?

3. Will you get a new Easter dress? 

4.  What one thing are you thankful for today?

5.  What "smell" reminds you of spring?  What food reminds you of spring?

Thanks again for all your friendships, and for caring/praying for my friend Mary.  God bless each of you!

I'll be away for some time

I have a dear friend, Mary, who is in the hospital. She has fought breast cancer for numerous years now and Monday night she suffered a stroke and is having multiple seizures. Please pray for her and her family. She has a husband and ten children. She is the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Thanks for your prayers for this family.

It's time to start thinking about EASTER eggs!!!!

This is a post from last year, but appropos for the season, so I thought I'd run it again......

We don't really dye eggs at our house much anymore, since my kids are older, but I'm thinking maybe you still do....well, maybe I'll do some this year for myself!!! I thought maybe you'd like to know how to dye them without using all those dyes that have to have a special number attached to them.....like Red dye #47 or Blue dye #23....why not try dying them with REAL food items???I've got some ideas for you and I even did a little Googling for some further research for you and me....Above is a picture of some naturally dyed eggs, and you can find some info here and here. Try looking here, too. You can also tea dye them, too as shown below, and the instructions are found here.Also, here are the instructions I have on hand for Elegant Dyed Easter Eggs using NATURAL food coloring.

Place colorant, from the list below in the pot with 1 quart of water and 2 T. white vinegar. Bring to a boil; let cool slightly. Place dye back in the pot with up to 2 raw eggs, bring to a boil. (If adding more than 2, stir gently to prevent eggs from settling against each other). Leave in dye until desired hue is reached, from 20 minutes up to 2 hours. Remove, pat dry lightly with paper towels; let air dry. Here is the list of colorants to use:
1/2 c. paprika= peachy salmon color
1 c. canned cherries in syrup=red
3 T. turmeric=yellow
1 c. fresh spinach leaves=green
4 c. chopped red cabbage or 1 c. blueberries with syrup=blue
12 medium sized onion skins=orange
1/2 c. grape juice concentrate=purple

For further decoration, take a crayon and make designs on the eggs before dying them. The dye will not absorb into the designs as the wax prevents it from absorbing and leaves the design in place. The process can be constantly repeated with the crayons for multiple effects on the eggs....these give you the look of Ukranian Easter Eggs.
Mostly have fun as you see nature's own hues softly displayed in your Easter Egg Basket Bounty!!! I'll be back next week with the recipe for the Easter Story Cookies, in case you need that one, too.

What's great about Monday?

Like my friend Beth said on Facebook this morning, "I love Monday! Monday is a fresh new start", a brand new start of a new week, in which to get done whatever needs to get done......this  reminds me of Lamentations 3:22-23, where the Bible tells us that God's mercies are new every  morning......


Lam 3:22-23-- The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;   they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

I cannot read that without the song popping into my head, which is a really good thing!  I was also challenged by our pastor's message yesterday to begin memorizing Scripture again....music is a GREAT way for me to memorize!  I can actually remember something when it has music attached!
THIS MONDAY:

I am home today, nursing a head cold, so sitting is something I can excel at today.  It is aso a great mail day.  I have gotten two packages and I've not even collected the mail from down the street.  I miss it being delivered to my front door, do you?  Anyway, both FedEx and Brown (UPS) have stopped by today to bring me treasures!  How fun.  In the first box, was a book!

Because of my recent affliation with Business2Blogger, I have agreed to, read this charming little book, A Rather Charming Invitation ,  and give you all a book review on it.......how cool is that??? I am planning to sit right down and read this afternoon...it really came on a PERFECT day.  It's rainy outside and I have a cold....perfect day for reading! 
http://www.cabelmond.com/a_rather_charming_invitation_87990.htm to see more about the book!

The next box that came was a LABELER......something that I ordered recently when I found a really, really good internet deal.....I had just begun my pantry remodel when I decided to order it.....I have plans for this baby to fit into my home, and become my slave for organization!!! Those of you who really know me, STOP laughing right this instant!
Oh, well, I do have plans for this little tool......I'll keep you posted. So I am off to do the business of book reviewer...how fun!  Talk to you bloggy friends later!!!!!!!!!!

Another GREAT thing about this Monday is that Jen from Tatertots and Jello is having a great giveaway from Kristen's Creations!! Go check it out here!!!!

Psa 84:3  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

Have a blessed Sunday, my friends!

Friday fives..........and the giveaway winners!

Another Friday here to get to know our friends!And,  another Friday of Friday Follow!!! Go check it out at these blogs........One2Try, Hearts Make Families and  Midday Escapades.....

