Yeah okay....

Photo for Dec 9th 2009

Blizzard.

No joke.

Car got stuck.

Car got stuck again.

Car got stuck one more time.

Was late for work.

My boots got soaked.

I was petrified driving.

Saw tons of cars in the ditch.

Saw a sander truck in the dtich.

Wished {mulitple times} that I just stayed at home.

Boss took us our for lattes at Starbucks.

Totally worth it.

Staring Contest

Photo for Dec 8th 2009

This little Christmas decoration was staring at me from across the room.

He's adorable. He also has a twin who is currently still in a box somewhere.

My mom bought them for me and my sister years ago.

Normally I'm not one to get a cutsie - but this thing is adorable. I love it.

He makes me smile.

First Snow.

Photo for Dec 7th 2009

The very first decent layer of snow from our front window.

Our Christmas Tree

Photo for Dec 6th 2009

Here is our Christmas tree - with lights.
{No decorations just yet...plus we need to get another string of white lights on there...but you get the picture}

We're celebrating one (of three) Christmases at our house on the 19th ... that means its only 12 days till Christmas! Woot! Unless you count the fact that we're celebrating Christmas in Toronto with some of our closests friends this weekend...then Christmas is only 5 day away!
Double Woot!

Christmas Date!

Photo for Dec 5th 2009

Every year since we've been married, Mat & I have had a Christmas date. We go shopping, have a special dinner, wrap presents, decorate & (for the first time) we put up the tree!

{Living in Toronto we never bothered with a tree because we always spent Christmas touring around visiting all our families}

At my request we got a Scotch Pine.
{I like the long needles - thank goodness for hardwood floors}

{It says its 'Environmentally Friendly Choice...since when is deforestation friendly for the environment? These 'green' activists...I don't understand them. :)}

The base we had just BARELY fit the trunk...it was a super tight squeeze. Watering it was ridiculously hard because there was no space left around the edges. It probably took about 45 minutes to fill the base with water.

When we finally cut her loose we realized there was NO WAY it was going to be able to be in front of our window. So we had to move it into a corner. However, we forgot to take the netting off before we left the house to go shopping, so we didn't even get to decorate...but that's okay, we wouldn't have had time anyway - we were up until 1am wrapping presents!

The Moring Commute

Photo for Dec 4th 2009

I saw this on my way to work.
It's like they all stopped in for a quick chat on their way to work.
I pity the cars that were stopped at the light right underneath them.

Christmas at the Office!

Photo for Dec 3rd 2009

This tree belonged to Mat's 94 year old grandmother, Adah. It's a lovely vintage Sears Christmas tree. I thought it was a shame that this awesome old tree wasn't going up at our place since Mat & I wanted a real tree & there is NO room left for anything else. So I brought this lovely little tree to work.

I even wrapped a bunch of office supplies for presents.
Who asked for staples for Christmas?

Dr. Richard Davis

Photo for Dec 2 2009

Not sure why Dr. Davis was on my mind today, but I figured since he was, he should be a part of my photo for the day

The photo in the photo above was taken at my University graduation in May.
{I have a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy & Religious Studies}

A large majority of my classes were with Dr. Davis. By nature I am not a philosophically minded person. In truth, I am a lazy thinker. However, I do believe that being able to reason well is foundational to uncovering the truth about life. Dr. Davis helped to teach me that.

Furthermore, he taught me that there are many other awe-inspiring faucets of philosophy - especially metaphysics (the study of things that are not physical. Ex. time, or souls) & my favorite, epistemology (the study of HOW we know).

I am not a philosophically minded person - & these topics were daunting for me, & extremely challenging. I was scared of being fascinated by it in class & soaking in all the information, but not being able to think about the topics independently.

However, Dr. Davis taught these topics in a detailed, careful & exciting way that made me understand, & want to engage with the ideas more. Most importantly he taught how as a Christian these topics were important & can help draw us closer to the God we serve.

While my essays & exams probably were not the best written, it meant (& still means a tremendous amount to me) when Dr. Davis told me he was proud of me at my graduation (while he was 'hooding' me). This non-philosophically minded person was able to do it.

