how the header?

I changed out my header this afternoon. How do you like it? I went for more of the blue winter theme than the green and red but I’ll probably do a Christmas one in the weeks to come.

How was Thanksgiving? Our grandparents came up for a visit and we had a really good time with them. Thanks for coming! J

I’m reading The Voyage on the Dawn Treader for book club on Thursday. I haven’t read it since I was eight so I’ve enjoyed it. I can’t believe how much I’d forgotten! Can’t wait for the movie to come out!

happy turkey day

I’ve been so busy all day. I decorated a pumpkin cake. I baked cranberry nut bread. I washed dishes, I mopped the floor, I decorated, and I’ve planned.  I’m really tired. But I’ve had fun. J

This is the first time my family has made most of the dishes for Thanksgiving for ourselves. We’ve never brined a turkey before, we’ve never made dressing, we’ve never used every one of our casserole dishes at one time.

This is the time of year that Food Network is put to really good use!

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I adore it.

All the people and the floats, but most importantly the music and dancing!

I also like the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown special. haha. That’s also a great part of the day. :)

Thanksgiving is a serious business. There are certain things that we have every year that are very important.

 Such as sweet potato casserole. Sweet potato casserole is one of the best things on the table..along with the dressing.

But I have to say that dessert is my favorite part. We’re having pumpkin cake, pecan pie, cranberry nut bread, and (if it doesn’t rain!) s’mores. We’ll roast them over our fire pit, it will be the first time we’ve used it. The boys have been dying to.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope your turkey is juicy and your pie isn’t gone before you get a piece!

oh well

                                        

I didn’t win the Narnia essay contest. Boohoohoo.

I have checked the site at least twenty times in the last two days waiting for Focus in the Family to post the winner. At around four o'clock I checked it again. Not expecting them to have posted them. But they had, and to my great disappointment I didn't make the list. :)

I know its a very small chance to be the winner. But its so much fun dreaming about it.

I have never won any contest in my life. I was one (1!) number off on a drawing once. I always say that one day I'm going to win and its going to make up for all the other times that I've lost. I never get discouraged. I just keep waiting for my turn! :)

I’m going to find another contest to enter. I hope I’m not the only one who loves these things! J

I remember the first sweepstakes I entered was for American Girl. I was like eight or nine. The Samantha movie was coming out and they were giving away a trip to American Girl Place in NYC along with a load of other gifts. I was absolutely positive I was going to win. I just knew it. I prayed and prayed that I would win. I thought and thought about it. I was in for a big disappointment. I remember my stomach sinking when I saw that I didn’t win. To this day I still remember the name of the person who did, Amy W.

I like to enter contests because I like the excitement of waiting for the drawing. I like the nervous feeling I get every time. I like to dream about winning the prize. It’s fun, even if I don’t win.

Do you remember the part in Anne of Green Gables when Marilla tells Anne that she sets herself up for a let down? But Anne says that the feeling of giddy excitement of hopeful dreaming almost makes up for the let down.

I guess I kind of agree with her!

So…do you know of any contests, drawings, or sweepstakes that I could enter?? Particularly any that includes a trip to London? Haha J

On Pins and Needles

I'm on pins and needles.
I'm really wanting to find out!

Do you know what today is? Its the day they announce the winner for Focus in the Family's Narnia essay contest. November 22 is here! The deadline to enter was Saturday night. My mom entered Saturday afternoon. I'm anxiously awaiting to find out who are the four winners for this week. Oh, oh, oh.........

 I was reading the FAQ's last week, they said that it is okay if your child writes the essay and you enter it. So that's what we did.

For the essay you had to write who your favorite character is and why you would like to go to the premiere in London.
I couldn't decide who my favorite character was. I wrote two essays, one on Edmund and one on Mrs. Beaver. Then I had to pick which one. I decided on Mrs. Beaver. I played her in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" A Ballet and I really just love that character. So here's my essay below. I understand that Mrs. Beaver has no part in The Voyage on the Dawn Treader but it did not say it had to be from it. It just said, "The Chronicles of Narnia". Anyway, here's my essay below. It had to be 200 words or under so I didn't get to include all I wanted.

I was eight when my dad read the entire “Chronicles of Narnia” to me. I wanted to go there and often pretended that I would. My fascination for it grew when I “became” one of them.

