a beauty pause moment

Every woman needs a beauty pause - so I'm giving this to you - beauty to pause with and may your feminine soul be refreshed.

a beauty pause moment

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/beauty-pause-moment.html

do you love me? shameless-ly asking

Ok, I know this is a bit shameless, but I have the opportunity to win $250 if my Lylah Blog gets the votes. Why, you ask does this woman want/need $250? Well, I let Ivana take pictures this past Saturday evening of the India dance performances and all of a sudden the whole row heard the CRASH....CRUNCH....and whatever other noices cameras make when they drop on cement.

So, let's just say that I'd really like a new camera so I can take picture of my 5.5 grandkids eating cupcakes and dancing and teaching women how to be a worthy wife and of course our garden that's popping up as I type.


Ivana's little princess fingers planting turnip seeds.

My darling fixer man tried to fix it - but...uh....it's un fixable.

This one would be nice:

So, would you help me out if you love me and vote for me? Thanks. Click the logo here or here.

do you love me? shameless-ly asking

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/do-you-love-me-shameless-ly-asking.html

12 things you can do now and should

Seasonal changes are great times to evaluate what needs to change. I find myself making some great lists that have to do changing things like our garden and our garage but I often neglect some of the more important things that need changing. A year ago I went on a detoxification journey and came up with a list of change: 12 Things You Can Do Now and Should.

1. Read and research. The Detoxify or Die is a fantastic resource.

2. Change what you can change. There wasn't anything we could do about the chemicals emitted from our new carpet, but there was something we could do about our water. Besides only drinking filtered water (Detoxify or Die tells you what are the good kinds) we added a filter to our shower head.

3. Read this plastics list. Get rid of all your bad plastic. If you can't change it out all at once, do it in steps. Watch for sales, but change it out. Check out this site about plastics. Check out this site for other guides. Check out this site to know what plastic to avoid.

4. Read labels. Don't assume you know what's in it. If there are names on the label that you've never heard of - then there's a good chance your body won't know what to do with it our how to digest it.

5. Read my personal testimony of why I'm changing.

6. Nurse your baby. Please nurse your baby. Please get help from older moms to nurse your baby. Read this if you use formula. It's lengthy, but will give a mother something to think about.

7. Change out your cookware to stainless steel. Teflon is toxic. Read this to know more.

8. Change your diet. Most of what we eat is acidic in nature. When our bodies are acidic, they don't repair themselves, breakdown more quickly, decrease ability for the body to detoxify, make us more susceptible to disease. Get understanding why you need to eat foods that are more alkaline rather than acidic and know what foods are what. Check out this food chart to see what you should be eating more of.

9. Detox. Exposure to toxins, creates a heavy burden on our bodies. I've heard it said that "you are what you don't secrete." Toxins build up, they inhibit our ability to absorb nutrients. I'm dealing with that right now. For some reason I'm not absorbing as much calcium as I need to and being in my mid-fifties, that's not good - so I'm finding out why.

10. Find out what's in your pillow. Many pillows are loaded with toxins like brominated flame retardant substance. If you can change it - change it.

11. Change your cleaning products to non-toxins. Read this and read this. Michael and I are going this route for now along with what Lindsay and Stephanie use.

12. Know about fruits and vegetables that are on the dirty list.

I'd love to hear what you're doing to detoxify. Anyone do the colonics? I did and have lived to tell about it. What have you changed and how have you known it's benefited you? This book - Fast Track -- One Day Detox Diet has been beneficial to me.

12 things you can do now and should

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/12-things-you-can-do-now-and-should.html

if i could go back . . .

If there is one thing I could go back and re-do, I'd have bought Sally Fallon's, Nourishing Traditions a lot early than I did.

My younger daughter, Jenni, started using Nourishing Traditions about four years ago. I took a look and bought my own.

Then I started telling other moms, "You've GOT to get this book."

And, they did and it has changed their lives. It's not only a cookbook of sorts but it's an education.

if i could go back . . .

