Dear God Note 16

Dear God / Daddy,

As I travel across this beautiful county that I live in, I am constantly reminded of you.   Everything that I see is a miracle created by you.

Genesis 1:11 says, "Then God said,  "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, in the earth"; and so it was."

Genesis 1:24 says,  "Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beat of the earth, each according to its kind"; and so it was."

I have seen the beautiful mountains of Colorado, the plains of Kansas, the Mississippi River, fields full of corn and and wheat, oceans, beaches, deer outside the bedroom window of my trailer, and even reindeer and the rv park we stayed at this morning.  I feel so blessed and I am so grateful for every gift you have given us.

Thank you so much.

Your loving daughter.
Debi

Happy to Be Back July 28th, 2015

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, and I really appreciated all of your questions about whether I was ok, and how things were going.  Life has been crazy for months, and I have also had to reevaluate blogging again.  I will probably post once a week and possibly start the party again at some point in the future.

We sold our house in Denver this month and closed about two weeks ago.   It took six weeks to get it ready, and we lived in that mess the whole time, but when it was done it was worth it. You'll find a few pictures of the house below, and I'll share some more next week.   It was great that it sold in 2 days, but bittersweet.  We raised our kids in that house, it's where I have lived for a big part of my adult life.  I am feeling sad that I wont be living in Colorado, which is where all of our kids and grand kids live, but I know that my sweet hubby's semi retirement is going to be fun.

So now on the the good parts of what has been happening.  As you know we moved to south Florida last December, and we live a block from the beach and on a canal.  It was wonderful having a warm winter this last year.  

Then, for the most exciting thing, three weeks ago today, our middle son and his wife had a little girl, so they now have three little girls.  She is beautiful, and mom and dad are doing great, but very sleep deprived.  I have been back in Denver since she was about 15 hours old.  It has been an amazing journey.  

Tonight, we get to have our two older granddaughters spend the night with us in our new trailer (a whole other story to come later in this post).  We are going to have Turkey Carnitas Soft Tacos (I purchased the turkey carnitas at Sprouts) for dinner with rice and beans. We will be making S'Mores for desert, and this grandma gives you lots of choices.  Our older granddaughter loves KitKat's, so she gets KitKat S'mores.  The 5 year old loves Reese's, so she will get Reese's S'Mores.  She is a lot like her daddy, he loves Reese's also.  We are going to make Pillsbury Minion Cookies and we will have french toast for breakfast tomorrow morning before I take them home.  

One of the things that I have wanted to do in retirement is to travel around the country.  The best way to do that with a dog and a cat is with a trailer.  So we bought a trailer at the end of May, and that has been quite the experience.  We left Denver on May 31st to head back to Florida for a few weeks, but about 40 miles west of Hayes, Kansas, near the little town of Wakeeney, we were in an accident with our brand new trailer.  To be specific, I was driving, a pickup truck passed me, it was towing a utility trailer, a spare tire flew off of the back of the utility trailer and was headed toward our windshield.  God was watching out for us that day.  I swerved to miss the tire, but in the meantime the trailer ended up tipping and when everything came to a stop, I was facing the oncoming traffic on I 70 and taking up both lanes.  All of the cars were pulled over to the side, and everyone was coming to us to make sure we were OK.  We were fine, just shaken up, but our cute little trailer was totaled.  God is so good and faithful.  I looked at SH (Sweet Hubby) afterward and said "God just saved us today!"  I am so grateful.  Anyway, we ended up getting me a new car (bigger) and a new trailer (bigger) and we are having a blast.  We have stayed at several nice camping places and since the house sold we have stayed at both Chatfield State Park and Cherry Creek State Park in Colorado.  We have had our granddaughters, ages 6 and 5 spend the night with us and the kids and grand kids over for a bbq.  We take the dog for walks and life is good.  The trailer is a cozy 22 ft Lance trailer with a bathroom, bedroom, fireplace, kitchen, and dinette.  It is a lovely place to call home.  (I'll share pictures next week.)   When I wake up in the morning, I look out the door at the beautiful reservoir and have my coffee.  The other morning I saw a balloon taking off.  I think we are ready for semi retirement (that means he will probably work 20 hours a week and from wherever we are rather then 60 to 80 hours a week in an office.  I can blog a little since most campgrounds have WiFi, which is great, and I can take my crafts with me.  Also, we have to eat, so new recipes will be coming your way.  

