the mitten

i'm back in michigan today! {finally}

i'm so excited to see all my family and friends :)

that being said, i probably won't be around here a lot, but i promise to catch up with all my bloggy friends when i get back home to kansas.

until then, i leave you with this {a new christmas favorite}

no freezer space? no problem!

"distribution time at the salvation army during christmas is a time of tremendous pressure and stress; there's not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that has to be done. the pressure isn't only on the officers, but the staff and the volunteers who are dedicated and committed to this whole process and to getting christmas food, goods, and toys out to families. as soon as the doors close on distribution day after a big distribution it's a complete sigh of relief and everybody is just absolutely drained. 

  {photo via veer}

one year we were at a corps where we had served just under 1000 families and we were absolutely exhausted. there were a few chickens leftover and we had packed everything in the freezer that we could, but there wasn't enough room, so we had a few chickens that we couldn't get in the freezer.  this was in a real cold climate and we had an emergency egress from the basement that had a vertical ladder that you could climb to get up to the street level. there was a little paved area right inside a door and then the ladder was there, and that was what we called the cold spot because there was a grate over the top and it was secure, but it was freezer cold all winter long. so we put the chickens out there because we knew they'd be safe and they would be totally frozen. and that worked out just fine. we were exhausted, we went home, we celebrated christmas with our families. when we went back to work we of course did all the clean up and then got back into our regular routine. 

and nobody remembered to retrieve those chickens when there was room in the freezer. 

and nobody remembered later than that. 

and nobody remembered later than that.

and in may we began to notice a *ahem* bad odor in the building. we finally traced its source to the downstairs area and then finally someone opened the door.

and we remebered those chickens."

{christmas story #3 from my mom. want more? story #1 story #2}

plush christmas ornaments

my friend joanne is wonderfully creative and has a crafty blog and i'm a guest blogger! today's post is my tutorial on how to make these plushy christmas ornaments:

go check it out!

while you're there, say hi and look around at some of her great crafts.

christmas stockings

i'm tired and cranky and i'm more than ready to go home for christmas! {we leave on wednesday, and i can.not.wait. literally} 

until then, i finally got around to getting out some of our christmas decorations. stockings are my favorite. i made them during our first christmas as a married couple.

we got a new kitty since last year, so i made his stocking today :)

{i got really dorky and made the mice match the kitties}

mine:

hubby's:

play in the snow!

today i went to the paul bunyoan park with a young friend of mine and played in the snow for hours.
or just one hour.

{paul bunyan lives in the paul bunyan park}

we made a snowman! and were then faced with an eternally difficult question. a sophie's choice of sorts...

do we save it for others to enjoy, or...

godzilla!

i think we made the right choice :)

t-la-re

here they are. my bags. in a shop! so. ex.citing.

houndstooth handbag:

a couple wristlets on the shelf

a personal favorite, brown corduroy slouchy bag:

you can see my stuff surrounded by crafts made by other local arisans (jewelry, knits, signs, collages ect.) not to mention all the other cool stuff around:

green sparkles, and stuffed painting of a doe. i wish i had more wall space!

and lots of vintage jewelry goodies:

so if you're in kansas {specifically manhattan} come by and see my stuff and other goodies at t-la-re. you'll also be able to find me at the palace {starting in march}

and if you can't get here, you can always check out my etsy

more snow kitty!

ding-dong ditch (christmas style)

here is the 2nd christmas story from my mom in my "christmas stories from mom" series {creatively titled, i know}

 read the first story, and a little bit about the whole thing here

 story #2

{dictated over the phone}

"a woman had picked up her things at the morning distribution, at her appointed time, and everything went the way it was supossed to, but she returned in the afternoon. she very apologetically asked if she could exchange the toys she got for one of her daughters for clothing instead. she was also apologetic because she had her 4-year-old daughter with her, and childern are not usually allowed at distributions for obvious reasons. but head start was over and she had nobody to watch her, so she had to come along. it was a bitterly cold day but the little girl only had on a see-through plastic raincoat for a coat. she had no hat or gloves, and her hands and face were bright red from the cold. the mother said that the other 2 girls had gotten clothing but she wanted to exchange the toys for clothing because they had been homeless and the other two girls had gotten some clothing and they needed that more than toys, so that's what she wanted to do. 

we agreed to do that, and while we were locating clothing of the right size, i had some other volunteers find a brand new coat, boots, hat and gloves for the little girl that was in the rain coat. so she left all bundled up and in warm new outer gear. the lady was extremely appreciative. 

after she left, i got a couple of our long-time and wonderful volunteers and we went through our toy shop, which was well supplied, and found the wishlist for all three of the girls and got them all of the toys they had asked for, and then lots more nice new clothing and just really did a christmas that they would never ever forget in their whole lives. we bagged them up in great giant bags and our volunteers took them that night to the family's house, put them on the porch, rang the doorbell and ran!"

this just puts a huge smile on my face :) and it reminds me of the importance of giving back to others this holiday season! i wish i could do more, i wish i did more, but i try my best to remember that every little thing counts and can make a difference in someone's life.

