10 Things in My Kitchen I Can't Live WIthout

10. My Drain Strainer - A kitchen without a garbage disposal cannot function properly without a strainer for the drain. It keeps all the little foods from going down the drain and clogging it. It's dishwasher safe, so everyday when I run the diswasher, I throw this little guy in and it comes out sparkly clean. (I also bleach it and sterilize it often.)

9. Freezer Storage Bags: Quart and Gallon Sizes - I use these for everything. They're perfect for storing leftover chicken nuggets, pork chops, or burgers. The quarts are the perfect size for one pound of ground meat (like when you buy the large family size and then split it up into 1 lb bags for convenience). They're also great for those last few rolls from dinner that you'd like to keep (hey-one of the kids is bound to eat it tomorrow for snack). The gallow sizes work great for marinating meat in. (ALWAYS use SLIDER TOP gallon bags.) They are also great for storing toys with little pieces, small puzzles, etc.
(I have to say at this point that while Press n' Seal did not make the list - I don't use it on a daily basis, it is vital to a functional kitchen. It is perfect for sealing single serving filets of fish or chicken, hamburgers, cookie dough, etc. Once you have them sealed tightly, put them all into a slider top gallon freezer bag and label it with what's in there and the date. Press and seal also weorks great for leftover tomato paste. You know like when a recipe calls for a tablesoon--what do you do with the rest of the can? Put the tomato paste on the press n seal in tablesoon size drops, seal them in and freeze them for the next time you need just a tablespoon. That tip is compliments of Scott's mom!)

8. My Calendar - I put everything on there! For years it has had a place on the side of my fridge. Recently I have embraced the wonders of a small planner. Due to increasing business and activities, I needed to be able to always have my calendar with me, so while I no longer put all of our daily activities on there, I still use it daily. I am in the habit of referring to it often throughout the day as I plan my life.

7. My Drawer Full of Towels and Washcloths - Who can't live without these!! I mean really! No one can.

6. My Scrubber Thing - I know it looks a bit icky, but I took this picture right before I changed the pad. I have tried just about every hand scrubber that's available. I've tried the expensive Williams - Sonoma kind and the cheap Walmart brand. About 3 years ago I found this one and fell in love. I have had many of these over the past three years, but I never stray from this design. It's by Rubbermaid and the store always has the pads in stock when I need them. They are very reasonably priced! An absolute must in any kitchen!

5. Egg Timer - We received this exact egg timer for as part of a wedding present. I use it for all sorts of fun stuff: Natalie's time outs, cooking, baking, napping. I like it better than the timer on my stove or on my microwave, because it's portable. When I have something in the oven, that I don't want to forget about, but I'm also working on laundry or upstairs, I just take my little egg timer with me. It's starting to die now. It doesn't really ring anymore. It just kinda dings and stops ticking. I have been looking for a long time for a replacement, but I haven't connected with any other egg timer yet.

4. Clorox Wipes - Need I say more than that? They are in my kitchen, every bathroom, and even the basement.

3. My Dustbuster - Oh, how I love my dustbuster!!! Where do I even begin with this little miracle? I use this ALL the time! It's just your basic Dustbuster, but it is like gold to me! It helps with messy spills, bot dry AND wet! It sucks up my dirt pile after sweeping. (So much easier and cleaner than a dust pan!) It's a beautiful thing!

2. My Dishwasher - I was blessed to grow up always having a dishwasher. When I went away to college, I experienced for the first time, what it was like to live without a dishwasher. I didn't know what to do with myself. Since sollege, I have again been blessed to always have a dishwasher, but it wasn't until I had Natalie that I realized how very, VERY blessed I was to have a dishwasher! Washing a half dozen bottles, nipples, caps, and pacifiers a day can be very tedious. I found out once how much my dishwasher really meant to me. At the time I had this rickety old dishwasher that had been around since the mid 80's. It was horribly loud! I had to go to the opposite end of the house just to make a phone call. When it finally went out, I had a few days until the new one came and I washed bottles, nipples, and pacifiers till my hands ached. That's why my dishwasher is number 2 on my list!

1. My Daily Flip Calendar - My Number One! My greatest treasure. The whole calendar is based upon friendships and it has a place of honor in front of my sink. My very best friend in the whole world gave this to me for my birthday 12 years ago. We were juniors in high school and having what we thought was the time of our lives (we weren't far off). Everyday for the past 12 years, I have been reading the day's Scripture verse, thought, or inspirational quote. It's to the point now, that I know what is coming. I know what my birthday says, I know what Christmas says, and I know on what days my favorite quotes will come up. Each morning as I come to make breakfast, I flip the calendar and read the thought. It has begun to fall apart, but I just keep flipping. I never read it without thinking of Morlie'. I never read it without giving thanks for our Rock solid friendship 14 years strong. And I never read it without saying a prayer for my best friend. She's the cocoa to my vanilla, the Barb to my Barb, and the only one I will throw carrots with. I love her to pieces!

