Choosing Joy.

For the last two-ish years I've been working VERY hard at Choosing Joy. The concept is simple: Life can be hard, but you get one shot at it so don't live it being negative and ungrateful.


Sun shining day, rockin' it out at my job day, getting along great with husband day, I didn't do anything to piss off my mom day, looking cute day= easy to be Joyful.

Minnesota winter snow storm day, can't do anything right at work day, just not clicking with husband day, my mom yelled at me day, the silver (fine, gray) roots are really showing day= NOT as easy to be Joyful.


joy·ful

adjective

1. full of joy, as a person or one's heart; glad; delighted.

2. showing or expressing joy, as looks, actions, or speech.

3. causing or bringing joy, as an event, a sight, or news; delightful: the joyful announcement of their marriage.

(thank you dictionary.com)

I would add:

4. the joy of the grace and love of God; the joy in one's heart comes from God.

Also in the last two years I've annoyed people with my "Choosing Joy".

Fine.

But I'm not sorry. I usually post something about Joy when I'm struggling the most.
Must.Reframe.
(reframe= stop. think. evaluate situation. is it really as bad as I thought? put it in perspective. be self aware. be grateful. adjust attitude.)

The more I remind myself that when things are ugly or inconvenient or uncomfortable that I need to Choose Joy in the situation. It is up to ME to make the best of EVERYTHING in my life while leaning on and being grateful to God for giving me the ups and downs that I experience therefore I will learn from them and perhaps share the wisdom gained with others.

So. I do it - my Facebook status will be "Choose Joy! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood"

(Mr. Rogers flashbacks occasionally occur in my head)

Or it'll say "Missing my Gram Millie today, but I will Choose Joy as I know she is in heaven and I'm grateful to have known her"
...or they could be less serious "Choosing Joy that although my yard is full of dandelions at least I have a yard!"

Cheesy? Perhaps. Does it work? Absolutely.  Just a few seconds to stop and think about my attitude and I reframe.

--sometimes reframing also includes pouring a Diet Coke into a full, frosty glass of ice...meh, I never said I was perfect.

Bible verses:

Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." 

John 16:22 - "So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.".

2 Corinthians 7:4- "I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy."

Not into God? (well, call me- I can introduce you to Him)--- There is still a place for Joy in your life. Just live a few days reminding yourself to Choose Joy when things seem to be going south...I predict your heart will feel better and your mood improved. 

It's NOT often easy, but it makes life so much easier/better/positive and really affects the people around you when you Choose Joy!

Book Club. A Must.

For years- YEARS- I didn't read for pleasure.  Don't get me wrong, I loved a good magazine or I'd read articles online about politics or the news, but reading a book for the pure love of it was NOT HAPPENING. No interest. Fast forward 10ish years and I am now in TWO book clubs. And I have serious love for them. I am blessed to be married to a man that not only totally gets me but he also gets that women need women time and he supports me taking time to spend with other chicks.

Here is a peek into my psyche- the reasons I Love & Need my book clubs:

1. I have WONDERFUL friends. Book club is a great excuse to get together
2. Test new recipes
3. Moscato on a week night
4. Every few months I get to be the hostess (which I adore! there are definitely ladies that are "better" at it, but I LOVE hosting!)
5. Oh! Then there is the books-- I read FOR PLEASURE now which has forced me to sit down and relax. I had no idea that I sucked at relaxing. Sure, once or twice a month I'd scrapbook and that was good (post later on this AMAZING-ness), but reading is something that can be done daily to just chill.  And I would much rather read than stare at the stupid box that is the television.
6. The "extra" of the night- getting updates on each other's lives: kids, parents, jobs, travels, struggles and victories.
7. I work from home. I heart my job. Muchly. But being at home all day where I now have full conversions with my Doberman has proven that I needed something to GET ME OUT OF THE HOUSE on a regular basis. Hence the TWO book clubs.
8. Two book clubs:
     - "Monday Night Women's Christian Book Club" consists of some lovely ladies that I know from church. We usually choose books written by Christian authors and/or have Christian themes. We meet every six weeks.
     -"Firefly Book Club" consists of this beautiful mix of some of my favorite women EVER. Family (Lisa T, Danielle & Lise not pictured), friends from high school and college (Kristine & Crystal, Lisa M not pictured), a neighbor (Amanda), a crafty friend (Katie) and a new friend (Gail). We meet once a month.