{photo via}

winter weather take 2

now this is more like it!

although we're still in kansas. the proof:

they predicted 14" but we've only got 2-3" so far,
all the schools are closed,

and they plow with tractors. awesome.

but still like home {michigan} cause the roads suck!

we put aria to work cleaning the porch:
{she really likes snow}

other reminders of home: hubby finally found the 24/7 npr station {yay!} and today i listened to talk of the nation for the first time since moving. hearing neil conan's voice was like reconnecting with an old friend

{i used to listen everyday while driving to work}

my photo christmas cards

if i were sending out photo christmas cards, these would be it:

{although none of them are current.}

i've been on a "sorting" thing lately and i was organizing my photos and found these and had to share:

hubby, his grandparents and sister skiing in utah {april 2002}
so beautiful! this really would make a great card

my family, minus big sister and brother {circa early 90's}

and yes, i'm the one with the little smirk, not looking at the camera 
and wearing one of my favorite christmas dresses

merry christmas kitties! {the only current photo of the bunch}

cache and aria

i get to include this cause there's a christmas tree :)

{can you tell that even at a young age i enjoyed being the center of attention?}

i'm wearing a undershirt, and my favorite blankey wrapped around me and belted. 
so chic.

merry sitsmas everyone!

winter weather

kansas style

 

 yes friends, this is what kansas winter snows look like.

 hard to believe it snowed all evening and all night.

{and we heard the plows come by}

i'm certainly not in michigan anymore!

eat, drink and be merry!

last night was hubby's english department christmas party, hosted at the department chair's house. and oh yeah, it was 1930's themed. awesome!

josh didn't dress in costume, but i went to a vintage.thrift shop in town and got a dress and did up my hair. {so much fun!}

plenty of yummy food.drinks and many people in costumes. 

amelia earhart was there

and bonnie {minus clyde}

frida made it out too {but sadly no fotos of her and the unibrow}

some performers from kstate's recent production of "guys and dolls" came to entertain us, and fred and ginger were playing in the background.

next weekend: the classic white elephant.ugly sweater party 

i heart the holidays!

christmas stories from mom #1

 my mom has so many wonderfully funny and heartwarming christmas stories from my parents' work at the salvation army, and i personally can't resist a great story {especially from my mom} so i thought for the month of december i would ask her to be a guest blogger of sorts and tell me some of her favorites.

i hope you enjoy the stories as much as i do!

{dictated over the phone}:

 "well, this isn't a funny story but it's a heartwarming story i really love. 

we were doing adpot-a-family {donors provide their adopted family with all their food, gifts and clothing for christmas} for the first time in sioux city, iowa and we arranged for the donors to bring the purchases to the corps rather than take it to the homes of the people who'd signed up so that the families had privacy. so we were surprised when we got a phone call asking if a donor could deliver. it was the 85th air battalion. they requested a single mom with boys and we found a mother who had 4 boys. then they asked if they could deliver to their house and we explained that we couldn't do that because we wanted to retain the privacy of the family. but they asked if they could get permission to deliver any way. i was extremely reluctant to hear them out, however, they were persuasive. when i heard their argument we did change our minds because they delivered the christmas packages and food in a tank. and it was a christmas never to be forgotten by those boys when they came rolling in.

 the paper covered it. and the boys got to ride on the tank and got lots of attention from airmen who were so kind and had such a great idea. it was very impressive."

such a wonderful story. 
 my heart is quite warm now. yours too?

{photos via here and here}

crafty family

over the holidays one of the things my mom, sisters and i did was make necklaces.

it was awesome!

my mom took us to the store, let us pick out our beads ect. and then we went home and made a huge mess! it was the. best.

i love creating together. and this too:
to protect their identity {and pride} the subject will go unnamed 

unfortunately, i only got fotos of mine:

{and it's not even a great one}

my mom is especially good at making jewelry, and she's put some of her smaller pieces on etsy! and at $25 a piece, they make great hand-crafted and high quality gifts. and did i mention that  

all proceeds go to charity?!?{salvation army world services}

go check it out. she would love it!

red kettle campaign

wet money and the sound of the change machine. 

these are two things that always come to mind for me when i think about christmas.

weird, i know.

 i've talked before about my parents' jobs as salvation army officers {here}. which makes me an officer's kid, which comes with all kinds of unusual things. and because of this, my holidays have always been full of kettle counting. you know? all the people in front of stores ringing bells with the big "sharing is caring" signs. i love helping my parents count the money. i don't know why. wet money smells bad, and it's really dirty, but for me, it's just part of the christmas spirit.

i still remember when i was a little kid, living in iowa, falling asleep every night to the sound of the change machine going in the living room. we lived in a small city, so my parents usually counted all alone {every night}, and the change machine only separated the coins then. they still had to roll them and count them. now, they live in a huge{ish} city and count money with lots of other people, and the change machine is much quieter and actually counts the money for them.

and {almost} every time i visit them i still go help count. 

i love it.

hubby hates it.

{cause he's a germaphobe. did i mention how dirty money is?}

so, besides sharing one of my christmas stories with you, i also wanted to share this:

Banner Ad for Red Kettle

my own personal online kettle!

i can't tell you how excited i am to host this on my little blog. i love the kettle campaign and every year i bring out all my change, carry it around with me and put some in every kettle i come by.

it's a wonderful charity, you can donate as little or as much as you want because every little bit helps! truly! the salvation army is a charity with one of the lowest overheads, so what you give actually goes to people in need- not paying for publicity, paying to keep the lights on, or salaries {trust me on that one}

if you're looking for an easy and meaningful way to give back this holiday season, please consider donating!

thanksgiving fotos

there were so many wonderful things about this thanksgiving, but one of the best was finally being able to spend some time with this guy:

my nephew ryan richard

the cutest, smartest 2 1/2 year-old i've ever met!

hubby and josh. two peas in a pod

{josh's proudest moment of the week may have been when he taught ryan the "fist bump explosion"}

at the airport {tear}

ryan and my mom {aka grammy} getting ready for a walk

i made him that orange hat :)

ryan and great-grandma!

she absolutely loved playing with him. it was cute.

that's all for now  {i could look at this little boy all day!}

more to come.