The perfect Fall morning....waking up to the cool fall breeze coming in the windows and being nice and warm under the covers, having a day at home where I don't have to be anywhere, and the first morning cold enough where I want that 1st cup of hot chocolate made in my new favorite pink mug. Perfection....

Isn't this mug the coolest? My sister gave it to my for my birthday. I love that its tall, pink and that it says princess on it. It is quite nice full of yummy hot chocolate too. ºÜº

Hoping to get my housework done earlier in the day today, get dinner going, and then spend some time scrapping.

Hope you have a perfect relaxing day too!

Can you guess what I've been doing today? I made some pumpkin pies (completely from scratch I might add) for my husband. This is one of his favorite things and I thought it was pretty sad when I realized the other day that it was about to be going on 2 years since I had made one! Wow! Where does the time go and how did that happen?

My Mamaw was known for her pies and her pie crust. She taught me how to make it by just explaining it to me out in my Mom's yard one day. Of course, there was no written recipe and not even really any measurements she could tell me. She told me to get my biggest Pyrex mixing bowl. I love the old Pyrex mixing bowls and have accumulated quite a collection from the antique stores. I had 1 that was my Grandma's but it was accidentally broken. I have like 2 that were Mamaw's and then several from the antique store. They are all different colors and sizes and are just some of my favorite antique pieces. Anyway, back to the recipe. She said to take my largest mixing bowl and sift in flour till it was about 2/3 full. Next I should add a pinch of salt and then stick my fist in the center and make a well. While I am doing this, I should have an "ice tea glass" full of ice water getting cold. Next she said to take a pound of lard (not Crisco, lard..) and cut it or break into pieces and fill the well I made with my fist. Now add some of the ice water and then begin to mix with your hands. She said to just keep pushing the lard thru my fingers and keep pulling in more and more of the flour, and then add more ice water as needed. This was my 1 and only pie crust lesson. Believe it or not, this is how I still make it. You only have to do it once to understand why Mamaw's hands were so strong. It is hard work to mix by hand and it is COLD! I tried it once in my Kitchen Aid mixer, but I didn't get enough water in it and it came out too dry. I have the most success when I just do it the way she taught me. I am told mine is not quite the same as hers was but that I am pretty close. I take that as high praise. One plus to this recipe is once you make it, you have enough for at least 4 double crust pies. What you don't use right away, stores well in the freezer. This that I used today had been in the freezer a LONG time and when it thawed it was just as soft and moldable as when it was first made.















I love remembering her telling me how to make it. I love remembering rolling out pie dough with her when I was a little girl. I guess I used to make pies for my Dad in these little pie pans she had. I have this one now on display in my kitchen. I guess when she was making pies she would give me a piece of dough to play with. I would roll it out and scrunch it up again and again and then finally put it in the pan and make a pie for my Dad. I can remember giving them to him. They must have tasted awful, but he ate them. When Mamaw first gave me this pan after I was married I made my Dad a pumpkin pie in that pan as a surprise. He thought it was so cool, he almost took a bite of it straight from the oven! Do you know how hot that would have been? Wow. It was fun and sweet to surprise him and bring up those old memories.

Pumpkin pies really get me into "fall" mode too! Finally started getting my fall decorations out today. There is a cool fall breeze coming in the window right now. My house smells of cinnamon and pumpkin. The leaves are beginning to change and I could not be more thirlled. I just LOVE this time of year and cannot get enough of it. I hope you are having a fabulous fall too!

Thanks for reading my Blog. It is fun to hear things back from family and friends about things they have read. It's nice to know there are at least 1 or 2 of you out there. If you have a moment, leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings !

I just adore these candles from Bath & Body Works.... Well, Ok, I pretty much adore just about anything from Bath & Body Works. For whatever reason God has given me a pretty keen sense of smell. The right good smell can be so relaxing and peaceful to me so I love all the good smelling stuff at Bath & Body. If you are starting your Christmas list, anything in the Moonlight Path or Vanilla smells is good. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Well, Darrel and I made a trek to the mall last night. I had gotten an E-mail from Bath & Body that their anit-bacterial soaps where on sale 4/$10. My hands get so dry in the winter and their moisturizing hand soaps really help. I had not even thought about their fall stuff and I LOVE their fall stuff. So, I was very pleased to see they still had this year's candles in stock. I love the smell, the look, even the box its in and couldn't wait to get it home and light it. We have had a few fall like days this past week which were fabulous. It has really gotten me even more in the fall mood and I cannot wait to get my fall decorations out inside and out. I plan to get that done this week for sure and will most likely not be able to wait to post photos to share with you. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE THE FALL? ºÜº
So, while we are at the mall, we walk past 2 stores that have a display of Crocs. I of course have to check these out. Have I mentioned I love my crocs? It was cooler earlier in the day yesterday and so I wore my Crocs to work, but with socks. My feet were so toasty/warm/comfy I would have sworn that I had my favorite pink socks and slippers on. (My husband for some reason thought this was quite funny.) So, anyway I had them on at the mall. Well when we walked into Journey's, the sales girl sees my pink Crocs. As soon as I slip them off to try some others on, she starts adding these flower jibbitz to my Crocs and saying how they look really great on pink shoes... well of course they did and of course I liked them so I shelled out some saved birthday money and am now the proud owner of 3 flower jibbitz.

