Wordless Wednesday: A Haircut

We finally used the shaver he got for Christmas. Needless to say I was pretty nervous! lol

Be sure to stop by Full Time Mama, too!

I Want To "Travel By Bubble": Oz The Great and Powerful

I always thought fantastical travel would be so awesome. So many different way we could do that in our dreams. Watching this video made all of those childhood dreams of being able fly come rushing back! So excited to see this movie! “Like” OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ozthegreatandpowerful "Follow" OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyozmovie Visit the website: http://www.disney.com/thewizard OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL lands in theaters on March 8th!

Isn’t It Amazing What Can Happen?

A few days ago I was asking you about how you trust after you’ve been hurt. How hard it is to not fear that same stuff could happen again.

Funny thing happened during and right after that. Everywhere I turned I heard a message about not fearing. When I was searching for images to share from Pinterest with the last post there was an acronym about FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.

The next morning I had an email that was forwarded to me from Fred. It was entitled “What Does God Want From Me?” It talked about how we want to change and we’re focused on ourselves, not on Christ, the only one who will bring us sanctification. And we will only be sanctified when we stand before Him.

As Fred and I discussed this, I kept telling him I wanted to be done. I was sick of living in fear. It’s amazing how much lack of trust will affect a relationship! And not just with him, with various people. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is and how it can overwhelm me at times.

The next morning I was reading in Romans and it talks about how we’re stubborn (Chapter 2) and refuse to turn away from our sin. In verse 15 it talks about the Gentiles demonstrating that God’s law was written on their hearts. And it made me think about my heart. What is written on my heart? I know God’s law is written there, but what’s happened to it?

It seems like it’s become dusty, faded. I “know” God’s laws and what he expects, but does the life I live show whether or not what’s in my head is also written on my heart. When it comes to fear, or lack of trust, I know in my head that I have victory in Christ, but I don’t always live it out through my heart.

I can get defensive, worried, angry, and offensive. Some days I want to build a wall to protect myself and other days, oh man, I come blazing a trail taking out anyone in my path. Fight or flight. One of those always seems to be occurring in reaction to fear.

But here’s the thing…oh wait…forgot one more reminder (hold please)

I was listening to the radio. KTIS was streaming and all of a sudden after a song the DJ started talking…about fear. And she talked about how fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. It was truly at that moment that I felt like God said to me, “Are you really ready to be done?” It was if for a moment I COULD see the forest through the trees! I was seriously hating the affect fear had on my life, at what it has stolen from me.

So that’s the “thing”. I have a choice to make. I can choose to allow the bombardment of thoughts to produce fear in my life or I can use Christ as my shield and say “No! That is it! I’ve had enough!” And that’s precisely where I want to stay.

Will I? Probably not all of the time because I have to honestly say, when I get upset or concerned, I usually have good reason (in my mind). Something has occurred (or sometimes hasn’t occurred) that causes doubt and mistrust to come into my mind. Where someone might respond, “oh no problem,” I respond, “huh, ok,” and in my mind I start to think up reasons why whatever just happened, happened. Is there some dishonest motivation behind it? What am I not being told? And if they aren’t being truthful, how much power does that give them over me for the next time. And that’s only the tip of what runs through my brain.

But I want to be done with that. Reading what I do with myself mentally, don’t you get a sense of exhaustion and anxiety? Maybe not, but I sure do. Imagine if you will, me accepting something at face value. Not reading into it or churning it in my brain until I explode. Just think of how peaceful it would be to be in that moment where I decide out-right to turn it over to God. “Here, have it. You know exactly what’s going on. Whether now or later (sometimes much later) you will deal with whoever it is in your perfect judgment if they need to be dealt with.” I can just sense so much victory, and peace that would go along with letting go.

And this doesn’t just deal with fear. It can be about anything you have going on in your life that turns you away from Christ and the peace he brings. If you ever get into this place like I do, what brings you out of it? Where do you find hope and peace?

