Snow-pocolypse 2011

We have never seen this much snow in Arkansas...

Well....
I have never seen this much snow in Arkansas....

I found a picture of my dad measuring snow back when I was little and holding up four fingers for four inches.
I remember when mom took that picture because we thought it was CRAZY that we got four inches!!

Today .... six!
at least...some places more because the wind was blowing and it would get caught on our fence and such.

I have been around for 26 years and I never remember having this many snow days...all i have to say is THANK GOD that he put me working with kids in a preschool..so i get to have snow days too!!!

I do pray for the people that have to get out and go to work...my husband is one of them...very scary!

So today is snow day number 5 ..i think
so Lyla and I went out and made the most of it...because I figured our Public School System would MAKE us go tomorrow NO MATTER WHAT or they wouldn't finish school until mid-July!!

We had a lot of fun..
We couldn't make a snow man because I couldn't get the snow to pack...but we did make snow angels..and a snow hill!!

Enjoy your snow days!
Stay warm!

Life Inspired

So I really need to be cleaning my house..doing some laundry or something
I keep telling myself I will when Ms Lyla goes down for a nap..but we all know when she falls asleep..i am two mintues behind her...

anyway..while she has been watching Mickey Mouse .. I have been playing on the computer.

I found Becky Higgins Digital Project Life..and I am so thrilled!!
I absolutely love how easy she makes it ...all you have to do is snap pictures and write about them.

Great way to keep track of memories!

I have got mine started..and I am so excited about it.
She has a scrapbook kit..with the papers and all that...but I didn't want to order it..because I don't have time to shave my legs...more or less sit down and actually scrapbook.
So the Digital version is easy cheesy for me...I just upload my pictures...which go quick by the way...throw them into the designated spots...write a few words...Done!

Then when you get it all finished...you can order your whole book for $99!!
It gets printed for you...all in a nice book..and shipped to you...
Now how much easier can that be..
I'm in love!

On Becky Higgins website she had an inspiring Life video to let people know that life doesn't have to be "exciting" to take pictures everyday...take pictures of everyday things...laundry (which I swear I am fixing to do), your fave resteraunt, your child's fave toy...anything...anything in your life...those little things are the things we forget the fastest...so take a picture of it..throw it in a Project Life book..and remember it forever!!

Here is the video...I have to post it!!



I hope you are inspired...and if I find out how to share my Project Life book..I will...cause I am pretty dang proud of it!!

I hope you all stay warm...because in Arkansas...it is FREEZING!! literally

ok.now off to start laundry...
ha ha




EDIT:
here is the link to my book..
Go check it out...
It isnt' finished..and I am still playing..so don't judge me...
But i hope you start your own..so we can Project Life together!!
http://beckyhiggins.ziblio.com/projects/maker/22217

Prayer works...Remeber that!

Dear Lyla,
Last Saturday..I don't know the date..but I know this post is dated..so we will figure it out if need be...your dad and I went to play BINGO with your Nanny and PaPa.
So we asked if your Dad's mom and dad could hang with you while we were gone for a few hours...they said yes..which was shocking...because we hadn't been getting along very well...
well..i can't say haven't been getting along...we just haven't talked...
long story
So we took you up there...to play...we took your Dora movie so you would be comfortable and watch your shows..with your Christmas blanket, baby dolls...all of it!
On the way home..we called to check on you...Norma said you were a little warm so she had a rag on your head and you told her, "Nanny I'm sick"
So we stopped by Wal Mart on the way home to get some Tylanol because I wasnt quite sure how much I had..you hadn't been sick in a while.
When we got there to pick you up...as soon as I touched you I knew you were burning with fever..so we got you home and took your temperature.
You had 103.9
Inside..I was flipping..I wanted to choke someone for letting you get like this.
But I know you were depending on me to take care of you and be calm.
We called my mom and stepdad...and told them if I couldn't get it broke in a hour...we were going to the ER...because I didn't know how long it had been that high.
And I really didn't want to take you to the ER because spinal menigitis has been going around and two people from our area had gotten at the ER.
You wouldn't take your medicine..because you had sinus drainage and it gagged you..so I put a cooling Mickey Mouse on your head.
When Nanny and PaPa came you didn't even want to talk to them or have PaPa hold you..so something was seriously wrong.
I just laid you on me and sat on the couch and just prayed with my hand on your back.
If you wouldn't take your medicine....I didn't know how long you had had high fever....I didn't want to take you to the ER....Just Pray!
It should have been the FIRST thing I did.....
About five to ten minutes later..your fever was going down..tremendously! Fast!
You started talking...playing...looking at pictures on our phones...
You were back to Lyla.

