Starting the Daniel Plan

Daniel Plan

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all doing well this summer.  This morning it is a cool, rainy day here in Michigan but I am hopeful the sun will come out this afternoon.  I’m trying to grab hold of all the summer days we have left as I know it will be only a few short weeks and the beautiful green leaves will be turning bright yellow orange and red.

Now that my travel is over with it is time for me to hit hard back with my weight loss journey.  This past week I’ve been back to the gym every day.  I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday and I am also following the Daniel Plan in conjunction with Weight Watchers.  It is a Christian lifestyle program based on Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends.

From my original weight, I am only down 8 pounds now.  At one point I was down 14 pounds.  Oh how they can quickly come on when we are out of our routines.  Anyway, now I know I will have a stretch here where I can focus on healthy eating and exercise and I am truly trying to turn some of this into good habits.  Portion control and sweets are both my downfall.

If any of you have tried the Daniel Plan or are using it currently, shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment.  I’d love to hear how you are doing.

Blessings everyone,

Nancy

be creative daily and live life beautifully

Applique Chili Peppers

Embroidery It Applique Chili Peppers 2

Chili pepper design comes from Embroidery Library

It was a sad day for me as I had to say good bye to my dear friend Laura.  I’m leaving on vacation and when I return she will be gone and getting settled in the great southwest state of Arizona.  Laura is both my neighbor and also my gym buddy.  Knowing we would meet at the gym is what would help keep me motivated to get up and go.  I hate exercise.

Having lived in Arizona, twice, I know how southwest décor is very popular down there so I made a couple of hand towels with chili peppers to help her feel like she is fitting in.  🙂

Embroidery It Applique Chili Peppers

I took some twine and tied it in a bow for an added embellishment and stitched it in place.

I will miss you Laura.  Best wishes to you!

Nancy

be creative daily and live life beautifully

My Weight Loss Journey and Thoughts

Embroidery It My Walk 1

Over this past month, losing weight has been very difficult for me.  On May 16th I was down to my lowest that I had seen in some time.  I could even tell in my face as well as my waistline that I had lost 14 solid pounds.  I was almost half way to my 30 pound weight loss goal.  Then came Tim’s graduation.  We had lots of family visiting us for a week.  The week after that was the week before our vacation so no motivation that week knowing what was ahead.  Then came a week of vacation to a country I’d never visited before and I wanted to experience it all and that included food.  I know I all I just gave you were excuses.

Since May 16th I watch the scale as it slowly crept up.  The day after our vacation I was now up 6 pounds.  Sigh.  I worked so hard for those 14 pounds.

Now that I am home from vacation I’m trying very hard to get back into the groove of things.  Mike and I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday.  I’ve been back to the gym or walk/jogging 3 1/4 miles at home.  Even though I’ve been back to Weight Watchers, I’m finding it difficult to stay on the program.  Afternoons are so difficult for me and I’ve said it before I hate exercise.  I wish I liked it but I just don’t.  The thing is, I think it is probably the most important thing we can do for our bodies.

I’ve been giving this a lot of thought.  You can agree or disagree with me, it is just my own opinion here.  There are so many good things we can do for our bodies.  Things like: eating right, exercise, stop smoking, decrease stress, getting plenty of sleep, and the list goes on.

All these things are important, but I feel like one item on this list trumps all the others by just a smidgen.  That item is exercise.

The reason I think it trumps the rest is because if we exercise, that will help us lose weight.  It will help us get better sleep.  It decreases depression.  It lowers our blood pressure, our cholesterol and in general re-sets our bodies hormones.  It just does so many good things for our bodies.

When I say exercise, what I’m referring to is actually getting my heart rate up.  I think it is that increase in heart rate is what does the re-setting our bodies need and releases all the right chemicals.

I was on the treadmill today.  There is a place on each side of it for me to place a 5 pound hand weight so I use two of those.   I walk for a while.  Then I lift the 10 pounds, 5 in each hand, over my head up and down as I walk.  That gets my heart rate up.  I can do this for about a minute.  Then I just walk for a while.  Next I increase the speed.  Normally up to 5 or 5.5 miles but today I went up to 7 miles an hour!  Woo Hoo!  I can barely do that for a minute.  Then I walk again for a while.  Over the course of 30 minutes I will alternate these things and I get in 3 weight liftings and 3 run/jogs.  That is 6 times during my workout I get my heart rate really up there.  I hate it.

