100 Years of Girl Scouts

I'm celebrating today!  Why?  Girl Scouts is celebrating their 100th Birthday!

I was a Girl Scout from Brownies, all the way up to my early adult years.  I was in Girl Scouts on both the East & West coasts, in two states, and three towns.

With my troops, I've crafted, sang more songs that I can count, hiked, participated in community and environmental service projects, learned new skills, and camped.  Camping was a blast and definitely a staple to punctuate every year of Girl Scouting. I've slept on mountains, in tents, on hills, in cabins, in more tents, and even in a big barn.

It was in my last two troops that I took on the camp name Gizmo and still respond to that name today.  Quite honestly, I think my best friend, who was also a Girl Scout, calls me Giz or Gizie more than she calls me Karen!

And I've met some of the most wonderful girls, now women, in my life through Girl Scouts, including my Four Musketeers.  In Gravity, or Instinct, I Just Knew, I shared my first meeting with Snoopy...at her first Girl Scout meeting.  And I'm grateful that thanks to emails & Facebook, I'm able to continue to keep in contact with so many of the women to this day, twenty years later!

So what are Girl Scouts up to today?  Check out http://www.togetherthere.org/ to find out!

Happy 100th Birthday,
Girl Scouts!!!

Smile!

"If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it."

-Andy Rooney

After taking the kidlets to their respective schools, I had to zip that red envelope (aka Saturday's Netflix) to the post office and then proceeded to take the back way home.  And I'm so glad I did!

On the side of the road there was a puddle.  And inside that puddle were four birds.  They were splashing water more than a foot up in the air, gettin' their groove on, shakin' their tail feathers and all.  It looked like a pool party in that puddle only big enough to hold the four flocked friends.

And you know what?  Watching them in the mere seconds I had as I drove my car by, spread a smile wide across my face, high up into my eyes, and low into my heart.  And there it stayed all day today.

In fact, as I write this tonight, it's still there.  Who knew four frolicking puddle loving birds could be so smile worthy?!  One thing is for sure, I am mighty glad they were!

What has made you smile today?



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New to me & definitely Worth the Click!

Coming across fabulous new-to-me sites can mean only one thing....it's time to share, because they are oh so Worth the Click!

Want a feast for your eyes and creative spirit?  Click your way to My Modern Met.  It's a community for "art enthusiasts and trendspotters" and though I haven't joined in, I always love stopping in to visit for amazing visual treats.

If tasty treats are more your thing, I've got a new-to-me gluten free, soy free, vegan baking blog to share, the Lookbook Cookbook.  I found them while visiting Elsie's A Beautiful Mess and saw her Make Your Own Peanut Butter post - which includes a hazelnut spread recipe (think Nutella, only this recipe is perfect for us as it's gluten and casein free) that came from the Lookbook Cookbook.  I love the mason jars Elsie & Emma put the homemade peanut butter and hazelnut spread in - they would make perfect li'l gifts to give, don't you think?

And what about combining the visually inspiring & the tasty delight?  Thien-Kim of Cup of Creativi-Tea introduced me to this artist's site.  Click your way to Alisa Burke's blog to see how she redefines creativity with sketch & watercolor glimpses, Fashion Friday, photography, online art classes she teaches, and a GFCF recipe or two.  She is very much Worth the Click!

Hoping you take some time to check these lovely sites out.  It's a treat for me and I'm excited to share them with you!

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Hello Again

Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?  Hello?  Are you there?

I finally am.

Hello, my name is Karen and I took a blogging break.

Mid month, last month, I gave in to the crazy busy life that I was smack in the middle of.

There was Valentine's Day, a birthday to celebrate - mine, went to meet a friend for coffee & was quite pleasantly surprised when she brought another friend along with her, took my boy to see Star Wars - he had no idea where we were going until we got there and loved it, two three day weekends & two four day weeks in a row with extra days spent volunteering in my girl's classroom, one of my Four Musketeers came with her boys and her mom for a visit - two nights, too much fun, and of course, a zillion other little and big things, none of which are terribly exciting - just life!

And then my girl got all gurgly virusy, gave it to me (because cuddles are just a requirement when your li'l one is miserable, ya know?!), and we were up every night with her coughing for a week.  She napped during the day.  I got tired.  And disappeared for a li'l longer.

We are on the mend...getting there, anyways.

And I thought it was about time I throw out a hand and say, Helllllllllllllllloooooooooooooo!!!

Hello to March, hello to you.  I've missed this lovely bloggy world.  Please, come tell me what I've missed!