Party till the New Year Comes

Well it is once again December and the parties and festivities are in full swing, everywhere you look the lights are hung and trees twinkle in the windows, no wonder this is allot of people's favorite time of Year.
It is defiantly one of my favorite times, I think it is because of the calm that can be found even in the midst of all the Hustle and Bustle. It is those moments when you come home from whatever activity you have been at so tired you can't even think but then you find that calm, it might be as you light the candles just because or when you climb into that bubble bath and sink into the moment. I love the moments in the evening when I can sit in the peacefulness of home and write out cards or just look at the lights on my tree and just for a few minutes all the crazy of that day and all the rest disappear.
I Love the busyness of this time of year also I love the music and Parties, I love to have people over and share a meal or just treat with them, I am excited that I am able to be with loved ones and great friends.
This Year I am looking forward with much anticipation, I know that this time of year makes most of us reflect on the past twelve months but instead of doing that this year I am going to Party till the New year comes, there may be times when the party consist of me some music, candles and hot cider but still it is a party. I am excited that I can look forward with hope and anticipation of what the New year Might bring, so I say but on your Santa hat or bundle up and go for a sleigh ride and make this year the best Christmas ever.

When I was a Child I dreamed that one day!!

This was the title of a speech that I gave when I ran for Strawberry Festival Queen, I don't remember the whole speech but I do remember the line that said I dreamed that I would be a Dr. drive a BMW and have 100 kids, and then I went on to say that that dream had become the reality of a Subaru and maybe 6 kids.
Even now it is weird to think back seventeen years and what I have done in that time, I feel like I have made allot out of these years. I have traveled around the world I have seen places that many can only dream of.
But as any time we think back on our live I wonder what else i could have done how could I have changed where I am today, I am for the most part happy with who I have become and what I have dome with my life but there is always the what ifs. I would never choose to go back but as I have a chance to start over now I pray that I will know where I am to head in the future. Maybe this time it will be towards becoming a Dr. but I don't think I will go for the 100 kids.
As we all move forward don't dwell on the past but embrace the future, but never forget where you have come from and what has gotten you to where you are.

What does it take to have a great Party?

Over my lifetime I have been part of hundreds of great parties, big and small, formal and informal and all it really take to have a great party is people, now don't get me wrong I love all the little details that make a party extraordinary, I am all about the fluff and stuff, from the food to the table scape I want it to be amazing.
Six years ago I met Edd and I invited him to attend my annual Strawberry Festival party, when he arrived he was shocked because I had chaffing dishes and table cloths at a BBQ. For me that is important, can you have a great time with tin foil pans and plastic table cover? Absolutely, but my way of turning it up a notch is to have extra special touches. This year we served marinated and slow grilled tri tip, dill potato salad and sweet and spicy chicken Kabobs. The food was amazing and just seeing the people enjoy it made my day.
I am a foodie so for me it is all about the food, I will think about the flavors and textures and how they play off each other and my mind never stops trying to make the next meal better than the one before. I hate it when I walk away thinking I should have done it different. For some of you it might be about the decorations, or about the games and fellowship, we all have areas that are important to us. So when it is your turn to plan or host an event think of what is important to you and go from there, if you are not a cook ask for help, or go to Costco store bought items are just fine. And if you don't play games make sure you provide some kind of entertainment so that the party isn't a dud.
I love to entertain and it come very natural for me, I find it easier to feed 50 than 2, most of you are not this way, so find what works for you and get help when needed. Don't be afraid to entertain it is only as hard as you make it

