Seeds!

Our seeds arrived today! How exciting it was to open up the box just filled with potential. Then we spread them out....and I wondered.....

"Did I go a little overboard in my ordering?"

It looks like a lot but they weren't that expensive and as I was reading the catolog visions of fresh, yummy and organic veggies, soothing teas made from medicinal herbs, having my own savory herbs to season my cooking and lots and lots of pretty flowers to decorate with filled my head and it was hard to say "no". Actually I did say "no" to myself many times but I still ended up with a bunch of seeds!

  I am still dreaming of all those things and am excited to get some of my seeds started soon inside. We have found it saves a lot of money to start our own plants so that is what we do.We have our dirt ready and so maybe we will get them in sometime this week.

 In case you are curious, here is what we ordered to plant this year. The ones with an * we have never tried before.

• 
  
  3 types of Carrots (in a rainbow of colors)
• 
  
  Beets*
• 
  
  Zucchini
• 
  
  Spinach
• 
  
  Curly Cress*
• 
  
  2 types of Radishes
• 
  
  3 types of Cucumbers
• 
  
  Green Beans
• 
  
  3 types of Corn
• 
  
  2 types of Peas
• 
  
  Kohlrabi
• 
  
  Cabbage
• 
  
  Pepper
• 
  
  2 types of tomatoes (and actually I have leftover seeds for other types)
• 
  
  Watermelon
• 
  
  Muskmelon (Both the melons are northern varieties)
• 
  
  Cutting Celery
• 
  
  3 types of Lettuce

Herbs:

• 
  
  Lemon Balm
• 
  
  Basil
• 
  
  Dill
• 
  
  Catnip
• 
  
  Cilantro
• 
  
  Parsley
• 
  
  Calendula*

Flowers:

• 
  
  Ageratum*
• 
  
  Larkspur
• 
  
  Dianthus
• 
  
  Delphinium
• 
  
  Columbine
• 
  
  Camellia*
• 
  
  Forget-me-not

Gardening really works for me! With it you can get the best tasting and nutritious veggies and just working in it is lots of fun. It also is a good way to help you save money on your food bill.

What are you planting? Have you already gotten started? I would love to hear about your garden plans!

A new quilt!

  I decided it would be fun to make a northwoodsy (since that is where we live and we love it here!) quilt for Ken for our anniversary. Our anniversary was in December and I did get started beforehand and almost had the top done but there was still quite a bit of work to be done. Oh well! Some day I am going to start projects WAY in advance!

    The quilt is still not completely done but I have been enjoying it so much I was to impatient to wait until it was totally finished to tell you about it. I am working on the hand quilting of it now and that is going to take a while but I decided we would go ahead and use it while it was in progress. (I didn't follow the typical quilting rules and I already bound it together on the edges so it is basically done.)

   This quilt has been especially fun for me because I was able to make it uniquely ours in many ways. Here is a close up of the middle and I will explain the signifigance:

• There are two loons to represent Ken and me. The loon is Minnesota's state bird which is why I chose them- not because Ken and I are particularly loony! :-)
• The white fabric on the loons is scraps leftover from making my wedding dress.
• The dark green fabric is leftover from making the guy's vests and the bridesmaids dresses in our wedding.
• The purple fabric for the Iris was scraps from other things from our wedding including the flower girl's dress and Candlelighters' dresses.
• The Iris is one of my long time favorite flowers and Evergreen trees are Ken's favorite.

I did buy the batting and backing fabric (a soft brown flannel) for the quilt (using 40% off coupons at JoAnns) but otherwise everthing was made from things that I had on hand. Some were scraps, some from old  (but not worn out) clothes and some were fabrics leftover from other projects.

 Anyway I have had a lot of fun working on this project and last night when I was doing some quilting I found it extra rewarding to have a project where I have to just sit down quietly. It makes a great time to have fellowship with my family. Aaron came up to me and proceeded to tell me all about a story that he was enjoying, Megan loves to cuddle up to me and watch and I see potential for a lot more of that happening. Sometimes I can be so busy, always going here or there or when I am sitting down there is a purpose- read to the kids, work on the computor, write a letter. etc. It is nice to just have a quiet time when I can listen to them or just be close to them.

 The inspiration for this quilt came from the book "Spirit of the Northwoods" by Debbie Field. It is a really fun book with lots of neat patterns. I enlarged one of the pictures and then added to it.

