Kristiana Parns (KrisBlues on Etsy)

 A good friend is having a baby. I wanted to find her the perfect gift.  I brought her the following prints for her babies nursery.  I think these prints in a frame make a fantastic baby gift or great baby shower gift.

Etsy seller KrisBlues from Brooklyn (Prospect Heights)

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Are we in a recession?

Lots of people have been laid off, banks are having difficulty, we’ve heard of many people having to foreclose on their home, yet no one has declared a recession yet. First we heard about Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, now we are hearing news about the Indy bank. Even food prices for the most basic items are high. And hemlines have gone down to the floor – that is always a sign that the economy.

It feels like a recession though. I even feel a bit bummed out. Maybe the government just isn’t calling it a recession because they don’t want people to feel bad and not spend their money. We want to buy a house, but I don’t think we should be thinking about it right now. Of course this could be one of the reasons I am feeling a bit bummed. I should be happy though because housing prices should fall soon, right? Thankfully, Lee and my jobs are safe because we both work for the city.

It’s a blue night in Brooklyn for me. I’m going to read the Bible and see what words God has for me. I hope I can pay attention and stop thinking about this house:

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The Written Word

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

I went to Catholic school for twelve years. One would think that someone with so much religious training would know the Bible. Yet, I hardly know any of it. Most of the stories of the Old Testament are new to me. Some of the names of books such as Nehemiah and Ruth, I’ve never even heard. So how could I have gone to school and not heard the Bible daily. Of course I wouldn’t have understood everything that was read to me when I was little. I think I would have learned to look for the answers in the Bible and look to God’s word when I was in need.

The Bible was never read in my house. We had one, but it was on a shelf in the basement. Both my parents were voracious readers, yet neither picked up the Bible. I will make sure I pick it up and read it to my children. Lee loves to read the Bible and on one of our first dates, he pulled a very small Bible out of his bag and read it to me.

So I am on a journey this summer. To read as much of the Bible as I can. Each time I pick up the Bible, I feel like God is speaking out just to me. It’s so powerful and I am often left speechless after reading.

Yesterday, I was talking to a co-worker and he said to me, “I didn’t know you were a Bible thumper.” I smiled and said, “I wish I was. I wish I had been for many years.”

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Will Lee eat this pretty creation?

I wonder if Lee will eat this is I made it?

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Friday Felicities

Becky is having a meme which was originally started by Natalie. So being the sheep that I am today, I decided to follow and join in. You can be a sheep too and join us because this is a good one. I love the sentiment of this one. Create a list of things that make you happy.

Things that make me happy:

1) Myself – I love when I make myself laugh.

2) Lee – He was sent to me by God and after all of these years, I still smile when I look at him. I am so ready for a family soon soon!

3) My pets – my dog rolls on his back in the grass and I love to watch him because I think it is an amazing site of freedom. I think he knows how much I love it because he makes sure that I am looking before he does it.

4) Teaching – I am blessed to teach such amazing students. Seriously, these middle schoolers are the movers and shakers of the future.

5) Sewing – I love the feeling of peace, the sound of the machine and my creations even though they aren’t that good because I am new at it.

6) Plants – I love looking at beautiful flowers (pretty lawns too – weird, right?)

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Friday Flashback – 6th Grade

BlogMommas is having a new Friday meme, so join in. I really should remember more than I do about sixth grade. I am now a 6-8th grade teacher so I thought I would participate to see if I could jog some memories.

I went to a Catholic school that wasn’t too strict. I had three teacher and all of them were lay people (not nuns). They were good teachers, but I loved my fifth grade teacher so much. The three classes were divided into groups based on prior performance on achievement test. I was relieved that I was in the accelerated class because I was a good nerdy student and I would have been very unhappy in the middle or lower class. (I know now that learning like that isn’t entirely beneficial and I make sure to never group my students by an achievement test as it creates ego maniacs and is very hurtful to the kids who scored lower).

I loved reading and at the end of the year I got an award for the most independent book reports (the big time nerd award).

At the beginning of the school year, my homeroom teacher told the story of how the Blessed Mother statue in her classroom had turned towards her by the end of the year. She explained that the statue turned because the Blessed Mother was trying to give her strength from all of the noisy students she taught. As a joke a few weeks later, one of the boys stood on a desk chair and turned the statue to face away from the teacher entirely. She was mortified and we all laughed a lot.

As for fashion, at the beginning of the year, I had pigtails or braids because my Mom was afraid I was going to pick up lice. Mid-year, I cut my hair short into a Dorothy Hamilton feathered front and duck tail back short haircut. I thought I was so cool.

I wore Jordache jeans and I thought I was the coolest! It took many hours of complaining and begging to get these jeans and I just loved them.

