IT SNOWED!    

the view from our back deck... 

   

   

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Cutout Cookies

These have to be my favorite cutout cookies EVER hands down. It's become a Christmas tradition to make these every year. It's such an easy recipe! and so much fun to make!

Divine Interaction

It was a quiet Sunday. We were hanging out in the living room when suddenly my younger bro comes in with Haley. He's worked up. He looks worried. His voice is quivering.  Mom and dad are sitting on the couch; he walks up to them and says he's hurt himself.... Something's wrong. This dude never gets worked up like that.  He pulls up his shorts. He has a 5 inch laceration on the inside of his upper thigh. The cut is jagged, deep, and very serious looking. It turns my stomach. I don't even want to look at it. (normally this kind of stuff doesn't bother. But this was Joe, and it was serious).

If you ask my brother how in the world it happened, he'll tell you, "I have know idea. One minute I was riding my bike and the next I was laying on the ground. It just happened so fast." He told us he was ramping his bike over a couple of small hills in our front yard. Somehow the bike lost traction, and he flipped over it, landing straight on his back. We were amazed that something so simple as that would do so much damage. Somehow as he was flying over his bike, the break handle got him. He said it hurt so bad, he just laid there for a good few minutes. Believe it or not, he actually walked his bike back to the house and put it away! We joke about that. He obviously needed some support walking...

He hops himself up on the kitchen counter. Surprisingly there's no blood, just a deep, jagged, almost clean cut.  Mom is panic mode,"HE'S GOING TO THE ER." She places some sterile bandages on it, and Joe makes his way to the car. Dad sees Joe's shirt.... he needs a clean one. Haley, Dad, and I bring him each a shirt. Mom isn't too happy about it. She doesn't care about his clothes. She wants them to be on the way to the hospital. Haley and I stay home; mom and dad are going to keep us updated.

As soon as they make it too the ER, they are immediately put in a room. The first call we get is from dad. They made it to the hospital. They're in a room. Joe's getting set up. The second call several minutes later is from mom. She's bawling. "We almost lost Joseph". She's having a hard time talking and tells me to talk to dad. Dad explains that they had talked with the doctor. The doc had said Joe's main artery was exposed, and that he was very, very lucky he missed it. He also said he didn't bleed much because he had miss the main veins in his leg.

In the end, he gets 22 stitches and has been at the hospital for four hours. The entire time he cracked up, making jokes with the doctor and nurses. He actually told the doctor that he had some pretty good arms on him! Not once did he shed a tear.

Many of you have already heard at least part of Joseph's story, but not all of it. We are so thankful for all of your prayers and concerns! Ya'll are such a blessing to us!

It's been a week since it happen. We have to believe Providence was certainly in control. How can one be so lucky to miss their main veins and artery and not bleed with such a horrible wound?? It's simple. He wasn't lucky. He was blessed. Providence has way of showing His glory, power, and love through such events. We are so thankful for the Lord's interaction and blessing in our lives. Joseph is proof of that interaction.

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12

11-18-2012

Go to college they said. It will be fun they said... until you reach finals. My teachers told me to enjoy my ThanksGiving break and then said "[by the way] be prepared to take some tests when you come back."(end of the chapter tests and finals) So, what am I doing? PANICKING. FREAKING OUT. NOT SLEEPING. LIVING ON COFFEE. STUDYING LIKE CRAZY. (can you tell this is my first go-around at this?) On the bright side, only 3 more weeks!!!! On a burst of confidence, I got this... I think.

We got to watch this sweet girl this week

She is starting to say a lot of new words including my name, emmy. I'm kind of 

stoked about that.

MY CAR LEAKS COOLANT, SO EVERY NOW AND THEN I GET TO ACT LIKE A BOSS.

My Jeep and I have gone through a lot since we first met each other.... and it has a problem. It likes to leak coolant. 

When I got my car, I had no clue exactly what coolant was or what it does until I was driving on the interstate, on my way to school last year. Think blue skies, warm, and no clouds. Suddenly I noticed little drops of something showing up on my windshield (I think rain, so I started looking for clouds. nope, no clouds)... it got worse and I could not see anything. I decided to used my windshield wipers. Guess what? It smeared. Now I really couldn't see a thing... I then had just a little corner of my windshield to see out of. I got off the next exit. By the time I called dad, my car was smoking like crazy and making sizzling noises... and I was on the side of the road. The entire time I kept thinking, "My car hates me!" I was also thanking the Lord for keeping me safe but also asking Him why He gave me such a car.
                                                                                                                                                                      
      To make a long story short, dad drops my car off at a local shop, he takes me to school (taking time off work so I wouldn't miss my test; he's the best!), and we find out my radiator hose had a hole in it. As you probably guessed, all that smeared whatever on my windshield was radiator fluid. (By this time, mom was ready to just give my car away.) After it was fixed, we started paying a littler more attention to the temperature gauge and noticed it was overheating randomly, so we started checking the coolant level.

