Friends Bring Joy | Family Brings Joy

Book Club Mermaid Style

May 4, 2016 By Shan 2 Comments

Book club where I live is kind of a big deal. Each month it’s hosted at a book club member’s home. The majority of the time, hostesses will decorate according to the book we will be discussing. It’s not mandatory, we just have a lot of creative homemakers in our group. I was excited to host last month. Not only was I able to host, but we read a fantasy book I suggested Fire of the Sea. This is an extra special book as it was written by a dear friend of mine, Lyndsay Johnson. The main character, Aeva, is a mermaid.

Let me take you on a tour through our home.

Imagine you are swimming the seas around Iceland.

Do you hear the ocean sounds?

Do you smell the ocean breeze?

Good. (Door mat from Target)

Here, I took an old grapevine wreath I’ve used countless times and added some fishing net (Michaels.) I gently placed the sign (Hobby Lobby) inside the branches. No need to hot glue.

Come on in!

Everything you see here, I already had. I heart coastal decor, so truly I didn’t buy too much decor for this event. I typed up one of my favorite quotes from the book, printed it and put it in a frame. Lyndsay sent me some of her graphic work for the book. I printed it and framed it as well.

Above, I added more of the book graphics onto this framed chicken wire (Michaels.) The map shows where Aeva’s adventures occur. The second graphic the family history tree of the Norse Gods. I put Lyndsay’s very cute bookmarks and buttons in this cute fish dish (Target.) I made the glass filled sand and shells several years ago.

Here in the dining room I used wrapping paper (Michaels) as my base runner. I then added a fish net (Dollar Tree,) shells (Dollar Tree) and sea glass (Michaels.)

I filled the sugar mold (found at a vintage show) with blue glass beads (Dollar Tree.)

Have to show my china cabinet filled with my lovely Chloe + Isabel jewelry. It’s in there left over from a Pop Up I held in my home.

Let’s head to the kitchen

Lobster dish towels & mermaid found at Marshall’s.

Found these awesome plates also at Marshall’s.

I bought some Scandinavian cookies & Swedish Fish from Ikea…as close to Iceland as I could get. Blue icing cupcakes were bought at Market Street.

On the lunch menu was clam chowder in bread bowls. Of course we needed some oyster crackers to go in our soup. Shrimp was the perfect appetizer.

To drink I served ocean water: Lemonade, Gingerale and Blue Hawiian Punch. We all liked it.

At the kitchen table I also used the wrapping paper, fish net and glass beads. I added one of our Conch shells to the middle.

Inside the Conch shell held some of the runes spoken of in the book. (Lyndsay let me borrow those.)

Below are the first three beautiful women to arrive.

Now come into my living room.

Usually the boat is in our bedroom (bought it several years ago from Hobby Lobby.) I already had the old window and type drawer (bought at an antique barn several years ago.)

I found these letter tags at Michaels for 50% off and couldn’t refuse.

I was thrilled to find this beautiful mermaid statue at Hobby Lobby. I used my 40% off coupon from the Hobby Lobby app. (You need that app on your phone if you shop at Hobby Lobby a lot.) Again I typed & printed a quote from the book. I added it to this cute frame (Michael’s.)

Again, I pulled that jar of green shells out of my bedroom and added Aeva’s arm band Lyndsay loaned me. I fell in love with those big, block “scrabble” letters (Michael’s.)

Many of the shells I added to this type face drawer are ones we have collected at beaches we have been to over the years. I will keep this up all summer long. Lyndsay had the brilliant idea to add sea glass (Michael’s) as well. I love the contrast, depth and color it brings to the piece.

Of course I had to show Lyndsay’s book trailer video too. I shall share it with you now.

Books Bring Joy,

The Healthiest Bandwagon

November 24, 2014 By Shan 1 Comment

Who else has seen these little bottles in photos on all of your social media? I did. At first I was skeptical. “Just another multi-level marketing, ” I said to myself. So I basically ignored them for a while. However, I began reading the captions to these photos and became intrigued and curious. It wasn’t until I noticed one of my college sorority sisters (Alpha Phi baby!) talking about them on Facebook…I had to ask her, “What’s this all about?”

She & I met at a bakery which was a half way point for both of us (about a 30 minute trip for each.) Oh how I love living in Texas again! I am so close to all my friends I grew up with…close to family too! 😉 Back to my story…after catching up with my long lost friend, she began to share her experience with Young Living Essential Oils. She truly happened upon them and began using them long before she began selling them. She didn’t even have any desire to sell them, yet once she told her friends of how they were helping her family, they wanted to begin using them. The business became natural for her. This always happens when you are passionate about a product. If you love a product, you naturally want to talk about it.

