{Liv.Life}

{Pinterest}--Favorites

2012-02-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

Cakes

Favorite Places & Spaces

[i.e. I am slightly addicted to Wyoming & Montana]

Photography

Barn <3 

[i am extremely partial to red ones]

{Just a few of my favorites from my pinterest board--check out the rest and follow me HERE!}

Sewing--

2012-01-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I pulled out the sewing machine and created something halfway decent. But as I mentioned in the last post, I had a one year old that was in great need of an awesome present. I wanted to give her something that she would potentially adore and love and drag around until it fell apart. I think I hit the nail on the proverbial head with this one, she's a big fan of it.

I bought a pack of pre-cut hexagons, definitely wouldn't have been worth it to cut all those out. Laid out my design, sewed them all together, and wa-la--instant baby quilt.

I wanted it to be super soft and snugly, so I used flannel for my backing. I stitched in the ditch around the edge between my quilt front and border. Then, I went around one of the hexagon flowers on the front to create a design on the back, also keeping it together. Hard to see, but one of the flowers actually was right in the middle of the back, unplanned perfection.

A New Era--The Start of my 20th Year

2012-01-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

You know what's really awesome? When you're friends throw you a surprise party. Here's how it all went down. I planned my own birthday celebration--out to dinner with friends at The Cheesecake Factory. We were going the night after my birthday because one friend had to go to PA for a dress fitting for her sisters wedding. Logical story [and that's actually what she's doing this weekend]. Friends of ours had a little sister born the day after my 19th birthday and since we were going on to dinner on her 1st birthday, they were having a party for her the day before, on my birthday. I spent all day long working on a quilt to make sure I had it finished in time for the party. Confusing, I know, just keep following. So the place the birthday party is going to be at 'requires tennis shoes to be worn' according to my mom. So I put on a sweatshirt and tennis shoes--fairly low key--since I thought we were going to a 1st birthday party at a place called Jumpy's. Mom asks me if I am wearing what I have on to the party and why I straighten my hair, she thought I would curl it. This is the point I should have started to get suspicious. But I just thought she was being strange. So we get to the place called Jumpy's--it's a bunch of inflatables for kiddos-- and we head back to one of their 'party rooms' and I walk in and 15 or so people are screaming surprise at me. I was completely shocked and definitely confused. It left me speechless, out of breath, and weak in the knees. We actually played laser tag [which it is required that you wear tennis shoes] and came back to our house for the rest of the evening. I had asked the friend that I thought was in PA to throw me a surprise party....and actually told my mom and sister for the past 2 years or so....but I also always told them there was no way they could ever pull it off without me finding out--I always know stuff prematurely. But boy did they pull it off! We still went to Cheesecake factory the next night, extending the birthday celebration throughout the weekend. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday night awake trying to figure out if the weekend had really just happened or if it was all just a dream. Without a doubt, it was my best birthday, so far. A perfect way to ring in my 20's

I've thrown the gals on the end surprise parties here & here--so it was only fair that they got to be a part of mine!

apple cake per my request--made by my momma.

Future brother-in-law

sisters forever

The gal with the plan for the whole shindig. A fabulous friend and godly example--I love her to pieces--and she even made the cake. Oh, and I've thrown her a surprise party too.

Christmas Eve was a gorgeous, freezing cold day, so Morgan & I took advantage of the late afternoon sunshine and did a photoshoot--for the fun of it....we took pictures of each other, but she has yet to edit hers. She got mine done and posted them on facebook and declared it my 20th birthday shoot. It works. haha. We were freezing but it was a great time, nonetheless.

New Years Eve--

2012-01-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

For New Years Eve day, Morgan & Caleb headed to Chicago for the day [which was also his birthday]. They walked the Magnificent Mile and went to Hancock Tower for dinner--where he had a surprise photographer set in place for their ENGAGEMENT!!!! Come September, I will be a sister-in-law! To see the pictures check out the Kathleen Noelle Photography page.

Joyeux Noël!

2011-12-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

"And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “ Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

--Luke 2:10-14

Petite Gingerbread

2011-12-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

L-R: Mine, Dad's, Jared's--we get [extremely] competitive.

December Happenings

2011-12-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

Basketball season is officially upon us!

Gramps & Gram at a game.

Morgan got baptized...

...and bought me Fruit Stripes gum--blast from the past.

One of my favorite cuties...that says the most hilarious stuff!

Me & baby

<3 her

Cheering on Jared

Nice N' Sweet is so true....she was cheering 'Go white!'

Last week as a piano teacher...Mia & Meg

Kol!

