photo-a-day {feb recap}

 {1. ice cream heart burn treatment 2. crochet to wind down 3. nieces and auntie chomping on ice 4. our sweet family of three 5. 33 weeks 6. baby kicking for daddy 7. making my calendar pretty 

8. glucose test...yuck 9. my crafty space}

 {10. heading to the city for girls day 11.bebe 12. sewing a blanket 13. 34 weeks 14. flowers from my love 15. crocheting a bow 16. bib sewing day 17. beautiful day to be outside 18. sweet niece}

{19. oh hello snow 20. babe and i relaxing 21. bestie date 22. camping in the living room 23. candy from mexico 24. cousin time 25. trouble 26. oops missed this day 27. hello my love 28. sunny morning}

only missed on day this month! 

good-bye february, hello march

snow day

 

 i went to my mom's thursday evening because we had a funeral friday morning but we got storm stayed at her place. we made the best of it by crocheting, sewing, great conversation, watching the snow fly, cozy-ing up to the candles, documentary watching, watching and feeling the bebe dance inside me, laughing, enjoying each others company and relaxing.

(pictures taken by my sister and myself)

around here

this is what the last little while has looked like in our house. 

we have been able to stay home and relax in the evenings before the Christmas chaos begins.

we have also been trying to process what has been happening in the states as well as china.

my heart is broken.

 gingersnaps and coffee,

 our charlie brown christmas tree,

camping out in the living room watching miracle on 34th street

 healthy growing baby cannot wait to meet our sweet little peanut! 

 this little man is still with us and i am soaking it up

 i have so missed having a dog around so much! 

 

 some doodles i did this week

 went through my yarn stash to try and organize and compact it.

apparently i am fond of blues and browns.

christmas tree adventure

clint and i went out on our first christmas tree adventure. we weren't planning on getting a tree since we are hardly going to be around this year for christmas but then i heard about a farm near by where you cut down your own tree. i thought it would be a fun little adventure for our day so we went to check it out.

 we quickly realized we were not dressed for the frigid -28 but we decided to make the best of it. we wanted to cut down our own tree but all we could find was pre-cut trees so we wandered around that barn for a while enjoying the wonderful smells of the pine and crisp air. we found someone who looked like they worked there and asked him where to go. he pointed us in the right direction and gave us tokens for free hot chocolate. 

we hopped onto one of the horse drawn sleighs and dropped off at a patch of trees with a saw and told that we could pick which ever we wanted from that area. we knew we wanted a spindly little charlie brown tree. there were a quite a lot of charlie brown trees but we were looking for the perfect one!

we found it! 

the perfect spindly charlie brown tree.

it was just sitting there in all it's glory waiting for us clint to saw it down.

 

  

 it took clint all of two seconds to saw through the trunk and whip it over his shoulder.  we were far to cold to wait for the next sleigh to come around and pick us up and our tree was perfectly tiny that we just walked back to the main lodge. on our way back we found a cozy little fire, to warm our toes. once we got back to the lodge one of the men working there came over chuckling and asked for our tree ticket, he was kind enough to marked down the price for us since we had picked such a 'large tree'. we brought our tree to the truck, got it all strapped down then headed inside for some hot chocolate and peanuts.

 

now we just have to wait to set it up and decorate it because we don't have a tree stand.

i'll post pictures once it's all prettied up. 

crusty artisan bread

crusty artisan bread

i think this bread is the easiest and most delicious bread ever.

 it will probably be the only kind i make from now on.

crusty artisan bread recipe

2 cups - whole wheat flour

1 cup - white flour

1 1/2 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - yeast

1 3/4 cups - water

mix wheat, salt and yeast together.

add water until its a sticky dough.

cover and let rise for 12 - 18 hours - i left mine over night

heat oven to 450 degrees

on a floured surface form dough into a ball or oval

place a dutch oven or that type of dish in the oven for 30 mins (needs to have a lid)

let dough rest while dish is warming up

remove and place dough ball in dish put lid on and bake for 30 mins

remove lid and bake 15 mins more

place bread on a cooling rack and enjoy once it is cool.

dear...

Dear Winter,

Please be nice to us this year. I missed you last year since you didn't send us very much of the white fluffy stuff but was reminded how dangerous you and your beauty can truly be. Thank you for creating a longing in me to drink warm cozy tea though!

