Almost Before and Now

 So thankfully I figured out a way to pull the new photos up. So first a reminder of somewhat shape this book area had been in - it was a bit different - improved in certain ways but still WAY TOO many books for this area.

Here is just a sneak peak at the area so far. I still have a bit more time to spend in this area to really get it in great shape. 

It has taken 3-4 hours on 3 different days so far for me to get it to this point. But time well spent!!

Once done one of my jobs at this shop will be to keep the book section looking nice.  :O) 

Oops...

The book section is looking SO nice. I actually took 5 photos with the plans to show you all how nice this area is looking. However, for some reason I am having an issue with my normal way to get photos to my blog. Lucky for me - my son who is a whiz with computers will be visiting this week end and I am hoping he will be able to help me get the issue figured out - when he does I will get the photos posted.

10 boxes of books were picked up by the people who run the Dorcas in the next town over today. And after they left as I was going through some boxes of book donations - I already have pulled out almost another box of books to donate to them. We want nice books to sell and if they are too messed up or out of date or the like we pull them.

I am SO happy with how this project is going. The first thing I did today when I got there was to get my DYMO labeler out print out labels for the sections of books - so that people will know what kind of books should be on that section. I think it will make the shopping experience a lot easier and fun for our shoppers.

Well I just wanted to check in with that information. I am tired and would like to take a break now. I feel like I have worked and deserve it. Hope you all are doing well. :O) 

Organizing and Grace

 Hello~ I finally have a few free moments and thought I would come and try to get a post written up. Today is the first day in quite some time that I have not had a commitment of some sort. Earlier this week I went to a Basic Gardening class. Then Monday night I went to a Quilt Guild meeting with a friend. Then Tuesday night was my 3rd Strength training class out of 6 total. This is not something I would have done on my own if my son and a couple of my friends from church hadn't decided to go. I know that class has been a benefit and has helped push me out of my comfort zone and also to dial up my workouts.

I am still working in the book section at the thrift store. These are photos that I have from a couple of years ago. so in these photos there are many books stacked horizontal - well we didn't have much of that but we did have where there was a row of books - with an entire row placed in front, making it hard to see what was behind them. I can not wait to get some great photos of how it is looking now and share them with you. I have tried to organize the books and put certain type books together. Some of the sections include:

• devotionals 
• missionary stories 
• books for pastors and teachers
• cookbooks 
• health and fitness
• biographies 
• fiction 
• non fiction 
• educational 
• self help 
• traveling 
• crafts/hobbies
• Spanish books 
• family/marriage

Tomorrow I will work on getting a few more new books put out and I will also be labeling what type books to put in the certain areas - that way when other people put books out we can keep the area organized and nice.

In the back room we have many boxes of books to put out. Tuesday I put out at least 4 boxes - and we have a pile of 10 boxes of books to donate to a nearby Dorcas. It feels good not only to get out books section in better shape but also to be able to bless others by us passing along books that were not selling.

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Have you ever heard the analogy of someone getting pulled over and the cop just giving them a warning and how when you drive away - you will follow the road laws because of the grace given - and not just speed away and do what ever you want? This is given in order to help people understand that just because God gives us grace does not give us licence to do what ever we want. That we will out of the love we feel want to do that which pleases Him because of the grace given,. Well I understand then now more than ever. 

This morning I decided to take a small batch of clothes, a couple of pairs of shoes and a purse to the consignment store in the next town over. I decided to drive some back roads. As I was driving down the road almost into the next town proper - I saw a police officer - and to be honest I could not tell you what the speed limit was there - because I don't go that way very often and I hadn't paid attention - but I felt like I had been speeding and sure enough as I drove past I noticed his vehicle come out on the road and turn his lights on. I drove up a bit to where it looked like I could pull at least half way off the road safely and pulled over. I pulled out my drivers licence and my insurance card. 

