Industrious Emily

An Update

2011-05-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it goes so long between blogging that you just need to list what you've been up to before you feel like you can move on.....so that's what you get today....no pictures, because that would require more than the 3 minutes of time I currently have to hang out with the computer.

-Easter was an amazingly awesome day of celebration with our church community. A little glimpse at the gorgeous feast here. Not to mention the bounce house, face painting, and Toms shoes decorating for the kids.

-That same afternoon we left town for two weeks in good old Oregon. It was good, so good. I could write a million things, but lets just say it was even more than I hoped it would be. The perfect blend of visiting, relaxation, high energy craziness, fun, sad, quiet, loud. Seriously wonderful. Ahh.

-1/2 marathon #2 for me was fun because my dad ran with me. The kids marathon was fantastically enjoyable for them. I broke 2 hours, but my lack of training is always a buzz kill when I recognize what I could potentially run if I ever put a little effort in. Which I would certainly like to do, but life tends to get in the way of that.

-Last weekend I pulled off a big old surprise birthday party for Jeremy. Seeing as he was in the house all day while I was preparing and scheming, cooking and decorating. And I somehow got away with it all and he had no idea. I was pretty pleased with myself! Pictures and all that fun can be seen here.

-We took one of those personality test things last night with a group of folk from Missio. Those things are always fascinating and disturbing to me at the same time. I think because I tend to always have the kind of results that are super abnormal and that always makes me feel weird. I also am never a fan of the way they clearly point out the ways that you totally know you fail and try to ignore about yourself. But still it was fun. The guy giving us the test looked at our results as a couple and it was interesting to hear his perspective on how Jeremy and I work in a relationship. Apparently, really well. Which we knew....but is certainly cool to have that affirmed.

-Around the house life is a little full and crazy. But also fun and exciting. Our yard is the embarrassment of the block despite the fact that we are trying to get it under control. Time and money just aren't on our side in that department. Plus with 4 current roommates plus an array of visitors there are plenty of other projects that are constantly at the top of the to-do list.

-I finally got the measurements I needed to finish the speaker covers I was working on. So those *should* be done this week and then some creatively fun projects just might get going around here again.

And that's what I've been up to. Kind of. At least some of the highlights.

Lovely Things from Afar

2011-02-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

Wednesday morning we headed to the airport to pick up our friend Becka who is here to visit for a whole week! The kids (and I) were giddy and bubbly from the minute the sun came up.

We had a fun day hanging out and laughing and singing. There is always much singing with Becka about. Maybe that's part of the reason we love her so much. With Becka life is definitely a musical.

Recently Becka had been in Rwanda for several months and much to our surprise she arrived bearing some amazing and beautiful gifts for us all. So I had to share.

How amazing is she that she brought me fabric. Gorgeous fabric. I think it will take me a bit to get the nerve to cut into it, but I love it so much. I want to make something that I will see/use often so I can look at it all the time!

A cute little wallet/pouch made of lots of scraps of cute colors and designs.

Adorable earrings, which I wore all afternoon. They were yanked on once or twice, so they'll remain special outing earrings. Oh well, that's the way it goes.

Bracelets for all the kiddos.

Cute leather bookmarks.

A woven basket for the boy.

Plus some cute fabric printed swatches for the girls that I think will be adorable added to some little bags for them. And a really awesome headband that I couldn't manage to take a decent picture of by myself on myself (it needed to be worn in the picture to show you just how cute it is).

Love it all and can't wait to make some super cool things with our new fabric treasures!

Chickens

2011-02-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

So I realized chickens don't care for the flash on my camera. Can't you tell?

Unfortunately you can't get a decent picture without a flash because of their heat lamp and the fact that they don't hold still for half a second.

Jeremy asked me to please stop harassing the chickens, so I did the best I could to get a quick picture of each one. It's insane how much they've changed in one week. They have more than doubled in size and their feathers have changed dramatically in texture and color.

I linked up the breed of each one below it so you can see what they will look like when they are all grown up.

Esmarelda - Golden Laced Wyandotte

The newest arrival (today!) Eleanor - Speckled Sussex

Blackie - Barred Rock

Hoot - Ameracauna (we've had 2 of this variety turn out to be roosters in the past so we're crossing our fingers on this one)

Princess McKenna - Buff Orpington

Strawberry - Rhode Island Red

Views of Home - Week 3

2011-02-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Week 3

It snowed this weekend. So that's where I went with my piece for week 3. I don't love it. I feels to me like a piece of kids artwork that you would bring out and hang up during the Christmas season.

Oh well.

It is nice to have a good excuse to get out lots of art supplies and mess up the kitchen table with the kids.

Chicks are here!

2011-02-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Despite a very frustrating day with Salt Lake Animal Services yesterday (where I came home very over-the-top angry).....we are now the happy owners of 5 sweet little chicks. For now I am just very excited to watch them and pet them and be entertained by the kids' affection for them. I'll be honest, their presence just makes me feel so happy and settled. It doesn't take much to please me, I guess.

Soon I will tire of just staring at them and then I will take pictures and show them off. Promise.

Views of Home

2011-02-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of the art challenge is up for viewing over at paper and planes.

This week my lack of time and lack of inspiration collided fiercely and even though Jeremy gave me some good starting ideas to help me get my brain going, I still sat staring at a blank piece of paper on Saturday night. So I grabbed a pencil (which unfortunately, like most pencils in our house, had no eraser) and I started doodling the chaos of our previous week. All the little things here and there that added up to fill our days. I was feeling tired, a little worn out, and a little overwhelmed with the disorganization of our house and the whirlwind of days that had just flown by. But it was amazing how enjoyable and relaxing it was just sitting down and sketching out all those things and noticing and remembering all that had happened. Whether they were stressful, funny, messy or annoying. Whether they were memorable or not. Regardless of the significance of each thing they are all a part of us, our week, our family and our view of home.

Oh and by the way..... Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated this past weekend by buying ourselves some sweet little yard lights at Costco, new running shoes for me, all topped off with Frosties and french fries at Wendy's. A serious treat!

Kimono PJ's

2011-02-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

My new sewing machine is up and running and night one I'm staying up too late making things we don't need.

PJ's for the sick little squirt.

You need comfy pj's when you don't feel great. Am I right?

Check them out over here.....

2011-02-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

Looking for some last-minute quick and easy inspiration? Want to make some super simple hair clips for and with your girls? Well then you're in luck! Head on over to Frugal Granola where I am guest posting today with these simple felt clips and more!

Tea Party Treat : Lime Meltaways

2011-02-08T04:10:00.000-08:00

I came across this recipe and thought it sounded super yummy and a bit more sophisticated than our usual fare of chocolate chip cookies. I was not surprised by how delicious they were, but I was surprised at how enthusiastic my kids were about them. I thought the lack of chocolate would instantly turn them off. Although the fact that each little paper wrapper held two cookies and you got to eat both of them in one sitting was definitely a selling point.

After setting a few out on the girls' table I realized what perfect little tea party cookies they made, all divided into their own little compartments! So even though we'd already all eaten our allotted two, we decided to have a little party, a little "tea", and two more cookies......though some of us may have had four, shhh!

Ingredients

•3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

•1 cup confectioners' sugar

•Finely grated zest of 2 limes

•2 tablespoons lime juice

•1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

•1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

•2 tablespoons cornstarch

•1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar with the whisk attachment of your mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla and mix some more!
Whisk flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a log. Refrigerate until firm.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut logs into thin rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool for about 10 minutes. While they are still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar.

Delicious and gone in probably one or two days, though they stay good up to 2 weeks.

Views of Home

2011-02-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

This month at paper and planes, my friend Rachel Austin ....who is an amazingly talented artist....is hosting a series on the theme of "Views of Home". The idea is that everyone will create a piece of art each week for the month of February around that same theme. There are no boundaries on size of the work, the materials you use, or how you interpret the theme. Though I feel like I cheated a teeny tiny bit in looking right at Rachel's own artwork for inspiration. I'll hopefully be a bit more original and creative in the following weeks! You can see the rest of this week's projects here. And you can always find Rachel's insanely cool work for sale here. I really want to get this one for the downstairs living room/play room/school room. And one of these just for me. Whew....that's a lot of links. But she really is great, so go check her stuff out!

The theme of home forced me to look at my new city through a different lens. Instead of the view that we're going "home" when we visit Oregon. I think it is healthy to begin calling this house that we live in....paid money for.....spend all our time in.....where we are engaging in community.....home. So I went straight to a map of Salt Lake City for my background. (The only one I could find around the house was a rental car map, so I had to strategically paint over the Alamo landmarks on the map.) Next I added some painted Wasatch mountains though I feel like they still need a little something more. And I finished it off with a little mod-podged paper city skyline. I don't think it's completely done yet, but I'm hesitant to add to it for fear it will get too busy and then I'll hate it. So for now we'll leave it.

And that's my view of home until next week.

Opal Threads

2011-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Photo credit - Opal Threads

A dear friend back in Portland who I had the privilege and honor of knowing and loving through working together with Scarlet Cord has just opened up an etsy shop with her mother in law who has recently come to the US from Iraq seeking asylum.

Together they are creating beautiful handmade scarves and doing custom tailoring through this new etsy shop. It is not only something they enjoy but hopefully a sustainable means to supporting their financial needs as a family.

Their family has been through many trials and difficulties in the last few months, but their faith in God, love for one another, and hope for the future are an overwhelming blessing to all those around them.

Please show them support and love as you head over and admire their beautiful creations.

Opal Threads

2011-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Starting today over at my other new, exciting, crafty, wonderful, blog.....where I haven't posted one thing..... I'm jumping in with two feet for the Valentine's season.

Did you know Valentine's season starts today? Well, it does at our house at least. 14 days of heart filled, lovey-dovey, red and pink bliss.

So head on over to lifeatthetable.wordpress.com and soak in lots of crafty ideas, tutorials, recipes, and inspiration for the next 14 days.

See you there!

Bird Fabric

2011-01-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

I really love a lot of the fabric at IKEA. I never buy it though because it feels overpriced. I don't really know that it is, it's just that I have this expectation of things at IKEA being cheap. So I never splurge on fabric there, it just seems like too much.

Last week when I stopped in there I found this piece in the remnant pile and for $5 I just had to take it home. The pictures don't really show how darn cute it is. It really is much better in person. I've been thinking over what it is meant to become the last few days. I'm thinking it will end up in my kitchen, to go with my hot pink mixer and cool bird motif serving tray of smilar colors I have.

Possibly an apron and maybe even curtains if my husband can stand the sight of screaming bright fabric like this in the most used space in the house....we'll see. I guess I need to look into getting my sewing machine fixed first.

This is what happens when I take too many pictures of random things. Children boycott it by lying in the midst of my pictures and playing dead.

anxious for spring

2011-01-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

I've been so excited by the lack of snow. The kids think spring is around the bend and they were a bit bothered to learn that it will probably snow again. So I decided to bring a little spring planting indoors and get an early start on a few things. I'm hoping for lots more little plantings in the next few weeks. And I'm anxious to begin seeing little green sprouts poking through.

But I was kind of impatient and really wanted something fresh and green already. Though it doesn't look like this bamboo is faring too well in my care. I'll need to research these little guys a bit more before I kill it.

What we did yesterday.

2011-01-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling the need to reorganize lately. We had a perfectly wonderful system for school in the basement, but the reality is that school is so much more manageable at the kitchen table. It's just a normal part of our day. When it was downstairs it was too much of an ordeal. So I brought some school organization to the hall closet upstairs. Just the things we need on a regular day-to-day basis. All the other stuff will stay downstairs in the gloriously giant "school closet".

I tried to teach myself to crochet. It didn't go so well. I totally got the first part, I think it was called "foundation chain"....maybe? I loved it! It was so monotonous and rhythmic and I could easily do it while the kids read aloud. It was a little harder when I was reading to them. Unfortunately, I can't get the next step to work out right. So I just kept making a single chain and then unraveling it over and over until the 5 year old said, "I really like that belt you're making. Is it for me?" So I tied off the ends, wrapped it around her waist and suddenly felt accomplished.

I got some new boots. I really needed some. I love the buttons, in my head I wanted boots with buttons, but I didn't think I would actually find any. So I was pretty happy to find these cute little things on clearance for super cheap. The only pair they had and they were just my size...it was meant to be.

