Archives for February 2013

Twitterature – February 2013

February 15, 2013 by Amy 5 Comments

My blog-friend Anne, aka Modern Mrs. Darcy, has started a monthly link-up for books called Twitterature. The premise of this link-up is to share short, casual reviews of books we’ve been reading.

Sometimes I write full-on book reviews but other times I read and move on. Not because they’re not good, often times because they’re so special I don’t have the proper words. This link-up will give me a chance to share ALL the books I’m reading without having so many book reviews through the month.

The Old Testament (66 books)

I admit, it’s a little hokey but this will explain why my reading list is so short. I’ve been trudging through another round of reading through the Bible this winter (in 122 days) and we finished the Old Testament, all 66 books in 3 months. I’ve written about it before, but I cannot stress enough how much I learned the first time I read the OT through and how much I continue to learn. Sure, it’s painful at times but so, so worth it.

The Gospels (4 books)

Is it MORE hokey I’m listing this separately? We finish the Gospels today and if you can’t tackle the OT, then please tackle The Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Honestly, Jesus and his parables leave me spellbound. I think I could read these for months and still not get bored.

Chasing Sunsets by Eva Marie Everson

Emma bought me this Christian fiction book for Christmas. To be honest, I usually find Christian fiction lacking in strong characters and storylines. I’m not sure this was much of an exception, but it was a nice diversion. With the premise of a rekindled teen romance on a Florida island after a divorce, it was enough to keep me around for the whole book but not to continue the series.

You Are Already Amazing by Holley Gerth

Holley’s book is practical, thoughtful, personal and challenging. Highly recommend this for folks still trying to find their strengths and what God might be calling them to do. And psst, I just signed up for e-coaching with Holley and I cannot WAIT!

Be sure to check out Twitterature. Hopefully we can all find some new reads!

Forever Valentine

February 14, 2013 by Amy 1 Comment

Scott and I have celebrated 18 Valentine’s Days together. I’m not big on flowers and while I love chocolate, I’d rather have a Reese’s cup over a bon-bon any day.

Sometimes we go out to eat and sometimes like today, he simply had a card and a 4-pack of Starbucks coffee waiting on the dining room table. It was perfect.

I’d much rather him show me love throughout the year than force tokens of love on one day without backing it up the other days.

I realize that many couples have it backwards. They’re married and getting flowers and chocolates today, but tomorrow they’ll go back to feeling alone and unloved.

I’ve been there.

This year I’ve watched another couple whose struggle hasn’t had a restorative ending. I’ve seen what it’s like to not only feel alone and unloved but to then end up being alone. God has certainly been busy catching her tears this year.

Statistics say half of you have or will experience this. I don’t wish it on anyone. My heart hurts for my friend today and for all of you that are alone or just feel alone most of the time.

I don’t mean to say that everyone without a significant other is lonely and sad. Many are single and are totally happy and that’s great. I just have a heart today for those that are or have been married and ought not feel alone but do.

The true message on Valentine’s Day is that although man fails us and we feel alone, we aren’t. It sounds trite, but I can tell you first-hand when I have felt unappreciated, alone and unloved, his unfailing, undivorcable love not only filled in the gaps but overflowed until I cried at the immensity of it all.

I posted these verses last year but they’re worth posting again. Consider it His Valentine’s card today.

Ten Ways God Loves You

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1. I know you intimately
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30
The LORD knows the thoughts of man. Psalm 94:11
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

2. I think you’re beautiful
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 4:4
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31

3. I delight in you
The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Proverbs 12:22
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 147:11
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

4. I will fight for you
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

5. I forgive you
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.Ephesians 1:7

6. I want the best for you
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

7. I see and appreciate you
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness.Zephaniah 3:17
How amazing are your thoughts concerning me. Psalm 139:17

8. I will protect you
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me. Psalm 50:15
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11

9. I want to give you the desires of your heart
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:19

10. I’m jealous for you
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 2 Corinthians 11:2

Printable list

You have a forever Valentine and he loves you so, so much.

What I Wore Wednesday 2.13.2013

February 13, 2013 by Amy 10 Comments

Today’s the day I share my outfits from the week with The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday. I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

Source: luculliandelights.com via Amy on Pinterest

Work outfit. Every time I see a picture of this sweater I’m so disappointed. I love the color so much but I just don’t think the fit is right. *sigh*

Source: photo.net via Amy on Pinterest

Source: metrodorus.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

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Source: mostbeautifulpages.com via Amy on Pinterest

Valentine’s Day Craft – Sweetheart Topiaries

February 12, 2013 by Amy 2 Comments

My friend Linda invited a group of us to a Pinterest party at her house on Saturday. She had already planned to make a craft for her husband for Valentine’s Day and decided others should join in and make those Pinterest projects we never have time for.

Can you believe I was at a loss? I scoured my Pinterest boards and there wasn’t even one thing I could make in an afternoon. I think I see now why I don’t get many of them done.

