APEX SELECT Manual Coffee Grinder #Review #ApexCoffee

     My sister is a big coffee fan, we both are really.  But she likes to put more effort into her coffees, she's got a more sensitive palette when it comes to that.  With me, as long as it isn't burnt and has some cream and sugar, I'm usually good.  Although, since drinking it more often and getting accustomed to a certain way, it is getting harder for me to appreciate it being made differently.  Maybe it's something that just comes with time.

     A couple years ago my sister was going through her storage and she found her electric coffee grinder and gave it to me.  She had a newer one that she preferred and had no need for it.  I found uses in it beyond coffee and I will continue to use it for things such as spices that have hardened, creating spice blends, making powdered sugar, etc.  But for coffee I find that I can't get quite the right size ground.  I prefer my grounds to be medium sized, not chunky, but not powder as I sometimes get with the electric grinder.
     I know it can be a problem with any electric grinder, so for Christmas I got her a manual coffee grinder to add to her ever growing in-home cafe.  It's from APEX SELECT and it comes with a detachable winder handle.  Check this thing out!

     The handle comes unattached and simply slides onto the nut on top of the grinder and stays in place with it's hexagon shaped hole.  It's pretty brilliant, actually.  It means that this doesn't create an awkward storing issue, simply remove the handle and place in a drawer.  TADA!
     Okay, here are some of it's features:

     First of all, it's manual.  So you can have coffee even if you don't have a free plug.  I know one issue in my kitchen is having enough plugs or plugs that are in convenient spots.  One set of plugs is hard for a shortie like me to reach because it's kind of far back in the corner of the counter area.  The other is right over the stove, so cords need to be long.  The other is behind the fridge.  So as you can imagine, it's kind of like being in the middle of the ocean and dying of thirst.  The manual feature is awesome in this instance.
     This also means that it's great to take camping.  You can enjoy fresh ground coffee even in the wilderness.  Yes, please!

     Secondly, you can control the coarseness of the grounds.  If you like fine, set it to fine, if you like coarse then set it to coarse.  It's that simple.  And to make it even better, the conical burrs that it grinds with are ceramic so they will never rust.  To clean it out, just wash with warm soapy water and rinse.

     When you are done grinding the coffee, the grounds all fall into an attached storage cup and you can see the grounds as they fall in through the window in the side.  I think that's a great feature.  You can fill the grinder and only grind what you need at the time without having to keep checking to see if you have enough.

     This grinder works great and took little time.  The grounds came out nice and made excellent coffee.  I would recommend this grinder to anyone looking for a manual one.  It works on things such as peppercorns and poppy seeds too!
     To learn more, check out APEX SELECT on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

A Little Shoutout to Yesterday

     Yesterday wasn't perfect, days in this house rarely are.  It had it's ups and downs for sure.  But it was a good day in general, you know... overall.  So since it's a bit early to do a Joy Dare for today, I will do one for yesterday.  Yesterday's Joy Dare was to find a gift sweet, sour, and just right.  Here goes, folks!

Sweet - My coffee.  I could have found others, but my coffee was much needed yesterday.  Some days I can go most of the day without it, yesterday I couldn't.  I was falling asleep at my computer and chugging coffee in the small moments that I would wake up in hopes that while I nodded back off it might kick in.  It did.  It kept me up, truth be told, but that's okay.  It gave me inspiration for an amazingly wonderful idea that I hope to share with you in the coming weeks.  It was good.  And the dairy didn't even make me sick this time!  Woot!

Sour - Gotta look on the bright side of things for this one.  The only thing that comes to mind when I think of sour is Streaker's attitude.  But that's never a gift, really.  Although, she had none yesterday for the most part, which is a gift.  So I suppose I will go with that.  The lack of temper and sass was much appreciated.  It lead to a wonderful day filled with lots of time together.

Just right - The temperature of the house was just right.  Usually it's too cold and I want to cover up and do nothing all day.  Sometimes my kids blast the space heater, unbeknownst to me, and I get moody without realizing the issue (I don't feel hot, ever.  It could be and has been 80 degrees in the house and I won't notice.  But my mood notices, I get irritable, snappy, and overwhelmed).  But yesterday it was nice.  I felt like I could get out of bed and do things and only once noticed that it was too warm.  For the most part it was peaceful and calm, thanks to the temperature.

