Another Tasty Tradition!

All right... I know, I know...

Why is it that most of our traditions center around food?

Well here's another one!

This is one of my very earliest memories!

We simply take an orange...

Squeeze it around in our hands for a while to get it nice and juicy inside...

Break both ends off a peppermint candy cane...

Stick one end into the now, very juicy orange...

There are very tiny holes in the candy cane, so it's kind of a straw.

It's very yummy... and brings back many fond memories!

It's definately one of those traditions I will do every winter someday with my own family!! :o)

So... Now that you've heard a few of ours...

What are some fun memories and traditions you have?

Another Post...

Hello!
I know, I know... 2 posts in one day! Aren't you impressed?

I just wanted to let you know that my cousin, Bethany, had a beautiful and encouraging post today... You'll have to go check it out!!! :o)

Christmas Cookies!!!

Yes.... Christmas Cookies...

Those words mean two things to me!

It is the name of my new favorite Christmas Song sung by George Strait... (Absolutely adorable! Makes me smile!)

AND it is also what we spent a few days ago doing!

After a whole day of decorating... I was positively sick!!! lol

Cookie dough... Frosting... Fudge batter.... and more...

I had about as much self-control as mom in a nut factory!!

Decorating Christmas sugar cookies is always a Christmas "must" around here... But this year we did something new! My Aunt Sheryl, and cousins Jessica and Jerrica all came over that evening and we had a "cookie bake." They brought several different batches of cookies and we made lots of cookies. It was LOTS of fun!

Want to join us next year?!

'Tis the Season!

'Tis the season! And I love it! I know I keep saying it, but we have so very many fun traditions that we do every Christmas. Last night... we put up the tree.

We found this particular tree... And... Get this... I drove dad's truck to get it! Not any truck, but a MANUAL transmission! For your information, I have made it a habit never to drive anything with a clutch. I once learned on a Dodge Shadow. *sigh* However, I had a few too many bad experiences that usually involved spinning out or killing it. But... Out of necessity, I ended up driving dad's truck. And it wasn't too bad, either!!! I know... I know, Ragnar.... Go ahead in interject here the, "I told you, you could do it!" :o)

Another tradition we have is drinking root beer in "Frosty Mugs" on the night we decorate the tree. "Frosty Mugs" are glass mugs we've left in the freezer. Then when you put liquid... Root Beer in this case... it's will turn cold and slushie. Yum! They're the best!

Don't worry.... We have LOTS of fun traditions we do every year... Memories to make...

I'll be sharing more with you soon! :o)

A Start on Christmas Decorating...

Well.... We've started Christmas decorating around here! I absolutely love decorating for Christmas! Here's a glimpse into a few of the nooks and crannies we've beautified so far! :o)

Remember this old doctor's bag I got for 1.00 at an auction? Well here it is again! Filled with pine cones... Vintage ornaments... And other Christmas odds and ends. It's one of my favorites!

This is the curio cabinet in the dining room. It's so pretty with pine boughs, poinsettias, Christmas garland, and of COURSE twinkle lights!!! :o)

When I bought all that Christmas junk a few months ago at the rainy auction... There was an entire box full vintage ornaments. I am having so much fun with them! I'm arranging them here and there in crystal bowls and other fun containers I've accumulated. Which is a lot! :o)

The fireplace mantle is now complete and Christmas-y!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!!!

Let it snow... Let it snow... Let it snow!!!

"Oh the weather outside is frightful...

But the fire is so delightful!

Since we've no place to go....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!"

**SIGH**

Hello Ya'll!
Yes... I am still alive!! I'm dreadfully sorry for abandoning you the last couple months! Let me explain, and perhaps you will understand why! :o)

Our family makes candles.... A lot of candles! We are Master's Hand Candle Co... you can visit us at: http://www.mastershandcandles.com/

This is our busy time of the year and... Since October 1st I have poured over 13,000 candles! Pwhew!!! I love what we do... But I'm glad to be done with the busy candle season!!! Now I can do things like.... Ummm.... actually clean my room... Do laundry... Fix something for supper other than frozen pizza or ramen noodles... (Not to complain! I happen to love both! :o) lol) and even get out out of the house more than once a week to go to church! Yay!

