our dinner via Pinterest...

                                                                               Source: aht.seriouseats.com via Sarah on Pinterest

                                                                        Source: theartofdoingstuff.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Isn't Pinterest the best? Our dinner this evening, thanks to Pinterest, is crispy baked sweet potato fries & yummy burgers! Every recipe I have made from Pinterest (so far) has been a success! I need to start documenting my successes! My Pinterest wish is a "you have already pinned this!" warning; sometimes I get crazy déjà vu when I'm pinning!

Rewind: Cowboy Cookout...

 Is there anything more fun than a party pack of fake mustaches, a crew of (mostly) willing participants, and a camera with a timer?  These photos are from our family's 2nd annual Cowboy Cookout last October.  We grill steaks over an open fire, my mom makes her famous calico beans and of course there are s'mores.  I think the year before we had cowboy hats but I'm not sure what happened to them.  There's been talk of some kind of pirate party next...I'm thinking eye patches & parrots :) 

DIY: centerpiece

These are the centerpieces from our wedding!  I love this photo because you can see us in the background enjoying our dinner :)  I discovered Pinterest about 6 months before the wedding & got my inspiration from this photograph.  Cory and the best man cut an elm that needed to come down anyway and sliced it up to serve as bases.  We already had a ton of mason jars, so we filled the bottoms with river rock, added water, floating candles & some brown raffia.  Next we added some reindeer moss, pine cones and a few votive candles...voila! A centerpiece fit for a rustic venue!

new adventures...

Addie, Molly & Avry at the Children's Discovery Museum

One of the many big life events that happened while I was away from the blog was that I lost my job.  I sort of saw it coming & had been really miserable there for a looong time (6 years long actually), but it was still a big blow & since then, life has been...different.  I know there are a lot of other people out there who have lost their jobs and are just like me... "between jobs" as I like to say.  I speak now from firsthand experience when I say: it is no fun.  Like everyone else with a crappy job they don't like, I would dream about not having to work & fantasize about what I'd do with all the time!  But without the benefit of independent wealth, this scenario quickly becomes less desirable.  Obviously there are lots of negatives - like the added financial stress, my crumbling self-confidence & the pressure my unemployment puts on my personal relationships.  I have to be careful not to get too excited about jobs because if they don't work out it's a huge emotional letdown.  Then there are the feelings of guilt if you are not devoting 24 hours a day to the job hunt.  There is also truth to the old adage "the busier you are, the more you get done!"and unfortunately, the reverse is true as well.  Sometimes I feel I have all the time in the world, but the next thing I know I've blown an entire afternoon on the internet!  At times, I feel really, really lost.  Most days it's fairly easy to convince myself that I'd rather be a little lost right now, than find myself in the same miserable job in 15 years.  I am constantly working to establish a routine & some balance in this new situation.  Tomorrow afternoon I am headed to a volunteer orientation at the Children's Discovery Museum!  I have been there with my nieces & it is so amazing!  My sister Molly suggested volunteering to me.  In fact, it's how she got her job at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian - so cool!  I don't know yet how often I'll be there or in what capacity, and I don't expect to land a job from this experience; but I am really excited to do something different & meaningful with my time & to find out more details tomorrow!

shop update...

Last week while house-sitting, I was able to get just a few photos for my shop.  Just like the blog, the shop name has been changed to the Prairie Fair ... I have some new products I'll be unveiling later this week! :)  It's amazing how change can revive excitement about a project!  I can't wait to get the rest of the photos updated & make a new banner for the shop.

hello!

source

Welcome to the new space!!! What do you think of my new blog template?  It's from Little Grey Willow on Etsy..I absolutely love it! Her designs are incredible, really affordable & so easy to use.  Currently fighting a nasty cold so I've had ZERO energy.  Also, I've been dying to take shop photos but haven't had a sunny day in what feels like ages :( I need some natural light!!!  Come on sunshine!!!  Find the burlap doorstop shown above here on Etsy.

PSA...

Please bear with me for the next week or so....I'm in the midst of a major blog and shop overhaul & even a name change! (still working on that one, very difficult...)  Looking forward to new photos for the shop, adding some new products, a blog makeover...super excited!!! :)

Meet Rufus...

Rufus is the newest member of our family.  He is a black-footed ferret.  He and the cat love to play & fight; the dogs ignore him & vacate the premises whenever he is out of his cage.  I swore to Cory that we would never have a pet ferret in the house but his little raccoon eyes won me over.  He sleeps about 22 hours a day in a hammock in his cage.  He has successfully mastered the arts of eating from his food bowl, drinking from his water bottle & grabbing then playing with the toys hanging from the top of the cage, all without leaving said hammock.  I have a stuffed raccoon that he always steals & drags around.  Once he even tried to squeeze it through a hole in the wall (that he made himself, thank you very much).  He has foiled nearly every attempt to keep him in the cage.  How can something with such a small head & therefore brain, untie knots? 

red pepper soup...

I was actually pretty excited the first day it felt like winter last week...I've been waiting for the cold weather to make all my favorite winter foods, particularly the soups!  This creamy, roasted red pepper soup (a Giada recipe) is super easy & very healthy!  If I've made a batch just for Cory and I, we freeze half for an easy dinner another night - definitely a favorite in our house :) You can find the recipe here or on my recipe box page.  Enjoy!

road trip...

We're headed to Lake Sara for the weekend to meet up with our friends from St. Louis.  One of my goals this year is to visit the lake at least once every season...winter: check!  After a week of sunny days with temps in the 50's, we have been blanketed in snow and the temperature is barely in the double digits.  It will be a cozy weekend with lots of time spent inside - we have already discussed reading time and a mandatory pajama-style uniform.  It's group hibernation really :)

our big day...

The happiest day since I've been away from the blog was definitely November 5, 2011...that is the day that Cory & I got hitched!  Yesterday I got all the photos & above are a few of my favorites - our photographer was Michelle E. Swierczek, I loved working with her & all the photos are fabulous!  I'm working on putting my 100 favorite photos here & will be sharing more about the planning and the big day here on the blog :)

back in the game...

me & Avry, my niece

Wow, I haven't written here since last summer.  Where do I even start?  I guess just like you start anything else - one step at a time.  I'm working on a few things....a little blog re-design to freshen things up, taking new photos & adding some new products to my shop, sharing the story of the last few months, and of course I have made some resolutions for 2012 & I can document that process here.  Even if it takes me a little while to get it all sorted, updating here regularly is part of the plan....stay tuned! :)