Eiffel Tower Ornament 1

How was every one's Thanksgiving? Mine was just right...we spent Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family-his large extended family. I believe there were about 160 people there! Crazy, I know! We also went to visit my mom's mom who has been in the hospital since November 1st. On Friday, I made our own little Thanksgiving dinner just so we could have leftovers! No Black Friday shopping for me this year and it was so nice to sleep in! And I have already got into the Christmas spirit-we put up out tree yesterday and I have already started creating some new ornaments!

JoAnn's has some really great Paris themed goodies in their dollar bins. For $2.50, you can get 2 sets of Eiffel Tower playing cards. Use some coupons and the deal is even better. I got 2 because I knew that I could use these cards in all kinds of things. My mind was thinking all night and here is just one of the ornaments I came up with! I made a medallion out of vintage sheet music, glittered the edge of the card and glued it on.

I glittered a tiny white rose and glued that in the corner. It adds just the right touch of whimsy. These don't have to be packed up with your Christmas ornaments, you could use them year round!

There are a lot more ideas going on in my head for these cards. So stay tuned for more creations! Go out and get some yourself-I would love to see what you come up with!

Have a wonderful week...Christmas will be here before you know it!

I am linking up with:
Deck the Halls Sunday:Artful Affirmations
Share Your Creations:Kristen's Creations
Creative Things Thursday:The Vintage Farmhouse
Pearls & Lace Thursday:Faith, Grace & Crafts
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday:Coastal Charm

Eclair Cake for Thanksgiving

Surely you have heard of Eclair Cake, haven't you? I am surprised when I meet someone who has never indulged in this yummy no-bake cake! It is one of the staples at any of my family gatherings and I promise you will love it!

There are only a few ingredients needed:
*1 box of honey graham crackers
*2-4 serving boxes of Jello Instant French Vanilla pudding
*3 cups milk
*1-12 ounce container of whipped topping
*1-2 cup bag of milk chocolate chips or 1 can chocolate frosting

Lay down one layer of graham crackers in a 9x13 pan. However you lay them out is fine. You will use about 1 sleeve of crackers per layer and there are 3 graham cracker layers altogether.

Mix 3 cups of milk with 2 packages of pudding. Once it has started to thicken, fold in the entire container of whipped topping. Then take half of that mixture and spread it on the bottom layer of graham crackers.

Add your 2nd layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding mixture.

Then put one more layer of graham crackers on the pudding. At this point, you can use a can of chocolate frosting for the top, or melt a bag of chocolate chips and spread on top. Let the chocolate set before you cover it. This cake is best when you have let it set overnight, the graham crackers soften and the pudding sets...it is soft and delicious and has so many layers of flavor! Give it a try-I know you will love it and make it all the time!

I recently won a giveaway from the sweet Jenny at Jenny's Heart. She put together a fun package of pampering goodies! Lotion, polish, chocolates, a candle, a pumice stone and some super cute aloe infused socks! I shared the chocolates with my husband, but the rest of it is all mine! Thank you Jenny for your generosity and friendship!

I am wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! If you are traveling, be safe! I hope you enjoy being with your family and friends, and if you are going shopping on Black Friday-good luck!

A Prayer for Motherhood & a winner

I beleive that sometimes God brings certain people into your life for a specific reason. It might take awhile before you figure out that reason or it might not take any time at all. As soon as I started at my new job, I knew that God wanted me here for a reason-to meet my new friend Kelly. As some of you may know, my husband and I have been trying to have a baby for sometime. We try not to get too stressed out about it but it gets to a point where you begin to wonder if it will ever happen for you. I have so many friends that just blink an eye and get pregnant and it is so not fair! My new friend Kelly is currently going through fertility treatments and has had no success yet. We are kindred spirits in this quest for Motherhood together! I don't have the money to go through fertility treatments, so I am relying on prayer to help me out. Kelly just found out a week ago that the latest fertility treatment didn't take. She was heartbroken and I cried right along with her. After she left, I knew I had to do something to help ease her pain. Saint Gerard Majella is the Patron Saint of Motherhood. I found these beautiful silver medals on Ebay and bought one for each of us.

The front of the medal is engraved with Saint Gerard. The back has Madonna and the Jesus Child on the back. As a Catholic, I know how powerful these medals can be. I decorated a box to put the necklace in and wrote a sweet note to Kelly, letting her know that my prayers for my own baby were accompanied by prayers for her too. I included a copy of the Prayer for Motherhood:

Prayer for Motherhood

O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before
God and wonder worker of our day, confidently I call upon you and seek your
aid. On Earth you always fulfilled God's designs, help me now to do the holy
will of God. Implore the Master of Life, from whom all paternity proceeds, to
render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this
life, and in the world to come, heirs to the Kingdom of His Glory.
Amen.

She was in tears when she found the necklace and card on her desk this morning. It meant so much to her and it means so much to me to have someone in my life who understands, who I can go to for advice and comfort. If you think about it, please say a prayer for us!

And now, the winner of the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software is Michele from Nook & Cranny. Congratulations Michele! If you didn't win but would like to try out this amazing software, use coupon code STMMMS39821 at check out to receive $10 off your purchase plus a $10 coupon to use in the My Memories Store.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

Grady's Story

My Grady dog and his story is currently being featured on the blog From Alone to Home. Please go check it out! I am so glad to have this handsome Black Lab in my life!