My Firefly Book Club

Celebrating our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY in June 2012!!!

I hope that I know these women forever.

Book Clubs= Good. Need them for sanity and brain & heart health.

My Goodreads link:

In my next life...JuNkiN'

If I believed in next lives (which I don't- Heaven is my goal, for the record) I would spend my next life as a designer.  As in Interior and Exterior Designer...shopping for treasures and remaking/repurposing/reloving them for people's homes and businesses.

I would do EXACTLY what these ladies do: http://junkgypsyblog.com/ and http://www.gypsyville.com/

And I want to talk like them.  They say precious things like "Ya'll" and "Golly!"  It's so sweet I get a toothache when I listen to them.  I want these ladies to adopt me and teach me everything they know.  AND I'd also get to live in Texas, which is on my bucket list.

Ya'll know what!? I don't need to dream about this...I can totally do this! Why not?  I can still keep my day job.  Aren't dreams what weekends are for?  ...well, dreams and everything else that needs to get crammed into two short little days that didn't get accomplished the other five days of the week.

So- raise your glass to dreams! I hope you are doing something about making yours come true!

Don't mess with my Iced Tea

I have SERIOUS opinions about Iced Tea.

1. Nestea is the BEST
 --preferrably the way Gram Millie used to make it- crazy strong and sweet, tons of iced cubes  (note: I'm also addicted to iced cubes. this makes Nate crazy)
 --problem with this: one serving of Nestea is the equivalent  to ALL of the carbs I eat/drink in ONE day.
 --yes, we always bought it in this giant tub.  I remember when it was $2.99 (back in the day, when the world was black and white).  Now it's $4.99.  I don't care- totally worth it...except for the dang carbs.

2. Sun tea is a waste of my time
--not yummy. easy as that.

3. Crystal Lite, although tasty enough, gives me RIDIC (ridiculous) heart burn...lame.

4. I'm happy to report I will not have to live Iced Tea free this summer!
--I took a leap of Iced Tea Faith and, after staring at and reading the labels of the choices in the coffee/juice/beverage aisle for a good, long seven minutes, the Lipton Diet Iced Tea with Lemon found it's way into my cart.
--My mom, aunt and Gram Millie have always been hard core Nestea fans so I feel a bit like a trader for buying Lipton.  HOWEVER. I'm desperate.  Summer is around the corner= nice weather, nights on the deck, grilling, boating, 4th of July, God Bless America--

I MUST HAVE ICED TEA.

So, I'm drinking it right now...with a twinge of guilt. It's tasty and, for comfort, I added extra ice and I'm drinking it out of the last official 'ol school pink

Tupperware cup from Gram Millie's cupboard.

(can people read blogs in heaven?? Hi Gram! Love you & miss you-- more than I could ever explain!)

 I'm relieved.

Everything is going to be OK.

Dinner.

We're a low carb house.  People don't always get it.

And that's okay, it's not about other people. 

It's what I need for my health, so it's what we do.

Enough about that.  Now- onto the FUN part. 

Tonight's Menu:

"Mrs. Capones"

(inspired by, er...copied from our butcher -- Big Steer Meats)

What you'll need

Chicken breasts

Green Olives

Capicola

Hard (or Genoa) Salami

Provolone Cheese

Seasoning - we use Porketta seasoning that our butcher sells

Prep chicken

(the usual- remove silver skin and such, wash it and I split the breasts in half)

Then use your seasoning on the raw chicken.

