Post Holiday Party Beer Bread

If you're like me and my husband, you do not agree with all your friends taste in beer. We don't hold it against them but we tend to drink craft or microbrews rather than a domestic.

After so many holiday parties that our guests have graciously brought their favorite beer, we find our fridge door occupied with beer that doesn't match our taste. Not being allowed to drink beer since I have a little one growing inside me, and my husband still working on a six pack from a month ago, we've realized we won't be getting to the cans our guests left behind any time soon.

I searched to find an easy beer bread recipe to use up what was left and found this recipe. Only change I made was actually referenced on the page, less melted butter. I think a few tablespoons of melted butter over the top would be more than enough, but a treat's a treat and you choose what you eat! 

Quick as anything we are down to only beer we (meaning my husband) will drink and have yummy snack that freezes well or is a great gift to share with others.

PS It also made the house smell great when my husband came home from work!

T-Shirt Memory Blanket Process

Over the holidays, my mother-in-law asked about the process I use to make my t-shirt memory blankets.

I've seen such a spread in how to assemble and the philosophy of these fun time capsules.

There are people who use a collage motif, others who create windows and frame out each shirt piece. I've seen people value a thrown together, rough assembly while others treat the t-shirts as raw materials in intricate heirloom style quilts.

My philosophy on these quilts/blankets is about creating everyday, every use item. I want to be ok with getting mud on it if we take an early summer picnic. I also want to be proud enough of it to sling it across a living room chair to be ready to cozy up with in the middle of winter.

So here are my steps for a 5' by 6' blanket:

First, assemble the following materials:
15+ clean t-shirts that you want to incorporate. (They don't have to match but you should enjoy them together. I try to group them in time. For example, I have a high school blanket and a college blanket.)
Flannel flat sheet-be sure to pre-wash the sheet (You can also use fleece if you want a heavier blanket or a cotton flat sheet for a lighter blanket. I like using sheets because they already have square corners and are more than enough fabric.)
Yarn to tie the front panel to backing

Second, cut out 13" squares out of the t-shirt fronts and backs centering artwork in the center of the square.

Third, sew squares together in the following manner with 1/2" seam allowance (making a finished 12" squares).
To illustrate the manner of assembly I have the following pictures showing construction paper cut outs:

Sew right sides together of two adjacent squares

Add another square in line

Sew right sides together

Continue adding squares in line until there are 5 sewn together

Make 6 (4 shown) of these rows of 5 

Sew these rows together with right sides together

(Pictures of final assembly in the making)

Fourth, with right sides together, sew front panel (t-shirts) to backing (flannel) with a 1/2" seam allowance allowing a six inch gap.

Fifth, flip blanket right-side out. Press corners flat and fold in raw edges of open gap. Sew top stitch around edge (1/4" to 1/2") around entire blanket and closing up gap.

Sixth, with the blanket entirely flat, take lengths of yarn and at corners of seams and sew one stitch. Tie to secure yarn making the front and back of blanket joined together.

Last, ENJOY!!

Grinch before Christmas

Take it from me, sometimes lessons come where you don't want them to. Contemplating the holiday season had filled me with such joy in past years, but this year it's giving me indigestion.

People have told me, "life goes by fast,'' "time flies," "enjoy the small moments because they don't last." I'm hating that advice right now because I'm finding this holiday season hard to embrace. 

We're planning to travel for Christmas and even though I'm beyond excited to see family, I'm nervous and overwhelmed with the ideas of the holidays coming again. 

I want to make the most out of this time. I want to be like the commercials with great decorations, gourmet meals, festive snacks, great outfits that are new and stylish, and of course everything in it's place with no loose ends to be seen. 

As I look around my house I see how far this dream is from my current reality. I think my anxiousness comes from the idea that I'm not feeling the holiday spirit yet. While I want to get all into the happy-go-lucky festivities, I know I would be a grinch in a caroler mask. 

I can guarantee I will have presents for everyone and there will be food that will be delicious, but that doesn't really make a holiday great. My family is so far away and this is the first year that we will not be all together as both a brother and a sister can't make it to Christmas. 

Everything just feels so new. So foreign. Last year should have felt like this. Last year we were in a new place and everything was different. Suddenly, I realize that the difference with this year to last comes when I think about years in the not so distant future and no knowing what will happen. Since we will have a child next Christmas, will we make the 12 hour drive to the grandparents? Will we make it to a family Thanksgiving? And if not next year, then when, if ever?

Knowing it's the last year before we have to make some really hard decisions makes this feel like it has to be extra meaningful to make up for the future. THAT CAN'T HAPPEN! No matter how great this year is or isn't, I can't count on it to get me through rough years in the future because they will come with their own relief. So how I embrace the Spirit of Holidays before they pass me by?

Spirited Shopping

The Christmas season gives me more reason to get into another of my pleasures...SHOPPING!

