The Life of Mrs. Miles

12 inches wide!

download

Leap Year on a Monday – well-doing men are.

Leap Year on Tuesday – handsome the men are.

Leap Year on Wednesday – true-hearted the men are.

Leap Year on Thursday – hard-working the men are.

Leap Year on Friday – careful the men are.

Leap Year on Saturday – obliging the men are.

Leap Year on Sunday – all men are good.

Olivia has allowed me to ‘test drive’ her grass from her newest products arriving at the Sophia Sarducci Shoppe this coming Monday, so I’ve made you a spring-y border. If you are a designer or a scrapper, you will definitely want to ‘pick’ a bunch of her fresh flower templates – a whole bouquet of spring for your layouts and projects. I’ll tell you more closer to Monday when they arrive in the shoppe, and perhaps I can even convince Olivia to make you a little something...

And speaking of arriving, welcome to our new Pastor Jim, and Elaine as they make Osoyoos their new home! We hope you enjoy living here and once the wood smoke wears off you will feel right at home.

Our friend Roger took the following photo of the recent lunar eclipse and has given permission for me to share it with you. Thank you Roger – great phototgraphy!

2008 lunar elclipse

Tomorrow is a special day for me. My friend Amy W. (ya, we ALL know and love our Amy) – well Amy is going to sponsor a child from Compassion. This is my last day to blog about Compassion for February, and Amy is my answer to prayer. That someone would be moved to sponsor a child of their own. I’m so eager to find out more about her chosen child and I’ll be praying for her. Thank you Amy for following your heart on this one. It’s going to be wonderful to compare stories – and perhaps we will have todesign a Compassion kit in the future? If you would like to know more about sponsoring a child for yourself, just click HERE.

SUCH a busy time of the year, and now the warring within me begins. To stay within and do my work, or be lured outside by spring in the air. I can SMELL spring in the air – and have been busy carting the blankets and pillows outside for a freshen up. Once in a while I take the clothes out of the closets in handfuls and just hang them outside for a few hours, makes the whole house smell renewed. A small thing I’ve learned though, make sure to SHAKE each item though, because sometimes bugs like to hitchhike in on them too!

Every valley drinks,

Every dell and hollow:

Where the kind rain sinks and sinks,

Green of spring will follow.

Yet a lapse of weeks

Buds will burst their edges,

Strip the wool-coats, glue-coats, streaks,

In the woods and hedges.

Christina Rossetti

I went to ‘the city’ with a friend on Monday, as she had a tooth pulled, poor thing, and while I waited for her I perused all the magazines in the waiting room and purged them of helpful links for you. Enjoy!

Are you a busy person who just never got around to learning the basics of cooking? We built startcooking.com just for you. You'll learn how to make quick and tasty meals, plus learn the basic cooking skills you'll need. Get ready to start cooking! Just click HERE to be taken to Start Cooking – a website which provides free, downloadable videos. Impressive. If you take a moment to fill out their survey, you will also be entered into a contest to win an ipod!

My friend Melanie just pointed out that these video cooking lessons might be a valuable tools for teaching English?

***

Thinness at any cost? It’s really not necessary. Weight loss is not the only way to improve your health: managing your stress better, eating more healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and milk products, walking a little more every day—all of these changes, even in the absence of weight loss, go a long way to improving your health.

Each week, the dieticians and fitness experts share a new pointer to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Check out this weeks theme: Think health rather than thinness. Just click HERE to be transported.

***

For some girls in Southern Africa, getting their period means missing school for several days each month. That's because they don't have access to something many of us take for granted: feminine protection. Helping girls stay in school is critical. An education gives them a future. It helps build better lives - not just for them, but for their families and their communities.

This website will give you more information on what Tampax and Always are doing to help. More importantly, it will show you how you can get involved and truly help make a difference. There's no simple solution to the problems that girls in Southern Africa face. However, there are small steps each of us can take to help change things. Your purchase of Tampax or Always helps us donate $1.4 million through 2008 to the United Nations Association's HERO* campaign.

In 2008, for the first time, Canadians will have the opportunity to apply and potentially join other students as a Hero Youth Ambassador on a trip Summer 2008 to work together with African children living in communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Click HERE to find out how you can get involved.

***

Leverage was developed to reduce the increasing hassles involved with managing gift cards and loyalty and rewards programs, and also to help consumers reduce the retail SPAM and clutter that they have to deal with on a daily basis. Unlike many other services that only do a fraction of what we do, it’s completely free. Creating an account takes less than one minute and gives you access to a wide-range of features.

You can:

Purchase gift cards from top retailers.

Earn interest on gift cards you register with Leverage
(if we are able to check the balance)

Swap gift cards for free

Manage gift card balances, frequent flyer miles and loyalty programs from one computer screen with no downloads needed

Receive targeted offers and savings from retailers based on gift cards you have, as well as your loyalty program and calendar info.

Maintain complete privacy of all personally identifiable information, so your safety is never in doubt.

Leverage is the start of a new relationship between shoppers and businesses that puts you in control. Do your wallet a favor and get organized with Leverage. Click HERE to find out more.

***

Yes, You Can Wear That: How to Wear High Heels, White Pants, Strapless Dresses, and More

Real Simple asked women what items they would love to wear, but never thought they could. To find out how you too, can dress without revealing... just click HERE.

***

I thought this following site was interesting – and timely now that spring is poking its head above the ground (yes, its official for if you visit my friend Becky’s blog you can see her sighting of the first crocus of the year, found right in her own back yard) The following site is the work of a fellow Canadian girl and is a treat for the eye as well as informational.

Click HERE to be taken to You Grow Girl

***

Another gardening site which I read and enjoy is one which is written by a gardener in the north of Saskatchewan and features tomatoes and orchids in winter... yep, if you want to grow year round in those climes one must learn how to grow in-of-doors as well as out. You may even get glimpses of the ‘random lawnmower guy’ if you are fortunate.

Click HERE to be taken to Gardenista's website.

***

And if your tastebuds are hungering for a new recipe website you may want to slip over HERE to the Smitten Kitchen website. With some mouth watering recipes and photos which will have you drooling, this site will keep you riveted to find out what’s next.

Click HERE to be taken to the Smitten Kitchen.

***

And the next website is all about cupcakes – the blog writers Allison, Nichelle and Rachel collect all things cupcake from around the web and compiles them here for our enjoyment.

Click HERE to be taken to Cupcakes Take the Cake

***

If you are a parent, and you like sharing and receiving wisdom from other parents, the following site is something you will find of interest. Who better to give advice than real, ‘hands on’ parents, anyways.

Click HERE to be taken to the Parent Hacks website.

***

On a last note, I've had a few people request I continue on with the 'today in history' feature I used to have on my blog -how do you feel about this?

Lastly, I will leave you with some spiritual fodder to chew on today.

In refusing to be put out and annoyed, you are taking God's hand in yours. And once you feel God's hand, or the hand of anyone that loves good, in yours, let pity take the place of irritation, let silence take the place of a hasty answer.

~ written by Edward Wilson, in his diaries, as he accompanied Captain Scott on his Antarctic expeditions.

Resentment is racing your emotional motor...

it wastes valuable energy and gets you nowhere.

"See to it that no one misses the grace

of God and no bitter root grows up

to cause trouble and defile many."

Hebrews 12:15 NIV