From Alone to Home is a wonderful blog that features pets that have been adopted from shelters and rescue groups. Even though we rescued Grady from an abusive home and not a shelter, Kate was kind enough to make an exception for my buddy. Thank you Kate!

My Memories Giveaway

There has been a lot of buzz lately about My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software in blogland and it is for good reason! I was one of the lucky people who was asked to try it out and I am so glad I did. It is very easy to download as well as being fun and easy to use. One of my lucky friends will have a chance to win it for themselves!

If you read my last post, you will remember that I am very interested in photography and have been contemplating getting more serious about it. With this My Memories Software, I could not only take wonderful pictures, I will also be able to create albums that are printable for my "models". This in and of itself is a big deal! Here are a few pages that I created so you could see what all can be done. There are way more possibilities than I have shown here!

I really wish I would have had this software when I was forced to create my own wedding album after the photographer flaked out on me. Just for fun, I might have to create a new one-it's easy enough!

This software could help you market your blog or business too. I definitely have a lot of ideas running through my head. My marketing degree and this software will work beautifully together! The possibilities are endless!

Would you love to win your own download for free? Just leave a comment on this post and you are entered in to win! Feel free to stop by My Memories and let me know what your favorite paperpack is for an extra entry. If you can't wait for me to draw the winner and want to get it RIGHT NOW, use code STMMMS39821 at checkout for $10 off your purchase of the software plus a $10 coupon to use at My Memories Store-that is a $20 value!  The lucky winner will be drawn on Friday, November 18th-so hurry and enter! I promise you will love it!

Pursuing Photography of People

I have come to the conclusion that I am better at taking pictures of people than I am at taking pictures of things. I am so envious of those bloggers out there that take pictures of objects that literally take your breath away. I am not one of them. I think I have better luck with pictures of people as seen below!

This is my niece Ashley, she is my husband's older sister's daughter...when I got married I gained lot's of neices and nephews! Ashley is a Senior this year at Bend High School in Bend, Oregon. I took her older brother's senior pictures 3 years ago and was very excited to take hers this year. I was driving all over the place looking for fun places to take them. I have to say I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

Ashley was a very good sport. As you can see I had her lay down in the middle of the road...there was no traffic, it was out in the middle of nowhere! It was so much fun coming up with unique ideas!

Over Labor Day weekend, my niece Brielle decided that she wanted to do a photo shoot of her own. I love taking photos and love having a willing model! She put on her jeans and boots and borrowed grandpa's holey cowboy hat and we were off!

I call these her "Freshman" pictures (I can't believe my little niece is a freshman...I was a freshman when she was born!) I think we will make this an annual thing. Next year will be "Sophomore" pictures, then "Junior" pictures, then "Senior" pictures...but I better not get too ahead of myself!

Brielle's older brother Casey, who was born when I was in 7th grade, is a Junior this year which really makes me feel old. I would love to take his Senior pictures next year, but I have a feeling he won't be as much fun-you know how teenage boys can be!

I am seriously thinking about investing in a fancy Digital SLR camera to really pursue this photography thing. Don't get me wrong, the point and shoot digital camera I have works very well, as you can see. But I think people take you a little more serious as a photographer when you have a serious camera! What do you think? Should I continue to pursue my photography?

Happy Birthday Little Brother

I am late in posting this Happy Birthday message to my little brother. His birthday was October 18th...better late than never right? This is my little brother Josh. We are 2 years and 1 month apart, but were 3 years apart in school. As you can imagine, we didn't always get along very well growing up!

I was the typical older sister. Bossy and annoying...I know he would tell you that plus a lot more. I always got in trouble for trying to be his mom, in fact I still catch myself mothering him. Now that we are older we get along so much better. I can talk to him about anything and he often confides in me as well.

One of the things that I used to do that he really hated was call him Mister Spotty Fisher. I have no idea where that name came from but he hated it. Once in awhile I still call him that and it doesn't bother him quite as bad now! We used to play catch together in the back yard all the time. Most of my favorite childhood memories include my little brother. I am so thankful that I had a little brother to share growing up with!

My husband Cody and my brother Josh are great friends. Josh was one of Cody's groomsman and he even caught the garter. We are still waiting for Josh to settle down and get married himself. He has a girlfriend right now that I actually like (I am very picky about the girls he dates and normally find one reason or another not to like her-horrible, I know!). So maybe this girl will eventually be the one! I can't wait to have kids soon because I know that Uncle Josh will be their favorite uncle!

Josh is a lover of the outdoors. He is constantly hunting and fishing. Since the house he owns isn't very big, my parents have all his trophies hanging in their house. There is a bear rug, an elk, a deer, an antelope, a caribou and various birds. If you can't reach him, it is probably because he is out hunting or fishing!

This is Mutley, my nephew-Josh's black lab! Our dogs love to get together and play. I love my little brother so much and I am so thankful to have him in my life. He is a wonderful man with a great work ethic, a kind heart and a real zest for life. Happy Birthday Josh/Bubba/Mr. Spotty Fisher! Siss loves you!