Christmas At Our Little Farmhouse

So ya, I'm not so good at this whole blogging thing. It's kinda intimidating and I like to sit in my jammies every morning and see what other people are blogging about, it's just easier! :) But anyway here is what Christmas looks like over here at our little farmhouse!

This is an old toolbox that I have pretty much been obsessed with ever since I found it at my parents second hand store this summer. I have decorated it for 3 seasons now and I just love it. I put in some lighted garland and some red cardinals that I found at the craft store. I thought I was being a little frivolous buying the birds, but now I am so glad I did.

I was also loving all the mason jars filled with epsom salt and candles that I saw on pinterest.

This pretty centerpiece is yet again another beautiful find from my parent's store. It did not come with candles, so I thought I would just pick some up at the dollar store, only to be surprised that they did not have any! But while I was there I saw these adorable mini mason jars and I thought they would be perfect filled with epsom salt and tealight candles.

This is just a complete look of our dining room, with the buffet with the toolbox just off to the left of the shot.

This is an old orchard ladder that came with our house used as a quilt rack. My husband's grandmother (Mimi) just gave this quilt to me this fall. She is very sick and this quilt has been in her family for many years. I felt so honored that she wanted me to have it. We are looking for a white corner cabinet to go in this space, but for now I am really liking this look.

Again I did some of the mason jars with epsom salt. It looks very beautiful at night when they are all lit.

Last summer, our house sustained some damage during a hurricane when our roof started leaking over our living room. We had yucky stains on the ceiling and I really did not want many people over until it was fixed. Thankfully it is now finally fixed, ceiling painted, and my curtains are back up again. Here are some shots of our back together room. Yippie!! :)

And last but not least, our tree!!

This year I used burlap garland, apples, snowflakes, angels, and white hydrangeas. I have to say I have a good hubby to let me have big poofy flowers on the tree and the coffee table! :)

Also we finally have our pantry finished!! Now I officially have 2 closets in our 200 year old house! This is a big deal folks!! :)

My husband made this door out of 2 old pieces of rough-cut lumber that he found in our barn. I just love it, along with the beautiful strap hinges that we found from Vandyke Restorers.

I really didn't think that it needed to be lighted and just kinda humored my husband with that part, but now I love it! I kinda giggle every time I open it and the light automatically comes on! :)

I also most say, I had quite a good time at Home Goods picking out all the pretty baskets and jars to put everything in!! :)

Well that's a little of what has been happening over at our house. Sorry I don't have more than a point and shoot, but we need a roof and windows and siding and our mudroom finished first. Maybe someday! :)

Liebster Blog Award

Kiri over at My Lovely Life gave me the liebster blog award. I have never done one of these before and I am not very computer savy, I know pretty funny since I'm a blogger or at least I play one on TV! :) Anyway this is how it works.

Rules...

1. You must link back to the person who gave the award to you (as a small thanks :).

2. Post eleven things about yourself (the version I was given says this, I know some of the other versions don't. It's fun, play along!).

3. Answer the questions the person giving you the award has set for you.

4. Create 11 questions for the people to answer that you have given the award to.

5. Choose people to give the award to and link them in your post.

6. Go to their blog and tell them.

7. You can't give the award back to the blogger who gave it to you

11 random things about me...

1. I am absolutely terrified to put my feet in water that I can't see the bottom of. I'm the cool one at the beach with water shoes. :)

2. My husband was my first and only boyfriend and I'm so glad that's how it worked out!

3. I used to love running, I ran track 7th grade through college. I would love to be able to run a 5k again some day.

4. I'm the baby in my family, I have four older brothers that were all teenagers when I was born.

5. My parents are in their mid 70's and they still work 6 days a weeks running their next to new business.

6. I love preppy clothing, khakis, argyle, button downs..........but my hubby has absolutely no interest in clothes unless they are carhartt.

7. My hubby and I spend a week camping in the Adirondacks together every August. This will be our fourth year and we can't wait! :)

8. I am a pretty avid gardener, but I knew absolutely nothing about it when we bought our house 5 years ago. 

9. I was saved when I was 5 years old. I attended Christian school kindergarten through college and I'm very thankful for all the sacrifices my parents made for me to have that education.

10. We have a sweet little doggie named Ella. She is a Pomeranian/Shih Tzu mix and she is our baby right now! :)

11. I am also an aunt, I have 3 nephews. Morgan is 16 (still can't believe that one because I was 16 when he was born), Nicky is 12 (He has his own lawn mowing business already) :) and Colin is 10 and is the star of his pop warner football team, he's also extremely fast so I'm hoping he will run track like me when he's older! :) 

 

Kiri's questions...