Truly, we are victors in Christ if we know him. We are his children. Who could love us more and want the best for us? Find your rest, peace and hope in him. That’s what I’ll be trying to do!

*photo courtesy of Sean Smith, Campbell River, British Columbia

Wordless Wednesday: Snow and Valentine’s Day

Let’s compare snow, shall we?

Virginia snow:


Minnesota snow:


My Valentine’s Day Flowers:


Dinner at Chart House in Maryland:


Be sure to stop by Full Time Mama as well!

How Do You Learn To Trust Again?

That’s my question for you.

When your past has pretty much sucked with the opposite sex, how do you recover? How do you start to build trust again? Where do you start?

I figure one foot in front of the other is the obvious way to go. But I’ve been there before. I’ve put myself out there, given an inch when I’ve been told how much I can trust someone and they’ve gone and taken a mile.

I’ve met someone and I’m proceeding very cautiously. I have moments where I believe this man wouldn’t say a thing to me that would be dishonest. I mean, it’s just the way he seems to be. But then things happen. Little things that get my mind whirling. My thoughts go back to what I believe to be true about men, at least 99% of the men who have been in my life and my thoughts become, “he’s probably just like them.”

Now, I know a few things that are for sure even in the midst of this. One, if God is for me who can be against me? Yea, this guy could end up being the biggest liar of them all, but you know what? God is in control. I just have to keep my eyes and my heart focused on him. If I allow God to lead, then I’m in good hands!

The next thing I know is that Satan would like nothing better than to destroy a good thing. I say a “good thing” because I believe it to be true even in the midst of my fear of trusting. I believe Satan is a thief and a liar. He seeks to destroy anything that is good. Fred wants to be a church planter and should be finished with school by the end of the year. Depending on what the future holds, if we are together, then Satan won’t want us doing the work of the Lord. What better way to destroy it than to do it before it gets off the ground?

Source: piccsy.com via Kristen on Pinterest

 

It’s not easy to say the least. When you’ve gone through what I have with my father having affairs throughout my life, boyfriends who cheated, an ex who left because he couldn’t handle life, and my current ex who made choices that will leave a lasting affect on me and my kids…well, and everyone else who knows him. Needless to say, men haven’t had the best influence in my life.

So, how do we recover from a life that has been filled with lies and deceit? How do we move past that to full trust? How do we give an inch without protecting that mile?

I know the only way I’m going to be able to do it is to rely on God, fully and completely. I won’t be able to do this on my own. Ask Fred. He knows of my struggles because he talks to me daily and he knows when I’m struggling. Of course, it’s hard for him because he has to figure out how to help me trust him.

Source: facebook.com via Jessi on Pinterest

 

Days like today. He did one thing, I expected another (sort of). When it didn’t go how I’d thought, my mind started wondering why. All these things come feeding into my brain and the thing is, Satan knows me so well, he knows how to make things seem. All day I’ve just asked God to take these thoughts away from me. Thankfully I’ve had peace here and there throughout the day, as long as I didn’t think about the morning.

I have so much to learn about being in a healthy relationship. Fred and I bring things from our pasts that aren’t going to be easy to get through, but we’re attempting to do it together. Emptying our baggage one piece at a time. While he seems to have only brought a carry on, it appears I’ve got the entire line of Samsonite with me!

Have you had trust broken before? How do you not allow it to affect your future. And if it does, how do you get through it?

Teaching My Parents to Recycle

I have been recycling for years. I’ve taught my boys about recycling and Buddy is the one who would separate it every week before he put it all out at the curb. We recycled aluminum, cardboard, glass and plastic. Now we don’t recycle…at all and it’s killing me.

Source: facebook.com via Andrea on Pinterest

 

My parents just throw everything away! ACK! Can you believe it?! The first time I broke down a cereal box and put it in the garbage can I cringed. They don’t have curbside pick up and weekly take their garbage to the dump.