He asked for those things when he got to the window and also asked for a good phone number for me. He went back to his car and I quickly sent my husband a text message to tell him I would probably be getting a ticket. The police officer came back to my window - "Seeing that you don't make a habit out of speeding - I am going to let it slide this time." What a relief I felt! It was such a blessing from God. I had held my emotions pretty good until he said that and then I could feel myself getting emotional. As I pulled away from the police care I was so thankful for the grace and mercy given me. And I remembered that little analogy that I shared above. And as I drove away I wanted to to my best to follow the speed limit and such to show respect and gratitude for the grace I had been given. Oh by the way - I was going 45 in a 30 zone...yikes. I will be paying better attention to the traffic signs you can count on that!! 

Thankfully I was able to pull myself together shortly after getting to the consignment store and got that batch turned in.

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Hopefully I will have a chance to check back in soon. Hope you all are doing well. :O)

So Busy

It has been such a busy week for me. I am really enjoying volunteering at the thrift store. I was so lucky to get the job of organizing the book section. Let me tell you what -it has been a HUGE job. But I have had the liberty to go through and pull out what ever books I would like to pull out to donate and to organize the books. So I have pulled out no less than 10 boxes or more of book!! And I still have two sections to go through before I am totally done going through the books.

Then we have boxes and boxes of books that have been donated that I will get to go through and put out with our other books. I have worked so hard and made it look so nice. There were sections that had 2 rows of books on a shelf - meaning a row in front of a row of books- so no one could see what was behind there. There were just TOO many books there. I have worked over 8 hours on this job and will probably have another 4 hours or more of work left to do. Then I will be able to hopefully keep the book section looking nice. I love working in the books. Even when I did not work there I would sometimes work at organizing the books like in topics and putting like books together when I could. It is just something I enjoy doing.

I am continuing with my strength training class. We had more people show up this week - so we had 12 stations to work through. And several of them were more challenging than what we have been doing. I can't wait to share a few things I have gleamed  and a new work out product that I have bought and a couple I intend on buying to add to my workouts. There are 6 weeks of classes and so next Tuesday evening with be our 3rd class.

This week I have spent more time working on my work area in the garage. It is beginning to look nice. I can't wait to take a photo or two to share with you all.

I am also working on a little project to make a larger pool for my chickens. It is something my husband suggested and lucky for me I got one of the items for free and the other items for like 25 or 50 cents. So overall I will not have spent hardly any money at all on it. That will be very rewarding if it works as good as I am hoping it does and when I see my chickens enjoying it!

Well I better get off for now. I hope you all are doing well. I will do my best to get back on and get some posts written up soon :O) 

Rummage Shop? and Comfort Zones

I had never heard the word "rummage" before when my grandmother from Colorado talked about volunteering at the Rummage Shop. And probably for the longest time I really did not even know what she was talking about. When I got older I finally figured it out - she volunteered at a local resale store - one that benefited some great cause I am sure - but sadly I don't know what. Anyway all of this was brought to my mind recently when I made the decision to volunteer at my favorite little thrift store nearby! I was there on Sunday and I heard the lady that runs the place talking to someone that they needed some English speaking volunteers. Truth be told I had already been thinking about volunteering there - I had even asked the previous lady - but she did not seem to interested and a volunteer there told me she liked to micromanage the place - so I figured it was best if I just left it well enough alone. That was probably about a year ago. After I heard that conversation I came home and I spent some time thinking about it and praying about it. Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time do all the things I need to do and want to do so I have struggling with if I wanted to commit or not. I also was thinking about all of the times that I have to take my MIL to appointments. Well the next time they were open - Tuesday - I went and talked to "C" and she said she thought I would make a great volunteer! And asked if I wanted to come in on Thursday during their work time from 10am - 2pm. And I said sure. I went and I really enjoyed it. We got a lot of things done and I was told that since I loved books - I could spend time working in that area - and have the ability to pull books out that I may not think are suitable to sell there- something I have REALLY wanted to do for a while. Very rarely do books come through that are not very good and should not be there - but I am happy to know that I will be able to work on organizing the books and get that area looking even nicer. I am very excited about it. I still am worried about the time aspect of it since it looks like I will be working there Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 -2pm. But I know that this is something I need to be doing and that God will help work out all the other stuff. It is a pretty laid back environment and if I have appointments or what ever than I just let them know I will not make it or leave early or come late - what ever works. I am so glad that God has opened up this door for me to put some of my abilities to work.

