One last inspiration of 2011

I always have the best of inspirations. I see great ideas on other blogs, or simply dream up a craft on my own (I'm often creating even in my sleep! lol) and I'm even good about getting the materials to make them happen.... but the follow thru just isn't there. I really do mean to but somehow the days just get away from me and unfortunately there are many crafts in our closets that are still waiting to come to life!

Making candles has been on my list for so long, I don't even remember how long! I was so excited to find an older gentleman at our church who raises bees so that I could purchase local bees wax!! I love the idea of taking something ugly and "worthless" and turning it into something beautiful and useful! :) But again... the days just slip away from me and this blob of beeswax has been taunting me from the pantry for months now! So, just two days before the new year, when nothing else about my day seemed to be going right I decided to drop everything and make those darned candles! No more putting it off till the perfect time for a learning opportunity, no more casting it off till tomorrow.....and one less unfinished project was going into the new year! :)

We started off with  this blog of beeswax that had to be cleaned and cut into smaller pieces...

 

Then we melted it in a coffe can placed in a big pot of simmering water, and began dipping the wick into the wax. It didn't go an easily as I had envisioned... and then I realized that the wax just wasn't sticking to the wick so we got out an old jar and filled it with ice water. We alternated dipping it in the wax and then into the ice water and after just a few dips the wax started to build up and the candle started to take shape!!

 When all was said and done, we had made 4 beeswax candles!! These candles were far from "pretty" but I think for a first try they were pretty good! I'm sure there is a right way to make them and I'm sure we were not doing it by any rules of candle making so the fact that they turned out at all is a small miracle! lol The girls were so excited to eat dinner by candle light and it really opened the door for so much nice conversation. The girls love learning about pioneers and pretty much anything having to do with them so it was really fun to have started with such a raw resource as the beeswax and followed it all full circle into a useful item in the house. 

I know as adults it probably seems silly to sit in the dark with two little candles eating dinner but there is something calm and enjoyable about taking away all the distractions and just focusing on the food in front of us and the people closest to us. While we won't be eating every meal in the dark, we will definitely be doing this more often. I think it makes for such a nice meal time experience and something I hope my girls will grow up treasuring as much as I do! 

I've joined in on these great parties!

The Story of US

I had it all worked out, after a few years of feeling lost I had finally decided on a goal. I had been accepted at a college back east and actually felt empowered by my choices.... I can remember my mom asking what she could do to talk me out of it and I joked "Get orders to Alaska".... God wasn't messing around! It was definitely clear that I had strayed away from His plans for me and He was about to reign me in! I kept on course with my plans, even putting in my deposit ...and within the month, my parents had orders to Alaska and there was never any question about where I was heading next....Within 6 months I would be living in the cold north of the Alaskan frontier!

Meanwhile, already in Alaska was a wonderful man going through a terrible divorce and thus swearing off women forever! He had no idea what he was in for! :)

I knew when I went that Alaska was going to change me. You don't get that kind of life altering direction from a higher being for just anything! I didn't however know that it would only take a few short months  before my life would never be the same again.... I'd actually started dating someone else but it didn't take long to see that wasn't going to last. BUT, it was him that set me up to meet Jason and he probably never even knew it! I guess I owe that guy a big thank you! He made an innocent comment something like "You're a cute girl, you should try one of those internet dating sites!" This was SOOO not something I needed to hear from a guy that had just dumped me! lol Or so I thought at the time.... :)

For some reason, that small comment haunted me, annoyed me and eventually ended up becoming a challenge for me to conquer.  I did end up putting myself out there and ended up meeting some really nice guys (some of who I am still friends with today!) . Oh, and don't worry, I only dated guys that were in my Dad's realm of checking up on before I actually met them in person !! I wasn't meeting just anyone from on the internet- are you crazy?!

Well, as it so happened, Jason was having a bad night one night and just so happened on to my profile.... but he didn't think much of this arrangement and did nothing about it.... again, God had a plan. I thought that I wasn't getting any responses because I hadn't gotten any notifications for about a month. Then for some reason, I logged in to check something on my account and I actually had hundreds! Talk about an ego boost! lol I went thru the list and deleted the obvious "no" guys and wrote to just a few that seemed promising.... one of which had just come in the night before from a guy with a little boy....God had gotten us back on track! :)

We spent the next month, to the day, emailing and talking on the phone. We could talk for hours!! Actually our first phone conversation lasted for 4!! lol Which is really funny looking back, because he hates talking on the phone!  Then one night, after we'd hung up the phone, I just couldn't take it any more and had to know in person how this was going to go. I called him back on a whim and we met up in town just a little while later at a coffee shop called Jitters. The rest is what they would call "history". From that day on, we were inseparable. I knew the first time I heard his voice on the phone that he was either "the one" or he was going to break my heart into a million pieces.... but I was betting on the forever option!

We got engaged and married within 7 months of that first meeting....

I am just blown away at how good God is to us. I think of the journeys that both of us took to get to the places we needed to be to meet each other and how we could  have easily gone a stray. God just kept inching is back on course to finding each other and he's been guiding us together ever since.

The Eagle River Nature Center on our wedding day!

I am so lucky to have found my best friend and I hope that if you are reading this, you have found yours too... but if you haven't, don't give up and don't be afraid to keep looking if that little voice inside of you doesn't think he/she's "the one". When it's right, you just know!

