Wait only upon the Lord

My Soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. Psalm 62:5

What better time of the year than now to wait upon the Lord silently and enjoy the beautiful scenery His has created for our viewing pleasure.
May each of you have a Blessed New Year!

Lets Get Organized!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you for the sisterhood and the blessings this year. You have truly made us dance with joy!:)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Click here if you would like to Elf yourself too (it's easy)!:)

Recipe of the Week - Southwest Salsa Pizza

Thanks Shae and Pampered Chef!! Once you make this, you will see it is very easy, delicious and versatile as it can be cut like pizza or smaller to serve as Hors d'oeuvres.

Ingredients::
8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls
8 oz package of softened creme cheese
1 pressed garlic clove
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley divided as noted below
3 plum tomatoes seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 TBSP chopped red onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 ripe avocado peeled, pitted and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350

Directions:
Unroll dough and divide into 8 triangles
Arrange the dough on a round tray or pizza stone to create a circle. Points should be in the center and wide ends toward the outside. Makes a 12" circle. Roll or press with your fingers to secure seams together.

Bake 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Remove crust from oven and cool completely (can keep slightly warm - you just don't want creme cheese to be runny)

Put softened cream cheese, garlic and 2 TBSP of cilantro into a bowl and mix well.
Spread mixture evenly over cooled crust.

Combine tomatoes, bell pepper and red onion in a bowl and add remainder of cilantro. Add salt and pepper. Spoon over creme cheese mixture.
Arrange avocado over pizza and serve. THIS IS SO DELICIOUS!!

Find More Time

Wouldn't it be nice if you accomplished everything on your "to do" list every day? So often I go to bed overwhelmed and feeling that I have fallen short in things I wanted to do that day. I'm hoping to start the new year with a fresh start in this area! One useful tool I ran across is this book called "Find More Time: How to Get Things Done at Home, Organize Your Life, and Feel Great About It"



Whether you need help on just a few things or your life is totally out of control, This book aims to you organize your space, time, chores, projects, paper, bills, children, errands, and information to reduce your stress and create a productive home environment, so you'll have more time to enjoy your life!

Here are 4 tips to becoming more productive at home:


Start off right
While many productivity experts agree that tackling your "worst" task first thing in the morning can lead to a more productive day overall, you also want to set yourself up for success. So make the first item on your list something small -- with a time limit.

Whether you're a stay-at-home, work-at-home, or work-outside-the-home mom, a nice way to start off your list is with a 10-minute kitchen cleanup. You'll be truly surprised at how much you can do in 10 minutes, and you'll find that the clean kitchen that greets you when you walk in is a great reward. Set the microwave timer for 10 minutes, and see what gets done.

Another way you can help yourself succeed: you can make a conscious choice to start your to-do list only after your kids are out of the house/you've had your coffee/your spouse returns from work. The idea is, you know what you need to make things work, so go with that.


Set limits
It's important to have two kinds of limits on your to-do list. The first is to limit the amount of time you'll spend on a task. Find the unit of time that works for you, whether that's 15 minutes or an hour, and schedule that block of time.

Equally important, though, is to set limits on the number of items you put on your list for the day. Three to five items is a great guideline.

Reward your achievements
Rather than writing your list on the back of whatever scrap paper happens to be handy, consider splurging on a 99-cent spiral notepad. You can make a new list each day, and you can flip through the pad to see how much you've accomplished. And yes, it is an accomplishment if you eat breakfast, unload the dishwasher, and put away the laundry. These things don't do themselves.

Take the time to acknowledge the things you've done, even if you're inclined to dismiss them. When you have a new baby or young children at home, just getting dressed is a big deal.


Start each day fresh
A new day deserves a new to-do list. Even if you didn't get a single thing done yesterday, write a new list. Maybe someone else took out the trash or walked the dog, or maybe you decided it wasn't worth the effort it would take to redo the guest bathroom by yourself -- whatever. Make a new list, and decide what deserves to be on it.

Don't forget prayer and a surrender to God to help give you the strength to accomplish your goals with His help!

We also love the FlyLady website too. A great resource to get on the right track!

Thank You!

