Happy Memorial Day

To those that have served so I can play.
To those that have died so I can live.
Thank you is not enough but it is all I have to offer and I offer it humbly.
Happy Memorial Day.

Picture Thought

This picture just says "Romance" to me. It looks like an old Hollywood movie set, don't you think?

Words- Wednesday

"As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the meaning of my life." Napoleon Bonaparte

Arguing With Myself

I decided to paint a small cabinet a few weeks back. I took it apart, I sanded it, I wiped it down, I let it dry. Then came the primer. I remember the first brush stroke I did. And doubt set in, in the form of my alter ego.

What are you doing? There was nothing wrong with this cabinet. So what if you didn't notice it anymore. So what if it blended in with the paneling. It was still in perfect shape. What if you are ruining it?
I'm not ruining it, I'm breathing new life into it.
It looks like you are ruining it.
It's just the primer, the paint will look different.
You know you haven't put that much primer on, we could probably wash it off with water and pretend this never happened.
I have to do something, I already sanded it.
So just put a clear coat back on it. I bet clear fingernail polish would work in a pinch!
It would not! And I am going to do this. I said I was going to do this and I am going to do it. Good or bad!
Well the primer sure made it look just grand! We could just set fire to it and no one would have to know about this little decorating mistake. What do you say?
The paint will be better, I think. I hope. You are confusing me.
The paint IS better than the primer but is there suppose to be a thick run of paint right there?
Where? Oh well, where it's going no one will see it.
And if they do?
We'll tell them we were going for shabby chic.
Hey that's good! Shabby chic, huh?
Yep, I always knew that phrase in decorating would come in handy one day.
Definitely!
See sometimes we do agree.
Sometimes.

Until next time.............Kristi/Kristi

Picture Thought

I've never seen the ocean, but this is the way I want to see it.

Words to Live By-Wednesday, "Little Women"

This household happiness did not come all at once, but John and Meg had found the key to it, and each year of married life taught them how to use it, unlocking the treasuries of real home love and mutual helpfulness, which the poorest may possess, and the richest cannot buy. This is the the sort of shelf on which young wives and mothers may consent to be laid, safe from the restless fret and fever of the world, finding loyal lovers in the little sons and daughters who cling to them, undaunted by sorrow, poverty, or age; walking side by side, through fair and stormy weather, with a faithful friend, who is, in the true sense of the good old Saxon word, the "houseband," and learning, as Meg learned, that a woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor the art of ruling it not as a queen, but as a wise wife and mother.

New Old Beginnings

Me being me , things being the way they are, for reasons beyond my control blah blah blah.... I seem to have lost the before shots of this cabinet. You can't have a big before and after reveal without the before shots. Well anyway, the cabinet looks completely different . It was pretty before but the wood grain just got lost in the paneling. It needed something to make it pop. and since I now have this unhealthy obsession with black, there really was no other option. But without pics I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

Having said all that- now into my intentional post about new old beginnings. Odd title I know but what do you say about giving new life to something old. A chance to start again. To breath life into something that is otherwise dead.

You can repaint furniture, change the color of your hair, buy a whole new wardrobe, anything can be revived. This got me to thinking the other day. The afore mentioned cabinet has been in our home for almost as long as we have been married. I always loved the cabinet but seemed to appreciate it less and less lately. It may have been that I was simply used to it being there and took it for granted. Never noticing it anymore. I hadn't changed up the things it stored. Other than dusting it, I never tended to it. Then wham! While working on this piece of furniture I allowed my mind to drift ,as it often does. (don't know whether that is healthy or not) I realized how the same could be said for a marriage. We have been married for fourteen years. And in fourteen years you sort of settle. You set up your routines just like you set up housekeeping. You dust and vacuum every now and again but if you don't change things up, move things around, they sort of start to blend into the background. You get used to them being there and maybe not appreciate them as much as before. It's true that now we have different responsibilities, but as wonderful as they are, we still need our time.

Just like my little cabinet, a marriage needs more than dusting, it needs routine maintenance. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint. Sometimes taking a look at what is inside and rearranging or maybe taking out the useless and putting back in only what is really loved. What is most pleasing and important. Polishing up what was dull and taking something that may be old and making it new again. Until next time.....Kristi

Picture Thought

Words-Wednesday

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest." Confucius

The Kitchen

This is a kitchen questionnaire I noticed on several different blogs. Thought it would be fun to take part in it this week and give you a break from my opinionated mind and long drawn out ,though thought provoking, posts. Did I mention that I am modest as well? Oh well must have over looked that one. Anyway onward we go........

1. Do you have magnets on your frig? I have very few for I don't like a lot of things on the frig. To me it tends to cause the kitchen to look cluttered. I do have a magnet for holding emergency phone numbers that my son can locate easily and one magnet to hold this weeks spelling worksheet so said son will remember to study them for his test on Friday.


2. Do you have a calendar in your kitchen? Yes I do. It holds all my important things to remember such as when to reorder medicine for my mother, when home health comes, and when to give the dog his heartguard medicine.


3. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool? I actually have two. My wooden spoon for stirring iced tea and a spatula that once it breaks I don't know what I will do because I can't seem to find another one just like it.