But I feel great when I’ve finished.  And that is why I force myself to do it.  Friends, I just have to learn to like exercise.  I feel like this is the real key to improving my overall health.  Oh how I wish I liked exercise.  What can I do to like it more?

Did you watch America’s Got Talent last week?  Did you see that 96 year old lady dance?  Wowsa!  She looks younger than my parents who are 10 years younger than her.  I bet that lady has moved her body all her life and I want to be like that, vibrant and fully alive till the day God calls me home.

Last year mom got me a Nutribullet for my birthday – Thanks Mom!!  I love that thing and make myself a smoothie most every morning for breakfast.  The recipe is the same each day except that I change out the fruit for whatever I have on hand.

Banana Blueberry Smoothie

Nancy’s Banana Blueberry Smoothie Recipe – Just blend all ingredients together

  • 1/2 Banana
  • 1/2 cup Blueberries
  • 1/2 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup old fashioned oats – uncooked
  • 1 Tablespoon Chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup fat free milk
  • Ice

I’m so glad I can ramble here on my blog.  Sometimes I just need to get my thoughts out of my head and if you’ve read this far then thanks for reading my friend.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Nancy

be creative daily and live life beautifully

 

Happy Mother’s Day and The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible Book Review

Happy Mother’s Day and The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible Book Review

Dear Friends,
Happy Mother’s Day to all you sweet moms.  We put in thousands upon thousands of hours raising our babies and I must say, we deserve a special day in which to receive a bit of pampering.  I hope you are all being treated like queens and getting the royal treatment.  Despite all the sacrifices we do for our children, what a blessing it is to be a mom.  I am so grateful for my three.
This morning Mike and I walked to a favorite breakfast place and shared an order of biscuits and gravy along with a great cup of coffee.  The walk is just over 5 miles round trip so I certainly got my exercise in.  I love going for walks with my hubby so this is a treat to spend time together just the two of us.
The beautiful roses are from my son Timothy.  They smell so good.  Timothy knows I LOVE flowers!
Mike has driven with him up to Santa Fe for his rugby game.  I’m staying home and resting this afternoon.  Sore throat is there but much better today.  Several of you e-mailed me that you were praying.  Thank you!  Prayers answered!!!!
Emily came up with this clever gift.  She gave me $20 in a jar in $1 bills.  I just cannot lose those 20 stinkin’ pounds.  The scale is stuck like gon my current weight.  Yes, I could try harder, but I really LIKE food!
For each pound I lose, I am to move one dollar to the other jar.  The jar with the money in it says “pounds to go”  The currently empty jar says “pounds lost”.  When I have lost all 20 pounds I am to spend the $20 on myself.  I love this!  This is real motivation now as I can’t let her down and a bonus for me when the weight is off!  The jar on the left better not stay empty for long.
And from my Air Force girl Katie, I received the best gift, a phone call with lots of love.  Love is all this mama really needs.

Now from Mike, he did get some direction as to what I would like.  He got me this book, The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible by Wendy Gardiner and Lorna Knight as well as a couple of specialty sewing feet I had asked for.  I thought you might like to take a little look into the book.

The bias binding foot you see in the picture is what I used on all those boy scout neckerchiefs.
One of the specialty feet Mike got me was an adjustable binding foot for larger size bindings.
 The other specialty sewing foot Mike got me was a cording foot which you can see above.
Mike and I have always been do-it-yourself kind of people when it comes to many things.  We have gutted a house, done electrical work, plumbing, tiling and much more.  One of the things we say is why pay when we can do it ourselves and also that it is best to have the right tool for the job.  That is the way it is with these specialty feet.  They do a great job for the technique the are made for.  It makes life a whole lot simpler to have the right tool for the job.  Plus, doing specialty items in sewing is just plain fun!

Let me give you just a brief overview about the book.

First off, the book is such a pretty book to look through.
Chapter 1 is the Essential Kit
Chapter 2 is Basic Feet
Chapter 3 is Specialty Fabric and Technique Feet
Chapter 4 is Pretty Edges
Chapter 5 is Fancy Stitching and finally
Chapter 6 is Buyer’s Guide
With each foot, it first talks about what the sewing foot looks like.  Then it goes into how the foot works.  Then there is an “ideas file” which shows other effects you can get from each foot.
I really like this book and should go over to Amazon and give it a 5 star rating as honestly, it is just well done.  It will certainly remain on my shelf as a reference that I know I will look at again and again.