Yes- I wear latex gloves when I work with chicken. I'm not necessarily a germaphobe...but chicken freaks me out.

Bake the chicken on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes

(or until the chicken has about 10 minutes left to bake)

Take the mostly baked chicken out of the oven, place the Capicola, salami, green olives and provolone on the chicken and finish baking the chicken.

And Enjoy!

Replace chicken with steak= "The Al Capone"

Replace chicken with the pork chops= "Squealy Capone"

I made some curtains. Kind of.

I didn't use a sewing machine but I made curtains!

Here's how

Supplies needed:

fabric- measured out for your windows with two inches extra for hems

liquid stitch (this is the MAGIC!)

iron

ironing board

yard stick

pins

fabric pen

patience

1. Wander around Joann Fabrics for 45 minutes trying to decide on fabric. Repeat the next day and finally decide on something...or be more efficient than me and buy it on the first trip.

2. I washed and ironed the fabric and then let it sit on the dryer in laundry room for a couple weeks.  YOU could, however, just get to it right away- your choice.

3.  The next thing I did was measure out my fabric to the specs of my window and then added two inches on three sides and what will be the top edge left three inches so it has room for the curtain rod.

4.  I took my yard stick and fabric pen and drew lines at the two inch mark (and three inch) on all four sides on the fabric.  I then folded over the fabric at the mark, pinned the fabric and then ironed the hem to make crisp and straight lines. (well, pretty straight lines).

5. After all four sides were marked and ironed I got out the Liquid Stitch

($5.99 at Joann's- but you know I used a coupon!)

6. This is the "hard" part...no it's not. This is the EASY part.  Liquid Stitch is just like glue- so take the bottle and squeeze the "glue" on the hem side of the fabric.

***on the hanging hem side do NOT glue sides as you'll need to keep those open for the curtain rod***

Press down, neatly. Let dry 24 hours.

7. Hang 'em up! Remember to hang by the three inch hem. And DONE!



kitchen door

above sink

(we are working on stripping our 1941 cupboards...so yeah, that's why they look like that)

"Why", you ask, "did she pick that random fabric?"

Maybe it's crazy, but I had a white kitchen for 10 years.

Sick.Of.It.

So, I got crazy with this green and yellow. Then we got new floors (thank the Lord!). And then I used orange (see rug) as the accent color.  There are giant orange gerbera flowers in a giant vase on the fridge and orange/green/yellow acessories. 

We went retro to fit in with our 1941 kitchen. 

Make sense? Maybe no, it's not for everyone- but I love it!

HAPPY LIQUID STITCH TO YOU!!!

Relaunch of the Blog: new name, new look, new attitude!

Are Blogs still cool??? Yes they are! Yes. They are.

I'm relaunching my bloggy-blog. 

New Name: Get Joyful, Get Crafty, Get Real!

(still found at phillipsdobes.blogspot.com)

Here is what you can expect:

All kinds of Joy

the Joy of the Lord
things that crack me
things that will crack you up

All kinds of Craftiness

pics and how-tos of projects I've attempted and occasionally succeed at
coolness I found on Pinterest that I aspire to do, but will probably never get to
scrapbooking and stamping tid bits

All kinds of Real-ness

marriage stuff
friendship stuff
aging parent stuff

...randoms you'll get: big fish that I catch, rants on random things I want to rant about, pics of my dog, recipes, book and movie reviews/recommendations...oh you'll love the surprises. Yes. You will.

Teaser-- once I get 50 followers I'll be doing Gift Card give-a-way to some glorious store. 

YOU could be the lucky winner. Details later.

SHOUT OUT: to my Karli Bell for hookin' me up with the new cutie blog site and design and for the inspiration.  I HIGHLY encourage you to check her brilliant blog out at: farmerbell.blogspot.com

Comments and feedback welcome.

Life is Good, God is Great!
CP~