     Well there!  Thank you, Joy Dare for helping me start the day out right!  I hope to be back tonight or tomorrow with today's dare.  Hopefully I will remember.  Until then, I'll be getting at least 10 different packages in the mail today, so I will be letting you know how I feel about some pretty neat things.  Next up is a manual coffee grinder from Apex.  I'll see you soon!

Silicone Cooking Set #Review #SiliconeSavings

     I'm getting a little obsessed.  With silicone, that it.  Not that I've jumped the silicone wedding ring wagon or anything (no, thanks!).  But in the kitchen, it's replacing everything.  It's replacing my utensils, it's replacing my muffin pans, it's replacing my pot holders, and now even my trivets!  What's so great?  Well, if you haven't tried it, let me open your eyes to the wonder of silicone.

     Okay, so at first I was scared to use anything silicone.  It was thin and soft, it worried me.  I just knew that it would melt or allow me to get burned.  But I also knew Kitchen silicone is all the rage and that many people can't be wrong, so I got a pair of silicone gloves for family for Christmas and tested them out before hand.  I loved them so much that I kept them, here's why:

     First and foremost, you will not burn.  Silicone gloves barely let any warmth through to your hands.  You mostly feel nothing.  You can reach in and grab the oven rack directly and pull it out and feel mild warmth on your hands.  It's incredible!

     Secondly, it doesn't melt.  It feels so unnatural to put soft rubber onto a frying pan or into the oven, but it really doesn't melt!  I've let my silicone spatula just sit in the pan and nothing happens.  No smell, no burning, no deformation... nothing!

     And also, it's really terribly difficult to damage.  I suppose you could take scissors to them, but in normal use it would be very hard.  Since they don't melt with normal cooking temperatures and they don't tear, you would have to cut it to damage it.

     So I'm a little obsessed, I've always been terrified of taking hot things out of the oven and these erase that fear... mostly, it's a bit of an irrational fear.  Anyways, I'm collecting.  And I just came across this silicone cooking set that not only gave me two more gloves, but also two double-duty pot holder/trivets.  Here's what I thought of them:

     The gloves are a lot like other gloves I have seen and tried.  They are red though, which is different.  They have a really sweet heart design all over them on the outside.  They are smooth on the inside and fit me well, but will also work well for my husband who has much larger hands.

     The trivets are great.  The design isn't the same, but it's the same color, so it matches just fine.  It has a big hole to hang from, which I like.  A big hole is pretty high on my list of kitchen-worthy criteria because I hang a lot of my things.

     It's made from the same awesome silicone that the gloves are.  This stuff will protect your counter tops, protect your hands, and anything else.  They are a nice size, big enough for even the big pans.  You can double them up to protect your table form cookie sheets or roasters.  They're just awesome.

     If you haven't taken the plunge and tried silicone yet, I highly recommend it.  It's easy to clean and looks great too.  I think the only downfall at all is that it tends to stick to hair/fur, and the like.  So even rubbing against your shirt could cause it to need rinsing.  But it's the only downfall.  I will never go back.
     To learn more, check out Zevuo on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

God Give Us #ChristianHomes by Jim Faughn Book #Review and #Giveaway

     Oh man... I struggle.  I struggle with a lot of things, the top on the list being the kids.  They make me so proud and so angry, so excited and so sad all in the same day.  Each one of them.  My emotions are all over the place each and every day and sometimes I get so overwhelmed.  When all of them are making me angry at once, oh boy!  Or when I feel like everywhere I turn I am being ignored, like I'm not even there, like I'm not even a person...  I hate that!  Or when they all are being loud all day and it seems like it's all echoing off every wall in the house, it's maddening!  I sure do struggle.

     I'm not gonna lie, I've said things I can never take back, things I regret.  I've done things too.  I've snapped and blamed, and cursed when things get to be too much.  One day, truth be told, I ran away.  It was just for the day, but I did.  And do you know what happened?  It was a Sunday, the last day of a super long weekend and I was driving through town, barely able to see through my tears and when I passed the church this overwhelming urge came over me to stop, like all I needed in the world right then was to go in.  I didn't know anybody and it didn't matter, I was being called.  I needed to go in.  I didn't.
     But I did go on medication, which only made things worse for a while, because then people had a reason to point at me like I was losing my mind.  It was no longer a situation that was causing me to be buried in despair, it was a "condition".  Man, did that only make me more mad, made me feel like any chance I had at things getting better was gone.  It made me feel even more hopeless.  I just kept thinking that no parent should ever feel how I was feeling, no parent should hate their life and dread their kids.  I love my kids, don't get me wrong.  It's because I love them so deeply with everything I have that their actions and words hurt me the way they do.