Last time I posted I mentioned singing at church last week. It went really well. I so enjoy singing and feel so blessed that God allows me to do it. If it weren't for a friend named Shirley and another friend, Pastor Erik I would probably have never gotten my nerve up to sing in front of anyone - ever! I always enjoyed singing but was way too terrifed to get up in front of people! Yikes! For the longest time, even when I started doing solos, I would get so scared and start to get sick on Friday night if I knew I was going to have to sing on Sunday. I did not want it to be that way and I prayed so hard about getting past that. Well God has completely changed those feelings and turned it around for me. Now when I get to sing I am completely at ease and comfortable and get to enjoy every moment. Isn't God so cool like that? He gives me this gift of singing which I want to be all about and for Him and His glory and for Him to be able to use it and yet he works it out out so I can also be so blessed and enjoy it all at the same time.

The church crop went OK. There were only 4 of us, but it would be fun if there were just 2 of us. I still feel strongly that I am supposed to do this so I am going to keep trying and praying and see where God wants to take this.

Tomorrow is the church picnic and our first "Coffee House Worship" in the evening. A praise and worship band from a local college is going to be there and we will have different coffees and an open Mic. night kind of thing. It was our new Youth Pastor's idea. He is just the best and has such a servant heart. He always inspires and amazes me.

I am off for now to go clean up my scrap room and unpack from the crop this past Monday. It was a busy week so everything is just kind of piled on my table.... I hate that.

So here are the 2 latest additions to my scrap room. I LOVE my new stool. I had been using one that we picked up at a garge sale for $10 like 10 years ago. I think it has served its time and its purpose! I had no idea that it would be somewhat difficult to find a new one. Target had tons online so I figured they would have a good selection at the store right? Wrong!! They had very little. The second problem with finding a stool is that you might find one, but it is unlikely to be very comfortable. Most of them had very small seats and very little if any padding. So, we decide to look at a few furniture stores. We found a couple we liked at Sofa Express. Problem there is that they do not have a warehouse at their store. They have a central warehouse. Therefore, no matter what you buy, you have to pay a minimum of $75 shipping. Well the stool itself wasn't much more than that. Did I want to pay double just because of shipping? Um, definately NO! We tried Oak Express, and another place or two but couldn't find much of anything. Walmart had some, but lets just say you get what you pay for as far as quality goes. So, I came back home and searched online again and came up with this one back on good old Target.com. It seemed like it might be perfect because it looked like the back and seat were well padded, I liked the oval seat thinking it might be more roomy, plus it swiveled and has gas lift so its adjustable. Being "vertically challanged" as I am, the adjustable part was also important! I was a little nervous about ordering online when comfort was a main concern (I mean if a girl is going to sit and scrap for several hours, she'd like to be comfortable right?) but figured we didn't have much choice. Well, it came in a fraction of the time that their shipping estimate had stated, it went together in like 5 minutes and I love it. The material on the back and seat feel like a soft suede, and it seems very sturdy and well built. Now I just need to get some serious scrapping time to try it out! Ha.

While we are at target I intended to just get a shade for the floor lamp that was already in the room. However, once I started pricing shades, I quickly realized I could probably buy a whole new lamp for not all that much more. The lamp that was in there was also at least 10 years old and I think it cost us like $29 at Value City. It was never a great lamp and always kind of wobbly. Well the new one fits my new color scheme, it has this pretty bronzed metal finish with a lovely taupe shade. I just think the shape of the shade is the coolest too! So, like I had mentioned previously, slowly I am turning my space pink and brown!

Tomorrow morning is church. I have a solo with the choir that I am praying will go well. It is a smidgen low for me, but I have sung it before and I know if I just leave it in God's hand He will take care of the details. I think often when God has something in mind for us to do, we stress about being qualified or ready to do it. I seem to find that most often I just need to show up and be willing and He will take care of the rest. He certainly doesn't need my help. He provided the voice and the desire to sing in the first place so I pray He will use it in the way that He desires.

After church I have some photos to pick up from Walgreens that I uploaded this afternoon. That is so cool. I love how I can sit at my home computer, get my photos how I want them, upload and within 2 hours I can go pick them up. They will even ship them to me if I prefer. Cool.

We also need to take some time after church to set up for the next church crop on Monday night! This will be our second one. I am praying it will be well attended and go well. I am hoping this will really grow into a great fellowship and ministry time for our church.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Have a blessed Sunday!