The girls have been really into cooking/baking/helping in the kitchen lately. So they checked out some cookbooks at the library and have been picking out projects for us to do together. We made meringues. They are so fun and easy for kids to make and so addicting, but also so gross and sickeningly sugary. Today they want to make cheese bread. That will probably be better.

I painted/drew this little word inspiration canvas for my soon to be finished craft room. Jeremy likes it for the living room, but it doesn't match the decor for that room that is in my head. I wish I had been patient and actually taken the time to plan it out and make it nice, but once I got the idea I got antsy and just free-handed it all with a paint pen. Any suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.

Today is already feeling like a lazy day. The kids are on a "camping trip". Which means there are blankets, suitcases, and snacks spread all over my living room floor. I think I'll go find a good book and join them.....

Melted Snow, Photos, Crafting, and everything else in between

2011-01-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

It rained! And the snow has finally melted. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I am loving the sight of green grass again.

In our post-Christmas wanderings with Grandma we went out to Antelope Island. It was our first glimpse of the Great Salt Lake. I'm hoping it will be more impressive in the summer. But we took some nice pictures of the scenery anyhow.

Sarah has been far more motivated than me lately and she's got the new blog up and running officially now. http://lifeatthetable.wordpress.com/

It still needs some tweaking and possibly some contributions from me..... but it's a start.

The etsy shop will be stocked and opening soon, once we iron out all the business/financial logistics.

I'm oddly happy to report that I'm out of the SYTYC competition. I am not the competitive person I used to be, which is evident in my carelessness about running. And the whole thing.....while fun and super cool.... made me really unexcited about doing anything creative for the last few weeks. Since being out I've got about 5 different projects in the works, compared to last week's 0.

In other news, we've finally hung a few pictures in our house. Jeremy was glad, not so much because he cares about pictures, but because it means I'm starting to care about feeling at home here.

I've been trying lots of new recipes lately, dabbling a bit with painting, reading too many books...to the detriment of our laundry pile, missing Oregon and people a lot, organizing unused spaces in our too big house, and attempting to get out of the house on a regular basis.

We did go out last week to see the new Hood to Coast Movie. It was awesome. Maybe not so awesome if you're not from Oregon, not a runner, haven't done the race, or didn't grow up with Hood to Coast dictating your families summer vacation plans. But since I fit into all those categories I thought it was great!

And one more thing....Happy Birthday tomorrow to Sarah! Woo-hoo!

Sights

2011-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

In the week following Christmas we got out and saw a lot more of this city than we have seen in the whole 4 months since we've been here. Gotta love Grandma coming to visit, it seems that's what it takes to get us out exploring in the cold weather. There's a lot more and maybe I'll actually edit a few before posting them next time, but here's a little snippet of a few of the sights.

The view from one of the canyons (I will never remember which one is which). All I know is this is the one that bicyclists frequent in the summer and also has Ruth's diner at the base. Pretty though, right?

A pretty little picturesque barn that we drove past on the way up to Park City. Yes, that is the inside of the car in the top right of the frame.

Check out the icicles. There were plenty more where those came from in the metropolis of ski lodging that we wandered through.

The view from the meeting room on Jeremy's floor. First he had Seattle's skylines from his desk. Then he moved to the Portland waterfront, though he had to walk across the room to see it well. Now this.....and he actually has to go to another room on his floor for it.

Scraps

2011-01-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

We used to have a sheet that was a lovely shade of blue. Over time and lots of washings it had become a little faded and worn. Then it got a little tear in it from someone cutting fabric for a project on a bed instead of a table....it may or may not have been me...... Well the hole wasn't so bad until two little girls decided to see if they could crawl through it.

The good news is I have been wanting to make a scrap fabric rug for quite some time now. I just couldn't justify ripping up a perfectly good sheet or tablecloth or bunch of fabric for it. So with the help of two eager fabric rippers we transformed that sheet into a lovely ball of fabric strips. Now we just need two more and we can start on our rug. But in the meantime the ball makes a very handy indoor soccer ball.

And wouldn't you know that one project idea would lead to another and we were off to find more fabric scraps of varying colors this time. Now my little helpers have a little reward for their assistance.

What do you think?

SYTYC

2011-01-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

I just have to say......I will be completely shocked if I make it to round 2.

I did not plan my crafting very well around holidays, company, and a few day trips last week. So on the day the project was due I was still creating it. Not to mention I realized on Tuesday that my sewing machine was broken, yes broken, which is a whole different story. Then there were a few other glitches that left my project in sort of a half completed state as far as what I had in mind.

So go HERE.....vote for your favorite!

And new this season, link up your own crafty projects on Fridays!

Enjoy the competition!

A project that will last the whole New Year

2011-01-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the final day of 2010, I sat amidst a stack of paper strips, staples, markers, and kiddos and set to work on a project that will entertain and educate us for all of 2011.

A paper chain to mark each of the 365 days of 2011.

In our house there is always a chart counting down to something. A birthday, a special outing, a holiday, a vacation, the arrival of guests, you name it. And while looking at the calendar is great and fine, counting down the dates on a paper chain is so much more fun. And so in addition to the dates being marked on each chain of paper, we've also noted special occasions, birthdays and holidays and will be sure to add trips and other exciting things to our paper chain as they become planned.

We're welcoming Jan 1 with a tired and lazy day. We've had a week with Grandma visiting and a winding down of holiday excitement. Last night consisted of a celebration of late night movies, pizza, Shirley Temples and a basement slumber party, all topped of with a midnight New Year's Eve run in the snow.

I couldn't have timed it much better, crossing the finish line at 11:59:57pm.

On the way to the start I always think we really should come up with a better New Year's tradition, but at the finish line I really can't think of anything more fun.

Getting the Ball Rolling and a Holiday Open House

2010-12-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I have long been scheming to embark upon some sort of crafty business endeavor. So when I up and moved a gajillion miles away we got motivated for a few minutes and starting planning a little. Then we moved through the phase of being too sad about being apart to discuss it, then we both started school with the kidlets, plus Sarah was in that I'm too tired and pregnant to give a care about anything stage, and I was living in a teeny rental downtown and was in that I'm too depressed to give a care about anything stage. So about a month ago we finally got back to the conversation and the good timing of it all was that a friend of ours decided to host a Holiday Open House. (Domestic Bias rocks, go check out Jaime and her mom!)

So we are finally getting the ball rolling on our new business endeavor. We have a website and an etsy shop, though neither have anything posted yet, so stay tuned for those at a later date. We have a sweet little logo that we (Sarah) drew up this summer. Though we still need to do a little tweaking here and there with it.

The idea for the name is basically this, everything that happens in our lives (crafty and otherwise) occurs at the kitchen table. Meals with our family and friends, schoolwork and projects with the kids, little ones playing play-dough or drawing pictures, budgeting with our husbands, chatting with a friend, paying the bills, sharing recipes, stories, ideas, snacks, drinks......and countless other things, and of course for both of us the kitchen table is generally where the sewing machine resides despite countless attempts to designate an alternate craft area. So there you have it "at the table" is officially underway.

For those of you in Portland who have a free slice of time this weekend head on over to Domestic Bias' Holiday Open House and support us and a handful of other crafty entrepreneurs with your presence. I certainly wish I could be there to help out and to hang out with all my fabulous friends who are taking part, but alas I just got to send a package to the party instead.

December 16th-18th 10am-7pm

7178 SE San Marcos Ave, Milwaukie 97267

Here's a peek at a few of the things I sent (and I apologize for the picture quality, I took them in the hallway in the middle of the night when I was trying to finish things up the night before I needed to send it all.)

Key chain mini-wallets just the right size for the basic necessities when you're out running errands.

Made mostly from upholstery samples from dear old SCRAP.

A few coffee sack notebook/journal/planner covers. I had more cut and ready to assemble, but after breaking 3 needles in one night I decided to call it quits.

Hairclips that were super fun to make. The kids loved watching me singe the edges of the fabric with matches. If they ever burn down the house I'll have no one to blame but myself.

Some flowery felt hairclips, these ones are my favorites.

Some more that are a bit more holiday-ish.

.....and some more flowers, though I don't adore these ones quite as much.

And some faux leather clips. I really wanted to find some cheap leather thing to chop up from the thrift store, but after no such luck I bought a tiny piece from a Jo-Ann's clearance remnant and experimented with that. I was okay with the way some of them turned out, but I definitely needed more time for tweaking these to my liking.

2010-12-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thinking of hitting up Target for all your last minute Christmas desires?

Think again.

Read why HERE.

Artist's Journal - SYTYC Audition Entry

2010-12-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, so hopefully this week I'll actually find the time (and motivation) to do things like check my e-mail and post on the blog. But in the meantime, here's the update on SYTYC. The artist's journal was mine.....did you guess right?? And I made it into the competition!! Yeah!! Except I have no idea what I'm going to do for my first project which is due in just 2 weeks! Oh well, it'll all come together.

The only goals I have for this endeavor are 1. to not spend any money. I have enough of a stash of crafty stuff that I want to force myself to create solely from that (except for where the theme demands otherwise.)
And 2. to make things that we actually want/need around the house so that I'm not left with weird projects that I don't even have a use for. That being said, we'll see how far I make it. :)

Remember the contest is supposed to be as anonymous as possible. I'll make sure and let you know each week when it's time to vote. But each week's theme will be a secret until the projects are posted. And of course if you're around my house and see any of my projects in the making or if you recognize fabrics from my stash (which, honestly, probably would only apply to Sarah) don't say anything or comment about it! Thanks!

My artist's journal was a project I made back in the Spring when I was originally supposed to audition for Season 4. But then we moved so I asked to be put in Season 5. But then we were living in a tiny downtown apartment, so I asked to be bumped again. So by this point the project is a little old. It was actually a graduation gift for my sister-in-law Ruth (hence the "R").

I thought maybe the use of burlap would be a dead give away to some people, seeing as that is quite possibly my favorite crafty thing ever. Well, it's between burlap and felt..... But my little sister said it was my skirt that did it. Apparently I wear that skirt way too much. Anyway, thanks to those who voted and checked out the site. Stay tuned, it should be a fun competition!
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Every artist needs a way to take their projects on the go. And this little notebook is just the thing for the artist in your life. All folded up it keeps everything tucked away inside, a little toggle holds it together and a personalized monogram lets everyone know it's yours. Made of burlap and lined in duck cloth, it's sure to last through lots of every day wear and tear.

Open it up and everything has it's own place, keeping those art supplies organized and easy to grab when you need them. The sturdy design of the center section means that you can set it on your lap while you draw, no need for a table.

Plus, it looks so cute tucked under your arm while you head out in search of a sunny spot to sit and draw the scenery.

2010-12-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

St. Nicholas Day

2010-12-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

While there are many variations of the story of St. Nicholas told through books, websites, movies and legend, the basic background of the story that I have grown up with and continue to share with my children in increasing detail as they grow older is this......

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver. story credit

There are so many traditions throughout the world and activities and fun things to do to help your kids at any age understand the story and tradition of St. Nicholas, but of all the things I've seen this website is my favorite.

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Now comes the big questions. How did we decide to partake of this tradition? What does it look like to celebrate it? What do we do on Christmas?? All of these are important and are going to look totally different for every family, so here's our answers in a nutshell.....

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. A celebration that is completely detracted from by the giving and receiving of gifts. The tradition of Santa Claus is (in my opinion) a commercialized perversion of the really awesome story of who St. Nicholas really was. Culture has twisted Santa into the focus of Christmas and we put a lot of emphasis on trying to get our children to believe in a person who comes on Christmas who is untrue, while glossing over another person who comes on Christmas, who is true! Seems a bit off when you think about it in those terms. So with that realization in our family, which coincidentally coincided with the same year that we began to think about Christmas different in general with Advent Conspiracy, we decided to move the gifting aspect of Christmas to fall on St. Nicholas Day, December 6th. My family growing up had always celebrated St. Nicholas Day as well so for me it was an easy jump to make. It is the transition of what Christmas morning looks like that has been more of a challenge for our family.

For St. Nicholas Day the kids put out their shoes on December 5th and in the morning they find gifts in or around their shoes. (And they know full well that the surprises come from us and not from St. Nicholas himself.) However, as our desire to give more relationally and compassionately at this time of year has grown we have altered the kinds of gifts given on St. Nicholas Day. Instead of finding a toy or book or treat specifically geared toward themselves, they instead will find things that can be shared and enjoyed by them all, things that will build upon their relationships with one another or with us, or of course things that are handmade either by me or by one of their siblings. Generally there is one gift per shoe and usually a few little yummy treats and often a new Christmas book to add to the family collection that rests beneath our Christmas tree. They will also always find a note, either one for them all collectively or each individually in their shoe (depending on organized I am that year) reminding them of how much we love them, how much God loves them and how special they are to our family. Regardless of what the specific gifts are, in general very little money is spent on them. Finding gifts to fit these parameters is not always easy and requires a bit of creativity and conviction to really hold ourselves to it.

