As I thought about what I wanted December's wallpaper/background/Facebook cover photo to be, I wanted something that would bring me peace. I wanted something that would help me find calm among the busy-ness and business of this Christmas season. I wanted something that would bring joy. I wanted something that would help me remember the true meaning behind the commercialized holidays. I wanted something that would help me stay grounded. This simple nativity set does just that.

We had beautiful, warm fall weather in Northern Utah this year which extended the vegetable growing season all the way into late November! I usually tear out my garden sometime in October because an early frost has most likely already damaged my vegetables but that was not the case this year! I harvested the last of my tomatoes and tomatillos on November 19 and probably could have left them on the vine for a few more days but I didn't want to take any more chances and lose th

It is with mixed feelings that I say goodbye to my Samsung Galaxy S5 Smartphone. I was hoping that it would last until the S8 comes out sometime in 2017 but in the last few weeks, it went downhill fast. It started shutting down for no particular reason. It started exiting out of apps when I was using them. Sometimes it wouldn't ring when I got a call. The time that it took to open an app or my camera or my photo gallery was getting ridiculously long. The battery life was so d

Give Thanks Card 1. Cut off white card stock to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". 2. Score the center so card folds to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". 3. Cut brown cardstock to 4" x 5 1/4". Adhere to front of card, leaving an even off white border around each edge. 4. Print or write "In everything Give Thanks" on 1 1/4" x 4" strip of off white cardstock. Ink the edges. Adhere to bottom portion of the brown cardstock, leaving an even border along the bottom and side edges. 5. Cut 3 coordinating strips of pat

Makes a 9 x 13 pan, 12-15 servings. 6-8 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces 1/2 Cup Butter 1 tsp Cinnamon 1/4 tsp Nutmeg 1 tsp Salt 2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows 1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds (optional) 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 2. Fill a large pot with water, 3/4 of the way full. Bring to a boil. 3. While water is coming to a boil, peel sweet potatoes and cut into bite sized chunks. Add to boiling water. 4. Boil for 15 minutes. Sweet potatoes shou

Just over five years ago, my oldest son joined the Army. It was not the path that I expected or wanted him to take but it was the path that was right for him. Though I worried about his safety and well being, I felt at peace with his decision and had this sense that everything would be ok. In those five years, my son has been deployed to Afghanistan twice. These patches are ones that he wore during his first deployment. Though I don't remember what each of them mean, they are

My son's scout leader texted me the other day, requesting a recent picture of him for their troop directory. I could have texted him a random picture that I had on my phone but my son tends to make crazy faces as soon as I snap a pic or have out of control hair or have his eyes closed or a combination of all three. For whatever reason, he does not cooperate when I try to take a picture! He thinks it is funny to mess up my perfectly planned shots! It frustrates me to no end an

Our family hosted a Japanese foreign exchange student this past week. We we fortunate to be paired with an incredible young man who is kind, considerate, adventurous, thoughtful, intelligent and he speaks very good English. It is a Japanese custom to give gifts in situations like this. Our student knew a little bit about us from the profile that we filled out so he knew that we have a cat as a pet and he knew that I like to make crafts. Based on that information, this ki-gu-m

Nothing screams the 90's quite like this stylized toll painted wooden pilgrim shelf sitter. From the colors chosen to the heart cheeks to the curly rayon hair to the stippled accents to the dashed lines around the edges, this is definitely a 90's creation! I hesitated to use it for this post because it is so dated! But at the same time, I am quite proud of it because as a non-artistic person, I painted that! It has been 20 years since I painted that but still...I did it! If y

I wasn't planning on doing a SHOTBOX post today but my daughter has her last high school volleyball game of the season tonight and I wanted to create an image to post on Facebook and Instagram to share with my family and friends to invite them out to this final game. Tonight's game is a big deal because our school is playing our biggest competition, the Lone Peak Knights. The Sophomore and JV teams beat Lone Peak at Lone Peak earlier in the season but Varsity lost. Tonight we