Friday, September 21, 2012

The Tides of Life


It seems we are all adrift in this life from time to time.  Sometimes the seas are calm and serene rocking gently and then there are times when we are thrown about here and there until we can find our footing again.  It has been one of those years, or the past couple of years have felt that way anyway.  Still the tide come in and goes out.

With each tide the chance of change comes and life offers no guarantees.  Sometimes changes are subtle and other times they are big and impact your life and the way you can perceive it from there on.  Sometimes it can in a way change you as a person.  My family has had some very big changes occur over the past couple of years.  Most for the better and some the worse....  Each new day brings a promise that we cannot guarantee that our loved ones will always be there.  No guarantees can make life tick by much faster than it should sometimes.


I want to thank those of you who took the time to share a comment after the loss of my daughter's friend.  While time slows for no man, it can also make things easier.  In time things can become easier to understand even when there is not much that makes sense about the losses we endure.  Eventually, we must come to terms that we are not always privy to the reason why one person departs this earth quicker than others and it is not for us to understand.  In time we grasp that, even though we are hurt, angered and perplexed by it...because that is all there is to do.   A lesson my child unfortunately knows all too well now and far sooner than I had ever hoped.  I have had this post ready for the past few weeks, we are onto some new things and ready to continue on our paths. I thought it would be appropriate to put it all down here in order to heal and to complete this chapter.

My daughter has grieved over the past several months and she is still learning to work through it.  The end of June brought the end of her senior year of high school which kept her very busy.  Going through her prom and graduation was hard without experiencing it with her best friend.  The plans and excitement for their futures they had once made together was shadowed by finding a different way to celebrate.  It was all so bittersweet, but she handled it with such Grace.  My daughter is stronger then I ever realized.  After graduation life slowed down some and it hit her more frequently and we worked on emotions when it hit her.  

It is amazing how that grief can sneak up on you at the most inopportune of times too...when you least expect it.  Times like when she was driving and a song they loved came on and she had to pull over or times calling me from a friends house too embarrassed to come out of the bathroom because it was obvious that she had broken down.  Memories set in motion by a once shared place or a time, can surely make a grieving heart simply ache. I have been reminding her how fortunate she was to have made those memories and more often then not she will start talking about them and sometimes even end up laughing.   

In retrospect, their friendship had a quality that doesn't come along everyday.  It was different for them, different than the other friendships she has.  They met each other when they were younger and playing on a travel soccer team.  Lauren went to private school and my daughter attended public school so they would see each other regularly at soccer and at parties.  When my daughter entered junior high school she reached a period of time when a few childhood friends spread their wings and branched out.  She was more than sad when things changed with those friends.  We had our share of weepy conversations over this during her 7th grade year and as her mother I in turn had a few weepy nights wondering why she had to feel that way at all, but knowing it was a part of life she must work through.  I prayed that she would find a friend.  One that she could trust and one that would trust and appreciate her for the person that she is.  A friend that was loyal and confident...not easily swayed by others opinions of what is important...one that would stand  up for what is right.  Yes, I prayed for all of that...a mother does that.  

Then one day she came home from school all lit up with excitement, something I hadn't seen in her for months.  I learned that Lauren was transferring to public school and they were both all too excited to see a familiar face in each other while heading into school one morning.  My daughter was delighted and before long I saw her old self come back.  She wasn't afraid to be silly again, and wasn't concerned with what everyone would think of her if she was herself.  Their friendship grew fast and they became very close.  Sleepovers turned into vacations together, movies, bowling, etc.  Together they experienced being teenagers.  First boyfriends....school trips....dances....sweet 16's......learning to drive...first cars.....proms....SAT jitters....futures being planned.  I'm so grateful they had the time to experience those things together.  

They were silly and never afraid to show it.  Anytime, anywhere.  I picked them up a from the movies a few years back before they started driving and literally had to buy Lauren a pair of pants because they giggled so hard she wet herself..... Those two could look at each other and without saying a word start giggling.  Sometimes it was embarrassing for a mother trying to get through a store with faces staring at those nutty girls...but you couldn't help but giggle along when they started.  

Lauren had soon become a part of our family, she thought nothing of coming over for dinner with the family while my daughter was not here due to an away game.  My mac-n-cheese was her favorite and she would come over whenever we made it.  She was the kind of girl that would come over to cheer up my younger daughter if she was having a hard time and never afraid to bring her silly antics along.  The kind of girl who volunteered at church to help aid the mentally challenged dinners and game night they hosted and make my daughter do it with her.  She always spoke highly of her family with love, adoration and respect.  She was all that I could have asked for in a best friend for my daughter...and more.  They were not friends by accident.

