Snow? Yes please!

So for anyone who really knows me, knows that I love snow.

It's not like an "Oh Yay! It's snowing" kind of affection, it's like "how can I get my affairs in order so I can move to Alaska and surround myself with feet and feet of snow??" and "Where can I live that I can have access to groomed cross-country ski trails and tubing hills and evergreen forests that I can snowshoe thru?"

Yeah, it's bad.

But the Lord is kind to give me little snippets of time in snow country.


And this time, I got to bring my nieces along which pretty much seals the deal and makes me the coolest Aunt on US soil right now. (Sorry for all other Aunts out there reading this -- apparently I've set the bar kind of high now :-D But they are girls after my own heart -- they love the snow too!

So I've often wondered, and in my quiet time with the Lord dwelled upon snow and why I am so drawn to it, and I always come back to the simple fact of how a fresh blanket of snow makes even the most rugged and unattractive landscape overwhelmingly beautiful. Even the rusty grossness that is the yard of the construction company near my neighborhood, with it's rusted machinery and junk piles, looks amazingly peaceful and beautiful when it is laden with a thick blanket of snow.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. -- Isaiah 1:18

My mind always returns to this scripture. My sin will be washed white as snow. My sin, as wretched as it is, as wretched as I am, in Christ, by His sacrifice, is white as snow.

I am reminded of this as the harshness of tree bark is softened with snow -- a beautiful sight is a forest of trees with branches laden with snow.

And snow always makes me think of my Creator. What a neat way of watering the earth in the cold months.


I am thankful the Lord has given us a fun way of enjoying His creation in the winter months. Tomorrow I am planning on taking my nieces snowshoeing and cross-country skiing along some groomed trails. I am hoping to take in some beautiful views of snow laden trees and frozen lakes.

The Lord is so kind.

Warm Thoughts and Candy Cane Smiles....

I suppose the anthropologist and journalist in me are hard at work in this post. I have done extensive research, interviewed many folks, daydreamed on my own and asked all the necessary and pertinent questions to bring you this list.

And what a dandy of a list it is!! : )

And so, as promised...and, although perhaps a tad late....Here is a list of Christmas traditions I have collected over the years. Some I plan on instituting into my Christmastime celebrations, others I wrote down simply because I am a self-professed collector of traditions, and still others have come along the way out of the need to entertain the young ones. I think the last category is my favorite category.

So sit back, pour yourself into your Snuggie and grab some cocoa 'cause here we go in no particular order!

1. Gazing through foggy windows
As a kid I would always grumble at the thought of loading up into the car to look at Christmas lights. I've grown up now and after wrangling tangled strings of broken bulbs and wrestling with the extension ladder I can now fully appreciate the time, effort and creativity that others have put forth to haul out the holly and deck the halls. So load your grumbling kiddos (should you have any) into the sleigh, fire up the Kringle 3000 and sing through all the Christmas carols as you acknowledge your neighbors that have channeled Clark W. Griswold and lit up their homes with Merriment!

2. "Is your house on fire Clark?"
"No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."
Ahhh...there's nothing like nestling in with the person(s) (or pooch) that you love and filling an evening with Christmas movies! A friend invited me over this year for a Christmas movie marathon with her husband and sweet little girl. I think it should be a new tradition : ) We each picked a movie, cuddled under our own blanket and watched, laughed and giggled together. Such fun! This year our movies were: Prepped and Landing, Elf, Shrek the Halls and the Lemon Drop Kid.

3. The children were nestled all snug in their beds
A common tradition is new pajamas at Christmas time. It just so happens that mine this year have polar bears in Santa hats. They are wonderfully warm and perfect! : ) Now I don't really practice this tradition, it just so happens I got an incredible deal on these polar pants, but some day if I ever have children, I have a suspicion they'll get matching pj's at Christmas time.

4. One for you and two for me...
Christmas cookies and festive goodies. Need I say more? Getting together to make the Christmas goodies can be a wonderful time! It can also be messy, but hey...it's yummy in the end!


5. You made that??!?!
A few years ago...one GLORIOUS winter...we got some snow. And not just SOME snow...a FOOT of snow!! Oh how I loved it!! : D I was home from college for the break and it was just a few days before Christmas. My brother and sister-in-law have jobs that when it all goes down-hill they have to be there and they work long hours and as a result we get more time with the girls! I remember it well, mom was sick with the black plague and so entertaining the girls was all up to me. So I broke out my craft supplies and we crafted! We made snowflakes and took pictures and made picture frame ornaments for the pictures and dabbled in glitter and had glue under our fingernails and the end results still hang on my Christmas tree to this day. Thus began the tradition of making Ornaments or something Christmasy to put around the house. And every year we have continued this, and it was neat this year to see as the girls pulled out the Christmas decorations at my house that they remembered making the things and their eyes just gleamed as they looked at them again. Sweetness.

