Something Beautiful

We started a ministry outreach to those in need this summer. Two times a month anyone who is needy can come and recieve food, clothing, shoes, some medical treatment, prayer, etc. It is an awesome time to serve others and bless others.

I have been overwhelmed at seeing how many people are coming just to serve. The first time we had 100 volunteers and each time there have been around 50 or so. Amazing. These people are sweating for Jesus and serving with a smile. It has just been way cool to see and be a part of.

Even my little Grandprincess came and gave some teddy bears to a little baby who is in that car seat. No one is too young or too old to come and help.

In the cleaning out of our storage room, I came upon three old trays that belonged to my Grannie Creel. Black laquer, oriental, a little old, dusty and out of date. BUT, they were hers and so I wanted to keep them around but, freshen them up a little.

So, you can see the afters. A little sanding, some primer, some paint, some jute, some stenciling and Grannies trays look new and awesome!

I'm going to give this one to my Mom so she can have something of Grannies.

And this one I gave to my Aunt who is Grannies only daughter. I think she really liked it and I really enjoyed making something pretty out of something well, well, something not so pretty. I think it's a lot like Jesus, taking us, we are a mess and he can and does make something beautiful out of us. Wow. I'll never stop being amazed at that.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Is this a girl obesessed ?
Maybe.
She recieved a gift card to MLB.com for her last birthday
from her Uncle and Aunt ( who fully support her shopping habit)



What would she chose this time? Another Yankees shirt? Maybe some Yankee PJ's? Another NY hat? A framed picture of Derek Jeter? A Bronx Bomber backpack? Yanks flip flops? Purse? Not any of the above. ( all of those are already in her closet)No, this time she went for the big stuff, the "I'm a fan and I'm not ashamed to let it show stuff" Her very own New York Yankees Toaster and her very
own New York Yankees salt and pepper shakers. Every young
lady should have these when getting ready to set up their
home. Yes? Of course.

Just take 2 pieces of regular bread. Any ole' kind will do.

Pop them in your new toaster.

And check this out!!! An imprint of your favorite baseball team!

Some ham, pickles, and ketchup.

And you've got yourself a Yankee Sandwich!

God Bless America

My Grandaddy, Aaron Lee Creel. We share the same middle name. My Dad, my son and my cousin share his first name. Also my daughter shares his middle name.
I love theses pictures of him while he was serving in the Armed Forces. I only have photos of him as his life was cut short on July the 4th, 1963. He was a Deputy Sheriff in a small north Florida town and the evil in one of the prisoners heart cost him his life. He was 41 years old. I wonder what it would have been like to know him and to have him around while growing up. I think about how everyones life would have been different if he would not have been killed.
I remember him the most on July 4th. But, I also am thankful for the freedom and the opportunities that the Lord has provided for all of us living in the United States of America. I pray God's protection and peace for all those serving our country now and for their families.
Here's my flag made out of shells and old rusty nails I found at Shell Point Beach a couple of summers ago. Happy Birthday, America! And one day, I'll meet you, Grandaddy Creel!

I WISH I WERE AN OSCAR MEYER WEINER

Time for another cooking time with me! I have the name of my Cookbook that I shall write one day. COOKING SO GOOD IT'S SCARY!!!! My friend suggested this after my last cooking blog while wearing the mask. This is a recipe that my Mom used to make for our family and I LOVED, LOVED it when this is what we were having for dinner. Usually on a church night where there wasn't much time. All you need is...some hot dogs and buns, an onion, some mayo, some mustard and some ketchup. No need to go buy special ingredients.

You chop the onion and the goal being to see if you can do it without crying. I did! Woot, woot! And then you add them to a bowl and all some ketchup ( wish you could hear the way my Grandprincess says ketchup...sounds like chep-up), then some mayo and mustard. No measurements, just a nice amount of each.

Then you mix it all together to make this yummy hotdog sauce. My Mom worked at Warner Brothers in Marianna, FL (before I was even born) and she got this recipe from a beautful lady named Mrs. McDowell who ran the cafeteria there.