Strawberry Festival

It is that time of year again, when the Sun comes out (well sometimes) and we start to venture outside. I know for me as soon as the rain slows down I find myself longing to be out in the yard getting it ready for the summer, I love to be outside, I love the smells and the sounds it just makes my world better. But also what happens about mid May around my house is full action get all the projects done before festival comes. This is the tenth year that we have been doing a big Festival party here at the house, I look forward to it all year long I think of the food that we are going to have and can't wait to make it bigger and better than the previous year.
Because this is the 10th anniversary I have been trying to come up with a way to make it extra special, I have had so many thoughts go through my head and I am having a hard time settling on one, so who knows what it will end up like but hopefully it will be a great time.
Each year around this time my family helps me get a major project done before the party, last year it was building a new back deck and this year it has been the kitchen, I am looking forward to having so much more counter space to work on. Sometimes it is hard to have people here working on things and not being able to put things away but, I feel so blessed for the family that I have that gives me so much and puts in so much time to help me have a nice home.
So for some of you who don't know there are several reasons that Festival is special, One of them being that My Grandma Byers is the oldest living Strawberry Festival Queen, she was Queen in 1934 and is 94 years old, secondly my Sister Tricia was Queen and I was Princess. So we have allot of reason to love our hometown festival, but also not everyone has a yard that the parade comes right in front of, so what a better time for a party.
I love to entertain, I love to cook great food, I like to make people happy and I get so much Joy out of watching everyone have a great time. II can't imagine going without this party and I am extra excited for the special things that we have planned for this year. If you are around you should be here because it is the party of the year

Living in a mess

Many of you who know me also know that I am pretty picky about the condition of my home, actually I am kinda a neat freak. Ok I admit it I am really a neat freak. There now are you happy? Ok so really, life has been a little crazy around here, I know that I wrote about the upcoming kitchen remodle, but what i didn't know is that when I left town for a few days that my family was going to come in and start the project, was very surprized when I got home and the walls were painted and they were setting new cabinets.
So here is an update on the project, I have new flooring down yea I love it I have new to me cabinets all painted to match and they look great, the countertops are done and most of the doors are hung. We are still working on the tile backsplash but hopfully that will be done this week.
Also during the whole remodle we had a work party on saturday in the pouring down rain and they got Lauries room painted, several trees cut down, a cabinet built and bark in the flowers beds, people were going in a million different directions a bit crazy but very productive. I can't even begin to thank my family and friends for all they have done for me.
I think the thing that has been hardest is not being able to do things mysels that I usually would just do, I know that this is only for a time though I struggle with being discouraged daily. I have so many blessing and I know that God is working even through this sittuation, but it is so hard to remember that when all you want is just to be you again.

The Kitchen

As many of you can imagine, a 100 year old house comes with lots of character and Work. Yes lots and lots of work. Over the past ten years we have slowly worked inside and out, creating a neat little home, I actually love my House even the drafty single paned windows and creaky floorboards.
But there is defiantly downsides to homes that are Old. For the past several years I have been able to ignore the drippy sink faucet and the leaky drain by using a bucket and just paying the water bill, but as time has gone on the sink leaks more and more and the faucet drips all the time, now I can hear most of you saying well just fix it. I wish it were that simple, as I said before the house is 100 years old therefore none of the cabinets or counter tops are what any of you can imagine. The cabinets that are under the sink are three inches shorter that standard height oh and by the way I am 5'9" taller than average, so this is issue number one, secondly the doors on the cabinets have been jerry rigged together for the last time, and thirdly and most important I can not find a sink that comes even close to fitting in the current hole
So this brings us to a huge can of worms, what to do next do we start a huge kitchen remodel or do we keep patching it together? So after much thought and number crunching We are going for a new but used kitchen remodel. My Sister just put all new cabinets in her house which gives me some cabinetry that is sixty years newer than the current one I have. I am very grateful for this as there is no budget for this project but I think that makes it more fun.
I have wanted to do the kitchen in a Tuscan theme for some time now I love the wine colors and purple, the dark olive greens and mustard, I can't wait to see it come together. So I have decided to take the base part of the lower cabinets and paint them an dark olive, and then I am going to paint the doors a warm cream. I was able to pick up can of oops paint for $5.00 in a mustard color and I am going to put that on at least one of the walls. I also found tile on Clearence for .25 cents a square foot. So far keeping within the crazy budget.
I can't wait to see how it all changes the look of the kitchen. I currently have a 1960's portable dishwasher in the middle of my kitchen but because of the changes we are making I am going to have newer dishwasher installed in the cabinets. My parents have been doing some remodel and they decided to change out their dishwasher because of the color, so I am going to benefit for that Yea. There is also a chance that we are going to change some of the upper cabinets and if we do I will finally have a home for the refrigerator that currently sits next to the dishwasher in the middle of the kitchen.
I was trying to come up with the plan for this project, and I kept putting it off partly because I am really not up to doing much yet, and also because I just kept thinking that I would be able to save money and do it the easy way, not the make it work way. but now that I am into the project I think it is almost more fun when you have to make something work. It really shows that it doesn't have to be about the money, but more about the pride that goes into it. Would I love to go out and order granite and travertine absolutely, I love the expensive texture just as much as anyone, but will my .25 cent a square foot tile be beautiful yes, and I will love it even that much more because I know that I am not going to have be paying it off for years to come.
So I guess what I would like you all to see is that a home is what you make it, you can live in a place that is grungy and wish you had something better, or you can find a $5.00 can of paint and make it better, you don't have spend money to make something great you just need a willingness to tackle the adventure, oh and usually really good friend and family that are willing to help

