Gratitude

For Thanksgiving most years my mom puts me in charge of the table decorations. 2 years ago I put a bunch of branches together and asked everyone to write on a card something they were thankful for and hang it on the tree.

 This year I have decided to change it up a bit and use quotes and scripture verses with mason jars and candles. I never really know how these things are going to turn out, but I thought for now I would share the quotes and verses I have picked and will be using:

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" -2 Corinthians 9:15

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more." -Melody Beattie

"Give Thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God is Jesus Christ for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:18

"It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy." -unknown

"I thank him who has given me strength, Jesus Christ our Lord" -1 Timothy 1:12

"What if tomorrow you woke up with only the things you thanked God for today?" -unknown

"Do not be anxious about anything bit in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John F. Kennedy

"I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers" -Philemon 1:4

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." -Colossians 3:15

My 6 year old sister at the time wrote this card- precious!

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." -1 Corinthians 15:57

"You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." -2 Corinthians 9:11

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him." - Colossians 3:17


While the dictionary.com seems to think thanksgiving is a noun, I have to disagree and say that it is a verb- it is an action. Notice how the various definitions below all require action...and how it is clear who we are thanking...

thanks·giv·ing

  /ˌθæŋksˈgɪvɪŋ/ Show Spel[thangks-giv-ing] noun

1.

the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.

2.

an expression of thanks, especially to God.

3.

a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.

4.

a day set apart for giving thanks to God.

I hope your Thanksgiving day is full of more than food, traditions, shopping and football- but that the greater part of the day will be spent in reflection of God's grace and giving thanks for the many things you are blessed with. 

mason jar peach cobber *sweet yummy goodness*

I must be on a run with cooking cause here is another recipe I must share! We made the peach cobbler in mason jars as a fun end to dinner with friends (for extra fun make the dessert together! Thanks Amy!) This is the not only one of the simplest desserts I've ever made, but also one of the best ever! It is an instant family favorite! I found the recipe HERE

Here is what you need to make 4-6 jars:
1 large can of peaches in heavy syrup
1 box yellow cake mix
3 table spoons of butter per jar
cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Fill the botton 1/4 of the jar with peaches, divide the dry cake mix between the jars and just pour over the peaches (thats right- do not mix together the cake mix with anything!) melt the butter you will need and pour the melted butter over the top of the dry cake mix. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top and bake at 350 for approx. 45 min. (These instructions may not exactly match the link- but this is how we made it!)
The results:

Before

After

Adding icecream made it even more unbelievable!

  

Too amazing and too easy not to try!

pepperjam chicken bundles

So today I went to Trader Joe's because I was feeling like cooking something for lunch but didn't want to take the time to look up a recipe...so we went for something very experimental! As I put these in the oven I told Kevin they would either be terrible or wonderful- he seemed pretty excited about the experimental cooking and concluded it was a winner. Since I NEVER cook I thought I should blog this as evidence that once in a far while I do actually cook :o)


So we need a better name for these...suggestions are encouraged!
I don't really know how to format this into an actual recipe, so I will just tell you how I made it: 2 crescent roll triangles placed together to form a rectangle (one can of crescent rolls makes 4 of these) with precooked chicken placed in the middle, topped with a spoon full of creme cheese and then topped with a spoon full of pepper jam. I then pulled the edges of the dough up and closed it up then cooked about 15 minutes at 375.

Kevin said pairing these with the apples was perfect. It ended up with a sweet taste and almost unnoticeable spice taste which was awesome with the chicken and creme cheese. I must admit- they were pretty awesome!

Enjoy!

anastasia

Ok this is way out of order from other photo sessions I should be editing and or posting...but I had to just post a few of these because this tiny little baby is so precious! Last week my amazing assistant Amy and I got to play with anastasia who was only 6 days old at the time! Her mom was incredible- so relaxed and calm! I hope one day to be as calm as her! So here are just a few shots....warning: if you suffer from "baby fever" proceed at your own risk! :o)

slug

So I walk into my bathroom a couple days ago and find this on my sink:

I have no idea how this think got there...but I have never see a slug this big! I thought we were done with the random critters in our house now that we've moved! Guess not...haha

...and 1/2

We recently made a challenging downsize into our new little home. It has been a really good experience of having to take a serious look at everything we own and determine what it is that we actually use and what we actually need. But surprisingly there has been little to no stress with this challenge- it has been really good and unexpectedly liberating! Now when I look around my house I see the things I treasure and enjoy the most rather than just a bunch of stuff. Needless to say there was a very big yard sale and we have done several drop offs to goodwill since then.

Who knew yard sales could be so much work yet so much fun? We weren't alone- we were joined by several other friends and all together it was a grand sale!

Our load is about 1/4 what is was when this began and I feel great! So now begins the creative challenge- organization and decor. I have found lots of inspiration from pinterest.com -but be warned: it is very very very addictive!! So I shall hereby commence the before and after shots of each room as they are completed hopefully with some success stories of organization feats!

Our new address happens to be 411 1/2. Everyone is totally perplexed the the "and 1/2" as I was. I thought it was hilarious! So here is the first before/after of our little 1/2 home :o)

 Its amazing what a little paint will do! This front porch is my absolute favorite part of this house. Kevin and I have eaten several meals out there just enjoying the fall weather. It is so peaceful! There is a large tree ( not sure what kind...) right in front that has beautiful red and orange leaves. In fact, there are trees bursting with color all up and down the street- it is a wonderful time to be outside.

Coming soon: the living room! It is nearly completed and certainly the riskiest paint choice I've ever made!...

summer photo fun

So here are some of my favorite photos from a few of my summer photo sessions. This will be my final "catch up" post and then we will resume to present day life! :o) But these were great times so I don't want to skip over them! I am currently editing pictures from one of my favorite senior picture shoots and also soon will document my finished crafting projects!

In an effort to make this blog helpful rather than just a photo posting zone here are some of my personal photo taking tips: (these are in no way like "official tips" just things I would personally suggest!)

1. When taking a photo outside put the sun behind the person (professional people call this back-lighting, I think) This keeps the person in the photo from having harsh shadows on their face from the direct sunlight. 

2. If you want to take your own outdoor portraits- avoid the mid day hours when the sun is high.

3. Many people I talk with think taking pictures on a clear day is the best- but you actually want to look for a slightly overcast sky- or at least some cloud coverage.

4. Wear vibrant colors for pictures- avoid the black and khaki look!

5. If you are wanting to slender yourself through your pose then always pull your arm away from your body, put shoulders back, pop the very top on your shoulder forward (this accentuates your choler bone) and lift your chin.   

6. You can totally change your picture by experimenting with angles- try tilting your camera to the left or right or try getting on the ground ( I do this a lot! haha)

7. The most flattering photos are often taken from a higher position then the people in the photo (rather than lower) 

8. Try to have as much depth as possible in your photos- in other words look for layers of depth in the background of your photo. For example- in the photo below of Whitney with the blue panels behind her- this angle produces more depth than if the building was flat behind her. 

9. Lastly, if you can't afford a fancy editing software then get a membership to www.picnik.com it is only $4.95 a month (or a better deal to sign up for a year...) and it has some great editing tools. Some of the best are: "curves" and "clone" and most of their "touch up" edits are great. The key with these editing tools is to notice you can use a brush with most of them rather than changing the whole picture.

I hope you don't feel short changed with only 9 tips...thats just all I got right now...So here are some photos from the summer :