Finally, to finish off my day, after Mike and Tim get home we will be going to church this evening.  Thankfully our church as numerous options as to when we can attend so when our schedule is thrown off, like with the rugby game today.  Then I’m sure we will be eating out tonight and I won’t be cooking.  My favorite food when we go out…..Sushi!  Yum!!  {Yes I could cook myself.  There are times when we do make exceptions to the DIY attitude we have!}

Happy Mother’s Day and love and blessings to you all,
Nancy

More Machine Embroidery Free Standing Lace Coasters

More Machine Embroidery Free Standing Lace Coasters

Dear Friends,
I really enjoy creating free standing lace.  It is just so delicate.
Remember this one?  It is the one I gave to my mother when we went for a visit.
These are from the same collection by Pixies Rule in their Lace Coaster Set.  I just finished up a couple more of them the other day.

On a sour note, I’m typing this in bed as I’m dealing with strep throat.  I had made it through the winter with nothing more than a sniffle (blessed) but WHAM I’m knocked off my feet today.  Praying the Tylenol and antibiotics kick in quickly.  All prayers for pain relief are appreciated.  Thank you.

I really think this hit as I feel under tremendous stress here lately so I’m certain my immune system is down.  I’m dealing with Emily’s high school graduation, Katie’s wedding and so much more to list here.  I’ve made a long L-O-N-G list of all that needs to be done and recuperating was NOT on that list.
Here’s praying that all my readers are healthy and that you have a happy day embroidering.  One more note; all the coasters were made in a 5 x 7 hoop.
With love and blessings,
Nancy

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing…

Humming the tune of “Rawhide” in my head.  Sewing, Sewing, Sewing, the bias tape keeps growing, da da da da de da Rawhide!

I’m sewing the bias tape on the 20 boy scout neckerchiefs.  Each neckerchief takes a full package, 4 yards.  That’s 80 yards I’m stitching on.  I’m on my 6th neckerchief right now.  Just needed a break!

Have you seen a presser foot like this?  It is a “binding foot” and it hold the bias tape open and in place and the fabric fits in a little slot that feeds it right down the middle of the tape.  Sure makes it easier to sew as there is no pinning required and it catches the bias tape neatly on both sides.

So I keep plugging away singing my little diddy.  Actually, I’m listening to podcasts as I sew.  Have you ever heard of Daily Audio Bible or Merry Ministries?  Those are two great ones to listen to, and they are free!
Hugs and blessings,
Nancy
ps.  Want to know a little secret?  I have produced some podcasts myself.  Back in 2010 I made several podcasts that you can find on iTunes.  My podcast was titled “Making Our Home a Haven.”  In my very own home, I have always strived to make it a haven.  I don’t always succeed, but I do always strive for it.  🙂

Machine Embroidery Butterfly Quilt

Machine Embroidery Butterfly Quilt

Dear Friends,
Last spring/summer I took a quilting 101 class.  My mother and mother-in-law are both quilters and that is one thing I had never tried my hand at.  What you see is my very FIRST quilt I have ever made!

Yesterday I was doing some spring cleaning and working on the garage.  While in there I pulled out the Easter decorations.  I set the dining room table for Easter and then put away my winter quilts that my mother has made for me.

As I put away the winter quilt that I had on this wall, I was excited to pull out my quilt.  I actually finished it before Christmas this past year but tucked it away until now.

As I was assembling this quilt I really wanted to do more with butterflies.  I found all the butterfly designs you see on this quilt at Embroidery Library with the exception of the one you see below, the one in the corners of the quilt.  I received that design in one of my embroidery club classes at our local sewing store and it was given to me by the instructor.  I don’t know who to credit this design to.

The six butterflies in the center were embroidered on Floriani’s “No Show Nylon Mesh Non-Fusible”.  To use this product, when the solid design is finished stitching, cut close to the embroidery design.  Then use a heat source such as a mini iron, stencil burner or wood burning tool to melt away the edges of the mesh from around the design.  ***Caution***Don’t touch the embroidery design with the heat source or your thread can easily melt.  Do this carefully!!!

Then I stitched the butterflies onto the quilt by hand for a 3-D effect.

For the antennae, I used dark brown embroidery floss and tied knots in the end.

