birthday cake

buttermilk pound cake with cherries and a powdered sugar glaze. sometimes the simple, non-traditional birthday cakes are the best.

taking stock

Making : cowls, scarves, and hats.

Drinking : water. lots and lots of water. it's summer.

Reading : blogs. knitting patterns. my to-read list.

Wanting : johnnie's italian beef. soon.

Looking : forward to vacation. 

Playing : with fiber. and board games with friends.

Deciding : what to wear to work tomorrow.

Wishing : there were more hours in the day to craft.

Enjoying : spending time with my husband. we're less busy these days, and it's lovely.

Waiting : for season 3 of call the midwife on netflix. hurry up, already!

Liking : pinterest, etsy, and craft blogs. my muses.

Loving : my husband. my friends. my family.

Pondering : my options.

Watching : burn notice. yum.

Needing : girlfriend time. 

Smelling : yankee candle's under the palms

Wearing : lots of purple lately.

Feeling : loved.

Remembering Blessings

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. -- Job 8:21 (NIV)

On my desk at work is one of those verse-a-day calendars that you can reuse from year to year. I bought it when I started working because I wanted to have something to help re-center my thoughts and meditate on throughout the day, especially working in a secular environment. Up until a few years ago, working in Christian businesses was all I knew, and this transition into secular employment has been both exciting and challenging.

The past two and a half years haven't been the easiest transition for me. Struggling to fit in and find my place in a new town and congregation has been very challenging, and not without tears of frustration many times. Moving to a community that, for the most part, has a very small-town, closed community mindset often leaves me feeling like I'm on the outside looking in. Of the friends I've been blessed with here, most of them are transplants themselves, which provides a great community of shared experiences and companionship. I cherish each and every friendship, and the richness they bring to my own life.

We aren't promised days, months, or years without struggles and heartbreak. Yet God promises to work all things for good (Romans 8:28) for those who trust in Him. What comfort this provides during seasons where everything seems upside down and "normal" is no longer peaceful.

In spite of all these stresses and frustrations (sometimes on a daily basis), we are blessed. This verse from Job reminds me that in the midst of all the stress, frustration, worry, heartbreak, and yes, even hopelessness, the Lord still fills our mouths with laughter, still blesses us daily and provides reasons to shout for joy. They may not be blessings we see immediately; we may not even realize them for years to come. But still our Lord daily and richly cares for us, providing everything we need to support this body and life.

Sing praise to God, the highest good,
The author of creation,

The God of love who understood

Our need for His salvation.

With healing balm our souls He fills

And ev'ry faithless murmur stills: 

To God all praise and glory!

(LSB 819:1)

an adventure in sock knitting

Our knitting group is doing a sock knit-a-long during February. We're having lots of fun with this adventure, and are excited to see how they all turn out. From a knitting perspective, socks have intimidated me for a long time, but they're not as challenging as I thought! Tonight I got through turning the heel. We'll see if I'm feeling adventurous enough to conquer the gusset this week, or if I'll just wait until next week's gathering.

In other (non-shocking) news, I am so done with winter and ready for spring. The weather today was sunny and in the 40s... it was glorious. I almost didn't need a coat when I left knit night. They're predicting 60s later this week... yippee!

A New Year, and Some New Goals...

Hard to believe January is almost over. Every year I always seem optimistic that things will magically become new, and we can start over with a clean slate on January 1. Problems, stresses, issues, and drama from 2013 will magically disappear when the clock strikes midnight, right?? Oh, how I wish this was true!

I am, and always have been, a very emotional person. I rejoice with others, I mourn with them. When life throws my friends challenges, I empathize and sympathize with them. I pray for them.

But I'm not always such a great friend to myself. And that's a pretty hard truth to swallow. I would rather blame myself for what goes wrong, and beat myself up about it. I always have. Not an easy habit to break, is it?

2013 was a year full of new beginnings, challenges, leaps of faith, disappointments, and intense stress. Trust me when I say I'm not sorry to leave it behind.

Yet 2014 has started out with its fair share of problems. Lingering drama and stress from the previous year has carried over, health issues have manifested (no doubt in part from the lingering drama and stress), and I'm not sure how much longer I can tread water like this.

Let's be realistic. There is no such thing as a perfect year. I may not have a "good" year this year, but that doesn't mean I can't try. Now, I'm not one to normally make New Years Resolutions. But in light of how much the drama and stress has begun to affect me in negative ways, I'm making a few goals this year. Fairly open-ended and broad, I'm not going to tell myself I have to reach them in any specific way. They're just things I'm going to focus on and keep in mind as we take the bull by the horns.

