Meanderings of my Mind

On this the last day of 2009 my mind meanders back though the year and finds things to dwell on. Right now if you climbed inside my head you would experience many a wonderful thing and some not so wonderful things but it all made for quite a year!

You would smell the beach and old spice, chocolate and 5 gallons of pumpkin soup, candles burning and flowers, books new and old. The smell of sunblock and apple cider are mingled and create a whole new landscape.

You would see a white dress and little flickers of light, faces with tears upon the cheeks young and old some happy some sad. You would see the stars and waves crashing on the the sand. You would see the clouds in the sky evidence of Gods handiwork for all to see.

You would taste many a different kinds of tea shared with good friends, new foods like sushi and octopus(Yuck!) Cotton candy enjoyed in the summer sun and hot coco in the gray days of winter.

You would hear many many songs all mixed up together yet somehow ending up in one harmonious whole. You would hear a slow voice speak of the forever kind of love and final good byes as lives are forever changed. The peaceful silence of the night after it snows and the wind as it howls.

You would feel the sand beneath your feet as the waves play tag with your feet. The burning sun beats down upon you shoulders as you explore Gods beautiful creation. The deflated feeling after a long held dream is suddenly dashed and the realization that life can and will go on. Shared pain between friends as well as shared joys.

What will 2010 hold? As this question falls from many lips and they search for answers the only real answer that I can see is this. Wait and see! One of my favorite verses for times like this is.

Hebrews 13:5b-6 Be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “ The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

I leave you with that dear reader and I hope this next year holds many a beautiful day for you. See you topside!

Earring Holder Tutorial

I've been asked by a few people how I made the earring holder so I took some pictures and hopefully have come up with something helpful!

Supplies:

Picture Frame, any size (the one I used is 8x10) Thrift stores would be an excellent place to find frames! I used a metal frame but see no reason why a wooden one wouldn't work just as well!

Small gauge wire in a color that will match your frame as you will be able to see it

Small beads, any color!

Wire cutters or scissors(the scissors will be wrecked for anything besides wire cutting, so use an old pair!)

Pliers, these are not needed but will help in pulling things tighter!

Step One: Remove the back and glass from the frame set aside for reuse later if desired.

Step Two: Cut a length of wire that will fit across your frame. Leave lots of extra for wrapping, especially if you are using a wooden frame as the are much wider then the metal one I used.

Step Three: Make a kink in the wire to keep your beads from sliding off and so you leave enough wrapping room. String beads, again leaving enough of an end for wrapping.

Step Four:

Wrap one of the un-beaded ends around the edge of the frame, like this.

Front view:

Back View:

Step Five: Slip end of wire under wrapped portion and pull tight. Repeat one or two more times. Trim end and press down. Be careful the ends will be sharp!!!

Twice Wrapped:

This is what it looks like on the actual piece.

Step Six: Hot glue bias tape or ribbon over the ends of the wire to keep them from scratching anything!Step Seven: You can either replace the back so it's free standing or you can hang it on the wall backless like we did. Have fun and enjoy your new earring holder!

Snowy Walk

I love taking walks but even more so when it's snowy outside and as the kids were having a major case of cabin fever today my Mom and I decided to take the kids out for a walk!

Off we go, searching for adventure! Let us out!

I love her outfit, it has such a vintage news boy feeling about it!
About half way home it began to snow heavliy and now a few hours later we at least 4 inches, yeah!=)

An Earing Holder with a Bloody Past!

My Mom had been wondering how to better store her earrings as they were all muddled in a box in her drawer. She saw an earring holder that I had and decided that's the kind she wanted. Next thing I know she's taking me to the store and asking me what I think would work. What I thought would work is going online and buying one ready made, but I went along with the idea and was left with a couple different kinds of beads, some wire and a picture frame.

After wrestling with it for awhile, I decided I would have to string each strand separately and attach them as I go, one long strand would have worked, but she wanted different colors every third strand or so! Thoroughly poked, discouraged and bleeding I put it away after the first 4 strands.


I picked it up again today and after the break of a few days found that it was going much better this time! I finished in about an hour and hot glued some bias tape over the picky ends on the back to protect the wall and fingers from being scratched! As easy as it was I was still happy to see it over and done with. I head back to work after I'm done and come home to some news.......