Thoughts...

This may not mean much for you right now, but it does for me and since this is my blog, here it is...

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Through the Eyes of a Child

Having Natalie has opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking. I find my self looking at things differently and approaching life with innocense that doesn't always come naturally. As many of you know from your experiences with your own children, they can come up with the most creative ways to describe things.

Over the past few weeks, Natalie has begun to really get descriptive. She tells the most fascinating stories filled with imagery I never would have taken the time to notice. One early morning a couple weeks ago, she came and climbed into bed with us. When I woke up, I began the conversation that we have every morning...

"Good morning Baby."
"G'mornin' Mommy." We snuggle down under the covers together.
"Did you wake up."
"Yeah I woke up."
This particular morning she went on to say...
"I turned the light on with my eyes."

I wasn't quite sure what she meant. Being the anti-morning person that I am, I didn't think another thought about it and went back to sleep. I later remembered her observation and began to think about what exactly she meant. She goes to bed each night after dark and when she wakes in the morning it's light, thus she has turned the "light" on with her eyes. She has no idea that God brought the sun up and lit her world long before she opened her eyes. All she knows is that when her eyes open they somehow "turn the light on." How precious is that!

A couple weeks later, I am still thinking about what has now become her morning tag line. I can't get it out of my head. "I turned the light on with my eyes." It seems like there is some deeper meaning in that. I can hear it running around in my head, but for the past 35 minutes I have sat here trying to formulate it into words, and nothing has come out. The depth of her comment is on the tip of my tounge, but completely ungraspable to me right now. Everytime I try to write what I think is in my head it comes out all wrong. I know that there is something there (not because Natalie is such a stinkin' genious, but because I can sense it in my spirit), but for whatever reason, I'm not supposed to share it right now. Or maybe, you are supposed to find your own meaning in it, if there is any. Perhaps, the little comment won't hit you the same way that it did me, and that's ok. Let's chalk it up to me being an overly proud mama.

Whatever the case may be, I know that God has spoken to me many times through things Natalie has said or situations we've had. For now, I'll just enjoy the most wonderful mornings with my little girl telling me all about how the lights turned on when she opened her eyes.

My Baby's Growing Up...

On Wednesday, Natalie and I went to church. We don't normally go to Wednesday night church because it's too close to her bedtime and they don't have nursery, but this week was special because Scott was preaching. We always go when he preaches and Natalie usually just hangs out with the Rainbows. This time she really got into it and participated in all the activities. She had all sorts of little projects and treasures for me when I picked her up. Here is her very first "Fridge Door Masterpiece."


This is the cow that was with the baby Jesus in the stable. Her spots are made from Natalie's thumb prints in paint. She was so proud of it. She came running to me waving it in her hand. It almost brought me to tears. I was so proud of her and at the same time sad that my baby is becoming my big girl too fast.

I'M BACK BABY!!!

I can't explain the miracle that has happened today right now, but just wanted everyone to know that I am back in the virtual world. We have lots of catching up to do...

Girls Just Wana Have Fun

The other week, I hosted my Grand Opening for my Mary Kay business. After everyone left, Natalie and I were sitting on the kitchen floor goofing around with the camera. This is what came of our fun...

The Man Trip

Scott recently took the majority of his band to Colorado Springs for a Worship Conference. It was a "Guys Only" trip. They had so much fun! They ALL came back raving about everything. The conference was amazing, I guess. So amazing that Scott is now planning on taking 20-25 people from the Worship Dept. next year. (I already told him I was going.) The conference was hosted by New Life Church in Colorado Springs. The church is set up so that the platform is in the center of the sanctuary and the seats are all the way around it. It's a church of 14,000 members, so they have to have amazing facilities! I guess everyone was pretty impressed by it all. Some of the worship leaders and speakers were Ross Parsley, Lincoln Brewster, and Ted Haggard. (Scott can't remember any of the other ones right now--he's watching football, so his mind is otherwise occupied.)
On one of the afternoons they skipped out on the sessions to do a bike tour down Pike's Peak. It's a 7000 foot decent down a steep mountain starting at the summit of Pike's Peak (14,110 feet). It took them about 3 or 4 hours. They were all beat and in need of a bag a frozen peas!!



























Here they are at the hotel before they left on their last day. From left to right it's Scott, Jeff, Pastor Alan, John, Tim, and Curt. Chris isn't in the picture--he must be the one taking it.