Recycling is really important to me because it’s just one of the small ways I can help take care of the resources we have and use. So, somehow, I have to figure out how to make it important to my parent as well. My dad was complaining about how the garbage fills up so fast and I mentioned that our garbage could take a week to fill up when my boys and I lived in MN.

That’s when it dawned on me how much our recycling made a difference! We could go an entire week without filling up our garbage and the recycling was put to good use!

For me, we used to just have a couple of brown bags next to our garbage can that we’d fill up (sometimes to overflowing), but I know my parents wouldn’t go for that so I need to come up with something a bit more their “style”. None of those blue recycling totes sitting in the house. lol That would go over like a lead balloon.

I need to come up with something more to fit their décor. I was thinking something like this:

Source: bhg.com via Christa on Pinterest

 

I would have it smaller and probably have 3 of them sitting behind the counter because it would probably be a bit more manageable and less noticeable to company. Then every week my son could do his chore again and help out his grandpa.

Now, I know it’ll be a while before my parents get the idea of recycling, but at least my boys and I can go back to making a difference and be an example of taking care of this world we’ve been given.

Have you ever had to teach someone about recycling? Do you recycle? Any suggestions on how to get my parents involved or at least ok with bringing in some recycling bins?

PS I’ve got two brown bags sitting where that box is in the above photo. At least my boys and I can start recycling. We’ll see if anyone else plays along. =)

Oz The Great and Powerful Featurette: Costume & Make-up

I'm so excited for this movie to come out! The previews have made it look so fantastical!


Have you seen any previews for it yet?!

Be sure to follow them:

“Like” OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ozthegreatandpowerful

"Follow" OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyozmovie

Visit the website: http://www.disney.com/thewizard

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL lands in theaters on March 8th!

How Am I Old Enough For College Age Kids?!

Alright, so maybe I shouldn’t have called my girls “kids”, but I swear, it’s true, they’ll always be your child no matter how old they get. I wonder if I’ll feel the same way when they’re in their 40s?

I have a really hard time grasping that I’m old enough to have two daughters in college. When did they get to be the age where I started having kids? How come I don’t feel as old as I think I should if I have a 21 and 19 yr old? It’s all very mind baffling.



I remember when my oldest went off to college. It was so hard for me! I cried the whole way down to the dorm. I even called the radio station and asked them to play a song for her. lol It’s a large, private college with a very large radio station. The next couple of nights I slept in her bed and cried my eyes out. lol

Did I mention she was only an hour away? Unfortunately, being a single mom and having young boys, work, and life, I wasn’t able to get down there often. Here’s the cool part…we had a close friend working at the college. So, on Wednesday nights or Sundays I would bring him various things to take down to her. It was such a blessing!



Then my second daughter graduated college and off she went, to the SAME private college! I was so thankful she was able to go there along with a couple of friends. It wasn’t as hard with my second daughter because I realized that they weren’t gone forever!

Well, life has many twists and turns and now I’m several days away from them. I have no way to just drop something off at the school, I don’t have anyone to send a care package with from church. It’s not as convenient as it was just a month ago.



Thankfully, I found an online site called University Snacks. It’s a website that will help you put together some care packages for your son or daughter who’s away at school! I have been going through their site trying to come up with a care package to send to my girls.

They pretty much think of every category you might want to shop from for your student! I was surprised at the selection. I know what my daughter likes to eat, but she and her sister have been cutting out dairy and I think gluten here and there. Also, my youngest has been trying to live a vegan lifestyle so when I send her care package next she will definitely have to help me out. lol She may end up with only cleaning and health products!

I also have a feeling there are going to be times where I won’t have a chance to just “go shopping”, so being able to pick a premade package will make things so much easier. They even had a Valentine’s Day package to let your student know that they’re still loved even miles and miles away! Unfortunately, I didn’t shop in time to get one sent out! Next holiday, right?