I used monofilament thread to quilt this by stitching in the ditch between the larger red squares and the 9 patch squares.

All the remaining blank red squares were quilted with this Embroidery Library design.  These designs on the red squares were embroidered with cotton quilting thread.

Thanks everyone for looking.  I hope you enjoyed this!

Happy Embroidering and spring blessings to you!
With Love,
Nancy

The Season of Lent

The Season of Lent

Dear Friends,
Today is Ash Wednesday. It is an important day on the Christian calendar as it is the beginning of Lent. It is a time of preparation for Easter the highest of Holy Days. It is a time of repentance and prayer. Many people use this season to give up something as a sacrifice and to offer that sacrifice up to God. I teach religion, this year to first graders, and I speak to them about Lent and having a Lenten resolution. Those children can come up with some thoughtful answers. “I’m going to share my toys every day.” “I’m going to help my mother every day with chores.” “I’m going to pray every day.” Some I’m sure have heard their parents speak about what they are doing for lent and will say, “I’m not going to watch TV,” “I’m not going to eat candy,” and so on. I really stress to them, and to my own children that this is a time not just of sacrifice, but a time to keep Christ first and foremost in our thoughts and in our actions. It is a time to work on becoming closer to Christ and becoming a better person.

I’ve given quite a bit of thought this past week as to what my Lenten resolution would be this year. For myself I’ve decided to truly be obedient to my husband and to put him first above myself. It is easy to say, “sure Honey I’ll get to that,” and it gets pushed to the bottom of the pile or is the task completed at the end of the day. I have decided that when he asks me to do something I will put it first, if at all possible, and do it right away or at least at my first opportunity. I will also do it with a glad attitude and happy heart. So when he asks me to help him with the taxes, ugh that’s going to be the tough one for me, I’ll smile and say “sure”. It will be hard to have a happy heart for that task.

One thing I must confess is so far this year he hasn’t asked me what my Lenten resolution will be and I haven’t volunteered it either 😉 Not that he’d take advantage of my kind gestures, but I can see the potential where he might think he could have some fun with this. As long as none of you blab to him about my resolution I’ll be in good shape. He doesn’t read my blog unless I have something specific to show him so no worries about writing it here. Now if he asks me what I’m doing for Lent I will tell him, but otherwise I’m keeping my lip zipped.

My desire through this resolution this year is that I want to become a more Godly woman and I want my God light to shine.  And you remember SHINE is my word of the year.

Have you made a Lenten resolution? I’d love to hear what you chose this year.

with Love and God’s Blessings,

Nancy
ps.  One of my favorite authors Ann Voskamp over at A Holy Experience has a beautiful Christian article about Why Doing Lent this Year is What You Really Need.  Along with that she has a free Lent and Easter devotional.

Shine Update

 

Dear Friends,
If you remember my focus this year is to SHINE.  You can read more about that HERE.One of the things in my life that has been lacking is to “shine” upon myself and to really care for myself.  I need to lose some weight and get my blood pressure in check.  I’ve made a focus in working to get in 10,000 steps each day and to really change my eating habits to real or natural foods.

Let me begin by saying that since December 29th I’ve lost 8.5 pounds.  I want to lose a total of 25.

With Emily, our middle child who is 17, having dealt with Lyme’s disease as well as Hashimoto’s disease, she has made radical changes to her diet.  She is quite disciplined as she knows how much better it really makes her feel to eat foods in their natural state.  I’ve always felt nutrition is important, but it has been a weakness of mine to reach for the sweets (after every meal) and I love bread.  Emily has been a huge source of inspiration to me.

I’ve done my best to cut out as many processed foods as I can.  My next step is to make more of my own salad dressings.  I’ve cut out most all simple sugars (candy etc.) and have cut way back on the complex sugars (rice, oatmeal, bread).  In fact, I’m limiting the complex sugars to one meal a day.  Finally I’ve basically eliminated anything fried as well.  I’ve given myself a one meal a week as a freebie or a treat meal in which I can have a dessert.  Side note here:  I used to work as a nurse at a weight loss center.  I know what to do, it is just the mind set of DOING it that is difficult.

For the last couple of months I’ve been wearing my pedometer.  It is surprisingly difficult to get 10,000 steps in each day.  If it is a quiet day, I’ll normally get 4,500 to 5,000 steps.  If it is a clean the house day I get in about 6,000 steps.  If it is a shopping day I get in about 7,000 to 8,000 steps.  This means I have to do some intentional walking/exercise each and every single day.

