Sunday, November 24, 2013

Fall at home

With it finally getting colder in our neck of the woods, I am getting more jazzed about the upcoming holidays.   It makes me think of hanging stocking on the fire place, layering up, listening to Christmas music and eating treats that only seem to come around this time of year; but I have to take a step back to try to enjoy the brief moments of fall before I get completely engrossed in the Christmas spirit.  So here's a look at what fall is looking like at our house.  Of course while I write this I'm still contemplating when I can get the Christmas decorations up, but for now, let's take in the beauty of fall! 

The big tree in our front yard is the vibrant red-orange.  It makes me grateful for the beauty of fall with all the natural colors that grace the trees and start to line the streets and yards with fallen leaves


I still love coming home to the collection of pumpkins/gourds that flank or front porch.  I especially love that all of the pumpkins/gourds (except the white one) were autumn gifts from our family and neighbor, such a great reflection of what the season is all about...giving and celebrating family & friends. 


The gigantic mulberry tree in our back yard has dropped about a third of it's leaves so far, making the entire backyard blanketed in golden flecks.  While it gets a little frustrating to have all these leaves to rake up (the one down side of having a big backyard), I have to be grateful for the majestic tree because of all the great shade it provides us all summer and the fun tree fort it sports year round.  


I'm not one for doing a lot of fall decorations in the house (probably because I anticipate Christmas so much), but I try to make sure to have my dining room chalkboard provide a reminder for this fall and Thanksgiving season.  I truly have so much to be grateful for, especially to be able to enjoy fall in this little space I call home! 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Cooking up...Young women in excellence

It's been a few weeks now (I've been slacking!) but I was able to put on an event along with the girls I work with at church.  Every year the girls from youth group at church (we call it Young Women) present what they have been working on in their Personal Progress and the girls that have completed all of their personal progress get honored.  The special night is called "Young Women in Excellence".  Personal Progress is a program kind of like the Boy Scouts program where there are certain skills and activities the girls have to complete, but many of the skills and activities focus on building their faith in Jesus Christ through eight different values.   
With the girls, we put on a night that had a cooking theme emphasizing all of the the values as if they were "ingredients" or "cooking utensils" that were necessary for every cook.  
We sent out save the dates about 2 months early to make sure all of the Young Women and parents knew about it.

About a month before the event we then sent out the actual invites to get the girls excited!

It was a great event with the girls impressing me with the program we worked on and a special musical number that sounded angelic!  I only wish I had taken more pictures of the night, but I do have this great picture of the girls..they did such a great job!  It was really a great night of cooking up Young Women in Excellence!