monday message

i hope everybody had a great holiday weekend. did you shop? i have not even made a christmas list yet. i guess i need to start thinking of that, but somehow i never do until much later in the game.

i did buy a cyber monday gift for me. in my church, it seems like everybody is reading the message bible now! i really like it, but i need my daily bible, too. so, i got "remix/pause" which sounds a little hip for the bible, but i am excited. new year, same God :)

i did discover people again this past weekend. not people overload, but just the right amount. from shopping at Lewis with the fam on thanksgiving, to hooking up with a blog friend IN PERSON, to laughing with old girlfriends who are *seriously* entertaining, to getting invited to my new/old worship gang when they reunite in january, it was all good. i guess it's true that we are made for community. i feel revived.

tell me about your weekends! i hope they were happy and full!

shiny brite

i was really looking forward to decorating yesterday. unfortunately, i have just about perfected the current christmas tree. and i do love how it "goes" with the living room.

but, that's kinda boring. so i decided to get myself a new shiny "office" tree this year! yay me! seriously, it will be fun to see a tree during the workday, instead of just at night.



this meant "road trip to canton" since i was avoiding all the black friday people. canton is kind of an antique town, with 3 shops on main street. i went out seeking a metal tree of some sort. i think i was going for silver, but when i saw this little pink tree with hot pink lights, SOLD. it's skinny and just the right size for my spare desk. it's nice during the day with the lights on, but also pretty awesome at night!



then came the best part. i found 2 dozen really nice "shiny brite" ornaments to go with the dozen i found last week. shiny brites are like the kleenex of christmas ornaments. i don't think there were any other kind, back in the day. at least it seems that way. it was hard to get a good pic, but trust me, i got some good ones. i did have a lady grab a box right out from underneath me, which was kind of not cool. i could of wrestled her for them, but in the spirit of the season (and since i already had my 2 dozen) i let her go :)

sigh. and now, we STILL get a weekend to enjoy them! woo!

i've been waiting....

for the past month or two to put up this display :)

happy. night.

flakey

i wonder how many americans had pie for breakfast today?!

many, i would imagine. including me.

it got me thinking that i don't believe i have ever made a strong case for homemade pie crust. so here goes, recipe first...

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Pie Crust

3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 c. lard
5 T. ice water
1 egg
1 t. vinegar

Blend flour, salt and shortening (use handy dandy tool described below). Beat eggs with fork, and add water and vinegar. Pour over flour mixture all at once, and mix until blended (in this step, i use my fingers to squish everything together...goes very fast).

divide dough into 2 or 3 portions (i usually do two, so that i can make GIANT crusts). flatten into disks with your hand, and pop in the refridge. i usually do this the day before, because the dough must be really cold before you roll it out.

Makes (3) single pie crusts.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

my mom actually uses crisco (of course she does) instead of lard. however, i am convinced that lard makes a flakier, yummier crust. and seriously, it's not like we eat lard every day. so it's okay to use it JUST THIS ONCE. :) - ps. you can find it over at the meat counter. which is not gross at all.


a couple of things to note. i have two items that make things much easier and funner (yes, it's a word) when making pie. the first one is a pastry blender from pampered chef. very fun to use! you could also mash potatoes with it, if you need an excuse to buy it from kirsten this very second! it makes mixing the dough so easy and efficient!



secondly, when you bake a pie, USUALLY the crust gets done faster than anything else. wha-la! another pampered chef item. this little metal pie ring saved my apple pie from getting too brown yesterday! very smart idea.

i am kind of obsessed with pie crust right at the moment. the neat thing is that you can mix up the dough, roll it out, throw it into a pie plate (i thrift for them, of course) and freeze the whole deal. forget pillsbury, THAT is easy!

oh! oh! almost forgot. if you have leftover dough (which you probably will) just roll out the scraps, lay them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake for a few minutes at relatively high heat (400+) til golden brown. OH MY. this is a very good memory from childhood. loved the scrap dough :)

:) hope you are all full and happy today! why is this the only day of the year that i feel like fasting?! happy friday!

thanks guys

happy tomorrow, blog friends! i am thankful to have you in my day-to-day life. i pray God blesses you with all that you are desiring tomorrow, as we give Him thanks for all He has already done for us :)

the countdown begins!

i'm bringing a salad.

and a loaf of homemade bread.

and an apple pie.


what are you bringing?

feed the fishies

ps. notice that if you click on the fishie side bar, you can "feed" them.

this app makes me almost as happy as real fish :)
thanks for finding it, kirst!

instead

last week, i stopped to visit a friend from my worship group. she gave me a xerox copy of a book she is reading, God had put this on her heart strongly, and she shared it in church the previous weekend.

it was about living "in the blessing zone" of God. written by patricia king, but i am having a hard time finding the book.

anywho, what struck me most was a prophecy written by graham cooke in may 2009. in it, he refers to living an "alternative lifestyle." he calls this lifestyle INSTEAD. it reminded me very much of carey's "flip" post from a few months back, in fact almost word for word.

here's a snippet (paraphrased by me):

"and you are going to say, i have learned an alternative lifestyle INSTEAD of the one i had, i am a different person. i am not living that life, i am living a different one. i have the favor of the Lord.

