Things I Love....In the Kitchen - Bunn Coffee Maker

Things I Love...

This is my feature where I get to share something that I just love. Since you are my friends, I like sharing things I love with others. It could be anything from a new product, food, recipe, song, image, to a person and everything in between. This will be something I am completely doing on my own, without pressure or compensation from a company, author, PR/Marketing firm, friend, business owner, etc. This will just be something that makes me happy and I want to share it with you. Enjoy some love!
For the next few weeks, I am going to focus my Things I Love on things I love in my kitchen. I love to cook and bake and there are a few things that I Could. Not. Live. Without.

Today's love is..............................Bunn Coffee Maker

For Christmas last year, my husband gave me a new Bunn Coffee Maker.  I was skeptical at first because I didn't think we really needed a new one.  This one also didn't have the programmable feature that our other one had.  But, I gave it a try.  The key is it will make a FULL POT of coffee in just 3 MINUTES!  How awesome is that.  So, really no need for the programmable feature. There is always a reserve of hot water ready anytime we want to brew up a pot of coffee, which is quite often around here.  Another great thing is that when we have company (like my dad who loves coffee), I can ask, "Dad, would you like some coffee?" and I can produce a fresh hot pot in 3 minutes! 

So, if you go through lots of coffee and are in the market for a new coffee pot, I think the Bunn is the way to go.  They are a little in the pricey range, around $100, but for heavy coffee drinkers, it is definitely worth the price!



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What I Learned from 1 and 2 Samuel - Reading the Bible in 90 Days

As you know I have started reading the Bible. I have 90 days to complete it and I am reading it with hundreds (1200+ to be exact) of other women. Each week (and even day to day) we check-in with each other on our progress, to pray for each other, and to share our thoughts. How cool is that?


So, I thought I would take each Book of the Bible and share my thoughts, verses, or people that stood out or spoke to me on that particular day. I have been doing most of my reading in the mornings when it is quiet, but some days I have to finish up in the afternoon or evening..or even the next day! The key is to get it done. If you get behind, you keep at it....catching up in chunks each day. The readings have been manageable and I am still praying it stays that way for me. I am currently several days behind schedule, but, I know I will catch up.

So, here are my thoughts from the Books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel:
 
Both of these books were tough to get through.  There is a lot of violence, killing, polygomy, and evil acts.  But there were also some verses that jumped out at me.
 
1 Samuel 10:6 The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  When the Spirit of the Lord becomes part of you, you will surely be changed forever.
 
1 Samuel 12:20 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied, "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You can still be forgiven by God if you repent and change your ways.
 
1 Samuel 16:7 ...."The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
 
1 Samuel 16:8-13 This section reminds me of CINDERELLA where the prince comes to find the woman who fits into the glass slipper and he asks, are these all the daughters in the house and out comes 1 more.  Maybe Disney got their story idea from the Bible.
 
1 Samuel 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine (Goliath) with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. With God on your side and complete trust in Him, great obstacles can be overcome - even giants!
 
2 Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.  David's grief over losing Jonathan was deeply felt. 
 
2 Samuel 3:1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.  David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.  When God is behind you, you will be strong. 
 
2 Samuel 3:2-5 But even those who follow God make poor choices - David's many wives and children were not looked upon as favorable to God.  In future chapters, David suffers due to his many wives.
 
2 Samuel - I'm still having trouble with all the killing and cutting off of heads.  Then if that wasn't enough, they carry the heads around with them.  UGH!
 
2 Samuel 6 - Reading about all the dancing reminds me of FOOTLOOSE when Wren quotes from the Bible at the school board meeting to get them to allow the school to have prom. 
 
I have also been noticing the importance of the trumpet throughout these first several books. 
 
2 Samuel 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David's nostrils.... Quite the use of descriptive words to describe David's disgust here.
 
2 Samuel - Even David has becom so full of himself that he doesn't even recognize his own sin.  A good reminder for Christians that we are still vulnerable to evil and poor choices.
 
2 Samuel 22:2-3 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.
 
2 Samuel 22:29-30 You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. 
 
These last four verses are ones that I will refer to again and again.
 
I hope you are learning along with me.  Maybe your interest has even been peaked enough to pick up your own Bible and begin reading.  I know I am certainly learning things I never knew before. 
 
Now on to 1 and 2 Kings....

