2013

via

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

** As you can see, things are 'under construction'

around here.  One of the many things I am looking

forward to this year is revealing a new blog design.

The pink bike long overstayed it's welcome!

Moving on....

This photo was taken today as we made our way home after

spending Christmas in Bend, Oregon with my parents.

{didn't think I did the brewpub trucker hat did ya?}

Do you see the smile on my face?

I have mixed emotions about Christmas.....

too complicated to get into today.....

but reflecting today during our snowy {slow} drive home,

it boils down to this:

I prefer life's small moments, the moments

that often don't seem like a big deal; like an opportunity to have

Starbucks with my teen along with a really good talk, baking

cookies in my kitchen with my tween, the unexpected night

out with my hubby, a good family dinner or one shared with friends, coffee with a friend........

you get the picture.

Christmas seems like such a big production that for someone 

like me, who prefers the small, the BIGNESS only drown's out

all the small and precious for me......FOR ONE WHOLE MONTH. I am 'off',

not myself, cranky {ask my family}.  Isn't that a bummer?

I question mankind's motives.  Why on the occasion of Christ's

birth must we decorate the house perfectly, entertain every family 

member and friend, tip everyone who serves our needs year round,

gift our loving teachers, family members, children,

give to the needy, attend extra worship services, 'fluff' the children

with new holiday finery, bake insane amounts of cookies,

assist the children with making homemade gifts for

all who love them, host an ornament exchange/cookie exchange/

white elephant exchange/some-kind of exchange..............

DURING ONE MONTH?????????? 

Just think, if you were to do any of the above mentioned

acts during any other month you would qualify for a

"random act of kindness"!

Don't get me wrong, I love the sentiment involved with ALL

of the above mentioned activities, however, if we are really

celebrating the birth of our Savior, shouldn't we practice these

acts year-round?  Or at least when we have a soccer/dance/basketball-free

Saturday?  Shouldn't we remember children without toys, or more

importantly, parents who are unable to give them toys during the months other

than the one that begins with the letter 'D'?  

So with that, I will leave you with the following words......

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas...

"Although it's been said, many times, many ways.....

Merry Christmas to you"

I am signing off for the next week or so.  Wishing

you all a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

xo~

Easy Christmas Dessert.....

I have made this cake twice this holiday season.  It's always

a winner and is super easy, plus it feeds a crowd. I originally

posted the recipe last December but thought it was

worthy to repost.  Don't be confused, the photos

are also from last Christmas {taken with my

50mm lens which I dropped and broke

about three months ago - boo!} I need to

replace that lens - especially after seeing these photos.

***********

Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake

{courtesy of food.com}

1 package devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1 package {4 ounce} instant chocolate pudding mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 {8 ounce} container of sour cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup coarsely crushed hard peppermint candies

Heavily grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan and set aside.  Combine first seven

ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat at low speed until combined.  Pour mixture in 

prepared bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or till a toothpick

inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool pan for 15 minutes then remove cake

from pan and cool entirely on wire rack.

For frosting, stir together powdered sugar and enough milk to make a dribbling

glaze consistency.  Drizzle frosting over cake and sprinkle with peppermint candies.

Gifts......

My preciousness.

It has been quite a week........and as much as I am keeping up

with the many activities of the season, my heart is heavy

and thoughts reeling with the events of the last week.

First, our mall shooting in Oregon - just on the other 

side of our beloved Portland.....innocent victims

doing what I had done earlier in the day, shopping

for Christmas presents for loved ones.

Then, the unthinkable events in Connecticut just the 

morning after our k-8 grade school's Christmas program.

My mom and I had admired our school's first graders

in their holiday finest as they sang all the familiar 

Christmas songs at the top of their sweet little lungs.

To think of what happened to children of that same

age, so young and innocent the very next morning

across our country is hard to take.  My girl's are 10 and 14

but have had lots of questions that I do not quite have

answers for.  I hugged my big girl extra tight when

she asked me, "mom, how could that killer

look at those sweet faces that were probably so scared and 

pull the trigger?"  What do you say to that?

On Saturday we travelled to Bend, Oregon to

attend a memorial service that was a 

celebration of a life well lived, for a man who focused 

his life on the important

 - family, faith and friends.  It was a fitting

service with those who loved him most.

