Coffee with Cream

It's amazing what God can accomplish through a cup of coffee with flavored creamer.

In the last 12 years I've lost a marriage, two pregnancies (in a year), a home house, my mother, and my mother-in-law. And in losing my first marriage, I lost my view of myself.

But with this one cup of coffee, I've gained so much more.

For the past 12 years, I have allowed my ex-husband to make me see myself as ugly, unlovable, and LESS, instead of seeing myself through God's eyes, where I am beautiful, loved, and worth more than I can possibly imagine.

I'm tired of seeing myself through my eyes.

So through this one cup of coffee, with creamer given to me by my Regnum Christi sisters with a simple note and much love, my eyesight is starting to improve. And not just because I finally have caffeine in my system!

They see me. Weekly they see the real me, and they love me. They've seen me through happy, and they've seen me through sad. They've seen me through excess, and they've seen me through want. They've seen me contribute, and they've seen me sit silent. And through it all, they see ME, and they love me. 

I want to start seeing myself through THEIR eyes. 

It's going to take more than this one cup of coffee. It might take these entire two bottles of creamer, left on the seat of my van with a simple note by hearts full of love. But as I feel the warmth of the coffee flowing through my system, I can feel the warmth of their love flowing around me. And I can believe that maybe, just maybe, there IS more to me than meets the eye. 

Happy New Year!

A month late,  but that's my life! I'm reposting the post I made LAST New Year's Day, because it is still relevant (and based on the lack of comments no one read it lol). 

Welcome to 2013!

I always think that on January 1, my life will magically change because the day before I made a list. The list is pretty much the same every year: get organized, stick to a budget, get my prayer life in order, do more with the kids..... December 31 comes along, and I realize I didn't stick to the list, and my year ended the same way it began, which is how the year before ended! So I'm going to try something new this year: I'm going to focus on my blessings. That's it! I'm going to declutter my life and my mind, and keep only those people and things that bless me. With less to clutter up my life, I will have more time to focus on those blessings, which will make me a happier person. And I think that as a happier person, the things I usually put on my list will come naturally. And my life will change! I know it's not going to happen over night, but I'm hoping that, come 2014, my list of blessings will be more than I ever expected!

I hope yours will be too. What are YOU blessed with today?

Home Made Sweetened Condensed Milk

Move over Ma Ingalls! I would say Martha Stewart, but 1) I don't like her and 2) well, I just like Ma better!
I made my own sweetened condensed milk!!!!! If I WAS Martha, there would have been a camera on me and you could have seen the shock on my face when I tasted it and it TASTED JUST LIKE THE CANNED STUFF!!!!! Except for the powdered milk that didn't dissolve. Here it is!

It's just powdered milk, milk, sugar, and vanilla! Just be sure you stand watch over it and not go off and take a picture of your oldest child, whom you haven't seen in a few weeks, cuddling his baby sister. You'll have to dump the pot and start over. Not that I would know.....

After it cooled, I turned it into coffee creamer! Sorry I don't have a picture - all the batteries are in the Wii remotes and I don't have any for my camera. The boys think Mario is more important than blogging.... Just trust me that it looks JUST like the expensive stuff in the store, and I added some peppermint extract and it tastes just like my favorite seasonal creamer! (Except for the powdered milk that still has not dissolved.)

THEN I text my sister and tell her, and she texts back that she is getting ready to make her laundry detergent. Ma Ingalls is definitely cheering us on!

Now to figure out how to get rid of those chunks.....

My Heart is Over Flowing!

Wouldn't yours?

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: Coffee

I'm really getting into the Heart to Heart Challenges. It's definitely helping to get my scrapbooking mojo back! This theme was Hot Cocoa. I'm currently decorating my kitchen in coffee stuff, so this was really exciting! I got out my Silhouette AGAIN and made these:

They are both from the Silhouette store, and all paper and stamps are from Close to my Heart.
They were soooooo fun to make, and I can think of so many uses for that mug! I wish I would have had some raffia to put in the bottom. I tried to crinkle up some quilling strips, but it didn't have the same effect. I also debated about cutting out the top of the cake slice where the pink paper is, but I wasn't sure what I was going to put inside to I left it in. I think if I was going to put food in there I would have cut out that area and used a page protector to cover the hole.
Now to invite someone over for coffee and share these in person!!!

Thanks Snow Much!

...for looking at my wonderful Thank You card!

I made it for a challenge over at my favorite blog, Heart to Heart. You may have been able to tell from my blog, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Close to my Heart. I was a Consultant a few years ago, and I'm trying again to spread the love of this amazing papercrafting company.
Anyway, H2H has challenges going all the time, and this one I'm entering is called "Snow Much Fun" and is the first one for January. Go here to check it out - you have until the end of the month to enter yourself! To enter, your project must be mostly Close to my Heart. If you need CTMH supplies, go to my website and check out the special offers we have going on, especially Whooo's Your Valentine. Let's celebrate National Papercrafting Month in a gorgeous way!
I can't wait to see all of your snow creations!

I am in LOVE!!!!!

I received my copy of the new Close to my Heart Idea Book, and I can't stop staring at it! O. M. G. Gotta go lock myself in my craft room now. See ya in the spring!
http://mycraftyheart.ctmh.com/