You all have been a sweet fragrance to me this past year...your visits, your fun, meaningful, and sweet comments...your amazingly beautiful and inspiring blogs (which started this wonderful journey), and most of all...your dear friendships, have truly brightened my days in a very special way, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, wishing all of you...
A Very Happy, Blossom Filled & Blessed New Year!
Big xx's & oo's,
Jessica~
A baby...one who welcomed lowly shepherds as well as wise kings...a baby...born in a barn, not in a palace, with animals as well angels attending his birth...as fragile, innocent, helpless, and approachable as one could possibly be...a baby....the first Christmas gift, so tenderly, trustingly, and lovingly given...to all.
Well we did it...we decided that even though this wasn't how we imagined our first Christmas in our new home would be (camping while we await flood fixing), it was still our first Christmas here...so this beautiful 'little' Noble Fir came home with us last week...and I'm so happy that we chose to have it grace our house as I was becoming quite depressed at the thought of not having one, again, for the fifth year. Isn't it sweet...The best part, is that we found our big blue trunk of Christmas ornaments....and, our garden bench, which used to serve as seating in our dining room. I love that we now have our very own indoor park, it's perfect!
After the lights...this sweet little vintage angel that my Dad had given to me was the first to go on...it was a very special moment. Our tree actually sat with just the one ornament and the topper for several days as we were both to busy to put the rest on. Not until this weekend did we finally get to go all out and fully decorate the tree...it was sheer joy to after so many years, see our beloved ornaments and place them one by one on the tree...finding just the right spot. It was like seeing old friends...can anyone relate to that?
Unwrapping each of them actually felt a lot like Christmas morning....and as most are glass, there was quite a bit of unwrapping going on!
Now, the view from the kitchen is heavenly...it couldn't be more beautiful. Who wants all that heavy furniture blocking the view of the Christmas tree anyway?!
Certainly not I....
Only two weeks ago, I had done a post about my friend Jane and her Paw Paw. Well, this past week, Jane's life took a very unexpected and dramatic turn...one that was quite a shock to her as well as to all who know her.
She is strong, very brave, very smart, and has a remarkable, fun loving attitude towards life...all of which will help her and her darling family to get through this challenging time.
I had the pure joy recently of meeting the lovely and kind Pam from Red Ticking. We met at her beautiful shop which was beyond my expectations, truly spectacular in all it's vintage, creamy white, sparkling holiday finery. It was a very special whirlwind of a visit where we chatted the whole time trying to learn as much as we possibly could about each other, in the short amount of time we had together. And of course being the sweetheart that she is...not only did she take me across the street to one of my favorite local bakery's (Essential) and treat me to a delicious coffee & muffin...she also spoiled me with this very thoughtful and charming gift...
the enchanting Garland of Peace, which has truly brought peace to my heart and also a smile every time I've looked at it. She couldn't have bestowed a more perfect token of friendship.
Well, I had wanted to somehow put the garland up for Christmas and I thought the fireplace would be the perfect spot. With no mantle yet, and huge gaps between the wall and rocks, it was a bit tricky to get it just right, but perseverance won out and thankfully, it has actually stayed up now for several days! I absolutely love it there, especially alongside our angel.
Soon after putting the garland up, I checked in on A Perfect Gray and saw with amazement Donna's very touching post...my heart swelled, along with my eyes. I remembered that Pam had just done a very cute post with a little nod to Donna, without even knowing of the loss she had just experienced and I started to see and feel these little connections as somehow soft acknowledgements of comfort and "peace"...and just as I was thinking about this, I walked by our guestroom and the sun, which hadn't been out for days, had our 'Peace Lily' all aglow, and it stopped me in my tracks...
I finally realized that this "Peace" was meant to be shared, that it wasn't only for my eyes, and that it hadn't been only a gift for me.
Thank you again dear Pam. I believe that there are so many small and tender ways God will hug our spirits when they are in need...a beautiful note of remembrance tied caringly around a lit candle, a post of mirrored gray with someone special in mind...or a sweet garland of Peace given in friendship...to more than one friend.