I’m doing it.  I’m working hard to care for myself.  I’m worth it.  I’m shining.

God Bless,
Nancy

Go Through the Bible in One Year as a New Year’s Resolution

Go Through the Bible in One Year as a New Year’s Resolution

Happy Happy New Year to You!!!

Dear Friends,
I hope today, wherever in the world you are that it is a BEAUTIFUL day!  Happy New Year!

I’m talking today about the Daily Audio Bible as this is my third year to go through the Bible in audio form.  It NEVER gets old.  Since I was a little girl, I’ve had Christ in my life, but going through the Bible has changed my life forever and I’m truly blessed.

Brian Hardin reads a passage in the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each day.  Then he applies it to our lives today and finally callers who have called in with prayer requests or praise reports previously on a recorded line have their requests and praises played.  It is a privilege to get to pray for them, who I consider my Daily Audio Bible family, and they have prayed for me too.  What a blessing to know that hundreds of thousands of people are praying and joining together.

If you’ve thought you would like to go through the Bible in a year as a New Year’s resolution, consider listening to it.  Brian’s voice is comforting and he is so knowledgeable.  On occasion his family is on the air as well.  His wife Jill helps him and two of his children record Daily Audio Bible Kids.  It is precious.

So Friends, during 2013 and beyond:

May the Good Lord bless you and keep you,
May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you,
May He lift up his countenance on you and give you peace,
May the strength of God go with you,
May the wisdom of God instruct you,
May the hand of God protect you,
May the word of God direct you,
May you be sealed in Christ this day and forever more.
Amen.
With Love,
Nancy

Merry Embroidery Christmas to Me

 

I hope each of you had a beautiful and joyous Christmas this year.  Our sweet Katie could not come home for Christmas, she is in the Air Force, but she comes home TOMORROW!  It is only for a few days but I am so grateful for even a few precious moments.

This year my sweet in-laws gave me the CD’s you see above.  They are from OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supplies Designs) and I LOVE their designs.  My machine has been busy humming away.  I’m particularly fond of the ornaments and free-standing lace designs.
I know it is after Christmas, but I will show you soon what I’ve been working on.

Blessings,
Nancy

Welcome to Embroidery It

 

 

Hi Friends,

This is me in the picture.  I’m Nancy Jacobs and I’m pleased and proud to announce that my new business, Embroidery It, is launching!  Owning my own business has been a dream of mine for many years and now my dream is turning into a reality. 

I oh so enjoy machine embroidery!  I can’t say that enough.  I have just gone wild with it and if it stands still long enough and a needle can pierce it, look out.  It will be embroidered on!  Embroidery for me is pure fun.  It has been through a series of events that now I want to share my passion with you.   My tagline is “Embroidery It provides creative personalization and unique gifts all with a needle and thread.” 

Let me tell you a little about myself.  First and foremost I am a follower of Jesus.  I consider saying that I am a Christian to not be enough as I’m more than just a believer, I do my absolute best to truly live and follow the teachings of our Savior.  I am married to my best friend, Mike, for over 24 years now.  We have three beautiful teenage children.  The oldest two are girls and our youngest is our son.  Our oldest is out of the house now and is in the Air Force.   It is because of the children getting older and now leaving the nest that I have the time to pursue my passion of owning and running my own business and following my dream of being an entrepreneur.

You might also enjoy knowing that I relish all things involving homemaking, well not always cleaning, but I find delight in cooking, gardening, and all forms of crafting as well as the basics of running a household.  In fact, another passion of mine is helping young women learn about God’s view on homemaking in order that their marriages become strong and so they can see God’s plan for their lives. So that is a bit about me and who I am. 

Embroidery It is getting itself off the ground.  It is having a few business snafu’s which I’m working out.  But hey!  That is part of being a business owner and getting past the learning curve, right?

I have been, and still am, working on getting my blog/website set up. I’ve also started a Facebook page which you can find HERE.   It is so exciting! I’ve also been designing my own business cards.

For my first official job I have a team of cheerleading skirts in which I am personalizing with the girls names.  I will post a picture of them next week.  In the mean time, say a quick prayer that I get the business and website bugs worked out. 

Thanks for visiting my site and I look forward to sharing my embroidery with you.

With hugs and blessings,

Nancy