Girls Camp Service Project

I went to a girls camp with 300 girls. A couple of ladies and myself were in charge of a service project that the girls would do. Here is what we came up with and what we did. We decided to have the girls write letters to the soldiers. We decorated the room very patriotic. This picture is one of the walls. The other walls were covered with patriotic scrapbook pages and flags hung on clotheslines. It looked amazingly good. When each group of girls came in I had patriotic music playing. I gave them an inspirational message about how blessed we are to live in America and what sacrifices the soldiers make to keep us free.

We showed them how to make this homemade card. They picked 3 quote cards to put in their letter and then wrote the letter. The quote cards were really up beat inspiring quotes that a soldier would like.
I read many of the letters the girls wrote. Each one of the cards I read made me tear up. The girls really got it. One of the girls said that this was the best thing she had ever done in camp in 6 years. WOW, that is amazing!



These are the songs that I had playing. I think this made a huge difference in the feeling that was in the room.
1- America the Beautiful - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
2 - God Bless the USA - Lee Greenwood
3 - God Bless America - Celine Dion
4 - American Soldier - Toby Keith
5 - Letters From Home - John Michael Montgomery
6 - You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
7 - Battle Hymn of the Republic - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
8- Hero- Mariah Carey
9 - There's A Hero - Billy Gilman
10 - Arlington - Trace Adkins
11 - Homeward Bound- Allyse Smith

"If I Were Brave" by Jana Stanfield

I just bought this song off of Itunes. I liked it so much I found a youtube video for you to enjoy too:) Have a SPECTACULAR day!!!

Are you familiar with her? I had never heard of her until last week. Is there any other songs you recommend?

Easy Way to Help the Homeless

How many times have you pulled up at an intersection and seen a homeless person with a sign and didn't know what to do? My daughter and her in-laws had a family gathering. Each brought items that a homeless person might enjoy. They created bags to put in their car to pass out when they saw people in need. The bags had a water bottle, 2 granola bars, a pkg of crackers, Cambells Soup to Go or a pkg of tuna and crackers, small cup of applesauce, and a Ramen cup of noodles. She said they calculated it up and it came to about $3.00 a bag.
I thought it was a GREAT idea. Thanks Jade:)

Daring to Be Yourself

What do you think about the new blog design? I think Daphne at Parasol Designs did a great job. It is me to a T. I hope the women who aren't girly girls can still read my posts through all the pinky frou-frou (definition-Fussy, Ostentatious ornamentation) I am writing this blog as a way for others to get to know me and at the same time get to know myself.
I am in the business of coaching women to be their best. I feel that the more we get to know our true selves and live into it, the happier we can become.
Years ago I read a book, Daring to Be Yourself by Alexandra Stoddard. My eyes were opened to the choices we make everyday. What kind of pen do I write with? If someone were to see it, would they say, "Oh that must be Carla's pen it looks just like her?" When someone comes into my home does it show my personality or is it just what is in style right now? If you are someone like me that loves certain colors do you have them splashed here and there throughout your home or are you letting trends dictate the colors? After reading her book I decided that I would look inside myself and ask what is my style? What colors do I like? What kind of furniture, cars, food, designs, flowers etc. do I like? When I have to buy something like a pen, which one is the perfect "me" pen, not just any pen. When we start appreciating our unique likes and dislikes and start having things around us that reflect our uniqueness, we start feeling happier. When we can love ourselves for who we are, life becomes more full.
Too many women are chameleons. They wear what others wear, do their hair the same, decorate the same. No wonder so many women lose themselves and start wondering who they are. They are loosing themselves to the groups likes and dislikes. It is riskier to do your own thing, but by doing it, it helps you find and appreciate yourself more.
I know my blog is not very business like. If I were to go to other coaches blogs they would look VERY different than mine. My motto for myself is I've gotta be me. I have found joy in finding myself. I could look like other coaches with a business looking blog but then I wouldn't be practicing what I preach. I believe there is only one me and only one you. If I am not going to be me, then who will?

Sometimes I wake up grumpy...............Other times I just let him sleep:)

I saw this in a gift shop and thought it was worth a blog post.

