I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  I'm enjoying some much needed time off and family time.  Last week I baked Christmas cookies using this recipe.  I handed them out to my co-workers and volunteers who work at Potentials.  It was my first time making this particular cookie, but they turned out pretty good.  I love cookies stuffed with candle bars.  Another...

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This year I'm doing much of my Christmas shopping at local stores and buying from local artists.  The first weekend of December I went to Kennett and bought some gifts at the Adelphian Christmas Bazaar, where coincidentally my mom was photographed for the local newspaper.  Last weekend I went to the Kirkwood Farmer's Market (see my earlier visit here), which was transformed into a...

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Decker household.  {Our St. Louis Cardinals snow village.} {Part of our regular snow village.} {Our tree has colored lights on it for the first time.} {Souvenir shop in the Cardinals village.} {Stockings hung by the chimney.} {My favorite new additions.  The Peanuts wireless band.  They all play together.  Thanks mom!} {Mint M&M's in...

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One of my hobbies is to find a fabulous outfit in a magazine and replicate it in my own wardrobe using either what I already own or getting missing pieces at resale stores.  I can usually reproduce the outfit almost to an exact match, spending a fraction of the price of the original pieces in the magazine.  A while back I noticed Katie...

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After a busy Thanksgiving weekend, I'm glad to be back home and back to normal.   I'm excited to share a second completed room project in our house.  When we moved into our house, the kitchen was yellow with a brown light fixture and pastel curtains.  Below is a picture of the kitchen after we moved in.  I had already changed the curtains, but...

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Our living room originally had yellowish paint on the wall.  I still hate the color of the doors, but that is a project to work on later.  The brown ceiling fan will also have to go.  Below is what the living room looked like the day we closed on the house.  We added gray toned paint to the walls and new curtains.  Next...

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I’m very embarrassed to say that I haven’t been to the eye doctor since I was in the 5th grade. Don’t judge. I’ve been busy. I also have a fear of putting things in my eyes. I don’t do it. I don’t put things in my eye. I get completely grossed out when anyone puts contacts in. I can’t even put drops in...

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When I was very young, my mother and grandmother took my two older cousins and myself to Opryland. We spent the day enjoying all that the former Nashville amusement park had to offer. Before we left at the end of the day we each got to pick out a souvenir to take home. No one really remembers what my cousins picked out, but everyone would...

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In addition to it being my birthday weekend, this past weekend was also one of many very infrequent family reunions.  I met my mom in Kennett where we then traveled down to Arkansas, out in the middle of the country for a time-honored tradition. {My mom, brother, me, and my grandmother} I was also surprised with a birthday cake at the reunion. After reuniting, I had a...

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This week I finished up my witch hat for a Halloween event at my work on Thursday.  I found a plain witch hat at Target and purchased accessories at other discount stores.  I put the finishing touches on my hat today. ...

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I got to go home to Kennett for the first time since July this weekend.  I love going home this time of year.  The air is filled with the smell of cotton.  I didn't realize how much I missed seeing cotton fields everyday.  In college, my classmates in my textiles class had never even seen a cotton field.  I guess it was always...

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