Thursday, November 29, 2007

Pictures

After we had Thanksgiving dinner, Mom, Shannon and I decided to go for a walk in the woods. We live near the Live Oaks National Park. It is a beautiful area to walk. We left as soon as we had taken the dishes into the kitchen. (I think we were worried that that "sleepy enzyme" from the turkey might take effect.)

While we were there, I used the oportunity to take some pictures of the shirt I had finished the day before.

Here is the front:

And the back:

When we went to England this summer, I bought some buttons at the Button Queen, a little shop in England. I was waiting for the perfect project to put them on. When I started this blouse, I knew it was the one. So here is one of the buttons from London:


I finished the blouse and then realized it was way too low. So I used some blue fabric and lace that a friend gave me for Christmas one year. (Thank you, Amy! I'll let you know what I do with the rest of it.:-)
I had also been working on a petticoat off and on for a few months and finally got that done too. I bought a new sewing machine when we got back from England and tried out one of the embroidery stitches on the hem. I love the way it turned out, and it really does help to keep me warmer.

After the walk we went home, cleaned up dinner, and the sleepiness kicked in.

Tiffany

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Thanksgiving

We decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving this year at home, just the family. Shannon and I loved this. We planned out the menu (we had forgotten the mashed potatoes and gravy and the sweet potatoes, but Dad reminded us:-) and were ready for the day.

We had decided to have dinner mid-afternoon. So in the morning we (or I should say Dad) did some preliminary Christmas decorating and Shannon and I sewed or knitting while we watched parts of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We then saw part of the dog show before it was time to start dinner. (The turkey had already started roasting.)

My specialty is the Creamed Corn. It is basically a custard with corn kernals in it. So I got started on that. I'm wearing one of my favorite aprons. It's the Sense and Sensibility Edwardian apron pattern here: http://www.sensibility.com/pattern/edwardian.htm



Shannon and I planned a rather unusual appetizer. We saw a recipe for a pumpkin desert in a magazine. We wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, but already had the desert planned. So we changed the pumpkin desert to a pumpkin appetizer. Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement. :-)



Then the feast began. Unfortunately the turkey picture is a little blurry, but trust me, even Dad said it was the prettiest turkey he had ever seen.



The mashed potatoes and gravy.






The baked corn.


The sweet potatoes.


And the biscuits.


Things I'm thankful for:

My Saviour

My Family

My Church

My Friends

So many other things, situations, and people that the Lord has blessed me with.

Tiffany

Monday, November 19, 2007

Sunset



Amazing examples of God's awesomeness.
Tiffany


Monday, November 12, 2007

SAICFF


My mother, sister, and I went to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this past October. It was held (rather obviously) in San Antonio, Texas. We visited the city's wonderful boardwalk many times that weekend and even got lost on it once! :-)

When Mom and I went to the boardwalk last year, we had seen some gorgeous flowers, but didn't get any pictures. Well, the same bush was blooming this year and I finally got my pictures!




What a refreshing weekend! I have said before that one of my loves is Christian Filmmaking. It was so wonderful to be in a place where so many others shared the same feelings.

And think of it! It was a place where you were the odd one out if you didn't where a skirt! That was a new and encouraging experience for me. One day I even dressed in my Regency dress and hardly got a second glance, well, at the festival that is. When we went to the boardwalk, there were one or two.

We were also able to meet "old friends" from the Sense and Sensibility board. We had planned to have dinner at a park and everyone dress up historically. Unfortunately we were a few minutes late and missed the main group, but as we were trying to figure out what to do, another girl from the board showed up. We wandered around with her looking for them. A kind man then asked us if we were looking for the "S&Sers". We replied yes and he pointed us in the right direction. It was so neat to meet everyone!




There were so many wonderful films presented this year. The Photographer was one of my favorites. I found out about it first through the Sense and Sensibility board back around April/May. The sisters of the young man who made it were on the forum and were talking about it. Then I went to Masterworks and one of the girls there that I knew from two years ago mentioned that she had worked for a film doing makeup/coaching/whatever that was going to be entered into a contest. By comparing when she told me about the plot and what I already knew from the board, we discovered that she had worked on the same movie! So when I got back to a computer, I U2Ued the girl on the board and we "met." So after waiting all summer, I was finally able to see the film. It was amazing! Everything was so meticulously thought out an prepared. At the end, I thought, This is the kind of Christian movie I've been waiting for.

Another amazing film in the competition was The Monstrous Regiment of Women. This was a documentary about what feminism has done to women, particularly in this present day and age. It is truly heartbreaking to see the lies that women have bought. I would highly recommend this documentary for adults. Because of all the themes it deals with, I would not recommend it for children (they show actual footage of an abortion, which we fast forward), but I do think it's important that women today, especially young women know what feminism has done to our culture.

We also were able to see the world premiere of The Return of the Daughters. What an inspirational and convicting documentary. I have already shared that I am a "stay-at-home daughter" and this really encouraged in what I am doing now and challenged me to do more. The documentary shows the lives of five young ladies who have chosen not to follow the world's path, but to follow God's directives for young ladies. They are all stay-at-home daughters who help their fathers, their families, and their community. I would also recommend getting this DVD if you are interested in knowing how and why these girls chose to stay home.

After a long weekend fully of exciting new meetings (the people from the S&S board, and others) and some wonderful old reunions (we got to see the Chanceys again and the Keens, it was so good to be able to all-too-briefly catch up.) we were tired, but ready for the twelve hour drive home.

I thank and praise the Lord that we were able to spend such a wonderful, inspiring, convicting, encouraging, friendly weekend with others who are like-minded.



Tiffany