Believe in Yourself Even When You Think No One Else Does!

The most important times in our lives to be strong, and stand up for what is right is when you may be the only one aware of it.  Trust your instincts, don't doubt what you are capable of and don't let anyone take away your goals and abilities, they are yours and yours only.  

Accomplish them, you can do anything you set your mind on and you can even be a kind person along the way.  Don't let others negativity become a toxin it is contagious just like love, laughter and happiness that is just as easily spread.  Enjoy life, we only get one.  Xox. :-)

This will make sense as you read the next section below...I promise!  :-)

This all just came to me a few minutes ago.  Earlier I was sitting around sortof feeling glum today.  I try so hard to focus on the positive, that sometimes when the negative things build up it comes all at once and becomes like a heavy weight that I am stuck under for a little bit.  Then I had a call from a special friend I have known since childhood.  Helping me realize we all go through stuff, we all have our own baggage.  But how we all carry it (our stuff) is what in the end defines if we lived a happy fulfilling, epic life or not.  I am choosing to live my life to the best of my abilities, being the best mom to my boys, which means to just not talk the talk, but walk the walk.  So glad I was put on this Earth not to be perfect, this road is definitely not bump free, especially the paths I choose (just like the quilt patterns...lol), but I will find my way and be dancing and smiling as I get there!  :-)

PS...you may also enjoy this blog post I wrote about a month ago called the "Challenge of Change".  It isn't an automatic thing, it is a daily choice we make, I am proof of that.  

The Challenge of Change :-)

This time of year with the beautiful colors of Autumn and the briskness in the air, it makes me think of all of the changes going on around me.  So many things to be grateful for and realize how fortunate we all really are.  

Last week, when my electricity was out for just under 24 hours, I understood fully all I had was a minor inconvenience.  There are people less then 50 miles away from where we live that are in total devastation, loss of not just "their stuff" that can be replaced eventually but the loss of their friends and family members.  The people we choose to share our lives with are gifts that are priceless and we should try to take all the time we have with them to admire the things we love about them and try with all of our might not to focus and waste time on the negative things that don't define who any of us are.  

While I was in line to vote today there was something that caught my eye.  It was something called Rachel's Challenge, two large white boards with all of the student's signatures on it.  There was a girl standing in line behind me who attends the middle school, waiting with her Grandmother.  I decided to ask her about Rachel and the challenge.  I have sheer gratitude for being in the right place at the right time today.  To hear this teenage girl tell us the story of Rachel, it was bone chilling hearing her recall how good of a person she was, loved by everyone, the caring notes she left behind and the deep thoughts she kept about so many of life's challenges.  Then to hear how she had sadly lost her life way too soon due to the Columbine shootings in 1999.  

Rachel's Challenge Website

There is so much more to tell and her website (Rachel's Challenge) will do it best, that will surely give you goosebumps as well.  But one quote I found on the site that touched me and is from Rachel, "Tomorrow is not a promise but a chance"  She believed in starting a chain reaction of kindness.  I challenge all of us to start our own chain reactions of kindness and compassion.  Let it be in our own families, then our families can gain the strength and confidence to stand up, encourage and help others, and to help keep Rachel's dream alive, may it never stop and the wave continue flowing back and forth just as we depend on the waves in the ocean to always come back to us at some point, we just never know their true power until they have touched us.  :-)

P.S.  Please one other thing, what ever you can give, no matter how small even if it is of your yourself, please donate to your local charities to help the people living in your communities and if possible please help the people also struggling to get by who lost so much in Hurricane Sandy.  The American Red Cross has a Relief Fund set up for those that can help.  Thanks for listening and tag you are it.  :-)

American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

 

Consider Organ Donation ~ I did :-)

On a personal note, something to consider and none of us really want to think about or even talk about is if you want to be a donor or not. I know it is a tough topic for many.  My uncle passed away a few weeks ago and his skin alone was able to help over 40 people!  To me that is an amazing gift to be able to give when who knows when our # is called and end up leaving our world maybe in tragic circumstances.  I have already chosen to be a donor for many years, so that tough emotional decision is already made for my loved ones, what about you? Here is a link I found that may be helpful for organ and tissue donation. :-)

If you want to see different views of these appliqued hearts I designed onto a pillow click this link and it will take you to the correct page, thanks for reading my post.  :-)

Sunflower / Black Eyed Susan Cupcakes ~ Yum!

While at the grocery store last week, with my 8 year old son, he spotted these adorable cupcakes!  I had to take pictures of them, it seemed like such a fun and easy idea for when you have friends over at a birthday party, welcoming Spring party or need to bring a dessert to an upcoming 4th of July party. Adding the Oreo to make the center, why didn't I think of this?
PS...Also reminds me of the Sunflower I worked on during my thread painting class, check it out here :-)

Close up of the Sunflower cupcake - yum :-)

A tiny bouquet of Sunflowers :-)

Reminded me of these Black Eyed Susan's in my neighbor's yard :-)

Awesome Proposal Video!

