Truth Be Told

Truth be told, it has been very difficult to get into any kind of spirit this holiday season. Truth be told, I have been working nonstop, my mother-in-law has been in the hospital for over two weeks now, and I have had to reassess my departments whole schedule due to unfortunate circumstances. Truth be told, I did not even touch a holiday decoration this December. Truth be told, I think with the economy and such, people just don't seem to be in the holiday spirit (ie. nice) this year. Truth be told, I am really really looking forward to the end of the holidays and the start of a new year. Even with all of these deep down truths, somehow someway, the holiday spirit/merry making has snuck in here and there just a little bit. The kids both got mommy-made scarves. There were one or two gingerbread houses made. My husband made some cookies. There was Christmas painting and crafting done by the kids and somehow we did end up with a whole lot of presents in front of the fireplace. And most surpringly, I did get those Christmas cards filled out and sent out. How I did it, I am not so sure. I regret not decorating, not baking any cookies or anything at all myself, not crafting as much as I wanted, and most of all not giving the kids and family the holiday season that they deserve.

This December we enjoyed; hot chocolate, new haircuts, board games, mimosas, just chilling, lots of heartfelt gifts, momma made scarves, being tuckered out at the end of Christmas day, knitting, gingerbread houses, smokey mountains after a rain (which we have had a lot of due to unseasonably warm weather), and most importantly precious family time whenever possible. Next year I will do December differently. I can not let my job, the weather, and other people dictate my life at home. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and lets hope for a great new year.
Peace, Yasmin

Knit Along

I am joining in with Ginny of Small Things this week to share two of my loves, knitting and reading. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Ginny happens to be reading the same book as I am at the moment. I am reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder to my kids. I think we are all really enjoying this book and even my 5 year old boy is thoroughly engaged. Someone who noticed my knitting bag at work today said, "Isn't it funny how as we get more dependent on technology, we are craving to go back to the old ways?" I know that me and my family are definitely trying to head towards a more self sustainable life and all I really crave is to go back to the land, so this book ties in perfectly with our hopes and goals for the future, minus the hunting ofcourse:-) The knitting is the scarf I am working on for my assistant...I think it is coming about quite nicely.

Peace, Yasmin

P.S. Please keep my mother in-law in your prayers as the doctor's try to figure out what is going on with her.

This Moment

I am once again participating in "This Moment" inspired by Soulemama to capture a moment from this week. This moment is from the Polar Express pajama party and my kids getting a bit crafty. On our way home tonight from the party, we drove in our heated vehicle and sang along to Christmas songs on the radio. Time to get in the holiday spirit.

Peace, Yasmin

Bringing it all into perspective

So today was somewhat of an awful day. I had planned to just work 4 hours at work, because technically this would be my normal day off, but some training was in order. So that was my plan, 4 hours at work, and then home to clean, bake, decorate, and craft. Unfortunately I had a team member call out on me and then the health inspector showed up a half an hour before I was planning to leave, boo. Two hours later than my planned work day, I finally left and went home and literally had no energy to do anything, so I crashed into my bed and watched documentaries. I drifted in and out of sleep and before I knew it, it was 5pm and time to get ready for my knitting circle. I kept thinking that I really don't feel like driving to the yarn shop, and wouldn't mind just staying in bed with no motivation whatsoever, but I promised my fellow knitters that I would be there this week, so off I went in a bad mood. As soon as I walked into the shop, my mood lightened and as I knit and purled, my stress seemed to melt away slowly but surely. My knitting circle is a tiny one and just consists of 2 other ladies that are atleast twice my age. One of the ladies in my knitting group I would say is somewhat my knitting mentor and the other lady is the yarn shop owner. These two ladies are some of the kindest woman I have ever known and I truly care for these ladies. My "knitting mentor" lost her husband 6 years ago and still has a hard time talking about it. My yarn shop owner recently found out that she has invasive cancer and will be going to Duke for lots of tests at the end of this week, please keep her in your prayers. When I hear about what these ladies have and are going through, it makes me realize that what ever is going on in my life doesn't even compare to the stress that they have and are experiencing. In the end, my job is just a job and it helps me provide for my family, which is the most important thing in my life. So, I try to concentrate on knitting and not stressing out so much. At the beginning of this year, I had made a resolution to try to stress less...I need to remind myself of that every single day. Oh and by the way, I finished the scarf for my friend's daughter. Yay!! Pictures below are of the scarf, the scarf modeled by Ashleigh, and just for kicks a picture of Rian and his toys, because he insisted.

Peace and Happy Crafting, Yasmin

Weekending

I was just talking about needing to slow down and low and behold, I end up getting quite sick, as if my body is telling me that yes Yasmin...you need to slow down. No rushing to and fro or going to bed at a ridiculous time, instead I am knitting, reading for myself and reading to the kids, and baking lots and lots, because for me baking is mostly a stress reliever. Work has been really taxing recently and what I really really really need is a staycation, so that is what I am keeping my eyes on. The end of crazy work days due to the holidays will be a wonderful welcome, so for now I concentrate on my crafty side and lot of family time, because really is there anything better than hugs and kisses from the people you love, no I think not.

Apple Pie finally and my daughter actually likes this one, woohoo. Yummy carrot muffins, a family favorite. Ofcourse I made some Who Bread as well, but how many pictures of the same bread do you need...right? Pasta sauce and Lentil soup were also made this last weekend. And last but not least, a new scarf hopefully ready by Christmas to gift my assistant.

Peace, Yasmin