And best of all, now I can decorate for Christmas! I simply cannot wait!!! Whoohoo! I'll be posting pictures of my happenings, I promise!

So until then.... Stay warm!!! :o)

The first Snow!

I love it!!! That first fresh snow!
As the sun peaked through my window this morning, I finally decided to get up. My bed was so cozy and warm... I did, however have a long, busy day ahead. I turned to look out my window and was greeted with this beautiful sight of our first snow. There was just enough to barely cover the still green grass, and leaving a dusting on everything else. I love snow! Especially when I don't have to go out into it!!! :o) lol I mean, that occational snowball fight or sledding spree is a blast, but I absolutely love being snowed in!

So.... To ya'll out there....

Have a white Happy Thanksgiving!!!

No... I'm not decorating for Christmas yet... but...

I’ve been seeing so many cute Christmas decorating ideas from my blogging buddies and here’s just three that I finally found the “stuff” to do!

I picked all this up that that auction a few weeks ago. I got all the leftover Christmas stuff for 3.00. This is so cute... It's a candy dish, filled with colorful Christmas light bulbs.

There was a huge box of vintage-ish ornaments… Christmas light bulbs… and lots of other junk. Really junk! It was so bad, I sorted through it by the dumpster! But these took me a grand total of 5 minutes to throw together… If that! :o)

(I also got the glassware in a pile of leftovers for 1.00. Total cost of each project was maybe 1.00 at the most! I love them!

Happy Birthday Mom....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Craving....

Do you ever get an intense craving for something? Something sweet… Something with apples… And cinnamon… And crumb topping… I did just a few days ago, so out came my favorite “Apple Crisp” recipe. It is without a doubt one of the easiest things to make EVER! It only took me 15 minutes or so. And I’ve been making this since I was very young...
I love it! So… I’m sharing with you all! :o)


~ Apple Crisp ~
3 c. Sliced Apples 2 Tbsp. Flour
1 c. Sugar Pinch of salt

Crumb together:
¾ c. Rolled Oats ¼ tsp. Soda
¾ c. Flour ¼ tsp. Baking Soda
¾ c. Brown Sugar 1/3 c. Melted Butter or Oleo

Press over the apples. Bake at 350 until golden brown, or apples are done.


You can also use pretty much anything instead of apples. Peaches happen to be my absolute favorite! Topped with a bit of ice cream.... YUM!!!

An encouraging quote for all you single girls out there!

~*~ Don't worry... One day your prince will come, mine just took a wrong turn, got lost, and is too stubborn to ask for directions. ~*~

LOL

My new favorite quote! :o)

Last Saturday's finds!

All right... Here it is as promised... Pictures!

Yeasterday was the first time we saw the sun! Unfortunately it was short-lived. *sigh* Today was cloudy, cold, and windy. BUT... I did get pictures yesterday just before dark!

I bought 3 tables for 1.00 each... I'm so happy! :o)

There's this one.... One with a white enamel top (you can see a bit of it on the left hand side) ... And another smaller side table that has wonderful spindle legs as well. I'm very happy with them! (I have to be at 1.00 a piece!)

I know.. I know... You're thinking, "ANOTHER TRUNK?!" I'm thinking the same thing too! But it was only 1.00! It would have been absolutely wrong to let it go for that! So.... Just what to do with another one!

This was very cool! One of my highest bids with a whole $6 spent on this single purchase. It's and antique scale... Bet I can re-sell it for more than that. I think it's pretty nifty! :o)

Our porch is absolutely packed with junk right now... Poor mom. But there's so many ideas that I'm just bursting with now!! There's this old Conoco can I got for $1. Not my style, but I can re-sell it for more than that. I also bought 3 of those slow/stop signs... I've got ideas! Muaahaahaa!

I got a TON of enamelware. These pitchers were the most expensive at $2 for one and $6 for the other. I've never seen one for under $25, So I was tickled at these two! (The old guys just weren't interested! lol) I love that blue/white pan too.... Pretty EXCITING!

Anyhoo.... Just thought you might like to see just a few of my great-super-exciting-new-purchases!

It's been a busy week!!!