4. Do you have a pantry? Yes I do though it isn't in the kitchen itself but a small utility closet down the hall.


5. What is your favorite appliance? I would have to say the crockpot. I used it at least once every week.


6. Do you have an eat in kitchen? Yes I do. The table is right in the kitchen. We don't have a formal dining room and I like that.


7. Do you have a bread box? No I had one when we first got married but I haven't had one in about ten years.


8. Do you have a picture of your kids on the frig? No, again, I don't like a lot of clutter on the frig because when you walk in my front door the first thing you see across from you is the frig. Our living room and kitchen are open to one another and I have pictures of my son in the living room that you can see from my kitchen.


9. Do you ever cook in your pjs? Yes about every Saturday morning.


10. Do you have a favorite cookbook you use? Yes, it is a journal I bought when we first were married to record favorite recipes in and recipes that I used over and over. It never leaves the kitchen. I use it about every week and it is beginning to fall apart.


11. Do you have recipes from your mother and grandmother? Yes, in said journal above. Treasured recipes.


12. What's your favorite food? I love wings. I love mexican. But I could absolutely live on gravy. I love old sawmill gravy, white gravy, brown gravy, chicken gravy, and let us not forget chocolate gravy.


13. What's your favorite thing to cook? That is a tough one. I just love to cook and thinking of one thing is almost impossible.


14. Is there a clock in your kitchen? Yes right above the stove.


15. What is one thing you keep out in the kitchen? My dish drainer and it resides in the sink ,when I'm not using it, to keep the counters clean. I don't like things setting out on my counters. When I cook I don't like to work around things, I like to have the whole counter top to work with.


16. Does your kitchen have a theme? Yes fruit and a little country mixed in.


17. Do you have enough cabinet space? Yes I keep only things I use on a regular basis in the cabinets. Seasonal things are kept in the shed behind the house.


18. Does your family use paper plates? Yes we use them occasionally especially on weekends but I have to say I like to set down at the table with pretty and real plates. It makes it feel more special and formal. At least that's what I tell myself later when I'm elbow deep in the suds washing those pretty and real plates.


19. Do you wear an apron? Yes, I do. To protect my clothes and because I come from a long line of apron wearing women that I have fond memories of. And when I don my apron those memories come to mind.


20. Name something you would like to change about your kitchen. Just one? Because I actually have three. One would be painting the kitchen. Two would be paint my microwave cart. And three would be open up a bedroom closet into the kitchen and have a pantry right in the kitchen. Oh and a black side by side refrigerator would be four but who's counting!?!

That's it! Hope you enjoyed. Now how about you and your kitchen? Until next time.......Kristi.

Leaving the Nest

The young man pictured here is my nephew by marriage. He is going to graduate this month. Actually this week. Thursday night to be exact.
I can remember the day he was born and the first time I got to hold him. I remember him as a toddler struggling to form words ,and finding my name a little to difficult, I became EE-EE. The first time he ever called me Kristi, I had to catch myself from correcting him. I wanted to say 'don't call me that, I'm EE-EE." Anyone could call me Kristi, but this name was my own special name, given to me by him.
Thursday night he will graduate with the Senior Class of 2010. Then in the fall he will attend Bible College in the state of Indiana. I can't imagine how his mother is feeling or what emotions she is experiencing.
This month housing Mother's Day, I have thought a lot about what mothers go through starting when they carry that precious life in the womb and never stop throughout their lifetime. It is a continual mix of love and fear and protection.
We want our children to grow up healthy and strong, self sufficient and independent. We just don't realize that in the end that means letting them go. Letting them spread their wings and make their own way in this life. These are the joys and sadnesses of motherhood that no one can prepare you for until you experience it firsthand.
I have a few more years before I have to face that with my own son, but I have glimpsed the bittersweetness that will bring in dealing with the emotions surrounding my nephew.
But when the time comes, I hope to channel the quiet strength of mother's that have come before me. That steadfast strength and determination. That inner voice piercing through the fear, whispering " you have done your job well, he will make it, today he will fly, today he will soar."


To you Kyler, I say, 'Go West Young Man' do what you feel led to do. Just know that you are loved and will be greatly missed. And before you take flight, give your mother an extra long hug, one that will linger long after you have soared out of sight.


Photo used by permission.

Picture Thought

Deceiving Myself

Have you ever deceived yourself? Lied to yourself? I'm not talking anything detrimental but little things like run a clock up fifteen minutes ahead so you don't lazy around in the mornings. Or tell yourself you don't really want that chocolate cake, when actually you would be willing to give up a kidney and/or an offspring for it. The ultimate betrayal telling yourself you don't even like ice cream, now that could possibly fall under illegal activity, I believe, in some states.


What about on the other end of the spectrum? What about manipulate yourself? Work around yourself to get what you know you don't really need. Don't allow yourself to think about what you're doing in an attempt to not feel like you are responsible.

We know how to maneuver around ourselves better than anyone and most times don't hesitate to do so. Lying to ourselves to keep from getting what we want and manipulating ourselves to get what we don't need. If someone did these things to us that would be an inexcusable act. So why do we do them to ourselves?