 

1. What is your favorite feature on yourself?

I would have to say my eyes, people always comment on how they are big like a little child's eyes.

 

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I always thought I would want to live in Australia, but now that I'm older I really just love where I live now.

 

3. What talent do you wish you had?

I would love to be able to sing, it is so beautiful to listen to someone who is just blessed with an incredible voice.

 

4. What's your favorite season?

I love fall..........the weather, the leaves changing, the food!!! :)

 

5. What job would you have if money were no object?

 I had a volunteer job in the hospital once and I just loved it. I wished it was what I could do for a living, just visiting and helping people.

6. Your biggest pet peeve?

When people in the grocery store use their cart as a weapon and push you out of the way! Seriously its one of my biggest ones!

 

7. What is one of your favorite childhood memories?

 When all of my big brothers and their spouses would come over on Christmas Eve and we would do presents together, it was so special and I had them all to myself! :)

8. If you had an entire day to yourself what would you do first?

Well I have those a lot and usually I clean. 

 

9. What was your least favorite subject in school?

Math, just no gift in that department what so ever!!

 

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I am hoping that the Mr and I will have our house finished? It would be nice! :)

 

11. Which celebrity's closet would you raid if given the chance?

I love Keri Russell's style so much, oh and if I could have her face and hair too! :)

My questions......

1. What is your favorite flower?

2. What is your favorite type of weather?

3. Who is the person you most look up to in your life?

4. How many siblings do you have?

5. What would your go on your dream vacation?

6. What is your absolute favorite meal to cook?

7. What is your decorating style?

8. What do you like to do in your spare time?

9. If you could spend today with someone you haven't seen in a long time, who would it be?

10. What moment or event in your life has most defined who you are today?

11. Why do you like to blog?

 

I am passing the award along to... 

Heather at  Traveling Down the Tracks of Life With D&H

Jessie at Optimal Living

Sarah at The Fontenot Four  

Laura Abstract Grace

Finding God's Purpose For You

Ok......so I am not so good at this whole blogging thing! I want to be, but life just gets so busy and I also get easily intimidated by all the amazing blogs out there. In fact I feel like that is one of my biggest obstacles comparing myself to others and what they can do, rather than fully immersing myself in the life God has given me to live.

Being sick like this, I'm going on 20 years now with this illness, can be very difficult. One of the biggest difficulties about it is trying to figure out what my purpose is in life. Sure there are other women out there who are homemakers, but most of them are mommies. Honestly, my hubby and I do not fully have peace that I am healthy enough and physically strong enough on a daily basis to be a mommy someday. Also with my Lyme disease, we do not have complete peace that our children would be born perfectly healthy. This is something I have surrendered over to God, it is in His hands, and whether I ever have children or not, does not change the fact that God does indeed have a plan for my life.

Another thing I struggle with is the fact that many people get very sick, become extremely close to God, but then they get better and do amazing things with their lives afterward. For me though, I am still sick. People don't really realize how sick I am by looking at me, and I really try not to make people feel sorry for me because I have this illness. Honestly, even though it is difficult to be sick like this I wouldn't change it because this is what God had planned out for me to make me into who He wants me to be. This illness has made me so much closer to God, and I never would have slowed down enough to meet my amazing hubby if it were not for this illness! :)

So lately, I feel like I have started to have some revelations as to why God created me the way I am. I had always been painfully shy growing up and also extremely sensitive. I have spent a lot of my life with my feelings hurt because I am just sooo sensitive. I know God gave me this kind of heart for a reason, so I am trying to not get hurt so easily but, to use it to be someone who is very compassionate and aware of the needs of others. During my illness, a lot of friends and family really weren't there for me. Actually a lot of times in life I kinda fall through the cracks because I am quiet and I just kinda fade into the background. This has been a source of hurt to me in the past, but I am realizing it is part of God's plan for me. Because even though I have felt this way in my life, but being lucky enough to have friends and family members who do really truly love me, than there are certainly people in this life who feel that way and there is no one close to them who really love and care about them. I think that God was allowing this heartache in my life so that I could be someone who is very sensitive to the heartaches of others around me. This is something I can do, that maybe I couldn't have if I was out working full time and raising a family. God is already putting people in my life and opportunities where I feel this is my calling. I went to school to become a psychologist, but maybe I wasn't meant to sit in a chair and offer advice, but to be out in the world loving and caring about the people that a lot of times our world has forgotten.

