almost 20 ♥

July 31, 2018 Raising up Rubies3 Comments

Marriage is hard work guys. Some people say marriage is easy… it’s just a walk in the park. And I don’t understand that. because what planet are you from? which two people anywhere in this galaxy are perfect? There has to be conflict and lack of communication and unfair expectations in any relationship with two people. Because it’s natural. Because we’re human. Because we’re instinctively selfish and because if there wasn’t, what would be the point of marriage? It’s supposed to be the ultimate picture of how Christ loves us – and without growing and pulling and pressure and heat and heartache how would we grow? How would we learn? How would we be more like Christ? We can’t get there without growth.

Some people say marriage is impossible. And I don’t understand that. because anything is possible *with God*. I know there are exceptions – abuse, infidelity, addiction – but *sometimes* even with & through all those things God will work. He can change. He can make you new. Make your marriage new. He’s applying the heat and molding the clay and stretching you beyond anything you thought you would ever be able to endure. Pain beyond recognition sometimes. All to make your marriage or in some cases maybe just YOU into the ultimate testimony of His dying love for us.

But the enemy hates it.

He’ll tear it down tiny piece by tiny piece if he has to. And if you’ll let him, he’ll slither ever so quietly into the tiniest hair line fracture and take your marriage down from the inside out one thought at a time.

But choice.

Choose not to let him. Choose to fill those gaps ladies. Choose to let Jesus pour out of you and cement those gaps shut with unselfishness. With an open heart. With Mercy. With forgiveness. With time. With priority. With sometimes I don’t want to do this but I’m just going to do it anyways. With a little Victoria’s secret & a few chocolate chip cookies. (cause I’m old fashioned like that) And because deep down ladies, our men just want to be respected. They want to know we’re proud of who they are. They want to know they’re enough for us. Enough at 20 and still enough at 40 50 & 60.

You can’t do it on your own.

God wants us to need Him in our marriages. And sometimes you might have to wait.

Months, years maybe even until heaven, i don’t know…

now i know, not everyone will agree with me and that’s ok. I also understand every relationship is unique and complicated and sometimes for safety or other reasons the end of a marriage is necessary … but as a general rule and because like everything else in life – stuff takes work. It takes time. It takes discipline and it takes choice. And because I’ve never seen a perfect long lasting no effort marriage just fall into anyone’s lap. And I get it… it’ll never be perfect like in the movies we all watch or in the books we read but it will be worth it. Pinky promise.♥️

much love ♥

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bathroom remodel ♥

June 22, 2018 Raising up Rubies6 Comments

hello friends.

i posted a few pictures of our bathroom remodel a while back on Instagram

and i promised i would post in more detail about the project here on the blog,

with some source info & a few before pictures too ♥

(even though i always forget to take those until it’s too late #bloggerprobs)

we moved into this house almost 13 ago after leaving a small starter house that we had lived in for a couple years … when we got here the house had been updated in some ways but in a lot of ways i knew it would take a while before we made this house our home.

over the years we’ve been through every room in the house updating, tweaking, renovating … except for the main bathroom upstairs – it had been one of the last things on the list because we knew it would be a big job as well as a pain to tear apart because it’s the only shower in the house.

my husband & my dad did most of the work installing a new window, shower/tub, vanity, sink & toilet – and we purchased everything right at home depot.

Home Decorators Collection 49 in. W Marble Vanity Top in Arabescato Venato

vanity top source

Home Decorators Collection Thornbriar 48 in. W x 21.52 in. D Vanity Cabinet in Cement

vanity source

the old tub & shower unit was original to the house (almost 40 yrs) and needed to be torn out completely – new drywall had to be installed behind it as well because of water damage

Delta Classic 400 32 in. x 60 in. x 74 in. 3-Piece Direct-to-Stud Alcove Surround in White

shower unit source

Delta Classic 400 60 in. Left-Hand Drain Rectangular Alcove Bathtub in High Gloss White

tub source

all the hardware for the sink & shower was from Home Depot as well

we opted for a separate tub & shower instead of a single unit mainly because we wanted the bigger/deeper tub since my girls love to take bubble baths (and by bubble baths i mean sitting in the tub for an hour reading books & watching 5 minute crafts until i yell time to get out)

(the other day one of them asked me if i would bring a snack up to them cause they were getting hungry….???? um. no.)

