It's (almost) Christmas Time/Happy Advent!

Christmas is coming. Can you feel it? You can sure see it, but you could see it in early November. But now, now Advent has officially begun, December starts tomorrow and soon, all too soon we will be celebrating the birth of Christ :) I'm excited.

Last night I did a bit of decorating. Finally finished the above wreath (I got most of the ornaments in the post Christmas sales and the wreath base was from the lovely Dollar Tree). I've always loved ornament wreaths, but wanted to make sure to make one that was tasteful, not gaudy like many that I'd seen. I used a tutorial I'd found online to get me started (gotta love pinterest!) and now I have a lovely wreath :)

I've been all about "This Warm December" Christmas CD. I like the different twist on some of the old Christmas favorites and it's just a good mellow soundtrack to get you in the Christmas mood. Here's a little Rudolph love for all of you (from the CD):

I'm starting to put together a list of what I'm baking this year. I just love Christmas baking. There are just so many fabulous recipes and great twists on old recipes, it's just a lovely time to bake. Once I finalize things I'll share some of my favorite finds as well as my to bake list :) Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Snow, Some Random Thoughts and a Very Thankful Thursday

So it's apparently winter here. After some gorgeous days, then some rain, we now have a blanket of snow and they're talking 50 degree weather this weekend! Seriously! What is a girl supposed to wear in weather like this?

Anyways, I've been thinking about the past year, how things have changed, what I've learned, where I see myself in the future, you know, that kind of pondering. So I thought I'd share a list today of things worth waiting for because no one should ever settle, whether it be in a relationship, in your job, in who you are. You're worth more than you could ever imagine, sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that.

Things Worth Waiting For

1. A significant other that makes you feel beautiful, even when you don't feel it.
2. A job you enjoy going to. Whether that be because of the people or because of the work you're doing.
3. A home. It's not the building that makes this, although a roof over your head is a necessity, it's a place that feels safe, a place full of love, a place of refuge, a place to call your own.
4. The seasons to change. God has blessed us with four beautiful, very different, seasons and each one is worth enjoying. Each one is beautiful.
5. Children. Children are a blessing, no matter how God gives them to us, but they are also something that I wish to have in a family setting, with a supportive husband. Children should never be thought of as a burden, a bargaining chip or a mistake.

Alright, so some of those were kind of deep, some not so much, but all of them are important, at least to me. On a lighter note, I just watched Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" movie and I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed by the kid, and by his family deep faith that is remarkably visible in the movie. It makes you want to root for him, and maybe turn on one of his songs to dance to (please take a moment to break from your obligations and dance a little this snowy Thursday).

And since it is Thursday, here's my Thankful Thursday list for the day.

At this moment I am thankful for...

(1) A vehicle that can handle the rain/snow/ice. It's nice having a reliable vehicle and that that vehicle happens to be an suv sure doesn't hurt matters, especially with the winters we have up here.

(2) Options. Options as in I'm thankful I have multiple places I can go or people I can hangout with. In other words, I'm thankful that if I don't want to be home by myself I don't have to be :)

(3) Holidays. I've been making Thanksgiving and Christmas plans lately and am so excited to be able to take some time off and spend it with family.

(4) Girl Sc.out Cookies :) Up hear they were delivered this week and yes I have already had a few. I really think they're so great only because you get them once a year. Its genius actually. And better for my waistline too ;)

(5) Craft Stores. It's true, I love places like JoAnn's, Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Just walking in makes me smile and if I have a bit of spending money, well that's even better :)

(6) Handwritten Letters. I grew up writing letters to my grandparents every week and my mom still writes each of us kids each week. It's something I try to do and something that is always appreciated. Also, I just watched a cheesy Halmarkesque movie called "The Christmas Card" which I of course loved and made me want to go out and write a letter or message in a card.

(7) Snow. It's true, I am thankful for snow. I'm excited about all the fun that snow brings, not the bad roads and cold temps, but the other stuff, the skiing and sledding, snowballs and ice skating. Nights curled up by the fire watching the peacefulness of a gentle snow.

Happy Thursday everyone! Enjoy your day!



Super Mom, a Wedding and a Bit of Sewing

I love baby showers. One of my dear friends is having a baby...this month! Wow! And on Sunday one of my best friends threw her a pretty awesome Super Mom baby shower.