2011-12-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Miss Nell

Crazy girls

Mr. Finn

Meg & I

Mia--my first ever piano student--who has moved from her primer books to Level 1 just a few weeks ago.


Nell says, "Oh no! My gingerbread man ran away....oh no! he ran away again." So we got rid of his legs so he wouldn't run away. =)

I had a super fun time getting to hang out with these girlies + Finn tonight. super fun & silly.

Naples-Florida-II

2011-12-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Getting fashionable in Bass Pro.

Naples Zoo--porcupine.

Rare species we found at the zoo.

Horseshoe crabs all lined up.

Gal pals.

The poor boys were sorely outnumbered.

Amazing--Dad & Jae drooled their way through.

My 'almost 47 year old' mother...who really doesn't look days away from 47.

1928 Gypsy Wagon--Lynni & I decided we should invest & travel the west.

Caption Morgan with the regular Morgan. haha.

Not sure why, but Caleb wanted his picture with Caption Morgan too.

I told Jae when we got there that if he wanted his picture by anything-I would take it for him. He said he was fine. A couple of hours later he decided that whatever this car was, he probably wouldn't see another one so he did need his picture with it. He was seriously tickled pink.


Final sunset of the vacation from the Naples Pier.

Homeward bound tomorrow!!!

Naples-Florida

2011-11-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Along the course of time that I was sitting on the beach looking out as far as my eye could see, I thought about how crazy it was that if you just kept going, you would bump into the shores of Africa. The next afternoon, it donned on me, I wouldn't bump into Africa...we are in the Gulf of Mexico...I'd bump into Mexico. Duh. The sun does things to my brain.

Mom n' Pop

The beach scene

The bro & I

*Sorry so many sunset photos...it was so gorgeous and I was trying to capture it at every phase of it's going down.

Introducing...

2011-11-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I figured it's high time I introduce my sister's lovely boyfriend...of 5 months tomorrow. Meet Caleb.

He loves Jesus & Morgan.

He's an amazing pianist, guitarist, & vocalist.

He's a worship pastor intern at he & Morg's church {which is where they met}

Cedarville University senior.

He's from New Hampshire.

He loves brownies & ice cream & chocolate

He likes adventures

Maybe one day I'll get Morgan to write out their whole story so I can post it. =)

Harvest Time

2011-11-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

*It's harvest time in this little town
Time to bring it on in, pay the loans down

Fill our disel tank up, make another round
There's a big red moon comin' up in the sky

Combine's cuttin' in a staggered line
The only time of year we miss the church bells chime
It's harvest time

There's a thermos and a water jug rollin' around in the cab
A set of socket wrenches wrapped up in a greasy red rag*

Grandpa watching the going on's.


The guys ran our beans today. Jared planted him & then his boss brought up his combine and ran them for us.

*Lyrics excerpts from Harvest Time by Luke Bryant

GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Are you excited yet?

You should be...but I am sorry to inform you that the giveaway is not here.

It's on one of my all-time {favorite} blogs.

Let me introduce the adorable, hilarious, & brilliant

Nicole {Chmelar} Neesby

Run over and check out her blog and enter to win the awesome scarf she is bringing home from CHINA!

Way Cool.

Apple Cider Caramels

2011-10-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that candy making is semi-dangerous to be taking pictures of while making, the recipe & finished product pictures will have to suffice. Very easy to make & no adjustments to the recipe are needed, in my awesome, humble opinion. =] On a side note: I found it easiest to have all of your ingredients measured out and ready to go, since some of the steps need to be executed swiftly to insure the caramels turn out right. It would also be considered wise to actually read through all the instructions before beginning--unlike someone who had to redo step #4 because she put the butter in too early.

2 cup high-quality apple cider
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup real butter, cubed

- Pour cider into a medium saucepan and boil on high for about 20 minutes or until the cider is reduced to 1/3 c. Keep an eye on it...it might try to run away. Set aside to cool.

- Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1" hanging over the edges for easy removal. Coat with a bit of vegetable oil and set aside.

- In a small bowl, combine 2/3 c. cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and reduced apple cider. Set aside.

- In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 c. whipping cream + enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup, and corn syrup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Insert the candy thermometer and simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees.

- Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Add the cubed butter and stir until the cream and butter are fully incorporated. Return the pan to heat and re-insert the candy thermometer. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 248 degrees.

- Remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let the mixture cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I covered the top of the pan loosely with saran wrap and left it out overnight. You could cut the caramels into 1/2" squares and wrap each caramel in wax paper, but I'm lazy so I cut the caramel into 1/2" logs, which meant that I had exponentially fewer pieces to individually wrap. Store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I got about 110 caramels out of one batch!

