Lovey-dovey Playlist for this weekend only. No worries, it goes bye-bye come Monday!

St. Valentine's Day

(photo by DerHannes)

Today I was thinking about it and realized that i don't really know the history behind Valentine's day. So I've been doing a quick bit of research and reading and thought I might share with you. So keep in mind, this is just what i've read within the last hour - definitely not a deep search, but maybe just a little bit to get you thinking about the origins of this day.

St. Valentines Day is a day of feasting in remembering Priest(s) (for there are 3 priests recognized by the Catholic church that were martyred named "Valentine") that were martyred. One in particular is celebrated. He was imprisoned for aiding Christians during a time of Roman persecution against Christians under Claudius Gothicus (270ishAD) (though I've also read that he could have been performing marriage ceremonies to those that were not allowed to marry) . Valentine was brutally beaten and then beheaded.

I guess it wasn't until Geoffery Chaucer's "The Parlement of Foules" that people began to see St. Valentine's day as a day for love. Chaucer writes a story of  birds looking for mates ("love-birds") and this ritual just so happens to be on St. Valentine's Day. I pulled my good 'ol compilation of works by Chaucer from my lit classes and thought I would read it a bit:

"For this was on Seynt Valentynes day,

Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make,

Of every kynde that men thynke may,

And that so huge a noyse gan they make

That erthe, and eyr and tre, and every lake

So ful was taht unethe was there space

For me to stonde, so ful was al the place."

The Parlement of Foules 308-315

(photo by Ajatierra)

So then the people started celebrating romantic love on St. Valentine's Day instead of their faithful martyr (or perhaps if he was the one conducting marriage ceremonies for young lovers, he is still honored on this day?). And I guess that France and England's royal courts made a huge deal of it, with poem writing competitions where women were made the judges and a huge love-fest ensued. But I was reading through a an essay by Jean Jost on Chaucer's prose turning a religious holiday into a day to celebrate love and wooing, where she claims that "idealizing and therefore distancing of women perpetuates their social objectification and isolation under the guise of praise." (Jost, Subversive Poetics, p.55) Ha! I thought some of you would like that. 

And for those of you who think that Valentine's Day is just a huge scheme put together by the greeting card companies:

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. And the holiday brings in about 14 billion dollars annually. (http://www.history.com/content/valentine/history-of-valentine-s-day)

Wishing you and your loved one a happy valentine's day!

Thinking back on this night makes me happy.

But not as happy as thinking about these guys. I' m even putting dialogue in their mouths in my mind and it's hysterical.  Remember that we had issues with some people because you guys put beer in the burger meat?

What also makes me happy: the look on landon's face in the picture above....

And the look on the rest of the guys' faces in the picture below.

Some days I really miss those good 'ol college days when there was always someone to be with, somewhere to be, something to be done that was thrilling and new and significant. 

I wish we could be so carefree in this season.

But at least I am not now sitting home alone looking back on these pictures and remembering how my heart yearned for Landon and wondering where he is these days. In fact, he is just down stairs, in my house, sleeping in my bed, eating at my table, as my husband.

Now, that really makes me happy. 

Food, Inc.

Yesterday was a proud day for me. My sister called me and told me that she has chosen to eat free-range. She told me that she watched Food, Inc. and though she was only half way through, she decided that she needed to take responsibility to buy ethically grown food. I was so grateful to hear that someone outside of our house would be compelled to live this way.

"But...", she said, "I'm afraid to dissect a chicken." Ha!

No fear, my dear, free-range chicken comes in breasts just like dirty chicken. You just have to pay for it!

Food, Inc.

Think about sustainable living. 

Think about responsible consumption. 

Think about stewardship of the earth; of its creatures. 

Think about our responsibility to our own health and the health of our family.

Yet again, I will remind you that I have an awesome tab on the sidebar of my blog brought to you by the "Eat Well Guide". Enter your zip code and they will provide local places for you to purchase your happy foods. 

words of wisdom from the Rev. McB

Landon and I were talking about skiing last weekend. He mentioned that Superbowl Sunday is one of the best days of the year to ski because people are at home watching football so the slopes are empty. So we decided to skip church and spend a whole day on the mountain. And boy, was Landon right. The snow was great and we had an awesome time.