Then you spoon on your already cooked ball park franks and buns and bake in at 350 degree oven just a few minutes until the buns are lightly browned.

You might notice, there is one sauceless frank in the pile. Not everyone in my family is a fan of this. ( I will not point out their name...only their initials....*cough* cough* RLH)

Then you eat and you usually need a fork and they really are good. I was on the phone with my son and he and his daughter were coming by, I said, I'll cook us a hot dog and he quickly replied, with the sauce??? Yes, it has become a family favorite to my kids too! Hope you try it and enjoy!

Time In A Bottle

You know the song I'm sure. "If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do..." The thing is, all the time we think we save by eating fast food, using microwaves, calculators, etc. is gone and time is for spending, not saving. This picture above is an absolute reminder of that to me.

Karen was our neighbor for 5 years. Then we moved to here and she moved to California. We haven't seen her for 6 years and when she left Zac was about up to her middle. Time didn't stand still. Kids grew, things changed. Karen came into town and surprised us with a visit. It was great to see her and was a little perk for an uneventful afternoon!

One of the things I do like to do with my time is create. So, I have been taking discarded ( and no, I didn't drink all that wine! And I knew that's exactly what you are thinking!! haa haa) wine bottles and wrapping them with jute and making new vases out of them. It's really easy. I found some jute in the dollar bin at Target and had no idea what I would do with it. But, I saw this on a blog and I would like to give someone else the credit for the idea but, I can't remember where I saw it. ( See? Time is taking away my memory... boo hoo)

I used some of my Grandmothers old buttons on some and glued stones to some others. I have given away them and this was the only one left with the stones. They are a nice "earthy" touch to a room.

My daugher has been buying fresh Gerber Daises to keep in them every week but, it seemed that Fresh Market flowers weren't so "fresh" this week and they all faded out pretty quickly. We have some HUGE hydrangea bushes in our backyard so, I cut some for the bottles.

Here's one on a table in the guest room. I am not a real "beachy" decor gal but, since it's summer and I had some cool shells my Mom gave me, I thought it looked pretty good. Oh, and that candle had funky pictures on it and I wrapped it in burlap, ribbon and added a little shell.

Here's another on at her home ( I think all these bottles are girls for some reason, maybe because they are so curvy?) on the side table in the living room. Notice this lamp? I have to tell you about it down below.

These three lovely ladies are gracing the kitchen table. I should sprinkle a few votive candles in there for some mood, right?

Okay...this lamp. WAS.....a very bright brassy touch lamp that I found, so it was free and it worked! I spray painted it a Satin Black and I love it! It is right at home in the living room. I also added a tassel I had and tied it on with some jute ( my new best friend) . Oops. Wish I had taken a before shot but, I guess I got too excited and started painting.

And how about this lamp? I am beginning to have "Lamp Obsession". I love lamp. This one was free also. Found it. It was brown with a burgundy and gold striped lamp shade. I painted it the same as the other one and just put a different shade on it. Yes, that's two new lamps for the living room and one can of spray paint. $2.99. I know. Ridiculous. Oh and since I have this "Lamp Issue" , I have found 3 more that I am currently working on. My new motto. "LET NO TABLE GOETH WITHOUT A LAMPETH"

Karen and I. She is looking awesome! California life is agreeing with her. Her sons and Zac were big buddies back in the day. We used to take them to school everyday. I was not expecting company that day ( obviously by the outfit, the hair, the lack of make-up) but, to me, this picture is priceless. By the way, one day, you may be seeing her son on TV playing football or running in the Olympics. Stay tuned.

Another thing I have been making. A cool jewelry organizer! I did not come up with this idea on my own. I have been browsing blogs at night and people are so creative!! I just changed it up a little. This is an old brown frame that used to hold a Needle Point with Z's birth statistics on it. I painted it black. I believe I might be addicted to the black spray paint. I got some wooden knobs from JoAnn's Craft store, some ribbon, a gerber daisy and some burlap. Total cost I think....about $ 5 or $ 6 dollars.

