~~~Fields Of Heather~~~

Memory Verse App

2012-01-29T19:40:00.001-08:00

I love all the index card methods for learning memory verses... but I don't want to have to carry a box of index cards with me. Not even just a ring of them. I want a digital version. My phone is always with me, that works best for me.

I finally settled on a simple answer - a flash card app. Front of the flashcard is the verse,back of the flashcard is the scripture. Mark the card as known and it is moved to the back of the pack.

Simple,and effective. (I like studydroid.)

Texting gloves

2012-01-12T10:56:00.001-08:00

$5 at ac moore and they work great on my phones touch screen. Love them!

Texting gloves

2012-01-12T06:07:00.003-08:00

$5 at ac moore and they work great on my phones touch screen. Love them!

Texting gloves

2012-01-12T06:07:00.001-08:00

$5 at ac moore and they work great on my phones touch screen. Love them!

Some of My Favorite Books In 2011

2011-12-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

The end of year book survey didn't feel like it did my reading list justice.

Some of my favorite reads in 2011-

Gripping - Hard to put down -

The Room by Emily Donague

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (Yeah, not what I expected at all!)

Night Road by Kristen Hannah

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauff

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

GOOD Mysteries

Now You See Her by James Patterson

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

Learning To Swim by Sarah Henry (follow her on twitter too)

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlise

Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Just Plain Fun Reads -

The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean

My Life In France by Julia Child

Moonwalking With Einstien by Joshua Foer

Books That Inspire Me to Be Better

The Whole In Our Gospel by Richard Sterns (about World Vision)

Little Princes by Connor Grennan

Choosing To See by Mary Beth Chapman

Reshaping It All by Candace Bure

Run Like A Mother by Dimnity McDowell

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

Out Live Your Life By Max Lucado

Series -

Cedar Cove by Debbie Macomer. Light, sappy, reads.

Michael Bennet Series by James Patterson - one of my favorites

Private London Series by Patterson- another favorite

Womens Detective Series Book 10 - good

Sara Partetsky's VI series, Body Work - good

Flower Shop Mysteries By Kate Collins - Light reading, a bit like Stephanie plum

Stephanie Plum 17 & 18 by Evanovich. Good. Not great like the early ones, but good.

Books I wish I hadn't bothered with -

The Postmistress

A Stolen Life

A Year of Fog (possibly the most tedious book I've ever read)

Turn Of Mind

Clan Of the Cave Bear by Auel

2011 End Of Year Book Survey

2011-12-31T10:54:00.001-08:00

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

To try to decide, I logged into goodreads and sorted by rating. I gave 14 books 5 stars this year. Looking them over, I'm not sure I still feel 5 stars strong about some of them.. but my favorites definitely include-

Learning To Swim By Sara J. Henry
Reshaping It All by Candace Bure
Room by Emma Donaghue
Little Princes by Connor Grenanan
Choosing To See by Mary Beth Chapman
The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Sterns

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

reversing the ratings sort - I hated A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. As I said in my review, it's her story, and how do you say it's a horrible book when she is simply telling her story.. but it's a horrible book and I wish those things had never entered my head. It is horrible that she had to live through all of that.

The Year of Fog, The Postmistress, and Lowcountry Summer are all ones I felt wasted by time. Sometimes I should just stop reading a book and not feel so obligated to read something that I obviously do not enjoy.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

Learning To Swim By Sara J. Henry

I don't even remember why I read this one - it was free, or someone lent it to me, and I didn't expect too much.. but it was one of the best books I read this year.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

The Room by Emma Donaghue & The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Sterns

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
The Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins. "Cozy Mysteries" - but a little, little, like the Stephanie Plum series. Funny, light, implausible.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Kristen Hannah & Kate Carlisle.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I read all over the place.. mystery, romance, drama, history, cozy mysteries.. but I don't read science fiction. I didn't read any this year.. but I think I will try at least one in 2012.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
The Room by Emma Donaghue

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Explosive Eighteen by Stephanie Plum. Yes, I was a bit disappointed.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

11. Most memorable character in 2011?

Connor Grennan in Little Princes & Richard Stern in The Hole In Our Gospel

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
beautiful... hmmmm.. maybe Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Starting with The Hole In Our Gospel, Out Live Your Life came next, and then Little Princes this fall.. all three along the same theme.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
?? I think everything I read was pretty current - a lot of new releases.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?
I don't have that kind of memory - sorry.

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?
The bible. Pretty much the only book I reread.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
Nothing like that.. but The Hole In Our Gospel made me want to talk to my family right away, about what we could do better.

See what others answered here -

http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2011/12/2nd-annual-end-of-year-book-survey-2011.html

Preparing Goodreads for 2012

2011-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

First I logged into GoodReads, and chose to view my books, All.

Then I chose to sort by date, so I could see which books I forgot to fill a date in for. I need the dates filled in, so they register for the 2011 challenge.

2011 Reading Challenge

Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge!

100 of 100 (100%)

Then beside bookshelves, I chose "edit" and deleted some shelves I had added this year.

I wanted to remove all of the 2011 books to their own shelf, so that my "read" count only shows 2012's books, but I cannot find a way to do that. Batch edit says it removed them, but it did not actually remove them. Oh well. I cleaned out everything in my to read shelf. If I haven't read it by now, I probably will not - some of those books have been in there for awhile!

ADDING NEW BOOKS TO MY TO READ SHELF-
First I looked here for what I might like to read next -
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/hardcover-fiction/list.html
Then I looked at new releases coming in Jan 2012 (there has to be a better site for this?)
http://bestsellers.about.com/od/newupcomingreleases/tp/New-Book-Releases-january-2012.htm
I want to read some Agatha Christie this year, I haven't read anything by her in many years.. I thought I'd start with her first, and see if I want to work my way through, or not. I also have never read Dorthy Sayers, so I added one of hers to my to read list - a free one found in Aldikos free books.

I did not read David McCulloughs new book in 2011 - and I love his books.

And this is where I am stuck. Do I want to make a high goal for 2012? Is it silly to make a reading goal, when reading is something I naturally love to do? Will I have time to read 100 books this year? I did in 2011.. but I cut it right to the wire. Some months I read a lot, others I barely read a single book. I don't know what 2012 holds.

I tried exporting all of my books from goodreads into a list.. but frankly, it's a pain, and not really fun to look at. You can see everything I read on my goodreads shelves -
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4380127-heather-truckenmiller I wish there was an easy way to sort by genre on goodreads.

My most read authors in 2011:

I just discovered the flower shop mysteries this year, and read them all, so that explains Kate Collins topping the list. They were nice light, implausible but amusing, mysteries.

James Patterson is a favorite of mine. I don't like his Alex Cross series,but I do like his Michael Bennet series a lot, and have enjoyed the new Private series.

Some of the reason I read so much in 2011 is that I read so many light books like Debbie Macomber & Kate Collins. Fluff.

	author	books read
1	Kate Collins	12
2	James Patterson	7
3	Debbie Macomber	5
4	Betty Hechtman	4
5	Kathryn Lilley	3
6	Janet Evanovich	2
6	Kristin Hannah	2
6	Melody Carlson	2
6	Max Lucado	2
6	Heather Gudenkauf	2

Cleaning Up My Twitter Feeds

2011-12-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

(This week, the last week of 2011, I am trying to clean up all of my apps, social media, back up all of my files, and basically - clean up all the stuff I do/read online, so that it's more streamlined for me. As with my google reader post, this got to be longer than I expected.. to see my lists, and my favorites to follow, scroll down)

Cleaning up my twitter account was almost enough to make me delete my account and start over. I went through each person I follow, line by line, and removed those who haven't posted since 2010, those who now only post from getglue or foursquare, and those that I could list, rather than follow every single thing they tweet. Then I set up my phone to receive some of the tweets as texts (mostly breaking news from our local stations) and then I went through everyone who is following me, to see who I might want to follow back, and get an idea of who is watching what I post.

