To have never taken a solitary road trip across country? I mean everybody's got to take a road trip, at least once in their lives. Just you and some music.

 

A little weekend trip to Kansas to visit the in-laws and friends. The open road. New places. A change of scenery Fried pickles. Other people entertaining my kids. Just what I needed to shake this little creative standstill.  

 

 

Now I’m home, happily making my own coffee and sorting through a dozen or so creative projects that are mingling in my head.

Trips are good for the soul.

Did you travel for the weekend?  If you could pack your bags and go anywhere, where would it be?  I’d find myself along the shores of California courtesy of the Pacific Coast Highway.

holiday in the park

Wind. Water. Sunshine. Sand. Running in the park. Throwing rocks with daddy. Wearing cute hats.       This family is my favorite.

Memorial day 2011.

Lavell’s Cheesecake Pie

This morning, I’m thankful for a husband who ventures out in the treacherous cold to work long hours, so that the rest of us can stay inside, all warm and cozy.  He also made oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday while watching his football games, because he’s the best.

Thanksgiving week is here and I think it’s one of the best weeks ever, because high on the list of all the things I love in my life, is Thanksgiving dinner.  Man, am I glad those pilgrims and Indians got together to eat.

After college, my friends and I created Friends’ Thanksgiving, we’d all travel to one location and spend the whole weekend together feasting, drinking and discussing coffee, and laughing.  One of my lovely (OCD)  friends, her name  is similar to Erica, would make menus and place cards for the table  and long before November there would be e-mails about planning committees for the event. I’m not lying.  Sadly, this couldn’t last forever, we  started getting married, having kids, no money, and those silly families of ours got greedy feeling like we were supposed to spend holidays with them… how absurd.  Truth be told, if I had my way, I’d spend all my Thanksgivings with them… and now there would be five husbands (three named Matt) and four little boys, age 3 and under, running around… I think it would be marvelous.

Also,  Thanksgiving reminds me of the few years we spent in Tennessee.  We couldn’t travel far for the weekend, because Matt worked in retail and I guess there’s a big shopping day, which required him to be there.  So, we spent those Thanksgivings with our Tennessee family at Lavell’s.   Lavell owns the barn where we got married and I dare say, she is one of the most amazing people in all of the world.  I could probably write a novel about how much we love her and so could everyone she knows.  It’s also quite possible that she is one of the best cooks on the face of this earth.

She’s the kind of person who upon entering her home, you feel like you belong there and you never want to leave.  Her hugs are magic and she is really the warmest person I know.  I mean, literally, her hands are ALWAYS warm.  And now after writing this, I miss her.  Anyways, she would feed anyone who walked through her door, as long as you called her first, to let her know you were coming… and Thanksgiving was no exception.

Among all the masterpiece dishes she would make, she also whipped up a couple simple things, one of them being, what she called Cheesecake pie.  I don’t know if she actually made up the recipe or not, but as far as I’m concerned, she did.  Last year, Matt’s sister and her family came to spend Thanksgiving with us and I made it for them.  They loved it.  They have since asked me for the recipe about four times and I think I’ve given it to them about four times, but that’s ok, they have lots of kids, making it hard to remember things.  Now with Thanksgiving only days away, taunting us with its merriment, she asked me to send the recipe and I just thought I’d share it with anyone who wanted to enjoy it.

If you are the type of person who likes exact measurements, I’m sorry, because I’ve never seen this recipe written down. Deal with it.  It’s so easy and delicious.  It’s the cheesecake for people who don’t want to spend the time making cheesecake.

Lavell’s Cheesecake Pie

1- store bought graham cracker crust or make your own

2- 8 0z packages of cream cheese, room temperature.

1- 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar (or as my sister calls it, confederate sugar)

1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 can of fruit filling (I use blueberry or cherry, but you can use whatever.)

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar, starting with 1 cup and little by little,  add  more, until the mix is to your sweetness liking. (This means, stick your finger in and taste it).  Add vanilla extract. 

Spread the mixture into your pie crust and pour can of fruit filling on top.  Cover and chill for about an hour.  You could leave the filling on the side and let people add it themselves, if they don’t all like the toppings, but I prefer to add it. 

Done.

 

It’s so easy and people will marvel and wonder how you made this.  You’re welcome.

P.S.  This year, I’m trying this new recipe for Cranberry Cheesecake.

What are you making?  What is the one dish you wouldn’t want to miss on Thanksgiving?

{Liv

brown paper packages tied up with string… (a giveaway)

|image source: here|

 

Hi friends,  can you believe that Christmas is just two months away.  The holidays are upon us and clearly, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.  I love the holidays.  I love the traditions.  I love the food.  I love the fun.

I’m kicking off the holiday season with a sweet little giveaway, because I love putting together fun gifts and I love that you all take time to stop in a read my little blog.  I just wanted to say thank you in small way.

Here’s the catch… I’m not exactly going to tell you what will be in this fun package, because it’s going to be a surprise.  Maybe something vintage, perhaps something handmade, and even possibly some kind of art… Who knows? {only me}

Exciting, yes?

So, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me one of your favorite Christmas traditions by Thursday, October 28th at 12pm CST.  I’ll pick one winner on Friday, the 29th.

I can’t wait to read your comments.

Liv.

Holiday Lover: Easter

I adore holidays.  I love all the fun that they bring.  I love the feeling of looking forward to festivities, the excitement of decorating, and enjoying time with friends & family. I dreamed about the idea of being able to make holidays so very special, when I had a family of my own and that is now a reality. Granted, the baby is not actually aware of the difference between every other day and holidays, but there is no reason to hold back.  Go forth and celebrate.

Beyond all of my blessings, this particular Easter, I am aware of the blessings of protection and safety.  On Good Friday, tornadoes swept through our town, destroying many homes, taking two lives, and injuring others.  We were merely miles away from the detrimental storms that overwhelmed our community.  Images and news reports affected us deeply, as we were reminded that life is fragile and priceless.  It has been beautiful to see so many people join together in helping each other and we look forward to learning of how we can help ourselves.

I can not forget to take a moment and acknowledge the real purpose of Easter, while it's become a holiday of bright colors, decorated eggs, family gatherings, and pretty baskets, it's one of the most important times to remember the greatness of the resurrection of my Lord.  Without His death and resurrection, I would be lost and incomplete, living without the abundance of his blessings and joy.  So, thank you Jesus for taking my place and for the glorious triumph over death.

Now, moving on to the festivities...

I was inspired by this and decided to make my own Easter tree using these cute little designs from Spagats    

I am already thinking of how I can make a tree for just about any occasion or non-occasion.  It was so easy and very fun.  Hudson even helped my pick out the branches, well, as much as a baby can help.

Decorating eggs is always my favorite activity, I suppose it's the artist in me.  This year, I wanted to try some cool natural dyes, but simply didn't do it.  I did, however, attempt to use my acrylic paints on the eggs, which didn't really work very well, but it was fun.  Next year, I will have to plan out ways to make the most beautiful eggs ever.

Finally, I can never stop taking pictures with my cute little family...

so here are some of our very first Easter family photos ever.

  .  

Looking forward to the next holiday...