Let Us Not Question Why

This has been one of those weeks.

One that I look back on and ask myself why?

Why am I so lucky? 

Why am I the healthy one?

Why do I deserve to have a healthy, happy family when others are suffering?

Why do terrible, awful things happen to good (no, great) people?

I have to remind myself that it is not my job to question.

It's not my job to fix it.

It's my job to love them, to support them and to pray that they have the strength and faith they need weather the storm.

It's all any of us can do.

But it doesn't make it easier.

Trying My Hand at Decorating

One of the 4 simple goals I set for myself a couple of weeks ago was basically quit thinking about the possibilities and just decorate my condo. 

Get some stuff on the walls.

Move furniture to where it looks and works best and not leave it in the same place it was plopped down when I moved in 3 years. 

So here is what I tackled first...

I love this piece. It was in my parents' good living room (did you have a "good living room" growing up?) and is one of the first pieces they bought after they got married. 

As you can see, I did a decent job with the inside of the cabinet (though my mom had to come over and help) BUT I had been using the top of the cabinet and a catch-all since after Christmas when I had my snowmen out.

So I cleared it off and started over again. 

Here's one grouping...

I'm really digging my initials lately so I grabbed this metal K at Pottery Barn Kids and paired it with a round mirror and my Indiana print from Etsy.

Then I tried my hand at being crafty with some beans, a candle and a large glass holder.

I couldn't find red beans so it kind of blah but I like it so who cares!

This is where my decorating skills had me stumped. I think I need something large to go next to or behind the candle. But I went through my condo and couldn't find anything that I thought worked. So I left it half-finished.

So, now I'm on the look out for a cool fall/autumn piece to round it out.

Now, on to another space in the condo. Maybe I should remove my old TV and stand that is sitting next to my new flatscreen...

Wordless Wednesday Family Photo Style

Our family finally got some formal photos taken earlier this week. While the real photographer was busy shooting the real photos, I snapped a few of my own just because. Here are a few of my favorites...

Before the photo shoot...

During the photo shoot...

After the photo shoot...

First Attempt at Cake Mix Cookies

Add together Pinterest and my sweet tooth and you get this late night snack...

I have had these Lazy Cake Cookies from I'm a Lazy Mom pinned for a few weeks and decided on a whim last night at 9:30 p.m. to throw them together.

With just four ingredients and not much liquid, I decided to read through the comments to see what others said about them. Several said the batter was much drier than they thought it should be. One said to bake it longer than the recipe said. A few others talked about using different size pans.

Overall the comments were positive and the original blogger answered most of the questions asked so I just went for it.

I dumped a box of white cake mix into a mixing bowl and added 5 Tablespoons of melted butter and started stirring and stirring and stirring. It was really dry!

Oh no!! Had I been duped by a recipe too simple to be true?

No...I forgot to add the 2 beaten eggs to the mix! Oops.

Once I added the eggs and mixed it well (keep going when you think you've mixed enough) the batter resembled cookie dough. It definitely was NOT a "wet" batter nor did it look like cake batter! In went a bag of M&Ms and the batter was ready to go.

I spooned it into a greased 9x13 glass baking pan and pressed it down into the pan.

20 minutes in a 350 degree pre-heated oven and I had a pan of warm cookies at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night.

They had a unique flavor to them - thanks to the cake mix, I think.

I liked them. I liked them a lot - probably too much. So I did what any gal who is already having trouble zipping her jeans would have done, I took them into the office this morning and sent an email to my coworkers and let them help me save my waistline!

I will definitely use this recipe again when I'm craving something sweet or need a quick dessert for a pitch-in or family dinner.

Lazy Cake Cookies from I'm a Lazy Mom

Box of White Cake Mix

5 T. melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. M&Ms (or chocolate chips or Reese's Pieces or butterscotch chips or ...)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish (I used a glass dish).

Combine the cake mix, butter and eggs. Mix well. Add in M&Ms and stir.

Bake for 20 minutes (edges will brown). Cool, cut and serve with a glass of milk!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday Harvest Style

I'm loving that I got home in time to capture some shots of corn harvest at my parents' house tonight. 

I'm loving that my nephew G was in the jump seat of the combine and when he saw me coming across the field, he struck a silly pose.

I'm loving that G invited me into the cab to ride with them! 

I'm loving that my dad let G "drive" the combine and that the responsibility made his "gut hurt" as G put it. It's a big deal to steer the big green machine through the field!

"Papaw said there's no driving age for the combine."

"Keep it between the rows."

The same field, just headed away from the sun!

I'm loving this shot. Not sure why, but I do.

I'm loving this shot of all the green machines in a row!

I'm not loving that the hot, dry summer took its toll on our fields. Someone asked my how were we affected and I think my dad explained it best tonight. 

He said that he normally had to unload the corn from the combine after one round through the field (up and back once) - in one really good year, he couldn't even go that long. This year he was easily making two rounds before unloading. 

Disappointing, yes.  Disheartening, yes.  The end of the world, no.

The beautiful part of farming is that every year we have a chance to raise a crop again. The ultimate do-over.

Linking up to this kind of love!

4 Simple Goals Before 2013

While browsing through Pinterest the other day, I came across a blog post that really spoke to me.

Unfortunately, I found it through another pin and thought I pinned the post but didn't. 

Oh, Pinterest you giveth and you taketh away! 

Fortunately, I remember the gist of the post. The blogger came up with four simple goals that she could start right now and still accomplish by the end of the year.

She encouraged setting simple goals that are personal as well as action-oriented, not result-oriented. She also suggested giving yourself a reward for each goal accomplished AND to blog about each goal once it's done.

So, I decided to go for it. 

Here are my four Simple Goals before 2013...

1. Make my health a priority. This means exercising regularly, actually eating vegetables daily, taking my vitamins and getting enough sleep. Hopefully, this leads to some weight loss but if it doesn't, then I'll settle for feeling better.

2.  Decorate with conviction. What I hope to accomplish with this one is for my home not to look like I just moved in. Put some pictures on the wall. Get rid of my old TV which is sitting next to my new flat screen. Put away the boxes of stuff that always seem to appear.

3.  Reconnect with my friends. I do NOT like to talk on the phone and I live a boring life so I never think my friends will want to talk to me. However, I DO want to hear about their lives, so I am going to pick up the phone and start calling. If you are my friend, you've been warned!

4.  Tackle one housekeeping job every day. This one is going to be the toughest...I hate to clean and I've gotten used to my house the way it is (No, it's not a candidate for hoarders, but I wouldn't eat off my floors!) But I think if I just choose to do SOMETHING each day, then hopefully it becomes routine.

For my rewards? I haven't decided on my individual rewards but I AM going to buy myself a rocking pair of jeans in the New Year if I am successful!

If you've seen this concept on another blog, let me know. I'd love to give the credit for this idea to the blogger who came up with it.