Looking back, I love that we got married on New Years Eve... we get to start each new year together! :)




 Our "song"

A season of blessings

I really don't know where the time goes! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were getting home from our trip and getting the house in shape for Christmas!! How does it all just slip away so fast?


This season has been full of so many blessings I don't even know where to start! With the surprise kick off to the holidays, the wonderful time spent with family and these two amazing little girls I have the privilege to be raising, I really don't think I would possibly be any more blessed....


We jumped into decorating the house just as soon as we got home and even started what I think might just be a new tradition of cutting down our own tree!! The memories of that day and the joy I saw in my girls' eyes when they got to "help" Daddy cut it down will forever be a Christmas favorite!

Of course there was lots of crafting....

These little guys were made as part of an ornament exchange with Living Craft magazine

 

The girls each made these trees and cinnamon ornaments for a kids swap with Bits of Goodness!

And quiet moments...

A beautiful night of Solstice!

And of course our beautiful candle lit service at church!

Now the days seem to be going by even fast and the new year is upon us.... I so enjoy the quiet days in between these holidays... the games we play, the books we read and the yummy food we share with each other and our friends. I hope you are all able to take a few quiet moments to take it all in this holiday season... I don't' want to rush even a minute of it...

Counting our blessings continued

Counting our blessings....

How do you count your blessings?

Is it based on the things you have; cars, toys and electronics? Is it based on the amount of friends you have on FB or followers on your blog? Or maybe it's based on the amount of great deals you get after standing in line for hours at the store?

The last two weeks has been full of counting our blessings around here. We made our yearly trip to visit family for hunting season,after surviving a very hectic period of crazy work schedules and a two day long craft show. We started the trip by being blessed with gas money from the craft show. Really.... such a big blessing!!

 The longest trip Linus had ever been on was to go camping so I was a bit nervous! He was SO good!!

The trip was beautiful but we arrived only to get hit with a terrible cold front, blowing wind that cuts right thru you and elk that just weren't cooperating. Being separating from hubby for six days ended up with nothing for the freezer. :(  But the time we got to spend with family and friends was the real blessing. My husband got to spend some quality time with one of his best friends from high school while the girls and I got to spend quality time with my inlaws.

 The Princess and the Pea was wonderful!!

I think that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. Not only did we arrive safely and got to stay with dear friends en-route but we got to experience snow (our all time favorite!!), good visits with family and a few trips to Hobby Lobby! lol The girls and I even got to attend a musical at my husband's old high school!! lol Again, sometimes blessings come in small unexpected packages... and sometimes they come on planes all the way from Kansas to surprise us!!!  But, I'm getting ahead of myself!!

DH and I took advantage of the opportunity to sneak out for a movie while we had a babysitter ( a VERY rare occurrence in our house!) and got to see one of THE best movies I think I have ever seen.... Courageous! If you haven't seen this movie, you really should try to seek it out... I think every parent, Christian and person in general should see this movie... we all need to be a little more Courageous!!

 These little guys are heading to Hawaii but you can order yours thru my shop! :)

And now, back to that plane load of family from Kansas!!! I was enjoying a quiet day with no plans other than some wood burning (for a huge special order) and the girls were enjoying the chance to catch up on Disney shows.... needless to say, we were also enjoying a late morning in our pjs!!! WELL.... my dear MIL had said that she had to go in to work for a few hours so we were in no hurry to get around and start the day.... when all of a sudden.... she pulled up along with my SIL and out popped the heads of ALL of our family from Kansas!! They had all worked it out to come from Kansas, a college in Tennesee and New Mexico to surprise us for Thanksgiving!!! Surprise us they did and I have never gotten dressed faster! lol

While the time seemed to fly, it was also so full of new memories and funny stories... and of course FOOD!! :) Isn't it funny how certain things just taste better when eaten with certain people!? lol Jason's aunt even brought us our favorite goodies from KS, coffee and homemade snacks that we always SOO enjoyed at her house!! For a few short days, we had a house full of family around us and more fun that I can possibly describe.... We are so very blessed  in all the big and small ways... in all the ways that matter....

How do you count your blessings?

One last blessing.... two deer will be going in our freezer for the winter! :) So very thankful!!

A creative success!

 

Here's a peak of my table at the craft show last weekend! It was cold and blustery outside but that didn't seem to slow the shoppers down!  It was warm and cozy inside and definately full of Christmas cheer! I kept pretty busy throughout the two days, so much so that I forgot to take more pictures!! The lodge we were set up in was just beautiful!! I so wish I would have captured it! I guess I'll just have to do it again next year! :)

By the end of the two days, my stock was pretty well picked over but I was excited at how my toys were received!  I came home with a lot less toys than I went with and a few orders for more that I need to make before Christmas! :) 

I sold a bunch of my peg dolls too!! I only came home with a hand full of them but am happy to take orders for more! :) I've actually been working on orders today! :)

The highlight of my day was when one of the other vendor's little boys  came over to show me his sketch pad!! He had been drawing my monster puppets!!!

Neglected space

I'm sorry this little space has been neglected.... but really I have a good excuse! I have been so busy getting ready for a craft show that I hardly know what day it is! lol The show is this weekend and what ever doesn't sell will be listed in my shop asap! :) Don't you just want to take them all home?