     I know, I know, they're just kids.  They are just kids, but they're my kids and they're a reflection of me.  My reflection shouldn't make me so upset, you know?
     I don't know what God's plan is.  Sometimes I think I see clear paths and sometimes I feel completely abandoned.  But when my Memere died a couple months after that day and the funeral was led by the pastor of that very church that I passed... I knew I was meant to go there.  Of all the churches in all the towns, of all the pastors that preach... he preached at the one I was compelled to stop at, an easy half hour away from where my Memere lived, at least.

     My aunt happened to be pretty close to the pastor's wife and introduced me and The Big One to her.  And even though everything in me wanted to bolt out the door and avoid new people, I let it happen.  I even took it upon myself to seek my aunt out when it looked like she'd forgotten.  Again, I was compelled.  And you know what?  I went.  I didn't know a single person in that congregation except for a woman I'd barely just met.  Truth be told, don't tell her I told you, but when she saw me come into the church and was all excited to see me and gave me a big hug... I didn't even recognize her.  That's how little I knew the only person that I knew.  But I went.  Me... the shyest person I've ever known.
     And it was my children's first experience with a church.  We went weekly for a long time.  We made friends and went to events, it was life changing for me.  And now?  We don't go so much.  Things happened and circumstances got in the way of us going for a while.  And though those circumstances have since changed, I haven't dared to start bringing them back yet.  Here's why:

     My kids publicly humiliate me on a daily basis.  In fact, losing my vehicle may have been the best thing to happen to my will to live in years.  And here's the thing, I'm not the kind of person who can laugh it off and bounce back.  Nope, I'm that timid little girl who wrung her hands when she had to be on stage and nearly cried as she mouthed the words so no one would hear her sing... that's me.  Now picture everyone else on that stage and in that audience pointing and laughing... that's how my kids make me feel.  They used to be so good for me in public.  We'd have a very serious discussion before entering the store about acceptable behavior and such, and leave the store in practically one piece emotionally, treat in hand for reward.  They weren't perfect, but good.  Now?  Well, every other trip to the store ends in tears for me.  And it's not like I can afford a second trip, so I have to finish what I'm getting or go without for the week.

     I know what you're thinking, maybe I don't discipline them enough, maybe I'm not consistent, maybe I spoil them.  I can assure, you I discipline them enough.  I feel like I am always disciplining them, sometimes I worry I am too strict.  I especially feel that way when I see other parents who never raise their voice, have the patience of a monk, and kids that seem to practically raise themselves.  I try to be consistent, as consistent as my memory allows.  There were a couple times I forgot a kid was supposed to be in time out and they snuck away, or when I've forgotten a kid was grounded and they got away with video games for the day.  But for the most part, I've done the best I can.  I can't snap my fingers and have a better memory, so it is what it is.  As far as spoiled, maybe you have a point there.  I did try my best over the summer to make sure that every day had so much free fun jammed in it that we'd pass out by day's end.  And we did definitely have a blast.  Maybe they are having a hard time grasping the reality of the school year being back in full swing.  But we're half way through the year, so you know... time to shape up and be grateful for the months that we had.

     Point is, taking them to church would pretty much be the icing on the cake for me, it would be like "Hey fellow gentle people, look at my poorly raised children cause a ruckus in your quiet place of worship, and watch me cry as I wrangle them up with the speed and grace of a two legged tortoise.  We'll see you next week when we host our very own sibling brawl in pew no. 3!"

     I've done my best to raise them, I really have.  There were times when I should have protected them better, defended them better, had more patience, had more strength.  But no human is perfect and I certainly have my weaknesses.  Time to try what I haven't tried.  Time to be a better role model myself and set a better, more Christianly example.
     It's my biggest resolution this year, to build a happier home that's more peaceful and Word-oriented.  I know that my kids and I can get there, it's just a matter of taking the steps.  And right there to help us on our way is the perfect guide, God Give Us Christian Homes, a book by Jim Faughn.

     This book has so many wonderful insights and truths from times long gone and also from the present.  It really brings you to see things that you didn't see before.  I feel like I'm not alone when I'm reading this book.  I feel like there's been thousands of years of parents going thorough the exact struggles that I am... and that's because there have been.
      From Adam and Eve and all the way up through there have been struggles just as I'm having.  Different, sure.  Kids even a hundred years ago never heard, "No electronics for a week".  But the disrespect, the bad manners and sibling rivalry, it's always been there.  This book gives help with finding the purpose in discipline and what's meant to be gained from it, including respect, among many other useful things.