I know... I know.... It's been FOREVER since I've blogged! This week has been CRAZY busy! Our candle season is in full swing leaving little to no time for my trashy behavior! ;o)

I've been wanting to post pictures of all the wonderful junk I got on an auction last Saturday, but I haven't been able to even take pictures. "Why?" you ask... Well, it has not been very good weather lately. I have not seen the sun since last Friday. *sigh* But as soon as it pokes it's sunny face through the clouds, pictures will be sure to come!

So... despite not having any pictures... I will share with you the adventure I embarked upon last Saturday.


I awoke to the dreary, drip-drop sound on my window early Saturday morning. I was thrilled! Rainy auctions are great! Nobody comes! Yay! Makes for exciting buys, it does!
This particular auction was located a mere 2-3 miles from our house. Oh joy! We made our way there and to my great satisfaction, the only people there were all guys. Old guys. (With the exception of one particular fellow who was somewhere around my age... He had the most serious case of plummer's pants I have ever seen in my entire life! No offence to the plummers out there who might be reading this! ;o) lol)
It had the makings of definately being my kind of auction! ;o) My only grief being the fact that those old guys are a bit difficult when fighting over tools. But reguardless of that fact... I got absolutely adorable tables for a mere 1.00... Beautiful enamelware for next-to-nothing... It was great! I even bought a drill press. Which in itself brought about a conversation that still has me laughing! It went something like this:

I was over in a corner looking through a huge pile of some Christmas junk I had just gotten when behind me I heard a group of guys talking.

Guy 1: Hey... I need this drill press moved so I can get my truck in here. Anyone know who bought it?

Guy 2: Yeah... Ummmm.... I think a girl bought it.

Guys 1, 3, and 4: No way.... Come on.... Who really bought it.

Guy 2: No! I'm serious! It was some girl! She had her son with her. (Note: *Ahem!* That would be my little brother, Caleb)

It was SO funny! I guess I'm just not quite the "normal" gal, am I?!? lol You should have seen the looks on Guy 1, 3 and 4's faces when I turned around, smiled at them and sweetly said, "Oh! That's mine... Would you like it moved?" Priceless!!! :o)

I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as it clears up outside!

Of Copper Wire and Pitchers....

A while back I had posted about my pitcher that I had jazzed up the handle..... Well..... I had gotten the copper wire at Mangelsen's in Omaha. However it was over 5.00 for just a bit of wire. So I got to thinking.... (Uh-oh! Me thinking! That's dangerous!!) And I figured there just HAD to be a cheaper way to get wire!


Well, fast forward to now..... And.... TA-DAA!!!! I found it!

MENARDS.... My hero!

I bought about 4 ft of copper wire for 2.50! I know it looks too thick... but....

It is actually 7 strands of copper wire! So it's 4 ft. long... Multiplied by 7! All for $2.50!!

YAY! Just thought I'd let you all know the cheaper route to go should you make your own fun pitchers! I already got 3 more (Besides mom's that she wants me to do) to use as gifts... Just waiting to be jazzed up! :o)

Meanings of roses....

I am working on getting the roses up on my new website.... So I decided to research the meanings of the different colors of roses. I decided it might come in handy later! ;o)

Thought you all might enjoy what I've found!


Roses themselves express love and admiration. However each color has a traditional, special meaning that can express your true feelings for someone, whether it be friendship or romance. Here is a list of the various colors and the symbolic message they each convey.


A red rose says, “I love you.” It’s romance, passion, respect, and adoration all wrapped up in one single rose.

A light pink rose says, “I admire you.” It’s elegance, style, beauty, and charm!

A dark pink rose says, “thank you.” It is appreciation and gratitude.

A white rose says, “You are pure.” It’s innocence, respect, remembrance and hope.

A yellow rose says “You are a dear friend!” It evokes strong feelings of pure joy happiness, and friendship.

A yellow rose with red tips says, “You are more than a friend.” It symbolizes the transformation from a friendship to a budding romance.

An orange or peach rose says, “You are exciting.” It’s blazing energy, desire, passion, and a fervent romance.

A red and white rose says, “I will be here for you forever.” It’s unity, harmony, honesty, and trust.

A Burgundy rose says, “ You are beautiful!” It’s unconscious beauty.

A lavender rose says, “I fell in love with you at first sight.” It’s enchantment, attraction, and delight.