God's favor will stay with you and will remain with you all the days of your life. you will abide in this favor because i have sent My Holy Spirit to teach you how to stay, to teach you how to dwell, to teach you how to remain, to teach you how to focus, to teach you how to pray, to teach you how to speak, to teach you how to walk and how to move, and how to live and how to have your being in My Son.

it's ME, it's ME, says the Lord. i am your favor. i have always been your favor, i will always be your favor. i am THE INSTEAD, i am YOUR INSTEAD, i am your promise, i am your prophesy, i am your blessing, I AM INSTEAD, i am your INSTEAD. I am, I am. my presence shall go with you."


did you get that? i think this is deeply profound. i have found the word INSTEAD engrained in my thinking since i read this. i hope that it blesses you, also. happy day, friends!

Behold,
as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters . . .
so our eyes look to the Lord our God.

Psalm 123:2

the blind side

just smuggle in your box of kleenex, and go see it.

le fun

i skipped church today. probably should not be on the computer bragging about it, but the day is dreary, and i am going to an early movie with lou, too many activities make me nervous. dear Lord, forgive me please.


anyway, i'm thinking about our girl weekend coming up. so excited! lou got us reservations at this awesome-looking "french inspired" hotel. the pictures look great, i hope it's as good in person. and yes, we are planning to take home the bath amenities :)

bread season

i have been buried in the house today under a pile of work. so, at noon as i often do when i am hermited in, i went thrifting. i am actually on the hunt for some more cute vintage christmas ornaments. they do not seem to exist.

however, i did buy a breadmaker. $6. i know, you can easily make it from scratch. but the truth is, i haven't. i really don't bake much bread in the summertime, but lately i have kind of been hankering. that's a funny word, isn't it?

anyway, the plus-side of this little machine is just that. it's little. i also wanted a horizontal loaf pan, so it looks more like normal bread. and this one has a delayed timer, so if i am out in meetings etc i could still make it for the correct time i want it done. like NOW.

he he. so, this first loaf is cute and normal looking. it did not come out of the pan very easily, not sure how to remedy that. also, it's a bit crusty for my tastes. but, i am sure i can work on those minor things in subsequent trials. nothing better than the smell! except for the taste, i did partake in a fresh slice for my afternoon snack :)

saying goodbye

well, i said goodbye to my aunt eliz yesterday. it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay harder than anything i have done in awhile. between my mom and i, i think we went through a box of kleenex. it was so nice to just cry and remember and say out loud how much we loved her. it was nice for me to hear from my cousins how much she loved me. i laughed too, when we told stories from growing up. and standing at the gravesite, a beautiful, warm, still sunny day in november, at a country cemetary in aurora, sd, where both my gramma and grandpa also lie, was very nice.

life seems to have gone by very quickly today. i am grateful for it, and thanking God for my family.

lol

this kind of stuff by someone named andre over at a way to garden seriously made me LOL. i mean, who ever really does that?!

it probably would not be so funny to me, if each and every one of them had not been 100% totally true at one point or another :)

no coast

made plans with my two bestest art girls to go to the no coast craft-o-rama again in december :)

cassie was a vendor last year; this year she made a cute baby instead of crafts, so we will all go as shoppers instead of workers. woo hoo!

no coast is kind of like granny chic and hip art peeps stuff all together. there are people who crochet things like skulls and swear words (you know how i love that), and screen printers and lots of recycled stuff and just general artsy goodness.

if you live in the minneapolis area, you should go! december 4th and 5th. just don't buy all the good stuff before we get there.

ps. kirsten. will be calling to set up a date with you :)

gardening at night

ah. beautiful sunny day. downloaded 39 songs just to get this one. brings me SO back to 1982....michael and i were both very young then :)

flowers for aunt elizabeth

Elizabeth F. Pike, 83, of Brookings, SD died Thursday, November 12, 2009 at Brookings Hospital. Funeral Services have been set for 2:00pm, Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at First Lutheran Church, Brookings. Visitation will be 4:00pm to 6:00pm, Monday, November 16, 2009 at Rude’s Funeral Home.

Elizabeth F. Krogman was born on January 6, 1926 in Brookings County, South Dakota to Henry and Elizabeth (Clark) Krogman. She received her education at Trail School in Brookings County.