My daughter picked out a few different things than I initially was going to get her and that makes me glad I had her shop with me. I probably would’ve gotten more junk food than what she picked out. hahahahaha I did decide to throw in a soup for these cold winter days and candy that she loves to add that personal touch!



What I didn’t do this time, and will next time, is ask for an item that her roommates might like. I’m sure they’d love a little something in the mail and I’d love to be able to bless them. My daughter has roomed with one of the gals, her best friend, for 3 years now! What I did do was get more than one of the same thing that I figured they’d go through the fastest. HA! They are “starving” right?



You can check out my entire shopping experience on my Google + page! It was really fun, in a mom kind of way, to be able to get this package put together for my girl. It just gives me a way to let her know I’m thinking of her and so she knows she’s missed and loved.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.

My Favorite Meal of the Day Along with a Giveaway #BfastBlitz

I don't know about your, but I start my day off, almost right away, with breakfast. I know a lot of people don't or they like to be awake for a while before they do. Not me. I eat breakfast every single day and typically within the first half an hour of waking up.

I've gotten my boys into the same habit. Well, except for the fact that on weekends they don't eat breakfast right away. Both boys eat at school for breakfast. They actually have quite a good selection.

Now, the people at got milk? are running an awesome sweepstakes called Breakfast Blitz! It only runs through Feb 17th so you need to high tail it over there and start entering your milk UPC codes!! What's awesome is, the sweepstakes will help fund school breakfast programs in your area! They're even giving away tickets to next year's Super Bowl! They have an entire list of things they're giving away!

Speaking of which, I'm hosting a little giveaway of some things that will help enjoy milk, especially for breakfast!


The “Tackle Your Day” breakfast basket will include:
§ Spilt milk bowl
§ Spoon straw
§ Tackle Your Day Challenge Chart
§ Milk Mustache Magnet
§ Cow slippers
§ Mustache glasses
§ Breakfast Project Recipe Cards

There’s no purchase necessary. See rules for official details, enter here: http://milk.am/mbbfastblitz *I have been compensated for this giveaway in partnership with TheMotherhood. Any opinions shared are my own.

Wordless Wednesday: A tribute to Grandpa Ed

Last week, my boys' grandpa passed away. He'd started feeling sick in the fall and just couldn't get better. They were going to different doctors and not getting any good answers. Finally they went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in Dec/Jan and was told he had a fast growing, terminal lung cancer. Crazy thing is, he had no reason to even have lung cancer. =(

Two weeks ago, the boys drove from VA to IL to see Grandpa Baker, knowing it might be the last time, while hoping for the best! I'm so thankful they were able to go out there!

This past Saturday, Grandpa Ed went to be with the Lord. He is no longer suffering and he is with the One who loves him beyond measure. We'll miss you Ed! Thank you for being such a great grandpa to the boys!

Buddy & grandpa


Doodle & grandpa


Grandpa Ed and his grandkids two weeks ago

Please be sure to stop by Full Time Mama as well for WW

Nightclub Fire in Brazil Can Teach us Lessons on Fire Safety

With the Santa Maria nightclub fire all over the news (233 dead), any firefighter will remind you of a pretty tragic fact: the United States has one of the highest rates of fire-related death in the world. Indeed, smoke inhalation is the leading cause of death in the American household today.

Brazil is not a paragon of efficient public safety regulations, with rampant bus and trolley accidents and manhole explosions being regular occurrences. Today in the U.S., every state in the union has its own Department of Public Safety. If you’re in California, for example, there is a Coalition for Effective Public Safety (CEPS) you can join but often, lots of regulations and regulators just don’t work – and some even make things worse.

Governments often publish fire safety checklists. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had this to say about sources of fire.

