yikes

i got my hairs cut today, for the big trip to minnesota this weekend. i'm pretty sure the style i got is a modified-mullet. it's rather shortish on the top, then long stragglies hang down off the bottom.

oh dear.

elf spotting

oh look, there's a giant plastic elf in my kitchen!

for the record, i told him he has to go outside.

go kevin go

yay! the red-haired boy made it to the finals!

he DOES remind me of someone....hmmmmm ;)

fruits and nuts

there are not words (and unfortunately BARELY photos) to describe the chaos around this place lately.

it all started because i'm an enabler. i wanted to help siesta hunt birds, which God made her to do, even though she lives in a house with wood floors, smooshy beds, and no birds. i feel bad about that.

so i bought some fruit and nut bird seed at the local bird seed retailer. and put up a couple of feeders. right near the front window in the living room.

and NUTS IS RIGHT! i cannot get a picture of them to save my life, but i swear, i have like 57 birds right out my front window right now! they are HUNGRY!! they are super duper excited! so am i! (ps. siesta is napping. like i said, i am doing this for her :))


look at em all! okay, you cannot see them but TRUST me, they are there. they are hilarious to watch! in 2 days, they have eaten a $6.99 bag of nut and fruit bird seed. WOW. that's alot but they seem to be worth it :)

as soon as i get a moment, i am heading out to sam's club to buy a GIANT container of said seed. hopefully something that will last at least a week...who says winter is not fun?!

hughlove

yep. i still love me some hugh grant. even though his latest movie looks absolutely dumb and silly, i will go see it. i guess paying $20 for a silly smirk and a dorky british-accented one-liner is not the worst thing i have ever done.

:)

craftabulous

starting to get excited about 'no coast' this weekend. this year, i hope to get one of these funky animal/button necklaces from green squirrel. last year, i snoozed and lost on my favorite one.

c'mon, weekend!!!

rollercoasterama

today was a slow ride to a major meltdown. sometimes, i think my 'emos' are the most active part of my being. i just let em take me wherever they will. today, they took me to a not-so-good place.

then, this afternoon, i started to get a grip. i mean, nothing earth-shattering has happened, i just got my feelers hurt. and hurt feelers HEAL. sigh. i was still allowing myself to feel pretty bad, after telling lou and carey both about the injustices i have endured...

then, suddenly, i walked into my living room (before 5pm, but still it was dark outside) and looked around at my house. and it dawned on me.

christmas lights fix EVERYTHING.

:) happy nite all!

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 :)