It’s been snowing all weekend and yesterday into today it really started to come down! At this point, we have about nine inches on the ground! Right now the snow if falling thick right outside my window. It’s recovering from the mess my husband and I made this morning. Our snow is no longer pristine and untouched. Jeremy and I headed out this morning with a plan to make a snow creation. Last year Jeremy made a snow bear. It was really cute and made it’s way on to the news. It was Jeremy’s claim to fame! This year, I joined the force and we created what would be a snow grizzly that makes last year’s snow bear look like a snow cub! Our new and improved snow bear is about 8ft. tall! It’s always crazy to stand next to a snow creation that is taller than me! Earlier this weekend Jeremy went out and made himself a snow deer. Now that we’ve gotten many inches more, snow deer looks like snow buffalo. I’m sad to say that in the time that I took the shot and now, snow deer/buffalo has lost his head. Poor guy! Snow days are so much fun! 
I 
love getting to sleep in and play in the snow! I love the bright light that comes from the reflections on the snow! I love getting lost in the moment as I look out the window to many snowflakes pouring down. These are some of my favorite days! Now it’s not the back to routine lifestyle that I was thinking of this week, but I’m okay with it! Snow days are rare on this side of Washington. I have to enjoy these moments while I can. It seems like we still might have another foot or more in the forecast for tomorrow. We’ve already lost power for about a half hour, but lucky for us we have plenty of wood for our wood stove. It’s time to snuggle in and joy a snow day!
Snow Day! January 17, 2012
Getting Creative January 16, 2012
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. My sister just flew home to Kansas today after a three week visit. It was so great to have her and her husband come out to visit for the holidays. April was kind enough to stay through my birthday. Having April there to celebrate with me truly made it a special day. My sister and I are close. Very close. We spent a lot of time together over the break and I’m greatly concerned about withdrawals now that she is gone. My consolation prize is the fact that I got a blanket of snow for my birthday and it keeps getting thicker! So right now I’m snuggled up on the couch with a blanket on my lap, a fire in the wood stove and snowflakes falling outside as the last bit of daylight fades away. I’m sad to see my sister go home, but I am looking forward to getting back to some form of routine. Returning to a more regular blogging schedule would fall under that thought. Here I am! Ready to blog!
I’ve had many opportunities to hang out with my mom and sister. On Thursday, we ran some errands together. Mom and I had been invited to a friend’s baby shower so we hit our local Carters outlet for cute boy gifts. We decided to combine our efforts and give one big gift. As we purchased the box for the present, we all had the thought – I wonder if everything will fit in this box. I was over confident. I assumed that I could fold all the little tiny items into the right shape to shut the box. Well, I was wrong. A bear towel just wouldn’t fit. I tried to tuck it here and there, but no place seemed right. I was puzzled for a minute trying to figure it all out… then it came to me!!! I decided to turn the towel into the wrapping paper! It worked quite well! It made the gift super cute and feel super soft. I’ve collected ribbon from various projects so I tied the gift up using blue and silver ribbon. I thought the end result was nice and that I would share it with you. Sometimes moments of creativity come out of perplexing situations. Since the towel couldn’t fit in the box, I literally had to think outside of the box. Keep your eyes open for fun ways that you can jazz up gifts by using a part of the gift itself!
A new year and another year January 7, 2012
Right now I’m smack dab in the the middle of the New Year and my 26th birthday. It’s a very contemplative time as I ponder 2012 and turning another year older. What will this year hold? This might sound strange, but I’m not a fan of odd numbers, so I’m always happy when I enter an even calendar year and even year of age. As much as I don’t want to be another year older, I am somewhat comforted by the fact that it will be an even year. Like I said, I’ve been thinking a lot… it’s something I probably do way too much in general. Here is what has been bouncing around in my head…
When asked what my new year’s resolutions are I had to say none. I have no goals set for 2012. My mom said this was healthy since according to her I’m scary when it comes to goals. I will be the first to admit that I like to be working towards something and that I have pretty high standards for myself. I’ve been thinking about a lot about my standards. I’ve been looking back in my mind to the standards I set for myself as a youth student. I’ve been remembering the things that I was passionate about and that shaped the adult I’ve become. I was blessed with a group of friends and family that held me accountable to the high standards I set for myself. Because of the high standards I’ve always had in place, I find that I hold others to equally high standards. Now I don’t judge when someone isn’t like me or not on the same page as me. I just care a lot about my friends and family. I want the best for them. This leads me to holding a pretty firm line in some areas of life. It’s been a challenge for me to watch some people that care about deeply make choices I don’t always support. I can give my two cents when it’s asked for, but really, I’m not in control of others (DUH!) and I’m not responsible for their choices. As a teacher at my church, it’s hard when this happens with students. I feel in some way that I let down in my training. While, I know that isn’t true, I feel the weight of their choices.
