Perspective

I'm sitting here in bed perusing blogs and quite enjoying the fact that there are a bunch of boys sleeping in my living room and therefore keeping me from doing my chores. Ben has a few friends over for a fun filled weekend of hunting, BBQ and of course super smash bros. The rain has put a damper on the first two but definitely not the later. Anyway, as I'm sitting here relaxing for the first time in quite a while I was feeling thoughtful. My boss loves to say "It's all about Perspective" and you know what, he is SO RIGHT! Perspective influences everything in your life. I look back over the last month and I feel like I lost it a little bit. In this holiday season it is way too easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle. I now understand why my mom always kept it as simple as possible. It's a much better way to do things. So when you lose perspective, how do you get it back? How do you get your head back in line with reality? I feel like I'm back in a place of sanity but how did I get here? I realized it's not just one thing. It's a few different things. So here's a list of things I think helped me get my perspective back.

1. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: bringing my burdens to him is something I have to do constantly. I try to bear them myself and always fail. This do it yourself girl has to get it through her head that it's a lot better to pass them off. What freedom it gives you!

2. Movie nights with my husband: It's something we've done since we started dating. We rent a movie (now netflix) grab a simple dinner and just veg out on the couch. Sometimes it's just the ticket we both need. Just to be together doing nothing at all but enjoying each others company with a movie. (however good or bad it is)

3. Running: I know I'm just a nerd like that. This rain has been killing me but when I get to go out, it's like therapy. Just going out and running however fast I want, destresses me and helps me think about things with a clear head.

4. Making things: I guess I've always known that I like to create things but maybe I've just never said it in words. Maybe defining it has helped me realize how true it is. My dad builds custom cabinets and as a kid I loved getting scraps and trying to build things. Now that I'm older I still would love to be able to do that but I also have come to enjoy sewing and crafts. I guess I can thank my dad for the love of creating things and thank him for always letting me glue random stuff together in the shop.

5. Great family and friends: Thinking about my family and friends I was a little overwhelmed on how absolutely blessed I am. Not only do I love and have a great relationship with my own immediate family, I am lucky enough to have great in-laws that have welcomed me with open arms and treat me like their own daughter. I have made some great friends since moving here and they have been such and encouragement to me and in my new life. They've been there when it was hard and are a constant inspiration to try new things and live life to the fullest.

6. Now you might laugh at this one: My puppies. I love them very dearly but that's not why they're on here. They are always happy to see you and love you unconditionally. If only that kind of attitude came naturally to me! How much happier would we all be if we were always excited to see others and treated them with love? I know it's cheesy but it really struck a chord with me the other day.

As I look over the last week and how much more level-headed I feel, I realize all of these things had a major part in how I feel today. So I want to remember it, and hopefully remember all these wonderful things I've learned. So like Michael J. Fox says I'm going to "choose to be happy" and not forget the reason for the season. I bet if I am mindful of all these things it will be the best Christmas yet!

Neglect

Yes, I have been neglecting my blog. This December crept up on me see fast and I got blindsided. I started wayyyyyy to late on all my Christmas crafts and had parties and weddings.....I got overwhelmed. So I'm catching up. Have no fear. I have been taking pictures of what I have been up to.

First another apron for another friend getting married....I know, the story of my life this year.




Christmas Tree!

We decided to try a new spot this year. Last year we had a smaller dining room table so putting it in the kitchen was easy. This year we have a much larger table that we thought would overwhelm our kitchen. So we decided to try to put our tree here. As you will see below, it was a bad call. It stuck halfway out into the living room!


So back to the old spot it was. The table is in the kitchen and all is well.


Ben was an extra good listener when I was naming off stocking stuffers. He got me some little bird ornaments which I am absolutely obsessed with. LOVE!


I tried doing a makeover on the plain ornament balls we had. I puff pained some and then spray painted them all.


I love the colors they are. They are white, dark red, and dark green, very vintagey. I'm not a fan of how they turned out though. I don't think I'll keep them. But I do want to try to find some in those colors. I'm glad I tried it though.


Bird on the tree!


Finished product! This little area of my house I like to call Cafe Christmas.


I always drool over all the Christmas decorations in the stores but this year I decided I didn't want to buy anything. I made a couple new Christmas decorations and I think I will keep this trend. It makes it more personal to me. I made some embroidery hoops just for the season.




And a wreath



That's all for now! Hopefully it won't be so long before my next post.

Weekend of family and friends

This past weekend was full of events and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend all of them. My younger sister Kacie was elected as one of the senior class princesses for homecoming. I went to cheer her on, but spent most of my time being surprised by all the changes that have happened since I was there. 6 years can change a lot, believe me. The next day I had two showers to attend. One was for a cousin who is going to have a baby and the other for a dear friend who is getting married soon. Both were fun and it was so good to catch up with friends and family I don't get to see very often. I was relieved to make it home to my husband and my comfy bed. It's a long lonely drive from Fresno to our home all by yourself!

