Boospire has moved!

Hello to all of the awesome Wonder Women and Supermen who follow our blog.  We just wanted to let you know that we have moved our blog to a new address.  We will still have the same great content, but it will be easier to get to.  Our new web address is boospire.com. We love all of our followers and hope that you will sign up as followers on our new blog.  We look forward to seeing all of you there!

The Boost Team

Today's Quote

When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.
      ~Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers from the child's television show, which I loved.)

Vacation Lodging (Part 2)

      We posted an article a few weeks ago entitled "Vacation Lodging" ( See post here ) where we were talking about how affordable it is to rent a condo or house instead of a hotel room as an option for vacation lodging. Now that we have gone on some of the vacations we mentioned, we thought it would be fun to follow up on that post with some pictures so you can see what amazing accommodations are available at very affordable prices.  We were able to rent this house(in the above pictures) for 3 nights and 4 days for only $77.00 per person.  We couldn't have asked for more comfortable accommodations!

     We rented the condo in the pictures below for only $75.00/night plus a one time cleaning fee of $62.00.  It was very comfortable for our family because we had a full kitchen with fridge, dishwasher, stove and microwave, big screen tv, washer and dryer, king size bed and sofa sleeper, and a private deck. We also had access to 3 pools, hot tubs and playgrounds for the kids.

We hope this information helps you to plan amazing vacations with your families!

Today's Quote

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour(1) as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
       ~St Mark 12: 30-31

(1) Spelling copied from the King James Bible

Affirmation of the week

God is my source and supply for all material and spiritual substance.

Banana Bread

                                                                                                                                                                1/3 C.  Butter
2/3 C.  Granulated Sugar
2  Eggs (slightly beaten)
1 C.  Mashed bananas
1 3/4 C.  Flour
2 tsp.  Baking powder
1/2 tsp.  Soda
3/4 tsp.  Salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Cream together butter and sugar
• Add eggs and bananas
• Mix together thoroughly
• In separate bowl mix together: flour, baking powder, soda and salt
• Pour into wet ingredients
• Stir only until mixed thoroughly. (Do not over stir)
• Scoop into a greased bread pan
• Bake for 1 hour on 350 degrees
• Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan

Yield: 1 Loaf

This recipe can easily be modified to make it much more nutritious.  This makes it great for a snack to send to school or to have prepared when the children get home from school.

 These are our suggestions:
1. Raw cane sugar can be used in place of the granulated sugar.
2.You can also use whole wheat flour instead of white flour, but you would want to use a little less whole wheat flour because it is heavier than white flour.
3. We also like to use sea salt and aluminum free baking powder in all of our recipes.
4. Use organic eggs instead of regular eggs

* Note:  Costco is a great place to purchase organic eggs, raw cane sugar and Aluminum free baking powder at affordable prices.

Today's Quote

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision.  They have to have the skill and the will, but the will must be stronger than the skill.
       ~Muhammed Ali

Saying Good Bye to Summer Fun

Summer officially ends on September 21, but  Labor Day weekend signifies the end of the summer season because it is the last big holiday weekend of the summer.   Gone are the hot summer days spent working in the yard, going camping, swimming, and taking early morning walks.  Gone also are the long summer evenings spent sitting on the porch swing while the children play night games with their friends. This always makes me feel quite melancholy. This Labor Day weekend was no exception. I was feeling a little blue.

I woke up today to a cool fall morning and was surprised to find that I was actually feeling a little bit of excitement. The crisp air made me want to start a fire in the fireplace to sit by while we enjoyed a cup of coffee.  It made me want to set out all of my fall decorations and turn on my Scentsy warmer to make my home smell like cinnamon and cloves. I realized that, even though, I love summer TREMENDOUSLY, the change of the season can be very invigorating and give a jump start to the soul.

