IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME for MONDAY - DECEMBER 22nd

Hi everyone,

How are you? I've got a little bit of a cold, which has made working this crazy retail season a little challenging. I am resting a lot and drinking lots of fluids.  Thankfully, I'm making it so far :)

Have you noticed that gas prices have been dropping in your area? I have. I haven't been keeping track of prices, but I think gas is less than $3 a gallon in my area.  I was at exactly a half tank of gas.  So I drove to Whole Foods, bought a Sunday paper and got $20 cash back to fill up the tank...and based on my previous experience at the gas station, I "knew" that $20 wouldn't fill it up. Well, I guess there's a first time for everything.  Not only was the $20 more than enough. It only cost me $17 to fill up a half-tank and get it above the "full" line.

Here's a pic of me looking across the street at another gas station and thinking, I really am glad to have money to put gas in the car.  Now I have $3 dollars left over. What will I do with it? I will put it into my cash envelope and specifically the one marked for "gasoline"...so I'll have a fund ready to go for the next time I need to fill up.

After work, I needed to do a little bit of shopping. One thing I always ask myself lately is 1)Do I really need it? 2) Is there something I have at home that can fulfill the "need" that I have until I can afford to pay for the item I want?  Well, I had two things on my list - new heavy duty black socks to wear while I"m at work and a contour make-up brush. 

I decided the contour make-up brush could wait, because I have another brush that can serve the same purpose. However, I really needed the socks. They seem to get lost all on their own.  I ended up buying a set of 6 pairs of Gold Toe heavy duty cotton black socks. They are guys socks, but I love them because they're so comfortable. It's the perfect thing to put on my feet when I'm spending all day on the sales floor at work. It makes being on my feet so much easier. When my feet are comfortable, I can work better :)

This is what I ended up purchasing last night after work.

I needed the socks and I knew that I'd get my 20% employee discount. What I forgot about is that they were also eligible with a 20% off coupon. The socks originally cost $20 for  set of six. With taxes it would have cost $21.50. When I got to the register, the associate reminded me that I could use a coupon. That was a really nice surprise. That's $4 extra dollars that I saved....that translates to eggs, bread, or some coffee or a gallon of gas...or something like that...so with the coupon and my employee discount, it ended up only costing me $13.76 with tax.

That represents a savings of 36% off of the original price. I'm happy with that.  I'm very happy with that :) :) 


What are some things that you've saved money on lately that brought a smile to your face? 

Oh, after work, I went for an ocean drive with my father. I was wiped out after a super busy sales day. It was a beautiful evening and it was still just light enough to see some things. I loved driving past Old Fisherman's Wharf because the lights from the buildings were dancing off the surface of the water...just beautiful :)

I've got three more work days before Christmas and then things will slow down just a bit before New Year's Day :) :) :) 

I plan on going out for coffee and a visit to Asilomar State Beach on Christmas day. What about you all? If you celebrate Christmas or some other holidays, what plans do you have?

I pray that you will all have a very Happy Holidays!!!!  That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs,  Heather :) :) :)

FEELING CRAFTY AGAIN !!!!

Hi everyone,

It feels good to be back again. I've been meaning to get a blog post up for awhile now and then life happened and I'd keep pushing it to the back burner. Well, after this past week, I decided I need to get my creative juices flowing again and just go for it :) :) I'm so sorry that I haven't posted anything in a long, long time !!!!

Here on the coast of California, we've been going through a super storm of sorts.  It was much worse in the San Francisco Bay area then it was here in Monterey, but we were prepared and well-informed via weather services on Facebook, radio, tv etc.

Today was my day off from work this week and I decided I wanted to have some crafty  fun.  Well, I didn't actually start a project, but I did find a few craft items that I was intentionally looking for and whole bunch of stuff that I hand't planned on. You know how it goes. There's hidden craft stashes everywhere in my house...LOL :) :) :)

Below is a photo of just a small fraction of what I found. I just threw it on the futon couch and took a photo. Tonight, I'll sort through it all and see what I what I can make out of all this stuff.

