Love Looks Like Fall Potpourri

LOVE looks like fall in our home.

And nothing screams fall like a delicious smelling home.
Each year I share this recipe. So, if you haven't made this yet,well, you're not the brightest hammer in the shed.

I am a HUGE fan of scented candles, pumpkin spice being my absolute favorite. I would have one burning all day long if I could afford it. Quite a few years ago I found a recipe online for simmering potpourri that you can make yourself. The scent that permeates your home from this blessed concoction can only be explained as heavenly!

I thought I would share

Joanne's World Famous Simmering Potpourri 

so your home can smell just as delicious.

5-10 cinnamon sticks

1 heaping tbsp whole cloves

2-3 bay leaves

1/2 sliced lemon

1/2 sliced orange


Put all ingredients in a pot of water on your stove.
Simmer over low heat, checking regularly so it doesn't boil over or burn out all water.


Now go and make your house smell like fall!

Nashville, I Think I LOVE You

Our home this week has been called by a different name...Nashville. The state of Tennessee has been home to us for the past six days. Two of our four children went with my husband and I to spy out the land.

The Lord scattered a few bread crumbs out this way and we've done our best to follow His lead. Being born and bred Californians, we thought we knew a thing or two about the south. We discovered we underestimated Tennessee in a few areas:

*The people are even nicer than we'd been told.

*There is a church on EVERY corner. Seriously. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a church. How do these people ever pick which church to attend?

*People are nicer out here.

*Californians make the argument that there isn't much diversity out this way. They seem to think they are king of the hill in the "diversity-department". WRONG. This area is more diverse than where I live in Northern California.

*Have I mentioned the people are nicer here?

LOVE this week in our home looks like Nashville, Tennessee.

How about you?
What does LOVE look like in your home?

Grab a button and link up below.
Share the LOVE.

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LOVE Boarded a Plane

LOVE boarded a plane and flew half-way across country, at ninety-two years of age to see her family one more time.

This here is my Aunt Lahoma from Oklahoma. She moved back to her home state and southern roots a few years ago. As much as she LOVEd California, after my Uncle Marty died, she just had to move back home. My uncle and aunt were married fifty-two years before he passed away. They were adorable together. The kind of couple you'd think of if you had to bring to mind a marriage you wanted yours to be like.

The day he died I called her on the phone. And, for the life of me, I will never forget the words she spoke that day, "Joanne, I just lost the best thing that ever happened to me."

That pretty much sums my aunt and uncle up.

She's actually my great-aunt. The aunt who taught me how to use a salad fork, how to walk in Cuban heels (as she called them), and how to love a husband with all your heart. Growing up, she was at all our family birthdays, Christmas dinners and Thanksgiving gatherings. Her pumpkin cake recipe is still coveted by the family.

Sunday, the six of us drove two hours to spend the afternoon with her at my Aunt Cathy's house. Each time we see her, we wonder if this will be the last time. It makes for a melancholy visit. She is a real southern belle with a splash of California pizazz. I wish everyone could've grown up with their very own "Aunt Lahoma".

This week, over at our house, LOVE boarded a plane at ninety-two years young and flew over 1300 miles to see us.

What does LOVE look like in your home this week?

Grab a button and link up below. Share the LOVE!

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LOVE Drives a Mini-Van

LOVE drives a mini-van in our home.

What does LOVE look like in your home this week?

Grab a button and link up below. Show us the LOVE!

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What does LOVE look like in your home?

What girl doesn't LOVE LOVE?

Every morning and evening, I'm greeted by these on my bathroom counter...vitamins.

Paul is my faithful, vitamin-pusher. There are days when he's left for work already, or I'm rushing to be somewhere, and I'll look down and see my fish oil pill looking up at me from the counter. It reminds me that my LOVE has thought of me at least twice today.

Ok, so fish oil, may not be romantic, but it shouts LOVE to me.

What does LOVE look like in your home this week?

Grab a button and link up below. Show us the LOVE!












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What Does LOVE Look Like In Your Home?

What girl doesn't LOVE LOVE?

I was on my girlfriend's Facebook page yesterday. She's out of town on a mission trip. She wrote on her husband's page, "I'm leaving you a private message." How sweet was that?

Paul attended a conference this week and asked me to pack him a lunch. I made sure to write a private message of my own and carefully place it in between his ham sandwich and blueberries.

LOVE in our home this week looks like yellow Post-It notes tucked away in brown paper sack lunches.

What does LOVE look like in your home this week?

Grab a button and link up below. Show us the LOVE!

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LOVE is in the air!

Welcome friends! It's time to share what LOVE looks like in your home this week. Make sure to grab the "LOVE" button on my sidebar on your right and link up.

Don't worry about the dirty dishes or the dust-bunnies. We don't care about unmade beds or tile grout. We won't say a word. We just want a quick peek in to your very own LOVE-filled home.

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LOVE is in the air - Over at our house!

LOVE in our home this week looks like grandparents! (Aren't they cute!?) My in-laws took the kids away for a whole week. This means my husband and I are enjoying uninterrupted time together.


We are communicating in complete sentences, eating out ALOT, and not having to pick up much around the house. Heaven.


So, this week, over at our house, LOVE looks like two middle-aged grandparents with hearts as big as Texas.





And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

LOVE is in the air!

What girl doesn't LOVE LOVE? Tell me a sappy story about LOVE in action and you've got my full attention.

A few weeks ago I asked you what LOVE looked like in your home. You gave such great answers, that I had to get Jill to make me a button. 

Now, each Wednesday, you can link up here and discover what LOVE looks like in all our blog-friends homes! I hope you will play along.

Grab a button and help get the word out, LOVE is in the air!

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Love bites your tongue.

For me, this week, LOVE was my husband fixing up one of the scariest closets in our house. When I came home Sunday from our women's conference, I discovered he'd cleaned out and re-hung shelves inside.

I felt bad at first. Closets bulging with junk should be something I get around to doing for him. I'm the one not working right now.

Not only did Paul reorganize this space, he showed his LOVE for me in the greatest way possible, by biting his tongue.



And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

What does LOVE look like in your home?

I'm sitting at a coffee shop when most people, even coffee drinkers, should be sleeping.


Why?


Because I love my son.


He is raising a pig for the fair. And I was his ride to the school, so he could feed his pig this morning...at 5:30am.


It got me to thinking about what LOVE has looked like over the years in our home.





LOVE wipes tears and messy bottoms.


LOVE carries sleeping children to bed, and prays over these same little ones before crawling into her own bed.


LOVE sits on hard bleachers for hours, in triple-digit heat, to hear her child's name announced - once.


LOVE gives away the last piece of chocolate cake, and keeps the stale "end" piece for herself.


LOVE reminds you to say thank you, and asks you if you've read your Bible today, even when your fifteen.

LOVE helps you clean under your bed, then refrains from putting you on restriction for the rest of your life.


LOVE watches your made-up dance moves for the 4,398,333 time with a huge smile and a loud clap. Every time.


LOVE says she wants to walk this early in the morning, but really wants to pass by your coffee shop and give you a hug because she misses you.

LOVE wears old sweatshirts and threadbare jeans so you can have the prom dress you've always wanted.


LOVE takes you to the post office to get your very own passport when she's never had one herself.


LOVE drives a minivan.




What does LOVE look like in your home?