I also think back to my grandmother and think how happy she would have been to hear that I was following in her footsteps. And it helps me feel a bit closer to her. I never lived near her and never got a chance to really get to know her so this seems to be a small blessing to me to help me to feel more connected to her.

And you know how I was saying earlier in the week that going to the strength training class was out of my comfort zone - well this is also out of my comfort zone as well- at least some of the jobs- like pricing things....for example. But I am sure this experience will stretch me and help me grow.

Looking on the Bright Side

Several months ago my husband changed working crews. Ever since then his schedule has been all over the place. It has really been challenging to me especially since most of these shifts are at least half overnight shifts. This means he will sleep part of the day. It has been very challenging.

But there have been a few positives. One of them is that when he gets home in the morning sometimes he makes himself an omelette and sometimes he makes one for me too. I was so happy on Friday morning to already have some colored peppers chopped, some purple onions chopped already, some baby spinach and some grape tomatoes. These things along with some mozzarella cheese made a great omelette and a great breakfast!! 

It has been challenging but I am trying to see the bright side of things and this is just one of them!

Way Out of My Comfort Zone

I love my church! There is so much going on. So many different ways to bless others. Another day I may talk more about blessing others but today I want to talk about the small groups that are offered several times a year and especially the one that has taken me out of my comfort zone.

Several times a year they offer new groups - that will last 6 weeks or so. One of the ones offered this month is a Strength Training class. It is being taught by a personal trainer and his wife. Last night was the first class. It surprised me because only about 10 people showed up - mostly people over 50 - with the exception of my son who will be 30 in April. And mostly women - just two men.

So first we did a short warm up and then the class actually consisted of a circuit of things to do around the room. So we each picked something to start with and then worked around the room several times. We got a GOOD work out. And then about 45 minutes later or we went outside for a cool down~ of walking and then walking sideways one direction and then back the other way and then walking backwards. This walking sideways is very important to keep your strength up as you age- I know this is one of the exercises that my Mother in law had to do at Physical Therapy. Anyway - we had a good time. Although I was very leery of how the class would go especially when I saw the equipment - I am so glad I went. I know that each week I will be challenged but one of my goals for the year was to get stronger - so this class will help me towards that goal. Plus what more could I ask for - a free class, taught by a personal trainer - and to be able to do this with a few friends!

Yes, this class is out of my comfort zone but I am sure that it will help me grow on several different levels. I am SO thankful to go to a church that see the importance of providing different ways to get to know each other along with getting to know the Lord. Both are important.

My Best Deal

So I have finally had a chance to sit down and get a few posts written up, thankfully. 

So today I wanted to share a best deal that I have gotten recently.

So I was at my favorite little thrift store nearby and they have begun to put a few things out in boxes marked "Free" and so I usually glance through what they have in the boxes if I have time. And one time I found this great bag. It is probably a purse - but a much bigger purse then I usually use, but I loved the color of it - not sure if the photo does it justice- it is an olive green color. 

Anyway so I picked it up and loved how it felt. And as I walked to my car with it I realized this would make a great book bag for me to take to my study groups. 

Anyway so my best deal this week was FREE!!! 

That's an awesome deal!!! :O) 

Beginning Another One....