LISTS - first I had to figure out how to edit my lists. I'm on my laptop for this, not my phone - I think it's easier to use a computer for things like this.

Why do I use twitter lists? Because a lot of people have interesting content, but not what I want to see on my "everyday" feed. I can click on a list i am interested in at the time, with all of my favorite people that post on that topic, without seeing everything they post jumbled into my main feed. I follow less people, because of lists - but they show up as being listed by one extra person, so hopefully that makes up for my lack of following.

Mashable article on using Twitter lists -
http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/twitter-lists-guide/

HOW TO EDIT TWITTER LISTS-
I about went nuts trying to figure out how to remove someone from a list. I could unfollow - but I do not follow everyone I have on lists. I use lists so I can keep some things out of my main feed, but find them easily when I want to.

I use twitter lists a lot when joining things like b90days, or an mym group - I add all of those ladies to a list, rather than following everyone right off the bat. Some will never post, so when that group ends, I remove the list - having followed, or moved to other lists, those I want to continue to keep in touch with.

After trying 3 different posts, all of which were probably written before the lastet twitter changes, i finally found this one! I would have never figured this out on my own.. to remove someone, you have to click to add them, then uncheck the box beside the list they are already on! Step by step instructions, with photos - http://theoldergeek.com/tech-how-to/tweaks-and-resources/how-to-remove-someone-from-your-twitter-list

My twitter lists- http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/lists

Fitness -

http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/fitness

Getting Fit, and Losing Weight

Tech -

http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/tech

Misc tweets about android, apps, social media, google..

Inspiring Moms -

http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/inspiring-moms

Moms who inspire

Frugal

http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/frugal

Freebies And Deals

Local - Susquehanna Valley Pa

http://twitter.com/#!/htruck/local

http://www.geocaching.com/guide/default.aspx @htruck/localEastern Central PA

TWITTER UPDATES SENT TO MY PHONE-

Then I set up twitter mobile finally.. I resist getting too many extra texts on my phone, I have a smartphone with a twitter app.. but for some of our local news sites, getting texts when they post is nice. For instance, there was a horse and buggy accident on a local road, and another road closed for an oil spill.. it's nice to get those notifications.

Set up twitter mobile here - http://twitter.com/settings/devices
As soon as I sent the text from my phone, the website in front of me changed, and allowed me to choose which items would be sent as text messages.

FOLLOW FRIDAY -
"1. #followfriday is a game in which people suggest who to follow on Twitter. It helps everyone find interesting Twitter users. You list the users you recommend following and add “#followfriday” anywhere in the Tweet so others can find it. The “#” is very important – don’t forget it!" - from mashable

htruck Mrs. Truckenmiller

#followfriday @SaraJHenry @candacecbure@frugalgirls@WomenLivingWell @MomsToolbox@RockMyRun@womanonajourney #ff

htruck Mrs. Truckenmiller

#FollowFriday - my favorite Locals - @SusqRiverValley @wnep@WmsptSunGazette @pplpreserves @fishandboat @visitPA@WKOK1070 @trotfitness

The New You - Free mini Ebook

2011-12-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Name, email, zipcode & country required. Very mini - but full of encouraging scriptures, great quick read while making new years goals!

Free E-Book Download

Do you have any resolutions in mind for 2012? Unfortunately, most New Year's Resolutions fail. Why is it so hard to change? How can you get a strategy for personal change that can actually work?

"The New You" by author and radio host Ron Hutchcraft, is a mini e-book with practical ideas for improvement in your life. No matter what your goals are for change, Ron has powerful insights for developing a "new you."

Included are Ron's perspectives on "Practical Steps to a New You" and "How to Grow Deeper in Your Personal Relationship with God."

Don't miss this practical strategy for securing the spiritual foundation of your life!

If you're ready for change...if you're ready for a fresh start...download "The New You."

Have a great New Year!

Ron and the Ron Hutchcraft Ministries Team

Follow Friday - using Google Reader & Feedly

2011-12-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

(this post got to be much longer than I intended.. to see the blogs I follow, scroll to the bottom)

Mashables guide to Google Reader

http://mashable.com/2008/12/07/how-to-use-google-reader/

How To Add Folders In Google Reader -
Click on any blog feed on your list in the left - see the little arrow to the right of the name? Click on it. Scroll down, choose add to folder.
Simple!

I used to have more folders. And more blog feeds. But I have found that I don't follow feeds on recipe, craft, or freebies blogs anymore. I follow freebies on twitter, most blogs post links to their freebie posts, and good deal alerts, so I use a twitter list to organize those. Crafts and recipes? I find more of those than I can even think about using, on Pinterest.

Some of the blogfeeds I would unsubscribe from in google reader, and they would just keep coming back. I finally realized I had to remove them from my "following" list on blogger. Go here - http://www.blogger.com/manage-blogs-following.g click on each setting and choose to stop following. It's a pain, and I will avoid choosing to follow a blog in the future because of that, I will simply add the rss feed manually.

App I use to actually read these (I almost never read from my laptop, only from my phone)

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.devhd.feedly&hl=en

This is a new to me app. I'm loving the format! Check out the screen shots at the site above. instead of a list of feeds like on the google reader app, you swipe sideways through the blurbs. I'm still trying to figure out all of the features.

After installing the app on my phone, half way through this post, I switched to feedly on my computer too. I'm really loving the way this works! You can even add twitter feeds in. I love twitter, but wish I could organize the topics better.. this helps with that. I did a more in depth post on how to set up Feedly on my Heathers Droid Does Blog -
http://heathersdroid.blogspot.com/2011/12/replacing-my-googlereader-with-feedly.html

There are some great youtube videos with overviews of feedly too -
http://www.youtube.com/user/videofeedly

Cleaning out my blog feeds in google reader this week, these are a few that "made the cut" - some of my favorite blogs to read.

http://fortyishandfluffy.blogspot.com
Look for REAL fashion ideas. She's not model thin. She gets ideas from models or wherever, tries to modify them, and if that doesn't work, she tries something else.

http://lifehacker.com/5489210/lifehacker-rss-feeds-do-a-little-dance
Lifehacker curates tips, tricks, and technology for living better in the digital age

http://www.droid-life.com/
Droid Life - Android News

http://www.engadget.com
Tech News

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com
Homestead Revival - a nice mix of farm, craft, homekeeping, and inspiration.

http://homegrownmom.com/
Homegrown mom- the art of being home. In addition to loving the title, I just love her down home honesty and realness. And that she, too, uses apps for homekeeping. :-)

http://theruralspoon.blogspot.com
The Rural Spoon - local food reviews, and inspirational posts.

http://www.lifewithlissy.com
Life with Lissy - weight loss, frugality, local

http://maddyrides.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/the-early-bird-gets-the-mud/

A local woman blogging about mountain biking in the susquehanna valley

http://growersmarket.blogspot.com

Blog for the Growers Market in Lewisburg Pa

http://mycolorscreen.com/?os=android
My Color Screen - explore screenshots of other users cell phones

Now that I am using feedly, I added the tech, gardening, and world news essentials.. and then I added categories for Movies, Books, and News. Under those categories I added -

Movies -
Inside Redbox
Comingsoon.net

Books -
Gripped Into Books
The New York Times Bestseller Lists
Amazon New Books

News -
USA Today
New York Times Abstract Sunday
(I'm working towards more news.. one of my goals for 2012 is to be more informed on world events.. but I don't want to be too depressed or stressed by it either)

I'll be adding categories, but this is all about cleaning out for the new year and getting things set up, so I do not want to spend any more time on this now. :-) Next I am going to work on my twitter feeds, lists, follows.. and explore twitter apps and if moving a lot of my twitter feeds to feedly is a good idea.