What prompted me to search for some craft items was my "Lace in the Attic" book. It's a whole book full of knitted Victorian lace edgings. I don't think the book is available in print anymore. My copy was purchased at a used book store years ago. Then I found all of this other stuff, including a finished pink lace edging that I had knit....probably to be used in a project for a shelf liner? I don't even remember now.  It would make a cute edging for a pillow case or something.

As I was going through my closet looking for some things, I decided to also go through my grandmother's old wooden sewing box.  It was something that I inherited after she passed away. One thing I remember using when I was a young girl, was this crimson red velvet pin cushion that her mother (my great-grandmother) had made using an old canning jar rim and ring. 

I took all the straight pins, and other things off of it, cleaned it up and put everything back on it. 

 It was really dusty from not having been used in years. In fact, I think the last time it was actively used was before my grandmother passed away in the mid-1990s.  Other than a little rust around the lower edge, it's still in great shape.  I always loved this pincushion and I have it on display on top of the wooden sewing box. 

I've always wanted to make my own and I will someday. However, I noticed that if it's made from an old canning jar rim, then maybe I have a glass Mason jar that would fit it?  Keep in mind, I have no idea just how old this pincushion is. I think my great-grandmother made it before my father was born, but I'm not entirely sure about that one.

In any case, I raided one of the cabinets in the kitchen, grabbed an empty wide-mouth glass Ball jar and voila, instant Mason jar/pin cushion thing....so cute and it was free :) :) :)  The lid doesn't screw down all the way, but enough that it'll work for this project of mine.  I think it looks cute, don't you?

Here's another view of my glass Ball jar with my great-grandmother's pincushion sitting nicely on top.

That's my little craft project for the day. Oh wait, there is one other thing. You'll notice that my Ball jar pincushion is sitting on top of a white lacey curtain panel. I have two of those and they were purchased from Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic line at Target.  They were originally curtain panels, but I haven't used them since I moved back to the Monterey Bay peninsula. 

I am debating about what I can make with them. Here's a close up of the beautiful lacey edging. Any ideas?

I couldn't bear to part with them because they're so lovely. They are a little faded and yellow with age, but I think with some loving care in the washing machine, they'll bounce back. 

That is the news from the ocean shores of a very rainy California coast today.  Please feel free to "visit" and leave a comment here on my page. I really do enjoy hearing from all of you :)  Love and hugs,  Heather :) :) :)

P.S. Do any of you know how I can change my font, so it's cuter and looks more like someone handwrote instead of it being a plain generic font like the one I'm using now? It's been such a long time, since I put up a blog post, I don't remember how to change the font anymore.

Also, I'll be in the very slow process of overhauling my blog by myself, until I can afford a professional service. I already have a great business in mind for that.  So there will be some changes coming to my blog, too, including changing the blog name and the photo header :) :) :)



















HAPPY SON-DAY

Hi everyone,

I pray that you all are having a beautiful Sunday.  This is one of my favorite Scripture verses. It's been a favorite for a very long time for so many reasons.  Enjoy this Scripture photo. 

If you share it on your blogs and/or Facebook pages, please credit it back to me here at Heather's Blog-o-rama and/or to my public photography page on Facebook here at Heather Danielle Photography. Thanks, everyone. 

I pray that this Scripture photo will be an encouragement to you today :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs,

Heather :) :) :)

IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - DECEMBER 20th



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

 

How have you been? I've recovered from being sick. The antibiotics that I have been taking have really worked their magic and the sinus infection is G-O-N-E.

 

The photo I posted above was one that I took a few days ago when I was out at Asilomar State Beach and it reminded me of how God can still the storm-tossed waves of our lives. 

 

So I've been working on a financial plan of getting out of student loan debt and then I got thrown a curve ball the other day.  I'm still working on saving up a $1000 emergency fund when an unexpected expense for the dentist came up. I have to save up money for an xray before I can continue in my orthodontic/braces treatment. 