They were not angels though and every now and then they found consequences with their parents for a bad decision.  Nothing out of the ordinary teen shenanigans, they really were good kids overall.  Being separated briefly while grounded was so hard for them though, and now looking back there is a tinge of guilt I feel for not allowing them that precious time together.  But the one thing that didn't cross my mind then was that things would change for them the way it has....no guarantees.  I wish I could give them that time together now of course....but I did my job as a mother when it was necessary to teach consequences.


We were so hopeful.  She was so brave and fought so hard.  In the weeks preceding Lauren's passing my daughter became increasingly worried, anxious and moody.  She acted very differently in the weeks before, and I couldn't figure out why.  She wanted to get to see her, they had been apart while Lauren received treatment in another state for so long.  A few times plans were made to visit her and had to be cancelled due to her reactions to chemo or the risk of germs on her weak immune system.  She often didn't feel well enough to see anyone or her treatment required isolation.  The hardest part for my daughter to understand is that she didn't get to say good bye.  We just visited her grave site recently on what would have been her18th Birthday.

During the past year my family and I participated in benefit dinners and helped with bone marrow drives. If there is anything that I could put out there about Lauren is that she was a caring, loving soul, and she was so very brave.  If you are interested in becoming a bone marrow donor please visit this site Here.  The details are on the site and if you meet the criteria you could be put in a data bank that could save someone's life.  She would want us to share that with you...  Thanks for lending your ears and hearts and all of your comments.....I'll be back sooner than later.

Take care,
Dee

Monday, May 21, 2012

Just logging in to say....

Just logging in to say....

Thank you for the sweet emails checking in on me.   I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer them.  I have been missing for a time once again.

My daughter's best friend, Lauren, that I had requested the prayers for with her bone marrow transplant passed last Thursday.  Our hearts are heavy and we are full of sorrow, not only for our loss but for her loving family as well.

I come asking you once more to pray for their healing and understanding.  She fought so bravely for the past year.  I cannot begin to imagine the pain of loosing a child, and I pray that I will never have to.  What I can tell you is that watching your child suffer the loss of someone they loved and trusted is simply awful.  My whole family loved this child and will miss her dearly.

I am taking some time to help my daughter to work through this the best that we can, she has a hard couple of weeks ahead of her.  I will be back when the time is right to post.  Thank you to those of you who have come back to read throughout this past year.....I know it has been a slightly emotional post one after another.  I look forward to happier days.

Take care,
Dee

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Another Great Gooseberry Patch Giveaway!



Hello There Gals....

Just poppin' on in to let you know that FHCS is hosting another great Gooseberry Patch Cookbook giveaway here at FHCS.  This is a 10th Anniversary Edition...they are bringing back the best of the best!  Once again there isn't a person out there who wouldn't use, or couldn't use this recipe book.



So fast...so easy....so good.  It's no wonder they've brought it back!  That's what I have for you on this one. 
Check out the video below for more info.....

I have made a few of the recipes and they  were all great, but I'm excited to share my favorite one with you.  A sweet recipe of course.

One particularly late and rainy Saturday evening, my children and I were craving something sweet and chocolate while watching a movie.  We were all cozied up in our jammies so we didn't want to go out and started prowling through the pantry for something chocolatey and sweet.  I keep a small stash of cake mixes on hand and quickly spotted a chocolate cake and my mouth began to water....

One by one we started to grab the ingredients to make the boxed mix...until I got to the eggs.  And it went downhill from there.  What?  No eggs!  Ugh!  We wanted chocolate cake, but not bad enough to change out of my jammies and head to the store...

Then I remembered a recipe I had spotted in the new GBP cookbook Meals in Minutes, earlier in the week.  I always fold down the corners of the pages that I want to try but this book had A LOT of pages turned, lol.  And so I thumbed through the book, quickly turning to the page with the interesting chocolate cake recipe.Triple Fudge Cake.  I grabbed my favorite mixing bowl, and set to work.  


Within minutes I found all 3..(yes 3) of the ingredients and set to work.  Soon enough, we had the scent of warm cake wafting through the house.  We couldn't believe how good this tasted, company worthy I might add.

Triple Fudge Cake

3.4 oz. pkg. cook & serve chocolate pudding
18 1/2 oz. pkg. chocolate cake mix
12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare pudding following directions on the package; stir in dry cake mix. Spread in greased 13x9 baking pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees fore 35 minutes; cool.  Makes 18 servings.