the aqua rolling cart was from ikea a few years back, but i think they still carry it and i know i’ve also seen a similar version of it at Michaels as well. i’m using it to store hand towels, washcloths and some shower supplies that are handy to have nearby but not in the shower

(razors, shaving cream, shower comb… you get the idea 🙂

the shower curtian (which i love) was from world market … i purchased it probably three years ago and was holding onto it for when we remodeled. i can’t seem to find it anywhere on the interwebs so i’m thinking it’s been discontinued 😦

i’ve had a lot of questions about the flooring we chose – it was a grayish wood colored waterproof laminate safe for bathrooms, and yes, we went right over the existing tile, added new molding and it worked like a charm. we considered tearing the tile out but it was level and undamaged so we decided against the extra work & mess!

thinking the wall behind the toilet is looking kinda bare

got my eye on this adhesive wall paper from target but we’ll see 🙂

the window in our bathroom was fairly large (not a typical bath size window) so when we replaced it, i knew i would want to keep it open as much as possible since it lets so much natural light into the bath & upstairs hallway – i shopped for weeks to find panels that i liked but they were either room darkening, too long or too short. so when i saw this simple white shower curtain it dawned on me to cut it right up the middle in half and i would have two panels that were the perfect size. i also bought a cloth shower curtain liner (did the same thing by cutting it in half) and hung it behind the white curtain on the same hooks for another layer of privacy (i hemmed the raw edges i cut with stitch witchery and the iron:)

the green clock was on clearance and target & the canvases are from at Home

we have one storage space/closet on the upper lever and it’s in the bathroom behind the door – not ideal but we make it work – it’s an open space with no doors so i try to keep it organized and a bit styled since it’s all out in the open – the metal caddy holds products we use on daily basis and are within easy reach (plus it looks pretty 🙂 the baskets house towels, products, toilet paper, kleenex etc.

the large white framed mirror is from Lowes

i forgot to take a picture of the old vanity and mirror before it was ripped out but it was just an average builders grade bathroom setup, nothing special

i think the previous color was called lettuce leaf green … yikes.

and the dreaded boob light … who’s idea was it to install those lights in every house in america? 🙂

it honestly feel like i’m in a hotel bathroom everytime i go in there ♥ it’s clean lined & simple with a little bit of color here & there – such a huge difference! if i missed anything or if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments, i’ll do my best to answer. 🙂

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Lego figure display frame ♥

February 17, 2018 Raising up Rubies2 Comments

my youngest currently loves minecraft, legos & books – we did a huge overhaul in her room last month really purging and cleaning everything so that we were left with only what she really loved and wanted to keep. i always tell my girls that every inch of their rooms are valuable real estate! i try to equip them with the thought that if it’s taking up space in their space then they should really love it or really use it!

if not – gone!

we were talking about how cute the little lego people were and that just hiding them in one of her bins seemed like a sad thing to do 🙂 a quick look on pinterest (how did we live without pinterest?)

and we found the frame display idea

the frame they used had a solid white back but we went to joanns

and decided to use this clear glass floating frame instead

next all you’ll need is some hot glue, a ruler, tape and some white lego bricks like the ones pictured … we have lots of extra legos from sets that are no longer played with or are outgrown so we were able to take from there, but if you need to buy some i know individual legos of every kind can be purchased at the lego store if you have one nearby

we measured, divided then decided 5 lego people per row was how we wanted to lay it out

we used the ruler (with tape to keep it in place) and a sharpie to mark where the bricks would be

then glued them on near the top of the ruler line so they would be even and straight

there was some trial and error to it … like some of our DC super hero girl legos have feet that are wider than the traditional lego people and their feet hung off the front and back of the brick – so we added a bigger dab of hot glue to raise the brick off the glass a bit for more room which you can kind of see in the picture below

she put them on their pedestals in the order she fancied and we were done 🙂

we had about 20 figurines that she really wanted to display, but if you have more than that they had so many different sizes of these glass frames at joanns you can go bigger! or to use a frame you have on hand just remove the backing and leave the glass in the frame on it’s own.

we installed new shelves above her desk to display the bigger pieces she’s built and made room for some of her favorite books too. let me know if you try this idea! i’d love to hear how it goes.

much love ♥

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2018 daily tracker – free printable

January 7, 2018 Raising up Rubies6 Comments

happy new year everyone!