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/if-i-could-go-back.html

ten ways to make money

Since this hit the financial headlines, Lehman Said to Prepare Bankruptcy as Buyers Withdraw, I'm (my hubs too) ways to be a bit more financially savvy. I just ran across Warren's Ten Tips which I'll post here. The original is here.

No. 1: Reinvest Your Profits
When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don't. Instead, reinvest the profits. Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal bought a pinball machine to put in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different shops. When the friends sold the venture, Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks and to start another small business.

No. 2: Be Willing to Be Different
Don't base your decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Buffett began managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not on Wall Street, and he refused to tell his partners where he was putting their money. People predicted that he'd fail, but when he closed his partnership 14 years later, it was worth more than $100 million.

No. 3: Never Suck Your Thumb
Gather in advance any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking "thumb-sucking."

No. 4: Spell Out the Deal Before You Start
Your bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job -- that's when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Buffett learned this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours shoveling until they could barely straighten their frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair less than 90 cents to split.

No. 5: Watch Small Expenses
Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He once acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only the side of his office building that faced the road.

No. 6: Limit What You Borrow
Buffett has never borrowed a significant amount -- not to invest, not for a mortgage. He has gotten many heartrending letters from people who thought their borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice: Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you're debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest.

No. 7: Be Persistent
With tenacity and ingenuity, you can win against a more established competitor. Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator.

No. 8: Know When to Quit
Once, when Buffett was a teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close to nothing. He felt sick -- he had squandered nearly a week's earnings. Buffett never repeated that mistake.

No. 9: Assess the Risks
In 1995, the employer of Buffett's son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst- and best-case scenarios if he stayed with the company. His son quickly realized that the risks of staying far outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day.

No. 10: Know What Success Really Means
Despite his wealth, Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He's adamant about not funding monuments to himself—no Warren Buffett buildings or halls. "When you get to my age, you'll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That's the ultimate test of how you've lived your life."

What are you planning to do in this season of financial uncertainty?

ten ways to make money

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-ways-to-make-money.html

The Simple Home - Create Sanctuary in Your Master Bedroom.

I felt it time to repost (Dec. 07) this Creating Sanctuary in the Master Bedroom. I think it's always good to re-visit the different spaces in our homes as seaons change.

Creating sanctuary in the home is important. I explained my heart about the matter here and in this post I wrote that a well-ordered, uncluttered, clean home is a reflection of a woman's feminine soul. Read the power of the bedroom here.

I believe God intended the home to be a place of comfort and beauty and sanctuary and it doesn't matter how much money a woman has or doesn't have, she can create beauty and sanctuary with what she has, because it all starts with who she is and what's in her heart.

I LOVE my kitchen. It's bright, warm, functional and it says, "family." My kitchen is the hub of our home and it's the place where I create, plan and organize, make the best French Press coffee, spend time with my grand kiddos and their parents, serve our International friends, serve and nurture my husband.

The kitchen is the focal point of a home - life flows into and out of the that space. And, so my kitchen is my starting place to get organized. It's a priority space to create and maintain sanctuary and I think it ought to be the same for other woman too.

The second priority space to create sanctuary, is often the last one where it's created and that's the master bedroom. This space is your personal sanctuary. It's the place where (if you are married) you give your greatest gift, where you relax, you connect, you engage and you bond.

I've had women talk to me about their bedrooms and how neglected they are. I've also had women tell me that their bedrooms had become like an office with a computer or t.v. in them.

For years, I've counseled women to NOT have a t.v. or computer in the bedroom. I have a confession to make. For about a year, Michael and I shared our home with one of our daughters, her hubby and three grandchildren and our master bedroom became my "office." We tried every which way to figure out where else to put my "office" but it seemed as if (for a season) that was the only place it could work.

After they moved to Spain, we shifted things around on the home front and the first shift was moving my "office" to the kitchen. I couldn't believe how peaceful our bedroom returned to being. It was a huge difference in that sense of restoring a calm, peace and rest. It's so imperative to do everything possible to NOT have an "office" in the master bedroom.

