A much more chipper update

I realized how very depressing and blue my last post was and I apologize! I will try to make up for it with this post.  I always want to honest in what I write however, and I don’t want to give the impression that the world is always rosy and perfect. I’m very human and constantly need the Lord’s strength. Thank you to everyone who commented and left words of encouragement for me—they were a great blessing, I promise!

We’ve been busy and got a lot of things accomplished over the weekend, in spite of my husband having to work extra hours (even on Saturday, which is rare). Over time is welcomed at this time of year though, and especially with the baby on the way.

I’ve had several good days recently and was able to feel more like myself and enjoy my new kitchen. Jacob enjoyed that greatly as it meant meals more like he was used to before first trimester sickness set in. I’ll be 12 weeks along tomorrow, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

One of my most favorite things about being pregnant so far has been the reaction from all the little people in my life. My sisters are beside themselves with excitement about being aunts and my little darlings at church are just about as excited. One of my little sweethearts, Mallorie, aged barely 4, when I told her that I was going to have a baby looked at my belly and said, “Well, it must be really tiny right now ‘cause you don’t have a belly at all. When Cayla (her cousin) was expecting Presley her belly was so big she didn’t have a lap!”

Jacob  worked in his garage for several hours Saturday and there are only a very few boxes left out there now. They are all in the house, but they are in the rooms where they belong, making it much easier for me to empty them now. He also set up his desk and arranged everything how he wanted it. We put his desk in the breakfast nook in the kitchen so we can visit while he works and I cook. I love it ;)

Ever the bookworm, my heart soared with joy as I unpacked my library and put it on the bookshelf. I felt like I was seeing old friends again after a long separation. It made me really want to read, but I am trying to exercise self-control and not start a book until I get more unpacking finished. I have a tendency to get lost in a book and let everything else go and we can’t have that right now!  I’m hoping for a bigger shelf for Christmas—I have too many books for the medium-sized one I have now. There are still three boxes of books that need to be unpacked.

 

Our post-Thanksgiving deerlease trip was a success, as you can see from the photo above. We are cutting up the deer Jacob shot, getting it ready to be ground into hamburger meat.  My father-in-law helped us and that really sped things up. Notice Jacob’s very comfortable camo t-shirt I’m wearing? ;) Something tells me I’ll be borrowing his shirts a lot in the future for around the house.

Last year we ground an entire doe into hamburger meat and it lasted us almost a year. We’ll do the same with this deer, and as it was bigger, hopefully it will last a full year.  It really helps out with the grocery bill when you have your own meat ;)

It’s almost time for Christmas—the tree is up, and it is 80 degrees outside. Welcome to Texas. We are hoping for a cool front in time for Christmas, but we shall see. In honor of our unseasonably warm weather, I thought I’d share the following song with y’all:

October Happenings

   Where has time gone? We’ve been home from the lease over a week and things have been so busy I haven’t had time for much of anything, much less writing.

   Shipping golf clubs, finishing orders from my Etsy shop, getting local order dresses ready for fittings…..somewhere in the midst of all this I’ve got to start packing to move! I usually schedule wedding sewing months in advance and had no idea we’d be trying to move at the same time ;)

We had family and friends-that-are-like-family with us on this trip. The children in the photos are borrowed from my friend Kristin at In Mother Words.  We had such a good time—drinking coffee and cooking and eating peanut butter cups :)

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

My manly bowhunter. Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…

The first deer of the season. Way to go babe!

Ellie and Jacob catching a nap.

The fellas.

Me and Cici coloring in cabin.

The nice 8-point Jacob got on Saturday evening’s hunt. The most fun part was that I got to be with him when he shot it ;)

Venison and Veggie Soup

With the evenings beginning to turn cool, and especially with us being at the deerlease, my husband requested soups and chili for a few of the meals while we are here.

