Prairie Scraps

To see inside the book click  HERE. I was so excited to snag a copy of Cindy Woodsmall's new book "The Harvest of Grace" because I just love Christian Fiction books that are based on the Amish and of course I love every one of the Cindy Woodsmall books that I have read in the past.  "The Harvest of Grace" did not disappoint me in any way! True to the usual style of Woodsmall, "The Harvest of Grace", she takes you through the struggles of Amish characters between the call of their traditions and the call of their Christian walk.  In this story, Sylvia Fisher is a woman that after trouble with an old beau, is forced to move far from her family and the life that she has always known.  Unlike most Amish women, Sylvia has no desire to follow the usual path of an Amish woman of housekeeping and children, Sylvia's heart's desire is to run a dairy farm. As Sylvia fights to find her place and respect while trying revive a debt-laden farm from di

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. - New American Standard Version (1995) I haven't really quoted scripture in my blog posts, because frankly, I'm not usually attracted to posts that are preaching.  But I wanted to include this scripture in my pursuit of healthy living.  This scripture has really been convicting me lately.  Here's another version this verse:  Everything is allowable to me, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable to me, but to nothing will I become a slave. - Weymouth Bible Why do I bring scripture to this post?  Well, I find myself exercising, drinking water, becoming more active, eating less of what I usually eat, and yet I still haven't lost a pound.  In the back of my mind, I keep feeling the Lord leading me to the thought that I need to make some sacrifices in my food.  That possibly, some things are just not permissible to

You might have noticed the table runner that I made for our Ladies Tea back  HERE.   It was a very simple and inexpensive project to make, especially since I had the burlap sack on hand. Here's another view of how the runner looked with the table settings.  I just used simple whites to go with the burlap to keep things simple and clean looking.  I'm going to try to tell you how I made this runner.  You will need: Burlap sack White material - I used 100% cotton sheets, but you could use muslin or any material you'd like.  Just be sure the weight is light. Thread - matching and contrasting Scissors Sewing Machine Here's the sack I began with.  I found it at a rummage sale for $3!  I only bought four of them, but wished I had more in my budget for them all!  I've already sold one of my table runners and recouped my costs, plus made a little extra. The first thing that I did was cut off the side seams of the sack.  I left the entire length of the sa

Let me start with an apology (that would be how Beth Moore would begin).  My pictures are really great pictures.  I borrowed my son's Kodak Easyshare camera, and it's just not as easy to use for me as my Nikon DSLR.  It was nice and small to carry, though.  Also, I apologize for  my absenteeism lately, I've been pretty busy being Mom.   With that out of the way, I wanted to just share a glimpse of the fabulous Ladies Conference that I was able to attend in Boise, ID this past weekend!  Beth packed so much into this last Friday night and Saturday morning, that I feel like I haven't had a chance to really process it all yet. The music was fabulous!  I miss the contemporary Christian music each week at church.  We just haven't found that church that has what we are looking for, yet.  But for now, we love all the people at the church we are attending, and for now, I appreciate the great group of women that have included me in their circle. What can one really s

  As a Mom of 5, I'm always looking for ways to get more done in less time, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to come up with this idea!  I have really dry feet.  The dermatologist said to put thick lotions on my feet 3-5 times a day and wear socks at night to keep the moisture in my feet.  Well, first of all, I barely get my teeth brushed most days, I certainly don't have time to lather up several times a day. In fact, I barely seem to have time to exercise in everyday, but I've been making the effort to make some healthy changes.  A few weeks ago, I was putting on my tennis shoes to run on the treadmill and had an aha! moment!  I could put a think layer of lotion on my feet before I worked out, under my socks and my feet would have a chance to stay moist through my workout! I did have some doubts, that maybe it would be uncomfortable, since my feet would sweating with lotion on them, but amazingly, it doesn't bother me during exercising and my feet are

We are frantically getting our son ready to go on an international exchange trip this summer and one of the things that he is supposed to bring with him are business cards.  I was going to buy the computer business cards to go through our printer, when I got to thinking that I should just make him one on my  Storybook Creator 4.0  and print it up as a 4x6 photo. I opened a new project up on the "Local Printer" option in the printer and chose to make a "4x6 portrait" card. I used the  Basketball Digital Additions  to make the basketball background and the basketball in the background.  (The star over his face is also from that addition.) For the State of Idaho and the state bird and flower, I used the North American Road Trip Digital Kit, which was only available to my customers enrolled in the  Rewards Club .  (The Rewards Club gives a 15% reward on all purchases and also has exclusive products and deals just for members.  Please check  this link  to sign up t

I know it doesn't sound right that TV should be the motivation for healthy living, but I have found a show that is motivating to me.  Each morning, as I try to get through my emails, blog and Facebook, I run an episode of  The Revolution to get me going for the day.  You can go  HERE  to view episodes and read about the show.   I started watching the show because Ty Pennington was on it.  I love him from back in his HGTV days.  I watched his ongoing home makeover show, but lost interest in it after too many tears!  I started to watch, really to see what his new project is.  I'm hooked, but not for the usual reasons that I love TV shows! This time, I'm hooked on The Revolution, because each week, they feature a woman trying to lose weight for the entire week.  They show her real life goals, tears, struggles, everything...  Each day, they show a month later in her weight loss progress and on the final day, have her in the studio to reveal her total weight loss.  I watc