Happy New Year!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  My whole house got the flu.  Myself and my son had it before Christmas and my hubby got it after.  Blech!  We still managed to have an awesome Christmas.

My brother, who is in the Navy, and his wife and two girls were able to make it to my parents' home for Christmas Day.  My sister and all three of her boys were also there.  It was SO nice.

It was the first Christmas my son, who just turned three, kinda knew what was going on.  He is still telling people that Santa is "going to come to my house."  I tell him, "yes, next Christmas."

I didn't ask for any gifts because I was blessed to win a Silhouette, I know right!  It arrived right after Christmas.  Due to all the sickness, I haven't been able to play with it yet.  I'm so excited to be able to craft with it and look forward to doing some tutorials this year.

If you are sick with the flu or cold, here are some ideas to get you through it:  All were found via Pinterest.  You can follow me there by clicking HERE.

Image belongs to Dotal Anecdotes

This is Fire Cider.  It consists of very hot peppers, ginger, garlic, onion, apple cider vinegar and other ingredients.  You can find the recipe HERE at Dotal Anecdotes:  Life as a Wife.  It is a home remedy and preventative for colds, etc.  You have to make this and let it sit for several weeks, so you won't be able to actually use this today.

Now, this:

Image belongs to Easy Peasy

This is a Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy that you can find HERE and is by Easy Peasy.  This is a very popular pin on Pinterest.  Plus it's got ingredients everyone usually has on hand:  honey and cinnamon.

Image belongs to Good Food Matters

 This one also uses simple ingredients you should already have on-hand.  It is called Maggie's Cough Remedy and can be found HERE.  It is brought to us by Good Food Matters.

So, fix up one or more of these remedies, drink lots of water, eat some chicken soup and feel better!

Thanks for stopping by,

Natosha

P.S.  I am linking up here today:

Christmas Stockings from Sweater and Fleece Baby Blanket

I have been seeing such cute pillows all over the blogosphere.  You know, the ones made out of sweaters?

Well, I noticed the other day I had forgotten to put our Christmas stockings up.  I dug around and couldn't find our old ones, and I kinda remember, in the back of my head, thinking that I may have thrown them away last Christmas because they were pretty sad looking.

Money is tight, so I though I would make some.  Now back to the sweater pillows.  They were my inspiration.  I thought, "Now why can't I use a sweater to make stockings?"  Plus I have a red sweater that my mom gave me (that someone gave her) and it has these tassels hanging off the cuff that get in the way and are generally annoying. So, I started with this sweater:

I planned on using the sweater for the outer part of the stocking and was using an old fleece baby blanket for the lining.

I used Google and searched for stocking patterns.  You can find my search HERE.  I settled on THIS from Debbie Colgrove over at About.com (sewing).  (Once you get to that page, the pattern link is on the 5th line of the instructions.)

I didn't use the top part of the pattern and I shortened it a bit.  You don't even have to use a pattern, just draw it free hand.  (I use a pattern because I can not draw.  Not even a simple sock.)

So, I used my pattern and cut out 3 stockings from the sweater and sewed the first one up.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was ugly!  I scrapped that and cut out 3 stockings from the fleece blanket (sorry, I didn't get a picture before I cut it).  It was just a generic baby blanket that I picked up at a re-sale shop when my son was a baby.  I have a ton of them and kept them all because I just knew I could use them for something.   ;)

I sticked them up and turned them inside out.

Then I cut the tassels from the sweater leaving enough material to hold them together.  I just hot glued them to the top edge of the stockings and voila:

So, even though the sweater material didn't work as planned, I still love how they turned out.  AND, they only took about 15 minutes to make!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by,

Natosha

The Forbidden Text by Dawn Clark {A Book Review}

I recently read The Forbidden Text  by Dawn Clark.

Synopsis from the back of the book:

"Inspired by her own near-death experiences, her psychological investigations, and her father's counterintelligence experience, author Dawn Clark delivers a tale of pulse-pounding suspense, astonishing insights into the human psyche, and heartwrenching family strength.

When one of her patients, an ordinary housewife, conducts a high-tech terrorist attack in a crowded mall near Washington, D.C., psychologist Dr. Katrina Walker is involuntaryily thrown into the forefront of a top-secret government investigation to expose a global terrorist plot of catastrophic proportions.  Working alongside maverick innelligence officer Jim Clark, the grandson of a Native American shaman, Walker applies her skills in deciphering human energy fields to discover the ultimate threat to Western civilization.  Together, Clark and Walker, give birth to a new kind of strategic intelligence --- but are they already too late?

Explorations of the human subconscious quickly turn to adrenaline-charged action as Clark and Walker track down a twisted genius intent on deploying the deadliest weapon --- unwitting agents of destruction programmed so that they cannot be stopped by conventional means.  The ultimate secret and only hope of stopping Armageddon lies in the Forbidden Text."

I was intrigued.  I love a good thriller and if you throw in a good psychological and possibly paranormal angle, you've got me.

The book begins in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe, 1988, with James Clark rescuing Eliza from a secret lab where she was being kept prisoner.  What he didn't expect, was that he would also be rescuing Eliza's infant, Alexia.  Eliza refuses to leave until she can go to the lab and retrieve the Forbidden Text.  As she returns to Alexia and Clark, without the Text, she is shot and killed.  The first chapter is only a few pages but you are instantly launched into action and are rooting for Clark and the baby to survive.

Chapters 2 and 3 open in present-day Boston with psychologist Dr. Katrina Walker heading home on the subway and experiencing a feeling of tension and unrest.  James Clark is in Washington D.C. entering a high-tech super-secret government installation in order to meet with the President of the United States (who just happens to be a woman).

Katrina's commute is interrupted by an explosion in Boston's Copley Square.  Soon, all over the United States, disasters are happening.  In New York, a priest blows up his own church.  At a major-league ballpark, a business man almost detonates a dirty bomb.  In a mall, a new mother, who happens to be a new patient of Katrina's, uses a high tech device to . . . .  Now you didn't expect me to tell you everything, did you?  Let's just say that Katrina gets way more involved in government espionage than she ever wanted to, but with her special talents, she is very successful.

Speaking of special talents, Katrina has the ability to read people auras or psychic fields.  At the beginning of the book, I was kinda confused because Katrina is using her extra-sensory capabilities to help a patient, but Ms. Clark doesn't really explain what it all is.  Don't worry, a little ways down the line you get a really good explanation of what Katrina can do and it blends in with the story nicely.

I found the book to be fast-paced and I loved the short chapters.  Ms. Clark makes you care about the characters and what they are going through.  She presents a unique and horrifying twist on "sleeper" terrorists.    I love that the ending is open-ended and I hope she has part 2 out soon.  I really have to know what happens.

I highly recommend The Forbidden Text by Dawn Clark and personally look forward to reading more of her books.

You can get the book from Amazon or order it from Ms. Clark's book website HERE.

*I was provided a copy of The Forbidden Text for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.