Main Sources of Fire Hazard:
· Cooking Equipment
· Upholstered Furniture
· Mattresses and Bedding
· Personal Apparel
· Supplemental Home Heating Equipment (wood stoves, kerosene heaters, gas-fired space heaters, portable electric heaters)

But none of those compare to the No. 1 cause of fires in the country: cigarettes. (What an incentive to finally quit.)

There is a lot you can do (besides quitting smoking) to prevent fires. The following is a list of equipment and methods to use. It might cost you something, but sometimes you can get hold of a big bunch of coupons to cut down on the price tag. Big stores like Sears and Home Depot carry this stuff.

Smoke detectors
They should be located and battery-loaded on every level of the house, even every room. They should be checked regularly and installed about 6-12 inches below the ceiling on the wall.
Flammable Liquid Storage
Keep them away from heaters and electronics, in a plastic (not wood) storage rack outside of the house and outside of the reach of your kids.
Fire Extinguishers
No house is safe without one. I am sure you can find a Sears coupon or something for one of these bad boys, because they might be expensive. Keep one in the kitchen, garage, workspace, and one upstairs too.
Escape Plan
These plans need to be designed and rehearsed regularly. Establish a main fire route, and also an alternative route. What about your youngest? Make sure s/he is part of the discussion and rehearsal too, even if they don’t know how to walk or speak yet.

In other countries like Japan they go to great lengths to practice fire routes and general safety regulations. Schools might spend an entire week on public hazards and escape routes and on Friday, for the grand finale, they will have the fire department send a rescue helicopter to practice emergency landing on the roof of a middle or high school. That’s certainly proved an efficient (if extreme) way to go. And it’s why Japan’s fire deaths are some of the lowest in the world.

*This is a sponsored post written for Woven by Words

I Finally Did a #DIY Project

Thanks to Debi from Who Says 8 Is Enough, who found a cute pin on Pinterest, I finally decided to do a craft. Now, I’m not crafty, so I asked her for directions. Bless her heart, she was kind enough to make them for me!

Did I mention I had no craft supplies here? I got to go shopping for a few things! I’ll admit right now, I have never in my life used Modge Podge. Man, does that stuff stink! I do like the results though!

I was going to spell LOVE just like Debi did, but man, my stinkin' budget (if you even can call it that) left me with less letters to choose from. lol So I only did two "f" and "m". I walked around the scrapbooking paper for about 10 minutes trying to decide on two papers to use. When I used scrapbooked it seemed like we had more choices.

As soon as I got home I totally went to town. Well, after I pulled up Debi's instructions again! I was so excited it seemed I couldn't remember everything to do!

1. I painted around the trim of the canvas with the black acrylic paint

2. Painted the letters with the same black paint

3. Next I brushed Modge Podge on to the canvas and applied the paper I had cut to fit it (it's not perfect so don't look closely)

4. After that was given ample time to dry (I didn't smooth it out perfectly) I Modge Podged over the paper! I had no idea it would come out so glossy! It was awesome. I tried "painting" down the paper trim as I went around the entire thing with the Modge Podge. Most of it stayed bent over the sides.

5. After I let that all dry overnight, I glued on the wooden letters with tacky glue. The "f" I got was pretty small compared to the "m" and couldn't figure out the best way to do it. I decided to go the route of angling the letters. Yay me!

That's it. My very first DIY craft. I'm excited to use them!! Now, let's just hope the paper...and letters stay on. =)

A Fairytale Journey from London to Paris

London and Paris are two of the most beautiful and famous European cities. They are filled with a combination of new and old, contemporary and historical that is enough to seduce any prospective traveller. Paris is home to Eurodisney, the European version of the much beloved Disney World Florida. A brilliant place for a family holiday, Disneyland Paris is the most visited attraction in Europe and a hot ticket for summer holidays. The location makes it an ideal stop for those travelling across Europe. With Disneyland Paris’ rail connections you’ll find it an easy to get to on your European adventure! In addition a quick online search for Disneyland Paris tickets can also save you money at the door.

