"Make It Happen Mondays!"

"The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be far greater than what you get." (Jim Rohn)

Mondays! For most of us, it represents a day of getting back to the "old grind stone" and hopefully making it through the day.  After a long weekend of fun and relaxation  it is hard to get back on track, at least for me that is! But I know I am not the only one who wishes that the weekends were longer! However, we can learn to approach Mondays with a better attitude and it starts with making the choice to see it in a different light. Like most things in life, the right attitude is essential.




Mondays should be looked upon as a starter to a great week ahead. Another chance to accomplish some awesome things or overcome past obstacles that held us back last week.  Once we take on that mindset then we are on the right track. I like to set goals for the week and work towards them. Notice I said "work " towards them. Sometimes, I am able to get them all accomplished and sometimes I lack, but the point is, I put forth an effort. The reasons why setting goals is important is because it helps us to maintain focus and not become distracted as easily.

By all means,I am no expert in this field and it takes the grace of God for me to accomplish the goals I set but the point is I try. Here are just a few suggestions that I hope will motivate you on this Monday to make things happen this week with success:

1) Priorities- Balance is key! You need to make sure you have your priorities in order. For me, God is first, family and then other matters. It is important that we maintain balance or like a scale you can easily tip to one side. I could spend all day writing, but then what happens to my family or my personal relationship with God? Something suffers or is thrown off.  So keeping priorities straight only helps you lead a more fruitful life all the way around.

2) Write down short term goals for the week. Also, make a list of long term goals(goals more than a year out).

3) Set an accomplishment date- Obviously if you are making Mondays your goal setting day, then make Sunday the date you want to see them accomplished. For long term goals, place a future date. Knowing what your overall long term goal is, helps guide your short term goals because you are working towards the bigger goal. Think of a person training for a marathon. The ultimate goal is to complete the marathon but some of their short term goals are to train to get there.

4) Are your goals realistic? Are you spreading yourself too thin?

5) Make a plan of action

6)Welcome failure and learn from it!

7) Persist and NEVER quit!

8) Celebrate the small victories- This is important because everything in life is a process and it takes time to become the person we want to be. Rome was not built in a day, neither will we be. Learn to laugh at yourself along the way and enjoy the journey! It is easy to become frustrated and sometimes we can get thrown off our "A" game when we are quickly side tracked with failure, etc,.

9) Have an accountability partner- I find this to be important because you need someone to help keep you on track and encourage you along the way.

10) Enjoy your week! Make the best of it and know that you just took one step closer to becoming the person that you have always wanted to be.

Have a great Monday!

"Savory Saturdays" for Couples

See! The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth;the season of singing has come....Arise, come, my darling;my beautiful one, come with me.....Song of Songs 2:11-13

Reading that verse brings so many memories flooding back to me on the day  I married my husband, Craig. He had given me a card the day of our wedding . Inside were declarations of his love towards me . He also hand wrote some of the scriptures from the Song of Songs, this one in particular. We celebrate another anniversary next month in November. I truly thank God for Craig because he has truly opened my eyes up to God's amazing blessing in marriage.

Since our marriage, we have always tried to set apart time for one another. We make it a point to schedule date nights and go on at least one weekend trip a year together. Those times have been fabulous! In between trips, we have started doing what we like to call "Savory Saturdays" once a month.  It is when we take turns planning something special for one another without the other knowing about it. This month is my turn and so I have planned a fun, romantic day out together. We take turns once a month.

Here are my plans and the reason I am telling all of you(yes, Craig might read this and find out the surprise, but that is what he gets for butting into my blog-lol!) is to help encourage you all to take the time to savor or cherish your spouse. Great marriages are about staying connected and taking the time to let one another how much they mean to you.

So, my plan is to take the man golfing! He loves to golf! Me on the other hand, I like to ride in the golf cart while sipping a latte and reading a magazine. However, this time I plan on participating in the sport and looking cute while I do it! Sounds like an excuse to go shopping to me!