and the new year means new goals & fresh starts for everyone

so i thought i’d share a little printable i made to keep a visual reminder

of the habits i’m trying to make stick!

every year i tell myself that i’m going to read my bible through by the end of the year and every year i drop the ball somewhere – whether i’m weeks or months in, i somehow lose track and just revert to my usual quiet time of journaling or reading certain passages that are outlined in my current devo…

last year i stumbled onto this daily reading bible at my local christain bookstore

and fell in love with it ♥ the One Year Bible Expressions is on amazon here

it’s different in the fact that it’s sectioned off into 365 daily readings with chapters from the old & new testament, one chapter of psalms & a short passage from proverbs.

it has wide margins for bible journaling and some of the pages have pre-drawn pictures for you to color – if you’re new to bible journaling just do a quick search on pinterest and you’ll be inspired!

most of the pens and pencils i use in my bible are whats pictured here in the post

sometimes plain old colored pencils

or these paper mate jelly roll pens

or these highlighters

or these skinny sharpie artist pens

black skinny sharpies are my go-to everyday pen and the bonus for bible use

is that they don’t bleed through the thin pages

and check out this inside cover!

i started filling it in with colored pencils last year and have yet to finish …

i carved out a dedicated space/desk area in my craft room for all my bible journaling/reading supplies

but i rarely use it … the kitchen table or tucked in bed is usually where i end up 🙂

if you’re trying to start and stick with a new habit this year –

* download this fun daily tracker here *

and color in the days as you go along throughout 2018

whether it’s reading your bible, journaling, exercising or eating healthy remember!

don’t strive for perfection – just strive for progress ♥

if you download & print or share pictures on instagram

be sure to tag me so i can see your progress!

and share some of your goals with me in comments below

i’d love to know what you’re up to in 2018!

much love ♥

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game day chex mix ♥

October 10, 2017 Raising up Rubies3 Comments

With sports season in full swing, we’re at so many games during the week – between field hockey and volleyball – it seems like we’re forever looking for game time munchies to hold us over till we get home to dinner…

My girls & I made this fall snack mix a few weeks ago and it was really good –

we found the recipe here and adapted it just a little bit

we had trouble finding the caramel bugels that the recipe called for

so we used regular ones and doubled the brown sugar topping instead

mix the chex, pretzels & bugels all together in a really big bowl

spread it all out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

mix the melted butter, vanilla, brown sugar & pumpkin pie spice

pour the topping over the dry mix and bake!

add candy after it’s cooled – as much or as little as your heart desires ♥

put your snack mix in a cookie jar, add a cute scoop and enjoy!

we munched on it the whole week and took snack bags full with us to enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate at all the outdoor games 🙂

Enjoy!

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print recipe

Game day chex mix ♥

by Jaime Favor October-9-2017

Ingredients

4 cups Honey Nut Chex cereal
1 bag original flavor Bugels
2 cups pretzels
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut m&m’s
1 cup caramel m&m’s
1 cup candy corn
1 cup candy corn pumpkins

Instructions

1. Combine dry ingredients (cereal, Bugels & pretzels) in a large mixing bowl, set aside.2. In a medium glass measuring cup melt butter in microwave, add brown sugar, vanilla & pumpkin pie spice, stir together.
3. Pour butter mixture over dry mix, stir to coat well.
4. On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper spread mixture out in a single layer
5. Bake at 275 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Let cool completely, sprinkle with candy and store in a pretty glass container on your container – add a measuring cup or scoop for easy snacking 🙂

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 10 cups

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friendship pins

August 31, 2017 Raising up Rubies4 Comments

summer is coming to a close around here and we’re soaking up the last of it

we spent alot of time in the kitchen baking goodies & making crafts this summer

these friendship pins were probably one of our favorite projects

you can make your own with some seed beads and a few different sizes of safety pins

we purchased both at Joanns & Michaels

with a quick search on pinterest, we found a bunch of pin “patterns”

flags, animals and lots of other things!

you can find my “summer” board here where i pinned a bunch of them

it’s a little bit of trial & error, but once you start making them it’s addicting!

my younger daughter ended up finding an empty bead box in my craft room and started to use some of her spending money on more supplies ha!

her box ended up filling up pretty fast and her little fingers were working even faster!

some of the bigger beads were surplus from my supplies (mostly found on etsy)

& she had some of the character charms in her rainbow loom stash.

we found these canvas sneakers at five below for only $5

and she added puff paint polka dots to the front of the sneakers

for the hanging pin designs like the flag one – we found out how to slide the hanging pins through the loop of the main pin – just think of it like a key ring – use a small pliers or even a thumb tack to open up a little bit of space in the ring to get started – once one pin is in the opening it’s easy to slide the rest through

once all the hanging pins are on the opposite side of the closure side you can pin it to anything you want – shoelaces, jacket lapels or backpacks!

she even made some friendship pin earrings! so fun ♥

if my feet were small enough

i’d be borrowing these happy rainbow shoes from my daughter’s closet fo sho 🙂

happy crafting!