All of the oil stories she shared were inspiring, but I think what sold me the most was how they helped her husband with seasonal allergies. Her husband was taking 2 to 3 different medicines for seasonal allergies all year long and now he doesn’t take ANY! “What?!” “Really?!” I haven’t been taking 2 to 3 medicines for allergies, but I have been taking one. I used to only take it during high allergy season, but for the past couple of years I’ve been taking it year round. I found if I didn’t, I would invariably get at least 2 sinus infections a year. I also hate taking more medications. I already take 2 for my ADD and depression. My sensitive body doesn’t react well to so much medication. Anyway, she told me all you do is rub one drop of Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint oils to the bottoms of your feet every night before you go to bed. I thought to myself, “that’s all?! I can do that!” I’m here to tell you it works!

Let me share what else has worked for me. Pan Away is a blend of oils. I use it when I feel a headache coming on. All I do is rub one drop of it on my forehead and temples…within a minute it is gone! It was weird, at first, to not break out my bottle of Advil Liqui-Gels, which has been my best friend for aches and pains. Pan Away has been wonderful for cramps during that time of the month as well.

Currently, I am diffusing the oils you see in the first picture above: Lemon, Sacred Frankincense, Lavender, Valor, and Joy. This blend of oils is a recipe to help with depression. Who knows, I might not have to keep taking my anti-depressant. We shall see. I will keep you posted.

Some of you might be wondering…”What are essential oils?” Here is the definition Young Living gives:

Most of us have experienced the incredible power of essential oils without even realizing it. From the energizing aroma of a freshly squeezed lemon to the calming influence of a lavender bouquet, essential oils are all around us. These concentrated, natural, aromatic liquids are extracted from shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds. Plants depend on essential oils to grow, evolve, and adapt to their surroundings. They also play an important role in defending against insects, disease, and harsh chemical environmental conditions. Pure, unadulterated essential oils have many potential benefits and are used daily to enhance the lives of millions.

There are three ways you can use essential oils: inhalation, topical application and internal consumption. So far, I have used the first two methods the most. My starter kit came with a diffuser. I use it EVERY DAY. This is the lotus flower object you see behind the oils in the first picture. You can see the mist coming out of the top of it. This diffuser has become a permanent place in my kitchen. Eventually, I plan to have one in each room. I have already depleted my bottle of Stress Away. (moving is stressful) I just ordered a roll on version of it, can’t wait to get that in the mail. I know it works! I feel less stressed when I have it diffusing in my home.

Needless to say, I’m a believer. Instead of sharing all my oil experiences here in this one post, I plan on writing a post each week about an essential oil. I will share how I have used it and how it has helped our family.

I completely recommend Young Living Essential Oils. My friend suggested I sign up as a wholesale distributor, so I could take advantage of the 24% off retail pricing. I’m very glad she did because essential oils are not inexpensive. However, I would much rather spend my money on oils than medicine. Depending on what medicines you are using, essential oils are LESS expensive than medicine. I feel better than I have in a long time.

You can also sign up as a Young Living Essential Oil Independent Distributor to receive the wholesale benefits. You DO NOT have to sell, but if you find yourself sharing and people wanting to know more, why not be compensated for it? YOU & I are their advertising. And believe me, word of mouth is the BEST form of advertising. You are welcome to pay full retail prices if you want. If you are like me, see the value instantly and want to be on your way to feeling good, I will walk you through the process of signing up.

1. Go to www.youngliving.org/fbj44 or click here to be directed there. The following page will appear:

screen shot

2. Then click on the tab on the left “Sign Up Here”

screen shot

3. The Sign Up Page will look like the following:

screen shot

4. (Scroll down) Now you will begin the process by filling out the form:

screen shot

5. (Scroll down again) Put the username, password and pin in a safe place to refer back to later. You will need it when you want to reorder.

screen shot

6. Scroll down to choose your kit!

screen shot

I purchased the first Premium Starter Kit because you receive more for your money. It is a $299 value for only $150 plus resources and a lifetime membership.

screen shot

7. The next item after scrolling down is the option of signing up for Essential Rewards. This is completely optional. I didn’t sign up for this when I began. I wanted to make sure I liked the oils before signing up for the essential rewards. You can do that also…make sure you are satisfied using them before committing to a shipment every month. I’m pretty sure you will or I wouldn’t be writing this post. 😉

screen shot

8. The last item is adding your credit card information and voila…you are signed up! Your kit will be delivered to your door within a couple of weeks (at the most,) depending on where you live.

