Our Gratitude Week

Now I realize it was Thanksgiving this week so perfect timing for a week of gratitude.  However, that's not what sparked it for us.  Abe and I have been having a hard time with various life issues that are nearly completely out of our hands, so we decided we needed to change things the only way we knew how.  We decided to change our attitudes.  Abe and I came to the conclusion that we need to be actively grateful throughout each day to turn things around.  Then we got an idea from my nephew, Braden's, talk he gave in church for his mission farewell.  We decided we would only give thanks in our prayers and not ask for anything for a full week.  Even when blessing the food!  And WOW!  Things started to turn around almost immediately!  And we have felt much better, much happier, even much healthier!  So if you're ever in a slump and nothing is going your way, try counting your blessings throughout the day for a while and just watch what happens. :)

Thanks for the pie making lessons, Mama!

We had Thanksgiving at my inlaw's this year, so I voluteered to make some apple pies.  My mom has been giving me lessons periodically over the past few years and I think I've finally got it down.  I made them with no help this time and they turned out beautiful and delicious!  Pie making is an ART not to be taken for granted.  Next time you eat a piece of beautiful and delicious homemade pie, know that it came from lots and lots of practice!  Here's mine:

Now just the top crust...

Into the oven....

Hooray for pie!

My mom's (or really my grandma Maxwell's) apple pie recipe is the only kind of fruit pie I like.... besides pumpkin.  But that doesn't count, does it?

Anyway, Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful this year!  Thanks Dan & Eve for all your hard work!

And the SALE begins!!

Christmas cards and gift boxes are on sale in the shop starting now through Monday, Nov. 30!  Free shipping on the gift boxes and (as mentioned before) an extra two cards and envelopes in the Christmas card packs!

Come check it out!!

Happy Black Friday... weekend!!

A History of our Home

The other day Abe's grandmother Ethel (our next door neighbor) came over to give me this article she saved from the local paper printed in 1992.  It's a picture of her and Harris (Abe's grandfather) in front of our home with a full history of our house!  It was so exciting!  I'm so excited to get it framed and hung for all to read it.  It was built in 1910 for Abe's great-great uncle and has stayed in the family all it's life minus a few short years in the '40's.  Harris and Ethel remodeled the house in 1951 into 3 apartments.  Then we bought it in 2007 and changed it back to a single family home.  We are still remodeling, the upstairs is totally unfinished, but it's getting there and we love our house soooo sooo much!  So this newspaper article was such a treat to have!

Thank you Harris and Ethel for all your hard work and generosity in making this beautiful house our home!  We love you!

First snowfall of the season...

This pic was taken out my back door.  I LOVE how beautiful freshly fallen snow makes everything look.  It makes me feel like brewing up some hot chocolate, starting a fire and reading a book under a blanket.

Although this is not Noah's first snowy winter, he was too little last year to know what the heck was happening.  So this year is fun and I thought for sure he'd dive right in.  I was wrong.  He hated it!  He didn't like it on his shoes and when he touched it, he got mad that it was so cold.  However, that was about a week ago.  Now he likes to tromp through it.  Especially while wearing his boots!

Noah's little angry face.

Christmas Card Sale!!!

Sale on Christmas Cards at the shop! Come check it out! I've added two additional cards and envelopes to the 4 packs making them 6 packs. Happy Holidays!!

I'm having a Martha Moment...

Can you even believe how cute these gingerbread men turned out??!! I can't! And delicious too! I will admit, they were a LOT of work. I've never done it before. You have to make the dough, refridgerate it, roll it, freeze it, cookie-cutter it, freeze it, bake them, shake them halfway through, bake them some more and then you can finally decorate!! What a pain!!!

But... look at the end result! So worth it. :) Then I put them on spice cake and cream cheese frosting cupcakes and off to grandma's house we went!

How lovely the colors of Fall....

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year! Here's my adorable front porch. I love our home so much! I'm so lucky to have a husband who is able and willing to fix up a 100 year old farmhouse and... who loves it as much as I do. But note the cute wreathe....

I got the idea from the October Martha Stewart Living mag. But she had it as a garland to look like witch's brooms. So I just jimmied it to be a fall wreathe. I love it. Thanks Martha!!

Also, the cornstalks... from our backyard. Yes, we pretend to be farmers, but really it's my hubby's (Abe's) grandpa. His grandparents live right next door and are who we bought the house from. But one day, we'll have a garden of our very own.

Here it is.... my very first blog post! Ever.

I've never blogged before. I know, I know... it's strange. I just never thought to do one before. But I always like to know what goes on behind the scenes of certain creations, so..... here is a peek "behind the seeds" of Pickled Pumpkins!