Bet you're wondering what the ladies did while the guys were away... Well, just read the next post!

Ladies Night Out...

The last weekend in September Scott took the majority of his band to Colorado Springs for a Worship Conference. They had an amazing time. (I'll post those pictures another day.) But while the guys were away, the ladies went out for a night on the town. We had such a great time. We met at Suzie's and left the kids there, then headed to Longhorn for dinner. After dinner we went back to Suzie's for dessert and coffee. I just had to share a picture of the "Five Hot Ladies," as our waiter kept referring to us as. (Yeah, he was a little different--very colorful, I guess is the best way to describe him.)

Debby, Beth, Suzie, me, and Sandy.

When Nana and Papa Came...

My parents came for a long weekend in September. Unfortunately I only took a few pictures. They took a whole bunch, I think, but my Mother Dearest hasn't sent them to me yet. :) Until then, these will have to do. On Saturday afternoon we went to Milburn Orchards for a fun day! And boy, was it ever fun! Here's the proof...






Here are some of my mom's pics...Natalie's favorite part of the whole day at the Orchard was the goats! They have a little petting zoo with lots of goats. You can feed them apples and corn. She absolutely LOVED those silly goats! If you ask her about the goats, she gets all excited and her eyes get bright. She says, "I feed the goats and the wittle baby one comes out and Mommy feeds her apples and I say 'Back off guys!!'" Oh my gosh--she's so cute!! So here are those pictures...




One day we went up to Philly and did the tour of Independance Hall and the Liberty Bell. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! We had so much fun!
(My pictures aren't uploading for some reason so I'll finish updating this stuff later.)

A long time coming..

So this summer (can you believe summer is already gone!?) my sister came for a visit. I am just now getting the pictures posted! Ha! That's how crazy life has been! I am also currently uploading 58 pictures from my camera that are from the past two months. So hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to get all caught up. So here we go...

Playing Play-doh, one of Natalie's favorite pastimes!

We were so busy, so Natalie was wise and took advantage of every spare second she could to catch some zzz's. This time it was on the steps!

One afternoon we walked around the wonderful little downtown of North East. It's a great little street filled with specialty and antique shops as well as this great ice cream place that has a giant cow in front of it. (You may recognize this cow from Scott's birthday party pictures!)

Of course, one day we went to the beach and it was absolutely gorgeous! We had such a wonderful time, but Natalie again got totally worn out. She curled up on my chair and napped while Jess and I sunned ourselves and read magazines.

As we were getting ready to take Jess to the airport, I wanted to get a few pictures of Natalie and her, but Natalie was not interested in it AT ALL!!!


Also while Jess was here, Scott had his 28th birthday. I've already posted the pictures from the surprise party I threw for him, but here are some of the family celebration that we had with Jess on his birthday...

Daddy's home... "Happy Bir-day Daddy!"

When I asked Scott what he wanted on his cake he told me a truck...this was what I was able to come up with...

Of course Natalie wanted her own cake...

Scott and Natalie blowing out the candles on their cakes...

Ha ha ha!!! I got trick candles that kept re-lighting themslelves!!!

Daddy's card that Aunt Jecca helped Natalie make...

So that was our wonderful week with Jess. I had a really hard saying goodbye this time. I so enjoyed having her around! I wish she could have stayed longer and she could come more often! Someday, I pray she'll have a job that will allow her the freedom to do just that! I love you Jess!

A Monumental Day!!!

THIS IS MY 100TH POST!!!
(Imagine balloons dropping from the sky, noisemakers going off, crowds cheering, and merriment being made everywhere you turn!)

I can't believe I've only posted 100 times. It seems like so much more. I guess when every post is 40 pages long, it would seem like I write an awful lot! Ha!

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty cool accomplishment.

It's a monumental day in my business as well. I opened my own checking account just for Mary Kay and Stewart Candle Company. I am preparing to make gift baskets for the holiday season to sell at area business offices. I've taken on quite an ambitious project with it all, but I've never been more excited about any job I've had. I'm having so much fun and doing what I love to do. It doesn't get any better than that. So if you are interested in gift baskets for any friends, family, or co-workers, let me know. They range in price from $30 - as much as you want to spend. I will custom make each basket and ship them directly to the recipient anywhere in the continential US. I will post pictures of samples in the next few days.

Ok, enough shameless advertising! I'm just excited today about life. Oh and did I tell you that we got paint this weekend!!!! Our friend Corbitt is coming over tonight to start painting I can't believe it!!! I have already tried every color out! You can count on lots of pictures soon. I plan to blog-ument the entire process. This has been the part that I am most looking forward to. It will have the biggest impact on the whole feel of our house. It's been a long time in coming. I'm thankful for God's faithfulness and perfect timing.

