It is amazing that He can love me like I am!
Enjoy!
Colletta
A little bit of everything. Even the kitchen sink.
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Sewing Saturday ~Adalynn Audrey ~ 4/30/2022
I'm going to be featuring my sewing, crocheting and crafting projects on Saturdays. Some weeks this will include a finished project, a FNSI or FNWF or just a WIP.
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I didn't finish anything this week but am so close to finishing Adalynn Audrey's Baby Blanket. I'm going to work on it tonight while we're watching "The King's Daughter" so maybe I'll get it finished this week and be able to show you the finished project next weekend.
BUT....
I have to tell you that I DID NOT get the blanket finished in time to send it to my cousin, Nikki, before her baby girl was born!
Adalynn Audrey was born in the wee hours of the morning on April 29th! She weighed 9 pounds and 1 ounce! Just look at those kissable cheeks :)
Welcome to the family, Adalynn Audrey!
I'll get your blanket to you as soon as I can :)
Colletta
Thursday, April 28, 2022
My Weekly Bookishness ~ 4/29/2022
All things bookish!
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What I Read:
~~~~~~~~~~
What I'm Reading:
Blurb:
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
First Lines:
"June 14, 1942
I'll begin from the moment I got you, the moment I say you lying on the table among my other birthday presents."
56%/Page 56
"October 3, 1942
She told Daddy all my sins and started to cry, which made me cry too, and I already had such an awful headache."
~~~~~~~~~~~
What I'll (Probably) Read Next:
Blurb:
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
~~~~~~~~~~
Book Haul:
~~~~~~~~~~
Book Blogger Hop:
A. Yes. That is why I am such a mood reader and don't read nearly as many books as I used to.
~~~~~~~~~~
Bookishly Yours,
Linking up to:
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Tea Time ~ 4/28/2022
Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...
while I share a few things about my life lately...
~This past weekend we had 88F weather! It was spectacular! We decided to cook on the grill that Mom and Dad got for Christmas from my brother and sister-in-law. (It was delicious :) Laken insisted that we trek up the hill to the picnic table to eat. The breeze was magnificent! After our impromptu picnic, Laken picked me a wildflower just like when she was little. It made my day :)
~The Chicken/Duck Coop and Pen is done! The Hubby and my Dad worked tirelessly to get it finished and fenced in while the weather was nice. The next day we had a Spring storm so it was just in time. The day after the storm the coop was painted a nice brown but I didn't get a picture. It looks amazing :)
~Peaches is one of our travelling, outside cats. He comes and goes as he pleases. Mom calls him a working cat because anytime someone is outside working, he'll be in the midst of the action. As I was at the Coop, I looked over and saw him resting so peacefully in the shade. He is such a pretty cat. He keeps himself very well-groomed :)
~Once Easter had passed it was time to give the hounds new bandanas. (The previous ones had bunnies) I posted how we make our bandanas (SO SUPER SIMPLE). You can check that out HERE!
~I lost 2 lbs this week! I'd love for you to check out my Weekly Weigh In post HERE!
How was your week? What's new with you?
Colletta
Book Review ~ I'll Start Again Monday by Lysa Terkeurst (Part 2)
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Title: I'll Start Again Monday by Lysa Terkeurst (Part 2)
Series:
Pages: 160
Date Published: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Blurb:
Have healthy eating plans left you feeling defeated? Based on her bestseller Made to Crave, Lysa TerKeurst offers a new perspective to all those stuck in the cycle of losing weight and then gaining it back, equipping you with the deeper spiritual and emotional motivation you need to make lasting changes.
So often we characterize our food cravings as bad, especially when dieting has made us feel even more disappointed and discouraged. But the reality is we were made to crave. We just need to realize God created us to crave more of Him instead of misplacing that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures and unhealthy choices that will never truly satisfy.
