Hello Friends!  Thanks for navigating over to the new site for my blog!  I appreciate you stopping by to see my new blog home!  Consider this my “Open House,” full of open doors, warm welcomes, flowers, cookies, punch, and a special surprise!

First, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to take a look around.  On the left side bar you’ll see a list of four different pages that will take you to different places on my blog.  

First, you’ll see Home.  You can always come back to this front page by hitting that Home Widget.

You’ll find a new little bio at the ~Meet Denise.  It tells you about me ~ my simple little life, my loves and some of the quirky things that make me me!  

Next is my Mission.  This is simply the reason behind why I’m writing this blog in the first place!  I want you to know my purpose and my heart ~ you’ll find that there.

Lastly is a huge page full of all my Recipes.  I’m continually adding to this and trying to make sure that all the recipes I post on Monday’s are indexed here so you can find them quickly.  These are all recipes that I have made, so I can tell you how I tweaked it or changed it to make it easier or a little better.  I hope you’ll use this to add some new foods to your table.  If you’re in a rut or need an idea for your weekly menu, I trust you’ll find some inspiration here!

These next paragraphs are for those of you who might not understand all the rest of what’s on the sidebar.  If you’re knowledgeable about all this, please skip on down to the next pink paragraph!

Below the pages list, you’ll see the Search box where you can, well, search a word to find a blog post that would cover that subject. All my posts from my old site are on this new site, so there’s lots of material here!  Therefore, you could search, “Marriage,” “friends,” a recipe name or a million other words, and if a blog post from the last seven years touched on that, it will list all I wrote about that.  Scroll down and see the different posts it lists.

Next is…me, in case you haven’t already seen a bazillion pictures! 

Below my picture is a box that says, “Follow me on Bloglovin‘.”  If you’re not familiar with Bloglovin’, this site allows you to follow your favorite blogs, and it will send you an email whenever they update their site.  You’ll know when a new post is up!  It kind of jogs your mind to check the blog, if you will.  Kind of nice!

My 5 most Recent Posts are listed next.  You can click on any title and it will take you right to that post.

If you want to Follow the Blog via Email, you can do that, too.

Next is a Follow Box.  Why would you follow?  For me, when I see who is following a blog, it kind of tells me whether it’s a site I want to read or not.  You give it validity.  I would love to have more than the One follower I currently have (bless her heart, she joined while I was putting this all together! Thank you).  So, please Follow! =)

Then the last thing on the side bar is the Archives, where you can go to the years past and pull up a month and find a post from that time.  

On each day’s blog post, you’ll see “Leave a reply.”  Hearing from you is a blessing! It helps me to stay connected with you and know better how to serve you as I write.  Share a sentence or two in the box that says, “Enter your comment here.”  If you’re not used to leaving comments, it won’t blow up your computer or give you spam in your email.  Just try it, it’s really simple.  

You’re going to want to leave a reply today because it will enter you into a drawing for a giveaway for a $50 Target gift card!

Yep, just leave a comment today telling me that you have clicked the “Follow” button here on my blog and you’ll be entered in for the Target gift card!  This is simply my way of saying thank you to those who fill read my simple thoughts here!

If you’d like your name in the hat for a second chance to win, make sure you’ve also gone to Facebook and type “RefreshHer” in the search box,  Then “like” my  RefreshHer Facebook page as well.  If you’ve already done that, be sure to tell me that in your comment.

That’s it!  Follow me here and “Like” the Facebook page!  The drawing will end on Saturday night at midnight.  Next Monday I’ll announce the winner!

Thanks for stopping by today to see my new home!  Hope it’s easier to navigate and that you’ll join me here again tomorrow!  I’ll look forward to hearing from you in the comments!

Stay refreshed!

I recently redid the chalkboard drawing on my mantle.  I love it.  Why?  Because the words, “Enjoy the little things” 

serve as a reminder all through the day not to take all the small stuff for granted!  On our birthday, anniversary or Christmas, it’s easy to rejoice in every second of the day, isn’t it?  But on those   ordinary days when the laundry is piled up, the dog gets sick on the carpet, the toilet overflows and you feel like you’re coming down with whatever all the children have, it can be difficult to rejoice in the little things.

What are some of the Little things we need to stop and enjoy?

If you had peeked in from my porch yesterday you would’ve seen that I had the privilege of providing meals for a couple families in our church.  What a blessing!  My kitchen is a favorite way of mine to serve others.  First thing in the morning, I got busy and I doubled my recipe for Sausage Corn Chowder; I gave half to one family and half to the other.

I don’t tell you that to brag, but only to tell you about a lesson that the Lord brought to my heart as I finished up providing for others.  After dishing up the portions for those for whom I had cooked, I was now faced with the meal for my own household.  To be honest, the temptation to do something “easy”, or even suggest we go out was at knocking at my door.  Then the Lord brought to my mind the principle that my home is my first ministry.  While it’s all well and good to do kind things for others, if I neglect those that are closest to my heart, I am really missing the most important ones for whom I can minister.

Expanding on that thought, let’s ask: