the results...

Not to rub it in your face or anything, but I just had to post this

gah! I can't wait to eat it!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

I am so super excited for tomorrow! like, yeah... super excited. and I hope you are all excited too because Christmas is super amazing :-)

Today is the day of cooking, so I figured I'd take a few pictures of all the delicious food that's in our kitchen at the moment.

this is the delicious poppy seed cake that I just made. (it's cooking now) This is actually going to be for tonight.

And these are the yummy looking 7 layer bars that Grace made. They're for Sunday when we have Christmas with the family.
We're also in the process of making Swedish meatballs for Sunday also, and if you've never had these, you're missing out. big time. They're awesome. (the picture came out blurry and I'm too lazy to take another, so I guess you'll just have to use your imagination.)
Tomorrow we're going to make Crackle cookies.

Hopefully they'll be as good as these ones :-)

And... I think that's all. So yes, I love cooking for Christmas!
Anyway... Hope your Christmas is an amazing one and that you remember what it really is about. It's not about getting, it's not about yummy food, it's not about YOU. It's about JESUS. So take a moment, (or an hour) and stop and think about what life would have been like if Jesus had never been born. Or, what life would be like if Jesus wasn't in your life. It's really mind blowing to see how much he's done.


Merry Christmas! :-)

Ramblings of the day...

  Let me just say right now that my favorite Christmas CD at the moment is MercyMe's Christmas CD. If you've never heard it, go buy it now. It's awesome. and yes, I like it better then Josh Grobans CD (runs and hides in bush)

  Now that that's out there, I have a question for YOU, my reader. What will you be doing this holiday season? Besides stuffing your face with good Christmas food, opening presents,  and having a jolly good time that is.
For me, I'll hopefully be doing two of my favorite things.

knitting and reading :-)
What am I knitting and reading at the moment? well, I'm still working on my KAL project and just LOVING the yarn more and more. I'm very happy with how it's coming out :-)
And I just started "Heart's Blood" by Juliet Marillier. so far so good, but I'm only 43 pages into it. I'll tell you what I think of it when I'm done. Last night I stayed up way too late finishing "Book of a thousand days". Great book. You should definitely read it if you like fantasy novels. oh! and guess what's waiting for me down at the library? "Cybele's Secret"!!! I'm so excited! but I will finish Heart's Blood first. I will. *tries to stand by my word*  So yes, this holiday season will be filled with catching up on reading, and doing some knitting with Angel and Mom :-)
annyywaayyy... now that I've rambled on forever about books....

Tea is good. Especially when drank out of a Tinkerbell mug that's 8inches tall. (or more. that was just a guess and I'm too lazy to go get a tapemeasure)

and on one very last and random note....

this is probably one of my favorite movies ever. yup.

Knitting

So I know it's been forever since I last posted about knitting, and I figured it was about time I said something about it.

Right now I'm working on two projects (I know, only two! can you believe it??) One is an adorable sweater for my cousin for his birthday, which is December 23rd. But I only have about... an inch or so done, and it's taking forreevvverrr.... but I really was going to be very very good and not get anything and finish it in time... and then... well... yeah... I'm now working on a KAL (Knit along) with the Awesome Grace and the Awesome Emily. I'm very excited :)

Here is my beautiful yarn and the work in process.

and here is mine and Emily's yarn together

pretty pretty :)


Quote of the day (this made me laugh really hard)
Ethan comes into my room and see's the name of my blog "'A Small measure of coolness'? You have NO coolness Hannah, unlike me, I have wayyy to much"

yup, that's Ethan for you ;)
Hope your weekend was awesome!

I think this is an amazing song. the end.


"Thankful"

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

So, as Christmas time is drawing nearer, and we're all getting excited and putting up decorations, and drinking hot chocolate, and getting presents and having a jolly 'ol time, there are people who are not doing all these things. There are actually tons of people who are not doing this, but some in particular that I want to remember today. And those are the men and woman who are away from their homes and families and who are fighting so that you can carry on in your jolly old way in peace and comfort.  These are the men and woman who are risking their life for a cause that they believe is worth fighting for. For some reason, I always remember our soldiers the most around Christmas time. Probably because my two brothers are in Air Force and Army, and my brother in law is the Navy. Usually they are home for the holidays though. Sadly, this Christmas, Philip (my brother in law) will not be home. He is on a ship out in Bahrain and he is going to be missed very much.
I found this poem last year and I posted it on Facebook, but it's really good, so I'm going to post it here. It is kinda long, but worth the read.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
 I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
 My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
 My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
 Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
 Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

Sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
 Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
 My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
 Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
 In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
 So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

 The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
 But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear…
 Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
 sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
 My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
 And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

 Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
 A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
 A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
 Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
 Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
 Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

 "What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
 "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
 Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
 You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
 For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
 Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts…

 To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
 Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
 I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
 "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
 That separates you from the darkest of times.

 No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
 I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
 My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
 Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
 My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
 And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

 I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
 But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
 Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
 The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
 I can live through the cold and the being alone,
 Away from my family, my house and my home.

 I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
 I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
 I can carry the weight of killing another,
 Or lay down my life with my sister and brother…
 Who stand at the front against any and all,
 To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall…"

 "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
 Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
 "But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
 "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
 It seems all too little for all that you've done,
 For being away from your wife and your son."

 Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
 "Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
 To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
 To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
 For when we come home, either standing or dead,
 To know you remember we fought and we bled.
 Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
 That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

  

So, please take a few minutes and pray for our troops out there. they deserve it.