So, I went scouring for Valentine’s Day themed projects and decided to do these Sweetheart Topiaries.

Source: naturallyestes.com via Amy on Pinterest

Cute, eh?

The site I pinned them from didn’t have detailed pictures to make it so I thought I’d share.

Our supplies:

Buckets. Ours were 4 1/2” tall and 4” wide
Foam for the base
4” Styrofoam balls
3/16” dowel rods
Candy hearts
Coordinating ribbon
Hot glue
Ice (you’ll see what I mean)

We had a rough time figuring out the ratios of bucket width to dowel rod width to Styrofoam ball width but I think what we went with worked well.

We had planned to buy metal buckets and paint them but were able to find some painted ones that worked. Looking back, I wish I’d had the pink like in the picture but lots of colors work and it’s easy to switch out the buckets after the fact.

First, we cut the foam down to squares to stuff in our buckets. These hold the dowel rods in place.

Next, we karate chopped the 3’ dowel rods to get them to the size we needed. Scott says we should have used a saw but I didn’t pack a saw for Linda’s house, so we had to improvise. The rods need to be about 13” long after you karate chop or saw them.

Put the rod into the foam in the bucket, trying to make it as straight as possible. Then, attach the Styrofoam ball to the top of the dowel rod, leaving about 6” of rod sticking out. There is no trick to getting it all straight and that is probably the hardest part of this project.

Next, we wrapped some coordinating ribbon around the dowel rods. Pro tip from our friend Joy that was there: take the rod out of the foam in the bucket and twirl the ribbon. Makes it much easier. Thanks, Joy!

I also would suggest hot gluing the ribbon every few swirls as it wants to sag and gap if you go too far.

Now, the fun part. Start hot gluing the candies to the ball. Tip: don’t apply the glue to the ball first. The foam melts. Put the glue on the candy and then situate the candies around each other, making sure to evenly distribute the colors and the angles.

Also? This is the part where you might need the ice. I burned myself badly at least 3 different times as I was trying to get the glue on the little hearts. I still have two blisters as I type this. As Joy said, the real thing that needed blogged is a video of me trying to hot glue these things. It still hurts thinking of it.

If you do this right, at some point, your ball will look like a woman in curlers.

And then you can color a face on her.

About an hour later, you will have all the hearts glued. Seriously. It took almost an hour to do that.

Next, tie a bow on the rod. If you have a Joy at your party that ties better than you, have her do it. It worked out well for me.

As a final step, we stuffed some paper in the sides of the bucket to fill the gaps and then poured the leftover candy hearts on top When you get home, your dog will enjoy his new candy dish. Thanks for eating my Valentine’s Day craft, Tucker!

Jenny did the same craft but with red as her theme and I think it looks darling and way more Valentine’s Day-y.

And that’s it!

The two topiaries took us a total of 2 hours. I admit, I would never sit down for two hours and do these but it was a great Pinterest Party craft! I’m very happy to say that these will NOT end up on Pinstrosity so I’m considering it a win!

In the Middle

February 11, 2013 by Amy 2 Comments

When my girls were younger, I was so intent on keeping them little. Gone would be the little toes, wobbly legs and words like spaghetti pronounced “pah-sgetti”.

I wanted time to stand still.

Both girls are now firmly entrenched in elementary school—somewhere in the middle between the famous preschool and teen days–and may I say, I love it so much?

Sure, the transition from preschool to teen years are still hard. In fact, harder in some ways. We are already dealing with tears and unexplained anger and eye-rolling with the best of them, but I love these days when they still think home is the best place, I still get called “Mommy” (although Lexi has been calling me “Mother” lately) and most upsets are still soothed by a good hug.

And yet, they are forming opinions about how others act and care when someone is wronged, they have their own opinions on what to wear and eat and they know how to fix their own bowl of cereal.

It’s a mostly-sweet-sometimes-frustrating period of time that I’m savoring.

Girls piled up in my living room floor are weekend musts.

Crafts are a given.

And yes, most days you’ll find Lexi watching something on Netflix.

Dancing is constant, whether it be courtesy of Just Dance or a quickly choreographed dance to a Spotify song.

Books are devoured on the regular.

And did I mention crafts?

They still love trampoline time with Daddy.

And some days are spent doing things I have no part of like Safety Patrol.

But those independent activities are ones I’m most proud of. She’s confident enough to go out and do something brave and helpful.

We’re in the middle and I love it.

Bare

February 8, 2013 by Amy 11 Comments

Writing with Five Minute Friday on afraid. No editing or backtracking. Just writing for five minutes.

This one’s for the writers or the ones that ought to be…

image credit

We writers lay bare our lives. At times, it’s hard work–all that bleeding onto a page.

But the truth? The truth is there’s so much we’re dealing with that we can’t write about. It’s not our story to tell. Or, it is our story because we are a character of the story but it would lay another bare—cause them to bleed onto a page they don’t even know about.

