The Moon

"She was devoted to the moon

In it's darkness she found comfort

In its light she found hope"

-her thoughts 36

No matter what the season or how hot or cold it is there is nothing better than laying on a blanket watching the moon.

"Instead of being someones sun, be their moon and light up their most dark of times."

"No matter where we are in the world we are all looking at the same moon"

Even in the most dark of times there will always be moonlight to guide our way home. Never give up! Never give in! There is always a moon there to guide you.

--you are never alone

1-800-273-8255 or text 741741--

WHATS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

I was actually watching a youtube video based on an old-school scary movie and realized that my kids are now old enough to watch the scary movies that I grew up on!

Beware there will be affiliate links so you can see which movies or their book I am talking about!

I was so happy because it takes a lot to scare my kids but also it is a coming of age thing for them as well! 

So whats your favorite scary movie? Do you have that one movie you have to wrap yourself in a blanket to watch? My favorite scary movie by far has been and always will be THE SHINING! Seriously Jack Nicholson coming through the door with the ax saying "Heres Johnny", Is my favorite horror scene of all time.

My first horror book was The Shining and I later picked up the sequel to it Dr. Sleep! (BTW if you have a teen or preteen who likes to read Dr. Sleep is on my no read list as it's not for the preteen crowd.)  Movies based on Steven King's books basically head up my list of scary movies! 

IT, Needful Things, Pet Semetary, The Tommyknockers,

FireStarter, Christine, and Carrie!

The next scary movie series I love is the 

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET!

Who cannot forget hearing the ominous song start ... "One Two Freddy's coming for you!"

I mean these movies are such a hit they brought Freddy back in a new movie in 2010!

Then you all have our Friday The 13th, Jason Movies!

Seriously Jason can't be killed they even rebooted the series in 2009! Camp Crystal Lake we thank you for bringing us Jason and come on everyone Jamie Lee Curtis as Jason's sister in the later movies!

Heck Even Freddy and Jason fight in out the movie

FreddyVsJason

Then lets not forget these awesome solo movies,

Or these scary franchises that started up since the big boys up there took the screen:

The Insidious Franchise

Rings

Winchester

Woman In Black Franchise

The Purge Series

The Haunting Franchise

The Conjuring Franchise

Annabelle

So do you like any of these movies? Which movies scare you? Let me know in the comments below!

MOMS DAY 2018

Happy Mothers Day

To all those amazing, hardworking moms out there I hope your day is full of Love, Great Food, and Family!

CRAFTERS BEWARE

As Of This Post, There Are

230 DAYS

Until Christmas

Now I can hear you "WHY ANGIE WHY!"

Well, I am pointing it out because now because now is the time to get some shopping done on the cheap and you won't have to worry about the crunch later on. For those who know me already know that I am a Christmas fanatic!  From baking cookies to giving gifts. I do have one advantage though I am a professional crafter so making the people I love and care for gifts is not a bad thing for me. I have been known to dig into my own crafting store for the last minute gift for a child's friend or an unexpected event like a baby shower or wedding shower! However if your crafty put your uses to work for you and make yourself some gifts or do what I do now and look for the cheaper deals. That way come Black Friday you can sip your coffee and laugh at the people who are rushing to find the deals you already got months before.

So here are some great ways to save money for the holiday season.
There are some affiliate links to show you examples of what you can get to make your shopping easier.

Are you crafty? Do you have a bunch of younger family members running around? How about making them something super special? I loved when my Grandma would make me gifts. If you crochet or knit and just watch TV at night how about buying some of this yarn and make a few small Linus blankets? Or do you have a teen in your life that has to have one of those new nifty chunky blankets? Just a note on the chunky blankets be aware of where you buy them and if you can make one on your own because some store ones are made poorly and the good quality ones are very expensive. Or do you have that special lady (or guy) in your life who loves scarves?  A nice scarf can run you a pretty penny, however, by making a scarf you can show you care and you can find such pretty colors for the person your making them for.

So what about gifts that you should keep around during the holidays in case someone drops by? Or were you invited to a last-minute Christmas or holiday party? Or is it the last week of school before the holiday break and you forgot to get the teacher a small thank you?  I have a cheap and easy solution for that as well and you can get your craft on for this as well.  Decorate some wooden ornaments first. Use paint, markers or if you want to let your little ones get their crafting on crayons to decorate the ornaments. Add your new masterpieces to a candle wrapped in cellophane! I did this to 40 candles and let me tell you they lasted me 2 years of gift giving. Perfect to keep and easy to store.

What about that foodie in your life? Do they love the kitchen so much you should make them a bed in there? How about making them a personalized apron? Start with a plain apron. Then if you are like me and know a ton of foodies who are in desperate need of having the apron washed after a huge cooking or baking throw down I needlepoint a personalized picture and decorations.

Do you have a budding writer in your family? How about encouraging their creative side with a new journal, pens, and carry bag! You could decorate the carry bag to the personas taste and you become #1 in their book because you did a gift to their taste.

