2015 In Review
It’s been almost two years since we moved to Indiana, and I can honestly say that it really feels like “home”. Even more so than Chicago ever did. I’m not sure if that has more to do with the fact that we have purchased an actual house here and have spent most of Cormac’s life so far here (since he was 5 months old… and he’s now two), or maybe just the fact that I am more a country girl than a city girl. Living in Chicago was always fun — the fast pace was exciting and we definitely stayed busy with work and other cool stuff around the city. But here in Indiana, I feel more settled. More myself, and certainly more attuned to…
Family Photo Session Outtakes
The only snow we’ve had this winter (so far) was right before Thanksgiving… the same day we were scheduled for a family photo session with a local photographer! Unfortunately, we had to cancel our session (and reschedule for after baby #2 arrives in February), but I was determined to get some new photos for our Christmas cards so I rounded up the boys (and the dog) after church the next Sunday and set up my tripod to see what we could capture. Out of about 25 shots taken, we ended up with one that was suitable for the card (with a little editing) and the rest were a hodge-podge. I just kept pressing the remote button and hoping to capture something good… I’d say we…
Best Pumpkin Bread Ever
Fresh out of the oven… Sometime in October I bought a can of pure pumpkin, thinking I would use it prior to Thanksgiving to create some tasty seasonal treats. Well… that didn’t happen. Life just got a little crazy before we traveled to Georgia to visit family for the holiday and, as it turns out, DH doesn’t even like most pumpkin-flavored things (what?!?), so it never came to fruition. At least, not until after Thanksgiving. 🙂 I always love the flavors of Thanksgiving and pumpkin especially. Pumpkin Spice Lattes, anyone? YUM! So, after returning from nearly a week of home-cooking in Georgia, I needed a little flavor boost. Pumpkin bread sounded perfect. After scouring the internet for recipes and making a few adjustments (I bake…
Oh, Christmas Tree! December Desktop Calendar
The Christmas Tree is a longstanding tradition of Advent. It is fun to decorate, it smells great and definitely helps most people get in the holiday mood. But every tradition has a story… and this one does, too. Just Google “Christmas tree” and plenty of results will come up. Here’s one I dug up today: The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it…
November Desktop Calendar
Finally got a few quiet moments to finish up my November desktop calendars! In the wake of horrendous tragedies that have recently occurred close to home and around the world, my thoughts lately have been completely disturbed and somewhat disheartened. Many days, we are blissfully ignorant of all the horrible things that are going on in the world around us… but some days, it becomes all too real how fallen we are and what a broken world we live in. Today’s sermon was a timely reminder that God’s plan for us does not end in sin, brokenness and death. Though undeserving, we have been offered immeasurable grace, redemption and a renewed creation through Christ. And so we can trust that, even in tragedy, God’s victory…