I will do more than belong, I will participate.

I will do more than care, I will help.

I will do more than believe, I will practice.

I will do more than be fair, I will be kind.

I will do more than forgive, I will love.

I will do more than earn, I will enrich.

I will do more than teach, I will serve.

I will do more than live, I will grow.

I will do more than be friendly, I will be a friend.

~Donna Partow

As we celebrate this day of our Nation’s Independence, may we all remember those who are still fighting to maintain this precious resource.  We have many, many men and women fighting to preserve our freedom, both on our own soil, and on the soil of many other countries.  Please remember them in prayer, that our Lord would surround them all with His hedge of protection, give wisdom and guidance to our leaders, and that His blessings would flow upon our country.

God Bless You!

Cynthia Robin

I received a comment to my post ~Financial Wisdom of Old~ and the writer was asking about refinancing and my opinion.  Rather than leaving my ideas in a comment, or emailing the commenter as per her request, I’ve decided to do a whole post about this, as I feel it would be of benefit to many others.

It is my opinion that everyone should keep a clear record of their money.  What comes in, what goes out, who/where it goes to, and the purpose.  Keep a running ledger account, so to speak, of finances.  Yes, even record that can of soda or bottle of water purchased from a vending machine!  Do this for a period of time-perhaps a month or more- and you will see a trend emerging.  Is there too much fast-food being purchased?  Too many supplies for “quick cleaning?”  Too many convenience foods?  Yes, even keep your register receipts from the grocer’s and take a good look at what you’ve purchased.  See how you spend your money and what your financial habits are.

After you have a good idea of your financial habits, start paring down unnecessary expenses.  Oh my, this can be so hard!  But ever so necessary! 

When you leave the house, take a bottle of water with you (it’s much less expensive to fill a bottle at home than to buy a new one-I use a water filtering pitcher and it gives me great water!).  If you’re frequently away from home and like to have little snacks, buy a large bag and divide into smaller baggies at home and carry them with you.  You can get a lot of them filled for much less than their individual cost from a machine or a convenience store.  Make your own ice cubes, rather than buying bagged ice.  Plan your menus and make itemized lists, to help avoid that last minute dash into the grocer’s to figure out something for supper-or the dreaded trip through the drive-thru window of the fast-food joint.

I personally do not like to borrow money.  If you have debts to be paid, try to make arrangements with creditors to make affordable monthly payments.  If you’ve bought a car/house/anything that is beyond your budget, sell it and purchase something that you can afford to drive/live in/etc.  The whole key to this is to live within your means and simplify your expenses.  Get out of debt, not into more debt.  Get rid of your credit cards, cutting them in half, and then pay them off and be done with them.  The interest alone is enough to make one want to choke on their morning coffee! 

I will be writing a series of posts soon to help overcome the fast-paced frentic world of debt, and give some tips on living a more simple lifestyle.  It’s all a mind set, and once we’ve made up our mind, the rest will come naturally.

I hope this has helped you in some way today.  I don’t know particular situations, nor do I give financial advice-only my own opinion.  You alone know what is best for you and your own situation and family.  I only offer my own opinions and ideas.  What you do with them is up to you.

Hugs,

 

 

We’ve had a busy week here in my home.  I started back to school on Tuesday, and am really enjoying my classes.  Computer Programming, Spreadsheet Applications, and Internet Research…they’re all very interesting and fun classes!  I’ve already learned a lot just the 2 days I went this week!  Wow! 

My precious granddaughter was with me the days I didn’t have school, too.  Well, on Thursday, her Daddy *dropped in* to the school to find out what time I got out and she found me while they were there.  Thankfully it was between classes so we got to spend a few minutes together then-all she wanted was to sit and hold onto me for a bit and rest her head.  We had taken his Jeep to the garage before school that morning, and he kept my car for the day.  I still had about an hour left, so they popped over to the Main Library and discovered the children’s section on the 4th floor.  It’s wonderful!  Not only books, but computers, games, and all kinds of things to learn with.  I’ve been there before, but it was a new discovery for him.  Something tells me he’ll be taking the children there more often!

The Main Library sits right next to my school, with only a plaza/drive in between them.  You see, my school was originally the Library here in Huntington, given to the city as a gift by Andrew Carnegie.  But when they outgrew it, a new one was built, and the original institution became the Huntington Junior College of Business.  It’s a wonderful old building, and maintained very well.  I absolutely love the architectural details, both inside and out.  I personally think well-maintained older buildings have much more character than the newer ones.  It’s as though modern architects forget to add the *little details* that really enhance it all.  Oh, well, there isn’t much I’m ready to do about that…yet.