Our New Family Organizer

2011-12-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.cozi.com/

This is awesome! All 6 of us can login to the exact same agenda/calendar/to do lists/shopping lists, all color coordinated by person, all from our phones/unactivated droids/laptops.

I set the "set" events for the day- school, lunch, supper, youth group, etc. at the same time, the kids added their individual shower times (6 people, 1 shower- showers have to be scheduled) work schedules, and all their other plans- like running with evan, etc. The agenda widget on my phone now shows who plans to do what, including when Luke plans to clean his car, every hour of the day, in a clear, concise, format.

There is even a separate area for schedules- to sync with school calendars, or add sports schedules. If you enter a schedule, like a sport schedule, you can email the link to others, like grandparents, to give them access to view it.

Then each of us has our own to do list- which we can all add to. So I made the kids each a basic to do list of odds and ends they need to take care of, and they can cross them off as they are done, or add their own things to them. This is especially nice for little things we notice around the house... Meg can add to Dan's list "please fix my bedroom doorknob", and I can add "clean your car" to Luke's list. (I'm sure the kids will have fun adding to each others lists once they figure this feature out... but if it keeps them looking at a to do list, I'm ok with that )

Under the shopping section we created lists for groceries, household, and clothes. Matt needs new dress pants, Meg needs shampoo, Nate uses the last of the ranch dressing... they can all add the items right to the appropriate list.

LOVE this! We will all start our days reviewing this app over breakfast, updating the agenda for the day, going over to do lists, etc.

It even allows us to email lists and agendas to each other, as a reminder... although it is unlikely we will need to do that, since we all have the app.

There are widgets too- I added a 4x4 widget of our agenda to one of my homescreens, making it simple to see our days plan in a glance.

When my kids were little I probably would not have needed something like this. But with 4 teens coming and going, their work schedules, practice schedules, their plans with their friends... this is just awesome. I've been going nuts for months, trying to find a good way to keep track of all of it. Our google calendar is great for the events, but this gives us a space to add the non events we don't want cluttering up the google calendar- like the shower schedules, when Meg plans to practice the piano, when Matt & Nate have blocked out time to work out, Dan and my daily walk... it outlines how each of us plans to spend pretty much every hour of our day, so that others can work around that. For instance, if I schedule my workout at 9:30am, the kids know the living room is off limits, unless they want to work out with me.

Chin Ups & Scales Down

2011-12-28T08:16:00.001-08:00

I am moving all of my diet/weightloss/fitness posts to a new blog:

http://chinupscalesdown.blogspot.com

Part of my efforts to completely redo this blog. More changes are coming soon!

Merry Christmas! Day 5

2011-12-25T05:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was our family Christmas celebration. With the boys helping on a dairy farm (3:45 am milking, back at 3pm to milk again) Sunday school at 9, Church at 10, and one of the kids friends being baptized after church... we wouldn't have much time as a family, for Christmas festivities, today. So we opened gifts and played games yesterday instead.

Which may have made it a little easier for me to get up and do the 30 day shred day 5, this morning, Christmas morning. But I did do day 4 yesterday too....

I really can't believe how much easier this is from day 1. The hardest part for me right now are those last ab exercises, the bicycle crunches. I'm hoping 5 more days will make a big difference in how I do those, and that maybe even with my poor eating over Christmas, I will still see a little weight loss next week?

30 day shred day 4

2011-12-24T19:31:00.001-08:00

No excuses.

Today was our Christmas day. Santa brought me an awesome new bike! A raleigh Venture 4.0. We took a family bike ride, 5.5 miles. I love it! I set some goals for myself, this route used to be much easier for me. I really want to work towards biking the entire way up one particularly tough hill. There are several road signs along the way to mark my progress. :-)

After the Christmas eve service, I wanted to change my clothes anyway.. so I changed into work out clothes. And did the 30 day shred. My husband and youngest soon (a 14 year old athlete) decided to do it with me. I think they expected any work out I am doing to be a cinch for them. HA! Kicked their butts! I'm not excelling, this is still really hard, but in 4 days I see major improvement. Major improvement. I can do this.

I had my husband snap a before pic of me by the tv tonight, I hope in a few months to have a much better looking, after, photo.

Tomorrow is actual Christmas, and a Sunday. Sundays are going to be the hardest for me, but I am determined to fit this in!

My eating was horrible today, I didn't even try to track it. Sugar cookies, bruschetta, cream puffs... I did drink my water at least.

30 Day Shred Day 3

2011-12-23T05:11:00.001-08:00

Ouch. I hurt. Mainly in my chest/shoulders/arms... but when walking uphill yesterday, I could really feel it in my legs too.

But, I think today was easier? My arms were so sore that I wasn't even sure I would be able to use weights today, but I did. I was sure I wouldn't be able to do a single push up, but they seemed easier too.

I had to break today. I knew I had to pick our youngest up from weight lisfting at 7:30, but I thought 20 minute work out, if I start 30 minutes before I have to leave... nope. Too much intro that I could not skip. I had to stop before the third interval, drive and pick him up, then come home and finish.

While driving home I compared my work out to my sons. Ha! He's using 15lb weights for the same moves I'm doing with 5lbs. And he is doing a lot more than I am- benching 140 and dead lifting 250 - on his second week of lifting, at age 14. :-) I'm not planning to play football, I have no desire to be as strong as him, but it is fun to hear what he is doing, compared to me. He gets up at 6am to go lift, I admire that discipline, and it helps me be more disciplined too.

Anyway, my point... he lifts 3 days a week, Mon/Wed/Fri. The 30 day shred appears to be every day, no breaks. I mentioned that to him and he said " that will help you burn fat, and not build as much muscle. You will get leaner, not bulkier". Exactly what I am going for... although I do plan to do some research and see if there is some plan for breaks? Sundays off maybe? Tomorrow is our Christmas here on the farm- but I plan to get up early and get this in before we open gifts. We will see how that goes!

Down 1.1lb today, but since I weighed in earlier today than yesterday, I think i'm either exactly the same, or have a small gain. :-( It will be easier to be consistant with my weigh in times starting in January.

I'm going to move all of my weight loss and exercise to it's own blog over the next week. This blog is cluttered and do for a major redo!

30 Day Shred Day2

2011-12-22T17:11:00.001-08:00

I am sore. My arms, my chest, my legs... I remembered my inhaler this morning, which helped a lot with the cardio portions. But for a lot of the strength training, I had to put the weights down and just use my arms. Guess I should have started with 2lb weights, but 5lb are what I had, and who would have thought that would be too much?

Today was our regular girls lunch out, at a chinese buffet. Not a lot of healthy choices there! I had walnut chicken (I have never seen this at any other chinese place, and cannot find a recipe online that sounds anything like it. There are no walnuts, unless they are pureed smooth in the white sauce?) Mushrooms, green beans, and sweet potato. Everything was in sauces, I think the sweet potato was in butter, the green beans in oil and seasoning? I tried to make a guess at the calorie and fat content, but I know it is just a guess, nothing accurate. So I'm off to a banner start on my first day back to tracking my calories. :-)

To help make up for my poor food choices, I did 42 minutes on the wiifit, and went for a 2 mile walk.

Weighing in today, I'm up 6lbs from last week, and just 3lbs away from my highest weight ever. Not good, not good! I do hope some of the weight is water retention from the extra muscle workouts.

30 Day Shred Day 1

2011-12-22T17:00:00.001-08:00

Wow.