In the midst of her own personal struggle with this, New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst invites us to embrace a new outlook that leads to enduring change. In this newly revised and condensed version of Made to Crave, Lysa encourages you to:
Break the cycle of "I'll start again Monday" and start taking steps toward consistency that lasts
Stop agonizing over numbers on the scale and make peace with your body
Replace rationalizations that lead to failure with wisdom that leads to victory
Reach your healthy goals and grow closer to God through the process
This is not a "how-to" book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This is the necessary resource to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose that will help you find your "want to" and lead to a spiritual satisfaction that goes far beyond the physical.
So often we characterize our food cravings as bad, especially when dieting has made us feel even more disappointed and discouraged. But the reality is we were made to crave. We just need to realize God created us to crave more of Him instead of misplacing that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures and unhealthy choices that will never truly satisfy.
In the midst of her own personal struggle with this, New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst invites us to embrace a new outlook that leads to enduring change. In this newly revised and condensed version of Made to Crave, Lysa encourages you to:
Break the cycle of "I'll start again Monday" and start taking steps toward consistency that lasts
Stop agonizing over numbers on the scale and make peace with your body
Replace rationalizations that lead to failure with wisdom that leads to victory
Reach your healthy goals and grow closer to God through the process
This is not a "how-to" book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This is the necessary resource to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose that will help you find your "want to" and lead to a spiritual satisfaction that goes far beyond the physical.
My Thoughts:
I read this book as part of a month-long study with Proverbs 31 Online Bible Studies. I really enjoyed the daily encouragement I received as part of the OBS (Online Bible Study) and have already signed up for the next one!
I was a little bit sad to actually finish this book. I wish that it was a 365 Day Study instead of a 30 Day Study. I definitely learned a lot about myself while taking the time to absorb each and every chapter, a little bit at a time.
I want to leave this study by remembering the following from Chapter 16 of the book:
1. God created us and told us to be faithful with the bodies we've been given.
2. The Holy Spirit empowers us to make lasting change.
3. Jesus lovingly guides and guards us as we walk with Him, moment by moment, choice by choice, day by day.
There was so much in this short book that I could quote and recommend. So many "nuggets" of wisdom and encouragement are contained within its covers. Here are two of my favorites from Chapter 18:
"Jesus girls aren't made to get stuck in a state of defeat."
"We were made to walk on paths headed toward victory."
Yes. We are! Victory, here we come!
I bought this book to read with the OBS and am so glad I did :)
Onto the next book :)
Monday, April 25, 2022
Weekly Weigh In ~ 4/26/2022
Once again (for the bazillionth time), I'm starting on a weight loss journey.
I'll be weighing in on Mondays and posting my results on Wednesday. If you'd like to join in on the journey, I'd love to have some weight loss friends and support!
Feel free to use the "Weekly Weigh In" graphic and create your own post with as much (or as little) info as you are comfortable sharing and leave a link in the comments. Or you can just report your results in the comments.
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I'm almost finished reading "I'll Start Again Monday" by Lysa Terkeurst. I took part in a month-long Study of this book and it ends Wednesday. I'm swapping my Book Review day for my weigh in day so that I can finish writing Part 2 of the review of the book.
I highly recommend reading this book if you are embarking on a weight loss journey and looking to change your perspective on "dieting".
I'm really excited about my weigh in today! I worked really hard on getting movement in, staying under 1500 calories a day and only eating between 12pm and 8pm. (My main three components.) I weighed in Monday morning at 287.0 lbs for a loss of 2lbs this week! So exciting!
I have a little over 5 weeks until my next dr's check-up and I'd really like to be at or below 280.0lbs. I'm trying not to stress because that does nothing to help move things along. Instead, I'm focusing each day on my three key components and the results will be what they will be.
As it is, I'm so excited to have lost 13lbs so far and I'm feeling so much better already. Progress...not perfection!
Weigh in #5:
Highest Weight ~ 300.0 lbs
Last Week's Weight ~ 4/18/2022 ~ 289.0 lbs.
This Week's Weight ~ 4/25/2022 ~ 287.0 lbs.
This Week's Total: -2.0 lbs.
