Wednesday, December 29, 2010

On the Road Again


Hi all, that's right I'm headed out of town
again for the fifth time since Thanksgiving. All this packing and repacking is starting to make my head spin. Nothing hits my closet, it goes directly from suitcase to washer, then from dryer back to suitcase. Life is really changing fast around here, someday soon I will fill you all in, I promise. A donut and a visit, that's what we'll have. So until I'm back, take a look at this from one of my nearest and dearest.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

My Brown Eyed Girl


You don't really need a coupon for a doughnut run in our house, but I suppose some people do:)

This one is always happy. That makes me happy.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

We made it to Grandma's at 3:00am this morning, slept for a few hours and had a great day here in the snowy east. After a few of Grandma's cut outs and about a gallon of coffee we were in business. We're looking forward to a couple of quiet days here with the family. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Into the Snowy Wild

A 'two-cinnamon roll day' has been officially declared by my first born....I'm so proud.

I'm actually going on a road trip today, one similar to the scene above, there will most assuredly be snow and windshield wipers, but I'm not sure about the man in the sequined scarf. I will see him later though, when Jingle-Jingle Wedding Bells hits the stage in 'Donutland' tonight. The show must go on folks, we laugh in the face of inclement weather. Well, maybe we don't laugh exactly, maybe more like a little snicker....a nervous, little, snicker. My cream stick awaits, my reward for traveling into the snowy wild. I'm pretty sure I'd drive through anything for an Amish Door creme stick, oh and for my friends and co-workers who are waiting for me there too, I'd drive through anything for them too, uh-huh I would:) See ya on the snowy flip-side.


Saturday, December 11, 2010

More Decorating

I finally got my mantle done, it took for-ev-er, but it turned out pretty well I think.

And this pesky pantry, what a job.

You know I don't have much to work with people, what did you expect.

I think if I just had a few more things, then I'd be in business.

Yes, now that it is all up, I think I'll do a few things different next year.


I'm sorry, I had to do it. This is not my house. It is The Arms Family Museum in Youngstown, Ohio. I had the great opportunity to go in and photograph it for them. They do not allow photos in the museum, so they decided to have some in print for people to take home. It was an amazing experience. If you are in the area, you have to see this special Christmas Exhibit. My friend Rebecca works there and would be thrilled if you came. If you love vintage, old mansions and Christmas in general, it will blow your mind. Rebecca was kind enough to give me some passes and I decided that I would like to give two of them to you. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite Christmas decoration and I'll stick all your names in a hat. I'll draw one out and announce the winner on Tuesday morning, that gives you two and a half days or so to comment. You have to play to win people! Oh, and when you go to the museum you will have the opportunity to meet the people who really did the decorating, because it wasn't me. I'm pretty sure some planning was involved and remember from yesterdays post, that's not likely to happen around here:)

P.S. The drawing will of course work best for my local readers, but it you're interested in a road trip, Mi casa es tu casa.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Christmas Decorating


I've been slowly decorating little corners of my home the last few days. While most of my Christmas things are vintage and collected over the years, I have added a few new things too.
I painted these letters last year and decided to put them in a new spot this year.



This brings me to one of my little quirks. I very rarely want or can do things the same way twice. I don't know where it came from or what made me this way, but it is terribly annoying at times. The downfalls are numerous; like instead of feeding the dinner guests a recipe that's tried and true, I will always try out something different, and I don't mean different in a good way always. When it comes to clothes, I might nail down a great outfit, but I won't often wear it that same way again, even if people really liked it. Most of my furniture is on castor's, for obvious reasons. I have friends with iPhones on speed dial, so that they can get me back on the right road when I get turned around after trying to blaze a new path to no avail. You get the picture. Calendars and routine schedules are not my friends. Don't get me wrong, I think traditions are great..... if you change them every year. See? I am crazy.

There are so many times when I would love to say, "The Christmas Village goes here, the nativity goes there, the tree always sits in that perfect spot in front of the window."



I really would like to know those things sometimes, but I just can't, it's not in my DNA. If there was a pill for it, I'd be tempted, because I really do bang my head on the wall sometimes. And I think other people would like to bang my head against a wall sometimes too.

My friend ...the one with the iphone ...that I call for directions, took this picture when we were in in Columbus this summer. I just dug through my emails to find it, it's perfect for this post.

So I told you my Quirk, what's yours?



Monday, December 6, 2010

Scenes From a Snowy Monday








Two-Donut Weekend

Any weekend that involves these beauties can't be bad.

A party with friends,

some tree trimming, and....

...... a visit from my oldest nephew, his wife and pooch. Yes, it was, a Two-Donut Weekend.




Friday, December 3, 2010

The Perfect Snowflake


This little snowflake is Jaden, my little niece. She and Taryn were born only one day apart. They look so similar to each other, we call them twin cousins. They are separated by a 3 hour car ride though, but when they do get to spend time together they are inseparable.

Our family isn't huge and has many age gaps, but I think it's nice that way. The little ones really look up to the big ones and the older ones are so good to the younger. I think we all benefit. The little ones have watched them perform in plays, sporting events, graduations, weddings and prayed for them when they've been far away. The older have held crying babies, put up with hours of crawling around on the floor, wii, and some rather crazy get togethers. They will probably have a pretty good idea of what having children will mean, they will know what is expected. They've never shied away from any of it over the years.

I think this wedding has made me reflective, and happy. I'm getting more sentimental as I age I guess, it feels natural, something I certainly won't fight. Every experience means more, you want to slow the clock and the calendar down so you won't miss anything. I also feel like as I get more adept with my camera, I'm actually 'seeing' more. I've always taken pictures, ever since the ancient darkroom days, but now it's just different. The camera has turned into a portal of sorts, a window that makes it possible to view anything on the other side of the lens differently and more thoughtfully than you would have before. If the subject is created by man, I'm thinking about who created it, how did they make it so beautiful, how can I do it justice. If the subject is created by God, I think the exact same thing. The other day, Myah was singing a jingle, over and over and over, I finally asked what she was doing. She said and I quote, "I'm practicing my Super Hero Theme Song, everyone should have one." After I laughed for quite a long time, we discussed what super power we would have. No one could quite decide on ice or fire, shrinking or growing, but later I thought of one. Seeing people and things for exactly what they are, sure sometimes the 'light' might be unflattering and sometimes the 'image' could be too perfect, but at least you would know and you could go from there. The more time goes on I realize that that it takes depth to capture things in this manner. So I guess I would be Depth Girl. On second thought, being able to control the weather would be pretty cool too:)