Source

::Friday {fall} Files::

2011-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

This, my friends, is the most delicious variety of apple ever invented. A Michigan Honey Crisp. Best when dipped in peanut butter or smothered in caramel & chocolate like I'm going to show you below. Use either a stick from the woods and whittle the end to make a slight point or just use a Popsicle stick, whichever method suits your fancy, go with it.

Unwrap an approximate 12-15 caramel squares and place them in a microwave safe bowl & add a dash of milk {which would be way less than you see in this bowl...I added too much and ended up dumping most of it out}. Heat up for 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring them after each 15 sec. Do this until they are completely melted.

Quickly swirl your apple in your melted caramel and hold it up to dry for a few seconds--mine was on the verge of falling off the stick, so I had to hold it upside down.

Put it on wax paper and stick it in the fridge until it's cooled--this gives you time to melt your chocolate.

Melt 1/2 cup of both semi-sweet/milk chocolate chips & white chocolate chunks/chips. Melt in the microwave for about 10 seconds at a time and stir. Do this until it's melted. Then place your melted white and semi-sweet/milk chocolate in zip lock bags and snip the edges to use like a pastry bag.

It's best to hold over the sink when doing this...unless you want a good reason to have to lick the counter tops. =) Generously douse the caramel apple with your semi-sweet/milk chocolate, hold it to dry for a few seconds, stick it back on your wax paper, and stick it back in the fridge.

After a few minutes in the fridge it should be cool enough to add the white chocolate, in the same manner as the first chocolate layer.

Stick the apple on a plate, wrap in cellophane {found at Walmart}, add ribbon...and you have a gorgeous gift that nobody will be able to resist.

In other news, we have had an awesome October. The leaves have been gorgeous this year.

Soybeans are dry and waiting to be ran.

{Holy,Holy.Worthy is the Lamb}

2011-10-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

I ca 

I can not get enough of this kid {such a sweetie} & this song. Gives me goosebumps. Don't just listen--watch it!

Swimming Pool Cake

2011-10-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and raspberry filling.

Crumb coat

Ta-da! The bride & groom met at a pool that looked like this one, so as a surprise for the groom, the bride had me make this.

Family Photos

2011-10-10T13:38:00.000-07:00


Typical us. =)

A few weekends ago we had a budding photographer friend do family pictures for us...since they were like 5+ years overdo. This is just a sampling of her awesome work.

Hello.

2011-10-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

To my dearly neglected blog-

I do still love you...but you see, there is this new dude on the block.

His name is Pinterest and he steals my time from you.

Plus, I never take pictures and clever words do not come to me as often as I'd like.

Sometime, in the near-ish future, I will come back to you and actually post something.

Until then come follow me on Pinterest where I find

brilliant craft ideas, delicious recipes, and witty words.

Love.Liv

Farm Science Review--2011

2011-09-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Me & the boy

I <3 this gal.

Jared with his "I am delicious" sticker that was stuck there unbeknownst to him. =)

Amazing/disgusting Australian stick bug.

Brave girl--I can do reptiles over bugs.

Cockroaches. lovely.

CAT's {sweet} pulling truck.

Somehow, over the past year, I have become a fan of *some* Fords. The King Ranch is a gorgeous truck and has made my fan list.

FSR--The only place you'll find a line to the men's bathroom & where it's cool to carry a bag on the shoulder...because they are from a seed company.

I <3 cows.

Agreed. Amen.

{The Great Darke Co. Fair}--2011

2011-09-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

Pee-Wee Showmanship

Mac keepin' an eye on the judge.

Miss Brooke...the champion of the 4 yr old division.

Mime statue dude that is dressed different each day.

hanging out and keeping an eye on our food drive. we filled the bed of Jared's long bed truck with food items for our local food pantry. & yes, if I was sitting down, my boots were off, even if my socks didn't match. =)

Big boys zonked out after a long day of shows.

Our amazing float! I talked more about it and the reason for our theme in this post.

Showmanship

I <3 these folks.

Jae's showmanship.

Rodney Adkins concert. Morgan & I each watched half of the concert. Two 13 year old friends had 3 tickets and needed an adult to go with them...they didn't want it to be one of their parents so they asked if Morgan or I would be interested. We switched half way through because neither of us were huge fans of his but it was fun!

a packed house

The mime statue dude again.

Junior Fair Day

This dumb pig, also known as Zeb, would sit down at every opportunity. It was RIDICULOUS. I had to just about beat him for 5 min. to get him to stand up in his pen...and in the show arena he would hardly walk.

Each year this guy wears a different funky wig...it's hilarious.

