if ryan gosling dated a crafter...

there is some seriously funny stuff out on the interweb these days....

just for a brief moment, i'll admit to finding rg attractive, AND wishing some man in the world liked the same things i do :)

go there, go there.

i'm not sure if i have blogged about sweet paul before, but if not, i should have.

he is who i wish i was ... a food/craft stylist from norway (living in nyc) who does all kinds of wonderful, stuff. i pretty much love him. i think i first saw him in country living, but he does lots of magazine work.

he has an online magazine that you simply HAVE to see.


i made the divinity from his magazine last night. it turned out!!! the kitchen guy is on his way, or else i would take a picture for you. trust me. it was good.


happy day!

happy monday!

i woke up to a totally new house today. thank you, blue living room, for perking up this old girl (fern, i mean :))

i have been thinking about home alot. this weekend, i had some of my worship friends over for brunch, and yesterday, i noticed how peaceful the house seemed since the gathering.

i immediately started thinking about how i have not yet asked God to bless my new home. and i actually googled 'house blessings' because although i remember doing that with mabel, it was a long time ago. i want to get it right ....

here's something i found. i really like the whole thing:

We dedicate this home to love and understanding.
May its joys and sorrows be shared
and the individuality of each person
who lives and visits here appreciated.

We dedicate this home to work, and rest and play.
May our home have joy and high fellowship,
with kindness in its voices and laughter running within its walls.

We dedicate this home to friendly life.
May its doors open in hospitality
and its windows look out with kindness toward other homes.

We dedicate this home to cooperation.
May its duties be performed in love,
its furnishings bear witness that the work of others
ministers to our comfort,
and its table remind us that God works with us
for the supply of daily needs.

We dedicate this home to the appreciation
of all things good and true.
May the books bring wisdom,
the pictures symbolize things beautiful,
and the music bring joy and inspiration.

We dedicate the time and talent of those who live here
to help build a world in which every family
may have a home of comfort and fellowship.

We dedicate this home as a unit in the Church universal,
an instrument of the Kingdom of God,
a place of worship and Christian training
and a threshold to the life eternal.

amen!


i'm looking forward to this week, and to the big 'build-up' to christmas. in the words of 'elf' - this week is my favorite.


ps. for those of you that think i am some kind of crafting super hero, please take note of the trays that i was all braggy about making last week....



yeah. epoxy is not my friend. 'nuff said.


i did follow up with a quick craft last night, turning an old book into a photo / card display. that one did not involve epoxy, and took about 5 minutes. love.

i pray that God blesses you this week, with peace and kindness and the love that can come only from Him! woo hoo! and that is goooooooood stuff.

the countdown

i think yesterday is when it actually happened. i hit the wall on anything else except christmas. i have felt it coming on, but boy do i know it. unless you have christmas cheer to share, i am not interested. and boy, do i need a vacation.

good thing i have nice clients who aren't pressing me TOO much.



anyway. all is well over here, even if my blogging is lame lately. here is what i'm up to.


still. buying. art. whew. i guess i am glad i still have a few spaces to fill, because i just see beautiful stuff everyday online. if you've ever been to stillwater, minnesota, you probably recognize this one. i have not been there in a very long time, but i want to go again. maybe to the white pine festival. it might just be my new happy place.


i guess i have not shown you my living room lately. it's looking quite cozy these days. lot's of pretty to look at.


except i need my teal wall. i am still searching for the perfect color. and some ambition. sigh. i bet i know which one i'll find first.


oh, and the kitchen guy is coming next week. so i've been shopping for a light fixture for over my new sink. that's harder than you would think.


and as for today, i need to make 20 of these bad boys for a client who is giving them away for christmas gifts. mine are the same, but different than this pic. how's that for telling you nothing?!


ha. i hope wherever you are, that you have more to say than me today! happy thurs@!

going dave ramsey on you.

hello tuesday! you are welcome in this house!

sigh. that's because monday is always a blur. i'm thankful for a day in which my brain can actually think.

and thinking it does. i woke up this morning thinking about dave ramsey. even though i have never attended or heard specifics about one of his seminars, i know he's kind of a big deal. he helps people get 'freedom from the control of money' = which is a cool term my pastor uses.

he might be onto something. i am constantly amazed at how deceitful lenders seem to be. hidden costs are the norm, and lately i've learned that things have changed in the last 8 years since i bought my 1st house. i've been frustrated by the way things went in the buying/selling (particularly selling) process, because federal laws seemed to mandate very UNNECCESARY things now that they didn't then.