It is the tradition of St. Nicholas Day in many cultures that children will find treats of small gifts, fruit or nuts, and special Nicholas candies and cookies. St. Nicholas gifts, in the tradition of the story of St. Nicholas, are meant to be shared and not hoarded for oneself.

For practical purposes, we are not attached to the date of December 6th. This year we are planning to celebrate on the 5th so that Jeremy can be home and take part and so that we can celebrate with a relaxing morning of a big breakfast and being together. However, I'll be honest, it is entirely possible that I am still a bit disorganized and we move our celebration to the following weekend.

Christmas Day for us is usually spent with church and family and lots of food. The year that we weren't able to be with family we were blessed to fill our day with friends who hold the same values for their family at Christmas and I hope this year for us will be the same. There are certainly gifts from grandparents and other family that we navigate each year and when possible open those gifts on a day other than Christmas. However, our family has become increasingly supportive in our desire for them to give gifts to the kids that encourage relational values. In my opinion those are acceptable and enjoyable things for Christmas Day. No matter how the specifics of Christmas Day play out, it is our ultimate goal that the day is spent worshiping Christ and that the events and festivities would center around that and keep our focus on Him alone.

As we grow in our faith and as our children grow in age our traditions shift and evolve with each passing year. I would love to find an opportunity to serve in the community on or around St. Nicholas Day as a family down the road. I would also love to say that I am not tempted by the desire at this time of year to buy unnecessary things for the kids and for friends and family. I have found it very encouraging and helpful to share our thoughts and conviction on how Christmas should be celebrated with friends and family and draw from their support and experiences in teaching our children about how we celebrate this time of year.

As we look at the world around us and at the message that Christ's birth brings I am reminded of that gift which changed the world so many years ago and I am hopeful that my family can recognize the opportunity we have now to continue making a difference in our own small way.

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas Day in place of gifts on Christmas? What are your traditions at this time of year to remember the birth of Christ?

Rising and Setting

2010-12-03T05:31:00.000-08:00

One of the nicest things I've come to realize about this new place we live is how incredibly beautiful the sun is at times. Sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous anywhere. But for some reason they are more accessible and viewable here for me.

Both of these were taken from my front porch. One day apart. Straight out of the camera, from a crappy photographer, and they are still lovely.

Sunrise

Sunset

These pictures, obviously, were from a few weeks ago....before all the snow.

Settling In - an update

2010-12-02T05:34:00.000-08:00

Aside from the insane amount of snow on the ground, which was far more than I had anticipated based on what all the locals had told me to expect...just sayin'.... Anyway, despite all the snow I feel like I am finally feeling well settled here in Salt Lake. (Maybe legitimate boots would actually make me feel like a real Utahn, instead of wearing ballet flats walking in a foot of snow.....hmm I should look into that.) The librarians are beginning to know my kids by name, our freezer is slowly restocking itself and the grocery budget is coming back into control. I don't have to google search my destination every time I get ready to go somewhere, only half the time. The kids have non-Portland based friends, very few, but still it's a win...even some home-schoolers! Chicken planning has begun for the Spring as well as opinions from all on the garden. Still no furniture in the living room, but things are good.

We had our first non-extended family Thanksgiving this year. We invited a few friends over and somehow managed to pull off a rather enjoyable and totally stress-free Thanksgiving meal. This week we've been enjoying a lot of leftover turkey based dinners.

On the day after we attempted a crafty afternoon with friends, but it was sort of disorganized and unsuccessful. Though it did motivate me to get a little crafting kick-start to a new endeavor I'm planning to share next week!

St. Nicholas Day is just around the corner and my gifts for the kids are still semi formed ideas in my head. Hopefully in the next few days I'll pull it together. I'm going to attempt to have the kids help me with their siblings gifts this year. When I'll find the time to separate children and work on that I haven't figured out yet.

Life is starting to get busy again, which is good. I need busy. When I've got lots to do I'm much more engaged and energetic and require far less sleep. When I have no obligations or activities to get to I tend to enjoy my sleep too much and fall behind on things like laundry.

So You Think You're Crafty

2010-11-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

Well... I don't really think I'm that crafty, but making things sure is a nice alternative way of feeling productive without having to do dishes or laundry. So I decided to give myself an even better excuse for spending my time making fun stuff and entered a crafty competition of sorts. If you haven't already seen it.....

So You Think You're Crafty

.....is pretty cool.

It takes bloggers from all over the place and brings them together for a fun and friendly little craft contest. Each week for 10 weeks everyone makes a craft on a set theme, anyone can vote for their favorite and each week the lowest score takes leave of the competition. The fun part for the voters is that the winning craft is posted as a tutorial the following week, so everyone ends up a winner with all sorts of great new ideas and projects to try!

I have no high hopes for this endeavor, but I thought it would at least be fun to try! Right now the audition projects are up for voting and the top 10 projects will make it into the competition round beginning right after Christmas. So......get on over and vote. The voting only goes through Friday.

And keep in mind the contest is supposed to be anonymous, so no sneak peeks about which project is mine, you just have to vote for the one you love best! Unless, of course, you're Sarah.

Wish me luck!!

And go vote!!

2010-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Black & White

2010-11-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

On our trip to the pumpkin patch I brought home a cute little white pumpkin with the intention of doing a cool spiderweb pattern across the whole thing. However, Halloween came and went and I never got around to painting it.

So I turned it into a Thanksgiving decoration! It lasts longer that way.

Felt Decor

2010-11-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

When all the crazy Halloween decorations started coming down just a few weeks ago all around town they were instantly replaced with Christmas decorations. I didn't think much of it, but my kids have come to the conclusion that people here must not celebrate Thanksgiving. (The chaos at the grocery store these last few days leads me to believe otherwise.) But they just can't wrap their little minds around all this jumping straight to Christmas!

Not to worry our house is decked and ready for our small little Thanksgiving. There was much more that they wanted to do and we'll probably get all sorts of crafty additions in the next two days from little hands and stacks of paper but here's what we did this week together with felt.

These little felt leaves, modeled after a collection they brought in from outside, decorate the big blank wall in the dining room.

A super simple circle garland in fall colors adorns the blank space above the couch.

And those circles inspired these little decorations, which I thought would look cute turned into little napkin rings, but my daughter thought would be better as hair clips. So we'll see.

Acorn Wreaths

2010-11-22T04:37:00.000-08:00

First let me just say that roasting acorns smell really bad. There are a number of instructions, tutorials, ideas out there for acorn wreaths. Almost all of them tell you to roast your acorns to avoid rotting and bugs later on. NONE of them tell you how much your kitchen is going to stink when you are done.

Fortunately a few nice smelling candles and an avoidance of the kitchen for most of the morning meant we didn't have to suffer through it long.

My girls helped me make these fun little acorn wreaths for our massively overbearing front doors. Super simple. A pile of acorns, hot glue and a Styrofoam wreath. Even a 3 year old can do it. Although she did try to wear it as a crown and that didn't work out so well. But nothing a little more glue couldn't fix.

In my mind these would have had thick bright orange bows that tied right at the top of the wreaths and then a thick bright orange chunk of ribbon that they hung down from. But the crafting budget is tight and we had silver and yellow on hand. So we made it work.

And the fact that Jeremy wasn't upset by my addition of nails to the front doors on which to hang these was a nice bonus.

Editing Magic

2010-11-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

I'm intrigued by the idea of improving my picture taking ability.

Especially sunsets, fast moving children, and taking photographs that make lifeless objects (food, decorations,etc.) look cool.

In the meantime I've been using Picnik to add a little pizazz to my otherwise mundane pictures. It's a super easy tool to use, basically meant for the average joe who knows nothing to be able to make their pictures look snazzy.

I took this picture of a flower my daughter insisted we needed to decorate the dinner table for company. This is the picture straight out of the camera (minus the framing that I added.)

And here is an array of editing fun that I had with that same picture.....

I like the last one the best.

A ruler, some clothespins, paint and glue

2010-11-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, this website here......is amazing. Super inspiring and motivating to get off your butt and make something super cool. I have nightstand number two in process and I'm not allowing myself to even acquire materials for my next endeavor until the nightstand is finished.

Fortunately for me, the other morning the cutest idea for a clip rail was posted over at that aforementioned amazing site and I just happened to have everything I needed on hand. By the time Jeremy came home we had created this:

I love it. I imagine this will go in the school/play room, but I can't figure out exactly where I want to hang it just yet. I think I may do something similar for the girls' room as well to keep some semblance of order to their ever growing pile of treasured art, but with a little different color scheme.

I used some leftover acrylic paint from old projects and I hot glued my clothespins instead of screwing them on. I imagine they may fall off after months of being opened and closed by little hands, but a little hot glue and they'll be back in business again. Even if I'd gone to buy all the materials I can't imagine it costing more than a couple of dollars, but being completely free was even better.

Want to make your own??

Check it out here:

Ruler Clip Rails from Ana-White.com

Rethinking Fall

2010-11-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Oregon falls have always brought their share of rain and cold. Fall is the time to pull out the sweaters and boots and hats and scarves. It's the time for throwing extra quilts on the bed and making sure we're ready for apple cider and hot chocolate making. It is the time to snuggle up on the couch, watch the rain and enjoy a good book. Last week I thought we were headed in that direction with our day of snow, but today I experienced a different shade of fall.

Obviously I recognize that it is unseasonably warm, an Indian summer you might say. But I'm accustomed to Indian Summer meaning that Friday Night Football games are bearable until the end of September. It's November for goodness sake! So while I have been bemoaning the lack of rain and need for a sweater, I'm trying to change my tune and rethink what fall is all about.

Fall is about walking to the park and meeting new neighbors who are out working in the yard.

Fall is about feeding the ducks by the river in the sunshine.

Fall is about collecting acorns, pinecones, and leaves until you run out of places to display them.

Fall is about raking leaves all afternoon and then jumping in the piles over and over until you have to rake them all up again.

Fall is about colors and change and winding down the pace of life.

Gingersnaps

2010-11-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

I used to bake a lot. In the last few years I have wandered away from baking in the quest to be able to actually cook a decent dinner. I also found that more often than not baked goods just didn't get eaten up in our house the way they had in my home growing up. Now that's probably a good thing, but it hasn't stopped me from continuing to bake unnecessary goodies every now and again.

One thing that had consistently eluded me in the baking realm was a good gingersnap. More often than not they were quite crunchy and a big glass of milk or coffee for dipping was a must to go with them. And there was never anything especially exciting or flavorful about them. They were always rather plain.

This new recipe, however, is the perfect recipe, in my opinion. The perfect combination of firm yet chewy with just the right blend of sweet and spicy. I was pretty happy to just enjoy them as they were...but then a friend suggested we add a little cream cheese frosting on top and that was the end of cookie indulging self-control.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
**1/3 cup white sugar for dipping

What you do...

Preheat oven to 350

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and molasses until blended.

Combine dry ingredients and stir into molasses mixture until dough forms.

Roll into small (1 inch) balls and dip in the sugar, coating the entire ball.

Bake 8 minutes.

Let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to firm up before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Pencils?

2010-10-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to hand out pencils to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. This was met with great groaning and moaning from the kids, but I stuck to my guns and for $4.00 we have what I think is a very sweet little treat to hand out on Saturday night. Cheaper than what a bowl of candy would cost and something we'll actually use if for some reason we're left with a ton when the night is through. The kids will bring home more candy than they'll be ~~able to eat~~ allowed to eat anyway. I'm sure we won't win awards from the kids who come around, but surely at least one or two parents will appreciate it.

**And yes, I know I said Saturday night. Apparently that's how they do things here. Just change the dates of holidays when they feel like it. Though I won't complain, it is more convenient for us anyway.**

2010-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year for roasting pumpkin seeds. In my opinion it is not the time of year for snow.....but apparently here in Utah it is. So while the kids played in the snow this morning I finally got around to roasting our pumpkin seeds from Monday's carvings. After a few minutes of rummaging through the spice cupboard and coming out with nothing but garlic salt I decided to turn to the fridge. The large bag of limes that we bought at Costco last week was just begging to be opened, so........ a squeeze of the limes and a shake of the garlic and we were munching away on Garlic Lime Pumpkin Seeds.