Miss bride-to-be Ruth (and the lovely practice boquet I made)


Bridesmaids with the bride!


Kacie, Tracie and I


Sisters


Fans in the stands

Saturday Morning

My Saturday mornings are usually spent catching up on house chores like laundry, dusting and such things. Today I got a break from my routine with craft brunch. Well, actually, craft brunch was cancelled because all of the attendees besides the host and I had things come up. Not to be deterred my friend Lidy and I changed our plans a little. Her husband Joel was playing at the Village Grill from 10-12 and she was so kind as to invite me to hang out with her there. What a fantastic idea it was! We hung out, listened to great music, did a little crafting, drank to much coffee, and even made a quick trip to Beverly's. It was perfect weather and perfect company. I only regretted not taking pictures and that it had to end. The project of the month was embroidery hoop art. You can find all different ways to do this on Etsy.com. I chose to try my hand at felt flowers. I'm very happy with the fruits of my labor which are pictured below.

Three hoops hung on my bathroom wall, were just the finishing touches I wanted in there.


The vintage buttons I picked up at Beverly's really finished this set of classy white flowers off.


Yes I'm obsessed with this yellow/orange vintage color, it's bordering on taking over #1 Green!


These were tough to make stay in place but it was worth the effort!

Tea Towels

This is the first time I have made tea towels. They are for a wedding gift (story of my life lately). Technically I cheated a little because the towels were already cut and hemmed. I still say "made" them because I added some applique's to them. They are to match a previously made apron. I really enjoyed making these and see more being made in the future.

Peddlers Faire

Peddlers Faire you ask? The Peddlers Faire is a place for local vendors to show off and sell their wares, which can be anything from furniture to glassware. It took place at the Kern County Museum this year. I'm so glad I was told about this event because it was great. I got to hang out with my two sisters-in law, Katie and Denise and the cutest little nephew in the world! I'll be honest, when Henry was there I did more playing than browsing, but I like to think I gave his mother a chance to look through all the treasures :) Another friend showed up later right as Henry was about fed up with the whole thing so I got a chance to walk through again and check things out. There were a lot of things I loved and most of the things I did purchase came from my freind Lidy and her husband Joel's booth called Vintage Peach. I knew it would be trouble looking at her wares because I had a feeling we had the same taste. Boy was I right! I could have carted off a lot of things from them. I hope they did well because they had such wonderful things to offer all who came.

Below are all the items I purchased. Everything besides the vase was purchased from Vintage Peach.


The chair and mirror now have special places in my bedroom where they add just the little spice of unexpectedness I was going for.


And yes the fabric is a green zebra print, what more could a girl ask for?!


The vase holds no flowers yet, I will soon buy some to brighten our kitchen.


The green glass bowl and teacup holder have been repurposed to hold my jewelry, very stylishly I might add.


Not pictured above are the little yellow things hanging from my necklace holder in the first picture. Those are handmade wash cloths. They are the best! I have already put them to work and have decided that I need to make some of these myself!

More Gifts

Lately I live in the world of gift sewing. So many weddings and birthdays, I've had to stay on top of it! Here are two more of my creations for some pretty special people.

A very pink apron for a very special co-worker affectionately called "Mama Terry"






Some more baby stuff!

Sunday Afternoon

My family came down for a very quick vist and then I had much of the afternoon left. What to do? Football and sewing I say! Yes random combo but it was very relaxing indeed!

A Touch of Fall

Even though it doesn't feel like fall, fall colors are my favorite!

Old Things New

I took that day off today and vetured into downtown to see what I could see. Some friends had recommended some antique stores downtown for me to check out. I have never really been interested in antiques but have I ever had a change of heart! I went to American Antiques and fell in love. It was huge and so full of wonderful things I couldn't begein to take it in. Now I have begun to understand why people love it so much. There are treasures around every corner. Some are pricey but some are just right. I could have spent the day in just one store looking at everything.

I have been looking for sugar and flour canisters for quite some time now. Nothing caught my eye anywhere I looked. Until today! Originally I thought it would be fun to have a mis-matched set and I had found a couple canisters I liked in the store. Then I stumbled across these and fell in love. I think I'm becoming a big fan of this yellow color.

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One of my favorite blogs to keep up with is Young House Love. She has an obsession with white ceramic animals. Well today I became a bit of a copy cat but only a little bit. I saw these wood ducks and fell in love again. (that could be a bad habit for me)

They are a little dingy looking here
.

After a little white high gloss paint.


Voila!

Shaver

Well I am officially the last one in the family to post about Shaver but better late than never right? I have an excuse. We got a new laptop and it has taken Ben and I couple nights to get it where we want it to be! Anyway, Shaver was a great time for all who came. Here are a few of the shots I took.


What beautiful world we live in!



Katie's thrifty finds



Buddy decided to come with me



Ohhhhhh soooooo......



CUTE!



Little Owen



The pathway Ben and I had never seen, it was always covered with snow!



What a pretty picture they make