Life is too short.....

I have heard this comment many times but until recent events in my life it really wasnt' that powerful of a saying. I myself have said it many times in the past but didn't really take into consideration what it actually meant.

This whole stupid horrible thing that is going on with me and my son Mattie just has to stop and since Mattie is an adult and can do whatever he wants then that leaves me I am also an adult and I am responsible for what I do and how I react to things, I am not responsible for Mattie's way of looking at things but I do have to be responsible for my own actions. I got mad at Mattie and his new wife because they did not tell me that they had already gotten married. Part of why I was mad was becasue I didnt' understand what it would matter if I knew or not. I have only met his new wife 2 times and I really like her. I am very happy that they are married and I truly do wish them all the best in life. This is were the life is too short part comes in....I could sit back and be angry at them both and never have any contact with them, but Life is TOO short for that, I dont' have time for it nor do I want to waste my time even thinking about it. So as humbling as it was I I sent Sara a text and then called her, she didnt' seem like she was mad but then I really dont' know her that well. I also recently sent them both a wedding card telling them that I am happy for them.I am trying to think in my mind(Please quit laughing everyone, I do have somewhat of a mind :) what does it say in the Bible and of course forgiveness is the first thing I though of, if I expect God to forgive me every time that I make a mistake and fail then I have to offer forgiveness to them for not telling me and just get on with life. They sara and Mattie may not think they need my forgiveness, but them needing it and me giving it is two totally different things. I am forgiving out of obidience to my God. This of course doesnt' mean that I am now just going to let every thing roll off my back and not say what I am thinking but like it or not I AM Mattie's Mom, I will ALWAYS be Mattie's mom, and no one not even Mattie himself can take that away from me. I love him unconditionally, no matter what and I am very proud of the nice young man he has turned into. I am also very proud of the fact that he is a soldier. Mattie does not read my blog but I just needed to write this out to get it off my chest. I do feel better now.

4th of July

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, MAY YOU ALL HAVE A VERY WONDERFUL BLESSED DAY.
Blessings,Joann

Saturday here at home...

Today Roger and I did some errands, one of which was going to the farmers market this morning. We have the nicest farmers market they always have good fruit and veggies.

Today we got some apricots, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, yukon gold potatoes. tomatoes and a couple of onions.The strawberries are so sweet as is everything else except of course for the tomatoes, potatoes and onions.





I got my bread machine going early this morning and was able to make some homemade hamburger buns



for tonights dinner




and also a small pan of just plain dinner rolls.



The whole house smelled wonderful with the fragrance of fresh baked bread. This time i got smart and got all the ingredients out the night before and left them on the counter. It seems like I always intend to make some sort of bread and I take the butter out to thaw and then forget about it and then I have liquid butter and that won't work for bread making. I was very happy I made them as they made our dinner taste so good. I think it was a combination of the good homemade buns and Roger's grilling of the burgers that made everything taste good:)

Sunday I plan on working on my winter wonderland project, it is supposed to be in the low 100's so maybe it will make me think cool thoughts. today's temp was 104' according to the van thermometer.

Have a very blessed Sunday.

Blessings,Joann

Working on homekeeping schedules..

today I started to tackle my biggest problem in my home right now ME!!!

I used to be very dilligent about getting things done and everything had to be just so and I tried to step back and not worry so much about getting things done but I think I stepped back way too far...Now nothing is getting done so I am going back to my old schedule with a few little tweaks to it.

You probably can't tell by the pictures but I have the prettiest light purple paper that I printed everything out on and I really like it. I find if I like things and they are pretty to me I am more apt to use them.

I have been editing the daily pages to get rid of items like scoop litter box since we don't have Oreo anymore and things I don't need on them but they are not all done yet. So please excuse the way they look right now.

Here are all the pages lined up~


And then in daily form~

Mondays~



Tuesdays~




Wednesdays~



Thursdays~




Fridays~





This is how I am putting them together~

The first page is the weekly menu calendar and then the weeks daily chores pages.~




I also have a page for monthly menu planning but have to work my way up to that one, struggling just to do a few days at a time right now.