My friends were soooooooooooo important to me. We were into secrets and talking about boys all of the time. I was slow to get into music (ya know because I was a nerd with my head in the books), but as soon as I got into music, I would tape it from the radio onto a cassette and then play it over and over so I could learn the words. This way, I could be cool when songs came on the radio and I could sing them with friends. When Madonna came out with the song Like a Virgin, I belted that song out several times at the top of my lungs, yet I had no idea what a virgin was, nor did I care even to ask anyone. Years later, I understood the song a lot better.

Oh and the commercial for McDonald’s was two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun sung/said very fast. I have no idea why we sung this, but we did and we sung it in union as if it was a sorority song. BTW, we didn’t have a McDonald’s nearby so we weren’t going to get any hamburgers from singing it.

I also remember singing the tune to a television show. The show was called the Greatest American Hero and this guy flew around in a spandex long john suit. I remember the entire song and not so much about the show. And of course it’s on You Tube.

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I Love Owls

Karen brought me a gift today! She is awesome and so are these:

These cute owl salt and pepper shakers are from Anthropologie. I love them!

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Easy, No Cook Dessert

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 frozen container Cool Whip 12 ounces
• 1 container sour cream – 8 ounces
• 1 small pound cake
• 1 small package of white (vanilla or white chocolate) instant pudding mix
• 3 kiwis, peeled and sliced or one small package of blueberries
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 3 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1 can crushed pineapple, drained

Putting it together:

1. In a bowl, mix together instant pudding mix and a 1/2 cup of milk.
2. Add container of Coolwhip to to the mix and blend. This is your whipped topping mix.
3. Cut the pound cake into thirds – Horizontally
4. In a trifle bowl or individual glasses place some kiwi and strawberry slices.
5. Put a layer of cake in bottom of bowl (you need to cut it into small pieces and fit it into the sides)
6. Put a layer of bananas and pineapple
7. Then a layer of whipped topping mixture.
8. Now a layer of strawberries/kiwi, then a layer of cake, then a layer of bananas and pineapple. Continue layering until you are out of ingredients.
9. Top with whipped topping.
10. Arrange some fruit on the top center to give it a finished look.

Serve or refrigerate. Everyone around here loves it!

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I feel terrible and there is little that I can do…..except pray

 My best friend, Karen was told today that her job will end on September 5th. I feel terrible and wish there was something I could do. So since there isn’t anything I can buy or do to make the situation any better, I am just going to keep praying. I know that God will take care of her and help her find a new and even better position. So if you can, please pray for Karen too.

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Brooklyn House with Cooties

Lee and I went to an open house today. In Brooklyn, open houses are held on Sunday afternoons from 12:00 – 3:00. This was a corner house in Dyker Heights and I know how much Lee loves corner properties, so I was hopeful. When we walked in, the realtor asked us to remove our shoes. Noticing their clean floors and the look on the owner’s face, I obliged by kicking off my Havaianas (flip flops). Lee had socks under his work boots, so he unlaced and put his boots with the other shoes. As I walked away from my flip flops, I hoped that no one would steal them because I didn’t want to lose them. What a thought, right? If you haven’t tried Havaianas, you must get a pair because they are comfy.

So we view the house and by the time I reach the kitchen, I know it isn’t “THE HOUSE.” But we still go downstairs to see the basement apartment. You guys would appreciate this…..there is a bathroom, but the shower stall is outside of the bathroom in the living room. Because although the house is listed as a two family, obviously it was an illegal apartment. I asked the realtor about it, but she insisted it was a two family. Now can you imagine sitting in your living room and someone needs to shower? LOL.

Thankfully, no one has grabbed my flip flops or Lee’s boots. As we put them on, the husband owner kept talking about how he didn’t want to leave the house, but his wife was forcing him to move to NJ.

When I got home, I noticed that my feet were itchy so I took a shower. They are still itchy. The house gave me cooties. I hope I didn’t pick up a fungus. I don’t think I did. It’s probably just my sensitive Irish skin acting up to the floor polish used on the floor. I understand that people want to keep your house clean, but my feet can’t handle it so I am not seeing any more homes where I have to take off my shoes.

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Pottery Barn Deals & Discount Code

Pottery Barn is my favorite store. I swoon over the furniture and the beautiful Pottery Barn paint colors. I want to live in the Pottery Barn catalog with the perfect paint colors, furniture and accessories.  I even love to play with the Benjamin Moore colors at this site calle My Perfect Color.

So when I am up for some retail therapy, I go through the Pottery Barn sale pages, play the 9 trick and see if I can find Pottery Barn deals or even better, a discount code. Someone always has good codes posted for Pottery Barn at: http://www.retailmenot.com.

Recently, I was surprised by a simple purchase at Pottery Barn. I bought the letter ‘A’ for my new last name. It was $4.99 and it’s huge. I still had money on my gift card so I was excited to get something special. It doesn’t look huge in the picture but it is almost 18 inches tall. I have no idea where to put it yet, but I will figure that out soon.

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Bible verse Jeremiah 1:5-10 – so powerful

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And all that I command you, you shall speak.
“Do not be afraid of them,
For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”

God couldn’t have given me more meaningful words today. Blessings to you all!

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