Ladies...this recipe calls for only three ingredients  (4 really if you count the milk)!!!  I have to admit that I totally cheated on it too.  I used a ready to serve pudding mix instead of the cook & serve---after all, this was a chocolate-craving emergency!  I was a little worried about how thick the batter was before baking but it puffed right up.  It was moist and delicious.  We also replaced the semi-sweet chips with milk chocolate because that is all I had on hand. We also couldn't wait for it to cool, we ate ours warm, topped with light whip cream......sometimes you just have to be a rebel, lol.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. Now, you ask how can you win this great cookbook? Read on.....

So once again we are having a GIVEAWAY for this wonderful book
compliments of Gooseberry Patch!
 All I ask is that you share a recipe story of yours in the comment section below.  I want to hear about a time you had to substitute ingredients or make do.  What was your recipe like.....do you still make your version of it now or do you follow the recipe still?   The comments will close on Wednesday April 4th at midnight EST.  Of course we would love it if you could share the giveaway on your blog and a link!  

A winner will be chosen by random number generator as usual and announced by next Saturday, April 7th.  I do ask that you please be sure check back then to see if you have won so you can claim your prize and I can get it shipped to you as soon as possible.  Thanks for stopping by once again, and hopefully leaving a comment!  Please try to spread the word about the giveaway so that I can continue to offer them to all of you!  Have a great weekend!

Take care,
Dee

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Prayer Request, Updated...

Update:
Hello Gals,
I'm popping in real quick to thank all of you who have prayed for our oldest daughter's best friend in her fight with leukemia.  Her bone marrow transplant occurred and she is progressing along as she should, thank god.  Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words.

My daughter has also read your comments and we appreciate the prayers for our daughter as well.  She is strong for her friend but we've also hit a few emotional bumps in the road when she is missing her, to be expected of course.  Now with her senior year coming to an end and prom season fast approaching it is particularly hard, that has been something they usually do together, the planning, the shopping for their dresses, getting ready and pictures so she is working through the emotions of that too.  She often claims that she feels guilty partaking in all of the events that come with senior year and missing her friend is often very hard for her. She knows very well it's most important that she receives treatment and healing, and she of course wants that more than anything.

As I've said before, the blogging community certainly is full of caring, loving, supportive, and uplifting friends and I feel so blessed to be able to connect with so many of you.  I truly do appreciate the time you all take to leave your comments and sweet emails.  I know life can be very busy for us and yet you all make the time anyway.  Thank you....

Take good care,
Dee


Hello Friends,

Many of you know from reading my blog that we have had one heck of a year dealing with illness.  Loved ones, family members and friends.  Some (thankfully) recovering and those who are still fighting.  I appreciate all of your powerful prayers and believe they play a big part in recovery.


Well I have a prayer request to ask of you all once more.... 

Best friend on left, my daughter on right...
being normal silly teenagers a few summers ago, without a care in the world.

My daughter's best friend, Lauren, has been fighting an aggressive type of Leukemia for the past year.  It has been a hard battle for her but she is one strong and determined young lady.  While many kids her age are experiencing milestones like driving, proms, and making memories, she has missed all of her senior year of High School instead spending her days inside the confines of a hospital room receiving chemo.  Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she has befriended other young sick children on the floor, played with them and kept their spirits up....simply amazing to me.....  

This Friday she will be receiving a bone marrow transplant, and I am asking for prayers on her behalf.  She has already been blessed with a large group of family, friends, that love her dearly and and a community that has rallied for her and her family.  I'm so grateful to say she has recently found a donor match and what a blessing that already is.

Please pray that this transplant will be successful and for a speedy recovery so that she can once again be healthy and resume a normal life after having experienced this fight. Please pray for her family as well.

My own daughter has had a hard year coming to terms with her friend's illness and is missing her friend terribly, these two are the type of giddy girls that can be silly together...laugh so hard they pee their pants (truth), look at one another simply start giggling...even when no one else gets it.  They just get each other.

They haven't been able to see each other as much as they would like to during the past year due to treatments, sickness, and keeping germs at bay which could be dangerous for her friend.  My daughter also knows the most important thing is that she gets back to being healthy as quickly as possible and what a treasure a friendship like this one is.

Make sure you congratulate Tammy in the last post, she is the winner of the beautiful Shabby Apple Dress giveaway!  I have a very overdue Gooseberry Patch Cookbook Giveaway that I will be posting on Saturday.....please stop back to sign up, I know how you all love GBP!

Take care,
Dee

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A Shabby Apple Winner!

Hello Gals!

I apologize for the delay in announcing the winner of the Boogie Woogie Dress from 
Shabby Apple, there have been some goings on here at the Farmhouse....



