Autumn Colors .......

Today is a day off for me and I couldn't have a nicer one. It's sunny, breezy, and cool - the perfect autumn day.

I haven't spent all morning lolly-gagging about though (is that a real word at all?) - so far I've baked some mini-muffins: cranberry and walnut YUM! Then I was super efficient and made some meatballs and tossed them in the crockpot with tomato sauce for tonight's dinner. Then, I went ahead and made myself a baked apple to go with lunch. Scrumptious! My house smells so good right now. (Not that it doesn't every other day, but you know what I mean....).

All this mind you, while doing laundry too! I know, I know, my arm is killing me from patting myself on the back!

I was admiring the beauty of autumn from the kitchen window while I was cleaning up my baking mess and thought I'd share some pretty:

Don't YOU just love an autumn day? Well, now I'm off to the parlor to get some beauty!
Blessings to all for a wonderful day!
--Liane

And the winner is........Oh, another Celebration!

As promised, today I am announcing the winner of my very first Give Away! Wahoo! Are you excited? I certainly am! I have been so looking forward to today - I've had so much fun selecting the items for the giveaway, and anticipating who could it possibly be.....

I apologize for the delay - I had to work this morning, then go grocery shopping, then run by the church, then put all of the groceries away, then run by a friend's house, and THEN, my computer started acting up and it took me almost an hour to fix it.

But first let me give you another reason why today is special:
That right there is my sis, Robin (of bittersweetpunkin) and her beloved, James, on their wedding day 17 years ago today! Look at those happy, smiling faces! And I am so pleased to say that they are still happy and smiling!! Happy Anniversary you two!

All right, drum roll, please. The winner* of this give away, is.......Terra!! You can click on her name to visit her blog.....and here's what she's won:There's a nice green tote bag, set of 3 nesting boxes, a tea lite or votive candle holder, a harvest decorated loaf pan (not mini - full size), a bag of simmering potpourri, and greatest of all, a bag of dark chocolate Godiva gems, and (not pictured) a pair of custom fall earrings.

I don't consider autumn to be 'over' until after Thanksgiving, that's why I chose autumn-related gifts. And, I'm actually surprised that I didn't break into the Godiva's and eat them myself (I'm really proud of me!).

So, Congratulations, Terra! Please e-mail me (go to my profile) so that I can mail out your goodies on Monday.

*The winner was chosen by all names of those who left a comment on my last post being placed in a hat and the lucky winner was plucked out by my daughter, Lacey.

So I hope that you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend!

--Liane

A Celebration . . . . . . and Give Away!

Today, my husband and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary.

It all started 25 years ago when I walked into my kitchen and saw this guy in a black leather jacket talking with my brother. I walked on by into the living room and asked my sister Robin who he was. He happened to be a friend of my brother's - they car-pooled to work together.

A couple of weeks later he asked me out - and I was firmly warned by my brother to 'stay away'. Well, that date - we went to the movies (his mom had to drive us because his car broke down) - turned into five years of dating before we married on October 21, 1989. I was 20 and he was 24. I was a few sizes slimmer and he had a little more insulation on the top of his head.

We've been through a lot of tough times - financial issues, loss of jobs, health issues with both him and my daughter - but God has seen us through. We've decided to postpone a night out for dinner because we don't want to miss our Bible study class tonight. And if anyone had told us 20 years ago that we'd be going to church on our anniversary we wouldn't have believed it. We celebrate our marriage every day by communicating and working together - each of us giving 100% - and making sure that God is at the center of this marriage. We want to glorify Him in our love for each other.

That being said, I've been thinking of a Surprise Give Away, and our anniversary celebration is a great excuse for one. To enter, please leave a comment on this post between now and Friday the 23rd. I will choose the winner on Saturday. I'm keeping the goodies a secret until Saturday!

Have a blessed day!!

--Liane

Happy Birthday, Robin!

I want to wish my wonderful sister, Robin, a very happy birthday today!!

Robin and I are very close and I hold her in my heart every single day, even though we live on opposite coasts. She is a great friend - the kind of friend that will tell you her opinion when asked for it and the truth when it is needed.

I am so very proud of the life that she has carved out of this world for herself and her wonderful family. She's not only my (older) sister ;o) - she's my sister in Christ, too.

So, many, many, many, birthday blessings to you, Rob!