I started thinking of all the wonderful things that Autumn brings that I don't get to enjoy any other time of the year. I  remembered how much I love feeling the cool breezes that comes through my bedroom window at night, and the wind blowing through my hair when I go for a walk. I thought about how exhilarating it is to sit under the quaking aspen trees and watch their golden leaves glisten in the sunlight as the branches blow in the wind before the leaves break off, swirl in the breeze and fall to the ground. I could almost smell the aromatic scent of the forest that is a mixture of the wild flowers and plants drying in the fields and the leaves that are starting to decay on the ground. It made me feel refreshed!

So, I guess the time has come to trade in my shorts for long pants, my flip flops for shoes and socks, and my sleeveless shirts for long sleeves and jackets. I will set aside my long summer nights, and enjoy wrapping in a light blanket while gazing at the beautiful Harvest moon.  People say, "All good things must come to and end". I say, "It isn't the end. It is just the beginning of a new, wonderful season in my life".  I am ready to continue on my life's journey!

~Elizabeth

Today's Quote

Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.
       ~Josh Billings

A Great Birthday Photoshoot Idea

I am a bit obsessed with pictures. When I have a baby I do my best to get their pictures professionally taken within a couple of weeks of the birth, around three months, six months, nine months, and a year. After that it gets way less, but still. I like to do my kids pictures at least once a year.

In keeping with my photography OCD I had my baby's pictures taken when he turned one year. My friend is a photographer so she came up with an idea for a darling photo shoot. She got two pieces of white beadboard, one for the base and one for the background, and I made and decorated a cake. We let my son eat/demolish the cake, which we set on the beadboard, and took pictures. Super easy and super cute. She did it with her son when he turned one year, and we did it with mine for his birthday. I love the pictures. I think it's darling. I thought it was an idea worth sharing. Here are a few pictures from the shoot.

And before he demolished the cake we took a few pictures with his singing doll. This was one of his birthday presents. Obviously, he loved it!

Sunday's Quote

We had a few technical difficulties so this quote is coming a day late... but here it is!

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
      ~Psalm 55:22

Affirmation of the Week

I am willing to release the need to be unworthy. I am worthy of the very best in life, and I now lovingly allow myself to accept it.

              ~Taken from You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay

Make Your Own Tile Coasters

I stayed at my mom's house last weekend. While we were having coffee Sunday morning she mentioned that she wished she had some coasters but every time she went to buy them, she was put off by the prices. I mean, seriously, $20.00 for a set of four seems a bit much. So, while surfing the web I found a tutorial for homemade coasters. Lightbulb moment! "I'll just make Mom some coasters!" I thought. And that's what I did. They were super easy and they turned out darling.

Homemade Tile Coasters

What you'll need:
4 tiles - $0.16 cents at home depot
scrapbook paper in whatever style you choose
Mod Podge - $6.00 at hobby lobby, but I used a coupon so I got it for $4.00 or something like that. I think you can get this at any craft store
Clear spray paint - $4.00 at Home Depot
16 felt circles or squares - $3.00 at Home Depot BUT I saw them at Joann's today for $6.00 and it looked like there were a lot in the package. So, you may want to price them out.

Total cost: Somewhere between ten and twelve dollars. However, the mod podge I can use for a ton of other crafts since I barely used any of it, and I have left over spray paint. I can make a few more sets of coasters if I want. So, one time investment of $12.00. Future cost for more coasters, probably closer to $5.00, maybe even less. Cheap, original, and fabulous!

To make the coasters take one tile and trace it onto the back of your scrapbook paper (If you want the sides of the tile covered with paper, you'll need to make the square bigger and you may need to trim the corners. I just traced it to the size of the tile. It was easy and still worked great). I used one style of paper for all of mine, but I think it would be fun to use different coordinating styles to create a set.

After you trace the square cut them out then cover the top of one tile with mod podge. I stuck my hand in a plastic bag and wiped it onto the tile because I didn't have a paint brush. It worked pretty well. A paint brush would work as well. After you cover the tile put one of the square of paper on top of the tile, line it up evenly with the edges, and smooth it out.