Clean your pumpkin seeds, removing as much pulp as possible and rinse thoroughly. Dry well.

In a bowl toss the pumpkin seeds with the juice of 1-2 limes and as much garlic salt as you like.

Spread in a shallow baking pan and place in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

When the timer rings stir the seeds and taste. Sprinkle with additional garlic as desired and add 5-10 more minutes depending on doneness. When the seeds are just about ready turn the oven off and leave the seeds in and allow them to continue to crisp while the oven cools.

**My pan was a bit over filled, so adjust the time based on the amount of seeds in your pan.**

2010-10-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

I've never written a tutorial for anything, mostly because I've never made anything worthy of one. However, I need to get in some practice in both being uniquely creative and writing tutorials for an upcoming endeavor, so here's my first attempt. If you try and make one of these wreaths, or something similar let me know if my instructions were helpful, clear, or just plain crazy. Thanks!

I have an empty living room, a complete blank slate for furniture, decorating, everything. In my mind I forsee it being done in super neutral colors with possibly a gray/white palette with lots of natural wood. I want it to be neutral so that I can change the feel of the room with the seasons, the holidays and my random whims with just a few additions of color or decor. I say all that to explain my inspiration for this wreath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Start with a plain wreath. I prefer to hit the dollar store for something like this. A Styrofoam wreath would probably be easiest, but I like the texture the wicker wreath gives to the finished project.

Take a ball of yarn and wrap the end around your wreath tying a tight knot but leaving a few inches of extra yarn hanging from the end. (You will use this later to create a hanging loop.)

Begin wrapping the yarn around the wreath tightly, lying each strand around snuggled up against the previous strand. After a few minutes you'll think this was a horrible project to begin. Then a few minutes later you'll settle into the mindless monotony of it and it's not so bad. Turn on a movie, listen to the radio, take it in the car...when someone else is driving.... or just sit on the couch with three sick sleeping children and it won't take too long.

When you get to the end, secure it to the string you left hanging at the beginning with a tight knot or two. Create a loop anyway you like......but what I did was to cut the end of the yarn to the same length as the beginning strand. I then took both pieces of yarn, made a loop and knotted them tightly right at the back of the wreath. So, I'm left with a double thick string to hang on and the knot is hidden right at the base of the loop behind the wreath.

Here's what you have now.....

Now to the fun part, where your creativity takes over. Decorate your wreath anyway you like! For my fall version I took felt in orange and yellow to create rosettes. Now I wish I could show you how to make perfect little flowers every time, but that part was an experiment for me as well. I took small strips of yellow and orange felt, about 1/2 inch wide and varying from 3-5 inches long. Then I wrapped them around themselves, twisting the felt every so often and hot gluing as I went. No real scientific process, just experiment as you go. Then I cut out leaf shapes from green felt. You could glue the leaves to the flowers, but I opted not to.

If you are certain that you want your wreath to always have the same pattern/color scheme/design then go ahead and glue your decor right on to the wreath. If you're like me and plan to change it up every so often then just attach the flowers with pins. This is where a Styrofoam wreath would come in handy. I had to wiggle my pins around to find a space to push them in deep enough and even still they sort of pop out and show in a few places, but I kind of liked the way that looked.

There you go. Hang it on your door, your fireplace, in your lovely living room, or on a random off-centered nail in the dining room where it doesn't match at all.......oh wait, that's where I hung mine.

Pumpkin Cookies

2010-10-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

We are big fans of pumpkin flavored treats around here and one of our favorites is these yummy spiced pumpkin cookies coated with cinnamon icing.

Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1tsp. cinnamon

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Here's what you do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

Cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle icing with fork or coat them by dipping the cookies directly into the icing.

To Make Icing
Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

A pallet, a hammer and some nails.

2010-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now I have been obsessed with this website. Take a look around and you'll agree it's amazing! Seeing as there are many more pieces of furniture that I could justify buying right now than there is funds to purchase them I decided it wouldn't hurt to try my hand at making some.

I decided to start with one of the plans that uses wood from a pallet. A free pallet gone wrong is a lot easier to swallow than expensive boards from the store gone wrong. So I began harassing Jeremy to get me a pallet. Every time I mentioned it he sort of rolled his eyes and changed the subject. He had little faith that I would ever actually build something functional and thus didn't see the need to clutter up the garage with pallets that would never become anything but pallets.

But the urge to build kept getting stronger and stronger and as we drove home from a friend's house on Saturday night we saw a whole stack of pallets with a FREE sign in a driveway. I insisted Jeremy pull the car over and we wedged a pallet into the back of our little car and rode the rest of the way home with the trunk open.

A little sawing, some wood glue, some nails and about 2 hours later I had this lovely box. (I followed these plans more or less.) I added a little wood stain. I wanted it dark, but I think I need to do a little research on the proper way to stain something....it's not great.

And I now have a perfectly sized little nightstand that holds just what I need with no extra space for cluttering. And if you take a look at these similar boxes.....you might think I got one heck of a bargain.

And after all that doubt Jeremy's first remark was "Are you going to make me one too?" We'll just see if he complains about stacks of pallets in the garage now........

TOTAL PROJECT COST

Pallet................................FREE

Box of nails......................$2.49

4 wood laths....................$1.80

Wood Stain.....................$4.99

_________________________

1 lovely nightstand...........$9.28. with enough left over materials to make 1 more

SO really it cost less than $5. You can't beat that shopping at the thrift store! Thanks Ana!

And finally.....an update of sorts.

2010-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I found the cord that connects my camera to the computer and so finally I can get back to rambling about life and showing you pictures of all things great and new around here.

So for now a quick update on what we've been up to......

It's true, we bought a house! We love it! It's walkably close to the park, the library, the river, a trail and a rec center. And there is lots and lots of room for you to stay with us, so come visit anytime!!

We've been staying busy with the return of school work, house work, and general real life responsibilities that we enjoyed the break from during our move. The good thing is that after such a nice break we appreciate the washing machine, the never ending meals to cook, and schoolwork to be accomplished.

We're finding time for lots of fun things too. Feeding the ducks down the street, riding our bikes to the library and park, and swimming at the pool are a few regular favorites.

We found a great little pumpkin patch complete with a hay maze and enjoyed that on Jeremy's day off. (Columbus Day, one of the perks of working at a bank...who knew??)

We've done a little decorating for the fall. I'm sure the neighbors don't mind a little trimming off their beautiful bush, right?

We've enjoyed celebrating birthdays and building many new Lego creations.

We've daydreamed about the soon to come climbing wall in the garage by building models galore. Not as much "we" as it is Jeremy. But the kids are pretty pumped too.

And we've planted a variety of fruit trees all around the yard. A piece of advice, do your research before you buy. We had to make a second trip to the store for trees that would pollinate the trees we had purchased on the first trip. Oh, well. You can never have too many trees!

There's lot more to share, but that's enough for today. I need to get back to comforting 2 sick little girls.

Soon.......

2010-10-04T07:03:00.001-07:00

I really am going to post pictures sometime soon. It's on the list of things to do, it just keeps getting bumped down on the list.

Out with the Camera

2010-09-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my lovely friend Wendy, who always has the most wonderful of ideas suggested that I get out of the house with my camera. That I share the fun,exciting, and mundane parts of our days and that through that maybe I'd start to appreciate this place a little bit more.

My camera has barely seen the light of day since we arrived here 1 month ago. The kids and I have been walking almost everywhere and lugging along a huge camera bag along with the library books and inevitably a child on my hip hasn't seemed like an ideal situation. So there the camera has sat....neglected in the corner.....only to be brought out for the occasional random toy that needs to be photographed.

Regardless...my motivation to capture moments, places, experiences, beauty, and the ordinary is renewed. Of course, since coming to this new idea I forgot my camera on three different insanely photo worthy occasions. Then when I finally remembered it and went to snap a picture I remembered that the battery was dead. Boo.

So....here on the left is a photo taken last fall when Jeremy first visited Salt Lake. The leaves aren't this colorful yet, but if you drive up into the canyons you can see drops of color beginning to appear and I am giddy with expectation for the waves of color that are soon to wash the hillsides with beauty.

I'm going to go and plug that battery in now and hopefully soon you will begin to see some snapshots of Salt Lake from my perspective. Whether you love it or hate it...well... you can take that up with Wendy.

Utah

2010-09-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

We've been here almost a month now....which is really hard to believe.....and I've yet to feel like I've had anything worthy of posting to a blog.

We're living in a tiny furnished downtown apartment......meaning we are still living out of our suitcases and eating with plastic forks. BUT.....we bought a really cute house and should be moving in by the end of the month. Which is super exciting, scary, new, stifling, freeing, all at the same time!

Our current tiny little kitchen.

We've been taking advantage of the downtown life. Spending lots of time at the big City Library. Visiting some aspect of Liberty Park almost daily. Riding the trax in the free zone on occasion. And best of all exploring everything by foot. And while the kids love walking to the grocery store, they're not super stoked on the walking home and having to carry something side of the trip.

The zoo is great. It feels significantly smaller than the Oregon Zoo, but there are a lot of cool animals that the kids had never seen before like red pandas, camels, ostriches, and piranha to name a few. They have a baby African elephant named Zuri, which helped ease the blow of leaving Baby Sam. And while the train ride could never compare to the Oregon Zoo train, it does go into some of the animals cages......which is pretty cool with a serious danger/thrill factor if you're under 6.

We haven't done much exploring of the canyons, mostly because I fear the inevitable whining of exhaustion and desperation to be carried that we will surely get from 2 little girls. And the fact that the one time Jeremy drove us up into the canyons......

1. I got super nauseous.

2. We started talking about how pretty it would be at some of the gorgeous lodges at Christmas and I started sobbing and missing Oregon.

3. When you reach the top the cliffs near the road are rather significant, which freaked me out and in turn freaked out the eldest child, causing mass hysteria in the backseat.

So you see, we have a few reasons to keep us from exploring the beauty of the wilderness here. But I suppose we need to just suck it up and get out there, because I'm sure it's amazing.

And just to say..... these mountains don't really look like mountains without the snow. That and they obviously found just the perfect angle to take all the common SLC pictures to make the mountains look really big. I was completely underwhelmed by them upon my arrival here. I guess my definition of a mountain is different than theirs. I've noticed they're pretty loose with the term "river" around here as well. I've yet to see an actual river, only small creeks with fancy river names. All that to say, if you want to be impressed by the beauty of this place then you should come visit in the winter....I think.....I've not actually seen it for myself.

They sunny weather, walkability, and abundance of fun things to do has been wonderful. We've been to the fair, the rodeo, the Greek Festival, the Farmer's market, the cutest little quilt store in the world, a pioneer museum and more...... We are starting to feel more comfortable, more like we are at home rather than on an extended vacation. I found a homeschool group to start connecting with and I'm hoping that will be an encouragement in the weeks to come.

I guess I haven't posted in a while because I knew it would just come out a rambling mass of boring details on the passing of our days here thus far. But I guess I needed to get all that rambling off my chest too.

2010-09-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

I've been mulling over things to post about these last few days. I am overwhelmed by all the thoughts that I feel the desire to be sharing and underwhelmed by the photos I've taken as well as my ability to express myself coherently lately. So I decided to pass on posting for today until I stumbled upon this photo I took on our last minute trip to the beach before leaving Oregon. I love the simplicity of it.

We are here

2010-08-23T06:08:00.001-07:00

The kids and I have safely arrived in Salt Lake City. Just thought I'd let you know.

Senior Pictures

2010-08-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

We've been hanging out in Eugene the last few weeks doing the relax and visit with family thing. Only when you add in the cousins, all the family and friends we want to visit with and 4 days of dancing at the Scandinavian Festival it kind of takes the relaxation factor out.

Regardless, on a visit to Jeremy's grandparents house they asked if I would be willing to take their daughter's Senior pictures. I agreed to give it a shot.

We had so much fun! I loved it! I could get into this whole photography thing. I can only imagine how much more fun it would have been if I had any clue how to work my camera properly. Instead I just took 1000+ pictures and hoped that a few of them would turn out decent.

I haven't had time to sort through them all, edit any of them, or really choose my favorites. But taking a quick glance, I think we'll have some keepers.

