NaDa Farms Barn Sale

I visited the

NaDa Farms Barn Sale

in Esmond, Illinois

this weekend...

enjoy...





National Women's Health Week

Did you know May 13 - 19 is National Women's Health Week 2012

I recently found spryliving.com 

This site has lots of interesting and helpful articles.

Click to read these and more:

 Surprising Must Eat Foods for Women

  

 Bone Health and Top Bone Building Foods

My mother was recently diagnosed with severe osteoporosis

and just this week had her first annual IV treatment.

Being well informed will help all of us stay healthier longer.

Warm Hugs,

Let Them Eat Cake..... Easter Basket Cake Dessert Idea

Hope you all are having a very

Blessed Easter

with family and friends.

Our children are all grown and in their 20's now

so we don't do the

traditional easter baskets anymore.

So when my mother in law asked

 if I could bring a cake for Easter dinner

 I decided I would make an

 Easter Basket for all to share.

Instead of using a box cake mix, 

I whipped up a white cake from scratch that we all enjoy .

I made a larger recipe so I could bake it in three layers.

Then I fancied it up a bit

by adding a filling between the layers,

raspberry and lemon. 

It's easy to do,

just like as for a jelly roll, 

choose a good brand of jelly or seedless jam. 

 I used approx 3/4 cup and

gave it a quick stir to make it easier to spread.

Spoon onto the cake,

spreading almost to the edge,

Then, position a second layer of cake on top.

I decorated in a basket weave pattern.

Cut a handle out of white cake board

 and plunged it into the cake.

I colored coconut with

a few drops of green food coloring

 and spread over the top.

I added plastic eggs

already filled with chocolates!... Easy Peasy!

And of course a chocolate bunny.

Easter Blessings and Warm Hugs

to every one of you,

Sharing at  Jann's Daily Cup

One Minute.......

I received this email quite awhile ago and wanted to share...

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT....

In this election year, we, as Christians, need to be voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees. Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders to behold. His scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do so. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 :
If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. The United States of America and our citizens need prayer more than ever!

If you would like to participate,

Each evening at …

  9:00 PM Eastern Time

  8:00 PM Central

  7:00 PM Mountain

  6:00 PM Pacific

Stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, for peace in the world, for wisdom and courage for our leaders, the up-coming election, and that the Bible will remain the basis for the laws governing our land and that Christianity will grow in the U.S.  

If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along to them.

Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

Thank You

Please pass this onto anyone who you think will want to join us. God Bless You!!!

To Have and To Hold LOVE STORY Linky Party #8-- My Own Story

Welcome to my
Valentine LOVE STORY Linky Party 
Marathon

Today I am sharing my own Love Story...

I have to say I've

always thought of mine

as a

Fairytale Love Story.

I never really dated in high school...

I remember my mother saying

"Just go out with him a few times and see,

you may find you like him."

Ughh, I HATED that she said that..

if I wasn't attracted to someone,

I wasn't attracted to them,

and I certainly wasn't going to just go out

and "let them grow on me".

A few years later I was working and living on my own

and the girls at work tried to set me up a few times.
To put it politely, "Thank You, but No thank you!"

A girl who was friends with some of my co-workers

lived in my apartment complex

and owned a beauty salon.

So, I'd met her, had her do my hair,

went to a candle party at her apt., etc. etc.

She eventually needed some sort of repair

 at her salon.

So when she called her landlord about it,

he sent an employee of his construction crew.

This was a guy from the area who had just

moved back after college and had taken this job

until he could find his career job.

His degree was in law enforcement,

he had a real interested in investigation,

and had also interviewed with,

the Secret Service.

She chatted with interviewed him

while he went about the construction project.

I think she came to the conclusion that

he may not be the socialite type that she was looking for.

So she told him he should call me.

He, being a little shy, hesitated for about a week.

She kept asking me if he'd called and I finally

told her to stop bugging him

because apparently he wasn't interested.

Well he called that evening after she pressured him.

Another Blind Date..... what was I thinking!

