by Amy | Nov 9, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Believe it or not…it’s time to start thinking Christmas. If you are like me your Christmas card might just barely make it out before the holiday. Or it might not even get stamped until after the New Year. Well…this year I’m trying to bite that problem in the bud by starting preparation early. And that means fun Christmas Photo set ups!
Okay…this is especially good news for those of you in the Minot {Practically Canada} area. Because you’ll benefit from this. I’ll be offering Christmas mini sessions in the coming days. But I need your help. I’ve got three themes in mind and I need all of you to tell me which one you prefer. Even if you don’t live in PraCan…gimme your input anyway. Here are my inspiration boards.
Option #1: Merry & Bright
This theme is inspired by hip window displays from shops like Anthropologie and Selfridges, bright colors, and minimalist-modern props.
The photos in the upper right are from Beth Strong Photography. I love her set up!
Store window: Anthropologie
Option #2: A Chalkboard Christmas
Pretty self explanitory. This theme is all about the chalkboard. I’ll create a full chalkboard backdrop and create a typographic/artisan vibe with my very own hand lettering. Bonus: I’ll be able to add your family name to the background.
Don’t you love that chalkboard portrait? Go check out Amy Lee Sullivan…that’s where I found it!
Chalkboard in upper…via Chalkboard House
Option #3: The Great Outdoors
Beautiful, yes. Cold, definitely. This theme is inspired by soft colors and rustic, outdoor Christmas scenes. We’ll use cozy props like blankets and mugs and set up in the rural back roads of Minot.
I fell in love with the photos of that couple and the Christmas Tree. Go over to view the whole session at Stephanie Hunter Photography.
Oh, and that other couple is me and Der-Bear. That’s our Christmas card photo from last year.
So. Leave a comment. What do you prefer? Cast your vote. This year your Christmas card will be epic.
by Amy | Nov 8, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
{Photo via http://legacyproject.human.cornell.edu}
I like solving problems. I always have. As a kid I got extra work in school. Extra math, critical thinking problems. Just because I liked problems.
As you get older the problems don’t stop coming, and you don’t have to ask for more just for fun. There are always plenty of problems to go around. Some you can solve. Some you can’t.
Last weekend I took a short trip to Rapid City, SD to visit some friends. I’ve been there a few times. Notably that time last year when I experienced that epic photo bomb. This year equally weird things happened. Maybe I’ll tell you about that tomorrow. But that’s not what I’m writing about today. When I packed up my things to come home, I forgot my computer charger. I left it. In my friend’s living room. That’s why I haven’t posted in days. And you know how much I like to write to you.
So I’ve been tech dead. Offline. Whatever. But the days without a computer got me thinking. This isn’t the first time I’ve left something important behind after a trip. This is a problem that needs a solution. And I think I’ve got one. A list.
I’ve got a travel pack that I keep all my small sized toiletries in. When a trip is upon me, I just grab the whole thing and put it in my bag. Now there’s something extra in there. My list. A list of all the things I take with me that I could forget. Things like…camera, charger, phone, phone charger, face wash, check the shower, tooth brush, things I bought on this trip, glasses, contact case, etc.
It’s a solution. Next time I travel I’ll just have to glance at my list to double check that I’ve got it all. And I’ll never have to be without charge again.
Sometimes it’s the tiniest solutions to the tiniest problems that make life strides easier.
Amy
by Amy | Nov 1, 2013 | Blog, Devotional, The Art of Faith
Here’s the thing. Yesterday I bought seriously ugly shoes. No offense to anyone else in the world that owns this pair of shoes. They are great shoes. I just think they look a little ridiculous.
See, I’ve been sporting these bad boys for a year now. I got constant compliments on them. Every time I taught my 8:30am senior fitness class, this one woman called them my “sexy shoes.” She’s in her 80’s. She told me that every time she came to class. And I didn’t mind. Because these are sexy shoes.
These are not. I mean, really, look at that thick sole thing? It’s so big. So weird.
But I went and bought these shoes {not even on sale.} Why? Because it turns out I’ve got some issues. A few weeks ago my back stopped working. It stopped producing movement and started producing a high volume of pain. Before that I’d had some trouble with my knees and my ankles, but not pain that I couldn’t continue to work out through. Because why would I stop working out because of pain? If you know me, you know that I wouldn’t and didn’t. Until I couldn’t move. Or sleep.
So I saw a doctor, who put me through to a physical therapist, who looked at the issue and told me that it started with my feet. My feet. Actually, my shoes. The shoes weren’t putting my feet level, which meant that every time I ran I jarred my ankle at a weird angle, which impacted my knees at a bad angle, which caused my hips to come out of alignment, which forced my back to pick up the slack…until it gave out. Shoes. Feet.
