Saturday, September 17, 2011

Book Review - Life Without Limits

The latest book I read for Blogging for Books was "Life Without Limits" by Nick Vujicic.



Nick was born with no arms OR legs!  And yet he has managed to live a full, happy life.  In this book he encourages people that if he can face all the challenges that living with no arms and legs brings, then we can all live a life without limits.

Overall, I was inspired by the book.  I mean how can you NOT feel somewhat guilty about the little things we complain about when we compare ourselves to Nick.  We are clearly blessed just to be born with complete bodies. I know I am quite guilty of complaining about my weight...and yet in comparison I'll take my extra 'baggage' over no limbs anyday.

It is very religious in nature.  Nick credits God and His plan (as well as his amazing parents) for him being where he is today and who he is.  

The only problem with the book is, I felt like it read somewhat like an infomercial. Nick is very honest about his pain growing up different and fitting in and such. But at times the book read a little too "look how wonderful I am." It became redundant by halfway through the book. 

If you are in need of encouragement or help looking at how blessed you really are...then absolutely read this book.  If you are just looking for a good read, I'd pass on it. :/


Thursday, September 08, 2011

Winner of the UPrinting Giveaway!

And the winner of the UPrinting giveaway is......


drum roll.....



The glowing new Mommy....Greta at Modern Garden!



Congratulations Greta!!!!



Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Guest Posting - DIY Kinda Girl

Today I am guest posting over at DIY Kinda Girl!!




Stop by and see my latest, fall inspired, project!!! 

Oh how I love me some FALL!  And it's finally in the air here in Indy! :)


Last Chance - UPrinting Giveaway

Today is the last day to enter the UPrinting giveaway for :



500 pcs. Letterheads for One (1) winner
5.5” x 8.5"
70lb Offset
Front Only Printing
4 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
*Free Shipping
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only

I'm extending the time (since I'll be in school and not able to check anyway, LOL) to 5:00 pm EST today!!

So, you have a few extra hours to get your name in the hat.  Yay! :)


All you have to do is be a follower (or reader) of Where Beauty Meets Function and leave a comment here and you are entered.

Good luck everyone!!


Disclaimer: Required as per FTC Ruling (Please see example below):
This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive letterhead printing service by hosting. Letterhead designinspiration and wedding envelopes is also available. Please visit UPrinting.com for more details.




Friday, September 02, 2011

UPrinting Giveaway

I am so excited to be able to offer you an awesome giveaway courtesy of UPrinting!!



This is the first time I've been contacted by a company to offer my readers a giveaway!!!  And well, as most of you know...that's HUGE!!

I'm sure you've seen UPrinting all over blogland lately offering similar fantastic giveaways, so here's another chance to win!

Here is what UPrinting is offering one lucky reader of Where Beauty Meets Function:

500 pcs. Letterheads for One (1) winner
5.5” x 8.5"
70lb Offset
Front Only Printing
4 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
*Free Shipping
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only

Sweet!!  Right?

You can upload your own images to your letterhead or create a piece all your own from the large selection of images they have to choose from.  

Wouldn't it be awesome to have your own, personalized, custom letterhead!

Anywho, the only requirement to enter is that you be a follower of Where Beauty Meets Function.  That's it. :)

The giveaway will end Wednesday, September 7th at noon EST.

So, with that, I'll leave you with the required Disclaimer.  Good luck everyone!

Disclaimer: Required as per FTC Ruling (Please see example below):
This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive letterhead printing service by hosting. Letterhead design inspiration and wedding envelopes is also available. Please visit UPrinting.com for more details.



Friday, August 26, 2011

Little Yellow Table

Months ago I picked up this little, extremely sturdy, plant stand/table at a yard sale.



As with all my projects, it sat in my garage for.ev.er before I got around to redoing it.

This is certainly not an overly spectacular piece of furniture, but I absolutely LOVE the color! (Strawflower...with a slight bit of distressing thanks to Ralph Lauren Smoke Glaze.)  And it is one of my favorite redo's to date!

Tomorrow she is going to a new home (via Craig and his list)...which is a total bummer to me.  I really want to keep her.  But alas, the downside of a small home, I have no room for her. :(


Isn't she just precious?!?  

I know she is a "she" because she is so dainty and yet so strong...she could be nothing other than a "she".


And it's amazing how resourceful we can be when need be.  My little vase of "flowers" are actually weeds that are growing in the yard of the abandoned house behind mine.  And yet in a cute Goodwill vase, they look beautiful. 


