#powerball

"I do not need to win the lotto!" I know that everyone must be thinking the same thing as me right? 😉 

Okay, maybe that is not what I am thinking. Winning the lotto would be nice, but I couldn't help remembering what a friend with the sweetest soul said last time before the lotto. Something around the line of, "So thankful God let us win our own lotto by giving us our adopted daughter!" 

As I thought about this, it really brought me so much joy. How sweet it is to know that you already won a prize. Sometimes I get to busy to look at all the prizes God has blessed me with. (Not that my husband is a trophy husband, although, I would think he is trophy husband material, I married him for more than that.) 

Seriously though, God has blessed me. 

1. I am breathing.

2. I have friends like you reading this post.

3. I have a sound mind to be able to type, write, talk and go about life.

Enough about what God has blessed me with, I just thought I would share this with you all to say, I hope you can just sit, for 5 minutes  to dwell and enjoy the blessings you have. More importantly, that you would dwell and enjoy the One who gave you those blessings. Yes, life is hard, and if I let myself get the better of me I would complain on a list of things rather than sit in thankfulness. But I had this moment tonight and I thought, I want everyone to feel this joy I have... the joy that comes in knowing, I know God. He loves and cares for me by sending His Son Jesus to die on a cross for my sins and whether or not I have an awesome day, horrible day, an okay day, win the lotto or lose the lotto, Jesus saved me.

Getting Ready for the New Year!

Starting the new year off with of course a New Year’s resolutions list. But of course, I need to make my New Year’s resolutions list realistic and attainable. So, yes, lose weight but at a normal rate… 1 to 2 pounds per week. And maybe instead of listing end goals, it is better to list the steps to those end goals. For example, yes I want to lose weight but in order to do that I might need to join a workout group, or find healthy recipes, set up a schedule and find a coach or something. So, my advice is to not only think about the end goal but the steps to get you there!
Blessings,
LEJ

A Fresh Start

I think I bit off more than I can chew with this blog. Very sorry to disappoint, but I cannot handle a full time job and the goals I set for this blog. They were beautiful and idyllic but not realistic for me. So, this blog is undergoing a study, of what I post on most to discover what this blog will be about.
Blessings!
LEJ

Festive Fridays: Operation Christmas Child

Really late on this post. Sorry! But anyways...

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving coming up and you may be looking at my post thinking, "why are we already talking about Christmas?" Well, because there is a deadline tomorrow to help out on a special Christmas charity called, "Operation Christmas Child!" Please, please, please, spend some time looking at this wonderful charity and think about getting involved, or even GET involved! :) See the awesome details below which include a video from a special vegetable. ;)

SamaritansPurse.org - Operation Christmas Child - Pack a Shoe Box

Travel Thursdays: City Websites

I recently had a friend of a friend ask me, so what is fun to do in this city and what should we see before we leave? Honestly, I didn't really feel like I could give her a single activity as my answer. I know there's probably a lot to do in our city but the answer is going to be different for everyone depending on what you like to do. My husband for instance, does not like beer, dancing, motorcycles, clubs, gambling, or garage sale shopping. But she sounded like she was interested in going dancing and possibly having a drink somewhere. I did give her one bit of advice for our area which I felt could be applied to any vacation and that was, "visit the city website." This is the one thing I think is most helpful to me when I travel. I recently visited Bradenton Beach, Florida with some friends who wanted to go there and because I like to research and plan our trips, I visited their main website:

CityOfBradentonBeach.com

I already knew my husband was interested in dolphins (and I figured we might be able to find some type of dolphin activity because wouldn't Florida have dolphins... Florida's NFL team mascot is a dolphin after all?!) What I found on Bradenton Beach's Visitor's Guide was kayaking (which included the possibility of seeing dolphins, yay!) That was something both he and I thought we would probably appreciate. (Although, when we got there, our tour guide put us in the "divorce" kayak which was a two seater like we had asked, and well, we are still married but now understand why that kayak is not the best one to go with for couples, ha ha!) The kayak tour, despite the "divorce" kayak, turn out to be great! We saw dolphins, manatee (a mommy and her two babies), star fish, birds, and more. This adventure was listed on the city's website (which thankfully I checked out), was in the price range we were looking to spend on trip activities and was convenient to where we were staying, (bonus! No extra gas money!) It was a wonderful/trying experience we can look back on with enjoyment and laughs for years to come and it did not take a travel agent to discover, it just took us researching our destination's website.

Ultimately, there are a plethora of cities, websites, activities, price ranges and resources out there. By sticking close to your destination's local activities via their website, you can save money and hopefully have an awesome time. Plus, you never know if they have some special festival you can attend during your stay. The city's website can also be a good indicator of whether or not you actually want to stay/visit that city because if you cannot find anything to do there, well, maybe you shouldn't go there. Hope this was helpful. Blessings!

Weighty Wednesdays: A Handwritten Letter

I am so thankful for our Veterans in the United States. I hope that my fellow Americans were able to take some time this past Monday November 11th Holiday, Veteran's Day, to sit and take notice and honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. I recently was thinking about the last time I sat down to write a handwritten letter. I write little notes on cards, but that is just a little tid bit. It has probably been over 15 years since I have written a letter by hand. Well, I put the two together (veterans + letters) which instigated a Google search and this is the site I discovered:

OperationGratitude.com

They have this wonderful service opportunity that you can get involved in to write a letter of gratitude to a veteran. I hope you will take the time to do this small yet big act of gratitude to show someone just how much weight they carry in this life. The website below (option "II . Letters to Veterans of previous conflicts,") hopefully provides enough information for you to get involved. Even if you are from another country, I hope that you are able to once a year, take the time to do the same for your veterans. Thanks and blessings!

OperationGratitude.com - Write Letters

Manor Mondays: Go Vertical

Really late on this post but it is going to be a simple one. A great way to improve your utilization of your living space, is to go vertical.

Take the room you are having problems with and go vertical with a collection. Could be plates, cups, cooking utensils, pots, pans or cookbooks for a kitchen. For a closets or bedrooms try hats, scarfs, belts, shoes, mittens or accessories. And for most other areas try photographs, drawings, maps, blankets, cork boards, dry erase boards, chalk boards, posters, sports gear or mirrors to fill up a space, just make sure that the wall can actually support your objects.

Have fun going vertical! Blessings!