giveaway happiness!

     The other day this idea socked me in the head! I will give away a copy of Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project for my next giveaway! Her book has really inspired me to think...about life, choices, and the little things that add or take away from our happiness. Bottom line, it takes a lot of self denial to be happy! I love a good memoir; there is nothing quite like reading about some one's real life experiences. Gretchen writes with a refreshing frankness about the good, the bad, and the ugly. I plan to start my own happiness project one of these days...still pondering on it for now though! I wish all of you had already read this book and we could all start our own together! So if you want to get on board with a free book, simply comment and tell what book {other than the Bible which inspires us all!} has made some sort of an impact on you! It doesn't matter if it's a silly book, { I love Dr. Seuss!} an old classic {Pride and Prejudice - loved it!} or a kid's book! {I still have heart strings attached to Raggedy Anne and the Cookie Snatcher because of the awesomeness of the little doghouse cake!} I will draw a name from the commenters in 10 days, so "Come on, comments!"


FINE PRINT: One chance will be given per person even if more than one comment is made. The copy of the book to be given away is unknown at this point. It may be new, used, hard copy, or paperback depending upon price and availability. I will ship it to the winner free of cost.



 

the final finish - phase 3!

  OK, where was I?! So the bride's table is done with their Oreo sundaes now.....or rather Mel and JP have finished the last two! The happy couple quite speedily opened their fab presents. Then we were all trying to swarm out to watch them drive away... always a thrill you know!! But alas, the throngs prevented me from viewing the precious scene. Back at Phil and Deb's, we decorated Tony's white Dodge with a dazzling array of balloons, glittery snow, rose petals, gel clings, streamers, and caution tape. The following words covered the windows: "Real Men Marry Teachers!" "Honk for Kisses!" "Babe on Board!" etc. etc! As they walked down the sidewalk that was lined with well-wishers throwing rice and snow glitter, I was reminded of the game, "Spud!" LOL! With caution tape and streamers trailing behind, they were off with a cloud of black diesel smoke to honeymoon the days away! Daniel and I were off on our important mission to nap back at Ben's. Supper was a delightful occasion at Applebee's with Cliff and Wendy. Since Wendy is back in the teaching game again too, we had lots to discuss! After relaxing a bit at Ben's, they soon headed back to PA. Wades stopped by next and we ate treats again. Monday morning dawned a perfect day to go shopping for fabric at Amish stores! Rhonda and I had wanted to do this on Saturday afternoon, but the Amish run daylight hours instead of Mennonite hours and the shops closed too soon. While the guys and Jacob were shopping at an outdoor store called "The Fin," Rhonda, Neil, and I were fortunate to be able to browse through a fascinating place called "Grandpa's Cheese Barn" where I tasted gadoodles of kinds of cheeses, dips, jellies, meats, snacks, etc. But surprisingly, I couldn't even begin to taste them all as there was so much variety!!! Daniel acted shocked when I told him this; I wonder why?! We also ducked into a candy shop that sold peanut butter balls the size of baseballs!! We decided to try a monstrous  peanut butter cookie instead. We were informed later, that these places were huge tourist traps with high prices, but we didn't care. We WERE tourists and had really enjoyed them! Back to Monday, Ben, Daniel, and Justin patiently waited in the car while I chose a solid kelly green piece at the first Amish store. No cc machine, and only natural light....but over in the corner sat the modern Bernina sewing machine! Did it run on battery or what? I am so intrigued by the Amish, because their life makes no sense to me! I know some people probably think the same thoughts about my life, but you know how it is, we all have our own version of "normal!" I tried in vain to bear this in mind when I found myself staring at the Amish, trying to see if this kind had to wear straight pins or buttons, black leggings and black shoes or bare legs and flip-flops!! LOL there is SO much variance between all the different orders. The second fabric store was much more modern; it even had printed fabric! I bought a poly-cotton light jade green and a solid purple piece so Daniel can call me "Barney." :) Next we had