Having a lovely model who seemed to know just what I wanted her to do without me having to say anything plus a beautiful location with all the backgrounds you could ever want made my job pretty easy.

How do we respond?

2010-07-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

Human trafficking is a problem. It's a problem I know about, I read about, that I realize the enormity of. It is a problem that I hate, that I want to fight, that makes me sick to my stomach. It's happening all over the world and without a doubt it is happening in my neighborhood.

According to national estimates, one of three missing teens who ends up on the streets will be lured or forced into prostitution within 48 hours. The number of U.S. youth at-risk of being sexually exploited is 244,000. The average age of entry into prostitution is 12 to 14. Every year upwards of 17,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. These are just a few of the national statistics, which pale in comparison to global statistics.

We can look at the problem even closer to home. Portland's proximity to 2 major interstates as well as river accessibility, lax sexual trafficking enforcement laws, a legal sex industry, a large population of street kids and Oregon's dependence on seasonal farmworkers make Portland a highly attractive place for traffickers to be.

I know the statistics. I know the signs. I've had dinner with prostituted women, regularly. I've listened to speakers on the topic. I've kept up-to-date on conferences focusing on the issue. So why is it that I don't know what to do when faced with the problem 2 feet in front of my face? I knew the woman telling her story to me and my children this evening and asking for money was not standing there soliciting money by any thought or choice of her own.

Sure, she wasn't selling sex, she wasn't a farm worker being labored as a slave, she wasn't fulfilling the role that we hear about when we hear the words human trafficking. But she was clearly under the watch, under the control of someone other than herself. She was soliciting money for another. She was in a place of need, possibly even danger. She said she was 17, but possibly younger. She was pretty. We walked away from her. In a moment of realization, I froze. I stared at her, only half hearing her story, my eyes darting around assessing the people near to us. I said nothing. I contributed funds to the lie she was feeding, I suppose subconsciously to protect my children and to save myself from the questioning that might ensue. I avoided an opportunity to teach my children. And I walked away.

Foreign trafficking is finding it's way into the headlines and into the consciousness of people around the globe. The problem is beginning to be recognized, to be battled. But what about the severity of the problems we are facing here in our own community? Of the need to understand how to recognize trafficking when it blends into the everyday. When it creeps up unexpectedly in the most mundane of places. When your children are witness to the lies being told. How do we not freeze in the face of need? How do we respond?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/01/human_trafficking_industry_thr.html

http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/trafficking-93715.aspx

http://www.dreamcenter.org/new/images/outreach/RescueProject/stats.pdf

Taco Soup

2010-07-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly the quickest and easiest thing you'll make this year..... so long as you plan ahead with the meat. (I used turkey and only half of what was called for and that was plenty.) Another delicious recipe from my sister tucked into the make often category.

Taco Soup
2 large frozen chicken breasts cooked in crockpot 1-2 hours on high or 3-4 hours on low with a little water. Drain chicken when cooked, shred chicken once it is cooled and place in crockpot along with :

1 can kidney beans (undrained)
1 can black beans (undrained)
1 can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 can corn (undrained)
1 packet ranch seasoning
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 cup water

Simmer on low until ready to eat.

Add crunched up taco chips, sour cream, avocado chunks, and shredded cheese.

You can replace the chicken breasts with 1 pound of ground beef if you want it even quicker. (So I've heard from my sister. The turkey was a big step that my husband and children were thrilled with. Ground beef would seriously be taking things a bit too far...)

The playground

2010-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

We have been the happy owners of a backyard play structure for almost 2 years now. And let me tell you, we have loved it. To be able to send the kids in the yard to play, slide, swing, laugh, explore and not have to worry about what they are getting into or where they are wandering is amazing. To watch them imagine up all sorts of new games with their best friends. To watch them become more daring in how high they swing and in how quickly they climb. To watch the chickens be introduced to new flying heights.......well that has been downright amusing. As we disassembled the play structure last weekend and sent it off to a new home where it will be loved into the ground by 5 adorable friends of ours as well as all their cousins and friends....I cried. I wondered what sort of parents we are to uproot our children, take away all these little things that mean so much in childhood and cast them aside for this journey that we are to embark on.

Last night we went to the playground down the street. The one we used to walk to regularly before we had a playground in our own backyard. Not the kind of neighborhood playground that is filled with mom's and strollers and yoga groups and kids sharing sand toys and families eating picnics. The kind of playground where teenagers talk on their cell phones and 4 year olds are left in the care of their 7 year old brother. The kind of playground where boys ride their hand me down bike with pink streamers and their knees knock the handlebars and they've never even worn a bicycle helmet despite the fact that this bike is their main means of transportation. The kind of playground where you are skeptical of those who approach, where you keep your kids close when there is a dog on the premises, and where you don't ever talk to the rare other parent you see because more often than not you don't speak the same language.

We walked away from the playground after having stayed twice as long as planned. I cried. I knew now the downside of having a playground in our own backyard. In our own backyard, I don't run up the ladder after the kids and race them to the bottom. I don't push them in the swings. I don't slide with them in my lap. I don't race them to the fence. I don't teach them how to share with the other kids who are there. I don't play Simon Says with that little 4 year old and her 7 year old brother who rode their hand me down bikes to the park. I don't acknowledge the strangers who speak a different language than me with a smile. I don't come home exhausted, scrub dirty little faces, and tuck them into bed with a kiss quite the same way when we're just coming in from our own safe, quiet, protected, hidden backyard.

Not to say that we will not replace the play structure with some sort of backyard fun once we are moved and settled. But whatever we do it will not replace our evening walks to the neighborhood park where we have the opportunity to engage our kids in the life that is our community. Because regardless of what it seems to the outside eye, that community is full of life, of beauty and of moments that need to be experienced.

Pink Skirts

2010-06-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's kind of fun every now and then to make some matching clothes for the girls. When one wants something, the other isn't too far behind with a similar request. So to keep it simple sometimes you just have to make things that are pretty much exactly the same. The good news is they're small and it doesn't take much fabric to cover them up, since most of the new skirt material we buy comes off the remnant rack. I don't know how long we'll be able to swing that sort of cheapness, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts I guess.

I wish I had put more ruffle in the trim.

But I love the tulip-ish shape of the little pockets

Notes on what's new

2010-06-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

~I cut my hair, it's back to being short. I remembered two things about haircuts with this latest. 1. I don't have my husband help me because it always ends up about 5 inches shorter than intended, I remember this now. In his defense he really did not want to help. He must have remembered the last one. 2. I always want to cut my hair because I hate taking the time to do my hair. This gets worse when your hair is short. At least when it's long you can do a ponytail, bun, or braids and it looks like you were at least trying to do something with your hair. Not possible when it's short. The good news is my hair grows fast. I can already put it up in a mini pony tail, thankfully.

~I am back in contacts after 3 years of only wearing glasses. I don't know how I survived all this time without them. The world looks so much clearer, it's amazing. Seriously, it's like a whole new reality. And they even fixed my glasses that were so stretched out and mangled by little hands that they will actually stay on when I am wearing them. I can hardly believe it. I am having to wean my way back into wearing the contacts for extended periods without major headaches, but we're getting there. It sure is nice to run and be able to see and not have to worry about rain on my glasses.

~I've given myself permission to make mistakes with sewing. It has opened up a whole new realm of creativity to try new things. I love it. I think I'm going to figure out how to make my junky serger work and might even upgrade to a decent sewing machine one of these days. And just so you know, elastic thread is insanely awesome. And another thing to keep in mind is that I am just as happy as your local thrift store to take cast off fabrics and such. Seriously, 95% of my stuff is acquired this way. Nothing is too ugly to experiment with.

~Our church moved to a new facility last week and it was crazy emotional for me. Which I totally did not expect. At least I think it will make our last few Sundays in Portland not as emotional. I'm fairly certain I got it all out last weekend.

~Last week was our anniversary. 7 years. Crazy. Time sure flies, but at the same time I can't imagine things any different. I'm sure that feeling will get weirder every year.

~ Oh, and one more little thing.... Jeremy got a job in Salt Lake!!!! I guess that means we really have to figure out where we're going to live now. No more making excuses about not knowing where things stand. He's already signed the offer and they're flying him out next week to meet the big shots of the company. Thanks for your prayers!

Now we're on to 2 weeks of vacation life going in all directions from cheerleading tryouts to camping, to races, to just chilling out with family. Wish us luck.

A bright little skirt

2010-06-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

The girls often ask me to make specific skirts as they sift through the fabric pile. Often I say yes without thinking about the probability of the skirt actually materializing. This was one such skirt. I made a little one, complete with built in bloomers at the end of last summer, but never finished the big sister version until I discovered it half started under a pile of other things a few weeks ago.

It was going to be a little short on the ever-growing girl so we added a little ruffle to give it some length and some swirl and of course a little pocket, because no twirly skirt is complete without a pocket.

It fits her body, her sense of style and her personality perfectly. Especially when she wears it out in public over leggings with her red shoes. **Never mind the box on her head**

Drawstring Bags

2010-06-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

I made a few of these little bags up as examples for a craft night with some friends and realized a few things.

1. Having lots of little drawstring bags on hand is really useful for carrying around all sorts of things.

2. They are super simple to make.

3. They make great little gift bags.

4. You can be as simple or creative as you want.

So we've made a few more. Actually more than pictured here. We might be going a little overboard.

They are a perfect way to practice something new. Freezer paper stenciling, printing on fabric, embroidery, applique, ruffles, pockets, the possibilities are endless. Though I don't recommend lining them. It gets too bulky and the drawstring doesn't cinch tight enough.

This one is my favorite. Though printing directly on fabric is pretty fun too.

Not the quickest of the bunch, but definitely the cutest.

Weekend Sewing : Everything Tote

2010-06-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

This book was my birthday present to myself. I checked it out from the library a while back and determined it was a book that clearly fell into the Need category. I love it, love it, love it. Which is funny because I generally dislike following a pattern. But I'm working on that. It's truly amazing how nicely things turn out when you actually follow instructions and don't just wing it. But that's beside the point.

I've got a whole list of things I want to make in here, but colliding time, inspiration, and the perfect fabric. (if I'm going to the effort to follow a pattern, I better be loving what it looks like when I'm done) Well, those things aren't colliding near as often as I'd like.

The first thing I made from Weekend Sewing was a bag. Because I don't already have enough large bags?

Either way, I found this really giant chunk of striped canvas-like material in the as-is section of IKEA. It was some sort of furniture cover and was really odd shaped with all sorts of velcro and straps all over it. I saw it and instantly knew it was destined to become my bag. I came home so excited and then realized I had nothing to line it with. But then I remembered the turquoise bed skirt I had also purchased in the as-is section because it was just too pretty to pass up. Out came the scissors and a few hours later it was complete. What a way to spend a lazy weekend afternoon.

I love the pockets. They are just the perfect size. Phone on the right. Keys, grocery list and pen on the left. Perfect.

The handles are ugly. I'll be honest. Lining a thick canvas with a very thin satiny fabric wasn't my brightest idea yet, especially when you have to turn the handles through. It didn't go so well and I had to go back and zig-zag all the way around to get them to stay. But the size and shape of the handles is perfect and oh-so-comfy to carry.

Next time I will gather the curve under the handles quite a bit more. I like the gathered look, plus I think it would be a nice way to shrink up the giantness of the bag just a little.

Yep, there it is. Pretty cute, huh?

When we leave the house, it usually looks like this.......

.......but not to worry all that extra space is quickly filled with coats, snacks, water bottles, groceries, etc., etc.

I love how totally different this bag can be with a little change of fabric and a bit more gather. The weight of the corduroy makes it feel like an entirely different style of bag too.

I especially love that it cost me about $2 to make. (My husband says it was more like $62, but I prefer $2. I considered my time and energy to be free.)

Napkins

2010-06-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

I have too much fabric. I love taking in other people's cast-offs, however, I do not have space or organization to be responsible for that sort of stuff. As I was sifting through trying to determine how to thin it all out I had a great idea. Instead of tossing it aside, I'll just finish all those things I had been planning to do with all these random snippets of fabric for the last two years and then it will all be packed as functional items and not as ridiculous amounts of fabric.

Starting with Flannel Napkins. Just the right size for little faces. They were a big hit at snack time.

Packing

2010-06-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

It has begun. That's about all there is to say about it. We're waiting for more boxes, we should be getting some at the end of the week. And then the packing will resume. Packing and purging and leaving out just what we need and not too much more. My son's room is the most accomplished of all rooms in the house. (Plus his sheets were in the washing machine which makes the picture seem even more dramatic.)