It's only 20 minutes, but it is a really rough 20 minutes! I didn't think I was going to make it. The exercises are really pretty simple. Lunges, jumping jacks, crunches, bicep curls... nothing fancy on level 1. But the combinations and repetitions make this a rough work out.

I found Jillian to be encouraging, not too annoying. Her reminders that it should be hard, and that the pain is what will change my body, along with her prodding to finish strong, not give up, actually motivated me.

30 days. The dvd says you can lose up to 20lbs in 30 days. I'd be happy to lose half that, to be honest... any weight loss would be a step in the right direction. Mostly I want to get in shape. I want to lose weight this winter so that come spring, it will be easier to run.

After this work out, we walked 2 miles. I'm hoping that regular walks will not only help me, but file down my dogs toenails too. He hates to have them trimmed. Really hates it.

So here I go again... trying to get into shape. Once again, two years in a row, I am ending the year at a higher weight, and in worse shape, than at the beginning of the year. But I am starting earlier this time. On my birthday, actually. I'm 39 today. So many times I have set goals to lose a certain amount by a certain age... but this feels like the year I actually do it.

I'm off to a good start. :-)

Thankfulness & Worry

2011-11-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Last week at our Latte Ladies group (women from our church get together to drink coffee, and discuss a topic. This months topic was thankfulness) looked at the brochure The Power Of A Thankful Heart, by Christian Broadcasting Network.

One of the pages in the brochure is Philippians 4:6-7
"Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

It jumped right out at me as we were discussing this.

TELL God what you need, & THANK Him for everything.
IF you do this, you will experience God's PEACE
His peace will guard your hearts and minds.

We have two adult teens. Brand new adults. If you think the infant years, and toddler years, are scary, they are nothing compared to the worry of your children growing up and making their own life decisions. Seriously, I was not prepared. And my kids are not even making bad decisions... they are just slow in making decisions, and I am even slower in realizing they are their decisions to make, not mine. :-)

Many times over this past week I'd catch myself worrying, and immediately this verse would come to mind. If I am telling God what I need, and thanking him for everything, than He will give me peace, that will guard my mind. So if my mind is full of worry, and my heart is panicked, then I probably didn't tell God what I needed, and thank Him for everything.

It sounds so simple, but I have to say that every single time, that verse changed my focus, and I had peace. I think we too often underestimate the value in saying Thank You, and we spend way too much time not knowing how to not worry - when God has clearly told us He will guard our hearts and minds, if we just ask, and say thank you.

You can read the brochure, and download printables, as well as a turkey brine recipe, here:

http://www.cbn.com/special/thanksgiving-2011/index.aspx

Making Your Home A Haven

2011-10-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Week one of this is REALLY good reading! The differences between a distant woman, and an engaged woman.

Interestingly, in BSF the past two weeks we have been talking about how being engaged in our lives and surroundings keeps the joy and energy in our lives. :-)

http://womenlivingwell.org/2011/10/distant-or-engaged-making-your-home-a-havenweek-1

Menu Planning Monday

2011-09-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Monday

Breakfast - hashbrowns & sausage

Lunch - Leftovers

Supper - at Football Game

Tuesday

Breakfast - smoothies

Lunch - popcorn chicken, applesauce

Dinner - cheesy potato soup, garlic bread

Wednesday

Breakfast - pancakes, sausage

Lunch - hot dogs & leftovers

Supper - chicken breasts, bow tie pasta, corn

Thursday

Breakfast - omelets

Lunch - leftover pasta

Dinner - vegetable soup & lunch meat sandwiches

Friday -

Breakfast - oatmeal & yogurt

Lunch - freezer leftovers

Supper - pizza

Saturday -

Breakfast - breakfast sandwiches

Lunch - meatball subs, sweet potato fries

Supper - breakfast for supper

http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday

HGP - Week Four, Master Bedroom

2011-09-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan/master-bedroom-week

Beautiful decorating ideas from Martha Stewart, including an idea for a wallpaper headboard

http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/bedroom-good-things

Decorating Ideas From Good Housekeeping
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/decorating-ideas-master-bedroom?click=main_sr#slide-1

Cleaning Tips -

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1454002/master_bedroom_spring_cleaning_tips.html?cat=6

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/bedrooms/ht/bedroomcleanup.htm

FlyLady List - http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/flylady-cleaning-list-zone-4

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/syndication/peaceful-bedrooms_synd?click=main_sr

Three Quick Fixes For Any Bedroom
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/bedroom-quick-fixes?click=main_sr

Ideas for labeling your mattress to remember how to flip it

http://www.idreamofclean.net/2010/03/31/how-to-remember-when-to-flip-your-mattress/

(I just wrote on mine in permanant magic marker.. the correct month should appear in the top left hand corner)

http://longbrakeliving.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/systematic-mattress-rotation/

Cleaning Checklist from the HGP site -
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/cleaning-grand-plan/master-bedroom

From the HGP website:

Holiday Prep:

Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes
Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
Make list of any table and bathroom linens that need replacing before the holidays, and pick up a few each week.

HGP - Week Three Wrap Up

2011-09-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

In the Freezer - Nothing new added, but this week I emptied them both out, defrosted them, and put everything back in neatly!

In my Christmas Notebook - no progress at all this week.

Maintaining from the HGP - I'm having trouble keeping up with the porch - it needs a lot of time every day! The living room maintained well though.. we're still working towards the room switch. This week we sold the dry sink and gave away the piano, getting us closer to what we want the rooms to look like.

Decluttering - Did the bookshelves, and the green hall cabinet this week. Took three loads of donations out of here! A LOT of books got purged this week.

Adapting - this week I replaced all of our dishcloths and dishtowels, bought more silverware, and made a september planning list for thanksgiving -

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/thanksgiving-checklist-for-september.html

Undone -

I do not bake items to freeze this early. I don't freeze a lot of cookies ahead.
No extra meals in the freezer - but I do not need many of those. What I need are more crockpot recipes for football season!
I do not stock up on items for food drives - we homeschool, and live in the midde of nowhere, so when we participate in a food drive, it's something I can shop for when it's needed, no need to store it ahead.
I'm so far behind in home made gifts - I need to re-evaluate!
Film? LOL! I do have a good memory card.. and I always keep extra batteries stashed in places like the car's console. I stock them the way I stock my pantry, no need to hide them.

The Cleaning Plan -

My living room progress - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/hgp-week-two-wrap-up.html
My Front Porch Progress - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/08/hgp-week-one.html
My Foyer Progress - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/hgp-foyer-progress.html

Heather
http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/

HGP - Foyer Progress

2011-09-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

The beginning of Foyer Week, with inspiration pics -
http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/hgp-week-three-foyer-week.html

Mostly I cleaned. But I did add some decor, and I purged our bookshelves and cdrom cabinet pretty hard. I used Scott's Liquid Gold on all the wood - I love that stuff.

Before -

After

I found the rug at Big Lots
Before -
After -

I moved all of the genealogy binders off the floor and over to the bookshelves

Before -

After -

We filled the back of our car with donations from these bookshelves, and gave some away to other homeschooling families too..

Before -

After -

Weekly Overview

2011-09-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Each week-end I plan out an "overview" of our week, including our schedules, our menu, etc. I post it on a bulletin board in our hallway, alongside the kids weekly chores, dish chores, and white boards where we leave notes if anyone is leaving, or something needs done, etc.

