this month, I want to remember...

I really, really adore you, February!
Your colors, your holidays--they make your weather
a little more bearable.

Sugar is highly over rated.
My husband and I went on an after Christmas,
six-week, no sugar/no bread diet
and I can honestly say that
sugar doesn't taste as good as I remember.
This is good.

Snow on the beach.
This is the Pacific Ocean, folks!
We visited the Oregon Coast this past week
and it snowed.
I never want to forget this!

home, moving on, etc.

(source)

Have you ever had a time in your life when absolutely everything was up-in-the-air? Right now is one of those times for me--but I'm not complaining.

My husband just graduated from Physician Assistant school, and I'm so very proud of him. Now we're in the job search process. We had certain areas in which we were focusing our search, but the PA job market, as we're learning, is slim right now. We've had to broaden our search just a bit. Okay, maybe more than just a bit. We've gone from looking on the West Coast to ummm, everywhere. This means that by the end of this year, I could be living...anywhere.

It's kind of exciting, but the truth is, I'm a little sad to leave behind our little house. It's the sweetest little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with a terrific fenced-in back yard, complete with big trees, a strawberry patch and garden. I love our hardwood floors and the colors of our walls (which were painted by the previous owner). I love our city, too! And the longer I live here, the more I love it. And then there are the wonderful friends we've made here. I don't even want to think about leaving them behind. :(

But here's the exciting part. I was apprehensive when we moved away from home four years ago in order for my husband to go to school, but God worked out every.last.detail--like our walls being painted colors I would have chosen myself. I'm confident that wherever our family lands, God will do amazing things yet again. He's good to us, and He's good. This is exciting to me.

Everything is up-in-the-air right now and I'm just not sure if I should begin packing up our life here.

in our little house...

we've been wishing and waiting for snow
baking
exchanging valentines
dieting
avoiding chocolate (see above)
reading
organizing toys
attending ice skating lessons (not in our home, of course)
playing games
homeschooling
hosting parties
jumping on the couch
listening to Adventures in Odyssey
drinking lots of coffee

hope your February has been a cozy one, too!

be mine

our valentine pancake batter

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this day I'm so thankful to know the source of true love...

..."this is love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
--1 John 4:10

and so very thankful that it's free!

"Thy love is such I can no way repay." --Anne Bradstreet

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

--Pooh Bear

One of my favorite Pooh Bear quotes!
Last week a friend and I were talking about these sweet stories.
If you've never read them to your kids, you must!
I always get choked up when
Christopher Robin is about to go off to school.
As wonderful as it is to watch our kids grow and learn new things,
why is it also one of the hardest things to do?

This past month, my oldest son turned 8.
Eight!
That's one more than 7, one less than 9!
I'm not quite sure how this happened.
This afternoon, I studied his sweet face as he spoke to me of nintendo,
and I noticed that his jaw is widening, as that of a young man's.
Little by little he has turned his attention toward what we've always called "big boy toys."
And in case you didn't know, big boy toys are just a little more expensive than little boy toys.

in the secret of his presence

(click here to listen)

Would you like to know the sweetness
Of the secret of the Lord?

Go and hide beneath His shadow:
This shall then be your reward;

And whene'er you leave the silence
Of that happy meeting place,

You must mind and bear the image
Of the Master in you face.

my winter eden

glorious red in my winter eden

A winter garden...lifts existence on a plane of snow
One level higher than the earth below,
One level nearer heaven overhead,
And last year's berries shining scarlet red.

from "A Winter Eden" by Robert Frost

advent

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."

Matthew 4:16

away

five of my most favorite people

Where did November go? Can it really be December already?

We've been away for awhile--a very long while, in fact.

We left home October 22 and returned just this week.

Here's what we've been up to:

A 17 hour drive down to Northern California (my husband drove straight through!)
A week spent here in Grass Valley
A visit with family in Los Angeles
A shopping day at the American Girl Store
A trip to Disneyland
A camping trip in the Grand Canyon
A visit with family in Mesa, Arizona
A visit with family in Tucson, Arizona
A beautiful drive up the California Coast on Highway 1--we saw the sun set as we drove!
A visit with family in the Bay Area
A tour of the Jelly Belly Factory
A visit with family in Northern California where we celebrated my girls' 5th birthday, Thanksgiving and my husband's birthday
A chance to hear my big brother preach at his church
A visit with family in Portland, Oregon
A crazy drive home in the snow--with no chains and no snow tires (they were back home, of course)

Whew! Now back to reality.

I've been scurrying about trying to organize my life.

Tonight as I prepared dinner, I put on my apron for the first time since I've been home and as I tied its strings, I sighed and felt a huge weight of stress lift.
It's a little piece of home that brought comfort right away.

october

Such a beautiful month, October!

Up here in the Northwest, just about now, our gardens are in full-bloom.

Yes, we really do have to wait this long.

But all around town there are beautiful signs of fall emerging, too.

Just yesterday, this little pumpkin asked to go home with me. :)

I said, "Yes," of course.

Another thing I love about October is making pumpkin everything--Play-doh, pizzas, soup, crafts, and chili.

Last night we had these waffles for dinner.

Yum!

They were excellent with syrup, a dollop or fresh whipped cream and chopped pecans sprinkled on top.

It was like fall on a plate.

And if I'm missing summer,

I have only to go sit on the little bench in my garden

for this spectacular view.

from my garden

"Earth laughs in flowers."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

lil' makeover

I don't sew very often because the only good spot for my sewing machine is on our kitchen table.

If ever I need to work on a project, it needs to be put away before meal times and depending on the project, that's not always convenient.

This afternoon I reclaimed a section of the basement and cleared off a table that held boxes and piles of random things.

It felt good to clean up this area!

It still looks very basement-ish with the unpainted wall,
the pipes and the exposed ductwork,

but I already love being in this space.

his and hers

eleven years

We celebrated our 11th anniversary yesterday
with dinner in the backyard
after tucking the kids into bed for the night.

It's the little things, year after year that make life so sweet.
This year I'll remember...

a pretty table for 2

flowers from the garden

a yummy dinner

bluegrass music,
bare feet and candlelight
on a breezy, summer evening.

the farm chicks show

Another great year at The Farm Chicks Show! I felt like I was better prepared this year, knowing what to expect when I walked through the door. Last year I was completely overwhelmed by all of the beautiful displays and the amount of crafty goodness! This year, my friend and I decided that we would just take it all in, not get stressed out and know that we would leave there with the things God would want us to have to enjoy in our homes. That took a huge weight off my mind. Last year I felt like I was in a race with the other shoppers to see who could find all the cutest stuff first.

This year I went at a much slower pace and spent lots of time browsing in the booths. The vendors put lots of time and effort into planning their booths. Many were works of art! This year I was able to appreciate the beauty of the booths themselves, not just the items for sale inside of them.

Here are the things I purchased this year...

Last year I was on the look-out for a red tray that I could convert into a magnet board for my kitchen. I found these two polka dot t.v. trays at this friend's booth, along with these old milk bottle cap magnets. My husband is going to hang both of them on the wall next to our computer in the kitchen. I can't wait!

I also found these adorable vintage paper dolls. I plan to make magnets with them.

These vintage flashcards were too cute to pass up!

I also found this "Great Grandma necklace." Made of plastic beads, it reminds me of something from my Great Grandma's jewelry box.

Here's a sweet surprise from this friend...she knew I loved this pillow and bought it for me when I was wasn't watching. My girls have been playing with it all weekend.

And of course I was completely giddy when Serena said hello to me!!! I guess she remembered me from last year's cookbook signing--probably because I made a fool of myself with my expert-giddiness. :)