the back door

at the end of 2008 i started noticing this thing called a word for the year. several blogs i follow were picking a word to focus on in 2009. the idea intrigued me. as we are moving into 2010, i'm finding myself reflecting on one word - so i'm claiming it. it will be my word of the year: CHANGE for many of us that is a scary word. we like things to stay the same. i use to thrive on constant change, then i despised it, now i welcome it. and yes, i typed my first paper on a maching similar to this one! so why change? and why for 2010? well, simple, our little life is clearly changing. sometime in the first 2 months of 2010 i will move to a farm! that is crazy.....crazy, folks! i mean crazy! but i can't wait. i'm so excited for this change in my life and the change it means for my little family. change also comes in my working world. hopefully, a new pastor will be arriving shortly after 2010 begins. i trust that will bring change as well. a good change. o...

well, okay, not really! this christmas has been a bit different around here. never mind buying a house and having the inspections on ours delayed causing a bit of concern to edge it's way in, christmas is supposed to be traditional. well this year some traditions made it - others did not. for starters...one tradition to stay - sickness. oh yes, we are often plagued with sickness in this house for the holidays and this year was no exception. i was down for the count for a week with a bad chest cold. i recovered 2 days for my family christmas and then had that nasty roto-virus flu bug. it was not pleasant. due to being out of commission my family had to suffer through christmas without our cut-out cookie making. then came the phone call that hubby's mom wanted to postpone christmas day. hmm...she must be really sick to postpone it. but with that getting pushed back we found ourselves home all day on christmas. then came the ice, and although i'm sure we would have be...

while i know not everyone will agree with our choices, they are the ones we have made for our family....YES, we do santa here in our little family. now, my kids fully understand the reason we celebrate christmas and talk about Jesus all the time. in fact, when a toddler, mapboy had quite the fascination with hiding baby Jesus all over our house and lining the remaining nativity figures up in line to bow down. it was comical... ...but i've digressed...back to santa. several years ago - like about 6, we were driving home from indy on christmas eve. my mom was with us and i was sharing with hubby how i always thought the blinking red lights in the sky were rudolph and that my siblings played along (we always drove home from grandmas on christmas eve). for some reason hubby found it hysterical that i believed that. however, he got to talking with my mom and concocted a plan that involved melting tootsie rolls just a tad and then dropping pieces of them all over our porch roof. ...

...in with the old? yep.....so a few months ago, okay like 5 i posted this picture of our kitchen. and then it looked like this. i love it!! and while this is just what i dreamed... ....i'm really liking this one so yes, friends, it is going to be out with the new and in with the old!!!!!!

so after sitting on my counter for what seemed ike an eternity, i finally broke my kitchen aid mixer in this afternoon! it was such a treat! i was a nervous wreck though. you know, when you build up all this anticipation and then fear that you are going to break it or something... but, it was amazing to work with. princess helped me make a batch of cookies to store for the holidays. i made this same batch in october and was so frustrated with the mixing process - this time - it was beautiful! princess had one complaint though. while she found it quite entertaining to watch, she was very sad that it didn't have beaters to lick. in fact, she asked me if i would stick the old beaters in the batter so she could lick...umm no, those are going bye-bye! so in honor of the kitchen aid, i though i'd share a favorite cookie recipe around here. more of a fall cookie than christmas, but i still take it to all holiday functions! pumpkin chip cookies 1 1/2 c. butter 2 c. brown sugar 1 c. sug...

there are those moments when you feel like God is smiling down upon you. i have had several of those times. there was the time spent in the swiss alps, the day i married my hubby, the day my kids were born. recently, it seems like i've had a few more smiles from God. smiles that i believe are meant just for me. meant to touch my soul. ...the smile of dreams coming true. well, i'm still waiting for this to really happen, but we are watching it unfold in a way only God could do. ...the smile in simple celebrations. ...the smile in playing "guess which ornament" with our kiddos ...the smile of new beginnings ...the smile of new friendships - ones i believe i've been praying for ...the smile in old friends that get me, really get me - or atleast pretend to! i feel so blessed. God really does enjoy us. i believe He enjoys watching us enjoy Him....and He really does have our best in His heart. and when God smiles down on you - say thanks and enjoy!