heart lift.

Do you see the pink blob in the middle of this photo?

That is my heart on a ski lift.

My oldest daughter riding up all by herself for the first time.

I don’t think I took a breath until I saw her skis on firm ground again.

We're doing our part to enjoy winter.

Hope you are too!

ps. In case you have a few or 9 minutes & are in need of a laugh:

Mans Surprising Laugh on The Comedy Barn

sweets.

So last month, before I got sick, before Christmas, before I traversed half of this blessed country I was planning on sharing one of my favorite cookie recipes with you.

This recipe was shared with me by a sweet friend of mine that has a smile that lights up a room.

Smiles & friends are good.

& so are these delicious cookies!

almond sweets

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar  

1/2 cup cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

icing:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 - 4 teaspoons of milk

Mix all together until smooth.

Stir flour, baking powder & salt together.

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla & almond extract on medium.

Add flour mixture.

Drop by teaspoons, 1” apart.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

Let cool & frost.

Add sprinkles for a little sparkle!

If I really had my act together I’d have a photo to share.

Real sorry I don’t have my act together.

I’m sure you understand the feeling.

ps. Happy baking!

a little inspiration.

I have a few things I’m inspired to do this year.

I’m trying to purge/organize in at least one area of my home everyday.

Maybe it’s something that I’ve had on the ‘list’ for months or it could simply be taking care of the days junk mail on the laundry room counter.

Either way it sure feels fabulous when it’s done.

I’m inspired to ask my girls on a weekly basis if there is something they would like to learn more about & then help them to do just that.

This week my oldest, inspired by her American Girl doll, Kit Kittredge, wants to learn more about the Great Depression.

Hooray for toys that encourage children to think & use their imaginations!

& hip hip hooray for public libraries!

By the way, one side trip on our way home from our crazy road trip was to the American Girl store in downtown Chicago on New Year’s Eve.

Oh my lands!

I think we saw more people on one street corner than actually live in our hometown.

It was a fun detour & another great reminder to enjoy the journey.

What are you inspired to do this year?!

I'm hoping more inspiration will come as the year goes along.

ps. In case you were wondering, I did not get a trip to the Rose Bowl from Santa.

I actually watched the game from a hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska.

I know, I cried. 

But TCU won & I'm tickled purple!

Tournament of Roses

happy life.

Hello hello!

Were you starting to wonder where in the world I’d run off to?

I assure you I did not intend to be gone so long!

Let me just say that life happened & it has been a great reminder to me that sometimes life does that.

You’re cruising along & things are so smooth it’s as if you are in Junior High again at the roller rink & then:

the holidays & all the usual fun & busy they bring + planning & packing for a 4462 mile road trip {16 states, 16 days} + filling orders for 18 encouragement totes + getting oh so sick {this was definitely not on the to do list} + setting out on the epic adventure & realizing you have no plan for blogging while on the road & you also forgot the Christmas stockings = an unintentional break from the blog world.

Please forgive me for not giving you a heads up ahead of time.

But that’s just it isn’t it?

Sometimes we don’t get a warning.

& the older I get the more okay I am with there being another plan.

It has actually freed me up from my tendency to over plan.

I am much more flexible than I used to be, at least on the inside. :)

So it’s good to be here again & thanks for coming back!

ps. 

orangeyoulucky

the sweet smell of roses.

I recently wrote a letter to Santa.

It went a little like this.

Dear Santa,

Two tickets to the Rose Bowl please.

Thanks, kindest regards & a whole lot of TCU purple Christmas cheer!

Clare Elise Butler

You see the most amazing, crazy, once in a lifetime thing has happened.

In case you haven’t heard, the TCU Horned Frogs will be playing in the Rose Bowl.

I told you it was crazy.

I grew up across the street from TCU & also graduated from there.

While I attended TCU the football program wasn’t anywhere near this spectacular.

We were happy & every now & then a bit surprised if we actually won.

If I had been told that the Horned Frogs would play in the 2011 Rose Bowl, in true Flo fashion, I would have thought ‘When donkeys fly!’

I never really had high expectations when it came to school sports seeing as how I was a cheerleader in high school {farther away from home than college by the way} & the football team won once my freshman year & twice my senior year {one of those games, the score was 2-0 but you would have thought we’d won the Super Bowl}.

During my years at TCU I attended almost every home game & had the privilege of sitting with my dad in our reserved seats in the upper deck.

Fond memories.

Now I’m hoping Santa will come through & help me make some memories at the granddaddy of them all in Pasadena, California on January 1^st.

Talk about some sparkle under the Christmas tree!

ps. I’m glad I have those memories because this is what happened to those seats this past Sunday morning.

TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium Farewell

heart full of gratitude.

Gratitude... goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.

. Henri Nouwen .

ps. It has been so good to be thankful with you this month!

oh my...

sparkle UGGs!

UGG Australia

ps. & how about this for a little sparkle in London's Heathrow airport?

http://www.tvkim.com/watch/553/kims-picks-a-homecoming-to-remember

More moments in life like this please!