Let me know if you have any questions. If you are already using Young Living oils, what are your favorites?

Oils bring joy,

Filed Under: Friends Bring Joy, Oils Bring Joy, Photography Brings Joy

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

June 26, 2014 By Shan Leave a Comment

Just a few weeks ago, we were blessed with the opportunity to host 2 young men (high school) in our home from Canada. The Canadian’s came to play a 5 day long baseball tournament against 8 other state teams: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. It’s kind of crazy they come to our little remote town in the middle of no where Oklahoma. But they do, and it’s a BIG DEAL. {College scouts come from all over} Anyway, what’s even more insane is that 200 of these baseball players stay in homes of families in the community. I believe that most families house 2 boys, but there are some families who had up to 5 in their home. Over the 7 years we have lived here, I’ve heard heartwarming stories about this tournament…really the experience of hosting the players. Now we know why.

Above is one of our boys {yes, we host families used that term} we hosted at bat. {For privacy’s sake we will call him #17} I love this photo because it also has the whole team and coaches in the background too. Below, 17 is running from second to third.

Above 17 makes it to home plate. I love how my camera captured him looking as though he is on his toes. 17 played designated hitter about half of the time while the other half he played outfield. Now let me introduce our next boy, #21. He is one of the pitchers on the team and stands at 6’4″. He is TALL! And he can pitch a fast ball.

I swear it looks like he almost does the splits when he throws the ball.

There was a digital display of the speeds for all the pitches thrown and below shows the speed of one of 21’s pitches. I know he threw some faster ones, but this is what it was when I decided to take a photo of his speed.

In the above photo you can see how tall 21 is compared to the rest of the team. Below is both the boys after a win!

One night we had a team swim party and they still played baseball…{that’s 17 with the bat}

Below – Us host moms took a photo together. We had fun talking about ‘our boys.’ All of us host families got to know each other. It’s like we were a big extended family. We sat together at all the games…cheered for our boys. We all had great experiences with our baseball players. It was fun learning more about the Canadian culture. There is NO TELLING what they said about our southern accents. Best of all is how quickly they were able to integrate into our families. My son loved having ‘brothers’ for the week. All of the kids enjoyed having older ‘brothers.’ The other moms talked about how they would play with their kids and help out around the house. They were true gentlemen with gracious manners.

Below 17 plays catch with my daughter. Isn’t that sweet?

I caught a quick shot of the boys in the back yard before they started their outdoor adventures.

On the next to the last night of the tournament they announced all of the players and their host families. We walked on the field. (below)

After, we took a big photo of the team with all the families. (below)

Believe it or not, the last photo was before they boarded the bus to go to the airport. I’m glad I wasn’t in the photo because it was sad for me to say goodbye to these 2 young men. We ate meals together, I helped them with their laundry, drove them to their games…basically did all the things mom’s do for their own kids. What can I say, I’m a softy. I’m so glad we had this experience before we move back to Texas. I hope to keep in touch with them and know they have a bright future playing baseball at a college here in America. By the way, in case you are wondering how Team Canada did in the tournament…they won 2 out of 9 games. However, they beat their record from last year where they lost every game. You have to understand, baseball is not a popular sport in Canada. As a matter of fact, they don’t have high school or college baseball in Canada. These 2 boys come from a private club team. So the Canadians have a little disadvantage competing against southern boys who have probably played baseball since they were tiny. #17 has only been playing baseball for a couple of years. Personally, {& yes, I’m proud to say I’m biased} I thought they did great! I was very impressed with the team and their coaches. I was worried they might be in bad moods after losing games, but they never were. They were happy to be here and happy to be playing the game. For us Team Canada families, they are number one.

Baseball brings joy,

Filed Under: Friends Bring Joy, Home Brings Joy, MY Family Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy, Values Bring Joy

Vintage Bridal Shower Part Two

April 16, 2014 By Shan 4 Comments

Welcome back to the vintage themed bridal shower I helped host for my dear friend, Tandy.

Today I will feature all the goodies we served. My other two sweet hostesses were the amazing chefs who made and prepared the food for the shower. It was a good way to divide the tasks. I was in charge of the invitations (which I will be sharing with you in a future post) and the decorations.