The t.v. is another issue in many master bedrooms. Michael and I do have one, but it is a rare occasion (maybe once a year) that we watch t.v. from that room. It's just not turned on. If it is, it's one of the grand kids that want to snuggle up in our big bed and watch a show. During the time our daughter lived with us, we did have Saturday Morning Cartoons with Poppi and Nana in our bed. It was a fun connection with the grand kiddos - but - after we'd had an evening of rest.

How can a t.v. or a computer in the master bedroom impeded creating sanctuary in that room? I'll give you one answer: it creates the wrong focus.

Those two electrical boxes hinder marital communication. Instead of a late night connection with communication, intimacy and bonding, it becomes more important to catch up on the nightly news or answer the last email. It's like inviting strangers into the bedroom when we permit outside influences in the master bedroom.

So, the first step to begin creating sanctuary in your master bedroom is to evaluate what strangers exist in the bedroom. If they are there, is it at all possible for them to go someplace else? (Of course, if you're married, converse with your husband.)

The second step in creating sanctuary in this place is to de-clutter. Get rid of the ironing pile, the ironing board, the pile of magazines and anything else that needs a new place.

Step three involves your closets. Step back and evaluate the use of closet space and how much stuff you have crammed in there. Take note of how clothes are hung and organized. Is there unnecessary stuff in your closet. Are the clothes hung in neat fashion?

A year or so ago, I eliminated piles of unworn, outdated and wrong sized clothes. I thought I needed all that stuff, but with help from my daughters, I found out that I didn't. It was fun to find new homes for anything that I couldn't say was a TEN. If I valued the item as a NINE, it went into the Give Away (Recycle) pile.

Before you do anything else to the master bedroom deal with the closet. If you can't do this alone, get a good girlfriend and go through everything. Place a number value (1 - 10) on what's in your closet (shoes, belts, handbags, scarves, pants, dresses, shirts, skirts, etc.). If you can't say YES! This is a TEN, then get rid of it.

What often prevents us is thinking that we might need/use this article of clothing. . . one day. We think thoughts like: we'll lose the weight or we spent too much money for it. That kind of thinking will prevent us from bring order in this place. You want to eliminate so that you can concentrate and bring order. Get over the guilt and let it go.

After you've eliminated (throw away or recycled) step four is to restructure the closet. I've done three things to restructure our closets: I've replaced all our hangars and I've hung every thing facing the same direction and all clothes are hung by color and item. For example, I have all black tee shirts together, all light colored sweaters together and all black skirts together.

Our closets have a neat and organized look and neat and organized helps Michael and I save time. Everything in the closet should be clean, easy to see, quick to grab and ready to put on. I don't want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I want to wear and what should go with what. I need simple and quick and cute and an organized closet is the key.

Step Five is to take a look around the rest of your room. Read your room. What do you need your bedroom to say? What can you do to make your bedroom a cozy, warm haven?

What's the color of your walls, your bed covering, curtains, etc? Ask yourself if there is something you could do, with little or no money, that would give your bedroom a new look, a different mood or a needed boost . . . to create beauty, rest, a retreat for you and your husband away from the world and life's pressures.

Can you change the color? Color motives, de-stresses, and creates mood and paint is the least expensive way to give your bedroom that new look or needed boost.

Can you add a few big square, colorful pillows to your bed?

Can you add candlelight or fresh flowers?

Do you need to add curtains or new prints for the wall?

Can you purchase a new comforter set?

Is your bedroom too foo-foo so that your husband isn't comfortable? Or if it is, is he OK with that?

Can you rearrange the furniture to create a better flow or feel? Your bed should always be your focal point.

What's on your dresser? Stuff? Clutter? Paperwork? Clothes to put away?

Is your bedding clean? If you're not already into a weekly routine of putting fresh sheets on our bed, let me encourage you to do so. Saturday is my day to do that.