I am still very much getting my ski legs. I am still slow and apprehensive and over cautious and just not good yet. But Landon, who is actually an incredible skier, skis with me anyway. And at every bend he is waiting for me (even if I have been trying my darndest to keep up with him). And I always feel bad that he has to wait for me. I tell him to just go and we'll meet up for lunch later. But he says, "it's okay - waiting for your wife is a part of life". And I told him that if more men had that philosophy there would be much happier wives in the world!

One of the things that Landon consistently says every once in awhile is "marriage is about sacrifice". He always says this, of course, when he is making a sacrifice for me. And this weekend I presented Landon with my eco craft idea (the panty liners) once again and we made a little compromise about them and he gave me the go - then follows, "marriage is about sacrifice". He's great! So I had a hay-day putting together a few of those and getting to learn how to use my machine. My Singer has a foot that makes button-holes! And a foot that helps sew on buttons - how fun! So I have some very very pitiful looking sewing projects, but at least I am learning. 

The votes have been cast and counted. These are the winners for the 2009 Project 7 $15,000 gifts. 

Even if you didn't vote, maybe check out these non-profits and see what they are doing. A lot of them are currently putting together projects to help in Haiti. Pretty awesome. Click on the picture to see their website.

Bringing the Outside In

Landon and I love the outdoors. 


We LOOOOOOVE being out of doors. 


Nature inspires us. 


Being in the wild.


Being WILD! 


It's part of who we are and what we live for. 


God's beautiful Earth!

And so, it would only be natural that our home would be filled with the wild things. Only that is trickier in the winter, isn't it? Without things growing to bring in and nurture and enjoy. But I try to bring a bit if this seasnon's beauty into our home to enjoy. And i'm not talking about snow.

My father made these amazing tealight holders for us for Christmas. My father is amazing with building things, and it's really special to me that he made something so precious and feminine and beautiful for me (and my sis) for Christmas. These are part of a fallen Aspen tree from his neighbor's yard. Now I get to bring Colorado Aspen into my house!

Landon found this antler. Coupled with a barky candle holder it works well as a book end!

These pheasant feathers are off the tail of some beautiful pheasant Landon killed a few years ago. The weeds, I pulled from the ground surrounding a lake across the street.

Pine cones from all over (Illiniois, Utah, Colorado - do you know that I like to take home my favorites?). They are currently sitting beside this painting in our family room. It's a wonderful wintery/autumn thing, to have pine cones at home.

This is my most recent craft (I've been so excited to share it with you!!). I collected these slices of wood from a trail beside the Des Plaines River in Illinois. They were doing some trail maintenance there and left these on the ground. I love that I can see the "rings" of the inside of the tree and even the crack that is consistent in each piece. These are just so beautiful, i think.  

I know the words-on-the-wall decor is very trendy right now. But i still think that mine is pretty unique!!

The McBrayer Nation

Our family. The McBrayers

This was my first Christmas with the McBrayer's: 2006. (04 we were with my fam and 05 we were in Africa) With all of us together, there were 16 of us (and 2 pregnant mommies).

(sorry the pictures are so teeny tiny. click to enlarge)

The family consists of "the Oafies" (Mike and Charleen) and 7 children: 5 men and 2 women, with their spouses and children. With a family this large, it's hard to get everyone together at the same time (especially when we reside in 6 different states). So we've made it official - that we will all get together for Christmas every 3 years. Of course, everyone tries to see everyone once a year, but we aren't actually all together in one room except for weddings (which are now finished!) and Christmases.

This last Christmas: 2009
With all of us together, there were 24 of us (and 2 more pregnant mommies).

I've done the math and have discovered that by the next time we are all together (Christmas 2012), if we continue to grow at the rate in which we have been these last 3 years, we should have 36 family members. I'm not sure about 12 more kids in 3 years. Yikes, that means Landon and I would probably have to take some responsibility in that (which we wouldn't mind at all!). It's fun and exciting to be in an ever growing, always changing family. And it's amazing that once a new member is added, to imagine the family ever without that person makes the family seem not quite whole. It's really a blessing to get to love and be loved by so many people!

p.s. kudos to my amazing sis-in-law, Crystal, who is a fantastic photographer. we're very fortunate to end up with such wonderful pictures of our family every time we get together! thanks, titol!