So I’m trying something new. These new, very unsexy shoes. I’m trying to take time to give my body what it needs, even if it’s not what I want. Isn’t it funny how something so small, at the bottom of our totem pole can ripple all the way up? It’s amazing how even the most mundane occurrences in our lives can point back to God and His Word. This whole ordeal just reminds me that He values the lowly and seemingly insignificant. Feet are gross and smelly, and weird to look at…yet He chose them to carry our whole body. I find it totally fascinating that everything, I mean everything in this world, in this creation points back to the amazing Creator.
Amy
by Amy | Oct 30, 2013 | Blog, Crafts, The Art of Projects
If you’ve ever visited me here in Practically Canada, or talked with me about this place, or read my blog for a while, you know I like it here. Despite the cold and the remote location, I like it here. Despite the small town living and the limited Saturday-night options, I like it here. I really, really do. I like it because the people are hard core during the winter. They walk boldly into -20 temps without flinching. In the spring when it hits 35 it’s officially sweat shirt weather. I like the people because they have cute accents and they use the phrase, “Oh, for cute,” when they like something. I like the people because they are nice and they have quirky traditions. For one, they refer to wedding receptions as “wedding dances.” For two, often at these dances, the whole crowd does the hokey pokey. I mean everybody. Not just the kids. Cutely, adorably bizarre. Generally the natives are nice and genuinely care for one another. Someone once told me that the cold weather keeps out the riff raff.
Which leads me to the point of tonight’s post. North Dakota, Practically Canada and their traditions. Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought I’d share a spooky tradition I just learned about. Boo-bagging.
Ever heard of it? The super-cute example above from Simple Girl give you a pretty clear idea of what a Boo Bag is. You can follow the link to get her free printable!!
It’s sweet and simple really. You pack up a bag with Halloween themed goodies. As extravagant, as Martha, or a lazy and store bought as you want. Some people make fancy bags, other people just store bought bags, or just paper lunch sacks.
Once you’ve got your goods, it basically turns into a game of ding-dong-ditch. Go to a door, ring the bell and hide or get away before the recipient opens the door and finds the bag. Cute, right? Speaking of cute, you can also be inspired by this Boo version from I Heart Nap Time. She shows you how to make this bag and how to make candy corn trail mix.
Some folks include a poem that asks those who have been “Boo’d” to Boo someone else. But I’m not a fan of pressuring people into things, so I’d just as soon leave that out. Gifts are more fun if they have no strings attached.
I love this tradition so much, I want to spread it to the world. If I had known about this I would have done it years ago. How about you? Have you heard of Boo Bagging before? I’m sure there are other places that do this, I just haven’t lived there yet. And since I have no plans for 10/31 I think I’ll drop some off tomorrow night. {Mine will be of the lazy, store bought variety.}
Amy
by Amy | Oct 29, 2013 | Bible Reading, Blog, The Art of Faith
I learned about an amazing Bible study resource a few weeks ago at my Bible study. When I learn amazing, applicable things I like to share them with you. This one is good…and I apologize for taking so very long to get it up on the blog for you.
I’m guessing you won’t dispute that computers have changed the way we do things. I spend most of my day on the ol’ lap top. I make lists on it, I brainstorm on it, I conduct business on it. There is one point during my day that I almost always close the lap top, though. It’s when I sit down to do my Bible study. But now, that’s changing too.
Derek and I have come to the end of the Bible, and we are about to start again at the beginning. This time, digging deeper and approaching it with an attitude of study. We have read through several times, so we know what it says…now we want to go deeper. We want to know all the things that the text doesn’t say.
Sound weird? Here’s what I’m talking about. Much of the Biblical text can be enriched when we fully understand its context. That means understanding who wrote what books, understanding culture, political climate, and the use of words. This may come as a shock…but the Bible wasn’t even originally written in English. So even looking at the original meanings of the Greek and Hebrew words can give us a greater understanding of what is being said. Can you tell I get jazzed about this? Geeky, I know.
So tonight is the night that we flip back to Genesis and start at “In the beginning.” This time through we are armed with a very large commentary as well as our concordance…and a new electronic resource: Blue Letter Bible. Now that I’ve made a case for studying the Word, let me tell you about BLB.
Pretty much, it’s every Bible study resource you will ever need in one place. Yes, I did just say that we have paper copies of some of these things. I’m still old school. But the study tools at BLB are so easy and quick to use it’d be silly for us not to have the lap top on hand as well as our book resources. For years I’ve been a big fan of Bible Gateway. Many of you probably know of it and use it too. It’s a great site. But…BLB takes all the features I love and makes them even easier to use…and adds some extras on top of it.