Letters

2010-06-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

The other day I saw this and thought, Hey that looks kind of fun. I read on and saw that it was a completely daunting task and required much patience. One would think that would turn a person away. But no.

Instead I jumped right to it, casting aside all other plans for that moment intent on at least creating one letter. And I did.

And it wasn't so hard. It helps to think through a letter before starting to cut things, imagining how it will come together, maybe even drawing it out. Ya know planning......but where's the fun in that. It also helps to cut the right fabric for the right letter. The A up there, I cut into it thinking about F and then remembered it was the Fabric for A, so I improvised it back into a funny little A.

I was hooked, so I just kept on going until I was done. It was a real productive morning around here that day.

The good news is, I love it. The bad news.....I have no idea what to do with it. The idea started as a pillow for my sister, since the fabrics coordinate with her couch cushions, but then it just got obscenely large and awkwardly wide. (Maybe that's why people measure things before they start projects??) I suppose a 28" x 8" pillow could work, but I'm just not feeling it. Any suggestions?

Missio Dei Community

2010-06-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

The website is up and running. Find it HERE.

Sunshine

2010-06-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's nice to see the sunshine today, especially since we've got park plans with friends. However, I have to admit I've really been enjoying the rain these last two weeks. It's kept me homebound and productive. Schoolwork with the kids has been a relaxing and enjoyable way to fill our days. Whenever the sun has peeked out for more than a moment we've embraced the opportunity to get outside. The strawberries may be drowning and the chickens may be seriously lacking in Vitamin D, but the lettuce, broccoli and carrots are exploding in the garden. And the sewing machine has been working overtime with all sorts of new things....but more on that later. For now, we better get lunch packed and head outside to enjoy this bit of sunshine while it lasts.

What's in a blog?

2010-06-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

What is the point of a blog anyway? I ponder this important question all the time. I like having a blog, but sometimes it seems kind of silly. Sure, I like to read what people are up to in their day to day, but I generally don't like to record what I'm up to in my day to day.

I like posting about my kids, because they're pretty funny, and I'm really bad about calling family or sending recent pictures of the kids to them. A blog is the ultimate keep in touch... here's what the kids are up to.... venue, as far as I'm concerned.

A blog is defined as a "shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies".

That kind of fits, but it seems as I look over my blog that my posts aren't generally about anything personal or really relevant to my own hobbies. I definitely post things in waves too. I get in a rut and post the same types of things for weeks and weeks and then switch to something new. And it's not usually because it's a topic I'm insanely excited about, it's mostly because I've got myself in to some sort of obligatory blogging gig. Book Reviews, for example. Recipes, for another.

Nothing on this blog really represents what I spend the majority of my time doing. Which is OK, but awkward, for me anyway. It seems like a really strange representation of myself.

Which brings me to my point. (Wait? There was a point? I didn't see it coming either....... don't worry.) I think this is possibly the most random, disjointed and purposeless blog there is in existence. And I am ready to embrace that aspect of it and jump in with two feet to blogging more regularly. Which is fitting.

Why is that fitting? Well, I've always been the kind of person that has their hand in everything possible all at once and can do well at whatever I'm trying, but I've never been Great at anything, always just good enough at lots of stuff.

So why should I try to create a crafty blog when there are plenty of amazing craft blogs like this or this.

Photography (which is a joke for me) can be found amazingly done here or here.

Good thoughts and advice abound from these ladies and this dear friend.

My most favorite recipes usually come from this place.

Plus blog land is full of amazingly talented people sharing their skills and ideas and encouragements all over the world. I love finding new ones and exploring favorites, though I make extra effort not to "follow" people I don't actually know because sometimes that can feel creepy.... unless of course they have such insanely amazing ideas or link to new amazing blogs all the time, then of course I have no choice but to follow them and glean from their expertise.

And that, is my rambling for the day.

Bottom Line: Blogs are odd.

Surely, more oddly impersonal posts to come.

Book Review: Life, In Spite of Me

2010-05-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Vividly Raw.

Vibrantly Truthful.

Valiantly Glorifying to God.

Kristen Anderson's story is a gripping testament to the amazing grace of God. Her openness, honesty, and willingness to be vulnerable in the sharing of her past is humbling.

The tragedy of her story is heart wrenching and devastating. It seems hopeless and unending. Her recovery, let alone her initial survival seemed impossible. Kristen's life is a miracle, living proof of the hand of God. And she knows it.

The outreach of Kristen's growing ministry is courageous, encouraging, and overwhelmingly needed in our culture. Suicide is prevalent in today's society, yet hidden from the world. Amazing people like Kristen are shining a much needed light on a problem that cannot be ignored. She offers love, understanding, comfort and guidance to those who are struggling. But most importantly she offers her testimony to others of hope in Christ.

From start to finish Life, In Spite of Me captures your heart and ultimately points you to the glory and the grace of God.

To read the first chapter of Life, In Spite of Me and to hear Kristen tell a little about her story visit this site.

**This book was provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.**

2010-05-14T05:14:00.000-07:00

Grandma Bobbie's quilt hanging to dry in the sunshine. It created an afternoon fort for the kids and it's beauty brought a smile to momma's face. Now what could be better than that?

Contra Dancing

2010-05-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Contra dancing is also called New England Folk Dancing, though from what I can find out it is danced all over the world and is really a mixture of a variety of similar styles of partnered folk dancing. There is usually a live band and a caller, but the nice thing is that before each dance the caller walks you through the steps one time which helps immensely. By the time the dance is over 10 minutes later you could do the steps in your sleep!

Some friends and I went last week for the first time and it was so much fun I could hardly stand it. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, I was dripping with sweat, and I was so dizzy I finally had to sit one dance out. I loved the family-friendly old-fashioned atmosphere of dancing with friendly people, thanking your partner when the dance is through, gentlemen asking the ladies to dance, clapping for the band, and sharing cookies that the old ladies had baked that afternoon.

I will definitely be going back next month!

LoveJoy Bakery

2010-05-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

Introducing the sweetest little shop to hit Salt Lake City...

Isn't this the cutest box you ever saw......

And look what's inside............

They are insanely mouthwatering and utterly delicious. Joy is a genius. I am a very fortunate birthday girl.

2010-05-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day 2010!

I will spend my afternoon lapping up the love of these 3 little munchkins. Hope your day is grand!

**picture from Mother's Day 2009 at the park**

Birthday Card

2010-05-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

To me May is totally birthday month. So when I got a phone call at 4:00 yesterday afternoon letting me know that we would be celebrating a lovely lady's birthday that evening at Scarlet Cord I jumped at the opportunity to make a cute card. I had seen a few variations of cards like this one and this morning I even found a simple little tutorial. Which may make your attempt a little easier and more finished looking than mine was.

Let the celebration begin!

Book Review: Radical

2010-05-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't finished it yet, so I can't really write a legitimate review. But the message rocks. You can read the first chapter of the book here. You can also get a free copy of the companion book The Radical Question here , while supplies last.

**This book was provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.**

Eugene

2010-05-04T09:05:00.001-07:00

It's pretty awesome to go home to Eugene. I love it there. I love the crazy dichotomy of the town, its people and its wacky culture. The U of O campus, the hippies, the runners, the private school yuppies, these are my people, all wildly different yet blended together in who I am, creating something entirely different and unique.

I love seeing people I know and waving with a smile, though I don't remember their name and I haven't seen them in ten years. I love seeing people I don't know waving, cheering, encouraging people by name thanks to the printing of it on their bib, though they don't know them from Adam.

I love watching the people who come out. Over 8,000 of them. All shapes and sizes of people. Ranging in age from 5 to 85, all here for the same purpose. Each one has a story that brought them to this same time and same place to all run this race together, yet alone.

I love being swept up in the crowd, the surge of bodies pushing against you from all sides as you await the starting gun, feeling the air of excitement, being engulfed by the stench of sweat as we pass through a tunnel, my ears ringing from the clanging of the cowbells and the screaming of the people in the *cheer zones*.

I love running in Eugene, feeling at home on the roads and trails that used to be so familiar to my feet. I love walking up and down the bleachers at Hayward Field, knowing the long history that is held in that place, being reminded of the hundreds of stairs we would run there.

I love that my love for running is renewed by going home. This time I won't allow such a long time to lapse before going home to run again.

Busy....with some random pictures

2010-04-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Spring is the craziest time of the year. Crazier than the fall because back-to-school doesn't really mean anything for homeschoolers. Crazier than Christmas because we have made huge efforts not to indulge ourselves in the chaos that is the consumer culture holiday frenzy. For us, it is the Spring that brings a jam-packed schedule and excitement around every corner.

This week started with a quick trip to Seattle. (Ha! Who drives 3 hours one way for a quick day trip? Anybody else that crazy?)

Our last day of home-school co-op. Followed by Presentation Night, which was fun, but busy. Theater class was fun fun fun, but now it will be nice to have a break.

Tuesday was a mid afternoon dentist appointment that basically broke up our day in just the right way that nothing productive could be done in the morning and there wasn't much motivation going into the evening.

Wednesday we decided we should maybe do some schoolwork, which is when I realized that I really need to be more organized with how we structure our school time, otherwise we end up at it for longer than the kids have attention for. We ended up being out late and had massive, half-asleep meltdowns from everyone upon arriving home.

Somewhere in there we've been trying to get miles logged for this weekend's races, I promised the kids a trip to OMSI (with passes that expire tomorrow!), one child is desperate to hit the Foster Indy Mart, we have new friends coming for dinner tonight, and then we head out of town for the weekend tomorrow.

The frightening thing.....this week is one of our least busy weeks of the next month.

On my list of things to do: (aside from May Day, mother's day, and birthday gifts galore)

this dress

organize this blog

start packing

play outside on sunny days

keep the kitchen clean so that I can actually cook dinner

read for book club

*Breathe*

**As I finished writing this I realized everything on my "to-do list" is things I want to do and nothing of the to-do things I actually need to do. Interesting. I see why I never get anything done**

Sewing Jealousy

2010-04-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

I admit, I am insanely jealous of this woman's ability to sew. Especially with three little girls underfoot. I cannot find the time to make simple little twirly skirts or freezer paper stenciled shirts. And most things I have attempted lately take twice as long as they should because I'm making silly mistakes and pulling out seams every ten minutes. Ah, such is life. For now I'll just hit the clearance racks at Old Navy and live vicariously through the skills of others. Although she does give her amazing creations away......so maybe..... someday...

Bottled Water

2010-04-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Georgia

2010-04-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

For the last week we had the privilege of calling this home.

With a big front porch swing and a lake out the back window. With temperatures in the mid 70's. With grandparents, aunts, and uncles to entertain kiddos all week. I can't say there was much to complain about. Except maybe that the week passed too quickly and there was more delicious Southern food than is probably good for me.

We hit a few tourist hot spots.

Stone Mountain was definitely a highlight ....

We visited Dahlonega where we panned for gold......

We went to the Cyclorama and stopped at a bunch of road side markers for the benefit of the budding historian in the family.

And we spent lots of time relaxing, visiting with our family and friends, and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. Plus we caught a baby turtle and I thought that was pretty cool.

Book Review : Forget Me Not

2010-04-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

This story was something new for me. I don't usually read suspense or thriller type books or see those types of movies, but suspense/thriller would accurately describe this book by author Vicki Hinze. Forget Me Not, while being a very unbelievable story line was still able to hold my interest until the end.

The information that explains the context of the story is slowly unfolded as the book progresses. Making the first few chapters very confusing because you have no idea what's going on. I felt throughout the book that just as I was getting fed up with the dramatics and the unrealistic situations I would be given a key piece of information that would encourage me to read on.

I appreciated the heroine's faith in the face of adversity and her blind trust and dependence on God. However, the love scenario that is highly dependent on the hero's faith is sort of ridiculous as the situation the character's are faced with is no time for a blossoming romance.

I don't think the book was bad. It was just a little weird and not quite my style. If it peaked your interest though you can find more information here.

*This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.*

Book Review & Giveaway: This Little Prayer of Mine

2010-04-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

This Little Prayer of Mine is a sweet book with lovely images that will delight parents as well as the children it is intended for. It is a joyful and fun story to teach children about prayer and the simplicity and ease of talking with God.

Some lines will bring laughter and smiles:

I might become a movie star.
I might play in a band.