As I’ve been pondering the standards that I hold for others, I started to evaluate the standards that I currently have for myself. If you’re going to teach, the Bible says that you’re going to be held to the standard of your own teaching and higher. I started to look at myself deeply and wondered if I’m really walking the walk that goes behind all my talk. Now, I haven’t had any major revelations about poor standards in my life, but I have come to the conclusion that I need to do better. I have so not arrived yet… I’m so far off from being the person I need to be. Even today, I had to apologize for a blunder I made and a lapse in judgement. I’m still human no matter how hard I strive to be perfect. Tonight at church, we sang two songs that mentioned weakness and being weak. In the car ride to church I was praying about that is how I felt, so it no surprise for me to see the theme of weakness coming out in worship. I feel so weak. I know that in my weakness God can do great things. I also know His strength and power is revealed in times of weakness. I just don’t feel like some strong spiritual giant. I feel small. I’m a bit of a control freak who has through a lack of control in life turned a bit paranoid. I can see healthy tendencies in my thoughts and perceptions. I know there are roads I don’t want to go down. I need to refresh my mind and my way of thinking.
All being said, here is what I came up with as my solutions and in a way somewhat my resolutions for the this coming year. I need to pray more. I find that I’m good when I have time to write out my thoughts, but I need to be praying a lot more than I am now. When I try to do things on my own, I fail. I need God to be a conscience part of my every moment. I need to invite him to live each day with me. I know the lines of communication need to be more open for me to see growth in my life. I believe that a focus on prayer coupled with my Bible reading will be a backbone for growth in me this coming year. Bottom line – I want to be better. I want to be a better wife, sister, daughter, friend, employee, teacher, mentor and overall follower of Christ. I know that the people in my life and my Savior deserve my best. I pray that God will give me the strength to make changes in my own heart. If I start with making a difference in my life then I can truly do a better job of making difference in the life of others. This is what I look forward to in 2012 and hope being 26 will be defined as – a year of change – a year where I get better. I believe the this desire to get better will be something I struggle with every year. I think it’s the desire for eternity in my heart. It’s my desire to be truly made right and whole by the love of my Savior. I will someday know this feeling to the fullest, but for now I will make small strides towards the woman God wants me to become.
Balancing happy and sad December 12, 2011
This time of year has a strange mix of emotions for me. As you can tell, I LOVE Christmas – all things Christmas! I can’t get enough Christmas music, Christmas goodies, Christmas movies, Christmas decorations… Christmas just makes me happy in a way very few holidays can. However, this time of year also brings about the 1 year anniversary of my grandpa’s death. There are a lot of moments when I get lost in a memory of last year. It’s hard to not be sad as I remember the pain of letting go. It’s strange for me to be on two extremes. It seems like I can be at the peak of Christmas joy and then transported to a valley of sad memories. I don’t like this swinging feeling. To make the season feel even more heavy, my dad’s boss away a week ago. You might wonder why that would affect me. But it does. This man has been in my life for the last 21+ years. He was a good boss and very generous to my family over the years. The business was family owned and operated. The employees are close and his death has shocked them all because it was sudden and unexpected. I know that my dad was very close with this man. I feel the sadness of him losing a friend and having the anniversary of his father’s death all happen in he same week. It’s a lot to process. It’s overwhelming to my emotions.
