December Photo Project 12/11

The December Photo Project is sponsored by Rebecca from View From The Prairie Box

 

Jesse and I went to Paul and Brandi's wedding today.

What a special day!

This love story has waited five and a half years for the beginning of its happily ever after.

 

 

I've never met two more patient, loving, respectful, and strong people.

They deserve every ounce of happiness.  We are so happy for them!

 

Brandi planned the entire wedding and all of the details herself.  I'm planning on doing a DIY Bride post in January to show you her beautiful Library Themed Wedding and have her share some tips with you!  (Maaaaybe February--I'll let her settle into her new life as a wife and Special Ed teacher in Seattle first!)

 Jesse and I took about 400 pics today, so be sure that it will be a gorgeous, picture-full post!

December Photo Project 12/10

The December Photo Project is sponsored by Rebecca at View from the Prairie Box

Maybe you've seen my funny little plaid table in some of my pictures and wondered "Where on earth did Bethany find a table like that?!?"

And my answer to you is that is was here when we moved in.

We're renting from friends, and very blessed to do so.  When we moved in, the house was nearly completely furnished.  There was a dining room set, complete with a beautiful table and 8 chairs, a coffee table, two side tables, an organ (yes!), and this funny little plaid table.



I've always loved the idea of yellow kitchens.  When Papa and Ami lived in Ontario, Ami's kitchen was yellow, and I loved how bright and cheery it was with its eyelet curtains blowing in the breeze.  I was so excited to see this little yellow kitchen the first time we walked into the house! Dorothy, the woman who lived here before we moved in, must have loved yellow.   The kitchen walls and ceiling are yellow, there's yellow linoleum on the floor, the kitchen counter is yellow...and Dorothy had made the most darling cream curtains with yellow stitches (they were pretty much deteriorated when we moved in, hence my Bethany-made eyelet lace curtains!)

I don't even know where someone would find a plaid-topped table.  I'm assuming that Dorothy's husband, a talented craftsman himself, inlaid the table with plaid.  I don't really know the story.  But needless to say, when we moved in, the table stayed.  And I've loved it's funky little plaid ever since.

December Photo Project 12/9

 

The December Photo Project is hosted by Rebecca from View from the Prairie Box

 

 

Your mercies are new every morning;
   great is Your faithfulness. 
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for Him.

Lamentations 3:23

December Photo Project 12/8

The December Photo Project is sponsored by Rebecca at View From the Prairie Box

 

I took many pictures today of all of my favorite ornaments on our tree.  I'd like to do a post about our ornaments sometime.

 

But today for DPP, I want to post a memory.

 

The year that my youngest sister, Laura was born, my Ami (grandma) decided to do something special with my siblings and me for Christmas (and probably just to give my mom a break!)

I still remember the warmth of the kitchen, how yummy it smelled while Ami let 5 year old Jon, 3 year old Kate, and 7 year old me help measure out the spices, our squeals of glee as we mixed the gingerbread dough with our fingers.  Ami could lift us back then.  She had Jon and Kate sit on the kitchen counter.  I was tall enough to stir while standing--wearing my pink Jellies and Mom's most matronly apron.  We rolled the dough out together, singing Christmas carols and anticipating our walk around the festively lit neighborhood that evening with Papa Chuck.  Papa Chuck didn't spend much time in the kitchen; he only came in to wash his hands after working on the engine of our minivan or playing outside with our dalmatian.  He would wash his hands and pat them dry on Ami's bottom.  They'd laugh and kiss, he'd wink at us, and then go out to the living room to watch closed-captioned news.

Ami handed us each a cookie cutter, and we took turns cutting shapes out of the gingerbread.  The next day, after the pieces had dried completely (I'm sure she baked them, too), Ami brought out some red yarn with golden sparkles in it, and helped us string each them so that we could hang them from the tree. 

Our entire home smelled of the warmth of gingerbread that first Christmas! 

Each year after that, as we opened boxes of ornaments to put on the tree, we'd find that our collection of gingerbread ornaments had gotten smaller and smaller.  Some had broken, some had been half eaten by Laura, some had purely crumbled into powder.  I don't know how this one has lasted so long.

The year that Jesse and I were engaged, Dad designated a special box just for my ornaments.  After Christmas, he carefully packaged them all in my box to go with me to our new home.  As Jesse and I decorated our first Christmas tree together in 2008, I found this single star-shaped gingerbread ornament resting between sheets of tissue paper.

I have many ornaments.  Beautiful ones, expensive ones, ones I'll treasure forever. 

But none of them bring breaths of gingerbread-scented laughter and gold-tinted memories like this little star.

December Photo Project 12/5

Hosted by Rebecca at View From the Prairie Box

 

 

 

 

I'm having so much fun playing with our new camera.  Bear with me while I learn how to focus a DSLR :0)

I could barely wait to take my camera out to the courtyard at church this afternoon.  There are so many gorgeous rose bushes;  it's so serene!

I had fun experimenting with focusing today, and was excited to see how the focus was on the foreground, leaving the water fountain and other roses softly blurred. 

This DPP is a good opportunity to stretch my new wings!

 

Notice how the flowers grow.  They do not toil or spin.  But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them."

Luke 12:27

December Photo Project

I'm four days late, but I'm hopping on the bandwagon. 

Won't you join me???

Rebecca over at View From the Prairie Box is hosting her annual December Photo Project, where bloggers each post one photo a day for the first 25 days of December. It's a way to show others what life looks like through your eyes. My friend Paris joined in, and so did I!

I would love for you to take a look at Rebecca's DPP page, and if you are a blogger and want to get in on the fun, post your blog URL here (and in my DPP discussion post on Happy Homemaker Me's facebook page) so that we can follow your daily photos, too!

 

Here is my photo for December 4th:

 

 

Crafts have been taking over our home recently.  It's a rather lovely thing to be invaded by, though, isn't it?  :-)

I made this ribbon box last year out of a shoe box, two dowels, and decoupaged the exterior with pretty scraps of paper and inspirational writings.  It makes me happy.  The sewing box underneath is the one my grandma and I chose together for my 15th birthday.  I love thinking of her whenever I use it!

I hope you join in the fun!

Happy Homemaking!
♥ Bethany