Saturday, January 2, 2010

Make a floral/candy bouquet!

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it, so I wanted to give you an idea for a candy bouquet you can make at home. I've seen some beautiful chocolate bouquet arrangements advertised different places, but the downside of the bouquets is the cost. Using just a dozen chocolate candies in a bouquet with a little bit of greenery and tissue paper can cost you a small fortune-I saw one yesterday on a website that cost over $80!!!! That's 12-TWELVE- pieces of candy!!! Making your own makes it more personal, plus you get to use the colors you prefer, and the candies you like best. And you will most likely save around $60!!!

This is a little bouquet I made up with mini peanut butter cups and mini peppermint patties.

We will be posting more very soon, but this will get your started! You may have so much fun with this, that you want to make one for everyone you can think of--sisters, your female boss, your little brother's new girlfriend, your wonderful mother, or any candy addict you can think of! :)

Friday, January 1, 2010

Just Like Everyone Else

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to 2010!

I'm going do what I've seen other bloggers do in their most recent posts-I'm going to share some of my goals with you!

I have been very excited about 2010, and now that it's here, I'm starting the year off with my goal list in tact! They aren't resolutions-they are goals!

I have a notebook with my personal goals, my spiritual goals, my financial goals, and my family goals. I won't bore you with all the details-just a few!
1. I am going to lose an UN-DISCLOSED amount of weight! I've started this one already, and lost about 8 pounds! And then....well....then the holidays hit, and everyone and their BROTHER was out to sabatage my efforts, practically FORCING all that apple pie and chocolate cookies down my throat! (Just the mention of it makes me shudder all over again!) And so, I'm still down about 4 or 5 pounds. Sigh.
2. I'm going to read 3 books a month. Amelia Bedelia books don't count. I have this CRAZY addiction-filling my bookshelves! And why this is crazy is because, I never get around to reading the books I bring home! So! If I read 3 a month, I should be able to empty the bookshelf by the end of the year, or at least rotate the collection!
3. Dan and I work with the youth, and I want to devote much more of myself to this.
4. I'm going to work diligently on my website. We aren't sure the direction of our future, but I do know that we need to be figuring this out! We aren't starving, and we've been fine, but we have no real income at this point in time, so we need to make plans for our year. Dan's injuries from a fall have caused our lives to have some changes, including his inability to work for the past 8 months.
I do plan to make my website profitable, so it has to be worth visiting! But don't get me wrong-if you'd like to visit http://www.achocolatebouquet.com/, there are no membership fees or any of that-thankfully there are affiliate programs that I've added to my site, and my viewers are not obligated to do any purchasing in order to enjoy my entire site. There are lots of good articles, humorous articles and thoughts, and other things.
I have some additions that I am really excited about adding in the coming week and month, so we're working on that! I gave you a sneak peek at a video, and there are some great things coming up! (If I do humbly say so myself! :D) As you probably can already tell, how-to videos will be added to my site, and let me give you a small heads-up: we want our videos to be remembered, so each one will have a short touch of humor to help viewers remember us!
My website is an online magazine of sorts, but we are going to have our main focus and our videos on 4 main topics:
  1. Chocolate bouquets
  2. Floral bouquets
  3. Decorating on a small budget(Why, yes, I AM the thrift store QUEEN!!!)
  4. Hairstyle how-to's
Of COURSE this is the time my new camera would decide to function abnormally-after I told everyone that I would be uploading videos the first couple of weeks in January! If you watch the videos, you'll see where MY camera blurs in and out, while making a cranking noise all thru video-ing! But thank you, Mama, for lending me yours until I get mine back from repair! My viewers will also thank you, I'm sure! :)
In order to make the most of my time online, and making my blog and website the best I can, I am going to delete my other blogs shortly. When our home burned down, this is the blog I continued to post on, and the others have dwindled, as far as my efforts and posts. I'm adding many of the posts from those blogs to my website, so the content will still be there, just in a different place.
5. I plan to blog 3 times a week. I also plan to write 3 articles a week for ezine articles. (Is there REALLY that much knowledge packed in this graying little head of mine??? I guess we'll see!)
Boy, for someone who is home most days, I'm going to be one WORKING woman!!! But that's fine---it's fun when I see progress! Plus I get to stay in, in the warmth! This girl does not take for granted warmth---when you heat with wood for 10 years, and never could keep the house warm enough, you don't need to learn how to be thankful for a real, forced air heater! Thank you Lord! :)
I'll share one more short clip with you, and then the real ones are coming real soon(to my website)!
Thank you all for your time-I hope you will continue to come visit me! I still have to tell you about Bianca the rat, my children's "rescue" of the barn kitties, and more!
Wishing you all the very best in 2010!!!
Love,
Josanne


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Can You Offer Comfort To A Soul In Need?

The series of photos I am sharing in the blog post have really touched my heart!

With the new year fast approaching(one more full day before 2010!), I just want to encourage everyone to open your hearts, and be willing to reach out to help someone!

There are times when we are all afraid, or feel lonely or alone, or just need someone to comfort us when we are hurting.

The poor little puppy is so afraid-you can see his tail completely tucked-and the cat is perfectly relaxed. This seems like it is possibly from a shelter. The cat makes moves a little closer to the pup, and it appears the pup moves closer to him/her. And when they meet, this poor little fellow hides his face, and the cat allows him to, and just stays there for him.

Lord, help us to be more compassionate this coming year, as we've all probably heard the saying, for each person is fighting a battle.

I've been completely touched by these photos, and I hope you are too. And let us be reminded that everyone can use a friend in 2010!
(Click on picture to get a larger image.)


Having Fun!

I promise you that my blog is not going to turn into a promotion for my website, although I may invite you all over to visit the website every now and then!

But this was too fun, and I wanted to share it with you all!

The below short video is a few bloopers from our first video that we will be uploading to my site in a week or so. We're going to be doing how-to videos for hairstyles, and also how-to videos for bouquets. Can't wait to add them!

But anyway! I hope you enjoy the video, my wheezing, Amber's blabbering at the end, and the interesting "motorized" noise that my NEW camera makes while filming! :(