While I have let a lot of the things I learned fall into some far back corner of my mind since I've left school and re-joined the regular working world. I am in love with philosophy because of Dr. Davis, & I look forward to the day when I can draw all the wonderful things I learned back to mind & read through all those textbooks again. I'm sure I'll spend that day thinking of Dr. Davis again, & missing his classes.

Do you have someone in your life who helped teach & inspire you?

SNOW!

Photo for Dec 1 2009

What could be more appropriate than snow!?


Yep, that's snow, not frost.
{At least that's what Mat said when he took this photo for me}

I'm already plotting a snowman build.

Did it snow where you are?

Peace

One of my favorite parts about Christmas decorating is the peace it brings. There is something to subtle about it, maybe the lights, or the glitter. It's so silent & pretty, especially first thing in the morning when it's cold outside, warm inside & the world is still quiet.

This morning was a little rough for me as Mat headed to Hamilton. His commute means killer anxiety for me. After he called at 6:50am to tell me he got to Oshawa okay, I finally settled into the usual morning routine...but today it was accompanied by an atmosphere of peace. There were all these visual reminders of Jesus' birth all throughout our house - & while it didn't instantly squash my anxieties, it did remind me of the hope that there is in Jesus for all the trials of life. I'll probably take a lite of photos of the decorations we have throughout the house as the days go by, but today this was the first one I took a bit of time to look at.

Have you started to decoate for the holidays yet?

Decorating

Photo for Nov 29 2009

Well after getting our Christmas tree on Saturday it was really difficult to resist the temptation of pulling out all our Christmas decor & putting things up around the house.
{Even though the tree is still sitting outside}

We finally broke down somewhere around 6pm on Sunday & opened up all the storage boxes & hauled things out.

As I worked on a little project for our little wall divide, my heart turned to mush as I watched Mat out side setting up our little Christmas tree things.

He is such a wonderful husband. I thank the Lord for him everyday.

My Talented Mother

Photo for Nov 28th 2009

Mat, my mother & I went to a greenhouse that is just down the street from where we live. Mat & I bought our Christmas tree!! We haven't brought it inside yet due to the type of tree it is (Scott's Pine) the cooler & more damp it is the longer the needles will last so we are going to bring it in next weekend. For now its just laying in our backyard.

After getting our tree, my mother & I went on a while drive around the countryside collecting the following:

Branches, twigs, bushy things, & prickly things
{Apparently they all have names, what they are I don't know}

She then proceeded to make this beautiful arrangement that the greenhouse was selling for a rather high price.
I was so proud that she was able to make something so professional looking, & she didn't have to pay for it! I am so impressed, I went out and trudged through the dirt & fields for more of these branches, twigs, bushy things & prickly things so that she can make one for me!

Christmas Party #1

Photo for Nov 27 2009

Our first Christmas Party of 2009 at the Leavers:

Too much food.
Just the right amount of laughs.
Too much used underwear.
Just the right amount of adorable kids.
Too much salmon pink re-gifts.
Just the right amount of Christmas celebrating.

Scarf #3

Photo for Nov 26 2009

I have truly enjoyed learning how to knit. I have done two scarves since the first week of November & have enjoyed every minute of it. Especially since I get to knit during the sermons at church...it keeps me from getting restless in the pew & it helps me to focus more.

{Yes, I am like a 4 year old with A.D.D. You got a problem wit.....oh! look! a squirrel!}

{I'm hilarious}

Yesterday I picked up a 1lb bag of 'Mill Ends' from WalMart for $7. The bag I happened to pick is soooooo super soft. I have no idea what the material is but it's going to make an amazingly soft scarf for someone.

& since I was up at 5am this morning, I got started on scarf #3.

Nothing better than a cup of coffee & knitting in the morning.

its a fiesta!

Photo(s) for Nov 25 2009

Last night we served our very last meal on these dishes

We bought them shortly before (or after) our wedding. I thought they were nice & as a bonus, they were cheap!
We've served a lot of people with these dishes.

But last night (the 25th) these boxes were hand delivered to my door by some very lovely family from Michigan...

Talk about an early Christmas (or American Thanksgiving!?)

See how thrilled Mat is about the new dishes?

