Paper Evergreens

I really enjoyed making these sweet evergreen trees with my nephew!  He caught on quickly and had as much fun as I did, and even added some snow and a beard.  :)  I found old spools in the perfect sizes and colors at the local thrift shop, so that made them even more special.  Click on the Martha Stewart link below for directions.

http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/paper-evergreens

Birthday Window Treatments

What better way to spend a birthday than stitching new kitchen curtains!

I was tickled to find this 100% silk fabric at the Calico Corners outlet in Lancaster for only $5.00 per yard!!  It was the perfect match for my kitchen wallpaper, and coordinates nicely with the new laundry room paint.  There was just enough to do three Roman Shades.  Silk is a wonderful fabric for window treatments - I love it!!  These are basically stationary Roman Shades.  They can raised and  lowered, but the pleated design makes it tricky to lower them, then get the folds back in place neatly, so I'm content to leave them be.

 

Laundry Room Makeover

I'm so pleased with how the wainscoting turned out in my laundry room! I wasn't sure just how high it should go. We chose to use the rule of thirds and ran it 64" high, which worked out perfect - 64" is 2/3 of the standard 8 foot (84") ceiling height as well as 1/3 of the cabinet height. I wish I had a before picture of the papered walls to show you - this is a huge improvement! I love wainscoting - the glossy finish is so much easier to care for than painted walls with a satin finish, and it certainly looks better than wallpaper. I also love the coral color - I wanted a fun burst of color, and knew it wouldn't be a big deal to paint over it if I tired of the color at some point.

Suffering and Restoration

"If we allow Him, God will make our suffering into something useful and life-giving - for others and for us.  That is His way.  He uses our ruins.  Our pain and mistakes become valuable materials in the hands of the Lord."
- Ruth Graham in In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart

Worth Contemplating

"God specializes in restoration - it is His best work."
- Ruth Graham in In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart

Worth Contemplating

"Remember, the Father is never closer to the vine than when He is pruning it."
- Julie Kuntzman, in Praying Through Cancer

Worth Contemplating

The Chinese symbol for crisis is "danger" + "opportunity".

Worth Contemplating

"Listen.  It is the greatest compliment you can give: that I am worth hearing."
- Don Hoffman in Experiencing Grief

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Don't call it a mistake, call it an education."
- Thomas Edison

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Be who you are

and say what you feel,

because those who mind don't matter,

and those who matter don't mind."

- Dr. Seuss

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Effort is everything....until you screw up. "
-J. Peifer (M.V. co-worker)

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"There is no such thing as pain without purpose in the life of a believer."
- Jerry Bridges, Growing Your Faith

Dehydrator

After much research, I finally purchased an Excalibur Dehydrator.  Previously, I had a round dehydrator someone had kindly given me, but I just wasn't satisfied with it.  The heat didn't distribute evenly, so the trays needed to be rotated frequently.  And, it really didn't hold that much.  This model is well worth the money.  The temperature is adjustable and it has a timer, so it can dehydrate away, even if you're not home.

The Excalibur Dehydrators come in five and nine-tray options; I selected the five tray model simply because I have limited storage space.  But, the main selling feature for me was that the trays can be removed, and it can be used for raising bread or making yogurt.

Update, Spring 2011

I am still extremely pleased with this dehydrator!  I use it for dehydrating fruits and vegetables and making yogurt.  My neighbor is getting into vegetable gardening and was researching dehydrators; she asked me what I thought of my Excalibur, and I told her I would highly recommend it!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

I'm part of a Cancer Prayer Support Group that meets once a month. Lynn Eib, who leads the group, believes laughter is an important part of the cancer journey. Each time we meet she shares some jokes with us and we always have a good laugh. I laughed and laughed at this one, and still laugh every time I read it, so thought you might want to chuckle with me!

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA:

The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN:

My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialog with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:

When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

DR. PHIL:

The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH:

Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH:

We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL:

Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER (CNN REPORTER):

We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY:

Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE (CNN LEGAL ANALYST):

That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN:

To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:

No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS:

Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:

To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA:

In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS:

Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE:

It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON:

Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES:

I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never
cra...#@&&^(C% ........reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:

Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON:

I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE:

I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS:

Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY:

Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON:

Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

Enjoy the health and wellness benefits of your laughter!!

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Don't play out tomorrow's worst case scenarios today."
- Rose C.

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"What matters most after you've died is not what you've learned, but what you've taught."
- unknown source, referenced in Raw Foods Documentary

Worth Contemplating

"The absence of fear is not courage; the absence of fear is some kind of brain damage.  Courage is the capacity to go ahead in spite of the fear, or in spite of the pain."
- M. Scott Peck, Further Along the Road Less Traveled

2nd Annual Easter Egg Coloring Tradition

My brother-in-law's artwork!

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food."
- Hippocrates (as quoted by Emilie Tierney, Masonic Villages' Wellness Coach)

Valentine's Day Wishes

I couldn't resist sharing with you this Valentine's Day card that I got in the mail today:

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Love is in the air….
… along with toxins
and carcinogens
and flakes of dead skin
and dust particles
and flying insects
and mold spores
and killer viruses…

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day!!

Welcome to Holland

A co-worker sent the following essay to me last summer in the thick of my cancer nightmare. It so describes the terrain of cancer, but also brings hope to any disappointing scenario that we might find outselves in.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this:

When you are going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The Gondola's in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland".

"Holland?" you say. "What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy".

But there has been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will always say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
- Thomas Jefferson (as quoted on Masonic Village's intranet)

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"Most people dread to find out when they die that they never really lived."
- Henry David Thoreau (as quoted in a Wellness Coach Presentation at Masonic Villages)