Snowflakes we made from the big snow storm. (The year is escaping me right now...)

6. Lights...Tinsel....Action!
One of my first traditions came about four years when I moved back home after college. Being a single gal, dwelling solo, and with the Christmas season quickly approaching I was pretty saddened at the thought of decorating the Christmas tree by myself. A phone call and request produced the two extra hands of the eldest niece. She came over and helped me decorate and I will NEVER forget the year we put up the Christmas tree TWICE in the same day. We put it up, had all the decorations on it and as I walked into the kitchen I heard a gut-wrenching *creak**snap* and Punkin's tiny voice slowly yelling, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" as the tree came crashing to the floor, sending ornaments flying through the air. Her poor little face had the look of surprise, anguish and fear as she quickly made known to me that she wasn't near the tree when it happened! Well, it was a hand-me-down tree and over ten years old, it was bound to happen! (I am cracking up as I write this, it was hilarious!) And no ornaments were harmed in the fiasco! : )

7. Do you see what I see??
A friend of mine told me once that the first night their Christmas tree was up that him and his brother would lay underneath and sometimes sleep underneath the tree. Laying on ones back and gazing up through the light-laden branches is quite pretty!!

8. Basket 'O books
This same friend who spent some nights beneath the tree also told me about the basket of books his mom had that would come out each year with the Christmas decorations. I have adopted this tradition and it has been a lot of fun! I mentioned it in a previous post.
9. The Anticipation of it all
Many I know celebrate the season with an advent calendar, which I think is a great way to slow down and enjoy the season each night. Some have little treats in each pocket/door/slot for each day, others have a scripture for each day and yet others do a mix of everything and even include fun scavenger hunts on some days. I like this one and will someday do this...perhaps when I'm no longer living solo : )

10. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son
The reading of the story of Jesus' birth is a favorite tradition and the reason for the Christmas celebration in the first place.

11. On the 4th day of Christmas....
Some folks like to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas or 25 days of Christmas, and so in my research I came across a link that has 12 days of devotionals in celebrating the 12 days of Christmas. I think that's a neat idea!

12. Live to give
Gather together and spend an afternoon or evening making homemade gifts/goodies to give to others. I love homemade gifts and try each year to have at least a few gifts that didn't come from a store. This also allows for more thoughtful and creative gifts : )

13. Not a creature was stirring...well maybe one!
Not sure if this could really be a tradition but my brother and I used to have a competition to see who could wake up first on Christmas morning. He would always win by getting up at 2 or 3 am and then going back to bed. I was always disappointed that I could never win : ( lol

14. Timberrrrrrr!!
Cutting your own Christmas tree can be a fun tradition. I've never done it, but I'm thinking next year might be the first year. Although, I'm having visions of the Griswolds and frozen eyelids...

15. Pass the toast please
Our mom, for as long as I've been alive (and even longer) has always fixed a huge breakfast on Christmas morning. I love this tradition and am glad I'm finally old enough to help prepare the meal and clean up afterwards. I love that our family is always together and we share laughs and love over eggs and juice : )

16. Christmas music
Mom always has the radio on to the station that plays Christmas music 24-7 at this time of year. I'll always remember the nights when we're all home and I'm sleeping in her room and the Christmas music is playing softly into the night.

I'll stop for now, I actually have more, but perhaps I can post the rest of them a little later. Until then, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

And I don't know why this font feels the need to scream at you -- I've tried to fix it but it's just all screwy right now....sorry for the ginormous font!!

Christmas Portraits

Baby Victoria born Dec. 17th

Amid the many joys of this season, one thing I love about Christmas time is shooting Christmas portraits. Twinkling white lights in the background just seem so pretty and festive and can add a soft touch to the portraits.

Here are just a few of the portraits I've shot over the past few weeks! Enjoy! : )

Sidda Claire :: 16 Months

Baby Ellie :: 6 Months

The Engelbrecht Family

Sushi, Christmas Tree Trimming, Decorations on Not Even a Shoe String Budget and Electricity

Yeah, so, even though I've been too busy to really blog about my weekly shananigans and goings-on, the Lord has been good to bless me with some really sweet moments in the midst of a choatically crazy schedule. So sit back, grab a cup 'o tea and prepare yourself for a mass update!