i'm not going to blame obama. i'm going to blame the fact that we are a money/consumer-based society, and there are ills that go along with that fact.

that being said, it drives me batty to have debt. i mean, really, seriously batty. unfortunately, the choice to move to a quieter, more peaceful part of town means i have to endure debt for a few more years. still, i attack it like a cancer. i want it gone (see, that is the dave ramsey part of me, or perhaps the nearly-50 part of me :)).

so, today i was quite surprised to open my mortgage online, and see that my bank is still charging me for what is called PMI insurance. for those that don't know, it's the mortgage insurance that is required for borrowers who don't have 20% to put down on their home purchase. since i already owned mabel when i bought fern, i did not put QUITE 20% down, so i had to get this stuff....to the tune of just under 20 bucks a month. no big deal.

except that after mabel DID sell, and i put a big chunk o' cash down on fern, the PMI is no longer required. or necessary. and 8 years ago when i did the very same thing, it just went away.

today, that has changed. i googled it, and here is what i found out:

In the past, most lenders honored consumers' requests to drop PMI coverage if their loan balance was paid down to 80 percent of the property value and they had a good payment history. However, consumers were responsible for requesting cancellation and many consumers were not aware of this possibility. Consumers had to keep track of their loan balance to know if they had enough equity and they had to request that the lender discontinue requiring PMI coverage. In many cases, people failed to make this request even after they became eligible, and they paid unnecessary premiums ranging from $250 to $1,200 per year for several years. With the new law, both consumers and lenders share responsibility for how long PMI coverage is required.

apparently, some new law is cooking that will uncover what is currently hidden. meaning that unless you pay attention, you are paying for absolutely nothing, and nobody cares. which i'm sure leads to millions of dollars in the pockets of the banks of america....ha. not that i am pointing out anybody specifically :)

for me, that means that $202 dollars a year that COULD support a child in haiti's education, would have gone to some greedy big guys.

except i caught it, and i 'requested cancellation' of something i shouldn't have been paying for in the first place. grrrrr.

i guess the whole point of this rant is to be MINDFUL, to be STEWARDS, and to be in charge of your own finances. don't fall for the lie that more is more, and don't buy things you cannot afford.

i need to remember that right now especially, when every day i seem to have the desire to push the big blue 'buy' button that keeps popping up on my 'puter.

:) happy day! let's not spend anything, okay?

yay day!

ah. what a glorious day. i actually overslept ON A FRIDAY. must mean that i am relaxed, because i rarely oversleep. i was dreaming about meeting ashton kutcher. seriously. i was asking him if he was actually a photographer. he he. i don't recall ever actually thinking about ashton kutcher before, so i don't even want to know the meaning of that dream.

i feel like all i have worked on all week is teeny tiny little projects. an ad here, sell sheet there. my computer screen shows this to be true. time to put all those little pesky icons into folders today!

yesterday was seriously a good day. i really did nothing except chat with people. over an hour with my good friend who is having surgery next week. at one point she was laughing so hard at my stories about the neighborhood, she told me i MUST write a book. i think she has a point, because life on wood lane (see, i'd change the name of the actual location to protect the innocent) is pretty dang fascinating.

then, i talked to kirst for well over an hour. again, the laughter. and the realization of how much i love my dear 'old' friend. wow, we have seen some things together. there is nothing, absolutely nothing, better than friendship.

of course, i also spent my usual hour with carey on the phone. i think this week we talked about math alot. i don't remember math being so hilariously funny when i was in high school. now, i cannot stand it. math is for creatives! another book that needs to be written....

so. three conversations that took priority over all the tiny icons... my perfect day, even though i think i have a little sore throat today :) good thing siesta is not a serious talker.

happy friday!

can i have an accent?

so, i've been thinking about painting an accent wall in my living room.

teal.

darkish.




i guess the whole 'neutral' thing was sort of just a phase for me ;)

small things

i often talk about simple joys over here on the back forty. the older i get, the more satisfaction comes from watching a bird feed in the winter, or a flower take bloom in the summer.

today, my devotional was about 'small things'.

For who has not despised the day of small things?
Zechariah 4:10

i started to think about a short video clip that we watched in church last sunday. our church sponsors some ministries in equador, including the one in this link. sure enough, when i clicked to look at the website today, their tagline is 'reaching the least of these.'

i try to wrap my brain around it. how can i be so concerned with my seemingly 'big' things? my house, my job, even my relationships? things like how will i make my life more comfortable? how can i be 'fulfilled' in my career? what kinds of fun things can i do with my friends?