But he was very polite, a perfect gentleman,

and as he puts it 

"she (I) fell like a ton of bricks".

On our second date, he had me over to his

apartment and cooked for me,

Beef Roladins, it was wonderful!

When it was time for me to leave,

he went out and cleaned the snow off my car

and left a single rose on my windshield.

So romantic....... I just melted.

We've been inseperable ever since.

When I'd leave work, more often than not,

I'd find a little note from him on my windshield

tucked under the wiperblade

inviting me over for dinner

or just to let me know he was thinking of me.

We had dinner together after work

most everyday of the week,

as well as hanging out on the weekends,

 movies, get-togethers with friends, etc.

One thing we did alot in the summer

was get at ice cream from the Dairy Queen

then drive another mile down the street
to the park, and eat it there.

It was in that park where
 he later asked me to marry him.

Having met on January 14,

our first "anniversary" was February 14,

Valentines Day.

He gave me a little gold floating heart necklace

with a diamond chip in it.

Wrapped in this little lacy heart-shaped box.

So we celebrated our "anniversary" every month
always on the 14th.

I knew I had to get married on a 14th of the month, 
any month,

I didn't care what month, it just

HAD to be the 14th!

We were engaged in the fall of that year.

Once we made that commitment

 we couldn't wait to get married.

Looking at the calendar,

 I looked for a month where

the 14th was on a weekend.

Having many out of town and out of state relatives

we really felt a weekend would work best

for the rehearsal dinner and wedding.

It appeared, if we didn't get married by December,

we'd have to wait until April for a weekend wedding date.

April seemed like an eternity!

Having very traditional values, 

 living together was not

something either of us would even consider.

So we had just a few months to plan the wedding.

We wanted an intimate wedding

 where only our closest friends and relatives

were present to share in our special celebration.

We wanted it to be about Us...

...Not the big party atmosphere.

We were married in the church in the

small rural town were I grew up.

The church was decorated with poinsettias
for Christmas
so I continued the Christmas theme  
by laying greenery on the window sills
and tucked in red shiny ball 

christmas ornaments .

I hung grapevine wreaths

decorated with pines and white doves

 in the church windows.

The wreaths were a gift from the floral

designer, the sweetest man...

his wife worked in my office,

he said she owed me a shower gift.
Thank you Dennis!

We had a candlelight wedding in the late afternoon.

Candle-lanterns decorated with
pines and red bows
lined the center aisle.

We choose wedding colors of Burgundy and Silver.

I wore a traditional style gown
with train and veil.

My groom wore a white tux.

His brother and a friend were his groomsmen.
The men in the wedding party wore silver-grey tuxes.

My brother was an usher.

My two sisters were my bridesmaids.

I let them pick out their bridesmaids dresses.
They chose a burgundy colored dress of course
in an off-the-shoulder style
which was typical for the 1980s.
But the back of the dress had
an inset of multi-layered white lace
which I especially Loved.

They carried crystal hurricane candle-lanterns

decorated with greenery

and kept them as a gift from us.

 I had two flower girls, sisters.

The daughters of my best friend.

My bouquet, a gift from my groom, 
included one dozen red roses.

We held our reception in the Church's Fellowship Hall.

I wanted a simple cake and punch reception

but my mom wasn't having it.

She and my sisters made ham sandwiches,

potato salad and veggie/cheese/cracker trays
 for 200 guests.

It was a wintry night

with very icy driving conditions

 so I'm sure that prevented a few from attending

but the church still seemed full to overflowing.

It was a perfect night to me.

I remember entering the church,

 escorted by my father down the aisle,

seeing and feeling the warm glow of

 not only the candles,

but too the glowing faces of all my friends and family

that came to be a part of our special day. 

This year we will celebrate our

28th Wedding Anniversary

and I can honestly say without reservation.....

.... They Lived Happily Ever After.

Click the button to
Link Up your own story, or

See the Love Story Collection...

http://shabbyteaparty.blogspot.com/search/label/Linky%20Party-%20Love%20Story

Thank you for coming,

 so happy you could attend my party.

Warm Hugs,