Tag: 2020

My Sermon Notes for Goal Setting

This week, I heard a wonderful sermon. If you’re like me, the best sermons are those that give you immediate action items, or contain a message that you can immediately apply to your life. If you’re also like me, the sermon doesn’t have to be overly-religious and doctrine-heavy for it to touch you right in your soul.

A quick little backstory. I attended a ceremony this weekend because my uncle was installed as the pastor of a small church on Saturday. It’s been a looooong road and it was only further complicated by restrictions related to COVID. But after a multi-year process, he was selected, relocated from overseas, and installed this weekend.

So as you can imagine, it was a really joyous occasion. There were quite a few speakers, and one pastor spoke a message that I had to actually whip out my notebook and jot down notes about. It was motivating and relevant in so many ways, particularly when it comes to me and my goals. So here’s my take-away from that sermon, and how I plan to relate each point to my goals this week.

1 | Do Not Look Back

When you look back, you have to take your eyes off of your target. Taking your eyes off your target keeps you from moving forward. The best way to continue progressing towards your goals is to use the knowledge gained from your past to propel you forward, but do not dwell on what is done. Keep focused on the target you’ve set, and maintain that forward progress.

2 | Look to the East

This one hit me particularly hard. I am past my quarter-life crisis, and haven’t quite hit my mid-life crisis, but there are times I feel like life is passing me by. While I know there is *hopefully* a lot of life to live, I also know I’m no spring chicken. It can sometimes feel like setting new goals is pointless. But this sermon reiterated that no matter how many sunsets have passed, new goals and adventures await. Instead of looking to the west at sunsets past, look to the east for new horizons. No matter what age or what station you are in in life, there is work to be done, goals to be set, missions to be accomplished. It’s very important not to lose sight of that.

3 | Stretch Forward

We all do this. We all question our decisions. We question how we got here. We question if we’re doing the right thing and we worry about what we did wrong. Like a runner about to cross the finish line, it doesn’t matter how you started the race; what’s important is how you finish. Fix your eyes on where you want to go, set your sights on your goal, and stretch towards the finish line. Don’t give up. Finish the race.

Whew! When I tell you this message hit me in my soul, IT HIT ME IN MY SOUL!!! I did not really expect anything more than a few church formalities this weekend. And quite honestly, the sermon was not even for me. It was a motivation speech directed towards my uncle from a pastor mentor of his. But I could not have been more motivated and more blessed by his encouraging words. I was ready to run home and start planning! Of course I couldn’t–I still had family duties. lol. But I definitely jotted down thoughts for later.

Do you take notes during sermons? Or do you absorb the word in real time. I struggle between being present mentally during sermons or making sure I don’t forget what was said so that I can review and reflect on it later. Somehow I always wind up reaching for my notebook to take notes. Maybe one day I’ll try to keep it all in my head. These tidbits were too good to risk forgetting.

justamarylandgirl

Simple DIY Photo Frame Upgrade

Me and my spraypaint were at it again this week. This time I did a super easy, super cute upgrade to some basic silver frames that I got from the Dollar Tree.

As is, these frames were cute and inexpensive but I thought adding a gold dipped corner may add a little umph to them.

I started with these two basic silver frames. I really liked that they came with a matte border if you choose to use it…which I did.

Using blue painters tape, I taped around the frame, leaving one corner exposed to be painted. I did two really light coats of spray paint for each frame, letting the first layer dry about an hour before putting on the second coat.

Then using my canva app/website (if you don’t use this, and you do a lot of design work or social media graphics, I suggest trying it), I created some simple text for my frames.

I printed them, cut them to size and popped them into the frames super easy!

I love how they came out! They look super cute on my entry way shelf!

Let me know if you like this and try something similar. I love Dollar Tree (or budget) DIY’s! Especially when they are easy.

Like my “Hello” and “Goodbye” signs?? Subscribe to my email list and I’ll send you the “Hello” and “Goodbye” sign downloadables as my way of saying thank you! Who doesn’t love a free printable??

justamarylandgirl

DIY BUDGET SUNBURST MIRRORS

I am in love with the boho basket wall and sunburst mirror trend. It’s such a soothing and simple aesthetic, and even better, it’s quite budget friendly to create!

You can easily find cute baskets in your local thrift store. You can incorporate some fun touches like paint or tassels and effortlessly design a personal piece that suits your specific space.

Due to COVID-19, shopping and browsing and thrifting has been off the table for me for the most part. I have allowed myself an occasional dash through the dollar store. And I have definitely placed SEVERAL curbside or delivery orders from Michael’s, Target, and Walmart over the past few months.

So I decided to try my hand at creating sunburst mirrors to go with the existing rattan mirrors I had on my living room wall, and I love the way they turned out!

With a few clicks of the mouse, I had all of my materials acquired. And with a few squirts of the glue gun, my mirrors were all assembled. Here’s what I did!

I gathered my materials.

For the small sunburst, I used two packs of wooden dowels from dollar tree and a 5″ mirror from Michael’s.

For the large sunburst, I used 1.25 packs of bamboo skewers from Walmart and a 10″ mirror from Michael’s.

Using my glue gun, I glued the sticks around the back of the mirrors. Space the sticks however you’d like. There’s really no wrong or right…it will all look cute! Notice that the glue job is not super perfect. Trust me, that’s ok. The impefections kinda just add to the boho aesthetic.