Getting a bargain on something I know a family member for friend will enjoy really gets by heart pounding. This year, however, seems to be kicking me in the gift department. I feel life has just flown by! Honestly, where did Fall GO!?!

As Christmas is really coming close, I really just want to embrace everyday with my family before the baby comes and life changes forever.

Even as I say that, life has already changed. I now have daily reminders there's a little one growing and moving inside me. The baby room is getting closer to being finished. I'm blessed with making items for payment and consistently being pushed to make new items.

I've been blessed with the opportunity to spend a week with my family and want every second to be squeezed from that time. That is the real present that I want this year. I want to shop in my family and come away with blessings instead of packages, memories instead of receipts.

A Small Thanksgiving

Today, Black Friday, comes with a deep exhale. Yesterday was the celebration of family coming together and being thankful for the blessings God is showing to us.

We started with prepping the turkey and veggies. Since I have cooked a full turkey before, I was elected to have the honor of handling the bird. At 10am, our oven was already full with festivity! A lemon garlic turkey quickly gave fragrance to the house as we made mashed potatoes, au gratin potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and gravy. All these, along with crescent rolls, pecan pie, german chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie that were completed the day before, made our table bursting as well as our stomachs more than satisfied.

The conversation both while we were preparing the meal and while we were partaking it, filled a starved part of myself that went deeper than my stomach. Seeing family for the first time in six months made me aware of how much I miss being able to hug my sister, see my grandma cry from laughing, and see all the things my aunt and uncle have been working on.

Sitting down today with nothing but relaxation planned struck me this morning as boring and tedious. However, under more contemplation, I see that if I were to fill my day with doing, I would be starving myself in the presence of a feast. Not just the food or drinks, but the company that is so rare for me.


This year, I am more than thankful for family as it is the true delicacy that we celebrate at this time of year.

Confessions of a Susie-Homemaker Wannabe

In my recent life, there have been many changes, a new house, new dog, and a new expectation. My husband and I are expecting our first baby. With this development, I have come to the realization that becoming the idealistic stay at home mom is full of unpleasant realities and necessities. I have great examples in my life of women providing welcoming, warm homes. My mother raised 5 kids. She not only homeschooled and worked part-time, we had home cooked dinner every night together at the table. She made it seem effortless. She was not alone. So many family friends had this "effortless" air about their home making abilities.

I'm seeing now that "effortless" takes work and help. The most recent realization came when I was in bed tired and sick from pregnancy having it's way in rearranging my body. As I could barely get out of bed, our home-cooked dinners were not happening. I tried to work up the effort to get something together but it was not happening. As I was just there, trying to not be sick.

I saw my husband coming home and tried to work up the energy to greet him at the door and not look like a zombie. He came in the door and I quickly expressed that I didn't feel well and didn't have anything planned for dinner and the dishes in the sink would get done later. I was so afraid he would be disappointed in me but instead, he gave me a hug reassured me it was ok and to take a nap. The ah-ha moment came, I was really upset about not being the Susie-Homemaker I had aspired to be. I was a Susie-Homemaker Wannabe! That was my disappointment, that thought was draining my energy even more.

I went back to the couch to take a nap. My husband not only took care of the dog, did the dishes, but also woke me with a plan to go and get dinner as take out or if I was up to it, as casual sit down.

I realized later, as I was thanking God for my wonderful husband, this was how my mom and all those women were able to have an "effortless" home. They had HELP. Their husbands, children, and friends where able and willing to step in and pick up the slack.

I never knew I was really helping my mom. I see now, I should have helped her more.

I am confident that I will make mistakes, but I'm also confident that the people around me are willing and able to step in, help out, and encourage me to keep going as I aspire to be a Susie-Homemaker Extraordinaire.

Going From Renting to Being Home Owners

I've been counted absent from the blogging world because of a great life change that required much more effort than first thought. Our new home!

We purchased a home that needed minimal work but for some reason it has felt like it still has been an eternity of trips to Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, Target and numerous take out eateries.

After my husband refinished the floors and I painted the rooms, we gathered some friends to move our things from our apartment to the new house. After setting up a few rooms and a last large project or two (baseboards and cleaning the carpet), we are able to relax and enjoy our evenings for the first time in a while.

I say all this to account for my seeming lack of creativity. I've been creative in ways of packing boxes and rearranging and repurposing furniture. Not very blog-worthy in my mind since it's all been a blur and trying to process how we've gone from renters to homeowners.

Here's a start:
January-talked to a realtor and researched neighborhoods for our new home
February-found a short-sale we liked (everyone warned us it would take forever to close if it went through at all)
March-wait
April-wait
May-partially approved, then wait
June-the other part approved and then wait on the first to be reapproved...more waiting
July--MAD DASH for closing by the end of the month
August- refinish floors and clean out house
September-move in and settle in

The last two months have just flown by and I can't wait to get back to my crafts as I am starting a crochet doll series for my sister's friend.

I'll document my findings!