My Happy Helper

I must mention how grateful I am for my sweet 10 year old daughter who helped me clean the house before the party. She mopped the kitchen, breakfast area, mudroom, laundry room, and 2 bathrooms for me. I was so thankful for her being a happy helper.

The gorgeous book to the left is Tandy’s Instant Photo Book. I asked her to bring it so we could have it out as decoration. The book will soon be filled with photos from her beautiful wedding day. I remember her telling me she bought it from a store on ETSY. I have a feeling I will need to get the name of the shop…you want to know don’t you?

On to the treats!

I was so excited to use the china my parents gave me along with platters and pretty formal serving pieces. Don’t you just love the milk glass cake stand my Oma gave me? I adore the holes for ribbon. Not sure if the holes were intended for ribbon to be weaved through them or not, but I sure love dressing it up that way. The cake almost didn’t make it. The bottom tier was made with fresh strawberries while the top tier was made with fresh pineapple. It was nice and moist (extremely delicious) which made it slide around during transit. We were happy (and relieved) the cake made it here whole and together.

The above chocolate dipped cones with fruit were a huge hit! Brenda, one of the hostesses, is an art teacher (she was my oldest daughter’s art teacher.) I’m thinking her skills came in handy, don’t you think?

Tandy’s mom, Carri, the other hostess, made fresh whipped cream for the fruit. (above photo) {I added the chalkboard tag ;)}

Look at how Brenda arranged the veggies above. She hollowed out pieces of bread and carefully arranged the vegetables. They are like little vases of colorful flowers. I’m extremely impressed with her masterpiece below. It’s practically a work of Van Gogh how she arranged the cheese and grapes with celery.

Carri made the yummy spinach dip above and served it in a bread bowl. {excuse the way the spoon is sticking out…my bad}

At the last minute I decided to order some French macaroons. I’ve seen them served at showers on Pinterest. We found a French bakery in Tulsa. These little pastries made me gain 5 pounds! {Well, those and all the leftover cake left at my house.} The macaroons are colorful, pretty and delicious bites from heaven. Oh and a little warning…the blue ones made our teeth blue…so don’t look too closely at our teeth in pics.

We also served sausage meatballs (thanks to Tandy’s Dad,) pinwheels (cream cheese & veggie concoction rolled up in tortilla) {bummed I didn’t get a pic of those}, salsa, crackers and veggie chips. Carri made yummy raspberry lemonade to drink with all our treats.

Carri & Brenda looking at Instant Photo Book

One of our creative friends made this for Tandy

Carri & Tandy

Isn’t she a beautiful bride to be?

What a wonderful celebration of LOVE! Thanks for coming by. 😀 Please come back again. Follow Family Brings Joy on your favorite social media sites. You can find me via the icons at the top right of the page for Facebook & Twitter. My Pinterest and Instagram are also on the sidebar to the left. As always, I thoroughly enjoy ALL comments. Comments are a bloggers nourishment. They help us keep writing and creating great content.

Showers bring joy,

Filed Under: Friends Bring Joy, Home Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy

Vintage Bridal Shower Part One

April 15, 2014 By Shan 7 Comments

Between the blasted heartbleed virus, busy life and editing pictures I’m a little late in posting this. I apologize. As a matter of fact, I’m still weeding through which photos I want to share. I’m down to 42 out of almost 200 photos taken. Instead of weeding through them again, (and postponing another day) I decided I would split them up. This post will be the decorations, while tomorrow’s post will be the food table.

You will find I was able to make most of my decorations…

Welcome to my friend’s Vintage Bridal Shower (hosted in our home.)

The shower sign you see used to be a shelf in one of my kid’s bedrooms. I shopped in my attic and found the wood board calling my name, “use me!” I sanded it a bit and used the chalkboard spray paint to paint one side. I have to confess I don’t draw letters this pretty. I used my Cricut to make the letters and traced them with chalk. I liked the idea of using the board as a sign on my front porch. I can erase the chalk after the shower and write another word for whatever occasion I want.

Front door wreath:

This wreath was made from a pool noodle. I recycled a soft old blanket that had a whole in it by cutting it up in strips and hot gluing them on the noodle. I made the blue flower with the blanket and hot glued the buttons on to the center. I made the pinwheel out of kraft paper. The wood fan in the background is one of the party favors we gave the guests.

Come on in to the foyer.