Elizabeth was united in marriage to Gail F. Pike on March 8, 1947 in Luverne, MN. After their marriage they farmed on various farms in the Aurora, Elkton and White areas until purchasing their farm near Toronto, SD in 1973. In 2001, Gail and Elizabeth sold their farm and moved into Brookings, SD. Gail died on September 20, 2005 in Sioux Falls, SD.

Elizabeth is survived by her six children, Dennis Pike of Huron, SD, Jim Pike of Hartford, SD, Sandi (Alan) Glover of Lake Campbell, SD, Betty Otteson (Gary Gross) of Bruce, SD, Don (Jackie) Pike of White, SD, Jon (Tammy West) Pike of Aurora, SD; twelve grandchildren; eleven step-grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two sisters Eleanor Andersen of Brookings, SD, Karen (Andrew) Gaukel of Brookings; one brother, Robert (Sharon) Krogman of Brookings, SD and a sister-in-law, Norma Krogman of Elkton, SD.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and two brothers, Edward and Donald, two daughters-in-law, Val Pike and Kathy Pike.

the three r's

i had the pleasure of chatting with my former boss yesterday. he is hilarious, and not really SO old, but no longer in the ad business on a day-to-day basis. i laughed when i asked how he was doing, and he replied, 'well, i'm continually being reduced, reused, recycled.'

he he.
i feel like that sometimes, so i could definitely relate.

anyway, on a completely unrelated note, but sort of, i am in the market for a new/old house, not immediately, but in the next year or so. it's hard to imagine living somewhere else. but, i'm ready. i think a smaller community would be just right for this season of my life. so, i'm dreaming about how to go about starting over with a different house. one thing that intrigues me, is the idea of recycling an entire house of goods. i wonder, what kind of budget would it take to find EVERYTHING used? is it even possible? i've seen some challenges on blogs lately, one in particular that vows to go an entire year 'consuming' only vintage or used items.

wow! that would be so cool. i don't think i could go without target, but MAYBE. so, i ordered this book. unfortunately, the used version cost more because of shipping than the new version. doh. not off to a very good start :)

evil queen

apparently, siesta did not get the memo that today is "world kindness day."

i was quietly working away, when a kerfuffle not unlike ww3 was heard in the living room. i got there just in time to see her going ballistic on the new full-view door. and a frightened little black kitten sitting at the other side looking quizically at her.

wow. she is so not gonna like the day i decide to get a dog.

beddtacular

the new bedding just arrived. man, that anthro really knows how to do it up right. i was almost more excited about the BAG it came in than the bedding itself! i had little scraps of fabric attached, and hand screen printed little tags. it is super cool.

the bedding itself is good. it's a very super thin sheerish cotton, so i'm not sure how practical it will be, with little miss and all of her active claws. and fur. but it's very pillowey and soft.

i cannot wait to see how it feels tonite! i have my down comforter beneath it, so i will either be in heaven, or die of heat stroke ;) he he.

anyway, the colors work with my vintage goodies. i almost like the patchwork back of the quilt better than the front, but i'll let the flowers keep me happy for awhile first :)

forever

i got the call this afternoon that my favorite aunt is dying. it's the call i was roughly aware of as "coming" but still, i was not prepared. my mom said that when they spoke last week, she felt great, and was thinking that life was good.

now, she is in the hospital, and i am coming undone. i wanted more time, and i was negligent with the time i had. i wanted to spend more long afternoons, retelling stories and talking about our shared loves. i wanted to not be so close, and yet see her so rarely.

when i hung up the phone, i sat and cried for a sec, and then desperately wondered if i could think of SOMETHING that belongs to her, that i could see and touch. i have a couple of family heirloom dishes, etc, but then i remembered the angel wing begonia.

she gave me the plant on a sunny summer day in 2007. it was scraggly, and she was sick of it. i put it in my gazebo and that summer, it became glorious. i have somehow managed to keep it alive, through cuttings last winter, and this fall, i drug the whole dang huge thing in the house and sat it in a corner. it doesn't get any natural light where it sits, but i figured if it started to look sickly, i would just take cuttings and try to hold on to them until spring.

so tonite, i walked into the living room and leaned down to look at the plant. i blinked, and looked again. there it is, right there even though i have never seen it before, a little blossom hanging off it's latest leaf. for the first time since i've owned the plant, it is blooming.

sigh. i am so constantly amazed at how God shows up. i know He knows that she will soon come to be with Him. i know because she and i have actually talked about it, one of my few family members who i am SURE about. i know He knows i will miss her, but that forever is right around the corner. i just know. He knows.