Here's the five questions and I will come back later and do the drawing for the giveaway.  I'll give everyone until noon if you have entered yet....go HERE.  We interrupt this Friday Fives to announce the winners of the Giveaway for the Celebrate Magazine and the back copies from last spring and summer......WAHOO....drumrolll....................and the winners are Patricia from  In My Free Time and Wacie's Way gets the two back copies for Spring and Summer.  Please send me your mailing info via email and I will get those over to my new friend, Wendy , at Hoffman Media.  Y'all go on over and congratulate them for being today's winners here at Southern Inspiration!!!

1. Do you use candles? If you don't what do you use to scent your house?

2. What one item is most important to you to keep your house clean?  Is it a favorite cleaner, an appliance, or a secret?????

3.Do you have color on your toenails????

4. Do you like to use cloth napkins or paper?

5.  Will you be watching the Oscars this weekend??

have a GREAT Friday!!!

Since you asked.......

Yes, one commenter DID ask...what MY Grammy name will be.  It has long been decided.  You see, when my daughter in law and son were engaged, there was a period of time when they were separated by miles....she lived not far from us, and he was in graduate school in Atlanta.  {I've lived the long distance relationship gig, and it's not easy.  Of course, when I lived it, there were NO CELL PHONES, people.  Yes, back in the dark ages.....nonetheless, there WERE telephones.  But our phone bills cost us an arm and a leg....and we survived, but it was hard}.

So back to my story.....she would visit us often while they were apart.  In fact, I remember one weekend, the weekend of his birthday actually, she was planning to fly over and surprise him.  She drove to the big, big airport nearby only to find that because of ice and snow, all flights to Atlanta were suspended pretty much for the weekend.  She was soooooo sad.  She called me in tears!  So I  told her to come on over and stay with us for the weekend, and we'd try to keep her mind off of being so sad....so very sad.  I think it was that very weekend that my "name" was born.  She had her mind on Atlanta, remember.  In one of our discussions, she told me that her name for her own grandma had always been Bitsy, and that she thought we needed a name for me so that someday their children would have an equally memorable name to call me rather than the typical grammy kind of name.  So I think since her mind was really on Atlanta, she decided my name should be Peaches.....yes, Peaches.  So it stuck.  In fact, when I began to help with the quints, we decided to try it out.  So for 20 months, I have been Peaches to the quints, and it has proven to be a very good grammy kind of name.  I now will be Peaches in the TRUE Grammy sense and that is what my grammy name will be....end of story.  Thanks for hanging around until the end of the story.  :D
And don't forget to go sign up for the giveaway that will happen tomorrow...you can read about it and sign up HERE.
Signed,

Peaches!

A Giveaway!!!!!!

 Giveaway is now closed.....see winners here..

Remember how I talked about having my own giveaway last week before I left for Hotlanta??? {Oh, I had a fabulous time by the way..hosted by an adorable friend and joined by two other simply terrific friends for a very last minute weekend get together.  I was there for a training conference for church and ended up getting to stay over another night to see these friends}...anyway, back to the Giveaway.  Ok, so it's no secret I love Southern Lady Magazine and it's other little project magazine called Celebrate......yes, you will remember I talked about it here.  So it seems I have a new friend over at the Hoffman Publications!! Wendy contacted me to offer assitance in some great pics for  sharing some of the recipes with you...and also she has agreed to let me GIVE AWAY a subscription to the Celebrate Magazine as well as a couple of back issues from last spring and summer......this is great, too because these ideas are timeless and you will not want to throw these issues away for the great ideas that are found within its pages! Oh my goodness!

Ok, you probably want to know how to enter the giveaway, right??? I know I would if I were you!
So hop on over to Hoffman Media  and check out ALL the publications they have.....come back and tell me one that you already knew about.  Leave a comment and you are entered!  Blogging about it will certainly score you points and another entry.  (I'll need to know if you do decide to blog about it, and refer back to my blog as the giveaway post). And then we will have TWO winners here at Southern Inspiration.  One lucky winner will get the year's subscription and the other lucky winner will get the two back issues from Spring and Summer of last year.  You will LOVE what you find there in those magazines!!  Goodness gracious!  It's a red-letter day!!! OH AND THE DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON FRIDAY OF THIS WEEK!!

Inspiration that willl blow you away!!!!

Someone shared this with me today, and I didn't watch it without tears.  This is an ultimate story of inspiration,
determination and God-given talent.  It will inspire you and bless your day.  I would love to meet this young man!  He certainly inspires ME!!!!!  Enjoy and be sure to get a kleenex  before you hit play!

Such Exciting News!!!!

Got a call from our son last week to tell us to "save the date" of the second week of October for an exciting event.....yes, you guessed it!! The birth of our first grandchild is expected to happen about that time......the actual due date is 10/10/10......pretty cool, isn't it?  So I hope I don't bore you with Grammy kinds of things, but my whole blogging field of topics just exploded!! : D

So what will the baby be?  Just for fun, guess boy/girl in the comments and suggest a name.  This is going to be so much fun.  And come back tomorrow for the revealing of what my giveaway is going to be...yes, it's going to be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!