Is this not the coolest picture? For as long as I can remember, this hung on the wall in my Mamaw's house. From what she told me it was a gift to her from my parents for Christmas one year. I would look at it when I was a little girl and ask my Mamaw about it. I remember her telling me that it was a picture of Jesus knocking on the door to my heart. It's one of my earliest memories of hearing about Jesus and how I could ask Him to come and live in my heart. My faith in God, in Christ is the very core of who I am. It all started from being born in a family that took me to church, that told me about Jesus. Mamaw also got me my first Bible. She had a white one that I just thought was so beautiful so I asked for one for my birthday. She sent me a Bible for my 7th birthday. She couldn't find a white one, so it's black, but I loved it and I still have it. My Dad used to tuck me in at night and write verses from the 23rd Psalm on my chalk board and teach them to me. My Mom accepted Christ when I was a child and the change in her life was always a huge witness to me. Mamaw told me she remembered her Mother taking her and her brothers and sisters to church and how they used to walk there from their home at Iron Bridge out in the country. I love that story. I love how I can see that the faith I and my brother and sister have, and now their childern have started in generations before us. Wow.

Mamaw passed away in December of 2000. My brother asked for the picture and it hangs in his home now. I stopped there yesterday and took this photo because I have been mulling over a layout I want to do for my "book of me" about my faith. It's been on my heart that this picture was the perfect place to start. I think I'll use a photo of my first Bible too. Maybe my salvation story will mean something to future generations that they might walk that path too.

I am a little emotional this evening. I had heard something earlier that had me a little hurt and upset. So, it's late and I was about to head to bed and I just suddenly felt that I needed to write this tonight. Maybe I was supposed too. Maybe someone else needs to read it. Whatever the reason I hope God will use it to bless you today.

Hi! Just a quick post to add a layout I did today. This is my niece Lauryn again. She was 2 yrs old in the photos. Isn't she a sweetie? Have a great Sunday everyone!

Can you spot what is on the ground to the right? It is the cross for the roof of our church! It was saved from the old sanctuary after the fire and is now being readied to put on the roof of the new sanctuary. I am so excited about this. I really want to capture it on film when they are putting it in place. I asked the contractors yesterday if they knew when it would go up. They told me maybe on Monday. He said they would try and let us know! It just seems like such a big deal to me to see that cross back where it belongs after this long journey of the fire and rebuilding. God has been so good!!




























Ok - are we seeing a trend in accessories/tools for the scrapbook room? I think I must have subconsciously decided to turn my scrap room pink 1 item at a time. I don't know when it happened, or why for that matter, but pink just seems to make me smile! So, I already had a xyron X, but it was old and orange....so of course I realize, I need a pink one. Then we were at Target last night and actually for once had some time to browse thru the home section where I find this pink pillow and brown/pink throw. They are so fabulous. The pillow feels so soft and like suede. The throw is brown and quilted and filled with down on one side and the reverse is this ultra soft fuzzy pink side. I can't wait to cuddle up in this chair with my pillow, throw and a good book with the fall breeze coming in the windows. Also in the home section I found this pink tray. It was marked down to $2.78 so how could I pass that up? Makes a great home for my jar of binder clips and bags of buttons don't you think?

Well I am off to scrap for the afternoon in my pink room! ºÜº Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Blessings!

Hi! Just a quick (late!) post to share a LO I just finished. This is my niece Amber. I made her the little crocheted outfit she is wearing and her Mom was sweet enough to take photos for me. Hard to believe this was like 12 years ago. Wow!

I am off for the night. Hope you have a great Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! My husband and I spent the day yesterday cleaning out and reorganizing our front room. Well, OK, it's mainly my front room, my stuff, but he was sweet enough to help me. I purged a ton of books, craft stuff old records, etc. It felt good and looks so much better. It was just way to packed with stuff and clutter and it was making me nuts. I have a serious need to be organized and uncluttered so I was beginning to find it stiffling as far as creativity wise goes! Ha. So I thought I'd share some photos. First I should explain that my scrap space is in the front room of our house. It used to be a porch, but when this was my grandparent's home they had it enclosed. It still has siding and some old windows from the front of the house. At some point we intend to take down the paneling and siding and put up drywall so I can paint. We will also remove the windows from between the front room and living room/bedroom. We just have some other rooms that are in more serious need of renovation that we are doing first. So in the mean time I am very happy with my space and wanted to share.

This is one side of my scrap space where I have all of my books.
This is the before:
















And After! Much better right?
















This is my scrap space before:
















And after...Again, much better! We purged some stuff and then rearranged. I am much happier with the new set up. I also got to add my new piece which is the old metal credenza behind the drafting table. I was given this piece by a man who donated some used furniture to our church after the fire. I love it because of the antique/retro look.

















Here is a closer view of my scrap table. It is an antique drafting table that belongs to my husband. His parents got it for him when he started college.

















These are the shelves my husband put up for me to hold all my misc.
scrap stuff. You can see the credenza below. The corner has my iris carts with my foam stamps in containers on top. The drawers on the bottom shelf are from Ikea. The old utility cart is holding my mags. and idea books. The cart belonged to my Mamaw.















Closer view of Ikea drawers and my shelves.
















Here is a better view of the credenza. I have all my paper storage on one side with Cropper Hopper Vertical holders turned on their side.















Cool huh?! Now I hope to spend some of today and tomorrow in there scrapping. ºÜº

Blessings everyone!