Afterward, I thought we could enjoy an already packed picnic lunch together. I've had this wine and cheese back pack that I bought about 2 years ago and have never used it. Go figure? So, next weekend is the day I make use of it. There is a beautiful park by the river here in Leavenworth so I thought we would take advantage of a relaxing lunch by the river.

One of the very first dates that Craig took me on was to the Melting Pot. We love to eat fondue together so I have planned an evening dinner to end our "Savory Saturday" in Kansas City. It may sound like our day is filled with a lot but to me it is worth it once a month to go all out and cherish or savor the man I love.

I hope that you too will be inspired to start doing a "Savory Saturday" with your spouse. It doesn't have to be expensive or even lengthy. It could be as simple as breakfast in bed with a back massage and an evening stroll together.  Or maybe make him his favorite food and go on a picnic together. We have even gone to Barnes and Noble, drank coffee and read a book together then ended the evening with a great movie.  It really isn't what you do but rather the quality of time you are together. Go for a walk and drink some coffee by a beautiful river or park. Take a cooking class together or try out a new activity that neither one of you have ever done before. Get creative!  Write him a love letter and give it to him with his favorite dessert.  Just take the time to do something together one Saturday a month. If childcare is an issue, then take turns watching another couples kids and switch out. 

Our anniversary is soon, so I wanted to give him a  pre-anniversary gift is all. By the way, he has next months "Savory Saturday"and it just happens to be our wedding month(funny how that happened-lol)so it better be good!-lol

Happy Savory Saturdays, Ladies!

Harvest Spice Latte and Hot Apple Crisp

 There is nothing more comforting than ending a hectic day with a sweet night cap! Try a Harvest Spice Latte and some warm apple crisp and see if you don't cozy right into the evening by a warm fire reading a great book. After all it is Fall, so why not? Have a great weekend!

Harvest Spice Latte

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot milk
1/3 cup double-strength hot brewed coffee
2 to 3 tablespoons Gingerbread Latte Flavor NESTLÉ COFFEE-MATE Liquid Coffee Creamer  or Ginger syrup
1 tablespoon caramel syrup
Ground cinnamon (optional)

Instructions:

PLACE milk in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly to create foam, until milk is hot. Using large spoon to hold back foam, pour milk into a mug. Stir in coffee, Coffee-mate and caramel syrup. Top with foam and sprinkle of cinnamon.

 Hot Apple Crisp 

Ingredients

Filling:

• 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped small
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the Filling:

• Mix all the ingredients together. Place into 7 to 8-ounce ramekins.

For topping:

Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea size lumps. Stir in pecans and sprinkle over filling.
Bake crisps for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Fall is For Family

Fall is always a beautiful time of year to not only enjoy the season changing right before our eyes, but a perfect time to spend with family too.
As military families, we especially need to take advantage of any time we have when our soldier is not deployed. Making memories for my family is a priority because it will be those precious moments we spend together united that will carry us through our sepearations during deployments.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with my family at a local pumpkin farm here in Kansas. We were immersed in the cool weather and  fall like atmosphere of the falling leaves, pumpkin patches, hay rides, and smell of hot chocolate and chili cooking. For us it was an added treat because we just came from two years in the Mojave Desert at NTC, in California.

Here are some affordable fall activities that maybe your family can consider this season. Make this season count for more than just cooling temperatures and cozy fires, but rather allow it to be a time where you can harvest the relationships  in your own family! Don't forget to invite new neighbors and begin to kindle connections within your community too.

 Go explore at a local state park. Most of them have walking trails and playgrounds. Bring a thermos of hot chocolate and dip some green apples in caramel and enjoy the blessings of the outdoors. Collect leaves and acorns for fall decorations at home. Also, bring the camera for some quick family photos that you can look back on over a lifetime!

 Visit a local pumpkin farm or apple orchid. Many have extra activities such as petting and feeding farm animals, hay rides, corn mazes, and much more. You can call ahead for the fees and plan according to your budget.