 This is something that I am still figuring out, but it feels so good to focus on a calling, rather than sitting around waiting to get better. I may never get better, but its ok as long as I am being the person God wants me to be. I love this quote from my Jesus calling devotional,"Do not resist or run from the difficulties in your life. These problems are not random mistakes; they are hand-tailored blessings designed for your benefit and growth. Embrace all the circumstances that I allow in your life, trusting Me to bring good out of them. View problems are opportunities to rely more fully on Me."

Our Story

I love reading other people's bios on their blogs, but I especially love reading their love stories. I don't know why I haven't thought of it before, but maybe its time for me to share our story! :)

My husband Dan and I went to the same church our whole entire lives. We were born into that church and both of our families still attend every week. The only thing is that I am 3 1/2 years older, so we were never in youth group together and had never even talked. Being that I was that much older, he was not on my radar. We even went to the same private Christian school, but were 4 years apart. He likes to kid about how cool he would have been in 8th grade dating the senior cheer leader, I however would have raised some eyebrows! :)

While I was in college I was very shy and wasn't really too concerned about dating. I had a few different guys who liked me, but I always knew that if I was going to get married that I only wanted to date my husband. I am extremely sensitive and breaking up with lots of people would be very hard on me, I'm glad that God spared me that pain. I should also add, that I was never very concerned if I got married or not. I am very close to my father and I have 4 older brothers so I have a lot of male attention in my life. For being so shy, I was also quite independent, and I thought I was quite capable of taking care of myself! :)

It was also quite apparent towards the end of college that something was very wrong with my health. I had lost lots of weight, my hair was falling out, my grades were suffering because of memory problems, and running track, which was always one of my greatest joys in life was a complete struggle. I was lucky to make it through the year and even graduate at all! Once I came home, we concentrated on finding a diagnosis, and I figured graduate school and all my future plans could be put on hold until the next fall. We eventually found out that it was Lyme disease, and that I had probably had it for almost 10 years undiagnosed. I was so extremely sick and I had no idea what God's plan would be for me. All my friends were either getting married, starting their careers or getting their masters degrees. Where did this leave me?

Well little did I know that I already had a little bit of an admirer. :) I always sat in the front of church with my parents, my mom always says that the seats in the back are the cheap seats :), and Dan and all the other young guys, of course were in the very last row. He noticed me every week when I walked up to take my seat, but he only knew my name and he wasn't really sure how much older I was. One of his friends noticed his interest and thought he should ask me out, but Dan was much too shy. He had never dated anyone before either.

Well during this time I actually started becoming friends with his mom. She is a nurse, but she also has MS, so we could really relate about how hard it is to live with a chronic illness. His mom eventually invited me on a trip to a beach house in Cape Cod with several other women from church. Dan's dad and grandparents ended up going for part of the week as well. They told me so many stories about Dan, but still to this day claim that they were in no way trying to sell him to me! Dan actually had no idea that I was one of the "ladies" on this trip, and I will never forget the look on his face after we started dating and he realized that I had already been on vacation with his family! :) The funny thing was, that I could not for the life of me picture who Dan was. I remember a little blond haired boy running around at church, but obviously had not paid attention to him as we got older. When we came home and I saw him at church the next week, I realized that he was indeed pretty cute! :) However, I also thought he was much too young, and that was that!

A month after that trip our church starting reading "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren, and we were put in a young adult small group together. Dan was pretty excited when I came in the door because he realized I must not be that much older than him, and second my illness wasn't terminal.......lol. He really didn't have any clue what Lyme disease was. :) The group was a mixture of girls my age and then a bunch of younger guys that we did not know at all, it was a little awkward at first.

We decided that we should all go bowling together to kind of break the ice and get to know each other. Dan realized while we were bowling that I could actually be quite funny and goofy (as demonstrated by us girls doing cheer leading spirit fingers when one of us needed to pick up a spare.........lol), and that definitely peaked his interest, more than just thinking I was cute.  Afterwards we all went to Applebees for a late night snack. Dan really wanted to sit next to me, but wasn't sure how to do that without looking too obvious. Eventually one of the other girls, who I think might have secretly liked him, told him he should come sit in the seat across from me, that also happened to be right next to her. He came and sat there and we instantly started talking. It was like one of those cliche things from a movie, where once we started talking it was like no one else was there. He asked me about my illness, and before we knew it, we had ignored most of the table for more than a half hour. Again a cliche, but I felt like I had known him my whole life and I felt so incredibly comfortable with him.  We all left that night, he ended up leaving in the same car as me, and saw more of my late night giddiness with the silly things my friend and I were saying in the back seat. Again he found this endearing, so it is ok! :)

That night when I went home, I did my devotions and prayer time like I always do before bed. However, this night was different. Right as I was ending my prayer time and opening my eyes, I felt God telling me that I was going to marry him someday. Now, remember I was a girl that didn't really care about getting married. I thought, "God are you sure you know who you are talking to?" I know it was God though, and I had never felt a leading like that before. Needless to say, I didn't fall asleep anytime soon.