Grand Total: -13.0 lbs
Please let me know in the comments if you are on your own weight loss journey! I'd love to follow along :)
Colletta
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 4/25/2022
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Hello, and Happy Monday!
The weather outside is:
Gorgeous! Sunday evening as I'm typing this post, it is actually a bit too warm in the Family Room as we don't have the air conditioner in the window. But, it is supposed to cool down a bit and more Spring-like this week. I love it!
On today's to-do list:
My regular list of dailies and cleaning.
Happening this week:
The only thing that is really happening schedule-wise this week is that Laken has a telemed appointment with her neurologist about her headaches. The appointment is scheduled for Wednesday. I hope I don't forget to log onto the portal in time!
Currently reading:
I'm still reading Anne Frank's Diary and I'm getting so much more out of it this time than when I read a version of it in 7th Grade Reading Class with Mrs. Laird. Now that I'm the mother with a teenage daughter, I'm reading from a completely different perspective.
On the TV:
Redeeming Love (Redbox DVD) ~ This is a movie based on the novel of the same name by Francine Rivers. Have you read the book? Seen the movie? What are your thoughts?
Listening to:
This week for "Songs on Sunday" I featured In Jesus Name by Katy Nichole. I hope you'll check it out :)
On the menu today:
Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Strawberries
In the Craft Basket:
I'm still working on the same project... Sweet Dreams sew-along, Pioneer Woman Charm Squares and the Beautiful Shells Baby Blanket for Adalynn Audrey.
We did "make" new bandanas for the doggies though :)
Picture from the Camera
Our new chicken/duck condo! It still needs painted.
Memory Verse
"knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."
1 Peter 1:18-19
Have a great Monday!
Colletta
Saturday, April 23, 2022
Songs on Sunday ~ In Jesus Name by Katy Nichole
Loving this song right now! Listen closely to the words :)
Enjoy!
Colletta
Sewing Saturday ~ No Sew Bandana ~ 4/23/2022
I'm going to be featuring my sewing, crocheting and crafting projects on Saturdays. Some weeks this will include a finished project, a FNSI or FNWF or just a WIP.
~~~~~~~~
Today, I'm sharing a SUPER simple, no-sew bandana for 2 that Laken and I like to do for our dogs!
We started with this flowered fat-quarter which Laken and I decided was perfect for Spring! We do a new bandana about once a month and like to have themes :)
Next, I cut from corner to corner. VERY easy! We could hem the edges, but as I said it is only on for about a month and holds up well enough without sewing.
Next, we tied one half of the fabric loosely on Kona and the other half on Lilah. Honestly, the hardest part of this project is getting a good picture of the model. I didn't even try to get one of Lilah as she doesn't cooperate well for pictures :)
I also wanted to give an update on Adalynn's Baby Blanket. I worked on it off and on all week with the most time being spent on it Friday evening while watching the movie Redeeming Love.
I got almost two rounds done! As the Blanket gets bigger it takes longer to go around and I kept getting distracted by the movie.
BTW, have you seen Redeeming Love? If so, what did you think?
Colletta
Thursday, April 21, 2022
My Weekly Bookishness ~ 4/22/2022
All things bookish!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What I Read:
~~~~~~~~~~
What I'm Reading:
Blurb:
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
First Lines:
"June 12, 1942
I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support."
56%/Page 56
"October 3, 1942
Yesterday, Mother and I had another run-in and she really kicked up a fuss."
~~~~~~~~~~~
What I'll (Probably) Read Next:
Blurb:
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
~~~~~~~~~~
Book Haul:
~~~~~~~~~~
Book Blogger Hop:
Q. Do you finish reading every book that you have slotted for a review? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)
A. Years ago I got burnt out on receiving books for review purposes. Mainly, for the reason posed in this question. I hated not being able to finish reading a book that I had scheduled for a review and knew that authors were depending on me. I much prefer reading for pleasure and dnf-ing whenever I feel like it.
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Bookishly Yours,
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