It looks really good hanging in RLH's closet and I am working on another on for KMH's closet. It's fun to make and all you need is the supplies and a handy glue gun. And by the way, I nearly burned one of my fingers to the bone. TO THE BONE!!!!!!

And just one more thing I made this past month. I'm sorry. Is this post too long? A chalkboard plate for the kitchen counter! Made from a square plate and a can of chalkboard paint. I had a hard time finding plates that would work. I found this one in TJMaxx in NC. It was $ 2.99!! Yay!

I also made one for my Mom for Mother's day out of a plate with yellow and green scrolls around the edge. Looked great in her kitchen! I made one for my Mother in law that was with a red plate. She likes apple stuff and I thought the red was nice. She said she uses it everyday. Oh, and I made one for my Daughter in law and my friend, JoAnn. It's a really nice gift, I think. We use ours for writing the dinner menu on, wishing each other a good day, quoting lines from our favorite movies and giving instructions while I'm out to the kids.

I hope maybe I gave you a few ideas as I found all my ideas from someones blog and I hope that today you'll SPEND YOUR TIME and NOT SAVE IT!

My Name Is Michael

Where does the time go? My first born son just celebrated his 26th birthday?? woah....My first born son just celebrated his 26th birthday. Does that make me feel old? No, but definantly older. It just reminds me how quickly they go from little boys into men. No more legos, hot-wheels, G.I. Joes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ( did I ever tell you about him flushing them all down the toilet because on the cartoon they live in the sewer?) And those things get quickly replaced with cars, guitars, fishing poles, baseball gloves and then....a girlfriend who turns in to his wife and then a daughter. It's been a rollercoaster ride that's had flips, dips, hanging upside downs, times where you can't breathe, and times where you can't stop laughing or smiling. All worth it.
.

We had some great birthday parties. My favorite one being his 14th, when we rented the giant jumping house and he and his friends held pretend wrestling matches. We had an announcer and fake wrestling contracts for everyone to sign. I even got in a match with my friend, Tara. And it was so hot, and those kids were thirsty! I remember picking up coke cans for days afterwards.

This year Mother was in town so she spoiled him with a big country style dinner and of course, her speciality, a 12-layer Chocolate Cake and homemade Milky-Way Ice-Cream.

Here he is with his first best friend. His Moma Catty. Yes, he made up her name. She was always his favorire person to play with. He also called me Mommy until a couple of years ago, now I am Mah. Being the first born you get to make up all the names. Cool. May this year be one of the best ever to you. Your Mah loves you very much!

You Are My Sunshine

It happened again. For the 44th time. I had another birthday and I am extremely thankful to have another one. We celebrated on Mothers Day with a delicious meal cooked by my son and daughter in law at their home. Ray and the kids spoiled me with flowers and charms for my Pandora Bracelet and we all had lunch together again the next day. These are my most favorite people in the world and how blessed I am that they call me Mommy or Mah, or Nay or Jannie or just Jana.Sorry that Ray isn't pictured, someone had to take the picture.

My brother and his wife sent me one of the best gifts I have ever gotten. It was a video in my e-mail of my nephew and niece singing Happy Birthday to me and singing other awesome songs to, like You Are My Sunshine. And my new niece was in the video though at one month old, she's not singing yet.It made me cry and I have probably watched it over 15 times so far. When Kissy came over the next day, I showed it to her and she loved it. She now asks for it and here are some photos of her watching it.
There they are on the computer singing and she is loving it. Her smile is huge. Wait til you see below.
This is the face she makes when Baby Charley makes a little cry. She's really worried about her.
And this is the HUGE smile she has when Gracie is singing You Are My Sunshine. I love it and I love my family so much!
This is the first cookie cake I have ever gotten that didn't say "JANA". Rachel had them put my Grandmother name on it and I think it's just perfect!