Wintervention

Well friends, it isn't officially ski season until Warren Miller comes to town! And the Warren Miller film will be in Salt Lake City this weekend! 



Going to a screening of these films each year is an awesome tradition to bring in the ski season! Each viewing gives away tons of free stuff from local vendors. Last year we got two free tickets to ski the Canyons (along with EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON who forked out the $20 bucks for tickets) and the year before we got a t-shirt. It's fun to be surrounded by winter-lovin' people. You'd think there was a dress code with everyone sporting their down sweaters and approach shoes - ha! Because we had a super-fun anniversary celebration this last weekend, we will be sitting this one out this year. But we'll be checking out previous years' Miller films on Netflix to get the excitement going around here.

Don't miss it! 

Find a show near you

Pillow Project Completed

Back in April, my girl Kris and I got together to have a girls' crafty night. It was WONDERFUL and I think I was a little nieve to think that we would actually accomplish this pillow craft in one night. Of course, we just had fun talking and eating and laughing and enjoying each other with crafts on the side. So we each took our craft home and were determined to finish it eventually. Kris finished hers much quicker than I was able. 

Here is V and Co's tutorial for the pillow

Here is my pillow. 

And this is my first pillow case so it was a learning experience.

It's shaped weird, I guess.  

 And I really didn't know what I was doing with the zipper - you'd think that zippers would come with sewing instructions - they don't. This was my first zipper experience, you see.

Making the little roses was fun, and took a lot of time. It was even trickier sewing them onto the pillow case - I think - but maybe I just didn't have the best method. 

The fabric is Jersey so it is sooo soft and comfy.

Here is Kristen's finished pillow

Fall Craft / Paperless project

My first sewing craft after receiving my sewing machine was making cloth napkins. I made two under heavy supervision. And it took a long time. And they weren't perfect squares. But I learned how to thread my machine and measure and pin and sew. And that was about a year ago. 

When Mom was in town, we picked out some cute fall fabric for some fall table napkins. Although I didn't get around to making them until this last weekend.

I like each of them to be individual because at my house each person gets a designated napkin until they're too gross to continue use and then they are washed. So these four should get the husband and I through a week of meals, hopefully. 

Unless I decide to make something awesome for dinner. 

...don't push your luck.

We have plenty of cloth napkins that we use year 'round. Since Autumn is my favorite and most celebrated season, I actually have a box of leafy kitchen linens and when I got out my Autumn decor, I traded out the towels and napkins in the kitchen for Autumn linens and put the rest on sabbatical. It's just another way to enjoy the season even more! 

When I was visiting the family a few weeks ago, my Grandmother gave me some beautiful fall table napkins. They are so pretty and fancy! We've been really enjoying them. Now that my sewing machine has spit out these casual napkins, I think that hers will be reserved for special occasions and for company (or for when these are in the laundry). 

Another year of the same promise

Yesterday Mr. McBrayer and I celebrated SIX YEARS of being married to each other. 

It's pretty amazing where God has taken us since this day. In some ways, I feel like we are exactly where we were then: in school, in the mountains, and poor. But in other ways we have grown so much and our lives have changed accordingly. 

I'm remembering our first year of marriage and what a disaster I was in the kitchen. For the entire months of October and November I cooked chicken breasts for dinner every night - I had never cooked anything else before in my life. And it was awful. One day the hubs and I were grocery shopping together and he sweetly asked if I could cook something besides chicken breasts and I just started bawling and was inconsolable. I used to cry when I would put the meals on the table before we even started eating - I knew they were just awful. My sweet husband would thank me for dinner and ask for seconds.

I made a McBrayer family recipe for venison stew one evening and put two TABLESPOONS of peanut butter instead of two teaspoons - the whole thing tasted overwhelmingly like peanut butter. 

We used to have Dooney's roommates over for dinner - they would bring the liquor and we would provide the food (I think we all knew that the McBrayers were getting the better end of that deal). One night I made dinner with red wine vinegar instead of red wine, not thinking it would be awful and it was AWFUL! 

That year I was finishing my degree in English and Mr. McBrayer was working at Compassion International. Three days a week, I would drive to his work and we would eat lunch in the parking lot together. I loved that.

(click on the picture to see full size - this one is click-worthy!) 

If you know me, then either you or someone you know is probably in this picture.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who continue to support us and encourage us in our marriage and in our life. Our lives wouldn't be the same without you!