Dear Handmade with Purpose Community,

Thank you for sharing with others in need!
It warms my heart and encouraged me to join forces with you.

Dear Shelby,

Thank you for being my prayer partner for the Colossians study over at #shereadstruth. It means so much to have someone I've never met praying for me and my family. You are such a blessing!

Dear Kim,

Thanks for putting together  such a great handmade holiday gift guide! If only my wallet would allow me to take advantage of all those great deals!

 Linking up for Friday Letters

advent calender activities

since this is clint and i's  first Christmas together as a married couple we wanted to start some new traditions over the holiday season.  i made up a list of fun Christmas and winter activities for us to do during december. i also know that starting in december is the season of advent.  a time for us to prepare our hearts as we anxiously await the come of Christmas, not the commercialized Christmas, but rather the coming of Christ in the form of a helpless babe.

• mail Christmas cards
• read scriptures about the coming King to prepare our hearts - here are a few: Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 2:9-14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke:2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-12,  Micah 5:2
• decorate the house
• hang mistletoe
• wrap presents
• host a cookie swap
• go to a Christmas parade
• bake cookies for neighbors
• games night with friends
• hot chocolate bar
• watch elf
• dance under the twinkly lights to Christmas music
• make decorations
• go for a walk in the snow - be sure to bring your camera
• host an ugly sweater party
• camp in the living room under the lights
• go skating
• build a gingerbread house
• make a red and green meal
• drive around looking at lights
• watch rudolph
• go sledding
• picnic by the Christmas tree
• make snowangels
• go see a Christmas concert
• make Christmas cards
• make reindeer food
• bake a birthday cake for Jesus
• go on a hayride
• surprise someone with an unexpected gift
• go caroling
• make bird garland
• make a snowman
• make the house smell like Christmas

if you are looking for a great advent devotional heather from birch & bay will be releasing hers this week so you should really go and get it! 

What type of winter activities do you like to do? What do you like to read to prepare your heart for the advent season?

my life according to my phone

here are a few of the little things that happened in my week that made me happy!
{kitty peering at me as i crochet}
{baking my favorite muffins}
{having a tea party with this amazing tea set}{new tea in a new mug}
{horforst on the trees - feb first my view}

it's the little things in life that make it great!

have a happy weekend friends!

handmade valentine: coffee sleeve

happy monday!

im coming at you with another cute valentines tutorial.
i made it for myself, but we don't need to tell anyone that.
what you need:
-old coffee sleeve
-felt (two colours of your choice - i'm canadian and i spell colour with a u)
-needle
-embroidery thread
-scissors
-pencil
-buttons (if you wish)
layout a coffee cup sleeve and trace around it
but make sure it's a bit bigger than the paper onecut out what ever shape you wish to, i picked a heart because i had red felt
stitch, stitch, stitch around the heart
then stitch around the tops and bottom of the cuff

then where the ends meet i stitched two buttons on,
and i forgot to take a picture of it :(then use your cute new reusable coffee sleeve or gift it to someone you love!

thanks for stopping by.

blessings,
amber

life according to my phone: holiday edition

1. yummy cookies made by grandma
2. mom r.e.a.l.l.y. wanted everyone to sleep by the tree but i was the only one who would
3. my littlest brother is not so little anymore
4. my grandparents got alpacas, they are so much smaller than i thought
5. coffee cheese cake for breakfast, no big deal
6. mom lost erin's stocking so she got a sock instead
7. the newest addition to our family sweet baby teyah, which means precious, and she truly is
8. got this book for christmas and i am r.e.a.l.l.y. enjoying it so far
9. making some t-shirt yarn for a kitchen rug i want to make
10. my beautiful sister modeling an owl hat that is for sale

my life this week according to my phone

wooo-hoo its Christmas break!that doesn't really effect me to much though, i still have to work.
campus is completely dead though but
best of all clint is in holidays so we get lots of time together... to wedding plan! this week the weather was crazy!! it was raining in december in manitoba... that is unheard of! and made for very slow and dangerous driving conditions.i got this for my birthday and have been enjoying it greatly! thank you lynnette!
Christmas banquet fun! my very last one as a college student at providence university college.
i managed to finish up my paper even though i procrastinated at every chance i got.
baked some super duper yummy Christmas cookies!i have been trying to use small balls of yarn that i have filling baskets around my place.
i have really been enjoying my new job! i am working with intellectually disabled adults, i couldn't ask for a better job right now!