Being a Country Girl ...

This past week, I caught a glimpse of one of our dreams.

It involved lots of land, junkin', and berry pickin'.

One of my new found friends who shares the same soul as I do invited me for lunch and junkin' in her shed.

We drank from mason jars and pulled leftovers out of her fridge to make a meal.

We finished with chocolate cobbler.

She is a woman after my own heart.

The hospitality and friendship that was shared at that table makes my heart soar.

We then changed into tight blue jeans and went out to the shed.

Summer makes tight blue jeans you know.

She is not afraid of snakes, but is of roaches.

I am the total opposite.

We found lots of treasures that I will be excited to use as displays at my next craft fair.

The deal of the day was a large farmhouse sink with a metal cabinet. I can't wait to see what she does with it!

I was so far out in the country that I had no cell phone coverage which completely freaked my husband out.

I love when I think we have conversations and he doesn't.

He was already looking for me and figuring out what he was going to tell the police, when I finally received text messages and phone calls, and was able to call him back.

We were finally reunited and it felt so good.

Bless him.

Maybe he will pay attention next time.

Not.

We then picked up one of our favorite neighbors to pick wild blackberries in a little sliced of heaven.

It was fabulous picking in a peaceful, quiet place while watching the sunset.

One day all of this will become a reality.

Until then, I will just pretend my little acre is a few more acres and grow, grow, grow!

Hospitality

Hospitality is a beautiful word. It something that we pride ourselves on. Most people, especially Southern people, want and are often known for their hospitality. Christmas is often a season where we roll out our red carpet of hospitality in many ways. It may be hosting a Christmas party, helping with a church event, or simply helping a family that may not be able to help themselves.

If you are hosting a Christmas party or family, keep it simple. We recently hosted a whole weekend with some family, and what a fun weekend it was! Our goal was to enjoy being with our family without being in the kitchen so much. One way we did this was we spent the week prior to their arrival completing different tasks around the house such as planning a menu, shopping for groceries, cooking, and cleaning. As we planned our menu, we thought about wonderful, delicious meals that would not take a whole lot of time, but something that our guest would enjoy. Our menu included two breakfast and a dinner. For breakfast we had sausage muffins and quiche one morning and homemade cinnamon rolls the next. For dinner we had hamburgers, hotdogs, and fixings. I put out a little candy corn and peanuts as we were waiting for everything to get finished. I allowed my guests to help in the kitchen. I love, love, love being in the kitchen with a lot of people. That is where the action is. Conversation is flowing and is often followed by laughter and the making of good memories. In order for this to happen, I spent some time before they came to brown the sausage for the muffins, pre-making my quiche, and patting out hamburgers and seasoning them. Then all that we had to do was put the food together and cook it! Easy, easy, easy and a whole lot of fun!

I encourage you to have a very stressless holiday season because the holidays are about being with others and making memories! Pre-plan as much as possible so that you can actually enjoy the holidays and not be running around like a chicken with your head cut off.

I also encourage you to give to others. I am not talking about your family and friends, but to other's family and friends. Participate in a toy or food drive, get an angel off the Angel Tree, call a school or a church to see if a family is in need of some help. You may think that you may not have enough for your own family, but I promise if you give from the heart, you will be blessed while helping someone else find hope.

Enjoy spreading hospitality and love this holiday season!