Not too long after we sat and talked together at Applebees, did I start to get e-mails from Dan. I should add that we were also placed together as spiritual partners, meaning we were supposed to pray together and discuss our reading together. Dan thought this was a perfect disguise for his true intentions! Not that I didn't make him also stick to our lesson plan! :) He asked me if I would like to go to dinner with him sometime so that we could get to know each other better and better know how to pray for each other. At this point, I was still quite clueless. I knew what God was telling me, but I thought this must be way in the future sometime. Who would want to date someone who was sick like me? Actually I had forgotten with my health that dating was even something people did.

So we went out to dinner, at Applebees of course! :) I brought along my book and Bible because this was an official dinner between spiritual partners............I really had no idea. :) I must have looked like a total dork, because right away I wanted to discuss our reading and he had no even brought his book along. After awhile I started to relax and we just talked. We started talking about how we both wanted to live in the country someday. About how I wanted to live in a yellow farmhouse with green shutters, and how we wanted a big red barn. It was strange, but it was like we knew that we were talking about "our" future together.  I started to notice just how handsome he was, and the twinkle in his eyes when he started to talk about things that he really liked or wanted to do someday.  I started hoping that this indeed was a real date!! :)

Well, that was indeed a real date, and there were many more to come. There were some awkward moments because of how shy we were and the fact that we had never dated before, but they are fun memories that are good for a laugh now! Dan was so understanding about my illness and really was able to deal with it better than any of my girlfriends. He never got upset at me for cancelled plans and was never disappointed in me if I just couldn't do something. Because of my illness and the fact that I was not able to do very much, we just sat and talked all the time. We talked for hours together in person, on the phone and on the computer.  We also started praying and reading our Bible together pretty much from the beginning. I wouldn't say opening up like this was easy for my husband, but it made us so incredibly close. This closeness made getting married such an easy transition. He truly is my best friend and we have so much fun together!!

So this girl that didn't need a man and could take care of herself is now a country housewife. We have a 200 year old house that we are in the process of redoing, and honestly we have many more years of work ahead of us, but its ok as long as we are here together!  He is a sweet man, who takes such good care of me and I am truly blessed. I often ask him if he is disappointed in me because I don't work and he always says the same thing, "Your only job is to have a smile on your face when I come in the door!" I know to some women that might sound kind of chauvinistic, but he really means, "If your happy than I'm happy!" My life is so completely different than I had planned, but God's plan was so much better for me!! :)

Spring Fashion

Last week my mom took me birthday shopping to pick out some new spring clothes. This has pretty much been our tradition since the beginning of time! :) Well inevitably we ended up at Forever 21, everything there is just so cute and for such a great price. It's a great way to get pieces that are more trendy without spending a ton of money. When I was younger in high school and college I would only buy expensive clothing, make that very expensive clothing and then I would get rid of it at the end of the year because, "It was so last year!" Oh how I wish I had kept a lot of it, since preppy clothing never really goes out of style and I am still about the same size. However, now that I am a grown-up, I also care about how my house looks so finding cute clothes at better prices just fits the bill.

Here a few cute things that I found.

1. The mustard colored sweater I found last minute before we left, so I'm hoping its my color! :)
2. I am so in love with that hat!! I also just realized that I can probably wear it for our farm themed VBS this year and for $14.80 how can you go wrong?
3. The pink sweater has a little bit of an 80's vibe to it, but it is so soft and comfy. 
4. The off white sweater with the lace is made so well and really looks like something that you would find in Banana Republic or a much pricier store.
5. The green sweater also again a little bit 80's but I loved the vibrant color.
6. The black sweater has a beaded Peter Pan color which I have seen a lot of on Pinterest. Does anyone else get upset that you don't actually own all those beautiful clothes pinned on your style board? :)

I also picked up this cute red linen blazer and a pair of Khaki and white jeans from American Eagle that fit perfect, which never happens! I actually wore the blazer with a blue and white striped button down and the khaki pants to church yesterday, but I didn't think to take a pic. Laying out the clothes instead of posing is also less intimidating! :)

Here also are just a few accessories that I found at each store.