- Destress (Kind of speaks for itself, don't you think?)
- Declutter (living in a tiny apartment means clutter is a constant. ugh)
- Organize (this goes along with decluttering. whether it's re-organizing my kitchen cabinets or a new method for filing paperwork, little things count.)
- Focus on the positives (THIS. Perhaps it's the hardest for me to do, especially when things are very stressful and uncertain. How often do the negatives waaay overshadow the positives? Looking for the positives is so important.)

This year, I also want to challenge myself outside my comfort zone a little more. I've got a few ideas already, and I'm currently pursuing some of them.

Of course, I'm sure crafting will play a significant role in many of these goals, and potentially contribute to the roots of their problems (craft rooms, or lack thereof, can get so disorganized, can't they?). Here's to a better, healthier, new year!

Christmas Break Plans

Tomorrow marks the fourth week in Advent. Advent. Such a busy time, but one of my favorites for the whole year. A time of preparation, planning, anticipation, and hope. A time for reflection, renewal, and comfort. A time for longing, peace, and joy.

Now that I'm officially on Christmas break (and an extended one at that!), it seems that, in a microcosmic way, much of this preparation, planning, longing, anticipation, and hope has been fulfilled. I now have time to reflect, renew, be filled with peace, comfort, and joy. What a blessing to have this time off and enjoy it with family and friends.

I can't wait to get started on all my crafting plans for the next few weeks...

• I've got plans to meet up with some friends for some quality girlfriend coffee bonding time.
• I've got plans to meet up with some friends for some quality girlfriend crafting bonding time.
• I've got plans for working on inventory for my Etsy shop to finally get it up off the ground!
• I've got Christmas presents to finish knitting and crafting, and need to get those out in the post.
• I've got sewing plans, movie watching plans, copious amounts of coffee and tea drinking plans, and enjoying my Christmas present plans (D and I decided to go in on one big gift to ourselves this year, so I already know what I'm getting and it's on its way!).
• I've got RELAXING plans. Oh, sweet relaxing, I've been waiting all year for these few weeks.

We've got a nasty-sounding wintry mix storm going on this weekend. This morning we woke up to a nice thick layer of ice covering the stairs and car. It should hopefully melt off this afternoon, just in time for more ice and snow tonight. I'm so thankful I don't have to go to work next week so I can just stay inside and work on projects.

Pardon me while I go look for my comfy pants and pour myself another cup of coffee.

my new pottery!

At our church auction/ice cream social last night, I bid on and won this beautiful, hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind pottery bowl. I was thrilled!! I think it looks so pretty holding these colored spools of thread, just waiting for my Sunday afternoon sewing projects. This bowl will be so useful and look so pretty around the house!

Julie's Clay Creations has wonderful, high-quality craftsmanship, and Julie's a delight too. :)

For more of her beautiful pottery, check out her Pinterest board: Julie's Clay Creations

*This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way by Julie's Clay Creations or anyone else.

my favorite time of year

Fall is officially here. My favorite time of year, and I'm so excited that the temperatures are cooperating today! Windows are open... decorations are up... I even made some muffins this morning to celebrate!

Fall is when I feel most creative with my crafting, decorating, cooking, and adventure planning. I've got some exciting FOs to share in the next few days, some things in the works, and my Christmas shopping is (almost) done -- thanks to the State Fair earlier this summer and the Sedalia Area Farmer's Market yesterday!

What's Up, July?!

I feel like this is slowly (or quickly, from my perspective) becoming a theme. . . Not having quite enough time to get everything done I'd like to, craft-wise, and therefore not posting much anymore. Maybe one of these days I'll have tons of finished objects magically flying off the needles and out of the sewing machine and I can do a few posts on those, but for now...

Anyway, it's hard to believe July is already half over. I've been at my job now for seven months, and again today someone told me it feels like I've been there forever. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I'll take it as a compliment. :)

I've been having lots of fun lately putting together some care packages for our youth. They went on a week long trip to the National Youth Gathering earlier this summer, and I figured they might enjoy some entertainment and emergency supplies while they were traveling. Oh dollar store, how I love you:

Out of all this swag, their favorite by far were the fake mustaches. They had a blast waving to people on the highway and seeing the looks on their faces. Anything to entertain a handful of high schoolers on a 13 hour bus trip, right?!