Before all of this the holidays were busy and always involved navigating family and friends. I wanted to see everyone and balance the social calendar. It was a full season, but for the most part it was just full of fun. I wonder if this is what being an adult is like – having to say good-bye more often than I would like, living with memories that make me both happy and sad. It’s hard to balance my holiday happiness with the sad emotions that seem to spring forth from time to time. I know that life isn’t going to get easier. I know that death is 100% inevitable and is never convenient. People will die at the holidays and other important times throughout the year. I can do nothing about that… so now I must learn how to take the good and the bad and balance them in my life. I must learn how to process difficult emotions during joyful seasons. It’s not easy. I’m sure that I won’t master it, but I’m trying.
I want to live life to the fullest. I want to truly live in each moment and not take it for granted. I am joyful this time of year as I celebrate my Savior coming to earth so he could die for me. I am joyful as I wrap presents and wait for the reactions of family members and loved ones as they open them. I am joyful as I bake goodies and I’m joyful as sing along to Christmas songs. There is a lot to thankful for and happy about. To be joyful doesn’t mean I’m ignoring the sadness, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not letting it over take me. I know that my grandpa wouldn’t want me to view the holidays as a sad time every year. I know that he would want to be remember, but not in sadness – with joy. I guess I’m learning that the life really is layered. You can feel conflicting things at the same time. Managing it all and learning from it has a way of making me feel older. Life lessons have a way of aging me. I think it’s a good thing though. I can still be a kid at heart with the wisdom of time and experience on my side.
I know it’s the Christmas season when… December 3, 2011
As I was driving into town today (yes, I live in the middle of nowhere, so I have to drive into town – very Little House on the Prairie, I know), I started to think about all the things that I really love about this time of year and how they really make it seem like Christmas to me. We all have different things that give us that holiday cheer. Here are a few things that I came up with.
I know it’s the Christmas season when…
- I go to Starbucks a couple times a week instead of a couple times a month. I’m addicted to red cups!
- I listen to the same two Amy Grant Christmas CDs from the 90’s over and over again.
- The holiday music channel is always on in the background when I’m home.
- I watch more Hallmark movies in one month than I do in the entire year.
- I look for an excuse to wrap anything in gift wrap.
- Penguins start popping up around my house.
- I lick over 70 Christmas card envelopes.
- I add peppermint to most goodies.
- I stock up on gingerbread mix.
- I cut coupons and actually read sales advertisements.
- Red and green suddenly match with everything.
- We pull boxes of decorations off the garage shelf.
- Pine needles end up all over the inside of my house.
- Christmas lights make me happy on drives around town.
- My house is lit up with white lights and now reindeer added this year.
- The church foyer has lighted trees on display.
- I have a program to print for the kid’s choir Christmas musical.
- I have 5 gift exchanges to shop for.
- All sinks in my home have holiday scented soap.
- I allow magnets, cards, and pictures on my fridge.
- I start praying for snow.
There are probably many more things I could add. I know that you have your own things that make you think “It’s Christmas”! I hope that you are enjoying the days leading up this wonderful holiday as much as I am. Christmas isn’t just about one day for me. It’s about decorating the house, making goodies, shopping for loved ones, drinking way too much Starbucks and enjoying each special moment that happens all month long. Christmas is just too good to fit into one day. I’m loving my entire month of celebrating!
Office Holiday Cheer November 29, 2011
It’s hard to keep the Christmas decorations limited to the home. Jeremy and I spend a lot of time our office and it’s always fun to make our work environment festive. We don’t have a ton of space to decorate, but here are some things that we like to do around the holiday season.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, Jeremy has a VeggieTales nativity set that sings. It got pulled out of its box home today and was set on our end table. Jeremy had to push the angel as we were leaving work just to make sure that it still would sing it’s little heart out. Yep, it worked! The little cracked voice of Jr. Asparagus singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” filled the office. 
Now our office doesn’t have a window view, but it does a window. A small window… that looks out on the hallway. This little window allows Jeremy and I a lot fun. Over the years we have collected a variety of gel clings to brighten up our window and add personality to our office. Today I took the owls “whooou” have been sticking to our window since September down. I put up some reindeer, holly, snowflakes and a penguin. I went a little crazy… But I think it’s fun! Gel clings are a simple way we add Christmas feeling to our office before we even open the door!