pizza and hot subs at Lem's, a local joint that I promptly fell deeply in love with for two reasons! One - their cheese pizza is incredible! Two - they have 24, mind you 24!!! flavors of soft serve ice cream! I treasured my towering, coconut cone to the last lick! On the way to Columbus, we stopped to shop a bit. Ashley and I made one run through Cabela's before leaving the guys there in their bliss while we shopped  the more inspiring nearby Hobby Lobby. Back at the airport, I once again sailed through security with thanksgiving brimming over in my heart for the new "Stand with your arms above your head zoom around security thingies!" Love them! Our flight out was delayed at least an hour due to weather somewhere else on the continent. I watched 5 ladies that were into knitting! They all whipped out their current projects and got their needles a flashin'! Maybe someday when I learn how to focus and count stitches, I will become a knitter. Ironically, Daniel's dad was patiently waiting for us in Atlanta while we sat in Columbus. He had gone way earlier than he would've had to though. We finally made it to Atlanta, and the Dodge Dart darted in line and picked us up! Thanks to Daniel's brilliant idea of having Dad pick us up from Atlanta instead of in Nashville to save time, we were able to sleep soundly at Dad and MomDenise's instead of fending for ourselves in Atlanta because we would have missed our flight to Nashville! When we stopped at Chick-fila for a bite to eat, Daniel felt impressed to give the elderly lady sitting near us $20 since it looked like she was either homeless or having a hard time. Her eyes teared up, she was so thankful since she had just lost her babysitting job! She wondered if I was a Mennonite, said she had done some kind of mission work with some Mennonites years ago in New York. Dad slipped another $20 on her table while we were visiting with her...So hopefully she felt as blessed as we did! Tuesday, we slept until we woke up, {which is an interesting paradox, because of course you always sleep until you wake up whether it's by an early alarm or not!} I did some laundry, and sat out by the pool with my book, my nook, a peach, a glass of ice water, some whoopee pie cake, and a fork! I had it made in the shade of my large sunglasses and lil straw birthday hat! I took an occasional dip to cool off, and reveled in the relaxing afternoon. MomDenise made it even better by bringing me out a refreshing cherry limeade! Talk about pool service! DaddyWayne smoked some succulent ribs for a tremendously satisfying supper....Cam came back home and MomDenise popped some of the Amish popcorn we had bought her. Like a ninny, I'd bought several foodie gift items for people at Grandpa's Cheesebarn not thinking of the fact that we wouldn't be able to fly them home with us since we had only carry-on luggage! Thankfully Cam didn't seem to mind toting my bag of goodies home with him. Danl proclaimed that we had to get back home Wednesday, so while he was in town with Dad, MomDenise, Erica, and I quickly headed for town as well! First stop was Wilson's Fabric Outlet where I ended up with four more pieces of fabric!MomDenise sweetly gifted me with the black with white polka dots piece that I had picked out! "Thanks again!" I purchased a lovely mint green that I just HAD to buy a grey chevron button for, a red print that will be super for Christmas, and a green circles over black abstract piece. Counting the 3 pieces from Amish country and the soft grey and red cotton that Kelly gave me from Saudi Arabia, I netted 8 new pieces to add to my stash on this trip! Yay! Now I just need to get with it and add them to my closet! Our next stop after Wilson's was to sample the frozen custard from Frizzles. I had just told Danl on the drive up that I really wanted to try out Frizzles soon, so I was tickled that my wish came true! My boring in the box plain vanilla cone was superb! Not sure if it quite equaled Culver's though! The last shoppe we stopped at, called "Bakers on Main" was my hands down favorite though! It's an unparalleled place - a combination of a café and endless rooms of unique etsy-style novelties to browse through. I bought a cool little gift for one of my friends that has a birthday in February.... hint, hint! We left the AL mountains around 5, and pulled in to our home sweet home at 9:30 pm. Even though it was only a week ago today that this adventure began, it feels as if torrents of water have passed under the bridge. And the most amazing thing is that now I have an awesome new sister! No souvenir can ever compare!

finishing up with phase 2!

