The True Meaning of Christmas

I can't believe how much the time just flies by.  Thanksgiving was a great time spent with family and so much to be thankful for.  I have an amazing family that God has blessed me with.  It's always been a Christmas tradition in my house to watch Christmas movies from the end of Thanksgiving up to Christmas Day.  We watch them everyday, or whenever we sit down to watch a movie.  Most Christmas movies are all about family and/or helping others.  I'm such a sap and I always cry during them.  It really makes me think about what I have and what I have to be thankful for.  There are so many people out there who don't have half as much as I do and it just breaks my heart.  I feel so selfish when I groan and complain about things and then I realize that my problems are nothing compared to others.  Recently, I have been shown by so many kind-hearted anonymous people, what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.  To some people it's all about the decorations, parties, baking, and shopping.  This can really make the Christmas season a tiring one.  My eyes have really been opened lately.  Because of family situations and needs, I have seen God use people who didn't even know our family very well, give so much to help.  I literally can't help but cry when I think about all that God does for us even when we don't realize it.  As I've heard someone say before, those people who help and don't expect anything in return I consider "secret elves".  Santa Claus may only be a man from history, but I think that each person that God uses to help someone is in their own way a special "Santa Claus".  The true meaning of Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus Christ.  He was the greatest gift that was ever given and the greatest gift to ever be received.

An Adventure with Fondant

My nephew just had his eleventh birthday party and this year's theme was camouflage.  It was such a great idea!  Every child (and adult!) came wearing camo and each boy got an army dog tag when they got there.  They played "pin the tank on the field" and had a tank pinata.  My brother, the birthday boy's dad, made the birthday cake himself and he decided to go off of the whole army theme and he chose to make a tank for the cake.  He has only decorated four birthday cakes within the last 2 years, but each one has looked amazing!  He is such a great dad and puts his all into these cakes.  He's made a Princess castle cake and a Tinkerbell cake for his girls as well as a dinosaur cake last year for my nephew's birthday.  This year was the first time using Fondant.  He also made the fondant first so it took some time and some learning.  I was just there to oversee the decorating and help if needed, but I definitely learned a lot.  For a professional, the cake should have only taken 45 minutes, but it definitely took a few hours.  Overall, I am so excited to work with fondant myself in the future.  I have looked for fondant recipes and found one here.  I haven't tried it yet, but promise I will let you know how it goes!!  I think the hardest and most time consuming part of using fondant is the rolling out portion.  If I had an automatic roller like the cake boss it would just be perfect!  Anyways, my nephew loved the end project and my brother did an amazing job so it was all worth it!

My brother's army guy addition made it really pop!

First snow of the season!

I can't believe how the time has flown!  It seems like just yesterday I was printing off my wedding invitations and stressing about the bridesmaids dresses.  Today makes 101 days of being married to my wonderful sweetheart :)  Time sure flies when you're having fun, I guess.  Anyways, it doesn't snow too often in October and when it does it generally isn't a lot.  This year however, we were bombarded with 7 1/2 inches of snow on October 29th.  It was insane, but beautiful all at the same time!  Its amazing how God can make something so cold and yucky at times, be so beautiful!
 

Homemade Coasters

I found this really great idea to make coasters on Pinterest.  It was just a picture with not much of a detailed explanation so I just put things together.  All you need is tiles (mine were 4 1/4 in squares), scrap booking paper, mod podge, and clear spray paint.  I found another blogger who posted a tutorial on how to make them and I think she did a great job.  I didn't do it exactly like her, but close enough :) Anyways, these are super cute and really easy to do and the best part is they cost less than $.50 each!  That's my kind of craft!  I tried a bunch of different ones to see which I liked best.  Here are some pictures of the ones I made.

Don't they look so cute! :)

I cut out felt for the bottoms.

 

These are my 3 favorties.  My husband's favorite is the one on the 

right.

Wedding Card Scrap-Booking

I loved all the different wedding cards that my husband and I got on our wedding day, but I knew if I kept them they would just make clutter.  They were just so cute so I decided to keep them and I finally took the time to scrap book them.  I went through all the cards and cut out my favorite ones or parts of ones.  Some had some really great sayings and verses on them so, I cut them out.  I then put them all together on scrap booking pages.  It was so easy and I’m so excited at how they look!!  

I added some pictures from our wedding around the cut-out wedding cards for effect.

It doesn’t show the sayings, but it gives an idea.  My kitty just had to get her paw in there!

I cut out portions of cards where people wrote personal things to us.  Now we can keep them and remember them forever.

The last page :)  It turned out great!

Just Getting Started

     Well, I've never done the whole blogging ordeal, but I thought it sounded like a really good idea so, here I am!  I don't know how often I will post, but I love to find great recipes all the time so I would love to share them with you when the time comes.  I also enjoy finding great crafts to do that can be used as inexpensive gifts. 
     I am 22 years old and a married woman of 2 1/2 months.  I love married life and I love my husband.  He means the world to me :)  I thank God everyday for bringing him into my life.  My husband has had several health problem for almost 2 years now due to a hit and run accident he was in. Without God's strength and goodness, I don't think we ever could have made it through those times or continue to make it through.
     I am currently living with my in-laws and so thankful for their generosity.  However, living here puts me 3 1/2 hours away from my family and I miss them like crazy.  I have 2 nieces and 1 nephew whom I love like my own and I miss them to death.  We have great times cooking and baking and making crafts when I'm home.
     I also miss my home church family.  There are some families within the church that mean the world to me and encourage me so much, each and everyday.  It's hard to see why God has my husband and I here right now, but I have learned that God's way is best.
     Well, I just want to say again that I'm excited to bring some of my great findings to the rest of you!  I look forward to posting as often as I can and hopefully give some ideas for the future or current mom, teacher, and wife :)  God Bless!