My oldest sister was sent this picture of it and immediately wanted to know where we got it, because she wanted one as well! When she was told I made it she was sad that she couldn't buy one for herself. But, miracles of miracles guess who had a B~Day later this month? Sigh...........oh well. I guess that's what sisters(and band aids!) are for!=)

Christmas dresses and other yummy treats!

For Christmas dessert this year I made red velvet cupcakes. Who knew that adding an entire bottle of red food coloring would make something this red?=)

They are not only one of the most tasty kinds of cake but are so pretty too!

My sister Beccas gingerbread house, isn't it awesome?=)

My adorable little bro Jacob and his house, aren't they cute?=)

The back of my house.................I think it's looking at me!

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I made this Christmas dress last year and just now got around to taking some decent pictures of it! It's an old 80's pattern of my Moms' that I love and have made countless times!=)

Smile!

Waiting for snow, though it was foggy. I love the fog, it's so magical and mysterious!=)

I love circle skirts! They shrink up funny at the side seams but I love em' any way!

Two Questions and a Give Away!

What do a record from the local library's book sale

and a GIANT safety pin have in common?

Together they made for the inspiration for the perfect winter outfit!

The giant saftey pin is a kilt pin by the way! In thinking back to what I had written and realized it may not be obvious what they giant safety pin had to do with anything!=)

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What is this strange object?
Here is a closer look, be the first to correctly identify it and win.........
.....a pair of Tea for Two earrings! Leave your guesses as a comment here on Blogger or back on the Sensibility thread!

It's All in How You Say It!

"Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh."

Reading that statement what kind of crazy stuff would you think the guy who wrote it was into? I also do this, not every week of course, but about once a month, sometimes more if it's a special occasion. Ra, torture, eating blood and flesh? Hold on a sec, before you judge me, here is the rest of that quote:

"And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion."

This is from the new Dan Brown book "The Lost Symbol". He is using it as an example of how even the most regular events or odd ones can be made to sound very different just by using different words to describe them. Dan Brown is an amazing author, though one that I have to be very careful when I read. I'm one of those suckers who believe most everything they read(especially if there is an ;all the facts in this book are true, type disclaimer at the beginning of the book)

A few years ago I powered through The Da Vinci Code in about a day. I started at about 8 in the morning and finished at about 12:30 that night. I could not sleep because my world had been shaken! Was all that stuff true? I googled(gotta love the Internet!) all of the pictures he used as examples and look! There is the hand with the knife and the guy next to Jesus does look like a girl.

Luckily I have a parents who aren't as easily freaked out and we talked through it and I was back were I needed to be. Reading that book opened my eyes though, I started looking at the way people said things and saw the true power of words. That kind of persuasive power was amazing to me. So, now I read books with a more open mind knowing that I should check out things before I freak out and double check on facts. I still read Dan Browns books(obviously!) but now I take what he says worth a grain of salt. If I have questions I can ask my parents or research it myself. There really is breathable liquid, not quite as advanced as in the book, they are having success in that area. But, the whole happy ice crystals thing is a load of hooey!

Really knowing how words can be used as helped me cement what I know and believe. I'm trying to shore up my convictions, getting them firm so that there is no doubt that I meant what I said and I said what I meant!(I love that elephant!)

I'm still a sucker who will believe some pretty silly stuff, but it's worked for me too. I know lots of things that I probably never would have learned because I ask questions. If you know me at all I've probably annoyed you with all my questions. Please, don't get to annoyed, it's for for a good cause.=)

I'll leave you with two things, read Dan Browns books, they are really good. They are helpful in getting to know how the world twists what we Christians say and never, ever, ever underestimate the power of words. After all the pen is mightier than the sword!

Change, does anyone really like it?

I've never met a word that makes more people shudder when they hear it then change.(Besides maybe enema!hehe) It can be good, yet it still makes us feel queasy! Maybe it's because we don't notice it as much when it's a good change, like everything else we remember the bad more then the good.

My family has gone through a lot of change this year as have many of our friends families. We've had job losses, church switching, marriages, new jobs, moving, new friends, old friends divorcing us, when I think back over this past year my head spins! My life was always changing up until I was about 19. Then after FB planted Antioch that was it for major changes in my life. I didn't have any friends, go to any groups and my job was very secure. I watched the same families kids in my house till just a few months ago.

