Simply Abundant Living

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I just happened upon a site today that offers some very interesting clearance savings. You even have a choice between shopping online or shopping at one of their 750 participating brick-and-mortars.

Shop for computers and accessories, home entertainment, audio players, cameras, cell phones…you name it. Some very good prices, from what I saw also. I’m a gadget person, so I had to check out the gadgets to see if they had anything interesting. I found a mini vacuum cleaner perfect for little touch-ups around a desk area that I thought looked handy. I also saw a USB-powered hand warmer. For someone with perpetually icy hands during the winter, this might just become mine…for $7.49, too!

Do you ever wander through the stores looking at the many decor items that you could add to your home? Do any of these items really *pull* you to purchase them? Do they feel like YOU? Or…do you get the feeling that these assorted items are generic and not really anything that truly represents YOU.

I was in Hobby Lobby this week…my first time ever in this store, believe it or not. I enjoyed the extensive array of everything crafty you could ever want or need under one roof (including fabric!). I was surprised to see the huge area of home decor items–was not expecting a section of this type in a crafting store, I guess. I couldn’t help myself…I did wander through, looking at all of the different pretty things for placing on shelves, tables, walls, etc. Nothing really PULLED at me, though and I did not purchase anything more than the felt I had been searching for in the first place.

It got me to thinking, too…how do you create a home that is uniquely yours?

1. If you are starting from scratch, go ahead and wander through a home decor store like that and purchase a few “starter pieces” to start building from.
2. Choose a color or a theme and start building slowly. For example, if country red is your passion and you want to build a bathroom around this color, start with a shower curtain or towels and then accessorize slowly incorporating your color throughout everything.
3. Choose one more complementary color and start adding this color in slowly to mix it up a little bit. Try using lighter and darker variations of your colors to mix it up even further.
4. Branch out your decor shopping to the unusual. Don’t be afraid to hit the estate sales, flea markets and rummage sales. You can find amazing and unusual items hiding in places like this.
5. Take your time. Don’t feel like you need to decorate your home in a week…or a month…or even a year! Make it an ongoing process that continues to evolve as you find new things that really PULL you.
6. Don’t buy anything that you do not truly LOVE.

This is the way to create your own unique style and create a home respite that is truly YOU.

I need a new kitchen faucet. It’s been a long time and after suffering with less than ideal sink situations, I am finally ready to spring for something like these beautiful Delta faucets I keep seeing in magazines. I would love something sleek and simple to adorn my sink and give me hot and cold water. I don’t think that’s too much to ask…now is it?

I purchase many things online out of convenience and thriftiness. Last week I was browsing, looking for an external DVD/CD drive for the kids’ laptop because they seem to have broken the internal one on their laptop. After much looking, reading, and researching (a must when you are purchasing electronics online), I finally found one that was reasonably priced and should have worked on their computer.

Well, it came and guess what…doesn’t work! Not only this, but the retailer is inaccessible – will not answer phones or emails. So…I contacted Amazon and thankfully I have recourse and protection from having purchased it through Amazon.

Moral of the story: Purchase from reputable dealers or through a website like Amazon that will enable you to recover your money in the event that something goes wrong with your transaction.

I landed on a website with some interesting pictures today. The premise was advertisements that makes you look twice. I did not see any insurance advertising photographs, but I did see some doozies. Let me share some of my favorites with you…I think you might like them too.

Isn’t this one cool? The message is to send someone a letter if you really want to touch someone. This one spoke to me particularly strongly, because I am a strong proponent of old-fashioned letter writing. I can appreciate the new techie twist to this old fashioned form of communication, and I liked this.

This one is for Denver Water. “Use Only What You Need”…this one particularly spoke to me also, as I believe in conservation. I also just though it plain cute!

What can I say? This one was just too cute not to include!

Have the seed catalogs started arriving yet? No? Well…they should begin to hit your mailboxes fast and furious soon. Seed companies know that we gardeners need something to dream about during the long months of hibernation.

Once you have a sizable stack, it’s time to grab a hot cuppa and snuggle down in a cozy chair to leaf through and dream a little. What better way to get new ideas and cement plans for the garden you will begin in a few short months.

As you page through the beautiful colors and spreads, notice that most catalogs give additional growing  information on disease resistance, new and improved hybrids, the length to maturity on vegetable crops and often the proper growing conditions for the plants. When you combine this useful information with your own experience in your own garden, you are in a great place to choose great flowers and vegetables for the upcoming growing season.

Try not to get too carried away and don’t order more than you can plant. Make a wish list and then sit on it for a few days. Go back to it and look at it again realistically to make sure what you plan is doable. You might just try a few new things each year, while sticking with the old favorites that grow well year after year.

It is never too early to start planning your upcoming garden. When you order seeds by mail, ordering early will ensure that you have your seeds when you need them.

Spring will be here before you know it…

Do You embrace winter or do you strive to just get through it? I admit I tend toward the latter in as much as I detest being cold and wet…so I do avoid going outside as much as possible in the winter. My husband is one of those people who (although he doesn’t like the cold either) feels he MUST have fresh air each day or he gets into a physical funk. Although I can appreciate the logic behind this…I still prefer hibernating.

So…this leaves me inside…and THIS is where I begin embracing winter! Inside…left to hang out all day long…this is when I can tackle put-off projects, start new ones, reorganize that cupboard or closet that has been bothering me, rearrange the furniture, do some deep cleaning, or…just sit and cross stitch or crochet. Yes…I am a homebody who is happiest when the pulls of life are not tugging at me in all directions outside of my cozy home. A day I do not need to venture out is one of the sweetest, in my book.

Do you have any winter projects you are tackling this winter? I’ll share a few of mine:

1. Cross-stitching a baby sampler
2. Crocheting an afghan
3. Piecing baby’s quilt and making the crib set
4. Reorganizing the kids’ rooms and shuffling some kids around to different beds/rooms
5. Deep cleaning (begins in approximately one month)
6. Planning this year’s garden

That’s about it…but really…that’s more than enough to take me well into spring. As soon as spring is in the air I’ll be totally consumed with everything gardening!

What’s on your winter TO-DO list?

I admit it…I am an unabashed organizational junkie. Nothing fills me with satisfaction faster than restoring order or bringing order to something that needs help. I am forever tinkering and rearranging little and big things in our home…sometimes this drives my poor husband to distraction, but most of the time I think he appreciates it.

Are you looking for new and exciting ways to get organized? Well…the retailers know that many people are thinking along these lines right now and they are rolling out some great deals! What could be better than some coupons to organize from Organize.com?

Save some money and bring some new order to your home.

I work from home and have done so for all of my married life (20 years next month). Over these two decades, my work has varied quite significantly and right now it involves computer work over the internet. The schedule is flexible and it pays well so I am very happy with the opportunities I’ve been able to find to earn an income.

I can’t imagine having to enter the job market as a professional outside the home. Times have changed significantly since I voluntarily removed myself from the job sector. I’d imagine it’s as difficult wading through the pa job listings as it is anywhere in the nation right now. Again…another reason I feel very blessed and fortunate.

I unexpectedly found myself wandering around in the library the other day. After checking out, I walked past the cart where they invariably have a selection of books for sale. Suddenly, my eye caught something and I screeched my brakes to a halt. The entire 15-volume set of 1967 Childcraft Books for sale! $10!!!!! Unbelievable! I thumbed through them and they are in perfect condition…hardly even used!

I hurriedly scooped up my treasure and trotted back to the circulation desk to pay for these beauties before they slipped through my hands. Ah…what a find!

They are now home and my project for the day is finding the perfect home for these – probably right next to our World Book set.

Made my week!

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