This is an old version from a few weeks back - before school started - but it gives you the general idea. (I use google docs for almost everything - including this)

Week Overview

An Overview of Our Week

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY

WEATHER	77	81	77	75	77
SCHEDULE	9:20 Luke Derm 10:30 Nate to work 3:10 Matt to FB Meg to CG 3:30 Pu Nate Deliver Meal 4:30 Pu Meg 6 PU Matt 6:20 PU Amy 6:45 Zumba	10:30 Nate to Work 1:15 Luke to RC 3:10 Matt to fb 3:30 PU Nate 6 PU Matt 7 Scouts	10:30 Nate to work 1:30 Meg Piano 2:00 Pu Meg 3:10 Matt to fb 3:30 PU Nate 4:30 Pu Matt 6 PU Matt 7 Dan teach BS	10:30 Nate to work 3:10 Matt fb Meg to CG 3:30 Pu Nate 6 PU Matt 6:30 Boys BBALL	10:30 Nate to work 3:10 Matt to fb 3:30 Pu Nate 5 Pu Matt 5:30 Meg to School Dan & Me to amish sale preview
Kids Schedule (items I do not need to drive them too)	3-6 luke wk 7-10 boys to grandpas	8am run 3-6 Luke wk	3-6 Luke wk	3-6 Luke Work	8am run 3-6 Luke Work
MEALS	Breakfast - Mom - Smoothies, croissants Lunch - hamburgs & corn on the cob Supper - chicken, baked potatoes, corn	Breakfast - Meg french toast Lunch - Chicken salad sandwiches Supper - casserole - chicken pot pie?	Breakfast - Matt - Casserole Lunch - hot dogs, leftovers Supper - Pasta Night - spaghetti?	Breakfast - Luke - pancakes Lunch - mac & cheese Supper - Vegetable soup, sandwiches	Breakfast - Nate - oatmeal Lunch - leftovers, or breakfast Supper - Pizza
WEEKLY CHORES	Bedrooms Porch	kitchen & laundry room	paperwork	living room & dining room	Top to bottom quick clean
EXERCISE	walk run zumba	walk Bike wifit 30 min	walk c25k wifit 30 min	walk Bike wiifit 30 min	walk c25k wifit 30 min

A Thanksgiving Checklist - for September

2011-09-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

We hosted a dinner party here last night, and it made me evaluate some things... things that I should have on a regular check list for this time of year, before the holiday season. I'm adding this list to my Christmas planner, because I start looking at that long before thanksgiving. I like to get these things done/bought/replaced early - before the extra Christmas expenses start taking up too much of my budget.

Some of these items will need to be double checked again and again.. but they are things I want to think about and start getting a handle on now.

Do we have enough silverware? (we lose so much silverware around here!)
Do we have enough glasses?
Do the good glasses, and wine glasses, need to be run through the dishwasher? Are they dusty?
Do we have coffee mugs, coffee creamer, and sugar? (I drink my coffee black and need to remember that not everyone does)
Buy some disposable cups to keep on hand
Do the bathroom hand towels need replaced?
Do the dishcloths and dishtowels need replaced?
check the inside of the dishwasher - does it need iron out, or ran with clorox, or the edges of the door scrubbed down inside? (in other words, will I be embarrased if guests open it to help load it!)
Buy some cheap foil pans to send leftovers home with guests
Should any of my aprons be tossed and replaced? Or at least stain remover and bleach used on them?
Do we have enough cloth napkins?
Do the salt and pepper shakers need cleaned? Do we have two sets, minimum, filled?
Is the coat closet read for guests coats? Does it need an air freshener, more hangers, or decluttered?
Is extra toilet paper easily accessible for guests?

How to Make A Personal Planner

2011-09-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

This site has great instructions for designing and making your own planner (she had it bound and some of the pages are laminated, at a copy shop). Personally I use my phone for my planner, but if I did still use paper, this would be and idea I'd be copying! :-)

http://lifeasmom.com/2011/08/how-to-make-a-personal-planner-that-rocks.html

Cake decorating - no mess icing bags

2011-09-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

This is so brilliant!!! It really should eliminate all the mess when filling icing bags for decorating cakes and cupcakes, and makes clean up a breeze. She drops the icing in the center of some saran wrap, rolls it up, puts the entire thing in the cake decorating tube, pulling the end through, then snipping it off - so the icing stays in the saran wrap, inside the decorating bag. Watch the video -

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/09/mind-blowing-cake-decorating-tip/

Thursday Thirteen - On My Playlist

2011-09-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Songs On My Favorite Playlist

My "new to me" car has a wonderful jack to hook my phone right to my car stereo. Since I spend literally hours a day driving kids to work, football, color guard, scouts, and friends houses.. It's a feature I am really enjoying! I like to play my music loud, and sing along. I have a playlist named "sing", but it's really just my favorites for when driving.

Human Heart - Corey Ott
Through The Dark - KT Tunstall
To Find My Strength - Natalie Grant
All We Have - Ok Sweetheart
I Never Told You - Colbie Caillat
Thank You - Dido
Free To Be Me - Francesca Battistelli
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Because Of You - Reba McEntire
Soldier - Ingrid Michaelson
Same Mistake - James Blunt
I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack
Many the Miles - Sara Bareilles

Free ebook - Creative Family Christmas Picture Ideas

2011-09-14T16:54:00.001-07:00

http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/sept-1-family-christmas-portrait-ideas/

HGP - Week Three, Foyer Week

2011-09-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Some Foyer/Entry Inspiration Pics -

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/09/entry-hall-remodel.html

(the one shown above is pretty much my dream entryway!)

Plans for a space saving Entry Table

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/Space_Saving_Entry_Table_0811.aspx

20 DIY Coat Rack Ideas

http://www.tipjunkie.com/20-diy-coat-rack-ideas/

An Entrance hall bench, made from an old coffee table

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/08/before-after-the-bartletts-bed-alain-and-julies-bench.html

My Entrance -
Yeah, not only does it need cleaned, it's pretty unattractive as the entrance to our home! I'll be working on improving, and cleaning, this this week.

As usual for me, rather than a set check list, I'll just start at one corner and clean my way around the room.

In addition to the Foyer/Entrance this week, I'm hoping to finally finish up my porch (and decorate it for fall!) make a final decision on a new couch for our living room (and arrange to have it delivered after the new carpet is down), get all of the furniture we are selling out of my house, make a final decision on carpeting and set up a time to have it installed, and by a new ceiling fan and switch out the light fixtures. (In other words, I'm going to be REALLY busy this week!)

If all goes according to plan (HA! things rarely do!) then NEXT week the new carpet will be installed and the new furniture delivered.. I can hardly wait!!

This weeks Holiday Prep List -

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan/entry-foyer-week

Holiday Prep:

Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
Buy two canned food items from Menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
Keep 2 boxes in a pantry area or storage place to put these in so that they are not used in everyday cooking - make sure to label them so that when food drives start your holiday supply stays intact and the food drive gets the food purchased for it.
Buy all supplies for homemade gifts. Package each project with directions and other information in zipper food storage bag and place in a basket or box in craft/sewing area.
Buy film, camera batteries, blank videotapes. Hide them; write yourself a note.

HGP Week 2 Wrap Up

2011-09-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

In the Freezer - a roast and cut up veggies for a Sunday meal. I'm making one roast and veggies tomorrow, so I just put the second one, with veggies and seasoning, in a ziplock to be thrown in the crockpot on another Sunday morning. (I do not label them "holiday meals" because they won't last through Christmas here.. rather I will make it a habit to keep a couple of meals in the freezer year round)

In my Christmas Notebook - worked on the traditions section some more, uploaded some of the collages to be printed and added to the traditions section.

Maintaining from the HGP - my porch is a mess again. It rained all week, meaning I didn't sweep each day. (Seriously all week, thus all the flooding around here.) I haven't decorated for fall yet.

Decluttering - I took a full car load of donations to the Salvation Army this week. I have to finish cleaning out the dry sink (scrapbooking supplies) and the built in cabinet in the current living room (where my scrapbooking supplies are going) before tomorrow afternoon, yet. I have no idea how I am going to make all those supplies fit - but I really don't want to get rid of them.