That first year was fun, being surrounded by family and friends in Colorado. We didn't know then how short and precious that season was. After we had been married 9 months we moved to Kenya and celebrated our one-year anniversary in Nairobi that year.

I am happy that our future is in one place for the next few years - I see the potential for some roots to be planted. The baby itch has found me again and is pesky and cruel as before, but I do continue to hope for some babies. Or maybe I'll get a job and things won't be so tricky financially. But even if none of these things are to occur, at least I know that whatever does happen, it happens to us both, and that we are together in this life. It is wonderful to have a partner in life, especially one as resilient,  hilarious, adorable, exciting and wonderful as my Mr. McBrayer. 

My dear, home is where you are.

Works

I saw this video today on a blog that I read every once in awhile, Mormon Coffee


I am so grateful that "it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith- and not from ourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one  can boast" (Eph. 2: 8-9)

I wish that people would not carry upon themselves the burden of good works.

Do you know that more women are on anti-depressants in Utah than any other state in the U.S.? I think that there is a lot of pressure on women in society, but especially within Mormonism. I am amazed at how wonderful and hard working the LDS women are. Although I pity them, that so much of their worth within their community is based upon their participation and what they do.

It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free. His yolk is easy and his burden is light.  I wish that everyone could know the freedom that is in Christ and that knowing him is not being put on a leash and under the pressure of right acts and good works. But we are found without fault before God because Christ carries our works (or lack of) and thoughts upon himself so that we do not have to face life and death with them on our own shoulders. I am so grateful to know and be loved by such an amazing God.

Gearing up for Winter - DIY coat rack ideas

I have written a draft the last few days, never wanting to publish what I've written. I'm not sure of what to write.

Looking for jobs is exhausting emotionally. Some days I am so tired by the end of the day. Why it is so difficult?

We are winterizing our house this week. It's getting cold enough at night that we now keep all of the windows closed and I have turned on our gas fire place at least once each day. It still is around 70 in the afternoon, so the days here are just beautiful.

Yesterday we drained our sprinklers, drained and covered our swamp cooler, and removed the cooling fan from the bedroom. Before the first frost I need to cut back the roses and plant my tulip and daffodil bulbs. I will try to get around to that this weekend while Landon is climbing Indian Creek but my rose bushes are just beautiful right now so I've been putting it off. We need to do a few more things to close out the cool air and get the furnace ready but we're almost there. We saw a mouse in the house 3 weeks ago, which makes me wonder how many we have now that the weather is getting colder. I try not to think about it.

I am in desperate search for a very cheap coat rack and I'm contemplating creating my own. We need this soon. This house has only 2 closets total and one of them is not a hall coat closet and I have already found myself throwing my fleeces on the back of the couch or on the back of the kitchen chairs. Besides this being sloppy, we really need a coat rack once we come home with snow-soiled things from brilliant ski days. I also need to find a place for our box of winter woolens and I can't remember if I washed them at the end of the season last year.

Mornings are cold already. Yesterday when I went outside to let Duvick out of his kennel I could see my breath in the air, and the thermometer read 37 degrees. No frost yet, though, which is good. So we still have yellowing leaves on the trees. The Autumn seems to last a little longer here than in Colorado. Maybe it's because our elevation is a bit lower. It's nice, though.

Fun DIY Coat Rack ideas I found online:

By Kate and Design Sponge

From Apartment Therapy

from Camille Soulay

from a beach cottage only I think it would be fun with an old ski

kind of like this one from Orvis ($150)

and I really like this one.

also from Orvis ($800)

another one from Kate at design sponge

this is probably something that is more in my scheme of creativity. And I love the mis-matched hooks

Do you have any ideas?

Fireplace

One of my favorite cold weather enjoyments are fires.

This weekend I went camping with a handful of women from Salt Lake City and I ended up sitting beside the fire for probably 10 hours, as the night was below freezing and it was dark by 7:30p and we cooked (except i did zero cooking) all of our meals over the fire in dutch ovens (a new experience for me - and it was a long process but so so so yummy!). I came home smelling like smoke. And I was wondering if people used to smell like smoke all of the time - when fire was the only option for warmth in the winter months and cooking year-round. 

For the first time in 4 years, we live in a house with a fireplace. 

It's a gas fireplace, but it's still a fireplace.

