Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 9/5/2022

Come join Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday. 

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Hello, and Happy Monday!

Also, HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

I hope everyone has a day off from work/school to rest up and enjoy some family time :)  I know I am!

If you've noticed my absence lately, or if you're wondering what is new with me, I hope you'll check out my Life Update and Fall 2022 Goals post.

Now, on to Happy Homemaker Monday:

The weather outside is:

Today is the "unofficial" end of Summer and the start of Fall, depending on who you ask.  For us, Laken started back to school on August 23rd and it has been cool in the morning (not to mention in the office!) so I've already broken out my Fall clothes.  What about you?  Still Summer?  Ready for Fall?

On today's to-do list: 

Since the hubby and I are off work and Laken is off school, I'd really like to get some decluttering done in the Family Room.  One corner is piled high with bins of miscellaneous items that either need to find a home or go somewhere else (donated, etc.)

Happening this week:

If you took the time to read my Life Updates and Fall 2022 Goals that I linked above, you'll see that this week my daily routine is changing.  I'll be working on a new morning routine as well as an evening and weekend routine.

As for the rest of the happenings this week, it looks at this point like a fairly normal, uneventful week ahead.  I pray it stays that way!

The hubby is now on a fixed 3rd shift (except for a 2nd shift thrown in every 7 weeks) and Laken is in school.  I think we're finally getting into a rhythm of work/school/home-life.

Currently reading:

I'm hoping to read at least 3 books this Fall.  That is one per month and will be more than I've read all Summer!  I think I'm going to start with one of the following books.  Which one do you think I should read first?

Watching:

Not much.  A little bit of HGTV here and there.

Listening to:

Mostly KLOVE and The Message with a bit of The Highway thrown in for variety.

On the menu today:

Hamburgers, Fries

In the Craft Basket:

I haven't picked up anything crafty in months!  I want to get Sunny Blue Hawaii 2 back off the shelf and work on it.

Picture from the Camera

Memory Verse

"Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.."

Psalm 25:5

Have a great Monday!

Colletta

Life Update and Fall 2022 Goals ~ 9/3/2022

 

I can't believe it has been so long since I've visited and updated the blog!

I started a full-time job on August 8th and have hardly had time to do much at all.  I haven't taken the time to "hobby" at all.  No blogging. sewing, reading or crocheting not to mention anything else other than day-to-day "keeping up" with life.

My work hours for the past month were 10am-6:30pm with a 40 minute commute each way.  So by the time I got home, ate supper, and cleaned up from supper it was time to get ready for bed.  (And I was so glad to sink into that bed!)

I found out this past week (either Wednesday or Thursday) that starting Tuesday, September 6th my hours will be chnage to 8am-4:30pm for the foreseeable future.  This is good news because I can still get Laken off to school and I'll be home just a little after 5pm!

I'm hoping to get back into a more normal routine and maybe even make some Fall Goals to mix into that routine.

Some of my Fall 2022 Goals include:

~Settle into a routine

~Daily Devotion time

~Exercise 3-4 X per week

~Intermittent Fast (with eating window of 10am-6pm)

~Craft at least 1 hour per week

~Read 1 book per month

~Blog at least 1 X per week

I'm not going to stress myself out by trying to squeeze too much into my limited "free time" but I would like to have a more well-rounded life.  I'm also going to give myself grace and be flexible with my goals.

That being said, is there anything in particular that you would like to see here on Colletta's Kitchen Sink?  

I'd love to know what you think I should prioritize in my free-time.  Any suggestions? 

Until next time...

Colletta

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 7/18/2022

Come join Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday. 

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Hello, and Happy Monday!

And...another two weeks have gone by since I've updated the blog...

I mentioned in my last post that I've been job hunting.  Not only has this taken up my time but also my mind has been focused on things of that nature rather than the blog.

I don't know what direction this will take me in the future but I sure am glad that I know the ONE who holds that future!