(btw - my walls are not yellow, they just choose to be photographed that way)
I truly thought this would be the year we'd finally be able to have our very own Christmas tree once again, decorated with all of our beloved and cherished ornaments that have been packed away these past four years, along with most of our other holiday decorations...I did say - "most"!
We do have a few storage escapees that have been with us during this period, moving from place to place, offering tiny little bits of holiday cheer...and this little guy is one of them. The problem is, he has such a round base that everywhere I placed him, he would just topple right over....Duke's bowl to the rescue!
I was thrilled to learn this week that I had won my very first giveaway! It was from the lovely Jane at My Pear Tree House who it seems is even all the more lovelier due to her amazing discovery of a miracle in the form of an ointment made from the Paw Paw...also known as...the Papaya. 
So, needless to say, I'm very excited to try it and I can't wait to see what kind of miraculous gift of beauty it has in store for me!
This past week, we had an unexpected guest arrive prior to Thanksgiving...her name was - La Nina. She was very beautiful but I have to say, she wasn't very helpful when it came to assisting everyone with the holiday meal preparations...somehow though, the feast was pulled off...deliciously I might add, but once it was over...poof, she was gone!
Every single time, either during or just after one of my art classes, I find myself saying silent prayers of thankfulness because I feel so unbelievably blessed to be able to do what I do for a living. It has been a true gift, one that was handed to me on a silver platter, one that I know came from above.
I had always loved to draw and actually in my teens, was so sure that when I grew up I'd be designing album covers for a living! Well, things didn't turn out that way and the drawing went by the wayside until several years ago...when the gift was given to me, it fell right into my lap...."how would you like to teach drawing to kids?". I had recently quit a job that I truly loved and had worked at for sixteen years (due to health reasons - job related), and had no idea what I was going to do next when that fateful question was proposed to me. I accepted instantly and have never looked back.
And let me just say that hanging out with these masterpiece makers is literally one of the best stress relievers - EVER! During class I'm completely oblivious to all things stress related...a little bonus that came with the job, and another reason that thankfulness abounds not only during Thanksgiving, but throughout the year. Big sigh....
Is there something that you know deep in your heart was a miracle that happened just for you...something that you find yourself being thankful for just about every single day of your life...something that blesses you continuously? 
Several years ago, right before we started building our house, I had fallen in love with and purchased this 'vintage' French scientific study of mushrooms at Anthropologie, and immediately had to pack it up and send it away to our storage unit, along with all of our other belongings until the completion of our home would allow me to finally enjoy it properly in all it's colorful and curious glory.
Also around that time, I purchased another mushroom laden treasure at Anthropologie, this one being a ceramic pot painted with beautiful fungi specimens...it too was packed away and taken off to storage.
Well due to extenuating home building circumstances, we ended up moving out of the place we had been living for two years where we had only taken the bare essentials with us, to a much more spacious abode that allowed us to get a few things out of storage to make the place feel more like 'home'. Needless to say...the mushroom treasures were one of the first items brought to our new, temporary cottage and since then (another two years) we've been happily able to enjoy them.
Once the house was finished, I immediately knew that I wanted the picture to go above the fireplace on the dining room side where it would be visible from the kitchen and be at home amongst the rocks and reclaimed wood that will *one day* be our mantel. For now though...it's just propped up in the general vicinity along with some other items, pot included, that are still awaiting their proper placement.
I never really had a thing for mushrooms, I had just loved the artwork and detail on both items, but since having them to look at everyday...I've really come to admire these delectable, unusual beauties and would love to see more varieties, if they still exist, in our grocery stores.
Can you imagine coming across these lovelies in the produce aisle...would you eat them or just pile them up in a bowl and display them on the dining room table, or even on a window sill?
Last week...our local grocery store decided to display several varieties of the glorious little morsels in a few very stunning and thoughtful displays that quite impressed me.
They brought in rocks, moss, branches, bark....
and of course, the ever popular, mushroom loving - Fungisaurus!!
All enhancing the mushrooms strange and earthy natural beauty.
These are Lobster mushrooms...they definitely have the color, I wonder if they also taste like lobster...I'll have to give them a try sometime.
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