I finally convinced my mom to try sushie with me! I've been craving it for quite a while and never had the opportunity to go since I only have one friend in town that likes it as much as I do, and her schedule is just as bad as mine. My mom is a trooper and I have to say, she sacrifices so much for us! Even doing something she never thought she would do - or even wanted to do for that fact.

Yum!


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Decking The Halls

Two weeks before Thanksgiving my wonderful nieces got to spend the weekend with me. I took the opportunity to go ahead and put up my Christmas tree so as to keep with the tradition of having them help me decorate for Christmas. I mean, who wants to deck the halls by themselves!?!? Not this gal!! : ) And besides, these two sweeties just make it so much fun!

In an after-Christmas trip to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan (A place where a girl like me can truly be happy!!) I purchased another pickle ornament, and boy am I glad I did!! The girls always LOVE to hide the pickle ornament and now they each have one to nestle on a bough in the perfect hiding spot. If you haven't heard or read of the tradition (which seems to be controversial as to it's truth) of the pickle ornament you can read about it here!

And as usual, we goofed off in ways only us Douthit girls can! : )



I was especially amused at little Bugs and how she only wanted to hang the ornaments on the bottom of the tree. Thankfully Punkin and I were able to sprinkle a few up top. There was no way I could go behind little Bugs and move the ornaments around, so this year my tree is a bit ornament heavy on the bottom. I wouldn't have it any other way : )

At the end of the tree trimming and hall decking, Lou could finally curl up and sleep off the hours she spent sniffing boxes and dodging busy little feet. I think she likes the Christmas tree as much as I do. Last year she would lay under the tree and sleep. She hasn't done that yet this year, perhaps because of all the low-hanging ornaments! : )

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Christmas Traditions


I love "collecting" ideas for new Christmas traditions. One that I have adopted came from a friend. His family keeps a basket of Christmas books under the Christmas tree. After Christmas, the books are packed away with all the decorations and brought out again when it's time to decorate for Christmas. Each year it's like getting new books and visiting with old friends while looking through the familiar stories. So above is a picture of my little basket of books. I add a new book each year. After setting my basket under the tree the girls immediately pulled some out and started to read. It makes my heart smile : )


Our mom, for as long as I can remember always has fixed a huge breakfast for us on Christmas morning. In the early years we would sit down to eat after opening presents, because you know, as little kids we just can't wait to rip into the gifts!! And now that we're older, we have breakfast first and then proceed to the gift giving. I like it this way much better! It doesn't seem as rushed and makes for such a wonderful time together!

So, now is your turn! Leave a comment about traditions your family does each year, or traditions you've heard about - or even ones you wish you did! : ) As I said, I seem to be a "collector" of such traditions. I'll have to dig out my list sometime that I have in one of my journals. I have a pretty extensive list of family traditions buried in the journalistic annals of my life : )

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Making Due by Getting Creative

Decking the halls...on a budget! I like creative challenges like this...meaning teeny budget + lofty ideas. Always equals a good time for me! So my Christmas decorations all revolve around a polar bear theme (with a few penguins). That in itself presents a challenge because unless one lives in the arctic circle, there aren't too many polar bear Christmas items to be found. Therefore, I've begun making my own. Starting with a wreath. I found some wreaths online that had a polar bear in them or on them or around them and they were around $100 each. Sheesh! Not going to happen. So my first thought while looking at the wreaths was "I can so do that myself!"

My philosophy is: "if you can't find it or afford it, just make it yourself!"

So, as you can see from the picture above, and the picture below, I finally made my own wreath. I got most of the items on sale and I bought the polar bear last Christmas. It still looks a little "bear" (Ha!) but I have plans to add two smaller wreaths (one on each side) but that will have to wait until next Christmas.



And so, in keeping with making due, not spending a lot, yet decking the halls merrily, I broke out my paints, checked out from reality and sat for three hours to create a Christmas painting - polar bear themed of course! : )


I've been wanting a Christmas print to put up on my shelf in the living room where I typically have some portraits. But, since I'm saving for other more important things, a frivolous Christmas picture wasn't easily justified. Therefore, a grand opportunity to pick up the paintbrush and make my own. Thankfully, I had a canvas left over from some projects from last Christmas and all the colors of paint I would need. My inspiration for the print came from Christmas cards I bought early in the year on clearance. It was so incredibly nice to start painting again. I don't think I've painted anything on this level since high school. I think I should keep painting : )


Here's the finished product...


Now, I just have to figure out where to put it and what to put around it!

So, after painting, I moved on to other industrious/problem-solving things.