A blue rose says, “ You are mysterious.” It’s intrigue, fascination and attraction.



There you go!! Now you know!

Someone sent me roses!!!

Some guy from New Mexico sent me roses! 800 roses to be exact! I don't know... Seems like a bit of overkill to me, but... Who am I to complain? Just call him overly amorous!

Okay... Okay... To be perfectly honest... I don't even know the guy. In fact... I had to pay him to send them. So it's not the sweet, loving, romantic act I made it out to be... But that doesn't make me any less excited!!! :o)

I ordered 800 wooden roses... They are beautiful! I am so excited about them! They are handcrafted out of birch wood. They look SO real! I love them! We add scent to them and they smell BEAUTIFULLY! They make incredible car fresheners! ;o)

I'm hoping to do a craft show with my "junk" and our candles this fall, so I'll bring them along too. And even if I don't sell any, I'm having so much fun giving them away!!! It's a cheap way to make a smile!!

Waiting...

I was really searching tonight… and so I opened my Bible and my eyes lit upon Psalm 40. My heart almost stopped beating when I saw verse 1. It said,

“I waited patiently for the LORD and He inclined unto me and heard my cry.”

Then it went on in verses 2-4.

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. And He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is the man that maketh the LORD His trust…”

And the chapter goes on. It’s so encouraging! And my desire for my own life!!!
NOTE TO MYSELF: Go back and read Psalms 40 when discouraged!

As I read verse 1, the thought crossed my mind… What does it mean to “wait on the LORD?” I looked at the sidebar in my Bible and saw that it said, “Waiting for God. Ps. 130:6.” So off I went to see what it said.

“My soul waiteth for the LORD more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”

I then noticed that I had already underlined the previous verse, which meant it had spoken to me before. It said,

“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait. And in His word do I hope.”

How good my God is to give me what I need to hear when I need to hear it!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Dad... I know a few days late in posting this.... But......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I love you Dad!

My favorite season....

I know I already wrote an "Ode to Fall," but...

I think I decided which season is my favorite!


I mean, I love them all... but I never could decide between Spring or Fall. I've decided my favorite is Fall! (Of course I'll probably change my mind when Spring rolls around after a long cold winter! :o) lol) But I love the crisp mornings... The warm-but-not-hot days.... The vivid colors of the maple leaves... The long walks... I love it!

My Treasures!

Well.... I went through all the "junk" today and certainly found some treasures!!!

This is the bigger stuff... I'm excited about the sythe. I got it for $6 (You can imagine the comments I got on that one! ;o) It seems I was "The cutest Grim Reaper they'd ever seen!" lol) And a lady beside me said there was one down the street in the antique shop for $45!

I got the antique stool for $3. I'm going to ask my great-uncle Jake if he could make a new seat for it since this one is broken in half... (He does beautiful woodworking) And I'm going to see if Dad can take the rest of it to work and sandblast it. (Dad, If you read this before I get to ask you... Just pretend like you don't know! ;o) Love you!!! lol)

Ive already primed the green box. It has the cutest handle... I fell in love with it. And it was chock full of exciting junk too! And only $1 at that! Yay for auctions!

And I got all of these glass insulators in a box for $5... Not bad! They were so pretty out in the sunlight!!!

I was so tickled about this crate! That's where I found my best treasures!!! And only $1!!! It doesn't need a thing done to it! No paint jobs... Fixes.... It's darling just the way it is! Awww!!!

These were a few of the itsy bitsy treasures. I grabbed the irons (That's not what you call them, but I can't seem to remember what it is! ;o) lol) for $7. That was my biggest purchase. There was another guy who seemed set on them too. They're REALLY heavy, though!

Then there's the glass knob and 2 skeleton keys that I posted last night.

And a TINY leather pouch with a "5 cent trading coin," a Boys Town pendant, and an old army dogtag for Leonard Lyle Davis. Pretty cool!

AND.... These really old goggles. They look like the type that they used for driving in cars or really old airplanes. Anyone know anything about them? They're leather.... With straps that tie in the back... And the little plastic lens. They're in awfully good condition, whatever they are! ;o)

Anyhoo.... Those are my most exciting purchases, anyway! I hope there'll be an auction again soon!!! :o)

Spur-of-the-moment-FUN!!!