No big changes at church, no new siblings, nothing going in the man department for either me or my older sister, so life was pretty even keel. Then we started going to the collage group at our church and suddenly we wanted to stay out until 11pm and had social lives. That threw my Mom for a loop! She'd never had to deal with her older kids having things to do before. She's still a little offended whenever I go out and don't want to involve the kids(Yes, I even count the 16 year old as a kid. I'm allowed to have my own friends, aren't I?)

Then in January my dad lost his job and Megan and Shawn finally hooked up. Well, they started texting each other, way more then they ever talked when he lived here, go figure! A prominent family in the church left for good reasons, but that was still not very nice happening. Megan and Shawn got engaged, our collage group was slowly dwindling one by one. I finally became licenced driver, Megan got married, I switched jobs, my dad got a contract job in NY and that's where we are right now. So, a few good changes, Megan's been itching to get married since she was 16, it's nice to not have a driving test hanging over my head and my dad's job is a huge blessing. Yes, it would have been even nicer to have him near us, but hey a job is a job!!

What does this next year have in store for me? Will my Dad finish up the contract job and then once again be jobless? Or, will he find a job closer to home, or maybe this company will hire him full time and we'll move to NY! Will I be an Aunt soon? Will we ever get more people in collage group or will it dwindle and fade away. Will I ever manage to elicit any attention from a guy? Or, will I slowly begin to collect cats and become the crazy cat lady.

What this next year has in store is a mystery, it's like a big present that I can only unwrap a little at a time. It may turn out to be what I've always wanted or it may end up being the worst present I've ever been given. You know what? I don't care what this year holds for me, I just can't wait to find out!

To quote a wise old turtle, the past is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift thats why they call it the present!=)

Christmas at the Pillsbury house!

This years Christmas is going to be quite different for my family. My older sister got married and we just found out today that she and her husband will not be coming here for Christmas. My Dad has been out of work since January and just got a job in NY. It's a contract job so not a permanent thing, but since travel is so expensive during the holidays he isn't going to be here for Christmas either. Many changes some good some not so good and some a little of both!

We just got done decorating our tree. At first when I found out we weren't going to get a real one I fliped! But then deciding to act my age I encouraged my Mom to get the light tree that's in the picture. It's not traditional but it put my Moms mind at ease. I'm very sad, but hey it's just a tree, right? My Dad was on the phone tlaking with us so that's why my Moms holding the phone, he wanted to be in the picture too!

My scary giant siblings, this picture just makes me smile!

I was feeling pictury today so I went around and took some pictures of our Christmas decorations. Totally useless I know, they'll sit on my hard drive for years until I finally delete them, but useless as they are it makes me feel happy to take them!=)

Pretties!

Life has been super busy lately and I was despairing of ever getting the time to sit and make these earrings. Some are presents and some are for me! As always happens when I make things is now I have to make two more pairs of each I have a Mom and sister who always want copies of whatever I make!

Not only am I making these for my friend, but my Mom wanted a pair and she wants me to make a a pair for her to give to her friend for Christmas!

I love the detail on these!

For a tea loving friend!
I have become fascinated with amber lately after having seen a pair similar to this in a catalog for $65.00! I decided to make my own total cost? About $3.00, boo-yah!

I love these with denim, they just go so well!

This picture caught my fancy, so I'm sharing it here with you!

Blog Post(Hows that for an inovative tittle?)

I usually don't do blog quizzes like this, but this one tickled my fancy so I said, "What the hey!" and did it!

What is your current obsession?

Right now? Hmm, the church Christmas play! Tonight is the dress rehearsal and then three nights in a row of performances! Crazy, but oh so fun.=)

What are you wearing now?

Jean skirt, my purple 70's throw back shirt(my Mom calls it that, I happen to love it!) silver bell necklace, brown footless tights and white socks with pink and green stars on them. My brown boots came off as soon as I got inside, I love being barefoot!

Do you nap a lot?

No, I get cranky after I nap........

Who was the last person you hugged?

Ro0-Roo, the Great Dane that the people I nanny for have!

If you were a tree, what tree that would be?

A Christmas tree and not one of those perfect ones either. I'm a fresh from the woods scraggly, multi colored lights, ornaments of all kinds type of Christmas tree! That is the perfect kind of tree.=)

What’s for dinner?

Last I checked it was pizza or McDonald's, healthy I know. But, we have dress rehearsal at 5pm. So, it's a fast dinner tonight!

What was the last thing you bought?