Today I have had it roaring in the other room because my house is cold and we haven't gotten the furnace winter-ready yet. I love having the heat from the fire permeate through the house. I especially love the emotions and feelings that a fire in the fireplace evoke in me. Every home in my childhood had a fireplace and it reminds me of family and security and warmth.

What about you? 

Do these pictures make you feel any certain way?

Sorry, no picture credits for any of these

I can almost smell this picture!

This one confuses me a little but it still looks nice. I can't decide if it's warm or cold out there.

Wonderful.

This one I love especially. This is Snowbasin, and the cafe' where Landon and I enjoyed our lunch every day on the slopes. So warm and cozy next to the fire and beautiful views and cozy chairs. I will miss that this year.

As if we were enjoying a cup of coffee together this morning...

There is a low rumble descending from the clouds. It stirs my heart. The cloudy sky fooled me into waking later than normal. That will probably continue to happen as the days get shorter. Note to self: start to set an alarm clock.

It is Autumn here. There is snow in the mountains.

Slippers, sweats, open windows, and freshly brewed coffee make for a perfect morning.

No pictures for you. I left my camera in the back of my mother's SUV.

I woke with "Glee" music in my head.....again. And I like it.

My legs are aching. Badly. I went for a 3 mile run yesterday and spent bout 2 minutes doing lunges in the park. 2 minutes. And the lunges have me aching this morning. I just wanted to get my legs ready for ski season.

This week I am making winter meals because it is cold enough to open the house while I cook. I am excited for some of my favorite meals that we had to forgo during the summer that involve the crock pot and the oven. Tonight I'm cooking this recipe from my sister-in-law. Thanks, Merritt!

I am reading Toni Morrison again, one of my favorite authors. She is such a talented writer but her books are always so sad. Toni teaches literature at Princeton and has won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you haven't read one of her books, I recommend that you do.

I really thought I would have a job by now.

I am so moved when the weather comes in, be it wind, rain, lightning, or snow. It is such a peaceful reminder that I am not my own and that my current struggles are actually small and temporary. I love a great God who has moved the wind through this valley for hundreds of years, and he also moves me.

Mr. McBrayer makes me very happy. It is such a pleasure to spend each day with him.
And Duvick.

All tissue is NOT created equal

Okay, it's been awhile since I've harped on paper.

(photo by Blisstree)

I had a talk with my girlfriend last week about foregoing toilet paper. This was something that Mr. McBrayer and I discussed. With a wrinkled nose, Doons adamantly explained to me that he was drawing a line here with our Paperless in 2010 family campaign. I get it. It's very gross (maybe he'll be more interested when we enter a cloth diaper/baby wipe phase of our life?)

So we buy toilet paper. And if we're going to use the paper stuff, I just use my favorite roll: Charmin Ultra soft - is there any other toilet paper in the world that is so wonderful? I don't think so. It's like silk.

Today I happened upon this VERY HELPFUL recycled tissue and toilet paper guide from Greenpeace called "All Tissue is Not Created Equal" (click on the link to see the online PDF version). Greenpeace states:

Did you know? Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper - just once.

Amazing.

The pamphlet lets you know which paper products you should choose in four categories : Facial Tissue, Toilet Paper, Napkins, and Paper Towels.

When it comes to paper products, Hubs and I only use toilet paper, but I have discovered that my favorite brand of toilet paper uses ZERO post-consumer paper, and a chlorine bleaching process that is toxic and harmful to the environment. bummer. However, the Greenpeace pamphlet (that is small enough to fit in your wallet) recommends TEN alternatives that are greener. You will be surprised to hear that all 10 of those are 100% overall recycled papers and are Processed Chlorine -Free. Amazing.

Things I'm Loving Lately:

Sorry I've been MIA. 

I've been gone.

As I put my life back into order, I thought that a great post today would be a "Things I am Loving Lately" post, as I haven't done one since July. I really should do these monthly because they are so fun.

This is my backdrop on my computer screen right now (except I cropped out the floor and the"Ruche", so it's just the pretty white paper on the walls. I love it).

Click here for yours

Getting to meet this little pumpkin, Clara. (photo courtesy of her momma, sweet Callie)

I love Method hand soap. But something that I REALLY love is Method hand soap's refills in this bag instead of a huge plastic container like all the rest.

"Glee"

just in case you need a little taste of "Glee's" best:

Utah Peaches are in season at our Farmer's Market. Soooo yummy

My favorite beer of all time is finally in stores: Harvest Moon!

Aspens in the Fall

(photo by Kenneth Wyatt)