The last idea I have for you today is something I love to do. Do you ever go on sites like Pinterest and see all those cool quotes and saying made as signs? Did you ever think wow that would be so cool because that quote fits mom or dad? Or oh my sister loves the beach she would love that! Well, guess what you can make it as well. All it takes is some canvas paint and a bit of fun. This is by far one of my favorite crafts to do for the holiday season! But you do have to make a few tiny decisions. Which size canvas do you want to make? 11 by 14,  8 by 10, 5 by 7. Then what are you going to use to make the picture Paint or Markers! I normally prefer paint myself, however, I have seen some amazing pictures done by fellow crafters where the artist used markers!

Well, I hope these Christmas crafting ideas helped you all out! I myself am making some blankets right now for select family members for Christmas. As I love to make things for the holiday season I am sure you will see some completed pics later on. Also, I love to share ideas so if you have one you would like to share or if your having a problem with a project message me in the comments below and I will be glad to help out with some advice.

Blessings, Love, and Happiness
To you all,

ANGIE

THE UTTER NEED TO DO SOMETHING

Have you ever woken up with the feel and drive to do something that you have not done happily in a while? This morning for the first time in over a year I woke up with the feeling of want and need to bake. Not because I had to because I could get snacks at the store down the road but because I had the feeling to create and bake. This to me is a huge step in the right direction for me and I am so happy that I woke up feeling this way. Because I feel happy and less anxious than I have been. However, it scares me a bit as well because I do not want to lose this amazing feeling today. My sister-in-law Pam used to joke with me that I should open a food truck and serve nothing but cookies and coffee... To be honest I often contemplated if I could do it. Could I make a passion of mine into a viable business? But for now, I will just be the crazy cookie lady at home!

*note because I am always asked* the top of the cookies are not made with a special tool or anything I use a mini ice cream scoop to measure my cookie dough so that all my cookies come out the same size. When you do as much baking as I do it comes in handy. I have gotten my last 3 off amazon and here is the affiliate link to it HERE. I like it because it's durable and cheap but my kids like to break them in hard as rock icecream or accidentally throw them out! Joys of having teens.

So "Happy" is the word of the day today and happy I will be!  I hope you all have an amazing Sunday with family and friends or just curling up with a good book.

Blessings and Love to you all!
-Angie

PS. I couldn't say I baked and not add the recipe. This recipe is for a double batch of chocolate sugar cookies.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

5 1/2 Cups Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2  teaspoon salt

2  Cups Butter

3 Cups Sugar

2 Eggs

3 Teaspoons Vanilla

5 Tablespoons Chocolate Cocoa Powder 

(Buy it in bulk like I do makes it easier when needing it later also its cheaper this way.)

1/4 cup sugar to roll cookies

Mix all Ingredients together and set aside in fridge 10 min. I always use cooking spray on my pans. Scoop out cookies to the desired size! Cook at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes.  

Ok, everyone, all ovens are different I use a Kenmore gas stove/ovens and my cookies stay in 11 minutes. Electric ovens and convection ovens will take a longer or shorter time. Learn about your oven so you know how well it bakes.

THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A WORK FROM HOME MOM

All Mom's Deserve A Chance To Bloom

Well as most know I lost my brick and mortar job this past January. I have been trying to get my home business and freelancing going but it has had a slight issue. My soon to be ex and my children all believe that since I am at home I have nothing but free time on my hands. This is hardly the case! This morning I already was working online freelancing, then after that was on my porch posting stock to my resell store. This is not including the fact that I have 10 incomplete crafting projects sitting on my desk in my office area that could very easily take 2 hours and they would be done and ready for the online gift shop. What have I done so far today? Laundry, dishes, and cleaning!  I will admit I am happy about the fact that I got the 60 items posted for my store but where does the line between working from home and always home to being a maid form a wall?

The thing is I am not the only mom who has this issue. There are plenty of moms who have been able to find their niche and be stay at home working moms. This gives them the working flexibility of being able to work and still be there for their kids. However, I have had a lot of moms who do this tell me that they feel as if being home gives people the idea that they are free anytime and could do anything they want.Along with all the other moms out, there are trying their best to find the balance between work and home life while being in the home. With my pending single mom status for me, failure is not an option.

Now before anyone complains don't get me wrong moms who work outside the home have to struggle for that home and work balance as well. I was struggling to find it and when I had mentioned it to my previous boss they said I could quit as full-timers are subject to whatever schedule they gave us. For most woman, we are so afraid of not having the job we need to help support our family we sometimes can not fight as much as we like for the home and work balance. Especially in Florida, a company can fire you for whatever they want as its a right to work state.  

So how do you moms maintain the work/life balance? Do you feel like the struggle is hurting your family? Do you feel like I do as if your being taken advantage of wanting to work from home and then have to put up with the attitude of well you just don't do anything while you're at home? I know after this blog post for me personally, I am going to be back on the porch where my merchandise for my resale store is and post a bunch more between laundry loads and dishes. Who knows maybe I will be able to get around the porch sometime this week so I can you know use the porch maybe!

To all the moms who work at home or outside of it my hat is tipped to you today as the struggle is real for all of us. I for one don't plan on failing this challenge.

Blessings to you all,

Angie

MY CAMERA WAS FULL

A quick hey and hello!

Been working and trying to get new stuff out via the blog and everywhere else and discovered I had over 1500 pics/videos on my phone. So I got to work tonight getting it posted, sorted and organized. Below is a link to a bigger video from hiking in Texas! I hope you all will subscribe as I will be posting different travel and picture shows. Not including live streams. Enjoy the video.

-Angie