It's Worth It
Your marriage is worth creating sanctuary in the bedroom. If this space needs a new touch, read Hebrews 13:4 and then pray. Pray about how to create sanctuary in this space. Pray for intimate times of communication with your husband. If you're stuck in this area, then let these prayers of mine from my book - Power Prayers for Your Mighty Man be yours:

LORD, You say that the marriage bed is holy and undefiled (Hebrews 13:4). I thank You that this is Your idea. I thank You that You created us to enjoy one another (Song of Solomon 7:6). LORD, You have made my husband a sexual being. You have made me a sexual being.

I pray that You would help me change any wrong thinking I have toward this Celebration of Marriage that is a gift.

Father, grace us to gain an understanding of one anothers distinct physical differences and help us to appreciate these differences rather than be irritated by them.

LORD, help me to completely give myself to my husband and to fully enjoy our times of lovemaking. Help me to release everything from my mind and to enter into our times of lovemaking with one focus-the pleasure of intimacy in this realm of romantic love (Song of Solomon 8:13-14).

Father, bless my husband's sexuality. I pray that he would become strong and healthy. I pray that in this area of our marriage, we will be filled with delight and fulfillment (Proverbs 5: 18 –19).

Father, where trust has been broken and honor dirtied, would you please restore and cleanse. Bring restoration and balance to those things that need restoring and balancing. I know apathy and disinterest can kill intimacy.

Help us fight apathy and show us new ways to nurture our love and protect our intimacy. May we be drawn to each other like those days when love first awoke (Song of Solomon 4:9-10).

Help us to not be so busy that exhaustion and mental ascents rob us of our times of love making (Song of Solomon 5:6).

Help us to never use our sexuality as a tool to manipulate or control. I pray for open and comfortable communication between us regarding our needs and desires. I pray that our minds would be pure toward one another and that we wouldn't use each other but that we'd serve each other. Lust is a destroyer of the beauty of love making. Father, reveal this sin in either of us and show us how to eradicate it permanently. (Proverbs 5:15).

LORD, redeem our sexual desires and make them holy to serve each other. Remind me that "men are like microwaves and women, like crock pots pray that we will learn how to hold one another and capture the moments in the silence. Teach us to listen with our hearts. I pray for attentiveness to feelings and frustrations. LORD, thank You for my own sexuality. Grace me to walk as a woman of grace and femininity.

Father, I pray that our bedroom will always be a place of peace—a sanctuary, a resting-place, a place of holy lovemaking. Help me to find new ways to create a sense of beauty and fragrance in our bedroom. Help me to even be discerning about what and who comes into our bedroom.

LORD of Heaven, commission ministering angels to stand guard at the four corners of our bed during our sleep and our times of celebrating our oneness. May the pleasure of our love be a fragrance before the throne room of heaven. Help me to find ways to be appealing and enticing to my husband. May our times of intimacy be an absolute delight. Remove any distractions from our lives that might inspire temptation to infidelity. I pray for a fresh awareness of this ministry to my husband. AMEN . . .

The Simple Home - Create Sanctuary in Your Master Bedroom.

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2007/12/create-sanctuary-in-your-master-bedroom.html

camera's and grandkids

Call me crazy, but I have given my grand kids my little digital. Yeah, I know, I know, I've taken a risk. Zane, who's five has turned out to have quite the eye. I started a blog with his photos. And, while in Spain Simon (he's eight) took my camera and took some awesome pictures. I'll have to blog them.

I've even given Ivana (she's three) my camera and watched her have fun with it. That is, until last night). We went to ASU's and loved watching our one of our daughters, Sowyma (from India) perform in some traditional Indian dances. Ivana wanted to "take some pictures." So, I handed her my camera and all of a sudden . . . well . . . you guessed it. Crack. On the cement floor.

Yup, call me crazy and call me bummed. It's gone. Nada. Kaput.

So, using my (non manipulative) feminine mystic (it's the good kind I teach young women about) I put on my red shoes this morning and said, "Honey, wanna buy me a new camera for my birthday." {Big grin} I'm centered and on purpose and I am the wind behind his vision, so I can have fun doing this. Any camera ideas?

camera's and grandkids

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/09/cameras-and-grandkids.html