2010

in the past 2 days, i have ordered 2 hand-printed calendars from the internets. gosh, what did we do before? i guess go to kmart like everyone else. this is so much funner. yes, that is a word.

this one came from nate duval. you know i have a 'collection' of his house prints. this looks like the town i want to move to! whatever town that is :)

anyway, kind of excited about 2010. i think it sounds james bondish and fun to write!

marital strife

is it just me, or does it seem like the roloffs are heading down the path of jon and kate?

it's kind of unnerving to watch these supposedly happy tv families hack on each other over small (he he) things every week. i tell ya, if not for zachary, whom i adore, i would tune out :)


thank goodness for the duggars. they just hold hands, and talk about how hard it's going to be to keep coming up with 'j' names :)

addicting!

here's my 'rap' sheet with certain (lawful or unlawful) substances.

• i don't smoke, except for one or two times that i tried and failed miserably.
• i have never inhaled.
• i have never really been into alcohol too much.
except for those little "greyhound" drinks in the late 80s/early 90s.
oh. and maybe one too many backpackers.
• other drugs scare me; i don't like to take pills of any kind.
i think that might be different if they were chocolate-coated.


now, however, all that righteousness might change...
because i have discovered a 'high' that keeps calling my name.


yep. it's the deadly "puffs plus vicks" combo. not that the puffs alone are all that compelling. but MAN. if you ever wanted to look silly, imagine stuffing one of these up each nostril and walking around. they are DIVINE. just the perfect combination of softness and medicine.


:) i seriously do not think you even need a cold to try these. just don't say i didn't warn you.

feeding america

i got a chance to hang out with my favorite ad agency this weekend, donating some time to help our local foodbank pack food for senior citizens.

it's always so eye-opening to step out of your own little insulated world, and see what is going on...

i came away with a newfound respect for feeding america, which is a nationwide organization that takes surplus food from big corporations like general mills and walmart, finds trucking companies to partner with for delivery, and gets millions of pounds of food out to people who need it every year. (ps. no walmart bashing allowed over here, i continually see the good they do, and the do not believe that they are the downfall of american commerce).

they also have a nice logo, as kristie and i noticed :)


it's good to get away from the desk job every once in awhile, although manual labor is not exactly fun, it does feel kind of nice for a change. thanks to our saturday morning "job" - 1600 senior citizens in SD can look into their monthly box of food rations, and see how badly we screwed it up :))

ps. yes. kristie and i did indeed have a couple of lucy and ethel moments...!

garden party

my fabric stack from anna maria horner came today. it's exactly as pretty as i expected. it looks especially lovely with my flea-marketed yellow corduroy pillow i found this week.

my new bedroom is going to be highly yellow. i already have a good deal of yellow in the house (including an entire office) but seriously, is there a better color than yellow?!

i didn't think so either :)

the dc dilemma

i'm getting some flack from my old friend diet coke lately. my BRAIN still loves it, but sometimes, it kinda makes my tummy feel crappy. okay. all the time. i am sad!

much like my beloved coffee, i fear the worst. i may have to say goodbye, but i don't want to rush into anything.

which leads to one of the most personal pics i have ever posted on my blog: the inside of my fridge.

yikes. i have alot of beverages, don't i? the beer is actually a "holiday" flavor from last winter, when i made some beer something or other soup. the 2 milk cartons are both expired. the burger king cup is empty. the vintage pitcher has cranberry juice in it (yum).

and the FIVE (only four pictured, one is on a lower shelf) opened cans of diet coke are evidence of my troubles. i cannot drink more than one or two gulps, then i "save" the rest of the can for later. only saved dc is yucky. so, i'm doin' alot of savin.'

:) there. my dirty laundry is next.

caught another bug

i woke up this morning with a serious shopping bug for some reason.

it started with shoes - at one point i had 2 pairs of clogs in my "cart."

then, for some reason, it changed to dishtowels that i could make into kitchen curtains.

which led to here

which led to this



which i did in fact purchase.
because the shopping bug is persistent.
and because it's the most beautious thing i have ever seen :)

more from the office

hello, this is one8y creative.

i'm sorry ma'am. haven't you heard that thursday is the new friday? we're gearing down over here.

perhaps you could call again next week.

hallelujah

christmas is coming a little early to the back forty this year, courtesy the SWEET little ceramic christmas tree that hopped into my hands at the thrift store today.

there was a little baggie with every one of the little plastic "lights" and a big giant vintage bulb with old lady handwriting saying "bulb still works" :)

she wasn't kidding. it's so adorable, i cannot stand it.

on my way out the door ANOTHER old lady chastized me for buying it. "oh for Heaven's sake, i JUST donated one almost like that last week."

um, apparently she did not know what a hot ticket item she was giving away :)




oh boy. looks what happens if i "vintage up" the picture...!!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrgggh. happiness.

view from the yard

oh, what a beautiful day ;)