To kick off his slowing down, we also went on a 17 day transatlantic cruise in April and then spent 2 nights in Rome before flying home. It was a blast.  Our cousins went with us and we all enjoyed ourselves so much that we are planning another cruise with them next June to Northern Europe.  On this last one we went to the Canary Islands, Cartegena, Spain, Malaga, Spain, Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Pisa, and Rome. I have so many beautiful pictures to share with all of you.  I can't wait.

I took the picture of the peacock below in Cartegena, Spain.  It was mating season, so he was showing off his feathers for the females.

Here is a picture from last nights sunset.  It was truly spectacular.

Have a great week and I'll see you again next week.

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party Postponed

Hi Everyone,

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I'm sorry but I am going to have to postpone Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party for two weeks.  I will have it back up with the featured bloggers from this weeks party on Tuesday, March 31st at 6:00 PM Mountain Time.

Thank you for stopping by and I will see you in two weeks.

Debi

GroopDealz is now Eleventh Avenue

This is a sponsored post from which I may receive income from your purchases.

GroopDealz is now Eleventh Avenue – A Handpicked Boutique Marketplace with so much to love! I am so excited to share Eleventh Avenue with you because not only can you save up to 70% off on trend-setting fashions, fabulous home décor and adorable children’s items but you can also connect with those around you as you shop, love and save.  I have bought so many cute little dresses for my granddaughters and super cute accessories and makeup for gift for my kids and nieces.  Their new features include saving items that you love for later, creating collections of your favorite products and you can now easily share products with your friends. Below are some of my favorite products that are currently available. As an added bonus you can also receive free shipping on any order over $75! Hurry, because these items are already selling fast.

I thought the stuff in this picture are so cute.  They would make great beach or 4th of July decorations.

Their jewelry and other accessories are always adorable and very reasonably priced.

I was just look for Easter dresses in kids clothing section at Eleventh Avenue yesterday.  My granddaughters love anything with tulle.

I think this Kids Multifunctional Learning Smartphone would be great also.

Anyway, I hope you'll give them a try.   All of this is available now at Eleventh Avenue.  Have fun shopping.

Have a great weekend.

Debi

Heartfelt Posts from Adorned From Above Link Party 104

There were a couple of posts that I did not feature at this weeks Adorned From Above's Link Party, but I wanted to share these Heartfelt Posts with all of you.  They have so spoken to my heart this week and I hope they speak to you also.

Our Heart's Desire from Dr. Michelle Bengtson

This Free Range Parenting Thing from A Mother's Life

I hope that you will read these posts.  They are really good.

Have a great weekend.

Debi

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 105

I want to thank everyone who shared with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 104.  I loved seeing all of your posts.

Welcome to Adorned From Above Link Party 105.

I loved seeing everyone's links from last week's party.  Thank you all so very much for participating and making the party such a success. They were all wonderful.  As always, it is so difficult try to pick what posts to feature since they are all fantastic.  Below you will find the four featured bloggers.  Please head over to visit these posts and then head to the party and share what you have been doing.

Featured Bloggers from Adorned From Above Party 104

 

Homemade Kale Chips from Vintage Zest

Shamrock Ring Tutorial by Hoops by Hand

A Blog Anniversary and the Cuddlies Set Off in a New Direction

Batman Cake from Sarah Lynn's Sweets

I really hope you enjoy this weeks features.  Again, head over and take a look at their blogs.

We are happy to have you at this week's party.  We always love hearing from you, so leave your comments.  

Have a great week.
Debi

An InLinkz Link-up

Dear God Note 15

This week my Dear God Note 15 is a prayer to God.  It applies in my life and I hope it will help some of you also.  I love God so much and I know that he is here for all of us.  Let's make our relationship with him PERSONAL.  He's not just some guy out there in the sky ruling over us, he is our Father, leader, helper, Savior, and he is there for every person on this earth.  If you ask him, he will be there for you also.  That is what he does.  That is who he is.

I have been studying 1 Samuel in my Bible Study over this last week, and it struck me that the Jews turned away from God so many times.  He had done so much for them, and they would seem to loose sight of that and turn away from God.  (a common theme starting all the way back in Genesis)  Each time when they turned back to God he was always there for them and gave them what they needed.  He still does that today.  The thing is that we no longer need a prophet, judge, or king to talk to God to ask him for our needs.  When Jesus died on the cross, we no longer had to go through someone else to talk to God.  What an amazing gift.