Adapting - I cannot address Christmas cards this early, because I won't even take the pics that we will use for our Christmas cards until October. But what I COULD do is upload all of my addresses into a document and print them on labels, so when we get our cards in early November, all I will have to do is peel and stick.

Undone -

I don't stock up on flour, sugar, etc.. because I already buy those items in bulk at Sam's club as part of my regular shopping. There's no need for me to buy extras this early in the year.
I won't order return address labels until I take our fall family pic, I order them with our picture on them to match the picture on our Christmas card, from Vista print.

The Cleaning Plan -

My living room progress - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/hgp-week-two-wrap-up.html
My Front Porch Progress - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/08/hgp-week-one.html

HGP - Living Room Progress

2011-09-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

I did not do any more than my normal weekly cleaning of the living room.

Because I clean pretty thoroughly weekly (wipe down the furniture with a damp cloth, vacuum under the cushions, dust everything including the fan, spot clean the carpet...)

And because in the next two weeks, this will no longer be the living room. We definitely decided to switch the rooms. We found a couch that has 4 recliners, with a matching recliner to give us FIVE recliners, for the 6 of us. I'll keep the two wing back chairs from the dining room, and the couch has additional non-reclining seats, allowing us to seat 9 people comfortably. Nine. Currently our youngest (age 13 and 6 ft tall) sits on the floor when we watch tv, because we don't all really fit on the furniture shown above.

This is what we picked out - this picture is from a website, NOT my house -

To fit that into this room, we had to get rid of some furniture. I listed our piano, a dry sink, and our current furniture on CraigsList.

The dry sink - still in my current dining room, but hopefully the person coming to look at it tomorrow will take it home with them. If not, I have a few more interested in seeing it.

The piano - also have a few people interested, just need to get someone to confirm and get it out of here. I'm getting impatient. :-)

As we were looking at all of this, we realized that the carpet is truly shot here. It's about 15 years old. So we also went to a couple of places to look at carpeting, and one of those places is coming to measure and give us an estimate tomorrow. I'm not sure it's going to fit in our budget, but I'm hoping!

We checked Lowes, where they have free installation on Stainmaster carpets.. but their widths are all 12 ft, which would mean a seam out in the main traffic area of our living room. :-( After running the numbers, it's more expensive, even for the cheapest stainmaster at Lowes, than the deal our local owned carpet place is running. And the local place includes moving furniture, disposing of the old carpet, etc - things that would not be included from Lowes.

So we're looking at these two:

This is the cheaper one - normally much more expensive, it's marked down because it's discontinued. It's stainmaster, and comes with a 15 year guarantee against food and drink stains. I love that it's stainmaster - but I just am not sure such a light color is a good idea. On a farm. With 4 dogs, and 4 teenagers.

These two are the same, just the one on the left is darker. It's hard to see from this pic, but they are both multitoned. But they are not stainmaster. And it costs more. Not a lot more, but it is bugging me to pay more for one that is NOT stainmaster...

While we were at Lowes looking at carpet, we walked through the ceiling fan isle.. on our "to repair" list is the ceiling fan in our current living room. The remote broke, and there is no independent light switch on the fan. Which is stupid, for the record. So to turn the fan on, and not have the overhead lights on, we have to unscrew the lightbulbs.

When we switch the rooms, we're switching the lights too, and it doesn't make sense to move a ceiling fan that does't even really work to another room. I am leaning towards this one, I think.

So it hasn't exactly been a traditional HGP cleaning week around here, especially with all the local flooding.. but I made a lot of progress, and we hope to have all of this done by the end of this month. Before we host thanksgiving, and a couple of Christmas gatherings. The changes should be wonderful for holiday entertaining!

Christmas Planner - Traditions

2011-09-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

The first page of the Traditions Section of my Christmas planner is a form listing all the events we traditionally attend, a column for filling in the dates that those events will occur this year, and a third column for "Notes"

Traditions

Events	Date it occurs this year	Notes
Christkindl	Dec 8-10	try for the Thurs Parade
Candlelight Service at WR church	Dec 10
Pic w/ Reindeer in Wats.
Berwick Boulevard
order orn. from Watsontown Glass
Outing With Meg		High tea at Victoria house
Christmas Cantata
Williamsport House Tours	Nov
Lewisburg Parade	Dec 3, 1pm	Same week-end as Dickens
Cmas Eve Service, Drive around and look at lights	Dec 24	Candy cane lane?
Cut down our tree		Kohls
Library Toy Auction	Nov
Williamsport Parade	Nov
Bake & Deliver Cookies to neighbors
Order Orn From Wats. Glass
Dickens of A Christmas	Dec 2-4

Get a blank version of this form on google docs, here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14cplcJ-lZj915GlSMYod6geaKJVqdizXSXDhbg-6dxA/edit?hl=en_US

I've posted more information on Christmas events in the Susquehanna Valley, of PA, here -
http://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2011/09/2011-christmas-in-valley.html
I'll update more as the season gets closer

All of these dates go right onto our calendar (we use google calendar, and sync it to our phones using the calpad app - that app is so much better than the stock one, because it shows the text on each day, not just blocks of color) but the list here is a a check list of sorts, to make sure I don't miss anything, as well as a good visual reminder of how much we want to fit in to our already crowded schedule. It's not unusual to have to cross a few things off because we're just TOO busy, this list helps us to prioritize.

Then I have printed copies of our December Calendar for every year, since 2006 when I started this. It's nice to look back and see what our December looked like over the years, and interesting to watch the calendar get progressively fuller each year as the children got older!

After that are the scrapbook style pages. Not traditional scrapbooking, but more of a digital page, showing pics from each event listed on that first worksheet, over the years.

Examples -

Good Morning Girls - 1 John

2011-09-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2011/08/its-almost-time-to-begin/

(disclaimer, I have not watched the video - I'm not a big fan of "vlogs" - I'd rather just read them. I think all the pertinent info is in the text.)

After finishing the 21 day plan for Busy Women at You Version, I've been trying to find a light devotion for my mornings. I loved the 21 day plan, because it was the same 4 questions each day, just applied to different text.

I've been using the Parenting By Design devotion this week, but I am not loving it. It's not a bad devotion, it's just not quite what I am looking for right now.

This week BSF starts back up for me, so I have an in depth study that will take a good bit of time each day.. I just want something light, to start out my morning, before my feet hit the floor.

So I was excited to see that Good Morning Girls is doing a study on 1John. They are using the SOAP method, which I've had some trouble with in the past in a group setting. The last time I joined a Good Morning Girls Group, I found that without context, or additional scriptures, it was surprising how different women could "interpret" the same scripture. That is the one thing I think the SOAP method is missing - context, or additional scriptures.

The SOAP method, and more about how this study will work, can be found here -

http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2011/08/its-almost-time-to-begin/

But for a one book study, of the book of 1 John, I think the method could work well. (I will probably look for additional scriptures most days, but that's just me)

The part I struggle with is finding a group. Last time I ended up in a group of women in different time zones, with different ideas about what "up early" meant. There is NOTHING wrong with that. Nothing at all! There's nothing wrong with doing your devotions at lunch time, or in the evening for that matter. But it was not inspiring or helpful for me, I was looking for encouragement to get up early and get my devotions done first thing. In my life, currently, 10 am is half way through my day, not "first thing". :-)

I think for a group to work, women do have to commit. But to commit to a group of women without knowing anything about them, for an extended period of time, is tricky. Before I join any group, I'll be praying this time! And maybe I'll do the study without a group, and just check in by twitter myself.

Flooding

2011-09-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

We've been very fortunate this week, the farm is far enough from the rivers and creeks to have avoided any water damage.

Some of our friends and family were not so lucky. Our family has spent a good bit of time moving furniture before the flood, and then moving it back after the flood, and helping others clean out after flood damage. We're exhausted. But so thankful - everyone we know is safe. And the farm was not touched by the flood. We are blessed.

