Monday Muses.

The weekend was a good one! Saturday morning I texted a friend until she mentioned - you know, we could talk. HAHA! So we did and it was great. She gives good business advice and I'm thankful for her.  :) I spent Saturday day at a pottery show with my mom and sister - our annual outing.  All three of us found someone we knew, so it was even better having our joy spread between friends.  I adore pottery and picked up a few pieces for gifts.  I could have gone hog wild, but didn't really have the funds (or the need) for all that in my house.

Sunday I met a sweet little boy, Lane, 3 weeks old and oh my gracious he is a cutie. How can you not fall in love with newborn babies? I think it's impossible.

One thing that keeps coming back to me over and over is how attitude plays such a large factor in our daily lives.  Like - Yes, I'm tired, still sick, butt draggin', etc etc. I could complain and moan about how TIRED I am, how BAD I feel, DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. Play it up, get more sympathy, wallow in my low points. 

OR - I can get in the floor and marvel at how wonderful it is to play with my niece, notice how quickly she is learning her nursery rhymes, watch how she plays with her blocks and laugh at her silliness. Live life instead of letting life lead me around by the nose and suck out the joy.

I CHOOSE JOY!

Yeah, it doesn't always work.  Saturday evening I let things get to me a little too much and my feeling were hurt. Which pissed me off. Oh woe is me. (Seriously, get a grip!)  But it didn't last long and I was feeling ok again. Because SERIOUSLY - how blessed am I? Abundantly.  Amazingly.  Wonderfully.  God is so good and I am so ungrateful and being so childish.  By not taking care of myself (going to bed on time!!), I'm making it more difficult to love life. Bad Bethie. So my goal this week is to get back on track. 

And since I just snapped another person's head off... maybe I should go to sleep about 8 p.m. and see if I can restore my relatively good nature.  It's slipping quickly.  :)

Monday Muses.

This weekend was filled with Sweet Niece #2 love, as her parents celebrated their anniversary at the beach.  She is just too doggone cute for words and I am so glad we got some time together.  It almost makes me want to buy a crib so she can sleep at my house! :)

We started Saturday morning wtih some play time, which then required some rest time where I became the recliner for Little Miss as we watched some PBS Kids.

And when it came time to sleep, PawPaw read Llama Llama Red Pajama a few times and before you knew it, Baby Llama was sound asleep.  What a cutie.

So obviously my weekend was wonderful - I barely left my house.

Did I have much time to think? Not really, but I did contintue to blog for my 31 Days, which I'll add Monday's entry later today.  I think that's what I spent time thinking about, my faith and relationship with God.  But I'll talk more about that later.

1)  It very easy to find all the faults in people.  Really easy. Those things stick out to us and it's so easy to comment about them, tell someone what they SHOULD be doing or should QUIT doing, how to IMPROVE and CHANGE for the better.  But in reality, most people know their own faults and don't really need someone else pointing them out.  How about instead we find the GOOD in people, what they are doing GREAT, what their TALENTS are and how they have HELPED us or IMPACTED us.  I think it would go a lot farther that all the negative.  BE POSITIVE!

2) Going along with this theme, I'd like to share a YouTube video that is making the rounds.  I love it, I love the message and it's something I know I needed to hear. And I need to hear it over and over and over because doubts creep in and I put myself down (like any of us need someone else putting us down, right?)  So watch this.  And open your heart to hear it and believe it.



Ok, that's enough for you this morning. :)  and I need to drink some more sweet tea so I MIGHT be able to wake up enough to function today.

Monday Muses on a Tuesday

Ya'll know me, I'm behind the curve about half the time, including yesterday when I didn't get this blog written and posted. :)  You still love me though, right?

So here are my thoughts from the weekend and beyond:

1- Refrigerator Oats aren't that bad!! What are Refrgerator Oats? You mix oats, yogurt, fruit and other stuff together, put it in the frige overnight and it's ready for breakfast in the morning!  http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal  Check into it. Eating better isn't quite as hard as I thought it would be.

2 - I can sometimes be a cooking queen. This weekend I made 80 stuffed pasta shells with the most delicious cheese mixture, bagged them up and froze them for later; huge pot of soup, dessert, slaw, veggie dip, and these white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for my Dad. :)  It feels good to get in the kitchen and make something yummy for family.

