Homemaker's Haven, 11/16

Welcome to this week's Homemaker's Haven , sponsored by Stephanie at A High and Noble Calling.

This week Stephanie has thrown down the gauntlet and given us some challenges to complete in five areas:

Begin Your day in God’s Word
*Challenge: Share what you have read in His word that has encouraged you today with others on your blog or in the comments.

I have some thoughts that have been swirling around in my head, bits and pieces of scripture, a sermon, and conversations with others, but it needs a separate post--hopefully to come later in the week, so stay tuned.

Complete Your Morning Routine
*Challenge: Share your morning routine on your blog and cross it out as you complete each item
My morning routine is (or should be) the following:

1. Get groomed and dressed for the day
2. Make bed
3. Make and eat breakfast
4. Start day's routine
5. Prayer and Bible reading/study

(I shared a couple of weeks ago why I think it works better for me on most days to get my day started before I have my prayer and Bible time. To be honest, sometimes it works better, as in I stay awake, but it can be counterproductive if I get distracted or sidetracked by my day--more on that later! :0) )

Have A Plan

*Challenge:Share your to-do list on your blog, cross each item off as you finish it.

1. Wash, dry, hang/fold one load of laundry
2. Cook bulk ground meat for this week's menu plan
3. Empty trash
4. Vacuum
5. Clip this week's coupons and work on coupon binder

What’s For Dinner?
*Challenge: Try to plan a menu out for this week and share it on your blog. Plan at least one meal that you can make from your pantry.

1. Chili for chili dogs
2. Spaghetti
3. Jambalaya
4. Chicken and dumplings
5. Homemade pizza or stuffed bread
6. Mexican cornbread
7. Pot roast

Complete a Project!

*Challenge: Choose a larger project to complete in your home today. Be sure to make it manageable. I find a large project is easier to complete if I set a goal of working on it for a set amount of time per day instead of trying to tackle it all at once (like my basement!).

My big project for this week is start goodie baskets for family we'll be seeing next week for Thanksgiving. We won't get a chance to see them again before Christmas, so that means doing some extensive baking this week and early next week. Watch my food blog, Secrets of a Southern Kitchen, I'll be sharing some recipes and pictures there.

Be sure to visit Stephanie and the other participants in this week's Homemaker's Haven challenge.

What have you done to make your home a haven lately?

Until next time...