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Amish Sugar Cookies

August 1, 2017 Raising up Rubies3 Comments

it’s no secret around here that i loooooove cookies

i mean put a slice a cake in front of me and i’m like no thank you.

donuts are good, but i’m partial (like religiously partial) to Krispy Kreme

and since there’s no KK here in upstate … well then there’s not too much donut consumption happening 😦 but cookies … give me cookies everyday anyday and i’m so happy

like really happy – weirdly happy 🙂

i digress alot

scrolling the insta last week and stopped dead in my tracks for these

there’s so many good things about taste of home so i’m always inclined to try their recipes

and man these did not disappoint! they were so good we made a double batch

and then we made them again

the second time around i realized we were out of cream of tartar – and after a little research on the world wide web i learned that baking powder is a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda (how did we ever live without google?) so i substituted the baking soda and cream of tartar with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and we actually liked that batch better than the first! a very slight difference really but lotsa cookie experts over here at out house so we can tell these things 🙂

these bake up so light and fluffy, they practically melt in your mouth if you eat them after a few minutes out of the oven … two things i always do when baking cookies: 1.use parchment paper ALWAYS. it just makes for better cookie bottoms & 2. use a cookie scoop ALWAYS it makes for perfectly shaped cookies and all uniform in shape & size. both of those items are #gamechangers trust me.

this batch was going in a glass cookie jar from walmart

and over to a friends new house that she just moved in to ♥

cut some ribbon from my stash and wrote home sweet home on a paint swatch

it’s always the simple little things that we have laying around

that make the best unexpected gifts dont you think?

make these cookies guys! i know you will love them as much as we do

much love ♥

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print recipe

Amish Sugar Cookies

by Jaime Favor July-31-2017

(adapted from Taste of Home.com)

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspons baking powder

Instructions

– With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer cream butter, oil and sugars– Add eggs & vanilla mix until blended well– In a separate bowl combine flour & baking powder then gradually add to creamed mixture– Using a 1.5 inch cookie scoop, drop batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets– Bake @ 375 (or @350 with a convection oven) for 8-10 minutes or until bottom edges are golden brown– Let cool for one to two minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Yeilds approx 5 dozen

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 5 dozen

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watermelon caddy teacher gift

July 14, 2017 Raising up Rubies6 Comments

another summer is upon us and as usual i’m feeling nostalgic

i’m not sure if it’s just that my girls are so big now or that it feels like time is slipping away really fast or both, but when summer comes around it always seems bittersweet …anyone else with me? anyways i saw these watermelon caddies at michaels last month and knew i wanted to use them for teacher gifts.

caddy gifts (see here & here for instance) tend to be my go-to thing when i have to come up with gift ideas, i don’t know why except all i can figure is that to get a gift that’s filled with lots of little gifts just sounds like the best thing ever to me 🙂 it’s like the gift that keeps on giving … and it’s organized and compartmentalized #ocdprobs

if you hit that “make” tab up in the navigation bar, you’ll find a bunch of gift ideas

i’ve done over the years and most of them are the same ha!

these two tins were for my youngest daughter’s 5th grade teacher and our bus driver

(we’ve had the same bus driver since the kids started school! we love her so much.

i have her number in my phone on speed dial haha)

i filled it with mostly fun things for summer that i picked up in my shopping travels

sunscreen, candy, notepads, straws and an insulated cup from target

filled it with crystal light packets and put the cup in one of the back sections of the caddy 🙂

threw some tags together in my design program and tied them on, that’s it! fun right?

there are so many gift fillers to be found at the dollar store or in the target dollar spot!

