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There is a Phrase . . .

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There is a phrase in Ireland that says, “There is no fireside like your own”. I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly. I love that I have my own place and that it represents me and all the things that make me happy. I more importantly love sharing it with everyone around me. I love when people come over to visit and they comment about a painting, the holiday decorations or the smell of something cooking. I think it is important to feel the essence of the person as soon as you step over the threshold.

I am very lucky that I get to open my home to a friend for the weekend. Yes we will be out “playing” but at night we will be able to come home and share in my “fireside”. That is very rewarding for me.

So in honor of that and the fact that I have a ton of things to get ready before the friend comes; I am not posting anything but pictures of things that I have made, looked at, or decorated with while in my home.

Come by and see me 🙂

 

May All Your Christmases . . .

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What a wonderful way to spend a Friday . . . celebrating Christmas. I write this post with so much gratitude in my heart for the wonderful life that I have. I have been blessed with amazing friends and the best family a girl could ever ask for.  That joy makes Christmas morning so wonderful. Christmas reminds me that we are loved, watched over and cared for. I pray that everyone reading this today feels the same way. If you don’t . . . consider this your wireless hug. 🙂

I have been enjoying the Christmas season as much as humanly possible. I have baked, gifted, shopped, shipped, listened and watched all that I could get in. But last night was my favorite thing so far. I had the luck to enjoy Christmas Eve with my best friend and her family. IT WAS WONDERFUL!! We had a traditional German meal. Shared Christmas memories. Listened to wonderful Christmas stories and the birth of Christ. We sang Christmas carols and opened presents. Needless to say, it was midnight when I was leaving to go home.

However, I have never felt so close to the spirit of Christmas then in that silent car ride home. It was lightly foggy; enough to cast a glow to all Christmas lights still on at various homes. I had many years of Christmas memories running through my head and a few tears slipping from my eyes as I thought of all the love that I have felt over the years. All I could hear in my mind was the song Silent Night and I was truly touched. To make it even more idyllic; I have a field right next to my house in which stood 8 deer at attention. I am sure in the darkness there was a sleigh. 🙂 (Really, this was no joke)

I pray for everyone to savor this holiday season. To find joy in life and peace in your hearts. We are blessed because of the birth of a beautiful child.

Merry Christmas!!

Silent Night by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Isn’t It Wonderful!

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I did it! The first time ever was I able to get Christmas up by December 1st! In fact, I got it up on November 28th. I am so proud of me!!

Now that Christmas is in full swing at my house; I have to start planning all of the fun things that I want to do during the season. Since I am in a new state this year; I need to become well-versed in all the Portland traditions. If you are a local–please bring me up to speed. Below are 5 things that I am going to start out with and see how they go.

  1. Christmas in the Garden at The Oregon Garden
  2. Portland Christmas Ship Parade along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers
  3. The Miracle of a Million Lights at the Victoria Belle Mansion
  4. Handel’s Messiah performed by the Oregon Symphony and PSU Chamber Choir
  5. Scandinavian Fair at Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum

BTW–I am actually in Utah for the weekend, catching up with the family. So I owe it to everyone to give you a heads up on the things that you should do while in Utah this Christmas season. Here are my top 5:

  1. Candlelight Christmas at This Is The Place Heritage Park
  2. Holiday Central at Thanksgiving Point
  3. Pickleville Playhouse Christmas at The Grand Theater
  4. Holiday Window Display at The Grand America
  5. Temple Square Lights at Temple Square

ENJOY the season! 🙂

Gratitude is Contagious

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We made it to November . . . how–I am not exactly sure. In some ways I think this year took forever. Maybe because I had a year of struggles. In other ways I think it flew by. Probably because I was once again too busy to really live it. Either way, this year has been full of change and the kind that is painful because it forces you to grow and learn.

At this point I am sure you are thinking, “Gee Jenn, way to be depressing”.

Actually not. What I have learned the most in this entire process is what really is important to me. I have learned that people really love me and most importantly, I have learned that I am not alone in this thing we call life.

I have learned a little more every day this year what gratitude really is and why celebrating one day a year is so important. I am hoping that each of you will catch my gratitude bug and give it away as well.

So every week I will share some of the things that I am grateful for. I have a list that is much to long to write on paper and too long to share each time I pray but somehow all of it is written on my heart. It is safe there and will stay with me forever.

I hope each one of you know that you are in my heart.

  1. I am grateful for the natural beauty I am surrounded in. I have lived in many places, been to many places and seen many things but no where on this planet can I find a place that the beauty of the earth does not stir my soul in gratitude and love.
  2. I am grateful for my friends. I am talking about those friends that know when you might be close to a breakdown. The friends that know when to tease you about the guy that just walked by. The friends that would do anything in their power to save you.
  3. I am grateful for the harvest. I love this land of plenty. I experience nostalgia from the smell of cinnamon. I love the art behind a well prepared dish. I love how food brings people together because it sustains life. Food teaches us to bond at a basic human need and we all flourish from it.
  4. I am grateful for trials because they teach us to try harder. They move us forward down the paths that make us grow and change. In that change we become the people we are truly meant to be and that is a beautiful thing.
  5. I am grateful for family. I love and respect the people who have to put up with me and I hope they will always know that my life would be incomplete with any of them missing. I would gladly and readily trade every part of my existence for my family.

Since I knew this post would be full of written thoughts. I have decided to share a small slide show of recent pictures (one of these days I will  upload to Flickr). Enjoy!!

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