For now, lets get on with being a Happy Homemaker :)

The weather outside is:

We had some pretty heavy rains today (Sunday) but I guess we need it.  This week is looking spectacular!

On today's to-do list: 

I'm working on tweaking my entire routine as changes are coming in my life but for today we have a meeting with Laken's principal about the upcoming year.  He offered to get her schedule for her and give her a tour of the building as she is feeling a bit nervous about going back to school after being in cyber school for most of last school year.  I thought it was very kind of him to offer his time to take us on a personal tour.

Happening this week:

Other than the school meeting the rest of the week should be pretty "normal" with nothing out of the ordinary scheduled.

I do have a few things around the house that I'd like to get situated before going back into the workforce, so we'll probably be working on them as time allows.

Currently reading:

I have been reading nothing.  I just can't get my mind into a reading mode.  

Watching:

I also haven't been watching TV.  Laken and the hubby watched the latest Disney "Zombies" movie last night but I wasn't feeling it so I went to bed.

Listening to:

Mostly KLOVE and The Message with a bit of The Highway thrown in for variety.

On the menu today:

Pork Chops, Homemade French Fries, Peas, Apples

In the Craft Basket:

I haven't picked up anything crafty in weeks!  I need to get Sunny Blue Hawaii 2 back off the shelf and work on it here and there.  I just haven't had much free time to sit down and work on it.

Picture from the Camera

Friday we made the trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.  Left to right are:  Dad, Mom, the hubby, Laken.  (I was taking the picture :)

Memory Verse

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sigh, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

#P31OBS

Have a great Monday!

Colletta

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 7/4/2022

Come join Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday. 

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HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Hello, and Happy Monday!

I can't believe it has been a month since I've written a HHM post.  I've been crazy busy with Church Camp and now job hunting.  More on that later!

The weather outside is:

Loving this weather!

On today's to-do list: 

The hubby is on vacation this week so we have a very event-filled week ahead.  Today the plan is to clean, wash the bedding and start getting things gathered to go camping on Thursday.

Happening this week:

Tuesday we're planning on taking a day trip to Blackwater Falls in West Virginia.  We're also planning on making a stop at Smoke Hole Caverns.  Laken has never been to either place so she's excited.

Wednesday will be laundry and grocery day for camping.

Thursday and Friday we'll be camping and then coming home on Saturday.

Currently reading:

I am behind on reading "The Rose Garden" by Susanna Kearsley for the Kindred Readers Book Club selection for July.  I'm on chapter 11 but haven't even picked the book up to read in a month.  I was enjoying it.  I just have had so much on my mind lately.  I'm hoping to finish it up THIS week.  I know I've said that before but this time, I mean it!   :) 

Watching:

Unfortunately, the hubby has taken to watching the "Christmas in July" movies on Hallmark...

Listening to:

This week for "Songs on Sunday" I featured "Fake It" by Tauren Wells.  I hope you'll check it out :) 

On the menu today:

I'm not sure what we're having today.  I have a few options.  I'll figure it out later.

In the Craft Basket:

I haven't crafted in a few weeks either, so I'm still working on Sunny Blue Hawaii 2.  I have made a few more blocks but not enough to make much of a difference.

Picture from the Camera

We got our first egg from our chickens!   :) :) :)

Memory Verse

"My flesh and  my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Psalm 73:26

#P31OBS

Have a great Monday!

Colletta

Happy 75th Birthday!

I have to take a minute to wish this cool dude a HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY!!!  

Happy birthday, DAD :)  Love ya!

Songs on Sundays ~ Fake It by Tauren Wells

You gotta turn this one up!

Enjoy :)

Colletta

Songs on Sunday ~ Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham

This is a  great song with beautiful words and beautiful music.

Enjoy :)

Colletta

10 on the 10th ~ June 2022

Hosted by Leslie and Marsha!

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1.  Are you planning to take a vacation anytime soon?  Please share!

The hubby has the week of July 4th off of work.  We'll be staying close to home with a few day trips and camping for a few nights.