Visit a local farmers market and enjoy all the fresh produce for this time of year. Take advantage of the harvest of pumpkins, apples, jams and ciders. Make it a point to try out a new recipe together as a family and enjoy the fruit of your hands preparing it homemade.
 

Do you ever remember as a child seeing a huge pile of raked leaves and feeling the need to just run and jump in them? Well, most kids love it! Rake some leaves and make it happen- be a kid with your kid! Your kids will enjoy seeing you romp around and will remember it for years to come!

Get one with nature and feed the birds. Make a bird feeder using a pine cone, peanut butter and seeds and hang it where you and your family can watch and enjoy nature at its best.

Some of my favorite fall memories were around a cracking warm fire, melting smores and enjoying the entertaining conversations that came with gathering together in the name of love. This is a perfect time to connect with your children, sharing memories or just making some of your own.

Host a family and neighborly backyard movie night. Gather blankets and comfy chairs, cook some popcorn and settle in for a night of entertainment and fun. Assign people snacks and drinks to keep the cost down.

Last but not least, carve or paint some pumpkins together. Get creative and have a party doing it!Take pictures and start a tradition every year of taking each person's picture by their creation. It will be fun to look back on it and remember.

I hope that some of the suggestions I gave you will help this fall season be a time of connecting and getting back to the things that really matter....family! Cherish the times you have with them and make the best of the moments given.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness till all our striving cease;

take from our souls the strain and stress,

and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Thy peace.

                  John Greenleaf Whittier

What Closet Jewelry Are You Hiding?

"Isn't everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 MSG
 

If you’re like most women, you dream of one day being able to have a beautifully, sophisticated, organized closet to store all your possessions in.  Maybe it will be one where you have a high back, satin-upholstered chair to sit in to change shoes or casually read a magazine, while drinking coffee and eating whatever the butler serves you.  After all, you have  more than enough  time to ponder your  choice of wardrobe before heading to the post PX or commissary , right?.......Not!  For most military wives, you are just grateful for a sufficient enough closet to store your things. Never mind elegance.  Closets are the least of your worries!  Functionality and enough room for hubby to store his dirty combat boots and ACU’s( Army Combat Uniform)  is the mission at hand. 

I’ve had many closets throughout my travels as an army wife. Some of them were awesome, meaning that I was able to have enough room to spread out my belongings and actually see what I own.  However, I don’t allow myself to get spoiled because you never know what the next move will bring you.  

So, why all the talk about closets, you might be asking?  Well, recently while standing in line at my local Wal-Mart, I happen to pick up a magazine to help pass the time while the woman in front of me purchased enough groceries to last her a month or two in the Alaskan terrain. Patiently, (well, maybe that is a stretch) I read an article about how the average woman in America wears only a small percentage of what she owns. The article went on to challenge women to get rid of what they were calling, “closet jewelry”(basically items or clothing that are not being used but  rather only add to the décor of their closet).  They suggested donating the items to people in need. 

Well, I am guilty as charged; I am one of those women who have beautiful clothes, purses, and shoes that I have NEVER worn. In fact, some of them still have the price tags on.  Feeling convicted, I decided to start going through my closet to get rid of the “closet jewelry.” It was liberating to know that these valuable items would finally find some purpose and hopefully enrich lives.

However, today my blog is not about just useless “closet jewelry” that collects in your closet and looks pretty, but rather about you as a person. You see, as I began to reflect on this matter, I felt there was a deeper message that the Lord was imparting to me. 

We too are like closets. We hold some really valuable things within us that are not being used.  For example, some of us might hold the talents for taking pictures, cooking, baking, teaching, parenting, dealing with kids, encouraging people, etc., the lists are endless. God didn’t create us without a purpose. Our gifts and talents were never meant to be “closet jewelry.”    

So, what closet jewelry are you hiding? What would God have you do with what He has given to you? Don’t let those items or gifts go to waste today. Instead, clean out your closet and give it all away!