Balance of Life

We all have those reminders that we need to slow down and put things in perspective and live a balanced life. Well I need to slow down on my Inspired Living homemaking blog for while. I will not be posting as much during the Spring. You'll see posts, but not as frequent.

God is telling me to slow down and focus on a healthy balance in every area of my life. I need to give my time to God and spend more quiet time with him. Having quiet time is a daily discipline that will bring the rich rewards of balance, which is something I need, and I'm sure we all need.

Thank you for following my blog and please continue as there will be updates and posts to come.

Be Inspired to find balance in your life and inspire one another.

Proud to be an American

The Election this year was amazing in so many ways. This is the first time that I have been so focused on the election and content. The voter turnout was phenomenal, I believe I heard that we had 14 million more voters than the last election. That is huge and the youth came forward and wanted to make a difference. Hopefully the future generation(s) will continue to be concerned and involved in the voting process. I am however relieved that it is over and we can pursue on in life with out the commercials, advertisements, political phone calls, door to door party canvasing etc... I hope to see Change in the Future.

I will remain private on who I voted for because it is my right, personal choice and I don't care to discuss political differences. My husband and I even had concerns and differences and we were careful not to sway one another. We dropped off our ballots the morning of and on election night we had finished our Election Dinner and watched the TV for the latest information and then the big announcement came. President- Elect Barack Obama!

It was no surprise due to the prior polls, but yet it was surreal. History was made. Whoever your choice to vote for was, it was amazing to see history change right before our eyes. It was emotional for my husband and I and we are proud to be an American with the rights and freedoms we have in this Country. It doesn't matter what color your skin is we are all equal. The Media stated that Barack was judged on his character not his skin color, I believe that to be true.

John McCain's conceding speech was humble, gracious and eloquent. He is a great man and hero and I am proud that he served our Country. We truly felt for him and knew that he fought hard to be our Country's leader and has great passion for diplomacy. His experience and dedication is still of great need to us and I'm sure that he will support President Obama and Staff as he stated.

My point is this, what a significant time in history we are in the midst of. Hopefully we can gather together, unite, restore prosperity and support our new President of the United States in hopes that he can bring greatness and victory to our Country.

God Bless America!
I am Proud to be an American!

New Do, New Attitude

So.. Guess what I did. I decided I needed a change and thought maybe a haircut would help get me out of the moody blues. My hair was getting really long since my last two pregnancies and was about to the middle of my back. I am constantly putting it up in a pony, a giant claw clip etc... It was getting pretty long and heavy and was probably the culprit to many of my headaches.

So.. I went into the Cuttin Corral in town and picked out a picture and had my friend and stylist Shari whack it all off. Yep I did it! I had about ten inches taken off. I think that I had more hair on the floor than what was left on my head. It is cute and fun and hopefully I will love it tomorrow, if not I'll be crying a river of blues. In a couple of weeks I go in for a color appointment. I'm thinking of going a warm chocolate color called Iced Coffee for Fall and Winter. I'll have to post pics after the color, no way am I going to post pics now with the grey strands a showing.

When I walked in the door tonight after the new do, our dog Maggie came running at the sound of the door opening and barked and growled at me, she didn't recognize me at first. My kids were stunned, my toddler just stared at me in bewilderment. My husband... well he was in the middle of reading directions and setting up our new flat screen TV and was not focused on my hair at the time (it was election night and was trying to get it all hooked up in time to watch), but he did tell me later that he thought that it was cute.

The coolest thing is that the haircut and style was no charge and the color will be too. Isn't that awesome. I had brought in a couple of my latest Mary Kay catalogs to the Salon and my stylist wanted some new items. So we are trading product for hair services. That put me in an excellent mood, she was excited and my husband was too!

I picked up the new Rachel Ray "Everyday Living" magazine (one of my faves) late last night at the grocery store. I took one look at the cover and realized that after searching for haircuts for days and chose one a few moments before the big cut, my new do is just about the same at Rach's. I can flip it up, curl it under or tossle it with a little scrunch spray. Hopefully I can change it up and manage a shorter hair style with two rambunctious toddlers.

Be Inspired to make a change!
Remember it's just hair, it will grow back.

Moody Blues

I apologize to all my followers and readers for not posting in a long while. I have been in a terrible funk (and moody my husband would say). I don't know if it is the weather or what but I feel blah!!! I haven't done my menu planning or kept up on the laundry or house in almost two weeks. I start to get things in order and then don't complete the task or just give up. I did fight a nasty cold that took its toll on me for a week, but haven't been able to get out of the moody blues. I had so much going on in September and October that I just burned myself out, I'm guessing.

Enough of stewing about in my own pity party. I need to get inspired to get motivated. Coffee isn't working so I guess I should take my B-12 vitamins to perk up. Hope to be back to myself soon.

Inspiring Decor

I have been dreaming and researching blogs and magazines on restyling and decorating spaces in my home. I found three blogs that have inspired me to add some creative touches and thought I'd share.

What blogs or sites Inspire you to Restyle or Decorate your home?

Bless our Nest

Joys of Home

The Inspired Room

Take a look and maybe you might be inspired to restyle or add a creative touch to your home.

If you have any sites that are worth bragging about, please do tell!

Coffee Gathering - Part 2

So let me tell you about the frenzy that took place on Friday at our first Coffee Gathering this Fall. Well... while we were all talking about recipes and freezing food for winter. I opened my freezer and showed the girls my frozen pie filling that I had made the night before. A Gravenstein Apple and a Fresh Peach. When they saw them they were amazed. All you have to do is set it into a pie crust and bake. I told them what inspired me to do it (I had watched it on the Food Network Channel with Alton Brown on Good Eats). Searching online I found another recipe for Fresh Peach by Paula Deen, who is another one of my favorite cooking chefs on the F.N. Then I looked at the back of my box of Instant Tapioca pudding mix and found similar recipes for more types of fruit pies. So far I have 6 apple, 3 peach and 5 blackberry in the freezer.

Well by that afternoon I had three of the women run to a local farms fruit stand in Creswell and purchase fruit. One of them even had apple trees and blackberries on her property so she made them dirt cheap. A few of them even mentioned it to more women in our church and what we all had been up to. My pastor's wife told me this morning when I arrived at church that she had heard all the hubbub about my pie filling and homemaking inspirations that I had started. It has been a lot of fun spreading inspirations and seeing how much fun we all are having.

The Recipe, how to steps and rating will follow after I make my first homemade pie crust and bake a pie tonight.

In the beginning....

A homemaking blog was born. Welcome to Inspired Living where you will read about my journey in making and managing our home, so that my family can lead a more balanced life. I am inspired by being the best wife and mother I can be to my family. God has blessed me with an amazing husband to share my life with and three beautiful children to raise and nurture.

I have been praying about the changes and paths in my life that God has been leading me through. I am listening to the Lord and I need to help support my husband in more areas of our home. Our home needs to be better organized and run more efficiently. Homemaking is not just a job or a duty it is a job to embrace and it is my mission that the Lord has given to me. Being obedient and raising my family in honor of Christ is a worthy purpose.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to share and encourage one another. So, if you find a good idea here that inspires you please pass it along and share about what inspires you too.

And so... my homemaking journey begins...