This is linked to:

 Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday
 and
A soft place to land's DIY day
and
Today's Creative Blog's "Get your craft on"
and
Market yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

I shall thank Him

"The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

and with my song I shall thank Him."

Psalms 27:7

We just got done with a very busy and fun weekend. Every year we have a Retreat at church that we invite people from out of town as well as locals to come to. This year our theme was being God's hands and feet and it was a very encouraging time. I didn't intend to go quite so long without posting on my blog but with getting ready for the Retreat and then being at it I just didn't get on the computer very much! :-) Anyway I have a lot to thank God for and here are a few in my list:

#431 Fun times with Cousins (or my nieces and nephew)

#432 Warmer weather that means it is about time for the maple sap to flow!

#433 My parents' big beautiful woods.

#434 Lots and lots of help to get the job done.

#435 Fun times of sweet fellowship.

#436  Fun times with my sweet and fun husband.

#437  Getting some projects done! That always is fun for me.

#438 Strength to make it through each day.

#439 A sweet and silly little girl. (Megan in case you couldn't tell!)

#440 Wigs. What fun to totally be able to change your look.  This is Margaret and Mara in disguise.

#441 Tea Parties at Grandpa and Grandmas' house.

#442 Being able to get together and fellowship with other christians.

#443 Getting to be a part of the body of Christ! (1 Corinthians 12:27)

#444 Getting to work together to get things done.

#445 Getting to see how very important how each part (person!) is.

#446 Having Christ as our head.

#447 Lots of little kids.

#448 Music. Do you ever think about what life would be like without it? I am so glad God created it- especially harmony!

#449 God's word that we can learn and grow from.

#450 Rest!

A new wreath

 We have been pretty busy working on projects lately. Just today we did some decorating in the girls room, made butterhorns, cookies and cake and we also put together this wreath. My neices and nephew came over for the day and we had a fun time doing things with them. (It is a treat to spend time with them as they actually live over a 4 hour drive away.)

   This wreath was one that Mara had origanally made for the county fair with all natural things. We decided to dress is up a bit for Spring today so I pulled out some silk and dried flowers and ribbon and Margaret (my niece) went to work. I then added a few more flowers and the big bow at the top and hung it up. It was a fun group effort and I am enjoying the cheeriness that it lends to our front door.

   Stay tuned as I hope to tell you about a bunch of other projects I have been working on soon! :-)

 Also don't miss the fun giveaway that I have going on right now for a 18 x 24 inch photo poster!

I am linking this to DIY day at A soft place to land.

Win a Photo Poster! {Giveaway}

  I am excited to be able to offer another giveaway to you thanks to UPrinting a great place to print online!

 They do Poster Printing and this giveaway is for one 18 x 24 inch poster print. This can be a favorite photo or pretty much whatever you like. How cool is that!?!

   It can be printed on high gloss or semi gloss and it only takes them one business day to do it! Shipping is free. There are so many great photographers out there, I think it would be so fun to be able to blow up one of your own pictures into a poster!

   So enter to win!! (I am sorry but this is limited to US residents only.)

    To enter please leave a comment telling me what you would like to make into a poster. (If you change your mind when you win that is fine, I just think it would be fun to hear what you would like.)

    An additional entry will be offered to any one who follows my blog either with Google friend connect or with a blog reader. You can be a new or existing follower. Just let me know with another comment and please tell me what you use to follow Proverbs 31 Living.

    If you would like another entry you can post about this giveaway and link to it on your blog or you can twitter about it. Please leave another comment and a link to where you did it to let me know.

  This giveaway will close on March 19th. So get busy an enter! :-) (Winner will be chosen randomly by one of my sweet kids drawing your name from a basket. They love doing that! ) Please make sure to have some way (e-mail or blog address) in your entry so I can contact you!

 Comments closed. The winner is Jackie from Blessings Overflowing (A pretty neat blog!)

Created for God's Glory

I am reading through Isaiah currently (little by little, trying to learn and glean as much as I can) and not long ago read this verse:

Isaiah 43:7

"Everyone who is called by My name,

and whom I have created for My glory,

Whom I have formed,

even whom I have made."

This is just one little verse from a big book (and I recommend going and reading more of it!) but I think it has a pretty neat message. People wonder from time to time, "Why are we here?" , "What is life's purpose?" this verse pretty much takes care of that. We are here to bring glory to God. That is our life's purpose.

Now the question is: "Am I doing that?" and are you doing that?