Being a glass-is-half-full kind of girl, I am trying to 

find the good in how the bad may be affecting us.

Today, I saw the good in strangers who met

my eyes with a smile, the gentleman who held the 

door open for me at the post office, the

friendly faces on holiday cards in today's mail, the cute

elderly gentleman on the treadmill next to me at the

gym who struggled to get himself on the machine but 

once up and 'running' he walked slow and steady.

I'm thinking his pace was perfect.....slow and steady.

Life lesson....

Today I am heading to central Oregon to attend a 

memorial service for a wonderful man who I had

the privilege of calling a friend and mentor.

It's a sad pause during an otherwise joyous season.

Life has a funny way of bringing people into your life.

I met this friend, who passed away on Thanksgiving day,

when he became my boss. I was about 25 years old,

recently married and relatively new in my career -

he had four children and a wonderfully kind wife and was older than my

dad.  An unusual and perhaps unlikely friendship.  Our 

lives and careers went in different directions but

coincidently both our families ended up in Portland, Oregon.

His family included my husband and I in celebrations

and holiday dinners  - when we did not have family

on the west coast.  Before I had children, I always looked

to this family and thought, "I hope I can be as good

a parent as this J_____ and T____".  Despite a significant

age difference we remained family friends and

when I had children this man became almost like

another grandfather to my children.

My friend struggled with COPD the last couple

years and it unfortunately ended his life on Thanksgiving

evening after he enjoyed a meal with his wife, three of his

grown children, their spouses and many of

his grandkids.

My friend/mentor taught me one last valuable lesson

before he died.  And I am sharing this, not because I want

your support or sympathy, but because it is a lesson

so valuable and obvious that it must be shared as a reminder

to ALL of us - especially during this season.

About 10 days before he died, my friend called my

cell phone.  I was not available to take the call.

I thought to myself, I need to call him back......

But life got busy, with what I don't know?

I did not return the phone call.

It's something I will always regret.

So in this season of 'busy', don't forget

to make room for the important, the small

gestures, the meaningful.

More Christmas....

Thank you so much for all your kind words about

my understated Christmas decorating....it warmed my

heart!  It is sometimes hard opening blogs

and feeling like you just don't measure up....

So often I find myself thinking, "Look, she had time to

bake and build a gingerbread house, home-school her

seven children, make her own wrapping paper,

decorate five themed trees AND record

and post 3 different Christmas craft tutorials.......

why can't I?

I realized I neglected to show my staircase - so thought 

I would share today.....Maybe we don't have 

a tree in our great room this year, but we have

a staircase decorated with garland!

As an added bonus....how about a photo of our perfectly imperfect

tree at night?  Wait!  Are those wrapped presents I see????

Why yes, yes they are!

Our Christmas home....

Welcome to our Christmas home 2012.

Truth be told - I don't get that excited about adding a bunch

of holiday'stuff' in and around my home, I kind

of like it as is and frankly, I don't need anymore stuff to dust.  I do love to add

holiday greenery, paperwhites and pointsettas! Oh...and

upon looking at these photos, I decided I must love Christmas words

cause there are a whole lot of them showing up!

Basically I am a 'less is more' kind of gal when it comes 

to Christmas decorating.  Oh, and if the word 'Christmas'

offends you in anyway, you can move on .....around here

we celebrate Christmas - nothing against any other celebrations - 

just around here it's Christmas, pure and simple. And if anything,

I am NOT a politically correct kind of gal.

I did a bit of a happy dance at my Trader Joe's 

when I found they had boxwood wreaths

for 9.99 - I loaded my cart with boxwood

wreaths and Peppermint Joe Joe's and headed home....

just what I needed to get into the holiday spirit.

We had our tree in our great room last year - where I currently have this white 

cupboard.  I just was not in the mood to move it so we put 

our tree in the living room - a nice change,

plus you can see it from the front of our house.

What is more festive than a lit Christmas tree

in a front window of a house????? That's

what I keep asking my kids who claim "BUT WE

NEVER GO INTO THE LIVING ROOM".....

And why yes, those are some random boxes{to be assembled}

from Ikea leaning against my cupboard in the photo above.

Obviously, the stylist in me had lowered her 

standards today.

Maybe I will let my kids have a candy cane....when they

appreciate the tree in the living room where they neighbors

can see it when they drive by!