Thank God!

God touched you that day...I believe in my soul....he healed you and proved to me that prayer should be the first thing I do..not my last option.

Remember that...Pray
Pray first
Start everything with Prayer...

Start your day with prayer
Start a new relationship with prayer
Start a new job with prayer

everything should START with prayer

I want you to know that God laid his hand on you...and brought your fever down....he loves you...cares for you..and has given you a purpose in this life.
It might take a while for you to figure it out...and you will make plenty of mistakes trying to learn right from wrong...
but i am here....non-judgemental....caring....
God is there....always forgiving and renewing your soul

Life is hard.....

but .........
you have me
your dad
and a mighty God

Lean on us..and you got it made!!!

I love you!

Your Mom

Closing down Fall with Tastefully Simple

Just a quick update on what is going on with my Tastefully Simple business.

We are on the way to closing up shop concerning all things Fall!

There is about 25 products in the Fall/Winter catalog that is only available until March 6th!
I was looking through it today at work and realized that most of my favorite things are going to be going away!! So I am stocking up!!

Our sneaky peeky conference for the NEW Spring Line is February 11 and 12...I am super excited to go and see what is NEW!

We still have the Game Day Collection for SALE...until January 31st or they run out!
Great Deal for all you get!

We have an awesome opportunity to go to Cancun,Mexico if you want to start up your own business.
The month of January is the best time to start that because Tastefully Simple Headquarters is doubling your sales to get you closer to the sales quota for the trip!!
Sign on NOW..plan your Blast Off Party..get your kit in the mail...Double your sales and your chances for a trip to Mexico!!

We still have our Clearance Sale going on...take advantage of that...amazing dishes for CHEAP and an awesome leather tote bag!!!

$10.77

$16.77

$35.97

And...we are adding a DIP BOWL and our CITRUS CELEBRATION DRINK MIX

So now you can get those at:

$7.17

$5.99

How can you beat $6 for a BUCKET of drinks???

It is still January for a little while so if you have a catalog party going on...or you have a party in January ..get those guests there!!! Get those party sales going because in January not only is Tastefully Simple making a sweet deal with consultants to go to Mexico...they are also making a sweet deal for hostesses!!

If your party reaches the $200 mark...you will not get $20 of free product...you get $30!!!

Since almost everything in the catalog is under $10...that is a sweet deal!!

If you have any questions...email me at           tastefullynikki (at) live (dot) com

or shop my website at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/nbrewer

**HINT**We got the OK today to start pre-ordering Spring stuff!!!

So get your guests lists out and start booking parties..because it is YUMMY!!

Have a gourmet day!

Valentine Subway Art

I am a MAD decorator!!
I decorate for everything.
If there were cuter decorations for Martin Luther King Day..I would decorate for that too!

I love it!
My husband thinks I am nuts...
I don't care..he signed a contract to be with me until I die..
crazy or not!!

So look at what I foun over at Craftily Ever After....

How totally super cute is this!!

I love it!

Subway art is getting pretty popular .... I haven't really jumped on the Subway (ha!ha!) yet....

but this is CUTE!!

If you think it is cute you can go over to the Craftily Ever After blog...

write up a blog post about the Valentine Subway art

and she will email you a link so you can print off

and put it in a cute little frame and decorate your house!!

There is also a turtorial on how to make those adorable little rose thingy's too!!

If you get it..take a picture and let me see it!!