just think outside the box a little 😉

these patriotic pencils were in the target dollar bins and i couldn’t pass them up

there’s just something about the red white & blue during summer time

my daughter plays flute in the school band and wanted to bring a little something extra in for her band teacher – simple ideas for a few dollars make for cute gifts and smiling faces

who doesn’t love to feel appreciated? it’s so easy to go about our day to day without recognizing what so many people do for us or for our kids. don’t underestimate the power of giving guys!

it feels so good to give – and doesn’t have to be material or expensive it can be your time or a particular skill set to lend a favor that can be given as well

i feel like most days out society is so focused on what we can get for ourselves that to teach our kids to put others first has become even more challenging! since it’s become so counter culture – so don’t underestimate the power of giving and involve your kids!

speaking of … when did my kids get so big?

last day of 5th grade right here folks

hard to believe they were this little when i started this blog (sniff sniff)

thanks for following along with me here over the years, you really are loved & appreciated ♥

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little box of sunshine gift idea

May 19, 2017 Raising up Rubies4 Comments

we sent this happy little box to my mother in law for mothers day

and i thought i’d share here with you all in case you’re looking for a fun gift idea that’s easy to put together and is such a surprise to the recipient!

i saw the idea on pinterest and decided to put a box together to send off to North Carolina

and after a trip to target i had a bunch fun stuff …

that happiness book is really cute – there’s some funny things in it

i know this because i was chuckling in the isle at target while i flipped through it 🙂

i put all the little odds and ends in the clear catch all bag

i lined the inside of the box with some bright yellow paper & double sided tape

the brighter the paper the better! you want that box to shine when all the flaps are opened 🙂

the flat rate box from the post office is free! and you can pack it full no matter what the weight

and send it off for a flat rate fee priority mail (2-3 days) for around $15 i think, i can’t remember the exact rate but it’s around there 🙂

the paper i had was 8.5 x 11 and fit perfectly in this small flat rate box leaving only a little gap at the bottom on one side but you won’t be able to see it once you fill it up

a little trimming might be necessary near the top flaps

and i just placed a full sheet on the bottom with no tape

the best part is this clipart that i got here

from my best girl’s etsy shop – simply purchase, download, print and cut!

a little more of the double sided tape to place it where your heart desires and that’s it!

i also printed out the text from microsoft publisher on my PC – cut & taped that to the long flaps

fill you box and send it off!

i know whoever receives it won’t be able to help but be so happy 🙂

the only thing i was missing was yellow basket straw – you know that crinkled paperish stuff that comes in all different colors? filling the space at the top with that would’ve kept the yellow theme going, but i only had white tissue paper on hand, but yellow tissue paper would work too right?

some pictures of us girls on Mother’s Day ♥

that’s my mom – doesn’t she look good?!

hoping i get her slow aging genes 🙂

whatever Mother’s Day means for you i hope it was filled with joy and happines … even if it’s sort of a sad day for you whatever the reason, know that God works all things together for your good! even in the sadness (especially in the sadness) He’s molding & shaping you into who He wants you to be ♥ remember that every heartache and trial you face was first sifted through His hands before it got to you so take comfort in that girls.

much love to you

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layered chocolate brownie trifle

February 19, 2017 Raising up Rubies1 Comment

one of my favorite go-to crowd pleaser desserts is this layered chocolate brownie trifle

my cousin gave me the recipe a long time ago when we were still young and our kids were just babies

thanks cousin 🙂

i’ve made it so many times over the years

it’s always well received and there’s rarely any leftovers

here’s what you need:

2 & 1/2 cups of milk

2 packages of instant chocolate pudding (4 servings size)

1 package brownie mix

1 – 16oz tub of whipped topping

strawberries or raspberries for garnish

bake the brownies as directed on the box the night before

and the day of, all you have to do is assemble … which takes less than 30 minutes

so the next day or whenever the brownies are cool

cut them into one inch squares and set aside

to make the chocolate mousse part

whisk together the milk and both boxes of pudding then fold in half of the whipped topping

use the other half to layer between the mousse and the brownies

layer brownies on the bottom of a trifle dish

then layer half of the chocolate mousse

then half of the remaining whipped topping

then repeat all that once more 🙂

you can also switch the strawberries on top for raspberries, shaved chocolate, heath toffee bits or really anything you can think of

i added this recipe to my project life recipe book using the PL app that you can download right onto your phone for a dollar or two … i use it to document all our family photos and i’ve started organizing my recipes with it as well, i love it!

i hope you try this next time your have to feed a bunch of people dessert!

enjoy ♥