Respite

December was a tough month for me. Now that I've had some time to process it, I realized that I was struggling to find a new way to rest and recuperate in our new home. When we lived in Denver, it was easy. Head west! We would pack up our gear (or maybe just pack a quick bag), load up the wienie dogs, and head into the mountains. Whether it was a day hike or a long weekend backpacking trip, Jody and I found that the surest way to rest was to spend time outdoors. 

So, after experiencing subzero temperatures, a foot of snow before Thanksgiving, and no view of the sun for a month (yes, you read that correctly), Jody and I decided we needed a break. We did what all Wisconsinites do to vacation (or at least it seems that way)... we went "up north" and rented a cabin. 

We did some research online and found a fully furnished cabin near the small town of Glidden, right near the Chequamegon National Forest - about a five hour drive northwest of us. So, the day after Christmas we got up early, packed up all our things and headed north. :)

It wasn't a long trip, but it was just enough to fill my tank. Jody and I had a blast! We hiked in the nearby National Forest, watched Band of Brothers, played board games, got warm next to the wood-burning stoves and ate home-cooked meals that I'd prepared before we left and brought with us. It was heavenly.

Your New Year's card picture. Ha!

Martens? We're not in Colorado anymore...

There were TWO heavenly wood-burning stoves.

Complete with an old school home entertainment system!

It was a fantastic trip, and I loved every moment of it. It truly helped to hit the "reset" button and to prepare for all the challenges that 2015 will bring. We came back home refreshed and grateful for the life God has given us.

Loving the Kitchen Time!

Since I graduated college I've always worked out of the home full-time, and as a result have spent less time in the kitchen. Now that I am home all the time, I'm loving the freedom it brings to plan meals, to shop for everything I need, and to be creative. 

One of the most exciting gifts Jody got me for my birthday was a KitchenAid mixer along with several attachments. Words cannot express how grateful I am for his kindness towards me in recognizing an area that I want to grow in. 

One of our first adventures with the mixer was in making homemade applesauce. After making applesauce with a friend, it was so fun to "try it out" with our new toy. Ha!

Overall, the experience was a huge success, and I'm totally never going to buy applesauce at the store again. ;) The fresh stuff is amazing!!!

Another gift Jody got for me was a Blendtec Blender. The reason for said purchase was that I'd started making smoothies in the morning, and he was so tired of our blender not working. It took me a good 10 minutes to make a smoothie, and the noise over that long a time, while I struggled to try and get the blender to blend everything up, was more than he could handle. So I think he really bought the blender for his own peace of mind. Haha!

The blender is absolutely amazing and has revolutionized our options for cooking. Not only do we make smoothies on an almost daily basis for breakfast, but the blender is incredible for pureeing soups, making marinades and dips like hummus!

Jody took this video while I was in Aiken to show me how he was getting his daily dosage of greens in my absence. :) I'm so proud!

I find that having all the tools to work with - even more than I could have imagined - and having a bit more time to dream has allowed me to truly enjoy the time I'm spending in the kitchen. I'm also finding that while I love to bake, I'm also starting to truly enjoy cooking more. Baking is my go-to past-time, but I no longer dread the "What's for dinner?" question and am starting to enjoy the process of creating food that tastes good. And Jody is such a sport! He's growing in his willingness to eat foods that *shock* contain onions in them - cooked, of course. Nonetheless, I never imagined that such a day would come (and, I always cook them waaaaay down before I add any other ingredients). But still, I count it as a huge victory and proof that if I can cook well, then even the most unappetizing foods can be delicious!

Eu-mi's Impromptu Photoshot

One day Eu-mi was sitting in the chair, and the light hit her just right... so I started snapping pictures with my phone. I'm pretty amazed at how they turned out!

Introducing... The Many Faces of Eu-mi

And... my personal favorite...

Fridays at the Farm

Blog

This past fall I had the great opportunity to participate in a fun crafting adventure called Fridays at the Farm. A couple of ladies at Crosspoint who are super crafty and creative put together a plan of 2 hour craft sessions held at one of the lady's homes every other Friday, and they invited anyone to sign up for the craft in either a morning or evening session. I have always aspired to be crafty, but since I'm not really, this kind of an opportunity was just what I needed to get my toes wet as well as to "get out there" and meet new people here in Oconomowoc. I signed up for almost all of the fall adventures, and I loved it. It was great to experiment with new things in the craft world, to be a tad bit creative, and to hang out with and meet some new ladies in the area. 

The ladies decorated the farmhouse beautifully with the "Fridays at the Farm" theme. It was so fun and festive!

The first project at Fridays at the Farm was creating a pallet sign, and of all the different options they presented us to choose from, I decided to go with the phrase "Peace Be Still." It was a lot of fun to make, and I was reminded that I am a bit of a perfectionist. Haha!

It was so much fun, so I kept coming back for each new project that I was interested in. The following weeks I made so many new projects, and I loved the challenge that each one presented.

Monogrammed Wrapped Letters
This craft was harder than I had anticipated. I chose the letter "B" for our last name, but I had no idea how difficult it would be to wrap twine around a letter. In the end, I think I won the battle and am more than satisfied with my work. It's now proudly placed in my living room. :)

Magnetic Cookie Sheet
I found this project challenging in its own right, because I didn't know what I wanted to create going into it. It was still fascinating and so much fun to play with spray adhesive, various colorful fabrics, cork boards, clothespins, ribbon and burlap. Overall, I was pleased overall in how my magnetic post-it board turned out, and I ended up giving to my sister Sarah for Christmas. So much fun to give a homemade gift to someone I love!

Thankful Jars & Thankful Tree
Below is the work of a couple of sessions, but the first one is the Thankful Tree. This is really the biggest reason I signed up for Fridays at the Farm in the first place. I'd always wanted to make a Thankful Tree. I don't know why. For me it expressed a simple desire to be intentionally thankful in the midst of day-to-day life. Every day Jody and I would write with chalk on one of the leaves something that we were thankful for, and we'd hang one leaf per day on the tree. By the end of November, the tree was full of "thankful leaves" that reminded me daily of all the good things God has done in my life. I loved it.

The second project in the same session was Thankful Jars. We used both chalk paint and acrylic paint, raffia and baker's twine to put it all together. LOVED them. My goal for next year is to find some fake flowers that I can actually live with to put in each jar. Then I'll probably hang them up on a shelf in one of the other bedrooms.

Give Thanks / Jingle Bells Wooden Blocks
You can see the other side to the blocks in the top picture in the previous session. They read "Give Thanks" and if you flip them over, the blocks say "Jingle Bells." I confess this project was immensely stressful for me, because I made a huge mistake using the Modge Podge. I accidentally mixed the Modge Podge with white paint, so when it dried, it completed covered the letters. I had to start all over! In any case, you see below Round Two!

Christmas Pallet Sign
I know that I'm getting a little overboard with pallets, but I absolutely love how my Christmas pallet sign turned out. It's probably one of my favorites. So simple and beautiful. Jody paid me the ultimate compliment by saying that he would buy such a sign in the store. Yay!

Christmas Wreath

The last project of the year for me was a simple Christmas wreath. It included a simple styrofoam circle, yarn, various fun Christmas fabrics, ribbon, and I thought an ornament in the middle spiced it up! It was so much fun to make... and now I know there's a heart wreath craft coming up in light of Valentine's Day. Doh! The temptation!!!

So, there you have it. My amazingly fun experience this fall doing Fridays at the Farm. I may keep trying my hand at some fun projects... or I may back off because Jody doesn't want to have a huge storage space full of all my crafts. Ha!