And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to Jehovah your God, so that we will not die. For we have added evil to all our sins, to ask a king for us.
1 Samuel 12:19

When these people asked Samuel for a King, Samuel was upset, because he felt that they rejected him.  God explained to Samuel, that it wasn't Samuel being rejected, but God himself again.  He gave them what they wanted.  Definitely not a wise request.  I would rather have God leading me, whether in peace or war.  I am just so grateful that I can talk to God directly and that is solely because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

I also wanted to share a song with all of you today.  It is one that I really love.  It's called Lead Me by Sanctus Real

Have a blessed week.
Debi

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 104

I want to thank everyone who shared with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party in the past.  I loved seeing all of your posts.  I am really trying to give this a shot.  Our internet is down today, so this party and post have been done by tethering to my phone.  This is a first for me, but it did get the job done.

Welcome to Adorned From Above Link Party 104.

I am so blown away from all of the links from last week's party.  Thank you all so very much for participating and making the party such a success.  I stopped by each of your posts and read them all.  I am so excited that I was able to do that.  They were all wonderful.  It was really hard to decide what posts to feature.  I am featuring four of your wonderful blog posts this week.  Please head over to visit these posts and then head to the party and share what you have been doing.

Featured Bloggers from Adorned From Above Party 103

    

Tea Cups and Roses from The Porcelain Rose

Coconut Almond Chia Seed Pudding from Joy Love Food

Fabric Bottle Wrap from Fine Craft Guild

Fun Dollar Store Crafts - Part 1 from The Messy Roost

I really hope you enjoy this weeks features.  Again, head over and take a look at their blogs.

We are happy to have you at this week's party.  We always love hearing from you, so leave your comments.  

Have a great week.
Debi

An InLinkz Link-up

Biscuit Waffles

OMG!  These Biscuit Waffles were so delicious and so easy to make.  I know you are going to love them as much as we did.  I am not a great waffle maker, and maybe it's because I am not a huge waffle lover.  Probably, because I don't love cleaning the waffle iron after I am done making the waffles.  I can be a fairly lazy cook, and since I am very OCD about keeping my kitchen clean, cleaning a waffle iron is the last thing I want to do, but for these Biscuit Waffles, I will clean the waffle iron.  I know this sentence was a huge run on, but I'm ok with that, I hope you are too.  Anyhoo, on to the recipe, they would be great for this Sunday's Brunch.

Biscuit Waffles

Ingredients:

Pillsbury Grands Biscuits or you store brand Large Biscuits

1/4 lb butter

For Topping

sugar/cinnamon sugar mixture

or 

powdered sugar

or 

syrup

Directions:

By the way, I used a lot of butter on these.

Heat up your waffle iron.

Melt your butter in a bowl and with a pastry brush, brush the top and bottom of your waffle iron with your melted butter.

Place you biscuit in the center of the waffle iron and brush the top of the biscuit with butter also.

Cook the same way you would when you cook regular waffles.  The timing is not any different.

When done place your Biscuit Waffle on a plate, brush it again with melted butter.

Repeat this process, until you have cooked all of your waffles.

The Grand's Biscuits come with 8 in a pack, so this will make 8 waffles, which is anywhere from 3 to 4 servings depending on how your family eats.

I know you are going to love this recipe.  They are so amazingly, delicious.

I always love hearing from you, so please let me know what you think of this recipe.

Have a great week and enjoy!

Debi

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 103

I want to thank everyone who shared with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party in the past.  I loved seeing all of your posts.  I am going to try starting it up again, and we'll see how it goes.  We have moved in the last few months, and are semi retired, so my time availability is changing.  My sweet hubby, is now home more, so in some ways I have less time then before.  I hope that all of you will adjust to our semi retired growing pains.

Welcome to Adorned From Above Link Party 103.

We are happy to have you at this week's party.  We always love hearing from you, so leave your comments.  

Have a great week.
Debi

An InLinkz Link-up

Dear God Note 14

I am so grateful to my friend Karen, who always has a word from God for me when I need it.

She gave me some verses this week that I want to share with all of you.  It was an amazing revelation once she had me change the wording of you and us to I and me.  

When I read it the way she suggested, it made all of the difference in the world.  How amazing is that?  I never thought of it that way before.  "That I may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His Power toward me who believes."  WOW! That is so powerful.  I have been repeating this for several days, and I am so in awe.

It works on other passages also.  I had been studying Deuteronomy 28:12 - 13, and when I made the changes it reads this way.  

The Lord will open to me his good treasures of Heaven,

I shall lend to many nations, but I shall not borrow,

The Lord will make me the head, not the tail, 

I shall be above, not beneath.

All of these are promises of God, and even more.  I'm not trying to change the word.  Please don't get me wrong.  I'm just trying make let the word live in me, and God wrote his book to all of us.  I hope this makes a difference when you read his word.  He is writing to you.  It is his love letter and promise to all of us.  So when you read it, try to remember that it is YOU, ALL OF YOU, that he is speaking to

Have a blessed week.

