MY SECOND "BUILDING OUR HOMES TOGETHER" FOR JUNE 8TH, 2011

I'M PARTICIPATING IN THE "BUIDING OUR HOMES TOGEHTER" SERIES WITH LINDA OVER  AT PRAIRIE FLOWER FARM.

 Hi everyone,

 Welcome to the "Building Our Homes Together" series. If you 'd like to visit or find out more, click on the link below the photo at the top of this post ;) :)  I tried to get this blog written yesterday. However, blogger wasn't letting me upload photos. So it had to wait till today. Oh, there's also a fun offer from The Girlhood Home Companion Magazine. Look for that at the end of this post today :) :)

THIS IS THE WOODEN BENCH THAT I PURCHASED AT A YARD SALE LAST SUMMER. IT IS SOLID WOOD. THE BEST PART IS THAT IT ONLY COST $5.

I don't know about you all, but I'm already LOVING this "Building Our Homes Together" series...for the practical and spiritual encouragement ;) :)  I've got a lot of things that I want to do and only two pairs of hands :) :) So one of the things I'm doing this week is trying to decorate more. It is those extra little touches that really make a difference. One thing that I was working on this week was my bench :) :) There is a really nice storage space underneath.  It is solid wood and needs a nice  paint job at some point. 
              The bench is solid wood. Up to this point, it was simply a space to dump stuff like mail and books.  However, I wanted to clean it up and pretty it up a bit.  So one thing I did was to clean all the junk off the bench. I added this cute pillow sham.  That sham was a yard sale purchase for $0.50. It will eventually function as a pillow case. It just so happened that I just "threw" it on the bench and it fit perfect. What do you think? It's a bit plain.

 HERE'S THE SAME WOODEN BENCH WITH A FEW ACCESSORIES.  I WILL  PROBABLY CHANGE IT UP AGAIN.

I thougth it would look better with a few accessories. Hmm.. it's not bad. Yet it's not quite what I want it to be. I have a vision in my head of a cover I can make for this. It was just something that I thought of yesterday. I'll sketch it on paper and share it with you next week.   What do you think?  One rule of thumb is to decorate with those things that make you smile :) :) These things make me smile.   Any tips? What would you do with this bench?   I'm open to ideas ;) :) :)

I bought this eBook not to long ago called " 31 Days to Clean - Having a Martha House the Mary Way"  You can buy the book and download it to your Kindle or as a PDF file. I purchased it and it's been great. You get a LOT of good stuff for the price..definitely worth every penny and then some.  That's one of the sources I've been using to help me get my house into shape ;) :)   I'm giving this review of my own free will  :) :) Why? I LOVE the concept and it fits in perfectly with this series. So feel free to check it out. There's also a companion page on Facebook. If you have Facebook, you can click here to "like" the page.

ANOTHER THING YOU CAN DO TO ADD A LI TTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL TO YOUR EVERYDAY IS WITH FUN-SHAPED ICE CUBE TRAYS. I HAVE A RUBBER ICE CUBE TRAY THAT IS HEART-SHAPED.

Why have regular ice cubes when you can have heart-shaped ice cubes? Aren't they cute and romantic? I like romantic ice cubes. The rubber ice cube tray I used for these was purchased at Ikea years ago.  Once the ice cubes are frozen, I turn the whole thing upside down and run some hot water over the bottom. It helps to loosen up the ice cubes. Then I just pop them out and place them in  nice bowl in the freezer. Or in this case, I  displayed them on some Depression glass, because it was prettier than a freezer bowl :) :)

I'M NOT SURE WHAT TYPE OF FLOWERS THESE ARE. HOWEVER, I NOW KNOW THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN FLOWERS THAT ARE SO BRIGHT, THEY CAN NEVER TRULY BE CAPTURES ON CAMERA.

I have tried over and over to get a  good photo of t hese flowers. God is so awesome. He creates us with eyes that can see detail that not even a camera can replicate :) :) I know, I've tried ;) :)   It's such a bright magenta color, it's almost neon.

Another thing that I do is daily devotions. Do any of you have a "smart phone"?  there is a really neat on-line Bible resource called YouVersion.com. Click here to visit their page. It's a really simple on-line Bible resource. What's awesome about this is that it has EVERY translation of the English Bible available to read, plus other  foreign languages. You can create an account and choose a Bible reading plan that fits your  needs...and here's the best part, there is a nice smartphone app for that. You can also just follow the reading plan for the day , without signing up for anything, too. It's up to you and what will fit into your life best :) :)

I have this app on my phone. You can click here and look at a news segment about it that aired recently on CBN/The 700 Club.

Or try clicking on this  link.



If you look for the app on your phone, simply type in "Bible" in your application search engine. Get the one that  says it's from Lifechurch.tv.  It's free to use. You do NOT have to create an account to use it. You can just read the Bible on your phone or on-line :) :) However, if you want to create a personalized reading plan, an account is nice :) :) That's what I do. It works wonderfully for me. I'll talk more about it next week, too, as I'd like to keep myself accountable in what I"m reading ;) :)

This is perfect...if you love King James or the New Living Translation etc..we all love a goog smartphone app. This is great. Can you imagine being able to read your Bible while you're waiting to pay for groceries at the store? It's a wonderful app and Lifechurch.tv has done a wonderful thing by making this free to people everywhere. So if you try out the app or the website, let me know what you think. It  has helped me to read more!!! It also has the Norwegian, French, German, Sp anish and a whole bunch of other foreign language translations.

My dad had an angiogram yesterday. He's doing well . God answered our prayers. My father doesn't need a stent or surgery. He'll need to make a few lifestyle changes...but all in all, it was a real blessing. He had a good doctor. The doctor was also cute, too...but that's besides the point ;) :) My daddy is doing well :) :)

THIS IS A REALLY SWEET PROJECT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE GIRLHOOD HOME COMPANION MAGAZINE. IT'S A PROJECT FROM LINDA OVER AT PRAIRIE FLOWER FARM.

 The Girlhood Home Companion magazine is hosting a June giveaway. For every blog linking to the giveaway, they would love to bless you with a free project from Linda of Prairie Flower Farm. Trust me , ladies, Linda knows how to do it up right ;) :) It's so super cute ;) :) The free gift includes an audio interview with Linda  that is incredibly inspirational and encouraging. It's definitely a must-listen for all the women you know in your household and outside of your home. Please make sure to link the giveaway to this address.  When you've done that email Jill at jillenovak@gmail.com  so she can send you your free gift.  Also, write her a note of hello and thanks for the giveaway. This is so awesome. I'd love for her and Linda to know how much you love and appreciate this wonderful gift ;) :)
Thanks for visiting me. Thanks to all the news followers, too :) :) I am humbled that you like my page :) :) Thank you :) :) I hope I can be a joy and encouragement to you :) :)  Feel free to email me to say hello or if you need prayer. I'd love to pray for you :) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)