A new adventure

The giveaway is closed. Nikki is the random winner! Congrats Nikki!

Hello all of my friends!
Such exciting news to share and a fun goodie.
Several months ago,
I was approached about contributing
to a nation craft magazine called "Crafts'nThings"
I was quite excited and scared at the same time,
but with some encouragement
and quite a few emails back and forth
I submitted my first designs in September
for the January/February issue.


One of them was picked up and accepted for publishing.
It is been a long wait to get to see it finally in print,
but yesterday the issue arrived in my mailbox
and I can't quite explain the thrill I got
from seeing my pictures and words on a glossy page.
Kind of addicting, I must admit. :)

A fun little sidenote: Two of the pictures that were chosen
happened to be a birthday gift to the ever lovely Chelle
and a small gift to her daughter Annabelle!

My editor is more than kind and I'm delighted to be part of their team.
I also can't wait to show you subsequent issues
that I'm part of as well!
But all in good time.


Now, on to goodies!
I want to share some of the excitement with you guys
so I'm going to be giving away a copy
of the Jan/Feb issue of Crafts'nThings to one lucky person!
If you want to enter please leave
your name, email, and
favorite Christmas craft for this year in the comments.
Addition entries if
you blog about it,
facebook link it,
or twitter it!
Just let me know in the comments.

You have until Monday, the 14th to enter
Good luck!

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

By Abraham Lincoln

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

"In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

"Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed."

Done at the city of Washington, this 3rd day of October, A.D. 1863

Taken from the Dave Ramsey website. Can be seen here.

Blogging Award

My dear friend, Katie, has awarded me (and several other sweet friends) the 'Over the top' blog award. Thank you! And while I don't feel "over the top" (hello lost little blog!) I am very honored.
Part of this award is answering a little quiz and passing it on to 6 other bloggy friends.
so here goes ...

1. where is your cell phone:utterly lost. Mike took it running errands one day and it never cam home.

2. your hair: is long. "Someone" wants me to cut it short. I'm terribly undecided.

3. your father: is someone I love dearly.

4. your favorite food: the food that I don't eat. lol Pizza, ice cream, bread, desserts.

5. your dream from last night:I'd rather not try and remember. I have such crazy dreams.

6. your favorite drink: hot tea most days with an occasional latte or frappachino thrown in.

7. Your dream/goal: a farm, in the country. Lots of animals, lots of babies, and lots of family around. And a successful sewing/crafting venture with publication. Writing a book, at least one.
Building our own farm house. I could fill pages with dreams and goals.

8. what room are you in: the FROG.

9. what is your hobby: washing dishes, folding laundry, cooking 3 meals a day, vacuuming, scrubbing bathtubs and toilets, teaching 2nd grade, wiping faces and hinney's, buying groceries, mopping the kitchen. lol

10. what is your fear: losing a child

11. where do you want to be in 6 years: see #7

12. where were you last night: at home, talking on the phone, eat popcorn, and watching movies with Mike and the kids.

13. something you are not: outgoing, organized, on-time, good at saying "no"

14. muffins: blueberry with strusel topping, apple cinnamon, or peanut butter with raspberry jelly on the side.

15. wish list items: that will be coming soon. Mike needs some ideas.

16. where did you grow up: everywhere. Kansas, West Texas, North Carolina, East Texas, and South Carolina.

17. last thing you did: read Olivia her spelling words.

18. what are you wearing:yoga pants, sweatshirt, and socks. It's cold today!

19. your tv: is off.

20. your pets: are non existent. Unless you consider the dust bunnies "pets."

21. your friends: are a blessing.

22. your life: is in an ever present state of flux, learning, and change. But, good.

23. your mood: is quiet. Lots to think about.

24. missing someone: lots of people. Family and friends can all seem very far away at times.

25. vehicle: a total "mom" car. Toyota mini van. But I've wanted one since I was 8. :)

26. something your not wearing: can't think of anything.

27. your favorite store: People, Places, and Quilts.

28. your favorite color: turquoise, lavender, yellow, and pink for my house. But navy, plum, gray, black, and dark green is I'm wearing it.

29. when's the last time you laughed: this morning at Rose. She's always doing something silly.

30. when's the last time you cried: last week some time probably.

31. your best friend: I don't think I have just one. Many different friends fill many different places in my life. I won't name names.

32. one place you go over and over: the grocery store

33. one person who emails me regularly: Chelle, Jenni, Debbi.

34. Favorite place to eat: I don't really have one. Panera is our usual place of choice, but I'm sure there is better out there.

Now, to nominate. I will try not to overlap KT's nom's even though I think she was absolutely correct in all of them! :) My choices are

Keri of Pink Lemonade
Jessica of Living the Swell Life
Misha of Beauty and Joy
Jenni of Lana Bella
Nicole of Lillyella
Aminta of Beauty in Simplicity

Have fun you guys!

Contemplations From the Kitchen

There is something quite comforting in the making of homemade bread. It speaks of home and warmth and comfort. When I was a little girl, around 7, my mom and dad made a very contentious shift in the direction of our family. Many many things came about because of it, but one thing was this: mom started making our bread. Now this may seem a small thing to you, if you make bread regularly. But I had never had homemade before and this was very new and strange. I remember trying to eat a sandwich (the kind with lunch meat on it) with mom's whole wheat bread. It was really difficult and not the tasty-est. I slightly rebelled against the whole bread made at home thing. But as time went on I learn to appreciate and love my mother's bread. I learned how to mix and knead and rise and shape the loaves. I help roll it out and spread it with butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon and brown sugar, then roll it up and drop it in the pan, watching it rise and bake with mouth watering and cutting it open before it was even cooled to have a slice. By the time I was 13, I could make bread almost without the recipe and the love of bread making has never left. My 1st year or so of married life put bread making on hold. I was pretty busy with my new life, husband, and soon after, the expecting of a new baby.
But eventually I pulled out my cookbook, the one identical to my mom's, given to me by one of her old LLL friends at my wedding shower, and looked up the bread recipe. Olivia was now the helper and has a love of bread making - the sprinkle of yeast on warm water, the mixing and kneading, the slow wait of the rise, the punch down and rise again. All for the delicious taste of warm golden bread.