Debi

Warby Parker's New Half Decade Collection

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Warby Parker Celebrates 5th Birthday with Half-Decade Collection
It’s hard to believe that Warby Parker has only been around for 5 years! Since 2010 they have been busy creating so much trendy (and affordable) eyewear! 

To celebrate their 5th birthday they have released a special Half-Decade collection that features shapes from their first-ever collection. They’ve given the classic frames a fresh look, check out our favorite!

And as always, for every pair sold, Warby Parker distributes a pair to someone in need.

Now all of you know that I love Warby Parker, and they have done it again.  They have amazing old frames, with a new look.  I hope you'll at least head over and take a look at what they have.  I really think that you'll like them.
Have a great week.
Debi

Chocolate Almond Banana Soft Serve

So this Chocolate Almond Banana Soft Serve is delicious, and so yummy, I couldn't wait to share the recipe with you.  It is super easy to make also.  Since I started following The Maker's Diet from Jordan Rubin, I have had to be creative with my treats.  I love bananas, especially frozen chocolate covered bananas.  This really has an ice cream consistency, but also has the chocolate and the almond butter adds the extra OOMPH that the nut flavor adds.  It has certainly helped me with desserts at night.  

Chocolate Almond Banana Soft Serve

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas -  peeled and cut into large pieces

3 TB Raw Almond Butter

2 TB raw cocoa powder

1/4 cup goat milk yogurt

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Makes 1 serving.

I hope that you like this recipe.  It is sooooo gooood, and as an aside healthy.

Have a great week.

Debi

Dear God Note 13

Today's Dear God Note 13 is about learning and what God is doing in my life.  He has blessed me in so many way, and I am so grateful.  The picture above was taken in my backyard at sunset, and I am so happy to be able to share the beauty of this sunset with all of you.  Sometimes of feel like I run out of words to express God's glory, but then I have a sunset like this where I can take a picture, and I can share his majesty with all of you.  I love photography and I am grateful, that he has given me this gift to share things, that sometimes my words can not describe.

I have written in the past few weeks about the journey that God is taking me on this year, and what a journey it is.  He has given me a group of women online to study the Bible with, and I am learning so much from these wonderful women.  I am so grateful to have them share their knowledge and unique perspective on the old testament with me.  I wanted to share these verses in Romans with all of you today.

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, so that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 
And may the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, 
so that with one mind and one mouth you may glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:4 - 6

This is just so beautiful.  I love the verse 15:6 that says "with one mind and one mouth you may glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I am so grateful that we can glorify God and Jesus together today.
Have a blessed week.
Debi

My Favorite Dr. Seuss Party Ideas

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." -Dr. Seuss

Oh the places your party will go! This month’s Party of the Month is Dr. Seuss and Birthday Express has everything you need to plan the perfect Dr. Seuss themed party. Here are some of my favorite Dr. Seuss birthday party ideas!

Invitations - Get your guests into the party spirit with these Dr. Seuss Invitations. The package includes 8 invitations with envelopes and features all of my favorite Dr. Seuss characters on the front.

Party Decor - With the Dr. Seuss Balloon Bouquet and Dr. Seuss Wall Decal Set, your guests will walk in and be transported to Dr. Seuss' world of the Lorax and the Grinch. Start the party off right by giving each guest a Dr. Seuss Cone Hat and Dr. Seuss Blowout when they walk in the door. Mom and dad can also get in the spirit with several adult costumes available at Birthday Express. My favorite is the Adult Cat in the Hat Costume .

Food & Drink - The books of Dr. Seuss are filled with great food ideas. Spice up your typical deviled eggs with some green food dye and serve alongside some roast ham to get the classic green eggs and ham. And what better way to serve your party’s green eggs and ham than on the Dr. Seuss Dinner Plates. For dessert, the kids will go crazy for these Dr. Seuss Cupcake Wrapper and Box Kits. Each kid can get their own present with these individually wrapped boxes. You can either make a Dr. Seuss themed cupcake or buy some from the store and change out the wrappers.

It's just all so cute.  Anyway, I hope you give them a try.

Have a great week.

Debi



Dr. Seuss Personalized Birthday Banner

Dr. Seuss Cupcake Wrapper and Box Kits

Dr. Seuss Party in a Box

No Cook Banana Oatmeal on The Maker's Diet

Today I am sharing a new recipe for No Cook Banana Oatmeal and I think it works pretty well for The Maker's Diet.  I had it for my breakfast/lunch at 12:30 PM and it was absolutely delicious.