We are fresh from the 2009 Mom Squad luncheon at Hartville Kitchen and have to say thank you....for everything! Thank you for filling the seats, coming with open hearts and making the event a great experience. The food and service at Hartville Kitchen was excellent (as always). We also thank Quail's Covey in Hartville for hosting our speaker Julie Barnhill, and offering our Willing Hands winner an overnight stay. Thank you to Vitamix, Laus Deo Salon, and Jamie Jansen Photography. We must also thank the amazing performers who shared their talent with us. Sean McNeil, Praise-aPella, and Julie Barnhill (sooo funny)! We will be posting more photos in a few days, but for now, enjoy the slide show recap of our luncheon "Heavenly Peace". Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Get Cooking!

If you are preparing to make Christmas cookies this year, click here for some fantastic recipe ideas! Everything from no-bake cookies to fudge and traditional sugar cookies. Hundreds of tips and tasty recipes sure to please friends and family!:)

Remember the Special People in Your Life

The Holidays can be such a special time. The colors, the lights, wonderful aromas, special music and gift giving. I was thanking God today and just thinking back over the past several months at how many times He has blessed me with the kindness of total strangers. I have a magnificent professor of Psychology, Dr. Michelle Green, Ph.D. at Argosy Online University. She goes above and beyond the call of duty for each and every student. Not only does she share her knowledge, wisdom and experience, she encourages us to dig deeper via various websites that she offers, books and television programming that she feels will help students to understand and embrace the subject matter. Is there a Michelle Green in your life? Someone that you may not see often or maybe, like in this case, you have never even met but some how they enrich your life beyond measure...a handy man...the Hospice aid...the crossing guard at your child's school? This holiday time would be a wonderful time to remember them. Do a little something for them just to say, "Thank you. I appreciate you so much!" Give love for Christmas. A little goes such a long way.

Julie Barnhill our Christmas Luncheon Speaker

I am so excited about our Mom Squad Christmas Luncheon. I can't wait to meet and hear Julie Barnhill. Not only is she funny and exciting to listen to - but she knows her stuff when it comes to parenting. Since all moms need a little encouragement in that area, I'm looking forward to sipping coffee while she steps into my world.

Julie has written 11 books and many articles. I'm currently reading her book, Motherhood: The guilt that keeps on giving. I think every mother on the planet spends some time in her life wondering if she's completely messed up her child's life. Because we know that our work is important, we all struggle with self-esteem and wonder if we've "done it right."

In her book, Julie has a wonderful way of encouraging you to keep reaching for the goal while walking the thin line that says - but....don't take yourself too seriously. She insists that we look at all the things we've done right before we tackle the things we've done wrong. She gets the fact that some things will always bug us more than others. She puts a light spin on a moms daily work load and gives insight into how to survive Mt. Guiltmore.

She offers hysterical lists that had me highlighting areas and saying - "Yeah! that's just how I feel!" But, she also brings you full circle to the reality that Jesus loves us - just like we are.

Mom Squad sisterhood....I think we are in for a wonderful Luncheon and a time together that we will never forget! Be ready to laugh until your side hurts and bring a few Kleenex for those insightful moments.

See you there,

Debbie

Luncheon Instructions

The 2009 Mom Squad luncheon is almost here! The event is sold out and we are excited for the surprises, blessings and fun in store!

We'll be posting updates and info as the day gets closer so be sure to check the blog often.

Here is some general info for you:

The tickets are being mailed out this week. You should have yours by Friday. If you do no receive them by Monday, December 7, please e-mail Brooke@955theFish.com.

-The doors will OPEN at 12:30. There is no registration (we will just take your ticket) and the seating is first come, first serve. There will be no reserved seating with the exception of the entertainers, speaker, etc. We will be at full capacity in the room so please be considerate of others and patient.

-The venue is wheelchair accessible and convenient for handicapped.

Feel free to come early and shop! Hartville Collectibles will be open, as well as the bakery. For directions and hours of operation, click here.

-We expect the luncheon to conclude at roughly 3:30.

-Photographer Jamie Jansen will be located in the lobby to take professional pictures (see post below for details).

-The dress for this occasion is...whatever you are comfortable in!:) We have received questions about what to wear and the best advice is, whatever you would wear to church. You may come as dressy or casual as you would like, but note the most beautiful thing you can wear is a smile!

-If you have submitted an entry for the Willing Hands award we wholeheartedly thank you for your submission. We have selected a winner! We do have "Honorable Mention" winners as well and we will be posting those soon.

We pray that you will have a positive experience and we are delighted you will join us. We look forward to seeing you Saturday, December 12!