Holiday baking and goodies! 
Over the next few days I'm going to be doing lots and lots of baking and cooking to get ready for Christmas. This year I am giving out lots of goodies to family and friends as gifts. I will be posting here some of my recipes so that you can make them yourself. It's crazy to me that I get soooo excited over making deliciousness, but I do. In fact, this year for Christmas, over half of my "wants" were kitchen tools and accessories! 

Yesterday, I started to make home made apple butter, and after 36 lonnnnng hours in the crock pot its done! 

Ingredients include

-20 apples, cored and cut
-3 cinnamon sticks
-2 cups of apple cider/apple juice
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1 tsp ground cloves
-1/4c sugar (or to taste you can add more or less depending on your taste)

Cut apples and place in crock pot
Add additional ingredients and toss the apples
Set crock pot to high for 2 hours, after two hours set to low and walk away!
Every couple of hours I would stir the apples just to make sure everything was getting cooked down equally.
I left mine in for 36 hours, but it depends on how big your crock pot is and what consistency you like your apple butter to be.

After 36 hours in the crock pot

I put my mixture in the blender so I could get the "true" apple butter consistency.

I put mine in mason jars!

 

I found some super cute tags from Hallmark, and they're ready to gift!

Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Surreal, saddened,  and surprised.

After events like the shooting at Sandy Hook, I find it hard to find the words to write here. I feel as though my trivial posts about what seems like almost nothing at this point, shouldn't even be typed. But then I realize that the reason I decided to start doing this was to be my sounding board, my scrapbook, and my "public" diary. The reason I have found I love to blog is mainly because of my children and family, the same exact things that were lost the sad, painful day in Connecticut.

My heart aches deeply for those parents, students, police officers, teachers, and all others that were and will be forever impacted by that day. I can't begin to imagine the surprise that they faced when their day turned from an "average" school day to a bloody massacre. Since the day it happened, I have scrolled through my Facebook feed with a heavy heart, often times in tears, reading the sad stories and remembrances of those precious lives were lost. I pray deeply for them and will never forget this tragic event. Those poor little children's lives were lost before they had barely even started, bedrooms are left empty, houses left silent except for the sounds of sadness. I just can't even grasp it. I wish I could take it all away.

I know that the only thing that I can do in this scenario is just to hold closely onto my own family and cherish every single second I have. So today, tomorrow, and every day forward cherish the time you have with the ones you love. Listen to the laughter, the joy, the love, and the peace that fills your house, even in the worst moments. Live hard, love harder. 

Tomorrow is not promised. 

18 months

Today, my precious baby girl is 18 months old. I started my day off by browsing through old videos on my facebook and seeing just how much Everley has grown. My heart weeps for the time that has flown by within a blink of an eye. I can still sit back and remember the day my water broke at 2am in the morning when I was 35weeks and 5 days. Everley came into this world in a diva like manner, and she certainly has maintained her reputation.

Now, Everley is ball of energy, a drama queen, a lover, a fighter, and my little turkey. As I type Everley is attempting to climb over the back of the couch like a tiny ninja assassin. I pull her down and she laughs, stares at me, and tries again. Lather, rinse, repeat. That's Everley in a nutshell. I love her more than words could describe. 

 

 

Everley Jean, 5 mos

I honestly was always deathly afraid of having a girl...for I knew I'd surely have a reproduction of me. And, my fears, are true. She is a mini-Rebecca with her daily dramatizations, need for attention, silly attitude, and ability to love so much. I know in 15 years when I have a teenager on my hands, I will be in a crazy world watching {me} Everley through a mother's eyes. I can only hope that maybe I can redirect her from the  mistakes I made at that age and my dream is to have maintained such a positive relationship that she feels comfortable coming to me for anything.

Everley Jean, I love you much. You are the best little girl, I could have asked for. 
Please just do me one favor, and slow down. 

18 month old can do's
-Singing and dancing are highlights of her day
-She can sing parts of the ABC's and just mumbles what she doesn't know
-Can speak over 40 works and mimics many words she hears
-Climb and run
-Can partially dress herself 
-Says "two" after you say 1
-Favorite things are Elmo (Elbo), Micky Mouse (Gagock), and Dora (Doo doo Doo)

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Hmm, blog? me?

So, I was inspired to start blogging by a very very close friend. (Check out her totally awesome blog over here!) I am not entirely sure how I am supposed to start all this off and what may be the "proper" introduction blog...but here goes. 

I am an Army wife to my fabulous husband and a mommy to my two amazing children. We are currently stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany...we just arrived here in October, so life for us has changed dramatically lately. I love to cook, bake, and my newest hobby is photography. I absolutely adore capturing memories through photographs and it has provided me with an outlet that I truly love. My husband is an E5 in the United States Army and therefore our life is totally unpredictable often times. Never-the-less, he is my soul mate, and I will follow him wherever he may go. We have two fantabulous children. Phillip turned 7 (yes, 7!!) years old last month and he is my absolute pride and joy. He is one of the most intelligent children, with so much drive and love, that I can't see straight half the time. Everley, well, she is an ever changing, bold, bright, giggly, trouble maker of a toddler that has brought so much (more) love into our lives since the day she graced us with her grand and unexpectedly early presence. 

                                          Germany on one of its many snowy days

 













So...my plan is to write about anything..and everything on my blog over time. I can't even tell you what...just whatever comes to mind, whatever I made that day, whatever is peeving me, whatever is making me happy that day...just whatever..


Pull up a seat and enjoy the ride. 

                                                       Me and my little family <3
                             P.S. Check out Souriant Designs she took this photo and she is amazing!