Giving Thanks

Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

 


Thanksgiving ALWAYS preceded the miracle.

 


Choosing to give thanks, knowing He will provide.



Choosing to see life through the eyes of saints and poets.

Looking Forward

 



With 2012 now nearly 24 hours in the past and 2013  upon us, it would seem the thing to do is take a look back on 2012. However, I feel like I have done quite a bit of that this past year. With so much having happened this year I feel like I have already one a good bit of reflection. If you would like to read those posts you can here and here.

At this point in time I am ready to look forward. I am ready for a new adventure. I am ready to dream, plan, set goals, and draft a map. I'm ready for change.

I'm not entirely sure what exactly I want these goals and plans to look like. I know I will be taking some time off for my shop and drastically reducing my custom spots when I do. I want to focus more on creating as the mood strikes, sewing for my girls, sewing for friends, making what makes me happy, finish the huge pile of WIPs.

I want to focus more on my writing. For The Clutch Guide for The Motherhood Collective for my own blog, and journaling. I want to make a point of being a memory keeper. I love the idea of Project Life. Not sure if I will attempt 365 days strait, but would love to make a habit of at least weekly capturing the stories we are writing now, as well as those that come to mind from the past.

I want to focus more on our home. Not entirely sure what all that means but I I want to declutter our home and make space. Not sure for what, but space is always good. Getting rid of excess helps me breath easier. I also want to be more intentional about what I bring into my home. (Does it serve a purpose, do I already have something that could serve the same purpose ect) I am hoping this will help with being a better steward of both our money and our space.

Ultimately I want to invest in what matters most to us. Our faith, our families, and our friends. I want to live more intentionally and be more aware of how I am using our resources.

What are you goals for 2013?

Lessons from the Kitchen

I love baking. I especially love baking bread. There is something about being up past my wrists in dough that just brings me peace and contentment. The Holidays in particular bring out in me the need to fill my home with the aroma of rising bread. They say that scent is one of the strongest memory triggers. I know this to be true. The simple scent of certain bread products that flood my mind with images and moments from my childhood.



Any time I cook my little one's want to be part of the processes. Maddie especially wants to be part of whatever is going on. If I am baking their desire to participate is even more intense. Either because they want to eat the cookie or play with the bread dough. So often my first instinct is to brush them off. Our kitchen is small and there isn't a lot of extra space for little ones. But something about this time made me pause. And so I took a deep breath, scooted over, and taught them how to brush butter onto the paper-thin dough before I rolled it into crescent shapes.  I explained how to place the rolls on the baking sheet (though that clearly went over their heads).

Some where along the way I looked down and instead of seeing my hands forming the rolls, but my mothers. Instead of the voice of my daughters I heard my own childish voice asking to help and in that moment I was reminded of the connection to the women in my family. My mother, my sisters, my aunts, my grandmothers. The women who came before (if only by a few years) and have made their way into the every day of my life.

There is quote by that I fell in love with years ago. Pearl Mae Bailey

"My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is a place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odors carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges to the future."

This is why I love to bake. Because, in the mixing of flour, and water, and eggs, I am connected for the women who came before me, and helping to form the little ones who will come up after me. And some day they will look down at their hands and see mine, and my mother's and my Grandmother Hazels and know that they are part of a beautiful heritage of strong, capable women who lived lives marked by love.

Weekly Five

1. It has been quite a week. The insurance adjuster came out. He approved the higher estimate. (YAY) and supposedly a check was mailed out Thursday. Friday we received a called that some one had stolen both our debit card number and pin number. If it's not one thing it's another.


2. I finally realized just how much stress all this has been causing me when I broke down while out with friends. Good news is I have amazing friends who love me and have been walking through this with us with so much grace.

 


3. The Goose Beary Shop is growing and changing and stretching. As is this Blog. Lots of growing pains as I work through where I want to go and branding myself. So much to think about.

 


4. I took the last of the wall paper off of the guest room walls and it is all ready for primer and paint. I am so excited we moving forward on this. :)

 


5. I really haven't been feeling like myself lately. So much stress and so much is going on and changing. I am trying to take time to slow down, unplug, process, and have a bit more grace with myself.

Lemon Short Bread Sugar Scrub

Last week after getting home from my parents house I was feel the desperate need to be creative. 

Since the house was a mess and my to-do list was a mile long I opted for a very simple project and whipped up some sugar scrub. 

My original plan was to make lemonade sugar scrub but a few things got in the way. First off I bought organic raw sugar because I love the texture. However that mixed with the olive oil and it was impossible to get a white or yellow mixture. I ended up with brown.

I also really wanted to use the lemon rind but since my blender and food processor are broken I couldn't pulverize the whole rind and was only able to use the zest I got with my fine grater. The scent wasn't quite strong enough for my liking so I added almond and vanilla extract and ended up with...... Lemon Short Bread Sugar Scrub!

I finally tried it out today and loved it. Just the right about of scrub and left my skin smooth and not oily. Perfect!!

If any one is interested in trying here is the recipe such as it is:

Ingredients:

"White" Sugar 

(I used organic raw sugar because I wanted a rough scrub)

Brown Sugar

Oil

(I used olive oil since I had it on hand)

Lemon Zest

Almond Extract

Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1) Combine 1 cup of white sugar and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and stir.

2)Mix in 1 1/2 cups oil.

3) Add the zest of one lemon.

4) Add one teaspoon each of the extracts.

5) Stir

6) Spoon into a jar or bottle with a tight lid.

(All measurements are rough estimates as I made a rather large batch and mixed by feel. The mixture will separate as it sits so you made need to shake or stir before use.)

I have been saving my Starbucks Mocha beverage bottles for a while now. I simply pealed of the labels and used a squirt or two of goo gone on each side and the glue residue wiped right off. I had some black spray paint on hand so I sprayed the the caps with that and it made for rather pretty presentation I think.

I gave one to my mother-in-law as a thank you for watching the cat while we were gone and I kept one for myself because, well because I never keep things I make for myself it seems. I have one bottle from this batch left so lets have a little fun. I'll give it away to the first local person who comments on this post and can meet me some time on Thursday in town to pick it up. :)

Moving Things Around

As much as I love my dear blogger blog, I am contemplating moving things around. Eventually I am hoping to move to a personal website as apposed to a blogging template. Till then I am playing around with using my tumblr more. Frankly I am not as big a fan of the user interface, but I just can't argue with the nice clean lay outs. :)

Playing around with physical space as well and moving things around. It's been a while since I have done anything major. Really not since last summer, but at least I am getting a vision again and are making some huge changes to one room and minor ones to another. Using Pinterest in many many ways to pull together ideas and concepts and maybe just maybe have something to share sooner rather than later.