"Angel's" Food Cupcakes

I have had cupcakes on the mind a bit these last few years. You've followed my journey as I've looked for local cupcake shops in my town(s). I love the gourmet, decadent, creative wonder that are cupcakes. And not only have i been in search of amazing cupcakes in my area, but  I've been wondering at the idea of seeking out a little guidance to create my own cupcakes.

And so Mom and Dad got me this book for Christmas.

Kevin and Cori got us an amazing Calphalone cupcake pan for our wedding ever so long ago, so I was set.

Anna, my sister-in-law (that i too often mention) told me that Martha Stewart recipes are wonderful and sometimes a little too much work. I've never really done anything Martha because she is the queen of creating and quite frankly, intimidates me like crazy. 

So this was my first time with Martha.

I searched and skimmed through my beautiful book and found what I thought to be the easiest looking recipe: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting and Chocolate Curls. (which Landon has so endearingly changed to "Angel's" Food Cupcakes in honor of his mother who calls Deviled Eggs "Angeled Eggs - we don't want to give the Devil any credit!" Love her.)

I went to work, already having most of the ingredients, and it took me forever to put these together. Who ever knew that a simple cake badder could involve so much? In this case, I was very very grateful for my KitchenAid which made the tedious mixing so much easier. 

And then the ganache, once conceived had to be put in the refrigerator and taken out and stirred every 5 minutes. sheesh. I guess if I'm doing things Martha's way, i should expect a two hour cupcake making process. But, it was fun. It was fun! And we've been enjoying these cupcakes [at least] once a day ever since. And the recipe says that they can be frozen for 2 months, so if you show up in the next 2 months, i may just be able to give you a taste of this deliciousness!!

I've been wanting a cake stand for awhile now, for little things like this. But i saw something online where a lady screwed a plate into a candle stick holder. I just balanced one of our nice dishes on top of a candle holder that I wasn't using...that's good enough for me for now! 

Recycling Party!!!

Yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone on the way home from church. She told me about this awesome party that she went to on Saturday. As I'm listening to her tell me all about it I'm thinking to myself that this idea needs to be shared with the masses. Then she said, "I think you should write a blog about it..." And I said, "no, YOU should write a blog about it"


So friends, this is the first of hopefully many guest blogsposts (maybe you want to write a guest post too?) written by my dear lil' sis: Janelle Sheely (she's the red head beauty)

I wanted to share something that a group of women and I have been doing recently - a swap party.  It is the most fun recycling you will ever do!  We get together and share food and conversation, but also swap things we no longer want.  So far we've done a "book and movie swap" as well as an "accessories swap'. 

 We all have that movie we don't care to see again, or that necklace that looked great in the store, but doesn't go with anything in our closet. Why not trade your not-wants for someone else's unwanteds? After all, as the saying goes, "one man's trash is another man's treasure".  

Here's how it works:  you bring as many items as you want to go home with - but everything must be desirable - no junk.  Everyone draws numbers to determine the order of who gets to choose next.  The first round you get to keep what you pick - so everyone is guaranteed to go home with something they want.  We re-draw numbers every round and it runs like a white elephant, where you can pick a new item or steal one each round.  It's a great excuse to get together on a Saturday night and the bonus is you get new things without spending a dime.  I've enjoyed it so much, I told hannah she should mention it on her blog!  But we are now getting to the point where we are running out of ideas of themes for the swap parties.  Any ideas?

Thanks Janelle! I love this idea. It's a great excuse for a party and I love that it's free and it's also environmentally conscious. I really want to be conscious of purchasing things that have been pre owned and already used (not EVERYTHING, of course), but it really is unnecessary to dump old things for shiny new things, when it takes so much energy and resources to produce everything that we consume. see www.freecycle.net for some freebies in your area. 


and Janelle, my idea for your next party: cook books!