HOW can this be my main concern? HOW can i have so little concern for the least of things? HOW can i have God's heart concerning small things? why does it NEVER seem like enough, so i only fantasize about the day of BIG things?

i have to remember that God is in all things. and to continually hope for and think of the big things is to not trust God in the small things. today, i pray for this little boy in the picture above. though his life and future seem in jeopardy, i ask you to bring him joy today. to bring him a meal that fills his tummy. to bring him laughter. to bring him a hug from a caring person that he can trust. that even though we don't know where his tomorrow will be, that we DO know that you are in the small things. be with him.

Lord, help me to not despise small things. use them for your Glory.

happy wednesday, all.

i love tuesday.

bossy the fern was even vulnerable to my mad decorating attack this year.
she is lovely, and only slightly annoyed with me.

wow. feels good to have monday under my belt, and a total 'free' day. that almost never happens. too bad it's -2 degrees.

i thought i would blog about the neighborhood so far. it's hard to tell about a new neighborhood in winter. but so far, i have a few insights.

1. ralph is going to be my nemesis. people named ralph always are. he's good, i can tell already. last saturday, after a brisk 1/4" snowfall, i heard the familiar 'scrape, scrape, scrape' of a shoveler. not to be outdone, i went out seconds after the sound stopped, sans COAT and shoveled my whole angled driveway and sidewalk. game ON, ralphie! next time i will beat you on this game!!!


2. on the gentler side of the street, dorothy has invited me to a 'coffee party' on saturday. we'll be having date nut bars and we'll be chatting about why life is so different now. she is coordinating everything, including the personal invitations to at least 1 more dorothy and a bunny. i remember when people were named bunny (bernice). life is moving pleasantly backwards, and i am relieved.

3. i got a plate of cookies and an invitation to a st. lucia gathering from another neighbor (further down the street) last night. in 8 years in my other 'hood' - i don't recall any st. lucia gatherings....perhaps i just wasn't paying attention.

anywhooo. so far, things seem promising. i'm sure the adventures will continue. i better start planning my OWN gathering before ralph beats me to it!

happy tuesday :)

easing into.

ah. having a nice slow re-entry this morning, after a pleasant weekend. i got a start on my holiday shopping, which is rare for me, as i am 'last minute girl.'

i also shopped for myself, as i got my new kitchen ordered on saturday. well, half a kitchen. the other half will involve more elbow grease, and most likely will spread across the weeks this winter. i am sort of project'd-out, that is for sure.

as i look over the relationships i have in blogland and facebook, it is disheartening to see that most folks are not super joyful. there is a lot of 'busy' going around, that is for sure. a few weeks ago, my pastor talked about how nobody wants to hear that you are busy. WOW. isn't that true? i am ever so guilty of using that term as my badge of importance, or even as my secondary identity, when i have things going on. my value becomes THE THINGS I NEED TO GET DONE, which is so not what God says about us.

the truth is, busy sucks our life away. it really does. i keep asking God for a balance over here on the back forty. it seems when i am NOT busy, i just waste time and do nothing of value....probably in retaliation to the BUSY times when i don't have a choice.

i'm prepared to find value this december. for me, that means relationship. finding the time to share with others MY time. i don't really have anything of more value to the world to offer, and i don't think any of you do, either. it's time to start rejecting 'all martha, all the time' and to start being mary at least a little bit of the time, don't you think?

i guess what i'm saying is "do you want to come over for coffee?" ha!!!

:) happy monday!

help me rhonda.

just the other day, i was chatting with a couple friends about becoming like our mothers. i actually made the statement that i had NO traits in common with mine.

which is funny, because today as i was shopping on ebay for my latest soon-to-be obsession, vintage putz paper christmas villages, i was reminded of when i talked to my mom on tuesday, and she said:

"oh, i'm in the middle of putting up all the houses...i have way too many of those, i think!"




he he he he he. guess i'll have my words for lunch today :)
happy friday!

thankful 30.

day 30! wow, that went fast. i have more than a few 'thankfuls' that i never even got to.

however, last night as i was at a friends' house for a christmas gig, i was reminded of how much i love to laugh. i am the kind of laugher - is that a word? - that cannot control herself, and sometimes laughs waaaaaay too loud at the wrong time. still. it feels so good.

sometimes, i actually laugh to myself when i am sitting here at the computer. siesta knows i do this. now you do, too ;)

that's what i did when i saw this picture above, from jim lepage's facebook album called 'funny religious stuff.' is it just me, or do those girls totally look like boys dressed up as girls??? and for some reason, the title just KILLS me. ha ha ha ha ha.