For some reason, only known to the good Lord above at this point, the electrical outlet in the bathroom no longer works. The breaker keeps tripping and after doing some research and talking to a few smart men I know on the subject it was suggested that I replace the outlet with a new GFCI outlet and see if that solves the problem. Big surprise - it didn't work! Ugh. Sooo, guess who's calling an electrician this week! :-/ I am so incredibly frustrated and frankly worn out with all the projects and issues. I once thought I would LOVE to buy an old house and restore it. Nope. Won't happen for this girl!! It really stinks being a single girl sometimes. I'm really feeling the weight of it all. I pray the Lord will take care of this and put me in contact with an honest electrician. ((Update -- Problem is fixed and the Lord did provide for me as my wonderful and fantastically smart brother was able to fix it! Yay!))

So now on to other projects!! I'll post some pictures *soon* of other projects that are in the pipes and should be completed soon! Gotta get all these projects done before the spring semester starts!!!

So there you have it! A mass update of just a few things I've been up to lately. The Lord is good and kind to bless me with such sweet moments amid the past few busy, busy weeks.

Aaaahhh...Good Stuff!

This is from my morning devotional. Such needed words for me now! And all around Good Stuff!! : )

"For my strength is made perfect in weakness."
-- 2 Corinthians 12:9

A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and
for doing God's work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own
weakness. When God's warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own
might, when he boasts, "I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm
and my conquering sword shall get unto me the victory," defeat is not
far distant. God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own
strength. He who reckoneth on victory thus has reckoned wrongly, for
"it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts." They who go forth to fight, boasting of their prowess, shall
return with their gay banners trailed in the dust, and their armour
stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve him in his own
way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That
which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere
fruits of the earth he casteth away; he will only reap that corn, the
seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by
the sun of divine love. God will empty out all that thou hast before he
will put his own into thee; he will first clean out thy granaries
before he will fill them with the finest of the wheat. The river of God
is full of water; but not one drop of it flows from earthly springs.
God will have no strength used in his battles but the strength which he
himself imparts. Are you mourning over your own weakness? Take courage,
for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give
thee victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being
filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting
up.

"When I am weak then am I strong,
Grace is my shield and Christ my song."

The Wonderful Cunninghams

Wow! So, I haven't been blogging as much lately - for good reasons though! School is in full swing, well, I guess the semester is half-way over at this point! And the Lord has blessed me with keeping me very busy photography wise! Although, I haven't been as faithful to post...but, I thought I would give the wonderful Cunningham family a sneak peek at their portrait session from this morning!


Maddie, Charlotte and Daniel were such fun and made getting candid portraits so easy for me! And I love that Mocha was a part of the photo shoot too!! Such sweet kiddos!

Midnight Thoughts...

Well, so lately I've been left feeling like I can't do anything right, can't please the masses, am left to explain/justify/apologize...and you know what!?!? It's all true! I can't do anything right on my own!

I was scrolling through iTunes singing different songs and came across this one. Not sure I've ever really listened to it but the words speak to what I need to strive daily to do and that's to give God glory in my efforts, failures, successes, joys, tears, etc...

"All Glory To God"Kathy Troccoli

Everything I say and do
Everything I am to You
Oh I pray
That You will know that
Whatever is good in me
Whenever there’s joy to see
Hear me say
It’s not my own

Chorus:
All glory to God
All honor is His
No other is worthy of His name
All glory to God
I’ll always be His
Forever I’ll live to sing His praise

Everyday I know I’m blessed
Just to know my heart it rests in the hands
That gave me life
You know I won’t forget
What He’s done for me you bet
I’m amazed everytime
So I’m sayin’

My love to you Father
My heart to no other
My life for Your honor

I've learned of my need lately to refocus/redirect my thoughts, heart and attitude toward the Lord. Not just towards Him, but towards worshiping Him. In the midst of a schedule that at times seemed impossible, I've allowed myself to get overwhelmed with it all. Taking on too much and not being able to do all things or even a few things well (sound familiar ladies?) I know I'm not alone here!! We all need more hours in the day at times, right??

I know the Lord is teaching me about priorities and guarding my schedule, not just for me and my health, but ultimately for His Kingdom. How can I be accessible and used of Him for the sake of the Gospel and others if I've overloaded my calendar?? If I've learned anything from past mission trips, an overriding theme is "Be Flexible!" I've heard it over and over. And it's hard to be flexible when the day is jammed so tight that sleep isn't even on the list until after the crickets have retired. (Yes, that hour does come in the wee hours of the morn ; )

I've taken major steps to free up my calendar. To focus more on making time to fellowship with the Lord and worship Him. To realistically look at my week ahead and my responsibilities and determine what can go to the back burner and what I can realistically accomplish and areas/obligations where I just have to say "no." It's been nice! I've actually had some evenings where I've had no where to be and nothing to do and no expectations! I'm still adjusting to that.