2.  Have you recently gone on vacation?  Tell us all about it!

No.  No vacations here :(

3.  What is your favorite way to travel?

I absolutely LOVE road trips.  Give me a car (or van) and a map (or GPS) and I'm good to go :)  I love that I can stop anytime, anywhere I want and see the sites!

4.  If money were no object, where would you go and why?

I've always wanted to see Ireland, Scotland and England.

5.  Who would be your favorite person (living or dead) to take on vacation?

The hubby, hands down!

6.  What do you absolutely have to pack when you go on vacation?

My meds!

7.  What are your memories of your all time favorite vacation?

For our 10th Anniversary, we took a road trip to Niagara Falls, NY.  We stopped and stayed the night in Erie then drove up the coast of Lake Erie and then Lake Ontario.  We rented a bungalow right on Lake Ontario.  I was a great trip :)

8.  Where would you never ever go on vacation and why?

South America.  It is scary!

9.  What is the worst thing you ever experienced on vacation?

I can't really think of a "worst" thing.  Maybe the downpours while we were at Disney World.

10.  What is the best thing that ever happened to you on vacation?

Watching my girls get to enjoy themselves :)

Colletta

Tuesday 4 ~ Coffee and Tea ~ 6/7/2022

Head over to Tuesday's Place for the questions and to visit everyone's answers!

1. What is/are your favorite coffee? (brand or flavor)  If you are a tea lover, which tea is the best for you?

I am NOT a coffee drinker.  I don't like it at all!  I do, however, love tea :)  My favorite is Bigelow's Vanilla Chai.

2.  How do you take your coffee or tea? Sugar, cream , flavoring?

Cream and sugar, please!

3. Do you go out for coffee/tea with friends?   Ever enjoy a real tea room or a  tea party?

Not really.  How sad is that?!?  I've never been to a tea room but my girls and I have had plenty of tea parties :)  I actually also went to a Ladies Tea a few weeks ago at a sister Church.  It was very nice :)

4. If you could design a coffee shop or even a coffee/tea station in your home, what would it be like?

I wouldn't even know where to begin!  It would have to have baked goods, though.  That I do know!

Colletta

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 6/6/2022

Come join Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday. 

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Hello, and Happy Monday!

The weather outside is:

Another gorgeous week ahead :)

On today's to-do list: 

We had a busy weekend full of great family time.  That means not much got done around the house.  I'll be doing my normal weekly cleaning or as the Fly Lady calls it "Home Blessing" :)

Happening this week:

Thursday is the hubby's 54th birthday!  He took Friday off work so we'll probably be going to see the new Jurassic World movie that comes out that same day.  First, though, I need to watch the 2nd movie of the Jurassic World series or I'll probably be lost!

Next week is Church Camp, so I don't know how much I'll be posting next week.  I'm helping with the Youth and also with the cooking.  I'm going to be busy, busy, busy!

Currently reading:

"The Rose Garden" by Susanna Kearsley is the Kindred Readers Book Club selection for July.  I started reading last week but didn't get very far yet.  I'm enjoying it but I'm finding that I am reading slower when I'm trying to come up with discussion questions.  I'm hoping to finish up before Church Camp.

Watching:

We watched "The Lost City" with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.  It was hilarious!  I laughed out loud many times.  I think we watched it on Paramount.

I set up y DVR to record a show on HGTV called something along the lines of "The Beach Project" (????).  I'm looking forward to watching it soon.

Listening to:

This week for "Songs on Sunday" I featured "The Healing" by Blanca and Dante Bowe.  I hope you'll check it out :) 

On the menu today:

Creamed Chipped Beef, Biscuits

In the Craft Basket:

I've been working on Sunny Blue Hawaii 2 and have made some progress.  I have two rows all tied off and crocheted together.  Only 49 squares to go!  Whooohooo :) 

Picture from the Camera

Memory Verse

"Rejoice in the LORD always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The LORD is near.  Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:4-7

#P31OBS

Have a great Monday!