It's always fun to get together with friends, especially to celebrate such a wonderful event like a new baby. It's even more fun when you walk into a room that looks like this...

Yeah, I've got some pretty darn amazing friends. She's starting her own event planning company, I'll give you more info. as it progresses.

Super Cute! There was of course much more to oooo and awww about in the room but a couple of shots gives you an idea of the fun.

I made the mom-to-be a little baby quilt. A simple little, oh-so-soft, blue and white blanket for her little man.

I got the idea from this cute little blog. There are so many options for this simple design and if you add applique it would be even cuter.



My boyfriend's cousin got married in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday. Weddings are always fun. It's great to see family all together and excited and sharing in the joy of the new couple. And the couple, of course was supercute and oh so in love (as it should be). Here's me and my boy all dressed up.

It's not often that we are both dressed up at the same time, so a picture was of course needed. I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween, and Happy All Saints Day!

Lead Me

Last night I had the chance to go to a pretty great concert. Some friends of mine offered me a ticket, and seriously, who turns down free concert tickets? Anyways, the headlining band was Casting Crowns, which was great in itself, but the opening act, well they were Lindsey McCaul, The Afters and Sanctus Real, which were pretty great. Sanctus Reel sings one of my favorite songs at the moment, it's called Lead Me. This song has such a great message one we should all take to heart and one that many of us yearn for. Check it out, it's pretty great.

Happy weekend everyone!

Go With the Flow

So this weekend did not go as planned. And guess what, it ended up being a wonderful weekend. To make a long story short, Friday I was supposed to go to an A Cappella concert, which ended up being sold out so I instead ended up going out with a group of friends to watch the Brewers and Cardinals play. Saturday I originally had a completely free day, but ended up helping some friends of mine move into their lovely new home (through all the chaos, stress and work of moving it's beautiful to see the excitement and contentment of a couple sitting in their 1st house, dreaming of all the memories that will be made there). Sunday I was supposed to go flying with my cousin and boyfriend, but the wind decided to pick-up (which would not have made for a very fun ride), so instead I spent the day watching football (6-0!! :), getting the grand tour of the lovely town of Prairie du Chien and laying out under the stars. It was a lovely weekend.

Picture from my trip to Ireland

So I was thinking. How wonderful the unexpected can be. We (at least I) spend so much of our time organizing and scheduling our lives, when often life takes over and our plans, well they don't quite go as planned. During these times of unexpected change I need to remember to enjoy it, to thank God for reminding me that I am not in charge (thank goodness!) and to (as my dad would say) just go with the flow. Here's to having a random going with the flow sort of day. Enjoy it!

Books, Food, Sewing and Being Thankful

So I've done a bit of sewing, a bit of reading and a bit of baking so this will be a fun catch-up post on what I've been up to lately.

If you guys are anything like me, you have (I had :) a stack of old t-shirts from high school and or college of various groups/sports you were in, trips you'd taken, etc. For the past, oh 5 years or so I've been working on a t-shirt quilt made up of all my old high school shirts, at least the ones that held memories I wanted to remember. I made up my own pattern (since the square sizes varied so much depending on the decals/designs on the shirts) and set to work. I'm happy with the finished product, but in the future (if I ever decide to tackle my college t-shirts or make one for someone else) I'll definitely use backing on the t-shirts (some of them stretched a lot), do a bit more basting (I really just wanted to finish), and maybe break-up the back a bit more (I just used a solid cotton print and had the same thick border that I used on the front of the quilt). But anyways, it's done, it's soft and warm, and it reminds me of some great times from high school.

photo from Tasty Kitchen Blog

I made the above cookies the other night because 1) I had a free night and I tend to bake/cook when I have free time, 2) I was out of cookies and in fact desserts in the house 3) I had all the ingredients in the house (always a plus) and 4) it's fall so I needed some fall food and these just looked and sounded, well perfect. Let me tell you, they were simple and are pretty darn tasty. Definitely a keeper of a recipe. Seriously, who could resist White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies? Not I!

picture from Connally Gilliam's website

In the begining of the summer I wrote this post on what I was currently reading. Sadly out of the 6 books I only ended up finishing 2:

1. Revelations of a Single Woman: loving the life I didn't expect by Connally Gilliam
2. Jesus: Man of Prayer by Kevin Perrotta

Both books were great. I absolutely loved Revelations of a Single Woman. There were such great insites, for both singles and those in relationships and it was filled with things we've all thought, but it was nice to know that I wasn't the only one.

