My addiction

Two beautiful vintage canisters
One Christmas frame cube
One little white shrug...

$4.35

Hello, my name is Phaedra, I am a thrift store addict.

I'm thankful for friends, and Turkey's

This picture has nothing to do with this post.
I just like it.

I have been soooo busy lately, the days are flying by.
All the Birthday's in our family are finally over,
and here come the holidays!

I am hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year,
so I'm in charge of the BIG Turkey roastin'.
I feel a little intimidated, especially after my little
brother suggested, "Uh, you might want to practice that first"
He is a great cook, and has been on Turkey duty in the past.

I took his advice, and yesterday invited some good friends over
for a trial turkey lunch after church, dutifully dubbed,
"Friendsgiving"

We had about 11 adults and a billion kids show up,
with wonderfully good side dishes and desserts.

It was a SUCCESS! The turkey was delish!

I know I'm a big sentimental cheese puff,
but I LOVE being among good friends.

Bring on the holiday's I'm ready!

FALL!

Last Friday the girls were out of school,
so we took a fall foliage drive.
It was so beautiful, as fall is.

(clicky to biggify)
This is on top of a mountain that over looks the
Valley we live in.

The girls had a lot of fun spotting familiar
places and landmarks.

I love uninterrupted time with my family.
LOVE IT!

*Side note: We recently found out that B-bop (our newly eight
year old) has some medical issues. She has been chronically
sick, out of school, and visiting the doctor a lot.
It's not life threatening, but it is serious
and could take quite some time to heal and take care of.
Please keep her in your prayers.
She is such an amazing girl and
quite the trooper.

The Brat Pack

A few days a week this gang walks to our house
after school.

They have just a teensy bit of fun together ;)


Then four middle school girls come crash the party.
Raiding the fridge, and talking a mile a minute.

Good times.

WhAt I've BeeN up To...

I dusted off the sewing machine this week...



...and made some new pillows for my couch.
I love birds, this fabric is silly and makes
me hAppY.



I have been doing a little decorating...






I have stopped at all my favorite thrift stores...

...I love these guys, yes they do make me happy.


I've been enjoying this back porch, with the beautiful
fall weather beginning.


The girls are always outside, playing in the yard.
Riding scooters and bikes with the neighbor kids.

We are getting settled,
and it feels great to be home.

I've had so much fun hanging out
with all my good friends.

Sam is already having success at work.
We are grateful.


That'z what's up.

The morning of September 11 2009 is a good morning.
We have just settled into our new home.
It is the home of a couple serving a full time mission.
I have known them since I was in Primary, and
even had sleepovers in this house when I was a young girl.

The neighbors are so friendly and quickly came and
introduced themselves. One even brought homemade
bread over this morning.

While waiting for this house to become vacant,
we were able to stay with a couple that I have
known my entire life.
We are grateful for their hospitality and help
getting us here, so we could get the
girls in school.

The girls are adjusting well to school.
K-bop and B-bop love their
elementary. I love it because there are
so many members there. Teachers and kids.
We like to call it "BYU-JR"!

G-bop has had a bit of a hard time adjusting to
middle school. She is doing better every day
and just found some friends she knew from
when we lived here before.
She is playing the Clarinet, and loves it.
I'm impressed with how fast she is learning songs!

This is a good Sept 11th.

I will NEVER forget that awful morning
eight years ago, when our world
changed.

I am proud to be an American.

Grabbing those horns again...

We have started a new chapter, new adventure, and a new huge challenge. We are going back to our home to plant roots, to stop moving our girls around, to carve out a life. This choice is not for everyone, and I'm sure many do not understand. We want it, and are willing to once again take life by the horns. I'm sure we will have plenty of learning and growing along the way. Wish us well!

Here is a re-post from a few years ago:

This weeks topic is: A growing experience. Share with us something that helped you grow in your life, whether good or bad.

"Taking our Life by the Horns"

About four years ago my husband and I woke up to the fact that we were in a rut, spinning our wheels in life. Let me first explain in many ways my hubby and I are alike. We are go with the flow kind of people, we take life as it happens. Like a great Jimmy Buffet song... pick one, they almost all fit our laid-back, ahem.. lazy ways.


Back to four years ago. Hubby had tried several different careers (Jen S. if you are reading this...no smart remarks!) every job the same thing, people would get promoted around him that had, well, a degree! We started tossing the idea around of him going back to school and finishing his degree. This was a bit frightening to think of, with three children.



One weekend we drove across the state line and down the road a couple hours to attend my nephews baptism. We were in the beautiful little town I grew up in (Picture below is K-bop and B-bop in that town, I told you it was beautiful) and we both mentioned that it would be nice to live there. Many people bearing their testimonies in our church that day, had just returned from hearing President Hinkley speak at a conference. Several people relayed the story of him saying "take life by the horns", he mentioned it was the Dodge Ram truck slogan and how it could be a powerful message in our own personal lives. Our PERSONAL LIVES needed to hear that, at that very time!



We went home and prayed about two things: Hubby going back to school, and moving our lives to a place we both strongly wanted to be.

Our decision was made, we were going to move.

We began WORKING toward those goals, and amazing things have happened in our lives. We have grown so much, and are still growing.



*BRAG ALERT* Hubby made Dean's list every semester in undergrad, while working full time and holding a challenging calling at church. When he was home he was focused on his family, basically he worked hard and played hard. He seldom complained.



Then one day he came home and said "I want to apply for law school"! The reaction and feelings I had at that moment are another post for another day! I am glad he is in law school now, it fits him like a glove. I've learned not to dwell on what we don't have (except that washer and dryer) or what we might have, but focus on today. Our fun loving family, our good friends, food, and food too. I'm back on WW and hungry.

We have together learned that what we put in to something is what we get out, and we have to do what is not easy to grow. This is my learning experience in growing.
With all this growing I'm still only 5'2.


Who ever thought I'd put Jimmy Buffet and President Hinkley in the same post anyways? I need to get some rest.


Oh, and we are trying to teach our girls to say in a very southern, Scarlett O'Hara way: "My daddy's gonna be a lawyuh". B-bop(5) has it down, the others just look at us in that "we got you for parents?" sorta way. We just look back at them with a "you've got a snotty nose, kid" kinda way. Okay, I'm outta here. Bye.