The End of 2010

Wow. It's just about over. In a way, it seems like a long year. On the other hand, time seems to fly. We have been blessed this year~ we have met new friends, strengthened friendships with old ones, and have had some exciting opportunities. The "exciting opportunities" are all very diverse~ unique in their own way.
They include being involved in our local farmers market selling gift items, going to Vision Forum's Baby Conference, having my grandmother move up here close to us, going to a boot and saddle show in TX, learning how to butcher a goat, trying to tan a goat hide, creating a new laundry system, and finally, the launch of my dad's new business Answer Soft.
There are probably more things, they just have slipped my mind at this moment :-)  I hope everyone had a wonderful year~

BTW~ I'm looking for a good Bible reading plan for 2011. Any suggestions? I love being able to interact with y'all now~ this is great.

~Howdy

Hello! So much has gone on since I last posted~ I don't know were to begin. Lets just say we have been busy with various projects (rather interesting ones if you ask me!), fellowshipping with dear friends (new and old), enjoying having our grandmother living close,  dreaming big dreams and putting them into action, and wondering when I will have time to collect my thoughts to write a blog post. I realized the only time I blog is when I'm sick :-( Blogging seems like a good way to rest- and that's usually when I have the most time to think. So, if you would pray that Brianna, Michael, and I will get well soon, we'd be very grateful.

We have stopped taking piano, but we are continuing to learn on our own. There is a lady at our church who has graciously agreed to give Brianna and I voice lessons. That is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and I'm excited about this opportunity.

I hope to give more details about the things I mentioned at the first of this post sometime. But, for the time being, this will have to do- we are trying to get ready to go on a trip to Texas to visit with family; that brings a lot of work along with it.

Well, if you are reading this blog still, I thank you for not giving up on me~

"All warfare that is not defensive, is criminal; and he who draws his sword to oppress, or merely to aggrandize, is a murderer and a robber."

 - Sir William Wallace 

The Scottish Chiefs 

 

Yep, I'm still here....

Playing with the camera

Okay...this summer has been busy and a lot of fun. So busy and fun that blogging hasn't exactly been a priority....Sorry! Here's a quick rundown~

Planted a garden, got tons of cucumbers, green beans, and some melons.

Went to San Antonio for the Baby Conference that Vision Forum had. That was a crazy trip which involved having pizza delivered to our hotel room at midnight, getting to swim in a 9ft pool, and hearing some fantastic speakers (Doug Phillips, Michelle Duggar, and Jennie Chancey were my personal favorites)

My mom keeps ordering organic produce in bulk, so that along with what we've either grown ourselves or bought locally, we've had a lot to preserve! We've tried Strawberry Preserves, Apple Butter, Blackberry Jam, Orange Marmalade, Cinnamon Pickles, Bread and Butter Pickles, and just plain old Green Beans. It's been quite an experience! I love to can, so it's been fun for me.

Havin' fun with my brother...What are we doing? Don't ask me, I have no idea!

We've been going to the farmer's market in Guthrie and selling some crafts like ceramic coasters we stamped, note cards with our photography on it and stuff like that. It's been good to meet the people in our lovely city :-) I've learned all about the sales tax and how to fill out the report. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

As an early birthday present, my grandmother (who btw, just moved up here close to us) took Brianna and I on the train to Fort Worth. We stayed with her sister and her family while we were there. We got to go to a really neat Civil War Museum. As a history buff and pattern-designer-wanna-be I had a blast looking at all the original historical clothing they had there. It was absolutely amazing! The details, the design, the like-new condition in some of the pieces was stunning! There's at least two I want to reproduce. Okay, enough of that...
My mom's cousin is a chef and he lives with the aunt and uncle we were staying with, so we got cooking lessons! It was so cool to learn techniques like how to cut an onion, a mango, and a chicken. It's stuff I do all the time, just not the "right" way :-) We also learned some more complete meals and made baguettes. Busy three days!