I was twelve when I played Mrs. Beaver on stage. “Being” Mrs. Beaver was a wonderful experience, one of the best of my life. Delving into the book and analyzing her character and the part she plays gave me a deeper appreciation for her. To me, Mrs. Beaver represents the people who are put into our lives to draw us closer to God, who lead and direct us to Christ. She is one very special beaver.

I am especially fond of Mrs. Beaver because I “know” her the best. She is gentle but strong, and the Pevensie children may not have made it to Aslan without the help of her and her husband.

Going to see “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” would be one of my ultimate dreams coming true. I have wanted to visit London for a very long time and seeing Narnia in all its magic at the premiere would be phenomenal- just about as wonderful as going to Narnia itself!

i love friday

I am so very glad that its Friday. School is over for the week. chemistry and algebra can be shoved back on the shelf and don't have to be glanced at until Monday.

I can stay up late tonight. Maybe finish watching Pride and Prejudice. The one with Colin Firth, yeah, the one that takes several afternoons to get through! :) I have started watching it once a year. Every November. For some reason I like to do things like that. I'm a creature of habit I guess.

I love going to bed on Fridays and knowing that I don't have to drag myself out of bed in the morning. I don't have to get up and run in the cold dreary morning and I don't have to get up and do my hour and fifteen minutes of ballet. These are things I choose to do because I want to work hard and get better and stronger in ballet but it is nice to have a free morning here and there. I enjoy dancing, and I like the feeling of accomplishment that I feel when I get done with my run but I am glad that its the weekend. :)
So anyway, I'm happy that its Friday and I get to sleep in tomorrow morning. What's making you happy?

for he's a jolly good fellow

Levi turned 4 today. He opened presents, he drank hot chocolate, he watch Tom and Jerry, he ate frosting, and cake, and ice cream. He hit Titus, he "flew" with his new superman cape, he played in the wind, he ate a Cinnamon roll, and he sang. All in all he had a very good day. sigh

 I made him a superman cape. He usually tucks a towel inside his shirt but he finds that the cape does the job much better. Today was incredibly windy so it was the perfect time to break in his new cape. He asked us if it would really make him fly.

 He wore it to a coffee shop this morning. He told the women at the counter that his sister made it for him.
A man saw him and said, "Look who flew in!"

 I was 11 when Levi Walker was born. Of the three deliveries I've seen his was the worst. I remember thinking, "I'm never going to be able to see a baby delivered again! I'm just not going to have any children of my own....I'll just have to adopt. I couldn't ever go through something like that."

 "Brrr..the wind's cold!"

 I love this boy so much. He is very witty. He tells my mom, Lydia, and me whenever we're going anywhere, "Your gorgeous, and pretty, and beautiful. Your my one star, your my one princess, your my one heart. I sooo adore you!"

A little Romeo? yes.

Levi you are one wonderful little boy...happy 4th.

just a bit of my thoughts...

Here's the rest of the birthday pics my mom shot.

Thanksgiving is only twelve days away; we need to finalize the menu! I was thinking about tackling the dressing, or stuffing, or whatever you want to call the stuff. I haven't made it before but I love to tackle something new! I just watched Dear Food Network and learned all about the different things you need to know about preparing the Thanksgiving feast!

Mainly, I take care of the bread and the dessert. Its pretty safe to put me in charge of those. ;) I remember the very first time I cracked an egg for a cake on Thanksgiving. I cracked it...and it fell on the floor.

I'm really hooked on Pomegranates right now. They're my new favorite fruit, after strawberries and maybe grapes.

You know the dress I'm wearing in the pictures? Guess how much I got it for. $2! Off the sale rack at my favorite consignment store in our old town that I miss so, so much.

There are two men from a church that we recently visited that are on a mission trip to Sudan right now. The country of Sudan is in need of help and a prayer. Pray that the gospel will spread throughout it and win people for Christ.

I'm super excited about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader coming out! I can't wait! Did you know about the Focus on the Family essay contest? Submit an essay about Narnia and you might be one of the four chosen weekly to go in for a chance at the grand prize.

A trip for two to LONDON to the PREMIER!!! Oh how I want to win, oh how I would love to win.

The only thing is...you must be 18 or older. Shoot.

I Can't Stand It

I'm an indecisive person. 