I love you,

Lee

An Active Weekend

I am so loving this fall weather. The leaves are just about at their colorful peak - we have an amazing yellow and orange tree in the front of our church that just about took my breath away on Sunday morning when I saw it.

We did not have much of a warm, sultry summer as usual here in New England this year. It was quite dampish and iffy for the most part. But, thanks to all of that spring and early summer rain, we are enjoying quite the colorful display of autumn now. The air is cool and breezy, and the sun sits a little lower now.

Friday night my husband and I went with some friends of ours to hear Creflo Dollar preach up in Massachusetts. It was a great opportunity to go and hear a powerful message - he preached about fear and faith. There were a lot of people there and we were fortunate to have found seats for us all. On our way home though, we experienced a flat tire (yes, in my van) on the highway. At about 10:30 at night. Now, I've never had a breakdown in a car before. Never had to call AAA (I'm a member). I will honestly say that my nerves were rattled and my knees were shaky. BUT. We were all safe. Our friend, David, who was driving the van was able to navigate our 3-wheeled van safely off the highway to a well-lit area on a dead-end street. The weather was very mild and dry. We had all of the necessary tools to put on the spare tire. Our friend, John, helped my husband jack up the van and change out the tire. Even though this event was an inconvenience, I know that the Lord was providing for us and protecting us. We all made it home safely.

Saturday, I worked in the morning and then (after a brief nap at home) went to our church to help blow up balloons in preparation of our community's Columbus Day parade on Sunday. We live in an area that is predominantly Italian and Catholic, so Columbus Day is a big deal. Our church marches in the parade to show our support and presence in the community. The theme of the parade was volunteerism and we let everyone know that New Song Assembly has a heart for giving.

Sunday after church service, about 30 members of our church body marched the 2.5 miles through town - up, down, and all around. It was a lot of fun - everyone should take advantage of the opportunity to march in a parade!!

Monday was a holiday, so as I had the day off, my daughter and I took a nice long drive to Middletown, RI. We had to cross the Narragansett Bay, which was full of sailboats and even a couple of ocean liners (!).

Needless to say, I'm a little tired today. I hope you all have a blessed day!

--Liane

Homeschooling Books for Sale

I recently undertook the daunting task of weeding out the homeschooling books that my children are no longer using. Geoff has finished his final year of homeschooling - he just needs to take the GED exam, as our school district does not allow diplomas for homeschooled students.

I have several books, really too large a number to just drop off somewhere. They are all in excellent condition, and range in topics from English/Grammar, Math (Saxon), Health, Science, and American History.

My dilemma is that I'm not sure how to go about offering them for sale. There isn't really an organized homeschooling group in my area that I'm aware of, and since there is such a large number of them and they are in excellent condition, I'd like to recoup whatever little money I can from them. Contrary to popular belief, tax breaks are not given in any way, shape or form to homeschooling families. Actually, in past years I have spent several hundred dollars per year on curriculum; and we still have to pay the same school taxes that the rest of the residents pay.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on how I may be able to sell these books or know of anyone who may be interested in buying some, please let me know.

I did look into Cash4books.net and similar sites, but they generally do not accept Christian-based books.

Thanks for your help!

--Liane

Newly Found Rewards

Yesterday in the mail, I received a notification from my credit card company that they had updated some of their terms of their rewards program. Now, the I currently have the miles rewards program, which has been totally useless to me because you need a ginormous amount of points to be able to redeem them for anything useful - or so I thought.

Now, I've been faithfully paying down my credit card balance as much as possible to become debt free. I do not use my credit card at all - I leave it open purely for the I-hope-I-never-have-to emergency. So, I decided to go onto the credit card company website to educated myself about the rewards plan that I have. I couldn't sign in but I could gather that the rewards points may be exchanged for credit, cash, or check. I called the company and ended up redeeming my points, that I'll never actually use, for a check for $75.00!

This is $75.00! Wow! Now, the only decision I have is to decide what to do with it. Do I stick it in my savings account (that is earning .20%), or do I buy three $50 savings bonds at $25 each? (The $75 is guaranteed to double to $150 in 20 years) I'm not interested in spending it - I don't need anything. Any suggestions?

I share this with you in case you have a credit card balance that is linked to a rewards program as well. Do a little research to see if you can make those points work for you. Maybe you'll get a nice little check, too!

Blessings for a great day!

--Liane