We celebrated Brianna's thirteenth birthday August 1st. We had a party at the house with friends and family. Daddy gave her a copy of the book he wrote for his daughters on our thirteenth birthdays: Guidelines for a Southerland Lady. They also gave her a ring. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

We are getting ready to start school this year after Labor Day. I am like so excited because this is my last year!

Today is my parents 20th anniversary!  Happy Anniversary Mama and Daddy!

Wow, I didn't realize this was so long! Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me...

Sense & Sensibility Patterns

Since 2007, I have enjoyed Sense & Sensibility Patterns. The beautiful patterns, the sewing tips, the amazing research section, and the wonderful message forum make this website a pleasure to visit. Now the website is even better! It has been redone for easy navigation. Check it out!
Click here to visit Sense and Sensibility Patterns.

Two Weeks of Birthday Parties- Paton

Well, for Paton's birthday party he thought of almost everything! He loves planning birthday parties, and although we like to keep things a surprise, we took almost all of his suggestions. He has quite an imagination, so it was a fun, yet challenging party to do. So....

Arghh! Welcome to Paton's Pirate Party!

We had a treasure hunt that had different pieces of a map hidden around the yard. Once he found all the pieces, he could see where the treasure was hidden. 

Special thanks to Michael for the outstanding photography~

Two Weeks of Birthday Parties- Mamalilly

We love to have my grandmother, Mamalilly up here and stay with us. The little ones love to sit on her lap and have her read book after book.... us older ones love to go "exploring" with her (driving around Edmond, Oklahoma city, and Guthrie looking for various shops and sometimes getting lost! :-)  Well, without further ado let me introduce Mamalilly and her Hawaiian party~ 

Two Weeks of Birthday Parties- Sarah

From March 24 to April 7 we had three birthday parties in our family: Sarah, my grandmother (aka Mamalilly), and Paton. Mamalilly came up and stayed with us and helped us with the preparations. In 2008 we started doing themed parties and we have had a lot of fun being creative and coming up with ideas. Alright, that's enough talking, on to the pictures!

Sarah's Butterfly and Ladybug Party

    Happy Fourth Birthday Sarah!

What we've been up to...

Okay...It's been a while sense I last posted. I'm going to try to post more regularly, but it seems like there's either nothing going on to post about or we're so busy I don't have time!


The major thing we've been doing is gardening. We were blessed in our gardening last year, and we are doing it again this year! I love gardening! It is so wonderful to get our food straight from God...It reminds me that He is our provider and with His blessing the garden grows! We are getting lettuce and spinach now, our potatoes and green beans are coming up, we planted cucumbers and squash a week ago, and we just planted the tomatoes Wednesday. We are in the middle of making tomato cages right now...we learned our lesson about cheap tomato cages last year. :-)


Michael bought a little trailer off of Craigslist tonight to take his mower around in. Hopefully he will get some yard work jobs this summer!   


We are going to Texas this week and staying with some family for about four days. I'm hoping to get some good driving time in this trip ( yes, I still need hours in before I get my licence).


We've had some birthdays around here lately, and some big sewing projects to go along with them. It was a lot of fun and I hope to get some pictures up soon.


Well, I gotta run~


Brittney

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Whoa....

Running, soaring, speeding on by with no regard to people, places, or things...completely unaware and unconcerned with what direction its going...all it knows is that it must go and go fast...and that we must keep up with it. Who or what is this unruly master? Time.

But wait. Something has happened. I finally have outsmarted this oppressive slavedriver, and now, on a Saturday morning I have time to write a blog post! :-)

Hello everyone! After many gentle reminders from my dear friends about my blog I am finally doing it.

Hmm... Where to start?

Our family is all doing well other than some minor colds. We have had a lot of snow and ice here in Oklahoma, and we are all lookin' forward to spring, summer and the joys of gardening!

Brianna, Justin and I are getting ready for a piano recital next month. This is Justin's first recital and he is very excited!

Brianna and I just finished making baby quilts with our good friends the Chatham's.


Close up of my quilt (Hand quilted)

Close up of Brianna's quilt (Hand tied)