I also included lots of sugary candy, bandaids, hand sanitizer and wipes, kleenex, drink packets, glow sticks, gum, crazy straws, and snacks. It's always so much fun to put packages like this together, and I'm glad they enjoyed it. (They also had a great time the rest of the week, learning, praising, and serving!!)

Phew! What a month it's been...

Well, things have been quiet around the blog, and that's not necessarily a bad thing! Lots going on, and very busy days turn into very busy weeks, but I'm thankful for this weekend to relax and catch up on some things around the apartment (mostly, laundry. yuck).

The past three weekends have been full of family activities and events.

Weekend #1: Brother-the-Younger graduated from college (summa cum laude, whoo!!), so of course we made the trip back to my old stomping grounds to help celebrate. We enjoyed an absolutely delightful weekend with my family, a delicious celebratory dinner, and the chance to finally go home for the first time in over 6 months.

Weekend #2: Brother-the-Youngest graduated from high school! Not. Allowed. My baby brother is not allowed to grow up yet... because I'm not ready to admit that I'm getting older. He obviously didn't get that memo, haha! He's off to college in the fall, and I've already got some friends lined up to take care of him in college (he doesn't know that yet...). One of the most memorable events of that weekend: Brother-the-youngest trying coffee. His critique: "Very strange. It's like it's trying to be water, but just can't." Haha! This kid cracks me up.  My grandparents also came to visit us on their way home that weekend, so we enjoyed a nice dinner out with them and church in the morning. :)

Weekend #3: This was the weekend I've been looking forward to for almost an entire year. We finally got to meet our niece, and this may be the auntie pride speaking, but she's a cutie! D remarked that he's pretty sure she liked hanging out with me more than him, to which I responded that I'm E's aunt, and as such, I'm automatically cool. :) I've got some great ideas already for her Christmas and birthday presents... this kid sure is spoiled already... and not just by me!

Now it's back to work and house hunting, which is taking up most of our time (plus, you know, the 75 other things we have going on at the same time). Hopefully we'll find something and move in this summer! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. That's natural, right? The hardest part has definitely been trying to plan for our future while having absolutely NO IDEA what that holds. We could get a call that we decide to take in a year, or we could be here for 15 more years. And that makes it more challenging to know what to look for in a house and plan for the needs of our future family. What I do know is that God already knows what we need and what is in store for us, and he's taking care of us each and every step of the way. Not always easy for me to remember, but it's truly the most comforting thing ever!

Oh, P.S. I made this delightful Strawberry Almond Coffee Cake a few weeks ago (I substituted strawberries for the raspberries the recipe called for), and it was a hit! Just looking at this picture makes me want to make it again.

Just Kidding, May...

Today is May 3. Tomorrow is Star Wars Day! (Which is totally awesome, but beside the point...) Spring is half-way over. And today, I woke up to snow. Not just a dusting.. a full-on, winter-weather-advisory, cars-in-the-ditch-on-the-commute-to-work snow. I am wearing a sweater, wool socks, boots, and delightfully soft, comfy, and warm handknits. Missouri in May. Somedays, you just have to laugh and love the weather, no matter what it brings.

6:30 am. Look at all that snow falling from the sky!

As a result, today is a slow day. (Oh studious students, where are you?! Finals start Monday, and the library is eerily quiet...) But wait! I have reasons to make it better and find the joy and gratitude in today:

1. Leftover Kehde's for lunch. Because seriously. There's not much better than that. In fact, I told D last night that if/when he gets another call that we decide to accept, Kehde's has to move with us. It's not an option in my book.

2. Coffee and tea. Yes, please!

3. Warm, delightfully wooly knits. Comfort at its finest.

4. A relaxing weekend to look forward to, with only a few errands and chores planned, and maybe an event or two to attend.

5. A chance to work on some bigger projects at work without too many interruptions.

6. My renewed love of reading for pleasure. I've missed reading what I want, when I want. During the past two and a half years of grad school, and the four years of college before that, I found myself with little time to read anything other than textbooks and scholarly articles. And now that that phase of my life has come to an end, I'm SO HAPPY to have the time and energy to read fun things again! Last night I finished The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat and it was delightful. Witty, funny, painfully honest, realistic... everything that makes a good story great. (Plus, I'll be honest. I laughed out loud at all the fun poked at Lutherans throughout the novel.) The only problem is now I have that all-too-familiar "book hangover," where I'm not ready to move on to something else yet, but want to keep reading. :)

7. A tasty, relaxing dinner out with my husband. It's always nice to reconnect after a long week, isn't it?

Snowy Fridays in May maybe aren't so bad afterall...