Colletta

Songs on Sunday ~ The Healing by Blanca and Dante Bowe

Enjoy :)

Colletta

Sewing Saturday ~ Advice Needed!!! ~ 6/4/2022

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've been working on "Sunny Blue Hawaii 2" (SBH2) lately.

To see my first post about this afghan CLICK HERE!

Before I go any farther with sewing squares together, I need to decide whether to make the final afghan 6 squares X 8 squares  (6X8) or 7 squares X 9 squares (7X9) or even 7 squares by 10 squares (7X10).

The length isn't as important right now as the width is.

Above is what the main body would look like with 6 squares.  It just doesn't look quite right to me.  It doesn't seem wide enough even though I know I'll be adding borders.

Here you can see what it would look like with 7 squares across.  (Sorry it is tilted so far but that is the only way I could get the whole width in the picture.)

So what do you think?

6 OR 7 squares across????

Your opinion means a great deal to me and I would love your advice :)

Colletta

My Weekly Bookishness ~ 6/3/2022

All things bookish!

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What I Read:

Read my REVIEW HERE!

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What I'm Reading:

Kindred Readers Book Club July 2022 Selection:

Blurb:

When Eva's film star sister Katrina dies, she leaves California and returns to Cornwall, where they spent their childhood summers, to scatter Katrina's ashes and in doing so return her to the place where she belongs. But Eva must also confront the ghosts from her own past, as well as those from a time long before her own. For the house where she so often stayed as a child is home not only to her old friends the Halletts, but also to the people who had lived there in the eighteenth century. 

When Eva finally accepts that she is able to slip between centuries and see and talk to the inhabitants from hundreds of years ago, she soon finds herself falling for Daniel Butler, a man who lived - and died - long before she herself was born. Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in laying her sister to rest, comes to realise that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards. 

First Lines:

"It's a rotten time to lose someone, when all the world is dying too and darkness comes on earlier, and when the chill rains fall it seems the very sky is weeping."

56%/Page 56

"Something crashed through the ferns at my side and my heart jumped straight into my throat, beating hard."

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What I'll (Probably) Read Next:

Kindred Readers Book Club August 2022 Selection:

Blurb:

California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

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Book Haul:

 

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Book Blogger Hop:

Q.  What is your method for writing reviews - do you write immediately after reading, wait a few days, or write as you are reading? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

A.  I try to write my review immediately after finishing a book.  I could never wait a few days.  I would forget all my thoughts.  I've thought about writing as I read (so I could be more specific in details) but it hasn't happened yet.

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Bookishly Yours,

Linking up to: 

   

  

 The Sunday Post, Sunday Salon,  Mailbox Monday

Tea Time ~ 6/2/2022

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...

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~We went to the theater Friday afternoon to see the move "Top Gun Maverick".  While I'm not a huge fan of Tom Cruise (personally), we LOVED this movie!  It was so good.  I even think it might have been better than the original "Top Gun".  Yep, I said it :)

~Saturday, we went to a local-ish amusement park called Delgrosso's.  My brother and sister-in-law got us all season passes for Christmas!  It was only about 66F, so the water park section was bare and it actually wasn't as busy at the ride's as I thought it would be for Opening Weekend.  

Afterwards,we stopped by the mall and Laken got her ears pierced.  She's been wanting her second piercing for a while now and we promised that if she got her school work done on time, she could get them.  She is one happy camper :)

~Sunday we had a graduation party to go to at Shawnee (our local state park).  It started at 4pm but we decided to go up right after morning Church to spend some time together by the lake.  It was such a gorgeous day, weekend really!

~The girls did some tie-dyeing on Memorial Day (I'm actually wearing my new shirt right now ;)  They had each gotten a large kit of tie-dye supplies for Easter and finally had some time to spend creating :)

~I promised last week that I would get some pictures of Kaylee's house with her flowers.  Here they are :)

How was your week?  What's new with you?

 

Colletta