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Friday, November 30, 2012

Gratitude!


These are wild turkey eggs. There are a lot of wild turkeys in our part of Montana. A flock of the them strut around my neck-of-the-woods, (see "Not-so-Wild Turkeys) and there's a flock a mountain over that hang out by my parent's place. That could be partly due to the  grain Dad throws out for them! One of the hens laid these by their house. I saw this picture today and thought about how much we have to be grateful for! Nature is plentiful. 
 

I once heard a quote:
 
If you aren't grateful for what you have, then you aren't likely to be grateful for what you will get.”

How true that is! When we are always dissatisfied and discontent because we don't have the things we want, then we will never “arrive” at satisfaction and contentment, because we will always want more. We become “stuck” there. Working for more is a great ambition. It's human nature to continually strive for better. The key is to be grateful each step of the way, and still keep striving. 

A lot of us are feeling increasing urgency to stock up a little and be more prepared as we hear about growing food shortages. If your resources, space or energy will only allow you to stock up one month's worth of food and other needs, then realize how blessed you are for that! You can know that if a crisis occurs in your life, you have everything you need for an entire month! Perspective is everything.

So instead of feeling stress for all the things you don't have, feel gratitude for all the things you DO have, and each new thing you receive or accomplish! Gratitude creates peace of mind!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Inexpensive Gift Ideas!

Christmas is coming! I love Christmas. I decided it's time to come back to my blog and pick up the fun where I left off. Just too many awesome ideas out there and I want to get in on the sharing! I love giving and receiving homemade gifts more than anything. And since so many of us are on a shoe-string budget, I thought I'd pass on some great ideas that I've come up with and have gotten from other wonderfully creative people also. Here are a few of my favorites...

Cupcaking has become a popular activity. This is a great idea for a cupcaker on your Christmas list. A Cupcake kit!
 Pinned Image

You can find it at a great website called  The 36th Avenue.



These look really simple and fun to make, from the same wonderful website. Paperclip earrings! You could make them a million different ways!




This is a pair of my own that a friend made for me. She added seed beads to a color-wrapped paperclip. The possibility of colors and shapes are endless here!




Here's a great Beefy Bean Soup Mix from delish-dot-com. I love jar recipies. Last Christmas we made soup and homemade cocoa mixes in jars for friends and family.





And don't forget to click on the "Gifts" category to look at my gift ideas with things like
Easy Homemade Soap...









 thereliantself.blogspot.com/2010/01/easy-homemade-soap.html

 Tic Tac Toe games...

















http://thereliantself.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-tic-tac-toe.html
 
Your own shirt designs...





















thereliantself.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-christmas-gift-ideas.html

...and a lot more, like hand dipped candles, painted flower pots, fabric crafts...

And of course, 25 gift ideas to give that will help those you love be more prepared and have greater peace of mind this Christmas!

thereliantself.blogspot.com/2009/12/give-gift-of-preparedness.html