Tammy from Flat Creek Farm....is the winner of this lovely giveaway!  Your comment was chosen by an antique random number generator called the old pick a number trick.....hubby picked and I counted, lol!  Stop on by her blog to congratulate her!


Tammy,
I sure hope that you get to go on your dream date with your hubby, girl....please go dancing in this adorable number....I know it's hard to carve out time for ourselves as wives and mothers but life moves all too quickly not to make time for that every once in a while!  I hope you are inspired when you see your dress to put on those dancing shoes!  


Oh, and send us some pictures if you like...we would all love to see how beautiful you look in it!  I will send your info along to Shabby Apple if you let me know the best way to do so in a comment below. Congratulations, xo! 

I read each of your comments and I so wish that you all could get your dream dress for your dream dates....sometimes it is fun to dream though, isn't it?  I hope that most of you took advantage of the coupon that Shabby Apple offered and bought yourself something adorable....they have so many cute things!

Stop Back!
I have another awesome GBP Cookbook Giveaway that I'm trying to get posted.  Hopefully it will be up in the next day or two, so be sure to check back!  Thanks for stopping on by, I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Take Good Care!
Dee

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you are showered with LOVE today and every day!

It's a romantic dinner for 5 here in my household, lol.

I'm off to cook a special dinner for my valentines!

P.S.  I've enjoyed reading all of your comments for the 
Shabby Apple Giveaway!
Thank you for taking the time to comment if you've already done so, if not there's still time to do so head here and leave a comment to enter to win the beautiful
Boogie Woogie Dress!

Take Care,
Dee

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Vintage Inspired Fashion at The Farmhouse

Yoo-hoo, Calling all ladies...
Farmhouse Country Style has paired up with an adorable clothing boutique Shabby Apple, for a GIVEAWAY!

This dress is called the Boogie Woogie....
Ummm, so how cute is that?
A classic little black dress that would be so pretty for a special 
Valentine's Day Dinner...
1328_4_.jpg (450×750)
(hint, hint, hubby) or any special occasion really.  
You could win this Amazing Dress for yourself!






How stinkin' sweet is this polka dot dress from their 1965 Collection? 

Shabby Apple carries Women's Dresses in  
classic and vintage inspired styles that you can't find in the average department store.  They also have style tools on their website, one which determines the best styles for your body type.


One more super impressive thing about this company..
Shabby Apple donates 5% of it's net dress sales to help women worldwide.
(They have a blog too).
Their adorable little Girls dresses and the aprons are too sweet and any 
homemaker that I know would love to doll themselves up in one of these.


How to qualify for this giveaway you ask?
In order to qualify first you must be a Farmhouse Country Style Follower

To enter the Giveaway to win 
The Boogie Woogie Dress:

1. Please leave a comment below about your Dream Valentine Date and which Shabby Apple outfit you would like to wear! 
Lets have fun with this!

2. If you are on Facebook, visit the Shabby Apple Page at:
and LIKE them for another entry  
 (just let me know you have did so in an separate comment below for another entry).
And, while you're at it...Stop on over to the Farmhouse Country Style Facebook page too, lol.

3. To earn yet another entry, post a link to this Giveaway on your Blog, then come back and leave one more comment below (with a link) for yet another entry.


NOTE
***Giveaway is for the above Boogie Woogie dress only*** 
Okay, so you can enter up to three times if you meet the above requirements and comment for each entry.  You have until midnight on February 26th to enter.  
Winner will be chosen by random number generator.


***LASTLY***

Here is a Bonus something extra for FHCS followers..... 
I'm so excited to share this with you all....

In addition to the Giveaway,
Shabby Apple is graciously extending a 
10% off coupon to Farmhouse Country Style Followers
use coupon code Farmhousecountrystyle10off
Offer Expires on February 27th, 2012


 Oh, and don't forget to check out their new Mad Hatter Collection too...
okay I'm finished now, lol.

   
I can't wait to read your comments!  Thank you for all of your comments in the last post...I haven't given up hope on the holiday photos yet...I'm still trying to find out if I can retrieve them, so thanks for the encouragement!  
Thanks for stopping by!

Take care,
Dee

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Until next year...and a GBP Cookbook Winner!

Hello there Ladies!

Happy Belated New Year (wow-that has a weird ring to it)!   
I hope you all had a Wonderful CHRISTmas!  We had such a nice Christmas Day, spent with family, I just wish it all didn't fly by so quickly!


I know this post has taken way to long to get up but if you could see my one handed typing right now you may understand why, lol.   Long story short...New camera for Dee....and no pictures to show for it!