3 - I have the most adorable niece in the world.  Just an FYI. These were taken this weekend and let me tell you, I totally realize I am NOT a child photographer.  Oh my gosh, I was running around after her and she was NOT cooperating! But she's still adorable.


4 - Lying in bed on Saturday and Sunday morning, I just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the day. I love my house, where I'm located, my family and my life.

5 - I'm reading She Reads Truth - their series on Women in the Bible.  Then I stumbled on a video of how to tell if he is "Mr. Right."  GREAT tips.  Then I stumbled on more videos about how to know if you are ready to date, how to date, etc etc.  It was really good. So maybe all this is leading up to me actually finding a date??! Maybe not, but it still made me think and appreciate the message.

Ya'll I'm rambling. Go forth and have a great week.  :)

Monday Muses.

Ya'll, if you haven't figured it out yet, I've lost a lot of passion for blogging since Muffin passed.  Not that she's the reason I started blogging, but it ended up being quite a bit about her. So please excuse my random lapses until I get passionate about it again.

Until this day, you have to put up with my ramblings of nonsense. Such as:

I noticed this weekend we are a disposable society.  Why fix anything? We can toss it and buy another one. Which, I think, has caused us to 1) value everything less and 2) caused much personal debt.  Now that I'm trying to live by a budget, (which isn't RESTRICTING but is definitely more liberating that I ever imagined), I'm actually taking the time to fix things in my house. Heck, with Google, you can find answers to most of the issues and fix it yourself.  Which gives you something to be very proud of and keeps a lot of money in your pocket.

This weekend we also took two cars to the Safe Kids check on the installation of sweet niece #2's car seats.  Here is my sister's car getting fitted.  Loved the tents because it kept everyone dry as it started to rain before we left. These folks attended three days of training to get up-to-speed on all the car seats and the proper way to install. It was great.  While we were there, a lady had to remove her car seat because it wasn't made for the weight of the child she had in it.  They replaced it on the spot! Love this program - it is saving kids' lives right here at home.

Ya'll know few things make me as happy as having both of my sweet nieces at home.  Here they are in all their cuteness!! Two beautiful special wonderful kids that just light up my life. *sigh* Life is good.  Have we seen some sad times and stressful times? Well, yeah, just like everyone else. But life is good - and here are two of the best parts of it.

Hope your week is beautiful, stop and notice our days are getting shorter and appreciate a sunset or a sunrise.  Hug someone and tell someone how much they mean to you. I'll catch ya'll sometime later this week. :)

It's My Birthday! :)

source

Today is my BIRTHDAY!  We don't make a big deal in my family about birthday as far as crazy expensive gifts and big parties.  But we do celebrate and me - I celebrate all month long! Granted, as I've gotten older I haven't been quite as into my special day as I once was, but I still believe in everything going perfect because - well, because it's my birthday!

Source                  Source                 Source

For several years I've tried to encourage people to do something to "pay it forward" somewhat in honor of my bday.  This year, I've asked folks to give to the USO.  Why? Well, for several reasons:

• I have been a supporter of our military forever. These guys & gals are putting it on the line for me and my family - I gotta respect and support them for that. 
• I have seen the USO in action. Been touched by their support of the troops. I know what it means, felt what it means to the troops and their families. 
• It's an organization that supports the troops, cares for their children, helps troops stay in contact with their families, cares for wounded warriors - it's a multi-faceted organization. 

Interested in giving any amount - every dollar makes a difference! http://www.teamuso.org/create/bethcovington

Every penny matters.  And it's tax deductible and puts you in the drawing for one of my scrapbooks. :)  And it makes my birthday THAT much happier!  Just saying...

Now, today is also MONDAY, which is usually Monday Muses.  I laid in bed last night wondering what I should write about today.  Umm.. I came up with nothing.  This weekend was a whirlwind of being on the road and with family.  Visitation for a relative that passed on Friday, Saturday shopping and family get together that evening.  Sunday church and visiting my aunt (my uncle passed two weeks ago).  So it's been a wide-open kinda weekend.  

What about you? What's shaking in your world? Fill me in!