Don't know for sure if this will work but I always will give something a whirl and see what does and doesn't work for me. Basically I really just have to let go and let God help me with this. I want to do what I am doing for the glory of God and Him alone. Not so that my home will be like a picture in a magazine or so people will see it and say " oh my your home is beautiful,". I like my home to have that lived in look but be clean and a place of refuge for my husband to come home to every night after his long commute. Who wants to come home to a dirty home every night.

Please leave a comment if you would like and let me know how you organize your homekeeping schedule or a link to it if you have a blog.

I feel as though I am not living up to my expectations I have for myself at being a homekeeper. This is the only job I want and I want to do it well. ANd please don't think for a minute that everyday everything on the lists get done. Take today for example I did start dinner in the crockpot this morning and I did most of the morning chores but I did none of todays cleaning chores (the kitchen) and we will have to see what happens tonight with the evening chores. I do have laundry going but it's been cool here the past few days and even though I knew it was going to get hotter today it really kind of snuck up on me and I now have a raging headache, I am hot and there are a million things to get done. Thankfully I have a new day ahead of me tomorrow :)

I printed out pages for menu planning from www.frugalmom.net

Menu pages~

Monthly~




Weekly~






And last but not least, Roger and I both got one of these phones the other day, having fun with it but will take me months to really figure it out :).....


My new phone, it has a real pretty purple case on it but you can't really see it~




Have a wonderfully blessed day in the Lord.
Blessings,Joann

Tomorrow is the big day......

Tomorrow is Roger's first day of his new job, and my first day in a long time without him being home all day. Not sure if I will like that or not kind of got used to him being here.

Last week on thursday morning we packed up some clothes etc.. and our little doggies and took a short trip over to Ft. Bragg on the ocean. We had our honeymoon in Ft. Bragg 11 1/2 years ago. this time we stayed at a different place because the place we stayed for our honeymoon was a bed and breakfast and they don't take pets. This time we stayed at a place called Cleone garden Inn it's a little north of the city of Ft.bragg. We got there Thursday night spent a few days and then came home. We had a lovely time and it was pretty relaxing. Friday we went down to the Point Cabrillo lighthouse, I love lighthouses so it was real fun for dinner on Friday night we ate at a place called the North coast Brewing company, they have the best fish and chips!! The fish was so fresh tasting and you got tons of it. Saturday we went to McKerricher state park for a picnic lunch right on the ocean, that was fun too. Saturday night we stopped off and picked up a pizza and went back to our room kicked back and just enjoyed a night in the room with our little doggies. Monday I did manage to get a few loads of laundry done but I was just so tired. Taking a trip no matter how long or short seems to tire me out.

Tomorrow for me will be when I need to get back into my homekeeper mode, I have definately been on vacation from that for a while. I need to redo my keeper binder and get back on my schedules as best that I can. I also need to work on menu planning. I used to menu plan every meal now it's just what can I find to make for dinner :( I also need to work some on the winter wonderland project. I have worked on it now for about 3-4 hours and have completed the word "winter" I know I am very slow at embroidery but I do enjoy it so.



Here are some pictures of the trip~


Our motel sign~



Me and the doggies at the Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse~




Ocean view for our picnic lunch~



More views of the ocean~






Roger and I had a wonderful time just spending time together away from things at home. It is so nice to be able to get away for even just a short time to just rejuvenate ourselves.What was really special about this was Roger picked out the place to go because he remembered we went there for our honeymoon. :)

I pray that everyone has a very blessed week ahead of them and thank you so much for stopping by my blog I truly appreciate it.

Blessings,Joann

Answered prayer~Roger got a job!!!!

Roger has been out of work since the end of February and even though it hasn't been that long for us it seems like a lifetime. At the end of June Roger will be starting a new job working on the Golden Gate Bridge. I would like to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers for this job.I think both Roger and I feel like a big weight has been lifted off of us. We are most certainly thanking God for this job which was to be in His time not ours. We did get a little discouraged from time to time and of course asked the question why often but then really everything does happen in God's time not our own.

Have a wonderful upcoming weekend.
Blessings,Joann