wow. just. wow. hope you have at least a few laughs today. maybe even a guffaw or a titter :)

thankful 29.

i just realized i skipped a day of thankfulness. a good reminder to me that it's easy to do that :)

i was thinking about things i have missed in this thankful journey. LOTS of things. one of the biggies is music, and how much i love it, because it changes the atmosphere. it changes my countenance.

i used to listen to a ton of sad songs. give me some dwight yoakam and a bottle of whiskey (not really, but they 'go' together) and i'd be good. i kind of secretly love to cry, so i guess it makes sense.

these days, i prefer mellow, easy music most of the time. i like lots of christian music, and mellow stuff like james taylor and natalie merchant from my younger days. i don't buy a ton of 'new' music except for christian, because it's what i hear most often in my daily life.

on sunday, i was painting at the church, and not really looking forward to a dark church and being alone there. alas, we have an ethiopian church that rents the space on sunday afternoons, so i was not alone.

as i was painting away, i could hear the sounds of the small group from the sanctuary. voices in a language i did not understand, and peaceful grooves that waaaaaaaaay carried me away to a good place. my whole mindset changed from task-oriented to experience-oriented. i became peaceful. i thanked God and felt joyful. and happy. and relaxed.

that's it. i am thankful for joyful noises and what they do in our spirits. i think i will turn on some right now, as a matter of fact.

happy tuesday!

thankful 27.

i woke up this morning thinking.

that's not at all unusual, my brain just does not really ever NOT think.

some of the time it's spent worrying.
or repeating something in my head that has happened.
or making my to-do list and actually visualizing it being acheived.
or praying for something or somebody that needs praying for...sometimes, me.

most of the time, my mind is occupied with ideas.

here is the definition of 'idea':

Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.

i love ideas. ever since i was little, they have been my very, very favorite thing.

yesterday, i had ideas about:

1 john - the book that pastor is teaching about right now - and how careful God was to pack so much meaning into the bible, even more than we can ever discover in a lifetime, if it was our full-time, 24-7 job. i'm thankful He came up with that idea.

homemade spaghetti - that was a quick idea, more of a notion really, and i followed thru and had some for dinner last night.

christmas crafts - oh, emily henderson, you RUIN me! your christmas tv special (which made me want to live in every single house you ever design, truly) made me want to make about sixty new things. and made me want you and orlando to come over for a craft party, because seriously, we would be friends, i am sure of it!!! :) ideas for everybody! yes!


painting a wall at church - well, that idea is one i had with anne a couple of weeks ago. i actually executed it on 'buy nothing' day, which was quite satisfying. yesterday i painted that little wall by the water fountain to match, too, but i forgot to take a pic.



then, in the afternoon i went idea hunting for the kitchen remake that i am going to be starting soon. i got some tile to look at, and help me imagine. i ordered some counter samples from the internet. i talked to the lowes kitchen guy and got some more ideas. heck, he even gave me an IDEA book! how awesome is that! i think i have more thinking about it to do, but the ideas make me happy.

then today, i have a new project that i need to cook up some ideas for. i really should be doing that right now :)

happy day! may your ideas never run out!

thankful 26.

christmas arrived over the last couple of days.

it came without even one trip to the mall, or to target or even to hobby lobby (but with several trips to the basement for 'shopping').

it came with deer and pine cones and lots of vintage sparkle.

it came with hot chocolate and leftover pie.

it came just in time to light up the night, and for that, i am grateful.

thankful 24. and 25.

ah, it was nice to be 'homeward bound' for the holiday. especially when the sky and landscape were as pretty as that one above. what a glorious day! i was thinking about how many years i have made the trek over the hilltops and through the woods to 'home' - my parents' house. now that they are older, i realize how quickly the time has passed, and how precious each passing year seems.



we (my mom, dad and i) sat in the gazebo - outside!! - yesterday, and watched the world go by. it was fabulous to be there so late in the season. we also got a glimpse of a real, live, ACTUAL turkey passing through the yard! i was amazed, but my folks said that 3 wild turkeys have taken up residence of late. i didn't take this photo, but the guy i saw looked exactly like a real turkey :)) ha. very cool.







and then i came home to a freshly decorated tree. in fact i decorated a couple last night as has become my tradition. i love the glow of Light at night. i have a very grateful heart today, wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

thankful 23.

i didn't know what i was going to post about today. i know i'm thankful that yesterday is over, and our 12-hour workday was successful. for the record, both anne and i 'hit the wall' at the same time, about 10 hours in...