I am now in the process of reading the manual for new (long awaited) camera Santa brought me After shooting 1,235 pictures on Christmas and accidentally deleting them.....mmmmhmmmm.  Hence the lack of pictures for this post.....:(


Yes,
I received a lovely (and high tech) camera this year.  I have ooohhed and ahhhhed over this camera for a VERY long time...and sure did a LOT of saving for said camera...for a long time....just to explain what a treat it was to receive it.  So funny, I don't think a diamond ring would have gotten the same reaction that this camera received....but then again, I'm not a a Fancy Schmancy jewelry person anyway.

I was definitely moving up in the world of photography....sheer excitement...oh the possibilities!  Then poof...all gone....just like that.

I was snapping Christmas pictures up left and right...no one could move without me chasing them with the new camera. 

See the tree?....SNAP  Opening gifts?.....SNAP!  Playing with new toys?.....SNAP!    Oh, Christmas Ham done?....SNAPEating?.....SNAP!       Sneezing?.....SNAP!    OOOOH, WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?  wait...one more picture pleease!

Oh, wait, Eating again?.....SNAP!    
Blowing your nose?......SNAP!   Napping?......SNAP!
SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP!!!

 Hehe.....
Oh, Whats that?  You're trying to eat?  
Okay, great honey, now can you retake that bite so I can capture that picture would ya?...SNAP!!!

They were good sports for a while but I SNAPPED until they almost SNAPPED, lol......
then I got a hold of myself.


I now know that what I should have been doing instead of chasing family members for photos was taking the time to read the owners manual....BECAUSE.....
If I had.......
I would have known that the top button deleted ALL of the pictures not just the one bad one....
Oh, boy!
I would still have all of those awesome pictures to show all of you
LOL,
sniffle, sniffle.....


So if your still following me here you now know that all of my photos are gone....
poof.....
that's right, all gone! 


My baby opening his gifts...gone.
The look of surprise on their faces.....gone.
The excitement that was captured...now gone

It's so sad it's almost funny ...almost.


So my New Year's Resolutions for 2012 are:

PATIENCE........
Taking it slower...not rushing into everything just to get it done.
Enjoying the process more.
Even if it means waiting and reading the manual.

Also to start taking time for myself to do more of what I would like.
Is it terrible to tell you that I would like to say No more in 2012?
 
Saying No more and Yes only to the things with the greatest payoff?Things that will really matter to others, and things that are truly important to me or my family.
That should help with Patience right?
It won't be easy...I used to say YES a lot!

I also want to make the time to

learn a few new things too, like how to really use this camera and all of the functions.





So, what are your 2012 Resolutions?
Have you been able to keep them up thus far?

Now onto better things.....

The GBP Rush Hour Recipes Cookbook Giveaway!

I have to say that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed each and every Christmas memory shared.....THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DO THAT it truly was a treat!

So many memories you all have with your families, matching homemade flannel night gowns, holiday candy making, families decorating trees and baking cookies....many spent with loving Grandparents, cousins, and other special people in your lives, many of you who now hold their precious memory in your hearts.

Favorite childhood gifts...(I too LOVED my Easybake oven and baked many cakes for my daddy that Christmas).  Daughters coming home unexpectedly (that must have been the best Christmas gift, Joni).  Hiking in the snow, homemade gifts and cookies.  Patty Hart what a neat tradition...the Surprise you must have had when finally seeing that tree!  Stringing popcorn on your family tree...so precious!

Thank you for sharing your stories...it was such a gift for me to read all of them!  I couldn't choose any one story that was better than the others, in my opinion each and everyone of your stories was very special and so I let my daughter choose a number from the hat, foolproof and fair.   

Here is our winner.....Judy, please contact me with a comment, as to the best way to get your shipping information and congratulations on your win, you will really like this cookbook, I'm sure! 


Judy@cutest-little-things.blogspot.com              Dec 29, 2011 09:54 AM
There are so many special Christmas memories to choose from since many of my family are no longer here, but the most magical was the Christmas that I became pregnant with my now 5-yr. old son. Oh it wasn't official - I hadn't taken a test...but I'll never forget Christmas Eve church services, standing before the altar, listening to the heavenly choir and a little feeling...something that just told me to lay a hand on my belly and I knew!!! Just a week later I took a test that confirmed the good news! I'll never forget that moment of feeling a magical secret within - and feeling more connected than ever to the Christmas story of Jesus' birth :)

If you haven't had the chance yet, try to read through the giveaway comments...they are all so heart warming!  I'll be back soon....Stay warm and Take care!

~Dee~

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