Author: Rhonda

Seasons

I am thankful to live in and area where we have all four seasons. I feel I would be lost without them. Fall is my favorite with winter being  a close second (It’s still fall here but I woke up to snow – it’s so pretty outside right now!) Fall brings clean crisp air, bonfires, beautiful colors everywhere and just doens’t last long enough. Winter for me is a time to hibernate which I love. I don’t even mind that it gets dark earlier. It’s a time for hot chocolate and blankets and settling in. Of course spring brings summer which means camping season so I like them too.  Spring brings color back into the landscape and a desire to get out and work the earth. And summer means long days and late nights, picinics and bike rides. Each season brings with it it’s own unique offerings and I’m thankful for them all.

Music

Today I’m thankful for my love of all different genres of music. Now there are some genres that I just can’t understand or listen too and that’s okay. But I do love to listen to a lot of different styles. Right now I’ve been listening a lot of Indie Folk and I find it very relaxing. I put on Pandora or the Alexa and leave it on all day as background music. It’s wonderful! If I’m in the truck with Joe we will be listening to 80’s rock. If I’m driving without Joe it’s usually country. Of course with the older kids it’s always something new and different and sometimes I just don’t care for it. With Dad and Mom it’s going to be old old country and nothing else. To be honest I think I was in junior high before I realized there was any other genre of music besides country or church hymns! But that old country sure brings back memories and feels like home! I also enjoy classical sometimes and pop and even some hard rock depending on the day! I remember once years ago, I’d had a hard day and Eric and I drove to Oskaloosa and I ended up buying a Best of Guns N Roses CD and we rocked out all the way home with the volume up as loud as it would go. I felt much better when we got home! I can’t imagine not having music in my life and many different genres. So, from Kid Rock to Hank Williams, Ed Sheeran to Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert to Maroon 5, you never know what will be playing around here!

Another Thankful Day

I love overcast,  misty, chilly November days. This is my favorite time of the year. I love the way the house feels or when I was working, I loved how the office felt more cozy and warm. I would light a candle, play some soft music and it would feel more relaxed and homey. And at home I do the same thing. Light some candles, play some music, turn on lamps rather than overhead lights and just relax. I’m always thankful for this time of year because of the way it makes me feel. Now I know I’m not the norm and I’m not saying a warm sunny summer day doesn’t have it’s appeal but this is my time of year and I’m thankful I get to enjoy these slower, quieter, comfy cozy days of November.

Thankful

Yes – there is always something to be thankful for. I’m trying to post everyday on Facebook something I am thankful for during the month of November. November 1st – books, I can’t imagine a world without books. What more can I say??!! November 2nd – all the wonderful friends and family who wished me a happy birthday on the 1st! A quiet, productive day at home and then supper at Dad and Mom’s. Roast beef and potatoes – one of my favorites! And Aaron surprised me by coming over too.

November 3rd – running into old friends and catching up. We dropped Drew off at Dad and Mom’s Saturday morning to spend the night then Joe and I ran into town for lunch. We hadn’t planned to but we spent more time at Dad and Mom’s than we had anticipated so thought we’d run in, eat quick, then get started on some projects at home. When we got there some old friends we hadn’t seen for a long time were there and we sat down together and had lunch. It was so nice to get caught up with this couple. I went to school with both of them and Joe and Jeff became friends after he moved to the area years ago. I told Joe on the way home how it’s nice to be with couples who have been together and stayed together for years. There is so much love there and they’re just so comfortable to be around. It was great running into them!

November 4th – having a husband who fixed brunch while I tackled the moutain of laundry in the living room that needed folded and put away. And, he helped clean up the kitchen after we ate! Bacon, fried eggs, hashbrowns and toast. I don’t take that for granted and it doesn’t happen often and that’s okay, I don’t expect it to, but yesterday I was very thankful that it did! And it was yummy! Why does food alwyas taste better when somebody else fixes it?

There’s something to be thankful for everyday. Some days you have to look a little deeper to find things but they are always there! I wonder what I’ll find to be thankful for today?

It’s A Little Froggy Around Here!