I absolutely love the headband, I just hope I actually have the courage to wear it. They also had little mini fascinators there (you know like the hats everyone wore to Will & Kate's Wedding). I had good will power though and didn't buy one, but I wish that we dressed that way over here! :) I also bought some feather earrings, which I have been seeing everywhere. These are definitely going to be a stretch for me, but I think it such soft colors I just might be able to do it! :)

What things do you want to wear most for Spring? Or if you could have anything off your style pinboard what would you pick?

Come On Spring!!

I know I haven't blogged anything in a while, but I am still here! Sometimes I get so caught up in following other people's blogs that I forget about my own. Also I feel like it is easy with so many beautiful and inspiring blogs out there to feel intimidated about sharing my life and what I am up to. I shouldn't feel that way though because this is the life God has given me, and I am blessed to have it!!

So over here I am so ready for Spring. Last week I decided to go ahead and put a Spring wreath on our door just as we were about to get hit with a foot of snow. I love having it up though, and I know that the time for beautiful weather will soon be here.

Design wise I have been very inspired by rooms with beach themes, burlap, and lots of whites and creams. I would definitely like to incorporate this look into our house for the warmer months. This is just a little display that I made on top of our TV cabinet that is along those lines.

We also added a bench to our dining area. We had this bench in our old dining room for extra seating, but we had not pulled it out yet to use in the new space. I was actually thinking of getting rid of it, but I am so glad that my husband stopped me. It really looks so nice and gives the room a whole different feel.

I also just had my birthday this past week, and I wanted to share with you some cute things that were given to me. My mother in law can really make almost anything, and she knitted me a set of wool oven mitts. They are so cute and basically look like a large pair of the cutest children's mittens that I have ever seen! I definitely squealed when I opened these!! :)

My sister in law Alicia also made me these cute apple coasters, she found the idea on pinterest of course! :) I don't think that I have ever talked about my apple obsession on here before, but yes I definitely love apples and the color red!!

Well that's a little of what has been going on over at our little house. My hubby has finally started on my pantry, I think it is gonna be pretty neat! I will share pics when it is done! God Bless!!

Some Favorite Meals

Well of course by now we are all going crazy over Pinterest. I just had to explain what it was to my mom yesterday and she is so excited about it! My parents own an antique and next to new shop, so knowing what people are going crazy over on Pinterest is very helpful to them. My hubby has to go away for work next week, which makes me very sad because I don't like to be away from him, but it gives my parents a chance to have a live in designer to help them at the store all week. My parents just moved their store into a new building about a month ago, so there's a lot she is anxious to do!!

Anyway..................... last time I shared home ideas mostly found on Pinterest, but this time I wanted to share some really great recipes I have found. Sometimes, I feel so inspired in the kitchen and other times I feel like I make the same things over and over. I have been trying to do at least one new recipe a week, and a lot of times on Fridays, my hubby and I try out a new recipe together. Now that we finally have a real kitchen, it fun to be in there together having fun coming up with new meals! :)

This is a recipe from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html we just tried on Monday night. Its so much better than anything you would get a Taco Bell, and really not that difficult to make at all.

 
This dish from http://realmomkitchen.com/1505/baked-cheesy-chicken-penne/ is absolutely fantastic. It's definitely not low fat though, but it tastes like something you would get at a restaurant. It also makes enough for two meals, one dish for now and then one to freeze for later. I didn't use the sun-dried tomatoes, because they were hard to find, but it still came out great.

Another favorite is this stuffed shells recipe from http://joelens.blogspot.com/2009/06/italian-sausage-spinach-stuffed-shells.html . I was never able to make them before because my hubby doesn't really like ricotta cheese, so he thinks they should only be stuffed with meat. Who ever heard of a stuffed shell with no cheese in it? That's the part I go crazy for, in college my roommate and I used to sprint down to the dining hall on stuffed shell or manicotti night, just for the cheese! :) So these are a happy medium, with sausage, cheese(but not too much) and spinach.

This chicken dish from http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2011/04/crispy-chicken-with-creamy-italian.html is also so yummy! My mom said that back in the day, breading chicken in crushed up corn flakes and then cooking them in oil was the big thing, but I had never heard of it until this dish. Wow, is it good! Also the sauce for this dish is fantastic. Again because of the sauce, this dish is by no means low fat and you wouldn't want to make it all the time, but I think its ok once in a while! :)

This is one of my new favorite dessert recipes, cookie dough cheesecake bars from http://www.chef-in-training.com/. You will have to search through her dessert recipe archive to find this, but it is so worth the hunt! I have already made it several times for church and people always go crazy over it! I always double the recipe though, so that I can get about 2 dozen bars out of it.

I hope that you try some of these recipes and enjoy them as much as we have! Hope you are all having a blessed day!! :)