You can search for any passage or word and choose which translation you’d like to use. For my example, I’ll use a traditionally misunderstood, scary verse. 1 Timothy 2:12. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. Once the text comes up it is separated into individual verses like this.
Beside each verse is a “tools” button. If you click there, you’ll get a box with six tabs across the top. This is your gateway to study bliss. You can see the original language translation, different translations, cross references, dictionaries, and miscellaneous tools like maps, video or audio clips.
My favorite tabs are the “Bibles” tab and the “Dictionaries” tab. I love that many translations of the verse will appear in the tool box instead of navigating you away from your original page of text. In the “Dictionary” tab you can select any word that appears in the verse you are examining to get more details about it. There are also options that will give you more information about the general topic a verse speaks to or an overarching topic.
For instance, in the famously misunderstood verse {1 Timothy 2:12} you can learn from the Dictionaries tab that the word “quiet” used in this verse actually refers to maintaining tranquility/peacefulness, not absolute silence, as many assume. Under the Commentaries tab you can learn even more about this verse by understanding the culture of the time. We learn there that in the churches of Paul and Timothy’s time, men and women often sat in separate sections during a teaching. Timothy’s congregation was having issues because wives were shouting out comments and questions to their husbands across the aisle, causing a stir in their congregational meeting time. Paul was simply insisting that women listen and remain tranquil/peaceful, so that everyone could have a better learning experience.
Suddenly, thanks to in depth study tools this verse doesn’t seem so sexist and scary. Just imagine what else you can discover. But seriously, Blue Letter Bible. Check it out.
Amy
by Amy | Oct 26, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Kitchen
by Amy | Oct 23, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith, The Art of the Moment
by Amy | Oct 22, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Kitchen
Like most endeavors that I undertake, this one didn’t turn out as planned. Also like most of my endeavors, this one is comical. Which is good, because when something goes the route of the unexpected, it’s always best when it’s funny too.
This year Derek and I bought in on a cow. Yes a cow. This isn’t new territory for me. I grew up eating farm fresh animals. Either from our own family stock or from friends who raised bigger things {like cows and pigs.} So, yes, I’m familiar with buying part of a cow. I’ve just never been the one to do it. That was always a mom and dad kind of ordeal.
But up here in PraCan cattle ranches abound. So it seemed pretty silly not to buy in with four other friends on a North Dakota original, grass-fed, cold-weather-tested cow. So we put our money down, expecting to get some ground beef, T-bones, roasts…the like. My wonderful friend Jessi and her husband, Craig were kind enough to organize the whole thing. So when the butcher had done his job, I got a call that the meat was in.
Jessi said that we got a little more than expected…and asked if I had any extra coolers. I didn’t. But I headed over to pick up my share.
Now, I was under the impression this would be a quick in and out kind of thing. Which explains why I wore my jim-jams. You see it was about 7pm on a Saturday night and Derek was out of town. Obviously I was in the middle of a crafting and eating marathon at my Minot bestie’s apartment. {No need to be fancy.}
But again. Unexpected. When I got there I found out just how much extra we had received. See, there is no way to tell exactly how much meat your cow will provide…until it’s hanging. Yes, hanging. Like on a hook in some butchery somewhere. Ours turned out to be a real fatty…putting out 700 pounds of meat more than we anticipated. All in all we were looking at nearly 2000 pounds of beef. Which meant that Jessi and Craig’s garage was turned into a temporary meat packing plant.
We put out tarps and divvied everything up. Each share included 57 lbs of ground beef. That’s the only number that sticks in my mind. Fifty-seven. That’s a lot of beef. Everyone also got a vast array of steaks, roasts, soup bones, stew meat, you name it. So much that one friend’s freezer looked like this once she got it all jammed inside.
And my freezer looks like this.
Which is fine. We just won’t be buying meat for a while. Probably not until we move.
On a different note, it is delicious. And you can totally tell that it was grass fed. It’s weird, because I didn’t think I’d notice. But it’s so good and has virtually no fat on it.
But I’ve learned a lesson from all of this. Next time you want to split a cow, split it 6 or 7 ways. I also learned that a dead, packaged cow can still take up a lot of space {like 10 coolers.} And that butchers make good money {I saw that butcher fee.} And that even thought it was a lot of meat, and I spent quite a bit of time in my jim-jams sorting it out, and it was pretty comical, and we may have to try really hard to eat it all in the next 12 months…I’m glad we did it. Even if only for the funny story we can tell later…
“Remember when we bought that cow and it was an obscene amount of meat?…”
Amy