 

So sometimes when things like this happen, other wants get put on hold....again...and that  might be the situation here. I'm not sure yet.

 

One thing I have decided to do is tithe 10% of my gross paycheck. I started doing that last week and I'm going to continue to do that with each paycheck.  It's just something that I felt like God had been laying on my heart for awhile. It's all His money anyway and I just manage it...and I'm simply giving back what belongs to Him first.

 

I think it will look different for everyone and I firmly believe that we can also tithe with our time and talents when money is really tight. 

 

I've noticed a couple of things: 1) somehow my budget is working out and everything is getting covered, even inspite of me tithing 10% off the top of each paycheck 2) You can never outgive God.

 

I know that the money I give will be put to good use for people in need.  

 

That's just where I am at right now.  I got paid today and haven't given every dollar a name yet, other than to budget for my tithe.

 

The Christmas holiday season at work is still crazy, but once I can get past Monday, it will be smooth sailing ;) :) I'm so looking forward to Monday.

 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today.

 

Love and hugs, Heather :)

BEING SICK IS NO FUN

Hello to all of my sweet blog readers :) :)

Sorry I haven't been around much the last few weeks.  Christmas/holiday season at my job is in full swing and it means crazier than crazy hours.

I've also been fighting some sort of cold/flu virus for a week. So it's really put me out of commission.  I will have more blog posts coming up this week, including and especially on Friday :) :) :)

Here's a Scripture photo that I created this morning. Last night I was feeling really miserable and I was extremely congested. I just couldn't stop coughing, which made sleep impossible. While laying in bed, I was starting to let the worries about my financies and others things start to overwhelm me a little bit.

However, almost as soon as those thoughts entered my head, another thought, or rather a Scripture, entered my mind. It was Psalm 50:10 where it talks about how God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. It just encourages me to know that God is in control and that He does care about the things that concern me. He WILL take care of me.

I also thought about this photo that I took a little over two years ago. This was shortly after I moved back to California. I thought it was very appropriate.  So I decided to put Scripture and photo together.

Here it is. May you all be encouraged today and everyday.  I'll be praying for the things that concern you today, too !!!

Feel free to share this on your blogs and Facebook pages. If you do, PLEASE credit it back to me here at Heather's Blog-o-rama and also at my public photography page, Heather Danielle Photography.  While you're at it, leave me a note that says you stopped by. I'd love to "meet" you all :) :) :)

My best friend from church brought over some cold and flu stuff for me. I'm feeling much better right at the moment.  Plus my father is being really sweet and doing all my chores which amounts to a single load of laundry right now AND cooking all my meals today :) :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs, Heather

 

HAPPY SONDAY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Hi everyone :) :) :)

I hope you all had a great weekend. Have a beautiful week. I took this photo after church this afternoon. It's out in Pacific Grove.  It was really windy today, but the water was so very beautiful.

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

If you'd like to visit me at my photography page on Facebook, just click here :)





DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME - DON'T FORGET ABOUT IT

Hi everyone :) :)

I hope that you are all having a really great weekend so far. I worked this afternoon/evening. It was an AMAZING day out on the sales floor.

This is just a friendly PSA about Daylight Savings Time.  Early tomorrow morning, on Sunday - November 3rd at 3 a.m. local time, make sure to set your clocks back one hour. OR if you are anything like me and prefer NOT waking up at the crack o'midnight or shortly thereafter, set your clocks back one hour TONIGHT (Saturday - November 2nd) before you go to bed :)


That's the news from the ocean shores of California. Love and hugs, Heather :)

MY BEAUTIFUL PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA

Hi everyone,

How was your weekend? My weekend was really good. I worked for a few hours on Saturday. Plus, I spent a little time working on my blog, working on my budget and other household chores etc. 

I wanted to share a few photos of Pacific Grove with you today. If you'd like to see my other photos, please come visit me here at my photography page on Facebook. It's called Heather Danielle Photography. I love friendly visitors, and while you're there, if you want to "like" my page, please do :) :) 

These are mainly of the ocean. I love the ocean. My grandmother lived here for many, many years before she bought her home in Monterey.