Christmas

As we come to this time of year life tends to get out of control, we have parties and school functions, church plays and Shopping and it is so easy to get caught up in all of the craziness and forget the there is truly only one thing that makes this Christmas. We have all heard the story many of us can quote the passage in Luke 2 where he tell of the birth of the savior, but what does that mean to you?
I have to be honest a week ago I was really down and had no desire to celebrate or plan for Christmas, I believe I told my mom that I was going to stay home and spend Christmas by myself this year. This has been a hard year for me and I had got so caught up in feeling stressed out about my situation that I had forgotten to enjoy what was going on around me.
I had been asking for several week what could God be trying to teach me by allowing my to go through the trials again, why did he need to take me back and I think all along it was to help me understand What Christmas is all about.
Christmas is not about me and my trials it is about giving it back to God when we are going through them, It is not about whining about our situations but rather about asking for those who love and support you to be Praying for our situations,
It is not about asking why but rather learning from what he is teaching you.
These are all things that I have had to learn over and over again.
I know that I am not the only one with stuff in my life we all have many things that could drive us into a very dark place, It may be a Physical pain, or it may be grief that we can not let go of, I may be the loss of a relationship that grips so tight that you don't know if you can breath. We have all been there, but were we need to be is on our knees we need to be looking to him for all of our strength.
This Christmas I am asking that you all lift me up in prayer, yes for my Physical pain but more importantly that I would always remember to have FAITH.
Throughout scriptures we see person after person who was going through trials, I can't even imagine being Mary and Joseph, not only was she pregnant but they had to leave their home and family and travel during Her final days of pregnancy, this is one time that you usually are "nesting" all you mom's out there know what I mean, but instead of setting up a crib and getting the home ready she had to travel by donkey to another city and then she had to stay in a stable where we all have hear that she gave birth. I love how when we hear the word stable we think of a modern day structure, maybe a little more rustic, but it is more likely that the stable where our Saviour was born was a dark cave or rock structure defiantly a little different than the nice warm stalls we all have in our heads.
This Christmas I am Challenging myself to not think about the commercialism of the Holiday, not to say that I won't be giving gifts but rather making the Focus of December 25th about our Lord. You can give gifts any day but try to make this a year about Family and Christ and think about all the sacrifices that so many have made so that we might have the comforts and peace that are so free today.
There are always going to be things that will pull our focus away we need to look up and take the first steps they are always the hardest.
I will be Praying for Each of You I know of many specific needs and those are already there, but I also will be praying for all of the rest of you and I ask that you would continue to pray for me.
Thank You To all my dear friends Who are there for me everyday I Love You
MERRY CHRISTMAS