Some lines will teach of God's guidance and how to turn to Him:

Whenever I feel all mixed up, unsure of what to do,
please show me what the right path is and help me follow you.

While other lines are solely a reminder of God's unending love:

But most of all I'm grateful for your love that never ends.

A very nice addition to any little one's book collection. It can be found here. If you would like to win a copy of this lovely story just leave a comment!

*This book was provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.*

Life and a plane trip

2010-03-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

We've been fairly consumed by life around here. We had family visiting all of last week and we're headed to Georgia to visit more family next week. This week is our down time, recovering and resting from all the fun had and preparing and packing for all the fun to come. There is no schoolwork going on around here for like a month, at least no organized, mommy directed school work. There's still plenty of reading, drawing, story-writing, dress-up, and history obsessing going on with the kids. Plus we still have Monday School and I'm trying to be a semi-on-top of things teacher for my theater class, but that's not really happening.

Good thing in the midst of all of this I found a gift certificate to a spa that I thought I had lost. It was my baby shower gift (from 2 1/2 years ago) and I finally used it, although I think I enjoyed it more now than I would have then. It was at Zenana Spa and it was amazing. It was utterly frivolous and I could have felt massively guilty and irresponsible going there, but I decided to just relax, enjoy every last moment and appreciate the amazing friends who gave it to me. It really was fabulous and the ridiculous amount of patience I had for crazy kids lasted well into the evening which was quite pleasant too.

If anyone has any great advice or ideas for traveling cross-country with the crew please let me know. We haven't been on a plane since we had a two year old and a baby and that trip we took the direct red-eye flight and they both had ear infections, so we were liberal with the Tylenol. We leave this time in the morning and have two short flights (2+ hours each) with a short layover. Any opinions on what to take on the plane (specific foods, games, books) that would entertain a 6, 4, and 2 year old would be much appreciated.

Book Review & Giveaway : An Absence so Great

2010-03-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't had much time to be creative or productive there hasn't been a lot of blogging going on lately. So it seems like book reviews are all that gets posted, I apologize for that and sure hope that changes soon. In the meantime I do have good news, the next few books I am reviewing I will have a copy to give away, to you! So if one peaks your interest, let me know in the comments and it just might be heading your way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Jane Kirkpatrick makes her home on a ranch in Oregon and is best known for her stories and research into the lives of actual historical women. An Absence so Great is a tale spun from the threads of truth that Ms. Kirtpatrick has researched and discovered about her own Grandmother, the heroine of the story Jessie Ann Gaebele.

My favorite aspect of the book was actually the author interview at the end of the book in which she explains where and how she dug up most of her information and elaborates on the elements of historical fact and the imaginative snippets that are intertwined to fill the gaps.

It was a very interesting, albeit odd story of love and scandal all set against a fascinating era in a frustrating time for a woman who was set on making her own way in the world. It was almost hard to believe at times that the story told was somewhat historically accurate. I can't say that I was drawn to any one character in a deep way but that lies mostly in the fact that I just didn't relate to the struggles and decisions that the characters faced throughout the story. I disagreed with many of the choices made by the characters and with the paths they took in life, but those elements that I did not agree with were mostly historically accurate and so to judge against the book based on those things which are the facts of a person's life and story seems foolish.

With the element of photography surrounding the character's lives it seemed fitting that every few chapters there was a photograph, actually taken from Jessie's collection of works. I felt that addition brought the setting and the characters most alive for me and I enjoyed that aspect very much.

You can read an excerpt from the book here. And find more information on the book here. If you'd like to win a copy of the book just leave a comment.

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group*

Book Review: Here Burns My Candle

2010-03-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs is a powerfully captivating novel. Reading the story you are transported deep into the society and culture of another time and place. You are easily lost in the deeply emotional experiences of the riveting characters. You are lost, confused and heartbroken many times over as their lives and their individual stories unfold.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the sequel (Spring 2011) I have to express that I was disappointed in two elements of the story. First,there was a great deal of description and focus on the traditions of Lady Elisabeth's former pagan beliefs while the discovery and experiences of her new-found Christian faith were quite minimal. As she was only just learning to trust in the Lord near the end of the book I trust that the sequel will expand upon that in a much greater fashion. Second, I felt that the description and focus on Lord Donald's infidelity was much too great. I recognize that it was an important element in understanding the depth of character in each key player in the story. However, I felt overwhelmed by the focus and the continued reminder of it.

Despite those two elements I found Here Burns My Candle to be a fascinating book. The historical elements provided a stunning backdrop to the story. The despair, dishonesty, courage and loyalty displayed throughout the book provided endless surprises both pleasant and disturbing. It is most definitely a book I would recommend if you have the time.

**This book was provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.**

A little more about SLC

2010-03-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

If your not familiar with the idea of church planting, well, I'm probably not the best person to explain it to you. So I defer you to the explanation found here. Any one with thoughts, explanations, and/or opinions feel free to comment or add context.

Here's a video interview with a bit more detail on the SLC church plant that we will be a part of.

And here's a rough website where thoughts, ideas, and details from lots of different folks are beginning to take shape.

A new chapter

2010-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of the summer we will be moving.
Away from Portland.
Away from a beautiful city full of unique personality.
Away from a city perfectly situated between the ocean and the mountains.
Away from our families who are mostly all just a few hours drive to the south of us.
Away from an amazing community of good good friends.
Away from an unbelievably awesome church community.
Away from all our new fellow home-schooling friends.
Away from all our green minded, urban chicken loving, farmer's market shopping, CSA supporting acquaintances that we have met and learned from in our three years here in Portland.
We are moving away from all of the beauty that is Oregon.

I am so sad to be leaving, but more than that I am excited to be going.

To a place where the sun is supposed to shine 300 days a year.
A place where 62 inches of snow fall each year on average.
A place where the mountains seem to rise up out of the city in an apparently breathtaking fashion.
A place where 1 out of every 6 residents is living below the poverty line.
A place where 60% of public school kids in the area we are looking to settle are predominantly Spanish speaking.
A place where Bosnian, Sudanese, Afghani, Bantu, Burmese and Russian refugees have settled under government programs.
A place where approximately 7.6% of the city's population, or almost 14,000 people, are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
A place ranked by Forbes Magazine as the most vain city in America and the 8th most stressful.
A place where many people are turned off by "religion".
A place where the majority of people feel like a minority population because they are not a part of the church culture of the surrounding area.
A place where there are far fewer Bible based churches per capita than anywhere else in the U.S.
A place where God, despite my best efforts to say no thanks, is inviting us to go.

So, soon we will be packing up, for our move to Salt Lake City, Utah. Where we will go and live our lives and love the people we meet. Where we will engage our community in the best way we know how. Where we will question our own sanity and have days that are miserable. Where we will learn more about ourselves and trust more fully in God, where we will have days that are extraordinary and inspiring. Where we will experience our own brokenness and inadequacies and where we will come face to face with transformation and grace all over again.

We are going with a small group of people as part of a church plant. We go with good close friends of ours, with other families with children, with some single folks that the kids adore, and some others that we are just beginning to get to know. But ultimately we go as a family in pursuit of what God has placed on our hearts. It is exciting and terrifying, but we trust that we are in God's hands through it all.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

*We don't have moving dates and such figured out, nor do we have a new address to pass along to you, but as those things come I will do my best to keep you up to date. Until then we would appreciate your prayers and would love to spend much time together before we go! *

**SLC statistics gathered from various sources.**

2010-03-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Book Review : Start Here

2010-03-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Start Here is a practical guide for teens who desire to step out of the comfort and complacency of culture's low expectations for their lives. Written by teen brothers Alex and Brett Harris, it is a companion to their first book Do Hard Things. While Do Hard Things encourages teens that they can make a huge difference in their schools, in their communities and in the world; Start Here shows them how.

Filled with advice, stories, and perspective from teens all over the world who are reaching outside of their comfort zones to go against normal expectations and show God's love through their faith and their actions in huge ways.

Start Here is a practical approach to the seemingly impossible ideas and visions that come out of Do Hard Things. The book doesn't answer all the tough questions for you, but instead guides you through how to figure out which questions to ask yourself and how to come to the best right answer for your specific circumstance. Start Here provides tools for managing big projects and ideas in a day to day manner, how to stay motivated and how to embrace even the small "hard things" in life.

Start Here holds an entirely different message for teens than the culture that surrounds them. What I appreciated about this book was that there is recognition of that. This book is full of encouragement and support for the tough times that teens will face in going against what is normal and expected. Teens and adults alike will be inspired by all the examples in this book of great things that teens are doing all over the world.

**This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.**

Interview with God

2010-03-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

About 8 years ago I sat in my dorm room checking my e-mail one night. I was a freshman in college, overwhelmed with a multitude of life circumstances crashing down all around my well-protected, safe and perfect appearing life. I watched a video that arrived in my inbox and cried until there were no tears left.

I came upon the video again this weekend and was flooded with memories of the emotions I felt the first time I saw it. My life is incredibly different now from what it was at the age of 18, my experiences are vastly different, and my response to the video comes from a new perspective. Yet as I watched it I was again overcome with tears.

Take the time to watch it for yourself....

Interview with God.

Adorned in Grace

2010-03-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the grand opening of a local organization, Adorned in Grace, they are dedicated to helping raise awareness and funds for Door to Grace, an organization committed to building a safe shelter for young women victimized by human trafficking. Adorned in Grace sells new, gently used and re-purposed bridal and formal wear.

If you are free please head out and support them in their Grand Opening Celebration:

Tomorrow: Saturday March 13th
10 am until 5pm

Location:
1515 NE Village Drive
Fairview, OR

Grand Opening Celebration will include raffles, refreshments, and many creative ideas on how to re-purpose dresses.

**I sincerely apologize for the late notice on this great event**

Rice and Beans

2010-03-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Rice & Beans from Lahash International on Vimeo.

The Balance Beam

2010-03-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

I like this video. I think it is an interesting way to look at our lives and the way we respond to the opportunity that God has laid before us. I'm struggling with how it applies in the day to day. What does it look like to respond to God openly and fully, exploring and embracing each opportunity granted to us. What does it mean to take those leaps of faith or to do something seemingly crazy all for the love of God. On the other end what does it look like for God to redirect us in our pursuits and in our passions. When is He reaching out and taking our hand and saying just rest awhile on that balance beam or you might hurt yourself. When is he screaming at us to sit down and take a water break, but we're just not listening. How do we know when we are being just plain foolish and pressing on solely towards our own desires.

I believe God wants us to take risks, to love Him and follow Him no matter how irrational or radical it may seem. I believe that He will ask us to be uncomfortable, that only in those places of discomfort and fear do we learn to rest in Him and to trust fully in Him. It is in those places that we are able to allow Him into our lives to transform us more fully.

I like the analogy of the balance beam. I think it reminds us that God desires for us to rely on Him on that shaky ground. That He still wants us to continue on our crazy routine of life, to make risky jumps and spins and to be confident in Him that we can do it. However, I do not believe that God desires for us to jump off a cliff.... or go into debt, or foolishly disregard our family's safety...... or any of those types of things. So how do you know when you're just doing crazy flips on the balance beam or when you've somehow made your way to the edge of a cliff and you're standing there about to jump, because it feels somehow like that's the place where God has brought you. Maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere and this isn't where we are supposed to be, but maybe it is. The scary thing is you can't see the ground and how do you know if it's a cliff, or just the balance beam? And how do we know if it's safe to jump?

Book Reviews : Beneath a Southern Sky and Deep Harbor

2010-02-23T06:14:00.000-08:00

This week's book reviews came from a grab bag of fiction selections that Waterbrook Multnomah is offering at a low low price for Spring Break reading. You can find a multitude of great titles, including the two I received here.

Beneath a Southern Sky by Deborah Raney was the kind of entertaining fiction that you just can't put down. I started it late one evening and didn't go to sleep until I was finished with it. It was full of emotion, heart ache and plenty of relationships and drama. However, many of the characters also suffered from a lack of depth, a waining faith that was never truly addressed and much of the story followed highly anticipated twists and turns which left a lot of room for disappointment.

As the main character Daria wrestles through the loss of her husband, the decision to remarry, and then the sudden return of her first husband you are taken along in her emotions and anxious to know what happens next and how exactly it will all be resolved, which is why I just couldn't put it down. At the same time it is frustrating to witness the characters making one bad decision after another and continually turning from the voice of God. That issue is never completely resolved in the story, but merely glossed over with a quick mention.