Little Miss Bayah is turning one! It’s hard to believe that that little four pound peanut is going to be a year old! Her mommy gave me a list of ideas for gifts and I always try to follow the list. Things like a hooded bath towel and a soft baby doll. But I think she needs something special from grandma too! A couple of years ago I made Braxton and Drew frogs. I remember having a frog like this that my grandma made for me and I loved it. The boys really loved theirs too. They’ve been played with enough that they’ve had to be stitched back up in places. So, I thought maybe Bayah would like one too! Drew picked out the fabric and helped me stuff it with beans so it’s been a labor of love for a sweet little grandbaby/niece who has us all wrapped around her little finger!

A Great Read

A friend loaned me this book and I am so glad she did. We were wandering around the Amanas this summer and chatting about all kinds of things – as we tend to do. We don’t see each other often, sometimes a year or two can go by – but then we get together and start right back where we left off. I love those kinds of friendships. We haven’t even known each other that long really – she and her husband moved to Iowa from Texas a few years ago and we met because our husbands met through work and we all just hit it off.

Anyway, we were chatting about this and that and solving all the world’s problems which led to this book.  It’s not a book that I would normally pick up but when it comes to books, if somebody recommends one I’ll give it a shot and I’m so glad she loaned it to me and I am so glad I took the time to read it. It made me happy and sad, it made me laugh out loud and cry, and it really made me think.  I’ve learned to see things differently just from reading Noah Trevor’s words. I recommend this book to anyone and I’m so thankful my friend loaned her book to me!

Quiet Weekend

What a wonderfully quiet weekend we had! I hardly took any pictures – I just enjoyed the weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day. We fixed a brunch of fried eggs, bacon and toast then headed outside to get some much needed fall cleanup done. Joe mowed one last time and put the mower away for the season. I cleaned out flower beds. Then we did some odds and ends things that needed our attention, sat on the deck and watched Drew drive the 4-wheeler around and decided what we wanted for supper. Joe wanted to grill, I had a couple recipes from my book Autum by Susan Branch I wanted to try. So, off to the local grocery store for a few ingredients and back home for an appetizer of onion straws, pork chops, stuffed sweet peppers, baked beans, grapes and warm apple cranberry crisp. Joe and I ate the onion straws in the shop while he grilled the pork chops! They were soooo good and sooo unhealthy – definitley a treat and not an every day thing! Then cuddles on the couch with Drew and bed by 9:00. We are getting old – no staying up late around here if we don’t have to!

Sunday brought a little different weather. It was warm enough but the wind was something else! We had brunch again – this time scrambled eggs, sausage and grapes. (I have an over abundance of eggs right now! We had eggs twice and I gave five dozen away and I still have a fridge full of eggs!) Then off to Wellman to watch Braxton play his last soccer game of the  season and to play with Bayah! Braxton had two sets of grandparents and a set of great grandparents there to watch – what a lucky little boy! Then back home to carve a pumpkin and mix up some Cranberry Apple Walnut Bread. Oh my was that delicious bread! I’ve never used cranberries before and I’ve decided apples and cranberries together are my new fall favorite! I threw a tuna casserole together for supper and that was our weekend. Simple, quiet, productive, perfect!

Holiday Stitching

I’m mixing up my holidays! I got these all sewed up and stained last night. Now today at some point they will get stuffed and closed up and will be ready to find new homes. The Christmas ones will hopefully find new homes. I’m thinking I will keep the two Halloween ones for myself. I just have to do that once in awhile and these two are calling out to me!

Wedding Weekend Fun

We attended the most beautiful wedding over the weekend. We have what I like to think of as our camping family and this weekend a young woman I would never have known if it hadn’t been for Joe’s work and camping got married. Joe and Steve have worked together for years and have become the best of friends and our families started camping together quite a few years ago. We don’t see each other a lot. We live three hours away from each other. But we camp together at least twice a year, over long weekends, and when you camp you get to know each other well. So, we’ve known Steve and Wendy’s daughter Whitney since she was a young girl and we have grown to love her. Then she started bringing Matthew along on our trips and we’ve grown to love him too! We felt so blessed when they asked Drew to be their ring bearer in their wedding. It amazes me how lives become so entwined and time and distance just don’t matter!