Then I cut a circle out of cardboard. I just used the box from some of the packages I’ve had delivered…use whatever you have lying around, and if you don’t have cardboard, improvise. I’m sure there are many things laying around the house that would work just as well.

So…I adhered the cardboard to the back of the mirror with my glue gun. I layered additional smaller pieces of cardboard on top of each other to create a reinforced area to insert the hook that I’m going to use for hanging. Because these mirrors are so lightweight, even with the sticks, the backing doesn’t have to be super heavy duty.

Once the backing was glued on, I twisted my hook into the cardboard. No tools were required …I just twisted it by hand. Super simple!

And then my mirrors were all ready to hang! Joila!

Is this something you would try? Have you created any home decor pieces lately? I’d love to hear about them!

justamarylandgirl

Wine Down Wednesday: how to host a virtual wine-tasting

So….who misses wine festivals???

THIS GIRL!!!

For me, in addition to the normal activities, summers are made for discovering new wines, visiting local wineries, and going to wine festivals. I love visiting wineries and attending wine festivals. With the exception of beaches, cookouts, and vacations, it’s what I live for during the summer.

When it comes to wine festivals, I usually start working on plans during the winter. I brainstorm with my usual festival crew, find ticket deals and figure out lodging options if necessary. Then once summer kicks off, we are all set for wine festival season.

As far as visiting wineries, any day or weekend throughout the summer could lead me to a local winery. I’m lucky that I live in Maryland, which has an awesome plethora of wineries and trails. And I live close to Virginia, which has wonderful wine trails as well. So no matter what my mood or what direction I want to travel in, there’s a good chance I can pass several really good winery options. It’s so easy to build a weekend, a staycation, or a hookie day around visiting a winery nearby, no matter the season. But summers really are made for winery visits.

Covid has wrecked all plans for wine-related activities this year with the exception of purchasing a bottle and drinking it in the house. And that makes me oh, so sad. Like…really really sad.

Times are different now. And unfortunately Covid is our current reality. For me, I am still primarily still sticking to quarantine procedures. I stay in my home or I go out in open spaces, like parks. When I visit family members, we always remain outside and we stay six feet apart. And no hugging…which really really sucks.

I am not visiting restaurants except for curbside pick-up. I do quick grocery store runs. And when it comes to Target, it’s a quick twirl through the store to gather items, or I put in pick-up orders through the app. Everything else for me is off the table. And unfortunately, for now, that includes visiting wineries and attending festivals.

So since I miss girl time with my friends, and I miss wineries, my besties and I decided to try out doing a virtual wine tasting. Sooooo not the same, but satisfied our interest in finding new yummy wines, as well as our craving for social activities with each other.

So here’s what we did.

1) Select wines:
We didn’t have strict requirements for this because, without ample planning and a cushion time for delivery, we are kinda limited to the wines in our local liquor store. or wines that we already have on-hand.

2) Research facts:
When you go wine tasting, typically the host or hostess will tell you some fun facts about the vineyard or its owners, and then add some facts about the wine itself. What notes to expect, what smells and tastes will be experienced, what grapes it was made with, and how best to serve and enjoy the wine. So we looked up tidbits of information about the wines we chose.

3) Set up the Zoom/Hangouts call:
Everyone is all about zoom these days! Where has this app been all our lives?? Unless someone has an unlimited account, the max time for the free account is 40 minutes. So…plan accordingly! Luckily, bestie had an unlimited account and we were able to do our tastings, and chat while drinking more wine…without worrying about time restrictions. Find your meeting app, and set up your time.

4) Sample your wine:
We made sure we did our sampling during the video, so that we could observe initial reactions and subsequent flavor processing. I guess that helped us feel like the tasting was similar to the experience we’d have if we were together at a winery, sampling the wine for the first time. Wines change as they aerate, and sometimes that changed our perceptions of the wines during the tasting.

5) Have a rating system:
We went with the typical scale of 1 to 10 for the first meeting. Maybe we will get creative for the next round and use wine bottles or grape vines or something fancy. But 1-10 got the job done this time. Included in our rating system was our initial thoughts, whether things changes after first, second and third sips, whether we’d purchase the wine again, and why or why not.

Here are the wines we sampled for our first Wine Down Wednesday:

Liebe Winemaker’s Collection Riesling – Wegman’s $7.99

Menage Trois Luscious Pinot Noir – Local wine shop $15.99


Aged in French and American oak, containing notes of black cherry, raspberry, dark chocolate, vanilla and mocha. Pairs well with fish, seafood, and barbecue.

Von Hovel Riesling – Local wine shop $25

Notes include fruit flavors, such as peach, pear, and glazed apricot. Slightly fizzy. A sweeter riesling that is described as being a dessert wine.

It was completely by accident that we wound up sampling various price points but it was definitely great to have that as a factor of consideration, along with where the bottle was purchased. Ie., “if you’re in Wegman’s and want to grab an inexpensive bottle of wine to go with dinner, try the Liebe Riesling!”

The funnest part of the whole evening may have been drinking and chatting afterwards. We truly miss the in-person shenannigans that we’re accustomed to, so this was really a fun way to connect, learn about new wines, and catch up.

How have you been keeping up with your friends and loved ones? Socializing is so different these days. In addition to various zoom gatherings, I do find myself picking up the phone more often to ask questions and do check-ins. What have you been doing?

justamarylandgirl