I'm still reading through A Man of the Beatitudes by Lucianna Frassati. It's really not a long book, but I only read a chapter here and there and so it's taking me a while to finish, but everytime I pick it up I'm struck by what an amazing man Blessed Pierre Georgio Frassati was and how much we can all learn from this amazing young adult. The other three books are on the backburner and I'll get to...sometime.

Over the summer I did end up reading (and finishing!) The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drumond and One Day by David Nicholls. Both were quick reads, I wanted some light fiction and that's pretty much what they were. One Day was just out in theaters recently, so I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie (I've yet to see the movie, but at least I'm done with the book) and I love the Pioneer Woman's blog and had already read part of her love story on her blog and so I was eager to read the full extended version. It was cute and light. I also did a study on A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Dr. Edward Sri. I highly recommend it to any Catholics out there who want a better understanding of what goes on at Mass and why. I highly recommend it to any noncatholic out there who would like a better understanding of what goes on at a Catholic Mass and why.

Currently I'm reading:

1. Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
2. Zen and the Art of Needlecraft: Exploring the Links Between Needlecraft, Spirituality, and Creativity by Sandra Detrixhe
3. Proverbs: Wisdom for Living by Kevin Perrotta

Heaven is for Real is one of those books that has been circulating around the christian circles this year and I've heard it come up so many times in conversation so I thought I'd read it. Zen and the Art of Needlecraft my aunt wrote, so it's been siting on my shelf for a while and so I finally have a chance to read it. And Proverbs: Wisdom for Living we're doing in my young adult group, so far so good.

I know this is a long post, but I'm still going to do a quick Thankful Thursday list, since it's been a while since I've done one and there are always things to be thankful for!

At this moment I am thankful for...

(1) A great boyfriend. It's nice to know I'm thought of and loved and every girl needs a bit of pampering now and then. I'm thankful for a great guy who spoils me just enough.

 

(2) Hot chocolate/Hot apple cidar. There's nothing better than curling up on the couch with a warm mug in your hand, a blanket over your lap and a great movie playing on the tv.

 

(3) Family. My lovely aunt retired last week and so there was a little party for her on Saturday. There were coworks and friends but also we had a little family reunion, so it was nice to just sit and chat and enjoy each other's company.

 

(4) The Farmer's Market. I know this has made my list before, but my cousin and I went Saturday morning and I have to tell you, I'm extremely thankful to live in a city that offers such a great market every week and there's such a great turnout too. I'm always happy to support the local farmers!

 

(5) A free night. Amazingly enough I had two free nights this week, so I'm super excited to spend tonight...cooking, at least that's the plan ;) Tonight is definitely a soup night!

 

(6) Fall colors. I love living where all the trees (well not ALL of them, but you know what I mean) change to reds and oranges and yellows signifying yet another season has arrived. It's beautiful.

 

(7) Friends, near and far. Last night I got to catch-up with a friend from high school and couple nights before a friend from town called up and we went out for a little movie night. I love having friends close by to make last minute plans with as well as friends who have known me throughout everything, whether that's elementry/high school, college or anything and everything else. My friends keep me sane and sometimes crazy, but I love them all and couldn't imagine life without them :)

 

Happy Thursday everyone! Go out and cook/bake something, sew something, read something or just enjoy fall!

Brotherly Love

It's been back to back brother weekends for me and I've loved every moment of it! My younger brother came up last weekend and we spent Saturday at the Fireside Theatre. The Fireside is a lovely dinner theatre about 50 minutes from my apartment. We had an excellent lunch (the above picture was taken at our table, ceiling mirrors can be so fun :) and then after perusing the shops we headed in to watch the show.

Yep, the musical we saw was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Such a fabulous and fun musical it was pretty fabulous. I loved the movie and the actors did such a great job. It was quite the nice little Saturday afternoon.

After the show it was back for dinner and then of course over to a friend's to watch the Badger vs. Husker game. It was quite the sports weekend here in Wisconsin and all in all we fared pretty darn well. I had a packed Sunday and my brother left me early in the morning to continue his journey to see friends. It's always nice having company and I do love my family, we're all pretty special ;)

Happy Wednesday Everyone!