  Sunday morning, the WEDDING DAY, dawned with gorgeous sunshine! Scenic Ridge Ohio is truly a beautiful place to be in the summer time. Ashley fixed us another sumptuous breakfast, then we all donned our wedding finery. Ashton wore her beautiful mint green wedding dress. It was so great to be with her and Alex a bit since they were also staying at Ben's along with Anthony and Taylor. We got ready without ruffled feathers and arrived at their most unique church in plenty of time which made me a happy camper! The Scenic Ridge church is an old barn, shed-type thing converted into a place of education and worship. I just loved the orange benches, and the tremendously short but wide sanctuary! Daniel thought Anthony only took about three strides up and down the aisle! Katie was a beautiful bride in her lovely light aqua dress; Anthony was a handsome groom in his black suit with a shirt that perfectly matched Katie's dress. Drea wore a gorgeous charcoal grey the exact shade of Taylor's shirt. They all looked really put together! With majestic chords, the choir began the service. It was hard to grasp that we were actually experiencing my only brother's hopefully only wedding! I tried to be minutely mindful of every detail and soak it all in... Katie's uncle Mark Ratzlaff preached a moving sermon on Living the Good Life. He mentioned a family funeral that he had just attended where the wife of the deceased had stood at the casket and told her husband, "Herb, it was a good life." Quite a few tears were shed as Mark told us how to live a "good life." Then it was time for the vows! Father Phil married them..."I will, I will, I do, I do" and they were pronounced man and wife, Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Schneider! More beautiful songs, and we were congratulating them before eating a hearty lunch which consisted of  ham and turkey with a thick slice of good Ohio Munster cheese and vivid green lettuce on a croissant, chips, and  mixed fruit that included fresh pineapple, strawberries, and grapes! Dessert was white or chocolate cake with ice cream and coffee. Anthony has always dearly loved his Spaghetti-Os, and we always teased him that we'd serve them at his wedding! True to our word, the servers brought out a crystal filled with steaming canned pasta much to the amusement of the bridal table! Anthony was delighted and proceeded to eat a large bowlful. Some of the others tried them too! I think Katie even manged a couple spoonfuls! They also feasted on adorable mini Oreo sundaes served in colorful, stemmed dessert dishes since Katie is an Oreo lover!

We are going to town now, so this might have to have a phase 3! later!

phase 1

 Finally my fingers are at home again on the keyboard! But not "home home" as we are in North AL for a day or two depending on the weather down south. We had the loveliest time in Ohio! At least that's my opinion...not sure that Daniel would echo my sentiments as the weekend included much socializing, dressing up, and suit-wearing! But my did he ever look handsome in his grey hounds tooth suit with a black shirt that really complimented his dark hair....I fear I am veering here! To summarize our travels, I will start with Thursday, June 20. I took the delighted dogs up to the doggie hotel to spend time with their cousins, Morty and Scout. We left around noon I think, and arrived in Guntersville for a great evening of food and fellowship with the family; even had the blessing of being with Kelly and Michelle before we all flew out on Friday. I frantically sewed on my Haiti dress before going to bed; finished it all but the hem! We started the day out Friday in typical fashion due to me setting my phone for 5:30 a.m. of the 22nd instead of the 21st! Scramble, scramble!! But we still made it to Nashville in plenty of time, so it was a fortunate mistake that resulted in a extra blissful hour of sleep! Daniel crossed Michigan off his bucket list after we ducked in there on layover. I took a satisfactory jaunt down memory lane as we passed through the thrillingly colorful "lightening tunnel" while changing concourses. It was even more majestic than I had remembered it from years ago when Jonny, Aunt Donna, my mom, Kristi, and I had lived in Detroit airport for 12 hours due to an ice storm preventing our passage into Ontario. Back to the present, we arrived in Ohio with no time to primp at Ben and Ashley's before we had to scurry around for the family supper. It was a lovely outdoor occasion at Katie's Uncle Sheldon's home. Anthony is definitely marrying into a "fun" family as we were entertained with a hilarious pantomime of a "Bus Scene" by Matt and a cousin that I can't remember his name that involved an imaginary piece of bubble gum and all the various places it ended up being! Next was a silent, side-splitting rendition of "The Three Little Pigs" by Jamie, Drea, Katie, and JP. I quickly hemmed my Haiti dress so I could wear it on Saturday when Rhonda wore hers. Saturday morning found us at church trying to be helpful with set-up etc. Rhonda and I arranged her bridal bouquet of calla lilies and grass. Lunch was hamburgers at a beautiful park. The Saturday Night Supper was held at a church in the town of Ashland. The tables were so pretty; adorned with huge, sparkly Gerber daisies in vases with black marbles. Brilliantly colored solo cups brightened each place setting. Seeing all our family and friends from afar again was a great pleasure! So many people with so little time to be with was the only problem! We ended up at Chad and Keela's to hang with my Smith cousins - Cliff and Wendy, Sharla, and Mervin, Lydia, Casey, and their charming new baby, Tessa. Laughter and good times rolled! We just missed all those that weren't present though. This feels like a good time to wrap up Phase 1 of this trip report, since Cam and Erica just walked in and Daniel is having a good time telling Amish stories! More trip tales will be coming tom!