{my boys}

Otis & I

Jared & Cooter

They really bonded this year.

His last supper

Mere & I


Ike & Morgan. Ike is so funny-think a real life Tow-Mater from Cars.

My amazing 4-H adviser, Mrs. Leis, nearly squeezing me to death...I think it helped her to not cry. =) She has been an amazing supporter during my three years of showing. She bends over backwards for our club and I am extremely thankful for all of her hard work and dedication.

All sorts of interesting stuff can be found in the Sheep Barn...

Rach, me, and Taycie.

We came in 3rd place overall for our Junior Livestock Judging Team....we were very impressed with our skills. =) Rach actually got 3rd overall individual. I love these gals and I had a blast spending numerous days in a row with them at fair.

This is what happens after we sell the pigs, square dancing moves into the barn.


I think my fair withdraw symptoms are over now...except I've already started counting down for next year.

She's a Gypsy Soul...

2011-09-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

Sweet memories.

Warning: May cause a good cry & make you think of home.

Sweet morsels.

Drop us a line.

Decal for her vehicle...since my brother had leftovers from his truck and thought she might miss him enough to want to stick it on her car...


Wrapped with fun tags so it feels a little bit like Christmas.

For those of you who don't know Lynni, how sad for you. I love the girl to death. We met 4 years ago on our family blog {thecoyz.blogspot.com}. She was the first person to comment and we were super excited that someone beyond relatives actually read the blog. My sister, Morgan, emailed back and forth for a few months and then I started to also. A redhead from the cornfields of IN connected with the sisters from the cornfields of OH. Years of emailing, facebooking, blogging, and some phone calls. There were times when it would be a month or so since I had heard from her and I'd think, "man, I miss Lynni, it's been forever." Yet, I had never met her. We decided we needed to remedy that, and it HAD to be this summer because she was headed to Oklahoma for college. I dived out on a limb and asked her if she would want to come on our college Bible study group's camping trip. When I say camping, I mean camping. Three days with no shower, tents, bike riding, hiking, tents, pouring rain, supper over the open flame. Girl had never been camping like this before...and to be honest, neither had I. For some crazy reason, she said yes. So she loaded up all of her gear and set out on a 3hr. drive to OH to meet a family for the first time and then go on a three day camping excursion. Sounds absolutely nuts, right? I have friends that think we were nuts...'you met her on the internet, what if she had been some creepy old guy!' You can only keep up appearances as a little old guy pretending to be a country girl from IN so long...and 4 years would be long. As I was waiting for her to get into our small town and meet me at Ace Hardware so we could eat lunch in town, I was wondering what I had got myself into...what if she didn't end up being like the girl I had emailed for the past 3 1/2 years? She finally gets there and we get out of our cars. Squealing with excitement, we hug.Then we went to lunch and you would have thought we'd known each other for the past 15 years. It was exactly the Lynni I knew in writing...only more fun! Morg & I just clicked with her. We had so much fun camping...that we decided we had to meet up again before the summer's end. So two weeks later, 4th of July weekend, Morgan and I took our first road trip together and headed up to see her and meet her family. We spent the whole day getting a tour of Amish country. We then headed back to home, with her in tow for Sunday and Monday at our house, singing Miranda Lambert's 'Airstream' all the way. For the time being, she is an Okie...but I have high hopes that after school we can turn her into a Darke Co. girl if the west doesn't completely steal her heart. Since she's 14 hours from home, learning to live with 3 other girls, and starting school...we figured a care package would make her smile or cry...or both. If you don't know her, I would highly recommend her new blog about her western adventures:

She's A Gypsy Soul

Jr. Fair King & Queen Pagent

2011-08-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer I competed in out counties Jr. Fair royalty contest. I didn't make it on court, but I was one of the top 6 females our of 18. I was pretty pleased with the results.

The most interesting dress of the evening...she even had on camo boots!

Sisters

2011 Jr. Fair Court

La Familia

Bacon In The Makin'

2011-08-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

ZEB

Thinking about the butcher shop made him all sad.

Add caption

I dig the pig...do you?

You know the fair is almost here when...

2011-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

...half of my closet now resides off of the hangers and tossed around my room...& I do mean that quite literally. The Great Darke County Fair is just about as awesome as Christmas...and it'll start in just 2 1/2 days! My {pre-fair} to-do list is starting to shrink while my {must eat} list is growing.

Hello apple dumplings, apple fritters, & apple cider slushies.

Howdy cow barn milkshakes, Baumbach BBQ, and strawberry lemonade.

Fiske fries, homemade icecream, & kettle corn.

{Sigh}