Everyone has their method or recipe for the “ultimate soup” and I thought I’d share mine with you. This recipe is very simple and fast, and is a husband pleaser. It is chocked full of fresh veggies—I used frozen, fresh, or what I have canned. It is a from scratch recipe and most of the ingredients I just throw in ‘til it looks and tastes right. There are a few ingredients that I know how much I use, but for the most part I’ll just give you the ingredients and you can tweak it to your own taste.

1 lb ground venison or lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, cut into large pieces*

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste

Brown meat and onions in a large pot. Add salt , pepper, and garlic powder. Add 2-3 quarts of water (I really have no idea how much I put, I just pour until it looks right) 3 8oz cans of tomato sauce. Stir well, bring to a boil and add the following:

1/4 large head finely chopped cabbage

Carrots, sliced

Potatoes, sliced or cubed

Peas (my favorites to use are purple hull or black-eyed)

Butterbeans

Green beans

Whole kernel corn

Return to a medium boil and boil covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You want the cabbage, carrots, potatoes and peas to be tender.) Reduce heat and let simmer til ready to serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. You may need to add more water to the broth, or continue to simmer until the broth has thickened some.

* I put it in large pieces because we love the flavor the onion gives, but we don’t like to eat the actually onions. After the soup is finished cooking I remove the onions. If you like to eat onions, chop them as small as you like ;)

Scenery

Here’s a  little glimpse into our trip this weekend. If time allows, I’ll post more soon ;)

Part of the creek that runs through our deerlease.

Enjoying aforementioned creek. The fellas promptly jumped in for a little swim. Yes, a swim in October, but that is Texas for you.

Heading out…

It is that time of year again. For those of you not married to deer hunters, it’s deer season. The time of year when you can go to Walmart and see people in full camo and it completely acceptable. My husband’s trigger finger has been so itchy, that I am glad we are headed to the deerlease this evening. He packed all of his stuff last night and is loaded for bear (which, hopefully we won’t see, since they are not native to where we are headed!).

I’ve spent the last several days trying to make sure all the laundry is caught up,  and  going over lists multiple times to make sure we don’t forget anything. I wanted to make sure to use up or throw out anything that would go bad while we are gone, hence the double batch of banana bread in the oven right now—it smells great! ;) We can’t go to the deerlease without junk food, so I am trying to combat it and compromise with not-as-bad-for-you-as-Little-Debbie  homemade junk food. Homemade cookies are next on the list to go in the oven this morning.

   My mom and sisters are coming over today before we leave and I’m so glad. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen them and I’ve been missing them pretty bad. Mom said that Faith was crying for me yesterday. We might have to have one of the  banana bread loaves with our coffee ;)

I’ve been very busy and getting a lot accomplished, but I am disappointed that I ran out of time to get my camouflage culottes made.  They’ll be finished in time for the next hunting trip.

In the midst of all this ( and doing things for our new house) I have almost 20 golf clubs on Ebay right now. My husband and father-in-law stumbled upon an unbelievable deal and bought them to re-sell. Since I’m the one with Ebay experience, I’m the one who got to handle all of it. Which is fine, but I know absolutely nothing about  golf, or golf clubs, so I have to wait for Jacob to get home to answer potential buyer’s questions. I know the difference between a driver, fairway wood and sand wedge now ;).  Thankfully we will have internet at the deerlease so I will be able to keep up with what sells, etc.

As soon as we get back, it will be time to start packing to move! We should close on our house by the end of next week. I am so excited I can barely contain myself.

I’d better close here, there are still mountains of things to do to be ready leave. I promise to share pictures of our trip next week ;)

Domestic Bliss and Trophy Bucks

Sequestered in their calm domestic bower,
   They sat together.  He in manhood’s prime
And she a matron in her fullest flower.
   The mantel clock gave forth a warning chime.
She put her work aside; his bright cigar
   Grew pale, and crumbled in an ashen heap.
The lights went out, save one remaining star
   That watched beside the children in their sleep.
She hummed a little song and nestled near,
   As side by side they went to their repose.
His arm about her waist, he whispered “Dear,”
   And pressed his lips upon her mouth’s full rose—
The sacred sweetness of their wedded life
   Breathed in that kiss of husband and of wife.