Comparatively, London’s attractions are more disparate and spread across the entire city. Like Paris, it is home to some highly respected and revered architecture and also relatively easy to visit with its many rail connections. One of London’s major attractions, the London Eye, offers a fantastic opportunity to view all of London’s scenery and more. Towering almost 450ft above the city, the London Eye gives you a bird’s eye view of the capital. In total the journey takes almost one hour and thirty minutes to complete, ensuring that visitors have enough time to enjoy the impressive panorama view has to offer. Furthermore it boasts views of up to 40km on a clear day allowing people to see the furthest extents of such a beautiful and limitless city. To see this for yourself, get GoSeeDo London Eye tickets today and enjoy London from a whole new angle.

The two cities are the capitals of their respective countries and between them receive just under 60-million visitors ever year. These are two red hot tourist destinations containing more attractions than most people see in a lifetime. At the top of many keen tourists’ to-visit lists, check out London and Paris you next holiday trip!

Travel Guide 201 3

Now that we live in Virginia, I say that it’s time my boys and I start to get familiar with the surrounding area! I have no doubt there is a ton of stuff to do here, but I have no idea what.

And, Virginia is surrounded by a lot of other states: Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, West Virginia, and even out towards Pennsylvania, possibly even Ohio! Many of these places can be visited within 4-6 hours which means traveling there for the weekend is completely doable!

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

 

So, what will I be bringing you?

I’ll have locations for couples, for families, travel gear and dining. There are just so many opportunities out there, I’m excited to find them for you! Keep your eyes peeled because once the weather starts to get warm, I’ll share our experiences!

If you have any suggestions for where I should visit around here, I’d love to hear from you. Also if you live in the OH area, be sure to visit Andersons Angels because she’s the one who got the ball rolling for me!

Are you a company who would like to work with me? Drop me a line at wovenbywords @ gmail . com and we’ll talk about how we can partner together!

Are You Looking for a Solution?

Have you ever thought how you don’t realize how much you need something until you need it? I have my cell phone. It’s a smartphone (which can be rather dumb sometimes). I know that I’m probably not using it to it’s fullest potential because I don’t even know what that potential is!

So, I have the option of talking to friends who have the same kind of phone as me or I can go to people who know all the tips and tricks I could need to utilize this phone to the maximum potential.

When the boys and I headed to my brother-in-law’s a couple weekends ago, I swung by Best Buy. Have you been to one lately? Smack dab in the middle of the store is the Solution Center. I had never used them before and quite honestly, really had no clue what purpose they served. lol I figured they helped people, but with what I didn’t know. I mean, they have the Geek Squad for help, right?

HA!

This Geek Squad Solution Center has all kinds of cool stuff. You can go online, like I did, and schedule yourself to take a technology class or a 1:1 consultation. Depending on your location your class options are:

The entire process for signing up was super easy! I picked where I lived, the closest Best Buy that had the classes (because not all do yet), told them what I was hoping for out of the session and then I got a confirmation. Simple. Now, the only thing I didn’t care for was the hours to choose from. For each class there’s only one time available. So, if I wanted to take the App class and it was only at 8pm I’d probably opt to do a different class, which is exactly what I ended up doing. I’m hoping that as this expands they’ll have several time slots available for each class.

When I got to my Best Buy, they had an Apple class going. As I was waiting to find out who was going to work with me, I listened in to what he was teaching his group. I’d say there were about 5 people getting a half our instruction on how to use their iPads. It was really cool.

I had only scheduled my meeting a couple of days before my appointment and somehow I had gotten lost in the shuffle. Kind of a bummer at first because I thought I was going to have to go back, but then they got me TWO Geek Squad guys to give me one on one assistance! Booyah!

One thing I have been wanting to figure out if I can do is screen shot my phone. I know that my time was supposed to be sent with them teaching me about the latest and greatest apps, and I knew we’d get to that, but I really wanted to find out how to screen shot things!