I finally painted the heirloom desk given to me by my Oma. I used my favorite paint, Annie Sloan Chalk paint in old white. The shower helped motivate me to breathe new life into this desk. I temporarily (for the shower) placed it in the foyer to use as a welcome table. I made the ticket garland by sewing the tickets together. I hot glued one of the girls old locker chandeliers which was sitting in my garage to the top of the old suitcase. The veil was mine. Tandy’s mom was one of the shower hostesses and she brought Tandy’s card box she plans to use at the wedding as well as their engagement photo.

To the right of the foyer is the dining room.

I made this heart garland with my paper heart punch. Placed 2 hearts together and sewed them together one after another. I used scrapbook paper with her colors of coral, turquoise, cream and browns intermixed with (actual) map and music paper for a vintage feel. When it’s finished you fold back the hearts to give it dimension and voila! I think this was my favorite garland I made. I bunched several paper poms together to make a sort of pom bouquet to hang down from the ceiling.

In the foyer to the left you see:

I made the below garlands. Sewed circles together for the top. The bottom pom garland was made from tulle and tied onto cord.

Both of the above garlands were hanging in the foyer and you saw them as soon as you walked in.

Living Room:

I shopped from home for most of what you see here on this mantel. If you’ve been reading for a while you will recognize many of the items. I did find the coral candle holder and vase at my favorite local discount store Walls. The Precious Moments couple was on my wedding cake. I added some scrabble tiles spelling the bride and grooms names onto the old type setting drawer. I have a close up of their names on Instagram (@familybringsjoy) I found the blue hanging pails at Hobby Lobby. The white flower bouquet is also from Hobby Lobby. I forgot what the live pink flowers are called in the other blue pail. I bought the burlap bunting at Hobby Lobby, but I cut out the big letters using my Cricut and the small letters using my QuicKutz.

WARNING: The following garland might shock you:

The panty garland was hung in between the living room and kitchen. I thought it was a cute idea and added some great conversation to the shower. Tandy was happy to take the pretty undies with her.

In between the living room and breakfast room:

I kind of went crazy making the circle garland, but I think it added a special touch.

Me with the beautiful Bride to be:

I had so much fun crafting all the decorations for Tandy’s bridal shower. Feel free to pin away and share this post with everyone. I hope this shower will inspire many more for future celebrations. Thank you for joining us! If you have a question, please email me or ask in the comment section of this post. Only 11 more days until the wedding Tandy! Come back tomorrow for all of the food we shared. 😀

Celebrating with friends brings joy,

Filed Under: Crafts Bring Joy, Friends Bring Joy, Home Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy

Monday Brings Mermaids

March 31, 2014 By Shan Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a good book to read?

Do you like fantasy as much as I do?

Or maybe you want to change genres to spice things up a bit for your leisure reading?

Well, then I have just the book for you! It is called Fire of the Sea and it was written by one of my very special friends, Lyndsay Johnson. Her book is being released TODAY! I’m about to buy my copy. Lyndsay sent me the first chapter to review last June and it is already published! The fact it went through the editing and publishing process so quickly proves it to be a winner to me! Besides, who doesn’t like mermaids and romance? The following is the synopsis you will find on Amazon.

Sharp, sleek, and golden. Like the dagger she has worn since childhood, eighteen-year-old Aeva is all three of these things. But there is something else that this mermaid and her prized weapon share – they are both hunted. Hidden within the caves off Iceland’s dark shore, Aeva waits to take her place as the next ruler of the Mermaids. But when Aeva uses her potent and alluring song to save a drowning human, she disrupts a delicate balance. Realizing she has unexpectedly bound herself to Gunnar, Aeva is torn between duty and love. Aeva severs one life to begin another, and soon finds herself not only rejected by the sea, but also stalked by an old enemy. As the worlds of myth and man intertwine, Aeva will challenge fate to protect her own sacred relic and the man she loves. But legend and lies cast an intricate net. With time and safety quickly unraveling for Aeva and Gunnar, there is only one clear course: Find and defeat Delphine before she can shift again.

Lyndsay also has THE BEST book trailer video I have ever seen:

Fire of the Sea by Lyndsay Johnson (Book Trailer) from Lyndsay Johnson on Vimeo.

Get your copy today by clicking the link below.

After I order my copy I will be taking my Son, the middle child, to get his driving permit. Yikes! Oh the grey hairs having 2 children driving will produce. Wish me luck and PRAY HARD. 😉

Books Bring Joy,

Filed Under: Friends Bring Joy, Photography Brings Joy, Reading Brings Joy

Book Club Mermaid Style

Take Me Out To The Ballgame