Cayla and I had some fun later in the week.  I’ve received an order for a table runner/placemats/pot holders/hot pads/mug mats/etc. from a dear lady, so we headed to the fabric store to pick out some fabrics for them!  Now, Cayla loves a fabric store almost as much as I do, and she’s very good at combining and coordinating fabrics and colors.  Yes, even at 4 yrs old!  This little gal has a lot of potential with textiles, and I’m having fun teaching her what I know.  I have a feeling she may learn all I can teach her, and then run with it and learn even more!  Hallelujah! 

This will be a quilted set, and also reversible.  One side will be piecework, and the other side solid.  I’m thinking of doing the piecework along the lines of a modified Prairie Star pattern, but haven’t quite decided yet.  However, I now have enough fabric in the colors requested for whatever I decide to do.  And the dear lady who’s ordered it has given me carte blanche in the design decisions.  Yes, this will be a LOT of fun!

We are having a cookout and some small fireworks this evening.  The children won’t be with us for Independence Day, so we’re having our celebration a few days early.  I’m in charge of the food, and Robert is in charge of the fireworks.  With the drought we’ve been experiencing lately, many of the fireworks celebrations in our area have been cancelled.  There is a severe risk of fires right now, and with these hills, there’s a lot of dry timber and leaves.  Not good.  So we’ll be having some sparklers and other small things like that in the backyard, and the wading pool is right there and filled.  That will lend to the safety, and we’ll also have a bucket of water to put the used sparklers and such into when they’re done.  Reducing the risk of fire and keeping safety foremost is the important thing in any celebration.

Time for me to begin my day now.  The children will be here soon and are going to help me with the cooking today.  Lots and lots of fun is in store!

Hugs,

Cynthia Robin

My Nuggets of Wisdom Newsletter has been sent to the inboxes of those signed up.  If you would like to receive your own issue, just go to the page (click on the tab above for it) and sign up.  I’ll get it out to you right away!  Enjoy!

Hugs,

Cynthia Robin

I’m once again participating in Home to Home Monday from Peggy’s Place!   Here is what she wrote today (my answers are in italics):

I love Mondays and especially this little line of entries that I strive to bring you each week which in turn brings us together in sharing.

A favorite scent:  My lavendar bush in full bloom!
A favorite taste:  Peaches-fresh picked and still warm from the sunshine!
A favorite sight:  The brilliant sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Gulf Coast
A favorite touch:  Cashmere
A favorite sound:  The laughter of a baby

Respond by comment OR by linking back from YOUR blog~

I just read a very good and informative article over at Apples of Gold that I know you will be exhorted by.  It’s about narcissism and it’s prevalence in today’s society.  Oh, dear brothers and sisters, we do live in a very narcissistic society, and yet our Lord calls us to be humble!  Please read this wonderful find, and allow it to minister to your heart as it has mine!

Hugs,

Cynthia Robin

I thought I would share with you an update on this week’s Spring Cleaning extravaganza….

All is progressing quite well.  You know, I never really realized just how many knick-knacks and pretties I had in my kitchen (until it came time to wash them ALL at the same time!)  I’ve had so much fun arranging them all just so, and have received much satisfaction from seeing the fruits of my labor. 

I do so enjoy spending time in my home, knowing I don’t have to rush here or there, take care of this or that.  Just having the time to do what I truly want to do and not worrying about the rest.  Now this is my idea of a vacation!  (Well, okay, my 2nd choice idea of a vacation!). 

I haven’t quite finished the downstairs just yet, but should wrap it all up tomorrow.  There isn’t much left to do down there…just odds and ends and such.  The gist of the work is done now. 

I’ll spend Thursday working a bit upstairs as planned, and have been invited out to lunch by a dear lady at my church for Friday.  What a lovely way to end a week of hard work here!  It’s just one of those simple things in life that I do so appreciate.  You know the kinds of things I mean…lunch with a friend, the smell of your home after you’ve finished cleaning it, the feel of your kitchen floor as you walk across it barefooted after it dries from it’s recent mopping, the smell of popcorn popped the old-fashioned way on the stovetop, seeing the summer curtains blowing in the breeze, the sight of a freshly ironed tablecloth on your kitchen table, accented by your lovely aloe plant and your Bible Study basket….oh, yes, these are all simple pleasures in life! 

