Where have I been? Pinning. and Pinning. and Pinning. I’ll be back soon though. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year! My prayer for you in 2012.
Happy New Year!
My prayer for you in 2012: “May this message find you safe and sound. May those you love be near you, either physically or in your thoughts and dreams. May the calls you make, the people you see and interact with and the messages you give and receive add to your joy. When you travel, may your journeys be safe. May 2012 be pleasant and profitable for you and for those in your world.” (p.s. – please feel free to share this)
Note to Americans – 2012 is looking pretty good so far…a bit dark out, but that’s what you get at midnight I guess… 
)
Nail Polish and Patience.
- My nails are not quite dry and yet here I sit, pecking away at the keyboard. Patience, patience.
How does one pretend to have patience when there is SO much to do! I’ve been researching demographics all morning. If you have any good internet research tools for discovering what your business’ demographics look like, please let me know!
Oh and by the way, free product placement to anyone who can manage to get me addicted to their stuff. Special thanks go out to Nescafe Blend 43. Without you, I would be asleep right now.
Eating Frogs
Brian Tracy suggests having an A list, a B list and a C list for items on your to do list. A, B and C correlate directly with the level of urgency at which these items need to be completed. He then suggests that you think of the first few items on the list as frogs.
He then asks, “How do you eat a frog?”
My emphatic answer under normal circumstances would be of course, “I don’t.”
He then answers his own question, ignoring my answer of course, being that he is speaking through a book and hasn’t even heard it in the first place, with “Eat it first and very quickly.”
See why he says the first few things on the A list need to be considered frogs? The quicker you eat them, ahem, finish them, the quicker you won’t have to worry about them any more.
You may be wondering about the B and C list…
You will never get to the B and C list because as you complete the A list, B’s and C’s will naturally become A’s.
Task completion therefore becomes simple and another inside joke gets added to the secret language of blog friends and spouses. As I sit here writing this, my husband is in his office eating a big frog. I am about to eat one as well.
I hop you are able to eat lots of frogs today! xoxo (groan!)
Ralph Waldo Emerson said,
“Sprinkle Joy.”
We were sitting around the campfire this evening with the Pathfinders. (If you would like to know more or are wondering, “What’s a Pathfinder?” google SDA Pathfinders. It is an organization that is made up of some of the most amazing people you will ever meet!)
They had a gorgeous baked dinner including potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, onion and a special treat of corn on the cob (boiled not baked). We were passing around the salt and pepper shakers and everyone was generously sprinkling. One young lady attempted to sprinkle her potato and what do you know, the lid came off. She went from generous sprinkle to the whole bottle in less time than it takes to blink an eye. We all giggled a bit and got it sorted out, including saving most of the salt as it turns out that she had neatly buried her potato instead of pouring it all over the ground. No one minded potato flavored salt, so there you go no harm done and she gained a great story to share with her family at the end of the weekend to boot.
Here’s to sprinkling joy; and here’s to occasionally losing the lid! Have a great weekend everyone!
xoxo – Jenn
PS Here’s to Kevin and peanut butter and tomato sandwiches, salt optional.
Contemplating, photos included.
Shirley and I just finished leading Kindy Sabbath School (ages 0-5, yes Caitryn turns 5 tomorrow!). We discussed water and all of the things that need water to survive. One of my new tomato plants made an appearance and we discussed plants and gardens. Our theme for the past few weeks has been Moses and the children of Israel and today’s focus was on the bitter spring of Marah. In the end, Moses has God’s help to turn the spring into sweet water again and the Israelites are able to quench their thirst. (Exodus is a very good read if you are not familiar with Moses’ story, I highly recommend it, The New Living Translation of the Bible is lovely, though reading it in more than one translation is not a bad idea – it helps with understanding.)
Sitting here contemplating my experiences this morning I continue be affirmed that there is so much about our world that we can learn from 3-5 year olds. When I offered the children the “bitter” water (it had a significant amount of table salt in it) Shirley tasted it and then one or two tried it and when the rest realized it wasn’t worth it, no one else wanted to give it a try. When the water “changed” to sweet, they waited until an adult tested it, then they were happy to try it. One little boy sat right down in the middle of the floor and finished off the rest of the cup. He was so delighted and we all shared in his delight (his mum especially, he was sooo cute!).
