Good Bye 2011, Hello 2012!

The year 2011 has been filled with good and bad, as most years are want to do.

In April of 2011 we found our family packed up and driving across country. We saw some beautiful sights along the way and learned about the states as we drove through them. We traveled through California to the southern part, then through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

We lived in Virginia for about 6 months before picking up and moving again one more time to North Carolina.

This year my husband got a job using his skills and then quickly got a job with another company that promoted him and gave him a pay raise. The new company appreciates his skill which is a big blessing in our lives.

The children have all grown steadily. The move has been great in so many aspects for all of us that I can not find fault with the little bits that have been hard.

In the time since I left California I have found that true friends love you no matter what the distance. That some friends are only in your life for a moment. And that love in a family is strengthened when you make the best choices for the whole family with love and respect.

In 2012 I hope that all my friends find happiness, love, peace and health in their new year.

I will be working on many things in the new year.
I will continue to build and grow my business online. Selling my own personal creations is a big reward. I love doing things that people will love. I will also continue to encourage my children to grow and learn in as many ways as I could. I am looking forward to getting a garden planted this spring, as well as building a compost bin for us  to improve our recycling.

I hope that you all have an amazing new years eve and a completely blessed new year.

A little walk through Franklinton NC

Our new home has a lovely little town feel, probably because it is a lovely little town. The town of Franklinton has a grand total of aprox. 1800 people living in the town limits. 

The kids and I have been enjoying the towns lovely little library. Its a mile walk from our house along beautiful tree lined streets with big beautiful homes. 

On one of our recent walks I took a few pictures along the way, so I could show you what the town looks like. 

Dr J.H. Harris House

Big Victorian down the street from where we walked.

The original Railroad Depot

Then we finally arrived at the library and there is a massive church on the opposite corner. 

The Library

quaint sign

The church

This concludes our journey through the town of Franklinton today. We love our new hometown and hope that we stay here for years to come.

Baked Oatmeal

I am beginning to wonder if my blog has become a food blog with all the food posts lately. I love to bake and cook so for me it is a natural progression to share the lovely dishes I create.

Today's blog is all about the wonderful baked oatmeal I made for breakfast today.


I found this recipe and totally adapted it. I wanted to give credit since I adapted her recipe for my creation.

4 TBSP Butter (melted)
1/4 cup olive oil (or coconut oil)
2 TBSP Crunchy peanut butter (or any other nut butter would work)
3/4 cups sugar
2 TBSP molasses
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup whole flax seeds
1/2 cup shredded apple
1/2 cup sliced whole cranberries
3 cups oatmeal *edit* (How could I forget to tell you how much oatmeal? chalk it up to being excited to share this recipe with you!)

In a medium sized bowl mix the oats,flax seeds, spices and baking powder together and set aside. In another bowl mix melted butter (and coconut oil if you use that) the eggs, peanut butter, sugar, milk (yes you can use coconut milk, flax milk, almond milk or rice milk) and vanilla together. slice your cranberries in half and then add them into the dry ingredients. Add shredded apple to the wet ingredients and then blend the wet into the dry. This looks a little soupy but it bakes up wonderfully.

Preheat oven to 350* and bake for 30 minutes.

I heated the milk up and added 1 tbsp of honey to it to sweeten it slightly. Then when the baked oatmeal was done I served it up in a bowl with a pouring of milk over the top.

The results were a grin from this happy boy. 

The Cuddlebug

Herman Waffles

Today's blog is brought to you by Herman. Our Herman has made the move with us and we continue to create wonderful recipes with Herman. If you have never made Herman before you can find the blog about Herman Here.

I created a recipe for Herman Waffles and I am going to share it here. This recipe is my own creation, it is a large batch and enough to do more then 30 waffles. (remember I have a large family!)

Herman Waffles

6 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup oil
6 large eggs
5 1/2 cups milk (I have used regular milk, flax milk or almond milk)
1 cup of herman starter

In a medium sized bowl mix all wet ingredients including herman starter, wisk well. In large bowl mix all dry ingredients, sift or use a wire wisk to blend ingredients together. Slowly beat the wet ingredients into the dry being sure to mix all the flour well but do not over beat the mixture. Let stand 5-10 minutes before use. The longer it stands the fluffier they will become. Be sure your waffle iron is hot and ready to go and under load the iron as these waffles expand a lot!

Apron's

Well I have been absent from my own blog for a little while and the reason is I have been busy sewing and creating a facebook page just for the sale of my lovely creations.

I have mostly Apron's on the page right now and have the fabric choices listed so that I can do custom orders.

You can find my facebook page Here.

Some of the adorable styles I have up on my page are my finished Cherries apron (this one is mine, I have a policy to always sew for me first. Then I can sew whatever I want for others.)

My Apron on me

My Apron on the Bookworm

Reversible Half Moon Apron

Other side of Apron

Up close of pattern 

I have several more apron's in the works and am taking special orders for the holiday season. I have fabric listed on my page so the order can be placed for custom orders.

I am still awaiting the replacement for my camera and I am using my daughters camera. The color on the camera is not very true and I have limited ability to edit the pictures well enough to get the shading right. I miss my camera and my ability to take pictures that turn out beautifully.