Traditions!!

Every Christmas morning growing up, my family always ate orange rolls. I don't know why, we just did. On Christmas Eve, we always went to the Chinese Buffet....sounds a little like "The Christmas Story" if you ask me! "Honey, that duck is staring at me..." The picture illustrates a tradition, that is more of a family joke...I always make the Green Bean Casserole....always....

Since my husband and I are recently remarried, we are trying to come up with some great family traditions we can have through the holidays that our children will love and always remember...

So, what are some of your family's favorite traditions?

Thanksgiving Scraps

Ok, again...NOT the best photos, someday I will actually take the time to take a good photo. Well, seeing how this week is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd write a bit about some things on my mind, and share this layout I created. When we lived in Barbourville (for three months...stick with me, I know I lead somewhat of a gypsy life) I turned one of the unused Sunday School rooms at the church into a scrapbook room for myself. Selfish, I know..BUT I didn't want to waste such a great space. I made a few layouts that I thought (somewhere in the back of my brain) that I would sell in my etsy shop (no, I'm not posting the link because it's not open right now!) once I got it re-opened.

Well, I truly do have a lot to be grateful for. Sure, life isn't exactly as we had planned it. Absolutely NOTHING has worked out since we've left Phoenix. But, my family has been provided for, we've had a roof over our heads and food to eat. On top of that, we've had some great quality time together as a family. I don't know what's in store for us, but I know who is in control...and thank goodness it ain't me!

We now have temporary jobs (I say temporary, because neither job is something we would like to be doing long term...but we are so thankful to have them!) We found a house that we will be moving into next week (No more living in a camper...can I get a Woot-Woot?!?!) And, our marriage is still great, even after this rough couple of months of transitioning and feeling at times like we were not only wandering through the desert, but stranded in it as well.

I'm so excited and so thankful.

I wanted to post the layout, because it made me think of my friend Beth. We met when I was in high school, and she was a college student. We were both working at the movie theater in our town. We hit it off right from the start, and even though I haven't seen her in over 10 years, we still remain close. I kind of attribute my love of paper crafting to her. Once, I got this strange idea to make a from of a scrapbook out of an old book (now scrappers would refer to this as an "altered book" I was way ahead of my time, and didn't even know it.) I had pictures glued in, and quotes that I liked (this was all before the whole "acid/lignin free" revolution.) Anyway, one day I took the book in to work, and when Beth saw it she said "Erin, what are you thinking? You can't do that to a book! It's destroying LITERATURE!!" But, after she looked through it, she told me she thought it was a really neat idea, which made me feel real good, and if someone else appreciated my work, then maybe it would be worthwhile to share with others. I have been making cards and scrapbooks for people ever since.

I still have that book somewhere...maybe in storage? We'll see next week, when we finally get to unpack our things!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Inmates

Ok, so I posted this question as my facebook status a few days ago, and I got some really funny answers, so I wanted to post it here too...I did not come up with the question, just copied it from someone else...Read the question, and then leave a comment with your answer!!!




"If you and I woke up in jail together, using ONLY 4 WORDS, what would you say to me?"


Remember to be as creative as you can!

A Home!

After 4 Long months of weird transitioning...We found a house! No, we aren't able to purchase anything, but it's a cute little rental, and affordable enough that we will be able to save up for a down payment for our future purchase!

We are NO LONGER homeless!!!!

God is good...and why must I continue to test HIS timing??

:)

Hoppy Birthday!

All of my crafty supplies are still in storage, so my projects are very limited, which has left me with a desire to create something. I'm not sure if it's because I really feel the desire, or if it's just because I know it's something I'm not able to do right now...kind of like when I'm supposed to be eating low carb and the only thing I want to (shove in my face) eat... is spaghetti. Anyway, a few days before Jonathan's birthday (Oh my goodness, I just realized I didn't post pictures about that...well, I'll save that for tomorrow...) my mother in law and I decided to make birthday cards for him. We stayed up until almost 2 in the morning having a good time creating two very special cards for him. It was really fun and satisfied the creative itch I was having.

This isn't the best picture, but this is the card I made for him...with all the hard work I put into it, I know he really appreciated it, even though he didn't seem like he did, when he rapidly ripped the envelope, looked at the card for .7 seconds, threw it on the table, and reached for his next present...deep down, I know he loved it....