It’s fun to make the season merry and bright – where ever you spend your time! Festive touches make the Christmas season come to life and spread cheer. There are many creative places to decorate for the holidays. Don’t limit yourself to just home!
Good Bye Pumpkins, Hello Christmas! November 25, 2011
Yesterday was a great day! Jeremy and I are blessed to have both our families living near by. This means that we get not one but two Thanksgivings meals! What a treat! The day was spent with family and eating good food. A wonderful way to spend a day in my book. However, once I got home from all the festivities, I had my hubby pull out of Christmas boxes so I could dive into them first thing this morning. Jeremy is an archer, so Thanksgiving weekend to him means wondering through the woods trying to kill an elk or a deer. He left early this morning and left me to decorate the house.
It’s always sad to see my mini-pumpkins get thrown away and all the things with leaves on them get tucked back into boxes for another year. Autumn is my favorite season so it’s always bittersweet when I pack up all things orange and yellow. I truly love Christmas so it’s always exciting to pull out the Christmas items. Like I said, bittersweet. Today I got up earlier than usual for a sleep in day (mostly because my dog wouldn’t let me sleep). I turned on the Christmas music station on my television and started opening boxes.
I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but opening those boxes is like reconnecting with old friends and memories. I’m amazed that I forget so much of what is stored in those crates and when I open them it’s like a surprise. Every item has either been given to us by loved ones or purchased by Jeremy and I for our Christmas collection. It’s a sweet time. It would be better if my hunter could have joined me, but then I would have been waiting for a while… I’m too impatient!
The centerpiece of our home during the holidays is our Christmas tree which we have yet to purchase. Every year, we get a “real” tree. I’m not a fan of the plastic ones that don’t smell like pine. I will take the pine needles all over my floor as a trade off for the wonderful look and smell of a real tree. We’ll get ours in a about a week or so. Picking the tree and decorating the tree is something we do together and it’s the highlight of our Christmas decorating! I can remember when Jeremy and I lived in our tiny apartment where we could only have a tree that was 5 feet or under! Now that we have a home with a vaulted ceiling, I love buying a big, tall tree! It’s a blessing to me since I know what it’s like not to be able to have one.
I’m not sure if you’re the type of person that had their house decorated for Christmas two weeks ago, if you decorate after Thanksgiving like me, or if you wait until December 1st or December 21st… I hope that you had a marvelous Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!
Holiday Traditions – Old and New! November 22, 2011
Every November, Jeremy and I make a trek down to Portland to start our Christmas shopping. We love the stores and the no sales tax really stretches our dollar. This year we braved the first snow of the year. We look forward to this trip every year. Even though it was hard to leave the beauty of our winter wonderland, we set out on our mission. Each year I go into our shopping day super focused. It’s not about me… it’s about getting gifts for others. I truly enjoy shopping for others and love gift giving. So for me I go into the day with a singular focus.
Jeremy on the other hand… He is not able to compartmentalize. Our first stop was at Target where we pretty much got everything for ourselves. Jeremy picked up the makings of green bean casserole because he realized he was a little short on his stash and he promised to bring that for Thanksgiving. We got gift wrap and bows. I bought some candy cane kisses for my advent calendar. While we were in the toy section, I was busy comparing prices and getting ideas for my nephew’s gift when I noticed something tucked on the bottom shelf of the cart. The joy I experience when I saw this item was pretty intense! It was a Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Set.
Let me explain why this is so important. Every since Jeremy and I got married, I’ve been looking for the perfect nativity set for our Christmas collection. Everything seemed too ornate. I’m not really a frilly person, so I knew that whatever I settle on would be simple. A year ago I discovered that there was a Little People Nativity Set. I instantly wanted it. I loved Little People as a kid and once they changed them to make them chubbier (aka less easy to choke on), I think they got cuter. Jeremy thought I was kidding and shot me down when I said I wanted it. At this point, I would like to say this is the man who has a Veggie Tales Nativity Set in his office every year that sings… so yeah, not too different from my Little People set. After a year of talking about it, I told him this year when we saw it we would buy it. Jeremy found it first in the store and slipped it into the cart to surprise me.