If you're looking for an entertaining story with drama, tears, and emotion than this is a fabulous book to keep you busy on a rainy Spring Break afternoon. If you're looking for depth of character, a solid and realistic storyline, or an example of faith and dependence on God than I would recommend you skip this one.

I also received the second of the Northern Lights series by Lisa Tawn Bergren, Deep Harbor. My first recommendation if you are going to read this book is that you read the series in order. While the book was capable of standing alone, it would have been much more enticing from the start if it hadn't taken me three chapters to sort out all of the characters and figure out how they were all connected to one another.

With that being said, this book was full of characters whose stories, situations and experiences reached out and captured your attention. There was a deep sense of humanity and reality in the story lines of each unique character. There was an acknowledgment of past mistakes and of the lack of direction and wise choices that befell many of the characters as they had previously turned from God. It seems that there were many resolutions of situations that had begun in book one. But there were equally as many unresolved situations that developed leaving space and anticipation for book three.

**These books were provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.**

Valentine Coloring Books

2010-02-11T06:49:00.001-08:00

Originally we had intended to make matchbox Valentine's similar to these cuties. But then somewhere along the line I recognized that would be a project that I would enjoy and the kids would pretty much just watch me do. I also realized I really didn't want to add more candy to the mix and sometimes parents aren't real excited about a little box full of stickers that their kids will then stick all over the furniture...oh wait, that's me.

Anyway, we changed plans and decided to make good use of an overabundance of our new crayons from a while back. So we made Valentine's coloring books!

I had them each draw a couple of pictures to represent Valentine's Day and we came up with a few little Valentine themed word games to add in. We taped them down just the way we wanted them on each side of the paper and then ran them through the copy machine.

Then we cut them in half, arranged the pages in just the right order and zizag stitched the cover to them right down the center.

Here's a little tour through our coloring book.....

One piece of advice. Don't leave a two year old unattended with the printer. She might try to "help" the papers come out a bit prematurely. Good thing there are plenty of little friends on our list who probably won't care about an imperfect Valentine.

Here they all are, ready to go on their way. Complete with a little bundle of fun crayons! Happy Valentine's Day Friends!!

And for all the grandma's and grandpa's who need a little Valentine love? I just copied the covers of our coloring book onto card stock (front and back) and paper-clipped a little picture of these smiling faces.......

Making Crayons

2010-02-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Want to do something useful with all those old broken crayons lying around in the bottom of your child's art box? Turn them into new crayons!!

It is much simpler than I thought, minus the experimentation process that we had with finding the best mold. In the end we didn't get to use our festive hearts and other shapes, but instead settled for a paper lined mini-muffin pan. Advice I ignored from other sites was to find a pan at a thrift store that you don't mind ruining.......we didn't end up ruining ours, but it did require far more cleaning than is generally tolerable. Anyway.

After you peel the paper off of all your crayons break them up into small pieces (the smaller, the better) and fill your molds almost to the top.

Turn your oven up to 300 and pop them in there for a couple of minutes. The amount of time will depend on the size of your molds and how small you broke up your crayons. Just keep an eye on them, you'll know when they're ready.

Now, they'll obviously be pretty darn hot. And unless you have all day to wait around you're going to want them to harden up pretty quickly. So I pop them in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Until the pan is cool enough to handle and the crayons are firm when you gently touch them.

Peel off the paper carefully and color away with your new fabulous crayons!
Ours sort of resemble little Reese's Peanut Butter cups, I guess I'll have to keep an eye on any hungry little artists.

2010-02-03T20:22:00.001-08:00

A trip to the IKEA as-is section this evening.......

An e-mail to a friend that went like this.......

Do you have a staple gun?
Have you ever spray painted stuff? specifically pressboard and/or cardboard?
When using chalkboard paint, do you need to prime the wood first?

And a trip to Home Depot planned for the morning.........

Could only mean that tomorrow is either going to be super awesomely productive or insanely chaotic disaster. Either way. It should be fun.

Leisha in Africa

2010-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to pass along the blog of my friend Leisha. She is living in Dodoma in Tanzania right now and she works for Lahash International. Leisha is an amazing woman. Seriously, that smile you see in the picture above is just who she is. I miss seeing her around in this part of the world, but I love hearing what she's up to over on the other side of it. She has a huge heart and loves the children and the families that she has the privilege of working with everyday. You can find her blog at leishainafrica.blogspot.com. She shares her joys and adventures, but she also shares the heartache and the realities of the community where she lives. The people reach out from the stories on her blog and touch your heart. Check it out.

a little more love...

2010-02-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

No links today, but a few more ideas from around the house......

We had some candles that were looking a little bedraggled, so we decided to give them a little Valentine's makeover. Using some red crayon we added a few heart designs around the outside for some colorful spark. Then we lit them so that the jagged tops would get a little soft and then cut around the edges to get a nice smooth new top edge Now they feel a little more festive and bright and not so creepy leftover Halloween candle gloomy.

I love felt. And I love small projects that you can sit down and start and finish in about 5 minutes. Enter: felt hairclips. We've made all sorts from leaves, to flowers, random geometric shapes, and in honor of Valentine's day.......Hearts!!

They are so easy and people are charging an average of 5 bucks a piece for such things on etsy. Amazing! So don't be fooled. They are simple. You can make one. And if you can't, just bring your felt to my house and we'll make them together. I'm always looking for a good excuse to sit around and craft with a friend!

Share the Love

2010-02-01T05:59:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Valentine's day we've been busy filling our home with lots of reds, lots of pinks and lots and lots of hearts. Check out these fun tutorials for some inspiration of your own......

Cereal Box Hearts. Some hanging hearts made from recycled cardboard....ya know, cereal boxes and such. We opted to skip the glitter shown in the tutorial and just stick with paint. This way we were able to paint first and sew them together second.

Felt Garland. I couldn't find the tutorial that originally inspired me, but here's a version I found in all red. And here's a little more detailed version that I just wish I'd found before we made ours. So cute.

Burlap Heart Wreath. Bring a little love to your front door with this heart wreath. The tutorial shows you how to ruffle your burlap (I love the red they used!). We opted for a simpler, quicker version and just wrapped our burlap around the wire hanger. Totally different look, but same idea. I love burlap.

Envelope and Note. This idea is splendidly clever, but of course I didn't stick with the directions, because it required a little bit of patience and time. Instead we opted for an insanely simplified felt version and the artsy one has been using it to store the piles of Valentine's she's been working on for the last two weeks.

Felt Embellished Cards. I think one of these cards would be perfect tucked inside little felt envelopes. Not only does the lovely Sarah make super cute cards, she also takes amazing pictures and shares all the ins and outs of being a fun emerging photographer on her blog.

Can-Can Skirt. This one is in the makings and surely won't be ready by Valentine's day, but it's pink, frilly, and fits the theme. I should just buy the pattern, but instead I'm trying to wing it off of the brief instructions she originally posted on her blog before she took them down and began selling it as a pattern. Hmmm.....we'll see how this one turns out.

If none of these inspire you then there's always Martha who has plenty of love to share when it comes to crafty Valentine's ideas. There's some pretty cool ones we may have to try out this week.

That's all for now, go get creative my friends. We'll be back with more, I didn't even get to the matchbox valentine's we're working on....no pictures yet......hopefully soon.

Book Review : Tea with Hezbollah

2010-01-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

Tea with Hezbollah is a fresh new perspective on the conflict in the Middle East. It is not a book about politics or military agenda, it is in fact far from that. This book takes you right into the homes and lives of many middle eastern leaders that have never been heard from before and finds out who they are, not as religious and militant leaders, but who they are as people. As fathers and husbands, as grandfathers and as friends. We learn what makes them laugh, what makes them cry. They share their frustrations and their fears.

I appreciated that the interviews are shared in this book as direct conversation, written down exactly as they were recorded. They are done this way so that there is no mis-interpretation and nothing can be taken out of context. However, the book is not a dry account of interviews. The interview pieces are surrounded with story. Author Ted Dekker recounts his travels through the Middle East with his friend Carl Medearis in a way that is honest, fearful and at times quite funny. He intertwines stories of characters they meet along the way and leaves you with a sense that you almost understand and are a part of his amazing journey and experience.

I would recommend this book to all Americans as a fresh new perspective on the conflicts in the Middle East. It will leave you wondering how to answer the question that Ted asked each of his interviewees, "Jesus said Love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemies. What does that mean to you?"

You can find more reviews and information on Tea with Hezbollah, here.

**This book was provided to me for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.**

In the dark, deserted morning

2010-01-21T05:59:00.000-08:00

It's 5am as the character of our story pulls into the WinCo parking lot on 82nd Ave. It's dark and of course at that hour the parking lot is virtually deserted. As she pulls into park the car she suddenly becomes aware that the car nearest to her is clearly in need of a jump.

There is a third car nearby and it seems as though there is a possibility the third car is on its way to help, but as she turns off the car and reaches for her grocery bags she realizes the car is driving away. As she opens the door she throws up a plea, "God, please don't let them ask me for help."

She doesn't even know who sits inside that car. Is it a young woman with children, an elderly man, a group of punk teenagers, a lonely person on the edge. It doesn't seem to matter. She doesn't want to help in the dark deserted parking lot in the wee hours of the day.

No sooner does she crack the door than she hears a polite young woman's voice, "Excuse me, do you happen to have any jumper cables?"

"Thanks God", she thinks as she smiles and turns her attention to the woman. "Let me check, I think I have some cables."

As the next few minutes unfold our character is greeted warmly by the passengers of the car. Two young women and two young men, all in their early twenties. Kind, thankful, appreciative, joyful, and exceptionally chatty so early in the morning.

They were in the midst of trying to pull together $15 to pay a man who was inside buying groceries who had offered to jump them when he came out, for $15. She joked about only charging $10 as she hooked her car up to theirs and everyone laughed, just as the man came out of the store and walked by shaking his head. Clearly disappointed that his deal had not come to fruition.

Within moments the car was up and running, cheers were thrown up, and there were hugs all around for their hero of the day. As they pulled away honking and waving the parking lot suddenly seemed a bit less dark, a bit less deserted. And a small prayer again went up, "Thank you God, for letting them be unafraid to ask for help."

Titanic

2010-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't watched Titanic in years, probably not since it first came out actually. But I watched it with the kids this weekend and I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I actually shed a tear. Things like this make me painfully aware of what a hopeless romantic I really am. I will have that song stuck in my head all week now and I'm not sure I can honestly say that I'll be irritated by it. Oh, I'm so pathetic.

Herb Rolls

2010-01-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

These rolls are one of my new favorites. I love making breads that you get to knead and rise and punch down and roll out.....it's a lovely little process. But not one that happens often around here. First of all it takes way too much forethought, way too much energy, and there is always flour everywhere because everyone loves to help with this sort of thing. These rolls were actually pretty quick and easy and even though there was flour everywhere it wasn't bad.

You can find the recipe....HERE.

One thing I felt was that it could have used even more garlic and herbs. I felt like I was putting so much on, but once they were baked you could hardly taste it, so be liberal with the topping. Next time I may even mix some garlic and oregano into the dough.

We also made some plain and they were perfect spread with some good old Oregon strawberry jam. *sigh*

Must get craft room

2010-01-07T08:34:00.001-08:00

I've always thought it would be great to just have a nice little sewing/crafting station in the middle of the house where I could work on things while the kids play, or pick up on a project when I have just a few minutes, and just be creative in the midst of the chaos. But after having my most recent project hacked to pieces by a little scissor wielding vagrant this morning because it was left unattended for a few moments at the kitchen table makes me rethink that whole idealistic plan.

I think a spacious craft room where I could leave all sorts of projects laying about in half finished states would be better. The only condition is that the room must have a lock. One that can't be picked from the outside. And maybe a sign. A sign like those ones I always remember being terrified of when I went to antique or craft stores with my Grandma. The ones that said things like "Unattended children will be sold to the circus." or "Little children who touch will have to have their fingers broken". I kid you not, I distinctly remember seeing those signs and fearing for my life. Yep, I just might need one of those.

Freezer Paper Stencils are so much fun

2009-12-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Seriously, the possibilities are endless.

I mean, how else are you going to find a shirt with the Titanic sinking on it?

Translation of the Radio Code:
CQD - All Stations, Distress.
SOS - Doesn't actually stand for anything, but you can read about that here, if you care.
MGY - Titanic