Announcing A New Look

I am super excited to announce my new look!  I have been toying around with the idea and trying to see if I could do it myself.  Yeah, that wasn't going to happen!  So, I saw a post about Cutesie Blog Designs and I decided to go for it. 

Leah was soooooooooo patient with me.  She answered every question and explained things in terms that I could understand.  She had lots of great ideas and integrated them with my own ideas.  I am really happy with the result and her prices were very reasonable. 

If you are looking to change up your blog design, you should definitely check out Leah's work.  You can see lots of other sites she has done on her own blog.  Leah is also a teacher and is expecting their first child, so you better act fast before she gets too busy!

Thanks to Leah at Cutesie Blog Designs for all your hard work! 

Things I Love...in the Kitchen - Kuhn Rikon Knife

Things I Love...

This is my feature where I get to share something that I just love. Since you are my friends, I like sharing things I love with others. It could be anything from a new product, food, recipe, song, image, to a person and everything in between. This will be something I am completely doing on my own, without pressure or compensation from a company, author, PR/Marketing firm, friend, business owner, etc. This will just be something that makes me happy and I want to share it with you. Enjoy some love!

For the next few weeks I am going to focus my Things I Love on things I love in my kitchen.  I love to cook and bake and there are a few things that I Could. Not. Live. Without.

Today's love is..............................Kuhn Rikon Knife.

I was first introduced to these knives when my cousin, Melanie, gave me a pink one for a gift.  Then I convinced my husband to give these knives to his top clients in his annual Christmas box.  Since he works for ING, they had to be orange, of course, so I now have an orange one too.

These knives have a steel, nonstick blade that is super sharp.  They also come with a little cover that the blade slides into.  I don't even put these knives away.  I keep them right in my dish drainer because I am using them All. The. Time.

They retail for just $10.00 and can be found in your favorite kitchen supply store.  They also come in a huge array of colors.  What a fun way to brighten up the task of cutting onions!!!  What's your favorite color?

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A Chuckle for the Day

Do you ever feel this way?  Has this ever happened to you?  Thanks to Baby Blues for giving me a chuckle!
I tried everything to get this to lay the other way but my mediocre technology knowledge wouldn't let me.  So, just turn your head or your laptop and you'll get the idea!



What I Learned from Judges and Ruth - Reading the Bible in 90 Days

As you know I have started reading the Bible. I have 90 days to complete it and I am reading it with hundreds (1200+ to be exact) of other women. Each week (and even day to day) we check-in with each other on our progress, to pray for each other, and to share our thoughts. How cool is that?

So, I thought I would take each Book of the Bible and share my thoughts, verses, or people that stood out or spoke to me on that particular day. I have been doing most of my reading in the mornings when it is quiet, but some days I have to finish up in the afternoon or evening..or even the next day! The key is to get it done. If you get behind, you keep at it....catching up in chunks each day. The readings have been manageable and I am still praying it stays that way for me.

So, here are my thoughts from the Books of Judges and Ruth:

Judges 2:10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.    What will happen if our future generations don't know the Lord?  I need to be sure that my children and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren know the stories of Jesus. To be sure they know he is their Savior.  As well as teach them to share that "Good News" with others to create a new generation of people who love the Lord.

In Judges there was a lot of drifting away from God and not following his laws.  Not following God has consequences, but God is still forgiving if you repent and pray.

I'm seeing a lot of comparisons between our world and Israel during their days without a king. SCARY!  I am putting my faith in God that he will arm me for the battle that is yet to come.

Ruth 1:16-18 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.  When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stoped urging her.  What a beautiful woman Ruth was.  She sacrificed and gave of herself for her mother-in-law, Naomi. 

Ruth 2:4 Just then Boaz arived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!" "The Lord bless you!" they called back.  Can you imagine going to work every day and having your boss say, "The Lord be with you!"? Wow!  What a wonderful place of work that would be!

Ruth 2:10-12 Ruth's character is definitely one to model:  loving, kind, faithful, courageous, hard-working, determined, and loyal.  All qualities I would like to emulate and strive to achieve on a daily basis.

What an amazing faith Naomi and Ruth had in their Lord.  Awesome role models!

Now on to 1 Samuel!

Some Aha Moments

Over the last couple weeks I watched a video series called "Calm, Productive Upbeat Days for Busy Moms" by Lisa Byrne.  It was a 3-Part video that I was able to watch on my own time and it was FREE.  Check it out HERE if you are interested.  Visit http://www.wellgroundedsite.com/  for more information on Lisa's resources.