So....all this to say...I know I won't always get it right, but my deepest hope is that through it all the Lord will be glorified through this life...my life.

My love to you Father
My heart to no other
My life for Your honor

The Daughter Of A King

I recently signed up for a daily email devotional from Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening.

This morning's devotional shed light on the darkness of my continued reliance upon things, people, friends, and family here rather than immediately turning, running, crying out and fully relying upon Christ -- in ALL things.

"For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers
and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because
we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is
upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his
wrath is against all them that forsake him." -- Ezra 8:22

Would any believers seek state endowments for their Church,
if they remembered that the Lord is dishonoured by their asking
Caesar's aid? as if the Lord could not supply the needs of his own
cause! Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for
assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our implicit
reliance upon his solitary arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God.

It is a most blessed thing to have no props and no buttresses,
but to stand upright on the Rock of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone.

Lately it has been so easy for me to hop on the back of the pity wagon and complain to friends, thinking I'll feel better, but in the end, wallow further into my sin. A dear friend admonished me last night to search the scriptures and find every single passage that tells me who I am in Christ - and to focus on these. She said that she has a 3-ring binder with pages and pages of notecards that remind her that she is the daughter of a Mighty King and has a Savior who is wild about HER!

I will make that my new pursuit in the Lord. Because after reading the devotional He only confirmed in me the truth that I need to pursue Him and learn more of who I am in Him alone; not who I am as defined by this world or as a college student or as a single or as a sinner; but simply the daughter of a King.

It is my prayer this day that the Lord will be magnified by my implicit
reliance upon his solitary arm.

My soul, wait thou only upon God.

Thankfulness

Nine years can be a long time. Children are born. College degrees are earned. Several journeys can be made to distant lands. Tears are shed, laughter is spread, dance recitals are attended, Christmases come and go. And yet, a song, or thought or the very essence of a place can transport a mind, retracing those long years to recount the years before.

Nine years ago today was when the Lord called my dad home. And I know that my dad truly is in Glory, with the Father and Savior he loved and faithfully served, and from what little I understand about Heaven, I'm sure of this, that he is seeing amazing things and his heart and mind is on nothing else but praising Jesus.

Despite the thought of that, in my flesh, I miss my dad so much. And not just for the obvious reasons of the fact that he truly loved us, and spent so much time with us. He worked so hard during the day and into the night many times to free up his weekends to spend with us. But also I painfully miss the security and guidance I always got from him.


He wasn't the kind of man to just tell me what to do when I would go to him about something, but he would always ask questions to make me think beyond what my little mind understood at the time and would gently and lovingly guide me in wisdom. And Oh, I miss that greatly.

I know what true adoration is because he not only loved us, he adored us with everything he had.


Dad taught me so much about enjoying the moment, well not just that, but making the time to make the moments happen.

He pushed us beyond ourselves to achieve and/or fail...and teach us how to persevere in the failures. And to continue to experiment, and try, and discover. And to laugh.


He inspired us in mischief. And loved us deeply.

Papaw and little Madison.

At Christmas time, one would often wonder who the toys were really for : )

He always made time for us, to teach us new things and open our eyes to new experiences. Allowing us to dive in and get our hands dirty.

He inspired me to love others passionately and to love the Lord even more. What a legacy.

I miss him terribly, but I don't want him back. Not here anyway.

I long for the day to stand side-by-side with him praising our Savior, as He modeled for me in his life here.

My dad wasn't perfect, but I am so thankful the Lord blessed me with him as my dad. I know so few are as fortunate to know and be loved by the man they know as father.

Yes, I am thankful.

A Change In The Air

Fall changes are coming to a front door near you!

This weather, and added stress are making me antsy to do something crafty. For me, there are few things I find truly relaxing where my overstimulated, always thinking brain can slow down and focus on just one thing. One of those things is crafting something or making a change.

So, now that the weather is turning (much to the shagrin of those who just can't get enough of summer) my thoughts have turned towards mums and fall colors! So, I figured I would post a picture of the summer wreath I made (nothing more than shoving four colors of different types of flowers in a grapevine wreath) along with the setup of geraniums and the ferns. Mainly so I can look back for next summer as a reference point for setting it all up again!

So here you go, my bright colors that I have enjoyed this summer.

And when I decide what kind of crafty thing I do, I'll be sure to post it to maybe pass along any ideas.