~Domestic Bliss, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Before a girl marries she has dreams and ideas about how her home will be one day. I had mine planned right 

down to the color of the kitchen cabinets and tea-time at three o’clock in the afternoon everyday.

 We girls dream of how we will run it, how it will be ordered and how things will be in our very own home.

  What many of us do not take into consideration is the fact that the husband in the home will likely have his own opinions and ideas about how he wants things done in his home. And those ideas just might not line up completely with yours. Even with my very easy-going, laid-back husband, there have been a few bumps in the road in our journey towards domestic bliss.
 Here is an example of domestic dreams clashing:

As I have mentioned before, my husband is an avid and dedicated hunter. I fulfilled one of his dreams by not only having land to hunt on (for free!) but also that I like venison (or deer meat, as we call it). His mother has never been able to eat deer meat, no matter how it is prepared, so having a wife that liked what he brought home meant a lot to him.
  Being the avid hunter that he is, my Jacob likes to have his trophies stuffed and mounted and displayed on the walls of our home. His mom has always loved this aspect of hunting and joyfully displays all of the trophies that her husband and until recently, her son would bring home.
  Unfortunately, mounts are not my cup of decorating tea.  My father and brothers have always hunted, but the extent of their trophy keeping was to mount the skull and antlers on the shop wall. While I love the rustic country look—which is how I have most of my home decorated—mounts on the wall have never really appealed to me except in a man’s office or study. But not in my livingroom….Trophy mounts were not in my plans.
  Guess what? When I married my sweet Jacob not only did I get him, but also his small herd of mounts. At the time it was only Dasher and Dancer (a whitetail buck and an axis buck), but soon our game preserve will welcome Wilbur (a Pineywoods hog skull) and Billy, a Corsican ram’s head. (Those are my nicknames for them—don’t tell Jacob! ;) )
  Our apartment back home is about half the size of where we are living now and we are running out of wall space. It was really starting to bother me because it didn’t fit into MY plans, it didn’t match up with what I wanted, I didn’t want to seem like a redneck, I, ME, MY……..What’s wrong with this picture? Yes, there is a lot of ME and MY opinions in it.
  I had to stop and remember that it’s  not just my home, it’s our home. If I had wanted a house where I got everything my way and completely to my tastes, I shouldn’t have gotten married.
  One of my responsibilities as a wife is to be the homemaker—to make our house a home. We as homemakers are supposed to make our homes havens and places of joy and relaxation for our families. It should be a pleasure to come home because that is where you are most comfortable and where the things that matter to you and are important to you are. I have to remember that what may not be important to me, may be very important to my husband. Something that might be a source of irritation for me may the thing that really makes our dwelling feel like home to him.
  And to be honest, my wonderful husband lets me have my way in everything concerning the house—except the mounts. Those are the only things he asked for and really wanted. Sure, I could have thrown a fit and insisted that we leave them at his parent’s house and he probably would have eventually given in to me.But it means a lot to him to be able to display his trophies in his own home.  It helps make it home. Just like the things that mean a lot to me—my great grandmother’s dishes, the doilies that I made—help make it home. He doesn’t complain about the feminine touches I’ve added here and there. It convicts me about how I’ve felt about his things.
  Marriage is about two people compromising on their desires and giving in to each other. And not just “Ok, I’ll let YOU win this time, but I’m not going to let you forget it!” It means to do it without grudging or complaining. It’s about thinking about the other person and what is important to them and putting them first before yourself. No one said it would be easy, but everyone says how wonderful the rewards of it are.
  Domestic bliss is not something that just “happens” when you return from your honeymoon or after you’ve been married a while. You have to work for it and sometimes the work is hard. You have to deny yourself—no one likes doing that! But if you are committed to making things work, you’ll do whatever is necessary, no matter how much of an inconvenience it is to you personally.
  So I’ve decided to get over my dislike for trophy mounts in the livingroom because Jacob likes them. I’ve decided to start taking even more pride in what a great hunter he is and to appreciate his trophies.
That doesn’t mean that I’ll stop being concerned about wall space though!;)

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EOA # 20

The Day after Christmas

Our family is very much a hunting and guns family and one of our favorite things to do is shoot skeet. We look for any excuse to have a skeet shoot. Here are a few photos from the day after Christmas. Unfortunately, my brothers were camera shy so there aren’t any pictures of them.