It should look like this:

Repeat this step for all four tiles.

After I'd glued the paper to my tiles I put some mod podge on my finger and smoothed the tiny lip of the paper over the edge of the tile. Like this:

I didn't leave any mod podge visible. I made sure it was all wiped away.

The following step I did but I did it too late. So make sure you do this. After you get all your paper on your tiles, wipe mod podge over the entire thing. Mod podge is a glaze so when it dries it should give it more of a glass appearance. I did this after I applied a coat of paint. I think it would have worked better before I applied the paint. After you apply the mod podge, let the tiles dry and then take the project outside or to a well-ventilated area such as an open garage.

Here is a tile with a coat of mod podge on top of it. The tile to the left is drying. The tile to the right I had barely applied before I took the pic.

Paint all of your tiles with a coat of clear spray paint. The can said to keep it sixteen inches or something from the surface you're aiming for. I didn't. I was more like four inches from my tiles. I wanted them to look like they had a thick glaze so I applied a thick coat of paint. It seemed to work.

I let the first coat of paint dry for twenty minutes or so... until it felt dry when I touched it. Then I applied a second coat, this time thicker than the first. I also sprayed the paint around the sides of the coasters. The can was probably two inches from the tile. I wanted a good, thick coat because I didn't want to run the risk of the paper coming up or something silly like that. Again, I let it dry for a while. The can said twenty minutes, but I put on a thick coat so I let it dry a little longer. Just to be safe. :)

When that was done, I stuck the felt pads to the bottom of the coasters. They were pre-sticky so I just peeled off the backing and stuck them in the corners.

Ta-Da! My coasters were done.

These coasters were ridiculously easy. If you want some fun coasters, definitely make some! It was well worth it and they were cheaper than I was going to get at the store. If I ever get wood furniture (mine is tile right now) I'll probably make myself some.

Oh. P.S. Don't do this:

See, sometimes I'm a bit of a ditz. I was thinking, "Okay. The paint is clear so it should be fine to paint my tiles on the cement. It'll dry clear. No one will ever know." Yeah... not so much. Now I have four perfectly square spots on my cement. Whoops.

P.P.S. Here is a link to the site where I found the original coasters. They used smaller felt pads so their coasters didn't stick up as high. I like that better. When you're looking for them, look for the smaller ones :D

Today's Quote

~Author Unknown

Fire!!!

Last week lightning struck the hill near my home, starting a fire. I didn't know it had happened until I went outside and saw it burning. It wasn't right next to my house, but it was close enough that I was a little nervous. Last year I watched a fire which was started miles and miles away from my in-laws house blaze over the mountain and nearly burn their house down. So, when the fire was less than two miles away, I was nervous. I've seen how quickly things can go from under control to "Crap, you've gotta run!"

I live in a rural area. I have three close neighbors, all of whom I am close to. They happened to be gone when the fire hit. So I'm thinking "Okay, parents are gone. Kids are with teenage sitters. Crap, I'm the only adult." And then I'm thinking, "What do I need to save if this turns ugly?" So I wander through my house and gather up everything I had that was important to me. What did I grab? My computer. My external hard drive. It has all of my eight thousand plus pictures, all of my friend's pictures, and all of my writing files. Definitely grabbing that. I grabbed my CD cases because they also hold pictures, though they are the same ones that are on my hard drive. And since I was grabbing my pictures I figured I may as well grab my movies. I would have been fine to lose them but I had time so why not? All of my movies are organized in CD cases so they were super easy to grab. I also got all of our important documents such as birth certificates and passports. Then I wandered through and grabbed what I thought I would like to have, just in case. So I got odds and ends, some jewelry, some material, some books, etc and some clothes. I was going to get more clothes if the fire decided to take a turn from the worst, but that was the last thing I was going to do because I didn't want a nasty mess on my hands if nothing happened.