I'm not sure what draws me to the water. It's been a life-long love ever since I can remember.  When I am having a bad day, I like to spend time near the water. When I am having a good day, I like to spend time near the water.  I'm always reminded that no matter what is going on, God has still given me things of beauty to enjoy.

I'll post the photos and then talk about them below each picture. 

This is a photo of my dad taking a photo of me with my smartie pants mobile phone camera.  He is really camera shy. So I was very lucky to get this photo. We were out near Asilomar State Beach.

I am constantly trying to get photographs of birds in flight. This particular day, I had my "big girl" camera with me. Translation: I had my Nikon  D3200 with me :)  I can't even remember what type of bird this was now. It was either pelicans or geese. 

Deer are very common here on the peninsula.  As my father and I were driving along the ocean shore, we saw this handsome creature. Look at the antlers on that thing. It is not uncommon to see them in peoples yards, crossing the street, walking down the side walk etc. In fact, I see them in my neighborhood quite often.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with blue skies. However, it was also really, really windy. So while the wave were not very high. They sure were rolling in really fast.  Usually when the ocean looks like this, it makes me think there's a possible storm ready to head inland.  Not this time. I'm hoping we'll see some rain soon. In the meantime, it was really a beautiful ting to see this many waves.

Another thing that I'm obsessed with capturing on film are the waves right as they're about ready to crash into white sea foam :)

This plant is called "Pride of Madeira".  It is not quite in full bloom. When it is in full bloom, it's amazingly beautiful.  I'll see if I can find a photo of it in all its glory. This is one of my favorite plants. One of my other favorites is Mexican sage.

This will be my last photo for today. This is literally my favorite place to sit and look out over the water.  Whenever I drive along the shore to take photographs, this place is ALWAYS one of my stopping points.  It's a favorite of many people and I always see tourists stopping here to get photographs :)

Well, that completes my little ocean tour of Pacific Grove for today.  I pray that you all will have a really good  Monday and a good rest of the week, too.  That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

THE OCEAN AND BEAUTIFUL SEA GLASS

Hi everyone,

How are you all today? I'm doing well.  I'll often answer "Better than I deserve".

One of the things that I like to do in my free time is search for sea glass. Sea glass is simply broken shards of glass that have been worn smooth of the course of many, many years by the ocean waves.  It's like finding little gemstones in the sand. It really is fun to search for these tiny treasures.

Here is what I found one day back in September. I went to one of the local beaches here in Monterey. This is what I came back home with:

These little bits of sea glass are often times smaller than my pinky nail. The biggest and rarest piece that I found was the size of my thumb nail. It's the very light aqua piece of glass that is to the left of that tiny piece of brown sea glass. Aqua glass is rare to find. 


I love aqua as a color.  When I went searching for sea glass this particular day, it was already afternoon and most of the good sea glass has already been picked over. However, I think God meant for me to find this piece to let me know that He cares about every detail of my life, even the small things :) 


Here's a close-up of what I collected:

The white, green and brown sea glass is quite common to find.  Every once in awhile I do find aqua sea glass. I'm still on the hunt for the extremely rare pink sea glass. Some day. A girl can always hope and dream.

Much of the aqua sea glass comes from broken pieces of old blue Mason jars like the one pictured above.  I wonder what kind of stories those pieces of glass could tell me. It's a bit of a romantic notion, I suppose, but it's fun to imagine and to dream.

I'm storing all of my aqua sea glass in a small glass storage jar with a glass lid and metal latch hook system.  My collection is small, but it's worth waiting for.  Maybe I'll actually manage to fill this small jar one day.

Oh, and just as an added bonus, I took a photo of the bottom of this small glass storage jar. It's so CUTE. It says "WHEATON" in big bold letters up top...and below it in smaller much fainter letters it says "U.S.A".

I love the ocean. Truly, I can be happy anywhere, but I'm so thankful that I've got this time to live near the ocean shores. 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to you all, Heather