To put the hidden lesson into words:
When life is “bitter” I will follow the lead of the children. I will realize it isn’t worth continuing to drink from the cup. I will ask God for guidance, just like Moses did for the Israelites. I will then do what He tells me too, even if my “I know that already” attitude tries to stop me. When things go back to being “sweet” I will praise God and sit right down and thoroughly enjoy it, relishing every last drop of goodness that He has provided and I will share it with everyone else.
I hope you find many blessings in today, many, many simple little luxuries.
And for your viewing pleasure, teeny tiny flowers, from my front lawn, thanks Sheree for inspiring me to get out the macro lens! Hover mouse over photo for commentary.
xoxo – Jenn
Enchanted
Firstly, as a transplanted American in Australia I love the idea of calling candy Lollies.
Secondly, I found these particular lollies earlier today that I also love the idea of. None is more than a cm in any direction! They are the miniature cousins to the jersey caramel and the ones with the white in the middle look just like cow-tail candies, only sliced up into little pieces and flavoured orange and strawberry, etc. They are just darling! Imported from England, next to the bonbons (again, darling!) they are called Dolly Mix and I now have an extremely strong desire to host a tea party, petit fours and cucumber sandwiches included!
I’m officially Enchanted.
*Thirdly and an afterthought… I vow to crop my photos better in the future… I know I really should go back and crop this one, but I realize that I can’t be bothered and I’m ok with that.
Clapotis.
A few years ago knitty.com featured a pattern by Kate Gilbert called “Clapotis” (pronounced Clap Oh Tee). It was the perfect pattern for many of us who were rediscovering the art of knitting. It incorporates a beautiful (and fun) drop stitch and being knit on the bias creates some serious interest as far as scarves go. I knit one for my sister a few years ago, but lost the last ball of yarn and had to put it aside to be completed at some point. Last week I started knitting another one in 100% bamboo and I am extremetely pleased with how it’s knitting up. Here’s a sneak peak…let me know in the comment section if you have knit one, e-mail a photo (simplelittleluxuries@gmail.com) and I’ll feature it here as well…
This song brings me to tears.
How Great Thou Art
Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;
Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel he gentle breeze;
Refrain
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die – I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Refrain
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
*Please note – I am the photographer. I took them here in Western Australia. I do not in any way claim copyright to this magnificent hymn, however. I am just extremely moved by it every time I hear it and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it too. If you want to hear an absolutely beautiful rendition of this, Carrie Underwood performed an amazing one! There are lots of videos of it on Youtube. Enjoy!
xoxo – Jenn
Anniversary.
One year ago today I was on the other side of the planet (United States of America to be exact). I was wearing my mother’s wedding dress (I did take the lace sleeves off, but other than that it didn’t change much from when her mother made it for her), carrying a bouquet of hydrangeas. My mom, my dad, my sister and the pastor were all there as Darren and I were married (for the first of two times, I’ll get to that at a later date). After the ceremony we raced around town getting the marriage certificate finalized, my passport changed, my driver’s license changed and all of the rest of the paperwork for the spousal visa put into an express mail envelope bound for the Australian Embassy, Washington, D.C. We then spent the evening celebrating with some of the rest of my family before heading to a little resort for a couple of nights. It was an amazing day.
Darren and I on our first wedding day! August 31, 2010
- Mom, Dad, Me, Darren and Beth Ann
Fast forward one year. I sit here writing from my desk at our
home in Australia. I am reflecting on all that has happened and thanking God for all of the blessing he has brought to us and for helping us through things that haven’t gone the way we planned. Our family is several people richer (welcome to Samuel and Hannah Rose) and poorer (We will miss you Pepe, Meme Burke and Uncle Joe) than it was last August.
Tonight we are planning on having a lovely dinner date and celebrating our anniversary. I hope you have something to celebrate as well.
xoxo Jenn