Gas! But, the last thing before that was a red scarf for my Moms stocking and the Taylor Swift Christmas CD. I love Taylor Swift and I love Christmas music so when the two got together? I had to but it.=)

What are you listening to right now?

Miss Spiders Sunny Patch Kids and a little boy munching on a blueberry Eggo

A hidden but rather useless talent:

I can peel a banana with my toes, not that I make a habit of doing it. It's just one of those random things I had to try and found that I could do it, but nobody would eat the bananas that I peeled for some strange reason!

What is your favorite weather and why?

It usually depends on my mood. The over all favorite is misty days followed closely by breezy ones. Cold or warm there is something magical about the wind!

What is one thing you have always wanted to do or learn?

To sing, but somethings just can't be taught! So, as far as something that I could actually learn.......to play a musical instrument. Unfortunately I don't have the patients to overcome my inability to do different things with my hands at the same time!

What is your most challenging goal right now?

Finishing my book! It's in the editing stage right now, though that is going much better then I thought it would. After I'm done I've got a code for a free proof from CreateASpace! I will be a printed author!!=)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where you want it to be?

A dark brown with white trim beach cottage, on the beach of course! But, when it comes right down to it I would much rather live in any kind of house near my family!

Favorite vacation spot:

Vacation? Oh, yeah I remember those. It's been so long since I've had one! I've never been on a vacation that I haven't liked. So, anywhere with friends or family!

What movies can you watch over and over?

The Anne of Green gables movies

Anything Jane Austen

Disney movies

Pixar movies

Musicals

You know what? Pretty much anything, as long as I liked it the first time, I'm a repeat watcher and reader!

What is your favourite tea flavour?

Coconut oolong, yum!

What are you reading right now?

Oh, Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen. I love her books!

What is the landscape of your mind?

A misty mysterious place that few have ever found and even fewer have returned from! It's filled with magical creatures and snatches of song and story. The air is filled with the smells of coffee, flowers, and chocolate. Flowers and trees abound and fill the edges of the landscape. Sidewalk cafes and brown stones sit next to the three bears cottage. A hopeless mish mash of everything I've ever thought, seen, read, smelled, tasted or imagined. But, it totally works for me!

The latest quotation that you acquired for your personal collection of quotes that inspire you:

White ... is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black.... God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white."
--Gilbert Keith Chesterton

White is my favorite color and I always get flack for it. This quote echos my thoughts exactly!

What’s in your pockets right now?

My coat pocket has the extra button that always comes with store bought clothes with buttons and some change. Unfortunately my skirt has no pockets, I'm just to impatient to put pockets in my clothes. I get eager to finish so always skip them!

What's your ring tone?

The Christmas Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks

Here are the rules:
1. Respond & rework the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

Man of the House

I have always been very happy to be a girl. I never wanted to be the man of the house, it seemed like to much work! Being the soul supporter of a family, fixing all of the stuff that breaks. The man takes care of the things that you can't do without, like water pipes and cars. As a girl the worst thing that would happen if I burned dinner would be Mac and Cheese! But with my Dad getting a job in NY I've been pushed into the man of the house spot light and have been left blinking in the bright lights of unfamiliar territory!
I'd fixed the computer before, but if I couldn't Dad would be home in a few hours to take care of it. Not so now. When I took the trash can out from under the sink and a puddle of water appeared at my feet I couldn't just turn the faucet off and wait for him. I had to find the drip; luckily it was something easily fixable, clean up all the water and dry out from under the sink.
Cleaning out the bathtub drains, plunging the toilets, changing light bulbs, shoveling the driveway, dealing with a Mom who now has no husband to lean on and is very busy and stressed. While none of that is hard;well the emotional stuff is, (when is my freak out time?! If you find out, please let me know!) but the buck had never stopped with me before. I've never filled out tax rebate papers before, how am I supposed to know how? But, I'm learning!
Everyday I am filled with more and more admiration for you guys. How exactly do you learn how to fix cars and fill out tax forms? Why do computers tremble in fear before you and just curse at me in foreign languages? I'd never thought I'd live in house with out a man, if it wasn't my father is was going to be my husband(lets not even bring up that subject!!) but I guess it's a God thing I'm still at home. My dad felt he could take this job because I was at home still, my Mom had someone older to lean on and help her.
By the time he gets home, I'll be an old pro at man stuff. Though me and power tools with blades will never get along! So, if anyone wants to volunteer to help us with our Christmas tree feel free!!