Week 51

Dec 20: My neighborhood is full of homespun Christmas light displays.

Dec 21: Due to the forecast and a concerned call from my parents, I spent the evening packing to head home a day earlier than planned. Diesel usually gets sad when he sees a suitcase, but he was excited to hear he got to go see Barkley.

Dec 22: It may be a little hard to see but Big D is covered in bits of grass & leaves.  He loves bringing the outdoors in and I find myself sounding like my mom complaining about him messing up my clean floors. (Sorry but I'm too tired to mess with trying to get this picture to rotate properly.)

Dec 23: Janel & I were finally able to get together so I could give her her birthday present - a kickboxing necklace inspired by her.  I have a friend who makes hand-stamp
ed jewelry who ended making this for her line because I asked about one.  Check out sportygirljewelry.com and hipmomjewelry.com.

Dec 24: The Christmas Eve service at my home church is one of my favorites of the year. The college group started with an a cappella chorus of Christmas carols.

Dec 25: A Christmas still life.

JT and I took about 20 silly self-portraits.  I won't force you to see all of them, though they are pretty funny all together.  He's a nut.

 

Dec 26: JT lost his first tooth today.  He was brave and pulled it out himself. Mom, Dad & I happened to be in KC so we could swing by and see his big news in person.

Week 50

Dec 13: I was given a wall plaque recently and it made me think about my favorite wall plaque that has been gracing my bedroom wall since I was a little girl.  It was given to me by one of my preschool teachers on the farm.

Dec 14: We've gone 30+ days without a drop of precipitation.  It's been a dry and clear winter so far.

Dec 15: A few the Pathways life groups got together to go caroling at some nursing homes tonight.  Matt accidently set off the life-size singing Santa mid-carol and we had to compete with Santa to finish the song.

Dec 16: Diesel & I hadn't been to the park for a walk in awhile. It was a beautiful clear day.  The pampras grass looked awesome against the sky and it was so clear & still the lake had a perfect reflection.

Dec 17: My new roommate had a Christmas card display tree.  I am loving it as it collects cards & photos. 

Dec 18: A baking mood has hit me. I knocked out 5 Nigella recipes this weekend.

Dec 19: It was Pathways candlelit Christmas service tonight.  It was one of the best ones I've been too.

Week 49

Dec 6: This week is all about my friends' wedding on Friday night.  I am doing the flowers for them.  Tonight I obliterated a Christmas tree to make the 30 swags for the pews. 

Dec 7: Allen & Shaun had a little party tonight to help decorate their "tree".  They asked us to bring tacky ornaments.  I won the prize.  I found these hideous shiny, glittery horses heads with a 6" feathers.  They were cheap enough I got one for each of the guys - one in pink and one in green.

 Dec 8: Today I almost forgot to pick up the leaves & grasses for the wedding bouquets. 

Dec 9: Rehearsal and decorating the chapel.

 Dec 10: Janel & Phil's wedding day! It took all day, but I got the flowers done and she was very happy with the way they turned out.  Whew!

 It was a beautiful, God-honoring ceremony.  

 Dec 11: And thus we've come full circle in a year of Bear. 

 Dec 12: So, last week Big Mean Kitty died.  Kitty had a full, loved life.  I am not sure how quickly Diesel will recover but we're trying out a new toy.  The fox was a gift from Shaun's mom.  D spent 2 weeks at Allen & Shaun's this summer when I was traveling and was well taken care of.

 

Week 48

Nov 29: Elizabeth moved in today.  So there's a second pair of eyes watching me when I eat. The boys seem to get along just fine.

Nov 30: It has been very windy the last few days.  The wind graciously raked the last of the leaves into a big pile by the front door.  It made it very easy to bag them up.

Dec 1: Our women's biblestudy is doing a great study on Ruth by Kelly Minter.  I highly recommend it. And Amanda made us lemon poppy seed bread to enjoy along with our discussion tonight.

Dec 2: Tanya and I were finally able to do a movie night to watch "Eat Pray Love".  We had both read the book and promised to see the movie together.

Dec 3: Caught napping.  Diesel isn't allowed to sleep on my bed at night, but he does take his naps there during the day. 

Dec 4: Cookie Day at Heather's.  It's a fun time and LOTS of cookies and candies get made.

Dec 5: Elizabeth helped me rearrange and get the tree decorated today.  It looks great!

Week 47

Nov 22: I'm so happy about my freshly raked yard.  I hired Sara to do it this year and it was totally worth it!

Nov 23: Yeah! Bear is finally in his Pilgrim costume for Thanksgiving! I was wondering if he was going to don it this year.  We've come full circle in the year of Bear.

Nov 24: I went to my parents for Thanksgiving.  Diesel and Barkley both know that Dad shares his cookies.  They were very attentive. 

Nov 25: Our great spread for Thanksgiving dinner.

JT and I made a blanket together for his baby brother.

Nov 26: Diesel sleeps under my raised bed at home.  He cracked me up when he tried to get under a normal bed at my parents - only his head would fit. Didn't bother him, he slept that way anyway.

Nov 27: Mom and I went to a fair trade craft fair on KU's campus and got a view of iconic Fraser Hall as the sun set.

Nov 28: My parents cannot be accused of dated house decor, but there are somethings that don't change and that's comforting.  I love to snuggle under the afghans made by my grandmas.  This one was made by Grandma Connie in the 1980s as a present for us.  Downstairs there are 2 made by Grandma Ledford. 

Week 46

Nov 15: Tonight I, once again, used the cutting board I got in Costa Rica on a mission trip.  I love this little board and always think of my friends in CR when I use it.

Nov 16: Society of Women Engineers went on a tour of the local National Weather Service office. It was very interesting of find out how they do their jobs.

Nov 17: I took Diesel to get his nails trimmed today since he won't let me do it.  Apparently, manicure = torture.  But he'll stand there calmly for them to pluck hair out of his ears.  Go figure.

Nov 18: I agreed to join a steering committee for a group at work that does events for women in engineering & technology at our company. We had our planning meeting at a wine bar downtown. I think I might like this group.

Nov 19: Jeremy, Rachel & I met for lunch at Usuluteco.  It was her first time there.  She was a happy camper with pupusas and a Kolashampan.

Nov 20: It was a very full day ending with 2 events back to back.  Lights of Love is a tree lighting ceremony of the biggest tree in Wichitar.  It is also a fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House.  So I was asked to help out with the festivities.  I was a "photo helper". After a cozy picture with Santa beside the lake, I helped get the photos ready for pick up.

When I was done with that, I walked over to Bella Luna to join the girls for dinner as part of Janel's bachlorette party.  It was a fun time.

Nov 21: Another full day today, including Janel's bridal shower, was started by making a turkey for Pathways' Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I was pretty impressed with how great my bird turned out.