A Blogger in the Family

It is official! My sister is now a blogger. I have been encouraging her since October to start a blog. She went back to school in September and one of her first classes she had to enroll in was English.

As we have all experienced, at one time or another, writing can be challenging. First it is the subject matter and then it is getting past the writer's block. Since blogging is a great way to journal your thoughts and ideas (fun and theraputic, too), I suggested she start to blog. Finally, another blogger in the family! Way to go sis!

Is it Murphy, Satan or God?

How many of you have heard of Murphy’s Law or have experienced Murphy’s Law? Well today, I got to experience Murphy; or at least that is what my mind thought. For those of you who may have never heard of Murphy’s Law, it is an old adage that basically states, if something can go wrong it will.

This year I set out to read my Bible daily and every day thus far, God has shown me something from his Word. In my 2009 Commitment (see post) I committed to 1) eating from God's Word and 2) exercising; specifically, exercising my faith. Anytime you begin a regiment like this one, you can plan on Satan attacking you in one fashion or another.

Finances have always been a worry for me and even when I think I have turned "all worrying" over to God; it only takes one small incident to shake up my so-called faith. Unfortunately, today was no different (1pt for Satan). I had a financial setback which caused my mood to be somber and my spirit troubled. I first blamed Murphy for the setbacks and then I held Satan liable. But a still small voice in the back of my head kept saying to me, maybe God is responsible? Just maybe, God was trying to EXERCISE my faith.

After some consideration, I thanked God for the exercise of faith and the growing pain he set before me. As I sat at the dining room table weeping over the day’s events, holding Levi in my lap, feeling helpless and knowing that there is nothing I can do to change things, I prayed and asked God to help me let go and trust in him. God revealed to me that I lack faith in trusting him completely. As hard as this was to acknowledge, I knew it to be true. All day, I kept telling myself, God is in control, I don't have to worry, he knows what he is doing; but I was still having trouble believing it. Oh how the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Thankfully, God showed me Psalm 112:7, “He (Sherri) shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his (her) heart is fixed in the LORD.” It seemed almost instantaneously that the pressure and heavy burden I was feeling in my heart, lifted.

Through my study this evening, God reminded me of Psalm 37:5 “Commit thy ways unto the LORD, trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”. My financial setback has not gone away, but I have completed my first EXERCISE in faith for 2009: I have God’s peace which passeth all understanding.

Isn't God good?!

Windows Are Dressed for Valentine's Day

I know we just got over the Christmas/New Year Holiday, but Valentine's Day is less than six weeks away. Can you believe it?! Today my store windows were dressed for Valentine's Day. I thought you might like to see how they turned out.

The bears in the above picture is one of my favorites this season. They look like a bear, but have the wings and markings of a bee. Way to cute and very, very soft!

We are also selling other plush bears and ceramic mugs. The mugs in this picture have delightful phrases on them like: "Love", "Kiss Me Now","You Found My Heart" and many others.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get more bouquets designed and displayed. I am in the process of designing smaller bouquets for this holiday due to the economic times. So far I have been able to design bud vases that house 3 stems of candy ranging from hard candies to Ganache to solid chocolate roses. The prices are running from $9.99 to $21.99. CBI also came up with three different designs for Valentine's Day and I plan to offer them as well. They are pictured on the Candy Bouquet website ( http://www.candybouqet.com/). Well, enough blabbing on here. I just wanted to show you my new window displays.

Update: Pressure Cooker 101

The other night my mom asked me if I had used my new Presto Pressure Cooker. Unfortunately, I had to tell her no, because I had not read all of the instructions as promised. Well tonight was the night... I was determined to cook a meal in my new pressure cooker. Here is how it went:

I got the pressure cooker out and put it on the stove top and stared at it.

Then I proceeded to throw away the instructions and called mom. HELP!! After receiving verbal instructions, I started up my pressure cooker.

Here is a picture of the meat already cooked up.

See the piping hot steam, this meal is done and ready to eat.

THANKS MOM!

I'll have to admit I was a bit scared to use the pressure cooker, but I am so glad I did! This is one of the best kitchen tools ever! I just wish I had one years ago. The cooker really does cut the cook time down and it makes a delicious tasting meal.

Levi, on the other hand, was not so impressed with the cooker. Levi has been part of our household for over six years and I have never seen him shake in his boots like tonight. The boy was SCARED (and I thought I was scared)! He was shaking so much I had to send him downstairs with Steve until I was finished cooking up our meal. Mom says, he will get use to the noise from the pressure cooker. I hope so...because I am already planning our next meal.