So....picking out paint colors is hard for me.
I've spent so much time mulling over paint samples at Lowe's.
I'm just really afraid of picking a color and it turning out to be ugly.
Our bathroom paint has been the hardest to pick out yet.


I've seen a lot of pictures lately of really neat, retro rooms painted blue. Turquoise, robins egg, and pale blue. I thought it might be cool to paint the hall bathroom of our new house blue. But of course I then had to decide on what shade of blue. I pulled a ton of paint samples and searched for the right one.


But my problem was I wasn't really sure what I wanted. I didn't want it to end up baby blue so we picked one with a gray undertone.


I painted a bit on the bathroom wall and waited for it to dry.


I've come to the conclusion that all pale colors turn out lighter and all dark colors turn out darker. Does it seem that way to you? But anyway, the paint was white with only a slight hint of blue. Pooh, that wasn't what I had in mind at all. So I debate on whether we should have it tinted with just the tiniest, tiniest bit of gray.


Bad idea, BAD IDEA!


The guy at the paint counter dropped a little black into it. He said, "I really can't promise you what the color will turn out to be."   Oh, great.


It actually looked beautiful in the can. It was a nice, light, cool blue with a hint of gray. Fine, that looks like it will be really nice.


Boy, was I ever in for a surprise!


We painted a bit on the wall and again waited for it to dry. I have never seen any paint color change the way that one did.


It went from being soft and "Pottery Barnish" to being an ugly dark blue-gray. Its awful, I can't stand it. Nobody likes it except for my little brothers (but I don't really trust their tastes for interior design :) sooooo my dad was nice enough to tell us that we could go get something different.


Whew...(too bad I spent my entire afternoon Monday painting :D


So yesterday I was again looking at the paint colors, trying to decide on the right one and having a terrible fear of choosing the wrong one.

But its now settled, I'm going with.....

Valspar's "Sea Air" its a lovely light robins egg blue that will look great with our black cabinets and white towels.

I enjoy painting when I have music or a book on CD to listen too. So I guess that's what I'll be doing next week! :)

Anthropologie, How I Love Thee

I just love how Anthropologie has such creative names for every item. Here are some of my favorite pieces right now. :) But the prices, oh the prices!:(

Craft & Creation Top

$29.95

(This is actually not a bad price at all! You can find some real deals in the sale section)

Chilled Ripples Shell

$118.00

(See what I mean?!)

Frill Force Jacket

$188.00

Slanted Plaid Blouse

$49.95

$98.00

Mary Shirtdress

$128.00

These are so adorable. I never thought I was really a shoe person before seeing Anthropologies'!

Picture Perfect Clogs

$79.95

Rensselaer T-Straps

$79.95

sushi

Sushi is one thing that makes me happy.

I always thought sushi would be disgusting. I'm mean its raw! gross.

The first time I had it was with Lydia and my dad at a Japanese hibachi grill and sushi bar. I was very apprehensive. I popped a piece in my mouth.

Wow, it was great! Completely different from what I had expected.

It has a very fresh flavor, like nothing else I've ever tasted.

It is my favorite food, it even surpasses Eggplant Parmigiana! I'd rather have shushi than pizza any day. :)

It makes me happy   :)

Lily Kate and a Project....

Isn't this just precious??? Oh, I love that girl.

"How astonishing!"

 The bathroom cabinets in our bathrooms were outdated and ugly. We decided to update them. I spent an afternoon sitting on the bathroom floor meticulously painting this. It took a while.

First I had to prime it.

 Here's the finished product!

 I really love it!

My mom did my sixteenth birthday pictures a few weekends ago. I'll post the rest of them soon but this is all for now. ;)

Unpacking...

There are boxes everywhere....
There are mounds of paper.....
There is so much to do.......

And to think we just did this less than 18 months ago! Moving is one of the hardest things. I've loaded, unpacked, loaded, unpacked, loaded, unpacked. Everything gets in a mess.

But its fun to live in a new house, especially one that I love so much! Its fun to decorate and plan a new room. Fun to pick out the paint colors....(that really took some doing)....and putting new lights in. When you move you get rid of a lot of clutter, and that's nice.

My mom having her arm in a sling has been a little hard but we're managing! One thing about this ordeal is that I have to drive her everywhere. Which I really don't mind, I've gotten a lot of practice! I need to get a move on now so ta-ta!