It occured to me today (as I was mopping), that I haven’t started any quilting projects yet this summer.  I guess since it isn’t officially summer yet, I’m still okay, but I haven’t even planned anything yet!  Yikes!  I do have some ideas, though.  I’m thinking of making an Autumn centerpiece to sit on my table.  My kitchen table is round, and a runner just doesn’t look right on it.  So I’m thinking of perhaps a pumpkin or apple-shaped piece, perhaps appliqued, with some low-loft batting.  I could then make some quilted placemats in a lovely pattern of fall leaves and such to coordinate with it.  I could then make the napkins out of the fabrics used in the set, and some napkin rings to match-perhaps some pumpkins or apples from the craft store put on some wire and twisted just so for the rings.  I’m not sure yet, but these are just some ideas. 

I need to get started on my Christmas gifts for this year, also.  Oh my-so much has come to mind while I’ve been working this week!  I need to get them all written down in my journal and get them developed further, though. 

Do you have any special projects you’re working on this summer?  I’d love to hear about them!

Hugs,

My dear friend Peggy is once again hostessing a Bingo game…this time it’s Kitchen Bingo!  We always have so much fun playing these, and I know you will, too!  Stop by Peggy’s Place and join in on the fun with us….see you there!

I’ve just finished a wonderful week with 2 of my precious grandchildren.  Allen & Cayla stayed with me all week, and we had a marvelous time!  Time spent at church, time in the wading pool, time spent reading God’s Word and learning new things, time spent coloring, and cooking, and baking, and even a bit of time just relaxing.  You know, I enjoyed my children when they were small, but my grandchildren also give me joy.  Perhaps because I understand a lot more now than I did back then about parenting and such.  And perhaps there’s also the sense that I’m seeing my own legacy continuing.  My grandson Allen is ever so much like his Daddy (my son Robert), and my granddaughter Cayla is showing more and more that she’s becoming just like her Nanna (me!).  Of course, her and I *clash* once in a while because we are so much alike, but I try to remember that she’s 4 and not 40! :) 

I have quite a bit of home blessing planned for this week.  A thorough Spring Cleaning!  Okay, I do realize that the official start of Summer is this week, but this is the first real chance I’ve had to get much done!  :/ 

I’ll be starting in the kitchen, which is the heart of my home.  Washing cabinets inside and out, polishing the wood doors on them, scrubbing the backsplash and polishing it to help it stay clean (yes, I polish it with lemon oil, even though it’s not wood!), pulling out the stove and refrigerator and cleaning behind and underneath them and also the coils on the fridge, cleaning the oven and rangetop, the inside and outside of it and the refrigerator, sorting through my collection of coffee cups and packing some up, and giving some away, sorting through my plastic storage bowls and items.  I have so many of them and some no longer have their lids, some are beyond being stained…those will all leave my home finally.  In other words, I’ll be scrubbing and simplifying my kitchen on Monday!  If there’s time left that day, I’ll work on the dining area, as well, and clean out the book shelf there, wax and polish the dining table and chairs, and last, but not least, scrub and wax the kitchen/dining area floor. 

In the living room I’ll be wasing down the walls, cleaning the couches and chair upholstery, using some scratch cover on the wood tables, followed up by lemon oil and polishing, and will be shampooing the carpet in there.  If there’s enough time, I’ll also wash the downstairs windows. 

Upstairs, I will be thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the bathroom and walls.  I have wicker decorations on my walls in there, and they need to come down and be cleaned.  Toiletries need to be gone through and organized, sorted, and discarded (those things out of date).  And of course, thoroughly scrub and rinse that floor as well. 

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get all of those things done by Wednesday, and then spend Thursday and Friday cleaning and organizing my sewing room/office, and my personal bedroom.  I still have some winter clothes mixed in with the summer items in my closet, and need to sort through those.  I know some of them will be given to charity, as I either no longer wear them, or they no longer choose to fit (I swear some things just shrink while they’re in the closet!).  Saturday will be spent doing all the laundry, and next Monday will be spent doing the ironing. 

I’ll head back to school next Tuesday-maybe I’ll get some rest then!    I received my grades for last term, and my gpa was 4.0, which pleased me greatly!  If all goes as planned, hopefully I’ll be ready to graduate next year!

I pray you have a lovely and blessed week, and usher in the Summer season with a clean home and a clean spirit!  At some point during this week (don’t ask me when!), I’ll be working on my June issue of the Nuggets of Wisdom newsletter, and try to get it sent out sometime next week.  I have so much to write about, but sometimes life just gets too busy to spend much time getting it all written down! 

I leave you with these words today…

Today is the present.  That means it’s a gift…open it, and live it to the fullest, giving thanks to our Father in heaven for allowing us the joy of serving Him today!

~Hugs from me to you!~