     It's been a little over a year since then. I actually love my car even with its quirks and problems. The Lord gave me the exact car I wanted, and I am so grateful! Today, I needed to check the radiator fluid level. Pop the hood. It needs more. Unscrew the lid. Add some extra coolant. I feel like a boss.  May be a little bit like Rosie the Riveter.... 

MEET HARLIE

Give me some bread. please?

 

I am a huge bread-eating fanatic! I could get fat on the stuff. The cold weather we've had for the past few weeks has inspired me to start making it regularly again; I love making it without the bread machine (we haven't been on good terms lately anyways). There's something about making it the 'old fashioned' way. So, without further adieu, here is the simplest bread recipe ever:

3 cups flour
3 tbs oil
3 tbs sugar or honey
3 tbs gluten (optional- but it does help make a fluffier bread)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm/hot water (kind of in between that)
2 tsp active dry yeast

Put your yeast in a cup and fill it with 1 cup warm/hot water. Let it sit. In a bowl combined your flour, oil, sugar, gluten, and salt. Add your yeast water. Mix it until it forms a ball of dough. It should be soft and pliable. Knead it for about a minute or two. Be careful not to over knead it because you'll end up with tough dough, which will cause your bread not rise as well. Place your dough in a slightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. This will keep the heat in. (I like to cheat; I stick my bowl in the oven after I've slightly warmed it. It's also a safer place for it at my house). Let it rise until it is double its original size. Knead it slightly, and place in 2 greased bread pans. Let it rise until double (the same way you did it the first time). Bake between 275-300F until the top of your loafs are golden.
Note: based on your altitude, you might need to add some extra flour. This chart should help.
If your bread doesn't come out right the first time, keep practicing! 

P.S. If you have a favorite bread recipe you'd like to share, I'd love to try it! 

LIFE IS GOOD...

enjoying the cooler weather...

rocking' with this handsome dude

we can totally pull off the 80's (or maybe 70's?)...

eating this yummy snack at school 

(because I have the coolest dad ever!)

reading this book...

here

lovin' my haircut
(my blue ends are forever gone)...

the weekender

Last weekend I was able to hang out with these three awesome kids! It was everyone's first time to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings (including mine). This was taken right after we got our food, and we didn't stay this clean very long (how could you? it's wings smothered in sauce!)
I now have a new-found respect for moms who are going to college. Even though it was really fun- getting them ready for school, the lunch packing, the car-rides to school and back, house cleaning, supper making (and watching Paul dance and sing), it was hard trying to get homework done. I was exhausted at the end of the week.
In the five days we spent together, they described me as a blonde nerd who sings like a boy...
Yeah, we had a blast.

9-7-2012

no lab = more time to study... and another cup of coffee x)

08/29/2012

My first week of college is over, and I'm in love. I didn't think I would like school as much as I do but ok. back to reality... I'm up to my neck in homework, and psychology is the worst. (it helps that I also really. hate. psychology.) I had to take chemistry this fall and was really planning on failing it. If anyone can "teach" me chem, they are DOWN RIGHT AWESOME. Thank you, Lord, so much for my teacher this fall. I have really been blessed with such great professors esp. since I had no clue who I was getting. Last weekend was pretty much my last weekend. And so the studying begins- in other words, I'm becoming a  solitary nerd.

lately I have been:

- attempting to get up early and run or ride my bike (yeah, not working)

- trying to eat healthier esp. since I go to school everyday now

- drinking a lot of coffee 

- doing homework 

- becoming friends with some amazing people

college bound

so, I'm going to be a 'for real' college student this fall (cause, you know, WATC doesn't really count).

I spent the other day emailing my professors and accidentally called two of them Mr instead of Mrs, visa versa! I ended up spending my whole morning comparing book prices with various sites and what not. Talk about a frustrating morning! But I did manage to save a few bucks. happy dance! 

To go with those books and classes, I bought a planner. yes, I said planner. (for those of you who don't know me, planners and me have never worked).

7/27/2012

This is for my favorite uncle:) over seize...

love,

your crazy neices and nephews

happy birthday to this awesome little girl!

my sister and I decided we'd go just a little crazy, just one time, this summer...

 

DIY hobo purse

this pattern is soooo easy!

it's very adaptable so play around with it and have fun!

I used an old leather jacket for this... anything will work though:)

(thanks to my sister for putting up with me; she makes a great model!)

cut out your pattern and pin it to your material...(I drew mine out on a Braum's paper sack.
you could also cut it out free-handed but I needed something to follow)

cut 2 pieces for the outside of your bag and 2 for the inside...

put together a leather and floral peice and sew only the top. make sure your material is wrong sided. Do this to the other 2 pieces. (don't forget to zigzag 

your edges)

you should have 2 pieces now. pin the leather material together and sew.

do the same thing to the other material.

fold your bag inside out.

now for the straps....

cut two pieces based on how long you want your strap to be. sew one side together.

measure it against the strap part of your bag and mark it with a pin.

line it up with your sewing machine and take the pin out. sew all the way down. turn it inside out.

take your bag's straps and fold them inside, about an inch.

tuck your straps inside your bag's straps. sew along the edge.

I am....

-drinking my coffee
-working on this
-finally finishing some over-due sewing projects
-wondering about college this fall