Wendi and me

Jacob manning the skeet trap

Wendi and our aunt

Oh my, what’s this? PINK shells? I wonder who could have been shooting those?

MY pinks shells and new pink and camo gun case for my 12gauge shotgun.

I did get a picture of the boys! They are putting a snorkel kit on one of Patric’s four-wheelers. Now he can float his four--wheeler across the pond. Boys…..

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Rebecca

Thanksgiving Weekend Deerlease Trip

We made it home safely and quickly from our weekend at the deerlease. Our Thanksgiving was very fast--we arrived at my parents' home Wednesday night and headed out around 3:30 the afternoon of Thanksgiving, after making the rounds and seeing the grandparents.
  This was my first "official" deerlease trip to make with Jacob. We made a quick trip during the summer, but it wasn't hunting season. My dad and brothers arrived before we did and  the rest of us made it around 10:30 that night.
 The weather turned very cold and it rained during the night Friday. It is really beginning to feel like winter now.
  Here are the promised pictures!

The fellas, cleaning their guns and getting ready to hunt.

Josh and Jacob discussing the mechanics of...something, I'm not sure what ;)

 While the menfolk finished cleaning their guns and getting ready to make sure the guns' sights were accurate, I took a little walk and snapped some shots of the scenery. It was lovely and the weather was perfect.

 

All throughout the property runs the remains of an old stone wall that dates back to the Texas Revolution. It was neat that after all these years, so much of it remains and you can really tell what it was.

Sheep :) The deerlease owner's son trains sheepdogs and they have a small flock.

There are rocks everywhere.

Josh and Thomas. True story: Thomas was looking through the spotter scope and saw a fly on the target 100 yards away and told Josh: "Hey shoot the fly!" And he did ;) Yes, my little brother is a great shot.

The last of the flowers before the cold weather kills everything.

Ready to head out!

I went hunting with Jacob in the evenings. All we saw were very young deer, but it was fun just the same, even though we didn't get anything. I didn't know this until I went with Jacob, but deer will bark and warn other deer if something isn't right. We had been watching the two young does above for a while when they began to nervously look to the left. Then they started barking and lo and behold what walks out of the woods but a housecat ;)

 I hope you enjoyed all the photos!

Thanksgiving Vacation

The last few days have been spent at the deerlease relaxing. It has been so nice to visit with my dad and brothers--I don't get to see them as often as I see Mom and the girls. My in-laws are here too so we have been having a wonderful time.
  The country is beautiful here and I've got a post full of photos in the works. The internet connection out here is very slow so pictures will have to wait until we are home.
 Just popping in for a minute,

Rebecca

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today I am thankful for the deliciously cool weather that blew in this week. In our part of the country, summer heat often extends into October and occasionally November. Cool weather brings so many wonderful things. Here a few of my favorite things cold weather brings:

•  I'm so happy to pull out all of my cute cool-weather clothes--sweaters and jackets and boots. I love wearing boots and my favorite pair are a pair of cowgirl boots Jacob bought for me on our honeymoon. I wear them all the time, they are so comfortable.

•  When I lived in the country, usually the first good cool night we would build a fire outside and drink hot chocolate and roast marshmallows. Since I'm in the city now, I'm content just let my coffee cup warm my hands :)

•   Cold weather brings out the soup and stew lover in me so big batches of soups and stews are in our future.