Just in my small circle of influence there are people

unable to find a job,

on the brink of divorce,

dealing with wayward children,

losing their homes,

fighting depression,

miserable in their marriage,

having thoughts of suicide,

It’s disheartening that I could go on.

Some of you know those problems intimately. Even if you aren’t dealing with these individually, you’re dealing with them. We’ve all got family and friends that are struggling.

How can I lay bare in the writing to say I know how you feel? This is how we handled it. There’s no Pinterest board to pin “Top Ten Ways to Pull Your Mortgage Payment Together so You Avoid Sleeping in Your Car Tomorrow Night.”

Sure, we dance around it, but so many times we’re missing the heart of what everyone is REALLY struggling with.

I don’t have easy answers but I’m tired of people struggling so deeply without help or hope. I firmly believe we, as writers–as beacons of light–could provide that hope and must figure out a way to share it.

To the writers I say: bleed when you can and put down the pen when you must, but for goodness sakes, will you finally accept that we need your words–those deep ones that make you bleed–so desperately? If you have the freedom to write about it, but can’t seem to squeak it out, will you be brave and finally gift us with them? This world needs you. We really do.

What I’m Into – January 2013

February 7, 2013 by Amy 9 Comments

MyFitnessPal

I decided a week into January that I’d quietly start counting calories. Losing weight wasn’t a New Year’s Resolution, but the new year did give me a fresh start. I had let the holidays completely overtake any semblance of health. I was feasting off cookies, cakes, white mochas, and ice cream sundaes…daily. My weight aside, I needed some accountability on my sugar intake.

I downloaded the LoseIt! app to journal my food but found a few weeks later the food database in MyFitnessPal is a lot better. While I’m not bent on counting calories, keeping a journal has helped me limit my sugar intake. Only 50 calories left? You gotta choose something healthier than a cupcake.

I still entertain a dessert every day, but I’m staying within my day caloric intake. Four weeks later, I’ve lost 4-5 pounds and I’m into that.

MyFitnessPal has an app but don’t worry if you don’t have a smart phone. Everything can be tracked on their web site.

P90X

On top of counting calories, I’d been wanting to work out but just could not get it together. I hate working out in the morning, I don’t want to take any more time in the evenings away from home. I don’t like getting sweaty in the middle of the day and normally my lunch break is needed for errands.

Scott decided about two weeks ago to start P90X on his own. He asked me to do it and I immediately said no. I’ve heard way too many complaints on social media about how hard it was. I wanted to exercise, but not go crazy or anything.

The first night he put in the DVDs, I jumped in. I figured I would do what I could and bow out for the rest. The first night I made half the night. I was able to keep it together the other nights and guess what? I’m into it.

I love that every night is something different. I love that Scott and I are doing it together. I love that the girls are home with us and jump in when they want. If they aren’t doing the DVD, they’re hanging on to the chin up bar or playing around us. I feel like I’m getting the exercise I need without sacrificing family time.

Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds

The hardest part of letting go of sugar is finding good replacement snacks. I’m not a big vegetable fan, try to stay away from too many carbs and being gluten free doesn’t leave you with too many options. Cheese anyone?

Almost every nutritionist will tell you to snack on almonds but I cannot stand plain almonds. I stumbled on Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds one day in the store, desperate to find a good alternative and y’all, these are so good. I’m into it.

Have low calorie, whole food snack options for me? Let me know!

Candles

My aunt gave me a soy candle for Christmas and last month I started keeping it at my desk and lighting it every day. Turns out I love the yummy smell and dare I say it, the ambiance it creates.

I tried replacing the candle with one from Walmart and y’all, do not waste your time. The candle was gone within a week. I’m all for saving a buck or twelve but the more expensive candles really are worth it.

Here’s the candle my aunt bought me from a school fundraiser. If nothing else, you have to go check out the scent names. Some will certainly leave you scratching your head!

Vine

The latest social media site is out. It’s called Vine and you share a 6 second video with a caption. A video Instagram, if you will. People are doing some super creative things with the way it lets you capture short frames to come up with your 6 seconds.

I’m enjoying getting a new kind of glimpse from folks when normally video would scare them away. Download the app and find me as amyjbennett.

Cake Boss

It’s been about 6 months and we’re still surviving without DirecTV. The kids have most recently found Cake Boss on Netflix and it’s tranquilizing. You start watching one episode and with Netflix’s automatic start into the next episode, you get 3 or 4 episodes in without blinking. Amazing what those guys do.

Any of these familiar to you? What’s your favorite thing right now?

What I Wore Wednesday 2.6.2013

February 6, 2013 by Amy 7 Comments

Today’s the day I share my outfits from the week with The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday. I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

Source: coastalliving.com via Amy on Pinterest

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Source: dontcallmebetty.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: mostbeautifulpages.com via Amy on Pinterest