This Life is for YOU!

There is a blog...
I have been following for a while now..
I absolutely love it!

On those days where I wonder if I can keep going...
her words push me
When I think I have loaded to much on my plate...
her words remind me that it is all a blessing

At Holy Experience Ann Voskamp inspires me like no other...
and I have never met her...never seen her...never heard her voice
until today.

Today I was blog hopping around and found this video promotion of a book that Ann wrote called One Thousand Gifts.
I plan on buying this book...

Here is just a couple reviews:
"This book is the most gorgeous thing I've ever read. Ever. Ann Voskamp weaves the sacred and ordinary into a tapestry of grace. And each beautiful word is a thread that binds our hearts closer to God's so He can fill our hollow places with joy. This book is the real gift--one that will stay with you and keep blessing your life long after you've read the last page." --Holley Gerth, editorial director, DaySpring

"Ann Voskamp is truly one of the most gifted writers I have ever read. If you want a book that will challenge you and mess with you in the most beautiful of ways, this is it. And you won't just read it and put it away. You will return to this treasure for years to come." ----Lysa TerKeurst, president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and bestselling author of Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl







"A book destined to become a classic; the sort of book you dog-ear and re-read for the sheer joy of cherishing the words and experiencing the depth of the heart that wrote it." ----Mary DeMuth, author of Thin Places: A Memoir


Here is the description of the book:
Drawing heartbreaking beauty out of the simplest of details, Ann Voskamp invites you into her grace--bathed life of farming, parenting, and writing--and deeper still into your own life. Here you will discover a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of living that is fully alive, and a way of becoming present to God that brings you deep and lasting joy.



She also hosts a link up on Mondays called Mulitude Mondays where she continues to count God's blessings in her life...big or small.

She is a blessing to this bloggy world..and surely a blessing to me!

Please watch the video.....Ann speaks so eloquently....her photography is amazing....and her descriptive words hit you right at the heart-strings...
I encourage you to read the book...let me know what you think as I plan on buying it soon.


Enjoy!

Oh ..so BUSY!!

I feel like I have been running a marathon and have not had time to sit down.
Right after Christmas I found out I had gall stones.
Right after the New Year I had to have surgery to get them taken out.
A week later I was determined to go back to work...
honestly because I got tired of sitting at home.
I probably should have waited longer on the going back to work thing...
but I wanted to..and I am getting better.
After three days of working...I had to go Little Rock for a class for work.
I had to get up at 4am this morning and be at my workplace by 5am.
I couldn't sleep the night I had to get up early because my daughter spent
the night with my mom and I have never been away from her for that long
in a LONG time!
I knew she was taken care of...She was fine...She was excited...
I was the wreck.
So I only got three hours of sleep..so I planned to sleep on the bus
going down to Little Rock..
uh..nope..
I shook like we were in the midst of an 8.0 earthquake all the way there!
Note to Self: Bring extra pillows to soften the earthquake vibrations.
I am now looking forward to being in Little Rock because when we get
there we can sit at tables...learn something about my profession!
Exciting..I love learning new stuff...especially new things to try at my job!
wrong again.........
We sat in chairs..lined up like mice in a science experiment...
shoulder to shoulder
Thirsty?
20 ounce drinks are in the vending machine for $2.25!!!

Here are a few of us at the seminar:

Now I know all that sounds whiny....
but I actually had a good time hanging out with my co workers
Our wonderful boss bought us lunch at Ruby Tuesdays..which was GREAT!!
I did learn a few things...heard a few funny stories....
It was a good trip.

Once I got home though ..I had to drive another 20 minutes up to my mom's
to get Lyla..I was excited to see her!
I just got home...plopped my booty in my computer chair while Lyla is tuned
into Mickey Mouse -Minnie's Mystery...and resting for the few minutes I have!!!

I posted over at Letters to Lyla and I am going to update my Project 365 blog.

I pray that I can go to sleep soon....
I don't even want or care about beauty sleep...
I want long, snoring, drooling, taking covers, and using the whole bed sleep!!!