it's harder than i thought to write a month of thankfuls without restating the obvious. since it's the day before thanksgiving, i also feel the need to be profound, which always gets me into trouble.

so, i just went into the kitchen looking for breakfast, found and cut into this beautiful grapefruit, which released the most marvelous smell and *squirt* of juice at the same time, and i looked at it, really looked at it.

there it is. i'm thankful for small delights. some days, well MOST days, it does not take something huge to have a grateful day. as i sit here with my pretty (and tasty) pink grapefruit, a cup of coffee, and a whole day of restfulness ahead of me, i am very thankful.

happy day!

thankful 22.

look! an actual person!
this is my amazingly talented friend anne,
who has done all the hardest work on this project.
i have mostly sat around making stars...
which i am pretty good at :)

whew. here are a few shots of our work yesterday. today is a big day, we are doing two shifts to try and finish up our big project if possible. so far, we are pleased with how things are turning out.

which brings me to my latest blessing: work.

most of you know that during the time of my house buying/selling, there was a very slow period of work for me. and most of you know that i freaked when the work slowed down...for various reasons, but mostly because i am a person who is most comfortable at WORK.

our pastor gave a sermon this weekend about work, and concurred that work is something that God has designed for us to do. it's good to note that God gave adam work to do in the garden BEFORE he sinned and fell....work has always been part of God's design for us!

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Gen 2:15


i am imagining having an awesome job when i get to Heaven! i do admit that i've always been able to work in areas that fit closely with my desires...not every job has been great, but they have mostly all played into my skillset in some way. i feel very fortunate for that aspect of my life.


in the past week, i have gotten word that i'll be doing two rather large projects - starting in december and heading into the new year - my normal 'slow' time at work. it's odd that God flipped it for me, to give me my slow time to move, and now to bring work back as i am settled into my new home. He is good to me like that, He truly is...i am thankful!

i hope that your work brings you joy today, no matter what your job description may be :)

thankful 21.

i woke up today thinking about next week. isn't that always the way? i hope to really, really enjoy THIS week, but next week i am going on a roadtrip with my favorite art girls.

it's really good for us to do this. we kind of do it 'crazy' style, in that we drive to minnesota, get our visual fill (and usually do some shopping, too) and then drive back in a quick 24-hour frenzy. it saves money and time, but we really have HOURS of non-stop artgirl-time because of the driving. sigh.

this time around, we'll go to 'no coast crafterama' - which is in midtown at the global market. kirst and i used to wander around the global market back in the day. it's good there. the show involves sort of hippie crafters showing their wares, nothing like the country blue crowd that we usually get here in the dakotas. lots of interesting ideas, along with the feeling that i am not so odd come from trips to places like this :)

ha.


anyway. lot's to do in the in-between times. but yowza, i am thankful for both of you, lou and cass! and especially excited to bring a new little crafter girl with us this time, as fiona goes on her first artgirl trip with us :)

thankful 19 and 20.

weekending:

* house is dusted.
* pantry is stocked up.
* crafting stuff purchased.
* laundry is folded.
* first snow has arrived.



weekbeginning:

* crockpot is cooking.
* sun is rising.
* worship is waiting.


happy sunday, everyone ;)

thankful 16. 17. 18.

happy friday everyone!

i have been MIA for the last couple of days because i have not been at the computer much. it has been a good break, although i will be here a long time today :)

which brings me to my latest gratefulness.


i'm thankful for community. i have been fortunate to have lots of good folks around me for a long time now. i guess it's part of being *ahem* middle-aged, or maybe it is the design of God.

i love that i have a church family, for instance. one that i actually love spending time with - at this time in my life - about 3 times a week. i cannot imagine what i would do without "Jesus with skin on" as my friend anne calls those who come into your life as the light of God. i am very grateful.

after a few busy days, i'm also thankful for alone time. i think there is a HUGE difference between being alone, and being lonely. i am grateful not to be lonely, but to cherish alone time. it gives my mind space to relax, breathe and talk to God about all of the stuff of life. i crave alone time. i am grateful that my profession gives me a good mix of both community AND alone time.





let's see. i'm going to steal from rani's post about her new fire (fab name, btw) and say that i am lastly thankful for books....i just ordered another jan karon book this morning, and am looking forward to getting it, and things slowing down enough to read it. i read 'the mitford series' last winter, and got hooked on the little-house-on-the-prairieness of this writer.

do ya like how i make up my own words (is that an adjective or an adverb or what??)? because i do :)

ha. anyway - grateful for all of these things and more! i hope your day is filled with goodness and gratefulness, too.