He showed me lickety split and showed me how easy it was to do! lol Hold down the power button and down volume button for about 3 seconds and SNAP! I could’ve left right then. But, I had other questions!

My phone came with apps that I will never use. I like watching football, but I don’t want to play it on my phone and neither do my boys. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a way to delete the apps that came with the phone. Oh well.

Then, we got down to what they were going to show me, the latest greatest apps I had to have for my phone!

The first thing they showed me was how to to navigate through the Play Store better! I had NO idea that I could scroll right and find lists of the Top Paid (scroll right), Top Free (scroll right), Top Grossing (scroll right), Top New Paid (scroll right), Top New Free (scroll right), and Trending (the end). What I found very interesting, and was thrilled they pointed it out was in the Top Grossing, even if the app is free, when you’re inside the game, you have the option to pay for things as you can go, so even if the app is free, the game can cost you plenty!

Good to know. Those will be the games we do NOT download. lol I could just see my boys accidentally buying all kinds of crazy stuff!

They also went on to show me some of the new games everyone is talking about. One game Doodle had already gotten was Temple Run 2. A few others were mentioned and we flipped through the apps to find they weren’t available on Android yet.

These Geek Squad Solution Center guys were extremely knowledgeable and I have to admit I was pretty impressed! You never know what you’re going to get sometimes. Not only did I get a basic answer, they backed up what they knew with detailed information! It was a fantastic experience and I can guarantee you one thing…one day (what an annoying phrase) I’m going to have a tablet and when I do, I’m going to the Solution Center and they’re going to teach me how to use it from the start!

I have to tell you, all of my experiences lately with Best Buy have totally rocked! I had no idea what a wealth of information and support they are. I always just saw them as a store to buy electronics at! Needless to say, my eyes have been opened!

I have has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

8 Home Items That Need Protecting

There are many home items that need to be kept safe from nature and accidents around the house. Keeping these secure is mandatory if you don't want to get into trouble. Here are eight important items that you should not leave unprotected...

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

1. Original Birth Certificates and Passports: We all know how big of a hassle it is to replace these documents. Keeping these safe is important because they come really handy when establishing identity when you’re traveling with your children.

2. Property Insurance Policies Along with Contact Info of the Agent: In case your house suffers damage, this is the information that you need to have with you because you will have to file a claim.

3. CDs/External Hard Drive Containing Digital Copies of Family Pictures: Your family memories if lost cannot be replaced. So even if you have all the family photographs scanned and saved in the form of a digital copies, you still need to keep the device holding them safe.

4. Keys to the Safe Deposit Box: If you happen to store your valuables in a bank like everybody, in a safe deposit box, then the last thing you want to happen is lose the keys to it. So this is one item that you need to keep in a safe place.

5. Original Social Security Cards: The importance of the social security card cannot be underestimated. If lost, your card may take time to get replaced and in this waiting period you may need it in order to establish eligibility to avail benefits.

6. Jewelry, Cash, Coins, etc: This goes without saying but keeping these valuables in a safe place where you can access them whenever needed will give you peace of mind, so that you can focus on other important areas of life.

7. Copies of Important Legal Documents: Legal documents such as the living wills, powers of attorney and health care proxies are there for a reason: which is to provide you with the protection promised. So keeping these secure is simply common sense.

8. Information Related to Your Debts: You should always try to keep a tab on your finances and ensure that your credit is protected. So any information on your outstanding debts, the due dates and any contact information has to be protected.

The protection of these valuable items is especially important if you are located in a higher risk urban area like Dallas, TX. While you can utilize safes and alarms for your smaller valuables like cash and jewelry, you may want to utilize local self storage unit for the safe keeping of larger items like art or even items like a classic car.

Wordless Wednesday: Getting Crafty

Ok, I’m not a crafty person. I saw Debi sharing on Instagram about a project she was working on and when she was done, she tagged me and it came out adorable. Mine won’t be the same as hers, but I’m on the last step and I’m excited to see how it turns out.