{I promise you, he really was excited, mostly that his wife would FINALLY stop whining about wanting Fiestaware - & I'm excited that FINALLY I won't have to be specific about which dish I serve him food on}

I have one last set to add to the collection - the above at Fiesta's Tangerine & Sunflower colors & we are going to add the Ivory set to the collection...but that requires a lot of saving....& Christmas is just around the corner. :)

I realized last night that now that we'll be eating off these dishes for pretty much the rest of our lives, we should start the whole thing off right...

Do you any suggestions for a good 'first' meal to serve on Fiestaware?

Bread

Photo for Nov 22nd 2009

My Homemade/Handmade Bread

Pre-Baked

Baking

Baked

Yum.
So good.
So easy.

Super Quick & Easy Bread for Lazy Bakers

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups warm water
8 TBSP white sugar
4 TBSP instant yeast
4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. salt
7-9 cups flour

DIRECTIONS:
Mix sugar in 1 cup of warm water until sugar is dissolved.
Stir in yeast.
Let sit until it doubles in size.

Put oil & salt in a large bowl.
Add yeast/sugar mix & remaining 3 cups of warm water.
Stir in flour 2/3 cups at a time - (until stirring is no longer possible)
Turn dough over on to a floured surface & knead in remaining flour (no more than 9 cups)

Cut dough into three equal pieces & let rise for 15 minutes.

Grease three loaf pans while you're waiting & preheat over to 350 degrees.

Place each piece of dough into a loaf pan & let rise again for 15/20 minutes.

NOTE: Make sure the dough is in a warm area while its rising. I'll place the loaf pans on the stove, while the oven in preheating to keep them warm.

Once doughs have rising, place in the oven for 30/40 minutes.

Let cool on baking rack for a few minutes & then pop them out of the loaf pans.



These loaves freeze well. Enjoy!

Oh & stay tuned for giveaway details!!

Technicalities

Photo for - Nov 21 2009

Some of you may think this is cheating - photographing the cards I made on the 20th - but technically I got home after midnight so it counts.

{yay for technicalities!}

Besides, I finished a whole bunch of them on the 21st.

64 cards done.

I'll take pics of all them them later.
{Maybe this week if you're lucky & I'm not lazy}

& maybe since I like some of you I'll do a little giveaway this week!
Stay tuned for details!

bitter to sweet

Photo for - Nov 20th 2009

What a great way to end a bitter-no-so-wonderful week than a sweet girls night?

Kelly indulged us with three kinds of cheesecake, chocolate fondue, fancy cupcakes & a nice glass of wine.

We ate, laughed, made Christmas cards & plotted ways to paint the town red...

It was cold out though...so we stayed in.

Thanks for the great time Kel!

miserable

Yesterday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I was feeling a little under the weather

The weather was under the weather

I drove past what seemed to be the obliterated remains of Bambi - which were being scooped up by a couple of guys with pick-ups

{yup, we're in the country all right, but not the picturesque cowboys & frontiers kinda country, more like redneck, backwoods kinda country...scary country, country that looks at road kill as dinner...*shudders*}

Okay, enough with the scary country description...

I had to leave work early to pay a bill, which was very inconvenient because I was in the middle of something important.

I couldn't go for a walk {my favorite evening activity} because of the NON-STOP rain.

I felt fat because I didn't get my walk.

The only thing that was any good about yesterday was coming home....
which I DID take a picture of...
from my car...
which is not loading up for some reason.

Maybe Nov 19th was just not a day I'm supposed to remember.

INSERT MENTAL PICTURE HERE OF THE FRONT OF MY HOUSE

my ring.

Photo for Nov 18th 2009

This is one of the few pieces of jewelry I own. I don't really enjoy a lot of jewelry but when I see something I like, I reallllllly like it.


{Sorry about the photos quality, I didn't have time to edit it}

I found this ring on Amazon.com, showed it to Mat & then begged, pleaded & yes, I even cried about asking for it at a Christmas gift. I love turquoise, but I find its to often set in large & gawdy pieces. I was pretty shocked when I found out Mat bought it for me for Christmas. But I was thrilled because I finally had a real piece of turquoise (& gasite) stone & a really neat ring to pass on to our children one day...

Well I found out that it's cracked & its quite a bit more money than we have right now to spend on repairing a ring. So for now, it's just going to have to sit in its dainty white box... my finger feels a little empty. :(

Do you have a piece of jewelry you love a lot?