Motherhood

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently of the day that Jonathan was born. It was a day full of emotions for so many reasons. First of all, my pregnancy was not easy. I was constantly in and out of the hospital, I couldn't keep food down, or even water! I started to go into labor at 22 weeks and at 32 weeks, I was put on bed rest. At 34 weeks, I was admitted to the hospital, and diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. Jonathan was going to have to be induced for his health, and for mine. It was not a decision I was happy to hear. The doctor waited until I was 35 weeks to induce, and early in the morning, she started the process. After 18 hours of labor, my doctor had to perform an emergency C-section because I spiked a fever, and Jonathan's heart rate had dropped severely. Again, not a choice I was entirely happy about, however, I knew that it was necessary. When he was born, his lungs were under developed, and the doctor said he was more of 34 week size baby. His Apgar was 1 and he was sent immediately to the NICU.

I don't know why I'm writing this, or why I feel I need to. Maybe I just need to vent, I don't know. Recently, I've been hearing a lot about C-sections, and how some women need to "man up" and perform their motherly duty (implying that having C-sections is the cowards way out and anything other than a natural birth makes you less than a woman.) News flash for those women who are so high on their horses: C-sections are not the easy way out!! The pain is longer and the recovery takes so much longer, so to imply that someone who has a C-section is less of a woman or a cowardly woman is ridiculous!

In no way would I ever judge a woman for how SHE chooses to bring her own child into this world. Nor would I ever make her feel like her childbirth experience was less because it wasn't what I considered perfect. How dare those women who do so. Do you not realize how belittling my childbirth experience makes me feel?

I understand most of these comments are aimed towards women who choose to have a C-section over a natural birth even if it's not medically necessary, and if that's the case, then who cares?? Why should it matter how a woman decides to have her child. Childbirth is a very intense, emotional and physical experience, no matter which method a woman chooses. How do you know what another woman is going through? You don't! So there is no reason to judge and make others feel inadequate.

As women, and as mothers we should be encouraging to each other. We are a community of people who experience this wonderful gift of childbirth. No one can take that away from us. It is an experience that changes the course of our lives...let's support that community instead of tearing down the ones who are members within it.

I am not less of a woman, or less of a mother because I had a C-section. And for you to even suggest that shows how much less of a woman you are.

What's Wrong With ME??

There has been Reese Cup ice cream in my freezer for five days now and I have no desire to eat it.

Unraveled

Back when we lived in Phoenix, I stumbled upon a blog of a lady who unraveled sweaters for the yarn, I attempted some, but didn't stick with it and recently, when a friend of mine said she had spent her day unraveling sweaters, I thought, I must get on this bandwagon again! So, I found this helpful tutorial, by a lady who is a genius, went to Goodwill, spent $5.00 on two sweaters, and this is what came from it:

Pardon the equipment, I just used what I had! I found this sweater, the tag said 100% Wool. After looking at the pictures, I did feel a little guilty shredding this fine piece of art...but the pictures make the sweater look nicer than it was. I was saving this thing from the landfill, trust me. It was stretched in places, and had holes in others. I started off ripping the main seam, as the tutorial said to look for the "good seam" I did, and then separated the sweater into sections. Then, I started unraveling the sleeves. I wrapped the yarn around a shoe box, then tied it in four places. I repeated the same steps with each sleeve, then the front of the sweater and finally the back. Almost two hours later, I ended up with a little over 1650 feet of gorgeous wool yarn! (The last pictures shows what I was left with, I still need to soak the bundles in hot water to release some of the waviness!) Time well spent I think! Now, what to make out of them???

Anyone have a mitten crochet pattern??!!

Expectations

It's funny how life goes on without a care about your own personal expectations for it!

The journey we're on has been a strange one...I've always wanted a few months off to spend time with my family, and now, I've had it! Moving to Barbourville has been such a growing experience for my husband and I. We came to serve, and we were served. Absolutely nothing has worked out since we have been there, which amazes me, because I know I have great plans for my life. I guess that's where I'm mislead...I have great plans for my life. There is where the problem is...I have the plans.

Our mission was to serve others, live frugally, and become self reliant. We served others, and we now have more of a desire to do so. We lived frugally, it's amazing how frugal one can be when there isn't any income for FOUR MONTHS! The self reliant thing, is something we still have a big desire for, but for now, we're just living day by day.

As if we haven't had enough transitions in our life, we are now feeling a push on, I'll elaborate more on that in another post. For now, I'm going to post some projects I've been working on. Yes, the title of this blog is "Mostly Making It" when I first started it, I had big dreams of posting some of my crafting projects as well. Since most of my crafty things are still in storage, my projects are very limited...so I'll start with the small projects I've done to keep myself busy.

Thanks for your encouragement through this strange transition in life...