These are some pics from around our area this week.

That's a pumpkin field. :-(

More of the pumpkin fields at Styers Farm

At Watsontown Park

Pictures from the WNEP fb page -

Home From The Dollar Tree

2011-09-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

I found the Home is where the heart is Wall Sticker at the Dollar Tree. :-)

Droid to the Rescue- Redbox

2011-09-07T05:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight we stopped at Weis for pizza and a movie. Spur of the moment, rainy night, decision.

We wanted to rent The Adjustment Bureau.

They didn't have it.

So I open the redbox app on my phone, search for the movie, and a redbox two miles away has it In stock.

It truly is the little things that I appreciate most with this phone!

(Post typed on my phone, using the blogaway app)

Eagle Scout Ceremony Invitations

2011-09-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

I put them together in PSP, and ordered them through Sam's club. Cheap, and easy!

My $6 Miche - Thrift Store Find

2011-09-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

I found this for $6 at a local thrift store! Not just the shell, I got the base bag, handles, and this retired Linda shell - all for $6 total. :-)

I had always thought the small Miche bag would be too small for me, so when I bought it I really thought I'd be giving it away.. but I found that I truly love it.

This is the cover I have on it now, I bought new, longer, straps too -

Eventually I plan to make some of my own covers -

http://makeitsparklymama.blogspot.com/2011/05/make-it-yourself-miche-bag-cover.html

http://theprojectprincess.blogspot.com/2010/10/miche-bag-cover.html

HGP - Week Two

2011-09-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

(I'm following the Holiday Grand Plan from the Organized Christmas, which caused some confusion on the "only official Holiday Grand Plan yahoogroup", since apparently they no longer follow the Organized Christmas site? It's pretty confusing, honestly. They do still use the lists from the OC site, just in a different order. Since the homekeeping list I own follows the OC version of the HGP - that's the order I'll be using)

find the HGP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HolidayGrandPlan

(the fb page IS part of the Organized Christmas website)

It's Living Room Week!

(& Questions Week)

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan/question-week

The Holiday Values Worksheet can be found here -

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/printable/christmas-planner/values-worksheet

Rather than following an overly specific cleaning list for my living room, I use essentially the same system used on this blog -

http://havenofhome.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-cleaning-my-plan-of-action.html

Websites to help with furniture placement

http://www.americandrew.com/planner.asp

http://www.lowes.com/cd_Arrange+Furniture_603556142_

www.copenhagenfurniture.com/FRoomPlanner.pdf

Last year I switched my living room and dining room. The current dining room is
one of the largest rooms in our house, and since we spend so much time in there
(homeschooling, and dinners) it made the most sense.

This year I have half as many students, since our twins graduated. I'm
considering switching the rooms back. Tomorrow I'm going to spend some time
looking at possible furniture arrangements.. we're talking about selling our
furniture and buying new. We love our living room set, but it's not really big
enough for all of us, and it's not comfortable for smaller, shorter, visitors.
Since having a lot of people over is a priority around here, it makes sense to
look for something that would be more comfortable for visitors.

Our living room is such an odd shape - there's not a lot of wall space. Two
doorways, a fake brick wall covering old chimneys (or the original fireplace?
This house is 230 years old - there must have been a fireplace here at one
time!) and three windows, cut the walls up. Add in a piano.. and it's not a
simple room to figure out.

This week I'll just be cleaning and planning, brainstorming to see what is
feasible.

These are the questions the HGP tells us to ask ourselves -

Do I see Christmas time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family?
How much emphasis do our Christmas activities place on the spiritual side of Christmas?
How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?
What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas? To myself?
Why do we observe the traditions we do in our house?
How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?
What would my ideal Christmas be like?

I've been doing the HGP for awhile, so rather than answer all of these questions, I go to my "traditions" page in my Christmas Notebook. This is where I list all of our Christmas traditions, the date they occur this year, and any notes from past years. There is always more on this list than we can fit on our calendar, so we have to prioritize. We usually, in the notes section, decide if we want to invite others to join us for some events, and sometimes have them over for supper before we attend together.

You can read more about this section of my christmas planner, here:
http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/09/christmas-planner-traditons.html
(I have a link to download a blank version of my "traditions" form there too)

Week One - Porches & List Week

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/08/hgp-week-one.html

My Christmas Notebook -

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/p/reading-in-2011.html

Free Thanksgiving Printables

2011-09-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

Found on Pinterest

http://pinterest.com/pin/165772528/

Also from pinterest - a thankful chain, with spaces to write what you are thankful for

http://pinterest.com/pin/159558615/

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday

It's fall, so for us, it's time to return to "themed" weekly menus. This is primarily because of our fall schedule. Since my son plays football on Thursday nights, we have a light supper of soup and sandwiches, and buy french fries at the game. On Wednesday nights we have pasta, because his coach encourages pasta for the players the night before a game.

Themes for Fall (subject to change as needed, this is my starting point)

Monday - Chicken

Tuesday - Taco Night

Wednesday - Pasta Night

Thursday - Soup & Sandwiches

Friday - Pizza Night

Saturday - Casserole

Sunday - Sunday Dinner, Hotdogs & popcorn after evening service

This Weeks Menu

Monday - Popcorn chicken in buffalo wing sauce, leftovers

Tuesday -Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday - Spaghetti & meatballs

Thursday - Hot Ham & Cheese, chicken corn soup

Friday - Pizza (home made, or take out?)

Saturday - I'll be away, manicotti in freezer for Dh & kids

Sunday - Roast and veggie (have all prepped ahead in a ziplock in the freezer that Dh can dump into the crockpot before church)

Breakfasts

We've been trying a new routine for breakfasts here recently. All of our kids are teens, so I assigned them one day a week to get up and make breakfast. I make breakfast on Mondays. They get some say in what they make, but we stick to pretty much the same foods every week -

Monday- Smoothies & breakfast sandwiches

Tuesdays - Eggs, sausage and hashbrowns

Wednesday - Toad in the Hole

Thursday - Panackes & Sausage

Friday - Oatmeal

We've been doing a lot of leftovers for lunch, I need to set a few "set" lunch meals for fall, but i haven't gotten there yet.

Inspirations

I'll be on a bike trip this week-end, and won't get home until Sunday afternoon in time for dinner.. this site inspired the "toss everything in a ziplock so it can just go in the crockpot".

http://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/2011/04/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker.html

Another crockpot recipe I want to try soon - Crockpot Orange Chicken (found via Pinterest)

http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.com/2010/03/crock-pot-orange-chicken.html

And a post i'll be reading more carefully, for ideas -

Freezer Meals On the Cheap

http://aturtleslifeforme.blogspot.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html

And another free cookbook - 28 Slow Scrumptious Slow Cooker Recipes
http://www.mrfood.com/Slow-Cooker-Recipes/Slow-Cookin-Magic-28-Scrumptious-Slow-Cooker-Recipes-from-Mr-Food-Free-eCookbook/#
(I save all of these free cookbooks in google docs under "recipes", it's easier to browse them that way, I think. I use the google docs app on my phone too)

Free Photo Calendar From VistaPrint

2011-09-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.vistaprint.com/personalized-calendars.aspx

You will have to pay shipping and handling, but that should be under $5

(Think Christmas gift!)

5 Super Silly Songs - Free

2011-09-05T08:57:00.001-07:00

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Super-Silly-Songs/dp/B005HVUZCA/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315238047&sr=301-1

Upscale Challenge - Denim

2011-09-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

"Each first Monday of the month I will have a challenge posted here and a linky party for you to show off your fabulous entries. "

Septembers Challenge is Denim!