I saw this link on a friend's Face Book page, it is a very creative but still touching proposal that is posted on YouTube!  I did not make this video, and I don't know anyone in it, I just loved it and had to post about it.  Be warned you may need a tissue for the happy tears :-)

Link above to see video!  You will love it!  :-)

Hooked on a Book, A Must Read!

Update below, keep reading!  :-)
Ok, I know I haven't posted recently and I am sortof in a holding pattern since my next project should be a secret one for a relative who wants me to make something for their daughter.  Which I need to start REALLY soon if I hope to have it done in time, hint hint to relative who knows who she is.  HaHa!

So I found out through a Twitter friend, that they had written a book and it was on Amazon.  THEN, I hear that the first four chapters are there for us to read.  All I can say is if you read the 1st page of the book you will likely already be hooked into needing more.  The name of the book is: The Distant Shore by: Mariam Kobras.  You can click the link on the left to order it now off of Amazon like I am also doing or the one on the right to buy it for your kindle. 

Mariam, is a fun, sweet woman to follow on Twitter and best of all a bit ornery and feisty :p

***UPDATE***  Mariam's 2nd book is due to come out October 1, 2012!  You can pre-order it now though!   It is titled "Under the Same Sun" and I will be ordering mine, are you going to also?

So until my new book shows up, I think I should get started on this check book cover I have been wanting to do for a while, the pattern is made by Sara Gray of Sew Together.  I see purple in my near future, just saying :p

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Pic of her book so I can Pin it too!  :-)

Cover of 2nd book in the Trilogy :-)

How to test if eggs are good or bad (for freshness)

     There is a simple way to find out if your eggs are still good to eat and I have pictures to show you too :-)  Yes, I know my blog is about my quilting and crafting experiences but I thought I should do a tiny picture tutorial on how to know if your eggs are safe to still use and eat.  I grew up with my Mom showing me this easy way my whole life.  She was a professional cake decorator, so there were plenty of eggs being used in our home. 

     This morning I was making french toast with my two young boys and I had a carton of eggs in my refrigerator that were stamp dated with February 7th on top for the day to toss them and yes, today is March 3rd.  :-p  But I knew from experience that eggs last much longer then what the egg companies want you to think.  We always test them when it is getting close to the date and this is how even my boys know how to do it :-)  You need three things, I prefer a clear container to see through easily.  Water that is a higher level then the size of the egg and the egg of course :-)

This is a really fresh egg, laying on the bottom of the cup of water.  It falls quickly to the bottom and feels even a bit heavier.

This is a bad egg.  Notice it is floating above the surface of the water?  Toss this one in your compost pile if you have one :-)

So the point to my story is we had yummy french toast this morning, and if I didn't know about the egg test I would have thrown out 10 eggs this morning instead of just 1 since the expiration date was telling me to do it.  You can even consume eggs that float off of the bottom of the glass and sit in the middle of the water, you may notice it points up too.  I hope you find this helpful and don't mind that it seems random for my blog.  Let me know what you think, drop me a comment :-) <--- data-blogger-escaped-a="" data-blogger-escaped-dye="" data-blogger-escaped-eggs="" data-blogger-escaped-href="http://pinterest.com/smiliemommy/" data-blogger-escaped-like="" data-blogger-escaped-looks="" data-blogger-escaped-our="" data-blogger-escaped-we="" data-blogger-escaped-with=")"> Tweet

Hugs & Smiles, Tiffiny ~ Smilie Mommy  

Tweeting on Twitter / Pinning on Pinterest :p

Ok, the first new thing I did was about 2 weeks ago I would say I became a Pinner on Pinterest.  OMGoodness, can we say together how addictive it is?  Where was the warning label?  WoW, but what a great site for ideas and inspiration.  So now as of today, I am Tweeting on Twitter .  So if anyone has any helpful hints for me, I would love to hear them :-)  I tweeted once so far, and noooooooooo, if my grandmother was still here she would think I was saying I passed gas.  LoL!  :-)  So, I would <3 to hear your advice and helpful hints, so I am looking for your suggestions this time around. :)

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Awesome wedding coordinator/ minister!

I used Paula from Deep Creek for You when it was time to get married to my wonderful hubby.  

I would recommend using Paula as your planner/ officiant/ minister, she took care of so much for us.  Paula picked up our cake and flowers for us the day of the wedding, one less thing for us to worry about.  She EVEN tied my shoes for me! Sweet and sincere and a beautiful heart and smile that shows on both the inside and out.  If you are about to get married or know someone who is.  I would say you can definitely trust that she is going to handle it for you! A+++