Monday Muse.

This week/weekend, I have learned:

-- Life is better with a clean kitchen. Being single, it takes forever to get a load of dishes in the dishwasher. I've finally discovered just washing the plate/fork/glass will make me feel better than waiting for a full load.

-- Fresh fruit is yummy when you add fruit dip.  Try this - it's delish.
               1 package of cream cheese, softened
               1 cup of brown sugar
               1 T of vanilla

Beat the cream cheese with a mix until it's whipped.  Add the sugar and vanilla until everything is thoroughly mixed.  Chill.  Holy cow it's goooooooood.

-- God does not like busy bodies (I call these people meddlers or gossipers. People who are getting involved in things they shouldn't get involved with, if you know what I mean).
 
               Count it a blessing when you suffer for being a Christian.
             This shows that God’s glorious Spirit is with you.                    15 But you deserve to suffer if you are a murderer, a thief,
             a crook, or a busybody.   - 1 Peter 4:14-15

You know I learned my lesson about being a busy body earlier this week.  Then I had this as my devotional last night.  I'm sure I'll slip again, but I do hope I am reforming my ways.

So there, that is my muses from the week/weekend.  But today is Monday, so I have an entirely new slate to write my new thinkings. :)

Monday Muses... or Not.

So, I'm a wee bit late on this, but I do have a reason.

This weekend/end-of-last-week-beginning-of-this-week has been another adventure for me and the fam.  First let me say, I put stuff here with emphasis on the drama to entertain, but I totally realize how blessed I am.  Wonderfully blessed!

So on to my life.

Last week was busy. I had events on the road. Did a bit of driving/riding for work over three days. Visited with friends for dinner (Donna, Sister Beth and Ellie - always fun!).  Rode with Dad to visit my uncle in the hospital.  Life is so uncertain from moment to moment, even though we like to think we have it all in control.  We SO do not. If you are a praying person, please add my uncle to your prayer list.

Saturday drove an hour and a half or so to see my friend Paulene, which is awesome.

Paulene is a super cheerleader to me. Inspiring, so talented and smart, so creative and forward-thinking. She has it going on big time. She just doesn't realize it most of the time... but seriously, a great encourager.  Check out her shop, Leen Machine, a modern stationary and invitation shop. Love her line of stationary.

Sunday, I will admit, we skipped church to go on an all-girls picnic!  My sister, Sweet Niece #1, Sweet Niece #2, my S-I-L and I all gathered at the park for BBQ sandwiches, fresh fruit, and great family time.

Sweet Niece #1, S-I-L, Sweet Niece #2

Sweet Niece #2, Sis, and Sweet Niece #1

The Sweet Sisters together

It was a perfect beautiful day. The temperature was just right, we had no bugs bothering us, no person bothered us - just a great day.  We were concerned when we saw envelopes about surviving an Zombie Apocalypse on one of the benches, but it seems the zombie war happened before we got there. Thank heavens.

Monday I was off work to watch Sweet Niece #2 while Mom & Dad went to the DR and to visit my uncle. That night, Mom fell and broke her foot. Tuesday, I watched Sweet Niece #2 while Mom went to the DR for her foot.

Today, I'm back at work. I'm in dire need of a break because babies are exhausting! Holy cow, that's hard work.  And I needed to do my homework for Financial Peace University since that started last week.  Tonight is class #2, so I needed to not show up already behind. Seriously.

So there is my life.  No muses. I'm just too tired to try and come up with what I'm thinking. As my Dad has been saying the past six months, "We are in survival mode." Yes we are.

BUT - GOD IS AWESOME. And I don't want that fact to be lost. Because Mom's break could have been SO MUCH WORSE. And things with my uncle could be worse. I'm getting my financial life in order and that is such a BLESSING.  I'm good, I'm happy. I have a wonderful family and I love them dearly. I have a great work place that picked up everything and covered for me at the drop of a hat. That's awesome, ya'll, that's awesome.

So someone tell me what you are up to? Share something good, something funny, something about Big Brother or Downton Abbey? :)

Monday Muses.

So what did my mind wander about this weekend?