Technology...

Today, I learned how to use a slide projector. I can't be the only one amused by this..?

Happy Snow Day!

When I left for work this morning, the snow was just barely starting to fall. By the time I got home an hour and a half later, we probably already had somewhere between 1 and 2 inches. It's so pretty out, and peaceful. Thankful today to be safe, warm, and have an opportunity to work on some knitting projects. And very thankful for the moisture this snow brings!

Monday Moods

I'm in one of those moods today where I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS!

This could be possible.... I have the day off work. But. Yes, there is always a but. I have chores to finish. Mostly putting away all the Christmas decorations (what? Our tree's still up... no big deal!), and straightening up, and cooking crockpot lasagna. Which means going to the store and buying frozen spinach. And finishing Brother-the-Younger's Christmas present, so I can finally put all the supplies away.... (of course, only to bring them back out in about a month to finish up some other presents!)

I always seem to do this to myself. Plan too much for any sane person to accomplish in one day, then bust my butt trying to get it all done anyway. And why be productive when I can have fun?

Happy Monday!

The doldrums of January

Well, here we are. Almost halfway through January (really?! It feels like just last week was Christmas!), and I'm not sure how much I have to show for it. All in all, it's been an eventful year so far. I've survived the nasty noro virus going around, started my new job, adjusted to life with said job (but really, that's a work in progress), and ... yeah, that's about all I have to show for it.

Christmas decorations are still up, because surprise! I'm too tired and have too many other things to do when I get home from work. And honestly, I like them up. There's something comforting and peaceful about coming home and seeing a Christmas tree in my living room, displaying our favorite ornaments from years past. I rather like it. :)

Work is going wonderfully well. I feel very much at home and really think this position will be a good fit for me. The early mornings and commute are worth it, and that's a wonderful feeling! D has been so supportive during this entire process, and I'm so thankful he's there to help pick up the slack as we make all these adjustments as a couple to our new post-school life.

This week should be a somewhat normal, albeit busy, week (when is a normal week NOT busy??). I'm starting shifts on the reference desk, and very much looking forward to it! I've got one meeting this week after work, a few things to research and put together for an upcoming Helping Hands event, and of course, Knit Night! To be honest, though, I don't exactly have much to show off this week........ hoping to get a chunk of D's vest done tonight though. I'm ready to be finished with that project, and of course have more things waiting to cast on!

I'm not someone who typically makes New Year's Resolutions, and I didn't this year either. However, one of my goals this year is to try and be a bit more organized around the place. I've been looking into various methods for organizing bills, important paperwork, appointments, recipes... you name it. A few things look promising. Not that I'm in really bad shape right now, but there's always room for improvement, right? And with my loan payments in the near future, I figure it can't hurt to be proactive about this sort of thing. So add that to my mental list of things to do. (Soon to be physical list of things, thanks to a helpful tip I got from my friend Raelynn's blog. P.S. See that adorable sheep mug she made? It's mine. She got my name in our Secret Santa gift exchange. :) )

In Which I Fail at Fondant... Mostly

{Tasty Thursday | Cupcakes!}

Recipes, Tips, and Inspiration from my kitchen to yours.

It's been a busy few weeks, full of baking, cooking, and food! Here's some photos of this past week's cupcake adventure...

Earlier this week, we planned on having a baby shower for a friend of mine. Well, as things are wont to happen, our shower was postponed after I had made the cupcakes. I wasn't too upset about the sudden excess of cupcakes around my house, as the fondant just didn't turn out to my liking. I thought it dried out too fast, but was still too sticky. Oh well. This was also the first time I used self-rising flour, because I didn't have time to convert my recipe to regular flour and include the other baking ingredients. I'll admit, aside from how cute they turned out, the peppermint cream cheese frosting was probably my favorite part. :)

Here's the fondant mess I made... Never again.
I'm definitely not meant to be a professional cake decorator with this stuff.

Little fondant bluebirds... I was so excited that they actually looked like birds!

All put together and ready for taste-testing!

 Because there is no way I can eat 14 cupcakes by myself, I took these little bluebird creations to my knitting friends anyway. The rest of the cupcakes received a more festive makeover.

Now, I'm not normally one to celebrate seasons way ahead of time (and it's not even Advent yet!), but I am one to work with what I have. This is the result:

Thanks to Pinterest, I learned of this super easy way to package and transport cupcakes!

