a NEW blogging experience (Blog Award Nomination)

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It’s been about 2 months and 2 weeks since I started this blog, and WHAT FUN I’VE HAD!  This blogging community is great! Inspiring! Supportive! Friendly!….I could go on! (Yup, I love exclamation points!)

Yesterday, my good blogging friend at Miss Marzipan nominated me for the ‘Very Inspiring Blog Award’, and I am deeply honored!

Below are the rules for the Very Inspiring Blog Award so please follow carefully:

  1. Display the award logo on your blog.
  2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
  3. State 7 things about yourself.
  4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
  5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements

So…on with the 7 things about me:

1.  I’m the only female in my household (one husband and four sons)….although I grew up with 5 sisters and two brothers.

2.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and believe I can be with my family forever.

3. I totally love to play racquetball!

4.  I’m a bit of a transportation control freak.  (Don’t put me on the back of a four-wheeler…I HAVE to be the driver.  I even have trouble being the passenger in a car.)

5.  I got my first job out of college, in part, because my boss figured I was able to use both sides of my brain when he saw that I had earned a Business Administration degree while attending college on a Music scholarship.

6.  The world celebrates my birthday!  (Well, they celebrate on December 31st, without really realizing that it’s because it’s my birthday….I suppose :o)

7.  I’ve found I really love the blogging world!

I’ve chosen the following 15 blogs as my nominees:

1) Our Next Great Adventure 2) The Thinking Closet 3) Don’t be too timid and squeamish 4) Ashley Bollinger 5) Pillow A La Mode 6) Angela’s Adventures 7) Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen 9)Pink Polka Dot Creations 10) The Great Fitness Experiment 11) Designers Sweet Spot 12) Wildflower Photography 13) Serendipity Is Sweet 14) Short On Words 15) Live Love Travel

I really wanted to nominate VedgedOut, but noticed today that she’d already been nominated.  (But if you have a chance…check out her blog…it’s awesome!)

So there you have it!  Having this NEW blogging experience has really made my day!  Thanks Miss Marzipan!!!!

a NEW pillow (Pinterest inspired copycat)

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Ok….I tried something NEW 😮  I fell in love with this cute pillow on Pinterest :

(originally posted at the TomKat Studio) and decided to try to replicate it.  I made three of them so I can share the love with at least two other friends and/or family.  I searched and searched to find the same font they used….(failed).  So I finally decided on the “Amaze” font and just free-handed the extra curly cues.

Try something NEW today! Even if it’s copying something off of Pinterest!

Linking to Sew Many Ways

Thursday’s Thought

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As you may know, I love photography and I love quotes that motivate me (I’m kind of a quote collector).  However, I recently had a DUH moment!  Rita at Pink Polka Dot Creations took a picture and posted it with her quote.  Duh!!!!! Why haven’t I been combining the two things that I love and that go together so wonderfully????  From now on, my Thursday Thoughts will be posted on one of my photographs  (although I’m not promising the two will completely relate to each other :o)

time for a NEW bucket list

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Have you made a bucket list yet?  Apparently I need a NEW one!  I made a bucket list on the Day Zero Project website in September of 2010 and I recently reviewed it.  Well….there are a few things that will be impossible to get done by my May 2013 completion date!  You’re suppose to list 101 things to do within 1001 days, and baby, it just aint gonna happen!  By the way, that site is almost as addicting as Pinterest!  I could spend hours looking through random people’s lists, looking for that great idea that I should add to my list!  Some of them are actually quite interesting!  Other bloggers have lists that are interesting and motivating.  Lately I’ve noticed 101 in 1001 day lists at Melinda’s Fitness Blog and (Don’t be) too timid and squeamish.    Ohhh!….and I forgot to add this one…Awesome Travel Bucket list at Travel Log.

So, yes,  I’ll need to revise mine soon….either now or in May when there’s absolutely no hope left :o)  That’s ok though….’The Only Constant is Change’…right?

Have a terrific day!….Do something NEW!   Mark something off your bucket list!

a NEW way to buy tomatillos

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Is it just the area where I live?….or is it difficult to find a grocery stores that sells canned tomatillos elsewhere too???  I finally found a store that carries them, but WOWZA!  $3.18 per can?!?!  I bought a few cans then promptly came home and checked on Amazon.  HELLO!…they were $1.84 a can!  Yes, I now have a NEW way of buying tomatillos!  I need them for this FANTASTIC recipe (see below).

I stray from the recipe slightly and use a quesadilla maker:

I also use the GREAT TIP of sprinkling cheese directly on the grill, which I learned at Redheaded Hostess …(she has other great ideas for quesadillas too)!  If you try these, let me know what you think!  Have an awesome day!

Yummy (and TOTALLY EASY) Apple Butter

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Hi all!  Ok…today I’m going to share with you the easiest recipe EVER!!!   It is definitely NOT gourmet…for gourmet, I’d recommend you hop over to NR11: English Kitchen Baking for a great recipe for Quince Chutney!  Maybe someday I’ll get to that level.

BUT…this stuff is really yummy on breakfast toast!  I should really call it Dump-Apple-Butter, because all you do is:

Dump one 2-3 lb jar of applesauce into a microwave-safe bowl.  Dump 1 cup sugar into the bowl. Dump 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice into the bowl.  Stir and microwave until a bit thicker (I cook mine about 10 minutes).   That’s it!  You can definitely use homemade applesauce if you’d like to!

Try something NEW today….even if it’s REALLY easy :o)

a NEW Christmas tradition

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I once heard that if you do something more than twice it’s a tradition :o)!  Well, I guess I have a NEW Christmas tradition!  I love the looks of cross-stitched pieces and although I can’t seem to do too many of these projects (because I get a bit annoyed after a while at the monotony of the up/down motion)….the last two or three years I’ve managed to finish one each year.  Woo hoo! Right?!?  I’ve decided to continue this ‘tradition’, because if I make Christmas themed cross-stitch projects, maybe they won’t end up at the GoodWill after I die.  Maybe , just maybe, my great-grandchildren will cherish them….(as long as they only have to display them about 4 weeks each December).

The BELIEVE cross-stitch piece above is last year’s project and I just finished framing it today.   Here’s pics of the process….I REALLY recommend DIY picture framing!!!  (Yes, I use our ping-pong table for mat cutting).

It’s ready to go on display in December!  Yeah!  Now it’s time to decide on this year’s project.  I’m contemplating this project below.  What do you think?

I found it at ABC Stitch Therapy

Five NEW sites to visit to be Well-Rounded

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Before I started this blog, I was a huge fan (well, I still am) of READING blogs because of all the NEW things I could learn!  I’d try to check a blog every day for each area of my life (physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, financial etc).  If I limited the blog reading to five areas each day, I could be motivated in each area, plus I could get away from the computer and actually have a life too! I thought I’d share some of the great blogs I’ve found…and there are so many, that I think this may be an ongoing series….at least for a while.

PHYSICAL: Melina’s Fitness Blog (She posts often and is fun and motivating)

SPIRITUAL: The Redheaded Hostess  (I love her ideas for scripture study)

INTELLECTUAL: Light Stalking  (I’m studying photography these days)

EMOTIONAL: The Generous Wife (This one keeps me from taking my terrific husband for granted)

FINANCIAL: Advice From Dave Ramsey (Love his radio show too)

So check out some NEW sites today, and be a WELL-ROUNDED blogger!

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