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2011/04/denim-quilt-made-from-old-jeans.html

I'm cheating a bit and pulling out an old post for this.. It's one of my favorite crafts ever, and I'm hoping to sneak it through, promising to get to the thrift store to fully participate next month. :-) It's a very quick and simple denim quilt - the post above has the link to the "how to" as well as a couple more pics from when I made this. It's made with my boys old jeans, a piece of flannel material from a clearance rack, and the center design is one of my sons favorite t-shirts from when he was around 4. It was an osh kosh shirt, with a raggedy denim plane on it, that went well with the rest of this quilt.

To see the Full List Of Rules - Click here

1. I can't remember the specifics, but I am absolutely positive at least one pair, probably more, of the jeans in this project came from the thrift store. Just instead of them going straight to this project, my boys wore them first. :-)

2. A before picture - uh oh. Let me see what I can find...

3. Price paid? Can't remember, sorry. Probably $3 a pair.

Octobers Challenge -

"October -Pumpkins! Nothing says fall like pumpkins. Find a pumpkin to redecorate or create a pumpkin out of something else. Think outside the box!"

http://www.heartandsoulreflections.com/2011/09/upscale-this-thrift-store-challenge.html

Free PDF - "Go to Meals"

2011-09-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Free pdf 21 "Go To Meals" from the readers of Haven For Home.Look on the column on the right hand side and click on the picture to download http://havenofhome.blogspot.com/

Meet Daisy -

2011-09-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, we got not one, but TWO new additions here this week. First Flinn, then Daisy.. Daisy is my daughters new dog. :-)

We drove to Wellsboro to pick her up. The woman who had her took her from someone else who was mistreating her.. but she was a senior citizen and unable to care for Daisy herself. I think she kept Daisy in a kennel a lot.

She immediately took to Meg. This park in Wellsboro is an hour and a half from our farm, Meg and the dogs (Finn is not shown, he's by me in this photo) spent some time here before making the trip home. We walked two blocks to the Native Bagel, my favorite restaurant in Wellsboro (although I love the diner too!) and Meg left Daisy with me so she could go in and figure out what she wanted to order. Daisy went nuts when Meg left her, and she had only met Meg a few minutes earlier. :-) She rode home on Meg's lap, and hasn't left her side much since.

With two dogs that need regular grooming, Meg and I will be learning how to do the cuts ourselves, to save money. Daisy has never had a trim, she's 8 months old. I trimmed up her face her first night here, and am working up the nerve to trim the rest of her fur.

Upscale Challenge - new blog meme

2011-09-04T16:50:00.001-07:00

"Each first Monday of the month I will have a challenge posted here and a linky party for you to show off your fabulous entries."

http://www.heartandsoulreflections.com/2011/09/upscale-this-thrift-store-challenge.html

BSF Starts Soon!

2011-09-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

This year, we'll be studying the book of Acts. Classes start a week from Wednesday, on September 14th.

Each week we receive notes and questions. The questions are broken into daily assignments for reading and answering. When we attend the next week, we start in full group - all of us meeting together to hear announcements and sing praise songs. Then we split into our assigned small groups, to discuss our answers from the daily assignments, and take prayer requests. After that we return to the sanctuary where all of us will sing a couple more songs, then hear a lecture on the text. On our way out, we'll receive the notes and questions to work on for the next week.

It's an amazing way to study the word of God!

From the BSF website - http://www.bsfinternational.org

During 2011-2012, BSF classes around the world are studying the Acts of the Apostles

For 33 weeks, class members have the opportunity to learn how this important book speaks to our daily lives in the 21st Century.

Each class session features BSF's Four-Fold Approach to Bible study.

While the Acts of the Apostles study lasts the full BSF year (33 weeks), new members can join throughout the course of the study — space permitting.

The classes offered (in order) are:

Genesis (2012-13)
Matthew (2013-14)
The Life of Moses (2014-15)
Romans (2015-16)
History of Israel and the Minor Prophets (2016-17)
John (2017-18)
Isaiah (2018-19)
Acts of the Apostles (2020-21)

To find a class near you and to see if it has space available for new members, click here.

Home Made Christmas Gifts

2011-09-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

I started an album on Pinterest to store ideas I come across for Home Made Christmas Gifts

http://pinterest.com/htruck/home-made-christmas-gifts/

These are a few I have made in the past -

2011 Family History -

Each year we have a family dinner with my husbands Aunts and Uncles, right before Christmas time. One year they took turns telling stories, and I videod them throughout the dinner. Afterwards, I asked them if they had any photos that went with the stories. In the albums here are the photos they shared, along with typed up notes of the stories. The attached dvd is a movie I made with windows movie maker, mixing the scans with the videos of them speaking.

Not shown -

I've done three different family recipe albums over the years, mixed with some genealogy, and old family photos. For the Smith one I was able to just scan in Grammie Smith's handwritten cookbook, and add photos.

Scarves I found at the Dollar Store, embroidered with my embroidery machine

This is a page from my Christmas Planner - Home Made Creations

There are the candle jars I made one year, and recipe albums I made for my sisters one year.. the bottom pic is of the soap gift baskets I made for friends one year.

In 2002

Home Made Soaps, Chocolate covered pretzels, and home made (rice filled) heating pads

Maximize Your Mornings Challenge

2011-09-02T10:34:00.001-07:00

Sign ups close today!

http://inspiredtoaction.com/2011/08/sign-up-now-for-the-fall-session-of-the-maximize-your-mornings-challenge/

A (online) Wreath Making Party

2011-09-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenester.com/2011/08/diy-wreath-linky-party.html

& a note about the date change, here -

http://www.thenester.com/2011/09/wreath-party-updation.html

Need more inspiration? Search Pinterest -
http://pinterest.com/search/?q=wreath

~*~*~Fields Of Heather~*~*~

Memory Verse App

Texting gloves

Texting gloves

Texting gloves

Some of My Favorite Books In 2011

2011 End Of Year Book Survey

Preparing Goodreads for 2012

2011 Reading Challenge

Cleaning Up My Twitter Feeds

The New You - Free mini Ebook

Follow Friday - using Google Reader & Feedly

Our New Family Organizer

Chin Ups & Scales Down

Merry Christmas! Day 5

30 day shred day 4

30 Day Shred Day 3

30 Day Shred Day2

30 Day Shred Day 1

Thankfulness & Worry

Making Your Home A Haven

Menu Planning Monday

HGP - Week Four, Master Bedroom

Holiday Prep:

HGP - Week Three Wrap Up

HGP - Foyer Progress

Weekly Overview

A Thanksgiving Checklist - for September

How to Make A Personal Planner

Cake decorating - no mess icing bags

Thursday Thirteen - On My Playlist

Free ebook - Creative Family Christmas Picture Ideas

HGP - Week Three, Foyer Week

Holiday Prep:

HGP Week 2 Wrap Up

HGP - Living Room Progress

Christmas Planner - Traditions

Good Morning Girls - 1 John

Flooding

Home From The Dollar Tree

Droid to the Rescue- Redbox

Eagle Scout Ceremony Invitations

My $6 Miche - Thrift Store Find

HGP - Week Two

Free Thanksgiving Printables

Menu Plan Monday

Free Photo Calendar From VistaPrint

5 Super Silly Songs - Free

Upscale Challenge - Denim

Free PDF - "Go to Meals"

Meet Daisy -

Upscale Challenge - new blog meme

BSF Starts Soon!

Home Made Christmas Gifts

Maximize Your Mornings Challenge

A (online) Wreath Making Party

~~~Fields Of Heather~~~