Christmas sprinkles to make the peppermint cream cheese more festive!!

Christmas-themed cello gift bags to wrap up the festive cupcakes.

I brought them to my Bible study Tuesday night and gave them out to everyone there. Now I only have a few cupcakes left in the fridge, and it's a much more manageable number to eat!

*****
Baby Shower Update: We did wind up holding the baby shower, but I had to miss it. Of course hubby decided to get sick right before, and I didn't want to risk transmitting The Plague. Pictures of our knitted creations coming soon!

*****
P.P.S. This is officially post #100! Let's all celebrate by eating a cupcake, k? :)

In Which There is Crazy

There is the light at the end of the tunnel... and I'm afraid it may be a freight train at this point. Seriously, things are getting finished, the end of school is closer each day, but I feel like it's a frantic rush to the finish line.

This week in particular has become even busier than expected. I'm playing catch up and get ahead all at the same time. Apparently I can't say up until 2 and work off of 5-6 hours of sleep each day anymore... didn't think I was that old yet! ;) Add Thanksgiving into the mix, Christmas preparations are right around the corner, and then there's my hubby, just as busy as I am as it's gearing up to be his "busy season" at work... ah, the life of a pastor! To put it bluntly, things are crazy around here right now.

And here I am, writing a blog post while formulating my thoughts for discussion posts... and the only thing I really wanted to say right now is this: I can't wait to do some selfish knitting and take a nap at 10 am without guilt. Less than a month of crazy left! LET'S DO THIS! :)

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

- There is so incredibly much to accomplish in the next month.
- I GRADUATE IN A MONTH! WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE!
- I am not British, but certainly enjoy my daily tea time lately.
- The more I work with it, the more I realize just how much I'm loving metadata {the course, and the topic}.
- Autumn Leaves is one of my new favorite scents of Yankee Candle. :)
- It's so much easier to concentrate on homework when the apartment is clean and (mostly) tidy.
- What happens to the bad batches of cookies in a cookie factory? Do the employees get to take them home?

Swap Packages!

A few months ago, I signed up to participate in a swap on Ravelry. I always enjoy participating in these, and it's always a fun and exciting adventure. Shopping for someone you've never met on a pre-determined budget, trying to make things as fun, useful, unusual, and/or practical as you like.... and then getting a mystery package in return!

This swap was a small, simple 6x9 padded envelope swap. Basically, what you can fit into the envelope is fair game. We had to include a recipe and a handmade item, plus whatever else fit the budget and the envelope.

I had so much fun shopping for my assigned partner. Here's what I came up with, which I sent off to my new friend, Cati:

Halloween stickers, stamps, and notepads, fall teas, hot cocoas and ciders, some chocolate, lotion, mock cable mug cozy, and a recipe for caramel apple cookies. I was amazed at how much stuff I could find for under $10 total!

Mock Cable Mug Cozy. I never did a proper finished object post on this one...

Today, I received my surprise package in the mail. Such fun things awaited me inside that envelope!

A handmade jar opener!! I'm always having trouble opening jars and constantly asking D to open them for me, so this will definitely come in handy. Why have I never thought of making them before?!

Cute bicycle themed recipe cards! Perfect for writing down Tasty Thursday creations, or sharing recipes with friends.

Pretty notecards, which are perfect for all those times I want to send snail mail to my dear college friends.... and perfect to add to my notecard collection!

A recipe for Pumpkin Curried Soup! Yum! It sounds tasty, and I can't wait to try it out on one of these cool, fall nights. I bet it would be great for a dinner party, too.

And finally, two skeins of recycled sari silk yarn! In the prettiest fall color-- reddish orange! I've got project ideas floating around already... but clearly this is license to spend time on Rav looking up more patterns. :)

Thanks so much for the awesome swap package, Peg/LadyLisetta!!

{Also, I just realized that November 6 was officially 4 years since I've joined Rav. Many, many thanks to M and Nicole for convincing me it wasn't just a Twilight-themed fan club and that my life was not complete until I joined. They couldn't have been more correct.}

Happiness

Happiness is reading a blog, seeing a cardigan pattern you like, searching for it on Rav, and not only discovering that it's already in your Faves, but also free. :)

Happiness is a quiet evening and good cup of coffee.

Happiness is realizing people are willing to help more than you originally thought.

Happiness is knowing people in stressful and often thankless jobs haven't forgotten how to have fun and laugh.


What makes you happy today?