being 27

If the rest of my 27th year on planet Earth is as lovely as today was, I'm ready for it! I slept till approximately 8 o'clock, breakfasted on the last bit of the dessert I had created for Saturday evening {I named it "Birthday Cake Gone Wild"!}, and slurped a Pioneer Woman iced coffee while reading the Bible on my nook. Then I received a terrific birthday present in the form of my dear cousin Kristi phoning from Guatemala!!! Amazing! It was so awesome to spend some wonderful quality time chatting again, just like old times! And through Skype, it was a splendid connection with no annoying speech delay! After reluctantly hanging up with her, I scurried to get around and dressed to meet Danl for lunch in Atmore. Stopped by Rhonda's on the way. Thoroughly enjoyed my cheese pizza from Subway! Danl proclaimed it a salad instead of a pizza since I have it topped to the max with piles of black olive, spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and oil and vinegar! It even exceeded my expectations of deliciousness! Next stop was shopping Goodys. No results. On to Dirt Cheap where I most happily ended up with two black Land's End tankini tops, one bottom, {you always want less bottom, right?!} and an adorable lil straw hat with a floral band! Once home, I forced myself to do some laundry, and partially cut out my Haiti dress. Mom and Rhonda have theirs sewed, so I must persevere! Daniel came home from work bearing Dove chocolates and the sweetest birthday card that bedazzled me with cash! Yay! Now I can shop again! Later on, after the rain let up a bit, we headed for Pensacola. First stop was the AT&T which happened to be CLOSED at the early hour of 7:50!! So we hit the kiosk in the mall to get Danl a new phone before his old one completely gave up the ghost. By the time that was all said and done, our stomachs were positively roaring! Cheddars hit the spot! I feasted on grilled shrimp over grilled tilapia with mango salsa atop a bed of rice with a side each of broccoli cheese casserole and red beans and rice. Two glasses of strawberry lemonade and one of raspberry, and I was feeling supremely satisfied. It's a good thing to turn 27. As now since I have only 2 measly minutes left of birthday blast, I shall head for bed. Good night, moon!

10 days without posting {and an ode to ice cream!}

I have words inside me that are straining to get out through my fingertips pecking on the keyboard! So I must allow it to come to pass since it has been 10 whole entire days since I last posted that...ahem! I was gonna post MORE OFTEN! Such futile words have never been spoken! It's so frustrating to go several days without writing, because then I don't know what all incidents to cover! Shall I wax poetic about the sweet and fervent love of "Mor-gwen" as they were coined? Or share my sobs of the wedding cake that bore a striking resemblance to the Leaning Tower of Pisa?! Or think of the thrilling times with family and friends that were had by all? Or grumble, gripe, and growl about the state of my lobsterish skin after basking at the beach today? Or hint of birthday that is less than an hour away..... Of the last, I shall not! For I have decided that forthwith I shall become more adultish and put away the ridiculous enthusiasm that I have for the day of my birth! But on second thought.... I think I shall just be the way I truly am!! Have I mentioned that it's my birthday tomorrow??? :) Ok, ok, I can see that I'm back to normal again! Whew!! It's stressful to try to be something or someone that you are not! Embracing our true selves, Mel and I had 2 $.50 ice cream cones from Burger King today! It was lovely. If you haven't been indulging in $.50 cones from Burger King these days, you should. YOU are missing out on one of life's finest little pleasures. BTW, I'm loving my first Gretchen Rubin book, The Happiness Project. It makes me happy that I own a hard copy edition as I can see myself reading and re-reading this book in my future life. I WAS going to save it for the plane, but self-denial is something I need to address quite desperately in my life. Any suggestions, ways, advice, things you have learned about self-denial that you could share with me? Thanks! I shall bring these few thoughts to a close as they are appearing to ramble at large. Sweet dreams to all my family and friends that still check every now and then to see if I have shared the written word once again! Thanks for being faithful and for not giving up entirely on me!

