Happy 50th Birthday
Is it nifty to be fifty? 1971 was a good year! Happy 50th birthday to my handsome husband and quite a few other amazing icons that have helped shape the American culture of the last half century! Starbucks Email Amtrak FedEx Nike Swoosh Soft Contact Lenses Disney World Fruity Pebbles Floppy Discs Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (movie) NASDAQ Laffy Taffy The Oregon Trail Game Liberty University Southwest Airlines (and $20 flights!) Uno Apollo 14 Mission (golf on the moon!) Arcade Games Turning 50 is a milestone and an opportunity to celebrate! Both my husband and I chose spending time with family and friends as our 50th birthday celebrations this year. No need for anything fancy, just time together. With the uncertainty in the pandemic the past 2 years, time together seems like an amazing gift. Happy 50th birthday! Travel+Leisure magazine also turns 50 and shares 50 best places in the US to travel this year. Guess what? The Triangle made it on the list! Come visit us! We can grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks and catch up or play a game of Uno! Table Talk: What’s a creative way to celebrate a milestone birthday? Who else…
Christmas Shopping and Saturdays
How many shopping Saturdays are there until Christmas? Christmas seems to arrive in the stores just after the July 4th holiday so it’s easy to think you have plenty of time left to Christmas shop. At the original posting of this blog, there are only 8 Saturdays left to shop! If you are like me, your Saturdays are already filling up with other fun fall activities (like my husband’s 50th birthday!). Next weekend I’ll be selling my art at the 7 Billion Reasons fundraiser tea and vendor fair in Cary, NC. It’s a great time to Christmas shop for frameable art, card sets, and conversation starters, plus support a great cause! I rarely sell my art and cards preprinted so get them while they last. Free water bottle sticker (pictured below) with a $20 purchase, too! If you are unable to attend, you can shop at my Etsy shop for digital downloads that you can print at home and frame. The “Family Rules” or “Classroom Rules” art are great for parents and teachers. “Adjective Art” is perfect for friends, family, coworkers, and kids rooms. You don’t even have to wait until a free Saturday. Get your shopping done now! 50%…
Product Review: ASANA
How many sticky notes are on your counter or desktop on any given day? Asana is an application designed to help you organize, track, and manage your work. It’s a game changer for teams! If you are unfamiliar with ASANA, it’s a work management tool. I love the project and task features where I can see what I need to do and check it off when I complete it. I use Asana for home and for work. I LOVE it! All my EVENTS go on my Google Calendar and all my TASKS go in Asana. There’s a free version (called the Personal version) that you can begin using today, plus lots of tutorials such as this one from Louise Henry or these from the Asana Academy. When a friend shared an Asana board with me a few years ago, I was instantly intrigued. We used Asana to manage event planning for a church conference. I felt a bit overwhelmed by all I didn’t know about Asana. After the event, I took some time to watch tutorials and become an Asana Ambassador. Even now, there’s so much more I could be using Asana for. I just keep adding to my knowledge…
A Roadmap for the Launching Years
What was your roadmap for your teenage years? I bet every parent wishes there was a roadmap to give their teens in the launching years. God’s Word is a map for us. As a graduation gift for my oldest daughter and her friends, I made the MAP art piece and printed them on magnets as a visual reminder that God did not leave us without an instruction book for life. The verse on the art is Psalm 119:9-10. This is an excellent roadmap for teens in the launching years. How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. Psalm 119:9-10 The Message Recently I gave a tribute and read some of Psalm 119 at my father-in-law’s funeral. Before I married into the family, I had dad for a couple of my education and geography classes at Liberty University. Dad taught through Psalm 119 one year in the daily devotions he did at the beginning of his classes. With 176 verses, there was plenty to talk about! As his student I appreciated the consistency of this. He was…
Carry-On Bag Adventures
Are you more like a carry-on bag or a checked bag? Traveling the world with just a carry-on bag and collecting sim cards as souvenirs is one of my life goals that I’m slowly fulfilling one adventure at a time. It IS possible to live several weeks out of a carry-on bag and a personal item like a purse or backpack. Smart packing on my recent trip to Bulgaria and Albania proved it true once again. Most airlines have a size or weight limit to the carry-on bags so check before you go. Use a capsule wardrobe; take multi-tasking items; and take a few thank you gifts which will leave room for a souvenir or two. Add my bathroom bag, my tablet or laptop, and my coffee thermos, and I’m ready for my next adventure! Capsule wardrobes are a small collection of essential items and accessories that can mix and match and allow you to pack less clothes overall. For most trips, I try to take 4 or 5 tops, 3 bottoms, 2 shoes, 1coat/sweater, and 1 accessory like a necklace or scarf. All of the tops and bottoms should be able to be worn together so choose a…
Product Review: CLEP Exams