   When the cool weather blows in, all of the men in my family get itchy trigger fingers and are ready to get in a deer stand. Camouflage is the color of choice during this time of year for many people I know.
   Last year Daddy, my brothers, and Jacob harvested several deer and combined the meat and we made a couple hundred pounds of smoked venison sausage. It was so good! We don't put cure or any preservatives in the seasoning mix. The recipe was given to us by one of our dear old neighbors who used to own a meat packing plant.
  It is something we do every year and I can't remember a time when we haven't done it. It is one my favorite times of the year. Over the years we've had various "uncles and aunts" -- close friends of the family-- help us and it is always a fun time of visiting.
  Here are a few pictures from last year.

 Our manly men cutting up all the meat. We girls got in on it too, but there is no photographic evidence.

 Yours truly weighing and packaging some of the fry meat and backstrap that we didn't turn into sausage. That we some of the meat we use in stews and shish-kebobs.

 Wendi and Jacob  moving meat to Daddy to be ground. In the pans in the back are meat that was just ground, ready for stuffing.

 Stuffing the sausage into casings, with little peoples looking on.

 Ready to go in the smokehouse.

 Smoked sausage on top, jerky on bottom. Every year my brothers try to make jerky--we're still learning. It gets better every year ;)

Yummy! Daddy and Josh packaging the smoked sausage for the freezer.

Hurray for cool weather!

Venison Shish Kebob and homemade pita bread

For supper last night Jacob and I were adventurous and made something neither one of us had ever cooked before--shish kebobs. It was due largely in part to our pastor's message Sunday night--he talked about shish kebobs and had the entire congregation's mouths watering. We decided immediately that was what we were having for supper the next night. Aaahhhh, the power of suggestion!

 I had some venison backstrap in the freezer from a whitetail deer Jacob shot last year. I let it thaw then marinated it for several hours in and oil and vinegar dressing, pepper, garlic powder and a bit of steak seasoning. I know, the spice combination may not be very authentically Middle Eastern, but this was an experiment. I cut up yellow and zucchini squash, onions and bell peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Lessons learned: Next time I'll slice the squash thinner and use cherry tomatoes. Everything else was perfect.

I made some almost whole wheat pita breads. They would have been 100% whole wheat, but I didn't realize that I was almost out of whole wheat flour. So they are 75% whole wheat :) Jacob LOVED them and called them "Bible breads". He especially loves them with peanut butter.  I was glad because he hasn't cared for some of the whole wheat things I've made in the past. I'll share the recipe in a minute.

Here are some photos of our evening for you to drool over:

My manly man manning the grill :) Notice our brand on the truck?

 

 Hungry yet?

Almost whole wheat pita bread

1 T yeast                                               1 T honey

1 1/3 c. warm water                               1 T oil

2 t. salt                                                 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

In a large mixing bowl sprinkle yeast over warm water. Stir in salt, honey, oil and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat til smooth.

 Stir in 1 cup flour. Knead in as much of the remaining flour to make a smooth and elastic dough. Cover and let rest  for 10 minutes.

  Punch dough down. Knead until smooth and elastic. Wash out bowl and grease with a little oil. Place dough in greased bowl and turn to coat.. Cover and let rise til doubled.

  Punch dough down and divide into 8 equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball and let rest for 30 minutes.

  On a lightly oiled or floured surface, roll or pat each piece into a 7 inch circle. 

 Preheat oven to 500* F and place an upside down pizza pan on bottom rack of the oven. Let breads rise for approx. 30 minutes. When bread is ready to bake, gently place one or two breads on the hot pizza pan. Bake for four to seven minutes or until lightly golden and puffed up into a ball.

  Cool on wire racks, but cover them so they do not dry out. If not using right away, store in plastic bags.

Enjoy!

Encourage One Another Link Up
Raising Homemakers Link-up #58 

My manly man

 

Jacob and the mouflon  ram he shot with his bow last weekend. Yes, its head will end up on the wall with his other trophies.....