In the middle of 2016 I started keeping track of my clothing purchases. This was an idea that I gleaned from my sister. I am SO very glad that I started doing this. It has helped me to be more particular in what I buy. You see - when I had to go home and write down what I bought and how much I paid for it and then as I would add up how much I was spending I realized that even thought I was shopping at thrift stores I was buying quite a lot of stuff and spending a good amount of money. I have watched as slowly over the last several years I have spent less and less. 

Not only is being more particular helping with me spending less - but also another thing that I discovered from my sister and that is taking clothes that I no longer served it's purpose in my closet to a consignment store and making a little money off of the clothes I no longer enjoyed wearing. This helps me offset what money I spend on clothes each month/year.

This year I needed to start a new purchase book. So I bought this pretty pink one. 

I wanted to show you how I set up my book. This is the page at the beginning of each year. I keep track monthly as to how many items I buy, how much I spend, how much credit, and then a total once I subtract the credit from how much I spent to begin with. 

And at the end of each month I figure up how much I have spent.
This method has really helped me do a lot better at choosing clothes that I really love instead of just a lot of it will do clothing. And in the past I have done this. 

When my Mother-in-law had her store and bakery we had a several spread sheets that had to be worked each week. When she was sick or busy I would work these spread sheets and I really enjoyed it! So this is a fun activity for me as well. 

It was interesting and eye opening for sure as I began to keep track of my purchases. I was surprised at how much I was really spending on clothing. And I am glad to be able to say that each year I spend a less. I probably have a ways to go in getting a better handle on my spending on clothes, but I am happy in the direction things are going. And I am much happier with my closet than I have been in the past~ Another great bonus!! 

This Might Just Be It.....We will See

A friend posted a link on Facebook for a special quiz that DaySpring has for you to find out what your word of the year should be based on your answers to about 7 questions. 

I took the test and my word ended up being: 

If you are interested in taking the test - just click on the link above and answer the questions. If you do it I would love to hear what your words ended up being, so please leave a comment with your word. :O)

Back in a few....

This has been a busy, good week. My husband has been off a few days. And my son has had his daughter the week and ended up being off work as well since Christmas Day - I had to take him to the Ear he ended up going from having the flu to pneumonia. Thankfully it wasn't sepsis- the tested him for two different kinds. Anyway so it has Ben a pretty busy week and I will continue to be busy for a few more days so I probably will not get a chance to post for a few days. But I have a "Best Deal" post coming up for sure. And also some interesting things I have already discoved from the word "glorious." So y'all take care, I will see you soon.

Word of the Year

So I was asked recently if I had pick a word for the year yet. Well to be honest I had not even given it any thought at all. And this question was asked on New Year's Eve.  Well just a couple of short hours later a friend posted this meme on Facebook and I just had to share it with this post. 

I had not thought about picking a word at all. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised because like this past year - I had picked the word "Joy" and I had thought that was the word. It has come up a couple of different times and so I thought that was the word but as the year progressed it became even more clear that - Joy was not my word for 2019.

Acceptance seemed to be the word.

Acceptance of what I can not change. 

Acceptance of myself 

Acceptance of me - just the way I am. 

I spent some time on New Year's Eve thinking about past words - and I also decided that I will be writing down my words in a special book each year so that I can look back and see where I have been and what direction I am going. 

Courageous 

Trust

Grace 

Acceptance

are just a few of the words of the year that I have had over the past 6 years or so. 

For some reason the word "Glorious" really stands out to me. I don't know if it is because the Christmas program the church choir put on sang several different songs that spoke of it but it is intriguing/ I may end up being surprised at God revealing a totally different word to me over this new year - but for now I will be spending some time studying about how "Glorious" our Saviour is and what He may want to teach me this year through this word. 

Have you pick out a word for the year? If so what is is? I would love to hear - so please leave a comment. :O) 

Happy New Year

This says tomorrow - but it is really today that is a blank page. As will be tomorrow. You and I get to decided what is put on that page. Let's focus on writing a good page. And what will it take in order to do so? Just some thing to think about as we start this new year. :O)