What are some ways you can save money on college? Testing out of required college courses is one way to save money on college and earn credit toward a college degree. AP (Advanced Placement) exams are sometimes offered to high school students upon completion of an advanced level high school course and award college credits for passing. However, CLEP exams (College Level Examination Program) are available to just about everyone anytime with 34 tests in 5 subject areas. These 1- 2 hour computer based multiple choice exams cost approximately $90 per test and can award 3-6 college credits. There are even testing sites in countries other than the US. Anyone who excels at a particular topic and is planning to go to college should consider taking a CLEP exam as many colleges and universities accept passing scores as college credit. College Board, creator of the SAT test, offers AP and CLEP exams and a wide variety of test and college prep materials. By taking AP and/or CLEP exams, students may be able to save significant time and money on college or free up their schedule to take other courses. With some careful planning and research, some students have even shaved…
Psalm 71 – A Psalm of Hope
Who or what is your anchor? Psalm 71 is a psalm of hope. It reminds us of God’s constant help and our testimony of being anchored to the Rock. When our future seems uncertain, we can look back and see the certainty of God and we can rely on that certainty to continue in the future. Psalm 71 is a wonderful mix of problems and praise. We can choose joy in the midst of struggle. We can choose to anchor ourselves to God, our rock and salvation. Make Psalm 71 your prayer today. I’ve been studying and praying through this psalm. Here are some of my notes. God is our Rock Verses 1-3: Trust in God who delivers His people These verses describe the writer’s trust in God and his confidence in that trust. He is satisfied with God’s promises and boldly asks God, his Rock, for deliverance. Verses 4-6: Trust in God’s steadfast care These verses describe the troubles of the writer and proclaim his hope and trust in God. His confidence in God is encouraged by his experiences from the earliest stages of life. With this confidence in God’s continued care, he makes requests and promises continued praise.…
Product Review: Manual Pencil Sharpener
What’s your favorite non electric office product? I have a serious love of office products. Zebra striped paperclips and pastel sticky notes make me swoon. I wrap my trademark blue tape around my brand-new Sharpies so nobody walks off with them. I wasn’t brand-specific until I discovered Dixon Ticonderoga pencils. However, for years, pencil sharpeners frustrated me. I kept bent paperclips and screwdrivers in my desk drawer to unclog them after kids sharpened colored pencils or cheap pencils down to the nubs or inserted the wrong end of the pencil in the sharpener. Grrr. Manual. Electric. New. Used. Handheld when we broke the remaining one in the supply closet. Grrr. Pencil sharpeners. Then one day I got a gift. My best friend said her husband bought a box of pencil sharpeners and wanted to give me one. She didn’t seem overly excited about this as she handed it to me. Considering mine were always breaking, I was happy to get a new pencil sharpener. Life suddenly went from good to great. I had a new office product love! Where had this gem been all my life?! I found myself teaching kids and adults how to use my Groovy Green pencil…
End of Summer Fiesta
What’s your end of summer tradition? Summer fiesta. For many years, we marked the end of summer in late August with an annual Family Fiesta involving friends, food, and fun. It gave us one last excuse to hang out with neighborhood friends and energized our entrance into a new school year. If you know me you know I make a tradition of NOT doing things the same way each time which keeps everyone from being disappointed if you make changes but also keeps them in suspense about how you will actually pull things off. My Family Fiestas ran that very same way. Many years involved an assortment of tacos or enchiladas with a side of guacamole and jalapeno poppers (if my neighbor brought them). Activities ranged from piñatas (some more successful than others!), to tie dye t-shirts, to scavenger hunts, to the “never do this again” leather coin purse sewing craft completed by grumbling parents when the kids abandoned the activity. But memories were made, t-shirts were crafted, pictures were taken, and bellies were full. As I flip through the scrapbooks, the memories jump off the page! The kids were so little! The parents so young! The crafts and piñatas…
Summer Salads
What’s your favorite summer salad? BLT’s are always a favorite summer meal when the garden tomatoes are sun-ripened to perfection, but wait until you try easy BLT summer salads! Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad takes dinner to a whole new level of healthy summer goodness. Chop up some fresh lettuce and summer tomatoes. Add some perfectly cooked bacon (whatever your definition of perfect is) and top with homemade ranch dressing made with plain Greek yogurt and spices. If you need a side, Texas toast or potato chips are a good addition. I have a recipe for ranch seasoning that you just stir into plain yogurt or sour cream for a quick dressing or dip. This is literally one of those quick meals that comes together with the items you have on hand! Adding avocado kicks it up a notch in sophistication that leaves you wondering if you need to change the title or not. Like country farm cousin meets Manhattan city cousin in the summer. Ranch Seasoning Mix 1 t garlic powder 1 t onion powder 1 t salt ½ t pepper ½ t dried parsley ½ t dried dill Use this base recipe to double, triple, or make any…