Organizing Papers

My husband is not one of those naturally organized people. I have helped him organize things and helped him create systems for his papers. We start businesses and sell them. That means we are buying properties, fixing them up, hiring, and running one business while we are, selling and finishing up another business. Long story short HE had piles and piles of papers. I say he because a few years ago I started working on my own career instead of being a partner with him. His papers had become soo overwhelming he wasn’t able to touch them. I offered for months to do them together but he wouldn’t do it. Finally because we needed to get things to the accountant, I began.
As I was putting like items together, and labeling file folders, I started handing him little stacks of papers that only he knew about. I worked on the rest for 12 hours straight. The problem was he had active papers and inactive papers together. This actually made him think all the stacks were things he needed to do, when in reality some of the items were old and just needed to be stored away. I put all the items that he rarely needs in a filing cabinet, (travel, keepsakes, cycling, laptop phone, properties, church, titles). And boxed all the items dated before 2006 and put them in the basement. We whittled the stacks down to one plastic container with files in it. I cannot tell you the difference in his demeanor from morning till the evening. The quantity of papers he was shuffling through was really weighing him down. I feel guilty that I didn’t help him sooner. I felt like if he wanted to do it with me I would, BUT if he wanted me to sit there and do 12 hours of paperwork while he went on a bike ride NO way! Looking back I can see it was just too big of a job for a person that hates paperwork and organization. What a difference in his stress level!!!!
What is great about men and women is that they compliment each other. What I am good at he isn't and what I'm not good at he is.
He did leave me a little note this morning it said, “Thanks for all the paperwork you did today! You did great! LOVE YOU!”

Freezing Tomatoes

The tomatoes in our garden got a little out of control last week,

We put them in boiling water for a minute to loosen the skin.

Here are all the tomatoes with the skin ready to peel off.

This is what they look like up close.



Here are the peeled tomatoes. I just stuffed them in jars and poured there own juice over them and put them in the freezer.

Whenever I make a dish that calls for canned tomatoes I will get out a jar. They will be a little mushy so I will probably blend them before I put them in things.

Westin in Scottsdale

My husband and I own LOTS of timeshares. We use them and we rent them. Last weekend someone only rented part of the week, so we took the kids to Scottsdale and hung out at the Westin. In my opinion timeshare renting is the only way to go when you are traveling with the family. In general the timeshares we rent have 3 rooms. One king bedroom, one queen bed and hideabed bedroom, and a large family room with hideabed, dining, kitchen and washer and dryer. We mainly deal in Marriotts. They are very clean, upscale 5* resorts with all the fitness rooms, pools etc. with activities for the kids. By renting timeshares you can stay at nicer places, with more room, for less money. The best part is a private bedroom without kids in it.

Enjoying a hammack under the trees by the pool. I LOVE hammocks.

Here is one of the bedrooms

Bath with separate tub and shower.

Family room

Kitchen and dining area.
Check back later because the prices right now are the highest of the year.
lastminuteluxuryresorts.blogspot.com

It is NOT Selfish to Take Care of Yourself!!

"If you are not taking care of yourself, body, mind, and spirit, the people in your life don't get the best you, they get what's left of you" Lorraine Cohen


When I coach women I find lots of them that do too much for everyone else and forget themselves. I hope something in this post can help you to know, YOU ARE IMPORTANT AND YOU ARE WORTH IT!!

I have learned that when I am a person that can do everything myself, people will let me do EVERYTHING, even when I'm exhausted.

When I don't have an opinion on the restaurants, vacations, and movies I go to, guess what? Other people pick where they want to go. It is my own fault when I end up at a sushi restaurant when I hate sushi.

Women don't have any problem buying new clothes, classes and camps for their kids but some don't save any money for clothes, classes and girl trips for themselves. If you don't think you are worth it, your children will begin to think you aren't worth it either.

Have you known women who think they are worth a manicure or a new outfit? Everyone else knows they deserve it too.
Don't you want your husband and children to have one of those mom's and wives that think highly of themselves, have opinions and think they deserve a nice life too?

People get treated, how they treat themselves.

You can only love others as much as you love yourself.

Think you are worth it and others will think you are worth it.

Have an opinion and others will admire you for having one.

Jewel has a song called Stronger Woman
My favorite line in the song is
Well tonight, I’m going to be
The kind of woman I’d want my daughter to be

We have to model the kind of person we want our children to be. We want them to know that women and mother's are important. We want our daughters to treat themselves as an important valuable person, not grow up to be martyrs or doormats. When we are respected by our husbands and children when they grow up they will expect respect as well.

Here is the chorus of Jewel's song.
I’m gonna love myself more than anyone else
Believe in me, even if someone can’t see
There’s a stronger woman in me
I’m gonna be my own best friend
Stick with me till the end
I won’t lose myself again, never, no
Cause there’s a stronger woman
A stronger woman in me.

Hawaiian Baked Beans for the 4th of July

I put rings of green peppers, onions and pineapples in. It gives the beans a great flavor and people can pick out which things they don't like.

Hawaiian Baked Beans
4 large cans pork-n-beans
1 lb. bacon cooked and crumbled
1 large onion sliced
1 large bell pepper sliced
6 T. worcestershire sauce
14 oz. ketchup
1 c. brown sugar
1 large can pineapple

Cook 3 to 4 hours. First half with lid on, 2nd half open at 350 degrees.
People WILL want this recipe it's one of my favorites!!!!

The first time I had this was 20 years ago at a family reunion. I got the recipe from my Aunt Pat. She has 11 children so the recipe makes a lot. It easy enough to half if you aren't feeding a crowd.
Let me know if you try it:)