Retreat

This past weekend I participated in a Young Life (YL) Women's retreat. I don't know if you know anything about YL, but one thing you need to know is that their camps are incredible!! We were able to meet at one of the YL properties in Michigan called, Timber Wolf. Every detail is important and they put the "best foot forward" motto into practice.

The retreat focused on renew and reconnect. It was great to get away and meet some incredible women, worship, eat, talk and eat some more! Did I mention we ate? We even had a chocolate bar! It is amazing how much chocolate and women seem to get along!

Now, I must mention that if you aren't familiar with YL camps, you might think these pictures look more like a resort, rather than a camp, but this really is a camp!Where we stayed was called the Bunkhouse and was created to be a "home away from home" for the families that work at camp over the summer! It is so beautiful and one could easily get spoiled being there!




There are so many pictures that I didn't get this weekend! Oh, I wish I could show you how nice our rooms were set up. And the natural beauty of the camp. When we arrived, eight deer were "greeting" us at the entry into camp. I still can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the chocolate bar, hopefully next time!

Spring Fever

I know it won't last! 60 degree weather in Michigan! One has to love it, even if the forecast is calling for snow by the weekend! Just makes you appreciate every day that we have.

Here are a few snap shots of Spring around my home.





Enjoy the beautiful day!!

3 Ring Binders

In my quest to get organized, I headed to Costco for a bundle package of three ring binders. Sandy, from the Reluctant Entertainer, introduced me to the concept of using this tool to hold kids papers and memorabilia from school. I thought, "I have a lot of things that I could organize with these binders in addition to my kids school work!"

So, I have started off using three binders in my pursuit of organizing my recipes, decorating ideas and schedule!



Last summer I typed out all of my favorite recipes! I was tired of looking in different cookbooks, magazines, and clips from the newspaper to try and find my favorite meal. So, in addition to having them saved on the computer and an external hard drive, I now have them in a hard copy, filed in a 3 ring binder. I'm not finished with this project. I hope to create a master meal schedule and grocery schedule based on my favorite recipes. Stay tuned in the future for an additional blogpost!



I started a folder of decorating ideas years ago! I had this before I even purchased my first home. However, I just through all the clippings into the folder. I had paint samples, pictures of kitchens and house exteriors all thrown together. Now, I have them filed nicely in my binder. I have sections for Christmas ideas, exteriors, kitchens, craft ideas, living rooms, etc. It is so much nicer to leaf through the binder compared to sorting through papers in a folder!



My last binder is very much in process! All those school schedules, important contacts, neighborhood numbers and daily list are located in my family binder. I have a lot of work to do in here as I organize my categories and increase the materials that I want to add. In the short time that I have had this binder, I've used it a number of times to look up a phone number or contact information. It was much easier to find in here compared to looking up a number in the phone book.

Hopefully, I'll be able to share the exterior of the binders and give you an updated content in the future! Let me know how you use your binders and how it helps you stay organized!

One Week

I had great intentions of not letting this happen! One of my unwritten goals was to post a few different times a week. Notice how vague that sounds! So, here are some pictures from my week!


My husband and I attended the local Home & Garden show. Just a little Spring to shine your way!

My oldest daughter was home sick today with strep throat. I know she doesn't look sick, and I might add she didn't act sick. I need to be thankful about this! We got out her "Easy Bake" and she made her own dessert!

My youngest lost her second tooth in two weeks! She is so excited and feeling so grown up! I might add we didn't have to "pull" either tooth out. One came out while brushing the teeth and the other one came out in art class. Not sure how that one happened!

Lastly, Flurry had his first haircut! He did well and enjoyed the grooming!

Simple Things

Some days you just need a beautiful bunch of tulips to brighten your day! Especially when it is March 1st and your outside is covered with white snow!