Such a sweet little lady.


I adore her.




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Updates

Well, I figured it had been awhile on any updates on the personal front.  So, in case anyone was wondering....

SCHOOL STARTS ON MONDAY!!!!

Not Doodle's....she started school last week.  She started 6th grade and is loving it.  I'm so glad I have a kid who loves school. 

But NO, I'm talking about....COLLEGE!!  For me.  

I'm excited and nervous at the same time!  It's been 19 years since I was in school!!

For anyone who missed it, I am starting college full time to get my Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design!!

So.....I managed to score high enough on my math placement test to at least take the lowest math at the University.  Otherwise you have to take a class at the Community College before you can begin the lowest University math they said.  So, that's good.  I think. LOL

But seriously, that does set me back a bit.  I should be starting in Algebra and Trigonometry...math is a huge part of Interior Design. So, I'll have to take some summer classes to graduate on time. Such is life of being an "old" student. ;)  

Or maybe, my backup plan of being a Social Worker instead will start sounding better and better. LOL


Let's see, I am also taking:

Intro to Interior Design
Color and Design
Drawing for Interior Design

Those sound more up my alley. :)

****************************

Ok, update on Foster Care.


We had our home study a couple weeks ago and it went GREAT!  The Villages had their meeting to discuss us last week and we were APPROVED!!

Linda comes back out tomorrow to check that I did the things that needed to be done (I forgot about child safety locks for the cabinets with cleaners and the fire extinguisher...duh) and to go over my packet one last time....then it's just a matter of the state issuing my license. :)

Oh, and getting the VA Hospital to MAIL MY PHYSICAL paperwork out!  Did you hear me frustrating VA Hospital?? I'll even come pick it up....just fill it out.  ;)

So, we should, if a child with our criteria comes up, have a placement before the holiday seasons begin! Yay!!  :)

******************************

Let's see....what other updates?

OH!!!  Back to Doodle's school starting....


Our school district is having HUGE financial trouble.  And since our township did NOT approve a tax hike last year (we already pay some of the highest taxes in the state...see a problem there?), they sold all of our buses (for a $1  I might add...think the Superintendent should be fired, I do) and no longer bus our children to school!!!

HUGE problem!!

The alternative is to hire a private company (the one they sold the buses to for a $1) for $50 A MONTH, PER CHILD, to bus your kids.  Or take them yourself. 

So, you can image the traffic nightmare it is causing as most people cannot afford an extra $50 a month....per kid!!  We still have mostly rural, two lane streets in our community.  So starting about 30 minutes before school let's out cars are just sitting on the streets, cars off, waiting to pick their kids up.

Can you imagine if you lived in those areas and were stuck in that traffic and didn't have kids!

It's been about 45 minutes to drop her off in the mornings...and easily an hour to pick her up!!!  Yeah, nightmare!!!!

The district has been very spiteful in their approach.  It's really disappointing to say the least.

Last year over 8,000 kids took the school buses.  This year only 1,800 signed up....that leaves over 7,200 parents taking and dropping their kids off at the schools to give you an idea of the problem!

High school kids driving with cars loaded full of teens...picking up their siblings at the Middle School!!  A few Middle School kids riding their bikes or walking....down a two lane rural street!  Yeah, that's safe. :\  Parents like me, who are just trying to help each other out, taking other people's kids.  I have 3 kids each day in my car to and from the Middle School.  One of the mom's takes Tuesday's and my ex's girlfriend has Wednesday afternoon's.

And they closed schools and consolidated others...so their are more kids in each school as well.

I wish I had an option....we'd move.  It's that bad.  But alas, I cannot afford to move...plus I really like the area we live in (other than the schools now).  So, I'm stuck.  :(

On the upside...if you didn't have time for reading before...you have plenty of time for a book or magazine perusing now. ;)

*********************

The booth is actually starting to pick up.  

I was a little worried at first, I was not selling ANYTHING.  But when I stopped by this weekend there quite a bit missing.  I think I've already made my booth rent for the month.  Yay!

*********************

Other than that, it's days as normal.  

I'm really busting my rear this week to get my outdoor projects done before school starts!  

I started, oh, about a bazillion projects this year outside, that I never finished.  Why do I do that?  LOL  So, I need to wrap those up.  Including painting my pergola! :)

And while I haven't blogged much this summer, I have TONS of projects from this summer to show you over the coming months.