Simple Home and Happiness

Mary must have been exhausted. She was carrying a miracle, yes, but she was also carrying an out of wedlock baby, on a long journey, to give birth in rudimentary settings, with no family around, and no idea what would happen next. Christmas Eve found me sleep deprived, anxious, and preparing for an evening ahead that would require more energy and happiness than I could muster. So I sat in a church pew on Christmas Eve and cried for Mary and how tired she must have been, for how unfair it was that she would never fully comprehend the awesome power that her sacrifice would bring to the world. I cried because that one little baby would make every single one of my mistakes ok. Maybe you are in the middle of your own exhaustion. Maybe you are carrying something wonderful and powerful, but right now it just feels like a burden. Stay strong, your burden may become a light for others. If you are still happily enjoying the extra time with kids, and the extended bed times, and the fami...

Christmas is just a week away!  Time to get in the Holiday spirit! I can read all day about Edie's love for people and   hospitality  . A friend sent me this beautiful idea for passing on the tradition of Santa.  Chex mix for your next gathering.  100 Best Christmas Movies of All Time  (Three of my all time favorite Holiday movies made this odd, and eclectic list. How many have you seen?) We make these cookies every year.  We have begun cutting way back on Christmas gifts for our kids, and I love what this article has to say about that.  Apothic Red and Apothic Dark are my new favorite wines. (If you are local, they sell it at CFC!) Source  I hope you all have a blessed and very Merry Christmas!      

I have never been able to figure out if I am an extrovert or an introvert. If you know me personally, you probably think right away, "She's an extrovert!". But as much as I love people, and gatherings; I love, love, love being at home. I love being here with my people, watching movies, playing board games, just existing, together at home. It's my favorite.  So when I have running around to do, it can get stressful for me. I can quickly feel overwhelmed, constantly picking up one kid, dropping off another, going to town and back again several times a day. And when things are scheduled on a Sunday, my tolerance level peaks out. I like my Sundays to rest, reset, and breathe.  This month I do not have a single Sunday that will be spent at home.  I am dreading it already. I want to curl up and cry. I want to stomp my feet and say, "No, No, No". I want to put on my pajamas and Christmas music, lock the door and pout.  But since that does not ap...

It's here! It's here! It's really here! Ok, I have been going on endlessly about Fall for so long that you all knew this was coming. In honor of the official start of all things pumpkins, I am busting out old and new copies of my Fall magazines for inspiration and my box of Fall decor and browsing the internet for ideas as well. We have been blessed with beautiful fall weather here today, cool and overcast, which makes it even better to do all things Fall-ish. I have been simmering a creamy vegetable chowder with bacon since ten a.m. I just had my first bowl for lunch. The five year old told me it was "the best fall soup". Yes, I am starting them young. Also rising on the counter right now is Mom's Homemade Bread . My mouth is already watering. And just for fun here, are some other ladies from around the web who are just as excited about Fall as I am! Grab a cup of apple cider, a warm muffin and a cable knit throw. Wrap up and click aroun...

I took a little break from my summer rebellion to enjoy the Fourth of July. I camped in a tent, swam in the river, ate ridiculously too many hotdogs and all around enjoyed the number one summer holiday! It was hard to hate on summer, when I woke up to this each morning. Now I am back to my usual self, staying in the a/c as much as possible, baking zucchini bread, and drinking apple cider trying to think Autumnal thoughts. Mostly its the long hours that are wearing on me again. I just like routine and regular bedtimes and that has NOT been happening. Instead, work has looked like this lately. So I remind myself that I am blessed to be living this wonderful, exhausting farm life. The work is long and hard, but the view is pretty awesome.  When I am home, I am playing catch up on piles, upon piles of laundry and doing a little baking. The garden I planted this spring is not going to produce much this year. Turns out the cattle manure we mixed in ...

The Christmas rush has come and gone. I usually feel empty this time of year, all the hype and excitement leading up to Christmas gets me all high and after the fact I always feel left a little wanting. Not this year though. This year we spent nearly three straight days celebrating with family. It felt full and wonderful and a times a little wild. I am happy to bask in the quietness that is the day after. Ironically enough I feel quiet and calm even though I have been given big news on Lucky. My carpenters have given me a move in date! End of January. I am beyond words in the excitement area. I fall asleep at night planning furniture placement and color schemes. Do you ever do that? Please say you do. We are in the final weeks of the renovation and I feel as though a calm is descending. Quite the opposite I am sure, from what I am suppose to be feeling. But somehow, it feels as though I survived the toughest part. The major construction is done, the Christmas awe and rush is d...

Ding dong the tar is gone! At long last I have original oak wood floors in the kitchen. It all started innocently enough... when we bought the house, there were clay tiles in the kitchen. I didn't mind the style of the tile and since we were leaving the kitchen largely untouched I was going to leave it. Butttttt, there were two broken tiles and I thought well, heck, we know there is hard wood, so we'll just knock out the tile and expose the hardwood. All the tile came out. That wasn't so bad, right? Then came the first major dilemma, there was half inch thick plywood underneath the tiles that had been installed to adhere the clay tiles to. Well, the carpenters jumped in and helped me unscrew approximately a few hundred (no exaggeration) screws. We didn't know what damage the screws had done to the hardwood below, but we wanted the plywood out regardless since it made the floor uneven from the rest of the house. So out came the plywood. Aaannnddd then o...

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was wonderful. I ate as much as I possibly could and enjoyed time with my family. The Hubs and I rounded out the evening with a leftover bottle of wine and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation! Perfect end to the day if you ask me! So this is the end of my month of thanks. I have been trying to figure out how to sum it up and have been struggling to find a way to express my sincere thanks without sounding fake. I am so truly thankful to be living a life that is simple and honest with a family that I love more than anything in the world. I could give up everything but my family and would still be so blessed. I'm sure December will be hectic no matter how hard I try to reign it in. I'll post as often as I can while still trying to keep a bit of my sanity. Today I finished knocking out the tile and laminate on the kitchen floor. The only thing standing between me and wood floors is one stubborn layer of tar backing. If you know any ...

Whatever gene it is that makes a person get up and go out to work everyday, through the snow and the rain and the extreme heat and the ice and the wind and the sunshine, that love for the outdoors that makes one hold close to their heart and covet the sacred right to bury their hands in the dirt... That gene. I do not have that gene. Thankfully the Hubs does. I firmly believe it is only because of that gene that he has marched out to work the last two weeks. The man, whom hates the cold the way many hate spiders or snakes, that man has bravely pulled on his jeans and coveralls and sweatshirt and winter coat and gloves and balaclava (in April) and has dutifully gone out to live the life he has chosen. And I have not heard him complain. Not once. Not when the feed truck gets stuck in the muck and slop for the third time that day. Not when he has to scoop snow out of the feed bunks for the fifth time that week, not when he loses another calf due to the freezing temps. Not ...

I am a hopeless romantic, and I'm afraid I always will be. If Valentines Day makes you gag, stop reading. If it doesn't, I highly recommend going to Vintage Love on Tumblr . The photos will make you smile!     Enjoy your Valentines Day!   Posted with Blogsy