I also texted my neighbors (all except one, who I completely spaced because her kids weren't home) and asked them what they'd like me to save in the event of a problem. So, I pawed through their things and found hard drives, picture CD's, SD cards, a journal, and important documents. I was going to save it all.

Lucky for me, the fire didn't get out of hand. I saw the emergency vehicles driving up to it, spraying their water on it. I saw an airplane flying around, which apparently was dropping water. One of the mom's of the kids that were left home couldn't get in - they'd set up a road block and wouldn't let her through - so she was keeping me informed on what was going on on that front. For the record, I thought that was completely assinine. Two of the adults were coming home to their kids but the police wouldn't let them through, even though the kids had been left with sitters. I couldn't believe it. What if the fire had suddenly gone bad? Ridiculous. But that's another story.

So, what did I learn from this experience? To have anything important to you in a place that's easy to find and easy to grab because sometimes you're not the one saving your stuff. My neighbors had everything in an accessible place. With a little direction, I found it. I was pretty impressed, actually. But it would have been better for them if they could have said "Hey, everything we need to make sure gets out is right here in this once place." A safe or something. Because if the fire had gone bad, I wouldn't have been running around trying to find everything. I would have split and left their stuff behind. And, if the roles had been reversed, they would have been running around trying to find my stuff because it isn't all in one place. So, to protect those things that are important to you, I suggest a safe or, at the very least, a specific location so they're easy to find and easy to grab. You never know when you'll need that organization.



Here's the fire. It doesn't look very close or very big, but it was close enough and big enough to have me a little nervous.

Today's Quote

Woman was put on earth to be man's equal, to stand by his side and to be a helpmate for him. If this were not so, then man wouldn't need the woman to enter the Celestial Kingdom. Man cannot enter the Celestial Kingdom without the woman, nor the woman without the man. Neither is complete without the other.
         ~Lawrence Tooley, I Saw Heaven!

Vacation Lodging

Planning vacations is my passion.  I love it! It doesn't matter to me if I am the one going on the trip.  I just enjoy making the arrangements.  I have planned a few trips during the past few years where I discovered that hotels aren't always the best lodging choice. It is often times very affordable to rent a house or a condo instead of a hotel room.  The nice thing about this is that you have access to a full kitchen and living room.  Some of them also have their own patios, pools and decks.

  I recently rented a huge home for a 3 night stay. This home had 6 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, and slept 14 people.  It was beautifully decorated and furnished.  It was a beautiful home with vaulted ceilings, a master bedroom to die for, a pool table, a beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops, flat screen tv, tv's in some of the bedrooms and had it's own private pool, hot tub, and deck.  It only cost us a total of $1080.00.  This averaged out to be less than $75.00 a person for the whole three nights which made it very affordable.

Having our own home to stay in also made our trip more affordable because we were able to cook our food in the home. This saved us a lot of money because we didn't have to go to restaurants for every meal.  It was also great to have access to a full size fridge. We also enjoyed having the pool to use when ever we wanted without having to share it with anyone else.

It is very simple to find homes and condos for rent when you are planning a vacation.  Just get into your web browser and do a search.  I used google.  Type in "Homes and condos for rent in........"  enter whatever city you are going to.  It will pull up many options to search through.  Spend a little time searching through these sites until you have found what you are looking for.  Many times they will require you to e-mail someone for more information.  They are usually good about responding quickly and it is worth the wait. When you rent a home or condo, they will charge you the price that they quote on their site, applicable taxes and usually a cleaning fee. I have found that the prices are usually pretty comparable to hotel prices, even with the cleaning fee, but the accommodations are sometimes much better.

I am in the process of planning a few more trips.  Once again I found condos that work out perfectly for the groups that we are taking.  For one of the trips, we are only paying an extra $30.00 over the cost of the hotel rooms I originally had reserved.  On the other trip, we are saving $250.00 over what we would have been paying at the hotel that I had reserved rooms at.  The cool thing is that our accommodations will be much better.  Not only do we have full kitchen's, living rooms etc., but we also have access to multiple pools, tennis courts, volley ball and even a health spa.