-- True Love is Beautiful.  I attended a wedding of this couple that are so totally and completely in love. The wedding was So Simple and you know what, it was ten times as beautiful because of it. All you could see was the Bride, the Groom and their Love. They totally glowed with it. And were so gracious in speaking to everyone, so thankful to each person for sharing an afternoon and a lifetime moment with them. Truly, it was beautiful.

-- People who honestly understand God's Blessings amaze me.  A lady who has been seriously sick for 2+ years, in and out of the hospital, lost half of her kidneys, liver, and more - all her reproductive organs - she shared with me how God has blessed her.  She has been in and out of the hospital for years, 22 days, 15 days, you get the picture ... her bills are sky-high. And she's sharing how blessed she is for now understanding how people with serious health issues deal with them. Especially those with children, and she's thankful to understand their struggles now. Wow. She gets it in a way I haven't opened up to yet. I have a lot to learn.

-- Don't kiss off people just because they are leaving your life or you are leaving theirs. Minimize the hard feelings and let it go.  Trust me, there is a strong possibility they'll pop back up at some point and you may regret the actions of the past.  Hmmm... yeah.

So there. That's what I've had ping ponging about in my mind. :)

How was your weekend? In addition to the wedding and working on scrapbooks, I shopped with my sister and Macy and I skipped my 20th high school reunion this weekend.  I kinda felt down for a moment about skipping the reunion, but when I saw they were still up at 6:15 a.m. the next morning, I realized it wasn't a bad thing to miss it at all.  Not many of my old peeps were there, and I don't really share anything with these people anymore. No hard feelings (remember what I just said!) but it's ok I didn't go.  Maybe next time - the 50th or something.

Monday Muse.

Have you noticed that those things that annoy the HECK out of you are things that usually show up in yourself?  No really, I've heard that a million times, but this weekend I was grousing in my head about someone and their tendency to do XYZ.

Then I realized, oh...well, I've done that, too, but it was different when I did because... ABC. As I continued to the grousing and justification, I just had to laugh before it was all over. Because what I had done and what this other person had done really aren't different at all. No way to justify.

Isn't it interesting when you come to a realization like this? Yeah...

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I discovered this weekend why movie theaters shouldn't sell beer.  Drunk people in movies are funny but distracting. But again, they are funny.

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Sadly, that same night, I overheard our waitress tell someone she thinks her kids should only have to go to school for six months. It wasn't fair them going to school for nine and then off for only 2.5.  I'm not sure where the other half month went, ... holidays?

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This sweet baby girl went on vacay with her family this weekend - I haven't seen her since THURSDAY! This is totally unacceptable. Can't wait to get home and snuggle on her tonight.

Ok folks, there are your Monday Muses.  I hope your week is FABULOUS! :)

Monday Muse.

I've been having all these conversations with myself lately - so here, enjoy the depths of my mind.

• Why aren't people open to making new friends? I'm baffled by this. I've met people here online and in person at various places and thought to myself - they are pretty cool! I'd like to get to know them better and become friends! But you can tell they are shut off totally from opening up to new people. Not Interested in the least. I really don't understand that at all.
  
• A dear friend is struggling with having to put her pet down.  As you very well know if you read here much, this was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do. So my heart is aching for her right now.
  
• Another friend struggled with coworkers who were ALWAYS late everyday. And here she is working her full eight hours while someone else is stealing time off the clock. We all have worked with this type of person at one time or another. She is very wise, she finally realized she agreed to a certain wage for a certain amount of time. Her responsiblity was to keep up her end of the bargin. This other coworker wasn't her responsibility.  AMEN. What a wise person my friend is, right? It's hard to do, but the coworker will have to live with her decisions and we must live with ours.
  
• Why can't I get motivated to lose weight? I want to. I need to. But I have not managed to push myself off the couch yet.  Hmm... I've got to find that thing that encourages me to MOVE IT! Stay tuned on this.
  

So yeah, I think that's where my mind is at from this weekend.  I did some more work on Pressed Clovers but for some reason I wasn't happy with my work.  I ended up putting it down and will come back to it later this week.  Pressed Clovers is very important to me so I want to feel good about what I'm putting out there.  So putting it down for a day was just a better move, I think. 

Ok ya'll, go have a great week! :)