The large cloche holds some of my vintage ornament collection.

And {gasp!} I don't even get rid of my broken sea shells when

I bring out they ornaments....they are friends and get along quite nicely.

I am entertaining this season - a couple small gatherings 

and then one BIG one - yep, yours truly is hosting

the soccer team holiday party......this coming Sunday.

We will have just 19 teenage girls and their parents in our

humble home.....Heaven help me!

I'm joining my friend, Jen Rizzo's Holiday 

Housewalk party. cause it's a party NOT 

at my house!

Winners!

Happy Monday to you all!

Just popping in quick to announce the winner of the Spark Modern $75 credit giveaway!  The winner of the credit is............PRUDENCE who said she would choose the 'Romo Camille Chartreuse' cover.

Congratulations Prudence!  Please email me {jillbeth@aol.com} for details on how to get your credit.

And, I was thrilled when Lauren and Amy from Spark Modern generously offered to award three more lucky girls 12x20 lumbar pillows in their fabric choices.......I love happy surprises like that!  The winners are:

Stacey - who wins a lumbar in Betwixt Indigo
Beth - who wins a Kasari Graphite lumbar
Kristen - wins a Sunara Spice lumbar

A HUGE thank you to Spark Modern - they are a couple of very sweet gals who make beautiful pillows.  Congratulations to the winners - remember to email me at jillbeth@aol.com for details on how to claim your prizes!

Gingham and lanterns....how's that for a title?

Gingham....such a classic and so festive at Christmas.

I found these large dishtowels at Ikea today and 

adore the loop for hanging and of course, the 

red and white gingham!  For $2.99, go get some - now!

If you don't have an Ikea close - send your friend who does!

*******

I get lots of questions about the lantern that hangs over our dining

room table.  It is the "Calisse" 4-light Pendant from

Ballard Designs.  It is currently on clearance for $119.99!

Wow!

Here is a photo from my dining room last Christmas.

Remember, you have until Sunday to enter the Spark Modern $75 credit giveaway!

pillow love....giveaway!

I have professed my love for throw pillows many times on this blog.  Pillows

are really a 'go to' for many decorators to set or change a color palette 

in a relatively inexpensive way.  The photo above was taken tonight - my 

great room sofa with the current pillow combination.  Most would

probably say it's too many pillows but it's just how I like it.  I really

strive to not do the matchy-matchy thing, more a collaborative pillow effort!

The Schumacher Betwixt pillows pictured above were purchased 

from Spark Modern, a fabulous Etsy site for designer fabric pillows!

Think beautiful designer fabrics - like Imperial Trellis, Betwixt and

Shanghai Dragon!

Spark Modern is generously offering a $75 credit 

to their shop to one lucky Forever*Cottage reader!

In order to enter:

First, 'Like' Spark Modern on Facebook and

come back here tell me you did so.

Second, visit Spark Modern on Etsy and let me

know what you spend your $75 credit.

If you are too impatient to wait and see if you've won - 

Spark Modern is doing a Christmas sale.  Today they are offering

15% off all Schumacher Imperial Trellis pillows!!! Such a classic pattern - 

go get you some! Enter 'IT15' at checkout to get the discount.

You have until Sunday, December 9th, midnight PST to enter!

I will announce the winner on Monday, December 10th.

O Christmas tree.....

Here she is .....in all her Charlie Brown tree goodness.

If it were up to me we would always have a natural tree.

I have collected Christopher Radko ornaments for many years

and they just hang beautifully on a sparse tree.

Please come back on Wednesday, I have another 

really fun giveaway!

So, is your tree up yet?

So true....

Yes you do!

*******

Heading home this evening after four days in

San Diego watching my big girl play some

great soccer - what an experience!  Talk about

a whole new world....Her team participated

in their first college showcase, an opportunity

for college coaches to see the best club players.  Of course,

at 13 and 14 years old our team did not

have many college coaches watching our games

but being in this environment showed me

what is coming!  Hard to believe - seems

like she was playing 'kick and chase' soccer just 

yesterday....so I am here to tell all of you

with young children, time goes oh so fast!

Enough of that - I will be back with design posts

this week.  I have SO much holiday related

fluffing to do in my home!

Wishing you a restful Sunday.