Monday, August 10, 2015

PERSONAL EFFORT

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.
You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and
sometimes even travel around the world looking
for it. You have to participate relentlessly in
the manifestations of your own blessings.

~ Elizabeth Gilbert









It's a new week and a new attitude
for me, no more pity party, there is
a life to be lived and I want [need]
to do it with peace and Grace.

I was asked about bible journaling
and the best way I can tell you about
it is to just show you as I am still
learning this medium too. I am a huge
fan of Pinterest [after resisting for so
long] and now have a Bible Journaling
page that is quickly filling up. I draw
each morning after my bible reading,
picking a verse that speaks to me at
the time. To me this is not about what
kind of artist you are, it's about furthering
your relationship with your God.

The elderberries are ripe and with winter
not that far off [I can hope] I am storing
berries in the freezer to make this.

I made 'healthy' almond joys which
may or may not be good thing. I know
I didn't eat them all,that was someone
in my home,  but I did eat my fair
share, ahem.  [recipe below]

I'm trying my hand at making more buttons,
this time out of clam shells. I do love the touch
of lavender and now need to knit a sweater
to put them on, but first I am going to finish
knitting my hat.

Clover's Almond Joys

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond/coconut butter [or whatever butter you like]
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients well, pour in mini muffin cups
and put in the ice box until solid.
Store covered in ice box, eat through out the day. :)

13 comments:

  1. I have yet to find a way that I can stand the taste of coconut oil, coconut flour or almond butter. You can bet I would be trying this recipe if I could have the cocoa powder & honey. They look good! I did manage to eat some almond butter with a green apple, but I had to make myself do it because I needed something substantial to eat while we were at the fiddle contest last week. I think it's going to take some chocolate (of which I can not have) for me to tolerate the taste of almond butter. Cinnamon helped A LOT but I still don't love it. Man.. I could really go for a HUGE peanut butter jelly or honey samich right now!

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  2. I'm glad you're feeling better, Tracey. It sounds like you're doing a lot of interesting things and keeping busy, which must help a lot. Thank you for the recipe, those sound really good. I've only ever eaten coconut oil with popcorn that was popped in it, which was delicious, and have wanted to try other things. I hope you have a good week.

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  3. Shell buttons would be a perfect touch for something that you made Tracey. We collected some pretty shiny shells in Maine with thoughts about a necklace. We'll see if it happens.

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  4. You've been keeping busy, good for you! Life does go on and I am a firm believer that we have to make the best of it. Those almond joys look dangerously good. Would love to try them, but I'm afraid I'd have no self control if they were in my kitchen... ;-)

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  5. As you walk through this new attitude, everything begins to change. I now that digging deeper into the Word of Our God is always a lighted way for me. Bible journaling is a beautiful way to express ourselves with His Word in our hearts!

    Thank you for sharing dear friend :0) mari

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  6. Your bible is going to be so beautiful after all your journaling!!! What a wonderful and creative way to go deeper in the verses and your relationship with God. This is so inspiring!!!

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  7. what is this madness... coconut almond butter??? wow! i could put away a whole jar of that i am sure.
    thanks for the recipe!

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  8. Your Almond Joys from scratch look good. I wanna try an elderberry. We had some of that mixed in honey from Burney Falls but it's gone. The girls and I watched Camp Harlow one night. I believe in God but am a bit cynical when it comes to attending church. However, I did like the movie, watching a hurting young teenager who was cruel to others find God at the Bible camp and stick to her faith no matter who expressed negative opinions. It was through this movie that I could see how ppl could find faith with God. It was interesting.

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  9. Okay those almond joys look delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Happy to hear you are stepping forward into this week with a new attitude my friend. We only get one chance at living this life and we have to make the best of it. You will miss them, without question, but there is still a whole lot of happy in your life. Enjoy it Tracey, and soak it up.

    xo

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  10. Paducah used to have a button factory that made shell buttons....I have some of the tossed away clam shells that have big 'button holes' in them; they can still be found in the river beds. Yours are going to be really really lovely!!! :)

    I'm still pretty much copy-cat-ing my journal pages....love yours, which I'm sure is original art for you! :) (you are my hero!)

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  11. Your healthy almond joys sound fabulous! I can't wait to try them.

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  12. I hope you continue to share your bible journalling, I find it interesting. I hope you new focus in life rewarding you immensely and that you are blessed with all kinds of unexpected goodness :)

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  13. I love seeing your Bible Journaling. The bible's I have don't have as wide of margins as the "official" journaling ones do but I'm going to see if I can make it work! My bible journaling usually consists of reading a passage a few times, praying with it, then writing down a verse or two that speaks to me in that moments & maybe journaling a little bit about it. I've never added drawing or art work to it!

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