So now a little more about The Maker's Diet.  I lost 12 pounds in the 10 days that I was on phase one.  I gained back 2 pounds of it over first weekend off of it.  That was due to me only not following the eating plan.  I have found that Jordan Rubin is right about feeling the need to take a nap if my midday meal is too large.  I have tried to do low carb diets for years, and I always fail, because I love carbohydrates, like pastries, bread, ice cream.  Now on this diet, which isn't really a diet but a total change in eating habits, you are still restricted on carbs, but you get them.  It's just that they are healthy carbs, like sprouted bread or sourdough bread, much more fruit, and there are not any fruits are bad for you, honey, coconut sugar, and other things, which do make it much easier to follow.  I was out of town for a four days also, and I didn't gain any weight.  For me this is a really great thing.  I didn't even feel deprived.  I have lost the 2 pounds, but have not lost anything else at this point, but I think 12 pounds in a two week time period is pretty good.  The bigger deal is that I feel really good eating this way.  I have no inflammation in my joints, even with eating the grains, so I have found that I can eat healthy sprouted grains.  I have also learned to soak and dehydrate nuts and seeds, which has been interesting process.  That was something I definitely had to learn how to do, but now, I wouldn't eat them any other way.  It is very easy, though it does take a little time and planning.  (that will be another post)

Basically, The Maker's Diet is just eating as much natural and organic food as possible.  It also entails changing the time that I eat meals.  So, I normally start with breakfast / lunch at about 12:30, I have a snack between 3:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon, dinner at about 6:30 PM, and a dessert at about 8:00 PM.  His main thing is to eat your salad before your meal, and eat your sweets last.  That works for me.  Today, I didn't have a vegetable before my Banana Oatmeal, I'm hoping that's ok.  My snack today will be a Grass Fed Cheddar Cheese and some of my Mary's Gone Crackers Original Crackers.  (By the way, I have been eating these crackers for a while and I love them.  They are crackers made of seeds.  The only way they would be better is if they were sprouted also.  But they are delicious.)  I'm not sure about my dinner yet, but I'm making this Almond Butter Banana Ice Cream for dessert again tonight.  I made it last night and it was amazing.  That recipe will also follow in a later post (I forgot to take pictures).

Now on the my recipe for No Cook Banana Oatmeal.

No Cook Banana Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/3 cup gluten free rolled oats ( I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/3 cup heavy cream from Grass Fed Cows

1/3 cup goat yogurt, plain

2 TB raw honey

1/3 cup banana, cut into small pieces

Directions:

Place the oats, cream, yogurt, and honey into an 8 oz mason jar, or other jar and stir.

Next, add the banana and stir again.

Then, you put the lid on the jar and let it sit overnight.   

It's ready the next morning.

Makes 1 serving

I hope that you like this my No Cook Banana Oatmeal recipe.  I am so excited about it, because I love oatmeal, and it's not something that I normally get on a low carb diet.

Anyway, I always love hearing from you.  Let me know if you make this recipe, I would love to hear what you think about it.

Have a great week.

Debi

Fire Mountain Gems' Almost Instant Jewelry

This is a sponsored post.

Creating Almost Instant Jewelry

This is such a great way to make your own jewelry that is unique just for you.  You can now design stunning pendants, bracelets, earrings and more with Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' selection of metal settings exclusively designed to fit Swarovski crystals. You can shop by setting or by stone, it's really easy! Just mix and match your favorites, add a few drops of glue and you have your very own custom-made jewelry piece. This is a fun and easy activity. You can create presents for their loved ones and teachers, and they're affordable fun for crafting parties, bridal showers and more!

I think this is such a fun party idea.  In September my daughter in law had a birthday party for my 6 year old granddaugher, and they created gemstone encrusted goblets.  The girls had a great time, but they also love making jewelry with me.  These settings and crystals would make it so easy for the little 6 year olds to make their own jewelry.  They have an activity and a party favor all in one.

What a great way to make teacher gifts also.  Have your kids help, and they will be so proud to had their teacher the gift that they made for them.

Adults and teenagers will love making these at your next baby shower, bridal shower, or birthday party.  You have an instant activity and a party favor all in one.

I, myself buy a lot of my supplies from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads'.  I love their products.  They get my jewelry supplies to me quickly and the quality is amazing.  I only buy my silver wire from them now.  Their crystals and beads are also beautiful.  Need I say more.

Try them out and see how you like them.

Have a great week.

Debi

Round Settings	Round Stones
Oval Settings	Oval Stones
Square Settings	Square Stones
Rectangle Settings	Rectangle Stones