Merry Christmas

I wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! This Christmas season has been life-changing for me in so many ways, and I wish to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for sending His son, Jesus Christ, to earth. I am thankful for the blessings I have received in my life because of the Savior and the Atonement. There is so much gratitude in my heart for the peace and hope offered to each one of us because of Christ. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving Preparation...

I live by the motto "Be Prepared." Or at least I try to. Today was a day filled with preparation for the big day tomorrow since I am hosting Thanksgiving for my side of the family. My mom helped me with the kids and we also cooked as many dishes as possible ahead of time. We made my next-door-neighbor's famous raspberry jello, cranberry-orange relish, and a fresh apple pie. This was my second-ever attempt at homemade pie crust and it turned out really well again. Except that I still haven't mastered rolling it the correct size to have enough to flute the edges. However, I am still very happy with it because pie crust can be tricky, and it seems I may have a knack for making it! My first pie (made last week) had a very flaky and tender crust, and this one appears promising as well. I tried rolling the dough on the rolling pin and then placing it in the pie dish and that worked better - though it made me extremely nervous. I didn't have apples from my sister-in-law's tree this time, so I bought them and tried a mix of Granny Smith (3 apples), Braeburn (1), Jonagold (1), and a Cameo to round out the flavor. I'll let ya know how that combination worked.

After the pie was finished baking, I went to my in-law's house where MIL had a used flower arrangement that she gave to me. It looked a little sad, and she had to leave, so I dug around the garden for remnants of any mums that had not died in the morning frosts. I found a few, and patched up the holes. Ta da! I now have a refurbishd fresh flower arrangement for the centerpiece on our Thanksgiving table. It looks pretty good, though I can definitely tell I lack shaping skills. I'll have to work on that...

Let's try this again!

It has only been three weeks, but I miss my blog. I decided to create another blog in its place to see how much time it would take, and believe it or not, it only took about five minutes to create this. A fresh start was appealing to me. I really need a place to post pictures of my latest projects and ideas. I don't really need a writing forum since I am currently keeping four separate journals. However, I still want to write for my friends and family that like to read about my happenings. I deleted my first blog for many reasons - most of which dealt with a possible wondering if I was wasting my time and if I put my family's security at risk. This time around, I can only upkeep this if it requires minimal time - which ought to be possible with less photos of our personal lives. Let's see what happens, shall we?

Edit: Please don't flog me for returning. I know that my vascilating nature drives some of you crazy, but that is one of my favorite characteristics of my personality. I enjoy changing my mind. Again. And again.