Stacie's Place

 Since the Christmas card template I picked has photos that go by month, that might be the best way to recap our year in words here with more details. Enjoy!

  **This post contains affiliate links** Lately I have been feeling extremely dissatisfied by the water bottle options available in stores and online. There are so many brands ~ Yeti, Zulu, Simple Modern, Hydro Flask, Ninja, ThermoFlask, Starbucks and on and on. There are so many lid styles ~ flip, twist, slide button and more. Handle or no handle. So many different colors, designs and sizes. It's enough to make your head spin, am I right?

  (This post contains affiliate links) Do you have a best friend or a bunch of best friends? I feel like I've made special relationships with friends throughout the years depending on where I have lived and worked. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a best friend as, "a person's closest and dearest friend." Aw! 😌 Today I wanted to share some ways to celebrate your best friend(s) for National Best Friends Day which is coming up - June 8th! But before I share those ways, I wanted to talk a little about best friends I have had in my life. I'd say my first best friend in life was and still is my sister Laura. I'm the oldest of 8 kids and she is the 2nd oldest which meant we did of lot of activities together when we were kids, teens and young adults. Even to this day, she's someone I talk to every day and I try to visit her as often as I can. Other best friends have not stayed best friends for my entire life like Laura has but I still consider them the bes...

  If you know me well, you probably know I have a lot of things. In all the categories 😵 Clothes. Shoes. Craft supplies. Snacks. Holiday decor. You get the idea. America has so much abundance everywhere and its all so easy to access via shopping stores and the internet in particular. I am party of deal/coupon groups and can't resist sometimes! I am not saying this as an excuse, it's just how it is here in the USA for most people. Access to fun things is just so easy. Probably too easy. For those who like to collect things, those who have a passion for fashion, those who love many brands of shoes, those who can't stick with just one kind of craft and so on and so forth. I have traveled a lot in 2024 and I do want to travel in 2025 but would like to keep this one little word - Simplify - forefront in my mind, when I am home and able to downsize and declutter. Doing these things will help me simplify my life, I hope. I am aware that this is not something that will happen over...

This year of 2024 has been one for the books! It was filled with lots of miles being put on our cars to visit family, friends, crew at balloon festivals as well as regular visits (for Stacie) to Disneyland.  Tony went to S. Korea for a month for work at a military base there and then got asked to go back again about 6 months later, this time for 6 weeks. Stacie and her friend Alice joined him for 3 of those weeks, and you can catch up on her Facebook page of all the recaps and photos from that trip.  Other highlights include traveling to Texas for the full eclipse, visiting Stacie's brother James and his wife in Arkansas and hot air ballooning friends who moved to Missouri from California,  spending the 4th of July in Idaho, Tony's family reunion at Lava Hot Springs in August and getting to Apple Hill in September.  Stacie was able to make it to Camp Ritchie again to work on the rappelling staff,  attend 2 Pinners Conferences, Craftcation in Ventura and other c...

  This coloring book titled, You Are a Child of God is for kids (or adults) of any Christian faith to enjoy.  On every page you can find ways to make meaningful connections with your kids, nieces or nephews. I love crafting,  it helps me feel calm (usually) and while coloring is not crafting exactly,  I do get to be creative with my various pens and colored pencils and I really enjoy that aspect.   Another aspect I enjoy about this coloring book are the Bible scriptures included on the pages which are great to think about or discuss during family time or one on one.  This would be a great gift to give this holiday season!