And now I lay me down to sleep,

a Burger King cone my dreams so sweet,

If I should die before I wake,

Please wipe the ice cream off my face!

it's only 26 minutes until i'm 27!

FYI :)

 

the life i live

 Speaking of bananas, I just had one with Reese's creamy peanut butter smeared on every bite....and it's put me in the mood to write again! Hopefully being home more this summer will lend to more prolific posting. As always, abundant water hath flowed under life's bridge since my last post.

~ Diesel's tumor has apparently disappeared for the time being, {hopefully forever!} So thankful that he doesn't have to undergo surgery again!

~ Gwen's bridal shower was a shoe sensation - amazing footwear adorned nearly every foot!

~ My dress for Anthony's wedding is finally resembling an article of clothing instead of a toga. Love the vintage-look pearl buttons I found at JoAnn's.

~ Since I inadvertently read 3 books in a row that were set in New York City, The Red Leather Diary, Rules of Civility, and Nanny Diaries,  I'm wishing that I could be transported there for awhile...I guess drinking coffee from my I<3 NY mug will have to suffice for now. Maybe someday I will find myself there again. And next time, I WILL wear comfortable shoes instead of stylish ones!

~ Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.... Yesterday I unearthed my 8 year old wedding shoes from the depths of our closet, and Rhonda convinced me that wearing them to Tony and Katie's wedding was the thing to do! So I will.

~ Daniel has smacked 3, maybe 4 deer night hunting this week... Of course, NONE on the night I happened to ride along! I'm convinced that I must emit a certain odor that scares them far far away!

~ My birthday looming on the near horizon has me pondering deep thoughts like usual when I am faced with the fact that I soon will have lived on this earth for 27 years.... They've been great years! Awesome years! But, have they been as great and awesome as they could have been?! That's the age-old question! Am I really living life to its full potential? To the complete capacity that my Creator has in mind for me?! Of course, I wish I could do more for others, go to the mission fields of foreign countries, travel abroad, see and experience so many things.... but money and time are severely lacking for such escapades... and one person can't do it all! Neither is piles of money the answer to a full life, because it doesn't take much depth of mind to realize the unhappiness of famous peoples who have everything they could desire to have or do at their fingertips. A simple life, a normal, day-to-day life is invaluable I know. And maybe it's really the richest life to live. But I still have wanderlust in my thoughts, and my dreams of seeing more of the world will live forever on! I suppose I'll never know if I've truly lived the best life I could have lived, but I will try to make each day magical! And until our ship comes in, I will journey the world by book and letter from those who are elsewhere...

 

Meanwhile, I have wedding cake to bake!

spending $25

 

"After all, a vacation is not a matter of place or time. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay September 1919


Love this quote! It was today's "Moment of Happiness" email from Gretchen Rubin. I'm a fan of hers; love the daily email quotations and I just purchased both of her books! Happier at Home and The Happiness Project. Both are previously loved editions, gotta go green and buy used books ya know! I am having the best time spending a $25 Visa card I received from one of my students... Trying to stretch it SO FAR..... Also nabbed this splendid hot pink phone cover as my yellow one has suffered a fatal blow from dropping to the pavement from lap one too many times.... Rhonda says PINK does not sound like me, but for some unknown reason, it HAD to be pink this time! Every now and then, my girly streak flares up, I guess! Wonder what I will find to spend my last $.40 on....

 

What do you think about a Summer Giveaway??? :)

I think it's about time, but I don't know what to give away! Give me some ideas please!