     I'll be using this book to find a better normal for my kids and myself.  And since I was sent a second book by mistake, I'm offering you that same chance.  Don't worry, I was told to give it away.  So here's the thing, just enter with this neat little Rafflecopter tool below and that's it!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Eight

*Property of A Holy Land Experience

     That's how many days in the year have presented themselves to me and I am just now sitting down with the notion that I should be grateful.  I think sometimes that it occurs to me more often to do a Joy Dare when I am in need of one, when I'm feeling overwhelmed, angry, and depressed and I need to remember what I have to be happy about.  It doesn't often occur to me to do one when I am genuinely already feeling that way.  But there sure is a lot to be happy about, so here I go with my first Joy Dare of the year!  I won't get around to the dare every day because I am awful at routine, but feel free to join me and comment what you are joyful for, or head on over to A Holy Land Experience to download it for yourself and do it with your family or yourself.  It makes for a great journal entry each day.
     Anyway, here we go!
     January 8th - Dusky Light, Surprising Reflection, Lovely Shadow.

..... Reeeeaaally?  I finally sit down to do one and I get a puzzle.  Okay, let's make the best of this...

1. Dusky Light - Last night I had a product that needed to be tested before sundown.  I wasn't super eager to go outside and set it up because it's winter and I hate the cold.  But Punk was looking to get favor points to earn her phone back, so I took advantage and snagged her company.  She made it more enjoyable and even though it was getting to be dusk and she's terrified of the dark, she didn't complain at all, not once.  And later, she even went out in the dark to help her grandmother bring in groceries.  She angers me like nothing else, but yesterday she did good and I'm glad for it.

2.  Surprising Reflection - *sigh*  So this one is hard.  I'm not for big words and this one stumps me a little bit.  So I'm gonna go with this, and I'm not sure if it's more of a reflection or a realization, but I took some extra time and effort into last week.  I didn't allow myself any down time, I was up until 5 some mornings doing testing on different products I had gotten.  I did this so I could have more time to work on the house.  But what I ended up doing with my spare time (for the most part) was spend it with the kids.  Technically I was still on the computer for most of it, but I wasn't "busy".  We played Scene It, played a pop-up Cinderella game, watched movies, we did lots of things that I am usually too busy to do.  I usually get stressed and overwhelmed.

     While reflecting on all this, I've realized that I really need to stop working when the kids get home because I do actually LIKE hanging out with them.  I need to just get things done while most of them are in school and hang out in the afternoons.  This week has been less of a burden and more of a blessing, so I am thankful for that.

3. Lovely Shadow - Again, I'm stretching the meaning of the word, but whatevs.  See that girl up there?  I sometimes call her Girlfriend, but her official alias here is Baby Bee.  She is indeed lovely, very lovely.  Of all my kids, this one is the angel, she's the good one.  She almost never misbehaves, calls names, is mean... she's a perfect little peanut.  She's exactly like I was when I was a kid.  For that I am grateful.  I worry, mind you... it's not easy being so shy and reserved, but she has a fire in her that I didn't have, so I think she'll be alright.  But I'm grateful in the sense that when I had kids, I really didn't expect it to be the way it is.  I assumed that because I was a kid once, I knew what kids were like and raising them wouldn't be so bad.

     WRONG!  I was a very abnormal kid, I'm coming to find.  I'm not saying I did nothing wrong.  I went through a lying phase when I was 7 or so, I once put tacks on my sister's bed when I was mad at her, and I sneaked a drink here and there in high school.  But generally speaking, I didn't do much to merit punishment of any kind.  And my little shadow, she's just like that.  She's what I imagined my kids would be like.  I am soooooo thankful for her.  She is always making me feel better.  When I'm mad and yelling, she ALWAYS says "I love you, Mom" and turns me around.  When I cry, she lays down and snuggles with me until I'm better.  Just one hug from her and my cares literally melt away, like sugar in water.  Of course I love hugs from all my kids.  But there's something magic in her hugs and I'm grateful for that magic.

     So that's my dare today.  I do have a bit more work to do that will be done while the kids are home, mostly reading.  Hopefully they get along tonight and I can still find time to play that board game with Baby Bee that she's been wanting to play.  I'll be back later today with a giveaway, so stay tuned!



Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.