Well... Mom and I had one of those spur-of-the-moment evenings! (I love those!)





We were at home.... Just got done working on candles all day... Saw in paper that there was a little auction across the river a mere 15 minutes away... And decided to go! It looked small, and junky. But that's the kind I like! We got there and sure enough... Junk! Yay!

Boxes of nails, screws and other junk going for .25 each! Another Yay!

Here's just two things I found amongst one of my .25 boxes! HAPPY DAY!

When I said it was junk, I meant it! We loaded the car so full we could barely fit ourselves in and came home. We parked out by the dumpster to unload! ;o) lol I sorted stuff for 5 minutes before it got too dark to see. I'll resume in the morning! Can't wait to see what other treasures I might find! YAY!

I'll let you know what I find!

Autumn...

It seems as if summer suddenly switched to the crisp mornings and cooler nights that autumn inevitably brings. I love this time of year when we roast marshmallows over a bonfire… The leaves start to turn brilliant colors… The farmers work in their fields to get the year’s harvest in… The squirrels dash madly around… The geese call out overhead as they head south promising to be back just as soon as the ice begins to melt in the spring. Doesn’t it just make you want to go make a hot cup of apple cider!

I love Fall!

Just a few more projects...

Here's a few projects I worked on this week...

The shelf and the stool, I painted black and then distressed them.

I also made another lamp out of books. They're all calculus, algebra, geometry, ect... books. They'd be a fun one for a teacher! :o)

I got this lamp at a garage sale a few weeks ago. There was just something about it.... The doiley lampshade... the adorable picher base.... I might switch a different shade with the base and use this one somewhere else... but I'll see.

After all... I've spent $2 in worse places, right?! :o) lol

Caleb's Bedroom....

Since I was on the kick of posting past pictures....
And since Caleb and I cleaned his room yesterday....
And since it's my favorite room.....





I thought I'd show you around! :o)
This is my little brother, Caleb's "Roy Rogers Cowboy Room."

I did the "dragging thing" in his room as well. The walls actually look a lot like mine... Only mine's a bit lighter.

I painted the woodwork a brilliant red and I LOVE it. It just pops in that room! The twisted barbwire above all the windows is another favorite.


It was a vibrant K-State purple with pink woodwork when we moved in, so this was a welcome change for Caleb! ;o)

This was my first woodworking project... A window seat was a perfect addition! We store all our blankets in it. It works great!

This is my absolute favorite thing in the room. I just got an old, weathered barnboard and twisted barbwire around it and hung it on the wall above his door. It looks like it's just suspended there. It's really cool! I just can't seem to get a picture to give it justice.

Anyhoo.... Just thought you might like to see! ;o)

The finished piece of cake....

Whew! It's done!

This was at about 11:00 p.m. Frosting the last of the actual wedding cake.

Annnd.... This was on Saturday morning! ;o) lol

Putting the finishing touches on the extra sheet cake whilst in my curlers. :o)

We added the darling little leaves at the reception hall. We figured it was safer that way. I was sure something was going to happen to the cakes en route. I think that was the slowest I've ever driven since I first got my learner's permit!

I just took this so you could see mom's hair... Isn't it adorable?! I was so happy with how it turned out!

And I'm putting out the vitals... Napkins... Eating utensils... Nuts... Mints....

Teamwork!!!

Like the flowers on top? Tee-hee! We got there and asked for the flowers that they were supposed to have for the top and..... They forgot about making them!!! :o) lol So we stole all the extra boutonnieres and corsages and arranged them on top. They didn't look half bad! ;o) lol

Ed, and my cousin, Melissa.

Right before Melissa and Ed went up to cut the cake, she came up behind me and whispered in my ear, "I know I already asked you to MAKE the cake, but would you mind cutting and serving it too?" lol

So yeah! I was the cake server with a smile! ;o)

This is my Uncle Todd... He's a riot! ;o)

He talked me into dancing with him... And.... We danced the jitter-bug, baby! It was a ton of fun! And tiring! ;o) SWING BABY!

And sweet Caleb even requested a song for me and asked me to dance with him.... Awwww....

But *pwhew!* The cake was lots of fun.... But I'm glad it's over! :o)