My mom was inspired by new friends to make bread. We had just moved away from the midwest and left all family and everything familiar behind to start over in the mountains of North Carolina. We knew no one and my mom had taken the plunge to be a stay at home mom and home-school me and having a newborn all at the same time. She joined the local La Leche League and soon made many friends. At the time I thought they were weird (little did I know how I would turn out!) with their breastfeeding, home birthing midwife stories, tofu and quinoa, Birkenstock's and no make-up. But, they encouraged my mom to eat healthy, stay at home, love her babies, and try new things. My mom bought the LLL "Whole Foods For the Whole Family" cookbook and started practicing "new." Her bread making adventures were wide and varied with wide and varied results. The bread recipe that she finally landed on was called "Challah" or Jewish Sabbath Loaves. I always thought that was pretty cool but since we didn't do the traditional braiding of the dough, it was soon just bread. Good bread, but just ordinary bread.

Let's fast forward the clock 18 years, shall we? I'm now the mommy, teaching and homeschooling my girls, involved with my own "weird" friends and totally used to making my own bread, salad dressings, jellies, and the like. One day a friend and I get to talking about our school plans and this Math curriculum, and that science book when the subject of Jewish traditions came up. (Why, I can't say and don't remember, but that is not unusual for us as we have some very winding conversations.) I tell her that I bought this book to study with Olivia as part of our history curriculum and we talked about our desire to celebrate life during the month of Oct. and something other than Halloween at the end of the month.
This all lead into a discussion on Sabbath and learning Hebrew and a million other things (that's how we roll. Our husband's drag us out the door, still talking, and bundle us into the vans, still talking, and drive away with us still talking and saying, "I'll call you tomorrow!") but it boiled down to wanting to learn Jewish history for ourselves and our families and we started celebrating Sabbath together. My friend and I read over a suggested menu and she says, "What's the ch-al-lah" thing they keep talking about?"
Cue light bulb moment music please!
"Challah! I know how to make that! It's Jewish sabbath loaves. My mom made it for years growing up. I'll make the bread for Friday. "
And so it began. A tradition began, a recipe was shared, heart attitudes adjusted, lives forever changed. What started years ago as my mom's desire to feed her family healthy has turned into a Friday tradition of one of us making a batch of bread on Friday and breaking bread together as a family (two families) and taking some time out of our busy busy lives to honor and bless our Heavenly Father.

Challah Or Jewish Sabbath loaves
2T. yeast
2C. warm water
2 eggs
1/4C. honey
2t. salt
2T. butter or olive oil
7 to 8C. flour (my recipe calls for whole wheat, but I don't use w.w. for this recipe)
egg wash

1. Dissolve yeast in water in large bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes.

2. Add eggs, honey, salt, butter, and about 3 1/2 c. flour. Beat well with mixer. Add as much remaining flour as possible in your mixer.

3. Turn soft dough out onto well-flour surface and knead for 8 minutes (5-10) Use as little flour as possible for a delicate Challah. It should be velvety soft (like a baby's bottom my mom always said.)

4. Place dough in greased large bowl, greasing top of dough as well and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rist for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled.

5. Punch down (kids love to do that part!) and let rise again.

6. Cut dough in half, set half aside. Cut into thirds and roll dough into "snakes." Braid the 3 strands of dough. Repeat with reserved half. Place on greased baking sheet, let rise until doubled.

7. Brush with egg wash and bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve warm or cold.

Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam,
ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.

Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the universe,
who brings forth bread from the earth.


Biteavon! -Hearty appetite!

Playing catch-up

Hi everyone,
We're still here, I promise. Life is busy busy right now with school work and an almost 2 year old and a few new adventures that have come our way. Hard to believe it's been a month since my last post and I know a few people are pretty desperate for some recent pictures of the girls.
Here a few, take on our trip to TN and NC during our Labor Day weekend camping trip.
(Yes, I'm aware that that was quite awhile ago, but that's the best I can do.)
Hope you enjoy them!

sampling the fresh cider

Daddy, Rose, and apples.
Such a wonderful combination.

tables and tables full of apples

more cider sampling

Olivia and her apples

the orchard had wagons this year and the girls loved it!

Rosy loves apples.

Mike and Miss O.

I've been picking apples at this orchard since
I was 7 years old.
The owners recognized us when we came and it
made the old lady cry.

Mist over the creek at our campground

We had lots of rain on this camping trip and Sadie~Rose lived in her jacket

visiting the ruins of the clubhouse is a must

All of us at Abram's Falls, Cades Cove, TN

We were right inside the mist.
It felt so good to cool down after the 2.5 mile hike in.

Lovely Abram's Falls.

One our way there.

The kids taking a break from hiking to climb.

O and M were photographing all the mushrooms we saw along the trail.
It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

Olivia taking pictures.

More pictures

My Rose and I, with Daddy sneaking in, while we drove through Cade's Cove.

It's a bear cub!

My most favorite picture of the whole trip.
Olivia took it.

Rose taking a nap and me doing some "research"

The girls playing while we set up camp.

New Found Gap Overlook.
Our 1st stop on our way through the park.

The girls and I at NFG overlook, on our way to camp.