Gotta run for now... Think Pink!!!

I'm Back Baby!

I don't know what the problem has been with this blog lately. Thanks to all who kept me well informed that it was down! :) (It's nice to know that people actually do read what I write. Ha!) I have been so busy lately that I feel really disconnected to the world. I have been busy working believe it or not. I am starting my own business and so I have been working to get that in order. I know you are asking yourself, "She's stating her own business?!" Well let me explain...

On September 12, 2006 I officially became a Mary Kay Independant Beauty Consultant. It was not something that I did on a whim nor was it something that I actually wanted to do at the time. I felt that I had left one season of my life and was entering another but I didn't know what it was yet.So, I had been praying about that for a looooong time. I was always looking for where I fit in life. Was I missing an opportunity at church? Was I supposed to have another baby? Was I to go back to work? This was an underlying search that had really taken over my life. I had begun to hide out in my house, because I felt so useless, as if there was no place that needed me. I was miserable!

I went to a Mary Kay Customer Appreciation Night with one of my girlfriends (who also does Mary Kay). I went just to support her and to be a good girlfriend. (I'm ALL about the good girlfriends!!!) I totally was not expecting God to grab a hold of my life and turn it upside down. I knew from the moment I walked in to door that I was there for a specific reason. I kinda ignored that, though--I was there to win the $500 gift basket!!! HELLO!!! Who wouldn't want that!!! I modeled lipstick for Susan and I had so much fun. But God wouldn't let me walk out of there that night with out making a commitment to Him that I was putting everything I had in me to give, into His hands. If I was ever going to yield to His COMPLETE control of my life, I had to do this simple thing that He was asking of me that night. I knew that if I didn't, or if I waited even one day, I would miss out on theeverything God had for me. In that moment I had to make a chouce. Hide out forever or become the woman God created me to be. I wanted His way for my life. I haven't always, but I did then more than I ever have before.

So I signed up that night, and then proceeded to bawl my eyes out for the next two days. I cried and I prayed and I read the Word. I kept asking God for some sort of confirmation and immediately He would give it either through Scripture or a phone call, but then I would ask for just one more confirmation, and then another, and another. I was VERY skeptical and didn't want to get roped into a pyramid scheme. I had never used Mary Kay before so I really didn't know anything about the products, much less the company. I was so afraid that I had made the biggest mistake ever! Even my husband thought I had.

During that time I told God that I couldn't go against my husband's wishes. I told Him that I needed to be obedient to him (it was a great excuse to get out of doing Mary Kay!). God spoke to me very clearly and said, "Do you want to disobey your husband or ME? Be obedient to Me and I'll take care of everything including Scott. I have it all taken care of." So I chose to be obedient to God. I shared that with my husband, and from that moment on Scott has been my number one fan. I think he realized that I was serious about this and it wasn't just another hobby for me to play around with. I think he saw that it really was God's doing.

So anyway, after my two days in tears and prayer I knew that I was exactly where God wanted me to be, and I could continue to either ask Him for more confirmations or I could trust in Him and get started. So that's what I did. I got started. God had told me to buy inventory so that I could have things on hand when I got orders. Scott told me I was not to use our money for it. So God miraculously provided two days later. A girlfriend of mine called me up and told me that God had put it on her heart to bless me with the exact amount of money that He had told me to invest into my business two days earlier. I hadn't told her of the conversation with Scott. (We're not talking about a couple of bucks here either! It was a big deal!)

I have story after story of God's faithfulness and provision in getting my business up and running. I am so excited to be doing something that I'm good at and getting to be with people!!! How great is it to be able to show women how beautiful they are inside and out. All you have to do is read my profile to the right to know that I am passionate about giving women purpose and value through the love of Jesus Christ. Mary Kay gives me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful women who are searching for that SomeOne to make them feel important. I can't believe what a good fit it is for me.

As of today I have had two customers--my mom and my mother in law!!! Yeah for them!!! They are awesome and I'm so glad that I can say they were my first customers!!! If you don't already have a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant or if you do but you would like to invest in me a little anyway, I would love to have you shop my website. You can shop anytime and anywhere you have internet--in your jammies or even in the nude if that's your thing (nobody has to know!). You don't have to live close to me to be my customer nor do you have to be close to me to host a Mary Kay party. Please visit my website for more information and to help me get my business up and running. We have tons of great gift ideas for Christmas. Get your hubby or loved one in touch with me and I'll make sure you get hooked up this Christmas! My website is www.marykay.com/melissajanel or you can email me at melissajanel@marykay.com. Here are some of the great gifts we have for the Holiday Season...