Yes, I’m going to have a DIY post in the future. Hopefully before Valentine’s Day!



Be sure to check out Full Time Mama for her WW post!

Deciding to Celebrate Valentine’s Day This Year!

When my dad and I took my daughter’s to the airport after Christmas, he was asked to stop by Wegmans for some bagels and muffins and a roast by my mom. I had no clue what a Wegmans was and my dad chuckled and said it’s like a carnival for adults. Ok, if you say so. I mean, we were going to a grocery store.



hahahaha Oh my, I was just “weee” little bit off on my assessment!

When we walked in, I realized I had just entered the Tiffany’s of grocery stores! I had never seen a grocery store like this before. All of those different areas to have food and dine in! I think my dad laughed at the awe I was in! I think if I had never left the bakery that day I would still be in heaven!



So, this weekend when Doodle and I were talking about Valentine’s Day, we both realized that, yea, it’s right around the corner! How do these holidays sneak up on me? Believe it or not, I did have some forethought before we moved and I brought along along the two boxes of Valentine’s day cards for his class!



I figured, now was as good a time as any to get some treats for Valentine’s Day and head back to Wegmans! As soon as I walked in, I went through their fruit section straight to their bakery. I am going to treat myself and my mom to their fruit tart! They look like the most tangy, sweet delicacy eh-ver! My dad, I’ll probably get him some meat. lol Probably some hard salami or something. I still haven’t decided.



Usually I get the boys one little thing and I thought I’d do that and get a couple of extras we could all share! I have to admit, I was a little distracted by my surroundings! Like I said, that place is my playground. Now, being this was my first time wandering through the store on my own, I was there for quite a while and I may have walked around the store about 4-5 times. Seriously, you can NOT take it all in at once.



To top it off, the store is decked out in Valentine’s Day décor! In fact, they had some really cute ideas as you walked through several of the departments. I loved that if you might forget something, all you needed to do was turn a corner, and there was something you might need to celebrate the day!

I finally got enough for Doodle to be able to hand out things to his classmates and the boys and I could celebrate Valentine’s Day at home in style! This was definitely one stop shopping! Everything you could possibly need to create a wonderful meal or setting was available at Wegmans!



Unfortunately, my morning started off with my youngest getting very sick at 4:30 in the morning. He’d been up a couple of times through the night so I got very little sleep! I’m not super crafty or creative as it is so going on very little sleep, I wanted to get something together for when Buddy got home!

I forgot to get the Carvel Ice Cream Cake out and defrost it in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour so both boys had to wait for a little while. Thankfully, Doodle hadn’t gotten sick the rest of the day so he was up for a bit of ice cream!



I got everything ready as the cake somewhat defrosted and by the time we were ready to eat, I was definitely in Valentine’s Day mode! And, I might add, we may have been a little impatient and carved into the cake before 1/2 an hour was up? What can I say? Once we saw it in the fridge, we all got a little bit hungrier! =)



We definitely weren’t disappointed! I cut us each a piece and we dug into it! Man, that is the way to have a snack and how to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Sure it’s earlier, but what’s wrong with a little bit of practice, eh?



I can guarantee you, there weren’t any complaints from this crew! Oh, and did I mention I forgot the napkins? I went through my bags and, ugh, I forgot to stick them in my bag. They were several to choose from and I think as I was looking at my options I got distracted by all of the other Valentine’s Day products I didn’t remember to go back and grab them. Sad panda, I know!

I’ve got a 2nd cake that I plan on breaking open on Valentine’s Day if I can keep the boys away from it. We’ll enjoy this one and then enjoy the next one on the actual holiday!

If you want, you can head to my Google + Album to check out my entire trip and drool over all of the other pictures I took!

Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? Do you go all out?

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric all opinions are my own