When I got home I couldn’t keep it in the box, so I set up the nativity set on the tray we purchased for it. Once it was set up, I tucked safely away in my Christmas closet and it’s waiting until after Thanksgiving to come out. I’m so happy to finally have a nativity set in our home. I think it’s an important feature of Christmas decorating. It’s not all about Christmas Trees and stockings. The true purpose is to celebrate the life that came to earth to live and die for my sins. Death couldn’t hold him down! My Jesus is alive! Amen! Okay, preacher moment! I know that this depiction of the nativity isn’t accurate. These chubby little white children probably don’t resemble that night much at all. I get that. However, it’s a visual reminder of what we celebrate and I am happy camper to have my own nativity set. It’s unique and a little odd, just like me! I like that!
Side note: We did actually get to our purpose and tackled most of our Christmas list. Like I said, this trip was not about us. It just had some nice bonus items that came home with us.
A Crafty Afternoon November 14, 2011
Saturday night my sister-in-law, Beckie, and I braved the wind and the wet for the Craft Warehouse Open House. This is a once a year holiday sale that fills the store with people. I have been twice and each time I have had to wait outside in a line before I can actually enter the store. The store is very kind and they hand out hot cider to the people waiting. This year I walked away with a tree shaped advent calendar. As you can tell, it was a blank canvas. I bought some paper and ribbon that I thought might help in my new project and called it a very successful open house.
This afternoon I let myself get lost in the craft project. I don’t often spend the whole afternoon crafting, but once I started, I couldn’t stop!!! I ended up using paper and ribbon that I’ve had in my stash for a while (not what I purchased in at Craft Warehouse). The majority of the time was spent cutting and gluing paper. I stamped the numbers and made them raised from the boxes. To finish things off and make the lines cleaner, I used a hot glue gun to put ribbon around the edges.
For a long time I’ve been looking for an advent calendar. I love counting down the days until Christmas and I’m really looking forward to using my crafty creation to do so. My plan is to put candy cane kisses into the little boxes each day as my special treat. I was just thinking I wanted to buy a bag of these holiday kisses, but I knew portion control would be challenging with an open bag. Now I’ll put just a couple of kisses in each day. I can enjoy a favorite Christmas treat while keeping myself in line! For me, this is a total win-win-win! I get a cute advent calendar, a holiday treat, and it’s guilt-free! All beautiful things in my book!
Forever Friends! November 11, 2011
At Cheesecake Factory - November 2011
I’m not a big fan of the term “best friend” because it’s so limiting. I have a small group of people in my life would I consider my best friends, but I like the term forever friend more! The truth is these people will be in my life until I die or they die. I’m pretty wimpy, so chances are I’ll go first. These are the people I expect to be in contact with… well, forever. My forever friends mean the world to me and I will never let them get away.
Last night I had dinner in Seattle with one of my forever friends! Maggie and I have been friends since our junior year in high school. I remember going off to college and being told that your high school friends don’t stick around so just stop investing in them. I was really hurt by the person who said that because I didn’t want that to be true. With a lot of intentionally, on both our parts, Maggie and I are still really close friends to this day.
We’ve been on missions trips together, talked through what colleges to go to, talked a lot
High School Graduation - June 2004
about our crushes and then eventually about our future husbands! Maggie was actually the one that greatly encouraged me to date Jeremy. I vividly remember sitting in Starbucks telling her I was really worried about the whole dating situation. I didn’t want to have a list – more than one boyfriend. I only wanted one and I was nervous about making a commitment because what if it didn’t work out. Maggie encouraged meto take that step and get over my fears. Obviously things worked out pretty well for Jeremy and I.
There are lots of experiences we’ve shared together. Too many to list or count. She is a friend that I truly trust. I can be honest with her and I know I can expect honesty in return. The shared laughter and the shared tears over the years has proven that our friendship runs deep. Maggie is a forever friend that I plan on calling when I’m in the nursing home! She can’t shake me! We’ve made it this far and I look forward to all the joy that our friendship will bring in the coming the years!
I love you, Maggie! Thank you for the many awesome years of friendship! I still believe that many more amazing years are to come!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 