Check out home and condo rentals next time you plan a trip and see how easy and affordable it can be.  It will help to make your trip amazing!

Today's Quote

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
       ~Proverbs 16:3

Affirmation of the Week

I know that I deserve Love and accept it now!

The Quest and the Quill

I have two blogs that I update regularly. Boospire is the first blog. You all know what this one is about. My second blog, which is solely mine (Mom and I share boospire and I'm very glad we do!) is all about writing,because that is my passion, and following your passion, because following a passion is a journey and the things I've learned I believe are worth sharing. So, that being said, I published a post on my blog that I think might have some value for others. If you want to read more of my blog you can visit my blog here.

Keep Going Even When it Hurts

Remember how I said that part of following a passion or goal is getting yourself in a good place emotionally? Yeah, I wasn't kidding. Unfortunately, you can't always avoid those drops that stick you in the black hole. The trouble is, once you're there, digging yourself back out of that hole usually seems impossible. For me, it's like trying to climb up walls of soft dirt so every move up the wall crumbles beneath me and I slide back down. Sound familiar? I hope not.
Guess what, the hole sucked me up today. Hi hole, how are you? Oh, you're deep today. Nice.
Fortunately, I do this often enough that I've learned a few tricks to pulling myself out. The sucky part, is that I haven't yet learned how to stay out of the darn hole. It seems to like me.
Anyway, here's what I've learned.

• 1. Don't allow yourself to stay in 'the hole'. If you throw a pity party, you're never leaving. Usually that's what I want to do. Sit down and give up, tell the hole he won. But if you do this, he really does win and you end up miserable. If you must throw a pity party, make it quick then get your butt in gear!
• 2. Don't listen to the hole. Okay, so I sound crazy. There isn't a hole and it most definitely doesn't talk. But the hole is a mindset and it's a very mean, brutal, nasty mindset. It likes to make you feel like crap. It's very good at making you feel like crap. So what is it telling you? Well, it usually tells me that I am really bad at what I'm trying to do (Okay, it tells me I suck). That usually morphs into telling me I'm an awful mom and the worst housewife ever. Then it gets worse. It starts telling me to give up because it's all pointless anyway. What's the use in trying when every time it gets better it usually follows that it gets worse? Give up. Quit. Be done with it all. Stop dreaming. Stop living. You'll be better off. Ouch. Whack. Thump. Smash. Crack. The words beat against my resolve. STOP!!!!!! I finally scream. Get out! I don't want you here!
• 3. Which leads me to my third point. Do the opposite of whatever the nasty little hole is telling you to do. If it's telling you to quit, don't! If it's tells you to give up, try harder. If it tells you to be done with it all, power through it and keep going! Because, inevitably, you will rise from this hole and you will get back to a place where you can think rationally again. Those screaming voices will fade until they become just an annoying hum in the background.
• 4. Surround yourself with the positive. I know I keep saying this, but it's the best way I know to improve something that's really difficult. If you're focusing on all the negatives in your life, you're going to get a lot of negative. Trust me. I know. I do this. But I've learned that when I really focus on the positive I can view life in a better light and good things just seem to come my way. My problem is that once I'm in a good place, I forget to keep up the positive and the negative slowly comes back. Then guess what happens? Yep. The hole opens its gaping mouth and I fall in. So surround yourself with the positive! Fill your head with positive phrases, thank God daily for all the positive, wonderful things in your life. If you can't find any, then thank him for your health and the ability to breathe. Stick affirmations all over your house, things like I love who I am and I love being me or My life is filled with joy. Whatever you want to be, those are the thoughts that need to fill your head.

When you get back to a positive place, it's so much easier to see your goals and passions as achievable things, so do everything you can to get there. Don't let the hole win. I won't. I'm going to keep going today. And eventually I'll win my fight with 'the hole' and I won't slide into it anymore. Until then, I will move forward because that's what I do.