Back in the Saddle

How do I blog, where do I start?  That's kind of how I'm feeling about everything right now...We just came back from an amazing vacation, but God is also teaching me a lot right now. I'm in process as the saying goes and excited about the end result.  The process is slightly painful and necessary.  Andy's schedule this summer was more wearing than realized and I ended up resentful in spite of my best efforts to be the supportive, Christian wifey  that is expected.  We all know how the saying goes, 'If mama ain't happy...'  So being alone as a family, in the mountains for 2 weeks was just what the Dr. ordered.  Honestly I didn't have an oz. of desire to come back.  I said things like, 'We could live in the pop-up, all we need is love.'  Andy broke in with reality and now we are 'in process.'  Here are some thoughts/questions that I am sorting thru;

1.  How much is too much hospitality?  

2.  Always speak the truth, but do it in LOVE!!!

3.  A glad heart makes a happy face!

4.  A gentle answer deflects anger.  Approach, approach, approach!

5.  Boundaries are a beautiful thing and when our family(the 6 under this roof) is in a healthy place, everything flows from that!

6.  1 Corinthians 13~  No one else will fight for your family/marriage you have to be deliberate in all things.  I choose to be loyal, loving and kind...repeat....repeat...repeat(=

7.  Create in me a clean heart...  Not create in them a clean heart.  Change starts with me!

I promise the other posts from me this week will be light, but today I turn over a new calendar year and want to be an effective daughter of my Savior.  Oh yeah, and fall is here!!!!

I've been busy...

Sorry it has been a while since there has been a post on ScrappyLove! My parents were visiting and then we went to WI to spend a long weekend with the other half of ScrappyLove and all our families.

I have been busy freezing and canning vegetables from our garden and tons of tomatoes a friend gave me. I wanted to share the recipes I used. I'm NOT an expert canner by any means. I was actually very intimated and overwhelmed when I started. Much to my surprise though every single jar I canned, sealed! I just bought a ton of peaches from the farmers market and I'm planning to can/freeze those in the next few days. Other things I froze were shredded zucchini (for zucchini bread), green peppers, green beans, collard greens (not sure for what yet) and kale (for smoothies and soups).

Basically this week, my house was neglected b/c free time was spent trying to get this stuff done!

Here are the websites I used for canning...I just looked through a bunch on line and decided on these for no real reason other than they had easy steps/pictures to follow!

beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com (canning diced tomatoes)
lifeingraceblog.com (salsa recipe)
pickyourown.org (referenced this site for freezing the things mentioned above as well as for canning tomato sauce and general canning protocol)

I also made a marinara sauce in the crock pot using a recipe our friends gave us. They have a blog that is basically their favorite recipes. I'm sure they will be putting this marinara sauce recipe up soon. They are really good cooks too by the way! Check out their blog!!!

Anyone else canning/freezing stuff? also, any good recipe that uses collard greens????

My Mom

Pretty sure I missed blogging about my mom on Mother's Day. Now is as good a time as any to show how thankful I am of her!!! I know she doesn't get the credit she deserves, but that is what is great about her, she is still great and keeps loving.

Anyone that knows my mom knows, that she is a servant, patient, quick to forgive, kind to everyone, loves Jesus and wants everyone else around her to love Him too, beautiful, independent, innocent, humble, strong,  hospitable, gracious, helpful, good at coming up with meals on the spot, brave (not regarding spiders though), always up for a cup of coffee, thinks her family is great, loyal, always there when you need her, a great mom, friend, sister, grandma, and wife.

I'm so thankful that she is my mom and for the way she has raised me. I'm thankful for the example she gives of all the above qualities. She has always been there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, someone to help at times of need. She is willing to take LONG drives/bus rides/train rides to come help.  She helps me more than she knows and I'm pretty sure I don't let her know enough how much she really means to me. I hope that I can be there for her when she needs me. I'm glad I can call her my friend.

Also, glad we gave our daughter my mom's middle name, Mae. Thankful that Mae has my mom as a grandma and as an example. She will be proud of her name I am sure, because of how great my mom, her grandma, is!

I guess when I grow up...I want to be like my mom. :)

Love you, Mom!

Now, let's go down a little memory lane...

Life Happens Part 2

So 3 weeks prior to this an incredibly, gracious family offered us a 99' VW Eurovan camper.  We were considering saying no as we had a van and a pop-up already...  Like I said God is never surprised.  When the van broke down we called this sweet family back and said, 'Does the offer still stand?'  Long story short, we have a new vehicle.  God didn't just give us a car, he gave us a home on wheels, which makes me wonder what's around the corner for us...

Next up turning this beauty into a 6 seater before our out west road trip.    

I hope to take a sweet picture of Andy that looks similar to this(=.  

NY Sale

I was able to go to NY last week with the kids to see family. I LOVE being in the ADK in the summer! While there I was also able to do a ScrappyLove sale at the Word of Life Family Campground's Farmers Market. It was really fun being there to meet people and talk about ScrappyLove. My mom, grandma, and the twins joined me. Looking forward to doing lots more sales at Farmer's Markets and Craft Fairs.

I got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents while we were there and it was fun for my kids to get to know them better.