Last week, I also took a class called "Habits of Mind" at our local AEA Agency for some relicensure credits.  The class was based on the book NAPOLEON HILL'S KEYS TO SUCCESS: THE 17 PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT by Napleon Hill.  In this class I had to create my own success model.  I decided to do my success model on having a more organized routine to my day.  I plan to kick that off once school starts in a few weeks.  I am really looking forward to being more structured in my day and getting some things accomplished instead of running around all day, starting lots of projects and not really completing any of them.

Some key AHA moments for me from these two opportunities were:

You would never consider taking away play and rest time from your children, so why would you take it away from yourself?  I am embarrassed to say I had NEVER thought of it that way.  Of course I know how important play time is for the kids and obviously rest time.  I wouldn't allow them to get 6 hours of sleep or spend their entire day working.  Why do I do that to myself?  Thanks Lisa!  I need to plan for free time in my day just like I plan out my other tasks.

A recent study found that people who multitask really do not accomplish as much as others who focus on one task at a time.  That was a slap across the face....I have ALWAYS been a multi-tasker.  What mom isn't?  But, after listening to the instructor explain the findings, I think my jaw dropped.  I do run around the house all day...starting dishes, then the dryer buzzes so I grab them quick, then on the way I see trash needs to be taken out so I take it out so I push it down farther, then the phone rings and as I am on the phone I walk around and pick up things off the floor, etc, etc.  You know what I mean!  So, if I focus on one task at a time, I am more likely to get those items completed and move on to the next one.  This may be an obvious thing to you, but coming from a multi-tasker this was a light-bulb moment for me. I am going to try to structure my tasks more and see if I feel like I have actually accomplished something at the end of the day.

An essential component to feeling that you belong in life, you need to have a WO'MANCE. A Wo'mance is a relationship with another woman in your life who is someone who guides, supports, loves, understands and believes in you.  This person can be a sister, mom, friend, aunt, cousin, daughter, etc.  But, it is someone who you can be completely "real" with.  Someone besides your spouse who is one of your biggest cheerleaders.  I am lucky to have one of these people in my life and without her I know my life would crumble.  We "talk" almost daily and support each other, laugh with each other, and guide each other through the tough moments in life.  Thanks, Mel for being in a Wo'mance with me and thanks to Lisa for giving me a reason to cherish that relationship even more!

Having a Positive Mental Attitude is a key to a happy life.  Ok, duh, I know that should be obvious.  But, I know you know someone who is always complaining, creating drama, finding the negative in every situation and just spending time with that person can bring you down.  I have cut a few of those people out of my life and others, I have learned to tune them out or not play into their downward spiral.  One day last week, after leaving class I saw this truck that had seen better days.  In the back end of the truck, piled high was what looked to me like "junk".  I know one person's junk is another's treasure, but this looked clearly like junk.  Then across the back of this truck was this statement..."Same Nightmare Different Day".  I thought to myself, yep I bet it is. If that is how you think about your day, then that is how your day/life is going to be carried out.  Yeah, I may think doing laundry, dishes, sweeping, etc can be a monotonous "nightmare" some days....but if that is the perspective I give it, then I am certainly going to feel like it is a nightmare.  If I look at it as providing clean, fresh smelling clothes for my family, so they can look and feel their best, then I am going to feel better about it.  Having a PMA every day about whatever it is you may be doing will help you create success.  If you feel positively about getting the dishes and laundry done, you are more likely to get them done.  If you are dreading doing the dishes and laundry, you are going to find ways to avoid them and feel grouchy about doing them.  So, turn on your favorite Pandora station and get those chores done! Also, in general, having a PMA on a daily basis about your life will cause others around you to be happy and positive as well.  You know the saying, "If Momma ain't happy, then nobody's happy."  I am the first to admit that when I am in a grouchy mood, it radiates throughout the house.  I really am going to be working on my PMA in the next few weeks.

None of these above items are new ideas or shocking to the average person. But, for me, it just took the right moment, the right person, and the right attitude for me to listen and take these ideas to heart.  They were AHA moments for me, and maybe they will be for you too. 

If you are interested in learning more about any of these topics you should definitely check out Lisa Byrne at http://www.wellgroundedsite.com/ or any of Napoleon Hill's books.  May you have a positively successful day!